As always: happy reading.
Eri wished sincerely that she could postpone morning for several more hours as the girls in her room started to rise. Some were excited about the start of the year, chittering on about their classes, professors, friends, and getting to see a crush or two again. Others, like Eri, woke with dread about the devastating workload surely about to be dropped on their shoulders and the ever-looming presence of the N.E.W.T.s. Granted, if it really came down to it, she may not necessarily need N.E.W.T.s, but something in her wanted her wanted them and her extremely competitive streak wanted her to do well. Because of this, Castor always joked that she should have been in Ravenclaw and he should have been the first twin she befriended.
He wasn't wrong. The Sorting Hat had perched on her head that night mumbling to her and itself for quite some time. It had seen the aspects of Ravenclaw in her, and she acknowledged them as well, but in the end, it was Slytherin that won. Eri still wasn't entirely sure why that was. Beside her, Phoebe swung her long, deeply-tanned legs over the edge of her bed and ran fingers through her short, dark brown hair. Just how beautiful she looked made Eri's heart hurt. Phoebe noticed her staring and grinned wildly. "Last first day!" That made Eri's heart hurt too, but she smiled back as best she could. Phoebe jumped to her feet and wasted no time at all dressing. "I'm starved."
As much as it killed her to leave her warm bed in a time where school had not properly started and homework was not yet assigned, Eri pulled herself from her covers and slipped into her robes. The Great Hall was only partially full when the girls arrived. Students of all ages were coming and going as they pleased. Steaming breakfast foods and pastries covered all four tables. Phoebe led the way to their table, asking questions about foods, classes, and what Eri thought of the new professor, Quincypratt. She only stopped the flow of questions when she shoved a pumpkin oat and treacle muffin in her mouth. Eri took advantage of the break in conversation and took a bite of sausage. Some of the juice dribbled onto her chin.
Halfway through breakfast, a flutter of commotion caught their attention. The owls were coming in with the post. A large great horned owl with speckle-brown feathers landed between Eri and Phoebe and immediately began clicking its beak and pecking at the food, knocking over plates of scones and eggs. "Hoddy, please, just settle—," Phoebe started, trying desperately to grab at the parchment roll tied to one of the bird's legs. He managed to avoid her while kicking a glass of pumpkin juice out of an unsuspecting Slytherin fourth-year's hand. "Oh, dear, I'm so sorry! I'll fix that for you in just a moment! Hoddypeak, settle down, you stupid, bloody bird!" She managed to get both arms around him. Eri reached for the scroll before Phoebe could lose her grip. Once Eri had the parchment in her hand, Phoebe released Hoddypeak, who took off immediately. She took a moment to gather herself and then sorted out the fourth year who seemed to be someone unsure of what had just happened to him. Eri handed her the roll, which turned out to be two bundled together. One addressed to Phoebe, one to Castor. Phoebe opened hers and read through it while Eri tried to salvage what food she could. "It's from my mum. She wanted to tell Castor and me good luck this year and wish us off before classes started. She could have just bloody said that at the train station. Merlin knows why she sent us Hoddypeak. She knows good and well that he hates having things tied to his feet. Useless thing, he is. She should have sent Albastus for us to use, but no. She says he's getting too old."
Eri didn't say anything, but watched as the rest of the owls flew in, dropped off whatever it was they had been made to bring, and flew back out of the Great Hall. Something inside of her was hoping to see the light colored barn owl Rider used to send, but she tried to force those thoughts and feelings out. There was no use getting her hopes up for something that could possibly never come. She needed to come to terms with the fact he could be gone for good. Didn't those words come out of his mouth the first night he left?
Phoebe interrupted her thought, unaware that anything was wrong. "This one is for Castor. I don't see him anywhere, and who knows if he'll make it down for breakfast in time or not. I'm not sure I'll see him before lunch."
"I should," Eri said. "We should have Divination together today."
