Author's Note: I really would like more reviews. I know my story seems
long, but it's fairly good and has loads of details for those of you people
who thrive on your imagination as I do, so please, please review! If I
don't get any more reviews soon I'm going to stop writing completely! I
need feedback, I'm starting to feel writers block coming on!! ~ Frankie ~
Chapter 5: Arguments and the Potions Master
The next morning Lily woke early, set to her internal clock, gathered up her uniform and found her way to the bathroom (loo or toilet!!). She bathes and dressed in her uniform. She deposited her pajamas in her trunk and finally realized her surroundings. She was standing in Gryffindor Tower in the first year girls' dormitory about to start her first day of class which meant no Petunia, no being called a freak by someone who that should respect familial bonds. She was surrounded by people who cared about her. This realization caused Lily to break down into tears. She sat on her bed, her legs crossed, and tears falling freely down her face. Her body started shaking and she began to sob, which caught the attention of the only other girl awake, Elizabeth Tudor.
Elizabeth came over to Lily and asked, "Lily? What's wrong?" Then she sat carefully on the bed next to her waiting to see if Lily wanted to talk about what was bothering her. Elizabeth watched Lily wipe at the tears on her face and pulled the girl towards her and hugged her gently. She said, "Oh Lily! Don't worry; everything is going to be okay."
It was the most general of statements yet Lily felt the weight that had been hanging on her shoulders for years ease away. She smiled, "You're quite right about that! Petunia isn't here!" she smiled and laughed happily, wiping more tears off her face. At the questioning look that Elizabeth was sending her Lily explained, "My horrible sister. She's mean to me, calls me names and bullies me all the time. She's not here and she's not a witch!"
Elizabeth smiled, glad that Lily was okay, "Well that's just her loss isn't it? Not seeing how nice a person you are Lily. I have a 6th sense about these things. Now, go wash your pretty face sister, gather up your things and we'll head down to breakfast. I can't wait for classes to start and to be able to see more of this fantastic castle. Don't worry, every thing is fine. Petunia is as some ruddy muggle school learning boring muggle things and you are here at Hogwarts learning to be a witch! C'mon, cheer up!" Elizabeth exclaimed in a cheerful, bubbly and contagious way. Lily got up and washed her face, clearing away most of the signs of her tearful morning. She grabbed her things and they went down to the common room where there was just a smattering of students.
Lily stopped dead in the center of the common room and took in all the details. Everything was memorized and compartmentalized for future use. "Gosh, it's amazing," she whispered setting her things on the nearest table as it was too early to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast and Lily wanted to wait for James, Sirius and Remus to come down into the common room. Lily sat there with Elizabeth for a half hour and the boys hadn't shown up yet. "I'm going to get them up!" Lily said in exasperation.
"But didn't Arthur Weasley say we had to stick to our own dormitories?" Elizabeth protested, grabbing Lily's wrist to keep her from going up the staircase to the boy's dorms.
"How's Arthur going to know? Or any of the prefects for that matter?" Lily asked slyly, "Besides, you don't have to follow me. I wouldn't want you screaming at Lawrence Lindsey and waking the whole of the Tower," she replied, slipping out of Elizabeth's grasp and heading up the stair, quickly finding the first year's dorms. She walked into the room, which wasn't yet trashed though looked well on its way near Sirius's things which were scattered around the bed. None of them were awake yet. She found James' things and whipped open the hangings to find him sleeping peacefully a smile on his face. "Oh Jamesy-poo! You'd better wake up NOW!" she shouted the last word in his ear causing him to jump up, breathing heavy; Lily smirked and said, "Well then, now that you're awake James, get dressed. You don't want to be any later for breakfast."
With that said, Lily whipped around and started to the door, "Good morning Remus, Sirius, boys. I suggest getting dressed for breakfast. Sorry to wake you Lawrence, Peter. See you all downstairs." Then she walked down the stairs and back to the common room where sever more students had gathered and Elizabeth was stifling her laughter. A group of second years were clapping and one of the 4th year boys, Frank Longbottom, said "Go Lily," to which she replied "Thanks," and smiled.
