“Did you see Danny Fuller on the platform? My gosh, when did he get so fit?” Amy was gushing as we pushed our way through the crowded corridor of the train in search of an empty compartment. “And Zach Windsor… Oh, this is going to be such a good year.”
Mary let out an impatient sigh as she elbowed a small third year out of her way.
“What do you think would happen to her if we took all the boys off the planet?” she muttered under her breath to me.
“Probably collapse under herself like a dying star,” I giggled, peering into a compartment only to see that it was full of fourth year Slytherins.
“Yes, I like men. So what?” Ames asserted loudly, causing several passing students to stop and gawk at her. Mary snorted with laughter.
“You guys are such tosspots,” she huffed, pushing past us and sliding a compartment door open.
Several first years were seated awkwardly in the small space. It was obvious they didn’t know each other and Anna sighed impatiently.
“Budge up there,” Ames said loudly to the first years, peering into the compartment. “This is our compartment, get out.”
The first years stared at her, their expressions mingled with fear and awe at her presence.
“Out!” Mary barked, and they jumped to their feet, scrambling past us out the door. Once they were gone, Ames sprawled out across one of the seats grandly while Scarlet tucked her things into the overhead compartment.
“You really enjoyed that, didn’t you?” I said, staring at them with amusement.
“I love first years…twitchy little things, aren’t they?” Ames smiled and then sat up, her amused expression shifting quickly to suspicion. “Shouldn’t you be scolding us about now?”
“Not you too,” I groaned, sinking into the empty seat next to Mary.
“Well, no offense, Lily,” Mary said, pulling her feet up underneath herself. “But that’s the kind of thing you used to burst a lung yelling at us about…”
“But it was funny,” I shrugged and I saw Mary’s mouth drop open.
“Lily, seriously, did one of your spells backfire and mash up your brains?” Mary stared at me. “What has gotten into you?”
“I told you,” I said, my voice carefully light. “I’m trying not to take everything so seriously this year.”
Ames and Mary continued to stare at me, not sure whether to believe me or not.
“Well, of course, you shouldn’t have kicked them out, ” I burst after a moment of silence and Mary giggled. Stupid Prefect instincts. I growled and crossed my arms, preparing to pout.
“Lily, aren’t you supposed to be meeting with the other prefects right now?” Amy chuckled.
“Damnit! I forgot!” I cursed, ignoring the peels of laughter from Ames and Mary as I grabbed my bag from the overhead rack. I hastily retrieved my Prefect badge, and shoved it into my pocket before wrenching the compartment door open and racing towards the front of the train.
Students were still setting into compartments and I hastily shoved past them, pausing momentarily outside the first car to collect myself.
I slid the car door open and hopped inside, hoping I wasn’t too late. But when I turned around the only person already there was Potter. Of course.
I stared at him blandly as he waved me over, gesturing to the seat next to him.
I walked stiffly down the corridor, dropping down into the seat across from him instead.
“Where is everyone?” I asked, glancing around.
“No idea,” Potter shrugged. “Train doesn’t leave for a few minutes yet.”
I sighed, folding my arms across my chest and we waited.
“Did you have a good summer?” Potter asked lightly, still smiling at my defiant expression.
“You’re asking me about my summer?” I said skeptically.
He nodded, amused by my cynicism.
I stared at him, trying to decide if he was genuinely interested or not. And then I sighed, realizing that my summer had been dreadful enough that I wouldn’t even be able to lie about it.
“It was bloody awful, to tell you the truth,” I said quietly, dropping my eyes to the floor.
“Not because of that idiot Hufflepuff, I hope,” Potter said lightly, not realizing he’d hit the nail on the head.
“Er…well,” I concentrated hard on the floor, not wanting to see his expression.
“Ah, come on, Evans. He’s a complete wanker. Whatever happened I’m sure it’s not worth being that upset over,” Potter said crossly and I glanced up at him, surprised that he wasn’t taking this opportunity to mock my failed love life mercilessly.
“You don’t know what he did,” I muttered under my breath, sure that it had been too low for him to hear, but Potter cocked his head to the side curiously. The Marauders knew nothing of what happened with Alex, only that we broke up, and I was desperately hoping that it would stay that way.
“What did he do?” Potter asked, a note of accusation in his voice. His hand twitched towards his wand.
“Alex,” I breathed, startled when the compartment door slid open suddenly and the tall, brown-haired boy entered with several other prefects trailing behind him.
Damn! I forgot he was a Prefect. Urgh, this is like a living nightmare. So much for forgetting about him…
The new Head Boy and Girl entered the compartment and began talking, explaining Prefect duties to the new fifth years. I was desperately trying to avoid making eye contact with Alex, but he kept staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face, his eyes running up and down my body sporadically, making my cheeks blush crimson. His piercing blue eyes sent shivers down my spine every time our eyes met. Had he gotten more attractive over the summer? I’d almost forgotten just how much the mere presence of him affected me. Potter kept glancing between the two of us with a mix of frustration and impatience on his face.
The Head Boy and Girl had us write down our preferences for patrols so that they could put together a schedule for McGonagall. After everyone had finished writing, they divvied up the train patrols, starting with Gryffindors.
Potter and I, along with the 5th and 7th year prefects hung back while everyone filed out of the small compartment.
I sank down into the now empty seats, my arms and legs feeling weak. How on earth did Alex still manage to make me all wobbly even after everything that’s happened?
I was mentally berating myself for letting him affect me so much when a voice cut through my reverie.
“Lily, can I have a word?”
I jerked my head towards the door and a jolt ran through me when I saw Alex leaning against the doorframe, gazing down at me.
“Huh?” I asked, stunned by his request.
Everyone left in the car turned towards me. How on earth did everyone in this blasted school seem to know what happened between Alex and I? See, this is why I never dated Hogwarts boys. Or maybe this was why I had kept it a secret for long… I was starting to lose track.
Potter, who was seated across from me looking over the Gryffindor password list for the year, glanced up at our exchange. His eyes were strangely hard and the parchment in his hands was crumpled because he was gripping it so tightly.
“Can we talk for a minute…err, alone?” Alex repeated, his sapphire eyes flashing to Potter and back to me.
“We’re supposed to head out on patrol now,” Potter said, locking eyes with me and there was an undercurrent to his tone that I couldn’t identify.
“This’ll only take a minute,” Alex said pleasantly, but his eyes were hard as he addressed Potter.
Potter stared at Alex for a minute and then turned expectantly to me, as if he were waiting for me to blow Alex off.
“Lily?” Alex said, his voice smoothing over and his indigo eyes bore into mine, frazzling my brain completely. “Please?”
“Erm…. Ok,” I finally said, giving in. Stupid, useless self-control.
I hopped off the seat, ignoring Potter’s frustrated glare and followed Alex out into the hall. He closed the glass door behind us and I crossed my arms, waiting for whatever it was he had to say to me. I knew I was dangerously close to crumbling before him, begging him to take me back, telling him that I’d changed. But I bit my lip, holding everything back and forcing myself to picture Katie Bishop and remember what he did.
I could see Potter and everyone else sneaking looks at us through the glass and I turned back to Alex.
“Did you have a good summer?” Alex asked, leaning against the wall, his hands hooked loosely around his belt loops and I let my eyes follow them down before snapping them back up.
Bloody hell, why does everyone keep asking me about my summer?
“What do you want Alex?” I said stiffly, hugging my arms even tighter around myself.
“You look good, Lils. I like your hair like this,” Alex smiled, reaching a hand out and brushing a strand of my long auburn hair away from my face. I wore my hair down constantly now, letting the loose waves spill over my shoulders and back.
I shrank away from his touch and Alex furrowed his brow in confusion. I had never been so guarded around him, but I was terrified of every second I spent standing there with him.
“What do you want, Alex?” I repeated, annunciating each word carefully.
“I just… I really hate the way we left things,” Alex said softly, regaining his composure.
I stared at him, incredulous and speechless. Was he joking?
“Look, maybe… maybe I was a bit hasty, ending things with you,” Alex breathed, taking a step towards me. “Maybe the end of the year wasn’t the best time for us to start dating, you know, with exams and everything. We were both stressed and I can see that I was a little too quick to judge…”
Alex was very close to me now, his breath caressing my face. I could feel his eyes on me. It was getting harder and harder to resist him when he was so close. I closed my eyes, knowing that it would be easier to say no if I couldn’t see him.
“You slept with another girl,” I said quietly, my eyes still closed. I was struggling to stop myself from screaming at him.
“That was a stupid mistake,” Alex said earnestly, and I felt a hand rest on my arm. “Isn’t there any way you can forgive me?”
I opened my eyes, staring at him coldly.
