Chapter Two
Lionheart
The first Friday of the school year came quickly. Or at least to Lily. Each class she took seemed crazier than the last. She was sure if Tuney was there she would go crazy by the second day. There were so many classes, but however crazy they were, they each fascinated her all the same. She currently took potions, charms, defense against the dark arts, history of magic, herbology, transfiguration, astronomy, and her last class of the week was flying, which was only taken once a week precisely at 3:30 pm on the Quidditch Pitch. She walked down to the far field with Severus, who was clad in his black robe with an emerald tie, signifying his allegiance to his House. Neither of them spoke much of their separation. They did not yet realize the significance, or the weight of their separate choices.
By the time they arrived, most of the students from Gryffindor and Slytherin already were waiting by the brooms in an orderly line. With a final wave, Lily stood next to her fellow Gryffindors by a broom as Severus waited with the Slytherins. She was in between a boy and a girl, both tapping their feet in anticipation for the professor to arrive. She recognized the boy as Sirius, the boy that created such a fuss at the Sorting. When she glanced at the Slytherins facing the opposite end, she could see a group of them still sending him icy glares, even so long after the Sorting. Sirius crossed his arms in annoyance of the tardy professor and stared at his broom, either too arrogant to notice the Slytherins or too smart to care. The girl next to Lily was Alice, Lily's fellow dorm mate. Alice was a short girl with dull brown hair and wispy bangs that touched her eyes. Oblivious to anything around her, she always wore a smile on her face. Lily made it her personal goal to be as optimistic as Alice one day.
"Good afternoon, class." The professor hurried to the center of the Quidditch Pitch. She just finished putting on her gloves and fixed back her short silvery hair.
A few faithful students including Alice and Lily greeted the professor. Lily was not surprised to notice that Sirius remained silent.
"I am Madame Hooch, welcome to your first flying lesson." She turned so she could face all her student. She placed her hands on her hips and frowned, her catlike yellow eyes staring at the brooms. "Well, what are you waiting for? Step towards your brooms."
The students sighed and slowly stepped nearer to the brooms, per instructions.
"Stick your right hand over your designated broom, and say 'up'." She said. Each student followed suit, a chorus of 'ups' resonating through the pitch, but Lily's broom didn't budge.
"Up." Lily repeated, her frustration rising. The broom wiggled a bit, but other than that remained where it was placed. Lily felt stupid, talking to a broom. When she glanced at Alice, she saw an equally frustrated frown on her face. However, the first broom to reach the flyer's hand was the boy next to Sirius. When he realized he was the first to succeed, he smiled to himself smugly and mounted it without the given instruction. Lily groaned and faced her own broom again, repeating the command. The next student to succeed was from Slytherin, Helen Haley. For an eleven year old she had a slim face and blonde hair, similar to Alice's cut. After Helen Haley was Sirius, who also smiled when he realized he was one of the first. Lily assumed that must have been the first time he smiled all week. After most of the class had their brooms in their hands, Lily's finally decided to oblige and flew dutifully into her palm.
"Now, I want you to mount the broom. Grip it tight, I don't want you to slide off the end." Madame Hooch instructed the students. Lily did so, but felt even sillier than before. "When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to push off the ground, hover slightly, then lean forward and land again."
Without another warning, Madame Hooch blew her high pitched whistle. Before Lily could even react, the boy next to Sirius was high in the air, the same one who first brought the broom to his palm. Lily frowned bitterly, not used to not being the first to succeed in a new subject.
"Show off," Lily muttered under her breath as she too kicked into the air. Sirius chuckled to himself, but Lily did not notice him.
"Oh, that's James Potter. Kyra Bell told me his dad was the Quidditch Captain of Gryffindor when he attended Hogwarts. I guess it's in his genes." Alice shrugged, noticing Lily's bitterness. Lily shrugged off the issue. Not long after half the class was in the air, Lily's feet left the ground, and her broom was airborne for a few quick moments before it dropped back to the ground, her with it. She took a hard landing and fell on her bum, the laughing stock of the few Gryffindors who stood next to her, including Sirius.
