Chapter Nine
February the Fifteenth, Nineteen-Seventy-Seven
"This is a disaster!" Lily fumed, having grabbed Davie by the wrist in the hallway and yanked her into an empty classroom, looking absolutely mortified. It was the morning after the ball, and the aftermath was, indeed, more than Lily was pleased to deal with. "Now everyone thinks I'm dating James --"
"Aren't you?"
Lily wheeled around, facing her friend and looking scandalized - her bright green eyes glared pointedly at the dark-haired girl. "I only went to the ball with him because - as friends - we decided to work together to make sure you would go with Sirius!"
"Oh, just friends!" Davie said, holding her hands up defensively as she spoke. "Just friends, when this time last year you wanted James Potter dead --"
"I did not!" Lily retorted indignantly, though upon even brief scrutiny, she paused as though she'd just been doused in cold water. "I'm - I'm able to tolerate him now. We're friends. We're not like you and Sirius," she added loftily, shifting the conversation away from herself. "You're all over one another and laughing and --"
"Well, he's never asked me to be his girlfriend --"
"Yet!" Lily huffed, crossing her arms. "He hasn't asked you yet!"
"Well, I bet James asks you first."
Momentarily, both girls could do nothing except stare one another down until finally, Lily sighed, shaking her head and leaning back against the edge of a nearby desk. "You can't tell anyone that I -- I sort of fancy him. Only a little bit," Lily mumbled grudgingly - and Davie was surprisingly less excited than she expected to be when Lily had admitted it; did that mean she was expected to admit something too? "If anyone knew -- I do have principles. He goes against --"
"Lily," Davie interrupted, laughing quietly. "Are you mad? You're my best friend, who else would I tell? Besides," she shrugged, glancing over her shoulder as though to make sure no one else could be present. "We're even."
And with that, Lily finally breathed a bit easier, and the two girls walked pleasantly to their classes.
***
March the Fifth, Nineteen-Seventy-Seven
"Davie," Lily chided, rubbing her temple lightly at her friend's stubbornness. "You don't need to take Ancient Runes to be an Auror."
"But it's my favorite class," Davie whined piteously, yanking a piece of parchment out of Lily's hands. The pair sat in a booth in the Three Broomsticks looking over the forms they had been given earlier that day on which were to write the classes they were selecting to take in their seventh and final year of school, pending passing marks.
"Davie, you're going to be the only one taking the class --"
"I'm going to be in Runes."
Both girls looked up at the sound of a male voice to find Severus Snape standing next to their table, his Slytherin friends standing a few yards away. Lily narrowed her eyes and turned her eyes away from him, while Davie simply pursed her lips, continuing her conversation with Lily.
"You know, you're absolutely right," she said in a careless tone. "Runes is a terrible idea. It won't be of any use when I become an Auror anyway."
Snape lingered momentarily, trying to catch Lily's eye and failing - realizing this, he quickly departed without another word, returning to his Slytherin companions - a group that included Avery, Mulciber, and to Davie's chagrin, Romnic Digby, who spared his ex-girlfriend a glance as well.
"Bothering you again?" Sirius asked gravely, striding over to the girls' table ahead of his friends just in time to shoot Snape a nasty glance, and though he hadn't overheard the conversation, he noticed the strained expression on Davie's face as the boys settled into the booth with the girls. "Davie, I'll tell you again - just say the word, and I'll hex him to pieces before you can --"
"Can we drop it?" she said quickly - Sirius glanced at Lily, who simply shrugged; even she didn't know why Davie acted so strangely about Snape. Davie, however, was more than willing to follow her own advice as she leaned over Sirius to address Remus, who was sitting next to him.
"It's the fifth, isn't it?" Davie asked quietly. "Due to be checking up on Grams tonight, aren't you?"
"Mm," Remus nodded quietly - it was clear that the full moon was quite close, as he was looking quite pale and sickly today as was common when his transformations neared. "Could we go outside for a bit of air? I'm not feeling so well."
"Let's," Lily nodded sympathetically, nudging James who in turn nudge Peter to get out of the seat. All six of them, not knowing they were being followed by one solitary figure, proceeded outside, walking onward until they reached a fenced hill overlooking the Shrieking Shack. Lily transfigured a pile of leaves into a picnic blanket which they laid out as a sitting-spot.
"Sirius," Davie said, picking at the sleeve of his robes as she sat down next to him. "These don't look like the robes of a teenager who's just been disinherited. Are they new?" she asked curiously.
