Chapter Four
"You're the bleeding Prince of Gryffindor!" she said once they were ensconced in the back office.
"And you're magic!"
"You just told the entire pub that you're the prince and you fancy me."
"In my defense, they're both true."
She slapped him on the arm. "You are unbelievable."
"I don't see why I'm the villain here," James said, holding up his arm as a shield against further violence. "I thought you knew until yesterday."
"That you fancied me?" she demanded.
"No, that I was the prince."
"How on earth was I supposed to know you were the prince?"
"You said you knew who I was. How else was I supposed to interpret that?"
"I meant that I'd seen you before, you complete and utter fool."
"Oh." He let his arm drop. "That does rather make more sense. Wait, then why did you hate me? I thought you hated me for being the prince."
"No. I hated you because you were cruel to my friend."
"What?" James frowned. "When was this?"
"Three years ago," she said tartly. "You did something so awful he wouldn't even explain what you'd done. I only arrived in time to see you walking away with your sycophants. You looked back and saw me and you laughed."
He raised his eyebrows. "Now who's the fool, hating me for something I did as a child."
"That's a perfectly reasonable reason to hate someone."
He didn't remember her, not at all, and her description of the event didn't contain enough details to jog his memory. Granted, he knew what he'd been like at fifteen, and although it was possible that she'd mistaken him for someone else, it was just as likely that it had been him.
"Maybe it was enough to hate me," he conceded. "But I'm not the same person I was when I was fifteen, I'll have you know."
"I beg to differ. What kind of an idiotic prince declares he fancies some lowly woman in the village?"
"A brave one."
"Oh, shut it." She pushed a loose hair out of her face. "All right. Here's what we're going to do. We'll tell everyone it's a joke. Several people out there recognize you and we can convince everyone else."
"You know," said James, "we actually have something more significant to discuss."
"Oh, do tell."
"The fact that you're a witch?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"You shattered those windows. That was magic."
"That was…a freak accident."
"Lily, I'm willing to bet as much money as you make in a year that strange things like that have happened around you all your life."
She started shaking her head, but James continued, "It's alright, you know. I'm a wizard, too."
She let out a frustrated breath. "Have you gone completely mad?"
"I'd show you but my father took my wand away so—"
"Your wand," she said flatly. "Please tell me about your pointed hat and green skin while you're at it."
"Oh, hold on a minute, I'll get Peter to show you some." James strode to the door and opened it enough to stick his head out. "Oi, Peter, a moment of your time?"
James stepped back to let Peter hurry inside and shut the door behind him.
"Would you mind showing the lady a simple feat of magic?" he asked.
Peter eyed Lily. "Are you sure—"
"Positive," said James. "If you please."
Peter bit his lip, pulled his wand out of his pocket, and cast a weak Lumos. The harsh light lit up the room more than the few candles dotting the walls.
James eagerly looked to Lily, but she didn't seem excited. Instead she'd folded her arms over her chest and was half turned away from Peter.
"There's much more than this, I promise," said James.
Lily didn't say anything for a long moment, and she held herself very still.
"Do you need more proof?" James said, wishing he knew what to say to her. "Peter can do all sorts of things."
She gave a small shake of her head, not looking at either of them.
"Thanks, Peter," James said pointedly.
Peter looked at Lily uncertainly and then back to James.
James nodded his head toward the corridor and waited for Peter to quietly shut the door behind himself before approaching Lily.
"Why do you skulk around pretending to be common?" she said quietly, still not looking at him.
He wanted to reach out and offer her something—comfort or companionship or whatever it was she needed.
"It can't be that difficult to figure out, can it?" he said.
She made a noncommittal noise.
He sighed. "I'm not an idiot—my parents aren't exactly beloved. They're tolerated and maybe a little liked. Not to mention the obvious—I don't want to be treated like royalty. People are no fun when they know I'm the prince."
"Well, I certainly didn't treat you like a prince."
