A/N: Jily Week day three. Prompt: Dumbledore's Offer.
(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)
'I'm not sorry.' James folded his arms across his chest defiantly as he strode up and down the little stretch of red carpet in front of the desk. 'Not one little bit Professor. You can expel me, make me Filch's skivvy for the rest of the year, take my badge, whatever, I don't care. I'm glad I did it, and I'd do it again.'
Dumbledore laced his fingers together and rested his clasped hands on his desk, observing his raging Head Boy calmly. The faint hint of a bruise was beginning to bloom on his cheek, his hair was messier than usual and his face was set in angry lines, his eyes hard behind his glasses.
It was odd to see in a way. He had almost forgotten how much of a temper James Potter had; it had been some time since he had really involved himself in a fight. He threw the occasional hex, certainly, and there could be no doubting his…issues…with particular other students, but even that had calmed down over the course of his NEWT studies, and since his appointment to the Head Boy position he could more often be found tutoring first years than participating in duels. No, today was an exception rather than the rule, and Dumbledore found himself curious as to what could have prompted his Head Boy to violently assault three six year Slytherins, using only his fists rather than his wand.
'I am not going to do anything, Mr Potter, until I have the facts of the matter.' He spoke calmly, his eyes resting on James, still prowling the confines of his office. 'Would you care to enlighten me as to the unfortunate circumstances that led to this regrettable incident?'
That proved to be a rather provocative statement, and James stopped his pacing and exploded at his Headmaster.
'Unfortunate circumstances?' His lip curled in an uncharacteristically aggressive expression as his voice rose, and Dumbledore considered it a good thing that the Headmaster's Office was thoroughly covered by Silencing charms, or a good portion of the corridor would currently be overhearing the wrath of James Potter. 'Is that what you call it, Professor, when sixth years practice Unforgivable curses on second years? Because do you know what I call it? Bloody disgusting. Appalling. A bloody…disgrace. And there is nothing, nothing, regrettable about what I did to them, although I do regret that I didn't manage to break more bones…'
It was perhaps a good thing that the door flew open at that point to admit the Head Girl; James' temper - never sterling to begin with - was decidedly frayed by this point, and it was entirely possible that he was about to start taking it out on anything that crossed his path, inanimate or not.
'You asked to see me urgently Professor?' Lily began as she entered the room, her eyes fixed on the Headmaster seated behind the desk, but she obviously caught a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye, and her gaze was quickly drawn by the irate teenage boy now frozen to the spot, knuckles turning white and jaw clenched. 'James? James, what happened?'
She closed the space between them in a heartbeat, one hand reaching up to trace the bruise that was slowly making its presence known on his face. Dumbledore looked down at his desk, pointedly not seeing the tender interaction currently taking place between his Head Boy and Girl; he'd had a feeling about the pair for some time now, and felt that this could quite easily be considered confirmation of a sort.
'What happened?' Lily's voice was gentle, but it was also firm; even so, Dumbledore was surprised when he responded, surprised that she could coax immediate answers from a fuming James Potter with nothing more than a few words and a simple touch. Perhaps there was even more there than he'd thought. The idea was uplifting; love could be found even in the worst of times.
'I found myself some trouble.'
'So I can see.' There was a sharp intake of breath from James, and Dumbledore assumed that Lily's questing fingertips had found some particularly sore patch of skin. 'Care to share some more details with us?'
Dumbledore looked up at that; Lily's use of the plural suggested that she, at least, had remembered they were not alone, though she did not appear particularly concerned that the Headmaster was witness to her current position, pressed up close to James as she examined his bruised cheek and raw knuckles.
'I caught some sixth years trying to practice Crucio and Imperio on second years.' He answered shortly, irritability still buzzing in his words. 'And I lost my temper.'
'Lose your wand as well?' Asked Lily, with the faintest hint of a smile playing on her lips.
To the Headmaster's surprise, James actually looked a little sheepish at that.
'I just forgot about it to be honest.'
Lily laughed, very briefly and quietly as she grasped both of his hands in hers. 'You know, sometimes it's almost impossible to believe that you're a pureblood.'
James raised his eyes to the Headmaster, his height allowing him to look directly over Lily's head. 'I meant it Professor. I'll take whatever punishment you give me, but I'm not sorry I did it, and I can't honestly say I won't do it again.'
Dumbledore looked at the pair, appraising them as they stood in front of him. He was very much torn; on the one hand, he couldn't deny that he had long had hopes for them after school, hopes that they would join him and fight. On the other, he wished more than anything that he didn't have to ask them to. Watching them as they stood together in his office, joined at the hands, obviously a unit rather than a pair of individuals, he wished for nothing more than to give James detention and send them both back to their common room with a few words about controlling his temper.
But there was the world he would wish to live in, and the world they did live in, and the closer it came to the end of the school year, the less choice he felt he had in the matter.
'Mr Potter…I can't imagine that punishing you over this matter would do any good.'
James' face registered his surprise, but Lily's remained composed; the Headmaster rather suspected that she somehow knew all along that he wouldn't punish him.
'Your methods may be…somewhat reprehensible, but your desire to protect others, to fight for what is right, is one of the reasons I appointed you to the position in the first place, and I cannot punish you for that.'
He leaned back in his chair and sighed, recognising that his decision had long been made, and he simply had to come to terms with it.
'I would, however, like to offer you a more effective outlet for your righteous indignation.'
James' curiosity was obviously raised, and the residual surprise and the remnants of anger slid from his face to be replaced with an expression of cautious interest. Lily was likewise looking at him with great attentiveness, and he again felt that pang in his heart that he could not simply let them be.
He gestured for the two of them to sit down and waited for them to seat themselves, wondering if they were consciously aware of the way their bodies inclined towards each other as each took up one of the armchairs opposite his desk.
'You will be leaving this school in a few months; I'm sure that begins to feel like a rather short time.' He waited for brief nods from them both before continuing. 'I am also certain that you are aware, at least to some extent, of the more ominous events that have been taking place in the world outside these walls.'
Nods again from both of them; he doubted that any witch or wizard was unaware of the attacks on Diagon Alley, the disappearances, the mass muggle killings, but he wished to make it very clear what they would be involving themselves with.
'The wizard styling himself Lord Voldemort is perhaps the greatest evil we have ever faced, and his influence seeps in everywhere, poisoning wizard against wizard. You have witnessed this even here, in today's events, and on many other days I'm sure; his poison leaches even into Hogwarts, into the hearts of the young. We must stop him. And we will do so.'
He paused again, seeing that he had the rapt attention of both the Head Boy and Girl, and though it pained him to do so, he spoke the words that would effectively end their adolescence and thrust them into an adult life fraught with danger and difficulty. The only comfort he could draw from it was that they would, at least, be together. The side he was recruiting for would not only accept their love, but celebrate it; and the alternative, what Voldemort or his Death Eaters would do to the two of them if they could, if they were allowed to run unchecked…well, that was unthinkable. Simply unthinkable. To lose two of their best to the most preposterous kind of bigotry, for them to lose their lives for no reason other than their love for each other. It must not happen.
'Have either of you ever heard mention of the Order of the Phoenix?'
(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)
A/N: It's still Jily week on Tumblr! You can find me as scared-of-clouds if you want to chat or whatever.
