Everything Goes Boom
Mia sat at the Gryffindor table squashed between two abnormally loud girls, it was starting to be a pattern she wasn’t sure she liked.
Everyone ate their breakfast before their first classes, chatting about trivial things. She could hear Potter and Lily bickering about something to do with prefects (Honestly, Mia doesn’t know why James Potter was sticking his annoying nose into prefects’ business. He was far from being one himself), and in front of her Georgia and Alice Fortescue were gossiping about some attractive Hufflepuff.
Mia mostly kept to herself, instead resorting to wishing she stayed in bed a little longer that morning. Her eyes kept opening and closing, and she felt herself on the brink of sleep.
“Mia!”
Mia sprung to consciousness, “I’m awake.”
Georgia and Alice giggled, “I forgot to ask you, what was up with Crouch yesterday?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“Ew, Georgia, never say anything like that ever again.” Mia shuddered, “And I don’t know, he’s never usually this nice.”
“He’s fit, don’t you think?”
Mia rolled her eyes and shook her head, “He’s a bad person, Georgia. But by all means if you think he’s so fit he’s probably lurking somewhere alone at the Ravenclaw table.”
The three girls turned to the table in question, and as Mia predicted, Barty was sitting alone at the end, indulging in a book.
“Fine, fine, you win. But that doesn’t mean I won’t try to find you a nice person to date this year.”
Mia blushed and lowered her head into her hands. “Please don’t.” she mumbled.
Mary MacDonald, who was sitting besides Mia, patted her back sympathetically, “There, there.”
“Ooo, Mia!” Georgia exclaimed suddenly, “I forgot to tell you; Lily wanted to talk to you about something. I think it’s for the prefects meeting.”
“Thanks–”
“Oi, Evans.” Georgia exclaimed, “Mia’s here if you want to talk to her about your thing.”
Lily turned towards them, “Perfect! I was just talking to James about when we should hold our first meeting since we couldn’t have one on the train!”
Mia paused. Why on earth was James Potter involved in the conversation?
Noticing her confusion, Lily asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Why on earth is Potter involved in prefects business?”
Georgia winced. She had completely forgotten to tell Mia about that new information.
“Oh, that.” Lily laughed, “He was made headboy!”
“WHAT?”
Mia was in shock. What was Dumbledore thinking?
Multiple heads turned in their direction, wondering what all the commotion was about. Mia watched as Potter and Black broke in fits of laughter, holding onto each other whilst Remus hid his smile behind a mug which Mia assumed contained coffee. There was definitely an inside joke she wasn’t in on and their reactions led her to believe she might just be the butt of it.
Mia concluded that this was a joke, and she had been foolish enough to believe it. She laughed awkwardly, “Har Har, you guys got me! What a funny joke!”
This only led the boys to laugh even harder.
“It’s not a joke.” Lily said. Mia looked for any sign of dishonesty in her face, but alas, there was none.
“Oh.”
Black and Potter suddenly got up, “Well, we’re off to class.”
Since when did those two idiots get to class early?
When they reached where Mia was standing, they stopped in front of her. She felt Black put his hand on her shoulder while he bent down to her eye-level, “You can be really funny when you try, Verano.”
Mia blushed in embarrassment while the two idiots ran off howling with laughter.
It really wasn’t that funny.
She sighed before plumping down at the table, “What class do you lot have first?”
“Potions.” The other girls said simultaneously.
Mia’s face lit up. “Me too!”
𖠋
In her excitement of being in the same class as her friends for potions, Mia completely forgot that meant a certain group of annoying Gryffindors would also be in that class.
She watched as they all laughed at their little table, mimicking them sarcastically from across the room. Mia scoffed amusingly to herself; hating was so fun.
Mia listened as Lily and Georgia talked excitedly about the potions they'd be studying this year. She wished she could have that much excitement for a class. She watched as they talked about some potion called Ammorentia that they would be brewing sometime this year. Mia felt the name familiar, but couldn’t bring herself to think about it that early in the morning.
“Ah, welcome back students!” The voice of Professor Slugghorn echoed against the stone wall, “My am I glad to see so many of you back!”
Mia wishes she wasn’t. She doesn’t even know why she took this class, she hates potions!
“Like every year, we will be working with a partner throughout the whole academic year.” Mia and Georgia looked at each other; potions partners six years and running. “However, I thought I’d change it up a bit for your last year!”
Mia and Georgia both snapped their heads towards him, face filling with dread. They saw as Professor Slugghorn smiled to the dozens of faces looking back at him, none looking pleased by this new piece of information.
“I will be picking the pairs!” Slughorn exclaimed.
Mia and Georgia looked at each other distraught. The only thing that made potions tolerable was being able to mess around together.
“Don’t worry, Mia.” Georgia muttered, “Slughorn wouldn’t dare breakup this iconic duo.”
Mia nodded reassuringly, “You're right.”
“Now I would ask you to go be seated with your partner once I call your name.”
Mia and Georgia held hands, praying to whatever academic god was listening.
“Black and Lupin.”
Georgia looked up alarmingly, “Me?”
Slughorn looked over, “No, Remus Lupin.”
Georgia sighed with relief, “Starting off good.”
“MacDonald and Crouch.” (That made both parties groan)
“Mckinnon and Pettigrew.”
“Fortescue and Longbottom.”
This was it, there was only herself, Georgia, Lily, and she assumed someone else to make the class even.
