Title: AmortentiaÂ
Lily pushed open the door of her dorm room and quickly pulled out three texts books that had filled her bag and reached across the desk and found her potions book. Lily was late, something that rarely happened to the always organized red-head. But Professor Tromwell had asked her to write down the times she would be available to tutor younger children. And then they had gotten into a antimated discussion on the use of cheering charms on muggles who were hospitalized for depression. And now she would be late. She could only hope Professor Slughorn would not be assigning a long and complicated potion today. She was not in the mood to bend over a boiling potion for the next two hours and make sure she was counting her exact strokes. She just wanted the time to pass quickly so she could go eat lunch and then take a long hot bath up in her Head Girl's dormitory.Â
Lily swung her bag back onto her shoulders and ran our of the room and down the stairs. She didn't notice until it was too late as she collided straight on with James Potter.
"Whoaa, you okay?" asked James as he placed both his hands on either side of her and steadied her. His large white hands gripped her tightly as he straightened her up and she was facing him. He already stood a good eight inches above her measly five feet and four inches of height, and yet every time she saw him, she felt like he grew.Â
"Yes, I-I'm fine," said Lily as she looked up into James face. His hazel eyes looked down at her in concern and Lily suddenly found herself taking deep, long breaths trying to steady her breathing.Â
"And where are you running to?" asked James as he dropped his arms from Lily and started walking beside her out of the portrait
"Oh, potions!" said Lily in an exasperated cry as she looked down on her watch and saw she had only five minutes for the walk that typically eight minutes. "And I'm going to be even later now!"
"Don't fret, my dear, James Potter is here!" replied James as he began walking down the stair case away from the Gryffindor Common Room.Â
"And what do you mean by that James?" asked Lily in excitement, even though she was upset about being late. "Am I going to get the chance to see one of the famous Marauder secret passages?"
"Why yes you are," said James with a grin and a bow as he pushed his arm against a metal suit of armor that fell backwards to reveal another staircase.Â
"It is... safe" replied Lily as she questioned the dimly lit staircase that seemed too steep to belong in the castle.
"Of course!" said James as he began to run down the stairs, or bouncing may have been a better term. "I'm pretty sure it was built using something called magic!"
Lily shook her head at her own foolishness. Of course every staircase in Hogwarts was safe. Even the dimly light spooky staircases that people like James Potter only knew about. And before Lily could even finish her thoughts on how James even found this secret passage, they had reached the landing. James knocked lightly three times and the wall twisted around as it opened to the front of the Potions room. James walked out into the hallway and threw a greeting over to the other stragglers coming into the classroom. Lily glanced down at her watch and realized she actually had two minutes to spare! She walked into the classroom and quickly headed over to where her two best friends Madison and Honey had set up their potions things already.
"Cutting it a bit short?" asked Madison in her thick irish accent.
"I know, and it would have been even shorter if James hadn't shown me a short cut," replied Lily as she threw her text book onto the table along with her goblet and other potion making requirements.Â
"Potter helped you?" replied Honey. Honey brushed a strand of her blonde hair out of her face and stared at Lily. "He helped you? James Potter?"
"Yes, Honey, he helped me. Just like he's been helping me for the last three months whenever I needed anything. You really need to accept the fact he's changed."
"I do agree with Honey though, after six years of humiliating us for just pure pleasure, seeing him suddenly be kind to us in our seventh year takes some getting used too," added Madison.Â
"It's December already," cried out Lily. "I think you should be used to it by now!"
"Well, one thing I'll never get used to is you defending that bloke," replied Honey as Lily threw an evil glare back at her as Professor Slughorn walked into the classroom.
"Silence please!" bellowed Professor Slughorn as he set a stack of papers onto his desk. "Today we are going to be making the most powerful potion in the world. "
The class leaned forward at these words and watched as he began to pace in front of them.Â
"No it is not an elixir or poison. In fact, I guess very few of you in here would even recognize it if it was placed before you. Today we will be making... amortentia!"
Lily gasped along with two others in the classroom. Lily glanced to the table next to hers and noticed all three of the Gryffindor boys had their eyebrows raised in question.Â
"And what is amortentia you make ask? It's a love potion. The most powerful potion in the world," lectured Professor Slughorn. "And today you will each make the potion and then write me a short 2 foot paged paper on what it is that you smell and why you believe it is that you smell this. And yes, I ask that you give me an honest answers. Directions are on page 46 of your book, begin!"
