Friday 10 October 1976 Remus wearily dodged another item of James' clothing as it flew across the dorm room. It was Friday night and James was meant to be in Slughorn's office for the gathering in half an hour and couldn't find anything to wear. A stream of curses left his mouth as he rooted through his trunk.
"It's not a party." He muttered. "It's nibbles and mingling… nibbles and mingling… mibbles and ningling- wait-" Remus stifled his laughter at his usually so composed friends' discombobulation.
"Smart robes, James." He said, amused. "Not quite dress robes but smarter than casual robes."
"Yeah but which ones." He whined turning to face the werewolf. His hair was in disarray and his glasses were sliding down his nose. There was a pause before Remus burst into laughter. "Remus!" Shouted James. "Some friend you are! Lily's going to be there I have to make at least some effort." Remus was attempting to apologise as he gasped for breath.
"I'm sorry." He said, taking a breath. "What are the options?" James rooted through his trunk some more, pulling out three pairs of dishevelled robes.
"Why are you the only one around when I need fashion advice." James complained. "All you wear is jumpers and cardigans."
"Oi." Said Remus, still amused. "I'm your only hope right now." Remus cocked his head as he took in the robes James was holding up. "I'd say go for the navy blue." It was then that Sirius walked in and calmly took in the situation.
"Sirius!" Gasped James, "thank God. I need your help on what to wear." Sirius calmly walked to his bed, muttering a spell which instantly straightened out James' crumpled robes.
"Moony's right, go for the blue. Wear that maroon shirt under it and leave it open, add a normal pair of dark trousers and some casual shoes and you should be good." Remus thought James was about to kiss Sirius in gratitude the way his face lit up.
"Thanks Padfoot. You're the best." He then quickly ran into the bathroom.
James ran his hand through his hair distractedly as he walked down the stairs to the Common Room, he had attempted to run a comb through it to tame it a little bit but there was no hope so he'd just left it. He was hoping Lily was still in the Common Room as he had no idea what to expect at these things and was oddly nervous. Of course no one could tell as he swaggered down the stairs, James Potter had the art of acting confident down to a tee. He glanced around as he reached the bottom of the stairs looking for her familiar red hair. He found her and almost fell over as he started walking towards her. She was wearing a navy dress which fell to about her knees, it wasn't particularly expensive or fancy but to James she looked perfect. She had her back to him and was talking to someone near the portrait hole, thank God she hadn't left yet. James had to force his eyes away from her ass, which looked great by the way, as he approached her.
He called her name and she grinned as she turned to him.
"Well you scrub up alright Potter." She teased as she looked him up and down almost sending him to his knees. Snap out of it Potter.
"Well you don't look too bad yourself." He replied, shooting her a smile. "You look great Red." Lily ducked her head.
"Well thanks."
"Listen." James stepped closer. "I don't think I've ever been to Slughorn's office. Reckon you could help a lost soul?" She rolled her eyes and nodded, sweeping out of the portrait hole. Her perfume washed over him and he took a deep breath, this was not going to be easy. He followed her out.
"So who's your target of choice then for tonight?" She asked James, they were almost to Slughorn's office and had joined a loose group of students also making their way there. James looked at her questioningly. "Which politician or whoever are you going to try and talk to?" Lily explained.
"Ahh." James said in realisation, he paused. "I don't really know. Any famous quidditch players?" Lily laughed slightly.
"You might be surprised, Slughorn always goes on about how he was responsible for getting Gwenog Jones scouted last year."
James huffed. "That girl didn't need any help getting scouted, she was amazing." Lily nodded in agreement.
"I think he does know a good few people in the industry though."
"Ooh." Said James, excited. "Is Marty Helminth going to be there? He sucks and I'd love to give him a piece of my mind." Helminth was the current head of the aurors and the Potter family had no time for him or how he ran things.
"Talking politics now are we?" Lily said teasingly. "Controversial." James shrugged.
"What can I say, the Potters love to make a statement."
"Well, that explains a lot." Lily said under her breath. They had reached the 'gathering' and they squeezed their way into the busy room.
"Let me know if you see the head of recruitment for St Mungo's." Lily said loudly to James over the music and the chatter. James nodded and craned his neck.
"Lily m'dear!" Exclaimed a jovial Slughorn who had just appeared. "And Mr Potter! So glad you're here!" He raised a hairy eyebrow. "Now did you two come together?" He waggled his eyebrows for emphasis, Lily gaped, shocked at the professor's bold insinuation.
"Well hello to you too, Professor." She spluttered. To her left, James ran a hand through his hair.
"If by together you mean, we walked here together, then yes, you would be correct professor." James said evenly, slapping Slughorn's arm good naturedly, albeit slightly harder than normal. Slughorn laughed and made his excuses before bustling off again. James turned to her bewildered.
