It isn't enough to be short staffed, there's scanner!fail too?
She'd left a note in his work room if he hadn't been in, stating what ingredients she'd swiped (and why) as well as the fact she'd borrowed a couple of the books they were working with for Remus' condition.
If he wanted either of them, he'd simply have to come get them. Or accio them - and she'd hope she wasn't using them at the time.
While she was waiting for the potion to congeal into a salve - the book said three hours, and she'd rolled her eyes - Lily had set about reading. She felt like she'd been reading the same information for the past year, though it had only been a few days.
Still, she was a little frustrated with her inability to find what went wrong - and she wasn't sure what sort of breakthroughs he'd made with his progress. She imagined she would have heard if he'd accomplished something useful to Remus' condition.
Setting aside the book, she checked the timer. Still another fifteen minutes by the looks of it, and she was tired of reading. She was disinclined to venture downstairs, so she roamed her workroom for a few minutes. She checked on a potion here, a potion there, and then decided she wanted a challenge. Not that the ones she was playing with weren't a challenge, but she wanted something else.
A smile curved her lips as she decided she wanted to try a batch of felix felicis. In six months, it might come in handy. She snorted in amusement at herself and thought she'd be lucky not to turn herself purple or blow the place up - or worse. Maybe she'd trot it by Severus and see what he thought. It wasn't as though she'd keep it a secret, anyway, with him occasionally peeking in on her work.
The contemplation had killed the remainder of the time on the salve, and she smiled. well, good - there was that, anyway. Crossing to the little tub she'd poured it in to let it cool, she doublechecked the appearance against what it was supposed to look like.
Then she glanced at her shirt. And frowned. Well, she could take it home and wander around half naked there, but if she was going to start on something else, she'd rather not wait. Besides, if she just kept the door closed, she'd be fine.
Settling on that, Lily swung the door of her workroom closed before she retreated to her work station. She did hesitate though, and decided that - unless it really became a bother - she'd just tuck the fabric up out of the way. Rolling her shirt up, twisting the slack, she pulled it tight around her upper ribs before she twisted the tail of it to tuck it between her breasts. Securing it with a charm, she reasoned that was stable enough and she crossed to a mirror.
Studying the reflected bruise, she shook her head. It was some really keen spellwork though, and she wondered if it wasn't high time she had the pair of them teach her the useful things they'd been up to in school. The things that James had been so careful to keep hidden from her. If this was any indication, they likely had a mess of experimental spells.
Dipping her fingertips into the salve, she started to spread it over the bruise. The first touch of it was like ice, and she hadn't been expecting anything that cold. Exhaling a sharp "haa!" Lily flinched slightly before she continued the application. Once she got used to it, it wasn't so very bad. It did feel better, too. Since she was highly disinclined to get it on her shirt, she left it twisted up like it was.
Deciding she was decent enough, Lily compiled a list of ingredients she'd need from downstairs for her newest project before she slipped down there to see about raiding the stores.