Chapter 8

I will try better

And I found a change,

But the fact still remains,

That no one can change my past.

Yeah. I will try better.

Badman, Dan Caplen

"What the hell is going on here?"

James closed his eyes in defeat at the sound of Lily Evans's voice. If it had been any other Prefect, they might've been okay, but Lily was not exactly fond of any of the four who had been involved. Feeling like it was safe to do so, James dropped his Shield Charm and twisted around to face her.

Lily Evans was a girl of average height, with dark red hair that spilled down past her shoulders and most of the way down her back. Her green eyes were bright and often commented upon, and she had very pleasant facial features.

She was not wearing a pleasant expression.

"A student came to me and told me that there was fighting going on in the middle or the corridor?" she voiced the sentence like a question, despite already knowing the answer. "Why am I not surprised that the four of you are involved? Anyone care to explain what happened?"

"Black just punched me," Avery accused, pointing to his bleeding nose. "So I drew my wand in self-defence. Neither of them are hurt; we didn't injure them."

Lily scanned the four boys, taking in the fact that apart from James being on the floor, neither of the Gryffindor boys were hurt. "Why did you punch him Black?"

"He was saying stuff," Sirius muttered. Unlike Avery, he wasn't one to rat.

"He was saying stuff?" Lily repeated incredulously. James winced. "Merlin Black, if we all went around punching people who 'said stuff', there'd be no common decency left in the world. What happened to you?" she asked, directing her question at James.

"I fell," James replied, making sure to maintain eye contact, so she wouldn't think he was lying. Which he technically wasn't.

"You fell? Were you pushed?" she asked.

"No," James said.

Lily eyed them all suspiciously, knowing there was more to the story then they were letting on. "Follow me," was all she said. "You're all sitting up in the front carriage with me."

Avery and Snape pushed past the others, and made their way up on their own, knowing that objecting, or not following Lily's orders, would only get them into more trouble. Sirius reached a hand out to James and helped pull him up, while Lily watched on, part curious, part frustrated.

"Would you just lean on me for support?" she heard Sirius hiss from behind her.

"That'll looks suspicious," James murmured back, while Lily did her best to listen in and simultaneously make it look like she wasn't listening in.

"And what did Monty say before we left? Damn those people, right?" Lily frowned, completely lost. Behind her, James sighed. "Ha! I know that sigh," Sirius continued gleefully. "That means you know I'm right!"

Lily glanced behind her, trying to make it look casual. James had his right arm resting on Sirius's left shoulder, but upon closer inspection, she could see that he was using Sirius as a sort of crutch. She turned back quickly, frowning. They reached the front carriage, where Avery and Snape were already sitting on one bench. She stepped to the side to allow James and Sirius in first, before following them in, leaving the door open.

James sat by the window, with Sirius on his left hand side. Lily paused for half a second, before sitting down next to Avery, across from James. She was mad at both sets of boys, but did not feel comfortable sitting next to Sirius if it meant facing Snape.

Next to her, Snape and Avery were whispering to each other and laughing quietly. Lily couldn't be bothered to try and listen in, despite them being the only real noise in the carriage. Sirius and James were silent, James staring out the window in deep concentration.

Since he was right across from her, she couldn't help but study him. He had gotten taller, she had noticed, which was hard since he had been tall already. His hair was slightly shorter then she remembered, which made sense because a lot of people got their hair cut before going back to school. He was already dressed in his school clothes, despite the journey only starting a small while ago; his top shirt button was untied, his tie loosened and his shirt sleeves were rolled up. He reached his left hand up and shoved it into his hair, leaving it there for a moment, before dropping his arm again, his concentration focused on the window outside.

After James apologised for his part in the fight between him, Snape and Lily after the DADA O.W.L. exam, she and James had remained on slightly better terms, and she had been hoping that they could get on a bit better this year, but he was already after getting into a fight with Snape and Avery before they had even arrived at the school. Lily shook her head, thinking.

When they pulled into the station, Lily allowed them to go back to the carriages to get their trunks, telling them to meet her at the last thestral carriage so she could keep an eye of them. James made his way down the Hogwarts Express, telling Remus and Peter he'd see them later, before making his way down the train corridor with Sirius in tow; that way they could make it down to the last thestral carriage without having to fight through the crowd on the station platform.

He stepped of the train, eyes on his trunk to make sure it didn't hit off anything. He looked up and stopped short. "Can you see them too?" Sirius asked from next to him.

"Diagon Alley," James said after a second. "17 dead."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Sirius and James knew how he felt. He had learned about thestrals in Fifth Year during Care of Magical Creatures, but he had never seen them until now.

"Are you two going to just stand there?" Lily called, standing next to their carriage, Snape and Avery already inside. James and Sirius began walking towards the carriage, but James stopped to give the thestral an awkward pat.

"You can see them?" Lily asked, Sirius already having climbed in.

"Yeah," James replied, his voice slightly hoarse. "Can you?" Lily shook her head and regarded him with a pity of sorts, so he climbed into the carriage. It was kind of squished, with James pressed between Sirius and Lily, but the ride was over soon.

