Lionhearted: The Moon Ascendant
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.::.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
Regulus looked down at the letter in his lap with equal parts amusement disappointment, and annoyance. He was sitting in his room on his lavish canopy bed, trying to ignore just how quiet it was without his older brother around the house, but more pressingly the feeling of dejection that had befallen the entire mansion ever since the family had received Narcissa's note.
Only having Kreacher around for company certainly wasn't helping. The old house elf was kind to him sure, always fussing about and trying to make him eat more, but it could never be the same as human contact and unfortunately any quality time with his parents was impossible right now, which brought him full circle as to the reason why; a reason illustrated by the letter that was leaving him in such a confused combination of emotions.
Hello, Reg!
I wanted to be the first to tell you so I wrote this as soon as I could-
-I GOT INTO GRYFFINDOR LITTLE BROTHER! Can you believe it?! I thought for sure I was going to be in Slytherin like everyone else, but the next thing I knew I was being told I was going to Gryffindor instead. Of all places!
(I wish I could tell you about the Sorting, but it's a rite-of-passage and you'll find out next year after all.) I'm so happy! I've already made some friends and I can't wait to tell you all about them, and even better when you get to meet them next year! Hurry and grow up little brother!
I'm sure mum and dad will be angry once they hear. I give Narcissa a week before she recovers from shock and tattles. I'm avoiding writing them for now.
I really hope you're doing okay with just Kreacher to talk to- crazy old elf. If I come back and he's driven you bonkers I'll give him clothes for sure this year!
I'll write you next week to let you know what's going on here. I have to watch my back in the corridors now that all the 'extended cousins' are in the other house-I still can't believe my luck!
Goodbye, and stay sane,
- Sirius
He breathed through his nose when he got to the end once more.
His brother was happy. Happy to be in Gryffindor. Happy to have put such a wrench in everyone's plans.
On one hand he wanted to be happy for his brother.
They both knew how much he'd been dreading Slytherin, and it wasn't exactly a secret that he never got along with the other pureblood children. If he'd been sorted into Slytherin with the rest of the family, Regulus could see he'd be miserable for the year.
But he was also annoyed; It only would have been a year!
If Sirius had been a normal person then he would have been just find in Slytherin like everyone in the family. But no! His brother had to be stubborn, stupid, and selfish!
He blinked as he found himself punching the headboard, the annoyance giving way to rage and he was surprised to find it there.
But the more he thought about it, the more his anger burned. Sirius was ruining everything!
Ever since yesterday morning their mother had been bedridden. There was one point where she'd mustered just enough rage to send a howler, and Regulus almost winced in sympathy when she sent it with the family owl. But otherwise she'd just sit there and moan if anyone tried approaching her, groaning about rebellious sons and shame upon the household.
Sirius screwing up should have been a regular enough occurrence that mother should have been able to shake it off and go back to raging until he complied, but this time, this time he'd gone and fudged it so badly that Regulus didn't think she would ever get truly over it.
He looked down at the letter sadly.
Father had been very quiet ever since then too.
Immediately after he read Narcissa's note, he'd gone straight to his study and slammed the door shut, barricaded in there for several hours. It wasn't until later that Regulus found out he'd been having a meeting with the rest of the Black family, when he'd been summoned to the study and found them all there.
His Grandfather Arcturus , Aunt Lucretia and Uncle Cygnus, his dad's sister and mum's brother respectively, and his Great Uncle Pollux, and Great Aunt Cassiopeia all looked at him, their faces grim, as he walked into the room. He bowed respectfully as he entered, and kissed his Great Aunt's hand to what may have been approval. It was hard to tell when her every expression was so serious.
Gladly he didn't have to talk to them for long; Soon Aunt Cassie, Uncle Pollux, and Aunt Lucretia left through the floo, and Uncle Cygnus excused himself to go check on his sister, leaving Grandfather with he and his dad.
Orion sunk into the sofa, looking more weak and weary than Regulus had ever seen him, and to his surprise Grandfather Arcturus place a hand on his shoulder supportively.
"I just can't understand it. Where did we go wrong?" His father asked helplessly. It was starting to scare him.
"Come now Orion, it happens to the best of us." he said sighing. "Sometimes one cannot help what their children do."
