Though Lily didn’t often find satisfaction in policing the student body as a Prefect, she did admit that calling out James and Sirius for rule-breaking was an exception. The two boys often paraded around thinking they were invincible, and it could be so infuriating at times that she welcomed any chance to give them a taste of harsh reality... especially when they were being particularly annoying. James had been surprisingly tolerable--dare she say, sometimes even enjoyable?--to be around recently. Once Remus and Marlene had finally started dating, Lily found herself surrounded by the boys even more than usual. She had even partnered with James for an activity in Charms class, and they had managed to score fifteen points for Gryffindor during the lesson.
However, Sirius had not been on her good side lately. After everything she had learned about his history with Snape, the way he completely dropped MJ, and his relentless partying, she found no guilt in calling him out. Today--as it had been recently--Sirius was alone, leaning against one of the columns in the courtyard, not far from the entrance to the castle. Though it was a drizzly day--as it had been all spring--Lily decided to brave the weather to confront Sirius about that little item he held in his hand.
He was the only one in the courtyard on this particular afternoon. Lily knew he was scheduled to be in History of Magic with her in just a few moments, but she’d have to shuffle him on his way.
He didn’t even look her way until she was only a few meters away, and only then, he just stared her as if disbelieving she was actually there, disbelieving she was actually plucking the cigarette from between his two fingers.
“Thank you!” sang Lily as she turned right back on her heel and headed back toward the door from which she came. She threw Sirius’ burning cigarette on the ground in front of her and stepped on it, thoroughly snubbing the flame with a decisive twist of her foot.
“Come on, Evans!” he called after her, opening his arms in exasperation. “Do you always have to be such a Prefect?”
The remark made Lily smile slightly and turn back around. “You know, Sirius?” she began, walking toward him again. “I wouldn’t have to go around policing everyone if you could just follow the rules. And I think this specific rule is crystal clear. No smoking on Hogwarts grounds. Period.”
“It was one cigarette,” Sirius argued.
Lily waved her wand, summoning the pack from the open pocket of Sirius’ messenger bag. “Right. One cigarette. So you weren’t going to smoke these?” she asked, tapping the pack against her hip.
“Tattling is real mature, Evans,” said Sirius dryly.
“You’re impossible!” exclaimed Lily as soon as he tried to turn the conversation into an attack. “Just because I take away your contraband cancer sticks doesn’t mean I’m doing it to rat you out! It’s unhealthy, Sirius. And maybe one cigarette won’t kill you instantly, but I’ve been around you long enough to know what you’re like. You’d be done with this pack in hours. Devil-may-care attitude or whatever. But this time, you’re hurting yourself, and so if the only way I can intervene is by taking away a few of your cigarettes, fine. That’s what I’ll do.”
“You think I need an intervention then, Evans?”
But Lily never got time to answer him. The two of them were suddenly aware that they were surrounded by a group of students--three Slytherins and two Ravenclaws judging by their scarves--who wore hoods on their heads. The cloaks must have been bewitched somehow to obscure their wearer’s head because neither Lily nor Sirius could identify them--their faces were lost in the shadow underneath their hoods.
“It’s a party,” said one of the Ravenclaws. “A deranged blood-traitor and an uppity mudblood.”
“Call him deranged, but at least it means he’s thinking something unlike you dolts--” spat Lily.
“Don’t you ever use that M-word in front of me or her ever again--” said Sirius, at the exact same time.
Sirius and Lily caught eyes for a brief moment after they had both defended the other. They had no choice to be united in their fight, and when Lily saw the honest fury in Sirius’ eyes, she knew she was lucky to have him on her side of the duel. Not only was he a decent fighter--she knew that from watching him and James duel in Defense class--but in this instant, he seemed to care about what he was doing, why he was dueling.
“Look at you! You’re all talk! Protecting each other? Gryffindor bonds run deep?” taunted one of the Slytherins.
“If this is going to devolve into a duel, let’s get on with it,” snarled Sirius. “Wands out.”
