All Of Me | A Jily Love Story

Chapter Nineteen: Argy-Bargy With The Snakes

- JAMES -

"Is it just me, or can you smell fresh fruit?" Lily was asking me one Monday morning in Potions as we worked on our Amortentia. Surprisingly, even though we'd had to skip a day when I was confined in the hospital wing, we were still further ahead then everyone else in the class. I personally felt quite smug about it - despite Lily being the only reason we were succeeding so.
"Er...." I took a wary sniff of the potion, surpised at the sweet smell of ripe peaches and nectarines that wafted through my nostrils. "I can, actually." I frowned slightly, glancing to her. "Is that good?"
Lily simply beamed at me before returning her gaze to the light blue potion that simmered before us.
"It's perfect!" She exclaimed in earnest, clasping her hands together. "This is exactly where we should be at."
I let a chuckle escape me at her strange yet uplifting enthusiasm. Glancing around, I could barely see through the lenses of my steamed frames. Blue, Brown, green and even pink clouds of smoke were clouding around our peers heads, filling the air with a mixed assortment of unwelcome and simultaneously pleasurable aromas. It was an odd experience - I was beginning to feel rather light headed from the sickly sweet fumes. It almost looked as if the lot of us were smoking something rather funny.
"Oooh -" Lily was saying, removing her wand from between her teeth mouth and leaning over the textbook with a spark of interest. "It says here that if we pop in some Bowtruckle essence and stir it clock wise for fifteen seconds, it'll instantly change to a mint green colour." A wide grin split her face wide open so I merely flashed her a small smile, having no clue of the significance to that whatsoever.
"My turn!" I sung, flicking my wand towards the store cupboards. "Accio, erm, Bowtruckle essence?"
Lily snorted at my staggering confidence. She caught the small clay pot full of brown splintery looking grains that came zooming in our direction, placing it on our desk before me. Our potion let off a gentle blueish silver tinge from the stove.
"We'll need one exact teaspoon of this." Lily said to me clearly, tracing her finger across the stained page and leaning in to glance at the cauldron contents. I flipped a teaspoon from underneath the desk where the measurement utensils were kept, twirling it between my fingers so that it bounced from each tip.
"You may do the honours." Lily rolled her eyes at my playfulness. I carefully scooped the bronze teaspoon into the pot, gently tipping an exact spoon of Bowtruckle shit into our cauldron. I stirred the thickening mixture, earning an approving glance from Lily.
"Nice stirring." She commented, stifling a laugh.
"Why, thank you." I drawled, slinging a free hand to my hip. "It's all in the wrist, you see -"
"You're only supposed to stir for fifteen seconds!" She interrupted hastily, gesturing to the cauldron. "Pay attention, you've got three left!"
I glanced down in bewilderment, or which changed to fascination as I watched the simmering liquid begin to swirl from a sky blue into some shade of Aqua mint green.
"James!" Lily hissed, wacking my hand away from the cauldron. I yelped, jerking away from her.
"Ow!" I exclaimed indignantly as she snatched the spoon from my hand, stirring once anti-clockwise to reverse whatever mistake I'd made.
"James, how many bloody times do I have to tell you?" She tutted, turning to face me. I flinched away in fear, only to feel a wave of relief at the teasing smile that stretched across her dimpled cheeks.
"Pay attention!" She rolled her eyes, nudging me in the side playfully.
"I can't help it." I grinned, peering into the cauldron. "You're just so distracting, Evans."
As I watched the blue disperse all the way through the middle of our potion, the sharp ring of the school bell echoed through the stuffy room. Lily's wide smile grew, igniting her face in triumph. The corners of my mouth pulled up into a grin at the random hairs that had slipped from her pony tail, framing her pink tinged face.
"You are such a charmer." She sighed disapprovingly, shaking her head.
"Y'know, I'm actually excited for this." I said mildly, surprised at myself. "It is kind of interesting - when the fumes aren't intoxicating me."
