a/n: I'm very sorry that I did not update for the past month but here's the next chapter! I just had some difficulties because of the tight schedule (that will be tighter next year). Anyway, please just enjoy what I have to offer, arigatou!

To my loyal readers, I would like to thank you for your patience. I won't mention you all because I don't like anyone left out. I think you all know who you are, right? This chapter is dedicated to you! And also to the persons whom I will call "Christopher Summerwind" and "Jeanne Shou". Thank you for the inspiration!

CHAPTER 20: DIFFERENT KINDS OF ABUSE

Lily arrived in the dungeons, seeing the mess. Almost all students were throwing pieces of paper to each other. To silence everyone, Lily blasted a bottle of slightly explosive potion resting on the top of Slughorn's table. Everyone resumed to their proper seats.

"So, good afternoon everyone," she greeted with a small smile. "My name is Lily Evans and I'll be your temporary student teacher for the day."

Bingo. Christopher raised his hand. "Where did he go?" he asked.

"He said that he would go to St. Mungo's for a checkup today," the red-haired said. "So, we will start." She summoned the book at the side of the table and said, "Second Level Antidotes. Can anyone define it?"

No one raised a hand. No one except Jeanne who was waving her hand desperately and Christopher, who raised his hand with elbows on the table. "Mr. Summerwind."

"Second Level Antidotes are used for more critical poison cases. It is not only to stop Second Level Poisons but also to stop poisons that stayed in a person's body longer than the advised time for it to be cured," the boy explained.

"…That was taken word for word in the Guidelines for Advanced Potion Making," interrupted Jeanne. "Second Level Antidotes are merely antidotes that do not use bezoar. That means they are more complicated to do and can become a poison too if the procedures are not followed correctly."
"Good for the both of you," Lily replied, her smile twitching at one side. "This is going to be hard," she thought as she saw Jeanne roll her eyes for giving Christopher a good remark. "Five points for Ravenclaw and Gryffindor."

Minutes later, after Lily's hip lecture, they started the practical application. Lily asked them to draw lots and Eros did his job. He automatically made the pair the pair.

"You have an hour to finish the potion," Lily said, setting Slughorn's giant hourglass into motion by turning it upside-down. "Your grades will be dependent on the results of the potion…" she removed the silk cover of a giant box in the middle of the table, "… to these hamsters (hamster abuse!)."

Everyone gasped. "Why on earth did he think of testing the antidotes to these poor creatures?" Lily thought. But she started to speak, anyway. "Professor Slughorn fed the animals with simple poisons that were supposed to be cured after three hours. However, they were not cured up to this time, which serves a total of nine hours." She covered the box again. "Think people, think!"

The student teacher went around the dungeon, looking at the students. "If it has been nine hours… 9 minus 3…" she caught from one of the students.

But the one she was looking at was the pair-up.

"I told you, if it's six hours, there should be more red-tailed stinghead than the blue one," Jeanne argued.

"Then try to compute this one yourself," Christopher said, slamming his notebook on top of the table.

"Oh my, oh my," Lily whispered to herself. "Eros, how were they able to unite in song numbers when they cannot do this without shaking their heads off?"

"Lily, there is a difference between good friends, bad rivals, and bad acquaintances," the winged god replied. "And they are part of the first one. Jeanne has this high-pride profile and she doesn't want to be the second, always the first. Christopher's just riding on with her antics. But he endures the girl's insults. That is called martyrdom."

Lily rubbed her temple. "Good luck to them," she said. "Are you ready, Eros?"

"Ready as you are, my dear matchmaker."

"Abile ueroa," Lily muttered under her breath, pointing at the giant hourglass. The hourglass sped up and the last grain fell down.

"Time's up!" she shouted, sending sparks. Everyone started to shiver as Lily summoned the grading parchments from each of the students. Summon ing her most frightening stare, Lily removed the chest cover once again and started to call names care of lot-drawing.

"Ace and Rhoe," she said.

The two students sporting a large burn on each of their cheek went in front, carrying a yellow potion that smelled like pus. That certainly wasn't a Second Level Antidote.

Lily took out a hamster and forcefully but gently fed the animal. Voila! It was still alive! Thanks to Eros.

"Good. 90 percent," Lily remarked. "Do something about the smell. Your patient would rather die than to drink your potion, no offense," she added with a joking smile.

Names were called but the finale was what everyone was watching out for. Jeanne and Christopher were always the best and when someone receives a hundred, they were likely to get a hundred plus one.

"Summwerwind and Shou?" Lily called out, taking out the last hamster, the one likely to be alive or killed.

The two went in front, Jeanne apparently disgusted that she was second to Christopher's name. They were carrying the perfect blue potion that Lily took to feed the hamster.

