Placebo

by Marilee Susan Way

Lily is rather dismayed to learn that Sirius has slipped some Amortentia into her morning juice. "And who am I supposed to be in love with then? You?" Black blinked at her. "Er, why? Do you feel like you might be in love with me?" "Not even a little bit," she said, venomously, "Who is it? Oh bollocks, don't tell me. I can already tell. It's Potter isn't it?"

Disclaimer: This is a work of fanficiton intended for entertainment purposes only. All recognizable characters and scenarios are the property of Ms. Rowling and her associate publishers and film makers. No money's being made, and if it were, I would hope to be just as charitable with it as Ms. Rowling herself.

A/N This is ONE-SHOT featuring a Lily and James romance. I've been all about them lately and have read some really brilliant ones. This won't even hope to compare, but I thought I'd give it a go nonetheless.

"Good grief Algernon, what is this?"

Payback most likely, that's what it was. This was all because Lily'd forgotten him in a compartment full of third year Hufflepuffs on the Hogwarts Express, it had to be. Algernon had indicated, through a whole lot of angry mrowling, that he'd suffered most grievously in her absence. This, now, was Algernon making it abundantly clear that rescuing him from the little daisy shirt they'd shrunk for him was only the start of a very long list of amends Lily would need to make towards her cat.

It was three o'clock in the morning and at least three weeks since the train incident, but Lily supposed she should have known it was only a matter of time. There was thick pink goop spread all over the seventh year girl's dormitory. Her cat, with the heaviest concentration of the slimy substance on his paws and whiskers, was now sprawled on her pillow looking quite exhausted after his work.

"Lily, is that you?" asked Addison Deveraux. She peeked out between her bed curtains at the wand light Lily was using to illuminate the mess.

"Yes, sorry," said Lily, dimming the light until it was a very faint glow on the tip of her wand, "I'm just—er, sorting out my cat. I didn't mean to wake you."

"S'right, Algie's a sweetie," she said, yawning back into her bed. After a moment she popped back out though, "By the way, there's some sort of pink slime in your hair, did you know?"

"Right, thanks." Lily immediately reached up and began swiping at her head, trying to clean it off, but more than likely spreading the stuff around even worse. She felt it gunk up under her finger nails and begin to harden into the lines on her hands.

"Oh and there's some on your shoes there too." Devereaux yawned again.

"Yes, thank you Addie. Good night."

It took half an hour to Scourgify the whole room, and Lily was sure she'd be finding little hidden globules around the dormitory for weeks to come. Algernon didn't move once the whole time. Lily pointed her wand light toward her pillow. Amber eyes gleamed back at her, unmoving.

"I suppose you're not feeling well, are you?"

The cat just lay there and Lily was forced to conclude he must be sick from whatever it was he'd spread all over the room. "Alright, come on then you, who needs sleep anyway?" Lily gingerly picked Algernon up and held him to her chest. "Hagrid will have something for you, I reckon."

She descended the staircase to the Gryffindor Common Room and there found the source of Algernon's mess. It was fellow seventh year, Sirius Black, knelt before the fireplace stirring a cauldron he'd set up over the fire—the way wizards had done it a century ago. There were hundreds of beakers full of different shades of pink goop surrounding him, and a few odd little grey ones as well.

"Er, Black," said Lily, "What is—what exactly are you doing?"

Black was so concentrated on his stirring, that when Lily spoke he jumped a little and dropped his wand in the potion.

"Accio Black's wand," said Lily, who could admittedly be rather quick on the draw when the planets aligned correctly. She wiped it on her robes and then handed it back to Black. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to frighten you."

He didn't say anything, just continued gazing at her, assessing her, Lily supposed. "Erm, what? Is there still stuff in my hair?"

"No, no, nothing like that," said Black, smirking, "Only, you've got a hand a potions, haven't you Evans? You're one of Old Sluggy's very favorites, eh?"

"Well I—I suppose, why?"

"I'm working on a bit of extra credit," he said, "I'll need to get my Potions grade up if I expect to join the Auror Academy, know what I mean?"

"You?" said Lily, before she could restrain herself, "You, Sirius Black, are going to join the aurors?"

"I'd have thought it was obvious."

"You do realize aurors are in charge of enforcing the laws, right? As in, you know, the rules—those things you tend to view as negotiable and not always applicable?"

"Evans you've completely misread my multifaceted nature," said Black, "Not that I can blame you, I am, after all, quite mysterious."

"Oh brother."

"Allow me to enlighten you, dear Lily, may I call you Lily? I am, after all, about to give you a rare peek at my inner psyche."

"Listen, Black—."

"Call me Sirius."

"Fine, listen Sirius, fascinating as that sounds, I can't really stay. My cat, Algernon, got into whatever this is you're making and now he's sick. I have to get him to Hagrid's."

"I'm hurt Lily, don't you want to get to know me better? Haven't you always yearned to answer the question, Who is Sirius Black?"

"I've known you for six years," said Lily, "I reckon I have a better understanding of Who is Sirius Black than you'd think."

Lily turned for the portrait door and Black sprung to his feet. "Wait! Can't you just help me a little before you go?"

