"The bloody hell is Evans doing over there?" sneered Sirius Black in between bites of sausage. He nudged James Potter, who had dozed off with his head propped up in his hand; they both looked over at Lily Evans, the ravishing red-haired beauty that James had been after for so long, sitting next to Severus Snape at the Slytherin table.
"She's a Gryffindor. She can't bloody do that," Remus Lupin added. His mouth twitched into a low frown as he reopened Pride and Prejudice, the most recent tale he had rented from the school library. Technically, she could—no rules stated that members of different houses couldn't sit at each others' tables during meal time. In fact, there had been many mornings where Sirius had been accompanied to breakfast by his female companion of the previous night, no matter which house she was in. This situation was entirely different, however—Lily was a Muggle-born, and the Slytherins were notorious for prejudice against anyone who wasn't of the purest Wizarding bloodline. Not to mention, Severus (or as the boys unaffectionately called him, Snivellus) was one of the Marauders' most disliked people—falling just behind whoever invented exams.
James watched, disgustedly, as Lily smiled at Snape. He smiled back, chuckling at something she'd said. James imagined what he would do to Snape, were there no teachers around; Peter's slight, high-pitched voice roused him from his daydream of pummeling a greasy head into pavement and breaking a certain abnormally large nose.
"James, you all right mate?" He looked up quickly at Peter, who wore a look that was thick with worry; it was only then that he noticed he was squeezing his fist so hard around his goblet of pumpkin juice that it was threatening to shatter. He took a deep breath and set the goblet down, smoothing out his hair as he put his head back into his hands.
"Fine. I need to get out of here. Too stuffy." James got up and hastily walked away; Sirius tightened his coat around him as a chilly breeze blew through the Great Hall.
"Right, stuffy." He shook his head in disapproval. "Once breakfast is over, we'll follow him."
"But he could be anywhere in the castle by then!" squeaked Peter.
Remus looked up from his book, his thick eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. "The map, Peter, the bloody map!" Peter gave a look of embarrassment as the two other boys rolled their eyes; Remus immersed himself back into the writing of Jane Austen while Sirius reached across the table for his 3rd waffle. After a few minutes, most of the hall had cleared out except for a few Ravenclaws (who were studying Charms) and the remaining Marauders. Sirius watched Snape and Lily leaving; they walked together to one end of the Great Hall—towards the Gryffindor common room, he noted—and Snape gave her what looked to be a very greasy hug, then departed in the other direction. Sirius gave the boys a quick nod, and they dashed off to grab Lily before anyone else could.
"OI! EVANS!" Sirius shouted. Lily turned around, startled, giving the boys just enough time to catch up to her.
"What the bloody hell are you thinking, going to that table? Do you want to get yourself killed?" Remus furrowed his brow, looming over her; were it even days closer to the full moon, he would have almost been intimidating. Lily stared at him blankly before twisting her mouth to the side in a frustrated scowl.
"I do as I please, Remus. I wanted to eat breakfast with my best friend this morning—why does that bother you?"
"You know those Slytherins," interjected Sirius. "You know how racist they are against people like you. Muggle-borns, I mean," he added, as he saw her face light up with anger. "You'd do better just to stay at your own table."
"And YOU would do better to keep your nose out of my business, Black. I can take care of myself." With that, she turned on her heel and walked off. Peter looked at the other two boys, sighed, and sat down on the floor.
"James sure has picked himself a stubborn one, eh?"
"No kidding there, Wormtail," sighed Remus. "She means well but Merlin, is she hard to deal with."
"I dunno. I think she'd work perfectly with him," Sirius muttered, as he slid down the wall to join Peter on the floor, "since they're both so thick-headed."
"Speaking of thick-headed, where's Prongs?" asked Peter. "Do you have the map, Remus?" Remus opened his school bag and rifled through it, pulling out a few half-finished essays and dusty books.
"Damn. Must've left it in the dorm. C'mon boys, let's go get it…maybe Prongs is up sulking in his bed." Remus helped Sirius and Peter to their feet, then followed as Sirius bounded up the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room.
Just as Remus suspected, the map was hidden under his pillow; unfortunately, there was no sign of James anywhere. The boys weren't worried though; a quick look at the Marauder's Map would tell them exactly where he was. Peter opened the map and whispered the code—"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good"—and the boys started searching the school grounds for any sign of their friend.
"Well, Frank Longbottom's got Alice Wood in the greenhouses…but I don't think they're studying Herbology."
"Oh look, Snivelly's alone in his dorm. Again."
"Dumbledore doesn't do anything but pace his office, does he?"
"Hey fellas, I found him!" exclaimed Sirius. Sure enough, the little blip on the map marked JAMES POTTER was flitting around the Quidditch pitch rapidly. As soon as they all spotted him, they leapt off of Remus's bed and ran outside to find him.
"All right there, Prongs?" James looked down from his broom to see his 3 best friends standing side by side; Peter waving frantically, Sirius with his arms folded across his chest, and Remus holding the Marauders Map. He flew down (not before catching the Snitch, which was hovering 3 feet away from a pretty blonde Hufflepuff who happened to be the only spectator in the stands) and made a graceful landing in front of them; mussing up his already windblown hair, he passed his eyes over the 3 of them. "Wormtail, Padfoot, Moony. All right?"
"Lily's away from Snivvy-pants. Want to go find her?" asked Sirius, taking the map from Remus and jutting it towards James.
