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rahnetar · 1 year ago

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Finders Keepers (Cormac McLaggen x fem!reader)

Rating: Explicit 18+

Word Count: 2.2K

Warnings: Eventual smut in future chapters (not this one though sorry), language, sexual themes, homophobia (kind of but it's received by reader as banter)

Summary: It's your seventh year at Hogwarts and you've finally been made Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain. This year is going to be your year... if you can make it through your N.E.W.Ts without being distracted by your new Potions partner.

A/N: The content nobody asked for. But I am begging the Freddie Stroma stans to give Cormac McLaggen a chance. I PROMISE I CAN FIX HIM!!!! Reader is a bisexual 'not like other girls' type of girl but she becomes more bearable as the story goes on. Reader and McLaggen are both 18. Also I just want to say that I fucking hate JK Rowling and will be gleefully bastardising her work.

Masterlist

Chapter 1: Amortentia

Breakfast on the second day of term was a much more rushed experience than it had been in previous years- you barely had time to collect your timetables from Professor Flitwick, never mind eat anything. You hardly noticed the cool September sun streaming through the ceiling of the Great Hall. Gazing wistfully at the breakfast table, you listened while Flitwick reminded you of the importance of your seventh year at Hogwarts.

Marietta was taking much longer than usual to get ready these days, and so, you, her and Cho had left Ravenclaw Tower late. Ever since that Hermione Granger had cursed her, Marietta had been applying a thick layer of makeup to hide the pimples spelling ‘sneak’ across her face and you resented Granger for upsetting your dormmate- especially when that dormmate’s new skincare routine just made you miss your favourite meal of the day.

“What do you think Slughorn will be like?” asks Cho, as the three of you stand at the back of the short queue outside the Potions classroom- your first lesson of the year.

“Seems like a bit of a creep,” you shrug. “Didn’t you hear about his Slug Club? Nonce behaviour if you ask me.”

Cho chuckles half-heartedly while Marietta only deigns to give you a scandalised look. Alicia would have found it funny, you think to yourself, a knife twisting in your stomach when you’re reminded of her.

Cho and Marietta were the closest friends you had at Hogwarts now that Alicia Spinnett had graduated and then unceremoniously dumped you immediately afterwards. Your sense of humour was a little too crude for Cho and Marietta, and this combined with your general disinterest in giggling and gossiping about the boys at Hogwarts made you the third wheel of the group.

The queue starts moving and you file into the dungeon past a cauldron, filled to the brim with what you quickly recognise from your textbook as Amortentia. The powerful love potion is supposed to smell different to each person, depending on what attracts them and you’ve always wondered what it would smell like to you. The three of you step forward - you inhale and it smells simultaneously like the leather of new Quidditch keeper gloves, buttery toast and a spicy amber and jasmine scent that you only vaguely recognise.

The class is considerably smaller than it was last year after several students found Snape’s demands of N.E.W.T level students to be too much and dropped out. Cho and Marietta, predictably sit at a table together leaving you to sit at the desk behind them next to… ugh, Cormac McLaggen. You suppose that you don’t hate McLaggen but you’ve always found him to be a typical Gryffindor- arrogant and entitled.

You give each other a silent nod in recognition as you walk towards him. McLaggen reluctantly moves his book bag from the chair beside him as if it’s inconveniencing him to put his belongings on the floor - entitled. You sit down and have to shuffle your chair away several inches from him because his stupidly broad shoulders take up so much space. Even from the very back of the classroom, the sweet and spicy fragrance of Amortentia reaches your nostrils.

Professor Slughorn opens his arms. “Welcome, seventh-years, to the most important year of all at Hogwarts. Your N.E.W.T.s will take place in just a few short months.” You fidget with your silver cutting knife impatiently- you’ve already heard this speech. Slughorn walks over to his cauldron and continues “Today we’re going to be making something that regularly comes up in your practical exam: Amortentia. Can anyone-”

You practically hear the whoosh of four hands shooting up in the air, the Ravenclaws already desperate to prove their potions prowess to the new teacher. You roll your eyes and catch McLaggen doing the same. Ugh, you don’t want to be associated with McLaggen, who doesn’t even feel like he has to try to impress Slughorn - arrogant - so you lift your hand listlessly in the air.

