It was one of those September days that might lead you to believe that summer would never end.
Lily Evans couldn't have been happier. The only thing niggling at her was metal, had strings and should be in her hand. Those badminton racquets had been biding their time, charmed to fit into her trunk, the idea of using them was a wonderful melody in her head. She had heard sport defined as an art, she had heard music defined as an art and she had heard dance described as an art. That didn't make them the same or even remotely connected. Although, very fine lines linked them; thus the instruments of badminton were playing a beautiful piece of music, convincing her to use them.
She and Petunia used to play all through the summer, before the letter, that subject didn't need any more thought. She didn't want to give it any more thought. Rather than be absorbed in memories of bitter-sweet nostalgia she looked at her two friends and piped up at the bored faces:
"Miss Lily Evans requests that the ladies Kathleen Plume and Juliet Crane answer the following question: what are we doing in the library on possibly the last day of summer?"
The two looked up, looked at Lily, and then looked at each other.
Kathleen slurred in her self-induced boredom, "Lily, is it me or are you saying no to studying the night away under a pile of damp old books?"
"Suppose I am."
"Well, I say that we encourage this act of rebellion and pose the question again, what are we doing in here on that last day of summer?" Said Juliet. Kathleen shifted herself out of her slumped position in the table and she peeled the parchment from her arm, where she had stuck it, as last resort in her quest for amusement.
"Well if I have two willing victims then there are four badminton racquets in my truck that are simply singing for a decent airing."
The gazes that met hers were utterly astonished, but not altogether surprised. Despite general opinion, Lily did the weird and wonderful things. Juliet met appearances as she was well known for being of a steady temperament, then Kathleen tended to bounce off the walls as she was extremely dramatic.
"You've have what in your trunk?" Kathleen enquired, a pureblood with a somewhat limited view of the muggle world.
Juliet, a pureblood too but with a little less of a limited outlook on the muggle world, began explaining, "You've heard if Wimbledon haven't you?"
"Yeah, people hitting brightly coloured balls and eat strawberries, right?"
"Well that's tennis, and they only hit yellow balls, and the strawberries are only for the spectators of the Wimbledon tournament, but you get the idea, and that's the main thing. Well badminton is similar, and well, we'll show you when we get to the dorm OK."
"OK," chirruped the eager Kathleen, who, despite sounding patient, commenced asking them questions all the way to the dorm.
"Look, shut up Kathleen, all will become clear when we fathom the bizarre contents of Lily's school trunk", ever calm Juliet assured her, with only a hint of annoyance in her tone.
Leading the way up the stairs Lily grinned, her friends couldn't see her, so she was safe, they really were predictable, as she knew that Kathleen would be pulling faces at Juliet's back as they climbed the stairs. Lily skipped happily over to her bed and pulled out her truck and extracted the racquets and a shuttlecock from her trunk, not making any response to the questions that she was being bombarded with, merely tapping her nose and setting off at a fast pace back down the stairs. Waiting for the two girls, clumping down the stairs to try and catch her. They really were brilliant friends to have, she was lucky to have them.
Before long they were outside in the school grounds and searching for a place to play.
"Where can we go? Everywhere is crowded with people, over looked by people, and anywhere else has them crawling out of the wood work!"
"Pacify yourself Lil, maybe there won't be so many people around the back of the castle." Juliet tried to be optimistic and wasn't far off in that there weren't so many people, in that there were three couples in 'passionate embrace' as Kathleen called it, quirking her eyebrows humorously, down the slope, however, was a clearer spot.
Lily's eyes opened wide in horror as she voiced the thought that had entered her head,"Supposing one of the 'passionately embracing' couples decides to take a trip down the bank and bump into the Head Girl and her friends playing a muggle game?"
Kathleen glanced up the hill, she answered, "Then….aughhh…" They all laughed.
"Right come on, then I'll play on one side of the court and you two can play together, seeing as I play the most and Kathleen has never played before."
Not disagreeing with Lily's decision the others took up racquets and stood opposite Lily.
Kathleen looked puzzled, "Isn't there meant to be a net."
"You don't really need one unless you're playing a proper game", said Lily. She was surprised how quickly Kathleen picked it up; she started having great fun, and began to have an exercise induced rush of madness.
"Sooooo, Lily," she drawled as she haphazardly tripped the shuttlecock to the other side of the 'court', "are you looking forward to spending an awful lot of time with the school's hottest quiddich captain, transfiguration whizz and all round most sort after man in the school?"
"I don't know who you're talking about," Lily quipped as she shot the shuttle in Juliet's direction.
"Oh, don't be coy, Lily. We know that he's growing on you. Jules, don't you think their children will be gorgeous?" Lily missed the shuttle in awe. "Look you don't even have to mention his name and she swoons with delight, she's totally hooked on him, just imagine the children…" Kathleen shrieked wickedly at Lily's gaping silence. "She's utterly wooed."
