It was a pretty nice store; shelves along the walls were stacked with millions of small boxes, bottles, and different folded pieces of cloth. If you held your nose, the store was positively charming, but it was a bit impossible to shut out the odor of old fish. There was no clerk around to help, so Lily had to find her things herself. By the time she had located the anesthetic and dissection kit, however, the store was filled with several others, all chattering excitedly about some thing or another. She did catch one phrase, however, and she gathered that they were in here to look for a chemical that, when melted, had some properties similar to sugar, in the sense that it turned very alcoholic.
Lily's purse was lighter by seven Galleons when she left the store, and she was ready for something to eat. Quickly locating Amanda and Abigail, who were standing in line at a frozen lemonade booth, she moved over to them.
"Hi! You got everything?"
Amanda frowned. "With everyone crowding like that? I didn't even get inside the store. You?"
"Well– I got my books and Anatomy supplies. But that's it. What's in here?" she questioned as the line in front of them moved and she could take a good look at whatever was for sale.
Abigail nodded at the display model. "Frozen lemonade statues."
Lily frowned. "But they'd melt and get your hands all sticky before you got a chance to eat them!"
"No. They won't."
"Won't what?"
"Melt. These don't. Which is why we're going for 'em."
Lily nodded. She saw sense in that. "Hold on. I'm getting some too." Fishing some Sickles out of her bag, she gratefully bit into a frozen figure greatly resembling a pretzel.
When they left the stand to go sit on some benches, Lily's Flourish and Blotts bag burst. They had to go scurrying around after the volumes, and it took some time before they could fix up the rip and continue. But, just as Lily stood up, she crashed into something, causing her to trip backwards over the books, open up the tear, and take the skin off of her hands.
"JAMES POTTER, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"
He let go of Serena's arm. "Oops–sorry–didn't see you. Here–let me help." In a matter of seconds, he had pulled out his wand and had tapped the torn cloth, causing it to spring together, better than new. Helping her up from the rough cobblestones, he kept on apologizing profusely as he caught sight of the torn knee of her jeans and the badly torn knee underneath.
"I'm really sorry–really–I just wasn't paying any attention at all to anything else–you all right?"
"Fine. Is this a habit of yours?"
"What?"
"Every time we meet here, you have the annoying urge to knock me down."
"What–I guess you're right."
"I am."
Serena interrupted with a slight pull on James' sleeve. "James, dear, I've got to go get some things–you don't mind?"
Lily smiled sweetly. "Of course not. But we'll be sure to miss you terribly."
Serena scowled at Lily, smiled at James, and turned on her heel, heading into the store selling what they called 'girl accessories'. Lily called it stage makeup.
James stared after her, shaking his head, then turned back to Lily. "So–you sure you all right?"
Lily tipped her head quizzically. "What would you say if I said no?"
"Well–are you?"
"Look down."
He did so.
"At my knee, you idiot!"
"Oh. Oops."
"Does that answer your question?" It should. The skinned knee and torn pants leg had rapidly turned into a freely bleeding something resembling a waterfall. It had already stained her shoes red, as well as the cobblestones beneath her. James frowned. "That doesn't look so good. Come on–we'll go get help."
"Excuse me?"
"Come on! My aunt's best friend works here–get up!" He yanked her towards the back of Fortescue's, banging on the back door and calling a rather grumpy-looking witch to it. Her frown cleared, however, as soon as she saw James.
"James dear! How are you? Come in, come in, and I'll bet we can fixe you up with something nice and cold…dear, do you still like that mango bat kind? Oh, heavens, I almost didn't see your little friend. Dear, how are you–Oh, dear!" She gave an odd little screech at the sight of Lily's red-stained jeans. "Oh, dear,…well, we'd better get that fixed up. In you go, then!" She shepherded them inside, shooing James into the bathroom for bandages, helping Lily onto a footstool and finally sending James to go help out behind the counter, since the shop was packed.
Rolling the jeans up, the old lady washed the red stains away from her leg, and then she bent over it, squinting. Lily had been afraid of this.
The old lady peered up. "Dear, there's no wound here!"
Lily bit her lip. "I know."
"Then where–"
"I had some fake blood in my bag and it got smashed?" Lily said, phrasing this more as a question than a statement.
The witch, to her surprise, grinned widely, showing a row of false teeth. "Trying to get back at Jamesie, were you, dear?"
