Disclaimer:

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

"Get out of my way. This has nothing to do with you," Bella said, pointing at Lily.

But the redheaded girl didn't move. "I know it's hard to believe, but I don't believe James bumped into you on purpose. He's changed… I think." She still didn't seem completely sure of that statement.

Severus approached them and stared at his friend with a shocked expression. "Lily, why are you defending that guy? You know the type of person he is! This must be some sick game of his." He wouldn't be surprised if this whole change in James was just an elaborate prank or a new attempt to get closer to Lily.

"What is going on here?" Professor Slughorn finally made his way to the back of the classroom after hearing the commotion.

"Professor!" Lily exclaimed.

Slughorn gave everyone a passing glance. "Whatever personal issues you have with each other, you will leave them outside my classroom. Is that clear?!" His voice rose at the end, making his displeasure evident.

They had no choice but to nod and keep quiet.

Professor Slughorn nodded. "Good. Now, go to your seats so we can get started. We've wasted enough time already."

James sat down in his assigned chair, and a few seconds later, Bellatrix did the same. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for bumping into you."

"Hmph!" She crossed her arms and looked away, still evidently angry.

The class began, and Professor Slughorn pulled down the board before explaining the potion they had to prepare that day.

"The Wit-Sharpening Potion not only allows the drinker to think more clearly, but it can also act as an antidote to the Confundus Charm if used shortly before or after being affected by it." He then proceeded to name all the ingredients while briefly commenting on their applications.

James had to admit that, regardless of personal skill, Professor Slughorn's approach to education was miles better than Snape's usual method of: 'The instructions are on the board. Get started.'

Perhaps with a different professor, his journey as an alchemist would have begun much earlier in life.

James stood up from his chair. 'I suppose there's no point in thinking about what could have been…'

"Where are you going?" Bellatrix asked.

He glanced at her. She was still frowning, but her anger seemed to have diminished enough to at least speak to him. "I'll go get the ingredients. You can prepare the utensils. Surely, you trust my skills a bit more now, right?"

She waved him off. "Go on."

James shrugged and walked away, but Bella kept her eyes on him the entire time, as if she were trying to figure something out.

Still, she did her part, and when James returned with all the ingredients, she had everything set up and ready. He gave a passing glance to the rest of the classroom.

Lily was sitting with some Slytherin girl he didn't know the name of, but they seemed to be getting along well enough, given the circumstances.

In this era, tolerance for Muggle-borns among Slytherin students was even lower than in his own time at Hogwarts. The word 'Mudblood' was still considered a serious slur, but harassment and discrimination were an expected ocurrence and professors would rarely take acction unless it escalated to violence.

Sirius was, as usual, arguing with Snape. But things weren't as bad as during their first class together. Perhaps Snape had realized that if he didn't put effort into cooperating with Sirius, he was going to fail the class.

"Oi, pay attention. We don't have a lot of extra time to make this potion."

James turned when he heard Bella's voice close to his ear. He saw that she was waiting for him to start processing the ingredients.

"You didn't open the book yet?" he asked.

She looked at the book on her right and stared at it for a moment. Bella hadn't even opened it yet, but she chose to ignore it and turned back to James. "That thing you did the other day… Can you do it again, or was it just a fluke?"

"You really think that was just luck? That I casually wiped a one-hundred-percent pure concentrated potion by chance?" There was a hint of annoyance in his tone. He didn't like having his skills questioned after spending decades honing them.

Bella was surprised by his reaction. So far, James had always been calm and laid-back, but now she detected a trace of anger. She knew her comment could be interpreted as rude, but she wasn't one for apologies.

"Can you show me, then?"

James studied her for a second, trying to figure out her intentions. This request didn't come from laziness, that much he was sure of. But it was obvious that she had something in mind.

"Sure," he said. Whatever it is, I'll find out after making this potion. "A Wit-Sharpening Potion coming right up."

He began processing the ingredients, the armadillo bile, the ginger root, and the blue scarabs, all diced into different sizes and shapes.

The fire beneath the cauldron was lit at full force before the flames changed to a blue hue. Smoke rose, and a sizzling noise filled the air as he threw in the first ingredient.

Bella watched him with rapt attention. She didn't need to open the book to know James wasn't following the instructions at all. His method was completely different...just like the last time she watched him.

The ingredients seemed to melt and fuse together under the powerful flame, creating a thick, dark goop that almost looked solid.

Then, the fire was lowered, and a splash of water was added, turning the potion liquid again.

"Vial," James requested.

Bella already had one prepared and handed it to him.

He lifted the cauldron with one hand and emptied its contents into the vial. The dark goop had transformed into a beautiful violet-colored liquid.

"Done," he said, passing the vial to Bella so she could seal it with a cork.

"Five minutes…" she muttered while examining the potion. This one was supposed to take forty minutes to brew, but James had been even faster than last time.

Before sealing the vial, she took a brief sniff of the potion. The smell was potent and flowery, just as the book described, though the color was a bit darker...likely due to its high concentration.

The ingredients James had used were meant to produce four vials, yet he had only made one.

"Still think it was a fluke?" James asked.

No… she didn't. Bella put the vial down and looked at him with a serious expression.

"Potter… I want you to teach me."

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