Chapter 2
Twenty Minutes Previously
"Well, here we are once again, Lils. Back on the train. On our way to Hogwarts." Lily said, looking at herself in the bathroom mirror. Sometimes she still had to remind herself that this wasn't a crazy dream, that there was such a thing as witches and wizards and magic that she had been plunged into at the ripe young age of eleven. Not only had she been thrust into it, but she was now a role model for the younger witches and wizards. The entire idea still made her head spin. She looked down at the sink, studying the tiny metal pin that sat on the faucet. The two letters engraved on it, 'HG', seemed to gleam at her disapprovingly. It seemed to know that she felt a fraud.
"Don't look at me like that. Stupid pin." She muttered, grabbing it up quickly and pinning it to the lapel on her robes. She took another look in the mirror. It looked wrong somehow, the pin didn't seem to shine as proudly on her chest as it had when she had been a mere prefect.
Lily took her hair out of it's ponytail and let it fall around her shoulders. She fluffed it out so the red tendrils partially covered the offending piece of metal. It was insane, really, that Dumbledore and the other teachers would pick her for Head Girl. She was a hard-worker, she supposed, studying much more than the average student. But there was a reason she worked so hard, a reason why on any given night she could be found diligently revising in the library. It was because, even after all these years, Lily still felt a bit behind. She had not been raised in the magic world and basic concepts didn't come to her as naturally as others. And, she still felt as if she had to prove something to her peers.
There was a reason why Lily had walked through the entire train to change in this particular bathroom, the quietest bathroom, as she had done every year since her first. She needed to collect herself, give herself a moment of reprieve before diving into the wizarding world after a summer of nothing but motorized vehicles, reality television and everything muggle."I deserve this." She said with as much conviction as she could muster, looking at her bright green eyes in the mirror. With a sigh, she picked up her small bag full of muggle clothes and her Head Girl manual from the floor, opened it to the page where she had left off and walked out of the bathroom.
He had come out of nowhere. Literally. One moment Lily had been walking down the train corridors, reading her Head Girl manual for the umpteenth time when she had just crashed into him. Technically, what with her nose buried in the book and all, it had been her fault but she would be hard-pressed to admit that after the fact ("He could have said something, or walked around for Merlin's sake! The hall is big enough for two!" It wasn't, but her friends knew not to try when Lily got into one of her Potter rants.). However, she hadn't known who it was at first, and began sputtering an apology about not watching where she was going until she looked up. Her apologies had stopped abruptly, replaced by a glare.
"Oh. It's you." she had said flatly, stepping quickly out from under the steadying hands he had put on her shoulders.
"What a lovely and warm welcome, Evans. It's nice to see you too. How were your summer hols?" He said with a smile so bright and friendly Lily almost forgot who she was talking to.
"I really don't have time for this, Potter, so get in your digs or get out of my way."
"No digs, Lily-flower. Just wanted to catch up." Lily saw his friendly smile twitch slightly into a smirk so briefly most people would have missed it. Not Lily Evans though, she missed nothing. She rolled her eyes at the pet name.
It was a name he knew she despised. A name he intentionally called her to get a rise. Did Lily mention that she hated James Potter?
"Well, if you would kindly move then…What are you even doing down here anyway? Your compartment's on the other side of the train."
"I should say the same for you. Though, I am terribly flattered that you know my seat preferences. Keeping an eye on me?" He replied with a wink.
He was right. Lily's customary compartment was on the other side of the Hogwarts Express. In fact, she was in the same train car as he was and had been since first year, which was the only reason she knew where his compartment was.
"Alright, well if that's all…" She said, already pushing past him.
"Wait." He said, reaching for her arm to stop her. As he opened his palm, a small piece of shiny metal clinked to the ground. Lily had been startled by his hand on her arm and had whirled around to tell him off, the words died in her throat. She was just in time to see what the piece of metal was that James scrambled to pick up. A piece of metal that looked almost identical to the ones she had pinned to her robes. James had just dropped a Head badge. Presumably, his Head badge.
Was that? It couldn't be. No. No no no.
