Lily and James' Prophecy

Chapter 6 - Potions Class and Then Some

Violet distinctly saw James' face flush a violent red as she walked through the door.

"Why, hello," said a booming voice. It came from a man with straw coloured hair and a huge moustache. He was huge around the waist and beaming. "I'm Professor Slughorn, your potion's master. And you two are?" he asked, seeing James enter after Violet.

"Violet Riddle," said Violet looking down.

"James Potter," said James. "Professor, sorry for being late but-"

"Nonsense!" said Slughorn, cutting James off. "It's your first day here. I don't expect you to find all your classes on time. Take a seat, take a seat," he continued, smiling.

Violet looked at James and saw a smirk cross his lips. There were two available seats in the back and James motioned to Violet to follow him which she did. She caught a look of contempt on Lily's face and a guilty feeling shot through her body seeing an empty seat next to Lily, obviously intended for her. She tried to give Lily an apologetic look but Lily was keeping her gaze straight forward.

"He didn't even mind!" laughed James as they sat down.

"Yeah," said Violet, forcing a smile. He smiled back at her as they took out their Potions things.

"Miss Riddle and Mister Potter, before your arrival, I was telling the class a little about actual Potion making. Please turn to page eleven in your Potion Perfect-" said Slughorn, who continued to give a speech about ingredients and the importance of adding them in correct succession.

"So where do you live?" asked James in a whisper.

"London," replied Violet, just as low. "Well... in the outskirts. Not too far from town. It's a quiet life, but it's nice."

"So what do you do for fun?" he laughed.

"Swim, hike... those sorts of things," she laughed. "We own acres and acres of land so it's a lot of fun. You never run out of things to do."

"And you have no siblings? It must get really boring," he said.

"Like I said, you never run out of things to do... wizards aren't like muggles... we have things to amuse us," she laughed. "Muggles get bored easily with that thing you call the... err, television or something?"

"Oh yeah, TV. That's not boring," he laughed.

"Well I wouldn't know, we don't use electricity."

"What?!" said James. A few people turned their heads in their direction. "How can you live without electricity?" he continued in a lower voice. Violet shrugged and laughed at the expression on his face.

"Remember James, we're wizards. We don't need it."

"Oh, yeah, right," he said, looking a bit embarrassed.

"So now," came Slughorn's voice, "I would like if everyone could try to Shimmering Solution on page thirty-nine. But first, can anyone tell me what exactly the Shimmering Solution is?"

Lily's hand was the first in the air. "Yes, Ms-?"

"Evans," said Lily quickly. "The Shimmering Solution is a simple solution that may be used to make things such as rust and tarnish disappear."

"Very good!" said Slughorn, smiling fondly at Lily. "Gryffindor, I presume?" he asked. Lily nodded. "Ten points to Gryffindor! Very good, carry on then."

James rolled his eyes. "Shimmering Solution... ugh, what the hell is 'essence of rat'?" he asked, looking at the list of ingredients.

"Rat pee, maybe?" asked Violet. They both had to suppress snorts of laughter.

"By the way," said James as they both put their cauldrons on top a slow fire as the book advised, "thanks."

"For what?" asked Violet distractedly who was looking in her bag for snake blood.

"For telling me I have nice eyes." She looked up and their eyes met. He was smiling.

"Oh... um," she said, blushing violently. "You're welcome." They both smiled and got to work.

"So tell me about muggle life," said Violet measuring a strong smelling substance that was letting off steam.

"Well... it's, I dunno how to describe it. We have electricity." They both laughed.

"What do you do for fun?" she asked.

"Ride bicycles, watch TV, swim... a lot of stuff."

"Did you ever... like, expect the letter?" she asked while she slowly added some 'essence of rat'.

"Never... I used to show magical signs though. Once I remember turning the next door neighbour's garden of roses into a swamp... literally." He chuckled.

"Sounds like fun," she said, smiling. She pretended to be measuring something in a flask while he rummaged for an ingredient in his ingredient case. She watched him through the flask, his image blurred by it. She smiled to herself and added the substance to her potion and stirred it as the book instructed. "Ah, there," she said excitedly, seeing the potion turn light pink, just as it should. "I'm done," she beamed.