Lily sat down on the armchair before the fire, clutching Algernon on her lap. "You have five minutes," she said, "What are you trying to make?"

"Brilliant! I'm trying to make Amortentia."

Lily stood right back up. "You cannot be serious."

"What? You made it in class last year, I remember. Slughorn was thrilled. Come on Evans, I need some extra credit and I've been working on this all night."

"Please Lily?"

"Ugh, this is pointless, Sirius. You're not even using the right type of cauldron. You need a solid gold cauldron and I highly doubt you have one of those lying around, do you?"

"Accio gold cauldron," said Sirius with a flick of his wand toward the dormitory.

To Lily's bewilderment, one came skirting through the air towards them.

"You have a solid gold cauldron?"

"What? It's been in the family for centuries. They don't rust, you know?"

"And your mum just let you bring it to school with you? I somehow don't think—."

"No, no. You're right, dear old mum wouldn't even let me touch it let alone bring it to Hogwarts. Nah, I nicked it when I ran away from home this summer."

"You—you ran away?" said Lily, "Why?"

"Aha, don't know so much about Who is Sirius Black after all, eh Evans?"

"I know you're an animagus, Padfoot," said Lily.

That certainly brought Sirius up short. Lily smirked.

"And I also know that those balsam seeds you're using are no good," said Lily, pointing to the ingredients Sirius had spread out on a large rug before the fire, "Look, they're supposed to be brown and they've all gone black. Your preservation charms must be failing."

"How long have you known?" asked Sirius.

"About the seeds? Only about a minute or t—."

"No, no, about Padfoot?"

"Hm, oh since the start of sixth year, when you decided to chase Algernon around the platform for the Hogwarts Express. And come on, Sirius, I'm not completely daft. You must have asked McGonagall a thousand questions about her animagus the previous year, I thought it must only be a matter of time before you became one too. I admit, I was a little impressed—."

"And you never said anything?"

"What? Why would I say anything? You could get in serious trouble for becoming an underage animagus. And unregistered animagi who are of age can end up in Azkaban."

"And do you know about the others too?"

"What others—oh! Oh, you mean Potter and Pettrigrew managed it too? Now Potter I could see puzzling that out. He's quite good at Transfiguration. But Peter?"

Lily shook her head in wonder. They may goof off in class, but Lily had to hand it to her Gryffindor yearmates, when they set their minds to something, they were quite ingenious.

"You didn't mention Lupin."

Black was gazing at her again, assessing. Lily shrugged uncomfortably and peered at her watch. "Wow, it's nearly four in the morning. I really need to get Algernon to see Hagrid. Who knows what he's suffering after ingesting all that botched Amortentia."

Lily stood and carried Algernon toward the portrait hole. She was halfway outside already when Black called to her.

"Lily," he said, his expression was thoughtful, "I think I understand now what James sees in you."

Lily felt her face begin to heat, and she rather hoped it was too dark for Sirius to make out the difference. "Right," she said, "Er, thanks for that."

"No, thank you Lily. This has been most illuminating."

Lily exited the portrait hole completely before she could think of anything else embarrassing to say. She lit her wand and crept through the corridors of Hogwarts, attempting not to wake anything along the way. She did at one point come across the caretaker's unfriendly cat, Mrs. Norris. But Lily explained the situation about Algernon, and reluctantly, Mrs. Norris let them pass.

Outside, the grounds were covered in a faint mist. There were several thick clouds in the sky, but the stars peaked out intermittently, shining down with the moon on the peaceful early morning. It was sort of invigorating, really, being out before dawn. The day felt like it had so much potential. And it was so quiet too. The insects in the forest had already gone back to sleep for the day, and the birds were not yet awake.

When she approached Hagrid's Hut, however, the silence was lost to the sound of voices. There were several of them, all inside the hut with Hagrid, and Lily wondered, standing outside in Hagrid's pumpkin patch, what on earth kind of time was this to hold a meeting? What surprised her the most was the voice of the school's esteemed Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. "I believe that is all we can do for the time being," he was saying, "If Voldemort has stationed spies in Hogsmeade, we must in turn watch them. Frank, perhaps you can determine if they have a base of operations in the area. It may hold useful clues as to Voldemort's intentions."

Lily inhaled sharply when something grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her behind one of Hagrid's larger pumpkins.

"P-Potter, what—what is the meaning of this?"

He chuckled quietly. "You sound like McGonagall, did you know that?"

Algernon opened his eyes and glared at Potter. Lily glared too, but it was difficult because only half of him was visible. "Is that an invisibility cloak?"

"What gave it away? Now come on, budge under here. Dumbledore's about to dismiss the meeting and we're bound to be caught."

Sure enough, the Deputy Headmistress, Professor McGonagall herself, was the first to leave Hagrid's hut. She strode down the path back to the castle, passing within two or three feet of where Lily and Potter were hiding.

"Is that Frank Longbottom?" whispered Lily, "What's he doing at Hogwarts? Oh look, there's Alice too. And are those the Prewitt twins? Remember them? They were seventh years when we were in our first."

