In Which Lily feels she Deserves some Major Extra-Credit Points
*
Lily walked quickily to keep up with James's long-legged strides. They made a striking contrast; James had black hair and Lily had red. Lily had green eyes, James had blue-gray. And where James walked without any acknowledgement of Lily and his arms swinging freely in front of him, Lily cast sidelong desperate glances at him and had her arms folded in front of her protectively. The halls filled around them as the masses exited classrooms and the two equally disgruntled people split up.
*
Transfiguration was next for the Gryffandor fifth years. Lily watched the last third year leave Professor MGonagall clutching a pincushion to his chest. She took her customary seat at the back of the room next to the open window. A fly lazily flew around in circles above the roses that were in bloom at the wrong time of the year. Propping her head on her hand, Lily gazed at the big, fluffy clouds of September roll by on the blue autumn sky. Perfect weather for flying, she thought as she looked down at the group of first years who looked so nervous that this had to be their first flying lesson. Master Whistletov came out with his striped robes on and a shiny whistle dangling around his neck. Lily shifted her gaze to the birds sweeping up, down, and through the clouds. One of the few things Lily loved and actually wasn't afraid of was flying.
"Miss Evens. MISS EVENS! Miss Evans, if you would kindly return to the present? I said that in light of some new circumstances you will be moved to the center of the room and partnered with...ah, yes. James Potter."
Lily let out a squeak of annoyance. She allowed herself to go over and with the air of a martyr, she sat down next to him. And then she hurriedly buried her flaming face in a book.
"Well, carrots your face matches your hair now, but I am afraid this is not a free period," drawled James in her ear. Lily's head flew up and hit him in the nose. "Owww, not so hard dwarf." Lily was only an inch shorter than he was.
"We are supposed to be turning these balls into frogs, so get cracking." James had already turned his into a frog. Which jumped on Lily's head.
"Frogs? Really? How wonderful! I mean, oh." Lily took the frog of her head and cuddled it in her hands.
"Okay, wait a minute. You, some insane girl who is scared of everybody, likes frogs? Frogs that have the rest of the female portion of this class giving me headache?" James looked like a fish with his mouth open. The females he was referring to were screeching in fright and hopping around the room with frogs following them. Sirius Black was occupied in directing all the frogs in his vicinity into one girl's hair.
"Maybe,"Lily concentrated on the ball in front of her. She tapped it with her wand and it turned green and sprouted warts. Ten tries later it was croaking but nothing else was happening.
"Oh great! I am stuck with a dud in Transfiguration." James rolled his eyes. "Here, like this." He tapped his wand on either side of the ball and said clearly, "Amphibian Fiddilious." Naturally, the ball had to turn into a frog immediately. Lily was not particularly happy. Being told you're a dud in Transfiguration, which you already KNOW you are bad at, and then being shown how to turn a ball into a frog instantly by the person who you like the least is not the most pleasant experience. James tapped it again and the frog switched to a ball, again almost instantly.
"Umm," Lily looked determinedly at the ball. "Amphibian Fiddilious." She tapped it on both sides and nothing happened. "Petunia!" Lily stamped her foot. The word Petunia had come to replace profanity in her language.
"Yeah, petunia whatever. Hurry up and switch it." James was looking for his frog, which happened to have hidden itself in Lily's hair knowing that it did not want to be a boring ball again.
"Ah ha!" he lunged for the frog which leapt on top of the ball Lily was working on. James landed on top of her.
"OoOoOo!" screamed Lily who lost her balance and fell forwards. Her spell bounced onto Peter Pettigrew who had rushed over. He broke out in warts. Well, MORE. He already had a couple.
"Gerroff Me." moaned Lily from under James. "You're heavy!"
"Oh my gosh! Lily spoke," gasped Sirius from the other side of the room as James picked himself off.
"That was the most dangerous and painful class I have had since coming here!" groaned Lily as she hugged her ribs.
"I think I broke something."
"I am not that HEAVY, Miss Perfect!" roared James who roughly turned the frog that had caused all the trouble back into a ball.
"Hmph," was his reply a Lily sat back down and took out When You're Surrounded by Stupidity: Frustrating Wizards at their Worst by Snile D. Wjittysplit.
"Interesting reading selection, lobster," sneered a greasy boy who ha come over to their table after delivering a message to Professor McGonagall.