Lily followed Sirius’ lead, drawing her wand at arm’s length. “Alright boys,” she said addressing the group of five gathered around her and Sirius. “Run along now and nothing happens--”
“Oh, but if we stick around, it seems we’d have the pleasure of being dragged straight to the teachers by no other than their high and mighty pet,” said a Slytherin in reference to Lily.
“Oh ha ha. A real comedian,” said Sirius, the pitch of his voice wavering, and Lily had to agree with what the group had said earlier: Sirius did sound a little deranged. But she really was glad to have him on her side if anything. From watching him in class, she knew a little bit about his dueling style: it was erratic and completely unpredictable. It caught everyone off guard. “On three, all’s fair.”
Before he had even started to count, a Ravenclaw interrupted, laughing. “Black thinks he’s calling the shots!”
And that’s when Lily raised her voice. “He is! He and I are leading this since you five seem to all have qualms about taking this up with a duel. We’re tired of sitting here and listening to your little rhymes. It’s a duel, boys. Sirius, count it off.”
“One.”
The group of five had taken instinctive steps toward each other. They were standing practically heel to heel, and to Lily and Sirius, this was a clear indication that they had no trust in their own or their friends’ dueling abilities.
“Two.”
Lily carried Sirius at her side effortlessly. Though they stood a good two meters apart, Lily felt like she was fighting with him. In all honestly, she couldn’t remember a time she’d ever been on his side during a duel, not even in class.
He wouldn’t have been her first choice to have by her side in this moment. Lily notoriously believed that Sirius had a King Midas touch--except instead of gold, everything he touched became a train wreck. Still, she had been curious about that spark she had seen in his expression--that readiness to fight, how quickly he had stood up for her when the hooded Ravenclaw had called her a mudblood--
“Thr--”
Before Sirius had gotten the word out, one of the Slytherins sent a jinx at Lily. The jet of blue light met her eyes so quickly, that she didn’t have time to blink. Suddenly her eyes were burning. She dropped her wand to quickly put her hands to her eyes.
“You little shit!” hissed Sirius, sending a freezing charm at the whole group of kids so that they couldn’t get away. He took quick, long strides to Lily, and on the way to her, he waved his wand at the boys again. His spell caused their hoods to fall back and also rolled up their sleeves. He recognized the lot of them, though they were all younger. In fact, they were all fourth years except for a fifth year that he recognized as one of the Wilkes boys. Even from his distance, Sirius could see a dark tattoo on Wilkes’ left arm. But he had to turn his attention away from them; Lily had dropped to the ground, clutching her eyes. “Are you okay?!” he asked as he knelt down in front of her.
“It feels like my eyes are on fire,” she said, trying to keep an unwavering voice.
“Can I see?” he asked, carefully peeling her hands from her eyes.
“Can you? I’m so jealous,” remarked Lily bitterly to which Sirius snorted. “Did you see who those kids were?”
“Yeah. I froze them in place. Took off their hoods. We’ll take care of that... Okay. Well the good news is that they’re uncreative Fourth Years so it looks like any damage to your eyes is going to be very temporary,” said Sirius. “But I’m no healer and I’m a disaster even when I try to seal up a little cut. I’m going to call for McGonagall.”
“Don’t leave me here blind with those idiots! The freezing charm will wear off soon, and I won’t be able to see what’s going on,” said Lily fiercely.
“Whoa. Calm down, Evans. Give me more credit. I can get McGonagall without budging an inch,” he said. He took out his mirror from his messenger bag. “James. Jaaaames. Dude. James, pick up.”
“What is going on?” asked Lily. “What are you doing? Are you calling Potter on the telephone?! That’s impossible.”
“Chill out, Evans. Let me have my secrets. I know Potter’s showed you some of our tricks already--the map and stuff--but give me this one,” said Sirius.
“Hello Padfoot!” chimed James’ voice. “I’m here with Moody and Wormtail, and we’re working on that prank we talked about if you want to join!”
