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Format: Novel
Chapters: 79
Word Count: 200,337
Status: WIP
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Strong Language, Strong Violence, Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Sensitive Topic/Issue/Theme
Genres: Humor, Romance, Action/Adventure
Characters: Dumbledore, Lupin, McGonagall, Snape, Sirius, Lily, James, Lucius, Narcissa, Pettigrew
Pairings: James/Lily, Remus/OC, Sirius/OC
First Published: 06/02/2005
Last Chapter: 12/09/2009
Last Updated: 12/09/2009
Summary:
Ever wondered how Lily and James ended up together? Ever wondered why Peter turned on them? Ever wondered why Sirius, the ultimate bacheor, never got married and settled down? Find out what I think happened, and more...
Why Do Fools Fall In Love?
Chapter One
Why Lily Hates James
A lot of the time when someone looked at the way Lily Evans glared at James Potter, they had to wonder why. He was a nice enough boy, discounting his detentions and pranks, and surely he was attractive. No other boy in sixth year had the looks he did. Well, Sirius Black did, but that was assuming we were only focused on Lily and James. But anyways, that was besides the point, because believe it or not her deep seeded hate went all the way back to the first time she met him, on the Hogwarts Express.....
Lily hugged her mom one last time, before pulling away. “Mum! For goodness sake, I’m eleven, now, you don’t need to treat me like a baby! Really, how much of a pickle can I get in at a school where they teach you magic? You might as well put me in a padded room!”
“Yes, yes, fine, I’m sorry,” nodded Mary Evans as she wiped her eyes again.
“Good god woman, calm down!” chuckled Simon Evans. “She’ll be back for Christmas, you wait and see. And she’ll amaze us with all that fancy magic she learns! Atta girl, Lilis...!”
“Freak,” muttered a sulking, teen-aged Petunia.
As her parents turned to see what she’d said, Lily stuck her tongue out at Petunia, who was so stupid she did so back while her parents were watching. So, amidst waves and tears, Lily dragged her trunk off closer to the train and managed to escape on board. She walked through the corridors, seeing all these witches and wizards talking animatedly, a few legal aged ones doing fancy tricks with their wands. She sighed, smiling, and managed to find a compartment with only one other occupant, a girl her age with really curly dark brown hair.
“Hello!” Lily said, opening the compartment. The girl looked over. “I’m Lily Evans. Can I sit with you?”
The girl smiled and nodded. “Groovy. I’m Rebecca Smith. Call me Becca, or Becky, else I’ll curse your hair off... As soon as I figure out how...” She smiled, joking.
“Nice to meet you,” Lily said, shoving her school trunk under the seat. “Anyways... So, do you know a terrible lot about this school?”
“Oh, are you Muggleborn?” asked Becky. She had stunningly pretty blue eyes.
Lily nodded, wondering why she had to have green eyes and red hair. She always thought she looked like Christmas in July. “I suppose...”
Becky nodded. “Well, you go there for seven years, you know, and teach you all that groovy magic you’ll need to get by as a Witch or Wizard. I’m going to be an Auror after I leave Hogwarts.”
“Er... Auror?”
“Oh, right. It’s sort of like a Muggle policeman, only more so... You know, special assignments, risking death, horrible brave- SIRIUS!!”
Lily jumped as a firework went off, and bright purple smoke issued around the compartment. She and Becky ran out, gagging, to see a boy with dark hair and pale skin laughing his arse off and looking good doing it.
***
James Potter had just gotten on the train and seen girls screaming and stumbling out of the carriage from which purple smoke was issuing, smelling for all the world like his mum’s home-made breakfast. Which wasn’t good, as she was a witch and never cooked, that’s what the House Elfs were for. He grinned, seeing the boy responsible for it running from some Prefects and laughing his bum off, and took an immediate liking to the kid. As he went to run past, James grabbed him and shoved them both in a closet as the prefects ran past, both of them pressed together uncomfortably.
“Bloody hell, are you mad?!” gasped the boy. “Or gay?!”
“Neither!” laughed James. “Saving your skin!”
“Oh. That works, too.”
They shook with laughter as the noise died down, and James peered out. “It’s safe...” They stepped out and straightened their robes. “I’m James Potter.”
“Ah, I know about your family!” the boy said, smiling as he shook his hand. “Damn loaded, the Potters. Mum’s always going on about how fine you all would’ve been if you all hadn’t been so damn goody goody. Her words, not mine. Sirius Black, by the way!”
James grinned, really liking this kid. The girls were back in their compartment, airing it out and talking. The boys set off that way, dragging their recently abandoned trunks. James knocked on the door and peered in. His heart nearly stopped in his chest as he saw a slim, pretty red haired girl flapping her hand through the smoke and holding her nose with the other.
“Hey, uh, you all right?” he asked.
She turned her green eyes on him.
***
Damn, is he cute... What am I thinking, I’m eleven!!
“Excoobze be?” Lily remembered her hand and dared to take it off. “I mean, what, excuse me?”
“You all okay?” asked the cute, black haired, blue eyed boy.
“NO WE ARE NOT OKAY JAMES POTTER!” roared Becky, hands on her hips. “THAT BLACK BOY- YOU!!”
For the boy had just peered his head around James Potter’s shoulders, and suddenly looked horrified.
“BECKY!”
“YOU’D BETTER RUN, YOU LITTLE--”
Before Becky could finish, however, she launched and was gone, along with Sirius. Lily shook her head, still wafting air out of the compartment. The boy came in, threw his trunk down, and sat on the seat, reclining his feet on his trunk. Lily made a face at him.
“So, I’m a Potter,” he smiled at her.
“I’m an Evans, who gives a damn,” she shrugged.
His feet fell off his trunk, but that may have been because the train lurched a bit, about to set off. “WHAT?!”
“I said, I don’t care,” Lily repeated. “Why should I?”
“You... you’re JOKING, right?” he asked. “Everyone wants to be a Potter!”
Lily made a face. “I personally don’t see why, they seem overly egotistical to me right now.”
James just sat there, partially because he didn’t know what overly egotistical was. Then he said, “Well, you know, I’ve just gone and had a third year ask me out, because she thought I was like... a fifth year!” He waved his arms wildly, hoping to place emphasis but only managing to look idiotic.
Lily gagged, and James didn’t exactly know how to handle this. As the train lurched off and she sat back down, burying her face in a book, and paying him no attention. Which struck a major blow to his Potter pride. He stood, about to say something else, when the door opened and Sirius ran in and jumped clean over James’ head, hiding behind him.
“SAVE ME JAMSIE!!” he yelled, pointing at the door.
***
Lily stared at the ludicrous boy, then looked to see Becky huff in. Only, she looked quite different, because the Sirius kid had managed to curse her hair into giant, purple tentacles.
“MEDUSA HAS COME TO KILL ME!”
“SHUT UP YOU LITTLE WENCH!” roared Becky, pointing her wand at Sirius.
Sirius flinched, obviously having some kind of past with Becky, and she shook her wand in some unknown pattern for a second as she screwed up her pretty, lightly freckled face in thought. Suddenly, the door burst open again, and a tall, scrawny, pale, sort of greasy haired kid with a really bad hooked nose ambled in. James glared at him, and Becky threw up her hands in frustration, wand clattering near Lily, sprouting legs and crawling up the wall.
“Oh. Great. Severus. JUST GROOVY. Join him why don’t you, decorate me a bit more!” she yelled, crossing her arms.
The boy made a face. “I wouldn’t go near that reject if it were the last thing I did!”
“WHO’RE YOU CALLING A REJECT?!” Sirius roared, jumping up.
He seemed to have a bad yelling problem. Lily watched this all, wondering if she’d been dropped in the Loony Hut. James seemed to be defending Sirius, though Lily was quite sure they’d only met a few minutes ago. The greasy kid raised his wand and pointed it at the boys, and Becky was trying to catch hers. She dropped her book and stood.
“Er, hello,” Lily said, gaining everyone’s attention. “Look, I’m not exactly familiar with wizard ways and ev’rythin, but-”
“You’re a Mudblood?!” spat the boy.
Lily jumped, confused, but before she could ask what the hell a Mudblood was, the Potter and Black kids had roared loudly and were pointing their own wands at Severus.
“Oy, that’s not like a Pureblood, givin’ off that bad vibe!” said Sirius loudly.
“Hear hear!” said James, brows scrunched. “Don’t be sayin’ that again, it ain’t right to go round insulting pretty girls-”
“I BEG your pardon!” Lily said loudly.
He looked over and grinned, trying to look cool. “Yuh?”
“I hate to be a bother, but I must beg to differ, you pompous litt-”
“PETRIFICUL TOTALUS!”
James jumped out of the way of Severus’s spell, however, and Lily jumped, not expecting the magic. Becky had managed to get her wand and was trying to make it get rid of the legs as the boys threw aside their wands and started a brawl.
***
How dare he, that little git! He knew there were still those idiots that felt all superior because they were Pureblood and all, but it was ridiculous! He threw aside his wand and tackled Severus, not hearing the girls scream somewhat loudly. Sirius shrugged, handed Lily his wand with a curt bow, then let out a loud battle cry and literally jumped in, landing hard on James’s hand. He let out a sound of pain.
“Sorry, mate!” Smiled Sirius, before punching Severus.
“YOU LITTLE MUDBLOOD LOVERS!” roared Severus. “I THOUGHT YOU MEN HAD MORE GUT TO YOU THAN THAT-”
“SHUT UP!” Lily yelled, quite aware that the noise would attract attention.
“-YOU’RE BLOODY PUREBLOODS!!”
“BUT SHE DIDN’T DESERVE THAT!” James said as he tried to kick off Severus’ hold on his leg.
“Lily!”
***
She looked over at Becky, who seemed to have a handle on things. She tossed Lily her wand, and she caught it, but didn’t know a damn spell to use.
“Impedimenta!” Becky hissed.
Lily nodded, and pointed her wand at the brawling and shouting boys. “Im..pedi..ment..ula....?”
Becky shook her head, doing a kind of flick with her wrist. Lily did the same and at the same time, the two of them yelled, “IMPEDIMENTA!”
Instantly all three boys flew apart, still trying to punch each other, and were suspended in air, a few feet off the ground. Lily smiled, seeing she’d done that, then her face fell as the Head Girl and Head boy threw open the door.
“WHAT in MERLIN’S name is going on round here?!” shouted the head girl.
Lily suddenly realized how this must look, and paled. “No, it’s not, they were fighting, and she gave, we were stopping, OH PLEASE DON’T EXPELL ME!”
She stared at Lily, the Head Boy puling the boys out of their suspension. Severus straightened his robes, trying to look respectable despite a blackened eye and bloody nose. Sirius’s hair was in knots, his lip was busted, and he was hissing at Severus, and James was sporting a cut across his left cheek.
“What are your names?!” asked the Head girl, pulling out a notebook.
“L...Lily Evans...” she whispered, voice shaking.
Lily lowered her wand, staring shamefully at the ground as the Head Girl got everyone else’s names. Then she put the parchment in her pocket and stared coldly down at all five of them. “All of you will have three weekends of detention. You can be assured that points will be deducted from your house as soon as you are Sorted. If I hear of this again the Headmaster will get involved. Good day.”
She and the Head Boy left, and Severus spat at Lily. “Fucking Mudblood bitch.”
James raised a fist to punch him again, but Sirius caught his arm and shook his head as Severus left. “Not worth it, mate...”
James sighed, cradling his bleeding hand. Lily felt tears coming on, and Becky was trying to clean up the mess that had been made when James’s trunk had burst open. Sirius and James were talking lowly over the highlights of the fight, and Lily sank onto her chair, blushing and wishing she hadn’t come today. James Potter looked over.
“You okay?”
She stared up at him. “Okay? OKAY?! AM I OKAY?! NO POTTER I AM NOT OKAY!”
Sirius blanched. “Bloody hell, woman, calm down, you’re too young to be experiencing That Time Of The Month.”
Lily felt herself shaking with rage. “You just got me detentions! I’VE NEVER HAD A DETENTION IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!”
***
Never?!
“You need to get out more,” James muttered dryly.
Becky knew this was the wrong thing to say, and shook her head. Lily jumped to her feet, glaring up at James. Granted, they were both short, since they were young, but he was still taller than she was.
“I hate you.”
James blanched. “WHAT’D I DO?!”
“You ruined my record! I’ll never be able to be a doctor, now!”
He glanced at Sirius, who shrugged. Have to find out what a ‘doctor’ was, later... “Woman, detentions aren’t going to set you bac-”
“I HATE YOU!”
He jumped, seeing the blind fury in her pretty green eyes. No, it wasn’t possible for a woman to hate a Potter, they were irresistible. He even saw pity for him on the Becky girl’s face. But Lily Evans was a different story, and if anything... It made him want her more. Granted, he didn’t want her in that necessary way, but she was pretty, smart, and ambitious. Who wouldn’t want a girl like that?
“Hate is a stron-”
“Fine. How about this?” Lily hissed.
Next thing he knew, a sharp blow was struck to his face as she punched him. He reeled back, feeling a bit of blood in his mouth, and stared, shocked, at the little spitfire.
“I HOPE YOU DIE!”
Next thing he knew, she pushed him out into the hall, and his belongings came sailing after him. James ducked, narrowly missing getting nailed in the head by his broom. Sirius shrugged and grabbed his trunk, wheeling it out. As he went to close the door, he leaned his head in and said,
“So I guess this means no date on Saturday?”
Now, as Lily strode through the corridors with Remus, patrolling the train, she couldn’t help but look forward to the fact that she only had two more years to go and she was Potter free for all of eternity, and she’d be a Medi-Witch. She sighed and glanced at Remus, who looked a bit peaky. Full moon must’ve just gone by... Not that he’d ever told her, but he must’ve been damned stupid to think she wouldn’t know, what with mysteriously disappearing every month for six years, always looking ill around the Full moon time...
***
“...anyways, so what happened over your summer, mate? .....Hellooooo? JAMSIE?!”
James jumped and looked over at Sirius, who was waving a hand in front of his face. “Huhn?! Oh, yea, absolutely.”
Sirius glanced around the compartment, seeing only Peter in there other than themselves. “What were you thinking about, mate?”
“Nothing,” James said quickly, messing up his hair.
Sirius grinned widely. “I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT!”
“Shut up-!”
“No, I remember that dream you had the other night, Jesus, could’ve woke the dead-”
“SHUT up-”
Sirius jumped up on the seat of the train, narrowly missing hitting his head. He hugged himself. “Oh Lily... I love you... Marry me... Mwaa mwaa mwaah... Kissie kissie snog me Lily-”
“SIRIUS!” James roared, feeling a flush rising in his cheeks. “I DID NOT!”
“Don’t lie to me, Prongs, I bloody live with you now!” Sirius said, opening his eyes and sitting back down. “But seriously what are you thinking about?”
Peter was shaking with silent laughter, and James had to wonder if he’d wet himself. “Just... wondering why she hates me so much.”
Sirius chuckled softly. “Ah yes, let me think... You know, I seem to remember that one time the first day you met her you managed to get her three weeks of detention-”
“Shut it, Padfoot,” James growled.
“And then that other time in third year, you spilled a whole freaking inkpot on her. She stormed off before you could tell her it was meant for Snivvely-”
“PADFOOT!” James said.
“And then last year, oh god that was great, why didn’t you look at the map-”
“HEY!”
“-I mean it was a locked bathroom... And the Prefect’s one, too, you shouldn’t have broken in the door-”
James flushed. “That was an accident!”
“But really, does she look as killer naked as you said, because really she does look kind of thin-”
Peter was staring, wide-eyed at James, who would give anything to sink into the couch right now, especially since the incriminating green eyes were staring at him in horror right now. He’d been trying to shut Sirius up for about a minute, since she’d opened the door, hearing Sirius’s yelling, and a deep flush was coming over her cheeks as Remus looked kind of torn.
“-and really I didn’t think she can fit those kind of curves in that unif- OY WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME SHE WAS HERE?!” Sirius turned and saw her.
A tear surfaced in Lily’s eye as she glared at them “You assholes, you PIGS!” she whispered, before turning and running off.
There was silence in the compartment for a second, before Sirius looked down at James.
“Well damn, James, I guess you can add today to the list, too.”
------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N!! Leave me a message aboot the series and tell me what you think of it so far!!
Chapter 2
Tears, Cheers, and 6 Past Years
Lily sat in the train loo on the toilet, crying and trying both to be noticed, but then again not be noticed. Because of course when you are crying you do want someone to take notice, and act as though they actually care and ask what is wrong, but then again you want them to leave you the hell alone and sod off so you can cry a bit more without those stupid hypocrites interfering. She’d been there a good five minutes now, half of her wondering where any of her mates were, and the other half wondering which was the best way to kill James Potter. It’d been bad enough that he’d broken in the door to the Prefect’s bathroom, last year, and seen her naked in the shower, but it really was quite another thing that he’d gone and told Sirius Black about it. Granted, she’d pick Sirius over James any day of the week, but still wouldn’t date either of them to save her life.
Just then a knock came on the door and she paused in her weeping long enough to hear the voice of Remus. “Lilis?” he asked through the wood. “Lilis, come on out, I gave them a stern talking-to-”
“No you didn’t!” she said loudly, sniffing. “I know you didn’t, you can’t control those little pigs!”
He sighed and tried to open the door, but of course she’d locked it. “Come on out, Lilis, it won’t do for your make-up if you cry like that.”
“I DON’T WEAR MAKE-UP AND YOU KNOW IT, REMUS!” Lily shouted. “I’VE GOT NO REASON TO WEAR DEAD SEAL FAT ON MY FACE!”
“All right, all right, I know, I was trying to ge- Dead seal fat?!”
Lily grudgingly stood and opened the door, glaring up at Remus. “Yes, some Muggle make-up is made with seal fat. Any kind of fat, really.”
He nodded, then looked round. “Well, I see my playing dumb has got you out of the loo.”
Lily gasped, “You horrid little man!”
He grinned and grabbed her arm, pulling her fully out and wiping the tears off her freckled nose. “Well hey, I can’t finish my rounds without you, Evans.”
Lily sighed and finished wiping off her tears, then they set off to finish the rounds of the train back to Hogwarts from Christmas vacation. She’d gone back to her house in Chelsea, unfortunately, and Petunia was fouler than ever. But it was nice that Lily’s parents had left for a Christmas Eve party for work, because she got to find out that the little Petunia whore shags her boyfriend, Vernon, and finally she had something over Petunia’s head. The two of them were quite foul together, and Lily expected them to move in together sometime soon. If only, she’d thought, she was two years older and knew a good Virilitation Spell, she’d quite ensure that Petunia received a little package and ruined her little so-called virgin image. Permanently.
The train seemed to be in order, and Lily went back to her compartment, where Becky and her boyfriend, Charles, were sitting with Alice Kithington, who had a bit of a thing for Frank Longbottom, a sixth-year Hufflepuff, along with Alice. She sat and they all started playing Shanghai Rummy with an Exploding Snap deck, which made it interesting until Becky’s hand exploded first and she singed her fringe rather badly.
***
“That was rotten of you, Padfoot.”
Sirius looked up as Remus entered, again, and shut the door. He stretched out. “Ah, Moony, it was all in good fun!”
“But still, she was in the loo, cryin-”
“Yes, well, you can’t expect James to see a hot cherry bomber, arse naked, and not tell me!” Sirius shot a mischievous grin at James, who flushed slightly.
“What’s a cherry bomber?” Peter asked from his usual corner.
The other three stared round at him. James asked, “Are you dead truthful, Wormtail?!” He shrugged. “You don’t know what a cherry bomber is?!”
“No... should I?” asked Peter.
Sirius practically died laughing. “Of course you do, mate! It’s only the newest expression to say. Instead of saying ‘cute’ or ‘sexy girl,’ you say ‘cherry bomber.’”
“But.. that makes no sense.”
James shrugged. “Get out of the 60’s, mate, it’s the 70’s! Cherry bomber it is, it doesn’t have to make sense.”
“Yeah. Notice how appropriate that is, too?” asked Sirius, turning back to James.
“What?” asked Remus.
“Cherry bomber, Lily. She’d got red hair and damn is she a spitfire! I think they made that expression especially for her,” Sirius chuckled, sprawled over two seats.
James felt a little jealousy nag at him. “You fancy Evans?”
Sirius shook his head. “Nah, she’s a bit too thin for my tastes. Freckly, too.”
“What’s wrong with freckles?!” asked James, as he did actually have a few on his arms and torso.
“Oho, defending Cherry Bomber, are we?” chuckled Sirius, his eyes crinkling.
“No, I jus-”
“Save it, James, you’re head over heels for Evans,” Sirius said.
“Hey, don’t talk about her like that!” Remus said. “She is a friend of mine and it’s really degrading, the way you two talk about girls.”
Sirius raised an eyebrow as everyone looked at Remus. “Mate, why do you care about how we talk about cherry bombers?”
Remus sighed. “It’s just not... gentlemanly.”
Peter smirked, “Ooh, Moony’s going to teach us about manners.”
“Shut up, Peter!” James shot at the kid. “You ain’t got no room to talk, you’ve never snogged a girl, so you’re outed three to one!”
Peter mumbled something, and Sirius jumped up. “Who’d snog a toad like you?!”
They always made fun of Peter, but it was meant nicely. Nonetheless, even as he laughed along, it did kind of hurt. Now he stared at them staring at him, and muttered quietly, “Dolores Umbridge.”
“YOU SUCKED THE FACE OFF THAT HORN TAILED TOAD OF A FOURTH YEAR?!” gasped Sirius.
***
“Why were you crying, Lilis?”
Lily groaned and looked over at Becky. Damn it, she could tell anything. “Because Potter-”
“He’s nice,” nodded Alice.
Lily shot her a death glare, then, turned back to Becky. She noticed how the girl was curled in the crook of Charles’ arm, and smiled. “As I was saying, remember that one time, with the prefect’s bathroom, and er... the.... incident?”
Becky made a face and nodded, grabbing Charles lips to shut him up as he went to say something. “Yea, well....?”
“Little prick told Black about it.”
“NO!”
Lily nodded. “Well, found out about that, and it got me upset.”
“Little jerk... Hey, let’s castrate him.” Which made Charles shiver involuntarily.
“URGH!” Lily made a face. “I liked to pretend he didn’t have one!”
Charles grimaced. “That’s not too groovy, girls! I mean, that’s a guy’s-”
“LALALLAA!!” shouted Lily, shoving her fingers in her ears. “I’m definitely not listening because I know he hasn’t got one!!”
Charles laughed softly. “Well I’m not going to have an easy night, they bunk with me and they know I hang round you people!”
“Us people,” Becky shook her head. “Effing nice way to talk about me.”
He rolled his eyes and Lily couldn’t help but feel that Sirius and Becky were separated at birth, they both talked the same, thought the same, plotted the same... Chuckling, she went back to her application to be a student helper in the Hospital Wing this year, and next. It was a new program that the headmaster was implying this year.
“By the way, how’s old Headmaster?” Alice asked.
“Replaced!” Becky said, ignoring Charles’ attempts to kiss her. “GUESS who’s the new Headdy!”
Lily thought a moment. “I give up, who?”
“You didn’t even guess.”
“I know.”
“You’re supposed to guess.”
“I didn’t feel like it.”
“But you were supposed to guess! It’s funner that way!”
“And I didn’t feel like it, even though I know it is.”
“I know, but you we- CHARLES GERROFF DAMNIT I’M TALKING.” He made a face and stood, sulking out. “And don’t think I’ll give in to that sad lo- Oh damn, I’ll be right back...”
Becky stood, looking all shameful that she’d teed off Charles, and Lily gaped at her. “Well who is it?!”
“Oh, right,” Becky laughed as she re-opened the door. “Dumbledore, you know.”
“Dumbledore?” she asked. “Who’s taking over his classes?”
“Some new teacher, I guess, I gotta go...!”
With that Becky ran out, leaving Lily to wonder how she ever became friends with a girl that could be wooed by a sad look on a boy’s face.
****************************************************************
The train eventually stopped, and all the students stepped out and went for the carriages drawn by invisible horses. Lily sighed and fondly watched Hogwarts as she went towards a carriage, wondering where Becky and Charles had gotten to. Climbing into a carriage from the snow, she closed the door and noticed she was alone. Good, she wouldn’t have to suffer a load of second years or something. Smiling, she dug in her pocket and brought out her wand, un-shrinking her book so she could read it again.
As the book grew bigger and her emerald green eyes started to rove the page, the door opened and a load of people bolted in, laughing like loons and slamming the door. Before she could look up, the carriage set off, and the instant she did manage to look over top of her book, she felt a tidal wave of fury rise in her chest.
“YOU! All of you! I am NOT sharing a carriage with you!” she gasped.
Four eyes looked over, one looking stupid, one amused, two stunned and hurt.
“Evans!” said Potter, immediately scooting over next to her. “Oy, how did your Chrimbo hols go?”
Lily jumped wildly, her book disappearing as she lunged for the doorknob. “I am not not NOT staying in here!”
Her fingers fumbled on the latch, and someone tried to pull her back. Whirling around and spitting with anger, she had her wand at Potter’s throat, and he actually looked scared. Damn wuss, he was supposed to be an Auror, or maybe one of those new things, the Advanced Magical something or other Protection people, the A.M.A.P.s. He held up his hands in surrender, Sirius looking bored, Peter scared for James, and Remus torn between boredom, fear, amusement, and disapproval.
“You touch me ever, ever again, and I swear on MY OWN GRAVE I will... castrate you!”
“Ooh!” Sirius gasped, crossing his legs and looking as if he were in genital pain. “Damn, woman, that’s a bit harsh-”
“It’s not like he’d ever need them!” Lily spat at him. “Er... it... UGH what am I saying?! SEE how horrible you are, making me think you’ve actually got-”
“HEY!” said James loudly, looking indignant. “You’d better believe I have.”
Lily made a face, as though she were going to hurl. James glared at her, and Sirius looked torn between amusement and anger for James’ behalf.
“Well, actually, he has, you see, this one time, in fourth year-”
“You went gay?” Lily muttered.
“WHAT?!”
She smiled widely, and said loudly, “You... Went... Gay.. Might I add, for each other. That actually would be a smart pairing, Potter and Black.”
“I AM NOT GAY!” roared Sirius, as the carriage started slowing.
“Not as if you’ve ever shagged a girl!” Lily said vehemently.
“Not as if you’ve ever shagged a guy!” he shot back.
She shrugged. “I choose not to because I’ve got morals. You choose not to probably because you can’t.”
“Lily, that was low,” Remus said quietly.
She shrugged, pushing the door open even though the carriage was still in motion. “I don’t care. Girls talk, and every one of them that went on a date with Sirius Black has said they never shagged him. So much for the ladies’ man, more like the man’s man.”
She jumped out, sliding a little on the snow and glowing in her success of pissing off a Marauder. Especially the one that was hardest to piss off. She stalked off, ignoring Sirius as he yelled after her,
“So I’m saving myself! IS THAT A CRIME?!”
***
James shook his head, jumping out of the carriage and waiting for the others. They all got out, sort of mad, and headed through the dirty snow towards the castle. Sirius was muttering to himself furiously, and James didn’t quite blame him. He knew she’d done it just to tee off Sirius, but still, it was a blow below the belt. Sort of literally.
“...can’t believe the nerve of that little bi-”
“Hey!” Remus said. “She just wanted to piss you off.”
“AND SHE DID!”
“Think of it as payback, mate,” Remus sighed, walking into Hogwarts. “You’ve all done and tortured her for six years past, or so.... Bout time the little, uh.. ‘cherry bomber’ got her revenge, don’t you think?”
“But Remus, she said Jamsie and I are gay together!” Sirius hissed, his hair sort of blowing everywhere as they walked. “You’ve got no idea how wrong that was.”
“You wouldn’t fancy me if you were gay?” asked James, sort of offended.
“No, Jamsie, if I were gay I am quite sure I’d fancy you,” Sirius said, rolling his eyes. “In fact, I think I do right now and I’m not even gay. Damn, mate, how do I resist you?!” James made an alarmed face, and Sirius glared at him. “I WAS JOKING!”
“Oh. Iknewthat.”
“Well anyways, I mean, you heard what she said, Remus-”
“Yes, well, you weren’t helping it,” he said quietly.
Sirius stared at Remus, open-mouthed in shock. “WHAT?! You cannot honestly say I earned that!”
“Well, no, but you did start to tell her about that time in fourth year when James was sleepwalki-”
“Shut up!” hissed James. “It was bloody hot that night in the dormitory, and I haven’t sleepwalked in ages.”
Sirius coughed and it oddly sounded like liar, but James let it go. They all walked in silence for a bit, up towards Gryffindor, before James turned to Sirius, again.
“Seriously, you would fancy me if you were gay, right?”
Chapter 3
It Seems So Nasty!
Lily remembered to go down to the Hospital Wing the instant she crossed the threshold into Gryffindor Tower, and groaned. The application was a semester late, as it was, and if she didn’t get it into Madam Marley as she’d promised she would before classes started, tomorrow, she was sure to not be able to get in and be an aid. Groaning, she turned back around and headed back through the chill corridors, to the Hospital Wing. By the time she actually reached it, however, it was wicked late and she would barely have time to eat, assuming Marley didn’t put up a fight.
“Madam Marley?” Lily asked, opening the door.
The nurse looked up. “Lily Evans, I expected you to be more punctual.”
“Er, sorry ma’am, I forgot, I was sort of perturbed and not thinking right-”
“Papers.”
Madam Anabell Marley was as punctual as a period mark, and held out her hand for the packet of papers Lily had finished on the train. She was old, hopefully to soon be replaced by a new Nurse. Lily dug in her pockets and brought out the papers, about twenty thick and signed by her parents three times over. Marley took them and rifled through them. Lily waited for a few minutes in this silence, before edging towards the door.
“Well, Madam Marley, it is sort of late, and I have yet to ge-”
“Sit.” Lily froze, inwardly groaning, and sat in the chair in front of Marley’s desk. “I need to do an examination on you.”
“Er-”
“Heath reasons. Can’t have you ill and infecting the students that come in here.”
Lily let herself sigh. She wasn’t going to get dinner anytime soon, Marley was a nut when it came to making sure people were in perfect health.
***
“James, when is the next game, again?” asked Remus from his chair.
James glanced over from his recent project. “Er... Saturday.”
“This Saturday?” asked Remus.
“Yeah... damn it, Moony, I’m working on a prank here!”
“So-rry!” he muttered, going back to his book.
James sighed, going back to his trinket. It was a small little glass orb he’d gotten at the local magic joke shop in his area of London. It floated and farted, but he was... modifying it. He grinned evilly and Sirius came over from unpacking and sat in front of James.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Modifying the trick orb for Snivellus. Maybe Lily will finally realize why I pored the damn inkpot all over her in third year!” James grinned. “Hand me that pin-”
Sirius started laughing evilly, rubbing his hands together and hunching over his back, sticking his tongue out as he spoke. “Yessss, master... hee hee... heh.. eeeeee!!”
James tapped his wand on his head and one of those bands with the really big metal discs appeared on his forehead, and his glasses nearly doubled in size as his robes became a white lab coat. “Yes, I think it’s going to work this time....”
“Hhe hee...Iee!”
James was putting the finishing touches on the orb, which was now filled with nefarious looking black liquid. “Yes... yes... come, my precious...”
“Yesss, master...” Sirius said, his voice all crackly as he held himself at that odd angle, his arms tucked to his side and one eye larger than the other.
Remus stared at them, a half amused, half alarmed look on his face. Peter was shaking with silent laughter, and various people around the common room were shooting them odd looks. James tapped his wand on the orb, and it floated off the table. James and Sirius started laughing maniacally, as the orb soared round the room.
“IT’S ALIIIIIVE!!” shouted James, laughing. “ALIIIVE ALIVVE IT’S ALIIIIVE!!”
“What the-?” muttered Remus.
James stood, gently grabbing and cradling the orb to him like it was a baby. “Come, Igor, we dine!”
“Yess, masster...”
James stood, strolling out and casting schizophrenic looks at everyone while Sirius feigned a limp, one shoulder still shoved at that odd angle. The two of them in this manner made their way down to dinner, laughing and scaring various people into thinking they’d finally gone insane. James nudged open the door a bit and glanced in, looking around, before opening the door enough for Sirius to get in.
“Come in, hurry my Igor preciouss...”
“Yesss, master... heh hehh HHEH HHEH... sowwie..”
They both slunk across the hall, trying to not be noticed but of course being obvious about it, and sat lowly at Gryffindor table, eating their dinner. James scanned the table and saw that dinner was almost over, and the boys ate quickly. Standing, he dragged his little minion over to the door.
“My pet, I don’t think that Sssnivellusss has come to dinner yet!” James said, pressing himself against the wall near the door. “I see no grease anywhere.”
“Masster... I think I hear him cooming!” Sirius said, bent double with his ear to the door. “He curses badly, as yoosual... methinks someone has made him mad, mastr...”
“Fly my precious, fly!” James whispered, throwing the orb up into the air.
The boys pressed themselves against the wall, snickering and waiting for the door to open. As it did, James shot a jet of light at the orb, which was floating over the door, and it enabled the thing to open and pour out the black ink. The boys started laughing in their little characters, Sirius pretending to have some kind of seizure as he did so, but a shriek made them stop.
“OHMYGOD!”
Lily Evans was standing in the doorway, red hair now mostly black, covered in dripping black ink. Worse even, was that her nursing uniform from that stupid student aide program, all white and spotless, was now completely ruined. She slowly reached up as people in the hall started to laugh, and wiped the ink out of her eyes. She turned her glare on a frozen James and Sirius, who looked like deers caught in the headlight of an oncoming car. Lily looked down at her uniform.
“What is this?” she asked quietly, her voice shaking with rage.
“Er... ink?”
“OHMYGOD I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU TWO LITTLE TWITS!” she roared, starting to cry. “I just got this uniform, the stain is NEVER going to come out! I HOPE YOU BOTH DIE!”
Turning on her heel amidst the wave of laughter, Lily ran out and up towards Gryffindor. The boys stood there, feeling ashamed, and James caught the little orb as it flew back to him affectionately, like a puppy to it’s owner. He sighed and let it hover over his shoulder like a parrot, and suddenly the boys were faced with a new problem. Sirius nudged James, and he looked over to see Professor Dumbledore walking over. The man’s hair still held a hint of auburn, and his face held a frown.
“Boys...” he said gravely. “You do realize how bad that was of you to do, do you not?”
“Er, yes professor,” said James.
“Yea, headmaster,” Sirius said, so James would get the point.
Dumbledore nodded. “Yes, well... I can only hope that you do not do it again.”
No detentions?! This guy rocks! thought James as he and Sirius nodded.
“And, to endure it does not....” Dumbledore smiled. “I think two weeks of detentions are appropriate.”
He smiled and left, and the boys groaned. Standing there for a second, James looked over at Sirius.
“You seriously suck as a minion, Padfoot.”
Sirius made a face. “What the hell’d I do?!”
James opened the door and started walking up to Gryffindor. “You said it was Snivellus and it wasn’t! It was Evans.”
Sirius smiled. “You mean the Cherry Bomber.”
“Shut up.”
“I know you like her.”
“I do not.”
“Bull crap, you asked her out three times last year, and twice last semester!” Sirius said.
James shrugged. “Only because she’s the only girl I haven’t dated.”
“You haven’t dated Becky,” Sirius said, after a pause.
“Becky is more your type, mate.”
Sirius thought for a second. “You know, she is, actually. Maybe I should marry her.”
James made a face as they went up the stairs. “Taking things a bit fast, aren’t we? Besides, she’s got Charlie.”
“Why are all the fine women taken?” Sirius sighed.
“So you do fancy Becky!”
“I never said that.”
“Well, you said, ‘why are all the fine women taken?’” said James as the little orb circled their heads.
“Yea, so? It could be Opposite Day.”
“Every day is Opposite Day to you, Padfoot.”
“Un-thank you for noticing, Prongs.”
***
Lily burst into the common room, still crying, and ignored Becky as she jumped up from her usual chair by the corner to see what was wrong. Lily flung her ruined uniform at her, and ran upstairs. Thankfully, there was no one in the dormitory, and she sank onto the floor, crying into her knees. After a minute or so, Becky came in, and crouched next to her.
“What’s wrong, pet?” she asked. “I haven’t seen you this upset since... er...” she thought for a moment. “Well, today, actually.”
“As if you can’t tell what is bloody wrong with me!” Lily managed. “Once again James Potter and his little minion Sirius have made an inkpot out of me! In front of everyone!”
Becky sighed. “I suppose I’ll have to kick their faces in earlier than usual, this year... I was doing a good job of keeping it until the last week of school, too.... Damn, remember last year? That was fun... Never thought I’d see James Potter dangling from a Quidditch rung, wandless, and have it be my work...” She smiled affectionately, and Lily laughed. “See, I work miracles, don’t I? Cheered your arse up.”
“Hush.”
Becky stood and grabbed Lily’s inkstained hands. “Come on, pet, shower for you.”
“Did anyone ever tell you you’ll make a great mother?” Lily asked.
Becky paused as she opened the door. “Yeah, Charlie.”
Lily smiled. “He thinks that of you? That is so sweet.”
“Did I mention he only says it every time he wants a shag?”
****************************************************************
Lily woke the next morning fully dreading having to return to classes, but really only because she had four of her six classes with James Potter. And that really was very unexpected, as she was going to be a Healer at Mungo’s, and he was going to be an Auror. Or something. She had Advanced Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense classes with him, whereas her Herbology and Astronomy classes weren’t. But, of course, as Murphy’s Law ruled her life, those two classes, along with Defense, Charms, and Transfiguration, had Sirius Black in them, so it was almost as bad. Especially when he was partnered with her on Astronomy and kept asking why you had to use a telescope, why couldn't you just curse the stars to come closer?
Sighing, Lily thrust herself out of bed and got dressed, once again hating the fact that she was a late bloomer and that only now was she really starting to fill out. Her bra was a bit tight around the bottom, and she knew she’d need to get a 34 instead of a 32, from now on. Becky was getting dressed, as well, and glanced over.
“You still obsessing over having tiny boobs, or something?” she asked as she pulled a shirt over her head.
“No, in fact I think I need a 34, now,” Lily shrugged
“I think I might have one you can borrow until the next Hogsmeade weekend... and I don’t care what you say, you will get lace ones this time!” Becky said.
Lily retorted, “I will not!”
“Damn wrong you won’t. You’re almost seventeen, it is past time you started acting, and dressing, it. Not another word.”
Lily shook her head, pulling on her skirt. She knew she was the smallest girl in the room, and wished she could gain a bit of weight. At 109 pounds, she always thought that she was a bit thin for her age. But perhaps that went along with being a late bloomer.
“I need to gain some weight, Becks.”
“Want some of mine?”
“You’re not fat.”
“Are so.”
Lily glared at Rebecca. “Becky, you are not fat and you know it, and if you try to make me baby you again and tell you you aren’t just so you feel better, I will outright lie and say that you are so you will shut up.”
“Actually, no, then I’d wail about how cruel you are and that I am, in fact, fat!” Becky smiled. “You’re outsmarted.”
“How can you outsmart me when I got a full grade higher average than you on the O.W.L.s?” Lily asked, smiling.
Becky made a face as she straightened her tie. “Everyone knows those things are rigged. Just like the ones you said muggles take, where they have to fill out what they look like. It’s Hitler’s little Nazis, I swear. They’re grading according to what race and if you’re Aryan or not!”
Lily shook her head. “Less Muggle Studies for you. But yeah, it’s plausible that they could be grading you based on your race.”
“I TOLD YOU!” Becky laughed and did a victory dance as she pulled on stalkings. “By the way, if you want to gain weight, shag Potter.”
“WHAT?!”
Becky started laughing. “Well, shag anyone.”
“You know damn well I am going to be a virgin until I’m married!” Lily said loudly.
“Well, according to a study I read in a Muggle magazine, evidently when you shag for the first time, it does something to your pelvis bones, and they spread apart a bit and you gain a little bit of weight. Your hips get wider, too. See?” Becky slapped one hip.
Lily made a face. Of course she knew her best friend and Charles had, er.. done the dirty, but still, it never ceased to disgust her that she’d let herself do that before marriage. “I think sex is gross.”
“WHAAAT?!”
Lily shrugged, pulling on her robes and grabbing her bag. She headed for the door. “I just, it seems so nasty!”
Becky followed her downstairs. “You know, I sort of thought of it like that until I did it. It really is quite lovely.”
Lily turned, disgusted, to see a grin on Becky’s face. She shook her head. “I dunno, I just think all that genital sex and baby stuff is kind of... uuurgh.”
“It’s not, believe me, it’s lovely...” Becky sighed. “Well, anyways, I can assure you, anyone who’s had it thinks so.”
“I don’t think so,” Lily said, coming into the common room.
“Really?” Becky asked. She looked around the common room, then at the stairs. “JAMES!”
Lily jumped and turned, seeing James Potter and Sirius Black in the doorway, coming their way. She blushed furiously, hissing, “Damn it, Becks, not them!!”
Becky grinned and pushed her off. “Hey, James, come here a sec.” James came over, and for some strange reason Lily thought he looked damn hot today. “Lilis here thinks that sex is gross. What is your opinion?”
Somebody kill me, now...
James looked over at Lily, then shrugged. “I dunno.”
Becky’s jaw dropped. “You don’t know?”
He shook his head. “No... Me’n Sirius decided to wait.”
There was a ringing silence, and Becky shook her head. “Thanks, James, I feel like a whore now. IT’S THE SEVENTIES, DAMN IT!”
James shrugged, running a hand through his hair and making it stick on end. “Er... sorry , Becks. Mum and dad taught me that.”
Becky turned and grabbed Lily’s arm, dragging her off and cursing under her breath.
Chapter 4
Snitch Glitch
Amazingly, Lily did actually get the stain out of her nurses’ uniform, although it was now considerably a shade darker of a spotless white, and James and Sirius stayed out of her way the rest of the week. Which was saying something, as they had 90% of her classes with her. By Wednesday she’d cooled off considerably, and joined in with Hospital Wing, helping Madam Marley with nosebleeds and minor things, such as when a girl got most of her hair on fire in Charms class. Although, by Wednesday night she was ready to kill Sirius, because he’d sort of managed to explode her project for Herbology, which was bad as it took an entire team of House Elves to get the three inch deep mud off all the walls of the common room.
She woke on Saturday, and sighed. There was a Quidditch game today, Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. But, thankfully, she had to go help in the infirmary. Lily wasn’t exactly very keen on Quidditch, especially since big headed Potter was on the team and managed loads of spectacular wins. Which fueled his ego more.
Lily tossed her legs over the side of her bed, seeing Becky just waking up. As she dragged out her neatly pressed uniform, Becky made a face.
“Could they have picked a more horrid outfit?”
Lily looked down at it. It was, she admitted, sort of foul. “I dunno. Perhaps I can get away with tailoring it. It’s huge on me.”
Becky, grinning, grabbed her wand. “You get dressed in it, and I’ll do the work.”
Smiling and shaking her head, Lily pulled off her pajamas and dressed in her underwear (which was lewd, as Becky had raided her panty drawer and taken out all the “dull” pieces). Then she pulled on the skirt, top, and waist apron. The hat, of course, nothing could be done with, and she was hoping to god that it wasn’t dead necessary to wear it. Looking down at herself, still bare footed, Lily made a face.
“Urgh! I hate wearing this thing...”
She was wearing a black, knee-length skirt that was rather large on her small waist, and fluffed a bit. Tucked into it was a white, collared, button up shirt, also sort of large, which had a wand crossed with a bone, and a banner along the bottom with HOGWARTS INFIRMARY on it. Then the apron was tied around her waist. She looked up at Becky for help, and saw her friend looked utterly repulsed.
“Urgh, Lilis!” she said, pretending to gag. “I didn’t see it, the other day... All right, hold still....”
Lily froze, and Becky pointed her wand at the skirt. With a mutter, she felt the skirt shrink a bit, to that it now fit her waist tightly, and was a bit above her knees. Becky did the same with the shirt, and it fit a bit tighter, so that her figure was a bit more prominent.
“Well, I think that’s about the best we can do, for now...” Becky shrugged, dragging out a skirt and Gryffindor shirt.
Lily sighed, putting the little hat on. It was white with a black medical cross on it, and thankfully was small, so that it stuck on the back of her head, supported there by magic. Her hair was pulled back, the top half of it in a bun, the rest hanging loosely about her shoulders. As Becky dressed in her outfit for the game, Lily pulled on nylons and the shoes that Madam Marley had gotten to her last night. They were small and fit her exactly, black flat shoes that reminded Lily of the ones her mother wore to work at the office.
“I’ll see you later... I’m due there by eight,” Lily said, tucking her wand into one of the pockets and pulling her watch on.
“I’ll tell you how the game goes!” Becky called after her.
***
James, sitting fully robed in the common room with Sirius, was talking animatedly with people about the game today. He glanced over, seeing a certain red-haired someone coming down from the girl’s dormitory, but had to shoot a double take. Lily was wearing some sort of uniform, and from the silly hat on her head he saw it was a nursing one. He knew she’d started there a few days ago, but hadn’t seen her in the uniform yet. She sighed as she went across the common room, looking miserable. Grinning, James stood and snuck up behind her, before whipping the hat off her head. She whirled around, surprised and angry, seeing James dangling it in his fingers.
“Hey!” she said, reaching for it. “I need that.”
James pulled it out of her reach, as he was quite considerably taller. “I fancy keeping it.”
Her eyes flashed. “James Potter I need that right this instant!”
Sirius, from his corner, chuckled, and James grinned. “Like I said, I fancy keeping it, Lily.”
“That’s Evans to you!” she snarled, standing on her toes to try to reach for it. “Give it back!”
But of course she couldn’t reach it.
“You could ask me nicely,” James smiled.
She glared at him. “Over my dead and rotting body.”
He shrugged, still holding it high above his head. “If you say so.”
Lily glanced at her watch, and he looked over her. For such a fruity outfit, it actually didn’t look that bad on her. “Look, I’ve got twenty minutes to get downstairs, and eat, before I’m due!”
“I didn’t know you were having a baby.”
She gave him a murderous look that almost wiped the Potter smile off his face. “You fucking know what I mean, Potter! Give me my hat!”
Smiling, James inched closer, sort if ducking his head down as if to kiss her or something. “I will if you go out with me.”
Next thing he knew, her eyes flashed angrily, and a hand slapped him hard across the face. He let out a howl that gained the attention of almost everyone in the common room, and he dropped the hat. Lily grabbed it, shoving it roughly and backwards back onto the crown of her red head, glaring at him.
“Great shot, Evans!” called Sirius, laughing.
James was still bent over a bit, holding his face in pain. Damn, was she a hard shot! Lily smiled and curtseyed at Sirius, before shooting one last malevolent glare at James and stalking out. James straightened, feeling as though his pride had been badly hurt as his face, and tried gallantly to laugh along with the others. Sirius came over, holding James’ broom, and flung an arm around James’ neck and steering him out.
“Mate,” he said, “You can’t keep going about this the same way!”
They left the common room, James still trying to get the stinging out of his cheek. “Well bloody hell! No girl except Lily has ever turned me down!”
“I know, and maybe that’s why you like her so much,” Sirius said wisely as they walked.
“How so?”
“It’s human nature to want what you can’t have, mate.”
James thought that over for a moment. “No, I don’t think that’s all of it.”
“No?”
“No,” James said. “She’s got this kind of... charisma. And have you ever smelled her hair?”
Sirius looked over at him with a disbelieving look. “She actually let you get that close to her, let alone smell her hair?”
James smiled. “You dolt, she studies every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the Library, and I have an Invisibility Cloak.”
“What, are you stalking her?” Sirius gave him a look.
James cuffed him round the head. “No, you idiot, that was the day I snuck into the effing Restricted section to get that book.”
Sirius smiled reminiscently, “Ah yes, I loved that book.... Took Marley a whole hour to figure out how to curse Snivellus’ head back to normal.”
“And then he almost drowned because his head had been kept in a huge tank of water to keep him alive!” James laughed.
The two of them made their way to breakfast, and then they got there Lily Evans wasn’t at the table, and therefore must have already left. They both sat at the table and ate with the other Gryffindors, who were loudly talking about the match today. After a while, James left the table, waving to Sirius and newly arrived Remus and Peter, following the other team members out to the area to pep talk before the game. Once they got to the Quidditch stadium, captain Mikie Jorgenson looked at the conditions.
“James, there’s still a load of snow on the ground, and there’s no clouds,” he said over his shoulder. “That might make visibility hard because of how bright it is.”
James nodded, following Sammy Merrel into the Gryffindor locker room. They all sat around, fixing their braces and boots, as Mikie pep-talked them.
“They’re the Ravenclaws, folks. I’ve watched them extensively this year, and their tactics seem to be focused on flying quick, stealth, and feints. Feint shots, dives, and passes. So don’t be fooled all the time...”
James nodded at all of this, rolling a cramp out of his left wrist. After a while, the crowd outside was growing in number and noise, and the noise was getting to be sort of nerve wracking. James never showed it, but he was always nervous before a game. The wind in his hair as he sped upwards always calmed him, though, because it was as if the volume got turned off and the only things he could hear was the players, announcer, and the referee, who everyone called Dude Jinx. He was notorious for getting accidents, especially when teaching the first years how to fly.
After a while, Mikie led the procession across the field and into the stadium. James felt his stomach twinge oddly, seeing all the faces surrounding him. They met the Ravenclaws in the muddle, and Dude Jinx had the Quaffle in his hands.
“All right, y’all aren’t second years, you know the rules,” he said. “Good match, play fair. Captains, shake yer hands...” Mikie shook hands with a burly sort of blond haired, tall guy. “Mount your brooms.”
James swung his leg over his broom, waiting for Jinx to kick open the crate and blow the whistle. He kicked open the crate and the balls flew out, and a millisecond later a loud, sharp blare told him that the game had started. James shot up, immediately feeling far less nauseous. James was notorious for fast catches, and was determined to keep that record. He flew past the other players, glancing sideways at Ravenclaw Seeker and seventh year, Vick Longstrom.
Coming up to what he thought of as searching altitude (two feet above where the players were) he heard Vick snicker at how close James was to the stream of fire, a.k.a. all the players rocketing around just below him. The announcer, whoever that was, was talking wildly, and James sort of circled the pitch, looking around for a glint of gold. He saw one a few times, but it was Ravenclaw Chaser Keeley Robert’s watch, which sort of pissed him off.
James was watching Mikie shoot a bludger at a Ravenclaw player, when suddenly something gold fluttered past in front of his face, immediately followed by a blur of blue robes. Heart hammering, James lay flat on his broom, chasing Longstrom and the snitch. They rocketed around the pitch, dodging each other, fellow players, and flying balls, the crowd seeing them neck and neck. Then the snitch took a heart dropping plunge down. Longstrom didn’t see it immediately, and flew on for another second, but James dived straight down after it, three minutes into the game and Gryffindor all ready up by twenty points, thirty to ten...
As the snowy ground on the edge of the pitch, near the Hufflepuff end, came closer, James realized it was back out and possibly lose, or keep on, get the snitch, and crash his Potter brains out.
GET THE SNITCH! a voice in the back of his head roared.
Squinting his hazel eyes against the rush of the wind, James reached out, fingers inches from the frantic snitch...
“OHMYGOD! Is he okay?! Someone get Madam Marley, that doesn’t look good.....”
***
Lily looked up, shocked, as the infirmary door burst open. She was currently working on paperwork, as was Madam Marley in her office, and the infirmary was completely devoid of another living soul. Now, however, Mikie Jorgenson came in with Kirke Longdon, both supporting a rather familiar black haired someone. Lily jumped to her feet and quickly went to a bed, clearing it of the medical sheets that were sitting on it, and Mikie and Kirke set James Potter, pretty much unconscious, onto it. In came Sammy Merrel, Will Sanders, and Krystul Marl, all still wearing their Quidditch robes. Madam Marley came rushing out of her office, and Lily sort of grew nauseous at the sight of James. He was covered in blood, and several things looked broken. She’d always been slightly queasy around a lot of blood.
Kirke, who was also in Charms club with Lily, looked over. “Lilis, maybe you shouldn’t... You get queasy around blood...”
She waved him off, quickly pushing aside the other Quidditch players as Marley quickly went to get several different kinds of potions. Lily pulled off James’ newly cracked glasses, tossing them on to the bedside table. Propping him on the pillow, Lily pulled open the Quidditch robes and saw a fine mass of blood on his white under shirt, too. Cursing softly, she sat beside him on the bed, moving quickly. Gently pulling his head up, she wrenched the robes off him and tossed them aside. Gently setting his head back down, Lily helplessly looked behind her to see where Marley had gotten to. Quite obviously James had at least three broken bones, a bad concussion, and something was wrong with his chest.
Turning back, Lily saw Sammy bringing over some water to wipe the blood off his face. She gratefully took it, taking a clean bed sheet and dipping it in the cold water. Kirke was saying something to Mikie, and they both turned, walking back over to the main area of the infirmary. Wiping off the congealed blood, Lily convulsed for a moment, feeling James’ blood on her fingers. Bracing herself for a minute, she shook her head and continued wiping off his face. The rest of the team left, Sammy going to see where Marley had gotten to and if perhaps she needed help finding something.
“Damn you, James Potter, you just had to go and do some sort of stupid faint dives, didn’t you?!” Lily hissed.
Lily wrenched James’ tucked in shirt out of his pants, pulling it up and seeing that yes, indeed, a rib was broken and poking through his skin. She stared at it for a second, before gently mopping up the blood all over his rather well toned chest. Suddenly a hand took hers, and she looked to see that James’ hazel eyes were staring foggily at her.
“Please... I need to tell you something... Come closer..." he murmured, voice obviously pained.
She glanced around, disbeliving, before realizing that he was in a great deal of pain and therefore would really not be able to play a trick on her or something. Lily slowly leaned closer, turning her ear to him so she could hear a bit better.
"You know... under any other circumstances I’d be thrilled that you’re undressing me...” he whispered.
And before Lily could let out a sound of indignant horror, James kissed her cheek and then passed out again.
Chapter 5
Nurse Lily
Lily stared, wide in some kind of horror, at the newly unconscious James Potter on his sickbed. How dare he! A blush was steadily creeping over her pale cheeks, and she wasn’t quite sure how to handle this situation. Shaking her head, she continued to wipe the oozing blood off of his chest, blithely ignoring that she was flushing rather badly and still quite furious. Suddenly Marley finally came back, followed by Sammy, who was carrying a second tray of potions. Marley was infamous for completely over-doing healing processes, and would often keep people in the hospital wing for a whole day for small things like hex backfires in Charms.
Lily stood, moving aside so Madam Marley could get at James and heal him up. She turned to Sammy, who looked a bit grossed out by the bone poking through James’ chest.
“Er... perhaps you all had best leave,” Lily said softly, pulling Sammy towards the door.
Sammy nodded. “Yeah, uh... You all take care of him, and we’ll be back round later.”
She turned and left with the other Gryffindors. Marley was tutting over the bone, and Lily wasn’t quite sure what to do. Marley handed her a tray and loaded potions onto it after forcing them down James’ throat. She also mopped up his chest and gave him a load of spells and so forth. After a while, Lily quickly went and emptied off the tray onto the counter, putting the bloody sheets in a bin to be washed and disinfected.
Lily wrinkled her nose. Because everyone knows that a Potter is an infection.
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Something in Lily’s head told her to wake up, but she didn’t much fancy the idea. It seemed like she’d only just managed to fall asleep. Marley had fussed over Potter all day, and then the other players that had received minor injuries. She’d not gotten a lunch break and barely been able to get out for dinner. Marley needed her and wouldn’t let her leave, as Potter’s effing bone was being stubborn. They had to ease it back into the skin over a day or so and then they’d be able to mend it up. But he’d be sore for a while. Serve him right, she felt.
Well in any case, it was probably round eleven at night or so, and Marley wanted her to stay there overnight. She’d only done it because the nurse had promised her extra points for not only Gryffindor, but also her Potions grades. Which was always fine, though Lily Evans wasn’t the sort that actually needed points for their grades, and wouldn’t unless they skipped school for a month.
Wake up....
Was her mind talking to her? She brushed away something that tickled her ear.
“Wake up.....”
Cogs and wheels were starting to turn in her head, though unwillingly. After a few or so seconds, the little voice came back, urging her to wake up for a fourth time, and Lily froze. Her eyes snapped open and she bolted upright, letting out a loud shriek and nearly toppling over a young man with very messy black hair. There was a large strip of slightly bloody gauze round his middle, but it hid nothing but a broken bone. He grinned down at her, wearing naught but boxer shorts and an un-tied bathrobe. And, of course, his stupid Potter grin.
***
Smiling down at Lily, James felt a bit of subconscious embarrassment for her. Her red hair was falling out of her bun, her hat had fallen off along the line somewhere, there was blood on her apron, and her shirt and skirt was rumpled from her sleep. Come to think of it, her skirt had ridden up a few inches, too... She was messy and disheveled. Just how James thought she looked sexiest.
“James Potter, scare me again and next time hexes will fly before you can blink!” Lily gasped.
He grinned. “Well I’m sorry if I thought that my nurse should be doing her job.”
Her pretty face clouded over with a million angry retorts, but she seemed at a loss for what to say and settled with an evil glare that made his arm hair stand on end. Her brilliant green eyes quickly swept over him, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“What’re you looking at?” he asked coyly.
“In case you didn’t notice, you’re half naked.”
James smiled brightly. “I am fit, aren’t I?”
Honestly he was. Not only did he keep in shape from Quidditch, but he also did Muggle push-ups and sit-ups every night before his shower, after he came in from a run round the grounds.
Lily’s cheeks slightly flushed. “I didn’t say that!”
“But you were thinking it.”
“Look, Potter, if I’m to nurse over you for the three days it’s going to take to get that bone back in your skin, we’d better get one thing effing straight right now!” Lily hissed, standing and poking his shoulder. “You are not to make any of those stupid comments. Our conversations should be school appropriate.”
James interrupted her. “Do you remember I kissed you?”
Lily’s cheeks flushed. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Someone’s floating on Da-Nile River.”
“That was the corniest thing I’ve ever heard,” Lily said, nonetheless smiling. “But I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. That being said, you’re not to touch me unless it’s life or death. Got it?”
James smiled all the way through this. “Then why did you poke me five times if I’m not to touch you?”
Lily glared at him. “Do you need medications, Mister Potter?”
He shook his head. “Nope, I’m fine. Er....”
“Good night, Mister Potter.”
“But, I just wo-”
“Good night, Mister Potter,” she repeated firmly.
James sighed and nodded, walking off to his bed a few down, as Lily had taken a free one in a corner. However, he paused a few feet away.
“Does that mean I’m not to speak of you kissing me?”
Lily glared. “I did not kiss you, Potter. You tricked me and lunged yourself at me to plant what you seem to think suffices as a human kiss on my cheek.”
“Oh, so you do admit it happened?” he asked brightly.
Lily glared, before shaking her head in defeat and walking off towards the desk full of paperwork, muttering to himself. James smiled and went back over to his bed, which was already surrounded by get well cards from his close friends. Remus, Sirius, Peter, Sirius, Sammy, Sirius, Will, Sirius, Krystal, Sirius, a conjoined moving one from Kirke and Mikie... And a few more from Sirius. As James read on, he saw they were all one-word cards and that they fit together to make a sentence.
Laughing, James set all his cards aside and slowly lowered himself into the bed, painfully, before settling for sleep and hoping to god he wouldn’t roll over during the night.
****************************************************************
“Lilis!”
“Mmm...?”
“LILIS! Wake the eff up!”
Lily’s head snapped up so fast that she gave herself a crick. Becky, shrouded in a large, dark cloak, was crouching next to her in the infirmary.
“I’ve come to rescue you.”
“What the eff you talkin about, Bekker?” Lily mumbled, checking her watch.
Becky sighed. “Potter? He annoying the shit out of you yet?”
“Understatement,” Lily said. “Yesterday was.... hell.”
She’d spent all Sunday in the infirmary, and was damn glad that she had to go back up to school today. James got the day off and would resume tomorrow, so thankfully she was being given an entire set of daily classes, without James Potter in them. Taking the uniform Becky had brought her, Lily went into the infirmary shower and quickly cleaned herself. It felt liberating, and as she quickly dressed and stepped out of the room, she could not help but notice that the room faintly smelled of a spicy sort of cologne. Shaking her head, Lily dried her hair and left the bathroom. Becky was flipping through a magazine, waiting with both their bags. She sighed, still tired, and hoped to god that she got to the Hall in time for breakfast.
“HELP!”
Lily froze in her tracks, a very pissed look coming over her face. Becky looked over at the bed from which the dramatic yell had come, and made a face. Squaring her shoulders, Lily turned and stalked over.
“HELP! HEEELP!! HEEEEL- oh, there you are, what do you want?” asked James Potter.
He was sprawled over his bed in a fashion suggesting he were bored, and was cursing fake blood to dribble out of the corner of his mouth. Lily glared at him.
“Why were you screaming for help?”
“I wasn’t screaming. I was using my theatrical voice. And, I’m bored.”
“JAMES POTTER YOU ARE AN INSUFFERABLE TWIT!” Lily yelled.
He smiled. “Thanks. HEELP! HELP!”
Lily winced as he went on shrieking for help, frequently jabbing his wand at the corner of his mouth to make more fake blood ooze out. Furious at his stupidity, Lily smacked his stomach hard. He jumped up, curling over himself, and let out a real shriek of pain.
“MY RIB! OWW!” he gasped. “Damn, Evans, that hurt...”
She saw tears of pain in his eyes as he glared at her, and sighed, rolling her eyes. “If you didn’t piss me off so badly!”
Lily sat next to him, making him move over a bit so she could fit, and reached for a wash cloth on the side table. She dipped it in a bowl of water and gently wiped the fake blood off his chin. He watched her, still clutching his stomach slightly. As she wrung out the cloth and put it back, he said,
“Weren’t you supposed to not touch me?”
His voice wasn’t arrogant or show-offy, like normal. It was an honest question. Lily blinked in surprise that James Potter could be straightforward, and it shocked her into being so herself.
“Hard not to feel pity on you when you’re lying bunged in the infirmary,” she shrugged.
“You didn’t give me a sarcastic remark,” James said.
Lily smiled. “Because you didn’t give me one. I like you better when you’re not arrogant.”
He grinned. “You realize you just insinuated that you like me?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Not in your wildest dreams, Potter.”
“Methinks you don’t want to know my wildest dreams.”
She made a face at him, shaking her head and standing. “Have a nice day, Potter.”
“Will you come visit me?”
She froze and turned round to face him. “Why? Unfortunately, you’ll see me tonight.”
James grinned. “I’m going to get bored in here, and if Sirius comes he’ll get banned. Pleeeeeease? Come visit be during lunch?”
“Potter-”
“Pleeeeease?”
“Potter-”
“PLEEEEEEEEASE?”
Lily stared at him as he pouted. It was actually... cute. NO it wasn’t. James Potter wasn’t cute. No way. But nonetheless, him pouting made her feel bad. She sighed.
“Fine.”
“Yay!”
Lily gave him a venomous glare, before turning and leaving. Becky was right outside the curtain, and smirked as she handed Lily her bag.
“Someone’s got a daaaa-aate!”
Lily glared at her, leaving the infirmary. “Hardly. He guilted me into it.”
“I thought you told me you were an unbreakable force against James Potter and the stupid Potter charm?” asked Becky, following her through the halls.
Lily glared back at her. “You’re an idiot, Becks. No Potter charm was involved. He’s bunged up and can’t go anywhere and his best mate is so loud he’d get himself banned. You know how Sirius is...”
“Yeah, he is hyper. And hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!”
“Nothing, you moron.”
“Oh.”
The girls went to late breakfast together, then to classes. As the clock ticked her closer to noon, Lily Evans couldn’t help but feel like a cornered mouse being bared down on by a fierce tabby cat. When the bell rang to leave Charms class and go to the hospital wing, she sighed heavily, waving glumly at Becky. Walking through the halls, Lily had to wonder what James was going to do to her. Probably, knowing him and his arrogant self, set up some kind of table with spaghetti or some stupid romantic thing. She rolled her eyes at that thought. James Potter was a ladies’ man.
Going into the infirmary and setting down her bag, she resolutely went over to the screen hiding his bed. However, when she stepped around it, there was no table, no spaghetti, no romantic dinner. Just James sitting on his bed grinning and a plate of sandwiches next to him, a flagon of pumpkin juice and two tumblers next to that.
“Hullo, Evans!” he smiled. “What’s wrong?”
Lily realized her was staring at him in wide eyed shock. “Nothing.”
He grinned. “What, did you expect me to like... drag out the minstrels, or something?”
“....No.”
He started laughing. “You did, didn’t you?!”
“I didn’t say th-”
“But your look said it!” he laughed.
Lily glared at him, having half a mind to crack the flagon over his head. “Well, you’re always asking me out, so I figured this would be yet another perfect stab at it for you.”
James wiped a tear from his eye and shook his head. “Nah. A wise man recently told me that men always want what they can’t have, so I have decided I am not going to ask you out any more.”
Lily felt her eyebrow raise. Suuure he wasn’t. James Potter was notoriously infatuated with her, but he wasn’t going to make any attempts anymore. That was a good thing, she’d finally have peace and quiet. But then again, she sort of didn’t like the idea. WHAT?! Of course she liked the idea, James Potter was finally off her back.
***
James watched as Lily’s facial expressions changed quickly. First her eyebrow raised, then fell along with her mouth, and then her eyes sort of widened for a minute, before she got a sort of glaring look on her face.
“You er, okay?” he asked, trying not to grin.
What did her rapid face changing mean?
“Yea,” she said flatly. “Anyways, I’ve got to leave in a half hour, so... Pass the plate, please.”
He did so, and poured them both out some juice. They both ate in silence for a while, punctuated by Lily telling him what he’d missed in class today. James watched her keenly, as she seemed to be thinking. After a while, she sighed and checked her watch.
“I’ve got to go, Herbology today.”
“It’s still snowed outside,” James said.
She shrugged. “Professor Scoriae doesn’t care. He’s a nut.”
James grinned and nodded as Lily stood, brushing crumbs off her skirt. He watched her as she moved. He always liked being able to just watch her. She moved gracefully without really trying, and he supposed it was because the nine years of ballet classes she’d had, or at least Becky said. She’d told him she had gotten to pointe, whatever that was, and it was supposedly really advanced. Lily always had seemed kid of good on her toes, except for that one time he’d tripped her up in fourth year...
“Anyways, I’ll see you later, James,” she said.
He blinked and smiled. “You called me by my first name.”
She paused. “I suppose I did. Perhaps you’re actually becoming more human?” Lily smiled.
James shrugged. “Maybe. Glad you seem to think so.”
She looked thoughtful. “Well, after he’s stopped hitting on me and stopped being an arrogant dirk, James Potter isn’t totally unbearable.”
Smiling, she waved and left. James smiled to himself and punched the air in some kind of victory, smiling and not really knowing why.
Chapter 6
Double-0 Becky
Becky looked up as James Potter wearily sat on the couch. He was fresh from a day of school, and Tuesday had seemingly never been tougher. She smirked over her Charms homework.
“Rough day, Jamsie-poo?”
He gave her a half glare. “You’ve no idea. At least Lily seems to think I’m sort of okay.”
“Yeah, did you curse her or something?” Becky asked, raising an eyebrow.
He shook his head, searching through his bag. “Nope. Just... talked to her.”
“Amazing what language can do for you, isn’t it?”
He cast her a look as she laughed. There was silence between them for a while, before James spoke again.
“What the hell is point, by the way?”
“You said it wrong, I can tell,” Becky said. “Pointe, with an ‘e’ at the end. You don’t make the ‘e’ really noticeable, but you do have to sort of pronounce it a little when you say pointe.”
“That sounds exactly like point without an ‘e’,” James said, staring at her.
Becky shook her head. “No it doesn’t. Say it. Pointe.”
“Pointe,” James repeated.
“No, you said it without the ‘e’, James.”
“No I didn’t!” James said hotly. “POIN-TAY!”
Becky now started laughing. “WAY wrong. Pointe.”
“Pointie.”
“Now you’re being a smartass.”
He smiled his Potter smile, which got her to soften her stern expression a bit. Damn did James love being a Potter. “Seriously, it’s... pointe?”
“Close. Almost like a little accent mark.”
“Pointe?”
“No, you said it like it was p-OI-int-ah or something.”
“Damn it!” James said loudly, causing a few people to look over.
Becky looked as though she were trying not to laugh. “Look, it’s a French word, so treat it like a French word.”
“Okay... Pointe?”
“There you go!” Becky smiled. “Only took you a bajillion tries.”
“Well then,” James sighed. “What is pointe?”
Becky shrugged. James glared, and she laughed, nodding. “Yes, I’m kidding, I know what it is. You know how Muggles have ballet?”
“Wizards do, too,” James said, slightly confused.
“Yea, well Muggle ballet is harder because you’ve got to train and practice and work for years to get good whereas with wizarding ballet you can be awesome in like, a year,” Becky said. “Well anyways, pointe is like the advanced ballet for Muggles. Wizards have got Friscue, you know the one where they train so that their leaps look like they’re flying. Well anyways. It take years and years to get on pointe, and Lily can do it.”
James nodded. “That’s pretty impressive. But what is it, really?”
“Oh, er... It’s.. you wear like this special kind of shoe,” Becky said. “One day I’ll nick one of Lily’s for you so you can see it. It’s sort of got this huge chunk of metal in the toe that you can stand on, so you look like you’re dancing on your toes.”
“That sounds barbaric!” James said, slightly scandalized.
Becky shrugged. “Don’t ask me, mate. I’ve only seen Lilis doing stretches and a few whirly turns that she calls pirouettes.”
James nodded. “She any good?”
Becky scoffed. “From what I can tell, yuh! Damned if I can get my effing leg to stretch that high!” She eyed James, who was snickering. “And don’t be telling her you know that.”
James nodded, still shaking with laughter, not even bothering to imagine what Becky was talking about. After a while, James looked over, as Becky was working back on her homework.
“So... does she still dance?”
Becky shrugged. “She does stretches a few times a week. It’s one of her few passions, you know, so she really does like to keep up with it. She tried getting me in a pair of regular ballet shoes to teach me a bit, one time.” She looked up and shook her head. “Some of those stretches she does hurt like eff.”
James laughed silently, earning himself a glare. Well, then, if Lily was as flexible as Becky let on, James would just have to find out some way to trick her into revealing that. Glancing around his surroundings for good measurement, he made sure to note everything. Becky stared at him.
“What’re you doing?” she asked suspiciously.
“Nothing,” he said, managing to look innocent very well.
She gave him a disbelieving look, before looking over as the portrait hole opened. “There’s Lilis. Go away now or else she’ll catch on that I’m your little information vault.”
Sniggering slightly, James managed to his feet and grabbed his bag, going over to where Remus and Sirius were sitting, actually working on homework. As he sat, he heard Lily talking to Becky quietly, probably asking her what the fuck they’d been talking about. Shaking his head, James sat and looked over at the boys, who seemed to be flipping through magazines boredly.
“Moony, you still taking Advanced Muggle Studies, right?” James asked.
Remus looked over. “Yeah, why?”
“Can I see your books?”
Sirius dropped his magazine along with his jaw. “WHAT?! James Potter wants to read... and about Muggles?”
James shrugged, and Remus looked suspicious. “What’re you gonna do to my book?”
“Nothing!” he said in a hurt tone of voice.
“Yes, well,” Remus said, “I still remember the time you borrowed a certain very valuable library book from me and somehow it ended up in Professor Kettleburn’s Unicorn’s, er... Feces.”
James grimaced at the memory. “Aww Moony, I told her it was my fault! I got the detentions from Kettleburn, too, and the ones that the librarian asked for me to get.”
Nonetheless, Remus looked a little wary of letting James Potter near his precious Advanced Muggle Studies book, but after a while let him at it. James thankfully tok the book, running a finger along the index. Sirius, who had looked up from his Charms work, was watching his mate oddly.
“James, is it just me or are you studying something other than your required class?” he asked.
James shook his head. “Nope, I am.”
“HELP MOONY!” Sirius gasped loudly, clutching his heart. “IT’S A SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE!”
James rolled his eyes and flipped to the Muggle Fine Arts Performances and Learning section.
***
Lily shot Sirius Black a look as he screamed something about an apocalypse, then noticed that James Potter actually seemed to be reading.
“Amazing,” she muttered.
“Isn’t he?” asked Becky.
Lily gave her a face. “I meant that he was reading.”
Becky smiled. “I know.”
Lily raised one coppery red eyebrow. “You know. You sounded oddly as though you fancy James Potter.”
Becky shrugged, smiling innocently. “I don’t know.”
“What about Charles!” Lily gasped.
Becky giggled. “Charles will always be my favorite, but that doesn’t mean that there’s never a second best. The only way to find out is to ask him if he thinks I fancy him.”
“Why can’t I just ask you?” Lily asked.
“Because I’m not sure. James has a keen sense for when girls like him.”
“And you know this how...?”
Becky shrugged innocently. “I just do. Now if you want to know skip on over there.”
“I’ve got homework to do, Becks.”
And she indeed dragged out her books and started working on Herbology. But, nonetheless, it bothered her. After about ten minutes or so and a badly written beginning to a very long essay, Lily sighed.
“You bloody win.”
Becky snickered, “I always do.”
Casting her an evil glare, Lily stood and set down her book. She stood there for a minute or so, watchng the boys all reading and studying, which was nothing short of a miracle. Peter Pettigrew was gone, somewhere, probably being told off by a prefect. Did she actually want to do this?
But, after glancing and seeing the smirk on Becky’s face, she knew she had to.
“Becks, you know you’re horrible, right?” Lily sighed.
She shrugged, smiling. “Absolutely not! I’m perfect in every way.”
Lily rolled her eyes and squared her shoulders, before making her way over to where Potter, Lupin, and Black all sat. As she approached, Remus looked up, which prompted Sirius to look up, then jump.
“Holy hell, mate, it is the apocalypse!” he said loudly.
Lilly huffed. “Well, if you don’t want me here-!”
“S’not that, it’s just... first Jamsie is studying, and now you’re actually coming over here as if you want to talk to us!” Sirius said.
“There’s nothing wrong with you guys,” Lily said quietly.
“What?!” Sirius was picking at his ear in quite a repulsive manner as James watched over the top of his book. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
Lily sighed. “Don’t be disgusting, Black.”
“I seriously think I have got a buildup in my ear-”
“Padfoot!” James said, sounding scandalized. “Bloody hell, mate, that’s disgusting!”
“You do it all the time,” Sirius shrugged.
Lily closed her eyes, waiting for it to all be over.
James sounded carefree. “Yus, but not in the prescence of a lady, act like a gentleman.” Her green eyes flew open. Did James Potter actually just do something chivalrous for her?! “Can we help you, L- Evans?”
Lily just stared at them all, knowing how awkward this was going to sound. “Er, right. Anyways, Bekks and I were taking and she seems to think she might have a liking for you.”
There was a silence.
“And she thinks that she doesnt know if she does.”
Another silence as they stared at her.
“And she thinks that you have this keen sense, Potter, about knowing when girls like you. So, does Becky like you?”
James had lowered his book and was staring at Lily silently, like the other two boys. She stood there expectantly for a minute, before laughter was heard from Becky’s general direction. Lily’s cheeks flushed and she hung her head.
“Right, I’ll go crawl in a hole now.”
She turned to go.
***
Outwardly, James Potter was blanker than a newly washed blackboard. Inwardly, he was dying with laughter. Becky never ceased to amaze him. Perhaps if he weren’t so enamored with Lily he’d like her. No, wait, he didn’t like her anymore...
“Lily,” he said, stopping her.
She turned, cheeks still aflame. How did she manage to look so cute when she was so obviously downtrodden? He always liked watching her flush, somehow it made her cute. She glared at him, hands thrust in her robe pockets.
“What, Potter?”
He inwardly winced. Why couldn’t she call him by his first name? “Er, no, Becky doesn’t like me. Why’d you ask?”
Lily shrugged. “Because she was being an annoying little git going on about you. And I started getting suspicious, for Charles.”
James just nodded. There was a silence, before Lily noticed the book he was still holding.
“I thought you didn’t take Muggle studies, let alone advanced,”she said.
James glanced at the book. “Er, I’m just doing a bit of reading.”
Lily peered at the page title. “Dance, Theater, and Performing Arts of the Muggle World,” she read aloud before James could put his hand over it. “I could help you with that if you needed.”
Exitement flooded him, but James pretended to consider it. “If I need help, I’ll ask you. What do you know about it?”
She smiled, the blush gone, and James was floored. She’d never smiled at him, before, and it was a nice feeling. “I’ve been in dance for nine years, Potter. I’d know a bit about it.”
“Oh?” he asked casually, ignoring that Sirius was sniggering. “Is it hard?”
Lily nodded. “At first you can’t walk, but after a while your toes get used to the pain.” He must have looked confused, because she added, “Oh, I’m in ballet. Pointe.”
He was pleased to hear that Becky wasn’t bullshiting him on the name. “Pointe,” he repeated, saying it correctly. “I should look that up.”
Lily nodded. “I’m surprised you said it correctly. A lot of boys think that it’s just point, flat out. Anyways. See you later, Potter.”
And she turned and walked away. James watched her go, grinning to himself, and then heard Sirius cough loudly. Looking over, he saw both of his friends watching him.
“Well, if that wasn’t coreographed,” Sirius said.
“I’ve got no idea what you mean.”
Remus said, “I’m only going to repeat Lily... Most boys don’t say it correctly the first time...”
James gave them both an evil glare, ignoring them. He turned back to his book and kept reading, devising some sort of twisted and evil plot to, A, get her to study with him, B, make her reveal to him that she was, in fact, flexible, and C, to get to know Lily Evans better.
Chapter 7
Library Time
Lily Evans didn’t know why or how, but Friday evening the following week found her headed towards the Library to meet James Potter to study. Which Becky seemed to think constituted as a “study date,” but of course Becky was the sort to make a big deal out of everything. Shaking her red head, Lily entered the library, ignoring the other people as she went to sit at a table. Setting down her bags, she dragged out her Potions homework, as Slughorn was particularly foul today and had given loads of homework.
“Oh, how I bloody wish I was done with this already!” Lily muttered to herself, starting on her 14 inch essay about how liquid iron was essential in a Blood Replenishing potion. After a few minutes and about eight painstaking sentences, someone else sat down opposite her. She glanced up. “Hullo, Potter.”
He smiled, wet from Quidditch practice and it raining-slash-snowing outside. “Hi, Lily. Why don’t you call me by my first name?”
She felt a stab of annoyance. “Because I don’t feel like it. Are you working on your Charms homework?”
James grinned. “Anything to get out of Potions, eh?”
Lily sighed. “Honestly, yes. I abhor it. At least the way Slughorn teaches it with that stupid Slug Club of his.”
He nodded, grabbing out his scribbled sheet of parchment covered in homework assignments. “So do I. He’s been trying to recruit me into it... But I was honestly going to do a bit more studying on the theater.”
“Why are you so interested in Muggle theatrics all of a sudden?” Lily asked. “The past week that’s all you’ve been reading about.”
“You watch what I’m reading?” James asked, a shocked look in his blue eyes.
Lily rolled her eyes. “Dream on, Potter. Black talks to me about you nonstop. I think he’s in love with you.”
James shook his head, flinging some water off his notoriously messy hair as he did so. “Nah, he’s just my best mate. Anyways.... Any idea why Flitwick wants us to work with Boggarts? That’s third year...”
“Probably you Auror lot,” Lily shrugged. “We’ve got to track one down if we can do the homework properly, in any case. I suspect he wants you all to freshen up on dealing with them...”
James seemed to be thinking, as water dripped into his face. “What’re you afraid of, Lily?”
Lily jumped and stared at him, feeling an odd sensation in her gut. “Why do you want to know?”
He shrugged. “I figured it’d be a conversation piece.”
She shook her head, bending back over her potions essay. “Well it’s not. And that’s not any business of yours.”
“Someone’s a little defensive, don’t you think?” James asked. “I’ll tell you what mine is.”
“I don’t care what yours is.”
“It suddenly got very cold in here,” he remarked dryly.
She glared at him through narrowed eyes. “Yes, it’s return of the I.B.”
“...I.B.?”
“Ice Bitch, idiot.”
“I never said th-”
“You didn’t have to, Potter,” Lily spat. “Everyone knows I am.”
“And I thought we’d been getting on so well!” he said loudly. “What changed?!”
Lily felt a ripple of panic under her angry annoyance. “That also is none of your business. I’m going to the common room.”
She stood, grabbing her things and shoving them into her bag. James stared at her, shocked. “What’d I say?!”
She just gave him a glare so evil it made his flesh crawl. She threw her bag over her shoulder and cast a last glance, before stalking away. James watched her, shocked, before jumping up and sweeping everything of his (two sheets of parchment and a quill) into his bag with one arm. Throwing it over himself, he took off after Lily, and caught her near the door. He grabbed her arm, and suddenly a small hand swung out to hit him. He ducked, and she looked momentarily shocked, before becoming angry again, and wrestling out of his grip.
“Let me go!”
He did so as if she were burning his hand, and said, “I just want to know why I ticked you off!”
She glared up at him. Which was really funny to James, as she was a good head shorter than him, when wearing shoes. “None of your business, Potter. Now move.”
He hadn’t realized it, but he was blocking the exit. He crossed his arms and frowned down at her.
“Now really, Lily. I didn’t do anything, and I think you owe me an explanation at least.”
She hissed, “Potter, if you know what is good for you, you will move. NOW.”
But James just stood there, glowering down at her. Her anger was infectious, and he was starting to get mad, too. She glared at him, green eyes blazing, and suddenly James was sort of afraid of Lily Evans. She was scary when she was mad, and no longer did he think she was cute. A spitfire, a hot spitfire, but scary. James somehow managed to keep glowering down at her, arms crossed over his wet Quidditch robes, and she was getting angrier by the millisecond. She took a step back.
“I am warning you,” she hissed. “Move.”
James shook his head firmly, slightly wet hair flopping and stinging his face as he did so. She glared at him and shrugged. Next thing he knew he was crumpling towards the ground, seeing nothing but stars of pain and letting out a howl against his will. Damn did she have a high kick!
Evans shot him a glare almost as painful as her kick, and said, “That, Potter, would be a grande battema.” Then she stalked out.
He whimpered in pain, ubale to blink back thw hite hot stars. Some people had looked over, and someone called,
“You all right, James?”
“Yeah,” he managed, his voice very high pitched in pain. “I’m ookie...”
And he stumbled out of the Library.
How dare he! HOW DARE HE?!! Lily Evans stormed through the halls in a spitting rage, not really knowing where she was headed because she was still inwardly cursing James Potter. If only she’d thought to use wordless spells! She’d have been able to hit him with anything and he’d not have known weather to block it or not. Serve that big headed, pig breathed, foul mouthed, idiotic, rude, moronic, stupid- Wait, stupid and idiotic are the same... Anyways...
Growling to herself as she went down a set of stairs and rounded a corner, Lily was furious at him. What was he playing at, asking what she was afraid of! Hell, it’d been so long since she’d taken a good look in the mirror that she didn’t properly know the answer to that, herself. A few years ago, it’d been failure, but not anymore. Lily Evans was a headstrong girl, Muggleborn and proud of it because of the shelters it’d provided. She hadn’t grown up knowing about biting knarls, Dementors, dark lords, or backfiring hexes that make you puke your guts out in cotton candy. Therefore Lily Evans was not afraid of many of these things, the WitchWives Tales, as she called them.
And, the Dark Lord...
She shuddered slightly, hopping the last four stairs and headed down some corridor. He was a new person, relatively, but very, very cruel. People were dying left and right, and the Ministry was up in arms about it. She was sort of scared that all these people she knew were becoming Aurors, as there was a fair chance she’d not know them much longer after they did. And she herself was taking a risk by becoming a Healer, just a month ago some wing of Mungo’s had been blown to smithereens.
She’d heard tales of these little minions, the Death Eaters, and there were a few here at Hogwarts. Seventh and sixth years, the sixth years the ones that’d been too stupid to keep up their grades enough to get to seventh year where they, age-wise, belonged. Slytherins, mostly.Bellatrix Black, Sirius’ cousin, was among the fabled. Which was not surprising, as she was not only the H.O.B. (Hogwarts Official Bitch), but also a breeze at dark magic. She let everyone know it, and the in-between classes fights she instigated with the stupid, jealous Slytherin boys in the corridor were infamous for broken bones, loads of blood, and loads of detentions, though amazingly never on her part.
She was good. At not getting caught at wrongdoings of any sort, that is.
Shaking her head, she remembered that Bellatrix loved to hang round Lucius Malfoy. He was a Hogwarts govornor, though he’d graduated the school just four years ago. Living proof that the more money you inherieted from your daddy, the more of a powerful grip on society you could get at a young age. He was enamored with Slytherin Narcissa Black, also related to Sirius, sister to Bellatrix, of course a Slytherin. She was a sort of scary, ethereal looking seventh year. Vicious, cruel, and downright whore, everyone in Hogwarts knew that Narcissa Black was Second H.O.B. But she always looked fierce, with long, straight blond hair and dazzling blue eyes in her pale but stunningly pretty face, and loads of fights had happened between boys in corridors, though she was notoriously but not officially Malfoy property.
Smiling as she turned another corner, Lily remembered that one time that Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy had gotten into a fight. It’d been interesting, as Snape had been a second year and Lucius a seventh year and a prefect. But it’d been more interesting because no one had won the apparent duel, even though it took teachers fifteen minutes to break it up. Evidently Severus Snape could hold his own in the Dark Arts.
And that boy! He was a different story all together! What did he mean by, yelling at her and insulting her after she’d saved him from being de-panted last year? Or, maybe she hadn’t, she’d never stuck round to see it. Not that she’d have wanted to. It was hard to imagine that anyone, really, had body parts under their clothes, she’d always thought of it as so. It was just so strange to think that people had private parts under their clothes that she preferred to think that most people didn’t, especially old people and parents. And ten times so with Severus Snape. As far as Lily Evans was concerned, he was smooth under those school robes, like her old Miss Missy Mizz doll, from childhood, with her smooth plastic and un-anatomically-correct-ness.
Shivering at the notion that Severus Snape might actually have some genitalia, let alone male ones, Lily forced her mind back on the I-Hate-Potter track that she was firmly trying to stay in. Although, she didn’t know why, but it was hard to stay on it. There was a nagging voice in the back of her mind telling her it’d been unfair to explode on him like that, and then kick him in the, er... you-know. Probably some of especially mostly that last part. She could trust him....
No. Definitely not. James Potter was not one of those types that you up and confided your deepest fears in, just because he was the type that would likely use it against you for a horrible trick. She had no doubt that if she told him something like she was afraid of those dreams where you go to class naked (which she was not), that he’d no doubt find a way to make that happen. He’d probably love to watch Lily clutch her bag round her middle and her arm round her top, dying of blushing in embarrassment.
Not that Lily was the kind of girl that was ashamed of her body. On the whole she liked it very much, minus the feeling of being underweight and horribly pale, as seems to come with being a redhead, and those infernal freckles. But it was the notion of boys. They were just.... boys. Enough said. But one thing was certain from her exploding and kicking him today.
He definitely did have male genitalia.
Chapter 8
Bubble Girl Evans
“My dear students, may I have your attention?”
The chatter in the hall kept on.
“Excuse me.”
Persistant as ever.
“HUSH! The Headmaster has something to say!”
Everyone stopped talking immediately as the new teacher, Professor McGonagall, glared angrily at them and nodded, sitting. There was silence, before Dumbledore cleared his throat.
“Thank you, Professor McGonagall... As I was going to say, the Ministry is popping by for our inspection today, so would you all please not give them a reason to think you are the horrible children some people think you are?”
A sniggering went across the hall of young, teenaged hippies.
“Right. Well, back to your breakfast, then,” he smiled, sitting back down.
Lily looked over at Becky. “Why d’you think they didn’t tell us?”
“So we didn’t have time to foul everything up, of course,” she smiled innocently.
“Yes, well if being part of the Every-Ten-Years-Ministry-Inspection is worth anything, I’m going to at least try to seem normal,” Lily said.
“Wizard or Muggle standards?” asked Becky, amused.
Lily glared. “Wizard.”
“Have fun with that.”
***
“Got any fireworks left, Padfoot?”
“Nope, I ran all out last week on the diversion for Slughorn,” Sirius shook his head.
Remus did, too, but not out of denial.
“Damn’t, Padfoot! Weren’t we supposed to have some left over?” asked James.
“It’s not my fault you didn’t do your homework and needed an excuse to get out of class after the prank!” Sirius said indignantly, his slight mustache quivering with self-righteous anger.
James sighed, running a hand through his hair, sticking it on end. “Well, what’re we going to do for the Ministry?”
“Aren’t you and Sirius trying to get jobs there?” asked Peter, who had thusfar been silent.
“That’s what I’m sayin’,” Remus grumbled, adding more salt to his egg.
Sirius grinned down at Peter. “Not for a few more years.”
“And besides!” said James brightly, eyes sparkling behind his glasses. “It’s not like they’ll know who did it.”
“Who did what?”
The accusing voice was accompanied by a passing person who’d stopped to investigate. Becky. Where was- Aha, there was the red headed heartbreaker.
“What business is it of yours, Bekks?” James asked, grinning.
She narrowed her blue eyes. “It’s my business because last trick you guys did ended my boyfriend in the hospital wing for two days.”
“You know you enjoyed the peace and quiet,” accused Sirius.
“Don’t make me smack the ugly off you, Black.”
“You can’t,” he grinned. “There’s no ugly to smack off.”
“I’m sure we can find some,” Becky hissed, and Lily grinned with the same intensity of evil. Which made James’ mind go blank.
She’d definately be a hot Marauder. A hot evil Maraduer. With a really killer smile that he’d seen firsthand melt even the toughest guys, though they wouldn’t admit. Too bad they’d sworn off letting girls into the club.
Sirius shook his head, “Aww, come now, I’m devilishly handsome.”
Lily raised her wand. “Only one thing right with that sentance, Sirius, and it’s not the handsome part.”
“Ooo, Evans thinks I’m a little devil,” Sirius grinned in a provocative manner.
“Oh lay off, Sirius,” Moony said, sensing James tense.
Sirius knew that James like Lily! Sure, he’d outright lied to her just so he could be her friend, but still! It wasn’t like the lie was true. What was the deal? James Potter very much still had a thing for Lily Evans, and the past fortnight since the Library incident had done nothing but heal his wounds so that there was a slim possibility he might have children someday.
“Aww, I was just having a bit of fun. Besides, you do have one really nice arse.”
Suddenly Sirius had a wand at the left side of his throat and a redhead at the right. He froze, eyes wide in horror, and James stifled the urge to laugh and then rip him to shreds for getting the privelage of being that close to Lily. She smiled at Remus, who was laughing and trying to hide it, and whispered very lowly in Sirius ear, very seductively, just to torture him.
“Make a move on me again and see where it gets you, Black.” She pressed her wand a bit harder into his neck, and then smiled at James. “Having a nice day, Potter?”
“Er... yeah?” he said slowly, unsure what to do.
“Bloody hell!” Sirius said in a voice that was half whimper half growl.
Lily smiled. “What’s that, Black? I don’t think I heard your apology correctly.”
“Apologize?!” he gasped. “For what? I didn’t whip my wand out on you, it’s vice versa, Evans!”
She shrugged, still talking in that horribly seductive tone. “You’ve no right to be looking at my arse.”
If only Lily Evans knew all the things that James looked at on her, and all the things he remembered from that run-in last year with the bathroom. She’d not just be jabbing her wand in his neck, she’d be bodily dismembering him with it. A slight flush twinged James’ cheeks, and he quickly took a sip of pumpkin juice.
“Now really, Evans,” he managed, looking at her. She looked up, still bent over Sirius’ shoulder, still smiling evily, stil the epitome of female appeal. “You know how hard headed Sirius is. You’ll be standing there till doomsday if you don’t let the poor guy go.”
“Why should I?” she glared. “He’s no bloody right to look at anything on me. Not even my homework.” She added a jab at his neck for emphasis.
“Damn, you always get me Os,” Sirius muttered, starting to look bored.
“Got,” Lily corrected him.
James smiled. “Yes, well, because I asked you to very nicely.”
One of Lily’s graceful red eyebows raised. “You did? I don’t remember that.”
“Oh. Will you let Sirius go?” he asked.
Remus was watching the entire exchange with interest as he ate his eggs, like it was a good movie on T.V. Peter looked scared, biting on his nails and watery eyes wide.
“That wasn’t very nice.”
“Will you please, oh magnificent Evans, let the poor snivveling-”
“HEY!”
“-creature from your divine grasp?” James managed a straight face.
Becky burst into the laughter she’d been repressing for five minutes. Lily let go of Sirius, giving James a disgusted look.
“Don’t make me hurl, Potter.”
“It worked, didn’t it?” he smiled, watching his best mate rub his neck.
Lily glared at him. “Go to hell.”
“Oh, so we are on talking terms again?” he smiled hopefully.
“No, I would be on talking terms with the James Potter that doesn’t have a mass ego problem, but unfortunately he seems to have died,” Lily said frigidly. “And some jerkoff was left in his place.”
This prompted Becky, still laughing, to “Ooooo!”
James felt indignant. “I’m not a jerkoff!”
Lily snorted, adjusting her bookbag on her shoulder and checking her watch. “As much as I’d pretend to love staying in your company a moment longer, I really must go, Charms starts soon. Remus-” she bent and hugged him. “I’ll see you later for patrol. Black, sorry about the hostility, drop by for an Anti-Bruising charm if you need. Pettigrew, stop your worrying, I’m not going to kill Black.”
“What, no send-off for me?!” James said, his breakfast roll half chewed in his mouth.
Lily glared at him, Becky laughing as she watched. “Fine. Potter, die and go to hell and don’t come back. Ever. I’m sick of you pretending to be a good guy and turning out to be the world’s biggest asshole. Ciao.”
With that, she turned on her heel and stalked off, head high, and a roaring Becky managed to stumble out after her. James, mouth open and ignoring the food in it, stared after her, feeling a big hole form in his pride. Sirius was laughing and trying to hide it, Peter was waiting timidly for James’ reaction, and Remus looked as though he had not a care in the world.
“MATE!” James said to Remus, infuriated by his indifference. “You’ve got to tell her off! She’s gone over the Prefect edge!”
Remus stared at James, then grabbed his books, standing. “I’ll see you all in class.”
And he, too, walked off. James stared, open mouthed and furious, after him, before turning to Peter and Sirius.
“He’s gone mental.”
“No, I just think he agrees with Evans.”
“Stuff it, Wormtail.”
Peter shrugged. “You could stop being ar-.. arr... what’s the word?”
“Air headed?” supplied Sirius.
“No.”
“Stop, guys,” James growled, feeling his ego deflate.
“Archaic?”
“...What does that even mean, Padfoot?” asked Peter.
“Something or some one that is seriously out-of-date,” Sirius grinned at James as he got angrier.
Peter shook his head, still thinking. “No...”
“Arduous?”
“No... Well, he is difficult, but not that-”
“I am right here, too!” James said loudly.
Sirius smiled innocently and Peter was still thinking, a miracle in itself, so he hadn’t heard James.
“Arrogant!” he finally said, smiling. Then the smile dropped at the look on James’ face.
“Damn,” Sirius snapped his fingers. “I was going to suggest argumentative, artifice-ish, and artless.”
James, fully infuriated, stood and strated grabbing his things, muttering spells under his breath as if he would long to shoot them at Sirius and Peter. They watched in amument and shock, accordingly, as he shot them an evil glare.
“What’d I say?” asked Sirius innocently.
“You’ve a real knack for pissing people off, Black,” James shot coldly. “And stay away from Evans.”
And without another word he stalked out.
***
Lily stormed into Charms class and slammed into her seat, Becky sliding in next to her a bit more graciously, and the bell rang.
“I hate them both!” Lily hissed.
It was, unfortunately, at this point that she noticed that, upon Becky’s head indication, one of the inspectors were sitting in the corner behind Professor Flitwick. Lily blushed slightly and lowered her head, not bothering to see if it was anyone she might have heard of. Flitwick started the lesson, and as he turned to write something on the board, Becky muttered something.
“What?” Lily whispered out of the corner of her mouth.
“I said, that bastard!” she repeated, a notch louder so Lily could hear.
“Who?”
“Look!”
Becky shot her eyes at the figure in the corner, who had a clipboard in hand. Lily waited a few minutes, until she was mending up the artfully shredded up dead rat, and dared to glance in the corner. Familiar gray eyes were surveying the classroom coldly, and she shivered, as always when she saw him.
“I hate him,” Lily whispered.
Becky nodded, “Me too.”
“What’re they playing at, letting Lucius Malfoy grade the school?” Lily whispered as she mended up a tear in the intestines. “I mean honestly, he’s so Slytherin it’s impossible for him to not hate Dumbledore.”
Becky nodded again, glaring at the corner. “I just hope he keeps his goddamn hands to his fucking self.”
“Calm down, Bekks.”
“No!” she hissed, very obviously mad. “I shouldn’t have to, Lilis, and you damn well know it!”
“Calm down for me, Bekks!” Lily whispered, trying not to attract the attention of Flitwick. “I know you’re still mad-”
“HAH!!”
Several people glanced over, but Lily gave them glares to look away, though Sirius Black was a little harder to get to mind his own business. But after a minute or so he went back to mercilessly jabbing at his rat, which thankfully for it was dead like all the other practice rats for their Internal Organ Mending lesson today.
“Mad is an understatement, Lily Evans,” Becky hissed, as if she’d never stopped talking. “I want to kill that bastard with my bare hands.”
“I know, Bek-”
“And damn if anyone but me is ever the one to stop him breathing, ok?!”
With that, Becky grabbed her books, overturned the rat onto the floor, and stormed out. A silence ensued, quickly punctuated by a loud noise as the silver dissecting tray clattered to the floor, and the door slammed.
