Amortentia - the wizarding world's strongest love potion

Irene was back to normal in the next few days after the recent Quidditch match, much to her friends' pleasure. She was thankful that Taehyung carried her all the way to the infirmary, and even more appreciative that he stayed by her side the whole time -- even though she was sleeping most of the time. She was starting to question his actions, but she would've done the same for him.

It was Valentine's Day, and Hogwarts was very festive of the holiday. The Great Hall was decorated with large, pink flowers that draped against the walls, and heart-shaped confetti that fell from the pale blue ceiling. Dwarves dressed as cupids bursted into classrooms to deliver Valentine's cards and gifts sent by students throughout the day, much to the professors' displeasure, as they interrupted their lesson. 

During passing period, Hoseok met up with Seulgi and chatted, keeping their tones hushed in case anyone accidentally or intentionally listened in on their conversation. "Did you spike the candy?" Seulgi asked, and Hoseok nodded. "You?" Seulgi replied with a nod and the two shared a devilish smirk. 

The night before, Hoseok and Seulgi concocted Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in existence, to assist in their scheme. Hoseok and Seulgi had been talking about Taehyung and Irene looking like a cute couple whenever the pair wasn't around them, and everyone in the group longed for them to be together especially after Hoseok spilled to Seulgi, Wendy, and Namjoon about Taehyung's secret feelings for Irene. Ever since Taehyung carried Irene to the infirmary after the recent quidditch match, there were rumors that Taehyung was secretly in love with Irene. Namjoon and Joy were the ones to suggest a love potion, and with the encouragement from everyone else, Hoseok and Seulgi went through with their plan -- and was now executing it.

Hoseok was to pour the Amortentia into the bag of candy that Taehyung had planned to gift to Irene, and Seulgi was to pour her portion of the potion onto the sugar quill that Irene was going to gift Taehyung. 

"Hopefully it works out," Seulgi giggled, and Hoseok chuckled. "We'll see at lunch," Hoseok said, and Seulgi nodded. The two smiled at each other and waved farewell before heading off to their next class, anxiously waiting the result of their mischievious prank.

As students filed into Charms, so did the dwarves with Valentine's cards. Taehyung and Irene both received cards, some from their friends and one from each other. "Thanks for not being a sore loser," Taehyung read his card from Irene aloud, chuckling at the message. "Thanks for not being a braggart," Irene shook her head, raising a brow at Taehyung, who smiled back. "Oh, I got you something! Since you complained that I got you an actual quill instead of a candied one on Christmas, I got you an actual sugar quill," Irene chimed, pulling a red quill-shaped lollipop from her bag and placed it in front of Taehyung. "You didn't have to, Irene," he chuckled, shaking his head, "but I got you something too." He fished around his bag to find the bag of candy he made just for her, and held it in front of her. "It was supposed to be a little gift to make you feel better in case you lost the Quidditch match, but since Slytherin won, it's now a Valentine's gift," Taehyung explained, and Irene laughed. "Funny how things turn around, eh?" Irene smirked and Taehyung rolled his eyes.

The professor let everyone snack on their Valentine's gifts while he looked for an assignment to give, and in that time, Taehyung and Irene both took a bite of their gifted candies from one another. Jin was secretly watching the two for a reaction to the Amortentia -- he wanted to see if it was actually going to work. Irene finished the candies quick, as the portion was quite small, and Jin almost gasped aloud when he saw Irene's reaction. She felt light-headed, almost as if she took a drug that relieved her of any and all worries. As she glanced over at Taehyung, her face turned the reddest it had ever turned before, and she quickly looked down at her textbook to avoid eye contact with Taehyung. "I wish everyone was here to see this," Jin snickered to himself, eyeing Taehyung next, as he hadn't finished the lollipop yet. 

As Taehyung chomped down on the last little bit of the lollipop, he felt his face warm up so much to the point where he thought he was coming down with a fever. "Hey Jin, does my face feel hot to you? I think I might have a fever," Taehyung turned to Jin, who was sitting next to him, and Jin placed the back of his hand on Taehyung's forehead. "You're a little warm, but it's not hot enough to be a fever. You're okay buddy, just drink some water," Jin replied, trying his hardest not to burst into laughter, "I think Irene's a little red too, why don't you check up on her?" Taehyung turned away from Jin and looked over at Irene, and a sudden wave of emotion hit him almost instantly. He felt his heart beat rapidly, and he saw nothing but Irene -- he felt as if time had stopped for him to admire her beauty. Irene felt Taehyung's gaze on her, and she stiffened, growing nervous. "Is he looking over here? Oh, he is, oh my gosh," Irene's mind was running off constantly on its own with Taehyung as its fuel, "don't embarrass yourself, Irene, whatever you do, don't embarrass yourself!" "Hey uh, Irene?" "Hmm?" Irene immediately looked up as she heard her name slip from Taehyung's mouth, and the two locked eyes with one another. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you look?" "No, you haven't, but I'm glad that you think so." Irene giggled giddily, resting her head on her hand as she looked at Taehyung adoringly, Taehyung smiling back at her nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh boy, Irene and Taehyung are going to be pissed at us when they regain their own free will . . ." Jin thought nervously, half-listening to the pair's conversation.

