(Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters or universe, those belong to J.K. Rowling. This is a fan fiction written for entertainment purposes only, not for profit.)
Hi! This is my first fic for Harry Potter :) I haven't been on here in a couple years but I decided to give this a shot! I want to acknowledge that this is inspired slightly by that one scene in A Very Potter Sequel with Hermione going to the Shrieking Shack on a bet, but this is different from that (obviously). Thank you all for reading :)
For as long as she could recall, Lily was always "bold". "Plucky". "Brave", even.
She recognized the importance of the task at hand, knew what it would mean if she failed, so she trekked forward, scrambling past the old oak, valiantly ignoring the pain blooming in her knee. Yes, there would be plenty of time to tend to injuries later, when everyone was saved. She hoped it wouldn't take too long, it certainly did hurt something awful. Blinking away tears, she shook herself to regain focus. Rescue mission. Right.
Frantic, she looked around, wild red hair whipping around her as she tried to spot her target. Nothing. She almost stomped in frustration, but that would be a silly waste of time and give away her position, so she controlled herself. (With immense difficulty).
Instead, she ducked behind a rather convenient hedge and attempted to gather her thoughts. The dragon had to be here somewhere, of course, but she would have seen him if he'd been real close, she wasn't nearly dumb enough to miss a dragon. She huffed. So, step one was to locate the dragon. Without the scaly menace guarding the lair, she or her partner could easily slip by and complete the mission. Lily scrunched her nose. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen him in a bit. She huffed again. If the dummy had been captured, then this mission would be twice as complicated, and no less important, and all up to her.
Up! She could go up for a better view and then she would surely spot some sign of her enemies. Determined, Lily spotted the big oak she'd passed earlier and made a run for it, ducking as she ran in a weak attempt to avoid being spotted and hit. Scurrying up the tree made her knee throb with pain again as it scraped against the rough bark, but Lily simply sucked in her breath and continued. Too much was riding on this rescue mission. She just couldn't let them down.
From the ground she couldn't see much, not being an awfully tall person, but from up here she could see perfectly. Of course, a bright red dragon was hard to miss from anywhere, but the stupid lizard was proving harder to spot than she'd thought. Although...Yes! This was too perfect, she'd just seen the dart of a dark, billowy cape at the edge of her vision. Looks like they'd gotten too impatient, they were coming to find her. Likely leaving their captive (or captives, depending on whether her bumbling partner'd been caught) foolishly unguarded.
And judging from the direction the movement came from- yep, just as she suspected. Just under the thicket of trees to her north, she saw a head of strikingly bright blonde curls. One more glance just in case and- nope, no dragon in sight. But she'd need to hurry, or surely it would smell her nearby and come back (At least she thought it would, she'd never had to face a dragon before, but it seemed a safe bet).
Refraining from whooping in victory was harder than she'd thought, so she bit her tongue and shimmied her way down the branch she was perched on, too excited to care about the material of her skirt catching on twiggy bits of the branch. But then she froze, panicked, with her foot on a thick knot of the wood.
Voices. Below her.
"No sign of her?"
"None. I'm telling you, this is impossible."
"You know what's at stake here! Make it possible."
Lily recognized the voices. Dread settled in the pit of her stomach. She could feel her heartbeat at her fingertips. No. No,no,no.
She had to distract them somehow, and it was nearly too late, but she could think of nothing that wasn't just plain ridiculous. Holding in the urge to huff, she just decided ridiculous was better than complacent, and went for the first thing to pop into her head.
So she pried off one trainer and tossed it as far as she could into the bushes to her left, taking a deep breath as she heard the sudden rustle of the leaves. She'd hit her mark, at least.
The voices hushed.
"Oi, over there!"
"Shh. Follow my lead."
Wow. She felt the blood slowly come back to her extremities as she processed the fact that it worked. Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. She was almost entirely sure she'd seen that on the telly in a silly cartoon at some point, yet it worked.
