Lily walked towards the dungeons, her blood still tingling from the ordeal she went through earlier. She hated James…yet something in her gut told her otherwise…but he couldn't even say her bloody name! Walking around, calling her by her last name as if she was one his Quidditch mates. She had a good mind to curse him. She arrived at her Potions class and took her seat. They were working in groups and making a particularly difficult potion. She worked with Frank Longbottom, Alice, and Aurora. The Potions master, Professor Hoffman, explained their assignment.
"Settle down class, yes you too Mr. Briggs. Now, who can tell me what cryptic willow bark is used for?" He asked, peering through wire-rimmed spectacles. Lily's hand shot up as did Severus Snape's. She caught his eye and he scowled.
"Yes, Miss Evans?" Professor Hoffman asked her. Lily triumphantly lifted her head high.
"Sir, it is used to make a concoction that will enable you to send messages that only a set of two people can decode," she said, relaying the perfect definition.
"Very good, yes. This is the key ingredient we will be using to brew our own concoction class. Gather your ingredients and begin," the professor said, walking around the class. Lily smiled to herself and received looks of maliciousness from Snape's table. The long dark hair of Narcissa Black slithered down her back as she turned slightly and gave Lily a look of disgust before turning back to Snape. He muttered something under his breath and began preparing his ingredients for the potion. Lily turned to her friends and asked them what she should prepare.
"Well, Lily, you can deal with the cryptic willow bark, as you are the most familiar with it. Frank, you can…" Aurora looked down the list of ingredients and tried to find something that wasn't too difficult for Frank…he wasn't the best at Potions, "you can cut up the dried lizard's leg. Alice, you can grind the duffshill stone and coat Frank's lizard's leg pieces with it and I will get the water and doxy dander," she finished, taking a deep breath. Lily got to work, retrieving the cryptic willow bark. She picked it off the ingredient shelf and walked back to her table. Her instructions were to crack it, until it was in tiny pieces and then mix it with dragon's blood. She got to work, cracking the bark. Frank cut the lizard's leg and finished, quite nicely. Alice ground the stone and poured the powder onto the lizard's leg. Her hand brushed against Frank and they both blushed slightly. Lily smiled, they were so cute. She gazed away, at the rest of the class, the bark crunching under her fingers.
She almost forgot about her anger towards James when she heard someone mutter, "Potter…" Lily snapped out of her gaze and looked around the class. Surely she hadn't said his name aloud unknowingly…her eyes rested on Snape. He was grinding a stone and his eyes were focused on Narcissa, gleaming with something that sent shivers down Lily's back. He was talking to her in a low voice and she mischievously looked back at him, her mouth curling into a sneer. Professor Hoffman surveyed their work as he walked by and both Snape and Narcissa stopped talking.
"Lily? Lily? Are you done?" Aurora was asking her, trying to get her attention. Lily snapped back.
"Er-yeah, sure. I'll get the dragon's blood," she answered, trying to shake off the creepy feeling from the back of her mind.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Lily arrived in the great hall for lunch. She took a seat by Alice. Alice's dark brown curls swayed as she turned her head to meet Lily. They ate their lunch, talking about school and everything from boys to beasts.
"Lily, have you got a date for the Autumn Ball?" she asked suddenly, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice.
Lily stared at her egg sandwich, "No…" she muttered quietly.
"What? But Lily—you're the prettiest girl in our year!" Alice said incredulously.
"Well, obviously not to the guys. Still, I don't really care. It's just a bunch of nonsense to make people feel better about their relationships and show off their new clothes, nothing more," she said bitterly.
Alice stared at her, "Is that what you think? Well then it's no wonder you haven't got a date…you're 'emotionally unavailable'. You won't let a guy get near you," she said, waiting for Lily's reaction.
Lily's head snapped so fast Alice feared it would come off, "Emotionally unavailable? What kind of psychologist crap is that? I have feelings…I just haven't met the right guy…" she said trailing off.
"What about James Potter? He's been mad about you since ages!" Alice asked, and she hit a nerve.
"James Potter needs someone with a head as big as his," Lily spat, her eyes narrowing. Alice got the message and continued eating her lunch. Lily ate her lunch slowly, trying to reassure herself. She did have feelings…didn't she?