Lily wanted to smile. "Yes, ma'am. Sort of. That is–"
The old lady interrupted her with an understanding nod of the head. "I know all about that, dear. All about that kind of thing. Why, when I was young, I used to play tricks like that on old Billy all the time! But don't worry; he'll marry you anyway. If he really loves you, then…"
Lily was having a hard time keeping the smile pasted onto her face; she suspected she might have to drill it on. She was also having a hard time sitting on her fist; it kept moving in the direction of those tempting false teeth.

After binding up Lily's 'wound', the old lady hobbled to what Lily supposed was the door to the store and came back with a large waffle cone of tiger's-claw ice cream with false eyeballs made out of a sort of crème on top. It looked pretty disgusting, but if you went by the smell, it was quite good. James, with his cone of mango bat, was looking at her as if daring her to lick it. Glaring at him, she looked down at the orange mass.
"Lil, scared to lick eyeballs?"
"Excuse you?"
"You're scared to eat that, aren't you?"
Lily didn't answer. She simply brought the waffle cone up to her mouth and bit half of the protruding orange cream off, swallowing the false eyeballs and ignoring the pounding ice cream headache. James raised his eyebrows appreciatively. "Not bad! You know," he added to the old witch, "I wasn't expecting her to eat that much. Still–Lil, your knee all right?"
"Couldn't be better. Let's go. I need to do some more shopping."
He groaned. "Not you, too! I'm starting to get sick of makeup stores!"
Lily pressed her lips together hard, concealing a smirk. "You don't know me very well, Potter. Meet me in front of here at two."
He shrugged. "Sure. Whatever."
"And I get to try out what I bought on you."
"No! At least, not the makeup!"
Lily nodded. "Fine. Not that part. But all the rest?"
"Can't get much worse than that. All right. You sure you're all right?"
"I want that in writing."
He stared at her. "Sure–whatever." Ripping a piece of parchment out of his new Divination book, he scribbled a short contract on it. "Happy?"
Lily stuffed the slip into her pocked. "Yes."
"And you're sure you're all right?"
"Potter, you ask me that one more time and you won't be."
"What?"
"All right."
"All right what?"
After herding James towards Quality Quidditch Supplies, Lily wound her way through the masses of people to Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, picking up a fair bit of Apparel candy, Dungbombs, and Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks. Just out of spite, she also went next door to a store selling dress robes and wigs. Picking out a fluffy blond wig and frilly light pink robes, she ran into Sirius as she was leaving.
"Lily! What're you doing in here?"
"Why?"
"Lily Evans, buying dress robes?"
"They're not for me."
"Not for you? Who, then–Petunia?"
"Your very best friend."
Sirius was baffled. "Lily, Serena's not my friend!"
Lily snorted. "Not for her, idiot! I wouldn't spend a cent on her–well, unless you paid me to. I'm telling you–these are for your very best friend."
Sirius shook his head in disbelief, but, thirty minutes later, he understood.
Walking down the street–well, more parading than walking–were two figures. One was perched, sidesaddle, on a broomstick that was floating about a foot and a half from the ground. That figure, who was wearing bluejeans with a ripped knee and blood-soaked pants leg and a black T-shirt, was also holding an interesting sort of buggy whip. The other figure wasn't familiar to Sirius at all, at least, not till it got up close. Dressed in the frilliest pale pink robes he had ever seen, a blond girl with hair too poofy for comfort was tied to the front of the broomstick. A necklace of Dungbombs and firecrackers was around her neck, and she looked extremely tentative. The whole thing rather resembled a horse and buggy, except that the blond girl wasn't a horse and wasn't a girl, either.
"James? Have you lost your mind?"
James, with the blond wig perched on top of scraggles of black that was peeking out from underneath and forming sweaty bangs, scowled.
"Don't say a WORD."

"I won't. I don't even know you. Lily, hi, nice to see you. And who is this charming young lady here?"