"Er…whatever. I don't care." He took the map, scanning it for Lily's name. Remus watched as James's eyes widened; he dropped the map and stomped off toward the castle. "Come on, Marauders. Now." Remus picked up the map and immediately knew what had caught James's eye—Lily was being followed by Bellatrix Black and Lucius Malfoy down a somewhat secluded hallway. He ran after James, Sirius, and Peter, wand at the ready, prepared to help defend Lily against those two horrible blood-purists who (he figured) were more than willing to curse her for daring to sit near them this morning.
"Look, there they are." James gestured towards a stairwell where they could see, but not be seen; the four boys piled inside and watched, preparing themselves to attack if necessary. By the time they got there, it was almost too late. Lucius and Bellatrix had finally caught up to Lily; Lucius was twirling his wand in his hand impatiently as Bellatrix called out, "Oi, Mudblood!" Lily tensed up, but continued walking. "Oh, I don't think she heard me, Lucius," Bella snarled. "MUDBLOOD! FILTHY, DIRTY LITTLE MUDBLOOD! I'M TALKING TO YOU, TURN YOURSELF AROUND OR I'LL DO IT FOR YOU!"
Lily turned around, a stern look on her face. James could tell she was fighting back the urge to curse Bellatrix into the next century—he himself was fighting the same urge. She pursed her lips, breathing sharply through her nose. "The proper term, Bellatrix, is Muggle-born."
Bellatrix cackled. "No, scum. It's MUDBLOOD. You're filth. A magic-thief."
Lucius emerged from the shadows, a dark laugh growling from his throat. "She's right, you know. You have no right to be in this school, MUCH less sit at the Slytherin table. I could barely eat my breakfast this morning with your wretched paws so close to me."
"I have every right to be at Hogwarts. I'm no less magical than you two are." Lily was surrounded, the two Slytherins circling around her like lions around their next kill. She maintained her composure, however; reaching for her wand, she said, "This name-calling does nothing. You're just perpetuating your own insecurities. Does it bother you, Bellatrix, that a so-called—"(she gulped, somewhat afraid of the word)"—Mudblood is at the top of the class?"
These words drew looks of shock across both Slytherin's faces; the Marauders nodded among themselves, impressed at her sharp tongue. Lucius quickly drew his wand, as did Lily; she quickly yelled, "A duel, eh? First we must bow; you don't want Slughorn to h—"
"Stupefy!" Lucius was playing dirty, as expected. Lily fell on her back, stunned momentarily; as Lucius was walking away to the sound of Bellatrix's cackle, Lily came to. She quietly sat up, wand held tightly in her fist.
"Incendio!"
A great ball of flame erupted from the tip of Lily's wand, singeing both Bellatrix's and Lucius's robes; both Slytherins turned around, dumbfounded. The Marauders silently cheered, watching Lily as she raised her eyebrows and smirked, pushing herself onto her feet once more. "You don't fight fair," she stated. "You rely on tricks and deceit in order to win anything." She saw Bellatrix reaching for her wand, so she turned towards her, pointing her wand directly at her chest.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Bellatrix froze in place, collapsing flat onto the floor behind her; Sirius almost let out a hurrah, but James stuffed his hand over his mouth. Now it was just Lucius and Lily, slowly circling each other still. Each grasped their wand firmly; neither dared to make the first move. Finally, Lucius spoke.
"Filthy scum, polluting our school. You're no better than vermin," he sneered. "And to think, you DARED to sit at the table of the elite Slytherins? You shouldn't even be allowed to lick up our table scraps."
Lily's jaw tightened, and James thought he saw a shimmer of a tear forming in her eyes. She inhaled slowly, letting the breath settle in her chest before exhaling.
"Going to cry, Mudblood? Don't stain the ground with your filthy tears." Lucius turned to walk away again, sneering proudly at himself.
"ENOUGH!" Lily roared. Lucius turned to face her, his face contorted in a mix of amusement and confusion; the Marauders watched anxiously, hands on their wands, ready to jump in if Lily needed any sort of help. "You foul swine—Levicorpus!" Suddenly Lucius's feet were no longer on the ground, as he was slowly floating towards the ceiling upside down. James's eyes widened—he never expected Lily to use this sort of spell against another student.
"Call me a damned Mudblood again. Me, Lucius. You know good and well that I can out-duel you any day of the week. You're only trying to make me feel like less of a witch because you know you're less of a HUMAN!" She screamed this last word, face reddened with rage.
"Dippet will hear of this! You'll get your prefect's badge taken away!"
"Yeah? And I suppose you'll conveniently leave out the fact that you were HEXING ME TOO!" She jerked her wand, and he awkwardly shifted in mid-air, like a broken marionette. "Well, if I get in trouble for defending myself against someone who thinks he's my SUPERIOR because he comes from a centuries-old line of INBREEDING, then SO BLOODY BE IT!" With these final words, she dropped him; he fell into a heap on the floor, and she stormed out in the opposite direction. Of course, the Marauders ran after her.
"You are bloody brilliant, Lily," Peter wheezed once they had caught up to her.
"Yeah, for sure. Brightest witch in the school," James added, beaming.
"Can I hire you as a bodyguard?" Sirius laughed.
"Yes, we saw the entire thing," Remus said, addressing the puzzled look on Lily's face.
Lily just smirked, put her wand back into her school bag, and brushed her ginger hair out of her bright green eyes, which were shining more vibrantly than ever. "I certainly taught them a lesson, didn't I?"