Centripetal Motion

Chapter 4

A Moment

It was late. Or rather, it was extraordinarily early. It was two in the morning, to be precise and not more than six human souls were awake across the entir grounds of Hogwarts. All six of these souls were in the Slytherin Common Room, which was a shadowy darkness and eerily green, as it always was. The six Slytherins were whispering. And nothing good could come of it.

Severus Snape leaned forward against a table in the Common Room, glaring angrily as he surveyed the small band strewn across the couches. There were two sixth years: Briar Gibbons and Terrence Wilkes, and three seventh years: Acacia Gibbons, Tempest Avery, and Croydon Mulciber. To Severus, that was four Slytherins too many.

With eyes of poisonous rage, Severus turned to Croydon, who say on the arm of a carved, high-backed chair with a green seat cushion. "As I remember, Mulciber, I confided in you my intentions to strike at a select few of our classmates." Croydon deliberately avoided the prefect's gaze. Though Croydon trusted Severus's loyalty the Dark Lord's cause, he never much liked Severus, and secretly revelled in his Housemate's irritation.

Severus kept speaking, voice spilling with venomous annoyance. "Now tell me, did I at any time instruct you to recruit the entire House to assist me?"

Croydon rolled his eyes, "Did you really think you were leaving Tempest out of the fun? And you know where he goes, Gibbons will follow like a dog."

Acacia's sunken eyes split in feminist indignation, "I resent that." Turning to Tempest, she folded her arms.

They took Tempest's sudden preoccupation with the floor as avoidance. Acacia's lips pressed together angrily. Croydon grinned maliciously, "That's right; be a good bitch and shut up," he commanded, to which Acacia leapt to her feet.

"This is why I do not want you here!" Severus bellowed.

Tempest spoke calmly, "We're here now, Severus. You might as well put us to work."

Severus sighed, "This is an undertaking of time. Do you possess patience?"

"Of course," Acacia rolled her eyes.

Croydon cut off Severus, "Speak when spoken too, woman!"

Acacia leapt to her feet once more, "My very presence raises your intelligence level a few notches, troll. Work on appreciating the great charity I do by tolerating your odour."

Severus had crossed the room by now, and grabbing Acacia by the arm, he threw her back to the coach with Tempest. "Patience, Gibbons? I have yet to see proof of it in the six years I have known you. Why should I believe you shall have it in this task?"

Briar Gibbons spoke for the first time, "We have as much patience as is needed to serve the Dark Lord. We will give anything for Him."

Suddenly uncomfortable with the scrutiny Severus was subjecting him to, Briar fought to hold his gaze. Eventually Snape pulled a piece of parchment from his robes, "Take this," he handed the parchment to Briar. "You and Wilkes will have completed collection in two weeks time or you shall be christened incompetent for the remainder of your meaningless lives."

Terrence Wilkes examined the list hesitantly, "And by collection, I presume you mean…"

Severus swished from the room, exiting to his dormitory, but not before answering, "Theft."

With the come of morning came Marlene McKinnon's eighteenth birthday and the first Quidditch match of the season: Ravenclaw against Hufflepufff. When the seventh year Gryffindors arrived at the pitch, they were all donning the neutral red and gold of their own house. Though the group was all in all friendlier with Ravenclaws, the Ravenclaw team was more of a threat to Gryffindor than Hufflepuff was, and they secretly hoped for a win by the underdog.

Settling in the highest section of the stands, Marlene found herself cornered between Lily and Sirius.

"So," Sirius started. "Eighteen now, Marlene?"

"Yes, Black," she responded. "Deterred by my old age?"

"Nah," he leaned closer to her ear. "I like an older woman."

"Yes, well, I'm deterred by a little boy."

Sirius grinned, "I'll be eighteen in two weeks. Rendezvous avec moi in two weeks?"

Marlene grimaced, "Switch places with me, Lily?"

"What makes you think I want to sit next to him?" Lily asked.

Her blonde friend formed her red lips into an incredible pout, widening her eyes, "Please, Lily?"

Rolling her eyes, she slid over Marlene, "Alright. But only because it's your birthday."

Marlene giggled triumphantly as she took her new place between James and Lily.

"Prongsie-boy," Sirius shouted over the escalating crowd noise. "Don't you want to sit near—

"It's starting!" James said, leaping to his feet with Abigail.

Sirius was soon up as well and they began shouting angrily at the players.

"What the bloody hell does he think he's doing?" James shouted.

"Yeah!" Marlene agreed. "What's he doing?"

"Hey, Aubrey!" Sirius yelled. "Maybe you'd be able to fly better if you got that stick out of your—

"The snitch!" Abigail shrieked. "It's right behind her head! How can she not see that?"

Caught in the midst of complete Quidditch madness, Lily got on all fours and crawled down the bench to Remus, Peter, Gwendolyn, and Alice.

"Am I the only one who doesn't care that much?" Lily asked.

Gwendolyn lit up. "Oh, oh, oh, I don't care at all!" she spoke with soft excitement.

