Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 54: In the Stars
James sat in DADA class, fantasizing about different methods of humiliating White. For a few moments on the way to class he had felt a twinge of guilt and wondered if he was taking things too far by planning on hexing him. As he had arrived at class his momentary guilt turned into brooding anger as he saw White squeezing Lily's hand after returning her books which he had been carrying.
DADA wasn't very interesting, in fact, it was a bit tedious. Professor Dover, though she was quite knowledgeable about the subject, liked to give long, complicated descriptions of curses and counter curses when short and direct explanations would have been just as appropriate. She assigned them each a three foot essay on the wand movements used to banish a ghoul.
"I can't believe it!" complained Sirius as they were walking outside to their Care of Magical Creatures class. "Three feet! Just on wand movement!"
"Yeah," agreed Peter. "I don't think that much information exists."
"And can you believe this?" asked James as he pulled out a parchment. "What's with this list?" Professor Dover had written out a long list of rules regarding the writing to be turned in. It described in great detail the width of the margins and the height and spacing of the writing, amongst many other details.
"It does seem like she wants to make a simple task much more complicated than it needs to be," agreed Remus.
They arrived at the edge of the forest and were not surprised to see Professor Kettleburn wearing a bandage wrapped around his head. It was not unusual for their Care of Magical Creatures professor to have some part of his anatomy bandaged from 'accidents' caused by the creatures they studied.
"Speaking of magical creatures…" whispered Sirius, "shall we resume our Animagus training tonight? I really want to start the next step."
"I agree," said James. "The sooner we get started, the sooner we can help Moony."
"As much as I anticipate your achieving this feat," started Remus, "I think you should concentrate on the second step tonight, make sure you have it down before starting the final step." Seeing the protesting faces of his friends he added, "You weren't allowed to practice during the holiday so let's just make sure you can flawlessly do the second step before practicing on yourselves."
James and Sirius reluctantly nodded while Peter looked relieved about delaying the final step. He had more difficulty than James and Sirius with the Animagus spell and needed as much help and practice as possible. The idea of starting the transformation on himself made him rather twitchy.
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The next morning the Marauders awoke with a feeling of bittersweet triumph. For not having been able to practice the Animagus spell over the summer they were able to transform inanimate objects into their Animagus forms almost flawlessly.
By the end of the previous night, Sirius felt that he had the spell down and insisted on trying it on himself. According to the literature, the best way to start was to focus on the first thing that had transformed after he had taken the potion. That was easy to remember, seeing as how his nickname was Padfoot. Sirius spent the next hour concentrating on transforming the palm of his hand into the pad of a dog's foot. By the end of the hour Sirius had managed to do it. It took, however, twice as long to transform his hand back to normal.
When Sirius woke up that morning his hand was very sore. He didn't understand why it hurt after this transformation when he had felt fine after drinking the Animagus potion a few years earlier. The transformation then had not bothered him. Remus reasoned that the potion had done all the work, while last night Sirius had to work hard to transform his hand.
Despite the pain, Sirius felt bolstered by the success and looked forward to trying it again. James decided to try that evening, though Remus was a little worried that a set of antlers would be difficult to hide if James was unable to transform back. Peter decided to wait and watch. He figured that if James and Sirius could master the steps then they would be in a better position to help him. Besides, he was not looking forward to growing a tail.
At breakfast Sirius was scrambling to finish his summer homework for Muggle Studies on Muggle writing implements. Since his family did not house books on Muggle life in their library and since he had been confined to his room he had not had the opportunity to write about ballpoint pens, markers, and crayons. He shook his head, thinking to himself how much easier it was to just use a quill instead of all of the other writing implements.
James was brooding over his breakfast, wondering again why he had chosen Divination as an elective. He was floored that he had received an 'Exceeds Expectations' on his final exam the previous year. During his crystal gazing he had been about to make something up and was caught, after which he read what he saw which was his reflection, though a bit different in appearance. How was that worth an 'E'? Not that he was complaining about the good grade - he just didn't understand how he had earned it. Silently he wondered how badly the other students must have done if his predictions had been good enough to earn a good grade.