"That's right! I forgot you were taking it, too. Castor spent almost all summer boasting about his 'Outstanding' in it." Phoebe rolled her eyes. "I was never any good at it but Castor thinks he's got "the Eye." Or at least, he says that's what Professor Brendalhorn told him. I think it's all a bunch of codswallop. Will you take this to him?" Eri agreed before suggested they might as well start back towards the dungeons for their first class.
Both stood, swinging their bags over their shoulder. Phoebe was in the middle of saying something about how awful she felt she was at potions, despite getting an E on her O.W.L.s. Eri, distractedly trying to comfort Phoebe and affirming how great an E was, stepped back away from the table and bumped into something behind her. "Oy! Pardon—," she turned, mid-apology. The scraggly, messy haired figure that was Severus Snape glared down at her before scurrying off in a twitchy manner, almost spider-like. He was out of earshot before she got the last word out. She looked at Phoebe, who could only shrug back. Eri looked back at the door Severus had disappeared through and raised an eyebrow. She pursed her lips. "He's a right git, that one," she said before starting the long walk back down to the dungeons.
Phoebe followed, both confused and amused. "I thought the two of you'd had a civil encounter yesterday?"
Eri had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Yeah, well, maybe he's just a moody brat. You can never quite tell with a short conversation." This seemed to be a sufficient enough answer for Phoebe and she dropped it.
The hallways down to the dungeon should have been relatively quiet, as most of the other house and students would be elsewhere in the castle, but a small group of Gryffindor students had decided to carry on to N.E.W.T.s level potions with Professor Slughorn and loudly cut-up behind the girls. Eri looked over her shoulder at them. It was the group from last night she'd noticed Severus staring at. Or, more so, gloomily scowling at. The girl with fire-red hair laughed with a coquettish trill at something the dark haired boy with glasses had said. Eri could see that the second black haired boy towered over the others and the smallest boy was round with light hair and twitched nervously. She noticed the last boy was almost sickly thin and had light scaring across his face.
"I wish they'd get the hint," Eri muttered to Phoebe, who nodded in response. They were forced to listen to the loud laughs and conversation going on behind them all the way to the class.
As always, the dungeons were dark and grungy. Professor Slughorn's room was lit by several thick candles scattered and floating about. Several tables were set around the room, facing the large mahogany desk near the far wall. The back of the room was covered in bookshelves and cabinets. Dark colored tapestries draped themselves across the ceiling. Slughorn stood at the door, hands rested on his protruding midsection, greeting everyone warmly and welcoming them back.
"Miss Penderghast, glad to have you," he said to Phoebe. He couldn't stop himself from grinning. "And Miss Bone. Always a pleasure." Eri gave him a small smile and followed Phoebe into the dim room. "Don't get too comfortable now, this year is going to be much different than the last. It is N.E.W.T.s level, after all!"
Something squirmed inside of Eri's stomach as she wondered just what Slughorn had in store for them. Eri looked around the room. A few other Slytherins were seated on the far side. She recognized Wilkes and Rosier at the table in the back, heads down and looking agitated. Phoebe nudged her and tipped her head in their direction. "Death Eater business, no doubt." Eri shrugged in return, still unsure of what that meant, and continued her survey of the class. The front row on the Slytherin side was taken by Severus, who was deeply engrossed in his copy of Advanced Potions. There were a few Slytherin girls at the table behind him. The other side of the room was scattered with Gryffindor students. All in all, it was a relatively small class as most of the students in the two houses had decided not to continue with potions. Eri and Phoebe opted for a table near the middle of the room.
From the door, Professor Slughorn cooed a greeting to the Gryffindors behind them. "Dear Miss Evans, I am thrilled you've returned! Mister Potter, I see you've chosen to join us yet again. Mister Black, how is Regulus? Working hard I suppose? Would have loved to have the set of you in my house, you know. Welcome, Mister Pettigrew. Mister Lupin. Enter, enter!" Eri turned slightly in her seat to see the group come in. From the corner of her eye, she could see Severus stir, almost jumping out of his seat. The Gryffindor group walked passed her table. She could hear the tallest one comment about having to share a room with Slytherin House.
