3

Speeding towards the earth at an intense speed, James swerved and pulled up at the last second, leaving the bludger to smash into the ground, momentarily stuck in the mud. He went looking for the ball and got a pass from Horace Gray. The quaffle ready he confronted the problem of getting in past the goal keeper, Arabella Figg.

"C'mon Potter, I'm getting to be an old lady," she called out, egging him on.

"Patience Figg, I'm thinking of a way to defeat you," he called back as he circled the three rings, dodging the now free bludger which was dripping and flinging dirt.

"Whatever you say to make yourself feel better Potter," she replied, but she tensed up. She knew he was going in for the goal. He chose the ring to the left, swerved towards the right and dropping suddenly lower went for an underneath shot.

Arabella swatted it away with her broom when it was dangerously close. "Oh, too bad," she chided. He laughed. Horace and the rest of the team flew up around them, practice appeared to be ending.

"You're doing better Figg. Even Potter can't get past you," Horace told the Keeper.

Why thank you Horace, what a lovely thing to say." She accepted the compliment while picking a chunk of mud out of her black hair. After throwing it off and giving it a look of disgust, she looked at the team and screamed.

"Bludger!"

Calmly, the team, as if moving as one, turned sideways and dropped about six feet on their brooms. After the giant metal ball had rushed past in a blur, they rose to their previous positions without a word.

"Ready for the game on Saturday?" James asked the team.

"Sure," their Seeker, Laura Strom said. "Ravenclaw is good, but ever since their best chaser started failing Herbology and got put on probation, they've been a lot weaker."

"I heard that he didn't fail, I heard his hand got bitten off by one of those man eating plants with the teeth in the greenhouse - you know the big purple ones - " another Chaser said.

"No, my friend Eva is in his class and she said that it grabbed onto his quill, no appendages where lost," said Belle.

"Herbology," pondered Horace, I took that with Professor Fofflepot and she had this things about nature walks."

"Enough!" interrupted James. "If it's not about Quidditch then talk about it later. And besides, I heard he lost his eye and his hand and three toes."

"Bludger!!" screamed Laura.

The team sighed and ducked.

* * * * * * *

At the end of dinner on Friday Dumbledore stood and made some announcements. Lily wasn't paying much attention at first, instead she poked around her mashed potatoes with a fork, constructing a volcano and then filling it with peas. He moved on to a lecture on the negative consequences of using your broomstick as a sword in the hall (last week Sean Chaney, a first year, had put out the eye of Ian Randall as they swashbuckled between classes. There was hysteria. Madame Pomfrey was rumored to have had to get him a new eye. There were rumors that surrounded how she had gotten the new eye, which had blended into the hand and giant plant rumors as well.). Lily studied the ceiling and tried to pick out constellations in the stars, then drew connect the dots with her wand. After what seemed like hours of broomstick safety lessons and a speech about the ten best reasons not to wander into the Forbidden Forest she heard something interesting.

"Would Lucius Malfoy come up there for a moment please?" Dumbledore requested. The blond Slytherin stood and walked to the professor's table. Lily could feel his eyes grazing over the Gryffindor section, looking. She felt a wave of panic, but kept her face blank, emotionless.

"Students," Dumbeldore continued, "There has been a theft concerning one of our students. Mr. Malfoy's trunk was broken into and one of his belongings is missing. We are still searching for the reason and purpose for his incident. If any of you," as he paused and made a sweeping glace over the student body, "have any information concerning this event I suggest you step forward. Please see Professor McGonagall with any concerns. I suppose that's it. Dueling club meets at eight o clock tonight, here in the dining room. Goodnight."

As he spoke Lily could feel the eyes of Lucuis Malfoy wandering over each person at her table. She felt them pause on her. Her hands were shaking slightly, quickly she shoved them under the table. Nervous though she was, her expression remained nonchalant. Eva regained her attention.

"Hurry up Lily, we have to go get some good spells for tonight," she called, rising and leaving the table. Lily nodded and followed. She saw James Potter studying her as they left. His eyes seemed very dark. What was James doing in the hallway that night?

* * * * * * *

James heard the news and yawned. He knew Lucuis was staring at him and his friends. Sirius was giving him some twisted version of the evil eye back. James was aware that Lucuis had some inkling of the fact he and his friends were known to wander around at night, as they occasionally got in trouble. Too bad he didn't know the half of it. The Marauders kept many secrets. Still, it was obvious that they were the Slytherin's main suspects.

"I suppose if I were him, I would think it was us too," conceded Remus. "In fact, I think we should be prepared for a little retaliatory action. Lock up your things, hide the map. I don't trust that kid as far as I can throw a stick. Not him or his crony." Malfoy and his friend Snape were in the corner, looking as if they were planning a conspiracy.

Sirius smiled and added, "Yeah, too bad we didn't do it. Ha. Poor kid, barking up the wrong tree. Why would we want his stuff anyways, right James?"

James was too busy looking at Lily, whose face was unreadable, save a few well hidden traces of panic. What had she been doing in the hallway that night anyways? He resolved to find out.

"James? I said that Malfoy - "

"-What?" James was snapped back into the conversation.

