Wine Tasting
James would finally leave the Hospital Wing the day after Audrey had visited him
As he quietly closed the large Hospital Wing door behind him, he had to admit that his back was still a bit sore and so were his legs. He didn’t feel quite recovered.
The previous night, he was hit with a wave of slight insomnia that didn’t seem to quite subside until the late hours of the night. He lay in bed staring at the dark, marble ceiling (with blurry vision) with his weary eyes becoming blood-shot by the minute. Overall, to put it quite simply, it wasn’t a very pleasant sleep at all. Even so, all in all, he felt capable to at least attend his classes and study. Not like he had much choice, however. Exams were fast approaching, and the thought of being held back a year from failing exams was something that actually came to James’s immediate attention.
It was already the second week of June, and James knew that every single student at Hogwarts would be cramming and scrambling to get as much information in their heads as humanly possible. This was clearly evident as he made his way up a stairwell littered with girls studying frantically.
“Jenny, think for yourself for once!” screamed one girl shrilly at another, and a large argument burst out and echoed through the stairwell James had just left.
There is no doubt that Moony is studying right now. James told himself as he stepped through a colourful tapestry with a unicorn painted upon it. He made his way through the short cut that consisted of an awkward uphill, stone path to the sixth floor.
Just thinking about Remus reminded James about how that very same Remus had come up to the Hospital Wing last night, exasperated and in utter disbelief.
“You cannot be serious!” panted Remus as soon as he entered the Hospital Wing and noticed that James was sitting up and sipping a bowl of hearty chicken soup.
It was around dinner time and coincidently an hour after Audrey had just visited him.
James peered at the teen’s bewildered expression intently.
“Sirius! Of all people! He told Severus?!” interrogated Remus with exasperation as he paced about beside James’s hospital bed (boring a path into the stone floor). “How could he just TELL him?!”
“I’m guessing Dumbledore talked to you?” questioned James rather calmly as he observed Remus gaining more grey hair by the second.
“Obviously. He told me straight away after I came out of the Shrieking Shack this morning, which by the way was extremely unpleasant seeing as you guys weren’t there.”
“I was there.”
Remus gave him a skeptical look with his almond eyes, but then softened his expression as he examined James’s bruised condition.
“I’m sorry, James. I didn’t mean- well- what I meant to say…” stammered Remus hesitantly and slightly ashamed.
“It’s alright. We all know it wasn’t your fault. You had no control over it,” responded James sympathetically while setting his soup aside. “It’s OK.”
Remus collapsed with disbelief in a chair right beside James’s bed and buried his head in his hands. His hazelnut hair fell down around his face, and James could still see a slight trace of pink apparent in his cheeks from running up to the Hospital Wing. James heard a large thud come from Remus’s book bag hitting the stone floor.
“You don’t need to worry. Severus was sworn to secrecy by Dumbledore himself. He’s not going to be telling anybody anything,” reassured James comfortingly. He paused hesitantly before asking, “Did you talk to Sirius?”
“Yeah,” replied Remus while leaning back on his chair uncomfortably.
James could see a bit of a wrinkle still noticeable by Remus’s brow.
“And?” James pressed further with craving curiosity.
“I was really upset at first. I stormed into the dormitory as soon as I found out all the events that unfolded last night from Professor Dumbledore. I began lecturing him and Peter about all the things that could have gone wrong. Sirius kept defending himself by saying that it was only a small prank. Peter also agreed with Sirius that it was just a ‘small bit of fun’.”
He paused and sighed.
“A small bit of fun that went wrong,” added James, and Remus shot him a dark glance.
“Finally,” Remus continued, “he shouted a few explicit words and stormed out of the room angrily. He’s reckless that kid, he really is. Peter apologized to me rather hurriedly and left the dormitory a few minutes later. The three if us didn’t talk during our classes for the rest of the day.”
Professor McGonagall must have been shocked. I would have paid money to see her face. thought James to himself jokingly, even though it was quite inappropriate to be thinking humorously in the current situation.
“During dinner in the Great Hall, I approached Sirius though.”
James glanced at Remus suffering from stress before asking, “What did you do?”
“I forgave him,” he replied wearily with a tired sigh. “That’s what friends do.”
