Chapter Fourteen

Remus found Sirius and Peter outside the Three Broomsticks, whispering to one another. They looked up when they saw Remus coming and got to their feet. Remus stopped in front of them, his face impassive.

"So, what happened?" Peter asked cautiously. Remus looked around, noticing a couple of people were staring at him.

"Did, er, Kendall just walk through here?" he asked.

"A right state she was in," Sirius said with a nod. "What'd you do to her? Give her a piece of your mind, did you?"

"A bit," Remus told them, nervous from the looks he was getting. "I'll tell you on the walk back."

As the three friends walked down the road back to Hogwarts, Remus told his story, with frequent interjections from Peter and Sirius.

"Blimey," Sirius said, looking sideways at Remus. "Who'd have ever thought Kendall Cole wouldn't be over you?"

"What are you gonna do?" Peter asked after Remus didn't say anything.

"I dunno," he replied with a shrug. "Is that James and Lily up ahead?"

They all looked in the distance, seeing a dark haired boy and a girl with long red hair walking side by side.

"I'd bet my wand," Sirius said. The three of them watched the pair in silence. Remus noticed both seemed to be enjoying themselves, as they appeared to be in conversation. Drawing nearer to the castle, James took Lily's hand.

"Watch out," Sirius muttered, as though giving a play by play.

To their great surprise, Lily didn't react at all as they expected. She let him continue to hold her hand and she even seemed to be smiling.

"Look at that," said Sirius in an amused voice. "Looks like you owe me five Galleons, Wormtail."

"What exactly did you bet on?" Remus asked as they walked.

"I bet Padfoot that Lily would sock Prongs if he tried to hold her hand today," Peter said rather glumly.

"Have you got five Galleons?" asked Remus as they followed a bend in the road. As they came around it, a large group of rowdy students came into view up ahead of Lily and James.

"That doesn't look good," Sirius muttered. Remus broke into a run, with Sirius and Peter following behind him. James and Lily had stopped.

"What's going on?" Remus asked as he came up beside them.

"Dunno," James said, still holding Lily's hand.

"Slytherins," Sirius spat, stopping next to Remus.

"Hey!" Lily shouted at the Slytherins. As they turned around, Remus saw that they all looked angry. A few younger students were in the middle of the mob and none of them were Slytherins. Severus Snape was the first to step forward from the group.

"What do you want?" he sneered.

"Leave those kids alone," Lily said firmly. Remus noticed Severus look at James and Lily's clasped hands. His expression changed from anger to outright hatred.

"Why doesn't your boyfriend make us?" Amycus Carrow asked, walking up beside Severus. All the other Slytherins jeered except for Snape, who looked as though he wished he could kill James or dissolve into thin air.

"Just leave those kids alone, Carrow," Remus said. "Or I'll go find a teacher."

"Oh, is little ickle prefect Remus Lupin going to tattle on us?" Carrow laughed. The other Slytherins joined in. Still Snape stood there, gaping at Lily and James.

Remus saw that Lily noticed Snape's gaze, but instead of pulling away from James, she gave his hand a perceptible squeeze, smiling at him.

"We don't want any trouble, Carrow," James said authoritatively. Remus felt his own eyes widen at James sudden burst of maturity.

"Is Potter too grown-up to hex anyone now?" Snape asked. His face was chalky white and he looked as though he were about to throw up.

"I'm not, Snivellus," Sirius said menacingly, "So you best look out."

"Is that so, Black?" Snape said, pointing his wand in Sirius' face.

"Severus, put that down," Remus said. Snape ignored him and Sirius pulled out his own wand.

"Unless you want teacups for ears," Sirius threatened. Remus didn't think this sounded at all like a terrible threat and behind him he heard Peter snort.

"Be quiet, Sirius," Remus muttered. A group of students had gathered behind the Marauders and Lily, all interested to see what would happen. Remus glanced over his shoulder, noticing Kendall among them, the blonde boy next to her. Turning to the front, Remus furrowed his brow.

"How very terrifying, Black," Snape said. "That you can turn body parts into dishes."

Sirius made a guttural noise in his throat that sounded curiously like a growl.

Just what we need. Remus thought. Sirius turning into a bloody dog in front of the entire school.

"Stop it!" Lily said. Sirius backed away slightly.

"That's right, listen to the Mudblood," Carrow said. Lily's wand was out in a flash. Before anyone had realized what had happened, she was in front of Carrow, her wand an inch from his nose.

"Say. That. Again," she threatened, each word its own sentence. A hush had fallen on the crowd that had gathered. The other Slytherins backed away from Lily and Carrow, who had gone cross-eyed staring at Lily's wand. A few sparks flew out of the end of it. He swallowed, as though debating whether he should test her or not.

Apparently, Carrow's self-preservation instinct had kicked in. Backing away from Lily's wand, he muttered a few indistinct words to his fellow Slytherins before hurrying off toward the castle. The others followed him, Snape leaving after one last glare at James, who seemed not to notice him. For James was looking at Lily as though she were the only person nearby.

"How anti-climactic," Lily said, walking back to James' side.

"I think they're afraid of you," Sirius joked. Lily laughed and James grinned like an idiot.

Remus looked over his shoulder again. Kendall was still watching him. He looked back at her for a long moment, his mind completely blank. Finally, he turned away, meeting Sirius' eye. Sirius nodded in Kendall's direction, as though urging Remus to go talk to her. Remus' head twitched as though to say no and Sirius widened his eyes.

"Merlin, are you two coming?" James asked. "Or are you just going to make eyes at each other all day."

"Shut it, Prongs," Sirius muttered under his breath, elbowing Remus in the ribs as they walked back to the castle as a group. Lily had taken James' hand once more.

"Why don't you go talk to her, mate?" Sirius asked Remus in an undertone.

"I can't," Remus said. "I wouldn't even know what to say."

"Maybe, 'I'm sorry I was such an arse, Kendall, but it's just because I love you,'" Sirius suggested with a laugh.

"Shut up, I don't," Remus said quickly, glancing around to see if anyone had heard Sirius.

"Fine," Sirius said. "I don't believe you, but fine."

Seething, Remus clenched his hands into fists.

I don't love her. He thought to himself with weakening resolve. I don't. I can't.