*I'm assuming that Angie and Thales would have gotten permission to work in the potions room by the professor, if this is a problem, let me know!*

Angie was up on her tiptoes, putting away various potion ingredients from the assignment she had been working on recently. She had forgotten to take notes on a few of the magical properties of ingredients, so she had come back down to the potions dungeons to  finish up her notes.

She pushed one of the bottles onto the top shelf with her fingertips, making sure it was stable before she stepped back; her work done as she headed back to collect her notes together. Someone walked into the room, a first year by the looks of it; but he wasn't a Hufflepufff, Angie would've known his name if he was in her house.

She grinned, gathering a few ingredients for her next project; an antidote for love potions. It sounded really anti-love, but with her friends track records; come Valentine's day, they'd need the antidote for they're eventual mistakes.

Angie began putting the ingredients down next to her cauldron and looked back up at the first year; "Can I help you?" She asked, "What are you working on?"

Thales walked into the room absent minded, reading intently a potion's book that was clearly not for the kids in his year, and by the expression on his face, it appeared that he was not an exception to that rule. Of course, Thales was hoping that, being in Ravenclaw and all, meant he had capabilities way beyond the capabilities of his classmates. It didn't. He supposed that was a rather practical lesson about pride, hubris and-

Angie began putting the ingredients down next to her cauldron and looked back up at the first year; "Can I help you?" She asked, "What are you working on?"

Blimey! He hadn't noticed that girl here! He jerked back, surprised, and almost let the book drop.

"Wow! I mean... hello! Sorry about that, was a bit lost in my thoughts..."

He tried to recompose himself, a little embarrassed that the girl catched him off guard. He glanced the cauldron in which the girl would probably make her own potion, and at the ingredients next to it. Well, he was not the only one who was going to get busy... and that girl had offered help, hadn't she? Thales looked at her half glad, half worried.

"...Well, if it's not too much of a trouble for you, I would love to have some help... I kind of need it, to be honest, I might have bitten more than I can chew, so to speak."

Thales smiled to the girl.

"My name is Thales Rivers, by the way, but all the people who help me make potions call me Thales... and this statement is still true, even if you might be the first one."

Angie chuckled, "I'm Angie Lemon. But most everyone calls me Angie, or Lemon. Whatever suits your fancy." She said with a grin. He looked a bit surprised at her first introduction, but she had been a little loud; and he was lost in thought. Whoops.

"It's no trouble, I was just practicing a love potion antidote. Couple of girls in my house are getting a bit lovesick, and with Saint Valentine's day next month, you can never be too careful. You might want to avoid chocolates around the holiday; they're a favorite if anything's going to be laced." She warned, tapping her wand against the counter top.

She peeked at the book in his hand, and realized how advanced it was. She could probably figure it out, but the first year was definitely in over his head. "You sure you have the right book?"

Then she realized, of course he had the right book, he was a Ravenclaw. They were ambitious little busybodies, "Which potion are you lookin' at?"

Thales nodded understandingly at Angie, or should he call her Lemon? He prefered to treat people with their first names, as that meant more intimacy, but her last name would be so fun to use! He walked to another table, next to Angie's cauldron, and put his book there, open at the page he had been previosuly reading.

"Well, usually I call people by their first name... but your last is so cool! I think I will switch back and forth, until I decide which one I like best... ok?"

"It's no trouble, I was just practicing a love potion antidote. Couple of girls in my house are getting a bit lovesick, and with Saint Valentine's day next month, you can never be too careful. You might want to avoid chocolates around the holiday; they're a favorite if anything's going to be laced." She warned, tapping her wand against the counter top.

She peeked at the book in his hand, and realized how advanced it was. She could probably figure it out, but the first year was definitely in over his head. "You sure you have the right book?"


Thales eyebrows rose, as he was informed that he was not the only one preparing a potion for the Valentine's Day, though for a different purpose. Taking a few moments to perceive the question over his surprise (so many today!), he nodded vigorously.

Then she realized, of course he had the right book, he was a Ravenclaw. They were ambitious little busybodies, "Which potion are you lookin' at?"

"Now, Miss Angie, this is a rather delicate subject, but as I am counting with you help to be able to get this done, I will tell you my secret... just... don't laugh, ok?"

Thales didn't look too worried, only a little tired, as if he didn't so much fear the consequence of telling Angie the secret as he just felt it was rather personal.

"You see, they think I am doing an antidote for common poisons, but as I think you could have presumed by my book, that is not my intention..."

He made a short pause, organising is thoughts.