"In other words, when you succeed." Lily corrected, grinning at me cheekily. "And to be elaborated further; when you're my partner."
"Don't get cocky now, Evans." I teased, something that she'd always said to me in the past. Lily's eyes narrowed, and I saw her mouth twitch.
"I see you've taken a leaf out of my book." She replied drily, swiftly extinguishing the magical flame.
"I learnt from the best." I winked at her cheekily. She couldn't suppress her smile this time, a quiet laugh escaping her soft lips.
I packed our ingredients away and sent them back into our own personal cupboard with a flick of my wand. We left our cauldron to simmer on the surface of the stove, leaving Slughorn to store it away in his office overnight.
"You bet." She grinned at me, shouldering her satchel. I slung my bag over my head, unable to resist the urge of grazing my hand across the small of her back as we queued to exit the dungeon. The touch sent a spark of electricity through my fingertips, and I reluctantly let my arm fall to my side after we managed to squeeze through the doorway.
"Listen, James." Lily hesitated slightly as we walked along the packed corridor, glancing up to meet my eyes. She offered me a slightly sheepish smile, and I thought for a moment that she might even be shy. "I'm sorry, if I kind of forced you into this partnership. I know I'm a bit of a bore, what with being so meticulous."
"What?" I asked in surprise, pulling back to scan her wary expression. I looked her up and down, trying to figure out what body language she had interpreted to make her consider such a ludicrous prospect.
"Well, you already work with me half of the week." Her cheeks warmed slightly, and she chuckled. An instant wave of remorse washed over me; what if I'd showed signs that she misinterpreted as disinterest, or boredom?
"Hey!" I exclaimed softly, halting my step. I reached out to grasp her shoulder, meeting her slightly bashful gaze. "Lily, you make potions fun." I slid a consoling arm around her delicate shoulders, unintentionally inhaling a waft of her vanilla coconut perfume. "And that's considerably impressive, regarding how much I loathe the damn subject. You're literally the lone reason I enjoy it." 
She chuckled, the pink in her cheeks deepening to a dark shade of magenta.
"And Its nice to see how much you love concocting solutions and stuff." I continued with a smile as we resumed our pace, following the throng of chatting students. "If I were doing this with Padfoot, I think we would still be at step 1.5 with a melted cauldron to boot."
Lily's smile widened at this and she laughed in agreement, shaking her head.
"Thanks, I s'pose." She sighed, sliding a responding arm around my waist. The simple touch sent shivers down my spine.
"I hope I'm not too arrogant for you." I teased, unable to take my eyes away from her pink cheeks. "I'm surprised you've survived my company thus far."
"As long as you keep cracking jokes about Elye Midegeon's hair -" She sniggered, her shoulders shaking. "- I'm content."
"In all seriousness, today's might've been the very worst I've seen it." I said indignantly, glancing up and feeling suddenly grateful that the Hufflepuff's didn't have potions with us.
"Shhh." She hissed with a small giggle, looking up at our oblivious classmates.
"Honestly," I went on in a slightly lower voice, grimacing at her. "The poor bloke looked like someone had stuck a squirrels tail at the back of his neck."
Lily was forced to bury her face into my arm to disguise her laughter, her reaction tugging a wide grin across my cheeks.
"Even you Lil, the nicest girl in our year, cannot deny it." I muttered out of the corner of my mouth as she pulled away, wiping her eyes.
"Oh, I know." She sighed, trying and failing to stifle her giggle. "Can we talk about the fact that his Mother is a hairdresser?" She whispered, covering her mouth with a hand.
"Yeah, apparently she cuts the Ministers hair." I replied mildly, craning my neck over the heads of students. "Don't ask me how I know that. Maybe that's why he's always wearing a bowler."
"He needs a new wardrobe." Lily wrinkled her nose. "I'll never understand that man, he doesn't seem to know much about leading a bloody country. How the ruddy hell did he make it through the election?"
"Money." I replied dully, the two of us sighing in unison.
