CHAPTER FOUR
Problems in Potions
I followed Leah through several hallways, down a few staircases, and down to the dungeons, where Potions was held.
I looked around the room. The cold grey walls were lined with blank shelves filled vials of already-made potions. The room was filled with two person desks and the basic setting needed for potion making. A large blackboard covered the front wall behind the teacher’s desk. Next to the desk was a large cabinet. A door was open, and inside I saw jars of spare ingredients.
At one of the tables near the front, sat a girl with fiery red hair. It was Lily. Her head lay in her arms, and she seemed to be asleep, yet she sat up straight when Leah and I approached.
“Oh, hello Leah, Amelia,” she said, smiling feebly.
Leah placed her bag next to Lily and plopped down, pulling out a book. “Amelia, I’m going to sit by Lily, I hope that’s alright. You could sit with Haylie when she comes,” she suggested, motioning to the desk behind her.
With a sigh, I moved to where she motioned me to go. “What about Micky?”
Lily shrugged. “Micky dropped out of Potions after fifth year. She takes Divination now, that’s her favorite class,” Lily’s voice dropped to a whisper as several other students entered the room, “She thinks she’s a real Seer, but we all know better.”
Before I could respond to this, Haylie, accompanied by the Marauders, burst into the room. They were in a vivid conversation and Haylie’s face was flushed from laughing as she plopped down next to me.
“What did they do this time?” Leah demanded, not looking away from her book.
“They…they….” Haylie’s voice was cut off from laughing so hard as she pointed a finger towards the entrance to the dungeon.
I swerved around to see what she was pointing at and had to fight to keep from laughing. A group of Slytherins was slinking into the dungeon. All of them wore the same expression, their lips were thin and their eyes were narrowed as they had formed what looked like a protective circle.
I peered through them and saw that they seemed to be shielding a boy from view. The boy was tall and gangly, with a hooked nose and long lank hair that fell into his eyes and smothered his face in grease. The funny thing about this boy was that his black hair was highlighted in pink!
“Who is that?” I asked Haylie, while trying not to laugh.
She grinned maniacally. “Severus Snape, the greasiest kid you’ll ever meet. James and Sirius call him Snivellus. They like…er…pestering him sometimes.” I took another glance at the black and pink haired kid. The word pestering seemed to be taking it lightly. James and Sirius, sitting at a table in the back of the room, were roaring with laughter
Just then, a short, balding man entered the room, and everyone scurried to their seats. My first impression was that of a walrus. He made his way to the front of the classroom and began to speak. “Welcome to another year of Potions. I trust you all had a good vacation. I see there are a few new faces here today. I would like to welcome all the Beauxbatons transfers. I am Professor Slughorn. But, seeing as though your brains must have emptied some since we last met, today we will be reviewing a potion we learned last year…” Professor Slughorn went on to describe the potion we were supposed to be making, but I wasn’t listening. This seems to be a pattern that happens in Potions.
I thought about Hollie, and what she wanted from me. Sirius or James…it got me thinking. If I HAD to help her, which one would I help her get? I thought about Sirius….no, I would never help Hollie get Sirius. But James…he liked Lily. Wait a minute, why am I thinking about this? I wondered. Seeing as though I’m NOT helping Hollie, it really doesn’t matter….
“Please turn to page 174 in your copy of Advanced Potion Making and begin. You have until the end of the class,” Professor Slughorn finished.
I mentally slapped myself for not paying attention. I’m going to need to get out of that awful daydreaming habit if I ever want a good grade in this class!
Next to me, Haylie had pulled out her set of scales and had busied herself by chopping up some vile looking root. Following her example, I flipped open my book to the right page and gulped. The potion was really complicated. If this were only review, what would the stuff we’d make later on be like?
Time passed by slowly as I struggled my way through my task. I added ingredient after ingredient, making pinpoint measurements, but it still wasn’t coming out right. As I usually do in Potions class, I began to get frustrated. This is so stupid; will I even need to know how to do this in the real world? With every unsuccessful minute that passed, my frustration grew and grew until I wasn’t sure I could take it anymore”
BANG!
The sound of an exploding cauldron filled the dungeon. For one horific moment, I thought it was my cauldron that had exploded, but to my relief, everyone’s heads swerved to the back of the room where James and Sirius were roaring with laughter.