James, Remus, and Peter left Sirius at the Gryffindor table flipping through pages in a book muttering something about highlighters. They made the long journey to the North Tower and took their seats in the familiar stuffy heat of the Divination classroom.
Professor Vablatsky greeted the class and announced the beginning of their section on Astrology. This was going to go hand-in-hand with their Astronomy studies since they had started studying the stars/planets of the Zodiac the previous year. The class was to begin by looking up their sign of the Zodiac and discussing its attributes. Their project for the term was to chart the progress of their sign of the Zodiac in the stars and how it related to their life.
As the class divided into pairs to discuss their Zodiac signs, Professor Vablatsky hobbled around the room listening to the students. She paused as she heard James remind Remus that his birthday was August 15th. She cleared her throat and said, "A true Gryffindor."
James turned to the old woman and raised an eyebrow. She gazed back at him, her blue eyes oddly intense. "Excuse me?" he asked.
"The lion - not only a sign of Gryffindor, but also of your Zodiac sign, Leo," she replied. With a smile she walked over to Peter and Frank. Frank was trying to get Peter to understand that they were not focusing on the Chinese Zodiac that day - Frank couldn't understand why Peter was stuck on the sign of the Rat from the Chinese Zodiac.
Remus shook his head and studied his book. "Let's see…Leo, the lion," he smirked. "You would be described as confident, dramatic, self-reliant, generous, outgoing, and proud." Remus looked up from the book and studied James for a moment before nodding and returning to the book. "Leos have a desire to be true to themselves. They, like the lion, want to be king of the jungle so they can at times be dominating, brave, and demanding of attention. Leos can be flirtatious and will want to have their ego stroked." Remus chuckled and said, "Leos can be very romantic, showing dramatic gestures to woo the one they care about. It also says Leos are good with kids." Remus looked at James and joked, "That would make sense, seeing as how you act like one - you can relate."
James stuck out his tongue and threw a balled up piece of paper across the table, successfully hitting Remus between the eyes.
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Across the room, Alice shook her head and said, "A Libra! I almost forgot your birthday is in a few weeks. Late September, right?"
Lily smiled and said, "September 25th."
"So young, yet she is growing up so fast…" said Alice, wistfully. She loved to remind her friends that she was the older one of the group, her birthday being January 17th. Alice grinned and searched the pages of Unfogging the Future to find details on Lily's Zodiac sign. "Ok…Libra's sign is the scale. That means that you are balanced in your thoughts and emotions and that you weigh things carefully. Libras are stylish, good-natured, idealistic, romantic, and intelligent. They are fair-minded and weigh evidence to the point of being indecisive. When trying to get a Libra to decide on something it is best not to push. Libras do not like disharmony or disputes and they will often act as peacemakers. Hmmm, do I see a future prefect here?" joked Alice. Alice continued to scan the details of Libra until her eyes suddenly perked and she exclaimed, "Lucky Lily! Your sign is ruled by Venus, the goddess of love. Wonder if Adam knows this…"
Lily blushed and said, "I doubt it. He only asked me out yesterday."
Alice winked and said, "Well, we'll just have to make sure he finds out."
Lily turned a darker shade of red and said, "You wouldn't…"
"Wouldn't I?" retorted Alice.
Lily scowled for a moment but then smiled at Alice. "Well, if you feel like revealing certain bits of information, then maybe I can tell a certain someone who fancies you that you like him back."
Alice's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She cast a nervous glance toward Frank and said to Lily, "What are you talking about? I don't like him like that!"
"If you open your mouth to Adam then I can't help what I might say to Frank, true or not," countered Lily.
"So much for Libras being fair-minded…" muttered Alice.
"Self-defense," retorted Lily.
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In Double Potions Professor Pilon announced that they would need to divide into pairs for the next project. They were to begin brewing antidotes. The four Marauders paired off - Sirius and James, Peter and Remus. Remus nervously looked at Peter as they began to gather their ingredients. Alice and Marlene grouped together.
