Dorcas zoned in and out of Slughorn's lecture on Polyjuice Potion, as he spoke excitedly over a bubbling cauldron of the stuff in front of him. Advanced Potions was now an altogether different animal to Dorcas Meadowes. She and Cade had moved seats. He was now sitting in the 2nd row next to William Seymour – his Quidditch mate. In accordance with her part of the deal, Dorcas was making an effort to get inside Lily Evans' brain. Learning things about Lily was proving to be difficult since she was almost always taking extensive notes or completely immersed in mixing the ingredients of Slughorn's latest assignment. She had considered talking to Lily in Arithmancy instead, but she and Remus Lupin had formed a sort of two person clique. Convinced that Potions was her only chance, Dorcas had moved to the empty seat next to her redheaded roommate a week ago.
Suddenly Dorcas caught a fresh, pungent whiff of oranges and then the masculine smell of leather, followed quickly by the dark scent of real unsweetened chocolate. She looked to the front of the class towards a cauldron filled with a liquid that shone like mother-of-pearl and from which spirals of steam were escaping.
"Amortentia," Slughorn said. "The most powerful love potion in the world, characterized by the mother-of-pearl sheen, the spirals of steam, and the way it smells differently to every person based on what attracts them."
"Wicked, huh?" Dorcas took her chance to start up a conversation. "That someone could have that much power over someone else. Dictate who they'd fall in love with."
Lily nodded, staring at the potion. "It is wicked. That potion has always frightened me a little, the way it smells like a rainstorm and fresh tea and….. Yeah," she caught herself, "wicked."
"I wonder how bright it is of Slughorn to tell 16-year-old boys that there is the possibility of making a girl completely obsessed with them," Dorcas chuckled, and added. "Especially exceptionally greasy ones who sit in the back of Potions."
"Severus is harmless," Lily shrugged. "He wouldn't do anything like that."
"Well, lucky for you James Potter isn't in this class," Dorcas said, looking back to her potion.
Lily paused, an odd almost-smile on her face. "Yeah, awfully lucky." Then quickly she asked, "Have you ever thought about using a love potion?"
"Have you?" Dorcas shot back. "What am I talking about?" she said, catching herself. "You'd never have to."
"Geoff Riley. 4th year," she said quickly, turning back to her notes.
"You mean…?"
"I am one of the cleverest witches of my age, aren't I?" Lily smirked.
Dorcas fought the urge to let her jaw drop to the floor. Lily Evans sure had a bold streak.
"What about you?"
Dorcas went still, hiding behind her trademark half-smile. This was what she was afraid of. Finding things out about Lily Evans meant that they would have to be friends and being friends meant sharing. If she wanted the good information, she'd have to give Lily something in return. Dorcas would have to talk about Dorcas. There it was. Was keeping her pride this important?
"Well, I'm about as good as you in Potions, aren't I?" her face didn't change.
"Who?" Lily grinned.
"Patrick Joskins. 4th year."
Lily nodded, smiled, and turned back to her notes. Professor Slughorn continued his lecture on the dangers of Amortentia and Dorcas contemplated what unwanted effects her new undertaking would bring.
James had laughed out loud when Sirius learned what had happened in the Prefects' Bathroom later that night in the common room after the rest of the Gryffindors had gone to sleep.
"You mean there's a girl at the school who doesn't want to shag you?" James had slapped Sirius on the back. "Sorry mate, we all have our disappointments."
"Hey, apparently my sex appeal can be used as a weapon," Sirius had smirked. "I'm being used for school warfare."
"You should consider hiring yourself out," James suggested. "You could earn some good money."
"Hey mate," Sirius punched James in the shoulder. "You're the one reaping the benefits of my hard work. We've got a spy in on Evans."
"I don't know," James shrugged, a somewhat guilty look on his face. "Isn't that…I don't know…cheating?"
"Hey, you know what they say," Sirius said with a smile, "All's fair in love and war."
"Who actually says that?"
Shock ran through Hogwarts castle when two attacks occurred within three days of each other. The first had been on Baxter Stebbins' uncle, a high ranking official in the Ministry of Magic. He was killed. Two days later, Yolanda Cummings' parents had been tortured, and were sent to St. Mungo's immediately. Baxter, a Hufflepuff, was in most of the Gryffindor 6th years' classes and his absence was a constant reminder of the horror going on outside of the Hogwarts walls.
"It's awful," Lily said to Remus one day in the middle of Arithmancy. Baxter usually sat directly in front of her. "I mean, no one's safe, are they?"