“No and get your bloody hand off me,” I said stiffly and shrugged away from his touch, slipping quickly back into the compartment. Tears prickled behind my eyes but I quickly willed them away. I had already given someone else a second chance this summer… but this was just too much. “If you want me so much that you want a second chance, you shouldn’t have messed up the first one.” I spun on my heels and strode back into the Prefects Carriage.
I dropped down into my seat across from Potter, not really caring that we were supposed to be doing patrol. All of the other prefects had left already and it was just he and I in the compartment now.
“Are you alright?” Potter asked in a surprised voice when I had sat down. I realized I was shaking and I took a deep breath to calm myself.
“I’m fine,” I snapped, tucking my legs underneath myself in a more comfortable position.
“What did he want?” Potter asked, trying to disguise his curiosity as mild interest.
I sighed irritably. Normally I would respond something about minding his own business, but I remembered that I was still trying to act breezier.
“I think he wanted to get back together,” I said dismissively, but my hands were still shaking.
I reached out to grab the password list Potter had left on the seat and I felt a sharp pain rip through my fingertips.
“Ouch!” I pulled my hand back, examining the thin paper cut that ran along the tips of all my fingers. Droplets of blood stained my pale hand and I hissed an oath.
Without waiting for me to ask, Potter was on the seat next to me. He pulled out his wand from his pocket and gently grabbed my hand in his, pulling it towards him.
“So are you getting back together with him?” Potter asked stiffly, resting the tip of his wand on my red-stained fingers. His hazel eyes fixed on my wounded fingers.
“’Course not,” I said, sucking in a sharp breath as something pinched hard at my fingertips. I looked down to see Potter’s wand illuminated by his healing spell and the blood that surrounded its nonexistent source now.
“Why did you guys break up anyways?” Potter asked idly as another spell siphoned the blood from my fingers.
“Why are you so interested?” I said acidly, raising my eyebrows at him.
“Just making conversation,” Potter smirked, meeting my gaze. I looked away quickly, uncomfortable with our close proximity and surprised by the strange sensation that accompanied looking into his eyes.
“Thanks,” I muttered, pulling my hand away from his and quickly busying myself with the prefect schedule.
“So listen,” Potter said, getting off the seat. “Now that you’re officially open for business…”
I scowled darkly at him.
“Save your breath, my answer is still no,” I said carelessly, standing up and heading for the door.
“Are you sure?” Potter pressed, raising a mischievous eyebrow at me as he followed me.
“I’d rather kiss a hippogriff than ever date you,” I replied lazily.
“Then turn me into one of those next,” Potter winked playfully at me and I glared at him. “I wouldn’t mind.”
“Enjoyed being a squid, did you?” I threw back at him, my mouth turning up in a wicked smile.
“Once you get used to the tentacles, it’s quite nice,” Potter chuckled.
I smiled despite myself, although I was thoroughly irritated by how easy it was to converse with him. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, Potter was actually tolerable when he wasn’t being an arrogant prat. Maybe this year wouldn’t be so bad after all…
* * * *
“I can’t believe him!” Mary burst angrily when I finished telling her and Anna what happened with Alex on the train. We took our seats at the Gryffindor table and Anna sat on the other side of Mary shaking her head angrily.
“What did he think you would do? Take him back right away?” Ames huffed, folding her arms in front of her on the table.
“I think that’s exactly what he thought I would do,” I said, glancing around me and watching as the students filed into the Great Hall.
“You know why he’s doing this,” Mary said, dropping her voice as a group of Hufflepuffs passed us.
Ames and I exchanged confused looks and leaned closer to Mary who was scowling.
“Look at yourself, Lily,” Mary said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “It’s obvious how much you’ve relaxed already since last year. You’re even wearing your hair down now. He thinks you’ve done all this for him.”
“He’s an idiot,” Ames muttered.
“I know, but—“ I started and then stopped quickly as the Marauders sat down across from us at the table. Potter winked at me and I rolled my eyes and turned back to Ames and Mares who were waiting for me to continue.
Before I could say anything McGonagall, followed by a swarm of tiny first years, came parading into the Great Hall. I took the brief distraction to discretely pull out a blank piece of parchment from my bag and a quill.
I quickly scrawled a note to Mary and Ames on the piece of parchment and slid it towards them so they could read it.
“Is it completely pathetic that I almost couldn’t say no to him?”
They quickly scanned the note and then looked up at me, sympathy plain in their faces. We weren’t even paying attention to the sorting ceremony going on around us.
I grabbed the scrap of paper and scrawled another note.
“I really wish I didn’t still have feelings for him.”
Mary read the note quickly and reached out a pale hand to grasp mine, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
The Marauders, sitting across from us were staring at us, completely perplexed by our exchange.
I quickly tucked the note into my pocket and turned my attention to the sorting ceremony that had just ended. Professor Dumbledore stood again, welcoming the students and giving out the start of term notices.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Potter and Black mimicking the exchange that just happened between Mary and I. Potter pretended to cry while Sirius grasped his hand affectionately. Their performance ended in a passionate embrace that dissolved Remus and Peter to silent laughter.
I brought my hand up to rest my chin on, casually flicking my wand in their direction in the process. I held back a smile as I heard all four of their goblets clanged against the table, spilling pumpkin juice all over their robes.
Black and Potter both swore loudly and jumped away from the table at the exact moment that Dumbledore ended his speech and every head in the Great Hall turned towards them.
Dumbledore raised one eyebrow, clearly amused by their outburst.
“Forgive me, Mr. Black, Mr. Potter. I did not realize you felt so strongly about treacle tart,” Dumbledore smiled pleasantly and titters of laughter broke out across the hall. “I will advise the kitchen staff to refrain from serving that particular dessert to your section of the table in the future.”
Sirius blinked and Potter stared open-mouthed at Dumbledore until Remus and Peter pulled them back into their seat, positively shaking with suppressed laughter.
“Touché, Evans” Remus chuckled, aiming his wand at his sopping robes and drying them with a stream of hot hair.
“Miss Evans, Mr. Potter,” A stern voice behind me made me jump and I whirled around to see McGonagall peering down at us from behind her spectacles. “I would like a word in my office after the feast. The other Gryffindor prefects will show the first years to their dorm.”
“Yes, Professor,” I nodded solemnly. I really hoped she hadn’t noticed that it was me who caused the “accident” with the pumpkin juice.
“Watch yourself, Evans,” Potter grinned, seeing my stiff posture relax as McGonagall walked back towards the staff table. “Another stunt like that and you could land yourself in detention.”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” I muttered and tucked into my food.
Mary giggled next to me as she passed the treacle tart to Sirius who was staring forlornly at it across the table.
Potter and I waited until the Great Hall had mostly cleared before we headed towards McGonagall’s office. As much as I had relaxed around him, I still found myself getting very irritated as he strutted down the crowded corridor, taking care to tread on as many first years as he could.
I walked behind him, taking several steps to match each of his long strides. I maneuvered through the students, trying to catch up to him.
Self-important arse.
I groaned inwardly when I saw him slip his wand from his pocket, aiming it surreptitiously at a passing group of Slytherins.
I watched with growing apprehension as the unsuspecting group of students tumbled forward into each other, their legs stuck together with a silent leg-locker curse. The fallen students toppled into passersby, creating a kind of domino effect down the hall.
I felt Potter’s hand close around my arm as he pulled me down a side hall that was unoccupied and out of the fray of falling students. I glanced back to see that everyone behind us was now on the ground, scrambling to get back to their feet, cursing loudly and wondering what had just caused their downfall.
I glared at Potter who was smiling smugly at the chaos he had created.
“Leg-locker curse?” I said scornfully. “I would have expected something a little more advanced from a Marauder.”
“Were you, or were you not amused?” Potter asked, glancing sideways at me.
“I…that’s not the point,” I said quickly, my mouth twitching slightly.
His smile grew wider as he turned back to stare down the hall ahead of us.
I smiled, despite my irritation with him. The school was going to be a wreck by the end of the year if Potter kept pulling pranks like this and I kept allowing it. It seemed I’d stumbled upon the first downside to my new attitude towards the Marauders.
As we rounded another corner I glanced ahead of me and stopped dead in my tracks.
At the end of the hall we saw two figures entwined in a passionate embrace. I recognized the figures immediately but they didn’t seem to notice us. The painfully familiar brown-haired boy pulled away from the girl and tugged on her hand, leading her around the corner and out of sight before Potter or I could say anything.
I strode quickly down the hallway towards McGonagall’s office with Potter trailing behind, jogging to keep up with me.
“Oy, Evans! Slow down, will you?” Potter huffed, falling into step beside me.
I ignored him, quickening my pace. I needed to get away from there. My head was reeling with what I’d just seen. Alex with that… that… there wasn’t even a word that was bad enough to describe her.
