AN/ Guess what guys, it's summer vacation! WOOT WOOT! Okay those of you who know my patterns, my loyal readers whom I love ever so much, know that I tend to update in spurts over the summer. I'll update when I'm home and then not at all for a couple of weeks once I go to the beach and Band starts.
This chapter dedicated to: krazygerl Yeah, she was the only one who guessed closely. The only thing she guessed wrong was that Fred said it to Katie, not the other way around.
Anyways...
7. To Survive the First Year 6
"Guys, what if we get caught?" Peter wailed.
"SHH!" James, Sirius and Remus all snapped.
"Peter, the only way we're going to get caught is if you keep wailing so all the world can hear us!" James hissed softly.
"Guys, what if we get caught?" Peter asked again in a loud whisper.
"Peter, shut up! We're not going to get caught!" Remus assured in a barely audible whisper.
"But what if we do!"
"Peter, if you don't shut up I'm going to stick my sock in your mouth!" Sirius warned, "Now shut up!"
Peter clamped his mouth shut tight, afraid of getting Sirius' notoriously disgusting sock stuffed into it.
"That's better," James muttered, "Now do you two understand what you need to do?"
"Yes James," Remus said in a bored voice as Peter nodded vigorously with his mouth still firmly clamped shut, "We're going to keep watch on either end of the hall and let you know if anyone shows up."
"Good, now go ahead." James ordered and the two scurried off to their posts, "Ready Sirius?"
"Oh yeah!" Sirius exclaimed, "This is going to rock!"
"Not if you blow our cover!" James replied, "Now, let's get going."
"What in the world?" Professor McGonagall said, or more screamed, the next morning on her rounds, "If I ever find the nighttime marauders responsible for this, I will give them detention for six months!"
It was all the invisible James could do not to laugh under the cover of his invisibility cloak. He knew that McGonagall would suspect him and the other boys, but he was also confident that they couldn't prove that the Gryffindor boys had anything to do with it.
"What in the world!" Lily Evans exclaimed as she and the other Gryffindor first years walked past the crowd of people around the new 'mural' outside the Potions classroom on their way to class.
On the wall was a huge mural of a lion eating a snake along with the slogans, 'Gryffindor pride forever' and 'Lions eat Snakes for breakfast'. A Badger and a Raven looked on proudly.
"I think that's a nice addition to the hallway," a passing Ravenclaw sniggered.
"Yes," replied her friend, "It really adds some character."
"When I find out which one of you is responsible for the 'art' in the dungeons, Gryffindor House will stop suffering. But until then, all of you will not be allowed to leave the Common Room other than for classes and meals. Quidditch try-outs for next year will be postponed indefinitely. If you have any information as to who left us this lovely mural, please come and see me right away." Professor McGonagall announced that night in Gryffindor Tower.
"I thought she said we couldn't leave the Common Room," James muttered.
"She did," Lily replied.
"Well then how are we supposed to give her information if we can't leave the Common Room?" James asked.
"Oh shut up." Lily snapped, "You're such a prat sometimes James. Your little stunt just got all of Gryffindor in trouble."
"What makes you think I did it?" James asked.
"James Potter, you can't look me in the face and honestly tell me that you didn't have anything to do with this."
"Lily, I didn't have anything to do with this," James lied, looking straight at her without blinking, a skill which he had acquired over the years.
"Don't lie to me Potter," Lily said bitterly, "I could have put up with your pranks, but lying is the one thing I cannot stand."
And with that Lily pushed James out of her way and stalked off to the first year girl's dormitory, James calling after her. Alice shot James a look and followed, for once completely blowing Frank off.
"Was it something I said?" James asked dully.
"I don't know mate," Sirius replied, "But she was right. You did lie."
"She would have told McGonagall!" James exclaimed.
"If you think that James, then you don't know Lily," Marlene told him bitterly.
"Yes I do!"
"No, you don't, because Lily would never rat out her friends. She might make them feel awful until they turned themselves in, but she would never rat them out," Marlene said as Dorcas and Emmeline nodded in agreement before the three followed Lily and Alice's example.
