Disclaimer: All characters belong solely to JK Rowling. If you recognize a scene or a name, it is hers.

Chapter Six: Potions

Remus woke up the next morning, the feeling of excitement still present. He could barely believe such a thing. Could he possibly have feelings for the boy who his best friends detested above all others?

He shoved the thought from his mind. No, it wasn't possible. He was just… looking forward to Potions class? When had he ever wanted to go to this class? But today would be different. He only dreaded the class because of his friends' constant pranks. Today, he would be far away from their idiocy. As long as he got to class separate of his friends.

The werewolf threw his clothes on, yelling for the others to get up. As James started pulling himself out of bed, Remus was already out the door. He went to breakfast alone, and by the time the others joined him, he had already finished and was reading ahead in preparation for class.

He made a commitment to prove to Snape his worth in potions. A small voice in the back of his head was plaguing him, with constant references to his desire to work with the Slytherin. But that voice was kept in check easily enough by the other Marauders' plans to yet again disrupt the class.

At the bell, Remus grabbed his bag and left, well ahead of the other three. He heard one of them, Sirius probably, yelling for him to slow down, but kept on as if he hadn't heard. He would not be talked out of this. He was standing outside the dungeon classroom for close to two minutes, accompanied only by Lily Evans and a Slytherin girl who he did not know, before Professor Slughorn arrived, accompanied by a few other Slytherins. Snape was not in the group.

Lily gave Remus a strange look, but after determining that he was not going inside yet, went into class past him. Snape arrived next, and looked surprised to see Remus waiting. Without a word, the latter opened the door and strode to the far side of the room, far from where he knew the other Marauders would be; they never strayed away from the door, in order to ensure their escape seconds after they were dismissed.

Setting his bag down, Remus looked up to see if the Slytherin had followed. He had, but at a distance. He still looked disturbed at the idea of working with a Marauder, even if Remus had never personally caused him harm. With the one exception, of course, but that was no fault of his own.

The two had already set up their ingredients and supplies by the time the rest of the class had come in. James, Sirius, and Peter came in last, as was usual, seconds before the bell. The two dark-haired boys sat immediately at the open cauldron at the back of class. Peter looked around for a second, and spotted Remus quickly, a scandalized look on his face. Remus felt guilty as he watched his friend sulk over toward Lily Evans, the only person left to partner with. After a quick discussion, Peter sat down gingerly, as if he was afraid Evans would hex him. He had never worked with anyone except Remus in potions.

Slughorn walked up to the front of class, and everyone got quiet. Well, almost everyone, as James and Sirius kept up their conversation. "Today, we're going to brew a particularly difficult potion. It's name is, Felix Felicis, but does anyone know what else it is called?" Three hands were raised: Remus', Severus', and Lily Evans. "Miss Evans?"

"It is also known as Liquid Luck."

"Excellent! Five points to Gryffindor. The list of ingredients are on the board," the professor waved his wand and the list appeared, "as well as on page 392 of Advanced Potion Making. You will work on this for the next few weeks, so pair up with someone you can work well with. You may begin."

At this last warning, the Potions Professor glanced toward the unexpected Gryffindor/Slytherin pairing. This was something with literally had only happened once in his ten years of teaching, and that was normally Snape and Evans, never any other. The boys glanced at one another, and flipped to the correct page in their books without a word to one another, ignoring the surprised (and horrified, in Peter's case) looks their classmates and teacher were giving them.

"You go get the ingredients. I'll get the cauldron set up." The Slytherin was already prodding the base of the cauldron with his wand.

Remus rose and headed off toward the supply cabinet, all but ignoring the pointed glares he was getting from Peter. He met Sirius at the cupboard, and his expression matched Peter's.

"Uh, Remus, mate, what the bloody hell are you doing? Why work with the greasy git? Why aren't you working with Pete? What the hell's going on?"

"Calm down, Sirius. Honestly. I ran into Snape in the library yesterday when I went to look for Peter. And he mocked my potions ability, so I challenged him to work with me so I could prove otherwise. Calm down, mate."

