Chapter Eleven
"James!" Lily burst out, when a very disheveled looking James walked through the portrait. "You have to believe me; I never meant to hurt you. I was just trying to-"
James held up his hand, "'S okay, Lily. I just don't know how I'm going to deal with this right now." His hand dropped back to his side and he carefully walked up the stairs to the boy's dormitories.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
For the next two weeks, James studiously avoided Lily. At meals he would check the Map and, if she was eating in the Great Hall, he would go to the kitchens to eat. The house elves were more than happy to serve him there. In class, he would always sit in the seat furthest from her. When they had prefect meetings or Head duties to attend to, he would treat her with indifferent respect. When they hung out as a group, with the Marauders and Julie, he would sit and act as if she weren't there.
"Jules, I don't know what to do. He keeps avoiding me; I can't talk anything out with him. He's being completely impossible."
"Lily, dear, just give the poor boy some time, he'll come around. You'll see."
Lily had a hard time believing this; she finally decided that two could play at this game. Instead of trying to catch him in the dining hall, she would grab something easy to carry and eat it on her way to the library. In class, she would sit in the front right corner, so he might be allowed the seat in the back left. At prefect meetings and during Head duties, she sat as far away as the table allowed, never looking at him, or responding directly to anything he did or said. And when they sat in the common room roasting cheese, she would talk with everyone James wasn't occupied with.
The third week approached and the rest of the gang was getting worried.
"You know, I've decided not to go on that date. It was more winning that held my attention," said Sirius during one of the optional, weekly prefect meetings.
Remus looked at him in surprise, "Good for you," he smiled, "It's good to know that you have decided that hogging the playing field makes life boring."
Sirius chuckled.
"Guys I'm still worried about those two though," said Julie from the circle of Remus' arms. "They ignore each other completely."
"So what are we going to do about them?" asked Sirius.
"I don't know Padfoot. But we'll think of something. We always do."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As midterm exams approached, Lily began to spend more and more time in the dungeons working on potions. She didn't need to, but it was her worst subject, she was only getting a 97%, and she wanted perfection written all over her record.
"Thank you Severus."
"It's no problem Lily," watching her measure out ingredients, he said, "You need four three inch strands."
"Oh, I should know better."
"Think nothing of it. Everyone makes mistakes every now and then."
She continued to measure things out and every couple minutes checking her cauldron and stirring its contents. "I shouldn't be making any errors."
Severus smiled at the tenacity she showed while trying to improve her grade. It was one of the many things he had always admired about her character.
Just then, the cauldron exploded. Drops of potion hissed trough the air, burning any thing that dared get in its way.
James sat despondently on his bed, he had nothing to do, it was after hours and he didn't have permission to be out of his house. He decided to do a bit of exploring, just to see if anyone else was wandering around at this hour. He grabbed his cloak and found the map in Sirius' trunk.
Looking at the map he saw that Lily was in the dungeons with Severus Snape. He decided to check it out.
"AHH!" Lily ducked, but she wasn't fast enough. A large glob of the sticky potion landed on her arm. She screamed.
Severus managed to avoid the air born goo, as he ran for the shelf of antidotes. Grabbing a small vial of purple liquid he dashed over to Lily's side.
The potion they had been making was dangerous. If it had exploded they had done it right, but if they were hit there would be dire consequences. The Krentusulous Potion was a highly useful, extremely dangerous substance. It was administered to burn patients, if applied in time it would leave no scar. If not the patient would have burn scars on the affected area, but they would survive. On the other hand, if it was applied to anything other than a burn, or kept in anything, but the appropriately strengthened containers it would melt whatever it touched. If it entered someone's blood stream, without the antidote, it would kill the person.
Severus grabbed at Lily's arm, but she was flailing too much for him to get a grasp on her.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING TO HER?!"
Severus didn't look to see who it was, the only thought running through his head was, Lily has to hold still.
"Hold her down, I have to get this on her arm."
There must have been something in his tone, desperation perhaps, but James did as Severus asked.
He managed to tackle Lily and hold her in place as Severus applied the antidote to Lily's arm. The skin fizzed and Lily let out one more strangled cry before she passed out.
When her arm was healed, James took one furious look at Severus and punched him.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?"
Severus managed to stem the flow of blood and heal his nose before answering. "Potter, I am not opposed to helping any student who asks me, except you. She wanted me to help her make a Krentusulous Potion. We both knew what we were doing. That potion is likely to be on the exams and she wanted to be sure that she had it down pact."
James was too angry to listen. "She needs to get to the Hospital Wing." Without looking at the other boy lying on the ground he picked up Lily and headed out the door.