"I am no such thing; I was merely repelled at the thought of liking him. Let alone children that I have no intent to have!" The victim retorted as she served the shuttle back with a flustered gusto that resulted a slamming ace: an utter fluke, but very good serve that was also impossible to return.
"Yes, and doesn't he make her feisty too." Juliet slipped in.
"Am I without an ally here, left out in the cold, not even a bottle to drown my sorrows in?"
"Not quite, Lilykins, I'm sure he'd offer you a warm bed for the night." Kathleen fired as she served shuttle back towards her with some decent aim for the first time.
"SHUT UP! Why would I turn to a stupid TWIT, who spent the best part third to sixth year pestering me, hexing innocents and acting like a supercilious, daft, and pretentious kettle!
"Lily, what do you mean by kettle?" Juliet put tentatively. Thankfully Lily had calmed down now,
"You know how annoying supposedly fashionable home wares are; you know turquoise kettles etc. etc. are. They sit there bold as brass, like they are so superior to everyone else, when really they are no better than ordinary ones."They understood Lily's reasoning.
"I suppose that's no babies with him then, well there's another one off the Christmas card list." Kathleen stated by way of an apology.
"He's not that bad really," Lily admitted as they made the game a little less aggressive, "shall we stop for a bit, I won't be able to write tomorrow if I don't get a break soon." Thankful for the end of the storm, Kathleen and Juliet agreed, now both exhausted. The trio lay back against the bank in the afternoon sun.
"Hey," Juliet, normally the one stopping fights, nudged Lily, "At least we can say that you think that he is tolerable now."
"Only tolerable," Lily conceded.
"So what makes him ooonly tolerable," Kathleen pried.
"Kathleen drop it," Juliet said quietly, reading all the turmoil going on in Lily's head.
Lily sighed and eventually expressed what had been bothering her, "Its different now, I mean, he's kind of grown up. Well, he could have, or he was like that all the time and I didn't notice, and that kind of scares me, considering that I notice the earrings that McGonagall wears. Not noticing a whole person, or a huge change in a person is a bit…"
"Thick," Kathleen finished.
"Yeah." There was silence in the group.
"Lil," Kathleen spoke up, "you know what?"
"What?" Lily smiled.
"We're all fools in love."
"Oh really," Lily challenged, "some of us are fools at badminton, despite some of us not even being in love."
"Lily is that insinuating anything?" Juliet questioned.
"Yes." Lily answered. "It's insinuating that I want a rematch."
"You're on." Said Kathleen.
Soon the shuttle was flying back and forth again, first at one end of the court, and then the other, as peals of laughter rang out across the countryside. That is until Kathleen stopped, and left the shuttle to Juliet, who was not best pleased.
"Kathy, are you awake at all?"
"Yeah, so awake I just noticed a really interesting situation coming this way."
"What?" Lily asked timidly.
"As in like, obnoxious turquoise kettle sauntering this way; the obnoxious kettle that Lily has her eye on."
"No I do NOT!"
Thankfully Kathleen saved the situation, "Lily, he's just a kettle, OK? Let's just keep playing he'll probably ignore us and walk straight past." But the danger didn't pass, however Kathleen and Juliet ignored that the Marauders three were heading in their general direction, for the sake of Lily not panicking.
"Lily, just to prepare you," Kathleen pointed out, "they're heading this way. Don't panic, they won't stop, although please admit the small possibility that he will grab you and snog you into having his children at sixteen."
"Oh, please Kathleen; he doesn't give a fig for any of us, except you, who plays on the quidditch team, but only for that reason. He has no connection to us whatsoever, he won't stop, they'll move on."
"Remus, am I going blind or is Evans running around with a racquet after something invisible?" Remus squinted up the slope, as they came out of the forbidden forest.
"No Sirius, I think they're playing badminton."
"Do, muggles run around pretending to hit things? They really must be mad, to go around making fool themselves like that." Sirius concluded.
Remus sighed and shook his head.
"They really are stupid aren't they," Kathleen admitted in awe, "running willy-nilly in and out of the most dangerous place on the school grounds, in broad daylight, with Merlin knows what linked to that git with no nose, I'm sure that Dark Lord has all sorts of tea parties in there. He's probably a cannibal, so eats us for tea with his cream buns."
"How do you know what he eats?" Lily tried to push away thoughts away from the threat of him by adding humour.
"I don't want to find out, thank your potions genius self very muchly," Kathleen pulled a face as she swatted the shuttle away as if it possessed dark powers too.
"All the same," Juliet concurred, "I agree with Kathleen they really are mad."
Surprisingly, Lily found herself swallowing disagreement.
"OHHH!" Peter gasped as he finally caught on to the illusive mechanics of badminton. "You really are clever Remus."
"No problem Pete." Sirius grinned
"Shut up and stop being an arse Padfoot, you know we wouldn't have survived past first year without Remus, and Peter too, so a little less belittlement is in order, I reckon."
