Disclaimer... these characters belong to JKR
It felt like the entirety of Gryffindor house had turned out, James thought as he looked out over the stands. Lily was there, he realized with a leap of happiness, but when he looked at her closer, he saw that she had a book out and was swigging something from a flask. Probably tea.
Peter, with the help of Sirius and Remus, had created a fairly ostentatious banner. It featured a shirtless painting of James and the paint had been charmed to flash different colours. Real-James winced as Painting-James flexed his muscles and smirked out over the crowd.
The other Marauders whooped and waved the banner joyfully as James stalked over to them.
"It's not a match you idiots, what're you doing?"
"Supporting you" Peter said innocently, tapping the banner casually with his wand and grinning as it doubled in size.
"And embarrassing you" Remus added.
"Marlene did the painting" Sirius said, poking his head out from behind it.
It was a crisp, sunny day, and James couldn't help smiling at the thought of flying again. Forming a proper team.
"Right!" he said, walking back over to the group on the pitch, clutching broomsticks nervously.
"Form into groups depending on your position – Seekers over there, Chasers there, Beaters, and Keepers to the left"
The red and gold crowd scurried into order.
James swallowed nervously. He really ought to have planned this better.
"Er- just go for a quick fly round the pitch. Keepers first"
The group flew in a tight pack – from time to time one would jostle in front of the group before being reabsorbed. James kept an eye on Alex as he flew. He was a steady flyer – nothing flashy there. He kept pace easily with the rest of the group, and gave off an air of lazy nonchalance.
Wishing for a whistle, James shouted and waved his arms until the prospective Keepers landed.
"Chasers, off you go!" he yelled, clapping his hands briskly.
Alex was walking over to him, and he kept one eye on the group of Chasers as the other boy got closer.
"How's the Captaining going?" Alex asked.
"Not bad. How long have you been playing for?"
The blonde boy shrugged. "Since before I can remember. My dad played for England – it's not something I would want as a career, but I love it"
"Me too" James said. "Well, not the bit about my dad, but the rest" he corrected hastily.
Above them, one of the Chasers was wobbling and made a hasty landing before sprinting off the pitch.
"How're you liking Hogwarts?" James asked.
Alex dipped his head cautiously. "It's cool. Really different from Beauxbatons, but I like it. It's less formal. The exam period is insane at Beauxbatons, I'm glad I'll be missing it"
"How does that work? Don't you sit your OWLs in sixth year over there?"
"Yeah, I got permission to sit OWLs during the exam times over here"
"Ah, right"
Excusing himself, James started waving and shouting again to signal the Chasers to land. He really was going to have to invest in a whistle.
By the end of the evening, James had a Quidditch team. Alex had flown a superb trial and beat out all the other contenders for Keeper. The old brilliant Chasers from the team had returned – Felicity Toppart and Melody Clearwater. He had found two excellent Beaters – a lithe girl called Nalla and a stocky boy named Podrick. The Seeker was the surprise, though. Camilla Lovegood had caught the Snitch in three minutes, and caught every single golf ball that he charmed to fly at her.
"Welcome to the team you lot" James said, shaking everyone's hands. "You all flew really well today, good job"
Camilla and Alex were trading glances that were becoming more heated by the moment, and James hastily dismissed them, starting the long walk up to the castle.
Someone fell into step with him, and he looked up at Lark, slightly startled.
"I didn't know you came to watch"
She scoffed, tossing glossy brown hair back over one shoulder. The sun was setting, and the light fell round her, like a halo.
"I didn't. I was helping Professor Merrythought put together his chimera proposal"
"His chimera proposal?" James asked, nonplussed.
Lark nodded. "He wants to introduce a chimera to the Forbidden Forest – he thinks it'd be a great opportunity for the students to study one"
James snorted. "Bet the centaurs would love that"
"They're not thrilled" she admitted, gazing up at the sky. The first star was peeking out; a diamond nestled shyly in deep blue velvet.
"It's a lovely night" Lark cast him a sidelong glance. There was no guile in her tone, just observation. "D'you wanna stay out a bit longer?"
James hesitated, before grinning across at her. "Sure" he said easily, turning towards the lake.
"You're on the Slytherin team, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm a Chaser. Our first match is in December – think you can whip your new team into shape that quickly?"
"Definitely" he said. It was getting cooler, by the water and he dropped down behind the lee of a tree. Lark sat next to him, back against the bark.
