The Deity's Favorite
By: Alexa V.
Chapter 4: Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble
Lily groaned as she sat up from bed. Her eyes were blotchy red and she felt like she could drink a whole barrel of coffee. She couldn't sleep, her mind was unsettled by the presence of Iris so close to her. When Iris came back from the showers last night, Lily decided to go to bed earlier while the rest stayed up to chat the night away with Iris. By the time they were done, it was already dawn. But Lily still couldn't sleep, at first she thought she couldn't sleep because of the noise her dorm mates where making. But now that the room was finally quiet, she felt even more restless while staring at Iris' back in the dark. Lily didn't know what she was expecting to see. Did she think Iris was going to sneak out at night? Try and spy on Severus again? But Iris did neither, she was sound asleep. While Lily barely got any. Lily decided to take a cold shower to wake her up and head down to the great hall before breakfast.
Entering the great hall, Lily went to sit in her usual spot at the Gryffindor table. She gave an exhausted sigh, cupping her face with both of her hands, trying to rub the sleep off her eyes. Looking up, Lily scanned the great hall to see who was already there. She wasn't surprised to see a few Ravenclaws who were already studying, they were always known to be early birds. While a few house elves were also cleaning the great hall's floors and tables. As she continued to scan the hall, she spotted an ever so familiar head of raven colored hair. Severus, whose back was turned to her, was so fixated on whatever he was writing, he didn't realize Lily's presence at the great hall. Lily's heart began to quicken, like a rabbit running on adrenaline.
'This is the perfect opportunity. He's alone.' She thought to herself.
She stood up from the table and walked towards Severus, who was still fixated on whatever he was writing. She began to practice what she wanted to say to him in her head.
'Sev, I'm sorry about the incident at the lake and I want to spend time with you alone at our spot at the hidden alcove.'
Repeating these words over and over her head she crept quietly, she was afraid that if she were to make a sudden noise she'd scare him and he'd run off, like a wild animal. Finally she stood behind him, gulping air, she collects the courage to tap his shoulder. Severus, who had always been jittery in his life, hid the parchment in a quick motion, almost tipping over his ink with his elbow as he swiveled his head to face her. This action made Lily jump as well. But now that they're caught in each other's gaze, did Lily seem to panic. She completely forgot what she had wanted to say to him.
"Lily…" It was Severus who spoke first. Breathing out Lily's name as if he was holding his breath.
"I- Sev…" Stuttered Lily, she was panicking. She couldn't remember what she wanted to say to him. She didn't know how to start, so she stood there like a stuttering idiot for who knows how long.
Severus, who was always very patient when it came to Lily, stared at her in wait. She felt completely stupid in front of him. Severus decided to take the lead.
"Would you like to sit?" Asked Severus, gesturing to the spot next to him. Lily silently nodded her head and Severus scooted over for her to sit next to him. There was an awkward silence between the two.
"I'm sorry…" Lily blurted out so suddenly.
"What?" Severus looked at her perplexed.
"Back at the lake, what Iris said. I didn't mean it, I don't even know if my face really did such a thing. I swear I had no intention to laugh at you, much less a smirk. In fact I was already really mad at Potter. Merlin, he's such a toerag." Lily apologized, she groaned at the last sentence while cupping her face with both of her hands.
"Lily-" Severus began, but he was cut off when more students began to enter the great hall and breakfast finally appeared. The teachers began to slowly enter the great hall as well. Lily got up when she saw Mary and her friends entering the great hall with Iris. While many seem to crowd Iris as if she was some sort of rare peacock.
"I- I have to go. Meet me at the second alcove later? Just the two of us?" Lily said, holding Severus' hand in the hopes he'd say yes. Although Severus was disappointed how quick Lily stood up to walk away from him the moment her friends arrived. He could never say no to her.
"Alright." He simply said, without glancing at her. His look of disappointment did not go unnoticed by Lily, who felt guilty for how she acted. She wanted to stay and sit with him for breakfast, but her friends had already began to call out to her.
"Lily! Over here!" Dorcas called out.
Lily slowly let go of Severus' hand, her fingers that gently grazed his skin, felt like hot iron to Severus.
Iris watched Lily walk away from Severus towards the Gryffindor table, clicking her tongue at what she had just witnessed. Leaving the group of people who surrounded her into the great hall, she met Lily half way, muttering to her as she passed.