Lily looked around, noticing most of the class had paired off. Wondering who she could work with, her eyes finally settled on Severus Snape. He was at the front of the room, toward the side. Seeing no other options, she reasoned with herself that Severus was excellent at Potions. As she approached his desk she saw Malfoy glaring at her from a few desks away.
Once Lily reached Severus she placed her cauldron and books next to his. He looked up, his eyes widening slightly at seeing her next to him.
"What are you doing here?" he sneered.
"I thought we could partner up on this project," she replied.
"I work alone," he stated, turning back to his ingredients.
Lily looked around, glancing nervously at Professor Pilon, before turning back to Severus. "Erm," she said, "We're supposed to work in pairs…"
Snape continued to count out his ingredients, not looking at her. "You want to work with me?" he asked disbelievingly.
"Well, erm…yeah." He gave her a piercing gaze and she swallowed nervously, saying, "Well, there isn't anyone else and we're both good at Potions so why not?"
Snape glanced at Malfoy who was still glaring at them. He studied the room, realizing that Lily was correct in saying there was nobody else to work with. Glancing at her he said, "Sit down, then. This has to start brewing or we won't have time to finish before the class ends. Start by cutting the-" he paused, hearing the sound of Lily's knife chopping the ginger roots into equal-sized pieces.
She glanced up at him and said, "I know. I did read the instructions."
He watched her for a few moments, his face showing mild surprise. He even looked a little impressed but his expression quickly returned to its usual sneer.
The class passed by uneventfully. Lily and Severus finished their potion in record time, pleased that it had reached the lime-green color it was supposed to be. As Lily packed up her supplies, Severus noticed Potter and Black watching them intently. Potter's jaw was clenched and he looked like he wanted to throttle Snape.
Snape smiled, realizing with pleasure that his Potions partner was a great way to irritate Potter. Snape also remembered how much Lily detested their constant hexing of him. Glancing at Lily to make sure she still had her attention on her supplies, he slipped his wand out and muttered a curse, causing Potter to flinch back like he had been slapped. Snape then pointed his wand at Lily's back, pretending like he was about to hex her.
James reacted immediately, pulling his wand out and sending the Jelly-Legs Jinx at Snape, causing him to fall to the floor, knocking over a few chairs in the process.
Lily turned around and saw Severus on the floor. Looking up at James she saw that he had his wand drawn and aimed at Severus. "WHAT are you doing?!" she fumed.
"Evans, he was going to hex you," said James, glaring at Snape.
Lily shook her head and said, "I don't believe you. Just because he's my Potions partner doesn't mean that he's going to find a way to hurt me!"
"No, really Evans…." started Sirius.
"Why do you have do things like this? Why can't you just leave him alone?" Lily asked. She turned to Severus and, drawing her wand, said, "Finite incantatum."
Snape stood up and spat, "I don't need your help."
Lily raised her eyebrows and sarcastically said, "Sorry. Would you like me to replace the curse so you can help yourself?" Hearing nothing from him, she said, "That's what I thought." Sending an angry glance at James and Sirius, she grabbed her things and stormed out of the room.
James stared after her, feeling a mixture of frustration at Lily's disbelief of him, and admiration of her talents. Sirius was impressed as well, saying, "I didn't think we were supposed to master the 'Finite' charm until next year."
Snape was thinking of another curse to send at Potter and Black, but seeing Professor Pilon coming out of her office, he gathered his things and left. He silently vowed to himself that he would find a way to knock Potter and his friends off of their pedestals.
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A/N: I had lots of fun writing all the chapters on Divination, though I know next to nothing about the subject. It's a great place to stick in info.
So - there's still a bit to go, but we are getting closer and closer to the point where I've written up to. Do you guys want me to post the prewritten chapters as often as I am, or start slowing down the posts so it gives me more time to write the new stuff? Either way, once we reach that point the posts will slow down.
Thanks to the latest reviewers: Mani12191, Golden Phoenix, lilynpotter, Anonymous, Anu, Alicia, sweetie513, Jo Bob, hpfreak, Nyscat, and sista7.
Next chapter: Lily and Adam go to Hogsmeade. Should be a carefree, fun date…right?