Disclaimer: No, I still don't own them. Sucks but it's true…

A/N: Right! The next chapter—hope you like it! ;)


When the Marauders finally presented themselves at McGonagall's office for punishment, her thundering displeasure could be heard all the way down the hall. They each lost fifty points, except for Remus who was exempt due to his actions. However that was still one hundred and fifty points lost in one fell swoop, placing Gryffindor dead last in the race for the House Cup.

None of their Housemates were pleased with their new ranking and there was zero tolerance for any kind of pranks, even the most harmless jokes. But despite the cold looks and disapproving glares, the Marauders refused to be cowed and set about reclaiming their audience's favor with vigour. Realizing that targeting other people would only serve as a potent reminder of their mistake; they pranked themselves in the most outlandish and embarrassing ways possible, as penance.

The first week, their attempts were blanked with chilly indifference but seeing Sirius Black walking around with a donkey's tail and braying with every second word was hard to ignore. By the end of the second week, small guilty smiles were quickly rearranged into frowns as Remus Lupin spoke with a woman's voice and James Potter's hair fell to his heels, coloured a vivid, eye-smarting pink. During the third week, seeing Peter Pettigrew repeatedly hit the ceiling with levitating hiccoughs actually gained a few muffled laughs and the Marauders knew they were well on their way to being welcomed back into the fold.


Lily was oblivious to all of this. She was far too worried about Tuney to care about the Marauders social standing and she knew she wasn't alone. Both Sev and Frank were concerned as well. It wasn't the physical injuries, though they'd been many and severe—Lily thanked heaven for magic and Poppy Pomfrey, she was certain Petunia would never have survived otherwise. As it was, by the time the weekend was over, her sister had been up and walking around as if nothing had ever happened.

At least physically.

Petunia had produced a note at their next flying lesson from Madam Pomfrey, excusing her from the class indefinitely. Hooch hadn't been very impressed but she hadn't argued either, allowing her to sit off to the side with her nose buried in a book while Lily swooped and soared with Sev and Frank. They tried to get her attention, waving madly or attempting stunts while calling for her to look but she didn't avert her gaze from the pages until everyone had landed safely. Lily had ran to hug her afterwards and discovered that she was trembling despite having been on solid ground the entire time.

Astronomy class had been just as worrying. Lily had to drag their telescope to the centre of the tower after Tuney went into hysterics at being so close to the edge. Severus had levitated it for her in the end, drily reminding her that she was a Witch, while Frank attempted to comfort Petunia. The whole class had been staring and Lily remembered the burn of her checks as she guided her tearful sister back to their newly positioned telescope. Luckily Professor Sinestra understood and the Marauders had kept quiet as well, probably unwilling to draw attention to themselves.

oOoOoOo

"What are we going to do?" Lily groaned as Hufflepuff scored another goal. Severus' reply was lost in the cheer of the crowd but she saw his resigned shrug as he turned a pained face away from the celebrating students.

"I don't think there's much we can do," Frank said sadly, once the noise had lowered from overpowering to simply deafening. "She can't stand heights; she can't even bear to watch other people fly."

"Those stupid Marauders!" Lily growled angrily, "This is all their fault!"

Neither boy argued with her, it wasn't necessary—she knew they both agreed anyway. They watched the match in silence; Lily couldn't even summon up the proper excitement at seeing Quidditch for the first time. It was amazing and complex but she couldn't bring herself to care. After they'd dragged Tuney to the stands, choosing the lowest row and force feeding her a calming potion courtesy of Sev, to ensure she wouldn't be upset by being up so high—their plan to show her the good points of flying had failed dramatically. She had flinched at every dive and hairpin turn, covering her eyes whenever bludgers almost knocked someone off their broom—which considering Slytherin's ethics, or lack thereof, was quite often.

Feeling her sister tremble and shudder against her side had eventually become too much for Lily and she escorted the grateful girl back to the library before she was shooed back to the others.

"We started too big," Frank said suddenly, "we should have tried to ease her into it gradually."

"We're not going to be able to cure her fear of heights," Sev pointed out pragmatically.