"You're a fool." Iris said, quietly for only Lily to hear, walking away from Lily and towards Severus.
Lily swiveled to look at Iris, staring at her as she sat next to Severus without a second thought, and leaned on his shoulder. Lily felt the hole in her stomach again as she watched them.
'Push her away, like how you always did to other girls who were too close. Please.' Pleaded Lily in her thoughts.
This was the first time she has ever wished for this, it disturbed herself to an extent. But her stomach fell when she saw Severus turn to look at Iris and went back to writing, without so much as being annoyed by her leaning on him.
"What are you standing there for, Evans?" James asked, approaching Lily who ignored him to continue staring at the two people who were garnering numerous attention. James turned to look at Severus and Iris, chuckling to himself. "Isn't that sweet? I guess even a dungeon bat like Snivellus can find love. Though I do admit Iris' standards are pretty low to want the likes of a slimy Slytherin." James said, turning to Lily who still ignored him. "Come on, Evans." James said grabbing Lily's hand to lead her to the Gryffindor table.
Lily swerved to smack James' hand away from hers.
"Don't touch me, and don't call him that." She said, through greeted teeth and seething anger. "I'm not hungry, not anymore." Lily said, walking past James who continued to stare at Lily's figure until she was gone.
James turned to look at Severus, anger boiled in him. With a huff he joins Sirius and the rest of his mates.
"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Asked Sirius.
"Where did Lily go?" Asked Peter.
"She said she wasn't hungry." James said, stabbing a sausage and placing it on his plate. While he chewed, a devious plan came to mind.
"Oh, I know that look. Who are we pranking this time?" Sirius said, eagerness in his voice.
"Same old, same old." James said eyeing, Severus. "We've got potions with Snivellus, after breakfast right?"
"Prongs, please-" Pleaded Remus.
"No way, Moony. I wanna here this." Interrupted Sirius, a wide grin over his face. While Peter, who sat across from Sirius, scooted over closer to here what James had in mind.
"No, not this time." Remus said, sternly. The three friends looked at him perplexed.
"Why not?" James asked. Looking at Remus with a lift of his eyebrow. Remus sat silent for what felt like a long time until he finally answered. He wanted to wait until he knew who Iris really was, but at this rate if he doesn't say anything it would mean a disaster for him and for the rest of the group.
"She knows." Remus finally said. With two simple words it felt like the entire room had shifted for the three boys. Sirius began to laugh.
"Don't joke like that Moony. It is a joke right?" Sirius said in between laughs. But Remus stayed silent.
Looking at Sirius, he adds. "She knows about you three being animagi too."
By then James dropped his fork on his plate, clattering loudly. Sirius had stopped laughing and Peter felt like he was going to faint at any moment.
"How?!" James asked, scream whispering.
"I thought we were careful." Peter muttered, while staring blankly on his plate of food.
"We are careful. More like 'were'." Sirius said, cutting off Peter. Swinging his head side to side, he clicks his tongue in frustration.
"How did she kno-" James said, cutting himself mid sentence, he looks at Remus wide eyed and then at Severus. "That slimy bastard." Seethed James, while staring at Severus.
"Oh he's getting it now." Added Sirius.
"It wasn't him, at least, I know he didn't say anything." Remus said. Trying to dissuade the two who looked like there were about to commit treason. Both boys turned back to look at Remus.
"Didn't you say Dumbledore made him make the unbreakable vow?" Peter interjected.
"Exactly, that's why I don't think it was him. If he did say something to Iris, he wouldn't be sitting there right now. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know you guys are animagi too." Remus reasoned.
"Well, how ever the hell she found out still must have something to do with him." James said, picking his fork back up.
"But for the mean time, please don't do anything. I don't think Iris is exactly who she claims to be. Not even Peeves would go near her." Remus said, shuddering as he remembered what had happened with Peeves the night before.
"Woah woah, wait, Peeves? You're joking." Sirius asked, dismayed.
"I'm not, Lily was there. Peeves came to prank Iris when we were giving her a tour, like how he always did with the first years or new faces. But he got scared of her and ran off. She's dangerous, and she smells different, unlike everyone." Remus said, wriggling his hands together, his nerves and the coming full moon catching up to him.
"How different?" Asked Sirius. Remus looked him in the eyes then back at the pair sitting at the Slytherin table.
