VINGT QUATRE
ben & lysander's interlude!
JAMES SIRIUS POTTER receiving a howler was nothing out of place. But in recent times, it would've been considered abnormal as he finally took his post seriously.
So when a red envelope floated its merry way over to James, he was shocked, but not really.
"James Sirius Potter!" the voice of Ginny Potter rang out. "We were supposed to find out about you and Lily from Neville? Are you seriou- joking? I will not tolerate this blatant disregard for your father and I's sanity — "
"Gin, what are you doing?" the ( calmer ) voice of Harry Potter rang out.
"I'm sending James a howler, Harry," Ginny said, but it was slightly muffled as she had obviously lowered her voice and moved away.
"Good, the kid deserves it, not telling us like that," Harry scoffed as he ( presumably ) exited the room.
"As I was saying!" Ginny yelled. "We are extremely disappointed in you. If you'd gotten together a week before, I would've had 3 galleons over George and Charlie."
A smirk was placed on James's face, knowing, that this was confirming to everyone that Lily was his. But, his neck, however, was as red as the envelope and embarrassment lit his body aflame.
"Lily, dear, please tell your parents we would be delighted to join you for spring holiday in France. If you could also send along some of their preferences as we would like to bring a gift for their hospitality," Ginny said in a kinder voice.
After uttering those words, the howler ripped itself to shreds.
"It's a wonder it took that so long," James muttered. "It's been at least a month since our first date."
Lily, on the other hand, was struggling ( and failing ) to hold back her laughter. Her face was going beet red as she held her breath for fear that a giggle might escape.
"Well I guess you're stuck with us crashing your family's holiday, then," James said with a victorious smile.
Lily immediately stopped laughing and gave him an annoyed look. She really hated being proven wrong. But, the bounding optimism of Lily Luna Potter immediately brightened her face as the young girl came running over to the couple, followed by Albus Potter.
"I can't believe we get to have another holiday together!" Lily Luna exclaimed.
"I know!" Lily replied, "it's very exciting isn't it?"
"It is! And we've never been to the part of France where your family's from, only a couple times to Paris to visit Aunt Fleur's sister," Lily Luna rambled.
"Well, it's lovely, I'm sure you'll love it," Lily said with a content smile.
She scooted down the bench so the bubbling redhead could take a seat next to her as Albus slid in next to James on the other side of the table. Lily propped her head on her hand and looked over at Lily Luna as she excitedly talked about summer clothing and some sort of knargle that was native to Provence.
"Wait, so do you speak French?" Lily Luna asked.
"Oui, mademoiselle! Je parle français!" Lily responded with a smile.
"That's so cool! Aunt Fleur tried to teach it to us. Al is the best at it, naturally, he's good at like everything," Lily Luna said.
"You speak French, Al?" Lily asked, looking over at the boys.
Albus's face heated up a bit at all of the attention suddenly being on him. James nudged him in the side, imploring him to answer her.
"Yeah, I do. A little. I'm not particularly good though," Albus admitted bashfully.
"It's ok!" Lily said. "I'm only good because I learned it as my first language."
"French was your first language?" Lily Luna asked, her eyes growing wider.
Lily nodded, "yeah, it was easier to learn than English, though I did learn English soon after."
"That's so cool," Lily Luna gushed. "I wish I was that cool."
"Lily Luna Potter! You are extremely cool!" Lily scoffed.
"Who else can do muggle math in their head?" Albus asked. James nodded in agreement.
"And you're literally the only person that Peeves actually likes!" James exclaimed. "Not even I have achieved that!"
Lily Luna blushed, but was smiling widely at their support.
"J, you should probably get going to quidditch practice," Lily Luna said meekly.
James rolled his eyes.
"Fine, but you better try out next year. I'm going to make sure that Rose makes you," James said. "We really could've used your talent this year."
"But I promised Neville I would help in the greenhouses," Lily Luna explained, Albus hit her knee with his foot and she widened her eyes at her mistake. "Sorry — uh — Professor Longbottom! I don't call him Neville — I mean Professor Longbottom."
Albus groaned and buried his face in his hands. Lily just started to laugh a little bit.