Doing her best to be quiet, she continued her descent down the trunk, jumping once she was at a reasonable distance and sprinting for the thicket. She had to make it in time. But the sun was already setting. Bugger. Skidding to a stop in the grass, she located the blonde beacon that was the captive's head and turned to her.
"It's okay, I'll get you to safety, your majesty." She assured the girl. At the raise of an unimpressed blonde eyebrow, she remembered to curtsy.
"You utter idiot, how could you possibly miss her?"
"Don't you use that word! I'll tell."
Ugh, not again. Lily backed up, looking for the source of the voices, and squeaked when she felt a sweaty palm grab her by the forearm.
"Got you!"
Turning around, Lily saw the messy mop of brown hair and dimpled smile and was thrown into confusion. Betrayal?
"Danny, what are you doing? I'm your partner, stupid!" She exclaimed, struggling in his grip.
"Well, you were, but then I was bitten by the dragon." He said, somewhat sheepishly. She blinked. "So now I'm a dragon. 'Cause of the bite." He seemed to think this obvious by his tone, and Lily did not appreciate it.
"It doesn't work like that, Danny, those are vampires you simpleton!" Tuney screeched. Danny frowned in confusion as Lily batted his hand away.
"But Sam said-" Danny began.
"Of course Sam said that!" Lily screamed. "He tricked you, Danny. He just wanted another dragon so they'd win." She could see the exact moment that understanding dawned on Danny's round face, his mouth becoming round to match.
The others had long caught up by now, and Lily turned her furious gaze onto Matt and Josh, stomping her way towards them as menacingly as she could manage with an injured knee and only one shoe.
"Looking for something, Lily?" Matt said teasingly, holding up her muddy trainer so she couldn't reach it. "If you want to be Cinderella so bad, maybe next time you can be the Princess. I bet Tuney'd be loads better at rescuing, anyway." He winked and Tuney rolled her eyes.
"Give it, Matt!" She said, jumping. It was no use, she knew. He was the tallest out of them, age nine (like Tuney) but already a staggering one and a half metres in height.
But Petunia snatched the shoe from his grip before he could escalate anything. Lily took it gratefully and slipped it on her foot, ignoring the rasp of thistles against her fingers.
"Your plan didn't even work though, Lily! We still won!" Matt said. As usual, Josh nodded in agreement. "Sooo, you know the deal."
"What? No fair!" Tuney declared. "Sam cheated. He lied to Danny." The brown haired boy nodded profusely, and moved to stand by Petunia and Lily, clearly taking a side.
"I was never really a dragon, so I was never on your team, so your team didn't really ever capture Lily!" He said. Now Lily and Tuney were the ones nodding.
"No one was ever really anything! It's a game. And you lost, so now you keep your promise." Matt replied, frustration evident. "So, starting tomorrow morning, you three are doing anything we say for a week!"
"No! No fair!" Lily protested.
"Well, you know what, then we're done playing with you." Tuney declared. More nodding.
"Uh uh. If I tell you to, you gotta. That was the deal!" Matt yelled. "So, my first order is-"(he cleared his throat rather dramatically) "Princess Petunia must grant me a kiss."
"Ugh!" Petunia gagged (and Lily just barely refrained from pointing out how unladylike that was), "Absolutely not."
"You've got to! That was the deal!" Matt was very insistent, and Josh's head might fall off if he did any more nodding in mindless agreement. If only, Lily thought.
"Do so not! It's a game, remember?" Lily interrupted. Petunia giggled, and even Danny caught on.
"Yeah, none of it was ever real!" Danny laughed, and laughed louder still when Matt's face turned red with anger.
"We weren't playing yet! Not when we agreed!" Now Matt stomped, and shoved Danny, causing Petunia to scream in shock. The screaming just went on from there, really.
Lily thought of how loud they were being. She looked up to find that the sun was almost done with its little daily routine. Oops.
"Tuney..." She started, tugging at Petunia's sleeve. But now it truly was too late. Time was up.
"What's all this about, then? Girls, it's late." A woman approached, coppery hair standing out in the greenery, "You know that if you're to play in the woods you've got to come home before sunset." Lily really hated the stern voice and the Look that went with it. It meant trouble.
