DEVIL'S SNARE ━ james sirius potter ✓

▬▬ 06. DEVIL'S SNARE

⠀⠀"She sent you a letter too? Yesterday?" Lysander asked, his once normally loud voice quiet now.

⠀⠀"Yeah," Laurel said, sighing. "She told us—"

⠀⠀"Not to tell Dad, yeah," Lysander said, fiddling with the corner of the book he had set down. Laurel had noticed the title: Potions for the Sick. She looked at Lorcan's book too, finding a book about potions in his hands too. Then she finally noticed the stack of books next to them, each having something to do with potions.

⠀⠀"You know that these potions aren't going to help, right?" Laurel said calmly, looking at Lysander.

⠀⠀Lysander looked up at her, his eyes unreadable. Lorcan looked up too, casting a side glance at his twin.

⠀⠀"This isn't the time for your blatant honesty, Laurel," Lysander said curtly, his eyes still locked on Laurel's face.

⠀⠀"I would rather choke out the truth than sing out a lie," Laurel bit back. "I know the truth hurts but in the end it's the best for us all."

⠀⠀"Or maybe I already know they're not going to work and that maybe you could just keep your mouth shut," Lysander snapped at her. Now his expression was readable. There was a quiet fire behind his eyes, slowly coming out, getting hotter and hotter.

⠀⠀Laurel was about to snap back when Lorcan put a hand on her arm. "Laurel. Seriously. Not now."

⠀⠀The blonde listened to Lorcan, flaring up her nose and leaning back defeatedly on her chair, crossing her arms and glaring at Lysander. "Have either of you sent anything back?"

⠀⠀"No," Lorcan said as Lysander shook his head tightly. "I just don't know what to write."

⠀⠀"I don't either," Laurel sighed.

⠀⠀The three of them fell silent, too lost in their own thoughts to speak.

⠀⠀Laurel, feeling bad about her honesty earlier, piped up, breaking the silence. "She did say she was grateful for those potions you two made and that it helped with her back pain, so I guess you could still send her those." To ease her pain before she.... Laurel couldn't think about it. She didn't dare say it out loud.

⠀⠀"And we still owe you about eight Galleons each," Lysander chuckled a little, his angry expression now replaced with a comical grin.

⠀⠀"When do you need me to restock?" Laurel asked.

⠀⠀"This weekend?" Lorcan asked, looking between the two happily as they didn't fight anymore.

⠀⠀"Fine," Laurel said. "You still owe me those Galleons."

⠀⠀"Yeah, yeah," Lysander said, waving his hand as he picked up the book again. "Lorc, I found this potion and it's so much easier to make than the one we usually make and it helps the same way."

⠀⠀Laurel watched as her two brothers conversed. She was never really interested in potions the way they were. She was the best at Charms, hexes, and history, while they were amazing at potions, Ancient Runes, and astronomy. All three shared two common interests though: Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures.

⠀⠀They had spent the next hour or so in the library, telling stories and getting hushed by the librarian for being too loud. It wasn't unexpected, especially since Lysander was pretty loud most of the time. Laurel told them about Lavanya and the twins seemed to be enlightened by the fact that they were, well, famous.