Professor Philpott
November 13, 2017 8:09 AM
Intermediates - Keep Calm and Carry On by Professor Philpott
Professor Philpott had arrived at Sonora the previous evening. His appointment had not been announced at the feast for it had not, by that point, been finalised. Although interested in the position, he had not seen reason to cut short a very pleasant holiday, one without the hefty price tag of travelling in the school holidays.Officially, his job was to cover certain elective subjects - principally astronomy, which was his forte - alongside supervising students engaging in extended studies of their own devising, making sure they stayed on track. However, he was also available for emergency cover, which was what saw him standing in front of the intermediate class the morning after his arrival. There was a nasty cold going around, which took multiple doses of Pepper Up Potion to shift. A professor who was both coughing and still smoking at the ears did not seem a good idea. This was how the intermediate class came to be greeted by an unfamiliar man, of average height with salt-and-pepper hair and a matching beard. He was old enough not to necessarily be the subject of schoolgirl or schoolboy crushes, although in spite of being middle aged he was well-kept and good looking. Settling down had never particularly appealed to him but nor did living the life of a celibate, and that meant looking after his appearance.
“Good afternoon,” he greeted the intermediate class. “As you know, Professor O’Malley is now on maternity leave. Whilst Professor Carter should be here, she is unwell this morning. My name is Professor Philpott, and I am the school’s new elective and extended study supervisor. As Professor Carter will have two full courses to teach this year, I am also going to be stepping in as a substitute, though rather unfortunately, my first call of duty is to substitute for her.” He slightly resented the fact that Potions was to be his first lesson, merely from the many jokes he received, along the lines of people suggesting that must be his specialty, given his name.
“Today’s subject is the Draught of Peace. You will brew it during class, and are required to write short notes answering the following questions either in class or for your homework.
“What are some appropriate uses of the Draught of Peace?
“What are some dangers of over-using it?
“What other magics alter a person’s mood?” he read out, waving his wand to bring the questions up on the blackboard, alongside the brewing instructions for the potion.
“Whilst you may begin work on these in class, please note how the brewing process for this potion requires you to take further steps when colour changes occur, rather than after set amounts of time, so do not become too distracted from your potions.
“In terms of whether to work together or separately… Do whatever Professor O’Malley would normally let you do,” he advised. Generally, he did not like to admit any lack of knowledge, or give children the chance to mess about. However, they were a captive audience. He would be here for the rest of term, and so would they. If they used this as a chance to slack off, they’d end up having to make up for it later.
OOC:
The steps:
Add powdered moonstone until the potion turns green.
Stir until the potion turns blue.
Add powdered moonstone until the potion turns purple.
Allow to simmer until the potion turns pink.
Add syrup of hellebore until the potion turns turquoise.
Allow to simmer until the potion turns purple.
Shake powdered porcupine quills vigorously until they are ready and then add until the potion turns red.
Stir until the potion turns orange.
Add more porcupine quills until the potion turns turquoise.
Allow to simmer till the potion turns purple.
Add powdered unicorn horn until the potion turns pink.
Stir until the potion turns red.
Allow to simmer until the potion turns purple.
Add more powdered moonstone until the potion turns grey.
Allow the potion to simmer until it turns orange.
Add more powdered porcupine quills until the potion turns white
As a note, you may also want to look here, which is the source of these steps, for more in-depth information. The brewing of this one can be a bit tricky, and you can say that this additional information IC comes from your textbooks. Happy posting!
Subthreads: I mean, I guess I'll try to stay calm by Isaac Song - Pecari with Natalie Atwater, Pecari
seeking to partner the right sort by Winston Pierce, Crotalus
Seeking a motivated partner. by Lily Spencer, Pecari with Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw
And don't forget to put the kettle on. by Joe Umland, Teppenpaw
13
Professor Philpott
Intermediates - Keep Calm and Carry On
0
Professor Philpott
1
5
Lily Spencer, Pecari
November 15, 2017 3:58 AM
Seeking a motivated partner. by Lily Spencer, Pecari
This feeling was something akin to depression, she supposed. Lily dropped into her seat without a fuss, in her usual row in the back. She was wearing a hoodie with the top up, covering her short brown hair. Her hair wasn't brushed and the hoodie was a size too large for her, but she didn't think anyone would care to notice. Lily dropped her bag on the floor and didn’t bother taking out any of her materials – there was no point, really. She knew the new professor wasn’t going to say anything of significance. All he was going to say was in the textbook.Instead, Lily rested her chin on her arms. She observed Philpott at first, but soon wandered off into her own thoughts. Jack had been a right arse as soon as they’d gone home after not speaking to her for weeks after the Quidditch match. They’d had a row about it but were fine now. Poor Jack. Lily didn’t think Quidditch was in his future, no matter how much he loved it, but she wasn’t going to say anything like that to him directly. Their cousin, however, was extremely talented. She loved watching him play. His personal life was a bit of a muck, according to Mum, but that didn’t matter when he was a brilliant Beater.