"That may be, but it feels like there's something we could have done to prevent this. We should have monitored him better. Should have punished him for those dangerous ideas of his more. Beat the insubordination out of him. But we thought..." whatever it was he'd though he didn't voice, but Arcturus patted his shoulder all the same.
"Of course lad. I understand. But we must save face. We'll tell the other families that we're allowing this… breach because we're the Blacks and we can do what we damn well please! And in the meantime we try to get through to Sirius before it's too late. Perhaps if we play our cards right, we can make him into our tool, our spy against the Blood traitors. There is a war coming, and a sleeper agent within their ranks would be a most valuable asset, after all. I'm sure the other families will understand the value in this."
Arcturus gave him one last cuff on the shoulder before he drew himself up and took out his pocket watch. "I must be going. I have a meeting with Avery Senior this evening. I suggest getting some rest. We will need it in the upcoming months."
He grabbed a handful a floo powder and threw it into the fireplace before leaving, giving one last nod to his grandson before the floo took him away.
Orion stared into green flames of the fireplace for a moment longer before he nodded, shaking his head as though through a fog and glancing up at his younger son who was standing there looking lost and troubled.
"Well Regulus, let us go see how your mother is doing."
Anxiously Regulus got up from his bed and paced about his room.
Finally coming to the forefront was the disappointment. All this time he and Sirius had talked about how when they got to Hogwarts they would be in the same house together. But now those plans were dashed.
There was no way he could go to Gryffindor, house of the blood traitors and muggleborns. Especially not now that he'd seen what such a thing could do to their family.
No. That plan was dashed forever.
But at least he had hope. Grandfather had been right; Perhaps if Sirius could learn to come round then his being in the wrong house wouldn't matter. Maybe he really could help to spy on the Gryffindors, and Regulus could be in Slytherin, and the two brothers could work together and then they'd be the most formidable pair Hogwarts has ever seen.
He nodded, looking determined. His brother had promised him that they wouldn't let things change between them when he went to school, after all. And maybe they still didn't have to. Feeling a little more relieved and just a bit more hopeful he crossed the room to write his reply letter.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The morning of the second day of classes, the aches in Remus' bones were a little more pronounced, but waking up to the wreck they'd left their bedroom had given him such excitement that he nearly forgot about it.
He and Peter both had woken up before the other two this time.
They put the nightstands back-because did they really expect Sirius or James to want to?-and took turns for the shower. Remus was lying on his bed, doing his Potions homework while Peter used the bath, when James began to stir. The boy sat up and rubbed his eyes, his hair as messy as ever, and took one look at Sirius before grabbing his pillow launching himself at their still sleeping compatriot with a regal scream.
Poor Sirius, Remus thought as he primly dipped his quill. But then the taller boy got him back in a few moments and soon he had James in a headlock and was making him 'say uncle' until he was satisfied.
He gave Remus an impish grin before he flounced off to get ready for class and Remus had to threaten James to prevent getting jumped as well.
Eventually all four boys were ready and were on the way down to breakfast.
True to their word they said nothing at all to Lily and didn't even look in the Slytherin table's direction as they entered the Great hall and took seats, helping themselves to another wonderful Hogwarts breakfast.
They were so preoccupied with James and Sirius' beef jerky battle, that they hardly noticed when the mail owls started coming in until Sirius froze, his eyes wide in horror.
"Oh no... no… they wouldn't…" he was saying to himself looking faint and the others looked around in confusion until they saw his line of sight. It was an owl, but not just any owl. His family owl. And it wasn't just the owl he was staring at, but the thing in the owl's beak.
A bright red envelope.
James and Peter adopted horrified and pitying looks as the Black family owl swooped overhead and dropped the red letter in front of Sirius with a small plop. It started sizzling as soon as it hit the table.
Around them the other Gryffindors were starting to get quiet.
"Now Sirius, whatever the letter might say, we're here for you." James said looking the most serious that Remus had ever seen him yet."
Sirius gulped and nodded as the letter's smoking became a spark, and suddenly it exploded, both in flames and in sound.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!"
The whole Great Hall got quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
Sirius himself was silent, looking pale and faint at the sound of his mother's voice filled the entire room.