Approximately ten minutes after Lily came down the boys followed in her footsteps. James was looking extremely annoyed, he walked up to Lily and asked, "What in Merlin's beard was that for?" He was absolutely fuming; his chocolate brown eyes were gleaming with fury.
Lily looked at him calmly and asked, "Whatever to you mean James?" a sweet looking smile crossing her features, that when you looked closely wasn't sweet at all.
James' eyes flashed violently and he shouted, "You know perfectly well what I mean! You screamed in my ear and woke me up from a perfectly good dream!" Remus and Sirius were standing in the background, trying to decide what to do; laugh hysterically at James's overreaction or be furious along with him for being woken up themselves. It didn't work and they burst into laughter. James sent them looks that said clearly, "I'll deal with you later."
Lily stood and looked at James. Her smile flashed, and she looked charming, except it wasn't charming at all, more of a malevolent smirk. James gulped uncomfortably as someone, a muggle born, said in the background, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," which made James nervous and everyone laugh. Lily finally spoke, but it was barely above a whisper, she said, "Maybe you should be wondering what you did to tick me off enough to require my presence upstairs this morning James Potter." Lily grabbed her books and left through the portrait hole.
James looked exasperated and very confused, he shot a look at Remus and Sirius asking, "What did I do?" They both shrugged and James spotted Elizabeth Tudor making for the portrait hole. "Elizabeth! Wait a moment please," James called out and walked over, Remus and Sirius following.
"Yes James?" Elizabeth asked stopping short of the exit, trying no to laugh at him and the other boys.
"Would you happen to know what we did to annoy Lily?" Remus asked peaceably, smiling at her in a friendly fashion.
"Yes I do, but I don't know if I should tell you as your display was rather hilarious," Elizabeth leaned against the wall in an amused manner, humor twinkling in her hazel eyes, a smile playing on her lips.
"Please Elizabeth, would you tell us?" Sirius asked kindly, turning on the charm a bit more.
"Well I guess so. She was waiting for you three for breakfast. Got to be a half hour later and she figured on waking you all up. I told her not to as Arthur Weasley said we were to stick to our own dormitories. She went up there anyway and you know the rest," Elizabeth said, smiled at them and went to find Lily in the Great Hall.
"Well that explains that. I guess Lily isn't the sort to wait forever on anything. I s'pose we should apologize," James said messing up his already unruly hair as she scratched the top of his head.
The three boys were about to head out when a girl came up to them, another first year they recognized as Heather Brown. "Sorry to intrude, but I couldn't help over hearing but I thought you should know being Lily's friends and all that she didn't have a good morning, was crying over something for about 15 minutes," the blonde said and left their presence.
After Heather was out of ear shot Remus said, "I supposed as well that there was a particular reason Elizabeth left out that bit out. Lily probably didn't want us knowing till she was ready to tell us. So I suggest we keep quiet about that even if it's true and go apologize for our tardiness," He waited for them to nod before they went out the portrait hole and down to breakfast. The boys found their way rather quickly and entered the Hall searching for Lily. They found her near the teacher's end of Gryffindor table sitting next to Elizabeth talking. They waited until they'd stopped talking before approaching and sitting down.
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When Lily left the portrait hole she was feeling rather depressed, worrying that she had alienated her best friends. Even though she and Elizabeth had that heart to heart that morning, Lily found her slightly dull for wanting to stick to one measly little rule that was rather pointless for their year; it wasn't like she was planning to do anything with the boys, to her boys still had cooties. Lily sighed and rather accidentally found her way to the Great Hall; she sat and put some toast on her plate. Breakfast was just starting that the Hall was loud. She sat there picking at her toast and got the smallest feeling of being watched before Elizabeth sat down next to her.
