Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Season 4—Round 6

Team: Holyhead Harpies
Position: Captain
Task: Write about a light character committing the sin of lust, or a dark character committing the virtue of chastity (lust—Lily Evans)

Word Count: 2,998 (Microsoft Word)

The Lust Potion Prototype

When Remus Lupin walked into their dorm room that evening, the three Gryffindor sixth-years he shared with (otherwise known as his friends), were all huddled around something on the floor. Them not being in the common room had been the first indication that they were up to something.

Remus was instantly suspicious. "I'm going to regret asking this, but what, exactly, are you up to?"

James Potter was unable to contain his smirk. "Moony, why do you always assume we're up to something?"

"Because you're always up to something."

"Touché."

Sirius Black was leant back on his elbows, his usual cocky grin in place. Remus merely narrowed his eyes.

"Alright, close the door," James ordered, practically giddy with excitement, "and we'll tell you."

Remus was hesitant, still deeply suspicious, but he sighed and closed the door. "Alright," he said, coming over to the centre of the room, folding his arms as he did so, "what's this all about?"

In response, James held up a glass vial, filled to the brim with a liquid so red, had it not been noticeably thinner, Remus would have thought it was blood. "This," James said proudly, annoyingly unhelpful.

"And what is 'this,' exactly?"

Sirius had pushed himself up from his elbows, and by his side, Peter Pettigrew looked ecstatic. "A potion," the latter said knowingly.

"Yes, I can see that. And I can already sense I'm not going to like this—but what does it do?" Remus' face fell. "It's not another love potion, is it?"

"No, no," James dismissed. "Come on, we're not that immature, Moony. And besides, after the last time…"

They all shuddered.

"You're not far off, though," Sirius said, gleeful as ever.

Remus' stomach had already dropped. Dungbombs and petty jinxes were one thing, but whenever potions were involved, their little hijinks always, always went wrong. "James," Remus asked in a panic, finding Sirius' glee unhelpful and unnerving, "what does this potion do?"

"It's not 'love,' exactly," James explained. "It's more… lusty."

"What?"

"Look, I know it sounds bad, but—"

"You said it wasn't a love potion," Remus said in an accusatory hiss.

"It's not!" James protested. "It's a lust potion.'"

"That doesn't even exist!"

"Yeah, it's a prototype," Sirius cut in excitedly. "And it's ingenious. I mean, I know I certainly don't need any help, but for other sad sacks, it's just a little friendly kick, isn't it? A little catalyst to get the ladies swooning."

Peter eyed the vial in James' hand with a deep hunger.

Remus remained appalled. "Sirius, do you not realise how completely out of order that is? Please, just take a moment to think about what you're actually suggesting here. Forcing people to feel things for someone against their desire? That's so immoral! That's—"

"Love potions are legal," James pointed out.

Remus glared at him. "And they really, really shouldn't be."

"It's basically the same," Sirius sighed, bored of Remus' protests. "It's exactly the same, in fact, as a perfectly legal love potion. It's just a bit more… sexy."

"That's inappropriate."

"That's hot," Sirius countered.

The prefect said nothing, trying to calm himself before he next spoke. "Where did you even get it?"

"Somewhere," Sirius said ominously.

"Who did you get it from?"

"Someone."

"Is it, God forbid," Remus gulped, shaking his head, "actually legal?"

"It's a prototype—I told you," Sirius said calmly.

Remus glared at him again. "So that's a no?"

"If it works, it will go on sale to the public. And we," Sirius said, "will get a lot of money."

"You're getting paid to try out this questionable drug-like prototype? Is that what you're telling me?"

"Look, it's fine," James assured him, calm and indifferent. He held the vial up to the light, its contents gleaming like a ruby, and shook it. It swirled around, bubbling slightly, weirdly mesmerising. "It's nothing serious—just a little kick. Nothing dangerous, nothing questionable. It doesn't last long, it's not that intense, it just spices things up a bit."

Remus still wasn't convinced. "I don't care, James. It is questionable, and I don't want us to be involved in this."