"Would you look at that gents," the black haired Potter boy started haughtily. "Do my eyes deceive me or is that Snivellus?" The other boys in the group chuckled. They all took seats nearby. The red-head girl sat at a table with another female Gryffindor. Eri risked a glance at Severus who looked like he had swallowed something foul.
The Gryffindor boys had started a conversation about "Snivelly" as the last few students trickled in. "Hey, Lily, do you think old Snivelly will want to help you with your potions homework again this year? Maybe you can get him to beg." The boy with glasses snickered while tapping on the red-headed girl's shoulder.
"Oh, grow up, will you?" Lily snapped. Potter looked ashamed for a moment, like a puppy who'd been scolded for tearing up a shoe, but this only made Lily crack a smile at him and all his remorse vanished.
Before any of them could continue with their jabs at Severus, Professor Slughorn waddled to the front of the room and began his beginning-of-term speech. "Welcome class, welcome, to Advanced Potions! As all of you should know, I am Professor Slughorn, and I sure know all of you. This is a N.E.W.T.s level course, so before we begin, I want you all to think long and hard about whether or not you wish to continue at this level. Thought about it? Excellent. Let's get started. Everyone should have a copy of the book, please hold yours up… Thank you. Moving on!" He rounded the corner of his desk beckoned the whole class forward.
With a universal grimace and hesitation, the class unwillingly stood, leaving their things at their seats, and moved forward. They clumped around the desk, staring at a covered cauldron in front of them. "This will be an easy one to start us off. More of a review, really," Professor Slughorn said before taking the lid off the cauldron. A pearly potion bubbled inside. Slowly the room began to fill with the smell. The spiraling plumes of steam coming from the cauldron wrapped their tendrils around the heads of every student in the room. All at once Eri could smell Mag's fresh-baked biscuits, the subtle aroma of Fornax's musk, something that was both soapy and flowery, and a gentle fragrance she only knew one person in particular used. The potion had easily snared all of them.
"Who can tell me what this little concoction is called?" Professor Slughorn looked expectantly around the room, but most of the students were too distracted by what they were smelling to think about it. One hand found its way into the air. "Ah, Mister Snape?"
Everyone turned towards Severus. "Amortentia, the love potion," he said quietly.
"Right you are, my boy! Ten points to Slytherin." A wide smile spread across Professor Slughorn's face while he covered the cauldron again. The scents Eri so dearly loved started to dwindle until she, and the rest of the class, were left with the damp, grubby odor of the dungeon. "Amortentia, also known as the most powerful love potion in the world. This beauty can cause extreme infatuation and obsession to the poor soul made to drink it. However, while it is a love potion,"
"No one has every managed to create a potion that completely replicates love," Severus interrupted. His eyes were fixed on the cauldron.
"Right again! Take another five points," Professor Slughorn said animatedly.
"Careful Lil," Potter whispered while nudging her. "Better keep your drinks away from Snivellus." The rest of his gang snickered beside him, but her eyebrows furrowed and she clenched her fist. The boys must have realized she was getting upset at this point as their laughter quickly died down. They were quiet enough for Slughorn not to notice, but Severus was close enough to hear. His face flushed and he looked like he was going to be sick. He tore his gaze away from the cauldron and lowered his head.
Professor Slughorn assigned them their "warm-up" brew of the semester: to try and make their own love potion from the instructions in the book. According to him, this would be the last "review" and from here on out, it would be new potions with increasing difficulty, as one should expect from an advanced class. He also assigned them several feet worth of parchment, more than double the average they'd been used to last year, on the history of love potions, love potion antidotes, and a critique of Remival Withervane's theory on brewed love. Before dismissing them to their seats and avidly ignoring the groans from several students, he got their attention once more. "Now, due to the intensity of this year, I have decided to do something new. Each student will be paired—." Several students let out more pained moans. "Yes, I said paired up, Medalus, and you may be especially thankful for it during the N.E.W.T.s exam. Each class from here on will contain two potions that must be made. Of course, these potions often take quite a bit of time, hence the partners. Each student will be responsible for one of the two options, his or her partner will be responsible for the other, and at the end of the day you will all receive grades for both potions. This will mean teamwork, give you incentive to carry your own weight, help improve each other's potioneering techniques, and expose you to twice the amount of potions as you would in a normal year. I expect you shall all be capable of acquiring an 'Exceeds Expectations' or 'Outstanding' on the exam at the end of the year." He finished with a smile, resting his hands on his round belly. This idea pleased him greatly and he could see himself as a genius of sorts for coming up with it. The students seemed to think otherwise.