"Bloody hell, wastes no time does he? That was weird." Lily could only agree and accepted gratefully when James offered to get her a drink. That had been weird, maybe the potions professor had had a few too many crystallised pineapples. Her eyes followed James through the crowd. He had scrubbed up well, he looked good in fact, he'd found a good balance between smart and casual but the muggle trainers he wore spoke to his more rebellious side, his hair was all over the place but that was normal, she wondered if It was soft- aghast she shook herself and stopped that train of thought before it went anywhere, she didn't think of him like that and continued her search for anyone she could recognise as working for St Mungo's. Her search was suddenly blocked by a frizz of blonde hair and some frightfully white teeth filling her vision. She took a startled step back as a young wizard appeared.
"Why hello there." He said jovially, holding out a hand. "The name's Lockhart, Gilderoy Lockhart. You may recognise me." Lily was lost for words, she definitely didn't know him, he was wearing baby blue robes, embroidered with a sparkling silver thread and was looking around the room like he owned it.
"Sorry," She said finally, "I'm Lily, um why would I recognise you?" Lockhart stared blankly for a second before recovering.
"Well I graduated last year and was promptly named 13 on Witch Weekly's Wizards to Watch list." He smiled at her like this should mean something but Lily honestly had no idea. "I'm writing a book as well." He added.
"Erm-" She started awkwardly, "uh, well what house were you in?" Lockhart let out a loud laugh, taking the opportunity to wink at another witch who looked over at the noise. Lily was very much bewildered.
"I was in Ravenclaw. How about you?"
"Uh Gryffindor." He nodded eagerly.
"So, did you come alone? If so, I'm sure I could remedy that. A beautiful girl like yourself is surely seeking company on such a grand evening." Lily was gobsmacked at his completely unsubtle attempt to change the subject and drop a line. She was struggling between the urge to push him away and burst out laughing.
"Ah, got you lost for words have I?" He grimaced again in what must've been an attempt at a charming smile but really didn't work. "Don't worry. I have that effect on a lot of women." Lily spluttered. Suddenly an arm was draped across her shoulders.
"Ah, Gilderoy." Came a familiar voice, James had come to join this very confusing conversation. Lily was still processing the ridiculousness that was Lockhart and didn't even think to tell James to get off her. "You've met my Lils then?" Lily shot James a look which he ignored, Lily scowled and rolled her eyes at him she glanced around the room, readying herself to remove his arm. A pale face caught her attention near the door. Severus was staring at her. She looked away from him, she honestly didn't want to even look at him after his role in the fight in the corridor. His furious gaze however brought her attention back to him, she caught him staring angrily at James and caught on. She attempted to slide out from under his arm but he tightened his grip still looking at Lockhart. When next Lily looked up Sev had gone.
Gilderoy looked between James and Lily, his gaze lingering on his arm.
"I- uh- right your Lily, yes of course."
James smiled genially at him. "How's your book coming along? I heard Fluorish and Blotts refused it but who cares about the mainstream publishers right?" He leaned in conspiratorially. "It's all about the independent publishers. That's where the money is." Lockhart blushed a rather ugly shade of red and ground out an unconvincing smile.
"Of course." He then proceeded to catch the eye of someone behind James and Lily- who Lily suspected was imaginary and ran off, making his excuses. James dropped his arm immediately and handed her a drink. He shot her a sheepish smile.
"What just happened?" Lily demanded, scowling again as she accepted the drink. She thought he was done with his flirting act when it came to her.
James shrugged, "sorry the prat doesn't leave women alone unless he thinks they've already got a boyfriend."
"How would you know that?"
"He was at one of Alice's parents parties over summer and wouldn't stop hitting on her until I pretended to be her boyfriend. Which is gross right? Because we're like, cousins. So-"
"OK." Lily cut him off, her face softening slightly. "Ok, I'm with you. He ran away pretty quick when he saw you though."
James grinned. "Well that's because when he was in his last year at Hogwarts we pulled a hilarious prank on him, I don't think he ever got over it. Have you found who you're looking for yet?" Making a mental note to ask him about that prank later, Lily shook her head, telling him she hadn't found anyone from St Mungo's yet. They wandered around for a little while and finally spotted Slughorn with one of the head healers from the hospital. Lily made her way over to him whilst James went off to terrorise Helminth. She talked with Slughorn and the healers for about 30 minutes and the healer promised to send her a letter giving more information about the course some time soon, but then a few other students came over and Lily made her excuses. Chatting idly with some other students she knew. Getting more and more bored as the night wore on.
James hadn't meant to almost cause a riot at Slughorn's party, one thing just led to another and events quickly escalated. He had left Lily to try and speak to Helminth, the head of the aurors who had taken over after James' mum had retired and had done a terrible job so far, the man in question was surrounded by other important looking people and James couldn't be bothered with them at the moment so he had turned around intending to find Lily or Owen Redgrave or someone and had almost walked straight into Henby Harrington. He stifled a groan. Harrington was a weedy man with a floppy grey moustache and watery eyes.
"James?" He asked, squinting at him. James forced a smile.