"You really don't care about Quidditch, Lily?" Remus raised an eyebrow. He still remembered Lily's utter fascination with the sport in first year. She had even begun to fly quite well before she learned what a bludger was.

"No, I care," she quickly assured him. "Just not that much," she nodded towards Sirius, who was yelling something that sounded akin to "uncoordinated bastard."

Alice tapped Lily on the shoulder, "Peter and I have an interesting game going. Count how many times Marlene agrees with James. We're up to six."

Lily giggled as James shook his head, "Not enough acceleration on that dive."

Marlene nodded her head solemnly, "Definitely, he should have accelerated much more."

Sirius grinned. "She. She should have accelerated more."

"Seven," Alice amended herself.

By the end of the match, which Hufflepuff had one, much to the excitement of the Gryffindors, Marlene had repeated James twenty-three times, Sirius had "accidentally" petted Marlene a total of four times, and Peter had had to be rescued from falling off the stands merely twice. All in all, a wonderful afternoon.

"Marlene," Abigail asked as they walked up to the castle, "Have you found someone to give you eighteen birthday kisses, yet?"

"Oh, no," she answered with a deliberate look at James. "No one has asked."

James shifted uncomfortably and quickened his pace.

"I'm always here, McKinnon," Sirius said, appearing by her side in seconds, arm around her waist in one fluid motion.

"You know what?" Marlene nearly shouted, "I nearly forgot! I have somewhere I have to go!"

"Where are you off to?" Lily asked as Marlene gave her a one armed hug.

"I'm off to find me a Ravenclaw to snog," she mumbled under her breath.

Apparently, finding a Ravenclaw to snog was incredibly simple for such a beautiful and shapely girl like Marlene. She walked into dinner late with tousled hair and swollen lips, plopping herself down next to the Gryffindor girls and waving her fingers at Bertram Aubrey.

At the other end of the table, Sirius Black ground his teeth irritably and ate another chicken leg.

Abigail grinned at Marlene. "Found yourself a nice boy?"

"Nice?" Marlene smirked. "I wouldn't say nice, but he came with a trip to Hogsmeade next Saturday."

Lily frowned at the mention of Hogsmeade. She had been right in her assumption that Leonard Page would ask her to Hogsmeade. He had, and the stupid boy had thought to do so right after Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and thus right in front of James Potter. So, just to spite James, Lily felt compelled to tell Leonard she'd meet him by the Shrieking Shack for a little while.

Suddenly slightly sick to her stomach, Lily excused herself from dinner and started wandering the castle, a favourite past time of hers.

"Peter, how do you eat that many potatoes?" Remus gaped.

"Ish ah giff."

"Or a genetic mutation," Sirius noted with a mouth full of chicken. With a disturbingly loud gulp, he stood from the table. "Well, chaps. A chicken-induced food coma should be hitting in precisely nine minutes and seventy-two seconds, and as I think we would like to avoid an instance like last time, I shall be getting myself to the common room." Taking a dignified turn to James, he continued, "Scruffy-head? Would you care to accompany me should I pass out before reaching my destination?"

"I don't know…" James grinned. "I found it quite enjoyable when you were discovered in the hallway the next morning... Now remind me Moony, what was his position?"

Remus stuck his tongue in he cheek, "I don't quite remember, Prongs. Was he hugging and stroking Filch's cat?"

"Ah, yes!" James sighed. "Yes, he was. And, tell me Wormtail, did we take any pictures of this situation?"

"I believe there are fourteen angles, Prongs."

"Yes," James sighed again. "Yes, there are. And eight-six print copies."

"Of each angle," Remus added.

"And do I have the most sadistic bastards in the school as friends?" Sirius asked. "Yes, yes, I do. Now move it, Potter. We're down to eight-minutes and forty-six seconds."

"Will do cat-boy," James stood and started towards the doors.

"That's enough."

"Stopping right now, my feline friend."

"I'm serious."

"I know you are, my dearest kitty mittens."

Sirius stopped, "Don't call me that."

James nodded, "Yes, that was too far."

The boys carefully avoided talk of cats as they headed towards the seventh floor tower, but stopped suddenly on the fourth floor.

They heard voices, and something wasn't right. Ducking behind the corner, they listened to what seemed to be two boys talking.

"So I was just getting on with that McKinnon girl," one boy bragged in an exaggeratedly deep voice. It was Bertram Aubrey, a sixth Ravenclaw on the Quidditch team. James was also fairly certain he was a prefect.

"McKinnon?" came another male voice, presumably also a sixth year Ravenclaw. "Who's she?"

"That blonde Gryffindor. Seventh year I think. You know who I'm talking about. She's always got tight shirts and dark lipstick—real easy."

"Let's blow off his head," Sirius seethed under his breath.

"How about blowing off his toes?" James asked.

"I got it! We can blow up toes!"

James raised an eyebrow. "Aren't blowing off and blowing up the same thing?"

"No," Sirius explained. "Blowing up like inflating."

"Interesting…" James considered.

Sirius looked pleased, "It just sort of came to me, you know? A stroke of genius."

James placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Well done, mate."

"Thank you, James. Alright, so I go on three?"