Sirius sighed. "I was just saying that Lucius is wrong this time." There was a long pause.

"Yeah - " was all the response they got from James as he got up and jogged out of the dining room, apparently on a mission.

"What's wrong with him?" asked an out of the loop Peter.

"To be honest," said Remus, "I'm not exactly sure."

* * * * * * *

"Remember class, to fairly and truly defeat your opponent, you must abide by the rules that the Ministry of Magic has set for recreational dueling. With that reminder, I begin this session of the Hogwarts Dueling Club. Tonight, instead of technique, we are going to duel one another. I remind you, no pyrotechnics or explosions please, and watch where you wave your wands. Nobody wants another Ian Randall incident," and with that speech complete, Professor Armeis took his place at the center sideline to mediate and referee.

Two equal lines had formed on each side of the dueling strip. Lily happened to be in a spot where her opponent would be James Potter. Potter looked at her from across the strip and laughed. How cocky.

Since they were only halfway in the line, both watched Remus win several duels before stepping down. Defense against spells of any kind came at seemingly no effort to him. It appeared he had spent a lot of time outside school studying techniques. When the line became more and more depleted, Lily found herself near the front. It then became apparent to her there had been a change in the line up. Somehow, when James and Sirius were talking, Snape had joined and gone ahead of them in line, adding one person to that side. So if she recounted, Lily was going to duel - oh no.

* * * * * * *

"This is going to be ugly," claimed James, pushing up his sleeves. "Evans is going down. No mercy - "

"Umm James?" interrupted Sirius, "If I can count right, and I sure hope I can - you're not dueling Lily. Snape cut when we weren't looking. You're with Belle, behind her. Lily is dueling," and he pointed ahead "him."

James looked and cringed.

* * * * * * *

Lily saw Sirius pointing, she saw James look, then at her, and then attempt to figure a way to trade places, but it was too late. Snape won his duel with Eva and that left her to go next.

"Lily Evans and Lucius Malfoy," Professor Armeis called out.

Lily Evans was no coward. She stepped onto the dueling path with a small swagger in her step and a smile on her lips. She was not going to lose. Not to him, of all people. Sadly, her slightly shaking wand betrayed her nerves to those who may have studied closely. They met at the middle and awaited the voice of the Professor, wands ready. He was inches away, like before, only this time he could see her. His eyes were like thick ice, a cold cold blue. Almost like inside it was always winter.

"Hello Evans," he said.

"Hello Malfoy."

"Tell me Evans, what exactly are your plans for Christmas this year?" He smiled at her in return.

"How sweet Lucuis, I didn't know you cared," she replied, as her own smile disappeared.

"Well you, know, I was just thinking," he motioned her a bit closer with his free hand. "That maybe when you went home, you know, to your muggle home, and saw your, well, muggle parents, that it may be in your best interest to," he paused and laughed, "stay there." His laugh got louder. "Permanently." He looked at Snape on the sidelines who was smiling uneasily. Lily said nothing. Her features darkened. All she could hear was the voice of the Professor beginning to count. She turned and began her steps.

Lucuis did as well, still chuckling to himself. On the sidelines, James watched, wondering what Lily and Malfoy would have to talk about, why he was laughing. He looked across the way at Belle, who caught his glance and shrugged helplessly, shaking her head. The tension in the air was stifling. Lily's knuckles were white from the grip on her wand. The Professor counted his last step. The two turned.

What followed was perhaps one of the shortest duels in the Hogwarts Dueling Club History. Malfoy immediately sent a spell towards Lily, a name she remembered hearing in class. Quickly she countered it, and the green light sent flashing her way soon dissipated into the air. Before Malfoy could register that his attempt had been thwarted, Lily muttered a spell under her breath (Relarhemis) and sent a shock of blue towards her opponent. Being unprepared, Malfoy's dodge was ill timed and unsuccessful. Several seconds later found him on the ground, unable to move. His legs and arms were pinned to his body, which was tense as a board.

Professor Aremis turned him over and gasped. His mouth seemed to be sutured shut. Malfoy tried to yell but all that came out was mumbles. He realized his predicament and started making a racket. The Professor stepped back for a moment to start the counter curse, and the entire club saw what had befallen Malfoy. Armeis turned to Lily.

"He'll be fine in a minute or so. The Relarhemis spell, perhaps useful for actual duels but really, Miss Evans, not in our recreational setting. You're lucky I'm familiar with the spell and know how to undo it. Impressive, Evans, however, bad choice. Ten points from Gryffindor."

"I apologize Professor Aremis." She walked over to Malfoy, where he now lay at her feet. His eyes, still blue, now burned. She could imagine how he must be cursing her in his head. "And I'm sorry Lucuis," she added, but in a much colder tone. She crouched, leaned down to his face, and whispered in his ear. "It may be in your best interest, Malfoy, never to underestimate me again." She pulled back and took one more look at his furious expression, and smiled. With that she walked back towards her friends, and they continued out and towards the Gryffindor tower.

The Professor was trying to regain the class's attention, get a volunteer to move Lucius until he recovered, and resume the duels. But no one was listening; all eyes were on the red haired girl who strolled out of the room, as uncaring as if she had squashed a fly.