"They asked me what they'd done wrong and I told them. I hope you don't mind," Elizabeth said, putting food on to her plate and then swiftly into her mouth. "Gosh, I'm starving; it feels like it's been ages since the feast last night," she said, noticing that Lily wasn't eating asked, "Are you okay? That Petunia thing isn't bothering you again is it?"
Lily couldn't help thinking, "Geez she talks a lot," as she saw the familiar faces sit directly across from them. Elizabeth has shut up, not really expecting Lily to answer but she did, "No, that's not what's bothering me," She sent meaningful looks towards the quiet boys who were waiting for the conversation to finish before speaking themselves.
When Lily looked over at them expectantly they all said at the same time, "We're sorry for sleeping late, we honestly didn't know you meant for us to wake up at a certain time and meet you. We are really sorry." They were like robots; Lily couldn't help the smirk that graced her features.
"I expect you rehearsed that on the way down," Lily said trying not to laugh.
"Well we thought you'd get a kick out of it and it might cheer you up," James said, smiling his most charming smile that worked on his mother when he wanted sweets really bad.
Lily looked over at Elizabeth whose eyes told her, "All I told them was about how they annoyed you, not a thing about before." Lily looked back over at James, Remus and Sirius who were all giving smiles worthy of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award and she said, "I don't know what you three are talking about. Why I'd need to get a kick out of anything I don't know, but you'd better eat before it gets too cold," then she smiled and the whole incident was forgotten. They went on to talking about prank plotting on the Slytherin's, Elizabeth looking decidedly bothered by their plans though she couldn't help but laugh at the ideas that were springing from their overly imaginative minds.
Prefect Molly as they had taken to calling the girl who had come into their compartment on the train and only half introduced herself was handing out their schedules. She was rather pretty and one could see why Arthur Weasley was usually found sitting next to her at meals and in the common room. She smiled at the first years as she came to them, "Hello dears, I hope you have a good year and I wish you luck on dealing with the Slytherins," she said as she scrunched up her nose in distaste at 'Slytherins' as she handed them their class schedules.
Lily got hers first and understood why Molly has said that. "Oh no! Potions, ack, Double Potions with the Slytherins first today!" She said, feeling the need to wretch and removed the little amount of food she had managed to put into her body. Groans came from Elizabeth and the boys across from them.
"Anything but that! I've heard that the professor teaching potions has a nasty dislike for all students but those from Slytherin House," James said in a disgusted tone of voice and scanned the Teacher's Table for a teacher nasty enough to do the job of Potions Master. None of them really fit the bill and the only two teachers any of them recognized were the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Fairweather their welcome party of the previous evening.
"I wonder which one is Potions Master," Sirius said scanning the Teachers table along with James.
"I don't know, but we better head off for the dungeons now if we don't want to be late and give the teacher a reason to hate us," Lily said gathering her things and standing along with her friends.
They headed down the corridor to the dungeons, the temperature dropping a degree with every step and "Burr!" seemed to be the general response. They found the Slytherins sitting outside the classroom as if waiting for the door to be unlocked, but it was wide open and Malfoy seemed to be protesting even entering the classroom. Lily took one look at Malfoy and walked right into the room, the others following her inside. It wasn't as bad as any of them thought it was going to be and Lily made her way to the second row of seats and set her things down. That was when see noticed a Siamese cat sitting on the desk in the corner, the cat had vibrant green eyes and seemed to be smiling at the Gryffindor students as if in on some hilarious joke that they would soon understand.
"Professor G. H. Henderson, Potions Master," Lily read aloud from the board just as the bell to start rang and she sat down and watched the Slytherins filing in, Malfoy looking particularly disgruntled and Lily wondered what could be pissing him off so bad as she stuck to the back of the class and the shadows, creepy Snape sitting next to him. Lily and the rest of the students were about to find out the cat's joke.
"Welcome to Potions," came the light airy voice of a kind faced blonde haired woman with dark blue eyes that were as vivid as her cats, alive with the same energy and seemed to look the same as the Siamese cat's and humor in her voice. There was a gasp from the Gryffindors as they saw here and wonder if there had been some kind of mistake. James was caught with his mouth open, jaw practically touching the floor and he muttered, "That can't be the teacher I heard about." She sent him a clever smile.