"It's alright, I know Professor Longbottom is a friend of your father's, it's kind of hard not to. It's only natural that you'd call him by his first name," Lily replied.
"See!" Lily Luna exclaimed while gesturing to Lily. "I told you people would understand. And besides it's not like he's my godfather!"
"Yes, well everyone calls Teddy by his first name because he isn't a professor, Lunes," Albus replied in an annoyed tone. "But honestly, I don't care enough, so do what you please."
Lily Luna crossed her arms with a victorious smile, but nudged a croissant in Albus's direction knowing that he enjoyed them in the morning.
"Well, I better be off to class, but, I have enjoyed talking to all of you," Lily announced.
"And I have to go talk to Rosier about the rematch," James said quickly as he also got up and headed over to where he knew Louis and his friends would be.
Lily watched him walk off to the Gryffindor table and quickly walked in his direction, catching him arm. He turned around and smiled when he saw who it was. She quickly leaned up and kissed his cheek.
"Bye," she said softly.
James started to laugh a little bit and looked down at her with shining eyes.
"I'll see you later," he replied.
Lily bit her lip and nodded before turning and walking off. She grabbed her bag, rolled her eyes at the suggestive eyebrows from Albus and Lily Luna and walked out of the Great Hall with a huge grin on her face.
Class, for once, was tedious. James didn't share this class with her. Don't get her wrong, Lily loved learning, but something just became different. Like school, while it was important, maybe wasn't the only important thing in the entire world or even the most important thing. Because James Sirius Potter had managed to strut into her ( usually ) Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts filled thoughts.
After class, she saw James leaning against the wall, talking to Lysander, waiting for her to walk to Charms with her.
"Hiya boys!" Lily greeted joyously as she bounded out of the slowly emptying room.
"Hey Lily," Lysander greeted lazily.
James just smiled at her, knowing not to do something so over the top after Lily had talked ( yelled ) to him about not showing as much PDA. But how could he help it? He was completely enthralled in her.
"Do either of you know where Fred is?" she asked innocently.
"Why?" Lysander asked.
"Reasons," Lily replied with an innocent smile.
"Oh no," James groaned. "You were serious?"
"No, that's your middle name," Lily said smugly.
"You two are made for each other, Merlin," Lysander commented.
"I love you," James breathed out.
"I know," Lily replied as she smirked a little.
"So, what's going on?" Lysander asked as he placed his hands on his hips.
"Nothing," Lily said quickly.
"Lily's planning a prank with Fred," James explained at the exact same time.
Lily looked at him with wide eyes that begged him not to reveal anything. James had to bit back his smile as a blush formed on his cheeks. He loved how invested she was in hanging out with his cousin.
"I think he's coming back from Care of Magical Creatures now," Lysander revealed.
"Fantastic," Lily exclaimed. "Thank you so much Lysander. I'll see you later James!"
She then bounded off in the direction of the grounds, her cloak and hair flying behind her.
"What are they planning?" Lysander asked as the two boys watched her run off.
"Something with sauce," James said, but it sounded more like a question than an answer.
"Ah, because that's normal," Lysander said sarcastically as he turned away from the running girl and nudged James slightly.
James looked back up to see Lysander not even trying to suppress a knowing grin.
"What?" James exclaimed, his cheeks growing red.
"It's been 7 years, mate, and you still have that same face," Lysander joked.
"What face?" James asked, though he knew.
"You know," Lysander hummed as they turned and walked in the other direction.
"You're an arsehole," James said as he shoved Lysander a bit.
"And you're a lovesick idiot," Lysander exclaimed as he tried to fend off the attack. "Hey you're friends with Lily and her lot."
"Yeah, I'd say so," James replied.
"You know Ben Thomas?" Lysander asked.
"Yeah?" James asked.
"Well I brought up an idea to him and he just left after," Lysander explained.
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"So you know how Longbottom asked me to be a commentator as well?" Lysander asked.
"Yeah...?" James trailed.
"Well, I didn't want to move into Ben's territory because he's been doing it for forever, so I suggested a kiss cam, right, partly to help you and Lily, but mostly because it's fun," Lysander explained. "But then he sort of left."