But what had she done? After all, it had been Alex who had cheated. It had been Alex who had implied he’d wanted me back. And it was Alex who once again left me a pathetic, heartbroken mess.
If I had thought I was making progress getting over Alex, I had been dead wrong. Seeing him with her had been more awful than I could have imagined. Why did he affect me like that?
“Evans, you alright?” Potter asked gruffly as I came to an abrupt halt outside the McGonagall’s office.
“Shove off,” I snapped irritably.
“Hey, I’m not the one who was just snogging another girl after trying to get back with you,” Potter replied defensively, holding up his hands.
“You shouldn’t have hexed those Slytherins back there,” I burst angrily, in no mood to be tolerant of Potter anymore tonight. “Then we wouldn’t have had to take a detour and I never would have seen that.”
“Let me get this straight. You would rather be ignorant of the fact that your filthy ex-boyfriend was off snogging some tart just hours after he tried to get back together with you?” Potter scoffed, raising a disbelieving eyebrow at me. I seethed at him from the doorway, feeling like a complete idiot as I realized how true his words were.
“What I choose to be ignorant of is my decision, Potter. I don’t have to explain anything to you,” I hissed, trying to hide just how completely embarrassed I felt.
“No, you don’t,” Potter shrugged, looking taken aback by the venom in my voice. “I was just trying to be friendly.”
“Well, here’s a news flash for you, Potter,” I said acidly. “We’re not friends. So forgive me if I don’t confide in you every detail of my life.”
“I wasn’t asking you to confide in me,” Potter rolled his eyes impatiently. “If I wanted to listen to someone whine about their pathetic failed love life, I’d just go talk to Moaning Myrtle. I was simply asking whether you were OK or not.”
“Failed love life!” I shrieked. It felt good to yell again. All this rage at Alex had built up over the past few weeks and I was finding it extremely gratifying to take it all out on Potter. “That’s rich coming from someone who’s never had a steady girlfriend in his life.”
“I would hardly call that a failed love life,” Potter smirked. “There is definitely a lot of love going on there, if you know what I mean.”
“Urgh, you’re disgusting,” I groaned disdainfully.
“And you’re still uptight,” Potter countered, his mouth turning up at the corner in a lopsided smile. “If you ask me, you could use a little loving…”
I flicked my wand so quickly Potter didn’t even have time to react before the roll of Spell-o-Tape I had conjured covered his mouth and wrapped itself around his head several times. Potter’s angry shouts were muffled by the tape that I was now adding a temporary irremovable charm to.
“Potter,” I said calmly, stepping back and admiring my work. “You really need to learn not to say every crude thing that pops into that pea-size brain of yours.”
He shouted something that I sure was a string of curses, but I simply smiled and knocked on the heavy wooden door to McGonagall’s office. Potter scowled at me, his fingers scratching at the Spell-o-tape, trying to rip it off.
“Ah, Miss Evans,” McGonagall, opened the door, peering down at me through her round spectacles. “I thought I heard your dulcet tones coming from the corridor.”
“Sorry, Professor,” I blushed, feeling horribly embarrassed that she heard my fight with Potter. “I was just err, well…”
I glanced over at Potter who had followed me reluctantly into McGonagall’s office. His head was bowed slightly, as if he were trying to hide the newest addition to his face.
“Ah, say no more,” the Professor nodded curtly, appearing completely unsurprised to find Potter’s mouth Spell-o-Taped shut. She waved her wand quickly in his direction and the tape disappeared. Potter let out a deep breath and rubbed his mouth, shooting a menacing look at me.
“Thank you, Professor,” Potter mumbled, dropping into one of the empty chairs in front of her desk. I followed suit, scooting my chair as far from Potter as I could and folded my arms crossly.
“Now, I realize this will be quite a change for you, Miss Evans,” McGonagall said, fixing her hard eyes on me. “But I’m sure Mr. Potter will rise to the challenge of being a Prefect.”
I glanced warily over at Potter, who looked like the picture of attentiveness. His butterscotch eyes were fixed on McGonagall, nodding to indicate that he could, in fact, rise to the challenge of being a Prefect. Smarmy git.
Somehow, despite his constantly being put in detention, all of the professors still seemed to love him. How was it that he was so damn charming all the time, even when he was pulling pranks with Black?
“Now, I expect nothing but the best from you two this year,” McGonagall said sternly, her eyes roving between Potter and I. McGonagall was well aware that Potter and I despised each other but she had never shown any tolerance for our prejudices. “You are both in my house and if I hear one word about you acting less than civil to each other during patrols I will not hesitate to put you both in detention. Yes, detention Ms. Evans,” she added as I sputtered feebly in protest.
“Right,” McGonagall said curtly. “While I have you here, here are the dates for the Hogsmeade visits and the sign up sheets for them as well as the Christmas and Easter holidays. I’m putting you two in charge of the bulletin board, so make sure you’re posting these notices well in advance.”
She held out a stack of papers to us and I quickly grabbed them, not trusting Potter in the least to keep them safe.
“Well, I won’t keep you anymore,” McGonagall sniffed, standing and gesturing towards the door.
Potter and I both stood hastily and headed for the door.
“And don’t forget what I said,” McGonagall called after us. “If I hear one word…”
Potter and I exited the small office into the hall and I let out my breath in a whoosh. There was something about McGonagall that always made me hold my breath when I was around her.
“Ten galleons says you land yourself in detention by the end of the week,” Potter smiled playfully at me and I glowered back.
“Potter, I’ve dodged detentions for five years. Don’t flatter yourself so much to think that you’re irritating enough to land me in detention now,” I said placidly, crossing my arms as we headed towards the Gryffindor tower
“We’ll see,” Potter laughed quietly and I stared menacingly at him. No doubt he was already scheming ways to get me into trouble. I had a feeling it was going to take a lot of self-control to keep my cool around him this year.
I sighed again, my thoughts drifting back to what I’d seen in the corridor before the meeting. I just couldn’t get the image of him and that girl out of my head. I knew I was better off without him… and yet, why did I find myself thinking about him? Anger rose inside me again and I unconsciously quickened my footsteps.
“Evans, where are you going?” Potter asked as I turned a corner heading in the opposite direction of the common room.
I ignored him, picking up my pace.
“Oi! Evans!” Potter called after me, but I headed down another corridor and out of sight. I walked briskly down corridor after corridors to the library where I lost myself in the comfort of dusty books.
James’s Perspective
I watched Lily speed down the corridors. I sighed and pulled out the Marauders’ Map, the map Padfoot, Moony and Wormy had invented in Second Year.
“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” I muttered, tapping my wand on the parchment. A small dot of ink appeared in the middle and stretched into the map of the whole Hogwarts Castle.
There’s Lily, her small dot bobbed up and down the map as she made her way to the library. No surprises there. I don’t know how she can read so many books! Don’t her eyes get tired?
And there’s Johnson with some Alice Pender. Their dots are awfully close together and oh, Merlin…no. Lily’s going to see them any minute now!
I quickly shoved the map back into my pocket and pried open a portrait right behind me. Anyone else who saw me probably thought I was going mad but there was actually a dark tunnel behind it. One of our Marauder’s secrets.
“Lumos,” I muttered and raced down the corridor. I soon came to a dead end. Catching my breath, I checked the map again. Lily was still a couple of miles away and if I wasn’t mistaken, Johnson should be right…
“Bloody hell!” a voice sounded next to me. “Potter?”
I dropped casually to the floor of the Hall of History and saw Johnson and Alice in each other’s arms. Gits, I snarled.
“Alice, I would like to have a word with Johnson alone, if you don’t mind” I said firmly. Alice looked confused but Johnson sighed and gestured apologetically for her to leave. She smiled and blew a kiss back to him. My stomach really wanted to empty itself over Johnson now.
“C’mere,” I growled and pulled him into the passageway.
“What, Potter?” Johnson complained as we stood closely in the dark, illuminated by my wand.
“I’m warning you, Johnson,” I dug my wand under his chin. “Stay away from Lily Evans.”
“Ooh, jealous, aren’t we?” Johnson smirked. “If you haven’t heard, you can have her now.” I was disgusted at his words.
“No, you’re just a gutless prat that doesn’t deserve her,” I snarled. “How dare you ask her for a second chance and now you’re with Alice Pender?”
Johnson shrugged, “Since Evans doesn’t want me, I guess I can snog whoever I want. And why are we in here, anyways?”
“Lily was going to pass by that hall any second and see you,” I hissed, digging my wand deeper into his throat. “And I’m sick and tired of seeing her crying and complaining because of you. She deserves the best and your fat arse, is apparently, in the damned way.”