"I am Professor Gillian Holroyd Henderson. I am your Potions Master, and the Siamese over on the table is Pyewacket. I am betting that a lot of you are wondering how I can be the teacher you must have heard about from the older students, but I am one and the same, I just encourage the rumors for the shock value of you first years. Now, I want all of you to know that this class will be no "free ride." None of you will get through this class by sucking up or brown nosing. This class will be hard work. I expect all of you to do your best," She said and eyed the corner where Malfoy sat sneering at her. "Late papers are only accepted with sickness or injury that requires hospital stay," on the word sickness Lily noticed that the Professor's eyes flicked to Remus and she wondered why. "Stay on my good side and you will pass this class; get on my bad side. well let's just say you don't want to do that," she said before picking up a piece of parchment near Pyewacket and starting roll call.
When she was finished she tossed the paper aside and switched instantly to 'work mode'. She asked, her voice just barely above a whisper, "Who can tell me what I would get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Instantly, Lily's hand shot into the air and the professor smiled before saying, "Yes Miss Evans?"
Lily stood up, accustomed to Muggle School and said, "Asphodel and Wormwood combine to make a sleeping potion so strong that it's called the Draught of Living Death." She sat back down, awaiting the Professor's response.
Professor Henderson smiled at Lily and said, "Very good Miss Evans, 5 points to Gryffindor, and you need not stand up," which caused Lily to blush and grin at the same time. "Now, how about someone from Slytherin. you, Mister Malfoy, answer me this, what is a bezoar?" she asked changing her tone of voice and looking to the shadowy corner where the pale boy sat.
"I do not know Professor," Malfoy said sulkily, through gritted teeth as he watched Snape beside him, his hand eagerly raised beside him, and looked as if he wanted to jump up and punch Professor Henderson for good measure.
Henderson looked to Snape and asked, "Mister Snape?" as if saying what do you want.
"A bezoar is a stone taken from a goats stomach and can save you from most poisons," Serverus Snape replied, looking smug.
"Very good Mister Snape, thought I wasn't asking you," she said lightly and turned around to address the class, "By the way, you should all be copying this down," and smiled as she heard them all scrambling for quills and parchment. The rest of the class was spent copying down notes. Before it ended she said, "I sincerely suggest that you all read One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi as sometime soon I will be having a quiz, on the whole book." The bell rang and there was a mad scramble for the doors and for lunch in the Great Hall.
(Author's Note: Professor G. H. Henderson, if you don't recognize the name is an adapted character from Bell, Book, and Candle, played by Kim Novak, Pyewacket is her cat. I DON'T OWN THEM!)
"Potions wasn't actually that bad," Lily said as they sat down at the table and started to eat, looking rather proud of herself.
"Yeah man, that teacher is cool. I can't believe how she ripped into Snape," Sirius said laughing maliciously as she helped himself to the food on the table and grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
"What do we have this afternoon?" Remus asked Lily knowing that she had already memorized their schedule.
"Herbology with Hufflepuff and Care of Magical Creatures with Ravenclaw," Lily replied after she had swallowed.
"Did you guys get a good look at that cat of hers? She's got the same eyes as her cat," James said, wondering how the heck that could happen.
"Yeah, crazy. I'm just wondering where she's from, did any of you recognize her accent?" Remus asked with a rather confused look on his face as she munched on a sandwich and proceeded to wash it down with pumpkin juice.
"I'm originally from America, Massachusetts to be specific, Mister Lupin. I moved to England with my husband from New York two years ago and I'm here on a favor to Professor Dumbledore. Does that answer all of your questions?" Professor Henderson asked as she smiled down at them, making Sirius look at her adoringly.
"How did you get the same eyes as your cat?" James asked and received a grin from the Professor.