"Can't handle even this stupid lesson, ginger?" Sirius taunted above her. "Maybe you should go back to your school for muggles."
Much to Lily's horror, the entirety of the Slytherin class, save Snape, who simply stared wide eyed, snickered in agreement. None of them glared at Sirius for the rest of class.
"That… that… that toerag!" Lily huffed in fury as she sat down for dinner. Alice patted her shoulder as Marlene sat on the other side of Lily.
"Let it all out, Lily." Alice sighed as she tried to calm her fellow housemate. Since Severus was expected to sit with the Slytherins across the hall, Lily often took to sitting next to Alice for her first week in Hogwarts. Alice and Lily were not too close, but were close enough to be well acquainted with each other by the end of the first week.
"What happened?" Marlene asked, extending her hand to grab a loaf of bread and a slab of butter. Before her hand could grab some bread, however, it collided with Kyra Bell's. Kyra was another first year Gryffindor with a spray of freckles across her cheeks and always had her sandy blonde hair tied up into low pigtails with a crimson ribbon. She smiled shyly and muttered her apology as she let Marlene grab the first loaf of bread.
"Lily fell on her first flying lesson, and Sirius Black made a joke about it." Alice explained as she still patted Lily's shoulder as if she was comforting a small tyke.
"Sirius Black?" Kyra echoed, now in the conversation. "I thought he didn't talk at all."
"Yeah, I thought he was too busy sulking about being put into Gryffindor to even bother." Marlene agreed without thinking, generously slathering butter onto her toast.
"Well, apparently he does talk, and he said I should go back to 'muggle school', and all the Slytherins laughed in agreement." Lily complained as she picked a few steamed vegetables and placed them on her platter. Kyra, on the other hand, already had a full glazed rotisserie chicken on her platter and tore off the leg with gusto.
Now, Kyra Bell truly was a respectable witch, even at a young age. She was bright and cheerful, and always had some sort of delicatessen on her mind. Her parents, Mr. and Madame Bell, were both held in the highest regard whenever spoken of. However, they always spoke of other pureblood families, including the Blacks. While growing up, she would always listen to her parents' gossip of the family, and their bad habits, and their consciousness of blood purity. Therefore, Kyra informed Lily on all of the habits of the Black family, and how she assumed the proper punishment they would deliver Sirius as soon as they discover his Gryffindor sorting.
None of the gossiping girls noticed Sirius, who was sitting a few seats away. So of course, none of them noticed as he pulled out his wand and pointed it towards the unsuspecting girl.
"Aqua eructo," Sirius muttered, and a stream of water hit Kyra smack in the middle of her face like a garden hose. None of the girls knew that the charm was taught only to third years and was a very impressive high level charm for their age. Instead, all the girls around Kyra squealed while Kyra got entirely soaked, and her pigtails drooped sadly. But Sirius was not finished. "Anserrus,"
All of Kyra's screams were muted, and instead each time she attempted to make a noise, she honked like a goose. Marlene, Lily and Alice all scrambled to clear off the wet table, and the commotion was quickly spreading throughout the Gryffindor table. Bystanders were starting to laugh hysterically, including James Potter, who unknowingly sat beside Sirius for dinner oblivious to the girls' earlier conversation.
"Nice one, Black, that was actually quite funny." James managed to speak between breaths as he practically doubled over in laughter. Professor McGonagall arrived in an instant, and with a swish of her wand, all the water was cleared off the table, and Kyra stopped quacking nonsense. Some first years were still trying to hold in their laughter as the elder witch scrutinized each student, and Kyra even started to burst into tears, her uniform still completely soaked. Lily and Alice hurried over to help Kyra off her seat and squeeze out her pigtails.
"Potter, Black, I am very disappointed in the both of you. You two must have broken a record; already earned a detention within a week at Hogwarts!" McGonagall hastily reprimanded both of them. Before James could argue and claim that he was not involved, the witch shook her head and did not let him speak. Because he very well looked guilty, sitting right next to Sirius, the only one in the group that did not even have a drop of water on their clothes, and still laughing at the oddness of the spell.
