"And…TIME!" called Slughorn. I put down my ladle, panting. My potion went from bad to worse, and was now frothing. However, it was better than Sirius's, whose had taken on the thickness of cement and now obtained a nasty khaki color.
"Hmm…" said Slughorn, examining each student's potion. I knew mine was a complete failure. I really hoped Lily didn't see it.
Slughorn stopped short of Severus's table and gasped loudly, refocusing my thoughts.
"Severus! How perfectly wonderful! This is the best Drought of Living Dead I have ever seen!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together in pure delight. "Come and collect your prize, you're the clear winner!"
I could hardly stand the smug look that crossed his pallid face. The class clapped politely. It took a big swallow of pride for me to join in.
Looking around, I met Lily's eyes, and she tilted her head sideways, giving me a curious glance, like she was seeing me for the first time. Quickly, I averted my gaze.
"Congratulations and use your prize well," said Slughorn, beaming. At that moment, the bell rang and I hurriedly packed my stuff, almost running toward the door. Sirius was on my heels, talking swiftly.
"… That git, standing up there thinking he was big stuff, I really want to curse him, matter of fact I think I just might…"
"NO!" I shouted, grabbing his hand, which was reaching inside his robes. Severus walked past us briskly; completely unaware I had just saved him from being cursed.
"Potter, did you just stick up for Sev? Arrogant, bullying Potter defending his number one target?"
I froze. The voice sounded oddly familiar, it couldn't be…?
Lily.
"Erm… Well, yeah," I said, feeling myself go red, but I met her gaze anyway. Her green eyes seemed to be searching, deciding if I was telling the truth.
"I'm glad you've finally grown up," Lily said slowly. An awkward silence fell between us.
Her friend tugged her arm, and they turned on heel and stalked off, leaving behind the sweet strawberry scent I had recognized in Potions.
"That was as close to a compliment as you've ever gotten from Evans," said Sirius in an awed voice. "Looks like you're finally doing something right."
Three classes later, I walked up to the common room to drop off my bag. It was lunchtime already. Since my conversation with Lily, everything else seemed hazy and unimportant.
My friends kept wondering why I was smiling like a nutter.
"Just happy to be back, that's all," I said, grinning. Moony, however, wasn't convinced.
"What did I miss during Potions?" he asked, looking from me and Sirius. He shrugged next to me. "Nothing really, we made The Drought of the Living Dead and Snivellus won a bottle of lucky potion or something like that, I was too distracted by Evans' friend –"
"What did I tell you about calling him Snivellus?" I snarled. Sirius seemed taken aback by my tone, but then rolled his eyes.
"Oh yeah, Prongs has decided to grow up so that Evans will go out with him," he said, sarcasm threatening every syllable. Remus however, looked impressed.
"About time too," he said, glaring at Sirius. He had lost interest in the conversation and was eyeing a few fifth year girls walking beside them. They were quite giggly, which only intensified when he shook out his dark hair and sent a flirty smile their way. The girls nearly collapsed with glee. Sirius was very handsome, making him popular among the girls of Hogwarts.
Remus sighed. "I supposed she noticed it?" he asked, turning to me. I nodded and told him of our short conversation.
"That's definitely a start, well done," said Moony clapping me on my back as we entered the Great Hall. We took seats at the Gryffindor table where Peter waddled up to us and sat down.
"I have to take Remedial Transfiguration AND Charms!" he said, sighing.
"You know, I reckon that the giant squid would get better marks than you," said Sirius. I laughed heartily along with Moony. Even Peter grinned nervously.
I filled my plate with steak and kidney pie, my personal favorite. The day had gone really well so far, and I could hardly contain my excitement.
Has Lily forgiven me for what I've done? Will she finally realize that I really do love her? I'm willing to make changes, now it's her turn to show me she's ready to forget the past….
Lily Evans, My flower
L. E. and J.P
"James, exactly what are you doing?" asked Sirius, pulling away a parchment I had been doodling on before I could grab it back. His mouth hung open, and then he scowled.
"You really sicken me sometimes you know?" he said, throwing it back to me. I snatched the parchment and thrusting it into my bag.
"So do you, you're a dog sometimes," I hissed.
Sirius laughed, even though I had tried to be serious with him. Before long we were all laughing.
"Funny how irony works eh?" said Padfoot, running his hands through his hair. He began eating with relish.
"We have Transfiguration together," I announced. "Well, at least Padfoot, Moony and I have it. Peter has lessons with the giant squid."
Moony snorted into his pumpkin juice, and Sirius choked on his pie. Wormtail turned a patchy shade of red.