"Well, erm, better be off then." James said, pulling a hand through his already terribly untidy hair and made to walk past Lily. He had ducked his head but she could see the uncomfortable expression on his face. His adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.
"Potter." Lily said, her voice was firm and he stopped his attempted pass. He met her eyes with a guilty, uncomfortable expression. If she hadn't been so stunned by what she had just seen, she would have been doubly stunned at his expression. James Potter was never embarrassed.
In fact, if she had taken the time Lily would have noted a few differences in James's personality throughout their interaction. However, Lily was generally pretty thick-headed when it came to one Mr. Potter. She made a point to not think too hard about James Potter, feeling that even her thoughts would contribute to his pig-headedness in some cosmic sort of way. However, Lily was too busy at this point attempting to find alternative explanations as to why James would have a Head Boy badge.
"W-What is that you're holding in your hand?" she asked, stuttering in disbelief.
"Oh, this? Nothing, just a…headboybadge." He said the last bit quickly and very quietly in hopes that Lily wouldn't hear.
Lily Evans heard.
"A WHAT?" She screeched. Her eyes were blazing and nostrils were flaring as her infamous temper was ignited once again by James Potter. She had wondered who they had chosen, the question had haunted her when she had received a response from Remus that, though he was thrilled that she had gotten Head Girl and thought they could have picked no one more suited he would, unfortunately, not be joing her in Headship. She had dreaded that she would be paired with Severus, had been kept up worrying entire nights by the thought. But this. This was almost worse.
"It's a Head Boy badge, Evans. Nothing to go mad about, Merlin…" James said, recovering a bit and slapping on the customary cleverer-than-thou smirk.
"Yes, but why do you have it?"
"Well, I suppose it's because I was made Head Boy." James smirked widely. "Congrats on the Head Girl position by the way, Marley told me over the summer." He gestured to the shiny silver pin she had agonized over only five minutes before.
Marley told him. MARLEY TOLD HIM. Lily's head was spinning.
James checked his watch, "I really must be going, Head duties and all. You know how it is." His smirk grew into a splitting grin at his little joke. Lily was still stunned in furious silence as he made his way past her.
James was certainly not doing anything related to "Head duties". Very much the contrary, in fact.
"Oh!" He called, turning back to her. Lily turned to look back. "See you at the prefect's meeting later, yeah?" He waved briefly and headed off. She just stood, practically shaking with anger before stomping back towards her car.
She told this story to the three girls sitting in her compartment, adding much of her own commentary and a few choice words here and there.
"And now I have twenty minutes until I have to prepare for the prefect's meeting and I don't know if I can calm down enough to not rip his bloody head off!" Lily huffed. "And I'm pretty sure it's seen as bad form to maim the Head Boy on my first day. Though I'd very much like to."
"Give it a week." Emmeline said "Maybe they'll let you brutally murder him then." She flashed a wry smile at her friend.
"Har de har har, Em." Lily replied, rolling her eyes.
"Lily, maybe it won't be as bad as you think." Marlene said carefully. "I mean, Dumbledore made him Head for a reason, maybe a bit of authority will be good for James." She added as Lily stuck her with yet another glare.
"I haven't even begun to tell you how furious I am that you kept this from me." She grumbled. "Yes, yes. He told you to keep it a secret." She continued as Marlene went to open her mouth in response "I mean, honestly, whose side are you on anyway? I've been your best mate for going on 7 years now! Really now, I deserve a bit of forewarning on this. You could've written a letter! Even 'Dear Lils, You will not be happy with your co-Head. Can't say more. Love, Marley P.S. Not Snape.' would have been better than this. Would that have been so hard?"
Marlene stayed quiet, a small frown on her face, as she waited for Lily's tantrum to peter out. "Lil, you would've been angry no matter what I did. You can't tell me that's not true seeing as I've been your best mate going on 7 years now." The doe-eyed girl looked at Lily innocently, trying to hold back a smile.
