(A/N:

Chelsea: Yay! It's chapter nine!

James: About time you updated.

Sirius: Merlin, I know! That took bloody forever!

Remus: Well, it wasn't an incredibly long time.

Emily: Yes it was!

Chelsea: Gosh, I'm sorry! hides under desk

Remus: attempts to pull Chelsea from under desk, but fails miserably

Chelsea: from under the desk The next chap will be faster… I hope. It'll be chapter nine part 2. Chapter nine is very long.

Emily: Awsome! What happens?

Chelsea: peeks out I'm not telling you! You have to find out!

Emily: humphs

Tally, a.k.a. the real Natalia: I LOVE YOU CHELSEA YOU'RE THE MOST AMAZING PERSON EVER AND I AM SO HAPPY YOU UPDATED SO I CAN LEAVE A LONG POINTLESS REVIEW!!

Everyone else: 00

Emily: Ok then…..

Chelsea: Well, on to the chap then!)

Last Chapter:

"Promise me you will never breathe a word of this to Amos."

He laughed and smiled at her, "Goodnight Lily,"

As soon as she disappeared at the top of the stairs, James threw himself on the sofa and put his head in his hands. What could she possibly be hiding?

Chapter 9: A Miniature Problem

"Today, students, we will be making a variation of the Shrinking Solution, called the Reduction Potion that—yes, Miss Evans?"

"The Reduction Potion does not reverse the aging process as the Shrinking Solution does, but reduces the size of the object it is administered to. It is more powerful than the standard shrinking potion and is potentially dangerous ," Lily said. "It is also much more difficult to brew than the standard, because of the need for exact measurements, hard to find ingredients, and precise stewing periods."

Slughorn clapped his hands together. "Splendid Miss Evans. 20 points to Gryffindor!"

Lily beamed.

Emily muttered, "Smarty-pants," and Lily shoved her amiably.

"Now," Slughorn, "The instructions are on the board." He waved his wand and a piece of chalk flew into the air and began to write the directions. "The required ingredients are in the supply cupboard. You may pick your own partners. Get to it!"

Emily reached out and grabbed Lily's elbow. "He's letting us pick partners?" Her eyes were wide.

Lily laughed and said, "Yes Em, he is."

Emily's face broke into a devilish grin and she bounded off towards the back off the room to find Sirius.

Lily turned around and found herself face to face with Remus. She grinned at him.

"Partners?" she asked and stuck out her hand.

He took her hand and shook it, grinning. "Partners."


Lily wiped the sweat off her forehead and continued to stir their potion which was lime green, exactly the color it was supposed to be. Remus sat beside her, stirring some ingredients in a small bowl that they would add later.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stir Lily?" he asked her, peering into her face. "You're really covered with sweat."

"No, I'm fine," she insisted, plugging her nose as Remus emptied the bowl into the cauldron and it turned bluish, smelling like rotten eggs.

Remus grabbed the stirring tool from her and blocked her from the potion with his back.

"My turn," he said lightly. "Why don't you start on that shrivelfig?"

Lily let out a playful "humph," before grabbing the required copper knife and the shrivelfig. Remus chuckled.

Sirius and Emily sat directly behind them and Lily listened to them argue happily while she absently skinned the bizarre object in her hands. Sirius wanted to stir their potion but Emily wouldn't let him.

"No Sirius," Emily scolded him, "I told you, I'm stirring."

"Emily," he whined, "I don't want to cut up the caterpillars. Please?" He poked her in the side with one finger."

"No!" she shrieked, laughing slightly. "Nuh-uh, I'm stirring this bloody potion until it—"

Then Sirius lunged to grab the wooden spoon Emily was stirring with (she had stolen from her mother's kitchen) and she scooted away quickly, holding the spoon in the air above her head. In her quick movement, she accidentally kicked the cauldron.

Emily and Sirius both froze as the cauldron began to tip towards Lily. Sirius reached out to grab it but it was too late.