"Very different, not human-different. All humans smell different, yes, but you always have that certain smell that screams human. That's how we werewolves depict what's human and what's animal. She doesn't smell that way."
"Well that's terrifying." Chimed Sirius.
"Do you think she'll report us?" Asked Peter nervously, Sirius smacked the back of Peter's head lightly with The Daily Prophet.
"If she wanted to she would have done so by now, and she won't. We're not gonna let that happen." Sirius said, his demeanour turning dark.
"And how exactly do you plan on doing that? Just please, don't do anything." Remus pleaded. But his pleas fell on deaf ears.
'All the more reason to get back at Snivellus.' James thought to himself as picked his fork back up to continue chewing on his sausage. He turned to glance at Severus, but he was met with the bluest eyes. Iris, who was still leaning on Severus' shoulder, was already staring at them. Her blue eyes peeking over Severus' shoulder. Her mouth opened and James, who was skilled in reading lips after frequently conversing with Sirius when making pranks in the middle of the class, read her lips. She only said a single word but it was enough to run a sudden chill down James' spine.
'Stag.'
James chocked on the sausage he was chewing.
"Oy! Eat slow mate. No one's gonna steal that from you." Sirius said, who began smacking James' back.
"What's wrong?" Remus asked, handing a glass of water to James.
"She- She's staring. She called me- Stag." James said, wheezing in between coughs.
Remus, Sirius, and Peter all looked at Iris. But she had her back against them.
"You sure about that?" Sirius asked in a whisper.
"But she didn't, I saw you. She had her back turned to you and you just kept staring and suddenly choked." Peter said, with a tilt of his head.
"Aye, Moony, you scared James witless, he's starting to see things now." Sirius joked at Remus.
"I'm not scared, she just did. How could you not notice that?" James asked Peter.
"I swear, I was looking at you and her the whole time. She didn't even glance at you." Peter defended.
"Well whatever guys, just please stay away from her." Remus said, standing up from the table to leave. "I need to return a book to the library, see you three later at potions." Remus left waving at his friends.
"Potions is with Snivellus right?" James asked, with a gasp after a drink of water. Sirius and Peter turned back to James.
"What are you thinking Prongs? Remus just said-" Sirius tried to dissuade James, but James cut him off.
"I am aware of what Remus just said, but if I can recall he only said to stay away from her. He never mentioned Snivellus in those lines." James said with a smirk, Sirius was reluctant but he never shied away from a prank.
"Alright then, we're all ears. Right wormtail?" Sirius said, turning to Peter who yelped like a stuck rat.
"Y-yeah… yeah." Peter said nervously.
"So what are we doing this time?" Sirius asked James.
"An old classic." James replied simply. Sirius twitched like a dog who was presented with his favorite toy.
"Ahhh… I see." Sirius said, coyly.
"You're a fool." Iris said, quietly for only Lily to hear, walking away from Lily and towards Severus. When she arrived she sat next to Severus without a second thought, and leaned on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" She asked him.
Severus turned to look at her, he didn't have the energy to push her away and he knew that even if he did, she was gonna have her way with him anyway. Turning back to stare at the food on the table he replies. "You saw all that?"
"Yes." Iris said, who conjured up the same bowl of soup from last night, for Severus to eat.
"Then you probably already know the answer. No, I'm not." Severus said, placing the wrinkled parchment he hid, back unto the table. In his panic to hide the parchment from Lily, the ink didn't have enough time to dry and it blotched up various parts of the parchment. Tsking he brings out a new sheet of parchment and begins to write on it.
"You know, I could reset the ink if you wanted to." Iris said, pushing the bowl closer to Severus.
"No need. I like doing these things by hand." Severus answered, picking a spoon full from the bowl of soup while he continued to write.
As they both fell into a comfortable silence, through the thicket of words and thoughts that swirled in the great hall, Iris heard her name and Severus' being mentioned by a particularly familiar voice. Closing her eyes, Iris focused on the group who were talking about her and Severus.
"-to Iris, he wouldn't be sitting there right now. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know you guys are animagi too." Remus reasoned.
"Well, how ever the hell she found out still must have something to do with him." James said.
"But for the mean time, please don't do anything. I don't think Iris is exactly who she claims to be. Not even Peeves would go near her." Remus warned.
'Ah, so he's warning them about me. Smart move lycanthrope.' Iris thought to herself. But as she continued to eavesdrop on them she heard the thoughts of James Potter.