"You see, Angie, I want to do a Wit-Sharpening Potion. Yes, I do realize I am over my head in this one, but hear me out. Have you ever been scared witless by the prospect of confessing to someone you fancy? Have you ever felt at loss with words when you needed them most? Yeah... I've been experiencing that, you could say. At first I thought about concocting a vial of felix felicis, but the proccess would take 6 months, even if I, by chance, got it right, and I can't wait that long, and I consider Love Potions rather sordid things, I would never give one of those to someone I fancy, I want to be... well,  loved by someone with free will, from their own heart's desire."

He stopped talking for a moment, trying to catch his breath and wishing his face to become less red.

"Then I thought, what if I didn't feel witless? What if I wasn't at loss with words everytime I tried to convey my feelings to my... crush, beloved, I don't know... but rather, could express exactly how I felt about it?! Of course, no teacher would let a kid use the potion's room to brew something like that, even if it was rather important for the kid in question..."

He sighed, and leaned against a wall, hiding how his hands were trembling by putting them in his pockets.

"Sooo... Angie, will you help me?"

"Thanks! I'll try to keep up as you switch back and forth," she said, pausing to let him continue.

She pursed her lips, she was impressed by the kids' vocabulary. And he was well-worded, putting Angie's childish antics to shame with his highly intellectual thoughts. And he called her Miss Angie. That was a first.

When he paused, she cut in; "Well then, what is your intention?" He answered her quickly, a wit-sharpening potion. That was a tricky one.

She nodded her head, "I swear I won't laugh at you." But then she grinned as he explained himself, firstie crushes were so adorable! She contained the urge to jump up and down and hug Thales; that would have been weird... but still, it was really cute.

As he talked, she scanned the page in his book; checking out the instructions, ingredient list. The works. They had done this potion before in her year, at least it had been given as extra practice for whomever wanted to try before exams.  She could easily try and teach it to Thales.

"Of course I'll help you," she replied eagerly. "It wasn't too difficult for me, but then again, I just learned it this year. But, I'll only help you if at some point you either tell me who the lucky lady is or if you tell me how it goes when you confess your love." She said, crossing her arms.

"Stop grinning like that!"

Thales said half-heartedly, as he was grinning too despite having blushed as he never had blushed before. Now that he felt the potion was a solid possibility, he started worrying about the answer... he shook his head, trying to regain his focus. He had to maintain his mind on the task at hand. He looked at Lemon, again half glad, half worried.

"I promise I will invite you to celebrate with me, and lots of bottles of butterbeer, if the answer is yes... and to go to you for company if..."

Thales paused for a moment, slightly scared of even saying it.

"If the answer is no... Happy thoughts, though! Let's make these potions!"

He clapped his hands together, procastinating having to think about the... other possiblity, and hurried to the shelves taking the ingredients they would needs, and putting on the table in an organised manner, trying to copy Lemon's table. He didn't want anything to go wrong. Deciding that talking about someone else would be better than continue talking about him to get his mind out of the risk of failure, he decided to know a little more about Lemon.

"So, Miss Lemon, what can you tel about yourself?"

He smiled at her, and then procceeded to light the fire under his own cauldron.

Angie clapped her hands over her silly grin, but couldn't contain the giggles as Thales blushed; obviously loosening up a bit. And blushing. It was all too cute.

"Hey, if it's a no, the butter beer is on me!" Angie said gleefully, "Don't worry though, I'm sure if you do it right, she will like you back."

Again she was a miss, Miss Lemon this time, but none the less; she was enjoying the proper title. "Well, I'm Quidditch Captain of the Hufflepuff team; that takes up a lot of my time so I'm always busy. It's a handful, but it's worth it. And as of recently, I spend my spare time helping firsties with their wit problems."

"I'm just teasing," she said, lighting her own cauldron's fire to get started on her own potion. She started adding Wiggentree twigs as Thales got started. "Be careful with your ginger root, too much, and you'll have a bit of a problem."

"Anyways, what about yourself Mister Rivers? What can you tell me 'bout yourself?"

Thales smiled at Angie, it was nice to know that he could count on someone to help him in case things went bad, and he didn't want his friends to see him all broken-hearted.

Again she was a miss, Miss Lemon this time, but none the less; she was enjoying the proper title. "Well, I'm Quidditch Captain of the Hufflepuff team; that takes up a lot of my time so I'm always busy. It's a handful, but it's worth it. And as of recently, I spend my spare time helping firsties with their wit problems."

"Hey! It's not a wit problem! It's... alright, I guess it's a wit problem."

"I'm just teasing," she said, lighting her own cauldron's fire to get started on her own potion. She started adding Wiggentree twigs as Thales got started. "Be careful with your ginger root, too much, and you'll have a bit of a problem."


Thales sighed, slightly more relaxed, and carefully measured the amount of ginger root needed for the cauldron, showing it to Lemon before putting it in.

"I think this amount is fine, isn't it?"

He looked at it, with a faint hint of doubt in his expression, and dropped it in his boiling cauldron, starting to mix it slowly.