Lily flipped her potions book open and began reading carefully as she pulled out different ingredients. Taking a quick glance around the classroom she saw Severus Snape had already made it to what looked like step three. Lily sighed and began chopping the frog's liver she had before her into small pieces before adding the dandelions root to the potion. It began to turn a milky white shade and she glanced down quickly realizing she had forgotten the teaspoon of goat's milk. She quickly measured and poured the goat's milk into the potion. The next step was to add a little bit of powdered mushroom stones. Lily threw in a quick handful hoping it would be enough, and began to stir. The directions stated that the witch or wizard must stir for exactly seven minutes, and then it would turn a distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen. Lily watched and at exactly seven minutes characteristic spirals began to come out of her potion which was the exact mother-of-pearl sheen she knew was needed. Lily watched as her other classmates began setting down their wands and stepping away from their potions in either disgust or smiles. Â
Honey leaned over Lily's potion and took a deep long smell.Â
"Why it smells just like the roses outside of my grandmother Betty-Lou's house!" exclaimed Honey in delight. "An-and a bit like the dark chocolate cheesecake my aunty Laurey brings every year for Christmas. An-an-and something else... Can you tell what it is Lily?"
"Well, to me it smells nothing like roses!" laughed Lily. "Instead it smells like the playground I used to play at when I was little and growing up, I can smell the sand and the grass from the field around it... and it also smells a bit like fresh ink! And there's a third smell for me too... but I can't tell what it's from! Smells like something I've smelled here at Hogwarts, almost soapy!" Lily laughed and shook her head knowing she still had another three days left to figure out what her third smell was.Â
"What do you smell Madison?" asked Honey in her typical excited voice. Madison leaned towards Lily's potion and also took a long deep breath in. Her face showed no signs of emotion as she took a second breath.  "Well, what is it?"
"Rain," replied Madison. "I smell rain, and the way it smells right when the rain has just fallen. And then I smell something minty, a bit like my sister's perfume to be exact. And then I think maybe tobacco and firewhiskey?" The last bit put Madison's face into a frown as she scrunched up her head trying to decide.Â
"Well, don't worry girls," said Professor Slughorn as he walked over. He took three flasks and dipped them into Lily's potion and handed a flask to each girl at the table. "Bring these around with you for the next couple days and try sniff them repeatedly until you can figure out where the smell is coming from!"Â Professor Slughorn walked off to help other students with their potions.Â
"You ladies figure yours out?" asked Sirius Black as he plopped down in the fourth empty chair at their table.Â
"Some of the smells," replied Honey with a smile. "And yourself?"
"The first thing I smelt was homemade apple pie, and I know for a fact that it's the exact same kind Mrs. Potter makes every Sunday night at the Potter house!" said Sirius with a smile as James and Remus walked over and joined their friend at the girls table. "And then I smelt this lavender flower scent that I know smells exactly like Mrs. Potter! And then thirdly I smelt this type of soap, but I haven't been able to figure where that comes from yet."Â
"You smelled a certain type of soap?" asked Lily excitedly. "Me too! And I don't know where mine comes from either?"
"What if we are smelling the same thing then Ms. Evans?" asked Sirius with a laugh. Lily laughed along with him.
"Well, that would probably be the first thing we ever had in common that dealt with a homework assignment Sirius!" Lily laughed and grabbed her bag as Honey and Madison followed her direction.Â
"What about you James?" asked Madison. "Figure out your potion smells?"
"Yes it was easy!" replied James as he held the door open as the six of them walked out of the classroom together. "There was the wood from my broomstick, and daisies from my backyard and then-" James stopped and didn't finish his sentence.Â
"And then what?" asked Remus with a grin as if he knew what James had been about to say.Â
"And then the apple pie my mom makes every weekend," James looked down the hall as if he was thinking of something else and Lily raised an eyebrow unsure of James had just been telling the truth there.