Potter shushed her. When it appeared everybody except Hagrid and Dumbledore had filed out of the hut, Potter turned to her, "My, you're talkative tonight, aren't you?"

"Oh hush, I'm only curious. What are they all doing here?"

"They're the Order of the Phoenix," said Potter with a grand whisper that Lily was certain had been meant to leave her in complete awe.

"The what?"

"Honestly, Evans, how have you never heard anyone whispering about the Order of the Phoenix?"

"I hear you now. So maybe you could explain instead of looking so smug."

"How do you even know what I look like right now? It's too dark to see anything."

"I can very well imagine," said Lily, "Now stop smirking."

He chuckled. "Alright then, the Order of the Phoenix is a secret organization created by Dumbledore. They fight Voldemort."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Oh, well I suppose it's rather obvious when you put it that way, isn't it?"

He chuckled again but cut off abruptly as Dumbledore at last exited Hagrid's hut. He stood on the top step, long white beard shining in the moonlight and looked out into the pumpkin patch. His eyes seemed to pass over the scarecrow and the wheelbarrow, and the many rows of pumpkins, until his gaze fell directly upon the place where Lily and Potter were standing. His beard twitched.

"Are you certain this invisibility cloak is working?" whispered Lily, very close to Potter's ear.

He shuddered, "Er… I think?"

"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, "You've not seen any students out and about this evening?"

"Wassat? Students? Oh no, Professor. Not a soul."

"Very well then. If you do happen to come across any students, a wandering Head Boy and Head Girl for instance, perhaps you can pass along my invitation that they remain in their dormitories during curfew hours from now on."

Hagrid was now standing beside the headmaster, looking bewilderedly out onto the school grounds. "O' Course Professor Dumbledore, sir."

"And what if the student in question wanted to join the Order of the Phoenix?" said Potter at once, shirking the invisibility cloak and approaching where Hagrid and Dumbledore stood.

Lily googled him. He certainly had some nerve.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore.

"It's morning now actually," he said. Lily blinked, some nerve indeed.

"So it is. But as it is still within curfew—."

"Erm, it's not Potter's fault," announced Lily, surprising even herself. She took off the invisibility cloak as well and handed it to Potter. "Algernon, um, that's my cat," she said, holding him up as though to prove her point, "Algernon's sick. I was taking him to see Hagrid, sir, and Potter—um, came along to help out."

"Did he now? That seems quite generous of him."

Potter shrugged. "I'm a generous sort."

Dumbledore's beard twitched again and Lily had the distinct impression that he found Potter's antics quite funny. "Very well then," he said after another moment had passed, "I shall leave you to it."

With a sweep of his robes, Dumbledore followed McGonagall up the path that lead back to the school. Hagrid turned to them then. "Hallo there, you lot," he said, grinning, "I don' reckon I've ever had the two of you here together, now have I?"

Potter and Lily looked at each other.

"What can I say, when Algernon's sick, it brings the most unlikely of people together," said Potter.

Lily grinned and shook her head. "Can you help him, Hagrid?"

Hagrid took the cat into his tree-trunk sized arms. "What's this, Algie?" he said, "Wuz making you so sick, eh?"

"He ate some bad potion," said Lily, "Something Sirius left lying around."

"Hmm, I might have sommat fer that," he said, and he carried Algernon over to his cupboard and began compiling some ingredients.

Potter was regarding her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"You called him Sirius," he said, "You've never called him that before, have you?"

Lily shrugged. "He bore his innermost soul to me tonight," she said gravely, "He laid it all out there, gave me a first-hand account of the mysteries behind that roughish façade of his. I reckon that means we're beyond family names."

Potter coughed. "He—he what?"

"Oh relax Potter, nothing like that," she said, smirking slightly, "We just talked for a bit."

"What about?" said Potter, rather nosily in Lily's opinion.

"Oh this and that. He told me he ran away this summer. To your house, I imagine?"

"Erm yeah, yeah he did."

"How's that been?"

Potter considered her for a long moment. Like Lily, he was not dressed in his school robes, but some muggle jeans and a t-shirt. Odd attire for a pureblood, to be sure, but Lily thought it suited him. He ran a hand through his hair, unsettling it even more than it already was. Bizarrely, Lily had the thought that he looked rather handsome standing there in the firelight.

She shook her head to dispel the unwelcome thought and waited for Potter to answer.

"It's been alright, I suppose. I mean he practically lived there anyway he was over so often."

"But?"

"Well he's got some issues, doesn't he? After the way his family treated him. Bunch of vicious nutters, they are—obsessed with blood status and warped ideas of family honor. It's enough to make anyone a bit mad."

"So what's he do? Cry a lot or something?"

Potter chuckled. "Nah, drinks too much is what he does. And sneaks out a lot. Drives my mum round the twist always worrying about him, so I try to cover for him when I can."

"That sounds—."

Algernon made a loud hacking noise and was soon emptying the pink contents of his stomach onto Hagrid's kitchen table. Hagrid, meanwhile was beaming at him, and patting his back with the pad of his galleon sized thumb.