“Miss Smith! Really!” said Professor Flitwick, hurrying towards the door.
Lily quickly started cleaning the mess Becky had made, trying not to look guilty, as she wasn’t. When she looked up, she saw Lucius Malfoy smirking across the classroom at her, and she felt her cheeks burn in anger at him. Flitwick came back in, muttering about a detention, and looked over at the foul man.
He squeaked, “I am quite sorry, Mr. Malfoy. Normally Miss Smith is an excellent student and very nice.”
Lucius nodded curtly, his blond hair slicked to his head as he sneered directly at Lily. “It’s no problem, Professor. I have come to know that quite a lot of young women are.... hard to handle. Unless of course you know just how to.”
Lily, at this point, stood, taking advantage of how flush her cheeks were. “Professor... I feel... I feel off....”
And she fell back onto the floor in a dead faint.
***
Sirius jumped up from his seat, alarmed. Professor Flitwick let out a sound of surprise along with the rest of the class, and Sirius hurried the three seats over to where Lily Evans lay on the ground, a little trickle of blood running from her brow, which had been cut. However, pushing aside a nosy seventh year, he noticed something.
Her eyelids weren’t dead still, they were twitching slightly. He was amazed at Evans, suddenly, and knew he had to act fast.
“Professor, I’ll take her up to Madam Marley for you,” he offered as the small man ambled over.“I would hate for you to have to cut lessons short. She’s been acting a bit odd today.”
“....I suppose that would be best. Please do your homework though, Black. You can’t afford to not,” Flitwick warned.
Sirius nodded, throwing his and Lily’s bags over one shoulder. Then he just hoisted her up and off the ground in his arms, kicking aside a sixth year Hufflepuff and headed out the door. She was surprisingly light, but then again maybe he was actually getting in better shape from James dragging him round the school on his suicide fitness binges.
Halfway down the hall he heard the door close, and said softly, “Now, my blushing bride, where should we go for our getaway?”
“Don’t be sick, Black. Put me down now,” Lily said, immediately coming to clear consciousness.
He did so, and handed her her bag. “Nice acting. You been taking James’ fake blood spell?” He wiped the blood off her eyebrow.
“No, that’s real, thank you very much,” she huffed, pushing his hand away. “I was actually counting on Flitwick to ennervate me and send me off to Marley alone.”
“After you’d fainted, absolutely,” Sirius chuckled. “Still, nice acting.”
Lily made a small bow, rolling her eyes. “Look, thanks for the help, Black. But I’ve got to find Becky.”
She turned and walked off. Sirius walked along with her, though, silently by her side like a dog. Hahaha wasn’t that funny...? Anyways. After a moment she stopped and looked over.
“What’re you doing?”
“Coming with you.”
“Nope.”
“Yup. I’m concerned about her, too,” Sirius said. Lily raised an eyebrow. “I am!”
“Riiight... Good bye, Black.”
And she turned and started walking round the corner again. Sirius felt his infamous anger rise, and called out,
“You’re damn good at that, you know it?!”
She suddenly reappeared back round the corner, copper eyebrows furrowed. “What?”
“Walking out on people. You’re real good at it, LILY. You do it to everyone!” Sirius said, glaring down at her.
“I do not!”
“Do too. You’ve done it all your life without meaning to. Or maybe you do. But you do. DO DO DO DO DOO. You’re doing it to me and Remus and James and now Becky.”
“Firstly, I’m not walking out on anyone, least of all Becky. Secondly, your grammar is horrible, it’s Remus, James, and I not me and Remus and James. Lastly, I can’t walk out on POTTER because I’m not there for him in the first place!” Lily ticked off her points on her fingers.
Sirius shook his head, his long black hair getting in his eyes. “Liar. You’ve walked out on James plenty and you know it. I know, Evans, what you’re afraid of. You’re afraid that what happened to Becky is going to happen to you-”
Her eyes popped open. “How do y-”
“-You’re afraid that you’re going to get hurt because all your Muggle life you’ve lived in a bubble. BUBBLE GIRL EVANS-”
“HOW do you know-”
“I know because Charles told me!” Sirius roared, causing her to wince away. “I know because he feels worse about it than you do, Lily. He felt like he failed her last year. He felt like he was worse even than Lucius-”
“But-”
“And he felt like no one else could understand how he felt, but you know what? I wanted to pummel that shit to the ground after I found out. Do you know how hard something like that is to keep from James? From your best mate?”
“I-”
“No, Lily, you don’t know. Because you’re too busy walking out on everyone around you to sort things out with Becky so that she won’t get like she is right now.”
Lily just stared up at the furious Sirius Black, her eyes getting sort of glassy. He suddenly felt sort of bad for making her cry, but someone needed to say it and he was the only one with enough balls to do it.
“You saw my boggart?” she whispered.
“I saw James,” Sirius said harshly. “Go on, Lily. Go on and keep walking out on everybody.” He reached and roughly wiped off the blood pooling on her brow. “Don’t let me stop you from lying to yourself.”
And Sirius turned on his heel and stalked away.
Chapter 9
Lily’s Boggart
Lily Evans stared after Sirius for quite a long time, not exactly knowing what to do. After a while she took a shaking breath, feeling beads of moisture run down her cheeks, and walked down the hallway with her shoulders slumped. Lily was unconciously making little noises as she cried, walking slowly towards Gryffindor Tower to be depressed and skip Potions, just because she was so good in that class she could afford a day absent. The portraits thankfully ignored her as she sauntered on, occasionally wiping her nose or cheeks on her sleeve with the idea to charm it clean later.
Did he really see her boggart? It’d been so long ago, she’d almost forgotten about it. But then again it was always present in the back of her mind. That day in third year she’d barely glimpsed the boggart and, seeing it beginning to change into her fear, ducked behind Becky lightning fast so no one else would see. And no one had ever raised any questions.
She’d specifically tracked down a boggart, last year, and taken it to a free classroom to see if it was still the same. Lo, and behold, it’d stepped out of it’s suitcase, staring at her like it did every day and night when her eyes and mind wandered. It was hard to look at it, and it was harder to send it back into it’s box because there was nothing funny about it.
However, Lily hadn’t known that Sirius had seen it. Perhaps he’d been looking for a room to snog some girl in? To practice a trick for Severus Snape? Or just to be a prick and jump out at someone passing by the room? Who knew, the point was that he knew what her boggart was and had for some time.
But he hasn’t told...
That was true. He’d not said a word about it even to her until now. She had to give him that much credit. Perhaps he wouldn’t tell? Perhaps her embarrassing secret was safe with him? Hopefully it was. She’d absolutely die if that got out, never hear the end of how stupid it was, how cute, how romantic even. She shook her head, repressing another round of tears, as the Fat Lady came in view, or rather someone slamming her shut. Becky was storming back down the hallway, and Lily could see tear streaks on her cheeks that’d dried. She quickly wiped off her own and smiled encouragingly as she could manage, trying to regain the ability to speak and not sound like a mouse.
“Ok, Bekks?”
“...Yeah,” Becky whispered softly, running a hand over her stomach. “I’m fine...”
Lily could tell that Rebecca was anything but fine, but let it drop for the moment. There was too much female emotion as it was without poking it in the eye to make it howl. Both girls made their way to the next class in silence, not caring about life in general as they were both mulling over their own thoughts.
Sirius slammed into a seat next to James in Defense class, and his best mate looked up as he sank into his chair loudly.
“What’s wrong, mate?” James asked.
“Sod off, I’m pissed,” Sirius muttered moodily.
James let a silence pause, as Sirius was never this rude to him, ever. They were always on good terms, unless one had screwed up a prank royally and they were getting in trouble for it. Then Sirius hisses angrily,
“The nerve of that little.... URGH!”
Several people looked over as Sirius ran a hand through his hair, successfully making it look like James’. James glared till they all looked away, and turned back to his best friend.
“Want to talk, mate?”
“I’m not the one that needs to do the talking!” Sirius hissed. “It’s that little liar!”
“Liar-?”
“Oh stuff it you’ll not find out from me.”
There was another pause as Sirius took out his parchment and quill, slamming everything onto the desk loudly. After a while the last few people filtered in, including a pair of very angry looking girls, the door shut of it’s own accord and the teacher stepped out of his office, stating something about battle injuries. Sirius took notes, his hand shaking in his anger so badly that he was going to have to completely re-write them later. James was very curious as to see what had ticked off Sirius so badly, as he was very hard to anger. Also, Becky and Lily, in their usual table up front, weren’t taking notes as animatedly as usual, and in fact were ignoring each other in their anger.
Somehow Defense class trickled past, and Lily Evans was the first out the door, somehow. James blinked as the other stampeded for the door, as he thought he’d distinctly heard a sniffle.
“Siri, wait a sec,” James said, catching up with Sirius, who’d considerably cooled off. “What’s up, mate?”
“What’ya mean?”
James gave him a glare with his blue eyes. “You know something, Padfoot. Don’t make me use my 3-Minute Veritaserum on you.”
“That stuff does nothing but make you hurl, Prongsie,” Sirius pointed out. “It’s totally bogus and doesn’t make you tell the truth.”
“I know, I just might fancy seeing you chuck a bit if you don’t tell me.”
“Aw, that’s a bummer!” Sirius glared.
James shrugged. “What ticked your clock so bad?”
“What’s to say my clock was ticked at all?”
“You practically bit my head off, Padfoot,” James said, headed towards Gryffindor. “And not to mention Lily and Bekks were pretty steamed.”
“They’ve got nothing to do with it.”
“Guilty dog barks first.”
“I said they as in both as in more than one so maybe one of them ticked me off, ok?” Sirius growled like a dog. “Just because you think you’re god doesn’t mean you’ll know everything!”
And with that Sirius turned and disappeared behind a secret passageway. James stared after him, feeling very insulted that his friend could think he was that big headed. He wasn’t! No way, James Potter did NOT think he was god. Sure, he thought he was very OK, but not God.
Shaking his head James walked through the empty corridor of the school. Vaguely thinking, he brought out the Marauder’s Map that he and the others had slaved away over. He paused in the corridor long enough to glance around and make sure he was, in fact, alone.
“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
Slowly the ink appeared, thirteen bottles of it, and he flicked through the folds. Sirius was by this time on his bed in the dormitory. Remus was in Advanced Arithmancy. Peter was probably trying to find Dolores Umbridge, as he was somewhere near the Library and all that toad did was study about creatures. James let his eyes rove the third floor, which he was on, then the second, then up to the fourth.
There, in a corridor near a set of hidden stairs leading straight up from the dungeons, was Lily Evans, utterly alone. Her dot was perfectly still except for tiny little twitches, as if she were shaking. James found his eyebrows knitting in confusion. Why would a semi popular girl be alone in a corridor? He considered just leaving her be, as she was one of those bookish types and was probably stopped to read something in a text that just occurred to her. He’d seen her do it plenty of times, just stop and grab out a textbook in the middle of the hallway to look something up.
But then he noticed an all too familiar dot coming up the stairs just feet from her, labeled with that ‘M’ name he hated so much.
Lily Evans was slumped against the wall with her knees gathered up to her nose, crying. She didn’t know why, exactly. It was just probably all of it together so suddenly. Shaking her head, she tried to compose herself. Nothing was going to happen, it was stupid and pointless to be crying like this. Shaking her red hair vigorously and trying to regain control of her shaking shoulders, she stood, sniffing and wiping her eyes.
No, of course not, she’d be fine. Nothing was going to happen, that was, jeeze, almost two years ago.... Becky was physically healed and dealing with her rage, that was the point. In fact, she went to the Room of Requirement three times a week or more to kickbox with some kickboxer the room supplied for her to get the anger out. Lily sighed, picking up her bags, thinking about that Herbology test she had coming up-
“Watch where you’re going, lovely...”
Lily gasped and jumped out of her skin, whirling around to stare up at Lucius Malfoy. He was sneering down at her (did he ever stop?) and his eyes were glinting with something unknown in them. Lily felt her adrenaline immediately increase and took a large step backwards, as he was standing uncomfortably close.
“Please don’t call me anything of the sort, Mr. Malfoy,” she stammered politely but strictly. “I am a student and you are a governor and a fully grown man. Someone might think you have ulterior motives to your politeness.” She nearly gagged on the word.
He smirked and grabbed Lily’s arm, pulling her closer. She struggled and tried to throw off his grip, and he bent and whispered “What if I do?”
Lily felt her adrenaline kick up another notch as her brain started screaming. “Let me go! You’ve got no right to lay your hands on a student! I know what you did!”
He smiled fully, baring his teeth. “Ah, yes, your fourth year was it not? Poor Rebecca-”
“You don’t even deserve to speak her name!” Lily snarled, feeling her anger kick in. “Get your hands off me you filthy bastard!”
“You’ll pay for that!” he hissed lowly, pulling her so close Lily was pressed against him.
His second hand came and started pulling her blouse down her shoulder. She reached to slap him, but suddenly her hand was caught. Both she and Lucius looked to see who’d stopped her act of violence, and she felt a fresh surge of fear run through her. James Potter held her wrist in his grasp firmly but gently, glaring daggers at Lucius, who was the same height.
“Malfoy. Let her go.”
Lucius eyed James, before pushing her away with such force she stumbled and James had to catch her. Lily felt hot tears of anger and embarrassment stinging her cheeks. Lucius turned and stormed away, muttering something about fucking redheads as his cloak billowed. There was a moment’s silence after he disappeared around a corner, then she shakily stood upright, realizing that James had had her in his arms.
“Lily, are you okay?” he asked softly.
“I’m fine,” she said stubbornly, quickly wiping away her tears.
Not quick enough. “They why are you crying?”
“I’m not-”
He reached and turned her to face him as another tear ran down her cheek. “Look at me, Lily.” Shaking her head, she fully expected to see a gloating look and wasn’t going to stand for that. “Please look at me?” She glanced up, but didn’t see a smirk at all. James Potter’s face held genuine concern. “Are you okay? Did he say something?”
“I’m fine, Potter,” Lily whispered softly, looking away. She pushed away from him, grabbing her bags and starting for Gryffindor. “Thanks, but next time don’t bother.”
He reached and stopped her, the Invisibility Cloak in one hand. “What’s that mean?”
She shook her head. “Don’t be nice to me....It’ll happen no mater what you do to stop it, James. So don’t bother trying to save me.”
And she disappeared behind a secret passageway before he could do anything about it.
The Room of Requirement was a brilliant place to go when you needed something you didn’t have, and this was no exception. Becky got her kickboxer, Sirius got his snogging room, and Lily.... Lily got a bare classroom with a gigantic wardrobe in the middle. Moonlight filtered in the window and rest upon it’s wood eerily, as if it were glowing blue. She shook slightly in the February cold, as she’d only grabbed a cloak and her socks weren’t thick. She sat and stared at the wardrobe for a very long time, and sat there so long what her joints creaked whenever she moved.
“I can do this,” she repeated to herself, breath a puff of blue air. “I will do this, I can and I will! ....Oh damn no I can’t....”
Eventually she sighed and stood, walking towards the wardrobe. It was so stupid but so scary, to her. Reaching out, she saw her hand was shaking in fear and cold, and resigned that she must know if her boggart was still the same. The catch rattled and clicked in the knob as she turned it, and inhaled deeply.
“Here we go again,” she whispered.
Slowly she opened the door. And slowly it stepped out.
“What the hell?” muttered James Potter.
He was border than hell and Insomnia was plaguing him tonight, as it sometimes did. So he’d spy on the school through the Map. It was great fun and he got to know about midnight romps first. In fact, he and the other Marauders were the starters of a load of gossip round school, they just played it off like they were second to know. It was brilliantly funny, knowing all these things before students, but they knew where to draw the line. Teacher romps were exclusively secret, it never got past those four. Except, you know, that one time with Slughorne and some “visiting successful potion maker” or some rot.
But now, as his eyes scanned the seventh floor, he saw Lily Evans’ little dot. He was madly fond of it because for some reason it was petite, like her, and every time he saw the dot, which was smaller than the rest, it reminded him of her smile. But now, not only was this girl’s prefect out of the House at eleven at night, but she was just sitting there. No one else was round, and in fact the only other people on the seventh floor were the Gryffindors in the House.
“What are you doing, Lily?” he whispered to himself, ignoring Sirius snore.
And suddenly, a second dot appeared right in front of Lily, and she jumped away. James wasn’t stupid, he knew you couldn’t Apparate inside Hogwarts. He also knew you couldn’t port-key unless it was authorized by the Headmaster, and even then there were only certain Port-Key points around grounds. So there was only one way that he could think of that someone could appear out of thin air like that. Especially when he knew for a fact that the name on that dot’s label was fake.
And it very obviously was, as he was nowhere near the Room of Requirement.
Chapter 10
Friends
Somehow his mind was silent with him as he saw himself staring down at that all too familiar name, as he saw it ever single time he opened up this map. There was some kind of Dark magic going on here, and Lily was in danger. James tensed, ready to spring out of bed and go to help her, but her words echoed in his head.
“Don’t be nice to me... Don’t try to save me....”
Why was it that you always seemed to have these kind of epiphanies when you were ready to fight?
Sighing, James resolved that he’d leave it be, but just watch the spitfire closer. Much, much closer. If that was at all possible, but he’d just have to make it more possible. Sighing, he watched a bit longer, and his name disappeared again. Then reappeared, then disappeared. He shook his head and cleared the map, laying back and trying to close his eyes for the sleep that, for hours, wouldn’t come.
Lily did not get very much sleep that night, and as a consequence was very tired that following day. Becky was still very agitated, which in turn put Charles in a sour mood. He was always pissed when Becky was not feeling well, just because he could do nothing about it and on some level it personally insulted him.
Sirius glared bitterly at Lily at breakfast, and that made her appetite die in it’s tracks and immediately shrivel like a prune. He was relentless and cruel. Remus seemed sick from a full moon coming, which pissed Lily off that he wouldn’t trust her enough to tell her his secret, though she already knew. Peter was infuriated with his homework, which he was just too dumb to understand. Normally Lily would have felt pity on him and helped, but she was currently in no mood for going around anyone who paraded themselves as a Marauder.
Especially James. She didn’t quite know why, but she was excruciatingly angry at him and wished for nothing more than him to sink into oblivion and be forever lost. Just because. He, also, seemed to be in a sour mood, though not nearly as much as she or Sirius. He just sat glaring moodily but thoughtfully down at his food, as if it were presenting him with a hard puzzle to figure out. The entire mood on their end of the Gryffindor table that morning was not particularly pleasant, and anyone who walked by would have remarked something along the lines of, “Jesus, everyone PMSing or what?”
It was only seconds after she sat that Sirius started in on Lily.
“Good morning,” he glared.
“Stuff it.”
“How have you been today?” Sirius hissed pointedly. “Have any funky dreams?”
“Stuff... it...!”
There was a silence for a while as everyone sat in their own thoughts. Then Sirius hissed, “I mean, I know I’d be tired after that fine rack of ly-”
“Black, shut your mouth!” Lily growled threateningly. “I’m not in the mood for your crap.”
“When are you ever?!” Sirius hissed, eyes narrowed.
Lily narrowed her eyes too, not failing to notice that this was attracting people’s attention. “Never. That’s when you nosy sonovvabi-”
“Mmmm-hm!” Sirius muttered over her. “I’d seriously be wearing myself out right now were I you. How much energy does it take to keep up these little gam-”
“Black you will shut your goddamn mouth or else I will fucking make you!”
A silence fell, and Peter quietly asked Remus about some potion Slughorne was having them work on. A tense silence ensued as people tersely ate, not letting on they knew anyone else round them existed. After a while of tense silence, Lily got up first, throwing her napkin in her untouched Cornflakes and giving Sirius a vehement glare. Shaking her head and biting back tears, her voice betrayed her emotion as she hissed,
“I was up until three this morning working on the damned thing, okay?! So it’s not as if I’ve not been facing this!”
Then she turned and walked off before she could see that Sirius had seen her tears and now looked pitying. He stared after her for a moment, wide eyed in shock, then kicked the table roughly, cursing in anger as the table lurched. James and Remus looked over, curious to see what had made him so angry, but all Sirius did was push his cereal bowl away so hard it fell off the table and shattered on the floor.
James began, “Padfoo-”
Sirius stood, grabbing his bag and hurrying after Lily Evans. “Evans!”
He stared, confused, after his friend, before lunging to dig through his bag for the map. Peter and Remus were studying, and Becky had balled her fists together as a way to suppress he rage. In fact, they were so tightly balled that her knuckles were going white, and Charles just shook his head and walked off. Bringing out the map and tapping it, James watched as Sirius sprinted up the stairs and caught Lily Evans round the arm, or so he imagined. They stood there for a moment, and not for the first time he cursed the fact that there was no spell on the map to allow the watcher to read the conversations being had.
It was too tantalizing to resist, he knew what he had to do. Glancing round, he dug in his bag and threw a familiar cloak over himself, just in time for Remus to see.
“James!” he hissed.
But James nudged him to shut him up, before following a third year Hufflepuff out of the Hall.
Sirius glanced over as a Hufflepuff left the hall, and then waited for him to get out of earshot before speaking again.
“Why, Lily?” he repeated softly. “Why haven’t you told?”
Lily wiped a tear from her cheek, sniffing defiantly. “I don’t want to be viewed as weak, Sirius. It’s so stupid...”
He shook his head, shrugging. “No it’s not, it’s noble. I’m shocked you’re not afraid of something else. It goes to show you how strong you are.”
“I walk round in fear when I’m in the wizarding world, Sirius!” Lily said, not looking at him. “Because everyone knows... about them here. And everywhere I go... I’m reminded.”
“It’s nothing to be afraid of, Lily,” Sirius said softly. “I don’t understand why.”
She coughed out a coarse laugh as a few more tears graced her cheek. “Would you admit that you’re afraid of something so stupid?”
“It’s not stupid, and yes, I would,” Sirius leaned against the stair rails. She gave him a doubtful look. “I would!”
“Then what are you afraid of?” asked Lily.
Sirius stared at her for a while, then shrugged. “Might as well...” He took a deep breath. “Prison.”
“What, Azkaban?”
“No, just prison in general. Not being able to see the sky and my friends and be free. It’s a liberty I’m very partial of,” Sirius said. “To me, living in a box for ages and ages is worse than anything.”
Lily nodded, wiping her cheeks. “At least yours is practical.”
“Yours is practical, too!” Sirius said, throwing his arms up. “I can see the logic in it.”
“Can you?”
He nodded. “You’re afraid of rejection. Of getting hurt. Of having another trick played on you, that the things you see and feel are wasteful.”
Lily sighed and nodded. “Exactly...”
“But they’re not, Lily,” Sirius whispered, staring at he meaningfully. “I know you think you’ll get another joke on you, but you wouldn’t. You’re living in fear for nothing, Lily. I of all people should know that everything you’re afraid to happen.... wouldn’t.”
He nodded slightly, patted her shoulder, and went up the stairs, leaving her there to stare after him and wonder when he’d gotten so smart. He rounded the corner to go to class, and she sighed, shaking her head. Lily wiped the tears off her cheeks, and adjusted the bag on her shoulder. Was it really that silly to be afraid of this thing? She slowly started up the stairs, thinking to herself. At the top of the stairs, she heard someone call her name, and stopped.
“Evans!”
James Potter was walking over from the Hall doors, which were still swinging shut as he adjusted his bag. She allowed him to catch up to her, and they walked side by side towards Defense class.
“Hey, how come you and Sirius were arguing this morning?” James asked.
Lily shrugged, still thinking. “He’s just... I don’t know, I guess that’s what friends do?”
James thought that over. “Does that make you and me friends?”
She looked over and up at him, knowing there were still tear streaks on her cheeks. “Where do you get that?”
James shrugged, automatically ruffling his hair in thought. “Well, you said that you and Sirius are friends and that friends argue. And argue is an understatement for you and me.”
Lily laughed softly, nodding, which made him smile. “It is an understatement, isn’t it?”
James shrugged. “I thought so.”
“All right, then, I suppose we are. But I’m friends with the nice Potter, not the fat headed egotistical one.”
“How your words sting me, Lily!”
She was about to remind him to call her Evans, but thought better of it. Friends didn’t call each other by their last names, enemies did. James, seeing this, smiled wider to himself. They were silent for a while, before Lily asked,
“Do you remember when the next Hogsmeade weekend is?”
James thought for a moment as they crossed the moving staircases. “Two weeks, I think.”
Lily nodded, “Thanks, some third years were asking me.”
“Oh the woes of a prefect,” James laughed.
She smiled and shrugged. “It’s not so bad. And if Remus gets Head Boy next year, maybe they’ll make you Gryffindor seventh year prefect. Assuming you don’t cause too much trouble between here and then.”
James feigned a look of shock. “Trouble? Me? Never! How could you, Lily?!”
She laughed, gently nudging his arm. “Don’t even play innocent, Po- James. We both know you’re incapable of doing so.”
He sniggered appreciatively, nodding. “Thanks, Lily, that means so much to me.”
“Well!”
They walked on in a companionable silence, before she said, “Wait a moment. How do I know you’re not going to get all big headed again?”
James sobered, “Because I give you my solemn promise as a Marauder that I will try my hardest.”
Lily raised an eyebrow. “Can Marauders be solemn? I thought you had to swear off ever being solemn in order to become a Marauder.”
“Oh, the pain, Lily, the pain!”
She rolled her eyes and nudged him again, entering the defense class and sitting, as usual, in front. To her great surprise, James forfeited his seat in the back to sit next to her. She watched him as he got out parchment and a quill, waiting patiently for the teacher and lesson to begin.
“Aren’t you allergic to taking notes?” Lily asked as a few more people came in.
“Shh, I’m being solemn.”
Somehow Lily managed to survive the day, and then dressed to go help Madam Marley. Becky was considerably calmer, and was now working on Slughorne’s essay. She glanced over as Lily pulled on her shirt and skirt, and said casually,
“So I hear you and James are friends now.”
Lily shrugged. “Guess so, why?”
Becky looked over. “Until very recently you hated everything about him.”
Lily shook her head, pulling on her shoes. “No, not everything. Just the way he’s so big headed.”
Becky made a noise of assent as Lily charmed her hair up, sticking in a few extra pins for support. Sighing and pulling on her shoes, she waved to her friend and stuck her wand in her pocket, leaving. The common room was busy with people gossiping and working (much more former than latter), and she wished she could be one of them. The halls were quiet and empty, and Lily quickly went to the Hospital Wing, as Marley was getting more persistant that “on-time” actually meant “10 minutes early.”
When she got there, Marley put her on the front desk to handle the entire (empty) clinic while she went down and helped Professor Kettleburn. Who had apparently gone and done something greatly involving severed limbs, some brain tissue, and some kind of attack by a cursed and enlarged Bettel Bug. Lily sighed and watched Marley go, knowing she wouldn’t be back for a long while. Kettleburn hated the infirmary.
By the time Lily had taken down her hair and loosened her shirt, Marley had been gone almost an hour and showed no signs of coming back soon. She hadn’t seen a living soul, unless you counted the Fat Friar as he drifted by, muttering to himself. She was about to get comfortable and take liberty to work on homework, when the door opened and she looked over. James Potter ambled in, escorted by Sirius Black. Both were staggering slightly, and looked slightly covered in blood. Lily felt her eyes snap open.
“What did you idiots do?!”
Sirius sighed and stuck out his leg, which was covered in blood through his pants on the bottom. “Just fix it, would you?”
Lily glared at him, before indicating they should go sit on one of the hospital beds. The boys went and sat, and she rummaged through some cabinets to grab antiseptic. Sirius was rolling up his pant leg, revealing a large, deep gash on his calf. James’ shirt was coated with blood on the back, left side, and he was watching Sirius with amusement. Lily, tutting and shaking her head, came over with numerous bottles. She poured the antiseptic on Sirius’ leg and watched it sizzle, blood evaporating. He winced, but she wiped off the remainder of the blood, as most had magically disappeared. She jabbed it with her wand and the flesh healed into a long, deep red streak.
“Thanks, Lily, you’re the best,” Sirius stood.
She mercifully charmed clean his pant leg, too. “So I’ve been told. Get out now, I’m not supposed to treat open wounds without Marley here.”
Sirius grinned deviously, “Like I said, you’re the girl!”
He turned, waved to James, and left, closing the door behind him. They watched him go, then Lily turned to James, hands on her hips.
“And what did you do?”
He grinned sheepishly. “We got into a paper fight.”
Lily was staring at the deep bloodstain on his shirt. “Paper fight.”
“Well.... He made a gigantic paper hippogriff and I made a gigantic paper dragon and we tried to make them duel. Only, you know, the Charms classroom is sort of small, so the fight got kind of out-of-hand....”
Lily sighed helplessly, shaking her head. “The two of you live to torture me.”
James smiled that Potter smile. “As long as it keeps ’ya breathin’.”
She let out a laugh despite herself, before looking at his wound. “I can’t fix it through the shirt. Can you roll it up?”
He hesitated, “It’s on my back more than my shoulder....”
“You can take off your shirt,” Lily sighed. “Rather have to. Don’t worry, I won’t look, I know how feminine you are.”
James gave her a slight glare as she snickered, before shaking his head and unbuttoning his shirt. Lily rummaged for some antiseptic, smiling at her joke. Making sure she didn’t pour out too much, so as to make Marley suspicious when she triple checked inventory tonight, Lily sat on the opposite site of the hospital bed as James. He was deliberately looking anywhere but at her, and had yet to pull off his shirt.
“I promise I won’t stare at your breasts, James,” Lily said sarcastically. “It might be hard, but I’ll try. Turn your back to me so I can work.”
He shot her another glare, before shifting so both feet were on the floor and pulling off the blood covered shirt. Still smiling, Lily saw the deep gash running from the front of his shoulder all the way to his shoulder blade, bleeding heavily.
“Hippogriff did a number, eh?” she said wryly, gently prodding the smooth skin. “Didn’t bow right?”
“Hardly,” James said. “Sirius practically made it come after me.”
“You two,” she muttered to herself, gently pouring on some of the potion. James winced and sucked in some air as the potion started sizzling. “Sorry.”
He shrugged, and Lily poured on a bit more. It sizzled green for a moment or two, until a very deep, still bleeding gash was left across his back. James seemed like he was waiting for another sting.
“Shift my way a bit so I can get your shoulder properly,” Lily said.
James (for once) did as he was told and turned a bit, and she saw streaks of blood running down his chest. However, she managed to stop her eyes from tracing all the way down, and went back to fixing up his wound. After the last of the potion she’d poured out had been applied gently as she could manage, Lily grabbed out her wand and tapped James’ shoulder, muttering a charm. Instantly the long gash healed into a long, red streak, and she smiled at her handiwork.
“There you are.”
James nodded, running a finger over his shoulder. “Thanks, Lily.”
“See, why can’t you be like that more often?” she asked.
“What, shirtless?”
Lily remembered that fact, now, and fought back a deep blush. “No. Polite.”
James seemed disappointed in her choice of answer, but thought it over. “Well. I suppose I could. But that’s what would make me boring, and you know it.”
Lily shook her head helplessly, standing and clearing up the bottles. She felt James watching her, and remembered she’d taken down her copper hair and that her shirt was slightly unbuttoned, too. Rolling her eyes at her own stupidity, she turned to see James was still shirtless, but now standing in front of her and holding the bloody shirt out to her. Her mind went momentarily blank.
“What?”
James smiled, “Aren’t you going to clean it for me? You did for Sirius.”
Lily fought the urge to let her eyes drop downwards as she took the shirt. “Of course. Scourgify. Viola.”
She handed it back, and James smiled and pulled it on, his arm and chest muscles rippling to do so. Feeling a blush rise in her cheeks, Lily turned away to hide it and busied herself with paperwork. James fixed up his shirt and whatever else needed to be done, while Lily fought to regain coloring of her cheeks. Suddenly, though, James leaned over her back, as he was much taller, and wrapped her in a backwards hug. Lily, thinking he’d just leave, jumped slightly, feeling every one of the muscles she’d just seen now pressed against her back.
“Thanks Lily,” James whispered in her ear.
Cataclysmic waves of shivers ran through her body. Something about the way her name had fallen off his lips... NO! No, not this again! James straightened and smiled at her, and she thought he’d never looked so handsome. She managed a wan smile, fidgeting with her paperwork. Somehow she found her voice and said very weakly,
“What are friends for?”
Chapter 11
Bloody Hearts For Valentines’
“Lily!”
She turned, halfway down the Moving Stairs from her last class of the day, to see James hurrying down towards her. She allowed him to catch up, and they walked together through the milling crowds towards Gryffindor.
“What’s up, James?”
“You know about that dance tomorrow, right?” asked James.
Instantly Lily remembered helping organize the Valentines’ Party, in the Hall tomorrow night. She nodded, getting a little suspicious. “Yea....”
James looked a little nervous, or maybe that was because he’d run to catch up with her. “I was wondering if... you know... You would to go with me?”
Lily stopped dead in the middle of the busy corridor to stare at him. “What did we agree on?!”
“I know!” James said quickly, running a hand through his hair. “I remember, we agreed- I agreed- that I wouldn’t ask you out anymore.”
“Then what-”
“I meant as friends.”
Lily stopped to consider this. “That’s not what everyone else would see.”
James smiled, making him look very handsome. “I didn’t think you cared what others think.”
“I don’t.”
“Then what have you got to lose?”
“Other than my self respect and dignity?” she asked dryly.
He sighed. “I just thought it’d be nice.”
She thought this over, turning and continuing walking. James walked beside her silently, occasionally waving at some of his friends. As they got to a more deserted part of the corridors, she spoke.
“If- IF!- I said yes, would you promise not to get all big headed?” she asked.
James nodded, “Absolutely. I promise.”
“And if anyone thought it was a date, you’d tell them that we’re going as friends?” Lily persisted.
James smiled. “Of course.”
She sighed heavily, as if she very much were fighting herself internally. Then she slowly nodded. “Fine.”
James brightened. “Really?!”
“Didn’t I just say okay?” Lily asked. “I’ll go to the dance with you.”
“Great!” he smiled. “I gotta go, Quidditch practice. See you later, Lily!”
And he ran off before she could think of a way to revoke her answer.
When Lily woke on Valentine’s Day, she had only one thought, and that was happiness that her dad was going to mail her a rose. He did so every Valentine’s, a single white rose. He always teased that she had too much red in her hair to be getting red ones. Smiling, Lily stood and saw Becky was writing in her journal. She quickly dressed in the cold room, resolutely pulling on the racy underwear Becky had replaced all her other ones with. Now, as she pulled on her skirt and stalkings, she couldn’t wait for breakfast so that she got the letter her parents always included.
“You seem happy today,” Becky said. “Thinking about that dance tonight?”
Lily sighed, remembering the catastrophe that had occurred yesterday when Sirius and Becky found out about her going to the dance with James. And if it could get any worse, they were together when they found out. Needless to say the reactions fed off each other and were... loud. She just shook her head.
“No. You know my dad always sends me a rose and a letter on Valentines’ Day,” she said, pulling on her vest.
Becky just nodded, pulling on some pantyhose. “Okay.”
Not saying anything about the tone of voice in which Becky had said that, Lily finished dressing, grabbing her bag and making sure her dress was on her bed. Becky had pestered her into wearing one, helped along by Sirius. Those two really were twins separated at birth, or something. It hung in a bag on her bed, and she left Becky and the other girls to finish dressing.
Down in the common room, a few people were studying, some talking and headed to breakfast. She silently went down to the hall, noticing a few couples out in the halls together. Opening the door, she saw Narcissa Black sitting with her cousin, talking lowly and smirking. Giving them a glare that they both matched and added a threatening hiss to, Lily noticed a lot of the Slytherins seemed to be talking today. Narrowing her eyes, Lily continued over to Gryffindor table and sat by Remus, who was writing a letter to his mom.
“Morning, Remus,” she said lightly.
“Hey Lilis,” he glanced up. “What’s groovin’?”
“Nothing really.... Want a muffin?” she offered him the basket.
“Nah.”
She set it back down, cutting and buttering it. After a few minutes of eating, she heard the flappings of school owls, and smiled to herself. Looking up, she saw a few had flowers, but only one had a white rose. It fluttered down in front of her as the doors opened, and Becky came in with Charles, James, and a sullen looking Peter. Taking off the rose, which was in full bloom and still had morning dew on it, Lily reached for the letter as the others sat down.
“Oi, Prongs, someone’s stolen Lily from you!” Sirius remarked.
“Hardly,” Lily said. “It’s from my dad. And James doesn’t own me.” She added a glare.
James just shrugged, grabbing some pumpkin juice. Everyone was ignoring Rebecca and Charles, as they were muttering quietly and smiling secretly. Peter was trying to hide from Dolores Umbridge, who somehow thought he was her boyfriend. Ripping open the letter, Lily read the words quickly, smiling. Her parents were doing fine and had a business party all day today at her father’s work. Petunia was off at Cambridge, and she and Vernon were now engaged, wasn’t that lovely?
“Hah!”
“What?” asked James.
Lily glanced over. “My parents think I’ll be happy that my sister is engaged to Vernon Dursely.”
“Why wouldn’t you be?” asked James.
“He’s foul. Hates our kind, as he calls us.”
“Oh.”
A silence lapsed as Lily finished reading, before lovingly tucking it away back in it’s envelope. She smelled her flower, relishing its deep fragrance. She ate the rest of her muffin and stood. James did as well, casting dark looks at the Slytherins.
“Hey,” he said softly as she went to leave, so no one else heard. “Let me walk with you?”
“Why?” she asked.
“I don’t like the looks the Slytherins have been shooting at you.”
Lily was shocked. “They’ve been shooting me looks?”
He nodded, staring at them openly. “Bad ones.”
“Oh... uh, okay, thanks.”
He nodded, grabbing his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. Lily felt him reluctantly place his hand on her back, in-between her shoulder blades, gently pressing her forward. She felt an odd rush of gratitude as they walked quickly out, and now she could feel the looks the Slytherins were aiming. The two of them quickly left the hall, and as the door closed, Lily glanced behind her.
“I hate them.”
“Me too,” James said, his jaw muscle flexing in some kind of anger.
There was silence as they climbed the great stairs, and James let his hand drop to his side. The walk to Defense class was silent, and when they got there Lily thanked him again.
“No problem,” he smiled. “I just don’t want anything happening to my nurse!”
They both managed a wry smile, sitting and waiting for the class to start.
Lily stared at herself in the mirror, that night, as she fixed her hair for the dance. She didn’t really know why she was bothering, it was just an automatic reaction to make herself look nicer than usual. Becky, in the background, was fixing her strapless white dress, as it kept trying to scoot downwards. Lily smiled at her reflection.
She said, “McGonagall is bound to say that isn’t appropriate.”
“Do I care? No,” said Becky, charming the dress still. “There damnit, now it won’t move.”
Lily chuckled, pulling on a curl and watching it bounce. Becky had forced her to let her curl her red hair, and she actually liked it. She was wearing a calf length dress that was spaghetti strapped, also forced by Becky and Sirius. Her hair curled against her almost bared shoulders looked nice with the red dress, which was tight. Becky had applied her make-up for her, dark black mascara and slightly purple eye shadow that made her emerald eyes pop. Becky was at the moment laboring to finish her hair in time, and Lily was strapping on her black high heels.
“I can’t believe you made me wear this,” she sighed.
“Oh shut up,” said Becky. “Don’t lie, you know you like it. James is meeting you in the hall, right?”
“Yes.”
Nodding, her friend surveyed herself over Lily’s shoulder. Lily stood, moving away and testing out this new height. Granted the heels were an inch short of Becky’s three, but that was still tall for Lily. Declaring herself done, her friend linked arms with Lily and led her out. The two girls separated at the stairs, where Charles was waiting for Becky. Not wanting to intrude on a bit of snogging, Lily excused herself and continued alone. The common room was busy with people leaving, studying, and talking. Sirius saw her and made it a point to whistle and wink, which made Lily blush.
“Lookin’ good, Lily!” he called.
“Thanks,” she managed.
Going out the portrait hole, the corridor was far cooler and made her skin prickle with goosebumps. Walking along, Lily discovered that she very much liked the noise her black heels made on the floor. This amused her for some time, until she came to a window, and heard a tapping. Turning, she saw an owl.
“What the-?”
She opened it, and got a better look at the owl. It was black, a rarity even in the wizarding world, but it’s feathers looked like they were a mix of dark brown, too. It stared hard at her, as if figuring out who she was, then it let out a shrill hoot. She jumped at how loud it was, and it clicked its beak, before flying away.
“Odd....” Lily said, watching it fly away.
Then she noticed it had dropped what it’d been carrying. On the window sill and gathering frost from the frigid air, was a single black rose. Lily stared at it, before quickly taking it and closing the window. Rubbing one arm with the other, she stared at the rose. It was dead, black not by death but by dye. Attached to it on a long, braided rope, was a piece of yellowed parchment. It turned and swung from its string as Lily started walking on towards the hall, wary of it. Curiosity got the better of her, though, and she reached and took the card.
On one side it was blank, and on the other had neat, looped handwriting. She couldn’t read it in the low light, and stopped at the next torch she came to. In the flickering light, Lily saw that the ink was deep red, and contained no greeting and only four words.
“What?” Lily muttered.
Then she noticed how very red the ink was, and slowly brought it up to her nose. The strong, pungent smell of blood reached her nose. She recoiled immediately, staring at the paper with wide eyes. Who should she show this? It was obviously something either very dangerous or some prank by the Slytherins. She was about to turn and hurry to the hall, show James. Surely he’d know what to do, he was the master of jokes and was also going to be an Auror. But she heard footsteps hurrying her direction.
Turning, Lily saw Professor McGonagall half running down the hall towards her. “Miss Evans!”
“Professor?” Lily asked. “Do you need me for something?”
McGonagall stopped in front of Lily, looking almost at a loss for what to do. Then she straightened. “Please come with me.”
“Er, I have the dance to go to, Professor,” she said in a small voice, gesturing with her hand. “I told James Potter I’d go with him.”
The professor’s eyes followed her movement, seeing the rose in her hand. Her face visibly paled. “Please let me see that.”
Lily held it out for her, confused by this sudden madness on the professor’s behalf. McGonagall took it, observing the rose in it’s state of decay. Then she ran her fingers along the chain, paling even more. Her fingers flipped over the card, and her eyes roved the words behind her spectacles. Then she sniffed it, too, and did an odd sort of bounce, as if she had almost blanched to start crying.
“Who sent you this?” she whispered.
“I don’t know... a black owl was just here and left it,” Lily said. “Professor, are you okay?”
“The Headmaster needs to see you,” McGonagall said breathlessly. “I’ll take you up there. Then I’ll come back and inform Mr. Potter that you are in the headmaster’s office.”
“O....okay...”
McGonagall turned and quickly walked the way she had come, so Lily had to strain her ankles in the heels to keep up. It seemed seconds later, and Professor McGonagall was giving the stone gargoyle the password. He looked straight up at Lily before moving aside slowly. McGonagall indicated Lily should continue alone. She slowly stepped onto the moving stairs, turning to watch the stone wall slide back, leaving her alone on the revolving stairs. They cycled upwards, until she stepped off at the top. The brass knocker gleamed, but as she reached for it to knock, Dumbledore’s voice came from within.
“Please, come in...”
Never in her sixteen years of living had she heard Professor Dumbledore’s voice so solemn. She slowly pushed open the door, peering in. Dumbledore was staring out his window as the sun set, fidgeting with something in his hand. He didn’t turn to look as Lily passed Fawkes, starting to molt, and stood next to the chair.
“Please, Miss Evans. Sit,” he said quietly.
She did so. “Why am I here, Professor?”
He sighed heavily. “I am afraid, Miss Evans.... That I am to be the bearer of bad news.” He turned. “But I am thinking you already know that.”
“The rose?” she asked. “Did you send it?”
He stared at her, blue eyes remarkably glassy. “I only wish that I did, child.”
She stared at him for a long while, heat gnawing at her gut. “Wh.... who did?” she whispered.
He watched her, and suddenly a tear fell down his cheek and ran into his beard. “You know, I am sure, of Lord Voldemort.”
Lily felt an odd sensation in her throat as her voice became strangled with panic. “Voldemort?! He sent me that?!”
Dumbledore nodded, sitting in his chair. He sighed heavily. “You are aware that your parents went to an all day business party today....” Lily nodded slowly, feeling her lungs start to close off. “A large party of Death Eaters, accompanied by Lord Voldemort, attacked a large private residence in London today.”
Suddenly the world was spinning, going black from the edges, creeping in like a blurry film going black, she could barely hear...
“Mary and Simon Evans were in that residence. I am sorry, Lily.... They’re in a better place now.”
Lily sat there in her chair for a moment, before sobs ripped from her chest. She felt the tears cascading down her cheeks, not comprehending anything but the darkness that she couldn’t see through. Nothing made sense anymore, and she didn’t even see Dumbledore stand and come hug her. She pushed him away, standing and stumbling out of the room as quickly as she could manage. Lily ran down the stairs, almost falling, and the gargoyle was already open when she reached the bottom. Running through the halls, forgetting anything about heels or make-up or a dance with James waiting for her, Lily only knew one thing.
She was alone.
“Potter.”
James turned, almost expecting Lily, but Professor McGonagall was making her way towards him. He grew confused as the professor stopped in front of him.
“Professor McGonagall?” he asked.
“Miss Evans probably.... won’t be able to make it to the dance, Potter,” McGonagall said, not looking at him.
“Is she okay?” he automatically asked. “Did she get hurt or something?”
“She is with the Headmaster, Potter,” she snapped. “She will be excused from classes from the rest of the week, and I doubt she’ll want to see you or anyone else.”
“Why?” James questioned, growing concerned. “Professor, is she okay?!”
“Just go to the dance, Potter,” sighed Professor McGonagall. “It’ll make everyone’s lives a lot easier...”
She turned and left, going into the hall where loud music was blaring to dancing students. He stared after her, and then immediately turned and hurried upstairs. James took the direct route to the Headmaster’s office, knowing something was very, very wrong. Lily Evans was not the kind of girl to get in trouble, and if she was going to be out of classes.... Something seriously was amiss.
As he jogged round a corner, he saw another figure at the far end of the hall, running down some stairs as fast as they could manage in tall heels. James slowed, a bit, realizing it was Lily right before she tripped and fell, her sobs echoing through the corridor. She lay there, shaking and sobbing. James hurried over, kneeling next to her and gently pulling her up. Black streaks of mascara ran down her face freely, and her eyes were swollen and red.
“Lily!” James said. “What’s wrong?”
“He killed them!” Lily gasped, shaking. “He killed them!”
“What?!” James gasped, shocked. “Who?”
She didn’t seem capable, though, of making any other words. She was shaking, hair matted oddly from her running, her body wanting to give out underneath her. James hugged he to him, feeling how hard her small body was shaking. Her wails resounded, making his heart straining with emotion.
“Shhh Lily, it’s okay...” he whispered, straightening her tangled hair. “It’s okay...”
“No, it’s not!” she gasped. “He killed them, James! He killed my parents!”
James mind screeched to a halt at those words. He himself could never fathom what life without his parents would be like. But Lily.... hers were now gone. Forever, someone had murdered them. He held her tighter, wishing to god he could make that someone pay. He’d never in his life heard such heartbroken sobs. One of Lily’s arms was wrapped around his neck, her other small hand clutched his dress shirt, wrinkling it deeply, but he didn’t care, she needed something and someone to be there for her in this time. Time ticked by, and he never knew how long he held her as she sobbed into his shoulder. After a while, James knew that soon the dance would end. Lily was in no state to be seen by anyone, much less the other students.
He reached and shoved an arm under her knees, careful to make sure her dress was covering her. She was too miserable to notice anything. He gently stood, turning and adjusting the new weight. He set off for Gryffindor tower, trying not to think of her body pressed against his. It was definitely not the time. If he could’ve, he might have kicked himself for thinking like that. James shook his head, taking all the secret passageways he knew.
Within two minutes, he was ducking behind the secret passageway the House Elves used to get into the girls’ bathroom. It was a hard fit, getting them both through the small, low passageway, but once in there he saw the bathroom was mercifully deserted. However, he could hear female voices floating down from doors up spiral stairs, and looked around quickly. Taking the same stairs that were sixth year boy’s stairs, James opened the door.
The dorm was exactly like his, except much more feminine in decoration. James saw a picture of five girls hanging on the wall, one of them with red hair. This was it. Kicking the door shut, he shifted Lily’s dead weight, walking over to the bed that had her uniform hanging on it. He gently lay her down, crying much more softly, but she wouldn’t let go of him. James tried to get her to let go, so she could lay down and rest, but she held on tighter.
“Don’t leave me too!” she whispered.
“I won’t, I promise,” he said.
She nodded, and there was silence for a while. Slowly her crying stopped, as if she’d used up all her tears. After a while, she became silent, fingers trying to smooth out the creases she’d made in James’ shirt, and James trying not to notice the sensations it was sending through his body.
“Lily?” he asked softly.
She ignored him.
“Lily, do you want me to leave you alone?” he asked, brushing her hair out of her face.
She shook her head, head still resting on his shoulder. James sighed and looked around, not knowing what to do. He’d never dealt with death before, especially never a hard one. Her fingers dropped from trying to iron out the creases, and she took a deep, shaking breath.
“Are you okay now?” James asked softly.
“A little,” came her hoarse voice.
James glanced at the alarm clock. It was almost ten. He’d been with her since seven. Shaking his head, he knew how dangerous it was to be up here. People could be getting back any time... She shifted slightly, and he looked down at her. James was shocked at her appearance. The black streaks on her cheeks had dried and they looked gray. Her eyes were swollen and red, and her nose was pink on the end. But somehow she still looked.... beautiful. In a very ethereal way.
“James...” Lily whispered. Her voice was cracking from her tears. “I can’t take it.”
“No, Lily, you’re strong!” James murmured. “I know you are. I know you’ll survive.”
She shook her head, eyes starting to water again. “He killed them, James. Voldemort killed my parents.”
That hit him like a blow to the chest. He was winded of all breath for a moment, staring down at her in shock. “I didn’t know it was him...”
“My dad always sends me a white rose on Valentines’, James....” Lily murmured, staring at nothing. “Always.”
“I remember,” James whispered, not seeing where this was going.
“He sent me a rose, James,” Lily whispered, a tear falling. “Voldemort. He sent me a dead, black rose. With a note. On a string made of my mother’s hair.”
“Oh, God, Lil-”
“Written in their blood, James. Their blood, I was holding it in my hands!” Lily gasped.
James reached and hugged her tighter, not knowing what to say. She buried herself in his chest, clinging to him for dear life. As she shook in his chest, James saw a single white rose sitting inside a vase on her dresser, starting to decompose.
Chapter 12
Denial, Distraction, and Death
“James?”
“Hmm?” he turned to look over at Lily as she sat on the couch, staring at the fire. “What is it, Lily?”
She didn’t look at him, she didn’t have the will to. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. Someone needed to be there for you,” James shrugged.
It was the sixteenth of February, and Lily was exempt from all classes. She stayed in the dormitory and refused to let anyone see her, expect for Becky and James. She’d cried herself out, and had nothing left. James spent his lunches with her, even though it meant running a relay race to get to and from classes. He looked at it as extra exercises for Quidditch. Lily was dressed in red flannel pajama bottoms and a gray hoodie sweater. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and she had her feet curled under her in her armchair. The House Elfs brought up her meals, and in fact she wasn’t eating it.
“Please eat, Lily,” James asked again.
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
“Damn it, how often do I say please to anyone?” James asked. “I don’t. But I am for you. Please! Lily you need to eat.”
“No.”
James sighed, frustrated. “Will a bribe work?”
“No.”
“Are you capable of saying anything other than ‘no’?”
“No.”
“Really?” asked James, now finding it almost amusing.
“No.”
“Are you female?”
“Shut up,” she muttered.
“Ah! She speaks! Speak again, my angel!” James said dramatically.
She glanced at him. “It’s speak again bright angel. You butchered the line.”
He shrugged. “My version is better.” Lily gave a small noise not unlike a short laugh. “I’m not leaving till you eat, Lily.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel bad?” she asked. “You’d be getting out of class.”
“Actually, I’d be failing. And my career as an Auror will be nonexistent because I’ll miss class and fail. And it’ll all be your fault and then you’ll feel horrible,” James nodded. “Oh yes, I’ll be a bum living on the streets bumming dope off hippies to live on and it’s all going to be your fault.”
“Hardly.”
“No, it will,” James said. “Do you know why?”
She sighed, rubbing her red eyes. “Why, James?”
“Because you didn’t eat your sandwich, that’s why I’ll be a bum surviving on crack. Mmhm.”
“What if I ate a bloody sandwich, then?” asked Lily tiredly. “What would happen then?”
“Then there would be the slightest chance in all the world that I just might not be a bum living on cocaine,” said James. “And it wouldn’t entirely be your fault. Only mostly.”
“Aye aye, captain,” Lily muttered, reaching and grabbing a sandwich.
She bit it, and James let out a war victory chant, cheering, “Hurrah! I shan’t be a bum living on marijuana!!”
“For Christ’s sake, you’ve changed the drug four times, pick one!” Lily said through a full mouth.
James stopped mid war chant, face falling. “They’re different drugs? I thought they were the same...”
Lily rolled her eyes helplessly. “No James, they’re different.”
“Oh.”
He sat back down, looking shunned. There was silence for a while, as Lily slowly chewed her tuna sandwich, staring at the flames. The past two days had been hard on her. She was barely eating or sleeping. The guilt was eating her alive. She couldn’t help but feel that in some way, their death was her fault.
Suddenly, she felt the tears welling up, and dropped her sandwich. She bit back the misery as hard as she could, but tears started rolling. James looked over, then jumped up from his chair. He hurried over and sat on the arm of the chair. He gently pulled her into his lap, sliding down into the chair to give them both more room. Lily was rigid in his grasp for a moment, before letting herself sink into him and cry.
“It’s okay, Lily,” James said softly. “Let it all out...”
She shook there for a moment, shaking her head and trying to stop the tears. “I won’t!”
“It’s the only way you’ll feel any better,” James said softly.
“You don’t understand!” Lily whispered. “There’s no possible way for you to understand!”
“I’m trying, Lily!” James said. “I’m trying as hard as I can to help you and you’re pushing me away!”
Suddenly Lily was forcibly reminded of Sirius. You’re damn good at that, you know it... Walking out on people. You’ve done it all your life without meaning to. Or maybe you do. But you do.... You’ve walked out on James plenty and you know it.
She shook her head, trying not to hear his accusing voice in her head any longer. “I’m not!”
“I’m trying to help you, Lily,” James repeated, staring down at her. “Please. Let me help you.”
Lily could feel the need in his voice, as if her pain was affecting him somehow. His blue eyes were shining behind his glasses, and he gently wiped off her cheeks. James shook his head.
“Maybe you were right, Lily. Maybe we were never meant to be friends. Friends help each other.”
She shook her head, clasping her hands over her ears. “I don’t! Stop saying that!”
“What’re you-”
Lily wasn’t paying attention, though, she was too busy trying to stop the tears and Sirius’ voice in her head. She took a shuddering breath, feeling the tears stream down her face. “I never knew truth hurt so much.”
James was momentarily at a loss for what to say. Then he smiled and shrugged. “I figured that out the first time you slapped me.”
Lily turned to stare up at him, and choked out a laugh. He smiled softly, wiping the tears from her cheeks. She breathed in deeply, managing a small smile.
“What were the countless other times for, then?”
James grinned and shrugged. “Good measure, I guess.”
“I’m sorry....” Lily said.
She leaned closer and gently kissed him. James was in shock for a moment, before he pulled away, blue eyes wide in surprise. Lily looked surprised, too, it showed in her glassy green eyes.
“No.”
There was a silence as they stared at each other.
“No,” James repeated himself, shaking his head. “Not now. Not when you’re not right yet.”
“I am-”
“No, Lily, you’re not,” James said softly. “You’re not thinking right.”
“Of course I am!” Lily said. “I’m fine.”
“No, Lily,” James said, lifting her off his lap and onto the chair, standing. “You’re not. You think you are, but you’re a wreck. I don’t want you to do things you’ll regret later.”
She stared at him in hurt disbelief, as he picked up his bags and nudged the plate of sandwiches a little closer to her. James smiled wanly.
“Remember, if you don’t eat, I’ll be a drugged up bum.”
He turned and walked out, just as the bell rang. Lily watched him go, then seized the plate of sandwiches and hurled it at the portrait door as it closed. Letting out an anguished cry as the plate shattered and fell, Lily sank onto the warm hearth rug and started crying at the unfairness of it all.
James felt an odd sensation rippling through his body as he left the common room. Why? He knew her actions had been out of desperation to make herself forget her grief. Unbeknownst to Lily and all other life forms, James had taken to stalking the Muggle section of the Library at night, particularly the psychology shelves. He’d even dared to check some out from Madam Pince, the stuffy, middle aged woman that loved the books like they were men.
Ew.
Shaking that thought out of his head, James forced himself to think about Lily. Days ago that would have been an easy chore, but now he didn’t want to. He didn’t desire to imagine her in his head anymore, because the Lily he saw now and the Lily he used to were two different people entirely. The old Lily was collected, smart, knew what to do and say. The old Lily smiled at stupid jokes and blundering mistakes he made, just because they were friends.
The new Lily was broken and knew only pain. This Lily wouldn’t let him in to help her, which he so desperately wanted to. He and Becky had gotten closer to her than anyone in the past forty eight hours, but they’d never been farther away.
James sighed, ruffling his hair in thought. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the nasty note from her sister would come, resolutely inviting her to her parent’s funeral. He just prayed to god that he was there when that note came. He’d seen Becky try to comfort Lily. He’d seen the desperation in Rebecca Smith’s eyes to make he friend stop hurting. But Lily was rigid and cold, didn’t even respond when Becky tried to draw her into idle conversation. And it was then that James had realized.
Somehow, he was all Lily had left.
Shaking his head, James sighed. Lily needed to let him help her in order for her to ever mourn properly. She was bottling it up and shutting everyone out, save him in some small way. It was that, then, that told him that he was the only once that could help.
“James!”
He looked up, seeing Sirius as they both continued towards Charms. “Hey, Padfoot.”
“What’s going on, mate?” Sirius asked as they walked. “Lilis doing any better?”
James shook his head. “Not really. She’s in denial.”
Sirius thought that over. “How can you be in denial about something so... permanent?”
“She’s not in denial about that, Padfoot,” James said. “She’s in denial about grieving.”
“Oh.”
“...Really.”
Sirius raised an eyebrow. “She say something?”
“She didn’t say much at all.”
“I got that tone,” Sirius said. “What did she do?”
James cursed himself for emphasizing the word. “Nothing.”
“Liar.”
James sighed. “She just... tried to distract herself, that’s all.”
Sirius’ eyebrow went up more, so that it was in danger of getting lost in his slightly curly hair. “Uh-huh.”
“She did!” James said, looking over.
Sirius had an odd smirk on his face. “And what did she doooo, Prongsie?” he sang. James bit back a flush, mumbling. Sirius put a hand to his ear, grinning. “I don’t think I heard you, Prongs.”
“She bloody kissed me, okay?!”
Sirius stopped dead in the middle of the staircase, staring at James with mouth and eyes wide open. “She did what?!”
“Well, we were talking and she was having this kind of mental breakdown,” James said. “She was going on about how she doesn’t push me away. And I really didn’t know what to say, so I made a joke and she sort of lightened up and just.... kissed me.” James faltered to a stop, realizing how very odd all of this must sound. “I pushed her away, though.”
“WHAT!” gasped Sirius. “Why?!”
“Because it wasn’t right!” James said. “I don’t take advantage of people-”
“Snivellus,” Sirius interrupted.
“-Well, him- and especially not girls and especially when her parents died two days ago. It’s not right, Padfoot, and I’m shocked at you for being mad at me.”
James let out a self righteous snort, before turning and leaving Sirius there. He watched his friend go off, then groaned and turned back around and headed up towards Gryffindor Tower to apologize. It was already bad enough that he was going to be late to class, but he has a feeling that Lily was going to be very, very upset with him.
As he opened the common room door, Sirius saw Lily lying on the couch, crying and writing something. He silently walked over, but she saw him.
“Go away,” she hiccuped.
“What’re you doing, Lily?” Sirius asked.
“Writing out my last will and testament,” she sniffed.
He thought. “What’s a will and testament?”
Lily sighed. “It’s a piece of paper people write out assigning people their possessions for after they die!”
“Oh, like a Wizard Issuing of Legal Land and Substances?” Sirius asked.
She stared at him, eyes red and face blank in disbelief. “You moron. The acronym of that is W.I.L.L.”
Sirius thought that over. “Oh I guess it is....”
Lily sighed, wiping off her nose and going back to her will. Sirius came over and glanced at it, before setting down his bags and sitting down. He noticed pointedly the full plate of sandwiches.
“Lily, you’ve got to eat,” he said.
“SHUT UP POTTER!” Lily roared.
Sirius jumped, staring at her. She was definitely loosing it. “Er, that’s Black....”
“WHAT ever! Just leave me alone to die in peace.”
“If you’re trying to starve yourself, that will take about a week,” Sirius said. “It’ll be a long, miserable one.”
“No.”
He sighed. “Look, I’m sorry, okay?”
“And you should be!” she hissed, finally looking up. Her misery was evident on her face. “Do you know how stupid I felt? How betrayed?”
“He’s doing this because he’s concerned, Lily!” Sirius shouted. “I wasn’t lying! For Christ’s sake, James is trying to prove to you he wants to be your friend!”
“What if I don’t want a friend, Sirius?!” Lily yelled, jumped up. “What if all of this is what you want?! Huh? Huh, Black? What then?!”
He just stared at her, then shook his head. He stood, threw his bag over his shoulder, and walked away. Lily watched him go.
“Who’s walking out on who now, Sirius?” she spat.
He stopped by the portrait hole, turning slowly to look at her. “I’m not walking out on you, Lily. It’s not possible for me to do that to you. Do you know why?”
She stared at him, furious, sad, pained, humiliated, all at the same time. But she did not say anything. Sirius saw this and nodded.
“That’s why. There’s nothing left of you to walk out on. Congratulations, Lily. You killed yourself and there’s nothing left but a shell. You’re nothing but a corpse and only I see it.”
“Shells don’t have broken hearts!” Lily whispered, feeling the tears falling.
Sirius shook his head, opening the portrait door. “Hearts can break after they’ve stopped, Lily. You’re proof of that.”
He turned and left Lily alone, and as the portrait door snapped shut behind him, Lily tore the parchment to shreds.
Chapter 13
The Letter
The next day was Thursday, and James tried to force Lily down for dinner, after classes. Well, more like James made Becky try to force Lily down for dinner, but same difference. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring up the steps and listening. He could distinctly hear raised voices, but he couldn’t clearly hear what was being said. Sirius came down from the boy’s dormitory, hands in the pockets of his jeans.
“Still no luck?” he asked James.
James sighed. “I’ve been trying to get her out for ages. I figured maybe Becky might....”
Sirius nodded, fiddling with a button on his scarlet vest. Both boys were dressed in the casual style of the 70’s, with bellbottom jeans and button up shirts, the top button or two undone. Sirius had a red vest over his white shirt, whereas James just left his green shirt by itself. He sighed, and called up the stairs.
“Beck! Any luck?!”
“Hold on!” she called back, before a door slammed.
“I give up,” James sighed. “She’s going to be a hermit for the rest of her life.”
“Mate, what would you do if your parents died three days ago?” asked Sirius sincerely.
James sobered. “I’d take a 500 foot dive straight down on my broom without stopping before the ground met me.”
“Thought so.”
Shaking his head, James turned, hearing noises of scuffling coming down the stairs. Next thing he knew, he saw Becky, dressed similarly to himself and Sirius, coming down the stairs and dragging a figure fighting very hard. James smirked, seeing how hard she was resisting being dragged out of her lair. But the next thing he knew, Becky suddenly shoved the figure and-
WHAM!
The air was knocked out of James as the figure slammed into him from a height of five stairs, and both went crashing down in a heap. Blinking back stars, James felt himself being pinned down by a small, feminine form. Lily Evans shook her loose hair out of her face, green eyes wide, obviously bemused. Sirius was roaring with laughter, and Becky was smirking as she leaned against the stone wall. Lily reached a hand out, pushing herself upwards a bit. Then she quite realized that she was lying over James, and blushed. He felt the sudden need to snog her senseless, maybe even ravish her there on the stair landing, but she was scrambling up before he could move a hand to touch her.
“Becky!” Lily shouted, trying vainly to stand and reserve her modesty in her skirt.
James caught a magnificent view up her blue, just-above-the-knee skirt. He grinned to himself, seeing red, lacy underwear on a bum that Sirius’ description did no justice to. He looked away as Lily tried to contain her flush, glaring at her now howling friend.
“That wasn’t funny!”
“Yes, it was!” Sirius gasped.
James hopped up nimbly, straightening his shirt. “Ready for dinner?”
Somehow, despite the fact that Lily’s ankle had bruised, her white, button-up shirt had a dirt stain on the elbow, and her hair was mussed, the three of them dragged her down to dinner. Quite a lot of people went to express their condolences, but left at the sight of the glares everyone around her was shooting sympathetic looks, before being glared off. She wasn’t thinking about her parent’s death for the first time in days, and that was how it should be kept.
After dinner, James literally dragged Lily out to the Quidditch pitch while the sun was still up. Sirius and Becky followed, watching with amusement as Lily literally tried to fall backwards with all her weight, and James dragged her forward on her heels with all his.
“It’d be a lot easier if you’d bloody accept that I am taking you to the Quidditch pitch!” James grunted, face scrunched and red.
Lily let out a shriek, trying to pry his hands off. “Gerroff! I’m not going out there-”
“Too bad, you’re already there!”
“No I’m not! I’m not at the pitch, I’m GOING up to the Tower!” she shouted
James pulled her into the pitch with a vigorous tug, “Shut your mouth, Lily, you’re not going up to sulk!”
“The two of you bicker like a married couple!” Sirius managed through his laughter.
“SHUT UP!” Lily and James yelled at the same time.
Becky fell over laughing at this, rolling on the ground and getting her jeans covered in white. Lily and James turned to glare, red faced and angry, at each other, both oblivious he was still holding her hand.
“James Potter, you are the stupidest boy to befoul this planet!” Lily huffed.
“Lily Evans, I am only stupid on days that end in ‘A’,” James smiled.
Lily just stared at him, before shaking her head and muttering to herself about vowels and consonants. Giving his smile a merciless glare, she asked, “So why have you kidnapped me out here?”
James grinned. “Sunset snowball war! Sirius and I against you and Becky.”
Lily watched him, before smiling evilly. “You have thirty seconds to run.”
Immediately James and Sirius ran through the snow to about halfway down the pitch, and Becky dove in helping Lily start building a fort. About ten seconds into it, Becky smacked her forehead, before bringing out her wand and charming a large, elaborate and life-sized fort, only made out of snow. It was about twenty feet tall, complete with a battlement and a drawbridge. The boys, from their area, let out a cry, and suddenly a snow castle, about thirty by thirty, was looming.
“WAAAR!!!” cried Sirius.
Suddenly a bombardment of snowballs came flying over the battlement. Shrieking, Lily and Becky started charming snowballs to fly back at the boys. Within minutes, all four teens were soaked through with water, but laughing in the sunset glow.
“Do you surrender?!” called Sirius.
“NEVER!” called Becky.
Lily giggled, charming a few more snowballs to rocket over and pelt the boys. Peering over the battlement, she snickered as Sirius got hit so hard that he topped backwards. James watched, dumbstruck, before hurling a few more back at them. Lily ducked, but heard a loud shriek as a few of the balls pelted an owl flying overhead. It sort of fell downwards a bit, before managing to land right in the middle of the battle zone.
“Going to get that, James?!” Becky called.
“As if!” he called back. “Bloody kill me, you would!”
Laughing, Lily didn’t deny it. “Who’s going to get it?”
Sirius poked his head back over the battlement, waving a white sock. “Truce for now, girls! I’ll get it.”
Laughing and nodding, Lily and Becky sat on the battlement, feet dangling over the side as Sirius skidded down their castle. James was leaning against their battlement wall, and Sirius walked towards the owl. Bending, he picked up the bird, brushing snow off it’s tawny feathers. As the bird hopped onto his arm to get more comfortable, shaking itself free of snow, Sirius looked at the envelope. He stared at it for a moment, before glancing around, squinting in the dusk light. Then he turned and stared at James, breaths coming out in puffs.
“Oi, James!” he called. “C’mere!”
“Why?” he called back. “If it’s a Howler from my mum, you go ahead and open it!”
“No.. just c’mere!” Sirius called.
“Wh-”
“JUST BLOODY DO IT, OK?!”
James hopped over the side of their castle, skidding to the bottom and jogging through the snow towards Sirius. The girls watched them as James took the letter, examining it.
“This is cutting in on my tanning time,” Becky remarked dryly.
Lily snorted and laughed. The boys seemed to be debating, and she said, “Why can’t they be that enthusiastic about their schoolwork?”
“It’s not as if they’re failing,” Becky said. “They’re above Remus, and he studies like humanity depends upon it.”
Lily snickered, nodding. The boys were trudging through the snow towards them, muttering to each other as the owl took off towards the Owlry. Sirius ran a bit ahead of James, and called up to Becky.
“Oi, you and I need to chat, Becks.”
Becky sighed and pretended to check a watch. “I’m due in the spa in half an hour....”
Sirius reached and tugged on her foot, dragging her down. She waved up at Lily as the two of them trudged off, talking quietly. Lily watched them go, the looked down at James. “Letter for her?”
“No...” he said. “C’mere.”
“I’m not going to re-enact you and Sirius...” Lily said, sliding down the side of the battlement.
James sort of steadied her as she came down, and they turned to slowly follow Sirius and Becky, far out of earshot. She glanced over and saw the letter in his hand, in a plain Muggle white envelope.
“Who’s that for?” she asked.
James sighed and stopped walking, but wouldn’t look at her. “It’s for you.”
Lily immediately felt a sensation of dread overcome her. She held her hand out for it, and James slowly set it in her hand. Looking at the writing on the envelope, she knew within two seconds who it was from.
Grippendurr House, Fagsnorts
Freaktown
Lily felt an odd sensation closing off her throat as tears came to her eyes. “It’s from Petunia.”
James nodded, “I thought so....”
She took a shaking breath and opened the envelope, which was closed with a piece of tape. Pulling out the index card size paper, Lily’s green eyes started shedding tears as she read. James didn’t quite know what to do, and just stood there watching her. There was silence for a full minute.
“What’s it say?” he inquired softly.
Lily took a shaking breath, nose red, as a few more tears rolled. “To Lily Supposed Evans. I had to invite you to Mum and Dad’s funeral, so it’s this Saturday at noon. They’re to be buried at London Memorial on Sunday. I really...” her voice started quaking. “I really wish you wouldn’t come, but I’ve got to look good for their old friends. Make sure you don’t freak up the house while you’re here, especially as V... Vernon will be here too. Petunia Evans-Dursley.”
Lily stood there, staring at the paper, chin shaking in the effort to contain her tears. James watched her for a moment, then pulled her into a tight hug. She let him, and started crying into his shoulder. James gently smoothed her hair, tangled and wet from the snowball war, and had to wonder why fate was always cruelest to the best people. She shook in his arms, and James tried his best to comfort her, knowing that these days before and after her parents’ funeral were going to be the hardest yet.
After a while, Lily whispered, “I hate her.”
“I know you do, Lily....” he said softly. “And I can see why... but that doesn’t make it any more right.”
She looked up at him, wiping tears from her cheeks before they could dry. “I know... But knowing doesn’t make me want to stop hating her.”
“I don’t think anything will, if she’s as foul as you say,” James said. “Sounds like Sirius’ family to him.”
She sighed, turning and starting to walk towards the castle. James followed and wrapped an arm round her sounder, and she leaned on his arm. He knew she was emotionally exhausted, and the day was barely half up. As they walked through the silence, Lily let herself breath in James’ scent. He normally wore cologne, but today seemed to have decided against it. Instead he smelled as though he’d taken a nap in a spice orchard. James didn’t notice that Lily seemed to be calming, and her quiet was starting to unnerve him.
“Ok, Lily?” he asked as they left the stadium.
“Yea... Thanks, James,” she said softly. “I don’t know what I’d do if I never let myself be your friend.”
“Woah, don’t get too sappy on me, Lily, I might start crying and ruin my make-up,” James taunted.
She grinned and gently nudged his arm round her shoulders, shaking her head. “Can’t you ever be serious?”
“Didn’t we go over this about a week ago?”
“Why do you always answer everything with questions?” Lily looked up at him.
James glanced down at her. “Because you ask so many questions and I do it to bug the hell out of you.”
Lily sighed and shook her head, trudging through the snow and somehow not thinking of her parents’ funeral in two days time. James was content to have the old Lily back, if only for a while, and looked forward to the day when she did not feel that their murders were her fault. Now, as they walked in companionable silence towards the castle, James was just happy that she trusted him enough these days to be her confidant.
“I suppose I should ask clearance of Dumbledore to go to this,” she said softly, looking down at the letter.
James saw he eyes get a little glassy, again, and wiped a tear off as it fell. “I’m sure he’ll let you. Maybe he’ll let Becky go with you to keep you company.”
Lily shook her head. “I don’t want her to come with me.”
“Alice Kithington, then? I know you’re friends with her....” James suggested, walking up the stairs.
Lily repeated the gesture. “Not really close, though...”
James just nodded, not really knowing who else to suggest short of Sirius to kill Petunia in her sleep. As they entered the castle and started heading up to Dumbledore’s office. James let his arm fall away from he as they went up the great stairs, as he intended to get a bit of studying in for the test Slughorne was giving tomorrow. As they both rounded the corner and James went to go through a shortcut, Lily took his hand and pulled him down the hall after her. He didn’t say anything, but smiled to himself.
“You said you wouldn’t leave me,” Lily said to him. “I’m holding you to your solemnest word as a Marauder.”
“Okay then,” James shrugged. “To Dumbledore’s, I assume?”
She nodded, and they walked on in silence through the halls. Her hand was soft and small in his, and felt delicate but strong somehow. It was in her hands that the evidence lay that one day Lily would move on from this tragedy and become even stronger than she’d been before. He tried to remember the feel of her hands, as he’d probably never hold them like this again.
Just then, they stopped at the gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore’s office. Lily said clearly to it, “Buttleknuts.”
It shook it’s head. “About two hours late, dear. He changed it.”
“Oh. He didn’t tell the prefects yet,” she said, disappointed in Dumbledore.
“Funny!” James said, laughing at her.
She raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“This is why,” James said, chuckling. “Doodlenoodle.”
The gargoyle nodded and jumped aside. Lily stared at James, before shaking her head and muttering about how she didn’t want to know why he knew the password. The two of them stepped onto the spiraling stairs, until they came up to the office, still holding hands. At the top, Lily knocked on the door.
“Miss Evans, Mr. Potter,” called a voice inside. “Come in. I’ve been expecting you.”
Chapter 14
Petunia
Dumbledore had cleared Lily to attend her parents’ funeral, and she had asked James to go with her. When Professor McGonagall informed him of her choice in companion at breakfast, on Friday, James was shocked into silence, something very rare for him. Sirius also seemed shocked, but Becky just smiled to herself and kept eating her eggs. Lily had told the Headmaster she was going to rejoin classes, that day, but James thought it was best not to bring up such a sensitive topic during classes.
Goodness knows he’d upset her enough over the years.
The next morning, James got up especially early, and forces Sirius to, as well.
“What do you wear to a Muggle funeral?” asked James, scrutinizing his small non-school wardrobe of jeans. “I’ve been to a wizard one for my distant cousin three times removed, once, and you wear robes to Wizard ones.”
“Robes?” Sirius shrugged, still laying down with his eyes closed. “Bleeding hell, it’s eight in the morning and you haven’t got to be there till eleven.”
“But I don’t know what to wear to a funeral!” James said.
“REMUS!” called Sirius. “REMUS HELP!”
Remus lurched from bed as if a monster was eating him, and blinked up at them, blue eyes wide. “Huh?!”
James glared at Sirius. “Why’d you have to go on and do that, huh? Moony was sleeping!”
“Huh?!” repeated Remus, shaking his head like a wet dog.
“Goodnight,” Sirius smiled, closing his drapes.
And he started snoring. James sighed. “Go on back to bed, Moony, and just let me borrow your book.”
“Whaffor?” Remus yawned.
“I don’t know what to wear to a Muggle funeral. Plus I’ll be gone overnight,” James sighed. “Do you think my jeans are ok?”
“Definitely not,” Remus sighed, standing up and straightening his pajamas. “I think you’re supposed to wear all black and no jeans or stuff.”
“That’s not too groovy.”
Remus shrugged from his bed. “It’s death, you’re paying respects to the people dead.”
James nodded, digging through his wardrobe.
Lily purposefully let herself sleep long as she dared and know she still had enough time to get things done. She’d packed the night before, but there wasn’t much as she would be going back home. Almost all her things were there, but the thought of seeing them again and having to think that almost everything of hers was given and bought by her parents... It hurt. She woke at nine thirty, seeing Becky up and studying for a test on Monday with glasses on her nose. No one really knew that she wore glasses besides Lily and Charles. That was the way Becky liked to keep it.
“Morning,” she said softly.
“Hi,” Lily muttered, sitting up. She just stared at her lap for a while. “What do you think their last thought was?”
Becky looked up at Lily through her glasses. “I don’t know... There’s so few seconds to think of anything before an Unforgivable hits you.... But if they did have time.. it was probably about their family, you and your sisters and brother.”
“Daisy never lived, though,” Lily said softly. “Neither did Pirro...”
“I know,” Becky said softly.
Lily sighed. “No one should have to watch their younger sister and brother die of leukemia.... And then watch her parents be murdered.”
Becky nodded. “I know. Life isn’t fair, it takes away the best of us in the worst ways.”
“And... the thing was.... I was so sure that when I got that letter to Hogwarts.... I was so sure that if they’d have lived.... Daisy and Pirro would have gotten one, too,” Lily said, still staring at her blanket. “We used to play games when we were little, since Petunia would never play with us.. Mind reading games, and we always knew what other people were thinking, exactly.... All three of us...”
Becky sighed. “I wish I could’ve seen them...”
Lily managed a wan smile, looking over at her friend. “They were beautiful. Blond hair, that’s why mum named her Daisy. She had mom’s hazel eyes. Best four year old sister a girl could ask for. And Pirro.... He had green eyes and red hair, like me... And freckles, too...”
Becky smiled softly. “At least you’ve got your memories of them.”
Nodding, Lily stood and started dressing for the day. She had pulled out her black dress, and packed her other one for the actual burial tomorrow. She pulled on pantyhose reserved for her nursing training, and also the nursing shoes. After pulling on her heavy cloak and pulling her hair up away from her face, Lily grabbed her bag and waved good-bye to her friend. It was nearing ten, and she still had to eat and then find Dumbledore to Port-Key to her house. Going down the stairs, Lily sighed to herself.
“This is going to be interesting,” she muttered.
Coming round the corner, she saw Peter and Remus sitting with each other, studying. She went over and sat on the couch by them. Remus glanced up.
“Hi, Lilis...” he said softly.
“Morning, Remus,” she whispered.
Peter looked over. “Why are you being so quiet?” Lily just glared at him as Remus smacked Peter’s forehead. Peter jumped and said loudly, “What?! What was that for?!”
She was just about to start yelling at the ignoramus, when she heard voices on the stairs and glanced over. Sirius was laughing his way down, frequently glancing back, and she didn’t have to keep watching to know who he was laughing at and why. Lily sighed and stood, giving Remus a one-armed hug, and turned to see a very put-out looking James Potter trying to retain some dignity in his dress clothes.
“Stuff it, Padfoot!” he grumbled, adjusting his Quidditch bag of clothes on his shoulder. Then he saw Lily. “Morning.”
She just nodded, noticing that he seemed to have taken the time to be very Muggle in his dress. “Ready for breakfast?”
“Hours past,” he said. “Later, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail.”
They all waved the two of them out, and there was a silence as they walked down the cold hall. Lily was trying not to think of how she was going to have to see her parent’s bodies in caskets, and instead turned to James to distract herself.
“Sirius making fun of you?”
“Very much so, yes,” James nodded. “He thinks my Muggle attire is horrible.”
“To someone with no taste at all, it would be,” Lily shrugged. “I think you look nice.”
“Do you realize what you just said?” James grinned.
Lily rolled her eyes as they went down the Moving Stairs. “Don’t hold your breath.”
James thought of a million retorts to say to that, particularly ones highlighting last night and the, er, distraction incident, but he just smiled smugly. Lily glanced over.
“But your hair is horrible.”
“Oi!” he gasped, clutching it. “What’s wrong with my hair?!”
“It’s all stick outy at all these odd angles,” Lily said.
“So?”
She shook her head. “It’s just... messy.”
James sighed. “It’s the way I am, believe me, my mum has tried every charm in to book to get it flat.”
Lily raised an eyebrow. “Every charm?”
“Mm-hm.”
“Well then, sounds like it needs some good old Muggle gel.”
James let out a little laugh as they entered the Great Hall. It was mostly empty, with late sleepers eating their breakfast. A few of them cast odd looks at the two of them, all dressed up and carrying overnight bags, but thankfully no one said anything. Lily couldn’t force down anything, though she tried, and James didn’t to seem to have much of an appetite beyond toast, either.
“Come on, Lily, eat,” he said. “Remember the drugs!?”
She blushed, remembering much more than that from that day. “Yes...” she said softly.
James immediately remembered that, too, and tried not to recall the touch of her rose petal soft lips on his own. They sat there in silence for a while, before he added,
“But really, you should eat.”
She sighed. “Don’t bother me, James. I don’t feel like doing much of anything, right now...”
He just nodded, staring down at his own half eaten toast. Just then, the doors opened and Dumbledore walked purposefully over to them both. He stopped in front of them, and smiled softly.
“Ready?”
“Yes, Headmaster,” Lily said softly, standing.
James stood with her, and they followed him to a room behind the teacher’s table that James had never been in. There was a fireplace in the corner, and pictures of witches and wizards lined the room. A picture of a witch next to a wizard with a walrus mustache looked down at them.
“Albus?” she asked.
“Go away for a few minutes, Violet,” Dumbledore said. “In fact, all of you, out!”
She sniffed, and ambled out with the others. After a moment, there was silence from the room. Dumbledore sighed and took a small necklace out of his pocket. It looked Egyptian of origin, an eye made of pewter with an odd colored stone for the pupil. He gently tapped it with his wand, muttering a spell. He stared down at the necklace in his fingers, and sighed.
“One day, one day.... she’ll wear it always.... We can only hope...” he whispered, fingering the trinket.
“Professor?” James asked softly, confused as Lily.
He didn’t look up, but shook his head. “Terrible fate... Poor child...”
“Dumbledore? Albus?” Lily said softly. “Are you all right?”
He looked up at her, and she saw the faintest tear glimmering in his blue eyes. “Oh yes... I was just remembering the horrors of the future.... And the innocent lives that will have to face them...”
Lily ‘s brow remained knitted in confusion, and James was quite sure that he was drunk. Albus sighed and held out the necklace to Lily, who gently took it.
“Right, then. Departure straight to your house in thirty seconds, my dear. I have programmed it to come straight back to this room at sundown on Sunday,” Dumbledore said. “Just... try your hardest not to loose that, my dear.”
“Sir... I wouldn’t loose it, but if it’s valuable... Why would you let us use it?” Lily asked, glancing down at it.
He smiled softly. “It has no value now, but for the future it does. We can only hope that she is born with the same qualities.... Now, my dear... off you go, departure in ten seconds.”
Lily just nodded, and offered part of the necklace to James. He took it, shifting his bag, and took a last glance at Dumbledore, before she felt a sharp jerk on her navel area, and Hogwarts around her disappeared. Lily’s feet slammed into ground, and she coughed, falling forward slightly. James instinctively reached out and grabbed her, preventing her from falling, and blinked to look around him.
They were standing in the middle of a large entrance area to a nice home, with black and white checkered tile floor. The walls were paneled with deeply painted wood, and there were several framed photographs hanging on the walls. Lily sighed as she looked around, already starting to cry at all the memories of her parents here.
“It’s okay, Lily,” James whispered, hugging her to him.
She reached an arm around his shoulders to hug him back. “I’d like to think so, James.”
There was silence for a moment, before loud footsteps were heard from James’ left, down a hall. They both looked, and saw a thin, bony, ugly girl with deep brown hair waking down it.
“Oh, it’s just the freak and some loser,” she called over her shoulder. “Don’t bother calling the police, call the asylum instead.”
A phone clicked off somewhere, and Lily glared at her sister, who smirked in a way that made James severely reminded of Lucius Malfoy.
“Hello, Petunia,” Lily mumbled.
“Is this your kind of sick joke, bringing another one into the house?!” Petunia shrieked, as if James were a filthy dog.
He immediately felt like killing her. “No, I’m Lily’s friend. The Headmaster asked if she would like someone to accompany her. And now I see why.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, you little freakazoid?” Petunia snarled, grossing her arms over a very ugly black dress.
“It means, you stupid bitch,” Lily said, “That I have no family left so I should bring someone who cares.”
“Damn right you haven’t got any family left, as far as I’m concerned, they gave us the wrong kid at the hospital!” she yelled.
James could feel Lily starting to shake with rage and tears, and pulled her closer. His movement brought more attention from Petunia, just as a very large man with a big mustache and no neck ambled in from down the hallway.
“You. Who are you?!” she snarled, as the man’s arm slithered over her thin waist.
James stood up tall as he could. “James Potter.”
Petunia eyed him. “If you touch one thing in this house and get freak germs on it... I swear I’ll kill you.”
James thought of a million things to say and do in response to that, but just settled for a murderous glare, fingers twitching to grab his wand out. Instead he just eyed the man, probably Vernbin Durrvy or whatever his name was, and sneered.
“Yes ma’am, I’d enjoy watching that,” he smirked.
Without another word, he turned towards the large stairs to his right, helping Lily along as she hugged to him, going up the stairs and hoping her room would jump out at him. There were loud mutterings from downstairs, but he ignored them as he walked down the pale yellow hallway, knowing this was going to be the longest nineteen hours of his life.
Chapter 15
Breakdown
James saw a door with a large, fake lily flower on it near the end of the hall, and pushed it open as Lily started to say that it was her room. Inside, it was a soft white color, and comfortably small. Her bed, a good sized four-poster with white drapes that reminded James of Hogwarts, was shoved off into the corner. Her dresser was opposite that, with the closet in the wall in-between them. On this side of the room was a desk with a chair that she obviously studied at over the summer. There were some papers and parchment left there from Christmas break, just over two months ago. In the direct middle of the room was a very large bay window, which was cushioned to sit on and surrounded by bookshelves upon bookshelves of books.
Lily gently let go of James and went over to sit there, moving aside an old stuffed animal to do so. She sniffed and look out the window, pushing aside light green drapes. James stood there for a moment, then set down his bag and went over to sit next to her. There was silence for a while.
“So... how do you like my family?” she whispered dryly.
James shook his head. “No one should come home to that. No wonder you and Sirius can get along.”
“Not all the time, we don’t,” she said softly, shrugging.
James let a pause lapse. “Well... In any case, she’s not quite right.”
“We used to get along, you know...” Lily said, still staring out the window at her backyard, covered in snow. “All four of us.”
“Four?” asked James.
She nodded. “I had two other siblings... Daisy and Pirro. Twins, but they both died of leukemia when they were three and four...”
James stared at Lily. “I never knew you had other siblings...”
She nodded, a stray tear rolling down her cheek. “They were born when I was five. I remember my mum letting me hold them both in the hospital. They were the tiniest babies I’ve ever seen, two months early...” She sighed. “It killed Daisy when Pirro died. I’m sure it killed her faster than the leukemia did...”
James shook his head, knowing about the Muggle disease from his rampant studies of all Remus’ books. She watched out the window, frosted slightly from the cold, then checked her watch.
“I should show you where the guest room is....” Lily said softly, standing. “I ll have to share with Vernon... Unless they decide her sleeps in her room with her...”
Lily made a face and James managed a smile. They left her room, James grabbing his bag, and walked a door down the hall. Lily pushed it open, flicking on the light. James looked around the room, which was furnished with a bed and dresser, a Muggle electric alarm clock on top of it. He watched as the fan light started rotating. Lily saw him watching it and shook her head.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know what a fan is,” she said.
“I know it, I’ve just never seen one,” James said slowly, as it rotated. “It’s so... groovy....”
Lily looked through the drawers. “None of Vernon’s things are in here... Looks like you’ve got the run of the place.”
James suppressed the urge to say what other things he’d like the run of around here, and just nodded, sitting on the bed and setting his bag down. Lily leaned against the dresser and watched him look around.
“James...” she said.
“Mm?” he asked, looking over.
“You do know how to work a Muggle shower.... right?”
He blinked. “It’s different?”
She sighed and indicated he should follow her. James kicked off his shoes and quickly followed her down the hall, past a mirror that didn’t talk. After shaking his head at that, he saw Lily walking into the bathroom. It was large enough, but not overly so, painted light blue. She pushed back the shower curtain and pointed to the knobs and drains sticking out of the wall.
“The one with the red marker is hot, and the blue is cold,” she said. “You just turn them until it’s hot or cold enough for you. You’ll have to turn both of them to get it right. Otherwise you’ll burn or freeze the crap out of yourself.”
“Why can’t it just adjust automatically?” James asked, staring at it.
She let out the first smile in over a day. “Because it’s not magical, James.”
“I know, but don’t Muggle have enough tefnolokee for that?”
“Err... you mean technology?” supplied Lily.
“That one.”
“Not yet. We’ve barely invented microwaves.”
His brow knitted. “What’s a microwave?”
She was about to explain, before she checked her watch. Then she smiled and grabbed his hand. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
James, smiling at the fact she was holding his hand again, allowed Lily to drag him out and downstairs. They went down the hallway through which Petunia the Bitch had emerged a few minutes before, and Lily pushed open a swinging door. Inside was a spotlessly clean kitchen, but it was unlike any kitchen James had ever seen.
There were all these slightly humming large boxes all over the room, one of which had one huge door you could walk through. Another had a door you pulled down and was topped with four spiraled metal things covering holes and failing at covering them completely. Next to that box was a large one sitting on the counter next to a sink, and it had a door with a load of buttons next to it. Lily pointed at that.
“That, James, is a microwave,” she said.
He stared at it. “What’s it do?”
Lily smiled. “I’ll show you.”
She walked over to the large, door-sized box, and opened it. A light flicked on, and inside was racks of cartons of different things that looked like food. At the top was another little door about the size of the microwave, and it was emanating cold steam. She pulled that open, and inside was a bunch of brightly colored boxes of different sizes. Lily turned to look at James.
“Fish, chicken, or beef?” she asked.
“Er... chicken?” James said, sitting at the table.
Lily dug round, bits of frost falling out, until she pulled out a box. Closing both doors, she pulled a round, plastic tray out of the box and peeled some odd see-through paper off the tray. Smiling, she opened the microwave, stuck the tray in, closed it, and clicked some of the buttons. Glancing over, she grinned, then pressed the big red button. It immediately illuminated and started whirring, causing James to jump. The tray was spinning around inside, and he watched it with fascination.
“What’s going to happen to it?” he asked, standing and staring at it.
Lily, arms folded over her chest as she leaned on the counter, watched him with amusement. “Just watch!”
Through a window, he watched the yellow interior, spinning the tray around on a glass plate. After a while, it stopped humming so loud, then stopped altogether and beeped loudly three times. Lily waited to see what he’d do. He looked at her, and she indicated the microwave. James carefully opened it, and the light flicked on again. Slowly reaching, he pulled the tray out quickly, as if afraid it would bite him, then slammed the door shut. Staring down at the tray as it steamed, he shrugged.
“Now what?” he asked.
“Eat,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow, pointing to the tan strips in the tray. “This is food?”
Lily nodded. “Not the healthiest of food, but it’ll keep you alive if you’re starving.” James stared at her for a while, and she sighed. “Look, I’ll eat some, see?”
Reaching over, she took one of the chicken strips and bit it, chewing. James slowly took one and bit it. It was a little tough, but tasted much more like chicken than it looked. He shrugged and ate the rest, before setting aside the tray. Looking round, he pointed at a large, glass cylinder set atop a gray stand with loads of buttons.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“That is a blender,” Lily said.
He stared at it, pushing some random buttons to no effect. “What’s it supposed to do, it’d broken.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s just not plugged in... You put stuff in it that you want to be mixed together, like fruit or ice-cream or something. Then you select one of the settings and let it mix for a bit and it makes you a drink.”
“Ooh...” James nodded. “That’s definitely groovy.”
Lily just nodded, before absentmindedly picking up what James recognized as a telephone and dialed a number. She waited a moment, then put it back down. “No phone messages...” she sighed.
James just nodded, and they both stood there. Then Lily checked her watch.
“We’ve got to be going, the church is a five minute drive...” she said.
James followed her out and upstairs, going into his room and pulling on the dress shoes again. Lily pulled on a sweater over her black dress, tossing off her cloak, and James caught a magnificent view of how stunning she looked in the dress. Shaking his head clear of those thoughts, he suddenly heard a screech from downstairs.
“FREAK! GET DOWN HERE NOW! WE’RE LEAVING!”
Lily, from the next room, let out a huge sigh, and closed her door. “Ready, James?”
He nodded, coming out of the room and closing the door. He gently took her hand and squeezed it, seeing she had already started crying again.
“It’ll be okay, Lily,” he said softly.
Far from being okay, the entire funeral could not have been more catastrophic from beginning to end. The instant James started the car ride, the entire three hours spiraled downwards from there. First of all, he was looking around like an uncivilized moron the whole way in the car, and then the issue with the stoplights was a whole different deal altogether. By the time they got to the church, Petunia swore up and down she wasn’t driving them back and that they’d have to walk. Vernon’s hand was firmly on Petunia’s thigh the whole way, which made his driving a little dangerous. Lily tried to sink into the seat and die, not wanting to admit that she was actually part of her family.
Then there was the funeral. It was just the viewing today, with the burial tomorrow at three. All of her parent’s friends were there, and as she had no family left, she was stuck with Petunia, who was coincidentally giving the eulogy. Lily fought past her parent’s old friends and work buddies, ignoring them trying to sooth her when she’d yet to start crying, ignoring their questions on James, and stood in the church with James, alone in the room with her parent’s caskets, side by side just like they were getting married. She stared at them, as slowly released his hand, walking forward.
“Lily?” asked James softly.
She ignored him, walking silently up to the caskets, propped open. She stood in the middle of them, looking first at one, then the other. James didn’t know what to do, he just stood there and watched her. Lily leaned and gently kissed their cold foreheads, fixing her mother’s hair that fell over her white forehead. She let out a shaking sigh, and went to sit in the first pew. James came and sat next to her, seeing there wasn’t a single tear on her cheek, to see that she was blank and expressionless.
“Lily?” he repeated.
She just shook her head as the doors opened, people filing in to sit down. They remained silent, sometimes hugging each other and sniveling. Petunia and Vernon sat on the other pew, and James gently held Lily’s hand, but she didn’t hold his back. There was something wrong with her, she was being too forced...
Just then, the minister stood and led a prayer, then a hymn. Lily just lowered her head, staring at James’ hand holding hers, mouthing the prayer and words to the song, not needing a bible for either one. When he was done, everyone sat, and Petunia, sniveling showily, ambled up and sniffed loudly as she took the microphone. Lily squeezed her eyes shut as her sister spoke shortly of her parents, frequently stopping for a fake sob. James just glared at her, and how she didn’t mention Lily by name, and didn’t mention the other two children at all. Petunia finished with a great sob and,
“I’ll always remember my parents.... Because they were such loving, understanding, average people, with nothing out of the ordinary but everything just right about them.”
Lily’s hand clenched in his at those words, and her green eyes squeezed shut. James knew those words were directed at Lily, and gently hugged her. She didn’t move, though, she just sat there, staring at her lap. Everyone else applauded softly, and Petunia sniveled back over to Vernon, who hugged her into his fat arm. They stood, going over to look at the caskets.
Everyone followed them, but Lily didn’t move. She just sat there as everyone filed past, gazing at her parents, gently patting Petunia on the back, softly expressing their grief to her as they left. She blocked it all out until everyone was gone, and it was just them in there. Lily took a deep breath, then stood slowly, letting her hand fall from James’. She slowly walked over and stood by the caskets, again, a hang shakily resting on each one of them. Her fingers ran over the polished wood, and she stared into the blank faces of her parents, eyes closed over pale, un-marked skin.
There was nothing on their bodies to tell of the horrors they had suffered, no signs that they’d been brutally murdered by the Dark Lord. The violence of the world wasn’t believable, by looking at them, as the Muggles had all been told that the heating oil had exploded and the shock waves and debris had killed them.
Lily let out a shaking sob, and slowly sank to her knees, hands still clutching to the trim of the caskets. James stood, but didn’t know what to do. He knew grieving was natural, but it didn’t make it any easier to watch. She sobbed into her knees, fingers grasping needily at the wooden boxes in which her parents lay, shaking into herself. James walked over and crouched, gently rubbing her back, moving her hair out of her face.
“Why...” she managed. “Why my pare-ents? They never did any-ything wrong... Nev-ver...”
“I don’t know, Lily,” James whispered softly. “Voldemort doesn’t choose his victims based on what they do...”
She didn’t seem to hear him, though, and just cried into her knees. James reached and pulled her up, hugging her to him tightly, and she clung to him, hugging him tightly, like a scared child. James let her cry into his shoulder, looking at the faces of her parents. They looked like they were sleeping, as if they could get up and talk to her. Lily pulled away from James, staring down at her mother, reaching in and taking her hand.
“Wake up!” she whispered, shaking it. “Mum, wake up! Dad!” She turned and gently shook her father’s shoulder. “I promise I’ll never leave home again if you wake up.... Please... you can’t just leave me here, I’m alone...”
