James's beard makes an appearance in this one. I wanted to string this arc out a little, it seemed like a great way to focus on James and Lily's characters and their friendship.
The final Apparition lesson was upon them, and the Gryffindors were beyond pissed off. At the front of the great hall stood Terminus Scythe, dressed in a bright pink suit. Upon reaching the Hall, Remus and Lily began to laugh. "He looks like a bottle of Pepto-Bismol," Lily said, causing Remus to shake with laughter.
"Shut up, I feel like I'm going to vomit," Remus replied, laughing so hard he was practically bent in half. Lily, meanwhile, was wiping tears off of her face as she found a hoop to stand by.
"Mate, what's a pepsimol?" James asked, looking between Remus and Lily with interest.
Sirius shook his head, "No clue, but whatever it is, I want to try it." He brushed his hair back and found a hoop as well. He wasn't about to take the test in April, but in the back of his mind, eh remained concerned for his friends that were. he couldn't help but worry about the date ever since he'd seen Peter's star-chart. Peter didn't seem worried at all, and was far to focused trying to make sure he passed his classes. Sirius shook his head, attempting to clear his mind. This time, I will finally apparate He thought with determination.
Meanwhile, James was trying his best not to lose his mind. on top of the stress of trying to pass his Apparition test, he was also worried about the beard tonic that Lily had given him. He'd been feeling very itchy all around his face for the last couple of days, and it took all of his willpower not to scratch his face until it bled. He had decided against going to the Hospital Wing, knowing that Madam Pomfrey would be delighted to send his parents another letter detailing the latest results of his foolishness.
Terminus greeted the class with open arms, before spinning on his heel and reappearing with a loud crack at the back of the hall, next to Xenophilius, who jumped with shock, before passing out. Immediately, the medical staff descended upon him, and soon he was shaken awake and settled down on a nearby bench to relax for a few moments.
"Well," said Terminus, looking from Xeno back to the rest of the hall. "I see that we have made very little progress since we first began our sessions all those months ago." He paused, "I would like to take the time to go over the three D's. Everyone together, now; Destination, Determination and Deliberation!" he cried jovially.
The rest of the students repeated them, albeit with less enthusiasm and some lag. Terminus chose to ignore this, his smile faltering slightly. "Now," he began, I want you all to think hard about your destination, the hoop in front of you. Make sure that you remember every inch of the space within that hoop. Imagine that you are standing in that hoop. Then focus on how badly you want to be in the hoop-"
Sirius bit his tongue, knowing that some may not take kindly to the joke he was going to make. From his left, Demi already shook her head, knowing full well what was running through Sirius's mind at that moment.
"- and now deliberate the action you are going to make. Moving from one spot to another. Think of yourself as an entity, moving along spaces, until you are locked into your own," Terminus finished.
He walked slowly down the Hall, watching the students with interest. No one had apparated properly, as they all splinched some part of themselves. From the left side of the classroom, a boy did a little twirl, before jumping into the hoop. His friend roared with laughter as he watched.
James closed his eyes, and repeated Terminus' words in his head. "Destination, Determination, Deliberation," he muttered over and over, like some sort of enchantment. He waited a good ten minutes before doing his first little spin. He opened his eyes, and was disappointed. He hadn't moved. He would've known if he did, because of the whole feeling-like-your-suffocating thing that happens when one apparates successfully.
Lily was beginning to feel a little dizzy from all the spinning. She was beginning to hate the idea of apparition, and was coming around to the thought of letting the others teach her how to ride a broomstick properly. Maybe she would stick to driving a car. Or walking, the exercise and fresh air would be preferable to being stuffed in a tube.
From the back of the hall, there was a loud bang and a shriek. Immediately, Terminus and the medical healers descended upon Marlene, who had splinched herself once more. this time, half of her arm had been left behind. The healers reattached it with a sprinkle of glitter before it reattached itself completely. Marlene, who was now being blamed down by Kiaria, began to laugh. "At least I did it," she replied.
