Chapter 25 The Love Potion Disaster
I used to think someday we'd tell the story of us...oh, a simple complication, miscommunication...the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now -Taylor Swift "The Story Of Us"
James: The Next Evening
"Have you and James ever gotten in a fight?" He stopped at Donna's door, smiling as he overheard a bit of his cousin's and his fiancee's conversation. He peeked in the crack and saw Lily tucking Donna in her bed, kneeling at the side.
"Yes we do, lots. But it just shows how much we love each other...because we always make up. That's what's important." Lily said happily, smiling and stroking back Donna's dark hair, both completely oblivious to the listener who was watching them tenderly.
"I am happy you're going to marry him," Donna whispered.
"Me too, Donnie." James's face broke into a huge smile, mirroring Lily's. He continued to watch the cozy scene, love growing even more for his fiancee, if that was possible. "And James and I were talking...how would you like to be in the wedding?" Donna's face burst into a huge grin, affecting all of her face-even her eyes scrunched up as she clapped her hands excitedly. "Would you like to be the flower girl? Do you think you could do that?" Lily said very seriously.
"Yes! Yes I could!" She nodded so furiously James worried she would shake her head right off. "I'm six now!" Lily gasped loudly.
"Six! I had no idea! You're such a big girl, aren't you?" She said completely seriously.
"Yes I am. How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
"Can you show me magic?"
"Why yes I can. What would you like to see?"
"Sparkles!" She squealed excitedly. "Sparkles like James does."
"Alright, then. What color?"
"Hm..." she deliberated for a moment. "Blue!" She finally concluded, yawning. Her night light lit her fairy-theme blue room.
Lily whispered something, and James watched her in admiration. He couldn't believe she was finally his.
Donna clapped her hands, watching the sparks intently as James walked in. She looked up to see him, but he held his finger to his lips and winked. She let out a peal of laughter, but Lily didn't notice James sneaking up behind her.
"Boo!" James tapped her shoulder and Lily shrieked, jumping up and spinning around, falling on top of them and they both landed, a tangled heap on the floor.
"James!" She cried, green eyes wide and dancing. "You scared me!"
"That was the point, darling," he teased, kissing her quickly.
"Do you love each other very very much?" Donna leaned over the edge and they both stood up, a bit embarrassed to have been caught kissing by a six year old.
"Yes," Lily and James both said solemnly, and he wrapped his arm around her. waist, pulling her close. He loved her more than anything in the world, and touching her would never cease to send his heart flying and galloping all over his insides. It was a different kind of magic-the oldest kind. The best kind.
"Then dance!" Donna ordered, pointing to a record machine in the corner of the room. "I will turn on my favorite song. I like Elvis." James grinned, remembering that Lily did also.
"I love Elvis!" Lily gasped, turning to James. "Almost as much as I love you," she teased, pecking him quickly on the lips while Donna had her back turned. Static begun to fill the air. James had listened to all of these songs over and over-when Donna had begun to like Elvis like her mum, he went out and got all of his records partly for Donna herself and partly because he knew Lily liked him-he wanted to know all of his songs, and sing them to her. That's just sad, Prongs, he could practically hear Padfoot saying. James laughed to himself. Music started and he rested his hand on Lily's hip, holding her other hand in the air, and they began to sway.
"Wise men say," Elvis began. "Only fools rush in, but I can't help, falling in love with you."
"Shall I stay," James began to sing in a whisper with Elvis, and Lily gasped. "You know this song?" She said with appreciation.
James nodded. "In fifth year I figured out you liked Elvis and so did Darcy, and she was teaching Donnie to like him too. So I got a bunch of records for them and pretty much have them all memorized," he grinned unabashed.
"Oh, James!" Lily whispered, pulling him into a hug and resting her head on his chest. They continued to sway, and James instructed for Lily to step onto his feet. She did so and he spun them slowly across the room, Donna giggling quietly.
"Would it be a sin,
If I can't help, falling in love with you." Elvis continued and so did James, singing quietly for only Lily to hear.
Lily
"Like a river flows, surely to the sea,
Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be," I closed my eyes with pure bliss, trusting James to continue our dance as he put his hands around my waist and I put mine on his shoulders. I could feel his chest vibrating slightly as he sang. Both of us had completely forgotten Donna was in the room. I opened my eyes and smiled up at James, and we looked at each other with such powerful love that unbeknownst to us, Donna blushed furiously and buried her face in her pillow.