“Evans and Lupin.”
Damn.
Georgia looked over at Mia sympathetically before walking over to where Lily was seated.
Mia sighed, glancing around the room for her new year-long partner before spotting a boy sitting alone in the corner of the classroom. Upon noticing who was sitting at the table ,however, her gaze hardened and her eyes narrowed.
James Potter.
Mia spun frantically around to face Georgia, only to find the girl attempting (very poorly) to hide her giggles behind her hand.
She stomped over to the table, making a big show of letting it known that she was far from pleased with this new arrangement.
“Hello.” James grinned.
“Hi.”
Potter raised his eyebrows, “I’m not that horrible at potions, you know. I’d consider myself to be some sort of potions prodigy.”
Her eyebrows raised, “Okay?” Did I ask? “ What has that got to do with anything?”
Potter glanced down at her, “Why else would you be so pissed about being with me if you were not worried about your grade?”
Mia stared at him, pretending to think, “Mmm, maybe because I don’t like you? Just a thought though.”
He grinned, “What is there not to like?”
She didn’t respond, leaving the silence be the answer.
“Okay, what have I ever done to you?” Potter frowned.
Mia stared at him incredulously, “You know very well–”
“Ms. Verano and Mr. Potter! If the both of you are done with whatever conversation you think is more important than my class, then I was just about to explain the procedure to today’s potion.”
Mia blushed as the whole class turned to stare at them whilst Potter just grinned amusedly.
“Sorry, Profesor.”
Mia listened as Professor Slughorn rambled on about the potion and its uses. Apparently this potion (she forgot the name, sue her!) was very useful in a fight against Inferri. One drop of this and the Inferri will melt away into a state of nothing.
“...Now this next part is very important…It is imperative that you stir the potion–”
“Psst.”
Mia looked up, “What, Potter. I’m trying to listen.”
“What’s written on the corner of the board over there?”
“How the hell should I know?”
Potter grumbled, “Nevermind.”
Mia rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Slughorn.
“...Now here is the list of ingredients. Good Luck!”
“Great, you made me miss the instructions idiot!” Mia turned towards him, “What are you even doing?”
Potter blushed and shoved the paper he was writing on away hastily into his pocket. “Go get the ingredients.”
“S’cuse you?”
He smirked and batted his eyes, “Will you prettyplease go get the ingredients?”
“Shove off.”
Mia left her spot towards the supplies closet, gathering everything she needed.
When she got back, she noticed Potter writing down the steps on a spare piece of parchment. She read it over his shoulder; noticing that one of his steps was wrong, she frowned.
“He said counter-clockwise you dimwit!”
“Pretty sure it was just clockwise, Mia.”
“Don’t call me that!”
“Why not? It’s your name isn’t it?” He smirked.
“We’re not friends, Potter.”
“Okay then, Mimi, I’m certain Old Sluggy said clockwise.”
Mia’s eyes narrowed, “Fine then. Let’s do it clockwise and see if the great James Potter is right.”
𖠋
The great James Potter was not right.
They had done exactly what Potter had insisted on doing; so when it came time to stir the potion, they stirred the potion clockwise.
Apparently, Slughorn had made it very clear that this potion was not to be mixed clockwise, for it could result in…abnormalities with the potion.
Slughorn stood in front of the two teenagers covered in an acid-like slime, red with anger.
Potter smiled up sheepishly at the professor, ignoring the burning sensation on his skin from the exploded potion. The class was now all turned watching amusedly.
“You idiot, I told you it was counter-clockwise!” Mia said through clenched teeth.
“Nuh huh, I said counter-clockwise! You said we had to stir clockwise.”
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
“Did too!”
“Did not!”
“HA–”
“MISS VERANO AND MISTER POTTER!”
Mia and James winced.
“I made it especially clear that the potion should never be stirred clockwise, did I not?”
They didn’t answer, both choosing that maybe silence was the safer option.
“Not only have I said it multiple times, it is written clearly on the–”
Mia yelped just as the potion dripped into her eyes, “It burns!”
Potter at least had the decency to look apologetic.
“I swear to Melin, Potter, if I go blind I will murder you!”
“Godric, It’s not my bloody fault, is it?”
Mia looked livid, “Not your fault? Not your fault–”
“Verano! Potter!” Slughorn exclaimed exhaustedly, “Hospital Wing! Now.”
They both left the classroom, Mia grumbling the whole way.
“You do realise this is the second time you’ve covered me in slime.”
Potter laughed, “You’re funny.”
“It wasn’t a joke.”
“Merlin, don’t take life so seriously, Mimi!”
She groaned before walking away from him towards the hospital wing, only stopping herself a few steps later.
“Aww, does Mia miss me already?”
Mia mumbled something ineligible under her breath.
“Mmm what was that? Couldn’t hear you.”
She sighed, “I don’t know where the hospital wing is.”
Potter looked at her incredulously, “You what?”
Mia watched him confusedly.
“You don’t know where the hospital wing is after six years?”
“No?” Does he assume everyone is stupid enough to land themselves there every other week?
He sighed, “Then you haven’t lived! Oh merlin we have so much to work on.”
“What are you on about?” Mia asked him suspiciously.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.”
Mia blushed, “Shut up, Potter.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He then dragged her off to where she supposed the hospital wing was. They reached a large set of doors, which Potter pulled open without hesitation.
“I’ve brought you a new patient, Poppy!”