Kevin had taken a walk on the grounds and had grabbed something to eat at the Great Hall when the alarm on his watch went off. While still chewing on the toast with butter, the Gryffindor made his way back to the potions laboratory. He still had half an hour to prepare the next steps and as he walked he set his watch on half an hour.

Arriving at the lab, he saw that his potion hadn’t been tempered with and that everything was still in the places he had left it. Good. Or no, it would have been fun hexing people because now he had a good reason? Why did he even care about having a good reason to hex people?!

He put on his protective gear and walked back to his cauldron. He read the note and then grabbed the mortar. He scourgified the mortar until it was clean and with a wave of his wand he lifted the bicorn horn up in the air, directed it to the mortar and let it drop in. Holding the pestle in his right hand, the Gryffindor began to crush the horn for a few moments until it was a fine powder. Cleaning the pestle, he placed it back down on the working station and checked his watch. He still had some time left.

Checking his notes carefully, he read the instructions and read that he soon needed a wooden stick. Looking around, he realised that he did not have one with him and shuffled slowly, because he still had some time, to the cupboard. He opened it, checked the shelves and found them on the top. He reached for it but was too small. He sighed in annoyance and pointed his wand at the wooden stick. “Accio wooden stick!” …………..he waited……….and waited……..nothing happened. The sticks didn’t even move. He knew he was terrible at this spell but THIS terrible? He was way better at jinxes and hexes that’s for sure. He didn’t even try again and instead had grabbed a chair from the corner and used it to step on it.

With the wooden stick in his hand, he walked back to the cauldron just when his watch began to beep. Why was it? OH RIGHT! He put out the fire and waited for some moments, checking the inside every now and then to see if it was cool enough. He wasn’t going to touch the potion, even with gloves on. His mother had given him house arrest after he had touched a potion from the lab back at home and his finger had been green and painful for a few days.

Of course his mother could have helped him but she wanted him to learn a lesson the hard way. And it had worked, the Gryffindor did not touch any potions anymore that were still in making. He added the powdered bicorn horn to the cauldron. Now waiting for fifteen minutes? BOO!

He set his watch but this time he didn’t leave the room. Instead he decided to look around the room with a bored expression. Then he walked around, checked the ingredients in the cupboards and then the watch went off again. He bounced back to his cauldron and checked the steps. He quickly found where he was and with the wooden stick he began to stir. Five times clockwise. Then Four times counterclockwise. Three times clockwise….this was easy! …two times counter clockwise and for the final touch one time clockwise again.

“Incendio” he said and waited till the flames were under the cauldron and then turned the burner up to maximum. Now he just needed to…”Wait for a whole week?!” BOOOOOO! What day was it anyways? Saturday right? Yeah Saturday. Did that mean he had to be hear at the exact time? At…he checked his watch. At 2pm? He decided to write it down in case he forgot and then turned to clean up his place. When he was done he left the area. Waiting for a whole week… potions could be so boring sometimes!

A week had finally passed, so Lux once made her way eagerly towards the potions laboratory.

After signing her name and time of entry into the log Professor Culloden kept, she made her way over to her cauldron. It was pleasing to see that her potion was looking well. Setting everything up, she made sure to clean all of her equipment again. Now she just needed Adi to arrive and they could begin. It wouldn't be right to start without her friend.

Cinna had decided to work on this little potions assignment mostly because Lux had talked her into it. But it did really sound fun. But knowing that Lux had already started hers she would meet her down in the lab the next time she went to work on hers.

She headed over to the log and wrote her name. She seen Lux's name in there and seen that she had just gotten there too. She turned and seen the red haired Hufflepuff. "Lux!" She grinned as she walked up to her. She started setting up her things to get started. "So how's my bestie?" She asked as she started cleaning her equipment.

Since Lux was already here she figured that she should go ahead and get started considering that after the first few steps she'd be waiting a whole two hours. Thank Merlin Lux was here. What else could she do in two hours in the potions lab?

Now that everything was clean and set up she could get started. She lit the fire so that she could preheat her cauldron. Once it had heated up to 150 degrees, she added the liter goats milk. Next she added the thestral mane. That was it all she could do for now.

Now her and Lux could really get to talking. Because Merlin knows they had plenty to talk about they always did.

A week was up and Adi was baaaack! Were Lux and little Zeke there too? He quickly signed in and headed towards his cauldron. Lux was indeed there already.