“Well, if you’re finished, I think you do like Evans,” Johnson sneered back. “But no luck for you. See, Evans personally told me she loathes you.”
I glared at him even more, trying to imitate Lily’s death-stare but Johnson just gave me a knowing look, “Don’t worry, James. I won’t tell her. Just have a bit of fun with her but I tell you that she won’t go all the way with you.”
“Excuse me?” I asked incredulously. “Go all the way with me?”
“Surely you can see it, James,” Johnson crossed his arms. “She doesn’t give a damn about how she looks, she’s too obsessed with studying and just doesn’t want a bloody shag. So you’re after her just because you want to copy her essays, right?”
My mouth dropped open, “D’you think I’d stoop as low as you to just have a snog and a shag? You’re really as bad as Lily says you are. And don’t call me ‘James’, I’m not your friend.” Suddenly, I heard a small gasp behind the exit of the tunnel. It was a girl. Please don’t let it be Lily!
I let go of Johnson roughly and whispered threateningly, “There’s someone out there and I don’t want them to have any funny ideas. Go down that way and you’ll find yourself in the space beside McGonagall’s office.” Johnson stared daggers at me before finally turning around and disappearing in the darkness.
I pulled out my map again and thankfully, it wasn’t Lily listening but one of her pals Mary McDonald. I sighed and leaned against the wall, causing it to swing open and I dropped casually onto the floor, right in front of her brown, frizzy hair.
“Mary,” I nodded curtly. She raised her eyebrows at me and returned me a slow nod, “So I’m thinking you don’t want Lils to know about that.”
I grinned, “Please.”
I returned to the common room right before curfew and naturally, the large circular room was buzzing with students, all excited to be back for another term, but I didn’t spot Ames or Mary among them so I started towards the girls’ dorm.
“Ah, Evans! We were wondering when you’d turn up,” Sirius Black had already made himself at home on the small couch in front of the fireplace.
Peter was sitting on the floor in front of the fire, tossing what looked like little fireworks into the flames, and then smiling appreciatively as each one exploded in a shower of colorful sparks while Remus leaned against the couch, watching.
Potter was perched on the arm of the couch playing with a miniature snitch he had nicked several years ago from the Quidditch supply shed.
“Bloody hell,” I muttered, running a hand irritably through my hair. “We’ve barely been here three hours and you lot have taken over.”
“Geez, what’s got your knickers in a twist?” Black smirked, twirling his wand between his fingers and glancing up at me.
“Who says I’m wearing knickers at all, Black?” I countered, raising a mischievous eyebrow at him.
“My gosh, you’ve gotten cheeky,” Black laughed and Potter glanced up at our exchange. My attention shifted to Potter, struck by his lack of participation in the conversation. Normally any mention of my knickers would set off a volley of smirks and annoying comments. But his eyes seemed to be troubled. He caught me staring and all the cloudiness were pushed out of his hazel eyes.
“Why so quiet, Potter?” I asked, crossing my arms. “Afraid I’ll Spell-o-tape your mouth shut again?”
“Actually yes,” he grinned. “My lips are still numb, thank you very much. Although if you like, you can help me get the feeling back…”
Potter winked playfully at me and I simply rolled my eyes and strode across the small common room, ignoring the peels of laughter from the Marauders.
I skipped up the stairs to the girls’ dorm and found my trunk already resting at the foot of my bed.
Mary and Amy were both lounging on my bed, flipping through a magazine.
“You do realize you have your own beds, don’t you?” I said hopping onto my bed and squeezing myself in between them.
“Your bed’s always been more comfortable,” Amy shrugged, turning the page of Witch Weekly.
“How was your meeting with McGonagall?” Mary asked idly, running her fingers through her dark hair.
“Ugh, fine,” I sighed. “She basically said that if she sees Potter and I fighting she’ll stick us in detention.”
“Well, then it’s a good thing you’re more relaxed this year,” Amy giggled.
“Yeah, but Potter seems pretty determined to get me in detention,” I grumbled.
“Maybe once he sees how much you’ve calmed down he’ll leave you alone?” Amy suggested and Mary and I laughed.
“Not likely, Ames,” Mary giggled.
“Come on, Lils,” Amy said, jerking her head surreptitiously towards Mary. “Don’t you think it’s about time for a truce with the Marauders?”
I wrinkled my nose at her but Mary was oblivious, busy checking her horoscope at the back of the magazine.
“We’ll see…” I muttered and Ames gave me a pleading look. “Speaking of people I hate…Guess who I saw snogging some tart in the hall after dinner?”
“Please tell me it wasn’t Alex…” Mary groaned, looking up from the magazine.
“It was Alex,” I confirmed and Mary wrinkled her nose.
“He’s such a goon,” she scowled, shaking her head.
“You alright?” Ames asked, seeing that I was kind of upset about it.
“I’ll be fine, I just wish I didn’t keep running into him everywhere,” I twisted a piece of my hair in my fingers distractedly.
“It’ll get better,” Ames assured me, patting me comfortingly on my shoulder.
We talked a bit more and they went to bed soon after that. I wasn’t feeling tired at all. Alex was still on my mind and I didn’t think I could get to sleep anytime soon.
I grabbed my new Charms book and headed down to the common room, sure that most people had gone to bed by now.
I dropped down onto the couch in front of the dying fire and propped open my book.
“Evening, Freckles,” A smooth voice said behind me and my fingers dug into the pages of my book. Can’t I just get one minute of peace and quiet?
Potter sat down in one of the armchairs in front of the fire and I glared at him.
“What do you want?” I growled at him when he didn’t say anything.
“Apparently someone’s given up on being nice to me,” Potter rolled his eyes, sinking lower into the armchair and leaning ridiculously close to my face.
“I’m not exactly in a great mood,” I grumbled and he nodded slowly.
“Right… well, you better get it together, otherwise you heard McGonagall, detention for two,” Potter winked at me.
“Look, I only have to act like I’m getting along with you,” I said, glaring at him. “As long as I pretend to like you in front of McGonagall I’ll be detention-free.”
“So we’re just going to go back to hating each other like normal?” Potter asked and I glanced up at him.
“I thought you didn’t hate me,” I said, smirking at him.
“Yeah well, that was before you Spell-o-Taped all the feeling from my face,” Potter grumbled, rubbing his chin tenderly.
I laughed lightly. “I suppose I’ll have to refrain from hexing you in front of McGonagall from now on.”
“That’s very gracious of you,” Potter said sarcastically, but smiled. “And I guess I can maybe hold back on the suggestive remarks, if it’s so important to you not to get detention.”
I rolled my eyes and sank back against the squashy red couch.
“So, what is this then, a truce?” I laughed softly and Potter narrowed his hazel eyes at me.
“Yeah, I guess so,” He muttered, looking down.
“Well then. In the name of truce… I’m sorry I Spell-o-Taped your mouth shut…and turned you into a squid, for that matter,” I muttered, trying very hard not to smile at the memory.
Potter chuckled lightly, his hazel eyes twinkling in the dim light from the fire.
“It was actually refreshing to see you hex someone for a change,” Potter said. “Even if it was me. I didn’t think you had it in you…”
“I’m just full of surprises this year, aren’t I?” I yawned, exhaustion drifting over me. “Urgh, being nice to you takes too much energy.”
Potter laughed loudly and pushed himself out of his chair and stood in front of me, gazing down at me over his long, straight nose. “You’re not so easy to get along with too, you know.”
“And you wonder why I say no when you ask me out,” I said, hopping off the couch and walking towards the girls’ dorm. “I mean, how can a girl resist when you lay on the charm like that?”
Potter smirked and rolled his eyes at me.
I stuck my tongue out at him childishly and skipped up the steps to my dorm. I sank down on my bed without bothering to change and let out a deep sigh, letting sleep take over me. This was going to be one hell of a year…
“I’ll give this truce of yours a week,” Mary shook her head, a small smile playing at her lips. “I know you’ve eased up quite a bit, but let’s be honest. There’s no way you and James will be able to fool McGonagall into thinking you two actually get along.”
“Weren’t you the one begging me to be friendly with the Marauders?” I asked incredulously. “How about showing some support? He’s not actually too horrible to be around. And besides, he gets really frustrated when I don’t yell at him now. It’s pretty amusing.”
“I still think it’ll only last a week,” Mary laughed softly. “You know eventually he’ll say something or do something to set you off and it’ll be back to normal.”
“Give me some credit please,” I scoffed as we turned into the Charms classroom.
“So what, next time Potter asks you out you’re going to say yes?” Amy giggled along with Mary as we took our seats.
“Urgh, why do I even bother talking to you two?” I grumbled, pulling my enormous Charms book out of my bag.
“Because you luuuuurve us,” Amy cooed, making kissing noises with her lips as she and Mary sandwiched me between them in what was supposed to be a hug.