"HOW DARE YOU! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US? YOUR ACTIONS HAVE BROUGHT SHAME UPON OUR ENTIRE FAMILY! CONSORTING WITH BLOOD TRAITORS AND-"
"No!" Sirius pleaded, helplessly.
"-MUDBLOODS!"
Many in the Great Hall gasped in horror, staring at Sirius, even angrily.
"YOU BETTER STRAIGHTEN UP THIS INSTANT, OR SO HELP ME, WE WILL BE FORCED TO USE DRASTIC MEASURES! DESPITE YOUR FAILURE, WE HAVE DECIDED THAT THIS MISTAKE OF YOURS CAN STILL BENEFIT THE FAMILY. BUT SO HELP ME, IF YOU PUT ONE MORE TOE OUT OF LINE..."
The voice faded off ominously and finally that horrible ordeal was over. The envelope finished burning itself up and fell as ashes on the table into Sirius' plate. Although, Remus supposed, he doubted his friend was hungry anymore.
The other students began chattering furiously at once among each other and now even people of the other houses were giving dirty looks their way. But Sirius was still frozen, staring at the space where the letter had been.
"What was that?" Lily whispered to Marlene, her voice louder than usual as the Gryffindor table was still very quiet, looking at their house mate.
"That, was a Howler." Dorcas answered, torn between looking in disgust towards the pile of ashes and sympathetically towards Sirius' face.
He still hadn't moved. James was looking at him sorrily, before he stood, trying to come and circle around the table.
Remus put an arm around his shoulder, and that seemed to help because Sirius finally shook out of his thoughts and looked around as if just realizing he was there. It took a moment for him to recover, and he gave everyone an unconvincing smirk.
"Well. There you have it folks." he said shakily, and some of the other members took the hint and looked away.
"Are you… going to be alright?" he found himself asking quietly, hesitating.
Sirius forced out a laugh, and his false grin grew a little wider but scarily so, and Remus felt even more concerned. "Yeah, 'course mate. It was just a howler." he looked down at his plate once more. "Just a howler." he said more quietly, probably to himself.
James arrived, and squeezed himself into the spot on his other side, giving Sirius a bracing pat on the back. Remus would have suggested leaving but he didn't think Sirius could stand without shaking just now. He squeezed his shoulder encouragingly then tried to get Peter to start a conversation, something, anything to deflect from that horrible, horrible letter.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A few people away and trying to be quiet but not quite managing it Lily was still asking questions. "What was that word that she used? The one about mud? Everyone looked really serious when she said it."
Marlene shook her head seriously. "It's a horrible word. A slur. It's… for...well… for witches and wizards whose parents are muggles. 'Dirty blood'. That's what it means."
Lily and Mary gasped and looked towards Sirius in horror.
"But our parents are both muggles, right Lily?" Mary said fearfully.
"Yeah. And there are some people who think they're better than you because of it."
"But I thought it didn't matter." Lily was saying, eyes wide, looking shockingly close to tears. "I was told it wouldn't matter, if my parents were muggles."
Dorcas shook her head.
"To most people it doesn't. But to others, especially to some Purebloods it does."
Lily put her hands on her hips looking angry. "And what makes someone a 'Pureblood'? How does anyone say if someone's 'Pure' or not!?" she demanded.
"Look, we didn't come up with the blood status idea. It's just one of those things that happened. These days only people with all four grandparents as wizards are called Purebloods, so most everyone's a halfbood these days." Dorcas was saying.
"Well, I still think it's a terrible system! And who are these people who think being Muggleborn matters?"
"Well, here's a couple of them now." Marlene said glaring at a spot behind Lily, and she turned around, looking ready to curse whoever it was, but then to her confusion it was just Snape walking towards her, although there was a blonde teenager girl gliding her way to the table as well. Lily looked back at Dorcas and Marlene in confusion, but Severus had already arrived.
"Good morning Lily." Severus said with a drawl, looking over towards Black and Potter with a large smirk. Marlene and Dorcas suddenly decided to head up to class, and Mary followed them, after looking around.
"Bye Lily, see you in Transfiguration."
Lily nodded, before she turned to Snape and smiled despite her lingering confusion.
"Hi Sev. How are you? Did you hear that horrible letter?"
"I think everyone heard that." Snape said with another smug look towards the Gryffindor boys. James glanced up warningly, but he didn't respond, and Lily remembered about their truce.