"Nice..." said James smiling, then he groaned. "Wish I could say the same for myself," he said, looking down at his potion which was a murky grey.

"Ok, put your potions in a flask and put your name on it and hand it up," said Slughorn on the sound of the bell.

"Argh, I'm going to try to fix this up," said James.

"Ok, sure," said Violet who took her flask up. By the time she had packed her things Lily was already halfway out the door. But as she was going out, James took her hand.

"Erm... I'll see you after classes?" he asked.

Violet smiled. His hand was warm. "Sure," she said, hurrying after Lily. The Entrance Hall was crowded as students were trying to get into the Great Hall for lunch. Violet saw the back of Lily's head and pushed through the crowd to get to her. "Hey Lils," she said smiling.

Lily turned around and saw Violet, her face remaining like stone, "Hello," she said in a businesslike manner.

"What's wrong?" asked Violet.

"Nothing," said Lily, clearly not trying to hide the malice in her voice.

"What's wrong, Lillian?" prodded Violet. "Tell me..."

"What's wrong? What's WRONG? What's wrong is that apparently you prefer to sit next to Potter and not me. That's what's wrong." Just then the crowd parted and Lily hurried off to the Gryffindor table not looking back.

"Lily..." called Violet, but people had begun to look at her. She let out a soft cry of rage and headed swiftly for the Slytherin table where she took a seat at the far end away from everyone. She slammed her book bag down on the table and took out her Charms book, Charming Charms (which was next period) and began to read the first chapter (The Swish Effect). She violently pulled some chips towards her and did nothing but pick at them.

What the hell did I do? she thought. Sit with James? Wow, that's something to get jealous about!

Just then she heard a swish of a cloak and looked up. It was William and Annie.

"Hey," they both said in unison.

"Hi," said Violet impatiently.

"What's wrong?" asked William who took a seat next to her. Annie went off to join Meridith.

"Nothing," said Violet.

"Then why are you looking so upset?"

"It's nothing, ok?" she said irritably. William took some of her chips (How bold faced, she thought) and took out his Defence Against the Dark Arts book. He then took out a Chocolate Frog and offered her a piece. By this time she was more than annoyed.

"Oh god damnit, William. Can't you tell I'm trying to concentrate here?!" she said, her voice echoing down the whole table. Many people looked at them. She let out an exasperated noise.

"I didn't know pretending to read your Charms book required concentration," he said softly. She rolled her eyes and ignored him. Just then she heard someone else approaching but didn't look up.

"Hey," came a voice. She looked up and saw James.

"Oh, hey," she said smiling. William made a noise. "What's up? Fixed up your potion for Professor Slughorn?" she asked.

"Kinda," he laughed. People began to turn their heads again.

"I think you should go back to your seat before people start to throw things," said William coolly, addressing James.

"Oh... uh, thanks," said James who didn't realise that William was poking fun at him. "Um, wanna go for a walk?" he asked Violet.

"Sure," she replied, packing up her things. William put a hand on her Charms book as she was about to put it in her bag. She raised an eyebrow.

"You're not allowed out on the grounds," he said.

"So?" said James, eyeing William with an annoyed expression.

"So, I don't give a damn if you get in trouble, I don't want Violet to."

"Thanks for caring but I can make my own decisions," said Violet pulling the book out of his grasp violently.

"Look, Vi-" began William.

"No, you look," said James, "who the hell are you? If I'm not mistaken she can make her own decisions."

"Shut up you mudblood," said William. Violet raised an eyebrow.

"What did you just call him?"

"A mudblood?" asked James. "Ass, I suggest you look over your insult book and try to find something more effective," said James who took Violet's hand and led her out of the hall. "Who the hell was that?" he asked violently when they had reached the Entrance Hall and had let go of her hand.

"William... god, he's an idiot. Seriously, 'not allowed on the grounds'. That's a damn lie, I saw people heading out to the grounds at the start of lunch."

"He just didn't want you to come with me... is he your boyfriend or something?"

Despite the situation, Violet couldn't help but give out a small laugh. "William? Oh god, don't insult me," she said rolling her eyes. They both raised their hands to cover their eyes as James opened the oak doors and the afternoon sun hit them in the face.

