31
The Last First Day
Lily did not wake us up. In fact, Lily was gone when they woke up the next morning. Her bed was made and her robes were missing.
" Could it be?" Alice said waking slowly, " Lily Evans let us sleep in?"
" It's a bloody miracle" Marlene said rolling out of bed and stretching happily.
" It's weird" Doe said curiously. Lily always was the one to drag them out of bed extremely early.
Without her early waking, they were running a little late and had to dress in their uniforms quickly in order to make it to the Great Hall for breakfast.
When they got there, they realized that most of their house was already there, Marauders included.
Lily was sitting across from James, showing him a parchment. They were talking earnestly.
Staring at them in confusion, Doe sat down beside Remus.
" Good Morning" he said planting a quick kiss on her forehead.
" Morning" she told him, not taking her eyes off of James and Lily, who were still talking quickly.
" I know," Sirius said to her, " It's strange. They've been like that all morning"
Lily and James had never gone this long without having a row before. The sight of them getting along was confusing to everyone. Members of other houses had even started to notice.
Amos Diggory walked by and cast a glance.
" Lily," Marlene called to her when Amos sat down at the Hufflepuff table.
" Yes?" She asked.
" Whatever happened with Amos?" Marlene asked.
Lily's face turned bright red and she looked down, " Well we broke up actually"
" Why didn't you tell us?" Marlene asked.
Lily shrugged, " It wasn't really a big deal, we were just bored of each other"
She turned back to James, " So you see if we implemented a longer time between classes, I think it would work better"
Marlene and Doe eyed each other, knowing that there had to be more to that story than Lily was letting on.
Before they could push her further, McGonagall came to their table handing out schedules.
She handed one to each of them and stopped, eyeing Lily and James curiously, before handing them their schedules.
" You know" Professor McGonagall said to them, " I really am enjoying that both the head girl and boy are both from my house"
" But not as much as you enjoy my company, right Minnie?" Sirius interjected.
McGonagall eyed him darkly, " I am not going to be an easier on you simply because you are a seventh year, Mr. Black"
Sirius grinned, " You're already thinking about how much you're going to miss me"
McGonagall gave him a look of annoyance and continued towards the High Table.
Doe looked at her own schedule. She had all of the same classes as last year, but at N.E.W.T. level.
Part of her wished that she could have an easier schedule and drop classes like Herbology and Potions, like most of the seventh years did, but she just kept reminding herself that she needed these classes to become an auror.
She looked over at Remus' schedule pleased to find that it was identical to hers.
" We are going to have so much work" Doe said sadly.
" I'm sure it won't be too bad" He said moving her hair off of her shoulder.
Sirius had taken both Remus and Doe's schedules and he was also happy to see that he wouldn't be alone in all of the classes.
Lily's schedule matched theirs exactly. They were the only four who had a class this morning. Potions. Everyone else had dropped it.
When they finished breakfast, they all went back to the dormitories to get their Potions' books.
" So you and James are getting along well" Doe said to Lily as they rummaged in their trunks for the book.
" It's weird, " Lily said in disbelief, " He's been so human lately"
Doe laughed, " That's good isn't it?"
She shrugged, " It's different. I don't mind being around him".
They walked down the stairs and into the common room, where Remus and Sirius were waiting for them.
" Potions in the morning should be outlawed" Sirius said as they began towards the dungeons.
" Punishable by azkaban" Doe agreed.
Remus shook his head, " You two are ridiculous"
Doe stood in front of him so she was walking backwards, " But you still like me" she told him with a wide smile.
He rolled his eyes at her, "You know I do".
The door to the dungeon was open when they got there, and it looked as if the group of student's taken had diminished greatly, Severus and Bellatrix were the only Slytherins here, along with Amelia, Amos, and Stephanie Mcmillan from Hufflepuff, and Xeno, Rita, and Mafalda from Ravenclaw.
Doe sat down at one of the empty desks and Lily sat down beside her.
There was silence for a few minutes before Professor Slughorn strode into the room and stood in front of the class. He smiled brightly at all of them.
" Oh look at all these returning faces, I couldn't be more thrilled" He said slapping his hands together in excitement.
Sirius rolled his eyes.
Slughorn didn't notice, " So today, I thought we would start with one of the N.E.W.T level potions that my student's are most curious about brewing".
Slughorn took out a tiny vial from the pocket of his robes. It contained a thick metallic gold substance.
" Now can anyone tell me what this is?" he asked holding it up so they all could get a good look at it.
Lily's hand shot up. She was the only one.
" Yes, Ms. Evans?" Slughorn asked.
Lily smiled proudly, puffing out her chest, " That, Professor, is Felix Felices"
Professor Slughorn smiled at her, " Yes Ms. Evans that is quite correct, take 10 points to Gryffindor!"
He held up the potion again, " Felix Felicis, or more commonly known as Liquid Luck is a potion that is particularly difficult to brew, but it is very valuable. It makes the drinker lucky for 24 hours, and as such, makes it a very powerful potion. I myself have only used it once."
They all listened to him intently. Most of the potions they made in class were not ones that they could actually use. This one, however, would be something that could be invaluable to all of them.
No one was taking their eyes off of the little bottle of gold.
" So I'd like you all to partner up and try to see if you can brew this potion, it's on pg. 33. All necessary ingredients can be found in the stores"
Lily and Doe partnered up and began going to the back to get all the supplies that they needed. It was quite a lot of ingredients. Doe read through the directions quickly and sighed. It was very difficult.
The directions contained a lot of very quick, specific steps that needed to be followed exactly.
It was a frustrating potion to brew. Every time it seemed like they were doing something right, the potion would turn a different color then it was supposed to. Both Lily and Doe were very frustrated.