"No," he said, his voice low, "you didn't, and that's a major factor in why I fancy you."
She turned to him quite suddenly, her arms dropping to her sides. "Would you please stop saying that?"
She didn't plead. She simply requested, like she was asking him to pass the salt.
He ran a hand through his hair. "Why? It's true. Promise."
"And what exactly did you think would happen tonight?" she asked, her voice building to a crescendo. "That you'd barge in, announce your sudden and inexplicable love, and whisk me off to an immediate wedding at Hogwarts?"
"No, I didn't think—"
"No, you didn't," she said sharply. "James—or, Your Royal Highness—"
"Don't," he said. "Don't call me that."
"Fine. James."
It burned that he now had to wonder if she took that as a royal order.
"You clearly haven't thought this through at all," she said. "The person you marry will be the queen someday. I'm ineligible."
"I didn't ask you to marry me," he objected. He didn't want to reveal that he'd intended to step down, not when she would probably use it as a weapon against him.
"You might as well have," she said, more loudly than James thought she'd intended. "Do you know what my life will be like now, if we can't convince them you were joking? Whenever you do get married, to whatever prissy noble girl you choose, I'll be that girl the prince fancied once upon a time. No one in this town will ever forget what just transpired in my pub. I will always be tied to you, in one way or another, you arrogant twat."
He stood there with his arms hanging uselessly at his sides, unable to move.
What the hell had he been thinking? Of course this had been a terrible idea. He'd secretly suspected as much, but Peter had assured him it was sound, and he had…he had wanted to tell her how he felt, quite desperately.
"I'm sorry," he said. "You're right. This was—ridiculous. I'll go out and say I was lying."
"You had better."
He sighed. "Can I point out again the impossibility of you being a witch? I think that's the more important topic of discussion at the moment."
"You suggested it as a fact and now you're claiming it's an impossibility. Which is it?"
"Both. I've never met a witch or wizard who wasn't a member of the nobility. You really need two magical parents to have strong magical children, and most nobles breed their children like they breed their horses. You've come out of nowhere on the magical family tree."
"Charming."
"You must have noble blood somewhere in your ancestry. Are you sure your father wasn't magic?"
She closed her eyes for a moment. "If he was a wizard he never spoke of it. He knew about my incidents and told me to hide them. I'm sure if he knew about magic he would've told me."
James leaned on the edge of the desk and rubbed a hand along his chin, considering her. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself, but you are clearly a witch. A decently powerful one, judging by your incident."
"Brilliant."
"This isn't some terminal diagnosis, Lily. You'll actually live longer than Muggles. Not to mention, you can do magic," James said, trying to make it sound as tempting and exciting as possible. "Whatever you want is now within your grasp."
"And what would you know about what I want?"
"I admit, tonight has been a learning experience."
"I can impart the lesson again if you should require it."
James grimaced. "I apologize for…that, but on the bright side, at least now you know what you are."
"Please explain how my knowledge that I'm what you've just described to me as some freakish anomaly should make me feel better."
"That's not—sorry. I'm not explaining this well." James rubbed the back of his neck. "You're unexpected, I admit, but don't you see? Now you can learn magic properly."
"Don't tell me. Hogwarts is a magic school."
"It's not, but you don't need a school." He smiled. "You've got me."
"Why does it have to be you?" She slanted a glance toward the door. "Why can't Peter teach me magic? He seems like a decent person."
"If it helps, tonight was his idea."
She pressed her lips together. "And there's no one else?"
"I'm your best option, unless you want Sirius to teach you."
He supposed he could try to persuade McGonagall to teach Lily, but then he would have to reveal that he spent more of his nights outside the castle than within. He couldn't be sure McGonagall wouldn't put a stop to that, in which case Lily would get no magical instruction at all.
"How are you going to teach me magic without a wand?" she asked.
"Er, right. Yes. I'll have to persuade my father to give it back."
"Your father. The king."
James sighed. "I know, all right?"
"You were talking about him yesterday."