'All the more reason to get back at Snivellus.' James thought to himself.
Iris felt slightly furious at how quick James finds any reason to try and throw blame at Severus. She turns to glance at them. At the exact moment James glances at her, she stops time. She wanted to scare the boy a bit. Mouthing out the words. 'Stag.'
Before James could choke she freezes him, turning away from them and back to Severus, she unfreezes time. Listening to James choke on his food. She slightly giggles.
"What's so funny?" Severus asked, glancing at her. Iris waved him off.
"Oh nothing, Viper. I suddenly recalled a deity joke a colleague once told me. Don't mind me." Iris excused herself. Severus thought nothing of it and went back to writing, Iris took a peek at the parchment, it read. 'What I know about Regulus Black'.
She once again heard James speak about Severus. Closing her eyes again she listens in on the conversation.
"Potions is with Snivellus right?" James asked, with a gasp of air.
"What are you thinking Prongs? Remus just said-" Sirius tried to dissuade James, but James cut him off.
"I am aware of what Remus just said, but if I can recall he only said to stay away from her. He never mentioned Snivellus in those lines." James said.
"Alright then, we're all ears. Right wormtail?" Sirius asked Peter.
"Y-yeah… yeah." Peter said nervously.
"So what are we doing this time?" Sirius asked James.
"An old classic." James replied simply.
"Ahhh… I see." Sirius said, coyly.
Iris continued to listen in on their conversation and what they were planning. She smirked to herself.
'You think you are all so smart. How cute.' Iris thought to herself, as she began to think up her own plan to counter the boys' prank on Severus.
Lily, who was in the library, was looking over her potions book, trying to study with what remaining time she had left before potions with Professor Slughorn. Yet, somehow she couldn't absorb a single word, she kept reading the same paragraph over and over again yet she couldn't understand it. Closing the book she sighed, not only was she lacking sleep but her appetite was ruined by what she saw.
"Morning Lils, you look terrible." Remus greeted her, looking at her eyebags in particular. "I didn't see you back at breakfast, you not hungry?" He asked.
"Oh hey, Remus, no I'm not. I… lost my appetite." Lily answered, giving Remus a weak smile.
"Well, if you say so. Would you like me to join you? I'm just going to return this and ask if a book in the restricted section is available." Remus said, gesturing to the book that he was holding close to his chest. Lily smiled at him and nodded.
Remus walked up to the front desk close. Lily could hear the conversation Remus had with Madam Pince, since her table was close to the desk, she was in earshot.
"Good morning Madam Pince, I'm here to return this book, and I was wondering if the book 'Secrets of the Darkest Art' is available to be borrowed? I have yet to use my one month pass for that." Remus said, Madam Pince took the book from his hand and slightly squinted at Remus before recognizing the boy.
"Why, good morning to you too Mr. Lupin. On time for the return date yet again, I see. Oh, how I wish all students were like that." Madam Pince said, checking the book front to back in case there were any creases or marks, seeing as there was none Madam Pince accepted it. "And about that book you were looking for, Mr. Snape had already borrowed it for the next two weeks so I'm sorry but you have to wait until he returns it, dear." Madam Pince explained with an apologetic nod.
"Oh that's fine Madam Pince, I don't mind I'll come back for it after the two weeks then." Remus said, walking away from the old woman with a wave. Madam Pince waved back at Remus and returned to what she was doing prior to Remus approaching her. Upon returning to Lily she asked Remus.
"What do you need that book for?"
"I just want to expound some parts of my paper for our DADA class. The deadline is in three weeks so I believe I still have time before Snape returns the book." Remus explained.
"Oh, I see." Lily replied weakly. Severus studying dark magic again didn't sit well with Lily.
"You're worried about him again, aren't you?" Remus asked, eyeing Lily who looked up at him in shock.
"Was I that obvious?" Lily asked, embarrassed. Remus nodded at her.
"He keeps burying himself in books about the dark arts. It doesn't settle right with me, I'm afraid he might join the likes of Mulciber and their gang of death eaters." Lily said groaning and burying her face in her hands.
"I think it's best if you don't think too much about it Lils, you could have a conversation about it with him if you think you need to call his attention about it." Remus said, trying to encourage Lily.
