Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor will I ever! (Not even in my dizziest day dreams- Rita Skeeter GoF)
Recap:
Without further ado, he leaned in and kissed her passionately on the lips.
Alliteration, 2,000 reasons, permission
The end of the ball did not go as Lily had hoped. Firstly, it started when Severus came up to ask her to dance. Just before she could say yes, James had hexed him into a snail.
"Ha, Severus Snape the snail from Slytherin whose Head of House is Slughorn," said James. "Try saying that 10 times fast."
"Potter! Turn him right!" shrieked Lily angrily. "If you don't I'll hex you into oblivion!"
"Calm yourself Evans," said James and with a swish of he wand changed him back. Then looking at James disgusted he ran off.
Second, they finally found out where Amy and Sirius had been. In a broom closet!
"Hey, where have you guys been?" asked Alice when they came back.
"Oh, ya know, in a broom closet," replied Sirius, smirking.
When the others gaped he added, "snogging."
By this point, Lily couldn't stand to be around James anymore and decided to make her leave. If only then Amos Diggory decided to stagger out of the Great Hall and ask if he could stay.
"Whatever! See if I care," cried Lily, tears pouring down her face. Before she could say bye to him though James had done some spell Lily had never seen and made Amos grow tentacles instead of arms and legs. "POTTER!" she had yelled for the millionth time that evening. "TURN HIM RIGHT!"
So James turned him back to normal (if that was much better), and let him scurry away.
"Potter, just go up to your room," said Lily. He walked up with Remus (Sirius was still dancing) and whispered to him, "man, they get scary when they're older."
"POTTER YOU ALWAYS RUIN EVERYTHING!" sobbed Lily and pushed past him up to her room.
Remus gave him a knowing look that he just shrugged off so Remus ran after Lily.
"Lily, are you okay?" asked Remus while he knocked on her door. "Can I come in?"
He thought he heard her hiccup yes but he wasn't positive so he opened the door a crack to see her nod. He walked in and sat down on his bed.
"You know he isn't that bad a guy really," said Remus quietly.
"Wh – who?" choked Lily as she wiped off her make-up.
"James," he replied, ignoring her glare.
"I know he's one of your friends but…"
"Your right, he is one of my friends," agreed Remus. "So it would make me a bit biased. But he's been there for me when I needed it the most."
"What…?" asked Lily puzzled?
Remus sighed and took a deep breath before saying, "Lily, I'm a werewolf." She just stared at him at loss for words so he continued. "Once a month I transform in the Shrieking Shack. You know the Whomping Willow?" She nodded. "That was planted the year before we came for me. Most headmasters wouldn't have wanted someone like me in a school, but Dumbledore was different. As long as some led me out there I could transform and nobody would be at risk due to the tree's flailing."
"Wow," said Lily. "But where does J- I mean Potter come in to this?" Did I almost call him by his first name?
"Him and Sirius became illegal animagus…" began Remus but was interrupted.
"They did WHAT now?" shouted Lily.
"I know what you're thinking, and they did it at great risk for me," said Remus seriously. "They needn't have to but it was a way to get my transformation to be a little less painful."
Lily sat there for a moment taking all this in. Remus was a werewolf, the Whomping willow, Dumbledore… Potter…
"So just cut James a little slack alright? I know he can be a bit conceited…" admitted Remus and got interrupted again.
"Don't forget an egotistical womanizer," reminded Lily, laughing.
"Yes those too, just give him a break. He only does what he does because he cares." Giving Lily a fleeting smile, he gave her a hug and walked out to allow her to wallow in her thoughts.
The next day was Sunday so Lily and her friends decided to have a girl's night and stay up in their room doing nails and other girly makeover stuff.
"So, who was the first boy you liked?" Amy asked the others.
"Jesse Rodriguez," answered Tina Williams, another girl who shared their room but had many other friends. "He went to the Muggle School I attended before Hogwarts."
"You went to a muggle school?" cried Alice, Amy, and Mary-Kate Brown.