"Hmph" was all Lily said. She hated when her own words were used against her, but Marlene had a point, she would have been pissed even with a warning. Like that, the anger drained out of her. Lily was the sort of person whose anger blazed hot and quick, her temper came on fast but she found it quite exhausting to hold on to it for more than a few hours. James Potter was what many like to call an oulier when it came to one Miss Evans's temper.
Lily sunk into her seat, suddenly feeling very drained, and stared with an unfocused gaze out the window. The four girls sat in a comfortable silence. The rolling hills of northern England sped past at a blurring rate and created a mottled patchwork of colors. The late summer flowers adding yellows and reds and whites in with the many hues of green. It was a ride that Lily found both familiar and comforting.
And suddenly—perhaps it was the familiarity of the ride or the cozy compartment she had occupied every year since she was eleven, the one with the wooden headboard that they had carved their initials into in third year, or something else entirely—Lily was overcome with a wave of nostalgia. Her heart gave one of those peculiar, aching thumps and she tried desperately to find what it was she suddenly felt so very sad about.
"This is our last train to Hogwarts." She realized out loud.
"What's that?" Emmeline asked, her eerily light blue eyes meeting Lily's green ones.
"This is our last year. Our last train ride." Lily repeated, she didn't feel close to tears, but her throat closed in the same fashion as if she were about to cry.
"I suppose it is, isn't it?" Marley said, the realization dawning on her as well. "It's a bit sad." Alice sighed, looking around at the three other girls. Lily smiled at her and nodded.
The cabin fell silent again. Lily's thoughts were on all the lasts they would have this year, some of them silly and insignificant like experiencing the last of her first snowfalls at the castle or the last time she would be sneaking down to the kitchens at three in the morning with Emmeline because they had a desperate craving for grilled cheese.
"Merlin, classes haven't even started and you lot are already making me miserable." Emmeline broke the silence, rolling her eyes. Lily and the other two laughed, possibly harder than necessary but that's just what one does when faced with an upsetting or uncomfortable realization. Make stupid jokes and laugh unnecessarily.
"Perhaps you wouldn't be so miserable if you actually read." Alice teased, the melancholy air dissipating.
"I'm reading, aren't I?" The brunette cried, waving the book in her hands back and forth.
"Right, yes, of course. I'd forgotten that Professor Slughorn had assigned, what was it again? 'The Thorn and The Rose: Their Darkest Hour'." Lily tilted her head to read the title of the latest trashy novel Emmeline had invested in.
"Could you imagine?" Marlene broke in. "Now, if you would turn to page 186, starting with the paragraph 'his throbbing mem—'"
"Professor! Not in front of the children!" Lily cried, slapping her hands over Alice's ears.
"Gosh, who knew how randy Slughorn could be?" Emmeline grumbled, pouting at the three girls who had dissolved into giggles.
"We're only teasing, Em. I, for one, think it's incredible how quickly you came into this literary awakening." Lily beamed innocently as Emmeline shot her a hard glare.
"Well, I'm sure Lily knows how randy he is. The two of them are very close." Alice responded, winking conspiratorily
"Oy! That's uncalled for! Professor Slughorn is like a-an uncle to me!" Lily cried.
"Now, now, Lily we're only teasing. I, for one, think it's incredible how you two can still attempt to hide your feelings." Emmeline said, smiling at the red-head.
They carried on like that for some time, joking at one another's expense. It was how many of their conversations went along. It was one of the reasons why Lily loved her three best mates so dearly. They never had to be careful around each other, they could joke and tease without worrying about hurting another's feelings. Yet, at the end of the day, Lily knew she could trust them with her darkest secrets.
There was a sudden knock on the door, a firm three knocks sounding right in the middle of a story Marley had been recounting.
Emmeline was the one to call out, "Come in!"
James Potter opened the door, a friendly smile on his face. Lily groaned.
"James!" Marlene cried, shooting up to hug her friend and giving him a tight squeeze. "How have you been? How was your summer? And the family? Congrats on becoming Head Boy, by the way!"
Traitor. Lily thought.
