Potions, Class 4-A (years 1-4)

[Albus Dumbledore]

(What? Andi's holding classes??)

Horace Slughorn walked into his classroom with an unusual spring in his step. He was even whistling. He'd finally got the chair situation worked out with Professor Dumbledore himself, and he had a fresh bag of crystalized pineapple, so in his world, all was good.

Reaching his new, plush chair, Horace sat down and put his feet up on the desk for a moment, just enjoying the sheer peace and quiet. He was so comfortable, in fact, that he fell asleep, even though there was less than ten minutes before his potions class was supposed to start. He was sitting there, feet up, head back, snorking loudly with a bag of crystallized pineapple on his stomach, when the first students started to arrive.

[James Potter]

James was up early and out already because he wanted to get a little bit of a practice out on the Quidditch Field. Even though there was no quidditch this year, there would be quidditch next year and he had to be prepared. He got back to the dorms and showered. Not seeing Remus, Sirius, or Peter in the common room, James headed off to Potions. James thought they were probably in the Great Hall eating but James wasn't really hungry and this morning he didn't want to face Lily at the table to have her fuss at him about something right after he got a good practice in. He would be more prepared to take her fussing once they were in class as he had a chance to gather thoughts together.

Realizing he was the first one in the room, James sighed. He had to stop being so early. People might start thinking something was wrong with him if he showed up early often. Shaking his head as his eyes fell on Slughorn, James took his usual seat, trying to be extremely quiet until his friends got there.

[Lily Evans]

As it happened, Lily was the next person to arrive. When she walked in the door and saw that James was the only one in the room besides a sleeping Slughorn, she hesitated for a moment. She really didn't want to deal with James, especially not when he was by himself. On the other hand, it would look very obvious if she turned and walked out now. So she took a breath and walked into the room, choosing a seat on the opposite side of the room from James.

[James Potter]

It was almost like James was programmed to know when Lily was coming most of the time. He knew it was her that walked in without having to glance up. Once he knew that Lily passed, James looked up and glanced at her. Before she took her seat, he looked back to the book infront of him and he opened his book. James pretended to be interested in his potions book, rather than paying attention to Lily.

Things would change once Robin and Remus, Peter, and Sirius came in. He wouldn't have to sit there buried in his own thoughts which consistented of the red head that was sitting on the opposite side of the room from him.

[Teagan Kelly]

Teagan slipped into Potions class, careful not to draaw attention to herself. The professor was asleep in the front of the room and there were currently two other people in the room. One was Lily Evans and the other was James Potter. Both were Gryffindor second years. She tried not to make too much nose and slid into a remote seat on the side of the room Lily sat. She loved Potions but she was tired today and just wanted to go back to the Tower to go to sleep.

[Lily Evans]

Somehow, it annoyed her even more that James was ignoring her. She knew he wasn’t the slightest bit interested in his potions book, so he was deliberately ignoring her. And probably trying to see if he could get her to talk to him instead. Well, it wasn’t going to work.

She frowned and picked up her own potions book, and was about to start pretending to be interested in it as well, but then someone else came in the room. Recognizing Teagan, Lily smiled softly. Maybe talking to Teagan could help distract her from James.

“Hi, Teagan,” she greeted the first year girl. “How are you doing today?”

[Teagan Kelly]

Teagan smiled back, although she was a little unsure. She had heard some rumors about these two and she could detect more than a little tension. It wasn't really her concern, she told herself sternly, and decided to answer.

"Oh, I'm rather tired, I've had a long day. And you?" she asked, looking at James Potter and wondering if he was purposefully ignoring his yearmate or not.

[Lily Evans]

"I'm doing fine," Lily replied. "But it has been a long day. You can hardly blame Professor Slughorn for wanting to take a little nap before class."

She nodded towards the sleeping professor. "Maybe we should all be really quiet, and he'll just sleep through class. Not that I would want to skip class or anything... but maybe we could all use a little break, you know?"

