A/N: For all those who have known love, even when it was right.

Vice Versa

"Miss Evans, have a biscuit."

Lily eyed the proffered tin of ginger biscuits and then flicked her eyes up to Professor McGonagall's lined, collected countenance. She could not bring herself to look the prudent witch in the eye, so Lily settled for staring intently at the row of voluminous books behind her.

"Trust me, they have not been tampered with," McGonagall added briskly but with a subtle touch of sympathy hidden in her tone.

Lily took a biscuit and murmured her thanks as she nibbled uncomfortablely on its edge. She was so anxious that she could not tell if the biscuit tasted good or not. Out of curiosity, she quickly glanced around and caught glimpses of strange silver and brass instruments, a tall coat hanger with deep gem colored cloaks hanging off of it, and the golden Quidditch Cup they had won at last year's final.

To her left, James reached out and took a biscuit, as well.

McGonagall carefully placed the tin back on her desk, clasped her hands together in front of her face, and peered at her office's two occupants.

"I imagine it's been quite an eventful day for both of you, under the circumstances. Miss Evans, I must apologize for scolding you in class. I am now surprised that you even managed to attend."

Though it was nice to be back in McGonagall's good graces, Lily nonetheless scrunched up her face in confusion. She had absolutely no idea as to what circumstances McGonagall was referring. The day had been a fiasco, surely, but Lily could not recall anything she had done being worth a private audience with the head of her house.

All she could remember was that someone had stunned her, and the next thing she knew she was sitting in McGonagall's office with James Potter and snacking on ginger biscuits. Her socks were still bunched up around her ankles, but Lily did not know how she could possibly fix them without anyone noticing. She was more concerned with the hazy state of her memory than of her dress. "Pardon me, Professor, but I'm afraid that I – "

"Yes, I assume both of you are quite confused right now."

James and Lily nodded their heads vigorously.

The young wizard, who was quite accustomed to sitting in this position opposite of McGonagall, knew that, though he was not positively sure what it was that had possessed him to act so strangely throughout the course of the day, he would inevitably be receiving a week's worth of detentions for it. He braced the wooden arms of his chair and prepared himself for some scolding. He took a good guess that he had done something to deserve this.

McGonagall sighed knowingly and pursed her lips together tightly as she prepared to give them the news. "Mr. Lupin escorted both of you here about two hours ago. You had both been stunned and were unconscious. Apparently, you had been causing a great deal of ruckus in the Gryffindor common room."

As McGonagall spoke, James's overly groggy brain flashed with images of the room. He could remember dirty blonde hair, occupied armchairs, Sirius's protesting arms, and then nothing but black.

Lily remembered knitting needles, dark hair, and a stark feeling of claustrophobia.

"Unfortunately," McGonagall continued tautly. "Mr. Lupin was unable to account for how both of you had been stunned. Do either of you remember being attacked?"

Lily shook her head, and after a moment's pause, James did the same. He could foresee this conversation taking a turn for the worse and decided to employ some preemptive distraction methods. "No, Professor," James added. "I can recall, however, with perfectly clarity, the blinding headache that occurs afterwards. Bloody ow – oh, er, pardon me, Professor."

"Yes, well, I figured as much. You were not in the right state of mind."

Lily brushed a piece of her unyielding hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry, Professor, but I seem to be missing something. Why were James and I not in the right state of mind? I remember being in the common room, but I was fine." Lily thought she had chosen a more liberal definition of the word, but she had used the word "fine" so many times to explain how she was feeling that it had all but lost its meaning altogether.

"Miss Evans, Mr. Potter, upon bringing you to my office, Mr. Lupin informed me of his suspicions that you two had both ingested some sort of love potion earlier today."

James sat back in his chair, slackjawed. He ruffled his hair, and a goofy, incredulous smile spread across his face. "Well, that explains it."

"The specific potion, we have discovered, was Amortentia. I trust that you both know about the effects?"

James nodded. "Now from firsthand experience," he added with a chuckle. With the happy-go-lucky attitude with which he approached most things in life, James Potter was taking the news extraordinarily well.

Lily Evans, however, was of quite another disposition. "Professor Slughorn taught us a lesson about it in Potions last month. It causes the drinker to feel such an obsessive love that it can lead to fanatical infatuation. Its effects can be quite unpredictable and hazardous." It felt good to regurgitate the information. It brought a sense of calm to Lily.