"Is it worth it?" James asked.

"He's insulting Marlene," Sirius stared at his friend dumbfounded. "Of course it's worth it."

"I don't know…"

The both with Bertram spoke again, "Oh, the one who's friend with Lily Evans?"

"Yeah, that one. Now if I could get at Lily Evans, I'd drop McKinnon in a second," Bertram answered. "Have you seen the behind on that one?"

James nearly pounced, "I'll blow up his head!"

"Is it worth it?" Sirius asked sarcastically, restraining James.

"Like hell!" he growled.

Just then, another voice came from behind the corner. A female voice. Lily Evan's voice. "I wonder what Marlene's going to have to say when she hears that?"

After a moment of shock, they head the boys again. "Aw baby," Bertram lowered his voice. "I'm complimenting you."

Lily's voice came again. "Step any farther, scumbag, and I blow up your head." She stood wand ready, feet planted, eyes daring him to test her.

"Let me do the honours!" James shouted as he broke down Sirius's restraint. His wand was out by the time he hit the ground and Bertram was floating towards the ceiling, head slowly inflating to about three times its original size.

As his head hit the top of the ceiling, bobbing gently, James quickly checked that Sirius was chasing the other one away, and then he turned to Lily. "First rule of committing a crime: when the deed is done, run."

Unable to comprehend the situation, Lily nodded and the two took off down the hall and up the steps, stopping on the sixth floor to catch their breaths.

Lily felt all her rage and fear and adrenaline vibrating in her kneecaps and let her legs give out, collapsing to the floor. She blinked at raised her eyes to James, who watched her as one would watch a grenade with the pin out. "H-how? How did you be? Be there?"

"I overheard. And then I jumped. Something programmed into my mind I suppose. Someone is mean to you, I'm mean to them."

"Thanks," Lily smiled. "Though I did have it on my own."

"I'll ignore the last part," James sat down next to her. "But, really, are you alright?" He tenderly questioned.

"Yeah," Lily sighed. "Just a little angry I guess. And I bit rattled." After a pause, she stood and began pacing, "Why are there boys like that? Ugh! It makes me mad! Why can't they be civilized people! It isn't very hard. I manage to do it every day of my life. Have been for seventeen years. Abigail, Alice, Gwen, even Marlene manages. It's not hard. Someone simply must teach him some manners! He can keep his comments about my behind to himself!"

"Lily! Lily, stop." James caught her by the shoulders. "Listen, no, just listen for a second. He's a lowlife, but not all people are like that."

Lily turned to look at him. "Yes, I know," she sighed with a pout. "But one person is one person too many."

James mumbled his condolences and agreement and slipped his arms from her shoulders to hug her.

Quite exhausted, Lily allowed herself to be held. Relieved that he had not been slapped on the spot, James leaned his chin over her head, settling into his favourite hair and contemplating the current situation. This was not the first time James was comforting Lily. In fact, when not the cause of the pain, he had taken the role several times throughout the years. "You know Lily, at least he's noticed the beauty of your behind." Unfortunately, he usually screwed it up as well.

"Merlin!" Lily cried, shoving him away. "Why must you always screw it up?"

James rocked back and forth on his heels, twisting his mouth in regret, "That was stupid, then, yes?"

"Yes."

James paused. "What did I screw up?"

Rolling her eyes dramatically, Lily sighed, "That was a nice moment."

James's eyebrows shot up. "Moment?"

"Yes, moment. It was a nice moment and you screwed it up."

"Moment," James repeated in awe. They had had a moment! Lily just gawked at him. Perhaps she was unaware of the salsa going on in his stomach at that moment. Or the jitterbug in his brain. Or the flamenco in his kneecaps. There was a bloody dance competition radiating through his body over the "moment" and Lily was gawking at him like someone a tad slow on the uptake.

Throwing her hands in the air, she took off up the stairs. James watched her go, still attempting to put his foot down on the disco in his ribcage. Stopping at the top of the stairs, Lily looked back. "Coming, Potter?" she asked.

"In a pirouette," James said, running up the stairs.

Again resuming her gawking, Lily turned to the next flight of steps, allowing plenty of time for James to catch up. Lily often got angry, but never with the intent of actually losing him. That would be absurd.

Disclaimer: HA! I didn't put this on Chapter 3! HA!

A/N: So I do know it's been a few months, but I'm going to be perfectly honest and say that on my priority list, the bottom four items are food, homework, sleep, and fanfiction. In that order. No, actually, sleep is last. Moving on. I actually wrote the entire second half of this chapter completely differently, and then deleted it all because I thought it wasn't moving in the right direction, but there were parts I liked that I'm going to throw in later. Also, Bertram Aubrey's head was really blown up by James and Sirius according to Book 6. Fun fact, I know. And lastly, thanks to everyone who reviewed. And no, I am not desperate for reviews. I was joking. Again. Sorry. I'll come up with a code word for when I'm joking. Remind me to think of one. Ummmm..... I think that's all I wanted to say. Gosh, this is longer than the chapter.

Cheerio,

Mebmarker24