It didn't work. She couldn't understand it. She was sure she had done everything right. But for all the spell told her, no one was tampering with her book. Which would have been great, had it been true. Unfortunately, she'd gotten two more notes.

She glanced over at James, whose schoolwork was spread across the table in the common room.

"James?"

"Hmmm . . ." He didn't look up. Short of flashing him, there were times half his attention was all she could get. It could work to her advantage in this situation, though.

"I noticed in that book I borrowed, that magic mum's have a spell they can do, to catch their little ones knicking sweets. Did your mum ever use that?"

"Yeah," he said. "I don't know why though." His focus was still on his essay.

"It seems like a good idea to me."

"You're a muggle."-

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He did look up now, probably because she sounded so pissed.

"It would work on a muggle, because they wouldn't know how to get round it. As soon as you get even a little control of your magic, you can work around that one. I don't even know why they'd have put it in that book. It's useless on anyone over six or so."

"Truly?"

"Yeah," he said. He kept his eyes on her, trying to puzzle it out. "Has someone been knicking your sweets, then?"

"Only you."

"The biscuits are ours, Lily. Just because you eat them all, doesn't meant they were all meant for you."

She stuck her tongue out at him, relieved when he didn't press further. The mild relief couldn't make up for the massive disappointment that flowed with it. The spell hadn't worked, and never would have. She'd have to find another way to catch whoever it was.

Lily sat in Defense Against the Dark Arts, trying to glean something from the lessons that would help her. It should have been the likeliest subject. Except nobody was using Dark Arts on her. They were tormenting her through notes. That was it. Stupid notes. She should just ignore them. She just made it all bigger, trying to catch the person responsible. She let them win.

Or perhaps doing nothing would be letting them win. She had to catch them at it! She could manage it. Head Girl, first in her class, all without any advantages in the wizarding world. She could catch a stupid prankster.

She glanced up as Sirius Black nudged James and showed him something. Her attention sharpened. It looked like a sketch.

Could James have been involved all along?

She watched him closely, measuring his response. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Black's face fell.

James glanced back toward Lily, who pretended she hadn't been watching. Then he leaned over and pointed at the drawing, whispering something to his friend.

Sirius laughed, and returned to sketching with renewed vigor. James slumped down in his chair and went back to reading over the work their professor had assigned.

Lily chewed on her thumbnail, trying to think of ways to get a look at the drawing. It turned out she needn't have worried. Sirius was happy to show her, the moment the teacher stepped out of the room.

"Oi. Evans. We can't decide which is best. I liked the pig, but James thinks the cow suits better. He might be right. With bigger lips, the resemblance is striking. Coloring is all off, though. Black and white doesn't really fit a ginger, does it? Can't have it all, though, can we? But tell me, which one do you think is more you?"

He displayed two drawings, one of her as a cow, the other of her as a pig. They should have been ridiculous. They shouldn't have bothered her at all. Perhaps it wouldn't have, had he just slapped her face on the animals. But he hadn't. He had managed to blend the two, create a version of her that was recognizably her, combined with a cow. Or a pig. She could take her pick.

She dug her fingernails into her palm and reminded herself to use the opportunity. She stared hard at the sketches, trying to focus through blurry eyes. Were there any similarities between his style and the drawings slotted into her textbooks? She thought so, but maybe it was just her anger talking.

She saw James glance at her out of the corner of her eye. He wasn't laughing along with the rest of the class. He looked just a little bit miserable. She could see the eraser marks around the lips of cow-Lily. She remembered him pointing at the sketch and saying something. She remembered Sirius adjusting the drawing. He must have told his friend her lips were bigger than Sirius had drawn them originally.

"I like the pig better, personally," she said, without emotion. And she went back to her work. Or she pretended to, as the Professor returned from his errand. Really, she sat wondering if Sirius was behind all of it. Wondering if James knew. Wondering why she cared, when he obviously wasn't worth it.