A/N Excuse my spelling, please. I miss spell lots of words, and I am too lazy and in pain to check for them. Well, this fic isin't quite nearly finished, and it may very well be lonegr. I really don't know at all J
Divination was terrible, not only did Lily feel suffocated in the room, she was horrible at the class, and she thought it was complete tripe. Sitting at a table shoved as far away as they could get from everyone, Lily, Ruby, Chelsea and Angelica were talking raptly instead of concentrating on the tarot cards laid before them. So raptly, in fact, they didn't notice Professor Trelawneway (I have no idea how to spell that) towering over them, until she spoke
"Ladies! Are we not supposed to be working on our tarot reading?" Lily jumped, and looked up at the Professors face, which was cloudy.
"Yes ma'am, I was just reading Lily's present, umm, now, the next card, yes, that sounds right…" Angelica pulled a card off the top of the pile, and held it up.
"What card is it, Miss. Ward?"
Angelica looked at the card.
"Uh, Three of Swords. Upside down."
"And what does the card mean, Miss. Ward?"
"Uh, it means….bad tidings await Lily, a field of broken promises, a shattered life, the loss of loved ones."
The Professor smiled. "Very good, Miss. Ward. Less talking please." she moved on to torture the next victim, and Angelica turned, grinning, to her friends.
Lily wiggled her eyebrows "How did you manage that?" she demanded wen the Professor was safely out of hearing.
Angelica shrugged. "I just made a guess, told her what she likes; death. Morbid old hag".
Lily laughed, then remembered what Angelica had said. Out of curiosity, she frowned and pulled out her tarot book, to look up the card
(A/N I broke out my Tarot book for this, and it wasn't easy finding it in my room! But the definitions are straight out of the book, so they're correct)
"Keyword: Heartache." Lily read aloud " Reversed meaning: Confusion and worry, a great upheaval that causes stress. The healing process has begun, even though you have a long way to go." She looked at Angelica, whose grin had been replaced with worry
"That's weird, Gel. That's exactly it. What's happening in my present. Pick another."
"Lily, I dunno, It's just for fun, right? I mean-"
"Do it Gel." Lily's voice was unusually harsh. Angelica picked another.
Two flopped from the pile, and Lily swept them both up. "The first one, Wheel of Fourtune. Ummm… Meaning: A 'turn for the better', the end result of past actions and the workings of destiny, which noone can completely understand. An end to current problems and some marked strokes of luck. That doesn't sound so bad." Lily bit her lip, and didn't notice that most of the class was looking at her intently.
"The second is…Death." Lily's voice trembled "Transformation, change which is a blessing in disguise. A clearing out which will make way for something better- "
"That's not so bad either Lils."
"Wait, Ruby, there's more. Harsh fate which does not consider personal feelings. Oh. That's not good." Lily closed the book with a thump, and put the cards back into the deck. She was white, and trembling. She felt sick, and the air was choking her, seeping into her skin, her lungs. She nearly laughed, she was choking to death, and it was funny. Her stomach felt like it was expanding, and she had to gulp for air. What brought her back was Chelsea, hitting her in the back of the head with her bag.
"Whoops! Awwww Muffin! Did I hurt you?" she cooed, annoying Lily quite a bit.
"Yes. And call me Lily!" she said, her heart pounding. What had just happened, and had anyone noticed? Apparently not. And why would they? Lily Evans being very quiet wasn't strange thing. She could probably die, and it would take awhile for them to notice. Would anyone notice? If she faded away into nothing? Lily felt tears prick her eyes, and a huge, gnawing metallic empty feeling sprang into her stomach. She wanted keel over and sob herself into quiet oblivion. But she didn't. She went on to Potions, with her friends.
I look in the mirror
I try not to see
The girl inside
But she shines through me
I've put on a brave front
I've got a smile on my face
But inside I am dying
I am loosing the race
To find
What I truly have
Hidden inside
Lily was the first of their group to arrive in Potions, and she sat down at the table, and took out her books. Taking out a clean piece of parchment, she finished the description of the ingredients for the potion (A/N See, they're doing the potion now.)
List of Potion Components
Potions Class
Lily Evans
Gilly Weed: Used to breathe underwater, very useful when swimming or searching for murder victims.
Tanbarcula: A purple plant found only in certain areas of England. Very potent , one drop of juice equal to 5 glasses of rum .
