The next morning, I sat around feeling rather sad and sorry for myself.

Well, are you trying to say that you WOULDN'T be feeling sorry for yourself, in my position? I had, overnight, managed to develop a crush on someone who: a) was Potter's friend, b) was smarter than me and c) had a name I really wasn't too sure about. Add all that to the fact that I was being forced to endure Potter weekly, and it all equals one thing:

I was screwed.

I took another mouse-sized bite from my toast, trying to chew it softly to prevent jarring my cheek, which just about failed miserably. I mean, trying to eat toast quietly is like trying to lick your elbow, ie: IMPOSSIBLE.Unless you're double jointed, but unfortunatley, I wasn't.

As for the girls, god, they just weren't speaking to me at all. Ever since I had walked in from my detention last night, and I had, er, been in a rather bad mood…and spoken rather harshly…

Flashback

Me: Stamps in through the portrait Slams portrait, making the Fat Lady wail Shut UP, you miserable cow!

Marlene: Bounds over Lily, you're early! How'd it go?

Me: Don't ask.

Zea: Oh my gosh! What HAPPENED to your cheek - it looks really sore!

Me: Don't ask.

Marlene: Oh, but…

Me: I SAID DON'T BLOODY ASK! Kicks a stool over on my way towards the stairs

End flashback.

So now, obviously, we were all sitting in rather awkward silence, while I carefully ate my toast in between slapping a hand to my cheek. Hey, just 'cause the bone's mended doesn't mean it isn't tender still.

"So! Zea!" Marlene began, in a rather forced, bright voice, "Did you finish that Charms essay?"

"Er…" mumbled Zea, shooting the tiniest of glances at me. "Yes."

There was a long silence.

"And did you - um - enjoy doing it?" pressed Marlene in a terribly stilted voice.

"Not really."

"Right! So, er, Ashleigh, did you find your Transfiguration homework…nice?"

"It was ok," she replied softly, her long-lashed, dark green eyes swivelling in my direction. I began to feel as though I was sitting under a very bright spotlight.

"Well then," Marlene stammered, evidently racking her brains for something else to talk about, "Er - gosh, this toast is yummy! I don't think I've ever eaten - "

Oh, for God's sake. If I let it go on for much longer they'd be discussing the weather next. "Alright, alright!" I said wearily, cutting Marlene short, "Ask whatever you want."

It was as though I'd said I was really made of chocolate; the words had barely passed my lips when they all sprang forwards in their seats as though a live wire had just gone up their spine.

"So tell us what - "

"I would really like to - "

"Did Potter - "

"Your cheek, your cheek!"

"Whoa!" I said, holding up my hand, unable to stop myself smiling as they all looked eagerly at me, "Say that all again in English."

They exchanged glances. Then at the exact same time they said simultaneously: "What happened last night?"

I looked around at them. Zea and Marlene looked as though they were about to fall off their benches in excitement, whereas Ashleigh was looking mildly amused. All the same, their curiosity was really quite funny to watch. And rather flattering. I tossed back my head slightly, straightened up to look all the more dramatic, and opened my mouth to recount last nights thrilling adventure.

"Well, it all began - "

"Oy, Evans."

Slightly annoyed, I glanced around, about to tell whoever it was to sod off and leave me alone. When I saw who it was, whoever, my mouth closed with a snap.

Well, would you tell the bloke who had probably saved your life to 'sod off?'

"Sod off, Potter," snapped Zea, neatly doing it for me, "If you and your mates are just here to annoy us, then you can…" she trailed off, and glanced around, looking rather confused. "Where are your mates?"

Potter ignored her. "Evans," he said, looking down at me, a hand running through his hair. Momentarily, I felt my upper lip twitch in annoyance. God – must he always play with his bloody hair!

"What d'you want?" I asked, trying to sound brisk, snappy, but not too rude. After all…if he really did catch me…

He flashed me an awkward grin, making me flinch slightly in shock. Blah? Potter was smiling at me? "I was justwonderinmimblewimble."

At least, that was what it sounded like.

"Huh?" I asked, sounding like a moron but self-assured I didn't sound as stupid as him. "Say that all again?"

"I said," he repeated, the hand jumping obsessively to the nape of his neck, "I was just wondering how your, er, your cheek is." He shrugged nonchalantly as though to say he couldn't care less, really, and stuck his hands in his pockets.

I didn't believe it for a second. "Alright, who dared you to do this?"

He frowned at me. "This isn't a - "

"Don't lie to me, Potter! Since when have you cared about how I am?"

He shook his head, looking almost taken aback. "You're too damn touchy, Evans. I'm just concerned – I was the one who had to carry you to the Hospital Wing!"

This dramatic sentence provoked noises of interest from the rest of my friends, and a few other random people passing by as well. I felt my face start to heat up slightly. "Well, that wasn't very intelligent, was it?" I snapped at him out of sheer embarrassment, "You should have levitated me!"

"I did, most of the way, but after I'd dropped you for the third time…"

I couldn't believe my ears. "You dropped me?"

"Concentrating on levitating someone and walking down a thousand flights of stairs at the same time is no mean feat, Evans!"

