Chapter 20: A Bet with Potter

As they had planned, they had Amos's class first the next morning. Amos was halfway through writing up review questions for the test on Friday on the board, when Snape raised his hand. "Um, Professor?" Snape asked.

"What is it, you annoying git?" Amos responded. Snape looked shocked. He was one of Amos's favorite students, and usually Amos was disgustingly nice to him. Amos looked confused, but didn't say anything. Kaylie and Desdamona snickered a little.

"What does question one mean?" Snape asked, still looking a little off-balance.

"Have you forgotten how to read, you snot-nosed little brat?" Amos replied. He clapped his hands over his mouth momentarily and then turned to look at the board, his eyes opening in shock as he read, "Amos is possibly the worst professor in the school. List several reasons that he is so horrible." Some of the Slytherins also began to chuckle. Lily chanced a glance at the Marauders and noticed that they all had their faces arranged in looks of complete confusion. She nearly laughed out loud at the sight, but remembered to keep her face determinedly blank.

Snape looked like he was about to say something else, but apparently decided to keep quiet. Professor Amos looked completely taken-aback, and quickly began to wipe down the chalk-board. "That'll be twenty points from Slytherin for daring to question me, Snape!" he said kindly. He turned and strode into his office.

The Gryffindors all burst out laughing as he departed, but the Slytherins looked shell-shocked that their head of house had taken points from them. "Keep your mouth shut, Snape!" LeStrange said, glaring at him. Snape stared at his parchment, and didn't respond.

Amos returned with new chalk, and the Gryffindors quickly composed themselves. A very distinct scent followed Amos out of his office, and Lily could hear Alice and Amelia next to her, trying not to laugh. "That'll be 10 points to Gryffindor for not asking idiotic questions," Amos snapped at Black, confusion again registering in his eyes.

He turned back to the chalkboard, and once again began writing. This time, all of the students, Slytherins and Gryffindors alike couldn't contain their laughter, for Amos was now writing, "I'm the worst professor Hogwarts has ever seen. I can't believe that Dumbledore still allows me to teach here. List all of the reasons that I should be fired." Amos stepped back and surveyed the question, then erased it and reached for some more chalk. This happened several more times before he finally gave up. He then reached for a quill. "You will read Chapter 19 of your texts quietly for the remainder of the class."

Pettigrew reached into his bag and pulled out his book, but dropped it, making a loud thudding noise. Amos looked up with an icy glare, and Pettigrew cowered. "That will be 10 points to Gryffindor for providing us with entertainment," Amos said with barely controlled fury. He pulled out a quill and began correcting assignments. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw the Marauders writing notes back and forth to each other. The Slytherins still looked utterly perplexed, while the Gryffindor girls pretended to look at their texts. A small explosion interrupted the silence in the classroom. Amos swore, and then glared at the class. "Class will be dismissed early today," he said sharply, standing up and striding toward his office. Before he turned, Lily saw that his robes were now covered in red ink. The smell of dungbombs once again escaped as Professor Amos opened the door to his office and disappeared inside. Once he was gone, the Gryffindors all burst into laughter, unable to control themselves any longer.

LeStrange, Bellatrix and Avery sauntered over to where the boys were packing up their books. "Did you have something to do with that?" LeStrange asked menancingly.

The faces of the Marauders became instantly angelic. "Have something to do with what?" Potter said happily.

"Amos's odd behavior today," Bellatrix said.

"Odd behavior?" Black asked no one in particular. "I didn't notice any odd behavior. Did you three?"

Lupin, Pettigrew and Potter all quickly shook their heads. "Huh," Black said, shoving his book in his bag.

Avery pulled out his wand and pointed it at Black, but in an instant, three other wands were pointed at him. He glared at Potter, Pettigrew and Lupin, but lowered his wand. "Slytherin lost twenty points today, and we aren't likely to forget it anytime soon." Avery, Bellatrix and LeStrange walked over to where Snape was waiting, and made their way out of the classroom.

The Marauders watched the Slytherins disappear, and hurried quickly out of the classroom, the girls following after them. When they got outside, they dissolved into laughter. "That was bloody brilliant," Black said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Did you see the look on Snape's face when Amos called him an annoying git?" Potter asked, starting to laugh again.