"Moony, honestly, what's the worst that could happen?" James asked.

Remus raised an eyebrow in response, full of contempt. "If it's as harmless as you claim it to be, I have a proposition: You test it out."

James Potter had drained of all colour. "Who are you suggesting I… lust after?" he asked, his voice unnaturally high.

Remus opened his mouth to reply, but Sirius got in there first. "No, Prongs can't do it," he dismissed, shaking his head. "He's already lusting after Evans every minute of every day—we'd seen absolutely no difference with the potion in effect. And you can't force the idiot to lust after someone else; Lily would be crushed!"

"I don't lust after Lily."

"You do."

"I don't! It's not lust; I genuinely care for her. I—"

"You take it, then," Remus interrupted, addressing Sirius instead.

"Moony, mate, I'm always full of lust—you wouldn't notice a difference. No, I think we should slip some to Evans, personally. Just a little," Sirius assured when they all stared at him in disgust. "Enough to awaken those secret feelings for my good buddy, Prongs, which she's trying to suppress. He might actually get somewhere with her."

"I'm not letting you do that to Lily," Remus dismissed, firm, authoritative. "We're her friends; we respect her." When James looked conflicted, Remus stared at him with incredulousness. "James, if you had any respect for Lily, you wouldn't go through with this."

"She might find it funny," James said weakly, knowing it wasn't true.

"Don't be an idiot," Remus snapped. "Don't be tempted by your own selfish desire—your own bloody lust. If you care for her—which you just claimed that you did—you'd see how creepy and inappropriate and disrespectful this is."

"And desperate," Peter added.

James, after a brief hesitation, sighed. "Yeah, okay, you're right—we can't do that to Lily." He looked, apologetically, to Sirius. "We probably shouldn't use it on anyone."

Sirius looked like he'd been slapped. "Prongs!"

"Moony's right—if we're not prepared to use it ourselves, we really shouldn't be slipping it to somebody else."

"Thank you," Remus said, beyond relieved. "Sirius, take the potion back to whoever your questionable source is," Remus ordered. "As soon as you can."

"But—"

"Do it," he growled.

"Alright, alright, no need to get werewolf-y." Sirius snatched the vial out of James' hand. "But just so you know: we were being offered a lot of money to test this out."

Peter looked disheartened.

"I don't care," Remus said unforgivingly. "Promise me you'll get rid of it?"

"Yes, fine, alright, mum," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "I'll get rid of it first thing tomorrow, I promise."

The Great Hall was packed full that morning; the sun was shining down through the windows, bathing the house tables in light.

"God, I love it when they have bacon," Sirius aid greedily, stacking what seemed to be a dozen rashers up on his plate.

James, sat opposite, was too busy unsubtly staring at the redhead a few spaces down. Lily Evans was indulged in animated conversation with her girlfriends, the morning light making her hair gleam as brightly as the so-called 'lust potion' James had been toying with the night before.

"Did you get rid of it?" Remus asked Sirius in a low, urgent voice.

Sirius shoved a whole rasher of bacon into his mouth in one bite. "Yesh."

"What?"

Sirius swallowed. "Yes, alright? I got rid of the potion."

Remus relaxed. "Good."

Lily stood up from the table at that point, immediately drawing James' attention. She muttered something to her friends, finished drinking what was left in her goblet, and then made to leave the hall.

As she passed by the Marauders, James instantly perked up. "Hey, Lil, you alright?"

Lily looked to him in surprise. "Err, yeah," she said, tucking a stray strand of fire-coloured hair behind her ear. "I was just going back to the common room to study."

"I'll come with you," James said eagerly, already clambering to his feet.

"You haven't even eaten anything," Remus pointed out.

"I'm not hungry," James dismissed, already starting to make his way to the door, accompanying a pleasantly surprised Lily.

"Oh, he's hungry, alright," Sirius said under his breath, reaching for another rasher and grinning a little too mischievously for Remus' comfort. "And Lily's about to get real hungry."

Remus felt his blood go cold. "Sirius, what are you talking about?"