James, feeling tears biting at his eyes, knew there was nothing he could say or do to make Lily feel any better or stop her crying. She was having a breakdown, and the only thing to do was let it happen. He sighed, wiping a tear away, and slowly walked back to the pew, sitting and holding his head in his hands, trying not to hear her cry.
Chapter 16
Exploding Muggle Machines
James had to get the minister to give them a ride home, nearly an hour later, because Petunia had done as she’d said and left them at the church. Lily had long since cried herself out, and wasn’t even hungry for dinner, or at least James didn’t think so from her incomprehensible garble. As the minister drove off, James helped Lily up the front stoop of the large house, and into the door, which was mercifully unlocked. Ignoring the voices laughing in the living room, James got her over to the stairs. She didn’t seem to have much will left to live, and just stared at the stairs as if they were impossible. James sighed.
“Come on, Lily...” he said softly. “For me? For Becky? At least go on to bed, you look exhausted.”
She took a deep breath and started going upstairs. James went with her, knowing there was no place for him down here with the magic haters. Lily went into her room, and James leaned against the doorway. She sat on her bay window, hugging the old stuffed animal to her and looking out the window as the sun set in the late winter snow. After a while, James sighed and straightened.
“Good night, Lily...” James said softly.
She didn’t even move, she just hugged the stuffed bear closer to her. James nodded and walked over to his room, grateful that he’d brought some schoolwork to do, as it was only five and he had twenty four more hours to go.
James looked up at the alarm clock to see it was a little after midnight, and wrinkled his brow. He hadn’t heard a peep out of Lily since he’d bid her good-night, but now he had just heard her leave her room and walk downstairs. He paused, wondering if he was going mad, then decided to see why. Putting aside his book and grabbing a shirt to throw over his boxers, James stood and left the room. The entire house, outside his ray of light from his room, was pitch black, but he could hear movement downstairs. He stepped out into the blackness, wand in hand just in case, and went downstairs.
The noises were coming from the kitchen, which had a light glowing from under the door. James went in, and saw Lily sitting at the table in her pajamas, holding a large spoon and digging it into a small carton of ice-cream. She didn’t even look up. He saw that she’d cried herself to sleep.
“Lily... are you binge eating?” he asked reproachfully, trying to get a smile.
She ignored him, eating a spoonful of the strawberry flavored goo. James watched her, seeing that she had her slightly curly hair in a messy braid down her back. He watched her for another moment, before doing and digging through the pantry for some hot chocolate for the both of them. He eventually found some in a box featuring mountains and a red cup of steaming hot chocolate, then looked for the milk in the tall box thing. It was cold in there, and he almost shivered, but took out a cardboard carton that said MILK in blue letters.
It took James a minute to figure out how to open the carton, but he eventually got it. Moving over to the blender, he poured about two cups worth of milk into the glass holder, then turned to the hot chocolate packages. Lily blithely ignored him as if he weren’t there, eating her icecream slowly. James ripped the packages and dumped the brown powder onto the milk, wondering how in hell the powder turned into hot chocolate.
“Here goes nothin’,” he muttered, picking up the glass container.
It detatched from the gray base, so he shrugged and pressed the button that said “puree.” It remained silent, but he could feel that the glass was cold.
“This needs to be warm...” he muttered to himself.
Then, he remembered that the chicken box had been in the ice box, and that when it came out of the microwave thing, it was hot. He opened the microwave, and set the blender container inside, though it barely fit. Closing it again, James looked at the buttons. Turning to the hot chocolate box, he saw that there was a label on the side.
“20 bags,” he red the words in the red circle. “Hm...”
Turning back to the microwave, he saw a button labeled “popcorn bags.” Shrugging, he pressed the 2 and the 0, then “popcorn bag” and pressed the red button labeled “START.” Instantly it started popping, and after three seconds, popping loudly. Then it sparked a few times, and James jumped.
“OI!”
Lily turned, hearing the sparks and his cry, then jumped up. “What’d you do?!”
“I put the blender in to mix the hot chocolate!” James said, pointing around at nothing in particular. “It’s all that stupid box’s fault! I didn’t do it!!”
“James, the blender is metal!” Lily cried, dropping her spoon to lunge for the microwave. “If you put metal in a microwave, it’ll-”
BOOMFT.
Suddenly the contents of the microwave flew everywhere, the door flew open, spraying glass and metal and milk and powder all over the room, and smoke issued as a small fire started somewhere on the backside of the microwave. James jumped and quickly put out the fire with his wand, until the room was filled with smoke and mush and glass shards with a metal ring and blade sitting an inch from Lily’s bared foot. She reached up and wiped the mush off her eyes and shook it off, before staring at the narrow decapitation of her foot. She shook her head and coughed in the smoke.
“....Explode,” she finished.
James smiled guiltily as brown mush dripped from his hair. “Oops.”
Lily sighed, wiping the goo on his shirtsleeve. “Help me clean this up.”
He did as he was told, and they magically repaired the microwave, as they were both above the legal age to perform magic outside school. When they’d gotteyn done, the kitchen was back to the way it was before the explosion, except it was a bit smoky. As Lily put the rest of the ice-cream back in the freeze box and got out more hot chocolate to make, she cast a rueful glance at a round thing on the ceiling.
“Stupid smoke detectors don’t work worth a crap,” she said.
James shrugged, watching as she made hot chocolate by hand. It seemed a lot simpler, especially as you added warm water, not milk. She handed him a coffee mug full of it, and he gratefully took it, smiling and sipping it. There was a silence, before she said,
“I was binge eating, yes.”
James tutted. “Lily, shame, you’ll loose your figure that way.”
She rolled her eyes. “Much to your horror, no?” He just shrugged, but she payed no attention. Casting a tired glance at the clock on the wall, she finished her cocoa and set the mug in the sink. “I’m going back to bed...”
“Ok... Me too. All these exploding Muggle machines have made me tired,” James grinned.
Lily shook her head, flicking off the light as they both went upstairs. Lily waved to James as she went in her room, and was just about to close the door when she heard a noise.
“What?” she asked, going back out.
James poked his head back out the door at her. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Oh... I coud have sworn I heard someone,” she said.
“It’s probably because you’re tired,” James said.
“Oh, right... Night,” she said.
Right as she went to close her door, she heard it again, and went back out. “There it is again!”
James hadn’t gone in yet, either, and gave her an odd look. “It really isn’t me.”
The two of them stood there, waiting for something, before they both shrugged and turned to go in. Then it sounded again, louder, and James ran out.
“I heard it that time!” he said, as she re-emerged.
Her brow was knitted. “Well what the hell is it?”
They paused for much longer, and heard it again, coming from down the hall. Lily slowly walked that way, followed by James (holding his wand), and it slowly became more and more clear what the noise was. It was coming from her parent’s bedroom, and Lily felt he jaw drop at the noises being made within.
“That. Little. WHORE!” she snarled, blushing deeply. “I cannot believe her!!”
James, who couldn’t hear as well, looked round at her. “What? What is it?”
She shook her head, plugging her ears in disgust and banging loudly on the door. “OI! YOU BLOODY SLUT! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!”
A loud grunt came from inside the room, followed by something, probably a shoe, hitting the door as the noise intensified and James became clear on what it was, and nearly puked.
“STOP IT RIGHT NOW!” Lily screetched. “STOP IT! I HATE YOU! THAT’S MUM AND DAD’S ROOM! THEIR BED!!! HOW DARE YOU!”
“Go the hell away!” panted Petunia. “I’m busy!”
“THE HELL YOU ARE, YOU WHORE!”
Lily banged on the door again, kicking it violently and shouting a few more insults, before punching it so hard James swore he heard a bone break. She immediately cradled it, crying out in pain, and he quickly grabbed her and hurried back down the hall, not wanting to have to hear another one of Petunia’s remarkably banshee-like shrieks. He pulled them both into her room and slammed the door shut, and since that wasn’t good enough, cast a very good silencing spell on the perimiter of her room. Immediately the horrible noises stopped, and Lily stopped trying to plug her ear and now focused on her hand, slightly bleeding. James had never seen her lose her temper to the point she hit something, and she was now whimpering in pain.
“Ow ow ow damnit!” she muttered.
James went over, and flicked on a light, looking at her hand. It was most definately broken, with a bad cut on her knuckles. He shook his head, knowing his healing skills were terrible compared to hers.
“Sit down, Lily,” James said, pulling her over to her bed. “So I can fix it...”
She did as she was told, letting James examine her hand closely and wincing badly. Tears of hate and pain were streaming down her cheeks. He sighed and looked up at her.
“I’ve never fixed a broken bone.”
She took his wand, and tapped her tand, wincing and muttering a spell. Instantly, he saw her flesh crawl as bones moved around, and then she wiped the blood on her shirt. Handing his wand back, she sighed.
“Sorry for bringing you here,” she muttered. “I had no idea she’d be this foul...”
James shrugged, glancing around her darkened room. “No problem... It’s not your fault.”
Lily shrugged, standing and walking around. “Well... you’re sort of trapped in here with me, unless you want to go out and hear that again...”
James grinned, trying not to say how he actually liked it. “Aww, I think I’ll live. I mean, as long as you don’t rape me...”
She turned a raised eyebrow. “Moi? Rape you? What pills are you on?”
James laughed, stretching and sitting on her little bay window seat. “But really, I think I’ll be fine.”
Lily nodded, going to sit next to him. They both looked out over her backyard, which held her mother’s old flower garden off in the corner. Her mother had loved flowers, and it obviously showed in the naming of her children. Lily sighed, watching as snow glinted in the moonlight. James looked around her room, noticing that it was surprisingly less feminine than one might have thought. Lily looked over at him.
“James?”
“Hm?” he looked over.
She examined his blue eyes behind his glasses, glinting so many colors in the moonlight. “Thanks for being there for me.”
He shrugged. “Thanks for letting me be your friend.”
Lily smiled softly, then leaned a little closer. She watched him, eyes still interesting from this closeness, too, and gently kissed his lips. James let her, this time, reaching up and holding her cheek in his hand. It was a short kiss, but somehow it felt important, as if nothing else mattered in the world, not that her parents were dead, not that there was a Dark Lord, nothing. Lily pulled away and smiled.
“You’re not going to regret this later, are you?” James asked softly, heart soaring.
She smiled and bit her lip, shaking her head. “Definately not.”
James smiled softly and kissed her again.
Chapter 17
Torturous Revenge
The next morning, Lily awoke to feel a warm form lying next to her, an arm lying over her waist and hand intertwined with hers. Lily watched their fingers, lying intertwined on the bed sheet, realizing she had no recollection of falling asleep. The last thing she remembered was smiling at James and watching the moon out her window. Now, as she felt James’ soft breathing tickling her neck, she smiled to herself, not minding that today was the burial. In fact, her mind was far from it, and it felt good not to dwell on those thoughts for once. James stirred, and gently squeezed her hand. Lily smiled.
“Morning,” she said.
“Mm, hi,” he whispered, obviously still trying to sleep.
“Can you get up so I can move?” Lily asked, rolling over to face him.
He opened one eye, then closed it. “No. Too early.”
Lily sighed. “I don’t want to have to climb over you.”
“Sure you do,” he yawned.
Lily sighed. “Oh, do get up, you ass.”
“I always knew you stared at my bum,” he mumbled, smiling.
She rolled her eyes, sitting up and climbing right over him. James’ hand reached out lightning quick to grab her, and all he succeeded in doing was tripping her and making them both fall off the bed in a tangle of blankets. Lily glared at him, standing up.
“Oh, grow up,” she sighed. James pouted, and she raised an eyebrow. “That supposed to be attractive?”
He nodded. “Always works.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “I’m not like every other girl you’ve dated. Which is precisely why we’ve not ever dated.”
James clutched his chest as he stood. “How your words sting me!”
She shook her head, saying, “It’s like deja vu all over again.”
He smiled, shaking his head, as he took off the silencing spell on her room. It was late morning, probably around ten, and there wasn’t another sound to be heard in the house. Lily peered out the door, and James snuck over and started going through her dresser, just to see how long it would take for her to notice.
“I don’t think they’re awake yet,” she said softly. “Which is good. I don’t feel like eating breakfast with that horrib- OI! What are you doing?!”
James looked over, grinning as he held up a pair of what looked like swimming trunks, but they were small and dark blue. “What’re these?”
“Give me back my tangoes!” Lily said, lunging for them.
“Why?” he asked. “Doesn’t seem to be in use.”
“Just give them to me!” Lily insisted.
He held them high out of her reach. “Make me.”
She puffed in anger, “Ass! Give them to me!”
“I haven’t been told a reason why yet,” he smirked.
Lily glared. “I know you know how high I can kick.”
He shrugged. “So?”
Her right leg slid backwards on her wooden floor. Within instants, she was kicking it upwards as high and hard as she could. James, however, was prepared this time, and caught her right foot in his hand, holding it up high above her head. She didn’t wince, obviously used to this kind of stretch, but glared at him as he held her foot above even his head. James smirked.
“So you are flexible...”
Lily’s eyes narrowed. “No shit, Sherlock.”
James smiled and shook his head. “I’ll let you go, but are you going to play nice, now?”
Lily smiled sweetly. “Very nice. I promise.”
He nodded, letting go of her foot. However, she left it there, her balance so excellent that she could stand on one leg with her other in full, straight extention. James saw this and smiled. Half an instant later, though, it disappeared as his eyes widened in shock. Lily dropped her leg and wrapped it around James’ waist tightly, pressing her body so tight to his that she could feel every line of muscle on his body. James let out an odd noise, her lips two centimeters from his. She knew the kinds of things this was doing to him, and smiled coyly. Lily then rolled through releve on her left foot, her body grinding against his in a way that effected him very much, she could literally feel it.
Still smiling, Lily reached up to his forgotten arm and grabbed the underwear that dangled from his fingers. She could see the need and want in his eyes, and smiled as she lowered herself back onto her foot. James groaned and his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her to him. Lily smiled, feeling that he wanted her to kiss him, to stop torturing him with this close distance. She pulled her leg off him, spinning around and curtsying slightly, causing another grind and noise, and pulled out of his arms.
“Very nice, indeed,” she smiled, walking out. “Thanks for picking out my underwear, for me.”
James watched her go, taking a towel from the hall closet with her, and sat on the bed, breathing deeply. He ran a hand through his hair, mind frazzled in shock. Lily Evans was a coy little woman! He shook his head, trying to forget about her body pressed so tightly against his, but found himself unable. James was either going to have to ravish her on the bedroom floor, or torture her right back.
But first, he needed a very, very cold shower.
Lily smirked to herself as she turned on the shower, stripping and climbing in. The hot water was refreshing on her face, and she relished it beating on her milky skin. After breathing out a long sigh, Lily washed herself clean, still reveling in the victory of blatantly turning on the hottest Marauder.
“Wait, I didn’t just think that....” she muttered, dropping the soap.
Ah, said the nasty voice in her head, But you did kiss him last night, no?
“It was just a kiss. Well, two, but still,” Lily said to herself. “Nothing happened. It wasn’t even proper snogging.”
A kiss is a kiss.
“Oh, shut up...” she grumbled, rinsing her hair.
Even though she shaved, too, Lily was out of the shower within fifteen minutes, and toweling off her hair in the slightly steamed room. She pulled on the underwear, smirking, wrapped the towel around herself, and opened the door. Her bedroom door was wide open with James not in sight, and the guest room door was closed with a light on in there.
Smiling, she went into her room and closed the door, dragging out her dress to change. After magically drying her hair and pinning it up into a curly bun, Lily looked at herself in the mirror. A sad young woman looked back, wearing a knee length black dress. She sighed, hearing the shower going again. Today was the day she put her parents in the ground. Lily sat on her bed, flicking through a photo album from her childhood. She smiled at the happy faces of her parents, and if anything the pictures soothed her. They’d had a good life, though it’d been cut short, and nothing could change that. Lily smiled, blinking away tears, and put the album away.
Standing, she poked around her hair in front of her mirror for a minute or so, trying to get some curls to lay just so. Just then, the shower went off, and Lily glanced in the direction. Shaking her head, she glanced at the clock and saw that it was already 10:30, and she’d yet to hear from Petunia or Vernon.
“Probably still shagging in my parent’s room,” she growled. “Bloody whore...”
The door opened and she heard James walking down the hallway, and she sighed. This was just going to be another one of those days. However, as she glanced at the room behind her, she couldn’t forget the look on James’ face barely half an hour ago. Smiling, she heard footsteps in the hall.
“Lily?”
“Mm?” she asked.
“Could you help me with my hair, since it’s so horrible?” James asked.
He was standing in her doorway, and she looked over. Her brain sparked when she did, because he was still soaking wet and just clutching a towel round his middle. A very, very low towel that exposed about three inches below his belly button. James was a very fit boy, now that she got a good look at him, a man, really. Five years of training for Quidditch was surprisingly visible, but not too much. His lower abdomen had light brown hair leading downwards, to where Lily suddenly wanted to know, and there was a muscle barely visible protruding from just over his hip bone, following that hair downwards at a slant. She blinked rapidly.
“What?”
He grinned. “Can you help me make my hair lie flat?”
She took a deep breath, trying not to eye him any more, noticing how great his shoulders were. “Err... yea.”
James smiled. “Great, thanks. I’ll be right back.”
She just nodded as he walked out and went to his room. Then she turned and banged her head on her dresser top. “What. Is. Happening. To. Me?!” she groaned.
Sighing, she dug through a bin of hair things and got out her old hair gel, shaking it up a bit. James came back in, wearing a black button up shirt that he had yet to button, and matching black pants, thankfully buttoned. Lily sighed and pointed to her bed, and James sat. Opening the bottle and determinedly not looking at him, Lily sat next to him and squeezed some of the goo out onto her fingers. Handing him the bottle, she rubbed her hands together, and then turned to glare at his hair.
“This is going to take a while,” she said.
James shrugged, grinning. His hair was still slightly damp, but not extremely wet. She considered it for a moment, not knowing where to start.
“Here goes nothing,” she muttered.
James gave her a dark look that made her falter slightly, which James noticed with a grin. Then she ran her fingers through his hair, making him shiver involuntarily, trying to push the majority of his hair back. It sort of started to work, before springing back. Lily sighed and held her hand out for more of the odd Muggle goo, which James squeezed into her hand. She rubbed some on her other hand, again, this time trying to smooth his hair from the top. After about five more glops of the stuff and a few aggravated huffs from Lily, James looked up.
“Is it working, yet?” he asked.
“No, it’s bloody not working at all!” Lily sighed. “Why? It’s not as if we’ve got anywhere to go until three.”
“Well, it’s hot in this room, you’ve got the heat up too high,” James said, innocently fanning his shirt over his still wet torso.
Lily glared, trying not to stare. “Well then, I shall have to stick you in a cold, dark room, shan’t I?”
James smiled. “I sweat better in the dark.”
Lily just gave him a look. A look half between shock and indigence, mixed with a harsh glare, and half laughter and.... want? Desire? No, definitely not. James smiled wider. “I know that look, you’re torn between slapping me and snogging me senseless.”
Lily managed to heave a huff. “As if.”
He just snickered. “Mm-hmm. That’s not the tune you were singing last night.”
Lily shrugged, taking the gel bottle and closing it. “I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.”
James stared. “What?! No, you can’t deny it, we kissed!”
She raised an eyebrow, putting the gel away. “Did we?”
He gasped in air, feigning a heart attack or something as she watched, arms folded over her chest. “How could you?! I’ve been used! Raped! Violated!” James stood, throwing his arms up in the air like a child.
Lily rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Even if I did rape you, I’ve got no recollection of it whatsoever.”
James turned and stared at her, jaw dropped in an O of shock. Shaking his head violently, from which the gel seemed to have evaporated, he was sputtering senseless garble. Lily smirked to herself, once again having the one-over on James. It was a good feeling, having the upper hand, and she suddenly wished to have it more often.
“No memory whatsoever?” he asked, blue eyes glinting.
Lily shook her head, smiling. “Nope. I woke up and for some odd reason you were in my bed. I think you tried to rape me but fell asleep first. I have no memory of those supposed kisses.”
James grinned. “First it was one kiss, now two?” Lily realized she’d been fully caught, and her smirk fell. James nodded. “Well then...”
Before Lily could blink, James stepped over, grabbed her by the elbow, and pulled her closer. James wrapped an arm around her waist tightly, conscious but uncaring that his bared torso was pressed against hers, that his hand was on her cheek, her eyes were shocked but not angry. He smiled softly, feeling her chest slightly press against his as she breathed. Their lips were literally less than an inch away, and James knew they were breathing in each other’s air.
“Do you remember now?” he whispered.
Lily bit her pretty lips, looking around her room, eyebrows scrunched in concentration. She sighed and turned back to James, shaking her head. “Not really.”
James sighed, shaking his head. “Always the hard way with you, isn’t it, Lils?”
Before she could respond to that, James kissed her for the third time, but somehow it was better, more lascivious. There were no tongues involved, which was what shocked her at the level of sensuality without actual snogging. James tongue briefly flicked over her lower lip, causing a cascade of warmth and excitement to spread throughout her body, then he gently nibbled her lip. Lily’s hand reached up and wrapped round his neck, the other burying in his unbuttoned shirt, fingers gliding across his smooth, firm shoulder. James gently pulled away, smiling in a very seductive way, and Lily found herself craving more.
“Don’t you remember now?” he asked innocently.
Lily gave him that look, again, and James smiled, letting his arms fall away from her. He turned and waltzed out, pausing in the doorway to say over his shoulder,
“See? I knew you wanted to snog me senseless. That look says it all, Lils. See you at breakfast.”
Chapter 18
If Magic Could Change The World
Lily somehow managed to get down to the kitchen, hearing Petunia and Vernon watching T.V. in the living room. Inside, James (shirt still unbuttoned) was trying to find something to eat. Lily rolled her eyes and made two bowls of Captain Crunch, which was something he understood the making and eating of. The two of them sat in silence for a while, before she glared at him out of the corner of her eye.
“James?”
“Hm?” he asked, chewing.
“You’re an asshole.”
“So’re you, Lils,” James nodded.
Lily raised an eyebrow. “And a dickhead.”
“Bitch.”
“Slut.”
“Moron.”
“Ignoramus.”
“Spell ignoramus.”
“J-A-M-E-S,” she smiled widely.
He raised an eyebrow, taking another bite of cereal. “Pimple face.”
“Is that the best you can do when I haven’t even got any?” she asked. James shrugged. “Wow, you’re a doofus.”
“Poohead.”
“Butt muncher.”
“Icky Vicky.”
“Cootie carrier.”
James shrugged. “I try.”
Lily shook her head, taking another bite of Captain Crunch. All was quiet in the kitchen, before she added, “Horrible snogger.”
“That was below the belt!” James said. “And false.”
She raised her eyebrow. “Below the belt? I don’t kiss people’s non existent extremities.”
James just shook his head, snickering and eating more cereal. “If only you knew.”
Lily shook her head. “I don’t want to know false knowledge.”
“Hah. You were all over me, Lils, I know you felt that. And I know you did it on purpose,” James said.
She smiled innocently, sipping her milk. “Felt what?”
James smiled equally as innocently, leaning closer and whispering in her ear, “Little Potter, of course.”
Lily let out a sound of utter disgust, jumping up and walking away from him. Shaking her head and coughing, she glared and dumped out the rest of her milk. James smiled, and shrugged.
“What? Can’t take the fact that you turned me on and I’m not afraid to admit it?”
She coughed, again, shaking her head. “James, you are utterly repulsive. A bleeding sack of horse manure.”
“Well then it’s sad to know that the famous Lily Evans, who defies all attempts by almost all boys, is turned on by a bleeding sack of horse shit,” James smiled. “Don’t deny it. You wanted me. I know it. You know it. Admit it.”
James smiled at her, not an arrogant smile, but an honest one. She just glared at him, at a loss for what to say. She took a deep breath and summoned his bowl over, emptying it out noisily and ignoring he wasn’t finished.
“Lils.”
“What?” she growled.
“Admit it, Lils.”
She slammed the ceramic bowl on the counter, turning to glare at him. “What? What do you want from me, James? An admission in writing? Yes, I will stand here and admit that you... you....”
“Turned you on,” James supplied helpfully.
“That one. And that I kissed you of my own will and design, and furthermore, that I do not regret an instant of any of it. Okay?! Are you bleeding happy, now?!”
James shrugged. “Not really.”
“Not... Not really....” she repeated faintly. She glared at him, then shook her head. “And you wonder why I hate you.” She turned and started walking out, to go up to her room where she could feel used alone.
“Hey!” James jumped up, catching her. “Where’re you going?”
Lily shook him off violently. “To a Potter and Little Potter free area!”
“But- I didn’t mean to make you mad!” James said, grabbing her back.
She glared daggers at him. Seriously, if glares could kill, he’d be a million dust particles floating in the atmosphere. James almost winced, but stood his ground and held her wrist firmly.
“Let go!” she said.
“No,” James shook his head.
“Let me go, you evil cupcake!”
They both stared at each other in complete silence for a moment, blinking and going over those words, before simultaneously bursting in laughter. The two of them sank down and sat on the floor, laughing and shaking their heads.
“Ev-vil cupcake?!” gasped James. “What the hell?”
“I don’t know!” laughed Lily. “It just popped out!”
“Haa, Lily Popped The Insult to me!” James laughed, wiping his eyes.
Lily laughed harder at that, falling over so that she was shaking on his shoulder. The two of them carried on laughing, until the door burst open and Petunia stood there, glowering down.
“What the hell are you freaks laughing at?!” she asked.
They looked at each other, then James made a banshee mating call. Lily, recognizing the joke, immediately started laughing again, as did James. Petunia covered her ears, shaking her head and running out fast as she could. James tried to make the noise again, but was laughing too hard, and it came out like a drowning girl shrieking. Lily wiped the tears from her eyes, and James stumbled up. Reaching down, he grabbed her hand and helped her up. The two of them walked out, smiling and shaking their heads, and went upstairs. Lily went into her room, and James came in and flopped on her bed.
“I’m tired,” he said. “All this joking has exhausted me.”
“But you just ate,” Lily said.
He grinned over at her. “I don’t run off food.”
Rolling her eyes and getting the picture, Lily shook her head. “Not gonna happen.”
“Awww.”
“Nope.”
“Please?”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Not even a teensy-?”
“Niet.”
James sighed. “What if I steal one.”
“I’ll scream rape.”
“As if they’d bother their lazy asses to get up here,” James said dryly.
Lily sat on her bay window. “True.”
James checked the clock, seeing they had almost three hours to go until the funeral. Shrugging, he said,
“Can you help me with this potion for Slughorne’s class?”
Three hours later found James and Lily in the car, again, once again with Petunia and Vernon. Again. The ride was silent to the cemetery, and James knew that Lily was getting sadder with each second that ticked by. He reached over and gently patted her hand, but she pulled it away, staring out the window. James sighed as they entered the memorial park.
There were a load of people there, lined up in cars, all surrounding two black hearses. Eight tall men stood in black suits by the cars, just pulling the now closed caskets out of them. As they stopped and got out, some crying people came over to hug and kiss them. James wisely pulled Lily over to the seating area near the graves, over which were metal platforms, hiding the view of the six foot drop.
Lily sat stiffly, a lone tear trickling down her cheek. James reached and wiped it off as the pallbearers set the caskets on the platforms. There was a hush in the chill February afternoon as the same minister from before stepped forward and began to read from his bible. Everyone was silent, save for some sniffs and snuffles of tears, Petunia almost having to hide a smug smile.
James cast her a long glare, seeing how hard Lily was restraining herself. As the minister snapped his bible shut, he scattered ashes on both the caskets. Lily immediately stood, and James noticed for the first time that she had an assortment of flowers in her hands. She shakily stepped forward, separating them into two clumps.
In one hand, she set atop her mother’s casket one white lily, one purple petunia, one yellow daisy, and one deep red hibiscus. James, of course, knew what all those were for. With the other hand, she set atop her father’s casket one single, white rose. She stepped back, fingers tracing along the polished wood just as they had the day before. She sighed and briskly turned, walking away. James stood along with everyone else, but lost her in the crowd. As it thinned, people going up to touch the caskets or add their own flowers, James could see her figure walking through a courtyard of sectioned off graves, in the distance. He slowly made his way that way as she kicked aside snow and sat in the grass, staring at the ground in front of her. The sounds of voices faded as he walked, replaced by crunching pebbles of the road.
James walked through the grass over to the courtyard, and stood behind her. Lily was staring at two old graves, laid there years before. The white stone had faded and was crumbling at the edges, and the grass was a little higher here. She didn’t look up at him. There was a pause.
“You know... It’s hard to deal with watching your parents be laid in the ground... But somehow, I never forgave myself for watching my siblings die like that,” Lily said softly.
“It wasn’t your fault,” James said. “That disease is horrible.”
“I know, but somehow I always thought that it was my fault that they got it instead of me,” Lily shrugged. “The doctors said that they wouldn’t live past a year old... I suppose I got my hopes up too high after that...”
James crouched next to her, gently laying a hand on her shoulder. “We all do stuff like that, it’s human nature...”
Lily nodded. “They’re why I wanted to be a doctor. A Healer, you know... Because when I had to watch my sister die right in front of my eyes in her own bed, right as my mum was calling the ambulance... I knew... I wanted to find cures for things like leukemia...”
James smiled softly. “I bet you could, you’d do anything you set your mind to, Lils.”
She sighed. “When I got that letter to Hogwarts saying I was a witch, that I could do magic... All I could think of was them. Daisy and Pirro. Dying like that with no cure. When I was little, I always played the If There Was Magic I Would game. I’d make people happy. I’d stop war and hunger and famine and disease. All I could think of was how endless of opportunities there are in the magical world. How many... great things... you can do with it.”
She turned to look up at him, and her tears started rolling.
“How many lives... it could change forever. I only thought of how magic could change the world for good, not bad. How with one word and a wave of a wand, everything would be different. But I never thought of how it could change one life. How it could affect one family, one person. Magic doesn’t change the world, James, it changes people. It makes things so they can never go back... And only now am I realizing how wrong yet right I was.”
James wiped the tear off her cheek, and hugged her. Lily hugged him, and he stood, bringing her up to her feet. He smoothed back her hair, feeling a surge of hate for Voldemort with every heartbeat, and she sighed.
“If magic could change the world, James....” she whispered. “I’d stop Voldemort from ever coming to power.”
“If magic could change the world, Lily,” James said softly, “I’d stop it from ever making you cry, again.”
Chapter 19
Changes
This time, they got a ride back with Petunia and Vernon, much to their displeasure. They were supposed to meet their parent’s lawyer for the reading of their will, at four thirty, and Petunia was already making plans.
“I want you out,” she said over her shoulder. “It’s my house and I don’t want a fucking freak living in it.”
Lily didn’t even move, staring out the window, not letting her know she’d heard her. James didn’t quite know what to do, even in Sirius’ house they’d never been so foul. At least they actually admitted he was from their family... For a while... He just glared at the back of Petunia’s head, wishing it would spontaneously catch on fire. The rest of the ride was silent, and Lily sat there for a moment before getting out of the car, once they were at the house. James followed her inside, and she went up to her room, slamming the door. James sighed, going upstairs and ignoring how Petunia was loudly planning her future in the house with Vernon. He walked down the hall, pulling off his tie, and knocked on Lily’s door as he unbuttoned the stifling top button.
“Lils?”
“Go away!” she said.
He shook his head, then said, “Well, you can’t see it, but I’m shaking my head.”
There was a pause, before the door opened and Lily stood there, half glaring at him. “What?”
James shrugged, leaning against the doorframe. “I just thought it’d be better if you had some company.”
Lily sighed, letting him in and going to sit at her desk. She fiddled with some paper for a bit, folding it in different origami designs. James watched, and after a few minutes she got out a red and gold marker and started making designs on random parts of the paper. James too himself a sheet, trying to fold something, and utterly failing. Lily folded her paper a last few times, then handed him what looked like a paper bird, colored red and gold very marvelously. James took it, smiling.
“It’s a phoenix,” she said unnecessarily.
James nodded. “It looks like it.”
Lily shrugged. “Keep it, I’ve made loads...”
“Thanks,” James smiled, looking at it. “It’s really groovy.”
She smiled softly. “Thanks.”
Suddenly, from downstairs- “GET DOWN HERE, MR. VINN IS HERE!”
Lily sighed and stood, wiping her cheeks, just in case. James gave her an encouraging smile, and she went downstairs alone. James watched her go, then smiled down at the little origami phoenix. Standing, he looked around her room, then went into the guest room to once again pour over Slughorne’s stupid new work.
Lily went downstairs, seeing Petunia graciously welcoming her parent’s lawyer into the house. He smiled and tipped his hat at Lily before taking it off. She just managed a wan smile. Petunia was fussing over making some tea, and Lily sighed.
“I’ll make it,” she said.
Petunia glared. “Please.”
Lily went into the kitchen, grabbing the teapot. With two flicks of a wand, it was full of steaming tea. She set it on a tray, grabbed out three teacups, and arranged some scones on a plate. If there was anything her mother had ever taught her about giving tea, it was to give it properly or not at all. Picking up the tray and sticking her wand back in her pocket, Lily walked out of the kitchen and towards the dining room. Upon pushing open the door, she saw that Vernon, too, intended to hear the will. Sighing, she set down the tea and went back to get more cups, as James might be a nosy prat and come down, as well. She poured him out some, setting aside a few scones and putting them on the kitchen table. Lily exited the kichen, going over to the stairs and calling up,
“James? I’ve got a cup of tea and a few scones down here for you in the kitchen.”
Without waiting for a response, Lily went to the dining room, sat and poured out tea, handing it around. Mr. Vinn looked up.
“James?”
“My friend from school,” Lily said, handing him a cup. “The Headmaster allowed me to bring a shoulder to cry on.”
Mr. Vinn took a sip and just smiled. “Mm, marvelous tea, Lily dear,” he said. “Mary taught you well.”
Lily smiled softly, taking a sip herself. “Thanks, Mr. Vinn.”
Petunia glared at Lily, she and Vernon both ignoring their cups of tea. Mr. Vinn sighed and brought out his briefcase, opening through it and flicking through files. He brought out a presentation packeyt that had a few legal stamps on it, and set it on the table.
“As you both know,” Mr. Vinn said, eying Vernon distastefully, “I’ve come to present the reading of your parent’s will...”
“James?” he heard Lily call up. “I’ve got a cup of tea and a few scones down here for you in the kitchen.”
He smiled softly, standing to go down and get them. Lily was truly a doll, thinking to make him a cup of tea, too. James ran a hand through his hair, not a trace of the large amounts of gel in it, and went downstairs. As he passed the dining room, he heard soft voices. shaking his head, he went into the kitchen. Sure enough, there was a china cup and plate, one with a few scones and the other steaming with tea. Sitting, James took a sip, and smiled. Even if it was made by magic, which he’d no doubt it was, it was very good tea.
He sat there in silence for a while, tracing a finger around the rim of the cup. He sometimes sipped from it, and other times looked around the kitchen. On the wall was a silver framed picture. Standing, James took his tea over to look. It was a picture of Lily, probably six years old, hugging to her two small children. They were about two years old, but he could tell that the blond twin was female, Daisy, and the other, with hair red enough to match Lily’s, was her brother, Pirro.
As he smiled, looking at the picture, he noticed the setting in which the picture was taken. They were in a hospital, the twins both wearing tie-around shirts and medical bands on their little wrists. He could see Band-Aids in the crooks of their arms, from shots and blood withdrawals. Lily was wearing a primary school uniform, and he could see a small Beatles backpack in the background. Lily’s hair was curlier than it was, these days, and pulled back into low pig tails. All three of the children were smiling wide. James smiled sadly, taking a distracted sip of his tea.
Just then, there came a loud shout from the next room, and James raised an eyebrow. That definitely wasn’t Lily. Shaking his head as the voice started yelling loudly, he listened and sniggered.
“I’M THE ELDEST CHILD!”
Pause.
“I DON’T CARE, I’M THE ELDEST!!”
Another pause. James tried not to smirk.
“NO, IT’S MINE!”
“How childish,” James shook his head. There were a few more shouts and so on, before someone got up and came in the kitchen, carrying her own tea cup. James looked over, and grinned. “Rough time?”
Lily sighed. “She’s being childish.”
“I said the same thing.”
Lily smiled, taking a sip. “She should be happy she gets anything at all. Evidently she and my mum had a huge row a few weeks ago when she moved in with Vernon....”
“Ah, I see,” James said.
Lily stretched, checking the time. It was about five, and they had an hour to get back to Hogwarts. Mr. Vinn came into the kitchen, setting his teacup in the sink. He smiled at Lily.
“So, what’re you going to do with it?” he asked.
Lily shrugged. “Wait till summer and sell.”
He nodded. “I’d do the same, were I in your shoes... Well, good day, you know what’s yours.”
Mr. Vinn shook Lily’s hand, nodded to James, and left. Lily watched him go, and finished her tea. James watched her, then put his in the sink, as well. He grabbed a scone as he followed her out, muching on it and ignoring that Petunia was storming out of the house, Vernon following. Lily went upstairs, going to her room and packing her dress and so forth from the day before. James watched, smiling to himself, before she looked over.
“Can you do me a favor?” she asked.
“Hm?”
She watched him for a moment. “Don’t watch me like that.”
He paused. “Like what?”
“Just... like that,” she shrugged.
“Am I making you nervous?” he grinned.
“Don’t hold your breath,” Lily said.
James shrugged, sitting in her desk chair. Lily continued to pack, adding in books and a pair of sneakers and her stuffed animal. She charmed it all smaller before she put it in, and then left, going into her parent’s room. They both wrinkled their noses, and she pointed her wand at the bed.
“Scourgify!”
It didn’t really do much more than straighten up nicer, but it was the thought that counted. Muttering to herself, Lily shook her head, going over to her parent’s dresser. Upon it was two jewelry boxes, and a vase with some slightly wilting flowers from the garden. One of the boxes was slightly larger and much more feminine. Lily stared at it for a moment, and smiled softly.
“When I turned sixteen,” she said to James, “My mum gave me a pretty ring. It was hers, from her mum, when they both turned sixteen. She was holding it for me until I graduated...”
James nodded, realizing this was sort of a private moment. He smiled softly and walked back out, going to the guest room to pack, himself. Lily watched him go, then turned back to the boxes. She sighed and opened her mum’s. Inside, it was neat and orderly, necklaces hanging on racks, rings in boxes, earrings pinned onto holders. She shifted through the small stack of ring boxes, until she came to an old, tattered, black one. Opening it, she saw not a ring box, but the small pouch. She took it and opened it, seeing the small ring her mum had given to her almost a year ago. She put it back in the box, carefully setting it in her bag.
Sighing, she started to sort through her parent’s jewelry, as of course Petunia would be back to sort through the belongings. When she came to her mother’s necklace of her children’s baby rings, she smiled. Each one was a different color metal. Petunia’s, silver, Lily’s, platinum, Daisy’s, yellow gold, and Pirro’s, bronze. She carefully took Petunia’s off the chain, and set it on the otherwise bare dresser top.
She carefully clasped the necklace around her neck, putting it under her dress. Reaching in her pocket next to her wand, Lily felt the small, pence-sized envelope that Mr. Vinn had given her when Petunia wasn’t looking. She opened it, taking out her parent’s wedding rings. Smiling softly and blinking back tears. Lily slid those onto the chain, too. It was a way to feel closer to everyone she’d lost. Digging through her bag, Lily brought out a parchment and pen, and started to write a note.
Petunia-
I’ve already sorted through mum and dad’s jewelry. I’ve left everything you ever said you wanted, when we were growing up. It’s all in their old boxes. Please get all your things out of the house, I’m going to be selling it this summer. I’ll leave some photo albums and most the china. I’m sure you and Vernon don’t need much more to decorate your flat.
Always,
Lily
She took the note with her, after leaving everything in it’s place. She held in her hand her mother’s wedding jewelry, as she knew Petunia would never want them. The other few things she’d taken were in her bag. Lily walked though the halls slowly, looking at every picture, corner, snag in the carpet. From the living room, she took her father’s old smoking pipe, untouched for years since he quit. She grabbed her mother’s old homemade quilt, resting on the sofa. A few photo albums, she shrunk and stuck in her bag. Checking her watch, Lily knew she only had two more things she wanted to grab.
The picture in the kitchen. And the keys to the trunk in which her mother’s wedding dress was locked, with all the other wedding things.
“James? Are you ready?” called up Lily.
James grabbed his bag, leaving the guest room spotless. “Coming.”
“Hurry, we’ve only got a few minutes.”
James hurried down the stairs, seeing Lily standing at the bottom. She was double checking every window and door, and had the front door open as she wrapped her cloak about herself. James followed her out, and she ran to check the front gate. It was locked securely, and she ran back through the snow. She took the odd necklace out from her pocket, and James grabbed on a it of it. Lily stared down at her watch.
“Three... Two... One...”
James felt the jerk behind his navel, scenery flashing at a high speed, his arm bumping into Lily’s, fingers stuck to the necklace like they were glued... Then they slammed into the stone ground in that little room, again, and James stumbled, blinking. Lily nearly fell over, but caught herself on a chair. There was a silence as they both got their bearing, then Lily picked up her bag, again. James watched her, then opened the door. Dinner hadn’t started, just yet, and they were going to go up to their dormitories to change and drop their things off. As they walked through the halls, James looked over at Lily and smiled.
“Wait till I tell Sirius we kissed.”
Lily stopped dead in the middle of the hall, staring at him with wide eyes. Then she slapped him and continued on her way.
Chapter 20
Marauder’s Code of Secret Death
“You did what?!”
“Wait, you exploded the microwave?”
“What’s a microwave?”
“You did WHAT?!?!”
“No, really, it takes a moron to blow up a microwave-”
“But what’s a microwave?!”
“Bloody hell, shut up, would all of you!” James said.
Sirius, Remus, and Peter all shushed, but it didn’t change the fact that they were dying for answers. James sighed, taking another bite of beef pie. There was a silence.
“Really, what’s a microwave?” Peter repeated.
James and Remus sighed. Remus said, “It’s this Muggle machine that shoots these atom particles into food to heat them up again after they’ve gotten cold.”
“Oh, ok. How do you blow one up?” Peter asked.
“That’s what I want to know,” Remus said.
“YOU DID WHAT?!”
“SHUT UP, PADFOOT!” James shouted. “Look, Lily was crying over her parents last night, so I was trying to make hot chocolate for us. And I put the milk and powder into the blender and pressed ‘puree’ and stuck it in the microwave so it would get hot and mix, OK?”
Remus was shaking with laughter, sandy blond hair twitching over his face. “James, you don’t mix hot chocolate in a blender!”
“I realize that now, Moony,” James muttered.
Remus nodded. “And it exploded.”
“The blade in the blender nearly cut her foot off, yea,” James said dryly.
Remus winced, and then Sirius nearly burst. Leaning forward, he hissed,
“YOU DID WHAT?!”
James glared at him. “Don’t make me stab you with my fork.”
Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Jamsie, you wouldn’t, you love me too much.”
“I love you enough to stab you with my fork if you don’t shut the hell up,” James said, chewing some beef.
“As if.”
James grabbed his fork and rammed it downwards, as if it were a knife. Sirius saw it and moved his hand just in time. The fork stuck deep into the table with a loud thud, the silverware and plates rattled violently, and Sirius stared at it, bent handle and all, as James smirked.
“He tried to stab me!”
James nodded, smiling widely, “Mm-hmm.”
Becky, halfway down the table, looked over. “Who tried to stab Sirius?”
“HIM!” Sirius said, wildly pointing at James.
When Sirius wasn’t looking, James tried to bite his finger. Becky sighed.
“Damn, I missed it.”
Sirius’ jaw dropped in a wide O of shock, and as James, Remus, and Peter laughed, he sat and glared moodily down at his food. After a while, he looked up at James again.
“Really, you did what?”
James groaned. “Well, it seems to me you heard it the first time!”
“No, I have a wax buildup in my ear-” Sirius was picking at his ears, now, and Remus wrinkled his nose in disgust. “What happened, really? Stop lying, James, you’ll make me have another heart attack.”
He raised an eyebrow, drinking pumpkin juice. “When did you have the first one?”
Sirius shrugged. “Just fucking tell me already.”
“I already did.”
“Jamsie is embarrassed!” Sirius cooed.
Peter joined in the cooing, and Remus rolled his eyes. Much to his horror, James felt a flush rising in his cheeks.
“Shut up!” he hissed. “I am not!”
“See how he blu-ushes!!” Sirius smiled.
“Alright, alright, just keep it down!” James said.
Sirius immediately sat, listening attentively with his hands folded on the table. James sighed and looked around, before leaning a bit closer.
“We kissed.”
Sirius smiled. “Snog.”
“No.”
“Damn. Well, was it one?”
“Err...”
He grinned. “How many times did you kiss her, James?!”
“Uh...”
Sirius’ smile dropped. “Really, Prongs, how many times did you kiss her?”
James mumbled something, not looking at them, and Sirius leaned a bit closer. James glanced up and muttered, “Five.”
“Bloody hell!” Sirius gasped, eyes wide. “That’s enough to call it a snog! Didn’t she notice you were raping her?!”
“I wasn’t raping her!” James said. “Bleeding hell, quiet down before someone thinks I did rape someone!”
Sirius just stared at James, who shook his head, standing to go back up to his dormitory. Sirius literally catapulted over the table to follow him, causing a mess on the floor and cleaning it over his shoulder. He caught up with James, throwing an arm over his neck.
“Mate, really, this is serious,” he said solemnly. “One or two is kiddie shit, but five is a helluvva lot bigger than you might think.”
They left the great hall, and James looked around to make sure no one was within earshot.
“Look, if I tell you all what happened, all of it, you’ve got to promise not to tell anyone.”
“I swear as a Maraduer.”
James stopped, turning to face his best friend. “No, it’s worse. We’ve got to take the Marauder’s Code of Secret Death.”
Sirius’ deep eyes got wide, then he nodded. The boys did an odd handshake, sucked their thumbs, pressed them together, and, wincing, licked them off again. Coughing and wiping their mouths on their sleeves, Sirius glared at James.
“This better be good.”
“Believe me, it was,” James smiled.
Sirius’ eyebrow raised in interest.
Lily, after dinner, had dragged Becky up to the girl’s dormitory to tell he how her weekend went. The instant she slammed the dormitory door shut, cast a silencing spell on the room, and locked all doors out magically, she stared at her best friend.
“What?” asked Becky suspiciously.
It burst forth before she could help it. “James and I kissed. I kissed James. And... I may have done some flirting.”
Becky stared at her, wide eyed, then pointed at her bed, next to her. “Sit! Tell!”
Lily flopped onto the bed next to Becky, resting her head in her friend’s lap like she was a shrink. There was a pause as she stared up at he friend, then sighed.
“Okay, well... James was going through my underwear drawer, and had stolen my tangoes.”
“The black lace ones?!”
“No, the blue cotton ones,” Lily said. “And he wouldn’t give them back. So I tried to kick him-”
“Karate or ballet?” asked Becky, painting for herself a mental movie of it.
“Ballet. Grande battema.”
“Oo, those hurt.”
“Mmhm.”
“Move on.”
“Okay,” Lily sighed. “But, he saw it coming and caught my foot, so he had me on one leg. And he was all, you need to play nice.”
Becky raised an eyebrow. “How nice?”
Lily tried and failed to suppress a grin. “Very. I promised to, of course.”
“And what, you believed her?” Sirius asked.
James, sprawled on the floor of his dormitory, nodded. “She smiled! She bloody knows I can’t resist her smiles! It’s her fault!”
There was a pause. “So, what’d she do?”
“Well, I let go of her leg, and she just held it there. Ballet training, you know,” James said. He sighed. “And then, she did the completely unexpected.”
Sirius blinked. “Evans? Good girl? What’d she do?”
James looked over at his friend. “She wrapped her leg around my wait and pressed herself against me so tight that I could feel everything.”
Sirius was startled into shock. “What?!”
“Mm-hm.”
“She... She molested you with her ballet!”
“...It was so hot, though.”
“Sounds like it.”
“It was...” James smiled. “And then.... God, she is SUCH a tease.”
Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Lily Evans, prefect and top witch, a tease?! No, I don’t believe it. But anyways, what’d she do?”
James shook his head. “She... she grinded on me!”
Sirius’ jaw literally dropped from his face.
“WHAT?!”
Lily, blushing madly, nodded. “I did. Well, I was doing releve, to reach up and grab my underwear, and it was just a plus side, because I got to make him, eh...”
“Horny.”
“Very. He groaned.”
Becky smiled, shaking her head. “Go Lilis.”
She sighed. “Well, then I was just smiling at him in this really seductive way, or at least that’s how I meant it. And he just had this priceless look. And I went back down and he groaned again and wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing me closer, somehow. He was going to kiss me.”
Becky was silently laughing, congratulating herself on training Lily on how to be a tease. There was a pause, and she looked down at Lily.
“Then what?”
“I sort of used my leg to propel myself into a right spin.... And I pulled away and curtseyed and walked off.”
“I never thought I’d say this, but you definitely turned him on, Lilis,” Becky laughed.
“Think I don’t know this?!”
“No, just reminding you.”
“Thanks.”
There was a long silence, as Lily twirled her fingers in her hair. Then Becky asked, “Did anything else happen?”
“...There was the shower thing.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I gotta hear this.”
“He took a shower and came out nude with a towel barely covering his soaking wet body, to try to get revenge,” Lily sighed. “It sort of worked.”
“Do you realize you just admitted that he has a nice body?”
Lily glared. “Maybe.”
“Right. Well anyways.... Anything else?”
“Well... After that, when I’d tried and failed miserably to make his hair lie flat... He decided to get more revenge.”
“Why?” asked Becky. “Torturing you not enough?”
Lily gave her a rueful look. “No. He just got mad that I wouldn’t admit that he’d kissed me the night before.”
“Well, that was bitchy,” Sirius pointed out.
“Sort of. She was just playing with me,” James shrugged.
Sirius thumped him on the back. “So you played back, atta boy!”
James grinned. “Completely.”
“What’d ya do?” Sirius grinned.
He smiled. “I feigned really hurt that she didn’t remember and threw a piss fit. She was starting to laugh at me, and I grabbed her and held her to me and put my face really close to hers and asked if she remembered now.”
Sirius started laughing. “Niiice! What’d... hahha what’d she say?”
James sighed. “She said no.”
He stared at his friend. “Cocky little slut!”
“Hey!” James said. “She’s not a slut.”
“But she is cocky. On with the story.”
“Well, so I kissed her. Really well.”
Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Snog?”
“No.”
“Details.”
“Err... Her lips are very edible. That’s all I’m saying.”
“How’d this make her feel?” Sirius asked, as if he were a therapist.
James grinned. “I’m guessing very good, she didn’t stop me.”
Sirius smiled at his friend. “See? And you thought you’d never have a chance in hell with her.”
“Well, we’re still just friends,” James pointed out.
“For now,” Sirius said.
“You can’t guarantee that, Padfoot.”
“Mate. Open your bloody eyes. She let you kiss her five times, sleep in her bed, even though nothing happened...” Sirius sounded disappointed at this. “Look, point is, she let you practically snog her.”
“It wasn’t-”
“Within ten more seconds, it would have been,” Sirius interrupted. “She likes you, weather she knows it or not.”
James stared at Sirius. “Think so?”
“Know so.”
There was a silence, before James shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Sirius groaned loudly and threw his pillow at him.
“He nibbled your lip.”
“Mmhm.”
“And you let him.”
Lily nodded. “It was nice.”
Becky started laughing. “It’s official, you sooo like him.”
Lily jumped up. “Eww! I do not! Gross! It’s... It’s James!”
Becky shrugged. “Notice how a month ago, it was Potter, and now it’s James. Stranger things have happened...”
Casting her a dirty look, Lily went down to take a shower. Once there, she quickly showered, planning on resuming her classes, tomorrow. As she rinsed herself off, though, the image of James wearing nothing but a towel danced into her mind, again. Squinting her eyes shut, she shook her head violently.
“No, I don’t like him!” she muttered.
James sat in front of the fire in his pajamas, trying to study for the test but unable. Memories of Lily’s soft lips, her body pressed against his tightly, kept surfacing. He sighed, seeing it was already ten thirty. Everyone else had gone up to bed early, but he wasn’t tired. That, or his dreams were being haunted, whichever you preferred to pick as the problem. But, in any case, sleep would not come for James Potter.
Just then, another sleepless person ambled downstairs, blinking their slightly curly hair out of their eyes. James glanced over, then tried to concentrate on his work. She came over and sat in the chair opposite him. There was silence for a while.
“What’s the root for the stupid Haursley Potion?” James asked.
“There isn’t one,” Lily said softly.
He stared at her. “But the sheet says-”
“It’s a trick question.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
James scribbled down his answer, moving on to the next question. There was a silence, before James looked up at her. She was watching the fire.
“Lily?”
“James?”
“Why’re you down here?”
She looked over. “Can’t sleep. What about you?”
James shrugged. “Me either.”
They let another pause lapse, before Lily stood, standing in front of the fire. She looked over and said, “Isn’t there a game this coming weekend?”
He smiled. “Yep. Us against Slytherins.”
Lily nodded, walking a bit closer. Bending over, she smiled, and James though she was going to kiss him, she was so close. He stared right at her and closed his eyes behind his glasses, waiting to feel her soft lips once more.
“Kick their ass, James,” she smiled.
Then she turned and went up to bed, leaving him sitting there and feeling like an idiot.
Chapter 21
Light of the Moon
That week was hectic. The Slithering and Gryffindors got into loads of hallway fights, which put her to her wit’s end. Especially when they had to sit in the same room to have their bruises, bleeding noses, and cracked knuckles fixed. She was amazed, though, that she only saw James and Sirius once. After that, she’d given them a very, very stern talking to, and they seemed to have taken it to heart for once.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday was Full moon, though. Lily watched from her dormitory window as Madam Marley escorted Remus across the grounds, the second night, to where she didn’t know. Probably the Forbidden Forest, to transform there. She shook her head, going back down to the common room to do a bit more studying. Not many people were down in the common room, as they were down eating or taking showers. Lily had already done both those things, as her Monday and Tuesday had gone like crap. She studied, alone in the common room except for one or two fifth years studying for O.W.L.s. After a few minutes, Lily looked up, hearing a rustle noise.
There was nothing there.
Shaking it off, Lily went back to studying, but heard it again. Looking up, Lily could have sworn she saw a sneaker connected to a leg, disappearing into thin air. Blinking, she shook her head, going back to studying. But it bothered her, and within ten seconds, she jumped up. Shoving aside her books, Lily looked around the common room, trying not to make it noticeable. If she was seeing things, it was best others didn’t know about it. She was about to give up and call herself insane, when the door opened, and a few people came in. And she saw it again, a sneaker climbing out of the portrait hole, as the others came in.
“What...?” she muttered.
Lily knew that she needed either James or Sirius to tell her that something with Dark Magic was going on, and ran up the boy’s stairs. Bursting open the door without knocking, Charles looked up from his studying spot on his bed.
“Lilis?” he asked.
“Where’s Sirius and James?” she asked breathlessly.
Charles checked his watch. “Oh, they nicked down to the kitchen in the Cloak, about five minutes ago. Pete went with them. They’re nicking food for Remus, to owl to him at his mum’s.”
Lily paled, before turning and running out. If they were going where she thought they were going, they were headed for an early grave, and only she had the sense around here to stop them. Were they trying to get killed? Or worse, bitten?!
She took the stairs two at a time, grabbing her cloak off the couch and throwing it over herself as she ran. Jumping over a first year coming into the common room, Lily ignored his shouts, pounding down the hall. She skidded around corners and leapt down stairs, hoping to goodness that wherever Remus was, he wasn’t going to bite his friends.
Lily charmed herself so that she became a human chameleon as she ran, blending in with her backgrounds. James or Sirius had an Invisibility Cloak, she vaguely remembered them taking in hushed tones about it, years ago. This way, the only thing that could give he away fellow prefect or worse, professor, was her breathing and pounding footsteps. Skidding around the corner to the top of the great stairs, Lily came to a stop, gasping for breath. Looking up, she saw the doors open, then start to close of their own accord.
“Crap!” she whispered.
Jumping down the stairs, Lily ran the length of the entrance hall, catching the door before it closed. Pushing it open and swinging it shut, she saw six feet impressions making their way across the snow-slush, towards the Forbidden Forest. She would have called out to them stopped them, but she was already feeling as if she was going to faint.
Just then, the smallest foot impressions started to grow even smaller, shrinking and morphing, or at least what she could see of it. Then they became too miniscule to see, running out from under the cloak as a rat. Lily skidded to a halt, watching it streak across the grass towards the Whomping Willow. The tree lashed viciously at it, but it skittered easily under it and down to it’s roots. There was a pause while the tree thrashed, then suddenly it froze. Not a leaf quivered. The last four feet continued running towards the tree at an amazing pace, before disappearing. A moment later, the tree started moving, again.
Lily bent over herself, hands on see-through knees, panting. “Damn... they... run... fast!”
As the tree thrashed in the night, Lily tried to remember what made it stop. She thought she remembered the rat pressing on the knot in the roots. Perhaps it was some sort of button? She pulled out her wand, getting as close to the plant as she dared. Aiming carefully as it lashed towards her, sensing her there, she whispered,
“Stupefy!”
A red jet flew and hit the button, and the tree froze, again. She ran forward, seeing a large gap in the roots, presumably where they’d escaped to. She gulped as she carefully lowered herself into it, knowing that somewhere down there, was a werewolf. Then she remembered that the boys had foolishly gone down there, and she was the only one that knew it. Lily squared her shoulders, crouching and letting her eyes get used to the dark.
She was in a low, damp tunnel, mostly caved in with an uneven stone floor and ceiling. Somewhere in the distance, she heard voices of the boys and their hurried footsteps. She slowly started to follow after them, going as quickly as she could without making noise, heart beating so loud she was sure they’d be able to hear it. After a while, their voices stopped, and all she could hear was her heart beating a hundred miles an hour in fear.
Animals can smell fear, she thought to herself. Remus isn’t Remus, anymore, he’s a werewolf. Don’t be afraid, for god’s sake, don’t be afraid! It’s nothing, he can’t smell me, I’m not here...
But some part deep down inside her told her that she had already lost that battle. And slowly, from somewhere above, came the sound of a howl.
James felt his whole body relax wonderfully as he transformed, checking to make sure Sirius had transformed before he nudged open the door. He could hear thrashings upstairs, ringing loudly and blocking out other sounds. He could smell blood from where Remus had bit himself. The three of them went up the stairs, Sirius letting out a low, long howl, letting Remus know they’d arrived.
There came a pause in the thrashing in the room, and then the door of the decrypt old house flew open. A fully grown, silvery werewolf towered over them, but somehow James had grown so that it didn’t scare him, anymore. Remus let out a snort, his sign of ‘hello,’ and they all went into the room. Sirius went over and flopped onto the bed, James curled onto the ground, Remus sat on the floor and scratched his ear with his foot, and Pete sat on the bedpost.
After a few moments, Sirius growled at Peter, who started their usual game. He was a fast rat, and both Sirius and Remus would chase him around. It usually ended up with the two of them smashing into walls, James laughing (it came out as an odd, guttural grunt), and Pete squeaking with laughter. Remus jumped up, chasing Peter around and snatching at his tail, almost getting it a few times. Sometimes, Pete would chase them all around, playing tag. A lot of the time, though, James had to poke the others from getting too rough, Peter was really too small to be chased around by such big creatures.
As Remus pounced over a piano and over the bed, under which Peter was hiding, and buried his nose under it, Sirius’ ears suddenly perked. James watched that, and then immediately strained his ears, sniffing as frantically as he could without alerting Remus, who was still looking under the bed for Peter. Then Sirius’ hair, all of it, stood on end, and he looked straight at the door, nose twitching silently. James smelled it an instant after he did, and dread filled his entire body. He recognized that smell, having woken up to it in his face three nights before. Shampoo. Lily Evan’s shampoo.
Sirius was now looking at James, eyes wide, and he knew they were thinking the same thing. We gotta get her outta here.
James stood up, and Sirius leapt of the bed. As he did, though, Remus’ entire body became stick still, rigid and stiff. James stared, wide eyed, as a new scent came floating through the air from downstairs. Fear. Remus snapped around, eyes glinting like beads, nostrils dilating with attempts to bring the smell closer. He opened his mouth, and James saw he was already starting to drool, a thick strand of saliva dripping from his teeth. Sirius and James both hurried to stand in front of the door, hoping to god she wouldn’t come up here.
There was a tense silence, Peter’s wide eyes visible from under the bed. Remus slowly reared onto three legs, then one, arms pawing the air as he stepped closer to the door. Then, suddenly, they heard footsteps on the stairs. Remus growled lowly, eyes glinting in delight. Sirius’ hair stood on end, teeth bared, snarling at Remus, who paid him no mind. James stamped the ground several times, shaking his head, fearing the worst for Lily. Why’d she even come out here?!
Just then, the footsteps stopped right outside the door. James could almost sense her hand reaching for the handle, wand held aloft. Remus let out a roar that shook the house, swiping Sirius to the side. Lily screamed, running back down the stairs, and Remus turned on James as Sirius jumped back up, leaping at the wolf. James rammed his horns into him as Sirius landed on his back, biting him. Remus let out and outraged cry, first kicking Sirius off, again, then throwing James away so hard that he smashed through the door. James fell down the stairs, feeling bones he didn’t know he even had breaking, Lily was screaming their names, looking for them. At the bottom, James blinked, seeing Lily standing two feet from him as dust settled.
“James?” she whispered.
He looked down, realizing he’d transferred back. “Fuck! Run, Lily!”
James jumped up, transforming back and ignoring his broken bones and wounds as he charged back up the stairs, head lowered to ram Remus. He hit him full on, sending him howling into the wall. With a loud crash, half the plaster fell with him to the ground. Peter was scurrying around, not knowing what to do, and Sirius was biting at every bit of Remus he could reach. Remus grabbed Sirius by the throat, standing his full height and letting out a roar that the three boys could understand.
“BLOOOOOOOOD!!!”
James almost faltered, knowing exactly whose blood Remus wanted to taste. He glanced behind him, seeing Lily standing at the bottom of the stairs, whiter than was humanly possible, eyes wide in fear and horror, unable to move. Sirius went careening out of the werewolf’s grasp as he was flung, and Peter scurried down the stairs, grabbing Lily’s shoe strings and trying to get her to move. She didn’t even notice him. Suddenly, she seemed to remember she was a witch, and brought out her wand.
“STUPEFY!!” she screamed.
James and Sirius both lunged out of the way, the stunner hitting Remus so hard he flew back. Not wasting a moment, they bounded down the stairs, towards the exit. Lily got the hint, and ran for her life. The stunner was going to immobilize him for seconds, and after that it was only more seconds until he regained full mobility. They all pounded down the passageway as fast as they could, with their wounds, but it seemed like milliseconds later, there came a huge roar. Lily cried out, running as fast as she could, lungs fixing to explode with the need for oxygen.
They could hear things smashing as Remus tore downstairs, then suddenly the cave around them seemed to shake as he jumped down into it. She tried not to think of the werewolf pounding after her, on the other end of the passageway. James and Sirius seemed to be badly injured, but she could tell they weren’t going to give up because of their wounds. Lily could see the light from the gap, getting closer, but she didn’t dare to hope. She could hear the pounding feet of the werewolf and how he was breathing, growling as he ran.
Lily drove her foot into the dirt embankment, ignoring her toe as it broke on the stone wall behind it, and jumped upward as fast as she could. Both James and Sirius leapt out after her, James nudging her upright as she stumbled. She was shaking with fear, Peter squeaking like mad. The tree thrashed and tried to get at them as they ran away from it, but they ran too fast for it. Sprinting across the grounds, Lily groaned as she remembered that the door was closed and probably locked, by now.
Suddenly, from behind her, she heard a savage howl rip through the freezing air. Daring to look back, she saw Remus standing full height just out of reach of the Whomping Willow. She whimpered.
“James! Sirius!” she gasped. “He got pa-ast the tree!”
Sirius gagged, popping back to his normal self “WHAT?!”
“Don’t look!” gasped James, also back to normal.
Both boys were covered in blood and had many broken bones. Peter was scratching at the door, trying to get it to open without transforming. Sirius and James groaned, quickly morphing back. Sirius wasn’t as bad off, he hadn’t fallen down the stairs, and he ran a little faster for the door. Lily could hear Remus getting closer, frequently howling, and smelled his sweat, the saliva. When she did, still fifty feet from the doors, she knew she was done for.
Suddenly, Remus leapt and tackled her to the ground, claws ripping at her. Lily screamed, skidding on the ground, trying to fight the monster off. He roared in her face, licking her blood off his claws. Lily stared, wide eyed and shaking, at him, not able to believe that this monster was Remus Lupin with whom she’d done patrol last night. She screamed, and heard the door wrench open.
“FUCK!” shouted Sirius, pounding back.
“LILY!" cried James.
James was closer, and had already skidded to a halt. He ran back, too weak to keep his animal form any longer, as a human, bleeding and hurting. As Remus tore at her flesh, Lily felt the femur in her arm snap, and cried out. Still trying to get him off, she saw James coming back, and felt bad for him. He was probably going to die, too.
“JAMES!” shouted Sirius. “HURRY!”
He ignored his mate, diving for Lily’s hand. He grabbed her, and wrenched her from under the werewolf. He howled, angered at the loss of prey, and leapt up as the two teens sprinted as fast as they could with their injuries. She could feel Remus reaching for her, howling into the night, the blood trickling from he flesh as James clutched her bloody hand. The two of them jumped up the stairs and through the door, Sirius pulling it shut. Remus’ body slammed into the door, knocking Sirius off his feet and skidding across the floor, and Peter, now in human form, pointed his wand and cried,
“ALAHODRIAN!”
The door’s locks, all of them, immediately slid into place. The three teens lay on the ground, panting and bleeding, as Remus repeatedly rammed his body against the door, howling in rage. Lily sat there, shaking in fear and staring at the door each time it trembled. James reached and pulled her into the strongest hug he could manage with his body so weakened, turning her face away from the rattling door as Peter shouted for Madam Marley.
“It’s okay, Lils,” he panted, rocking her and shaking in fear, himself. “He can’t get us.”
“I’m so sorry!” she gasped, hugging him tightly as she could. “I thought you guys didn’t know Remus is a werewolf! I was... trying to save you...” She’d started to cry.
James shook his head, staring at Sirius as he tried not to pass out. “We knew. I just wish we’d have told you everything.”
As Madam Marley and Professor McGonagall came in, then started sprinting towards the teens in a pool of blood, Lily pulled away and stared up at James, tears tolling down her bleeding cheeks. Professor McGonagall was helping Marley get Sirius, out cold, onto a conjured stretcher, and James couldn’t fight the question in Lily’s green eyes. Remus was still battering the door, and Peter shakily told the women what had happened. They stood in shock for a spit second, before McGonagall magically levitated James and Lily, forcing them apart to float after her before he could say anything to explain.
Chapter 22
The Marauders
After somehow playing dead stupid to the fact that Remus was a werewolf, and playing it off that Lily was the only one that had known and that they’d followed him to farewell him from the train, the Marauders turned on Lily. They were all being forced to spend overnight in the Hospital Wing, and Marley had thought they’d gone to sleep ten minutes ago, and had just left. The infirmary was silent and dark.
“What?” she whispered. “I’m sorry, okay.”
“That’s not important right now,” James said.
“What’s important,” Sirius whispered, “Is that you must swear to never tell anyone about Remus, or what happened here tonight.”
Lily raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got no inclanation to tell anyone I was mauled by a werewolf with no control of himself.”
Peter sighed, looking at Sirius. “Are we really going to do this?”
He nodded solemnly. “We have to.”
“Have to what?”
James looked unsure. “Padfoot... We swore we’d never let a girl.”
Sirius shrugged. “This is Remus’ reputation and future on the line. She has to or we swipe her memory.”
“OY, you’re not taking my memory!” Lily said, casping her hands over her head. “Not in a million years!”
“Chill out, Lils,” James said, then turned back to Sirius. “We can’t. The initiation wouldn’t work.”
“Why not?” said Sirius.
“Because!” hissed James. “She hasn’t got one to wave round from the Astronomy tower!”
Lily pretended to gag.
“No, but it’s all the better because she’s got two,” Sirius pointed out in dead seriousness.
“I can hear you!” she said loudly.
James and Sirius ignored her.
“Look,” James said, “All I’m saying is all the rules and initiations and codes were set out for us guys. She can’t follow some of them and especially not the initiation. Girls aren’t as showy as guys, in case you haven’t noticed, Sirius.”
He muttered, “Some are...” Lily glared at him, and he gave her a sheepish smile. “James, if we do this, she needs an initiation.”
“....Sirius?” asked Peter timidly. “She just got mauled by a werewolf because of us. Isn’t that enough?”
He seemed to stop to consider this. Lily pointed at her broken toe, broken arm, and shredded skin, all bandaged tightly to prevent infection. She wasn’t healed in the slightest, as Marley had yet to diagnose if she’d been bitten. Sirius shrugged, and turned to James, who also shrugged. There was a moment’s silence, before all three boys turned to face her with extremely grave expressions.
“Lily Evans,” Sirius said lowly. “Welcome to your Initiation Ceremony into the Marauders.”
She stared at him. “I don’t prank people.”
“Pranking isn’t half of what we do, Lils,” James said. “There’s far more to us than meets the public eye.”
She raised a copper eyebrow. “I’ve no inclanation to see anyone’s pe-”
“No, not like that,” Sirius said, waving his hands. “I mean, we’re not the shallow assholes you think we are.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Sirius!”
He smiled. “And yes, I have been reading your diary.”
James caught her arm as she tried to smack him. “Point is, you’re either going to have to be one of us... Or we’ll be forced to swipe your memory.”
Still glaring at Sirius, she sighed. “What have I got to do?”
James looked at Sirius, who shook his head. “Well, seeing as certain circumstances, we’ve relieved you of having to do initiation.”
“For now,” Sirius added helpfully. “I’ll think of one by morning.”
Sticking her tongue out at him, Lily looked back at James. “Well?”
James rolled his eyes at Sirius. “Well, we’ll consider you an honorary until we think of one. But that means you’ve got to take the Marauder’s Code of Secret Death.”
She paled. “What the hell’s that?”
“It’s like a handshake and stuff to swear you won’t tell a certain secret that you take it for,” James explained. “We do the handshake-” Sirius and Peter demonstrated a very wild and intricate handshake, “-And then lick your thumb. And you press the two thumbs together and lick them off again.”
“That’s disgusting!” Lily gasped.
Sirius leaned on James. “Actually, mate, I don’t think she’d have to do all that. I mean she could just snog you again and it’d be as good as.”
Lily’s jaw dropped, Peter snickered, and James became so mad he almost punched Sirius. Shaking him off roughly, he glared at him. “I have to kill you, now.”
“Oh, Pete already knew, and that wasn’t the secret we made the code for,” Sirius shrugged. “At least, not entirely.”
He winked at Lily, whose face became so red she buried it in her hands to hide it. Shaking her head and peering up at him, she said, “Sirius, you are a tactless asshole.”
“Thank you, Lilis.”
Lily glared at them all, shaking her head. “I am very tired. I’ve got no use in wasting my time arguing about initiation and codes. Do it yourself and wake me up when you’ve figure it out. Fuck you all, and good night.”
With that, she lay on her cot and pulled the screen around herself. Sirius chuckled and James made them all move a few beds away, where they could carry on the conversation without bothering her too much. Except for the occasional ‘ow!’ from Sirius when James had to pinch him.
“Lils.”
“Mm?”
“Lils!” James whispered again. “Sirius and I figured out your initiation.”
She blinked. “What?!”
“Into the Marauders!” James hissed.
“Oh, yea...” Lily sat up, rubbing her eyes and blinking in the darkness.
She couldn’t really see James, it was just his outline, face close to hers so their whisperings wouldn’t wake the others. In fact, she could hear them both snoring on their beds, some ways away. James nodded.
“Are you ready?”
“I haven’t got to wave my thing from the astronomy tower, do I?” she rolled her eyes.
“See, I knew you were awake. Look here, Sirius made me agree to it. Are you ready?”
Lily raised an eyebrow. “Depends.”
James shook his head. “There is no depends with the Marauders. Either you do or don’t, there’s no half assing anything from now on.”
“Don’t make me drag out your school work,” she yawned.
James seemed to get frustrated. “This isn’t kiddie stuff, Lils. We’re not just idiots that mess round and call themselves popular. We’ve earned everything we’ve ever gotten, good and bad.”
Lily watched him, not sure what to say. After a moment, she nodded. “Right, for Remus. What’ve I got to do?”
James grabbed her hand, pulling her over near the door of the silent, dark infirmary. He pulled over two chairs, and waited until she sat to sit, himself, and then there was a silence. Lily crossed her legs and arms, looking at him expectantly.
“I didn't want to have to do the initiation, so we’ll not and say we did,” James said lowly, squinting at Sirius’ bed.
Lily became interested. “What was it?”
James didn’t look at her. “Not telling you.”
“I’ll tell people about Remus if you don’t.”
Lily would never do anything of the sort, and James knew it. She was far too nice to do something that bitchy. James rolled his eyes at her, which just got her mad.
“You want to do the initiation that bad?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I’m not a cheater.”
He grinned. “Okay. I’ll tell you what the initiation is.”
Lily stared at him expectantly as he smirked. “Well?”
“I’ve got to take you to the top of the Astronomy tower. You have to take your top and bra off, and stand there for a full minute without moving.”
Lily’s face paled, then flushed. “That asshole!”
James was grinning. “So, are you really not a cheater...?”
“Can I put my shirt back on, now?!”
James glanced over his shoulder, to see her bared back still to him, then looked at his watch. “Twenty one... twenty more seconds.”
Lily shivered, hating Sirius very, very badly. This was beyond the edge. She fully planned to kill him. Looking out over the grounds, below, she thought she could see Remus still running around the grounds, and could occasionally hear a howl. Shivering with the memories and running a finger over the many scratches and wounds on her arms, Lily folded her arms over her chest.
“Okay, you can get dressed, now,” James called from behind her.
She immediately grabbed her hospital wing shirt from the ground, pulling it on. Straightening it out, Lily shivered, turning back around. Surprisingly, James had kept his word and not looked, even though her back was to him. She smiled to herself. Perhaps he wasn’t so bad, after all. But, then she remembered that he’d just made her strip, and scowled. Tapping him on the shoulder as she passed, they both went inside and out of the cold night air. There was silence for a while, before James glanced over.
“How’d you like it?” he asked.
She glared. “Oh, yes James, I have always secretly desired to wave my bosoms round in the frigid midnight air from the top of a castle.”
He smiled. “See, being a Marauder isn’t so bad!”
Lily have him a dirty look. “Have I still got to do that disgusting code thing?”
James seemed to think that over. “Well...I don’t know. You could, if you wanted.”
“Then I won’t,” she said quietly, as they silently walked through the halls towards the Hospital wing.
“But how do I know you won’t tell about Remus?” James whispered.
“I’m a Marauder now, aren’t I?!” she hissed. “You’re my witness that I waved myself round from the Astronomy Tower!”
He looked around, “Keep it down! And, for all I know you still had your shirt round your arms and so forth, your back was to me.”
“Am I really supposed to believe that you didn’t peek and see anything?!” she muttered. “Pur-lease.”
“I gave you my solemn promise not only as a Marauder but as a gentleman!” James whispered fiercely. “Of course I didn’t look!” She just shrugged, and there was silence and they silently snuck through corridors. After a while, though, James looked back over. “But you do need to do a code of some sort to keep it a secret.”
“Isn’t it enough I’m now a Marauder?” she hissed. “For goodness’ sake, I’ll keep the secret.”
“But it’s not guaranteed!” James murmured. “Marauders are completely free to tell Marauder secrets if there’s not a Marauder oath on it!”
She stopped dead in the middle of the Moving stairs, where any teacher, or worse, Filch, could come along and clearly see them. “Well then, what are my options?!”
James glanced around, taking her by the elbow and dragging her down the stairs. He squeezed them both behind a statue, where it was reasonably comfortable. Staring down at her, James glanced around over the top of the statue, again. Crouching a bit, to hide himself, he said,
“Look. We only have a few secret codes. But first of all, you’re definitely going to have to learn to keep it down when we sulk round the castle, especially at three in the morning.”
Not bothering to point out that she would never again be out at three in the morning, Lily nodded. “Check.”
“Secondly, don’t check off items.”
“Right,” she whispered. “So what are the few codes?”
“Well, there’s the one you know, and then there’s the Blood Brothers one. Well... if you ever did it, it’d be Blood Siblings,” James added. “It’s when you cut open your hand in a really deep gash, the two people, and hold the wounds together for three minutes. Then you have to let them heal the Muggle way, no magic.”
“That’s precisely how diseases are spread, you know,” Lily said.
James ignored her. “Unless we instated a new code... Those are the two secret keeping oaths.”
Lily stared at him. “And if I’m not willing to do any of those codes?”
He sighed, obviously frustrated. “I’d either have to make up a new one, or kill you!”
She shrugged. “So get to it.”
James gave her a vicious glare, before sighing. He thought for a moment, before saying, “Okay. I, James Potter, do swear with....” He stared at her expectantly.
“Lily Evans,” she supplied.
He nodded, “That neither one of us shall ever forthwith tell anyone outside the Marauders about our great friend, Moony-”
“When do I get a nickname?” she whispered.
James swatted her off. “And that furthermore, breaking of this solemn oath will mean a painful death.”
“What?!” she hissed.
“We say that about all of them, it’s not as if we’d really kill you,” James whispered.
“Oh, okay,” she nodded.
He finished, “And now, to make this oath official, the two members...”
“Lily Evans.”
“-and James Potter shall make noted it’s solemn secrecy with the exchange of bodily fluid.”
He licked his thumb, and Lily groaned and did the same.
“Do I have to?” she asked.
“Mmhm.”
Lily sighed, holding her slightly wet finger, squared her shoulders. James rolled his eyes, holding his thumb up. Making a face, Lily slowly pushed her thumb towards his. Then, suddenly, she dropped it.
“How do I know you haven’t got AIDs or something?” she asked suspiciously.
“Because wizards don’t get Muggle diseases like that,” James sighed. “Now we’ve both got to lick our fingers again, they’ve dried.”
She sighed and did so, again, holding her thumb up for his. James licked his again, glancing over the statue to make sure no one was coming. Satisfied, he looked back and nodded. Holding up his hand, he went to press his thumb to Lily’s. At the last instant, his hand reached and grabbed her behind the neck, other hand wrapping round her waist, sweeping her closer. Before Lily had time to blink, James kissed her roughly, hugging her to him. Lily stood rigid for a moment, before realizing she didn’t exactly care, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
As if that was permission (which, to Lily, it was), James pulled her closer, their bodies pressed together tightly. So tightly that she could once again feel every curve and indent of his muscles pressing against her stomach. James let his right hand rove from her neck upward, running through the red curls of her hair. She let one of her arms slide down to rest on his arm as it held her around her waist, letting her fingers feel the muscles that Quidditch had built up. James shivered at her touch, combined with the chill, dark corridor around them. Lily barely noticed, though, because just then he gently parted her lips.
James was by far not her first kiss, but this was her first snog. Lily Evans was a girl that cared about academics and making something out of herself, not making out with other people. It was therefore a bit odd for her to be in such a situation, but she ignored it. She’d never really imagined what snogging a boy, much less James, would be like, but it was in fact a very nice experience. She’d never really thought that feeling someone else’s tongue gently, timidly exploring her own mouth, or sharing the same breath, feeling this way could be nice... But it most definitely was.
James pulled away from her, both of them blinking their eyes open in shock, staring at each other. They were both still very much clinging to one another, but neither moved to get out of the others’ grasp.
“Do you, Lily Evans, fully recognize and honor the oath that we have just made?” he whispered, blue eyes glinting slightly.
She stared at him for a moment, before she whispered breathlessly, “You’re one smartass, know that?”
James grinned, but she kissed him this time, letting her tongue trail over his lips and slowly in-between them. James had a very sweet mouth, and Lily found herself liking it very much. She’d never known that you could like the taste of someone else’s mouth, but she did, and he didn’t seem to mind that at all. In fact, he just let his hands start roving a bit lower on her backside.
Sirius watched the Marauder’s map, smiling to himself and shaking his head as he watched the two little dots. They were so close together that it was hard to read their little names, but he knew that right now that was a good thing.
“Score,” he snickered, clearing the map. “Padfoot, three, Prongs, zip.”
Doing a little dance in his bed as he hid the map in the folds of his cloak, Sirius leaned back against his pillows. After a while, the door opened again, and two figures hurried in. They closed the door silently, tiptoeing to their beds. As they went to separate (Sirius watching through a crack in his eyes), he saw James pull Lily closer and kiss her again, before letting her go. She shook her head at him, going to her bed as James went past Sirius to his. The two of them settled into their beds and all was silent for a while. Sirius, almost dying of containing his laughter, cleared his throat.
“About bloody time, you two,” he said loudly, causing them both to jump. “Have fun out there?”
Chapter 23
Living Secrets
Waking up that morning, or at least a few hours later, was somewhat embarrassing with the prospect of Sirius knowing what had gone on the night before. Nonetheless, Lily dutifully got up with the sun, wanting to continue with classes as though nothing had happened. Unfortunately, Madam Marley didn’t seem to share that view.
“Miss Evans!” she hissed, trying not to wake the others so early. “You’re staying here all today, and you’ll be lucky if you get out tonight!”
“But, I feel fine!” Lily protested.
“That’s the potion talking. You have a broken toe and arm, your skin is torn badly, especially on your arms and face. Miss, you may have been bit by a werewolf, and I still have to diagnose you of that!” Marley said. “You’re staying, and that’s that.”
Lily groaned, going back and lying on her own hospital bed. After a while, she sighed, knowing there was no way out of this arrangement. The only thing she could really do was help out Madam Marley, as usual, with her nursing duties.
James lay on his bed, arms behind his head, smiling up at the ceiling. He still remembered the way she’d looked last night. Her slightly swollen, red lips, an air of breathlessness about her warm body. There’d been a glint in her beautiful green eyes that he relished, as if for the first time ever, she was truly alive. He knew that it was the most alive she’d been since the death of her parents. It’d been a few days, a week or so, but the days seemed longer, more like an eternity. He grinned, rolling over slightly and blinking into the blurry darkness at the faint outline of his glasses.
The feel of her in his arms was still lingering upon his skin, the warmth of her body, her cool hair. James adored the taste of her mouth, almost craved it again. He knew they’d shared much, much more than an oath. James had done more than making a new “secret code” for the Marauders. He’d had branched a gap that he’d tried to pretend wasn’t there, and it was almost scary. Sirius had insisted that he abandon all attempts of dating her and instead befriend her, in order to show her the real James. It’d worked... for a while. But now, James was almost thinking that Sirius’ plan was working in ways better than ever expected.
Lily was falling for James.
He blushed slightly at the idea. Lily had always been able to make him feel giddy and nervous, though he’d never let on. James had always pretended that he wanted Lily because she was the only girl to resist him. But the truth was the he liked her for much, much more than that. She was smart and ambitious, she knew what she was doing and she was damn good at it. She looked like an angel and knew just how to aggravate him. All these years of being an idiot around her had always pissed her off, something Remus assured him meant that she cared.
Now, as the first strains of light came in from the window, he could hear Lily arguing with Marley in hushed tones. After a while, she sighed heavily and went down to her bed, flopping on it loudly. Moments later there was an angry snort. Marley went off into her office, her door slamming shut, and silence reigned in the sick ward once more. James had heard Remus stumble in a few hours before, collapsing on his private bed that he stayed in for the three days. After tonight, he’d go back to school from his “visit to his mum”. He could hear him snoring and grunting along with Peter, at the other end.
Standing, James silently walked over to Lily’s bed. She was now sitting up and pinning her hair back with her one good hand. She looked up, broken arm still in nothing but a sling. He smiled softly, leaning against the bedpost.
“Morning,” she said shortly.
“Argument with Marley?” James raised an eyebrow.
“She won’t let me leave.”
James thought for a moment. “Why?”
Lily sighed. “She thinks I might have been bitten and be a werewolf.”
“But you’re not. You would have changed on the Astronomy Tower last night.”
“Well, it’s not as if she knows about last night, now does she?!” Lily hissed.
He grinned. “Oh, yea.”
“And I’d prefer it stays that way.”
James feigned a hurt look. “Lils! Why would you hide the truth?! That hurts my feelings.”
She gave him a look, rotating her shoulder. “James, you well know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t. What do you mean?” he asked, hiding a grin very well.
Lily glared. “Arse.”
“What do you mean, Lils?” he sang. “Do you not like my snogging?”
She flushed slightly. James smiled, not saying anything simply because it was so funny to watch her blush. There was a silence for a while, before they both heard noises of one of the other boys waking up. Lily and James both looked over, watching to see if anyone would get up and walk their way to see if anyone else was awake. There came a grunt, and tired feet shuffling towards the bathroom. Both teens watched in silence as a figure, rubbing the back of their neck, came visible through the opening in the drapes. They froze, seeing the two of them, and their arm dropped.
“Lilis? James? What’re you two doing here?”
They just looked at each other, not really knowing what to say. After a while, James sighed.
“Morning, Moony. We’ve all got some talking to do.”
He sort of blinked his sandy blond hair out of his eyes, oblivious to the numerous scratches and scabs on his face and hands. He shrugged, glancing at the clock. Lily felt her stomach eating at itself in fear, as if he’d transform back and try to finish her off. She drew her knees up to her chest, unable to move the broken arm, and James gave her a knowing glance. He knew she was scared.
“Er... Do you remember what happened, last night?” James asked.
Remus narrowed his eyes, pointedly not looking at Lily. “I went home to my mums and go sic-”
“She knows,” James said softly.
Remus froze, blinking slightly. When he spoke, his tone was angry. “Did you tell her?!”
“I figured it out on my own ages ago,” Lily whispered, not looking at him.
Remus was silent for a moment, then nodded. There was a silence as he looked over his friends, bearing various wounds, scrapes, and broken bones, before his eyes lit with a sudden comprehension. He opened his mouth wordlessly for a minute, then closed it, too deeply in shock to know what to properly say. Remus ran a hand through his hair, turned away, then turned back.
“I.... I didn’t, did I?” his voice was pleading.
James wasn’t looking at his friend, but staring at the floor. Lily let her chin rest on her knees, staring down at the blanket on the bed. Remus let out a long sigh, shaking his head.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered in a dejected voice.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Lily murmured. “I know you couldn’t control yourself...”
Remus shook his head, “That’s no excuse, you’re my friends...” As if another light switch was flicked on, he said, “Wait... I remember Wormtail and Padfoot and you, Prongs.... But I don’t remember anything that happened after I smelled Lilis.... They’re.. they’re alright, right?”
James nodded. “Pete barely got hurt... Sirius had a concussion and a few broken ribs... Marley fixed him up, they’re both asleep....”
Remus sighed, sitting on the end of the bed. “What about you two?”
James smiled wanly. “I’m now paranoid of gravity added to stairs with a side of brute force.”
“Sorry,” he said. “What about you, Lilis?”
She shrugged. “Broken arm... broken toe... bunch of scratches.... Possibly a bite.”
Remus’ face turned even more grave, now also horror struck. “Please tell me I didn’t!”
Lily smiled and shook her head. “Marley doesn’t know it, but I didn’t get bit. She’s keeping me here all day to diagnose me.”
A sigh of relief overcame Remus, and he nodded. Then he looked back up at her. “Wait... how do you know you weren’t bitten?”
Lily and James looked at each other, shaking with silent laughter. Just then, Sirius ambled around the corner, yawning and rubbing sleep out of his eyes. Remus waved at him, and Sirius indicated his head.
“What’re we all laughing about?” he mumbled sarcastically.
“Moony wants to know why we know Lils didn’t get bit,” James smirked.
Immediately, Sirius was fully awake and smirking. He smiled sweetly at Lily, clamping a hand over her mouth and turning to Remus. “Oh, yes, by the way. We initiated Lilis into the Marauders so she will forever keep your secret. I made James take her to the Astronomy tower, and she had a bit of a topless party.” Lily’s eyes got wide, and she tried to pry his hands off. “And then, of course, James-” He tried to hit Sirius, but he easily avoided the blows- “-Took her and had a twenty minute snog session. Don’t lick my hand, Lilis, that’s gross.”
He took his hand off her mouth and wiped it on her shoulder. James glared daggers at Sirius as he smirked. Lily felt herself flushing four shades of red. Remus stared at them all with a wide O of shock on his face, the ends of his mouth turned up in a slight smile. There was a silence for a while, before Lily slapped Sirius very hard on the stomach, got up, and hobbled out to go do paperwork for Marley.
“All right, Miss Evans. You’re cleared to go.”
She nodded, taking her clothes that Becky had dropped by to give her after classes. All the boys had left in the morning to go to class, and no doubt were hating her for getting the entire day off. She left the infirmary as quickly as possible, wanting normal food for the first time in over twenty four hours. Hospital Wing food was always laced with potions, pills, cremes, and other medical treatments that people refused to take. She would know this for a fact, as half the time she was the one that prepared them. Hurrying through the halls so as to catch the last five or ten minutes of dinner, Lily already felt tired from the thought of having to make up all the work that she had missed from just today. She’d had all her advanced classes scheduled for today, and wasn’t looking forward to the idea of having to make up all that work overnight.
Opening the doors to the great hall, Lily saw that most people were done and had gone back to their common rooms to do work and get ready for bed. Going over to Gryffindor table, she sat, pulling over some beef stew. Blinking tiredly, she started in on her food.
“Lilis!” Looking up, she saw Sirius Black walking over to her, smiling. She waved feebly as he sat. “You know, class was a bit hard without you, today,” he said. “Slughorne gave us a test, and I had no one to copy off.”
“Oh, do shut up,” Lily couldn’t help but grin, rolling her eyes. “Just mayhaps that is a tiny hint for you to study?” She waved a roll as she spoke.
He shrugged grandly, snatching her roll out of her hand, taking a large bite, and putting it back in her fingers. She gave him a vicious glare, dropping it onto her plate. There was a silence as he smiled widely through his chewing at her, and she wrinkled her nose. Raising an eyebrow, she noticed how closely he was noticing her.
“I shan’t sprout fangs, you know,” she said. “Why are you watching me?”
He shrugged. “Just waiting for your reaction when you realize you snogged James.”
Lily sighed. “I ought to have known it had something to do with that.”
Sirius smiled smugly, “Told you so.”
She gave him another vicious look. “The only thing you told me was that he liked me.”
“Exactly.”
“Yes, but I know that for a fact by my lonesome self, so really you are quite useless right now.”
His wide smile dropped like a stone. “Damn you. I was being very discreet, you know?”
Lily raised an eyebrow. “Is that possible, you being discreet?”
“I’ve done it, haven’t I?” he asked. “Besides, sneaking about round the grounds after Remus has given me loads of training.”
She didn’t say anything, still feeling the dull ache in her bones from where their breaks had been recently healed. He seemed to understand, and ran a hand over his chest, where a day ago had been broken ribs. After a while, she stood, grabbing her wand, and left. Sirius went with her, walking along in silence for a bit. As they went up some stairs, he said,
“But really, I was right. You didn’t believe me.”
“At first,” she said stiffly. “But now I do.”
He smiled. “See how easier this is? Why can’t we always cooperate like this?”
Lily ignored him the entire rest of the way to the common room, even though he was making very loud and very obnoxious slurping noises, supposed to sound like kissing. As she gave the Fat Lady the password, she rolled her eyes at him.
“Will you stop?!” she sighed.
Sirius smiled, “Not until you admit that you liked it.”
“I liked it. Very much. So stop, now,” she said unashamedly.
He smiled wider. “Oooh? Very much, eh? How much?”
Lily groaned, exasperated, as she went towards where Becky was sitting with Charles, studying. “I liked it enough to not want to tell you, you nosy arse prat.”
He was clicking his tongue as he followed her. “Nope, you’ve got to tell me now. I’m all in a dither with curiosity and the only way I won’t self-destruct is if you tell me.”
Sitting next to Becky as she glanced up, Lily said, “What, am I supposed to be sad if you were to do so? I’d get peace and quiet, for once.”
“No, you’d get more time to snog James!” Sirius said loudly.
“WHAT!” cried Becky, cracking her quill in half as she looked up. “YOU DID WHAT!?!”
Sirius smiled. “My work here is done. Ta-ta, Lilis!”
And he turned and literally skipped off. Becky grabbed Lily by the collar, whirling her around and pulling her so that their faces were an inch apart.
“You snogged WHO?!”
“Ew, Becky, you spit on me!”
“I don’t care,” she said. “You snogged JAMES POTTER?!”
Sighing, Lily wrenched her friend’s hands off, straightening her robes and wiping spit from her cheeks. “Why can’t you be all quiet and good mannered, like Charles? One would think after you two dating for two bloomin’ years he’d have had a good effect on you.”
He glanced up, smiling over the rim of his glasses. “I’m not always quiet and good mannered. Becks knows that real well, I have a bad effect on her.”
Lily made a face. “Ew.”
Becky ignored him, except to give him a light push on the arm. “Really. What happened to the Anti-Potter Stronghold?!”
Lily shook her head. “In case you haven’t noticed, James and I have become friends as of late.”
“Oh, so you’ve snogged more than once?”
Lily sat there in silence, not really knowing what to say to an accurate accusation of that sort. Becky waited expectantly for a moment, as her friend’s cheeks grew redder and redder. Finally Lily grabbed her bag, which Becky had brought down for her, and just went upstairs. In her room, she enclosed herself in her bed, did as much of her homework as she could, and finally fell asleep with her cheek stuck to the book page.
“Padfoot, how you get girls is beyond my comprehension.”
Sirius shrugged, flicking through the Quidditch magazine propped on his pillow. James, sitting upside-down with his head resting on the floor, shook his head. Flipping upright, James sat on the floor and prepared to do his evening crunches. Remus was still downstairs, helping a third year study, and Peter was off somewhere, probably snogging Dolores Umbridge. Charles was studying with Becky, and the dormitory was theirs.
“Hey, aren’t we planning a prank, coming up?” Sirius asked thoughtfully.
“Erm,” grunted James, touching his chin to his knees, “I... think so...”
“Hmmm...” Sirius mused aloud. “We haven’t tortured Snivellus in a long while.”
“Yeah, but,” James managed, “Lils doesn’t... like it... when we make... fun of... other people.”
“So?” asked Sirius.
“She’s a... Marauder now!” James said, sighing as he sat up, finishing his last rep. “We don’t offend... other Marauders, mate.”
“But! It’s Snivellus!!” cried Sirius. “SNIVELLUS, for God's sake!!”
James sighed, “Some other time, okay? When Lils trusts us a bit more?”
“Trust,” Sirius repeated disbelievingly. “She’s a Marauder, she’s got no choice to trust us.”
“Mate, she got mauled because of us. If I was her, I wouldn’t trust us!” James said, flipping over.
Sirius sighed, watching for a moment as James started doing push-ups. Shaking his head, he went back to his magazine.
Lily found herself, hours later, back down in the common room, studying by firelight and unable to sleep. The memory of her parents in their caskets kept surfacing in her mind, and every time she closed her eyes, the accusing ones of her family, dead and alive, were staring back at her. Now, as she stared into the fire with her Advanced Herbology book on her lap, she sighed, and blinked tiredly. Last night had been a drug induced stupor, and what she needed right now was a good sleep potion. However, she didn’t exactly have a few weeks to make it. Sighing, she summoned over her Charms book, and when it landed in her lap, she flicked through the pages.
After a while, she came to the “Body and Mind Spells” section, and found a sleep-aid charm. It seemed simple enough, with a maximum of ten hours and minimum of four. Shrugging, she practiced the wrist movement as it animated across the page, and nodded. Simple enough. Just then, though, footsteps came downstairs. Looking over and not bothering to close the book, she saw a second sleep deprived person, oddly trying to flatten his horribly messy hair. He spotted her, one foot still on the last step, and indicated his head.
“Whatch’ya up to?” he asked quietly.
She shrugged. “Trying to sleep.”
James nodded, coming to sit down on the couch opposite her. After a while, he dug in his pocket, bringing out a very old parchment, which seemed to be very large but folded to look considerably smaller. Muttering to himself and tapping his wand on it, he lifted loads of flaps, twisting it this way and that, considering it as though it were a good puzzle. Lily raised an eyebrow.
“What... in heaven’s name... are you doing?!”
James smiled up at her, over his glasses, in a way that made him look very, very sexy. “Chill, Lils, you’ll find out....”
She just watched, and after another minute or so, James nodded, tapped the parchment with his wand, and stood. He grabbed her hand, pulling her out of her chair and after him. She was shocked for a moment, then stopped.
“James! It’s past curfew! I’m a prefect!”
He smiled that hot smile, again. “And a Marauder. Come on, what’ve you got to loose?”
“Prefectship? Respect? Enrollment in this school?!” she hissed.
He shrugged. “Aw, come on. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”
She stared at him. “Where are you taking me?”
James smiled. “It’s a surprise.”
“I will tell you flat out right now that if you intend to rape me, you won’t,” she said.
He sighed. “You can’t rape the willing.”
“Kiss my ass,” she growled.
“Don’t invite me to,” James said lazily, “Else I might do it just to spite you.”
“You’re utterly repulsive,” Lily hissed.
“And you’re a snot-nosed priss. Now, are you coming?” he asked.
There was a glaring match for a moment, before she sighed. “Only if you won’t let me get caught.”
He rolled his eyes, taking her hand again and dragging her out the common room door. They silently moved through the corridors, James pulling her after him, often ducking away from ghosts, teachers, and worse, Mrs. Norris. James went to kick the cat when she went past the statue behind which they were squeezed, but Lily grabbed his ear just in time. He swatted her off, almost making noises, and she glared him down to silence. As the cat disappeared around a corner, they stealthily moved through the corridor.
After a while, James suddenly stopped, doubled back ten feet, then did so again. She was confused, being dragged back and forth, and hissed, “What are you doing?!”
