This chapter is dedicated to my first every reviewer, swimmy6! Thanks for the support.
Eileen Prince is not a person you say "no" to. Not because she's particularly scary or in anyway threatening, but because the dark haired woman, whose sallow and sunken face seems to droop whenever she talks, has the saddest goddamn eyes whenever she asks for a favor. And so, for the second time that summer, Lily Evans found herself sitting in a cramped sedan next to Severus Snape. The silence in the car was punctuated by Mrs. Prince's sniffs and Mrs. Evans' expressions of concern, but the two teenagers never said a word to each other, and their eyes met only at the least convenient moments.
While for the first half hour of the car ride Lily had silently fumed and bit back the curses and jinxes she was itching to throw, the remainder of the trip to Kings Cross found Lily debating with herself which topics she could possibly bring up without starting another argument. She had already ruled out asking if he'd been to Diagon Alley, because he had probably gone with Mulciber and Avery. Talking about classes was also out of the question, as it would only lead to a discussion of ambitions for post-Hogwarts life, and Lily was sure she didn't want to know Severus' plans. Even a simple " How was your summer, Sev?" would be sure to end in Severus being sarcastic and bitter and Lily feeling guilty and then more anger. At long last, Lily decided it might be safe to ask if he had read anything interesting over the holiday, but before she could plan out the best way to phrase the question, the Evans' small car came to a stop outside of Kings Cross. Mrs. Evans turned to beam at the pair of students behind her.
It was a strained smile, just a little sad and a lot of pleading. The forced look of it made Lily want to giggle, but she stifled the noise when Mrs. Prince turned to give a much more pained smile to her son.
"Well," began Mrs. Evans, "This is it. Your second to last year at school. I bet you're both so anxious!" Severus looked like he was trying to smile but it came out more like a grimace.
"It'll be much worse next year, when we take our exams" Lily replied, giving her mother a warm grin. Severus grunted in agreement.
The ladies continued with their conversation, mostly carried on by the two red heads, as they got out the luggage from the car and made their way towards the platform. The two Evans' walked arm and arm, laughing about nothing, with the elder sending worried glances over her shoulder now and then at their two companions.
"Mum... They're all right they don't need our help getting to the barrier."
"I know dear, it's just... Eileen looks sickly, don't you think?" She did indeed look ill to Lily, but not anymore than usual. "Her cousins passed away this summer, did you know? In some sort of horrible accident. I'm not sure she even went to the funeral, but she looked so distressed when she told me about it."
The truth was that the few Princes left in the wizarding world were almost all dead. While Mrs. Prince had decided to go against her family's wishes and marry a muggle, she had a deep seeded pride in being a Prince, a pure-blood. Her family was less known than the Blacks, but just as ancient and just as prejudiced. It hadn't been an accident that had killed the remainder of the woman's family, but Aurors allegedly on the defense. The deaths hadn't gone unnoticed by either side.
"... and did you see that bruise on poor Severus' arm? I had hoped that that mess had ended." Lily had noticed the bruise, it being the first thing to send Lily into a firey pit of guilt and anger earlier that day. "Has he spoken at all to you-"
"No." This was a point Lily wanted to make clear. "We don't talk anymore, mum. It's not just some row that we've had like kids it's- bigger than that," she finished lamely. So far Lily had managed to avoid telling her mum about the war that had gained heat over the summer. Lily couldn't possibly explain why Hogwarts was the safest place for her, not well enough that her mother wouldn't worry. Thankfully, Mrs. Evans was pacified on the subject, at least for the moment.
Not having any magic in her blood, Mrs Evans was unable to accompany her daughter onto the platform that contained the train that would take her away for the next four months. Mrs. Prince and her son had caught up with the pair and waited for Lily to say a tearful goodbye to her mother. As Mrs. Evans wiped her face with her left hand, she placed her right on the shoulder of Mrs. Prince for support. At this show of affection Mrs. Prince flinched, and Lily wondered for a moment whether it was because of whom it was touching her, or that she was simply not accustomed to such friendly behavior.
With one last watery smile, Lily pushed her trolley through the barrier and found herself feeling as if she'd like to run. But in what direction, she wasn't sure.
Her travel companions appeared next to her shortly, and Lily said a polite but hurried adieu to her neighbor before rushing towards the train. The mother-son goodbye was not one that she needed to witness.
The full moon had never been so close to the start of term.
'I'm lucky' Remus reminded himself. 'It happened before term, not during the first week or Merlin forbid on the first day'.
