Fourth Year: Part Three
"Very good, Ms. Evans!" cried Professor McGonagall in praise, as her best student performed a tricky transfiguration by turning her own table into a barking dog. "Twenty points to Gryffindor for such an outstanding transfiguration!"
James groaned. McGonagall was always favoring Lily for one thing or another and he was tired of it. But unfortunately, she had heard him groan, for she glared at him sharply.
"Is there something you'd like to share with the class, Mr. Potter?" she barked. "Perhaps you think Ms. Evans isn't as advanced as yourself. Let us see what you can do."
James picked up his wand, pointed it to his head, and transfigured his head into that of a fish. Everyone gasped, and McGonagall stared, speechless.
"Well, you've certainly proved me wrong, Potter! You're showing sixth year transfiguration, which is more than I can say for most of you. Thirty points to Gryffindor!"
James smirked and glanced over at Lily, whose face was rather red. Ha! He knew he'd show her.
Lily felt humiliated, and a surge of jealously went through her. She had practiced the transfiguration of furniture into animals for nights on end, and here was James Potter showing off again by doing transfiguration that was well above O.W.L. levels. At least she'd be able to beat him in Charms, her best subject.
As class ended, James walked up to her and whispered, "Not so perfect, are you, Evans? McGonagall clearly thinks I'm more talented in Transfiguration than you are."
Lily restrained tears from coming down. "Well, Potter, at least I can do better in Charms than you. You were the only one who had extra homework because you couldn't master the Summoning Charm. I can do charms that are well above Ordinary Wizard Level and maybe above N.E.W.T. levels."
James shook his head. When will Evans learn, he thought. I don't even care if she beats me in anything. I just like to get her riled up over something, since she looks so pretty when she's mad. Wait, where did that thought come from?
"Why are you shaking your head, Potter? In denial?" Lily smirked.
James rolled his eyes. "Evans, I'd never be in denial for such a reason so trivial. Anyway…" He looked over her shoulder and groaned.
"What?"
"It's Snape and his gang."
And it was. Snape was strutting along with his usual gang, and smiled widely at Lily, who frowned back.
"Hello, Mudblood. Nice day, isn't it?"
Lily glared at him. "Oh, very nice day, Snivellus. Your hair is actually less greasier than usual."
But both Lily and James noticed a considerable difference in their gang. Now following the Slytherin boys were two girls, each very different from each other.
The first one was tall and thin, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a look as if there was dung under her nose. She was standing next to Malfoy, who seemed to be smug about having a girl next to him. They knew who she was of course—this was Narcissa Black, Sirius' very own cousin.
The second one had long, dark hair and creamy eyelids that veiled dark black eyes. She was shorter than Narcissa, but still quite tall, and had a strange dark beauty that seemed to intrigue Lily. She was Sirius' other cousin and Narcissa's sister, Bellatrix Black, and she stood next to Rodolphus Lestrange, who had his arm around her.
Bellatrix sneered at Lily. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Lily Evans, the perfect girl of Gryffindor. And what a surprise, it's James Potter, my dear cousin's best friend."
James seethed in anger. "Stay away from Evans, you little—"
"Don't insult my girlfriend, Potter," snapped Lestrange, glaring at James forcefully. "I daresay she's much better looking than your Mudblood Evans and much more cleverer."
"Are you kidding me? Lily's one of the cleverest students at Hogwarts, if not the cleverest. Your girlfriend can't even compare with her!"
The funny thing was, James didn't seem to deny the fact that Lily wasn't his girlfriend.
Narcissa laughed. "Ah, now I see why you're friends with Sirius. You're just like him, arrogant, so full of yourselves. Pity, how your lives will end so shortly…"
The gang snickered, and Lily's temper rose.
"Shut up, you stupid idiots! You're all going to be the ones who'll go first, since everyone in this school hates you already."
Avery, the newest member of their group, raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really, Evans? By the time the Dark Lord rises, you'll be dead, along with your mummy and daddy."
They laughed even harder. The rest of the Marauders and girls approached them. Sirius glanced at James with a puzzled expression.
"Hey, James, what's the hold-up? We have to go to Quidditch…" He trailed off as he saw who they were talking to.
Bellatrix smiled. "Well, if it isn't dear widdle Sirius, my favorite cousin." She sneered.
Sirius glared at her. "As far as I'm concerned, Bellatrix, you're no relative of mine. In fact, none of these worthless Blacks are."