"Henby Harrington." He stated. "Fancy seeing you here." Harrington puffed his chest out in a way that James found very amusing.
"Well, it's important that influencers such as myself give a helping hand to the next generation." With a great force of will James managed to refrain from rolling his eyes. Harrington had literally been part of a team which had come up with the study of a potion variant idea. He hadn't even been on the final team that had studied the lesser known side effects of the dreamless sleep potion.
"Come James." Harrington gushed taking his arm with a sweaty hand. "I have some good friends I'm sure you would love to meet." James tried to make an excuse but was stopped short when he realised that Harrington was leading him towards Helminth.
"Marty!" He called, Helminth didn't turn. "Marty! Marty! He sometimes has trouble with his hearing you know." He informed his younger companion, in James' opinion he was just being steadfastly ignored and should learn how to take a hint but Harrington wasn't discouraged and clasped Helminth's arm forcing himself into the circle that had been formed. Harrington introduced him to the boring looking men which included Barty Crouch- who James had heard of; an ugly man called Augustus Rookwood who was apparently Helminth's second in command and a rather podgy man called Cornelius Fudge.
"You said your last name was Potter?" Asked Rookwood with a curl of his lip, "it was your mother then, who used to run the aurors?"
"Yep." James said, smiling winningly. "Do you know her?" Rookwood looked away.
"Know how she ran the aurors into the ground, is more like." Rookwood sneered.
Harrington gaped at Rookwood and James' smile became fixed, a hot curl of anger igniting in his chest. Rookwood turned to Helminth, "you have done a much better job Marty. I can't understand how someone thought it was a good idea to let a woman run the law enforcement." Helminth inclined his head awkwardly, looking uneasily at James.
"Well." James began, still smiling pleasantly at Rookwood. "A fun fact is that the head of the aurors is actually voted in by the aurors so you're obviously in a minority if you think that she's incapable." It was now Rookwood's smile that faded. "And, no offence to you Mr Helminth but I believe there was an inquiry into your election which mysteriously trailed off into nothingness. Do you happen to know anything about that?" Helminth spluttered and James turned to Rookwood again. "Also since my mother's retirement, crime and dissent has actually increased, so I think you'll find the facts disagree with you too Mr Rookwood, not just the people." Rookwood drew himself up whilst Harrington and Fudge watched aghast, Helminth was looking anywhere but at James and Crouch was studying him with interest.
"And what, pray tell, kinds of crimes have been on the increase boy?" Rookwood asked angrily, a few people nearest to them looked over in surprise. James stayed completely collected.
"Well I believe you've heard of the terrorists calling themselves death eaters hunting innocent witches and wizards? Unless you're completely oblivious to everything happening around you."
"And what makes these witches and wizards terrorists?" Demanded Rookwood.
James frowned condescendingly at him. "Well seeing as the definition of terrorist is someone using violence and intimidation to push their political agenda, I thought it was quite self explanatory." He looked cheekily at the crowd surrounding them giving them a look clearly saying can you believe this guy? He doesn't even know what he's defending. Successfully drawing a few laughs, simultaneously getting them on his side and undermining Rookwood. The older man took a threatening step towards James.
"If they are terrorists as you call them, I'm sure Mr Helminth and his aurors would have taken them in." The head of the aurors looked very much alarmed at being brought into the conversation. James turned to Helminth.
"Is he saying you don't think these attacks are terror attacks?" The crowd went silent, more had gathered to watch. Somewhere out of the corner of James' eye he noticed Slughorn and Lily both making their way over from opposite directions. Helminth spluttered, looking between Crouch and Rookwood uneasily. James moved closer to Helminth who took a step back. "Is he saying that you don't consider targeted attacks on specific witches and wizards based on zero evidence as terrorism?" His question was quiet but his voice carried.
"I think you'll find boy, that many much older and wiser wizards feel that there is quite enough evidence to support action against certain so called members of wizarding society." Rookwood drawled saving Helminth from answering. James turned to him, his face a cold mask. Rookwood was studying his nail before meeting James' eyes with his own dark gaze.
"Like what?" James asked. In his periphery he was aware of Slughorn gaping at his two guests, Lily had disappeared somewhere into the crowd.
"Well." Rookwood began calmly. There was a large crowd around them now, listening to every word that was said. "Those witches and wizards you say have been targeted are actually known to be propagating the idea that reproducing with muggles is acceptable and have disagreed with the facts- that mud bloods are anomalies of creation and should be stamped out if we are to protect the sanctity of magic." A few nods rippled around the crowd.
"So you'd rather have a child with a member of your own family than accept muggleborns as legitimate members of wizarding society?" James replied, stepping close to Rookwood. His voice was steady but his hands which were curled into fists at his side were shaking.
"I would rather." Rookwood spat "Bloodlines be kept pure and magic not be compromised." James wiped a fleck of his spittle off his cheek. He studied the older man for a moment.
"That's what you believe?" He asked Rookwood quietly. Rookwood nodded triumphantly. James laughed mirthlessly.