For James, however, it brought another pain to his overwrought brain.

"Yes, well, then I'm sure both of you appreciate the gravity of this issue."

Lily frowned. "I'm sorry, Professor. There must be some sort of error. I did not ingest any love potion today."

"Mr. Lupin was unable to tell me how you both were introduced to the potion," she added disapprovingly, as though she knew Remus had not told her the whole truth. "He told me that he noticed both of you acting strangely throughout the course of the later part of the day, and he guessed that you were showing symptoms similar to those brought on by a love potion."

"From purely academic speculation," James defended quickly. "Remus dearly loves reading those books. I can never get his nose out of one. I always say that he should live in a library."

"He was, of course, unaware that something as powerful as Amortentia had been used. At this point in our conversation, Mr. Lupin regretted that he had no more facts to relay, and so I'm afraid I cannot give you much more information about who the culprit was. Thankfully, Madame Pomfrey was able to administer antidote to you both successfully. She told me that there may be some slight side effects."

"A splitting headache, you mean?" James interrupted as he massaged his temple.

"But you should be fine by tomorrow morning."

Lily crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. Her shirt was dirty and wrinkled, and, likewise, she was not pleased. "I did not drink Amortentia. I would have noticed," she said adamantly. "The effects are so – "

"Have another biscuit, Miss Evans."

Out of respect for McGonagall, Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes and took another biscuit.

"According to Madame Pomfrey, both of you ingested the potion at different times. Miss Evans, you likely swallowed some unknowingly during lunch, and Mr. Potter you were probably infected a few hours afterwards. Do either of you recall someone slipping something into your drinks?"

James and Lily answered negatively.

"Can you think of anyone who you suspect would want you to drink a love potion?"

"You mean, besides Mr. Potter?" Lily asked as innocently as she could.

"Potter?" McGonagall asked in a clipped tone.

"Trust me, I didn't do it."

"I didn't think so. It would be beneath your character."

Lily could not fight off the urge to roll her eyes this time.

"I would hope that no one from my house would sink so low as to administer a mind altering potion to a fellow student. It is not an act to be taken lightly, and if we can find the culprit, I assure you, he or she will be severely punished. Amortentia crimes are often dealt with by the Ministry of Magic, itself."

"I'm afraid I cannot offer you any more help, Professor," James replied.

"Yes, well, regrettably, as more time passes, it shall be harder to find those responsible. I will speak with the Headmaster later, and he shall decide which course of action we will take. Perhaps we might conduct interviews with some of your peers."

"That really isn't necessary, Professor. No one got hurt, right? I'd rather just save this day for an amusing parlor story."

"I'm afraid the decision is not yours entirely to make, Mr. Potter."

"That would be okay with me, as well, Professor. To be honest, I'd like things to return to normal as quickly as possible."

"I will voice your opinions to Professor Dumbledore when I speak with him, Miss Evans. In the meanwhile, I apologize for the ordeal you two had to endure."

"Eh, fake love wasn't so bad," James mused with a smile as he spread out in his chair and fidgeted with the collar of his dark blue button down. "Everything just got a bit hazy for awhile. I suppose it could have been a lot worse. Do you know what is going to happen to…uh, Tara? That was her name, right? I can only remember bits and flashes."

"Miss McCoy is currently being debriefed by Professor Sprout."

"She's okay, right? I didn't get too, er, aggressive with my ardor, or anything, yeah?"

"Thankfully, no major harm has been done, Mr. Potter. However, I think it may be wise of you to invest in a gift basket. Fourteen year old girls do not take sworn sentiments of love lightly. I believe an apology is in order."

James chuckled.

Lily sighed heavily in her chair.

"Miss Evans?"

There was a sharp knock on the door.

McGonagall placed the lid over the tin of ginger biscuits and then hid the tin inside the bottom drawer of her desk. "Come in," she called.

The doorknob turned, and Horace Slughorn, wearing a rich plum overcoat, strode into the room. "Ah, Minerva. I expect you've explained the situation, then?"

"Yes," McGonagall answered stiffly as she sat up impossibly straighter, a feat neither Lily nor James could have thought possible. Lily wondered how her pointed hat never seemed to move while James pondered how she always managed to keep her fingernails so meticulously clean and even.

