I magicked my textbook to fly about the Gryffindor common room, using one of the charms we'd been practising for homework. Peter was clapping as the Charms book flapped its pages like a bird, swooping in circles 'round the chair he sat in. He had yet to master the charm himself, as the rest of us had done, and as I flicked my wand about, directing the book's movements, Peter screwed up his face in concentration and muttered the spell desperately.
Suddenly, the portrait hole burst open behind us and a voice startled me into faltering my spell, "James Potter!" my book fell with a thump and a wail onto Peter's head.
"Sorry mate," I said, cringing.
James stood up. "How goes it, Evans?" he asked Lily.
"What did you do to Severus?" she demanded, brandishing her wand and aiming at him as she moved toward him speedily. Several people from higher years turned to look, including Derek Bell, who elbowed Bilius to get his attention as Lily's wand tip pressed into James' chest. "Tell me."
"Blimey!" James exclaimed, "I...I didn't do a thing to him!" He waved his hand and beat her wand away, forcing it to point elsewhere, "Point that thing away from me, Evans, you could do some damage."
She raised it again. "Afraid I might mess up your hair, are you, Potter?" she snapped, "I know you were antagonising him again, I saw him after you'd done it."
Sirius was standing up, "James' been here with us for hours," he said defensively.
"He has," I confirmed, "We've been studying here since lunch."
Lily's eyes bore into James just the same.
Bilius cleared his throat, "Evans," he called, "Lower your wand, please."
Lily reluctantly lowered her wand from James' chest and he let out an exaggerated breath of relief. "There we go, Evans, we both know you don't have the stomach for that sort of thing, really, anyway," he said, a grin rolling across his mouth. The grin was so arrogant that a wave of anger flushed Lily, the heat bursting from her chest to bloom upon her cheeks. Without even really thinking about it, she waved her wand again, shouting the hex, and a jet of light shot out, hitting James and bowling him over backwards.
"Oi!" Bilius shouted, leaping up, followed by Derek, and rushing over as Sirius drew his own wand, leaping to his friend's defense. "Expelliarmus!" Bilius shouted and both Sirius and Lily's wands shot from their hands and into his own. Both looked equally surprised by their wands' disappearance. "Enough of that!" he said as he reached them.
James sat up, looking quite surprised as fierce, winged bogeys flew out of his nose, attacking his face, though he waved his hands over his head, trying to get them off him. "Gerrofferme!" he shouted, his voice strangely muffled thanks to the big green blobs fluttering out of his nostrils. "Gerrofferme!"
I raised my eyebrows, impressed with the ferocity with which Lily had managed to attack. A smirking shadow of amusement was not only across Sirius' but Remus' face. Even Bilius couldn't completely keep a straight face.
"Finite Incantatem," Bilius said, and the bogeys that had come out of James' face already fell to the floor as though dead. James timidly lowered his hands, the bogeys having stopped coming out of his nose.
"Lily," Bilius scolded, turning to her, "Despite that being an alright hex-"
"Alright?" roared Sirius, "Bloody brilliant is what that was! How'd you learn that one?"
Lily blushed, "Sev taught it to me. Before we came to Hogwarts. He… he said he used it on the bullies, and he wanted me to use it on bullies too, but...that was the first time." she was flushed still. "Well, I guess I did use it on a bully," she added, glowering at James.
"I didn't bully him…" James muttered, frowning.
"That was brilliant!" I said, grinning.
"Regardless…" interrupted Bilius, "As a Prefect, I've got to tell you that you shouldn't be casting spells like that in the common room!"
James rubbed his nose, "Especially on perfectly innocent victims."
Bilius grinned and leaned closer, "But as your friend...good one, Evans." He offered up his hand for a high-five.
"Come on now!" whined James, "She's just made my bogeys into...into vicious...attack...things! And you're high-fiving her?!"
"Serves you right for bullying Severus Snape," Lily said firmly.
"I told you, Evans, I didn't bully Snape!" James spat, standing up, "I've been here in the common room studying with this lot. I haven't been near Snivelly today!"
Lily looked abashed. "You really haven't? But...then why was he upset?"
"I don't bloody know! Any number of people in this school could've made fun of that greasy-headed git," James said, annoyed, "Next time you want to hex somebody, maybe confirm first they've done whatever it is you're accusing them of!" He grabbed his books from the floor and stormed off up the stairs to the dormitory, slamming shut the door behind him.
There was a brief pause as we all stared up the steps after him, and so I turned to Lily. "Lily, you have got to teach me that Hex!"
We then spent the better part of an hour practising the Bat Bogey Hex with Lily. Even Peter had managed to learn the hex before we were done. The boys and I then went upstairs to fetch James before we went to dinner. We found him lying on his bed playing with the snitch Sirius had stolen from the locker rooms months ago.
Sirius, who was a ball of energy, threw himself on top of James as he came into the room. "You idiot! You missed it, she taught us all the hex!" he said as he bounced on top of James' legs.
James scowled.
"You have to admit, mate, it was a brilliant bit of magic," Remus said, seeing James' face.
"Maybe to you," James replied sourly. "You weren't the one with bogeys trying to attack you!"
I smirked, "Your face, though, when you sat up...you looked so...so perplexed…" I laughed.
"Well you would too," James replied, though he couldn't help the hint of a smile from betraying him. "Blimey, she's good."
Sirius nodded. "Certainly is! She said that was the first time she'd actually cast that spell! Bilius said she probably was able to get it off so well because she really felt passionate about hitting you a good one."
Peter added, "Yeah, she must really hate you, James."
James rolled his eyes, "She can't hate me. Nobody hates me. Not for any good reason, anyway,"
"Girls don't need good reasons to hate people," Sirius pointed out. Sirius pointed out, "They just do. It's what comes naturally for them, I suppose."
"Hey, not true! The day Lily Evans is a representative for all girls, we're done for!" I said, pushing Sirius off the bed to punish him for his words. He let out a yelp, and we all dissolved into laughter. Thank god James was in a better mood.
"Anyway, we came to get you for dinner." Remus said.
"I'm starved!" Sirius chimed in.
We all walked down to the Great Hall, where James was careful not to get a seat too near to Lily. Not that it was hard to avoid her, as she'd taken a seat at the opposite end of the table with the older girls. As we took our seats, I glanced over to the Slytherin table, and my eyes met with Severus Snape's for just a moment. Severus' eyes were narrowed as he stared across the Hall at me, so I narrowed my own eyes back and Severus looked away.
I wondered what had upset Severus that had put him in the state that Lily had witnessed him in.
I glanced at the staff table as well. Professor Moody was staring across the Great Hall at the Slytherin table, too, his eyes flickering over each face, coming to rest upon Lucius Malfoy, whose eyes were diverted downward at the table as he lifted his goblet of pumpkin juice. The girl beside him, Narcissa Black, was clinging to Malfoy's arm.
"D'you reckon Moody's found something about the mirror and that's what had Snape all worked up?" I asked.
"Perhaps," replied Sirius. He glanced over at the table.
"Can't have, Malfoy hasn't been expelled yet," injected Remus.
"True," I said with a frown.
Hiiii folks! I'm terribly sorry that I didn't update yesterday, it was my first day of virtual classes so I was a bit swamped. But to make it up to you guys, I'm going to be uploading ANOTHER chapter later today!
