Nah, She Didn't

~ Part 53 ~ Wait. ~

I'm Not Okay (I Promise) - My Chemical Romance

-Lily POV-

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT, BEEFHEADS!" James #2 yells at everyone. "Right. Then I suppose we just stay here and..."

"Wait," I say.

"Wait," he agrees.

I've decided that James #1 is the one who threw punch at me, and James #2 is the one who had come out of the crowd.

I contemplate the actions of both James's. James #1 being a jerk, and throwing punch on me. James #2 not knowing what's going on either, and coming to the conclusion of Polyjuice potion. James #1 trying to run away. James #2 calling everyone beefheads.

Adding it all up, I think that the most reasonable guess for who is the real James Potter would be James #2.

But there's no way to be absolutely sure.

So we wait.

I grab James #1's frozen-in-place arm and try to drag him over to the table with my bag, but he barely moves.

"James #2. Help me out here," I tell James #2.

"Wow, Evans, I'm wounded. You've named me after dung!" James #2 exclaims. I suppress a grin. I'm quite sure that's the real James.

"Oh, just help me," I instruct. We each grab an arm, lift James #1 up, and drag him over to the table. I un-Petrificus-Totalus him, quickly push him onto a chair, and put a leg-locker curse on him.

We all just sit there a moment.

"Whelp..." James #2 says. "I was, uh, having fun until that James came along."

"Shut up, Potter," spits James #1. "I mean-"

"Alright. It's official. I think James #2 is the real James," I say, pointing at James #2.

"I happen to think I am number one," James #2 murmurs to himself with a slight grin. "How long does it usually take for this to wear off? I want to know what wanker tried to imitate me!"

"According to Potions; Enhanced, the effects of a single dose can last anywhere from ten minutes to twelve hours, depending on how well the potion has been brewed," I recite. "Though the longer you want the potion to last, the larger the quantity of the brew has to be. So for the potion to last somewhere around 12 hours, they would've had to make quite a lot of the stuff."

"Well I bloody hope you're a bad potion maker," James #2 mutters at James #1. I grab the cup of punch that's on the table, and take a sip. "Hold on. Why'd some bloody idiot even want to turn into me? Hold on. What'd he say to you while he was me?! HOLD ON! Why were you yelling at him?! I swear, if that fucker did anything-"

"It's alright," Lily says half-heartedly. "I'm just glad it wasn't the real you."

"What did he say?" James #2 asks earnestly.

"Now's not the time. Let's just wait," I answer. James reluctantly nods.

~ ~ ~

It's been almost half an hour and there hasn't been a change to James #1's appearance yet. It's just been mostly silent, besides James #2 talking to himself about the most random of things.

"You know, I'm just wondering where Sluggy's been during all of this. I mean, it's not every day you get the fortune of seeing two James's. And he'd probably be quite impressed that one of his students brewed a successful Polyjuice potion," James rambles. "Hold on... how the hell did someone get a piece of my hair? My poor, beautiful hair. Shouldn't I have felt something? Damn, whoever's done this, I must admit, is quite a sly dog. Who did do this? I mean, it can't be Sirius. It seems like his sort of prank, but he would've burst out laughing after five minutes of this. He probably wouldn't've even been able to make Polyjuice potion. You see, I did most of the work when we-I mean, we didn't do anything..."

James goes on and on, but I sort of stop listening after a while. I look over to James #1, squinting, wondering when something in his appearance will change.

I keep staring at him, brows furrowed, when I see something. His nose seems to be... extending a bit longer.

"James! James #2, look!" I exclaim. "His nose!"

James #1 just sits there stark still, with a stone cold look on his face. I see his face morph a bit, nose longer, jaw less sharp, face thinner, skin paler. I look to his hair and see that it's turning darker; the tips are slowly fading into a greasy sort of grayish black, contrary to the disheveled raven that James's was. His hair is growing, and it grows up, then starts to fall over his ears.

Slowly but surely, James #1 is turning back to normal.

But who?

~ ~ ~
NOTES: X

-Amelia