Dragon Balm: Made from Dragon fat, this jelloish substance, if used incorrectly, could kill all of London's residents
Ophrys insectifera: a plant that captures and eats anything it can touch (mostly birds and small mamals.)
Toothwart: Aparasite, often found aroun the "stools"of oaks. This is very useful as a cooling element in potions.
Wolfsbane: This plant helps keep check of the body's senses. Used in cases of amnesia and accidental transformation.
Squamaria: The plant, shaped like an eagles claw, this plant heals headaches and is used in the basic mixtre of butterbeer.
Skin of a rat: Simply put, the hide of a rat.
Hair of each person in group: One of my hairs, one of Angelica's, one of James' One of Sirius' , One of Remus' and one of Snape's
Spit of a duck: The saliva of a duck.
Lily looked at the list. The words said during and after the spell weren't really ingredients, so she didn't include them. She put her quill down, and realized that the classroom was full, and the teacher was not there yet. Angelica leant over to look at her homework.
"Shit!"
"Gel!"
"Sorry. Lil, can I copy, please."
"Gel, didn't you do it?"
"Truthfully? I tried, but I was too busy…….doing other things." She looked at Sirius. And Lily didn't miss it. Her eyebrows shot way, way up.
"Oh. Ah. I see. Yes, you can copy it." Lily 'accidentally' dropped her quill, and had to retrieve it. She took a long time, and strangled laughter could be heard from under the table. Followed by a yelp as Angelica kicked her, and a loud BANG as Lily hit her head on the table.
As Lily emerged, red-faced, Professor Barre Walked in, and scowled at her.
"Miss. Evans, kindly sit in your seat."
She did as she was told, anger registering for a moment in her green eyes.
"Alright, class. Please come get the big pewter cauldrons, and take only one per group. Send up someone- not Miss. Evans- to get the ingredients. Hurry up!" he snapped. Lily looked at him, stunned.
"Why is he being so mean to me?" she demanded outright to her friend. Angelica shrugged.
"I'll get the ingredients." Snape said coldly, standing up.
"I'll help." Remus dashed off after Snape
"We can get the cauldron." Angelica said, looking at Sirius.
Lily was left sitting with James, who seemed to be playing with his quill. Lily had no idea what to do, so she played with her necklace, and looked at the ceiling.
"Look at her" Angelica had turned to look at her best friend, a worried look on her face.
"She's getting more…aggressive, but it's like the more outspoken she becomes, the more it hurts her."
Sirius followed Angelica's gaze. "Why is she so shy?" he asked.
Angelica frowned "She tried to explain it once, said she just felt weird around people. Boys scare her. Only don't say I said so!" she quickly finished, looking at Sirius pleadingly. He laughed.
"I won't. Poor Lily. She looks really uncomfortable."
The line shuffled up, but stopped abruptly as Frank Longbottem dropped the cauldron on Peter Pettigrew's foot. As Peter screamed, Lily looked up and a grin lit her face. She covered her mouth with one hand, and Angelica saw, to her delight, James Potter turn to look at her friend. Lily didn't notice, she was giggling too hard, her shoulders shaking. The nervous Frank Longbottom was trying to apologize to Peter, and Professor Barre had walked over to see what the commotion was all about. Angelica saw James turn to Lily and say something, and saw her friend nod, and go red. Angelica grinned. Maybe, just maybe……
"Thanks Evans. I was up for hours trying to figure that one out."
"No problem". Lily hesitated "But you don't pronounce it right, Potter. It's PER-NIN-CI-OSIS. Not Per-NONE-ci-oasis"
"Say that again?"
"PER-NIN-CI-OSIS."
"Got it." James raised his wand, and whispered the words. Lily began to speak, but closed her mouth again as Snape sprouted a furry cats tail, ears and whiskers.
"Oh my." she said, trying to be shocked, but not quite managing it.
Unluckily, Professor Barre looked in their direction, and saw mirth on both of their faces.
"EVANS AND POTTER!" he hollered, his face turning a deep shade of crimson "DETENTION!"
Lily stopped mid-giggle.
"But Professor! I didn-"
"5 points from Gryffindor!"
"But sir-"
"15 and it will be 30 next time you open your mouth!"
Lily's bottom lip quivered, and her eyes grew wide. But her eyebrows knitted together, and Angelica, staring at her friend, saw her bite her lip in determination not to cry. She glared at James Potter instead. He shot her an apologetic grin, and put on a pouty expression. Lily couldn't help but let her face soften. Although she didn't turn red.