"I did too," said Lily, jumping in. "All muggle-borns did since we obviously didn't know about Hogwarts." Tina nodded and the others just gaped at them.
"So what kind of stuff do you learn in muggle schools?" asked Amy.
"Don't you take muggle studies?" asked Alice.
"Yeah, it doesn't mean I listen," answered Amy then remembered that's what Sirius, her boyfriend, had said to her.
"You learn stuff like English, math, social studies, science, and foreign languages," replied Tina, grinning.
"Thank god for Hogwarts," said the other four.
"Well we all know whom Alice first liked," said Amy, staring knowingly at Alice who blushed. "Frank, her one and only love. But what about you Mary-Kate?" asked Amy, raising her eyebrows. "Who did you first like?"
Mary-Kate turned red, looked around the room and giggled. "James Potter," she whispered.
"Sorry? Didn't quite catch that," teased Alice. Lily didn't say anything since she just blanched.
"JAMES POTTER!" shouted Mary-Kate now crimson red.
"Did someone call?" asked a voice from the door. They looked around and saw James standing their with a grin on his face. "Ooo, makeup can I join?"
"Shove it Potter," growled Lily. She magicked the door shut and muttered, "muffliato", so no one outside could hear them.
"Another one of Snape's spells?" asked Alice. Lily nodded and sat back down. "James wouldn't be too happy if he knew that."
"He probably already does," replied Lily shrugging.
"Doubt it," said Mary-Kate, happy that the subject was off her. "Snape only shared his spells with Miss Lily Evans."
"You better watch it Brown or I'll use one of my own spells on you."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Oh, it's quite simple," joked Lily. "I just take your wand like so and shove it up your nose."
"Moving back to topic," said Amy and was greeted by Mary-Kate's groan. "Looks like you've got some competition Lily."
"What do you mean?" asked Lily even though she knew perfectly well what they were talking about.
"You know very well what I'm talking about," argued Amy. "Besides, you've never been too good at Occlumency."
"Since when are you a skilled Occlumens?" asked Tina surprised.
"Since never, but Lily's expression is really easy to read," explained Amy. "Like right now she's probably thinking about how she'd like to throttle me." All the girls looked at each other and burst into laughter.
Christmas was slowly drawing nearer upon the castle and the spirit of it all was certainly being spread around. On a snowy day you'd be able to witness the Hogwarts Gamekeeper Hagrid lugging one of the 12 Christmas Trees into the Great Hall. On others you could see Professor Flitwick (who happened to be a Charms expert) conjuring lights and mistletoe to hang around the school. Even Filch decided to bring a little holiday joy of his own to the school. Instead of threatening to have kids hung by their thumbs he mixed it up and said he'd be to happy to hang them by their toes (this received some gossip about who has been threatened with this) until Filch was forced by Professor McGonagall to say it was just a joke (he admitted grudgingly). To many students surprise, there were also some teachers like Slughorn and Flitwick who gave up on teaching kids and just let them have free time in classes. And there were others like Professor Trelawney and Professor McGonagall who would no sooner have games in class then they would adopt the Marauders. The Marauders however had a fun idea to add to the Christmas fun.
"When will it happen?" asked James at breakfast to Remus.
"In five, four, three, two…" muttered Remus. "Now."
Suddenly (as if my magic) all the people in the Great Hall were transformed into Christmas Characters. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw merely got fake Santa beards and hats. But for the Slytherin and Professor's it was different. The Slytherin's got Rudolph antlers and a glowing nose but that was not all. They were also transformed into bathing suits, and not any bathing suits. Bikini's! The teachers however were meant to just get Santa outfits, but there seemed to be a mistake and they got bikini's also to the Marauder's horror. So here came Professor McGonagall walking down the Hall livid and in a bikini, something no one in his or her right mind would ever hope to see.
"Looking good Minnie," said Sirius getting laughter from the Gryffindor Table. No one however was laughing at this next proclamation.
"200 points from Gryffindor!" she shrieked then looking at Remus said, "I would have expected more thought from a prefect."
