"I swear, Nymphadora, if you try and knock me out of this chair, I will hex you," James warned as the girl approached the desk.

"It's my seat, Potter."

"Not today, Tonks," he replied simply. "I'm sitting with my best friend."

"Why aren't you sitting with your girlfriend?"

"Why aren't you sitting with your boyfriend?" he countered.

Tonks scowled but a blush crept up her neck and her hair turned into a brighter pink, "When Rose gets here-"

"When Rose gets here, what?" the redhead asked from behind him. They both turned around and started talking over each other.

"He took my spot again."

"She's trying to kick me out."

"Okay, but-"

"We don't have assigned seats."

"I always sit next to Rose."

"You guys-" Rose tried.

"I don't think one day will kill you."

"You don't know anything."

Rose huffed before she walked away from the bickering pair, sitting down next to her sister. "How long do you think it'll take for them to notice you're gone?" Lily asked, glancing back at the two.

She held up her hand, "Five...four...three...two..."

"Rose!" Tonks shouted and Lily laughed. Rose glanced back at Tonks and James who were now watching Rose and Lily. "He's being a jerk!"

"Since when have I ever been able to fix that?" Rose inquired.

"He listens to you."

She snorted, "Yeah, once in a blue moon. I'm not cashing that in today. Sorry, Dora."

The girl huffed before she plopped down in the seat next to James. "And now neither of us get to sit next to her."

"Who's fault is that?" James asked and she scowled.

"Find your seats," Slughorn requested. "Today we are going to be working with this potion right here." He removed the lid of the potion on his desk, "Can anyone tell me what it is?"

Lily's hand shot up and the Professor called on her, "It's Amortentia."

"And do you know what it does?"

"It's a love potion," she explained. "It's smells differ from person to person, varying on the scents that attract them. For example, I smell..." she trailed off, her eyes fluttering shut as she took in a deep breath. "Parchment paper...roses and...sandalwood."

Rose felt her heart drop in her chest as she listened to her sister speak. Because what she smelled was lilies, the quidditch field and of course, sandalwood. She closed her eyes and shook her head, facing the front. It's nothing. He's your best friend. Of course you find comfort in his presence. It would be more odd if you didn't. Right?

"Rose?" Lily's voice broke through her thoughts and she turned to look at her sister.

"Hmm, sorry?" she asked.

"I asked if you wanted me to get the materials."

"Materials?"

"I'm going to go ahead and take that as a yes," Lily nodded before hopping out of her seat and heading toward the front.

James took her seat a moment later, earning a shout from Tonks, "James Fleamont Potter!"

"Did you hear her?" James asked immediately, ignoring Tonks's protests. "She smelled sandalwood!" he exclaimed. "Do you know who smells like that? Me!" He leaned in toward the girl, "See? It's my aftershave."

Rose could smell the sandalwood just fine without him leaning in and her breath hitched in her throat. "Yeah, that's...wonderful."

James frowned, "Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" she replied. Her mind had wandered again and she shook her head, "Yeah. Yes. I'm fine. Just tired."

He raised his hand to her face and lifted her chin up to get a better look at her, "You look exhausted. Have you been sleeping at all?"

"Just can't get my brain to shut up but I'm fine," she assured him turning her head slightly causing him to drop his hand. "You should head back to your seat before Tonks explodes."

He grimaced, "I would blame you for this but somehow I feel you'd turn it around on me."

She smiled, patting the side of his face, "You're learning, Potter."

"James," Lily greeted with a smile. "Hi."

He grinned, "Hi, Lily."

"Um," she began turning to face Rose. "Do you think maybe James and I could work together this time?"

Rose raised an eyebrow but stood up anyway, "Yeah, Tonks will be elated."

"Here," she said, handing the armful of materials she had to the girl. "We'll use the stuff he got."

She nodded in agreement before she made her way to where Tonks was sitting with a breath of relief. Tonks beamed upon seeing her best friend sit next to her. She threw her arms around the redhead, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Rose glanced over at where her sister and new boyfriend sat to see that James was already watching her with a slight frown on his face. Their eyes met and he quickly turned away.

Tonks's eyes narrowed slightly, "What did he say to you?"

"He just wanted to talk about Lily," she pointed out, shaking her head slightly. "Nothing out of the usual."

"Mmhmm," Tonks replied as she set up their station. "You know, an interesting thing happened while he was sitting with me."

"Yeah? What's that?" Rose asked passively as she opened her textbook to where the instructions for Amortentia were written.

"Well, we were talking about what we each smelled and he just so happened to tell me that he smelled the Quidditch field, wet dog and roses," she explained and Rose turned to look at her. "Not a thing about lilies. Strange, isn't it?"

"What are you on about, Tonks?" she huffed.

"He smelled roses," she explained. "And you smell like roses."

"We're best friends, it's normal that we would smell each other."

Tonks beamed, "You smelled sandalwood too?"

"It's normal," she repeated. "It makes sense that we find comfort with each other otherwise what sort of friends would we be."

"Then should I be offended that you didn't smell me?" Tonks inquired.

"You don't even know what I smelled."

"Of course I do," she shrugged. "No doubt something Qudditch related, probably the field, like Potter. Lilies because for whatever reason you and your sister both smell like the flower your named after. And then there's sandalwood."

Rose's mouth hung open, "Now I feel bad. I have no idea what you smelled."

"Chocolate, ink and leather," she explained. Rose grinned and Tonks face dropped. "Shut up."

"You know-"

"I don't want to hear it."

"But-"

"Rose."

"Oi, Lupin!"

"Rose," she hissed.

"Yes, Rose?" he answered and Rose turned to look at him.

"Nymphadora-" Tonks whacked her on the arm. "Tonks and I were discussing what we smelled and I was just curious as to what you smelled."

Sirius grew amused at this and turned to Remus expectantly, "Yeah, Moony. What did you smell?"

A blush made its way up Remus's neck and he cleared his throat, "Chocolate..." The rest came out mumbled.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Couldn't quite hear that mate."

"I said, chocolate, bubblegum and lavender."

Rose grinned as she turned to look at Tonks who was hiding the blush on her own face as she sunk down in her seat. The redhead looked back at the pair, "What about you Black?"

"I'll only tell if you do," he replied with a pointed look.

"Fair enough," she shrugged before turning to face the front. Her gaze flickered over to where her sister sat to see that James was watching her. He quickly looked away upon realizing he'd been caught.

"I'm going to kill you," Tonks hissed.

"No, you won't."

She scowled, "What makes you so sure?"

"You'd miss me too much."

She snorted, "You better be real confident about that."