Herbology Work
Professor Sprout is a chubby woman, with a kind face, but she can be the devil herself in her evaluations. That's why, when she told us that the next assignment was going to be in pairs, even though James looked at me with that pleading face, I decided to go with the only one of the four who could assure me a high or even a perfect grade, Lupin.
I was quicker than the Evans, and without asking him I sat down next to him. Remus seemed somewhat pleased, though he didn't comment to me about it (as he always does), instead, he decided to give me such a slight smile, that I didn't avoid blushing for no reason.
The task was, in theory, simple: grow a dozen specimens of wind vanilla pods, of good or superior quality, the difficulty lay in not dropping any of the tiny seeds, nor ending up on the floor, completely, dizzy.
Although James stayed with Peter, he didn't seem bothered by this, after all, of the four of us he was the best at Herbology, while Lupin was more versatile (although DCAO and Care of Magical Creatures were his forte). The boys stood next to us, and while James moistened the soil, Peter set about planting the seeds with tweezers.
“Sirius, I have the clumsiest hands” said Lupin, holding out a pair of tweezers, “you plant the seeds.”
I nodded and stared at Remus as he fertilized the soil. I guess I have a strange fascination with watching Lupin work; he is careful, neat, and tidy.
I listened to Professor Sprout's scolding of some Slytherin students.
“I don't want to ruin my nails!” Exclaimed Mary, flustering Marlene, “You fertilize the soil!”
Herbology class had the strange effect that, no matter what, every single lesson ended with arguments, fights, and someone faints; in this one it was Dorcas, who had the grandiose idea of putting a pod so close to her nose that she fell dizzily to the floor.
Anyway, I didn't pay much attention to any of the things going on around them, because I was on the lookout to try to identify, on Lupin's face, some new scar.
“Sirius, it's your turn” Lupin said, after I had stared at him for a long time, “plant.”
I nodded and grabbed the baggie, and all might have ended well, had it not been for James.
“Look guys, do you think they're perfect quality?” James shouted, grabbing my arm, and making me startle.
The baggie fell to the ground, and within a couple of seconds, pods began to bloom all over our place. Lupin was dumbfounded, I was furious, and James, who never knows how to react to this type of situation, began to burst out laughing.
Professor Sprout, seeing a hundred vanilla pods strewn about her classroom, turned red with hysteria and began to scold both James and me. Potter showed her the pods he had taken out with Peter, and without understanding why, her countenance softened with consideration, but in James' favor, for then she remembered me and resumed her lecture.
“You're detention, Black!” The teacher said “Less ten points and I hope to see you after school!”
I looked at her apprehensively, she paid no attention to James who was blaming himself, but she did look at Lupin when she said:
“Teacher, I was the one who dropped the seeds on the ground.”
She stared at him in surprise, until he nodded and ruled:
“I didn't expect it from you, young Lupin, less ten points and I also hope to see you for a while more!”
He nodded and resumed his work in silence, this time we didn't drop any seeds on the ground and a beautiful plant bloomed instantly. It wasn't perfect, but it was beautiful.
“Why?” I whispered to him, while he wrote down, with his very legible handwriting, the properties of the wind vanilla, “Why did you take the blame?”
He smeared a little more ink on his pen, and before he traced a word again, he smiled at me.
“Because it was a paired assignment, wasn't it? Besides, punishments, when you do them alone, are very boring.”
I couldn't find the words to answer him at that moment, so I remained silent, leaving Lupin to write for the rest of the hour. We handed in the paper, got a seven (not bad, for the mess I made with James) and after the last class we headed back to the greenhouse, to help Professor Sprout change the mandrakes in the pot, now that they were reaching puberty.
After I finished a couple, I said to Lupin:
“What do you know about detention if you've never had one?”
Remus smiled, shrugged, and stuck out his tongue.
“You're right, I guess I just wanted to spend some time with you.”
That sincerity caused my insides to buckle, even though Remus said it with all the innocence in the world. When we were done with the mandrakes, I ran back to the common room, leaving Lupin behind, my heart overflowing with embarrassment and my head full of my friend.
Mary greeted me and I kissed her, but I didn't get from her warmth and perfume, the same reaction that Remus elicited with a couple of words; I didn't want to accept it, I felt dirty, vulgar, and obscene.
I didn't want to admit that I had fallen in love with my best friend.
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