WHEN WE WERE YOUNG : marauders era

09. friendly problems

Fortunately, they arrived right on time as other students filed in as well.

"Welcome to Potions class everyone! I'm Professor Slughorn, your Potions Master. Now, without wasting any of our precious time, let me divide you into pairs after which we will proceed with our potion-brewing," he said enthusiastically.

James was paired with Peter while Sirius was paired with Lily, much to her horror.

Juliana, who looked at her with pity, got paired up with Lily's Slytherin friend, Severus Snape. He wasn't so friendly at first but became quite pleasant when he found out she was Lily's friend. She later found out that he was quite an impressive potion-brewer.

Mareena and Remus, to their relief, were paired up together. They all sat with their partners and were told to make a potion to cure boils.

Juliana and Severus did an excellent job together and earned 10 points each for their own houses. Meanwhile, Mareena brewed the potion flawlessly while helping Remus understand the steps at the same time as he wasn't particularly good at the subject. They had fun working together and earned 10 points each for Gryffindor.

On the other side of the room, however, things weren't going on well for some certain people.

James' and Peter's potion appeared black when it was supposed to be a light shade of pink. It was evident they hadn't exactly followed the instructions properly. Juliana saw Severus hiding a grin as Professor Slughorn told James and Peter to start all over again.

Lily wasn't exactly enjoying her potions class as much as she had expected to, as Sirius wasn't bothering to help at all while sitting idly and making snide remarks to interrupt her concentration.

Professor Slughorn, who noticed this, told Marlene to change places with Sirius, as she and her partner, Dorcas Meadowes, were already done.

Sirius, on the other hand, was told to make the potion by himself as punishment.

Lily could finally brew the potion perfectly with Sirius gone, and earned another 10 points for Gryffindor.

Class was soon over and they made their way to their next class.

"What do we have now?" James asked Remus, who was checking their schedule. "Please tell me it's flying lessons. I don't think I can stand another minute inside a classroom. I need fresh air!"

"Nope. Sorry James. It's History of Magic next," Remus replied as James groaned. "We've got flying lessons this afternoon though. After lunch," Remus added as he examined his schedule.

"Great!" James exclaimed happily as they entered the classroom.

History of Magic was by far the most boring class anyone had attended. Professor Binns, who was a ghost, read on and on from the textbook with a boring voice which made almost every student doze off during class.

Mareena, Remus, Lily and Juliana, however, somehow managed to keep up and made notes diligently. From her seat, Mareena could see Peter sleeping quite soundly as Professor Binns droned on and on about Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball, never realising that half the students were dozing off.

James and Sirius, on the other hand, became even more restless as minutes ticked by and suddenly a dungbomb was set off in the classroom. A fuming Professor McGonagall arrived soon to deal with the situation.

It was however, very clear who was behind it as James and Sirius couldn't control their laughter. Professor McGonagall took 50 points from Gryffindor to everyone's horror and both boys were given detention for a week.

As they made their way into lunch, Lily gave James and Sirius reproachful glares as she walked past with Marlene and Alice.

"What's her problem?" Sirius remarked as the six of them entered the Great Hall.

"Forget it, Sirius," snapped Juliana, who was rather annoyed at them for losing so many points for Gryffindor on their very first day.
Sirius rolled his eyes in response.

Mareena was also equally annoyed at the two boys but said nothing, realising it wasn't going to have an effect on them whatsoever.

"Hey Julie! Mareena!" Lily called from a table where she sat with Marlene, Alice and some other girls. "Wanna join? There's some empty space here."

"No, they won't. They're sitting with us," James replied before the two girls could open their mouths to respond.

"I wasn't asking you, Potter," Lily snapped. "Besides, what makes you think they'll want to sit with a pair of arrogant baboons like you?"

"They're our friends, that's why," Sirius replied, ignoring the insult at the end of Lily's statement on purpose.

"It's their choice, not yours. Let them answer for themselves," Lily said and everyone turned towards Mareena and Juliana.

"Uh..," Mareena and Juliana looked at each other, confused.

"Why don't we all sit together, then?" Juliana suggested half-heartedly, knowing fully well it wasn't the perfect idea.

"NO!" All of them exclaimed, horrified.

"May I ask what's going on here?" A cold, female voice asked.

All of them turned to see Professor McGonagall looking at them with an eyebrow raised in question. But before any one of them could explain, she continued,
"Seeing as your discussion is more important to you than your lunch, we would appreciate it if you took it outside and let everyone else have their lunch in peace."

The hall filled with hushed giggles and whispers.

"Sorry, Professor...Er-We'll just..have our lunch," Mareena apologised quickly and took a seat at random.
Juliana joined her, face flushed with embarrassment. They were soon joined by the four boys, two of whom were equally ashamed and the other two were least bothered. Lily, who looked embarrassed too, decided to continue eating with her other friends.

"That was totally unnecessary," Juliana said, once the Great Hall was erupting with the usual noise again.

"Well, she started it," Sirius replied while eating a piece of cauldron cake. Juliana rolled her eyes out of irritation.

Mareena remained quiet as she focused her attention on her chocolate pudding, deciding it wasn't a big deal anyway.

While eating, she caught James staring in the direction of the group of girls they had just talked with. She raised her eyebrow in question at him when he caught her eye. He, however, pretended not to have done anything and instead focused on his treacle tart, turning a little pink.

She looked back at the group of girls in confusion, where she saw Lily talking animatedly with her friends as they had their lunch.

Could it be..?

"Well mate!" Sirius suddenly exclaimed as he playfully hit James on the back. "We've got flying lessons after this. It's time to impress everyone with your so-called flying skills, isn't it?" he asked mischievously.

"Definitely," James replied, confidently.

Yup. Everyone including a certain red-haired girl I think, Mareena guessed with a smile, as she ate another spoonful of her pudding, while Juliana scoffed disbelievingly at James and Sirius as they bragged about their so-called quidditch skills.

"You do know you keep smiling to yourself, right?" Remus asked, looking amused.

Mareena let out a soft laugh.
"Yup. It sure is an amusing day. Plus, this chocolate pudding just made it a whole lot better."