"I've already determined the pairs, so, if you will, when I call the names, gather your things and get to work. Each student will be responsible for his or her own brew. Mister Medalus, you'll be working with Miss Amandolia. Off you go. Miss Amandolia, please whip your eyes, dear." Tabitha Amandolia crossed the room with her bag, hiccupping and trying to weep as quietly as possible. Now that class had officially begun, stress had crept over the shoulders of every student and planned to piggyback its way to the end of the year. "Miss Penderghast with Miss Willowpy."
Phoebe gave Eri a shrug and smile before heading back to the table they'd been sitting at and picking up her bag. Eri's heart sank and her stomach did backflips. This year had suddenly gotten much, much bleaker. Soon they were beginning their potions. Phoebe chatted happily away with the girl Lily Evans had sat with at the start of the class. Eri waited patiently for her name to be called. The tables began to fill with partnered students and steam billowed from the cauldrons. "Mister Snape with Mister Lupin." Severus' face dropped, but he moved without a word. Lupin, the Gryffindor boy with scars across his face, received several expressions from his group of friends ranging from concerned to amused, and got a "watch your back, Moony" from Potter. Lupin, like Phoebe, gave a 'what-can-you-do?' shrug to his friends and a light-heart smile before following after Snape. Neither said a word to each other, but jumped right in to making their own potions.
"Miss Bone," Eri faced Slughorn, hoping desperately that she would not have to work with the ringleader of the vicious Gryffindor operation. "With Miss Evans, please." She raised an eyebrow, but quickly decided this was the better Gryffindor option. The red head also received a few chuckles from the Gryffindor group, which made Eri's face burn. Without wasting another moment, she returned to her original table, which had remained unoccupied, and started pulling ingredients from her bag. Lily caught up to her as she flipped the book to the right page.
"Ignore them," she said quietly, placing her things on the tabletop. "They're a bloody bunch of gits. Sometimes even I can't stand the lot of them." She paused and raised her hand to Eri. "I'm Lily."
Eri pursed her lips, debating with herself about whether or not she really wanted to shake Lily's hand. She'd started to hate Lily's friends in such a short amount of time. She also knew that Severus wasn't the most pleasant person, but couldn't believe he'd done anything awful enough to deserve the incessant berating he'd received the entire class. Eri had heard rumors of some of the things that had happened to Severus over the years, but with classes as large as they had been, she'd never been close enough to witness anything or around him long enough to see. But, in her defense, Lily hadn't been one to contribute and had gotten upset over the jokes. She thought that just maybe Lily wasn't as bad as the others. She also thought that there were two ways this class could go for the rest of the year, and it seemed working together would be the easier route. With a deep breath, she shook Lily's outstretched hand. "I'm Eri. We'll need boom berry, fairy wings, and powdered moonstone first."
Lily nodded and immediately the two were delving into ingredients, until at long last, they both had a relatively decent version of Amortentia bubbling and steaming in their cauldrons. By the end of the class, the entire room was shrouded in pleasant smells, tinged with smoke from a few failed potions. By the time Slughorn dismissed them, Eri was exhausted and only wanted to crawl back into bed. Professor Slughorn called Lily to his desk after class and Phoebe said goodbye to Eri before rushing out of the room, muttering something about how long it'd take her to get out to her Care of Magical Creatures class. Eri knew the climb she had to make would take a good bit of time, but she still packed her things sluggishly. This gave her time to process all that had happened and mentally prepare for another class with another brutal load of work that was sure to come.