The bright blue potion poured out of its container, splashing unnaturally high into the air and flowing swiftly towards Lily's feet. She turned in her seat and gasped as splattered all over her legs.

She looked into Sirius and Emily's stunned faces, her face mirroring theirs, for an instant before a huge puff of purple smoke enveloped her.

Everything she could see was purple. She took a breath, preparing to yell, but the smoke filled her lungs and started to cough.

She heard a scream that grew steadily louder, and then she blacked out.


Emily cried out and threw herself on the floor. She had seen Lily's silhouette drop to the floor before her vision filled with the purple smoke. She felt around the floor with her hands looking for her red-hair friend.

A hand grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her back to her feet. She heard a voice in her ear.

"Be careful!"

The hand moved to grab her upper arm. When her vision cleared she saw that it belonged to Sirius.

She waved the smoke out of her face and looked anxiously around.

"Where's Lily?" she heard Remus say, a few feet from her.

That's when she saw the miniscule speck of orange-red on the floor.

She wrenched her arm out of Sirius' grasp and fell to the floor again. She crawled cautiously towards the speck of color the stood out against the grey stones.

"Lily?" she whispered and prodded the tiny figure on the floor with the very tip of her finger. "Wake up Lily."

Lily stirred and shook her tiny head, as if clearing her vision. She rubbed her eyes and looked up at Emily.

Lily screamed.

"Lily!" Emily said quietly, trying not to hurt her friend's now-tiny ears. "It's ok, it's just me." She cupped her hand behind Lily and scooped her up. Lily clung to her thumb.

"Professor Slughorn!" Emily cried, Lily covered her tiny ears. "Lily's been shrunk!"

Remus, James, and Sirius all hurried over and peered into Emily's hand fearfully. Peter tried to look too, but he couldn't squeeze in.

Professor Slughorn hurried over and shoved James and Sirius away to make space for his huge belly. He lifted his spectacles and peered down at Lily.

"Hello Professor!" she yelled and waved at him with her entire arm.

Oh goodness," Slughorn blinked a few times, "she's tiny!"

"What can we do?" Remus asked. "How do we restore her to her normal size?"

Emily bit her lip. The whole class was gathered around by now.

"Well," Slughorn sighed, "she'll just have to wait until it fades. She'll be small for 12 to 24 hours."

"24 HOURS?" Lily shrieked. "No way. You have to fix me—"

"Miss Brown, you and Miss Evans are dismissed," Slughorn said, giving Emily a gentle push towards the door. "Take her to the hospital wing."

"Ok," Emily pulled Lily closer to her chest and walked quietly out of the dungeon.

The moment the door shut behind her she burst into laughter.

"Oh—my—god," she gasped, between laughs, "Lily you're three inches tall!"

Lily glared up at her and put her hands on her tiny hips, "Thanks for telling me. I never would have noticed.

Emily put her free hand over her nose to stifle a snort. Lily grinned a little.

Emily laughed all the way to the hospital wing, and Lily had trouble containing her own laughs. Emily's moods were contagious, even when you were three inches tall.

"Madame Pomphrey!" Emily called. "Lily got shrunk!"

Madame Pomphrey came bustling out of her office. She peering into Emily's outstretched hand sadly.

"Ah," she said, "I get one of these every year."

She reached in her pocket, pulled out a small chunk of chocolate, and handed it delicately to Lily. Lily had to wrap her arms around it to hold it. She quickly set it down, grabbed a small hunk of it piece, and took a large bite.

"Miss Evans," Madame Pomphrey addressed her, "your physical reactions will be a little exaggerated until you get used to being small. For example, should you sneeze, you will be unable to keep your balance, and fall over."

Emily chuckled and placed Lily and her chocolate on one of the pillows of the hospital bed. Lily crossed her legs Indian style and continued to munch on the chocolate. 'Oh well,' she thought as she chewed, ' I might as well make the best of this.'