"Indeed, they are," he chuckled, adjusting his collar unnecessarily. "Bought them with a gift from my Great-Uncle Alphard. Smart man, knew my mum was completely batty and left me a massive inheritance --"
"Inheritance?" Lily gaped. "So -- he died? Aren't you sad? Aren't you in mourning --"
"Well, I haven't seen the man since I was about ten, I couldn't even tell you what color his hair was," Sirius laughed nonchalantly, waving away Lily's concern. "But bless 'im to bits, my vault in Gringotts might need to be expanded thanks to him. I'm considering buying an island -- D'you want one too, James? Davie?" he joked.
"I'll settle for a lifetime supply of fudge and Chocóballs -- mm!" Davie laughed excitedly, thinking of the fruit crème-filled sweets that she favored from Honeydukes. She leaned back against Sirius as she laughed, and he had no problem whatsoever putting his arm around her rather cozily. While the two were preoccupied laughing with one another, James glanced knowingly at Remus and Lily as he nodded toward the pair, while Peter looked quite out of place indeed, as he really wasn't too involved in what was happening to begin with.
The six of them sat outside in the pleasantly early spring weather for a good while, at least an hour or so, which culminated in James and Sirius splitting an entire pack of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum between themselves and starting a contest of who could blow a bigger bubble.
"Oh, don't be a sore loser," Davie laughed, helping Sirius pick the bright pink flecks of gum out of his hair as they prepared to head back to the school - it was still fairly early, but it was understood among all of them that Remus obviously had other plans this evening. "C'mon," Davie said, tugging on Sirius' arm. "You need to get some rest before --"
"You go on ahead, Davie," Sirius said, his eyes shooting briefly towards a rustling sound he had heard in a nearby cluster of trees. "Go on -- I'll be right along."
Davie shrugged, then followed the others down the hill, leaving Sirius seemingly alone. Sirius, however, gazed back towards the trees once he was sure the others had gone. He picked up a rock and chucked it in that direction.
"Wotcher, Snape!" he called out as the pale boy jumped out to avoid being hit. Sirius' voice was deceptively cordial, hiding the fact that at the moment, the sight of Severus Snape not only brought out the troublemaker in him. It made his blood boil. "You probably think we're a bunch of loons for liking it out here - yards away from the, ah -- most haunted spot in all of Britain, I heard it was."
"I've not thought any better of you since the moment I met you," Snape sneered. "So we needn't bother --"
"It's not really haunted, you know. The boys and I, we go out there quite often," Sirius continued, twirling his wand lazily between his fingers with a thoughtful look on his face. "There's a way inside, if you'd like to see what happens inside for yourself."
"W-why would you tell me?" Snape hissed, slowly resting his hand on the handle of his own wand at the sight of Sirius holding hiss, though his expression gave away the fact that Sirius had piqued his interest.
"Simple," Sirius grinned, beginning to stalk back and forth in a short beeline towards Snape. "It's no secret that I fancy Davie quite a bit. And you've been bothering her, quite a bit -- so I'd very much appreciate if you would leave her alone, that's all. You can consider this a peace offering."
"You're a conceited git," Snape said flatly. "But -- fine. I'm indifferent about Maddux, so it's not even a fair trade for you --"
"Excellent," Sirius said with a disarming, toothy grin, walking over and clapping a hand on Snape's shoulder. "So, you know the Whomping Willow…"
***
"Ohh," Davie said quietly, leaning at the windowsill of the common room window which overlooked the side of the grounds that played host to the Whomping Willow tree that had been especially placed on campus for the sake of facilitating Remus' monthly transformations. "I'm glad it's clear out tonight," she said breathily, glancing over her shoulder briefly at Lily, who was standing directly behind her and staring out the window as well. Ever since they had both known about Remus, they had made a habit of standing at the common room window every month once they were reasonably sure everyone else in Gryffindor tower was sleeping.
"There -- there's Wormtail, I suspect," Davie said as the arms of the tree immediately stopped flailing - they were too far away to see clearly, but this most likely meant that the tiny rat known as Peter Pettigrew had reached the knot at the bottom of the tree. Moments later, a large shaggy dog and a stag ran down the passageway as well, with an empty space between them that must have been Remus underneath James' Invisibility Cloak.
Once the boys had managed to all get through the secret passageway that led to the Shrieking Shack, Davie stepped away from the windowsill, where Lily now took a seat.
"I always worry people are going to see them out there," Lily said, in a hushed voice, looking away from the window and towards Davie, who faced her, and consequently, still faced the window. Her next words would show that Lily's fears were not unfounded.