He held out a hand and bowed ridiculously as Lily alighted with an affected graceful air. "Mr. Black, how nice to see you. I have acquired a new mare recently, though she does not please me as well as my last. I am thinking of selling her to Mr. Malfoy–what do you think of that?" James snorted with ferocity, while Sirius nodded slowly, stroking an invisible beard. "It would certainly be a wise move. Mr. Malfoy will give you a good price. Let me tie up your steed–excuse me, mare–for you." Taking the reins out of her hands, he firmly tied James to a bench, leaving him to the full scrutiny of the passers-by, all of which were hooting with laughter. The next few weeks passed rather hurriedly. James still hadn't forgiven Lily for doing that to him, but, as he had given her his written word, and a very clumsy one at that, she could now force him to wear anything she had bought that day and he couldn't do a thing about it, as she could always send that piece of parchment to his mother, who was very strict on all that had to do with signing names to contracts. James was more scared of his mother than of anyone or anything else–she was the nicest person in the world, but a fury when she was angry.The holiday fun, however, hadn't let Lily forget her mother.
Every night when she was trying to go to sleep, the pictures of the funeral and the years before Hogwarts began to dance around in her mind, and every morning she'd wake up with a swollen, red face. However, during the events of the day, the lighthearted brawls and swimming and who knows what else drove that out of her head. But now, when she was alone in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, she had time to think. She knew she would never see her mother again, would never have a chance to, not unless she dug up her grave, which was morbid even for Lily. And now they would never be together again–and she hadn't gotten to say goodbye. Swallowing with difficulty the lump in her throat, Lily pulled on her Hogwarts robes. It was only twelve, but she still drew all of the curtains, closed the compartment door, and went into a fitful doze, waking every hour, and expecting to see someone who she, the next instant, realized she never would see again.

The train stopped when it was dark outside. It was only in the last few minutes that Lily noticed that noone had come in to visit her–she had spent her time absently brushing and re-brushing her hair with her mother's grandmother's silver filigree comb. Heavy-hearted and depressed, she pulled out the first Jungle Book volume and stepped off of the train at the Hogsmeade station, sheltering the book from the light drizzle. Climbing into a carriage smelling of moth balls, she arranged her robes around her and turned to the chapter about the Red Dog, still alone.
When the horseless carriages arrived at Hogwarts, she let herself drift along with the crowd to the Great Hall, sitting down next to Abigail and Sirius. She barely noticed as the first years were crowded in and the hat sang its song–the same tune as the year before this–but she did look up when Professor McGonagall picked up a scroll and started reading off students' names, instead of the hat doing that. Puzzled, Lily pulled Sirius' sleeve.
"Why isn't the hat calling out the names?"
Sirius turned around, perplexed, but then his frown cleared. "Of course–you weren't here at the last Sorting. Well–you remember what James did your first year here? At the Sorting, I mean."
Lily smiled–a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Of course I do. That hat was beating him around the ears and–well, anyway, go on."
Professor McGonagall and the hat interrupted. "Hitchmough, Bathilda!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"So, Professor Dumbledore didn't want to have that happen again. This is a new measure."
"Oh." Lily nodded. "I see." They turned to the stage in time to see "Hix, Rupert," become a Gryffindor.
The feast, wonderful as usual, was a bit wasted on Lily, who spent her dinnertime with half of a baked potato and her book. Sirius and Abigail were urging her to eat, but the idea of two hundred dogs of the Dekkan being drowned in a pool, with their bodies and large, dark rings plopping up sort of ruined her appetite. She would have explained this, but she didn't want to spoil anyone else's.
They went up to Gryffindor Tower some time later, the new password (Clam chowder) was passed around, and very soon, everyone was busy in the common room, talking loudly or playing a variety of games. Lily, strangely, although she had had several naps on the train, was dead tired and went to her dormitory as soon as possible, falling asleep before she could get her socks off.
Lily woke the next morning as soon as the sun pushed its rays over the horizon. At five in the morning, the dormitory was filled with gentle snores and wheezes, so she was extra quiet as she pulled a fresh set of clothes out of her dormitory, along with a set of Hogwarts robes.
Slipping quietly into the bathroom, she changed into the emerald green shirt and jazz pants her mother had sent her. The burns on her arm and back were still evident, and she had tried covering them up over the holidays by using bandages on her arm and always having something on her lower back. But one time when she had been in the pool, the bandages had slipped off, and Eva had been shocked by the black marks. Lily had found no explanation for them, so she had stayed out of her friend's way till Eva forgot.
Half-heartedly pulling her soft, silky hair about her face and pushing loose ends behind her ears, she emerged, first slipping into her black robes. Downstairs, an elf was scurrying out of the common room after lighting the fires, so Lily was able to bury herself in Robin Hood in peace. Of course, the word 'peace' was invented before James Potter came along, and no one had seemed to allow for that creature when they made that word. Whenever James Potter was within a one hundred mile radius of somewhere, there was never, ever peace. At least, peace as it was defined in the dictionary.
