Pardon my French (Part 1)

To Lily's surprise, Petunia had offered to take the taxi to King's Cross with her. Lily sat next to her sister, their knees brushing.

"How was your night?" she asked. She and her sister both arrived back in the apartment in the morning, Lily beating Petunia home by a mere hour, which she spent packing.

"Grand," Petunia said, a dreamy smile coming on her face. "What about yours? Have fun with James?"

"That was kind of you," Lily said softly, the taxi stopping. Petunia didn't answer, looking out the window. "Thank you, Pet."

She got out of the taxi, Petunia helping her pull her trunk out. Lily had sent Athena ahead to Hogwarts in the morning, the owl eagerly heading out. Lily stood awkwardly with her sister in front of the station.

"Thanks for letting me stay with you," she said, bringing her arms around Petunia. Her sister was frozen for a moment before finally returning the embrace.

"We've decided on a June wedding," Petunia said, breaking from it. "I want you to be a bride's maid."

Lily's lips twitched up.

"Yeah?" she said, noticing that Petunia was smiling too. "I'd be honored to."

After saying goodbye to her sister, Lily headed inside of the station. She crossed into Platform 9 and 3/4, bustling past many of the wizarding families of her classmates and loading her trunk onto the luggage car. But Lily struggled with her massive trunk, biting her lower lip when she attempted to get it up on a shelf. Before it could fall over on her, she felt someone come behind her, righting it easily and securing it onto the shelf.

"Look like you needed some help," James said. Lily turned and immediately noticed how close he was to her. He had one hand on the shelf behind her, effectively surrounding her.

"How will I ever repay you," Lily said in a teasing tone. James leaned in closer and her breath hitched.

"I can think of a few ways," he said, eyes trained on her lips. Before he could get any closer, Lily pulled herself out of his arms. She saw several of their classmates milling to the car and took a shaky breath.

"I've got to run to the prefect cabin," she squeaked, bounding off. After the meeting, Lily left the cabin, eager to try and find Frank or Pandora and catch up. Suddenly she was yanked inside of a small cabin.

Lily's wand was out in seconds, a hex on her tongue until she saw that James's hand was on her wrist.

"Merlin you startled me," she said, turning and shutting the cabin door behind them. Lily closed the curtain on the door's small window for good measure as well.

"We need to talk."

She faced James and saw that he was leaning against the window, arms crossed, and face stone.

"Or we could snog," she offered, flirtatiously smiling at him.

"Lily," he said, voice serious. "What are we doing?"

Lily paused, tugging on a lock of her hair with a frown.

"You ran away in the luggage car," James pointed out. "The second you thought someone might see us."

"I know," she admitted, looking down. "I told you… I'm not ready for dates."

"So what are you ready for?" James asked, his voice suddenly a lot quieter. Lily looked up and he was staring at her. "Because I need to know."

Lily shrugged, biting her lip.

"I'm ready to…" she started, stopping as she realized that she had no clue what she was ready for. She definitely wasn't ready to publicly snog James in front of all of the people who'd bullied her for months. "Go to the library."

"What?" James barked, confusion lacing across his face.

"I mean I'm not ready to necessarily take the book out," she explained, feeling her face heat up. "And carry it around school and read it in front of other people. But I could… I could read it in the stacks."

James looked at her carefully and she shook her head.

"I'm being dense," Lily sighed.

"No you're not," he quickly replied. "That makes sense."

"Does it?" she asked.

"Might want to stay away from the confusing analogies but I got it," James answered with a chuckle. He moved over to her, bringing his arms around Lily's body. She felt the skin on her arms prickle into goosebumps when James ran his thumb in a circle over the small of her back. "I'm up for a lot of trips to the library."

"Are you sure?"

"I could do with more studying," James said smoothly, leaning down and capturing her lips. Lily kissed him warmly until he broke it. "And sneaking around makes this so much hotter."

"Does it?" Lily said with a smile.

"Clandestine meetings," James drawled, running his hand up her back.

"Can it stay between the two of us?" she asked. James's brows knitted. and his hand paused. "That includes your mates not knowing."