The bell rang for the first warning before class. Looking at his pocket watch Remus and Lily both got up to head to their first class, potions. Walking in silence, it took awhile before Lily answered Remus in regards to his suggestion.
"I think I will later, we agreed to meet up and talk."
Remus gave Lily an encouraging nod. Once they arrived at the doors to their class, Remus opened the door for Lily, upon entering she immediately finds Iris sitting on her seat next to Severus. Everyone stared at Lily as if waiting for her to react to this new arrangement. She tried to ignore the stares as she approached the two. But couldn't help but feel naked at their stares.
"Ehem." Lily said, to catch both of their attention. "You're in my seat, Iris."
"Really? But I don't see your name on it." Iris replied with a cheeky smirk at Lily. At this point Lily felt like she could pop a blood vessel. She glanced at Severus, as if asking him to do something, but Severus avoided Lily's gaze and said.
"I think you should sit with Mary for today Lily, Iris is new, so she asked for a bit of guidance." Severus said, trying to avoid Lily's gaze at him.
"I'm sure she can handle her own. You were home schooled, weren't you Iris?" Lily said, glancing at Iris.
"Yes, but I don't know the mechanic of a potions class, and I hear that Viper is the best among the best. I don't want to pass up that chance of learning from the best." Iris said with a tilt of her head.
Before Lily could reply Sulghorn had entered the room. Lily was forced to move to the back next to Mary.
"You could sit next to me if you want, Evans." James said trying to shove Sirius out of his spot. Lily ignored him and continued walking. Sirius clicked his tongue.
"Better luck next time, Prongs." Sirius said, wrapping and arm over James' shoulder.
"Good morning class!" Slughorn joyfully greeted. "Today we will be brewing the Draught of Peace. It is a potion that helps to calm anxiety and soothes agitation. Be warned however, that if you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients, you may put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so do pay close attention to what you are doing." Slughorn said, holding out an example of Draught of Peace.
"Now you all know the routine, on the blackboard are the list of ingredients you will need, and the instructions are in your textbooks. Once you are finished do call me. Good luck students." Slughorn gestured to the blackboard in front of the class that read:
- Powdered moonstone
- Syrup of hellebore
- Powdered porcupine quills
- Powdered unicorn horn
Severus looked at the ingredients on the board and glanced at his old hand-me-down, Advanced Potions books, previously owned by his mother.
"Blast this thing." Severus muttered to himself.
"What's wrong?" Iris asked him.
"I hate this time of my youth. Living as an adult, I forgot how poor I was to afford a new potions book, and now I am reminded of it again." Severus said gesturing to the book and turning to Iris.
"What old book?" Iris asked tilting her head at him.
"Don't deity's have eyes? I meant this-" Severus was slack-jawed, where his old potions book used to sit, now sat the newest version of the book. Opening it he was surprised to find that his writings and notes remained.
"Don't worry about your old book, I am aware that it's an old reliable in memory of your mother. Right now, it safely sits in your chest along with your clothes. Now that you have a new book, would you be a dear and please get the ingredients we need?" Iris asked sweetly.
"I don't know what to say." Severus said. "But Iris we need to agree that you must not use your powers as much as you want to."
"What?" Iris asked in disbelief. "And live like a mortal?"
"You make it sound as if it's a bad thing." Severus said, rolling his eyes at her. "Just don't use mind control on students or teachers and don't do anything that can make people suspicious of you, because I see you've garnered a crowd of fans."
Huffing and pouting Iris finally agreed. "Oh, alright. But I will use it when in emergencies."
Severus nodded in agreement. As she turned away from Severus to begin prepping the cauldrons they needed. Severus couldn't help but smile as he walked to gather the ingredients.
'Huh, I have to admit though, her powers do have some use other than being a slight nuisance.' Severus thought with a slight smile.
"Look at his smug face, he probably knows he's going to ace this one." Sirius whispered to James, both boys eyeing Severus who was gathering the ingredients.
"Don't worry, like I said, we'll get back at him soon." James whispered back, both boys giggling in excitement.
After minutes of brewing, Slughorn began to walk around the room to observe some of the students' progress. Approaching Severus and Iris' table he couldn't resist asking about the new student.
"Hello, you two, so how are we both doing here?" Slughorn said, taking a peek at both of their cauldrons. "Oh my! How splendid, the two of you are just on time with your progress and at an excellent pace at that." Slughorn approved, both students thanked the professor and Slughorn took this as an opportunity to ask about Iris.