"Take my hand...take my whole life too, for I can't help falling in love with you," James kissed my forehead.
"You are the most beautiful lady I have ever seen," he whispered and I giggled and blushed like a first year.
"And I love you more than everything in the world," I whispered in his ear, running my fingers through his hair.
"Like a river flows, surely to the sea, darling so it goes, some things are meant to be...take my hand, take my whole life too, for I can't help falling in love with you. For I can't help, falling in love...with...you." James kissed me gently as the song ended.
Donna began to clap furiously, and we broke apart, startled.
"Come and sit with me," she said in her little girl voice. "You dance pretty," she grinned happily, sitting back in her pillows. I'm not sure how we managed, but James and I both got into the bed, Donna between us.
"James is only allowed to sing to us two, Lily, okay? No one else?" She stuck her pinky out to me solemnly.
"Okay, Donnie," I laughed, taking her pinky.
"What do you want me to sing, cutie?" James said, stopping the record player.
"Love me bender!" She exclaimed happily, and James and I corrected her, trying not to laugh. And that was how we accidentally fell asleep-James and I holding hands, our entwined fingers resting on the covers on Donna's slowly rising and falling stomach.
When Darcy and David came to check on their daughter, they laughed quietly, but couldn't find the heart to wake us up.
Two Weeks Later
Ring! Ring!
"I got it!" David yelled, running for the phone across the kitchen, sliding on his slippers.
"Smooth," James cheered, and we both clapped before he picked up the phone.
"Hello?" He paused. "I won?" He said in stunned awe. "You're kidding! Alright! Three should be good, yes! Alright! You too sir, thank you! Darcy!" He bellowed, running back into the bedroom. "Darcy, where are you?" He ran back out of the bedroom. "You remember that drawing they had at work for the trip to New York?"
"Don't yell, dear, I'm right here," Darcy appeared right behind him, only half-heartedly scolding him. Her eyes were wide. "Did you win?" She gasped.
"Yes!" David shouted, and promptly picked up his wife and spun her around the kitchen.
"What, Daddy?" Little Cooper waddled into the kitchen.
"Daddy won a vacation for us," David grinned, picking up his youngest child. "Oh no," his face fell suddenly. "Lily, James-you weren't staying with us when I entered our number into the drawing-"
"That's perfectly fine, we don't mind. You're being kind enough letting us stay in your home for a whole month," I said firmly as Darcy whispered the news to Donna, who had just come into the kitchen.
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Darcy asked doubtfully, picking up Donna.
"We leave at three today, and come back in two days, on Thursday-the neighbors will know that we're leaving, and they'll get suspicious when they see the lights going on and off," David realized.
"We can go back and stay with Sirius, he's staying in that house his uncle left him," James turned to me from where he was putting his dishes in the dishwasher.
"That would be good," I nodded. "It is just for a few days, anyway. How bad could it be?"
"Come on in, hurry, before the muggles get suspicious!" Sirius pulled us both into the once stately (but now starting to fall in on itself) mansion, and we stepped into the dusty thin hallway.
"Nice place," I said, trying not to crinkle my nose at the obvious disrepair.
"Yeah, right. It was my Uncle Alphard's, left it to me just months ago when he died-barely knew him-guess he did like me after all. Well, he got blasted off the family tree for it. The street name is Garsettus, and the place just looks like a heap of ruins to the muggles around it. Course, it practically is a heap of ruins-"
"Sirius, this is ridiculous, why don't you move back in with my parents and me?" James cried, running a hand along the wall and showing Sirius how dusty it was when he pulled his hand away. "This place is a mess!"
"It's fixable," Sirius argued. "It has potential! Besides, I've already been too much of a burden on your parents anyway."
"-disgrace to the name of Black!" Someone shrieked, causing James and I to jump. "Friend of mudbloods and filth, a stain on the noble tree-"
"Can it, Mother!" Sirius twisted over his shoulder, jumping over boxes and bringing us to the sitting room. Furniture was covered with sheets and boxes were strewn about.
"Your mother's here?" James whispered in disbelief.