"Huh. That's weird," James mumbled.
"Right," Lysander said. "And so I just started commentating with him, but I still wanna do it."
"Well nothing's stopping you," James said.
"Well obviously, mate, but I want to be respectful and all," Lysander exclaimed. "I'm the one who's the rookie at this."
"Maybe try again?" James asked.
"Yeah," Lysander mumbled.
"I'd go now or you'll forget," James suggested.
"Arsehole," Lysander muttered.
"It's the truth!" James exclaimed.
"Well where would I even find him?" Lysander asked.
"I've found that people at this school weirdly just show up out of nowhere when you need them, that is, unless you're trying to confess your love for them, then they become the most impossible person to find," James ranted.
"Chill, mate," Lysander said with a chuckle. "But you're probably right, that does happen a weird amount of times."
"Especially with the fact that we have moving staircases," James commented. "And then when you need them, they're just right there."
"Maybe Minnie is doing it," Lysander mused.
"What?" James asked incredulously.
"She always does shit in the school, kind of like a weird chess game, meddling and everything," Lysander explained.
"Professor McGonagall?" James scoffed. "Yeah, right."
"Ok, then," Lysander challenged. "How did you become Head Boy?"
"I — " James defended. "That's different."
"It is?" Lysander asked. "What made you worthy of being Head Boy?"
"I-" James protested again. "Fuck, mate, you're right!"
"See!" Lysander exclaimed. "I honestly think she'd make a great Slytherin."
"If only you lot weren't evil," James joked.
"Yeah, because I'm so terrifying," Lysander said sarcastically.
"I don't know, mate," James joked. "And there's Ben Thomas."
Lysander looked up to see Ben Thomas coming down the steps talking to Henry, who was in his dorm and he thought was cool but weird.
"Thomas! Henry!" James called.
Both boys looked up to see Lysander and James standing there, the latter beckoning them over. They looked at each other and decided to go.
"What can I do for you, James?" Henry asked.
"I actually need Thomas," Lysander revealed.
"Sure," Ben said with a quick smile.
Lysander then looked at James pointedly, letting him know it was his time to go. James huffed and turned to Henry.
"Want to go blow something up?" James asked absent-mindedly.
"Hell yeah," Henry replied.
They walked off in the direction of the dungeons together, chatting happily.
"What happened to the kiss cam?" Lysander asked bluntly.
"Oh ... that," Ben said shyly.
"Look, if you don't want to do it, just tell me," Lysander said as he bored his eyes into the boy.
"No, it's a great idea, Scamander," Ben said.
"Ok ..." Lysander trailed. "Then why did you shut it down?"
"I- I didn't shut it down," Ben protested.
"I think that walking away counts as shutting it down," Lysander said bluntly.
"I said it was a good idea," Ben defended.
"But you never had any follow up," Lysander replied.
"I- I was just uncomfortable. Sorry," Ben mumbled defensively.
"Well you could've just said that, mate," Lysander said.
"In front of your friends?" Ben asked bluntly.
"Uh- yeah," Lysander said frankly. "They wouldn't've cared."
"Right, well, I'm not friends with them, so I wouldn't have known," Ben replied defensively.
"Well you do now," Lysander stated.
The two boys went silent, staring at each other.
"Was I too blunt?" Lysander asked.
"Yeah," Ben mumbled.
"Right, sorry, well, let's plan this then," Lysander muttered, turning away and heading off to the library. "Are you coming?"
"Where are you going?" Ben asked, clearly confused.
"To the library," Lysander called over his shoulder in a frank tone.
"What? Why?" Ben asked as he jogged slightly, trying to catch up with Lysander.
"Well I'm not going to let you do all the work. Merlin, Thomas," Lysander scoffed.
Ben smiled slightly as he found a comfortable pace next to the Scamander boy.
"Everyone usually lets me do all the work," Ben admitted.
"Well do I look like everyone to you?" Lysander retorted.
"Suppose not," Ben muttered.