"Well," Remus shrugged. "Pure-bloods seem rather under-represented on the list of victims. Of course, that only covers about 10 of the population, doesn't it?"
Lily sighed. "Sometimes I'm glad I go back to the muggle world every summer. There isn't a war going on there, you know. It's refreshing to not have to read about You-Know-Who in the papers every day."
"I'd imagine so," Remus nodded.
"But, of course, then I worry about people here." She dropped her quill on to her desk and looked Remus directly in the eyes. Remus felt his stomach drop out and his breathing sped up. "I thought about you all a lot over the summer, wondering if you were alright. It was hard."
Remus, somewhat awkwardly, patted her on the shoulder. "It'll be alright Lily," he said, trying to sound strong, but failing as his voice cracked over her name. "We're all worried about everyone else. You're not alone."
Lily smiled sadly. "Thanks Remus," she said, dropping her head.
"So," Sirius stretched his long arms and legs as he sat down on the couch in front of the Gryffindor fireplace. "What do you have to share with me?"
Dorcas sat down on the couch next to him and shrugged. "I know she likes the smells of rain and tea."
"Um… ok," Sirius looked confused.
"We talked about Amortentia in Potions the other day."
"And that means?" Sirius obviously had never heard of the potion.
"It's a love potion. It smells differently to every person, like the things that attract them," Dorcas said.
"So what?" Sirius didn't look impressed. "If James pours tea down his front and then stands in the rain, Evans' nose will force her to snog the spit out of him?"
"You just told me to gather information," Dorcas said, a smile crossing her face. "You get to decide what to do with it."
"There has to be something else," Sirius shifted restlessly.
"Well," Dorcas thought. "When I brought James up, she really didn't seem disgusted at all."
"Really?" Sirius leaned toward Dorcas, waiting for good news.
"She just changed the subject really fast."
Sirius' smile faded.
"I do know she's been really affected by Baxter," Dorcas said. "But then, so has everyone else."
"Yeah," Sirius scratched his head and screwed up his face a bit.
The two sat in silence for a few seconds, unwilling to tackle such a serious subject.
"How are things with Julia going?" Dorcas asked, puncturing the silence.
"Good," Sirius smirked. "We're studying for Charms on Thursday. I'll do it then."
"You work fast, don't you?" Dorcas chuckled.
"What can I say," he put his arms behind his head, and stretched and crossed his legs with as much bravado as was possible for a 16-year-old boy to have. "I am the master." Then he added, "You realize, of course, that you will have to continue feeding me information about Evans until I'm satisfied."
Dorcas was taken a little aback. "Am I going to be in your servitude forever?"
"Well I don't know," Sirius smiled suggestively. "I might just want to keep you."
Dorcas shook her head and groaned.
"Just until James finally gets Evans to go out with him," he laughed.
"That will be forever," she said, sighing.
"We can still call it off," he offered, leaning further back, "I haven't actually done anything with Julia yet."
"No," Dorcas conceded. "I'll help you get them together. I'm getting tired of his pursuit myself. Just make sure you deal with Julia."
"Oh I will," Sirius smiled, rather wickedly. "How does the astronomy tower sound?"
Dorcas laughed out loud.
"Perfect place for a little rendezvous, wouldn't you say?"
"Perfect place to get caught," she wore a smile to match Sirius.'
He gave her a look of mock innocence and shrugged.
Dorcas laughed weakly, and then pursed her lips in thought. "There is one other thing I've noticed about Lily."
"Yeah?" Sirius leaned forward again. "What is it?"
"Well," she shrugged. "It's not so much about Lily as it is about the way certain people feel about Lily."
"I already know about Snape," Sirius dismissed the comment. "That's not a threat."
Dorcas shook her head. "It's not Snape."
"Who then?" he asked.
Dorcas paused, running a hand through her long wavy brown hair and biting her upper lip.
"I could be completely off the mark with this," she preceded her revelation with a warning as she furrowed her brow and a wrinkle appeared between dark eyebrows. "I mean, they could just be closer friends than I thought."
Sirius was getting impatient. "Who is it?"
"Remus," she said quietly, looking down.
Sirius felt his heart drop; a look of total surprise took over his face.
"They've always been friends in Arithmancy, and I never really thought about it," she spoke quickly without looking at him. "But the other day, he was comforting her about Baxter again, and then when she was taking notes, he looked at her. It seemed, I don't know, romantic to me."
Sirius looked hard at the girl who had just told him that his two best friends were in love with the same girl.
"You're right," he said, standing. "You are completely off the mark."