WARNING! This story is rated 'R.' It starts off a little innocently, but involves more serious themes later on. This is not for the faint of heart! Well, maybe I won't go that far...but it isn't exactly fluffy ^_^ You have been warned! :) Now that I've got that part out of the way, on with the story! :) More important author's notes at the end.
Star-Crossed
Part 1: Innocent Beginnings
"So foul and fair a day I have not seen."
~ Macbeth
Severus Snape strode down the narrow isle way of the Hogwarts Express in search of an empty compartment. He was about to start his seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and he wanted to get some studying in before he got there. However, that possibility didn't seem likely.
"Snape. In here."
Snape whirled around to meet Lucius Malfoy's cold eyes. He was leaning against the doorframe of a compartment. Crabbe and Goyle, two other Slytherins, were sitting inside. There was no getting out of it now. He was trapped. Silently, he stepped past Lucius and took a seat. Lucius closed the door tightly before he took the empty seat between Crabbe and Goyle, directly across from Snape. He gave them all a superior look before speaking.
"I'm sure you all know what's going on in the world these days," he paused for a moment, as if expecting a question. When he received none, he continued. "Well, the Daily Prophet is too afraid to say it, but The Dark Lord is gaining power. I talked with my father over the summer. Voldemort is looking for supporters. My father advised me to talk to those I trust about joining The Dark Side." Lucius' face took on a look of cruel pleasure. "I've already done a few things over the summer. Father says I'll make a very good Death Eater. Once we join the Dark Lord, we'll have power beyond anything we've ever dreamed of! No more filthy mudbloods in our school anymore. The pure bloods are ready to take back what's theirs."
Suddenly, the compartment door opened. A blond girl stood in the doorway. Snape recognized her as Eileen Greyson, a fellow seventh-year Slytherin who he didn't know very well.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked coldly.
"This compartment's full," Lucius spat.
Eileen glanced at the two empty seats next to Snape before giving Lucius an icy glare that could rival his own. Without another word, she turned and slammed the door shut so hard it bounced back open. Lucius stood up to fix it.
"We have to keep this quiet. I don't want her snooping around," he said venomously as he sat back down. "Someone will talk to those considered worthy of becoming a Death Eater later on in the year. Until then, tell only who you must."
Crabbe and Goyle nodded, and Snape found himself nodding along with them as he reached for his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. He really needed to get some studying in.
***
Peter Pettigrew was walking down the isle way of the Hogwarts Express when a blond girl came storming out of a compartment near him. She smacked into him, causing him to nearly fall over as she made her hasty retreat. However, she barely stopped to right herself before continuing on down the isle furiously without so much as an "Excuse me." How rude, Peter thought to himself. He glanced back at the compartment she'd emerged from just in time to glimpse Lucius Malfoy re-shutting the door, which she'd slammed hastily. Slytherins, he though with distaste before he hurried on, not wanting a confrontation with any of them. He didn't get very far before he heard his name being called.
"Peter!"
Peter turned around to see Lily Evans, a fellow seventh-year Gryffindor, striding towards him. Her arms were loaded up with sweets she'd undoubtedly just bought off the trolley. Peter was quite friendly with Lily. The two practiced Charms together because of their mutual love of the subject, and they also helped each other through brutal piles of Potions homework.
"Hello, Lily. Here, let me take some of those."
Lily gratefully handed him an armful of sweets, and the two began to walk off together.
"So," said Lily, "Where have you left the boys?"
"More like they've left me. I've no idea where they are."
"In that case, why don't you come sit with Kylie, Margo and I? Sirius will most likely come around at some point. He always does," Lily said with a laugh.
"Yeah," said Peter. "Bit of a Hogwarts tradition. Sirius always has to make his annual 'lady round' on the Hogwarts Express," he said with a smile. "Thanks for offering me a place to sit. It certainly beats wandering around aimlessly, knocking on every compartment door like a prat."
Before long they'd made it to the girls compartment. Kylie and Margo, Lily's two friends and dorm mates, were chatting away when they got there.
"Hey," said Lily, "look who I found on the way here."
"Hello, Peter," said Kylie in a friendly tone. "How was your summer?"
"Just great. Me, Remus, Sirius and James all spent most of it at James' house."
"Up to your usual hijinxs?" Lily asked in a slightly disapproving voice.
"I've no idea what you mean by that, Lily," said Peter in a mock-innocent voice.
"So," said Margo, "have you heard the news?"
"What news?" Peter asked. Lily groaned, knowing what was coming.
"Our Lily's been made Head Girl," said Margo, a mischievous grin on her face.
"That's great news, Lily!" said Peter. "James has been made Head Boy. We were all there when he got his letter. Teased him endlessly about it until we left."
"And what fun it was, too."
The compartments' passengers jumped about a foot in the air before turning to see Sirius Black standing in the doorway with a huge grin plastered on his face.
"Sirius!" Lily gasped. "Don't scare people like that!"