"He's such a bully!" Lily vented angrily. Snape nodded and acted as if he was paying attention as he continued on his potions homework.
"I'm sorry, who are we talking about?" Snape asked, not looking up from his paper.
"Sirius Black and James Potter of course." Just saying their names made Lily want to punch something. Of course, Lily did not know that Sirius heard Kyra gossiping on business that wasn't hers, and of course Lily did not know that Kyra's gossip was not mere gossip and held much more power than that. Of course, Lily did not know that James was not involved in the prank, either. Oblivious to all those facts, Lily continued on her rant. "Sirius soaked Kyra Bell with a jet of water, and then made her quack in front of the entire table, as if the water wasn't enough!"
This time, Severus looked up from his paper. "Did you just say that he sent a stream of water fromt his wand?"
Lily looked at Sev as if she just noticed he was listening. "Yes..?"
"Oh," he looked back at his paper and tried his best not to sound surprised or impressed. Of course he knew that was a highly advanced spell, and of course he did not comment on it. Instead, "well, you would expect that sort of behavior from him."
Lily huffed and leaned back in her library seat. Before she could ask how Severus was doing on his potions homework, a girl came scrambling through the library and practically ran towards Lily's table, and would have crashed into the table if the librarian did not look as if she would bite her head off. Lily looked up from the table to see Marlene McKinnon leaning on the tabletop towards Lily. Severus looked back at his homework shyly.
"Lily, we've been looking everywhere for you." Marlene said, still panting. Her usual tidy pixy cut blonde hair was disheveled and even her bangs were parted.
"You have?" Lily did not seem to believe it. For the first week of school, she hardly spent any time with the Gryffindor girls, and if she did, it was mostly with Alice. Marlene was simply an acquaintance.
"Of course, silly." Marlene looked at Lily as if she had a fever. "Come to the dorms, we're having a slumber party for the first Friday of the school year. Kyra is going too; we're planning to cheer her up. The seventh years planned it; apparently it's a yearly tradition for the Gryffindor girls." Marlene was practically bouncing with excitement.
"Oh," Lily looked at Severus, who still made a point to stare blankly at his already finished potions homework. "Marlene, I'm sorry but I really should stay."
"No, it's alright." Severus shook his head. "You should go. I'm fine."
"No, I-" Before Lily could protest, Marlene practically tore the girl from her seat.
"Okay, then let's go!"
Severus watched as Marlene dragged Lily out of the library and to Gryffindor tower. He looked back at his homework and closed his eyes. He didn't know that the library was completely empty by then.
"Did you do it?" Peter asked. The trio maneuvered through the staircases, both Peter and Remus fully intending to drop their friend off at detention.
"No, of course I didn't, Peter." James scowled, as if amazed that his fast friend would assume he'd do such a thing. Of course he was unaware that Kyra Bell was not wholly innocent, so of course, no matter how amusing her quacks were, it was quite rude of Sirius to out of nowhere send a jinx toward the young girl. James was even angrier, knowing that he was being punished for a prank he did not even partake in. "I was simply sitting next to Black, and he was simply being a bully."
"I don't think it's right to blame Black," Remus admitted quietly, speaking up for the first time since they left the great hall.
"How could you say that?" James asked incredulously.
"The entire Slytherin house and even probably his family hate him now for 'choosing' to become a Gryffindor. He's simply acting out on his rage." Remus shrugged, always wanting to see the best in people.
By then the boys arrived in front of McGonagall's office. James sighed, facing the tall oak doors. Peter gave a reassuring pat on his back.
"Good luck, mate." Peter murmured, not wanting to be in James' shoes. "We'll see you back in the dorms when you're done."
James nodded, and both Remus and Peter scurried their way back to Gryffindor Tower. When James opened the door, he was greeted by quite a spacious office. There was a fireplace directly behind her desk, and three plush chairs facing it. She currently was correcting papers on her desk with her round spectacles on the tip of her nose. James saw Sirius slouched on one of McGonagall's chairs, apparently waiting for James to arrive.