Everyone waited… and waited… and waited. The hamster suddenly started to shake and…

Some of the girls closed their eyes. "Poor creature!" one of them wailed, almost fainting on the arms of Matthew.

"It's alive," Lily said in a sad voice. "I'll give you 75 percent."

"But…" Jeanne tried to argue.

"I should have given you something higher than that but I have seen that there was no teamwork between the two of you," Lily said in a sad voice. "If you have any arguments, talk to me later on."

Standing up, Lily took the potion, placed it on one side of the scale and drops of some unknown liquid in the other side. "Everyone sit down. You should know that the time it takes to do…" she started in her discussion.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Jeanne," Christopher called out to the girl in front of him who started to walk briskly.

"Leave me alone, Christopher," she said, her voice different in tone. "I don't like to talk to you… maybe not now."

"Jeanne, don't feel bad about it," Christopher said. "It's not your fault. It's mine." He immediately placed his arms around Jeanne, who started to cry.

Lily's observation was stopped abruptly when she felt something behind her back. "Watching other students, huh, Evans?"

Lily's eyebrow twitched. "And what are you doing nosing around, Potter?" she asked, her finger landing on James' nose as she turned around. "Ew, I didn't know that you're just insecure with Snape's face, that's why you kept on picking on him because of his nose."

"Stop mocking me, Evans. You're just trying to change the top…" he stopped when a sudden breeze made a paper fly away.

"Whatever," Lily said. When she turned back to the romantic scene, she found out that the two disappeared.

"Stupid Potter… why do you always have to mingle in my affairs?" she muttered to herself.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Is the potion ready?" Helena asked Erida's spy.

The girl placed her stirrer down. "Patience, patience. It will just be three days before we can put Argua's fairy wing powder. Then after that, the potion's ready to go!"

"Good," Helena replied. "That is before Easter, am I right?"

"What are you planning?" the spy asked.

"I will just give Easter eggs to my dear Matthew. That will surely get his heart," she added with a smirk, looking at the potion that started to emit hot pink sparks.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Tomorrow, Sirius Black, I'll kill you for sure!" Kristanna said, tearing the guy's hair.

"I know, I know, Kris…"

"And don't call me Kris!" she added, pointing a finger to Sirius. "If I know better, I should have said 'no' to you from the start! That Auriga… no… the two of you… are getting into my nerves! A vein's popped out of my forehead!" she complained, pointing at the now-visible greenish line on her forehead.

"Please don't do this to me," Sirius said, running his hands through his hair.

"I should be the one saying that," Kristanna replied, shaking her head.

And then she left…

Meanwhile, Erida and her spy were watching the scene from the small window in the forbidden girls' bathroom that was currently noisy and wet because of the cries of Moaning Myrtle. Anyway, enough of the bathroom.

"Hmm… poor Sirius. He's really a fish in hot water now, right?" the spy asked.

"He sure is. But as long as he could not say what he wants to say to Auriga, nothing will happen to the two of them. The crystal of love will die, eventually," Erida replied.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It what… DIES?" Lily repeated, blowing the birds flying off course.

Eros nodded sadly. "That's why we have to work everything out. Even though my mother waters the crystals everyday, it deteriorates when the affection is off."

Eros took out Sirius' and Kristanna's crystal. Lily looked at it worryingly. The core of the pure crystal was stained by a black spot, getting larger by a nano per second. The center of the crystal also has cracks on it.

"The same goes with Matthew's and Melissa's," Eros added.

"And if it dies?"

"They will never be happy. Not ever," he pressed on.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"My dear, you're having a lost cause," a curly-haired girl told Jeanne.

"Whatever, Marielle, you're ruining me more," Jeanne replied.

"Why don't you just admit that you're envious that Christopher is better than you," her friend asked.

That made Jeanne stop walking. She looked the other way and her eyes widened. "I'm not… I'm not envious…" she managed to say. She walked out after that.

Danicia continued to follow Jeanne, carrying a small crystal on her hand. "You have to put this anywhere in the body of Jeanne," Aphrodite's voice reminded her. "We need to know her location in the Easter holidays."

"Right time," she whispered. She purposely ran like crazy in front of Jeanne, knocking her down in the process.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you," Danicia explained, secretly putting the crystal on Jeanne's palm.

"It's okay," she replied, standing up. "Sorry, I have to go now."

"Bye." Danicia turned around and smiled slyly. "Mission accomplished."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aphrodite paced back and forth on her small island platform, folding and rubbing her hands nervously.

"Dear goddess, the crystal has been placed on prospect's body," an employee reported.

Aphrodite sighed in relief. "Tell me the location of her home," she told them. "And connect me to our Hogwarts accomplice. We'll have to tell them where the lovebirds will be this holiday."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Have you done it?" Lily asked. She was signing up on the list of the one who will go home for the holidays.