Gradually all the other students filed out of the room, leaving only Eri, Lily and Professor Slughorn. They were in a happy conversation about a meeting of some kind that would be sure to come soon. The conversation was short, and soon Eri was left alone, as Lily made her way to the door and Slughorn returned to his office in the connecting room. Eri took her time walking up the hall. She had a few minutes to spare, and honestly, she wasn't sure why she'd decided to continue Divination anyway, aside from getting to spend time with Castor.
Further along the hall, she was positive she'd seen Fornax's plumed, black tail swish down a side corridor, and stopped herself from calling out. She hadn't seen him since the night before, but the voices coming from the nearest hallway kept her silent. She crept close to the edge of the wall, curious as to what was being discussed in the hushed hallways.
"Lily, please, give me a chance." The voice, Eri recognized, was Snape's. It cracked and trembled as he spoke.
"Sev, no. I've told you again and again. I don't want to see you. I don't want to be friends. I can never forgive you for what you've done." The second voice was sharp and higher pitched. Lily sounded much angrier than she had been with the Potter boy in class.
"I said I was sorry. I've said it a thousand times," Severus said quickly. "I am so, so sorry, Lily. You have to believe me. I would never—, I was just so angry I—… I didn't mean it. You were my best friend. Please, please don't do this to me." Eri thought he might even be crying as he begged.
Lily, much more cold-hearted than Eri gave her credit for, turned him down. "I do not want to see or talk to you again." Severus made an attempt to interrupt, but she cut him off. "No, I mean it Severus. You've done an awful thing for which you deserve to be punished. I don't care how angry you were. We're done," she said. "We've been done for a long time."
"How could you?" Severus was angry now. His voice hitched. "How could you still take their side? How could you protect that wretch James bloody Potter after all the years we've known each other? I would do anything for you!" Eri risked a glance over the edge of the wall. She watched as Snape brought his fist to his chest. "I would die for you, and yet I slip up once and that's it? They were torturing me, Lily. Am I not allowed a single moment of weakness or rash action?"
Lily said nothing for a moment. She didn't even bother to look at him as she considered his words. "What matters to me, is that in your so-called moment of weakness… In your rash action… The raw thoughts and emotions you had were against me. To insult me in the worst way. That, that, is what you thought of in your anger. You took it out on me. And I can't forgive that, because it's what you really, truly think of me, deep down inside of you."
Snape gasped in exasperation. "But it isn't! Lily, I swear, I lo—," he started.
"No, Sev. Don't. Maybe one day, far, far from now, I can find it in me to be your friend. But, for right now, and until that day comes, I want nothing to do with you. Nothing, Severus." Lily didn't wait for a response, but turned on her heels and headed for the hallway Eri was eavesdropping from. As fast as she could, Eri drew away from the wall and hid behind the pillar beside her. She heard Lily's footsteps approaching and then listened as they shrank away down the corridor, away from the dungeons. She waited, but didn't hear any more footsteps. She tiptoed to the wall again, and peeked over the edge again. Severus had slid down one of the walls and had his head in his hands. She could have sworn she heard sniffles and sobs coming from him, but didn't have time to make sure. Instead she tiptoed quickly across the open walkway between the halls as quietly as she could, and then made a sprint for the North Tower once she was out of earshot.
She made it to class, rushed to grab a seat beside Castor while startling him in the process, just as the bell rang. She ripped the note Phoebe had given her out of her bag as Professor Brendalhorn entered the smoldering room, and handed it to Castor. He opened it as the professor began closing all the windows. His face was much more pallid than Phoebe's had been and Eri figured that his letter had to have said something vastly different. She didn't have time to dwell on it before Professor Brendalhorn started talking. Her bright blue robes, flecked with gold, twisted around her ankles as she walked and her light, bushy brown curls twisted about her face. She wasted no time at all starting the class on palmistry, warning that most students would not be able to accomplish proper palm reading and even those with the Sight could struggle without practice. Eri was partnered with Castor who read her palms. He told her she'd have a short life with lots of sickness and would die alone. With the kind of day Eri was having, she didn't even doubt it.