"Heya, Lux! How goes everything?'' After ensuring he had put on the necessary protective stuff, he re-read the next step for the potion from his book. "Looks like there's just one step today,'' he said to his fellow Hufflepuff. "Then it's going to be a pretty long wait.'' Hopefully he wouldn't forget about the potion by then. Meh.

"So first we clean the mussel shell.'' The boy had brought cloth to do just that because from the instructions, it sounded like it was cloth they needed to use. "I've got an extra piece here if you need it, Lux.''

"Aguamenti!'' After wetting the cloth, Adi started to gently and carefully clean the shell, making sure all the moss was gone. That done, the shell was opened and the mussel removed and the inside of the shell cleaned too. Finally, it was added to the cauldron.

The fire, which had still been burning on maximum all week, was now completely gone as Adi had turned off the burner.

Hearing someone enter the lab, Lux thought it was Adi but it turned out to be Cinna. Awesome, her bestie HAD decided to work on the project. All it had taken was some friendly prodding. Hehe.

"Hey! I'm doing good. What about you?" Had she been spending some time with Bart? She herself spent time with Bay whenever it was possible. Her and Bart were such a cute couple, and Lux hoped that they lasted this time. While she watched her best friend set things up, Adi arrived. Excellent, now they could start as soon as he set everything he needed up. Smiling, she gave him a wave. "Everything is going great. How is it for you?" Hopefully well, he did seem to be in a good mood. "So much waiting with this potion. I wish it would hurry up." Laughing, she once again wondered exactly how long a moon cycle was.

Nodding, she made sure she was wearing all the protective gear needed. "Awesome, thanks." Smiling, she took it from him. Adi was so sweet and that was why they were good friends. Wetting the cloth using Aquamenti, Lux carefully cleaned the mussel shell to remove any moss. After opening the shell and removing the innards, she cleaned the inside as well. Into the cauldron the shell went then she turned the burner off.

SPOILER!!: Recipe

• a litre of goat milk
• 1 strand of thestral mane
• bicorn horn
• full, undamaged mussel shell
• one black cat's fur
• caterpillar
• 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)

1. Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2. Put one litre of goat milk
3. Add the thestral mane
4. Wait for two hours
5. Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6. Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7. Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8. With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9. Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10. Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11. Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12. Check point: the colour should be silver
13. Sprinkle half of the fur
14. With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15. Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16. Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17. Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18. Wait for a week
19. Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20. Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21. Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22. Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23. With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24. Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25. Label it and leave a vial it on the desk

• Do NOT! try it without my consent.
• If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

Two whole hours.

She turned a walked over to Lux and set down with her. "Nothing much just working on this potions project that you so nicely talked me into doing." She had two hours of whatever to do. She thought about running up the kitchen to get food or something. "What's up with you?"

She kept her eye on the door just on case professor C popped in. She had been trying to avoid him as much as possible since Christmas break. She made it to lessons and such. But just kept quiet and a low profile there.

One complete moon cycle was over. Adi had double and triple checked the calender just to be sure. So here he was once again to move on with the potion brewing. He trust that Lux would also realise the cycle was up. If she didn't turn up soon, he'd go find her. Couldn't let all her hard work so far go to waste.

After putting on his safety stuff, Adi checked his cauldron. It's contents were silver. This pleased the boy as it told him his brewing so far had been on the right track. So what was the next step? He flipped open his book to check. It involved fur.

Adi retrieved the black cat's fur then proceeded to magically clean the metal stick, all the while waiting for the always happy and cheerful Lux.

It had been a complete moon cycle and Ian headed down to the laboratory to check on his potion.

He walked in, cleaned up and prepared himself and his implements. The first thing he did was look into his cauldron and check. Success! Silver was the color and according to his notes, that was what it should be. That meant he hadn't wasted a whole moon cycle plus.

He sorted out his things. He went and retrieved the black cat fur and his metal stirring stick. He took half the fur and sprinkled it into the mixture. With his left hand, he placed the stirrer carefully into the silvery mixture and began to turn it against the clockwise direction.

He began to count as the stick rotated the cauldron quickly AND with vigor. 1 stir, 2 stir, 3 stir, 4 stir, 5 stir, 6 stir, 7 stir, 8 stir, 9 stir, 10 stir, 11 stir, 12 stir AND 13 stir. He removed the stick and washed it off. Scourgify!