"Ah, there you are, Potter." The witch removed her spectacles and ordered for James to sit next to Sirius. She perfectly fit the role as the strict yet caring teacher, and that night she set it as her personal goal to try her best to set the two boys on the right path so she would not have to see them in detention again. Unfortunately, her plan did not go as intended. "Now, I am very disappointed in the both of you. You two haven't even finished your first week here, and already I have to give you detention. As the leader of Gryffindor, I am downright ashamed."
"We got it, we promise we'll be good. Can I go now?" Sirius rolled his eyes and pleaded in a monotone voice.
"Be quiet, Black. I'm trying to teach you a lesson." McGonagall sent a stern look towards Sirius.
"And I've learned my lesson… Minnie."
"Minnie?" The witch seemed appalled. Even James was surprised of Sirius' boldness, although he was trying to hold in his own laughter. Sirius, however, did not deem it fit to give an explanation and only smile cheekily at the witch.
"That's it. Both of you sit down on the desk and correct these two piles of essays." Professor McGonagall threw her hands in the air dramatically, officially done with trying to talk sense into the two Gryffindors.
"Professor McGonagall, I really didn't-" Before James could plead his case, McGonagall sent a glare she practiced many years on sending towards students, and James shrunk back in his seat.
"Go. Now." She ordered. The two boys dutifully sat on her desk and took out a quill, staring at the two piles of essays with horror. She stood up as well and placed her hand on the oak door handle leading to the hallway. "I'll be back in an hour, and I expect both of those piles to be finished."
"Yes, professor." James groaned.
"Yes, Minnie." Sirius smiled. McGonagall did not even say anything that time, and only shook her head and stormed out of her office.
James was not sure how much time passed of complete and utter silence. The only sound passed between the two boys was the ruffling of papers and the tapping of quills into ink pots. James glanced back and forth between the essay and the guidelines so many times his head felt as if it was about to explode. When he looked to his left, he realized Sirius wasn't faring much better, as his usual tidy hair was starting to frizz in frustration.
"I'm sorry." Sirius finally said. James was as surprised as if he just saw Dumbledore run into the office and perform a strip tease before his eyes.
"What?"
"I'm sorry that I dragged you into detention." Because Sirius was not used to apologizing, he spoke quietly and stared at the essay, although he did not care to finish correcting it.
"Oh…" James said, "It's alright, I suppose. It was actually quite funny."
"Wasn't it?" Sirius looked up and grinned devilishly at James.
"Yeah, especially when the girl started quacking in front of all of Gryffindor. And when you called Professor McGonagall 'Minnie'…" James clutched his stomach and started laughing, remembering the witch's expression. Sirius laughed as well and leaned back on his chair. When James' laughter died, a frown replaced his smile. "You really should apologize to her though, you made her cry… her brother Kevin is on the Quidditch team. When he finds out…"
"She deserved it." Sirius huffed and returned his attention back to the essay in front of him.
"What did she do?"
"She was talking about my family as if she knows them. She said they'd disown me…" Sirius spoke bitterly. "They probably will, but that's beside the point."
"Look, Sirius-"
"I don't want your pity." Sirius said quickly before James could apologize on Kyra's behalf. James frowned and held his tongue, remembering that for the entirety of the first week, Sirius slept alone in the common room with a blanket. No first year wanted to be his dorm mate, with his family being the Blacks, all in Slytherin. James thought it was stupid, but never gave it much thought.
"Look, we have an extra bed in our dorm. You should swing by." James said innocently. Sirius looked at James incredulously.
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Girls all around Lily were giggling happily and passing around different snacks they smuggled from desert such as cookies and even some whole chocolate cakes. Kyra took one and ate it entirely. Lily smiled watching the girl, happy to see that she cheered up from the earlier catastrophe at dinner. Some third years were doing Marlene's hair, and curling Alice's. Lily could even see some sixth years whipping out a box of cosmetics and going to town on some second years. There was music that sounded odd to Lily, and a fellow first year Gryffindor known as Amira Rae informed Lily that it was from wizarding bands.