Just then, a door popped out of the wall. James grabbed the handle, opening it. Lily was suddenly bathed in a sunset glow, the sounds and smell of ocean pouring over her. James wrenched her inside quickly, slamming the door shut. As Lily stumbled onto a white sand beach in golden sunset, James smiled at her.
“Welcome to the Room of Requirement.”
She peeled her eyes away from him. “What?!”
James smiled. “Look, it’s a secret, so before I tell you, promise you won’t tell anyone not a Marauder.”
She nodded. “Promise.”
He sat on the sand, pulling her down to sit next to him. “Well, you see, it’s this sort of room where...”
Chapter 24
Hogsmeade
“Really, Moony, I am very psyched for the game.”
Remus sighed as he pulled on a sweater. “I know, Sirius.”
“I want to see James fall from the sky again-“
“Oi!”
“-I mean, it was bloody hilarious!” laughed Sirius.
“Don’t make me hex you,” James said threateningly.
Remus rolled his eyes, pulling on his shoes.
“Oh, you know you wouldn’t,” Sirius eyed James amusedly. “After all, that dive got you closer to Lilis.”
Not saying anything, James turned and went back to tying up his Converses. Sirius nodded, smirking slightly, and finally got round to getting dressed, himself. Peter came up, from downstairs, and just blinked at them all. After a moment, he said,
“We’re all going to hang round the Three Broomsticks, right?”
“Yeah, why?” asked Remus.
Peter mumbled something, and Sirius nudged him, goading him to speak louder. He glanced quickly at them all, saying in a barely audible voice, “Dolores wants me to go to Puddifoot’s.”
James and Sirius both started laughing, prompting Peter to turn a delicate shade of pink. Remus smiled sympathetically, getting up to go downstairs and study for a bit. After a while, James sobered.
“If you don’t like her, you should tell her, mate,” he said.
“Right,” nodded Sirius. “Go on and tell her what a snot faced ugly toad she really is.”
Peter let a small smile crack, then it fell off again. “I tried.”
“What do you mean, tried?” asked Sirius. “Either you told her to sod off, or you didn’t.”
“Well, it wasn’t that easy!” Peter said helplessly.
James groaned, recognizing the situation. “What’d she do?!”
Peter sighed, flopping onto his own bed. “She said that I was being immature and that I was too used to being single and I was being really irrational. But that she forgave me.”
“Wow,” Sirius said in an amazed voice. “She’s quite the controlling frog, now isn’t she?”
The boys, laughing and trying to help Peter, went downstairs to leave for Hogsmeade. In the common room, James saw Lily was helping Remus look up something for their Runes class, and bit back a pang of jealousy. Lily wasn’t his, and she was just friends with Remus. Smiling, he went over and leaned against the couch Lily was sitting on, as Sirius and Peter took up the couch opposite. She glanced up and smiled, making a wave of nerves run through him.
“Morning,” she said.
“Hullo there. What’s Remus captured you off to do, then?” James asked, reaching for the book.
“Oh, Professor Plyson is having us do an extremely long essay for Runes, this week,” Lily sighed. “I’m trying to help Remus find this one stupid symbol...”
“Aw, come on, we’ve got to go to Hogsmeade!” James said, trying to pull her out of the chair.
Sirius had already set off with Peter, talking about some plan. Remus just stood, and shook his head tiredly.
“I’ll find it when I get back,” he muttered. “Too early for this...”
“Oi! Get back here!” Lily called after him. Remus, however, waved her off and followed Sirius and Peter out. Shaking her head, she went back to looking in the book. James tried to pull her up, again. She fought him off. “Stop, James.”
“Come oooon, I’m hungry!” he said.
“No! I have to find this!” she said sternly.
He sighed. “It’ll still be here when we all get back from Hogsmeade.”
“I want to do it now,” Lily said.
“And I want to eat now!” James shot back. “I’m not leaving without you.”
She raised an eyebrow at him as he sort of blinked and thought that over, and then nodded. Lily rolled her eyes and went back to reading. James stared at her for a moment, and then shook his head. Reaching, he took the book, snapped it shut, and threw it aside. Before Lily could say anything, he grabbed her and started walking towards the exit, carrying her in his arms like she was his bride. Lily let out an odd, sort of outraged cry, trying to jump out of his arms and land on the ground.
“James!” she said. “Let me go!”
“Nope,” he smiled, kicking open the door. “Mwaha-haha-hahaha, you’re all mine now.”
She gave him a look. “Oh really?”
“Yup,” James beamed down at her. “Now all I need is to get to the Room of Requirement and have my way with you a million times.”
“You’d starve, first, you just said you’re hungry,” Lily rolled her eyes.
“Maybe I’m not hungry for food,” James beamed.
“You’re sick.”
”You said you wanted to do it now, so we are going to go and do it now!” he grinned.
Lily made a sort of repulsed noise, and wriggled a bit, trying to get herself down. James held her tighter. She sighed. “What would it take to get you to put me down, already?!”
James seemed to think as he paused in his walking. Then he smiled down at her, blue eyes glinting behind his glasses. “You have to kiss me.”
She gave him a glare, and then nodded. “Deal.”
James set her down, and watched her expectantly. She smiled sweetly, turning and walking down to breakfast. James watched her go, his mouth dropping open in an O of shock at being cheated out of the deal. He hastened to catch up with her as she went down some stairs.
“Hey! Don’t you owe me something?” he asked.
She thought over that, looking over at him. “No.”
“But you said-”
“I said I would, I just didn’t say when,” Lily said brusquely.
James shook his head, then smiled. “So that means that you will, eventually, kiss me.”
“Yes,” she sighed. “Assuming I don’t forget.”
“As a Marauder to a fellow Marauder, let me assure you that I will not let you forget. Ever.”
Rolling her eyes, Lily endured this sort of thing all the way down to the Hall, and then during most of breakfast, too. Sirius somehow figured what it was about and joined in, too, and by the time she was leaving for Hogsmeade, she was sort of going insane. Becky was off somewhere with Charles, where she didn’t want to know, and Alice had a date with Frank today. She was utterly alone with the rest of the Marauders, and the day promised to be an insane one. She walked down the drive with them, which was melted from most snow, and watched as Remus tried to give practical advice to Peter on girls, whereas James and Sirius said the first things that popped into their heads. After a while, she laughed.
“All of you are so clueless on the ways of girls, you know that?” she asked, entering Hogsmeade.
“Absolutely yes,” Sirius nodded. “Let’s see what the woman has got to say on the matter of women.”
Lily rolled her eyes as they walked down the cold main street of the village. “Look, from what I’ve heard around school, Dolores Umbridge is one of those by-the-rules, black-and-white, plain Jane kind of girls.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Peter muttered.
“No, no, I don’t mean she looks ugly,” Lily shook her head.
“Although she is,” added Sirius helpfully.
Lily nudged him away as they came closer to the Three Broomsticks. “Shush.”
“She is! I’ve never seen a girl that looks like a toad until I saw her!” Sirius exclaimed.
Lily gave him a look. “Not all of human kind if beautiful, Padfoot!”
He blinked. “Oy, it’s gonna take some getting used to you calling me that.”
“Well, Lils is right,” James said, on the other side of Sirius. “Not all girls are dashingly beautiful with curly red hair and emerald green eyes.”
Lily immediately colored as they entered the bar, glaring at his smile and hating that the other three boys were also seeing her blush. Taking a big breath and shaking her head, she turned back to Peter, who was smirking slightly. “What I mean is, Dolores Umbridge likes to play by the rules. She hates creatures and half breeds and mixing of even ethnicities. She’s racist, specist, and hates the intermarriage and breeding of them.”
“So...” Peter said, sitting at a table in the noisy pub. “How’s this help me?”
Lily sat opposite him, the other boys taking chairs as well. “So tell her you’re half dwarf or something.”
Sirius started laughing, causing a few people to look over, but turned it into a hasty cough at the glare she gave him. Peter made a face.
“Dwarf?”
“Mate, you are a bit titchy,” James said softly.
Peter gave him a glare. “Why can’t I be, like, half giant or something? Half Veela?”
Lily hesitated. “Giants and half giants are usually about 8 feet tall by the time they’re ten. And Veelas have got that supernatural beauty and this charismatic sex appeal.”
“I don’t have sex appeal?” Peter asked, almost pouting.
“Uh-”
“I don’t think this is a very comfortable topic for us, Wormtail,” Remus said quietly.
He sighed and dropped it, Sirius going and getting butterbeers. There was an uncomfortable silence, before the door opened and Peter hid behind Remus. Lily and James automatically looked over, to see a very short and very ugly girl with brown curls standing in the door, looking around.
“Come on, Pete, now’s your chance!” James said.
“But, I...”
“No buts. We’re Marauders, damnit!” James said.
“Look, just go over to her and say that you’ve been thinking and want to tell her more about you,” Lily said. “Tell her you want her to know about your family and so forth. Most girls go nuts over families and stuff. Tell her you love your mum and dad and so on, and then casually mention that your mum’s a dwarf.”
“But-“
“Do it!” Lily hissed. “When she gets all dramatic about it and says she never wants to see you again, pretend like it hurts and ask her for forgiveness and suck up to her. The more heartbroken you look, the more she’ll be glad it’s over. Everyone wins!”
Peter hesitated, and Remus nudged him out of his seat. He gulped and tried to sit down, but just then, Dolores saw him and shrieked, smiling and pushing her way over. Peter’s watery blue eyes got big as galleons.
“Do it!” James hissed.
“Petey!” Dolores gushed, latching onto his arm. “I missed you at breakfast.”
“Hiiiii, Dolores....” Peter said nervously.
DO IT!! Remus mouthed behind Dolores. Peter gulped and gave a slight nod as she gushed on. He smiled uneasily down at her, and it was remarkable that anyone was that much shorter than Peter, but she was.
“Dolores, I’ve been thinking,” he said, leading her away. “We’ve been getting a smidge closer and I thought you should know more about me and my family....”
The other three watched him go as Sirius reemerged, bearing five butterbeers. “Poor soul,” Lily shook her head. “She’ll rip his guts out and stomp on them.”
“Who?” Sirius asked.
“That Umbridge girl,” James said, accepting a bottle.
Lily took one too, thanking Sirius. “I just hope he’s not a cryer.”
Remus shook his head. “You don’t wanna know.”
Lily sighed, and Remus started in on Sirius about his homework, also taking a butterbeer. As they debated across the table, James nudged Lily. “When do I get my kiss?”
She rolled her eyes, sipping her drink. “When you earn it.”
He sighed. “That could be ages, in your book.”
“Yes, well that comment about beautiful girls set you back a bit.”
“If anything, you should have kissed me then for complimenting you,” James said, also taking a drink.
Lily shook her head. “It was embarrassing.”
“Only because you like me.”
“You’ve got no proof,” she said.
“You snogged me, didn’t you?” he asked. “I think that’s enough proof.”
Lily glanced at the other two, to make sure they weren’t listening in. “Yes, well, perhaps it was all those potions and medicines. I was very drugged up.”
James shook his head. “You’d do it right here and right now.”
“Would I?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
He smiled at her, letting his hand rest on her thigh. “Why, of course. Just like I’d do so right here and right now.”
“Do stop being so fresh,” she said, moving her leg away.
He sighed, shaking his head. “The fact still remains that you owe me a kiss and you’d snog me that senseless, or more, again right here in front of everyone.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Lily said, taking a drink.
“Don’t tempt me, woman,” James growled in her ear.
She shivered, just because it’d been a very seductive growl, and glared at him out of the corner of her eye. “Oh, what would you do?”
He whispered in her ear, “Bang you on the table.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“I would shag the hell out of you anywhere I pleased, thank you,” James murmured. Lily was flushing a dark red. “In fact, I would have you making noises you never knew you could make.”
“Stop it!” she hissed. “You’re being an egotistical ass!”
He shrugged, taking a sip and putting a hand back on her thigh. “Yes, well, I don’t see you minding that much.”
She gave him a glare, deftly ignoring his hand. Within seconds, he was sliding it upwards, and she felt her body heating up more. By the time it was almost fully up there, she had blushed again, and hissed, “Stop it. Now!”
“What if I don’t?”
“I’ll smack you,” she hissed, as Remus and Sirius’ conversation got more heated.
James smiled over at her. “No you won’t.”
She glared. “I would get back at you in some horrible way.”
“Me first. You can’t resist my sex appeal.”
She pushed his hand off, again. “Do shut up.”
Remus stood, shaking his head in anger at a smirking Sirius, and just left. Sirius watched him go, then focused his attention on the two remaining tablemates. He saw that James was smiling and Lily blushing. “Well then. What’d I miss?”
“Nothing,” Lily said quickly.
He raised an eyebrow. “Right. Well, what should I do with this extra butterbeer?” asked Sirius, seeing Peter was not coming back.
“Propose to some girl?” asked James.
Sirius shrugged; he stood and walked over to a third year Hufflepuff, grabbed her hand, and knelt on one knee. She gave him a breathless, shocked look (just because all the girls knew and loved Sirius Black), and he smiled. “Will you do me the honor....” he breathed romantically, then presenting the bottle, “Of drinking my extra butterbeer?”
Chapter 25
Arguments and Quidditch
By the time the next week rolled around, Lily was firmly mad at James, and things started looking like they had in the “old days.” Becky and Remus were stuck being go-betweens, Becky for James and Remus for Lily, per usual. They were doing it on purpose just to annoy one another, and it was working marvelously. Not only that, but it was causing Remus and Becky to fray at the edges, too, and sooner or later they’d snap, also per usual. When Thursday, before the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match for the Cup, rolled around, Becky was already quite mad. James leaned closer to her during Potions.
“Tell the third party of our group that they have gotten the ingredient wrong,” he said hotly.
Becky growled and relayed the message to Lily. Lily sighed and said, “Tell the fucking perverted asshole that I said that I haven’t and that if he knew how to spell properly, he wouldn’t have said anything!”
Becky, grinding her teeth, muttered it to James, who was glaring at Lily as she feverishly stirred their cauldron. Slughorne walked by, casting a glance at their group. James, angered more by Lily’s words, said,
“Well, tell her that if sh-”
“Stop it this instant!” Becky burst out. “I’m neither a bloody owl nor a go-between! Settle this yourself!”
With that, she removed herself from the group and moved over to where Remus, Sirius, and Peter sat; looking shocked at her loud outburst. James and Lily fixed each other with malicious glares, before she proceeded on the potion so deliberately that her hands were shaking in rage. James just let her, watching through narrowed eyes, his lips pursed. After five minutes of this, he hissed,
“You’re being an irritable little bitch, Evans!”
“And you were an egotistical asshole, Potter!” she spat. “You promised that you’d stop being like that!”
“I was joking around, it’s what we Marauders do!!” he growled. “Learn it now!”
“I don’t care!” Lily growled, throwing some herbs in a bit too forcefully. “You violated my personal space! Fuck the Marauders!”
“So?!” James exclaimed, but low enough to keep others from looking over. “It’s not like you and I have never touched!”
“Well it’s not likely to happen again!” she snarled. “Not after the shit you pulled last Saturday.”
“Oh, what’d I do, pop your personal bubble?!” he hissed.
She narrowed her eyes, forcibly reminded yet again of Sirius. Letting out long, hot, deliberate breaths to try to calm herself, she shook her head, and leaned a little closer. “No, Potter, you practically finger fucked me in front of everyone!”
“I did not!” he whispered hotly. “I didn’t and you know it!”
“Another four seconds and you would have!”
“How do you know that?! I was joking!!”
Lily narrowed her eyes, throwing a knot of cedar wood into the potion so hard it splashed her and her flesh started going red. “That was my personal space, Potter, and I don’t intend for you or anyone else to go near there in the immediate future, ok?! Maybe you haven’t noticed this, but females are a lot more protective of their genitals than males are!! Maybe you want to rape someone in front of the entire world, but it’s not going to be me, ok?!”
“I never said I wanted to rape you! I wouldn’t ever do that! To you or anyone!” James hissed. “Why can’t you just accept that it was a joke?!”
“Because jokes don’t usually involve me feeling like a piece of meat, Potter!” Lily shouted. “You’re a stupid pig and I hate you!”
She stood, grabbed her bag, and slung it over her shoulder, leaving the classroom before Slughorne could react. James glared after her, then stood and took his bag, following her out.
“Miss Evans! Mister Potter! Really!” called Slughorne. “This is unacceptable!”
However, both of them were already out of earshot, around the corner, storming off to the exact same spot. James caught up with her about halfway down the hall, grabbing her by the arms and whirling her around. Her hand swung out to slap him, but he ducked and caught her hand.
“Don’t you ever say that to me again!” he yelled, sort of shaking her.
“Let me go, Potter!” she growled, trying to fight him off.
The bell rang and students came out of their classrooms, but the hallway they were in had no classes in it. She reached back a foot and kicked him hard in the shin. He gasped in pain, letting her go and hopping around on one foot, howling. Still glaring at him, she spat at him, but missed him because he was hopping around so much.
“Don’t mess with me, Potter!” she growled, turning and disappearing behind a secret passageway.
Saturday morning rose with a dark cover of gray clouds, and it perfectly suited James’ mood. He was very much still mad at Lily, and especially since there was a large, green bruise on his left leg. Sirius had tried to cheer him up with the fact that he dropped three buckets of dung on Severus Snape’s head in the breakfast hall on Friday, and therefore the idiot had to clean his hair, but all it did was get Sirius a few detentions. The other players all met him in the common room, surrounding Mikie Jorgenson, the Captain for Gryffindor, and the team went to breakfast in silence. Thankfully, Lily seemed to not be anywhere near, today.
As the team ate, the doors opened and a man with white blond hair walked in. A girl at Slytherin table sort of jumped up and greeted him with a kiss. James wrinkled his nose and said to Remus,
“Didn’t know Governor Malfoy was coming, today.”
Remus looked up, seeing Dumbledore greet him as Narcissa sat back down. “Neither did I. He probably wants to see his old house get their arses beat, again.”
Sirius and James snickered as Peter came into the hall, looking pale. He came over to the table, and sighed. “I think I’m sick.”
“You’ve been looking off since you broke it off with Dolores, what’s wrong?” James asked.
He sighed, ripping up bits of toast on his plate and not eating them. “I just.... I think I like someone.”
“Who?” Sirius asked immediately.
Peter just shook his head, though, and didn’t say much more on the topic. He looked around the hall, instead, and spotted Lucius Malfoy with wide, blue eyes. The other boys immediately remembered that time in second year when Lucius had beaten the crap out of Peter and literally flushed him down the toilet. It’d taken almost a day to find him in the lake, and when they did he was being held captive by the merpeople and only survived being underwater that long because Moaning Myrtle kept charming air in his lungs and laughing.
“I... I gotta go...” Peter said quietly.
He stood and hurried out before any of the boys could stop him. Sirius sighed, shaking his head. “It’s a shame he lives in fear of that scumbag.”
James just nodded, and then stood with the rest of the team. Grabbing his broom (a Golden Star 200 series, given to him by his parents 2 Christmases ago), James trooped out with the rest of them. At the door, Lucius met them all, as he was walking out to go to the stands early. He sneered at James, and as they were the same height, now, James glared at him on a level gaze.
“Have fun while it lasts,” Lucius snickered.
James narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by that, Malfoy?”
The blond man, however, just shrugged airily and walked out before him. “Just that sometimes the magic is being done where you aren’t looking....”
“Come on, James,” Janice Wilks said, pushing him out. “I’ll throw the Quaffle at him if it helps.”
“No, just get Mikie or Krystul to pelt the Bludger at him, and I’ll be good,” he growled.
She laughed, shaking her head, as they caught up with the team. Outside it was cold, and James was thankful for the warmth of the locker rooms as he pulled on his various braces. Mikie started pepping his team up, Krystul swinging the bat at the Quaffle Kirke tossed to warm up. Kirke was catching it to practice for his rings, and the three Chasers, Janice, Sammy, and Will, were jogging in place. James felt sort of useless just sitting there, until Mikie started throwing a ping pong ball around the room for him to catch.
“Right, then, I think we’re warmed up,” he said after a bit.
James nodded, tossing the ball into the office, and grabbing his broom. They could hear the roar of the students in the stands outside, and started to leave the locker room.
Lily Evans walked through the halls of Hogwarts, headed to the Library to grab a few books to study with. As it was Saturday, she was wearing flares and a button-up, with a pair of casual robes her parents had gotten her over them. It was sort of painful to wear, but she knew that it was something she’d eventually adjust to. Shaking her head, she went into the Library.
“Hello, have you got any books on advanced reunthology?” Lily asked the librarian softly.
She nodded, leading her to the smaller upstairs section and down a dusty and almost cobwebbed row of books. They together spent ten minutes picking out books, stumbling with them back down to the main level of the Library. Lily checked her watch, deciding to check them out now and study up in the deserted common room, so that she could have some time to herself until Sirius Black got back from detention.
“Oh! That was close!”
James rolled out of his duck from the bludger, and cursed having lost the snitch again. The crowd was still roaring from the last score, with it at 230 to 180, Gryffindor in the lead. He shook his head and adjusted his glasses, looking around the pitch. The gold and green blurs blow him went on, scoring, passing, fumbling, intercepting and hitting, and the other seeker, a big oaf named Mirk, circled the pitch slowly.
“Jeeze, talk about a hit! I think Jorgenson might have a broken hand!” said the announcer, a fifth year Ravenclaw.
James looked over, and saw Mikie with the quaffle in one hand and shaking the other vigorously. He shook his head and one-handedly tossed the ball to Janice, who quickly sped towards the Slytherin end. The game had been going on now for about twenty minutes, and James was starting to get tired. He sighed, rolling as he turned to fly towards his right. After another two scores by Slytherin and one by Gryffindor, he saw it. The snitch.
It was inches from the Slytherin goalpost, and not a single person had seen it, because it was hiding behind Geoffrey Lurth’s right elbow. James knew that Mirk was closer to that end of the pitch than he was, and therefore he could not go at it so suddenly.
“Oh! Score by Slytherin, 240 to 210, Gryffindor in the lead.”
The Slytherin end cheered, and the Gryffindors sort of sighed a bit. James started to drift closer to the Slytherin end, watching the snitch out of the corner of his eye. Mirk started to float towards the Gryffindor end, as he was watching Will Sanders (Gryffindor) race neck and neck with one of the Slytherin chasers. James was within a hundred feet of it, now, and had just passed Mirk. He could feel Lurth’s eyes on him, and knew the Slytherin was wondering why he’d not yet started flying another direction. He could feel his heart hammering against his ribs.
Lily walked down the corridor, holding the books in her arms and trying to get them not to fall. They slipped every now and then, and she sort of growled at them in annoyance. By the time she got to the third floor, she was severely frustrated by them. Not only had she skipped breakfast this morning just to avoid Potter, but the books were being as insufferable as he normally was! Just then, she tripped on a rug and fell, all of the books landing all over the corridor. Growling, she shook her head, sitting up and grabbing all the books in arm’s reach.
“God damn it...” she muttered, hopping to her feet and grabbing a few more.
Just as she reached for the last book, a foot slammed down on it, narrowly missing her fingers. Lily jumped and looked up, seeing Lucius Malfoy towering over her. Immediately, a tidal wave of rage flooded her, accompanied by a breeze of fear. He smirked down at her, cloaked as usual in all black.
“Language, Miss Evans, language,” he tutted.
“Give me my book,” Lily said forcedly.
“Ahh, you book,” he said, moving his toes to look down at it. “Advanced Polynesian Guide to Reunthology. Quite an undertaking.”
“Give me.... my book...” she said again, much more hostile.
“Mmm... No, I think it belongs on the floor there, for the time being,” he smiled.
Lily narrowed her eyes in dark suspicion, fingers slowly reaching to grab her wand out of her book stuffed bag. Lucius saw her move and kicked the books out of her arms, knocking her backwards and breaking her left arm in the process. Lily cried out in shock and pain, clutching her arm and trying to bite back tears. Lucius seized her by the neck, pulling her up to face him as she failed, gasping for breath.
Chapter 26
The Cup
“Don’t make a noise,” he growled menacingly
“What are you doing?!” she gasped. “Let me go!”
He just sneered, slapping her with a free hand as she tried to kick him. He dragged her over to a door in the wall, which proved to be a rather empty broom closet. Shoving her in so that she slammed against the wall, he entered and shut the door, casting a spell on the room silently. Blinking back stars and tears of pain, Lily glared at him. She reached back a fist to punch him, but he grabbed her hand and turned it, easily as if it were a twig. Lily gasped in pain, falling to her knees and hearing snaps and cracks in her wrist. She reached to grab her wand, only to realize with horror that she’d dropped her bag out in the corridor, too.
“HELP!” she cried.
Lucius laughed, making the tiny closet echo with it as he ripped her shirt open. “I’ve cast a silencing spell upon the closet, my dear. No one but me is going to hear you when you scream.”
James lay flat on his broom as soon as he saw comprehension dawn on Lurth’s ugly face. The crowd jumped to its feet, screaming as James rocketed towards Lurth and the snitch at his elbow. Mirk saw what was happening and rammed himself onto his broom, speeding towards them. Lurth defiantly didn’t move, and James smashed straight into him.
Three bodies flew through one of the Slytherin hoops, falling towards the ground. The announcer was screaming something into the microphone, all three boys yelling and scrambling for their brooms. Lurth, then Mirk, got on theirs, pulling out of the fall. James scrambled for his, and at the same time for the snitch, which seemed to have been shocked into not being able to fly.
James saw the ground coming up at him, and got onto his broom at the same instant his hand closed on the snitch. He tried to pull out of the fall, but it was too late; he smashed into the snow bank. It cushioned his fall, and he lay there a moment, face down in the snow, before slowly getting up. The crowd was cheering madly, Gryffindor had won not only the game, but also the Cup, and Gryffindor team players rained down on him from the sky.
“WHAT A SAVE!” yelled the announcer, barely audible over the cheers. “I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT!!”
Mikie and Will pulled James onto their shoulders, parading down the pitch as McGonagall appeared to present the trophy. Gryffindors all shook hands with the very angry looking Slytherins. The crowd went nuts as McGonagall handed the trophy to Mikie Jorgenson, whose hand was still broken. Mikie thrust it in the air, and then grabbed the whole team around to take a victory photo, Mikie putting James dead center. Today was a very good day, James decided as Flitwick took the picture.
So good, that he thought he’d try to make up with Lily.
Lily Evans had absolutely no voice left to use, she’d screamed it past human measures. She had no more comprehension of anything at all, except that she hurt everywhere, including places she didn’t know she had. Things like time and school assignments were just blank words in her vast vocabulary now, with no real meaning or significance to her. Tears wet her cheeks, and she felt that she was bleeding badly. Her throat was dryer than sand paper, and felt as though she’d swallowed a whole bottle of salt.
Lily had no idea how long it’d been since he’d left her there, bleeding and crying. Those minutes had been the worst in her life, but somehow, seeing that crawling tattoo on his arm, that symbol on his white flesh, had scared her more than any actions he’d brutally done. Nothing was ever going to erase that sneer over her face, the painful wrenches in her body, her own screams and sobs echoing in her ears. Life was picking on her in the most unfair ways, and she wanted so badly to know why.
Slowly, though, her body found yet more water to stream from her eyes and onto the cold stone floor.
Sirius Black left detention in McGonagall’s room at about the time the game ended, and the only reason he knew that was because he could hear the wild cheering. Smiling as he went to Gryffindor Tower, he decided to dig out the Map and see who was rushing into the castle for their victory party. Tapping it and muttering the incantation, he unfolded the page displaying the first floor. No one was rushing in just yet.
As Sirius came closer to the Fat Lady, and gave her the password (“jimbaugway”) he saw loads of people streaming through the gap that was the front doors. Peering at them as he climbed into the empty common room, he saw James Potter’s little dot streaking along with the others.
“Yess!” he said, giving the air a victory punch.
Remus came downstairs, a book in hand. “Yes what?”
“Gryffindors won the cup!” Sirius smiled.
“Map?” Remus asked, sitting in a chair.
“Mmhm,” he nodded, flopping onto a couch to wait.
Three minutes later, a cheering was echoing through the hall, then the portrait hole burst open and a load of red-and-gold-clad people streamed into the room. Mikie, holding the cup, was atop James and Kirke’s shoulders. They let him down, cheering and throwing streamers and hats and banners into the air. Within minutes, there was a party going on, and Remus sighed, going back upstairs. Sirius had joined in and was dancing to a boom box with some girl, and thoroughly enjoying himself. As the music blared on, James tapped Sirius on the shoulder.
“No, mate, you can’t dance with me!” Sirius said, making the girl laugh.
“As if!” James grinned.
“What do you want?” Sirius asked.
“Have you seen Lily?”
“What?”
“Have you seen Lily?” James shouted over the music and partying.
“Oh! No, why?” Sirius called, his hands all over the girl.
“I wanna make up form the fight with her!” James yelled as a soul train separated them.
“You mean make out!” Sirius laughed.
James smiled. “Well, if that comes first, what the hell?”
Sirius was laughing, and suddenly a packet of parchment sailed at James, who caught it. “So go look for her, mate!”
Grinning, James took the map off to the side, sitting on the couch. Some people tried to get him to join in, again, but he told them he would in a few minutes. Tapping open the map, he slowly searched the floors, so as to not miss anyone.
After about five minutes, James saw her dot on the third floor. Standing, James pushed his way through the party, tucking the map and his wand into his robes and assuring Kirke and (his apparently new girlfriend) Janice that he’d be back in about ten minutes. Outside, and even after the portrait hole was closed, the sounds of partying and music refused to die until he was all the way down to corridor.
Shaking his head, he went down to the third floor. However, when he got there, he didn’t see a sign of her anywhere in the corridor. Scrunching his eyebrows and wondering if the little bookworm had gone to the Library, James pulled out the map again to see where she’d gotten to. As he walked, he saw her little dot was still on the third floor, about halfway down. Still staring at the dot, which wasn’t moving, he suddenly tipped. Crashing down to the floor, James saw books scattered all over the floor around him, along with Lily’s bag. Her wand was lying on the floor not far from it, and one of the books had a gray footprint half across it.
“What the heck?” James muttered. “She go mad?”
James sat on the floor, picking up the scattered books and sort of piling them near her bag. They all had to do with her Runes class, he saw. Raising an eyebrow, James shook his head and picked up the map, again. Leaning against the wall, James opened it. However, before he had a chance to focus on it, again, Lily’s wand, next to him, suddenly vibrated, rattled, and then skidded across the floor. It sort of stuck under the crack in the door directly opposite him, and then was wrenched through.
“Ookay...” he said to himself, looking down at the map to make sure he wasn’t going insane. “Yep, found Lils.”
Lily felt herself shaking in fear and cold as she wrapped her robe around herself. Her shirt was basically useless, but she’d put that back on, too. Now, though, she needed to find a way to get out of here and not look like what had just happened had actually happened. Her wand, as she focused on it, shot beneath the door and stuck. She grabbed it and wrenched it in, crying out in pain at her broken arm and wrist. It yielded, nicking in the process, but she didn’t care about that, right now.
Still sobbing, slightly, Lily first pointed her wand at her stomach. “Attero pretori erratum.”
There was an odd sensation in her gut which quickly turned painful. She curled around herself, clutching her middle in pain. She felt as though her gut, her womb, was on fire, and she hated the reason why. It’d been pure luck that she’d been nosing through Marley’s books and found some such useful spells. After mere seconds, the pain subsided, and, panting, Lily once again pointed her wand at her middle.
“Scourgifus cruentus,” she whispered.
Immediately the blood flow stopped, and the blood dried on her skin evaporated. She righted her clothing, wishing never to look at her own flesh again, and was about to set to mending her broken bones when the door of the closet snapped open. Bright light burst in, and she cringed, thinking it was Lucius come back to finish her off. There was a moment’s silence as she just lay there, clothing ripped and disheveled like her, staring at the ground an inch from her nose. Then, the person spoke.
“Lils?! Holy shit, what happened?!”
She didn’t even look up at James Potter, not having the strength or will to. He knelt beside her, and softly touched her bruised cheek. Lily flinched away, in both pain and fear. James recoiled, slightly, and then gently tucked her knotted hair behind her ear. As he did, her face became more visible, and he could see her bloodshot eyes, her slightly bleeding mouth, and the tears streaming silently down her cheeks.
“Lils, did someone beat you up?” James asked softly, his voice filled with worry.
She felt her eyebrows scrunch together, tears blurring her vision of the dusty floor. Her voice was barely discernable from the emotion in it. “I wish.”
James could only watch her, scared, angry and confused. He saw her arm wrapped tightly about her stomach, her clothes and robes ripped and dirtied. Glancing around as if to find a clue, James got frustrated.
“Did someone hurt you?”
“....Yea,” she whispered.
“Who, Lily?”
She was crying harder, her cheek pressed hard against the stone floor. “He’s a Death Eater, James!”
He felt his eyebrows slam together in a scrunch. “Who’s a Death Eater?”
Lily started shaking worse, and reached an arm up to hug him tightly. James hugged her gently, feeling her body trembling in suppressed sobs. She winced when his hand grazed her left arm, and he could feel her flesh and bone underneath it was uneven, broken. He felt large, hot tears falling onto his neck, her face buried into his shoulder. After a while, he asked her again, conscious of the time and her need for medical attention.
“Who is a Death Eater, Lily?” he asked softly.
She pulled away, her large green eyes staring at him and looking like glass. After the longest moment in human history, she whispered in a broken voice, “Lucius Malfoy.”
James stared at her, taking in for the first time her bruises, her broken bones, the way she was clutching her middle. His mouth opened and closed a few times without him even realizing it, and he felt an inhuman rage swelling up deep inside him. He felt his face turning red in anger, and his fingers were itching crazily to strangle Malfoy. James felt the need to kill that little worm, slowly and painfully, make him pay for what he’d done to her.
However, nothing could change that right now, and no doubt the bastard was far away from them, if not Hogwarts, by now. James looked back down the hallway, and seeing no one, knew that he’d have to fix this himself, somehow. He pulled Lily’s shirt and robe tighter about herself, reaching and gently picking her up.
This time, she did not protest, there didn’t seem to be any life left in her to fight with. James shakily stood, then got his balance and swiftly set off for Gryffindor. Lily Evans would, under no circumstances, want to go to Marley with this. He half expected her to ask about her books, but she didn’t, she just rested her head on his shoulder and cried silently. As they came to the Gryffindor portrait hole, he could still hear loud partying inside. James gently lowered Lily to sit behind a statue, and smoothed her hair back from her forehead. She seemed to sense he was leaving, and her grip on his muddy Quidditch robes became stronger.
“I’ll be right back, Lils,” he assured her, wiping tears from her cheeks. “I’m going to make sure no one sees us.”
He quickly left, opening the portrait hole. Music and voices blared deafeningly at him, and he immediately saw his quarry dancing with a new girl. Slamming the door, James lunged over and grabbed Sirius. He whirled around.
“There you are!” he said. “What’s wrong, you don’t look like you had a good snog.”
“Now’s not the time, mate,” James said in Sirius’ ear. “I need your help, direly.”
“How so?”
“Something happened.”
Sirius raised an eyebrow. “How bad?”
“Real bad. Just go get me the cloak and figure a distraction that can get me and Lils through the common room and upstairs with no hassle,” James instructed over the radio.
Sirius nodded, diving into the crowd and running upstairs. Within ten seconds, he was rocketing back down, carrying his school bag. He was shouting that he had to go study, and joined James at the door.
“I laced the room with dungers on my way out,” Sirius said as they left. “Here’s the cloak.”
“Detonation?” asked James.
Sirius checked his watch as he slammed the common room door shut. “T minus five seconds and counting. You might want these.”
He handed James two sets of their Marauders-Only All Smell Proof Nose Plugs. James gratefully took them, and hurried back over to where Lily sat against the statue. Sirius followed, and looked shocked when he saw her. However, he quickly helped James pick her up, and plugged up her nose for her. She didn’t react to the bits of bright blue foam sticking in her nose. James put his in too, just as a loud shout came from the common room. Sirius saluted, told him he’d be there in three minutes, and disappeared behind a tapestry. James threw the cloak over himself and Lily just as the door burst open.
After the long line of students ran out, James plunged into the common room. The radio was still blaring, and a greenish haze lay over the room. A few people were gagging and waving their hands in front of plugged noses, running for their dormitories. After they’d all gone, James picked Lily up and ran up the stairs. As Charles opened the door to get in, James dashed in, almost getting the door slammed on him. Remus, Peter, and Charles were all gagging slightly.
James set Lily on the first free bed (Sirius’) and threw the cloak off them. Charles and Peter jumped at their sudden apparition, but Remus lunged over. He was more gifted in smell than the other two, and immediately had sensed her bloodshed. Lily just clung to James as he held her, unsure now what to do.
“Moony?” he whined. “Help?”
“What happened?” Remus asked, staring.
Just then, the door opened again and Sirius (serenaded by a haze of stinky green) appeared, looking for all the world like a comedian gone five star battle general, with his cloak billowing, bag full of stink bombs hanging from one shoulder, a crazed look in his eye, and blue plugs up his nose. He stared at them all for a second, before kicking shut the door and coming over to his bed. Pulling out his, then Lily’s nose plugs, he set his jaw at James.
“Who did it?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
James felt his anger resurfacing, and bit back the urge to kill someone with his bare hands. “Malfoy.”
Sirius stood, kicked open his trunk (and stash of dangerous pranks), and started loading things into a bag. Remus stood, knowing where this was going, and put a hand on his shoulder. Sirius shrugged him off.
Remus began, “Sirius-”
“Shove it, Remus, I’m gonna hurt the little asshole,” Sirius growled, putting on his bag. He stood and glared down at Remus from his startling height. “No one fucks with my little sister.”
Without another word, Sirius turned and left the room, slamming the door shut behind him. James looked as though he wished for all the world he could go with Sirius, but instead he pulled out his wand and clumsily started to mend her broken bones. As he watched her eyes shedding tears noiselessly, a blank look in her eyes that made her grief for her parents look like festive joy, he felt somewhere deep in his heart starting to break. None of this was fair, it was all far too much. He knew better than to think that Lucius having done this to her was a coincidence.
Today wasn’t March 14th for no reason.
James wiped a tear from her eye, ignoring the other three boys, and gently drew her into a tight hug. She wrapped her aching arms feebly around him, burying her face in his chest. He let out a long sigh, trying very hard to keep his own emotions in check as he rested his head on hers. A tear leaked out of his blue eye and ran down into her red hair, and James suddenly felt that the feeling of winning the Quidditch Cup had never been farther away.
Chapter 27
Version 2.0
“Just shut up, James.”
“No! I won’t let you!”
Lily and James were having one of their infamous face-offs, though in a much different setting and kind. If it had been a sort of program, this would be version 2.0. There was 1.0, which consisted of them arguing loudly and passionately over something, usually in the common room, corridor, great hall, or lawns. The topics generally ranged from James hitting on Lily, Lily berating James for a random act of egotism, Sirius egging them on by saying (loudly, in the packed corridor) that Lily was going on a date with James and James had told him so, or, as was most common, they just argued.
Version 2.0, though, was considerably different. Instead of the usual hands flaying through the air (James’), and the hands-on-the-hips (Lily’s), there were no stances of aggression. Lily was sitting on the boy’s chair, wearing a pair of pajamas (she hadn’t changed that morning, as it was Sunday), and James was leaning on the cold window sill. Winter was going with a fight. They weren’t arguing about dating, or grades, or attitudes, nor were they uncomfortable with the fact that Lily (in her pajamas) was in the boy’s dormitory, alone with James. Right now, they were arguing peacefully, which seemed in itself impossible, let alone for these two.
“Oh just get over it. I am,” Lily said.
James shook his head. “I’ll bloody lock you away in your dorm first.”
“Puh-lease! You can’t even get up the stairs!” Lily rolled her green eyes.
James’ eyes glinted. “Believe me when I say that I can.”
“Not asking. Just accept the fact that I am going to class tomorrow and you shall bloody well like it.”
“No you’re not!” James sighed. “Just look at you. You look a mess.”
“Why thank you,” she remarked dryly.
“Not what I meant. Just look, your cheek is still bruised, your arm is barely healed, your wrist is badly sprained, and you know you don’t feel up to it!” James said. “This would all be so much easier if you would let me take you to Marley.”
“No,” she said sharply. “I refuse to tell anyone.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of-”
“I bloody well know it’s not!” she shouted. “If anyone should be ashamed, it’s that asshole!”
Without warning, her eyes started to water and spill over. James moved to go over and comfort her, but Lily defiantly wiped her eyes and pushed him away.
“Lils-”
“Stop, James.”
“But Lils-”
“Stop, James!” she repeated, glaring up at him. “I don’t need a shoulder to cry on.”
Yes, you do, he thought. “I just want to make sure you’re alright.”
She looked away, wiping off a tear as stubborn as she was. “I know. And I thank you for that. I’ll be fine, really.”
Even though it sounded to James as if she were trying to convince herself more than him, he nodded and let it go, going back to sit by the window. Silence ensued for a bit, before he said,
“Well, you should at least say that you feel ill, in case you want to leave class.”
“I’m not going to Marley,” she stubbornly repeated.
“Okay, okay.”
Another pause lapsed, and James could not help but remember that all these things had gone down less than twenty four hours ago. He tried not to blame himself for what happened (since when did he hold control over Lucius?), but then again he knew quite well that if they hadn’t been arguing, she’d have been down in the stands, watching the Quidditch Match. Sirius hadn’t come back for hours, until Lily was asleep on James’ bed (he hadn’t slept at all, last night, but somehow was not tired), and he looked as though he’d survived a bomb. James didn’t want to know exactly whose blood was all over Sirius’ knuckles, but it seemed as if no one else had gotten hurt.
Sirius was now down eating lunch, probably nicking some to bring up for them, since Lily didn’t feel up to facing the Slytherins. She was quite sure they all knew, especially Narcissa and Bellatrix. It was something she wasn’t feeling up to putting up with, at the moment. Now, though, she just watched as the gentle rays of the sun fell on James’ profile through the window, him watching people out on the grounds, or an owl swooping by.
“I sort of wish I could stay here forever,” she said absently.
James looked over. “The boy’s dormitory? I think that might scar you for life.”
Lily grinned and shook her head. “No, I just meant somewhere where it’s peaceful and quiet. Where there’s no traces of the War...”
James instantly knew she was thinking of her parents, but that she didn’t cry. She held a newfound strength and it was working now, so that she could weather through it and not have it get the best of her.
“Well.... I don’t think Voldemort will be in power forever,” James shrugged. “Everyone dies sometime.”
“I want to be there when he does,” Lily said.
He nodded. “I’m sure loads of people do.”
The next thing he knew, James was walking around the grounds with Sirius and Remus in early May. April had sped by, ushered off with a grand prank on April Fool’s Day (mainly targeted the Slytherins, completely thought up by Lily, got all five of them- yes, all five- a weekend detention). Lily was off in the Library with Becky and Charles, as they were studying for their Runes finals (Remus had already studied), and Peter was sick and in the dormitory. Now, though, the three boys just strolled around the grounds after class, sort of bored and not knowing what to do. Sirius flopped down by their usual tree on the lakeside, and the others sat in the shade around him.
“Beautiful morning...” Remus commented, looking up at the clear sky. “Almost makes me want to have a go at Quidditch.”
“Well, why don’t you, Moony?” asked Sirius.
Remus shook his head. “Nah. Too dangerous, I’d rather keep my paws on the ground.”
James gave that an appreciative chuckle, skipping stones across the surface of the water. Sirius had been the one to suggest they all go for a stroll (without, astonishingly, any tricks or spells to drop along the way), and he had a feeling it wasn’t for no specific reason. After a bit, Sirius spoke.
“So... How’s Lilis doing?”
James ought to have known that Sirius wanted to say something of the sort, but it still surprised him, out of old habit. Over the past two months, Lily had grown closer to James than anyone else, just because he’d been the first person there for her and knew what it’d been like to see her there. Her trust in men had stopped abruptly, save the Marauders and Charles. She was eve a bit suspicious of some of the male teachers, now, but James could fully understand that; most of them were young. Now, thought, he just set down the rock he’d been fixing to chuck, and looked over at Sirius.
“Well enough, I suppose.”
“It’s just... she only confides, really, in you anymore,” Remus said.
“I know... It’s sort of odd that the last person in the world she expected to trust is now the one she trusts most...” James said thoughtfully. “She told me that herself.”
Sirius nodded. “That’s not what I asked, though.”
James looked over, waiting for Sirius to explain himself more.
“You see...” he paused. “It’s just... whenever I see you, anymore, you’re both always together. It’s almost as if you’re dating, though we know you’re not...”
“I think what he means to say,” Remus said, “is that a lot of people are speculating about the both of you, together.”
James shrugged, turning and skipping another stone. Sirius and Remus exchanged a look, not quite knowing what to say.
“I guess I’m just wondering about my little sis, if she’s going to be okay,” Sirius said.
“She will, she’s a strong woman,” James said, nodding. “I usually ask her if she’s okay, and she sort of glares at me with that old are-you-stupid? glare...”
Remus smiled a bit. “She does do that. It’s just... you’re missing the question, James.”
He sighed, turning to look at his friends again. He’d noticed, too, how much time he and Lily spent together, but it was not as if it bothered him. Really he could not tell if he was around her, or she around him, it just worked out somehow that there they were, Potter and Evans, off talking together. Watching his friends, he was touched that they cared this much about her, it was a sign that they really had accepted her as a Marauder.
“Then why don’t you ask me the question outright?” he said softly.
Sirius shook his head. “Look, I care about Lilis a lot, she’s my little sister. I - we- just wanted to know if you’ve thought again of dating her.”
James thought it over, and shrugged untruthfully. It was a thought in his mind every minute, but he wasn’t about to let that on. “We’re friends.”
“On the outside,” Remus said, his blue eyes knowing.
James watched Remus with interest. “Lils is in that time where she needs friends, not a boyfriend.”
Sirius shook his head sadly, his gray eyes deeper than ever. “No, James, she fed you that lie. She doesn’t need friends, she needs you.”
Lily Evans watched in amusement as Charles and Becky waltzed in the Library, careful to hide behind bookshelves to keep the librarian from noticing. Testing was next week, and nothing could keep their wandering minds on the books. Smiling as she went back to her Reunthology book, Lily looked up some more meanings and wrote them down for a flashcard set. Even though she’d been around James most of the past couple months, her friendship with Becky had grown more since she’d found out what happened. The weekend and last Hogsmeade trip of the year was tomorrow, and she wanted to get a last bit of studying in before her mind turned to mush for the weekend.
Suddenly, though, the Librarian leapt around the bookshelves, howling. “OUT! GET OUT! DANCING IN A LIBRARY! I NEVER IN ALL MY YEARS!!”
Lily slammed shut her book, grabbed all their bags, and rocketed out, closely followed by Becky and a laughing Charles. Once in the hallway, they all got their bags, laughing, and Becky fondly righted Charles’ glasses.
“Well, then, I assume study time is over?” Lily asked.
“But of course!” Becky smiled.
“Hey, let’s all go play chess!” Charles grinned, eyes glinting.
“Why, so you can capture my queen, again?” asked Becky (with a hint of flirtation).
Lily, getting the idea that this was some sort of code, made a face and turned to walk to dinner. “I don’t want to know.”
“Oh, come on, you’ll do it eventually!” called Becky.
“GAG!” Lily called back.
Ignoring the sound of laughter, she went down to the Great Hall for dinner. The gloating looks of the Slytherins had eventually faded, and thankfully no teachers had asked why she’d suddenly grown suspicious. She knew better than to think they didn’t notice her behavioral change, but for now it seemed that everyone was off the hook.
Everyone, unfortunately.
Shaking her head, Lily sat next to one of the other Gryffindors (a fifth year) to eat, chatting idly about O.W.L.s coming up.
“At least you haven’t got them!” howled the poor girl.
“Ah, but I have got harder testing this year, and N.E.W.T.s next year,” Lily pointed out.
The girl just ate miserably as she poured over her Defense book. Lily smiled to herself, remembering the Calming Potions she’d had to have, last year. As she finished her beef pasty, Lily looked up to see three of the Marauders coming in the doors. The fifth one was out sick, up in his dorm with a flu (he’d played in the rain, like a little kid, a week before). They seemed to be deep in discussion, and sat around her as the fifth year jumped off to go study a bit more.
“Ooh, are we planning a new devious act?” Lily grinned.
“I told you she was trouble,” Sirius remarked.
“Shush, you,” Lily said. “We have got an end-of-the-year prank, haven’t we?”
James shook his head. “We’ve created a monster.”
“A monster who likes revenge, that’s all,” Lily shrugged. “I was almost thinking dropping a whole vat of Bilibuster pus on them.”
“Ooh, that would hurt!” Sirius cringed.
Remus was shaking his head, trying not to laugh. “We’d never get enough, and besides, that could seriously injure them all.”
Lily was about to say so? when James said, “Hey, you were supposed to help me study for Charms.”
“Oh, right,” she said. “Well do you want to do that now?”
James shrugged, waved to his friends, and stood. Lily grabbed her heavy bag of books, slinging it over one shoulder, and waved to the Marauders as they ambled out. Remus and Sirius watched them go, before Sirius shook his head.
“I’d bet a galleon they’ll get married.”
“Is that all you’d bet?” Remus asked, amused.
The common room was loud with students anxious for the end of the year (or, at lest, Hogsmeade tomorrow), and the dormitory was, uh, busy with a game of “chess”. Lily considered giving Becky and Charles a three week detention, but James rolled his eyes and told her they’d be at it worse within three minutes. So, after trying to find a peaceful place and not succeeding, James sighed.
“Look, let’s just go to the room of Requirement.”
“I would, but the prefect’s bathroom is closer,” Lily said.
“The one behind the statue of Boris the Bewildered?” James asked as they left the common room.
“That’s the one. Should I ask how you know?” Lily raised an eyebrow.
James smiled. “Aw, yooou know... There was that one prefect girl...”
“Oh do shut up,” Lily rolled her eyes.
James sniggered, and they walked along in relative silence until they got to a statue of a very dumb looking wizard who had this gloves on the wrong hands. A door was right next to it, looking as though it blended in perfectly with the wall until you stared at it long enough. Lily pushed James away and muttered the password (him rolling his eyes and saying he didn’t need a password to get in), the door creaking open. Lily opened it fully, turned on the light, and pulled him in after her.
“Why Lils, it’s so sudden,” James pretended to blush.
“Idiot,” she hid a smile as she closed and locked the door. “Look, just grab up one of the chairs.”
James sighed theatrically, bringing over a chair underneath the chandeliers and sitting with her. Lily transfigured a soap dish into a card table so they had a place to put their books, and within ten minutes she was patiently trying to teach him a complex molting charm (to be used on severe burn victims). James’ mind strayed to watching her as she concentrated on the book, the way her lips moved form words as she spoke, her eyebrows arching sometimes without her noticing, her red hair glinting like fire. He smiled to himself, feeling stupidly warm and happy inside. It was am infectious magic that overtook him whenever he even thought of her, and being around her was like being in a warm bath, only way better. Lily looked up at him expectantly, then her eyebrows narrowed a bit.
“What’re you smiling at, James Potter?” she asked.
“You know... I think I finally understand Charms,” he said.
Chapter 28
Fox’s Jazz
“Prongs.”
“Padfoot.”
“Wormtail.”
“...Padfoot?”
“Moony.”
“Oh, just bloody out with it, Sirius!” Remus sighed.
Lily chuckled at Sirius’ failed attempt at being serious. He sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. “Geesh! I was just going to ask...”
He stopped himself to smile charmingly at a passing woman, who smiled back. He was going to walk over to her part of the Hogsmeade sidewalk, but James grabbed him by the neck as all five of the Marauders walked along.
“Hey!” Sirius said, offended. “She was hot.”
“Don’t you mean ‘cherry bomber’?” asked Peter.
James stifled a laugh and Remus dared to glance at Lily, who looked perplexed. “Exactly,” Sirius smiled.
“What’s a cherry bomber?” asked Lily.
“Nothing, nothing,” James said, as they passed Puddifoot’s.
Peter said, “Hey! But when I as-”
He was cut off by a rough elbow in the ribs by Sirius, who muttered, “Mate, there’s a difference between knowledge a guy should know and knowledge a girl should know about what guys know.”
Lily raised an eyebrow. “Don’t make me hurt you.”
“I’d like to see you try, woman!”
“Don’t tempt me.”
“This is my conversation with Lils, you can’t continue on with that quote,” James said.
Lily gave him a glare. “Fine.”
“Oh, you mean in the Three Broomsticks?” asked Sirius innocently. “About the table?”
Lily flushed, headed towards the bar in question. “Someone’s been eavesdropping.”
“No, James just whispers really loudly.”
“What’d I miss?” asked Remus.
“Nothing,” Lily said pointedly.
“Riiight,” volunteered Peter.
They all went into the bar in silence, getting a table and drinks. After they’d all sat, James looked at Sirius. “What were you going to say?”
“Er... Oh! Right, yea, I was going to say that since Lilis is now one of us, she needs a nickname.”
Remus nodded. “But she’s not an animagus or anything.”
“And she is also right here, if you don’t mind!” Lily interjected.
“Feisty one, aren’t you?” James smiled, cocking his eyebrows.
She gave him a look suggesting he were some sort of dead and disgusting rodent infected with rabies. Like a road kill raccoon or something.
“How about Red?” shrugged Peter.
Lily whipped her wand out. “Say it again and I swear I’ll kill you.”
Peter’s watery blue eyes got wide, and James sighed, rolling his eyes. He easily grabbed he wand from he and shoved it back in her pocket, making sure his hands lingered on her hips for a bit longer than needed. She slapped them off. Same old Lils.
“Something more creative, gentlemen?” he asked.
Ignoring her scoff at the last word, the four boys sat silently for a bit as she watched people around them. After a bit, (Sirius frequently breaking into an evil grin and glancing at Lily before sobering) Remus seemed to have an epiphany.
“Fox?”
“Too masculine,” Lily said. “When you think of the word fox, you think of a sly, cunning, deceitful creature that tricks stupider beings into letting them get away with murder.”
The boys all looked at each other simultaneously, then all nodded and said, “Fox it is.”
Lily leveled them all with an angry glare. Sirius shrugged. “You are deceitful!”
“Don’t... make... me... hurt you!” Lily growled threateningly.
“And you do get your way with all the male prefects and thugs,” Remus said. “Don’t deny it.”
“No I-”
Remus cut her off, “Oh shut up, Kevin Davies asked you out.”
“What?” sputtered James. “That moron Head Boy?”
“He’s not a moron, he’s in all honor classes,” Lily sighed. “Besides, he- wait! That’s not the point! I don’t have to explain my dating life to you! Christ!” Ignoring the half downtrodden, half angry look on James’ face, Lily shook her head. “Not Fox.”
“Oh, come oooon!” Sirius smiled. “Deep down, you know you’re a sly, sneaky, smart, tricky little woman.”
“But I-”
“Are you a Marauder or not?” he beamed.
She sort of huffed, then just took a drink of her butterbeer. The boys all took he defeat as silent assent (as it was), and the matter seemed to close with a round of drinking of butterbeer. Remus stood, saying he had to get back to school for a round of prefect’s duties down in the dungeons, Sirius had a date to go to at Puddifoot’s, and Peter needed to go to a study group for Potions. The table cleared amazingly fast, the three boys disappearing into the crowds and then out into the May sunshine. Lily sighed and looked over at James.
“Just you and me to man the fort then?” she asked.
“To man or woman the fort, yup,” James nodded. “Hey, let’s go up to the shack!” She raised an eyebrow, thinking of the last time she’d been there. He rolled his eyes. “It’s not bad in daylight.”
“Alright, alright,” she said, lumbering to her feet after him.
The day was much lighter and warmer outside the bar, and they could see students moving to and fro for a last time in the village before testing. School was to be out for summer hols in less than a month, and Lily didn’t quite know what she was going to do over that time. The house back home had never seemed so big and cold. James nudged her as they walked.
“What’re we thinking about, Foxy?”
“It’s Fox, thanks, and just the summer,” she shrugged.
James nodded, not noticing her correction. “What are you doing?”
“Sell the house, probably camp out between Beck’s and Alice’s houses...” Lily said airily. “True hippie style, you know.”
A smiling James nodded and held up the two fingers, making her roll her eyes. “That sign, Lils, is universal.”
“Noticed.”
“Good to know. But what, you’re not gonna visit me or the other Lost Boys?” James pouted.
“Lost Boys?”
“I know I’d be lost without you.”
Lily burst into laughter as she walked alongside him. Or, more... staggered. “That... was the funniest and corniest thing I have EVER heard!” she gasped.
James grinned and shrugged, the both of them walking away from the village and towards the ramshackle house that’d been built there for Remus. “I wasn’t lying, though...”
Lily sobered and sort of glanced sideways at him, not really knowing what to say. The both of them walked along in silence for a bit, before she said softly, “Me too.”
“What, that it was corny?” James laughed.
She grinned nervously, then shook her head. “No.... I meant... I would be, too...”
James stopped walking and openly stared at her, hazel eyes wide in amazement. Lily let her hair fall over her face to hide that she was blushing, and pointedly looked anywhere but at him. Birds chirped cheerfully somewhere on a tree, and a warm breeze blew by. How she wished someone would fall out of the sky and offer a distraction! Lily turned and started off towards the Shrieking Shack, again. After a moment, James fell into step beside her, still too shocked to know what to say or do beyond going towards their destination.
Silence ensued for a bit, before they came up to the old, broken-down house. Lily gently leaned on the rusted, crooked fence, watching the dark windows. James leaned next to her, still too shocked to know what to do. He was not the sort of boy that generally didn’t know what to say to a girl; there was this thing that ran in his (paternal side of the) family, called the Potter Charm, that made Potters a natural around girls. Too bad it wasn’t working, now...
After a bit, he nudged Lily. “Want to go inside?”
“Honestly want me to answer that question?” she raised an eyebrow. “I’ve still got a few bruises.”
“No you haven’t, you wuss. That was months ago.”
Lily gave him a patronizing look. “I’m not a wuss, you moron.”
“I’m not a moron,” he said.
“Well, now that we have got our specifications out of the way,” she said, “I’m still not going in there.”
“I’m telling you, it’s a regular bunker of a hangout.”
“No. Thanks, but no.”
James just smiled to himself and shook his head as Lily leaned on the fence and watched her surroundings. The day was nice enough, and it was damn to forget that somewhere out there in that green grassed, blue skied world, a dark lord was plotting. Shaking her head, she stretched a bit.
“I cannot believe you all got me to let you call me Fox,” Lily said.
James grinned. “I think it’s quite true.”
Lily just shook her head at him, then checked the time. “Are we gonna hang out here the rest of the day?”
“Well... Where would you like to go?” James asked, looking over.
Lily could not help staring into his hazel eyes. They were mesmerizing, somehow. James was equally transfixed by her green ones. He’d realized, lately, that they’d been restored to their original brilliance, they were no longer dead and dull. Lily smiled softly.
“Anywhere...”
Sneaking through the dungeon corridors, he rounded the corner to the meeting place, feeling butterflies in his gut. James Potter was going to pay. Taking a deep, angry breath, he could still feel his eyes burning with the sight of them. Lily Evans was as good as James’ wife, everyone knew they would end up together. Sure, right now they were friends that just desperately needed one another, but friends always turned into something more, especially when one had been in
love with the other for years.
“Give me your damn wand.”
The sudden voice in his ear made him flinch, but he’d grown so that he didn’t jump and shriek, anymore. Digging through his robes, he thrust the short thing at Bellatrix Black. She sneered, tucking it lazily away.
“Now... have you thought this through?”
“There’s nothing left to think over,” he said bitterly.
Bellatrix tutted. “Giving away your youth, like this...”
“I’m giving away nothing that anyone but the Dark Lord wants!” he snarled, eyes flashing.
Bellatrix nodded. “I don’t think so.”
Next thing he knew, his wand was hurled at him, and Bellatrix was gone. Bending to pick it up, he saw another figure in the darkness, sneering at him. They came into more prominent light, and he saw the last person he expected, down here.
“So.... I see you want to join...” he said.
“Of course.”
“Why?”
He stood there for a long time, really thinking about it. “Potter needs what’s coming to him, and I’d be more than happy to deliver it to him.”
“As would I...” said the man wistfully, as he turned and walked away.
Somehow, over the course of idle conversation, Lily and James were holding hands as they leaned on the fence, chatting about where they should go to hang out. James loved the feel of he small, soft hand in his, and gently ran his thumb over one of her fingers. Lily smiled and said,
“Hey! I should try to teach you how to dance.”
“Oh, thanks.”
She laughed. “Not like that. I mean, ballroom, jazz, stuff like that.”
“And what the hell makes you think I’d actually go along with it?” he raised an eyebrow at her.
“I’d teach you salsa...” she said in a singsong voice.
“Which is...”
“Remember that whole leg-around-the-hip thing I did to you at my house?”
How could I forget?! “Yeah.”
Lily smiled and nodded. “It’s about ten times as sultry as that.”
“Hmm...” James said, grinning. She nudged him, and he shrugged. “No ballet.”
“I wouldn’t dream of wanting to see you in tights.”
James muttered, “I would never fit.” But thankfully, she didn’t hear him.
“Oh, I know, I could teach you classical Jazz.”
“What’s that?” James asked. “Is it lame?”
“Far from it. Come on, I’ll show you.”
Ten minutes later, they were up in the Room of Requirement, completely out of breath from running, and Lily was plugging a kind of thin, long, black box into another box that was bigger and attached to what he recognized as a television.
“What’s that thing?” James asked.
“It’s a VCR. Shush and watch!” Lily said.
The screen on the t.v. flickered, and suddenly two people, dressed in flashy black clothes, were dancing on a stage to roaring 20’s jazz music. He had to admit that the tune was quite good and made his foot tap. After they watched the turns, twirls, spins, steps, and even a sort of odd flippish thing, Lily stepped back from the t.v. and started dancing by herself to the tune, in the same step as the dancers. James smiled as he watched her, seeing that she really did seem to be enjoying herself. After a bit, she stopped, a little breathless, and smiled.
“What do you think?”
James smiled, thought for a moment, and said, “I think I want to snog you.”
Which, after sweeping her into his arms before she could react, he did.
Chapter 29
Leaving With A Bang!
The next weekend, while there was testing going on and after one of their own tests, Lily and James went to the Room of Requirement, though they talked and sat round more than they danced. Somehow, somewhere along the day, it seemed almost as if it turned into a date in disguise. By the time Lily realized she’d spent the day dancing round and talking (and occasionally snogging) with James, it was time to go down to dinner. Walking through the halls, it was almost as if he realized it at the same time, and he nudged her.
“See? Going on a date with me never would have been horrible.”
Lily smiled and rolled her eyes. “Who ever said this was a date?”
“Well it’s as good as. We talked and hung round and had butterbeers and danced and snogged.”
“Which you would do good to not tell Sirius,” Lily said as they walked down some stairs.
James raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“Because he’d jump to one of his fantastical conclusions,” she said matter-of-factly. “Let’s not forget the time there was a white streak of powder on the back of Severus Snape’s robes, and he thought that he was gay and someone tried to get him from behind.”
“It did look like sem-”
“Say that word and I’ll kill you,” Lily cut him off.
“Someone’s a little virgin, huh?” James teased.
Lily shoved him. “So’re you, I just don’t feel the need to fantasize.”
James smiled and rolled his eyes. “If you really want to talk about my fantasies, be my guest.”
She just made a gagging noise as she walked along with him. As soon as she resumed silence, James gently reached over and took her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. Lily didn’t say anything, she just smiled to herself, and wondered if perhaps someone could see them. After thinking it over for a moment, she decided she didn’t care. James smiled and felt as if things in the world were finally starting to look much, much better.
The fifth years were done taking their O.W.L.s, and the seventh years had completed the N.E.W.T.s. The graduated had received their parchments, their graduation ceremony had gone without a snag, and Hogwarts was one day away from summer vacation. Lily was going to her house to grab her things, then going to Becky’s. Sirius was going back to his new home with the Potters. Remus and his parents were journeying to Romania, this year, and Peter was still hiding from Dolores. Everyone was packed and ready to leave, but Lily Evans just sat in her old chair, not wanting to leave at all. Becky came over and sat down.
“Hey, Lilis, ready to go to the feast?” she asked.
Lily just shrugged. “I don’t want to leave.”
“Sure you do, you’re gonna come on over to my house and we’re going to have a wonderful time of it,” Becky smiled.
She sighed. “I suppose. I just don’t want to go back to my house... It’s so alone, there...”
Becky gently patted Lily’s arm. “You’ll never be alone, Lilis, you should know that by now.”
“But I’m going to miss Hogwarts really badly!”
“Is it Hogwarts you’ll miss, then?” asked Becky thoughtfully. “I’m going on down to the feast.”
Lily watched her go, knowing exactly what she meant. Shaking her head, Lily stood and stretched, thinking she should go down as well. Sirius, however, came down from the boy’s dormitory at the same time, and smiled.
“Hey, Lilis. Going down to eat?” he asked.
Lily nodded, and they fell into step together. After a while, Lily said, “Hey, what’re you doing his summer?”
“Why Lilis, what would James think if he knew?” Sirius gushed, blushing.
She playfully punched him. “Moron, you know what I mean.”
Sirius was laughing. “I know, I know. Er... I guess Jamsie and I’ll just hang round all summer and play some Quidditch in the back field.”
Lily nodded. “I’m probably going to swing by for a week or so. Becks gets tired of me after a bit.”
“Well, I don’t see why you don’t. Laurie and Henry would love to have you over for a bit.”
Lily nodded as they came down the main staircase, hearing the bustle and murmur in the great hall. Inside, a warm feast was about to get underway, with the whole gang already there. Rebecca and Charles were talking about two professional Quidditch teams, Remus was telling James and Peter about Romania, and Alice and Frank, at Hufflepuff Table, were grossly enamored in a Herbology book. Lily sat next to her best friends in the loud room, and smiled. Hogwarts was as good as ever.
Sirius checked his watch, staring at the empty plates. “Everyone ready to run?”
“Absolutely!” smiled James.
“You mean you actually managed to pull it off?” Lily asked.
“Of course they did,” sighed Remus.
“I reckon we’ll have about four second to grab food,” Sirius said.
“Oh god, this is gonna be good,” James grinned, glaring at the Slytherins.
“Are you sure no one’s gonna figure out who did it?” asked Peter fearfully.
“They’ll never know,” Lily said. “I purposely charmed it all so that hit all the house tables.”
“Which is why we have four seconds,” Remus shook his sandy blond head.
“Cheer up Remus!” Sirius smiled. “Just act hungry as hell!”
“What did you all do?!” Becky asked, suspicious.
James beamed. “You’ll see!”
The next thing they knew, food appeared, and everyone in their group grabbed most the food within reach, putting anything on their plates. Sirius was silently counting as the babble in the hall grew, and when four seconds was up, they all stopped touching the food. Nothing happened.
“Why didn’t it work?” breathed Peter.
“Just eat your food,” James said.
Next thing they knew, a wail broke out form a second year Ravenclaw, who was spitting out his food madly. Worms had grown out of all the food that had been on the table longer than the allotted time. Cries broke out all over the hall, and just to make it believable, every one of the Marauders and company had taken something, too.
“Oh my god!” shrieked Becky, gagging very believably onto the floor.
Over a mouthful of worms, James winked at Lily. The Marauders weren’t leaving without a bang.
“...time that you... Oh, hey Lilis,” Sirius smiled.
She rolled her eyes, shutting the train compartment after herself, Remus sitting down. “Ha ha, very funny.”
“Just had to bring up old times,” he beamed.
“Not asking,” Charles said from his seat.
Becky, next to him, just waved them all off as she read some newspaper article. Peter and James were playing a fierce game of exploding snap, and the castle was already three feet high. Lily took off her robes, as did Remus, just coming back from the prefect’s meeting in the head’s train compartment. Already it seemed that the train ride was half over (because the stupid Head Girl had taken her time on the meeting, frequently bursting into tears), or at least nearly. Lily was going to go home with Becky for tonight, and in the morning they were going to the old Evans house to get her things or so forth.
In reality, she hadn’t yet decided what she was going to do. All she knew was that she had one more year of schooling, and hopefully she’d earn a scholarship for St. Mungo’s International University of Healing Arts. Looking around the compartment, she found it sort of funny that just five months ago, she’d hated the Marauders like a fly in her soup. Settling in her seat, she watched as Peter and James played their game. Just five months ago, she’d hated everything about James Potter, and now, she just might actuall-
“Here, look at this,” Becky interrupted her thoughts.
Lily took the paper she offered, an issue of the Thursday Daily Prophet, as the train rattled along. In bold and accompanied by a large, black and white picture, was an article about recent Muggle deaths in Derbyshire. Lily shook her head, passing it to Remus as he reached for it. Becky sighed.
“No, I meant the side article.”
Lily leaned over Remus’ arm to read the much smaller article that was shoved off to the edge of the paper. Remus read it out loud.
“Ministry Officials announced today a new plan to keep
Hogwarts safe and fun for students, next year. Due to security measures on the information within the Ministry during this time, however, we at the Daily Prophet were not able to obtain a comment on what the plan is. The only Ministry worker that commented on the subject said, “All we can tell our young pupils at this time is that they are in for a long journey.... And that they should brush up on their French over the summer.”” Remus looked up. “What do you think it is?”
“No idea,” Charles shrugged.
“Well, it said long journey and said we should learn French,” Becky said.
“We’re going to France?” Peter asked.
“Maybe,” Lily shrugged, re-reading the article.
Just then, though, the three and a half foot castle exploded so violently that it rocked the compartment, things fell from storage racks, and the entire room was filled with thick, black smoke. Coughing and stumbling towards the door. A prefect came running as all seven students inside spilled into the now hazy corridor, and within seconds, all of them were laughing at the face that Peter no longer had eyebrows, and James’ hair was about to catch on fire. Lily quickly pointed her wand at him and managed a laughing,
“Aguamenti!”
Which just hosed him down so that James Potter was dripping wet, laughing, and covered in soggy soot. By the time the train arrived at platform 9 and 3/4, most of the soot and ash had been cleared, James was cleaned up, and Peter’s eyebrows had been repaired as effectively as possible. All of them gathered their things and got off the train. There was a loud crowd waiting to greet their children, carts all around, owls hooting madly, cats yowling.
Remus’ mother, a sandy haired woman who was thin, but tall, greeted him with a hug. She had his facial structure, but Remus’ eyes were obviously not hers; she had brown eyes. Peter was greeted by a short, squat witch who had her frizzy hair back in a sloppy bun and watery blue eyes, like him. Charles, whose mother had died in a attack on Gringott’s a few years back, was welcomed by his father, an older replica of him. Becky found her mother and father, who were complete opposites yet compromised in their daughter. Sirius and James found Laurie and Henry Potter. Lily went over to their group as Laurie exclaimed over the boys. It was quite easy to see that James looked just like his father, from the messy hair to the strong, angular features, he just got his attitude from his mother. At least, some of it.
“Dad, Mum, this is Lily Evans,” Sirius said, gesturing to her.
Laurie turned to look at her, having had heard about the funeral in a letter. “Ah, Lily, lovely to meet you, dear. You’ll be swinging by over the summer, won’t you?”
Lily nodded and shook Henry Potter’s hand. “Of course I would. I’m probably staying with Becks most the summer, though.”
“I see. Well, be a doll and drop by any time.”
“Of course, Lilis, a doll!” Sirius mimicked.
“And don’t forget tea, too,” James nodded.
“And a dress.”
“With lace trim, mm-hm.”
“Oh, shut up the two of you,” Mrs. Potter rolled her eyes as Henry laughed.
Lily smiled and waved them out, blushing at the wink James sent her. Turning, she dragged her trunk over to Becky and the Wrights, who were quite an odd bunch, really. Marie and John hugged her and Becky snuck off to snog Charles good-bye (for the time being), and Lily let out a sigh.
Summer vacation had never seemed to stretch on so long as it did now.
Chapter 30
Hols
“Becky.”
“Mmmmphgrfl....”
“Beeeecky....”
“MMMMM?!”
Lily ducked a hand aimed at her as Becky shoved her head farther under her pillow. Shaking her head, Lily threw the pillow off. “For god’s sake, get up. It’s nearly eleven.”
“I don wanna...”
“Too bad, I’ve got to go get my stuff.”
“Do it some other time.”
“Becks. It’s already the end of June.”
And, indeed, it was. The girls had procrastinated all month about going to the Evans house to gather Lily’s things. She had promised James that she’d swing by later in the week for Sirius’ surprise birthday party, and Remus had mailed a few times from Romania. Peter and his mother had gone on a trip to visit someone in New Castle. But now, it was nearly noon and Becky was still asleep in bed. Granted Lily had woken up about an hour ago, as well, but that wasn’t the point.
“Oh, leave me the hell alone. Go snog James or something.”
Lily glared. Sure, she’d passed her Apparating test, last week, and could now go virtually anywhere she damn well pleased, but that, also, wasn’t the point. Now, Lily took the pillow and slammed it, hard, on Becky’s head. “After you go shag Charles!”
“Gladly.”
“Yuch!”
Becky grinned and sighed, sitting up and stretching lazily. Lily glared at her until she went about getting things to get dressed, and then Lily went to the guest room to change, herself. She wasn’t quite looking forward to having to go back home, but she knew it was just another one of those things in life that had to be done.
“Just that sometimes the magic is being done where you aren’t looking...”
James Potter lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking. Sure, he could get up and do something productive, but right at the moment, he didn’t feel like it. He couldn’t hear it, but he knew that Sirius was snoring in the next room, or the Apocalypse was coming. James let a deep sigh and wrinkled his nose a bit, to substitute itching it. His mind wouldn’t stop bugging him about things... He kept seeing Lucius Malfoy in his mind’s eye, sneering and saying that over and over. His conclusion? It was planned.
Sort of obvious, but not the whole point.
It’d been planned by their side. He knew better than to try to mention anything about it to his parents. Sure, they worked in the ministry, but they were naive enough to think that James and his friends barely knew of the war, let alone were getting caught up in it. That, or perhaps that was what they wanted to believe. He just let out a heavy sigh and cast a glance around his partially darkened room. Every almost fully grown teenager knew that their parents wanted to keep them young, and home and close for as long as they could. Forcing themselves to believe in false innocence would be just another parental tactic in this war, wouldn’t it?
However, there wasn’t exactly much that he could do about it now. Sirius’ surprise birthday party was tomorrow, and the first time he was going to see Lily in over a month. The thought of it made him smile to himself and a warm feeling spread throughout his gut. What was that? He usually got that warm feeling when he thought of her... But, pushing that thought aside, he realized something with horror.
He’d yet to buy Sirius a birthday present.
It’d been three days since she’d been back to her house, and Lily was surprised to see that it was dustier than she thought it would be. She cleaned it magically as she went through, seeing that Petunia had not come back to get any of her parent’s belongings. The note she’d left on the kitchen counter was still there, yellowed and brittle. Becky had helped her sort through all the things, that day, and Lily came to realize that, as much as she knew she should, she couldn’t bring herself to sell the house. Not just yet. She supposed she would wait until she got either the courage, or until the end of the summer, whichever came first. She made a list of all the things she would keep, trying not to keep too much furniture. Goodness knows that flats these days weren’t small.
Now, as she went over that list at Becky’s house, she found that she’d kept most her things and quite a few of her parents’. Becky came in with breakfast, as they were eating on the warm back porch. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Brunch is served. Oh, and my mum got all prophet-ish just now,” she remarked, setting down the plates and magicking the glasses out from the kitchen.
“She still going on about having Seer blood in the family?” Lily asked, taking a sip of OJ.
Becky shook her head, “Not only seer, but the seer. Says that we’re gonna have the great Seer in our bloodline within a matter of years.”
[NOTE: This is where all FFA readers may have a silent moment of wide eyed, ironic shock in peace. That, or laugh themselves into a hernia or bladder combustion because people are just so predictable. You may snicker.... now. .....Ok, stop now, we’re moving on in the story.]
Lily just rolled her eyes. “She is a nutter, you know that? A lovely one, but still...”
“Of course I do, I’ve lived with her for seventeen years and in her for almost one!”
Both girls laughed a bit, before Becky checked her watch, chewing a bit of bacon. “What time’s Sirius’ party start?”
“Er...” Lily paused. “Two, I think.”
“Damn...”
“What time is it?” Lily asked.
“Noon.”
She dropped her bacon in shock. “What?!”
Becky shrugged helplessly. “I told you, brunch is served!!”
Lily sighed, eating her last bit of bacon and egg, intending to go and wrap Sirius’ present and get ready for the party. If she knew anything about Sirius Black and James Potter, it was that they both loved to party. Within fifteen minutes, she’d hand wrapped Sirius’ present (a magical tape that literally taught you French in one hour when all you had to do was wear a little ear thing; As she KNEW he hadn’t done crap about learning French over the summer), and turned to finding clothes. She had no idea what kind of party it would be, as she’d never really been to one. Becky came in the guest room, still holding her glass of orange juice.
“What should I wear?” Lily asked her.
Becky shrugged and took a swig. “Beats me. The last party that Sirius and James threw for a birthday was just like any other rampant party....”
Lily sighed, knowing she was going to feel out of place and therefore didn’t want to look it. She reached in the closet and took out a knee length blue dress. “This?”
Becky observed it. “If it was better pinned and about four inches shorter.”
Lily wanted to say something to that, but saw that her friend was dead serious. Putting it back, she brought out a shorter, tighter black one. Becky shook he head and walked off. Lily went back to scrutinizing her wardrobe, and just then Becky came back.
“This would be perfect.”
Lily saw she was holding up a black dress. A very small black dress. “I don’t think so....”
“Just try it on first,” Becky said, throwing it at her.
Lily sighed and caught it, pulling off her shirt and jeans as Becky closed the door. Pulling it on, Becky tied the laces that crisscrossed around her back, and stepped away.
“I like it,” Becky said.
It had a low V-neck and a triangle top, skin tight and short enough to stop two or three inches below her bum. Lily looked in the mirror and had to admit that she like it, too. “What if I’m the only person there wearing a dress?”
Becky smiled and pointed at herself, ushering Lily out of the room. “Allow me to go introduce you to my newest little black dress...”
By the time they were about to leave to apparate to the Potter house for the party, Lily was considering herself in the full length mirror. Some time over the course of last year, she’d filled out a bit more, and the dress showed just enough to not reveal much. She was wearing three inch high, glittery back heels (borrowed) and Becky had done her hair in some kind of messy, sexy updo. Becky herself was wandering around her room, flicking at her hair and straightening he dress, also black and small. It was strapless and had a ragged cut hem. They were supposed to meet Charles at the party, who said that practically all of Gryffindor was coming to.
“Are you ready?” Becky asked.
Lily fixed her black eyeliner quickly, and made sure her deep purple and green shadow wasn’t going everywhere. “Yep, you?”
Becky nodded, handed Lily the present she was giving Sirius, and opened her bedroom door. “Mum! We’re leaving to go to the party, now!”
“Okay, dear!” called up Mrs. Wright. “Make sure you say hi to Laurie for me!”
“Alright!” Becky called down, then shut her door. “She thinks it’s a chaperoned party. She’s so naive.”
Lily laughed, somewhat nervously, and took Becky’s hand, as she had no idea where to apparate to. She’d never exactly been to the Potter house, if you didn’t really know that. Becky nodded and they disapparated with a pop. When Lily opened her eyes, she saw she was standing before a house as large as her own, with a nice, large grounds around it. The house was silent (as it was a surprise party), and Sirius was off somewhere with Remus. They quickly walked up the large stoop and rang the bell. Music was thumping inside. A moment later, a brown haired, blue eyed girl (also wearing a dress, but red) answered the door and smiled.
“Hi, there,” she said. “JAMES! Damnit, get away from the punch, you’ve got company!”
“Aw, shush, Michelle,” he said, appearing in the doorway. Then his eyes widened a bit. “Hey! Been a while since I seen you two.”
Becky pushed him a bit and went inside. “Well it’s not as if you pop round my house anymore.”
Lily laughed and followed her in. “When’s Sirius supposed to get here?”
James shut the door as Michelle went off. “About ten minutes.”
Lily nodded, looking around as Charles came and greeted his girlfriend. The house was nice, and full of people, all talking and hanging around. James grinned and nudged Lily.
“Lookin’ good, Fox.”
She cast a glance at him. He was wearing casual dress pants and a black button up shirt, the top button undone. His hair was messy as ever, but somehow she didn’t mind. “Not so bad yourself, Prongs.”
James smiled, then took the present and set it on a table with a few others. Just as they were about to start talking, he held up a finger, putting a hand to his ear. He brought out a little black box, about the size of he thumb nail, and she recognized it as a child’s Lego toy. Evidently there was a receptor in his ear and the Lego was charmed to be a speaker.
“Moony? What?” he asked into it. There was a pause. “Crap! Everybody hide!”
Everyone immediately either charmed themselves invisible, or dove behind furniture. James grabbed Lily’s hand and ran behind a huge speaker, which had just been shut off. Absolute silence reigned the house for a moment, and Lily tried not to breath. Her face was very close to James’, and he smiled at her softly, his hazel eyes glinting. Letting go of her wrist, he gently intertwined his fingers with hers, and Lily smiled, looking away to hide she was blushing.
Jus then, the front door opened, and she could hear Remus talking.
“...get James and go out for an ice-cream,” he was saying.
Evidently, ice-cream had been the word, because suddenly everyone jumped out of their places or became visible again, shouting a great, “SURPRISE!!” However, James just turned Lily back to face him and kissed her instead, pulling away and whispering, “Surprise.”
She smiled, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “Still the same old Potter.”
James grinned as the speaker started thumping again, and she managed to hear his, “Damn right!”
Lily turned and stood, going out from behind the speaker as James followed, thankfully no one noticing. Sirius was smiling, hugging his school mates and laughing at jokes. James winked at Lily, before pushing his way over to talk to the birthday boy. Lily smiled and shook her head, going to get a drink. In the kitchen, Michelle was still there, and smiled at Lily, extending her hand.
“Michelle Potter,” she smiled. “James’ cousin on his dad’s side.”
“Oh, nice to meet you,” Lily smiled. “How come I’ve not seen you before? You most definitely look old enough to be in Hogwarts.”
“Graduated already,” she smiled. “I’m working for the Ministry, in the Department of Foreign Affairs.”
“Oh, so does that mean you know what this whole French thing is about?” Lily asked, taking sip of cola.
Michelle just smiled. “Vous verrez, you will see.”
Lily shook her head as Michelle waved and left, going back to the party. She sighed and took a cookie sitting on a tray, following her out and watching the huge group of people dancing. Before, of course, Becky came out of nowhere and dragged her in, forcing her to dance and finding it was actually quite fun.
Chapter 31
The Shower Incident...
Some time after three in the afternoon, Lily was laughing and watching people dance to the music. Sirius was out there somewhere, wearing a crown made out of bread ties and dancing with a bunch of girls. She hadn’t seen Becky or Charles in quite a bit, and Remus had just gotten up to go get some crisps. Her foot (amazingly still in her shoes) was tapping with the music, and she had to admit that this was a very cool party. Just then, James flopped onto the couch next to her. She smiled.
“Nice party.”
“Thanks,” he grinned. “Sirius just better have as good of a party for me!”
“But your birthday is during the school year!” Lily laughed.
“So?” James shrugged. “Hogwarts will only have all of us for one more year, we gotta make it a good one!”
“True,” Lily said, nodding.
James checked the clock on the wall, then called out, “Hey! Who thinks the birthday boy should open up his presents?”
A large cheer met him, and Sirius emerged from the thick crowd, grinning and with some lipstick on the side of his mouth. He winked at them as they both laughed, and then stumbled over to the table where his presents were. James watched him, shaking his head.
“I told him not to get into dad’s firewhiskey.”
Lily shook her head. “So he’s drunk?”
James nodded. “That’s how he walks when he gets drunk, yup.”
James nudged Lily gently as Sirius opened the present from Becky, which she’d refused to tell Lily the origins of. “Hey.”
Lily nudged back. “What?”
“Remember at your parents house, as we were leaving to go back to Hogwarts, what you asked me?” James asked.
She thought for a moment. “Not really, no.”
“You asked me not to watch you like that.”
Lily thought, then nodded, sipping her cola. “I remember now.”
“Why did you tell me that?” James asked.
Lily remained silent for a long while, before she said, “Because I could feel you watching me.”
“What’s wrong with that?” James shrugged.
Her emerald green eyes flickered at him for a moment, before becoming glued back onto the sight of Sirius laughing at his gift, some sort of joke item. “Because... I could feel what was in it.”
“So?” James said.
She sighed irritably. “It.... Look, it scared me, all right? I was scared by what I felt you feeling in the way you were looking at me.”
James let the subject drop for a minute or two, as Sirius popped the top of a can and a large, green smoke bomb issued forth in the shape of a dragon, flying about and farting very badly. Lily made a noise of disgust as Becky, gagging, closed the container, and both the girls charmed the room back to smell much less like a four month old outhouse, loads of people in the large crowd laughing, but utterly repulsed. But the music thumped on, and people continued dancing and partying. As Lily handed Sirius her present and sat back down, James said, “But what were you feeling?”
Lily turned, this time, and gave him a sharp glare. They both had a sort of staring match for a moment, her side furious and his downright curious. After a while, she took a deep breath and forcedly looked away, focusing hard on Sirius unwrapping her present. Then, moving her lips ever so slightly, as if she really did not want to say it at all, she whispered,
“Love. I felt.... love. From you, and.... for you.”
James sort of stared at her for a moment, quite sure he had just hallucinated. “What?” he murmured.
“Don’t... Don’t make me say it again, James,” Lily said softly, standing and walking away. “It’s pointless.”
He watched her go, feeling his mind on a thousand degree skillet and frying quickly. Ignoring the jeers and laughs that Sirius was to finally learn French, James took a few deep breaths. Standing, he quickly followed Lily, seeing that she was out on the back porch. He opened the door, but she didn’t look up at him, still leaning against the railing, back to him.
“Lils-”
“Stop calling me that, James!” Lily said, her voice shaking.
It became evident that she’d started crying. James went to walk round and look at her, but she turned, not looking at him. “Lilis-”
“Stop James, just fucking stop!” she said, wiping her cheeks. When she turned, he saw a mask of anger over a face of pain. “Don’t treat me like this anymore, I won’t take it. It’s all pointless, all of it! I’m not Lils or Lilis or anything else to you but Lily Evans! I’m not Fox, I’m not a Marauder, James! Just... don’t do this to me anymore.”
He gestured helplessly. “What am I doing?!”
She stared at him angrily for a moment, before sniffing and shaking her head. Lily looked away, as if his impudence was insulting, then looked back. “You know what you’re doing, James. You’re leading me on and I’ve been stupid enough to fall for it, to believe that I could be something to someone. I’m not going to do this any more, I won’t.... I won’t love you anymore. I’m not going to sit here and let you use me like this!”
Lily turned and went back inside, slamming the back door and going off to be alone, somewhere. James stared after her, feeling all his happiness at the past few months wilting away like it’d just caught on fire. He punched one of the wooden posts keeping the veranda roof up, not even noticing that he’d cracked a knuckle, and sighed, staring out over the back yard. After a bit, he turned and stormed inside. James went over to his best mate and ignored the people around them, dancing and partying as Sirius gently put Lily’s present next to him. He bent and whispered urgently in Sirius’ ear.
“Mate, we gotta talk.”
“Why?” Sirius asked, slightly slurring his speech.
“Problem. Marauder problem,” James muttered, straightening and walking into the kitchen.
“Aah...” Sirius said. “Right. Mates, I hate to disappoint you all, but Jamsie and I have got some business to attend to.”
Sirius stood and followed James into the kitchen, to see that his mate was sitting on the counter next to the window, knees drawn up to his chest and staring out at the sunny afternoon. Somehow, the sight of his best friend so quiet made Sirius sober a bit.
“What’s up, mate?” Sirius asked softly, closing the door.
James let out a heavy sigh. “I think I’ve screwed it all up...”
Sirius let a pause lapse. “What?” he asked softly.
He turned to look over at the man who had been his best friend for all these years, and didn’t mind that he saw the tears in his eyes. “Sirius.... She told me she loves me...”
Sirius’ eyes popped open, and his jaw somewhat fell from his face. “Holy... shit...”
Lily Evans let out a long breath as she wiped away the last bit of mascara and eyeliner streak from her cheeks. She’d managed to find some distant and forgotten upstairs bathroom to cry herself out and fix herself in. Lily had no idea how long she’d been up there, but the sky did look a little darker. The sounds of the party, downstairs, hadn’t stemmed in the slightest, and she didn’t really even have a recollection of how she’d gotten up here. She let out a long breath, looking around the small bathroom.
It was wallpapered blue with gold streaks, a magazine cover framed and mounted on the wall. Standing, she saw that it was a Quidditch magazine, and that, in fact, the towel rack resembled a broom painted gold. Narrowing her eyes, she looked in the shower and saw that the button was fashioned (crudely, so one could assume it was made by Henry) to look like a snitch.
“Oh... hell no...” she whispered, knowing exactly where she was.
Lily whirled around and looked close at the magazine cover. It was featuring a player for Bristol, and was signed, To James. She let out a groan. She’d stumbled blindly through that stupid prat’s bedroom and straight into his bathroom, looking for the most secluded spot to wait out her misery. Not quite knowing what to do for a moment, she spotted a blue and gold clock on the wall (a wizard one) that read a bit after four. Lily decided that that was long enough to not offend Sirius badly if she left, and opened the door.
She was greeted with the sight of none other than James Potter, his back to her, pulling off his shirt. Lily’s mouth dropped open in horror, before she quickly shut the door, again, silently as she could.
“Oooh, god damn, what’m I to do?” she muttered.
There was no window to climb out of, and the only exit was being blocked by James. She decided that she would have to apparate downstairs, thanking god she’d gotten her test and papers to do so. However, just as she was preparing to depart, the handle of the door turned. She lunged into the shower, charmed the light off with a silent “Nox”, and hid behind the deep blue plastic drape. The door opened just as she got still, and Lily didn’t even dare to breathe.
James seemed to only want to wash up his face and sigh a bit, because that’s really all she could hear being done. Just then, though, she heard a zipper being pulled, and mouthed, Oh god, he’s going to piss. However, far from hearing that sort of embarrassing noise of pee hitting the toilet water, there was just a flump of pants hitting the floor, followed by another, sort of sad, sigh. The blue drapes covering her were pulled so that the entire shower was covered, and a hand stuck in by the faucet.
He was going to take a shower.
Lily, horrified and glad that she’d taken her shoes off in the course of crying, jumped silently to the far corner of the shower, pressing herself frantically against the wall. Steaming hot water sprouted from the shower head, missing her by about a foot, and she figured that she could get out at the same time he got in, and no damage would be done. A slightly hairy leg stepped in at the opposite end of the shower, and she slowly inched towards the small gap between the blue wall and curtain. Just as his messy, black haired head started to come into the shower, she put her left foot on the tile floor outside.
However, the water in the shower was creating a pool, and he right foot was partially immersed in water. Before she had time to stop and think about this, her right foot flew out from under her, connected hard with the wall, causing her to cry out involuntarily in pain, and she was unceremoniously hosed down in steaming water. Her body came crashing down, connecting hard with the four inch lip that separated the shower from the floor, and James gave a great cry of shock.
Lily’s eyes watered in pain, feeling as though her back had been broken, but nonetheless she jumped up as nimbly as she could. With her, the shower rod and curtain came crashing down, connecting hard with her head and knocking her down again, this time flat on her back on the bathroom floor, winded of all breath. Blinking open her eyes and seeing she was completely soaked through, she also saw a shocked looking James Potter, dripping wet and naked to boot, staring at her with hazel eyes wide. As if they both realized that at the same time, James whirled around and Lily slapped a hand over her eyes, scrambling to blindly throw the curtain at him.
“What the hell are you doing in here?!”
She threw the curtain at him. “I was crying, you arsehole! I didn’t know it was your bathroom, at first!”
There was a sound of plastic being folded and moved round, before the pounding shower stopped, and she dared to open her eyes. James, holding the curtain round himself with one hand and leaning against the wall with the other, was staring at her with a disbelieving look. “Evans, you honestly amaze me.”
She glared at him, completely not failing to notice that he was dripping wet, before realizing fully that she was, too. She scrambled to her feet, high heels swinging from one hand, and tried to find an explanation. After realizing that everything she bodily possessed must be on full display, Lily just let out a sigh and tucked her dripping red curls (long fallen from the updo) behind one ear. There was a silence.
“I... think I’ll leave you now,” she said awkwardly.
And she turned, opened the door, and walked into his room. As she shut the door behind her and heard it lock, she suddenly realized that she’d dropped her wand, and that there was no way in hell she was going downstairs looking like this. Looking around in hopes of finding his, she realized that it was probably in his pants pocket, locked away with hers. Lily stared, wide eyed, at the wall, not believing she’d really just done that. James snickered from inside the bathroom, evidently he knew this.
“JAMES POTTER!” Lily shouted, banging on the door. “GIVE ME MY WAND!!”
“Aw, just take a pair of my clothes or something!” James shouted back.
Lily stared at the door, wondering if she could break it down somehow. She just crossed her arms and stared at it until it opened, a minute later. James came out, this time wearing a towel round his middle, and bearing both wands. He smiled brightly at her.
“Did you need something?”
“Give me.... my wand,” she growled.
“Just tell me again why you were up in my bathroom?”
Lily let out a long sigh. “I ran into the house after talking to you to find someplace to slit my wrists in peace.”
His face dropped and his hazel eyes got wide. “Slit your wri-”
“NO JAMES, I WAS BEING SARCASTIC!” Lily yelled. “I WAS CRYING! And then you came and I didn’t want you to know I was in here, so I was hiding in the bathroom until you left, but then you came in there! So I hid in the shower until you left! But then you took a shower! So I decided to get out as you bloody got in, but did it work?! NO!! NOW GIVE ME THE WAND!”
James stared at her as she breathed heavily, glaring at him. He sort of glanced to his left, as if looking for an epiphany as to what to do, then said simply, “No.”
Lily drew herself up to her full height, as if preparing herself for a monstrous screaming match. “What?” she whispered dangerously.
James raised one eyebrow, as if he were dealing with someone who was 20 years outdated. “I wanted to talk to you, anyways, and it seems that you aren’t willing to stay around me unless I hold your wand captive. So, have yourself a merry little seat, and we shall chat.”
Lily seemed quite speechless at his bold defiance of her rage, and just stared at him. James smiled as he walked over and sat on his neatly made bed, looking pointedly at the chair sitting by the window. She shook her head. “No, I’ll stand.”
James shrugged. “Fine.”
She crossed her arms and glared at him, trying to deftly ignore that her warm dripping wet-ness had now turned into cold dripping wet-ness, and that she was getting goosebumps. James either didn’t notice or didn’t let on that he knew about this, even though she was quite sure he could see it through her dress.
“So, er...” James started. “I suppose I just wanted to make sure we were alright.”
She raised an eyebrow, feeling her anger mount again. “We? We?! Since when was there ever anything we about you and I?! How could we be alright?! Where were we exactly that we could no longer be alright?!” she shouted.
James just blinked. He took a deep breath and said softly, “Well... I thought we were in love.”
Chapter 32
Lost Time
Lily felt her throat close itself off, unable to breathe or speak for the constricting going on. She stared at James incredulously, before shaking her head. “Keep the damn wand, I’ll buy a new one,” she muttered, turning and going out.
James, shocked at how wrong that one reaction had just gone, jumped up and ran after her. Lily, however, was already making puddles down the hallway as she stamped out, and James stupidly ran after her. It wasn’t until he was shouting after her at the top of the stairs and everyone in the party was staring at him, towel around his soaking middle, calling after an equally soaking form fleeing from him before disapparating with a pop, that he realized that this may look a bit odd. He felt his voice die in his throat, brokenhearted, angry, confused, and embarrassed all in one. Before anyone could really say anything about what had just happened, James turned and stormed back into his room. He toweled himself off quickly, jumping into jeans and a junk tee-shirt. As he laced up his shoes, someone knocked on the door and let themselves in. Remus and Sirius both stood there, looking curious.
“What happened, Prongs?” Remus asked.
“I blew it twice in one night ” James said, looking up. “I’m not about to strike out.”
“Er,” Sirius said, “Hadn’t you better let her cool off for a bit?”
“No ” James said, as if the idea were insulting. “No, I want her to be as mad as I am now when I get to wherever the hell it is that she’s at ” Remus was about to say something, but James cut him off. “Look, I know I’ve been a slut over the years and you don’t want Lils getting hurt. But damn it, I am not about to let her go when she finally realizes that we have something, here ”
“Oh, no,” Remus shrugged, “I was just gonna say that she probably went off to Becky’s house.”
James paused. “Oh. Oh, ok, thanks.”
Sirius waved, Remus nodded, and James threw on a cloak. Without another word to his friends, he disapparated. Opening his eyes, James saw he was in the parlor with the Wrights, who smiled up at him.
“Hello, James ” smiled Becky’s mum. “How’re you? Long time no see.”
“Er, I’m fine, Mz. W,” he said, “But have you seen Lily?”
“She went upstairs,” sighed Mr. Wright. “Sounded all bothered.”
“Oh, we had an argument.”
“You both do argue a lot,” smiled the Mrs.
James just nodded at the queer woman, walking out and stammering thanks. Going upstairs, he found Becky’s room, then the guest room next to it. However, the entire top floor was devoid of another life form, and James sighed as he angrily sat on the spare bed. Looking around him, he saw a few things thrown around, and that other than that, almost everything was in place. He saw that her school bag was open on the dresser, and went over to look in it. Inside was a jumble of quills, ink, wax seals, papers, crumpled assignments, and a few cosmetic things. However, he noticed that though it had the makings of a purse, it missed one thing.
“Keys,” James said to himself.