“My, my!” guffaws Slughorn, observing the eager students around the room. “I see we’ve all had our breakfast today!” Your stomach grumbles. “Can anyone tell me what Amortentia is?” Your half-hearted hand seems to draw his attention more than the keen, upright ones. He points at you.

“It’s the world’s most dangerous love potion, Sir.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Oh-ho! An interesting choice of words. Would you care to elaborate?”

“It causes intense feelings of infatuation, to the point of obsession. I think it should be made illegal.”

“Here we go,” mutters McLaggen and you feel the tension in the class as they brace themselves. You’re reminded by their reaction that your tendency to be hot-headed was the final straw in your breakup with Alicia. So instead, you take a deep breath and give a more measured answer than you had originally intended.

“MACUSA made Amortenia a controlled substance in 1922 and I think the Ministry of Magic should follow suit. The use of any love potion on a non-consenting person, but especially one as strong as Amortentia, is unethical, to say the least.”

Some of your fellow students shift uncomfortably. If the rumours are to be believed, many of them have used love potions before but you hold your tongue.

“I say!” says Slughorn, looking pleased with the mild discourse you’ve caused, livening up his early morning lesson. “Very well-reasoned of you. And I assume, by your impassioned stance, that it’s your desire to join the Department of Magical Law Enforcement when you leave Hogwarts?”

“Er…” You hesitate, anticipating the usually negative reaction your answer gets you. “Not really. Well, maybe if I can’t play Quidditch. Professionally.”

“Well, you may end up a tad over-qualified - there aren’t many professional Quidditch players with an N.E.W.T. in Potions, I can tell you that! But take a well-earned point for Ravenclaw for your answer.” He smiles genially. “Convictions aside, we will be brewing this very love potion today. And while they’re not illegal, they are banned at Hogwarts so I’ll be ensuring that you’ve vanished your potions at the end of class.”

Professor Slughorn instructs you all to find the page on Amortentia in ‘Advanced Potion Making’ and to start brewing the potion. It’s one the most delicate potion recipes you’ve ever come across- even compared to the other N.E.W.T. level potions you made last year.

Your cauldron needs to be as hot as possible so you set the fire underneath it and get to work, furrowing your brow and reading the steps outlined in your textbook. You add rose petals to your pestle and mortar and start grinding them into a paste.

“So, what did you smell when you walked past?” McLaggen nods to the front of the room. “The Gryffindor girls’ dorm?”

“Yeah, right, what did you smell? The seat of Harry Potter’s broomstick? Because sticking your nose there is the only way you’ll actually make the team this year.”

He laughs. “I don’t know, I fancy my chances now that a few of the old stalwarts have left. What’s Alicia up to these days, anyway?” He asks, not unpleasantly but your jaw clenches all the same as you grind your rose petals.

“We broke up at the start of summer.”

“Ah well, I’ll put a word in with Katie Bell for you when I join the team. I know how much you like those Gryffindor chasers.”

“Fuck off, McLaggen.” You realise you’ve been mashing your rose petals a bit too hard and they’ve turned to slop. Shit.

“Alright, just a joke.”

“Yeah, well don’t bother.”

While your breakup isn’t fresh, you’re in no mood to talk about Alicia. Minutes pass as both of you stand side by side, stirring your cauldrons anti-clockwise. Your arm aches and your brow begins to sweat from the heat of the cauldron as you count to one hundred and eleven- the correct number of times you’re supposed to stir it according to ‘Advanced Potion Making’.

You stop stirring and drop a moonstone into your potion. The sweet and spicy smell coming from McLaggen’s direction is already much stronger than yours even though you’re a step further ahead of him. You peer interestedly over at his cauldron just as he holds a stone over it, ready to drop it in but your hand flies out to catch it before it can hit the liquid.

“Woah, what-?”

“That’s quartz- not moonstone,” you tut, tossing the quartz on his table.

“Shit, thanks. Good catch- you could be a seeker.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

He smirks in agreement as he chucks a moonstone into his cauldron.