"I never thought I'd be friendly with a Gryffindor" she said, tipping her head back lazily.
"Never thought I'd be friendly with a Slytherin. I've spent a good part of my Hogwarts career hexing you lot"
Lark laughed quietly. "Well, a good part of us deserve it" she said fairly. "But we're not all bad. We're a tight knit House, we take care of each other"
He nodded slowly. Under his palms, the grass was chill and slick and he traced one of the tree roots with a finger.
"I suppose you don't have to worry about Voldemort" James said, thinking aloud.
She jerked back. Even in the dim light, Lark's eyes flashed coldly and for a single bizarre moment, he was reminded of Lily.
"We're not all purebloods, y'know" she said bitterly. "I'm certainly not. We have as much to fear from the Dark Lord as the rest of you"
"You call him the Dark Lord? I thought only his followers did that"
There was anger and horror and fear etched on Lark's delicate face as she faced James. He felt a stab of shame, deep in his chest like someone had shoved a knife there.
"What are you trying to imply, James? That I'm some sort of Death-Eater-in-training? My grandfather was a Muggle tailor. My grandmother was a teacher, at a Muggle school. My mother is Muggle born, and she's terrified of Voldemort. She won't let my little brother come to Hogwarts – she's home schooling him, she won't let him out of her sight. My dad works at the Ministry and doesn't tell anyone about mum, because he doesn't want her to become a target"
His mouth was opening and closing silently. "I'm sorry" he said helplessly. "I didn't mean it like that – I shouldn't have said what I did. I'm really sorry Lark"
She took a deep breath, and the lines of emotion on her face smoothed away. She pushed her wavy brown hair back from her face so it fell around her shoulders in a tumble of curls.
"It's alright" she said quietly, seeming to let the anger slough off until she sat a bit straighter. "I know what people think of Slytherins, I know the assumptions people make, I shouldn't have shouted at you"
"No, you probably should've shouted more" James told her earnestly.
The laugh she let out, like it had been startled past her lips, was a beautiful sound. She was Lily's opposite – dark and forgiving, calm and level headed, where Lily was fair and fiery and quick to anger and slow to forgive. James didn't care. Lark was Lark, and Lark was lovely.
October arrived crisply, like biting into a fresh apple. A panoply of brittle leaves chased themselves through the air, before the rain pounded them into sludge. Woolly jumpers were pulled out, and more than a few students learned how to knit magically. It was a common sight in Gryffindor tower to see knitting needles clacking away, a scarf growing from the bottom as the owner scribbled away at homework. The fires were lit and baked apples and pumpkin pies appeared at dinner and lunch.
It was easy to settle into a rhythm, back at Hogwarts. Lily spent her days in classes and in the library. She avoided Sev, and skipped the first Hogsmeade weekend in favour of a nap. At night, she would patrol with Remus, and from time to time other Prefects, including Lark Rivers.
Hogwarts felt safer this year, despite the grim tidings in the Daily Prophet every morning.
'Muggle Family Killed – Death Eater Involvement Suspected', 'Muggle Liaison Witch Kidnapped', 'Giants On the Move – Going to Join You-Know-Who?'
No one was doing anything, and Lily was being driven half-mad by it. It was a constant hum, a need for action, surging through her fingertips until every second spent at Hogwarts felt like a second wasted – a second that she wasn't fighting.
Defence Against the Dark Arts was a bright spot. Professor Hawthorne seemed hell-bent on teaching them how to fight. At the start of their second lesson, he set the textbook down on his desk very deliberately and stepped in front of the class.
"I'm chucking this sanitized Ministry course out the window" he informed them. "You're not going to learn anything new from it"
By this point, the class was leaning forward eagerly, books lying abandoned on their desks.
"You need to learn how to defend yourselves" he continued. "That's the whole point of this class, and reading about Leg-Locker Curses is hardly going to do it. Who here's duelled before? Don't worry – you're not going to get in trouble"
Most of the Gryffindors held up their hands, and a fair chunk of the Ravenclaws. Lily was one of them, and she traded a look with Mary, who was blushing sheepishly.
"Excellent" Professor Hawthorne said, smiling at them. "We'll be doing more of that, then. Who can demonstrate a Stunning Spell? I'll need two volunteers"
A Ravenclaw girl called Emma Fawcett stuck her hand in the air.
"Perfect, Miss Fawcett. Who's willing to get Stunned? No volunteers? Alright, Mr Black, how about you?"