“Hey,” said Sirius quickly into the mirror, ignoring what James had said and forgetting to say hi to Remus and Peter. “I’m sitting here with Evans. We’re in a little bit of a tizzy, and if you could pick up McGonagall and bring her down to the courtyard, well, that would be much appreciated.”
Lily snorted. “Since when do you use the word ‘tizzy?’”
“Is that Evans? Really? You’re not joking! Why are you with Lily?” asked James.
“Potter, what do you mean ‘Why are you with Lily?’” said Lily exasperatedly. “I can sit with whomever I want to sit with. You’re not the boss of me, so you shouldn’t be surprised upon learning I’m within ten feet of anyone else but you.”
Sirius snorted at what Lily had said. Long ago, he had decided that Lily thought of herself as precocious, but he was also starting to realize that maybe she was just clever. “Pick up McGonagall before you come down, okay?” Sirius said to James.
“Sure. And should I also promise her parents to have her home by midnight? Geez. Pick up McGonagall?... That just sounds wrong,” said James with a laugh.
“Oh you know what I mean,” Sirius said, rolling his eyes. “See you in ten.”
The jynx had started to wear off before McGonagall had gotten there. Eagerly, Lily tried to open her eyes, but it only seemed to renew the pain. Suffering through the grainy burning feeling, she grabbed hold of the nearest thing: in this case, Sirius’ arm.
“Geez, Evans. I know we’ve had our differences, but cutting off my circulation isn’t going to do anything,” said Sirius dryly, but he didn’t jerk his arm away. “And my, what long nails you have! I think I’m bleeding. I’ll have to seek medical attention with you.”
“Padfoot! Evans!” yelled James, as he entered the courtyard, reminding Sirius of an eager dog-- he was a few meters ahead of McGonagall, who muttered something about running in the hallways and rulebreaking. However, upon seeing Lily, she forgot about James and headed straight to help remove the jynx.
With McGonagall tending to Lily, Sirius could finally tackle his second priority: dealing with the group of Slytherins and Ravenclaws.
“What the fuck do you think you were playing at?” snarled Sirius quietly. If he were too loud, McGongall would step in and surely tell him to stop trying to take punishment into his own hands. But this felt different-- as if things were bigger than a school yard quarrel.
“You yourself said all’s fair,” said one of them.
“On the count of three! That’s what I said. ‘On the count of three!’” replied Sirius exasperatedly. “Scared because you knew you couldn’t beat us? I know who you’re fighting for.” His eyes flicked to Wilke’s arm. “And you know, maybe you should stay afraid because He definitely isn’t going to win any of this.”
“Fuck off,” snarled Wilkes, but his reply was quiet because he saw they would soon be joined by Professor McGonagall.
“Dueling a Prefect?” roared McGonagall. “I’m not always free to walk through the halls and enforce discipline. That’s why we have Prefects, boys-- to keep you in line!”
Sirius gave James a frustrated look: the boys weren’t dueling with Lily because she was a Prefect, but rather a muggleborn. It was vexing that there wasn’t the evidence to prove this to McGonagall. And then Sirius noticed that messy white blonde hair knotted under that headband: MJ was passing silently through the courtyard. She didn’t notice him at first. She kept her head down, watching her own feet and wrapped up in some mysterious thought. She had gotten so hard to read recently; he could hardly believe that there had ever been a time when he considered her one of his closest friends.
McGonagall began to speak again, and her echoing tone attracted MJ’s attention over to the situation. Sirius watched her slow her stride, look to Lily, James, the Slytherins, and finally, himself.
All the while, McGonagall was reprimanding the Fourth Year boys. “Who sent the jynx? I asked a question! Not going to answer? Okay. Expelliarmus. Thank you. I’ll just take these for now, and I’ll figure it out the hard way. My office. All of you!” She took a short break to catch her breath and seemed to remember Sirius, who instantly dropped his gaze from MJ. “Oh, and Black, my thanks for handling the situation the way you did. Ten points to Gryffindor, but I will take them back if you’re absent from History of Magic again.” With that, McGonagall turned on her heel, leading the Slytherin and Ravenclaw boys away.
