Painted Scars // WOLFSTAR

Year One: The Lupus Constellation

Sirius was bummed out when he opened the door to the potions classroom; he'd been planning on teasing James a little more about his crush on Lily, but the seats around her were already filled, the one directly next to her taken by the awful boy they met before. Marlene caught his eye and waved him over with a smile, and he didn't mind the change in planes.

"McKinnon!" he greeted, coming to sit behind her and next to a cauldron that was already on the table. "How are you? Have you met my friends?" Sirius gestured towards them.

"I'm good. No, hi I'm Marlene." She acquainted herself with his friends, and when she shook Remus' hand, he wondered why she'd mentioned him during Defense Against the Dark Arts. "How are you doing?"

"Can't complain," he said, though he definitely could.

"That's good to hear. Oh, hello Mary." A very pretty girl walked in then, sitting herself down next to Marlene.

"And who are these four?" The pretty girl named Mary asked. Her features were very soft, and she wore her tie very loosely.

"That's Sirius, the one I told you about," she said, motioning toward him, which made him smile. "This is Remus, James, and Peter."

"Sirius?" Mary questioned. "Oh, you're the one who's terrible at dueling, right?" Marlene blanched, hitting her friend on the arm in a move that Sirius assumed she thought would go unnoticed.

"Terrible?" he asked with a fake pout. "I thought you said I was good at dueling." Sirius decided he liked to tease her because she waved her arms around wildly and shook her head as if she'd offended him awfully, which was quite funny.

"Sirius, I never said you were terrible, I don't know where she's getting that from!" She turned to glare at her friend, who just sent Sirius a smirk.

"She inferred it," Mary explained, and he smiled. "I thought she was being a little harsh, honestly, but that's Marlene for you." The blonde put her head down on the desk and groaned at the lie. "Anyways, hello boys, I'm Mary."

Sirius decided he liked her very much, too.

"Alright, alright, settle down," Professor Slughorn said a couple of minutes later, entering the Potions classroom with a small stack of books under his arm. "I could hear you from down the hall I swear." He sat his books down. "Right then, who's ready for some practical work?" Though the word 'work' wasn't usually positive, Sirius actually was ready for it. Gone are the days of taking endless notes about ingredients that no one cares about.

Professor Slughorn had them flip their books to page ten in Advanced Potion-Making to a potion called the Draught of Living Death. He did not feel the need to give any instructions, as apparently, the weeks prior were 'preparation enough.'

"Wanna be partners?" Sirius asked James, who agreed and split off to grab the necessary equipment while Sirius grabbed the ingredients. "You cut up the Sopophorous bean, and I'll make the salt water." The two boys began their separate tasks, wincing when they would mess something up, (which was more often than either of them would like to admit.)

"How many drops did it say to add?" James asked with the beaker of reduced Valerian roots in his hand.

"Ten," Sirius said, about to continue when James eyeballed the amount into the cauldron. "No, wait! You were supposed to use a dropper, James!" The potion turned a pale blue.

"I don't think it's supposed to be that color," he said smartly, setting down the beaker and looking at the book. "It looks violet-ish, right?" Sirius just sighed in exasperation, taking a look at the book.

"You didn't use a dropper when you poured in the wormwood either, did you?" James shook his head abashedly. "Well, it's already ruined," he said, grabbing the Valerian roots themselves and throwing them in haphazardly. The potion bubbled angrily. James smiled at him, throwing in the bean that he forgot to add earlier.