She grabbed her bag, and led the way out of the hall, chatting about the Potions homework but thinking and looking at her childhood friend out the corner of her eye.
Perhaps Snape had been mistaken all those years ago when he said her muggle parents wouldn't matter. Maybe Snape hadn't known about the 'Blood status' thing yet, as Dorcas called it. She nodded to herself and smiled, and Snape seemed to take it as encouragement for whatever he'd just said.
Dorcas had also mentioned that for most people it didn't matter, and Snape was a half-blood after all, and she brightened, glad to think she had a friend that didn't care about her being Muggleborn.
But then she also felt wary, thinking of that horrible Black boy and his friend Potter. No wonder they were so mean to Snape and her, if that's the kind of thing they subscribe to. Could she imagine what it would have been like if she'd befriended one of those two? Those ruffians would have made her just like them. Even that Lupin boy who had seemed alright on the train before was getting as bad as they were! No, she thought determinedly as she and Snape parted ways. She was very glad that she had a friend like Snape instead.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Cousin."
The Gryffindor boys looked up warily as Narcissa Malfoy stood next to their table, her usual expression of thinly veiled disgust on her face for being so close to the boorish house of blood traitors.
Sirius gave a deep breath before he turned to her, trying to school his face to look impassive, but only managing to make a petulant grimace.
"Cissy,"He hissed, making the teenager ruffle "What do you want? Don't you think you've done enough?"
"Hmph! I'd only come to say that I just wanted help but I don't see why I bother, you ungrateful little-" she'd hissed back before composing herself. Patience, Narcissa. Patience. She told herself. He was only embarrassed, of course, and she knew how sensitive her little cousin could be. She looked to the boys sitting on either side of him, eyeing the messy haired one and the scar faced one with distaste before giving a delicate cough.
"Perhaps we should have this discussion someplace else… alone." she said giving the Potter brat a look.
"No." Sirius said flatly "I have nothing to say to you. And anything you have to say, you can say in front of this lot!" And with that he gathered up his books and stormed out the Great Hall, his friends scrambling to follow him and leaving her standing there, fuming.
It took several minutes for them to catch up to the taller boy, who was grumbling to himself as they took the staircase towards the Transfiguration classroom. McGonagall hadn't arrived yet and there were students standing close to the door waiting to be allowed inside. Sirius stomped a bit past them to an empty spot along the hall, and went to pacing, eyes following random students as they went by.
James was the first to catch up, being the second tallest, and he cheerfully swung his arm around him.
"Good job, Siri! You really told her!"
Sirius stopped right there in the hallway and rounded on him, shaking him off, and the anger and annoyance on his face was startling.
Remus had to blink to make sure he was seeing right, and Peter gave a quiet noise and hid behind him.
"How many times do I have to say it, Potter? Don't. call. me. that!" he snarled.
But somehow James seemed to take it in stride.
"Oooh, temper!" he said holding up his arms in surrender but grinning his broad smile. "Did you forget? I'm on your side."
He blinked at James a moment, then he heaved a heavy sigh and seemed to calm, leaning back into the wall.
"...You're right. Sorry mate." He said after a long moment.
"S'alright mate, no harm, no foul."
Sirius snorted and returned another stare from a passing Ravenclaw who scampered away. James tutted. "Cut that out, you're scaring everyone."
"I can't help it. Everyone keeps staring at me." Sirius said frustratedly.
"Oh. Are they?" He looked around and as if to prove a point had to glare down a passing Hufflepuff who gave a start and booked it. "I guess they are. But can you blame them? Thanks to your mum everyone's going to think you're one of those blood fanatics."
"Yeah, thanks, I noticed." Sirius snarked.
"I'm just saying."
They stood quietly for a few minutes, Sirius trying to look aloof and uncaring as half the people who passed by gave him dirty looks, James glaring back at them, just to be supportive, and Remus who'd pulled out his homework and was comparing Peter's notes, before Professor McGonagall in burgundy robes came swishing through.
Transfiguration's second class was just as disappointing as the first. They were all given matches again with the goal of figuring out how to turn them to matches and as per the first class James was able to get furthest along although Sirius surprisingly managed to get his silver by the end of class too. His mood was brightened as they walked to charms and he shrugged when Remus and Peter questioned how he'd done it saying vaguely that he just felt his way to it which wasn't very helpful at all.
