Chapter Two – Another Adventure With Amortentia

It started immediately. As I made my way into the Great Hall and toward the Gryffindor table for breakfast, I heard a cackling overhead. Peeves was doing loop-de-loops around me, giggling madly.

"Potter's got a datey-date!" the annoying spirit crowed. "With Lily-flower, his life-long love!"

Normally I wouldn't let Peeves bother me, but when I glanced at the Gryffindor table, I saw Lily hiding her face in embarrassment. I didn't know whether she was embarrassed because of Peeves or because of me, but it made me angry.

"Sod off," I hissed, batting him out of the way.

He zoomed to a stop in front of me and blew a loud raspberry. "She's not as pretty as the last girl you snogged," he announced loud enough for the entire hall to understand, "but I hear she's good at love potions." He sniggered and stuck out his tongue; I pulled out my wand, but he turned and dashed away.

Unfortunately for him, he flew right into Remus, who flicked his wand and cast a silent spell. A large biscuit flew straight from a nearby sixth-year's hands into the poltergeist's mouth, and he zipped away, sputtering under his breath.

"Thanks," I whispered as I followed Remus to the table and sat down. He asked me what was going on, but I ignored him and all the other looks I was getting as I piled up my plate. I glanced down the table at Lily and caught her eye. She shook her head ruefully, as if to say, "Oh well," and I felt like things might be all right after all.

I grinned and turned back to Remus as he began telling me about his plans with his Hufflepuff. Peter soon joined us, and although they both asked me what I had going for the day, I refused to answer, knowing someone had changed my flowers. As we were leaving, Sirius finally showed up, eyes red and weeping from the sneezewort. I handed him the bacon and toast I had promised, and he grudgingly thanked me as we headed toward the stairs.

As Peter made his way to the library for a free period, the rest of us hurried to the dungeons. Our first class was Potions, which on any other day was a perfectly bearable class. Today, however, Slughorn had decided to review love potions, and more importantly, their antidotes, for N.E.W.T.s. He seemed to think it was an appropriate topic for the day, as well as a good way to warn the class about the dire effects of Amortentia.

"For example, take Mr. Potter here," he began, walking over to the table I shared with Sirius and clapping me on the back. "Completely felled by a powerful love potion last year, he spent the entire night stumbling around the castle trying to make love to each object of his affection."

I let my head fall to the table as everyone around me began to snigger. Oblivious to the class's amusement as well as my own embarrassment, Slughorn barreled on, describing how I had ended up sobbing in the Potions classroom while Ms. Evans, the brilliant and responsible Gryffindor prefect, had desperately brewed the antidote just in the knick of time.

"Which brings me to the assignment for today: you are to brew the antidote for Amortentia using page 241 in your textbook. We will then test each one to see if it works properly."

A Ravenclaw hand shot up. "And how are we going to do that, sir?" she asked, although it seemed pretty obvious to me. In front of us, Remus turned and gave me a look that was both amused and panicked.

Slughorn indicated a large cauldron behind him. The bubbling liquid had a soft pearly sheen, and spirals were rising from the steam. "By taking a sip of Amortentia first, of course," he replied. There was a stunned silence, which he ignored as he continued. "After a few moments, we will then administer your antidote, and if you have brewed it correctly, the unrequited infatuation of the Amortentia should wear off immediately."

Sirius whooped; the rest of the class groaned. Remus looked skeptical, and when I glanced over at Lily, she rolled her eyes. I grinned, remembering our experience the previous year a bit more fondly than I should have—that is, until Slughorn came over and ruined the feeling once more.

"Mr. Potter," he said, slapping me on the shoulder again. "I'm sorry I had to put you on stage like that, but I hope you would want others to learn from your mistake."

I frowned at him. "It wasn't exactly my mistake, sir. I was given a bad box of chocolates."

Sirius's shoulders were silently shaking as he began to gather and prepare the ingredients for the antidote. I stepped on his foot under the table and was rewarded with a stifled grunt of pain.

"Whatever happened, it was quite the adventure," said Slughorn, ignoring Sirius. "And I hope you will do your best on the antidote so you can be prepared should it happen again."

Slughorn walked over to where Lily was slicing gurdyroot. "Ms. Evans," he said, loud enough for the entire class to hear, "since you have already demonstrated your ability to brew this potion, perhaps you might walk around and assist the rest of the class."