Remus Lupin was not lucky though, and the last full moon right before the beginning of his second to last year at Hogwarts had been on August 31st. If anything, Remus Lupin was lucky he was even on the train.
In fact, because of his condition, Remus had arrived at the platform approximately one hour before anyone else had started to show up, in order to ensure a compartment away from prying eyes. His parents had done their best job healing his injuries, but his father, the only other wizard in their small family, was not particularly practiced in dealing with cursed wounds. Usually he would have had time to go to Saint Mungo's, but the bloody full moon just had to be on bloody August 31st. So there he sat with a half healed scratch along his neck and bruises on a third of his body. But it could have been worse, as Remus was prone to reminding himself.
Unfortunately, Remus couldn't hide in his compartment for the entire train ride. Not only would his friends surely take the mickey out of him if he did, but he had to go to the prefect's carriage. Maybe if he showed them a bruise or two they wouldn't mind his coming late. Two minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin, Remus decided going to the meeting now was better than answering questions later.
But luck was not on Remus Lupin's side today. No sooner had he stepped out of his compartment than he heard shouts coming from the opposite direction he was headed. High-pitched childlike shouts that did not sound like the joyful squeals of third years reuniting with their friends. Growling, Remus turned and began to limp-jog towards the source of the noise.
He wasn't the only one who had heard the commotion, apparently.
"Moony! How've you been? James and I found a new pet." The great prat Sirius Black had his wand pointed at a Slytherin 7th year who was on the ground growing what looked like patches of wool all over his skin. "Look, he has a tail too." What Sirius called a tail must have been the squid tentacle protruding from the wooly teenager's backside. Sirius laughed as the practically immobile 'pet' made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a squeal. "I bet I can make him grow antlers too..."
"Oy!" exclaimed the until then silent James Potter.
"That's enough, Sirius. Put him right before some of his mates come by and test out how you look with fins."
"I wouldn't mind, if they gave me gills at least," but Sirius flicked his wand and the wool started disappearing. "Maybe I'll let him keep the tail, he doesn't look that bad with it." Just as Sirius said this, the boy on the ground let out a wild squeak and ink shot from the tentacle all over James. Sirius burst out laughing and even Remus couldn't help but smile as James furiously started spluttering and flailing to try and get off the dark gooey substance. In between gasps of laughter, Sirius removed the tentacle too. Once James got the majority of ink off of his face, Sirius announced that he would personally drop off the Slytherin to the conductor's car towards the end of the train, where he would be forced to listen to the jolly old man's folk songs.
As Sirius dragged the dazed Slytherin to the next car, Remus turned to James who was still trying to get blotches of ink off of his glasses. "So err- what happened?"
"The git was cursing a group of second years. Thought it'd be funny to make all of their books chase them around the train. One ended up running into a wall and got a pretty decent black eye. I think Pete was trying to heal it..." He glanced around, as if only just realizing that their blonde haired friend was not with them. "What about you? Where've you been all this -"
"Remus! Oy, Remus!" A short, red haired figure was walking towards the two sixth years, looking moderately upset.
"Shit."
"What have you done?"
Lily approached the two sixth year boys, looking determinedly at Remus. James frowned. He had almost forgotten that Lily hated him. He had hoped that after nearly three months of distance, she might be able to at least look him in the eye.
"Where were you? Don't you know that Galina Gavin is the new head girl? She was right ready to take your badge away for skiving off your duties so early on." Lily crossed her arms and glared at her fellow prefect. Out of the corner of his eye Remus could see James hurriedly getting rid of any evidence of the incident before-namely the puddle of ink.
"Shit." Remus repeated. "Did you cover for me?"
Lily took in Remus's haggered appearence, the bruise that wasn't quite hidden on his arm, the heavy bags around his eyes, and the disheveled state of his robes, as if he had woken up in them. Her face softened, any traces of anger fading. " Of course I did. I don't exactly fancy patrolling by myself for the next year. But what were you doing? It's not like you to just not show up."
"I was-uhh-"
Perhaps the luckiest he had been all day, Remus Lupin was saved from having to answer because at that moment, the three sixth years, who had at that point been standing in the middle of an otherwise deserted corridor, were thrust back into an empty compartment by what felt like a gust of wind, the door slamming after them. And then the lights went out and people started screaming.
Two wands lit almost simultaneously, and Lily and James looked at each other, eyes wide. It took both of them a moment to realize that the third member of their party was not within their sight.
"Moony?" James said quietly, as if worried about what reply he might get. A groan was heard from somewhere below them, and both Lily and James pointed their lit wands at the floor.
