Chapter 3
"All subjects of the love potion please come forward for an antidote before you go on to your next class," called Dollops. "Unless, of course, you wished to be emotionally attached to your subject for a year or so."
Half the class came forward. Several students were kissing as a side effect of the potion. Lily stood in line waiting for her turn for Hate Sap, the counter to Love Potion.
She had watched James and Sirius. She had quickly festered a jealousy toward Sirius who had flirted with James because of the love potion. The sensation of blushing whenever she thought of him was to be expected but it didn't make it easier.
Her contempt for the boy hadn't changed. She wasn't all roses. But this newfound crush (for the lack of a better term) had locked like a fist over her heart. It was an absolute truth to her that she loved James Potter.
What she hadn't counted on was the pain. It was as if the nails of the fist were digging into her heart, causing an ache that tired out her revulsion for him. She knew she needed the antidote more than anything right now.
"Who is it to you?" asked Dollops as he ladled a scoop of clear liquid into a glass for Lily.
"Potter," she murmured. "James Potter."
"Set your glass on the tray when you're done," he said. Lily guzzled the clear liquid down and was surprised to find it tasted like water. She placed her cup on the plate, still slightly dazed. Was the antidote taking effect? It probably took some time to work its way through her system.
She clutched her books to her chest and proceeded to her next class, History of Magic. She took her seat in the back row. Binns' class was easily the most peaceful. She could paint her nails, sleep, or do other homework while she was in class.
But she could barely take her eyes off James as soon as he had taken his seat. He was laughing with Sirius, who was all shades of embarrassment for his behavior under the influence. She tried to focus on the Professor's voice and failed however she tried. Her quill scratched into the desk absently as she stared at the back of his head, three seats away.
She was devastated to find 'I ?James' was scratched onto the desk. She rubbed her wrist over the words, desperate to remove them, but they were firmly embedded into the furniture.
"Mr. Perkins," said Binns, and Lily's head frantically whipped up to see what was going on. "Mr. Bollock."
"Yes?" answered Sirius and James.
"Detention tonight," said the professor coldly.
"Sorry, old man, but I'm booked for detentions through Thursday," said James lazily.
"Ah," the professor said quickly, checking his own schedule. "As am I. Friday night it is, then."
"What? That's Hogsmeade day!" Sirius protested.
"Which you should have considered before instating a parchment plane race with Mr. Porker. Now, before I was so rudely interrupted, the results of the thirty-day Council of Wizendell were, shall I say, less than desired.Miss Everest!"
"Yes?" Lily asked meekly.
"Surely you know defacing school property is prohibited?" he asked, a ghostly finger pointing to I ?James. Lily quickly covered it with her parchment notes.
"Friday night, Miss Everest."
"Yes, professor," murmured Lily.
"If I shall continue.the results clashed terribly with L'assembelée de Sortilège, which was in favor of the idea of using veela hairs in wands."
*
Lily pulled her hair back, ready to do dirty work. She had never served detention in Binn's class before. Sirius and James were there. She winced in conflict; her heart fluttered and revolted at the same time. It's not real; you don't actually love that dimwit, she told herself sternly. She was still worried about why the Hate Sap had not taken effect, but assumed that it worked slowly.
"I am attending the Spirit Division Ball at the Ministry tonight, I did forget," apologized Professor Binns. "I will be back in the morning. I expect to find all five boards filled with the copied sentence, I will not disturb the peace of class by disobeying the rules set down by my superiors. And, colloportus," he said, pointing to the door with his wand, "that door will not open until ten o'clock tonight. When it does, proceed directly to your dormitories. I bid you good night."
"Professor, what if there's an emergency?" Sirius asked innocently. "Such as a fire? How will we get out if there is a fire?"
To Lily's surprise, the ghost professor touched the stonewall, as if to feel the coldness. Or maybe to sense the rough, sandy texture. To smell its old age. But the professor's hand simply passed through it. He had a sad look upon his face when he turned to Sirius.
"It is impossible for fire to undo stone." And with that, he departed, passing through the wall.
"Time to hit the boards, I guess," Lily said glumly. There were four chalkboards, none of them small.
"No worries," Sirius said. He pulled three pipes out of the bag he had been carrying. Each seemed to be made of bamboo, with little holes in them. They looked like flutes.
"Are we going to charm mice to come up here and do our sentences for us?" she asked, bringing the bamboo to her lips and blowing on it. Nothing but blown air made a sound.
Sirius and James laughed at her. Reflexively, Lily felt intensely embarrassed at James' hoots.