"Young lady if I recall you name is Iris Alarie, correct?"
"Yes, professor."
"It hasn't even been a day and you seem to be very close to Mr. Snape here. Don't think I didn't notice the sweet interactions you both had at the great hall. May I ask how the two of you know each other?" Slughorn asked, this garnered the attention of numerous people in the room who were also curious. Severus had almost dropped an entire jar of porcupine quills into his cauldron at Slughorn's question. Iris however, wasn't fazed and had practically answered without a filter.
"He's my little viper." Iris answered nonchalantly.
"Little viper?" Slughorn repeated curiously.
"Pen names! That's my pen name, we were pen pals." Severus answered before Iris could blurt out anything else that could worsen the situation.
"Oh my, so for how long?" Slughorn asked.
"Only for a few-" Iris tried answering, but was cut off by Severus.
"Years! Five years to be precise. We were pen pals when I was in my first year and she was being home schooled in Paris, right snowflake?" Severus interjected immediately. Iris stared at Severus at the mention of what seems to be his nickname for her. Gesturing to Slughorn with his eyebrows Iris had no choice but to agree.
"Yes, five years, although only recently did we find out about each others true names when I wanted to study where Sevy was studying in, so that we both wouldn't have to be alone. Which is why I haven't grown out of saying Sevy's nickname rather than his actual name." Iris said with a hard smile, and Severus nodded in agreement.
Lily dropped her stirring rod. 'Sevy?! And what is she talking about Severus being alone? I was here.' Lily thought to herself, trying to calm down. Grinding the unicorn horn a little too strong. Mary on the other hand, scooted a bit farther from Lily the moment she saw the murder in her friend's forest green eyes.
Slughorn chuckled at the wonderful background of both students.
"My dear, you both must be very close then. Sharing each others lives and secrets through writing. How splendid! Alright then, do carry on with brewing." Slughorn happily said, walking away to a different table. Severus sighed in relief.
'That was close.' He thought to himself.
'I'll say, snowflake?! Out of all the nicknames that could exist in this infinite lifetime, you chose something as embarrassing as that?' Iris yelled at him through telepathy.
"Pfft…" Severus replied, glancing at Iris with a hard stern.
'It's better than being called Little Viper. Consider us both even.' Severus replied back through his head, mocking Iris and rolling his eyes at her. Iris stuck her tongue out at him.
Meanwhile on the table of two troublemakers. James nudged at Sirius, who was trying to figure out why his potion turned into a sickening vomit yellow, and gestures to Slughorn. Snickering, Sirius nodded, and grabbed a handful of dried bat wings. Sirius approached Slughorn, passing Severus' table.
"Professor, I would like to ask, what if I added these to my potion?" Sirius calmly asked the old man who chortled at him the moment he saw the dry bat wings.
"Then my boy you'll see the roof cave over you. Now off you go and make sure to put that back where you found it." Slughorn said, ushering Sirius away.
Walking back, Sirius gave a slight cough signaling James to cast a spell to knock a mortar of powdered unicorn off the table. While Iris' stirring rod fell off her table as well. Severus cursed, while Iris dropped to pick up her stirring rod silently. While both students were preoccupied, Sirius dropped the dry bat wings in Severus' cauldron in a swift motion. Smirking as he walked back to his table.
"Did you do it?" James asked annoyed.
"Didn't you see me? Of course I did." Sirius replied.
"Then what exactly are those in your hand?" James replied sarcastically, pointing at Sirius' hand.
Sirius looked to find that he still held the bat wings. Perplexed he stared back at James.
"I swear- I-" Sirius tried to explain but James cut him off.
"Look I don't care, just find a way to put them in." James muttered sternly. Eyeing the dry bat wings and back at Sirius.
Huffing, Sirius walked back up to Slughorn.
"Professor, why do we have to follow so much instructions? Can't we just chuck all the ingredients in? I mean they'll all be in the same cauldron sooner or later, Why can't they just be in all at the same time now?" Sirius said. Slughorn huffed at the ridiculous question.
"Because, Mr. Black, certain ingredients produce certain chemicals at certain times. It's why your potion changes color at a set amount of stirs or a particular amount of time. Combining them all is just news for disaster. Now off with you, I don't want to see you dawdling around the room and leaving your own cauldron unattended. Lest you'd want me to take five points away from your house." Slughorn said, shooing the boy away yet again.