Lily's eyes widened; she was often held up as a shining example in class, but never exempted from assignments. Sirius snorted as the class turned and watched. Lily shook her head and gave Slughorn a winning smile; she was his favorite, and I was about to see why.

"Thank you, sir," she replied, "but that was a year ago and under stressful circumstances. I'd like to try it under normal conditions and see if I can't do a little better this time."

Slughorn beamed at her. "My dear, your diligence is inspiring. By all means, brew away!"

Glancing around before starting my own potion, I noticed Snape glowering at Lily from the back. I knew they had fallen out at the end of fifth year, but the look he gave her was one of such dislike I frowned. How could he hate her so much, when he had obviously had feelings for her for so long? Snape nodded abruptly to his partner and set out to brew his antidote.

Beside me, Sirius was cheerfully whistling as he chopped up his wiggentree twigs and tossed them into the cauldron. He added some castor oil and stirred it several times counterclockwise. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and when he sat back to let it simmer, I couldn't help but eye him suspiciously.

"You finished that right quick," I pointed out as I tossed in my twigs. "You'd think you'd done it before or something."

"'Course I have," Sirius said, hands behind his head as he pretended to stretch. I'm pretty sure he winked at me as he inclined his head toward Lily. "Evans isn't the only one who can cook."

"What do you—" I started, then stopped and stared. "You had one ready to go. Last year."

"Naturally," he replied, leaning forward to check the steam and add the gurdyroot extract. "I wasn't going to let you wander around like that forever."

"Only until you got out of detention?" I asked, adding the castor oil and stirring six times counterclockwise. In front of us, I could see Remus grinning as he listened in; if I thought I could get away with it, I would have aimed a Jelly Legs Jinx at him.

"And by then Evans had already fixed you." Sirius shook his head. "I missed it. I really wanted to see the look on your face when you realized."

"It was priceless, Black," Lily called from the table beside us.

I glared at her. "Thanks, Lily," I muttered. "I appreciate your support."

"Oh, Potter, you have to admit it—he got you and he got you good."

"That's not what you thought last year," I pointed out, adding the final ingredient to my cauldron. Sirius's potion had begun to change color.

"I can laugh about it now," she said, wandering over to Sirius's cauldron as her own potion steeped. She peeked inside, sniffed a little, and dropped an extra bit of gurdyroot into the cauldron. "I've brewed it too, you know—that should make it a bit stronger."

Sirius looked at the cauldron skeptically. "If you say so, Potions Princess."

I narrowed my eyes at his cauldron as the steam turned the faintest shade of pink; if I didn't know any better, I could have sworn Lily had just sabotaged his potion, and Sirius didn't suspect a thing. She grinned as she headed back to her own table. Remus raised an eyebrow at me before turning to his own cauldron.

"Enjoy the show, Potter," Lily murmured as she walked by. I saw her wand twitch behind her back. "It's going to get interesting very soon."

She suppressed a giggle that confirmed my suspicions. Before I could answer, Slughorn signaled the class for attention. One by one he went around the dungeon and offered everyone a small cup of Amortentia. As their eyes glazed over, he then handed them a sip of their antidote, nodding as each person returned to their normal self with an embarrassed flush and furtive glance around the class.

"Wonder who Snivellus is lusting after?" Sirius whispered as Slughorn waited for Snape's turn to take effect.

"Evans, of course," I whispered back. "He's always watching her, stupid git—even after she dumped him two years ago."

Snape had the familiar glassy-eyed look of the love potion, but for some reason he was staring straight at us. I shifted uncomfortably as Sirius laughed under his breath.

"Or maybe you," he murmured with a fake shudder.

I shuddered for real, for I could imagine nothing worse than Snape falling in love with anyone, potion or not. I breathed a sigh of relief as he sipped the antidote and nodded at Slughorn to continue.

Soon it was Lily's turn, and although I looked away when Lily took the Amortentia, I couldn't help but glance back when I heard her gasp. She stared right at me, eyes bright, and licked her lips in the most seductive manner I had ever seen a girl do. I could feel my face flush and hoped no one noticed. Slughorn coughed to get her attention and handed her a spoonful of the antidote she had brewed. She paled as it took effect, nodded curtly to Professor Slughorn, and looked about as far away from me as she could.