Snape stared. "You do know that you're insulting your own family and yourself, don't you, Black?"
"I know very well what I'm saying, Snape. My family believes in a whole lot of crap, with their pureblooded speeches, and I can't stand it any longer. My mother, especially, and that cursed house-elf—"
"Kreacher is useful," interrupted Narcissa curtly.
"Oh, I didn't know Slytherins cared for someone or something other than themselves," snapped Sirius irritably.
Lestrange snorted. "Black, you are so thick at times, even though, for some reason, you get the best grades in our year…"
"Of course I do. After all, I try to stay away from my two cousins, so my intelligence improves."
Arabella glared at the whole lot of them. "C'mon, let's go. We don't want you guys to be late for Quidditch practice."
As they turned to go, Wilkes yelled, "Hey, Figg, want to go out with me?" All the Slytherins laughed uproariously at the comment.
Sirius shook with anger. "Those stupid prats," he mumbled. "Dating my cousins…soon I'll be the only Black left."
No one dared mention Sirius' parents or brother, for fear that he'd grow even angrier than before. Sirius absolutely abhorred his parents and brother, Regulus, for believing that the world should be rid of Muggle-borns and have all the purebloods rule the world.
"Are you all right, Sirius?" asked Violet tentatively, after a while.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just that—gosh, I have the most pathetic and idiotic family! I'm ashamed of them all—well, except for Andromeda. At least she doesn't believe in that pureblooded crap like the rest of my miserable family." He ended with a bitter tone of voice.
"Er—I think it's time for Quidditch practice, Sirius," said James, hoping to cheer up his best friend a bit. "I tell you, we'll be the death of Wood if we don't hurry."
"Oh, yeah, right." Sirius hurried off after James, still grumbling about his brother and his house-elf.
"Sad kid," said Jennifer, shaking her head.
"He does have a bad family," admitted Remus. "I mean, they do believe that the Muggle-borns should go back to 'their own world' and that the purebloods run the wizarding world—like how it used to be." He glanced sideways at Lily.
"Well, you can't blame them for thinking that," said Lily, shrugging. "I mean, some people just don't think that people like me should belong in their world. I'm fine with that."
"The Blacks have always been pureblooded, like the Malfoys, Lestranges…most of the Slytherins. They have a really long ancient history, even longer than Malfoy, though not as long as the Potters' ancestry. That's why Mrs. Black isn't too fond of Mr. and Mrs. Potter and their family…she was completely against having James over the summer." Remus sighed sadly. "She doesn't accept people like me, either, since I'm a—you know."
Jennifer glared angrily. "I can't believe them! No wonder why Sirius hates the lot."
Violet smiled sadly. "Well, I'm happy that my mother isn't as terrible as most Slytherins. She was deeply upset when she wasn't in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor—that's where most of my family's from—but she was euphoric when I got into Gryffindor. Poor Mum…she's always suffering taunts from the Ministry. Dad's always telling people off, maybe that's why he's not too popular."
"I like your dad," said Lily, remembering smiling Mrs. Walker and enthusiastic Mr. Walker when they both hugged Violet at King's Cross last year.
"He's really jolly," agreed Jennifer, nodding. "Unlike my parents, they're a bit of a joke, especially my mum. Never really liked magic, her. Don't know why Dad married her…I s'pose it was just fate."
"Your dad's nice," offered Arabella, trying to cheer her friend up.
"I guess." Jennifer shrugged.
"Enough about families," said Remus briskly. "How about a game of chess in the common room?"
Everyone shrugged. "Sure."
While Remus and Arabella battled each other in chess with Remus and Violet watching, Lily stared with her green orbs outside to the Quidditch field, where the Gryffindor team was practicing.
Sirius was having a jolly time of his own, whamming the Bludger across the field at unexpected teammates. Lily smiled. She also saw James, but scoffed at him while he shot the Quaffle past the Keeper many times.
Unfortunately, the window was open, and Lily, before she could stop himself, called out, "Hey Potter, how about passing the Quaffle for once?"
Realizing her mistake, Lily clapped her hands to her mouth, horrified, while the rest of her friends sniggered.
"Good one, Lils," said Arabella, trying to stifle her laugh.
James was startled at Lily's voice and looked around to see her peering at him from Gryffindor Tower. He grinned.
"Hey, Evans, didn't know you admired me so much!"
