Chapter 11- Did I tell you?
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling or entities associated with her.
Lily Evans
Essay Concerning the Amortentia potion
Seventh Year Advanced Potions
Prof. Slughorn
I hold the cotton ball up to my nose, and inhale deeply. Scents awaken triggers in my brain. There is the smell of ink, fresh new ink. I can picture the wet sheen of the ink as it glistens on paper. To write is my escape. It is my outlet from emotions that, if left uncontrolled overtake one's being. There is also the smell of gas lanterns, lanterns that can be found throughout Hogwart's. Hogwart's is home to me, as much as any other place on earth. I find peace in its hallowed halls and rooms. It is here that I have found myself, the real Lily Evans. I can now understand the little girl to whom odd things always seemed to happen. I have learned about who I am, and who I hope to become. Hogwart's will always be in my heart and I shall never truly leave it.
The other scents have the same root. I look up, and I see the common thread that unites the remaining smells. It is none other than James Potter. I can taste the sweet Drooble's Best Blowing Gum that he always chews, because the smell is so strong. Faint blue bubbles could be used to track his path, if one wanted to do so. I smell the freshly cut grass of the Quidditch pitch, and the hot chocolate I always hold in my hands when I watch a match. I see him flying high in the air, zooming towards the goal posts. The wind whips through his already tousled inky black hair, he is smiling. His eyes are set, determined as he flies to make another goal. He flies like he was born in the air. His broom seems to anticipate his movements. I smell the butterbeer that was on his breath the first time I kissed him. I smell the sticky maple syrup that he drowns his pancakes in each morning, and the vanilla bean cheesecake that he sneaks from the kitchens some nights. As I finish this essay, James is walking across the common room towards me. I know when he reaches me I will not be able to tell the smell of the potion apart from James himself, but isn't that as it should be? After all, I smell nothing now that I wouldn't have smelled years ago.
James didn't know what to think. So Lily really had fancied him for years? He had entertained the thought, but to read it written by her own hand made it so much more real. He felt like a sneak and a rat for reading it without her permission, but his heart soared none the less. He didn't want her to know what he had done, but he knew that he would have to tell her, lest his conscience eat him alive. He hoped Lily would forgive him. He knew that if his confession were verbal she would become very upset. Violent, crying, hexing mad. Lily had to have time alone to process things, so he began the task of writing a long letter, sincerely asking for forgiveness and explaining his actions.
Alone in his office, Horace Slughorn read over the papers turned in by his seventh year Advanced Potions class. He came to a paper that was written in a tall slanted handwriting. There was no doubt that the paper belonged to Sirius Black. `This should be interesting,' Slughorn thought to himself.
What Sirius Black Loves
Or
An Essay Regarding the Amortentia Potion
I love a hell of a lot of things. I love food. I live for breakfast until half nine in the morning. I live for lunch until two, and for dinner until seven. I love a good challenge. I thrill in the chase, be it the chase of a beautiful woman or some other game. I thrive on playing chess against Remus or Snap with James. I even love watching someone else embark on what promises to be a challenging endeavor. Take Jamie chasing Lily for the past six years. I have eagerly watched him pursue her, and I have never once seen him waver. Thinking about Lily reminds me of something else I love. I love women. No certain woman in particular, just women. They are the most amazing creatures on earth. Their skin is so smooth and soft. They always look and smell heavenly. Women are so delicate, but they're amazingly strong at the same time, amazing. I love my family. Not my blood family, my real family the Potters and Remus. They're what family should be. They would never turn against me, and blast my name from the family tree. They don't care if you're a muggleborn, a pureblood or even half and half. It's what's truly on the inside that matters to them. The other thing I really love is my bike. I have always enjoyed flying. I could fly a broom almost as soon as I could walk. Brooms are great, but my motorcycle is unbeatable. She's my baby, my pride, my joy. When I take off on my bike, I just get lost in this joyous peaceful state. It's a rush of excitement, but when I'm up in the air and all I hear is the rumble of the engine and the wind whipping around me it's as if nothing else exists. I can sit and look at my bike or polish it for hours, hours I tell you.
Well Professor, I was supposed to just tell you what I could smell in the potion, so here it is at the end. I smell the clean smell of laundry from Jamie's mums. It's the smell of family and home. I smell the perfume that literally every girl in Hogwarts wears, every girl except Lily that is. I did say I love women didn't I? I smell butterbeer. After all what's better than a drink with friends or at a party or to relax? I smell burned rubber. Some say it stinks, but I say that my bike is sexy when she's roasting her tires.
Author's Note: Thanks, as always. There's only one chapter left. Until next time, T
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