A/N: Well, here's a new story that I have been planning to write for quite some time. Now that Their Time of Need is done, I figure I'll start writing this one, and continue Pursuing Lily Evans, so it's still two stories at once. Those reading PLE, I'm having trouble writing this next chapter, but expect an update in a day or two. I'll never forget about that story. And those awaiting the sequel to Their Time of Need, I'll post it most likely when Pursuing Lily Evans is done, as to mantain the 'two stories at a time.'
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Lily Evans sat with her fingers lightly drumming the table. She was in Potions, and Professor Slughorn had just finished telling the class about a concoction that could cure illnesses.
The big man before her patted his belly as he looked around the room. "Alright, we'll have Potter and Fairbanks, Snape and Lupin, Evans and Black…" He continued listing the assigned partners until everyone in the room had been paired. "Alright, off you go."
"So Lily-Pad; looks like we're partners for potions today." Sirius sang, grinning at the redheaded, fiery tempered girl before him.
"Mm…" Lily mumbled distractedly, squinting her penetrating green eyes to look at something intently.
"LILY EVANS!" Sirius barked, "Are you staring at James' rump again?"
That shook Lily out of her revere. She upturned her head to look at the handsome figure before her in disgust, his dark hair sweeping across his face.
"His what?" She hissed.
"You know? His arse, butt, bootay…"
"That is the single most disgusting thing I have ever heard anyone say." Lily snapped, slamming her book shut.
"Then what were you looking at?" Sirius asked gleefully, clearly enjoying tormenting her.
"The directions on the board." Lily said defiantly, placing her hands on the table and heaving herself to her feet. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get the ingredients for our potion."
Sirius shook his head sadly at James who was looking hopeful at the prospect of Lily staring at his 'rump.'
James had liked Lily for quite some time, first year in fact. The feeling was not mutual. No one could see why she didn't have feelings for him…feelings besides hate and annoyance. James was handsome with his untidy hair and his wire rimmed spectacles. He had a nice build, years of quidditch to thank for that.
He could get almost any girl he wanted. Any girl except Lily. She was rather short, at least compared to James who towered above her, and had these emerald eyes that were easy to get lost in. She had a temper, true, especially when it came to James or another one of the Marauders, but her hair was equally as fiery.
Lily strode over to the cupboard full of supplies with her cauldron and began filling it with the required ingredients. When she finished filling it, she spun around to find Sirius blocking her from getting past.
"Why won't you give him a chance?" Sirius questioned, leaning against the cupboard.
"I'm not having this conversation again, Black." Lily groaned as the cauldron began to slip from her grasp. "Now move."
Sirius shook his head, "No can do unless you give me a proper answer." He stuffed his hands in his pockets to prove that he was going to get comfortable.
"Sirius!" Lily cried, turning red from trying to stop the cauldron from falling.
"Answer." Sirius said sternly. "Or I won't move."
Lily sighed and narrowed her eyes, "You asked for it, Black."
"Wha-?" But Sirius didn't have time to finish, for Lily had adjusted the cauldron in her arms and plowed forward, smacking Sirius right in the middle.
"Oohh…" He mumbled in pain as he clutched his stomach and leaned over.
Lily flipped her hair over her shoulder and set the black, rusty cauldron on the table. She pulled out the ingredients.
"I told you to move." Lily said, smiling as Sirius collapsed onto a seat, his face contorted with pain.
He glared at her and folded his arms across his chest, "You're a beast."
"And you're annoying." Lily retorted, taking out a knife and sticking it in a weird fungus.
"And you're annoying." Sirius said, mimicking her voice and narrowing his eyes even more.
"Help." Lily said, shoving a black seed into his chest.
Sirius moved the cauldron more to the middle of the table, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"You'd know if you had listened," Lily said, giving him a taunting smile.
"Okay." Sirius said, "I see what you're trying to do."
"I don't even know what I'm trying to do." Lily moaned, "What are you talking about?"
"You're trying to make me feel stupid." Sirius said, "You're putting me on the guilt trip so I'll apologize. But I have news for you. I won't."
"Sirius," Lily spoke in mock wonder, "You don't miss a thing."
Sirius chucked the seed into the potion that Lily had been steadily working on angrily. It sputtered a bit and turned an odd shade of orange.
"SIRIUS!" Lily cried, "What do you think you're doing?"
Sirius didn't answer, he just tore the long, brown plant away from Lily and tossed it in the potion.
"STOP!" Lily shouted as the cauldron began coughing up now green liquid. "You're doing it all wrong!"
"So?" Sirius said, "Slughorn's in love with you anyways, I bet he'll give it a perfect."
"Not when it's green!" Lily cried, biting her lip, "It's supposed to be gold."
"You're a big enough teacher's pet." Sirius said, "Figure a way out of it."
"Oh no." Lily said, "You are the one who ruined it in the first place!"
"You are the one who ruined it in the first place." Sirius said mockingly.
"Stop mimicking me." Lily spat angrily.
"Stop mimicking me."