Most of the other groups were having the same difficulties they were.
Doe could hear Sirius and Remus trying to get it to cooperate behind them.
An hour and a half later, the room was filled with a thick perfume from all of the brewing potions and none of them had managed to do it.
Slughorn didn't look surprised.
" I haven't ever had a student who was able to correctly brew this potion, so I don't want any of you to feel discouraged".
They went to work cleaning up the mess that all of their cauldrons contained, still slightly frustrated that known of them had managed to master it.
Slughorn took one last look around the classroom to see if anyone had gotten close to mastering it and made a face that suggested none of them had.
They left the classroom and headed towards the Defense classroom, feeling slightly disappointed.
" I wish I could drop that class" Sirius said irritably as they walked up on of the moving staircases.
" You need it" Doe told him.
He scowled, " Please don't remind me".
" Oh come on" Remus said, " Remember how awful History of Magic was"
Sirius shuddered violently, " That was worse"
They approached the Defense classroom and smiled happily. All of the seventh years were gathered around an empty classroom. An empty classroom was every seventh years dream. It meant we were having a practical lesson.
Professor Weasley was standing near the door, holding a glass jar full of spiders.
Remus and Doe both shivered slightly. Neither of them had been too keen on spiders after almost being eaten by a hundred of them in the Forbidden Forest.
James, Marlene and Peter were standing in the corner, a distance away from the Slytherins who were all clustered around looking particularly menacing.
Doe noticed Severus standing closely with Yaxley and Lucius.
She didn't wave. Severus and Doe were friends but they both understood that it made it easier if they didn't flaunt their friendship in front of their housemates, neither of which were too thrilled with their arrangement.
" So what do you think were doing?" Marlene asked eyeing the jar of spiders in the Professor's hands.
" I don't know" Doe said looking at them with the same curiosity.
" You know," Marlene stated, looking back over there, " Professor Weasley is actually pretty cute"
Everyone turned to stare at her wide eyed.
" Marlene!" Lily hissed, " He is a teacher"
Marlene rolled her eyes, " Calm down, I'm just stating a fact".
Doe turned back to Sirius and James who were both eyeing Marlene with strange glances.
Remus hadn't even heard her, he was focused on Professor Weasley who had set down the jar on his desk.
The door to the classroom slammed closed and everyone quieted, waiting for the Professor to speak.
Professor Weasley cleared his throat, " I know today is your first day back, but with only a year left to study this, I think it's crucial for you all to be as prepared as possible. It's not safe in our world right now, and because of this you all need to be protected."
Everyone was hanging onto Professor Weasley's every word, except for the Slytherins who were only half paying attention.
Elizabeth had turned to Bellatrix, " It's only not safe, if you've got dirty blood"
Bellatrix snickered.
Doe could feel her hatred for both of them flowing through her. She had to force herself to ignore them and focus on what Professor Weasley was saying.
"... so to do such, today's lesson will be on Unforgivable curses"
There was a collective gasp around the room. They had heard about the unforgivable curses for their entire lives but almost none of them had ever seen them performed before.
Professor Weasley began speaking louder, " There are three unforgivable curses. And they are named appropriately, the use of any of them will be punishable by azkaban. Now can anyone name one for me?"
Bellatrix's hand shot straight up.
" Ms. Black?"
Her face curved into a wicked smile, " The cruciatus curse, Sir"
Professor Weasley nodded, " Yes. The Cruciatus curse is one that is used to torture the recipients. It mobilizes the victim with the most debilitating pain that can be experienced".
He took one of the spiders out of the jar and placed it on the table. He waited a minute before taking out his wand and pointing it directly at the spider.
" Crucio!"
The spider began squeaking violently. It's body contorted in pain and it's legs crumpled beneath it. It writhed in pain, looking like it couldn't take it.
" Stop it, Please Professor" Lily shouted quickly, her face terrified.
Professor Weasley raised his wand and the pain seemed to lift from the spider. It fell on the table. It's tiny chest heaving.
" Someone give me another one" Professor Weasley said.
Doe watched Remus tentatively raise his hand.
" Mr. Lupin?"
Remus took a deep breath, " Well Professor, there's the Imperius Curse"
Professor Weasley's mouth turned into a slight pout, " The Imperius curse is a sort of takeover. It allows the individual to cast it to have control over its victim. You essentially control them"
He pointed his wand at the spider.
" Imperio!"
The spider stood erect and waited for Professor to order it to something. Every time he ordered it to do something it followed his instructions explicitly, never deviating.
It was terrifying. These curses were used on people. People who would react just like this spider.
" And the final curse?" Professor Weasley asked.
No one raised their hands. It wasn't for lack of knowing. The final unforgivable curse was probably the most commonly known.
Doe raised her hand, and her mouth drew out into a hard line.
" Yes, Ms. Meadowes?" Professor Weasley asked.
" The killing curse, Sir" she said. Even the words tasted bitter, like they were burning her mouth.
Professor Weasley pointed his wand at the spider.
" Avada Kedavra!"
There was a blinding flash of green light and the spider laid dead on the table in front of them. Her entire body stiffened.
This was what happened to her father. She tried desperately not to think about it.
" Are you alright?" Remus whispered, " you're as white as a ghost"
She nodded.
Lily also looked like she was being sick.
The only ones who looked entirely unaffected where the Slytherins. Which didn't surprise any of them.
Professor Weasley turned back to them.
" This is essential. You all must understand the importance of these curses. They are dangerous and they have drastic consequences. You must all be prepared. Next class we will all go over defensive tactics to try and avoid being affected by these curses."
They all left the classroom with a sickening feeling in their stomachs, and as they walked back towards their common room, Doe couldn't help but feel like that wouldn't be the last time she witnessed those curses firsthand.