Little Riddle | James Potter

Twenty Nine

STAGE 5 -- DILEMMA

A difficult or perplexing situation or problem.

     James was an extremely talented wizard and, despite what many believed, he was quite an intelligent one as well. His confident nature along with his stubborn character pushed him to ace most of his classes with ease. Herbology was definitely not one of those classes.

     The Professor had appointed a tutor for him and James wasn't the least bit embarrassed about it. If anything, he was glad Remus would now be forced to help him study. But the Herbology Professor believed that although Remus was an excellent student, appointing him as James' tutor would only serve as a distraction for the spectacle-using boy. So instead, she chose a student that she knew was perfectly capable of putting James Potter in his place, Lily Evans.

     The irony of how his path began to cross with Lily's after he got over her was hysterical. It used to be all fights and arguments back when he was head over heels for her, and now that the redhead fancied him, he'd met her family and she'd be tutoring him on a daily basis he wasn't the least bit fazed. Last year James would've been over the moon excited, but a year changes you a lot, and now his biggest worry was definitely the at least three illegal activities he was partaking in. Brewing a dangerous potion, kidnapping a fellow student and using veritaserum on her were just a few of the rules and laws they were breaking.

     Stress was definitely beginning to take a toll on them. If the search for a potion with such dark purposes had been hard, brewing it was even harder. Not even Alexis, Remus or Catherine, who all excelled at potions, had the slightest clue of what they were doing. This had a bigger link to the Dark Arts than anything they'd ever done before. And finding the ingredients had been yet another complicated task. They soon found out they would have to look further than just at Slughorn for help because even though the professor aided them with answering their 'hypothetical' questions on the matter he only possessed three ingredients out of the nine that were needed. So the group realized they needed more help, specifically from a half-giant that lived right outside the castle.

     They had convinced Hagrid to help them acquire all the missing ingredients without asking many questions. The Keeper of Keys got some of them out in Knockturn Alley and accompanied the students out to the Dark Forest to get some others. All of this while keeping a close eye on Mildred and making sure Alexis wasn't in any prominent danger. Fun.

     But even with the turmoil of events that took place during the last week, James' mind suddenly became overly conscious about meeting up with Lily for the first time after their little heart-to-heart. They had ended things on good terms but he still felt rather uneasy about the entire ordeal. He fixed his hair, checking his appearance on the reflection of a window and jokingly winking at a couple of girls who caught him in the act before walking out to the grounds to meet Lily.

     "Evans," he nodded cordially with a friendly smile. For some reason the question of whether the girl still fancied him or not began to invade his mind. It was irrelevant really, but he was a curious one.

     "Potter." She smirked up at him. A smirk he used to adore just a couple of months before.

     "So," he cleared his throat as he awkwardly sat across from her, "Herbology?" He asked shyly, making the girl giggle.

     She reached for all of her notes and got into it immediately. It was only a matter of minutes for their initial tension to fade and for the awkwardness around both of them to be left behind. James positioned himself next to her so he could take a better look at her notes, and once he felt comfortable enough, the conversation turned to a casual one.

     "Did they ever find your aunt's dog?" James asked with a sheepish smile as he recalled the memory of the night he spent with the Evans family.

     "Yes, a few days later." She laughed. "I do have to thank you for letting it escape. That little rat was insufferable."

     James snorted. "You kept telling your aunt you were in love with her dogs all night."

     "Well, what else was I supposed to do? Tell her how ugly they are?" She grinned amusedly.

     "Honesty is key, Lilypad. And while you were at it you should've told Vernon to stop being such a tosser." James shook his head with a smirk plastered on his face.

     "Ugh! He was being civil that day because the family was there! Normally he's much much worse." Lily shuddered at the thought.

     James winced. "How do you survive?"

     "I don't." She snorted. "But you did make that night much more bearable Potter, I'll admit."

     "Anytime, Lilypad." He draped his arm around her shoulders.

     "Watching you make a fool of yourself was the highlight of my night."

     "Never mind."

     Alexis was in a foul mood. It was a well-known fact by then. The little amount of food she was consuming and sleep she was getting, along with the pressure of the plan and the stress of knowing someone was trying to murder her really did take a toll on the girl.