"That takes my dorm out of the equation," James noted. Lily nodded, knowing that she wouldn't be able to tolerate Remus or Sirius prying into whatever was happening between her and James.

"We're not meeting in a broom closet," Lily answered.

"Lucky for you I know a place," he said, leaning down and capturing her lips again.

Two weeks later

"I thought that would never end," Frank groaned. "I'll never be able to get the smell of crup shit off my hands."

Lily laughed, following him up the trail back to the castle. The pair had just left their Care of Magical Creatures practicum, consisting of an hour-long session cleaning out Hagrid's crup crates. Lily's fingers were icy, the Scottish temperature and snow brutal in January.

She and Frank reached the castle, heading to Gryffindor Tower. Lily watched as several of their classmates waved and greeted Frank.

"You've gotten popular," she noted, smiling in amusement as Henry MacMillan slapped Frank on the back in greeting.

"More like I'm orbiting around Alice's social clout," Frank clarified. The pair had made it official over Christmas breaking, starting to date. Lily was a begrudging fan of the couple, despite the fact that Frank was spending more and more time with his girlfriend. "We've been back for nearly two weeks and you still haven't picked any good cases."

Lily shrugged. Besides helping a few classmates find lost belongings, she'd been ignoring the growing pile of letters from people asking for more help. She'd kept her work on the back burner, giving Marlene's case more attention than ever before.

She was fruitlessly trying to connect the dots of the relationship and conversation between Demetrius Mulciber and Cygnus Black. Why would the latter need to pay off the Mulciber family? And why had Cygnus said that Dante was going to die either way? Lily was growing frustrated, still not making any leads regarding Marlene's pregnancy either.

"Taking a bit of a sabbatical," Lily supplied.

"I doubt that," Frank said. "You can't help but sleuth. You're suspicious by nature."

Lily rolled her eyes, reaching the common room entrance with him.

"Wanna meet for dinner in 20?" Frank asked.

"I'll have to pass," Lily said with a wry smile. "I have to go to the library."

"You've been spending every waking moment there," Frank joked. "You know the books aren't going to run away."

"I dunno about that— some of the books there probably have wings," Lily joked, feeling her cheeks warm. She left Frank, heading up to her dorm and showering the scent of crup shit off of her body before bouncing out of the dorm. Lily made her way to the east wing, reaching a tapestry of Sir Egg the Barmy. She looked around before ducking behind it, following the tight passageway inside.

When Lily arrived at a small room, she saw James lounging on top of the ancient desk inside. The classroom seemed like it used to be an old divination room, with stuffed pillowed-seats on the ground and star charts around the walls. He caught sight of her and strode over, bringing his arms around her waist.

"Four minutes late," James said in her ear. "Not very punctual Miss Evans."

Lily smiled, moving closer to him.

"I had to shower," she explained, reaching up to bring her arms around her neck. "Hagrid had us cleaning out the crup crates."

James's lips quirked into a smirk.

"Sounds dirty," he drawled, his hand trailing idly over her skirt waistband. He leaned down, bringing his lips to hers. Lily returned his kiss eagerly, her hands bunching into the fabric of James's shirt.

He kissed her hungrily, Lily's head spinning as James dominated their snogging. He led her towards the desk in the room, lifting Lily onto its surface. Since getting back to school. they'd been meeting in secret, using this room James had found while exploring the school.

"Are you sure none of your mates know about this room?" Lily had asked the first time he brought her. "And you have the map right?"

"It's in my pocket," James replied before chuckling. "And yes none of them know about it— I actually found it with Marlene."

Lily gasped when James began to remove the buttons to her shirt with his teeth.

"Another secret talent of James Potter," she said in a breathless voice. When she was with James, the agitation and discomfort that had settled deep in Lily's heart began to alleviate a bit. That agitation had only grown since getting back, leading to many sleepless nights she'd spent following and making leads on Marlene's death.

"I live to surprise," he replied, tugging her shirt open and kissing her stomach. Lily felt him pulling at her bra and glanced at her watch.

"Woah there," she said, stopping the kiss. "I can't stay long. I've got patrols."

"At 8 pm?" James questioned, his fingers still on her bra strap.

"Had to switch with Diggory," she explained, running her fingers through his hair. James's eyes darkened. "Raincheck for 9?"