To be fair, the scene itself was deserving of it. Matt was yanking on Danny's hair by the time Mum showed up, and in his shock seemed to have forgotten to release the boy. Tuney was relatively presentable, but Lily looked as though she'd crawled through trenches for actual warfare, muddy trainers, scratches, and a leaves in her hair.
"We know. Sorry Mum." Tuney said, waving bye to Danny, who was now freed. Tuney was a lady, so she did not stick out her tongue at Matt and Josh as she took her mum's hand. Lily wasn't, so she did.
"Lily Evans!" Her mother gave her the Look, and Lily tried not to look too sheepish in front of the boys. They did deserve it, after all. Well, minus poor Danny. "Alright, that's enough, what exactly-"
Then the dragon showed up.
" 'lo!" Sam called, as he emerged from the bushes. Covered head to toe in mud, with just a bit of the original red of his shirt peeking through the muck. "What'd I miss, then? Did Matt get to snog her?"
The Look ought to be considered a weapon, Lily thought. Mrs. Evans took a deep breath. "Alright then, children, we're going to talk to Mrs. Wilson for a bit, see if she can help me figure out what all this screaming was for. Shall we?"
"No!" Matt Wilson, who had a famously strict mum, seemed to have lost his previous triumphant attitude, and presently fidgeted with the edge of his black cape. "Please, we didn't do anything wrong! They were breaking the rules!"
"Were not!" Lily insisted.
"Were too! You agreed to the bet!"
"A bet? Of what sort?." Mrs. Evans asked, already leading the troupe to the Wilson house.
So they went and all got a stern talking to from both mums. Blah blah blah, no fighting, blah blah blah, betting is dangerous and you shouldn't ever ever ever do it. Lily listened a little bit. But not the whole time. It was the worst telling off ever. There were two mums, and two Looks to deal with.
(She did, however, very much enjoy the bit were Mrs. Wilson scolded Matt for his master plan. So, he may have won the game, but she won the day.)
(Lily's mum, however, was not amused at Lily's amusement.)
Even on their way home, Lily's mum wouldn't leave her be. "Darling, betting like that isn't a good idea. It's not worth it. Never is."
"But he said if we didn't accept we were babies! Mum!" She protested.
Her mum sighed. "Love, just because he says that doesn't mean it's true. You know that." And Lily did. But it was still infuriating and embarrassing being called a baby, which her mum just wouldn't understand. She was seven whole years old. Most definitely not a baby, she thought.
"I know, Mum." She found herself saying instead, accepting a hug from her mother and sinking into the comfort it provided after such an eventful day.
But that night, back at the royal palace (constructed of the finest spare sheets and chairs the Evans household could provide), Lily recounted her daring adventure to save Tuney, giggling as she remembered the excitement of the day. And Tuney smiled, and listened to the whole entire story, and at the very end she reached for her royal scepter (a stick painted pink and rolled in glitter so as to make it fit for a princess).
Lily's eyes widened as she watched the sparkly stick fall to her shoulder.
"I dub thee..." Petunia began, in as pompous a voice as she could muster, "Lady Lily... the Lionhearted."
And Lily grinned from ear to ear, standing up to curtsy, her lion heart full of pride.
Growing up with a dainty, decorous older sister meant getting accustomed to using manners. It was either keep your elbows off the table, or have Petunia's bony elbow knocked into her sternum in retribution. So after suffering through Tuney's refined tea parties for her entire childhood, Lily was herself a rather refined individual when it came to table manners. It was the only thing about her Tuney would probably approve of nowadays.
Well, she supposed, save for now.
"Lily, I don't know what that tart's done to offend you, but you're doing a splendid job of punishing it." Marlene commented with amusement. Lily paused her task of sawing an innocent tart in half with a white-knuckled grip on her knife to give her friend a sour look.
"Well, Marley, it's the treacle tart or Potter, and only one of those scenarios doesn't end with me in Azkaban, so." Lily huffed and continued her assault on dessert.