Lily's face turned red and she glared at him. "Don't worry, Potter, I was just giving you a few tips to improve!"
The Gryffindor Keeper was not pleased at all.
"Potter, keep practicing!" he barked. "We have the match in less than one week. We don't want to be talking to people from other Houses, especially the Ravenclaws." He visibly shuddered.
"Nah, that was just Evans," said James disdainfully. "She was trying to give me a few 'pointers' and told me to pass the Quaffle more often. Stupid perfectionist."
"Evans? As in, Lily Evans?" The Keeper suddenly looked interested. "Well, you'd better listen to her, Potter, she's a right genius, she is."
James rolled his eyes. Why did everyone laud Lily so? He was just as good as him, and all anyone's ever told him was to not play any pranks!
"Hey, Potter! Pass us the bloody Quaffle, for God's sake!" cried one of his fellow Chasers impatiently.
James thrust the red ball into the boy's hands and flew to where the right hoop was. He was positioned.
One of the Chasers threw the Quaffle to the other, who threw it to James. James did one of his famous feints and scored easily.
Their Keeper was very pleased and congratulated James throughout the whole practice, much to the disgust of Lily. She was even more disappointed that none of the other members of the team felt any spite toward James for showing off.
When she confided this to Sirius and Remus, James' two best friends, the next day, they both nearly laughed their heads off, much to her further displeasure.
"Don't be such a wet rag, Flower," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "Jamie had to do a feint, how else was he supposed to get it through Wood's superb Keeping?"
"But still—" Lily found that her argument was useless and huffed in indignation.
Remus tried to comfort her, which lessened her anger very slightly.
"Besides, Lily, that's one of the secret strategies as to how our Gryffindor team is the best," he said confidently. "Our feints have worked every time; the other Houses still don't realize that those are feints yet…"
"Daft, the whole lot of them," sneered Sirius.
Lily was thoroughly bewildered with their replies, half the reason being that she had no idea what feints were.
So she asked Arabella what feints were, which she regretted almost immediately after the words went out of her mouth.
"You don't know what feints are?" she cried, tears of mirth leaking from her brown eyes. "Oh, gee, Lils, I never knew you'd be this daft when Quidditch is the subject!"
She went on cackling the whole day, much to Lily's impatience and embarrassment.
"Well, it's not my fault," said Lily to herself, as she sank into a couch in the common room. "I mean, I may be good at academics, but I'm certainly not an expertise when it comes to Quidditch."
She hadn't noticed a certain black-haired boy sneak up from behind the couch she was sitting on.
"BOO!" James cried.
"ARGH!" screamed Lily, her eyes widening. When she saw who it was, she narrowed her eyes and threw up her hands.
"What do you want from me, James Potter?" she demanded furiously.
"Go out with me," was James' simple reply.
"Not over your dead body!"
"Oh? I thought it was 'I wouldn't go out with you if it was competition between you and the giant squid'."
Most people would have preferred to die rather than to get Lily into a fit, but James, on the other hand, wasn't "most people". So, he decided to take a chance, which, I might add, was a very poor one.
Lily slapped him right across the face, where a bloody red mark appeared almost instantly. She grabbed her bag, which was lying at the foot of the couch, and stormed out of Gryffindor Tower, leaving a stunned James behind.
James was hurt. He never meant to make Lily so angry, and was still unable to figure out why she still hated him so much. He thought that he had changed. He still hexed people that bothered him of course; why wouldn't he? But he stopped showing off, except for in Quidditch, where a little showing off was necessary. He stopped dating other girls and "dumped" Deanna Jackson, even though they weren't even going out as an official couple. He continued to call Lily "Evans", though, because he was only returning the favor of being called "Potter". Other than those certain points, James Henry Potter thought that he had improved a lot since last month. But did it satisfy, Lily? No.
Sirius was no help to his problems, either. Even though they were best friends, and first mates, Sirius couldn't help him in the Department of Trying to Make Lily Go Out With James Potter. Sirius offered to spy on "Lilikins" for him, but it turned out with disastrous effects.
Next, James tried to console himself with Remus, only to find that he was even worse than Sirius. Remus only told him, very wisely, that he should just forget about impressing Lily and get on with trying to redeem himself as a good person with good intentions and integrity. James had pondered over Remus' words and finally concluded that Remus did not understand his need to impress Lily…but then again, he didn't understand it himself either.