"Lovely. When will these kids learn that love doesn't come from a bottle?" he asked with a chuckle, his belly shaking as he did so.

"May I help you, Professor Slughorn?" McGonagall asked, cutting to the chase.

"Oh, right," Slughorn said, as though suddenly remembering that he was intruding upon someone else's office. "Ran into Dumbledore. He's requested a meeting with you. He said it shouldn't take too long. He knows you like to go to bed early."

McGonagall looked as though she had swallowed her tongue. "Well, as soon as I'm finished with Potter and Evans, I'll be sure to go to his office."

"He asked for you to go there straightaway. Was rather secretive about it, as well."

McGonagall nodded. "I should go then. Potter, Evans…" she trailed off as she tried to figure out what to do with them.

"I'll keep an eye on them until you get back," Slughorn volunteered jovially.

James covered his smirk with his hand and tried very hard not to burst out into laughter at the look on McGonagall's face. Lily averted her eyes sympathetically.

"Dumbledore said it was urgent," Slughorn pressed.

"I'll be back," she warned as she scanned the room, possibly memorizing the locations of all her belongings, before leaving her own office.

Less than a full second after the door swung closed, Slughorn had clapped his hands together and treated himself to McGonagall's chair. Like Lily, he could not seem to stop himself from admiring the unfamiliar room; James, however, knew the room quite well and merely settled for staring at his knees.

Slughorn leaned back against the scarlet cushions and examined the boy and girl seated before him.

"What's wrong, Miss Evans?" The giddy expression on his face softened, and his moustache twitched with sympathy.

The redhead sighed from discontent. Her mind was restless until it rested on truth. "I just don't understand. I read the whole chapter on Amortentia in our textbook when you assigned it, and I don't remember feeling any of its effects described in Advanced Potion Making."

"Well, I can assure you that you did drink it, dear. Can't say for sure who did it, though I doubt any student had the capability to brew a potion of that difficulty – sans you, of course, Miss Evans."

James's knuckles tightened as he thought of a boy with greasy black hair. Lily bit her lip and told herself Severus would never do anything like that.

"Professor McGonagall had me check my private stores, and sure enough, a vial of Amortentia was missing – as well as some Sobering Solution for some reason. Mr. Potter, are you quite all right?"

"Yes, sir, just a cough."

"And as far as I know, Madame Pomfrey discerned that Amortentia was found in both of your systems. It has a tendency to make your heartbeat erratic. Tricky little bugger, Amortentia. The potion was starting to wear off, but the signs were still there. I'm not surprised, however. That brew had been on my shelf for nearly a year's time. You know how these things get stronger when you let them fester, I'm sure, Miss Evans. However, it was no match for me. I provided the antidote myself."

"But, Professor Slughorn, sir," Lily pressed. "How is it possible to ingest a potion of this magnitude and not succumb to its effects?"

"Ahh, Miss Evans, I'm surprised at you. Are you telling me you haven't researched some of the case studies involving Amortentia?"

"Studies, sir?"

"There have been a few odd, isolated cases in which Amortentia fails to function properly within a witch or wizard. Usually it occurs if the potion has not been brewed properly. However…"

"Yes, sir?"

"Oh, Miss Evans, you simply cannot get all of my secrets out of me with a mere smile."

Lily avoided James's eye and detached herself from her dignity momentarily. "But, sir, of course you wouldn't deny me important knowledge about Potions. However will I become as great of a potionmaker as you?"

Slughorn waved his finger in her direction. "Too right you are, Miss Evans. If only you were a member of my house."

Lily swallowed her retort. She could not be cheeky if she wanted to keep Slughorn in a garrulous mood.

He took a deep breath and then leaned across McGonagall's desk to dramatize the moment. "There was one reported incident when a wizard did not feel any of the effects of Amortentia."

"Why?"

"Well, apparently, he was already in love with the potion's target, so his demeanor merely did not change. This was quite the anomaly. Baffled everyone. Even couples who have been married for sixty years respond to the will of Amortentia. You know how even the committed ones enjoy a good fantasy every now and then."

Disappointed, Lily sank back into her chair. That case certainly did not relate to hers. She had been hoping for a chromosomal mutation – a freak genetic code in her system.

"Professor," said James, interrupting the silence with a calculating tone as he tried to match all the puzzle pieces together. "How do you determine the target of a love potion?"