"Well, it did take a lot of hard magic to plan this," muttered Remus but only Sirius could here it causing him to throw his head back and laugh. Next came Dumbledore, and seeing him in a bikini… well let's just say it was a sight for sore eyes. Considering guys weren't made to wear bikinis and Dumbledore's frail body didn't really compliment it either.
"I think detention for these three are in order as well," said Dumbledore. Though James thought he saw a twinkle in his eyes when he bent down and whispered to them, "An excellent branch of magic if I do say so myself."
"Thank you Professor," said James. "And the effects shall wear off in an hour." Sirius and Remus shot him incredulous looks but they were shrugged off. Dumbledore nodded but instead waved his wand and turned the teachers back to normal (much to the students relief).
James noticed that Lily, Amy, and Alice got up at the end of the table and thought he was about to get a telling off.
"Look, it was just for some Christmas Fun," said James coolly before she could say anything.
She glared at him before saying, "Well, if you had let me talked you would have known I was going to say that was some impressive magic." She sauntered off leaving him with his mouth wide open and feeling stupid.
"Smooth Prongs," said Sirius then stood up on the benches and wolf whistled at the Slytherin's earning him many laughs from everyone including Dumbledore.
"Hey Evans, you looking forward to Christmas?" asked James but mentally slapped himself. This would be Lily's first Christmas without her family.
Lily felt her eyes well up with tears but she pushed them back and said, "yeah I suppose." Amy glared at him and he retreated to the other side of the common room where Remus and Sirius were sitting supposedly studying. More like Remus trying to study while Sirius goofed off as usual.
"Hey Remus?" asked Sirius once James returned and slumped in a chair depressed.
"What is it this time Sirius?" asked Remus who sounded pissed off. "Want to know who makes crayons? How babies are born? Who the idiot was who named you Sirius when your far from it? What, was crazy taken?"
"The first question I'll save for another time, the second one is obvious! The stork! I know my mother was the idiot who named me that and crazy was taken by my brother, duh!"
"So what's the question then?" asked Remus still laughing about number two (A/N: And not that kind of number 2!).
"Why can't guys where bikinis?" he asked.
"I could think of one obvious reason," said James disgusted.
"I could think of over 2,000 reasons," replied Remus thoroughly disturbed.
"Nice mind Moony, but my real question is where did the Goblin Rebellion in 1584 take place?" he asked grinning.
Remus and James gaped at him until he said, "Oh man, I can't even ask it with a straight face." Remus rolled his eyes and turned back to his work but Sirius looked at James with concern in his eyes.
"So, how'd it go with Lily?" he asked.
"Great, terrific, sucky, lousy, pathetic!" cried James.
"Well make up your mind! So you'll admit finally that you like her?" asked Sirius. James had been living in denial for the past four years and it was getting on his last nerve.
James sighed. "Fine, I can't get her out of my freakin' mind. You want to know what I asked her when I went up there?"
Remus looked up automatically and Sirius said, "I have a feeling I'm going to regret asking but what did you say?"
"I asked if she was looking forward for Christmas!" groaned James and banging his head against Sirius' unopened textbook.
"Hey! I was aiming to keep that in mint condition so it looked like I've never opened it!" cried Sirius, yanking the book back. "And what's the big deal with asking her that? It's a simple yes or no question."
"Firstly, you never had opened that book so it doesn't matter," said Remus, pulling the book out of his hands and slamming it down on the table making several second years jump. "Sorry," he said to them. "And James has every right to be upset for asking a question like that."
"Is someone going to explain why it was so wrong to ask Evans that?" asked Sirius still confused.
"Lily obviously is going to be miserable this Christmas because her parents just died recently," said Remus. "Prongs, sometimes you lack so much tact."
James just shook his head. "I'm going to bed." He trudged up the stairs.
A/N: This scene is going on at the same time as the Marauders are talking.
"Don't worry Lily," said Alice soothingly. "We'll try and take your mind off it all during Christmas. This is going to be one of the best damn Christmas' ever!" As she said this several first years jumped. "Sorry," she said quickly.