"Hey Marley! I'm doing well, summer was fantastic. Sirius and I raised hell all over France." James chuckled and winked conspiratorially at Marlene. Lily rolled her eyes. "The parents are fine, Mum was chuffed to bits about this whole thing." He waved towards the badge, now shining on his chest, and chuckled. "Actually, that's what I was here about. The prefect's meeting is in fifteen minutes…"
Oh just wonderful, you couldn't wait any longer to rub this whole Head Boy thing in my face, now could you? Lily grumbled to herself.
"…and I was hoping we could go over some of the talking points." James finished.
"You—what?" Lily sputtered. Alice and Emmeline gazed at him in shock, even Marlene looked a bit surprised.
"Well, I've never sat in one of these meetings before. I was hoping we could just go over what we wanted to talk about, anything we wanted to mention specifically, that sort of stuff. You probably have a better grasp of this sort of thing than I do."
Lily was so shocked she didn't think she could form words. He seemed entirely sincere, no hint of smirk in the friendly smile on his face. No spark in his eyes that signaled impending mischief. He looked totally and genuinely serious. And besides, when did James bleeding Potter ask for help?
"You, uh, alright there, Evans?" He asked after a few moments of receiving nothing but stunned silence from his red-headed counterpart.
"Yeah, um, yes. Fine. Let me just…" she trailed off, rising from her seat and beginning to gather the documents that had been prepared for the prefects meeting.
A bundle of papers fell from her hands and before she had time to retrieve them, James had picked them up. "I've got these." He said, flashing a crooked smile. "Can't have you be doing all the work, right?" James then pulled open the door and stepped through, holding it open so Lily could follow. Before joining him in the corridor, Lily sent a part-concerned, part-shocked look back to the three girls.
If she had looked back at them a little longer, she would have seen the smile and small thumbs up Marlene gave to James as he caught her eye. However, Lily didn't see this exchange since she was already walking down the hall towards the conference room.
They made the short walk to the conference room in silence, Lily eyeing the papers in James's hands suspiciously.
James pulled open the door and stepped back to let Lily walk through first, she hesitated before slipping in with a muttered 'thanks'. She set down some of her materials at the large wooden table at the front of the room and heard the loud click as James pushed the door closed.
James placed the parcel of papers in his hand next to the pile Lily was sorting through. He stepped back and sat down on a chair that faced the desk. "Listen, Evans." James began, leaning forward and pulling his ever-present snitch out of his pocket. He began to toss it between his hands nervously.
Lily looked up and stared blankly at the head boy, waiting for him to continue. "I just, well I…" he began uncomfortably. Lily raised her eyebrows in exasperation and James found it hard to continue when she was looking at him with such obvious disapproval. He closed his eyes to block out her face and took a deep breath. "Well, I just wanted to apologize." He looked down at the golden ball passing back and forth between his hands
When he looked back at the tiny red-head he saw an expression of disbelief on her face. "For what, exactly?" Lily asked carefully, her eyes were gaurded as if she was waiting for him to say 'gotcha!'
"For, well, for how I spoke to you earlier. I was impolite and it was cruel of me to spring this whole Head Boy thing on you. I was rude and I'm sorry."
Lily looked at him for another moment before snorting and returning back to sorting the papers in front of her. "Good one, Potter." She muttered.
James felt a flash of annoyance. "I—" he stopped himself. "I'm serious. I know our track record has been less than ideal…" he heard Lily snort again without looking up from her work "but I just wanted to apologize and ask if we could, I dunno, start over." This time Lily did look up, her eyebrows were practically in her hairline and her lips were pulled down at the corners. Her eyes dropped to his hands where the little golden snitch was still being tossed. She looked up and studied his face for another moment. James felt himself do something he rarely ever did, he began to blush. He felt strangely vulnerable at this moment. Sure, she had rejected him countless times (well, he had counted. It was 38.) but he had never taken them to heart. Now, he felt as if he had put himself at her mercy. He had asked for forgiveness, for Merlin's sake! He never asked for forgiveness, especially from Lily Evans.
She opened her mouth to respond, but James cut her off. He wasn't sure he could hear her answer at that moment. "So what is it you're doing there then? Anything I can help with?" He asked, standing up and walking around the table to stand beside her. She looked at him strangely for a moment longer before answering.
