All of the marauders sat in Professor Slughorn’s potions room in the dungeons. Although colder than most classrooms upstairs, Horace had always kept the room nice and well decorated.
James and Sirius enjoyed this class, even if it was shared with Slytherins. Peter didn’t like or dislike it, and Remus did not like potions at all, which was rare because was the one who actually liked to study. He didn’t really have the gift for the art of potions though he respected that it was a very important subject, but just disliked having to work so hard not to fail.
That class too, strangely, was Sirius Black’s favorite. Yes, Sirius Black as in “the boy who slept during most classes and took detention once a week” liked potions. Remus sometimes found himself staring at him with envy during that class while thinking that Sirius was a lucky bastard, like those muggle children who do well in school without needing to make an effort, and could easily understand the most difficult things.
However James Potter loved that lesson, not only because he had no difficulty with potions, but also - and especially - because Lily Evans was in their class. Not even the fact that Snivellus was there aswell could ruin his joy of being able to spend two whole periods watching the redhead closely, listening to her laughter, the conversations she had with her friends, and watching her smile. He could see the palpable difference that the relationship between the two from one year to another. It even seemed like Lily had missed him during the holidays. Even Peter ‘unobservant’ Pettigrew had noticed the difference in the air. The discrete smiles that the girl threw to James from time to time at breakfast rather than simply cursing him as a way to say good morning, or perhaps it was the times when Marlene or Dorcas whispered little things to Lily and the three of them looked at him with smiles on their faces, and Lily always with that look of doubt and questioning, every day seemingly growing more curious toward James.
So, yeah, those two periods before lunch were his favorite time of the week, coupled with the Quidditch practice that was starting early that season.
“Very well, very well students! Take your seats, please!” Slughorn came into the room. Some of the students were finding their places and taking stuff from their backpacks, and others were talking loudly or up to something like Sirius, who controlled a flock of small lilac-conjured birds with his wand that hung around Snape’s head like a halo, making the Slytherin glare at him with hatred flashing in his eyes as he set his cauldron up on the other side of the room.
Peter shoved Black with his elbow and he undid the spell before the corpulent, panting teacher climbed the small step that separated him from the rest of the tables and turned to the students. Slughorn stood behind his desk, which was large and long just like the the students ones, which divided them into four people at each desk, but his was only used by him, and contained four cauldrons over flames with bubbling potions inside each.
“James…” Remus looked at his friend with a frown, making a little grimace and wrinkling his nose while unpacking a piece of parchment from his backpack.
"You really used that herb soap that my mother sent you at Christmas.” He laughed weakly after a moment. “You know, she makes it at home. It doesn’t smell very good, you don’t have to wear it. I’m not gonna tell her.”
James stared at him in amazement.
“How could you possibly know? It barely smells, I can’t smell a thing!”
“Smell is a very underestimated sense, and we of the subspecies Canis lupus fortunately us e it very well” Black replied, smiling at his friend.
“Are you kidding?” James turned to him and folded his arms doubtfully. "Even in human form?” He asked, in a lower voice.
"Prove it.” James raised an eyebrow at Sirius.
“You used tutti frutti toothpaste this morning.”
"And he’s wearing Peter’s socks.” Lupin completed as Sirius nodded.
James stared at them both, surprised.
“Very well! So let’s start.” Slughorn caught everyone’s attention. “In today’s class I want to show you some of the simplest and most powerful potions we can learn to do. Come on, let’s go, without a delay, get out from behind your tables and line up here so you can see them well!” He called out, grinning and waving his hands for the students to approach.
One by one the students left their desks and stood in rows in front of the teacher, some having to peer over the shoulders of others to see well.
“Ten points to the house of the student that knows how to recognize these potions.” Slughorn gestured to the table, but the class was silent. “No one?”
James nudged Remus’ side with his arm, but his friend quickly pulled himself away and grimaced. Potter laughed softly, Lupin was always so nervous about making a mistake in front of Slughorn.