"Hm." Raising an eyebrow in challenge, Marlene plowed on sharing a look with Emmeline. "You know, Lil, I'm pretty sure there's other, more legal ways to resolve sexual tension."
Lily was aware of the knife clattering -rudely- against her plate as she dropped it, but ignored that altogether. She felt heat flooding her face in what had to be anger as she speared a fork through one half of the butchered tart.
"What are you on about?" She demanded, struggling not to raise her voice, "Are you mad?"
"Yeah Marley, James's technically underage til the twenty-seventh," Em pointed out. Marley ah-ed in acknowledgement.
"You know exactly how I feel about Potter."
"Yes, we do, but the real question here is do you?" Em asked.
"Do I what? Hate him? Find him repulsive?" Each question was punctuated with a jab at the poor tart, "Absolutely I do."
The other girls didn't seem to agree, but they must've known better than to continue with that particular conversation.
"Alright, what's he done now?" Marlene succumbed to curiosity.
Lily pursed her lips and turned to face her friend, ignoring the crushed tart. "Last night I was doing my prefect's rounds around the dungeons, and-"
"The dungeons?" Em asked, "Thought your rounds were a bit closer to the tower."
"Well that's his fault too!" Lily accused, and Marlene stifled a laugh. "It's true!"
"Merlin's beard, Lily, how can it be James's fault that the Slytherin prefects caught a rather strong cold?" Marlene interjected.
"You remember that prank last week? When the Marauders charmed some of the sixth year Slytherins' robes to stay sopping wet all day?"
"Oh, come on, that was a little funny." The girls giggled, Marlene imitating someone wringing out their robes while scowling dramatically.
"Tell that to Madam Pomfrey!" Lily could not believe it. Her own best friends siding with the Marauders. "Half the Slytherin house's come down with some kind of cold because of it. Including Theodora and Richard, meaning all the other prefects have to work double." Aaand she was back at the tart. "I had to do their rounds last night after my own all because of some stupid prank! And I've got to do it again two days from now unless they miraculously get well again."
And, well, Lily had to admit the image of snobby Ursa Clarke walking down the halls paired with the distinct squeak of squishing wet shoes was a bit comical. But she couldn't possibly admit that out loud. Besides, the second prank was far less funny.
Last night was the first night of the Slytherins' "temporary leave". Lily had been more than a little miffed at having to take the first shift for them and stay out so late the week she had a huge essay due for transfiguration, her worst subject, but it wouldn't have been quite so unbearable if not for the charming intrusion of the marauders.
"Anyhow, Remus and I took the first turn covering for them last night," she continued, the others listening intently, "And the floor was charmed! It was horrid. I was walking through and I stepped on a regular old stone, except then it turned into a toad. A fucking toad!" Marlene gasped and Em swallowed a giggle at Lily's disgusted face. "I tripped whenever one popped up, it was like having a bubble of slime suddenly sprout at your shoes. By the end of our rounds we must've stepped on eleven 'toads' and I couldn't hear myself over the croaking. Had to stay half an hour late just to transfigure them all back, you lot know I'm rubbish at transfiguration."
Biting her lips to avoid smirking, Marlene nodded. "And you blame James because-"
"He's bloody brilliant at transfiguration!" Lily blurted, "Who else could it be? And it's not as if tasteless pranks are out of character for him." Sated for now after venting, she took a heaping forkful of the treacle tart mush, reminding herself to be rational and not scream out of frustration in the middle of the Great Hall. Emmeline must've noticed this, because she graciously spoke up.
"That reminds me, Lils, have you started your transfiguration essay for Thursday?"
Lily relaxed her posture, realizing how tense she was, and nodded with a slight smile. Emmeline and Marlene, though they could be proper nosy at times, always did seem to know when to keep at it or change the topic of conversation.
Prefecture was a delightful privilege, of course, and Lily was very proud to be a prefect. But rounds were so dull sometimes. Of course, she and Remus had gotten to be friends over the course of fifth year, chatting about novels, sharing ideas, joking about how Emily Mather thought she was the prettiest girl at Hogwarts when it was obviously the giant squid. So sixth year patrols had been going much more pleasantly.