"Anyways, what about yourself Mister Rivers? What can you tell me 'bout yourself?"

"About myself? I am not very interesting, I'm afraid. This is my first year in Hogwarts, and I was raised in the muggle society, even though my dad is a wizard and my mom is a veela. He is muggleborn though, so I suppose he didn't want to lose connection with the muggles."

He got a jar of Armadillo Bile and started to slowly add it to the cauldron.

"Tell me when there's enough Armadillo Bile, please? Anyway, I guess I am fairly ordinary for a Ravenclaw, not counting with my veela heritage, I mean, except that I don't really like studying things I don't find interesting, enjoy doing little pranks and jokes now and then, and that I am in love with one of my closest friends..."

Thales eyes widened as he realised what he had just said, and looked at Lemon alarmed, the hand that was holding the Armadillo Bile jar started trembling, and as soon as he noticed, he put it back on the table and started breathing heavily, fearing he might have screwed up the potion.

"Um... Keep this a secret, please."

He went back to mixing his potion, checking if he needed more Armadillo Bile.

"Weeell... what about you, Angie?

Angie nodded, "That should be sufficient," she said, throwing a few more ingredients into her potion; which was now a royal blue color. She paid special attention to Thales potion as well, glancing at his instructions to make sure he was doing it right.

"I think that's pretty interesting," Angie said, "So you'd be half-veela... and that doesn't help you in the romance department?" She giggled, "Or are the powers inactive?"

"I'm watching, keep adding it," she said as he poured the bile in. Ugh. Gross. Armadillo puke. She would absolutely hate to be the person to harvest that specific potion ingredient.

Angie's eyes widened as he panicked after saying he was in love with his best friend; now she was taking all of this with a grain of salt because really, when you were twelve, it was all puppy dog love. She supposed it wasn't much different when you were fifteen either, but last year's relationship wreck was enough to swear Angie off of boy's.

"I'm good at keeping secrets," she said, watching as her potion prematurely turned purple. She hastened to fix it, and sighed as it turned back to red.

"What about me? First of all I'm not in love with my best friend," she said, prodding the younger boy's shoulder. "But I was, once. That ended badly. If you have commitment issues, then you might want to avoid relationships. But you seem pretty good to me."

Her potion bubbled over a bit and she rushed to turn the heat down, "Bloody hell! I haven't even done anything stupid to it yet!" She gave an apologetic glance to Thales, "Sorry, language."

"I think that's pretty interesting," Angie said, "So you'd be half-veela... and that doesn't help you in the romance department?" She giggled, "Or are the powers inactive?"

"Powers inactive", Thales thought for a moment, then sighed. "Though I guess that even if they were active, I wouldn't use them. As I said, I want to be loved by someone with free will. Using veela powers wouldn't be much different from using a love potion. I'm just brewing this to be able to... convey my feelings."

He checked the color of the potion, and decided it needed a bit more of Bile. He got the jar again a very slowly drop some more in the cauldron, then, as he looked at Angie, and saw her face as she looked with disgust at the Bile, he laughed.

"Hey, I am the one who is going to drink this!"

He paused for a moment considering what he had just said and poured in the potion, and decided that there was enough Armadillo Bile in it as it was. He too now was looking at the cauldron in disgust.

"Eeeeeew, I am the one who is going to drink this!"

Shaking his head wondering if he had lost his mind for doing something so disgusting, he looked at the book again to see what would he need to do next. For his joy, he was going to need ground scarab beetles. Fan-freaking-tastic. He picked the beetles and started grinding them.

"You know, I wonder how all this potion business started, 'Hey, taste this!' 'Oh, that's nice, I feel smarter! What's in it?' 'Oh, just some roots, bile and insects I found around and mixed in a boiling cauldron!'"

He shook his head, and started to add the scarab powder to the mixture. To his surprise the potion turned from a light blue color to pink. Well, the book said red, but he supposed beggars can't be choosers.

"What about me? First of all I'm not in love with my best friend," she said, prodding the younger boy's shoulder. "But I was, once. That ended badly. If you have commitment issues, then you might want to avoid relationships. But you seem pretty good to me."

He looked at Angie a little confused.

"Commitment issues? What's that?", Thales scratched his head, thinking about it. "Why would I go looking for a relationship with a person I like if I had any issues with that?"

He sighed, it was supposed to be simple! Sure, it was hard talking to his crush, but it wasn't complicated! It was just like lifting a car engine, hard, but simple. He shrugged, deciding he wouldn't make this complicated, he had enough difficulties as it was.

"Well, thanks for keeping the secret and being so understanding, Angie. It really means a lot to me."

Her potion bubbled over a bit and she rushed to turn the heat down, "Bloody hell! I haven't even done anything stupid to it yet!" She gave an apologetic glance to Thales, "Sorry, language."