"Can't," he said with a groan, burying his face against her neck. "Captains' meeting tonight with Madam Hooch."

Lily sighed, forcing herself to remove her fingers from his hair.

"Well, tomorrow then?" she asked. James pulled his face up, nodding and kissing her. Lily left him, walking to the fifth-floor main staircase where Kate Fawley met her. Kate was staring at her as Lily walked over to her.

" Had a palette cleanser recently," Kates asked, her eyes drifting to Lily's neck.

"What?" Lily asked, bringing her hand over her throat.

"Here," Kate said, leaning over with her wand and saying the concealment charm. "You've got a nasty love bite."

"Oh," Lily said, feeling heat rush up to her face. "Thanks."

"No problem," Kate answered. "It's the least I could do— considering how you helped Eliza."

Kate's comment seemed to resonate with more of their classmates, Lily going from a social pariah at the beginning of the year, to more and more of her peers stopping their torment and taunting. Lily thought back to Emma Vanity's words from a month ago, recalling how the Slytherin captain accused her of sleuthing to get back into her classmates' good graces. While the old Lily would have been thrilled, she was different now. A jaded part of her could never let go of how they treated her, and many continued to treat her.

"How is she?" Lily asked.

"Blissfully married," Kate revealed. "She and Caradoc left for France and married right when they got there. She's finishing school from there."

The pair patrolled the fifth and sixth floors, exchanging small talk until they began climbing the stairs to the seventh floor. Lily tensed when she heard yelling and looked at Kate.

"We should check that out," Lily said. Both heard a scream and broke into a run, heading up the stairs and following the sound to the hallway outside of Ravenclaw Tower.

Lily's mouth fell open at the sight before her. Several students were circled around a pair. Lily pushed through the crowd, seeing that seventh year Richmond Selwyn had Desmond Spinnet pinned into the wall with his wand at Desmond's throat.

"Are you going to give it over now?" Richmond demanded.

"I told you I didn't take your watch!" Desmond cried, squirming against Richmond's grip. Lily noticed the blood coming from Desmond's split lip and sighed, flicking her wand.

"Break it up," she ordered, Richmond's wand flying into her hand. Behind her, Kate was dispersing the crowd, telling them to get back to their dorms. "Selwyn get off him!"

Richmond obliged, dropping Desmond and turning to her with an annoyed look.

"You should be helping me," he snapped at her. "This filthy lowlife stole my watch!"

"Fuck off Selwyn I didn't," Desmond said, rising from the ground.

"Why do you think he did?" Lily demanded. "Are you sure you didn't just lose it?"

"It's a gilded goblin watch," Richmond sneered at her. "Not that you would know, but it's a priceless family heirloom that's impossible to lose. It's charmed to return to the owner."

Lily frowned at him and he pointed his finger at Desmond.

"I know you took it you piece of vermin," he snarled. " I've seen you snooping by my belongings. You and fucking Crouch!"

"You seriously need a chill pill," Lily tsked at Richmond. "Giving pureblood money a bad name."

"I don't give a flying fuck— get my watch back to me or I'll press charges Spinnet," Richmond threatened, skulking off towards the tower.

"Well isn't he just a beam of sunshine," she quipped, turning to Desmond. "Why does Selwyn think you took his watch?"

"Because he's a classist prick," Desmond said, his cheeks flushing. "Richmond's been bullying me for years because I'm a half-blood from a family with no money."

Lily looked at him sympathetically. She'd experienced her fair bit of blood status bullying not to mention the anxiety of being from a middle-class family in the elite world of their pureblood classmates.

"You've got to help me," Desmond suddenly said, reaching for her hand. "Lily please. I've got an offer from St. Mungos— no way will they take me if Richmond publicly sues me."

Lily faltered. She'd planned to devote all of her time this month to work on Marlene's case. But Desmond was a good guy, tutoring younger students and running the Charms club. He didn't deserve to lose his job over this.

"Yeah," she said, nodding at him. "I'll help you."

With patrols over, Lily went inside of the Ravenclaw common room with Desmond and Kate. She could see Kate curiously watching them but said goodbye to the seventh year before taking a seat next to Desmond on the couch.