“Uh, excuse me, sir.” Lily Evans said suddenly.
“Please, Miss Evans, teach these students something,” he said, still in a cheerful tone. James automatically paid attention to the girl when he saw her take a step forward and approach the first cauldron.
“This is veritaserum.” She looked at the teacher, who silently agreed. “A potion that forces those who take it to tell the truth until it wears off.”
“That’s right, Miss Evans, very good.”
She moved on to the next cauldron. The professor opened the lid and she peeked inside him briefly and made a grimace, pulling away a little as the steam touched her face.
“Polyjuice. It’s used so that the person who drinks it can take the physical form of another, needing some part of the person in which they want to transform into, like a hair or a piece of skin.”
"Disgusting” Black commented beside James, who ignored him.
She moved on to the next one, and Slughorn carefully removed the lid. A more dense, calmly dancing steam rose through the cauldron into perfect spirals, spreading slowly through the air around nearby students.
“That’s… Um…” James could tell that the girl blushed briefly, and looked at the teacher. “Is it amortentia?”
“That’s right, Miss Evans.” He smiled, nodding. “A love potion. The most powerful love potion that exists, to be more precise. Undoubtedly the most dangerous potion in this room.” He remarked. “You can make anyone who drinks it fall foolishly into an obsessive and irrational passion. Can you tell me the main characteristic?”
Lily blinked a few times and looked at the teacher, realizing that he’d spoken to her.
"Ah, yes. Amortentia presents a different scent to each person who feels it, according to what attracts us most.”
"Oh, that explains it.” Sirius commented, as if talking to himself. James looked at him, seeing the boy comfortably propped up on the table behind them and arms folded. Potter raised his eyebrows curiously, and he shook his head in response. “Forget it.”
James smelled the scent of mint, strawberry and wet grass.It was a light smell, as if it inebriated his brain without him even realizing he was feeling it. He had no doubt as to why he smelled this, he smelled it every time he was close to Evans, from first year and the first time he saw her. The intoxicating sensation happened exactly as his infatuation with Lily had happened; suddenly and without him realizing it. When James realized that he loved her he didn’t know how or when it happened. It was as if it had always been this way.
"Very well done, Miss Evans! Very well done!” Slughorn looked as if he was going to jump with excitement, and Sirius laughed weakly again, slightly amused. “Ten points to Gryffindor! Thank you very much for your help.”
Lily stepped back, looking a bit puzzled.
"Now, that last cauldron contains a very… curious potion.” The professor uncovered the latter, letting a golden steamer rise through the air. “Its name is felix felicis, but it’s more commonly known as liquid luck.”
All the murmurs in the room suddenly stopped as all students snapped to attention at this last sentence.
“Yes that’s right. Just one sip of felix felicis can cause nothing to go wrong in your life for a whole day.” Slughorn stirred the potion causing the liquid to bubble lightly. "Just a sip of that little potion can make you the luckiest person in the world for only a few hours.”
There was silence as the students thought about this.
“Whichever student within the next hour that can produce the best draught of living death will be rewarded with this generous dose of liquid luck.”
“So, what are you waiting for? Move! time is running out! Good luck to everyone!”
James needed to look at his friends at his side, somewhat surprised, before he hurriedly moved to follow the other students to the ingredients cabinet in the back of the room. That was an awfully big prize. Just imagine what felix felicis could do during the final of a Quidditch Championship!
“Nope. Against the rules, you can’t use it during a game.” Remus said it next to his ear, as James once again looked at him surprised.
“Did I say this out loud?”
“No, mate. I just know you.”
“You’re freaking me out today, Moony.”
"I hear he does it every year with the sixth years.” Peter commented next to them as they took the ingredients they needed and piled them into their arms.
“If I win, I’ll rob Gringotts.” Sirius remarked as the four friends sat down at their table with all the necessary ingredients.
“You already have an inheritance greater than any of us, Padfoot.” Peter looked at him in astonishment. "What would you possibly do with the money?!”