"I'm just organizing the hand-outs we were given for this meeting." She gestured to the four neat piles she had begun to make, corresponding to each house.
"We were given hand-outs?" James responded, beginning to sift through and look over the materials.
Lily nodded. "Dumbledore sent them to me over the summer, though they got a bit messed up in my bag." James nodded back and began organizing them himself.
"Probably thought I'd misplace them." James commented with a chuckle after a few moments.
"What?" Lily glanced up in surprise from her review of the papers.
"The papers," James said gesturing to the small stack. "You said Dumbledore sent them to you. He probably thought I'd misplace them."
"Oh. Hmm" Lily murmured in agreement, eyes still scanning the page in front of her. She had no need to look over it, she knew it by heart at this point but she was just so uncomfortable with the idea of carrying on a friendly conversation with James.
"D'you want to walk me through how a meeting like this typically works?" He tried after another few minutes with no response.
Lily looked up and nodded, breathing silently in relief.
As Lily explained the process of the first Prefect's meeting, she marveled how civil the conversation had become. She had never gone more than a sentence or two without wanting to send James away with tentacles sprouting from his every orifice.
Just as she finished explaining, the prefects began to filter into the room, nodding a hello and 'congratulations' to Lily and many giving James looks ranging from astonishment to anger to jealousy to downright amusement (the last one mostly from Remus).
After all of the prefects were accounted for, James closed the door and called for everyone to find a seat and settle so they could begin the meeting.
"Hello, Everyone. I'm James Potter, your new Head Boy for this year. And this ravishing ginger to my right is your Head Girl." Lily felt the familiar peak of annoyance that she was accustomed to when James Potter was in her presence. A peak that had been strangely absent in the past fifteen minutes they had just spent together.
Said ravishing ginger sent James a withering stare before speaking, he accepted it with a slight lift at the corner of his mouth. "Hey guys, many of you may remember me from last year as a prefect, but for those who don't; my name is Lily Evans, and I'll be your Head Girl." Perhaps, she thought, he would only act civil with her in private. Perhaps he still wanted to save face in front of his peers. Lily felt a flash of anger. She would not be someone who let herself get whipped around just because James was insecure with his public image. She hated him and how stupid he thought she was.
"Oy, James! Tell us—who'd you have to shag for your spot?" A Hufflepuff prefect near the back called out. Lily sighed and steeled herself for James' undoubtedly inappropriate response.
James let out a small chuckle, "For those of you interested in asking about my extracurricular activities, I would ask you to wait until after the meeting."
Lily rolled her eyes and her teeth clenched in annoyance. She gave James a sidelong glance and braced herself for the next smarmy comment to come from James.
"Now, I'm sure that you all have very important things to be doing, so we'll try to make this as quick and painless as possible." James continued. Lily's jaw dropped.
Ignoring the astonished looks of the prefects and his fellow Head Girl, James went on as they had planned. "I'm going to pass it over to Lily who will be talking about my least favorite topic. Our humble and just caretaker, Argus Filch." A few scattered laughs sounded. Though, most of the students were still recovering from the utterly underwhelming exchange that had just occurred. Many of the prefects had had to deal with the fallout of a Marauders prank directly over the past few years. They knew how the Marauders could be.
Lily had barely registered that the room was waiting for her to speak. She was partially astonished by James' mostly mature response and also growing deeply suspicious of his intentions.
"Evans?" James said, giving her a meaningful look that she should start talking.
"Huh? Right, yes! Filch has, once again, very kindly provided us with a list," James let out a quiet laugh at Lily's thinly veiled sarcasm. "of all the prohibited items. If you could pass them around and take a glance at them."
"Obviously, we don't need you to memorize it, you will get absolutely nothing out of it except a very large headache," James added as the prefects groaned at the three foot piece of parchment with rows upon rows of banned goods. "And as I'm sure we're all familiar this is only one of many more drafts he will make throughout the semester."