"Oh, Remus!" They both knelt down beside their friend. Remus' eyes were shut tight, his brow creased and he was beginning to sweat. He sounded as though whatever air he was gasping for wasn't reaching his lungs.
"Merlin, mate, what-" but James didn't know what to say, and could only look up at Lily, desperate for some help. Lily met his eyes for a moment and then went back to observing Remus.
"I think- I think he's only had the wind knocked out of him, but-" She drifted off, biting her lip. "He looks like he's in a lot of pain."
Slowly, James slipped his arm under his friend and lifted him into a sitting position where he could rest against the wall. It seemed to help, and after a minute, Remus managed to choke out a few noises that sounded something like "I'm okay." James gave him an appraising look, and then an understanding nod.
Once she was convinced Remus was all right, anger started to set in Lily. Anger and panic. She turned from the boys and began to furiously shake the door, but it wouldn't budge. Eventually she took to banging against the glass, and even shouted a hex at the door only to have it ricochet and crack one of the benches, thankfully missing her two peers.
"Dammit!" She shouted. "I am a PREFECT. Open the damn door!" Whatever she thought may happen by saying this, didn't. In fact, it only made a still heavy breathing Remus chuckle and a bemused James shake his head. But the latter wasn't looking at Lily, but instead was whispering to something in his hand. Lily thought for a moment that he may have been whispering to Remus before realizing that the prat was also putting his ear to his hand to listen to whomever he was talking with.
Before Lily got a chance to question him on this strange behavior, James turned to her and said "I don't think we're under attack."
No one had actually said anything to suggest they were, but since the lights had gone out it had been the primary fear.
"Why not?" Lily asked, perhaps a little louder than necessary.
"Because, no one is shouting anymore. Well, except you. The compartments are automatically supposed to shut down at the possibility of a threat, maybe it was a false alarm- or maybe they were just testing the system." Remus seemed to believe this theory at least, as he then reached into his pocket and pulled out a bar of Honeydukes finest, taking a large bite out of it. Lily was a little more skeptical, and turned back towards the door to peek through the glass.
"No one seems to be moving," said Lily, unsure whether or not that was a good sign.
"See, Evans? No ghouls or erumpets aboard the Hogwarts express. Well, unless Sirius transfigured someone into one." This didn't exactly assure Lily, but as Remus held out his chocolate bar to her and she took a bite, she felt warmth rush down her body and her shoulders relax. Unsure but unable to do much else, Lily returned to what she knew she could do and knelt down next to Remus. She opened up her shoulder bag and pulled out a bottle of homemade potion.
"Murtlap Essence. It will help your bruises and cuts." She showed it to him, and Remus nodded in permission. Lily got to work applying the substance to all the injuries that she could see. Remus and James knew Lily was smart enough to realize that most of the injuries were already healing, and had been there before they were thrown into the compartment. But Lily didn't question it, and the two boys were thankful.
"So do you just, uh, carry that stuff around in case of emergencies or something?" James poked her with his foot gently as he questioned her.
"Not exactly." She answered, but James didn't have as much tact as Lily and prodded her with his foot a second time hoping for more information. Lily angrily swatted his foot away. "I just carry it around out of habit, Potter," she said, her voice rising once again.
"Alright, alright. No need to get so upset, Evans."
"James..." Remus interjected, as Lily opened up her mouth to retort. "Sometimes we just say 'thank you' and bask in the luck of it all."
"Luck?" Said James, turning to face his friend. "What in any of this is lucky? You couldn't even stand right now if you tried." And then, miraculously, the lights turned on.
Lily jumped up to test the door. "Dammit! Still locked" She was about to try kicking it when James called to her
"Hey Evans, why don't you try your wand?" And instead of giving her a chance to try, James whipped out his own and said "Alohamora". Nothing happened.
"See?" Lily said childishly. Remus groaned but they both ignored him.
"Better than kicking."
"I never kicked it!"
"But you were going to- oh don't give me that look you were."
"I suppose now you can read minds and such. Can you guess what I'm thinking? Cause it involves you and some manticores."
"Bloody hell, Evans, punch a guy for trying to help."
"I might just take you up on that"
James was about to retort, but something about the look on Lily's face made him stop. He searched her for a moment, taking in her shaking clenched fists and thin lips. "What exactly are you so angry about Evans?"
"I'm not angry. I'm stuck in a cramped compartment, possibly under attack-"
"I thought we decided we aren't under attack."
"- with you for company, no less, and I can't bloody get this door open." She turned from him and grasped the handle again, shaking it.