Having a quick-witted friend made the rounds easier. Having a quick-witted friend who was best mates with the bloke you're furious at apparently makes rounds very awkward. Who knew. (Well, Lily already did, but she was allowed to think snarky thoughts at herself, it wasn't hurting anyone.)
It had started out as usual, and just fine. She'd gone down the stairs from the sixth year girls' dorm to the common room, as usual, and Remus had been there, as usual. She'd smiled and waved, as usual. Not as usual, however, was the presence of one James Potter, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck and chatting with Remus in hushed tones.
Sure, he tended to stay out late (slytherins don't prank themselves, after all), but if he was anywhere, it was with that obnoxious little smirk and either a Marauder or a lady friend. And yes, she knew that Remus was a Marauder, but the smirk was not there so it was a bit unsettling.
(She'd seen James this serious before, during That Incident in fifth year, but she generally tried not to think on it. She felt the immense coldness of betrayal even now, just at the memory.)
As she came to a stop by the two of them, they hushed, and Lily knew they must've been discussing the incident. Well, the Toad Incident, not That Incident, as she herself had been thinking of. (Though they did talk about Severus rather frequently, didn't they? It wouldn't be out of character). Her gaze shifted from Remus to James, and back to Remus, pointedly.
He was a smart boy, surely he understood why she was upset?
Remus in turn gave James a look, and Lily huffed a bit in exasperation, wishing they could just go already. James didn't seem to notice, only clearing his throat.
"Erm, hullo," He said, and she was (despite herself) caught off guard at how genuinely nervous he seemed.
"Hi." Her response was admittedly brusque.
"I, erm, I'm really, really sorry you two got caught up in that last prank." He was apologizing. Oh, Merlin. He had never apologized to Lily without smirking and immediately offering to make up for his behavior by taking her on a date, so she was frankly stunned.
He continued. "We didn't know you'd be patrolling there, and we-"
"Thank you, Potter." Lily cut in, fussing with the sleeve of her robe in an attempt to ignore her flare of guilt at being so rude. "Ready to go, Remus?"
James was having another wordless conversation with Remus. Lily watched as James gave a halfhearted nod before turning to walk up the stairs with a muttered good night. Following Remus out of the portrait hole, she couldn't resist looking back to watch as he took the last couple of stairs.
And nothing had been said since. They'd gone all the way down the tower and through their assigned halls, and were now almost done with their rounds, about to head back up, before Remus spoke.
"He didn't mean it to hurt us, you know." Remus spoke up, running a hand through his messy brown hair. "He really didn't know the slytherins were ill and on bed rest."
She sighed. Of course he would defend his friend, he was a marauder after all, but she didn't fancy the idea of talking to Remus about James. She herself felt petty at times, and hardly needed added judgement from one of his closest friends. Being friends with the friend of her sworn enemy meant she was used to walking on eggshells for certain topics, but straight up discussing James might bring out all her pent up rage and ruin all that. And then he'd think her mad, surely.
But she was being perfectly rational, really! Surely he could see that? She pursed her lips and tried to word it in the least insulting manner possible.
"He may not have intended to hurt us, but he intended it for someone." She tried. Remus sighed, and she tacked on, "And it's not exactly like this is his first offence."
Remus merely sighed while Lily bit her tongue instead of impulsive blurting out more justifications. The guilt was back.
"The slytherins that he meant it for are hardly saints themselves." He reasoned. "Theodora's made plenty of first years cry and you know it. Just last night at the hall the Abbott boy was crying because she'd said he had ears like a house elf. And that's almost a compliment coming from her."
"Don't you try to pass this off as some noble vigilante work!" Lily huffed. "He just wants a laugh, at any cost necessary. People could get hurt if his shenanigans continue and you know that. Lots of people got sick in Slytherin house, not just a couple of prats with a mean streak. And anyone could've walked through that hall!"