Sirius climbed to his feet resentfully and walked to the front of the class.
"Not too forceful Miss Fawcett – excellent"
Sirius toppled over, caught by a Cushioning Charm before Professor Hawthorne walked forward to revive him.
The rest of the lesson was spent duelling in pairs. Jugson had taught a single class on duelling, and she let them use low-level jinxes, but this was something else entirely. As Lily dodged Stunners and curses, she had never felt more alive.
"Somehow I doubt the Ministry would approve of us duelling each other" Marlene said as they headed out of the lesson. The rest of the class didn't seem to be concerned by that, as they walked away, chattering excitedly.
"The Ministry can shove it" Camilla said. "That was an excellent lesson"
"My mum works for the Ministry" Marlene sounded slightly put out.
"Oh – sorry, I didn't mean her" Camilla told Marlene, shoving her books away.
"He's right though" Lily said. "We need to learn how to defend ourselves – I mean, despite the whole Death Eater thing, Jugson wasn't a bad teacher, but she did follow the Ministry curriculum to the letter"
"Right" Anna said dryly. "Apart from her being a raging pureblood supremacist she was awesome"
Mary had said nothing as the group headed towards the Transfiguration classroom, but she spoke up.
"It makes me wonder" she said softly. "If I'd known all that, if I'd practised and been taught how to fight – would Mulciber still have been able to attack me?"
Silence fell over them, until they passed a cluster of chattering Hufflepuffs. Lily gave her a one armed hug.
"I dunno, Mar" Lily murmured. "But you'll know it now. That'll never happen to you again"
McGonagall had given them a veritable pile of homework, and the five plus Alex of them slowly, steadily worked through it, recruiting James halfway through to give an impromptu lecture on Animagi. Camilla perched on the arm of Alex's chair, from time to time leaning down to dictate a thought to him. Lily smiled as Cami's turquoise hair touched Alex's blonde hair and turned golden before she pulled away.
"-There's been quite a few studies on how your Animagus form corresponds to your personality, but no conclusive evidence" James addressed them from where he stood on the sofa, gesticulating down at them importantly. He'd was using his wand as a pointer, to sketch out ideas, and a few silver sparks shot from the end of it, landing on Marlene, who sneezed.
"Thanks James" Mary said, scribbling away.
"My pleasure" James took the only available armchair, propping his feet up on the coffee table until Anna shoved them off.
"How d'you know so much about Animagi, anyways?" Lily asked.
James coughed, looking suddenly awkward. "Er – well – I've done a lot of research on how to become one. Strictly theoretical, obviously"
"But you didn't right?" Anna said sternly. "Because that would be highly illegal"
James hesitated a beat too long, before smiling reassuringly. "'Course I didn't. Far too much work, anyways"
Lily set down her quill to look at him for a moment. Not even he could be so stupid –
Of course he could, she realized. It was exactly the sort of thing he'd do. He was smart enough to do it, too. James got the best marks in the year for Transfiguration, he could figure out a way. The idiot.
Now that she'd thought about it, the idea wouldn't leave her.
"James" she said abruptly. "Can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?"
He looked rather apprehensive as he stood up, and Lily dropped her work down on her seat.
"Something the matter?" James asked.
She folded her arms, and waited.
"Er – Lily d'you want to talk about something?-"
"You did it, didn't you? You became an Animagus"
The way he smiled at her … so disarmingly, like he was well practised at lying to her.
"Don't be an idiot, of course I didn't. It's just something I find interesting"
It wasn't even the fact that he was lying that made her feel betrayed. It was the fact that he was so good at it. Inside, Lily was screaming. She wanted to shake him until he admitted the lie. He was smiling at her still, mildly and impersonal, like she was a stranger. His hazel eyes were distant.
"Right" she said, biting the 't' off. "Sorry to bother you"
Lily wasn't even sure why she was so sure. But she knew. If he had been telling the truth, he would've rolled his eyes at her suspicions and said something like 'sure Evans, I was keeping that up my sleeve the whole time. If I really could turn into an Animagus, don't you think I would've told you?'
James shrugged and turned away, back to his friends lounging in front of the fire.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry.
A.N. Oooh the angst... Happy thanksgiving y'all! Now that we've officially passed into Christmas season, I've started planning a series of twelve ficlets about Jily's first Christmas as a married couple. I'd post one a day from December 12th unti Christmas Eve. Would anyone be interested in reading that?
Anyways, thanks as always for reading and reviewing!