Danicia nodded. "I have sent an owl to your mother, telling her that you'll go to our place in the holidays."

"How about you?" Lily asked back.

"Told Kristanna to tell them that I'll stay in hers," she answered.

"She's not suspicious?"

"Doesn't care at all but a yes," Danicia said as she placed her signature beside her name. "She is still under tantrum because of Black."

"And I think we should do something about it," Lily said with a sad smile.

The portrait door opened and in came Christopher. "Oh hello there, Miss Evans," he greeted sadly.

"Hello. Why the face?" she asked. "Is it because of the mark I gave you earlier?"

"Well, no. not really," he said.

Lily smiled at him. "Maybe it's not you who has the problem. It's Jeanne, right? She's bitter about it."

"Well, yes. She's beginning to get pessimistic lately."

"Oh my. Anyway, you're also out for the Easter holidays, right?" Lily asked, eyeing him as he put his name on the list.

"Well, yeah," he replied. "Anyway, can I use the piano? I maybe disturbing you if you're doing something important."

"No problem, go ahead," Lily said. "Dani, let's go."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So, you're really going, huh?" Kristanna asked as she closed her book on the Gryffindor long table in the Great Hall.

Lily nodded at her. "So please do tell Danicia's parents that she's with you," she pleaded.

"Look, Miss Lily Evans. I don't know what you're doing and I am not interested to know…" Kristanna said with her cat-look. After moments of tension, she smiled softly. "But I am going to help my friend in any way I can." Lily hugged her but she stopped her by adding, "As long as it's not near anything evil… or Black."

The three had a group hug but as Professor McGonagall called out the ones who will go to Hogsmeade for the train back to London, they broke off and started to drag their small packages away.

As they exited the Great Hall, they saw a flash of blue light and McGonagall running back to the Great Hall shouting, "Detention, Black! Detention, Centauri! And you too, Spencer!"

"Not again!" Danicia and Lily chorused, shaking their heads.

On the train…

"So, where do they live?" Lily asked Eros as she forced the Chocolate Frog in her mouth.

"According to the information sent by the crystal Danicia planted in Jeanne, they live in Nailsea."

"So, we have to use London Paddington," Danicia said, taking her eyes away from her book.

Lily sighed. "Can't you just zap us then and there?"

"No. it's too risky because Erida would know if we went there using magical means," Eros replied. "And I mean, 'god magic' means," he added. "But your accommodation is ready," he said with a wink.

Lily, Danicia and Eros got interrupted when they heard soft tapping on their window. It turned out to be an owl.

"Oh, sorry," Lily said, opening the window and snatching the snowy owl. "How cute you are!" she exclaimed. She took the scrolled piece of paper from its leg and let it fly again.

Dear Green Apple,

I really wanted to meet you in Hogsmeade this holiday weekend. However, if you are off for the holidays, I'll understand. Just give me a return owl from the place where you'll be staying so that I could send to you my Easter gift.

I'll wait!

Raven

"Bad luck," Danicia said, peeping on the letter.

"Why?" Eros asked. With a swift snap of his fingers, the letter flew to his hand.

"Hey! That's unfair!" Lily shouted, trying to get the letter.

"Dear Green Apple…" he started loudly. "This is not what is planned," he thought, shaking his head a little.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Before you enjoy reading that, can I have it back?" she asked in a commanding voice.

"Uh, of course, my dear. So where were we?" he asked the two.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Everything's prepared, Helena," the spy said, showing a vial with a violent pink liquid. She shook the bottle and it bubbled up.

The recipient took the vial and proceeded to her dormitory room. "And now, for the final touch," she said, opening the package of chocolate Easter eggs.

"A drop is enough to take his heart," Helena said in a singsong voice. She used her potion dropper to poison each of the Easter eggs that smoked each drop, making her laugh like the evil witches of fairytales.

Her laughing ended when someone knocked at the door. "I'm glad you let me in," Melissa said, going to her own bed. She coughed when she accidentally sniffed the Dianca scent. "What's that?"

"The hell you care," the girl replied bitterly.

Melissa just rolled her eyes coolly. "I also have no interest to know," she replied with equal tone. She started to read a book on flat stomach.

There was a loud tapping on the window and Helena opened it. Her gray owl with yellow scary eyes perched on her bed that was slightly draped with translucent blue fabric.

"You know where to bring this, Brigite," Helena said in a happy tone. Melissa gulped; for one moment, she thought that the girl looked at her with a smirk before releasing her owl, carrying her package.

a/n: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, everyone. Comments? Suggestions? Violent reactions? Just give a review for a clarification.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with one of the richest women in the world, J.K. Rowling. Anyway, if I do own even a quarter of HP, I would have been rich, ayt?