"That's it, Algie, get it all out. Good boy."

"Well that's disgusting," said Potter succinctly.

Lily just flicked her wand and scourgified the mess. "Thank you, Hagrid," said Lily once Algernon had finished. The cat had sprung right back to his lively self once his stomach was emptied and he eagerly devoured the bowlful of milk Hagrid put out for him.

Lily shook her head. "I reckon we best get back to the castle. Classes start in a few hours and I don't know about you, Potter, but I could really use a long bath after all this."

Potter just gaped at her.

"Potter?"

"Oi, Potter, you coming or what?"

He shook his head as if to clear it and Lily smirked again. "Where's your mind, Potter?"

They left Hagrid's hut, Lily carrying Algernon and Potter carrying his invisibility cloak. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Potter looked unsettled. It was still dark outside, but the sun was just barely beginning to lighten the horizon and there were a few birds chirping now. "What were you doing out here, anyway Potter? You weren't really spying on the Order of the Phoenix, were you?"

"Not at first," he said, "But it's difficult not to spy when you see Dumbledore and all sorts of interesting folks all converging on Hagrid's hut in the wee hours of the morning."

"So what were you doing?"

"Astronomy homework?" he said.

Lily might, might, have believed him if he hadn't phrased it like a question. "Try again."

"I don't know, I was just thinking, really. I went for a run through the forest to clear my head and I—."

"Through the forest?" said Lily, in a shrill voice that she didn't much care for—especially when she realized he was probably safer than most in the forest. An animagus could traipse about undetected and unmolested where a wizard couldn't dream of doing so.

"Er, I was perfectly safe," he replied.

"Alright then," she said.

"Really!"

"I believe you."

"You—er, right then."

"So what were you thinking about? I admit, I had no idea you were so introspective."

It was difficult to tell in the faint light of the fading moon, but it looked as though Potter was blushing. "Just—things," he said.

"Private things?"

"You do realize I snuck out in the middle of the night to contemplate these things."

"Right, right, I understand. Not exactly the sort of things you intend to discuss with people who don't even call you by your first name."

"I'm glad it's any of my names you use actually," he said, "Much better than arrogant toe rag."

Lily smiled, "Well I thought that was a clever nickname."

They entered the castle, and so as not to disturb any of the slumbering paintings, quietly made it up several flights of stairs. Lily made for the prefect's bath, and Potter, taking Algernon from Lily, returned to the Gryffindor dormitories.

It was a nice bath, full of floral scented bubbles and water deep enough for her to swim. The house elves were kind enough to deposit her school robes and rucksack on the edge of the bath, and soon the sun had well crossed the horizon. Lily decided to head down for an early breakfast. She had some extra reading to do for Transfiguration, as McGonagall had warned them they'd be taking a quiz. But she thought she could do it at the breakfast table without too much distraction.

When she arrived, she was surprised to find Sirius Black the only one at the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore nodded at her from the front, which she meekly returned, and then she made her way down to the center of the table to sit across from Sirius rather than her usual spot closer to the door.

"Morning, Sirius," said Lily, helping herself to some eggs and taking out her Transfiguration book.

"It is a good morning, isn't it?" he said.

"I take it the potion turned out alright?"

Sirius handed her a vial of smooth liquid that had a mother of pearl sheen to it. It was swirling around in its container, exactly the way Amortentia was meant to, and when she opened it, she smelled the same thing she'd smelled last year. It was very distinctive. It was a mix of the earthy scent Lily associated with the wind, a musky sort of fading cologne, and underneath it all, something very sweet—like pure sugar.

"Wow, you really did it. That's brilliant Sirius."

He smiled. "Thank you Lily. It was all because of your help."

"You're welcome, Sirius."

Lily spread some marmalade on her toast and then cracked open her Transfiguration book to the chapter on Inanimate Conjurings. She poured herself a goblet of cranberry juice, her favorite in the morning and had swallowed several swigs of it when Sirius said very abruptly:

"Lily, what's that you're drinking?"

"Cranberry juice," she said, looking up from her book.

Sirius' eyes looked very wide on his face.

"What? What's the matter with cranberry juice?"

"Ah—erm, nothing! Nothing's the matter with cranberry juice, a fine drink really, nice and tart. I just—I didn't know you, ah, drank cranberry juice is all. I thought it was only Sylvia Lighthorne from sixth year that drank cranberry juice."

"What are you talking about, Sirius, Evans drinks cranberry juice every morning for breakfast," cut in James who'd appeared behind Lily at some point, "Don't you Evans?"

"Well yes," she said, somewhat taken aback that he'd noticed. But she also had a rather sinking feeling about why Sirius was reacting so strangely. It would be just like Sirius to want to try out his successfully brewed potion on some unsuspecting individual. It wasn't enough for Slughorn or even Lily to praise him on his work—he had to see the results himself. Lily inhaled and felt her face melting into a scowl. Beyond the scent of cranberry, she could just make out that distinctive smell of the Amortentia.

She looked up sharply. "Black," she said, "I need to speak with you."

"Ah, go for it then."

"In private," she said.