If she looked at herself, she was certain others perceived her life as being in the muck as well. Her friends back home had abandoned her, she was just too strange and boyish to be fancied by anyone here, yet wasn’t boy enough to enter into the unspoken ‘brotherhood’. Adam had tried to comfort her when she’d told him, but he didn’t really understand. She couldn’t tell even him what had ended her friendship with them, the real reason. She didn’t think she’d be able to tell anybody, if anyone would even care to listen. Lily’s small shoulders sagged.
She knew what her sister would tell her right now: ‘Buck up, Lily, you’ve still got friends at Sonora! People still like you and you’ve never been one to doubt yourself or brood like this.’ Lily buried her face into her arms, resting her head there for a moment before sitting up properly. She just needed to forget about it.
The Draught of Peace didn’t seem too difficult, but Lily had no motivation to do this today. She needed to work with a friendly face, someone a bit more motivated. “Want to be partners?” she asked the nearest person who fit these qualifications. “I can get the ingredients we need from the cupboard.”
40
Lily Spencer, Pecari
Seeking a motivated partner.
357
Lily Spencer, Pecari
0
5
Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw
November 15, 2017 10:33 AM
I will try to be all you need me to be. by Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw
Jozua sighed in disappointment as he entered the classroom and saw, not Professor Carter, but a new guy. There went his plans for exploding his cauldron today. It wasn’t sporting to do that kind of thing to a new guy. Carter was a seasoned Head of Pecari, she could handle a little smoke and some Sparks, but this sub might freak out and make things worse, especially if potions wasn’t his forte.So he slunk off morosely to the back but brightened up a bit to see Lily already seated there. He dropped down into the seat next to hers, and was able to make a joke about the new guy when he realized she looked miserable. He immediately felt awkward, torn between the Teppenpaw urge to ask if she was okay and give her a hug and the opposing teenage boy machismo that said hugging wasn’t cool. Throw in the fact that Jozua had a giant crush on this particular girl, a crush he was trying desperately not to give away because Lily didn’t like him like that, and that added a whole new degree of terror and indecision that froze him in place long enough that the new teacher started his lecture before Jozua even said hi.
It was probably just as well that Jozua had already decided not to melt his cauldron today, because the assignment was Draught of Peace, which was fiendishly difficult and might lend itself to pyrotechnics even without intent. Intentionally screwing it up would be dangerous and he wouldn’t be able to guarantee nobody got hurt. Oh well. It they did it right, maybe he could give some of it to Lily and that would help her, since Jozua was clearly a useless dolt when it came to miserable best friends.
“Yes!” he agreed in what probably sounded like too forceful of an answer when Lily asked if he wanted to be partners. “Great idea!” His enthusiasm over her offer to fetch ingredients sounded ridiculous. He was a total idiot, he really was. He was complete rubbish at this whole Being Supportive thing. What kind of worthless Teppenpaw was he? Maybe he should tell Joe later that he’d changed his mind and he had made a resolution for the second half of his Sonora career after all, and it was to stop being an idiot, but he wasn’t sure that would actually stop him from being an idiot, and then he’d be an idiot and a failure at resolutions. So maybe not.
Best just get to work because, monthly explosions not withstanding, he at least knew what he was doing when brewing potions. “Um, moonstone, unicorn horn, porcupine needles, syrup of hellebore. I’ve got plenty of moonstone,” that was a non volatile ingredient so it was one he didn’t use much. He checked his potions kit for the rest. “And I just refreshed my hellebore supply over break, so we’re good there. But you may need to get us more porcupine needles and unicorn horn.”
Calmer now that he had a focus and purpose, he added, trying for casual and not really hitting anywhere close to it, “You seem upset. Your granddad didn’t burn down your house, too, did he?” He didn’t think she’d suffered the same disaster as had befallen him last summer, but he hoped it might maybe draw a weak smile if whatever tragedy had befallen her hadn’t been as bad as that. And if it had been, maybe the reminder would help her know he was willing to listen to her vent as she’d listened to him last semester.
1
Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw
I will try to be all you need me to be.
348
Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw
0
5
Lily
November 18, 2017 2:38 PM
That's all I need right now. by Lily
Good ol’ Jozua. The friend she could always rely on through anything. If Jozua ever abandoned her, it would be the end of the world. Unless he got a girlfriend. Lily remembered how Geoff had begun disappearing more and more when he began dating and she was afraid Jozua would do the same. She didn’t want to lose him too. They ought to sign a no-dating pact for the rest of their time in Sonora.Lily tried to buck herself up but she was just too depressed. Jozua’s enthusiasm took her by surprise. She couldn’t help but crack a thin smile. “All right, I can get that.” She popped up to her feet and went to the supply closet. Having a purpose, no matter how mundane, made her feel just a tad lighter on her feet. It was nice knowing she had something to do, that someone needed her for something. Lily scanned the vials carefully, not wanting to accidentally grab cat whiskers or something akin to porcupine needles. The potion, despite its name, had the possibility of being volatile if wrong ingredients were mixed in. The unicorn horn was the easiest to spot so she grabbed that first, then finally found the other jar she needed.