"Have fun, Prongs!" Sirius called out to his best friend's retreating back.

"Sirius," Remus repeated desperately, "what are you talking about?" When the boy in question made no response—just continued grinning to himself—Remus was almost tempted to slap him. "How much did you get for returning the potion?" he demanded instead.

Sirius took a casual sip of his drink. "I didn't," he said after a while.

"You didn't what?"

"I didn't get anything, because I didn't return it."

"What? Sirius, you told me that you got rid of that potion!" Remus accused.

"I did," Sirius said, perfectly calm. "I didn't, however, say that I returned it."

Remus could do nothing but drop his head into his hands. "Sirius," he groaned, "please tell me you didn't do what I think you just did."

"I probably did. I mean, if the thing you're accusing me of doing is slipping the potion into Lily's pumpkin juice earlier, then yeah, that's exactly what I did."

"You are despicable! You are so beyond—"

"I did it for Prongs," Sirius said gleefully, completely unaffected by his friend's condemnation. "He's about to have the time of his life."

"And Lily?" Remus demanded, still fuming.

"Oh, I'm sure she'll enjoy it, too."

"Sirius!"

"Relax, Moony," Sirius laughed, reaching for yet another bacon rasher, "it will be fine. Trust me."

Lily couldn't deny that she'd noticed the changes recently. She didn't want to believe it could be possible. Was James Potter—arrogant, cocky, can't-take-no-for-an-answer James Potter—actually… maturing? He was seventeen now; he'd been more attentive in lessons and actually doing his homework for a change; he hadn't gone out of his way to taunt the Slytherins, or pull a petty prank on an unsuspecting victim in months.

And, with regards to Lily herself, he'd actually been treating her with a little respect. She couldn't even remember the last time James had cornered her, ruffled his stupid hair, flashed her that cocky grin, and hit her with some ridiculous and often demeaning pickup line.

He had, surprisingly, been very sweet. More than sweet, Lily acknowledged, with a slight flutter of her heart. James Potter had been attentive, he'd been polite, he'd been charming.

Lily smiled a coy smile as they walked through the corridor together. Something stirred in her stomach, but Lily ignored it, not wanting to acknowledge what she'd started to feel for James over the recent months. The pumpkin juice had had a bit of a kick to it that morning—the taste lingered in her mouth, strong and fruity—and she focused on that instead.

"Beautiful day," James said casually.

"Yeah," Lily gulped, deeply distracted by the feeling in her stomach. There was a tingling sensation deep in her core, and it was starting to spread to the rest of her body. She cast a nervous glance towards James. Honestly, she critiqued herself. All he'd said was 'beautiful day'—that was no reason for her to feel the way she did. She was embarrassed.

But James seemed none-the-wiser to the effect he had on Lily. Probably for the best, she thought. She didn't want him to revert back to his cocky former self.

Lily stole another glance up at James. Did he know how attractive he was?—she wondered. Surely, he must. He was always fussing over his hair, always flashing that charming grin, always showing off in his Quidditch gear, with his toned body, and his broad shoulders, and—

Lily looked away, further embarrassed by her wandering mind. What was wrong with her? Honestly, if James had any idea of what was going through her mind right then…

"Are you okay?" he asked in a soft voice. So soft, Lily thought. Soft and sweet like melted chocolate, and oh, Merlin, did she love chocolate.

"I'm fine," Lily said, but it came out in a squeak.

"Okay, it's just—you look kind of… twitchy."

"I'm just hot," Lily gulped. She once again found her gaze drawn to James—some irresistible pull, like a magnet. He's so tall, she couldn't help but think. And handsome as hell. She gulped again, heart rate starting to pick up. "Really hot."

James looked down at her, somewhat amused, and smiled.

"So hot," Lily said in a breathy whisper.

At which point, James stopped dead in his tracks, unease engulfing him. "Lily, I, ah… did you talk to Sirius this morning?"

"Sirius?" Lily frowned. "He came over, tried to chat up Marlene, poured me some juice like I was an incapable idiot"—Lily tutted—"and then he went and sat with you and the others."