"You did, and how did that feel?" Terminus asked, bending down to check that she was alright.
"It was fucking horrible," Marlene replied with a smile, causing Terminus to quickly move away.
Kiaria tired to hide her laughed behind her hair as she helped Marlene up. "You are my hero," she replied.
Marlene grinned, "I'm never going to apparate once I get my license. From now on, it's going to be side along apparition only. Can't get splinched that way."
Terminus, who wasn't standing too far away quickly butted in, "Actually, you're more likely to splinch yourself when performing side along apparition," he explained.
Marlene merely raised an eyebrow, which forced Terminus to leave that area of the Hall alone for a few more minutes.
James, who'd spend the last fifteen minutes committing and repeating the three D's quickly turned on his ankle once more. He felt it. His body felt long and short all at once, as though it were being pushed and pulled, poked and squeezed all at once. He couldn't breathe and he couldn't see anything either. Suddenly, his eyes flew open and he drew in a deep breath. He was still in the hall, but had apparated to the dais at the front, which was several hundred feet from where he wanted to be. But he still did it.
He turned to the others, arms raised triumphantly. "I did it! Wooohooo!"
The rest of the students gasped, their eyes wide as they looked at James. James searched the hall for his friends and spotted Lily pointing. From next to her, Demi yelled "James, your face!"
James's smile quickly melted away and was replaced with a frown. "What do you mean? What's wrong with my face?" He began to grab at his features. "Eyes still here, eyebrows here, hair here, nose is here, mouth..." he stopped as he felt several hairs around his lips. "What..." he murmured. He quickly conjured up a mirror and held it up in front of him. There, covering the majority of the bottom half of his face, was a magnificent beard. Slightly longer than what he'd expected, but a beard nonetheless.
Remus, Sirius and Peter began to clap. "You did it mate! It finally happened!" Remus said.
James quickly turned on his heel, and felt the uncomfortable space between his current position and his destination. He opened his eyes and was standing at the back of the hall, in the hoop he was trying to apparate into the first time. He high-fived the other marauders, and quickly gave Lily a hug. "Thanks for the tonic," he said in her ear.
"No problem," she replied as he let go of her. From behind him, he could hear the rattle of coins being passed from one hand to another. He turned and spotted Demi and Sirius exchanging some gold and silver. James cleared his throat, "And what do you think you're doing?" he asked.
"Made a wager, now I'm cashing in on it," Demi replied, as she took the silver from Sirius with a grin.
"And I don't get a cut?" James asked, reaching for a galleon.
Demi quickly pocketed the change, "You got what you wanted: a beard. And I got what I wanted: money." James shook his head and laughed as he walked back to his spot. She paused before reconsidering, tossing him a galleon.
James quickly caught it, his Quidditch reflexes in full effect. "This is what you call mutual respect," he said, holding the coin out for the others to see. They shook their heads and went back to trying to apparate.
Finally, the 24th of April had come around, and the students were heading to Hogsmeade. "Just think, a few more hours and we'll be able to apparate anywhere we want to!" James said, clapping his hands with excitement.
The other grinned, knowing full well that James was in a very good mood thanks to his beard. The moment he'd headed back to the common room, the students had their eyes on him. He liked the attention, but he was also living proof that Lily Evans was one of the school's best potioneers. In fact, her feat had earned her another invitation to Slughorn's Party, which was taking place the following weekend. After passing her test, she was going to go shopping with the rest of the girls. Demi had also secured a spot, much to her dismay.
"I'm dead-awful at potions," she muttered after Slughorn had invited her. "No clue what he wants from me."
"Use it as an opportunity to get your's and the other's names into the Ministry when you have to take your Aurore exams in the future. If they've already heard of you, it means that you've made quite the impression," Lily said as the wandered out of the classroom.