Looking in the closet, he saw Lily’s cloak was also gone. Nodding to himself, he disapparated, again. This time, he was in the entrance hall of the Evans manor, and a light glowed faintly from upstairs. James shook his head, walking through the black house and upstairs. He could hear, as he got closer, the sounds of someone moving about, almost as if pacing and muttering. Coming to the landing, he saw that the light in Lily’s bedroom was on, the door flung wide. Walking noiselessly through the halls, James pressed himself against the wall to listen for a bit.
Lily, from inside, seemed to be in a seething anger, but also emotionally stressed. He could hear, over her soft cursing and mutterings to herself, how she would occasionally sniff, as if her nose were running from just having had a good cry. He sort of wanted to know why, but of course, deep down, he knew. Sirius had instructed him so well that Lily really did believe that James had had a change of heart and only wanted to be her friend. Evidently, only half of Sirius’ plan had worked. She’d fallen for James, but at a price.
Now, as he leaned against the two foot gap of wall that separated the guest room from her room, James could not help but hate himself a bit. He’d never intended for this to happen, for her to end up feeling and thinking this way, but somehow, somewhere along the line, it’d changed. The game had turned from tea-and-scones with plastic, flowered child’s cups into a full blown, dress-and-suit ball, yet James had failed to take notice. He let out his breath, silently, and wondered for a moment what the hell to do. After deciding that nothing could really help him, now, he squared his shoulders and stepped into the doorway.
He didn’t know what he’d expected. Perhaps for her to scream at him or throw something. Maybe even slap him or try to curse him into oblivion before remembering he had her wand. But he most certainly did not expect for her to outright ignore him. She didn’t even glance his way. Lily Evans just sat on her bay window seat, staring at the teddy bear sitting opposite her, and did nothing. James blinked, before he suddenly realized why he wasn’t being pummeled by small hands. She’d not noticed he was there. Lily hadn’t seen him.
She sniffed slightly, the only noise she made, and wiped her nose on her sleeve. That was a shocker for James. He’d seen her cry before, miserably over a test grade or something of that sort, but she always had the dignity to use a tissue, or conjure up one. But now, despite that there was a full tissue box within arm’s reach of her, Lily no longer seemed to have or want that dignity. Half of him wanted to believe that it was because she was wandless, because she had no other option, but he knew that he’d robbed her of her self-respect, of her will to carry herself. James took a breath.
“Lily...” he said softly.
Almost as if she’d been whipped, Lily’s back stiffened, he could see her body tense, as if to bolt and hide. She didn’t look at him, her voice coming in a hoarse whisper. “What do you want, Potter?”
James let out a long sigh. “Can I apologize, first?”
“For which?” she spat.
He paused, knowing that was a true point. “For making you feel like crap. Look, I know that we were supposed to be friends, that the fall I had last January off my broom was supposed to have made me realize the folly of trailing after you.... But it hasn’t, it never did ” Lily was now staring at James as he rambled. “Sirius told me it was the only way to get you to know the real me, and I knew he was right I just never thought.... I never thought that you’d feel the same way about me,” he finished quietly.
Lily just stared at him a moment longer, before looking back at her teddy bear. There was a long pause, during which James mentally beat himself up over ever doing this, over ever letting himself out to dry like this. Then, Lily spoke. “Do you realize how hard it is to just... wake up one morning and realize that you love someone you’ve hated for six years?”
James shook his head. “No, I don’t.”
Lily nodded. “And to think that person was just a friend, that they no longer cared?”
“But I do care ” James said angrily.
“I know you do, James!” Lily shouted, before regaining her composure. “I just wish you would have let me know that sooner.”
He left his little domain in the doorway to squeeze onto the bay window seat beside her. “How can I make up for lost time?”
She turned to halfheartedly glare at him, before she muttered, “Gimme a damn tissue.”
James dared to smile, reaching for the box and also digging her wand out of his robes. “Easy to please, aren’t we?”
Lily ignored him as she blew her nose, tossing the tissue into the trash and letting out a sigh. Then she smiled. “Don’t I owe you something?”
James thought. “Err...”
“Something from before a Hogsmeade weekend, ages ago...?”
He screwed up his hazel eyes in thought, even though he quite clearly remembered, and shook his head. “Damn, I can’t remember, no. Can you refresh my memory?”
She smiled and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him closer. “Gladly.”
When James woke up, the next morning, he was once again in Lily’s oddly Hogwart-esque bed, with an arm around her. They’d talked for quite a long while, the night before, and had dropped off somewhere along the line. The point was that everything was now okay between the two of them.
James smiled and kissed her newly tanned cheek, as Becky had forced them both to get a bit of sun before the party. “Morning, Lils.”
She shifted a bit and swatted a hand at him. Rolling his eyes, James climbed over her and stood, stretching, on the bedroom floor. He realized that he was quite stiff from having slept fully dressed (minus shoes and a cloak), and suddenly wanted to go have a nice shower.
“Lils, does the water still work, here?” James asked.
“No,” she murmured, eyes still closed.
“Why not?”
“I had it shut off three months ago,” she said.
James thought this was quite stupid. “Why?”
Lily sighed and sat up, blinking back sleep. “Because I didn’t feel like paying for a bill that wasn’t being used.”
“Ooh... So does that mean you’ll go over to my house with me for a shower?” She stared at him, really to see if he was joking about what’d happened the day before, and he realized this at the same moment. “I wasn’t talking about-”
“Uh-huh,” she said. “Right. Well, why would I go over to your house when I could go back to Becks’?”
“Because I won’t pester you about why you left the party dripping wet with me, also dripping wet, screaming after you, or why you didn’t go home last night, and, once I knew why, what happened, how could you do that to yourself-” James was ticking off things on his fingers. “-do you really think things will work out between you and that stupid kid, um... Oh, my favorite, what do you see in that bloke, that kind of stuff.”
Lily started laughing. “You know Becky far too well ”
“Comes with being her boyfriend’s dorm mate,” James shrugged, pulling on his shoes. “So, does that mean you’re coming with me?”
“What would your parents think?”
“My parents?” James asked, pulling on his cloak. “My parents are in Germany for the week. They knew that I was throwing Sirius a party, but beyond that, they think I’m going to sleep till three every day.”
“You are absolutely horrible.”
“Thanks, now grab some clothes and we’ll get going,” James said.
Lily shook her head, standing and straightening her black dress. Well, Becky’s black dress. She went over to her mostly empty closet and pulled out a spare pair of jeans and a shirt. Throwing them into a bag with a brush and some trainers, Lily nodded to James. “Ready.”
“Right, you know how to get there?” he asked.
“I’ve been there before, you know that,” Lily said.
He shrugged. “Great. See you there.” Pop.
Lily rolled her eyes and disapparated after him. This time, she apparated in his living room, which was amazingly trashed. James was already charming it clean, and Lily helped him. Within a minute flat, it was immaculate, not a trace of pizza and crisp dip stains on anything. James smiled at it as Lily rolled her eyes and headed upstairs. Now that she was in a state of mind to look at things as she went, she saw that the Potters had a very nice house. They framed and hung mostly family portraits on the walls, with aged wooden floors. James came up after her, and she saw that his bedroom door was now closed. Opening it, she stared, for a moment, and then snorted in laughter.
“Oh.... my god... ”
“What?” James asked, coming into the doorway.
Lying across his bed, sleeping and snoring, was Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Remus’ leg was hanging off the side of the bed, and Sirius was using Remus’ stomach as a pillow, and snoring. James snickered, leaning against the doorway, and Lily whispered to him,
“Don’t they look cute together?”
“I was about to say the same thing about you two ” called Sirius.
Lily jumped, then glared at the both of them as they sat up, grinning. “Bloody Marauders never stop tricking people, do you?”
James, beaming and slamming the door as he pulled her into a kiss, said, “Nope ”
Chapter 33
Little Orphan Annie
“So who did they say got it?”
Lily cast Becky an annoyed look as she puled on some jeans, ready to go to Diagon Alley and purchase her school things for the last time. “They didn’t.”
Becky sighed from her lounging on the bed. “Well, you bloody think they’d tell you.”
“Just because I am Head Girl does not mean they’ll automatically include a post script with who the Head Boy is. I’ll lightly ask Remus when we see him next. I’m sure he got it.”
Becky shrugged as Lily finished dressing, and the both of them stood, grabbing their bags to Apparate. They left Becky’s room, turning to see the large, wooden sign of Ollivander’s swinging in a late August breeze. Tomorrow was the train back to Hogwarts, and their last year there before they left to make something of their lives. Lily sighed, reaching in her pocket to run a fond finger over her willow wand. Becky was already consulting the booklist, and saw that a lot of them were very unfamiliar.
“By the way,” she said absently, “What was that letter about?”
“What letter?” Lily asked innocently.
“The one that came after the one saying you were head girl.”
“Oh...” Lily smiled. “Nothing.”
Becky gave her a glare as they walked through the crowded streets, down to Flourish and Blotts. “Dragonshit.”
Lily protested, “It was ”
“Suuuuure. I bet it was from James.”
She rolled her eyes, opening the door of the busy bookshop. “For the last time, we are NOT dating.” Becky went into a coughing fit that sounded like YET. Lily gave her innocent smile a sharp glare, and said, “No, it just had a load to do with what this whole French thing is about, mon chéri.”
Becky’s eyes widened, but Lily artfully managed to get lost in the crowd and end up on the opposite end of the store, hidden behind several shelves. There, she found an employee and asked her for all the books, which she had in a jiffy. Three minutes later, she was paying for them at the front of the checkout line, and Becky’s laughing voice was to be heard farther down the throng of people. Taking her books, Lily flipped a bit of her loosely hanging red hair back over a shoulder, and followed her ears to where her mate stood with none other than the Marauders, all four of them together, smiling, and hanging out.
“Aye, there’s Fox ” Sirius smiled, pulling her into a gruff hug.
“Hey None of that ” James said.
Lily looked over at him. “Finally tattoo your name to my arse and make me your property, did we?”
James reddened, a sensation never before experienced in human history. “No....”
“Right then.”
Charles had suddenly appeared and was talking lowly with Becky, both of them grinning in a very suggestive way. Lily shook her head at them and shooed them off, not wanting to have to be witness to yet another one of their snoggings. They went, and Lily nudged Remus.
“Hey, did you find out who Head Boy is?”
Immediately, all of the Marauders broke into evil grins. Remus nodded. “Yeah.”
Lily narrowed her green eyes. “What’s that bleeding look for, all of you?”
They all looked at each other innocently, and Peter shrugged, supplying a, “Nothing.”
“Who is it?”
“You’ll find out,” Sirius said.
“Yeah, just not right now,” laughed James.
Lily glared at them. “You’ve got to tell me. I’m Head Girl.”
Sirius gasped and started hooting madly, and James glared him into submission. “Idiot, she was bound to get it!”
“Sorry.”
“Yes, well, not only that, but I still am a Marauder,” Lily added lowly as the line moved a considerable bit.
“Well, sorry, you’ll find out tomorrow!” Remus beamed. “Excuse me, Lilis, got to pay for my books....”
And he walked over to the next checkout. Lily glared heatedly after him, then rounded on the remaining three boys. “Tell me now.”
Sirius scoffed. “Dare you, a mere woman-”
“Baaad move, Padfoot,” James whispered, backing away.
“-to command ME, a MARAUDER?!”
Peter and James had both trotted off to the next free checkout and were shoving the books at the clerk fast as she could take them. Lily’s face was a vivid, dangerous pink, and as she towered up to her full height (an impressive six inches short of his), he suddenly feared the redheaded spitfire before him.
“How do you dare?!” she raged venomously. “AS IF YOUR OWN MOTHER WEREN’T A WOMAN! Without women, there would BE NO MEN! You sexist pigs have yet to realize that it takes a WOMAN to make LIFE! WE CONTROL THE UNIVERSE, NOT YOU!”
Without another word, Lily Evans turned, stormed towards the door, and seemed to remember to disapparate before she ran right into it. A ringing silence had fallen in the shop, before the clerk said timidly, “Did you find everything you needed okay?”
“Padfoot. That was amazing.”
Sirius looked over at James as he walked over, bearing his books in a shopping bag, with an amazed, awed look on his face. “I’m sorry, can’t hear you, I’m completely deaf.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes, actually, I am.”
James gave him a patronizing look as Remus waved them off, and Peter left to go to the potions shop and refill his kit. After Sirius paid for his books, the best friends left the shop and strolled down the street, completely finished with their school shopping. There was silence for a while, and it was only after they were strolling down the street eating some Choco-nutty Raspberry cones from the ice-cream parlor that Sirius dared to speak.
“She’s quite the hellion.”
James nodded and swallowed a bit of dripping ice-ream. “That’s why we named her Fox.”
Sirius glanced over. “You haven’t told her yet.... Have you?”
He didn’t look at his friend, he just let a long pause lapse as they passed Gringott’s. “No.”
“You’ve got to.”
“I can’t.”
“She’s a Marauder, James ” Sirius said. “You have t-”
“I can’t!” James interrupted, stopping to look at him. “Don’t you get it? The stupid argument will happen all over again if I do!”
Sirius stared at James. “So you’re going to let her slip away again?”
James threw the half eaten cone into the garbage, saying, “There’s nothing I can do about it, Sirius. We took an oath, a blood oath that could be perilous if we broke it.”
“James. We were in first bloody year. What harm can one of the only spells a first year can perform do to a seventh year?”
James stared at Sirius darkly. “We’re underestimating our dark family roots, aren’t we Sirius.”
“It wasn’t my idea!” Sirius shouted.
James yelled, “But you still did it!”
“You told me to! Remus and Peter did, too!” Sirius hollered. “It was about our friendship-”
James snarled, “Well, congratulations, Black, now its about love.”
Before Sirius could get another word in, James disapparated.
“How does he dare?!”
Becky sighed as she pushed her trolley towards the general direction of the platform barrier. “I don’t know?”
Lily growled to herself as she followed with her own trunk, muttering incoherently. Mr. And Mrs. Smith had seen Becky off at the entrance to the train station, as she had deemed that it was very much not groovy to have your parents kissing you in front of everyone when you were in 7th year, which got Lily mad. She’d pointed out that at least she, unlike some people, had parents to kiss her, and had been in a foul mood even though Becky let her parents kiss her, and they’d kissed Lily, too. Both girls were wearing their Hogwarts uniforms, just not with their robes.
But now, as they both waited until a large crowd of teens about their age passed, no doubt on their way to their school train, the two girls strolled casually through the barrier and saw a sea of witches and wizards, cats, owls, and a few croaking toads. The hum of conversation and farewells were loud enough to have to speak loudly to be heard, and suddenly, it was quite clear that school was, indeed, back in for the summer.
“I’m going to go find Charlie, will you be alright?” Becky asked.
Lily sighed and nodded, pulling her robes out of a handbag, pulling them on and straightening them over her skirt and sweater vest. “Yes, I’m just going to the Head’s compartment.”
“Alright.... Audie, then,” Becky said, waving as she went towards a train carriage.
Lily watched her friend go, and sighed to herself. Then, she stood up a bit straighter and walked through the crowds, pushing her trolley, and got on in the first carriage. Up here, it was much quieter, as this was the one reserved for the conductor, the lunch trolley lady, and the Heads. In fact, as she boarded, she was enclosed in a tomb-like silence, and only a faint drone of the outside clamor could be heard. Pulling her trunk laboriously up the stairs, Lily dragged it down the hallway, and opened the compartment that she’d only been in for train-ride prefects’ meetings.
Inside, she recognized the interior, which was more nicely kept on account that the students who sat in here had a bit of respect for school property. Instead of stained, burned, and slightly smelly blue seats, these were black, the color fading to blue only very slightly. The wooden walls were shined, and the luggage racks overhead gleamed from not being beaten by countless trunks thrown up into them. Lily eyed the racks overhead, then looked doubtfully down at her book-stuffed trunk.
“This won’t do,” she said, bringing out her wand. “Wingardium Leviosa...”
The trunk floated up lightly as she directed her wand, and settled gently in the rack. It groaned slightly as the heavy box came to a rest, and Lily watched it for a moment before putting away her wand in a self satisfied manner. Almost as an afterthought, she grabbed her bag down, rummaging through it to find her mirror and put up her hair, as they’d been in a hurry that morning. Self consciously, she pulled her hair back loosely, so as not to get a head start on the massive amount of headaches she’d get this year.
As a whistle blew somewhere above, and the train rocked gently with people rushing on at the last moment, Lily glanced out the window, seeing parents waving their children off. Looking back at the mirror, she watched her reflection. In the past few months, she’d changed very much, she’d somehow matured more, and always looked tired and sad. She reached and picked at a sleepy seed in her eye as the train lurched off.
“Sad....” she chided herself softly, putting the mirror and bag away. “What else would you be, you little red haired orphan.”
“Aww, there’s my little Annie.”
Turning, Lily saw the whole gang of Marauders smiling at her. She felt her face twinge a bit pink. “How long have you all been bloody watching me?”
Sirius chuckled. “Long enough.”
She stood, giving him a heavy glare. “Get out, you all, the prefect’s meeting is about to start.”
Sirius nodded, made a face, and went off down the hall. Peter looked at a loss for what to say, for a moment, before he blinked a bit and turned, following Sirius. Remus came in and sat across from Lily as the Ravenclaw prefects all got there, and James smiled at the raised eyebrow Lily was shooting him.
“Yes?”
“Why are you still here?”
James staggered and clutched his heart. “Don’t look so happy to see a prefect.”
Biting back a laugh, Lily just pursed her lips tightly as she could in a smile, and nodded, turning and sitting back down as the train chugged out of the town. Within a few minutes, everyone was assembled and seated, and Lily sighed, bringing out the subject list that Dumbledore had sent her for the meeting. She called over their loud chatting.
“Alright, alright, shut up all of you dolts, the meeting’s started,” she said.
“Who’re you calling a dolt?” asked the Slytherin sixth year male, sitting next to Snape.
“Bloody anyone I well please. Now sit down and let me give you your schedules for patrol rounds....”
Ten minutes later, she’d managed to race through everything on the list, and all the prefects had a schedule of rounds. She looked up from her list, already tired from being Head Girl. “Any questions?”
“Yeah,” said the fifth year female Hufflepuff. “Who’s Berginhouf? I’ve got a buttload of patrols with them.”
“Me,” said a Ravenclaw.
“Oh, ok.”
Lily nodded. “Right. Well everyone, just keep your schedules handy, and Remus, you’ll be patrolling the train with me.”
Everyone nodded and stood, getting up and walking out. Remus went out with James, no doubt for a last bit of chatting before James went back to his compartment to hang with his other mates. Lily hadn’t looked at him at all during the meeting, because every time she did, an overwhelming mix of feelings that she couldn’t and didn’t want to sort out kept hitting her. Now, she just curled up in a seat in the corner, next to the window, and watched the countryside for a bit. Hearing the boys chatting outside, Lily let out a sigh and grabbed a book she’d brought for reading, one of those trashy romance novels that you get for 2 pounds. Settling in comfortably and kicking off her nursing loafers, Lily found her bookmark and began where she’d left off, something about a train taking the unfaithful wife to her husband to kill him. Just as Lily was sort of getting into the whole idea of a woman jumping off a train to run back to her lover, in tears, the door opened again.
Remus was saying, “...you later, then.”
“Right,” she heard James’ voice.
Ignoring him as the train rattled along, Lily hid behind her book, not wanting to talk to Remus about the fight with Sirius. Hearing the door slide shut and him walk over and sit opposite her, there was a silence for a while as he flicked through his packet of information.
“Thanks for letting me handle the meeting on my own,” Lily said stiffly, still hiding behind the book. “I’m sure you must’ve just been in shock that Dumbledore gave James your spot as male Gryffindor prefect.”
There was a silence for a moment, and she was quite mad that he didn’t apologize for not stepping up to the plate. Glaring at him through the book, not realizing she was staring fixedly at the word jerk (as in, “My husband is a....”), she let out a deep breath.
“Er... Sorry, but I’m not Gryffindor Prefect.”
Lily froze, one eyebrow shot up, and she thought that on September the first on the train to Hogwarts, she’d gone insane, finally. No, it couldn’t be... Slowly lowering the book so that her staring green eyes were visible over the top of the pages, Lily could not believe her eyes.
James Potter, an amused smile on his accursedly handsome face, was sitting across from her, swaying with the speeding train, and wearing the Head Boy pin on his robes.
Chapter 34
The Secret Oath
James smiled a bit wider. “Hiya, Lils.”
Lily just shook her head. “How... in hell... did you pull this one off?”
He looked round, then shrugged. “I was a good boy last year.”
She scoffed loudly, “Right.”
James graciously chose to ignore her comment, and instead indicated her forgotten book, which just happened to be one of those ones featuring the two main characters mushily in each other’s arms, pressed together for a sexual kiss. “Nice book.”
Lily flushed and slammed it shut, throwing it into the seat next to her. “It’s a trash novel you read when you’ve nothing else to do.”
“You know you wish that was us,” James teased.
A flame of anger ignited in her. “Don’t you dare say that, you know very well there is no us!”
“You sound a bit bitter.”
Lily glared at him, trying to calm herself with a deep breathing routine. “How.... do you dare... say that to me when you know damn well that I told you I love you and you said that back, but you didn’t do ONE DAMN THING about it?!”
James seemed for a moment flabbergasted. “What do you expect me to do?!”
Lily’s anger reached a boiling point in a record speed. “What do you think?!” she shouted, jumping to her feet. “Perchance asked me out? Asked me on a date? SOMETHING?!”
James was getting mad, not only at her, but slightly Sirius. “There’s more to it, Li-”
“DON’T YOU DARE USE PET NAMES ON ME, YOU PRAT!”
“Don’t yell at me!” James shouted.
A tremor of fear at the deep tone of an angry man’s voice wavered in Lily, threatening tears, but she held her ground, feeling her hair shaking itself out of her loose pony tail. “I’ve got EVERY RIGHT to yell at you! You really haven’t changed, you’re the same, stupid, arrogant, nosy, selfish bastard I’ve always hated!”
James was winded for a split second, and all he could manage was a yelled, “I AM NOT!”
“You are too!” she nearly screamed, face red as her hair. James towered to his feet, too, glaring down at her. “I HATE YOU!”
Lily turned to storm out, not really sure of where to, but just to go, perhaps cry a bit, but James was nowhere near through with venting some pent up aggravation. “Don’t walk out on me! This isn’t finished!”
Lily turned near the door. “YES IT IS! There’s nothing TO be finished, you of all people would know that damn well!”
James felt heat rising to his face as he threw an arm wildly, like a windmill, in frustration. “I TOLD YOU! There’s more to it than you know!”
Lily glared at him. “LIKE WHAT?! You’re allergic to commitment? You break out in a rash when you have a girlfriend?!”
James’ face turned a vivid red, and he sputtered for a moment. “How dare you suggest that to me?!” he hissed.
Lily was tempted to drop-hex him on the spot, or even break his glasses, but instead settled on a malicious glare. “Because that’s what see very clearly with my own two eyes, Potter.” She turned to continue her way out.
“If you would just let me explain-”
“There’s nothing to explain!” she spat back.
James reached and grabbed her, whirling her around. “There’s everything to explain!”
Lily wrenched out of his grasp, giving him the queen of all dirty looks, making him cringe visibly on the spot. “I’m not going to let you lie to me anymore!”
“How can this be a lie?!” James grabbed her again, more forcefully, and kissed her.
Lily was struck for a moment at the cliche of it all, then sort of enjoyed herself. For a microsecond. Then she smacked him so hard on the face that it really could have been considered a punch (also cliche), and gave him a glare as she spat on the floor, watching him stagger and holding his already bruised cheek. Tears of pain were visibly flowing down his cheeks, and he had such a hurt expression on his face that it seemed nothing sort of kicking a helpless puppy. After taking a deep, quavering breath as James collapsed onto the seat in pain, holding his face, Lily spoke.
“Don’t mess with me. I told you that before.”
James’ eyes gleamed as she glared at him, and he said hoarsely, “Yeah, but that time, you didn’t mean it.”
Lily shook her head, turning and walking out of the compartment. “Well I fucking do this time.”
“No you don’t,” he called after her.
Lily just slammed the door shut so hard that the glass in it broke, and didn’t go back to fix it.
Sirius looked up as the compartment door opened and Lily stepped in, bare footed, hair askew, hand bruised and slightly bleeding on the knuckles. She looked, in essence, nothing short of molested. Wait, no, no rape jokes.... However, she didn’t seem to realize what a pissed off mess she looked. The entire compartment (Sirius, Peter, Remus, Charles, Becky, Alice, and Frank) all went silent at once.
“Remus, come patrol the train with me,” Lily said, her lips very tight.
Remus stood, closing his book and bracing himself as the train made a turn. “Er.... you okay?”
“DO I BLOODY LOOK OKAY?!” Lily shouted, then wiped her red face. “I’m fine.”
Sirius cleared his throat. “Get thrown into a shredder?”
Lily sighed and tucked some hair behind her ear. “I may have gotten into an argument with.... him.”
“Oh god,” Becky muttered, going back to her magazine.
Frank Longbottom raised an eyebrow. “And the blood on your hand, then?”
Lily automatically wiped her right knuckes on her robes. “I may have, er.... punched him.” Sirius’ eyebrows shot up, and Lily opened the door again. “Let’s go, Remus.”
Remus hesitated. “Don’t you think James needs medica-”
“Now, Lupin!” she growled.
Against his better judgement, Remus sighed and left, waving to Sirius, before saying, “Where’s your shoes?”
Sirius looked over at Charles as the door slid shut. “How badly do you think he’s dead?”
Charles laughed. “Knowing Lily, twelve feet under.”
Nodding, Sirius stood, stretched a bit, and re-tied his shoes. Then he straightened and walked out of the compartment and down the train, stopping a few times to chat with acquaintances and flirt with some girls. After about ten minutes, he made it the three cars up to the head’s compartment, and saw that the glass of the door was all over the floor. Fixing it lazily as he opened it, he saw James lying on his back on one of the seats. He looked over.
“Hey, Padfoot.”
“Prongs, I came as soon as I heard.”
James gave him a doubtful look, then winced at the stretching on his wound. “Sure. Just, do you know any good medical bruise healing charms or whatnot?” Sirius nodded, smiling and bringing out his wand. James, seeing that familiar gleam, fully straightened up and away from him. “Actually.... never mind.”
“Whaaaat?”
“Nothing.”
“Sure.” Sirius pocketed his wand, then stretched out on the other side of the compartment. “So, how’d the argument go?”
James gave him a glare. “How do you think.”
“Seeing the state of your amazingly bruised face, I think it went very nicely.”
He sighed and touched it tenderly. “We need to have a chat.”
“About...?”
“About that oath.”
“Oh, so you’re not still pissed at me for it?” Sirius said bitterly.
James leveled him with a dirty look. “Look. I know it wasn’t entirely your fault.”
“Damn right.”
“Only mostly.”
Sirius balled a fist and shook it threateningly. “I will....”
He ignored Sirius’ threat. “Look. We’ve got to find a way to de-activate it, or find a way around it. Maybe get Lils to resign from the Marauders.”
“Can’t,” Sirius said, shaking his head. “You know that once you’re a Marauder, you’re a Marauder till death.”
James snapped his fingers. “Damn, I remember... Well, think there’s a way to de-activate the curse?”
“I don’t know...” Sirius said. “We could ask Moony.”
Just then, the compartment door slid open.
“Just the devil,” James said.
Remus stared at them both for a moment, before saying, “Look, I’m just getting Lily’s shoes for her.”
James immediately grabbed one of them, and tucked it firmly under his armpit. “Help us first.”
Remus sighed, taking the other. “Hurry up, then.”
“We need a counter-curse for the Secret Oath,” Sirius said.
Remus stared at them both for a moment, then said, “Alright, how’s this sound. You keep that shoe, and I’ll tell Lily you ate it. See you later.” He turned to walk out.
“Remus!” James called out. “It can’t be that hard!”
He cocked an eyebrow back at them. “Would you rather wrestle the giant squid?”
Sirius said, “Wow, if I did a spell that hard, I mut be a genius.”
“Hey, genius, chew on this,” James said, smacking Sirius’ arm with Lily’s other shoe.
“OW!”
“Stop it!” Remus said.
“Who’s Head Boy, here?” James said indignantly.
Remus glared, “Yea, and who’s also the genius that initiated the woman he loves into a group that forbids him from dating her?!”
A moment of angry silence ensued, and James said, “Well, why’s it so difficult if Sirius did it?”
“HEY!”
“Shut up!” both boys yelled at the same time. Remus sighed. “Look, I may have, er... tweaked it a bit.”
“You modified my curse?!”Sirius shouted, jumping to his feet. “HOW COULD YOU?!”
“It sucked!” Remus said guiltily. “Look, I figured if it meant so much to you guys, I was going to make it DO something!”
James blinked. “So what’s it do now?”
Remus shuffled his feet and muttered something. Sirius chucked a paper packet at him, an he said louder, “It makes you, er.... lose a limb.”
James’ mouth dropped. “I’d be an amputee?!”
“Er...”
“I like my arms and legs where they are!”
“James....” Remus said softly, “I didn’t mean.... er... arms and legs.”
A moment of silence ensued as Sirius and James stared at Remus, who was watching his feet. After a bit, Sirius coughed nervously, and said,
“Are we taking the oath a bit extremely, Remus?”
His head snapped up in a fury. “Look! You were the ones that made the stupid ass oath! Next time you want to make sure you don’t fucking turn gay, don’t involve curses in it!”
He turned to slam his way out, but James said, “It seemed perfectly reasonable at the time! We were new friends and in our group and wanted to make sure that we never went gay, especially not with another Marauder!”
Remus glared at James. “Well, you should have remembered that when you initiated Lily into the Marauders!”
“I... I forgot,” James muttered.
“ISN’T RULE NUMBER THREE TO NEVER FORGET THE RULES?!” Sirius roared, suddenly on Remus’ side.
James felt his face flush in anger. “LOOK! I know, alright! Just.... Is there a way we can get it off? Or work around it?”
Remus glared at James, then smiled, shook his head, and walked out the door. Sirius and James heard him howling with laughter all the way down the corridor, and until he went into the next train carriage. Sirius watched him go, and shook his head.
“Nuts.... Barking... Look James... I just guess you’ll have to give it a go and see what happens.”
“And lose my... you-know?!”
Sirius shrugged, and said, “What’s more important to you? Lily... or...”
Shaking his head, he, too, left James alone with nothing but Lily’s other shoe to keep him company.
By the time Lily was done with rounds with Sirius, she’d managed to get Becky to loan her a pair of shoes, and she’d cooled off a bit. Unfortunately, Becky’s shoe of choice just so happened to be three and a half inch tall black high heels that looked suspiciously similar to the ones Lily had worn for Sirius’ birthday party. She resigned to go back to the Heads compartment and maturely ignore James, just pretend as if he didn’t exist at all. So, propped up on high heels, carrying one shoe in her hand, and hair still slightly mussed from her argument, Lily Evans stalked back to the carriage, ignoring the double-takes she received and the whistle of some perverted Ravenclaw. Opening the door (now fixed), she saw that James had one hand holding her other shoe, and his other hand holding his head as he sat, sprawled, on the floor. There was a moment where she stared, curious and bewildered, at him, and unfortunately it coincided with the moment he looked up at her.
Fuck. So much for ignoring him.
“Li- Er... Evans,” James said, jumping nimbly to his feet. “Can we talk?”
She considered him coldly. “What about?”
“I just wanted to, er... explain about the... whole problem...” he said awkwardly, noticing that he was still holding her shoe.
She seemed to be eyeing that, as well. “I’m listening.”
“Well... The Marauders, we did this really retarded thing in first year where we made a pact never to go gay and date another Marauder and Sirius put this hex on it, only it didn’t work, so Moony fixed it, and it does work now, only it’s all awful, but that’s not the point, because it’s that it was all really, really stupid of us and when I remembered about it I realized that I couldn’t ask you to date me or anything, because then I might like die, or something, and it’s all really bogus because you shouldn’t’ve become a Marauder in the first place, according to rule two.”
James took a big intake of air, as he’d said it all in two breaths, and Lily blinked a bit, as he’d talked so fast. Really it’d all sounded like two or three words. She thought it over for a bit and thought she got the general gist of it, and said,
“Er... ok?”
James blinked and nodded. “Right, er... I just... thought you aught to know why.”
Lily nodded, reaching and taking her shoe from him and putting it on the seat along with her other one. There was a pause, and James slowly went over to “his” side of the compartment, sitting down and watching the landscape roll by. Then, as Lily settled in her seat and busied herself with paperwork, she said,
“What’s the new curse?”
“What?” James looked up, shocked she was talking to him.
“What is the new curse?” she repeated.
James blinked. “Oh, er... It’s... sort of a guy thing...”
Lily glanced up at him from her bowed head. “And?”
“And I know you wouldn’t want to hear about disappearing limbs.”
She really thought about it for a moment, then shuddered. “Okay.” She let a long pause lapse, and a sly grin covered her mouth. “What limbs would be disappearing?”
James narrowed his eyes at her. “Oh, you know.... the ones that really like you in those short skirts.”
A flush so deep that it rivaled her hair came over Lily’s face, and her grin dropped liked a stone as she hid behind her papers. James watched the top of her head for a while, then noticed her body was shaking. “Are you laughing at me?”
She dropped the papers, bursting out in the laughter she’d tried to contain. “Yes! James, you are so stupid!”
“Hey-”
“Don’t you see? If Remus cast that spell, he would have been practical and limited it to one gender, as girls aren’t supposed to be in the Marauders!”
James blinked. “So that means...?”
Lily was dying of laughter. “That means that you are quite wrong in believing that if you were to ask me out, you skirt-loving limb would disappear!”
James was flabbergasted for a moment, gaping, mouth open, at her in shock. “Really?”
Lily, still laughing, nodded. “Duh!”
He jumped up, cheering to himself as if he’d won a personal Quidditch match, and dancing round like a fool. If anything, it made Lily laugh more, and she fell over onto her side, on the seat, gasping for breath with laughter. However, a split instant later, James grabbed her and had her in a rib-breaking hug, and she couldn’t laugh because she now literally couldn’t breath.
“James!” she gasped. “Gerroff!”
Smiling, he pulled away a bit, kissed her quickly, and said, “Lils, will you go out with me?”
Chapter 35
French and Eunuches
“Come on, come on!” Lily said, herding people towards the carriages. “Move along.”
“Make me,” snarled a fourth year Slytherin.
Lily smiled sweetly. “Congratulations. Five points from Slytherin for backsassing the Head Girl.”
A horrified look (mixed with seething anger) came over the boy’s face, before he glared very badly and swept off after his group of Slytherins. Lily smiled to herself in a self-satisfied manner, and led a few more people down the dark path, towards the carriages. After she heard Hagrid’s fleet of boats cutting their way across the water, she left, herself, and got into one of the last carriages, setting off by herself.
In her head, she was going over every aspect of the mature conversation she and James had had... Shaking her head and remembering that she was going to be in charge of supervising all the brats this year, every single one of them. Shaking her head and sweeping her still-messy hair back into another loose bun, Lily stood and climbed out of the coach as it stopped. She walked up the drive, wrapping in her cloak to protect from the chilly night air, holding her bag. Winter was probably going to come early to Hogwarts, this year, and Lily knew she was going to miss it once she was gone...
In the entrance hall, everyone was shouting, talking, screaming, running around, catching up with other friends. Lily tried, once again, to get them into the Great Hall, but with little success. Sighing and rubbing her sore neck, she went in, herself, and spotted McGonagall coming this way with a whistle.
“Professor, I can’t control them...” Lily sighed.
She nodded curtly. “In seconds’ time, it won’t matter. Move aside, Miss Evans.”
Lily did so, and McGonagall stepped through the door into the roaring noise. Half an instant later, an earsplitting shriek of a whistle was ringing, and silence fell immediately. McGonagall smiled.
“Move into the Great Hall. Now.”
Lily moved aside, grinning at McGonagall as all the students (now talking again) began to hurry into the Hall. As they went, Lily turned and walked over to Gryffindor, smiling at the old Headmaster sitting up at the Teacher’s table. He smiled back and gave the smallest of winks. As everyone settled, talking and chattering, Lily found Becky and the whole gang, sitting about halfway down the Gryffindor table, and sat next to her. She smiled.
“How was the train ride?” she asked.
“Don’t want to talk about it,” Lily said, shaking her head.
She just nodded, and Remus was asking her about some essay Slughorne assigned, and did she actually get it finished? Lily laughed, replying that she had gotten it done a week ago.
“But it was ten feet!” Remus sighed. “I’m done for.... I’ve only got nine...”
“Moony, I don’t think he’ll count off for it,” Sirius said. “You’ve got about five feet more than I do.”
Lily choked. “Sirius! You’ve only got 4 feet?! You’ll get a fail mark! When we get up to the common room, I’ll help you.”
Sirius shrugged. “I’m beyond helping.”
“You can say that again,” James laughed, next to Sirius.
“I’m beyond he-”
“Oh, that’s not true,” Remus said. “At least not entirely.”
Just then, Dumbledore stood, signaling silence, and he smiled. “Welcome back, my dear students! As you know, things outside here have gotten worse, but Hogwarts remains the same safety as it ever was-”
“Why’s he telling us that?” Charles hissed.
Lily muttered, “There was a Ministry investigation into the school over the summer to see if it was safe enough to hold so many students.”
Dumbledore was still saying, “...year I will not be around as much, but you will find out soon why! But for now, let us sort the first years!”
As if on cure, the far doors opened, and McGonagall led in a sea of midgets. At least it seemed that way, because a hundred or two of small children in Hogwarts robes were being led between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. Silence ensued as the entire school stared at the timid first years, and Lily was hard fit not to smile. It was an unwritten code that all the older students had to intimidate the first years with relentless staring for the first few weeks of school. As McGonagall reached the teacher’s table and set down the spindly legged stool, upon which sat the Hat, the first years stared around in fearful wonder. Then, the hat started singing. A few first years gasped, and Lily smiled. After it was done, McGonagall spoke.
“When I call your name, come here, sit on the stool, and put on the hat. Ackan, Zachary.”
A little boy from the back slowly pushed his way forward, and at the front everyone had parted to let him through. He went up, shaking, and sat on the stool, the hat engulfing his head down to his nose. There was silence in the hall for a while, before a humongous rip in the bottom of the hat opened and shouted,
“Hufflepuff!”
Said table roared in applause, and the boy, smiling timidly, hopped off and went to join the table. Lily watched all of them being sorted, remembering how narrowly she’d missed being sorted into Ravenclaw... By the end of the sorting, Sirius was fiddling hungrily, and Lily herself was tired. Dumbledore stood, smiling at them all, and gesturing his arms wide.
“Welcome, and back, for some of you. Now, all of us would do well to remember the school rules, especially those concerning the forbidden forest.” She was sure his eyes flickered over to their group, and suppressed a grin. “Let us remember that we are here to learn magic, not have magic healing charms used upon us! Now, before I bore you with that exiting announcement about the French Lessons I called on all now seventh years to have, let us eat!”
Food appeared, and al the seventh years groaned, save for Lily and James. The grinned at each other, reaching for food, and ate in silence. After a bit of eating, Sirius nudged James and muttered something. James pinked a bit and nodded. Becky and Charles were talking animatedly with Lily about Hogsmeade trips, and Lily was trying hard not to die of laughter. Remus and Peter were discussing Peter’s career choice of a Ministry worker in Foreign Affairs.
“Michelle’s in that,” James said over at them. “I could owl her and have her send some paper examples and so forth.”
Peter shrugged. “I just like other countries, they’re groovy.”
Just as everyone was finishing their tarts and puddings, Dumbledore stood again, and the dull murmur stopped. Silence ensued in the warm hall, and he smiled. “I have a question for all my seventh years.... Honestly, how many of you have studied your French this summer?”
Almost every seventh year Gryffindor raised their hands, all the Ravenclaws, a third of the Hufflepuffs, and about ten Slytherins. Dumbledore nodded, and gestured to put their hands down.
“Right, well you are now to find out why! Let us see how well off your French has become... Mes étudiants, nous allons en France pour le tournoi d'une vie!”
Most of everyone that put their hands up gasped in amazement, and started chatting with each other quickly. “Is he right?” “Is that true?” “Oh Merlin, this is amazing!” Lily and James nodded, smiling.
Dumbledore called for quite, again, and smiled. “For those of you who do not understand French, like our seventh years, My students, we go to France for the tournament of a lifetime! ...This year, we have been invited to a monumental event... Beauxbatons Academy in Southern France is hosting the Triwizard Tournament!”
A large ripple of amazement went around the crowd, and some people explained to Muggleborns what that was. Of course, all the seventh years remembered four years ago. In their third year, how Durmstrang had hosted it... which meant that four years from now, it would be Hogwarts’ turn. But, putting that aside, they were all going to France.
“Prongs You knew about this!”
James smiled a bit guiltily as he unpacked his trunk. “It was in the letter to the Heads.”
“That’s why you wouldn’t let me see it!”
Remus smiled. “Can you just imagine? In France for almost all year?”
“No wonder my mum was hinting this would be a special year,” Peter offered.
“Speaking of special years....” Sirius smiled.
James gave him a wary look. “What?”
“Youuu aaaasked Liiiiilllyyyyy ooouuuttt!!” Sirius sang. “And sheeee saiiid Yeeeessss!”
Remus looked over, mouth hanging open, and Peter dropped his alarm clock, shattering it on the floor. Silence ensued for a while in the dormitory, and James shifted uncomfortably as Sirius smirked. James tried to bite back a flush in his cheeks, turning and unpacking with a flick of his wand. Leaving his friends standing there, he went downstairs into the common room.
It seemed that most everyone but the first years were here, talking and catching up. Lily and Becky were trying to study, and Charles was playing wizard’s chess with Becky when he thought Lily wasn’t looking. James smiled when he saw Lily, feeling his gut become hot and twist itself into knots. Going over, he sat next to her.
“Want me to study with you, since Becky is playing Chess?” he asked.
“Am not!” Becky said, moving her queen quickly and looking back at the studying.
Lily gave her a doubtful look. “Becks... This test is coming up soon!”
“Lily. N.E.W.T.s aren’t until the end of the year.”
“So? We’re going to be in France, and who knows how much harder their N.E.W.T.s are?”
Charles said, “Actually, I heard they were easier.... James, what the hell are you doing?”
James had wrapped an arm around Lily’s waist, and was playing with a belt loop, grinning at the slight flush in her cheeks as she determinedly studied. Becky looked up and saw that, too, and shook her head.
“James wants to get castrated, that’s what.”
Lily snorted in laughter, but James just smiled sweetly. “But then how would-”
“Shut up,” Lily shook her head, flicking a page in her book. “You’re lucky enough to have it, as it is.”
“What?” Charles asked.
“He doesn’t know yet?” Lily asked absentmindedly.
“No. Neither do the boys, so they can go on thinking I’m an eunuch.”
Lily rolled her eyes, and the other two just cast them odd looks. After a minute or so, Lily slapped James’ hand away as it became more exploratory, and Becky let out a very loud, very fake cough. James smiled innocently, and Lily glanced at her friend, to see that the other two were staring at them expectantly. Lily rolled her eyes.
“Got a staring problem?”
“Sure, why not?” Becky asked. “I’m sure it’ll be cured if you tell me why you’re letting him touch you.”
Lily shrugged, and mumbled. Charles clasped a and over an ear and said loudly, “WHAT? Didn’t quite catch you there!”
James grinned and said, “She said, Because we’re dating.”
Becky waited for Lily to deny it, then her eyes popped out of her head. She gasped in so hard that she gagged on her own spit, and an amazed Charles had to thump her on the back for a full minute before she could speak. When she could, her eyes had watered, and her voice was raspy, and both Lily and James were trying to contain their laughter.
“You lie!” she rasped. “James! Take the Imperious off her!”
“Imperious?” Lily asked, affronted. “Imperious this!”
She grabbed James by the collar and kissed him full on right in front of Becky, who pretty much had a heart attack right there.
Chapter 36
French Gryffindorians
“Ohmygod have you heard?”
“You would not be-lieve what’s happened!”
“How can you not know?!”
Lily rolled her eyes at the breakfast table, the next morning. It seemed that the chain (the gossip one, of course) had been set afire, last night, and the only thing any girls around her, save for the nerdier ones, were talking about was her and James. In fact, she was receiving quite a load of dirty looks, too, from the ones that had a thing for him. Which was, really, almost all of them. There were even a few that were crying. She’d hate to see what they’d all look like, were they ever to marry.
“Morning, Lils.”
James pecked her cheek as he sat next to her, which caused Sirius to grin as he sat across. “Awww, wook at da wuvv boiwds...”
“Oh, shut up, Black,” Lily sighed.
“Good morning to you, too!”
James grinned as he reached and got some breakfast. She couldn’t help but notice that his face still held a dark shadow where his large, green bruise had been. “Do you want me to charm that off for you?”
James glanced up. “What?”
Lily pointed to his left cheek. “The bruise.”
He shook his head and grinned. “No, I’d like to keep it.”
“Why?”
He grinned wider. “Because I like my love bite.”
Lily’s face fell almost immediately, Sirius roared with laughter, and of course just about every one of the rest of their friends arrived right on time to hear that. Becky blanched.
“My god, Lily! I thought you were one to take things slow!”
Lily flicked some jam at her. “Go eat worm turds.”
Becky rolled her eyes, wiping the jam off her sleeve and onto Sirius, who near slapped her, after squealing like a pig. As the rest of everyone settled in to eat, Lily turned to look up at the Teacher’s table. James nudged her, causing some of her cereal to slop onto the table.
“What’re you looking at?” he asked.
“I want to see where McGonagall is! I want my schedule!” Lily said, cleaning up the milk.
James rolled his eyes, biting some toast and electing to place his hand in just the right spot to make her jump and look round at him with wide eyes. “James!”
“Lily!” he gasped, grinning.
She shoved his hand off just as McGonagall came within proper viewing distance. She, too, seemed to have heard of the apocalyptic union of Evans and Potter, and was watching the pair with suspicious, narrow eyes. She cleared her throat (though there was no reason, the entire group was watching her), and handed out schedules. Lily eagerly took hers, studying it quickly. James, Sirius, and Peter took theirs with much less enthusiasm, and a few grunts or groans were heard. Lily peered over James’ shoulder, and let out a low whistle as McGonagall moved along.
“Aww... look at that, would you? I’ve got two free periods this year.”
James’ jaw dropped, and he lunged for her paper. “What?! You’re joking!”
Lily smiled widely and shook her head. “Nope.”
Remus somehow managed to look at her paper over she and James fighting for control of it. “Oh, you’ve got one of the same free periods as mine.”
“You’ve got one, too?!” Sirius demanded, whirling onto him.
Remus shrugged. “I took Advanced Herbology last year.”
“Don’t I wish I had a free period,” Becky sighed.
Peter made a face, seeing the look going between she and Charles. “Yuck.”
Lily rolled her eyes and polished off her orange juice. “Well then, I’m going down to help out Professor Slughorne with the first years, as my first class is free.”
The bell rang, just then, and a large noise of scraping seats and silverware clinking down accompanied it. As Remus got up to go to Runes, Sirius, Peter, Becky, and Charles to Transfiguration, James grabbed Lily round the waist and said,
“Aww, why don’t you sit in on Trans with me?”
Lily made a face. “Somehow I doubt you’d get much learning done.”
James grinned as he stood, following her out and intertwining his fingers with hers. “What do you mean?”
She glanced at him as they walked, making a part in the crowd (“Go on, let the Heads through!” Sirius was shooing people off,), and said, “Being as I have you for every other class of mine, other than Herbology, somehow, after seven years of seeing your non-study habits, I think a distraction is the last thing you need.”
James grinned as they left the hall. “Distraction? What kind of distraction?”
“Oh, yooou know,” Sirius smiled back at them, turning to walk backwards. “The sort that you’re always pulling on her.”
“He doesn’t,” Lily shook her head.
Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because I remember you getting awfully distracted at the Three Broomsticks, last year...”
Lily flushed and muttered something, pushing Sirius up the stairs. James, laughing quietly, watched him go, and then pulled Lily into his arms. She hugged him round his middle, and James softly kissed her (causing a passing first year to awww). He smiled and said,
“Right, well, no nefarious intentions on the first years without the rest of the gang, now.”
Lily rolled her eyes, saying, “Oh, please, as if I would try to mortally wound someone without you all there!”
James grinned, kissed her again, and let her go down the hall towards Slughorne’s class. Lily waved after him, smiling to herself as she went, and only glanced back to grin when she was sure he was out of sight. James, himself, smiled, touched a finger to his lips, then turned and jogged through the sparse hall up to McGonagall’s class.
As Lily entered Slughorne’s class, who smiled at her and exclaimed for a bit about having so much help, she suddenly saw why. Sitting next to his desk in a straight-backed chair, was Severus Snape. Last time she’d seen him, he’d been livid, with worms falling out of his mouth, at the Leaving Feast, last year. His eyes narrowed when he saw her. She was not only a Gryffindor, and a “Mud-blood,” but possibly more worse than anything, she was his main competition on the top spot in Potions.
“Severus,” she indicated her head cooly.
His eyes narrowed a bit more, making him look like a porcelain mask covered with the greasy hair bits you get out of nasty, clogged shower drains. “Evans.” His voice was little more than a growl, and reminded her forcibly of the time she’d saved him from being de-panted, two years before.
Slughorne, the fat git, was bouncing on the balls of his feet like a little kid. “Right, well, as I have my two absolute favorite students here to help me.... I may even try potion making with these newbies! Now, for the roll.... Ashton? ....Berkley....? Son, are you related to Willie Berkley, the one with the magical armor company? Yes? Ah, very well...!”
Lily sat in a chair on the opposite side of the desk as Snape, resting her chin in her hand, on her knee. After a bit, while Slughorne found Angela Worme very interesting, Snape muttered,
“Having fun?”
Lily’s eyes almost flickered over to him, but she stopped them halfway, and murmured, “What do you mean?”
She could feel the smirk. “I’m not a Potter lover, but even I know they’re far beyond your reach.”
Lily felt her blood boil. “Shut up.”
“Make me.”
“I will,” whispered Lily.
He snorted, barely audible over the rambling talk about the Fantastic Beats line of books. “Please, Mudblood, you couldn’t make dirt stick to my shoes.”
“You’re right, they’re sticky enough to do it by themselves.” WHAT kind of comeback was that?!
He seemed to be thinking the same thing, as a pause lapsed before he said, “Dumb bitch.”
Lily was now shaking in rage. Where was a dueling set-up when she needed it?! Why couldn’t this be Defense class?! Slughorne had said something, and was looking at her expectantly.
“Er... I’m sorry, Professor, I am a bit preoccupied. Will you please repeat the question?” she asked, voice shaking slightly.
He smiled. “Certainly. I was asking if perhaps you could demonstrate a simple potion, perhaps a Sticking Solution...?”
Severus muttered, “You couldn’t make a Sticking Potion if your life depended upon it.”
Lily stood graciously, murmuring, “No, all I’d have to do is wipe the grease off your face and add it to a bit of your hair.” She spoke up, “Certainly professor. I assume you have the ingredients?”
All the first years were watching her with wide eyes, and he nodded, indicating the store cabinet in the back. Snape’s face was livid, his eyes mere slits, now. She smiled sweetly, swept to the back of the class and quickly gathered her ingredients, choosing to ignore a few looks from the boys.
Within eight minutes flat, she had a perfect Sticking Solution simmering away under her watchful eye, and the students were taking turns dipping the spoon in and sticking together paper, erasers, broken quills, the like. And it all went quite well until, somehow, they suddenly had an eleven year old girl, screaming, stuck to the ceiling.
“I cannot understand how you dragged me out here!”
James smiled down at Lily as they walked. “You know it interests you. You’re officially not part of the wizarding community if it doesn’t. It’s in your blood!”
Lily rolled her eyes as the early October breeze blew. “What’s the point? We’re leaving for France, next week, there’ll be no quidditch.”
James shook his head. “There will. I’ve heard from Dude Jinx and Dumbledore that we’re going to be playing against the other schools for fun while we’re there.”
“So... you’re taking players along?” Lily asked, nestling a bit deeper into the crook of his arm as they walked.
James smiled and nodded as they entered the stadium. “Exactamundo.”
Lily nodded, seeing that, in fact, it was mostly seventh years there, trying out. Then, of course, there were younger years, prepared to take spots that would be left open in the seventh years’ absence. James said, “Also, they’ll be playing games here, too. Can’t take away the entire seventh year and then leave the rest of the school with nothing to do...”
Lily nodded, waving at Sirius, Charles, and Becky, who were trying out for what James called the “French Gryffindorians.” Sixth year Allie Hergbert would be taking James’ place as captain. She waved to James and went up into the stands, with Remus, to watch the tryouts. Within ten minutes, she, Remus, and Peter (who had just arrived), were all cheering like they were at a match, as Becky tried out for Chaser, Charlie the Keeper, and Sirius a beater. It seemed as if all three were a match made in heaven with those spots. James, who was floating alongside Allie, glanced back and grinned,
“I told you you liked Quidditch!”
“Shut up and judge!” Lily called.
He shrugged and went back to it. Becky zoomed past Sirius (on the opposing “team”), avoided a Bludger, and sailed a quaffle easily past the existing Keeper, fifth year Mic Preston. After doing a victory spiral, she grinned and waved at Lily, who shook her head and smiled. Sirius pelted a brilliant shot at Catherine DeBlonc, who was a try-out for Chaser (younger year), and she was almost nailed, he hit it so hard. Charlie seemed to be apt to block anything that came his way, from quaffles to snitches, to even the unfortunate bludger that called the early ending of try-outs, on account of a broken hand. As Becky helped him limp away, James called,
“I’ll post the results on the board, for you!”
“Okay!” Becky called back.
James turned back round, in the middle of the pitch. Lily and the others came down from the stands as James needlessly repeated the info about the posting of the list, and that everyone would know by tonight. Everyone sort of congratulated each other and started heading up towards the castle. James waved off his friends, and Lily stayed behind to help him clean up the equipment and put it away, as he was “an absolute lost case with cleaning spells!”
As James was putting away the snitch, fondly, Lily said, “You really like this sport, don’t you?”
James smiled up at her dreamily. “Yeah....
She nodded, crossing her arms, as she was slightly chilly. “I guess I’m the same way about studying. Everyone must think I’m a nerd.”
“Nah, just really smart.”
Lily shrugged, and James dutifully locked up the room, even making sure the light was out properly. The two trudged up to the castle in silence, crunching over the deadening grass, before James reached, stopped her, and gave her a short kiss. Lily blinked.
“What was that for?”
He shrugged, then grinned. “For not telling me that the French Gryffindorians sounds stupid.”
“Err... okay?”
Chapter 37
Let’s Go For A Ride!
“Wake up....”
Lily Evans opened her eyes a crack, then threw them wide open. “James!” she hissed. “How in hell did you get in here?!”
He grinned, poised over her. “I told you I had my ways.”
Lily was looking around, as her bed drapings were flung wide open. “Why are you in here?”
He gently kissed her, again, and whispered, “I wanted to. Felt like visiting my girlfriend.”
“If you get caught-”
“By the way, marvelous pajamas!”
Lily flushed darkly and pulled her sheets up a bit. “James. You’re Head Boy. You can’t afford to get in trouble.”
He sighed, still crouched over her, and said, “Fine. But will you come over to my dorm, then?”
“Aren’t the others awake?”
“Remus is off talking to Charles in the common room, and Peter is studying down there. Only Sirius is still asleep, he usually does until noon.”
“He’s lucky it’s a weekend, then.”
“Yea, well practice starts at 10...” James mused. “Right, well, you’re coming with me.”
He sat up, fully straddling her like a horse, though she didn’t really notice, to his disappointment. Lily stared at him as though he were stupid. “I’m not going down wearing this.”
He eyed her. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Other than it being too short, too low, and too easy to rip off?” Lily gestured to the large shirt.
James shrugged. “What’s wrong with it?”
Lily rolled her eyes and wiggled a bit under him, trying to move, before pushing him off and not realizing what sort of effect she’d had on him. Standing, she silently hurried over to her dresser, grabbing out some shorts. Pulling them on, she put her hair into a low pony tail, and whispered,
“How are you going to get down? The stairs...”
James grinned, and held up something she’d not seen before. “Let’s go.”
Lily stared. “Are you nuts? It’s freezing!”
He shrugged, walking over to the window and opening it. Standing on the sill, he stared at her expectantly. “Come on. You know you wanna.”
Lily watched him apprehensively, before turning. “Lemme get a longer shirt on.”
James watched her, and to his surprise, she turned her back to him and stripped off the shirt right there. His mouth dropped open, watching her, how her shoulder blades moved the smooth, tan skin of her back as she moved. He could almost imagine what her breasts looked like... Then, though, she pulled out a long sleeve shirt, pulling it on. As she straightened it, she turned around, and James saw that it, too, had a slightly plunging neckline. Fighting to regain control of his thoughts as she pulled on some flip-flops and walked over, James mounted his broom. Lily hesitated.
“You know you want to go for a ride!” James grinned.
Lily sighed and stepped up onto the windowsill beside him. “If you do any fancy dives, I swear I’ll hurt you.”
James solemnly nodded, making a mental note to do just that. “Promise.”
Lily slowly stepped over, and then tentatively put her leg over the broom, behind James. As she got herself settled, gripping the broom in-between them, James glanced back.
“Ready?”
“Yep,” she said, a little nervously.
James grinned, pushing off and rocketing through the window. Lily gasped with fright and her hands came up, immediately, to grip him round the middle. James smiled to himself, turning around the tower and rocketing into the early morning mist. Soon, the bright lights of Hogwarts castle became small as their thumbnails, and Lily relished the cool mist on her cheeks.
“See?” James called back. “It’s not that bad!”
Lily laughed, but her laugh was cut short as James suddenly dived downwards. “JAAAAAAAAAAMES!” she shouted.
The ground was rocketing up towards them in a blur of green and brown, Lily felt her heart hammering in her breast, and James was grinning like a maniac, this was the best dive he’d ever done. As suddenly as their stomachs had churned for the drop, they became still again, pulling out of the dive over the lake. Lily’s toes were skimming the surface of the cold water, and she hadn’t realized until now how tightly she was holding to James. Now, though, her anger at the heart-stopping dive dripped away, and she rested her head against James’ strong shoulder. As the mountains drew nearer, James turned and headed back towards the castle.
Floating by windows, Lily watched them, swearing she saw McGonagall through one, and Peeves in the trophy room through another. They flew over to the boy’s dormitory window, and the only reason Lily knew it was theirs was because a sign hung in it, saying Beat the Slytherin’s Asses or BUST!
James let the broom hover by the cold stone of the castle, reaching and pushing the window open. Lily ducked her head under the fluttering sign as they floated in, and landed on the floor. James hopped off nimbly, but Lily was a little stiff-legged from the cold. After all, James was wearing pants, and she had on shorts. As James tucked his broom away in his trunk and cast a glance at Sirius’ bed (snoring was to be heard from the closed drapes), he sat on his bed and muttered,
“Cold?”
Lily nodded, “A little.”
James grabbed her, pulling her to him, “I can fix that.”
Lily made no protest as he molded her body to his, her arms around his neck, tightly. James let one hand run through her hair, cold and slightly tangled from the ride on the broom, as the other held her to him. Lily's gentle fingers traced his jawbone as he leaned in and gently kissed her. Within moments, it was more passionate, their breathing mingled together. In the back of her mind, Lily hoped that Sirius wasn’t going to wake up anytime soon, while in the back of his, James didn’t care. He ran his hands over her small shoulders, her lips soft and yielding under his. Her fingers racing through his messy hair was driving him mad, and both of them were feeling warm sensations. James grabbed her tightly, letting himself fall backwards onto his bed, so that she lay over him, both their legs hanging off the side of the mattress.
Lily stifled a giggle, making James pull away and look up at her. “What?”
“We must look comical.”
James shrugged. “So?”
She thought it over for a moment, before glancing down at the half of their bodies that were hanging off the bed. James sighed, rolled his eyes, and they fixed their legs. Before Lily could nod her approval, James kissed her hungrily, again, one hand reaching to close the drapes. In a fleeting thought, Lily had to wonder how much trouble they’d get in, were they caught at this, especially being as they were the Heads. However, as they were enveloped in the darkness of the closed-in bed, a tranquil silence outside the perimeter of velvet (well, except for Sirius’ snoring), she found all thoughts of morality in leadership far beyond her at the moment. Instead, she just situated herself over James, causing a few reactions that made her eyes flare open. They pulled apart for a moment, Lily’s green eyes staring into James’ hazel ones, both their breaths ragged.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
James shook his head, wrapped his arms around her thin waist, and rolled so that he now lay over her. Lily didn’t object, her hair splayed over his pillow as she reached for another kiss. James obliged, letting his hands rove up to her shoulders, then slowly down the collar, his tongue sampling her mouth. Lily felt hot goosebumps racing along her flesh in the wake of his fingers, a deep feeling stirring within her that she really could only describe as a boiling. She ran her thin fingers through his messy hair, his lips moving from her mouth, to her cheeks, then neck. Her heavy breathing in his ear drove him mad with want, and he began to gently nibble on her sensitive neck, moving farther towards her breasts... Then she squirmed a bit, unable to help it, and James laughed quietly.
“Oh, I think I’ve found the spot...”
“Two can play that game!” Lily whispered venomously.
She let her hands fall from his hair to his shoulders, tracing down with the fingertips farther and farther down. James shuddered, but nonetheless still suckled on her neck until it felt tender. Lily, realizing this wasn’t about to come to a draw, hissed,
“James!”
His hands were pulling up her shirt, one of them lingering on the swell of her right breast.
“James!” Lily hissed, louder.
She reached and stopped his hand, the both of them nearly panting for breath in a lust-fogged frenzy. He stared down at her, then nodded.
“You’re right.”
They stared at each other for a moment, before James kissed her passionately, again. Lily fully let him, holding him closer to her, relishing the taste of his mouth, the rough feel of his-
“No, we really should stop,” James pulled away.
Still blinking back a daze, Lily nodded, trying to regain her breathing. Rational thinking was out the window at the moment, all she could think about was the feel of his large hands on her, she was thinking of place she’d like them to go...
Stop it! she reprimanded herself mentally.
James was nodding, as if trying to mentally cajole himself, as well, and he sat up, moving off her. Lily sat up, as well, and there was silence between them for a moment, neither of them looking at each other. Lily pulled her shirt back down so that her stomach wasn’t visible anymore, and James straightened his hair.
“Er.... Yeah,” James said awkwardly. “Better get ready for that Quidditch game today.”
“...Against other Gryffindors,” Lily muttered.
“It’s a practice,” James shot back heatedly.
Lily nodded, pulling the curtains back. Sirius still snored on. Both of them raised an eyebrow at him, for a moment, before Lily shook her head and slowly stood. James let his eyes rove freely over her backside, smirking a bit to himself and remembering just how fine her bum looked in naught but underwear. Lily turned, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him up, kissing him passionately. James, not as surprised as he normally would have been, pulled her close, his hands clamping her to him on her butt. After a few moments of passionate snogging, Lily forcibly broke herself away.
“Damnit, I have to get out of here...!”
She had already raced towards the door, curing her weak self-control, and James was laughing. The door slammed, and Sirius jumped up. Seeing James in a state of disarray and laughing like a loon, and having heard the door just slam loudly, thundering footsteps leaving, he said,
“Whaddimiss?”
“Hunga?! Whaa?”
Lily ignored Becky’s outburst as she jumped up at the sound of the door slamming. A few other people looked up, then went back to reading or sleeping. Lily went over to her bed, which was mostly cleared of belongings. The entire seventh year class left for France in a week, and most of them had yet to do a lick of packing, unlike Lily. Now, as she collapsed, weak-kneed, onto her bed, Lily was wishing she hadn’t also packed up her diary...
“Oh, crap, that stupid game today...” Becky sighed. “James would kill me if I didn’t make it there.”
“Yes, well, you are a chaser for the seventh years for France....” Lily pointed out, her voice not quavering as much as she thought it would.
Becky sighed and hopped out of bed, revealing she was wearing just short shorts and a sports bra. Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed a towel, going down to the showers. She could feel the passion-induced sweat on her body, she needed a fresh start to the day if she was ever going to try to live through it, let alone this weekend, not thinking of that kiss, those hands-
STOP!
Shaking her head, she went across the mostly empty bathroom, and hopped in the first shower, stripping. The water sprouted out, already magically warm, and she lathered up some soap on her hands. But as her hands passed over her neck and chest, she flinched badly. Pressing the wound gently, she was perplexed for about ten seconds.
By the time she’d dressed, she was wearing a turtleneck sweater, cream in color, and light blue flare pants. Dutifully following the entire Gryffindor house out to the field for the mock game, crunching across dying grass, Lily only spoke when Becky shrieked, loud enough for the entire House to hear-
“MY GOD! YOU’VE GOT A HICKEY!”
Chapter 38
The Storm
7th years for the French Team:
James Potter- Seeker (captain)
Rebecca Smith, Sarah Mitchell, Kirke Longdon- Chaser
Sirius Black, Sammy Merrel- Beater
Charles Wright- Keeper
Hogwarts Team:
Allie Hergbert- Chaser (captain)
Catherine DeBlonc- Keeper
Krystal Marl, Marietta Wen- Chaser
Gideon and Fabien Prewett- Beater
Sierra Vanghart- Seeker
“And who, may I ask, gave you that, young lady? ” Sirius Black frowned in perhaps the first serious moment in his entire life.
James gave him an indignant shove. “Idiot ”
As the group walked on, Sirius’ eyes darted from Lily to James, as if slowly, ever so slowly, putting 1 and 1 together to make.... well... perhaps 2? Then, his eyes widened, and he said, “That’s why you were laughing, this morning! When I heard a door slam- OY! WHAT DID YOU DO?!”
“Sirius!” Lily hissed, jumping to cover his mouth with her hand. “Shush will yo- EWWW!!”She jumped away, again, waving her hand and wiping it on James’ Quidditch robes. “You bloody licked me!”
“Hey!” James said. “The only person that licks Lily is me!”
Sirius’s eyes widened just a little in the sort of way they widen when someone is watching something very uncool or very stupid happening, but doesn’t really want to interfere in case of also becoming uncool or stupid. James blinked several times, eyes also wide in shock at himself, then he shrugged and nodded.
“Yeah.”
Sirius nodded and walked a bit farther away. Lily sighed and shook her head, entering the grandstands. As James walked off with the rest of the team, she called, “Do be careful, this time! While you may lick me, I won’t lick blood off of you.”
“What kind of comment was that?! James called back, a hundred yards away.
“A true one!"
He waved her off, mounting his broom and rocketing up to where the rest of the Gryffindor players were already floating. They all seemed to converse about the game for a moment or two, before Charles called down at a fourth year,
“Okay! Let the balls out.
The boy pushed the top off of the crate, the snitch flew out, and he unstrapped the bludgers, throwing the quaffle up into the air as the black balls rocketed past him. Lily watched as the players started moving, James and the other seeker above the game line as Becky grabbed the quaffle and rocketed away from Allie Hergbert, the younger year captain and a chaser, and towards Mic Preston. Younger year Catherine DeBlonc, paired with a regular Gryffindor chaser, Krystal Marl, flew right on Becky’s rear, and the other two seventh year Chasers, Kirke Longdon, and Sarah Mitchell, were trying to get the opposing chasers to maneuver away from Becky. Lily watched as her friend glanced back, rocketing past at extremely high speed, and tried not to clutch at her face in fear.
Becky growled to herself in frustration. Nothing was shaking these girls off her She thought quickly as she feint passed to Kirke, making Catherine veer off course for a fraction of a second. If she didn’t do something soon, she’d be stuck rocketing around the pitch in circles forever, trying to keep the Quaffle away from these girls...
Turning her broom, Becky veered hard to her left, and straight down in a death spiral. Krystal, a regular team member, recognized the move and followed instantly, but Catherine pulled out. Kirke, also a regular and on the 7th year team, followed as well, making it look like some kind of train. Becky glanced up, made eye contact with him, and glanced back, seeing the ground was fifty, forty, thirty.... She threw the quaffle straight up behind her as hard as she could, grabbing her broom and pulling frantically-
“Holy shit,” James muttered, watching her miss the ground by inches. “What a flier!”
Kirke caught the quaffle and zoomed towards Mic. Krystal pulled out of her dive and flew towards him, mentally congratulating Becky. Not many first timers had that kind of guts. Now, as Kirke landed the first score of the game, she only wished that these new Gryffindors would have had the chance to play against the Slytherins. They would have won, for sure.
Lily let out a long, shaking breath, assured that her best friend wasn’t dead on the ground. “Jesus, what a dive...”
Trying to shake off that dreadful feeling of immense worry, Lily blinked a bit, ran a hand through her hair, and peered up at James. He was, currently, sort of floating and watching everyone play, but was keeping an eye out for the snitch, as he would sometimes glance round a bit. At seeing him, at least, okay and well, Lily relaxed a bit. Just then, a crack of thunder sounded in the distance, and everyone on the field paused in their game.
“Keep playing!” James yelled.
They hesitated, then continued flying on. Lily glanced up, seeing the dark gray sky overhead, and hoped James would stop brushing aside the snitch (she’d counted him seeing it four times, now), and catch it so they could get inside and not die from the weather. But, of course, James was just one of those men that got a bit.... psychotic... about Quidditch, and he wanted his team to practice in the weather, she could tell. As another roll of thunder came in, Lily could see Becky and Marietta Wen struggling for the quaffle, but not looking very much as though they really cared. Lily knew that Becky hated storms (unless she was inside), and Marietta was deathly afraid of lightning.
As Sirius rocketed over and pelted a bludger away from the stands, as it seemed confused because of the heavy sheets of rain falling, Lily pulled her hood on a bit deeper, shivering. Ad she knew that if she was cold... Well, they were bound to be freezing.
James tried not to shake, hanging onto his broom for dear life and cursing his stupidity. He’d not caught the snitch on purpose, and now he couldn’t catch it. He was shivering, cold, could barely see, could barely move, or breath. However, he was astounded that none of the players had complained yet, at least to him. He knew that he’d picked the right ones.
Now, though, he tried not to be pelted to the ground with the heavy rain dumping on him. He was soaked through, as if he’d jumped into the lake headfirst. That wasn’t helping his flying problems, either, the sodden robes and uniform added about ten or fifteen pounds to his weight. As he tried blinking the water out of his eyes, a bright flash of light met his eyes, and immediately a deafening crack of thunder ensued. James blinked and fell off course for a bit, surprised at how the lightning had finally met up with the storm.
“Oh, damnit ” he shouted, and barely heard himself. “We gotta get out of this-”
FlashBOOM.
He heard a girl scream somewhere below him, and immediately looked down. No one seemed harmed, except one of the players was sort of sitting there. James knew it was probably Becky or Marietta, they both hated storms... Another flash of lightning struck the other end of the pitch, making Catherine, the Hogwarts keeper, jump. Just as James was about to reach for his whistle, something smashed headlong into his face. He reeled backwards, but caught himself, looking up in time to see something small, gold, and bewinged.... flying away.
“SHIT!”
His instincts kicked in at precisely the wrong moment. He slammed himself flat on his broom, urging it forward, as the snitch flew frantically away from him. James had to roll and duck to avoid being smashed by Sarah, Kirke, and Krystal, who were all trying to get the quaffle. Just as James was blinking hard to get some water out of his eyes, another stroke of lightning fell, and the snitch dived straight down. Without hesitation, James followed it, racing the rain to the ground.
Lily didn’t know how, but suddenly she was on her feet, screaming. James should know better that to dive like that The altitude, the rain, his weight from being as sodden down, probably more than she was-
Suddenly, as her heart was hammering in fear for James, and he realized his folly and tried, too late, to pull out of the dive, there was an absolutely deafening crack of thunder, so loud it rattled her bones, and the stands around her. The flash of electricity was so close that she could feel it warm her face for a moment. When she looked back, she saw Becky flying through the air, smoking, unconscious, and over a hundred feet up. A heart stopping scream ripped from her throat, not seeing that Charles had abandoned his post at the goal rings and was rocketing towards Becky as fast as he could.
Lily jumped over the railing of the stands, sliding down the paper and smashing into the ground, twenty feet below, and ignored her feet screaming in protest as she ran towards a red robed heap on the ground that had been the Quidditch captain ten minutes before. Lily had no recollection, in later days and years, of every realizing that she’d broken her ankle, nor that all the other students were also swarming down to the field, Professor Dumbledore leading the procession. Lily collapsed next to James, who was heaving on the ground, trying to breath. Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“James!” she called, pulling him closer to her. “James!”
He blinked foggily up at her for a moment, before his eyes sort of shut, and he passed out. Lily looked around, frantic, sinking into the muddy ground, and saw Dumbledore levitating Charles and Becky, hurrying across the field towards her. Krystal landed next to Lily, and from that point forward, everything was a blur.
James Potter’s eyes opened, and immediately closed again, as a very bright light from the window was streaming into them. Blinking and turning away from it, he saw that he was in the all too familiar hospital wing, and Lily was standing in the window. It was early morning, the bright sunny sky outside a grim reminder of the storm. Looking around, he saw that there were two beds screened off farther down, and remembered Charles and Becky. Sitting up, James groaned and grabbed his head as it throbbed.
Lily turned, hearing him, and immediately went over, sitting next to him. She watched him for a moment, before handing him a goblet that had some potion in it. “Drink it.”
James slowly took it, suddenly wondering if the entire last couple months had been a dream. Her voice was almost cold... As he drank it (it actually tasted like cocoa), she watched him, and nodded. There was a pause as she took it and gently set it down, and James noticed for the first time how very beautiful she looked, dressed in a pair of jeans and a white button up shirt, her hair pinned back. Then she reached and hugged him tightly. James returned the hug, tighter, still reliving those moments before he slammed into the ground, the moments where the only thing he could think of was not being able to see Lily anymore.
“What happened to Becks and Charlie?” he asked.
Lily sighed, and then he realized how very tired she looked. There were slight bags under her eyes, and her skin looked a little pale, as if she’d recently been sick. In that moment, as her eyes avoided his a bit, looking down and ill, she reminded him of Remus so much that he had to wonder if she did, actually, get bitten last year. In that moment, he really did fear for her, and pulled her closer to him, making her look up at him.
“They’re okay, right?” he asked softly.
She nodded, running a hand over her hair. “They both broke a load of bones, and both of them were hallucinating and talking about random stuff... Becky was talking about some scholar and a shape shifter and the dark lord-”
“Don’t talk about him like that,” James said softly.
Lily watched him for a moment. “What?”
He shook his head. “Don’t be one of those idiots that are too afraid to even say his name.”
She blinked and looked away, out towards the window. “I’m not afraid of him, James, I’ve got nothing left that he can take away from me.”
James felt something hit him, as though a hard blow to the chest had winded him of all speech at her words. A deep feeling of sadness filled him, and he let his hands drop away from Lily. However, she reached and took them, again, and turned to look up at him again.
“At least, nothing that I know will ever leave me.”
James felt a rush of gratitude and pulled her closer, kissing her forehead, and hugging her closely.
Chapter 39
Train Ride
“James, for God’s sake, stop!” He sighed and rolled his eyes at Lily’s hiss, moving away enough so that their legs were just touching. She shook her head, saying, “Don’t give me that look. You know that the meeting is in a minute.”
“60 seconds wasted!”
Lily was about to say something else, but just then the door slid open and a group of the seventh year prefects all crammed in, chattering excitedly. They were all on the train, and they’d just set off for France. Evidently the train was charmed so that it could fly, or something like that. Either way it was going to take overnight to get to France, and that was what this meeting was about.
“Alright, alright,” Lily said, standing up. “Everyone please have a seat.”
They all obliged, grouped mostly together except for Severus Snape, sulking in the farthest corner. Lily waited until they mostly quieted down, then said,
“Right. As you all know, the trip will be an overnight journey, and therefore we will all be sleeping on the train. We will also be sleeping on the train in our compartments throughout the year, unless Beaxbatons has large enough accommodations for both Hogwarts and Durmstrang. Now, we all know that this is the oldest year and therefore the most, uhh...”
“Exploratory,” James whispered loudly, causing a few laughs.
Lily paused, squeezing her eyes shut. “Right. Well, in any case, the boys and girls are going to be separated from each other, as will the houses. Two compartments per house, and the prefects will sleep closest to the door leading to the next compartment. I have drawn up a diagram in case no one gets that, but I think we’re all smart enough to get it.”
“But that leaves two extra prefects for Gryffindor,” said the Ravenclaw girl. “You and James.”
“We will patrol the train every night, two hours apart,” Lily said. “And, unfortunately, the housing situation means we are going to share this compartment, divided of course with a wall. Dumbledore will be along shortly after the meeting to conjure it himself. Think of it as the Head Girl and Head Boy dormitories back at school.”
No one really said anything, and Lily said, “So, is everyone good?”
“Except that there aren’t any actual beds or anything,” said a Hufflepuff.
“The headmaster, Head Boy, and myself will be taking care of that,” Lily said. “Alright, anything else? No? Well, I guess the meeting is over.”
Everyone stood, leaving, and Snape was out the door faster than anyone. Lily watched him sweep out like a black shadow, and shook her head. No one knew what was to become of that boy, assuming he wasn’t going to go to the Dark Side. Now, as the room emptied faster than if a fire alarm had been pulled, the door slamming shut, Lily sighed and sat back down next to James. There was a silence as the train chugged along, the afternoon sunlight outside causing the scenery to glow. James reached and wrapped an arm around Lily, who let her head rest against his shoulder, tired.
“Think France will be fun?” Lily asked.
“How could it not?” James said. “Out in the French countryside in a grand old palace with two other school’s worth of people and a few day-trips into Paris planned for parts of the year? It’s going to be a blast.”
Someone knocked on the door, and they looked up, to see Dumbledore standing there. “Lily, James? Would you go start on the train compartments?” They nodded, standing, and he added, “I’ll take the liberty of doing your compartment for you.”
“Thank you, Headmaster,” James said, following Lily out.
They walked down the train carriage, through the doors, and into the next one, which seemed to be mostly Gryffindor. All the doors were open, and people were everywhere, talking and laughing.
“Hello!” called Lily, gaining most of their attention. “Can we start on the compartments, now? I want this one to be Gryffindor Boy’s, and the next carriage is for girls. If everyone could sort of make that happen?”
The girls waved to the boys, filing out and going into the next carriage. Now, as she looked at Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Charles, Lily had to remind herself that there were only supposed to be four of them in here. Nodding as they all came to stand in the passageway, Lily raised her wand, whispered the secret spell that Dumbledore had taught her, swished it down grandly, and in a loud burst of noise and a bright flash of gold light, they all looked to see that the train compartment had been transformed.
It had now a widening spell on it, so that it was about twice as wide and they were standing in the middle instead of on the side. There were familiar four-poster beds scattered about ten feet apart on the side closest to the Head’s carriage, and dressers with alarms beside them. On the other end was a fireplace, which was roaring but not emitting much heat, five or six armchairs, and a few low tables for studying in front of a bookshelf, which was full. Loads of candles were floating up near the ceiling.
“Wicked spell, Lilis!” Sirius smiled, stepping towards one of the beds. “Look, it’s even got my initials still engraved in it.”
Rolling her eyes, she said, “There’s a door over there next to the bookshelf. That’s the bathrooms.” And, indeed, one popped up as she said that.
“Right, thanks,” Remus smiled.
Nodding, Lily followed James to the girl’s compartment, which ended up almost the same, except a bit more feminine in design. Then came the Hufflepuff girls, their rooms all bright yellow and filled with pouf seats, their boys much the same. In the middle they made a carriage for eating in, in case anyone had a mid-of-the-night urge to eat, and then came the Ravenclaws, who had deep blue drapes over slightly Asian looking beds and a great deal of bookshelves lining the walls. The Slytherins seemed to be the oddest of the bunch, as they all had their own room per bed, about three feet on either side with a heavy wooden door. Chains with green looking candles hung from the ceiling by chains, and their fire was low and hot. Lily and James quickly left their compartments, as many of the Slytherins were giving them evil looks.
“I don’t like them,” Lily said quietly as they walked down a hallway type thing that was for commercial use through all the compartments.
“Me neither. Here, let’s stop and get a drink,” James said, opening the dining room carriage.
Lily followed him in, to see Sirius was digging through a panel on the wall that seemed to hold drinks. He smiled up at them. “I love you two. A dining room!”
Lily laughed. “There’s an owlry at the end of the train, too.”
“Doesn’t help me much, everyone I ever owl is right here,” Sirius said, grabbing out three Butterbeers.
James caught them as Sirius threw them over the table, handing one to Lily and opening his. There was a pause as they all took a drink, then Lily said,
“Well, Dumbledore said he was going to be doing our compartment, and hopefully he’s done by now.”
“I wanna see!” Sirius whined.
“You’ll see it eventually anyways,” James said, guiding Lily out. “It’s for private use right now.” Lily made a loud sound of indignance as both boys started laughing. James closed the door, and she shook her head disapprovingly at him. “What?” he asked. “It is!”
“Yeah okay,” she said, sipping her drink.
They passed by Hufflepuff, then by Gryffindor, who all seemed to be having a small party, and then opened their own compartment. Inside, there was again the walkway (as the conductor had his own compartment here, as did Dumbledore), and they could see a door close to them. Opening it, Lily stepped inside, and James had to lunge and catch her butterbeer because she dropped it in shock. Looking up, he, too, felt his mouth drop open. Dumbledore, who was just putting the finishing touches on it, looked over and smiled.
“Do you like it?”
“Ye- Of course, headmaster!” Lily said, stepping forward.
The room was large, probably the size of half of one of the other compartments. The floor was wooden, but had a few rugs bearing Gryffindor colors placed about, and a fireplace was directly in the middle, with two chairs and a low table around a hearth rug. Behind the chairs there were many bookshelves, filed with every book Lily had ever personally read, and many that she hadn’t. On this end of the room there was a wall which had a door similar to the wooden ones at Hogwarts, and had Lily’s name engraved on a little bronze plaque. Another room at the far end bore the same, with James’ name on it. Dumbledore smiled, and said,
“Well, I am glad you like it. I will leave you, now, I must see to my own apartments.”
He nodded and left. As the door clicked shut behind them there was a silence in the room, before James passed Lily her drink back and went to look at his room. Lily watched him, for a moment, before turning and walking to her own. Pushing open the door, she bit back a choked sob. The room looked almost exactly the way it did at home, her home where her parents had lived.
Her large mahogany four poster was sitting in the far corner, leaned up against the opposite wall, and white drapes fell from it. Next to it was a small vanity, with her mirror covered in pictures, and next to that her bay window covered in old stuffed animals. Her old desk sat in the corner by her, and next to that was a new door, which she found led to a private bathroom. Coming back out of the candle-lit bathroom, she saw her old closet at the foot of the bed, and the dresser in-between it and the door. She went over and peered out the window, sipping her butterbeer, and saw the same view she would have if she were at Hogwarts and looking out from the dorm window.
“Wow, have you seen the rooms?” James’ voice wafted in. “Mine looks just like-” He stopped as he came in, and said softly, “Oh... Yours does too.”
Lily looked over at him. “It’s nice, though.”
James nodded, watching her. “You’re sure it’s okay?”
Lily said, “Yes, of course. You said yours is of your room?”
“Yea,” he said, still a little uneasy. “It’s even got my bathroom and everything.”
There was an ironic pause as they both remembered his bathroom, before they started laughing.
That night, all the seventh years had dinner in the dining room carriage, talking loudly and laughing and joking, looking forward to getting to France, tomorrow morning. As they were all starting to eat dessert, Dumbledore came in and most of the carriage fell silent. He smiled at them all.
“I am not sure if any of you know, as none of you went to Durmstrang four years ago, but we have an opening ceremony when we get to the other school. This consists of a uniform look and a sort of routine. You will see what I mean, as Durmstrang will be doing their part first. They themselves dress in buckskin furs and preform a variety of, eh, karate? And some magical fire stunts. Beauxbatons, you might see, has a dance routine with their ladies, as it seems that most of them have participated in ballet before coming to school. Eh...” Dumbledore paused. “All of your outfits have been laid upon your beds for you, and you will find they fit you perfectly, I am sure. As we all know, the school color is purple, so we will be doing this-” he shot sparks out of his wand in shades of purple, “-with our wands as we sing the school song.”
A loud groan of protest ripped through the carriage. Lily stifled one, herself, kicking James next to her to make him stop. Dumbledore blinked, then said,
“I see you all do not like my idea?”
“Er, headmaster,” James said, “What if we all made something up? You know, on our own?”
Dumbledore looked at all the teens before him, then sighed. “Just have it ready tomorrow morning. Not too long, please.”
He turned and left, and a roar of cheering broke out. James jumped up onto the chair and shouted,
“Who are we?!”
“HOGWARTS!”
“Who are we?!”
“HOGWARTS!”
He was jumping up and down on the chair as everyone roared. “WHO ARE WE?!?!”
“HOGWARTS!”
Just as James jumped up more, the chair tipped back, and he cracked onto his back, amid loads of laughter. Lily looked down at him as he coughed, Sirius helping him up, the carriage deafening with cheers and laughter. She smiled and rolled her eyes as he righted his chair, smiling sheepishly, and then he said,
“Alright, let’s get planning!”
“I cannot believe that’s the routine.”
James grinned at Lily as they opened their compartment door. “Dumbledore is going to kill us for what we’re probably going to have to do to the clothes.”
“That makes it all the better,” James grinned.
Lily rolled her eyes, going into her bedroom. Indeed, on her bed, was a knee-length black dress that was long sleeved, and a purple cloak. A noise of disgust came from James’ end of the compartment. She grabbed her dress and cloak, going out, and saw James walking to her with his. He had a white button-up long sleeved shirt that had the Hogwarts crest on the left side, a pair of black pants that looked suspiciously like the kind they wore for their uniform, and a purple cloak. They looked at each other’s outfits, then Lily said,
“I told you so. Alright, I’m going to go round up the girls and fix these.”
“What, you’re not going to fix mine?!”
“Leave the top button un-done and push the cloak back behind your shoulders,” Lily shrugged, headed out. “It’ll be fine.”
James watched her go, then turned to stare distastefully down at his clothes. Lily walked down the side halls, gathering all the girls with their dresses (they also hated them), and then within ten minutes all of them were, to the Slytherin’s dislike, all in the dining room again, munching on crisps, drinking pop, and listening to Lily as she demonstrated with her dress, waving her wand, saying the spell, and completely transforming it.
Chapter 40
Dancing into France
“Come on, we’ve got to practice again.”
James sighed. “Can I get fully dressed, first?!”
Lily looked at him. “Boxers and shirt, you are decent enough for me.”
“Yes, well let’s not go into how I can almost see through that slip.”
Lily glared, but sheepishly put an arm around herself. “Just come on. We’re almost to Beauxbatons and I want to make sure you know the routine.”
James sighed, trying not to stare at her in her dressing slip, and followed Lily out into the main compartment. It was about seven in the morning, and he hadn’t even heard the boys, next door, wake up yet. Lily watched him, standing in the middle of the room, as he yawned, some hair stubble on his chin, and ran a hand through his messy hair. He came to stand in front of her, shirt still half unbuttoned, boxers hanging just below his hips, one sock on, and reached, taking her hand and wrapping an arm round her waist.
“Swing, James,” she softly reminded him.
“I know, I know,” he adjusted his hand placement. “Maybe I just want to ravish you or something.”
“Oh, for god’s sake,” Lily rolled her eyes, but was smiling.
There was a pause, and music flickered on from an enchanted record player. They let it go for a few counts, then launched into movement together, skipping three steps and starting the footwork. Just then, however, someone knocked on the door and opened it. They both looked up, to see Sirius.
“Hey, this stupid shirt-” He stopped. “Oh, don’t mind me. I’ll leave you two alone.”
Smirking, he left. James started laughing, and Lily shook her head, turning the music off. “So Sirius.”
“But of course,” James grinned. “Ach, heck with this, we both know the routine, and I want breakfast. You just have to charm the others to make sure they have it.”
Nodding, Lily went into her room, grabbed her bathrobe, and pulled it on, leaving with James for breakfast. In the carriage, there were quite a few people eating, and Becky whistled when they came into the room.
“Ooh la-la, Lily!”
Several people laughed, making Lily blush as she pulled over some toast. “Hush, you, you’re dancing.”
Becky narrowed her eyes. “Not really.”
“Yes really, don’t chicken out now,” Charles teased. “You and Remus, I made him swear he’d not do much to you.”
“Oh, thanks!”
After she’d eaten, Lily found the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin prefects, as she’d made Becky and Remus stay behind. Gathering them all together, she said, “Now, this spell is a bit permanent, so you’ll basically be able to dance for the rest of your lives. I hope you don’t mind.”
Only Snape looked pissed, but he always did.
“Right. Now remember, James and I are going to open, and after the first flip you all jump in, and then on the second flip-turn we start the second part. Sirius, Amos, Pyson, and Vincent will go at the second part, and the rest of everyone else will be sending the purple sparks.”
“They got it, Lils,” James muttered. “Just charm them, already.”
“Don’t rush me,” she said.
“I’ll do whatever I want to you.”
“GAG!” Snape said loudly.
Lily shook her head, then took turns casting two spells each on all of them. The instant she was done with Snape, he swept off, and Lily shook her head, finishing everyone else. As they turned to leave, she asked about their clothes, making sure they were okay, and they just gave her exasperated looks.
“For god’s sake, James, do something to chill her out, would you?!” Remus sighed as he left. “It’s all fine, Lily.”
James grinned, pulling her over, “I’ll get around to it.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Lily said, walking down the hallway towards their compartment.
James followed her, “Why not?”
As she pushed open their door, she said, “I just want everything to be perfect.”
“You’re too much of a perfectionist,” James said, closing it behind him.
“So sue me. You need to go get dressed.”
“So do you.”
She glanced down, realizing her dressing robe had fallen back open, showing she was still only in her slip and underwear. Self-consciously, she began to draw it closed, but James grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to him, knocking her hands aside, and kissed her passionately. Lily froze, for a moment, before her hands wrapped around him and she let him pull her closer. James felt himself winning a victory, feeling her soft lips against his own, and gently pulled away, smiling.
“See there how much better things are when you don’t freak out?”
“Oh shut up,” she murmured, gently kissing him again, before stepping away. “You still need to get dressed.”
James smiled and rolled his eyes as she left for her room, closing the door behind her. He turned and went to his own room to change. In hers, Lily looked down at her dress and smiled. Hopefully Sirius would be on time for the explosion so that the dresses would change into their appropriate style after the first part... Shaking her head, she turned to her dresser, shaking slightly on the track it had somehow found, and started brushing her hair.
James, in his room, carelessly ran his fingers through his hair, straightening the majority of it, and cleaned his glasses, watching his clothes as if it were a show-down. After a while, he went into his bathroom, exact to the last bit of wallpaper to his bathroom at home, and started brushing his teeth.
“Alright, students!” called Dumbledore over some hidden microphone system. “We are nearing Beauxbatons, please be prepared to represent your school with every ounce of dignity you posses.”
James scoffed, clipping his belt and searching for his shoes. He felt a bit fruity in his clothes, but decided that he would put up with it because it was for Lily, it meant a lot to her for them all to make a very impressive entrance to the other schools. Now, as he stepped into his shoes and bent, lacing them up, he hoped he wouldn’t mess up the routine. Lily had refused to charm him, like she’d done the other boys, because she said he knew it well enough to do it without magic and he needed to learn the way she had, the hard way. Grabbing his cloak and clasping it in front, James watched his reflection in the mirror. He looked honestly bored, and he was slightly unhappy with his hair.
“James!” called Lily, “Are you ready?”
“Yea,” he called back, sticking his wand in his pocket and leaving his room.
The door to Lily’s room was open, and he could hear rummaging and soft cursing about shoes inside. Walking over, James leaned against the doorway, seeing Lily bent into her closet, only the back half of her visible. Smirking, he heard her softly go aha, and then she straightened, already pulling on her black dancing shoes. As she straightened, James felt his jaw go ever so slightly slack, and he couldn’t help staring at his girlfriend. She had done a wonder with the shapeless black dress, and somehow made it so that the purple cloak had been transformed into the trimming of the dress. It was a spaghetti strapped dress, mainly black, and the material under the black skirt was purple, making it flare out. She’d curled her hair up, she had a amethyst necklace on, and matching earrings dangled from her ears.
“What?” Lily asked.
“You are amazing,” James said.
Lily blushed, making her slight freckles blend in more. “Thank you, James.”
He nodded, and was about to say something about Sirius possibly smashing into the tables, but the train slowed considerably and was starting to come to a stop. Lily took a nervous, shaking breath, smiling and walking past James, down the hallways to organize the students. James smiled to himself and followed her out, looking out the windows.
Beauxbatons Palace was set in perhaps some of the most perfect countryside James had ever seen. Mountains were in the distance, and a light, rolling wood spread out on the left. On the right was a gigantic lake, though it was far smaller than Hogwarts Lake. Beauxbatons seemed like it was made out of sugar icing, it was pure white and had many blue flags fluttering in the air atop tower roofs. It had a moat, across which a stone bridge suspended, the gates down and waiting their visitors. The palace was bigger than Hogwarts, James could clearly see, and in-between the forest and the palace was a quidditch pitch that had a stone arena around it.
“Come on, James,” Remus said, suddenly in their carriage. “Before Lilis comes back and has a heart attack that you’re still in here.”
James chuckled, nodding and following his friend out. The train was sitting on the grass near the forest, and when he stepped out, James saw a very large garden by the lake, with ten foot tall hedges and a fountain somewhere in the middle. The students were milling about, dressed in their clothes, all of the girls looking like Lily, only far less good. In fact, he could see her curly red hair up at the front of the throng with Dumbledore, and waved bye to his friend to go up there with her. She was trying to get all the prefects to come up front, but everyone was talking too loud.
“HEY!” James shouted, causing a noticeable drop in volume. “All prefects up here for the routine!”
Dumbledore was eyeing the dresses, though with amusement. “I see we had a late night arts-and-crafts project...”
Lily glanced at him. “It gets better.”
“Indeed,” he said, shaking his head and smiling, turning to the students. “Now, Durmstrang is expected to arrive any minu-”
There was suddenly a loud roaring noise, and the lake started churning. Within seconds, a mast became visible, then a prow, and within a minute flat, a ship was sitting in the churning lake, water streaming off it like mad. Dumbledore sighed and turned back to the students.
“Never mind. They will be presenting themselves first, so we have about another ten minutes to wait.”
Immediately everyone started talking again, and Dumbledore was lost. Shaking his head, he turned, walking over to the bridge and into the castle. Lily sighed and turned to James.
“Do we have the brooms?”
He nodded. “Yes, I made them make sure they have the right banners, too.”
Lily was watching the Durmstrang students get off their boat, they were lowering a long plank onto shore and walking off. They all seemed to be wearing furs and walking as if marching. She shivered and turned back to James. “Are you sure you kn-”
“Yes, Lils, I have got the routine,” he sighed. “Calm down, you’re making me not like you as much.” Lily gave him a cold look, crossing her arms as a fresh breeze blew, making her hair stir. James wrapped am arm round her and kissed her neck, saying, “I was kidding.”
“You better have been,” Lily said, though smiling.
The Durmstrang students were now walking over the drawbridge, without so much as a glance at them. They were obviously very disciplined.
James kissed her again, and turned, saying, “Alright, Hogwarts, let’s form up and move out!”
“Aye aye, sir!” called Sirius, laughing.
“Detention, Mr. Black!” James called back, grinning. “Really, now, let’s go!”
Everyone sort of got into the lines they were supposed to be in, which was all the female prefects next to each other, the male prefects behind them, and everyone else behind them. Sirius, Amos, Pyson, and Vincent were in the very back, wearing their robes with the hoods over their faces and clutching their brooms, around which were wrapped scrolls. James and Lilly led the procession in silence, not talking or touching, and only did they look up when they began to cross the large bridge and into the palace courtyard. There were twenty foot tall double doors directly on the other side, and the procession parted down the middle to go around a large fountain, which was spitting water high up into the air, misting them all. As they came to the doors, they saw that they were open, and twenty feet beyond that were more doors, this time closed.
They could hear some faint noises from inside it, one of which sounded like a dragon’s roar. The entire group of them moved forward, Lily checking to make sure one of the girls had the record player to play the music, and charming it to be very, very loud. Just then, there was a burst of applause from inside the doors, and Lily turned, smiling quickly at James, feeling the familiar pre-performance jitters. She could see the room’s setup through a crack in the doors, it was very large, with eight tables running lengthwise across the room. The doors began to open, however, and she took a deep breath, hearing their headmistress’s sharp French words-
“Please welcome our last guests, the students of Hogwarts Academy of Wizardry.”
She could see the entire room, bedazzling, bright, filled with people garbed in blue, turning to stare at them. There was a paralyzing moment as she realized that she was the first one they saw, she was the one right the vivid red hair. However, just as her nerves wanted to make her puke, there was a loud, blaring music from behind her, a familiar swing dance tune, and everything nervous vanished.
She and James turned to face each other, taking hold of each other and smiling, unable to help it. They waited for the proper count, and as it came they made three skips forward, then stepped forward, back, rock-step, forward, back, rock-step, swing dancing perfectly with each other. As James spun her away from him, already thirty feet into the hall, she prepared for the next move. Pulling her slightly, James let go of Lily as she spun, her dress twirling, and grabbed her waist, throwing her up into the air. Lily spun one and a half times to her left, before James caught her again, this time from behind, and twirled her around another half time, re-assuming the beginning position.
Then, as they skipped forward another three steps, the prefects joined them, skipping, twirling, and dancing perfectly in time with them. Lily could not help but be overjoyed at the success of the dancing spells, and the way even Remus was able to perfectly catch and spin Becky, the way even Snape seemed to be enjoying himself. The rest of the school was snapping and taking a step forward with each snap.
