Little Red |Sirius Black|

Unexpected Help And Slow Revenge - Arianna

"You may begin." Professor Slughorn's voice resounded in the classroom as he sat down. The chair groaned under him, and the noise was followed by the sounds of fifth years scrambling about their tables to get their potions started.

"I'll get the ingredients." I called out to Dorcas, moving towards the supply closet to get everything I needed for our drought of peace potion.

"Powdered Moonstone. Syrup of Hellebore. Powdered Porcupine Quills." I muttered to myself, as I retrieved each of them. My brows furrowed as I looked for the last ingredient. "Powdered Unicorn horn. Powdered unicorn horn." I mumbled under my breath as I scanned the shelves.

"Here you go." a familiar voice said from behind me, as a small bag- supposedly of unicorn horn- slid into my view . "James and I are going to mess our potion up as it is, so you can have this. The poor blighter thinks that if he messes up enough potions, Sluggie might ask Evans to tutor him." He said with a chuckle. I huffed.

Does he really think that I'll chat with him like nothing's wrong when not more than a week ago he doused me with semi-permanent hair dye?

The delusional bastard.

I turned around and gave Sirius an unimpressed look. "I hope he asks Snape to tutor the two of you instead." I said. I shot him a friendly smile, as I snatched the bag of unicorn horn from him. Without another word, I turned around and made my way back to my table.

"Now that's just mean, Little Red." he called out. I decided to ignore that.

As I reached the table, I turned to look at Dorcas. "I've made this potion before, so I can take the lead if you like." I offered. I bent down to turn on the heat under the cauldron and placed all the ingredients on the table within easy reach. Dorcas watched me with mild surprise. "I thought you said that you sucked at potions." she said accusingly.

I smirked. "By American standards I still do." When she looked confused, I decided to elaborate. "North American schools place a greater deal of importance on herbology and potions. European schools on the other hand tend to focus more on wandwork, you know- spells and incantations. Your potions syllabus almost looks like an afterthought. I made this potion in second year at Salem. It's like child's play for me." I said, and Dorcas shrugged. We spent the next half hour in silence as I worked on the potion.

"He's staring at you again." Dorcas informed me, as I stirred our potion.

I didn't bother looking up, I already knew who he was.

"Probably scared that I'll start shooting hexes at him and his buddies while their backs are turned." I said absent-mindedly, as I tried to focus on the potion. Stir counterclockwise seven times.
"Or maybe he just likes you." Dorcas offered, and I didn't have to look at her face to know that she was smirking. I snorted.

"Yes Dorcas, I'm sure a lot of guys are turned on by pink hair. Sirius more so than the rest." I said sarcastically, and Dorcas chuckled. "Now will you help me finish this potion? Slughorn is already making rounds!"

Dorcas scanned the classroom and noticed Slughorn just a couple of tables away from us. She cursed under her breath.

"Tell me what to do." she whispered. I obliged and for the next few minutes we scrambled about, working on our potion. We managed to finish just as Slughorn reached us.

"I see the potion is a lovely turquoise colour with wafting silver vapor, just like it should be!" the potions master said, smiling at us as he examined our cauldron.

And just in time for your arrival too. I thought to myself as I smiled back.

"Keep this up girls, and you might score a dinner invitation like your friend Ms Evans." Slughorn said in a pleased tone.