Halley

18- Blowing Potions Up

Halley gazed up at the staff table, where both her mother's, Grandfather's and Remus' seats were left unoccupied. It was very rare that anyone missed the start of term feast, and everyone throughout the hall was muttering about it.

"Are you okay Hal?" James asked, loading his plate with chicken.

"Yeah, I just-never mind."

"No, Halley what is it?"

"I just hate watching my mum go through, her, you know."

"Monthlies," James said.

"Exactly, I want to do something to help."

"If there was something that could be done, don't you think that someone would have discovered it by now," James said.

"Maybe," Halley took a sip of water. But she didn't believe James. Halley was sure that there must be something that she could do to help her mother and godfather. If she was being honest with herself, that was one of the main reasons that she wanted to go into healing. To help her mother. To discover a cure for lycanthropy.

********

Halley coughed and spluttered as yet another potion blew up in her face.

Since the beginning of her sixth year, Halley had been stealing James's invisibility cloak, to sneak down to the potions room in the early hours of the morning, and begin to work on her ideas for the cure to lycanthropy. But it seemed she hadn't got anywhere.

She had spent the last two years of her Hogwarts career keeping her potions a secret from her family and friends. She hadn't even mentioned it to James, although she was very sure that he had realised she was up to something.

She has thus far been testing the potions on herself, to see if any of them alleviated the symptoms of the full moon that she felt. But this far, she had only managed to blow up a whole load of ingredients, along with several cauldrons.

"Halley, what are you doing?" Halley turned around to see James standing there with a grin on his face, "why are you covered in goo?"

Halley wiped some goo off her face, "clearly, I'm blowing up some potions, isn't that obvious Jamsie?"

"Well, in that case, I'll help you clean up."

Halley quickly shoved the large stack of notes that she had compiled over the past two years into her bag.

"What's that?" James had seen the notes.

"Don't worry James, let's get this cleaned up so we don't miss our Charms exam."

The seventh years were coming to the end of their NEWTs, Charms being the last exam that they were to sit.

"C'mon Seventh Years!" Sirius whooped loudly outside the exam hall, as the anxious group of students were preparing themselves.

"I don't want to be mean or anything," said Halley, patting her grandfather on the shoulder, "but please shut up."

"Now, now little Longbottom, that's no way to address your Professor."

"But after I finish this exam, you won't be my Professor, you'll just be my grandad because I'll be graduating."

"That is along as you pass the exam."

"I'll pass the exam."

"Make sure that you write your name on every bit of parchment you use!"

"Shut up."