However, as the boys all caught the girls from the throw, there was a loud explosion of white light, and the music changed. Smoke covered the scene, and the school of Beauxbatons gasped in surprise. Sirius, Amos, Pyson, and Vincent all rocketed into the air from behind everyone else, swirling and flying around the cavernous room as the smoke cleared, revealing that all the girls’ dresses had been transformed into sexy salsa dresses, stopping near their feet in the back but up above their knees in the front. They now tied around the neck with the purple trim and had very plunging necklines, the purple frilly material still on the underside of the skirt to make it festive. The Latin music blared and the ten of them salsaed their way up to the front of the room, turning, stepping, and having a very fun time. As the music came to a close, the boys spun the girls around one last time, holding the girls by their backs as they bent backwards, arching together beautifully, the rest of the students using their wands to shook sparks into the air to resemble the Hogwarts crest, and the fliers dropping the banners, all aligned so that it was Sirius, Amos, Vincent, and Pyson, and their scarlet, black, blue, and green banners read
A loud burst of applause came from both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, who were standing off to the side. James pulled Lily back up and kissed her hand as she curtseyed to him, then they both waved to the applauding schools, as the rest of Hogwarts started to move off to the side. Following them, Lily saw quite a few of the Beauxbaton people were staring at them all with amazement, they had been expecting some school song. As Lily looked around, holding hands with James and standing up against a white stone wall, she saw Dumbledore sitting by a tall woman at the front of the room. He looked over at her and smiled, and she could
have sworn he winked and nodded.
Chapter 41
The Amulets and the Gentleman
As it turned out, the need for the entire seventh year to learn French over the summer proved to be redundant efforts on their behalf. For, as the Bauxbatons students chatted among themselves, Lily saw a small House Elf quickly coming her way, and one going to a tall boy in the Durmstrang group. She let go of James’ hand, who had also spotted the elf, and said quickly,
“Oui, elfe maison monsieur?”
He was wearing a little uniform, a pair of blue shorts, a stained blue silk shirt, and a hat of sorts that his floppy ears poked from. He bowed lowly, and she saw he was carrying a very large, wooden box.
“Me pardonner, la madame, mais nous souhaitons vous donner ces cadeaux pour votre usage cette année,” he said, just slowly enough for her to understand.
“What is it?” James asked.
“It’s gifts for us to use this year,” Lily quickly relayed, and James repeated it to several people around him. She turned to the elf, who was still bowing, holding out the box. Quickly taking it, she said, “Merci beaucoup.”
He was so shocked at her courtesy that he stumbled a bit on his way back to a standing position. Lily smiled at him, and he nodded quickly, before turning and trotting off, glancing back a few times. He joined the elf from the Durmstrang group, and the great doors opened and shut as they left.
“Open it, open it,” Sirius was begging.
Lily now noticed a large group of hangers-on around, and sighed. “Calm down, will you.”
“Open it!”
“Alright, alright.”
She obliged, and lifted the box. It was old, but well cared for and didn’t squeak. Inside she found a large assortment of what appeared to be necklaces. She quickly started pulling them out and handing them to people, soon finding that there were just enough for everyone. Taking the last one and putting it around her neck, she saw that there was a pendant hanging on the very long, silver chain, and looked more closely at it. On a perfectly round, silver backing was an emerald gem, probably about half an inch in diameter. It wasn’t that large, but Lily wasn’t stupid enough to think these were non expensive gifts. Everyone was looking at them quizzically as they hung around their necks.
Sirius began, “What are they fo-”
“Silence, silence,” called a booming female voice.
They all turned to look, recognizing the loud voice of the headmistress. She had stood, revealing a height so startling that it immediately reminded both Lily and James of the only other person they’d ever seen that tall, Rebeas Hagrid. The hall fell silent at her command, and Lily had to wonder how the Bulgarian students were understanding the English.
“Now,” she said, glittering opals on her waving hands, “You can all underztand me. You ztudents haff, of course, a charmed necklace which permits yoo to be abul to underztand me in your native tongue, and we to underztand you in ours. You should wear zes at all times eef you wish to be understood. Now, we all know zat we are here for ze Triwizard Tournament.”
A cheering started up from a table around the middle of the room, from a load of the Beaux boys. James and Sirius grinned, they’d found their counterparts already. Lily shook her head sadly.
“Calm yourzelves, Monsieurs Lafayette and Legoffe!” the headmisstress snapped, and they silenced. “Now. Off course you ztudents zat are visiting are more zen weelcome to zleep in ze rooms zat we haff here in ze palace, but I belief zat you haff your own arrangements. We three headmazters haff gotten together and taken care off your classes, and zerefore you will have ze same classes zat you were to have at your schools...”
Lily, for the first time, found herself very bored by this talk, and instead looked around at all the students. She saw that she wasn’t the only one bored by the large woman’s boring talking. Several of the Beaux students were looking around, like her, and she even saw a group of girls that had their heads ducked low over the tables and seemed to be painting their toenails or something. The Durmstrang students seemed to be very intent on the speaker, but she could tell by the slightly glazed looks in their eyes that they were only pretending to pay attention for fear of being reprimanded or, as she’d heard, physically punished. Evidently Durmstrang was very strict and still believed in corporal punishment. A loud clap of large hands snapped her attention back to the large madame.
“Now,” she said, “We haff a very nice feast prepare for our visitors and I zink we all should begin acting like ze large family zat zis competishion was designed to make us!”
No one moved for a moment, before Lily cleared her throat at the looked that Dumbledore had just shot her, and elbowed James particularly hard in the ribs. He winced, rubbing it, and turned to the rest of Hogwarts, which they now discovered had either sat on the floor, leaned on each other or the wall, or drifted off into fake standing-up sleep (Sirius).
“Alright, gang, let’s go budge up some seats!” he said enthusiastically.
Everyone sort of looked at him, as if he’d grown a second head, and then started moving towards empty seats all through the room. Lily and James walked hand in hand towards the table that the rest of the Marauders, Becky, and Charles had already grabbed, which happened to be the same one that the two laughing boys were sitting at. James pulled her chair out for her (a shock which earned him a bewildered stare, and her a slight glare), and Lily smiled at their new table mates. It seemed to include the two boys, who were both sandy haired and dark eyed, three girls, and two other boys who reminded her oddly of Remus and Arthur Weasley.
“Hello,” she volunteered. It sounded English to her, but evidently was fluent French to the Beaux students.
“Hi,” said one of the mischievous boys. He reached to shake her hand. “My name is Antony Lafayette.”
Lily nodded, and quickly the table was introduced. They saw with Antony, Louis Legoffe, Marlissa Bernard (she was part German), Marie Louis (who, together with Louis Legoffe, reminded her of Sirius and Becky), Corette Lafayette (cousins), Rhys Michael, who reminded them all of red-haired Arthur Weasley, and then the intellectual looking boy, like Remus, who was also named Remus DeBlonc. They were having a discussion about their name origins and seemed to get along very well. There seemed to be a very long pause, before Marie Louis (“call me Louisa”) said,
“I have never seen or heard of Hogwarts dancing so well!”
Lily and Becky laughed, before Lily said, “We try.”
“Don’t lie,” Sirius said, pushing her shoulder. “She charmed them.”
“All of them?” asked Marlissa.
Lily shook her head, ignoring the loud talking filling the hall. “No, of course not, James and I both know how to dance.”
Marie smiled. “How sweet.”
“Don’t get any ideas,” Rhys shot at her. “You’ll never get me in dance class.”
Corette said, “There’s perfectly nothing wrong with dancing.”
Rhys snorted. Sirius shrugged, “I agree with him.”
“Do you want to go home bleeding when you just got here?” Corette asked him dangerously.
Sirius beamed, “That depends where you want to make me bleed, sweetheart.”
She gave him a vicious glare, and muttered something. James had snorted and was trying to stop laughing, and Lily was laughing into her hands, silently. Becky had grinned at Corette’s suggestion, but gotten a slightly resentful look at Sirius, next to her. The rest of the table didn’t seem to know what to say, and just as James opened his mouth to say something, probably to embarrass Lily, the table was besieged by House Elves carrying large platters.
“Ah, supper,” said Antony, obviously glad for the distraction.
Lily was a bit concerned for the House Elves, as she’d never seen a supper served this way, but soon was reassured this was the evening routine for the final meal of the night, the other two meals appeared on the table. As she turned her attention to her food, she saw a completely foreign cuisine, and saw her fellow Englanders looking at the fruit, cheese, bread, and soups oddly.
“It won’t bite, you know,” the French Remus smiled. “I did a bit of researching about your food before you came over and am going to try to get the elves to make some dishes more towards your tastes a bit.”
“Oh, no, that’s alright,” Remus shook his head, taking a bite of the soup. “They’re just not very used to the differences. It’s fine, guys, see?”
Sirius was the next to try some, and within seconds it was all they could do to keep him from picking up the bowl and sipping out of it like some kind of animal.
“You have no manners or sophistication,” Corette said.
Sirius belched particularly loudly, and even James stared as the large room silenced a bit. He smiled, and in the silence they all thought they heard Dumbledore’s voice say, “I give it an O, Mr. Black!”
After another incident involving Sirius and some escargot and a very loud gagging and rambling about snails (Lily and Remus found it quite tasteful, everyone else had managed their bites down and politely set it off to the side), and then a course of chicken and meat, then a lime sherbet which James took as sherbert, took a large bite, and froze his mouth shut.
“It’s a cleansing sherbet!”Lily found herself saying in astonishment as she tried to pry his mouth open with a fork. “Not a lime sherbert ice cream!”
James was trying to talk through his frozen lips, the entire table was laughing very loudly at them, and several of the surrounding tables had found out the source of amusement and were laughing, as well. She could almost feel the embarrassment radiating off James and took pity on him, shaking her head and using a warming charm to help pry his mouth back open. James somehow managed to thank her as he rotated his jaw, rubbing his lips and trying to control his blushing as he pushed the dish of sherbet away. Then came a light dessert that consisted mainly of fruit, some kind of mousse, and wine (virgin, to Sirius’ disappointment).
After everyone in the hall had finished eating and the volume was increasing, Lily saw the Madame stand, again, and call for silence. It fell rapidly, and she smiled, her large lips spreading widely.
“Now, tomorrow we zall rezoome with our classes,” she said, “and our guests will be joining us. Pleass make zem feel welcome here at Beauxbatonz, and I wish you all a very good night off zleep. Now, if you would, pleass make your way to your zleeping accomodashions, and we shall zee you all tomorrow for breakfazt, and zen the Goblet of Fire will be placed for ze entrance of names. Goodnight.”
All the students pushed their chairs back from the tables, now laden only with plates, glasses, and silverware. Lily started calling the Hogwarts students to her as she walked out of the hall, still clothes in her salsa dress and realizing a fine mist lay over the grounds.
“Are we all here?” she called, James counting next to her. “Snape? Are you- Good, thank you, no need to glare, Sirius? Sirius? SIRIUS! GET OVER HERE!” He turned, standing at the bottom of a large staircase, and gave her the hold on signal. She planted one hand firmly on her hip and shouted, “NO I WILL NOT WAIT A MINUTE, YOU GET OVER HERE NOW!”
Even through the throng of many students she could hear his exasperated sigh of “fiery redheads” as he waved to some girls he had been talking to, jogging over to her and carrying his broom. “Whaaat?”
“We have five minutes to get to the train, that is what,” she said, turning to walk at the back of the procession to the train.
As they walked, she shivered in the cold mist, and James glanced over. “Cold?”
“Deja vu,” she muttered, trying not to grin.
He smiled devilishly down at her, and let an arm wrap around her waist. She thought about telling him not to, but didn’t, after all, he was her boyfriend. Climbing into the Head’s train carriage, she felt it swaying gently with the movement of many people in the length of the train. Walking down the little side hallway, she pushed open the door to their apartments, and saw that the room was a little warmer due to a light fire in the grate. A letter was sitting on the seat of one of the armchairs, and as James closed the door behind them and started to take off his shoes, Lily walked over to it and picked it up.
“Who’s it from?” he asked.
“Dumbledore,” Lily said, sitting and opening it.
“Well read it out loud, then.”
She glanced up. “Dear Lily and James, whoever gets this first, Well, I must say that your grand entrance for the Beaux students was a bit unorthodox and a considerable different than we all expected, but you’ve lest a lasting good impression upon the students, and I am proud of your accomplishment, though I do think magic was involved in the dancing-”
James snorted and sat down.
“-But all in all, I thank you for making this year memorable. Your headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Post Script: I do think Professor McGonagall won’t be very pleased with what you’ve done to her costumes.” Lily looked up. “Oops.”
He had started laughing, now, and stood, walking over to his room and going in. “Oh, that’s great...”
Lily shook her head, setting the letter down and going to her own room. She shut the door, kicked her heels off, and sat in front of her vanity, starting to take down her hair. Not long after, a knock sounded on her door, before it opened and James stood there with two new parchments in hand.
“Schedules,” he said, passing her a slip of paper.
Glancing at it, Lily saw her classes were in order, though at different times than she was used to. James quickly compared, and there was a pause as Lily pulled her earrings out, setting them neatly in her ballerina jewelry box. Taking off her new amulet and setting it on the orderly vanity top, she watched James’ reflection in the mirror. A five second pause ensued, as they both stared at each other in the mirror, completely motionless. Then James reached, grabbed her shoulder, and whirled her to stand in his arms.
For a wild moment, Lily thought he was going to kiss her senseless, and he looked as though he were going to, his lips poised just over hers, a bated breath in his throat, but at the last moment he seemed to think better of it. He stared down into her green eyes, and she up into his hazel ones, before he smiled gently, twirled her around in a very ballroom-esque grace, and bowed over her hand, kissing it.
“Goodnight, Lils,” he said, straightening and leaving, closing the door gently.
Chapter 42
Remembering
When she woke, the next morning, Lily could feel that the air outside was to be chill, and made sure to keep her window overlooking her old house closed, so as not to let the countryside mist in. Stretching a bit as she walked over to her vanity, Lily went over the highlights of the welcoming ceremony, last night, and smiled. She’d never let Becky forget that she now knew how to salsa. And, of course, James and Sirius would never let Snape forget it, either. Yawning a little as she sat on her small vanity chair, Lily saw that she looked a bit tired.
Pulling on some tights, workout shorts, a sports bra, and the emerald necklace, Lily threw her long, red tresses up into a messy bun and began searching for the ballet barre that she usually had under her bed. It wasn’t there. After ten minutes of searching her spotless room, Lily could not find it, nor her pointe shoes, and left her room, going out into the main compartment to get a drink. However, close to her side of the train compartment and in the place of a bookshelf stood a lone ballet barre, polished yet worn, and with her pointe shoes hanging on them from their long, pink ribbons.
“Goodness, do I love this compartment,” she smiled.
Of course, having had been a very prominent dancer in her small studio for three consecutive years, after five years of training, Lily stretched and practiced every day. Even though she was in a different world and at school, she liked to stay as limber and fresh with her moves as she could, as normally she starred in the Nutcracker over Christmas holidays and up to three shows each summer. Walking silently to the barre and sitting on the carpet, putting on her shoes, Lily stretched the arches of her feet, feeling her toes ache gently through the cotton she’d wrapped protectively around them.
“Please assume the stretching positions,” she murmured to herself, reminiscent of her ballet instructor, one hand gracing the wooden barre.
Stretching through all the positions on her flat feet, Lily hear music wafting through the warm compartment air as the sun began to rise, and smiled. It was just like being back in her old studio. As the strains of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata floated into hear ears as she bent, flexed, pulled her muscles to stretch, Lily gently rose to her toes, adjusting to the pressure and starting to stretch them, too. Gently lifting her legs, one at a time, to stand on the toes of one foot, releasing the barre and balancing on her own, Lily heard the clock on the mantelpiece softly chime 6:30.
Extending her right leg out and leaping onto it, twisting her left leg to extend to the back, Lily heard an almost inaudible clattering, and looked down to see a small collection of wooden flooring under her toes. Curious, she swept her left leg down, across the floor, and more wood appeared there as it went, but only where she needed it. Smiling to herself, she began to dance, pirouetting and balancing across the area.
James Potter checked his watch as he jogged nearer to the train, breathing just a little bit faster than he normally did. The air was refreshing and cool on his warm face, and he realized that it had only taken him eight minutes to jog a mile. He’d mapped it out using magic that morning before setting off, at six, on his fitness routine he did three to four times a week. He’d thought of dragging Sirius along, but the last time he’d tried it, Sirius had gotten a stitch in his side that lasted until he sat down and drank some butterbeer. Which really mean that he gave about as much a hoot about getting in shape as a dog hoots like an owl.
It was a bit after 6:30 in the morning, with the sun barely over the horizon. Beauxbatons was on a different time zone than Hogwarts, and he still felt as if it were 5:30 in the morning. His shirt, an old quidditch shirt from his dad’s days in Hogwarts, was a little damp, and he was looking forward to a shower before he trudged up to the castle- No, James, the palace- for classes. He kept forgetting that he was in a different setting.
Stopping in front of the still train, climbing up and entering through the door, James walked down the hallway. All was silent, and he really had thought that at least Dumbledore would be out and about by now. After all, breakfast started at 7 and classes resumed at 8. Walking past the main entrance to the Head’s compartment, James used a sliding panel he’d found that led from his closet. Apparently the train duplicated the sliding panel that was in his bedroom, which happened to lead to a door that went out in the garden. He and Sirius adored it greatly, it allowed them to sneak out many a time.
Climbing out from in-between uniforms and clothes hanging there, James kicked his running trainers off and grabbed a towel from a lone chair, going into his familiar bathroom. As he closed the door and started pulling off his shorts and shirt, he had to grin and remember the bathroom fiasco at Sirius’ party over the summer.
Shaking his head, James jumped in and turned on the water, showering quickly and making sure his hair got clean. Lily had put liberal amounts of gel in it the night before to try to make it less unruly, and he’d not been able to get all of it out in his shower last night. Now, though, it seemed mostly gone when he stepped out and dried himself, going into his bedroom and quickly dressing for the day. By the time he was done he realized how very out of place all of them would look in their black robes against the Beauxbatons blue. Shrugging, though, he ran a comb through his hair, threw on the necklace, and grabbed his bookbag.
Opening his bedroom door, intending to go to the Gryffindor’s compartments to make sure Remus had woken the others up, James was greeted with the sight of Lily on the other end of the compartment, standing on the toes of her left leg with her right leg stretched out far, far behind her, back rigid, left arm gracefully extended forward, right arm to the side. Raising an eyebrow and leaning against the doorframe, James watched.
Soft music was playing from nowhere, an old piano tune. She curled in her right arm and her left to meet in a circle in front of her, simultaneously drawing in her right leg. Then, in a movement so fluid and quick that James had to smile, she brought her arms up above her head, still in a circle, as her right leg bent in a triangle with her toes hovering to the side of her knee. She was facing the entrance door, and hadn’t seen him, and James silently set down his bag next to him to watch her.
She was wearing pink tights, but had rolled them up to mid calf. Little black shorts graced her waist, just covering her bum and miles below her belly button. A pink and black shirt of some kind dipped low and left her entire stomach bare, so James could admire her curves and waist. Then, as the music got a little louder, she dropped her left arm to the side, and he right swept down to extend in front of her. At the same time, she extended her right foot, stepping onto it and sweeping her left leg up as high as her right had just been. As she moved, the necklace hanging over her shirt thing caught the light and glinted, showing how much it matched her eyes.
Slowly, she started to move more, turning, whirling, making a few leaps that made soft banging noises on the floor, making James realize that pieces of wood were scattering around her and collecting under her feet so she could dance. As she spun around, James smiled and decided to speak.
“Having fun?”
Lily’s head snapped around so quickly that she sort of lost balance and stumbled back onto her heels. “What- When did you wake up?”
James picked up his bag. “Six.”
“Oh... Um... Yea, what time is it?”
“Six forty-five,” James said, grinning.
She was slightly bemused, having lost track of time. The music slowly faded away into nothingness, and she nodded. “Oh, okay. Thanks.”
Turning, she walked into her room, and shut the door. James watched her go, realizing he’d sort of broken something important to her, and feeling a bit bad about having had done it. He resolved to ask her later if she was okay, and left, going into the Gryffindor compartment and struggling with Remus to drag Sirius out of bed.
Lily sat at her vanity, staring at herself but not really watching. It’d been so nice to be able to dance like that, she hadn’t really danced freely since her parents had died. She’d only done one production this past summer, and even then the company had noticed how distant she still was. Dance was the one thing that had always connected her to her mother, and really her younger brother and sister, too.
Daisy had just started the dance studio when she and Pirro had been diagnosed with leukemia, and within another two months she’d had to quit because she was too weak. Lily had always took her to practices and dressed her up in her tutu and tights, but she’d always had on medical socks so she wouldn’t fall, and she forever had a hospital bracelet around her little wrist. Blinking back tears, she shook her head and tried to forget her long lost family. Pulling her hair down, Lily turned and quickly started to get dressed.
Ten minutes later, Lily stepped down into the cool mist, walking across the lawns towards the palace as it glinted in the early morning sunlight. Walking quickly over the grounds and digging her schedule out of her bag to see which class she had first, Lily crossed the drawbridge, through the courtyard, and into the palace. Pushing open the door to the great hall, she looked up immediately, seeing a large clearing in the middle of the room.
There, in the direct center and surrounded by a white circle for ten feet around, was a tall, marble stand, upon which sat the oddest thing she’d ever seen. A large goblet, very rough in design, was holding bright blue flames as they burned. A circle of people were gathered around it, some occasionally going in to put their names in. When it did, the goblet would flash red for a moment, and then all would return to normal.
“Lilis!”
Looking round, Lily saw Becky waking towards her. “Morning, Becks.”
“You going to put your name in?” Becky asked. “I already did.”
“I’m not so sure,” Lily said, walking to a table at which Remus sat. “It’s been known to be dangerous.”
“No pain, no gain!” Becky smiled, sitting down. Then, at Remus, “Didn’t you say that the last champion to win the tournament was in Mungo’s for a month?”
Classes that day were about as interesting as they were at Hogwarts, only with the added effect of a bunch of people meeting and greeting each other. Lily realized that Beauxbatons was actually two or three days behind their notes than Hogwarts was, and sat in classes not doing much and just using it as a study time to go over the lessons they’d already had. The palace was enormous, far bigger than Hogwarts, and it was interesting to see the Bulgarians look around in shock. Apparently their abode was not only far, far smaller, but also far less nice. The glamour probably came as a surprise to them.
Not only were the classes just behind, but she had almost all of them with either James, Sirius, or Becky. Remus was only in three, Peter in one, and Charles didn’t have any, surprisingly. Lunchtime was another spectacular meal of fruits, meats, and cheeses, more people still gathered around what was called the Goblet of Fire, and every time she looked at it something gnawed at her stomach. Sirius and James went up during dinner and put their names in, and Remus said he had that morning. As they all ate their dessert, Lily watched the goblet, for the first time sitting by itself, and had to wonder what it was like to be one of the three champions, she had to think of what kind of glamour than entailed. Sure, she was Head Girl and the girlfriend of a Marauder, but Lily wasn’t very popular by herself.
“You going to go for it?” James nudged her, seeing her staring at it.
She glanced over at him and thought of all the dangers these always had. She remembered back in her third year the stories from Bulgaria about how one of the contestants had nearly been killed in a landslide during a navigation course through the troll-infested mountains. Shaking her head, Lily said, “No, I don’t think I will.”
Still, that night after she kissed James, finished her homework, and laid out her ballet gear for the next morning, she looked in the mirror and had to wonder if this was all there was to her life.
Chapter 43
Leely
“Hey, aren’t you zat girl zat wass dancing for ze introducshion?”
Lily turned, seeing a Beaux boy in the hall. He was tall and lanky, and seemed to be interested in everything. “Yes, I am one of them... who are you?”
He smiled and reached for a hand. “Gregoury Mills.”
Lily shook his hand a bit forcefully, sensing he was going to kiss it. “Lily Evans, nice to meet you. Are you interested in dance?”
He let her awkwardly shake his hand, then dropped it. “Off course, my muzzer was a dance inshructor. Pleass to meet you, Leely.”
Lily nodded, adjusting her bag and turning to continue walking towards lunch. “Really? I took dance for eight years before coming to school, and continue on during the summer and winter. So I guess I’ve had thirteen years.”
“My goodness!” he gasped, walking along with her. “Zat’s quite a long time.”
She shrugged, walking through the sparkling halls of the palace. “I’m used to it. I usually have the lead roles in all the productions that our company puts on. Have you taken dance?”
“Fife years,” he nodded, going down some stairs. He paused as she stopped, brows furrowed, looking around, as she’d intended to go down the hall. “Aren’t you going to lunch?”
“Right, I keep thinking I’m at Hogwarts,” Lily shook her head, going down the stairs with him.
He chuckled. “I could relate. When I go home for ze summer, I am alwayss looking for diffrent zings, before I remember zat zey are not zere.”
Lily nodded, and was about to say something, when there was a very loud explosion down a branching corridor to her right, and she heard a very loud shout.
“-LITTLE SCUMBAG-”
“Oh, no,” Gregoury gasped, staring fearfully down the hall, which more profane shouts were streaming out of, “Zat zounds like Corette!”
“Er, Corette, uh... Lafayette?” Lily asked, remembering her from the feast, a few days before.
“Zat iss ze one!” Gregoury shouted, sprinting down the hall.
Lily followed him at a trot, and when she came far enough down the corridor for the curses to be deafening, found a quite amusing scene before her eyes. Gregoury was bent, as he was so tall, and had looped his arms through Corette’s which were pulled roughly behind her, to restrain her. Sirius was on the other side of the corridor, trying to fight off a very well placed mouth-freezing charm, and frequently shouting through his numb lips some senseless gargle. As Lily raised an eyebrow at this, Sirius spotted her and started yelling at her.
“IWWY!” he shouted. “HWELD NEE! CHET IT AHH!”
Lily burst into laugher. Sirius glared, patting himself and trying to find his wand, before realizing Corette held both his and hers. Gregoury was struggling, as she was lunging for him as viciously as she could, her dirty blond hair flying everywhere and hazel eyes flashing.
“Sirius, come on,” Lily said, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him down the hall.
“NI HAUND!” he screamed, reading for his wad. “NI HAUUUUUND!”
“I’ll get it for you later, you ungrateful prat,” Lily sighed, pulling him by the ear.
“OW! OW!”
“Well, I see you’re capable of some normal speech.”
By the time she’d dragged him down to the great hall for lunch, she’d mercifully reversed the freezing charm and asked him what he’d done. He said nothing, he’d just been innocently charming some pictures to be more lively when The Devilwoman, as he now called her, happened along and started freaking out about some rumor that he’d snogged her.
Lily raised an eyebrow. “Was there a rumor that you snogged her?”
“There was, but I swear I didn’t start it,” Sirius said.
“Then where would someone get that idea from?”
Just then, James slid into a seat next to Lily. “What’s up?”
Sirius stared at him, and after a moment, Lily did, too. “James!”
He looked up, hazel eyes bewildered, a cup of juice halfway to his mouth. “What?!”
“Did you start a rumor that Sirius snogged Corette?”
“No!”
Lily rounded on Sirius, who was running away from the table. “SIRIUS! This isn’t over!”
“That’s what you think!” he called back, disappearing through the doors.
Lily shook her head, settling back into her chair and ignoring that students from a few surrounding tables were watching like it was a soap opera. James had gathered himself some lunch to eat, and glanced over.
“Playdate with Sirius?”
“Hardly,” she took a sip of her drink.
There was a pause, before Becky sat down, complaining loudly about some homework a teacher had assigned. “They’re more psychotic than Slughorne!” she gasped, holding out her essay scrolls. “Three scrolls? Scrolls?!”
Lily was about to say something in actual agreeance with that, as scrolls ran about two feet long, but suddenly she felt a warm hand snaking up her thigh and jumped, whirling round on James. He was taking a sip of his drink, but she could see he was fighting a smile.
“James!” she hissed through gritted teeth.
“Hmm?” he asked, setting the cup down. “Something wrong?”
A very warm heat was spreading from his hand all the way up to her face. “Stop it.”
“Stop... what?” His hand made another daring lurch upwards.
“That.”
He shrugged, somehow managing to wipe his face clean of any smirk or smile. “What?”
Lily swatted his hand off, standing and grabbing him by the ear. He let out a cry of surprise and pain, which caused a load of people to look up. Many of them started laughing as Lily grabbed her bag, threw James’ bag onto his shoulder, and proceeded to drag him from the great hall as he protested but winced in pain.
“Bleeding hell, stop it would you!” he said, trying not to be so embarrassed.
“Now you know what it’s like to have to beg for someone to stop something!” Lily shot back, throwing open the doors and marching down a hallway with him.
She didn’t stop dragging him until they were perhaps all the way down the hall and no one was in sight. She thrust him against the wall and planted her hands on her hips, glaring up at him. “James Potter, you need to realize that when I say stop, I mean you better cease and desist at once!”
“I was just-”
“I don’t care if you were joking around, it was wrong and you know it!”
“But I-”
She shook her head, “No, James, you’re Head Boy and you’re the one that is supposed to set the example! You need to realize that though you may be a Marauder and one of the greatest pranksters waking round, they are looking up to you as a role model!”
He just stood there, back to the wall, staring at her in a fine fury as she went off on him. Her green eyes were flashing in unmistakable Lily Anger, and her curly hair was popping out of the French Braid she’d tried to put it in. Her chest was puffing with indignance, and her cheeks were a bit more flushed than usual. In essence, she looked sexy.
James didn’t know what came over him in the next three seconds. When he’d been feeling her up in the hall it was just for laughs, to see what she’d do. Now, as he reached and grabbed her, whirling her around and pressing her up against the wall, James kissed her roughly, and Lily did nothing to stop him. His hands roamed the small curve of her waist, pulling her close to him, her small fingers running through the hair at the back of his head, driving him mad. Their lips pressed together roughly, filled with a fiery intensity that dared anyone to intrude and try to stop them. James pressed his hands up her skirt, exploring new territory, and he almost got completely to the point where he touched some knickers, when Lily broke away and whispered,
“We can’t, James, not right here!”
He let out a low growl of frustration that made her shudder. He let his hands drop away, staring down at her and trying to not be angry, he knew she was right. Nodding, he kissed her roughly again, but pulled away relatively quickly.
“You’re right,” he said breathlessly.
Lily leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath, trying to make her hormones stop chiming like church bells. She quickly grabbed the bag that she’d dropped while yelling at him, and said, “You still... you still have to set the example for them.”
James groaned, throwing his hands up in exasperation.
“Attenshion, studentsz... Attenshion!”
The large hall slowly quieted as Madam Maxime, as they’d discovered her name was, stood and called for silence. Lily turned to watch, then turned back, Kicking Sirius’ leg sharply to get him to shut up. He let out a high pitched yelp that sounded exactly like a dog getting stepped on, then slapped his hands over his mouth in horror. Several tables’ worth of people looked over, and all the Marauders snorted in laughter and tried to hold it in. Madame Maxime simply rose one of her large eyebrows at him.
“Vell, as you all know, ze ‘Alloween fest es tomorrow evning. Zere will be a large ceremony, must festing, and zen we vill have dancing for ze fourth year zudents and aboff. Pleass dress appropriately but keep in mind zat it ees ‘Alloween and zat you can dress up in costoom eef you wish. En fact, et es preferred. Now, we vil also be having ze ceremony to announce ze three champions for ze Triwizard tournament, so pleass make sure to put your name in ze goblet off fire eef you haff not done zo already, or else you weel not be in ze running for a champion spot. Pleass keep in mind alzo zat ze tasks weel be difficoolt and zat once you are a champion, you cannot quit, it is either to win, lose, or die trying.”
“And we’ll win!” Siruis’ voice echoed off the opposite side of the room.
Lily rolled her eyes at him and kicked him again. “Stop throwing your voice like that.”
He shrugged.
“Now, pleass keep in mind ze announcement zat I haff told you off, and I looked vorward to seeing you all tomorrow for anozzer day off learning and ze ‘Alloween fest. Gootnight.”
That night as Lily prepared for bed, after yet another round of kissing that ended much the way as the previous one, she had to wonder who was going to get Champion for their school. Every time she saw the goblet, burning on it’s stool, she felt the desire to put her name in, but hadn’t. She knew how dangerous it all could become, and as James and Sirius said, they were more adapt to danger than she was.
On Halloween night she decided, at the last moment, to dress up for dinner, mainly as James was going as a Headless Horseman. Or, more accurately, Nearly Headless Nick trying to join the Headless Hunt. After a few very well placed charms, he was not only dressed like a medieval squire, but he was semi see-through, and with a tap of his wand his head would appear to float off, while merely going invisible as a duplicate illusion head floated about. When she stepped out of her room, on the way to dinner, and saw him like that, she at first panicked, then rolled her eyes.
“And what are you, a girl?” James asked, looking at her jeans and vest.
“So?”
“So? So it’s Halloween. You’ve got to dress up. Ahh, I know,” he grinned.
Before she could say anything, James whirled his wand and there was a red spark, before she looked down to see that she was dressed in a red, very tight, very small dress, and wearing very high heels. She sighed. “James!”
“What? I think it’s.... actually, no, I don’t, whores are trashy.”
“Why thank you,” she glared.
He shrugged. Lily rolled her eyes and waved her own wand, before she was wearing a medieval dress, the sort that really didn’t have too much ceremony to it and looked more like a night dress than anything. She quickly braided her hair back and charmed a ringlet round her head, curtseying and watching the folds of the shift swirl.
“Are you happy?”
“Who are you?” James asked.
“I am Morgan Le Fay and the princess of all Britannia, also a priestess of Avalon,” Lily said. “Brush up on your history.”
“I fall asleep in Binn’s class, sorry.”
Lily rolled her eyes, adjusting to the thin slippers and opening the door, tucking her wand up the large white sleeve. “Are we leaving?”
He nodded, seeming to float over and take her arm. He was still warm and solid, so she knew he hadn’t, actually, killed himself. They stepped off the train in time to see Sirius and the rest of the Marauders leap off. Sirius was dressed in a big, black cape that had hair and a strange hood, Peter was wearing a long pink thing sticking off his arse and a headband with more pink things, and Remus was carrying a rubber head mask in his hand, wearing all grey. Floating their way over, James said,
“Oh, how very original of you all.”
“Thanks, took hours to think of,” Sirius smiled, pulling on his hood.
As he hopped onto all fours, Lily realized that the hood was shaped like the head of a dog, snarling snout an all. When he was down on the ground like that the cape draped him so that he looked a bit like a black, shaggy dog. Peter, on closer inspection, looked like a mouse, as he’s stolen someone’s eyeliner and drawn whiskers on his pink cheeks. And Remus’ mask was, of course, a werewolf.
“Why didn’t you wear your antler headband I made you?” Sirius asked James as they all made their way up to the palace.
“Because I look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer?” he shot back. “I’d rather be Nearly Headless Nick, thanks.”
“So that’s what you are!” gasped Peter in shock. “I thought you was a medieval mortician!”
No one really knew what to say to that, for a moment, so instead Lily asked softly, “Who do you all think will get picked for the Champion spot?”
“Not Snivvelus, that’s for sure,” Sirius said immediately.
“Careful Padfoot, don’t answer too fast,” Remus chuckled, pulling on his mask. “Someone might think you like him a bit!”
After a wonderful feast of foreign meats and some familiar back home, dessert, and virgin wine, the hall was starting to get noisy again, and Madame Maxime stood, calling for quiet.
“For ze ferst three zongs we shall be allowing all ze ztudents to stay and dance However, zen we shall announce ze Champions and zen only fourth years and aboove may stay. Now, eef everyone would pleass stand...”
There was a rumbling of chairs scraping the floor as the student body stood up. As the last bottom left the last chair, Maxime waved her wand briskly and the tables disappeared, and the chairs set up along the walls in case anyone wanted to sit. One lone table stood up by the teachers, and one table stood in the back with a bowl of punch and some cups. Wish another swish of her wand, a lively dancing tune started, and everyone sort of stood there before they all started dancing.
James grabbed Lily, recognizing the tune as a foxtrot, and they laughingly danced around, having fun. The next song was a more modern one, and the last one an Elvis Presley song. After that song had ended, the students, laughing and still standing, turned to face the head of the room. There, standing atop the table and it’s stool, was the Goblet of Fire. An odd hush descended the room as Maxime stood up, walking to stand next to the goblet, as she was tall enough to be level with it.
“Now, ve all know zat ze champions are to parteecipate in ze tournament all ze way through. Zere weel be three tasks zat zey are to preform, and zey will be scored on zem by ze panel of ze headmasters Dumbledoor, Hagthel, and I, and also three meenistry offecials zat weel arrive here tomorrow morning. Ze tasks are at interval through ze schoolyear and zey will challenge everyzing zat ze ztudents haff got. Zeir courage, zeir daring, zeir knowledge, ze extend off zeir very hoomanity. Ze marks will be on ‘ow well zey complete each task, and ze ztudent weeth ze most points at ze end wins. As ve know, zey will be selected from ze Goblet off Fire, here toonight. When I read off ze names, pleass come to ze front off ze room, and you weel be directed to anozzer room where we weel brief you on everyzing you need to know for ze first task. Now, I belief ze Goblet ees ready...”
She whirled her wand, and all the lighting in the room dimmed considerably, so that when Lily glanced at James, she could barely discern his face, even though it was close. Looking back up at the Goblet, which flickered in blue flames like always, there was dead silence as they all waited for something, anything, to happen.
Suddenly, the fire turned red, as it had whenever a name was put in. Sparks flew, and just when the people up front were backing away in fear of getting burnt by the sparks, there was a high tongue of flames bursting from it, and a charred bit of parchment floated slowly into Maxime’s open studded fingers. The flames turned blue again. The first years went ooooh.
“Ze champion for Durmstrang weel be Nikifor Bach.”
A wild roaring came from all throughout the crowd, and a very tall, burly Durtmstrang boy jogged up to the front of the room, his red cape swirling as he grinned and waved at his friends. He shook hands with Maxime and then headed for his headmaster, Hagthel, who showed him through a door off to the side. As their red capes swirled out of sight and the cheering died down, the red flames started again, sparking and illuminating the room in a reddish haze, the shot of fire issued again, and Maxime read it slowly, before smiling.
“Ze champion for Beauxbatons ees Remus DeBlonc.”
There was a thunderous cheering as the French Remus grinned sheepishly, from their right, and began making his way up to the front of the room. Remus Lupin was cheering loudly and laughing, slapping his knees, and DeBlonc shook Maxime’s hand, and she indicated the door through which the other two men had just disappeared. It took the wild cheering a long while to stop, and it only did because Maxime called viciously for quiet. Shaking her head, the goblet sparked and flamed again, and the last charred parchment flew into the air. James reached to clutch Lily’s hand, and she whispered,
“Good luck, James!”
He smiled a bit nervously, and Sirius looked as though he were going to be a bit sick. Maxime blinked at it, then lowered the paper. Taking in a deep breath, she smiled and said softly,
“And ze last champion, ze champion for ‘Ogwarts...Ess Leely Evaan.”
Chapter 44
The Clue
There was a deafening silence in the great hall, because everyone was just so shocked. But it only lasted perhaps half a second, before the entire Hogwarts student body (minus some Slytherins) erupted into cheers. Lily blinked, her green eyes wide, and looked over at James, who looked equally as shocked. Sirius’ mouth was hanging open, one eyebrow raised higher than the other. After a few seconds, James gently nudged her forward, his voice nearly lost in the racket urging her on. She slowly started walking through the crowd that had parted away from her, as if she carried a disease. Before she knew it, she’d reached the front and shook Maxime’s massive hand, then Dumbledore was gently guiding her into the room, a hand on her elbow. As she entered the high doorway, the noise of the hall beyond faded into almost nothingness.
Inside was Remus DeBlonc, Nikfor Bach and Hagthel, all sitting in chairs round a large, roaring fire that seemed to not emit much heat. Remus smiled at her, and Nikfor indicated his head, both boys and Hagthel standing ceremoniously as she sat. There was silence.
“Vat doo yew zink zat ze virst challenge vill be?” Nikfor asked after a while.
“Madame Maxime will be in momentarily to discuss that with us,” Dumbledore replied softly.
James looked up from his seat, in the hall, as Lily made her way back over to him, still garbed like some kind of odd priestess. He had to remember that he looked like a ghost, which may have been why she shot him a double-take. Everyone was dancing and partying in general, and James smiled wanly as she sat next to him.
“So... who put your name in? Did they get in trouble?” James asked.
Lily’s brow furrowed. “I did.”
“When?!”
She blushed a little, looking down. “Last night. I just... I kept thinking about it, and I decided to do it just so I’d stop thinking about it. It worked, too, I forgot I put it in until she called my name...”
James didn’t really know what to say, he was just sort of disappointed that she hadn’t told him. “Oh.”
“I really thought you or Sirius would get it, James,” Lily said hurriedly. “Really I did. I wanted one of you to. You’re... you’re not too mad at me, are you?”
The irony of the situation hit him, as usually it was he or Sirius asking if she was mad at them. He smiled and shook his head, kissing her briefly. “Naw. It just really shocked me. Besides, we’ve got enough time to make names for ourselves pranking and quidditch playing. You’ve got to do something more than be Head Girl.”
“Well... Gregoury had asked if I would help him with dance lessons,” Lily said.
James’ expression darkened. “I don’t much like him.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “He’s just... you know... sort of.. Always.... around.”
Lily raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
James nodded a bit uncomfortably. “Yeah he’s, uh- nosy. Like, always talking at you and stuff. He’s bound to be annoying you too.”
“James, are you jealous?”
“No!” he answered quickly.
“James...” Lily said in a warning tone.
“I just don’t like that he’s always round you!” James blurted, causing several people to look over in curiosity. “He’s like a bleeding puppy dog or something! What’s so god damn funny?!”
Lily has started laughing at his outburst, and now gasped for breath, “James!
Can’t you tell?! He’s fruity!”
His expression remained blank. She sighed and glanced around to make sure no one was listening in.
“He’s gay, James.”
His hazel eyes widened in shock. “No way.”
“Way.”
“He told you that?!”
“He didn’t have to, he was too busy checking out you and Sirius.” James blanched and made a sour face. Lily giggled and said, “I told him hands off, though. Well, for you, at least.”
“Sirius will never forgive you,” James grinned.
Lily shrugged. “Consider it payback for making me save him from Corette.”
“I’ve quite a feeling he enjoys her a bit.”
“How can you tell? They’re always screaming at each other.”
James shrugged, grinning wickedly, “They remind me of these other people I always saw and heard round arguing like that.”
“I never cursed you, thanks,” Lily said, slightly offended.
“No, no, you did too!” James quipped. “That one time in fourth year in the hall-”
“Are you talking about the time I separated you and Snape by magic so you wouldn’t get your arse beat any longer in the fist fight?” Lily said smoothly.
“I was beating his arse and you know it!”
“I know, I know,” Lily rolled her eyes.
James nodded, “Damn right, he was the one with the bloody nose-”
“Alright, already, I get it.”
“Just wanted to make sure.”
Lily rolled her eyes, watching a few people wander past as they danced. The party was in about as ful of swing as it could get with so many adults around, and without warning, she grabbed James’ hand, pulling him up and towards the middle of the floor to dance.
The change in Lily was quite a sudden one, James found the next morning. For, when he came in from his morning run, Lily was doing more of a sort of belly-dance exercise of sorts, rather than a ballet stretch. She was dancing around the compartment in her short shorts and sports bra, but instead has some sort of really flexible black trainers on (jazz sneakers, he later went on to find out), and there was some sort of very modern Indian music floating round. As he leaned against the door way, Lily’s back to him as she moved, he raised an eyebrow.
Her hair was loosely pulled back in a pony tail, red curls spilling down her slightly moist back, as she was perspiring slightly. Her skin, as it shimmered slightly, was tanner than he’d remembered from the party. Her hips, surprisingly very curvy for her small stature, were rolling from side to side, before pausing and doing some kind of switch to roll the other way with her exercise.
“You know,” she said softly, turning with her movement, “it’s not nice to spy on people.”
“You’re not exactly locked up in your room, are you?” James shot back.
She smirked slightly and rolled her eyes, now moving her arms with the rest of her torso. “Not really.”
“I like it that way.”
“Cocky bastard.”
“I’m not the one dancing like a seductress and dressed in clothes that could have been considered underwear twenty years ago.”
Lily’s green eyes flickered with amusement as she danced. “Lovely description. However, you are the one standing in the doorway, just in from a work-out and looking quite ready for, well.... anything.”
Then she turned and waltzed into her room, the music fading out with her. James’ mouth had sort of fallen open, and he stared at her bedroom door for the longest time, trying very hard to resist throwing it open and doing, well, anything.
“Where in hell did that come from?” Lily mused to herself as she stripped down to her skin, changing.
Shaking her head and jumping in her shower only long enough to rinse of a thin layer of perspiration that had gathered, Lily magically dried herself, pulling on her school uniform. Lily saw that her tights had a run in the heels, starting to get larger, and shook her head. She’d need to get new ones as soon as she got the chance to leave Beauxbatons. Pulling on some underwear and then her skirt, shirt un-buttoned and hanging open, Lily cursed having not checked that before she left Hogwarts. Then, in a moment of defiance, decided not to care. Becky went without tights every day, and no one ever really said anything about it.
Buttoning up her shirt quickly and doing up her tie, Lily pinned the front of her hair back, grabbing the rest of her things. As she pulled on her robes, leaving her room, she heard James cursing at something in his room, likely his hair brush (after all, Potter Hair doesn’t exactly get along with brushes). Grinning to herself and shaking her head, she dug in her bag as she left, looking for the small but likely invaluable clue she’d been given last night. Maxime’s large voice still rang in her ears as she looked at it in her fingers.
“Et ees ze cloo zat you weel need een order to complte ze first task suckzessfully. You weel haf unteel ze morning off ze first task to feegure out ze cloo, and to rezearch what you need in order to perform propeerly. You weel not be allowed to recief help from your headmazter or headmiztress, nor weel you zolicit ze azzistence of your peers. Ze first task es to be on ze morning off Desember ze ninetenth, and all classes for zat day weel be canceled een order for you three to be tried on ze task. Good luck, and you weel now receive your clues....”
She held in her slender fingers a trinket that was unlike any she’d ever seen. It was perhaps the size of a man’s thumb nail, and oval in shape. It was three-dimensional, a oval shaped sphere, but it had been cut in half, round on one side and flat on the other. It was surprisingly heavy for it’s tiny shape, so she knew there was something inside it. The whole contraption was either made of silver, and had tiny etchings in it that she could barely feel with her hand, but couldn’t see very well at all. Turning it over in her fingers as she walked across the lawns towards Beauxbatons, Lily sighed. She’d learned from watching Sirius and James that it was always best to not wait until the last minute to figure something out.
By the time James slid into the chair next to her for breakfast, Lily had shown it to Becky and both the Remuses, and all four of them were now staring at intently in silence as it lay on the white table cloth. Charles, who was as much an expert at Runes as Becky, was flicking through some very thick Runeology book or another, frequently glancing at the trinket through a pair of magnification spectacles that were so strong that they came to a point like some sort of odd telescope. Lily looked up at him and kissed him quickly.
“Morning.”
“You seem in a bit of a different mood,” James observed as he grabbed some breakfast.
She cast him a withering look, before gently picking up the trinket. “It really is quite interesting.”
“Mmhm,” Remus DeBlonc said, looking over Charles’ shoulder.
“Think it’s Romanian?” Charles asked.
“No, the figures are wrong,” Becky shot back, as she’d just stolen the specs off his face and put them on.
“Studying for my test, are we?” Sirius asked as he came over.
Lily shook her head, still watching the trinket. “No, but you should best stop taunting Corette.”
“Why? She’s fun to piss off.”
“You preach that until she kills you, then,” James smirked. “Me see that?”
He took it, examining it. Lily was digging through her own Runes book, and Remus had been dragged off by Peter, who needed badly to study for some Potions test or another. There was a very out-of-place silence in the group, before Sirius burped loudly.
“Well then.”
“Sirius!” Becky said, punching his arm. “That was gross!”
He grinned, “Kinda like your face. Audie!”
Then he grabbed some food, jumped up, and ran out before she could even glower. Taking the clue from DeBlonc, who had stolen it from her to also examine it closer, she sighed and rapped it on the hard wood table a few times. Loud banging noises met her ears.
“That doesn’t sound like it’s all metal,” Becky said.
James nodded, taking a sip of his juice, “It sounds a bit hallow.”
“Yes, but how do I open it, is the question,” Lily shook her head.
“Well,” Charles said distractedly, still buried behind his book, “Perhaps it’s got a charm or something on it.”
“Whoever heard of a charmed thingamabobbie?” asked James.
“Your use of the English language is marvelous,” Becky shot at him dryly.
He shrugged, “What can I say, I have a word with ways.”
Lily chuckled and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, the point is that I have until December nineteenth to figure the damn thing out.”
Just then, the bell rang, and Charles snapped his book shut, narrowly missing slamming DeBlonc’s face in there, as well. “Yes, well we’ve got a Potions test to worry about, first.”
Chapter 45
Bonfire Night
Not long after, Lily woke on November the fifth with a knot in her stomach without knowing why. She proceeded with her morning ballet stretches, dancing once again to Moonlight Sonata. After she showered and dressed for the day, she ran into James on the way out of the common room. He had a devilish smile on his face that made her wary.
“What pair of underwear of mine did you steal?” she asked suspiciously.
“None. Today,” he grinned.
She watched him a moment. “Why do you look so... thrilled?”
“Can’t a boy be thrilled in the morning?” James asked innocently.
Lily blinked. “Wow that sounded wrong.”
He grinned and stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her waist, “You know you wanna thrill me in the morning.”
Lily feigned a gagging noise, trying not to think of a very heated dream she’d had about the both of them last night. “Please.”
“Oh, if you ask so nicely...”
He kissed her warmly, making her laugh and gently push him away. “James!”
“Lily!”She rolled her eyes. He grinned, “What? We’re all aloney in this compartmentey...”
“So?”
“So there’s two beds to choose from.”
Lily pushed out of his arms, “You know that’s not appropriate. Now tell me why you’re so happy.”
James grinned widely, clicking his fingers and shrugging. “Oooooh, I dunnoooo... Maybe because ummmm tonight is Bonfire Night!”
She gasped and groaned, now knowing why she’d woken up with such a dread. Of course, all the Hogwarts students would want to be celebrating Bonfire Night, it was a British Holiday (to them) and an excuse to party. Without foreign student intervention, as it were. “Oh god. What have you planned?”
“You’ll see.”
Lily just smiled and shook her head, grabbing her bag and leaving. James followed behind her, smiling devilishly. However, This proved to be because while he’d been kissing her, he’d folded up her skirt and her knickers were showing. The moment she stepped off the train, she shuddered and whirled around to see if her stockings had a hole in them, and instead caught a flash of her own ass. James, laughing hysterically, was already making a run for it.
“JAMES!”
Lily pelted after him, and evidently he wanted to get caught, because she caught him pretty quickly. She tackled him to the snow and shoved a huge handful of it in his face, muffling his laughter.
“Alright, alright, stop!” he laughed.
She did it again, “No! That was mean! What if a student had seen that?!”
“What, your ass?”
“Yes, my ass!”
“I rather like your ass.”
Lily sighed and said, “Why do I even bother?”
“Because you looooove me, you know you dooooo!” James snickered.
“As if!”
Lily stood back up, brushing snow off her uniform and robes. James leapt to his feet, running a hand through his hair, and shook his head like a dog for good measure.
“Sirius is the dog, not you!” Lily laughed, getting hit.
James just laughed and shook his head. Together they walked to the palace for breakfast, waving at their friends and talking about classes and so forth. Lily stared once again at her Clue during lunch. All the progress she’d made in the past few days was that one of the runes she could barely decipher as an even more ancient form of the word ‘time’. But, of course, that could mean anything from time limits to some random rubbish just put in there. That night at dinner, she couldn’t help but notice that James and Sirius were talking together in low voices and frequently glanced at the teachers, smiling. After a while she leaned in,
“What the blazes are you two planning?”
“Noooothing,” Sirius smiled.
“Sure,” she raised and eyebrow, “And I’m Malfoy’s wife.”
Sirius made a face. “Ew! James! She’s like, your illegitimate girlfriend! Why didn’t you ever tell me?!”
Lily rolled her eyes and said, “Now, really, I’ve known you both long enough to know when you are up to something.”
“Up to something? Why, never!”
“Stuff it, James.”
He feigned heartbreak. “That hurt!”
She stared at them expectantly. Finally, Sirius sighed and glanced around. “Look, all I’m saying is that it’s Bonfire Night, alright? No need to get your knickers in a twist.”
Warily, Lily shook her head and went back to her veal. The boys watched her for a moment before resuming their whispering with renewed gusto. She finished eating before they did, kissed James, and left to go back to her compartment with Becky to work a bit more on the Clue. As they stripped out of their uniforms in her bedroom and down to their skirts and bras, Lily brought the little half orb out of her pocket and tossed it on her bed.
“Alright. We know it has a symbol for time on it,” she said. “Not much else, though.”
“Hmmm...” Becky said, digging out one of their many Runes books, as they’d raided the Library. “How much trouble do you think we’ll get in if they find out I’m helping you?”
“Loads, probably,” Lily shrugged, sitting on the bed and wiggling her toes. “Aah, that feels good.”
Becky laughed, flicking through the large volume. “When was it dated?”
“Before 1700 B.C.,” Lily said. “The symbol is a cruder pre-version of the 1700 to 1600 B.C. Greek rune for time.”
“How did you catch it? Kairosnach is like, one of the hardest ones to see properly.”
“Yeah, it’s only got about four million others that look very close to it,” Lily nodded. “But anyways, I figured that it’d be Greek or something, but when I looked at the other ones, I couldn’t place it.”
“Freak mis-runing?” Becky asked, flipping to the Greek section.
“Maybe, the rest look pretty Italian.”
There was a silence for a while, before Becky said, “This one.... This one right here...” She was pointing with her fingernail to a small rune on the complete other side of the orb. “It looks like... Journey. Italian, Viaggiona figure.”
“Viaggiona?” Lily asked, eyebrows creasing. “What the hell? Viaggiona and Kairosnach are possibly the two most unrelated runes, excluding that they’re two different languages.”
“The Viaggiona is recent, too,” Becky said. “Looks like 400 to 1100 AD.”
“Whaaat?”
“Man they totally messed this all up,” Becky sighed, lowering the orb. “Think they just meant to see if you’re good at Runes?”
“No, they said there was an actual challenge, something we had to do....” Lily said as she flopped back onto her bed. “But... Those are like, opposites.”
“Well... a little. I mean, the Greek one is like, ‘Old time’ and the Italian is ‘water voyage.’ What’s up with that?”
“I dunno....”
There was a silence between the girls, before Lily sat back up and took the orb, looking at it. Rotating it slowly in a counter-clockwise motion, which was how circular scrolls or stones were read, she recognized the Greek one and the Italian one, but the rest of them looked more like a decoration more than anything. “It’s like.... border or something.”
“Gayyyyy.”
“Yes,” squinting at it, Lily turned it over onto it’s flat side, and ran her fingers over it. They felt a little rubbing there, as if there were projections. “Hey! Lemme see your specs.”
“They’re Charles’...” Becky muttered, digging through her bag for the telescope-eqsue glasses. “Here.”
Lily put them on, and could immediately see the ridges and grooves on her fingers as if they were sidewalks in front of her. Turning to look at the flat side, she saw a blurry spot in the middle, and that the orb seemed to be made of silver, indeed. Zooming it in a little closer, she saw-
“It’s runes, Becky!” she exclaimed. “There’s runes on the flat of it.”
“What year?” Becky said, already waiting with the book.
“They’re French,” Lily said, looking closely at the shape and arrangement of them. “It.... I can read it, actually... Travel the wide water, enter the veil. Find lost land and High Priestess hail. Seek first the water, then last the land. First knight back shall hold high his hand.”
Both girls looked at each other. Becky opened her mouth to say something, but before she made a noise, there was a loud explosion outside, and cheering. The train rattled a little, and Lily jumped to her feet.
“I knew it, I knew it!” she shouted, jumping into her shoes and going to run outside. “I knew they were going to do someth-”
“LILY!”
Lily stopped, looking over. “What?”
“Do you want to get dressed, first?”
Lily looked down, realizing she was still in only her bra and un-done skirt. “Ach!”
She pulled her skirt off, jumping into some jeans, and pulled on a long sleeved dance studio shirt. Becky grabbed some jeans as well (magicked there) and a sweater of Lily’s. The girls were out the door within two minutes. Pounding out the train compartment and into the dusky night, both the girls halted in the snow, watching in awe as fireworks exploded in the air above them, and the Hogwarts students cheered. Shaking her head, Lily turned, hearing the loudest cheering near a very bright source of light- which happened to be an amazingly large bonfire. It was floating above the snow, which was melted in a ten-foot radius around it anyways, and people were charming popcorn in the air around it, and sipping cocoa and so on. There, she saw James and Sirius, laughing, wearing top hats, and holding three foot long sparklers, with which they were setting off fireworks.
“James!”
“Oh no!” Sirius cried, whirling. “It’s the authorities! Run!”
James laughed, setting off a few more rockets. As they whistled up and exploded in the air, Lily ran over and said,
“Is this what you planned? Fireworks?”
“It’s bonfire night!” James grinned, his face lit by an explosion of blue.
Lily smiled and hugged him, risking getting scalded by the sparking stick in his hand. He hugged her back and kissed her deeply, causing her to blush and everyone around to laugh and cheer. Then, of course, Sirius set off a long round of bangers right at their feet, causing them to dance out of harm’s way and go deaf. Hours later, it was pitch black outside the ring of their bonfire, but they still had fireworks going off. Dumbledore and Maxime had come to inspect, but deemed it safe enough and left. Students from the other schools were hanging round as well, since it was Friday and the curfew was extended until 10:30. Lily was sitting in a conjured armchair with James as Sirius and Corrette shot Roman Candles at each other in a duel, laughing. They were together snuggled under a blanket, sipping mugs of steaming tea or cocoa. Remus was talking with the other Remus and Marlissa were all talking and laughing by the fire, eating popcorn. It was a grand time, Lily had to admit, occasionally bothering herself to tell off someone (Sirius) for setting off firecrackers too close to other people (her).
“This was pretty fun, I’ll admit,” she said to James.
He nodded, “Of course it is, all the parties I plan are just amazing.”
“This is hardly a party.”
“I know,” he grinned wickedly.
Lily rolled her eyes, but rested her head on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead gently, smiling, and sat there with her contentedly, watching everyone have fun. By the time they had to quickly clean up and shoo everyone off at 10:15, he was about legally deaf, but it was worth it. After all, no one had yet figured out that the banger down the girl’s loos today had been him and Sirius, and that was victory enough.
As he and Lily herded everyone into their compartments, he yawned and stretched, remembering that Quidditch practice started tomorrow, and reminded his team. Lily rolled her eyes and went back to her compartment, changing into her pajamas. Going out to the main area to get a drink, she saw James coming in, shrugging off his cloak. He stole a sip from her lemonade, smirking, and then said,
“Hey, will you help me with this Charms homework?”
“You waited until after a party to ask me for homework help?” she asked.
He shrugged and grinned. “You know me.”
Sighing, she went over to his room with him. His desk was littered with homework sheets and so on. Sitting on the extra chair, she helped him with the homework, tired, and ended up yawning a lot. By the time she was ready to go to sleep, she had no desire to get up and go back to her room, so instead she sat on James’ bed. He raised an eyebrow, tucking away his homework.
“What?” she asked. “I’m too tired to be bothered going back to my room.”
“It’s thirty feet.”
“I’m too tired,” Lily shook her head, lying back.
“You know that’s not appropriate,” James mimicked, laughing. Lily threw a pillow at him, situating herself on his bed. James watched her for a moment, before shrugging. “Alright, I warned you.”
He started undressing, then, just to be a bastard. She watched him, horrified, before looking away and trying to control her thoughts. Which was particularly hard when he sighed and commented about how nice it felt. What felt nice? What felt nice?! The she heard dresser drawers being opened and shut, before a pause, and shuffling footsteps. James ambled round the other side of the bed, wearing checkerboard pajama bottoms and nothing else. Lily stared openly at his amazing torso as he climbed in next to her.
“G’night, Lils,” he said lightly.
The light went off. Lily, mad at his ability to do this to her, tried to think up a plan. After a while, she thought of one, and said, “Oh, damn, I didn’t brush my teeth...”
Getting up, she went into his bathroom and left the door open just a crack. There was her toothbrush, of course, and while she did brush her teeth, she also opened up a drawer in the bathroom cabinet and saw what she was looking for- scissors. Half a minute later, her pajamas were short and revealing. Just the way she knew James would like them. Finishing up her brushing of the teeth, Lily yawned loudly and innocently came back out. James glanced over, and then stared, seeing her long legs, her shoulders, her tummy in the moonlight. Getting back under the covers, she wrapped one leg around his, draping an arm over so that her fingers rested right above his pajama bottoms, and her thighs were pressed against his.
“Good night, James,” she said sweetly, trying not to smirk.
He just made a strangled noise in response.
Chapter 46
A Possible Breakthrough
When Lily woke up the next morning, the Saturday sunlight streaming on her face, she had to think for a moment before she remembered why there was a warm body lying practically on top of her, strong arms pulling her close. Blinking sleep out of her eyes, she saw the close-up face of James, eyes closed and breathing gently. Leaning back a little, so that they weren’t about a centimeter apart, Lily had to smile. He looked so innocent. Then, remembering the crap he’d pulled the night before, she rolled her eyes. Innocent, indeed!
Looking around, she saw an alarm clock reading off the time as a bit after nine in the morning. The room was quiet, but not creepily so. She thought she could see snow falling outside the window. Blinking herself awake, she stood, having to remind herself why her pajamas had gotten so small, and went to the bathroom. Brushing her teeth and washing her face, she yawned mightily, thinking of the trip they all had into the wizarding part of Marseille, today. However, she also remembered that the Challenge was a little over a month, now, and also thought of the poem on the bottom of the clue as she dried her face. Shaking her head, Lily went back into James’ room.
As she opened the door, she saw he was awake and sitting up, rubbing his eyes. Looking up when she came in, James jumped and brought one knee up under his sheet. Lily cast him an odd look, and he shrugged, yawning and stretching.
"You, er- scared me," he said hastily, a hint of pink in his cheeks.
"O..kay.." Lily said. "I’m going off to get dressed and so on for Marseille. I’ll see you at breakfast."
She kissed him, meaning for it to be a short peck, but James grabbed her and turned it into a passionate snog. After a few minutes, she pulled away, shaking her head.
"You’re horrible."
James kissed her again, "I know."
Lily grinned, rolling her eyes, and James watched her go. When the door closed he groaned and fell back on his bed, letting his leg drop. Shaking his head, he rubbed his face and said accusingly,
"You are a bad, bad Potter!"
After he had gone to the loo and showered in cold water, though, he was fine. Quickly dressing and grabbing his cloak, James left, meeting Sirius and Remus in the dining compartment for breakfast. They’d all missed breakfast up at the palace, and half of the train was in the room, joking, eating, yawning still. As he and his friends joked, eating toast and eggs, James asked,
"Hey, where’s Peter?"
"Something with his school work, again," Remus sighed. "I think he really is going to get held back if his marks don’t come up."
"All he does is study, though," Sirius said, eating his eggs. "I mean, he’s at it like-"
"Like you’re at Corette?" James laughed.
Sirius flicked a crust at him. "Like you’re at Lily."
"I’ve no idea what you’re talking about."
Sirius and Remus looked at each other, before both grinning and whispering, "The Marauder’s Map doesn’t lie!"
James cast a quick glance around. "It shows Hogwarts, you idiots."
"Not this modified version," Sirius grinned, digging in his pocket. "Lookie here!"
He splayed out a single parchment, showing the compartment they were in as a long rectangle on the page. It had dots and names, sure enough, moving around as the people in the compartment did.
"Shows the train only."
James clenched his jaw, once again a little embarrassed. "Assholes."
Sirius grinned, "Why thank you!"
For once not being able to think of something to shoot back, James just drank more juice in effort to hide or subdue his blushing. After all, it was quite something that the whole sleep-over thing had happened, but coupled with an embarrassing male anatomy event that occurred every morning that Lily almost saw... It wasn’t ground for good subject, at the moment.
Speaking of Lily, she walked in the compartment then, talking with Becky as they looked over a small map of the French town they were all tripping into for the day. Lily was wearing pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Becky wore something similar, and a cloak. As the girls sat, they heard their conversation.
"...like, this really huge mansion dedicated to local art," Lily was saying. "You know, small-time French artists from around the area."
"Wow, Lily, that sounds fascinating," Becky said in fake enthusiasm, "But sadly, France has some of the best shopping in the world, and the Yule Ball is only fifty days away today. Actually, forty-nine, because the day itself won’t count. Or even forty-eight, because no shop in their right mind will be open on Christmas Eve, Ball or no Ball. I personally refuse to go forty-eight days without knowing what my Yule Ball dress will be."
Lily just shook her head, signing and tucking away her map of Marseille. As she reached for some toast and porridge, she looked at the boys and mouthed Help me. Charles rolled his eyes.
"So anyways, when’s the first task, anyways?" Sirius shot at Lily.
She groaned. "Barely over a month. Turns out that it won’t be on the nineteenth, it’ll be on the seventeenth, because apparently the planners from the Ministry can’t understand French as well as they think they can, and found out that the nineteenth is a Sunday, and not a Friday."
"That’s pretty bogus," Sirius said softly.
"Who’re you telling?" Lily grumbled agreeably.
They all made it through breakfast, the whole group of them headed out of the train. The grounds were covered in a powdery snow, and Lily ran back into the Head’s compartment for get a cloak. When she came back, they all tramped across the grounds, seeing a frozen bush-lined road leading to some gates, and apparently down a bit of a mountain and into the town. Laughing and throwing snow at one another on the way, Lily enjoyed herself, hand intertwined with James’, who smiled. When they got into the town, they saw that the palace had been attached to an outgoing road from the wizarding end of the town, which was separated from the muggle bit by a park, which was enchanted so that only wizards could walk from the entryway and end up in Magical Marseille.
They wandered around the magic end for a while, looking at the shops and houses and restaurants, then going into the Muggle bit only to see the museum Lily had told them about. At seeing the very long line of muggle tourists waiting to get in, her enthusiasm cooled, and the teens all went back through the entryway and into the magical end of town. There, they lunched at a charming little diner that had vaguely British items on the menu, as well. As they got done eating, Becky dragged Lily up and out, going on about her dress again.
"Help!" Lily cried aloud this time, being dragged out. "I don’t want to go on the Mad Dress Hunt!"
The boys just laughed and waved her out. Lily sighed, adjusting her cloak and vowing to get them all back. Walking through the cold sidewalks, Becky turned to Lily and explained that they were meeting Corette and Marlissa at the dress shop, and Louisa would come later, after she’d finished her homework.
"Apparently," Becky explained, linking arms with Lily, "this shop is quite amazing. It’s got mostly unique pieces, and Marlissa told me that if you buy from them, they take your name and so on and won’t sell the same dress to anyone else who is going to the same event you are. A lot of the girls can’t get into the store before it’s sold out of dresses for the Ball, so that’s why I’m getting mine now. You really should get yours today too, Lily, or else you’ll never get one!"
Lily shrugged carelessly. "I’ll have plenty of time. Besides, I don’t have much more than a galleon with me."
"I’ll buy yours for you and you can give it back later," Becky suggested. "Or you could just forget your birthday present for next year!"
They laughed, rounding down a new street and seeing a sign that read Boutique Augmentée, painted with a few gilded roses.
"Rose boutique?" Lily asked as they neared the little storefront. "Cute."
"Just wait," Becky grinned.
They opened the door, whose windows were frosted with cold, and a puff of warm air met them as they entered. Shaking off their snow-covered shoes and hanging their cloaks on available hooks, the girls looked around and saw a very pretty dress store, with walls painted pink with roses and stripes. The walls were covered with a smooth, gold-colored rack that ran around the walls smoothly, and there were a few rounded racks on the floor. The one wall that didn’t have a dress rack on it held the store front window, coat hooks, the main entrance, more coat hooks, a checkout counter holding a lovely, old-fashioned antique register, and two fitting rooms covered with a satiny pink curtain. A few chairs sat in front of the changing rooms, and a rack jutted out of the wall in-between them, presumably to hang dresses on. At the moment there were a few dresses hanging there, and the far curtain fluttered slightly with hidden movement within.
"Bonjour, mademoiselles," chimed a woman, looking up from a small hemming platform. She was currently shortening a dress for a girl. "Ow may I ‘elp you?"
"Oh, we’re just looking for our-"
"Rebeec! Lys!"
Both girls looked over, recognizing the names that their French friends had given them. "Them!" finished Becky.
The woman nodded and went back to shortening. Marlissa and Corette waved from behind a tall rack of dresses. "Over ‘ere!"
Both girls went over. Corette was looking at dresses, and Marlissa had already picked out a few to try on, all seeming to be in or around a shade of soft purple. Corette seemed to grab anything that tickled her fancy.
"Oh, I jus luff shopping," she said. "And for ze dresses, as well! I am so excited for ze dance- are not you as weel?"
Becky grinned and nodded, going on about it as she went to a section of dresses on the wall that seemed to be a shade of blue, which Becky wore on formal occasions to bring out her eyes. Lily dragged over a waiting chair and watched them all in amusement, trying to stop herself from looking at her watch.
After a while, Marlissa had chosen a dress, and both Becky and Corette were trying theirs on. Becky was examining herself in a mirror, and Corette was chatting with the worker lady in rapid French as they examined a few dresses she’d tried on. Marlissa hung her dress on the trying-on rack and turned to Lily.
"Are you not looking for a dress as weel?"
Lily shrugged. "No, I think I will wait a bit longer. You know, to see if I live past the First Task."
She meant it as a joke, but Marlissa just shrugged. "I haff faith in yoo."
Lily nodded, watching as Becky got upset and decided to ‘fuck blue and get a goddamn black dress- they’re easier to work with!’
**************************************************************************************
Four weeks later, Lily sat hunched over the poem on the bottom of the first clue, which she had written out on a paper in both French and English. The little half-orb was sitting up near her on the desk, waiting for its clue to be broken. She signed in frustration, flicking through her enormous volume of Everything Magical or Referenced To Magic. It was about a foot and a half thick, and ridiculously heavy. She was lucky to even have access to it, most libraries just had about four million books instead of this one.
Travel the wide water, enter the veil. Find lost land and High Priestess hail. Seek first the water, then last the land. First knight back shall hold high his hand.
Lily looked at the poem again. "High Priestes... that refers to a cult or some sort of ancient religion... Wicca... Pagan... Druid... Egypt, Islam... Hmmm...."
On a spur, she looked up ‘wicca’ in the book, but didn’t find much on water or land. Glancing at the clock in her room, she saw it was a bit past midnight, making it now December the fifth. Which meant that the First Task was about ten days away. She blinked tiredly, looking back.
"Okay... Paganism?" she muttered flicking the pages to the index, looking it up, and flipping back.
Not much more than that all the elements of life and nature were a major part of their beliefs. Lily yawned and set aside the book, walking into the main compartment. It was dark, and she felt around more than saw her way to the little kitchen area, opened a box, and got out a drink. Going back to her room, she closed the door, hearing the wind whistle violently as it snowed.
Grabbing the book and moving to her bed, which was more comfortable than the desk chair, Lily looked for Druids or Druidry in the index. Flicking more pages, she barely saw the words as she read, looking for the term high priestess. Her eyes widened just a bit when she saw it, to wake herself a bit more.
"High priestess... blah blah blahda... Usually found in covenants, Druidic churches, or other similar convents. Typically reformed castles... bla bla... Mythical muggle tales of ancient druidic background ties in stories such as Arthur which can be...." -yawn- "verified by accounts of Merlen and his connections with Morgan Le Fay of Avalon and the Lady. What utter rubbish."
Lily yawned, trying to think. Staring at a painting of Morgan le Fay as she stood, presumably in her chambers, performing some sort of Druidic magic or other, garbed in rich robes, holding some sort of hand-held pot in which flames burst forth under her fingers. After a while, the image became familiar, and Lily blinked rapidly, seeing that the way Morgan held her hands in the picture reminded her forcibly of a rare form of magic- wandless. Scanning the rest of the painting, she saw a few vials of what appeared to to be potions or such ingredients on the desk near her.
"You’re joking," Lily breathed.
Quickly marking the page, then flipping around, she found an entire section on Avalon. These pages told of a mystical island in-between the worlds, caught in things called mists, that was fabled to have originated around Glastonbury. Blinking, Lily recalled pictures she had seen of Glastonbury convent, and the great Tor tower. Flipping the page again, she saw a painting of a island that seemed to double itself, separated by a gray blur in the middle. The one on the left was smaller, farther away, and held the Glastonbury convent and Tor. The one on the right was larger, closer, and seemed ethereal due to it’s architecture mimicking that of Glastonbury, but obviously more ancient and more Druidic in design.
"No... freaking... way," Lily gasped.
She knew what the Task was.
Chapter 47
The Task
Without realizing it, Lily’s week slipped away, and then the next week, and it was the night before competition. She had spent her whole time studying, finding various spells she thought she’d need. There had to be danger involved somewhere, so she knew she ought to be prepared as she could be. Becky was still adamant about getting Lily to buy her dress soon, what with the Ball being about seven days away. The classes for the seventeenth were cancelled in order for the Task to take place, and now that dinner was over, everyone was anticipating tomorrow morning. She had shaken Nikifor and Remus DeBlonc’s hands cordially, wishing them luck. Now, Lily danced, trying to block out the nerves she felt for the morning. James was in his room finishing up some homework, or so she thought. In truth, he was watching her from his doorway, a bit concerned, and finally emerged. She didn’t notice him, pirouetting around quickly, the wooden floor clattering to keep up with her movements. Her breath came a bit short, she was dancing so hard.
Finally, she felt herself tilt too far off balance, and fall over sideways. Gasping as she fell through the air, down towards the floor, Lily braced herself for impact that never came, because James caught her by the forearms. Shakingly, she opened her eyes and looked up.
"Thanks," Lily whispered.
James pulled Lily upright and lessened his grip on her arms, but didn’t let go. "You alright?"
Lily nodded, still a little winded. "Yeah, just need to work on my dancing for the Nutcracker... First show is Saturday."
James nodded, remembering her going off for the day a week before and auditioning for her normal part as lead in her small town’s production of The Nutcracker. She’d since been disapparating every afternoon to the studio after school, and had asked for tomorrow off so that she could "catch up on homework" or, rather, do the Tournament. The premiere was Saturday, with one show that night, two on the twentieth, and one every day until Christmas Eve, when they did two shows. James personally thought that was a lot, but Lily shook her head and had told him they did two shows a say the year before, and three on the Eve.
"Okay... well... You should probably get some rest."
She shook her head. "Not until I get this damn sequence down. You’d think I’d remember this from last year..."
James nodded and glanced at the clock. "Mind if I watch?"
"Sure..." Lily said, pulling away from him and walking towards the corner again, which he assumed was her imaginary off-stage.
After a moment, she slowly walked more into the middle of the compartment, doing some sort of dragging thing with her feet. James watched as she twirled slowly and moved her arms fluidly, went up onto her toes and extended her leg back and around, pausing, as if thinking, then nodding and doing more movements. After a while, she shook her head and stopped, rubbing her forehead.
"Impossible to do without Richard," she muttered.
"Richard?" James asked, trying not to feel jealous.
Lily nodded. "The nutcracker. He’s my dance partner for the play and this is the Snow Pas de Deux scene.... waltz of the snowflakes. It’s the end of act one and so on... It’s impossible to practice without him, because I can’t do the lifts or turns properly." Lily shrugged, "I may as well sleep."
She kissed him gently, ruffling his hair fondly, and went into her room. James watched her go, then decided that he’d just have to meet this Richard fellow.
**************************************************************************************
Dawn cracked. Dawn passed. Lily’s alarm failed to go off. Suddenly her door burst open, and Becky stood there, fully dressed and holding a stack of toast. "Lily! God, wake up!"
Lily raised her head, glanced at Becky, and let it fall back onto her pillow. "Go away. Tired."
"Tournament in half an hour!" Becky said.
Lily shot up. "What?!"
"Yeah!"
"What?!"
"YEAH!"
Lily stared at Becky, and jumped off her bed, running to her closet. She started stripping her clothes off right then, not caring Becky could see, and pulling on new underwears and jeans, a long-sleeved shirt. As she pulled the shirt over her head and shoved her arms through, Lily turned back to Becky.
"Is everyone else already there?" she asked, grabbing a piece of toast and pushing her feet into trainers.
"Pretty much, yeah," Becky nodded, casting a charm to brush Lily’s hair and put it in a French braid. "I’d thought you’d died, you’re usually always early to things."
Lily grabbed her wand and ran out the door with Becky, munching her toast as her friend grabbed a cloak for her. They rocketed off the train and across the snowy lawns, which was hard as the snow was calf-deep. Coming up to the Beauxbatons palace, they saw that the grounds had been tramped almost down to the brown grass by many, many feet, and only a few stragglers remained behind. Running up the palace steps, slipping as a stitch formed in her side, Lily threw the doors open and dashed across the icy stones to the main hall doors.
"Ah, no, not yoo," said a booming female voice. "Yoo are to go to ze Champions room, whare we met before. Zere you will get your instrucshions and zen proceed into ze hall for your Task."
Lily nodded, still panting, and no longer happy that she’d eaten. Becky hugged her, pressing something into her hands, and waved bye, going into the hall. Lily had a glimpse of many, many students, and that the normal round tables were gone and replaced with stadium stands. Then the door shut, and Madame Maxime was pushing her a bit roughly down the hall, into a side corridor, through a secret door, and into the original meeting room. Inside, Remus DeBlonc was muttering to himself and looking at his little half-orb. Nikior was sitting a bit sullenly, as if thinking deeply. Lily remembered that Becky had put something in her hand, and was about to look to see what it was, when she heard Dumbledore.
He was entering the room with someone she didn’t know, presumably a French Ministry Official. They were talking, and when they came up to the students, both smiled. "Weel! Are you ready for ze Task, students?"
"Yes, sir," Remus DeBlonc replied distractedly.
"Ah, zat is good!" he beamed. "Now. We haff to determine ze order en which yoo are to go out and prefor ze task. Each one off you will have to gazzer ze ofther half of ze orb zat you were given for ze clew!"
Are you kidding me?! I forgot it!
"Now, we haff to determine ze order in zat you weel go..." said the official, bringing out a few straws. He charmed one shorter, and one longer, so that there were three different lengths. Then he covered them with his hand and shuffled them round in his fingers, finally tapping them all to an equal height. Lily stared as if he were childish. He offered the hand of them to her first, and she reached to draw a straw. Her fingers danced round for a moment, before settling on a straw and drawing it out, almost nervously.
She held in her hand the longest straw. Dumbledore smiled at her, and the official offered it to the two boys. Remus drew, and took out the shortest straw, leaving the man to hand Nikifor the middle one.
"Weel, zen, we haff our order. Now, remember zat no matter what ‘appens, yoo are to get ze ofther haff of your orb. Eef yoo find yourself unable to continyoo wiz your event, seemply send ze red spharks up into ze air, and yoo weel be brought back safely, however deesqualified. We weel begin in fife minutes."
He turned and left through the door, into the hall, leaving them all to sit and think. Lily sat in a rich arm chair, staring at the fire, feeling her nerves eat themselves alive. Last? She’d rather go first and get it over with! Now she’d have time to mull it over and get even more scared.
Before she realized it, Remus DeBlonc was standing and walking to the door, his jaw set. They could now hear cheering and a magnified voice on the other end of the door, announcing that the tournament was about to begin, and here was our first champion, Remus DeBlonc! Remus glanced back at them nervously, clutched his wand, and opened the door. A roar of cheers deafened them as he stepped out and shut the door behind them. The adults had left, to watch, and Lily was left alone with Nikifor.
"I hope he vill do vell," Nikifor said.
"I do as well..." Lily said softly.
There wasn’t a clock in the room, so neither of them knew how long it took for Remus to complete his task, other than that it felt like forever. They could hear the cheers and gasps, screams of the crowd. Nikifor had begun to pace by the fire, turning his wand nervously in his hands. After a long while, there was an eruption of cheering louder than the rest, and then they heard Nikifor being announced. He smiled wanly at Lily, and waved, leaving without a word.
Now she was left alone, to agonize over it. Why was the crowd reacting like this? From what she had discovered, she thought the test was a simple treasure hunt through Glastonbury, or Avalon, to the High Priestess and, now she knew, to find the other half of the orb she’d forgotten. Her hands sweated, and something in her left hand remained cool. Raising it, she remembered that it was the thing from Becky. About to look, she heard a shrill whistle, which scared her, and that the official was saying something about an injury, or something.
Injury?!
"And now foor ze final coontestant, but zertainly not ze least, Mademoiselle Leely Evans off ‘ogwarts School for Weesardry..."
Lily slowly stood, walking to the door, heart pounding. She felt her wand in her back pocket, and opened the door, left hand clutched tightly, fearfully around whatever it was Becky had given her. A blast of cheers met her, and she saw the palace hall in a state never before imagined. Immediately in front of her was a high stand on which the headmasters, game officials, and announcer were all sitting. To her left and on all three remaining walls were conjured stadium stands, filled with students to the maximum capacity. However, the first ten or so rows were obscured, because five feet from the announcing stand was a solid stone wall, blocking the view of the rest of the Hall floor, and what lay beyond. She saw a grayish white haze floating over the tops of the walls. Set in it was a large stone doorway, closed. Slowly, Lily walked forward, shaking, and stood before the door. The announcer was going on about a one hour time limit. Had she really been in that room two hours?
"Now, ze mademoiselle weel continue into ze game arena and complete ‘er task. ‘Opefully she shall be abul to feenish it en ze set time and weeth ze set obstaculs en ‘er way."
Obstacles?
"Now, Mademoiselle Evans, are yoo reddy?" asked ze announcer.
The crowd became a bit quieter, and she looked up at the dias, seeing them all looking down at her. Shakingly, she nodded, unable to think of anything else to do. He smiled.
"Goot! Your time ztarts as soon as yoo enter ze door! Goot luck!"
The crowd roared, and Lily gulped. How had she ever gotten chosen for this? Looking down at her left hand, she held the first, closed around whatever it was, and reached, opening the door. A flash of white light blinded her as she stepped forward.
Instantly, things went silent. The roar of the crowd was lost. Her feet met spongy, living grass. Blinking, she looked back and saw no wall, no door, just rolling green hills and blue sky. Off in the distance she saw a dirt road, leading to what looked like a castle set in a distant hillside. Looking forward, again, she saw that she was a few hundred yards from a lake. In the middle was an island on which rose a large tower. Mist shrouded the island.
"This is too easy," she said, stepping forward.
Foolishly so. Instantly there was a cry of many men, and pounding horse hoofs. Lily whirled, feeling something pull at her body as she did so. Ignoring this, she started to run, feeling the earth vibrate with a stampede-like quality below her.
Chapter 48
The Knights
Diving through bushes and feeling her clothing snag, Lily finally found refuge in a large thicket patch. Covering herself with the branches of thick bushes, she peered through the slats they allowed, to see many horse and horsemen ride past, wearing metal armor and brandishing lances or swords.
"What is going on?" she whispered to herself.
Now that they had gone past, still looking, Lily looked down at herself. She was no longer garbed in her jeans and long-sleeved shirt, but now in a medieval dress much resembling that of what a noblewoman would wear. It was a square-cut neckline, long sleeves, and fell to her feet, but billowed out at the waist. It suppressed her chest tightly, which made breathing difficult. Looking about herself, she saw the knights, as she now knew them to be, circling, looking for her.
"Come out, you whore!" they shouted. "Thou art arrested for high treason and witchery! These are crimes against the Crown!"
"Thou hidest in contempt of the crown!" another shouted, stabbing the bushes with his lance. "Thy master the devil cannot save thee from the wrath of God!"
They were moving a bit farther away. The horses stamped the ground impatiently. Lily found herself scared for her life. Looking down at her hands, she saw her wand in her right hand, and her left hand clamped around... She opened it.
The half orb. Becky must have thought to grab it. Lily silently thanked her. Looking, she saw the knights a bit farther down. Would they hear her if she moved? She now realized her folly of hiding in bushes. Peering, she tried to determine how far she had run from the Island.
"Oh God, what am I to do?" she whispered to herself.
Moving a bit, she saw that the bushes did not make as much noise as she would have thought. Crawling out towards the edges, always keeping an eye on the knights, Lily waited for the opportune moment to run. They seemed to be circling back, now. Panicking, she cast an illusionment charm on herself. Nothing happened.
Lily gaped. Her magic didn’t work!
Suddenly, her head burst into pain as one of the knights grabbed her by the hair and pulled her from the bushes. "I have found her!"
Screaming, Lily tried to pry the man’s hands off, but they were too strong. By some mercy she stood on her feet, so the pull on her hair was no longer as great. Tears streamed from her face as the other men rounded back to corner her. Lily frantically started shouting off every spell she knew, waving her wand. They yelled, afraid of this witchery.
"Expelliarmus!"
Suddenly she flew out of the man’s grasp, knocking over a man that had dismounted his horse, Crashing to the ground, Lily was shocked for a split second, before she launched to her feet and ran. The horses galloped after her, and she searched the shoreline, frantically, for the boat.
The boat! Where is the boat?!
Running, she didn’t dare to glance back, hearing the shouted accusations of witchery and devil worship. Finally she knew she was to get caught or forget the boat, though she knew she needed it. Without thinking, Lily turned and ran into the water, being slowed down to a terrifying slow pace by the weight of her dress sodding down. Tapping the dress, she tried the impervious, but it didn’t work, either due to the fact that some magic seemed to not work, or because she was panting for breath. Finally, she waved her wand, conjuring a knife. It was a crude sickle knife, not metal, and jagged. Not caring, daring to glance back and seeing the men now wheeling back to chase her into the lake, Lily started to cut the dress from her body. Blood spurted, too, and she felt the pain of icy cold water rushing into deep cuts on her arms and breast.
"Thou art under arrest! Thou shall be hanged as the whorish devil wishiper thou art!"
Huge splashed sounded behind her as they jumped into the water, or rode the horses in. Now in danger of drowning due to the weight of the dress, Lily felt herself slip, loose footing, and plummet down. Writhing, she saw the murky depths slipping away quickly beyond her, and knew she could go no farther with the dress. Shaking from cold, air-deprived, she tried again to cut the dress away, seeing her blood floating out of her body.
Her head broke the surface again, and she heard vague shouting of witches being able to swim. Seeing an approaching man on horseback, Lily gasped in air and sank under again, trying to sink to the bottom. Slashing at the dress was barely doing anything. Slowly, it began to come free of her. Brain screaming for oxygen, she slashed again and again, ignoring blood, and finally saw the dress weak enough to rip-
Air!
Her fingers tore the dress the rest of the way off, and she kicked it off her feet.
AIR!
Obligingly, Lily’s legs pounded her to the surface. As soon as she gasped in more air, a hand grabbed her by the neck. Panicked, Lily didn’t think before she jammed the knife into the man’s wrist. He cried out and let her go, and she sank under again, this time swimming under water. She saw the darkness gathering as the bottom slipped out of view, her dress slowly sinking into it. Looking back, she saw the horses’ legs retreating back to land. Lily came to the surface for air, blinking water out of her eyes. The men were on the shore, shouting that she was swimming, sure sign of a witch. Treading, freezing cold, Lily found that her wand was now clutched with the orb in her left hand. Taking it, teeth chattering, she said,
"Accio boat."
Nothing happened. She felt her skin rippling in cold, now garbed in a corset and leggings of the medieval type, and a pair of flat, sheepskin shoes. She waited, now seeing the men pointing arrows at her and letting them fly. They splashed in the water around her.
"Accio boat!" she cried, scared, trying to dodge the arrows.
Just as she tread to the side to miss one arrow, another came and struck her shoulder, hitting deep in and crushing a bone. Lily cried out, feeling herself sink more into the water, blood now pouring out and staining all the water red. The knights were yelling about finding a boat, or a raft, something to get the body.
Body?!
She couldn’t die, this wasn’t real! She was shaking and kept slipping under, unable to see when she surfaced for the watery blood in her eyes. Everything was tinged pink. Pain riddled her body. Oxygen wasn’t coming as readily as it was a few moments before.
Suddenly, something bumped her shoulder, making her scream. Opening her eyes, she saw wood. White wood, paneled. Staring up, she saw the top of it, floating easily- the boat. Shaking, Lily threw one arm up, grasping the side of the boat and heaving herself in. It rocked and threatened to turn, but Lily threw herself into it too quickly, unfortunately causing the arrow to embed deeper. Crying out, she gritted her teeth and reached, snapping the arrow. It jolted painfully, and her hand became covered in a gush of warm blood. Gasping, Lily tapped it and whispered a few medical charms. Nothing happened. Why did only some spells work?!
The boat was moving. She looked and saw that it was doing so on its own, gliding silently towards the thick of the mists. The Knights were furious, a few lashing together a raft of driftwood, others still shooting arrows, which fell with a splash far behind her. The mists grew more dense. Knowing what to do, Lily painfully sat up, facing the bow. As the mists became too dark to see, she reached her good hand up and awkwardly swished them down, like in the book.
Nothing happened. The mists remained. She was just about to truly panic and think she was lost here forever, when something did happen. The mists lessened. Sun shone through, and she was floating towards the island. The grass grew right to the shore, and it was covered with willow trees and druidic buildings.
As the bow nudged the bank, Lily awkwardly stood, still shaking with pain and cold, and stumbled out, onto the grass. Her blood spilled from various wounds onto the land. She found herself thinking over the poem, despite herself.
"T-travel the w-wide water.... en-enter the veil... F-f-find lost la-and and high pries-stess hail. See-eek first the-e water and the-en last th-th-the land. First kni-knight back... shall ho-hold high his han... hand..."
She thought quickly as she lay on the warm banks. The lake had to be the water, and the mists were the veil that supposedly separated Avalon from Glastonbury, or wherever she had just been. Daring to look back, she saw a misty shroud of the other shore, and that the knights weren’t there or didn’t exist. This had to be the lost land, because Avalon didn’t seem to exist, not even in the Magical world. Now she had to find the High priestess, and water, and land? Or had she already found the water and land?
"Thou art expected."
Lily rolled onto her bleeding front, and saw a girl her own age, dressed in a long, shapeless white dress, with flowing blond hair. It forcibly reminded her of a Veela. "What?"
"Thou art expected by the Lady," the girl said. "Come, and I shall take thee to her."
Lily stumbled to her feet, and the girl walked in front of her, bare footed, on a worn path in the grass. Soon they came to the buildings, and she saw many girls dressed similarly, some younger, some older. They seemed to be doing things such as gardening or gathering water, and some seemed to be practicing magic- without wands.
"She awaits for thee in here," said the girl abruptly, coming to a building. "Thou must make haste."
Lily stared, then went in through the darkened doorway. Her eyes adjusted, and she saw a white room, of stone, lit by sunlight streaming through thin, paneless windows. An elderly woman sat on a deerskin seat. Her graying hair braided over her shoulder.
"Thou art the last," she said softly. "I have seen thine fellow traveler. One we could not help, for he was taken by the Knights."
"Wh... what do I have to get?" Lily asked, teeth chattering.
"Thou art questing for the remnant of thine orb," said the woman softly. "Come, let me see thine’s."
Lily grimaced, taking the orb out of her now paralyzed left hand and offering it. She was nearly covered in blood on her whole left side, and none of this was getting to her through the pain.
The woman saw this. "Thou art injured greatly."
"Where is the other half?"
"Seek first the water, then last the land," the woman quoted, holding the half-orb.
"I already did!"
She shook her head. "There is more water yet. And land there."
"But-"
"It is close now. Find the knights."
The old woman placed the orb back in her hand and turned away in a dismissive manner. Lily stared, and felt a girl tug her out of the room. Outside, she blinked and looked around. The girls moved about as if she weren’t injured or bleeding. The blond girl nodded her head and left. Lily stood there, frustrated.
"What am I supposed to do?!"
Turning, she saw a foot path leading directly from her feet off into a groove of trees, where there were no girls. A glint of metal caught her eye. Mouth going dry from fear, she hurried down it. Soon she came to a metal breastplate that rested against an above-ground tomb. The worn likeliness was of a knight atop the tomb, with his arms crossed. In one hand he held a stone sword, and in the other a crowd of reeds. In gothic lettering at his feet, Lily read the name.
"Lancelot..." she whispered.
Coming back to his head, she knew this might be the knight she had to find. Searching, though, she did not see the other half to her orb.
"Where is it?" she whimpered, trying not to think of her shoulder.
She stared at the worn face of Lancelot, his eyes open and staring at the sky. Most of the stone was old, crumbling. Sighing in defeat and feeling tears finally overwhelm her, Lily collapsed against the tomb and let her arms rest against the handsome, ruined face of Lancelot.
"I’m so freaking close!" she sobbed.
Looking up as tears streamed from her eyes, she watched the old, crumbled ones of the dead Knight. She sobbed for a bit, scared, not knowing what to do. Her mind raced over the poem again and again. Finally she stood, ready to admit her defeat and raise her wand to signal help. As she stood, her hand pressed against that of the Knight-
And felt something.
Stopping, Lily looked back at the crumbling hand. Lancelot wore a ring, domed, set into his finger. It was dull, just like the rest of the stone configuration around her. A shadow passed overhead, and then blew away with the breeze. The sun came back. The ring glinted.
Lily’s fingers suddenly tore at the stone around the ring. It slowly fell away, until she struggled to pull the thing off- and it gave. In her hand she held a tarnished, aged piece of metal, a half-sphere, and oval in shape. Shaking, she brought out her clue and compared them. They were exact replicas. Mouth dry, Lily reached, and touched the two flat sides together.
A blinding white flash of light engulfed her, and suddenly she was sitting, bleeding, in the middle of the empty palace hall, an eruption of cheers around her. The official was calling off the time and the scores, and medi-wizards were swarming down to care for her cuts. Her shirt and jeans were ripped and bleeding where she’s been cut from the knife, and her left shoulder was bare, shirt torn away, to reveal the half-arrow still sticking into it.
Another figure was running to her, black hair messy as ever. "Lily! Lils!"
"I canoot belief it, Leely Evans has won ze Task weeth an ashtounting time almost fife minutes below zat off Remoos! Mademoiselle Evans ees in ze first place for ze Triwizard Cup weeth a hoondred and feefty points out off a poosible two hoondred!"
The medi-wizards swarmed her, casting charms, summoning out the arrow, fixing her up, as James skidded in front of her, looking concerned but proud, and crushed her in a huge hug. The crowd roared in cheering, and Lily suddenly felt that it had all been worth it.
Chapter 49
The Mad Dress Hunt
The rest of that day and then the subsequent morning, Lily Evans found herself floating on a cloud of euphoria at her victory over Remus and Nikifor. As it turned out, Remus had taken so long doing his challenge due to having somehow, unexplainably, fallen prey to an attack by dragon. Apparently they roamed freely in medieval times. Nikifor had been captured by the Knights and taken off, towards that distant castle Lily had seen, and sent for help with his wand and rescued. During a questioning of Professor Dumbledore after the Task, Lily discovered that she had been transported back in time to the Arthurian age, and that certain spells didn’t work because they hadn’t been invented, yet. But, as the taste of her jam from breakfast faded in her mouth, Lily was faced with an entirely new Task.
"You are getting your dress today, the Ball is in a week!"
And, without a word’s input on the subject, Lily Evans, champion of time and dimensions and crazy old priestesses, found herself being helplessly dragged back down into Marseille to forcibly look for a Yule Ball dress. The walk down was hell due to the weather, and it didn’t warm them much, so even Lily was glad to finally see a store come into view, even if it was a dress one. There was just something in Lily that loved to dance and wear make-up and be as girly as you damn well please, but dressing up in a stiff, uncomfortable gown was just something different. Not to mention the entire group was assembled for the task- the group being Becky, Corette, Louisa, Marlissa, and one or two of the younger French girls that seemed to be related to Louisa or Corette through several family members removed, or something of the sort, and Lily. As if the gaggle of girls wasn’t enough, the store was full of last-minute dress shoppers just like Lily, and it was quite a bit more like pandemonium than it had been the last time they’d been in the Rose Boutique.
"Isn’t there another store?" Lily asked, seeing the number of girls already in the store, rummaging through racks in a slightly worried manner.
"Zere are, yes, but zey are noot as goot as thees one, yoo see?" said Louisa.
"Yes, but-"
"And this one has a good selection," Becky added in. "Or... did... there may not be much left...."
And, indeed, there didn’t seem to be. Most of the dresses they picked out for her were the consistency of green that either looked terrible on her, or matched her eyes too well and made her look like a Christmas card. The shapes and fits and designs didn’t suit Lily at all, and after almost two hours, she was tired of the store and the dresses and the people. Honestly, Lily just wanted to be able to go to her Dress Rehearsal at three this afternoon without a nervous breakdown before it.
Finally, Lily thrust the last five dresses at her friends and snapped, "Look, there’s not one here. I’m going somewhere else. And if I don’t find something somewhere else, I’m not going to the bloody ball."
"Yoo haff to," piped up one of Corette’s twelfth distant cousins. "All ze champions open ze ball weeth a dance."
"Then I’ll do it in a leotard," Lily growled, donning again her jacket and leaving the store.
The foreigners’ enthusiasm on helping her find a dress cooled, and only Becky continued with her on her search. They stopped long enough to lunch at a small café type thing, and it was then at the apocalyptic moment occurred, while sipping coffee, munching a pastry, and trying not to look at the cute French boys staring at them. Lily was actively engaged in all three activities when It happened- It being that she glanced out the frosted window, across the street, and into the also frosted window of a small store that seemed to be an independent company. In the window there was a display of winter cloaks, nothing at all special about them, really, but below them was a pair of dainty dress shoes. Being the girl still on the Hunt for not only a dress but dress shoes, Lily thought as practical Lily always does and-
"Hey, Becks, let’s go look at those cloaks. They look pretty cool."