"That is a Muggle fable," Sirius said. "But this is a Muggle trick. Watch." He walked over to the chalkboard and grabbed a piece of chalk. He inserted a pointy end into a hole. He picked up another and loaded it into another hole. Soon, he filled the whole bamboo stick with chalk pieces, and they stuck out like teeth on a comb.
He stood the stick up vertically and pressed it to the chalkboard, writing I will not disturb the peace. Each time he wrote it, the chalk pieces did as well. He had five sentences in one stroke.
"That's cheating, isn't it?" Lily asked skeptically.
"Fine, do it by hand. But James and I will be carousing with our extra free time, so don't bother us." He tossed James a holed bamboo stick and he followed suit. Lily grabbed a piece of chalk and furiously, as fast as she could, began writing the sentence I will not disturb the peace of the class by disobeying the rules set down by my superiors. But by the end of two minutes, she had three sentences and the boys had fifteen and had nearly filled up two chalkboards. Lily broke a couple of pieces of chalk going so fast in trying to match their speed. But by the time she had finished her board, the other three were already filled.
"All right, we have two hours to figure out an escape plan," said Sirius, rubbing his hands together. Lily's fingers were sore.
"Escape plan?" Lily moaned.
"You don't really want to spend two hours in this dump?" retorted James. She wanted to coo, no of course not. Just to please him. She felt disgusted with herself.
"It's a nice classroom," defended Lily.
"For Muggles/zombies," Sirius and James shared a comeback.
"Whatever," sighed Lily. "I don't want to get in more trouble."
"No trouble at all," said James smoothly.
"You just lost your Hogsmeade privileges three hours ago, how soon do think I'm going to trust you?" Lily shot back.
"Yes, about that," said James. "Would you go with me?"
"Yes," she said without thinking. Then she quickly sputtered, "no, no, of course not! I don't want to go with you, you can't even go yourself!"
"You said yes," speculated James. "You can't take it back."
"Of course I can, you fool. I'm not going with you."
"Then why did you say yes?" Sirius asked.
"Tend to your own, Black, this doesn't concern you!" Lily snapped.
"No need to get nasty," replied James with his eyebrows raised. Lily blinked and took a breath. The room came back into to focus.
"You're right," she breathed. "My regrets for shouting." Lily drew out her wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohomora." The door sprang open obediently and she strolled right out of detention.
"All subjects of the love potion please come forward for an antidote before you go on to your next class," called Dollops. "Unless, of course, you wished to be emotionally attached to your subject for a year or so."
Half the class came forward. Several students were kissing as a side effect of the potion. Lily stood in line waiting for her turn for Hate Sap, the counter to Love Potion.
She had watched James and Sirius. She had quickly festered a jealousy toward Sirius who had flirted with James because of the love potion. The sensation of blushing whenever she thought of him was to be expected but it didn't make it easier.
Her contempt for the boy hadn't changed. She wasn't all roses. But this newfound crush (for the lack of a better term) had locked like a fist over her heart. It was an absolute truth to her that she loved James Potter.
What she hadn't counted on was the pain. It was as if the nails of the fist were digging into her heart, causing an ache that tired out her revulsion for him. She knew she needed the antidote more than anything right now.
"Who is it to you?" asked Dollops as he ladled a scoop of clear liquid into a glass for Lily.
"Potter," she murmured. "James Potter."
"Set your glass on the tray when you're done," he said. Lily guzzled the clear liquid down and was surprised to find it tasted like water. She placed her cup on the plate, still slightly dazed. Was the antidote taking effect? It probably took some time to work its way through her system.
She clutched her books to her chest and proceeded to her next class, History of Magic. She took her seat in the back row. Binns' class was easily the most peaceful. She could paint her nails, sleep, or do other homework while she was in class.
But she could barely take her eyes off James as soon as he had taken his seat. He was laughing with Sirius, who was all shades of embarrassment for his behavior under the influence. She tried to focus on the Professor's voice and failed however she tried. Her quill scratched into the desk absently as she stared at the back of his head, three seats away.
She was devastated to find 'I ?James' was scratched onto the desk. She rubbed her wrist over the words, desperate to remove them, but they were firmly embedded into the furniture.
"Mr. Perkins," said Binns, and Lily's head frantically whipped up to see what was going on. "Mr. Bollock."
"Yes?" answered Sirius and James.
"Detention tonight," said the professor coldly.
"Sorry, old man, but I'm booked for detentions through Thursday," said James lazily.
"Ah," the professor said quickly, checking his own schedule. "As am I. Friday night it is, then."
"What? That's Hogsmeade day!" Sirius protested.