However, before they had disappeared through the castle door, Wilkes turned around back towards Lily. Though he said it softly, it was still audible:
“We’re not done with you, Evans.”
Sirius instinctively jumped forward. Already fuming, his senses were ready for a physical fight, but James stepped in front of him, shooting a quick spell at Wilkes behind McGonagall’s back. Wilke’s robes turned from black to a sequined fluorescent pink. Without a wand, he would be unable to change them back.
To Sirius’ own surprise, his anger subsided quickly. After McGonagall and the boys disappeared into the castle, he didn’t feel the biting need to run a mile or punch a wall. Instead, he offered Lily a hand up. She looked at him skeptically, but he didn’t register it to much and didn’t comment.
“What was that about?” asked James. “Those gits just started at you?”
“Basically. They wanted a fight, and who am I to deny them?” asked Sirius. “But they played dirty because they were a group of Slytherins for the most part and obviously they couldn’t win. Cowards. Evans had her wand out in a flash, and I think they realized how delayed their reactions would be.”
Lily felt her cheeks grow slightly warm at Sirius’ indirect compliment. She thought of Sirius as someone who didn’t put up with any bullshit and wouldn’t say things he didn’t mean. She was flattered at his words, but also shocked. Lately, he had seemed absent--emotionally and mentally--but suddenly, it seemed that Sirius was at least somewhat alive again. And just as she was thinking that, she noticed MJ standing a few meters away, her eyes on Sirius’ shoes.
“What did they mean, ‘We’re not done with you, Evans’?” asked James. “Just a run-of-the-mill, we’re-all-talk threat?”
“Coming from those boys, surely,” said Lily. “They don’t seem to know which side of their wand is up.”
“Wait. What did they say?” It was the first thing MJ had said to announce herself as part of the situation.
No one responded to her at first, but finally Lily responded. “They said, ‘We’re not done with you, Evans.’”
Immediately, Sirius tried to smooth the tension that the phrase brought about inexplicitly. “They’re incompetent Fourth Years. They were probably put up to it by the others. Maybe trying to impress the older kids. That was Dylan Wilkes’ little brother, you know. He probably wants to be taken seriously or some crap. He already has the Mark though.”
Lily was surprised by Sirius’ rational thoughts on the situation. He was a fighter--reckless and elusive--but he was showing some sort of emotional knowledge. She was caught off guard and didn’t have anything to reply.
MJ, on the other hand, did have something to say. “I overheard them. The other day. They were being unspecific and I didn’t catch a name, but they talked about you.”
“Me?” asked Sirius.
“Yes. And James. They said you two weren’t worth going after. Too stubborn, and I think they might have dropped the word ‘golden boy,’” said MJ, tossing in the word to irk Sirius, though she was unsure why she wanted to. “And they instead decided to go after a girl. They never said her name, but they did say, ‘we’ll go after her.’”
“So what does this mean?” James asked. “You think they’re after Lily?”
“Oh, definitely,” said Sirius immediately. “Don’t you lot look at me like that. It’s just the truth. They’re pissed, and I doubt they’ll let it go.”
All three pairs of eyes fell on Lily. She alternated her gaze between them for a few seconds before laughing. “Oh please. I’ll be fine. If you lot make this any more dramatic, I’ll be thinking about it during History of Magic... which is the hour I usually devote to thinking about nothing at all.”
Sirius snorted. He slung his messenger bag over his shoulder and began slouching towards the castle. On the way, he clapped Lily on the back. “That’s my little Prefect,” he said.
“Where are you going?” asked Lily instinctively as he moved past her.