"Yes, obviously."
"You said you wanted to weaken the monarchy."
"Of course I do. Someday I'm going to be king. Isn't that a terrifying prospect?"
"Oh, God. Oh, God. You're going to be king."
"Tell me about it."
"You. The idiot who just pranced in here and made a complete fool of himself."
"Believe me, I certainly wouldn't vote for myself given the chance."
She sank down onto the edge of her desk next to him and stared at the floor.
How could he have thought she'd known he was the prince? She wouldn't have treated royalty rudely without knowing they wouldn't imprison her for it. She wasn't a complete idiot like he was.
And he couldn't imagine growing up not knowing he was magic. Obviously she'd had hints, but she'd never had any sense of who she was, or what she was capable of.
"What did you think your magic was?" he asked.
She gave him a grim smile. "Nothing positive, generally speaking."
"It's good. Magic is, I mean." James resisted the urge to reach out and rub her shoulder. "People can use it for bad things—look at Slytherin—but it isn't inherently bad, really. Although it might be best if you didn't tell anyone about you being a witch, for your own safety."
"I suppose I was already hiding it from everyone." She sat up straighter and ran a hand over her lap to smooth her skirts. "It shouldn't be that much harder to hide a label."
He wanted to do something for her, anything at all, to make her feel less awful about it. It should have been a joyful, thrilling moment, but she hadn't taken it that way at all.
Then again, he supposed this didn't change much in her life at all. Knowing that she had magic didn't mean she wouldn't have it, or that she wouldn't have to conceal it.
But she wouldn't be alone, not so long as he could help it.
"I'll come around when I can," he said. "And so will Peter and Sirius. And my friend Remus, you'll like him, he'll be here soon."
"You assume I want you around after the fiasco you've just committed in my pub?"
Once more, she left him reeling.
"I'll stay away if you like," he said, stomach clenching. He owed it to her, really, after embarrassing her that way.
She sighed. "I suppose you can stick around. So long as you don't shatter any more windows. And you agree to tell me more about magic."
His muscles loosened a little. "Fair enough. I can come back tomorrow, if you like. To teach you something. I'm not sure what, yet, but something."
"That would be…fine." She stood up. "I should get back to work. Mary will wonder where I've gone."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Peter must be bored stiff out there."
"So, tomorrow, then."
"Yes."
"I…look forward to it."
He watched her leave the office and pause in the doorway, waiting for him to follow. She was so…he never knew what to expect from her. It was maddening.
And, of course, wonderful beyond belief.
The fact that she didn't seem to fancy him back tore at his chest, a fresh scrape rubbed raw, but he shoved it aside and followed her out into the pub.
"Erm, attention, everyone." James cleared his throat and looked out at the crowd from his position on top of the bar. "Thank you for your participation in my little joke. All in good fun, but our favorite barmaid isn't best pleased with my efforts. I thought if I pretended to be the prince—well, I don't want to waste your time. Suffice it to say I am obviously not the prince."
"But do you fancy her?" someone called out.
James felt his cheeks heating up. "I do, but don't tell her, alright?"
Several people laughed, and James graced them with a quick bow before hopping down and taking a seat at the bar next to Peter. He noticed someone had hung sheets over the windows and wondered what people thought had happened.
Lily came out from the back doorway not two seconds later looking properly furious. He hoped it was mostly an act, but he wasn't fool enough to think it was all feigned. She headed out into the sea of tables and avoided looking at him.
Mary was not so shy. She all but ran over to James as soon as stepped down.
"I knew it!" She slammed an empty tankard down on the bar in front of James. "I knew you fancied her!"
"Yes, well, well done. Obviously it's not mutual."
"Oh, she fancies you a little. Or she did, until tonight."
"What evidence are you basing that assertion on?"
Mary hummed a light melody. "I'm sure I couldn't tell you any more than that, Prince James."
"Yes, about that, still not the prince."
"I don't care. I think the title suits you anyway."