Thales looked at her, chuckling.

"Relax, it happens."

He looked at his potion, that was looking like it would start boiling shortly, and started mixing it again. It wasn't perfect, but he thout that if he didn't made any more mistakes, it might make a decent Wit-Sharpening potion.

"Oh you poor kid!" She laughed at his explanation of him being the one to drink it. "That's vile, and absolutely disgusting."

She laughed even louder at his monologue about how the potion business started, "Well, it's an interesting take on it," she said, "but how else do you think everything else got invented and what not?" She wrinkled her nose as her potion simmered, giving off an odd smell. "Whoever made this stuff must have been pretty brave."

"Hey it's no problem, I'm an awesome secret keeper." She said, nodding her head. A few strands of her ponytail fell out and she sighed, noting the brown strands.

"My littl' sister thought it would be a good idea to put a potion in my hair, I used to be blonde, you know. Now I'm not." She said, redoing her ponytail. "It's really upsetting actually, but it'll turn back in time, I hope."

"It will probably regain its natural color, don't worry!", Thales smiled at her, and the gave the cauldron one last look. "If it doesn't, we can always make another potion to use on your hair. Though I would try that only as a last resort, considering the ingredients used in potions."

He went pack to the table, looking at the book for further instructions. He had to add more Armadillo Bile. Joy. He picked up the jar and went back to the cauldron, adding it carefully.

"See what I mean?  And I am still in the middle of the potion! I must be really out of my mind to be making this potion with the intent of drinking it."

He sighed. Complaining wouldn't help, and it wasn't like he was being forced to make the potion. He thought for a moment about his beloved. It was worth it.

"Well, I guess complaining won't do me any good. Let's talk about you for a moment then! You told me you had a little sister? Is it fun?"

Thales gave a quick look at Angie, smiling for the company she was giving him. It had been good to confide to someone his feelings, even if he had hidden some details. He stared at the cauldron again, carefully adding Bile and waiting for any changes in the color. The mixture went from pink to yellow, even if a really light one. Thales grinned, and put the Bile jar on the table again, mixing the mixture to let the ingredients react with each other properly.

"I don't think fun is the right adjective," Angie said, it was a matter of fact. "Annoying, obnoxious, yet endearing would be the three words I'd choose. Gertie is adorable; and also a Hufflepuff. She's a second year so you may know her.[1] Small, mini me as I've been told;" she described for Thales.

Her potion slowly turned a pinkish color as she finished it up with a grin, "I think I'm done." She did have a vial of a love potion in her bag, three vials actually. Two she'd confiscated from her little sister who had been trying to make the goldfish fall in love with the turtle.

 "I'll have to test it later," she said, flicking the heat off.

The potion gradually stopped bubbling and after it cooled, she began to ladle it into a small glass container. She would put it in a leather sleeve later to protect it from breaking. "How's yours coming so far?"

"I mean, aside from the fact that you put Armadillo bile in there and the other part where it looks disgusting." Angie said with a smirk.

1.	NPC Adoptable at the moment, so feel free to know her or not.

"Ugh, don't remind me!"

Thales playfully winced upon the mention of the ingredients for that potion, grinning at Angie. Honestly, he suspected that if everyone knew what was in that, they would stop trying to acquire it for the tests and just study. Less disgusting, at least. He looked at the cauldron judging the color of the potion until now, and after deciding it probably wouldn't get much better, he went to the table again and picked the least disgusting ingredient there, ginger roots, cutting a a handful of it, and then dropping it slowly on the cauldron, paying close attention to any changes on the color.

"It will take some more time, I am afraid, Angie. Would you mind staying with me? I might need your help, and even if I don't, I think I like your company."

Thales chuckled, and shortly after that, the mixture changed colors again, almost undetectably, from a light yellow to a kind of yellowish green. Thales kept adding a little more of root, until the green became stronger, and then put the leftovers over the table. Maybe he would need them later.

"I can also help you test that anti-love potion, if you like."

Thales shrugged, and returned to stirring the cauldron.

"Sure, I'll stick around, squirt." She said, gathering up her unused ingredients to start putting them away. She almost dropped her Wiggentree twigs on the floor, but caught them just in time. "Quidditch reflexes, I've got skills!" She joked, making her way to the cabinet to return the extras.

"I'm not sure you'd want to test it, it's not going to be fun," she said as she returned to the desk where Thales' potion was still brewing.

"Unless you want to fall in love with something for a few minutes. Then you'd know what a love potion felt like for future reference." She grabbed one of the hot pink vials out of her leather bag and shook it a bit.

"It could be fun. We could make you fall in love with one of those bottled frog carcasses over there." Angie raised a devious eyebrow and winked, "Just joking, unless you fancy the frogs."