He found no desire in seeking Peter for answers. For one thing, it would ruin his reputation to be asking Peter for help. It was usually the other way around, when Peter desperately begged James for advice, which mostly consisted of Potions homework and exams. For another thing, he had a shrewd suspicion that Peter would be an even worse adviser than Sirius and Remus put together—which was really saying something.
So James decided to let it go—for now, at least.
***
"James, here's the Quaffle!" cried Johnson, one of the Gryffindor Chasers.
James grabbed it, zoomed past several Ravenclaws, and spotted the Keeper, Bradley Kingston. He thought of shooting it directly, but thought better of it, since Kingston was an outstanding Keeper. James feinted his most complex and confusing feint, and shot the Quaffle easily through the left hoop. The cheers of Gryffindors were heard easily, even if you were miles away.
"He's so dreamy," said a second-year to her friend. "I wish he was my boyfriend."
"I heard he likes Lily Evans, though," said her friend, sighing. "I wish I was her—but they say she hates him. But Lily's so pretty and smart, she could have any boy in this school."
Lily, fortunately, had not heard this, because she was too absorbed in the game itself. Even though she barely understood Quidditch, she knew the basic rules and felt light and giddy that Gryffindor was in the lead. If they beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin both, they would have the Quidditch Cup and have a good chance of winning the House Cup as well, as they have done for the past three years.
Violet noticed her friend's excitement. "Impressed with James' little feint, are you?" she teased.
Lily flushed. "Oh, Vi, stop it." But her cheeks burned with pleasure.
"James is looking at you, Lils," whispered Jennifer, while giggling with Arabella and Remus. "It's so romantic."
"Jen," said Lily warningly. "I've no sort of good feelings for James Potter; he's an insufferable prat."
"Ah, well, we all have our faults," said Arabella, nodding, when Jennifer told her what happened woefully. "It's the simple disease of blindness."
"And Black makes an astounding hit that sends the Bludger to Davies!" cried the commentator. "Way to show those brains, Black!"
Sirius grinned at the comment and waved at his fellow Gryffindors, narrowly missing the Bludger that was sent back at him in revenge.
"Sirius!" gasped many of his fan-club members and ex-girlfriends. Arabella rolled her eyes.
"He's quite popular with the ladies," mused Jennifer.
"Of course," agreed Remus crisply. "Sirius has always been the ladies' man…"
"Except when dealing with ex-girlfriends," snapped Arabella. She was in a testy mood at that very moment.
"Oh—er—of course," stammered Remus, surprised at the outburst.
"AND BRACH CATCHES THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS TWO HUNDRED TO SIXTY!" cried the commentator, jumping up and down with excitement
All the Gryffindors stood up and cheered wildly. They streamed out to the field to hug all their team members, namely, James Potter and Sirius Black.
"Here we go again," murmured Lily disgustedly as many girls swooned over James and Sirius as they kissed them impulsively.
"Good show, mate!" cried Remus, forgetting his usual reserved self. "Brilliant feint, James! Excellent hit, Sirius!"
James and Sirius merely chuckled at their friend's unusual behavior.
"So, Lily," said James, leaning against his broom casually. "How did you think of my feint?"
"It was satisfactory," said Lily haltingly, though she was rather amazed and impressed with it.
"Oh, Lily, don't lie," said Jennifer teasingly. To James, she said, "She loved it."
"I did not!" exclaimed Lily hotly. "I mean—I didn't say—"
"Oi, Flower, chill," said Sirius soothingly. "You don't have to get so worked up."
"Oh, but—"
"—take a deep breath now—"
"—I never said it was bad, I said it was all right—"
"—forget all your worries—"
"Sirius, shut UP," snapped Lily in frustration.
Sirius and James both sniggered at Lily, and even Remus smiled slightly.
"Prats," she muttered under her breath.
"Now, now, Lily, no bad language," said Sirius seriously (no pun intended)
"Oh, no, Sirius, I leave the bad language to you," said Lily mockingly. "Really, you say f—" She stopped. "Never mind."
"What?" teased James. "Too good to swear?"
"In fact, yes, Potter. Swearing is for the weak and the uncontrollable."
"Huh?" Sirius was confused and scratched his head. No surprise there—Sirius was always confused about one thing or another.
"Yes, Sirius, we know you're confused," said Remus gently. "Don't work too hard now."
