~*~ Snape's Charade ~*~
~One clown ~Short of a circus ~Babe you ~Make me smile ~One clown ~Short of a circus ~I can tell its ~Worth the while
'Lily Evans! Rise and shine!' Hmmph. Bella was being far too cheerful for that hour of the morning in my eyes. Overly cheery people should be banned early in the morning, if you ask me. 'Go away,' I mumbled into my pillow. 'Fine. Don't come and see Snape lap dancing in the Great Hall...' she sulked. My eyes flew open. 'What? What time is it?' 'Seven forty-five. You have about ten minutes to have a shower and get dressed. Hop to it!'
Crawling reluctantly out of my warm bed, I took a look around. Bella was already dressed. Hilary was walking calmly around the room in her underwear and a white blouse, a towel wrapped around her hair and a facial mask on. Reilly was sitting on her bed in shorts and a t-shirt, undoing sneakers. Yep. Definitely the athletic type. Must have gone for a jog. Toni was nowhere to be seen.
'Where's Toni?' I asked, gathering my toiletries. 'Here.' Toni emerged from under her bed, looking very sleepy. Everyone stared at her. 'What? It's nice under there,' she shrugged. We all blinked and returned to what we were doing. 'That's why I couldn't find you,' Bella laughed to herself and she raked a comb through her shiny black hair. 'Oh, Lily. By the way, this is Kelsey. She came in late last night,' Hilary said over her shoulder while rummaging through her trunk. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the girl on the bed between Toni and Bella. She was wearing a pink t-shirt and some jeans, unbuttoned robes thrown over the top. Her hair was a golden brown, and her eyes were a grey-blue colour. 'Hi,' I smiled, grabbing a towel. 'Hi,' she grinned back as she brushed her hair. 'I'm off to the shower,' I sighed, shaking my head as I marched into the bathroom. 'Don't steal all of the hot water,' Reilly warned.
I opened the door to the bathroom. And nearly died of shock. There was a tiny, potato-ish looking thing with enormous, lamp-like eyes blinking up at me. 'Good morning, Miss Lily! Arla hopes Miss Lily slept well!' the creature squeaked. Arla. Hmm. Nice name. 'Er, hello... Arla.' The thing bowed. 'Arla is in Miss Lily's service. Arla is the house elf that looks after first year misses!' she said excitedly. 'Oh. I'm very pleased to meet you, Arla.' 'Oh, no! Arla is very pleased to meet you, Miss Lily!' I immediately noticed that Arla was tripping over the apron she was wearing, which was a bit on the large side. 'Here. Can I help you with that?' I asked, removing the apron. I folded it so it was halved, with the base flipped over the top to hold it in place. I then fastened it properly around her middle. Arla watched me with wide eyes and a toothy smile. 'Miss Lily is very kind to Arla!' 'It's nothing,' I smiled. 'Listen, I better go have a shower before I'm late for class. I'll see you around. It was nice meeting you, Arla.' 'A pleasure, Miss Lily! A pleasure!' Arla bowed and disappeared around the doorway.
I took a towel from the shelf and walked into the change stall, where I quickly got out of my nightclothes and went into the shower. It was a nice feeling to have the warm water running over me. I quickly washed my hair and got out, changing straight into jeans, a blouse and my robes over the top. I ran out of the bathroom. 'Ready to go?' I asked, stooping in the doorway to pull on my sneakers. Reilly grinned and shoved past me to the shower. I rolled my eyes mockingly. 'Gosh. Anyone would think I was the one that was taking so long!' I drawled. Bella and Hilary grinned, took one of my arms each and dragged me out of Gryffindor Tower and into the Great Hall.
A small zephyr of whispers greeted us when we walked in. There were only about fifteen people in the Hall, twelve of them Gryffindors. They had obviously been informed. James and co were nowhere in sight. Suddenly, guy appeared from behind us and tapped Hilary on the shoulder. She turned around, so Bella and I followed suit, arms still linked.
