An Unlikely Romance

Lily Evans had a decision to make. Today was her first class in Advanced Potions for sixth year students at Hogwarts. As she entered the room, there were three tables set out with four seats around them. The table Lily was planning to sit at was already filled with four girls. The first was Andromeda Black, a friend of Lily's who was from Hufflepuff. Susan Abbott was also from Hufflepuff. The others were from Ravenclaw. They were Amelia Bones and Emmeline Vance, also friends with Lily.

Now Lily Evans was left with a decision where to sit. She could sit with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and- ugh- James Potter! James Potter was her least favorite person here at Hogwarts. In Lily's opinion he was a conceited jerk who thought of no one but himself. He had an arrogance that surpassed anything Lily had ever known and yet he was popular. Well, Lily sighed, I suppose that he is not that bad looking and he is good at Qudditch and Transfiguration. Even when you get to know him he is still a jerk.

Lily sighed again. She could not sit there; she had to sit at the other table. She plunked herself down and looked at her tablemates. Across from her sat Severus Snape and Bellatrix Black. Bellatrix was a Slytherin and a fierce girl who was going to (if not already gotten into) the Dark Arts. Severus also was a Slytherin and he normally kept to himself. He was a bit of a social outcast with his greasy hair and sallow skin and Potter and his friends loved to taunt him and basically make him look stupid in any way they could. Oh well, I'll just try to be nice to both Bellatrix and Snape and I'll see what happens, Lily thought almost apprehensively.

Slughorn entered the potion classroom in an emerald green waistcoat and jet-black trousers. The golden buttons on the waistcoat were being pulled and strained so much Lily was surprised that they had not popped off and now was very cautious in case a button was to do so. Slughorn was a very large man particularly in the middle. "Hello, class!" he greeted them in his pompous, jovial manner.

"Hello, my dear Professor," Sirius greeted him, matching his jovial tone. "How are you doing?" There were a few snickers.

"Now, class," Slughorn boomed reprimandingly, "don't laugh at Sirius. He's only trying to be pleasant." This clueless statement made the class dissolve into giggles for a few moments while a bemused Slughorn tried to figure out why exactly they were laughing.

"Ahem!" The professor cleared his throat trying to get his class on track. "Now many of you, I'm sure, have noticed the four potions I have placed at the front of the classroom." Lily's eyes glanced over the four bubbling potions at the front.

"Can anyone tell me what the first one is?" he asked, pointing to a crystal clear liquid. At first none of them raised their hands, then Bellatrix's hand rose.

"Yes?"

"It's Veritaserum, the strongest truth potion known to the wizarding community."

"Very good. Ten points to Slytherin. Now what is this one?" Lily's hand flew into the air. "Miss Evans?"

"It's Amortentia, the strongest love potion known to the wizarding community. It provokes a feeling of great wanting."

"Yes, very good, ten points to Gryffindor. Amortentia also smells like what attracts you. James, m'boy, what do you smell?"

James took a whiff of the pink potion. "Well, I smell new Quaffles, sugar cookies, vanilla, fireplaces, Lily, I mean the flower," he added hastily. His blush, however, revealed otherwise. The class snickered.

"Now what about this one?" The potion Slughorn pointed to was a murky potion.

Snape's hand went up reluctantly when no one else had an answer. "It's a Polyjuce Potion. A potion that allows you to turn into anyone you wish for a brief period of time."

"Very good. Now the last one," Slughorn smiled down on the class. "This is called Felix Felicis otherwise known as liquid luck. The little potion makes you lucky for just one day, one blessed day!" Slughorn closed his eyes and sighed blissfully. "This potion, however, should not be taken regularly for it has some very dangerous side effects. Now, my dear boys and girls, you are eligible to win a bottle of my Felix Felicis by turning to page one hundred seventy-seven and making me the Draught of the Living Dead. You have the rest of the class to complete this. You may begin!"

Feverishly, Lily flipped through her potion book for the recipe and then hurried to the cabinet to grab the ingredients for the potion. When she came back to the table, she noticed something very odd. Snape's dried beans were floating away. Lily looked over to see that James Potter and Sirius Black were the culprits. She shot them a death glare and then grabbed the beans before they could float away and handed them to Severus. "They were floating away," Lily said, answering Snape's confused glare while casting a meaningful glance at James and Sirius. He answered this with a cold glare as he started to chop up the beans.

That was ungrateful! Lily thought, annoyed. Next time I just won't bother!

"Hey, Evans, use the flat side of the knife and just press. It gives you more juice from the dried beans," she heard Snape mutter.

Instantly all the irritation she had for him vanished. She grinned, "Thanks, Severus." He gave her a wry smile.

Time was up. Slughorn made his way around the tables. "Andromeda, interesting results. Susan, okay. You did well, Amelia. Good job, Emmeline. James, what happened?! Very good, Remus. Sirius! What is in there?" Slughorn asked, alarmed, peering into Sirius's cauldron where there was a brownish color liquid that was bubbling menacingly.

"Well, Professor, I put in all the correct ingredients plus a shot of Firewhiskey."

"Sirius! Firewhiskey is explosive in Draught of the Living Dead!"

"I know, that's why I put it in there!" As if on cue the potion exploded upward. All the students dove under their desks except Sirius; he stood up and raised his wand to transfigure the potion into streamers, which gently floated to the ground. Then Sirius turned and bowed jokingly and sat back in his seat.

"All right then, fifteen points from Gryffindor," Slughorn said mildly. He was used to these types of interruptions in his class from the Marauders. Slughorn progressed to Lily, Snape and Bellatrix's table. "Very good, Bella! Severus, this is marvelous. Lily, yours is wonderful, too! We have a tie: Severus and Lily! Class dismissed. Lily, Severus, you may come to my desk to receive your Felix Felicis."

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"Severus!" Lily called, running to catch up with him after class. She held up her bottle of Felix Felicis as she caught up to him. "This really should be yours."

"No, really, you saved my dried beans, so I guess we're even," Snape stuttered.

"Oy, Evans," a voice called from the top of the staircase.

Lily spun around. "What is it, Potter?"

"You know you don't have to sit with that lot," James said, casting a dark look at Snape. "You could sit with us anytime."

"Potter, I want to sit with 'that lot.'"

"Look, I know you would rather sit with us than Snivellus."

"Don't call him that!"

"Snape, it must be nice to have Evans always looking out for you," James said, smirking at him.

"I don't need her to help me," Severus replied, glaring at James. James was about to make a retort, but the staircase moved, causing Lily and Snape to leave the conversation.

Lily turned apologetically back to Snape. "I'm sorry, he's such a jerk."

"Mudblood, just because I've given you a hint at potions doesn't mean we are friends or even close."