Everyone laughed except Arabella, who looked extremely indignant.
"He's not that daft!" she exclaimed, offended. "He has his moments…I mean, after all, he is one of the cleverest students in the school."
Lily and James noticed how Bella never said Sirius' name, but always referred to him as "he".
"Now you're talking to me," said Sirius sourly, "after I tried about one hundred times to even look at me this past year."
Arabella turned red. "Well, you were rotten," she said loftily.
"Humph. Yeah? Well, does it matter if I say that I still like you?"
There was an eerie silence. Even the cheers in the distance from Gryffindors were muffled. Arabella couldn't believe what she was hearing and Sirius turned bright red at what he said, but everyone else, especially Lily and James, their best friends, grinned knowingly.
"E-Excuse me?" she stammered.
Sirius was still in a ranting mood, because he continued on. "Bella, I really, really like you, and I can even go to extremes to say I love you. But my point is, I really miss you, and I know it was right rotten of me to snog Lori Paterson while telling you I was going somewhere different. I was seeing her for a week, but I guess my hormones at the beginning of the year were going haywire. I haven't dated a single girl in ages, because I'm thinking of you."
Arabella glared at him. "Hel-lo! Sirius! You've been making lovesick faces at girls since we broke up! You don't care about me, and I don't believe you one bit. Nice speech though. It almost did convince me for a second there." She dashed inside the castle without another word.
Everyone stared at Sirius, seeing his reaction. But he only muttered, "Should've known." He walked slowly and dejectedly back to the castle, not noticing many girls watching him with a lovesick expression. Because there was only one girl for him, and she hated him.
Lily's eyes filled with tears. "B-Bella…" She started sobbing.
James put his arm around her, comforting her. For once, she didn't object and cried in his arms. Jennifer and Remus looked at each other, and then at Violet and Peter, who were completely bewildered by the sudden events that had occurred in less than ten minutes.
"Shall we all go back now?" asked Jennifer quietly. There was a murmur of assent and everyone went back to the castle, the euphoric at winning the match completely forgotten.
-
For the next few days, Arabella sulked in the fourth year girls' dormitory for nearly all day, except to go to classes. She wouldn't talk to Lily, Jennifer, or Violet and lay in bed reading tragic love novels, like Romeo and Juliet. Her three best friends tried talking to her, but she ignored them. What was the good of even having friends when you couldn't get the boy you liked back because for fear he may break your heart again?
Life was definitely not far, especially for Arabella Figg. She had twisted ideas of maybe asking Dumbledore to change her into a Muggle or a Squib, so she could live in Surrey, be an old maid, and have twenty cats living with you, loving you, injuring you, etc. Bella had a suspicion that Dumbledore would refuse, even though he would probably be able to do it. In fact, she had gone so far with her plan that she actually asked Professor Dumbledore about it while passing him and McGonagall in the hallway.
Bella had gotten a light chuckle from the old wizard and a stern glare from McGonagall. Obviously she didn't understand Bella's feelings, so the whole idea was thrown into the trash.
When she had finally consoled herself to speak to her friends, they were alarmed at her idea about being a Muggle or Squib. Or, at least Jennifer and Violet were alarmed, while Lily was snickering quietly to herself. The latter thought that she had a very, very odd best friend, though lovable just the same.
"McGonagall looked at me like I was insane," Arabella confided, frowning. "I don't know why, though."
Lily burst out laughing. "Oh, God, Bella, that's the most HILARIOUS thing I've ever heard in my life!" She had tears coming down her eyes.
"Er—" Arabella looked quizzically at her friend. It was a perfectly normal idea to her, but then again, she wasn't quite normal as far as "normal" standards go.
Lily wiped her eyes. "I mean, really, Bells, not many people at age fourteen want to be turned into a Muggle or Squib and live with cats all their lives. You can imagine the obvious humor in this."
Arabella thought about it. Well, it was a bit odd. Suddenly, she pictured herself ten years older, tripping over one of her cat's tail and breaking her leg, causing her to walk with crutches for a month. She rolled on the floor and went in hysterics along with Lily, and were joined by Jennifer and Violet.
When the Marauders came into the girls' dormitory for a bit of entertainment, they were surprised and alarmed at four Gryffindor girls laughing their heads off about God-knows-what. They stared at them.
Lily was the first to recover, since she was the first one in the hysterics. "Oh—hi—guys."