"Which you should have considered before instating a parchment plane race with Mr. Porker. Now, before I was so rudely interrupted, the results of the thirty-day Council of Wizendell were, shall I say, less than desired.Miss Everest!"
"Yes?" Lily asked meekly.
"Surely you know defacing school property is prohibited?" he asked, a ghostly finger pointing to I ?James. Lily quickly covered it with her parchment notes.
"Friday night, Miss Everest."
"Yes, professor," murmured Lily.
"If I shall continue.the results clashed terribly with L'assembelée de Sortilège, which was in favor of the idea of using veela hairs in wands."
*
Lily pulled her hair back, ready to do dirty work. She had never served detention in Binn's class before. Sirius and James were there. She winced in conflict; her heart fluttered and revolted at the same time. It's not real; you don't actually love that dimwit, she told herself sternly. She was still worried about why the Hate Sap had not taken effect, but assumed that it worked slowly.
"I am attending the Spirit Division Ball at the Ministry tonight, I did forget," apologized Professor Binns. "I will be back in the morning. I expect to find all five boards filled with the copied sentence, I will not disturb the peace of class by disobeying the rules set down by my superiors. And, colloportus," he said, pointing to the door with his wand, "that door will not open until ten o'clock tonight. When it does, proceed directly to your dormitories. I bid you good night."
"Professor, what if there's an emergency?" Sirius asked innocently. "Such as a fire? How will we get out if there is a fire?"
To Lily's surprise, the ghost professor touched the stonewall, as if to feel the coldness. Or maybe to sense the rough, sandy texture. To smell its old age. But the professor's hand simply passed through it. He had a sad look upon his face when he turned to Sirius.
"It is impossible for fire to undo stone." And with that, he departed, passing through the wall.
"Time to hit the boards, I guess," Lily said glumly. There were four chalkboards, none of them small.
"No worries," Sirius said. He pulled three pipes out of the bag he had been carrying. Each seemed to be made of bamboo, with little holes in them. They looked like flutes.
"Are we going to charm mice to come up here and do our sentences for us?" she asked, bringing the bamboo to her lips and blowing on it. Nothing but blown air made a sound.
Sirius and James laughed at her. Reflexively, Lily felt intensely embarrassed at James' hoots.
"That is a Muggle fable," Sirius said. "But this is a Muggle trick. Watch." He walked over to the chalkboard and grabbed a piece of chalk. He inserted a pointy end into a hole. He picked up another and loaded it into another hole. Soon, he filled the whole bamboo stick with chalk pieces, and they stuck out like teeth on a comb.
He stood the stick up vertically and pressed it to the chalkboard, writing I will not disturb the peace. Each time he wrote it, the chalk pieces did as well. He had five sentences in one stroke.
"That's cheating, isn't it?" Lily asked skeptically.
"Fine, do it by hand. But James and I will be carousing with our extra free time, so don't bother us." He tossed James a holed bamboo stick and he followed suit. Lily grabbed a piece of chalk and furiously, as fast as she could, began writing the sentence I will not disturb the peace of the class by disobeying the rules set down by my superiors. But by the end of two minutes, she had three sentences and the boys had fifteen and had nearly filled up two chalkboards. Lily broke a couple of pieces of chalk going so fast in trying to match their speed. But by the time she had finished her board, the other three were already filled.
"All right, we have two hours to figure out an escape plan," said Sirius, rubbing his hands together. Lily's fingers were sore.
"Escape plan?" Lily moaned.
"You don't really want to spend two hours in this dump?" retorted James. She wanted to coo, no of course not. Just to please him. She felt disgusted with herself.
"It's a nice classroom," defended Lily.
"For Muggles/zombies," Sirius and James shared a comeback.
"Whatever," sighed Lily. "I don't want to get in more trouble."
"No trouble at all," said James smoothly.
"You just lost your Hogsmeade privileges three hours ago, how soon do think I'm going to trust you?" Lily shot back.
"Yes, about that," said James. "Would you go with me?"
"Yes," she said without thinking. Then she quickly sputtered, "no, no, of course not! I don't want to go with you, you can't even go yourself!"
"You said yes," speculated James. "You can't take it back."
"Of course I can, you fool. I'm not going with you."
"Then why did you say yes?" Sirius asked.
"Tend to your own, Black, this doesn't concern you!" Lily snapped.
"No need to get nasty," replied James with his eyebrows raised. Lily blinked and took a breath. The room came back into to focus.
"You're right," she breathed. "My regrets for shouting." Lily drew out her wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohomora." The door sprang open obediently and she strolled right out of detention.