'Hilary Potter?' Hilary slowly and warily released my arm. 'Yes...' She drew out the word. 'I'm Chris,' the guy said, extending his hand. Hilary shook it reluctantly. 'Nice to meet you.' Seeing her discomfort, I jumped in. 'Hello, Chris. How are you today? My name's Lily, by the way. And this is Bella.' He looked blankly at me for a moment. 'You're the muggle-born...' he said slowly, looking slightly nauseated. 'What are you doing hanging around with riff-raff, Hilary?' he asked. I frowned. Hilary scowled. 'They are NOT riff-raff. I know who you are, Chris. Conveniently left out your last name. You're my dad's boss's son, aren't you? Christopher Kidrouk. I'll bet he organised this. Listen, I don't want to be set up. At least not with you. Because I'm not going with anyone my friends disagree with, or rather, anyone that disagrees with my friends. Good day, Kidrouk,' Hilary said coolly. Bella and I gaped as she stalked off to sit down at Gryffindor table. I smiled. You go girl, I mouthed at Bella.
Chris scowled for a moment, and was just about to leave when James pushed through Bella and I and shoved him up against a wall. Bella and I stared at him. 'Stay away from my sister and her friends,' he growled. 'Cool it, Potter. I was only introducing myself.' 'A harmless cause, I'm sure,' James said through gritted teeth. 'So you should be. And as for her friends, who'd want to lay a finger on those two anyway?' Chris sneered. Bella's eyes narrowed, but we were both still staring at James. 'Say it again?' James rumbled. 'I said, who'd want to lay a finger on those two, anyway?' James punched him squarely in those nose. Chris leered. 'Lay off, Potter. Everyone knows your father. And his rules,' he said quietly. James's eyes narrowed. He was positively seething. 'If you really want the best for your sister, you should keep a closer eye on who she hangs around with.' He looked right over at me, and my fists clenched at my sides as I glared back. 'Never know what your father might do if he found out that she's mixing with mudbloods.'
Smack. James had a mean punch, I can tell you that. 'Don't you dare call her a mudblood, or you'll have me to answer to. I think my sister has excellent judgement. After all, she knew to stay away from you,' he snarled, shoving Chris to the ground. 'Stay away from them, Kidrouk. If you so much as talk to them, you'll be hearing from me.' With that, James put one hand each on Bella and I's shoulders and steered us over to where Hilary was gawking at us. We both kept looking over our shoulders at Chris, who was sporting a blood nose. 'James, what did you do?' Hilary whispered. James scowled. 'He called Lily a mudblood... I lost it...' 'He called you a mudblood?' she asked disbelievingly. 'But James, you'll get in trouble!' 'What's new?' James grinned, sitting down and pouring himself a drink. Hilary sighed and shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. Bella and I exchanged glances before I looked back over at Chris.
'Stay away from him, Lily,' James said in a low tone, without looking up, making me jump. I looked at him, shocked. He raised his gaze to meet my eyes. 'He's trouble, Lily. And he's one of those people that like to make Hogwarts hell for muggle borns.' 'What year is he in?' I asked casually, taking a spoonful of cereal. 'Second. He's a Ravenclaw, but he's got the heart of a Slytherin. And I know him, Lily. He'll have it in for you.' 'Hmm,' I replied. 'So, um - when's this thing with Snape happening?' 'Very, very, soon.'
As if on cue, Sirius came bounding in. 'Goooooooood morning ladies!' he called. 'Goooooooood morning Sirius!' Bella giggled back. 'Good morning Sirius,' I added. Sirius stuck his head between me and Bella's and kissed us each on the cheek. 'And how are my favourite girls on this lovely morning?' he asked cheerfully. 'Lovely,' Bella and I laughed, meeting each other's gazes. 'And where's my good morning kiss, Mr Black?' Hilary demanded. Sirius grinned and rustled up her hair. 'Nah, James would murder me if I touched his little sis.' 'Damn right. Touch her and I break your face,' James nodded seriously, but the corners of his mouth were twitching.
'James, you'd be too busy ogling at a certain girl to notice,' Hilary said with a wink. 'Who?' James asked sharply. Hilary eyed him suspiciously. 'Tara, of course. Who else would I mean?' she asked slowly, giving him a weird look. 'Of course,' he muttered, returning to his breakfast.
'James!' hissed somebody. We all looked up to find Remus waving at us from the doorway. James grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Remus waited a few seconds before returning it and sneaking back out of the hall. 'Wait for it,' James murmured. 'Three... Two... One.'
Right on cue, Severus Snape walked into the Great Hall, idly chatting to Malfoy and two other Slytherins. Bella stared at him in shock for almost a full thirty seconds before she fell off her chair laughing. This set everyone else off. The hall roared with laughter. 'Oh - my - God!' Sirius howled.
Let me try to explain the scene that lay before me. Snape was wearing the burgundy underwear I mentioned earlier, with one small difference. They were no longer burgundy. They were hot pink. It also appeared to be, that, while everyone in the Hall was seeing him in pink lingerie, he seemed to think there was nothing odd whatsoever about his clothes. I was sure the boys had ingeniously worked this into their plan. Need I say more, he looked utterly hilarious.
'Snape...' Sirius managed, recovering. 'Is this the new fashion?' Snape glared at Sirius and looked down at his attire, which he suddenly seemed to not be quite right. 'Why you...' he snarled, cheeks reddening. Everyone was absolutely cracking up. Snape scowled. 'Fix it,' he hissed, just as McGonagall entered the Hall. 'Severus Snape!' she exclaimed. 'This is not amusing! Detention! Change into you school robes this instant!' 'But... but... they...' Snape spluttered, flabbergasted. 'Enough! You will change your clothes immediately!' We didn't notice Kidrouk and Malfoy follow him out.
By now everyone had quickly returned to their breakfast so as not to annoy McGonagall. But as soon as she had followed Snape out of the Hall, everyone started snickering all over again. James, Sirius and Remus hi-fived each other. 'Hey. Where's Peter?' I asked, suddenly noticing his absence. Sirius shrugged. 'Asleep.' 'Oh,' I said. 'He had nothing to do with it,' Remus explained.
'Mr Potter! Mr Black! Mr Lupin! Miss Evans! Miss Figg! Miss Potter! Come with me,' McGonagall called from the entrance, suddenly appearing again. Bella and I looked sharply at each other. What had us girls done? James, Sirius and Remus were all protesting loudly as they stood up as slowly and as noisily as possible. Hilary was frowning fiercely.
We all walked very slowly from our seats to the doorway. 'My office. Now,' she said, pointing in the mentioned direction. 'Do what she says. Don't complain; we'll do the talking,' James muttered under his breath. 'Just follow us.' Bella and Hilary and I did so uncertainly. We were in trouble on our first day - and we hadn't even had any lessons yet! The three boys seemed to know the way to McGonagall's office pretty well, I noted. I supposed they must have visited it a few times. They stopped outside a door, and so did we. McGonagall caught us up. 'In you go,' she prodded, so we all ambled in. First Sirius, then Remus, Hilary, Bella, James. I was last, apart from McGonagall. James stopped suddenly. 'Is there a problem, Mr Potter?' McGonagall asked. But James and Hilary was too busy glaring at someone. I followed their gaze and realised why. Chris Kidrouk. 'Nothing, Professor,' James said through gritted teeth, and we all shuffled right inside. McGonagall shut the door.
'Explain yourselves.' Everyone exchanged glances for a moment before James spoke up. 'I did it, Professor.' 'And so did I,' Sirius piped up. 'And so did I,' Remus added. 'Me too,' Hilary said. The boys all looked at her, but she just mouthed 'my underwear' at them. McGonagall nodded. 'Very well. And you two?' she asked Bella and I, staring sternly down her glasses at us. I opened my mouth to say something, but Bella got there first. 'I was involved too, Professor,' she said solemnly. Everyone gawked at her. James started to protest, but Bella shut him up with a glare. McGonagall fixed her beady eyes on me. 'And you, Miss Evans?'
Hmm. If I said I wasn't involved, it would look like I was lying because everyone else seemed to be in on it. But I would then still have a clean record for my first day and wouldn't be getting punished for something I never did. On the other hand, if I said yes, I would be lying. Yet if everyone else was sharing the blame, I felt like I should too. But once again, someone beat me to it. 'Lily wasn't involved, Professor,' James said. 'Is this true, Miss Evans?' I nodded. McGonagall looked over at Snape. 'This does not comply with your story, Mr Snape.' 'They were all involved, Professor. We overheard them discussing it, and saw them running off down the corridor before we came into the hall -' 'That's not true,' I said bluntly. Everyone looked at me. 'I mean, sorry, Professor, but that can't be right. We were in the hall before he came in. Ages before. Arguing with him,' I said, nodding at Kidrouk. 'Can you confirm this?' McGonagall asked him. 'I never spoke to any of them, Professor. The only time I've ever saw them this morning was when they were running down the hall, and Severus said...'
I bit my tongue to keep from exploding into my infamous redhead temper. He had fed McGonagall some story! 'Professor, we have owned up and accepted the consequences. Why should we have any reason to lie?' James asked slowly. 'I'm sorry, Professor. But I think James is right. These three must have lied, you must realise. I think they are more at fault than we are. Because they had no reason to lie. Therefore there is obviously some motive behind it. Whereas what we did was a harmless joke, and no one got hurt. They are trying to get fellow students in trouble based on non-existent evidence. Like James said, if we've owned up, why would we have any reason to lie?' Sirius continued.
Gods. That had just come from Sirius? A serious and intelligent answer from a fooling and dumb-act Sirius? Wow. 'Very well. Mr Snape, Mr Malfoy, Mr Kidrouk. You are dismissed with a detention each. You may leave.' They all scowled and left. The three boys's faces grew into satisfied smirks. 'As for you six, I don't know what to do with you. Lessons haven't even started yet. And after your performance last year, Misters Potter, Black and Lupin, I give you a warning. I do not want a repeat of your ridiculous abundance of detentions. And as for you three, may I stress that you are yet to attend a lesson! My advice is to keep wiser company, perhaps,' she said, with a look at James. A small smile was playing on her lips. 'You are dismissed. Boys, you will serve a detention each. Oh, and Miss Figg? Miss Potter? As honorable as your intentions were, it might be to your advantage to be truthful when questioned on your involvement in activities,' she added, the smile much more definite. 'Yes, Professor,' Bella and Hilary chimed. James grinned at McGonagall, and we all stood. McGonagall sighed and made a shooing motion with her hands in an exasperated but good-natured way.
'Go on! Off to class! And don't let me see you in here again anytime in the new future!'
~One clown ~Short of a circus ~Babe you ~Make me smile ~One clown ~Short of a circus ~I can tell its ~Worth the while
'Lily Evans! Rise and shine!' Hmmph. Bella was being far too cheerful for that hour of the morning in my eyes. Overly cheery people should be banned early in the morning, if you ask me. 'Go away,' I mumbled into my pillow. 'Fine. Don't come and see Snape lap dancing in the Great Hall...' she sulked. My eyes flew open. 'What? What time is it?' 'Seven forty-five. You have about ten minutes to have a shower and get dressed. Hop to it!'
Crawling reluctantly out of my warm bed, I took a look around. Bella was already dressed. Hilary was walking calmly around the room in her underwear and a white blouse, a towel wrapped around her hair and a facial mask on. Reilly was sitting on her bed in shorts and a t-shirt, undoing sneakers. Yep. Definitely the athletic type. Must have gone for a jog. Toni was nowhere to be seen.
'Where's Toni?' I asked, gathering my toiletries. 'Here.' Toni emerged from under her bed, looking very sleepy. Everyone stared at her. 'What? It's nice under there,' she shrugged. We all blinked and returned to what we were doing. 'That's why I couldn't find you,' Bella laughed to herself and she raked a comb through her shiny black hair. 'Oh, Lily. By the way, this is Kelsey. She came in late last night,' Hilary said over her shoulder while rummaging through her trunk. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the girl on the bed between Toni and Bella. She was wearing a pink t-shirt and some jeans, unbuttoned robes thrown over the top. Her hair was a golden brown, and her eyes were a grey-blue colour. 'Hi,' I smiled, grabbing a towel. 'Hi,' she grinned back as she brushed her hair. 'I'm off to the shower,' I sighed, shaking my head as I marched into the bathroom. 'Don't steal all of the hot water,' Reilly warned.
I opened the door to the bathroom. And nearly died of shock. There was a tiny, potato-ish looking thing with enormous, lamp-like eyes blinking up at me. 'Good morning, Miss Lily! Arla hopes Miss Lily slept well!' the creature squeaked. Arla. Hmm. Nice name. 'Er, hello... Arla.' The thing bowed. 'Arla is in Miss Lily's service. Arla is the house elf that looks after first year misses!' she said excitedly. 'Oh. I'm very pleased to meet you, Arla.' 'Oh, no! Arla is very pleased to meet you, Miss Lily!' I immediately noticed that Arla was tripping over the apron she was wearing, which was a bit on the large side. 'Here. Can I help you with that?' I asked, removing the apron. I folded it so it was halved, with the base flipped over the top to hold it in place. I then fastened it properly around her middle. Arla watched me with wide eyes and a toothy smile. 'Miss Lily is very kind to Arla!' 'It's nothing,' I smiled. 'Listen, I better go have a shower before I'm late for class. I'll see you around. It was nice meeting you, Arla.' 'A pleasure, Miss Lily! A pleasure!' Arla bowed and disappeared around the doorway.
I took a towel from the shelf and walked into the change stall, where I quickly got out of my nightclothes and went into the shower. It was a nice feeling to have the warm water running over me. I quickly washed my hair and got out, changing straight into jeans, a blouse and my robes over the top. I ran out of the bathroom. 'Ready to go?' I asked, stooping in the doorway to pull on my sneakers. Reilly grinned and shoved past me to the shower. I rolled my eyes mockingly. 'Gosh. Anyone would think I was the one that was taking so long!' I drawled. Bella and Hilary grinned, took one of my arms each and dragged me out of Gryffindor Tower and into the Great Hall.
A small zephyr of whispers greeted us when we walked in. There were only about fifteen people in the Hall, twelve of them Gryffindors. They had obviously been informed. James and co were nowhere in sight. Suddenly, guy appeared from behind us and tapped Hilary on the shoulder. She turned around, so Bella and I followed suit, arms still linked.
'Hilary Potter?' Hilary slowly and warily released my arm. 'Yes...' She drew out the word. 'I'm Chris,' the guy said, extending his hand. Hilary shook it reluctantly. 'Nice to meet you.' Seeing her discomfort, I jumped in. 'Hello, Chris. How are you today? My name's Lily, by the way. And this is Bella.' He looked blankly at me for a moment. 'You're the muggle-born...' he said slowly, looking slightly nauseated. 'What are you doing hanging around with riff-raff, Hilary?' he asked. I frowned. Hilary scowled. 'They are NOT riff-raff. I know who you are, Chris. Conveniently left out your last name. You're my dad's boss's son, aren't you? Christopher Kidrouk. I'll bet he organised this. Listen, I don't want to be set up. At least not with you. Because I'm not going with anyone my friends disagree with, or rather, anyone that disagrees with my friends. Good day, Kidrouk,' Hilary said coolly. Bella and I gaped as she stalked off to sit down at Gryffindor table. I smiled. You go girl, I mouthed at Bella.
Chris scowled for a moment, and was just about to leave when James pushed through Bella and I and shoved him up against a wall. Bella and I stared at him. 'Stay away from my sister and her friends,' he growled. 'Cool it, Potter. I was only introducing myself.' 'A harmless cause, I'm sure,' James said through gritted teeth. 'So you should be. And as for her friends, who'd want to lay a finger on those two anyway?' Chris sneered. Bella's eyes narrowed, but we were both still staring at James. 'Say it again?' James rumbled. 'I said, who'd want to lay a finger on those two, anyway?' James punched him squarely in those nose. Chris leered. 'Lay off, Potter. Everyone knows your father. And his rules,' he said quietly. James's eyes narrowed. He was positively seething. 'If you really want the best for your sister, you should keep a closer eye on who she hangs around with.' He looked right over at me, and my fists clenched at my sides as I glared back. 'Never know what your father might do if he found out that she's mixing with mudbloods.'
Smack. James had a mean punch, I can tell you that. 'Don't you dare call her a mudblood, or you'll have me to answer to. I think my sister has excellent judgement. After all, she knew to stay away from you,' he snarled, shoving Chris to the ground. 'Stay away from them, Kidrouk. If you so much as talk to them, you'll be hearing from me.' With that, James put one hand each on Bella and I's shoulders and steered us over to where Hilary was gawking at us. We both kept looking over our shoulders at Chris, who was sporting a blood nose. 'James, what did you do?' Hilary whispered. James scowled. 'He called Lily a mudblood... I lost it...' 'He called you a mudblood?' she asked disbelievingly. 'But James, you'll get in trouble!' 'What's new?' James grinned, sitting down and pouring himself a drink. Hilary sighed and shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. Bella and I exchanged glances before I looked back over at Chris.
'Stay away from him, Lily,' James said in a low tone, without looking up, making me jump. I looked at him, shocked. He raised his gaze to meet my eyes. 'He's trouble, Lily. And he's one of those people that like to make Hogwarts hell for muggle borns.' 'What year is he in?' I asked casually, taking a spoonful of cereal. 'Second. He's a Ravenclaw, but he's got the heart of a Slytherin. And I know him, Lily. He'll have it in for you.' 'Hmm,' I replied. 'So, um - when's this thing with Snape happening?' 'Very, very, soon.'
As if on cue, Sirius came bounding in. 'Goooooooood morning ladies!' he called. 'Goooooooood morning Sirius!' Bella giggled back. 'Good morning Sirius,' I added. Sirius stuck his head between me and Bella's and kissed us each on the cheek. 'And how are my favourite girls on this lovely morning?' he asked cheerfully. 'Lovely,' Bella and I laughed, meeting each other's gazes. 'And where's my good morning kiss, Mr Black?' Hilary demanded. Sirius grinned and rustled up her hair. 'Nah, James would murder me if I touched his little sis.' 'Damn right. Touch her and I break your face,' James nodded seriously, but the corners of his mouth were twitching.
'James, you'd be too busy ogling at a certain girl to notice,' Hilary said with a wink. 'Who?' James asked sharply. Hilary eyed him suspiciously. 'Tara, of course. Who else would I mean?' she asked slowly, giving him a weird look. 'Of course,' he muttered, returning to his breakfast.
'James!' hissed somebody. We all looked up to find Remus waving at us from the doorway. James grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Remus waited a few seconds before returning it and sneaking back out of the hall. 'Wait for it,' James murmured. 'Three... Two... One.'
Right on cue, Severus Snape walked into the Great Hall, idly chatting to Malfoy and two other Slytherins. Bella stared at him in shock for almost a full thirty seconds before she fell off her chair laughing. This set everyone else off. The hall roared with laughter. 'Oh - my - God!' Sirius howled.
Let me try to explain the scene that lay before me. Snape was wearing the burgundy underwear I mentioned earlier, with one small difference. They were no longer burgundy. They were hot pink. It also appeared to be, that, while everyone in the Hall was seeing him in pink lingerie, he seemed to think there was nothing odd whatsoever about his clothes. I was sure the boys had ingeniously worked this into their plan. Need I say more, he looked utterly hilarious.
'Snape...' Sirius managed, recovering. 'Is this the new fashion?' Snape glared at Sirius and looked down at his attire, which he suddenly seemed to not be quite right. 'Why you...' he snarled, cheeks reddening. Everyone was absolutely cracking up. Snape scowled. 'Fix it,' he hissed, just as McGonagall entered the Hall. 'Severus Snape!' she exclaimed. 'This is not amusing! Detention! Change into you school robes this instant!' 'But... but... they...' Snape spluttered, flabbergasted. 'Enough! You will change your clothes immediately!' We didn't notice Kidrouk and Malfoy follow him out.
By now everyone had quickly returned to their breakfast so as not to annoy McGonagall. But as soon as she had followed Snape out of the Hall, everyone started snickering all over again. James, Sirius and Remus hi-fived each other. 'Hey. Where's Peter?' I asked, suddenly noticing his absence. Sirius shrugged. 'Asleep.' 'Oh,' I said. 'He had nothing to do with it,' Remus explained.
'Mr Potter! Mr Black! Mr Lupin! Miss Evans! Miss Figg! Miss Potter! Come with me,' McGonagall called from the entrance, suddenly appearing again. Bella and I looked sharply at each other. What had us girls done? James, Sirius and Remus were all protesting loudly as they stood up as slowly and as noisily as possible. Hilary was frowning fiercely.
We all walked very slowly from our seats to the doorway. 'My office. Now,' she said, pointing in the mentioned direction. 'Do what she says. Don't complain; we'll do the talking,' James muttered under his breath. 'Just follow us.' Bella and Hilary and I did so uncertainly. We were in trouble on our first day - and we hadn't even had any lessons yet! The three boys seemed to know the way to McGonagall's office pretty well, I noted. I supposed they must have visited it a few times. They stopped outside a door, and so did we. McGonagall caught us up. 'In you go,' she prodded, so we all ambled in. First Sirius, then Remus, Hilary, Bella, James. I was last, apart from McGonagall. James stopped suddenly. 'Is there a problem, Mr Potter?' McGonagall asked. But James and Hilary was too busy glaring at someone. I followed their gaze and realised why. Chris Kidrouk. 'Nothing, Professor,' James said through gritted teeth, and we all shuffled right inside. McGonagall shut the door.
'Explain yourselves.' Everyone exchanged glances for a moment before James spoke up. 'I did it, Professor.' 'And so did I,' Sirius piped up. 'And so did I,' Remus added. 'Me too,' Hilary said. The boys all looked at her, but she just mouthed 'my underwear' at them. McGonagall nodded. 'Very well. And you two?' she asked Bella and I, staring sternly down her glasses at us. I opened my mouth to say something, but Bella got there first. 'I was involved too, Professor,' she said solemnly. Everyone gawked at her. James started to protest, but Bella shut him up with a glare. McGonagall fixed her beady eyes on me. 'And you, Miss Evans?'
Hmm. If I said I wasn't involved, it would look like I was lying because everyone else seemed to be in on it. But I would then still have a clean record for my first day and wouldn't be getting punished for something I never did. On the other hand, if I said yes, I would be lying. Yet if everyone else was sharing the blame, I felt like I should too. But once again, someone beat me to it. 'Lily wasn't involved, Professor,' James said. 'Is this true, Miss Evans?' I nodded. McGonagall looked over at Snape. 'This does not comply with your story, Mr Snape.' 'They were all involved, Professor. We overheard them discussing it, and saw them running off down the corridor before we came into the hall -' 'That's not true,' I said bluntly. Everyone looked at me. 'I mean, sorry, Professor, but that can't be right. We were in the hall before he came in. Ages before. Arguing with him,' I said, nodding at Kidrouk. 'Can you confirm this?' McGonagall asked him. 'I never spoke to any of them, Professor. The only time I've ever saw them this morning was when they were running down the hall, and Severus said...'
I bit my tongue to keep from exploding into my infamous redhead temper. He had fed McGonagall some story! 'Professor, we have owned up and accepted the consequences. Why should we have any reason to lie?' James asked slowly. 'I'm sorry, Professor. But I think James is right. These three must have lied, you must realise. I think they are more at fault than we are. Because they had no reason to lie. Therefore there is obviously some motive behind it. Whereas what we did was a harmless joke, and no one got hurt. They are trying to get fellow students in trouble based on non-existent evidence. Like James said, if we've owned up, why would we have any reason to lie?' Sirius continued.
Gods. That had just come from Sirius? A serious and intelligent answer from a fooling and dumb-act Sirius? Wow. 'Very well. Mr Snape, Mr Malfoy, Mr Kidrouk. You are dismissed with a detention each. You may leave.' They all scowled and left. The three boys's faces grew into satisfied smirks. 'As for you six, I don't know what to do with you. Lessons haven't even started yet. And after your performance last year, Misters Potter, Black and Lupin, I give you a warning. I do not want a repeat of your ridiculous abundance of detentions. And as for you three, may I stress that you are yet to attend a lesson! My advice is to keep wiser company, perhaps,' she said, with a look at James. A small smile was playing on her lips. 'You are dismissed. Boys, you will serve a detention each. Oh, and Miss Figg? Miss Potter? As honorable as your intentions were, it might be to your advantage to be truthful when questioned on your involvement in activities,' she added, the smile much more definite. 'Yes, Professor,' Bella and Hilary chimed. James grinned at McGonagall, and we all stood. McGonagall sighed and made a shooing motion with her hands in an exasperated but good-natured way.
'Go on! Off to class! And don't let me see you in here again anytime in the new future!'