"Do you have any information about when it went missing?"

"Sometime yesterday— Richmond doesn't wear it to Quidditch practice and leaves it in our dorm room," Desmond explained. "Came back and turned the entire room upside down trying to find it."

"So any of your roommates could have taken it," Lily surmised.

"None of the others really have reason to," Desmond said, frowning. "Crouch and Rick are loaded too. And Alan's just got here the other night, probably doesn't even know what it's worth."

"Alan?' Lily asked with a frown.

"Crump— new from the states," Desmond supplied. Lily nodded, taking note of that.

"Well I'll start by speaking with each of them," she said. "In the meantime, you might want to start investing in learning some defense spells in case Selwyn tries to attack you again."

The next morning, Lily entered the Great Hall, book in hand as she crammed for a Charms test that was in an hour. She slid into a seat next to Frank and Alice, reviewing furiously.

"I don't know why you bother to study still," Frank commented. "You're the best Charms student in our year."

"Kind of didn't do any of the reading," Lily replied, distractedly. She looked up for a moment, seeing that Pandora was making a beeline for the Ravenclaw table.

"Pandora," she called, waving the girl over. Pandora had returned to school a week late, staying in Cambodia with her parents. She'd informed Lily that they had to amputate her father's foot but that he'd acquired a magical prosthetic in its place. Pandora slid into the seat next to Lily.

"Just remember lots of swishes," Pandora commented, seeing Lily's charms book. Lily threw her a wry smile.

"Have you heard anything about the new student," Lily said, looking over at the Ravenclaw table. Alan looked burly, more scruffy than their classmates, and seemed out of place at the Ravenclaw table where he was sitting with Barty Crouch. Lily detested Crouch, having been hexed by him several times in the past year. His signature move was a nose bleed hex, resulting in many of Lily's shirts being ruined.

"Crump?" Pandora asked, looking over at the blonde. "No, but I've heard my roommates trying to decide who gets to shag him first."

"I'm not a fan," Alice interrupted. Lily looked over at her and Alice sighed. "Tried to buy drugs off of Benjy of all people the other day. Why would he assume that Benjy has drugs."

"Because Benjy smells like a gillyweed field," Lily supplied. Alice shook her head and Lily leaned back.

"Besides that, he's taken away all of my new student clout," Frank said jokingly.

"Did you know him in your old school?" Lily asked. Frank's eyes widened for a moment before he shrugged.

"Ilvermorny was pretty massive," Frank answered. Lily frowned at that but was soon distracted as they all headed to Charms. Pandora walked beside her, Frank and Alice holding hands a few paces ahead.

"Excited for your birthday Lily?"

"How do you know when my birthday is?" Lily asked, immediately tense.

"Peeked at your file remember?" Pandora reminded. "You know 17 is the most important year for wizards and witches."

Lily didn't respond, her mouth dry.

For the past few weeks, she'd been avoiding the thought of her birthday impending.

"I could bake a cake or so-"

"No I'm fine," Lily said suddenly. "Not a big birthday person."

Before Pandora could respond, she sped up, walking away from the girl. Lily felt overwhelmed and anxious. She'd been dreading her birthday.

This was the first year January 30th was her birthday alone.

For the past six years, it'd been both her and Marlene's birthday, the pair celebrating it together.

Lily couldn't bear the thought of her first birthday without Marlene to share it with.

"I need to ask a favor," Lily said the next night. She was kneeling in front of James, her hand tugging at his belt buckle.

"Is now seriously the right time?" he asked, voice raspy. Lily got his belt off, running her hand over the erection under his pants.

"I didn't want to forgot," she replied, toying with the button of his trousers. "I need to borrow your cloak and the map for a night."

James was silent and Lily began to undo his button only for his hands to come over hers, stopping her.

"Merlin Lily," he said in a cold voice. "Are you shagging me to get access to those things?"

"Of course not," Lily said, frowning up at him.

"Well that was convincing," he scoffed, moving away from her. Lily remained on her knees, watching James run his hand through his hair.

"James, believe me," she said earnestly, rising and moving back to him. "I want you."

She pulled him down by his shirt, kissing him deeply. He faltered before reciprocating.