"Thanks," he said dryly. "That means the world to me."
"Cheer up. She'll forget about it soon enough. Although you really need to work on your flirting techniques."
"Step one in my reform program is not listening to Peter anymore."
Peter ducked his head, and Mary laughed and went to fetch them drinks.
"Well, that was a complete fucking disaster," James said when she'd left.
"Well…yes," Peter said. "It would have worked on Helena. But you tried, right?"
James twisted in his seat to look Peter in the eye. "The next time I come to you for romantic advice, remind me that I've banned you from giving it to me."
"That…might be best."
"Yes."
"I'm really sorry. I'm not half the schemer you are."
"Sheningan-maker. And it's not your fault. I should've known it wouldn't work on Lily. Now she hates me more. On the upside," he leaned in and whispered, "she's magic, Peter."
"Yeah," Peter said, his voice strangely hollow. "She is."
"I need my wand back," said James. "Please."
George lowered his glasses and looked up at James from the papers he'd been reading. "I wasn't aware we'd come to an accord."
"We haven't. But…I miss it. What do I have to do?"
"You recall the incident that provoked your mother's harsh response, do you not?"
James closed his eyes. "Yes."
His father pulled off his glasses and gently set them on the table. "Your mother has invited the Lady Valerie Turpin of Ravenclaw and her family to visit Hogwarts. I expect you to behave as a gentleman, in the manner in which your mother and I raised you."
James' stomach tightened in a knot. He hadn't been expecting another one so soon, not after how he'd ended things last time. He had five smart retorts ready to go but he reminded himself he wasn't being antagonizing. This was for Lily. He could put up with another annoying girl for her.
"I'm sorry about the Marks," he said. "I wasn't ready then, but I am now. I promise."
George gave James an assessing gaze. "Very well. Speak to Dumbledore about where he's stored your wand."
"Thank you."
His father put his reading glasses back on and looked down at his desk.
"And…what about Algernon?" James asked, hating himself for sounding a little pathetic.
"If you behave well around the Turpins," George said absently, eyes still on the parchment in front of him. "I don't see why Algernon shouldn't be freed from your mother's clutches."
James swallowed around the lump in his throat. "Right. Thanks."
"And I still need your opinion on that murder hearing."
"It's coming. I'm taking time to deliberate the issue very seriously."
"Excellent."
James had made up his mind about the hearing within an hour of its conclusion but he hadn't been able to put ink to paper.
"Thanks," James added tersely, and restrained himself from running for the door.
Instead he calmly turned and left, shut the door with no fuss, strolled down the corridor to one of the many empty rooms, locked himself inside. He cursed aloud for a good five minutes, utilizing every foul word or turn of phrase that came to mind.
Still hurting but at least not as worked up about missing Algernon, he walked up to the fifth floor to find Dumbledore.
James hadn't met Valerie Turpin yet, but he'd met plenty of Ravenclaws in his time and he didn't care for the majority of them. They were too detached for James' liking. George had told their envoys all about the spies that afternoon, and the Ravenclaws had followed George's example and said they needed time to think.
James wondered how many spies they would have to catch before someone would actually do something. They couldn't really believe they'd caught all of them.
He stomped up the stairs to his room and found Sirius and Terry arguing. He didn't care what it was about, honestly, and he knew he'd side with Sirius.
"Terry," James said, "I need to rage and shout. I won't need you tonight."
"But, sir, I'd be more than happy—"
James simply pointed to the door, and Terry shuffled out of the room.
"That doesn't normally work," Sirius said.
"I'm not usually this…whatever I am."
"Moping? Disgruntled?"
"Those will suffice. Thank you."
"Of course, my prince."
"Oh, fuck off."
Sirius had the decency to look apologetic. "Let's go to the pub. I need to reassess Lily with new eyes. You need a drink or five."
James appreciated that he didn't mock James as mercilessly as he had that morning, after James had been forced to admit how spectacularly idiotic he'd been the night before.