"You more than anyone else, I'm sure. You're the one that gets half the stuff on the bloody thing." Remus muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear. James smirked at his partner in crime but stayed silent.
"Um, sorry," Arden Daley, a 6th year Ravenclaw prefect, piped up from his seat. "Why exactly is flobberworm bowels specified on this list?"
Sure enough, 'flobberworm bowels' was not only on the list, but it was underlined multiple times and written in all capital letters.
Remus let out a loud guffaw and James's smirk only grew, "As I've said, feel free to ask about any of my extra-curriculars after the meeting." With his statement, the room erupted in quiet conversations. Lily called out for quiet, but no one seemed to hear. Great. Just wonderful. Lily pursed her lips and waited for the talking to fizzle out.
James caught the look on her face and realized her displeasure. His smile fell immediately, replaced by a very firm gaze. "Oy! Quiet down, we still have plenty of stuff to go over!" And because he was James Potter, everyone immediately quieted down. He caught Lily's eye and mouthed 'sorry'.
That was the second time he apologized to her, and in public no less. With his fellow judging peers all sitting in front of him, facing him directly and yet, he had still apologized. Perhaps, Lily thought again, he wasn't just acting friendly in private. Perhaps he really did…no. This was James Potter. There was definitely something going on, the boy always had an ulterior motive.
Lily sighed in annoyance, still upset with the disturbance he had caused, but also because she couldn't seem to figure James Potter out. The suspicious feeling in the pit of Lily's stomach only seemed to grow with every instance of James's odd behavior. Lily had no doubt that she would find out what it was because there was no way it would bode well for her. It seemed to Lily that there was always fallout to Potter's pranks, and for the past two years since becoming a prefect, Lily had always had to deal with it.
The rest of the meeting continued with very little disturbance by James or any of the other prefects. By the time it concluded Lily was brimming with suspicions. Perhaps he was waiting for the right moment when Lily would least suspect and then he would strike.
As everyone started to leave, Lily gathered up the miscellaneous papers and the newly made rounds schedule. James also hung back to help gather the materials. After a few minutes, Lily went to leave the prefect's compartment and go back to her own. Her hand was on the door knob when James spoke.
"Lily, could you wait a second?" He asked from behind her. Here it comes. Took him shorter than I thought it would, but he's never been one for patience.
Lily sighed and turns back towards him. He was standing with one hand on the large desk in the front of the room, seemingly very calm. "What is it then?" she replied, her hand was still placed on the door knob, ready for a quick escape. She noticed the same odd expression he had on his face when he had apologized before.
James cleared his throat. He felt the heat rise once again to his face and the vulnerable feeling in his gut began to take hold. Oh, just get it over with. No more of this pretending rubbish.
"I want to call a truce."
He what? "You what?" Lily practically fell over in her surprise.
"I want to call a truce." He repeated. "Like I was saying before, we're going to be working pretty closely this year and I know there's some bad blood between us—"
"Some." Lily snorted, rolling her eyes. Understatement of the century.
"Alright, there's a lot of things we've done to each other these past years, but—"
Before, when he had said this, Lily had only rolled her eyes and made a quiet, indignant noise to herself. Now, with her suspicions putting her on edge she burst. "'We've done'? What the bloody hell are you on, Potter? I've done nothing to you that wasn't a result of your infuriating pestering and personal vendetta against me!"
His anger flared, the vulnerability and nervousness disappearing. Sometimes Lily Evans just made him so utterly mad. "I don't have a personal—" he started to yell before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and opened his eyes. "You know what, whatever, yes I've done a lot of things to you over the past years." Lily went to speak again but he held up a hand to stop. "No. Hear me out. I know we can't exactly restart and forget the past six years of antagonism but I'm willing to try and be at least cordial to each other over the next year. So we don't have to be entirely miserable at this job."
Lily didn't even know where to begin. James Potter wanted to be cordial? If she was suspicious of him before…
"What's the catch?" she asked, eyeing him warily.