"Well, ordinarily, the target is determined by the brewer – the process of making Amortentia is extremely tedious. However, I'd hypothesize that since whoever administered the potion must have stolen it from my office – and thus, was not the actual brewer – the target was likely whomever you first laid eyes on after drinking the potion."

"But I don't know who I was looking at," said Lily, frustrated because no one would give her the answers she was so desperately seeking. "The Great Hall was packed during lunch."

"It would have been an out of body experience, seeing that person for the first time after drinking the potion. I've never experienced it before, but I've heard that it's quite sensational – not worth the risks, of course," Slughorn added quickly after sounding a bit too wistful.

"I don't remember feeling that way seeing anyone except…" Lily trailed off as she covered her mouth with her hand. Though she tried not to, Lily's eyes jumped to where James was sitting.

"Those prats!" James muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter?"

"Oh, er, nevermind."

"Is it possible to become resistant to Amortentia?" she asked with trepidation.

"I don't believe so. It would take a great deal of will power for a person to deny such strong feelings of attraction. The urge would be nearly impossible to oppress."

Lily sat silently in her chair, startling fear rising inside her. "But if the person had enough experience," she asked shakily, "if she had spent ages pretending she didn't feel a certain way, it would be possible?"

"Miss Evans, why would anyone bother to resist such strong feelings?" Slughorn asked with a hefty chuckle.

Lily forced an uneasy grin onto her face and then remained silent in her chair.

"Professor, how long does it take Amortentia to wear off?" James asked.

"The extraneous variables excluded? I'd say the typical period lasts for about 24 hours. All you need is one sip."

"So, do you think you can explain to me why mine stopped working?"

"Stopped working? What do you mean, Mr. Potter?"

James ruffled the back of his hair nervously. "Right before I was stunned, I felt something go through me. It was like I was myself again. I didn't care about Tara anymore. I started thinking about – someone else."

"I'm afraid I don't know of any prior cases like yours, Mr. Potter. Perhaps you are just remembering it incorrectly."

"But could something make Amortentia falter?"

"Mr. Potter, Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world – not to mention the fact that I was the one who brewed it. It can induce an infatuation so potent that its drinkers have been known to murder under its influence. It is like a living, breathing vault of ammunition. Passion is its business; passion is its crime. Yet, despite its extremely dangerous nature, Amortentia can produce nothing more than the idea of love, the suggestion, the impression. Nothing about it is real; it is the best allusion to ever befall its drinker. If compared to a case of pure, undiluted, ineffable love - love that is more than theoretical, it is tangible and rooted in truth rather than fantasy, a love so strong that it becomes transcendent – then yes…the romantic in me would like to believe Amortentia would fail."

Slughorn, his eyes far off as he finished his speech, refocused his gaze back to the two students. "Of course, this is purely conjecture. I wouldn't want you writing it on your exam."

James nodded and took a shaky breath.

"Yes, I must say I was quite troubled to hear that it was the two of you. I was worried that I might have two less guests at my next little get together."

While the pair mused over complicated thoughts, Slughorn stretched his arms and wiggled a bit in McGonagall's chair.

"Minerva has a very nice office. I often wonder why I'm delegated to the dungeons merely because I teach Potions. It seems that perhaps I should speak to Dumbledore about switching offices with someone. That part of the castle can get quite chilly, and it has nowhere near the possibilities of a place like this. Though, of course, I do have a friend – Rupert DeWitt, he's quite a famous carpenter, can do wonders with a wand – who has made me a few pieces that I keep around. I see that Minerva keeps that Quidditch Cup polished. Well, you won't find a complainer in me. Although I guess I shouldn't be talking on a day like both of you have had! Luckily, neither of you is facing any punishment. That would be a lesson in heartache, eh?"

When the room did not feel with chuckling, Slughorn ceased his chattering and observed the pair questioningly. "Is there something you two aren't telling me?

She bit her lip as he ran a hand through his hair.

With her drooping socks, improperly buttoned blouse, and untamed curls, Lily Evans was practically disheveled.

With his shiny black shoes, carefully pressed dress shirt, and combed hair, James Potter was almost orderly.

She chanced a peek in his direction and found him staring back at her.

"No, Professor."

"Not a thing."

A/N: Thank you most kindly for reading.

My last Lily/James story Severus will be coming out sometime in the relative future.

Yours always,

Molly