"Give Terry a minute to settle down," James said. "I need to find some books anyway."
James moved in front of the enormous cherry bookcase that had one day shown up in his room, presumably at Sirius' request. Most of the books belonged to Sirius, but James had a few tucked away on a lower shelf.
"I think I'll start her on Potions." James realized he was effectively speaking to himself since Sirius didn't care and probably wasn't listening. "And then maybe Charms."
As expected, James found Sirius putting on deliberately bored airs when James stood up with two books in hand.
"Fine," James sighed, spelling the covers to look like law books. "Yes, we're going and I promise I won't talk about her the whole way."
Sirius grinned.
Overnight someone had boarded up the pub windows, and James wished he could cast a spell to fix them without arousing suspicion. He assumed Lily had come up with a suitable cover story – Merlin knew how many times she'd had to lie about her magic in her lifetime.
"Look, it's the prince!" one of the loggers shouted when James entered, and his friends roared with laughter.
James shut the pub door behind him and shot them an annoyed look. "Come on," he muttered to Sirius.
"At least they find the idea of you being the prince laughable, as they rightfully should," Sirius said, moving for the bar.
"You always make the most soothing remarks when I need them."
James dropped his books onto the bar and greeted Mary with a weary hello.
"My favorite patrons." Mary slid two tankards their way. "Do you have more dramatic announcements tonight?"
"Announcements?" James feigned his usual cheer. "No, I'm out of the announcements business. No money in it, I've learned. I think I'll take up brickmaking instead."
"And I'm going to get into construction," Sirius said. "It's a joint venture."
"Well, I'm sad to say that instead of keeping me company tonight," Mary said, "you should head out the front door, go in the alley entrance and through the kitchen to meet Lily in the office."
"Is she waiting there now?" James asked.
"Probably. I thought you might need a little bit of courage." Mary winked at him.
James spluttered through the sip he'd been taking. "That's not what we're doing in there."
"I'm going, too," Sirius told her. "Someone has to chaperone these two."
She pouted. "Lily made me promise I wouldn't ask what you two were up to, so I won't, but if you happened to tell me here and now, I might make those drinks on the house."
"We're discussing investment opportunities," James said. "Nothing so scandalous. But it's top secret and I don't want my father to hear about it."
Mary seemed downright disappointed. "Well, hurry up, then. Don't keep her waiting too much longer."
James sped through his drink, tossed some coins on the bar, and tugged Sirius away from his half-full tankard. They donned their hats and made all pretenses of leaving through the front door, but then ducked around back to enter through the alleyway.
James opened the back door but didn't enter. There was a short, wide-mouthed man standing at the stove in the kitchen that he didn't recognize.
"Er," James said.
"Oh, come on in," said the man. "Lily warned me there'd be a couple of poncy blokes coming through tonight."
"Right." James tried to share a look of confusion with Sirius, but apparently his best mate wasn't fazed that some bloke was in The Three Broomsticks' kitchen. "We'll just go through, then."
The man turned back to his work and stirred whatever he was cooking in a large, cast iron pot.
James pushed open the swinging kitchen door a couple of inches to ensure no one watching and, satisfied, passed through.
He didn't bother knocking on the office door, lest someone overhear. Inside he found Lily sitting behind her simple wooden desk, counting out coins into neat stacks arranged in a semi-circle around her.
"Who's that bloke in the kitchen?" James asked after stepping inside.
"Edwin," Lily said without losing count. "He works here."
"Wait, someone else works here besides you, Mary, and McNamee?"
Sirius laughed as he shut the door behind himself, and Lily paused to give James a look of disbelief.
"We were getting all our food from other people's rubbish," she said, "but then we decided that perhaps it would be best if we hired a cook."
"Oh. Right."
He hated that he always seemed to be his most idiotic self around her.
"Edwin's very good so don't bother him, all right?" Lily set the remaining coins aside. "It's hell trying to find a halfway decent cook to stay past the logging season."