James regarded the girl sitting before him almost scientificaly.
Hey, Evans isn't as bad a sport as I thought she'd be. Maybe she should smile more, that would help. She's sort of pretty when she's upset too, though.
He was snapped out of his thoughts as Angelica and Sirius banged the cauldron back down on the table and Remus arrived with the ingredients (Snape had gone to see Madame Pomfrey)
"Great! So. Let's get started." Angelica said, patting Lily on the shoulder.
"What are the ingredients?" Remus asked (I kinda forgot about Ol' Remus, didn't I?)Lily handed him her list.
"Didn't you lot bother to do the assignment ?" Angelica demanded, grinning at Lily, who smirked in mock contempt.
"Nope. We knew you girls or Snape would have done it." Sirius answered, winking at Angelica, who grinned back at him.
"Now, lets see. It says that the spit of a duck first, then the Squamaria, then the Gilly weed and Ophrys insectifera. They have to simmer for- three days?!" After adding the ingredients, Remus looked at his companions "Did Barre ever mention what kind of Potion this was?" (Has the author decided what kind it is? Not yet.)
Lily shook her head. She bent over to look at the option. It was a nasty shade of purple. She could see figures swimming in it- no, that wasn't right, was it? It couldn't be. She leant closer, and saw the faces. Mom? Dad? No, it can't be them. She reached one hand in, moving it closer and closer to the potion. Suddenly, part of it sprang up, and wrapped itself around her fingers. Lily shrieked, and pulled back her hand. The substance twisted along with her like taffy.
James Potter did the first thing that came to mind, he grabbed Lily Evans' arm, and tried to yank it out. But the stuff came with it. Lily was desperately trying to shake it off of her hand, but it had slowly begun to creep up her arm. It felt cool and slippery, like water that wasn't wet. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Angelica called for Professor Barre, but he had disappeared. Sirius grabbed the substance with a pair of tongs that they had used for picking up the Ophrys insectifera, and grabbed the purple thing. James and Lily pulled in one direction, Angelica, Sirius and Remus pulled in the other. With a loud twang, the purple thing split, and James and Lily stumbled backwards , as did their three friends. All of them were extremely relieved. Lily actually threw her arms around James, and hugged him. But she moved away quickly. Very embarrassed, and sporting a brilliant shade of pink.
"Lily, you stupid prat! Why the hell did you reach into that cauldron?" Angelica was happy her friend was ok, but very, very angry too.
In a hushed voice, Lily said "I saw mom and dad. I am seeing them everywhere, Gel. I just can't help it."
"Cheer up Lily." James said, patting her on the back. "It's Christmas Vacation in a week."
Lily felt her face crumple. Christmas. The first one she had ever spent alone. She remembered her familys tradition; walking around the neighbour hoods, looking at all of the light displays.( I dunno if they do that in England, but we do it here) stopping for a cider at old Mr. Brigarty's when they got too cold. She was going to miss that. She was going to miss everything. She sighed deeply.
"Cheer up Lil! We'll all go shopping on Friday, alright? Christmas shopping! You remember how nice Hogsmeade looks at Christmas, don't you?" Angelica said, slinging an arm around her best friends shoulders.
"Great!" Sirius exclaimed. "So, at 2:00 on Friday then?"
Angelica blinked "I just meant me and Lily, sorry Sir-"
"No, he can come. It's alright Gel." Lily said, squeezing her friends arm "I know you'd like that."
Oooh, the cliches are making my stomach hurt! That what comes of TWO P.E. classes in one day. Poor, poor likkle meeeee! Running sucks, especially when you've just started P.E. Oouch. And I have rehearsal. Ok, stop reading my whiny little Authors Note thingy.
Answers:
Chelsea: Hmm, well, it's my best friends name, or, one of her names. Anyways, it's the one on her birth certificate.
To whomever asked when they're going to get together: That, I can't say. Not really over Christmas I don't suppose. Although maybe. I want it to be unique, so I am still thinking.
Disclaimer: ummm, the names of some of the ingredients are from "Woodland Plants" by Heather and Robin Tanner. The Tarot readings are from my book, "Tarot" by Jonathan Dee. Pretty much everything else worth reading belong to JK Rowling, the genius writer.