"I guess that's what she tells you." James said suggestively. Rookwood flushed an ugly colour. "I personally think breeding with your own family is disgusting. People who practice that are a disgrace." James had raised his eyebrows at Rookwood very clearly implying that he meant him. "In fact." James said brightly. "Those who do that are the actual definition of a motherfu-" There was a tremendous bang as Rookwood's wand slashed through the air between him and James. The crowd gasped and shrieked as James was thrown into the air striking the ceiling before landing painfully on the ground. He was up in a flash, a twisted glimmer of triumph in his eyes.
"You'd raise your wand against an unarmed student?" He shouted over the clamour, to his left he saw Lily shove her way through the crowd towards him and a small flash of pleasure flushed through him at the thought she might be worried for him. "Big man you are." He shouted at Rookwood wiping a drop of blood from his lip. Rookwood raised his wand again. Before he could cast there was a flash of red and he was disarmed.
"Enough!" Bellowed a voice. The panic quieted and both James and Rookwood turned to the person who disarmed the death eater. Bartemius Crouch held Rookwoods wand in his free hand and was looking at its owner with disgust on his face. "How dare you Augustus. You just attacked a student, in his own school, where you are a guest!" Rookwood was humiliated and glared at James with hatred. Crouch whirled on his senior. Helminth looked pale and scared in the face of his colleague's anger. "You stood by and watched this happen Mr Helminth." Helminth shrunk and looked as though he wished to vanish into the floor. "That is unacceptable behaviour and is not appropriate of a man in your position. You and Rookwood will be leaving immediately." Crouch didn't spare a glance for James as Lily pushed her way over to him.
"Are you OK?" She asked James. James grinned down at her.
"I'm great." Off in the middle of the crowd Barty Crouch was looking for Slughorn who eventually made his way to him and began crowd control. The professor caught James' eye, checking him over quickly for injuries. On seeing the blood on his face he told him to go to the hospital wing. Lily glared disgustedly at Rookwood and Helminth's backs as they left the party, shaking her head angrily.
"We'll give it a few minutes then we'll go to the hospital wing." She told James. Scanning the crowd for someone.
"You'd rather come to the hospital wing with me than stay at the party?" James asked.
"Well yeah." She stopped looking as she spotted Frank and Alice rushing towards them and beckoned them over. "I'm suddenly not in much of a party mood anymore." An uncharacteristic giggle escaped James' mouth as he staggered to the side. Lily whipped around to look at him, he was still giggling.
"That was funny Lil." An odd sensation rushed through her at the nickname which she swiftly ignored. She was frowning at her tall companion who was swaying slightly.
"James, did you hit your head?" James nodded vigorously before wincing and clutching his head. Lily swore making James burst out laughing again.
"Damn, kitty got claws." James said giddily. Lily ignored him reaching up to touch the back of his head, his hair was distractingly thick but she winced as she felt the huge lump on the back of his head. Luckily when she removed her hands there was no blood. Frank and Alice then arrived.
"Woah." Frank said, taking in James' appearance. "Not looking so good James." James was now holding on to Lily's arm and telling her to stop spinning. Lily looked at him worriedly.
"How much of all that did you see?" Lily asked Frank and Alice.
"Enough to see that Rookwood attacked an unarmed James." Alice said furiously.
"Ok, James needs to go to the hospital wing but can you go find someone who witnessed the whole thing and maybe Crouch and Slughorn as well. Dumbledore needs to be informed someone just attacked one of his students within the school." Frank said as Alice nodded.
"Are you going to be ok taking him to the hospital wing?" Alice asked looking at the quidditch captain worriedly.
"I can take him if you want." Frank offered.
"Noooo." James complained shaking his head. "I wanna go with Lily." He drew out the 'ee' of her name like a five year old. "She smells good." Lily smothered a smile at his stupid comment and shook her head.
"I'm sure we'll be fine, thanks though." Frank spared them a final glance as he walked away. "Fill us in at the tower later on, ok?" Alice nodded and they disappeared into the crowd. She turned to James who was frowning at the ceiling, his eyes unfocused, and sighed. She grasped his arm.
"Come on then you big, noble idiot, we're leaving."
"You think I'm noble?"James asked excitedly almost falling over. Lily groaned and ignored him, instead sliding an arm around his waist and letting him lean on her as they made their way to the door. James giggled again. "Jeez, buy me dinner first Lil." Lily grunted in response, he was heavier than he looked and he was leaning on her heavily.
"Bloody hell Potter, how hard did he throw you against the ceiling."
"Pretty hard actually." James said thoughtfully as they made their way into the cool corridor. "My head made this huge cracking sound and then everything was dark for like, a second. Where are we going again?"
"Hospital wing, James."
"But sure, you can just fix me, you're great with healing stuff. You fixed my lip that time remember." The odd pair continued stumbling down the corridor.