She jotted something down on a piece of parchment, then moved around the desk to stand next to James. The grace that characterized her steps around the bar seemed to be her usual way of walking. He wondered whether she'd always been light-footed or whether working in a busy pub full of half-drunk patrons had brought it out in her.
"Are those for me?" she asked.
"They are." James shoved the books at her chest. "Oh, wait. Here." He pulled his wand out of his pocket and Revealed the true covers. "We've got a basic Potions book and one on Charms. They seemed the most applicable to what you already do."
She cradled the books in one arm and gently opened the cover of the Charms book.
"My notes are in there…sorry," James said. "You can ignore them."
James wished he had more books to hold so he would have something to do with his hands. He looked away from Lily for the first time in what seemed like ages and saw Sirius had settled into Lily's chair, with his legs propped up on the desk and a book already in hand.
Where James flipped through new books in search of the most interesting bits, Lily had opened to the first page and by all appearances was soaking in every word.
After a few minutes he cleared his throat.
"You can read those later, if you like, but I thought you might, er, want to try a spell or two."
Her head snapped up.
"Yes. Of course." She gave off every air of nonchalance but James could tell she was thrilled. She placed his books on the edge of her desk, and he handed her his wand.
She didn't hesitate, but she didn't grasp wildly either. She simply took it out of his hand and felt the weight of it in her palm. Then she held it up in front of her face, palms bookending the tip and the handle, before returning it to the correct and natural grip in her right hand.
"Let's start with a basic Levitation Charm, shall we?" James began. "Simply swish and flick the wand at the item in question and say, Wingardium Leviosa. Now, the pronunciation can be quite tricky—"
"Wingardium Leviosa?"
James frowned.
"What, did I say it wrong?"
"No, no," James said. "That was perfect."
"Then what?" she demanded. "What was that look?"
"It took him ages to get it," Sirius chimed in.
"Yes, thank you," James said, annoyed. "But you've said it just as you should, Lily, so now swish and flick the wand."
She gave the wand a sharp swipe and a too-wide flick.
"No, no." James grabbed the wand from her hand and demonstrated the proper wand movement. "Like that. Sorry, I've never taught magic before."
"Oh." She pulled the wand out of his hand and replicated his movements. "Like this?"
James blinked. "Yes. Yes, exactly."
She practiced the gesture a few times, eyes concentrating on the tip of the wand, and then looked up at him. "What do the words mean?"
"Wingardium Leviosa?"
"Yes. It's clearly based in Latin, but I'm not very familiar with anything besides the basics."
"Er, who taught you Latin?"
"My father. Now, the meaning?"
James ran his hand through his hair. "I'm not sure, honestly. Something levitation?"
Sirius chuckled, eyes still fixed on his book.
"Oh," Lily said, disappointed. "I'll give it a go, shall I?"
"Yes, let's start with that piece of parchment on the desk. Now, be careful not to overpower it—"
"Wingardium Leviosa," she said, her voice quite calm, and she moved the wand just as James had.
The piece of parchment shot up to the ceiling in a loud rustle and splattered flat against the planks of wood.
"Er," said James, staring upwards.
"I assume that's not what's supposed to happen."
He brought his gaze down in time to catch the vulnerable look vanishing from her face.
"Technically you levitated it," James pointed out. "So technically…congratulations! You've cast your first spell."
She stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Will it come down on its own?"
"You might try lowering the wand."
"Oh." Her gaze dropped to her hand. "Of course," she said, a flush stealing over her cheeks, and she wrenched her hand down to her side.
The paper came floating down into the office at once, drifting in the heat of the candles, and landed on the floor between James and Lily with a soft crinkle.
"It might be the wand," James said. "You need one tailored to yourself to be truly successful as a witch."
"And how would one go about obtaining a wand?"
James swiveled to look at Sirius. "Padfoot, how do people who aren't the prince get their wands?"
"They go to Ollivander's."
"Right."
James started to wonder if there were any spare wands in the castle when Lily interrupted his thoughts.