"Pyewacket was given to me by my family; she came that way and my eyes, although similar to Pyewacket's aren't the same. The fact that they look so is happenstance. See you all on Saturday," Henderson said smiling and walking up to the Teachers table, stopping to speak with Dumbledore who looked in their direction, his eyes twinkling.
Chapter 5: Arguments and the Potions Master
The next morning Lily woke early, set to her internal clock, gathered up her uniform and found her way to the bathroom (loo or toilet!!). She bathes and dressed in her uniform. She deposited her pajamas in her trunk and finally realized her surroundings. She was standing in Gryffindor Tower in the first year girls' dormitory about to start her first day of class which meant no Petunia, no being called a freak by someone who that should respect familial bonds. She was surrounded by people who cared about her. This realization caused Lily to break down into tears. She sat on her bed, her legs crossed, and tears falling freely down her face. Her body started shaking and she began to sob, which caught the attention of the only other girl awake, Elizabeth Tudor.
Elizabeth came over to Lily and asked, "Lily? What's wrong?" Then she sat carefully on the bed next to her waiting to see if Lily wanted to talk about what was bothering her. Elizabeth watched Lily wipe at the tears on her face and pulled the girl towards her and hugged her gently. She said, "Oh Lily! Don't worry; everything is going to be okay."
It was the most general of statements yet Lily felt the weight that had been hanging on her shoulders for years ease away. She smiled, "You're quite right about that! Petunia isn't here!" she smiled and laughed happily, wiping more tears off her face. At the questioning look that Elizabeth was sending her Lily explained, "My horrible sister. She's mean to me, calls me names and bullies me all the time. She's not here and she's not a witch!"
Elizabeth smiled, glad that Lily was okay, "Well that's just her loss isn't it? Not seeing how nice a person you are Lily. I have a 6th sense about these things. Now, go wash your pretty face sister, gather up your things and we'll head down to breakfast. I can't wait for classes to start and to be able to see more of this fantastic castle. Don't worry, every thing is fine. Petunia is as some ruddy muggle school learning boring muggle things and you are here at Hogwarts learning to be a witch! C'mon, cheer up!" Elizabeth exclaimed in a cheerful, bubbly and contagious way. Lily got up and washed her face, clearing away most of the signs of her tearful morning. She grabbed her things and they went down to the common room where there was just a smattering of students.
Lily stopped dead in the center of the common room and took in all the details. Everything was memorized and compartmentalized for future use. "Gosh, it's amazing," she whispered setting her things on the nearest table as it was too early to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast and Lily wanted to wait for James, Sirius and Remus to come down into the common room. Lily sat there with Elizabeth for a half hour and the boys hadn't shown up yet. "I'm going to get them up!" Lily said in exasperation.
"But didn't Arthur Weasley say we had to stick to our own dormitories?" Elizabeth protested, grabbing Lily's wrist to keep her from going up the staircase to the boy's dorms.
"How's Arthur going to know? Or any of the prefects for that matter?" Lily asked slyly, "Besides, you don't have to follow me. I wouldn't want you screaming at Lawrence Lindsey and waking the whole of the Tower," she replied, slipping out of Elizabeth's grasp and heading up the stair, quickly finding the first year's dorms. She walked into the room, which wasn't yet trashed though looked well on its way near Sirius's things which were scattered around the bed. None of them were awake yet. She found James' things and whipped open the hangings to find him sleeping peacefully a smile on his face. "Oh Jamesy-poo! You'd better wake up NOW!" she shouted the last word in his ear causing him to jump up, breathing heavy; Lily smirked and said, "Well then, now that you're awake James, get dressed. You don't want to be any later for breakfast."
With that said, Lily whipped around and started to the door, "Good morning Remus, Sirius, boys. I suggest getting dressed for breakfast. Sorry to wake you Lawrence, Peter. See you all downstairs." Then she walked down the stairs and back to the common room where sever more students had gathered and Elizabeth was stifling her laughter. A group of second years were clapping and one of the 4th year boys, Frank Longbottom, said "Go Lily," to which she replied "Thanks," and smiled.
