Shades of Gray: Year Two
Chapter Nine:
Liquid Fire and the Peter Mauler
by PotterScar
Remus had been bewildered when James and Sirius emerged from the bathroom back to normal.
"Shoving them together worked?" he had wondered.
But, nearly a week later, Remus felt that they were keeping something from him. Sometimes they'd be whispering together in the halls or at meals, and if Remus approached them they'd suddenly stop.
That Friday night, it happened once again in the dorms.
Remus got up from his usual library table, stretching and picking up his books. Most of the other students had left already, and there was merely a mousy looking first year and a burly sixth year left. The sixth year was muttering to himself, and Remus looked at him nervously, before edging out of the library.
The halls were pretty deserted. On his way up to the tower, he passed a Professor, two older students, and Mrs. Norris, Filch's bad tempered kitten. The creepy little thing stalked about the school at night, hissing at everything it encountered. This meeting with Remus was no different.
She hissed at Remus, who scoffed and continued up to the tower.
Unlike the halls, the common room was packed tight. People were celebrating the end of the week and the Quidditch match the next day – the second of the season.
He clomped up the stone stairs to the second year dorms and opened the wooden door that was decorated with an assortment of odd bits of parchment – Sirius' idea.
Peter was draped across his bed, fast asleep and snoring loudly. Sirius and James were lounging on the latter's bed, talking just quietly enough so Remus could only catch the last word "teeth" before James spotted him and coughed. Sirius stopped talking and turned. "Rem!" he grinned.
Remus, of course, was instantly suspicious.
"Hullo," he replied, frowning. "What're you guys talking about."
"Quidditch," Sirius said, while James said, "Pranks," at the same time. "Pranking the Slytherin Quidditch players. Nasty little slimeballs," Sirius amended.
"Huh." Remus didn't buy it.
Sirius cleared his throat. "So… uh… bubotuber pus, then?" he said, turning back to James. "Make 'em break out in welts?"
"Sounds good," James replied, his eyes flicking back to Remus.
Remus frowned and buried his nose in his library book.
-
"QUIDDITCH!!" Sirius hollered the next morning merely seconds after waking up.
James smirked at Sirius. He was already up and running his fingers through his wet hair. "Try not to get hit in the head this time."
"HA! No such thing will happen!" Sirius exclaimed as he strutted to the bathroom.
"That's what you think," James snorted. The meaningless bickering was interrupted by someone hammering at their door.
"Potter! Black! Arses out of bed!" Lucas hollered through the door.
"We are out of bed!" a slightly muffled Sirius shouted through the bathroom door.
"Congratulations," came Lucas' voice, sarcastic. "Game time's in ten minutes."
"WHAT?!" James screeched. The bathroom door exploded open, banging loudly against the opposite wall. "Forget hygiene!" Sirius cried, flying out of the bathroom and grabbing James' arm. They both ran from the room, leaving two bleary best friends in their wake.
-
"Potter, Black. Where the hell were you?" Adrien demanded when the two very sheepish looking second years, along with Lucas, entered the changing rooms. "Oh, never mind, it doesn't matter," he muttered, wringing his hands. "We're playing Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw! Ravenclaw, for Merlin's sake!"
"Adrien…" Alex started, looking worried for his friend. "It's just Ravenclaw. They're better then Hufflepuff, but only as good as Slytherin and not nearly as good as us!"
"Ravenclaw!" Adrien squeaked again. Brandon Wheeler, who was polishing his broom handle, frowned.
"Chill, Wood," he said simply, turning back to his broom.
"Chill? Chill? You want me to chill? You know what would make me chill?" Adrien cried. "NOT COMING TO THE GAMES TWO MINUTES BEFORE – "
Madam Hooch blew her whistle outside, effectively cutting off Adrien.
"Well, there you go," Sirius said cheerfully, grabbing his broom and dashing from the changing room.
-
It really was an uneventful match. Gryffindor won, James scored several goals, and Sirius avoided any head injuries.
"Another day. Another Quidditch match," Sirius said, sighing in a satisfied way. Remus raised his eyebrows.
"Sirius…"
"Yeah?"
"You've only played two matches."
Sirius scoffed. "Two matches more than you, Lupin."
"He has a point," Peter mused from across the room, where he was fishing his Transfiguration book out from under his bed. "Ow!"
The other boys looked up. "What's up, Pete?" James asked, sitting on Sirius' bed. Sirius grunted and shoved him off. James harrumphed and draped himself across Remus' bed instead.
"Something bit me!" He fished around and came out with a squirming rat. "What the hell? Who's rat is this?"
"Peter, this whole castle is crawling with rats," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Doesn't mean it's a pet. Think it has rabies?"
"Rabies?" Peter squeaked, and Remus rolled his eyes.
"I highly doubt it has rabies, Peter, but you should go to Madam Pomfrey if you're worried," he said.
Sirius looked closer at the bite. "Peter, you idiot, it didn't even break the skin."
At that moment, the rat squealed and broke free, escaping into the shadows under Remus' nearby bed.