Irene and Taehyung's flirting caught wind quick by lunch time, and almost everyone was sure that they were dating. 

Taehyung even walked Irene to the Slytherin table at the beginning of lunch. "I'll see you later, you cutie," he waved goodbye, and Irene waved back playfully while Yoongi almost gagged after witnessing their farewell. "What the 's going on?" he asked, and Hoseok cackled. He explained to Yoongi about his and Seulgi's little scheme, and Yoongi was instantly ticked off. "Irene is going to hate you guys so much tomorrow," Yoongi shook his head, and Hoseok shrugged. Jimin, also witnessing the little goodbye session that Taehyung and Irene shared just moments ago, was convinced that the two were dating -- just like a handful of other students. How could she have moved on so quick? Well, he had done the same, but he thought she would be more upset about leaving him. After all, she expressed to him about how much she loved him, so he assumed that she would mope for a while before even thinking about being involved with anyone else. "Holy it actually worked," Yeri gasped as Jin told her and Joy about the moment Taehyung and Irene ate their candy. "I'm kinda second guessing this now," Joy replied with uncertainty, glancing over at Taehyung and Irene, who were exchanging occasional glances, "we all know how Irene is, and I'm one-hundred percent sure she is going to be ing angry after the potion wears off." "Who cares, they need to realize how perfect they are for each other. Both of them can be mad at us, for all I care, they just need to happen," Jin shrugged, continuing to eat his lunch.

Irene met up with Taehyung at their usual bench, as he had asked her to meet him there after their last class. "Sorry I'm late!" Irene chimed, running over to the bench and sitting close to Taehyung, panting. "It's okay, I'd wait for you forever," Taehyung replied, and Irene giggled. "What did you want to tell me?" Irene chimed, turning towards Taehyung. "Do you think I'm a good friend to you?" he asked, and Irene nodded. "You've been there for me through all the ups and downs," she explained, "and honestly, being your friend has helped me get over Jimin. You helped me hang out with our friends more, and that too helped me move on. I'm over him now, but it doesn't change the fact that I hate him for what he did." "Good," Taehyung nodded and smiled, looking up at the sky before thinking of what to say next. "Well, I don't want to be selfish or anything, but I wanted to tell you something really important," Taehyung paused, looking over at Irene before continuing, "I . . I've loved you for a long time now. It really broke my heart when you pushed me away during our first year, and I've tried to win you back ever since. I just want you to know that I'm sorry for pranking you and embarrassing you for the past couple years -- it was because that was the only way I could get your attention." Taehyung took a deep breath before confessing his darkest secret. "All this time, I've been in love with you, and no matter how much I deny it, you still manage to steal my heart -- and I can't keep this a secret from you anymore, at times I've felt like I could burst." Taehyung looked up at Irene for the first time since he began talking, making sure he maintained eye contact with her.

"Pretending not to love you was the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life," he explained, "battling a Basilisk is nothing compared to hiding my feelings for you." Irene sat in silence, fully taking in what Taehyung had to say; although, she could not react geniunely, as she was still under the influence of the love potion. "T-Taehyung, I --" Irene stuttered, not knowing what to say, "I'm sorry you went through all of that. I didn't realize you felt that way." "My biggest fear was that you would reject me, so I hid it this whole time." Taehyung dug his foot into the snow nervously, and Irene sighed. "Taehyung," Irene took his hand, "I would be stupid to not accept your feelings. Everything you've done for me means the world to me, and it's because you did these things for me is the reason why I . . . love you too." Taehyung snapped his head towards Irene as he heard the words he wanted to hear from her only his entire life. "You do?" he asked, peering down at her face as she looked up at him with that smile he loved so dearly. "Unfortunately," she giggled, and Taehyung chuckled along with her. The pair's laugh subsided as they grew lost in each other's eyes, and they slowly leaned in for a quick and tender kiss -- the real question was what was going to happen once the effect of the love potion had subsided. Was Irene speaking the truth when she said truly loved him, or was it the love potion talking?