James Potter was feeling very, very happy. For he had found his Nimbus One Thousand at last. It was, for some odd reason, in a girls' bathroom. Well, no matter. He could simply fly in the window and take it without anyone noticing.
Well, except for Sirius and Remus…hey, what were they doing in a girls' toilet anyway? They seemed to be making a potion. Why? There was no homework. At least, not yet. Maybe it was for a prank or something. Shrugging it off, James enchanted the window so that he could fly through and grab his broomstick.
"BLOODY HELL!" yelled Sirius, standing protectively in front of whatever potion he and Remus were making. This must have been a really good prank for him to do that.
James grabbed his broomstick, without getting whacked this time because the 'broomstick' was too shocked to do anything. He hung on to it tightly and flew back the way he came.
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Lily was numb with shock and terror. James Potter had flown in through a window in the girls' bathroom and had dragged her onto his broom and flown out the window. He thought she was his Nimbus One Thousand, but still.
She was numb with shock because she hadn't been expecting it and numb with terror because she had suffered from an overpowering case of vertigo ever since she had fallen out of a tree and broken her leg as a small child.
That was the only reason she let James Potter hang on tightly to her the way he was. The only reason.
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"Um…Moony?"
"Yes, Padfoot?"
"What do we do now?"
"I don't know, I guess we- AAARRGHHH!
-----
Thankfully, the terrifying flight ended and Lily dismounted shakily. James still had an iron grip on her arm because he probably thought she was going to fly away or whack him or something.
There was no point trying to escape. Meanwhile, the Nimbus One Thousand was held in James' other hand and he was staring at it the whole time. He was staring in a weird way as well.
What was that all about? Was the addled Felix wearing off?
They didn't have long then.
-----
"Noooo…not the potion!"
"Ah, shut up."
"Anything but the potion!""I was not scared."
"You were too!"
"Was not!"
"Moony wa-as sca-ared, Moony wa-as sca-ared!"
"Will you stop that? I was merely…startled."
"You we-ere sca-ared!"
"How you managed to sneak up on me and nearly strangle me and yell in supposedly ghostly voices that you were going to ruin the potion is beyond me. All I know is that you did not, I repeat did not, under any circumstances scare me. Is that clear?"
"Crystal, Moony."
"Moony?"
"Yes, Padfoot?"
"You we-ere sca-ared!"
-----
Peter was having a really bad day. A really bad one.
He had to follow James and the Nimbus everywhere because Remus said so. He had not had cheese in hours and was having trouble keeping up with James and not losing him in crowds.
Just then, James flew past Peter on a school broom.
Uh-oh.
Peter was having a really, really bad day.
-----
James had never before noticed that the twigs at the back of his broomstick were a reddish colour. Strange.
His Nimbus was also a paler brown than he remembered and at the back of it, near the reddish twigs, there were darker spots in the wood, almost like freckles. Two greenish knots in the wood seemed to look at him reproachfully.
James shook his head to clear it. It was a broom, for God's sake! Brooms did not have eyes or freckles and they certainly didn't glare reproachfully.
It was still glaring at him and was squirming a little. James rubbed his eyes with his free hand.
He was going crazy.
-----
Lily had thought of a way to escape.
Right now, she was lying on top of James' suitcase and not moving.
She was waiting until James left before she made her escape. Right now James was-
Uh-oh. Not that. No. Please no.
Why did he have to change now?
Lily shut her eyes tightly, a second after the image of James Potter wearing nothing but his boxers was burned into her brain forever.
-----
Escaped. Finally.
After lying there mortified for three more minutes, she finally heard footsteps leaving the room and hurriedly departed to the first class of the day, Charms.
-----
"As you are probably aware," Professor Flitwick said enthusiastically, "teaching love charms is frowned upon at Hogwarts, and the use of them is strictly forbidden on school grounds." Here the relative silence was split by a peal of laughter from Molly Roxhand's friend, and a loud, "Stop it!" from Molly, who was looking very guilty.
"However," Professor Flitwick continued merrily, "in light of Valentine's Day, and as we are moving on to the section in your books that deals with Emotional Charm Adaptation Theorems–" Lily nodded and flipped her book open to the proper page, "–I will be teaching you an ancient love spell this afternoon."
His speech was interrupted by a series of comments.
"Great," muttered Remus.
"You're kidding?" suggested Sirius hopefully.
"Which one?" questioned Lily, entirely unruffled, taking out a quill as though this were a perfectly acceptable way to run a lesson – which, in Remus' opinion, it was not.
"The spell," Flitwick went on, smiling around at them as though entertained by their extreme embarrassment with the class, "is Amora Primus. And although none of you will have heard of it–"
But Lily's hand had shot into the air. Sirius edged his chair away from her slightly and gave Remus a look of apprehension, though Remus was unsurprised. He couldn't remember a time when Lily hadn't known a Charms lesson beforehand, no matter what it was.
"Very well, Miss Evans," Professor Flitwick conceded, "What type of spell is it?"
"Well, roughly translated it means 'Prime Love', although it's actually one of the four basic kissing spells–" Sirius pushed his chair back another inch and eyed her warily while Molly burst into a fit of giggles at this description. Sirius backtracked and moved his chair away from Molly and Lily looked over her shoulder and made a disdainful sound. "Anyway," she continued, "it is the strongest of the four, and only invoked under circumstances of exceptional rarity." Lily finished her definition, sounding as though she'd read it straight from a textbook.