"I don't get it," James muttered, "I only told her a tiny lie!"
"Nobody likes to be lied to James," Remus informed him.
"On the bright side," Sirius added cheerfully, "You did find us a killer name!"
"Yeah," Remus muttered, "because that matters so much more than James lying to Lily."
"It is a brilliant name," Peter squeaked, "And don't worry, I lie to my mum all the time. She always gets over it."
"Sorry guys, but I don't think even the name 'Marauders' will make up for how crappy I feel." James replied dismally.
"It's just a girl," Sirius muttered to himself as James started walking away.
"Lily is not just any girl," James snapped, whirling around to face Sirius, "I care about her. She's not like the others."
"Okay James, I get it." Sirius said hastily, trying to calm his best friend down, "Lily's different. She's not 'just a girl'. Don't freak out, I didn't mean it."
"You'd better not have," James growled before storming out of the Common Room.
"I thought we weren't allowed out," Peter said, confused.
"We're not," Remus responded.
"Oh, okay then." Peter replied, nodding, "Wait, then where's he going?"
"I have no idea."
Remus shook his head and the three remaining Marauders and Frank spread out through Gryffindor Tower.
"So," Lily asked from her seat at the window, "What was his excuse?"
"That doesn't matter Lily," Marlene replied, sitting on her bed.
"Yes, it does," Lily insisted.
"Fine, but don't shoot the messenger," Marlene muttered, referring to Lily's short temper, especially when James Potter was involved, "I think his exact words were 'She would have told McGonagall'. I told him that if he thought that then he didn't know you."
Lily turned to look out the window.
"Lily?" Alice asked.
Lily didn't respond.
"Are you okay?" Alice came to sit beside her on the window seat. Lily turned so that Alice couldn't see her crying.
"Lily, tell us the truth. Do you like James Potter?" Marlene asked suddenly, "You don't like liars, so don't even think about playing that little trick on us."
Lily didn't answer right away. Instead she wiped her eyes and turned to face the others.
"What I tell you will never leave this room, right?" Lily asked and the others nodded, "It's… complicated."
"Lily, it's a yes or no question, how can it be complicated?" Dorcas asked, starting to be annoyed by the whole situation.
"It's not simple," Lily replied, "That's how it can be complicated."
"Well then, enlighten us," Dorcas said sarcastically.
"I was getting to that."
"Not any time soon." Dorcas muttered.
"Shh," Emmeline hissed.
"If you were going to make me answer yes or no, I couldn't answer," Lily started, "At first, I thought he was the most annoying kid on the face of the planet. But then, and this never leaves this room, I had that fateful detention. Professor McGonagall locked us in her office and said we weren't coming out until we had 'solved this problem or at least reached a common understanding.' I learned more about James Potter in those two hours than I could have learned about him in a month at school.(LILY TALKING)
"Potter is basically the opposite of who I thought he was. I don't think I'll ever be able to understand him. Honestly, I think what I like most about him is the fact that when you think he's thinking one thing, he's actually thinking something completely different. I can't make up my mind about him. When I think I have him figured out he does something like, like that, and completely confuses me again.(STILL LILY)
"That's why the answer is so complicated, I like James and I hate James at the same time." (YES, STILL LILY)
"That makes no sense whatsoever," Dorcas said after a minute of silence.
"Exactly," Lily replied matter of factly, "because anything involving James Potter makes no sense."
"That's not really fair," Marlene said slowly, "The thing about James that is the easiest to understand is how much he likes you. If you're involved, James is always going to side with you."
"I don't think he really likes her," Emmeline said softly.
"Em, are you blind!" Marlene exclaimed.
"I'm serious Marlene. I don't think that James likes her."
"I really have got to hear the reasoning behind that one!"
"Well, most guys, when they really like a girl, don't put them through the things that James does to Lily. First there's the humiliation of being asked out time after time after time. Then there's also the fact that he lied to her. And, most of the time, she gets treated just like 'one of the guys'."
"So, you're saying that, essentially, I'm just another 'Marauder'?" Lily asked.
"Is that the name they were talking about?" Dorcas asked.