"Hi Lily," said James, staring at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh—hi—James. You know—Bella—came—up—with—the—most—hilarious—idea—ever."
"Really?" said Sirius sarcastically. "Please enlighten us."
So Lily went off to tell the boys the hilarious idea of Arabella's. James and Sirius were laughing too, Remus chuckling, and Peter just smiling like an idiot (which he is). After five minutes, everyone had calmed down and decided to play a game of Exploding Snap. However, the girls and the Marauders, with the exception of Arabella and Sirius, were plotting to get them together again.
"I say," whispered Jennifer, "that we ditch the old-fashioned closet trick. It doesn't work for stubborn prats like those two."
"But it worked the first time," whined James.
"Shut up, Potter," snapped Lily.
"My name is James."
"Well, I like Potter better."
"Well, you know what? You've just—"
"Hello?" Remus glared at his friend. "We're trying to help Bella and Sirius here."
"Oh…right."
"I think we should use the Astronomy Tower trick," said Lily, her eyes shining with mischief. "I mean, it worked for Jenny and Remus."
"But that was only once," objected Jennifer, blushing.
James grinned. "I say we come up with a new plan, Evans. After all, Figg was the one who came up with Astronomy Tower thing in the first place."
"I suppose…" Lily frowned. Why did James always have to be right?
"Look, I think that we should make Sirius rescue Bella, like a hero thing," said Remus. When no one interrupted him, he continued. "I mean, James, you and Sirius have always been doing the saving-people thing. So I think we should tell Sirius that Arabella is—er—hurt, or something, and he'll obviously rescue her. Right?"
"It's worth a shot," said Violet, smiling slightly. "But what happens if Sirius just scoffs and says that he doesn't care and that we should save Bella?"
Remus grinned. "Ah, that's where we make the story more drastic, Vi, my friend…"
***
"And," finished James, breathing quickly. "I suspect that the centaurs are nearly strangling Arabella right now…"
"Wait a minute," interrupted Sirius, frowning. "I'm not stupid, you know. Why don't all of you just rescue her, instead of asking me? Why am I so special?" He glanced suspiciously at all of them.
Everyone looked around at Violet, who had an "I told you so" look on her face.
Lily scowled. "Sirius Black, just go and HELP her, for God's sake!"
Sirius sighed. "Oh, all right. Let me get my cloak…"
"See? Did I tell you it would work?" asked Remus, with a smug look on his face.
Violet rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. He'll find out that this was all a hoax any second now."
Sure enough, a yell was heard from outside the castle that startled everyone.
"LILY AND JAMES POTTER, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO US? NO MORE MATCHMAKING FOR YOU!"
Yet again, Violet gave them a look that clearly said, "I told you so."
"Busted," whispered Jennifer.
"Big time," agreed James.
A few people in the common room sniggered, and Deanna shot death glares at Lily, and mouthed "Boyfriend stealer".
Lily rolled her eyes. "Looks like your ex-girlfriend is jealous, Potter."
"Why?"
"Stupid Sirius called us 'Lily and James Potter'. Prat, he is…"
James chuckled. "Don't be so rough on my best friend, Evans. I can understand why he thought we did it."
"I can't."
"Well, because we've been doing most of the matchmaking around our little circle of friends. See, we do work well together—at times."
Lily thought about it and realized that he was right. Gosh. She hated it when James was right.
"They should make me the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain for next year," said James after a while.
"Why? Don't show-off enough?"
James looked angrily at her. "Why do you always think I'm showing off, Evans? I deserve to be the captain! I mean, I've worked so hard on planning strategies with our dear captain, Wood, that—"
"Potter, does it occur to you that maybe someone else might deserve the place as captain? Why must you be the captain when there might be someone as able as you?"
"Hey, I work harder than any other member—"
"How do you know?" asked Lily saucily.
There was a silence that followed. The rest of their friends looked at each other, shaking their heads, as Lily and James continued to bicker.
-
"Five points from Gryffindor, Evans," snapped Hurst, as they sat down for their usual Monday afternoon Potions class.
"Why?" asked Lily, alarmed.
"You were being such a insufferable know-it-all again. Maybe you'd allow someone like Mr. Snape to answer these questions, instead of showing off yourself."
The Slytherins sniggered, and the Gryffindors shot Lily extremely sympathetic looks.