"You realize, Moony, this potion takes six weeks to brew? Six weeks of Snivellus. You will not be able to change partners until then. You prepared for that, mate?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Am I prepared to get an Outstanding on a potion for once because you two aren't distracting me nonstop? Yes. And if that means pairing with Snape, so be it. And anyway, he's not so bad. You two ever even talk to the guy?" Sirius looked scandalized. "I thought not. So, are you here for ingredients, or just to scold me?" He smirked at his friend's expression.

"Both, Remy. Both. Think about this! You're… You're working with Snivelly for SIX WEEKS, Moony! This is Snivelly we're talking about. Moony, listen to me. You're losing your mind! Think about it: Six weeks of Snivellus-future Death Eater and greasy git-Snape!"

Remus sighed and grabbed the ingredients listed in the book. He turned to leave and saw, to his horror, that Snape had followed him to the supply cupboard. The Slytherin was leaving in a hurry, and it was clear from the fact that he was carrying nothing back to their table, that he had heard everything.

Cursing Sirius under his breath, Remus carried their supplies back to the table. "Sorry about him. He's… Just ignore him. He's being a real prat." The werewolf looked toward the other boy and saw him staring into the still-empty cauldron.

"Just go work with Pettigrew. I'll work with Evans. I'll take your word for it." His eyes never left the empty cauldron.

"Severus, just ignore him. I'm sorry that he… he's being a git." The Slytherin looked up at Remus, surprised at the use of his first name, but the surprise was barely visible past the glare he was fixing the Gryffindor with. But Remus, who was determined to work with Snape on this, met his gaze unflinching. Slowly, the glare disappeared, to be replaced by a passive, uncaring façade. A mask which Remus could easily see through, as he had just seen the disappointment the Slytherin felt at the possible change of partners.

At the end of class, the two put a few different wards over their potion to make sure no one could disturb the contents. It was at a tricky stage, and they would be returning at lunch to add the next ingredients. They doubted anyone else had reached this stage, so they would be alone in returning.

As Remus picked up his bag and prepared to leave, a thought struck him. "Severus. Wait a second. You coming back at the beginning or end of lunch period?" Snape's raise of his eyebrows was expected, but it slightly annoyed Remus. "So we can come at the same time."

"Come at the end. It'll only take about five minutes to add the beetle wings."

"Alright. See you then!" Remus smiled at the Slytherin and turned away, headed to where his three friends were waiting for him, never seeing the shock etched in the other boy's features.

"What the bloody hell did you do that to me for?" Peter was beyond angry. Remus had never seen the smaller boy look as livid as he did now. "Evans is a bloody nightmare! A real menace! She's expecting me to come back during the damn lunch period! What the hell is wrong with her?"

"Relax, Pete. I'm going back during lunch too. We're going at the end, just come along with us."

Sirius gave his friend a dark look. "We?"

"Yes, we. Me and Severus."

Sirius blanched at the use of the Slytherin's name. "Severus? What the bloody hell is the matter with you? Since when'd you call him Severus? You don't say Snivellus, and now you don't even say Snape? What's going on, Remus, and if you say nothing, I swear I'll hex you on the spot."

"Calm down, Siri. I'm working with him, I might as well get on a first name basis. Besides, he's really not that bad of a guy." James stared at him. "Really, Prongs, he's not. And he's a bloody genius!"

By this time, the four had made it to the hall, and were seated at their normal place at the end of the Gryffindor table. All four were eagerly piling food onto their plate.

"Hey, Pettigrew!" The voice of Lily Evans reached them from a bit down the table. Peter looked up, his angry features suddenly fearful. "Meet me in the potions room in five minutes. We've got to add the doxy eggs, and it's crucial they're added at exactly the right time. Five minutes." Lily got up and left the hall.

"Doxy eggs? What the hell are Doxy eggs?" Peter whispered to Remus.

"A Doxy is kind of like a pixie, but it typically is found only in abandoned houses and places like that. The eggs are used to make potions. You guys are a bit behind me, we've got to add the beetle wings in ten minutes."

"We again? Really, Remus. What are you, friends now all of a sudden?"

"Wow, Sirius. Grow up. Jamie, could you talk some sense into our dear Padfoot? He's really losing it." Remus rose, slightly annoyed at his friends' reactions and, grabbing his bag, left the hall. Peter followed him, earning him a surprised look from Remus.

"If I don't go, Evans would be out for my blood."