Approximately ten minutes after Lily came down the boys followed in her footsteps. James was looking extremely annoyed, he walked up to Lily and asked, "What in Merlin's beard was that for?" He was absolutely fuming; his chocolate brown eyes were gleaming with fury.
Lily looked at him calmly and asked, "Whatever to you mean James?" a sweet looking smile crossing her features, that when you looked closely wasn't sweet at all.
James' eyes flashed violently and he shouted, "You know perfectly well what I mean! You screamed in my ear and woke me up from a perfectly good dream!" Remus and Sirius were standing in the background, trying to decide what to do; laugh hysterically at James's overreaction or be furious along with him for being woken up themselves. It didn't work and they burst into laughter. James sent them looks that said clearly, "I'll deal with you later."
Lily stood and looked at James. Her smile flashed, and she looked charming, except it wasn't charming at all, more of a malevolent smirk. James gulped uncomfortably as someone, a muggle born, said in the background, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," which made James nervous and everyone laugh. Lily finally spoke, but it was barely above a whisper, she said, "Maybe you should be wondering what you did to tick me off enough to require my presence upstairs this morning James Potter." Lily grabbed her books and left through the portrait hole.
James looked exasperated and very confused, he shot a look at Remus and Sirius asking, "What did I do?" They both shrugged and James spotted Elizabeth Tudor making for the portrait hole. "Elizabeth! Wait a moment please," James called out and walked over, Remus and Sirius following.
"Yes James?" Elizabeth asked stopping short of the exit, trying no to laugh at him and the other boys.
"Would you happen to know what we did to annoy Lily?" Remus asked peaceably, smiling at her in a friendly fashion.
"Yes I do, but I don't know if I should tell you as your display was rather hilarious," Elizabeth leaned against the wall in an amused manner, humor twinkling in her hazel eyes, a smile playing on her lips.
"Please Elizabeth, would you tell us?" Sirius asked kindly, turning on the charm a bit more.
"Well I guess so. She was waiting for you three for breakfast. Got to be a half hour later and she figured on waking you all up. I told her not to as Arthur Weasley said we were to stick to our own dormitories. She went up there anyway and you know the rest," Elizabeth said, smiled at them and went to find Lily in the Great Hall.
"Well that explains that. I guess Lily isn't the sort to wait forever on anything. I s'pose we should apologize," James said messing up his already unruly hair as she scratched the top of his head.
The three boys were about to head out when a girl came up to them, another first year they recognized as Heather Brown. "Sorry to intrude, but I couldn't help over hearing but I thought you should know being Lily's friends and all that she didn't have a good morning, was crying over something for about 15 minutes," the blonde said and left their presence.
After Heather was out of ear shot Remus said, "I supposed as well that there was a particular reason Elizabeth left out that bit out. Lily probably didn't want us knowing till she was ready to tell us. So I suggest we keep quiet about that even if it's true and go apologize for our tardiness," He waited for them to nod before they went out the portrait hole and down to breakfast. The boys found their way rather quickly and entered the Hall searching for Lily. They found her near the teacher's end of Gryffindor table sitting next to Elizabeth talking. They waited until they'd stopped talking before approaching and sitting down.
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When Lily left the portrait hole she was feeling rather depressed, worrying that she had alienated her best friends. Even though she and Elizabeth had that heart to heart that morning, Lily found her slightly dull for wanting to stick to one measly little rule that was rather pointless for their year; it wasn't like she was planning to do anything with the boys, to her boys still had cooties. Lily sighed and rather accidentally found her way to the Great Hall; she sat and put some toast on her plate. Breakfast was just starting that the Hall was loud. She sat there picking at her toast and got the smallest feeling of being watched before Elizabeth sat down next to her.
"They asked me what they'd done wrong and I told them. I hope you don't mind," Elizabeth said, putting food on to her plate and then swiftly into her mouth. "Gosh, I'm starving; it feels like it's been ages since the feast last night," she said, noticing that Lily wasn't eating asked, "Are you okay? That Petunia thing isn't bothering you again is it?"