James smiled slightly, but Remus did not see it. He smiled because he was reminded once again of Remus’s fault of always wanting to be liked and (inevitably) cutting everybody a huge amount of slack as a result.
Remus, James thought at the time, you like to be liked.
James turned a corner briskly and dragged his feet up stiffly to the front of the Gryffindor common room entrance. The Fat Lady observed him with boredom.
“Dung beetles,” said James, and the Fat Lady moved aside slowly.
Clambering through the portrait hole, James made his way quietly by a large group of studying fifth years, up the boys’ stairs, and into his dorm to find Peter Pettigrew studying away. Peter was lying on his stomach on his own bed and glancing feverishly through a thick text book. When James entered, however, Peter immediately looked up.
“Prongs,” he began instantly and hopped off his bed to approach James, “are you alright?”
“Just a bit battered, no thanks to you and Padfoot,” he stated plainly and walked around Peter toward his own bed.
“It was stupid, I know, I’m sorry,” apologized Peter quickly, and James thought it sounded as if it were well rehearsed.
He turned to the watery eyed boy with a blank expression.
“Moony was pretty mad, huh?”
“Yeah, and I don’t blame him,” replied James rather coldly.
Peter’s face fell.
Upon noticing this, James stepped towards Peter and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You got to stand up for what’s right, Peter. You can’t always follow people around and do everything they tell you to. You need to follow your own instincts and feelings, no matter how difficult it may seem.”
Peter peered down at the floor, avoiding James’s piercing hazel eyes.
James let go of his grasp on Peter’s shoulder and walked back to his own bed. He glanced at it to notice (with great surprise) that it was well made; a state it was rarely in.
“She wasn’t there in the morning,” stated Peter abruptly, and James turned to him.
“What?”
“I meant Evans. Sirius and I slept in the common room after you stormed off that evening. When we woke up really early and went upstairs, she was gone. All we saw was the bed made real well and crisp like it is now."
“How was the garbage can?” asked James, though he knew it was a really irrelevant question.
“Huh? The garbage can? It was normal. There was nothing wrong with it.” Peter paused awkwardly. “Why?”
You can hold in your liquor, eh Evans? thought James rather immaturely.
“Thanks for telling me,” said James as he clutched his book bag from beside his bed.
He slung the heavy black bag filled with text books around his shoulder and was about to head downstairs when he heard Peter ask, “Are we OK, then?”
James turned from the door to face the plump teen and smiled.
“Sure we are, Wormtail,” he answered and saw Peter’s face light up just before heading down to the library to catch Remus to study for the upcoming exams.
The next few days would pass with haste. Exams had the entire student population of Hogwarts studying non-stop which included the Marauders. Remus and James studied together frequently usually accompanied by Audrey, Naomii and her friends, and occasionally Peter. Sirius, on the other hand, was rarely seen with the other three Marauders. Also, little was said between James and Sirius during their little moments of interaction such as at dinner. Even with everybody busy with their own studying affairs, one couldn’t help but notice that the two were on “unfriendly” terms.
People craved the knowledge of knowing what event or miscommunication had led to this, but no one could figure out a reasonable conclusion.
The tension, however, between the two most mischievous Marauders could never last and would eventually break down.
One afternoon when James walked out of the Great Hall after his Transfiguration exam, he saw Sirius waiting for him right at the end of the hallway. Knowing this as a signal to “talk”, James walked up to Sirius rather casually although he was more curious than casual.
“What did you think of question twenty-six?” were the first words to come out of Sirius’s mouth, and James’s lips curved into a smile.
“I thoroughly enjoyed it. That whole page was on animagi for crying out loud,” replied James, and the two began to walk down the somewhat empty hallway and outside to the court yard.
James understood very well that Sirius was horrible at apologies. He could never admit he was wrong when something was entirely his fault. He would either laugh it off or try to strike up a conversation with a different subject. James knew that Sirius approaching him now was Sirius’s way of honestly and truly apologizing.
“So, how have you been?” questioned James as he glanced at a group of fourth years studying and joking around under a large birch tree.
Sirius pushed his hair out of his grey eyes before replying, “Audrey talked to me.”