"I wish you guys would have let me help!" Kaylie trilled, giving Potter a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Black, Lupin and Pettigrew all rolled their eyes simultaneously at Kaylie.

Potter blushed. "I already explained to you—" he began.

"I know, I know," she said, "You didn't want me to get in trouble." Kaylie looked like she was about to start pouting, but smiled suddenly. "What was that smell coming from his office, anyway?"

"Time-release shrinking dung-bombs," Potter said.

"One of my more brilliant inventions," Black added with a smirk.

The Gryffindors all burst into laughter again. "I still can't believe that you pulled it off," Desdamona said when they had quieted down.

"It's all really thanks to Lily," Lupin said, nodding in her direction. "We couldn't have gotten in the door without her!"

"I'm not sure I want the credit for this," Lily said dryly, settling into a spot on the ground. The girls all sat down beside her.

"Anyone up for a game of tag?" Black asked, grinning at the boys.

"Who's it?" Pettigrew asked.

"On three," Black said. "One, two, three!" All five boys pulled out their wands.

Pettigrew was the slowest. "Why's it always me?" he moaned as the other four boys scattered. He took off resignedly in the direction in which Black had disappeared.

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Over the remaining month of so of school, the Gryffindor first-years became something like mini-celebrities within the Gryffindor common room as word spread that they were responsible for Amos's eccentric behavior. As they were rather afraid that this news would eventually reach the ears of someone outside the Gryffindor common room, they always denied their involvement, but the Marauders were never quite able to hide the pride in their eyes when they spoke of it, so nobody ever actually believed their protests of innocence. Most of the rest of the school did not get to see first-hand the results of the prank, as Amos had somehow gotten rid of the stench in his office, in spite of Potter's certainty that it hadn't been by finding and eliminating the dung bombs ("He probably knows some sort of charm, that's all!"), and he'd replaced all of his quills. The chalk, however, had exploded all over the classroom after Amos had apparently tried to de-jinx it ("I booby-trapped it," Black explained proudly when they heard about the chalk dust covering every inch of the classroom), and he must not have realized that the tea was to blame for his awarding points to students that he detested. On occasion, he still complimented a Gryffindor student for no reason, and Lily had heard that he'd given the Slytherin fourth years extra homework in class after one of them had asked what he thought about Slytherin's chances for the inter-house championship in quidditch. Although Lily had been certain that Amos would eventually figure out who had broken into his office, after LeStrange and the other Slytherins had confronted the Marauders in class they were never again accused by anyone other than friendly Gryffindors.

There was little time to dwell on their new-found celebrity, however, because end-of-year exams were fast approaching, and their teachers had decided that in order to properly prepare their students, they had to bury them in homework every night. The common room, which was filled with laughter and noise most evenings of the school term, was now quiet save for the fluttering of turning pages and the occasional sigh from a frustrated student. Any time a group of students brought their voices above the level of a whisper, they were subject to glares of disapproval from the other students. The older Gryffindors were hit hardest, of course, particularly those preparing to take their O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) and N.E.W.T.s (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests), but the first-years had not escaped the crunch.

Lily, Alice and Amelia had staked out a spot in the library and on any given evening could be found writing essays, practicing wand motions, and quizzing one another. Frank, Kaylie and Desdamona frequently joined them, but the Marauders resolutely avoided them because, as Potter claimed, "Evans is scary when she's studying." Lily never failed to get irritated when he would announce this (which was anytime someone asked the Marauders to join them), but Alice and Amelia maintained that there was truth to this statement. In addition to the studying that she was doing with her classmates, Lily often stayed up after the others had gone to bed, studying Transfiguration, which was still giving her more trouble than any other class.

The week of final exams arrived far too soon for anybody's liking. The only bright spot of its arrival, at least as far as Lily was concerned, was the prospect of Saturday, when their exams would be over, and all that would remain of the term was the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw quidditch match to determine the inter-house champion for the year. The week before, they had received their exam schedules, and Lily was most put-out to discover that Transfiguration was their last test of the week. She had rather hoped to get it out of the way on Monday so that she could relax and concentrate more easily on her other exams. As the week wore on, Lily grew more and more anxious at the thought of Friday afternoon. By Thursday evening she had snapped so many times at Alice and Amelia that they had both left her alone in the library, swearing not to speak to her again until the exam was over Friday night.