Sirius slowly walked back to his table, subtly blinking at James who cast another spell to knock off various things off Severus and Iris' table.
"Merlin's sake, what's wrong with me today." Severus angrily muttered to himself. While Iris still remained silent as she helped Severus pick up the various tools and ingredients that fell on the floor.
Sirius took this opportunity and dropped the wings into Severus' cauldron again. Fast walking back to his table. James stared at him in disbelief.
"Was the eggs you ate back at breakfast rotten? You had your chance and you didn't even drop it." James angrily whispered at Sirius.
"What are you talking about? I just di-" Sirius glanced at his hand, he still held the dry bat wings. At this point Sirius was beginning to doubt himself. Then he began to recall what Remus had warned them back at breakfast.
'She doesn't smell human.' Remus' words echoed in Sirius' head.
"You know what, give me that." James said, reaching to grab the bat wings off of Sirius' hands. "I'll do it myself."
"No, at this rate Slughorn and Moony will be suspicious. Let's just call it off." Sirius reasoned, pulling the bat wings away from James.
"We wouldn't have to call it off, had you just dropped the bloody wings in the cauldron." James said, pulling the wings back to him.
The two argued, pulling the wings back and forth. Until James slipped, and Sirius' balance was off, dropping the bat wings into Sirius' cauldron. The cauldron began to immediately boil and a foul stench wafted the room. Slughorn immediately turned to their table and by then the cauldron began to violently shake as puke yellow froth oozed out of the cauldron.
"Boys! Stay away from that!" Slughorn yelled. But it was too late, it exploded. Gushing puke yellow ooze all over James and Sirius and anywhere it could reach. Severus pushed through the throng of students and chucked a single mermaid scale into the shaking cauldron. It immediately stopped.
"Ew." The students said, pinching their noses at the foul stench. While a devilish smirk curled on the lips of a snow haired girl who watched the two Gryffindors completely drenched in the yellow muck from head to toe.
James glanced at Lily to see her staring at them in disgust, pinching her nose as well.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, I am very disappointed in you both. Had that cauldron not contained unicorn horn powder in it you'd have blasted a hole through the concrete above you, as well as had Mr. Snape not pacified it with a mermaid scale, this room would have been flooded in this putrid mush in seconds. Five points will be taken from each of you for that incident. Another five will be taken from Mr. Black for not returning the bat wings as I had instructed. Fifteen points in total, will be taken from the Gryffindor house." Slughorn said, standing beyond the line where the yellow ooze stopped running on the floor. The Gryffindor students groaned.
"Way to go Potter, Black."
"After we just claimed those points back from the chandelier incident-"
"Taken away right off the bat-"
Students muttered in complaint. While Slughorn turned back to Severus, a delighted smile on his face.
"As for you Mr. Snape, you surprise me yet again. How did you know throwing a mermaid scale could pacify it?" Slughorn curiously asked, his smile unwavering.
"I have studied that mermaid scales have the capacity to tranquil any or all mixtures. I was given some as a gift recently and I never thought I'd have to use some of it so soon." Severus explained. Slughorn nodded in approval proudly.
"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! Ten points to Slytherin. Chop chop children, time to vial your finished potions." Slughorn said, walking back to his desk at the front.
Students from the house of Slytherin punched the air, some muttered a quiet victorious, "Yes!"
While others stared at the Gryffindors cockily.
"Good job." Iris said, patting Severus on the back. "You mentioned they were a gift. Who gave them to you?" She asked.
Severus looked down on the floor, his proud aura seeming to vanish at the mere question. Looking back at Iris, while pouring their finished potions in a vial, he mutters.
"They were from Malfoy, to congratulate me for 'seeing their side of the coin', or so he says." Severus was clearly not proud of it.
"I see." Iris mutters in reply, not prying any further.
Lily stared at Severus in wonder. 'That was so smart of him.' She kept thinking to herself. Ignoring the pit of her stomach she felt whenever she saw him with Iris, Lily tried to feel excited to be able to have Severus alone to herself later at the hidden alcove.
James and Sirius however had to leave the class early to walk back to the Gryffindor tower to take a shower and scrub the yellow ooze off of them. Students parted like the red sea in disgust at the stench they brought to the halls. While Peeves kept laughing and mocking them at their side as they walked.