"Yes, James head McGonagall use it this morning when she first saw the 'mural' outside Potions."
"I'm starting to think that maybe Em is right," Marlene said slowly, "if you know that, then maybe you are just 'one of the guys'."
Lily just sighed in reply and turned to look out the window again.
"Sorry Lils, I'm going to have to agree with Marlene and Emmeline on this one," Dorcas stated, "After all, Marlene is our window to guys and Emmeline is the smart one."
"What do you think Alice?" Lily asked, "Because now they're all saying exactly what I've been thinking for a month or so."
"I don't know Lily," Alice replied, thinking for a minute, "I'm going to have to say I'm siding with all of you."
"Well, its unanimous then, James Potter doesn't like me," Lily sighed, "Oh well, it was nice while it lasted, except for when it was extremely annoying, which was most of the time."
"You'll be fine just being friends with James, won't you?" Alice asked.
"Maybe, if he drops the whole 'Lily is my world' act."
"Good, now cheer up and forget that he lied to you. Guys are stupid, they do stupid things. Sometimes you just have to forgive them," Marlene advised.
Dorcas laughed, "Come on you guys, let's go be rebels and sneak down for a late snack."
The other girls agreed and then turned to Lily.
"We can't be perfect little angels all the time," Lily laughed with none of her usual vibrancy, smiling a sad smile that would make your heart break.
"That's my girl!" Dorcas exclaimed, and led the girls down the stairs and out of Gryffindor Tower.
"I would just like to say congratulations to Mr. Potter, for receiving a perfect mark on the final essay before exams," Professor McGonagall said, beaming at James some weeks later.
The class packed up and walked out of the classroom as the bell rang, signaling the end of the final day of classes before exams.
"Miss Evans, may I have a word with you?" Professor McGonagall asked, or rather commanded from behind her desk.
Lily nodded, without looking up from her essay. She had heard that 'T' or 'Troll' existed as a mark, but had never actually seen one, even on Peter's worst grades. Lily folded up the essay and tucked it safely in her pocket before walking up to McGonagall's desk as the last of the class trickled out.
"Miss Evans, is there something going on, anything that I should know about?" Professor McGonagall prompted, "Obviously that was not one of your better grades and you are one of my top students."
Lily shook her head dumbly.
"If there is anything, anything at all that I can do for you, just let me know. I'm sure that Mr. Potter would be plenty willing to help you."
Lily nodded.
"If you're sure that there is nothing I can help you with, then you may go. But I suggest you learn this material before exams on Monday."
Lily nodded again, secured her bag on her shoulder and walked out of the classroom.
"Evans, what was that about?" James asked falling into step with her from his position beside the doorway, "Were you the one who put the niffler in her office?"
"James Potter, you know as well as I do that Sirius was the one behind that niffler." Lily replied, trying to keep her emotions in check, "And I'm really not in the mood to put up with you right now, so if you'll excuse me…"
And with that Lily walked quickly off. But as she went, she dropped her essay. James bent and picked it up.
"Evans!" James called down the corridor, "Lily, you dropped…"
But Lily was already gone. James was determined not to do anything to annoy Lily because he was still floundering to get back in Lily's graces after lying to her. But curiosity took over after a small length of time (We shall be fair, he put the essay in his pocket before immediately pulling it out and opening it).
James whistled and his eyebrows shot straight up, "Wow, even Peter didn't do that badly."
"Evans. Evans!" James called shaking Lily as he did so. She jerked awake and looked across the table at him.
"What do you want Potter, I'm trying to study," Lily asked groggily.
"That's my favorite method," James teased, "I sleep on top of my book before every Charms test. Unfortunately, while it requires minimal effort, I find that I do much better if I study with my eyes open and reading the book."
Lily rolled her eyes and gave him a small smile, "I've been studying for 12 hours. I just fell asleep."
"I know," James replied, "Well, I knew that you had been studying for a long time. Anyways, I was wondering if you could help me with something."
"What Potter? I really need to learn this. Exams start on Monday."
"Take a breath Evans, you've got all day tomorrow. Take a little break and help me learn this."