"Rich bastards." She tutted, shaking her head. "What a sad, inconceivable concept. You know, I really hate wealthy people." She paused, glancing up to me with a wide grin. "With you being the only exception."
"I feel honoured." I grinned.
"Watch it, Mudblood." A loud voice rung through the dungeons corridor, the sound similar to fingernails down a chalkboard. Bellatrix danced passed us, cackling loudly. She threw her shiny locks over her shoulder and into Lily's face, leaning in to spit on her shoes before swiftly prancing out of reach. My hand instantly shot to the pocket of my robes to clench around my wand, and I grit my teeth in rage.
"Butt out, Black." I growled, baring my teeth. Mulciber, who was about the size of a house and on Bellatrix's tail, violently pushed into me and Lily to form himself a path. I reached out to grab the hem of his filthy robes, but he'd already strutted out of reach; snarling at a few first years for standing in his way.
"OI!" I yelled after him angrily, simultaneously grabbing Lily by the arm before she could trip over the suit of armour Mulciber had pushed her into.
"Catch you later, Potter!" He jeered over his shoulder, slinging an arm around Bellatrix's shoulders. Seething through my teeth, I dragged my eyes away from them and turned to face Lily. My firm grip on her arm loosened as she met my eyes, an exceptionally placid expression plastered to her face.
"Thanks." She said lightly, her eyes flickerering to where Mulciber had stood moments before. I breathed out through my nose heavily, the rapid trembling in my palms increasing.
"He could have seriously hurt you." I said lowly, seemingly unable to let her go. She glanced back to me and we stared into eachother's eyes for a long moment, her warmth extinguishing a slight fraction of the fire that riled through my bones.
"Let it go." She murmured soothingly, reaching out to nudge a small hand against my waist. My eyebrows pulled together in confusion, when I realised that she was attempting to push me away from the smirking faces that loomed around us in an endless sea of green. I stayed rooted to the spot stubbornly, my feet glued to the stone. I was vividly aware of the eyes that burned into the back of my skull, of the sneering, snarling faces.
"I will not." I hissed angrily, wrenching my slightly shaking hand away from her shoulder. She flinched, however remained unbearably calm.
"James, please." She muttered quietly, now pushing both of her hands against my stomach. "Come on, keep moving."
My eyes travelled up to Avery, whom was picking at his fingernails mere metres from us, his eyes gleaming with a promising fight. For a moment, just one sweet little second - the tugging urge in my stomach to tower over his weak form and smack the smirk off of his face almost overpowered me.
"James." Lily begged now, wrenching on my arm a few steps away from me. Ignoring her I clenched my jaw, narrowing my eyes at Avery's bared teeth.
"Mate," Remus's low voice muttered in my ear warningly, taking me by surprise. "They're not worth it, let's go."
A second hand grabbed my right arm, him and Lily both steering me in the opposite direction of Avery towards the staircase.
They're not worth it. The words echoed around my mind in slow motion. I wasn't so sure I believed them.
Sirius and Marlene pushed through the crowds not far behind us, exchanging a concerned glance.
I let Remus and Lily grip on to me, knowing that if they didn't, I wouldn't have been able to hold back.
"Just keep walking." Remus murmured quietly.
When we rounded the corner moments later, I felt Lily sigh in relief by my side and release her grip on my forearm. She ran both of her hands through her hair, tugging it free from the tie. It was almost as if she were holding her breath the entire time, frightened of the dungeons corridor. The thought made me want to empty the contents of my stomach.
"They're a bunch of low life Slytherins." She reminded me quietly, exchanging a wary glance with Remus. I flared my nostrils, barely resisting the urge to look over my shoulder.
"Who have no right." I replied lowly, shaking my head. "Absolutely no right."
"Loosen up." She continued with a poor attempt at enthusiasm. I let out a bitter laugh, clenching my hands into tight fists.
"They can't keep on getting away with treating you like that, Lily." I said through gritted teeth as Marlene and Sirius appeared at our sides.