Lily walked back to the table with her treasures and placed it on the table. “I’ll prepare them.” Whilst she worked, Jozua addressed her blatant emotions, and she sighed. She was rubbish at hiding her feelings, not that she ever really tried. It just came naturally and she didn't believe she needed to hide them. She liked being coddled and cared for and worried about. It made her feel loads better no matter what the problem was.
“No, nothing like that,” she said, unable to smile even at his little quip when normally she would have, even laughed. She did glance at him though, wondering if whether now was the time to tell him how miserable her holiday had been. For once, it wasn't on account of her capricious mother or stiff parties and criticism from her maternal family. Lily didn’t know yet if she could tell Jozua everything that had happened, but she’d already told her family the surface-level story. “Remember those guys I told you about? The Muggle ones I’d been hanging out with?” Lily felt her throat closing up and she quietly smashed the porcupine quills for a moment.
“Well,” she continued after a deep breath, “they stopped wanting to be my friend. Abandoned me, really, all of them. I wasn’t… I didn’t fit in, not the way I’d wanted to.” Lily sniffed, hoping against all hope that she wouldn’t be a little girl and cry about it. She huffed. “Anyway, I reckon I’m better off without them. I never want to hang out with them again, at least certain ones in that group. But I… I don’t know.” Part of her really wanted to tell Jozua more, but she was afraid of what he would say and how he would react. She didn’t want to lose his friendship too or have him see her in a different light.
“Ruined my entire holiday,” she concluded. Lily let herself sulk fully, that childish part of her taking over in the middle of Potions class. But there was something about telling Jozua this that made her feel more relieved of her burden, lighter than even when she’d told Adam. She glanced at him sullenly, wondering how he was going to react.
40
Lily
That's all I need right now.
357
Lily
0
5
Jozua
November 20, 2017 12:08 AM
I’m the scary Teppenpaw by Jozua
Jozua was somewhat dismayed when Lily didn’t even crack a smile. Apparently whatever was upsetting her was pretty awful. She revealed enough to know it was those muggle boys she used to hang out with who were behind her sour mood. Jozua was torn by this information. On the one hand he was furious on Lily’s behalf for whatever falling out had occurred, and it was clearly a very bad falling out if it had ruined her entire holiday.On the other hand, he’d never liked those boys (not that he’d ever met them, but Lily had seemed to like them - or at least one of them - altogether more than she liked Jozua, and that was plenty of reason to not like the whole lot of them) and he was kind of glad she didn’t like them any more than he did now either.
“Their loss,” he told her. “If they don’t want you around they’re pretty dim.” As a Teppenpaw, Jozua did not make a habit of insulting people. As someone raised by an Aladren, ‘dim’ was just about as vicious an epithet as he could think of. “You’re the best mate,” he used her British term for friend with some clunky American awkwardness, “a guy could ever have,” he told her with no shortage of confidence in his words’ truth. “If they can’t see that, they’re blinder than Nevaeh.” Jozua’s conviction of this was absolute and unwavering and completely oblivious to the idea that the heat in his voice was possibly giving away that he thought of Lily with higher esteem than as a mere friend.
“Some people never understand how lucky they are,” he ground out as he ground the unicorn horn into powder. Those guys better not have hurt Lily any worse than just telling her she wasn’t welcome to hang out with them anymore. If they had . . . well, Jozua knew an awful lot of hexes and curses.
1
Jozua
I’m the scary Teppenpaw
348
Jozua
0
5
Lily
November 24, 2017 3:52 AM
Consider me impressed. by Lily
Lily thought she’d known what a good friend was before. A good friend was someone who could play pretend and not laugh at one’s childishness or adamance to fight monsters even at twelve. A best friend invited one to duelling matches and remembered birthdays and holidays. But as she listened to Jozua ardently defending her, she realised what a best friend was, truly: one that could be counted on to be there no matter what. Right at that moment there was no one else in the world she loved more than Jozua.“You know what Ed said to me?” she continued, his heat fuelling her ire. “He said I was lucky to have them. To have such handsome boys as friends. Evidently they’re some popular clique at school.” She rolled her eyes, then looked at the potion's instructions again. She swallowed and looked down as she poured in the syrup of hellebore. “That’s... that’s not all.” The potion hissed as it received the syrup until it turned a light turquoise. “One of them, Ed, he... he kissed me.” There. The secret was out and she felt her face grow bright red with shame and anger. “He made me think he fancied me when he was really only taking advantage of me because I was the only girl he was close to.
“I punched him in the face, of course. Broke his glasses. It serves him right. I’ll be happy if I never see him again.” Lily remembered the event like a vivid dream. The fairy lights had glittered so bright and colourful on all the buildings and the enormous Christmas tree, and she had tried not to look so awestruck by it though it was her first time at a Muggle holiday event. She still remembered the surprise kiss, the way Ed's gloved hands had held her cheeks as he dove in with his lips. She remembered feeling warm before she panicked and the disgust came over her.