[Remus Lupin]

Remus walked into Potions class slowly. Out of all his classes, potions was easily his least favorite. For some reason, he always did some small thing wrong, and it messed up the whole potion. Sure, he hadn't managed to blow up the school yet, but he was sure it was only a matter of time.

Inside the classroom, he smiled to see James sitting toward the back of the room. Lily was there, too, talking with Teagan, who he had met in the library a few days earlier. For once, James was not staring at Lily, but instead seemed very intent on his potions book. Remus shook his head and made his way over to his friend.

"Hey, James," he said. "What's going on?"

[Sirius Black]

Sirius had a reputation for being late to class, especially potions class. It never had been his favorite class, although he was at least better at it than his friend Remus was. He often spent the time in between classes flirting with girls and playing pranks on Slytherins. But the latter was always more fun with James and there didn't seem to be a lot of girls lingering in the hallways today, so Sirius strolled into class just a few minutes after Remus.

So far, the class was pretty empty, but James and Remus were there, along with Lily and a first year girl that he didn't really know very well. She was cute, though, so he made a mental note to make sure he made her acquaintance later.

"Hey, guys," Sirius said, approaching his friends. "Remus, I heard a terrible rumor that Ol' Sluggy's planning a pop quiz today."

He hadn't actually heard anything of the kind, but he liked to watch the panicked way Remus would immediately start flipping through his notes.

[Vanessa Reyes Vonderheide]

Vanessa was running late. She couldn't find her potions book for a good half an hour. When she finally found it, she practically ran to her class. She dropped her things more than once on her way and her face looked similar to a tomato as she walked through the dungeon doors. Her flushed face only deepened red as she saw the people already in her class. She tried to ignore everyone as she walked quietly to her seat alone.

She'd been up studying her potions book the night before to help her be prepared for this but she was still rather unsure of herself. She looked through her notes and re-read everything. She heard Sirius comment about a "pop quiz" and furrowed her brow. That didn't sound right. She was sure she would have heard something about it. But regardless, she decided to be safe and read her notes thuroughly. She sighed, wondering how it was possible she wasn't in Ravenclaw.

[Remus Lupin]

At Sirius' comment, Remus widened his eyes in terror. It was well known that potions was Remus' worst class, and he was barely holding onto a passing grade. A pop quiz that he was unprepared for could push him below the mark.

"Seriously?" he gasped. "Son of a banshee...."

He immediately began flipping through his notes in a frantic manner, just as Sirius had expected him to. He couldn't fail this class. Sometimes Remus felt like he had to do well, after all the strings Professor Dumbledore had pulled to allow him to attend Hogwarts. What if a bad grade was somehow proof that he didn't belong here?

[Gage Oliver]

Gage was useless at Potions, and he had gotten to class early to see if Slughorn would mind going over some things with him. But alas, he reached the dungons early to find Slughorn asleep at his desk.

Great, Gage thought. He looked around the classroom. There weren't a lot of students. Actually, it was almost all second years. He saw his friend Lily and, with a slight sigh of relief, he headed over to sit with her.

"Hey there," Gage said. Even though he'd been at Hogwarts for almost a year now, Gage still had trouble meeting new people. Especially since his close friends - Maxi, Seth, and Bek - were all much older than him. "How's it going?"

[James Potter]

Luckly it was Remus who entered first. Had it been Sirius, there probably would have been some noise made about James having his nose in a book. Remus' voice brought James attention back to reality and he flashed his friend a smile.

"Morning Remus," he greeted. Before James could really say anymore, Sirius entered. "Hey Sirius." James' grin widened, while the thoughts of the red head disappeared for the time being. He rolled his eyes as Sirius claimed that there was a 'pop quiz' today. James rarely studied for any tests. Usually he would make stuff up as he went but today he knew there hadn't been any rumors about a 'pop quiz'.

Smiling in Remus' direction and then glancing in Sirius' direction, James put a hand on Remus' shoulder. "Take a deep breath Remus, you'll do fine."

