A/n:This is the year things get interesting. Third year will be posted in two parts, possibly three since this one is so short.
Third Year
Whipped and Buggin'
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Thirteen years old is deep breaths sucking in damp summer air. Thirteen years old is growing into a body that is older and unfamiliar. Thirteen years old is learning who your friends are.
Thirteen years old is losing the best she's ever known.
Beanpole, Lily Evans disembarked from the Hogwarts Express at Alice's side. The second she did she was twisting around and round searching for two people.
Severus had been gone all summer; she hadn't seen him since June. She'd sent letters, though she had no idea where to address them. Pippin, the barn owl her father had surprised her with, had returned every time without a letter, neither hers nor his.
James, on the other hand, had written lots. Apparently when he said he was going to be nice, he meant really nice.
And apparently nice included invasion of personal space because once she hit the Hogsmeade platform she suddenly found herself enveloped in black robes and in a python-like squeeze. "Lily!"
She laughed and squeezed him back, admittedly more tightly than she ought to have, in a tiny, satisfactory form of vengeance.
"Evans!" Came three more shouts and Sirius, Remus and Peter glommed on to them both, guffawing and making fun of the pair of them.
Behind her, she could hear Alice and Frank chuckling. She laughed harder, gave in to the infectious atmosphere the four boys exuded and hugged them back.
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"-Welcome home." Dumbledore said, in closing.
The feast appeared on all the tables, but Lily didn't notice. She was gesturing wildly for Severus' attention. He met her eyes for a second then closed his eyes for a bit longer than a standard blink and turned to listen far too intensely to what Narcissa Black, a seventh year, was saying.
With a frown she sat back down and tried to ignore the looks the marauders were shooting her way.
"Cheer up Old Girl," Sirius ordered while awkwardly patting her on the back. "It's just Snivellus."
Out of shock, she laughed, but felt horrible about it. "You guys are terrible."
"I think the word you're looking for is awesome," Peter cut in.
"I don't think so." She decided to change the subject. "What did you guys decide to take this year?"
They were all taking Care of Magical Creatures. Sirius and Peter were taking Muggle studies for fun. James, Remus and Lily had opted for Arithmancy. The boys were taking Divination. She was taking Ancient Runes.
"We will be learning the mystifying arts of unfogging the foggy fogginess of the fog-filled future!" Sirius howled in a ghostly, trance-like manner. "What mysteries shall we solve? What truths shall we uncover?" He pointed suddenly at Remus, "What dangerous adventures await you," a swift switch to Lily, "Which tragic love story will become your fate?" They all laughed together, stuffing their faces with delicious food and enjoying the company of the nutcases they'd surrounded themselves with.
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X
"Hey Sev!" he studiously ignored the redhead trying desperately to get his attention. It was week 3 of term and he hadn't cracked yet. The result was instantaneous; he'd befriended Avery and Mulciber, as well as a blonde Black, who was Orion's cousin. Other Slytherins had taken notice, had stopped hushing each other when he walked in on conversations, had offered their partnerships for projects and classwork. Had acknowledged his opinion on matters.
Seemingly, being known as Severus Snape-Prince was the best thing to have every happened to him.
"Sev, come on. What did I do?" she looked at him with those doe eyes, pleading with him. He allowed himself one glance before he turned his attention back to the potions manual he was perusing in preparation for the next class. "Talk to me."
"I don't have time for this." With a snap he closed the book, shoved it in his bag and pushed past her. He waited until he was out of sight to break into a sprint. His heart was thumping erratically and it wasn't because of the exertion. When he thought he was safe from prying eyes he slumped against a wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. Head in his hands, he tried to still his beating heart, but it would not yield.
Severus Prince wanted many things in this life, and none of them would be made possible if he was still latched onto Lily Evans. He had to let her go for his own sake.
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"When are they posting it?"
"Any day now I suppose."
"We should get Lily to go out for the team," Sirius joked, "She'd make the rest of us look like National!"
"Shut up," Lily's cheeks reddened to clash horribly with her hair. "You don't have to be a prat about it all the time."
"Oh Lil, don't be sensitive," the boy taunted back.
"Just let it go guys," James pleaded, the unlucky mediator of Lily and Sirius' latest clash. "She's not that bad, she's fast."
As Lily turned to thank him, Sirius made a whipping motion behind her back and, in case he hadn't understood, mouthed the word. James ran a hand through his hair nervously and pretended he didn't see, which only made his mate roll his eyes and silently plead with the heavens for an end to the horrible pathetic-ness that was the Potter boy's spine these days.
Lily left them to their free period while she made off for Arithmancy, leaving poor James alone with Sirius and a no doubt impending lecture.
