THE QUEEN OF MY HEART

Chapter Sixteen: Being Disagreeable

"Knight to E4," Remus commanded the chessboard.

The black Knight obeyed. Lily watched this move carefully then sat and thought.

"Pawn...no, Bishop to-" Lily began, but her attention moved to the dark figure passing by their table and heading for the front of the Great Hall. She shuttered as Crauwel's cold eyes shot a glance at her.

"I really don't like that man," Lily whispered to Remus.

"No one would if they knew who he really was," Remus explained casually.

"Bishop to..." Lily droned, looking off in to space.

"Getting tired of chess?" Remus queried.

"Well, this is the twelfth time we played today," Lily sighed in boredom. "I wish we still had class, just for something to do."

"You're kidding, right?" Remus questioned.

"Hey, school isn't all bad," Lily told him.

"Not all bad?" Remus repeated.

"I would even take a Potions class," Lily admitted, smiling.

"Potions," Remus laughed. Suddenly, something struck in his memory and he stopped laughing. "Potions!"

"Yeah, so."

Remus stood up, saying, "Lil, I've got to go."

Before Lily could ask him another question, Remus sprinted out of the Great Hall. He kept running until he reached the hawk wizard. Pulling out his wand, he commanded, "Admitis!"

The wizard moved aside and Remus climbed the stairs to the tower. He found the cauldron boiling over.

"Oh, crud!" Remus exclaimed. "Recedus!"

The fire underneath the cauldron lower as Remus ran over to it. The bubbling mush was a dark teal. Remus pulled the jarred bezoar out of his backpack. Afraid that the liquid might harm the potion, he plunged his hand into the jar. It was quite disgusting, like reaching into slime and grabbing someone's heart. Remus pulled the bezoar out and threw it into the Animagi Potion. Nothing happened.

'What if it's too late?' Remus worried as he ran to his bag and pulled out the Advanced Potions book.

"'After inserting the bezoar,'" Remus read aloud, "'there should be a slight discharge of purple vapor.'"

A loud bang shook the whole tower and knocked Remus off his feet. Where he hit his head on the stone ground throbbed as he peered through thick purple smoke.

"Slight discharge of purple vapor," Remus grumbled, coughing.

******************

Remus dragged himself into Gryffindor Tower, feeling utterly dreadful. Lily sat on the couch and read a rather large book by the fire. Once she got a glimpse of Remus, she dropped the book and stood up.

"Remus," Lily gasped, "what happened? You look like you just got into a disagreement with a Norwegian Ridgeback."

Remus looked down at his smoke-stained robes and was suddenly very aware of the bezoar slime drying on his hand.

"I...uh..," Remus tried to think of some explanation, but nothing was coming. "I..don't want to talk about it."

Lily gave him a very bemused expression, saying, "If that's what you want."

Remus walked slowly to the couch and then collapsed upon it.

"Want a foot rub?" Lily offered.

Remus just mumbled into the couch cushion.

"Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me?"

Remus shook his head.

"Alright," Lily sighed, "I guess I'll be off to bed. I mean, we have to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow. Are you going to sleep down here?"

Remus nodded.

"G'night then," Lily said as she turned to go up to the dormitories.

"Why on Earth did I promise to take care of that blasted potion?" Remus grumbled.

*******************

Lily and Remus decided to go to Hogsmeade about noon the next day. As they were making their way to the main stair case, someone stepped out in front of them. For a second, Remus was sure it was Professor Crauwel. Fortunately, it was just Professor McGonagal with her stern face and tightly bunned hair.

"Where d'you think you two are going?" She asked.

"We were just going to Hogsmeade to pick up some last minute Christmas presents," Remus told her.

"I am afraid that is out of the question," McGonagal stated. "There will be no visits to Hogsmeade until after the holiday is over."

"But, Professor!" Remus exclaimed. "We need to go to Hogsmeade!"

"You should have thought of that before Holiday began," McGonagal said, turning and walking back into her class.

Remus let out a groan. Now, he couldn't get Lily anything. It was so disappointing.

"It's all right, Remus," Lily said cheerfully. "We can find other things to do. Besides, holiday is almost over. Christmas is tomorrow and we only have a couple of days to go after that."