He grabbed the rest of the fur and sprinkled it over the top of the mixture. Man! That's a LOT of cat fur. Poor kitty! He wondered how many bald kitties were walking around so they could make this potion. Returning his stick to the cauldron, he began to count and stir in a clockwise motion, this time s.l.o.w.l.y...1 stir, 2 stir, 3 stir, 4 stir, 5 stir, 6 stir, 7 stir, 8 stir, 9 stir, 10 stir, 11 stir, 12 stir AND finally 13 stir. He once again removed his stick and scourgified it.

CHECK POINT! Ian leaned over the cauldron and inhaled. He quickly pulled his head back as his wrinkly nose revealed the smell of the honeysuckle. So much sickly sweetness assaulted his poor olfactory senses. Must be doing it right, according to his notes.

Once again...it was waiting time. Another week and then the caterpillar execution could commence. He cleaned up his area, returned the cauldron to it's waiting spot and left the laboratory, making sure to annotate he'd been here and what he'd done and used. As he walked out the door, he put his fingers in a V, tapped the front left of his shoulder with his right hand and kissing it and raising it in the air, he gave the lab a pleasant, PEACE OUT!

Had a whole moon cycle really passed?

Lux could hardly believe it. Time seemed to have passed so quickly what with all the classwork. Of course there was also time she spent with her boyfriend and friends.

After signing in, Lux headed to her work station, pleased to see Adi already there. "Hey there!" she said happily as she put on her safety gear. Next she cleaned all of her equipment. "So how's it going?" she asked her friend cheerfully as she looked over what they would need to do next.

Looks like he didn't have to go find his friend after all. "Hey, you! Been hanging with Bay? Thought you might have forgotten me.'' Adi grinned as he set down the metal stick. "Everything's great. How about you? Is your potion silver?'' He was sure it was. Lux had done everything right.

Now Adi added half of the cat's fur and with the metal stick, he began to stir.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen...

He made sure he he kept proper track of the counting as he stirred counter clockwise. Vigorously as the instructions had stated too. The latter half of the fur went into the cauldron and was followed with more counter clockwise stirring.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen...

Oh goody! Another check point. And this one was based on...smell? Adi sniffed. "Smells like tulips,'' he informed Lux. "What's yours smell like?''

The comment about her forgetting about him made Lux laugh. "I was reading in the library. I think Bay has been busy again, I haven't really seen him today." It was nice to hear that her friend was doing well and was in a good mood. But when wasn't Adi in a good mood? "I'm great too! Happy to be back here." Taking the recipe from her bag, she placed it on the table so she could see what they needed to do next.

"Yep, it's definitely silver," she said happily as she peered into the cauldron. Clearly his was too since he was starting to work on the next steps. After looking at her paper again, she followed his lead.

Half of the cat's fur was added and Lux used a clean metal stick to vigorously stir the potion 13 times counter-clockwise. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11...12.. .13... Then the rest of the hair was added. More stirring followed, though this time she did it slowly. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11...12.. .13 times counter-clockwise.

Giving the potion a sniff, she made a face. "Daffodils," she said in reply to her friend's question while wondering why it couldn't smell like lilies instead; they were her favourite flowers. "So I guess we have to wait for another week now." Sigh.

SPOILER!!: Recipe

• a litre of goat milk
• 1 strand of thestral mane
• bicorn horn
• full, undamaged mussel shell
• one black cat's fur
• caterpillar
• 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)

1. Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2. Put one litre of goat milk
3. Add the thestral mane
4. Wait for two hours
5. Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6. Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7. Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8. With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9. Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10. Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11. Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12. Check point: the colour should be silver
13. Sprinkle half of the fur
14. With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15. Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16. Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17. Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18. Wait for a week
19. Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20. Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21. Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22. Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23. With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24. Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25. Label it and leave a vial it on the desk

• Do NOT! try it without my consent.
• If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

Ian came back into the potion's laboratory. Next to last step. He really, really hoped that he got this one right. He certainly had a story worth telling the cauldron. It was the story that had dominated most of his life this term so it was fresh and appropo.

He took out his knife and the caterpillar and placing it before him on the stone cutting surface, sliced it carefully. He wanted to make sure each piece was uniform. He gathered his cauldron and placed it on the fire spot in preparation for the next process. He picked up the first piece of the caterpillar in his left hand and his right hand grasped his wand. He dropped the caterpillar piece in the mixture and began his tale and the wand swirls simultaneously. He was really, really glad he was alone in the lab.