[Severus Snape]

Severus wasn't fussed about being first in class or the last, as long as it was before the door was locked. Looking around the room be noticed his usual seat was too close to Potter's little gang, so with much irritation as he could bring up in a glare, he sat down at a table very close to the front.
He hated Slughorn's doting attention, it was like he was a prized specimen to be mounted and displayed. He huffed a bit with his equipment, he noticed a rather large dent in his cauldron. He wondered if he could continue to work with it, or if the dent would some how alter a potion he would be working on.

[Natalie St. Clare]

It had been a bad day for Natalie. She had accidentally collided with an older boy and been assaulted with visions and emotions. The boy, she knew right away, was a death eater, and he was going to kill people. He was filled with anger and hatred, so powerful that it radiated through her, shaking her to her very core. It brought her to her knees in front of him, and he had shoved her aside quite rudely. The whole experience had left her badly shaken and she had spent all of the last class in the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey had to give her a mild calming potion.

It was terrifying to Natalie, how some people could become so consumed with anger and hatred. It was ugly and evil, like a poison that consumed one from within. Why would anyone want to give in to that kind of emotion? She would never understand how anyone could hate people that they didn't even know.

Now she was feeling a little more relaxed as she headed to Potions class. Here, at least, she would see Severus. And he was in his element in Potions class, even though Slughorn did have a tendency to hover over him.

Quietly, she slipped into the room, clutching her books tightly in front of her like a shield. She managed a small smile when she saw Severus sitting in the front of the room, and she moved the rest of the way in and sat down next to him.

"Hi, Severus," she greeted him.

[Severus Snape]

Severus reined in the urge to beam at Natalie. Having her in his classes lifted his spirit's considerably, he even forgot momentarily about James Potter and the dent in his cauldron.
He noticed how she was gripping her book and her quavery smile, so he gave her a small smile in return and replied "Hello Natalie. Are you feeling well?"

He knew that she probably wasn't feeling very well at all, but when it came to Natalie, he just wanted to do things correctly.
his insides fluttered but he tightened the feeling in his stomach and thought of the potion he'd be working on and he calmed down. It wouldn't help if he was in knot because she wasn't feeling well.

[Natalie St. Clare]

There were questions she wanted to ask him, things she didn't understand that she thought he might be able to explain to her. But now wasn't the time or the place, and she didn't want to do it right now while she was still feeling so vulnerable.

Instead, she put her books down on the table and sat down, her arms wrapped across her chest, as though she was trying to hold herself together.

"I'm better now that I'm here with you," she answered honestly. It sounded sappy, and he might not entirely believe it, but seeing him made her feel more at ease. It was like coming home. It sounded weird to think of it that way, though, so she didn't say anything.

[Severus Snape]

Severus felt the squirming in his belly increase for a moment before he squashed it down. He knew better than to really believe what she said, but it was Natalie who said it, so naturally he was both pleased and confused.
"I've already set up the equipment, so that is if you don't mind, we can use mine." He pressed his lips together in hopes that they would stay shut, what he just offered didn't make any sense, they would be making the same potion and going through the same steps, they couldn't very well use the same tools at the same time. Severus decided that moment that he wasn't confused about his school work, and only confused about Natalie so wouldn't go about making a fool of himself in his best subject. he'd have to work faster was the best solution he could think of, which suited him just fine. Thank you very much.
He looked at her in her black robe, she looked so small, he'd have to ask her later what it was that had bothered her so much. It had been quite a while since he had seen her this trembly.

[Natalie St. Clare]

It was strange, but Natalie almost felt that it was because of her few close connections--with Severus, her father, and Voltaire--that she was able to stay grounded. They kept her from slipping over the edge and getting so lost inside other people's emotional baggage that she would lose all sense of herself. When she was with Severus, she was just Natalie. She still felt the emotions of others, and she sometimes had the visions, but she was a little more able to ignore when she was with him.

"That's fine," she answered, her voice still sounding faint.

She shivered slightly. Was it always so cold in here? She took a quick, almost furtive glance around the room to see if anyone was looking at them. She was feeling so strange that she really needed a connection. Would it be strange if she held his hand, right here in class?