At Charms the boys amused themselves with James and Sirius managing to lift their feathers and making a game of trying to knock them into each other whenever Professor Flitwick would turn his back. They would have gotten away with it too if they hadn't somehow managed to combine their charms and cause a flurry of feathers to come raining down. For that they both got points taken away but James and Sirius didn't seem to mind when they could make it up later in Potions.
"This time I get to answer the questions. I have to get mine back from those slimy Slytherin gits." Sirius said as they packed up their books. "What do we have next again?"
"Ha! You can have potions. Look at this!" He said grinning so broadly that his face might split as he pointed to their schedule. He was practically bouncing in place.
"Excellent! Flying lessons!" Sirius said excitedly, and Remus felt his stomach twist itself in knots as the four of them practically ran down the front steps and towards the Quidditch pitch.
"Don't worry, Remy, most everyone's going to be a beginner" James said as they passed Hagrid's hut, remembering their conversation in Diagon Alley. "Sirius and I can show you how it's done, and you'll be flying circles around them in no time!"
He was beaming by time they got to the field and saw Madam Erinyes arriving, steering two carts of brooms behind her with her wand. He had made them get there early so they could get the good models. The brooms that Hogwarts owned were donations, some as old as ten years according to James who was giving Remus and Peter advice.
"No, don't pick that that one!" he tutted "The Comets start drifting to the right after a few years, see? Get a Cleansweep, but not that one, see how the bristles are bent?"
Eventually they found a pair that James and Sirius were satisfied with and the two veteran flyers took them to the side to start practicing the commands after Madam Erinyes made them promise not to mount them yet, while she went about floating the rest into rows on the ground.
The rest of the Gryffindors were coming onto the field when Remus finally managed to get his to come to his hand, albeit a little shakily, and Sirius went to join James in helping Peter who so far only got his to roll over.
"You've got to command it. Here, watch this," Sirius said, placing his on the ground then holding his hand over it. "Up!" he said in a firm voice and it smacked into his hand.
Peter nodded and stepped forward, holding his hand over his broom. "U-up!" he commanded. The broom swung up and hit him on the wrist just as the Slytherins were arriving, and he fumbled it when the group passed by, laughing.
"Ignore them Pete." James said through clenched teeth, glaring at the back of Severus' head. "Come on, try again."
This time he caught it, and James made a show of ruffling his hair and congratulating him loudly so the Slytherins could hear.
"I did it!" Peter exclaimed, eyes wide with excitement. James smiled.
"Yeah you did. Now, do it again so you'll be ready when class starts."
With the last of the Slytherins picking out the last of the brooms, Sirius and James showed them how to hold it when they would start mounting.
"You've got to grip it right here in the middle, otherwise you won't keep your balance." Sirius explained calmly. "Yeah, that's it! Now don't hold it too hard either or it might buck. They sense tension."
Soon Madam Erinyes was blowing her whistle and the four of them came over to join the rest of the class.
"Hello first years! Now, I want a good class: no fooling around, no injuries. You all have your brooms at the ready, yes? Now, you're going to stick out your right hand over your broom, and then you're simply going to say 'Up!'. Be careful now. One two three,"
"UP!" everyone shouted.
Remus, and Peter's brooms all jumped into their hands at once and they shared grins with James and Sirius who were looking proud. Only a few of the others caught theirs as well; Marlene and Dorcas, Reece McLadden, Laurine Greengrass, and Rabastan Lestrange.
A few of their classmates had gotten theirs to float shakily a few feet off the ground, but Snape's was the only one that rolled over this time and James and Sirius, to their credit, tried really hard to hold in laughter if only because Madam Erinyes' eyes were watching the class like a hawk.
They waited while the others called "Up!" a few more times before finally everyone had them in hand, then Madam Erinyes showed them how to mount without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. They tried not to be too delighted when she told them "Good job boys, nice grip, soft but firm," before moving down to tell Avery off for making a rude hand gesture.
"Now, when I blow my whistle I want you all to carefully kick hard off the ground like so," she demonstrated, floating in the air. "Keep your brooms steady now. You're going to rise a few feet, the come right back down. Just lean forward slightly to land."