“Geroff me,” I muttered, but I couldn’t hold back a smile at my friends’ ridiculousness.
Mary and Ames reluctantly let me go, still laughing quietly, as Professor Flitwick bounded into the classroom and perched himself on top of a pile of books behind his desk.
“Hello, sixth years!” He squeaked, just the top of his head visible behind his desk. “Welcome to your N.E.W.T.S. Charms course.”
Professor Flitwick babbled on about the things we’d be learning this year and I let my mind wander a bit. I had already read the entire Charms book so I was well versed in what we’d be doing.
Across the room, I noticed the Marauders huddled in the back row, their heads bowing together as Flitwick turned his back to write the principles of a new charm on the board.
Plotting their next prank, probably. Filthy slackers.
“And who can tell me the proper incantation for the Imperturbable Charm?” Flitwick asked, his eyes peaking out from behind his desk.
My hand shot into the air instinctively (earning quiet giggles from Mary and Ames) and I opened my mouth to answer but another voice cut me off.
“The incantation is Impertubatus,” A clear feminine voice rang out and I turned towards the source. A Ravenclaw girl, judging by the blue trim on her robes, with straight cinnamon colored hair had been the one to answer.
“Correct, Miss Carrington,” Flitwick squeaked. “And who can tell me the correct wand movement to perform the incantation?”
I opened my mouth to respond again, not even bothering to raise my hand this time, but once again I was interrupted.
“One should circle the target object once counter-clockwise starting from the lowest point,” the same Ravenclaw girl answered again and I scowled. What was going on here? No one ever answered Flitwick’s questions except me. Who did this Ravenclaw girl think she was?
“Correct again, Miss Carrington,” Flitwick smiled. “Now I’d like you all to divide into pairs of twos or threes to practice this charm. The person who casts the spell will want to create a barrier between themselves and another person. Once the charm is cast, the other person should not be able to hear or detect anything from the castor.”
Amy and Mary had me go first and I quickly flourished my wand, so used to using silent spells by now that I didn’t bother saying the words. Amy’s eyes grew wide as Mary and I disappeared behind the charm. If I had done the spell correctly, she wouldn’t be able to hear us either.
“Who was that girl?” I asked Mary irritably, glancing towards the Ravenclaw girl.
“Her name’s Carly,” Mary said, making faces at Ames who was trying to find a flaw in my magical barrier.
“Do you know her?” I asked, turning towards Mary.
“Not really,” she shrugged. “She was with Robert Young for a while last year. He’s quite a good kisser, apparently.”
“Mares, how on earth do you know these kinds of things?” I sighed, glancing back at Carly Carrington, who disappeared before my eyes as she cast her own Imperturbable charm.
“He and Ames fooled around after they broke up, remember?” Mary said carelessly.
“Have we had any classes with her before?” I asked, wondering why I had never noticed her.
“She was in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class last year. She was really quiet though, didn’t speak much,” Mary frowned, turning away from Ames and back towards me. “Looks like you’ve got some competition this year.”
“Hmm,” I agreed, lifting the charm with a flick of my wand.
“There you are,” Amy said grumpily. “Took you long enough.”
“Sorry,” I shrugged, watching as Mary and Ames disappeared behind her Imperturbable charm.
I glanced back at Carly who had reappeared and was watching as her friends performed the charm. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could have sworn I saw her eyes flit to my face in a defiant glare before turning back to her friends.
So much for easing up on the studying this year. Looks like I had my work cut out for me if I wanted to stay on top…
I decided to ditch patrols tonight. I couldn’t help it, I saw Alex snogging yet another girl in an empty classroom after dinner. I just wanted to curl up in the less used parts of the castle and cry. And I did. It wasn’t past curfew until I started to stroll back to the common room, hoping my eyes weren’t bloodshot anymore.
“Oy! Evans!” I heard Potter call my name, striding down the hall quickly towards me.
I turned slowly towards the sound of his footsteps, a wary expression on my face. He probably knew I’d skived off patrols… perfect. Detention, here I come.
“Are you just getting back from patrols? I finished ages ago,” Potter asked, coming to a stop in front of me. I let out a breath, thanking Merlin that he just thought I had been out on patrols.
“Yeah, just getting back,” I said, trying to give my voice a breezy quality.
“Well, I’m going to swipe some Firewhiskey, want to come with?” Potter asked, nudging me playfully in the side. I frowned at him as I thought about it.
“Where are you getting the Firewhiskey?” I asked him.
“Kitchens,” Potter answered, staring at me as if he were waiting for me to tell him off.
“You and the Marauders having a party or something?” I asked, crossing my arms, hoping my face didn’t give me away.
Potter nodded, his eyes positively daring me to turn him in.
“Well, we should probably get two bottles because I’m sure Mares and Ames will want to join us,” I said, shrugging. I turned on my heel and started walking back towards the grand staircase. I noticed Potter didn’t follow and I paused, turning back to glance at him over my shoulder. “Are you coming?”
Potter was staring at me with a mixture of disbelief and awe. He quickly gathered himself and set off towards me at a quick stride.
Mary and Ames had said they wanted to party with the Marauders and here was our chance… Wouldn’t this be a good opportunity to prove how laid back I could be? Besides, I’d only been back at school for a week and it already felt like a month …I needed to blow off some steam, and Firewhiskey sounded like the perfect way.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this new side of you,” Potter mused, falling into step with me.
“It’s kind of surprising to me, too,” I admitted. “It’s weird… all these years I’ve been so strict about rules and then I guess… over the summer I just kind of decided that I don’t really care anymore.”
“You, Lily Evans, don’t care about school rules?” Potter asked skeptically, one side of his mouth was lifted. “Amazing.”
“Well, it’s not that I don’t care about them,” I explained carefully, glancing sideways at him. “I’m just trying not to take everything so seriously. Plus, it’s sixth year, I think it’s about time I had some fun in this castle.”
“In the five years I’ve known you, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say the word ‘fun’,” Potter chuckled, steering me down a side corridor outside the Great Hall.
“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” I muttered darkly as we passed the Hufflepuff’s dorm entrance. My thoughts drifted briefly to Alex, but I forced myself to focus on Potter, who was looking at me with his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
“Are you ever going to tell me what actually happened with you and him?” Potter grumbled, guessing where my thoughts were.
“Probably not,” I flashed a smile at him and he rolled his eyes. “There’s not much to tell. We broke up, end of story.”
“I doubt that,” Potter muttered, rolling his eyes. “I don’t understand why you won’t just tell me.”
“And I don’t understand why you need to know so badly,” I countered but Potter just shrugged like it didn’t mean anything at all to him. “We broke up. That’s all there is to it.”
“Whatever you say, Freckles,” Potter rolled his eyes.
I waited outside the portrait of the fruit bowl while Potter went into the kitchens for the Firewhiskey. I was staring at the still life painting down the corridor that I knew was the entrance to Hufflepuff.
Stupid Alex with his stupid Hufflepuff friends and his stupid Hufflepuff dorm. I was tempted to pull out my wand and bloody Confringo the Hufflepuff dorm entrance.
My bitter thoughts were interrupted by a scuffling sound behind me and I whirled around to see a dark figure ascending the staircase to the dungeons on my right.
“Who’s there?” I called, trying to insert a tone of authority into my voice. Bloody students out after curfew… I guess this was karma for me skiving off patrol tonight.
“Lily?” A low voice answered and the figure came into the light. I let out the breath I had been holding, seeing that it was only Severus.
“Oh Sev, thank Merlin it’s only you. What are you doing out so late?” I asked, lowering my wand.
“Er…detention,” Severus muttered, his dark eyes darting up and down the corridor.
“It’s the first week and you’ve already got detention?” I asked, trying to suppress a smile. “What did you do?”
“What are you doing out so late?” Severus asked, dodging my question.
I rolled my eyes, realizing that I was probably better off not knowing why he’d gotten detention.
“Erm… patrol,” I lied quickly, hoping that Potter stayed in the kitchens for a little bit longer until Severus was gone.
We stared at each other for a moment without saying anything. It was a weird kind of silence, not awkward, but full of a kind of tension I couldn’t quite identify.
“So er… Did you have a good first week?” Severus asked breaking the silence as he shoved his hands deep in his pockets.
“It was alright,” I shrugged. “There’s this Ravenclaw girl in my Charms class who’s like, trying to become the new me…. You know answering all the questions and stuff.”
“Impossible,” Severus shrugged, his dark eyes glancing up at me. “No one could ever be as clever as you.”