"What are we supposed to do then?" Remus asked.

"We could eat another lunch," Lily joked.

Remus smiled.

"We could always walk the grounds," Lily suggested.

"I suppose it's as good a thing as any," Remus sighed.

Remus and Lily continued down the main staircase and out the main entrance. The grounds were blanketed with a fresh layer of snow, completely untouched.

"Where're we off to?" Remus asked.

Lily glanced around the grounds. As her eyes landed on the ice-covered lake, she smiled.

"What?" Remus questioned.

"D'you ice-skate?" Lily queried.

Remus glanced at Lily nervously, saying, "I don't know how to ice-skate."

"I could teach you," Lily offered.

"D'we have skates?"

Lily smiled mischievously, "Does it matter?"

"We're going to skate without skates?" Remus assumed, feeling uneasy.

"C'mon," Lily giggled, grabbing Remus' hand and pulling him off toward the lake. Once they reached it, Lily pushed Remus onto the ice. He ended up on his face.

"You were supposed to slide," Lily informed.

"Really?" Remus muttered, trying to get to his feet but kept slipping.

Lily glided across the ice, toward Remus, and helped him to his feet.

"Lily, honestly, I don't think I can do this," Remus admitted.

"You just have to keep trying," Lily explained. "Come, I'll skate along with you."

Lily took Remus' hand and started sliding across the ice. Remus came along from inertia, feeling as if he was going to fall over any second. He was constantly rocking, swaying, and shifting weight to keep his balance.

"Just relax," Lily laughed. "I won't let you fall."

Remus looked over into Lily's eyes. They were sparkling along with her smile. She looked so beautiful, with her cheeks flushed from the cold and her shining red hair rippling as they kept moving. Remus found, suddenly, that he wasn't in a struggle to maintain balance. He was skating perfectly well with little effort just because he was holding Lily's hand.

"This isn't that bad," Remus commented as he began to have fun.

Lily just giggled.

"Do you want to try to stop?" She asked.

"Why stop? It's great fun," Remus said.

"You have to learn sometime," Lily told him.

"Alright, then," Remus began, "how d'you stop?"

"It might be hard without real skates on," Lily explained, "but it should still work the same way. All you have to it turn your feet, to direct yourself, and push your heels into the ice."

"Direct my feet then push my heels. Got it," Remus informed.

"Alright," Lily breathed, "we must do this at the same time and in the same direction or we'll both fall."

"That's comforting."

"Turn to the left right now!" Lily commanded.

Remus turned his feet and pushed down with his heels. Unfortunately, in pushing down his heels, he had managed to capsize himself and bring Lily with him. They tumbled over each other until colliding with quite a drift of snow. Remus felt sore all over, but it was forgotten when he realized that Lily was lying on top of him. She propped her chin up on her elbows, which were pressing into Remus' chest.

"Well, that could have gone worse," Lily said, smiling down at Remus.

"I don't see how," Remus breathed.

Lily started laughing as she pulled herself off of him. Remus, with a sharp gut pain, sat up.

"You don't look so good," Lily commented, sounding worried. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm not sure," Remus mumbled. "Is it hot out here?"

"Hot? Are you mad?" Lily asked. "There must be something seriously wrong. Maybe you have pneumonia."

Remus saw that the sky was beginning to get dark.

"I don't think that's what it is," he groaned. "Don't worry. I'll be alright."

"Remus, you can't be serious," Lily gasped, kneeling beside him and feeling his forehead. "You're burning up, you're pale, and you're obviously feeling some pain. We must get you back to Madam Epdac."

"Don't worry about it," Remus insisted. "I just need to go for a little walk."

"No you don't," Lily blurted. "We must get you out of the cold."

"Leave me alone!" Remus snapped.

Lily open her mouth and then closed it again.

"I know what I'm doing!" Remus exclaimed, getting to his feet.

"Remus, what's come over you?" Lily asked, her eyes looking moist.

"I'm fine!" Remus yelled down at her. "Get you bloody butt back up to the castle!"

Lily bit her bottom lip as tears escaped her eyes.

"Alright," she choked, standing up. "I'll leave you then."

As Lily ran back up to the castle, Remus realized what he had just done.