Peter Pettigrew’s expression was that of extreme shock. His small watery eyes were wide, his mouth hung open, his face was black, and his hair was badly singed. What was left of his cauldron littered the table, and everything around him, including poor Remus, was covered in grayish goo.
In an instant, Professor Slughorn had swished his wand and the goo disappeared. He strode over to where Peter sat, huddled in his chair. James and Sirius stopped did their best to stop laughing when Remus shot them a “this isn’t funny” look.
“Mr. Pettigrew, may I remind you that I was willing to let you into this class because you swore to try your hardest not to make a mess of things. I will arrange for you to have a tutor, and if that doesn’t work, I will have to excuse you from this class. Next class, I expect you to try harder.” Peter hiccupped in embarrassment and nodded. Satisfied that he had gotten through to his student, the Professor turned to Lily. “Miss Evans, if I could please see you after class.”
Lily looked up from her potion. “Yes, Professor.”
Slughorn then turned to where James and Sirius were doing their best to stifle their amusement. “Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, I will have no fooling around in this class. Miss Jordan, please switch with Mr. Potter and try to keep Mr. Black in line.”
I sighed. Of all the days in the world, luck had to abandon me on this one. I carefully moved my potion to the back of the room, trying not to spill. I set it on the table where Sirius sat and plopped down.
I instantly got back to work on my potion, which was bubbling from the few minutes’ neglect it got from Peter’s distraction. I felt bad for the kid. I know what it feels like be on the receiving end of an exploding cauldron, it happened to me plenty of times at Beauxbatons, and it was downright humiliating. I stirred my potion, feeling more and more unhappy.
“Pretty into Potions, I see,” Sirius observed, bringing my attention to him the first time since I sat down.
I shrugged. “Not really, I’m just a terrible potion maker attempting to get a decent grade.”
Sirius nodded. “I can see where you’re coming from there, but I find that when I try too hard to be good at something, the worse I am at it.”
I didn’t answer. I’m always trying so hard at Potions, but I never seem to get anywhere. Hollie tries so hard to be all popular, but the actual smart people can see right through her act. At Beauxbatons, I tried to fit in, but the harder I tried, the more I felt myself excluded from my classmates. Look at James…he tries so hard to impress Lily, but the more stuff he does, the more she seems to resent him.
“You know what, Sirius? That makes sense. Take a look at James,” I began, motioning to where the messy haired kid sat behind Lily. My red haired friend was measuring something with her set of scales, completely unaware that James was gazing longingly at the back of her head.
“What about him?” Sirius asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“It’s like what we were saying at breakfast, the harder he tries to impress Lily, the more she pushes him away.”
“Yeah, now that I think of it, you’re right. She WOULD really like it if James deflated his head a bit…” Sirius sighed. “…if ONLY there was something we could do…”
I cast him a sideways glance. I may not be in Ravenclaw, but I’m not a complete idiot. “No way. I’m not helping you.”
Sirius put on that puppy dog look he used yesterday on the train. “Come on, Amelia! Please? She’s all he ever talks about!”
“And you just want to push the two together? Without any regard to Lily’s feelings? No, I won’t. Lily will hate me forever,” I said firmly, doing my best not to look at him. I wasn’t going to risk my newfound friendship with Lily on a stupid plot. I pictured Lily and James hand in hand. Even from the mental picture in my head, they looked adorable together. What Sirius was offering was tempting, but why was he bringing this up with me? Of all the people in the world, why didn’t he pick someone who knew Lily better? Haylie would love to be in on something like this.
“She won’t hate you if we succeed,” Sirius added, catching my eye.
“True, it would be great for them to get together, but why are you asking me? Ask Remus, he’s your fellow Marauder! Or Haylie, I’m sure she would think it is all great fun.” I pointed out.
Sirius considered this. “Well, Remus is too caught up with homework, Head Duties, and his love for Lady Leah to help out, although his levelheadedness would be a great asset. Haylie would, most likely, let our plans slip. Plus, along with you not knowing Lily as well as the other girls, there’s also the other side. Lily doesn’t know you as well either, and so you could convince her like none of the other girls could. Since you’re new, she’s probably expecting some new things, and we can take advantage of that by helping her see the light when it involves James. And besides, we’re not going to do anything drastic, like locking them both in a broom closet until they start snogging, that’s much too cliché. We would act subtle, changing James’ behavior and slowly giving Lily a new mindset.”