"No catch. Only an offer for a semi-peaceful last year at school. I figured since we're living together this year…"
Oh. My. Merlin. Lily had totally forgotten. How could she have forgotten the head dorms? The private quarters of the head boy and girl that were tucked away in some tower or another of Hogwarts Castle. The ones that she would have to share with James 'Toe-Rag' Potter for an entire year. The ones they said were cursed with some love spell that led to the Head Boy and Girl... Lily shook her head at that last one, this was James she was talking about. There was no love spell strong enough to make that happen. Besides, it probably wasn't even a real spell, the head boy and girl last year hadn't gotten together.
"Hey, Lily? Are you alright?" James asked, he looked a bit concerned. "You had this look on your face, you seemed to have zoned out for a second there."
"I, uh, I had forgotten." She said, still partially caught up in her thoughts. James shot her another very concerned look. "About the Head dorms, I mean. I had forgotten about them."
"Oh."
"Yeah." Lily didn't know what else to say. She didn't know how to talk to a James Potter that she wasn't yelling at. A James Potter that conducted meetings, and looked concerned, and apologized for Merlin's sake!
"So?" He asked again. He began to walk forward and held out a hand for Lily to shake.
Before Lily had a chance to decide whether or not to take his hand, the door behind her bursts open. Lily jumped out of the way just before it had a chance to send her sprawling across the floor.
Sirius Black, hair in complete disarray, stood in the doorway. His face was red and he was breathing heavily, but a massive smile had plastered itself onto his face.
"Oy, Prongs, you gotta come see this. It turned out brill! Better than we could have expected." Sirius exclaimed with wild eyes. "Hullo, Evans. Good holiday?" Lily's gaze whipped fiercely to James's face and then back to Sirius who was practically jumping up and down with excitement. She scoffed and looked back to James, "Right. Who is it you're terrorizing now?" She wasn't even surprised.
James's expression, which was beginning to mirror Sirius's enthusiasm, fell immediately. He suddenly looked very upset, and annoyed and…guilty? His jaw clenched and he shot a look to Sirius.
"It's-it's nothing."
"Snivellus!"
They had said it at the same time, if it had been any other two people, Lily would have laughed. Instead, her expression hardened instantly and she felt her heart stop for a moment at Sirius's mention of the only name he had ever used for her former best friend. Her fury from earlier sparked once again.
"Snape?" Lily seethed, whirling on Sirius now. He stopped his hopping for a moment when he saw the fury in her eyes. He recovered quickly with a smirk and nodded.
Lily took a long breath and let it out loudly. She turned back to James. "Well, then. Hop to it, Potter. You're friends need you to help terrorize another victim." Her voice dripped with sarcasm and her lips had curled into a humorless smile.
"I would hardly call him—"
"Padfoot!" James yelled, sending his friend yet another pointed look. He sighed and began to walk towards his friend.
Lily stayed silent, her eyes following the Head Boy. Once he was in the doorway, James turned back to Lily, looking as if he was going to speak.
"Congrats on Head Boy. We're all so very proud of you." Lily spit before he got the chance to say a word. He closed his mouth and turned back, following Sirius down the hall.
Truce my arse. Lily thought, letting out one humorless laugh before slamming the door behind her and turning down the hall to her cabin.
"You've got to be bloody kidding me." James growled as they walked back to their train car.
"You're the one who thought up the prank in the first place!" Sirius exclaimed in defense. "I thought you should have the pleasure of viewing the results." He smirks at his friend.
"It was pretty brilliant, wasn't it? The way his hair singed up like that. I knew it was oily, but no one could have guessed…" James's eyes glazed over with the dreamy look he always got when talking about a prank well done. "Hey! I was yelling at you!"
"Yes, yes, I know. You've been yelling at me the past ten minutes, Prongs. I get it, won't happen again."
"Good, because there's no way Lily is going to start trusting me if shit like that keeps happening." James ran a hand through his hair in frustration, making it stick up all over the place.
"From now on discretion is my middle name." Padfoot said, stopping to open the door to their compartment. "Unless you reconsider…"
"I'm not going to reconsider the Lily Mission. Now stop asking me that." James replied.