He came romping down the dormitory stairs, with an undeniable air of carelessness. Lily looked at him questioningly. He wasn't aware yet that she was up; since she had curled up in an armchair that had a dark blanket draped over it, and so she blended in nicely. It was only when he flung himself on the floor in front of the fire and stretched out his hands, to warm them, that he noticed her presence.
"Oh–you're here? Didn't notice you."
"I realize that."
"Well, geez–you don't have to be so mean! I just said hi!"
"I know you did."
"Well, then, what's wrong? If anyone has a right to be angry, it's me."
"That was your own fault. You didn't have to sign that thing."
"Yeah, and you took advantage of the fact that my mother would hold me to it. Wh–what's wrong?"
His face drew together in concerned lines as hers saddened and grew pale. Lily had only heard the words 'my mother', and she felt a sharp wrench somewhere in her chest. He had a mother, one that would hug him and forgive every little thing he ever could and did do wrong, one that would comfort or help in any way she could. As if it were a picture, the image of children being hugged and kissed goodbye at train stations jumped to mind. She hadn't noticed, back at King's Cross, how many parents there were, how many proud and sorrowful parents saying goodbye to their children, who were squirming to get free.
Lily had no idea her face had relaxed from its tautness and softened into a grieving sort of half-smile, the eyes half-closed, staring but looking through whatever it was.
"Is something wrong?"
She didn't answer, and he took her by one shoulder, shaking it. "Lily!"
Startled out of her thoughts, for an instant, James looked in two bottomless eyes, with naked fear and loss and hurt in them. Then, as if a curtain had dropped over the pupils, they returned to the ones he knew, forest-green, mocking, with a sort of shine to them.
"I'm fine. Don't ever do that again."
He peered closely at her, at the moist area where her eyelashes met whenever she blinked. "It's your mother, isn't it?"
She whipped her head around to look at him, and he had the uncomfortable feeling that she was pulling his thoughts out one by one, and examining every particle. What she had really been thinking–what she had been afraid of was that he might know everything about Tom–about what had happened that summer. The glance he had given her after he had startled her out of her ponderings had seemed as if he knew everything, had pulled away the coverings that hid her innermost secrets. But, after looking at his slightly puzzled, open countenance, she was satisfied and her fears receded. Then, with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, she dropped her head to one side.

"I miss her. You don't know how much I did–how much I loved her."
He nodded. "I think I do."
"You couldn't possibly. You never knew anyone–anyone quite like her."
"No–but I know you."
Her head gave the little characteristic tilt again, as if she were comparing two vases she wanted to purchase. "What difference does that make?"
"Plenty. Everyone says you're so like her–and so, in a way, I did know her. I think everyone here would be devastated if you died."
His speech had sounded sincere, but it called to mind the aggressive faces of the Gryffindors after she had allegedly attacked Serena last year, and she pulled away.
"Don't think you have to flatter me. Don't even think that you have to try to comfort me–nothing you ever do will make a difference. I couldn't care less what this whole stupid school thinks about me, and the sooner you learn that, the better."
The anger and hate on her face had startled him greatly, especially as he had no idea where the attack came from. Like a wounded cobra, she had launched herself at him, spitting all the venom she could at him, and rejoicing if one of her drops of poison touched him and made him cringe. That was one of the moments when he started to understand some of her–some part of her that she kept veiled most of the time, and only let out when she couldn't help it.
She was capable of so much anger and hate–of so many emotions that had been detestable in others. But in her–when they emerged, it gave her the look of someone supernatural–of someone who didn't belong here and was fighting tooth and nail to be let out of her cage. And this frightened him, for he had no idea what she was trying to escape from but knew it was something even the bravest would shrink from.
She was one of the bravest people he knew, though he had no idea where that had come from, but it had settled in his mind and wouldn't be dislodged. He tried to, but it stayed there, firmly, as though it had been there from the first time he had met her.
James would have died rather than admit this to anyone, but that ferocity, that wildness, that figure of a panther about to pounce–it intrigued him, as if he could never find out what exactly she was, as though she was a mystery to all of mankind–a valuable jewel, locked inside her savage, fickle, easily bored mind and heart. And she was so independent–it seemed that no one was ever to find the key.
