By Marie Noire
Chapter One : RetrospectiveShe laid her head on the table wearily, brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes distractedly. Across the table from her James and Sirius were chortling behind their books, stealing glances over their shoulders at whatever mischief they were currently up to. Out of pure frustration, she flicked her quill at them, splattering the two boys with black ink in order to get their attention. They stopped their laughing long enough to look at her.
"What's your problem?" Sirius demanded although the light didn't leave his eyes.
"In case you forgot, we are supposed to be revising for our Potions exams. I don't want to do as badly on this one as I did on the last one, merci beaucoup." She reminded them firmly. "Honestly, the two of you are worse than Cornish pixies when you've got something up your collective sleeves."
James and Sirius both attempted desperately to look innocent and unassuming… an attempt that failed miserably between Sirius' inability to stop smiling and the way James kept trying to shove his wild, black hair out of his face. "Ah, come on, Tally… we're just having a bit of fun."
Remus chose that moment to plop down next the Tally, faint circles under his eyes. "What fun? What did I miss?"
Tally groaned. "I'm afraid to ask."
James and Sirius looked at each other and promptly broke into hushed laughter again. "That greasy git… he won't even know what hit him!"
"Greasy git?" Remus repeated distractedly. "Oh… you mean Snape… what did you to do to him now?"
"James, Sirius, really… I can think of a million better things to do than pester Severus." Tally grumbled, folding her papers and stuffing them in her Potions book.
"Severus?" Sirius repeated as though the name tasted bitter in his mouth. "Since when are you on a first-name basis with that slime-ball?"
"I don't go around calling you Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew, do I? Why should I call him Snape?" she shrugged.
"Because… he's not your friend. The git would probably put a curse on you if you looked at him the wrong way, let alone call him by his first name." James explained patiently.
"Alors, James. Just because he's not a troublemaker like you juvenile delinquents… that's no reason to torment him like you do. Now are you going to help me with Potions or not?" Tally said opening her book back up.
"Mm… we haven't revised that part yet." James grinned sheepishly as he read her notes upside-down. "We're only up to… Sleeping Draught, I think."
"Fine." She said, snapping her book shut and gathering her bag up. "I'm going to go find Lily and ask her for help. When you gits get your brains back out of Zonko's, you can come find me."
That said, she left the Gryffindor common room without looking back at the trio of somewhat astonished boys. Remus looked worriedly between his two friends. "You chaps had better get revising if you want to get anywhere on the exam. I'll go after Tally… maybe she went to the library."
Tally reached the library in record time, due mostly to her annoyed and rather hurried walk to get away from her loyal but infuriating friends. Lily was there, chewing on her bottom lip as she poured over her Defense Against the Dark Arts books, writing notes like her life depended on it. Tally sat across from her without a word and waited a full five minutes before her red-haired best friend even looked up.
"There you are. I was wondering when you'd give up trying to revise with the boys." She commented with a smile.
"I think the only way to get James and Sirius to revise is to first separate and then straight jacket them." Tally sighed, rubbing her temples. "Those two are impossible sometimes… joined at the bloody hip."
Lily shrugged. "I know… I have to fight to get James alone anytime. Why do you think Sirius had that black eye last month? I had to punch him to get him to leave James and me alone for longer than ten minutes. Thank god Quidditch is over."
"Indeed… so… can you help me with Potions? I'm having a deadly time trying to get through the last five chapters." Tally asked hopefully.
Lily grimaced. "I'd like to, Tally… but I've got to get through this chapter on vampires before anything else… the exam is tomorrow."
Tally took a deep breath and nodded. "D'accord… then I'll make you a deal. I'll help you with the Dracula chapters and you help me turn myself into Sirius."
"For the sight of Sirius in that dress you're wearing, you've got it." Lily grinned.
The two girls worked quietly for some time going over the various ways to defeat a vampire without actually destroying it, which was usually preferable for dealing with those only recently turned. Tally soon forgot her frustration with the boys and was actually starting to enjoy her revisions with Lily. The librarian left around midnight and reluctantly left the key to lock up with Lily after extracting a solemn promise to leave the library in the condition they found it. Tally was about to suggest sneaking into the school kitchens for a late night snack when a loud explosion sounded from the centre of the library, blowing someone's papers everywhere. Lily shrieked and scurried to retrieve her own scattered notes, of which there were only a few sheets.
Tally waved through the smoke to see what had exploded. The vague shadow of a boy in robes was visible through the bluish-white haze and she took his wrist instinctively. "Mon dieu… are you all right? What happened?"
The figure withdrew his wrist from her grasp suddenly. "It's nothing… someone planted… some sort of a smoke bomb in my bag."
She recognized his voice even before the smoke cleared enough for her to see him clearly. "Well that was a mean trick. I'm sorry, Severus… I'll help you get your papers in order if you like."
He stared at her with his eyes narrowed, trying to decide if she was mocking him or not. "Don't trouble yourself."
"It's no trouble at all." She smiled despite his chilly tone, bending to pick up a pile of papers and ignoring Lily's brief, shocked look. "Dare I ask how many sections you had out at once?"
"Just one." He answered after grabbing a few papers from off of another table. "Potions."
"Of course… are you dreading that exam as much as I am?" she responded by way of keeping the conversation up, all the while mentally making a note to ream James and Sirius.
"Why should I dread it? It's simple enough for anyone to master." He shrugged.
"I'm not just anyone, I suppose…" she sighed. "I'm having a terrible time with it. That stupid Polyjuice potion never works for me."
"Doesn't it?" he cocked his head at her as they both piled the last bits of parchment on his table. "Are you measuring the ingredients up correctly?"
"I did them up three times and triple checked the amounts… I can't understand what I'm doing wrong." She sighed, a sudden idea coming to her. "
"Severus… look… I know we haven't really spoken very much in the seven years we've been here… but could you possibly help me with Potions? I'd be very grateful."
He eyed her suspiciously. "And why should I do that? I suspect it was your lovely chums who planted that bomb on me in the first place."
She blushed. "I'm fairly certain it was too… and I do plan on yelling at them for it… but… I really need help."
His expression remained stony. "You still haven't answered my question. Why should I?"
She thought for a second. "Maybe… because it would be nice of you to? I don't want to cheapen it by offering you something in return… but if there's something you want that I can do… just ask. I mean… think of it… a Gryffindor in your debt…"
That seemed to startle him. No doubt he had expected her to make shallow promises for her friends stop tormenting him… something they both knew was somewhere between unlikely and impossible. But a sincere offer of a favor he hadn't expected.
He didn't answer for a long time. She grew so used to the silence that she was surprised when his voice met her ears again. "Polyjuice Potion, eh? Well, let's see what my notes say and go from there."
She smiled at him and impulsively took his hand. "Thanks, Severus… I owe you."