Seventh Year

James


"Ugh!" Sirius dropped into the seat beside me with an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face. Three days into the start of the year, and he already looked like he wanted to gouge out his own eyes.

"Problem?" I wondered absentmindedly, doodling on a scrap of parchment instead of paying real attention.

"Detention tonight," Sirius responded sulkily. I laughed, whipping my head round to look at him properly. Already?

"What for?" I was almost impressed. Three days into school, and he'd gotten detention already.

"McGonagall caught me trying to put a doxy down Mulciber's trousers," he replied bitterly. I let out a shout of laughter.

"HA! What did you do when she caught you?"

Sirius shrugged. "I carried on."

Still chuckling, I looked round as the door to the dungeon swung open again. Immediately, I sat up a little straighter. Remus had just sidled through the door, accompanied by none other than Lily Evans, looking disconcertingly pretty with her long red hair half pulled back off her face.

Remus had just muttered something to her; she laughed animatedly and shoved him with her shoulder. My jaw clenched as jealousy bubbled in the pit of my stomach. I knew there was nothing going on between them – Remus would never betray me like that – but seeing them laughing and joking together made my chest hurt a little.

The only small consolation was that, when Lily drew level with the bench where the Slytherins sat, she paused only to throw Snivellus a very nasty look. He stared stonily back at her, apparently unconcerned, but I saw his face fall as soon as she turned away. Grinning to myself, I lounged back in my chair and waved them over.

Remus threw his books down unceremoniously beside Sirius and collapsed into his chair. I noticed he was looking a bit peaky – the full moon was only a few days away. I gave him a wan smile.

It was only when I heard the scraping of the chair to my left that I turned around again, surprised. My heart nearly stopped.

I had expected Lily to keep walking. She usually sat with her best friend and room-mate Mary Macdonald and Alice Merrythought from Ravenclaw. Not today, though. No, today, she had pulled up the chair next to me, and was calmly flipping through her textbook.

"Alright Evans?" I greeted, working hard to keep the nervousness out of my voice. She glanced up to spare me a small smile, bright green eyes sparkling. The Head Girl badge was gleaming on her chest; a reminder of the thus-far neglected identical badge I had stuffed into a pair of old socks in my trunk, for fear of Sirius's mockery. My parents had been thrilled when I got the Headship, unable to believe that Dumbledore had even considered me for the spot. Sirius, on the other hand, had crowed with laughter and forbidden me from wearing the little silver emblem in public.

Sirius nudged me sharply in the ribs as I thought this, and I turned to him expectantly. His dark eyes flickered to Lily, and back to me, and a slow, knowing grin spread across his face. I kicked him.

Just then, the door creaked open once more, and Professor Slughorn shuffled into the room, his belly entering a good minute or so before the rest of him. The dragon skin belt around his robes looked fit to burst – he'd clearly overindulged with the crystallised pineapple over the holidays.

"Afternoon, everyone!" he boomed jovially around the room. We all mumbled our greetings back to him. Lily closed her book and leaned across the desk, determined to give Slughorn her undivided attention.

"Today, we're going to be brewing a funny little potion. Consider it a pet project for the next few weeks. Amortentia. Now, who here knows the effects of a correctly brewed draught of amortentia?"

Lily's hand shot into the air, as usual. She was, as Sluggy liked to put it, a 'dab hand at potions'.

"Lily, my dear?" he twinkled at her, smiling like he'd only just discovered how to do it. She grinned back at him, her expression a little sheepish.

"It's the world's strongest love potion. When drank, it creates a powerful and overwhelming obsession, or infatuation, with the one who created it."

"Precisely," Slughorn replied, positively glowing at her. "Take ten well earned points for Gryffindor."

I resisted the overwhelmingly childish urge to make an obscene hand-gesture at Snivelly as he turned in his chair to look at Lily. His eyes fell on her for a moment, then flickered to me in the seat next to her. I reclined backwards slightly, smirking. The crestfallen expression on his face when he saw the new seating arrangements was even more satisfying than swearing at him.

Sirius waited until Slughorn had turned away, and flicked a shrivelfig at Snape. It bounced, with masterful precision, off his eye. My grin widened.

"Stop that!" Lily hissed at Sirius, her green eyes flashing angrily.

He caught my gaze just as I inclined my eyes skywards.

"Okay, so the instructions are on the board now," Slughorn jabbed his wand at the blackboard – a complicated guide to amortentia-brewing had suddenly appeared. "If you need any additional guidance, turn to page four-hundred-and-two of Advanced Potion Making. Good luck, boys and girls!"

"So… Evans…" I murmured as she started thinly slicing valerian roots, "Planning to test your amortentia out on anyone?"

She turned to face me, but to my surprise, she seemed amused, rather than exasperated. "No, Potter."

"Just, cause, y'know, I'm offering to be a test subject," I replied, undeterred. Again, in a highly unprecedented Lily move, she laughed. As though she'd actually found me funny.

"I'll bear that in mind," she responded, humour colouring her tone.

"Prongs doesn't need to try your amortentia, Lil. He's already head-over-heels in love with you," Sirius interjected. I stamped on his foot. Hard.

Lily glanced up at him, eyes glittering. "Oh, I know," she said sweetly.

And now, I wished the ground would just open up and swallow me whole.

I vented my feelings by aiming a kick at my best friend, but missed, and accidentally clipped Remus in the shin. He swore softly under his breath, eyes watering.

"Sorry, Moony," I muttered.

There was nothing but tense and faintly embarrassed silence emanating from me for the next hour, and by the time we were due to leave, the room was filled with spiralling steam that smelled strongly of Lily's perfume, and Quidditch. She gave me a small smile before she left, told Moony that she'd see him later on, and gave Padfoot a weary shake of her head. The three of us trudged down to the paddocks near the Forbidden Forest to collect Peter from Care of Magical Creatures. Wormtail's lessons always ran long – probably because Professor Kettleburn's shortage of limbs was now becoming a hindrance to his lessons' progress.

"I can't believe you, Padfoot!" I fumed, as soon as we were well out of Lily Evans' earshot.

"Well, it's true," he dismissed, grinning lazily. He knew I would never stay annoyed at him for long.

"But still!"

"She didn't seem especially displeased by the idea today though, did she, Moony?" Sirius asked slyly.

"No," Remus pretended to ponder. "In fact, I think you almost might have a shot, Prongs."

"Ha, ha."

"I'm serious," he said earnestly.

I studied his face for a long time, determined not to believe him. "Nah, she hates me."

"She sat next to you voluntarily today. She even laughed at your joke. It seemed a bit like… well, call me crazy, but it seemed like she was flirting with you."

I grinned, but a part of me was still sceptical. "Um, I don't…"

"You know what, mate?" Sirius cut across me decisively, clapping me on the back. "I think that Head Boy badge might come in handy after all."

And for Padfoot to say that, I knew it was the truth.

Maybe I did have a shot.


A/N; Don't worry, I'm not going to make it that easy!

But I just wanted to capture Sirius' reaction to James' Head Boy badge - he wouldn't be pleased unless it served the greater purpose of mischief!

PJ x