The class nodded, some of them looking anxious, although James and Sirius were looking cocky as ever. Remus fixed his grip nervously.
"On my whistle! Three-two-one-"
With the screech of her whistle they all kicked off the ground and Remus felt a rush of excitement as he found himself flying! Actually flying! He floated in the air for a minute, looking around for James and Sirius to thank them, but they were already grinning and James gave him a wink before they landed back, and Remus carefully leaned forward slightly and the ground was back under his feet again. Peter landed shakily on his other side but was looking more pleased with himself than ever, and he was just about to congratulate him too when there was a noise and a flurry of movement to the right.
It was Snape, and he was still on the ground but his broom wasn't straight; it was bucking up and down refusing to let him mount. Mary MacDonald gave a laugh as he barred his teeth, face flushing when Madam Erinyes told him to stop.
"We'll try again next time, sometimes flying isn't for everyone. Alright you lot. Good job today. You'll go ahead and put your brooms back on the cart and I'll see you next week."
"Awww," James said as the other classmates gathered around the carts. "Madam Erinyes, can we please fly just a little longer?" He was clutching the broom in his hand desperately like he didn't want to let it go. "We won't cause any trouble at all! Please?"
"What, you lot again?" she said looking between the four boys owlishly. She seemed to think it over a bit, the other Gryffindors and Slytherins were already almost off the field, heading to lunch. "How long did you say you've been flying for? Alright. I suppose a little practice wouldn't hurt." She relented and went to sit down at the referee bench, pulling out her Quidditch playbook.
"Alright!" James said, practically jumping for joy before he took off a little ways away and mounted his broom, kicking off with a 'Whoot!'
Sirius shook his head before he went off to join him, and soon the two were circling around in the air. Peter went to sit with the flying instructor, watching James and Sirius fly around, before Remus though it looked like fun and mounted his broom himself, content to float a few feet off the ground, looking around at the Quidditch stadium in awe.
"Great isn't it?" James said as he came to float beside him, Sirius close behind. "Imagine what it's like when it's filled up!"
Remus shivered at the idea of stands full of people watching him. No, he would leave that sort of thing to the actual team. Madam Erinyes gave them another fifteen minutes which James and Sirius used to try and teach him how to steer.
"Just take it slow. We don't need any accidents or she'll never let us on a broom again!" James said.
He was able to figure out moving back and forth slowly before their time was up and the four gave back the brooms, thanked Madam Erinyes, and were heading back up to the castle to catch the tail-end of lunch hour.
"It's just so unfair!" James whined as they entered the Great Hall. "Why can't first years join the team?
"Don't want you getting your head smashed in I expect." Sirius replied humorously, although his eyes narrowed as they glanced over the Slytherin table. Gladly his cousin was nowhere in sight so he relaxed as they hurried to the table to catch the last fifteen minutes of glorious food.
Their next class was magical theory, which James and Sirius found boring although Remus thought it was fascinating and made sure to take all the notes. They teased him all the way up to Muggle Studies which both boys seemed a lot more excited for, especially Sirius, although Remus couldn't see why. The first class was about an introduction to the daily lives of muggles, and Remus was amused when both Sirius and James grilled him on everything they learned. "Do you really need 'eklecktricity' for everything?" Sirius asked, engrossed in the idea.
"And how does it work?" Asked James as they walked down towards the dungeons for their potions lesson.
"It's 'electricity', and I'll explain it to you later." he said tiredly as they made it to the door.
The aching feeling in his bones was already setting in and he knew tomorrow he would be sore all over. He sat quietly besides James and Sirius who, true to their word, were set upon making up the points they'd missed in Charms and kept raising their hands all class to the extreme annoyance of Snape and Lily who kept getting looked over in their favor.
"Yes! That's correct dear boy! Why, Mister Black, you're just on a roll today! Take five more points to Gryffindor." Slughorn said after Sirius had answered a particularly tricky question on the Antidotum potion that was simmering in the cauldron up front near his desk. It was a potion for counteracting common poisons and soon enough Professor Slughorn was having them collect the ingredients and ready their cauldrons to start having a go at brewing.
"Instructions are on the board, and the supplies are in the cupboard! This should take just enough time for the rest of class, so let's get brewing! First pair to create a viable result gets 20 points!"