On the first day of the term, just after getting on the carriages, the worst night of my life began. I was in a carriage with Adi, AJ and Benjamin. Things were going well as we rode up to the castle. AJ and Adi had been all cuddly and happy for the most part the whole trip from King's Cross. drop in another piece AJ started talking about unicorn farms and Adi promised her the world. It was a sweet gesture and perfectly normal. It was normal except for my reaction. Over the summer, I started thinking about AJ a lot and missing her. When I saw her at Diagon Alley, it was the best day of my life. I hated to leave that day and return home, but it was necessary to prepare for a new term. When we gathered back together for the first day, I saw how close AJ and Adi were. drop in the third piece. AJ's going on about unicorn farms and Adi's being sweet made me jealous. I'd never experienced the feeling like this before and I got upset. It started to make me angry and before I knew what I was doing, I was yelling at AJ about how stupid unicorn farms were. Unicorn farms aren't stupid..they are a brilliant thing, but it bothered me that Adi had promised one to her and she hadn't acknowledged that I could possibly help as well. Of course, I didn't approach it that way. AJ got upset and departed the carriage. In my clouded mind and angry heart, I tried to hex her. I didn't want to hurt her, but I wanted her to feel what I felt. Benjamin blocked it and I ran away. Things were tense and I sat alone at the opening feast. Adi, did what he does best. He tried to fix it, even though it meant that he had to help someone who tried to hurt someone he cared very much about. He didn't want his friends cross with each other. drop in piece 4

I agreed to go and apologize. My choice to go over there was not a bad choice. My intentions were to make things better. What I did next made things exponentially worse and cost me what I considered everything on the first day of a new term, my friends. While I was standing there, looking at AJ, she looked so beautiful and so sweet as she laughed and had fun with her friends. She was an angel, the prettiest person I'd ever seen. My mind tried it's utmost to control me, but my heart said it was the time for love. I kissed AJ. (At this time, tears began to roll down Ian's face). When my mind finally regained control of my body, I was on the ground, AJ was yelling and striking me and I was on my side, crying. Crying because I'd hurt my friends. Crying because I didn't understand why. Crying because I didn't want to strike back. Crying because I broke the things that were most precious to me on that day, my friendship with AJ and my friendship with Adi. Drops in last piece.

When I left, Abby came over to check on me. She looked so much like AJ and treated me well and I hoped beyond hope that I could make things right. I only made things worse, again. I told Abby I wanted to kiss her, and Angel heard it and Adi heard it and everyone thought I tried to kiss Abby. I didn't, but after all that I'd done that evening, if I had, I couldn't have done much more damage. (By this time, Ian's words were coming out with huge sobs and crocodile tears).

Ian stops swirling his wand. The story ends and Ian uses his robe to wipe away the tears.

Ian began a low fire, cleaned up his area and headed out.

"Maybe he's busy with preparations for NEWTs...'' Eep. Those exams were scary. Adi was nervous about the thoughts of writing OWLs, honestly. But there was still time for that.

As Lux proceeded with her potion, he said, "We'll have to pick those thorns. Maybe we can pick them just before we come back here for the last steps.'' They just needed to figure out where they would be picking it.
..........................

So Lux didn't like Daffodils. Adi learnt something about his friend. "Yep. We're almost done though.'' In about another three weeks they would be.

"He's busy with that and Prefect stuff. I still see him and I'm really proud of him for working so hard." But she missed him when they didn't get to spend time together. "And next term we have tests too." Eww.

The point about the thorns was good, and Lux had almost forgotten all about them. "That's a good idea. Maybe we can find some by the forbidden forest though I hate that place." That forest had almost killed her boyfriend...or well the Chrots in there had.

Cleaning her supplies and equipment up, she sighed about the three week wait. "I'm glad to be almost done. Waiting is always the worst part." She started packing her stuff up.

It was nice to hear Lux was giving her boyfriend space. Some girls can be clingy, he knew. Not from experience...just from observing at a distance. Hehe. And next term...oh yeah. "Not looking forward to those.''

"You sure the Forest is okay with you?'' Adi had a flash back at last term. He wouldn't want to stir up those memories but then again, if Lux didn't think she could handle a trip there, she wouldn't have suggested it.