As a result, she was studying by herself in the library on Friday after their Defense Against the Dark Arts exam had ended, when Potter sat down across from her with a smile. "What are you so happy about, Potter?" she snapped irritably.

"Exams are over!" he sang, opening a book called "A Complete Guide to Chaser Tactics (Abridged)".

She stared at him, dumbfounded. "Have you forgotten Transfiguration?" she asked finally as he flipped to the next page and made no move to explain his comment.

He glanced up at her, looking completely relaxed and at ease, which only served to irritate Lily further. "Transfiguration isn't really an exam," he explained.

"Have you gone mad?" Lily asked him, quite seriously.

"No," he said, shrugging and looking back down at the book. "It isn't really an exam if you don't have to study, and since I can do Transfiguration in my sleep…" He trailed off and picked up his wand. As she watched, he transfigured her quill into a hat with a feather plume.

She glared at him. "Well, if you don't mind," she said through clenched teeth, "I do have to study!"

"You don't," Potter corrected her, transfiguring the hat back into a quill, and handing it back to her. "You know everything already, you just have to learn to relax, and let it happen."

"Relax?" she said sarcastically. "Well, I suppose that's easy enough for you, isn't it? I doubt you've ever gotten tense over anything in your life!"

"Don't believe me, then?" he asked casually, leaning back in his chair, and crossing his arms.

She sighed in frustration. Precious minutes that she could have spent studying were ticking away. "Look, I really don't have time for this! I've already chased Alice and Amelia off for dist—"

"I know. I asked them where you were when they turned up in the common room without you earlier."

"Why should you care?" she said, but the edge had gone out of her voice.

"Isn't it enough that I do?" he asked, flashing his most dazzling smile, and leaning toward her. "Now, we've got an hour before our Transfiguration exam, and if you let me help you for that hour, I know you'll feel better about the material. In fact, I'd even bet that you'll do better on the exam than I will."

She heaved a deep breath, tempted in spite of herself, but still half-certain that he was setting her up for something. She sighed again. "I can't even do a simple tea bag transfiguration," she began.

"Give me an hour," he repeated. "You know how. I just have to make you believe it." Still, Lily hesitated. "Tell you what, if you give me an hour, and I still do better on the exam than you do, I will never tease, bother, or otherwise annoy you again. That's worth giving me an hour of your time, isn't it? I'll even swear to it."

He took a piece of parchment out of his bag and scribbled something on it, then handed it to Lily. She glanced at it, thinking. It was a safe bet. There was no way that she was going to score better than him, so he'd finally have to stop teasing her.  And there was at least a chance that he'd be able to help her out. He did know the material, after all. "Okay," she said reluctantly.

"Okay?" he asked. She nodded, and he took the parchment and signed it. "Now you." He handed her the quill. She looked at him quizzically, but signed her name without a word. "Good!" he said, putting the parchment into his bag and moving to sit beside her.

After just half an hour, Lily had to admit that she was feeling more confident about the exam with every passing moment. She was practicing a transfiguration on her pencil when a thought occurred to her. "If you beat me on the exam, you'll leave me alone."

"I swear," he said solemnly.

"And what if I do beat you, then?" she asked.

"Are you going to back out of our deal if you don't like my terms?"

She shook her head. "No, I won't."

He grinned mischievously. "If you do beat me, then," he said, his voice suddenly sounding nervous. "Youhavetogivemeakiss."

He said this last part so quickly that Lily wasn't sure she'd understood him correctly. "A kiss?"

He blushed furiously, but nodded. "Yes." Lily stared at him, not sure what to say to this. "It can't be something you enjoy," he explained, "Otherwise you won't learn not to doubt me."

Lily laughed. "All right, then," she said, going back to work on her pencil.

He looked thunderstruck. "All right?" he asked. Lily nodded, laughing again at the stunned expression on his face.