Close to where we were sitting, I heard the sound of a girl crying. Looking around, I was shocked to see that it was Lily. I had never seen her cry, besides that day when Severus had called her a mudblood in our fifth year.
"What's wrong with Evans?" I whispered to my friends. They all peered down the table at her.
None of them knew, or cared, but now I was curious. I had to find out why.
"You are entering your sixth year at Hogwarts, perhaps the most important year," said McGonagall twenty minutes later. We were sitting in Transfiguration, Stunned crickets on our desks.
I still was determined to find out what was wrong with Lily, so every once and a while, I snuck a glance at her, whose startling green eyes were bloodshot and swollen. Pity swelled inside me, along with a touch of anger.
"The classes you take this year set you up for your careers outside Hogwarts, and I suggest you take this seriously, Mr. Black," she added. Next to me, Sirius was prodding his cricket with his wand, making it swell and then deflate in rapid succession.
"Sorry Professor," he said grinning.
"Now, as I was saying, your choices affect your job opportunities. To keep up in my N.E.W.T. classes, you need to make sure you pass all the homework, not to mention the complex magic we will be learning this year.
"For today's lesson, we will be Vanishing small insects. The incantation is as follows: Evanesco."
The class chanted it back to her dully.
"Good. Now, we will be starting with crickets, but eventually proceed to bigger animals. Like most spells, the difficulty depends on the complexity of the animal, which leads us to the homework. On my desk by next Thursday, I expect a foot long essay describing how molecular complexity relates to the difficulty of a spell. Off you go," she said briskly. Remus, Sirius and I all turned to look at each other. Padfoot looked horrorstruck, mouthing "A foot long?" I personally agreed, but I was determined to Vanish my cricket by the end of class.
"Evanesco," I said forcefully. Nothing happened, and I felt foolish. Again and again we tried, until I finally managed to make mine disappear.
"James, how did you do that," said Padfoot, sighing dramatically. "I may not be able to Vanish mine yet, but I can do this."
Sirius muttered something, and the cricket lifted into the air zoomed off, trailing McGonagall, who was now walking around, watching everybody's progress.
"Sirius, you're going to get detention!" I whispered to him. However, he just gave a lazy flick of his wand, and the cricket immediately returned to his desk.
"Evanesco," he said, and his cricket disappeared instantly, just as McGonagall walked passed our desks.
"Very good, Mr. Black!" she said, nodding in his direction. "Take ten points to Gryffindor."
He winked at me, a smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes.
"You worry like an old mum," said Sirius. He was being so arrogant, so full of himself, that I could hardly contain myself from cursing him.
"Did you plan that?" I asked through gritted teeth. Remus also looked annoyed.
"'Course I did, who do you think I am?"
By the end of class, Remus managed to change the color of his cricket to a dusky white. I noticed that Lily had Vanished hers also.
"Fifteen points to Gryffindor for Miss Evans and Mr. Potter's hard work," barked McGonagall over the bell.
This time I packed up slowly, hoping to catch Lily's eye. However, she was one of the first ones out, so I stuffed my things in bag with a sigh.
"A foot long and it's only the first day of school!" burst out Padfoot angrily when we were safely out of the classroom. "That old bat!"
"It's a bit crazy, but it is the only homework we have, and after Charms the rest of the evening is ours to do with as we please," I pointed out to him. Grumbling, but no longer complaining, we walked into Charms together.
The class was dull; we only took notes the whole time. However, I was exhausted, and looking forward to relaxing for a bit in the common room.
"Ah, relief," said Sirius, reclining in his chair by the fire. I took the one across from his, equally relieved to be back. The castle was unusually cold, so the fire was defiantly a plus.
Moony went to bed early, complaining of not feeling well, and Wormtail was still at his extra classes.
We fell into conversation, talking lightly about our day and laughing. The common room filled up, and before long it was so crowded that I could barely hear Sirius even though we sat only feet apart
"Excuse me," said girl's voice.
. I turned around and was surprised to see Lily and her friend from Potions standing next to us. Lily looked uncomfortable, her face still blotchy.
"Evans, Mocay!" said Sirius, immediately putting on a big smile. I saw with some satisfaction that Lily rolled her eyes.
"Hi Sirius, um… I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go to the next Hogsmeade trip with Lily and me?" she asked, playing with the ends of her curly hair. "James would be welcome to come too," she added, seeing Sirius eye me, as if asking if he should.
"Yeah… Yeah, that'd be great," said Sirius, winking at her. "We will meet you guys at the doors, and walk together into the village together."
The curly-headed girl looked relieved, and nodded. She turned to go, but Lily lingered for a moment. I thought she was going to say something, but she just gave me a faint smile, turned around, and followed her friend up the girls' dormitories.