"They can," Lily retorted angrily, and I recoiled in shock at the venom in her tone. "And they will. Drop it already."
The sudden flaming ferocity in her eyes and unrecognisable, contorted expression deemed me temporarily speechless.
"Where is this coming from?" I asked in bewilderment, taken aback and trying to ignore the stinging of her words. "Lily, I was defending you -"
"Yeah, and I didn't ask for it." She cut in coldly. "For fucks sakes, let me fight my own damn battles, will you? I'm not some damsel who needs protecting,"
"Come on, Lil." I said in disbelief, scanning her face. "I wasn't belittling you - I'm being the nice guy, and you still manage to find something to punish me for? What kind of bullshit is that?"
"Don't you pull that card." She snarled angrily. "That is the shittiest excuse I've ever heard, I can't believe you're even bringing it up."
"What, the fact that I'm trying to be a good mate?" I exclaimed incredulously, staring at the fury in her eyes. "I haven't done anything, what on earth is the matter with you?"
"What's the matter with me?" She laughed manically. "What's the matter with you, James?"
"What have I possibly done?" I asked weakly, letting my hands fall to my sides with a light thud. "I'm sorry, but I'm only trying to help -"
"You're suffocating, James!" She blurted out angrily, throwing her hands into the air. "You're intent idea of protecting me at whatever point in time that you can, it's absolutely suffocating! Back off!"
"Lily," Marlene intervened calmly, taking a step forwards. "You heard him, he was only trying to help you. Don't take it out on him."
Lily swore underneath her breath, glancing around at the passing students. She dragged a hand through her hair, baring her teeth slightly as she clenched her jaw. I hadn't seen her so furious in months. I scanned her paled face, studying the way her eyebrows tugged together.
"You would have fallen on your arse if I hadn't been there." I said to her quietly, fighting the slight trembling in my voice. "And then you would've yelled and cursed me for being a right twat. So quit giving me shit for trying to be a good mate."
"Why don't we get some coffee?" Remus suggested from the sidelines, scratching the back of his neck. "Take a deep breath, and -"
"If I have another sip of caffeine I'm going to have a seizure." Lily interrupted flatly, exhaling and glancing up to the ceiling. "But thanks." She added, in attempt to sound polite.
"Listen," Sirius cut in calmly, raising both his palms in peaceful protest. "Neither of you did anything wrong, so how about you both shut the hell up?"
Lily hissed, shrugging away from his reaching arm.
"Could you for once in your damned life, shut up?" She snapped back, side stepping his perplexed expression. "I'm going to the library. I'll see you in Arithmacy, Remus."
"Lily, wait - " He called after her as she strode the last few feet of the corridor, her hands balled into tight fists. I watched her disappear up the stairs with a wave of flaming hair, feeling as if she'd just slapped me in the face.
It was silent for a few moment's as her words rung through my ears in a repetitive song, only stinging more each time.
"Should I go after her?" Sirius asked apprehensively, his eyebrows knitting together in a guilty frown. "I didn't think she'd take it seriously, I was only kidding."
"Let her cool off." Marlene murmured, glancing to me.
"What?" I asked roughly, straightening up. "You can't possibly tell me that was my fault, Marlene."
"No." She replied hesitantly, her frown deepening. "I'm just... worried about her. The snide comments are only getting worse, I think the pressure's starting to set in. She's got a lot on her plate."
"Well, we've all got a lot on our plate." I replied grudgingly, glancing down to my shoes. "But I think you're right." I added quietly. "It's just fucking infuriating, standing by while they practically spit on her. In fact she literally spit on her, did you see that?" I shook my head, willing the trembling in my hands to abate. "I can't do it, I can't."
"No, actually." Marlene admitted, glancing over her shoulder. "I didn't see that."
"Let's head to the common room." Remus murmured quietly, giving me shoulder a consoling squeeze. "It's a free period - we need to finish that Charms essay."
"Yeah." I muttered, dragging a hand through my hair. "Lets go."