Lysander nodded curtly and they kept walking to the library in comfortable silence. Once they reached the double doors, Lysander held one open for Ben and they entered together. Ben led then to the section about love potions and spells and they quickly set to work, pulling out books.
"Wait," Ben cautioned. "Shouldn't we ask McGonagall first?"
"Since when have you asked for permission?" Lysander asked with raised eyebrows.
"Fair point," Ben conceded as he piled a couple more books into his arms.
They found an open table and splayed all of the books out, quickly becoming buried in them as they read voraciously about love spells and counterspells.
"Aha!" Lysander cried after a couple of hours of no success.
"What?" Ben asked desperately as he scrambled over to Lysander's seat.
Lysander held up a book and Ben looked disappointed.
"Amortentia? That's a potion, Scamander," Ben stated with a puzzled face.
"Yes, you're right, but you're not seeing the bigger picture. We can collect the vapor of Amortentia, just enough so chemistry can be identified between two people, or possibly, if we want to stir the ole pot, one-sided. Then, we put it into the film camera and cast the accio spell on the camera. Normally, it calls things to you, but if you use it on the camera while pointed at someone-" Lysander explained.
"Holy Merlin, that could work," Ben breathed out as a big grin grew on his face.
"You better watch out, Thomas!" Lysander exclaimed. "Because even the commentator's not out of bounds!"
Ben, then grew uncomfortable again.
"I'm not-" Ben stumbled.
"Wait what happened here?" Lysander asked, noticing Ben's withdrawal.
"I'm not-" Ben tried again.
Lysander looked at him with a perplexed face.
"I'm asexual," Ben said quickly.
Then, a look of realization dawned on Lysander's face.
"Oh," he muttered. "Well that's fine."
"Oh- ok then," Ben replied.
"Thank you- Thank you for uh telling me," Lysander said quietly as he looked at Ben with a small, comforting smile.
"Yeah," Ben muttered, not seeing it.
"Thomas," Lysander said again, making Ben look up. "It's. fine."
Ben nodded shyly and smiled slightly.
"I don't know where you got the idea that it wouldn't be ok, but fuck those arseholes who made you believe that. It's fine to be whoever you are," Lysander said.
"I know," Ben said meekly as he nodded a little bit more.
"Doesn't mean you don't need reminding," Lysander muttered bitterly. "So are we going to build this camera or not?"
"Uh- yeah- yeah," Ben nodded as a smile took it's place on his mouth.
"Good, I'll get the camera and you make the Amortentia because I'm absolutely rubbish at potions and everyone knows it," Lysander instructed.
"Aye aye captain," Ben said authoritatively as he saluted Lysander.
Both boys burst out laughing as they piled the books into their arms. They walked together back to the shelves that they were housed in and walked together to the doors of the library. Ben and Lysander looked at each other.
"So I'll go make the Amortentia?" Ben asked. "Where should we meet?"
"Meet? Merlin, Thomas, if you wanted to make a move — " Lysander joked.
"How did you know Scamander?" Ben asked sarcastically. "No to build this thing."
"Oh, sometime in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom?" Lysander asked.
"Merlin, not there!" Ben exclaimed. "She's so bloody annoying."
"Where else do you propose we illegally brew Amortentia?" Lysander challenged.
"Fair enough," Ben muttered bitterly.
Ben ( begrudgingly ) turned in the direction of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom while Lysander walked in the direction of his dorms.
Ben made a quick stop by his dorm to get his fully potions kit before making his way to Myrtle's bathroom. Luckily for him, she was in the pipes when he first arrived, so he started to make the potion in peace.
He had just finished stirring in the rose thorns when someone burst through the door.
"Thomas!" Lysander exclaimed, slightly out of breath.
Ben just looked up at him with a puzzled face.
"James rescheduled the game against Slytherin for tomorrow," Lysander revealed.
"Fuck," Ben replied.
"Fuck is right," Lysander exclaimed. "How far along are you?"
"I've just added the rose thorns, so all I need to do is sprinkle in the powdered moonstone and then place it directly in golden sunlight for ten minutes and it should be ready," Ben said as he grabbed his vial of powdered moonstone.