     But some good news had finally come after Sirius and Peter found the only missing ingredient out in the Forbidden Forest. Hopefully, it would all be over soon and that was enough to slightly brighten her spirits. Now they only had to brew the potion before they got into action. Everyone wanted to be there in case any assistance was needed, after all, this was far more complicated than any N.E.W.T level potion they'd done so far. Everyone sat around the Room of Requirement while Remus prepared all of the ingredients. Everyone except for one person, and that's exactly where Alexis was heading to, to look for James.

     Peter informed her about his whereabouts so she didn't waste any time and made her way straight to the Black Lake. She was able to see half of his back from a distance, while the other half rested against the tree.

     "Oi, James! Where the hell have you -- oh." Alexis looked taken aback at the sight of Lily. At first, she was a little startled about the red hair, which she was now extremely paranoid about courtesy of Volkov, but somewhy even after realizing it was only Lily she still wasn't very pleased. The Slytherin's expression turned into a scowl when she noticed James' arm laying around Lily's shoulder. "Sirius and Peter found it. We're doing it right now. But I see you're busy now, so sorry for interrupting." She tried to keep it as vague as possible so only James would understand. She turned on her heel and made her way back to the castle without waiting for a reply.

     "Lex, wait! Sorry Lils, I have to go.." She heard James muttering behind her. "You should've told me we were meeting up to brew it tonight." James caught up with her. "I would've postponed my lesson."

     "Well, I didn't know!" Alexis answered irritated. "You're more than welcome to stay with Lils if you want to. We don't need your help anyway." She honestly hoped she had hit a nerve, but when she subtly turned to glance at him he had the smuggest smirk possible etched on his face.

     "Aw, don't be like that Lex, you know you do need me." He placed his arm around her shoulder.

     "No, we don't. Last time I checked you got an E on Potions on your OWLs."

     "Damn right I did." He smiled proud.

     "Catherine, Remus and I got an O." She replied conceitedly.

     "There's no need to feel jealous, love. I didn't have a say on having Lily tutor me." James gave her a knowing look.

     Alexis tried her hardest to bite her tongue, but apparently, she did not try hard enough. "You know, when I tutor Peter he sits across the table from me. That was a very interesting tutoring lesson you two seemed to be having. What was it about? Human anatomy?"

     "Where is this even coming from?" He got visibly annoyed as well. "Do I have to be ten feet away from Lily from now on or what? You know what, we should go ask her to help us right now, seeing as she's better at potions than you."

     "Well, Josh Davis is better than you as well." She replied bitterly, refusing to turn to look at him as she continued making her way up to the seventh floor.

     "You should be Josh Davis' girlfriend then," James muttered angrily from behind her in the stairs.

     "Why would I? I'm not even yours." She regretted those words as soon as they left her mouth, but she kept on walking with a stone-cold expression while James stood frozen in his place.

     It was true though. Even after a roller coaster of emotions and an exchange of the sweetest of words, they were still not official. Alexis wished she could say she was unbothered, but it was the complete opposite, she was beyond bothered. She knew it had nothing to do with the accumulated stress and everything to do with how silly and scared she felt.

     Alexis Riddle was experiencing emotions she'd never felt before and that left her absolutely terrified. She felt like a little girl lost in a sea of people. If that was what falling in love felt like then she wanted to sign out. We're all scared of the unknown; of riding our first bike, of flying our first broom, of our first kiss and of our first s****l encounter. It was only natural. And love happened to be something Alexis was not familiar with.

     So it bothered her. It bothered her that she couldn't understand, let alone control, her emotions. It bothered her that James and she weren't an official item yet. It bothered her that she wanted to be his more than anything in the world, but it also terrified her. It bothered her to realize how threatened she felt by Lily, all because of her own insecurities.

     The journey to love was not as smooth as either one imagined it would be.

      There was no time for romantic drama when they were about to face much bigger issues. The cauldron was placed in the middle of the room, and even though they were all familiar with the artefact, it now looked much more intimidating than it usually did. Alexis sat in front of it with all of the ingredients that Remus had so kindly prepared laying around.