"You got perfect marks on this essay." Lily replied, raising an eyebrow as she looked over at what James was wanting help with.
"Yeah, you'd be surprised how much copying off of Remus pays off," James replied, "I changed a few things here and there and suddenly I get a perfect mark on something."
"Potter, if you always copy off Remus you will fail your exams. You can't copy off of him while you actually take the exam."
"I know, but I forgot about the essay, and honestly, it's the only thing I haven't understood all year."
"I'll try and help you, but Transfiguration isn't my best subject. I prefer Charms, maybe even Potions."
"Please?" James asked, giving Lily the patented Potter puppy-dog eyes.
"Oh, all right." Lily sighed, "Honestly that's what I've been trying to learn all day. I think I have it down, but I'm not sure. Basically the theory that Gregory is trying to get across is that you have to want to change the object. Simply thinking that you ought to change the object is not enough. In order for Transfiguration to work seamlessly there has to be some reason you really want to transfigure the object."
"Basically you're saying that if I wanted to change an apple into an orange simply because I can, it wouldn't work as well as if I wanted an orange to make orange juice or something?"
"Exactly," Lily replied, nodding, "Gregory also goes on to say that the same applies to normal human behavior. If a person really wants something they're more likely to do what they can to get it but if they want something simply to have it…"
"Then they won't really try and get it," James finished softly, looking at Lily as if realizing something, "Lily?"
"Yes James?"
James grinned, "You called me James!"
"Is that what you wanted because if had known I could have called you that right away and you would have left, I would have done it."
"No, I wanted to know about that whole Gregory's Theory thing. But I also wanted to say I'm really sorry."
"Sorry for what? You didn't do anything."
"I'm sorry for lying to you. I really had gotten attached to you being around that I didn't want to mess that up."
"James, that's sweet, but that was weeks ago. I already forgave you."
"But I didn't hear you say it, so I wanted to be sure."
"James Orion Potter, I forgive you. Now go away so I can study!"
"Lily Marie Evans, no way I'm leaving you alone! You skipped lunch, come on and let's go eat dinner. You'll kill yourself before exams even start."
"Fine, but I'm studying again right after dinner, and you have to promise to leave me alone."
"You have all day tomorrow to study. You really need to take a break, just a little one. In fact, I'll study with you tomorrow but for today just put away the books for a little while."
"I don't know. I really need to study."
"Tomorrow, I promise. Besides, you're smart, you already know all of this. Now, put this book in your bag and let's go eat. I'm hungry."
James slipped Lily's essay into her book discreetly before handing it to her. This was the one time nobody could make him feel bad for lying to Lily; but that was only because telling her that he had copied Remus' essay when he really hadn't had helped both of them and caused no harm whatsoever.
"Thanks," Lily whispered as she took James' proffered arm and the two left the library.
"No mademoiselle, thank you," James replied, grinning as he closed the library door and the two walked down the hall, "So, I was thinking we should have some poppy-corn or whatever and watch some TB. It will be the first annual Gryffindor blow-off-some-steam-before-exams bash."
"That sounds perfect," Lily replied, James' grin becoming contagious.
The other first-year Gryffindors nudged and poked each other, pointing as Lily and James entered the Great Hall, talking and laughing like they had never done before.
"Thank God," Remus muttered.
"You can say that again, I was starting to wonder if we went to Hogwarts or Durmstrang," Emmeline replied.
"I don't get it." Sirius complained as everyone else laughed, "What's so funny?"
"I don't know," Peter informed him, laughing joyfully, "But if you laugh along, you don't look as stupid."
Sirius nodded and joined in the laughter, having never been one who liked to look stupid.
AN/ Okay, not quite as far as I was going to write, but next chapter will be the train ride and the summers of Lily and James and everyone else, if I can think of anything interesting for them to do.
Love From,
MotherCrumpet
rAnDoM qUoTe:
Hey last one was from KEB. The first person to guess this one and tell me what it says and what it is will get the next chapter dedicated to them. And you know you all want that, right?
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus"
Now, what in the name of all things Harry Potter, is that? You tell me! Good Luck!
