Disclaimer:

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

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

"Uhm… again?" After the classes for the day were over, James was walking by himself. He was on his way to his secret laboratory on the sixth floor when he felt someone following him.

It was becoming routine for him to do this every afternoon, and even his friends were becoming used to him running off on his own for a few hours instead of hanging out together all the time like they used to.

Sirius was the one who complained the most...until James promised him that he would have a potent hair-color-altering potion ready for tomorrow.

Sirius wanted to try it on some Slytherin students after the Quidditch game.

'But I won't be able to enter my lab if I'm being followed like this…' The one on the sixth floor might be a secondary lab for him, but it was still where he concocted the bulk of his potions for his business.

He did have one important experiment in there that he couldn't fail to check on at least once every day.

With this in mind, he decided to stop and confront his new stalker. "What do you want? I don't appreciate being followed around like this."

A Slytherin student with long black hair stepped out from around the corner.

James' eyes sharpened. "I didn't take you for a stalker… Snape."

"I'm not a stalker, Potter," Snape grumbled.

James looked around. "Then what are you doing on the sixth floor? There isn't much reason to come here after classes." The only classroom here was the Ancient Runes one.

"Then what are you doing here?" Snape shot back.

James shrugged. "That's none of your business. I don't owe you an explanation… now leave me alone, Snape."

The boy's face contorted with anger. "I will not! I know you're plotting something. I know this 'new James Potter' is all a facade to fool everyone... especially Lily!."

James had tried to stay clear of Snape, thinking that as long as he left him alone, Snape would do the same. But perhaps this conflict between the two of them was not something he could avoid. Snape seemed to already hate him too much to let things go.

"Fine… think whatever you want. But I want you to stop following me. This isn't the first time I've caught you doing it, but it will be the last."

"Are you threatening me?" Snape exclaimed.

"That was just friendly advice…" James had been sincere in his words, but perhaps to Snape, it could have come across as a threat.

"Stay away from me and Lily, and I'll leave you be. Otherwise, I'll find out what you're scheming and tell the Headmaster about it," Snape warned him.

'This is so annoying… how do I get rid of him?' He couldn't have this boy tracking him around every day. Snape was bound to find his laboratory, or even worse… he could find out about Remus' secret.

If that were to happen, Remus would be forced out of the school for sure.

From what he remembered of Sirius' old stories, there was one time when Snape got very close to finding out their secret and was also very close to dying that night.

But James was not willing to let things escalate to that point.

"Look, I—"

"Mister Potter? What a wonderful surprise!"

James had been so focused that he didn't hear someone else approaching. When he turned his head toward the voice, he saw the jovial Potions professor staring at him.

"Professor Slughorn?" James then recalled that his office was also on the sixth floor of the castle. This knowledge had escaped him because he had never visited it before in this lifetime and had become too used to the idea of the Potions professor having their personal office in the dungeons, like Snape used to do.

"You know, tomorrow after our class, I had planned on requesting your presence for a short, friendly talk in my office. But if you have some time right now, there's something I've been meaning to discuss with you. It won't take long, I promise," the professor said.

"Mmm, sure. I mean, of course, Professor. I have some time now," James responded. This wasn't how he had planned on getting rid of Snape, but it was something he could take advantage of.

"Oh, Mister Snape is also here," Slughorn said, having been so excited to see James that he had missed the black-haired Slytherin boy. "Did I interrupt something? Surely, you two weren't arguing… right?"

"Not at all, Professor. Snape just had a question about homework. But we were done already, right?" James said, glaring at Snape.

"Right…" Snape muttered.

"Wonderful, then. Follow me to my office; it's just over there," Slughorn said, gesturing to James as he spoke.

With no other choice, Snape had to turn around and leave James be...for now at least.

James followed the professor to his office, which was just twenty feet away from where he and Snape had been arguing.

Slughorn opened the door and gestured for him to go inside.

James stopped for a moment and looked back to the corner from which Snape had left.

"Is something wrong, Mister Potter?" the professor asked.

James had a strange feeling this entire time that someone had been following him. But even after discovering Snape, that feeling hadn't gone away for some reason.

'Could someone else have been there?'

James couldn't imagine that his recent actions had gained the attention of more than just one person.

"Mister Potter?" Slughorn repeated.

James shook his head. "It's nothing, Professor. I was just lost in my own thoughts for a moment."

Slughorn grinned. "Ah, yes, that happens to me quite often. It's said to be the sign of those who are gifted," he said, closing the door after James went inside.

"Gifted?" James asked.

Slughorn nodded. "Yes, Mister Potter… I believe you are very much gifted. That is part of what I wanted to speak with you about."

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