"Er, Lily, now's not really a great time actually—."

"It's Evans. And now will do perfectly. Let's go."

"Fine, fine. Where do you want to go?"

"Entrance Hall, now please."

He scurried off and Lily was left to scourgify the rest of the contaminated cranberry juice. She gave a quick glare to Potter, who held up his hands as if to say he had nothing to do with whatever it was Black had done. Lily thought for his sake that had better be true.

Once in the Entrance Hall she rounded on Black. "How long will it last?" she demanded first off.

"Twelve hours give or take. That's what it said in the book anyway."

Lily rubbed at her forehead where she suddenly felt a headache coming on. She wondered if that was a side effect of the potion. She'd never taken Amortentia before after all.

"And who am I supposed to be in love with then? You?"

Black blinked at her. "Er, why? Do you feel like you might be in love with me?"

"Not even a little bit," she said, venomously, "Who is it? Oh bollocks, don't tell me. I can already tell. It's Potter isn't it?"

Black didn't say anything. Just stared at her with one eyebrow raised.

"What?"

"Er, you cursed."

"You're lucky I don't decide to do a whole lot worse than that! What the hell were you thinking? You know what, forget it, I already know what you were thinking. You wanted to test out your potion, and it was just a bonus that you'd be able to humiliate James since he's been blowing you off lately for Head Boy duties—and let's face it, I know Silvia Lighthorne turned you in to McGonagall last week for vanishing Robert Lipsky's hair. You wanted some vengeance on her as well, didn't you? Didn't you!"

"Damn, Lily, you're way more observant than I ever gave you credit for, did you know that?"

"Agh, this is so humiliating! Black, how could you do this to me?"

"Relax, Lily. No one has to know."

Lily breathed deeply. "You're right. We'll just go to Slughorn, explain the situation. He'll give me an antidote and then everything will be fine."

Black didn't say anything.

"What? What am I missing?"

"Do you really think I would douse someone with Amortentia when there's a perfectly good supply of antidote just laying around?"

"I don't understand what you're trying to tell me."

"I contaminated his antidotes yesterday in class."

"You did WHAT?" her voice was back to being shrill and Lily had to work very hard to moderate it. "Merlin Black, why do you have to be so thorough? Oh I can't believe this is happening to me. I won't be able to leave my dorm. I may as well just transfer to Beauxbatons now."

"Relax Lily, don't be so melodramatic."

"It's Evans to you," she said icily.

"Right, right. But listen, you've got a strong will, Evans. Remember in Grinder's class? You were the only one who could even somewhat resist the Imperious curse. The Amortentia's likely the same. You can resist it since you know you've had it."

Lily tried to let her breathing even out. "I can't go back in there," she said, indicating the Great Hall where more and more students were beginning to file in for breakfast. "I think I feel it working already. I can't—I cannot go in there."

"Fine, I'll fetch your rucksack. James and I will meet you in class, alright?"

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Er, listen Black. I'd appreciate it if you, erm, didn't say anything to James, alright?"

"Yeah, I prefer to keep my face not black and blue, so no worries, I won't be telling him a thing."

"Good."

"Good."

Half an hour later, Lily was sitting in the History of Magic classroom facing the ghost of Cuthbert Binns. She'd given up on reading her Transfiguration book and was now attempting to engage Binns in a conversation. "And what was the name of the goblin that started the rebellion?"

"Smotworth the Smelly, Miss Ellis, do try to keep up."

"Yeah okay, Smotworth. And what did he do exactly?"

"Smotworth was the chieftain of a great clan of goblins. He sent a parlay to a horde of trolls in the Northern Mountains of Stoneybrooke in the year 1079. The trolls had a great army at that time. This was before the Troll Containment Laws of 1163 and…"

Lily tried to pay attention. She really did. The ancient history of magical Britain was fascinating. But James and his friends had just walked in and Lily could feel the effects of the Amortentia. "Damn it, Sirius," she muttered.

She'd taken her normal seat in the front, her friend Mary and the other seventh year Gryffindor girls arrived eventually to take the remaining seats around her, but somehow, for some reason, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, all opted to take the seats directly behind Lily.

She turned to glare at Sirius. He winked at her. Oh, the nerve!

Sirius was talking to James, apologizing for something, and Lily's heart began to beat faster. Had he broken his promise? Had he told James about the Amortentia after all? Lily was having a very difficult time not turning around and gazing adoringly at Potter at this very moment.

"Come on, Evans," she told herself, "You can beat this!"

"Really James, I didn't mean to ruin your star chart for Astronomy."

"You set it on fire, Sirius. I don't exactly see how that's an accident."

"Well I was trying to prove to Peter here that I can do an Incendio charm without a wand. C'mon don't be angry. I'll buy you a cauldron cake at Honeyduke's next Hogsmeade weekend, alright?"

"He doesn't even like cauldron cakes," said Lily. And then she felt the need to scowl at herself. Had she really said that aloud?

None of the four Gryffindor boys said anything in response to this and so Lily chanced a peek behind her—and of course immediately regretted it. Sirius was smirking horribly, and the others were just gaping at her.