The hospital wing doors flew open with a bang. Lily jumped in surprise and fell off the pillow onto the soft sheets. Emily laughed and extended a finger to help Lily stand.

All four of the marauders ran over to them, a different expression on each face, but all looking out of breath.

Remus looked worried; he peered down at Lily as she picked herself back up and fixed her hair.

James looked like he wanted to laugh but was afraid that Lily would get mad; Sirius was laughing, like Emily, and Peter looked like he didn't know what had happened.

Remus kneeled next to the bed, "Lily?"

She climbed across the hills in the bed sheets to get to his face,

"Remus," she said, her hands on her hips, "I'm fine. I've decided to make the best of this. I'm not going to get upset, I'm just going to….." she struggled on the words for a moment, waving her hands in the air, "You know, have fun!" She leaned forward and placed a big kiss on the tip of his nose.

Remus laughed and scooped Lily up into his hands and she squealed with surprise. She clutched his pinky finger, as she was able to wrap her arms all the way around it.

"So it about time for lunch," said Sirius, "Shall we?"

As they left the hospital wing Madame Pomphrey yelled, "Now be careful with her, you lot!"

Emily waved happily to her, and the infirmary doors swung shut.


Lily stood on her tiptoes to see over the rim of the goblet she was currently standing in.

The Gryffindor table was covered with food and tableware that, to Lily, looked positively colossal. There were pieces of chicken the size of a muggle car, forks with tongs almost longer than her body, and bowls of soup as big as a swimming pool.

Lily waved her arm out of the goblet, trying to catch someone's attention.

"Emily? James? Sirius? REMUS!"

Suddenly a hand entered her small space and she squealed. The hand tried its hardest to make some kind of platform for her to stand on and she held on best she could.

The hand, she soon discovered, was attached to an arm, which was attached to Sirius Black. He set her down on the table and barked a laugh.

"Want something to eat Lily?" Emily leaned down close and peered at her with one eye. "A bit of potato?"

"No, but thanks Emmie," Lily made a face. "I'd rather not attempt to eat a giant hunk of potato with my face. I'll just explore."

Lily pranced around across the table to James and Remus; she had to shimmy between to large bowls to get there.

She climbed over a closed butter dish and sat down on Remus' napkin.

"Hi!" she chirped happily; she was actually having fun being tiny. It was quite thrilling.

"Hello Lily," Remus and James grinned at her, "having fun are you?"

"Oh yes," she said energetically. "It's exhilarating."

A brown haired girl appeared behind Remus and exclaimed, "Lily?"

"Hi Natalia!" Lily cried cheerfully, "How are you?"

Natalia looked shocked, "I'm fine. But you're tiny!"

"Oh it's fine," Lily waved away Natalia's concern with her hand. "Its actually very fun."

"Lily!" Emily said from the other side of the table. "I made you a present!"

Lily turned away from James, Remus and Natalia to look up at Emily's face. Emily waved a small folded piece of paper in the air.

Upon closer inspection, Lily saw that the paper was folded into the shape of a small boat. She peered around the food on the table and saw a bowl that, if she was correct, Sirius and Emily had filled with water.

She clapped her hands and scurried back across the table.

After she has squeezed around a plate of chicken, Sirius reached out and picked her up, very carefully, under the arms. Her feet were dangling so she kicked them and laughed.

Sirius set her very carefully in the napkin-boat, which Lily was sure Emily had waterproofed, and moved his hand away slowly. Emily handed Lily a shrunken spoon, Lily laughed again and began to paddle herself around the bowl.

A smile was growing on Natalia's face, as she watched the miniscule red-head float around a bowl full of water.

It was then that Lily noticed what Natalia was holding.

It was a sandwich but it looked slightly cooked, browned and crispy, and there was something that looked like cheese oozing out the sides.

She opened her mouth, but James following her gaze, spoke first.

"What is that Natalia?"

She grinned hugely.