Lily didn't believe in keeping secrets from those she trusted, not that she was very good at that in any case, but she still felt shy sharing that a tiny part of her liked being kissed, and she wanted to be kissed again—only by someone she actually fancied.
“He told me he would be the only bloke to ever show interest in a girl like me and he only did me this ‘favour’ because he felt sorry for someone like me, whatever that's supposed to mean. And evidently I should’ve expected it being friends with a group of guys, or worse. He is dim, really, and an arse. I should have hexed him, but I was in shock. Also, it was really crowded, we went to some Muggle Christmas Eve event in the city—but that bit doesn’t matter.” Whenever she remembered that it was Ed who had kissed her, she wanted to be sick.
“He said some terrible things after that, and I don’t know what he told the others but they all turned on me a few days later.” That deep hurt from being rejected by the boys she’d once considered her close friends would take a long time to heal, but she would never be able to un-kiss Ed. “I just felt miserable about it. I still feel miserable about it, all of it.” Lily took a deep breath and released it slowly. She was not going to cry. “You’d better not tell anyone,” she said, pointing a finger at him before concentrating on the potion again. "It's top-secret, best-mate-only information."
40
Lily
Consider me impressed.
357
Lily
0
5
Jozua
November 26, 2017 4:45 PM
Glad to hear it by Jozua
Jozua pulverized his unicorn horn. He was kind of glad they were talking about this in potions, during the part of the lesson where he got to ground something into powder. Ed kissed Lily. That was bad enough. That she hadn't wanted to be kissed, that he turned the rest of his friends against her afterwards, that was unforgivable. Ed. It wasn't much to go on, as far as tracking a guy down went.At least Lily had punched him. That was good anyway. She could serve her own revenge. Though a pair of broken glasses seemed a poor vengeance for the crime to him. He nodded in complete agreement that she should have hexed the guy.
"Adventurer's Honor," he promised solemnly, crossing his heart, as he vowed to keep it all Top Secret.
He finished with the unicorn horn and dumped it into a measuring cup. The Draught of Peace did not require precise measurements, as they were supposed to keep adding it until there was a color change, but the cup would make it easier for pouring out the powder in a controlled manner. "Lots of blokes will fancy you," Jozua told her loyally, hoping to dispel any lingering doubts Lily might be feeling in that regard. "Too many," he added, under his breath, not meaning for her to hear it, but a sharp ear might have been able to pick out the words.
He watched the potion for a few moments, frowning as it simmered. "Is that purple yet?" he questioned, not quite sure what the proper term was for the potion's current chromatic state. It was close to purple, but it wasn't entirely done being blue yet. He readied the porcupine quills, just in case.
1
Jozua
Glad to hear it
348
Jozua
0
5
Lily
November 28, 2017 6:53 PM
Turning the tables. by Lily
There was nothing left to crush into powder. Instead, Lily put swept off the remnants of dust on the desk with her hand. "Thanks," she replied to his oath to keep it a secret. It was embarrassing enough without everyone else knowing she'd kissed a rotten boy, and a Muggle at that. Whilst she expected pernicious behaviour from her lot, she'd been taken aback by this incident. It was a lesson for her that not all Muggles, like pure-bloods, were trustworthy.Lily didn't remember why she'd been nervous to tell Jozua now. It all suddenly seemed less traumatic than it'd felt a few minutes ago. Maybe there was some sort of magic in unloading her burden onto a best mate. She took another deep breath, this time releasing all the stress she had been carrying with her and sending it off in a sigh.
What Joz said next was unexpected. Lily didn't think she would ever gain as much attention from wizards as her beautiful older sister, but she had never thought much of it. Charlotte was the stereotypical proper pure-blood whose goal in life was to be a proper wife and mother. Catching the eye of handsome wizards was sort of Charlotte's prerogative, certainly not Lily's. Still, it was nice of Jozua to say and she couldn't help but smile. "Is that a prophecy then?" joked Lily, feeling more like herself again. "You really are the best friend anyone could ask for, you know that?"
Lily looked over the potion, watching as the colour slowly changed. "Just wait a bit longer, I think." After another minute, the simmering potion was undoubtedly purple. "OK, shake it in. I'll stir it once it turns red." She hoped they hadn't waited too long for the colour-change, but as long as it didn't explode they would be fine. That was, however, still a possibility with Jozua Sparks as her partner.
"You don't talk about other witches much," she noted as she began stirring the powdered quills into the mixture. "Haven't you fancied someone over the years here or back home?"
40
Lily
Turning the tables.