"Well, we could at least help her to enjoy a game of Quidditch without having a panic attack," Lily cried in frustration. "I just want to do something to help her!"

Hufflepuff scored another goal and Severus didn't even cringe this time, a thoughtful look crossing his face. He glanced at Frank and raised an eyebrow. The other boy just shrugged.

"Worth a try," he said optimistically.

Lily looked back and forth between them. "What's going on?"

"Just an idea of Frank's," Sev said absently. "You know he's a Quidditch fanatic. I just wonder if inviting Petunia along would help."

Lily was ready to throttle him. She swore he drew things out like this just to irritate her. Thankfully Frank took pity on her before she made him witness to a murder.

"I know first years can't get on the House teams," he said excitedly, "but that's no reason we can't give ourselves an edge for next year."

Lily raised her eyebrows, intrigued and listened with growing enthusiasm as the plan unfolded. Merlin, but she hoped it worked.


Petunia was deeply involved in her Defense essay when Lily and Frank collapsed into seats either side of her. Severus followed more sedately but all three were flushed and looking at her in a way that made her distinctly nervous.

"What's going on?" she asked warily. She was well aware of their various ill-fated attempts to 'help' her and while she appreciated the gesture, she wished they'd just let it go.

"We've got a surprise for you!" Lily and Frank chorused gleefully earning an irate glare from Madam Pince who was shelving books nearby. Severus just rolled his eyes.

"Just follow us already, will you?" he demanded impatiently. Petunia bristled at his imperious tone but before she could snap back, Lily looked at her with big doleful green eyes and Petunia groaned in defeat.

"Fine…" she muttered ungraciously, shoving her essay into her book and slamming it closed. "Let's go then."

oOoOoOo

They towed her outside while she grumbled about all the homework she still had to do. At first she wasn't paying much heed to her surroundings but she soon noticed that they were drifting perilously close to the Forbidden Forest; the Whomping Willow marking the border was mere metres away!

"Ah, yes," Frank said apologetically, "that bit was Severus' idea. He seems to think it'll help take your mind off things."

Petunia spun to face Severus who was looking altogether too pleased with himself but before she could lay into him about his reckless endangerment she spotted Lily. Or rather what lay in the grass beside her. She took a hasty step back, almost toppling Frank but Lily was at her side in an instant.

"It's ok, Tuney, I promise," she soothed, "You don't have to ride them."

That calmed her a bit but she still felt like bolting. "Well, why are they here then?" she demanded hoarsely.

"Well," Frank said jovially, "since you missed the Quidditch match, we decided to give you one of your own!"

"It'll be a lot less exciting," Severus said wryly, "so you'll probably enjoy it."

Petunia stiffened at the insult and glared weakly at him. Given his supremely unconcerned look she was obviously losing her touch.

"We won't be using a snitch since we'd probably lose it," Lily explained.

"And Hooch would kill us and hide the bodies," Severus muttered.

"And no bludgers either," she continued as if he hadn't interrupted. "I know you don't like them and they're really much too dangerous."

Petunia relaxed a little further at that. Frank pointed to three makeshift wooden hoops covered in scorch marks and hairline cracks, each suspended by a thick branch that swayed dangerously in the breeze.

"Those are the goals," he said proudly indicating the crooked wooden circles, "We made them ourselves!"

Petunia sniffed at the shoddy workmanship. If she ever needed proof that she was the best of their little group at Transfiguration then this was it.

"It's not high enough," she said hesitantly. Not that she had a problem with that. If she stood on Frank's shoulders she would probably be able to reach it—not that she'd ever even contemplate doing such a thing. It was still far enough from the ground to make her stomach flip but it was nothing to the height of the goals on the real Quidditch pitch.

"That's on purpose!" Lily told her brightly. "This is your match after all; it'd be no good if you could only see blurry dots."

"These two wanted to try engineer some stands," Severus confided, "but I figured there isn't enough calming potion in the world to get you to trust our Transfiguration skills that far."

As Petunia spluttered at the alarming image that evoked, Frank chimed in. "We know you don't like flying, Tuney," he said gently, "but the fact that you can't even appreciate Quidditch…it'd be a pity to let the Marauders take that from you as well."

