I was doodling aimlessly on the parchment in front of me when my lab partner slid quietly into the seat next to me. I hadn't paid much attention to him the previous day because I had been so distracted by Sirius and James' note passing extravaganza, but I couldn't help but take stock now.
He was slightly unhealthy looking, with sallow skin and greasy black hair that obscured most of his face. When he shifted in his seat, his hair fell back from his face and I saw that he had a large, hooked nose and the darkest, most fascinating eyes I had ever seen. I thought that they were brown at first, deeper than my own, but as I looked closer I realized that they were in fact black. I came to this conclusion when I noticed that I couldn't distinguish where his pupil ended and his iris began. They weren't, however, flat like I would have expected black eyes to be, but they seemed deeper than the deepest well, a true window to the soul. I could see the emotions battling inside them; confusion, disbelief, anger, and above them all, pain. I was entranced and I probably would have continued searching those alien eyes for quite some time, but at that exact moment the girl behind me broke out in a fit of coughing and my attention was shattered.
He was looking at me now. I shifted back in my seat, blushing brightly when I realized just how close I had been sitting. He probably thinks I'm a freak.
Just then, Professor Slughorn began explaining the procedure for making veritaserum, and I had never been so happy to do schoolwork in my life. Twenty minutes later, I was definitely much less happy as the lecture droned on and on. I glanced at my partner out of the corner of my eye and was happy to see that he looked just as bored as me. He too was doodling in his book, filling the margins with cramped, messy writing. Probably writing poetry, I thought to myself; he certainly did look like the starving artist type, a la Edgar Allen Poe. I began trying to recall the poems I remembered, trying hopelessly to pass the time.
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
That was all that I could remember and then something about a raven, saying nevermore. Since my memory was failing me, I began sketching a raven sitting atop a doorframe. I was so engrossed in my drawing that it took me a few minutes to realize that the rest of the class was moving around the room, gathering supplies needed for the potion.
I looked over where my partner had been sitting, but he was no longer there. I searched the room for him and saw that he was collecting supplies like everyone else. Way to be a complete failure, Rumer. Make your poor lab partner take care of everything. I looked around our table searching for anything that I could do to be helpful, and I realized that our cauldron had not been heated yet. I set to trying to start a small fire under it, but even that was hopeless since I had never actually used a cauldron before. I looked around the room, staring enviously at the other groups' already lit fires. My eyes met those of Sirius Black's and my desperation must have been glaringly apparent because he began immediately making his way across the room, towards me.
"You okay?" he asked.
I just shrugged my shoulders and gestured toward the empty cauldron. "I don't know how to start it," I muttered grudgingly.
He laughed, obviously taking pleasure in my discomfort, but he hid his smirk as soon as he saw the murderous look in my eyes. "It's ok. You've probably never used one of these before, have you?" he asked.
When I shook my head, he smirked again, but quickly began explaining the process of filling the cauldron and lighting it.
It was incredibly easy after he'd explained it and I was completely relieved that I wasn't a failure after all. "Thank you, Sirius," I said, after I'd started it once completely on my own. "I felt so dumb for a minute."
He laughed. "It's alright. That's how we all were our first day too. James actually set Lily's hair on fire the first time he attempted it."
"You're joking."
He laughed again, clearly enjoying sharing this piece of information with me. "No it's true, I swear. Her hair was flaming red."
"Ha. Ha." I laughed sarcastically.
"I mean it was red hot, if you catch my meaning."
I groaned aloud at this play on words. Lily's hair was always red because she was, after all, a redhead.
I looked at James and Lily's table across the room. They were arguing as usual, Lily's face almost matched her hair it was so red and James looked just as flustered. As I was watching Lily threw her hands up in exasperation and stalked angrily over to Katie's table. James was left staring after her, his brows drawn together in confusion.
"And so started their love affair?" I asked, gesturing towards the now lonesome James Potter.
Sirius watched his friend with an unidentifiable expression on his face, before refocusing his eyes on my own. "Well that's what started James' infatuation with her, and Lily's less that flattering opinion of him."
"Don't you like Lily?" I asked.
"Yeah, she's a cool girl and all. I just don't see what all the fuss is about. There are hundreds of girls in this school, so why is she the only one he sees?"
I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe it's love."