Becky stared. "Dress, Lily, dress!"
"Yeah, but, well, mine’s getting all thin and stuff, and winter’s colder back home."
Becky sighed, and nodded, finishing her drink and standing. The girls eventually dashed across the slick street and into the warm shop, which smelled like vanilla. Unwinding their scarves, the girls looked around, seeing an assortment of fashionable clothing. A shop assistant waved from the back, where she was hemming some robes for a young girl, and Becky went off to look at some tee shirts. Lily looked at the cloaks, but decided that their eccentric embroidery wouldn’t exactly go unnoticed in the black-clad halls of Hogwarts. Turning, she saw the shoes in the window, and looked at them for a moment in curiosity. They were a bluish base with golden beads and whatnot over them, making a design that fooled you into thinking it was golden lace sewn onto the top of the shoe. They were a few inches high, not terribly remarkable.
"Lily, look, they’ve dresses as well," Becky called from the other side.
Sighing, Lily turned and went over, knowing well that there was less than a week until the Yule Ball and that this ought to get done sooner than later. Coming round a rack, Lily saw a six-foot bar hanging on the wall crammed with an assortment of dresses in all lengths and colors, seemingly no two alike. They started rummaging through them, eventually picking out some to try after reading a handwritten note tacked on the wall next to the rack saying that the dresses were all one size and that they would be charmed to fit the wearer if need be. They headed towards the back changing room, carrying half Becky’s body weight in dresses each, and flomped them onto a nearby chair as Lily disappeared with the first one.
Forty minutes later, they were to the last third of the pile, when Lily pulled the magenta cotton curtain back and saw Becky’s blue eyes widen. There was a somber pause in the little shop, in which even the sales woman looked over to see what this sudden tensing of atmosphere was in her store. Then, daring to break the silence, Becky whispered,
"You are getting that dress."
When, ten minutes later, they were purchasing the dress and preparing to leave, having made the magical alterations to the dress, Lily paused, ran up to the front of the store, and took the shoes from the display case.
Perhaps some things weren’t meant to be explained.
**************************************************************************************
Christmas Eve, Lily found herself spending the entire day at her town’s dance theater center for the double production of The Nutcracker. James had come to every showing so far, and she had no doubt he’d be here for the final one tonight. She was quite tired, and it was in-between shows, so she only drank a little water and avoided food, though she hadn’t been able to eat all day. Walking around backstage in her tights and nude colored leotard, Lily was getting dressed for her first scenes, as curtain opened in less than a half hour. James had made it a point to meet Richard- better known as the Nutcracker Prince- and as it turns out he needn’t have worried, as Richard seemed to be the largest asshole either of them had met from the Muggle world.
"Lily, we’re on in ten!" called Brianna, a.k.a. Sugar Plum Fairy.
"What? Have I been daydreaming again?!" Lily gasped, jumping into her costume.
Before she knew it, Lily was on the hot stage, blinded by lights, watching Angelo as he performed his bit as the crazy Count Drosselmeyer. Intermission came by sooner than expected, and Lily peed, drank some water, glanced furtively out at the audience as they moved about, chattering softly and going back to their seats.
By the time the curtains dropped, and the cast were doing their bows, Lily could hear her stomach growling from not being fed all day. As she held Richard’s hand dutifully and curtseyed many times to the audience, waving, smiling, he remarked through his smile,
"Jesus, Evans, deafen us all won’t you?"
"Fuck off, Richard," Lily gritted through her teeth. "You’re an insufferable asshole."
"Who’s insufferable? I’m not the one packed off to a school for rejects all year," he beamed back.
They were taking their final bows now with the whole cast, and Lily was grateful for the dipping of her head, to hide the anger she couldn’t control. James had never even made her this mad! Well, maybe he had, but... She knew she ought to try to control her anger, as she had a bad habit of having magical outbursts when she was mad. Trying to smile as some random flowers were tossed up, Lily felt his sneer aimed at her as he raised her hand up and shook it like the winner of a soccer game. How dare he?
Suddenly, there was a deafening ripping noise, and everyone couldn’t help but look- Richard’s tights had exploded open, and he stood in the glaring stage lights wearing nothing but pale skin and his tiny dance belt. However designed the belt may be, it did not censor everything- and Lily found herself laughing her head off, unable to restrain herself. Moving away from Richard as he turned beet red and ran off stage, buttocks clearly visible as the tights fell to his knees, the crowd didn’t quite seem to know what to do. Lily didn’t, either, she just turned, hooked arms with the Sugar Plum Fairy, and laughed her way off stage in the opposite direction.
**************************************************************************************
"Wake up!"
"No."
"Wake uuup!"
"Nooooo!"
Lily buried her head under her pillow, blocking out a little chill in the air, as James’ voice whined. It was Christmas, which meant presents, presents for James who still had a family to get presents from. Lily shrank deeper into her warm bed, trying to sleep in until at least one or two. She still felt fat and well-fed from the food she’d inhaled, last night. Suddenly her bed lurched as James leapt onto it, lying over her and trying to feel heavy. Honestly, she did feel her lungs forcibly lose air, but she’d never admit it.
"Oompf- geroff!"
"Noooo, I want to open presentses!" James whined.
"I want to slepestess!" Lily whined back, still with head under pillow.
Finally, James wrenched the pillow off, throwing it to the foot of her bed. Lily glared up at him, seeing him sitting astride her like some kind of horse or.... something else. Pinched in-between one finger and thumb was a little bough of mistletoe. He grinned and leaned over, kissing her. Lily, still tired, didn’t react immediately, but it didn’t take the redhead long. Her hands snaked over his middle and through his hair, his did likewise, so that they lay against each other without any space in-between. Their bodies moved naturally together, so that every curve of her form pressed neatly to every line of James’. Lily, whose nightshirt had ridden up, relished the feel of James’ bare stomach pressed against hers, as he of course slept without a shirt.
For some odd reason, the feel of their flesh together, the pressure of his body against her, it drove Lily mad. One of her feet wove round James’ ankle, his fingers dancing downwards towards the waistband of her checkerboard pajama bottoms. Lily let her hands roam over his strong back as their mouths pressed together hungrily, breathing becoming a bit harder. James grabbed her and rolled over so that she lay over him, red hair all tossed to one side. Lily pulled her lips away, lavishing kisses down his cheek and neck. James’ breathing became a bit tighter as she did so, making her smile devilishly and suck gently on a tender spot of his neck. As if in retaliation, James let his hands slip under the elastic band, running smoothly across the skin of her stomach, hips, pelvis. Lily shuddered, feeling an incredible feeling of warmth overtake her. Seeing as how she was situated so that her head was a bit above his, his arms had length enough to let his hands run tauntingly over her hips, down her thigh, and slowly in-between them. Lily let out some kind of moan, her eyes closed.
James felt himself wanting this very, very badly. Mind lust-fogged, he could only think enough to do things that might make her make that noise again. It had made an electric jolt snap down his spine, and he felt Lily’s leg shaking a bit, as if her body was screaming for them to open but she wasn’t sure just yet. Her small fingers had locked behind his head, pulling his hair a tiny bit without realizing it, and she was biting her lip.
"James!" she groaned. "Stop!"
Far from stopping, James let his hands twirl around her inner, upper thighs a bit higher, tauntingly.
"Stop!" she whimpered, resting her head on his chest and shaking. "Please!"
Her hands came down and grabbed his arms forcefully, pulling them out and around. James tried to resist, wanting to, needing to, but as Lily held his arms away from her, almost panting and looking flushed, he realized that once again, Lily was saving them from ruinous actions. She shook her head, which was still lying on his bared, slightly heaving chest, and let go of his arms, hugging him safely around the middle. James paused, trying to regain his thoughts, and gently let his arms lay over her back. They lay there for a while, until the passion subsided and it was just them, lying together, almost falling asleep. Finally, James kissed her head.
"Thanks."
Lily yawned and looked up at him. "Go open your damned presents."
Chapter 50
A Beautiful Champion
All the Marauders, Becky, and Charles came into the Heads’ compartment for presents and eggnog, arriving about four seconds after James left Lily’s bedroom. She vaguely had a suspicion that had something to do with this fact and the grin on Sirius’ face, but she never said anything about it, still trying to get her hormones back to safe levels. Their compartment had a large tree standing near the fireplace, which was roaring out heat, and was decorated with icicles and blinking lights and ornaments that shone. A large assortment of presents were shoved under the green branches, as all their friends had brought their presents in here beforehand. As Lily poured out drinks and conjured cookies for all of them, laughing and talking and getting comfortable around the fire, James smile at her and winked. Sirius saw this and grinned, making kissie faces and being generally gross.
"It’s no wonder you’ve no woman, Sirius!" Lily shot at him, sitting by James as she handed him his nog. "You’re utterly rude and disgusting."
"Oho, now, am I?" he asked, sitting up fully. "It just so happens that I have me a date tonight."
"So?"
"And she’s fine!"
"That was the prerequisite," Remus yawned. "She had to be fine."
Becky raised her hand to slap Sirius, but he just apparated out of reach, as Beauxbatons didn’t have a spell on it like Hogwarts did. Somehow the boys had discovered this a few weeks before through various means, and it pleased them to no end. Becky just shook her head and lowered her hand. Charles chuckled and shook his head at his hot tempered girlfriend.
"So anyways!" James said loudly. "Presents, anyone?"
They all dug into the wrapped boxes, passing them out and tearing into the paper. It was very fun for Lily to watch all her friends showing each other what embarrassingly crap things their parents had sent them, the cooler things they got each other, that sort of thing. Lily had gotten James another signed issue of that Quidditch magazine that had been hanging in his bathroom, and a few other things he could use, small timers for when he ran, a new shirt, that sort of thing. He had gotten her- what else?- a few books, a prettily framed photo of the Nutcracker cast, a home-made shirt that read I am James Potter’s Hero. Everyone sort of laughed at that, knowing it referenced to the Task.
By noon, everyone was weeding themselves out to go to have a snowball fight, or eat, or, if they were so inclined, begin getting ready for the Yule Ball, tonight. After a while, it was the five Marauders sitting around in there, taking about the possibility of doing an indoor firework show at the Ball, one of them just shaking her head.
"You all will be the death of me."
"Nah, just the social ruin of you!" Sirius laughed, sitting upside-down on his armchair.
Shaking her head, Lily stood, magically guided her empty glass over to where the dishes were magically washed, and went into her room to read or study a bit. Lying on her stomach on her soft bed, she proceeded to read for about two hours, first her homework and then an engrossing novel. Just as the characters were getting into an interesting- compromising- position, her bedroom door opened and James entered, carrying something behind his back. Lily looked up quickly, wanting to read the scene and turn the page, as for some reason she always felt as if words such as moan, grope, lick, and clutch always seemed to be bolded on the page, or something, and someone could instantly see them. She quickly did so, turning the page and trying to beat down the hot flush that came into her visual mind. Marking the page, Lily shut it as James flopped onto her bed and sort of lay over her, chin on her shoulder.
"Guess what?"
"Ummm.." she mused. "Chickenbutt?"
"Ha-ha," James said. "No, really."
"I give up. What?"
He brought out another wrapped box, presenting it to her, still leaning onto her back. "Ta-da!"
"Another one?" Lily asked, a little flustered. "I don’t... you didn’t have to... I mean...."
"Yes, I did. Here you go," James said, putting it in her hands.
Lily twisted around and kissed the side of his mouth, unable to twist far enough to do so fully. "Thanks, James."
Looking back at the box, she saw that it was about eight inches wide and less than a foot long, not more than two inches deep. It was wrapped clumsily in purple paper, obviously done by James, and her name was written on it in cursive. She reached around and found the seam of the paper, sinking her fingers in-between the overlapping papers and tearing. Despite being a neat freak, Lily had always been one of those kids that tore at the present wrappings, believing that was half the fun. Balling that up and tossing it over the edge of her bed, Lily was now holding a white box with some silver writing on it in a fancy design.
Unfortunately, it was French, and such French as she had never seen, because only five years of the class at primary school did not, of course, teach her everything. Lily felt James lift off her shoulder and rest on his elbows somewhere to her right. Two of the sides had been taped down, so she quickly popped those open with her fingers and lifted the lid of the box. Black tissue paper met her eyes, folded carefully, as if by a store worker. Setting the box down, Lily reached and pulled those aside.
There was a moment of silence in the room.
"James Potter!"
"What?" he smiled innocently.
A red flush was spreading over Lily’s face, unchecked. Pretty soon, her skin would make an indistinguishable match with her hair. The box contained possibly some of the smallest, laciest, sexiest lingerie she had ever imagined, much less seen or been presented with. Currently the closest thing she had to something of this magnitude was a black lace push-up bra in her top drawer that Becky had placed in there a while ago, and a matching pair of underwear. This, however, were in another league altogether. As she dared to glance again, she saw the design. It was colored white, with an impossibly low, plunging neckline, and short. It seemed to be some kind of dress, but the sort that didn’t cover anything. Lily flushed horribly as she looked at the silky material lying against the black tissue paper.
"I can’t believe you!" she managed, looking away.
Lily could feel James’ smile. "What? Like Becky said, every girl needs a little something in her top drawer!"
Unable to think, Lily blindly folded the paper again and found the top of the box, putting it on and setting the box aside. Stammering for words, not really knowing what to say, she finally managed a weak, "Um, well, uh, thanks, I uh, I guess."
James was laughing softly, undoubtably enjoying her embarrassment. He kissed her head and got up, chuckling his way out and closing the door behind him. Lily let out a long breath. James Potter was an insufferable twit! Shaking her head and still blushing, Lily picked up the box, considered it for a moment, and leaned, shoving it under her bed.
**************************************************************************************
Lunch had long ago been eaten, but it felt as though it were dancing in her stomach. Becky sighed, again.
"Calm down, would you? It’s just a bloody formal."
Lily glanced over, dressed in just her underwear, avoiding putting her dress on. "I just... I’ve never really had occasion to go to a formal, much less open it with the waltz."
"Lily. You’re. A. Dancer," Becky said through gritted teeth, which may or may not have been due to that she was now pulling her own dress on.
It was fitting, black, and flattering- on Becky specifically. Lily had the vague feeling that anyone else would look possibly foolish wearing it. Now, as she turned and self-consciously adjusted her bra in the mirror, Lily once again looked at her hair to make sure the mass of red curls was going to continue to defy gravity. The majority of her "preparation time" had been spent casting charm after charm to make sure that her hair maintained it’s perch on her head. It was swept up graciously, curled carefully, and gathered into a group and secured there by magic, hair gel, and sheer will. Also, the liberal amounts of blue-topped hairpins helped, too. Lily had long since applied her make-up, eyeshadow a shade to match her dress and everything else flawless, almost managing to cover up her freckles. Now, she helped Becky strangle herself into her floor-length gown. As the black material finally settled and Becky started putting on her jewelry, Lily finally turned to look at the bag that hung from her four-poster.
"Oh, go on," Becky had glanced over. "You’ve less than an hour, stop procrastinating."
"Strong words coming from the world’s greatest procrastinator," Lily shot back, adjusting the hem of her underwear.
Becky just glared as she applied a bit more eyeliner. Turning, Lily pulled the plastic from around the hangar, revealing her dress. Only Becky had seen it on her, something that made Lily a bit nervous to the reaction she might get. Slowly, she took it off the hangar and untied the back, as the back bit of it tied like a corset. Gently, Lily lifted her legs up and into it, pulling the halter strap over her head and around her neck.
"Becky, could you-?"
Her longtime friend came over and tied the laces in the back for Lily, letting the long strings dangle. Stepping around the redhead, Becky surveyed her. "Wow."
Lily looked in the mirror, and again was fascinated by the dress. Becky grabbed Lily’s mother’s old sapphire necklace and matching earrings, giving them to her to put on. Checking the time and seeing there wasn’t much left of it, the girls fixed Lily’s make-up, pulled on shoes and cloaks, tucked wands away into inner pockets. The boys had decided to meet them at the palace Hall, or, one should say, the girls decided that the boys would agree to meet them there. Coming to the side of the train, Becky brought out her wand and melted the snow in their path, so as not to get their hems wet or freeze their toes. Other couples or singles were making their way to the palace, and Lily felt the nerves in her stomach knotting.
***
James Potter stood in the palace hallway, waiting for the girls. He found himself terribly bored by the entire thing, but entertained nonetheless by his friends. It seemed that Sirius’ date either had failed to show up or was nonexistent, but he just said she was likely taking her time in getting here. Charles was waiting on Becky, Peter seemed to be dateless as well, and Remus was linked arms and slightly pink-cheeked, but smilingly chatting with, Marlissa. Rhys and Louisa, who had apparently been "togezzer" for more than a year, were holding hands on the side of the group. Louis, Antony, and Remus DeBlonc were all paired up with girls that James had never met, but one or two seemed to be cousins to the other girls. Standing with Sirius, Peter, and Charles, he didn’t feel like quite as much of a doofus, but being left out sort of did the trick anyways.
"You’ve got to buy your girlfriend a watch," he said to Charles.
"I tried," he responded sadly.
Sirius chuckled. "Is that what that bookmark was before it got flattened? I just thought it was a really realistic looking one."
Charles glared. James shook his head, and Peter didn’t really do anything. James checked his own watch. "They’re late."
More students walked around, chatting and so forth. There was about five minutes before the ball started, and everyone was moving inside save for Nikifor Bach, French Remus, their dates, and himself, as the champions and their guests entered after everyone had already done so. Charles hung by the door, and Sirius shrugged and went in with Peter. Just as the hall doors were closing for the Champions to get assembled, the main doors opened again, and two figures stood there, shrugging off their cloaks. Becky did so hurriedly, knowing she was late, and waved to James as she dashed past. He, however, couldn’t move, transfixed by the sight of Lily as she quickly hung her cloak up and came over to him. Her heels clicked as she walked.
"Hi," she smiled. "You... you alright?"
"Er-"
Lily smiled, blushing slightly. She was radiant! Her dress was blue, a deep blue with hints of purple when she moved, and went around her neck. The back of it, he had seen when she put her coat up, tied with laces, but left half her back bare. The dress was long, so long that it almost touched the floor, and really flowy. But at the top it was tight, it showed her great shapes and chest. All her red hair had been scooped up into a mass of curls that glittered when she moved, due to pins she’s put in, and an amazing set of jewelry, probably her mother’s, glinted on her skin and ears. As she moved, a little chunk of bangs fell out of the careful up-do and lay on the side of her forehead. Not noticing, Lily smiled again, cherry lips opening as she spoke-
"James, we have to get in our spots."
He nodded dumbly, taking her right arm and standing before Remus and Nikifor, as the lady champion was to be presented first. James’ heart hammered in his chest, his mouth was dry, he had the sudden urge to mess up his hair. What was wrong with him? The doors to the palace hall opened, and James was dazzled by the beauty in the room, remembering just in time to start walking. All the students were cheering and clapping, why, he didn’t know, until he glanced back at Lily again. Oh, that’s why. She was amazing.
The three champions and their dates came to the middle of the room as the applause died, and assumed their placements for the waltz. James clutched Lily’s waist probably a bit harder than he’d meant, because she shot him a look as the music started. They moved automatically, Lily’s natural grace coming off on him so that he relaxed and fell into the movements they’d been taught. Spinning and stepping in time, James couldn’t help but manage a smile. He wasn’t messing up!
The first set of the lifts came, as the waltz had this odd part where you had to grab the girl round the waist and lift her up a bit as you turned. It was so retarded, but as he took his other hand, and did so, he felt Lily’s fingers on his shoulders, even through the fabric of his dress robe, and suddenly didn’t mind it as much. A few people to the right of them hooted softly, cheering, and he had to grin as they twirled around the marble floor. Shaking his head at his cheering friends as he passed, James couldn’t really complain about anything. After all, he joked with himself, he was dating the prettiest Champion.
As they swirled, the faces of everyone else became lost in the dazzling scenery, which was equally lost in the beauty Lily seemed to exude. Lifting her again as they turned, James found himself smiling at her fondly, and pulling her a bit closer as he set her down, this time. Lily didn’t seem to mind, at least telling from the slight flush on her cheeks. The song came to an end, and James twirled her away from him with one hand, and she curtseyed as he bowed, fingers still touching. The other students politely applauded, again, or hooted and cheered madly in their friend’s cases, and James twirled her back to him. Other pairs were coming onto the floor to dance, now, and as James took Lily’s hand again, he leaned into her ear and whispered,
"I love you."
A/n:
Please forgive me for my week-long plus absence, for, while this time I did not die, someone I love did. On February 9th, 2007, my sister killed herself, and I thought it would be appropriate to observe a time period in which I did not write, out of respect and memory for her. I am considering posting a story in honor of her, and I would appreciate if you all would maybe not flame or be angry with me for a while.
Thank you.
Cocoapuffshooter
Chapter 51
1978
A deep feeling of happiness blossomed in Lily’s stomach, filling her with a warmth as she smiled and twirled around the dancing space with James. His words only brought to light what she had hoped and sort of known for a while, and she could only smile and try to restrain her blush. Now, other students were joining the dance floor and joining in. Lily vaguely saw Dumbledore sitting aside, looking a bit sad but enjoying the students nonetheless. Everyone was enjoying themselves so much, Lily found it hard to take a break from dancing to get a drink. James went over to see where Sirius had gotten to, and Becky was giggling, a bit pink-faced, with Marlissa. Going over, Lily asked,
"What’s so funny, then?"
Becky turned, "Oh! Did you ever find out about Sirius’ date?"
Corette and Louisa came over. Lily shook her head, "No, who was it?"
Laughing, Marlissa pointed at Corette. Lily stared.
"Nuh-uh!"
Corette was laughing. "Yes. I totally ztood hem up. Now peerhaps ‘e weel not be zo inzuffrable!"
"Oh, it’s so wrong," Becky giggled. "I love it!"
"Oh, Cor!" Lily said sadly, smiling. "That was a bit cruel."
"Damn right it was!"
The girls turned, seeing Sirius, grinning nonetheless. The lights in the room had been dimmed, and Lily thought she saw Corette glance him over. Without another word, he reached, grabbed Corette, and swept her off to the dance floor, ignoring her shrieks and small hands slapping his. They disappeared into the crowd, leaving the group of girls to nearly fall over laughing.
"That was hilarious!" Lily gasped. "He- he- he doesn’t know when to stop.... does he?"
"Neever!" Louisa was rasped.
James swept by and pulled a move much like the one Sirius had, except Lily didn’t fight him. They danced for a while, sometimes switching with their friends. When the teacher announced the end of the ball, there weren’t as many people still there. Lily goaded James into shooing the Hogwarts students back to the train. It had snowed a little, and everyone was still warm from the palace. Lily did her rounds in her dress and cloak, making sure everyone was in bed, or at least their compartment, by twelve thirty. Going back to her own compartment, she saw James was still out, doing his rounds. Her room was a little chilly, but she flicked the heater on and it was warm in a matter of minutes. Lily pulled the pins out of her hair, and set them on her little vanity. Red curls came tumbling down, as the spells had long since worn off. Her heels, she’d taken off while roaming the halls, and set them neatly in her closet.
"Damn dress!" Lily grunted, trying to un-tie the laces.
She struggled with it for a bit more, before sighing and recognizing that she couldn’t quite get the laces loose enough, and needed help. Becky was probably still awake... Opening her door, she stopped, seeing James standing there, about to knock.
"Oh, hey," he smiled. "Just wanted to say goodnight."
"Uh, thanks," Lily nodded. "Goodnight."
"Going out?" he grinned.
"Well, I just needed Becky to help me with something real quick," Lily shrugged.
James said, "I’ll help. What’ya need?"
Lily paused. "Er... my, um... My dress, I can’t get it un-done by myself." She saw James hesitate and moved to go around him. "I’ll get her to do it."
James shook his head, "No, I’ll do it."
Trying not to blush, Lily nodded and turned her back to him, pulling her long curls up. James’ warm fingers fumbled with the intricate ties for a second, before he got them and loosened them for her. She felt her dress sag around her a bit, and could almost guess that some underwear or something might be visible. Lily turned quickly, dropping her hair.
"Thanks."
James looked a little uncomfortable, but nodded gallantly. "No problem."
She rose up onto her toes and kissed him softly, smiling and waving. James nodded and turned, leaving. Lily closed her door and shook her head, cursing intricate dresses.
**************************************************************************************
"Wake up, wake up! It’s New Year’s Eve!"
"Nooooo!"
"Yesss!! You can’t sleep the day away!"
"Nuuungh."
"Get up."
James opened one eye. Somehow, it was Lily waking him up for a change. She was jumping on his bed in her checkerboard pajama bottoms and a dance shirt, red hair flying wildly. Bounce, bounce, bounce went his bed. And her breasts. He watched that appreciatively. Then, to his disappointment, Lily crossed her legs in mid-air and came down, bouncing into a sitting position. She crawled up so that she lay to the side of him, and started poking his cheek.
"Wake up!"
"God, have you and Sirius traded brains?"
"Nooo, I’m just so bored!"
He glanced at the clock. "It’s only noon."
"Exactly! You’ve been asleep for ages, and I’m bored as hell."
James signed, rolling over onto his other side and feigning sleep. Lily leaned over him, hugging him round the middle.
"Pleeease?"
Grinning, James rolled on top of her and kissed her, tickling her sides, where he knew she was most ticklish. Lily shrieked and tried to fight him off, begging him to stop while laughing. James didn’t, at least not until one of her hands found his ticklish spot- under his elbow, and he jumped off, letting out a strangled laugh.
"Ha," she said.
They sort of glared at each other for a moment, before Lily grabbed his pillow and slammed his head with it. She was off his bed and running for the door before he could think, laughing, but James was a faster runner and launched after her, grabbing her and pushing her to the hearth rug, pinning her with his elbows.
"Ha ha," he retorted.
"No fair," Lily said. "You run faster."
"If you ran with me like I asked you might be a faster runner, too," James said in a matter-of-fact manner.
Lily blew a piece of bangs from her eyes, shaking her head. "Mean."
"Naughty," he corrected, kissing her.
She pushed him off. "Not until next year."
James rolled his eyes. "As if you think I’ll wait that long."
"You will when you see me at the party."
The Hogwarts train kitchen was being turned into a huge party room, tonight, so that the students could welcome in 1978 properly. The idea had been the Marauders, and most of the Hufflepuffs were going to help with the charms and spells. Ravenclaws were in charge of food, and Slytherins were hopefully going to bring the fireworks. There wasn’t much chance of them even going to the party, however, so James had made Peter and Sirius run into Marseille and pick up a few boxes of fireworks to stash under a table somewhere. James sighed, then kissed her anyway. Lily didn’t really seem to mind, winding her foot over his and playing with his hair. Just as James started letting his hands get exploratory, again, Lily pulled away.
"You, sir, are going to be the end of all my good intentions!" she sighed.
James grinned, pulling her shirt a bit higher. "What good intentions?"
"The ones keeping me from being a very, very bad girl," Lily whispered, seeing that James wanted her to do just that. "Now. I’m going to get dressed, and you’re going to get off me and have a cold shower."
She rolled him off and stood, waltzing away, and James cursed both her and his body for letting her know he needed a cold shower.
Hours later, when he was getting ready for the party, he couldn’t help but open his door and glance across the compartment at her bedroom door. There was music blaring from behind it. Shaking his head, he closed the door again and finished getting dressed. After he was done, James left, again staring at her bedroom door, and went to meet his friends in their compartment. When he got there, he saw that it was as messy as their dorm always was, and grinned. His friends really were the same. Charles was finished, sitting on a chair that looked like a hand, watching the others, feet propped up on the thumb. Sirius was almost dressed, save for his shirt hanging open, Peter was pulling on his pants, and Remus was in the bathroom, trying to tame his hair, which was wild from Full Moon a few days before.
"So I invited Corette," Sirius said.
"She hates you," Charles said boredly.
"So?"
"So she hates you," James repeated. "Like, worse than Lily hated me."
"And see how wonderfully you two turned out?" Sirius smiled, starting to button his shirt.
***
"Oh for God’s sake, Lily, shut up."
Lily cast a tired glance at Becky. "All I said was that this dress is too short."
"It’s not."
"Is."
"Isn’t. Get over it. You’re almost what, eighteen? You need to sex it up a bit."
Lily just rolled her eyes and continued to mess about with her hair. When she was done, it lay back from her face in big curls, hanging loosely and seductively over the black dress she was wearing, which was strapless, short, and skin-tight. Becky wore something similar, only in a shade of red Lily could never wear except when blushing. After perhaps another five minutes, both girls were deemed ready to go to the party, which was supposed to have started at eight. It was eight forty-five, and they were late on purpose, as no one really wants to be there for the beginning of a party. Unless, of course, you’re Sirius.
Walking down the train compartments all dressed up was odd, but when they got near the middle compartment and heard the thumping music, it wasn’t so dumb anymore. Sliding open the door, Lily saw that the compartment had been expanded and decorated expertly, via the Hufflepuffs. The Ravenclaws had outdone themselves with the food, and presumably the Gryffindors had been in charge of the entertainment and fireworks, as there wasn’t a slytherin in sight. Lily made a mental note to go down to their compartments in a bit, to make sure they weren’t doing anything they shouldn’t be.
Joining the throng as it danced in the semidarkness, Lily looked for James. Several people saw her and waved, smiled, that sort of thing, and Lily politely responded as she moved around the now huge compartment. Becky had found Charles, and she’d seem Remus dancing with Marlissa, as apparently they had something going. The thumping music had long since started to deafen her, and Lily made her way to a table to get a drink. Hands grabbed her by the waist, and she turned, seeing James.
"Hey!" he shouted, barely heard over the music. "About time!"
Shaking her head, Lily said, "I can barely hear anything!"
"What?"
"I can barely hear anything!"
"Oh me too!"
James dragged her off to the dancing mass, twisting their way into the middle. Lily enjoyed herself immensely, much more so than at the Ball where she was in a ball gown and had to be respectable for the teachers. Here, she and James were in charge, as Dumbledore had specified upon them presenting the party to him, and she didn’t really care what the other students saw her dancing like. She didn’t know what time it was when she dragged James out of the mass of students to get a drink and go check on the Slytherins, but duty called her to do it. Sipping from a cup, Lily glanced down at the drink as James downed his.
"What is this?"
"I don’t know, but it’s good," James grinned.
Shrugging, Lily threw some back, too, and thought she recognized the taste of something alcoholic. They left the compartment, walking together down towards the Slytherin’s compartment, a little hot and now laughing at stupid things. As they drew closer, Lily saw that James seemed to be a bit drunk, and knew she was soon going to be, so she made him wait back a bit where the Slytherins wouldn’t see. Knocking on their door, there was a pause before it slowly slid open. A girl stood there whose name she didn’t know, and behind her, Lily could see the Slytherins gathered in a circle, as if in a meeting, but all looking at her through narrowed eyes.
"What do you want?"
"Heads checking on you all since we can’t supervise you," Lily said with as much seriousness as she could muster.
"We’ve got our own fucking prefects to babysit us," snarled the girl.
Lily glared. "Don’t make me dock points."
Just as she went to speak, the girl was shoved aside and replaced by Severus Snape, who glared down at her disgustedly through his long nose. "I can assure you, Head Girl, that everything is being controlled here."
They stared at each other for a long time, and Lily finally nodded. "Curfew is eleven thirty. All lights out by one."
"Yes, ma’am," Snape said sarcastically.
Lily considered retorting, but just shook her head and walked away, meeting James around the corner as the compartment door smoothly slid shut. James wrapped an arm around Lily’s waist, walking crookedly as they made their way back.
"Ugh, I hate them," Lily said, taking the rest of her drink and downing it in one shot.
Hours later, still, a Hufflepuff alerted them that it was fifteen seconds to midnight. The Marauders scrambled to get the indoor fireworks ready to shoot, and Lily, now drunk, laughed as they moved about dizzily. Everyone started the countdown, and James, wand pointed at his set of fireworks, grabbed Lily and pulled her close.
"Five! Four! Threeeee!!! Two!!! ONE!!!!"
James kissed Lily passionately, flicking his wand at the fireworks just as everyone screamed Happy New Year’s. The fireworks soared around the room, exploding in an array of bright colors and designs, but Lily didn’t see them at all, because she was too busy snogging her boyfriend from one year into the next. When they pulled apart, Lily looked at James through her drunken haze, and leaned close to his ear,
"I love you, too!"
James beamed, holding her closer, and said, "Let’s get outta here!"
Taking her hand, they wove through the crowd of kissing, cheering, drunken students, doing just that. In the Head’s compartment, both their shoes kicked off, James followed Lily to her room, closing the door behind him and pulling her close to kiss her, hands roving close to her short hem. They moved steadily closer towards her bed, Lily un-doing James’ button up shirt and pulling it off him. James lifted Lily onto her mattress and climbed over her, letting his hands snake fully up her dress as he did so, skating over her underwear as his mouth moved to the soft spot on her neck he knew so well. Her breathing came short, making him grin as he pulled her dress up, her fingers fumbling with his belt. James was about to pull her dress over her head, Lily about to wrench his pants off, when-
The train rocked on it’s wheels. Something very near to them exploded, and they smelled fire and heard screams. Both of them froze, confused, staring at each other in complete loss. Lily looked over at her window, and saw not her back yard through it, charmed, but the Bauxbatons palace and lawns. Something was wrong.
She saw figures riding by on brooms, wearing black cloaks.
Chapter 52
The Quintaped
Lily Evans didn’t know the succession in which her movements occurred, all she knew was that by the time Dumbledore had flung open the compartment door, she was wearing jeans, a shirt, trainers, and had her wand clutched in her hand. James had rocketed out of her room and into his, changing possibly faster even than she did, so that they both ran into the main area at the same time, meeting Dumbledore.
"Stay inside," he said, staring at them. "Keep all students in the train. Do not leave."
"Professor!" James shouted. "This is an attack by those, those, people that Voldemort has!"
Albus was already leaving. "I am placing a locking charm on the train. It will let no one in or out." He stopped in the doorway, staring at them fiercely. "Do as I tell you."
The door slammed as more explosions sounded from somewhere outside. Lily, chest still heaving, clutching her wand, looked over at James, who looked outraged.
"We need to check on the students," she said, headed for the door.
"Lily! We can’t just bloody sit here! They’re fighting!"
"And what would you do, James?!" Lily shouted, rounding on him. "Go fight with them? Be valiant- be brave? Go get hurt and wounded so you have another scar to add to the collection, only this time not from Quidditch?! You’re Head Boy, James, do your fucking duty!"
They stared at each other for a moment, before she turned to leave. James, knowing the charm had already been cast upon the train, could do nothing but follow her. They walked down the corridors quickly, hearing students shouting, confused, and talking to each other in the hallways.
"Into your rooms," Lily ordered. "Into them, we’re locked in and they’re locked out. Go!"
"But-"
"GO!"
As the girls turned, James saw Sirius running up the hall towards James, followed by Remus and a lagging Peter. "Prongs!"
"Padfoot, Moony," James said distractedly, trying to make sure all the people were in this compartment before moving on.
"We’ve got to help-"
BOOM.
The train rocked, creaking, and a few girls screamed. James slammed the door shut, moving after Lily, who was already headed to the next carriage. "I can’t, we’re stuck here."
"I know, I already tried," Remus said softly.
James looked at his friends as they swept down the hall quickly. Lily was fighting with a Ravenclaw boy, who was trying to get past her and towards the external door. James came up and tried to nudge him towards his compartment. The boy took a swing at him, and James ducked, before pushing the other roughly towards his compartment. Suddenly the Marauders were fighting with him, swinging and shoving to get him into his compartment as he screamed about getting revenge for his cousin. Lily was yelling at them to stop, trying to shoot spells but missing as they rolled and lunged. James grabbed the boy around the neck, putting him in a headlock and choking him, said,
"God damn it, so help me god if you don’t get into your compartment I will curse you myself!"
He was dragging him towards his compartment, which Remus held open, panting. Lily shook her head and turned to move on. Letting go of the other boy, who glared at James as he coughed, rubbing his neck, James shook his head disgustedly and turned to follow Lily.
Everything went red and exploded. James went deaf from all the loud noises, and barely heard the screaming Lily was making. He ducked his head under his arms as the hallway around him disintegrated, and a fire raged somewhere close by. Dust and debris littered the area, falling on him as he lay on a fraction of flooring as it swung diagonally down, towards the ground. After a few moments, wheezing because of dust he was breathing in, James dared to look up, hearing curses and spells being shot by adults at close range. The train looked like a car had driven into it, everything smashed in towards the compartment he’d just closed. Through a mountain of sheet metal and plaster, James saw Lily’s foot sticking from under a load of wreckage. Sirius and Remus were scrambling to their feet. James did likewise, headed for Lily.
"Shit, shit!" Sirius was saying. "Remus, fuck, get the Ravies outta here!"
Remus turned, ripping open the door to the compartment, yelling into it for them to get out and go to the Hufflepuff compartments. Students streamed out as James, panicked, threw pieces of train wall off of Lily. She was coughing, and her arm looked broken as it bled. James looked out the newly created ten-foot hole in the wall, and saw wizards battling those back-cloaked figures in the snow, nearby, in the darkness.
"Lily, c’mon, you gotta move," he said, turning back.
"Stupefy!"
James ducked, feeling the hair on his head singe from the narrowly missed spell. Turning, he blindly shot a spell back, aiming it in no particular direction other than out. A torrent of jets shot at him, and James threw himself on the ground, pushing Lily down and wriggling to hide under wreckage.
"Look what the hell you’ve done!" Lily gasped, holding her arm.
"Me?!"
"Shooting spells!"
James ignored her, looking up and seeing the door to the next compartment about five feet away. "Look, it’s just a quick dash to the door-"
"Jamsiiiiie!"
He turned, hearing Sirius. "What?!"
"I’m really itchy to fiiiight!" Sirius called from under a slab of metal that lay diagonally against the wall, making a little hiding spot. "Pleeeease?"
"Absolutely not!" Lily called over the sounds of fighting. "I will personally see to your detentions!"
Sirius brightened, "Oh, in that case..."
He gave a war cry, jumping out from his spot and diving onto the ground, rolling into the snow and becoming lost in the darkness. James watched him enviously, then pushed Lily towards the door. Another spell came their way and hit a window, causing it to rain glass. Shards stuck into his cheek and neck, and he grimaced.
Lily’s fingers fumbled at the door latch, swinging it open, and she lunged into the hallway, which was filled with smoke from a fire. James made sure she was okay and that she had her wand, then swung the door shut on her and locked it. He heard her hands pounding it.
"James Potter!" called her muffled voice. "What the hell are you doing?! Don’t you dare!"
Ignoring his girlfriend, James turned, diving into the snow after Sirius, whose voice he heard shouting out spells in the darkness.
***
Lily stared at the door, shocked. No! He couldn’t fight- not the Dark Lord’s followers! They killed people every day, what would a teenager be against them?! She quickly put out the first and turned, seeing the girl Ravenclaws staring at her from around the corner of their compartment door.
"Ohmygod, are you serious?" one whispered. "There’s seriously like those Death people out there?"
"Ummm..."
"Holy god I’m gonna die!" cried another.
"No, you’re not!" Lily snapped, tears biting her eyes in pain at her arm. "Shut up and get into your compartment. I’m locking it, no one goes in or out. Stay in the middle of the room, and don’t make any noise. Stay out of sight. GO!"
The girls scrambled to do so, and the door shut as Lily cast a locking charm on it. Staring down the dark hallway, Lily knew there was no need to check on the Slytherins- they were all either fighting or already hidden, they knew how Dark Magic worked. Turning to her arm, she thought quickly and tapped it, casting a hasty mending charm on it. Immediately, it throbbed less, but was still a bit fractured, she could tell. Standing, Lily looked at the door, and tried a few unlocking charms on it. Nothing.
"Fuck this. Combutando!"
The door exploded off it’s hinges, and flew into the remainder of the hallway. Lily jumped out, seeing flashes of light in the darkness below her, and not much else. Voices and cries ripped the freezing air, from all around, confusing her. Shaking her head, Lily carefully jumped off the twisted side of the train and into the deep snow, shivering and making her way towards the fighting. Getting close, she saw that it felt warmer here, from bodies jumping about and rolling. The lights were brighter, and the voices louder-
"Crucio!"
Lily dropped to her knees, screaming in pain. She’d never felt anything like this, not even when she had fallen off the second floor balcony as a little kid. Everything in her body was on fire, eating itself-
"Insolent little girl!" spat a voice nearby.
The spell lifted, and Lily lay on the snow, sweating, panting, trying to stop shaking. The snow crunched as the person came closer, but there was a thudding noise and a strangled shout, someone running and tackling the servant into the snow, pummeling them with their fists. Several trees had been caught on fire since she had been under the Cruciatus- how long had it been?- and now she could see the scene. Rolling painfully and crawling over, Lily pointed her wand and breathed a spell, rendering the figure unconscious. Her rescuer turned, and Lily saw Remus looking at her.
"No one," he said, wiping a cut on his lip, "hurts my patrol partner."
Shaking her head, Lily stood, with his help, still trembling. He shook his head and ran off, indicating that they’d talk later. She watched him go, and turned, twirling her wand in her fingers as she remembered she knew quite a few very nasty medical charms, watching the fighting masses carefully. Taking aim, Lily flicked her wand, whispering a spell, and a black-clad figure running towards Maxime screamed, falling into the snow as their stomach burst open from a surgery incision charm, innards spilling onto the snow.
Time became nothing more than a word. Lily cast charms and deflected spells, running, hiding, trying to keep herself from being put under that spell again. Several times she saw her teachers, and they saw her, and she observed that a few more students had broken out of the train and were fighting, too. Lil had just dealt with one of them when she turned, hearing a young boy screaming. Near to her, she saw Nikifor, her competitor, screaming, set under some spell she didn’t know. He fell to the ground, writhing, fingers clawing at his intestines. Lily ran over, feeling her medical side take over, and came next to him, panting breath a puff in the cold air.
"Niki-for!" she gasped. "What’s wrong?!"
"It ‘urts!" he screamed, already having torn off his shirt to get at whatever it was.
"What-"
"My stoomak, it ‘urts, it-" he screamed, twisting and turning nonstop. "Get it out!"
Lily looked around, trying to find anyone that could help her. The fight was dying, that was for sure. "Help! Injury!"
Suddenly, one of Nikifor’s Bulgarian friends was beside her, burned badly on one side of his face, but ignoring. He spoke rapid Bulgarian to Nikifor, who only screamed, sometimes in his native tongue.
"What is it?" Lily asked.
The was already levitating Nikifor to try to make it to the palace. "‘e said that he veels as if ‘is organs are eating zemzelves alife."
Lily helped him run over the snow, deflecting curses as they were shot. She was tired and breathless when they came to the palace, and she found that she did not know where she was going, especially in the midnight darkness.
"Vere is ze invirmiry?" asked Nikifor’s friend.
"I don’t know!" Lily gasped, looking around hopelessly. "Just set him down here!"
"In ze ‘allvay? Are you mat?" accused he.
"It is this or he dies of his illness!" Lily shouted. "Put him down!"
His friend did so, setting Nikifor on the ground gently as he continued to scream, bloody marks over his body from where he dug at it frantically. Lily conjured lights and a fire nearby, floating, to try to warm the cold stone hall.
"Hold him."
He did so, trying to restrain Nikifor as much as he could. Trying to observe him through his twitching and cries for help, Lily saw that his stomach was bulging and moving, as if something were alive and moving around inside his body.
"I have to get it out," Lily said to his friend.
"You do nut know how to do un operashion!" shouted the boy. "You are but a ztudent!"
"I am the best he has!" Lily said, conjuring a set of operation tools, trying not to feel nervous.
"You cannut-"
"He will die!"
Nikifor screamed more, trying to fight off his friend as he restrained him on the stone floor. Lily paused, and then quickly murmured a numbing spell, then the spell for a surgery incision. Blood flowed freely from Nikifor, over her hands and onto the floor. Through his twitching, she saw his organs bleeding as if from multiple lacerations, and that something below his lower intestine was moving, making it protrude out, and then recede to it’s normal position. Grimacing, Lily reached a shaking hand and glanced at the boys before her, one looking dark and uncertain, the other screaming as his blood spilled onto the stone floor.
Without another thought, Lily dropped her hand into the warm innards of Nikifor’s gut. Blood coated her arm up to her elbow, and she shuddered, feeling her hand moving inside a living body.
Nikifor needs your help, he’ll die if this thing doesn’t come out...
Lily traced the object’s movement, having to withdraw her hand a few times to do so. More than once her hand brushed against bone, or flexing muscle tissue, and her past gag reflex to blood was returning. She thought she heard pounding footsteps.
"‘E cannut loose zat much blud," whispered his friend. "‘E cannut! Vork quicker!"
"I am trying!" Lily gasped, hearing more explosions outside.
Her hands brushed against something moving outside the rhythm of his body- something that snapped back and bit her fingers. Lily screamed, feeling a bone snap and her own blood gush forth. Gritting her teeth, Lily followed it as it tried to run from her fingers, up towards Nikifor’s lungs. Half her forearm was inside Nikifor’s abdominal cavity, coated in blood. He was paling- why hadn’t she cast a blood replenishing charm?!
Her fingers met the thing again, and ignoring it as it bit her savagely, making her scream in pain, Lily viciously grabbed the object, and pulled her arm from Nikifor’s body, blood flying everywhere. Raising her left arm, she grabbed her wand and started casting charms to stop the bleeding, to stop the pain. Her right arm struggled with the thing, which seemed almost like a ball of muscle, fighting her and biting her fingers savagely. Her own blood drained down her arm. Nikifor wasn’t screaming as much now, just lay panting on the floor. As she cast a charm to mend up the bite wounds on his organs, Lily’s arm burst into pain she had only felt when put under the Cruciatus. Dropping her wand, she found herself screaming, falling onto the floor, trying to shake the thing, whatever it was, off her hand.
"Vat ees happening?!"
She could only scream as the footsteps finally reached them in the form of feet underneath a flying robe, approaching on the stone floor Lily was repeatedly hitting her head against. Bursts of pain on her skull dimmed slowly out, until she fell still in the puddle of blood on the hallway floor, hand still clutched around the little thing that had caused all this trouble.
***
James Potter looked up, panting, and felt his spine stiffen. Dumbledore, talking with Maxime, was walking towards him.
"Oh crap," he whispered.
"What?" Sirius asked, looking over from where he sat, on top of a Stunned enemy.
"We’re totally getting detention," James said, indicating his head at the professors.
Sirius’ smile fell. "Shit."
Dumbledore came up to them, waving Maxime off quickly. It was about three or four in the morning, and the burning trees were still casting enough light around the train to be able to see what was going on. French Ministry officials had arrived, and were taking what captives were still there. Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black..."
"Sorry, Professor," James muttered dejectedly. "I just-"
"We will deal with this later," Dumbledore waved his hand. "We have a more important matter at hand. Madame Maxime has informed me that there are several students in the Hospital wing in dire conditions." He paused. James felt his face drain. "Miss Evans has been bitten by a type of modified quintaped."
James paused, heart thrumming. "What’s a Quintaped?"
Dumbledore put an arm around James’ back and gently started guiding him towards the palace. "An animal that eats human flesh, with some physical properties found odd. Now, I say modified because this one was miniaturized, enough so to fit in the palm of a small hand, and only had two legs, rather than five."
"O...kay..." James said, following Dumbledore, confused.
"Er..." Dumbledore paused. "This Quintaped was also poisonous."
James froze. "Lily was bit by a poisonous man-eater?"
"More or less, yes," Dumbledore said, continuing to push him towards the palace.
James felt his heart slow. "How poisonous?"
Dumbledore stopped, and looked over at James, uncomfortable. "Lethal."
Chapter 53
The Loo
"James?"
He didn’t look up.
"James? Mate? ...Prongs?"
Nothing.
Sirius sighed, standing beside Remus. "Well... we just got in from breakfast, or... or whatever you can call it, and... Well, the Ministry is sending us all home."
James didn’t react.
Remus said softly, "As soon as everyone’s ready, and everything’s all put together, we’re all going back to Hogwarts, and the Durmstrang blokes back to Bulgaria. They’re calling it quits on the tournament until everyone gets better, and then they said they’ll just have some simple paper test or something... So...uhh.. We brought you some toast and marmalade, you know... in case you get hungry."
James heard Remus set a pile of toast down on the table. He still didn’t move.
"Alright, well... We’ll see you at lunch, alright?" Sirius asked. "Okay, see you then."
They turned, leaving, not knowing what else to do. It had been a few hours since he’d dashed into the infirmary, to see where Lily lay- if she was even alive. Something from a horror scene met his eyes there, students and teachers alike lying on the beds, bleeding, unconscious, dead.
Yes, some of them had died in the fighting. That was why they were all going home.
James sat in a chair by Lily’s bedside. She was unconscious. She had been for hours. She was bruised and nursing countless bruises. Half her body was still coated in blood, dried onto her skin and hair, and cuts on her head were still looking a little ripe. Her entire right hand was seized up, unable to even move forcibly due to the poison paralyzing her muscles. Her arm from the elbow down was much the same, but still possible to forcibly move. Her fingers were locked into a claw shape, from where she had held that... that thing.
James wanted to stroke her fingers, to try to see if they even held life anymore. They were swollen and looked almost black, completely covered in bite marks. Her ring finger on that hand was crushed, the bone had been snapped from the pressure of one of the bites. It lay awkwardly in it’s claw shape. He had been told not to touch her from the elbow down, for fear any outside stimulation might further spread the poison or cause a wound to re-open. James itched to just be able to hold her. Her breathing was slow and shallow, skin pale.
Lily’s entire right arm had been put under a Tourniqation charm, which restricted blood flow to a mere crawl. Thus, a nurse had to come every five minutes to cast a blood-replenishing charm so she wouldn’t loose her limb, and also to charm the sucker clean. The Sucker (That’s what James called it, it had some other fancy name) was working through her slowly moving blood to try to remove the poison from her system before it had a chance to spread. He’d already watched almost half a gallon of black poison slowly come out of the tube put into her forearm. How had such a little creature made so much poison?!
Thinking of it, James looked over at a inch-thick glass case on the Nurse’s desk. In it was the quintaped, now killed. He’d gotten to the infirmary just as they were using pliers to detatch the thing from her skin, then injected it with a high concentration of adrenaline, which caused it to seize and fall over onto the floor in a splat of blood. It looked sort of like a spider with it’s legs cut off, down to two, and it was red and hairy with a huge, gaping mouth on the top of it’s body that stretched from one side to another. Nonetheless, it was small- smaller than Lily’s balled fist would be. James shook his head and tucked some hair behind Lily’s ear. Dumbledore’s words came back to him.
"It was found inside Mr. Nikifor Bach, and attacked his intestines. Lily recognized an immediate threat and took him to the palace to perform an emergency surgery to remove it before it completely destroyed his organs. According to his friend, Lucas, it took her about a minute to find, and when she did it bit her, injecting the first of it’s poisons. Lily took it from Nikifor’s body quickly and began healing him, but was unable to finish her procedure before the poison overtook her and sent her nervous system into a spasm.
"At that time, the palace nurse came upon them, having heard the screams of Nikifor in his pain. Both were brought here to the infirmary, where immediately Nikifor’s impromptu surgery was completed, and Lily’s hand was attended to.
"However, while Lily’s actions were brave and displayed her character in the time of other’s need-"
James looked, seeing Lily’s eyes twitch. "Lils?"
One slowly opened, her green eyes hazy. "James?"
He let out a long sigh of relief, and felt tears falling down his cheeks. "Oh, god, I... I thought... Are you alright?"
She’d winced, prompting his question, and shook her head. "My arm hurts so bad..."
"You were bit by a poisonous thing, they’re trying to suck out the venom," James said, stroking her cheek.
Lily had seen the equipment and nodded, understanding. The nurse came and fussed over Lily for a while, changing the blood and venom canister. After she’d cast a numbing spell on Lily so she wouldn’t feel the pain and left, James saw his girlfriend look at him again.
"Is Nikifor alright? God, that stupid thing got me right when I was finishing up on him. The nurse knew the spell to seal the cut, right? Is he still passed out?"
James bit his lip, not meeting Lily’s eye, unable to choose the correct words. "He... I mean... You really tried, Lily..."
Her eyes widened, and she took in a deep breath, looking around the room, seeing various bodies covered by white sheets. "He... he died?"
"The poison got all his intestines," James said softly. "I mean, with those kinds of odds, you can’t... You tried, Lily. His friend, Lucas, he said that Nikifor told him that... right before he died.... he said to thank you... For trying..."
She shook her head, looking away from him, and after a while, he heard her start crying.
It wasn’t until January third that Lily was cleared to leave the infirmary, and even then she couldn’t do much with her hand and had to train her left one how to feed herself and wand work. James and Sirius escorted her from the palace wing down to the train, which had been repaired and was waiting for their departure, within the hour, back to Hogwarts. Lily’s dreams had been fitful, and slept no more than a few hours at a time. She had met with Lucas again the day before, and the two had not been able to do much more than stare at each other in silence, shocked. Durmstrang had left that day, sails black on their ship, and the carcass of the quintaped had been sent to the Ministry for examination.
Now, as she walked slowly over the snowy grounds, practicing flexing her fingers again, Lily couldn’t help but look over to where the tall Durmstrang ship had been, days ago, floating on the lake. Now it was just frigid water.
"Lily!"
Turning, she saw Alice and Becky running off the train to meet her, and smiled forcedly, greeting her friends. They all five went onto the train, and into the Gryffindor’s compartment, which had been transformed back into a regular train compartment, but with more comfortable furnishings. None of the conversation interested Lily, and when they left to go to the Head’s compartment, James gently nudged her left shoulder.
"Hey, cheer up," he said.
"Why?"
"Er... because I’ll let you use me as a punching bag while you’re getting your fingers back?" James said.
Lily rolled her eyes, the faintest hint of a smile crossing her face. "I’m not going to punch you."
"Wuss."
She shot him a look, sliding open the Head’s compartment as the train started to shake, the engines starting up. "Hardly."
Inside, the compartment looked like a huge lounge of come sort, and a letter lay folded on the closest chair. Reaching for it, Lily winced, then opened it with her other hand.
"Dear Heads Boy and Girl," she read. "I thought I should inform you of your housing arrangements for the remainder of the school year at Hogwarts. As Head Boy and Girl, you have the option of either staying in your House dormitories, or moving to the Head Boy / Head Girl commons. They are located on the fifth floor behind a portrait three down from the entrance to the Prefect’s Bathroom. I can take you both there when we get to Hogwarts to show you the chambers, if you wish, before you decide. I hope to have this sorted out by the time classes resume on the sixth. Your Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore."
"Well, that’s thoroughly exciting," James said boredly, sitting as the train lurched to motion.
Lily sat. "I don’t know. I could do with getting away for a bit."
"Then we’ll move."
She raised an eyebrow. "We’ll?"
James looked over at her. "You don’t honestly believe that I am going to let you live in some huge chambers by yourself."
Lily rolled her eyes. Of course not.
*************************************************************************************
"Wow."
Dumbledore smiled as they looked around appreciatively at the Head Chambers. The portrait mentioned had opened into a passageway that led about fifteen feet, and then into a large common area that held a large fireplace, a couch, a few arm chairs, a low table, and countless rows of books along the walls, just as the compartment in the train had. There was a coat rack immediately to the right of the passageway exit, and two archways on the other side of the room.
"What’re those?" James asked, indicating them.
"The one without the door, you can see, has stairs leading up, which branch off either direction into the resting chambers," Dumbledore said. "The other, with the door, is a shortcut down to the main hall."
"Wicked," James smiled.
Lily was considering the large book collection. "These are marvelous. I don’t think the Library has some of these."
Dumbledore just shrugged, a twinkle in his eye. "Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t."
Lily grinned, walking towards the stairs. Sunlight spilled down it, from a window in the wall where the stairs branched. Going up, Lily gazed first left, then right.
"Which side is which?" Lily called.
"Right is yours," Dumbledore called.
Lily turned, going up the right-hand set of stairs. They wound up, and to the right, until she came to a landing with a door the only option forward, save the thin window to the left overlooking the front grounds and Hagrid’s hut. Opening the door, Lily peered in.
The room was square, furnished with the heavy four-poster and a matching desk and bookshelf set. The bed, however, was larger than the ones in the regular dorms, and there was a in-wall closet. A door on the other side of the room apparently led to the bathrooms. There were three big windows, and one walk-out balcony, it appeared. The four-poster had soft white drapes pulled back, and a nice rug lay on the floor, keeping it warm for when the corner fireplace wasn’t roaring. It was a very nice room.
Turning, Lily went back downstairs, to see James was up in the other room, and Dumbledore was leafing through a book. He looked up and smiled.
"I think I would like to move here," Lily nodded.
Dumbledore set the book back. "I imagined you would."
By the end of the day, Lily had moved all her things down to the Head’s dorm, and James was procrastinating about getting his things down. Apparently he was very sad to be leaving his mates and their room they’d shared for six plus years, and looking into the possibility of throwing a Going-Away Party.
"Going away party?! Are you nuts? You’re moving two floors down," Lily scoffed, levitating a box of books.
Eventually, though, James moved his things down, too, and Lily watched the sunset from her new balcony. Which, she admitted, was really awesome.
"Lils!"
"What?" she called through the open glass doors. She knew he hadn’t heard, but that he knew she’d ask what he wanted.
"C’mere!"
Sighing, Lily went in, closing the doors, and went down the stairs, to James’ room. He had an amazing shouting capacity, to be able to be heard that far away. His room was set up similarly, only with blue drapes, and somehow a bit more masculine in design. He had his fire going, as it was getting towards cold night, and had gone down into the bathroom.
"Have you seen it?"
"...What?"
"The bathroom!"
"Not really. Once you’ve seen a bathroom, you’ve seen them all."
James shook his head, "This ain’t no Prefect’s Potty, luv. Come look!"
He dragged her through the door, and she found herself standing on a metal staircase that spiraled down. The room was entirely open, floor to twenty foot ceiling, and had a long series of stained glass windows on the far wall, where there was a sink and a few cabinets. In the middle of the room was a huge tub much like the one in the Prefect’s Bathroom, only larger. On the opposite end of the room as the sink was a shower, set into the wall next to the toilet. Lily took it all in and nodded, seeing another staircase on the other end of the room- great, they were sharing. She turned to James.
"Only you would be so excited by a loo."
Chapter 54
St. Valentine's
A few weeks later, Lily found herself once again mending the Quidditch players after an inspiring victory against Ravenclaw. It had started hailing, and every player had suffered some cuts and bruises from the ice, and of course the common broken bones or fractures from Bludgers. The teams had merged into their old forms, but more of the seventh-years played. Becky didn’t play as much and was a reserve with the younger years, but James would rather die than remove Sirius or Charles from the playing team. Now, as the players started filtering out, Lily turned a wary eye on her boyfriend.
"You, sir, are going to come to an inconvenient death because of this game."
Sirius, next to James, just grinned and clapped his friend on a shoulder. She expertly repaired their bruises, sprains, and miscellaneous injuries, before just pointing at the door to signal their dismissal. Sirius hugged Lily, skipping out, and James kissed her forehead, smiling and following Sirius in a more mannish fashion. Sitting at the desk, Lily started in on the paperwork for the teams, shaking her head. Boys will be boys, well, for all eternity.
When she got back to the head dorm, that night, Lily lay on her bed for a while, unable to concentrate on the homework. Looking around her room, which she had made her own in the time she’d been there, her eyes stopped on the old picture of her two younger siblings, who had died so long ago. Ten years, was it? Reaching, she picked up the slightly tarnished silver frame and ran a finger over their pale cheeks, nonetheless smiling as two-year-olds are wont to do while their big sister is hugging them.
One hand slipped under her shirt, to touch the chain of rings that still hung there, from her parent’s death, almost a year before. Their wedding bands, and the three baby rings, Petunia’s probably still sitting on the dusty dresser top. Valentine’s day was tomorrow, a full year since-
Her door banged open. "Hey, do you understand this potion ingredient measurement? It looks like it’s wrong in comparison to ev- What’s up, then?"
James had spotted her downtrodden look. Lily shrugged, placing the picture back on her bedside table.
"Nothing."
He saw the picture. "Reminiscing?"
She shrugged again. "I guess..."
James nodded slowly, sitting nest to her on the bed. "Well.... Think of it this way. They don’t have to go through knowing what’s out there."
Lily looked up at him. "They know."
He considered her. "You think?"
She shrugged, adjusting her elbow placement so it didn’t feel so numb. "Dead people can still see what goes on. We’re like their telly, I should think. After a while, being dead must get boring, so what else would they do other than see what we’re all up to?"
James thought that over, leaning back onto his elbows. "That seems terribly nosy and invasive, if you ask me. I’d totally do it."
"Told you so."
"Does that mean they watch you in the shower, and stuff, do you think?" James mulled.
Lily wrinkled her nose. "No way, I’d think they have better manners than that and would look off at something else."
"That seems like the logical explanation," he nodded thoughtfully. "I certainly wouldn’t want to look down in seventy years and see my great grand daughter in the shower."
Lily shook her head. "Neither would I."
James leaned and kissed her, then grinned, "Think they looked away for that?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "More like my father is threatening to come down and haunt you to death."
James laughed, and kissed her again. Lily let him, until they lay together, homework forgotten. She listened to his regular heartbeat, near to her ear, and he drummed out a tune on her side. Lily looked at the picture, over James’ shoulder, and let her eyes outline the faces of her siblings. James’ breathing leveled off, and she knew he was asleep. He was likely still beat from the quidditch match, earlier. His fingers had fallen still against her, and she looked up at him, seeing his eyes closed, glasses sort of thrown askew. He was wearing one of his undershirts, and a pair of pajama bottoms, chest rising gently with his breath.
Smiling at his sleeping profile, Lily felt a surge of emotions that she couldn’t quite place. Just looking at him made her smile, and her cheeks flush, though she didn’t know why. Sometimes that happened in the hallways, too. She’d just think of him and flush gently, smiling as if at some secret joke. Now, as he lay peacefully, lips parted slightly as he slept, she allowed herself to smile and blush without trying to hide it or beat it away, and brushed a bit of his hair out of his face. It was getting late, probably already past curfew. She knew that she ought to wake James up so they could do patrol, but she couldn’t find it in her to disturb him. Instead, she closed her study books, set the aside, and blew out the lamp, curling up to him and drifting off to sleep as well.
***
"Wake up."
It was whispered in her ear, gently, but more noticeable to her was the fact that she had slept in her bra and it was really, really uncomfortable.
"Wake up," the voice whispered again.
Lily squeezed her eyes shut, nestling closer to the source of warmth. It must have snowed overnight, it was really cold...
Her eyes cracked open when she felt soft lips press to her forehead. James lay next to her, smiling, looking freshly woken, himself. Lily closed her eyes again, adjusting her head on his chest. "No."
James pushed her curly hair out of her eyes, and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "You have to, or you’ll miss lunch."
"Oh, well."
He rolled his eyes and kissed her on the lips. "Happy Valentine’s."
Lily opened her eyes fully, and stared right at the picture over his shoulder. James’ smile dropped, and he bit his lip awkwardly, remembering. After a long pause, Lily sat up, pulling at her bra and wincing. James raised and eyebrow in amusement.
"What?" Lily muttered crossly, unsnapping it through her shirt and starting to pull it off through the sleeves. "You bloody try sleeping in underwire."
"No, thanks," James grinned.
Lilly pulled the bra out one sleeve and threw it at him, stretching her back as she stood, grabbed a towel, and went down to their bathroom to take a bath. James played with her bra for a bit, amused, before he tossed it towards her mostly empty clothes basket and stood, opening the bathroom door and going down. He could hear water running, and glanced over the metal spiral stairs to see Lily just slipping into the almost filled tub.
Smiling, he silently continued his way down, stealing across the floor noiselessly. The water steamed and was topped with a layer of light blue foam, which smelled vaguely of magnolia. She was laying with her head back on the edge of the tub, body from the neck down hidden under the blanket of suds. James came near her and knelt near her head, smiling as he gently leaned over her. He sat there for a while, looking at her closed eyes as she lay peacefully, then he leaned forward and gently kissed her upside-down.
Lily’s green eyes opened when he pulled away, and she looked at him blankly for a moment. "I thought I smelled you."
"What do I smell like?" James said, confused.
"I’m not quite sure. Spices, or something," Lily shrugged, sloshing water.
James considered her. "Is it a bad smell?"
"No."
"I don’t need to take a shower?"
"Well, maybe, I’m not sure, but you don’t smell badly."
"Well, all the same..."
James rolled into the tub, causing a huge splash all over the floor, as the tub was set into it like a pool. Lily screamed, jumping, and he sat up, for it was shallow, and blinked suds out of his eyes, smiling.
"Are you nuts? You’re still dressed."
"Clothes are washable," James shrugged, shaking his hair a little.
Lily raised an eyebrow, "And I’m a bit undressed."
James grinned. "Ooh, really?"
He playfully reached for her, tickling her feet as she scooted away, splashing water at him. He shook it out of his eyes, blinking, and then sat back on the opposite end of the tub, stretching his legs out till his toes brushed the other end. Lily sighed and shook her head at him, reaching for a bar of soap. He pretended to close his eyes as she soaped herself, frequently ducking under to rinse. Her fingers brushed his pajama bottoms as she rubbed her legs, and James nudged her back. She soon set the bar of soap aside, grabbing a red plastic bottle and squeezing shampoo into her hand, rubbing it through her hair until it frothed. She rinsed the suds off her hands and held her nose, dunking under the water to rinse it out. When she came back up, she said,
"How, then, am I going to get out of the tub with you here?"
James fully opened his eyes, acting as though he’d been resting. "Hmm? I’m not sure. Maybe you should just stay in here."
Lily cast him a dirty look, rubbing pink colored conditioner through her hair and rinsing that out, too. Then she said, "Perhaps you should leave."
"But, Lils, my clothes are sodden and you’d see everything I have," he said innocently.
She rolled her eyes, watching him. Finally, he sighed and stood, climbing out of the tub and sending pools of water across the floor. He grabbed Lily’s towel off a nearby chair, shaking it open and holding it open for her. She looked at him as though he were mad, then seeing him squeeze his eyes shut and turn his head away. After a long pause, Lily hesitantly stood up, climbing out of the tub and wrapping the outstretched towel around herself. James opened one eye hesitantly, and Lily smiled, reaching up on her toes to kiss him.
"You’re such a goofball," she said softly, walking towards her room.
James smiled, watching her go, feeling an awkward knotting in his stomach. Then he, too, turned and went upstairs, making little puddles of water from his sodden pajamas.
***
Lily Evans sat on the frozen ground, head bowed, and let the tears stream from her icy cheeks. Some of them had almost frozen on her cheeks, little ice flakes on her skin. She reached up and wiped her red, irritated nose on her handkerchief. Her fingers were cold and gloveless in the snowy air, but she couldn’t bring herself to tear away from the graves just yet. She hadn’t been here since the summer, and those months seemed long ago.
"And then there was this big attack by t-the bad people," she continued. "So Ja-ames and Sirius and Re-emus fought them with the teachers.... even though we were supposed to sta-ay in the train. I broke my arm and had to fix it, because I wanted to he-elp too. They’re my friends, you know. Anyways, it was really dark, so we couldn’t see that much, but we managed to ge-et quite a lot of them out. Nikifor, the guy from Dur-urmstrang that I was competing against, remember him? He got hit wi-ith some kind of dark spell and got hurt really bad. His fri-iend and I went to take him to the infir-irmary. He was in so much pain I had to operate on him in the hallway, like Heal- er... Doctor. You could se-ee this little thing moving around inside him. I had to put my hand in to get it out, and it bit me. I ended up knocked out for a long time, becau-ause it was poisonous..." Her voice softened. "Nikifor died..."
She sat silently over her parents for a few minutes, occasionally sniffing or wiping her nose. After a while, she sighed.
"So then we all came home, back to Hogwarts. We’re just going to have simple tests to finish out the competition, the next one is in two weeks."
A bird chirped overhead, and Lily watched it fly. Then her eyes fell, blurrily, to trace the names of her parents in the headstones, set against the whiteness of snow.
"I really miss you," she whispered thickly. "I wish you could see James. He’s so amazing... I love him so much."
A cold breeze stirred her hair, and Lily sighed, standing, and gently setting the gathering of four flowers on her mother’s grave, and the one white rose on her father’s. Staring at them for a while, she then shook her head and turned, walking a bit away before she disapparated, to go back to Hogwarts and change for the Valentine’s party that she had to chaperone tonight.
The grounds of Hogwarts smelled refreshingly clean, of cold mountain air, and she walked over them slowly, leaving a small trail of footsteps in the powder behind her. It was cold, in her black dress, and she had put on a black Muggle coat over it, the calf-length sort that she used to wear to school when it was cold, as a young child. She shrugged the hood on, and stood on the grounds for a moment, looking around her. It was so beautiful, here, and she had to remind herself that she’d only be here to enjoy it for a few more months before she graduated.
"Happy Valentines," she murmured to herself, turning to continue towards the castle.
Chapter 55
The Letter
That night, Hogwarts held another dance in the Great Hall, much like the Valentine’s the year before. This time, Lily was there to see it, and met James by the door to go in. She was wearing a flowing white dress that complimented her form, her curled hair pinned back from her face. She still looked a bit sad, and James kissed her softly, wrapping one arm around her waist to draw her to him.
"Cheer up."
Lily shook her head, watching as students filed into the hall, which music was starting to stream out of. James, knowing there wasn’t much he could do, simply nodded and helped her observe the students. Throughout the night, he did his Head Boy duties, and frequently danced with Lily and his friends. Even as they danced around, though, he could tell that she was sad underneath her fixed smile. It just didn’t reach her brilliant eyes, and that was how he knew she was busy thinking. By midnight, James was ready to go back to his room, and was glad to have to herd the students out and patrol the halls for a few minutes. Giving the portrait the password, he went inside and saw the main room fire going, but no Lily. She had been doing patrol down by Ravenclaw and Slytherin, and probably wouldn’t be back up for a few more minutes. Vaguely he was nervous for her safety, as he always was when she patrolled down near the dungeons, but waved it off.
James sank into a chair and messed with his hair out of habit. Then he stood, going up to his room and grabbing a tattered journal from in-between his mattress. James flopped onto his bed, reading over his most recent entry, which was pock-marked with uncertainty and caution, emotions he didn’t normally feel. Picking up a spare quill and grabbing an ink well, he dipped in the tip and slowly started writing a new entry. The room was silent other than the scratching noises puncturing the air, and for a while all he did was write, trying to think less about it.
It’s so odd to not know what to say, and how to say it... he re-read the last few lines. It’s like my usual presence of mind has been a bit stolen from me, or something, and I’m left trying to figure out my actions without really knowing myself. I’m rambling about nothing, now. How hard could it possibly be to make one decision?
He heard the portrait open downstairs, and quickly tucked away the journal, again. Shrugging off his tie and kicking off his shoes, James went downstairs to see what Lily was up to. She was sitting in her usual armchair, heels kicked off in front of it and feet curled under her white dress. Her green eyes were a little blank, as if she were looking into the distance. James leaned behind her on the armchair and kissed her red curls.
"You should get some sleep," he said softly. "It’s been quite a day."
She shrugged.
James came round and sat on the arm. "I know you’re feeling sad... you know you can talk to me, right?"
Lily slowly nodded, her voice a whisper. "I just... you don’t understand."
James sighed, remembering her saying that, last year. "I’m trying, Lily."
"But you still don’t. Your parents haven’t died, you haven’t lost everyone except the one person that hates you."
"You still have me," James said a little angrily. "You’re focusing on all the bad, there’s still so many people here that love you. I love you."
Lily sighed. "I know, but you aren’t my parents, James. You just... you’ll never be able to understand."
"Don’t push me away like this, Lily!" James said hotly. "I hate it when you do this!"
"But it’s true, James!" she spat, her eyes brimming.
"Lily! Stop it!" James shook his head, trying not to feel hopeless. "You keep doing this to yourself, you keep- it’s not your fault!"
"How would you know?!" Lily screamed, tears running. "How would you be able to make that call?! I’m the only witch in my family- if it weren’t for me, they never would have been killed by Voldemort!"
"It was a random attack! They just happened to be there-"
"You can’t prove that, James!" she sobbed, jumping to her feet. Her arms gestured wildly. "You can’t prove that he didn’t plan it. You can’t prove that he didn’t do this to get at me!"
"But you can’t prove that he did," James hissed. "You have to stop blaming yourself, it’s not going to change anything."
A tapping came at the window, but they both ignored it.
"Then where can I put this anger at, James?" Lily whispered. "Where can I point the finger? No one dies for no reason. No one is murdered for no reason."
"They were murdered because they are Muggles," James said softly. "Nothing more and nothing less. They would still be alive if they were wizards, and that’s all there is to it. You can’t blame Voldemort or yourself for what kind of blood they have."
"Had," Lily said bitterly.
The tapping came again, louder. James glanced at it.
"Lily-"
She shook her head, backing away. "You don’t understand, James. There’s no possible way for you to understand!"
She sank in her chair, the rapping now louder. James, getting annoyed by it, turned and went to it, opening it against the frigid outside air. An official owl flew in and rested on the sill, it’s tail still sticking out into the snow. It’s sharp eyes took in James for a moment, before it lifted it’s leg to him. He took the letter without looking to see if it was for him or not, and the owl hooted softly, then took off. Closing the window, James stared at Lily, now silent again, staring at the fire. The letter in his hands was composed of a parchment envelope addressed to him, sealed with the Ministry of Magic seal in blue wax. He broke it open thinking it was probably another notice for improper use or something from his father’s office.
Dear Mr. James Potter,
It is my deepest regret to inform you of the untimely events that have led to the deaths of your parents and one Michelle Potter. Following the recent attack on the Ministry of Magic by an unknown group of radicals, the Potters were discovered among other victims in the Auror Department. The Ministry of Magic offers its condolences to you, and extends its offer if you are in need of anything. Appropriate arrangements will be made for the ceremonies, compliments of the Ministry.
Mary Thatcher
Ministry of Magic
Something in his chest completely closed. The crackle of the fire seemed deafening, now, and his heart wouldn’t beat right, his lungs wouldn’t breathe right. His hands started shaking, and without realizing it he clutched the letter so tightly that the paper crumpled in his hands. James heard himself gasping for air as if he were hearing someone else, and he sounded detached as he heard himself speak.
"Well.. I guess I understand now... Don’t I, Lily?"
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Crying was the worst thing Lily had ever had to watch James do. She knew she couldn’t make it any better, the same way that James had not been able to, a year before. His hand was limp in hers as she held it, and his other hand was clutched around a tissue. For a moment, she almost thought that it was funny how she was practically never in church except for funerals. Now, though, a week had passed since Valentine’s, and she hated that holiday with a passion, now. James had been excused from classes, and elected not to go. The funeral had been horrible; Reporters and people from the Ministry everywhere. Unlike Lily’s parents, James’ had been very well known just about everywhere, and therefore everyone came. The three-way funeral had been hard on James. Michelle’s parents had died a while ago, and he had to watch his last three remaining blood relatives being set in the ground together. He, too, was now alone, but in an even worse way than Lily.
Now, they were sitting in the head’s common room together, Lily ignoring her homework and James simply staring out the window, face gaunt and blank. Sirius was devastated as James, and also permitted an absence of lessons. Peter and Remus were grieving in their own ways. Peter was rarely seen, and Remus looked lost wherever he went. The school had, of course, heard of the attacks that very night, as the school had been contacted to notify various students of the deaths or injuries of family members. It seemed that a great amount of students had lost family members or friends who had worked in the Auror Department.
"James..." Lily whispered. "James?"
He ignored her, still staring out the window. She knew he wouldn’t speak. She considered it a success if he spoke more than two words a day. The long silences between them strained Lily’s emotions almost as much as it had to watch James cry. Now, though, she just hoped that he would talk to her again. She adjusted her hand as it held his, trying not to see the deep bags under his eyes. It was getting late, now, and both of them had yet to eat anything. Lily stood, letting go of his hand and kissing his forehead. She went downstairs quickly and called for the House Elves to bring up some dinner for them. James hadn’t been downstairs in days, and Lily wasn’t about to run down to the Hall and leave him alone. Then she went back upstairs to his room.
He was sitting exactly where she had left him, but there were a few tears on his cheeks. She kissed his forehead, and felt him blink. Another silence elapsed, and after a long time she heard the faint crack of a House-Elf downstairs. Standing again, Lily went down and brought up the tray of soup and cheese, levitating the pitcher of pumpkin juice. Back in the room, she cheerily set down the tray.
"James, would you like some soup?" she asked with false happiness. He didn’t respond. Still smiling determinedly, Lily nodded, setting the tray over his knees. "Alright, love, there you are..."
Holding her soup bowl in hand, she ate it in silence, watching James. Her hands were shaking with the effort to control herself from screaming at him. Surely she hadn’t been this idiotic when her parents died? But still, she knew she couldn’t be mad at him.
The night passed slowly, until finally she took the cold, untouched soup back downstairs and set it on the table. Going back up, Lily saw James was now lying down on the bed, back to the door. Lily walked to him and lay next to him, wrapping her arms over him and breathing in the scent of his hair. He was shaking, slightly. After a while she felt one of his hands reach and cover hers, and then she fell asleep.
Chapter 56
Sudsing
Lily Evans opened her eyes as the bright February sunshine beamed on them. She was lying alone on James’ bed, still wearing her clothes, and saw the spot next to her that was disheveled from where he had slept. She stretched her back and arms, because they felt cramped, and rolled over to look towards the door. It was closed, she was alone in the room. Lily stood, stretching a bit more as she padded down to the common room. Shrugging into her sweater a bit more, she saw it was empty, too, and went up her stairs to her room. It was dark in there, for she hadn’t regularly used it in a few days. Going to her wardrobe, she pulled out a change of clothes, setting it on her neatly made bed, and shed her clothes, pulling on a warm dressing gown.
As she opened the door to the bathroom, Lily felt a waft of warm, wet air, and looked over the spiral stairs. She could see James’ black haired head peering out of a mountain of white foam, in the tub. She closed the door behind her, going downstairs, and taking a towel from the little pile on a stool. Her feet made slight slapping noises on the tile as she walked up behind him. James didn’t look up. He seemed to be trying to decided what exact shade of pink his toenails were, peering over the foam. Lily set down her creamy towel next to his navy one, and pulled off her dressing robe, letting it fall to the tile floor. She carefully stepped into the tub, next to James, and sank in so that she was as immersed as he. He didn’t even glance at her, just blinked at his toes.
She wet her hair, getting it a bit sudsy, and scraped it back from her face so she could see. Sitting next to James, Lily leaned her head on his shoulder, letting her hand find his on the bottom of the tub. James leaned his head against hers, still considering his toes.
"They’re pink," Lily said softly. James nodded. "Not particularly manly," she added.
He shook his head. Reaching, James took the soap off it’s holder, on the edge of the tub, and washed himself, moving a little away from Lily. She watched him, feeling the hot water slosh about herself, and realized that maybe James wasn’t the type of person who needed to talk through his grief. As he tried to reach that hard-to-reach spot on his back, Lily smiled and took the soap from him, indicating he should turn, and gently washed it for him. Setting the soap away, she took his shampoo and washed his hair for him. Somehow mothering had always been something she enjoyed, ever since her little brother and sister were born. James ducked his head back, rinsing the suds from his hair, wiping it from his eyes.
When he sat back up, he wiped the water from his eyes, and turned, placing a hand on Lily’s waist and pulling her to him. James kissed her gently, the kind of kiss that both isn’t sexual but makes you wish it were, the kind that tells a whole story but whose words you can’t quite understand. She put her hands around his neck, pressing her naked body against his, not really that embarrassed to realize that she could feel his entire body on hers, for once. They parted, and Lily smiled softly at James.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," Lily murmured back, softly kissing him again.
He pulled her a bit tighter to him, deepening their kiss. She lightly rain her nails down his neck, making him pull away and shiver, biting his lip. She smiled, seeing the look in his eye, and pecked him on the lips again, pushing away from him and climbing out of the tub. He watched her as she wrapped the towel around herself, grabbed her robe, and left, walking up her stairs. Halfway up, Lily heard a slosh of water that told her James was following, and fought the urge to look down at him. She entered her room quietly, setting her robe back on the end of her bed and pulling some underwear on. Toweling off her hair, Lily pulled on a shirt and turned, going downstairs, and up James’. Opening his door, she saw him standing by his bed, one hand holding up the towel over his middle. He turned to see who had intruded on his privacy, and one eyebrow raised.
"Did you think you’d get off that easy?" she asked.
"I had half hoped," he teased back.
She closed the door behind her, walking up to him and gently moving him to sit on his bed. Lily climbed over him, pushing him to lay back, straddling his lap and kissing him. His arms wrapped tightly around her, rolling so that he lay over her as they kissed. He relished the sensation he got as she ran her fingernails down his back. James reached down, grabbing the hem of her shirt, and ripped it over her head. He smiled, seeing her almost completely naked under him, her soft skin visible for inspection. Her hands pulled at the towel that separated them, his roaming the curves of her body and down to the lacy underwear she had pulled on. He pulled them down her legs, and Lily kicked them off her feet, both pausing to admire each other’s body for the first time in visible light. She felt her cheeks become a little hot as she observed his body, and James grinned.
"Yes, love?"
"Nothing," she said softly, pulling him to her.
His lips trailed the new flesh, just like he had always wanted but not been able to do. He felt his body come alive with an electric wave of lust when her fingers were suddenly felt in a tender place, and looked up into Lily’s green eyes. She was smiling in a very self-satisfied way.
"Yes, love?" she purred in his ear.
In retaliation James let his fingers find an equally sensitive spot on her. Lily’s eyes opened wide in shock, gasping in air quickly. He felt her body shake briefly, and grinned wickedly, kissing her. She gently pulled on his lower lip with her teeth, and for some reason James got extremely turned on by that. He flicked his fingers again, making her bite his lip a little harder. He pulled away from her, tauntingly, so that he could see the expression on her face. She was now biting her own lip as if to keep in a secret, her green eyes considering him as if she had never really seen him before. Reaching up, Lily pulled him closer again and kissed him hard on the mouth. James let his fingers explore her depths, trying not to smile too much when she made a small moan. Her lips broke from his and moved to bite gently on the skin of his neck, sometimes biting harder with his movements. Her nerves felt like they were alive for the first time, and Lily let her fingernails dig slightly into the skin of his arm. Very soon she felt her body reacting to him without any commands from her; she felt her spine arching as if she were doing a backbend. James smiled, seeing and feeling her body reacting, and kissed her cheek.
"I want you," Lily whispered in his ear.
"Are you sure?" he murmured, kissing her neck. He knew the answer.
She gasped as his fingers moved again, and sighed, "I want you!"
James looked directly into her green eyes, feeling their bodies pressed together in so many places it drove him mad, and managed to gently kiss her lips. He felt her fingers fumbling with his body, a strange new experience to them both. He sat up, observing her beautiful body under him, every intricate curve her shape made against his sheets. Lily situated herself so that James was comfortably between her slender legs, and James ran his hand up one, admiring the slight muscle built from ballet. Glancing up at her again, seeing her smiling and admiring his body, James situated himself over Lily, guiding himself in his movements. Lily’s fingers clenched his sheets, making him pause, but she smiled at him and murmured,
"You’re already halfway there."
James grinned, letting himself completely into her. Lily bit her lips, shutting her brilliant eyes for a moment. He kissed her softly, trying to control the urges he was feeling. Nothing in the world could accurately describe what a sensation this was, how delicious it felt. Her hands gently ran over his lips, down his jaw, neck, onto his back, to pull him to her gently. An electric wave ran over James’ spine as he moved, so that he craved more. She, too, seemed to catch the same urge he had, wrapping one of her slender feet around his legs. The feeling of their naked flesh pressed together, all of it, was purely animalistic, it did nothing but make Lily want to feel even more of James. He watched her eyes, the brilliant green seeming to flicker as they moved. They kissed gently, James imitating her and softly biting her bottom lip, before Lily pulled away in a gasp.
Time had no meaning, all James knew when he re-found himself, naked and holding his girlfriend in his arms, was that the best possible thing in his life was lying next to him. Her fingers were gently trailing over different scars she had never seen, the lovely smell of her curly hair close to his cheek.
"I love you," James murmured, kissing her forehead.
Lily looked up at him, and smiled. "I love you too."
He gently kissed her lips, watching her. Something about her glowed somehow, as if it were from within her. Slowly she seemed to drop to sleep, and James held her as she dozed. An hour or so passed, and James memorized the lines and features of Lily’s face. Finally, he fell to slumber, as well, still holding her as if he would never let her go.
**************************************************************************************
Lily glanced over at James as he started moving to wake up, and smiled. She was wrapped in a blanket, as it was cold, and sitting on the bay window of James’ room, observing the grounds below. Already she had seen a few couples strolling, Hagrid tramping the grounds with a few dead branches to burn, younger year kids trying to practice their broom flying. He sat up, a sheet covering his sensitive parts, and stretched. Spying Lily, he smiled and stood, walking over. She grinned and shook her head, not looking at his lack of clothing. He sat behind her, pulling her so she leaned her head on his chest.
"Nice pants," she laughed.
He grinned and kissed her upside-down. Lily wrinkled her nose when his chin hairs scratched her nose, but enjoyed the kiss nonetheless. James pulled her hair back from her face, and smiled.
"I love you," he whispered.
Lily smiled and kissed him again. "Sirius is going to think you’ve gone all soft."
James coughed and rolled his eyes, making her smile drop and shake her head. Grinning, he kissed her forehead. "I could never go soft around you."
Muttering about words and appropriate language, Lily stood, gathering the blanket around herself. James caught a side of it, tugging on it hard, so that it slipped from her grip and fell to her feet. Lily jumped, feeling a rush of cold air.
"Cold, love?" he smirked.
"Oh, shut up," Lily said, rubbing her arms.
James bit his smiling lip as he eyed her body. She was, truly, like a goddess. James grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. Lily sat over his lap, gently kissing him. After a few moments, she felt what it was doing to James, and pulled away.
"A bit excitable, are we?" she asked.
He gazed at her body, smiling. "Hard not to be when your girlfriend is the sexiest being on the planet."
Rolling her eyes, Lily kissed him again, before standing and gathering the blanket. "We’ve homework to do."
He groaned. She pulled on her discarded underwear and shirt, throwing his boxers at him. Grudgingly, he dressed and dragged out his books. Lily was, of course, done with hers, but helped him with his Charms work. After about an hour the assignment was finished, Lily looking pleased and James’ hair standing on end from how much he’d run his fingers through it in frustration.
"That wasn’t so bad," she said.
"Dragon dung it wasn’t!" James said.
She kissed the top of his head as she stood, stretching. James eyed her bum, the curves it made under her panties, and reached dragging her back to him. Pinning her to the bed and laying over her, James pulled her arms out so she couldn’t try to fight him off. Laughing, Lily asked,
"What are you doing now?"
"I dunno," James muttered, his lips making a trail from her mouth down her neck.
"Hey, you!" she said, squirming a little.
"Hi," he grinned, letting his kisses drop farther.
Lily tried to move her hands, but was unable. Shaking her head, she tried not to react as his lips met with her stomach and continued to go lower. Finally she said,
"Hey! Stop, you!"
"Why?" James asked, looking up at her. His lips had been right above her panty line.
"Because that’s extremely distracting."
"Distracting, huh?" he asked, letting his teeth pull at her underwear.
"Hey!"
"Hi!"
Lily squirmed, and James came back up so that he lay over her, the skin of his bare chest pressed on her stomach. He ravished her mouth, letting go of her hands so that he could snake them up her sides, under the shirt, to take it off her. Lily’s hands floated around the waistband of James’ boxers, gently working it farther down.
Within an hour they were once again where they had been that morning, Lily leaning her head on James’ chest to listen to his heartbeat. Her body was aching pleasantly, those were the only words to describe it. He felt a light fatigue, and kissed her forehead.
"I do think I need a shower, now," Lily laughed gently.
"You already had one this morning," James said.
"Yes, but you’ve dirtied me up a bit."
"Oh, thanks."
"You’re welcome."
He raised an eyebrow. "I’m welcome? Well, alright then, but only because you said so."
He rolled her over and kissed her heavily, making her giggle. He grinned, too, sitting up and stretching, Lily stood and walked to his bathroom, going downstairs and filling the tub in the floor. James soon joined her, pulling her to sit on his lap in the warm water, and there they both relaxed for a while.
Author's Note:
I am so freaking sorry I've been gone so long. I was so caught up doing everything I needed to do for graduation of Highschool, which was on June 7, 2008. Woo! Not only that but all my school activities, plus my boyfriend went overseas to Iraq this past March and won't be back until June of 2009.... In essence my life has been friggin hectic!! I'm SO SORRY especially to all of the loyal readers.......
Chapter 57
Empty House
A bit over a week later, Lily received a package in the morning post that turned out to be a thick packet of a test, sent from the French Ministry. Included was a letter informing her that it was the second and third Tasks; they were paper tests. She had until the end of the week to complete them and send them back. Lily went through the pages quickly, as it seemed to be a simple test. (“The charm to conjure fire is what?”) She had it sent back by mid-week, amidst never-before heard protests from Sirius that she ought to re-look the test to make sure that the answers were all correct.
“Since when do you care about testing?” Lily shot at him as she tied the package to a school owl. “You barely passed your O.W.L.s and I shan’t be surprised if you fail to pass the N.E.W.T.s.”
“You can’t fail the N.E.W.T.s you can only get very bad marks,” Sirius commented lazily, brushing some stray snow from his shoulder.
“Exactly the point,” Lily sighed.
The tawny barn owl took off, it’s dark color contrasting from the still-white trees of the forest. Lily watched it go, not thinking of much. Sirius, leaned against one of the few clean posts that held the owl’s roosts watched her closely, in that strange kind of dark way that the Blacks have. After a while she sighed and looked away, then caught sight of how he was observing her.
“Creepy much, Sirius?” she muttered. Sirius shook his head, remaining silent. Lily narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out what was up with him. “What’s up?”
“I’m worried,” Sirius said softly. “I feel like things are changing out there too fast for us to keep up with….”
Lily knew he was still hurting over the loss of the Potters. They were more of a family to him than his own. She saw James’ open grief, at least open enough that anyone who knew him well could see it. Sirius, however, had spent the last few weeks trying to hide it by prank after prank, joke after joke, always with a smile or witty remark on his tongue. Now, though, he wasn’t smiling, just like he wasn’t smiling whenever he thought he had diverted all attention from him by some exploding suit of armor or some first year Slytherin dangling from a chandelier. As Lily watched him, his eyes dropped to the floor and the corner of his mouth twitched a little. She had to wonder if he had cried at all since the funeral. She stepped closer and put a hand on his arm under his cloak.
“It’s okay, Sirius,” she whispered. “There’s almost nothing left that he can do to us.”
“He could take you, or James, or Remus,” Sirius said, his thick voice betraying his tears.
“Not Peter though?” Lily tried to joke. “Peter’s the strong one?”
“I don’t mean to sound like a dick but Peter could die and no one would care,” Sirius said softly. “He’s a good laugh but he’s never around enough to be a friend…..” he took a shaking breath. “I don’t want to lose anyone else.”
“You won’t, I promise,” Lily said, trying to smile. “If Voldemort even walked up to me, I’d poke him in the eye.”
Sirius didn’t laugh, he just shook his head sadly. Lily, not knowing how to cheer up a boy who had been raised around the evils of the Dark Lord, just reached and hugged him, trying to make herself feel like the comforting mother that she knew he had only ever found in Mrs. Potter. They stood there for a while, before she felt his arms gently wrap around her, and his shoulders started to shake. Lily stroked his hair as he cried, smoothing out the curls so that they weren’t tangled together, and despite herself felt tears of her own rising. Knowing full well that nothing she said would ever make him feel better about losing what parents he had, Lily just hugged Sirius a little tighter, as if maybe it would force some of his grief from him, as if maybe it would make him forget a little of the pain. He hugged her back, like a small child who has been hurt and is convinced that only the strongest hug will make it all better.
“I know you miss them, Sirius,” Lily said softly. “I know.”
“It’s not right,” he choked, and she felt him wipe his nose. “They were good people.”
“Voldemort doesn’t discriminate between whether or not a person is good,” Lily said. “Nor Muggle.”
Sirius pulled away, his eyes watering over and his nose pink on the end, dripping slightly. His lower lip was quavering and she had never before seen the corners of his mouth pulled down so low. He shook his head, blinking out more tears and running the back of his hand over his nose.
“All the ones he kills are good people.”
Lily nodded, watching him. “I know.”
“It’s not right.”
“No one ever said killing people was going to be right,” she said. “All we can do is stop him.”
“There isn’t a way,” Sirius said darkly, looking down at the floor. “I was raised around that stuff…. There just isn’t a way to stop someone who is that powerful, that cruel… that hateful.”
Lily gently pulled his chin up, and wiped the tears from his cheeks with her other hand. Smiling as best as she could despite the tears in her eyes, Lily gently kissed Sirius on the cheek, and brushed the hair out of his eyes.
“I promise, I promise, Sirius, that there is a way. One day this will all be over.”
Sirius didn’t respond, he just looked around the owlry and wiped a stray tear from his eye. Lily nodded slightly and let the subject drop, knowing that she was naïve compared to him. He walked away, looking out the window, and Lily gathered her bag from a hook near the door. She turned, about to ask if he was going to go down to dinner with her, but saw him sitting on the open window ledge, back to her. She sighed to herself, and walked over, gently kissing the top of Sirius’ curly haired head. He didn’t move, but she heard him sniff softly. Lily turned and left, taking shortcuts down to the Head’s dormitory to drop her things off. As she entered the common area, Lily kicked off her shoes at her usual spot near the entrance, and hung her cloak on one of the pegs that hung on the wall. Looking around, she saw James sitting in an armchair, scanning trough some study packets with his rarely seen glasses on. He was farsighted, and the only people that knew that were the Marauders. This was a major reason he sat in the back of the classrooms, along with the status as a mischief maker that went along with that particular area of the room. Lily smiled, dropping her bag on the hearth rug, and grabbed the study book out of his hands, sitting over his lap and kissing him gently. James made a slight noise of surprise, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her more closely to him. Lily pulled away and smiled.
“Well hello,” James grinned, pecking her softly.
“Hi.”
“I wish you’d always greet me like that,” he laughed.
Lily pulled his glasses off and folded them gently, smiling. “Who knows…”
James kissed her again, letting one hand grope her butt gently. Lily giggled, pulling away and kissing his forehead. She ruffled his messy hair, and sighed. James interested himself in un-doing her shirt buttons, to see how long he could get away with it. She watched his eyes concentrating on her shirt, occasionally glancing at her to grin mischievously. He un-did them all the way down, then let his hands slide under the material over her skin. As his fingers slid over the band of her bra, he splayed his hands over her back and pulled her a bit closer, kissing her slowly. Lily played with his hair, trying to suppress the urge she was starting to feel.
“You’re trying to distract me,” she whispered.
“Am I succeeding?” James asked, grinning.
She bit her lip and nodded, smiling. James seemed happy with that response, kissing her again. She un-buttoned his shirt as well, and he moved so that she could pull it off him. Letting her fingers trail over the skin of his arms, Lily gently nibbled on James’ bottom lip. He grabbed her tightly around the waist, standing carefully. She made a noise of surprise, looking around and wrapping her legs a bit more tightly about his hips. Kissing her on the neck, James maneuvered easily upstairs towards her room. Lily reached and opened the door behind her, giggling and secretly hoping she wouldn’t be missed at dinner.
He walked over to her bed and climbed on it, laying over her and pulling her shirt from her shoulders. Lily smiled, un-doing his belt and pulling off his pants and knickers. James kicked them from around his feet, reaching under her skirt and nearly ripping her panties, he grabbed them so roughly. As one hand found its way under her bra, grasping and causing goose bumps to rise over her chest, James’ other hand wrenched up Lily’s skirt and guided him into her. She gasped aloud, feeling the mingled pleasure and pain she always felt when they became this close. Lily’s fingers clutched over his back, trying to control herself. She kissed him hard, trying to stifle her noises, and he pulled away teasingly, enjoying hearing them. Lily lavished kisses over the skin of his chest, feeling her back gently arch into him. She loved the feeling of their bared stomachs pressed together; it was one of the most animalistic things she had ever felt. They both felt the tingling over their bodies growing the longer they did it- James had never loved any kind of magic more than this. Just as it seemed that Lily would lose her mind, her fingers clutching her sheets so tightly she knew they would be wrinkled, it seemed to stop, and she gasped, feeling their hearts hammering together. James kissed her gently, breathing as though he had just done one of this morning runs, and grinned.
“Hope you weren’t planning on meeting anyone at dinner.”
Lily laughed, shaking her head and reaching to pull him back and kiss her again. “You always were needy of attention.”
James laughed, rolling his eyes, and lay next to her, watching her stretch and work a kink out of her back. After a while he laughed to himself and said, “God, I love it when you squirm!”
***
Within two weeks Lily was notified that Remus DeBlonc won the Triwizard Tournament, and sent him a hearty letter of congratulations. The last few days of February slipped by in a haze. The first weekend in March the Gryffindors played Hufflepuff and won spectacularly, putting them in for the Cup with Ravenclaw. The Marauders never seemed to see Peter anymore, who always had some kind of make-up work to do in some class or another to try to get a few extra points. Sirius eventually came to some sort of peace over the death of the Potters, but everyone noticed him mature a bit. He didn’t prank as much, and more and more of the time he was seen reading the morning post. He was consistently brightened, however, with the thought that Corette and Marlissa would be visiting them all over Easter Holiday. As March slipped away as quickly as one could imagine, he smiled easier and more frequently. Remus, also, seemed very happy at the upcoming visit from his estranged girlfriend.
“It’ll be nice to see her for more than a few hours on Hogsmeade Saturdays, you know?” he said quickly, his ears pink.