I smiled weakly at him, and was overcome with the urge to hug him. At least he didn’t think I was an insufferable know-it-all. He seemed to be the only one…
“My gosh, I love those house elves,” Potter stumbled out from behind the portrait of the fruit with two bottles of Firewhiskey clutched precariously in one hand and a platter of small cakes and pastries in the other. He stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted Severus.
“Snivellus,” Potter growled, his expression shifting quickly to annoyance, possibly hatred. “What are you doing here?” I would’ve bet five Galleons that he desperately wanted to pull out his wand and hex him if his hands weren’t full of food.
“Sev was just finishing a detention,” I said evenly, glancing between them.
“I hope you weren’t polishing in the trophy room,” Potter sneered. “I’d hate to get grease marks all over my Quidditch trophies.”
Severus growled and pulled out his wand. I quickly grabbed his arm, pulling him away from Potter.
“Sev,” I hissed urgently. “Stop!”
Severus paused, his eyes flitting to me, and seeing my distraught face, he relaxed his stance, letting his arm drop to his side.
“What’s he doing here?” Severus whispered angrily to me. “Why are you with him? I thought you were on patrol…”
“Yes, we were. He just wanted to stop and get something to eat. Please, Sev. Just go back to your dorm,” I whispered back urgently. The last thing I wanted was for him and Potter to get into a fight now, especially since Severus had promised me he wouldn’t hex any Gryffindors.
Severus glared angrily at me for a moment, his eyes still searching my face for the answers to his questions.
He turned swiftly on his heel and stormed off the corridor.
I turned back to Potter who was shoving a small cake in his mouth, chewing it lazily.
“Why do you have to bully him like that?” I scolded him, shoving him angrily into a suit of armor as I stomped past him back towards our dorm.
“Look who’s bullying,” Potter said thickly, choking on the cake stuffed in his mouth.
“What’s he ever done to you?” I burst angrily, my feet making a satisfying amount of noise as I stomped down the empty corridor.
“He’s a slimy git,” Potter snarled, jogging to keep up with me. “Always poking his great filthy nose where it doesn’t belong. And why on earth are you defending him? Have you forgotten what he called you last June?”
I huffed furiously, stopping at the bottom of the grand staircase as I waited for the first flight to stop moving.
“I haven’t forgotten,” I said quietly, hurrying up the stairs when they came to a stop in front of us.
“I don’t get you, Evans,” Potter sighed, leaning against the banister as the staircase we were on started moving. “You let me hex that bloke back in Flourish and Blotts, take down an entire hall of students, and swipe Firewhiskey from the kitchens without saying a word. Yet I make one remark about Snape—who called you a you-know-what by the way—and you get all defensive. D’you fancy him or something?”
“Hardly,” I scoffed. “We’re just friends.”
“Seems to me he’s got a bit more than friendship on his mind,” Potter commented coldly as I hopped off the steps before they had stopped and continued down the seventh floor corridor to our dorm. I wondered why Potter was being so hostile all of a sudden.
I paused at his words and turned towards him. “What makes you say that?”
“Come on, Evans. It’s pretty obvious,” Potter smirked, stopping beside me. “The way he looks at you, the fact that he followed you around the entire last week of school trying to apologize for calling you a –well, you know… the way he hates me because I’m always asking you out…”
“He’s not the only one who hates you for that,” I grumbled.
“Ah, you’ll come around one of these days,” Potter chuckled, reaching out a hand and ruffling my hair. I growled and twisted myself away from him, elbowing him sharply in the gut in the process.
Potter let out a punctured grunt and I stepped lightly away from him, standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady who was snoring loudly.
“Erm… excuse me?” I asked tentatively and she raised her head a fraction of an inch to glare at me.
“Flitterbloom?” I said tentatively and the Fat Lady scowled at me before swinging forward.
I turned back towards Potter who was doubled over with his arms wrapped his stomach.
“What’s the matter with you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“You have really bony elbows,” Potter groaned hoarsely.
“Oh, man up,” I rolled my eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him through the portrait hole. “We’ve got some Firewhiskey to drink…”
“You know, I think I’m beginning to like this new you, Evans,” Potter chuckled weakly and followed me into the common room.
“Let me get this straight….” Mary said, staring at me incredulously. “You snuck down to the kitchens, with Potter. You stole Firewhiskey, with Potter. And now we’re about to drink said Firewhiskey in his dorm, with Potter?”
“Not to mention you did this all willingly,” Amy giggled, leaning back against my bedpost. We were sitting on my bed in the dorms and I had come up to ask them if they wanted to drink with the Marauders tonight.
The other two girls in our year, Jasmine Summers and Margaux Littleton kept shooting jealous glances our way, as if they wished the Marauders had invited them to join the festivities, too. Why on earth did girls find them so fascinating?
“I think we may have underestimated you, Lily,” Mary smiled, hopping off her bed and slipping her feet into her shoes.
I scowled at her playfully. “Your lack of faith is insulting. You should know by now that once I’ve made up my mind about something, I see it through.”
“Apparently,” Ames chuckled, grabbing my arm and pulling me down the stairs after her.
“Won’t the stairs turn into a slide if we try going up?” Mary asked as we stared up at the boys’ staircase.
“That’s only for the girls’,” Ames said and Mary and I both turned to look at her.
“You’re forgetting that I used to date David Corwin,” Ames rolled her eyes and Mary and I giggled quietly.
“Brilliant!” Mares breathed, pulling me up the stairs behind her. “Now we can sneak in and put flobberworms in Potter’s bed.”
“What are you putting in my bed?” Potter’s head popped up from behind his bed as we entered the large circular dorm room that was identical to ours.
“Because if it doesn’t involve women or some especially delicious cakes we’re really not that interested,” Sirius poked his head over the bed too and I let out a laugh at the sight of them.
“I’m going to go ahead and assume that you two have already started drinking?” I looked over to Remus who confirmed my suspicions with a small nod.
Sirius and Potter hopped off the floor and settled themselves on one of the beds.
“Move over, Black,” Mary squished herself between Sirius and James on the bed, snatching the bottle of Firewhiskey from Sirius’s hands and pressing it to her lips.
“Well, someone’s eager to get smashed,” Sirius grumbled, trying to grab the bottle back from Mary but she held it just out of reach.
Potter smiled at me from where he sat and stretched out his arm, offering me the bottle he was holding in his hand. His eyes were playful, slightly unfocused yet mischievous all the same.
I grabbed the bottle and pressed it to my lips, the scent of the Firewhiskey hitting me before I’d even tasted the liquid. The whiskey burned slightly as it went down but it wasn’t unpleasant like I thought it would be.
“Shall we start, then?” Sirius asked, finally succeeding in snatching his bottle back from Mary.
“Haven’t we already started?” I asked, confused as I lowered the bottle from my lips and handed it back to Potter.
“I wasn’t talking about drinking,” Sirius sighed as if I was missing something very obvious.
“We’re going to play a little of the classic Never-Have-I-Ever,” Remus informed me as I perched on the arm of the chair he was sitting in.
“Isn’t that a little…cliché?” Ames asked, smirking as Potter handed her a glass of the Firewhiskey.
“How dare you. The Marauders are never cliché,” Potter replied, feigning offense as he absently handed me a glass of Firewhiskey.
“We just thought it would be a good way to get…err, better acquainted,” Sirius smiled and Mary rolled her eyes.
“Because clearly the best way to get to know each other better is by listing off our various misdemeanors,” Mary scoffed, but she smiled nonetheless. If there was one thing Mary loved, it was bragging about the scandalous things she’d done.
“It sounds stupid,” I said, taking a drink from my glass and Sirius and Potter both looked at me like I’d grown an extra head.
“You only say its stupid because you haven’t done anything worth bragging about,” Potter challenged me and I stared him down.
“That’s far from true,” I replied, but deep down I couldn’t help but worry a little that no matter what I had actually done throughout my life, there was no way it could rival the Marauders.
“Then what are you so afraid of?” Potter smirked at me, raising one devilish eyebrow.
I glowered at him as Mary and Ames exchanged grins. I bet they were just waiting for me to bail out, but that wasn’t going to happen. I said I’d lighten up this year, and that’s exactly what I’d do.
“Fine,” I shrugged nonchalantly and Potter’s mouth curved up in a smile.
“Need me to go over the rules for you, Evans?” Potter simpered at me and I frowned at him.
“I’m not an complete dolt, Potter, I know how the game is played,” I said as calmly as I could and Remus chuckled next to me.
“Just checking…” Potter shrugged, a smile still playing at his lips. “Padfoot, you want to start?”
“Alright, never have I ever… err, gotten in trouble with the Muggle police,” Sirius screwed up his face in concentration. I suspected there wasn’t much that Sirius Black hadn’t done, I was surprised he could think of anything at all…
All the Marauders turned to look at Potter who sheepishly took a drink from his bottle of Firewhiskey. Ames, Mary and I left our drinks untouched.