"What? He doesn't," she said defensively. Damn potion.

"Then what does he like, Lily?" said Sirius, an unholy smile swelling all over his face, "Please, tell us. We're only his best mates after all. How should we know something so—intimate—about our Mr. Potter here?"

Lily didn't want to say it. She didn't. But apparently her will was weak after all and the hopeful look James was giving her was just—it was just too much. Oh how she hated Amortentia with an ungodly passion. "Sugar quills," she said stiffly, "He likes sugar quills."

James beamed at her, and due to the effects of the potion, Lily found herself smiling shyly back.

The lesson began then and Lily forced herself to pay attention to the droning voice of Professor Binns. She took copious notes, as was her custom. She would of course be forced to share them with all of her sleeping and distracted classmates, but that wasn't too bad she supposed. Someone had to make sure all of the Gryffindors didn't fail History of Magic after all.

She glanced back occasionally, to see James and Sirius engaged in some sort of connect the dots game, and every time she did, James would look up and grin at her. It would set her stupid, potioned heart to beating faster every time. It was bloody awful.

After History of Magic was Arithmancy for Lily which James, thankfully, had opted not to take. She was able to survive that class well enough without too many humiliating thoughts regarding James Potter. She took lunch in the kitchens with the elves so as to avoid him after that. And then in Transfiguration, Lily managed to make it more than three quarters of the class period without looking at him once. Of course then he had to ruin it by earning highest marks on his quiz and conjuring an enormous bouquet of wildflowers for the practical portion—which he then gave to Lily.

Lily blushed when she accepted them, her heart beating, once again, quite erratically. "Thank you, James," she said. She was trying, really, she was trying as hard as she could to beat down the admiration she felt bubbling up inside her—for his wand work and for his thoughtfulness and for the smile he seemed to have only for her. She thought, or perhaps rather, she hoped, that had she not been dosed with Amortentia, she would have been strong enough to let Potter know what an attention seeking prat he was, making such an ostentatious bouquet of obnoxiously stunning flowers. After that, she, of course, would have transfigured the flowers into a snapping turtle to give him a good bite on the nose.

Instead all she managed to say was, "They're beautiful."

"You called me James," he said in turn, that stupid smile of his swelling on his face like a balloon.

"Yes well, I'm saving toe rag for some other day, so don't get used to it."

"Listen Lily," he said, drawing close, "There's a Hogsmeade Weekend coming up and I was just wondering if—."

"Er, Professor!" said Lily desperately. McGonagall looked over. "May I please be excused, I'm not feeling well!"

"There's only five minutes of class left, Miss Evans, can't you wait?"

"I'm sorry, Professor, it's urgent!"

"Very well Miss Evans, you may go."

Lily tore out of there faster than a rampaging hippogriff. She ran up the stairs all the way back to her dormitory and flopped herself on the bed. No matter what though, she couldn't seem to forget the look of bewilderment he wore when Lily ran out on him.

This was one powerful brew Sirius had made.

Lily chuckled hysterically. She hadn't known he had it in him. Slughorn was bound to give him the extra credit, wasn't he? Unless he found out about the contaminated antidotes of course. Lily waited in her room, lying on her bed petting Algernon, until the final class of the day was meant to start. She slowly exited the dormitory and made her way down to the Charms classroom. Class had already started by the time she got there and so Lily was forced to approach Professor Flitwick, apologize for her tardiness and then begin her work for the day, long behind everybody else.

They were working on disillusionment charms today and Lily very carefully avoided making eye contact with James Potter or any of his friends while she worked.

Addison Deveraux was the first to approach her. "What's gotten into you today, Lily?" she asked. "You've been acting very… strange."

"I'm just feeling a little—er—off I suppose," said Lily, "I should be fine in about," Lily glanced at her watch, "Three hours and fifteen minutes."

"That seems… oddly specific," said Addison.

"Yes I—yes, it is a bit specific. Er, I don't suppose you've managed this spell yet, have you?" said Lily, groping for a change of subject, "I could use any tips you have if so." Addison fixed her with another odd look, Lily happened to be top in their year when it came to Charms.

"Just, tap your head with the tip of your wand and say Disollvo," said Addison.

Lily did exactly that, but still, the charm did not seem to be working today for her. Lily wondered if being under the effects of a love potion could possibly impair your charm work. Briefly she considered documenting this awful experience for academic purposes. Had that ever been done before? Lily shook her head to dispel her thoughts and tried again.

Unfortunately, Lily wound up the very last student to complete the charm for Professor Flitwick. She only managed it after everybody else had left the classroom which meant, perhaps most significantly, that James was not around to distract her. A bright white light dropped from her wand and soon her body had taken on the exact color and texture of the desks and books behind her.

"Oh very good Miss Evans," said Flitwick, clapping proudly, "Some spells can take us longer than others, but a good bit of perseverance will get you the desired results in the end, don't you agree?"

"Ah—yes, yes of course Professor. Thank you, I… I have to go now!"

Lily grabbed her quill and rucksack and exited the classroom. She did not hear Professor Flitwick yell from behind her, "Wait Miss Evans, don't you want to know the countercharm?"