     "Okay," Alexis pulled up her sleeves. "First I'm going to need the bat blood, flobberworm mucus, the horned toad and firewhiskey."

     "Firewhiskey? For the potion?" Peter frowned as he, Catherine and Sirius helped gather the first ingredients.

     "No. That's just to make me feel better about summoning the devil with these things." She sighed as she looked at the rest of the grotesque ingredients that would be used for an equally grotesque, and not to mention macabre, potion.

     Five hours went by. Five excruciatingly long hours of brewing disgusting ingredients and stirring with very precise motions and speeds. They had all helped, whether it was with setting up the fire to the right temperature or taking turns stirring the cauldron's content, leaving them all extremely exhausted. Now that the potion, which was the considerably tedious part of the plan, was out of the way they could focus on the rest of the plan, which made them much more excited even though they were about to get themselves into a royal mess.

     "So, we're doing the rest tomorrow right? I think I'm gonna pass out." Ivy complained before making a disgusted face. "And I smell."

     "Yes." Remus sighed. "We're finishing tomorrow. And yes, you smell."

     Ivy and Sirius had a loud discussion as they walked into the seemingly empty corridor. It was early Sunday morning and everyone was either asleep or enjoying breakfast. Everyone but an evil Slytherin who, thanks to the Map, they'd known had spent the entire night trying to spy on them and was currently hiding behind a pillar, intently listening to the Gryffindor and the Ravenclaw's discussion.

     "You're being senseless, woman! I'm sure it's nothing."

     "All I'm saying is that you should never let your guard down. Always be on the lookout, you know?"

     "Yeah, the last thing you'd want is for someone to catch you off guard -- STUPEFY!" A scarlet light erupted from Sirius' wand, instantly rendering the redhead girl unconscious. "Okay, you bring her to the Room of Requirement now." Sirius began to walk away, leaving Ivy behind.

     "Sirius, wait! You absolute wanker!"

     Mildred regained her conscience shortly after, and she could tell right away that she was far from the west wing where she'd last been before she blacked out. The room around her was completely black, from ceiling to floor and all four walls. It appeared as though the only object in the room was the chair she was currently tied to. The emptiness only unnerved her more. For an instant she panicked about the possibility of being away from Hogwarts. She feared that the Dark Lord had learned about her doings and was now going to have to pay the price. But all fear faded away and a sardonic smile appeared on her face when she saw the seven figures entering the room. They looked nervous and hesitant, clearly uncomfortable and unsure with what they were about to do.

     It was Peter Pettigrew who stepped forward first while everyone else seemed to freeze in place. He took a container filled with a black liquid from Remus' grasp and walked towards her. Peter had always been a calm and composed individual, so the look of utter hatred he gave her made chills run down her spine. There was something in his eyes, something dark and eerie that startled her far more than anything else she'd experience there so far. He threw the lid of the container to the side and aggressively grabbed her face, forcing her to open her mouth. He poured the liquid into her mouth, ignoring her gagging and choking as she tried to stop it from running down her throat.

     An ear-piercing scream broke the silence as the girl's body began to violently shake. An intense burning sensation ran through her body as the feeling of a hundred knives cutting through her flesh took over her. She looked down horrified but soon realized there were no physical injuries. She could taste the blood that ran down her nose as her body continued moving in seizure-like movements.

     The group watched the girl horrified, some even covering their eyes or their ears. Everyone except Peter, who had a small sinister smile adorning his face as he looked at her shaking body almost amusedly. It was clear that, for a reason unknown to her, he was the one who hated her the most.

     It went on for twenty minutes but as soon as she was able to catch her breath it was James' turn to step forward. He pulled out a phial from his robes, which everyone recognized as veritaserum. He mimicked Peter's previous actions and forced the liquid down her throat, only this time she didn't fight it. He leaned down so he could look her in the eye.

     "What happened to the locket?"

     "The Dark Lord wanted it back. Death Eaters convinced him it was no longer safe with her," her eyes flickered to Alexis. "It took a lot of convincing, though. He still believes he can trust his sister."

     "Did he order you to kill Alexis?"