Lily couldn't help thinking, "Geez she talks a lot," as she saw the familiar faces sit directly across from them. Elizabeth has shut up, not really expecting Lily to answer but she did, "No, that's not what's bothering me," She sent meaningful looks towards the quiet boys who were waiting for the conversation to finish before speaking themselves.
When Lily looked over at them expectantly they all said at the same time, "We're sorry for sleeping late, we honestly didn't know you meant for us to wake up at a certain time and meet you. We are really sorry." They were like robots; Lily couldn't help the smirk that graced her features.
"I expect you rehearsed that on the way down," Lily said trying not to laugh.
"Well we thought you'd get a kick out of it and it might cheer you up," James said, smiling his most charming smile that worked on his mother when he wanted sweets really bad.
Lily looked over at Elizabeth whose eyes told her, "All I told them was about how they annoyed you, not a thing about before." Lily looked back over at James, Remus and Sirius who were all giving smiles worthy of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award and she said, "I don't know what you three are talking about. Why I'd need to get a kick out of anything I don't know, but you'd better eat before it gets too cold," then she smiled and the whole incident was forgotten. They went on to talking about prank plotting on the Slytherin's, Elizabeth looking decidedly bothered by their plans though she couldn't help but laugh at the ideas that were springing from their overly imaginative minds.
Prefect Molly as they had taken to calling the girl who had come into their compartment on the train and only half introduced herself was handing out their schedules. She was rather pretty and one could see why Arthur Weasley was usually found sitting next to her at meals and in the common room. She smiled at the first years as she came to them, "Hello dears, I hope you have a good year and I wish you luck on dealing with the Slytherins," she said as she scrunched up her nose in distaste at 'Slytherins' as she handed them their class schedules.
Lily got hers first and understood why Molly has said that. "Oh no! Potions, ack, Double Potions with the Slytherins first today!" She said, feeling the need to wretch and removed the little amount of food she had managed to put into her body. Groans came from Elizabeth and the boys across from them.
"Anything but that! I've heard that the professor teaching potions has a nasty dislike for all students but those from Slytherin House," James said in a disgusted tone of voice and scanned the Teacher's Table for a teacher nasty enough to do the job of Potions Master. None of them really fit the bill and the only two teachers any of them recognized were the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Fairweather their welcome party of the previous evening.
"I wonder which one is Potions Master," Sirius said scanning the Teachers table along with James.
"I don't know, but we better head off for the dungeons now if we don't want to be late and give the teacher a reason to hate us," Lily said gathering her things and standing along with her friends.
They headed down the corridor to the dungeons, the temperature dropping a degree with every step and "Burr!" seemed to be the general response. They found the Slytherins sitting outside the classroom as if waiting for the door to be unlocked, but it was wide open and Malfoy seemed to be protesting even entering the classroom. Lily took one look at Malfoy and walked right into the room, the others following her inside. It wasn't as bad as any of them thought it was going to be and Lily made her way to the second row of seats and set her things down. That was when see noticed a Siamese cat sitting on the desk in the corner, the cat had vibrant green eyes and seemed to be smiling at the Gryffindor students as if in on some hilarious joke that they would soon understand.
"Professor G. H. Henderson, Potions Master," Lily read aloud from the board just as the bell to start rang and she sat down and watched the Slytherins filing in, Malfoy looking particularly disgruntled and Lily wondered what could be pissing him off so bad as she stuck to the back of the class and the shadows, creepy Snape sitting next to him. Lily and the rest of the students were about to find out the cat's joke.
"Welcome to Potions," came the light airy voice of a kind faced blonde haired woman with dark blue eyes that were as vivid as her cats, alive with the same energy and seemed to look the same as the Siamese cat's and humor in her voice. There was a gasp from the Gryffindors as they saw here and wonder if there had been some kind of mistake. James was caught with his mouth open, jaw practically touching the floor and he muttered, "That can't be the teacher I heard about." She sent him a clever smile.