When the arrived at the castle Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor house pulled the five of them aside. "Why did I get an owl from Miss Evans informing me that you four had gotten into a fight on board the Hogwarts Express?" she asked, Scottish accent stern. None of the four boys answered her, so she sighed angrily and told them to follow her. In her office, she sat at her desk, the five standing opposite her. "Please tell me what happened Miss Evans."

"I'm not really sure," Lily admitted. "A Fourth Year Hufflepuff found me and told me that the four boys were fighting in the corridor. I followed her, and found Potter on the floor, and all of their wands drawn. I made them sit with me in a carriage up front for the rest of the journey, and we all travelled in the same Thestral carriage to the castle."

"Thank you Miss Evans. 20 points to Gryffindor for how you handled the incident. You may go."

"Thanks Professor," Lily replied quietly, before leaving.

"What was the student's name, the Hufflepuff?" McGonagall asked the four remaining students.

"I'm not sure Professor. I never asked her name," James replied.

McGonagall stared at him quizzically. "Did you ask her to get Miss Evans?" she asked after a second.

"Yes Professor."

"And why did you do that?"

"I was hoping to stop the fight," James replied honestly.

McGonagall leaned back in her seat and stared at him again, frowning. She looked at the other three boys, before her eyes landed back on James. "Miss Evans said you were on the floor?"

"I fell," James answered, hand reaching up to card through his hair.

"You fell?" McGonagall asked, eyebrows raising up towards her hairline.

"I- er- cast a Shield Charm and the force of it knocked me over," James admitted.

"Someone tell me what happened," McGonagall said, rubbing hand over her eyes. "Mister Black?"

"Snape and Avery came into our carriage," Sirius began, "said some stuff about my family."

"What did they say about your family?"

"Snape said that they'd heard I'd been kicked out," Sirius responded, raising his head in defiance, as if daring her to comment. McGonagall's face remained impasive, but her eyes showed her surprise. "They said it was about time. I got mad and told them to shut up. Remus tried to stop me, and then Avery said 'listen to your pet'. So I got even madder."

McGonagall turned to the two Slytherin students, one eyebrow raised. "Is this true?" she asked them.

"Not at all Professor," Snape said smoothly.

McGonagall turned back to Sirius, who looked even more angry. James beside him was frowning in disbelief. "Carry on Mister Black. I'll ask you two your side in a minute," she said to Avery and Snape when they went to interject.

"I dared him to repeat it, and when he did, I punched him." McGonagall studied the blood below Avery's nose, before nodding at Sirius to continue his story. "The three of us were out in the corridor now-"

"The three of you?" McGonagall asked sharply.

"James was still sitting in our carriage, but he got up and came out to the corridor. He asked us not to start fighting, as we hadn't even gotten to the school yet. Told us to calm down." McGonagall studied James again, which left him fidgeting. "Then Avery went to cast a spell, so James put up a Shield Charm. That's when he was knocked to the ground."

"What spell did Mister Avery cast?"

"Crucio, Professor," Sirius replied, looking the teacher in the eye.

She didn't flinch, but it was clear that this revelation shocked her. "Is this true, Mister Avery?"

"I promise you, it's not," Avery answered.

"Potter, Avery, your wands please?" McGonagall asked, holding her hands out. James handed his over without hesitation; Avery was not as willing. She performed 'Prior Incantatem' on both of the wands and found Sirius's story to be true. "Snape, Avery. You are both in really big trouble, and we will talk tomorrow about punishment. 100 points from Slytherin each and tomorrow, you, Professor Slughorn, Professor Dumbledore and I are going to be having a serious conversation about your future here at this school Avery. You are both dismissed. Your wand is confiscated until tomorrow Avery."

When the two boys had left the room, McGonagall turned to the two remaining. "Black. You too will be punished accordingly, and I am forced to take a 100 points off of Gryffindor for your behaviour. That means that our house is starting off the term with negative points. Understand that I am not happy about that, and that you better start behaving yourself. You are also dismissed."

Sirius swiftly left her office, leaving James and McGonagall behind. "James, you may take a seat." she paused, studying him once again. "Have a biscuit Potter," was all she said, pushing the box towards him. He quietly took a custard cream and chewed it slowly. "Is what Black said true?" she asked.

James nodded. "As far as I'm aware anyway."

"What you did was right. So for that, I'm awarding you 50 points."

"Thank you Professor."

"How did your Shield Charm stop the Crucio Curse?"

"I'm not sure," James admitted. "It was probably a weak curse."

"Or a strong shield," she noted. There was a pause. "How is your leg?"

"It wasn't that good today, 'cause I wasn't using my cane. It's after getting worse because I fell."

Her face softened. "Tell me if you need anything."

"Thank you Professor."

"You're free to go," she told him. He silently pulled himself out of the chair, relying heavily on the harm of the chair to do so. His face scrunched in pain, while Professor McGonagall watched on sadly.