"That stupid Hurst," muttered Sirius. "Making Lily feel bad like that in front of all those Slytherins…"
"Well, now Evans knows that she really does show off," said James snottily.
Sirius looked around at him in surprise. "Lily doesn't show off. She just knows the answer to the questions Hurst asks us."
"But she waves her arm around like it's a choice between life and death."
"I think that may be a bit drastic, James," said Remus, amused.
"Is there something you'd like to share with us, Potter? Black? Lupin?"
The three Marauders sat straight up and made innocent faces. "Of course not, Professor."
Hurst sneered, but said nothing. "Detention. All three of you."
"What?" demanded Sirius in horror. "We did do anything!"
"Ha! A likely story, Black. Detention, eight o'clock tonight, my office. You're going to be organizing some of my materials…"
James groaned inwardly. Being in Hurst's office right after dinner and cleaning and organizing his ingredients was not the best way to spend a Monday night. For all he knew, they could have been marauding around the school again under his Invisibility Cloak.
Lily smirked. Shows Potter right, taking in class.
"Is there something very amusing, Evans?" snapped Hurst suddenly, stopping his lecture on Confusing Concoctions.
She was startled and ignored the snickering from the Slytherins and James. "Not at all, Professor Hurst," she said innocently.
"Evans, you will be joining Potter, Black, and Lupin in detention tonight."
"What! You—you can't do that!" cried Lily. She had maintained a spotless record so far without an absent, tardy, or detention mark. It was all Potter's fault.
"Indeed, I can, Ms. Evans," said Hurst with a sinister smile. The Slytherins were now positively roaring with delight. Four Gryffindors in one detention! Brilliant Hurst!
Lily was fuming by the end of class and ran to Defense Against the Dark Arts, nearly running down first and second years who were going to Herbology and Transfiguration.
"Sorry," she mumbled, as she knocked down a third year.
"Hey, Lily, wait up!" called Sirius, dragging James and Remus along with him. "Gosh, that girl can run fast—"
"Probably crying that she got her first detention," said James disdainfully. "Perfect Evans."
"That's a bit harsh, James," said Remus, frowning. "I mean, she was just smiling. Is that such a crime?"
"Technically, Remus, it is for Hurst."
Professor Wickham was leafing through the textbook when Lily barged in, took her regular seat, and slammed her bag down on the table. Wickham was surprised.
"Is there something the matter, Lily?"
"Oh, no, Professor," said Lily, not looking up. "Not having a great day, that's all."
"Would you like to talk about it?" asked the young wizard sympathetically.
"No, no, it's all right." Lily still did not look up.
The Marauders took the seats right behind Lily so they could watch her for further breakdowns. But she acted like nothing happened, taking her dutiful notes.
"Are you all right, Lils?" whispered Arabella, when the class got settled.
"I'm fine."
"That was wicked of Hurst to give you your first detention. Shall we prank?"
Lily smiled weakly. "Nah. Leave the git…we'll deal with him on the last week of school."
On hearing the word "prank", the Marauders were distracted from Wickham's lecture on the three Unforgivables, as interesting as they were.
"They're planning something!" said Sirius excitedly. "Oh, if only we knew—"
"We should be taking notes, Sirius," snapped Remus, looking at Wickham with respect in his eyes. "Avada Kedavra is the Killing Curse in which…" He continued to mumble out important things.
"Wickham is so boring," said James, his eyelids drooping. "I mean, he's cool and everything, but his lectures are so soporific."
"They're interesting," said Remus practically, his gray eyes widening at something that Wickham had just said. He started to mumble again. "The Imperius Curse can only be restrained by few wizards and witches, namely Aurors…"
James had started to take notes like Remus as well, but Sirius was not interested at all. He quickly fell asleep a few minutes later, his head crashing into his parchment and quill on the table, his hair a few inches from his gleaming ink bottle.
"Mr. Black," said Wickham in an extremely amused tone, "would you like to join us now?"
Remus flushed and nudged, or rather jabbed, his friend with his elbow. Sirius woke up almost instantaneously, his head sore.
"Ow! What the hell, Remus…"
The class erupted into laughter, and Sirius turned pink, looking around sheepishly.
"Whoops…sorry Prof. Won't happen again."
"I'm sure I can trust you next time, Sirius," said Wickham, who looked as if he were trying not to laugh.
Lily, Jennifer, and Violet giggled, but Arabella sniffed indignantly.