“So, how’s your team looking this year?” He asks, breaking the silence as you wait for your potions to start bubbling, watching for the steam to start rising in characteristic spirals.

“Not bad. Most of last year’s squad is still here, including Cho obviously. I just need a new Chaser to replace Davies.” The heady smell is almost overpowering now as you both lean against the table. You start chopping peppermint leaves and he does the same. “I’ve booked the pitch for try-outs this Saturday. When are Gryffindor’s?”

“No word yet. Potter’s not as organised as you.”

“Well, let me know and I might pop down to watch you embarrass yourself.”

He laughs and scrapes his leaves into his cauldron with the edge of his knife.

“I’m hoping to catch him at Slughorn’s dinner party, see if I can butter him up a little.”

“Right, Slug Club,” you say derisively. Honestly, you’d have more respect for Potter if he made his useless friend Gryffindor keeper rather than choosing McLaggen because they’re both in Slughorn’s clique for the Howarts elite.

You tip in your leaves and stir your cauldron counter-clockwise, waiting for the liquid to turn from sage green to pearlescent milky white. McLaggen quickly grabs your arm, his large hand encircling the entire circumference of your forearm.

“Clockwise!” He urges, releasing you so you can start stirring in the opposite direction.

“Fuck!” Making stupid mistakes in Potions is thus far unmarked territory for you. You’re not used to having a Potions partner who distracts you. You watch your potion as you frantically stir the other way, praying that it turns its signature mother-of-pearl sheen. It stays adamantly green.

“Sorry, I didn’t notice- I should have stopped you quicker.”

“And time’s up!” says Slughorn, clapping his hands together.

You look up at McLaggen and he’s looking back at you apprehensively as if you might go off on one- your fiery reputation predecdes you. You take a deep breath and your nostrils fill with the amber and jasmine scent, making you instantly feel calmer. “It’s fine. My mistake. Besides, we can’t all have my reflexes.”

Slughorn walks around the room inspecting the potions and providing feedback. You feel a twinge of resentment when you see that McLaggen’s looks almost identical to the example potion.

Slughorn looks in your cauldron and gives you a small nod. “A decent effort but that should have been clockwise stirring in the final step, my dear.” You purse your lips and give him a curt jerk of the head in acknowledgement.

He positively beams when he turns to look in McLaggen’s cauldron. “Ah, excellent, excellent Cormac m’boy!” coos Slughorn, reaching up and gripping McLaggen’s shoulder congratulatorily. He gestures to the rest of the class to come over and see McLaggen’s cauldron. “Now, this is what we’re looking for. A textbook example. One drop and I daresay we’d all be besotted with you.” McLaggen looks at you intently, you suppose he’s feeling guilty for accepting Slughorn’s praise without giving you any credit. “Class dismissed. Cormac, take five points for Gryffindor and I’ll see you on Thursday night for our little get-together.”

“Yes, sir.”

You quickly vanish your potion, shove your belongings into your bookbag, and leave the classroom to catch up with Cho and Marietta in the corridor. The three of you start making your way upstairs through the throng of students to your next class but you hear a voice calling from behind you.

“Hey!” A heavy hand clasps your shoulder and you spin around. “Thanks for saving me in there,” says McLaggen.

“Anytime,” you say, in what you hope is a casual, and not annoyed tone.

In the busy corridor, someone bumps into the heavy bag on your shoulder, knocking you off balance. McLaggen catches you before you fall, holding you tightly against him and you’re overpowered by the scent of amber and jasmine again. He helps you stand back upright and places a hand on each of your shoulders to steady you. You blink up at him, stunned, meeting his green eyes.

“There. We’re even.” He grins. “My reflexes aren’t that bad after all. Anyway, see you later.” He slaps you on the back in a sporting kind of way and heads off in the opposite direction.

“Are you okay?” asks Cho as you stare after him, speechless, watching his broad figure, head and shoulders above most of the crowd, as he walks away. You feel your heart pounding in your chest.

He smells like Amortentia. Or, says a small voice in your head, Amortentia smells like him.

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