"Sorry, Miss Head Girl. Couldn't resist," he smirked. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I'm only looking for my better half. Come on, Peter. See you girls later."
With that, Sirius yanked Peter to his feet and pulled him out the door. Peter could just hear Lily tutting "Honestly!" before Sirius shut the door.
***
Eileen finally stopped her internal tirade after walking the length of two train cars. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. Even after a few moments, she still found it hard to control her fury. It was just like that Malfoy to treat her like she was below him. She'd heard a part of their conversation. How dare they consider her unworthy? She was one of the smartest students in the year, and they expected her to go and sit with the rest of the girls to talk about make-up and them. She couldn't wait to get Lucius alone and show him just how extensive her knowledge of curses was.
Pushing her anger aside, Eileen swung open the door of the compartment next to her where the majority of the seventh-year Slytherin girls were sitting.
"Eileen! There you are! Narcissa was just about to go looking for you," said Adelaide Pierce, a brunette to whom Eileen was somewhat close.
"We were beginning to think you couldn't find us," said another girl, Jasmine Burn.
"No. I just ran into Lucius," said Eileen evenly as she took a seat between Adelaide and Kendra Bartley.
Narcissa noticeably perked up at the mention of Lucius' name. The two had been betrothed from the age of two, and now that they'd gotten older, the attraction had begun to set in. Well, on Narcissa's part at least.
"How is he?" she asked.
"His usual charming self," Eileen spat.
Narcissa seemed to sense the sarcasm in Eileen's voice. Anger flickered in her eyes before she made her next comment.
"You know, Eileen, you should find yourself a suitable boyfriend before all the good ones are taken."
"I don't think I have to worry, Narcissa, seeing as the only engaged ones are pompous gits."
Narcissa was about to retort, but Kendra cut her off.
"Enough about that," she said. "How was your summer, Eileen? Do anything interesting?"
A few late nights with some Muggle boys came to mind, but she didn't want to share such intimate details with this lot.
"Not really," was the reply she settled on.
"I spent the summer at Lucius'," said Narcissa. "Something strange is definitely going on. He's been acting secretive all summer. One night, I got up really late to get a drink. The door to the drawing room was half open, and a group of men were in there, talking about something. I couldn't quite hear them, and all their backs were turned to me so I couldn't see any of their faces. Lucius was in there, though. That I know for certain. He knows things, but he won't tell me what. He says we'll all find out later on in the year. In the meantime, I think we should all brush up on our curses."
Adelaide stood up suddenly.
"I'm going to get some sweets," she announced. "Anyone want any?"
After everyone had either shaken their head or given their order, Adelaide bolted from the compartment.
"So," said Narcissa crisply, "who's up for Exploding Snap?"
***
James and Remus were well into a conversation about Quiddich when Sirius and Peter burst into the compartment.
"I finally found the little rat," said Sirius. "Chatting up the ladies, he was."
"Good for you, Peter," said James with a smirk.
"We were just talking. I'll leave the chatting-up to Sirius," said Peter.
"Good. That's the way I like it," said Sirius as he flopped down next to Remus. Peter took the seat next to James. "So, did you both miss me terribly?"
"Terribly," said Remus, rolling his eyes.
"Why, Remus, are you being sarcastic?" Sirius asked in a shocked voice.
"Of course not," said Remus in an obviously sarcastic tone.
"Look out, Pad,' said James. "I think your sarcasm has worn off on him."
"Hey," said Peter in an attempt to change the conversation, "we found out who the Head Girl is."
James and Remus stared at him keenly. The subject of who Head Girl was had been a highly debated topic among the Marauders all summer.
"Who is it?" asked James.
"Lily Evans."
"Told you it was her," said Remus.
"I was sure it would be that Ravenclaw, Patricia Jenkins," said James. "I'm actually rather glad it's Lily. She's much nicer."
"Ooohh," cooed Sirius, "has Prongsie got a crush?"
"Sirius, don't take things so seriously. Just because I said she was nice doesn't mean I fancy her."
"Don't be so defensive, Prongs. People will start thinking you do fancy her. I was only joking."
"How can I fancy her? I hardly know her outside of class!"
"I never said you fancied her," said Sirius.
"Actually," said Peter, "you did. That's how this whole thing got started."
"Keep out of it, Wormtail," said Sirius testily.
"Hey, don't get mad at me. I was only setting things straight."
"Right," said Remus. "This is getting ridiculous. Boys, please act your age."
"Sorry, Mum," said Sirius. Remus glared at him playfully.
"You know," said Peter thoughtfully, "I was just thinking this is the last time we're going to take the beginning of the year train ride to Hogwarts."
"Strange, isn't it?" said Remus.
"Well," said Sirius, "if it's our last year then we have to make the best of it, and prank like there's no tomorrow."
"I'll say," said James. "We've got to leave a legacy."
"We practically have already," Peter laughed. "I don't think anyone will forget McGonagall's purple hair."
"No," said James. "We need something good, something useful, something that will last forever."