And in her rushing, invisible state, Lily collided with a first year who in turn dropped all his books and quills on the stone floor of the corridor. Lily felt terrible of course, and she immediately turned to begin helping him clean up, but before she could, James Potter came walking towards them from where he'd apparently been waiting just outside Professor Flitwick's classroom.

"Here, let me help you," he said to the first year, "Accio books," he said with a flourish of his wand, "Accio quills and parchments."

The first year's things all shot straight into James' hands, and Lily, heart beating out of control once again could do nothing but watch as the Head Boy gently pressed the first year's belongings back into his hands. He sent the boy on his way and soon it was just James and Lily standing there in the corridor, quite alone.

"Lily?" he said softly, "Are you still here?"

Lily held her breath.

James put his hands out in front of him and felt around as if trying to find her. He scanned the area and for a while, he stared at a space just by the window. Lily wasn't there of course, and he must have somehow realized that because he shook his head and turned back down the corridor. Lily watched him go.

"Finite Incantatem," she said at last, cancelling the disillusionment. She sighed. This damned Amortentia was forcing Lily to see James in a whole new, and frankly, far more flattering light. She glanced at her watch. Two more hours to go.

Soon Lily found herself wandering down towards the quidditch pitch. She knew very well that James was in practice. He had practice there every Thursday after all. She climbed up to the top of one of the stands and just sat there, trying to think. Lily had to admit, it was something of a blow to her pride to discover that she did not have nearly as strong a power of will as she'd thought. Fighting the Imperious with Professor Graves had been easy compared to resisting Amortentia.

She watched the players fly around the pitch for a long time, each moving in some sort of intricate design. Eventually one of the players landed his broom, quite recklessly, on the stands near her. "Fancy seeing you here, Evans," he said, smirking.

"I'm sure you can imagine exactly what it is that's brought me down here," snapped Lily.

Sirius still held his beater bat in one hand and he used it to deflect a bludger away from them.

"Oh, I may have some idea," he said, utterly smug, "And here he comes now," he said, "Right on cue." And sure enough, there was James, flying straight towards them.

"Lily?" he said, after executing yet another reckless landing in the top of the stands, "What are you doing here?" he asked, with a hint of that hopefulness he'd had earlier.

"We were just discussing that funnily enough," said Sirius.

"Are you feeling better, then?"

Lily glanced at her watch, "Um, nearly."

He watched her movement, "Do you have an appointment or something?"

"Hm? Oh no, just a… um… potion brewing."

"Er right."

Lily felt her hands clenching from the awkwardness of it all, and James ran a hand through his hair, tousling it.

"Well, I'll just leave you two to it then, shall I?" said Sirius, smirking as he jumped back on his broom. He left and once again it was just Lily and James, alone on the stands of the quidditch pitch.

"You're a great flyer," said Lily quite stupidly, because after all, everyone in the school knew that.

James flushed all the same. "Thanks. You're—well, you're great at… at everything."

This was completely ridiculous. They were flirting with each other like first years. Lily at least had the excuse of having unwittingly ingested a dose of Amortentia which had, apparently, addled her brains. She wasn't sure what James' excuse was.

"I saw you helping that first year earlier," she said, because really, why stop now? If she was going to be stupid about this, why not do it thoroughly?

"I knew you were there," he said triumphantly. He took a step closer to her and Lily did not step back. It was a cool, breezy day, and a strand of her hair had blown into her face. James reached up and tucked it behind her ear.

Lily shuddered.

He moved closer.

"You've been distracting me all day," she told him, "I couldn't focus in any my classes because you were there."

"I can never focus in any of my classes with you there," he replied.

"Must be difficult," she muttered, eyes roaming all over his face. She wasn't mad, she thought, this morning when she'd been looking at him in Hagrid's Hut, he really was handsome, wasn't he? He had long eyes lashes and a broad chin. His hazel eyes were bright with mischief and… and passion she supposed you'd call it. He was staring right at her.

"Mhmm, you have no idea."

He was going to kiss her. She knew it. He knew it. Why wasn't she stopping him?

"It's Amortentia!" she exclaimed at last. She exhaled heavily. She'd done it. She'd resisted the effects of the potion.

"What?"

"Sirius accidentally slipped me Amortentia this morning. That's why I've been—you know, in love with you all day. It was all because of the potion. It wasn't… it wasn't real."

The look on his face—it was awful. Lily had never seen anything like it. Her heart clenched at the sight of it.

"James," she said.

"Excuse me." He hopped back on his broom and zoomed straight up towards where Sirius was whacking bludger after bludger back and forth with the other beater. James swerved easily out of the path of the bludgers, heading straight for Sirius. A moment later he connected. He punched Sirius in the face and Lily swore she could hear the sound from where she was standing on the complete opposite side of the pitch.

Lily jumped and covered her mouth. "James!" she said, the Amortentia was making her completely emotional. A tear slipped out the side of her eye and she didn't know what to do.

"PRACTICE IS OVER!" shouted James with an amplified voice and he was the first one off the field.