At the end of Divination, Professor Brendalhorn assigned another whopping roll of parchment and wanted the class to start with lunar charts again to predict the year ahead. At lunch, Eri spent most of time eating and listening to Phoebe prattle on about the magical creatures she'd seen on the grounds in her last class. Eri decided not to mention the grim look on Castor's face when he read the letter or the conversation she'd heard between Lily and Severus. She didn't think it right to talk about things she didn't truly understand or know about. She did spend a few minutes looking around for Severus in the Great Hall, despite herself. She was mildly concerned for his well-being, as he seemed to be having an awful day. He was nowhere to be found. Lily and her Gryffindor friends were all present and accounted for, though, laughing and chatting happily across the Hall. This didn't sit right with Eri and her appetite started to dissipate.
Phoebe wanted to leave early to get to their last class of the day before their free period, but Eri insisted that she wasn't quite full yet and would meet her there. Something tugged at Eri to stay and wait. Phoebe didn't buy it, but left anyway. Eri sat for a few minutes, staring at the food on her plate, wanting very much to eat it, but couldn't bring herself to. Just like the night before, she started to feel as if she was being watch. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she couldn't help but shudder. She glanced around the room yet again, but none of the students she saw were particularly interested in her at all. Most of the room had emptied out by this point anyway as students had classes to get to. A moment later, when Eri couldn't stand the feeling anymore, she stood, swung her bag over her shoulder, and started towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
The feeling followed her. The entire walk made her feel like she was on display. She glanced at all the paintings as she went, but most were distracted by their own devices. Witches and wizards of all periods of time moved in and out of frames, suits of armor marched around, various animals ran through paintings, a red fox with a blonde underbelly looked about its frame while flicking its tail lazily. She couldn't figure out what was causing her to feel so uneasy.
She got to the door and almost collided with someone for the second time that day. She looked up to see the black messy hair and sour face she was not thrilled to be familiar with. His eyes were puffy and his face more sunken than normal. This didn't stop him from scowling at her before pushing past and into the almost full classroom. Eri raised her head and looked at the ceiling. With a deep breath, she talked herself into a calm, swearing that he'd had a day much worse than she'd had and the moral thing would be to not hex the hell out of him. She took a few more breaths before entering the room.
"Please, students, come in, come in. Find a seat quickly," Quincypratt's voice was small and squeaky. His mangy, orange hair once again stuck out in puffs under his bowler hat.
Eri looked around for Phoebe, but quickly realized that every seat she could see, including the one next to her best friend, was full. Phoebe gave her a pained look. Eri forced a smile, knowing that it was her own fault for being late, but that didn't stop the sinking feeling in her gut. She turned to the right, but again, all the seats were taken. She turned the left and her heart sank. There was one empty seat. Her eyes met dark puffy ones, cased in purple bruised, that were going to become permanently pinched in a scowl if he didn't stop. "Bloody hell, by the white of Merlin's beard I swear," she cursed under her breath. She didn't have any other choice but to take the seat as Quincypratt made the call again. Eri sat down, refusing to look at the boy next to her. Instead, she focused on the quick but dull lecture Professor Quincypratt started immediately into. She then buried her face in her book to ignore Severus once their class assignment had been given. He did the same. This was another shared class with between Slytherin and Gryffindor, but the group from potions that had been hell-bent on giving Severus a hard time had thankfully gotten seats near the front of the room. This was the silver-lining, but by the end of the class, even that was gone, as they'd been assigned yet another hefty parchment assignment over the readings they'd done in class and over various hexes and curses. They would be practicing them in class at a later date. Eri reckoned this was easily becoming the most taxing year she'd ever had the misfortune of living and it'd barely even started.
She hadn't noticed the creeping feeling only stopped when she'd entered the room.
My inbox should always be open and I want to know what those of you reading think!
Thanks for sticking with me this far.
-LG