"I am Professor Gillian Holroyd Henderson. I am your Potions Master, and the Siamese over on the table is Pyewacket. I am betting that a lot of you are wondering how I can be the teacher you must have heard about from the older students, but I am one and the same, I just encourage the rumors for the shock value of you first years. Now, I want all of you to know that this class will be no "free ride." None of you will get through this class by sucking up or brown nosing. This class will be hard work. I expect all of you to do your best," She said and eyed the corner where Malfoy sat sneering at her. "Late papers are only accepted with sickness or injury that requires hospital stay," on the word sickness Lily noticed that the Professor's eyes flicked to Remus and she wondered why. "Stay on my good side and you will pass this class; get on my bad side. well let's just say you don't want to do that," she said before picking up a piece of parchment near Pyewacket and starting roll call.
When she was finished she tossed the paper aside and switched instantly to 'work mode'. She asked, her voice just barely above a whisper, "Who can tell me what I would get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Instantly, Lily's hand shot into the air and the professor smiled before saying, "Yes Miss Evans?"
Lily stood up, accustomed to Muggle School and said, "Asphodel and Wormwood combine to make a sleeping potion so strong that it's called the Draught of Living Death." She sat back down, awaiting the Professor's response.
Professor Henderson smiled at Lily and said, "Very good Miss Evans, 5 points to Gryffindor, and you need not stand up," which caused Lily to blush and grin at the same time. "Now, how about someone from Slytherin. you, Mister Malfoy, answer me this, what is a bezoar?" she asked changing her tone of voice and looking to the shadowy corner where the pale boy sat.
"I do not know Professor," Malfoy said sulkily, through gritted teeth as he watched Snape beside him, his hand eagerly raised beside him, and looked as if he wanted to jump up and punch Professor Henderson for good measure.
Henderson looked to Snape and asked, "Mister Snape?" as if saying what do you want.
"A bezoar is a stone taken from a goats stomach and can save you from most poisons," Serverus Snape replied, looking smug.
"Very good Mister Snape, thought I wasn't asking you," she said lightly and turned around to address the class, "By the way, you should all be copying this down," and smiled as she heard them all scrambling for quills and parchment. The rest of the class was spent copying down notes. Before it ended she said, "I sincerely suggest that you all read One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi as sometime soon I will be having a quiz, on the whole book." The bell rang and there was a mad scramble for the doors and for lunch in the Great Hall.
(Author's Note: Professor G. H. Henderson, if you don't recognize the name is an adapted character from Bell, Book, and Candle, played by Kim Novak, Pyewacket is her cat. I DON'T OWN THEM!)
"Potions wasn't actually that bad," Lily said as they sat down at the table and started to eat, looking rather proud of herself.
"Yeah man, that teacher is cool. I can't believe how she ripped into Snape," Sirius said laughing maliciously as she helped himself to the food on the table and grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
"What do we have this afternoon?" Remus asked Lily knowing that she had already memorized their schedule.
"Herbology with Hufflepuff and Care of Magical Creatures with Ravenclaw," Lily replied after she had swallowed.
"Did you guys get a good look at that cat of hers? She's got the same eyes as her cat," James said, wondering how the heck that could happen.
"Yeah, crazy. I'm just wondering where she's from, did any of you recognize her accent?" Remus asked with a rather confused look on his face as she munched on a sandwich and proceeded to wash it down with pumpkin juice.
"I'm originally from America, Massachusetts to be specific, Mister Lupin. I moved to England with my husband from New York two years ago and I'm here on a favor to Professor Dumbledore. Does that answer all of your questions?" Professor Henderson asked as she smiled down at them, making Sirius look at her adoringly.
"How did you get the same eyes as your cat?" James asked and received a grin from the Professor.
"Pyewacket was given to me by my family; she came that way and my eyes, although similar to Pyewacket's aren't the same. The fact that they look so is happenstance. See you all on Saturday," Henderson said smiling and walking up to the Teachers table, stopping to speak with Dumbledore who looked in their direction, his eyes twinkling.