Quidditch League - Montrose Magpies

Round One - Practice Round

Chaser 2

Prompts: (color) gold, (dialogue) "Go to sleep", (setting) Room of Requirement

Thank you EverSparrow and belle parole for betaing

Felix Felicis

Staring at the ceiling, he waited and waited, his uniform still on. After some time, snoring was audible. He counted to ten before he left his bed. As quiet as he could, he tiptoed out of the room.

He took a deep breath before leaving the common room. Looking left and right, he couldn't see anybody in the cold dungeons, and he slowly walked upstairs, pausing and hiding in alcoves to prevent getting caught by prefects. He watched until they moved away before sneaking out behind their backs.

He found that sneaking and remaining unnoticed wasn't too difficult for him. In the darkness of the night, he became almost invisible. Level by level, he got closer and closer to his destination. Looking at his watch, he found that he was on time. Everything was going according to plan.

"Stop!"

He froze. He had gotten careless. He hadn't seen the Gryffindor prefect.

She looked up from her book. "Severus! What the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night?" she hissed.

He was sure that her red hair looked even more fiery than usual and her emerald green eyes looked poisonous. "I, er, I- Do you have to deduce points?" he stammered.

"Of course I have to. I can't make an exception just because we're close," Lily said.

"If you can't make an exception because of our friendship, then you should make an exception because I'm studying," Severus said.

"In the middle of the night?" She was suspicious of him.

Severus took her hand and led her upstairs, and they arrived at the seventh floor. Lily was out of breath.

"Why are we running?"

"Because I can't be late," he said.

"Late for what?"

He dragged her to the left corridor. They were standing in front of the door.

"What is here?" Lily asked.

"The Room of Requirement. Have you never heard about it?"

Lily shook her head.

Stepping inside, they found themself in a well-stocked potions lab. Lily was shyly looking around as Severus rushed to the cauldron, hanging over the fire. He withdrew the shells of an occamy egg from his robes.

Severus stirred the potion three-times counterclockwise before grinding the eggshell. Looking at his watch he realized it was time, and he took a deep breath before adding the crushed eggshell to the mixture. He watched the potion show golden sparks. Stirring the potion again, he watched the flecks of gold disappear.

Once he had finished his task, he turned his attention to Lily.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with her hands on her hips.

"I'm brewing Felix Felicis," he said, as if it was the most normal thing to brew a controlled potion in the middle of the night in an extraordinary room.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Severus asked, not knowing what she wanted to hear.

"Why would you do that? Why would you waste precious time you could use studying for your OWLs with brewing potions that are far too difficult for a student to brew? For god's sake, most potion masters have a hard time brewing Felix Felicis."

"Because I can," Severus said stubbornly. "If I do well in my OWLs, it only means I can do what everyone else can do well, but if I can do something that requires skill and knowledge…"

Lily looked at him with curved lips. "This is really important to you? How long will it take to brew?"

"I have to add occamy eggshells bit by bit over the turn of five months, at half-moons."

"Fine, I'll cover for you, but if I ever catch you sneaking out again you'll wish you had never known me," Lily said.

Severus smiled. He took her hand and told the witch all he had learned about potions so far. His dark eyes lit up with joy. He was in his element showing her around, and he was determined to become the best potions master of all time.

They sat down on the workbench. Lily placed her head on his shoulder and they watched the cauldron bubble.

The following half-moon, Lily waited for Severus down in the dungeons in front of the common room. He arrived on time and they went to the Room of Requirement together.

"This is so forbidden and I'm enabling you," she giggled.

"Shh, you're going to get us caught," Severus hissed.

"I am? I'm the prefect here."

Once they entered the room he rushed to his cauldron, making sure everything was alright. He was focused while he checked the color and temperature. He yawned and crushed another part of the occamy eggshell when he heard her giggles.

"What's wrong?" Severus asked.

"Nothing. You're just so cute when you're engulfed in your work."

He frowned, continuing to grind the eggshell. His eyelids fell shut for a brief moment, and Severus remembered that he had to add it to the cauldron. After he had taken all the necessary steps, they sat down on the workbench.

Lily watched him. "Go to sleep."

"I'm fine." Severus yawned again. They didn't often get to talk, since they were in different houses.

"You're tired. Go to sleep, we can talk about it tomorrow," Lily said. She placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow. Now go to sleep." Lily smiled gently at him.

The last night, he couldn't fall asleep at all. Severus had checked and double-checked that he got all of his ingredients. He needed to get everything right after he had spent months working towards this.

Leaving the common room he found Lily waiting for him, a little earlier than usual. They ran to the Room of Requirement. When he arrived upstairs he was panting, and they didn't speak a word as he crushed the last piece of occamy eggshell.

Severus saw her emerald green eyes were fixed on him. He took a deep breath before adding the ground eggshell to the potion. He slowly stirred the cauldron. As he was working, all nervousness puffed into thin air.

Severus didn't even mind that Lily was watching his every step. He sprinkled powdered rue into the cauldron and stirred vigorously. They both held their breath as they watched the liquid turn golden.

A single tear ran down his cheek. It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. An immense sense of pride and accomplishment overcame him.

Lily jumped at him and hugged him tightly, almost knocking him to the ground. "You did it, you actually did it!"

"You doubted me?"

"Of course not. But this is amazing!"

Severus placed his arms on her back, pressing her closer against him and inhaled her sweet scent. Lily placed a couple of kisses on his cheeks. He moved his head ever so slightly, and their lips met for the briefest moment.

For Severus, it felt like an eternity. His heart jumped and his face turned bright red. He must have inhaled too much of the Felix Felicis. Confused, she stared at him with big eyes.

"You never needed a potion for that," Lily said blushing.

The following evening they returned to the Room of Requirement right after dinner. Lily took his hand and dragged him upstairs. Entering the secret room, she was surprised to find that it had changed.

It was smaller and dimly lit by candles. There was a very soft red seat in the middle and rose petals were scattered around it. Soft music was playing in the background.

She blinked twice before throwing Severus onto the seat. Lily followed him shortly after and cuddled up to him. Facing him she placed a kiss on his lips. He looked at her with wide eyes before melting into her.

Severus carefully returned the kiss. His arms were covered with goosebumps. Never in his life had he thought that it would feel so nice. Separating to breathe, he saw her smile at him.

Reaching into his pockets he withdrew a small vial filled with golden liquid attached to a leather strap. Lily looked at him, mesmerized.

"It's so beautiful," she said smiling at him.

He put the necklace around her neck, smiling proudly at his masterpiece.