“Evans, we have History of Magic. Any more dawdling and you’ll make us late!” said Sirius. He spun around and walked backwards as he waited for Lily to catch up. “Dinner, Prongs. 6 pm. Be there.”
“Nah, the dorm. 3 pm. Be there,” said James, making an exaggerated gesture by clicking his wrists together.
The girls had long ago discovered that the boys had a secret signing language, so it didn’t surprise them when Sirius responded by grinning in agreement and proceeding to swat his chest and wave with the other. The boys looked ridiculous when they communicated with each other, but they had no problems understanding each other. When they had finished their silent conversation, Sirius saluted MJ. “Later, Macdonald.” And as he collected Lily, he spun around again, and together they exited the courtyard.
MJ looked at James incredulously. “He is so frustrating. He doesn’t make sense! Was he actually being civil with Lily? Was he actually being friendly and helpful?”
James shrugged his shoulders.
“You’re not surprised,” noticed MJ.
“He’s a surprising bloke. That makes nothing surprising,” said James.
“But... that was the most... dramatic change of character! He’s been moody and absent for weeks and suddenly he’s all buddy-buddy with Lily and he’s back to being his annoyingly cocky self,” said MJ, choking out her thoughts.
“It honestly doesn’t surprise me,” said James, with a hint of a smirk.
“Why not?”
James gave MJ an expression that clearly implied she hadn’t picked up on the most obvious thing in the world. “Because now there is an adventure to be had! He doesn’t turn down an adventure. Ever. But I must be on my way, MJ. I’m late for some shenanigans.”
It had been a long day, thought Lily as she headed down to dinner. After a brief trip to the Hospital Wing to get her eyes officially checked out, a History of Magic class in which Sirius Black volunteered an answer, and a Prefects’ meeting, she was about ready for a nap. But the note on her bed from Marlene had invited her to dinner, and she did miss Marlene. It seemed she was off with Remus most of the time these days.
Lily’s reflection on the day was interrupted when she turned a corner absently and ran abruptly into Professor Dumbledore himself.
“Ah! Miss Evans!”
“Oh! Professor Dumbledore! Sorry to be in your way!”
“No, no! You gave me quite a jolt, nothing more,” said Dumbledore, though he didn’t look the least bit jolted. On the other hand, it seemed very much like he had been anticipating her arrival.
“How are you, sir?” she asked, still mortified by her collision with the Headmaster and intimidated that he would stop to chat with her.
She had spoken with him a number of times about Prefects’ Duty, but only twice otherwise. The first time, she was a First Year, and the memory sort of embarrassed her now. She had arrived at Hogwarts incredibly naive and accepting. Without realizing how strange it was, she had requested to meet with the Headmaster to talk about a letter he had sent to Petunia about her jealousy that she had not been accepted into Hogwarts. Dumbledore had remained very calm through out the meeting and had treated Lily as if she were a mature adult, even if in retrospect Lily found the situation silly.
The only other time she had spoken with the Headmaster, he had appeared seemingly out of nowhere once during her Fourth Year to ask her on a scale of one to hocus pocus, how ridiculous was divination class. It was strange, but then again, Dumbledore was strange.
“All is well, Lily. All very, very well. And I hope you feel the same energy and happiness right in this moment that I do! Now if you don’t mind, Lily, I have urgent matters to discuss with you,” said Dumbledore.
“Oh! O-of course, Professor,” said Lily, letting the Headmaster guide her to a corner of the Entrance Hall by the Gryffindor Hourglass.
“What’s the word I’m looking for? Widget?... No. Bobolink? Also wrong... Cocoon? Cocoon! No, not cocoon,” said Dumbledore.
“Professor... Are you alright?” asked Lily.
“Yes! I’ve got the word! Stag! How do you feel about stags?”
“Stags?” repeated Lily wearily. “Like men who go to dances without dates?”
“No! Stags! Like male deer!” said Dumbledore exasperatedly.
Lily raised her eyebrow, but ventured an answer. “I really... I really have no opinion, Professor. Perhaps you should ask Hagrid? Or Professor Grubbly-Plank?”