"No, her portrait," Sirius said disgustedly. "Just like the one in my old house, remember? This one's got a matching one. I suspect mother came and put it up just to spite me. A permanent sticking charm, even," he rolled his eyes, pulling down the sheet to reveal a dark-haired woman who bore a slight resemblance to Sirius. Her small grey eyes immediately fell on me and-
"FILTHY MUDBLOOD!" She shrieked, pointing in horror at me. "GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE, YOU FILTHY PIECE OF DIRT!"
"SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, MOTHER!" Sirius roared at the same time James screamed-
"SHUT UP AND DON'T INSULT LILY!" They both cast charms, one of them giving her a gaudy polka dotted gag and the other trying her hands so she wouldn't be able to undo it.
"She'll get it off by tomorrow, but it's the best we've got," Sirius breathed heavily as his mother's face grew bright red, straining against her bonds. When she saw it was to no avail she stalked off angrily, nose in the air.
"I can see why you don't like her," I said in a small voice, looking down at the floor.
"Lily, my mother is the biggest arse-hole in the world, don't listen to a word out of her lying mouth. She's the filthy one," Sirius put his hands on my shoulders and made me look up at him. "Really, Lils. Promise."
"I know," I sighed, looking up at James and trying to shake it off. "Now obviously you're not going to be the one to make the place actually liveable, so let's all do it, then," I grinned, already forgetting Mrs. Black's horrible shrieks.
"I suppose," Sirius rolled his eyes, turning around and announcing "Reparo!" to a broken vase.
"Scourgefy!" I flicked my wand at the window, removing the worst of the grime. We pushed everything against the walls and cleaned the floors until there were no more unidentifiable substances, and then rearranged the fireplace-well, more like the broken heap of marble that, according to Sirius, used to hold a fire. Once the furniture was fixed and cleaned, it was actually rather grand.
Hours later, the bookshelves were back on the walls and the pages back in the countless volumes of books-the chandelier was untangled and re-hung, the fireplace gleaming and crackling with flames-though it was summer,the house was absolutely freezing. We had four chairs and a couch around the fire and a coffee table, which had previously been split clean in half.
"How did all of this stuff get so destroyed?" I questioned, accepting a tall glass of lemonade and sitting with James.
"My Mum and Dad, and maybe the Lestranges and Bellatrix all came over here after they found out he left the house to me. They probably did all of this, searching for his potions. That, and they were mad at him for giving it to me," Sirius chuckled as we stepped into the kitchen which was in an even worse state. "Careful," he warned, throwing an arm out to stop James before he took a step onto the floor. "It's starting to cave in, see over there? We've got to go down to the basement and fix it, if we're going to."
"What about his potions?" I asked, following him as we made our way to a thin, rickety staircase to the dark and damp basement, large paintings adorning the walls. Fortunately, these didn't scream insulting things.
"Alphard loved potions, made tons of them. That's likely what my charming family was searching for, though I doubt they found it," he chuckled to himself. "The one time I came here he showed me. When I was eight. Here, look." He ran a hand along the edge of the gilded frame of a portrait until he found what must have been a switch.
"Password?" The tired looking man looked down to Sirius kindly.
"Muggleborn," he said, and it opened to reveal a small room filled with shelves from floor to ceiling. "That was Alphard's portrait," he said as we entered. I gasped-there was a work bench completely covered with glass vials and bottles filled with all types of potion ingredients from boomslang skin to lacewing flies. The vials and beakers sitting on the shelves were filled with a different color potion, but all of them had a slight layer of dust on them.
"There's got to be about a hundred in here!" I cried. "Haven't some of them gone bad?"
"Probably," Sirius shrugged.
"He's even got Amortentia!" I fingered the vial containing a pink liquid. "Speaking of love-how are you and Marlene?" I nudged him, wagging my eyebrows.
"What? Oh-peachy," Sirius turned away slightly, trying to look oblivious as he shook the bottle of Amortentia under his nose, sniffing. "This one hasn't gone bad," he muttered under his breath.
"Uh oh," James said, walking over to his best mate. "Trouble in girl land?"
"Major trouble," he confirmed. "We had a row. Something about how I need to "make up my mind about what I want,"" he quoted. He pretended to act casual, but I could tell it was upsetting him. I hadn't heard anything about this recent row, which didn't surprise me, because James and I had pretty much cut off all communication with our friends for the past few weeks.
"Well what are you waiting for? Go and get her back, you obviously love her!" I poked him in the back. "You're moping."
"That obvious?" He looked at me, smiling slightly.
