Chapter Two
A.N.- A big thank you goes out to all of ya who've reviewed. I hope this chapter is up to par with the first one…
Joscelind walked briskly to the gloomy dungeons. Today, she had the ever so delightful Potions, exciting Herbology, and nerve-wracking Transfiguration. Professor Dorling was a very strict person about tardiness, opting to give his students detentions rather than deducting points. Unless you were James or Sirius. Then, you got both.
Joscelind went down another flight of stone steps and reached the Potion's dungeon just as the door was being opened.
After everyone was seated at the tables in the front of the room, Professor Dorling stood at his podium that was positioned strategically in the dead center of the front of the cold room. He was a short old man, and only stood at 5'6. He had a bald head, except for a fringe of white near the base of his head. He wore thick glasses and spoke in a voice that sounded like a frog croaking. It was ridiculed by all on their first day of their first year. Until you got hit on the head with a ruler that he kept in the left pocket of his robes at all times.
He demanded the respect and silence of all students, just like Dumbledore and the other professors. Only, once he started talking, he plowed on, not stopping to answer questions until he had finished or class was almost over.
" Good morning, students. This term, you will be assigned partners. This is to test your skills of working together. I will assign you all to a partner from a different House than the one you are in."
Some people smiled, but most of the teenagers frowned.
Joscelind didn't really care, as long as she wasn't paired with Mora.
' Thank goodness we're in the same House.' she thought.
She tuned Professor Dorling out as he went down the long list of students in the class. There were at least five people from each House, which was saying a lot since you had to achieve an Outstanding to even get into the class.
" Miss Joscelind Le Fay," Professor Dorling rattled on, " you're partner for the term shall be Mr. Black."
Joscelind nearly fell off of her seat when she glimpsed the scathing look Mora was throwing her way.
" Miss Mora Le Fay," he continued, " you will be paired with Mr. Snape."
Professor Dorling always called them Miss Mora or Miss Joscelind, since they had the same last name. Of course, they couldn't help that their mothers had married men who happened to be brothers.
Joscelind almost laughed when she saw the shocked look that was encompassing her cousin's face.
'Twas not a very becoming look for the usually beautiful Mora.
" Now, please set up your stations with your partners." Professor Dorling said, having obviously finished subjecting them to punishment.
Joscelind picked up her black bag and pewter cauldron ( standard size two) and walked over to a surly looking Sirius.
Joscelind, being ever observant, studied her partner before sitting down on the wooden stool beside of him.
He was fairly handsome, nicely built , and seemed quite harmless.
So, she sat down, before opening her mouth to suggest one minuscule thing.
" I hate to be a bother, but I think it would be better if I sat on your left." she said, deciding to be somewhat assertive, but not overly so.
" I like sitting on the left." Sirius replied coolly.
" Suit yourself." she said as she took out her eagle feather quill and began writing all of the ingredients and directions down.
After everyone had finished ( with Joscelind and Sirius glowering at each other, for their elbows had kept bumping into one another's, causing the paperwork to be sloppy), Professor Dorling set them to their work of gathering, cutting, measuring, and mixing their ingredients.
Joscelind was cutting the Mandrake root when Sirius carelessly bumped into her arm, causing her to chop it at an angle.
This sparked her temper, for Joscelind liked to be as accurate and neat as possible. And angles weren't neat.
" Why don't you use your right hand for this?" Sirius asked as she tried to repair the damaged root.
" Because I'm left-handed." she replied shortly as she carefully evened the root. " So, will you switch me sides?"
" Maybe tomorrow."
Joscelind wanted to hit him. Unfortunately, she was holding a knife in her good hand, and she was almost certain Professor Dorling wouldn't understand why she had stabbed him in the chest.
" Well, suit yourself."
The phrase had soothed her as a child, so hopefully it would do the same now. Or, Sirius would have a knife sticking into his eye.
" Stop saying that. You'll do just fine on the right side. No one else has minded."
' Maybe because they're too in love with you to upset you.' Joscelind thought to herself.
" Well, that's because they use their right hands." she countered angrily.
" Tough luck. I like the left side, so you'll just have to get over it."
Joscelind tightened her grip on the knife handle and stabbed it into the place between his thumb and index finger of his right hand.
" Bloody hell!" he yelped.
" Oops! It slipped." she said with a smirk that Lucius Malfoy would envy.
She gave a tug and the knife came out, covered in blood, which she cleaned off.
" Why on Earth did you do that?" he asked sourly as he healed the wound with a spell and flick of his wand.
" Because you are being a stubborn git. I asked you nicely to move, but you didn't."
" That doesn't mean you can stab me." Sirius replied crossly.
Who was she to stab Sirius Black?
" Should I kiss it and make it better?" she asked sarcastically.
" I'll pass."
" Miss Joscelind Le Fay? Mr. Black? Should I split you up?" Professor Dorling asked.
He hadn't saw what had happened, but had rather noticed them bickering and not working.
A no-no in his class.
" I think so." Sirius answered promptly and eagerly.
Professor Dorling had noticed his enthusiasm and decided to use it against the boy. " I'm afraid that you two will get on famously. I obviously don't need to separate you."
Sirius swore under his breath as Professor Dorling walked off to torture someone else.
Like Lily and James, who were arguing over what color the potion should be.
" You shouldn't swear." Joscelind reprimanded.
" Shut up and finish cutting the Mandrake roots."
Joscelind took the knife and went back to cutting the roots, imagining it to be Sirius.
Needless to say, if it had been Sirius, he would've been neatly chopped up into a few hundred pieces.
Joscelind emerged from the dungeons an hour later, wearing a frown that not even the saddest person could match. Sirius had acted like a complete prat, insisting that he had to do everything and belittling her the whole time. It had annoyed her to no end, but she refrained from stabbing him repeatedly in his heartless chest.
She walked outside for her break, and sat beside of the lake.
It was a fairly warm September morning, with a light breeze that lightly caressed her face. Other students were coming out to the grounds, grateful that one class was over.
No one came near Joscelind.
She figured that was all well. After all, she hardly knew anyone, and she was still in a foul mood because of Sirius.
" Hullo, Joscelind." Lily replied tiredly as she sat down on the soft green grass beside of Joscelind.
" Hullo. How did you like Potions?"
" The assignment was wonderful. Simplistic, yet intriguing. But, I fear I will dread this term. James kept making passes at me, and when that didn't work, he resulted to arguing with me." Lily said with a disgusted look.
" At least he likes you." Joscelind pointed out. " Sirius wouldn't even move when I asked, and he never addressed me by name."
" I wonder why I was the only one to be partnered with someone from the same House as me?" Lily groaned as she noticed James on the opposite side of the lake.
She wouldn't put it past him to try and swim across it just to annoy her.
" Because he passed the test and there was no doubt a spot left. Dorling takes twenty people in his class. There's five from Slytherin, five from Ravenclaw, four from Hufflepuff, and six from Gryffindor."
" I think Dorling just wants to torture me. He's had a vendetta against me since the first day of school."
Joscelind smiled as the magical bell rang.
The girls both reluctantly got up and headed to the greenhouses for Herbology.
A.N.- Okay, in my universe, they don't have classes with other Houses, unless it's a Doubles. But, for the N.E.W.T. classes, I'd imagine all the Houses would be together. I hope that wasn't confusing. Later!