She got an enthusiastic nod from her friend there. Waiting was the worst.
...............................

After MORE waiting Adi was back. A week of waiting to be exact. Today he had to tell the potion an unfortunate story. Heh. Poor potion, being forced to listen to the brewer's sad, soppy story. He had the perfect one in his mind though. Something that had happened last term.

In the meanwhile though, he needed to slice the caterpillar. Using the magically cleaned knife, he began, taking his time to make sure he got five very much equal caterpillar pieces.

Ian came in from the greenhouses with the thorns he had gathered. He walked toward his cauldron and pulled out the pouch he had poured them out in a pile. Using one hand, he slid the thorns into the other by sliding them off the counter-top. He dropped them all into the cauldron and pulled out his metal stick. Making sure it was clean, he put it into the potion and stirred once in the direction of the clock. He observed his potion, which sport a lovely green hue hoping for it to change. He had heard the old adage that a watched cauldron doesn't boil, but maybe a watched cauldron does change color.

After a little while, Ian saw the potion slowly get a bit discolored as the potion changed from green to brown. He took out one of the glass vials in his satchel for potions class and dipping a ladel into the cauldron drew some of the potion out. Making sure that the vial was over the cauldron, Ian carefully poured his potion into the vial. Only a few drops made it onto the glass on the outside. He set the vial in a prop and searched for a rag to clean up the vial. Finding one, he returned, grabbed the vial and wiped it clean. He took a stopper and closed the vial. He pulled out one of his parchments and labeled the vial.

Ian went back and began the process of cleaning up his items. That was a LONG batch of work to get the potion made. He only hoped he'd done it correctly. He made sure to grab an extra vial and place it in his satchel, securely fastened with a stopper. He scourgified the cauldron and all the things he'd used in the preparation of the potion. This had been a good experience. Putting away everything that didn't belong to him, he finished up. He gathered up his remaining items and then left, making sure to place the the first vial on the desk for the professor. Finito! Ian said to himself with the completion of this project.

The thought of OWLs was not very nice for Lux. "I worry I will fail them," she confessed to her friend. The fear of failure was still as much there as it had ever been. The only thing she had been able to overcome so far was how terrified she was of ghosts. Maybe she would get over her fear of failure one day.

Was she okay with the forest? Not really, but it might be the only place that had the roses. "I don't really want to go there," she admitted. Where else were there roses though? Were there even roses by the forest? "Maybe if I go to the forest it would be like me getting in touch with my Gryffindor side by being brave."

-------------------------

A week was FINALLY over and Lux was back to work on her potion with Adi. Today didn't involve too much, but she did have to tell an unfortunate story. She had the perfect one in mind already. After signing in she joined her friend at the workstation. "Hey!" she said as she put on her safety gear. Next she cleaned her equipment and pulled out the potions recipe. Step 18 was to wait for a week which she already had, so she moved ahead to step 19.

Taking a caterpillar, she sliced it into five pieces with each being the same length. She added the pieces to her cauldron one at a time.

SPOILER!!: Recipe

• a litre of goat milk
• 1 strand of thestral mane
• bicorn horn
• full, undamaged mussel shell
• one black cat's fur
• caterpillar
• 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)

1. Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2. Put one litre of goat milk
3. Add the thestral mane
4. Wait for two hours
5. Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6. Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7. Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8. With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9. Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10. Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11. Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12. Check point: the colour should be silver
13. Sprinkle half of the fur
14. With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15. Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16. Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17. Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18. Wait for a week
19. Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20. Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21. Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22. Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23. With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24. Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25. Label it and leave a vial it on the desk

• Do NOT! try it without my consent.
• If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

It was a nice day, she was in a good mood AND she had not lost Chomper today. In fact she won hide-and-seek. It was a good day in Beverly Wayne's life. Taking advantage of that, she decided it was a good day to practice potions, especially the one Professor Culloden had assigned for fun.

Potions = fun.

Setting her bag next to a seat, Beverly took out all the instruments she'd be using, as well as spare ones for backup, as well as gather the ingredients she'd be needing. Well...the ones that were provided.

First thing's first, she cast Scourgify on the cauldron, then set it to pre-heat at 150 Celsius degrees. Lining up the litre of goat milke and thestral mane, she added them in order. The thestral hair made a trickle of cold goosebumps travel up her arms. She could see them, and she saw them last term during Care of Magical Creatures. It hadn't been pretty for her anxiety.