"It's just an added bonus that you happen to have the best tools for maraudering around," Lily said, breaking the kiss. He groaned, resting his forehead on hers.

"No talking about cases in this room," James said, his hands roaming under her shirt. "And I'm coming with you."

"You can't come with me," she answered, kissing his neck.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm a lone wolf," she replied, breath hitching as James popped her bra open. She heard him scoff.

"What does that make Longbottom?" he asked in amusement. "Your sheep?"

"Can you not talk about Frank when you're undressing me," she said, feeling James's hands come to her breasts.

"No cases," he said, kissing her. "And no Frank it's a deal."

Lily didn't answer, her head falling back as James lifted her to the desk, settling between her legs. She let out a noise of contentment when he pushed her back onto the wood, tugging her underwear off. Lily's hands went back to his pants and she quickly got them down, bringing her legs around James's waist and moaning as he entered her. After they finished, Lily quickly dressed, begrudgingly letting James join her when she broke into the administration office. and she looked for Alan Crump's record.

"It's not here," Lily said aloud, realizing that she would need to have a word with the new student. She emerged from the office and paused at the sight of James, munching on a chocolate.

"Chocolate?" he offered, extending one to her. Lily's lips curled up.

"Where'd you get that?" she asked, accepting the sweet. He shrugged and licked his fingers.

"It's funny you ask," James chuckled. "Every month the four of us get a box of chocolates. I reckon Frida sends them as food therapy but she has't signed the package or anything."

Lily bit into the chocolate, not commenting on James's observation.

During class the next day, Lily's eyes kept darting to Alan, watching him in Defense and History of Magic.

He hung around Barty Crouch's crowd, a group of students who did much harder drugs than gillyweed. Lily wrinkled her nose, watching as Barty began to snort something from his desk in the middle of the lecture. Barty licked his lips, locking eyes with her and smirking.

"I'll catch up with you later," Lily said to Frank, leaving class and trailing Alan. She followed him and Crouch as they smoked in one of the older courtyards no one went into. But Lily frowned, seeing that Alan was in fact faking every single one of his hits from Barty's joint.

"Interesting," she noted. She continued trailing Alan, eating at the same time as him and following him as he left the Great Hall alone. She remained a few paces behind him, letting Alan round a corner before she followed him. Right as Lily rounded the corner of the hall, someone grabbed her and a wand came to her throat.

"Really think you're that good at sleuthing don't you," Alan declared, pushing the tip of his wand into her throat. "Might want to lose the red hair— makes you stand out like a sore thumb."

"I mean it's getting me your attention so I think I'm the winner here," she joked sardonically.

Lily began to inch her wand out of her sleeve and Alan snatched it before she could move.

"You've got great reflexes for a druggie," she noted. "But I guess we both know you don't actually do them— Let me say if you're hanging around Crouch's crowd for social clout you chose the wrong group. They're more of the toerags of Hogwarts."

"I know you've been following me," he said, shaking her and pulling her forth. "You're ruining everything Lily— it's time we have a little conversation."

Lily squirmed in his grip, his wand still at her throat as he dragged her down the hall.

"Why don't we talk in public?' she said with a nervous laugh, seeing that he was pulling her into the abandoned east wing. "Look I'm sure we can settle this."

"You're a fucking gnat," Alan replied, pushing her towards the door of a decrepit classroom. But before Alan could shove her inside, someone appeared, throwing him off her and to the ground. Lily gaped, watching as James leaned down, punching Alan in the face.

"Manhandling birds isn't gonna get them interested in you," James said in a low voice, punching him again. Lily's eyes caught on something that flew from Alan's cloak. She leaned down reaching for it and cursed.

"Fuck," she gasped. "James let him go."

James turned, looking at her like she was crazy and she raised the badge.

"He's an auror," she said, showing it to James.

"An undercover auror," Alan grumbled, pushing James off of him and rising. He brought his hand to his split lip and hissed. "Who apparently gets his ass handed to him by teenage boys."

Minutes later, Lily was inside of the classroom, pacing as Alan conjured ice for his bruising face.

"We need to talk alone," he said, giving James a dirty look. Lily sighed, nodding at James.