I couldn't help but snort at that. "A thousand flights, what an exaggeration!"

People were starting to gather, looking on in interest. "It's not a friggin' spectator sport!" I yelled at them, "Mind your own business!"

Potter was still looking at me, his lip curled in disgust. "Just forget it then, eh?" he snapped, "I'm sure your cheek must be fine, judging by the amount of whining you do with it."

And with that, he turned and shoved his way violently through the people watching, his back stiffened with anger.

I watched him go, feeling faintly disturbed.

It was Zea who broke the silence. "So…carry on with the story, Lily?"

0o0

The rest of the morning passed without any major event. After lunch, however, I suggested that we should all be doing some revising as we had a Potions exam on Monday, and none of us had been doing much studying.

Unfortunately, the other girls weren't too happy at the prospect.

"Come off it, Lily!" moaned Marlene as I dragged her through the library doors amid glares of Pince the librarian. "We have all of tomorrow to study, why should we waste our Saturday?"

"Because," I whispered, throwing her bodily into a chair at a table, "Come tomorrow, you'll be saying: 'Oh, come on, Lils! We still have five minutes before the exam tomorrow, let's enjoy our Sunday!' And I do not want that happening again!"

Marlene rolled her eyes at that. "I'm a last-minute kind of girl, ok?"

"No! It's not ok! The last time you persuaded me to do that, I ended up with a P in our Herbology test!"

"But this is Potions, Lily! You're good at Potions!"

"Yes," I nodded vigorously, "And I want to REMAIN good in Potions!"

She glared sulkily up at me as I pulled out half a dozen books from the shelves and dumped them all on the table. We sat there and looked at them in silence.

"Okay," I said, gingerly poking the mouldiest one, "Take your pick."

Marlene was surveying the books with a revolted look on her face. "That one has fungus on it!"

"Adds to the flavour."

She frowned at me. "Are you saying that you actually eat books?"

"Why, don't you?"

I managed to keep a straight face for about ten seconds, before the look on her face had me cracking up. Then she started laughing as well, when she finally cottoned on.

"Okay," I giggled, after a good few minutes, "How about I dictate some of this stuff and you make notes?"

Her laughter fell off her face at once. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope."

She heaved a huge sigh, but pulled out her notebook and quill anyway, loaded it with ink, and poised it above the book, looking at me in an expectant, I-can't-believe-you've-dragged-me-into-this kind of way.

I chose the least mouldiest-looking book, and flipped it open to squint at the faded, cramped text.

"Chapter One: Cauldron Stirring," I began, squinting at the page, and Marlene began writing. "When a potion is mixed for the first time, the correct way to stir it all depends upon the ingredients. If, for example, Mandrake bile is used, the mixture must not be stirred any more than three times throughout the boiling…are you getting all this?"

"Yeah," muttered Marlene, her eyes glued to the page, "No…more…than three times. Right. Gotcha."

I looked back down at the book. Oh, God. This thing on Cauldron Stirring went on forever. I decided to skip a few paragraphs. "'If any kind of plant is used in the Potion, such as fluxweed, the stirring must always go counter-clockwise. If a concoction containing fluxweed is mixed improperly, the results can be explosive.' Well, that explains why we got covered in orange goo last year, remember?"

Now, I know this wasn't exactly the world's funniest thing to say, but I was kind of expecting Marlene to giggle or something. Even if she followed it up directly by telling me how terribly un-funny that incident was.

"Uh-huh," mumbled Marlene, her quill racing along the page. "Gotcha."

Wow. She was taking this pretty seriously. Slightly put-out, I looked back down at the book.

"Erm…this reaction can be over-come if the fluxweed is picked on a lunar eclipse…" I glanced up again. She was still writing.

Somehow, that just didn't seem right.

"Hey, Mar?" I asked casually, leaning forwards, "Let me see your notes."

She looked up at once, an odd look on her face. "Oh, you don't want to do that, you'll never be able to read my writing," she said easily.

A little too easily. "Marlene, I've been reading your writing for over four years now. I think I'll be able to work it out."

"No, you won't! Really!" Marlene coughed nervously, covering up the page with her hand, but I was too quick for her, and in a matter of two seconds the book was in my arms.

"Come off it, I can read your writing easy as…" I looked down, and fell silent. The entire page, with many squiggles and curls and doodled boxes, was covered in the phrase: "I HATE POTIONS."

I looked up at Marlene, who refused to meet my eyes. "I get…easily distracted, ok?" she squeaked, somewhat unhappily. I shook my head in silence.

"Oh, Marlene."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Yes, here's my present to all of you wonderful people - a new chapter. Yes, it may not be the most exciting one in the world, and fine, it's not the longest one either, but get ready. Next chapter is seriously long. I was rather impressed with myself. When I looked over it yesterday I got the proud feeling of "DID I DO THAT?"

God rest ye, merry hippogriffs!

Peace Out!

Bubbles xxx

PS: And thank you those who reviewed my Christmas one-shot 'Desperate Times.' If anything got Christmas spirit into me, it was those reviews!