"Got it." They continued in silence, and met up with their partners inside the classroom. Snape looked as if he hadn't even left the room.

"Hey. You haven't added them yet, have you?"

The Slytherin looked up, surprised that not only had Remus come, but he was early. Fifteen minutes early.

"I said the last five minutes. Of course I haven't."

Remus grinned. "Just kidding. If you had, that'd be blue, not green." Snape stared at him, unable to mask the blatant shock at the Gryffindor's knowledge of this. "I can read, you know." With a sigh, the werewolf pointed to the words on Snape's open textbook. He read aloud for emphasis, "The potion, if brewed correctly to this point, will be a teal green. You then add an eighth of a teaspoon of Geraniam Beetle Wings to the potion, and stir counterclockwise five times. The potion will turn a cerulean blue..."

"At least we know you can, in fact, read," the Slytherin muttered darkly. Remus laughed at this, earning him another glare.

The two sat in silence, awaiting the time to add the beetle wings and listening to the arguing of the two other occupants of the dungeon classroom. Remus sighed and got to his feet. He strode over to where Peter and Lily were working, or more accurately, fighting. "Pete, just do what she says. That way, if it explodes, it's her fault."

Lily glared at Remus, but as he was smirking at his friend, she smiled. "You just know that I know what I'm talking about, that's all." Remus nodded at her, and Peter glared at him.

Leaning over to his friend, Remus whispered, "Add a pinch of Sea Salt. Just a pinch. You'll get the right reaction. And you'll surprise her. I'm going to go add the beetle wings. Just do it and make sure she sees you. She'll try to stop you, but do it anyway. It'll all go right. It's supposed to be turning green, and it's not. Too many Doxy eggs. The salt will counteract with the extra eggs and fix the potion." At Peter's blank stare, he added, "Just do it, okay. It'll set it right."

Peter nodded fervently, and, with a smile toward Lily, Remus went back to his own cauldron, where he was met with a sneer. "Break up the lovers' quarrel, Lupin?"

Remus laughed lightly at this accusation. "If he heard you, Peter would probably hex you for that one. I'm fairly certain I'm next on his list of people to hex for making them work together in the first place. But it should be set right soon." The fight started up again, and Remus watched as Peter threw something into the cauldron. He smiled as the green haze appeared over his friend's cauldron. Lily froze, staring into her corrected potion. "See. Problem solved."

"You knew it was too many Doxy eggs?" The Slytherin sounded stunned.

Biting back a 'Didn't you,' he replied, "Yes. It was causing too much of a chemical reaction. The salt, once added, would counteract with the extra eggs, but as long as it was only a small amount of salt, the silicon within the eggs would remain in the potion. A long as the silicon remains, the potion will be able to work efficiently. The green, while it comes from Doxy eggs, can also come from the salt once it's reacted." Remus paused for breath, and to study the other boy's face. His expression, while still surprised, was contemplative.

"But if he would've added too much salt, it would be green, but the silicon would have dispersed, leaving the potion and creating a mist. There's no mist. How'd he know not to add too much?"

"I told him only a pinch. He's worked with me enough to know how small of an amount a pinch actually is."

After adding the beetle wings, and stirring the potion, the two set up wards again. They left the dungeon together and, as lunch period was over, the two made to separate at the staircase, one up toward Gryffindor Tower, the other down toward the Slytherin Dungeon.

Snape called out for Remus to wait a minute. "Hey… umm… Could you… Could you meet me in the library later?" Remus gave the Slytherin a surprised look. "I've got a few ideas of strengthening the potion. It may not work, so I don't want to do it without telling you first. I mean, since it's your grade too."

"Yeah! Yeah, sure. How's right after dinner work for you?"

"That works. See you then."

"Yeah. See you!"

And with that, the two separated. Remus met with his friends in the common room, and the four worked on their still abundant transfiguration homework. About an hour later, a half hour before dinner, Sirius departed for his daily detention. The others continued their homework, and Remus counted down the minutes before dinner.

How'd you like it? Well, to be honest, I've never written a chapter in only an hour, so just let me know if there are any mistakes. Next chapter: Remus and Severus meet for their potions discussion.

Any ideas, feel free to let me know. Most ideas will be used at some point, just send them and I will see what I can do. xD