"Mind stepping out?"

"Are you serious?" James demanded. "I'm not leaving you here with him."

"It'll be fine," Lily insisted. "Look I've got my wand and know a pretty wicked bat bogey hex."

James didn't laugh but finally threw his hands up in the air.

"I'll be outside the door," he said, moving to it. "Leave it a bit open."

James left and Lily turned to Alan, her fingers tight around her wand.

"So were you stationed here to learn about the exciting lives of the teenage drug addicts?" Lily asked.

"Haha," Alan said with no amusement. "I'm a French auror— recently switched spots with someone from your lot's ministry. We're doing simultaneous undercover missions into the growing drug problem at wizarding schools."

"There's always been drugs at Hogwarts," Lily said, looking at him curiously and wondering if he'd switched offices with Caradoc. "Spells and space cadets go hand in hand."

"It's gotten worse," Alan explained. "Three students at Beauxabatons overdosed in the past term. Two were hospitalized."

"That hasn't happened here," Lily pointed out.

"Not yet," Alan said darkly. "We got a tip that whoever is dealing there has been expanding into Hogwarts."

"So you're using Barty to do what exactly?" she demanded. "find the dealers?"

"Crouch took Selwyn's watch," Alan explained. "Sold it to buy more unicorn horn powder. Look, none of the people at these parties trust me— all of them think I'm a narc."

"Well you are," Lily said. "Your whole cloak-and-dagger act kinda doesn't work if you look like you're 24."

Alan rolled his eyes.

"Hogwarts needs your help, Lily Evans," Alan said. "Your Ministry needs your help."

Lily's mouth fell open.

"Me?" she said. "How am I supposed to stop an international drug dealer? Besides I just told Desmond I'd help get Selwyn's watch back."

"Our assignments are interconnected. Find the dealer and you'll find Selwyn's watch," Alan explained. "There's a party happening in the room of requirement this weekend… At these parties, there's typically a secret room in the back that they only let some people in. Dress the part and you'll get in."

Lily continued to gape at him and Alan shook his head.

"They're not going to trust me," he pressed. "I spooked Barty today at dinner. Was too aggressive about getting some unicorn horn powder. Look, we need to stop this drug from spreading all over the castle. It's highly addictive and can be deadly."

"I'm sixteen," Lily said, shaking her head. "Besides, I don't really go to those parties anymore."

Alan made a noise of frustration, bringing the ice down from his lip.

"Just close your eyes and think of England," he insisted. "This could become a national drug crisis."

She recalled her own suspected drugging and knew that Hogwarts was better off with as few drugs as possible in its premises.

"I'll help you then," Lily said shakily. She left Alan after coming up with a plan for the party with him. Lily saw that James was still outside of the room.

"My knight in shining armor," she greeted wryly, crossing her arms. "Tell me again how you managed to find me all the way in the east wing on the second floor."

James looked sheepish and she scoffed.

"Been using that map on me?" she asked. He didn't answer and she nodded. "Right then."

Lily turned, stalking off and feeling rage build in her.

"Lily wait," he called, coming behind her. "After Nott tried to attack you, I just… I couldn't help myself."

"You've been invading my privacy for months," Lily answered coldly. James stopped her, turning her towards him and Lily narrowed her eyes at him.

"None of us looked at the map that night," he admitted in a low voice. "The night Marlene died… We knew she was going out, Sirius saw her leave and she told him to mind his own business and not look. So he kept the map away and we respected her privacy."

Lily's countenance immediately changed, shock coming to her face.

"Next thing I know, I check it in the morning and see that she's at the pitch and not moving," he said quietly. "Knowing that you're off getting into danger terrifies me. I can't stop myself from looking."

"We're not a team James," she said in a cool tone. "I don't need your help or you looking out for me. I do these cases on my terms."

Before James could answer, she strode off leaving him in the hall.

AN: I've been so happy with all of of the reviews this story has gotten. I do have a small request for reviewers to use some type of name so that I can properly respond to reviews from guests. Hoping everybody's holiday is going well! I've finished drafting this entire story and there should be about 10 more chapters to it.

Next Chapter: Pardon my French (Pt 2)

R&R