A hand ran through his black locks, messing them up more.
"You have got to be joking," declared Sirius, "What happened to me having to convince you she didn't have cooties? I was the one who told you she was cool. Now I'm beginning to regret it. I mean really, you're a sodding ponce!"
"Mind buggering off now?" James crossed his arms stubbornly and glared at his current least favorite person in the world. "You're insane."
"You need a good snog."
"You offering?"
"Well well well, am I interrupting something?" the pair looked up at one of the Prewett brothers (which; they were unsure). "Allo boys, you're blocking the board."
There was a notice board hung up in the common room where announcements for clubs, Hogsmeade trips and lost and found items were posted. They moved aside while the redheaded 7th year pressed a crisp white piece of parchment on top of a notice about the abuse of magical creature testing.
Gryffindor Quidditch Tryouts
Available Positions:
-Keeper
-Beater
-Seeker
Be on the pitch in full gear Saturday at 1 o'clock.
If you do not have a broom, you will be supplied one.
Try not to embarrass your house.
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When Adrian beckoned him over after tryouts while the others made their way to the showers, James knew that something either really amazing or terrible was about to happen.
James was an excellent flyer. He had good hands, good instincts and great balance. Those were the lines along which the praise ran. He was pretty much offered any position he wanted.
He glanced over Adrian's shoulder at Lily, who was watching them curiously from the stands. He hadn't noticed her at all, she said she wasn't coming. His heart beat very fast and he scrambled to think hard about what he wanted. He always played chaser in their games, it was a great position and he always had fun. But chasers weren't whom everyone was paying attention to. At the end of the day it was the guy who caught the snitch who got the glory.
"Seeker."
"Alright then," Adrian ruffled his hair, "Off with you then, you smell." He turned and left the still shellshocked third year on the turf.
James again made eye contact with Lily. Excitement struck him like a fork of lightning to the heart, making it beat at a million kilometers a second. He raised his arms in a triumphant V above his head, giving her two big thumbs up. He hadn't expected it, but Lily suddenly shot to her feet and jumped up and down like Bertie Bott's limited edition Bouncing Beans. She looked so excited; excited for him. Holy crap.
Lily was smiling brightly and running down from the stands and out onto the pitch. She stopped two feet from him and just stood there grinning. The copper of her hair glinted in the late afternoon sun and her pride shone in her eyes as clear as day. He suddenly didn't know what to do with his hands, or his face. His tongue was leaden in his mouth and every movement felt awkward. One of his hands shot out towards her, palm flat, the other ran through the mess he called hair, mussing it.
She looked at it for a moment, clearly utterly confused, before eventually extending her own and highfiving him.
"So what did he say?!" she asked excitedly after a moments
In the stands Remus and Peter, who had been sitting with Lily the entire time unnoticed, shook their heads in empathetic shame. "That is the saddest display I've ever seen."
"Did he just…? He's buggin'. What a moron." Peter muttered into his hands.
"I can't wait to tell Sirius," declared Remus wickedly.
"Clearly no one is as smooth with the ladies as James Potter."
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These are the pranks that the marauders pulled in their third year with the help of Lily Evans:
Making the fake ceiling in the great hall rain multicolored paint.
Stealing professor Slughorn's caramelized pineapple, leaving a graphic and comical ransom note in their place and gorging on it in the astronomy tower.
Using a sticking charm on every classroom on the main floor, gluing all desks and chairs exactly as they were, to the ceiling.
It was harmless, petty fun until they went too far.
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"Alright there Alice?" Lily asked one morning.
"Fine." The older girl said curtly, returning to her History of Magic textbook like it was the most interesting thing she'd ever read.
"O…kay. How've you been."
"Oh," Alice said, "you want to know how I've been." She snapped her book shut with a snap. "Is now a convenient time for you?"
"I- yes? I think. Did I forget something?"
The older girl paused and pressed her fists against her eyes. "Nevermind, nothing. I'm just tired. Mum's sent some news from home that's not great and Frank is being a prat I-."
"Alright there Evans? Prewett?"
"Hello Black," Alice replied tersely, her round face scrunching up in its attempt not to sneer.
"What's the lowdown ladies?" from behind him James waved and then mussed his hair.
"Nothing of interest," the older girl told him in an attempt to end further discussion.
"Great! Lil, we'd better get moving if we want the you-know-what to go down ASAP."
"Just give me a sec kay?"
"No secs!" (he giggled to himself) "Haul arse."
Lily looked from Alice to Sirius then back again and gave her a pleading look.
A longsuffering sigh, "If you want to go, go."
"Thanks!" she gushed and ran after her partner in crime.
"I'll just be here," Alice continued to herself, "By myself. No big deal."