"It’s not about the money, it’s about adrenalin, and about being the first wizard to rob the safest bank there is.” He smiled wickedly at his friends, folding his arms in front of his chest.
“Just until the effect passes.” James said, already beginning to put the first ingredients in the cauldron after lighting the flame and finding the recipe in the book.
"And then you’d be the first minor wizard to go to Azkaban for the stupidest reason.” Remus nodded, making the others laugh.
The sixty minutes passed with a blink of an eye. James and Sirius were good at potions, but this one demanded to be more than just good. Remus was the first to fail, creating a hole in the bottom of his cauldron that only got bigger as minutes passed regardless of what he tried to do to stop it. Then Peter did something wrong that resulted in his potion becoming white and oily and bubbling until it leaked all across the table. He and Remus cleaned up their mess with some difficulty and then began to watch the competition that naturally settled between James and Sirius, who obviously couldn’t win anything because they were more concerned about sabotaging each other and laughing at it. As a result, James’s potion turned into green snot and Sirius’ stoned stonecutted, and became black like charcoal.
“Okay, boys, time is up!” Slughorn warned, exactly one hour later. “Drop your instruments, I’ll go through each student and find our winner.”
The professor began to move from table to table, beginning with the side of the Slytherins, and James tried to peer into Lily’s cauldron that was sitting in front of him. She stirred a substance that looked completely uniform even though the steam was dark and smelly.
“Sirius, stop.” Remus scolded, pushing the boy’s hand away from James’s cauldron. “You don’t know what that is, it can hurt you, it might even burn off your finger.”
James laughed between them as he watched Slughorn approach. The teacher didn’t seem pleased with any of the students, until he reached Snivellus’ cauldron. James was already making a joke in his head to mock the boy when Slughorn exclaimed and clapped his hands together.
“Good god, Severus, this potion is impeccable! I haven’t seen a draught of living death this perfect since I last made it myself!” He exclaimed, laughing. “Congratulations, boy, my congratulations, you have a gift!” He patted Snape on the back, then walked away. “It will be very difficult for anyone in this room to outdo this result!”
James exchanged a shocked look at Sirius, who if possible, was frowning even more at this point. Snivellus always did so well in potions, and it drove Sirius crazy.
Slughorn kept going, but found no other potion that compared to Snape’s, which was a shame, as James was hoping that Lily’s was at least excellent, but when the teacher looked at her cauldron he just grimaced and asked that she didn’t inhale the smoke for too long.
"Well, as promised, here it is. A dose of felix felicis for the pupil who made the best potion.” The professor filled a small bottle with the golden liquid and handed it to Severus, who sketched the beginning of a smile, which disappeared as quickly as it appeared. James rolled his eyes, wanted to tear that bottle from his hands and hand it to Lily. There was no reason other than the fact that if it were up to James, she would always win what she deserved. She at least deserved it much more than Snivellus, everyone knew that.
“That’s it for today, class. I want you to write a summary of what probably went wrong in the brewing of each and what you might have done differently for the next class. See you tommorow!”
Slughorn almost always released them at least ten minutes early, and Sirius loved it. He liked to say it was because the class ended just before lunch, and Slughorn wanted to have time to get to the table before anyone else to get a good seat, which turned out to be good for all his students as well.
The group followed the dungeon corridor talking in their groups of friends, one after the other, and Remus went in front of James and Sirius, trying to explain to Peter the transfiguration test next period. James was zoned our, thinking of Lily’s reaction when she saw the amortentia, wondering what the scent was that she smelled. He looked away after a bit, as they were already approaching the main hall door, to his best friend who walked beside him.
Black looked at him. He smiled, walking with his hands in the pockets of his uniform.
“Cinnamon, old books, and-” He looked at the two boys walking in front of them and took a long step toward Remus, walking beside him and sniffing the curve of his neck briefly. “Chocolate.” He smiled at Remus’ confused look before running to the Gryffindor table to find a good place for the four of them.