“Got yourself arrested, did you?” I grinned, amused at the thought of him getting carted off in handcuffs.
“Not exactly…” Potter mumbled and I was surprised that he actually seemed embarrassed about this. “Over the summer I was, er, spending some quality time with a girl from my town and we were, erm, interrupted by the authorities.”
Ames let out a laugh and Mary giggled as Sirius chuckled appreciatively. I however, remained un-amused. Of course Potter would get busted hooking up with some scollywop. I should have seen that one coming.
Urgh, there was no way I was going to beat him at this game…
“Alright, alright, moving on,” Potter mumbled, his cheeks tinged with pink. Did that seriously embarrass him? I didn’t think it was possible to embarrass the Quidditch King…
“Never have I ever: cheated on an exam,” Potter said quickly, trying to change the subject.
Peter took a small drink from his glass and we all stared at him.
“Peter! What have you cheated on?” Remus scolded, surprise written all over his face at his friend. Everyone knew the Marauders were smart, no one would expect any of them to cheat, even Peter.
“The History of Magic O.W.L. last year… I couldn’t remember the goblin representative in the 14th century wizarding council and I just… panicked,” Peter stuttered, staring hard at his glass of Firewhiskey.
“Eargit the Ugly?” I blurted without thinking. “That’s easy though. What I do when I’m studying is make an anagram of the name and… ” I trailed off as all the eyes in the room turned towards me incredulously.
Mary was near to tears from trying to suppress her laughter and I felt my cheeks burn red with embarrassment. So much for giving up the nerd act… yikes.
“Anyways, Peter, who did you cheat off of?” I said quickly trying to change the subject from my explosion of nerdiness.
“Well, actually I kind of cheated off you, Lily,” Peter mumbled and my mouth dropped open. Sirius choked on his drink and Ames and Mary dissolved into fits of laughter.
“Peter!” I scolded him as he ashamedly hung his head. And then a laugh escaped my lips, because even though I should have been furious that he cheated off me, it was rather funny.
“Never thought I’d see the day when Evans actually laughed when someone confesses to cheating off her on an exam,” Potter chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief.
“I’ll drink to that,” Sirius said cheerfully clinking his glass against Potter’s.
“You have got to stop underestimating me,” I growled, rolling my eyes at them.
“Alright, my turn,” Ames announced. “Never have I ever fallen asleep during a lesson.”
All of the Marauders and Mary took drinks from their glasses and mine stayed firmly grasped in my hand. I was starting to get frustrated with myself. When was someone going to say something that I’d actually done?
I wanted to drink, damnit!
“Evans, you’re up,” Sirius nodded towards me and I let out a sigh, trying to think of something. I knew there was a lot I hadn’t done yet, but for some reason I was drawing a massive blank…
“Any day now,” Peter muttered when after a minute I still hadn’t said anything.
“Patience, Wormy, she’s got a lot of non-experiences to choose from,” Potter smirked, goading me.
I gave him my best death glare, imagining burning a hole in his forehead.
“Never have I ever streaked naked across the grounds,” I shrugged, blurting out the first thing that came to mind.
The Marauders once again raised their glasses and Ames’s mouth popped open in surprise.
“You didn’t…” Ames said, staring at them in awe.
“Last spring,” Remus confirmed, looking slightly embarrassed to have been involved at all. “Alright, Peter, time for your usual stand-by.”
Peter sighed and glared at his friend.
“Fine. Never have I ever hooked up with anyone in a classroom,” Peter recited. “Go ahead everyone, drink.”
The remaining Marauders took a drink, what a shock. Ames, Mary, and I took small sips from our drinks and Potter’s eyes lingered on me briefly before turning to Remus.
“Never have I ever been caught snogging in a broom closet,” Remus said. Ames, Sirius, and Potter all took a drink and the latter noticed that my glass was still on the table.
“So you hook up in classrooms but not broom closets? Too dusty for her highness?” Potter said, narrowing his eyes at me.
“Who says I don’t hook up in broom closets? I’ve just never been caught…” I said and Potter glared at me. Two can play at this game, Potter.
“Touché, Evans,” Sirius sniggered. “Alright. Never have I ever cheated or been cheated on in a relationship.”
I froze, my fingers automatically twitching towards my drink. Amy and Mary glanced warily in my direction, but I left my drink on the table. I was breaking the rules of the game by lying, but there was no way in hell I was about to tell the Marauders what happened.
Ames quickly took a drink when the Marauders noticed our exchange and Potter accompanied her. My eyes lingered on him. Mary and I knew that Ames was only covering for me, but Potter? Had he cheated on someone? Or was it the other way around?
I was about to ask, but before I had even opened my mouth, Mary chimed in with a new statement.
“Never have I ever gone all the way with someone,” Mares said and my stomach clenched. Maybe this game was a bad idea after all…
Mary and I left our drinks on the table while Ames took a small sip along with half the Marauders. Go ahead, guess which half.
Potter stared at me as I folded my arms resolutely across my chest.
“Never got down and dirty with Johnson?” Potter smirked at me, his eyes bright with understanding. “Is that the reason you never talk about him? You wouldn’t sleep with him and he ditched you?”
“That’s not the reason,” I said lightly, but I’m sure he could see the annoyance in my eyes. I wished he would just drop it. Why was he so insistent on this topic? Ames and Mary glanced warily between Potter and I, not knowing if they should intervene.
“Alright, moving on,” Remus said loudly, catching onto my reluctance towards the subject. “Ames, its your turn I think.”
“Well, what is the reason then?” Potter pressed, ignoring Remus, his eyes glinting horribly. He was even leaning forward with excitement. Stupid toerag!
“The reason’s not important. Drop it,” I said tensely but my voice broke and it gave me away. One of the corners of Potter’s mouth turned up in a victorious smile.
“Is that why you never dated Hogwarts boys before?” Potter continued. “Afraid they’d find out you’re a prude in the bedroom?”
Shut up. Shut up. Shut the bloody hell up!
That stung. I knew he’d meant it as a joke, but his words were cruel. My brain snapped and I jumped out of my seat, my hands still clenched at my side. I wanted to hex him, to make him feel as much pain as he was making me feel, but my wand was unfortunately in my bedroom. I smashed my glass onto the floor instead, making everyone jump. But Stupid Potter, he was still sitting there smirking because he thought he’d got me all figured out.
“James, stop,” Mary said furiously and Potter glanced over at her. Mary and Ames were both on their feet now, too and Potter was taken aback by their reaction.
“Oh come on, I’m just teasing,” Potter rolled his eyes and then turned back to me. “I thought you going to lighten up this year.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m just going to stand by while you have a go at me,” I snapped, scowling at him.
“Maybe we should play a different game, or go to the kitchens and nab some food,” Remus said quietly to Sirius and Peter and the three quickly headed towards the door.
“No, stay,” I said forcefully, crossing my arms. “I’ll go. I wouldn’t want to spoil the party.”
I shot an angry look at Potter again who was still seated on the bed, his eyes wide with surprise at our reactions to his words. I turned on my heel and headed towards the stairs, slamming their door behind me.
I sighed and leaned back against the door, sinking to the floor, trying to calm myself down. I had let myself over-react, something I’d been trying not to do so much anymore. But how was it that Potter just knew the exact thing to say that would set me off?
“James Potter, you great, tactless, toe-rag!” I heard Mary’s shrill voice ring out of the silence followed by sniggers from the other Marauders. I was sure Mary had just whacked Potter on the head, as was her custom, and the thought made me smile slightly.
“Ouch, what’d you hit me for?” Potter whined, my suspicions confirmed.
“You know very well what I hit you for,” Mary’s stern voice filled the room and even through the thick wooden door I could hear every word she said. “Why on earth would you say something like that to Lily?”
“I didn’t think she’d get that upset,” Potter grumbled and I scowled into the darkness of the stairwell.
“You didn’t bloody think at all!” Ames huffed.
“Ugh, thanks, mum,” Potter muttered.
“Listen up, Potter,” Mary said forcefully and I pressed my ear to the door, listening harder. I could almost imagine her grabbing Potter by the collar and jerking him up to eye level. “Lily’s got enough things to deal with without you constantly harping on her about Alex. Leave it alone, all right? If she wants to talk about it, she’ll talk about it. But you know her well enough to know that if she doesn’t want to do something, there’s no way in hell she’ll do it. And that includes going out with you, because honestly you’re an arrogant git who doesn’t deserve her.”
“Fine,” I heard Potter mumble and I could almost just picture him shrinking back onto the bed away from Mary. She could be quite terrifying when she was mad, despite her normally bubbly personality.