"A grilled cheese sandwich of course!" she displayed the sandwich with a flourish and slowly took a bite, as if teasing them. "Mmmmm…"

"OH MY GOSH!" Emily yelled, causing the first years near her to jump, "GRILLED CHEESE?"

"YES!" Natalia squealed back to her and Emily vaulted herself over the table to stand next to her. Sirius's hand flashed out and grabbed Lily out of her boat to keep her safe.

Emily and Natalia grabbed each other's hands and shrieked happily, jumping up and down. Natalia handed Emily half of the sandwich and Emily took a large bite.

Lily, James, Remus and Sirius, meanwhile, were staring at them looking very confused.

"Emily, honey," James put a hand on Emily's arm, "what's so exciting about a sandwich?"

"Its not just any sandwich," Natalia reprimanded him. "It's a grilled cheese sandwich."

Sirius was very puzzled.

Then, quite suddenly, there was a loud clatter, a scraping and clanging of people leaving their seats and exiting the great hall.

"Oh," said Natalia, "its time for class. I'll see you lot later then!" And she skipped off towards the Ravenclaw table to collect her things.

Emily scooped Lily up from the table and held her in her cupped hand. She reached for her bag but Sirius grabbed it first. She grinned at him.

They walked to the end of the long table and met with James Remus and Peter and the group set off through the huge doors of the hall.

As they reached the top of the marble staircase, however, a tall figure stopped their progress.

"Where is Lily?" Amos said, his voice cool, but obviously covering menace. He crossed his arms.

Emily held out her cupped hands. "She got shrunk,"

Amos stared down at tiny Lily for a moment and turned very pale.

"H-how?"

"In potions. I accidentally kicked over my cauldron," Emily said sheepishly. She grinned uncertainly.

Amos stared at Lily for another moment before turning a violent shade of puce and lunging towards Emily, and grabbing her shoulders roughly.

"You idiot!" he yelled in her face, and she cried out in surprise, her fingers closing safely around Lily who shrieked, "Amos!"

Within the next few seconds a great many things happened. Sirius threw himself, shoulder first, into Amos's stomach, forcing him to let go of Emily and shoving him backwards. Sirius locked a hand around his throat, and began punching every part of Amos' body he could reach with his other. Emily stumbled backwards and James caught her, standing her back up and fishing Lily from her hand. Emily and Remus both pulled out their wands and pointed them at the fighting pair below them.

"Stop it!" Lily screamed from James's hand. "Amos, leave him alone!"

Amos's fist connected with Sirius's jaw with a loud crack. Emily jerked suddenly and cried, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Amos's legs and arms snapped to his sides and he rolled so that he lay flat on the floor.

Sirius touched his face gingerly and Emily knelt beside him.

Lily looked up at James and called to him, "I need to say something to Amos. Put me on the floor,"

He looked at her skeptically for a moment and she said, "James, I'll be fine." She patted his thumb reassuringly.

He rolled his eyes but placed her on the floor near Diggory's head. She walked up beside his ear and whispered something rather venomously into it.

She walked away from him suddenly and ran over to where Sirius and Emily were kneeling on the floor. Sirius's face was bloodied, and Emily looked very worried.

"Sirius, are you ok?" Lily put her hands on his kneecap and looked up at his face. There was a large purple bruise blooming around his eye.

"Oh, I'll be fine," he waved his free hand around airily. Emily grabbed it and stood, pulling him with her.

"We're going to the hospital wing," she says firmly, "You lot go to class. We'll come later."

Sirius looked down at Lily. "Sorry for socking your boyfriend. I—"

Lily held up a miniscule hand and he stopped.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore. You can whip his arse for all I care."

Sirius would have grinned if his jaw wasn't so painful. Emily took his hand again and started to pull him down the corridor.

"We'll see you lot later," she said. "Come on Sirius!"


A/N: Ok, so that was the longest chapter so far. The next chapter is defiantly not as long, so don't bug me about it when I post it

And sorry about the Grilled Cheese thing. Its an inside joke. xD