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Chapter 9

The morning of the Hogsmeade trip was a stormy one. Those that knew how had charmed invisible shields to float above their heads so that the rain sluiced off it. Others made do with cloaks and hoods.

The Marauders were currently in Zonko's Joke Shop. James was buying himself the standard dung bombs and other knick knacks. He stuffed the goods into his pockets, his money bag now considerably lighter. Sirius was admiring the new stock, while Remus and Peter were negotiating their way through the throng of students crowding the shop. Peter was failing miserably; every time he moved, the person closest to him emitted an "ow!".

After some more browsing, their stomachs led them to the Three Broomsticks. They trooped down to the pub and entered. The warmth inside was sticky and humid one thanks to the downpour, and they shrugged off their cloaks.

James was just about to lead them towards their usual seat in the corner when Remus stopped him.

"Er...Prongs? Maybe we should take a seat over there." Remus indicated the empty seats near the far wall at the other end of the pub.

"What? Why?" James said as he continued towards their usual seats, completely ignoring Remus' suggestion. Then he saw why.

Behind the large group of students near the far window seat, out of sight of where James had been standing before, were Lily and Bryce. They clutched bottles of butterbeer as they lent towards each other, lost in conversation. James tightened his jaw.

For a second it looked as though he was going to walk away, but instead he determinedly kept going and seated himself at the only other spare table, which happened to be directly opposite them. He looked over at Remus, Sirius and Peter and waved them over.

Sirius slid into the seat next to James. "Tough luck, mate."

James didn't answer, nor did he look at him. Then he took a deep breath. "Yeah, well, I'm fine with it."

He said it a little too breezily. The others stared back at him.

"What? I am fine. I mean, it's not like they're officially going out or anything."

The second he said that, Lily's laughter carried over to them. James visibly flinched at the sound. He forced himself not to look over at the pair.

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Lily saw him come in and sit down at the table next to them. She knew they should have gone to that stupid café with the pink hearts.

She pretended not to notice him and concentrated on what Bryce was saying, leaning towards him to hear him above all the noise in the pub. He told a joke and she laughed, trying not to wince at the sound; it sounded forced even to her. She honestly did not know how James did it. He always managed to ruin a good time, sometimes by just being there.

Lily found herself wanting to leave, and Bryce must have noticed her sudden agitation because he was the first to suggest that they visit some shops. She readily agreed. In the back of her head a little voice was telling her how silly she was being. It was just James; what did he have to be so skittish about? He wasn't even doing anything; heck, was not even looking at her!

The rain outside seemed to have lessened; now it was just a light spitting. Before Lily could do it herself, Bryce had whipped out his wand and charmed an invisible shield over their heads.

Lily smiled ruefully up at him. "Thanks."

Bryce smiled back at her, but it seemed hesitant - not his usual carefree, uninhibited grin. "You all right?" he asked.

Lily crinkled her nose. "It was getting stuffy in there," she said, surprising herself on how easily the lie came.

She didn't know whether Bryce believed her or not, but she took his shrug as acceptance of her excuse. They walked slowly along the main road of Hogsmeade, briefly glancing in the windows of shops as they passed.

"So what's your favourite sweet?" Bryce asked as they passed Honeydukes, which looked like it was crowded with students.

"Fizzing Whizzbees," Lily said. "Mostly because they make you float."

"You do know they use dried Billywig stings in there, right?"

"What?"

Bryce chuckled at her horrified face. "How else would they make you float? They don't spell them, that's for sure."

Lily felt a little bit sick. She had eaten at least a dozen of them last semester, and suddenly she could feel hundreds of little Billywigs crawling around in her stomach.

"What's your favourite, then?" she asked.

"Pink Coconut Ice," Bryce immediately replied.

Lily snorted, and giggled at his faux-offended look.

"You think boys aren't allowed to like Pink Coconut Ice?"

"I'd have thought you too manly for them."

"Nonsense. No one is too manly for Pink Coconut Ice," said Bryce, that adorable grin back on his face.

Lily smiled back at him, and felt slightly guilty again over her small lie. So what, what he didn't know couldn't hurt him, right? And it's not like it meant anything, honestly; she couldn't help it if James Potter was the most annoying prat in the universe.

They continued on aimlessly down the road, chatting about their favourite foods, their pet hates (his was girls who wore too much makeup, hers was people who bullied others for no good reason), and how stressful classes were getting. Soon they had passed the wooden buildings of Hogsmeade, and they were wandering down a lane that passed the Shrieking Shack, rain still pattering on the cobblestones around their magical shelter. She jumped in surprise when she felt Bryce's hand clasp her own. They were warm, and rough from hours of Quidditch practice. Lily looked up and smiled up at him.

Neither one of them said anything, but continued hand in hand until they eventually came to a standstill at the base of the hill leading up to the Shrieking Shack. There was no one around, and they both found themselves gazing up at the dilapidated building. The peeling, off-white paint and boarded-up windows upheld its facade of being the most haunted house in Britain. It used to give Lily the chills every time she saw it on Hogsmeade outings, until Remus had told her what it was really for.

"Have you ever been up there?" Bryce asked.

"No," said Lily softly. Whenever she saw it she was overwhelmed with a sadness for her friend that she knew he would resent.

"I wonder what kind of monster lives there," he said as he faced the Shack.

Lily bit back her initial response - he's not a monster. Instead she said, "I don't know. A lonely one, I bet. I heard even the Hogwarts ghosts' avoid the place."

Bryce did not respond. They stood in silence for a moment. They were still holding hands, and Lily was uncomfortably aware that hers was starting to sweat - or it could've been his. Then he turned away from the hill to face her.

"I had fun today," Bryce said.