Snape was practically tripping over himself to get to the cupboard first, and Sirius and James exchanged grins as they leisurely strode over as though they had not a care in the world.
"Come on boy, let's mix teams. We'll have a better chance that way" James said as he and Sirius spread their ingredients on the tables.
They put Remus in charge of giving the instructions and prepping, which suited him perfectly with him not feeling well, Sirius and James in charge of each cauldron, and Peter was given the important duty of handing them instruments and running back and forth to the cupboard for more of what they needed.
The hour went by quickly with Sirius and James stealing glances and trying not to snicker as Snape was looking flustered. Slughorn was going about the classroom looking at everyone's work, and by now Snape was sweating over his cauldron while trying to share tasks with Lily who was getting frustrated as his temper was getting shorter while both taking turns mixing and prepping while Snape had to run to the cupboard himself.
"Okay, now we have to add two mistletoe berries, then we stir them two times counter-clockwise." Remus said. The class was in it's last leg.
Sirius and James dropped their berries, then stirred.
"Stop! Okay, so now all we have to do is wave your wand, and it should be ready."
Both boys nodded, and then counted to three before waving their wands together, and all four looked at the two cauldrons nervously.
Immediately the potion turned its final color, an avocado green, before it started misting over and all four boys fell back into their seats with relief, just in time.
"Okay everyone! Time's up! Let's see how everyone did."
Slughorn stood from his desk and approached the first row, walking past slowly and nodding every once in awhile. The four boys looked around at the others nervously, but nobody's potion looked like theirs. One pair from Gryffindor had their's a nasty orange color, and Greengrass from Slytherin's was purple. The closest was Snape's but his was several shades too dark. Slughorn nodded more furiously when he saw it, but then he got to the four's and he actually stopped and stared at the potion in front of them.
"Boys. I can't believe it." He said looking from the two cauldrons to the boys and back again with wide eyes. The rest of the class was leaning forward on their seats wondering if they were in trouble, and Snape's face had broken into a smirk. But then Professor Slughorn let out a loud bellowing laugh that made them all jump before he beamed at them all.
"Well done boys! Well done! We have two perfectly brewed Antidotum potions! Well done indeed! But I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised should I be, eh Mister Potter?" He said wagging a large finger and winking. "Well, as promised Gryffindor, 20 points is 20 points, for each cauldron I think. Well everyone, I'm pleased to say we have a couple naturals on our hands! Very please indeed."
The Gryffindors, except Lily, looked pleased to have gotten the points, but the Slytherins, especially Snape, were glaring daggers and looking ready for murder while the boys tried their best to look innocent while Slughorn instructed them to bottle their potions and turn them.
The four hurried their stuff into the bags and bolted out the door after sending Peter to the desk with their flasks, and they were the first ones out and down the hall before anybody else could catch up with them.
"Oh my god, did you see their faces?!" James shrieked as he went two steps at a time.
"I know, I can't believe it!" Sirius said ahead of them, already to the Entrance hall, dodging two students who moved out the way.
Remus said 'Excuse me' to them as he followed the taller boy up, not wanting to be left behind when the Slytherins got out.
"They're going to kill us" Peter groaned, panting with exertion already.
"Oh come on Peter, where's your sense of adventure?" James said, and they were on the staircase going to the upper levels.
"I left it back in the potions room." he replied and James' laugh echoed through the halls.
They finally stopped in front of the Fat Lady portrait, panted out the password, and dragged themselves into the common room, doubling over as Peter sank to the floor.
"You know, I'm not sure if we'll be able to go to dinner. Those Slytherins might try to poison our food." Remus said, aching and unwilling to move anywhere.
"Good thing we have a whole stock of Antidotum then." Sirius said and they all laughed.
"You know, that wouldn't be an issue if we found those kitchens I keep talking about."
Sirius groaned. "Oh no, James, not again…."
"I'm serious!"
"No, he's Sirius" Peter chimed in and they all stared at him, unhappy to hear that terrible joke once more.
"Sorry." He said hanging his head in shame. Sirius rolled his eyes as he caught his breath.
"I suppose," he drawled "that if you find us a lead then I can consider going to find it with you." Sirius said thinking it over as they all walked up to their dorm to drop off their things for free hour. "But I am not going over this whole damned castle looking for house elves!"
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.::.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