James wasn't sure what to do but stare. Practical, talented, and intelligent Lily Evans had now taken to shouting at a locked door.
"There's nothing to be scared of, Lily. If we were under attack, we'd know by now."
"I'm not scared I'm irritated and I'm certainly not stupid so stop talking to me as if I'm some first year," but at his words she had taken her hands off from the door. James glanced at them, and noticed they were still shaking slightly. Lily noticed too and quickly crossed her arms to hide them- cursing their feebleness.
"How much longer until we get to the castle, do you think?" asked Remus, hoping for a distraction.
"Dunno, reckon another half an hour at least. The train never stopped, far as I can tell." James replied.
"You're not in your robes, I guess you'll be in muggle attire for the feast."
"Some Slytherins probably will be too" he smirked "they'll love that."
The two continued their conversation, laughing at how Mulciber would most likely pitch a fit in the Entrance Hall. Eventually, Lily joined in with them, remarking how poor Ashley Puglett will cry about having to wear jeans to the feast instead of her classic too-short skirt.
"I don't know, Ashley Puglett looks pretty fit in those jeans."
Lily started at the familiar voice, belonging to their fellow sixth year, who was certainly not in the compartment with them.
"Padfoot!" James exclaimed, pulling out what looked like a small mirror from his pocket.
"Prongs, mate! How have you held up?"
"You spoke to him not twenty minutes ago, Sirius." Remus said, rolling his eyes.
"Moony! You're alive! James would have been so devastated if you died on his watch. I would have had to deal with his moping for days."
"I'm glad you'd be able to move on though, Pads."
"What is going on?" asked a rather confused Lily, looking between Remus, Potter, and the small mirror held in his hand.
"Lily Flower! Were you shouting earlier?" Lily's eyes widened as she realized that Sirius Black's voice was in fact coming from the mirror.
"Padfoot, were you able to get in touch with Peter?" James interrupted.
"No, I don't think he managed to slip away like we hoped. But the conductor says that the head students should be around soon to unlock all the doors. There's this enchanted key, you see-"
"They knew about this? Why wouldn't they tell the prefects?" asked Lily, appalled.
"Didn't they? Ernie here said they were supposed to." Ernie was, apparently, the folk-singing conductor."Must have slipped their minds" Lily muttered darkly. Remus just shook his head, and now it was James' turn to look angry.
They waited another five minutes, listening to Sirius' jabbering nonsense, until Galina Gavin herself opened up their door. Remus tried to sit up further to glare, but barely managed to do either. Lily stood in front of the head girl, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
"What do you think you're playing at Galina? We know you were supposed to tell us about the test." She felt James come stand behind her. "You've no right to override Dumbledore's orders. That was a seriously dangerous stunt and if you think-"
"Pause the lecture, Evans. Don't you think it was more authentic this way?" The head girl smirked.
"I think you're going to have a hard time controlling the prefects once they realize you've crowned yourself supreme dictator." As Lily spoke, she thought she felt something warm brush her arm, and a split second later, Galina Gavin's hair was bright pink, eyebrows and all. Not trusting herself to speak, Lily forced herself to angrily glare at the Slytherin, who was giving some witless remark. When Lily didn't retort the head girl smirked and turned to unlock the next compartment. Lily finally let out a guffaw of laughter and turned around to face the two boys. To her surprise it was Remus and not Potter who had his wand out.
"Frigid bitch." was all he said before leaning his head against the wall again. James sat down next to him and found some more chocolate in one of Remus' pockets.
"Nice one, mate. Though I would have gone for turning her hair into slugs myself."
"Well she definitely would have noticed that, I'm hoping no one will tell her for a bit."
"Oy, what's going on?" came Sirius' voice again.
"You'll find out, Padfoot." James put the mirror away and, smiling, instead turned to say something to Lily. "He—"
"I should go check on the younger students, make sure Galina actually told them we were never under attack." She awkwardly backed out of the compartment, keeping eye contact with Potter. He was staring at her in a similar way that he had looked at the injured Remus, but muddled with confusion. He was about to warn her about walking around alone in the chaos, but she was gone before he got the chance, leaving behind the small potion bottle she had been using on Remus. He watched the spot where she had disappeared for a moment, before turning back to his injured friend. Remus was watching him.
"What?" asked James, slightly annoyed.
"Nothing. I just realized that that was the first time I heard Lily Evans' name since before break," Remus said, frowning.
"So?" asked as scowling James.
"Just… didn't realize before." The look Remus was giving James, as if he knew something James didn't, was very irritating.