"Can I do your makeup?" An upperclassman asked Lily excitedly. Before Lily could refuse, she laughed and dragged the first year towards a chair and took out a fluffy brush and a small compact of pink powder.
The entire party was awfully girly, but the upperclassman, a third year named Malory Bones, told her that it was all part of the tradition. Some fifth years were having a pillow fight in the corner, and seventh years gossiped to themselves. Sometime after Malory finished with Lily's makeover, the girls called for everyone to gather in a circle, depending on their year. Lily sat next to Alice and Marlene, and looked wide eyed at all of the fellow eleven year old witches. They were all instructed to say their names, and their favorite food and celebrity crush.
Amira Rae, a short girl with coffee skin and silky dark hair, liked gobhi aloo, an Indian dish her parents would always cook, and Elvis Presley. A few girls nodded in agreement. Lily also remembered Kyra saying she did not have a favorite food, she loved them all, and her celebrity crush was Robert De Niro. Marlene's favorite food was fish and chips and her celebrity crush was some wizard with a fancy name that Lily didn't bother to remember. Alice's favorite food was an American burger (she even told the story of how her family took a trip to the states last summer), and her celebrity crush was actually a muggle singer, Neil Sedaka.
"I am Lily Evans," Lily smiled nervously, the last girl in the circle. "I love hot cocoa and John Travolta."
Lily would never forget how every girl in the circle nodded and giggled in agreement. After everyone in the circle went, they were called again by the seventh years to form a rather larger cube in the perimeter of the seventh year dormitories with all of the other lady Gryffindors.
"Okay. I think we all know the game." A seventh year with curled dark hair winked and a few fourth years giggled. "First years, I think you'll catch on soon enough."
"Okay. Cutest Gryffindor in seventh year. Go." A sixth year ordered.
"Owen Wood." Almost all the seventh year girls immediately chorused in an agreement. Lily almost choked. The girls were actually listing off the cutest boys in their year without a second thought.
"Sixth year!" The fifth year girls laughed.
"Jason Peakes."
"Fifth year!" The fourth years called.
"Derek Thomas."
"Fourth year!" The third years were practically out of breath from laughter and agreement.
"Cody McLaggen."
"Third year…" Some of the second years said nervously.
There was a shift in agreement, and some third years claimed Ryan Coote, and others Desmond Robins.
"No, you have to decide on one." A seventh year told the third years. After a few seconds of a continued array of names the girls finally agreed on Desmond Robins.
"Second year?" The first years were positively quiet when they called out dutifully, yet some did not even speak.
Again, there was a disagreement. Most girls agreed on Zachary Ayers, but there was a small fraction that claimed Lionel Brown. Although Lily did not know either boy, she would have chosen Zachary. The name Lionel did not sound too pleasing to her.
"Zach Ayers is James Potter's cousin." Kyra, who seemed to always know what's what, whispered to Lily. Lily then decided to choose Lionel Brown. However, the second years didn't agree with her.
"Zachary Ayers!"
"First years!" The seventh years were the loudest, and the most cheerful. Lily wondered how the boys failed to hear the commotion all the way from the opposite end of the tower.
The first years remained deadly silent, no one wanting to admit the cutest eleven year old. The sixth and seventh years giggled as if this happened every year.
"You have to choose one." Malory Bones sing-songed. The first years still remained quiet and shifted awkwardly.
"All the first year boys are gross." Kyra spoke up. The entire female Gryffindor student body, save the eleven year olds, began to laugh hysterically.
"Well, girls, I guess we have to choose one then." A seventh year smiled as if the sentence was scripted.
"Isn't Zach Ayers' cousin in first year?" A second year named Emmeline Vance helped the judgment. A few girls nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, his name is James Potter." A third year said. Lily almost gagged. "I saw him in the common room yesterday, he's positively adorable."
Some girls giggled.
"Oh, but what about the Black? Sirius, was it? He has potential." A second year supplied. More girls agreed.
