the_debt_of_time

He knew James was not the best at Potions, but he was no Frank. Poor bloke had
to sleep in the common room for a week because his roommates said that whatever potion
he had spilt on himself clung to his skin and made their whole room stink. James had
offered to let Frank sleep on the floor in their room, but he said the sofa in the common
room was fine.
"No way, mate." Sirius shook his head, worried that James would accidentally
poison himself. "That stuff's toxic. We're not allowed to use it yet. Why do you ask?"
"Because I found Mia making a list in the library," James whispered, taking a seat
beside him. "I was under the cloak and meant to play a prank and move her things anytime
she looked away. But then I saw a list she was writing. Had aconite on it."
"You think she's making a poison?" Peter asked, intrigued.
"Of course not!" James snapped.
"Maybe she's just skipping ahead, you know she likes to read," Sirius suggested,
patting Peter on the shoulder to calm his nerves. They weren't exactly friends, but he did
not think that Mia would poison Peter just because she didn't like him much.
"I don't know, some of the books she was reading. They, erm, looked like they were
from the Restricted Section. Big potion books," James said and gestured their size with his
hands.
"So ask her."
James frowned at Sirius. "I can't get up the girls' dormitory stairs."
"And why would you want to, Potter?"
They all looked up to see Lily Evans descending the stairs; her usual expression of
contempt reserved only for James turned momentarily to indifference.
James predictably blushed. "Evans, I... I.. ."
"Evans, is Mia up there?" Sirius asked, patting James on the back. "We need to talk
to her."
"No." Lily shook her head. "She went down to see Madam Pomfrey a few hours
ago."
"A few hours ago?" James snapped back to reality. "What was wrong with her?"
"Same as usual I, suppose. She gets really bad headaches during, well, girl stuff."
"What girl stuff?" Peter asked, confused.