"Lily --" she said in a voice that was so tight that it was almost a squeak; her face paled quickly. "Lily, look, it's Severus!"
Lily turned back to the window quickly, just in time to see another figure enter the passageway under the Whomping Willow; the girls glanced at one another quite terrified, knowing they couldn't possibly do anything to stop him from their distance. Davie was so shaken that she lacked the wherewithal to even wince as Lily's grip on her arm tightened like a vice.
After a few tense moments that felt like hours, the girls let out a simultaneous breath when Snape was dragged back out of the passage by James Potter - the boys were exchanging punches and jabs even now. In an instant, it appeared, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall had rushed onto the scene still in their nightclothes, attending immediately to Snape who had a few minor bruises and cuts. When Sirius emerged from the hole - Remus was obviously still in the Shrieking Shack - the professors looked at them harshly, grabbed them all, and began dragging them back towards the castle.
"Davie, come on," Lily said in a very serious tone. "If we run to the Entrance Hall right now --"
No further explanation was necessary for Davie to agree. Still in their dressing robes and slippers, the girls ran out of the portrait hole, down the moving staircases, and into the Entrance Hall just as the others were arriving,
"Come on, Prongs, I was just having a laugh with him!" Sirius laughed loudly, leaning across Professor McGonagall's grasp and gesturing with his free arm towards James, who still looked absolutely livid. "I would have --"
"YOU FILTHY, DISGUSTING PIECE OF --" Snape roared, leaping out of Professor Dumbledore's grasp and lunging at Sirius, who had his fist raised and ready to let Snape have what he felt was coming to him. It was James who grabbed the back of Snape's robes, yanking him backwards away from Sirius, and Severus wheeled around, glaring at James as though he were considering one-by-one the ways he could be skinned alive. Dumbledore put a hand up to halt James, then looked at Severus gravely.
"That," he said, his eyes peering out from his spectacles, "is no way to regard a colleague who has just saved your life, Severus --"
"HE DIDN'T SAVE MY LIFE!" Snape roared. "HE DIDN'T -- I'LL KILL --"
"What's happening?" Lily said shrilly, rushing onto the scene first; Davie had run momentarily into Peeves and had only just reached the top of the staircase as Lily reached the bottom. Interrupting, however, turned out to be a bit of ill judgment on Lily's part when the boys all launched into simultaneous explanations.
"We were only looking out for Moony like always! I thought --"
"Black was trying to murder me! He told me about the passage and --"
"It was a joke! If Snape hadn't been nosy enough to listen to the advice, shoving his drippy nose where it doesn't --"
"ENOUGH!" Professor Dumbledore bellowed, effectively silencing the lot of them. "In simplest, Mr. Black informed Mr. Snape about the tunnel below the Whomping Willow. Mr. Potter managed to pull him back, but not before --"
"LUPIN IS A WEREWOLF!" Snape yelled above everyone else's voices, and he wheeled towards Lily, who was making clear effort not to even make eye contact with him. "EVERY MONTH! THAT'S WHERE --"
"We know, Severus, we all know! Everyone but you knew because it's none of your business!" Lily said shrilly, speaking to him for the first time since the previous year before turning to James; her expression shifted immediately. The level of admiration in her eyes seemed to grow and swell until it rivaled in magnitude the expression of loathing in Snape's. "But -- you saved him, Potter? James? You hate him, why did you --"
"I had to," James said, scratching the back of his neck and adjusting his glasses. "Wormtail stayed behind with Moony, I made sure. I just couldn't let it go that far --"
"Good show, Potter," Snape interrupted venomously. "The hero yet again --"
"That is quite enough," Dumbledore said, silencing them yet again. "There are no heroes in this incident. But you do owe Mr. Potter your life. That being said," he said, glancing around at everyone else in the vicinity, "the lot of you are in very real trouble. You, Mr. Black, should be glad you are not being expelled. You boys will each lose fifty points for your houses. And," he said, glancing behind him, "ten each for Miss Evans and Miss Maddux.:
"Ten?!" Davie piped shrilly, speaking up for the first time in the situation. "What are we getting in trouble for? We didn't know anything --"
"Miss Maddux," Professor McGonagall said pointedly, "as noble as your intentions were in rushing to the aid of your friends, it is no excuse for wandering the halls at night --"
"We weren't wandering!" Davie retorted, mouth hanging open in disbelief and outrage. "We haven't been out of our common room for more than five minutes --"
"Do not for me to deduct five points for your cheek," McGonagall said, raising her eyebrows severely. "Back to your dormitories. Immediately."