"Great, it's almost golden hour," Lysander breathed out as he sank down to the floor next to a cross legged Ben.
Ben pulled out his wand and quickly muttered a spell that cleaned the floor under Lysander.
"Thanks," Lysander said.
"No problem," Ben replied as he ( dramatically ) sprinkled the moonstone.
He gave the potion two more turns and tried to find the nearest west facing window to place his cauldron under. He eventually found one and opened it, letting the golden light cascade into the bathroom.
"Wh-what's going on in here?" they heard someone moan.
"Shit," Ben muttered.
"Ly- Lysander it's just you!" Moaning Myrtle drawled. "And a friend?"
"Yes, Myrtle, you don't mind, do you?" Lysander asked.
"S-Suppose not," Moaning Myrtle said as a sly smile formed on her face. "Two boys is better than one."
"What the fuck is going on?" Ben whispered to himself.
Lysander turned to look at Ben and mouthed for him to just roll with it. Ben just shrugged, this was honestly not the weirdest thing that had happened to him during his time at Hogwarts.
"Are you two talking without me?" Moaning Myrtle blubbered. "I knew it! You both hate me! Everyone hates Myrtle! Stupid Myrtle!"
She then flew back into the sink and down the drains again, the only thing heard was her coughing through her sobs.
"So you and Moaning Myrtle, huh?" Ben teased once he knew she was out of ear shot.
"Shove off," Lysander grumbled with a grin. "It's not like that."
"Then what is it like? Because you two seemed pretty cosy," Ben joked.
"I cry in here sometimes when things get too much and she's always been nice," Lysander revealed. "And for all of her complaining, she's a really good secret keeper."
"Oh," Ben replied awkwardly.
"How much longer in the sun?" Lysander asked as he headed over to the potion that was glimmering in the sun. "Oh yeah that's ready."
"What do you smell?" Ben asked.
"Mmmm, let's see: bakewell tart, the ocean and ... flowers," Lysander replied. "You?"
Ben smiled faintly and hummed a bit.
"My dad's paint, wood and the library," Ben revealed.
"Yeah that checks out," Lysander teased.
Ben shot him a sarcastic smile as he carried the cauldron back over to where they had been sitting.
"So, how do we get the vapor of the Amortenia?" Ben asked as he looked up at Lysander, who sat across from him.
"No idea," Lysander mumbled as he stared at the potion.
After exactly three hours and twenty six minutes of trying to get the 'vapor' of the Amortentia, Ben and Lysander had given up.
"I'm getting food," Lysander announced as he got up.
He almost fell over when he did, though, his legs felt like jelly from sitting for so long. He teetered his way out of the bathroom, only turning back once.
"Any requests?" he called out to Ben.
"Trust," Ben groaned.
Lysander grunted and left. Ben fell asleep with his back on the stone floor and his hands over his face.
"I'm back, mate," Lysander announced. "And look what I got!"
Ben slid his hands down his face to be met with a bottle of firewhiskey.
"Scamander, we're doing something serious," Ben groaned.
"Oh come on!" Lysander cheered. "I've had my best ideas on this stuff!"
"Me too," Ben groaned again. "But we have until tomorrow morning. We don't exactly have the time to get shit-faced."
"Just one tiny eeny weeny glass?" Lysander asked as he clinked the two glasses together.
Ben closed his eyes in annoyance, but a small smile broke out onto his face. Lysander took that as a confirmation that he was going to partake and poured him a glass. He slid it across the floor and Ben caught it swiftly, shocking Lysander.
"That was smooth, mate," Lysander commented as he took a swig.
Soon, one glass turned into two and two turned into three and three quickly became five and six and then the whole bottle. They claimed that they were having the best ideas of their lives ( when they were actually all rubbish )
"What time is it?" Ben mumbled from his position lying on the cold floor.
"Dunno," Lysander replied, turning his head towards Ben as his back was on the floor and his feet were propped up against the sinks.
"Do you ever just — I don't know — think about what happens after?" Ben slurred.
"Hogwarts?" Lysander asked.
"Yeah, like what are we going to do? Like do we graduate and then boom! We have jobs!" Ben explained. "Do they just hand them out as we walk out the door?"