"And where is Ollivander's?" she said.
"Right. Yes. Sorry," said James. "He has a shop in Newcastle, I believe?" He threw a questioning glance at Sirius.
Sirius nodded, and Lily's face fell.
"We'll figure something out," James said. "I promise."
He coached her through several more trials of the Levitation Charm. Within an hour she'd become much more adept at controlling the height of the parchment than he'd expected. He was willing to chalk that up to innate talent, though, since as it turned out James was not much of a teacher.
"This is it?" she said after successfully levitating the parchment over Sirius' head without dropping it. "Memorizing words and gestures?"
James grinned. "Nothing to it."
She glanced at the spellbooks on her desk. "But how do people invent spells? How do they put together the right words and movements?"
"I…really don't know, actually."
"Don't look at me," Sirius said.
"You don't seem very educated," she lamented.
"I'm plenty educated!" said James. "Believe me. Only I never really took to magical theory, and McGonagall stopped trying to force it on me most of the time."
Lily's shoulders straightened. He knew he shouldn't have mentioned McGonagall.
"McGonagall?" she said. "Your tutor?"
James nodded.
"Can't you ask her these things on my behalf?"
"I could," James said, "but she'd be suspicious, for one thing, and for another I'd probably forget and possibly not understand enough to explain it to you."
She sighed. "You not exactly the best teacher."
"It's not exactly my profession of choice, though, is it?"
"If you were considering it, for some reason, don't."
"Ouch."
She handed his wand back to him. "I'm sorry, should I speak more politely to the prince?"
"Can we please pretend I'm not the prince?"
"That's what I do every day," Sirius said.
Lily let out a short laugh. "I should hope you don't consider this my royal treatment."
"I should hope it isn't," said James. "I shudder to think how my mother would react to your manners."
"All the more reason for you not to fancy me."
He didn't really mind her teasing because at least it seemed like her. The whole magic lesson she'd been too restrained, too neutral.
"Oh, I've plenty of reasons for fancying you," James said, starting to grin.
Suddenly the door to the office swung open.
James shoved his wand in his pocket.
"Lily," came a teasing voice, "I hear the prince himself—"
A young man with lank black hair, an enormous nose, and a slight hunch to his shoulders stood in the doorway, his hand still gripping the doorknob.
"You," James said, without knowing he was going to say it. He recognized this man, at least a little.
The man's look of utter surprise quickly morphed to one of disgust. "You."
James had never heard so much hatred evoked with one small syllable.
"I'm sorry," James said cautiously. "You appear to recall me quite easily, but I can't seem to place your face."
James broke eye contact with the man to take in Lily's reaction. Bafflingly, she looked terribly guilty.
"Severus," she said delicately. "This is James."
"What is this vile man doing in your office?" Severus spat.
"It's…complicated."
"Is this the man who pathetically pretended to be the prince and declared his feelings for you?"
"Mary shouldn't have told you about that. It was a stupid joke."
"You would consort with him," Severus said, "in private, after he made a fool of you, and knowing the acts he has committed against me?"
This time Sirius shared James' puzzled look.
Lily took a step toward Severus. "I can explain."
"Unless your explanation is that you removed him to your office to poison him, I'm not sure I can comprehend."
"Would you listen?"Lily said sharply.
"Leave her alone," said James.
She whirled on him. "You stay out of this."
"Is he your champion now?" Severus mocked. "Did the faux prince act appeal to your sensibilities?"
"She doesn't care for me at all." James was disliking Severus more by the minute. "Why are you jumping to conclusions?"
"Stop it," Lily snapped at James, then turned back to Severus. "Although I agree that you are being completely unreasonable right now, Severus."
"I'm being unreasonable."
"Get out of my pub," Lily said. "Now."
Severus sneered. "With pleasure."
He slammed the door shut on his way out, with enough force that James felt the reverberations through his boots.
"So," James said meekly. "Is that the friend you mentioned?"
