The Potion – Chapter 3

James Potter, a usually laid back guy, was starting to get worried. His girlfriend, Lily, hadn't come back to the common room, and it was one thirty in the morning. He hadn't really started getting nervous until a few minutes ago, because Lily was no stranger to coming in after curfew. Whatever she and that snake Snape were doing for their Potions project usually took them till midnight at least. But she had never been out past one.

James paced the common room, debating what he should do. As Lily frequently reminded him, she was a big girl and could take care of herself. The fact that she'd never been out this late didn't mean that she would never be out this late. Still...James couldn't keep a feeling of dread from settling at the pit of his stomach. He glanced at his watch.

Seeing the time, he let out a small groan. 'Why does this girl have such an effect on me?!' He stopped pacing and threw himself on the nearest couch. 'I've never cared this much about any of my other girlfriends! I don't even care this much about Sirius.'

James stayed laid on the couch for a long time. He didn't realize it, but he was drifting in and out of sleep. At around two thirty a log fell in the fire, and James was snapped to consciousness.

He sat up sleepily and stared into space for near a minute. Finally, he shook his head and glanced at his watch. Seeing the time, he jumped up and started for the door. He knew she hadn't come in, or he would have heard her. And no potion would keep her out this late. He was going straight to McGonnagal, and he was going as fast as possible.

Less than a minute later he was outside McGonnagal's personal quarters. He raised his fist to knock, but hesitated briefly. 'Will she be made for waking her up this late?' He wondered to himself. 'What if it turns out to be nothing?'

But his mind was quickly made up when he thought to himself, 'Yeah, but what if it's not nothing?'

He rapped furiously at the door, making sure that his professor would wake up no matter how deep a sleeper she was. But she obviously wasn't very, as the door was almost instantly pulled open, revealing a very angry, very unkempt looking Transfiguration teacher.

"Mr. Potter! What is the meaning of this?" exclaimed the middle aged woman shrilly.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I'm worried. Lily Evans hasn't come back from her meeting with Severus Snape. I think something might be wrong." He looked at her pleadingly, silently begging her to not ask anymore questions that would keep them from starting their search for Lily.

Seeing this, McGonnagal nodded primly. "Alright, Mr. Potter. Give me a second to get decent, and then we'll go find her." She shut the door softly. A minute later she emerged looking slightly more awake and slightly more kempt. "Now, do you know where the two of them were brewing their potioin?"

"Uh...somewhere in the dungeons, I think. Near where we have class."

"Alright, lets go have a look."

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A few minutes later, they were in the dungeons. Holding their wands in front of them for light, they searched for the proper room.

"I think I can smell the potion..." remarked James, hopefully.

"Yes...I think you're right," responded McGonnagal.

Following their noses, they quickly came upon the proper room. McGonnagal slowly opened the door, and, while she did, James silently prayed that she wouldn't open the door to a grizzly scene of a hurt or dead Lily. Not surprisingly, he didn't give much thought to Severus' safety. In fact, in the back of his mind, he already suspected that slimy git of doing something to Lily.

When McGonnagal finished opening the door, however, there was nothing grizzly about anything in the room. There was no blood, no broken glass, no gore. Just a fragrant cauldron full of potion and two empty vials sitting next to the cauldron.

"There's nothing here, Mr. Potter," McGonnagal said softly. "There seems to be no sign of foul play at all. Maybe you fell asleep and she slipped by without you noticing.

James considered this for a minute, but then shook his head vehemently. "That can't be it. Look at this!" He said, pointing at the cauldron and vials. "Lily and, especially, Snape would never leave a potion without cleaning up. You know that as well as I do. Something must have happened."

McGonnagal was silent for a moment, gazing at the potion items. "Yes...I suppose you're right. That is very suspicious." She was silent for another moment, and then said, "Well...lets look around and see if we find anything."

"Ok," answered James. The words were barely out of his mouth before he walked farther into the room. McGonnagal followed suit, and their search commenced. After twenty minutes of diligent searching, however, they came up with nothing. No sign of the missing students...and no sign of foul play either.

"As of now, there's nothing we can do," said McGonnagal. "There's nothing here to indicate anything bad happening to Severus or Lily. I know you don't want to hear this, James, but it's entirely possible that Lily and Severus are in Severus' dorm right now and they left all of this in a fit of passion."

James stared, open mouthed, at his professor. Shock and disgust vaulted through his body, and must have plainly showed on his face, for McGonnagal suddenly started chuckling.

"Relax, Potter. I seriously seriously doubt that that's what has happened. But it's a possibility. One among many. So many, in fact, that we're going to have to leave this until morning. If Lily hasn't shown up by breakfast, then we'll start looking deeper into the matter. Until then...get some sleep, boy."

McGonnagal put her hand on James' shoulder, guiding him out of the room. They walked back to the Gryffindor dormitories in silence, and parted ways with a cordial nod. James took his professor's advice and crawled into his bed, but he couldn't sleep. He lay awake all night wondering what on earth could have happened to his girlfriend. Every time he got close to considering the possibility that McGonnagal had suggested, however, his mind seemed to shut down.

And this is how James Potter spent that night. He didn't know it at the time, though he suspected, but he wouldn't be seeing Lily Evans at breakfast the next morning. Nor would he see Severus Snape. And, though the entire staff searched for the two students, no one would see Lily or Severus the next day. Nor the next week. Or even the next month.

No...no one at Hogwarts would see Lily Evans or Severus Snape again until the beginning of seventh year.