"STOP SIRIUS!" Lily cried, standing up in a rage of annoyance.
"Stop Sir-" He stopped to find that the cauldron was tipping. "Nice going, Ace." He mumbled as it fell over completely and doused him in the green, thick potion.
Lily burst out in laughter, "HAHA!" She cried loudly, pointing to him. "You look like dying tree."
"Is that so?" Sirius asked, standing up and sending some of the potion splattering to the floor. "Well…you look like a…LOSER."
"You are such an idiot." She shrieked.
"Oho!" Professor Slughorn laughed, causing his middle to jiggle slightly. "What's going on you two?"
"Sirius ruined the potion." Lily said immediately, not caring that the entire class was staring at them.
"And Lily dumped it on me." Sirius retorted, "See?"
Slughorn shook his head, "You two, I believe this is what they call flirting."
"Sick!" Lily cried.
Sirius' eyes widened in shock.
"YOU NASTY MAN!" James said in disgust, standing up. "They were NOT!"
The Professor just laughed heartily, "Alright you two, you can come back later and make a new potion, alright?"
"When?" Lily asked quickly, eager for a new chance to get a passing grade.
"Before dinner." He said, "You can eat with me!"
"Oh goody." Sirius said sourly, smiling painfully wide and giving him the thumbs up.
"I'll see you two later then." Professor Slughorn said, not noticing the angry expressions from both Sirius and James.
---
"Ugh." Sirius said hours later, "Time for that dinner and make-up potion lesson with Loser and Freak."
"You are not a freak." Remus laughed.
"I was talking about Lily and Sluggy." Sirius said, not noting that his friend was joking.
Remus had sandy blonde hair that fell about his rather handsome face. He looked rather weary often, seeing as he had another side to him; a werewolf side. Every full moon he would transform in a place called the Shrieking Shack.
"Were you flirting with her?" James asked suddenly, staring at Sirius in irritation.
"PRONGS!" Sirius said, "You know I would never do that."
"I know…" James said, and he truly did.
Sirius did think that Lily was pretty, but James had feelings for her. Sirius considered her a friend...when they weren't dumping potion on each other, and he didn't think of her as anything more.
"I wish Professor Slughorn would let me redo my potion." Peter said quietly, "I didn't do too well on it.
Peter Pettigrew was a short fellow, and rather plump. Unlike Sirius and James who always got the ladies, Peter was quieter. He was very fond of his three friends, and together they called themselves the Marauders.
The Marauders. They were really well known, and they referred to themselves some of the time as Padfoot, Prongs, Mooney, and Wormtail.
"At least you had a reasonable partner." Remus said bitterly, "Snape is awful."
"What did you expect from Snivellus?" Sirius sneered. Sirius came from a dark wizard family but despised everything about it. Severus Snape was the one boy that the Marauders completely and utterly despised.
"I had a nice partner." James said, "Elizabeth Fairbanks."
"She's quite the looker." Sirius said with a wink, heading for the door.
The four boys were in their common room, scattered around and doing their own things.
James nodded, "She's Lily's friend too."
Sirius turned the handle of the door and descended the stairs, looking around the common room for a patch of red hair.
"Let's make this quick."
Sirius jumped and spun around to find Lily looking particularly tired.
"Okay piss ant." Sirius said in fake cheerfullness.
Lily punched his shoulder, "Prat."
They exited the common room, Sirius keeping a fair distance from Lily, and rubbing his shoulder sorely. "You punch like a man."
"That was my left hand." Lily said, lifting up her head to hold it proudly.
"Yeah…well your left hand hits like a man." Sirius said.
"Maybe you are just a baby." Lily said, rolling her eyes.
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Am not, am not, am not."
Lily swung open the door to the Potions room and let it shut before Sirius could fully enter.
"You're such a sweetie." He said dryly.
"Why hello!" Professor Slughorn boomed, "How are you two, today?"
"Fine." They said together, their tones telling him they were lying.
"Well come on in." He said.
"We are in." Sirius pointed out the obvious.
"Oh, er…right. Well," He paused, "How about we have dinner first and then you work on your potion?"
They nodded and took their places at a table in the middle of the room that was covered in assorted food that looked like it was taken off of a table in the Great Hall.
"You're really sarcastic today," Lily told Sirius. "It's annoying."
He rolled his eyes. The two of them had their days where they would get along, but then they had their days like this when they wanted nothing to do with each other.
"How's your dinner?" Slughorn asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.
"Good, thank-you." Lily said, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
Sirius nodded his agreement and took a bite out of his chicken leg.
"Well," The Professor said, taking one more bite of potatoes and standing up, "McGonagall wanted to talk to me about something." He paused, "She said she thinks I treat students differently…and that I should invite everyone to my parties…rubbish if you ask me. I treat everyone the same."
Sirius snorted but quickly took another bite of chicken.
"You should make your potion," He said, wiping his mouth with a napkin, "And when I get back I'll grade it."
"Thanks again for allowing us to remake our potion!" Lily called as he left the room.
"Okay," Sirius said, pushing his chair away and standing up. "Let's do it right this time, okay? No spills or anything."