"Me too," said Lily.

He stepped closer towards her, his fingers winding tighter around hers. Her pulse was racing, and beat faster as he bent down. His face was right there, his lips only a few centimeters from hers. She shut her eyes and closed the distance between them. His lips were surprisingly soft as they pressed against her own. She could feel his hand on her waist as she cupped his face and kissed him.

Familiar voices carried down to them on the wind, and Lily flinched. Bryce pulled away, and they both turned in time to see James and his friends striding out from the crop of trees next to the path leading to the Shrieking Shack. Remus, Peter and Sirius were behind him, looking uncomfortable. It looked like they had been in animated conversation before they had spotted Lily and Bryce engaged in some rather intimate activities. Everyone stood still for a second.

Lily expected James to turn around and walk away, but instead he continued strolling down the path towards them. Oh, no.

The other three followed; Remus seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her. James, who was passing them now, did not look like he was intending to stop. She was about to let out the breath she had been holding when he grinned at Bryce (it was not his lopsided one; it looked rather forced), gave him a hearty clap on the back and said, "Nice score, Wilkinson." He completely ignored her.

Bryce's face was not pretty as James said that. He started towards him, but Lily grabbed his arm and shook her head. They both watched as James and the others walked down the path to wherever they were headed - the Hogs Head, most likely.

Bryce let out a string of colourful names directed at James. Lily heartily agreed. She could feel her face flush with the indignity of it. How dare he speak to her like that! Or, more accurately, completely ignore her and speak to Bryce about her as if she were a 'conquest' of his.

That put a sour mood to the end of a wonderful afternoon. Lily and Bryce parted ways (without continuing their kiss, regrettably) and she left to go to the library - the one place she was sure James would not be. She was not looking forward to the Halloween feast tonight.

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The Great Hall that night was decorated as it always was on Halloween; a thousand live bats fluttered around the high ceiling, and grinning pumpkins lit the tables set with gold plates in eerie candlelight. Another thousand bats swooped low over the heads of students as they all filed in.

Lily refrained from shrieking as a bat flew directly towards her, almost getting tangled in her hair. I hate Halloween.

Lily, Kate, Alice and Beatrice, along with Frank and Garrick, found a row of empty seats at the Gryffindor table. Lily was glad James was not here; she had seen him on the way in, sitting on the far side furthest from the teachers table. A prudent choice - they were going to be watched very carefully during the night by several hawk-eyed Professors. They all knew who was responsible for the pranks. One feasible clue as to who was to blame, and they would pounce. Thankfully, Dumbledore was not at the teacher's table. But even if he were, Lily did not think even a Head Boy's badge would stop James from whatever was about to happen.

Lily tried to squash down the blaze of anger and indignity that flared up as she thought of James. How could one person do this to her? She was a nice girl; she tried to treat everyone fairly, the way she would want to be treated herself. But when it came to James all that went out the window, drowned in the Black Lake, and up the arse of the bloody Giant Squid.

"Lily!"

Lily jumped, knocked from her unhealthy train of thought by Kate who had yelled into her ear. "Yes?"

"Nothing. You just looked like you were about to commit murder."

"Just thinking of a certain someone," she said in a fake-cheerful voice.

"Well don't," said Kate. "You're scaring Frank."

"Oh?"

Indeed, Frank - who was seated opposite her - was regarding her with an anxious expression. "It's all right, Frank," she reassured him. "I'm fine. Really," she added when he did not look too convinced at her beaming smile.

The gold plates filled with food, and Lily heartily dug in. She was not really in the talking mood; she half-listened to the conversation while occupied with a particularly large jacket potato. All throughout the meal she was tense, dreading a shower of some nasty substance or other, or a flash of light. But the main course finished, and the tables cleared for the break before the dessert full of candy and toffee apples and sweet cherry eyeballs. The suspense was killing her. She tried to sneak a peek at the four pranksters, but could not see past all the people separating them without making it look obvious. Surely, this could not be it?

Dessert finally arrived. A huge golden dish of what looked like chocolate mousse looked particularly appetising. It was just when Lily was reaching for it with her spoon when all hell broke loose.

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BANG

Everyone screamed. The sound had come from the Slytherin table; the whole school turned towards the far side, students eagerly-

BANG

Another bowl of mousse on the Slytherin table blew up, sending a spray of fluffy dessert five feet into the air and landing with great splatters on the students sitting around it. They screeched and scrambled out of their seats, tripping over one another in the scurry. A green soot of some kind poofed up from the dish, misting their faces in the exact shade of their House. The whole Hall was yelling excitedly, some students standing on the tables, feet in the desserts to get a better view.

BANG. BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG.

Suddenly, before the rest of Slytherin thought that their mousse's might be spiked, too, the dishes down the centre of the table all exploded their contents one after the other with precise timing, and green dust was all around them in a great cloud. All the blasts seemed to echo a different note around the noisy Hall - the combination of which was playing the first notes of the Hogwarts School song.

BANG-BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG-BANG

While the Slytherins were all clamouring to get away, faces all a brilliant emerald and splotched with cream, the rest of the students were shrieking with laughter. Some were even singing along.

And as suddenly as it had started, the show was over; most of the dishes on the Slytherin table had been exploded, and it seemed that only a few had missed out in a face-full of dessert. Someone on the far side started clapping, and soon the whole Hall was cheering. The teachers on the stage were desperately trying to regain order; Professor McGonagall cracked several firecrackers at the end of her wand, but after the series of explosions, this only served to add to the chaos and increase the magnitude of the applause. All four of the Marauders were grinning and clapping along with the rest of the student population, not looking conspicuous at all. This really was their best Halloween prank to date.