Prongs {Book One}

Chapter Twenty-Four - Penance (Part 2)

JAMES.

The first breakfast of term set off with us getting our timetables. Sirius and I were doing the exact same subjects - those required to become Aurors - Remus was doing all of those except Potions, and Peter had the same classes as us in Herbology, Potions and Transfiguration.

After breakfast was finished, Peter, Sirius and I headed to the dungeons for our first lesson of the term - double Potions.

The Slytherins were already lined up outside the dungeons when we arrived. One particular figure in a green scarf caught my attention. Mostly because he was wrapped so closely to Charity Burbage that their faces seemed merged together. 

I felt my hand twitch for my wand as I walked past, but resisted the temptation. He's none of my business.

Sirius seemed to be reading my mind, because a second after, he muttered, "hey, Prongs... wanna go teach Snivellus a lesson?"

I saw Peter perk up instantly, but the proposition just made me feel slightly... guilty?

"Nah," I said, trying to be as casual as possible.

"Uh, okay, mate," Sirius said, and I didn't need to look at him to know his eyebrow was raised at me.

"Bye, Severus!" I heard Charity chirp. I didn't turn around.

"Alright, everyone!" Slughorn boomed as he panted down the staircase, "Inside, inside - quickly, we're making a rather tricky potion today, so I'll be putting you in pairs - you'll need all the time you can get. Off to your next class now, Miss Burbage - you don't take potions!" He laughed raucously, and I saw Charity blush out the corner of my eye and hurry up the stairs.

The class filed inside, and sat down at tables together. Sirius, Peter and I got a table to ourselves, while Lily sat with Mary MacDonald and Linda Park. The other students all sat with the rest of their house.

Because Potions was one of the hardest subjects at NEWT level, the class was small, so all the houses took it together for the first time. The same applied to Care of Magical Creatures and other minor subjects, while Transfiguration, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts still had huge numbers.

"Everyone here? Excellent! Today we are brewing the most powerful love potion in the world - Amortentia. Of course, it isn't really a love potion, is it, Miss Evans?"

"No, Professor," Lily answered, "love is one of Gant's Five Laws of Improbable Magic. Amortentia simply creates lust so strong that it can be perceived as love."

"Indeed! Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, I'm going to come along and put you in partners. Alright, Snape with McCoy..." Slughorn moved around the class, assigning pairs. "Miss MacDonad, you can go with Miss Park, Miss Evans with Mr Potter," my head snapped up, "and Pettigrew, you can go with Mr Black."

No, no, no, no, no.

The one day I don't want to be partners with Lily is of course the day it has to happen.

"Potter, can you stop staring into space like an idiot and go fetch some Unicorn tailhair from the store cupboard?" Lily sighed, not making eye contact, but starting a fire underneath the cauldron. 

"Uh, yeah, right," I mumbed and went to fetch it. When I returned, Lily was aready stirring a pale lavender liquid in the cauldron.

"Squeeze the juice of the Werber beetle onto those until they absorb it and start glowing, then put them into the cauldron one by one," she instructed. I nodded passively and started doing what she told me.

One hour and fifteen minutes later, we were leaning over a pale pink potion with a couple of rose petals floating on top.

"I'm sure I brewed it right," Lily fretted, wafting the fumes towards her, "it's like the book said - a pale pink colour."

"I don't know. It looks right," I tried.

"You're not helping, Potter. Maybe if you didn't use so much bloody conditioner, I could actually smell anything..."

I turned to face her. "Sirius used the last of my conditioner six days ago. Maybe it would be working if you weren't wearing so much of your rose perfume!"

"The stores stopped stocking my perfume - you can ask Mary, I haven't had it since May!"

I suddenly realised the whole class was staring at us.

"End of the lesson!" Slughorn broke the silence. "Everyone pack up - I want a vial of the potion on my desk pronto!"

When we left the classroom ten minutes later, Sirius said, "so... Prongs."

"What?"

"You smelled Lily's perfume in the potion."

"No, she probably used a charm to replicate hers. She made up a perfume spell."

"She smelled your conditioner."

"She was probably just taking the piss."

"Mate..."

"No."

"I'm just putting together the evidence here, Prongs."

I turned sharp left to get to the Charms class.

"Maybe I smelled Lily's perfume, but there's no way she smelled my conditioner."

"This is a big change from 'she's already fallen from me but she just doesn't know it yet'."

"Maybe I've decided that Lily is perfectly capable of making her own choices about who she wants to date."

I leaned against the wall outside Charms and avoided looking at Sirius.

"Woah, who are you and what have you done with James Potter?"

"Nothing," I said, and clenched my jaw. 

I knew pushing myself away from Sirius could only end badly. But for now I just had to stay away from Lily, stay away from Snape. And Sirius seemed determined for that not to happen.

Lily's words rung in my head."You're as bad as he is."

I balled my hand into a fist. I wasn't going to let that get to me, whatever I had to do.

-

SEV.

Every time I was with Charity,  I seemed to see Lily.

And every time I saw Lily, she seemed to not notice me.

The one thing new to me with this experience was everyone talking about me. I felt like they all knew - which they did - and they all pointed and stared in the corridors. A contributing factor to this was probably that Charity and I were kissing in every corridor. On the offchance Lily might see, I kissed Charity at every opportunity.

"Severus," Charity said, linking her hand in mine as we walked to Transfiguration together, "the Halloween dance is soon."

Oh crap. I'd totally forgotten about the dance.

"I know you probably won't want to go - you don't like parties - but... think about it, okay?"

"Um," I said, pondering my answer. I had been meaning to ask her, mostly because I was nearly certain Lily was going. "Yeah, I'll go."

"Really?" Charity was practically glowing. "You don't have to go just to make me happy, you know, I mean-"

"No, I want to go."

"That's great! I'm going to go tell Riley so I can start planning my dress..." she ran off. 

I sighed, and glanced around the corridor. It was empty, with most people already in class. I was supposed to be in Transfiguration, but...

My mind was wandering to the Room of Requirement.

Lily's house.

Lily.

Why wasn't she noticing me?

-

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