But that was all behind her and--

TWO HOURS?

She had to wait TWO whole hours. Ugh.

Rolling her eyes at the instructions, she took out a book from her bag. She could work on other homework while she waited. Productive, she was.

Time to add the caterpillar pieces.

One...

Two...

Ohh, Lux had arrived! "Hello, Lux.'' Adi gave her a grin then went back to the caterpillar pieces.

Three...

Four...

Five...

Done!

Story time... Pity it was going to be an unfortunate one. Why could it not have been a happy one? Hmph. Wand out, Adi began to twirl it slowly over the cauldron as he commenced his story.

"So, it was last year. Benny and I were in our third year." Obviously the story involved the bestie. Practically all of Adi's recent life stories involved him. Anyway. "Along came two sisters named Angel and AJ. Now, Angel had a thing for Benny the moment she met him which was okay with and very funny to me.'' It had been. Adi used to laugh every time she called Benny 'cutie-pie'. "It was all that until I started getting insecure. I kept thinking that since Angel liked Benny, he would start liking her too. Liking her would mean he would want to spend more time with her. More time with her meant less time hanging out with me.''

Truth be told, Adi was still insecure about that. Actually, his insecurity had grown a bit more. He was afraid AJ wouldn't think he was good enough for her and ever since he had failed to fix things between Ian and her, he had thought he was not good enough to be a Prefect and he was a bad friend. Yeah, his insecurities bothered him a lot. He just didn't let it show.

The Hufflepuff continued twirling his wand over the cauldron. "One day I was out with Gus and I saw Benny and Angel by the Willow and something inside me...I dunno. Broke? All I knew was that the next moment I was shouting at them. It was the first time I actually shouted at someone and that too my best friend. I even told Angel she was not fit to be a Gryffindor because she was hiding behind Benny while I went about my shouting.''

Slooooow twirl while the boy reflected on that horrible day. "Soon after, Angel ran off crying and Benny even shouted back at me. It was the first time I heard him raise his voice. He did that because of me.'' Adi could feel all the guilt and shame haunting him again. Ugh! How stupid he had been at that time. "Benny and I didn't speak for a very long time and I was a miserable dude without him.'' He wasn't ashamed to say he would always feel lost without the Gryffindor. In fact, he couldn't picture his life without the guy. It didn't matter how different they were personality wise. Their friendship worked for them. "Angel tried to make up with me too. Twice but I was too stubborn on both occasions. But I suppose it could have been a whole lot worse." Like Benny not being his friend ever again.

Yeah, he had been an idiot. But things were a whole lot better now. Adi had learnt his lesson. No more fighting with the bestie. And as for Angel...she had become like a little sister to him. Right, so the story was done and Adi ceased twirling his wand.

Adi looked over at Lux. Was she finished with her story?

Smiling at Adi, Lux heard him begin his story. Time for her to tell hers as well. It wasn't a nice story, so she didn't really want to share it with her potion, but it was definitely unfortunate so it would work.

Picking up her wand, she slowly swirled it over the cauldron as she began telling her story. "Last term a terrible winter came to Hogwarts; the coldest winter that I have ever experienced. The grounds became like the Arctic, and it was constantly cold. People started staying indoors and avoided the grounds as much as possible. One night there was a book club meeting in the library and I went to it with my boyfriend, Bay and some of my friends as well. Mr. Kitridge was hosting it and Professor Thompson was hosting the Care of Magical Creatures meeting that was also in the library. Out of nowhere a bright light filled the room - sparks that came from outside." Sighing, she continued to swirl her wand. This story wasn't easy to tell so she was taking her time with it. Stalling.

"Mr. Kitridge wanted to investigate to see what had happened, and asked Bay to come with him since he was the oldest student at the meeting. Of course Bay agreed since he is a Gryffindor." She gave an eyeroll at that though she thought he was so brave. "They headed outside and I made my way over to the window in order to watch what was happening. I saw him and Mr. Kitridge heading towards the Forbidden Forest where they were joined by Professor Fuller and a few other students. That made me more worried since that forest is a terrible place inhabited by monsters." She wanted to shudder at the thought of it, but couldn't since that would make swirling her wand impossible and she couldn't stop.