"Probably," Lysander said and then he started to giggle.
"I'm being serious!" Ben huffed.
Lysander sniffed and then settled his face into a more serious expression.
"Alright, so what do you want to do?" Lysander asked.
"I want- I want to make wands at Ollivander's," Ben revealed.
At the revelation, both boys started to laugh hysterically on the bathroom floor.
"That's ... a ... family ... business, mate," Lysander managed through his laughter.
"I know!" Ben exclaimed. "So I was planning, I don't know, just join I guess?"
"Just join the Ollivander's?" Lysander asked and when he wheezed. "They're all mental."
"That is a load of shit coming from you," Ben exclaimed.
Lysander laughed again, Ben joining in.
"Oh, fuck!" Lysander exclaimed. "You're right!"
"What do you want to do?" Ben asked.
"I'm going to be a Dragonologist," Lysander stated with a sober face.
"Rawr," Ben ( tried to ) growl.
"What the fuck, mate?" Lysander asked through his, once again, hysterical laughter.
"Isn't that the sound dragons make?" Ben asked innocently.
"Bro, no!" Lysander exclaimed through his giggles.
Ly was struggling in his laughter, holding his sides as he rocked from side to side a little bit. Ben had his hand over his eyes as he bellowed.
"Well then what the fuck do they sound like?" Ben asked in an exasperated tone.
Lysander then emitted a noise that definitely did not sound like the roar of a dragon, more like baby Simba from the Lion King.
"I've never seen a dragon in person and even I know that was absolutely rubbish," Ben laughed as he wiped away tears.
"Still better than yours," Lysander replied as he sat up and looked at the cauldron. "We have to figure this out."
"It's a kiss cam, mate," Ben said as he sat up and crossed his legs.
"It's the fate of the world," Lysander said in a deadly serious tone.
Ben groaned and rubbed his hands over his face and looked at Lysander with bored eyes.
"Alright, let's get the vapor of Amortentia," Ben said decidedly.
It seemed as if the fire whiskey had in fact helped because it became much easier to get the vapor and store it into a compartment of the camera that Lysander had modified when Ben was on his one hundred and thirty second attempt to get the vapor.
"It's so ... beautiful," Lysander mumbled as he stared at it.
"It is," Ben mumbled as well.
Ben sniffed and picked up the camera, leaving the remnants of the fire whiskey to Lysander.
"Where are you going?" Lysander called after him.
"To dinner," Ben stated, having started to ( actually ) sober up.
"What? No," Lysander whined.
"Yes, dumbarse," Ben chastised, not correcting his path. "Get up."
Lysander grumbled under his breath, but eventually followed the instruction and caught up with Ben. When Ben pushed the door open, they were met with pitch black and no students. They, however, saw a light coming down the hallway.
"Who's there?" someone asked.
"Al?" Lysander asked.
"Lysander?" Albus asked.
Albus turned down the light at the end of his wand and looked at the pair.
"Ben ... Thomas?" Albus asked.
"Little Potter," Ben greeted.
"It's past curfew," Albus stated.
"We know, but we had something really important to do for the match tomorrow," Lysander explained.
Ben, next to him, nodded vigorously at every word Lysander said. Albus looked at the both of them accusingly and then looked at what was in Lysander's hands. He groaned slightly, closed and opened his eyes.
"Just don't break anything on your way back to the dorms," he mumbled. "I'll make sure Rose doesn't catch you."
"You're the best, Al," Lysander exclaimed with a sunny smile.
"Keep it down!" a painting grumbled.
"It's past two in the morning!" another moaned.
"Merlin, what time is it?" Ben wondered.
"It's around half past two," Albus said.
"Fuck!" Ben exclaimed quietly. "I suppose the Great Hall doesn't have any more food?"
Albus just shook his head.
"I have snacks back at my dorm," Lysander revealed.
"Oooooh," Ben cooed. "Can I come?"
"Why the fuck not," Lysander shrugged.
"Lead the way, Scamander," Ben exclaimed as Lysander bid Albus farewell and led Ben back to the Slytherin dormitories.