"James!" Lily burst out, when a very disheveled looking James walked through the portrait. "You have to believe me; I never meant to hurt you. I was just trying to-"
James held up his hand, "'S okay, Lily. I just don't know how I'm going to deal with this right now." His hand dropped back to his side and he carefully walked up the stairs to the boy's dormitories.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
For the next two weeks, James studiously avoided Lily. At meals he would check the Map and, if she was eating in the Great Hall, he would go to the kitchens to eat. The house elves were more than happy to serve him there. In class, he would always sit in the seat furthest from her. When they had prefect meetings or Head duties to attend to, he would treat her with indifferent respect. When they hung out as a group, with the Marauders and Julie, he would sit and act as if she weren't there.
"Jules, I don't know what to do. He keeps avoiding me; I can't talk anything out with him. He's being completely impossible."
"Lily, dear, just give the poor boy some time, he'll come around. You'll see."
Lily had a hard time believing this; she finally decided that two could play at this game. Instead of trying to catch him in the dining hall, she would grab something easy to carry and eat it on her way to the library. In class, she would sit in the front right corner, so he might be allowed the seat in the back left. At prefect meetings and during Head duties, she sat as far away as the table allowed, never looking at him, or responding directly to anything he did or said. And when they sat in the common room roasting cheese, she would talk with everyone James wasn't occupied with.
The third week approached and the rest of the gang was getting worried.
"You know, I've decided not to go on that date. It was more winning that held my attention," said Sirius during one of the optional, weekly prefect meetings.
Remus looked at him in surprise, "Good for you," he smiled, "It's good to know that you have decided that hogging the playing field makes life boring."
Sirius chuckled.
"Guys I'm still worried about those two though," said Julie from the circle of Remus' arms. "They ignore each other completely."
"So what are we going to do about them?" asked Sirius.
"I don't know Padfoot. But we'll think of something. We always do."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As midterm exams approached, Lily began to spend more and more time in the dungeons working on potions. She didn't need to, but it was her worst subject, she was only getting a 97%, and she wanted perfection written all over her record.
"Thank you Severus."
"It's no problem Lily," watching her measure out ingredients, he said, "You need four three inch strands."
"Oh, I should know better."
"Think nothing of it. Everyone makes mistakes every now and then."
She continued to measure things out and every couple minutes checking her cauldron and stirring its contents. "I shouldn't be making any errors."
Severus smiled at the tenacity she showed while trying to improve her grade. It was one of the many things he had always admired about her character.
Just then, the cauldron exploded. Drops of potion hissed trough the air, burning any thing that dared get in its way.
James sat despondently on his bed, he had nothing to do, it was after hours and he didn't have permission to be out of his house. He decided to do a bit of exploring, just to see if anyone else was wandering around at this hour. He grabbed his cloak and found the map in Sirius' trunk.
Looking at the map he saw that Lily was in the dungeons with Severus Snape. He decided to check it out.
"AHH!" Lily ducked, but she wasn't fast enough. A large glob of the sticky potion landed on her arm. She screamed.
Severus managed to avoid the air born goo, as he ran for the shelf of antidotes. Grabbing a small vial of purple liquid he dashed over to Lily's side.
The potion they had been making was dangerous. If it had exploded they had done it right, but if they were hit there would be dire consequences. The Krentusulous Potion was a highly useful, extremely dangerous substance. It was administered to burn patients, if applied in time it would leave no scar. If not the patient would have burn scars on the affected area, but they would survive. On the other hand, if it was applied to anything other than a burn, or kept in anything, but the appropriately strengthened containers it would melt whatever it touched. If it entered someone's blood stream, without the antidote, it would kill the person.
Severus grabbed at Lily's arm, but she was flailing too much for him to get a grasp on her.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING TO HER?!"
Severus didn't look to see who it was, the only thought running through his head was, Lily has to hold still.
"Hold her down, I have to get this on her arm."
There must have been something in his tone, desperation perhaps, but James did as Severus asked.
He managed to tackle Lily and hold her in place as Severus applied the antidote to Lily's arm. The skin fizzed and Lily let out one more strangled cry before she passed out.
When her arm was healed, James took one furious look at Severus and punched him.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?"
Severus managed to stem the flow of blood and heal his nose before answering. "Potter, I am not opposed to helping any student who asks me, except you. She wanted me to help her make a Krentusulous Potion. We both knew what we were doing. That potion is likely to be on the exams and she wanted to be sure that she had it down pact."
James was too angry to listen. "She needs to get to the Hospital Wing." Without looking at the other boy lying on the ground he picked up Lily and headed out the door.