After a moment, she continued. "They headed inside the forest and I so wanted to head after them but Professor Glendower stopped me - she was also at the meeting and Mr. Kitridge left her in charge before he left with Bay. Anyway, she assured me that Bay would be okay and I believed her." Silly. She was so silly. If she had only headed to the Hospital Ward sooner....it wouldn't have made any difference she knew, but she still felt that she could have done SOMETHING to help him. "For the next few days I didn't see him and I was so worried. I looked everywhere for him, even having my best friend check the Gryffindor Common Room for me since I can't go in there myself. When he still wasn't found I headed to the only place I hadn't looked, which is the Hospital Ward." She could still remember the conversation she had with the Healer as if it happened only yesterday.

"I came to the Healer very worried and she told me that Bay was there but she wouldn't let me know how he was doing or allow me to see him. She thought I was a crazy stalker and docked me 10 points, but I didn't care and I still don't care." What were some points when Bay had been in trouble. "Anyway, she eventually allowed me to see him and he was in a coma. Something had attacked him when he was in the forest, and the same creature had gotten Mr. Kitridge too. I visited him for a little every day, and finally after a few weeks, Bay woke up but he was still so weak and injured. It took a long time for him to be better again. The creature that had attacked them was a Chort." Finished her story, she stopped swirling her wand around.

SPOILER!!: Recipe

• a litre of goat milk
• 1 strand of thestral mane
• bicorn horn
• full, undamaged mussel shell
• one black cat's fur
• caterpillar
• 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)

1. Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2. Put one litre of goat milk
3. Add the thestral mane
4. Wait for two hours
5. Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6. Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7. Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8. With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9. Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10. Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11. Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12. Check point: the colour should be silver
13. Sprinkle half of the fur
14. With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15. Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16. Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17. Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18. Wait for a week
19. Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20. Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21. Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22. Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23. With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24. Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25. Label it and leave a vial it on the desk

• Do NOT! try it without my consent.
• If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

Thirteen days were finally up and there were mercifully just a few steps left to complete this potion. After signing in and pulling on the safety equipment, Adi checked his potion. It seemed okay. The low fire was still burning.

The fourth year set his book with the instructions down on his workstation. The thirteen rose thorns should be added all at once. From his robe pocket, he retrieved the vial containing the thorns then emptied them all into the cauldron.

"Scourgify!'' Metal stick cleaned, Adi now stirred in a clockwise direction one time.

Looking at her potions recipe, Lux saw that she was required to light a low fire under her cauldron. After she had done so it was time to leave. In another 13 days she would return to finish working on her potion. It was so exciting, and she couldn't wait to be finished.

After cleaning all of her equipment and her workstation, Lux packed everything up and waved goodbye to Adi before leaving the potions lab.

----------------------

It seemed to take forever, but finally the 13 days were passed and it was time for Lux to finish her potion. She had the 13 thorns from the 13 different roses in her bag, and they were ready to be added.

After signing in, she joined Adi at their workstation, giving her friend a big smile. It was nice to see that he had already started but wasn't too far ahead of her. After putting on her protective gear and cleaning all her potions equipment, she pulled out her potions recipe.

First thing she did was to empty the vial of thorns into her cauldron all at once. With a clean metal stick, she stirred the potion once in a clockwise direction.

SPOILER!!: Recipe

• a litre of goat milk
• 1 strand of thestral mane
• bicorn horn
• full, undamaged mussel shell
• one black cat's fur
• caterpillar
• 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)

1. Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2. Put one litre of goat milk
3. Add the thestral mane
4. Wait for two hours
5. Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6. Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7. Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8. With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9. Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10. Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11. Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12. Check point: the colour should be silver
13. Sprinkle half of the fur
14. With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15. Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16. Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17. Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18. Wait for a week
19. Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20. Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21. Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22. Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23. With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24. Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25. Label it and leave a vial it on the desk

• Do NOT! try it without my consent.
• If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

She'd been doing her best with the potion, making sure throughout the waiting period that the fire underneath her cauldron was always kept at a max. Maddie had even managed to almost singe an eyebrow when leaning to close to the flame, her own fault for setting her quill where she had. Luckily no one had been in the lab at the time of said incident lest she be embarrassed. Inwardly, of course. The second year never let anyone see her sweat.