Did he just think of this all up, or did he plan out this little speech? Maybe I was the perfect canidate for the job. “Alright, I’ll do it. But if we get caught, I’m telling Lily that it was all your idea.”
Sirius raised his hands in surrender. “Fair enough. I’ll meet you in the Common Room tonight to discuss the plan.”
I frowned. “Why can’t we just do that right now?”
Sirius smiled again. He does that a lot. It’s very distracting. “’Cause, I think you’ve been neglecting your potion for a little too long. After all, you ARE aiming for good grades.”
My potion! How could I forget? I glanced at it and almost passed out from the stench of burnt rubber that was now emanating from it. I spent the rest of the period attempting to get it back together.
Let’s just say that my attempts failed and I found myself staying after class having a little chat with Professor Slughorn. Lily was there too, but I knew that he wasn’t going to yell at her. Her potion was perfect.
“Miss Jordan, I know that it is your first day here, and welcome, but your potion today wasn’t quite satisfactory. I’m sure it’s just a case of first day nerves, but I want you to try extra hard next class period. You may go. I need to speak to Miss Evans privately.”
“Amelia, wait for me. I’ll only be a minute,” Lily said. With a weak smile, I exited the room.
Leaning against the wall, I felt near tears. My potion had been terrible, and I made a bad first impression on the professor. Stupid Sirius…if he hadn’t distracted me, it would have been better. No, it wasn’t Sirius’s fault. It was mine. Merlin, my first day wasn’t off to a good start at all. My mind wandered to what I agreed to a few minutes prior. Sirius made it seem like the right thing to do, after all , we only want to help our friends. But isn’t it wrong to twist people’s emotions?
The dungeon door opened and a slightly annoyed Lily burst from it. She maganged a weak smile as we set off for the next class.
“What did he want?” I asked.
Lily simply shrugged. “He just wants me to tutor Peter. Not that that’s bad or anything, Peter’s an ok guy, but I would much rather spend my seventh year getting ready for exams and hanging out with my friends.”
I nodded sympathetically. “I’m sure Peter will catch on and you won’t have that much to do. From what I saw today in class, you’re excellent at Potions. It could be worse.”
Lily pondered this, and then smiled genuinely. “You’re right. Come on, we’re late for Charms. Professor Slughorn gave me a pass, but we don’t want to miss anything.”
I followed Lily to the Charms classroom, where the tiny Professor Flitwick was waiting for us. Lily and I slid silently into the last empty desk in the back of the room.
From that point on, classes weren’t that bad. In both Transfiguration and Charms, we got long lectures about our upcoming N.E.W.T.s, (not that we need reminding), and took long complex notes. I was really lucky in Charms to be sitting by Lily; she really knows what she’s doing.
In Transfiguration, I wasn’t so lucky. I was stuck sitting by some Hufflepuff girl named Aly Hazen. Not that Aly was mean or anything, she was very nice and her dark brown hair is in a really cute pixie cut, but she didn’t seem to know what she was doing. Luckily for me, I happen to be pretty decent at that class, so we helped each other.
???
“Hey Amelia, can I talk to you for a moment?” a voice asked, breaking my concentration. I looked up to find Sirius Black looking down at me, his usual grin on his face. I swear that guy never stops smiling.
“Sure, just a second.” I blew on my piece of parchment to make the ink dry faster and got up. I turned to Leah, Lily, and Micky. “I’ll be right back.”
Sirius led me out the Portrait hole and into the hallway.
“So…what’s the plan?” I asked him. He seemed to be quite the prankster; so thinking up plans is probably part of his blood.
“Um…I have no idea. What do you think we should do?”
“Well…I figured you’d have one by now, but off the top of my mind...” I thought for a moment and then finished, “…we should find out exactly what Lily hates most about James, and work out the kinks from there.”
“Sounds like a plan then. You work your magic on Lily, and then I’ll take care of James,” Sirius said firmly.