Petunia stared blankly at him. She hadn't thought of it like that. True, she'd been curious to see just what Sev had been trying to explain that time with the rocks and the little sticks but in all honesty, she'd never been very interested in sports. Who's to say that Quidditch wouldn't be just as boring as football or…golf?

"Please, Tuney?" Lily asked, gazing at her imploringly. "Just give it a chance!"

"At least prove that you can watch a match without hyperventilating before insisting that you don't like it," Severus challenged. She scowled at him as he raised one smug brow before rolling her eyes and sitting down on the damp grass with a huff.

"Well, then?" she commanded peevishly, "Where is this marvelous spectacle that I'm supposed to see?"

They stared at her for one shocked moment as if they couldn't believe she'd actually agreed. Petunia's resulting expression made them scatter, racing for their brooms.

She had to move too, given that she'd made her dramatic point right in the middle of the 'pitch', which rather ruined the effect she'd been going for but she settled down haughtily again—keeping a wary eye on the forest looming in the distance.

Lily produced a real quaffle, Petunia wasn't even going to ask how they'd got their hands on it, and thrust it at her. She was so surprised she nearly dropped it, looking at her sister in confusion.

"We need you to toss it up," Lily informed her breathlessly, eying Frank as he circled them. Severus had taken up position near the goals.

"Me and Frank will be the chasers first, we'll all take turns being the goalie as the match goes on."

Petunia looked down at the ball in her hands. It was bright red, about the size of a football and surprisingly light. She took a deep breath and walked back to the middle of the pitch, closing her eyes tightly for a moment before tossing it as hard as she could into the air. Immediately she scurried out of the way, hands curled protectively over her head as she ran, not wanting to be hit if it fell. When she reached her spot she reluctantly looked up in time to see Lily, with the quaffle under her arm, zoom in dizzying figure eights, trying to shake Frank as he attempted to block her.

Petunia felt her breath hitch and her legs start to tremble as she took in the speed and lack of care they were displaying. She screamed out loud when Frank slammed his broom into Lily's, grabbing the quaffle as she dropped it in a bid to hang on. But she simply rolled in the air, righting herself quickly and cursed at Frank as he sped toward Severus who was wearing a grimace of intense concentration. She waved to Petunia before tearing off in pursuit.

And it continued like that…and yet no-one fell, though she'd bet a hundred Galleons they'd have bruises in the morning. Before she knew it she found herself leaning forward and urging them on, calling encouragement to Lily who practically glowed at the sound of her voice. Somewhere along the way, she forgot to be scared. She still flinched at the hairy bits but perhaps because she trusted them not to let each other fall, she began to enjoy the game.

They weren't very good. Severus was still a little clumsy on a broom, seeming to prefer being Keeper to Chaser while Frank whizzed around like a pro. Lily was a graceful flier but when they played catch; she tended to fumble the quaffle a bit. Catch wasn't as fun to watch as penalties or a one-on-one Quidditch match. She noticed that Severus didn't like to play against Lily but had no problem blocking her scores. Frank was (slightly) gentler with Lily when they played one-on-one than he was with Sev which upset Lily and pleased Petunia.

Their good-natured arguments and high-speed resolutions were entertaining enough that Petunia found herself laughing along with them and calling out 'fouls' which got her bestowed with the dubious honour of referee. She wasn't entirely sure she was happy about that but it was a role she took seriously and if she took a little too much pleasure in bossing them all around, that was no-one's business but hers.

It turned into a regular thing. If their study sessions finished early enough, they'd run out for a game before dinner. Severus and Frank would disappear, returning shortly with the quaffle but despite Lily almost expiring with curiosity each time, Petunia insisted they keep the 'where and how' to themselves. She still avoided flying like the plague and made up lame excuses to get out of climbing the stands to see a proper Quidditch match but almost every evening she'd rush into dinner late with a flushed face, wide grin and grass stains on her robes—and completely forget to care.


A/N: So what do you think? Like it, hate it—let me know. Review!