"And what did he call me?" asked James.

"A mudblood..." said Violet, her tone hardening.

"What's that?" asked James.

"Nothing... you won't understand. Anyway, how come you weren't with Sirius and the rest?" she asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. Why weren't you with Evans?"

"You first," she said.

"They're angry because I ditched them in Potions to sit with you," he said in a tumble of words looking out at the lake.

"Lily too..." she said. James looked incredulously at her.

"Why? Why should it matter to her?"

"Because she doesn't like you and she realises..." she trailed off.

"Realises what?"

"Err... that you're popular and stuff..." she lied quickly.

"What? I'm not popular," he laughed, apparently not catching on to her lie.

"Sorry for getting Sirius and the others angry at you," she said softly.

"You didn't," he said, looking into her eyes. "I guess it's just the fact that you're a Slytherin... but whatever."

"The lake's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah," he said, looking out at it. The sun's rays were reflecting off the surface making it glitter. This had the effect of thousands of diamonds on the surface. Suddenly a bell in the distance rang. "Wow... that was quick," he said.

"Yeah," she said distractedly, lost in her thoughts.

"What are you thinking about?" asked James looking at her.

"Just... never mind," she said. "Let's get to Charms," she said. They both walked back up to the castle. There was a throng of students trying to get up the marble staircase again.

As they made their way closer to the steps someone called out to James. It was Sirius. "Oh... now they want to talk. You don't mind...?" he added, looking at Violet.

"No... it's ok." she said. He took her hand and squeezed it before he left. She kept walking and then saw Lily who had been watching her but averted her eyes. She made her way over to her, "Hey..."

Lily rolled her eyes and said nothing. "So you're still bitching?" asked Violet.

"Apparently," said Lily sarcastically.

"Lils don't be angry at me, please," pleaded Violet. "I seriously didn't see the seat next to you until after James asked me to come sit with him."

"So you chose him over me, right?"

"No I didn't!" protested Violet. "He had already asked-"

"So what?! That doesn't matter. You could have still come and sat with me if you wanted to."

"What if I wanted to sit with him?" she asked. Lily made another of her "tuh" sounds.

"Friends forever, boys whatever, Violet Riddle," said Lily.

Violet smiled and put her hand around Lily's. "Lillian, you know you don't want to be angry with me," she said, smiling.

"Fine, fine... I'm sorry for being a 'bitch'."

"Cheers," said Violet. "Why don't you like him anyway?" she asked.

"Because I hate posers," said Lily matter-of-factly.

"He's not a poser," retorted Violet.

"Yes he is. He's acting like this king-"

"What the hell Lillian, you don't even know him."

"Neither do you!" said Lily, defending herself.

"Better than you!"

"Whatever, can we get off the topic of Potter, please?"

"Fine, just one last point: this is our first day here. How can you judge him when you haven't even had a full week of him?!"

"Because I am allowed to have my own views and opinions. Now drop it." They had followed students from their year into a classroom. It was their best bet of finding the Charms class. Luckily they followed the right batch of students and ended up in a classroom much like an amphitheatre. In the front, at the centre of the room was a stack of books and atop the stack was the stubby Professor Flitwick. Lily couldn't help giggle when she saw him on his stack of books. Violet rolled her eyes and pulled her into the nearest seat.

"Quiet please," piped up Professor Flitwick. "Welcome to your first Charms class. Today, just as a light start, we will be trying our very first charm, Wingardium Leviosa! This charm (page 16 in your books) is the Levitating Charm. Quite simple, all we have to remember is the swish and flick action of the wand. Let's see it. Swish-" he swished his wand, "-and flick," he said, flicking his wand. "Try saying the spell without your wands first, and when you have done that and think you are ready to try the actual charm come up front and take a feather."

Both Lily and Violet went down for feathers, Violet scanning the seats looking for James. However, he was nowhere to be seen. They headed back to their seats and started practicing the spell. Lily got it on her third try.

"Very good, very good!" said Flitwick. "Five points to Gryffindor!"