***
"Sirius!" Davie hissed angrily, stopping him from going up the stairs to his dormitory once they had all walked in very tense silence back to Gryffindor Tower. "What were you thinking? You could have killed him! You --"
"Killed him!" Sirius roared, wheeling around and throwing his arms up so abruptly that it made Davie jump backwards. "It's a bloody shame I didn't! I was hoping Moony would tear him limb from --"
"Padfoot," James said as he climbed through the portrait hole as well, with Lily close behind, looking winded and rather awestruck at the fact that she had. "You think Moony would fancy knowing he'd killed someone? You know how terrible he feels to begin with --"
"Well, he didn't kill anyone, so pull your foot out of your --"
"What'd he ever do --"
"HE HURT DAVIE!" Sirius continued, jabbing his finger towards Davie as he continued yelling at James, causing Davie to pale considerably. "I don't know what he's been doing, but every time Davie even speaks with that oaf, she comes back in tears --"
"I'm not your girlfriend!" Davie yelled shrilly - by this point, a handful of other students were peering out of their dormitory doors to see what the commotion was about. Sirius turned around, seething with fury that for the first time was targeted towards Davie.
"I'm not your girlfriend, and you don't need to do stupid things like this because of me," Davie said angrily as Sirius stalked up to her. "I'm not your girlfriend, you're not my boyfriend, and --"
"Not," Sirius interrupted, his voice a very unfamiliar low snarl, "for lack of trying."
And with that, he knocked past her, almost knocking her over as her walked upstairs to his dormitory and slamming the door hard behind him - a very shocked, enraged Davie stood at the bottom of the stairs, and a very dumbstruck Lily Evans stared with confusion between her best friend and James Potter -- had someone slipped something into the pumpkin juice tonight?
"You oughta go back upstairs," James spoke up, scratching the back of his neck in frustration. "I'll go make sure Padfoot doesn't break anything."
"What about Remus?" Lily asked in concern, glancing out the window as if to confirm that their friends were still outside.
"He'll be alright -- I'll explain everything to him in the morning."
***
Mid June, Ninety-Seventy-Seven
"Davie, please this is all my fault," Remus said, trudging along behind Davie as the Gryffindors exited their Potions class; it was practically summer, and the Potions dungeon was balmy and musty and none too conducive to cooling one's temper. On this day in particular, Davie had spent the entire class period sitting next to none other than Romnic Digby, on the same side of the classroom as the rest of the Slytherins - she made a point of shooting Sirius a glance as she sat down. Sirius, in turn, simply looked away and spoke to James, masking his obvious distaste for the situation with jeers about Davie's choice of company.
"Davie," Remus persisted, finally able to catch up to her completely as she got caught behind a large crowd on one of the changing staircases. He snagged his arm "Come on, please -- how many months has it been?"
"It's not your fault, Remus, it's his," Davie said nonchalantly. "And it's certainly not my fault that he doesn't care that he's making an absolute fool of himself and I don't want to be associated with him."
"But Davie," Remus continued, "you know, he put a lot on the line for you - he could have been expelled! Even if it was a stupid idea and he went about it in absolutely the wrong way, he deserves a chance --"
"And I'd be glad to give it to him," Davie said, and momentarily, an expression of relief spread onto Remus' tired face. "When he asks for it himself."
"How about --" Remus said, scratching his neck in exasperation as he tried to find another way around the situation. "Well, where are you staying this summer? Your uncle lives in London, doesn't he? Near Sirius - he could come and visit --"
"Actually," Davie interrupted, "I'm staying with Lily this summer, she's only just heard back from her parents about it and they seem lovely --"
"Well, won't you just write him?" Remus said, taking another swipe at trying to force a reconciliation between all of them. In these recent months, Davie had been wandering off without Lily slightly more often, who had now taken to hanging around Remus, who still felt guilty about being the cause of their falling out. Even Sirius and James had hardly been speaking; Peter was the only one who retained some level of normalcy, following James around unrelentingly.
Davie sighed, shaking her head remorsefully. "I'm sorry, Remus," she said, looking slightly sad herself. "I'm giving Sirius the summer to learn how to put his pride in its place, that's all."
***
A/N
And again -- poor Sirius can't catch a break with Davie, can he? Poor thing! And poor Snape too, I suppose. Even I can't decide whether or not I want to have complete sympathy for him.
Anyway, more feedback is always appreciated, but in any case, I'm glad that people are reading; I check the traffic on the story, and just knowing you guys are reading is encouraging, so I'll keep writing. Feedback would just give me more of a nudge, tee-hee. Anyway, cheers!