"Let's worry about that later," said Sirius. "Right now, I want some sweets."
***
After much argument, James had been nominated to go get the sweets. He'd suggested they wait for the trolley to come by, but Sirius wouldn't hear it. James didn't mind, really. He'd wanted to get some air anyways, and this was a perfect opportunity.
James was on his way back, pockets loaded up with sweets, when he glimpsed a flash of red hair inside one of the compartments. Lily Evans was just visible through the half-open door of the compartment on his right. She was reading a book and appeared to be alone. James had never really socialized with Lily, but they were on good terms. He was about to keep going, but he decided to congratulate her on becoming Head Girl. He felt strangely nervous as he knocked on the door. She looked up from her reading, and smiled warmly at him.
"Hello, James," she said, "I heard you've been made Head Boy. Congratulations."
"Actually, I was just coming by to congratulate you on the same thing."
"Thanks," she replied. "Would you like to sit down for awhile? Kylie and Margo have run off on me to visit other people."
"Well, I was supposed to bring these sweets back to Sirius, Remus and Peter, but I guess they can wait for a bit longer. They forced me into this job," he laughed.
"That Sirius can be quite persuasive," said Lily as James took a seat.
"Tell me about it."
An awkward silence fell over them, and James began to wish he'd refused her offer.
"I suppose we'll be spending quite a lot of time together this year," said Lily in an attempt to force conversation.
"Most likely," said James. "But that's not such a bad thing."
Lily looked at him a little strangely and James began to blush as he realized how that must have sounded.
"Erm...What I mean to say is-"
"Hullo James. What are you doing in here?"
Margo and Kylie had just returned from their visits.
"Actually, I was just leaving. Nice talking to you, Lily. I'll see you all at Hogwarts."
With that, James stood up and bolted from the compartment. The girls stared at him strangely as he left. After he was a safe distance away, he stopped and leaned against the wall.
"Real smooth, Prongs," he said to himself. "I bet she thinks you're nutters now."
***
The rest of the train ride passed rather quickly for Snape. He was about a third of the way through his Defense Against the Dark Arts book when the train stopped. He, Crabbe, Goyle and Lucius made their way up the castle, along with the rest of the school, and found their seats at the Slytherin table. The Sorting Ceremony passed by agonizingly slow. Snape stared at a point on the wall for most of it, stopping to clap politely when the hat sorted another student into Slytherin. Finally, the hat sorted the last student (Zabini, Angus) into Slytherin. The food magically appeared before the students and everyone dug in greedily, Snape included. He was quite hungry after the long train ride.
Some time later, when everyone had eaten their fill, Dumbledore stood up to make his announcements.
"I'll ask for your attention while I make few announcements. As always, the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students, and the village of Hogsmeade is not to be visited by any students below the third year.
"This year, we've decided to try something different that I'm sure you'll all enjoy. As I'm sure most of you know already, each year Hogwarts has a Halloween feast. This year, we've decided to add something else. There will be a Halloween dance for all students in the fourth year and up, taking place after the feast. I'm sure many of you are aware of the Muggle tradition of dressing up in costume for Halloween. In honor of that, we've decided that costumes are mandatory for those wishing to attend the dance. We will give you more information on this event as the date approaches.
"I'm sure that you are all quite tired now, so I will dismiss you all to bed."
The Slytherin table seemed somewhat outraged at the thought of a Muggle tradition infiltrating Hogwarts. Many muttered about how they wouldn't be going to 'that ruddy dance' as they headed back to the common room. Snape, himself, didn't find the idea all that appealing. However, as he climbed into bed, he resigned himself to stay neutral on the event until he found out more about it. After all, he had more important things to worry about than dances. Tomorrow was the first day of classes, and he wanted to make the most out of this year.
To be continued...
Well, there it was. Part one of my Marauders story. I hope you all liked it. Feedback is appreciated greatly. It makes me want to write more. This fic is sort of my baby, and I hope it does well (translation: Gets lots of good reviews ^_~) Um...the quotation at the beginning is from Macbeth (obviously, I said so. ^_^ ) I think that it fits the first day of school rather well. I'm trying (key word there, trying) to put a quotation from Macbeth at the beginning of each chapter that will give a clue to events in the chapter. If you have any other quotes that you really like, leave them in a review, and if they fit an upcoming chapter, I'll stick em in here somewhere.
Okay, news for anyone reading my other two fics "Forever" and "Shadows of Yesterday." Well, part two of "Forever" is almost done. I just can't figure out how to do one part though. But, I'm really trying! I swear! As for "Shadows," an update might be a little longer, but it's coming. Eventually. ^_^
Well, that's it for now. I hope this fic comes along quicker than my other ones are. I'm sure it will though, because I love it very much and really, really, really want to finish it. Please leave me a review! And, if you would like to contact me, me email is missy_hallan@hotmail.com. I'll get back to you, I promise. Unless you're a flamer. I'm not quite sure how I'd deal with that...Oh well. Hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I've enjoyed writing it ^_^