"Just thought I'd give it another go." Sirius shrugged, falling heavily into his seat next to Peter. "Lads." he nodded in greeting to the other two boys already in the compartment.
Remus glanced up from his book as James sat to his left. "Did things go as planned?" He asked, referring to the prank that had just been flawlessly executed against Severus Snape and his band of wannabe Death Eaters.
"No." James said miserably at the same time Sirius exclaimed a "Yes."
"This one," James continued, nodding accusingly at Sirius, "just had to come in right when me and Lily were about to get somewhere." He sighed glumly, if a bit over-dramatic. "We were about to call a truce."
"Hm." Remus grunted. "Do you really think Lily would have gone for that?"
"Yeah?" James asked, hope leaking into his voice.
"James." Remus sighed.
"I was so good today! We were getting along! Why wouldn't she have gone for it?"
"Yeah, today, James. You were good today. What about the past four years where you weren't? Just because you want to forget about them doesn't mean Lily has. One day of good behaviour is not going to change her opinion of four years." Remus explained calmly.
As James was about to open his mouth in response, the door to their compartment burst open.
"You've got to be bloody kidding me." Marlene growled as she stomped into the room.
"Hm. Where have I heard that lately?" Sirius muttered, laughing a bit to himself.
"Shut it, Black. I do not have time for you. The girls think I've gone to the loo and I came here for a reason." Marlene replied.
"Our charming company wasn't enough to entice you for a visit?" Sirius teased, smirking.
Marlene shot him a glare "Shut. It. Black. Or I will rip your bloody tongue out. If Lily knew I was here she would kill me."
James groaned "That bad?" He asked, sinking a bit more into his seat.
"Yes 'that bad'. What in Merlin's name do you think you were doing, pulling that stunt? And on Snape no less! Did I teach you nothing?" Marlene hissed at him. She took a calming breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. "James, darling, that was an idiot move you pulled back there."
"Technically I didn't pull—" James began, looking meaningfully at Sirius.
"Oh, James, Lily doesn't care you weren't the one to tell her. She's furious that it happened in the first place. She's in rare form today, Potter. Besides, do you really think she wouldn't have found out about it later anyway?"
"I didn't really—"
"Think that through? Yes, I'm well aware. You've always been much too impulsive for your own good."
"Alright, fine. Tell me what to do. Tell me what I have to do to make Lily stop hating me so damn much."
"I can't tell you what to do, James! I'm not getting involved with this any more than I already am." Marlene said the last part quietly. Obviously, it pained her to be the middleman between two of her closest friends, especially when one of those friends was entirely unaware of said middleman status. Scheming and sneaking about was just not something Marley McKinnon thrived on. She was good at keeping secrets, sure, but only because she was the type to care very deeply and passionately about people close to her. Marlene was the type who was most comfortable giving advice and providing an ear to listen.
"Yeah, I know." He replied glumly.
"I'll tell you what I told you over the summer—Lily's the type to forgive easily. She doesn't like being angry or disliking others but you've built up a considerable amount of things that you need to be forgiven for. You did not make this easy on yourself, friend."
Remus snorted. "No?" He muttered quietly to himself.
Marley shot him a look, "The biggest issue that Lily has is seeing people hurt and you've caused a fair amount of that." James began to protest but she held out a hand. "May I direct your attention to Snape?"
"I mean, I would hardly call Snivellus a person." Sirius snorted from his seat.
"Regardless of what you would classify Snape as, he was important to Lily and you lot targeted him quite a bit. Actually, if I'm not mistaken, you still do." She smirked slightly, her distaste for Severus Snape could rival the Marauders. "Anyway, James, shape up or move on is what I'm trying to get at." She finished. James nodded.
"Well, I think that was a long enough trip to the loo, yeah?" Marlene went to turn out of the compartment. "Oh, and for the record, I thought the Snivellus prank was brill." She winked and with that, was out the door.
"Well, this is going to be an interesting year." Remus sighed, chuckling to himself a bit. Peter piped up in agreement
James and Sirius exchanged a look, a silent conversation passed between the two that only they could understand.
