Chapter 2—135 DAYS BEFORE

Walking into the Great Hall on our second day of school was depressing as hell. The snow had turned into an ever-present rain since our welcome-back dinner two days ago. Watching the rain pound against the ceiling, I almost wished Dumbledore would enchant the ceiling to show a beautiful summer's day. Try as I might to defend nature, this was the one type of weather where I had to agree with Kelly's constant grumbling: it sucked.

Rain was just gross. I did not like how it turned the snow into slush and I did not like how it turned the sky an ugly grey. As I expressed these feelings aloud, Marlene disagreed, saying:

"At least you can jump in the puddles."

I shook my head at this too. "I don't like that." Seeing as she was about to say something else, I cut her off, guessing what she was about to say, and responding to it with, "Not even when I was younger."

She shut her mouth. I sighed. "And ugh," I sneered. "How on earth can people find this romantic to kiss in?" I groaned. "It's ugly. There's nothing romantic about it!" Personally, I would have preferred kissing on a beautiful summer's day, with a light breeze and a warm sun.

"Au contraire, Evans," Potter appeared behind me. I turned around as he stood, staring down at me. "I believe it would be quite romantic."

"You've never done it, then?" I asked. Potter had dated—by my count—a total of four girls.

He shook his head as no. "I'd love to try though. How about we test out that theory of yours?" He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

"Not for a million galleons." I said. "Nay, a trillion." I said strongly, as the rain pounded particularly hard, emphasizing my point quite nicely.

"I'll get you to change your mind." He said vaguely, before nodding his head as goodbye and joining his mates who sat at the far end of the table.

I shook my head, chuckling, and turned back to my mates, who had switched topics to the project McGonagall had just laid on us unfairly.

"She could have at least told us about it before the break," Kelly sighed. "Then we would've had more time to work on it."

"Please, you don't think anyone would have actually worked on it over the holidays?" Marlene snorted.

"I would have." I piped up, scooping up an extra helping of mashed potatoes. God, I loved mashed potatoes. They were the only glimmer of hope to keep me going on this long, depressing day.

"Well, you don't count." Marlene said. I laughed, popping a spoonful of mashed potatoes in and savouring the taste.

"What is your mark in Transfiguration anyway?" Grace asked, sipping on some water. I noticed her plate was empty.

Just as I was about to say something, Kelly said, "Aren't you going to eat anything?"

"I'm on a diet." Grace answered.

"That doesn't look like a diet," Kelly said, concerned. "It looks like starving."

"I don't suppose you'd know anything about dieting, Miss Permanently Eighty Pounds!" Grace hissed.

Kelly looked hurt. "I weigh ninety." She said, but about halfway through, she seemed to realize this was a dumb thing to say, and she got noticeably quieter near the end.

Before anybody could say anything else, I spoke up, changing topics back to school. Marlene followed my lead, and spoke to Kelly and Janice about project ideas.

While the three girls chatted, I scooped up some more mashed potatoes but this time, I placed them on Grace's plate. She looked up at me silently, and I mouthed, Please.

She looked down at the mashed potatoes and shook her head, but reached for the peas and placed a serving on her plate. I smiled at her as she ate each pea, washing every ten or so down with a tall glass of water. It wasn't great, but it was OK, and that's all I could hope from her.

After lunch, as Grace, Marlene and Kelly walked out of the Great Hall, I grabbed Janice's hand and pulled her back a bit.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Grace is your best mate," I said quietly, so they wouldn't hear us. "You're closer to her than any of us are, and I don't know if you've realized, but Grace is—"

"Starving herself," Janice said it as if it pained her to. "I know. I bought her some clothes from France and I plan on giving them to her for her birthday." Grace's birthday was coming up just this Sunday. "Sizing in France is different, so I figure I'll tell her that a 38 is a size 8 in UK."

"And it's really a..."

"Size 10, her actual size." Janice told me, then shook her head sadly. "She's been reading a lot of the fashion magazines from France, too. Those poor women in the magazines take famine as if it's sport." She sighed. "I'll knock some sense into her, don't worry."

I smiled at her, happy Grace had such a wonderful best mate. Janice ran ahead to catch up with Grace, talking to her animatedly about how beautiful her eyes looked with that particular makeup on, and Marlene and Kelly joined in instantaneously, commenting on how eye-catching her lipstick was, and how well her new fringe suited her.

"I'm starving," I said, reaching into my bag and pulling out some chocolate I had received for Christmas. "Anybody want some?"

"Mmm," Kelly broke off a piece. Marlene and Janice followed suit and without even having to look at her, Grace tore off a tiny piece.

We all smiled at one another as Grace continued walking. Janice did a little dance as I put the chocolate back in my bag, grinning. Grace turned around, looked at us and said, "Well? Are you lot coming or what?"

Smiling we all caught up with her. She turned to me then, and asked me, "Can I have some more of that?"

And after that, the rain wasn't bothering us anymore. We all wore smiles brighter than the sun for the rest of the day.

"My, Lily!" Professor Slughorn greeted me as I stepped into the dungeons with my mates. "You're positively beaming!"

"It's been a good day," I said as reasoning, smiling at him and taking my seat.