Meanwhile, Remus and Lily were currently huddled together, attempting to remain calm and collected. Any sharp and sudden spikes in emotion would make them more prone to splinching themselves. Kiaria had already done all the praying she could. She'd crossed herself several times during breakfast, muttering under her breath. Marlene attempted to calm her down, but to no avail. Kiaria's hands were shaking as they wandered down the rocky pathway into the village.
Sirius was on high-alert. He was still shaken after Peter's little revelation. While he never held much stock by prophecies and the concept of divination, his family was notorious for believing in these kinds of things. During his childhood, he'd witnessed several of these prophecies come to fruition, and even though Peter's was a small star-chart, it still held many possibilities.
As he said his good lucks to the foursome (Remus, James, Lily and Kiaria), he went with the others to the Hog's Head for some butterbeer. He watched as they headed off and went towards the large tent that had been set up, with a sign reading "Apparition Test" planted firmly in the ground. James and Remus gave the group a thumbs up before disappearing in to the tent.
"Let's go," Marlene said as she and Demi led the way to the Hog's Head. They wandered past the small line of shops to the little tavern at the end of the road. Pushing the door open, they were surprised to find that the pub was completely empty.
"Aberforth, what's going on?" Demi asked, as she and the others took up the seats at the bar.
Aberforth quickly emerged from behind the bar with a crate of butter beers which he passed out. "Order's taking a little break for this weekend. Didn't want to draw too much attention to ourselves, especially with the tests going on. Needed to put everyone on patrol duty instead."
"What do you mean?" Frank asked, popping the lid off of his beer and taking a swig.
Aberforth began to wipe down the counter, steadily dirtying it instead. "Well, with the tests going on, there are going to be a lot of students popping in and out. The Ministry's keeping tabs on them, but for the most part, they aren't going to be too worried about the Trace and the monitoring of magical activity in and out of the village."
Sirius nodded, "So if someone were to attack, it would be only too easy for them to apparate here. And if they get here-"
"They can get into Hogwarts," Aberforth finished with a frown. "Of course, Albus has put up as many defences as he can, so it's safe to assume that she school and the students inside are very safe. But as for the people in the village..." he looked around at the group. "Best to travel in pairs."
They nodded, understanding his subliminal message: don't go anywhere alone.
The door of the pub opened once more, and a small, squat man wandered in. His ginger hair was pasted flat to his head with grease as he hobbled in. Frank and Alice, who were sitting closest to the door quickly covered their noses as he passed, reeking of stale tobacco and alcohol.
"What do you want 'Dung?" Aberforth said, looking at the squat man with annoyance.
He turned and grinned, showing the students his missing teeth. Sirius quickly leaned over, "If I ever look like that, kill me." Demi nodded in agreement as she slowly drank her Butterbeer to conceal her smirk.
Aberforth poured the man a glass of water, before thinking better of it and dumping the jug over his head. "For the smell," he said, winking at the others as he turned around to head in the back of the bar.
The man wiped his face with his coat-sleeve before taking a sip from the glass. He turned to the students and smiled wildly. "Demitira! Fancy seeing you here!"
Demi raised an eyebrow, "I- I go to school here Dung. Still at Hogwarts, remember?" She turned to the others and mimed the crazy sign.
"Ah, well, can't be too sure about who's staying where. If you know what I mean," he said, whispering the last part so she had to lean in.
"What do you mean?" Demi asked, as Aberforth returned with a refilled jug of water. He placed it down heavily in front of Dung, before looking at the man with mild interest.
"Latest intelligence is that the Death Eaters plan on attacking on the 24th, the day of the Apparition test," Dung began. "Now, I have to warn Dumbledore, so he can do something about this-"
"Dung, today is the 24th!" Aberforth yelled, whipping out his wand. He muttered something , before producing a Patronus in the shape of a goat, which quickly galloped away into the air. As he turned to the others, there was a loud bang and the windows of the pub shattered. The force of the explosion caused them all to go flying off their seats and land in a heap on the other side of the pub.
"They're here," Aberforth said, as the door was blown off of its hinges.