It was in this fashion that they all, Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, Becky, and Charles, departed Hogwarts the second to last day of March for their weeklong vacation. The train was puffing in the cold spring air and a few teachers were there to oversee the students’ departure. They were all going to stay at the Potter house, which worried Lily and saddened all the boys. She knew it was for the best, though, as she had recently been able to sell her own parent’s house and tuck that money into a bank account for after she graduated. James needed to get his own affairs in order and they both needed to look around wizarding London for flats of their own, Lily near the medical school and James near the Aurist academy.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Lily asked again as she glared at some first years who were down the platform and seemed to have some kind of firework.
“Yes, of course, I’ve got to clean out the house sooner or later,” James said distractedly.
Lily sighed and followed him onto the train, headed to their compartment. There, Remus and some of the other Prefects were waiting for a meeting, which didn’t take very long. After they left, Lily turned to James.
“You know that if it makes you uncomfortable you should say something.”
He avoided her gaze. “I know.”
“Really, James.”
“I know!” he said, looking back. “There are just things I need to sort out and get done and think over and that kind of thing.”
Lily nodded, allowing the subject to drop. The train ride to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was vaguely uneventful, except for James trying to get Lily to have sex in the public loo. When it pulled into the station, they disembarked quickly, meeting their friends just off to the side of the gateway.
“Everyone got their things?” Becky asked, tucking her lightened and shrunk bag into her pocket.
They all nodded or murmured some sort of assent, and then they all nodded and Disapparated. Lily opened her eyes to see the large house surrounded by larger grounds in the afternoon sun. The bushes and trees had overgrown a tad bit, just enough to seem natural but not unkempt. The house was dark and borderline formidable, but James pulled a set of keys from his pocket and walked up to the heavy door nonetheless. Quickly thinking to herself, Lily asked,
“James, have we got enough rooms for everyone? We need at least four bedrooms.”
“We’ve got six, I thought you knew that,” James shot back, opening the door.
“I thought it was the same size as my house….” she murmured, following Becky inside.
It was dark and somewhat musty, but Sirius was already charming the drapes and windows open. She immediately recognized the surroundings from Sirius’ surprise party the summer before, only this time lacking the music and drunken teenagers. Everyone else was coming in, and Becky was going into the kitchen to get something to drink. Remus went onto the back porch to set up a reading center for his newest book, and Charles muttered something about the loo. As Sirius went after Becky to check on his hidden bottle of Firewhiskey, James turned to Lily and hugged her.
“I didn’t think it would bother me.”
“It’s okay, James,” she said, hugging him back. “I knew it would.”
He sighed, looking around at the family portraits moving on the walls. After a bit he wiped the corner of his eye and stood, heading upstairs to his room. Lily looked around her and shook her head, hoping that no one else would ever have to walk into an empty house that had been full the last time they entered it.
Within a few hours, Corette and Marlissa had arrived. By then, Lily had unpacked her and James’ clothing in his bedroom, magically cleaned the dust off every surface of the house, discovered the two hidden bedrooms behind magic doors, and was cooking dinner for them all. Everyone was outside, watching the boys playing two-man Quidditch. She could hear the girls cheering, and shook her head to herself, smiling as the food simmered before her. Going outside and adjusting the strap of her shirt, she saw Remus and Sirius doing victory laps as Charles and James shook their heads, walking over to the porch.
“Good game anyway, hun,” Becky said, kissing Charles.
Marlissa and Corette were laughing, sitting on the swing and looking very happy to be in England. James came up to Lily, smiling, and wrapped an arm around her. She kissed him.
“Sorry you didn’t win,” she said.
“I’m always gonna win when I’ve got you,” he smiled, kissing her back.
***
Three days later, Lily was helping James pack up things in the house. Much of the items he was selling, such as furniture and picture frames, as he was putting all the family photos into an album. He had already found an apartment to rent in the center of Wizarding London and would frequently Apparate boxes of things over there. It was a rather large and generous flat, to which Lily had no inclination to know what the rent was. He had already contacted a realtor to come look at the house, and he would be there the next day. The nonstop party expected from the others didn’t come to fruition, as they all seemed content to lay round outside in the grass, reading in the sun or flicking their wands at various bushes and trees to tidy them up for the realtor.
Now, though, they were tackling the emotional monster of packing up James’ parent’s room, which had been completely untouched since they left the morning of their murder. James was sitting on the floor near their bed, slowly going through the envelope of their remaining belongings he had been sent a week after their death. Lily was carefully packing up their clothing, which James said he would donate to charities. As she folded some of his mother’s work pants and set them neatly in a box, she glanced up at James. He hadn’t said much, but she thought she had heard him sniff.
“You okay?”
He looked up, and nodded. “Yeah… It’s just hard.”
“I know, love.”
Lily set in another pair of pants, then went over and sat in front of him. Brushing some hair from his eyes, she smiled at him hopefully. James glanced up at her and then looked down at the pictures in his father’s wallet; the ones from his first birthday, a family photo including Sirius, a picture of their wedding. Flipping through the pictures, he was silent for a while. Lily reached and gently squeezed his hand.
“I’m here for you, James,” she said softly.
He nodded, and she stood, taking the box and walking over to the closet, where she continued to fold garments and put them in. They continued on in silence for a while, Lily packing clothes and James dallying about looking at pictures and things, trying to figure out what he was doing.
Chapter 58
Do You Know?
“Well, Mr. Potter, I think that you could easily get near a million galleons for this estate.”
James was sitting at the kitchen bar, sipping some pumpkin juice as he went over some things with the realtor. She was a middle-aged witch named Geraldine, with slight grey in her tawny hair and a hint of crow’s feet around her eyes. She had taken in the entire estate, which included over ten acres of grounds, with an appreciative nod almost every step of the way. Sirius had taken the rest of the gang out for the day, and at the moment they were probably getting ice-cream in Diagon Alley. It was odd, seeing the home he had grown up in suddenly lacking the family portraits on the walls and some sort of mess on the floors, but he and Lily had set it up to look like a model mansion, everything spotlessly clean and looking like some sort of nary used hotel. Now, as he offered to pour out some juice for the realtor, who politely declined, James nodded.
“I figured a little less, actually, my parents bought it for about half as much.”
The woman paused, knowing how his parents had died and left him the house. “Didn’t you mention the house was almost in ruins when they purchased it?”
James took a swig of juice. “It was. The last owners had gotten a bit touched in the head and things were very poorly taken care of.”
“Are there any pictures? I might interest buyers if they can see those sort of before-and-after photos.” Geraldine said.
He nodded, standing and indicating that she should follow her into the parlor. It was a room adjacent to the living room that was almost never used, and had formerly housed his mother’s parlor. Now, it was advertised as a lovely sun-room, or additional bedroom. Going inside, James shifted through a few books he had left on book shelves in there, and found the photo album he had been searching for. As a child, he had looked through it, marveling at how his bedroom had once been almost completely ruined by a leaky roof. Geraldine gently sank onto the edge of Mrs. Potter’s chaise lounge, flicking through the old pictures. James looked out the window at the front drive, knowing there were pictures of the newlywed Potters in the book, waving and showing the keys to their first and last house. After a minute or so of silence, Geraldine stood, smiling.
“Well, they have done a marvelous job with the house. With your permission, I will put it on the market for one million galleons.”
James just nodded blankly, turning and following her out of his mother’s reading room. They went into the entryway, Geraldine chatting nonstop, and James ignoring her. She took a file folder of her properties out of her briefcase, flicking to the “One Million” section and finding the two pages she had dedicated to the Potter’s mansion. She checked to make sure all the rooms and square footage was listed properly, and that the handsome photos she had taken with her camera had finally copied into the pages.
“I do think the property will sell fast,” she remarked, propping the family photo album on the entrance table. “Not many houses in this neighborhood stay on the market long, especially since this is an ideal time to be selling. I’ve got more than one client looking for a mansion this size.”
She was reaching for her cloak on the coat rack, as James flicked boredly through the pages of her book. Page after page of houses slid past him, and yet he still found it hard to believe that his was now among them. Sighing, he looked up at the living room, and rubbed his eyes. Glancing back at the book as Geraldine chattered on, James paused, seeing a cute, cottage-style house set into lush greenery.
“Where is that one at?” he asked, pointing to it.
Geraldine looked over his shoulder at the page. “Godric’s Hallow. Very charming house, I actually just listed it this morning.”
James looked over at the page out of interest. Then he turned to her. “Geraldine?”
“Yes, Mr. Potter?”
“What are you doing this afternoon?”
*****
“James? You home?”
Sirius dropped his keys on the entrance table, seeing the old photo album of the Potter’s house on it, and a note addressed to him in front of it. He took it up and read it quickly as the others came in, laughing and talking loudly of some joke they had just said. Sirius smiled as he read and chuckled to himself.
“What’s so funny, then?” Lily asked, coming in last and closing the door.
“Hmm? Oh, nothing,” Sirius folded the letter and nonchalantly tucked it into his pocket.
She just rolled her eyes, following everyone into the kitchen to get a butterbeer. As they all talked about making plans to go out to dinner, Lily went upstairs to get a nap, wishing she had an Anti-Headache potion with her. Their visit to Diagon Alley had been loud and raucous, and due to a very smelly dung bomb that had gone off, she now had a bad migraine. Heading down the hallway, Lily looked around herself, knowing that after tomorrow, she likely wouldn’t see this house again. She looked into each room as she passed it. The first room on the second floor was on the right, given to Sirius to live in. It was now spotlessly clean, lacking the posters and mysterious dirt in the corners that had accumulated over time. Across from his room was a bathroom, and next to that an office. Henry Potter’s heavy mahogany desk sat in front of the window, surrounded by book shelves and files from his office. The paperwork, though, was as gone as the man who worked on them.
Next to the office was another bedroom, a feminine guest bedroom, and across from it and next to Sirius’ room were two doors, one a closet and one a trick door which led either to the attic or to a hidden bedroom, depending on where the visitor wished to go. Straight ahead at the end of the hall was James’ bedroom, his parent’s bedroom at the complete opposite end, and in-between was a loft sitting area.
Lily sighed as she entered James’ room, still painted a pale green color. His quid ditch posters and pictures and decorations were gone, and the small holes in the walls from nails magically repaired. His drapes had been taken down and meticulously cleaned, every surface dusted and polished. Their things were halfway packed, in their bags under the bed. Closing the heavy wooden door behind her, Lily took another sip of butterbeer, reaching behind her back and snapping off her bra. Shrugging it off under her shirt and tossing it to the side, she massaged the back of her neck, which was throbbing.
“Damn you, Sirius,” she muttered, sipping her drink again and setting it down.
Lily climbed onto James’ big, soft bed, laying back and getting comfortable. Soon her headache became a dull buzz, before it disappeared into sleep.
***
James opened the front door, hearing all his friends all chatting and laughing in the kitchen. He went in, seeing them all gathered round the bar and Sirius grinning like his old self, as they all enjoyed a joke. James smiled, seeing something ordinary, and for a moment wasn’t bothered with the weird changed in his life. Sirius looked up, eyes sparking as they rarely did, and indicated his head in greeting.
“Hey, mate, we were all just thinking about goin’ out to the Wand Pond for dinner.”
“Maybe,” James shrugged. “Where’s Lils?”
Corette snorted, shaking her head. “Zirioos let oof a doon bombe at ze ize-ccreem parlar. Leely ’as got an ‘orrible ‘eadache and ‘as been laying doon to reest oopstairs.”
“Tell me why that is typical,” James grinned, shaking his head.
“Because it is Sirius,” Remus remarked dryly.
Marlissa nodded, and Becky rolled her eyes at the offended look on Sirius’ face.
“What?” he asked. “I can be a perfect angel!”
Corette also rolled her eyes, grinning and muttering something in French. James, seeing Remus laugh and Marlissa blush, was glad he couldn’t understand what she said. Sirius didn’t, either, but he must have known it was something naughty, for he grinned and kissed her. James turned and went upstairs, hearing laughter echo up behind him. Headed down the hallway, he smiled at the squeaky floorboard, knowing it wouldn’t be with him much longer. As he opened his bedroom door, he saw his beloved redhead lay on his bed, sleeping. James smiled to himself, rolling his eyes at her bra on the floor. He leaned on the door frame and watched her.
“So hard to think you used to hate me,” he muttered to himself.
James kicked off his shoes, closing the door and going to lay next to Lily. Settling himself next to her, he brushed a strand of curls from her forehead and kissed it gently. About twenty minutes later, he heard Remus call up the stairs that they were all leaving for dinner, but didn’t respond. James suddenly found that he would rather lay in bed with his sleeping girlfriend than go to dinner and laugh at jokes that wouldn’t be funny in a few years. After a while, the dappling sunlight faded, and James fell to sleep, uncertain of much but positive that he would never let himself lose Lily Evans.
*****
Within a few days, James found himself staring into space in Potions class, thinking. He heard the buzzing hum drum life going on around him, and out of the corner of his eye saw Sirius up in the supply cabinet getting their ingredients. His best friend came back, arms full of bottles and skins of weird animals. As he precariously emptied it all onto the desk top, muttering to himself about hating Potions class, James looked over at Sirius
“Mate?”
“Yeah, Prongs?” Sirius looked up.
James hesitated. “You love Corette, right?”
Sirius seemed to consider it for a moment as he checked the labels on the bottles. “Well…. I think so, yeah. I mean we’ve not been dating long, but….” he shrugged. “Why?”
James bit the corner of his lip, not knowing how to word himself. “So… do you like, know?”
“Know?”
He nodded. Sirius sat on his chair, intently studying the vial of dragon’s blood in his hand. “I’m not sure.”
James sighed and turned to the measuring cups, “Always good for an answer, you.”
His friend just nodded and bowed slightly as he poured out the blood. “Any time, mate.”
By the end of the class they had made a good batch of the Dissolving Draft, turning it in and receiving an E on it. As Slughorne went on in front of the class about meeting some famous herbologist over the Easter hols, James continued to think to himself. The bell rang, and Sirius parted with him to go to lunch. James, who had no classes left for the rest of the day, went down to the Head’s dormitory. Opening the passage, he saw a light fire flickering in the grate, and hung his robes on the peg on the wall. The other one was empty, indicating that Lily was still out doing something, and he had the run of the place to himself.
James went up to his room and dropped his bag on his chair, flopping onto his bed. After a moment, he realized that there was a gentle smell of Lily’s shampoo coming from the pillows, and he reached, hugging one and closing his eyes, breathing deeply.
“Mmm,” he sighed. “I love this smell.”
“Would you rather have the pillow or the real thing?”
James lurched up, seeing Lily standing in the doorway, smiling at him. She was still wearing her school uniform, her robes draped over one arm. Her hair was down, but poofy, and had that kink in it that it got when she had it pulled back for a long time. James smiled and reached an arm towards her.
“Real thing, please!”
She lay her robes over his bag, going over and laying next to him. James pulled her tightly to him, holding her in his arms and smelling her hair.
“Much better,” he murmured.
Lily smiled, nuzzling into him and wrapping her arms about his neck. She kissed the tip of his nose and watched his eyes as she watched hers. James felt her fingers playing in the curly wisps at the nape of his neck. After a while she giggled.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
James blinked. “Because I love you.”
Lily smiled, feeling her cheeks grow hot, and looked away, trying to hide her blush in the sheets. James smiled, thinking it was cute, and kissed her flushing cheek. She looked back at him, face still half-buried, and grinned sheepishly. They both lay there like that for a while, until Lily closed her eyes and drifted to sleep in James’ arms. He held her as she napped, and eventually felt himself fade away into slumber as well.
Chapter 59
Graduation
Somehow, Sirius Black found himself nearly drooling as he stared at question one hundred thirty four of his last Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test. He had less than twenty questions to go, yet he couldn’t force himself to completely focus after three hours. He dared to look up from his paper, gazing across the neat rows of desks which had appeared in the Great Hall. There was at least a five foot gap between him and his neighbors in every direction, and none of those around him were friends. Everyone was seated alphabetically, and James was farthest away. Three seats in front of him was Peter, and two rows closer to Sirius was Remus. He sighed, again resisting the urge to light his cousin, Bellatrix, on fire in front of him. At the moment, one of her long, red fingernails was reaching down to scratch her ankle, causing her panty hose to get a run.
Sirius sighed again, going back to the test. The officials from the Ministry were prowling the aisles, and occasionally he heard a snort of someone shaken awake or a sharp “ouch!” from another person rapped hard on the head for looking somewhere other than their test. He blinked hard, seeing the faint outline of his handwriting after his eyes closed, and tried to concentrate again. Every second seemed to take a lifetime to pass, and his hand felt as though it were in slow motion when he continued to write out answers. He heard his heartbeat pounding in his ears, like a big drum being used to count out a beat to his life. The words jumbled together, everything blurred, and suddenly dancing words and numbers and question marks surrounded him.
“Mr. Black!”
Sirius jumped, toppling out of his chair and onto the hard stone floor. He heard a few girls giggle, and suddenly noticed the roar of voices. A stern looking woman was glaring down at him over her spectacles.
“I said pencils down. I am taking your test now.”
“Oh, god, thank you!” Sirius said, throwing the quill as far as he could. It fluttered to the ground a few feet away. “Take it, please!”
He skipped away, lighthearted and suddenly seeing things much more clearly, and spotted James and Remus meeting up by the door, searching the mob for him. Remus spotted him and waved, and the three boys wove through the crowd towards him.
“How’d you do?” Remus asked.
“Fine enough, Moony,” Sirius beamed. “I can bloody see now, so it’s all good!”
“Did you get the dancing eyes as well?” asked James. “I thought I was going mad!”
They turned to walk out onto the grounds. “It’s all well, though, because we haven’t got any more tests, or papers, or classes- nothing!” Sirius beamed.
Even Remus smiled as they skipped down the entrance steps. Going out onto the bright, sunny lawns, all three boys quickly shed their robes, loosened their ties, and rolled up their sleeves. Sirius brought his tie up so that it encircled his head like a headband, the long end flopping down over his right ear. James snickered at him as they all flopped down underneath their favorite tree by the lake. Remus sat, crossed-legged, next to the water and skipped stones. Sirius lay on the grass and watched clouds float over the mountain tops, and James leaned against the tree and looked over at Hogwarts castle.
“It’s odd, isn’t it?” he asked.
“What’s that, Prongs?”
James looked over. “Thinking that we won’t be here again.”
Sirius glanced at him. “Don’t be mad. We’ll be here tomorrow, and the day after, and every day until graduation, unless it rains.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“He means, Padfoot, that these are the last days of an era,” Remus said, tossing another rock. “We’re leaving soon to go on with our lives and finally grow up. We won’t be students any more unless we want to be. We’ll be adults and make lives.”
“Yes, that is what I meant,” James said softly.
Sirius rolled over onto his elbows and picked at the grass, then squinted up at his best friend. “We’ll be back. We have to. We’ll grow up and get married and have kids and they’ll come here, and we’ll be back for their graduation and our grandkid’s graduation.”
Remus and James remained silent, until Sirius looked back down at the grass. They were all quiet for a while, hearing younger students talking about flying around the quidditch pitch later. Finally, Sirius rolled onto his back again and sighed. He wanted to think that everything would be the same. There had been so many changes, lately, and he did not want to ever imagine any more.
“Hey, you!”
The boys looked up, seeing a red-haired girl approaching them, already dressed in summer shorts and a flowy top. Her curly hair was down about her face, and her freckles were prominent on her nose. Remus waved, James smiled, and Sirius flicked a weed flower at her as she sat next to her boyfriend.
“How did your last test go?” she asked, kissing James on the cheek.
“Horrible.”
“Terrible.”
“I died.”
“This is my ghost.”
“Padfoot, Prongs, you are far too dramatic,” sighed Remus.
Lily smiled and shook her head, leaning against James’ shoulder. He reached an arm around and held her to him, watching birds swoop by and first years trundling along the lawns, talking about exams coming up the following week. The four friends sat there for a while, enjoying life as they knew it. After maybe half an hour, Lily stretched a kink out of her neck, ruffled James’ hair, and stood.
“Right, well I’ve got to go keep packing, since graduation is in a week and I’ve got seven years of junk to pack. I’ll see you all at dinner.”
Remus and Sirius mumbled good-byes, and James smiled as she left. The boys sat there, watching her retreat, and finally the Black boy looked at the lone Potter leaning against the tree. Sirius blinked, watching his best friend, and realizing that no matter how much he wanted to keep things the way they were, they would soon be changing yet again.
*****
Lily stared at herself in her floor-length mirror, wiggling her legs in anticipation. She was wearing a set of white robes, with a white hat on her head. Through the gap in the middle, her white knee-length sun dress was visible, and her matching high heels stood against the stone floor of her room. She stood alone in her Head Girl dormitory, all her belongings packed away in her trunk, now next to her bed. It was made neatly, all her pictures and books and lone stockings packed away. Now, all that was left was what was on her back, and her wand laying on her bed covers. The wardrobe in the corner was open and empty, the bathroom downstairs was cleaned of all her things. She was ready to leave Hogwarts, yet she could not find it within herself to leave that spot. She sighed, teasing her hair, again. No one except her close friends had ever seen her around Hogwarts with her hair down, yet here she was letting the huge curls hang loose about her face on her graduation day, when she was less than an hour away from giving a huge parting speech. She had been given the speech of the past, and James was to talk about the future. Lily thought it was fitting, as she always loved to reminisce, and James loved to dream.
“Knock knock.”
Lily turned, seeing the door open as James leaned in. He was already packed, and despite having yet to pull on his white graduation robes, was fully dressed. He wore black slacks, a white, button-up shirt that did not have the Hogwarts crest on it, and a black and silver tie hanging, undone, around his neck. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbow, and he wore the dress shoes he only wore to weddings and funerals. James came into the room, and his eyebrows raised.
“Wow,” he whispered.
Lily smiled, feeling a flush creep over her cheeks. “Okay?”
James walked closer to her, grinning. “Okay? Just… Wow, Lils…”
He reached a hand out to her, taking hers and turning her around in front of him as though he were twirling her in a dance. He enjoyed the view of her in heels, her beautiful hair hanging down, her green eyes bright against the white clothing. Her skin looked more tan than usual, her cute freckles noticeable but not offensive. Under her robes he saw a pretty dress that accented her curvy body, and he just smiled. Pulling her close, James held her in his arms and rest his forehead against hers.
“Amazing. You look beautiful in white.”
Lily smiled, quickly tying his tie for him and smoothing it over his chest. She looked down at the floor, then glanced back up at him. James watched her eyes, enjoying his favorite past time of trying to memorize which parts were darker and which parts lighter. Finally, she giggled and kissed him softly.
“You’re always staring at me,” she said.
“Mmhm,” James nodded, kissing her back. “It’s hard not to.”
Lily smiled and kissed him again, then broke away. “Oh! What time is it?”
James was kissing her cheek. “Mmm… I came up here… to get you… to… go…”
“Go? Is it time to leave?!”
“Yes…”
Lily pulled away, lunging to go grab her wand. James tightened his grip on her waist, holding her to him.
“James!”
“Yes?”
“We’ve got to leave, we can’t be late to the graduation ceremony!” Lily said.
“Please?” James pouted, kissing her nose.
“No. Come along, we have to leave. Go get your robes.”
James sighed and pulled away from her, headed towards the door. She had turned to consider herself in the mirror one last time, and was now grabbing her wand and checking to make sure she really had packed everything. As James went out, he stopped in the doorway.
“Oh, Lily?”
“Yes?” she asked distractedly
“Don’t let me forget to give you your graduation present.”
She nodded distractedly, looking through her bedside table. “Okay James.”
He smiled and went up to his room, grabbing his white robes and hat. Meeting up in the common room, which was devoid of their robes, sweaters, books, and rolls of parchment, they grasped hands and hurried out of the Head’s dormitories and through the corridors. The graduation ceremony was to be held in the quidditch stadium, which was the only place the prefects, at the planning meeting, could thing of to hold all the families of all ninety seven graduates. It was decorated in Hogwarts purple, the House colors gone as all the students unified to celebrate their accomplishment.
James and Lily raced through the halls, seeing other graduating students doing likewise. It was dusk, and almost everyone had already arrived at the stadium to see their children walk. It brought a tear of longing to her eye, to know that neither her nor James’ parents would be watching them. As they ran over the sweet grass, breath a little sharp, Lily tried to remember all her speech. James had cheat cards, and his was not very long, but she was more verbose and had more things to say.
They entered the stadium through the back entrance which led onto the field, where there were rows of seats arranged for the graduates. Everyone was already sitting or getting seated, and they hurried up to the front to assume their seats on stage next to the black-clad professors. Lily nearly stumbled on her way up, and sat next to James with her legs crossed, observing the hundreds of parents in the stands, getting settled with cameras and big smiles. James, who had already caught his breath, looked over and grinned, grasping her hand and squeezing it. She did not let it go.
“Good evening,” Dumbledore’s voice boomed, causing the last chattering to stop. He stood before an intricately carved lectern, which magically amplified his voice. “Today, we gather to celebrate the accomplishments of these young men and women, who walked through these doors seven years ago and today leave into the world.”
Sirius Black, sitting unhappily between his cousin and some other Ravenclaw idiot, made faces at James to amuse himself. They locked eyes, and Sirius saw, with a snicker, that James could not make faces back, because he was on stage. Dumbledore kept rattling on, until finally he asked them all to sing the Hogwarts song. Everyone on stage sang dutifully, and so did perhaps half the gathered students and parents. He, himself, mouthed the words and crossed his eyes at Lily, who narrowed hers at him with a small shake of her head. The headmaster went on a bit more, and Sirius’ head only snapped up when he introduced Lily to give a speech about their past. A polite applause rose as she stood, smiling, and walked gracefully to the lectern, hugging Dumbledore shortly. She assumed command of the post, and looked out over the audience.
Lily smiled brightly. “Good evening, and welcome, assembled Hogwarts graduates and parents. We have come here for the first time in mass numbers in almost seven years, not brought together since perhaps the first day of our Hogwarts lives, seven years ago. Since then we all have learned a tremendous amount, so that we are hardly the children that were sent off to school when we were eleven. I know I speak for many of us here when I say that we shall miss Hogwarts greatly, and I speak for many more when I say that we cannot wait to leave.”
Sirius hooted along with Remus, and a large number of other troublemakers in the crowd. Lily smiled and nodded, then proceeded to amusingly recall all the good times the students had shared there, the first times on broomsticks, the first hairs to catch on fire, the first charmed snowball fight. It made him remember all the good times, and saddened him to see them go. She ended, a rather short time later, by looking out over the crowd and assuring them that though there were countless good memories at Hogwarts, there would be countless more as they all grew into the grown ups they would be.
There was more polite applause as she left, along with a whistle from somewhere in-between Bellatrix Black and a Ravenclaw girl. Lily rolled her eyes and sat next to James, who stood, taking the lectern and leaning on it as if it were a desk.
“So I was told recently that as Head Boy I had to make a speech,” he started. “And I will not hesitate in saying that I lied to Lily and have absolutely nothing planned.”
Remus laughed along with many others, seeing the horrified look on Lily Evan’s face.
“Any ways that’s not what is important, what is important is that we’ve gone and done what we set out to do so long ago, lily Lily said. We all graduated, all of us, and none of us died playing quidditch or being trampled by unicorns or drowning in the lake or by old Moaning Myrtle. We did it, and we’re all going off into the world to become upstanding witches and wizards. The next time I see all of us gathered like this will probably be some kind of reunion, and by then half of us will be married and the other half will be lost or dead or in America, god forbid.”
There was a scattering of laughter. James grinned.
“The point is that the future is ours to take, and I say we take it and do what we want with it. There isn’t anyone alive who can tell us what to do with it but ourselves, and we’re only going to be what we want. And… that’s about it. So, congratulations, Hogwarts, it took us seven years, but we made it, and we’ll keep making it.”
Lily shook her head as she held it in her hands, not bothering to join in the confused but amused applause. James came back over and sat next to her, patting her on the back sympathetically. Dumbledore retook the stand and began the graduation ceremony, calling everyone up by alphabetical order. As their classmates filed past, Lily and James clapped, smiling at them. Their smiles were forced or nonexistent for the Slytherins, who glared, but as Bellatrix passed sulkily and Sirius bounded on stage, Lily and James stood to hug him. Lily and Sirius kissed cheeks, and Sirius tried to kiss James on the mouth, who fought him off and pushed him at Professor Flitwick. Soon, Lily was called and turned, smiling and breathless, to James, who hugged her tightly and kissed her right on stage. She blushed, hearing some of their friends cheer at that, and quickly went to her teachers, shaking their hands as she went, finally coming to Professor Dumbledore. They hugged, and then he handed her a rolled up scroll of parchment. Lily smiled, taking it, and proceeded to walk off the stage, and to meet Sirius at the bottom of the steps. Remus soon followed, then the ever-elusive Peter, and then finally James. Eventually Becky and Charles joined the group, and by then the ceremony was almost over. They all stood off to the side, watching their last few class mates graduate into adulthood, not really wanting to say anything. Dumbledore took the stand as the last graduate retreated, and smiled out at the sea of his pupils.
“It feels so good to see you all dressed in white,” he said. “You now are not my students anymore, you are grown, you are off into the world. Take care of it, my students, for it can be a fragile one. Treat it kind and it will do the same for you. Now I leave you, and ask no more of you than to see you all visit me, some time, now that you are the graduated class of Hogwarts, 1978.”
Suddenly there was a huge roar of applause from the students, and white caps were being thrown everywhere. Lily screamed, laughing, and held onto hers, not wanting to lose it, as all the boys ripped theirs off their heads and chucked them into the air. She and Becky laughed, seeing the cheering students all around, and hugged each other. Charles swept up Becky, and they got lost in the crowd of students who were leaving. Lily felt someone pulling her and went, confused but happy, until finally she saw James pulling her out of the main area of the mob. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, a long, loving kiss filled with all the words of congratulations she’d ever need. They pulled away, hearing fireworks booming, and watched them explode over the lake, magically charmed to form the number 1978.
Chapter 60
Presents
After the fireworks had faded into the night, they all turned to go into the Great Hall, where the graduating class was holding a party. They stopped in long enough to make an appearance and circle about the room, then leaving and heading up towards their dormitories.
“Oh!” Lily said, stopping in their common room. “You forgot to give me my present.”
“Ohhh, I did, didn’t I?” James asked, grinning, tossing his robes onto the chair. “I’m not sure if you’ll want it, now, it’s a bit late.”
“That’s got naught to do with it,” Lily rolled her eyes.
“Alright, then. Ummm, here,” James was pulling off his tie, and held it to Lily.
“Your tie?” She set her white robes on the back of the arm chair, staring at him.
“No, wrap it over your eyes so it’s a surprise.”
Lily rolled her eyes and did so. She heard him leave and go up to his room, then come down. There were rustling noises and something hit against the wall, then she felt him take her by the arm and lead her over to him.
“Lift up your leg. A bit higher.”
“What-”
“Just over the broom, there.”
Lily felt her heel graze the broom. “Where am I going on a broom?” She carefully sat back, trying to sit on the broom when she could not see.
“It’s a surprise.”
“I’m nervous.”
James kissed her on the cheek, wrapping her in his arms as he sat behind her. “Trust me.”
Lily became tense and skittish as the broom lifted, and then she felt air moving about her as they floated to the window. Metal grated and then she heard the whine of the window opening, and there was a rush of chill air. They flew out into it, and through the night. She didn’t know how long they were flying, but when they finally came lower, her arms and legs were cold. Her feet met the ground awkwardly, until she regained her footing and James helped her off the broom. Lily raised her hands to the tie.
“Can I take this off, now?” she asked.
“Hmm” James considered it. “Nope, let me move you….”
He nudged her to walk forward and to her left a bit, and then she heard rustling of leaves. She smelled sweet grass, and was almost itching to peek. Finally, he came around and stood behind her, so that his arms wrapped around her waist and his chin rested on her shoulder.
“Alright,” he whispered in her ear. “Now you can look.”
Lily reached up and un-tied the tie from around her eyes. Slowly, almost nervous as to whether or not this was a trick, she opened her eyes. Blinking at the low light, Lily saw herself looking at the exterior of a house. They were standing in a small street, with a dirt path sidewalk up on the curb. In front of her was a faded picket fence, and the yard was covered in vines and lush greenery. Some of the vines were growing up the side of a house, which was a very old stone country manor. It wasn’t large, yet it wasn’t small, and it was very charming in a rustic sort of way.
“What am I looking at?” Lily asked, looking up at him.
James smiled down at her, then his eyes widened, as if seeing his folly. “Oh, I’m sorry, Lils, this isn’t your graduation present.”
Lily laughed and nodded as she turned to face him. “I didn’t think so, no one gets a house for graduating Hogwarts!”
He grinned and kissed her, and held her hands because it was a bit cold out and they had left without taking their cloaks. She pulled away from him, still laughing at his joke, and rested her head against his. He ran a thumb over her fingers as he smiled.
“No, that’s not your graduation present…. That’s your wedding present.”
Lily looked up at him, confused. “What-?!”
James swiftly sank onto one knee, the perfect image of a medieval knight. He still held Lily’s hands in his, and looked up at her lovingly. “Will you marry me, Lily Evans?”
A flood of emotions overtook her as she stared at him, wide eyed and in shock. She felt her face flushing all shades of red together, and suddenly couldn’t breathe quite right. With her hands held in his, she couldn’t hide her blush in them, nor could she seem to close her mouth which was open in shock. James’ face was irritatingly calm, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary for him to do this, and slowly Lily’s brain started to work again. She blinked several times.
“Y-yes… yes. Yes, of course, yes!”
James smiled, standing and sweeping her into his arms and kissing her passionately. “I was hoping you would say that.”
Lily still felt her cheeks burning, but starting to subside a bit, and smiled at him, still slightly shocked. “Well, one thing is for certain.”
“What is that, my lovely bride?” James purred, kissing her forehead.
Lily blushed again, burying her face in his neck. “You certainly can surprise me.”
James laughed out loud, squeezing her a little, and kissed the top of her head. Lily looked up at him, smiling and feeling excited and giddy but strangely comforted. He smiled down at her and trailed kisses from her forehead down her nose and gently onto her lips, where she held to him fast. They kissed, for a while, standing in the small street, until he parted from her and smiled, running a thumb along her cheek bone. Then, as an afterthought, he said,
“Will you be wanting your ring, then?”
“I don’t care, so long as I have you,” Lily murmured, her hands clasped over his back.
“It would be proper.”
“It would also be proper if I had not already been in bed with you before now,” Lily grinned.
“I haven’t heard you complain yet,” James winked.
“Who said I was complaining?” she asked, pecking him softly. “I was stating a fact that we are very improper.”
“I feel as though we should be.”
“In that case then, you should not be holding me like this, nor kissing me like you do, and certainly never having me in bed like you do.”
“But I can have you any other place?”
“Not by the rules of propriety you so suddenly deem important.”
James sighed, pretending to consider that. “Well, how about I be proper about the ring, and nothing else?”
Lily shrugged, “If that is what you want.”
“I want you.”
She looked up at him, amused. “Here?”
He glanced around. “Lily, dearest! What will the neighbors think?”
Lily laughed, shaking her head at him. One arm still wrapped around her, James dug in his pants pocket and brought out a ring, taking Lily’s left hand and pushing it onto her ring finger. She watched him and his deep concentration the whole while, still in mild shock. He smiled and kissed her hand, causing her to smile and kiss him as she wrapped her arms about his waist again. Then she turned to look at the house.
“You seriously bought it?”
*****
“Well, Moony, this is it. Truly, the last breakfast at Hogwarts.”
“I know, I know. Everything this morning has been the last this, the last that. Can we save it all until we get to the train station and then be all emotional? Or have you turned into a girl like Fox?”
Sirius rolled his eyes, then smiled. “Hey! Speak of the devil, there she is!”
Remus looked up, seeing Lily and James walking towards them in the Great Hall. Students were all over, fare welling each other and getting a bit emotional. The couple came and sat at the breakfast table, both smiling but seeming a little sad. Remus indicated his head in greeting, still chewing on his cereal.
“Top o’th morning to ye,” Sirius said. “Missed you both at the par-tay last night.”
“We didn’t stay, as it were,” James said, taking some cereal for himself.
“No?”
“No, we went out for a ride on the broom,” Lily said, taking a muffin and Remus’ discarded front section of the Daily Prophet.
“Uh-huh,” Sirius said, eyes narrowed as a glint caught his eye. “How was it?”
“Very nice,” James grinned, as Lily deftly ignored him, engrossed in reading.
“Uh-huuuuh…. Lily, pass the jam, please?”
Lily absentmindedly reached and got it for him, handing it to him obligingly. “There you are.”
“Cheers,” he said, smiling, seeing it again.
James, ever quick to catch on to something, narrowed his eyes at Sirius and glanced to his left, to see which hand Lily had used. Rolling his eyes, James ignored the beaming smile Sirius was hiding behind a glass of orange juice, and it only fell when Lily looked up at him and said,
“What did you need me to pass you the jam for if you didn’t use it?”
“He puts jam up his arse now, didn’t you know that, Lils?” Remus commented, turning a page of the paper.
She rolled her eyes, taking a bite of muffin. “Wouldn’t surprise me any, that bloody nutter.”
Within an hour, they were all being herded onto the scarlet steamer that had brought them there seven years before, and Lily stood on the train platform, ignoring everyone and staring back over the treetops to the castle in the distance. As he nudged along some first years, James came up behind her.
“You alright?” he asked.
She nodded, not looking at him. “I’ll just miss it, is all.”
James rubbed her shoulder consolingly, going to tell off some third years. Lily watched him go, and smiled, realizing how much he had matured with his Head Boy responsibilities. Once on the train, there was a quick Prefects meeting about patrolling the train and strictly warning against any pranks (which would all be from the Marauders, anyway), and then the students all waved good-bye and slipped off. After that, Sirius came in and joined his three friends in there, and they all lounged in the nice compartment and played Exploding Snap until the train pulled into Platform Nine and Three Quarters. The train swayed as the students disembarked, fresh from a year of learning, from France, from an old part of their lives that was over. The five Marauders, joined by Peter now, all stood on the platform and watched everyone milling about.
“Where are you going, Pete?” Remus asked.
“Me?” he squeaked. “Mum’n I are going to Liverpool to visit some family…”
“Tell your mum I said hello,” Lily offered kindly.
He had grown farther apart from them as it became clear that they would all have careers, whereas he never would. He nodded, his eyes still watery and his chin a little scruffy. Remus sighed and scratched behind his ear.
“I’ll be off to Ireland for a bit with Marlissa for a vacation… Just until, you know, full moon, then we’ll be back.”
“I’m going to meet Corette over in France for a week or so,” Sirius nodded.
James looked at his closest friends, with whom he had experienced boyhood and manhood, scars and battles and pranks and jokes and mundane classes. He had stayed up late wondering aloud to them why the girl next to him despised him, and had partied incessantly when she finally had not. They had all gotten detention and laughed and cried together, and now he had to wonder when the next time all that would happen was. Lily seemed to sense how he felt and gently squeezed him on the arm, then hugged Remus and Sirius very tightly, making them promise to write her, then hugged Peter a bit less tightly. She went over to Becky to say her good-byes.
“Well, mates, this is the end of an era,” James said softly.
The train whistled behind them, the engines still cooling. Remus nodded. “It is…”
Sirius gathered them all in a sort of group huddle, so that they were standing shoulder to shoulder. “You’ll all always be my mates. Always. Every last bloody one of you. We won’t lose each other. Who ever said that growing old had to mean growing apart?”
Remus just looked at the wooden deck below his feet. James bit back a tear, and Peter looked anywhere but at them. Finally Sirius sighed and nodded, sniffing.
“I love you gay arseholes,” he said gruffly. “You all are my brothers and my mates and I’d die for each of you.”
“Me too,” said James.
“Me too,” repeated Remus.
“Me… me too…” squeaked Peter.
The boys all stood there for a moment longer, before Remus broke away and hugged Sirius tightly, the first of the boys he had trusted with his secret. He then gruffly hugged James, kissing him on the cheek, and then hugged Peter, before he took his trunk and walked away, towards the platform entrance. Peter weakly hugged them both, never one for emotion, then ambled off to find his mother. Sirius and James stood there, staring at each other, now most of the people gone. They reached and hugged each other tightly, boys who had grown up and become men together, and Sirius pulled away, smiling through the tears in his eyes.
“I saw.”
James barked out a laugh, much the way Sirius usually did. “I know.”
Sirius Black smiled at him. “So you do know.”
He grinned and nodded, blinking wetness out of his eyes. “Yeah, I know. I think I always knew she was the one.”
His long time friend nodded. “Moony owes me a galleon. Well… You know I’ll always be around, I’m just getting emotional because it’s that time of the month. I’ve got that flat in the city, now, so you always know where to find me….”
“We’re going to school at the institute together, Pafoot!” James laughed.
Sirius nodded sadly. “Yes…. But it’s not the same, now.”
James looked down and nodded. “No, it’s not, is it?”
The two men looked at each other for a while, before Sirius smiled, stepped back from James, and took a handle of his trunk. Waving, he disapparated off to France to meet Corette, leaving James on the platform alone. He stood there for a while, before a red haired someone came into the corner of his vision. Lily came up, a few tears across her cheeks, and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, and kissed the top of her head.
“It’s alright, James,” she said. “They love you, they’ll still be round.”
“I know… it’s just… different,” he said quietly.
Lily nodded and kissed him gently. There was no one left on the platform, and the only thing left other than them were a few scrolls of parchment blowing in the breeze. Finally she kissed him again, and nodded her head at his trunk.
“You want to go home, now?”
James smiled. Perhaps a new life wasn’t going to be so bad.
Chapter 61
Home
Lily lay in bed, despite the morning sunshine streaming through the window, and watched James’ hand laying over top of hers, fingers intertwined. His arm was wrapped around her, his soft breathing in her hair as he slept on the white linens. It was the middle of July, and they had moved in together to the quaint house in Godric’s Hallow. Their neighbors adored them, though she knew that when she turned away a few of them whispered to each other about them living together without first being married; it was just that sort of neighborhood. Thinking of that, Lily looked down at her ring on her hand, covered by James’ as he slept, but still visible between the fingers. She smiled, feeling a slight flush come into her cheeks, still unable to really grasp that she was marrying her former mortal enemy. She felt James’ head move a bit as he sighed, a sign he was waking up. She let go if his hand and turned over, so the she could watch him. He was wriggling his nose a bit, eyes still closed, but moving under the lids. Lily smiled and gently kissed him. James’ hand moved to press her to him a bit, and when Lily pulled away he blinked and grinned.
“Good morning” she whispered.
“Hi,” James murmured back.
Lily kissed him again, then sat up and stretched a bit. James eyed her, since the light from the window was streaming through her sleeping shirt and outlining her silhouette perfectly. She stood up, wandering off downstairs to make some tea or toast, and James watched her go, wondering to himself how his life had become so perfect in so short a time.
As he meandered down after her, though, and saw her sitting at the kitchen bar reading the Daily Prophet, he remembered that they weren’t perfect. Fighting had exploded around the country, and Muggles were being killed left and right. The Ministry was in frantic, trying to cover them up as car accidents, plane accidents, drug accidents, any kind of accidents. There were witches and wizards being taken into custody every day, having been traced as using Unforgivables, and all of them tearfully claimed to have been under the Imperius. It was impossible to know what was safe and what wasn’t. James worried about Lily’s safety whenever she was out of his sight. Now, as she turned the page of the paper, he saw the bold headline announcing another round of attacks in a southern village.
“When will this madness stop?” she breathed, more to herself.
James sighed and rubbed his hair, leaning against the door frame. “I don’t know, Lils…”
She shook her head in disgust and tossed the paper over her shoulder, holding her head in her hands. James came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her head and resting his chin on her shoulder. Lily sighed and stood, laying her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat. They stood for a while, before the kettle she had set on started to whistle. Pouring out some tea for them both, Lily smiled wanly up at him.
“So I guess Sirius will be your best man?”
James grinned, taking his drink. “Naturally.”
“Oh, dear, I really will have to send him to obedience school…”
He laughed, and Lily smiled as they stood in the kitchen and enjoyed breakfast. After a while, he looked over at her, just finishing her tea, and said,
“Have you thought of when?”
“Hmm?”
“I mean, do you have an idea of when you’d like to get married?”
She looked over at him. They’d graduated barely a month ago, and in that time she had just been setting up the house and getting things together for school, in September. Lily had been enjoying a fairly pleasant and simple life, free of complications other than what color to paint the guest bedrooms or telling Sirius to wipe his damn feet before he tracked mud through the house. She blinked, watching him wait for her answer.
“I hadn’t thought of it, no,” she said honestly.
He grinned, “Well you know I was serious when I asked you.”
Lily cast him a look. “I know that. I’ve just been content for the time being.”
“So do you want to wait?”
She paused. “I’m not sure… I mean I start medi school in September, and you start Auror school too. Shouldn’t we try for just one change at a time?”
James considered that and shrugged. “If that’s what you want.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
Lily smiled and flushed a little, shaking her head. “James, you’ll never change…”
As they lay in bed that night, Lily watched the moonlight dapple over the ceiling as the leaves moved outside. She knew James wasn’t asleep yet, he would still shift around every now and again. She’d been thinking all day, and now she rolled onto her side and rested her chin on James ‘ chest. He looked down at her and gave her a soft smile, wrapping an arm over her back.
“I want to get married,” Lily whispered.
“Really?” James feigned surprise. “I didn’t know you felt that way about me!”
Lily rolled her eyes and nudged him. “I meant, I want to get married now.”
“Now? Right now?” James yawned. “I’m not sure that the town chaplain is still up.”
“This is true…”
He nodded, closing his tired eyes again. She watched him, then said, “How about this weekend?”
It was Tuesday, she figured, so that would give them time to invite people.
“Isn’t this a bit quick?” James murmured.
“Well, no, considering we’ve been dating barely over a year…”
He nodded, then opened one eye to look at her. “If you want, love. Just remember that after this weekend you won’t be able to threaten to break up with me when I make you mad.”
Lily laughed, nodding. “I’m alright with that.”
He kissed her head. “Me too.”
**********
“Are you serious?”
“As your name,” beamed James.
Sirius looked out the dingy window of the Leaky Cauldron, one hand wrapped around a butterbeer as he thought. “Well, jeeze, I thought you were gonna at least wait a bit.”
“Me too, but I just asked when she thought she’d like and…” James trailed off. “I mean, it’s not like I wasn’t being serious when I asked her.”
Sirius leaned back in his chair, taking a swig of his drink. Remus had been mailed, and since it had been full moon, they had decided to push the wedding back. He had just recently returned from his trip with Marlissa. Peter hadn’t been heard from, and they assumed that he was still off with his mum somewhere. However, the more they looked into details, the farther it got pushed back. James took a sip of his drink as he sat with his friend, then said,
“You’re right, it is kind of weird… I mean, this time last year we were planning some pranks for the new year and now…”
“Things change,” Sirius sighed. He squinted at James. “But I don’t think it’s a bad thing. She’s made you grow up a bit more than I thought you ever would.”
“Ah, that hurts,” James laughed.
Sirius grinned. “Nah, I mean… Before, I don’t think either of us were capable of taking things, you know, seriously. Now, I know you can.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
James indicated his head. “Do you think you’re all grown up?”
Sirius considered his drink as he thought. “You know, I don’t think I’ll ever stop being a kid at heart. You’d have to lock me up in a dark cell for a long time to make it go away.”
***
“I just can’t believe it’s happening,” Becky sighed.
Lily nodded as she looked through another rack of wedding dresses. “I know. And to think, James Potter.”
“Your mortal enemy!”
Both girls laughed as they went through hangar after hangar of dresses. Becky scratched her head, considering one, then said,
“Church, right?”
“Yes, the old gothic one in Godrics’ Hallow. It’s second to none. I was lucky to make a reservation, especially in the summer.”
It was already the first week of August, And the more Lily tried to quickly plan their wedding, the more she kept having to move the date back. They were originally supposed to have been married a week or so before; now it was set for the end of August. As she contacted florists, caterers, dress shops, and sent invitations, Lily realized that her small, quick wedding was growing and slowing down, since not only did everyone know James Potter, but they all wanted to come, too.
“How many people, again?” Becky asked, turning to the next rack.
“Right now we’re at twenty five, and I am leaving out a lot of people…” Lily sighed. “It’s kind of annoying, having James’ family being so well known.”
Becky nodded. “I’d be a bit miffed if I kept getting owls every day asking about the wedding…”
News of the wedding of the last remaining Potter, the heir to a wizarding family as old as wizardry itself, was causing quite a commotion. Apparently some news magazine or another wanted to do an article about it, because there weren’t that many “old blood” families left, as they were called, so it seemed that the continuation of them was something of an interest to the magical world. Lily vaguely recalled having seen an article on the Malfoy wedding, a few months ago, and remembering how extremely lavish it had been. It had taken about three seconds for both of them to decide that they did not want some kind of news editorial on the wedding. If the whole world wanted to know, that bad, they would send a picture or two to the Daily Prophet to run along with the wedding announcement. Now, as she looked through the beautiful but more simple dresses, Lily let out a sigh. She had yet to finalize the food for the guests and pick out the linens and that sort of thing, and although she was a bit happy to be doing it all, she just wanted more than anything to focus on the whole reason she had to plan all this out in the first place.
“Hey, how about this one?”
Lily turned and saw Becky holding in a laugh, presenting a dress that looked as though werewolf Remus had at it. Eyeing the rips and slashes, Lily rolled her eyes.
“Perfect, that one!”
“Yes, it is!”
Becky, however, was now staring over Lily’s shoulder, eyes wide, and she looked back to see the dress her friend was staring at. They both goggled, together, before Lily nodded and said,
“Did I mention that I love you?”
An hour later, Lily was finding herself almost unable to tear away from the dress, which she had tried on and specified alterations for and made a payment on. She’d be back in a week to fit it again before taking it a few days after that. Becky tapped her foot on the white stone floor impatiently, before the girls walked out into the sunshine of Caduceus Lane, walking arm-in-arm back to Diagon Alley to meet the boys. As they walked up the street, they both could not help but look around and see all the young school children doing some of their early school shopping. Lily smiled as she watched siblings chase each other around, their mothers exasperated. As she watched them, though, she felt a familiar feeling in her stomach, one that she had gotten for a few months whenever she thought about kids.
“Hey, Becks?” she asked.
“Hmm?” said the girl.
She hesitated. “Do you ever… um… sometimes… uhh…. Hm..”
Becky looked over as they walked. “What?”
Lily was trying to figure out how to phrase it. “Like… Not that I actually want to, you know cause I’m just barely eighteen and all and I’ve still got college, but… Whenever I think about it, I always get this weird feeling… like I might not be able to have kids.”
Becky considered Lily as they walked. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t explain it. You know how when you feel like Sirius is about to jump out at you from behind a statue, and then he does? It’s kind of like that, like a gut instinct.”
“But why would you think that? I mean, you’re pretty healthy.”
“I know, I just… I can’t quite explain it.”
They walked along in silence for a bit, before Becky shrugged. “I wish I knew the answer… I mean, you’re right, if I were you, I wouldn’t want to have a kid now, but I understand where you’re coming from. Maybe you should go to a healer? You know, get it all looked at and whatnot… I mean, have you said anything to James?”
“No, he’s very content not thinking about having a family and all that, which is nice because it helps me to not have to worry about it,” Lily said. “In fact I don’t think he’ll want a family for a while, I mean his parents were rather old when they had him, so he’ll probably want to be very settled before he thinks about that. I just hope I won’t have to have this discussion with him.”
“Well… I mean you don’t use rubbers or spells or anything, do you?”
Lily shook her head as they passed Madame Maulkin’s. “No, I’d never thought of it, and that just kind of reinforces my thinking that I can’t. I mean, I’ve never actually tried to stop it and yet it’s never happened. And I know very well that James doesn’t know any of those spells or anything, either.”
Becky was biting her lip in thought. “You’d think he would have wondered by now, I mean… I don’t know.”
The girls kept walking in silence, until they came to the brick wall that led to the Leaky Cauldron. Going through and entering the bar, they found Sirius and James in a table by the window, talking about some Quidditch scores. Becky hugged them all and left, off to her part-time job at the Ministry, and Lily sat with the boys, ordering herself a butterbeer and not really participating in their conversation.
That night as she brushed out her hair from her shower, Lily considered herself in her vanity mirror. James was brushing his teeth and she heard the water running. Untangling and smoothing her hair, she still had to wonder if she would ever have a family or if she would just be part of a couple. She had always known she wanted kids, when she was married and well established and capable of being the best mother she could be. Ever since Pirro and Daisy were born, Lily had felt the desire to someday have a little bundle of her own. She watched her freckles in the mirror, fading into a memory of her youth, and wondered if she would ever have a child with freckles like hers.
James’ hands suddenly snaked over her shoulders, making her jump. He kissed her cheek. “You ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lily said wanly, setting down her brush.
He watched her face in the mirror, arms wrapped about her shoulders as she sat. “You sure? You look a bit bothered.”
“Just thinking is all,” she attempted a reassuring smile.
“Are you nervous?”
She blinked and turned to look up at him, halfway wondering if he could read thoughts. “Yes, I-”
“I am too,” James nodded. “I mean…. I’ve never been married before…”
Lily felt a slight sinking feeling, but knew she couldn’t have expected him to know her thoughts. “Yeah, me neither.”
James grinned and kissed her gently, yawning as he moved off towards bed. “That’s okay, we’ll figure it all out together.”
She watched him go, then looked back at her reflection in the mirror. “Yeah…”
61
You Are Cordially Invited….
Lily licked the last envelope, taking a swig of butterbeer as she set the last invitation on the stack before her. Being a wizard definitely had it’s advantages, one of which was that she was allowed to send out her wedding invitations only four days in advance, since Owling usually only took a day or so. Besides, every one of the guests already knew of the event, she was merely sending the invites as a formality. James was in the back yard with Sirius, trying to set up some kind of makeshift quidditch arena to play in. Lily watched through the kitchen window as they sped by on their brooms, laughing, throwing some kind of fruit to one another. She smiled, knowing that those boys would always be just that, until their dying days.
You are cordially invited to the wedding
Of Lily Evans and James Potter
In the Cathedral of Godric’s Hallow
Four p.m. with reception following
In the Hallows Garden
“Now, then, there’s the blushing bride!”
Lily smiled as Sirius stepped into her little dressing room, usually a small chapel off the main corridor of the church. She was standing before a full length mirror, clothed minus her veil, and was carefully scrutinizing her hair. Despite being critical of herself, she had to look back at Sirius as he whisked the door back shut.
“Wow, Black, you clean up good!” she laughed.
And, indeed, it was probably the most handsome she had ever seen Sirius Black. It could have been because Corette had forced him to get his hair trimmed, but standing there in his dapper suit with his hands in his pockets and a big, beaming smile, Lily could understand why so many girls back in school had gone nuts over him. She indicated with her finger that he should spin, and he cha-chaed around in a circle, wiggling his hips wildly and making her laugh.
“Padfoot, you’ll never change.”
“Damn right!” Sirius grinned, sitting on the arm of a chair. “You, however, have gone from a scrawny little redhead girl I used to pick on… well I still pick on you… to being pretty much the bride-li-est cherry bomber I know!”
Lily rolled her eyes and continued to scrutinize her hair, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Sirius nodded, watching his “sister” fondly. Perhaps because it had only been two months or so, he still found it a bit wild that he was a few minutes away from participating in his best friend’s wedding, but then again so many new things came along in his life that he could hardly be surprised, anymore.
“Did Peter show up?” Lily asked conversationally.
Sirius sank down into the seat of the chair. “I haven’t seen him…”
Lily shook her head sadly. “It really is a shame that all of you grew apart. I mean… wherever you and James and Remus were, he used to be too. I haven’t seen him since we graduated.”
“Neither have I,” Sirius said, picking at his nails. “I mean… But it would be a bit awkward if he were here.”
She looked over at him curiously, satisfied with her careful curls. “What do you mean?”
Sirius gazed at his best female friend for a moment. “You never noticed?” One of her red eyebrows raised. “Oh, well… I always thought that Peter had, you know… a, er… thing for you.”
“Peter? Ratty Pete?” Lily asked. “You’re nuts, Padfoot.”
He shrugged, not wanting to tell her all the times he’d seen Peter gazing wistfully at Lily as she laughed at James’ jokes, or the dirty looks he would shoot James when he thought no one would see. Lily turned and sat in her chair, looking down at her fingers. He could vaguely see them shaking a bit.
“I am nervous, though,” she said softly.
Sirius smiled and stood, taking Lily’s light lace trimmed veil and pinning it over her hair, just far back enough to cover her ears and not her face. “Well, if any of us are ready to get married now, it’s you and James. I mean, it’s been almost predicted since you and Jamsie started hating each other in first year. Those who hate each other must get married in the end!”
Lily smiled and shook her head. “You are one for strange pep talks, you know that?”
Sirius nodded, pulling her up and scrutinizing her thoroughly. Finally, after adjusting her veil just so and fixing one of the many pearl buttons that ran down the back of the dress, he nodded. “You are Sirius-ly certified!”
Lily, who had been fixing his tie, laughed and hugged him “Thanks.”
The two friends smiled at each other, before he turned and went to the door, peering out. “Ah, well, looks like everyone is gone…”
The door flew open, and Becky stood there in her soft green garden dress. “Thank you, Black, because I am a total nobody!”
“Glad we can agree on something, Wright!”
“I’m not a bloody Wright, I’m a Smith!”
Sirius rolled his eyes as Becky went past him, carrying her and Lily’s bouquets. Lily was amused, thinking of how Becky and Sirius were going to have to walk down the aisle together, as they were the maid of honor and best man, respectively. Becky licked her thumb and fixed a smudge on Lily’s nose, then handed her the bouquet of lilies and roses, still glaring at Sirius. He beamed and stepped out the door, probably to go say something not very encouraging to James, and Lily turned again to glare herself down, wishing her churning stomach would stop.
***
“She…. looks… hideous!” Sirius said as he approached James.
James shot him a look, bitterly realizing that it somehow had made him feel a bit less nervous. “Funny, Padfoot.”
“Aren’t I?”
“The only thing funnier than you is your face.”
“Oh, that’s original. Kind of like how you look funny in a suit.”
“Shut up, I hate this thing.”
“I can guarantee I hate mine worse, but the good news is that I’m not the one getting married, so in all technicalities I could rip it off at any moment and be your best man in the starkers.”
They were hissing at each other as the few guests got situated, thankful that the music being played hid their playful banter. James restrained a smug smile.
“Yes, well as the one getting married I get to undergo all this torture knowing that I will definitely be getting some action tonight.”
“Yes, but I, too will be getting action tonight, and it will be from my awesomely hot French girlfriend!”
James laughed, rolling his eyes and nudging Sirius in the ribs. “Yes but I have a redhead and no one else will ever have her.”
Sirius put a finger to his mouth as he considered this. “That is very true. Maybe I can convince Corette to dye her hair red….”
James shook his head, hearing the final strains of the music being played out, and Sirius turned, jogging down to the back of the church, turning back to shoot a very hyped looking thumbs-up. James exhaled as his friend left him standing atop a small dais, thankful that the old minister chose now to appear rather than in the midst of his and Sirius’ conversation. All the guests before him seemed to be settled and were shooting him bright smiles, which did nothing at all to alleviate the awesome knot in his stomach. He had to wonder to himself which was worse, this or that moment right before the whistle blares to start the final game for the Quidditch Cup. James decided that this was worse.
The doors at the back of the church swung open again, and the musician off to his right started up some kind of music again. All of the guests turned to look, and James found himself almost deafened by his own heartbeat. Through the bright entryway, he saw Sirius, arm linked with Becky, approaching. Both of them had very fixed smiles on their face, because though they were alike in every way, they tended to argue a lot. In fact, as Sirius approached, James thought he saw a slight red mark on his hand in the shape of another hand, as if Becky had slapped him for something. Charles, who was sitting in the third row, was snickering as his girlfriend walked past, knowing how well she didn’t get along with Sirius. They came up to him, Sirius wiggling his eyebrows and Becky giving him a reassuring smile. His best friend came and stood off to the side of him, Becky on the other end and leaving a wide berth between. Sirius clapped him on the shoulder as he passed, whispering in his ear,
“French!”
James could barely hold in his laugh, stifling it so that it sounded like he was clearing his throat. As he focused his attention back, again, the guests standing, James saw that at the end of the church Lily was slowly, almost timidly, entering. Suddenly, he forgot the pounding of his heart and the horrible organ music being played, he forgot even about Sirius and the whole situation around him. All James thought of as his girlfriend- no, fiancée- came closer, was how utterly amazing she looked. Her dress was long, brushing the carpet as she walked, and puffed slightly at her hips, but from there up was tight and showed her fabulous curves. She had no sleeves, her almost tan, freckly arms held in front of her, her coppery red curls pinned up to her head under a lace veil that matched the lace dress. Her green eyes, though, were searching for his, and once she found them she smiled a bit wider and he saw a flush creep over her cheeks. James smiled back, slightly breathless at how radiant she looked, and at that moment found it within himself to forgive her for making him wear a suit and tie. James adored the pink flush running over her cheeks as she came up to him, and held out his arm for her as she stood next to him. Lily linked arms with him, glancing down at the carpet to try to subdue her blush as they stepped together up to the minister. Lily passed off her flowers to Becky, who for once had a smile on her face as though she were watching the sweetest display in the world.
Time seemed to pass quickly, not really listening to all the chaplain was saying. James held Lily’s hands in his, smiling at her and wondering what she was thinking. Her thumbs ran over his, and she squeezed his fingers gently. The chaplain paused in his speech, causing James to look over at him.
“James Henry Potter, do you take this woman as your wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, to honor and to respect, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part, as long as you both shall live?”
James looked back at Lily and gave her hand a squeeze back, “I certainly do.”
Lily smiled, and didn’t even glance at the minister who asked her the same. She nodded and smiled, uttering softly, “I do.”
The two then repeated their vows, James turning to Sirius for Lily’s small ring and Lily looking to Becky for James’. The minister snapped shut his book and, wheezing slightly, announced them to be married, and that they could kiss. James smiled, watching Lily blush a little at the thought of kissing in church, but she did not resist when he swept her to him and kissed her warmly. Lily’s arms wrapped around his waist, relishing the kiss of the man she’d be with for the rest of her life. There was sudden cheering, causing her to pull away and look, slightly embarrassed, over at the assembled crowd. Becky nudged Lily, hugging her and giving her back her flowers. James and Sirius did their secret handshake, and then the two Potters linked arms and made their way out of the church.
Outside, on the church steps, Lily turned to James and kissed him, feeling euphoric. James smiled and fixed the side of her veil, which had wrinkled a little.
“I love you, Mrs. Potter.”
Lily blushed, and buried her face in his chest to hide it. “I love you too, my husband.”
“Are you ready to do your pictures?”
They looked up, seeing the local photographer they had hired, and the they did a few pictures in front of the church, then in the garden, where the reception was to be held. There was a white tent where people were being herded for the party while they waited, and as soon as they were done taking pictures, they went to the tent and enjoyed the reception, where Lily shoved cake in James’ face, Sirius amazed everyone with his limbo skills, and Remus drank just a little too much firewhiskey and told everyone who would listen about that time on patrol when he caught Lily and James snogging behind a statue.
Hours and hours later, the happy couple apparated a little drunkenly to their front lawn. Being as times were a little strange, they had decided not to travel for their honeymoon and rather just stay home and relax together there. Pushing open the front door, Lily froze, then started laughing.
“I should have known!”
James came in behind her, looking around in confusion. “Who the hell…?”
“You didn’t do this?”
Lily gestured to the lit candles on every surface, the rose petals strewn about in a vague path leading upstairs. James shook his head, hanging his suit jacket on the coat rack.
“Not me…”
“Hmm... I’m willing to bet it was Sirius, then.”
“I’m betting Becky,” James said.
“What does the winner get?” Lily asked, carefully spreading her veil over the back of a chair.
James did nothing but send her a sly wink. Rolling her eyes, Lily stretched, before shrieking in surprise when James grabbed her and proceeded to whisk her upstairs. She laughed, unable to help it, and reached to open their bedroom door for James. As the door creaked open, she raised an eyebrow at the scene. The armada of burning candles continued, here, and the rose trail led to their bed, where someone had turned down the neatly made covers. Atop all of it was a letter, which she reached for as James finally set her on her own feet.
“Oh, dear, we both lose,” she said. “They actually teamed up and both did the decorations.”
“Well technically we both won,” James said, reading over her shoulder.
“This is true. Does this mean we both get winks?” Lily asked, laughing.
“Of course it does!” James exclaimed, kissing her.
He wrapped his arms around her, and Lily couldn’t help but laugh as she felt his fingers pulling at the top buttons on her back. She pulled away and looked up at him,
“You know my dress has a hundred and fifty three buttons down the back, right?”
James threw up his hands in forfeit. “So much for my wedding night!”
Laughing, Lily reached for her wand, holding it up like a showman. She quickly swished it down and back up, pointing it at her dress and then towards her vanity; immediately all the buttons came undone and her dress flew to drape over her vanity chair. She now stood before her new husband wearing her heels, her stockings, her garter belt, panties, and her low-backed bustier that had kept her from falling out of her delicate dress. Normally Lily would have been mortified, being seen in such revealing under things, but something about the sudden slack-jawed look on James’ face made her giggle. She reached with the tip of her wand and nudged his mouth closed.
“What were you saying?”
“I…” James blinked, “Really like that trick…”
Grinning, she shrugged and put her wand back in it’s usual spot on her bedside table. As she turned, she could almost feel James noticing her rather skimpy underwear, and he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to him, melding their bodies together and kissing her. Lily un-did James’ tie and shirt, feeling a familiar feeling of lust overtake her, heightened by a lack of inhibition due to the wine she’d drank at the party. She felt his hand creep down and un-snap her garter, the straps popping up a little as her stockings became less taught. Together they shuffled towards their bed, scattering garments in their wake. By the time they reached the familiar mattress, there wasn’t much in the way of clothing left to speak of. Smiling at him as he considered the doings of her bustier, Lily flicked a stray petal at James. He beamed at her and kissed her gently.
“You know I never really believed that I would be married to you,” he said.
Lily giggled and nodded, “Same, Potter, same.”
63
Time
When James woke up, the next morning, his head ached slightly from drinking the night before, and the light behind the shades indicated that it was farther on in the morning. He stretched on the bed, wiggling his toes under the soft sheets. Looking around his familiar room, he saw loads of stubbed, meted candles from the night before, and a few scattered petals about that had, apparently, escaped cleaning. Lily’s beautiful lace dress was still draped over her feminine little vanity, and through the bathroom door he heard the tap running on the bath. He stood, wandering that way, pausing to pull on his discarded underwear as he went. Pushing the door the rest of the way open, James saw Lily laying back in the tub, topped with some white bubbles, eyes closed and looking thoroughly relaxed. Grinning, he knocked on the doorframe. She opened one eye and smiled.
“Good morning, sleepy head.”
“Hello, Mrs. Potter.”
She laughed. “How many times are you going to call me that?”
“For as long as it takes for me to wake up from this dream.”
Lily laughed again, shaking her head at him. He watched her for a moment, smiling to himself, then went over and gently kissed her. Lily’s soapy hand reached up and held onto his cheek, and he jokingly wiped the suds off his face and flicked them at her, before going downstairs to make some tea. Sitting in their comfortable living room, he watched the sunlight play outside and marveled at his new life. After his tea had gone cold and he heard the pipes draining out Lily’s bath water, James stood and stretched, padding back upstairs. In his bedroom he grabbed out some clothes from his dresser, clothing himself as Lily stepped out of the bathroom, hair still damp and body wrapped in a towel. She smiled over at him as she went to her own bureau, pawing trough the top drawer for some under things. James sat on the end of the bed, pulling on some socks and his trousers, before going over and standing behind Lily, resting his chin on her shoulder and arms around her. Lily smiled at him through the mirror and said,
“Are you going to move so I can dress myself?”
“Why would you want to dress yourself?” James asked.
Rolling her eyes, Lily stared at him until he sighed moved, going off to his own dresser. They both dressed for the day in a slow manner, not having anything to do other than enjoy each other’s company and relax, or at least as much as they could whilst the wizarding world was continuing to fall apart.
**********
It was November.
Lily was thoroughly enjoying every minute she was at school, learning how to sever and heal and mend up people. James and Sirius, together at the Auror school, were hating every moment of it. Remus was sort of wandering around, trying to figure out what to do with his life, and Peter was seen about once a month. Becky and Charles had since also gotten married, in a kind of hurried weekend secrecy type thing. When Lily asked why they had eloped, Becky didn’t really have an answer; sometimes things of excitement just needed to happen for no reason at all.
One day, as Lily and James were strolling through Godric’s Hallow, idly looking for a present for Sirius for Christmas, James turned to Lily and squeezed her hand. She smiled up at him affectionately, rubbing her thumb over his.
“I’ve been thinking,” James said.
Lily gasped in feign surprise, “No!”
He chuckled and nudged her. A woman passed by next to them with her young girl holding her hand. James turned to watch them after they passed, and Lily glanced in a shop window. They continued on down the street, until eventually they turned to walk home. After they had gotten inside and both had hands wrapped around hot cups of tea, Lily went into the living room and sat, flicking through one of her textbooks. James was watching out the front window, seeing a gentle dusting of snow from that morning.
“So… I’ve been thinking,” James said again.
Lily glanced up at him over her book, and nodded. “Yes, you said.”
James nodded to himself, feeling a bit nervous as he tried to figure out a way to word his thoughts. “Well… um… well I was thinking that, you know, we’re married.”
Lily smiled as she set down her tea, turning a page. “Indeed, for a few months now, yeah.”
James shifted his weight, awkwardly watching his toes. Lily narrowed her eyes as she considered him, wondering now what he was thinking. He set down his tea and stuck his hands in his pockets, looking for all the world like an awkward school boy again. He reached up a hand and scratched the back of his head.
“Uhh, well… I was thinking I mean… kinda… about having… you and me, having, a, um… family.”
She watched him for the longest time, feeling a familiar heavy dread rising within her. “What do you mean?”
James scratched behind his ear, then shrugged. “I just thought it would be nice. I mean… I think it would be pretty groovy if…” he trailed off. “I mean, we’re married, and we’re quite stable, I mean if it bothered your schooling at all I’m sure that you could go back even if you didn’t have your scholarships…”
Lily blinked, knowing he was talking about the Potter fortune. It was an issue he was rather embarrassed about, but the fact remained that they could have kids, and grand kids, and great grand kids, all who never work a day in their lives and still be ridiculously wealthy. James in no way need to go to college to become an Auror and make money, likewise Lily did not need to become a healer for the money, it was just that they were things they wanted to do. She wetted her lips as he watched her, remembering an all too recent trip she had taken to a doctor whilst James thought she was in class.
“Mrs. Potter… ahh… Unfortunately, it seems that your suspicions have been right. After thoroughly examining you and going over your medical files, it seems that your mother actually took Diethylstilbestrol during her second pregnancy, with you.”
“Yes, she had mentioned it before to me…” Lily said nervously, fingers wrapped over the edge of her examining table.
The muggle doctor nodded. “Yes, well the government recently discovered that there were medical problems associated with children whose mothers took DES while pregnant with them… most of the problems are reproductive, typically resulting in infertility. You’re quite healthy, but through the exam we can see that your uterus is slightly malformed, and your cervix is weakened due to the exposure to the DES.”
Lily watched her doctor for a long time, before she asked quietly, “What are my chances?”
The doctor’s face looked sorry, and a corner of her mouth twitched before she responded, “1 in 10,000.”
“Lily?”
She looked back up at James, the memory of that doctor’s visit, and the subsequent second and third opinions, no better than the first, fading back in her mind. James was watching her carefully, to see how she would respond to him. He looked so hopeful under his carefully blank face. Lily wasn’t blind, she had seen that he would sometimes look after parents with their small children as they walked by on the street, or that his eyes seemed a little longing when he saw a family out together. She had to wonder how he had not noticed before that despite their being intimate for almost a year now, she had never said anything about pregnancy. Perhaps he thought that it was something girls did, they took their medicine when the boys weren’t looking, that it was something they automatically knew to take care of. Only, Lily never had and never would have to take care of it.
She smiled softly, and nodded, feeling something within her chest break. “Sure,” she said. “That sounds lovely.”
James’ face broke into a wide smile, and he came over and kissed her, hugging her. “Thank you, Lily.”
Lily just nodded as she hugged him back, wondering how long it would be before she shattered his dreams.
**********
Lily was overlooking her back yard through the window in her kitchen when she heard James apparate in. Sirius was not with him, for there wasn’t any laughter or talking, just one set of footsteps making their way across the chill wooden floor. She blinked, thinking, watching as a gentle snow started to fall outside. The sky was overcast and dark grey, and she knew soon that it would be storming; it usually did this time of January.
“Hello, love,” James said, kissing her cheek. His nose was cold.
Lily smiled at him and resumed washing the carrots she was going to cut. “How was class?”
“I’m done with it,” James said.
“You’ve passed?” Lily asked, looking over her shoulder.
He was un-winding his scarf as he sat at the bar. “Nope. I’m quitting.”
“That’s alright, I’m sure you’ll be able to take it next term. I know that professor you talked about sounds rather-”
“No, I mean I’m quitting school.”
Lily paused, then turned off the faucet and set down the carrots. She turned, leaning against the sink, one eyebrow sunk a little lower than the other. “What?”
James was watching her just as she was watching him. He shook his head. “I’ve never liked school. I’ve done okay at it but I’m not going to pay money to have some old bastard tell me I need to raise my wrist a little more when I’m dueling.”
“Is that the only reason?” Lily asked gently.
James shook his head again. “No. I hate it. I hate sitting in a classroom learning how to fight when I already know. I don’t want to waste time learning the so called proper way to get rid of bad people when I already know how. I know I can hold my own against them, and that’s what really matters.”
“But… you were going to work in the Auror Depar-”
“I don’t give a damn about working for the ministry,” James said. “The ministry isn’t taking care of this properly. If they were, Voldemort would be a thing of the past right now.”
Lily let the clock tick as she thought. “What are you going to do?”
James sighed and leaned back in his chair. After a while, he shrugged. “I’m not sure. But I know I’m going to fight.”
“Fight….”
“The Order needs people, Lily.”
She felt her stomach twisting in knots, not wanting to fathom James getting hurt, let alone killed, by one of those Death Eaters. In the back of her mind, she started to wonder if this was her way out of the baby thing. She had tried to seem as surprised as James had when she had gotten her menses these last two months. “I know.”
“We need to help them. The ministry is doing nothing-”
“I know, James.”
James watched his young wife, wondering how they had grown up so fast. It happens, he supposed, when you are thrust into a world in turmoil. “Will you fight with me?”
He reached his hand across the counter for her, beckoning for her to join him and the Order. Deep within herself, Lily felt scared senseless, and after a while, she shook her head.
“I won’t fight if I can help it, but as long as any of you come to me afterwards, I’ll heal you.”
James slowly closed his fingers, nodding. “That’s all I ask.”
She nodded, going back to cutting the carrots. James came around the counter and hugged her from behind, setting a kiss on top of her head.
“Besides,” he said conversationally, “since I won’t be at school, now, when you’re gone during the day, I’ll be able to stay home. You know, when we have a baby.”
Lily paused as she cut the carrots, feeling guilty for still having not told him, and then nodded. “I suppose that would work nicely.”
James kissed her head again, squeezing her shoulders as he went upstairs to shower before dinner. She set down her knife and carrot as the upstairs door closed, and leaned against the counter, head in her hands. Lily stood there, motionless, for a long while after he left, hearing the water running in the pipes. Eventually, she sniffed, wiping her cheeks, and continued to try to convince herself that she didn’t want this more than he did.
64
Knucks
Sirius felt his heart pounding in his chest, hearing the screaming and the blasts of dark magic all around him. He had his back pressed firmly against a brick wall, crouched halfway down a side alley that was grown with weeds two feet tall and littered with rubbish. His hand around his wand was sweaty, and he tried to regain his peripheral vision. The adrenaline rush was never good, especially when it almost blinded you. Other hand shaking, he pushed his sweaty hair from his eyes, squinting back down the alley to try to see through the smoke. Slowly, he crept back the way he had come, when he had dodged down the alley in his flight from the initial fight. He and the other Order members had been summoned here, to raid this seemingly innocent trinket shop, where there was a suspected mass amount of Death Eaters, hiding and strategically planning an attack on Hogwarts castle, just a kilometer away. And, indeed, there had been.
Now, Sirius lunged back into the main street of Hogsmeade, to see it nearly deserted. A ways down the lane he could see someone, he thought Frank Longbottom, fighting a Death Eater and holding his own.
“Look out!”
Suddenly the brick above Sirius exploded as a jet of fluorescent purple hit it. He ducked, running away from Frank and the falling brick. Turning as he ran, Sirius saw the Death Eater hanging out a window on the other side of the street, aiming at him.
“Avada Kedavera!” Sirius roared, whirling his wand.
He missed, but the blast of exploding wall did the job just the same. Sirius turned, knowing he ought to be watching where he was running, and looked just in time to see a black hooded head sticking out of another alleyway, looking away from him to check on where the Order members were.
“Impedimenta!”
Immediately the Death Eater froze, and as Sirius skidded to a halt, he was mildly surprised to see the face of one of his former classmates from Hogwarts. Shaking his head, he remembered that this guy had always made fun of Sirius, and never really backed it up.
“Well, mate, we see who’s got the upper hand here…”
Sirius punched him in the face, which sent him reeling back to the ground in slow-motion. As he fell to the ground, blood spraying in the air at a third of the normal time, Sirius sighed, wiping his bloody knuckles on his robes and taking wrist cuffs out of his pocket. He bound the man, cast him invisible, and shoved him back down the alley to collect and hand over to Azkaban later. Turning to look back down the street, Sirius vaguely saw that there was no one about. Wary of the sudden absence of everyone, Sirius crouched down.
Suddenly he heard a sharp whistle, and his eyes darted to an equally dark alley on the other side of the road. James’ face peered out, and he made signs with his hands to Sirius; point, palm, fist, four, walk, left building. You transfigure into a dog, go to that building. Sirius nodded and touched his nose to indicate he understood, before he turned, transfiguring as he leapt over the immobile, invisible Death Eater.
Panting down the alley, Sirius turned, making sure to keep his tail tucked under and look scared. He padded slowly, looking around warily as he went, making his way to the left building. As he went, whining, he heard voices that suddenly stopped, and heard rustling behind the bushes to his right, near a rubbish bin. Sirius stopped, ears drooped, tail tucked, whining.
“It’s just a fuckin dog.”
A face, inside a black robe, peered out at him. “Sod off, puppy,” hissed a female voice.
Sirius whined, taking a tentative few steps towards the girl.
“Get the dog away,” hissed a male voice.
“He’s scared- look at him.”
Sirius looked up at the Death Eaters, hunched halfway into a ball. The male sighed and ignored the girl. The girl reached a hand out for Sirius. He stepped closer, slowly, and sniffed her hand, before nudging it gently with his nose. She smiled a little and patted him on the head.
“We’re all scared, puppy,” she whispered. “We all just got to stick to the side we think is gonna win. Cause if our side wins, then we’ll be safe for having believed in it.”
Sirius sat down, trying not to notice that his still tucked tail was riding against an uncomfortable spot. The girl patted his head absently as she and her male colleague went over their map, and marked off where they thought the Order was. They had two of five locations right; Sirius knew that one of those locations was their major one.
“When are they hitting them?” the girl whispered.
“Less than two minutes,” the male said. “Our job is to take out this one…” he pointed to a false spot. “Bart said he saw some there about a minute ago.”
Suddenly there was an explosion, and Sirius jumped, running away as if terribly frightened by the blast. As he ran, he knew he had to get to those two locations before the Death Eaters struck and killed over twenty of their people. Jumping behind thick bushes, Sirius transfigured as he leapt, and the moment his feet touched the ground, he apparated.
Instantly, seven wands were pointed at him. James lowered his first. “What did you hear?”
“Moony’s nest, and this one, they’re going to hit any second-”
Without pause, everyone disapparated from there, each scattering to the three other hiding locations that hadn’t been marked. James appeared at Moony’s elbow, where he was waiting with two other guys for their signal to raid the center street. Remus jumped when James appeared, then said,
“Now?”
“NO! James gasped. “Leave, they’ve got us mark-”
Before he could finish, the small room they were in, on the second floor of a shop, exploded with light.
*********
Sirius whirled, feeling the earth rock as countless jets of light shot from all over the street towards the five spots. He quickly tried to remember where all of them were, and suddenly Hogsmeade was lit up like a Christmas tree with jets of light shooting back and forth across the street. The air was rent with noises, with explosions and whizzing of spells and cries of those wounded. It was foggy with smoke and haze, the lights of different colored spells refracting off the smog and making it harder to see. He kept getting knocked over every time his building shook with the impact of another deadly spell shot at them. And in his head, all Sirius could think about was Corette, who was probably sitting somewhere completely unaware of what was going on right now.
Within five minutes, he re-found himself crouching in the room, looking around and panting for breath. The other members of his hide-out were seen to be doing likewise, and the fighting had stopped for a minute or so now.
“Think we got all of em?” one gasped.
Sirius checked his watch. “We been fightin’ for almost forty minutes…. I think they’re all dead, captured, or fled.”
A few others nodded. A minute later, they saw a member of the Order, with cover from three supporting hideouts, rush into the middle of the street, wand raised, looking around. As he turned, looking from one unsafe building to the next, nothing happened, and slowly more Order members started emerging, dragging captives and going off to find those they had wrist cuffed and left invisible somewhere. Sirius quickly loped downstairs, hurrying out into the street and looking for his friends. He quickly spotted Moony, who was looking around the same as he, and they met across from the Three Broomsticks and looked around.
“Where’s James?” Sirius asked quietly.
“Someone send the go-ahead for the medics!” someone called.
Moony shrugged as one of the guys disapparated. “I don’t know. He was in my nest and we got hit… Whole damn thing blew apart… I don’t feel good about it.”
Sirius pressed his lips together, trying to remember which one of the now collapsed buildings Moony had been in. As his eyes scanned the scene, his heart sank as he realized that it happened to be the large pile of rubble that most of the Order members were currently gathered around. He made his feet take him that way, dragging slightly, a bit wary as to who they were yelling needed the medical attention. There were a few pops all around as some of the members who were Ministry workers left with the captives, and a few other members who knew Healing practices showed up.
As Sirius drew closer, his heart sank as he saw a familiar tousle-haired someone sitting atop a large chunk of brick, surrounded by a load of people. One of the men was holding him up by his shoulder, and he was trying to slump over, nearly unconscious, as his left arm held his right. Sirius was slightly sickened to see that James was almost completely covered in blood, and looked very much paler than Sirius thought he could ever look. He could see his right arm, as he drew near, was hanging at a very odd angle; it was broken in probably the most extreme way James had ever broken a bone. It looked as though something extremely hard and sharp, possibly debris from the building, had ripped right through his arm below the elbow; it was currently attached only by some muscle and skin, which is why James was holding it. Sirius was disgusted, yet fascinated, to see in inner workings of his friend’s arm; to see his skin, his muscle, his veins, his jagged, broken bone, all on display as if someone had cut his arm clean off and were looking at the stump. He also seemed to have many other cuts and scrapes about from the exploding brick he had been subject to, and Sirius sighed and shook his head as he climbed a bit up the rubble pit to the small group. As he grew closer, he was shocked to see that despite only an inch of skin and muscle connected James’ forearm, his fingers were twitching.
“Will he be alright?”
The man holding him up glanced at him. “Sooner the healers get here, the better, his nerves ‘ave been dyin’ since he got hit.” Sirius nodded, not knowing what to do to help. “We think he got hit with some kind of something. He’s just really out of it and ‘asn’t said a word.”
Sirius crouched, seeing James’ pupils were small as pinpoints, and that he didn’t react much to Sirius’ face, he just groaned a bit as his arm shifted.
“Can we get the head healer over here?” called one of the people around them.
“No!” Sirius jumped up. “No, that’s okay, just any old regular healer will be fine!”
“What?!” growled the woman. “Are you kidding me? He’s the worst injury we’ve got right now-”
“The head healer,” Sirius hissed through his teeth, “is his wife!”
By that time, said redhead was already making her way through the haze, wand brandished and levitating a huge plastic box that she always managed to keep stocked with every kind of potion and medicine she could legally get. The woman looked down at James, seeing a bit of blood spurt out of the stump of his arm, and her shoulders slumped a bit.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh,” Sirius spat. He quickly stepped in front of James, hiding him from view. “Hello, Lilis!” he called.
“Sirius?” she asked, climbing up through the haze of smoke. “Are you alright?”
“Well, actually, I’ve got this right here, could you mend it up for me quickly?” he asked, showing her his bloody knuckles from punching the Death Eater. “I’ve managed to fuck up me knucks again.”
She gave him an odd look, hair blowing a bit with the smoke. “They needed me to fix your-” she rolled her eyes despite herself- “knucks? Anyone can do that, I’ve shown you how hundreds of tim-” She broke off, seeing a sitting foot of someone behind Sirius. “Who’s that?”
“Um-”
She quickly pushed him aside, taking in the whole scene silently. Sirius saw her shake a little, and she blinked rapidly, before taking in a deep breath and crouching next to her husband to try to save his limb. She swatted his hand away as she took hold of the hanging forearm, and quickly used a cloth to wipe away the free flowing blood. Lily moved quickly and silently, casting charm after charm and watching carefully as bit by bit, the tendons, muscles, and nerves sprang back together and held. She moved as quickly as she could while still being thorough, hating again that this was the life they had to live if they ever wanted peace in the world again. Within ten minutes of working, Lily had healed James’ arm to the point that it was all connected and functional again, but three-fourths the way around his arm below his elbow there was an angry red ring of a scar which would probably never completely fade.
“Flex,” she said, holding his fingers.
He didn’t move, and then she noticed his catatonic state. Examining his pupils and pulse, and turned to Sirius, “What’s he been cast under?”
“I don’t know, but whatever it was, it was good at the time because it kept him from freaking out. He’s been very calm.”
“Calm, calm,” Lily muttered, flicking through her mental textbook of charms and hexes. She held James’ head in one hand, wand in the other, him staring at her as though very sleepy. She muttered, tapping his nose, trying charms in greater complexity as she went. Finally, as she got to the last one, James blinked rapidly and his breathing rate went up. She and Sirius breathed a sigh of relief.
“Oblidious hex,” Lily said. “Renders the person almost mentally retarded. They don’t feel much or say anything. It’s effective in chases, to get people to stop running, but for James it just seems to have kept him calm about his arm.”
Sirius nodded. James blinked at them, looking around. His left hand reached up to touch Lily’s arm, as she was still supporting his head. Despite being recently cured, he was still a bit weak and would need help for a minute or two. She smiled, running a thumb over his cheek.
“Lils?” James murmured.
Suddenly the rubble pit around them exploded. Lily felt herself tossed through the air as a last round of retaliation attacks came from a shop across the street. Sirius shouted out, dragging James along the ground to try to find shelter, yelling to Lily to do the same. Disoriented, Lily blinked through the haze, her vision swimming. The sounds of shouts and blasts seemed distorted to her, like she was underwater. She saw her wand lying on the ground, close by, and grabbed it, rolling off to her right and missing a spell by inches. She hid behind a section of the building that had not fallen down, feeling the earth shake with each blast. James, now back in action, was crouched with Sirius behind the sign of whatever shop had previously been here, taking turns shooting spells over the side. She watched as blasts of spells came and went, hitting things, exploding them, setting them afire. She saw a woman of the Order get hit with the killing curse and fly back, motionless, to lay on the ground. Lily watched a Crucio spell take off a chunk of the sign where James’ newly mended hand had been a moment before.
Suddenly Lily felt furious at these Death Eaters, at these people who lived to kill. She felt the rage growing within her, the anger that they had to fight, that they had to worry and be scared all the time. Lily felt the hate multiplying inside her, causing her fingertips to tingle and her heart to beat faster. Shaking her head, Lily felt why her hearing sounded like it was underwater; her ear was bleeding profusely and splattered blood around. She clutched her wand tightly, having never before felt this angry, not at Petunia or Vernon, not at her professors or her doctor, not even Malfoy. Lily didn’t quite know what to do with this pure, animalistic rage that was causing her to shake, but she had a wand in her hand and suddenly felt like it was a great idea to fight.
Lily jumped to her feet, lunging from behind her chunk of brick that sheltered her, hair flying wildy. She quickly saw that all of the resistance was in one building, the one directly across the street from where she now stood. She could literally see one of the Death Eaters turn to see her, a plain target out in the open. And before the Death Eater could move, before her hair had settled back down along her shoulders, Lily raised her wand and yelled the most destructive non-unforgivable she could currently think of-
“CONFRINGO!!”
A hot red jet of light thicker and brighter than Lily had ever seen burst from her wand, exploding from her wand to hard that she fell backwards onto the ground. It struck the building, and there was an explosion the likes of which Lily had never seen nor heard, a white-hot flash so bright she had to turn and shield her eyes. The ground shook as though an earthquake would rip it apart, and the sky was raining dust, for none of the brick survived the explosion. Lily literally could hear nothing, that sonic boom had been so loud, and slowly the beat of her own heart came into her ears, along with a high-pitched ringing. She coughed, unable to see for the haze, and covered her nose. There was sudden silence, then, and after the smoke started to clear a little, someone shouted-
“Jesus, was that Potter’s wife?”
She saw humanoid shapes making their way to her, and as they came closer she made out the grey-covered forms of James and Sirius, Remus’ voice calling from somewhere beyond the clearer borders of vision. Both men just stared at her for the longest time, unable to make something of this. Undoubtedly it was the strongest explosion spell any of them had ever and likely would ever see. Lily, still shaking, stared at them as she stood, then levitated her slightly battered medicinal box over her to. Timidly, slightly afraid of the spell she’d just unleashed, she called,
“Does anyone need a healer?”
Silence met her, before Remus called back, “Not from you, thanks!”
There was a smattering of chuckles, and James reached, pulling her into a hug. Lily hugged him back, looking now at the building across the street, or more the lack of. In fact, the two buildings on either side had halfway collapsed as well, and in the middle there was nothing but a crater and some smoke.
65
A Rose and A Ring
That night as they slowly got around to undressing, James sat on his side of the bed, elbows resting on his knees as he flexed his right hand, rotating his wrist, running a finger over the angry scar he would now live with. Lily was sitting at her vanity, running a brush slowly through her hair, staring at nothing in particular. He sighed and stood, running a hand through his damp hair, fresh from a shower, and turned to watch her. After she had done with her hair, Lily set her brush down, still staring off, and sat there. James walked over and gently wrapped an arm around her, reaching and gently squeezing her hand.
“Thank you, Lils,” he whispered, kissing her cheeks.
“For what?” she murmured.
He gestured to his arm, and her eyes flickered over it blankly as she nodded. James kissed her forehead and turned, headed for bed. She looked at her fingernails, knowing she was crazy for thinking of herself as a killer.
It was an explosion spell, aimed at the building.
Ahh, yes, said that nasty voice in her head. But you intended for that building to be their death.
They were evil people, she argued with herself. They chose their fate.
She sighed, standing and crossing the chill floor quickly. James held the blanket up for her as she climbed beneath, feeling that his body heat had started to warm the sheets already. He scooped her to him, and Lily breathed in the reassuring smell that was the essence of James; it always calmed her just to smell him and feel his heartbeat near her. Slowly, they drifted towards sleep, trying not to think that it would take years to rebuild what they had helped destroy in mere minutes, down in Hogsmeade.
************
James sat in the little bench set into the windowsill, watching straggling snowflakes fall to the earth. It was Valentine’s day, and neither he nor Lily had been in a good mood all day. In fact they had not spoken to each other much, except for an occasional “Please pass the sugar?” or “Thank you for lunch.” Now, as he sighed and a cloud of condensation faded from the windowpane, James tried hard not to remember his parents. It was hard though, and eventually a tear surfaced. He wiped it away lazily, feeling the biting cold glass on his forehead. He hadn‘t heard from his mates, yet, almost as though they knew not to bring the subject up. James found he didn’t mind, though, because this way he simply avoided Lily and she studied moodily in the library, down the hall.
As James shifted on his seat, he had to wonder if every Valentine’s would be like this for he and his wife. Would they ever reach a day where they were accepting of their parents deaths, a year apart on the same day? Would they ever be able to celebrate the holiday for what it was worth? He wasn’t very sure, and tried to think of other things.
The baby. A small smile came to James’ lips. He was so happy that Lily had been so accepting of his idea to have children. Having been an only child, James always wanted a sibling, and while he got that most of the time from Sirius, he had just always known he wanted a large family. It had already been three months since they had started trying, and James still couldn’t quite understand why it hadn’t happened yet. Maybe they were too stressed with all the fighting? He shook his head, though, knowing that they were together often enough that stress wouldn’t make a difference. James wondered if Lily wasn’t ready yet, and was still taking her potions or spells or whatnot when he wasn’t around. Maybe she was just holding off until graduation? But he knew this was probably false too, and shrugged. Perhaps it just wasn’t the right time, so far.
Stretching, he had to wonder wistfully what it would be like to have a baby. A little, tiny thing to take care of and provide for and protect, and watch grow up into a fine young person. He smiled, imagining having a son that grew up to be as handsome and popular as he had been at Hogwarts, playing quidditch and having all the girls swoon over him. His smile softened as he thought of having a daughter, a little girl to hug and protect and kill every boy that came near her. She would be just like Lily, with curly hair and amazing eyes, and smart, and gorgeous, but perhaps not with Lily’s spitfire rage. There weren’t, James figured, too many boys that would want to marry her if they couldn’t deal with her rage.
Much happier, now, James looked back out the window, and instead of the depressing snow falling, he envisioned lovely snow, with him outside running around in it, laughing as his son made a snow angel and holding his little girl’s hand as she toddled beside him, wondering what the white stuff was. Then Lily would call from the house not to get too cold, and Becky would berate her as her and Charles’ child played with them outside. That, James figured, would be perfect.
***
Sirius wetted his lips, feeling his mouth was dry, as he waited for Corette to answer the door. She had placed an anti-apparation spell around her apartment, and he heard her quick steps coming to investigate who was outside. He heard the cover to the peep-hole slide back, so he smiled at it, then the door unlocked and opened.
“Come een, oh, yoo must be freesing!” she said, pulling him in.
Sirius bent and kissed her, and she giggled as the door shut and magically locked again. Smiling, she went back to her little kitchen, making whatever it was she was in the process of making. Sirius un-wound his scarf, hanging it on a hook by the door, and took his shoes off so he wouldn’t get melted snow on the carpet. Going into the kitchen, Sirius stood behind Corette and covered her eyes, digging in his robe.
“I have a surprise for you!” he said.
“Oh dear,” she sighed. “It won’t bite me, no?”
In response, Sirius kissed her ear and uncovered her eyes, revealing a beautiful red rose in the other hand. Corette’s cheeks flushed a little and she smiled, turning and kissing him warmly. Sirius wrapped his arms around her, once again feeling somehow complete when he held her. It was something he couldn’t describe adequately, but it seemed as though every time she was with him, things clicked into place, all the wheels turned, and nothing seemed to be broken. She pulled away and smiled, looking into his grey eyes as she swept a bit of his dark hair out of them. He smiled softly and kissed her gently, hugging her close.
“I love you,” Sirius murmured.
“I loff yoo too,” Corette smiled.
He let her go, so that she could finish up the pie that she was sending to some elderly neighbor. As she wrapped the top of it, Sirius set her rose in a spare vase he found, and watched Corette as she moved. Despite their rocky start, at Beauxbatons, he was amazed how well they got along. Sure, they had their differences, but the fights made it all more interesting. They, unlike James and Lily, has thus far abstained, something which Sirius tended to struggle with during the longer kisses. He thought to himself as she moved around the room, chattering idly to him. He couldn’t help but remember how helpless he had felt, during that fight a few weeks ago in Hogsmeade, thinking he might never see her again. When she had finally been reunited with him, after learning of his involvement, there hadn’t been any words to describe the hugging and the kissing, the crying, knowing that they were both okay and together, still.
“Corette?” Sirius asked.
“Hmm?” she murmured, glancing over as she sipped some water.
“Let’s get married.”
She choked on her drink, one hand clasping her mouth to keep water from spilling on the floor and the other setting down her glass. Corette quickly swallowed the water, coughing and watching him, her blue eyes wide. Her dark hair swung wildly, and she tried to tuck it back and stop gagging. After she had regained her breathing, she rasped, “Are yoo crazy? We’ve been togezzer only a short time!”
Sirius shifted his feet, feeling more than nervous. “I know I just… When I was fighting all I could think about was you. I don’t want to live without you in my life, I want to share it with you always. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, believe me, since before I even graduated. I just… I need you in my life. You know I love you, Cor.”
Corette considered him for a long time. She knew that his family had disowned him, that they had disowned his uncle Alphard for giving him his share of the family fortune, and she knew that he wouldn’t ever want back into his family. His grey eyes watched her as she bit her lip, thinking. Corette had moved to England just to be with Sirius, to be closer to him and be able to know he was safe, rather than waiting for letters or apparating across the Channel. Slowly, she reached and took his hand and smiled.
“Let’s go now.”
Sirius’ face broke into a wide smile.
***
“This is quite strange…”
James turned, hearing Lily talking at him as she walked down the hall towards the bedroom. “What is, Lils?”
“Sirius just owled us,” she said, a small bit of parchment in her hand. “He says… Lily and James, I know this sounds weird, but it will make sense soon. Dress up in fancy clothes that are red and grey, and meet me at the Hallows Church by four. All my love, well not all of it, Sirius.” She looked up at him. “Is he having some sort of Valentines’ themed party in a church?”
James, brow furrowed, took the note and read it a few times. Despite being best friends with the man for half his life, he couldn’t think of anything to explain the odd letter. Shrugging, he checked his watch, seeing it was a bit before three. Lily, shaking her head, walked over to their closet and started rummaging through it. She grabbed out a white dress sh