"Lily, I don't mean to sound argumentative. But five people caught a cold and toads are hardly weapons of mass destruction. I think you should at least hear him out." Remus said. "I know you two haven't got along much in the past, but he's changed, we all have. Please give him a chance?"
Lily hated how reasonable Remus was. "Remus, I know he's your friend, but for years he's pestered me and my-" she hesitated at the thought of Severus, "-friends. That won't just go away, I'm sorry." And she was admittedly confused at how sorry she truly was. Lily wasn't hateful by nature. She disliked having a grudge, but this one felt very justified.
Remus seemed to sense her distress, and he stopped walking and turned to face her directly. "Remember that time that Owen Brown got rejected by Emily?"
That was... definitely not a twist she expected in the conversation. " 'Course I do, what of it?" She knew what it had to do with her, but not what it had to do with this. Potter hadn't done anything to help the situation (or, thankfully, to make it worse).
"Didn't he ask you out literally right after? In front of everyone in Gryffindor, no less." Remus said. "Just to make her jealous?" Well. If the point was to make Lily feel like an utter fool, he was succeeding. She'd felt pressured to say yes. Everyone liked Owen. "He'd always drop everything to try and snog you whenever she so much as walked by, wasn't exactly subtle."
"Yeah, and soon as I figured out what was going on, I broke up with him. Barely lasted two days and we didn't even go on a proper date, he just walked me to class a couple times. Aaand this was in fourth year, Remus." She reminded him.
"Point is, he used you, Lily. He blatantly used you. But you forgave him when he apologized. Helped him with his potions essay, even." Remus's face softened, "You're a forgiving person, Lily, you're willing to forgive anyone. Anyone but James. And I get that the pranks are a nuisance to you, but they seem relatively less hurtful than some of the other things that you've been willing to overlook. So be honest: is it really what he's done that's so unforgivable, or just that it's James?"
Lily's eyes widened a bit at that. She bit her lip as she tried desperately to coalesce words into any sentence that could possibly explain her very logical reasoning. There was none.
"You're afraid of what might come of it aren't you?" Lily spluttered indignantly at that accusation, and he sighed deeply. "I won't force you to, and I won't pressure you to. We don't have to talk about it anymore. But I think it would be good for you two to clear the air and face it." Remus had very warm brown eyes, the kind that just implore you to do as he asks. Lily groaned. Loudly. She pretended not to hear Remus's little laugh.
"Alright, you win." Lily conceded, "I'll ask him for a talk tomorrow."
She pretended not to see Remus smile (rather smugly, for Remus), either.
The rest of their rounds went by pleasantly and quickly. Right before they reached the stairs that would take them up to the portrait hole, she heard Remus nervously call out her name.
"What's wrong?" She asked, concerned. His usually calm demeanor was still there, but she could tell when he was standing a little bit stiffer, talking a bit more rushed. It meant he didn't have good news.
"I meant to tell you earlier, but, er, more pressing matters and all that." He explained, "I'll be going away on Thursday very briefly to visit my mother, she's on bed rest again. So, I won't be able to make it to our rounds. I'm really very sorry, Lily." And he did seem sorry. But he didn't need to be. Lily knew he was often gone to visit her, and he always seemed so stressed. The worry lines sat oddly on his young face, and she wished she could help make them go away.
"It's alright, Remus," She reassured him with a kind smile and worried emerald eyes, "I'll be fine. I really hope your mum feels better." Some of the tension in his shoulders dropped as she smiled, and that seemed to be enough.
It wasn't until she'd gone through the portrait hole, up the staircase, and into her bed that she'd realized why he'd been extra apologetic. She wouldn't be doing just the Gryffindor rounds by herself. It would be Thursday night, meaning...
She would be patrolling the dungeons on her own.
I hope you've enjoyed this! This is going to be 3-4 chapters long, I've got it mostly pre-written :) I will update this next Saturday (or Friday if I'm feeling very eager haha)
Please review and give constructive criticism or let me know if you liked it! I appreciate you taking the time to do so! 3