The
day was dreary enough as it was; after a dark and stormy night, the clouds
still clung heavily to the ground and the somber atmosphere threatened to
smother any joy the day might hold. And that was outside. Inside the castle,
the dim Potions classroom certainly offered no improvement to the already
dismal day, particularly for Rae Elliott. She had just been told off by
Professor Maddox for messing around in the Great Hall, and was still fuming
about the essay she had to write. The fact that her potion now wasn't going
well did not improve her mood in the least. She looked over at her friends Adelaide
Asman and Aranya Felicin, and saw them giggle about something - probably
Nivestorm jokes again, then turned to her partner in disgust.

      "This
potion stinks... does this look right to you, Apolline? I don’t think its
supposed to be this color..."

      Apolline
Tabourot, one of the few Slytherins in the class that regularly paried up with
Ravenclaws, wrinkled her nose. "Euuuh...let me check, I really don't
know...or care...when am I EVER going to use a cure for boils anyway?"

      "I know,
right?" Rae responded, dropping the stirring spoon rather forcefully onto
the table, "I never get boils. This is kind of boring."

      Anne Pickering,
the ever-well-behaved Head Girl with the perfect potion, turned on them with a
glare.  "Shhhhh I can't hear
the Professor!"

      Aranya turned
around and smiled mischeviously at Rae. 
"You know, we could always test some spells and give you
boils," she laughed.

      "Don't you
dare!"

      "It'd be
fun though," Aranya giggled, "And I promise it won't hurt. I'll even
have boils myself."

      Rae rolled her
eyes. "Why don't you practice that on your partner... I'll just watch. Oh,
crud... Appoline! This potion is seriously... ugh... what do we do next?"

      Irritated,
Apolline took out her potion textbook to read the instructions that they hadn't
really been paying attention to. As she did, a piece of paper fell from the
book.

      "Damn, it
says we have to wait for 17 minutes now! I'm sooo bored!"

      Rae groaned;
waiting, waiting, waiting. That's all they ever did. Tired of looking at their
mess of a potion, she stared down at the floor.

      "Hey, what’s
that paper?"

      Apolline
shrugged, "What paper?"      

      Rae reached for
the folded paper on the floor, but Apolline saw, and snatched it first,
"Oh...euh...nothing ? Or maybe something..." She looked around
quickly, to make sure no one was paying attention, then whispered, "if you
promise not to tell anyone else..."

      Rae, intrigued,
leaned toward Apolline. "Why would I? What is it??? Come on...."

      Apolline
hesitated for another moment, noticing that Addie and Aranya were paying
attention to them, but as they were in the back of the room and Professor
Nivera was currently occupied assisting someone who had melted their cauldron,
the only threat was Anne. And Anne was much too occupied making sure her potion
was perfect to notice them; besides she was used to them talking and not paying
attention in class. Better chance of points for her.

      "Well, you
know how Professor Wolfe told us about all these amazings potions we will never
get to brew because they're too silly...well I found the recipe for one, the
babbling potion!"

      "AWESO..."
Rae immediately dropped her voice to a whisper as Anne shot her a look, "I
mean, awesome! I so want to try that one!"

      Apolline nodded,
"I know right! I was going to sneak in the classroom tonight to try it,
want to join?"

      "YES!"
Rae's eyes darted around the room again; only Anne had noticed, a suspicious
look crossing her face.

      "Count us
in, too!" Aranya told them, with Addie nodded emphatically.  But all four had to immediately stop
the discussion as Professor Nivera began to walk toward them.

      "Girls!"
Professor Nivera placed her hands on her hips, glaring down at them.

      "Oh... hi,
Professor," Rae said, innocently. "We were just..."

      "Nearly
causing a disaster by not watching your potion? You do NOT need another
detention today, miss!" With a quick wave of her wand, the foul potion
vanished, and Professor Nivera turned her attention to Anne, praising her
perfect Cure for Boils.

      As they packed
up their things, Aranya turned to Rae, laughing, "Did you finally get a
detention, Rae?"

      Rae shot her a
look, and then smirked, "No. Just a silly little essay. I didn't get
detention. I never get
detention." Dropping her Potions book in her bag with a satisfying THUNK,
Rae turned to Apolline, to continue their conversation.

      "So, when
do we meet? I have my transfiguration essay done, so I can do any time after
dinner... maybe we should do it when the profs are all meeting in their lounge
hatching their diabolical plans for our next lessons..."

      Apolline thought
for a moment, as the four walked a little ways down corridor, out of earshot.
"After 10? I have to wait until Lucius goes to sleep. Since he became our dorm leader, he also became a lot more boring, does not
want us to make any trouble."

      After making
sure the Head Girl wasn't standing nearby somewhere, spying, Rae whispered
back, "Yeah, we'll have to wait 'til Anne falls asleep too... although,
she'll probably be so busy earning another O in transfig that she won't even
notice us leaving..."

      Apolline nodded
in agreement, "Ok, so we have a plan, then? Ara, Addie, you with us?"

       “Of
course we are,” Addie said with a laugh, “Like we’re going to let Rae have all
the fun without us…”