"Ohhh la la! Who got off the wrong side of the broom after practise this morning?" Sirius rolled his eyes in frustration, "Why did you have to do that?"
"Because I'm a tired as you and would appreciate getting back to the kitchens quickly."
It just happened that the quickest route was right past the badminton court.
"Lil, can we stop again." Juliet panted as she deliberately let the shuttle fall short of her limp racquet.
"Me included." Kathleen flopped down on the bank again, joined by the two other witches.
After getting their breath back they noticed that, despite the improbability of it, the Marauders were making a beeline for them.
Lily remarked, "Remus looks tired."
Juliet cast a glance in the direction of the possible miscreants and concluded, "They all look, tired, only Remus looks especially worn out."
Kathleen groaned, "They should consider themselves lucky, they haven't been playing against Lily, then they really would be tired."
This made Lily laugh, but secretly she felt her heart start fluttering and thought to herself, "You barely know them, you haven't given them permission to intimidate you, so why should they. Wake up and show some spirit. If only in a small way."
"Kathleen, seeing as you're our own fabulous, wonderful and sophisticated resident transfiguration specialist, would you mind producing a grammar phone?" Lily merely raised her eyebrows at the strange looks that she was more than well acquainted with. "Please." She pleaded. Grudgingly Kathleen converted the dead twig that had been poking her in the back into a very swish 1930s Grammar phone. Grumbling as she did so. Lily didn't want to annoy her friend further but decided it was necessary to make Remus smile, "Kathleeeeeeeen."
"Urrrrrghhhhh…..what do you want now?"
"Could you be an absolutely lovely person and put a particular record in there, so I can play it as Remus walks past."
"Which one is it that you fancy Lily, the one that you play records for, or the one that you would run for the hills to get away from?"
"Neither, Juliet, but I would like to put a little light in someone's life, so could one of you transfiguration wise ones put in 'Sing, Sing, Sing', the version that Benny Goodman did? Please…" Juliet shifted and flicked her wand, the record was in the grammar phone, ready to play. "Thank you o wise one, I'll charm your quill, so that you'll only have to dip it in the ink once at the beginning of the lesson."
"Lil, you're the best!"
"OI! I'm feeling neglected over here!" Kathleen whined.
"Tough," Lily said harshly, "you weren't polite about it. Oooo, look, here they come. Can we play a bit more, just until they pass out of the way?"
"No." Kathleen muttered flatly. "I'm exhausted and want food, so play by yourself."
"But that's not fair, supposing I charm your quill to write in different colours when your write on a different piece of parchment?"
"Oooooooooo! Wow! Lily that would be really that best thing ever! Lily you ARE the best thing ever!"
The other two smiled, Kathleen was easily pleased, now there was only Juliet lying on the ground, with her eyes closed, basking in the sun.
"One….Two…" Lily mouthed and each grabbed a hand on "Three" and pulled Juliet up, complaining as they did so. Juliet could be just a tiny bit lazy. Lily pleaded now, to convince her further, having got her out of her slumber of self-indulgence, "Please. Just for a little bit." Juliet groaned and shuffled to her side of the court, while Lily jumped for joy as she flicked her wand to get the grammar phone started, and concentrated on returning the serve that came her way.
Remus smiled as he heard the music that drifted towards him, and knew partly from looking at the girls as they walked up the slope, and partly because only Lily would do that, the original source the music must have been her. Lily took others into account and was always ready to make them smile.
Her heart was going a bit too fast for comfort, her breath was shallow. Concentrate, don't make a fool of yourself now, just hit the shuttle, that's it just like that, and before you know it….
"Lily" She turned, it was only Remus.
"Hey, Remus," she smiled; he smiled back and walked on. She would have been contented with that but for hearing the cantankerous Sirius mutter:
"Can't the bint get some decent taste in music?"
He thought she was out of earshot; she wasn't. Lily remembered the song that had been playing when she went into their compartment of the journey to school, she had gone to tell James, no Potter that he might actually want to show up to the prefect meeting, when she had seen Sirius tapping his fingers to one of her favourites songs. At the time she hadn't really noticed it, but now it was primed ammunition to show him not to say things behind people's backs.
With a flick of her wand a new song began blaring out of the speaker, yes, she loved the Beatles
"Baby you can drive my car, Baby you can drive it far." They turned round again, looking at the grammar phone, as Lily was slipping the wand back into her pocket.
Peter muttered discreetly: "And I thought she lived in the 1790s , rather the 1970s."
"Me too mate," Sirius replied.
But the biggest shock was yet to come. Lily watched the shuttle as it soared towards her, slammed it down in a shot that whizzed in-between Kathleen and Juliet. It rocketed to the ground at the back of the court; she turned and smiled at the expression on James Potter's face.
The shot had left the badminton racquet singing.