“But you must form an opinion quickly! Stags! Think, Evans! Think of how masculine and elegant they are at the same time! Leaping around gracefully, slyly! Wonderful creature, the stag!” exclaimed Dumbledore.
“I’ll take your word for it,” said Lily uncomfortably. “Is there any special reason for this question?”
Dumbledore smirked and brought a hand to his head to touch his hair, but only managed to clumsily knock off his wizard’s cap. “Oh, fuck!” said Dumbledore, stumbling to catch his hat. “Uhh... I mean, Merlin’s beard!”
Lily was shell-shocked, her eyes wide-open watching Dumbledore curse and stumble around in front of her. “... Professor?... Excuse me for asking, but... Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Me? Okay? Oh! Do you think I’m drunk? No, Lily! No! Not a cauldron-full of lemon liquor could tempt me!” said Dumbledore, his eyes flashing around wildly. “Uh... Lily! Tell me how the Gryffindor Quidditch Season is going! I hear James Potter is quite a player! Oh! Ha ha!”
“Professor... Did you drink something that someone else might have touched? Possibly?” asked Lily, trying as hard as possible to be polite.
“No, no! Of course not! Let’s talk about Quidditch!”
“I don’t follow Quidditch really,” said Lily. “It’s alright, but I don’t know... Any sport that glorifies James Potter really isn’t the sport for me.”
“What kind of heartless person you must be to not be broken by the charms and wit of Mr. Potter!” said Dumbledore.
Lily raised her eyebrow. “Well, for one, he thinks he’s Merlin’s gift to wizards. He’s always ruffling his hair trying to remind everyone that he can stay on a broomstick. He’s loud in the Common Room and constantly pulls pranks on the younger students or gets them involved in pranking. And I would also dare to say he’s a mummy’s boy.”
“I am not a mummy’s boy!” said Dumbledore--or someone masquerading as Dumbledore.
“Aha!” exclaimed Lily, pointing a finger at “Dumbledore’s” chest. “I knew you weren’t the Headmaster! Potter, what in Merlin’s name are you doing?! Impersonating the Headmaster! And what were you babbling about? Obviously you don’t take the Headmaster seriously!”
“Keep it down, will you?” asked James, lowering his voice. “I respect Dumbledore. Really! It’s only part of a prank, because he seems to be one of the only people who can take one these days.”
He had leaned into whisper to her, and Lily couldn’t help but study Dumbledore’s face. There was no way James wore a mask; it was so realistic. Too realistic. “James Potter! Are you using Polyjuice Potion?! That’s a serious offense! Why are you running around dressed as the Headmaster?!”
“Part of a prank, I told you! Lower your voice, please!” said James. “And it’s not Polyjuice Potion. You wouldn’t guess it because apparently I spend all of my time on my broomstick or being loud in the Common Room or writing heartfelt notes to my mummy, but I do have an artistic side.”
“A mask?! That’s not a mask!” said Lily, touching “Dumbledore’s” face. “That’s real. This is from Polyjuice Potion.”
“I showed you the Marauder’s Map, Lily. Do you know what kind of magic I used to make that? No. Do you trust that I did it? Yes. Same thing should apply here. Do you know how I made this mask? No. Do you trust that I did it? You don’t, but you should,” said James.
“It’s too detailed! It’s too perfect!” said Lily.
“Thank you, thank you,” said James, taking a fake bow. “Now the real question is, how do you feel about some Headmaster/student rolep--”
“--Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Potter! You’re foul! Revolting!” said Lily, backing away from him. “Ugh. Just go away!”
“Fine, fine!” said James, and his mischievous grin shown through even on “Dumbledore’s” face. “I’m going!” He turned around and began to take huge sweeping steps, so that his purple cloak billowed out behind him.
“Wait!” called Lily, watching him leave and realizing she couldn’t let a rampant James Potter loose masquerading as the Headmaster; hell would break loose. “Where are you going?!”