James smiled briefly at the boy’s statement, reaching Remus and Peter and walking alongside Lupin. He looked at this one.
“What smell did you smell? With the love potion.”
“Ah.” Remus seemed to understand what that was about, and frowned down at the floor. As he formulated the answer in his head James saw a few red marks begin to appear on his face and he laughed weakly. "I don’t … Remember quite well.”
“Oh, come on.” James shook his head. “Cheap cologne? A motorbike or something?!” He joked, and the red spots on Remus’ cheeks intensified. He cleared his throat, but smiled weakly and shook his head.
"Leather, cigarettes, and…” He looked at James suddenly, his face turning white. “Wet dog.”
James threw back his head, laughing. He patted Remus’ back as they approached the table, then shook his head. James stopped laughing as Sirius sat and slid to Lily’s side on the table, resting his arm around her shoulders.
“Evans, my Lily of the field!”
“Ugh, Black. What you want?” She raised an eyebrow at him, only slightly amused. “Don’t tell me you’ve gotten into more detention, because I’m not telling any lies for you this time.”
"What did you smell with the love potion?” He asked, almost making James choke on air. James sat carefully beside his best friend, staring at the table, but he was silently listening to the conversation.
“That’s none of your business, is it?”
“I just want to prove something.”
“And what would that possibly be? Are you dreaming that I might have smelled your ugly arse?”
"It’s not my ugly arse, is it?”
Lily stared at him hesitantly for a moment, then narrowed her eyes at him.
Lily pulled away from him, freeing herself from his arm, and Sirius turned to the boys smiling with conviction.
The food appeared in front of them, and they soon filled their plates. James didn’t realize how hungry he was until he saw food in front of him.
The conversation soon flowed between the students while they ate lunch, especially between the girls who were in the potions class and the Marauders. They talked about felix felicis, about what they would do if they had won it, then what Severus would probably do - which was a big question, which made James uneasy at the thought of Snivellus’ delusions about Lily - and finally, to James’ displeasure, who was beginning to be nervous, they returned to the subject of amortentia. Dorcas said she smelled fresh ink and green tea, and Marlene smelled pumpkin and mint juice, but Lily stayed quiet.
"You know, Evans, I don’t think you smelled anything, and that’s why you don’t want to say it.” Sirius nudged, and she rolled her eyes. "You have no heart, do you? That’s what you don’t want us to know, because it’s kind of sad, honestly…” He said dejectedly, which thoroughly annoyed Lily.
“Stop being such an idiot!”
“Then prove otherwise! Why don’t you say it, if we all said it? Are you afraid that we’ll find out something?”
"I just don’t see why I’d tell you something personal. Why do you want to know so much, huh? Are you interested in me?”
"Fortunately you’re not my type redhead.” He shrugged as he ate. "Which is good, because I don’t want to be in love with someone with no heart…”
“Ugh!” She looked at him indignantly. It seemed like Lily was taking his joke a little bit too personally, which was curious.
“Prove me wrong!” He looked at her, now demanding “If you have nothing to lose, and nothing to hide, why don’t you just say it!”
Lily stared at him for a moment, seeming to decide upon something. She dropped her cutlery and turned to Sirius, and by now James’s eyes were glued to her face.
“Right. I smelled fresh herbs and wet earth and tutti frutti. If you know what that means let me know, because I don’t know either. But it doesn’t mean I don’t have a heart! It’s normal not to recognize what you’re most attracted to in the first place.” She got to her feet, taking her pack from the floor. "I’m going to the dormitory girls. I need to get some books.” she warned Marlene before leaving the table.
When she stepped away, Sirius turned his head to James as slowly as possible, his smile slowly spreading across his face as Remus stared at his friend with a smirk that said he already knew exactly what that meant. James couldn’t even breathe.
Thanks again to the lovely @nineandthreequarterrs for helping me with the translation and doing all the hard work!
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