James, for some apparent reason, looked deeply uncomfortable. "Right," he said with a grimace. "I see."

"See what?" Lily asked innocently.

"I, ah, never mind," James dismissed. "Let's just"—he glanced around the empty corridor—"let's get you back to the common room. I think the heat is getting to you—you should probably lie down for a while. And then I'm going to kill Sirius," he hissed under his breath.

James started to make his way back down the corridor, making the mistake of reaching for Lily's hand.

Something like electricity shot through her, that tingling sensation she'd felt earlier now fully enveloping her body. "Oh," Lily gasped, completely unintentionally. Why was she getting so flustered over James Potter?—she thought to herself. She wasn't an idiot, she'd always known he was attractive. But it hadn't mattered back then because his arrogance had overshadowed it. A pretty face didn't count for anything if you had an ugly personality—not in Lily's book.

Was it just that, now he was acting less like a jerk and more like an actual human, he could be acceptably attractive to her? But Lily wasn't so sure. Something was different, and it was incredibly strong. Not only was every inch of skin tingling, her pulse had quickened, and her breath felt ragged.

James wasn't doing his usual thing—where he pushed his hand through his hair to mess it up. And Lily felt an urge to run her own hands through that hair. She wanted to wind her hands into it, she wanted to feel it running through her fingers. And not just his hair, she realised in alarm. Lily wanted to run her hands over James' body, feeling the gentle incline of his shoulders, all the way down his arms. She wanted to feel his skin beneath her fingers; she wanted to feel his arms around her; she wanted to kiss him.

Oh, God, she wanted to kiss him.

Lily made towards him. "James," she said, tender and breathless, reaching for him. There was such a longing—a desire, a thirst, a need—to kiss him. An animal urge she'd never felt before, forcing its way through her body, overriding her senses. She needed to kiss him.

"Lily, stop!" James practically shrieked, holding up his arms as though he was going to forcibly fend her off.

Lily was startled. "But—"

"You're, ah, you're not yourself right now," James explained, looking deeply apologetic. "I… really need to take you back to the common room. You should lie down for a bit."

"You just want to sneak me away from prying eyes," Lily muttered flirtatiously, leaning into James' chest.

James held her shoulders firmly, keeping Lily at bay. He was much stronger than her, he assured himself, in physical strength and in will at that moment. "Lily, listen to me. You need—"

"I know what I need, James," Lily interrupted. "What I need—what I want—is you."

It was everything James Potter had always wanted to hear.

But it wasn't right.

"Lily," he said calmly, looking deep into her eyes—and it killed him to see the longing in them, so intense but so artificial—"you have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now." He gulped. "But I can't."

Lily lunged for him again, lips parted in confusion. "James—"

"No," James said firmly, more aggressive than he'd meant to. "No, Lily, I can't. I respect you too much, and… it wouldn't be real."

"It is real," Lily insisted.

Her emotions were in turmoil, several different feelings all fighting for dominance. She felt confused; she felt, to some degree, embarrassed; but mostly, she just felt that overwhelming need, right from her very core, to have him, to feel him in any way that she could—something she'd never quite felt before. Lily felt indignant; was she really lusting after James Potter? After years of denying she could ever feel anything even vaguely sentimental for him?

James took Lily back to the Gryffindor Tower, absolutely furious at Sirius, and asserting an overwhelming retention of control. It's not real, he reminded himself with every step, desperately trying to keep Lily a foot or so away from him at all times.

James wanted nothing more than to kiss her—he'd longed for that for years—but when, and if he did, he wanted it to be real. Not the result of some semi-illegal drug-like lust potion Sirius had managed to obtain from questionable sources.

And, eventually, it did happen. A few months later, when Lily had just about forgiven the Marauders (whom she always blamed collectively, despite James' insistence that he hadn't been involved)—and not a single potion had been used.

It had been beautiful; it had been tender.

And it had been real.

Author's Note: So I had to cut a lot to fit the word limit, but once the competition's over, I intend to lengthen this story if anyone's interested. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed!