Chapter 6 – The Perfect Prank
For the next few days, Bridget Bernstein did not impose as a direct threat to Lily. Sure she gave Lily nasty looks in class sometimes, but Lily learned to ignore them after a while…though she couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable every time she walked by Bridget either in the common room or the girl's dormitory.
"Would everybody quiet down please…there is something I wish to discuss with you." Professor Mcgonagall shouted from the front of the room, during Transfiguration class one afternoon. "And it will have a big impact on your grade in this class." All the Gryffindors quieted down immediately. "That's better. Now as you know we have been working very hard over the past four weeks learning how to use Transfiguration to turn a living creature into another living form. This is a skill that is certainly a step above being able to turn an immobile object, say a button, into a small creature like a lizard or a beetle, like you have been doing in my class for the past five years. All of you have shown me a tremendous amount of progress, but you're sixth years now, and I say it's time we start practicing your Transfiguration skills on larger, more complex creatures, like rabbits, cats, and eventually foxes and ponies." The Gryffindors whispered excitedly among each other.
"It's about damn well time!" proclaimed James with a smile on his face. "We need a challenge in this class."
"Now I had a little chat with Professor Vain last night," continued Professor Mcgonagall. "Both of us agree that our experience will be more beneficial if shared with other students in your year. That's why for the next week the Slytherins will be joining us here for our daily Transfiguration lessons." The Gryffindors moaned disappointingly. "Oh come now…they can't be that bad! I mean, don't judge the Slytherins before you have even given them a chance. Remember they are our guests next week and your bitter attitudes are much uncalled for. I want you all to be on your BEST behavior. Is that clear?" Mcgonagall asked sternly. She was looking specifically at the table where James and Sirius sat.
"Yes, Professor," responded the Gryffindors in unison.
"Good, then we all have something to look forward to. Now let's get on with today's lecture. Everybody please get out yesterday's notes…"
"Not that bad…Not that bad…has Mcgonagall gone insane? These are the Slytherins we're talking about here," Sirius whined after class that day. The Gryffindors were all sitting around their common room worrying about the next day's lesson.
"Leave it to Potionsmistress Vain to ruin one of the best Transfiguration lessons were gonna get this year." James croaked bitterly. "And it's all because of the Slytherins."
Lily sighed. "I think you guys are just being pessimistic…"
"Oh…and how is that?" Sirius asked, sounding a bit annoyed with Lily.
"Well, it's just like Professor Mcgonagall said: we shouldn't judge the Slytherins before we've even given them a chance. Who knows? Maybe it will turn out to be a positive experience to practice our Transfiguration skills with them."
"But Lily, we have double period Potions with the Slytherins and they're horrible to us. What makes you think they'll act any better in Transfiguration?"
"Yes, tell us Mcgonagall Jr., how are you so sure everything is going to work out?" Sirius teased.
"I'm not sure, Sirius. I'm just trying to look at the bright side of things for a change. That's all."
Sirius opened his mouth to say what looked like another insult for Lily, but shut him self up when James flashed him a look that said 'Cool it Sirius!'
"I think Lily has a point," remarked Remus kindly. "I mean, no matter how much we dread it, tomorrow's Transfiguration lesson will come…and having a negative attitude won't any thing any easier on us. So let's make the best of the situation."
Lily smiled. "I couldn't have said it better myself."
"Thanks Lily, but I think what all of us need now is to get our minds off the subject all together. Anybody up for a game of Wizard's Chess?"
Lily lay in bed that evening listening to Wendy and Becky talk about all the reasons why they hated Potionsmistress Professor Vain. She had to admit that she felt bad for James. He had been looking forward to their new Transfiguration unit for days. He seemed so disappointed tonight, which of course was understandable. Lily knew that it wasn't the fact that James disliked the Slytherins; it was the fact that Severus Snape was a Slytherin, and James despised him.
Severus was only a few inches shorter then James. He was thin and pale with beady black eyes, and shoulder length greasy looking black hair. He and James had been rivals since their first year. Severus seemed to hold a personal bitter grudge against James. Lily figured he was just jealous of James' talent on the Quidditch field. One thing was certain though: Severus was always doing everything in his power to humiliate James.
Like Lily, Severus would often spend a lot of his free time in the library studying complicated, advanced potions. Lily had talked to him a few times, but for the most part, she tried to avoid him because every time her spotted her he would stare. He stared at her like a dog would stare at a juicy steak, and it downright gave Lily the creeps. Though if you think about it, Severus was kind of a creepy kid to begin with. Lily yawned and drew the curtains of her four poster closed (though it didn't exactly help to block out Wendy and Becky's voices). She was worrying herself way too much about this. The only thing left she could do now was to pray that tomorrow's Transfiguration lesson would take a turn for the better.
The Gryffindors were quieter than usual the next morning at breakfast. After they ate their fills (or at least the ones who bother to eat anything at all that morning), they slowly made their way down to Transfiguration class. By now the Slytherins had already arrived, and sat there quietly wearing malicious-looking smirks on their faces.
"Good, my Gryffindors are here. Take a seat everyone and quickly please," remarked Professor Mcgonagall cheerfully. "The sooner we jump into today's lesson the better. Everybody settled? Okay, let me take the opportunity to welcome you to the most important Transfiguration lesson of your Wizarding careers. For the past five years I have watched you all master a variety of skills on this class. But today we move on to the next level. Believe it or not, it takes very advanced magic to turn a living organism, say a human, into another living organism. There are responsibilities and consequences involved, which, as you know is why the ministry of magic has to keep tabs on the witches and wizards who have the ability to become animagi. Being one myself, I know that transforming yourself into an animal can become an ugly situation if you don't know what you are doing. Today we will be starting out small; figuring out how to turn a rabbit into a raccoon. Now Professor Vain will be pairing you off into groups of four. Remember group teamwork is the key to your success, being that you are all new to this type of Transfiguration."
"That's what you think," whispered James under his breath.
"The first group," hissed Professor Vain "will be Snape…Evans…Black…and who else? Why yes…Potter."
"Stella," interrupted Professor Mcgonagall. "Are you sure it's wise to put Black and Potter in the same group? I think your mistaking…"
"I KNOW what I'm doing Minevra, but thank you for your input!" snapped Professor Vain. "Now as I was saying, you four are our first group. You may station yourselves at the back table. We will be passing out the necessary materials shortly. Now the second group…"
Lily, James, Sirius, and Severus met at the back table. By the expression upon James face Lily could tell he was trying hard to keep his cool. (He probably wished he could walk up to Severus and punch him in the face.)
When Severus spotted James, he grinned mischievously. "Well…Well…Well…If it isn't the great James Potter himself. What a pleasant surprise."
"The pleasure's all mine, Snape," replied James through gritted teeth.
"So I hear you have a tutor now. I guess you're not as perfect as we thought."
"I guess not."
I guess you need to go fuck yourself, Snape!" Sirius muttered loudly.
"Shut it, Black!" Severus spat angrily. "Nobody asked for your input!"
"Hey look!" declared Lily who was trying very hard to change the subject of conversation. "Professor Mcgonagall is passing out the live rabbits we're going to be using today. Aww…aren't they cute?"
"They're disgusting!" Severus muttered under his breath.
"Okay," exclaimed Lily cheerfully. "So how do you boys suggest we go about doing this?"
Severus yawned. "I don't know. Why don't you ask your boyfriend? He's the Transfiguration expert."
"Oh." Lily blushed. "James and I aren't…"
"What's your problem, Snape?" roared James angrily.
"Yeah," Sirius added. "Just because you can't get a girl to come with in three feet of you, doesn't mean you need to take your frustrations out on James."
Severus' eyes narrowed in fury. "I can get a girl any time I want."
Both James and Sirius burst out laughing. "Sure you could," chuckled Sirius. "If you'd bother to take a shower every once in a while." James and Sirius continued to laugh loudly.
"I'm warning you, Black. You better learn to shut your big fat mouth or…"
Sirius stopped laughing. "Or what?"
"And how are we doing over here…group one?" interrupted Professor Mcgonagall, and just in time, too.
"Fine professor!" Lily remarked trying to sound cheerful
"Have you come up with any ideas on how to successfully transfigure your rabbit?"
"Yes…we have some sort of plan…" Lily lied.
"Good. Here's your rabbit." Professor Mcgonagall placed a cage containing a small, white rabbit on their table. "I'll leave you to your methods now. Keep in mind that this assignment is worth 75 points. That's a healthy percentage of your final grade. Good luck."
'75 points…Yikes!' thought Lily. 'We're never going to pull this off if those three don't stop bickering.'
"You know, Lillian…" Severus gave her that hungry look which she couldn't stand. can't bring myself to understand why you hang around these two goof-ups. They aren't your type of guys." He inched closer to Lily. She gulped nervously. "You're too smart for them, too kind, too naive. What you need is a man who can take care of you." He reached out and touched Lily's face. Lily backed away from him. "I'm fine Severus…b…but thanks for your concern."
"You heard her, Snape!" James croaked bitterly. "Now step away from the lady!"
"Fine! If that the way it's going to be, then so be it. But I can't pretend that I'm not disappointed in you, Lillian. All those years I thought you were different…I thought you were special…but alas, your just another one of James Potter's WHORES!"
"THAT'S IT, SNAPE! You've gone too far this time! How dare you talk to Lily like that! Who the hell do you think you are?" Severus looked very pleased with himself for finally managing to piss off James. "Is it a fight you're looking for, you greasy git? Because I can kick your ass!"
"Shall we make it a duel then?"
"Name the place and time…and I'm there."
Severus glanced around to make sure no other tables were listing in on their conversation…if that's what you want to call it. "Alright. Tonight at midnight. Meet me in the upper west corridor…that area is usually deserted at the time."
"You're on."
"I'll second you James!" Sirius added with a hint of excitement
"NO Sirius…you don't need to get involved! This is between me and Snape."
James removed the tiny white rabbit from its cage. Severus took several steps back. The expression on his face looked like a mixture of fear and disgust.
"Put that thing back in that cage!"
"Why?"
"Because…it shouldn't be out!"
"What's wrong, Severus?" Sirius teased. "Is Snapey-wapey afraid of the little furry bunny-wunny?"
"Of course not! I just don't see a need to take it out of the cage…what if it runs away?"
"James!" Lily pulled James aside. "I think I have an idea." She whispered something into James ear. He smiled and nodded.
"Whispering sweet nothings into your lover's ear, Lillian? How touching…"
James flashed his most mischievous looking smile at Severus. He pointed his wand at the rabbit and muttered "Engorio!" All of the sudden the rabbit began to grow. First, it grew to the size of a buldger, and than a broomstick. It didn't stop growing until it was roughly the size of a bathtub. The other Slytherins and Gryffindors in the room gasped in shock. Severus looked like he just swallowed a dung bomb.
"Whoa…wha…what's going on?" He began to panic. Now the rabbit, or shall we say gigantic rabbit, must have found Severus' reaction amusing, because for some reason it hopped off the table and inched it's way towards to spot where he stood frozen in fear. "G…G…Get that disgusting creature away from me!"
"I knew it!" Lily shouted. "You are afraid of rabbits."
"Watch out, Snape!" James remarked trying hard to hold back a laugh. "If you're not careful, the mean, scary bunny might eat you for dinner tonight."
Severus let out a loud high-pitched scream and dashed out of the room. The students broke out into laughter.
"Alright settle down everyone…SETTLE DOWN I SAID!" Professor Mcgonagall shouted furiously. The room silenced immediately. She pointed her wand at the giant rabbit, and it once again shrank back down to its normal size. She stormed over to the table where Lily, James, and Sirius stood. "POTTER! BLACK! Which one of you boys is responsible for this mess? I expect you to confess immediately." For a moment, both James and Sirius were silent.
James gulped nervously. "Professor Mcgonagall…I…"
"I did it professor!" Lily shouted over James' voice. "It's my fault. I cast an enlarging spell on the rabbit to scare Severus away." James jaw dropped. Sirius looked like he was about to fall over with shock. Gasps could be heard coming from several students in the room.
"Miss Evans?" Professor Mcgonagall's face seemed to drain of color. "Well this is quite an unexpected surprise…Did you act alone of did one of these fine gentleman assist you?"
"I acted alone. James and Sirius had nothing to do with it."
"I…can't believe my ears Miss Evans. Why? This is so…unlike you."
"I'm sorry professor. I don't know what got into me."
"Very well. I would like to speak with you after class. As for the rest of you, the show is over, so get back to work. Do you think this assignment is optional?"
James waited quietly outside of Mcgonagall's office after class that day. When Lily finally emerged, he approached her cautiously.
"I knew you'd be waiting here," she smiled.
"How did it go? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine. Professor Mcgonagall is extremely disappointed in me, though. She gave me a detention. That's about all."
"A detention!" James chuckled. "Aw…that's nothing, trust me."
"Well, I'm not exactly proud of it, but I guess it could have been a lot worse."
"You know, Lily . . ." James stopped walking and looked at her with glossy eyes. "You didn't have to take that blame like that for me. I could have handled…"
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to get into any more trouble James," interrupted Lily. "In case you haven't noticed, Professor Mcgonagall has been kind of fed up with you lately. Now I, on the other hand, have never broken a rule before. Therefore, it's much easier for me to take a punch."
"That so nice of you to consider me like that."
"Yeah…well I don't want to see you get kicked off the Quidditch team. I know how much you love to play. Anyway, without you, Gryffindor's chances of winning the Quidditch cup this year are slim to none."
"Thanks Lily." James pulled her close and hugged her tightly. Lily closed her eyes and basked in his warm embrace. She couldn't help but to feel disappointed when he finally let go.
"Hey that's what friends are for, right?"
"Right." James smiled. "So you've never gotten in trouble before today…not even in Potions? I thought all Gryffindors get in trouble with Professor Vain at some point."
"Well you know what they say: there's a first time for everything." Lily took a deep breath. "Actually while were on the subject, I sort of have a favor to ask of you"
"Just call it out and you've got it! I think it's fair to say I owe you one after today."
"Well, about the duel…you know the one you set up with Severus…"
"Yeah, that stupid git is gonna pay in more than one way tonight!"
"Um…that what's I wanted to talk to you about." But before Lily could say another word, they had reached the Gryffindor dormitory.
"Password?" asked the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Cucucachu!" The portrait swung open. James and Lily climbed through the porthole, and were greeted by Sirius and Remus on the other side.
"So you made it back alive." Sirius looked at Lily with admiration. "That was a very noble thing for you to do, Evans, taking the blame like that for James."
"You could put it that way I guess." Lily blushed. She knew that coming from Sirius Black that was a major compliment.
"What did Mcgonagall do to you back in there?" asked Remus, full of curiosity. "You were taking such a long time to get back…we were getting worried."
"She got a detention!" James answered proudly.
"It's nothing to brag about, James," Lily asserted.
"Yes it is. Your first detention is always a memorable event."
Sirius gave Lily a look of astonishment. "Your first detention…no kidding. That is a real accomplishment." Sirius grabbed a chair from a nearby table and stood on it. "ATTENTION EVERYONE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. The students in the common room quieted down immediately and turned their heads towards Sirius. Sirius cleared his throat. "Ladies and Gentleman, today is a day that will live in infamy, for Lillian Evans just received her first detention in her history here at Hogwarts."
"Sirius…what are you doing? Get down from there!" But it was too late. Everyone in the common room was clapping and cheering. Lily was sure by now that her face was glowing red. "Come on, it's not that big of a deal…though that stupid prick Snape got what was coming to him."
"That's the spirit, Lily!" James remarked unable to hide the excitement in his voice. "Your idea was so simple, yet so genus. Why couldn't I think of it?" Lily continued to blush. James handed her a glass of pumpkin soda. "Today we managed to pull of the perfect prank, and it's all because of you." He raised his glass. "To Lily Evans." Sirius and Remus also raised their glasses into the air.
'Well,' Lily thought. 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.' Then she slowly raised her glass, too. Sure, she had broken a few rules today and caused her teachers who expect so much from her to feel disappointed. Sure, she had received her first detention. Technically, she should feel miserable with guilt…right? But for some strange reason when Lily retired to bed that night her heart felt lighter than she could remember it feeling in a long time. She lay awake for a while replaying the day's events in her head…when suddenly she remembered. The duel! 'Oh no,' she thought 'I have to stop James before it's too late!'
James took a deep breath and stuck his head out of the window, letting the cool autumn air blow against his face and ruffle his already messy black hair. He pulled a small silver pocket watch out of his robes. 11:45 PM. Soon he would be meeting Snape in the west-corridor. Soon he would finally be given the change to settle things once and for all. Then maybe Snape will think twice before he tries to harass one of James' friends again. He slowly closed the window and walked towards his four-poster. He was careful not to make any noise because Remus and Sirius were fast asleep in their beds, and he thought it best not to wake them. He opened his trunk and pulled out a long silvery garment. It was his father's invisibility cloak, one that had been passed down through his family for years. James took a moment to admire the cloak's fabric. It was silky smooth and felt as light as water. This was certainly his most treasured material possession and he hoped to someday pass it along to his own son. That is, if he'd have one. He folded the cloak neatly and made his way out of the boy's dormitory. The common room looked empty so he quickly dashed down the stairs.
"And where might you be off to at such a late hour?" he heard someone say.
James jumped backwards in shock and surely enough bumped right into Lily. "Ouch!" she yelled. "You stepped on my…"
"Shhhh!" James placed his hand over Lily's mouth to keep her from making too much of a racket. "Lily what are you doing here?" he whispered.
"Funny, I was going to ask you the same question."
"I um…. hey, I asked you first!"
"You're going off to duel Severus aren't you? I knew it! Oh James, why?"
"I have to Lily, after all that stuff he said about me…about you…our dignity is at stake here!"
"But you could get hurt."
"Well, that's a risk I'm willing to take." James started towards the porthole that led out of the Gryffindor common room.
"James, wait!" Lily grabbed on to his arm. "Take me with you."
"What? No!"
"James please…you owe me a favor remember?"
"Yeah I know…I didn't mean…not this kind of…okay, fine you can come but only under one condition."
"What's that?"
"If Snape shows up tonight you must stay hidden under my invisibility cloak. I can't let him know you're with me."
Lily's eyes grew wide with excitement "You have and invisibility cloak? How? They're so rare."
"My father gave it to me for my 11th birthday, right before I came to Hogwarts."
"That's so cool! Can I see?" James held out his silvery cloak. Lily took the fabric into the palm of her hand. "It feels like water."
"It's as light as air," responded James proudly. "Now stay close, and watch your step. This cloak may make you invisible but it won't stop you from being solid." Lily nodded. "We need to be careful around any teachers in the corridors who are keeping watch tonight. Remember if they don't see or hear us, we're not there. Okay let's go."
Lily held on tightly to James' arm as they left the common room. They passed several teachers as they strolled through the corridors, and more than once Lily almost let out a holler…but of course, she eventually remembered that she was invisible. They soon arrived at the west-corridor and to Lily's relief, Severus was not present.
James climbed out from under the cloak. "Okay, it's midnight. Where is that poor excuse for a coward?"
"Maybe he's not coming," whispered Lily with a hint of hope in her voice. Footsteps were heard in the distance growing closer.
"Here that? I think he's coming. Now Lily, remember to stay under the cloak. I don't want him to know that…"
"Talking to your imaginary friend, Potter?" Sure enough, it was Snape and he was looking as devious as ever.
"So you decided to show up after all. For a second there I thought that you were going to chicken out on me."
"In your dreams!" Severus pulled out his wand. "Shall we proceed?"
"Ladies first."
A frown full of loathing spread across Severus' face. "You think you're so funny, don't you, Potter? You expect everybody to bend over to kiss your ass."
"Ick! I sure hope that wasn't on your agenda tonight."
"It wasn't! I won't stoop to that level, because I can see right through you and your tricks…your games."
"I don't know Snape! You seemed pretty frightened by my super-sized bunny today." James chuckled. "And when you let out that scream…I didn't know a guy's voice could go that high…or maybe you just haven't gone through puberty yet."
"That's it Potter, you're toast!" Snape pointed his wand at James. "Cursio Whilwindo!" A strong rush of air hit James, who had to hold on to a ledge to keep himself from blowing away.
"Crurisligo!" James shouted blocking his face from the remaining whirlwind. Severus' legs bound together and he fell over cursing. James laughed
"Oh so you think that's funny…I'll show you what's funny. Rictusempra!" Severus hit James with a tickle charm and all of the sudden he couldn't stop laughing.
"Fe…mus…Con…tendo!" he wheezed. A brown slime shot out of James' wand and hit Severus in the face.
"OH SHIT! It's…SHIT!" Severus whipped his face with his sleeve. His eyes burned with fury. "Your gonna pay for that one! Pannus Accido!" James' pants fell down revealing his bright purple boxers. "Purple?" Severus laughed. Under the cloak, Lily blushed and covered her eyes.
"What the fuck!" James quickly pulled his pants up, his face reddening with anger and embarrassment. "Nostro Dansaugeo!" Severus' nose began to swell to the size of a balloon. "As if yours isn't already large enough, Snape," laughed James.
"You bastard!" Severus tapped his nose with his wand and it returned to its normal size (which was already larger than most people). "Vereficus Nebulosus!" A pea green fog shot of his wand. James began to cough and choke, frantically. Then with in seconds he collapsed and lay there unconscious on the floor.
"Well Potter, I guess you lost this time." Severus sneered. Lily couldn't take it anymore; she threw the invisibility cloak off, and ran over to where James lay. "James, James! Oh please say you're alright."
"He's not." Severus crackled. "The charm which I just cast upon him is a poisonous fog. Unfortunately he's still alive but if we're lucky he'll be out cold for a while."
Lily put her head on James's chest. His heart was still beating. She let out a sigh of relief. Then looked up at Severus who had a sickeningly joyful smile on his face. "You're glad you did this aren't you? How could you Severus?"
"I believe the question Lillian is how could you…fall for him?"
"What?"
"Oh, don't pretend that you have no clue what I'm talking about. Do you think that I'm blind? That I can't see you…see the way you look at him…the way you quiver every time he touches you…the way you blush every time he addresses you?"
"Severus, for the last time, James and I are only friends."
"That's a bloody lie, Evans and you know it!" Severus' face turned red with fury. "Why can't you see what you're getting yourself into? Potter doesn't love you. To him you're just another girl he can string around until you're all used up. Then he'll move on to the next."
"That's not true, Severus!" Lily felt tears forming in her eyes. All those years she had known Severus, he was always so nice, so peaceful. How could he say such horrible things about James, especially after attempting to poison him? "You don't even know James!"
Severus laughed. "I know Potter well enough." He kicked James' lifeless body.
"STOP IT!" Lily felt a single tear roll down her cheek. "Just leave him alone, Snape!"
Severus gave Lily a look of disappointment. "It's pitiful to see you wasting your time on…this." He shook his head. "Potter has you wrapped around his finger and you don't even know it. You're a bright girl, Evans. I thought you would see right through him. But now I see just how blind you really are." He sighed sadly, placing his wand in his pocket. "You could have had me, Lillian. I would know how to treat you…I could have made you happy. But there's no point in crying over spilt milk…you've obviously already made your decision. So I guess brains aren't everything, after all."
"You're sick Snape!" Lily shouted. Hot tears were pouring down her cheeks. She could no longer contain the anger that had been building up inside of her.
James agreed to duel Severus with the soul propose of defending her dignity (after that horrible name he called her in class earlier that day). It was now time for her to return the favor. "Expelliarmus!" At that moment, a flash of bright light hit Severus. He flew backwards hitting the wall with a loud THUMP, and slid down onto the floor unconscious.
'OH MY GOD,' thought Lily 'What have I done?' James moaned softly in pain. He was waking up. Lily rushed over and knelt beside him.
"Lily," he whispered, "What happened? Where's Snape?" Lily pointed to the spot, which Severus now lay motionless on the floor. "Wow! Did I do that?"
"No, I did," responded Lily gloomily
"Cool!"
"No, it's not cool! I didn't want to hurt him…I mean I did…but not really. I mean I wanted him to pay for trying to poison you…but I didn't want to hit him that hard. Oh, James…I'm a terrible person."
"No you aren't Lily. You're a hero…well at least in my eyes you are." Lily blushed. From down the corridor she heard footsteps steadily growing closer.
And then came groundskeeper Filch's voice. "Who's there? Peeves, is that you? You'll be in big trouble when I report all the noise you're been making tonight."
"Oh no, it's Filch. If we get caught we'll both be expelled." Lily began to panic.
"Grab the cloak, Lily…good, now get down quickly." James pulled Lily down and she landed on top of him. "Are we covered…?"
"Yes."
"Okay…keep quiet."
Of course…what are else could she do in such an awkward position?
Filch entered the room and walked to the spot where Severus laid. "He's out cold. What do you think Mrs. Norris, is this the work of a student?" he asked his cat. Mrs. Norris was not paying attention to Severus. She was staring dead ahead at Lily and James. Lily wondered if invisibility cloaks had an effect on cats.
"Well," muttered Filch, examining Snape's lifeless body. "He's a Slytherin, that's for sure. Come Mrs. Norris, we will report to Professor Vain immediately." Than Filch and his cat exited dragging Snape behind them.