     Mildred swallowed hard. "No." The girl's panic became visible, it was clear then that she'd been caught and was no longer safe. Not from Dumbledore and certainly not from the Dark Lord. "We made that plan ourselves without consulting it with the Dark Lord. Little Riddle here was becoming too much of an inconvenience, but the Dark Lord refused to do anything about it so we took matters into our own hands."

     James pointed his wand at her face, making her flinch. "Tergeo." The blood underneath her nose disappeared. He stood up straight once again. "Should we take her to Dumbledore now?" He didn't take his eyes away from her. He received a chorus of 'yes' from his friends, making him nod and step closer to untie her.

     "You go on without me. I have to send a letter first. It's urgent." Alexis gave Mildred a sardonic look making the latter whimper with fear.

     It was finally over, but there was still a pressure on Alexis' chest that made her uneasy. She wasn't sure if it had to do with her unresolved argument with James, or because her parents' reflection staring back at her saddened her.

     The Mirror of Erised had been one of Alexis' discoveries when she wandered through the castle back in third year. She'd always seen the same thing. Her parents standing behind her. She used to not dwell much on that, always able to shrug off her parents' memory like it was nothing. But as of lately she couldn't shake off the thought that if her parents had done something, anything, differently then her life would've been much less complicated. Not just hers, but the Wizarding community's as a whole. They had been the key piece for it all, and they made all the wrong decisions.

     Another figure came into the picture, instead, this wasn't one of her desires but a reflection of the room itself. Dumbledore stood by the door, giving her one of his signature knowing looks. "Is it your parents?"

     "How did you know?" She asked with a hoarse voice.

     "It was just an assumption." He inched forward. "The only consolation I can offer is that the past is in the past. And your present, and may I say future, look promising. Mildred Volkov and the friends that assisted her on this nefarious plan have been expelled. Now, I understand, Alexis, that you carry a burden with you everywhere you go. You did not ask for any of this, but somehow you seem to always get caught up in the middle of it all. My advice for you is to focus on the here and now. There are dark days ahead of us, and we'll have to face them sooner or later, but right now there are so many things worth living for, we should take the time to appreciate them before it is too late." He looked at her over his half-moon spectacles and gave her a sweet smile. "That Potter boy has been looking everywhere for you."

     Alexis chuckled as she got up and dusted off her pants. "Thank you, Headmaster." She gave him a grateful smile before walking out.

     It was evening already and the grounds were mostly dark, but she could still clearly see James frantically running around looking for her. "Oi, Potter! Have you lost something? Other than your mind, I mean."

     A look of relief and happiness flashed across James' face as his gaze landed on her. "Where on earth have you been, woman?! I've been looking all around for you! Who do you think you are?!" He wrapped his arms around her in the tightest hug once he reached her.

     "I was just.... clearing my head a bit." She held on to his hand after he released her from his grasp. "We need to talk."

     James winced. "Is it good or bad? What did I do this time?"

     Alexis giggled. "Nothing. I just wanted to apologize for how I acted yesterday. I got too defensive and," she looked down at her feet while her cheeks turned bright pink, "maybe a little bit jealous."

     He smirked and leaned closer, pressing his lips against her forehead. "Don't worry about it, love. I guess I did get a little too comfortable with Lily. And after all you went through this last week, it's perfectly understandable that you reacted that way."

     She sighed and rested her head on his chest. "I just -- I'm so scared, James."

     "What are you scared of, love?" He wrapped his arms around her protectively.

     She closed her eyes, allowing the electric feeling to run through her body as she listened intently to his heartbeat. "You."

     Tom frowned with confusion when an owl flew into his bedroom. No one knew about his whereabouts, so how the bloody bird was able to find him was beyond him. His first thought was to kill the bird but then he noticed the letter attached to it. Curiosity got the best of him as he reached for the folded piece of parchment. The vague letter was addressed to him but did not say who sent it. The short message written in it was enough to make his blood boil.

     'Mildred Volkov has been expelled, and not just because she stole the locket. Her, Rosier, Fontane and Nelson were all plotting to poison me and frame a bloody House Elf. 

You should discipline your followers a little better, brother.'

     Tom reached for his wand and apparated out of there in less than a minute. He looked at his new surroundings as he arrived in Kensington.

     Right outside the Volkov residence.