Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) - Book One (Marauder Era)

Chapter Four - Onions Don't Go Well With Wolves

Lunch was spent trying his best to look like he didn't want any company, keeping his nose deep in a book as he ate. It seemed to work as nobody bothered him at all, not even the students that sat near him. At twelve-thirty he had finished eating and snapped the book shut, figuring he might as well head off to the next class. Another ghost led him down into the dungeons and, after thanking her, Remus sat on a bench across from the Potions classroom to wait. He pulled Magical Drafts and Potions out to read some more before class started.

A few minutes later someone else came by and sat on a nearby bench. Remus glanced up, seeing a Slytherin sitting there. The Slytherin also had his book out, his very large nose practically touching the pages with as low as his head was bent. Remus returned to his own reading.

A couple minutes later he heard heavy footsteps approach. "Ah! What do we have here? Very eager students, I see." Professor Slughorn was a very rotund man with a huge mustache. He gleefully pat his large stomach as he surveyed Remus and the Slytherin. "Well, come on in then."

Both students followed Slughorn and Remus found himself in a dungeon room that immediately assaulted his nose with all the scents going around. He sneezed once before sitting at a table, far away from the Slytherin. The teacher talked as he bustled about, getting ready for the class, to the point of Remus debating whether he should start taking notes already or not. Soon the rest of the class started showing up and there were just enough tables and seats for everyone to share four to a table, so Remus found himself sitting precariously on the edge of his seat with Evans next to him, and two girls beside her.

"Welcome, welcome! I am Professor Slughorn, your Potions teacher. Potions are quite an immeasurably useful thing to know, can do just about anything with them providing you've got a good understanding of the magical properties of ingredients!" He took roll call and then clapped his hands together, rubbing them excitedly. "Before we begin our first potion... can anyone tell me what it is?" He waved his hand at a cauldron in front of him. "Ah, Mr..... Snape, was it?"

The other boy who had showed up early lowered his hand. "Cure for boils, Professor."

"Good, good. Point to Slytherin! Get everything out and we'll get right into it. Partner up for this one, class."

Evans turned to Remus. "Want to be partners?" she asked. Not really. However, he had to have a partner so he nodded.

"Now, the cure for boils is... a rather basic, beginning potion. Nevertheless, if done incorrectly it can cause boils, or other issues, so do mind yourselves as you do your work." He waved his wand and a piece of chalk began writing instructions on the board. "One of the number one rules for Potions is follow instructions explicitly! No going off what's written in the book, that's how you cause problems. Now, let's go!"

Evans peered at the instructions closely. "Shall I get the water, or do you want to?"

"I can," Remus mumbled, getting out of his seat. He took the cauldron and went to the back of the room, standing in one of the lines at the spouts. The cauldron was rather heavy already and he wasn't sure how he'd carry it back. It didn't help that he was one of the smallest students in the room, certainly the smallest boy. The line shuffled forward and soon Remus added the hopefully correct amount of water. It was very heavy now and he struggled with getting it back to the table. He heard several students snickering loudly at the sight of him hardly able to carry the cauldron. He was carrying it by its handle and it kept banging into him, water sloshing, causing difficulty since it was big and he was small. He considered just setting it down and picking it up with his arms around it... but then he'd probably dent the metal if he used his full strength and he couldn't do that, so he just continued struggling along until—