It was six-thirty in the morning, but Lily figured that, as breakfast was usually served at seven, it wouldn't hurt if she got there a bit early. Dawdling on purpose and going through several roundabout corridors, talking to the Gryffindor ghost–Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, but everyone called him Nearly Headless Nick, as his head was still attached to his neck by a half-inch of skin– she reached the Great Hall and only had to wait ten minutes before the tables were filled with food. Hungry–well, actually, more voracious than hungry–Lily attacked her plate, filled with buttered toast, eggs, bacon, oatmeal with cinnamon on top, and poppy-seed rolls. Around seven-thirty, the Great Hall was half-full, and Professor McGonagall went up and down the tables, handing out schedules. Lily's dropped on top of the book propped in front of her just as Eva slid into the seat next to her.
"Oh, good, schedules! Lemme see yours." Not waiting for a nod of agreement, she pulled it off of the book and studied it as she heaped her own plate.
"Darn, you're lucky–I hear Study of Ancient Runes is pretty good. You've got that first thing, by the way. And isn't that beautiful–you've got second with the Slytherins–why they have to follow us around in Potions I don't know, but I wish they wouldn't…umm–wait–you're taking Anatomy? Oh, right…" She broke off into a series of snorts mixed with giggles. "Lily, look at this!"
As ordered, Lily took the schedule. "What?"
"You've got Anatomy right before lunch tomorrow and right after lunch on Friday!"
"So?"
"You're either going to be throwing up in that class or not eating anything!"
Lily calmly tucked her schedule away. "Wimp. You know me better than that."
"Who knows who better than what?" Sirius had let himself fall into the seat on the other side of Lily, and had coolly taken the schedule from her pocket as his own landed right in front of him. "You get first period with me–yippee–we all know how much fun that's going to be!" He gave a frighteningly large, sarcastic grin, but snapped back to normal after getting the weird looks from the rest of the table. "Oh, man, do we really have to ruin our first day back like this?"
"Like what?"
"We have Divination last. And right before lunch Wednesday, too. This is going to be a nightmare…"
Lily rolled her eyes, making a mental note to bring along extra reading material to that class.
They stepped into the Study of Ancient Runes class at nine. The room was interesting; it was filled with what looked like ancient scrolls posted all over the walls. When Professor Sartan stepped into the room, she didn't bother with calling roll, as usual; she simply gave them each an alphabet of some unknown language and told them to figure out which one it was by their knowledge of the scrolls pasted on the walls. They had a fun lesson, and, as this class was usually noisy, it provided ample opportunity for talking.
"Lily, you finally decided to do something with your hair?"
Lily shrugged. "Yeah–Mother didn't like it when I stopped, so–"
He cut her off. "I understand. Really."
She nodded her head in relief. "Thanks."
He squinted at her. "Lily?"
"Hum?"
"You haven't gotten over your mother's death at all, have you?"
With the same unveiled eyes that she had glared at James with in the common room, she now looked at Sirius, except that, instead of anger, sorrow and hurt was staring at him. "I miss her so much. I never thought I would–I never thought she was anything more than an annoying parent after I went here. And now–now–" She turned to her alphabet. "Now I know better, and it's too late."
Sirius put an arm around her shoulders, and with a start discovered that the very nerves in her were shaking, shaking uncontrollably. But at his touch she calmed down, breathing normally. That was the best indication he had ever received of the amount she loved and missed her mother. He ignored for the time being the snickering looks that were thrown at them, the whisperings and gossip he knew would be all over the school by lunchtime. And Lily was too drawn inside herself to notice.
That day at lunch, she did notice the fingers pointing at her and Sirius, but, as she had told James that morning in the common room, she honestly couldn't care less about what the school thought about her. They had condemned her forever simply by being–well, the nicest word for that was 'different', strange, and impulsive, not caring what she looked like, and acting quite the opposite of a traditional girl. And she simply had responded to that by mocking the so-called etiquette she was supposed to follow, and, needless to say, no one had like that very much.
Abigail sat down next to her, nervously looking from her to Sirius, and looking quite like a sort of goldfish, Lily thought, but she kept her comment to herself.
"What? Is there an ax stuck in the back of my head or something?"
Abigail shook her head. "Lily, is it true, what they're saying about you?"
"Many things are, many things aren't, and chances are this is one of the aren'ts. What is it this time?"
"That you're going out with Sirius."