"And how about you Remus?" asked Lily.Â
"Nothing that unfamiliar, just the smell of woods, which I'm sure if the Forbidden Forest. And then surprisingly I believe it was our dorm room!" Remus laughed as he said the last bit and Sirius and James looked at him in horror.Â
"Why would you love the smell of our dorm room ever?" asked Sirius as he gave Remus a frightening look.Â
"Because I think it's the first place I ever truly felt at home," replied Remus as the group began walking up the stairs and towards the Great Hall.Â
"It's weird though isn't it?" said Honey, "how some of us can't recognize all our smells. You'd think if it was something you loved you'd be able to recognize it immediately!"
"That's true," replied Madison. "But maybe you just don't realize that you love it." Honey suddenly stopped which caused a bit of a collision on the steps as she had been walking in the front of the group. This caused Lily to stumble slightly as she ran into Madison who was in front of her. Luckily James was standing behind Lily and grabbed her before she had a chance to tumble down the stairs.
"Second time today," said James as he grinned and straighten out Lily once again, Lily mumbled some sort of thank you as her brain began to run into overdrive. Â
"I was smelling pumpkins!" said Honey excitedly as waited for everyone to catch up with her on the top of the landing. "Pumpkins from out in front of Hagrid's house! I love going there in the fall, and we had just gone a couple weeks ago to visit him! How didn't I realize this earlier?"
The group laughed as they walked into the Great Hall and set their bags down and began to grab food and eat. Lily remained silent and her plate remained empty as she stared down intently into her hands.Â
"What's the matter Lils?" asked Madison after eating three mouthfuls of her applesauce and realizing Lily's plate was still empty. Lily looked up from her lap and saw her five friends staring at her with concern. Her eyes quickly connected across the table with the hazel ones staring intently back at her.Â
"I realized where the soapy smell is from," said Lily softly as Remus and Sirius had to lean forward to hear her better.Â
"Where?" asked Honey excitedly.Â
"You," said Lily as her eyes never left James' face.Â
"Me?" asked James as he leaned backward in surprise.
"You smell Potter?" asked Madison as she looked in between her two friends with horror.Â
"I-I guess," replied Lily as she tilted her head a little bit to the side. "I smell my playground, fresh ink, and James... it's a light pine tree soapy smell mixed a bit with sweat." The six students stared at each other each lost in their own thoughts at what Lily has just said.Â
"You smelly a sweaty James?" asked Sirius as he laughed and leaned to his side and took a long wiff of James. "Wow, you're right pine tree soap and sweat! Same as what was in my potion!"
"So-so that means your in love with James?" asked Remus.Â
"I'm not gay!" exclaimed Sirius as he glared at Remus. "I just love him like a brother."
"I didn't mean you, you dirty dog. I meant Lily, do you love James?" asked Remus again more slowly as everyone watched for her reaction. It was silent as Lily's green eyes stared fiercely into James' hazel ones.
"I think this means I do," said Lily as the silence had begun to become almost unbearable. "I think I might be in love with you James." Her eyes began to water as she looked down at her hands, embarrassed at what she had just realized. She suddenly felt two hands on either side of her face tilting her head back upward. James was leaning across the table as his eyes sought out Lily's eyes.Â
"Lily," breathed James as he held her face. "I love you too..." Lily's eyes began to sparkle with tears as she closed them trying to not look at James. "I lied when I said I could smell my mom's apple pie. What I really was smelling was your strawberry apple lotion you put on your hands every morning and the strawberry flavored shampoo you use in your hair every night. I smell you Lily, I love you."
Lily looked back up into James face and her heart began to beat rapidly.Â
"You're not joking right?" asked Lily as the tears began to dry on her blushing face.Â
"I'm never joking when I'm talking about loving you." James leaned forward and kissed Lily gently on her mouth causing shivers to run down her arms and legs.Â
"And of course," said James as he finally pulled his mouth away from Lily's and stared back into her eyes. "I'm going to go tell the whole world now that I know you love me too."
"That's fine," said Lily as she smiled and leaned towards James to kiss him again. "As long as you kiss me one more time before you do."Â
AN: Hi Everyone! This story is a one-shot in response to a challenge. This is the first story I've written in two years! So I'm just trying to get back into the mood of writing again.. Your comments are very much appreciated :]
x0x0
KACi <3