"Okay, first years," Emmeline Vance spoke again. "Someone has to comply. Who nominates Sirius Black?"
A moment of silence plagued the eleven year olds until the girl who stood next to Lily, a true Gryffindor at heart, Lily noted, stepped forward. Lily almost died right then and there when she realized it was Marlene.
"Marlene?" Lily practically screamed. Marlene shrugged.
"I'm simply doing what all of you would if you were brave enough." Marlene laughed. Kyra huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"And who nominates James Potter?"A seventh year asked. Again, no one dared to move. That is, until Marlene, pulled Lily's sleeve and she stumbled forward.
"Lily Evans does!" Marlene announced to the crowd. The seventh years either laughed or applauded. A few even cat-called.
"It's settled then." Emmeline smiled proudly. She then looked towards the seventh year who started it all. "Write it on the list, Selena."
The witch was handed a ceremonial scroll, and all of the seventh years giggled and leaned in to peek as Selena apparently permanently inscribed Lily and Marlene's names and their nominees onto the scroll.
"Okay, sorry first years." Selena laughed when she looked up from the scroll. "It's tradition. Every year, we never tell the first years, even if they're our siblings. When we ask the first years, no one ever answers, and we always ask for two nominees. If the bloke remains the 'Cutest Bloke of Gryffindor' throughout seventh year, the girl that originally nominated him has to give him an award, shall we say."
Selena winked towards Lily and Marlene.
Lily and Marlene's eyes both bugged out of their skull, and Marlene instantly started sputtering out apologies to Lily.
"Now, if I'm not mistaken, Stephanie Bones, you nominated Owen Wood six years ago." Selena smiled. All of the seventh years applauded, and Stephanie, Malory's sister, took a bow. "Okay, go and give him your 'prize' then. And while you're at it, you should take out the third, second, and first years down with you."
A chorus of groans filled the dormitory.
"Sorry, guys." Selena winced as the seventh years pulled out suspiciously dark bottles from their trunks. "Think about it this way, third years. Only one more year to go until you can stay the night!"
"That's firewhisky." Kyra supplied, "My father has tons of those in the kitchen."
"Okay, then. Underclassmen with me! And don't even think about trying to stay. We know who you are." Stephanie called throughout the dorm. Lily sighed and walked out with Kyra and Alice. She hadn't particularly forgiven Marlene yet.
As soon as the first girl stepped out of the door, a group of boys instantly jumped away and tried their best to look innocent.
"Nice try, Owen." A third year rolled her eyes at the boy who was leaning on the door and fell on his bum. A few girls giggled and Owen chuckled and ran a hand through his messy hair. Owen Wood was quite attractive, Lily marveled. The boy deserved hundreds of whatever award he was to receive that night.
"There must have been some type of charm placed on the room so no one outside could hear." Kyra said, also staring openly at Owen Wood.
"Stephanie has something for you!" A third year giggled. With that, each girl raced to their respective dormitories. Lily followed.
That night, for the first time, Lily went to sleep without thinking of her sister.
When James and Sirius finally returned to the Gryffindor common room, it was quite late at night. The only person in the common room was a seventh year, with unkempt sandy brown hair and a smirk on his face.
"You boys first years?" The seventh year asked. James and Sirius nodded. The seventh year laughed and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "I'm Owen Wood, by the way. Oh, just wait until you get to seventh year. It's the best experience a bloke can have."
A few boys raced out of the boys section of the tower and cheered and placed the boy on their shoulders. It was then that James noticed Owen Wood had a purplish mark on his jaw and neck, for whatever reason. Before the boys hoisted Owen to the dormitories, Owen laughed all the while and pushed his messy hair back one final time. After they deserted the common room, James and Sirius were left to stare.
"What the bloody hell was that about?" Sirius asked, bewildered.
"No idea, but that was wicked." James said, still wide eyed. Before he followed Sirius to the boy dormitories, he ran his hand through his own black hair.
A/N
Next up... Year Two!
Thank you so much to siriusuntiltheveryend (both the tumblr and fanfiction user) for helping me with this chapter and for the support!
