Trial Product

Disclaimer: I don't not own any of the Harry Potter books, nor the characters in it.

"Katie, just the girl we needed!"

Wearily, Katie Bell looked up from her Potions notes to see none other than the identical faces of the Weasley twins. Feeling a bad sense of foreboding, she eyed the two warily.

"What do you want?" She stuffed her books into her bag, knowing that whatever the twins had in store for her, she wasn't about to get any studying done.

"Now, now." George plastered an offended look on his face - one that Katie did not fall for. "You're looking at us as if we're You-Know-Who coming back to attack you himself. Fred, if dear Katie is going to be in such a cross mood today, I don't suppose she'll do after all?"

"No, George, I don't believe she'll be willing." Fred drew out a perfume bottle from within his robes and waved it tantalizingly in front of her. "And I suppose we'll have to find some other lucky lady to test out our invention."

"I don't want to be your guinea pig again," Katie said, but she eyed the bottle curiously nonetheless. "What's in the bottle?"

"Oh, nothing," Fred replied. "If she doesn't want to be a part of this, then it doesn't concern her, does it, George?"

"No it doesn't, Fred. Miss Katie Bell will just have to wait to find out about our Valentine's Day product." And with that, the two began to turn away.

After debating it within herself for about two minutes, curiosity eventually won out and Katie called, "Wait."

The two paused, and Katie could have sworn she saw triumphant smirks grow on their faces - expressions identical to a predator when it has finally snagged its naïve, unsuspecting prey - but she shook it off. "This isn't saying I'll agree to be your test subject," she began uneasily, "but perhaps, if you explain exactly what it is that you want me to do, I might be persuaded to."

Fred drew out the perfume bottle again, and Katie eyed it eagerly. "It's a perfume that gives off a different aroma to anyone who smells it," he explained.

"Sort of like Amortentia?" Katie asked, thinking back to what she was studying earlier.

George nodded. "Exactly like it. Girls unlucky in love will be able to use it to attract their potential lovers-to-be; the aroma the person smells reminds the person of the one thing that they find most attractive of all. It'll be irresistible to the person."

Katie's eyes widened. "I see. But what exactly did you want me to do, then?"

"I thought that would have been fairly obvious now," Fred said, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

"We want you to wear it for 48 hours!" George exclaimed enthusiastically, mimicking Fred by doing the same.

"You want me to - " Katie said slowly, and then she shook her head wildly. "Oh no - there is no way on earth that you can get me to - "

Fred sprayed the perfume into her hair, and the twins released the infuriated Chaser to flee to their dorms.

"You sure are popular today," Leanne remarked to Katie, glancing at the growing crowd of smitten wizards gathering behind them, or, to be more specific, Katie.

Groaning, Katie covered her face with her hands. "I am going to kill those Weasleys," she muttered darkly. "I've had fifteen boys ask me out at breakfast, three boys that tried to follow me into the girl's restrooms at lunch, and a love potion slipped into the pudding at dinner. This perfume has been nothing but a nuisance to me all day!"

"Funny, you'd think having a crowd of boys following you around all day would be a good thing," Leanne remarked amusedly, but didn't continue when Katie shot her a dark look. "It does smell nice though. Like chocolates. I know the perfume doesn't work on you, since you're wearing it, otherwise I'd ask you what you smell. Oh well. What is attractive to you then, Katie?"

"My slave-driver of a Captain," Katie muttered absentmindedly, thinking of that morning's five am practice and shooting death glares at two Ravenclaws trying to discreetly sniff her hair.

"Come again?" Leanne asked, eyebrows furrowed.

Realizing the implications of what she just said, the Chaser turned a bright shade of red. "I mean, " she said, stammering, "if you're asking me what I think I'd smell if I weren't wearing the perfume, I'd probably smell Quidditch robes. A-a-anyways, I think it's near curfew. I should head back to the common room. See you, Leanne!"

"Bye Katie!" her friend called, confused. She wasn't entirely convinced that those were the words Katie had spoken, but she let the subject drop to wave goodbye to her friend.

Her face still red, Katie shouted the password to the Fat Lady before stumbling inside. By now, most of the Gryffindors had gathered inside. A few of the boys turned their heads when she walked past, and she seethed again. The twins, however, were nowhere in sight, so she couldn't brutally murder them just yet.

"Katie!" The voice of her grinning seventh-year captain, Oliver Wood, came from near the fireplace. Letting her tired shoulders sag wearily, she smiled softly and waved.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned, as she drew near. "You looked tired."

"Understatement of the year," Katie muttered, but sat down next to him. "Fred and George," she offered by means of an explanation.

"Oh." That was all the explanation he needed, and he enveloped her in a hug sympathetically. The boy that had tried to slip a love potion into her pudding turned away, disappointed, when he saw this.

Katie sighed. Well, at least she got rid of one of them. Now to wait for the stupid perfume to wear off….

A thought formed in her head, and Katie peered up at Oliver, curious. He was acting normally and didn't seem to be bothered by the perfume. "Hey Oliver?"

"Yes?" he looked up from a new play that he was sketching.

"Do you smell anything…irresistible?" Katie asked slowly.

His eyebrows arched at her choice of vocabulary. "Not really. Why?"

"…Fred and George made me try out one of their new products again. It's perfume this time," she answered.

"Really now?" Oliver asked, frowning. He leaned in closer to her, causing Katie to turn a light shade of pink. Luckily for her, he didn't notice. "I don't smell anything."

"Nothing?" She asked, surprised. Had the perfume worn off already?

"No." He shook his head. You just smell like what you normally smell like, Katie. This obviously isn't going to sell very well."

"That's odd." Katie opened her mouth to say more, but was cut off by the Weasley twins appearing on either side of the pair. Oliver, noticing how late it was getting, excused himself, probably to continue drawing up the Quidditch plays in a much more peaceful environment.

"Katie, just the girl we've been searching all over for!" Fred exclaimed, but quieted when Katie sent a death glare his way.

"Someone's been quite the popular one today, eh?" George teased. "Our new product will be a hit!"

"Oh, just forget about your stupid product already," Katie groaned, burying her head into her arms. "It's done nothing but make my day a living hell. I'm just glad it's worn off now."

"Worn off?" George echoed. "Katie, look around you. You have the attention of every Griffindor male in this room, single or taken. The product won't wear off for another 24 hours!"

"24 hours?" She screeched, and glared murderously at the sixth years who were openly staring at her. A few girls were angrily trying to get the attention of their boyfriends. When it didn't work, they peered angrily at her and huffily stomped up to their rooms. "Well, then the product is defective!"

"What, our product is faulty?" Fred cried. "But that's impossible! It's flawless!"

"Your 'flawless' perfume just so happens to be something Oliver is immune to," Katie replied matter-of-factly.

"Oliver Wood?" The twins chorused, their eyebrows arching at her words.

"I asked him if he smelled anything new, and he just said that I smelled like I always did," Katie explained. "Odd, isn't it?"

"Yes, very odd," the twins agreed, but Katie could see something in their expressions - they had the look of someone who knew something she didn't, and was not trying very hard to hide it. It irritated her immensely, but gave up trying to figuring it out after remembering her Potions notes that was forsaken in favor of the troublesome perfume.

That wasn't the last she heard of the matter, however. The last thing they smugly said to her before she left for bed was, "Well, Katie, you might not understand this now, but our product's definitely not flawed."

A/N: And there you have it. My first HP fanfic. Make my day? Review? (smiles sweetly)