I smiled. “Sounds good. I’d better get back to that Transfiguration essay. I want to try and finish it before it gets too late.”
I headed back to the table where my essay lay. I picked up my quill and set back to work.
“What did he want?” Leah asked, looking up at me. Her azure eyes were narrowed accusingly.
I shrugged. “I have no idea. He kept mumbling about pranks and stuff. I don’t know why he wanted to talk to me,” I lied. I couldn’t tell them what we were really up to. I felt guilty at the thought of how I was doing this all behind Lily’s back. Stop it, I told myself; she’ll be thanking you later. I hope I’m right…
“He’s probably just trying to lure you into doing one of their stupid pranks. Don’t fall for it, Amelia. It’ll get you nothing but trouble,” Lily advised, looking up from her book.
Leah spoke again, coldly and sternly. It kind of reminded me of my mum…. She said, “Watch out for that Sirius Black. He may be eye candy, but inside is nothing but an empty brain. He’s even more sought after than Potter, and that’s saying something.”
“Well, he is a very good Chaser!” Haylie piped in out of nowhere. We all looked up. She had a pair of Quidditch practice robes on and held a broomstick over her shoulder. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and her face was shiny with sweat. She had obviously spent her evening out flying rather than working on homework. I envied her. I wish I would have thought of flying. It would really help clear my head. “I’ve played on the team with him since second year!”
Leah shook her head. “You and your Quidditch players. Let me guess Haylie, you realized that Amos Diggory is never going to notice you, so you’re stooping down to Sirius’s level. I am ashamed of you.”
If looks could kill, Haylie would have murdered Leah at that moment. Amos Diggory…isn’t he that tall handsome Hufflepuff she was mooning over this morning? I think Aly might have mentioned him in Transfiguration today…she said he was very nice.
“From the looks of it, I don’t see why someone like Sirius would be even remotely interested in me, so there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll keep your advice in mind, though.” I wasn’t COMPLETELY lying; I don’t think Sirius is interested in me romantically. Yes, I’ll admit, I find him very attractive, but from what I’ve seen of his public image, girls are all over him. He doesn’t need one more mooning over him, so I’ll simply be happy as friends.
Leah completely brushed off my comment and continued with her lecture. “Honestly, you would think Remus had some control over the pair of them.” Her azure colored eyes seemed to glaze over at the thought.
Haylie rolled her eyes and laughed. “Oh Leah, will you stop it with the whole Remus thing? We all know you’re obsessed with him.”
“Shut it, Haylie,” Leah snapped and then turned on the rest of us, “I’m going to bed.” She gathered up her things and marched up the stairs.
“Haylie, you and Leah really need to stop fighting,” Micky scolded. “If you don’t, I can see unhappy times for all of us.
Haylie frowned. I could tell that she was slightly hurt by Leah’s behaviour, and was having a hard time covering it up. “Micky, I know you like Divinitation and all, but save it for the classroom. I like to think the future is what I make it, not what’s written in the books or the stars or whatever they teach you in that class.” With that, Haylie marched up the stairs to take a shower.
Micky turned a delicate shade of red and looked down into her lap.
“Oh Micky, it’s not your fault. Leah and Haylie have always fought like this, it’s their clashing personalities. I’m sure Haylie didn’t mean what she just said,” Lily assured her.
I sat still in my chair, wondering where I fit into it all. The girls seemed to handle all the drama on their own, I really don’t know where I can contribute. So I decided to be supportive, no matter what my friends disagreed with. Everyone has their different opinions, and I guess I will respect them and then, if I’m lucky, I’ll have a special place in the group.
A/N: Again, sorry for the long wait! I'm definitely going to work on this more often! Thanks to my beta, Star, who helped me work out all the kinks. Please, leave a review! What am I doing good? What can I improve on? Any ideas for later chapters? Feedback is wanted! I want to know what you guys think!
A Girl Like You by Lady Alanna
Chapter Notes: Sorry guys, I've been neglecting my fan fic lately...*hangs head in shame*
But, I'm back, and I'm going to start on the next chapter right away!!!
This chapter gave me a lot of trouble. The origional writing was all unsmooth and icky, but with the help of my awesome beta, Star, we got it all worked out!
Leave a review! I want to know what you think!