A/N - Anything that you recognise belongs to JK. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 1 - Favoritism
Lily walked quickly down the crowded hallway making her way to Potions, which started in fifteen minutes. Along with her best friend and fellow fourth year Gryffindor, Natasha Snape, who was walking behind her just as quickly, she strongly approved of being early, if not on time, for her classes. She heard Natasha curse under her breath as she swam through the crowd, pushing a couple of first years out of the way. Not that she was a bully, because she wasn't, actually, she was strongly against racism and any kind of teasing whatsoever, or so she said. Natasha must have just woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.
Finally, the two girls entered the cool dungeons where Potions was held. Already at his desk was Professor Guppy, who was Lily's fourth cousin on her mother's side. One of the reasons Lily looked forward to Potions so much was because Professor Guppy ALWAYS favoured her.
"Good afternoon, Professor!" she said cheerily.
"Hello Lily," he said, not looking up from the book (Teaching Potions With A Twist) that he seemed completely fascinated with. "Have a seat,"
Lily was a bit disappointed that he hadn't started an interesting conversation, like why he was reading such a book, as he usually did, but she took her seat and started taking out her quill, parchment and books. "I wonder what's up with him today," she muttered to herself.
"I think he needs a girlfriend," Natasha had obviously heard her.
Lily shot her a look, but smiled just the same. She probably should stick up for him, but, of course, she was probably right. Professor Guppy, although now at the age of 42, had never been known to date anyone and encircled his life around books and teaching.
Even as kids started piling into the classroom, Professor Guppy didn't look up once, and didn't even notice when the first row troublemakers, James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, bewitched the cover of the book he was reading to "Better Sex - How To Attract!". This caused roaring laughter from everyone except Lily and Natasha who both rolled their eyes and muttered "immature".
Finally, Professor Guppy closed the book with a snap, and looked around the classroom, blinking slowly, ten minutes after class was supposed to start. Lily sighed inwardly. He must have a lot on his mind, she decided.
"Today we will be starting an assignment that will be worth 30% of your final mark," he said, grabbing the attention of the class almost immediately."I will assign you all a partner and a potion, which you will be given two months to compete. No class time will be given. All work must be done in your own free time. This classroom is open most of the day, so you can use any supplies that are required," he glanced at Lily, who flashed him a smile immediately. "I will choose pairs of names from this hat. Everyone's names are already in it." He magically presented a hat from his desk drawer, which sat on the top of the desk and waited.
Then he began "Remus Lupin.....you will be working with Severus Snape," he looked at a pale boy with greasy black hair who was sitting near the back of the class. Severus turned paler, if that was possible, and sank low in his chair. Remus snorted in disgust. Everyone chuckled, wondering howtheir potion would turn out.
"Natasha Snape......will be partners with Sirius Black," There was a chorus of "awwww..."'s from all around the class. Natasha shot Sirius a look of pure venom, while Sirius smiled gratefully and thrust his fist into the air. He, like everyone else, knew that Natasha was very intellegent and could do most of the work. He also had a "small" crush on her, which disgusted her even more. Professor Guppy continued,
"Lucius Malfoy.....and Peter Pettigrew,"
Lucius's lip curled as he sneered. Peter just sat and blinked, his watery eyes were so big, they looked as though they would pop out of his head at any time. James Potter, who was beside him, turned around to look at Lucius, then turned back towards the front, and, shaking his head, started cursing under his breath about Peter's bad luck.
Professor Guppy continued calling out names that Lily didn't recognize despite her past four years at Hogwarts. The only people so far that seemed happy with their partners were Arthur Weasley and a girl named Molly who Lily had never really talked to, both from Gryffindor. Finally,Professor Guppy came to her name.
"And Lily Evans, you will be with...." Lily crossed her fingers, hoping to be paired up with someone who was smart. "....James Potter."
A/N - So, what do you think? A little short, I know...R/R!
Chapter 1 - Favoritism
Lily walked quickly down the crowded hallway making her way to Potions, which started in fifteen minutes. Along with her best friend and fellow fourth year Gryffindor, Natasha Snape, who was walking behind her just as quickly, she strongly approved of being early, if not on time, for her classes. She heard Natasha curse under her breath as she swam through the crowd, pushing a couple of first years out of the way. Not that she was a bully, because she wasn't, actually, she was strongly against racism and any kind of teasing whatsoever, or so she said. Natasha must have just woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.
Finally, the two girls entered the cool dungeons where Potions was held. Already at his desk was Professor Guppy, who was Lily's fourth cousin on her mother's side. One of the reasons Lily looked forward to Potions so much was because Professor Guppy ALWAYS favoured her.
"Good afternoon, Professor!" she said cheerily.
"Hello Lily," he said, not looking up from the book (Teaching Potions With A Twist) that he seemed completely fascinated with. "Have a seat,"
Lily was a bit disappointed that he hadn't started an interesting conversation, like why he was reading such a book, as he usually did, but she took her seat and started taking out her quill, parchment and books. "I wonder what's up with him today," she muttered to herself.
"I think he needs a girlfriend," Natasha had obviously heard her.
Lily shot her a look, but smiled just the same. She probably should stick up for him, but, of course, she was probably right. Professor Guppy, although now at the age of 42, had never been known to date anyone and encircled his life around books and teaching.
Even as kids started piling into the classroom, Professor Guppy didn't look up once, and didn't even notice when the first row troublemakers, James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, bewitched the cover of the book he was reading to "Better Sex - How To Attract!". This caused roaring laughter from everyone except Lily and Natasha who both rolled their eyes and muttered "immature".
Finally, Professor Guppy closed the book with a snap, and looked around the classroom, blinking slowly, ten minutes after class was supposed to start. Lily sighed inwardly. He must have a lot on his mind, she decided.
"Today we will be starting an assignment that will be worth 30% of your final mark," he said, grabbing the attention of the class almost immediately."I will assign you all a partner and a potion, which you will be given two months to compete. No class time will be given. All work must be done in your own free time. This classroom is open most of the day, so you can use any supplies that are required," he glanced at Lily, who flashed him a smile immediately. "I will choose pairs of names from this hat. Everyone's names are already in it." He magically presented a hat from his desk drawer, which sat on the top of the desk and waited.
Then he began "Remus Lupin.....you will be working with Severus Snape," he looked at a pale boy with greasy black hair who was sitting near the back of the class. Severus turned paler, if that was possible, and sank low in his chair. Remus snorted in disgust. Everyone chuckled, wondering howtheir potion would turn out.
"Natasha Snape......will be partners with Sirius Black," There was a chorus of "awwww..."'s from all around the class. Natasha shot Sirius a look of pure venom, while Sirius smiled gratefully and thrust his fist into the air. He, like everyone else, knew that Natasha was very intellegent and could do most of the work. He also had a "small" crush on her, which disgusted her even more. Professor Guppy continued,
"Lucius Malfoy.....and Peter Pettigrew,"
Lucius's lip curled as he sneered. Peter just sat and blinked, his watery eyes were so big, they looked as though they would pop out of his head at any time. James Potter, who was beside him, turned around to look at Lucius, then turned back towards the front, and, shaking his head, started cursing under his breath about Peter's bad luck.
Professor Guppy continued calling out names that Lily didn't recognize despite her past four years at Hogwarts. The only people so far that seemed happy with their partners were Arthur Weasley and a girl named Molly who Lily had never really talked to, both from Gryffindor. Finally,Professor Guppy came to her name.
"And Lily Evans, you will be with...." Lily crossed her fingers, hoping to be paired up with someone who was smart. "....James Potter."
A/N - So, what do you think? A little short, I know...R/R!