"James." Lily grunted, "I think this is a bit more serious than a split lip." James shook his head and then winced before motioning to stop. Lily shot him a concerned look as he sank against the wall, pushing his glasses onto his head so he could rub a weary hand over his face.
"Just a bit dizzy." He said weakly.
"We're talking a concussion, possibly a fractured skull. Lambert needs to see you." James shut his eyes as a feeling of nausea rushed over him.
"I hate Lambert." He said weakly, "and it's quidditch tomorrow. Can you please try something?"
"James-" She began.
"Please." He groaned, looking at her with pleading hazel eyes, looking strangely bare without his glasses, "I trust you." That brought Lily up short. No hint of a smirk crossed his features, his eyes looked unwaveringly into hers. In that moment she just knew that he was being completely honest. She went to protest but he was giving her puppy dog eyes so she knew there was no point.
"Fine. Sit down." She said with a sigh, "I'll see what I can do." James smiled gratefully at her and lowered himself to the floor. Lily knelt next to him. She directed him to lean his head forwards and ran her hands over the back of his head, finding the lump and ran through an inventory of spells she knew in her head. James looked up at her as she chewed her lip in thought but looked away again quickly when she scolded him for moving. She raised her wand and nodded to herself decisively before reciting a long spell. James felt as if cool water had just been poured over the back of his head and shivered in spite of himself as the soothing feeling washed over him.
"What was that?" He asked, gingerly feeling the back of his head, relieved and stunned when he felt no bump.
Lily chewed her lip again, "how do you feel?"
"As if a blanket has just been taken off my head to be honest, I felt all woozy and weird but feel pretty normal now."
Lily ran her hands over his head again, checking if something had gone wrong. Seemingly satisfied she pushed her hair back from her face and rested on her heels. "It was a chain spell of a whole bunch of spells I thought would work the best." James stared at her, impressed.
"Amazing." He got smoothly to his feet, "I'm not dizzy at all." Lily smiled.
"Well, I'm glad but we're still going to the hospital wing."
"What! Why? I feel great." James held out a hand to help her up, which she took gladly, she suddenly felt very tired.
"Just to double check, " she said, "it was a head injury after all." James protested some more but gave up when he realised Lily wasn't going to budge.
"I hope it's madam Pomfrey on the night shift." He said hopefully to himself as the pair disappeared down the corridor on another trip to the hospital wing.
(Saturday 11 October 1976) James woke up early the next morning in spite of the excitement of the night before. He had had to fill in Frank and Alice when he got back from the hospital wing which he luckily did. It was Madam Pomfrey on the night shift and with a large amount of compliments and wheedling she had agreed for him to not stay the night and had told him she would clear him for his quidditch match if he came to her first thing in the morning and only if she deemed it appropriate. James stretched and made his way to the window where he peeked through the curtain to check out the weather. It wasn't quite light yet but it looked as if it would be a clear day with a bit of a blustery wind which wasn't ideal but it could definitely be worse. He grabbed his clothes and made his way to the shower.
He wiped the mist off the mirror and took himself in. He looked pale but he always did before quidditch matches, he had the worst nerves ever, especially for quidditch. He ran a hand over his damp hair, glad to see there was definitely no bump and traced his fingers over the scar that now ran just below his pecs from the mysterious curse Bellatrix had fired at him. James' pulse spiked as his thoughts returned to the impending quidditch match and he took deep breaths as he carried on drying himself.
Madam Pomfrey took in the quidditch jumper and trousers James wore as he walked in.
He smiled at her. "I'm feeling great this morning Madam."
She raised an unconvinced eyebrow, gesturing to the bed. "Sit down Mr Potter, let me have a look." A few moment passed where she muttered a few spells and waved her wand in a few obscure patterns. "You still haven't told me what exactly happened."
"I had a little accident is all." James said breezily, "but let me just tell you that Lily Evans would be a great student to come and help you in the hospital wing." Pomfrey made a noncommittal noise.
"It seems there's nothing serious, just some light bruising, so you should be fine for the match provided you don't do anything too strenuous and stop as soon as you feel anything, even as seemingly small as a headache."
"Of course Madam." James said, smiling a wide genuine smile. "And might I just add that you look spectacular this morning." Her lips twitched.
"Get out of here Mr Potter before I change my mind."
James was whistling as he walked into the Great Hall, Sirius, Remus and Peter were with him, not everyone was on the quidditch team but it was an accepted fact that all of the marauders would always be present whenever the team would have their meal. He was glad to see that most of the team were already there, looking nervous as jibes were exchanged between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables. Right at the beginning of the season James had made it clear that he expected the team to have a team breakfast on game days this was his first game as captain and he was pleased to see- after a quick count that everyone was there. As he got closer he was also pleased to see Lily there next to Dorcas and opposite Marlene. Sirius, Remus and Peter sat down and James rolled his eyes as Sirius shot a meaningful glance at him and Lily who was sat next to him.