357
Lily
0
5
Jozua
November 29, 2017 11:08 AM
Oi, hey now, don’t do that. by Jozua
Jozua shrugged, trying not to look shifty as Lily questioned his certainty that wizards would like her. “Sure,” he agreed with ready confidence, figuring that was a safe ‘prophecy’ to make. “I Saw it in a crystal ball someone left lying around in the common room,” he lied with a wide grin and a twinkle in his eyes that meant she was supposed to take it as play rather than reality.When she told him the potion was solidly purple, he added in the quills, going slow so he could stop as soon as the color changed to red. Adding too many was a sure was to mess up this concoction and porcupine quills could definitely be explosive in large quantities. Jozua knew that very well.
He put away the remainder of the unused quills as Lily stirred.
Then she betrayed him. Or rather, he betrayed himself when he started in guilt at her unexpected inquiry into his own female affections. For a moment, he just looked at her with wide alarmed eyes, then he forced a smile and a laugh. “Nah,” he lied blatantly. “I’m not really into fancying girls. I prefer dueling to drooling.”
A horrible thought occurred to him and he was quick to add, “Not into fancying blokes either. Dueling. I just like dueling. Not drooling. Over people of any kind. Especially not guys. Or girls.” Oh dear Merlin, he pleaded for divine intervention, Make me stop talking.
Merlin answered him and Jozua stopped talking.
1
Jozua
Oi, hey now, don’t do that.
348
Jozua
0
5
Lily
November 30, 2017 4:26 PM
Well, why not? by Lily
Lily grinned at his teasing and would have punched him in the arm if he hadn't been holding the porcupine quills. She didn't feel insecure about being liked much, but she knew she wouldn't care if her best friends were by her side. To Lily, loyalty to one's friends was the most important characteristic one could have.The potion luckily did not explode and Lily stirred it slowly, her eyes trained on the mixture, waiting for the red to fade into orange. She liked this better than measuring out specific cups or droplets. It was much easier, though in exchange made the potion a bit more volatile. If they were too careless, it would turn out terrible.
After asking her question, she glanced up at him and met his alarmed eyes. Lily felt her heart leap and she opened her mouth to inundate him with questions, but he quickly smiled. Her eyes grew wide at his next admission; she wasn't always quick to pick up on covert details, but right now Jozua had her full attention. Her mouth was still open and she opened it wider to ask very different questions, but he quickly added something else.
When he finished speaking, Lily couldn't think of anything relevant to say right away. She closed her mouth and turned back to the potion silently. It was turning a lighter orange every second and she gasped. "Quick, we need more porcupine quills!" she exclaimed, too afraid to stop stirring and watching anxiously as each stir made it look less like it was supposed to.
Once that small predicament had been dealt with and their potion was at least close to the proper shade of turquoise, she had a bigger thought to analyze. Was Jozua gay? Had he been hiding it from her this entire time? Did he just figure it out? Was he in denial? Lily never would have guessed, but then again he had listened to her rants about her male friends very closely. He was also very attentive to her, but he never talked about his own crushes. Clearly he was hiding something and Lily was adamant to find out. Tossing the duelling comment to the side, she replied, "It's OK if you do. Fancy wizards, I mean. I, uh, I don't know anyone who's like that, but whatever you are hiding won't change our friendship. You know that, don't you? You listened to me and didn't judge me with my terrible problem, and I won't judge you even if you are madly in love with a snobby witch or, er, wizard."
She hoped she sounded helpful even though she was completely out of her element. There would be a tiny bit of judgement if he did admit to fancying someone like Emerald Brockert, but otherwise she didn't care who it was as long as they were nice. But, even if he wasn't gay or madly in love, Lily hoped he would feel comfortable to share whatever secret - if there was indeed a secret - with her. Lily eyed Jozua carefully to measure his reactions. It didn't hurt to think of other ways to wrench the possible secret out of him. Now that her mind was set, it was going to be very difficult to distract her from it.
40
Lily
Well, why not?
357
Lily
0
5
Jozua
November 30, 2017 10:14 PM
I don't wanna talk about it by Jozua
Lily wasn't talking. That was never a good thing. Lily was a talker. If she wasn't talking, it was because she was thinking, and there wasn't anything about what he'd just said that he wanted her thinking about.He momentarily panicked slightly as she reminded him about the next batch of porcupine quills to go in and he spilled in a few more than he meant to in his haste, but it was okay, because they were a little late in coming, and it wasn't too many. A few more, and the color change they needed occurred, and they both breathed easier on that front.
On other fronts, Jozua was definitely having a harder time. "I don't fancy wizards," he insisted again irritably when she told him it was okay if he did. Could he please start this day over, or at least this part of the conversation? He'd said dumb things, and now her curiosity was awakened, and he knew that look in her eye. He'd been best friends with her long enough that he knew when she looked like that she was like a dog with a bone. She wasn't going to let this go. She'd sniffed out that he had a secret and she was going to get to the bottom of it, or die trying. She could be the most stubborn and persistent person he knew.
It was one of the things he loved about her.
But it was very inconvenient, having it turned on him right now.