I was next, and having experienced the effects once already, I reluctantly took Slughorn's potion and held it to my lips. I smelled vanilla, lavender, and fresh bread. Ignoring it, I swallowed the potion, closing my eyes as the familiar sense of vertigo—literally falling in love—swept over me and wiped away all rational thought. Slughorn quickly handed me the antidote, and I felt the burning infatuation drain from me, replaced by a hollow, embarrassed emptiness instead. I shook my head and shrugged ruefully; Slughorn gave me a pleased nod and handed Sirius his dose of Amortentia.

The effect was instantaneous: Sirius's face went slack and he gazed up at Slughorn with a look of complete adoration. Several people laughed to guess the object of Sirius's affection. Remus gave me a questioning look, but shaking my head in denial, I turned toward Lily, who was hiding a smirk.

"You didn't," I mouthed.

She winked. "Just wait," she whispered back.

Sirius had managed to get out some sort of flowery compliment that had the class sniggering again. Slughorn frowned and handed him a ladleful of the antidote. "Drink up, Mr. Black. We'll have none of that here."

"Yes, sir," simpered Sirius. It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud. Sirius drank the antidote, but the stupid look on his face did not go away. Instead, he flushed and batted his eyes at Slughorn.

"Thank you, sir," he whispered seductively. "That was delicious. Perhaps we could share a bottle over dinner?"

I couldn't help it: I burst out laughing along with half the class. Sirius glared at me, and I held up my hands in defense. Remus had buried his head in his hands, he was laughing so hard.

"I must say," frowned Slughorn, "that is the most inappropriate proposition I have ever received from a student, Mr. Black. Are you quite sure you brewed the antidote correctly?" He leaned over the cauldron and sniffed. Dipping his index finger into the pinkish liquid and tasting it on his tongue, he shook his head. "Too much gurdyroot only increases the infatuation. You'll need a new batch."

Lily was there with a vial of her antidote. "Here, he can have some of mine, Professor. It worked just fine."

"Thank you, Ms. Evans," Slughorn murmured, handing Sirius the vial. Sirius frowned, as if trying to remember something. Lily winked at him and returned to her table. I wanted to pump her hand for pulling it off, but that would certainly give it away. As it was, it was sort of fun to share a secret with her.

Sirius went pale as the antidote released him, then suddenly clapped his hand over his mouth, turned, and ran from the classroom as we once again erupted in laughter. Slughorn walked away, shaking his head and muttering to himself.

The rest of the class passed the test without incident. Remus was the last to go and turned red to the tips of his ears. I figured he was probably thinking about Elizabeth, his Hufflepuff girlfriend, but he hurried away after class so fast I didn't have a chance to ask him.

"I can't believe you did that," I whispered to Lily as I caught up with her in the corridor instead. I touched her shoulder, and she seemed to jump before she relaxed and grinned at me.

"I know, but I couldn't resist. It was too good an opportunity to pass up."

"You broke the truce," I pointed out as we walked together. Her smile faltered. She stopped so suddenly I almost bumped into her, but she just stared at me, an odd look in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, frowning. "I won't tell him."

I took a few steps closer, thinking she was going to be sick, but she stepped backwards, shaking her head. Her hair settled around her shoulders, and I was suddenly struck by a familiar scent: vanilla, laced with lavender. I stared at her, speechless, and she stared back, equally stunned. Students passed around us, oblivious to what was happening in this private moment that was ours and ours alone. I wasn't sure what it was, but I couldn't move and didn't want it to end.

"Er, I have to go," Lily finally stuttered. "Divination."

"Oh, yeah," I managed. "Arithmancy."

She turned abruptly and walked the other way, which was the opposite direction of the Divination Tower. I just stood there and watched her leave, my heart thumping so loudly I was sure everyone could hear it.

"Are we still on for lunch?" I finally called, hoping my voice didn't crack.

She turned, somehow perfectly composed, and smiled. "Of course. See you then."

I nodded and stood there a bit longer. I dimly heard Sirius come up behind me. "See you when?" he asked. He looked a bit peaky and confused, but otherwise okay.

"None of your damn business," I replied as I headed toward the Arithmancy classroom. "I don't need any more sneezewort ruining my Valentine's Day."

"Hey!" he protested. "Don't you trust me?"

"Absolutely not," I tossed over my shoulder.

"I'm not the one who turned his best mate onto a professor," Sirius called.

"Neither am I!" I yelled back. "I had nothing to do with it." I left him standing there, puzzling it out, and hurried to my next class, wishing it was time for lunch.

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End Notes:

Another thanks to my beta, Elene/Coolcatelly! And I hope you know which bit is yours, Natalie. ;)