"We should name it," James said, looking down below him.
"Name it what?" Peter asked.
"The Peter Mauler," Sirius said.
"What? No!" Peter cried, but it was too late.
"PETER MAULER!" James said, thrusting his fist into the air.
"THE Peter Mauler," Sirius corrected.
"Right, sorry. THE Peter Mauler,"
"Oh, no," Peter and Remus both moaned.
-
The next morning, as the four boys were heading to Sunday breakfast, Remus took note of a new piece of tattered parchment tacked to their door – a crude drawing of a rather vicious looking rat with "THE PETER MAULER" scrawled above it.
"Your work, I imagine?" he asked James and Sirius dryly. They merely beamed. Peter looked absolutely mortified. "Can I ask you a question?" he continued.
"Of course, Rem," James said.
"Why not use new parchment? Why old?" he asked.
"Because we need to waste our new parchment passing notes in Transfiguration," Sirius answered.
"Duh," James added.
"So where did you get the old stuff? You know, if you're using all your new parchment in class?" Peter asked, as they stepped from the portrait hole.
James and Sirius were silent for a few seconds, contemplating their answer. Finally, Sirius answered.
"You need to lock your trunk, Pete."
-
The next day, the foursome entered Potions class. Slughorn was lovingly stirring a dark potion near the front.
Peter wrinkled his nose. "Smells like lard," he muttered.
"What's that?" Sirius asked. "Lard, I mean."
"You don't know what lard is?" James asked, raising his eyebrows. Sirius shook his head, and Remus quietly chuckled.
"What?" Sirius whined. "You know who I grew up with!"
"Right, right," James chortled. "In layman's terms, it's pig fat."
Sirius made a face. "Disgusting," he muttered.
"Yeah, kinda," Remus laughed as they took their seats. There were an assortment of potions surrounding them – about six cauldrons in all spread about the room, with the exception of the tiny cauldron in the front.
"Alright, settle down," Slughorn said loudly, waddling from behind his desk. "As you can see, I have some potions out for you to identify today. Very nice potions, these are. You'll be making a few of them this semester." He lugged his fat over to the closest cauldron, which was filled with a greenish liquid. It smelled a bit odd – a little musty, Sirius thought. "What is this one?" he asked.
Remus' arm shot up immediately. Slughorn looked amused. "Mr. Lupin?"
"Aging Potion," he replied immediately.
"Good. Take five points," he said. "I trust I do not need to explain what this does," he chuckled. He then crossed over to another potion, a sort of silvery-white one with spirals of steam rising from it. Sirius could swear he smelled peanut butter and ink. "And this potion?"
This time, Remus was stumped. It was Lily Evans who raised her hand. "Ah, Miss Evans?"
"Amortentia," she said. "It's the most powerful love potion in the world!"
"Five points to Gryffindor," Slughorn beamed. "Can you tell me what is distinctive about it?"
"It has a mother of pearl sheen," Lily rattled off, "and the steam rises in characteristic spirals. It also smells of the things you find most attractive."
Sirius frowned. He found peanut butter and ink attractive?
"Good girl! Take another five points!" Slughorn crowed. The Slytherins tittered angrily. He moved to another cauldron. "And this potion?"
And so it continued, with Remus and Lily exchanging which potion was which. Nobody else bothered to raise their hands – the Gryffindors were in awe and the Slytherins were sulking.
Finally, Slughorn had finished all six and was about to start the lesson when Snape's quiet voice came from the right side of the room.
"Sir… what about the one on the desk?"
Sirius had the sneaking feeling that Slughorn hadn't forgotten the dark potion on the desk on purpose. He looked very happy that Snape asked, but quickly put a dark, forboding mask on.
"This," he said, "is commonly called Liquid Fire. Always black in color. A drop on the ground," he looked around the room, the fat on the jowl quivering, "and this whole dungeon would be in flames. Very dangerous. Very dark. Not many Potions Masters can make it. I, myself, required assistance from a former student. Optimo Kilpin. Perhaps you know his name?" He looked around the room eagerly. No one replied. Slughorn sighed. "Ah, well then…"
He continued pacing. Sirius found himself faintly wondering how he supported the fat that coated his body. "It's illegal, of course. If people just started making it left and right…" He shuddered. "I won't tell you what's in it, of course. Restricted items. Can't get them in Britain anyway. However, you can recognize this potion in several ways. Firstly, it's black as ink. Secondly, it has a distinctly smoky, bitter smell. Thirdly, even when not at a boil, it may bubble. If poured on the skin…" He winced. "Well, we need not dwell on that."
The class was silent, enthralled. Sirius suspected that was the reaction old Sluggy wanted.
There was something faintly familiar about that potion though. The smell, maybe?
Whatever it was, he didn't like it. Not at all.
-
A bit shorter. But I like it!
As you can see I borrowed the basis of this scene from HBP. Different potion on the desk though.
I like seeing lots of reviews. That makes me very very very very very happy.
Liquid Fire! Sounds menacing!
Read and review please!
-Scar