"Alright team." He said leaning on the end of the table that was free from breakfast food, "and friends." He inclined his head towards the various friends that also made up the large group. "Todays the day." He didn't raise his voice, he knew everyone was listening. "The first match of the year and it's Gryffindor versus Slytherin. I can see a few of you have been trading insults already, but don't let them get to you. We'll get back at them by showing them how we play." His eyes caught Lily's unintentionally and a little shock of lightning went through his veins, she was watching him too, the thought made him warm and he looked away quickly. "Everyone has worked hard for this and I know that we can beat them." He looked around the table meeting the eyes of every member of his team.
"Be down at the changing room at ten for warmup and make sure you have a good meal and a piece of fruit as well, we all need our energy. Everyone make sure they also have some water too." He added making Lily smirk into her bacon. Sirius beckoned him over and moved up purposefully patting the spot on the bench next to him that was also next to Lily. James sat down casually and Sirius patted him on the back.
"Nice one captain."
"Do you do motivational speeches at every meal on game days or just breakfast?" Lily asked, a twinkle in her eyes as she passed him the bacon he was reaching for.
"Oh, that wasn't my motivational speech. I save that one for the warm up."
"Ah." She nodded sagely. "Of course."
"You're a surprisingly good captain, Potter." Said Marlene making the marauders laugh.
"Well, she's right." Said Dorcas, chiming in making Lily and James both beam at her. "I mean we all knew you were good at playing it but leading it is a whole other story."
"A whole other ball game you might say." Said Remus making Lily, Peter and Marlene burst out laughing. Whilst the others looked on in confusion.
"It's a muggle reference." Said Peter grinning. "You guys wouldn't get it."
"Not fair." Said Sirius, frowning. "Moony, explain the joke please." Remus sighed and began explaining it with help from Lily and Peter. James was only half listening, the other half was paying attention to how close he was to Lily, their arms were touching and if he turned his head slightly he could smell her perfume. He'd thought he'd been getting used to it but it still managed to intoxicate him every time. They chatted for a while longer and James had almost finished his second helping of bacon when they were interrupted.
"Well, well, well. Isn't this just lovely? A family breakfast for all the blood traitors and mud bloods." Avery, Mulciber and Snape where making their way over. Snape staring furiously at the point that his and Lily's arms touched, a small flash of happiness passed through him at his jealousy but it was tamped down quickly when Lily moved ever so slightly away.
"Go back to your table." Remus said wearily, his eyes sharp on the Slytherins.
Avery span his wand idly in his hand, whilst Snape kept lifting up pieces of the cutlery and inspecting them before dropping them loudly on to the table.
"Are you nervous for the match, Potter?" Mulciber asked. "Feeling anxious?" James' heart contracted, Mulciber couldn't know about James' history with nerves, only the marauders knew.
"I don't know why I would be? You guys are crap this year, sure, Avery is finally on the team which must mean it's bad."
"Sixth year lucky?" Asked Sirius mockingly. Avery bristled and Mulciber motioned him back. Mulciber was leering at Lily in a way that made James want to put a hex through his stupid face, Lily was resolutely not looking at Mulciber, instead she was watching Snape as he still inspected the tableware. A flush of anger rushed through James as he followed Lily's gaze.
"What's so interesting Snape? Nicer than the ones at home?" James mocked, Snape glared at him and he was aware of Lily shooting him a look.
"Tread carefully Potter." Mulciber threatened bringing James' attention back to him. "Your tolerance of mud bloods is getting old."
"Your prejudice and discrimination is also getting old Mulciber." James replied angrily. "In fact you can see examples of multiple bitches like you throughout history being bigots. So don't think your little death eater movement is anything new, we've seen it before and it's failed before so pipe down." Suddenly Avery was reaching over him as he plucked up his breakfast plate with his half finished bacon.
"Ok, taking people's food is where I draw the line." Muttered Peter darkly, making the marauders smirk.
"Your 'righteous' anger is getting old Potter." Said Mulciber.
"Yeah." Said Avery grinning, spinning James' plate on his hand, "add a little flavour to your life." Snape walked back to Avery's side, smirking as he held up the salt shaker from their table.
"Salt perhaps?" James rolled his eyes as they dumped half the salt on his bacon and dropped it back on the table.
"I hope you don't cry too much when you lose." Avery said in a final jab before they went back to their table. Lily was looking suspiciously between Snape's back and the pile of salt on James' bacon while James scraped it off.
"I mean I'm not going to let them ruin my appetite." He said lightly, "it'll take a lot more to do that."
"I've raised you so well." Said Peter with a hand over his heart, the group laughed and carried on eating. James made a face as he ate the bacon.
"Still salty?" Asked Remus smiling. James nodded. "Still going to eat it?" James nodded again.
"You scraped it off though?" Asked Lily frowning.
"Some of it must have been absorbed or something." Said James taking a gulp of orange juice. Marlene rolled her eyes.
"You're just eating it to make a statement." James grinned as he swallowed the last bit.
"You know me too well."