He trusted her with everything he had, but he didn't believe her when she told him nothing he could say would change their friendship. It would. There was only two ways an admission like his could go. She could return his feelings and they'd start dating (unlikely). Or things would get awkward between them and they'd try to 'just be friends' but it would always be hanging there like a giant white elephant in the room and they'd drift apart because Lily didn't want to 'lead him on' or something (totally what would happen and it would be painful and awful and he didn't want to put them through that).
But she was going to keep worrying at it until he let something slip, so his only options were to beg her to let it go (which had maybe slightly better odds than a snowball in Florida but would result in her thinking he didn't trust her with his secrets like she trusted him with hers) or to tell her. He supposed a third option was to lie and make up a fictional crush on the absent Madeleine or something, but he dislike the idea of lying to Lily on principle.
There were no good choices here.
He grimaced down into their potion and wished for some of the peace it was supposed to bring. He sighed in defeat. "I'm madly in love with a witch," he told her, without looking up from the potion. "But I don't wanna tell her because I don't think she likes me back that way."
He noticed the potion he was staring at was turning purple again. He found the powdered unicorn horn and started adding it until the color switched around to pink.
1
Jozua
I don't wanna talk about it
348
Jozua
0
5
Lily
December 01, 2017 2:22 PM
Oh. I see. by Lily
Lily had not expected Jozua’s answer. She had imagined more adamant denial and maybe admitting he liked someone, not be madly in love. She waited a moment to analyse his tone for sarcasm, but found none. That triggered a tiny, inner freak-out. Lily took a deep breath. Did he need comfort? Encouragement? A pep talk? Lily was speechless again. She watched Jozua add the powdered unicorn horn and used her wand to stir it in once the potion turned pink.There was also a tiny flicker of disappointment. He believed loads of wizards would fancy her, but he wasn’t going to be one of them. Not that she particularly wanted that from him, she’d never seen him as a potential interest. But he was still a wizard…
That foreign train of thought was too confusing, so Lily shut it off and tried to figure out what to say. What would her former friends say in a situation like this? She knew how it felt, fancying someone who clearly wouldn’t feel the same, but she’d felt awful knowing Geoff wanted another girl. She didn’t want Jozua to be in the same position. That’s all he needed, a push. Lily’s interest in Geoff had been mere infatuation; Jozua was evidently madly in love. There was a selfish part of her that didn’t want him to pursue it. That would mean losing a best friend, or gaining a third to their dynamic duo. She didn’t want anything to change, but she didn’t want Jozua to suffer either. Lily pursed her lips and focused on stirring correctly.
“Aren’t you going to do anything about it?” she said at last. “I mean, it’s pitiful just pining hopelessly after someone. Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.” Lily’s free hand tousled her hair, making it stick up in places. “I just think you should, you know, tell her if you really are madly in love with her. If it would make you, I don’t know, happy or whatever. Then at least you’ll know for certain if she likes you or not. I mean, if I were in your position I would be too much of a coward to say anything, but I’m certain I’d be ridiculously unhappy. The next time I fancy someone I’m going to go and get rejected and move on. It’s got to be easier that way, I think. My brother Adam and one of his mates were mad about each other but never said anything and it caused loads of drama and misunderstandings whilst they were in school til they finally admitted it and now they're married, so there's that. Not that I’m saying you’ll get married if you tell this witch – is it someone I know, by the way? – but maybe you’ll have a chance. Blast it, I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m rubbish at this.”
Lily heaved a deep sigh. “Just forget everything that came out of my mouth.” When she returned to her room, she’d have to write Adam for advice.
“Anyway, whatever happens you’ve got to promise that no significant other will come between us as best friends,” she said, finally making eye-contact with him. “I promise too. Best friends til the end, for better or for worse.” She crossed her heart as Jozua had earlier. “Adventurer’s Honour.” She held out her hand to shake his and smiled, potion momentarily forgotten as it simmered in its reddish state.
40
Lily
Oh. I see.
357
Lily
0
5
Jozua
December 01, 2017 4:59 PM
Disaster Averted by Jozua
Lily again was not talking. That always made him nervous even when he hadn't just admitted what he'd just admitted. He hadn't mentioned any names, but how many girls did he really hang out with or talk about besides Lily? Surely she'd figure it out.She didn't figure it out.
Jozua wasn't sure if he was more relieved or disappointed. Relieved was the obvious one to go with, and he was, he was very very relieved. Yet, at the same time, if she'd seen what was really going on here, and she didn't totally freak out or cut him out of her life, then . . . no, that way lay madness. He was just very very relieved. This was for the best. Really.
"I think I'll keep being a total coward for now," he admitted truthfully to his plans about doing anything about his feelings. He forced a weak grin, "Wouldn't want her calling me pitiful," he poked back at her for her poor choice of words. "But I promise, she won't ever come between us," that was a promise he could make with absolute confidence. "Best friends til the end, for better or for worse," he repeated his marriage vows. "Adventurer's honor."
The part where she asked if she knew this girl had been mixed up in the verbal rubbish that she'd told him to forget she said, so he opted to take her at her word and 'forget' she'd asked.