James tore his eyes immediately away from the fourth years to stare at Sirius and inquire, “What did she say?”
He sighed uneasily. “She said she was sorry, really sorry.”
James continued to listen intently.
“I know she really meant it. We talked a bit, and then I asked her if we could still, you know, have a long distance relationship.”
James already knew the crushing answer Audrey was going to give. He looked away from Sirius and faced forward instead.
“She said we couldn’t, but we could still write each other as friends. I asked her why, but she said she didn’t know how to explain it.”
James understood perfectly well why. No matter what excuse she would produce about “long distance relationships never lasting”, it could never hide the fact that she was afraid. She was afraid to fall into a deep relationship with Sirius where breaking up due to the distance would result in a heart-breaking pain that she never wanted to experience. She wanted it to stop, so she would never have to feel that type of heart break.
Sirius and James stopped at the corner of the court yard and looked at each other speechlessly.
James had no idea what to say. He acknowledged that “sorry” was the word people would normally use in this situation, but James knew that the word was usually said only when one didn’t know what to say. It was a word that had been overused to the point that it rarely held sentimental meaning anymore.
The only thing James could do was meet his best friend’s hurt expression.
“She was the only girl I could never fool around with. She was one of a kind. And you know what? I’ve noticed that in this world, no one ever listens to anyone else. It’s really messed up because people just want to let things out and be heard, but no one will listen. I have to admit, I kept a lot of things from people, even you guys. When I met Audrey though, I couldn’t help but spill out everything bottled up. I think it’s because, for some reason, I knew she would understand. Do you know what I mean?”
After a slight pause, James answered, “Yeah, I know.”
Audrey Filendale was not strikingly beautiful, witty, out-going, or overly interesting. On the contrary, she was painfully shy and had a large fault by avoiding her fears to the point she even hurt others. Though she considered herself unintelligent, she possessed a remarkable talent for understanding others. Oblivious to her knowledge, Audrey held an emotional intelligence that could never be taught through text books or professors. That intelligence could only be possessed by few through the heart; the soul.
When all the sixth years had finally written all their final exams, it was already the last week of June. Only a few people were left cramming for one last exam during the last week, while everybody else was relieved that their tests were already over. Since most exams had already been written, many classes were used as extra study periods or free time. Professor McGonagall had even said that if they had already written their Transfiguration exam, then they needn’t come to class. Professor Slughorn, on the other hand, felt that this extra time would wisely be used to conjure “fun” potions.
“Class!” announced Professor Slughorn one hot day. “We will be doing an extremely promising potion today!”
The class groaned.
“Now, now, no need to be pessimistic about it! We are planning to brew Athena’s Chalice. Now, can anybody tell me what that is?”
Instantly, someone raised their hand, and Slughorn addressed them to speak.
“Athena’s Chalice is not actually a potion, sir, but a type of drink that can be brewed. The drink, I believe, is composed of fine grapes, almost close to a wine. It was named Athena’s Chalice after the Greeks since they are extraordinary wine makers.”
The room burst out in murmurs and whisperings.
“Wine?! We’re making fine wine?!” James heard a couple of Slytherin girls whisper to each other excitedly.
“It is true that many consider Athena’s Chalice a drink rather than a potion, but it is still said that if a person has a large exposure of this brewed potion, their senses will heighten and especially their memories. Some have even said the potion can stop memory loss. It is very effective with the mind. Many properties of this potion, however, have yet to be discovered and tested. All this talk about memory loss is still considered theoretical. Still, very good, Miss Evans! Ten points to Gryffindor!” declared Slughorn ecstatically.
The Slytherin population of the class moaned.
James’s heart skipped a beat. He had not forgotten about Lily telling him that Brendan had broken up with her, but was it actually true? Was she just drunk? Did they get back together? He had no idea. He hadn’t talked to Lily since the Firewhisky incident, and he heard no new rumors or gossip about her.
He hated to admit that he had already told Lily that he no longer felt any feelings towards her. Did she really take it seriously though? Or (by some miracle) did she know he was lying? Well, whatever the situation, he vowed that he would talk to Lily today even though he wasn’t quite sure what he was going to say to her.