“Why, dinner, of course! I’m late!” said James as if it were the only logical answer. And he turned on his heel, and left for the Great Hall.
Lily was frozen in her tracks for a split second, incredulous, but she couldn’t let him go. She followed him on his heels as he dramatically flung open the doors to the Great Hall. However, for some reason, she didn’t expect another Dumbledore--the real Dumbledore--to be sitting in his throne-like seat at the front of the Great Hall.
James didn’t waver. He continued on his way toward the Faculty Table. A few people had noticed the two Dumbledores by now, their mouths hanging open watching. However, the real Dumbledore didn’t flinch. He squinted at James, adjusted his glasses, and then there was that twinkle in his eyes.
“Excuse me,” announced James loudly when he had reached Dumbledore. “But I do think you’re in my seat... No matter!” James waved his wand, and suddenly, an identical throne-like chair squeezed itself in between Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. “Marvelous!”
James helped himself to a plate and began cutting his steak as if the situation was the most normal in the world. Though McGonagall was speechless, the real Dumbledore resumed conversation, even turning to James at one point to comment about the food.
And just when the whole situation was starting to seem a little bit normal to Lily, the Great Hall doors flew open again to reveal another Dumbledore. He was a little more nervous--playing with his hands and seeming a little lost under the bright purple robes--but he was a Dumbledore nonetheless, and one that Lily guessed was actually Remus.
Remus joined James and Dumbledore at the front of the hall. Looked around for a chair, loudly remarked, “How could they forget about me? I’m Headmaster!” and conjured a throne-like chair of his own on Dumbledore’s other side.
As soon as Remus had settled into the seat, there was another Dumbledore, of course. A Peter this time, obviously. He was grinning during the whole walk down the aisle, and when he reached the staff table, he cleared his throat, said, “Excuse me Minerva, do you mind scooting over a wee bit?” and conjured another chair.
All of the students were staring up at the front table, absolutely confused as to why Dumbledore, Dumbledore, Dumbledore, and Dumbledore were having a casual dinner conversation.
Lily shook her head, also in disbelief at just how much James, Peter, and Remus could get away with. She spotted Marlene, Rory, and MJ at the Gryffindor table, Marlene laughing so hard her face was turning red. Lily had just decided to join them, when the door flew open yet again.
His relaxed shoulders and casual saunter immediately told her that this Dumbledore was played by Sirius. She hadn’t expected him, because he had been so MIA in everything from class to the Common Room lately, but his stance was unmistakeable. He joined the others up front, similarly cast himself a seat, sat down, but then changed his mind. Instead, he picked up his glass and clanged it with his spoon.
“A toast! A toast!” he exclaimed. “Now, I won’t bore you with an old man’s words right before the spring holidays, but I have one little tidbit that I thought I would share...”
Sirius cleared his throat, undoubtedly milking as much suspense out of the moment as he possibly could. For a brief moment, his eyes met Lily’s. She couldn’t help but wonder about him. He was a character that she didn’t understand--how in one day, he could shed his moodiness and seem so ecstatic, neurotic. Just as she was wondering just what it was about him, he seemed to register her with more than just a glance; in fact, he raised his eyebrows, in a gesture that seemed to express some kind of camaraderie.
The eye contact was quick. He continued surveying the hall and slowly began the highly anticipated words of wisdom: “I highly recommend that those of you who can grow facial hair do. Ahem. Thank you.” And with that, he stroked his--well, “Dumbledore’s”--long beard, sat down, and helped himself to his own steak dinner.
updated later than i had anticipated, which i am sure is what you anticipated since i've been so flaky lately. but, what might help? (useless info about my life alert) it's argentina's summer break--3 months--and so i've moved back home until next semester. so what will i be doing? writing, of course! p.s. hap-hap-happy holiday season!!
Write a Review Everything's Eventual: Forty Two. Sirius, Out of (And In) Character
Printer Friendly Version