His gaze happened to fall on the potion, which had turned purple again in the meantime, and he gawped, "Uh-oh! We need the moonstone!" He fumbled for it and started adding it in until it turned grey. He breathed out a sigh of relief. "Disaster averted." The remark did not apply to only the potion.
1
Jozua
Disaster Averted
348
Jozua
0
5
Lily
December 03, 2017 4:28 PM
For the time being. by Lily
Despite her unhelpful advice, Lily was relieved to hear Jozua decide to be a total coward for now. It was still strange to hear Jozua talking about this third party and it made her feel uncomfortable. She didn't know why, but all she did know was that she didn't want anything to change. Now that those Muggle idiots were out of her life and she no longer had any romantic interests in anyone, she could go back to her old self. No more pretending or trying to be someone she wasn't.Lily smiled when he affirmed their oath, feeling happy again. She pulled down the hood of her sweatshirt completely and smoothed down her hair. She couldn't turn back time, but she could move forward knowing that there was still at least one friend who cared about her.
Jozua's exclamation surprised her and Lily's eyes widened as he quickly added the moonstone. "Good save," she said, giving him a high-five. "I can't fail another potion else I'll get an A this term and my parents are not going to be happy with me. I've improved, but I must get distracted too easily. People are far more interesting than magic sometimes." Lily shrugged her shoulders and peered into the cauldron again. "Looks like we're doing well so far." It was still grey and simmering.
After a moment, Lily could suppress her curiosity no longer. "So..." She nudged Jozua. "Are you going to tell me who she is?"
40
Lily
For the time being.
357
Lily
0
5
Jozua
December 05, 2017 9:59 AM
Nope, I was wrong. Catastrophic failure! by Jozua
For a whole minute, Jozua thought he was in the clear. But once the potions disaster was averted, and it was quietly bubbling away with the appropriate grey color it was supposed to have, Lily went and repeated her question about the identity of Jozua’s crush.The good news was that she had phrased it in a way that he could just say ‘nope’ and continue his avoidance of the real issue at stake here. She could just go on assuming it was someone else, probably someone from Aladren - his hometown, not the House - because she’d never seen him paying too much attention to any other girls at Sonora. Sure there were class partners and Quidditch camaraderie with the other players from Teppenpaw, but since Madeleine left, his friend circle was pretty much just Lily, Finn, and Joe.
And unless Lily thought he was lying about the ‘witch’ part, Joe and Finn didn’t qualify.
He supposed she might tag Madeleine as a possibility, and their missing adventure buddy wouldn’t have been a bad guess if Lily herself wasn’t in the picture. Though Lily was the one who brought him into the two girls’ spy game, so Jozua wasn’t sure he’d have really gotten to know Madeleine properly if Lily hadn’t been around. So while Madeleine had at least pinged on his radar, she had left it again as soon as she left Sonora for Beauxbatons.
He always figured the French girl wanted a French boy anyway, in the long run.
Anyway, Lily was waiting for an answer and he opened his mouth with every intention of saying “Sorry, I think I’m gonna sit on that a while longer.” Though he was also considering, “I think maybe I should tell her first, don’t you?”
But somehow, while his head was debating the merits of those two ways to decline her request, what he actually said was, “You.”
His eyes widened in alarm as he realized the magnitude of what he had just said in three little letters. He looked up from potion, his panic stricken eyes seeking hers.
Oh, Merlin. He’d just destroyed everything.
1
Jozua
Nope, I was wrong. Catastrophic failure!
348
Jozua
0
5
Lily
December 06, 2017 2:56 PM
*screams* by Lily
“What?”Lily might’ve been genuinely confused about his answer if his facial expression didn’t give it away. It was a good thing she wasn’t holding anything because her body went slack, including her jaw. Her brown eyes grew wide and she stared at Jozua for a few seconds before the weight of his confession hit her. She felt woozy, but refused to sit down. She quickly turned away, her body leaning heavily on the desk. Whatever anxiety she’d had about Jozua’s confession about his unrequited love was nothing compared to this panic she was feeling now. It made sense why he hadn’t wanted to share and now she regretted asking. If only she could be blissful in ignorance again!
She knew Jozua wanted her to say something, but Lily couldn’t think of what to say. She had never thought of him that way before. Nothing she could think to say seemed appropriate. Where were the distractions when she needed them?
“Since when?” was the best she could sputter out. At the very least it would bide her time whilst she sorted her own feelings. She was feeling a bit hysterical inside. Had he been madly in love with her for a long time? Did she like him? Did she want to date? Would she date Jozua? Lily’s insides churned at the thought of it, not out of disgust but because it was such a foreign thought. Lily and Jozua. Jozua and Lily. She looked at him, suddenly feeling different. Curse him! She hadn’t wanted anything to change and yet here was this irreversible thing happening between them right in Potions class. She almost wished his big secret was that he was gay. She was vacillating between making their potion explode just to cut the tension, and running out of the room, but she luckily did neither. What would Adam do? Charlotte? Jack?