Sirius rolled his eyes, and Lily was overcome with an attack of mocking laughter. "Is that the best they could come up with? Yes. That was one of the aren'ts."
"Oh." Abigail looked a bit disappointed. "Oh." She turned to her salad.
Professor Zimmerman, as usual, was a bit clueless as to the extents to which James and Sirius would go to disrupt the lesson, so she gave them a free period while she tried to fix the door to her office, which kept swinging open and shut, ignoring the charms Professor Zimmerman was perplexedly casting as she tried to make it stay shut. So they got to spend an hour and a half of whatever they wanted to do; in Lily's case, this was her Potions and Study of Ancient Runes homework; in the case of the rest of the class, it was trying to squeeze out of Sirius what really happened in first period. His mouth stayed shut, however, and it was rather amusing to watch the disappointed and angry faces of the girls in the classroom that assumed he was simply not saying anything because he was too embarrassed to admit it. Sirius knew that denials would do no good, and, wisely, he refrained from doing so.
Divination went wonderfully well, for a change. Professor Trelawney had come down with a cold and had sent in a substitute, who knew absolutely nothing of Divination and only told them to answer the section review in their book.
Next day, Lily was surprisingly excited all through Transfiguration. Sirius was puzzled as to why, but his unspoken question was answered when she pushed her schedule over to him and he saw the title of her next period, which she had underlined and surrounded several times: Anatomy of Magical Creatures.
Lily stepped into the Anatomy room, which had formerly been an unused dungeon, but now was outfitted with a dozen lab tables, chairs, charts tacked up all over the walls, a large cabinet in the corner, locked, and an elongated sink, about eight feet long, with two gargoyle spouts serving as faucets, and several hundred spikes sticking out from the wall above the sink, serving as a drying rack for utensils. With an excited smile on her face, Lily slipped into her seat. She did frown a bit as the other half of the class came in, among them James Potter. The class wasn't just made up of Gryffindors; they had people from all four houses, though all of them were fourth years. Lily's frown intensified as James took a seat at her lab table, somewhat near the middle and off to the side, near the wall.
"What're you doing here?"
"Sitting."
"I can tell. Go sit somewhere else."
"Too late. Places all taken."
Lily would have humphed in response, but the entrance of a teacher made her quickly change her mind and pull out her Anatomy book.
The teacher that stepped into the room was tall, with dark hair hanging down to his shoulders and navy blue robes. He seemed to be rather sluggish, so the class was surprised at the speed at which he drifted over to the board, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote his name.
"Professor Maar. That would be me. Now–anyone ever taken Anatomy before?"
No one raised his or her hand.
"No one? Shame…we're going to have to start out with frogs, then. All right–" he clapped his hands once–"turn to page xii in your books."
They obeyed quickly, and when they did so, they found on it a complete drawing of the nervous, digestive, and skeletal systems of the frog.
"Everyone there? Good. Hang on just a minute–" He moved over to the cabinet in the front of the room, unlocked it deftly, and pulled out a flat box and a white plastic bag. Placing everything on his desk, he opened the box to reveal an elaborate dissection kit. The bag held two halves of a freeze-dried frog.
Professor Maar looked up at the class. "I might say now that if there is anyone in here who cannot stand looking at dead animals, they are free to leave now. As we advance, you will be looking at more complex creatures, some of them close to human, if not human. I am not sure on that point–I will need to contact the body farm for permission to use their subjects and settle some things with the Ministry of Magic. But I say again, if you do not wish to do this, you may leave now.
No one stood up, and Professor Maar smiled in satisfaction. "All right–everyone come here. You don't need to bring anything except something to bear down on, something for taking notes with, and parchment. You're taking notes."
Quickly, the class circled around his desk, taking notes frantically as they watched their teacher take apart the frog, which he did swiftly, as he did everything else. He lifted almost every particle of the frog, holding it up for the class to see and explaining its importance and jobs. And, forty-five minutes later, he had re-seated the class and given each lab table one frog. They were to sketch each part that he had commented on, from the front and back. Lily had to lift the brain and heart and other things when they were to draw the spinal cord, as she had a rather queasy partner.
Satisfied, she went to lunch after cleaning up. Sirius and Amanda attacked her the instant she came in.
"So, how was the class?"
"Very nice. Interesting, too. We had a practical lesson and started with frogs. I have the funny feeling James didn't like it."