Every Little Thing, James Potter.

10. Birds of a Feather

In a way that was truly the unlucky fashion of Gwen Graham, she had timed her falling-out with James very poorly—two days later was the Potions project presenation. Gwen did not speak to James—or any of the Marauders—in the time between. She could only hope he at least had the decency to let her take the lead and get them both the passing grade.

"Alright," Slughorn announced to the class, once they'd all settled into their seats—or their equivalent of such, as Sirius and Peter were tossing little scraps of parchment into Snape's hair, Lily was berating them from her stool, James caught himself gazing at Gwen, Xenophelius was reading his own book, Mary was trying to calm down Lily because really Snape deserved it, and Gwen was ignoring the entire ordeal from her own seat, where she rested her chin in her palm and stared off into nowhere in particular.

"The time has finally come," continued Slughorn. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them back and forth. "I know you have all been dying to show off your hard work, and it will all pay off today. Hopefully! Anyway, let's see who the unlucky first draw will be...."

     As the luck of the draw had it, Sirius and Xenophelius were up first. They had actually, in a way that secretly impressed Gwen, gotten permission from Madam Pomfrey to test their Skele-Gro concoction on one of her patients—the Hufflepuff Seeker Alice Dickinson, who had been currently residing in the hospital wing with a broken wrist. It took Sirius and Xenophelius's version a good few minutes longer than the real stuff would've done, but Alice's wrist was healed either way, and the pair got a perfect mark on their term project.

Next was Lily and Severus, the latter of which sending the rest of the class a pompous sneer as he headed up behind his partner. Their Wolfsbane potion could very clearly not be tested on anyone for accuracy, so Slughorn only gave it a little whiff and then offered them a perfect mark by default—this surprised no one, as the entire class had come to terms with the fact that Lily and Severus were in fact the two best Potioneers of their year.

Mary and Peter's Elixir of Life brought a long-dead daisy back to life, but it did not succeed in reviving an old beetle carcass, so Slughorn simply rewarded them with an Acceptable.

     Lastly, it was Gwen and James's turn.

     She inhaled a heavy breath, splaying her palms out on her countertop and sliding herself off the stool. She heard James's footsteps from behind her, but did not turn to face him; she just trusted that he could let her take the lead and earn them this last achievement as a partnership. Once they were done presenting their potion, they never had to see each other again.

     (Except, of course, on the Quidditch pitch later that day, but Gwen didn't want to think so far ahead.)

     "Our assignment was to draft a cauldron full of Amortentia," Gwen explained, nodding to the shimmering pink draft sitting on the stovetop before her. "My partner and I logged our steps in the provided journal, and we were able to complete the task within one week."

     She glanced at the potion. Now was the bit she'd have to remove the lid and allow the scents to fill the air, but no part of her wanted anything of the sort. She knew what she'd smell if she opened that cauldron. And now she knew what James would smell. If she opened the lid, there was a high chance it wouldn't end well for either of them, that neither of them would leave that classroom with their dignity still in tact.

     "And your example?" Slughorn prodded, not looking up from his parchment.

     Gwen looked back to James, her lips pursed. "Um, we.. we haven't got one, Professor."

     Slughorn lifted his head and set his quill down, giving Gwen an inquisitive look. "Haven't got one, then? I informed each of you at the start of term that presentation would be part of your grade. If you haven't got an example of your draught, then—"