After Professor Slughorn explained a bit more about the “potion”, the class commenced to brew their Athena’s Chalice. Sirius seemed keen on making a successful wine potion and was following the complex directions written on the board up front with extreme care. Unfortunately for him, James was so busy thinking about Lily Evans that he became careless. After a bit of time and mixing in ingredients, James and Sirius’s brew started to smell a lot like sour grapefruit instead of sweet, wine like grapes.
“Mate,” started Sirius with a look of disgust after tasting his and James’s puce coloured concoction, “I highly doubt that this is what it’s supposed to taste like.”
As the class was nearing its end, Professor Slughorn walked around the classroom to peak at each student’s cauldron.
“Not quite what I was expecting, Mr. Pettigrew,” said Professor Slughorn after tasting Remus’s and Peter’s cauldron. “Next time, you might want to add a little less ginger root.”
As Professor Slughorn moved to go to another table, Peter whispered to Remus under his breath, “I swear we followed the instructions down to the last pinch of ivy leaf.”
Peter and Remus glanced around the class suspiciously before conjuring two small, plastic cups and filling them with their cauldron’s potion.
“Cheers,” announced Remus quietly, and the two drank up.
Upon the first sip, Remus and Peter began to cough and splutter before gasping for air.
“That is the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted,” gasped Remus as Peter broke out into laughter.
“I guess ivy leaf wasn’t supposed to be in there, eh?” questioned Peter sarcastically before going scarlet.
Professor Slughorn continued to go around to each cauldron, not seeming to be satisfied with the taste of each (well except Serverus Snape’s), but appearing to be happy about everybody’s enthusiasm and effort.
Finally, Slughorn came around to Lily and her partner’s cauldron. He took a sip, and his eyes lit up magnificently.
“Miss Evans and Miss Hall, this is absolutely delicious! Amazing conjuring if I do say so myself!"
“If you say so, sir,” replied Lily rather cheekily with a grin, and Lily’s partner giggled to herself.
Professor Slughorn raised an amused eyebrow at Lily, and then said, “Alright class, time is almost up. Please place your cauldrons at the front end table. As a treat, I will drain them out for you. Class dismissed!”
The majority of the class carried their cauldrons up to the front table, packed up their books, and hurried out of the room in an attempt to spend some time outside by the lake. James on the other hand, slowly packed up his belongings while casually stealing glances at Lily still talking with Professor Slughorn about her Athena’s Chalice.
“Can you be any slower?” questioned Sirius almost incredulously.
James glanced up at him. “You go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Want me to put the cauldron up front for you?”
“No, I’ll do it.”
“Suit yourself,” shrugged Sirius, and he left the room with Remus and Peter.
James packed up as slowly as he could, and finally he saw Lily walk over to the front table to drop off her cauldron. James instantly grasped his cauldron and approached the front table. He glanced behind him to see Lily still packing up her book bag as he placed his cauldron on the table. He was about to go and grab his book bag just in time to catch Lily going out of the classroom when suddenly there was a thud. James looked in the direction of the sound to see the whole table holding all the cauldrons wobble and collapse suddenly, spilling all of the cauldrons’ contents.
“Mr. Potter!” yelled Professor Slughorn. “Was that really necessary?!”
James shot a glance at the doorway to see a dark haired teen with a hooked nose dashing out of the room and out of site.
“No, sir,” replied James scowling after Severus, and he saw (to his dismay) Lily walk out of the room along with her Potions partner, Amanda Hall.
“I expect you to clean this mess up promptly,” informed Professor Slughorn. “And since you insist on being a burden, I demand that you clean it up by hand.”
“Yes, sir.”
James didn’t know how long it took him to clean up all the spilled mixtures, but he knew that it was tiresome and time consuming. He estimated that he had spent the last two hours cleaning on his hands and knees in order to soak up all the wine concoctions that had spilled. The cuffs of his pants, his Gryffindor tie, the sleeves of his shirt, and his knees were soaked. His back was aching from bending over too long, and he was drenched in what smelled like a strong, fruity white wine.
As James stacked the last cauldron back on a desk, Professor Slughorn came out of his office.
“You may go, Mr. Potter,” he said, still somewhat annoyed.