"She's right though Lily," agreed Amy. "I already sent a letter to my parents and said that I'd be staying here this year."
"Same," added Alice. "And my mother said that sounded great since she needed to visit a sick friend of hers."
Lily looked up at her two best friends in the world, "Thanks guys, this means a lot to me. More than can ever be expressed through words." She got up and gave both of them hugs. "I think I'm going to go to the Owlery and send Petunia a note just to tell her I'm staying. Not that she'd care much though."
She walked off to the Owlery not minding which route she took since she was used to going there by now. She arrived at the Owlery and held up her hand to let her owl Mr. Tibbles come down. He had been a present from her parents on the summer before her very first year at Hogwarts. Would he be dead one day like them? "I wish I was dead," she thought but immediately reprimanded her for even thinking it. "Don't think that. Your parents would be disappointed to hear you say that, they didn't give birth to you so you would give up at the first moment something bad happened." She hadn't really given thought to how great a life she had had for the past 15 years. I mean, she could have had a dysfunctional life like…
"Oh, hey Lily," said Snape from the doorway. "Potter isn't here is he?"
"No, don't worry no one is going to turn you into a snail," laughed Lily croakily. She hadn't even realized that she had been crying and her voice was cracked.
"Good, are you okay?" asked Severus stupidly. "I mean, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I mean… just thinking," said Lily, looking back at her owl that was waiting for an unwritten letter expectantly. She quickly wrote a letter to Petunia explaining her staying at Hogwarts and how she'd be back for the summer. She attached it to Mr. Tibbles and watched as he flew away. She turned back to Snape and said, "By the way, I never did thank you for helping us in Hogsmeade the other day. So thanks."
"No problem."
"I do have one question for you though," said Lily trying to think of the right way to ask it.
"Hmm?"
"Why do hang out with those guys? What I mean to say is… I've seen you hanging with them yet you don't like what they're doing so why even bother with them?"
He looked surprised at this question. What had he been expecting? Thought Lily. He thought a minute before answering however.
"I honestly am not sure," said Snape. "I just… they're just… we just connected somehow." He stared into her eyes as if trying to get her to understand. She did. She often wondered why Remus would hang out with troublemakers like Black and Potter. But after what he had explained, she kind of understood better. She looked back out the window and sighed. She only looked back up when he said, "While we're remembering things, I never did get to say I'm sorry about what happened to your family." Her eyes filled with tears again but she quickly got rid of them but not before he saw them. "The Dark Lord is getting very powerful."
Lily looked up at him shocked. "What did you say?"
"He's getting powerful?" asked Severus confused.
"No, what did you call him?"
"The Dark Lord?"
"Yeah that's it. Don't only his followers call him that?" asked Lily. Severus' face-hardened. He looked scary like that.
"I didn't mean it like that," he said roughly. "Just because the junior Death Eaters say it doesn't mean that I'm going to be one."
"I'm sorry, but… why can't you just call him Voldemort?" Snape winced.
"It's supposed to be a curse to say his name," he replied harshly.
"Professor Dumbledore says fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself," said Lily just as harshly. He seemed surprised by her tone. He had never heard Lily be harsh with anyone except Potter, and that's how he had always liked it. Before he could retort however Dumbledore walked in.
"Sorry to interrupt Miss Evans," said Dumbledore with his usual twinkle in his eyes. However Lily suspected that he heard the whole conversation about him. "But I need to talk to Mr. Snape in my office so I suggest you head back to the Gryffindor Tower. If anyone prefect stops you let them know that I give you my permission to be out." She nodded and walked out leaving Severus and Dumbledore alone and recapping on the conversation with them both.
A/N: Whoa! That was longgg! I broke over 3,000 words but whose counting right? I hope you like it! Who's your favorite couple? Who should get into a relationship if not already? Should I be worried about the school year restarting soon? Whoops, how'd that last one get in there? Please Review and tell me what you think even about the last one! Peace! :D