Lily had seen enough positive relationships to know what one looked like and what to avoid. There was some unspoken familial pressure to find one’s partner whilst in school; both Adam and Charlotte had ended up with their best mates. Jack didn’t have a female best friend and, perhaps it was correlated, he hadn’t really dated anyone. Lily didn’t want to get married, not for a long time. But dating Jozua didn’t mean she needed to marry him, did it? Oh Merlin, did it?
“I…I…” Lily cleared her throat. “I wish I knew what to say,” she said helplessly. “Does that mean you want to… date me?” He wasn’t necessarily asking her on a date, but that was the assumption. She didn’t know what to do with this information except to fret over it. She didn’t feel as though he was destroying their friendship by telling her this, but she knew things would be different, she just didn’t know how. She’d been able to maintain her friendship with Geoff despite her feelings – at least before The Incident happened – and she hoped Jozua could do the same. Unless, of course, he actually wanted to actually date her. Then she would have to make a real, grown-up decision about all of this. How her siblings had maneuvered through this she would never know.
“Um, so…” Lily cleared her throat again. “So what now?” For the first time in her life she was at a loss of what to do and tentatively toeing the line between the world of pretend and reality.
40
Lily
*screams*
357
Lily
0
5
Jozua
December 07, 2017 12:56 AM
Since always by Jozua
Since when?To Jozua, the first words out of Lily’s mouth sounded accusatory. He flinched slightly. He wasn’t sure if she meant it as a genuine question or rhetorically, and he wasn’t really even sure of the answer if it was the former. It seemed to him like he had loved her since that first day at Orientation, when she declared she liked playing knights, too. It had seemed at the time like he had found his best friend and soulmate and that hadn’t ever wavered.
His love and admiration of her had strengthened and matured over the years, just as they had, slowly and imperceptibly, and he wasn’t sure there even was a ‘since when.’
He was still trying to figure out how to put that all into words without sounding like a lovesick fool from some stupidly romantic fairytale when Lily opened up a new and worse line of questions.
Does this mean you want to . . . date me?
So what now?
Jozua grimaced and crossed his arms in front of him, still holding the moonstone powder. “No, I don’t know, okay? I know you don’t like me like that, so I try not to think about it much, all right? I never meant to tell you because I never wanted to complicate anything. Best mates forever works for me, if that’s all you want. I mean,” he struggled to put it into words, “I meant what I said. I’m not into drooling over girls. It’s not hormonal or anything. I just - when I saw you dancing in the rain forest, I realized I wanted that to be our life. Adventuring, seeing the world, together, for always. And if that’s just as good mates, that’s totally okay and way less scary for me, too, right now. Just, I don’t know, maybe tell Ingrid instead of me about your - yeegh!”
He broke off as he noticed the potion starting to smoke. “Porcupine quills!” He frantically switched the jar of moonstone for the bag of quills and started dropping them in until the smoking orange liquid settled down into a more placid white. “Whew,” he breathed out in relief. “Next time we decide to spill our innermost secrets, can we do it over an easier potion? Or maybe, you know, not in class?” He let out a tense breath, “But I think it’s done now and we didn’t even blow ourselves up!”
1
Jozua
Since always
348
Jozua
0
5
Lily
December 07, 2017 5:50 PM
Finding solid ground again. by Lily
No matter what happened next, something had changed for Lily; something big. It was frightening, but at this moment she didn't feel the need to run away. Jozua suddenly seemed different; before he'd been another human who shared her same interests and with whom she felt entirely comfortable with, like one of her brothers. Now he was a wizard, a boy who had feelings and was certainly not one of her brothers.Whatever he was saying slowly put her at ease. Adventuring around the world with her best mate sounded like a fantastic idea, and she was very glad that he wasn't the 'drooling sort'. It did give her some comfort that he was scared too, she assumed because neither of them had ever done this sort of thing before. Lily took a deep breath; she didn't know why, but even now Jozua seemed to know what to say. It was a talent, to be sure.
She wasn't sure where he was going with his last statement, but she panicked again at his exclamation. Their potion! Lily was sure she pulled a muscle in her neck cos of how quickly she jerked her head, but Jozua was quicker to action. He saved it and she breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment her neck ached and she massaged it with her hand.
Class had provided a good distraction, but Jozua was certainly right. Lily did not want to find herself in a predicament like this again with her marks on the line. "Deal," she said. "I think our potion looks brilliant. Nice save." Chatting about this put them on familiar ground again and Lily decided to simply ignore whatever they'd talked about for now and think about it later. Though, really, there wasn't anything to think about since they weren't going to do anything about his confession.
But it did make Lily feel warm knowing that someone loved her despite how rough and loud and chatty she was.
"Let's put it in a vial then, and we're through!" She prepared to ladle out a sample for the professor. This, at least, she felt confident in doing after four years of 'training'. "Oh. I forgot about the questions. Um, would you mind working on that together as well?"
40
Lily
Finding solid ground again.
357
Lily
0
5