Professor Flitwick looked highly impressed. "That's quite right. I've never had a student – that is, I wouldn't have expected – well done, Miss Evans!"
"Professor Flitwick?" ventured an apprehensive voice. Frank Longbottom had raised a tentative hand, looking very nervous. "You're not going to-to make us – practice this-this kissing spell – on each other?"
Every head in the class snapped around to the Professor in half-horrified, half-hopeful agony – except Lily's. She tutted at all of them.
"You can't practice it. Not ever," she informed them, in her maddeningly superior tone. "Because it only works once."
"Saved!" sniggered Sirius, high-fiving Frank, who looked exhausted with relief. Molly Roxhand and her friends sat back, slightly disappointed. Remus, however, found himself somehow interested in the lesson, now that Lily had clarified that it wouldn't be participatory.
"Only once?" he asked, curious. "You can't practice it? Why not?"
Professor Flitwick smiled mysteriously. "It is extremely powerful magic – an ancient spell – last used successfully in the thirteenth century, I think.
"Amora Primus…and you'll want to take notes. Just because you can't use this spell doesn't mean it won't turn up on your NEWT's." There was a rustle of parchment and quills as everyone started to take notes. Professor Flitwick moved to sit on his desk, his short legs sticking straight off the edge. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation and when they were all settled again, he spoke as if telling a story.
"As you might imagine, many love spells are used to create what is not there – to awaken feelings that may never have arisen naturally. Not so Amora Primus. It only reveals what already exists."
"What – like a truth serum?" Sirius ventured, glancing edgily at Molly as if expecting her to try one on him at any second.
"In a way," replied Professor Flitwick, "for there is no way to fool Amora Primus. It either succeeds or fails – and the only opportunity to test its power comes at the moment of a lover's near death."
Molly 'oooh'ed instinctively at this and Professor Flitwick fixed his twinkling eyes on her. "Imagine, Miss Roxhand," he began, as her friend pressed her mouth shut painfully to keep herself from giggling, "that your true love lies unconscious and perishing – that help is too far off and the man will die in moments, before your very eyes. What would you do?"
Molly looked raptly at her fingers. "I-I'd…"
"Disapparate, fetch a Healer and get back there!" hollered Sirius promptly. "Doesn't take a love charm for that."
"Perhaps not," agreed the Professor. "But, Mr. Black, what if you were on grounds such as Hogwarts – where one cannot Apparate or Disapparate?"
Sirius shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "Dunno…"
"Summon Madam Pomfrey on the spot," said Remus, grinning. "Accio!" he joked. The whole class chuckled at the idea of their school nurse soaring through the air at his command.
"And if you didn't have your wand, Mr. Lupin?" enquired Professor Flitwick, looking him straight in the eye. "If you were caught unawares and your one true love lay dying – then what would you do?"
Remus didn't say anything for a moment, and his ears turned unnaturally pink. "Well, I don't see as I'll ever have to worry about it," he finally said, defiantly.
Lily snorted. She tried not to laugh.
But Professor Flitwick had shifted his gaze to her, and finished his interrogation of the class by asking, "Miss Evans…what would you do, in such a circumstance?"
"Me?" replied Lily nervously. "Oh, well, I guess if I were absolutely certain that the person was my one true love, and he were only a moment from death, then I'd place my wand hand over his heart, invoke Amora Primus, and kiss him." She was bright red by the end of this speech, remembering a certain someone who was close to death.
"And that would bring him back to life? True love's kiss?" asked Molly breathlessly from the back.
"In the best-case scenario, yes it would…" said Professor Flitwick, smiling a second time. "But this is where it gets a bit sticky. You see, there are very strict boundaries around this particular spell. Firstly, as Miss Evans has told us, it only works one time. Once you have said Amora Primus with magic behind it, it will lose its power, and you can never use it again. So it's crucial that you choose the moment wisely – this is one reason it's hardly ever performed."
"Choose…moment…wisely…" Frank muttered, copying this down as quickly as he could. Sirius grinned to himself, imagining Frank in such a situation.
"Also – and this is of the utmost importance–" Professor Flitwick looked around at them gravely. "You must be absolutely certain that the person who lies dying is your one true love – your perfect match. If he or she is not, the spell will go into reverse."
"Reverse?" Remus asked, narrowing his eyes. "You mean it'd kill her?"
Flitwick nodded – the Marauder fanclub gasped. "Instead of restoring the person," the professor concluded, "he or she would be killed immediately. This is the other reason it's almost never used. It's difficult to be completely sure of one's heart, and a sensible person would never risk murdering a sweetheart by accident. I trust you are all–" he said, with a grin, "–sensible people?"
The class nodded fervently, Sirius looking frightened. Remus didn't blame him – he wasn't entirely sure that Molly was sensible. Charms class came to an end with a burst of chattering and an assignment from Professor Flitwick as he dismissed them from his room.
Lily sighed in relief. Though she knew the lesson and the spell, it didn't make her any more comfortable with it.
She wondered where James was. He had not been there for the lesson.
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Dobby: Well…?
Winky: Well, if it's the same as the copy you emailed me, then I'm worried for our readers.
Dobby: It's a read-at-your-own-risk sort of chapter, I guess…
Winky: And a read-and-not-review-at-your-own-risk as well…
Dobby: WINKY! Don't threaten the hypothetical reviewers! Bribe them! BRIBE, NOT THREATEN!
Winky: Okay, fine, hugs to those review!
Dobby: Finally!
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