"Yes," I rolled my eyes.
"Well..." his grin grew, and I could tell immediately that-
"Uh oh, he wants something," James confirmed what I had just been thinking.
"My thoughts exactly," I nodded as Sirius got down on his knees before us, clasping his hands.
"Please, please please help me get the rest of the main floor in order, then invite her over, I want to make sure I love her and she loves me!" He begged, meeting both of our eyes desperately.
"And how exactly are you going to do that?" I asked suspiciously.
"Don't ask."
"Now I'm worried," James noted, and I nodded my agreement.
"No, no, don't be! It's not anything deadly or fatal-"
"Same thing," I pointed out.
"-and I've thought it through, I promise, trust me!" Sirius shook his clasped hands. "Don't make me give you the puppy dog eyes. Because I will. Fine...I didn't want to do this, but the both of you leave me no choice. Sirius pulled into himself and his bones rippled, black fur erupting over his body-
"Don't look!" James quickly covered my eyes, pulling me against him and burying his face in my hair.
But Sirius jumped up, qickly turning to his dog form and putting his paws on my shoulders and forcing us both to scrabble for something to hold onto so we wouldn't fall over. And then he laid down, crossing his paws and putting his head down on them, tail thumping against the brick floor. He whimpered slightly, grey eyes wide and pleading.
"Aw, James, can we keep him?" I begged, laughing.
"I suppose we can get Marlene over here, as long as your plan doesn't involve killing, maiming-" Sirius quickly reverted into his original form.
"Oh, thank you!" He kissed James on the cheek, and then me, sending both of us into fits of laughter. "You won't regret it!" He called over his shoulder. "Come on, we've got to clean!" He yelled and James and I looked at each other, laughed and followed him.
Two Days Later
"Let's not do that again," I begged, collapsing once the main floor was completely spotless. My legs and arms were sore and my whole body was dusty. It was almost seven o'clock. It had taken over forty-eight hours to clean the whole main floor and fix it so you wouldn't fall in through the basement when a wrong step was taken. We knew from exerience.
"We won't," James assured me, collapsing on the ground next to me. "Did you talk to Marlene?"
"I called her on the Floo," I closed my eyes, but opened them once I heard Sirius's pounding feet reverberating through the floor.
"Where are you going?" James called after him.
"I can't see Marlene like this!" He yelled back. "I'm covered in dust! I'm going to clean up!"
"Are you worried?" James turned to me, and I wiped a smudge of dust off of his cheek tenderly.
"Very," I said softly, kissing him and wrapping my arms around his back.
"I love you so much," James grinned widely, kissing me again.
"Me too," I whispered.
Sirius
Knock knock knock knock.
"She's here-she's here!" Sirius ran around in a circle madly. "What do I do? What do I do?" He looked to Lily and James who were on the couch together, arms linked and all cozy. Hopefully that would be him and Marlene by the end of the night. "What do I do?" He repeated desperately again.
"Open the door, maybe?" Lily suggested as she knocked again.
"Oh-right," Sirius panted. "Welcome to my humble home where pretty girls such as yourself are very welcome, especially upstairs in the -"
"Save the sweet talk," Marlene said firmly, putting a finger to his lips.
"Erm-alright. Want to come in?"
"No, I like the view from out here, thanks, I'll just stand," Marlene said sarcastically, and Sirius winced. Apparently she was not as ready to forgive as he would have liked. Oh, it had already been a few days, get over it! He wanted to plead. She looked so pretty there, her sleek black hair brushing over her shoulders, her dark eyes narrowed-
"Why so Sirius?" Sirius winked, stepping aside as she entered the room. She chose to ignore the comment, hair bouncing as she walked. Sirius put a hand to the love potion in his pocket-could she tell he had it? He thought anxiously. No, of course not! He berated himself. That was ridiculous, it was hidden in his pocket. He wasn't using the potion for the reason some might think, though. He had developed a clever, smart, 100% foolproof plan, he thought, proud of himself. He'd slip a bit into his own glass. If he didn't feel any different, that meant he was in love with Marlene. If he suddenly felt extreme attraction, then he wasn't. Why couldn't he just tell if he loved her? Oh well. This would be a great story to tell the grandkids someday.
"Lily?" Marlene called. "James? Where are you guys?"