Lily stabbed a piece of broccoli with her fork and plopped it in her mouth. She stood up and walked over to the cabinet full of supplies.
"It's a good thing you're such a teachers pet," Sirius said, loading up the cauldron.
"I am not." Lily said, "You're just jealous."
"Mhm." Sirius nodded, "That's it."
"Stop being so sarcastic!" Lily cried, "It's incredibly rude!"
"So is dumping potion on your lover's best friend."
"He is not my lover." Lily said angrily, sitting down at a clear table.
"Not yet." Sirius said with a wink, setting the cauldron down and taking out the ingredients.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked sharply.
"I think you know." Sirius said, handing her a plant, "Now get to work."
Lily clenched her fists together, "You are so-"
"Sh…" Sirius said, "It's okay…"
"No!" Lily said, "You are such a-"
"Sh…" Sirius said again.
"But I-"
"Sh…"
"Stop telling me to-"
"Sh…"
Lily slammed her hand down on the table, "You are so INFURIATING!"
Sirius laughed and continued cutting up a yellow plant that wiggled. They continued working in stone silence, concentrating on anything other than the potion.
Sirius was naturally smart, and he knew this, too. So instead of concentrating, he thought of ways to get Lily and James together. It really was tiring to hear the two of them bicker. It was worse than him and her, much worse. Sirius was also getting annoyed of hearing James talk about her…all the time.
Lily was busy fuming, no one would let go of the fact that she didn't like James. She never would. No one could seem to get that through their heads, and it was the most frustrating thing.
"Hey." Sirius said suddenly, nodding towards the potion, "Its gold."
Lily looked up, "Finally!"
"Well," Sirius stood up, "I'm going to go."
"No you aren't." Lily said, leaning across the table and pulling him back down, "We have to wait for Professor Slughorn to come back."
Sirius leaned back in his chair and ran his hands over his face, "I have a bloody migraine, thanks to you."
"Well I'm not exactly feeling the best," Lily snapped, "Merlin, Sirius. You're like the younger brother I never wanted."
Sirius gave her a dirty look, "This is supposed to cure illnesses, right? Like stomachaches and stuff?"
Lily nodded before her eyes widened, "Oh no you don't."
"What?" Sirius asked, walking back over to the table with all the food and grabbing his empty goblet, "I want this headache gone."
"It might not be safe!" Lily said worriedly, "Awful things happen when you don't test your potion first."
"Then I'll test it," Sirius said, scooping his goblet into the gold potion. He brought it to his lips and Lily jumped up.
"Don't!" She shrieked, "It's not safe!"
"It's gold like he required," Sirius head, "You are such a wimp."
"Am not." Lily said defensively.
Sirius took a big gulp and held out the goblet to her. "Then try some."
"No." Lily shook her head.
"I feel fine and I took some. Just do it." Sirius urged, shoving it towards her, "Chicken."
"I am not." Lily said, taking the goblet, "And I'll have you know I'm not about to drink some just because I feel peer pressured."
Sirius snorted.
"I'm taking it because you are the most annoying person…besides James, and I have an enormous head ache."
"Then go on." Sirius said, leaning towards her and raising his eyebrows, "Do it."
Lily furrowed her brow and slowly brought the goblet to her lips. She took a large swig and quickly set it back down on the table. "That's disgusting."
"But you feel fine, don't you?" Sirius asked.
Lily hated to admit it, but she really was beginning to feel loads better. "Actually I do-"
She stopped abruptly, the head ache had returned, and more powerful than before. She grabbed her head in pain.
"Merlin!" Sirius groaned, clutching his head, "What did you do to the potion?"
Lily didn't have time to say anything, for her head hurt so bad she couldn't speak. She thought she was going to pass out and be sent to the hospital wing, or worse. Sirius was coughing, he was in so much pain, everything was a blur.
And then, as soon as it had begun, it stopped.
"What the bloody hell just happened?" Sirius cried.
Lily's mouth dropped open as she slowly raised her head. She snapped her eyes closed and started hyperventilating.
Sirius was confused, having just recovered from the painful attack on his brain. He stood up slowly, his eyes watering slightly. The room looked different, like he was looking at it from a different angle.
"I don't remember the room being like this," Sirius said as Lily continued having trouble breathing. He ran his hand through his hair to find out that it went on for quite some time, flowing down to his shoulders. "I don't remember having this." He grabbed a fistful of hair and examined it.
Then he slowly started to realize that something was not right. His hair wasn't supposed to be red. Shaking, he slowly brought his hands up to his chest and placed them on the bosoms beneath his dress robes.
"I don't remember having these." He said curiously.
Lily snapped her eyes open and smacked his hands away, "Get. Them. Away." She said through gritted teeth.
And that was when Lily and Sirius began shrieking, looking at each other in complete horror.
That potion certainly did not do what they thought it would.
A/N: Alright, I hope you liked it, please please review! I want to know if people like this or not to see whether I should continue it. Thanks and Love you all -Lilly.