Violet congratulated Lily and they both laughed. "Oh gosh, look at that idiot Maynard. He's trying to fool Flitwick by blowing his feather. What an ass." They watched as Flitwick took his wand and set fire to Maynard's feather just for the fun of it. Maynard held his lip where he had been burnt. The two girls laughed even louder.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" said Violet, doing the wand movements.

"At last," said Lily as Violet's feather was lifted off the table.

"Five points to Slytherin. Very good Miss Riddle!"

"That's three classes I'm doing brilliant in," laughed Violet. "Not to brag," she said, smirking.

"Oh shush," laughed Lily. "Slughorn told me he adored my Shimmering Solution."

"Lucky," said Violet. The bell rang and the students started to leave.

"Announcement," said Flitwick. "Read about Fairy Lights and their uses. And I've gotten word that the last afternoon period has been cancelled as a first day treat. So you are free to wander around until dinner time. Don't forget to read!" he squeaked and disappeared behind a door on his left.

"Thank heavens. I'm burned," said Lily.

"You are...? Anyway, wanna go down on the grounds to explore?" asked Violet.

"Explore? More like sleep," said Lily. "Sure." They headed to the Entrance Hall where half the school was heading out onto the grounds. "The lake, shall we?" asked Lily.

Violet nodded and they headed down, sitting under a tree that was vacant. Lily put her head on her bag and took out her Charms book. Violet took out a piece of parchment and began to write a letter to her mother and father.

Dear Mum and Dad,

First day was good. Hope everything is well at home.

Love,

Vi.

"What's that?" asked Lily looking up from her book.

"Letter to mum and dad."

"Oh god... look whose coming! Oh gosh, does my hair look good? Is anything on my face?? Hurry and tell me!!" squealed Lily.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" asked Violet turning around. Coming towards them was none other than William.

"Oh crap... not him."

"Yes, him!" said Lily excitedly. "I look good, right?" she said.

Violet rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I don't want to talk to him."

"Hey..." came William's voice, a hint of caution in it.

"Hey William!" said Lily. "How are ya?" she asked smiling widely.

"Good," he said, looking at the back of Violet's head. "Erm, Vi, can I talk to you privately? Please?"

Violet continued to ignore him. "Vi," he said a bit louder.

"Err... should I leave you two?" Lily asked.

"No Lillian, William and I have nothing to discuss," said Violet loudly. She heard William sigh.

"I'm sorry..." he said in an audible whisper.

"That's nice," said Violet indifferently. Violet looked at Lily who had a questioning look on her face. She looked from William to Violet.

"I have to get something up in the castle," she said hurriedly, and before Violet could stop her she had run off, leaving behind her book and her bag.

Damnit, thought Violet.

"Violet... I'm really sorry. I didn't... I shouldn't have been such a prick."

"Yeah, you shouldn't," she replied, making sure not to turn around and look at him. This was useless, however, because at that moment he came in front of her and stooped down.

"Look... I know it was stupid of me and I take it back-"

"Don't tell me that, tell James," she said. "The mudblood," she added sarcastically.

William looked down and fumbled with a patch of grass and ran his fingers through his hair. He put a hand on her chin and pushed her face up gently so their eyes met.

"Please... Vi, believe me... I am sorry."

She made an impatient noise and removed her chin (were those tears in his eyes?) from his soft fingers and went back to pretending to write her letter.

"I-I have to... um-" he started.

"Go?" finished Violet. "Yeah, I think you should go, too." He got up and left quietly. She rolled her eyes. What a drama queen, she thought. Just as she was packing up her things and getting Lily's things, too, she heard another voice.

"Hey. Are you leaving?" She looked up. It was James.

"Oh, hey," she said. "Well, yeah. I was... unless you're going to join me?" she said smiling.

"Sure," he said, taking his hands out of his pocket and sitting next to her. She still had out her parchment. "What's that?" he asked

"Letter to mum and dad. We promised we'd write everyday."

"Sweet."

"Who is?" she said laughing.

"You," he replied smiling. "Wait... that's Evans' bag, isn't it?" he asked, looking around hurriedly.

"Yeah, it is," she said laughing at his actions. "You're not scared of Lily, are you?" she asked smirking.

"Truth be told, I kinda am."