"Phew, that was a close one!" James whispered.
"Yeah…" Lily realized that she was still on top of him. She pulled away. "Sorry." She blushed.
"Don't worry about it." James face was also turning pink. Lily helped him up, since he was still weak from Severus' last blow. "So what exactly happened tonight?"
"Come on. Let's go back to the common room, I'll explain everything there." And then without looking back Lily threw James' cloak over them as they their way out of the west-corridor.
Author's Note: Hi, Everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading chapter six. To those of you who check for updates religiously, I apologize about the delay. Things have been kind of hectic lately, not only at work, but also at school. Can you believe that I have 10 days of school left and 1 project, 3 tests, 2 essays, and an oral report to complete? It's insane! Plus there's prom coming up, which takes plenty of energy to plan, in itself. Nonetheless I will continue to write this fanfic, as well as another short L/J fic I'm working on in honors of Mother's and Father's Days. Please continue to check for updates (I will be reaching the climax of my plot within the next two chapters-that's right Lily and James WILL finally be hooking-up). My writing process will be a little bit slow for the next two weeks, but once I'm out of school- constant updates will not be a problem anymore.
The duel scene between James Potter and Severus Snape that you have just read is one of the best I have ever written (I'm rather proud of it). The spells used are ones which I took from various Harry Potter books as well as a Latin-English dictionary.
Here is a list that I have composed of Latin words that influenced the spells cast in this scene.
Latin – English
incursio : clash, collision / attack, raid, foray, invasion.
crur, cruris : leg, shank, shin, also foot.
ligo : to bind, tie.
fimus : dung, dirt, filth, manure.
contendo : to assert, maintain /shoot (a missile), cast
pannus : swaddling clothes.
accido : to fall down /to happen, occur / to hack, hew /to ruin.
veneficus : poisonous, magical /witch, wizard, caster of spells.
nebulosus : misty, foggy.
I would like to take so time to thank all the wonderful people who have sent me recent reviews. There's so many…You don't know how happy you've made me. And for about a month I was reluctant to post my fanfic, because I thought people would hate it. Sometimes I'm a little too modest (just ask my boyfriend, Ben).
Thank you soooooooooooooo much, Eleana 23. Your review meant a lot to me. My fanfics are usually sweet, fluffy, and kind chick-flickish (I'm such a girly-girl). I try to keep the character's personalities realistic. The secret is to put yourself in the character's shoes. Believe it or not, Lily's character in this story is a lot like me…and I didn't create her intentionally that way, either.
Thank you, Lily Potter for the second review. Not only does James like poetry – he writes it too. I thought it was a good idea, because I am a huge fan of love poetry myself (I write some poetry, but I don't think I could ever find the courage to share it).
To Filicity Aulia Evans and bookworm, I'm really glad you like my story. I aim to please. I appreciate your reviews. And Filicity…Maria Maria is a wonderful story, I love it!
Sierra Mist, wow a fourth review...I'm flattered. You are my most loyal reader and for that I thank you with all my heart. Flirting With The Enemy is one of my favorite stories on ff.net! Please keep writing soon!
Thanks Kat097 for the love potion suggestion. I have to be honest though, I'm not exactly sure what Candy Floss is.
A special thanks goes out to Lily Evans Potter and PatiPati22. I WILL keep writing, and updating regularly as my school-life winds down. Don't worry, I'll be sure to email you and let you know what's going on.
And I can't forget my new friend Jair. Actually, Jair L/J are quiet popular. It's easy to write about dead characters; there lots of room to be creative. Thanks for the review. You're the greatest! FYI Jair write some of the most beautiful fanfics I have ever seen, possibly the best on the net. My personal favorite is If It's Meant To Be. Be sure to check it out ^_^
And last but not least, Phoebe you receive the review of the week award. Do you really think I have something good here? (Blushes) Wow…what should I say? I'm glad you like my descriptions, and flattered that you think I'm creative (because there so many other L/J fics on ff.net with the same plot as mine). You review really made my day. Thank you.
Well I think that's about all for now…did I forget anyone…I hope not. I will post Chapter 7 (Padfoot's Plan) sometime on the next few weeks, so check back soon. Thanks again for the reviews. I love you all!
-Marissa-