James nodded before throwing on his Gryffindor robes, clutching his black book bag, and heading out of the dungeon.
What an ungrateful prat. James told himself as he trudged his way up to the second floor. I save his skinny, greasy haired neck, and what does he do? He decides to ruin my chance to talk with Evans and also gives me a back breaking clean up assignment from Slughorn. To make it worse, I smell like I just decided to jump in a pool of fruit juice mixed with rubbing alcohol. I bet anybody could smell me a mile away. I should have let Remus eat him, though I doubt that would have been a very tasty meal…
James lugged his feet up a staircase to come to the sixth floor which was not surprisingly deserted. The reason was because there was nothing present on that floor except for a few empty classrooms and a small broom closet that James highly doubted anyone used.
James past by a boys’ bathroom (still fuming about Snape) and was halfway up the marble staircase leading to the seventh floor when he saw someone at the top of the stairs catch site of him. James stopped immediately, and for the first time in many weeks, he automatically grasped the back of his thick, messy hair and ruffled it.
Lily Evans stared at him for a moment with a blazing, firey look in her oval shaped eyes that James couldn’t quite explain. He was at a loss for words as he automatically observed her fine red hair and thin figure. He noticed that she appeared to be slightly out of breath. James didn’t know if it was his imagination or not, but he swore he saw Lily observing him in the same way he was to her.
After a slight pause with both of them not saying anything, Lily finally shook her head slightly in disbelief and approached him quite swiftly. She grasped him by the shirt collar as she pushed him against the marble wall.
“I admit it alright! The way you ruffle your damn hair, prank other people carelessly, play around with that idiotic Snitch, flirt witlessly with every single girl you see, your bloody, frickin' smile, I love it all, alright?! I love it...”
James just gawked down at her with bewilderment.
Was this the one girl that despised him for as long as he loved her? Was she really the one that ripped his heart out and tore it to pieces last December? The one he would give the world for? The one he could never explain why he loved?
Without any hesitation or warning, Lily Evans glanced up at his hazel eyes framed by his round-rimmed glasses, closed her own stunning green ones, and kissed him.
Now, James had always imagined a kiss with Lily Evans to be along the lines of a different tune. Not saying he fantasized a lot about kissing her, though it did wander into his mind occasionally.
He thought that he would ask Lily to go for a midnight stroll. She would agree reluctantly, and then James would take her to the Quiddtich pitch. They would ride around on his broom with her wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. Then, when they eventually landed, they would lie down in the middle of the pitch to watch the stars. At that point, he would ask her out, and she would say yes in a “I-love-you-James Potter” tone. Then, he would lean over all mysterious and cool to see her blushing shyly and being nervous. He would take this as his cue to lead her into a passionate kiss that was strong and showed to her how good of a kisser he was.
Unfortunately for James, his first kiss with Lily Evans was not exactly what he had in mind.
His world was spinning, his heart leapt up into his throat, a spark of passion burst within his chest and stomach, and James didn’t quite know which way was up or down. The moon became the sun, and it was raining when there was not a cloud in the sky. James’s world had suddenly filled with a happiness that could never be explained, only experienced.
For the first time, James felt he wasn’t the one in control. All his life, he was the smooth and suave character. He knew what to do in every situation and took everything in stride, but now, he wasn’t. He felt as if he was in a middle of a dance, when suddenly his female partner had decided to take the lead instead of himself. At the same time, the music turned from a soft jazz piece to a passionate tango.
Lily Evans kissed with so much authority and passion that it shook his world and almost made him feel somewhat vulnerable.
Wasn’t Lily Evans supposed to kiss lightly and shy like a good, law-abiding prefect?
James hated to admit it, but it was inevitable: Lily Evans was an amazing kisser, perhaps even better than himself.
She pulled away slowly and inhaled. James opened his eyes and finally found his nerves. He softly wrapped his arms around her waist and gazed down at her.
“Promise me one thing, James Potter,” said Lily with a grin coming across her face as she gazed up into his eyes with her piercing green ones.
James paused and gave her a questioning expression.
“Next time we kiss, make sure you don’t smell like you just came from some out of control wine tasting party."
James chuckled. “Will do.”