"Someone's mood has changed," Potter said from in front of me, placing his bag on the desk and taking out his textbook. He looked at it strangely, then opened it up to a random page, tilting his head to the side.

"Er, Potter?" I asked, apprehensive.

"This isn't my textbook," Potter explained, flipping to back cover of the book. "Property of the Half-Blood Prince," He read aloud, then looked at me skeptically. I shrugged in answer, shaking my head.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Severus appeared by his side and grabbed it from his hands. "This is mine." He hissed, taking out a newer looking copy from his bag and shoving it into Potter's chest. He took his seat beside Potter and placed his textbook in front of him on his desk. Compared to Potter's copy, Severus's textbook looked like it'd been through hell. I imagined this was because Potter had never opened his potions textbook in his life.

"You know, Snape," Potter spoke up, placing his textbook on his desk and staring down at Severus. "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to write in these things."

"If I were you, I'd mind my own buidness." Severus said, probably not sounding as intimidating as he wanted to on account of his cold.

"Sure, whatever you say," Potter sat down beside him. "Prince."

The bell rung then, as Professor Slughorn took his usual spot by his desk, leaning on it as if unsure whether to sit on it or to stand by it. Almost lazily, he waved his wand as potion instructions filled the blackboard from top to bottom.

I'd read about this potion, and I was extremely excited to start. Apparently, so was Sirius, as he jumped from his seat and ran to the cupboards.

"Mr. Black!" Slughorn clapped his hands excitedly, as Sirius turned to him with arms full. "Please, Mr. Black, take your seat. I'm going to explain a bit before we start."

Sirius sighed and returned the ingredients back to the cupboards. Potter sniggered at him from his seat and as Sirius passed, he flashed him a hand gesture that made me giggle despite myself.

"Now, this particular potion is extremely hard to get right," He paused, looking in my direction. "I have a hunch only a couple students in this class will even come close."

"Aw shucks Professor, you're too kind," Potter spoke up from beside Severus. The entire class laughed, including me.

Slughorn was the one teacher who was obvious about his favourites and well, as embarrassing as it was; Severus and I were his favourites (but me in particular because I laughed at Slughorn's bad jokes at the Slug Club while Severus never even bothered to show up). The entire class always knew whom he was talking about when he said 'a couple students' and everybody hated it. Potter was just being funny, which is why it came as such a surprise when Slughorn got so angry.

"You will report to me after class, young man," Slughorn told him seriously. Sirius was chuckling at his friend's misfortune when Slughorn wheeled on him, saying, "And you, do you find this humorous?"

"Oh no sir, not in the slightest." Sirius said, containing a grin behind his hand.

"Hmph." Slughorn adjusted his vest, pompously. "Now class, if you are finished having a hoot about Mr. Potter's jokes, I will teach you this potion:"

And that's when it dawned on me.

"This potion is called the 'Angry Potion' for obvious reasons," Half of the class ahhed while the other half was still confused. Slughorn continued on, "It releases a smell that makes anyone within 3 feet of the potion extremely angry."

At that moment, the whole class understood. Also, Severus sniffled, and Slughorn wheeled on him, saying, "Do you find this class too simple for yourself? Hmm? You think you can stick your nose in the air like you're royalty?"

"Prince." James said, when Slughorn turned around.

"What was that, Mr. Potter?" He demanded, whipping back around quickly.

"Professor Slughorn!" I stood up from my seat and ran to the potion, putting the cap back on. Instantly, the class cheered for me, which felt pretty good.

"I will not have this nonsense in my... my... my word class, I feel woozy, I—I'm sorry I must simply sit down," And I helped him to his desk chair, where he promptly feel asleep.

Looking up, I realized the whole class was looking at me curiously. I felt the gaze of thirty students and let me tell you, what a powerful gaze that is. Stuttering a bit, I managed to get out, "Er... free p-period. Just, um, yeah, don't g-go in the halls or we'll get in trouble with Filch just er, st-stay here."

And then the eyes were off me and I caught my breath and the class around me got louder as more people began chatting and I sat down at my desk, copying down all of Slughorn's instructions into my notebook.

"Hey," Potter said from above me. I didn't even need to check that it was him. I recognized his voice by now. "Free period, remember? Why are you working?"

I looked past him to the blackboard. "I've got to get ahead of he curb," I said without looking up.

"Ah, I see. This is how you get the good grades, huh?" I could hear his smile in his voice. Finally, I looked up.

"You've found me out." I pretended to look sheepish. He laughed at that.

"Well, I like a smart bird. How about we go on a date sometime?"

"Well, I like a smart bloke, so how about not?" I threw back without pause.

"Ooh. Got me there," He agreed, climbing over the row of desks and taking a spot beside me. With his wand, he brought his things to the desk he sat in now, and began writing.

"What are you doing?" I asked, watching as he wrote the date at the top of his page in neat but tight writing. He looked up at me and smiled warmly.

"Becoming a smart bloke. So, how about that date?"

Author's Note: Wow! I'm so happy with all the reviews I got last chapter, they were all so positive and encouraging! Thanks so much for reading and hopefully, you take the time to review for me!

Love you all,

-Taylor