She'd waited the adequate amount of time and then it was okay for the mussel shell to be added to the potion. Cleaning it had proved to be interesting, seeing as she'd never done anything like that before. She'd scourgified her gloves before placing them on. She'd then cleaned a small brush, much like a toothbrush, for scrubbing purposes. She'd also taken the liberty to soak the mussel shell in a clean bowl of water in an attempt to loosen any debris. The house elves had helped her with this idea, apparently having cleaned mussels for meals at one time.

After some serious scrubbing, gently of course as not to damage the shell, she felt it was ready to open the thing. "I never liked seafood," She said quietly to herself as she cleaned a small knife. She then used the tool to pry open the shell, revealing the mussel within. Not exactly appetizing looking if you asked HER. Anyway, she used the same knife to get rid of the muscle and then discarded that, cleaning the knife when she was done.

Cleaning the brush again, the thirteen year old set to work cleaning the inside of the shell. It was quite dirty in there, sand and other things Maddie wasn't sure she wanted to identify. After a while she felt she was done and then the shell was added.

Now she just had to put out the fire, an easy enough job. She didn't like the idea of waiting an ENTIRE moon cycle to continue on with her work but she didn't exactly have a choice. She WOULD be checking in on her work though, yeah? Trust wasn't exactly her strong suit and others would be in and out of the lab, she assumed.

After cleaning the mess she'd made, Maddie packed up her gear and gave her cauldron a fleeting look before heading out towards her dorm.

Okay, so he was late in starting this assignment. Big. Deal. It was Potions and he was still freaking excited. The opposite of Felix Felicis! MAN! And they had the chance to work with Culloden on this! And what was more was that Culloden himself had given him a vial of this potion to use. The vial was tucked away safely in his pocket and was only being brought along so that he could have an idea as to what the final product is meant to look like.

ANYWAYS. He was here. And he was gonna ignore anyone else here, mkay? Unless they were cool people, in which case he could stop for a chat and whatnot. Otherwise, nothing else was gonna distract him from his work. This was dead important. Something he wasn't going to ignore was the list of rules up top so, he scribbled in his name, the date and time of his arrival into the log book before entering the lab. Here's hoping Culloden was gonna look at quality and not the day he decided to start this.

Taking out his cauldron, Grayson gave it a quick "Scourgify!" to make sure that it was nice and clean. When that was done, he turned the notch right up to 150 degrees Celsius. Pre-heat. Huh. Funny how that sounded a lot like cooking. Funny, also, how he didn't do much cooking and wasn't that eager for it but potions was another story. Yeah. Funny.

While that was heating up, the fifth year gathered up a measuring cylinder and cleaned it up before pouring out a litre of the goat's milk. He had questions about this. Naturally. But it wasn't exactly the time to be theorising so he turned his attention over to his cauldron. When he was sure that the cauldron had been heated up to 150 degrees Celsius, Grayson poured the litre of goat's milk into the cauldron. Big ol' batch of liquid in there already. The single strand of thestral mane was added in afterwards before he turned his attention over towards his notebook. Wait for two hours? Sur--

Wait. Hold up! Wait for TWO HOURS?! What was he meant to DO in the next two hours? STUDY?!

Ha ha, good one!

Text Cut: Notebook

Un-Felix Un-Felicis Potion
(Opposite of Felix Felicis)
Grayson Whitlock

Ingredients:
- a litre of goat milk
- 1 strand of thestral mane
- bicorn horn
- full, undamaged mussel shell
- one black cat's fur
- caterpillar
- 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)


Instructions:
1) Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2) Put one litre of goat milk
3) Add the thestral mane
4) Wait for two hours
5) Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6) Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7) Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8) With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9) Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10) Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11) Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12) Check point: the colour should be silver
13) Sprinkle half of the fur
14) With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15) Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16) Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17) Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18) Wait for a week
19) Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20) Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21) Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22) Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23) With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24) Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25) Label it and leave a vial it on the desk
Do NOT! try it without my consent.
If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

"Almost done,'' Adi said to Lux. Truth be told, he was a little happy about that. The waiting had been starting to get to him a bit. More than a few times he had almost forgotten to check off the days properly that they had to wait. That could have spoiled his potion but mercifully that had not been the case.

Anyway, Adi had been waiting. Waiting for the potion to change colours and now he could see that transformation taking place. Slowly but surely the potion was loosing its green shade and heading for a brown colour.

YES! He had done it! Woot!

Adi scooped some into a vial already labelled with the necessary information that included his name, House and year. Lastly, he cleaned his workstation then turned to Lux. "Well, that was lengthy but we're done.''