"That's good," she said chuckling. "Where are your friends? Still angry at you?" she asked.

"Nah... they're doing something somewhere."

"And you ditched them?" she asked, picking up Lily's book.

"Well... I-" he flushed red. "I wanted to come see you," he said in a tumble of words.

"Oh," she said, a bit shocked. She quickly hid her shock, however, with a smile. "That's nice of you," she said. He smiled at her. "Why weren't you in Charms?" she asked, remembering that she hadn't seen him.

"Oh," he said, looking down at the ground guiltily. "Erm..."

"You weren't up to mischief, were you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, no," he lied. "We-"

"James! It's your first day here. What were you doing?" she said sternly.

"Nothing bad... just exploring a bit, you know? That's not crime, is it?" he said, smiling in what he hoped was a cute way.

"It is if you skip class for it," she said, rolling her eyes. He looked down and fumbled with a piece of grass and ran his fingers through his hair. Violet made a noise.

"What?" he asked.

"William... err, never mind."

"What about that idiot?" he pressed.

"He came to talk to me-"

"What?! About what?" he asked darkly.

"Just... to apologise," she said offhandedly.

"Ass."

"I know... and here comes Lily," she said, seeing Lily walking across the grounds towards them.

"I better go..." he said quietly. "I'll see you around?"

"Sure," she said smiling. He threw some grass at her and she giggled. "Thanks for coming to see me," she called after him. He gave her a smile just as-

"What was he doing here?" hissed Lily.

"He came to see me," shrugged Violet. Lily made one of her world famous 'tuhs'.

"He annoys me."

"I think we've established that already, Lils."

"Yeah, yeah. What did William come to see you about?" she asked, trying to be casual.

"To apologise."

"About what?" asked Lily.

"About..." she sighed. "It's a long, long story."

"I have time," said Lily checking her watch. "Twenty minutes till dinner."

"Ok, at lunch James came over to our table and William was there and he insulted James."

"That's why you're angry at him? Girls..." she muttered.

"You're a girl too, smarty."

"Yeah, whatever. So that's why you're angry at William? Poor guy..."

"It's not only that... he called James a 'mudblood'."

"What's that?"

"It means dirty blood. It's what purebloods call muggleborns. It's a really rude term."

"Oh... I'm sure William didn't mean it."

"William is a damn prat."

"Look, just because you're in love with Potter doesn't mean everyone else has to be." Violet rolled her eyes.

"Whatever."

"I saw William going back up to the castle. God he's so cute."

"Save it for Merlin," said Violet.

"I thought Merlin was dead?" she asked, looking surprised.

"Whatever."

"Did you know... well I've heard from very reliable sources-"

"Such as Chastity and Meary?"

"Probably... anyway. Everybody wants William. Funny, eh?"

"Not really. He's good looking," shrugged Violet.

"Oh, so you admit it?" asked Lily smirking.

"If you say so."

"Anyway, half the school is after him," she said.

"Interesting. Lily, let's get back up to the castle before the rush."

"Ok. Anyway, looky. Do you... do you think I have a chance with William?" asked Lily eagerly.

Violet couldn't help it; she laughed out loud. Lily hit her sharply on her head. "It's not funny."

"Is too... so you actually like William... has he even talked to you?!"

"Well... yes. He told me hi when I saw him going back to the castle."

"Lily... ugh, whatever. Lily it's the first day here and you haven't even spoken to William properly. It's just a crush."

"I know... but he's so sweet. And you like Potter!" she protested.

"At least James and I have talked," she laughed as they entered the Entrance Hall.

"Will you speak to William for me?" asked Lily.

"Oh yeah! Sure. I can just walk up to him while I just made it practically clear I hate him and say 'Gee William, Lily wants in your pants!'" said Violet, laughing again.

"Be serious. I mean, William is-"

But whatever William was, Violet never heard, because at that very moment there was a loud shriek from the top of the marble staircase, a shriek that made the hairs on the back of Violet's neck stand up and made goosebumps erupt on her forearms. All heads automatically looked up at the marble staircase and everyone saw it: James Potter was standing with his wand raised over a crumpled, unmoving heap of a person at the top of the marble staircase.