"Buzz off Snape," growled James. Of course if Snape turned nasty towards Lily it would be an excuse to pick a fight.
"What a pity I have to get back to class, Pothead. Otherwise we could have an interesting conversation." The boy went out the door smoothing back his hair. You could almost see the grease wipe off on his fingers.
"Thanks," mumbled Lily who had turned red again as she packed up her bag.
"Please, I wasn't doing it for you," James said angrily as he glared at Snape's retreating back.
Lily looked him, astonished by his rudeness. "Okay." Transfiguration class ended and everyone filed out to lunch.
*
::POTIONS- 1:32pm- Gryffandor & Slytherin 5th years- Professor Durkwood::
Professor Durkwood was filing his papers while two students prepared for the next class. One was walking around with a rapt expression on his face, he set up his cauldron with care. He patted down his hair and wiped his greasy
fingers on a limp handkerchief before setting his tools down with precision.
The other student sat in the brightest part of the dungeon finishing the book out When You're Surrounded by Stupidity: Frustrating Wizards at their Worst with a grin on her lightly freckled face. Other students drifted in slowly
and when something keened eerily sending prickles up everyone's spine the Professor looked up.
"Ah, fresh meat," he said with an evil smile. "Today we will be boiling a potion, that if made correctly, will shrink the user to ten times his natural size. If not, the person will turn neon orange and sprout wings as Hampulton the Hairy did in 1428. Unfortunately for him at the time there was no reversal spell. I have gone over the instructions 3 times so there had better not be any problems!" Severus Snape uttered a dreamy sigh, "Now be quiet and I don't want to hear about any of your lousy, measly problems. I have to correct these tests that most of you will fail anyways so SHUT YOUR TRAPS! Oh yes, Potter, Evens? You two will be working together. My beloved colleagues orders." Professor Durkwood took out a stack of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of red ink, and proceeded to slash down all the papers with exceedingly apparent delight.
Lily picked up her things and moved next to James and Co.'s table. Remus moved over so she could sit next to James. Peter was in being treated for his warts. A loud banging startled her. James was hitting his head on the table.
"Will this torture never cease? All for a stupid prophecy." She heard him mutter disgustedly.
Lily began assembling her ingredients and poured some chopped up pig's liver into the cauldron. "Five pinches dragon ash, three white eagle feathers, two strands unicorn hair…."
*
Sirius and Remus were adding the wasp's feet to their cauldron when an explosion next to them rocked the table. Sirius grabbed their cauldron to take it to safety. "Ow, hot, hot, shit-dammit! It spilled. Take it Remus!"
"I don't want it! Ow, ow, owwwww!" howled Remus who hurriedly dumped the cauldron on the table next to them.
"You are so braindead, sometimes Sirius!" Smoke rolled around them.
"YOU PETUNIA IDIOT BOY!" yelled a feminine voice. From the clouds emerged a blackened Lily and James.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?" The vein in Professor Durkwood's neck bulged.
"I sorta didn't look at my notes and added the hippogriff tooth before Lily had finished putting in the newt's saliva." Admitted James sheepishly.
"You are both to report to detention tonight. Now leave."
"But Professor I didn-"
"Don't test me, Evens!"
"Oh," Lily hurried out of the room with her hands over her face.
"See ya, Durskunk," James followed Lily. A mumbling could be heard from the hall and then the whole class could hear,
"YES, This is the most I have EVER talked in my LIFE, JAMES POTTER. AND THIS IS ALSO MY FIRST DETENTION."
"Try new things, child, it's good for you."
"I am not a child, you immature prat!"
"You have a DETENTION."
"I am going to HURT you."
"Please, you have never hurt a fly in your life."
"You come here!"
"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW," James's wail of anguish vibrated down the corridor as they left.
"I didn't know she had it in her," said Sirius admiringly as he dumped in a hippogriff's tooth.
"Wait Sirius!"
"Wha-?"
A second explosion occurred in the Potion's Lab at exactly 1:52-49sec. After handing out two more detentions, Professor Durkwood gave up and the Slytherin-Gryffandor group was given an extra hour of free time.
********
Author's Note: (February 24, 2002) I'd forgotten how childish I'd made my characters seem and for that I apologize. Please try to be able to continue though ;)