The rest of the players collected the balls and landed, in various states of bewilderment on the grass below. Sirius was the last one to leave the air and Lily met him on the pitch. "Let me see it," she said.

Sirius reluctantly moved his hands. There was blood smeared all over his handsome face and Lily felt quite sorry for him. He may have played a thoughtless prank, but he hadn't meant to mess with James' feelings. Lily reckoned none of this would have happened if Sylvia Lighthorne had just drank the cranberry juice the way Sirius had intended.

"Episky," said Lily, aiming her wand at Sirius' nose.

It shifted back into place with a sickening crunch and Sirius sighed, "How's it look?"

"A little bloody," she said. Lily conjured a soft handkerchief and began wiping gingerly at his face.

"I got it, I got it," he said. He swiped the little square of fabric and scrubbed with much more force at the blood, "I reckon you told him about the Amortentia, then?"

"He was about to kiss me," said Lily, "It wouldn't have been right. And speaking of the Amortentia, shouldn't it be wearing off by now?"

Despite the situation, Sirius managed a small smirk in her direction. "What Amortentia?" he said.

Lily stopped and glared at him. "The Amortentia you put in my cranberry juice this morning, Sirius."

He smirked all the more and Lily decided she did not like that look on him, not one bit. She had a very strong feeling he was about to tell her something she wasn't going to like.

"Hm, did I ever say I put Amortentia in your cranberry juice this morning?"

Oh Merlin. "Of course you did. You told me you even ruined Slughorn's antidotes."

"True, but in a completely unrelated accident."

Lily was very quiet for a long time. The sun was setting over the edge of the horizon and the fall air was growing cooler.

"So… so what are you saying exactly?" asked Lily, there was an uncomfortable bubble of anxiousness expanding in her stomach, "Are you telling me there was nothing in my cranberry juice?"

"Of course not, there were cranberries. And juice."

"Nothing else?"

"Nothing else."

"No Amortentia?"

"Not a drop."

Lily took a deep breath. "Sirius! You… you are unbelievable!"

"Oh come on, does that really surprise you? I thought you said you knew me."

There was nothing for it. She reached back and punched Sirius straight in the nose. He immediately reached up and pressed a hand to his face as more blood came streaming out. "OW! Wha'da Hell, Ebans? Da' was worse dan James!"

Lily shook out her hand. The knuckles in her ring and middle fingers bloody stung. And after a few more moments of watching Sirius squeeze his fingers over his nose, she supposed she did feel a bit bad for what she'd done to him, even if he did deserve it. She pointed her wand at him once again and realigned his nose.

"This is the last time I try and help you two fall in love. I've had my nose broken twice in ten minutes!"

"Good, now if you'll excuse me. I think I need to speak to James."

"Be my guest," he said. Lily started for the castle, "He went that way," interrupted Sirius, pointing toward the Forbidden Forest.

"Right, thanks."

"Don't mention it. Really. And maybe don't mention the Amortentia that I didn't even actually give you to James next time either, eh?"

"Goodbye, Sirius."

He trounced off back towards the castle and Lily looked toward the forest. She spied movement over in the pumpkin patch near Hagrid's hut, and more importantly, an unmistakable shock of black hair poking up from the ground near the scarecrow. Lily hurried over.

"Potter!" she called, "Oi, Potter, I need to talk to you!"

He was sitting, with his broom beside him, along the ground between rows of pumpkins. The scarecrow looked down at him solemnly and James painted a fairly good picture of heartbrokenness in the low light left from sunset.

"Lily?" he said, sitting up, "Lily, what happened to your hand?"

She glanced down and sure enough, her knuckles were swelling up into a nice purple bruise. "This? Oh, nothing really. Just punched Sirius."

He grinned. "Again?"

"Yes, well I healed him the first time."

He chuckled softly. "There was your mistake. He's a bit thickheaded. A broken nose will help him remember not to be an idiot from now on."

"Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I healed it the second time too."

He smiled faintly, "You could never disappoint me."

Lily sat down next to him.

"Hasn't—er, hasn't the potion worn off yet?"

"It would have," she said, "If I'd ever actually drank any potion, like I thought I had."

James sat up. "Are… are you saying you didn't drink any Amortentia after all?"

"Nope. It was all Sirius, in some misguided attempt to help me realize I love you."

That damn smile was back. "What did you say?"

Lily shrugged. "I don't know, I was talking with Sirius this morning before I came down here with Algernon. I was helping him with a potion, well it was Amortentia actually, and I think at some point he gave his blessing for our relation—."

"Just skip to the last part. What was the last thing you said?"

"Wha—oh, oh yes. I, well, I suppose I love you, Potter."

"No Amortentia?"

"Not a drop."

He leaned forward and quite suddenly, his lips were pressed to hers. Lily blinked several times. And then she leaned into it right back.

He pulled back after a moment and looked at her, the few stars out were reflecting in his hazel eyes so that they looked quite dazzling. "I love you too, Lily. And, er, if you want, you can call me James."

"What? You don't like toe rag?"

"Just so long as I'm your toe rag."

The End.