Sirius smiled too and ran his hands through his perfectly tousled black hair. "Well that's what he keeps telling me anyways. Speaking of which, I should probably get back to my table before Lily notices just how long we've been talking. She might get suspicious when James tells her about the two of you later."
"That's true," I agreed halfheartedly. Oddly, I didn't want him to leave.
Sirius must have noticed my hesitation because he smiled his patented, sideways smirk before winking at me and walking away. As he reached his table, I couldn't help but notice the gorgeous icy blonde sitting beside him. "Bitch," I muttered under my breath.
"Sorry?" asked a voice directly behind me.
I turned and saw that it was my lab partner, watching me curiously with those fantastic eyes.
"Not you," I quickly apologized. "Her." I gestured towards the snooty, gorgeous blonde.
He just nodded before quickly set to work chopping up some gooey looking thing and adding it to the smoking cauldron.
"Is that the blastula?" I asked curiously.
He nodded infinitesimally, still cutting.
I looked at the instructions in my book. "Do you want me to add those when you're done and stir for, let's see, 6 minutes?"
He shook his head to the left and then the right. No. "I'll do it."
"It's ok. I can do it," I replied, trying desperately to be helpful.
He just shook his head again, barely seeming to hear me.
"I'm not stupid you know." My voice sounded petulant to my own ears.
He looked up then and replied with surprising clarity. "I know. It's just that I usually don't go by what the book says."
"That's fine," I replied. "We are partners though. We're supposed to work together."
He nodded.
"I'm Rumer by the way."
"Severus."
"Severus," I said, tasting the strange name on my tongue. "I like it."
I wasn't sure, but I could have sworn that he smiled slightly before turning back to the cauldron.
"Alright. Finish chopping up these and put them in the cauldron. Carefully though," he cautioned. "Don't splash any water on you. It's almost boiling by now. Stir for 4 minutes, switching directing every 30 strokes. I'll be right back. I need to go grab some more supplies."
I nodded, grateful to have something to do now. Normally I would have looked around the room, checking out how everyone else was doing. This time though, I tried to focus solely on the task of stirring the cauldron. I was worried that I would get distracted and lose track of strokes, ruining the whole experiment. After 4 agonizingly slow minutes, I finally took a break from the constant stirring and rested my now sore arm on the table. I looked around for Severus but he was nowhere to be seen. That's when I noticed his Potions book, lying open on the table. Much of the original text had been crossed out and replaced with directions, what I had thought was poetry, earlier. I flipped through the pages, examining the writing. Like on the previous page, most of it was edited directions for the potions we had made in class, but some of the words had nothing to do with potions at all. They almost looked like spells. I was bending down closer, trying to read his messy scrawl, when the book was jerked out from under my eyes, the cover slammed shut.
Severus was glaring at me, his face livid. He looked angry, obviously, but also embarrassed, and it reminded me of the time I caught my brother looking at naughty magazines. Sure enough, there was definite fear of rejection in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," I said, trying to remain calm in order to communicate that I didn't think he was weird just because he was a potions genus.
But he only looked angrier.
"I was just looking for more directions. I'd finished stirring," I said, indicating the merrily bubbling cauldron.
He exhaled through his nose, obviously trying to regain composure.
"It was an accident," I amended. "It won't happen again. Scouts honor."
He looked confused at that last part but he didn't question me. Instead he took a few more cleansing breaths and began working on the veritaserum again.
We spent the rest of the class period working in almost silence. We only spoke when he gave me curt directions, and the book stayed by him at all times, out of my reading range.
When Professor Slughorn dismissed class an hour later I was incredibly grateful. My lab partner swept out of class, his robes billowing after him, without a word.
I sighed and turned away from our simmering potion, noting that it looked much lighter already than any other groups. After I made sure that everything was put away properly (It was of course, thanks to Severus), I made my way up to the smiling James Potter, who was eager to be seen with by his side. At
this thought I couldn't help sighing again, if I had learned anything since coming here it was that nothing was ever as it seemed.
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Hey guys I'm back after 2 years. I know, I know. I don't know why I wanted to start writing again, but I have this desire to finish this story once and for all. I know that my interpretation of the characters, as well as the writing style, has probably changed quite a bit so I apologize for any confusion if this chapter doesn't quite match up well with the others. Well I hope you like it. -Lainia