Lily frowned at his plate again before looking over at the Slytherin table where Severus was watching them eagerly. She looked at James he was still smiling and laughing with their group. She looked back at Severus again. James cleared his throat and took another slug of juice. He ran a hand through his hair, another bout of nerves pulsed through him, this was normal before a match though. He was the master of acting confident, he'd always told himself if you pretended something was real for long enough you could eventually convince yourself. His heart rate sped up, ok, maybe this was worse than normal, it was probably because it was his first match as captain. His hand ran through his hair as he took a deep breath, he looked at his reflection in the gold milk jug, was he pale? It was hard to tell. To his right, Lily was studying him, a small frown appearing. James felt hot and clammy, he needed to go and calm down before his team noticed something wrong. He stood up.
"I'm going to the loo." He told Sirius.
Sirius laughed, "nervous piss?" James laughed too and smacked his head lightly. Was Lily seeing things or was it more forced than usual? Sirius turned back to his meal. Lily looked back at Sev who was nudging Avery and Mulciber and motioning to James who was walking casually out of the hall. The three Slytherins were laughing together. An odd idea was starting to form in her mind, she thought Snape had been acting suspicious, that's why she was watching him, what was the deal with picking up the tableware? She looked at James' plate again and the pile of salt that had been scraped off her bacon, it had a strange sheen to it. She glanced at James who had been stopped by one of the teachers near the door to the great hall, was he pale? She wasn't sure. Curious, she lifted his plate and had a closer look, she sniffed it. Crap- was that- she separated a small section of it and looked around for some vinegar, finding some she poured it over the salt, stirring it slightly. If the salt was just salt it would dissolve in the vinegar, she absorbed the vinegar in a napkin, alarmed when she saw there was residue.
"Lil, what are you doing?" Asked Dorcas. Lily didn't answer. She pressed her finger onto the residue and held it up to the light, there was a familiar, very characteristic green crystal. She swore.
"Dorcas." She said in a quick whisper. "I think Snape spiked James' breakfast."
"What?" Dorcas asked, "how?"
"I'll explain later but I need to get to James," in her periphery she was aware of him leaving the hall. She spoke even quieter, "do you have those calming draughts in your bag still?" Dorcas looked around for eavesdroppers, alarmed, but nodded.
"Can I take one? I need it for the antidote."
"Antidote-" Dorcas began but Lily was already picking up her friends bag.
"I'll explain later, I promise." She darted out of her seat and began walking quickly out of the hall, ignoring the people greeting her as she left. She burst through the doors and saw the edge of James foot as he swept up the staircase, she followed, running up the stairs. She sprinted along the first floor, she could hear his ragged breathing, she turned a corner and found him leaning against the wall.
"James." She called, he jumped as he spotted her and began shaking his head and moving away.
James stumbled away as she came closer, she couldn't see him like this, it had never been this bad before, his whole body was shaking, he felt freezing cold but was sweating all over. He turned to run but she caught his arm and pulled him back. His heart was pounding relentlessly in his ears. He couldn't even feel where her hand clasped his, she was saying something but he couldn't understand her. She pulled him towards a door and tapped it with her wand, it opened into the prefects bathroom, she let him go to take off her bag and he fell against the wall, sliding down it. His chest ached. He was going to pass out.
Lily fumbled through Dorcas' bag, finding the nondescript flask Dorcas put the calming draughts Lily brewed for her in. James was clutching his chest, sweat shone on his flushed cheekbones as his breaths came in quick, strangled gasps. Lily pulled out the packet of mints she always kept in her pocket and crushed one underneath her wand before putting it into the flask and muttering a spell to mix it. James took off his glasses, dropping them to the floor as he grimaced in discomfort.
"I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe." He struggled with the collar of his jumper ripping it off over his head, gasping.
Lily squeezed his arm, "just hang on a second." It was almost ready. Yes finally, it had turned silver. She put her hand on the back of his head, forcing him to look at her. "You have to drink this ok?" He shook his head, his hand squeezed her leg, his breathing seeming to get impossibly faster. "Do you trust me?" There it was, that question again. James didn't hesitate, he nodded and it sent a pang through her. "Drink it." She put it to his lips and poured, he took two mouthfuls before she moved it away to let him breathe, she gave him a few more before putting it down. His head fell against the wall and she watched as his chest gradually slowed and his breathing returned to a more normal rate. The white t shirt he had on underneath his jumper was soaked in sweat and a flush rose in her cheeks as she saw the lines of his chest, it was then that she realised the position they were in. His back was against the wall with his legs straight out whilst she kneeled with one leg on either side of his leg. She wasn't in his lap but she may as well have been, his hands were on her lower thigh and she could feel the outline of them through the trousers she had put on that day in preparation for the match. His hands slid off as he met her eyes, his cheeks still flushed.
He cleared his throat. "What the hell was that?" Lily sighed and moved herself off his leg, sitting normally on the floor.
