"Come on, Sirius, what's taking you?" James called into the shared bathroom for their dorm. He looked at his watch, a seventeenth birthday present from his father, and considered making a run for the prefects' bath. Because of his morning fly and now Sirius hogging the bath, he didn't have time for breakfast and a shower. He resolved to take one later, after Quidditch practice.

"I'm going to breakfast without you!" James called to his friend, before grabbing his bag and leaving the dorm room. A moment after the door closed, Sirius turned off the water, and peeked out of the bathroom. Remus and Peter had already gone along to breakfast as well. He left the bathroom, mostly dry and half dressed, and pulled on a shirt before going down to the common room, where Marlene McKinnon was sitting in front of the fireplace.

"Phase one is go," he told her, and she rolled her eyes.

"I hid Lily's perfume days ago. That was phase one, if we're going by that standard," she reminded him. "I still don't see why I'm helping you."

"You want Lily to be happy right? James'll make her happy. They just have to realize they're being gits."

"This better work. After today, I'm putting her perfume back, and you're on your own."

"Today is all we need. Remember your part?"

"Now I remember why I agreed to this," she said, a smile forming on her face. "I get to hex the stuffing out of you."

"Just enough to get out of Potions, McKinnon. Don't kill me."

James walked into Potions, alone. Neither Remus nor Peter had taken NEWTS level Potions, and Sirius was Merlin-knows-where. Lily was sitting by herself, in her normal spot.

"Morning Evans," he said, smiling at her. Only recently had she started talking to him, at the start of the year.

"Morning Potter," she replied, smiling back at him. "Mind if I borrow you for the lesson? Marlene had to take Sirius to the hospital wing, so we're both without partners."

"The hospital wing?" his eyes went wide, and he glanced at the door.

"Don't you dare leave me alone in this class, James Potter," she warned. "It's not bad. He got hexed by his brother in the hallways."

Whether he'd wanted to go visit Sirius in the hospital wing or not, he realized he wouldn't be able to, now that Slughorn had come out of his office, ready to start class. James settled in the seat next to Lily and tried to focus. He barely heard the professor while he talked about the theory, and only vaguely snapped to attention when he heard the words "Love Potion".

"While it's possible to be brewed by one individual, it's always much stronger when brewed by a pair," Slughorn lectured. "There are an even number of students, so everyone should pair off and begin brewing."

James smiled brightly at Lily when Slughorn had stopped talking. "I guess we can work together, if you want. Sirius and Marlene can partner up, when they get back to class."

As it turned out, trying to brew a potion with Lily Evans was near torture. She was so nit-picky and precise about everything. The potion wouldn't be anywhere near completion for another three days, but the book said by the end of the first hour, they should start to smell something comforting.

"I can't smell a damn thing," James grumbled, as he put his hands up.

"That's impossible. I'm absolutely sure I got this right," Lily replied, frantically flipping through the pages of her book, scanning the list of complicated steps.

"Well we obviously messed up somewhere," James shot back, an unintended edge to his voice.

"Perhaps I could actually smell something if you didn't use buckets of conditioner this morning," Lily snapped, forgetting the potion for a moment and glared at him.

"Like you're one to talk. The amount of rose perfume you're wearing is giving me an asthma attack," James said, actual anger starting to seep into his words. The bell rang, as they glared at each other. James packed up his things, pouting and huffing. It wasn't until they were in the hallway that a thought hit him.

"Wait, Lily," he called out to her, as she hurried away from him. She turned and just gave him an annoyed look. "Sirius was hogging the shower this morning, so I didn't take one."

"Gross, Potter. Why would you tell me that?" she said, wrinkling her nose.

"I didn't get a chance to use any conditioner this morning," he spelled out for her. She froze, a realization crossing her face.

"I'm not wearing perfume. I lost the bottle days ago."