I stepped away from the door, not in the mood to listen anymore. So much for a fun night of blowing off steam with the Marauders…
Stupid Potter… he really was trying to make it impossible for us to get along. I wasn’t sure I could even pretend to like him after tonight.
And so much for our truce… Mary was right, we couldn’t even make it through the week.
I descended the stairs, and was glad that the common room was empty. The few sips of Firewhiskey I had were starting to make my brain feel fuzzy and I needed something to sober me up a bit before going to sleep. Plus, Potter’s words were clunking around in my head and I doubted I’d be able to sleep anyways.
I stepped lightly across the floor of my dorm, making sure not to wake up Margaux and Jasmine who were fast asleep. I grabbed my Charms book off my trunk and hurried back out the door.
Ames and Mary met me coming down the stairs and we paused in the middle of the staircase.
“Are you alright?” Mary asked, her eyes flitting down the book in my hands.
“I’m fine,” I muttered, running a hand through my messy hair with my free hand.
“Are you sure?” Ames asked, concern pulling her eyebrows together. “You’ve got your Charms book… you always read your Charms book when you’re upset.”
I let out a small laugh, realizing that she was kind of right.
“James was a complete git for saying that stuff,” Mary grumbled. “Wish I had my wand though, he would’ve paid dearly for it.”
“Well, he was right, wasn’t he?” I growled, staring down the dark staircase.
“Stop that,” Mary said in a hard voice. “You know that’s not true.”
I sighed heavily and glanced over at her. “I know… I just—I think I need to be alone for a bit, if that’s alright.”
“Of course,” Ames nodded, tugging on Mary’s sleeve. “See you in the morning.”
I slid past them down the stairs and sank down on the couch.
Why on earth did I let Potter get to me like that? And what was his problem? He was perfectly fine when we were swiping whiskey and all of a sudden he turns into this nosy, cruel monster of a boy hell-bent on tearing me down.
I jumped when I heard the creak of a door from the boys’ staircase and turned swiftly towards the sound. I could see the shadow of a figure descending the staircase but I sighed in relief when it was only Remus.
“Hi, Remus,” I acknowledged, turning back to the fireplace and cracking open my book.
Remus wandered around the couch, taking a seat tentatively next to me.
“James is kind of an idiot, you know,” Remus said conversationally and I turned towards him, narrowing my eyes. “But… he feels really bad about what just happened.”
“Then why isn’t he down here apologizing?” I grumbled, staring over at the stairs to the boys’ dorm.
“Would you have listened to him?” Remus raised his eyebrows at me.
“No, probably not,” I conceded. “But he shouldn’t send you to apologize for him.”
“He didn’t send me to do anything,” Remus said pointedly. “I came down here on my own.”
“How’d you know I’d be here?” I asked him, peering sideways at him.
“Come on, Lily. Whenever you’re upset, you read your Charms book,” Remus nudged me playfully in my side and I bit back a smile.
“How on earth did you know that?” I asked, closing my Charms book, still trying to suppress a smile. Remus had such a calming presence about him that it was hard not to feel at ease sitting next to him, even though I still suspected he was here on Potter’s behalf.
“Come on,” Remus cocked his head to the side. “I’ve known you for five years and we spent a lot of time together during patrols last year.”
I bit my lip, remembering with disappointment that we wouldn’t be doing patrols together anymore.
“I’m sorry about that, by the way,” Remus said quietly. “The whole Prefect thing… If I had known Dumbledore was going to replace me with James, well… you know I wouldn’t have done that to you on purpose.”
“I was really surprised when Potter told me you’d given up the post,” I looked over at him sincerely. “I was kind of sad, you know? I liked having you as the other Prefect.”
“I know, I really liked working with you,” Remus said earnestly and then bit his lip.
I nodded slowly. “So why did you give it up?”
Remus hesitated; his eyes flitting to my curious face then lowered his gaze to the glowing embers in the fireplace.
“It just got to be too much,” he admitted, keeping his eyes down. “With school and homework and… everything else. I was a little overwhelmed.”
“You did seem awfully tired most of the time,” I agreed, remembering the way Remus had the constant appearance of never having gotten enough sleep.
I chewed my bottom lip for a moment and then looked back over at Remus. “Can I ask you something?”
He glanced up at me warily and nodded.
“Why does Potter pick on me all the time?” I asked quietly, staring down at my hands. “I mean, one minute we’ll get along fine and the next… well, you saw what happened. It’s like he knows the exact thing to say that’ll get right under my skin. I don’t understand it.”
To my surprise, Remus laughed but stopped abruptly when he saw my serious face.
“I’m sorry,” Remus held back a smile. “It’s just… we all think its rather funny, the way you two carry on.”
“I don’t see what’s so funny about it,” I muttered, crossing my arms.
“No I guess you wouldn’t,” Remus laughed softly. “It’s just… James has said the exact same thing about you. You really get under his skin sometimes… the way you went off on him last June for example.”
“Well, he deserved that,” I grumbled, but Remus ignored me.
“Look, I’m going to try to explain this to you the best I can,” Remus said, a smile tugging at his mouth.
I stared at him, folding my legs underneath me as I waited.
“You know what people think of James—other people, not you—They…. Well, they adore him,” Remus shrugged while I scowled. It was true though. Everyone loved James Potter.
“Well, I think James was a bit unnerved when you weren’t immediately taken by him in first year, like everyone else,” Remus said, a smile still tugging on the corners of him mouth.
“Well, what’s not to love,” I muttered and Remus rolled his eyes.
“And then, not only did you not like him, but you were smarter than him, something he definitely didn’t expect,” Remus said and I let myself smile in satisfaction.
“Don’t you get it, Lily?” Remus stared at me like the answer was obvious. I stared blankly back at him. “James is intimidated by you.”
“Intimidated by me?” I repeated skeptically. Intimidated, my arse.
“You’re the first person who’s challenged him,” Remus said, leaning forward slightly. “The other girls here… they’re nice and all but no one’s ever pushed James to be anything but what he is—which is great, don’t get me wrong. I love James like a brother and wouldn’t change him for the world. But when he’s around you… its like you flip a switch in his brain. Suddenly, he’s not charming enough; He’s not smart enough, he doesn’t have good enough manners, nothing he does is good enough… For Merlin’s sake, he actually studies for the classes you two have together, because he finally has competition—Someone to impress. To him, you’re like the ultimate challenge.”
“So let me guess,” I sighed, Remus’s words still sinking in. “He asks me out constantly because if I ever were to say yes, that means he’s won. And that’s exactly why I can never say yes to him… because I’m nothing more than that to him: a challenge.”
“Lily, you’re not just some girl he wants to cross off a list,” Remus said exasperatedly. “The other guys and I have talked about this… We’ve never seen anyone captivate his attention like you do. And we don’t think he’s realized exactly why that is.”
“And you have?” I asked flatly, staring towards the fire. I could see where this was heading and I was in no mood to hear it.
“He’s genuinely interested in you,” Remus said forcefully.
“You said I frustrate him, get under his skin. It doesn’t sound like he’s interested, it sounds like I annoy the hell out of him,” I reminded him pointedly.
“Of course you do, beyond belief,” Remus scoffed. “Merlin’s beard, you should hear him after you two have had a row.”
“What’s your point, Remus?” I asked, looking down at my hands.
“The point is, James says stupid things. All the time,” Remus sighed. “Mostly to you… we like to call it word-vomit.”
I held back a smile at the term and let Remus continue.
“I just thought I would help you understand him a bit, seeing as you two will be doing patrols together this year,” Remus said, pushing himself off the couch and heading around the back towards the boys’ dorm. “And all the joking and picking on you that he does… I don’t think you realize just how your mere presence affects him. That switch you flip in his brain? Well, apparently it also controls the word-vomit.”
I turned around on the sofa, resting my elbows on the back of the couch.
“What am I supposed to do with this information?” I asked, shaking my head at him. “I still don’t understand why you’ve told me all this.”
Remus bit his lip, thinking for a moment before leaning over the couch next to me.
“Just… we don’t want him to get hurt, when he figures all this out on his own,” Remus finally said, looking earnestly into my eyes. “I know you don't like him, and that's perfectly understandable... so when he does realize what’s going on, just try and let him down easy, will you?”
“Figures what out?” I asked, confused.
“’Night, Lily,” Remus said quietly, leaning forward and pressing his lips to the top of my head before hurrying up the steps.
“Figures what out, Remus!” I called after him, but I heard the door close up the stairs.
I reached my hand up, my fingers touching the spot he’d just kissed and I twisted myself back towards the fire, sinking down even lower into the couch.
Did Potter actually find me intimidating? And what on earth had Remus meant, “When he finally figures all this out”? Let him down easy? But he didn’t even like me… what the hell was going on?
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