"Here, Marls!" Sirius heard Lily yell. She flew out of the room and hugged her best friend. "I haven't seen you in ages!" She yelled, grabbing her into a bear hug.
"Two weeks, huh?" She teased, looking her in the eye. "How are you? How's James?"
"Great," Lily replied, smiling hugely up at James when he came in. Sirius felt a twinge of jealousy, looking at the three of them, talking about life with James's cousins.
"Want me to get drinks?" Lily looked at Sirius, jolting him into action.
"No no!" He called. "I've already got them!" He dashed into the living room, trying to get ahead of them to slip the potion in-
He took the vial out, smelling it briefly. Freshly baked bread, something fruity-and Marlene. Sirius quickly put the potion in, just a few drops, hoping it was enough, into his drink, and Marlene's. The ones closest to him. He picked up the tray and brought it to the living room, to nervous to do more than jiggle his leg.
"Sirius, can I talk to you for a second?" James asked, nodding his head toward the kitchen. Without looking, James selected and drink, as did Marlene and Lily-it was all going too fast, he couldn't tell, he wanted to shout DON'T DRINK ANYTHING!
But of course he didn't. He knew at least Marlene had drunken hers, but did he have his-James took a sip of his butterbeer. Nothing seemed to be happening-but how long did it take to kick in?
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Sirius asked when he closed the door behind him. James was blinking funny, craning his neck to see back in the living room.
"I-I-Sirius, I'm in love!" James gasped suddenly.
"Of course you are, mate, you're getting married to her, aren't you?" Sirius asked slightly hysterically. Please be talking about Lily, please be talking about Lily, please don't have been talking about Marlene, you didn't drink the love potion-
"What are you talking about?" James looked at him oddly. "I'm not getting married to Marlene!" James broke into a grin- "D'you think she would though? D'you think she'd say yes? I'm going to ask her right now!" Sirius slapped James across the face. "Oi! What was that for?" James asked angrily, a hand flying to his cheek.
"Wake the hell up! James Potter! Prongs! YOU DON'T LOVE MARLENE! You love Lily! Lily!"
"Yeah yeah, what about her? She's Marlene's friend...she could set us up," he said with a goofy grin on his face.
"James!" Sirius slapped him again, but he barely looked fazed. "Mate! Look at your fricking hand! See that band? You're engaged! Red hair, green eyes. Remember how ever since first year, you always talked about having babies with Lily with green eyes?"
"Brown eyes are prettier. Pretty brown eyes, black silky hair-isn't she out there? MARLENE!" James bellowed. "C-"
"Shush your damn mouth!" Sirius clamped his hand over James's mouth fiercely. "James, listen to me. Listen! Trust me, you do NOT want to do anything right now. YOU ARE UNDER THE INFLUENCE!"
"What? I'm not bloody drunk! Let me go, Sirius!" Sirius dug his heels in and grasped James's arms, straining his muscles and trying to keep his best friend from reaching the door.
"James? Did you need something?" Marlene entered the room, giggling and winking and James. Sirius caught a glimpse of Lily, looking oddly into the kitchen, but not making any move to get up. Hopefully she didn't suspect anything. James was stepping toward Marlene, looking at her with a ridiculously mushy look in his eyes-
"No no no!" Sirius ducked and popped up in between them, pushing them back from each other-suddenly the solution came to him. The antidote! He had made sure there was one before he did the plan, but his stupid overconfidence prevented him from having it on hand.
"Wait here! Don't touch each other! You'll get-erm, you'll get cooties!" Sirius dashed off, shouting an excuse to Lily and telling her not to go into the kitchen, that Marlene was throwing up. He dashed downstairs, taking the steps three at a time.
"OWW!" He howled, swearing profoundly when he lost his footing on the last jump down the the floor, tumbling and catching himself hard, all of his weight on the heels of his hands.
Lily
"I'll be right back! Bathroom!" Sirius called over his shoulder to me, exploding from the kitchen and running faster than I'd ever seen him downstairs. "Don't go in the kitchen-James has it under control, Marlene's spewing chunks, really disgusting! Stay where you are!" I looked at him oddly for a moment. What was that all about? Marlene seemed fine when she got here. And I didn't hear anything-I got up and walked to the kitchen. Opening the door, I started to talk, but my voice was cut off in a strangled gulp with what I saw.
Marlene and James, caught in a passionate embrace, kissing fiercely with their arms around each other.