"You remember we learnt last year how to brew calming solutions." James nodded, "Me and Se- Snape were partners and we were just chatting, and I asked if he thought it was possible to create an inversion of the potion and make an 'anti- calming solution' it was just a random academic question I had at the time. It wasn't really meant to come to anything but he was inspired and we got together and after much trial and error we finally did it. He tested a small sample, even though I told him not to, and it worked. I thought he was being strange picking up all the stuff on the table and I think he-"
"Put some of the anti- calming stuff on my food, they were trying to get me to freak out before the match."
Lily nodded miserably. "He used too much, if he'd used less it probably would've taken longer to affect you and would've actually hit you during the match." James laughed, nudging her shoulder gently.
"Jeez, remind me not to get on your bad side." She smiled weakly. "What was with the mint?"
"The active ingredient in calming solution is found in mint and you had ingested a lot so I thought I needed to give the calming solution a kick."
"Thank you." James said looking at her seriously. Lily had never seen his eyes this close before without his glasses and they were a gorgeous deep shade of hazel, she smiled more genuinely at him.
"I was partly responsible for the formation of it so I had to help."
"And there was me thinking I was just having a normal panic attack." James said attempting to make a joke.
"You know what they feel like?" Lily asked.
James ran a hand through his hair, chewing his lip, this was dangerous territory. He hesitated a second more before nodding.
"I get really nervous." He said quietly, "before quidditch matches, exams, stuff like that. It was two years before I could sleep through the night before a quidditch game, four before I could play a match and do an exam without throwing up beforehand." He looked at Lily, meeting her eyes, she was looking at him steadily. She couldn't believe he was telling her this, out of all the people.
"I didn't know that." She said quietly.
"There's a lot about me you don't know Lil." He said with a soft smile before standing up. "The James Potter you've known for the last five years was about 80% bravado." She smiled.
"What about now?" She asked. He grinned and held out a hand to help her up.
"I'm working on toning it down to a strong 72.5" She laughed as he pulled her up. He gestured to the prefect bathroom, "how did we even get in here I thought there was a hex on anyone who tried to bring someone in."
"It's based on trustworthiness, it changes with each person, apparently it also 'senses your intentions'" She wiggled her fingers for emphasis.
"Ah, very mysterious." Said James picking up his glasses and jumper.
"How did you even know about the hex?"
"How do you think? Sirius Black."
James walked quickly on his way back to the great hall, with Lily hurrying to keep up, he slowed slightly as he noted her hastened steps.
"Say, Evans." He began, "how tall are you?" Lily frowned at the odd question but answered anyway.
"5,5, why?" He shrugged, a slight smile crossing his features. Lily shoved him, "don't laugh at me Potter, not all of us can be as freakishly tall as you."
James laughed. "Hey, Remus is the freakishly tall one."
"Well how tall are you, Potter?"
James shrugged again, "Smaller than Remus at least."
They entered the Great Hall together. Lily glanced over at the Slytherin table to see Severus' furious expression.
"Damn." She said quietly, "they're pissed that you're still standing." James grinned at her.
"Thanks to you Evans, don't be modest." Lily rolled her eyes. James' smile faded and he shook his head. "I just cannot believe they tried to spike me before a game. That's low even for them."
Lily looked at the ground. "Tell me about it." She muttered. They sat back down to questioning looks from their friends. Sirius took in James' tousled hair and the jumper thrown hastily over his shoulder and looked over at the furious Slytherins.
He smirked. "Did you and Evans have sex? Because it's really got Snivellus' knickers in a twist." Lily narrowed her eyes at him and James punched him hard in the arm, his cheeks heating.
"Ow!" Sirius complained, "damn, Prongs."
"It was nothing, they just did a stupid trick." James said, lowering his voice so his team members couldn't overhear."
"Well it wasn't nothing James." Dorcas said looking angrily at the Slytherins, "are you sure you're ok?"
Remus frowned, "what happened?"
"It doesn't matter-" James began.
"Yes it does." Lily said angrily.
"Says you." James muttered, remembering her refusal to report the Slytherins the other day. Lily ignored him and looked at Remus, "Snape spiked James' breakfast, they tried to sabotage the game."
"They what!" Sirius said menacingly. "Those stupid, cowardly-" Sirius began to stand but James dragged him back down.
"They're already pissed it didn't work, Lily made sure of that, we'll just give them an opportunity to get the game cancelled or something if we rise to it."
"Well, that's a damn low thing to do, spiking you." Peter said angrily.
"I know, but I reckon the best thing to do is be our annoying, chipper selves and maybe we'll be the ones to put them off."
Marlene grinned, "sabotage by annoyance, that's a very you thing to do James." The captain smiled slightly.
"I'm going to take that as a compliment McKinnon."
"Ok fine." Said Alice, relenting, "but we're going to get them back, right?"
"Oh yes." Sirius said baring his teeth, "we definitely will."
A/N: There we are. Another chapter down, it's a little slow going but I love these characters and there's a lot going on. Hope everyone enjoys, as always, please favourite/follow/review if you want.