"Stupid idiot," she said scornfully.
"Would you like to tell us why you fell asleep, Mr. Black?" continued Wickham. He wasn't mad at all; he was merely curious at Sirius' behavior.
"Oh!" Sirius looked around for help from his friends, but they avoided eye contact with him, for fear of bursting out laughing. "Well, you see, Peter here"—he jabbed his finger toward his small friend at the end of the table—"was singing a lullaby."
Everyone was shaking with laughter, and Sirius was grinning as he continued in an earnest voice.
"So, Peter was singing a lullaby, and I immediately thought of pink bunny rabbits jumping over a fence. Then one of them couldn't jump as high and slammed"—he made a gesture by slamming his fist into his opposite hand—"into the fence and died. The other bunnies were very sad, and his mum and dad were crying. Oh yeah, his ex-girlfriends were sad too, but one of them started laughing and cut off his head for revenge."
The whole classroom went into hysterics; everyone rolled on the floor, laughing, except for Wickham, who was smiling amusedly.
"Ah, I see, Mr. Black. I suppose, Sirius, that that really happened?"
"Oh yes," said Sirius, nodding his head vigorously.
"Very well. Class dismissed."
"Sirius, you are a GENIUS when it comes to making everyone get out of class without a single note taken!" appraised James, still red from laughing.
"Quite," agreed Remus, chuckling.
"Oh, Sirius, you have to do that often!" exclaimed Jennifer, wiping her eyes. "It was hilarious, I tell you…"
"Yes, well, I am a genius, aren't I?" he asked, grinning modestly.
Dinner went by very quickly, and soon Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus were heading down to Hurst's office for their detention.
"I still can't believe I got a detention!" moaned Lily. "That'll show up on my file, it will, and Mum and Dad will be so disappointed!" She looked on the verge of crying.
"It's not that bad," said James gently. "I mean, we've all gotten hundreds of detentions—Sirius and I, at least, but Remus has hit ninety-nine tonight—and all the teachers still love us." He grinned toothily.
Lily sighed. "You know, you really didn't make me feel better."
"Why? We still pass exams with the highest grades."
"Yeah, but it gives the teachers a lower trust in you."
"Oh, come on, Lils, McGonagall loves you, for God's sake!" urged James. "And she's the strictest teacher in this school…besides Hurst, but he hates everyone but Slytherins, so…yeah."
"You're late. Another ten points from Gryffindor," snapped Hurst maliciously, as they entered his office. "Dear, dear, you shouldn't wander around the corridors, children."
The Marauders glared at him, but said nothing. He gave them instructions, and they started cleaning and organizing—without magic.
"Well, I suppose it isn't so bad," admitted Lily, as she scrubbed and organized quickly and efficiently.
The other three Marauders stared at her.
"How do you do it so quick?" asked Remus in awe.
"I'm Muggle-born, and I help Mum with this kind of stuff all the time," said Lily matter-of-factly.
"Using magic would make this so much simpler," groaned James.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to do some elbow-grease work for once in your life," said Lily smartly.
"But we're so used to magic, since we practically live on it."
"Well, it's not your fault. You don't have any Muggle blood in you."
"It can be a disadvantage at times like these," admitted James.
"Is Potter actually not being arrogant?" asked Lily in mock horror. "Oh my…the world will end any minute now!"
"Oh, shut up, Evans."
"I was only acting," said Lily smugly.
After an hour or so of the tedious work, Hurst came back and was amazed to find his office neat and very clean.
"Well, I think you've done enough," he said, sneering. "My, my, I should keep you in here tomorrow, since Evans does a better show of cleaning than you three when I have you here alone."
"Lousy git," muttered Sirius, as they left for Gryffindor Tower.
As they headed off to bed, James called, "Lily! Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Sure," said Lily uncertainly, ignoring the wink that Sirius sent her.
James took a deep breath. "Look, I'm really sorry about landing you in detention today."
"Huh?" Lily was confused. "You didn't land me in detention—it was Hurst."
"Yeah, well." He shrugged. "I suppose it was kind of my fault, since we got the detention in the first place."
She snorted. "No hard feelings, Potter."
His face brightened and he grinned. James leaned closer to Lily and kissed her.
It was like fireworks when it happened. Every part of Lily's body was shaking as she slowly yielded to the demands of James' mouth. Neither of them understood what was happening. Lily's long lashes brushed James' cheek, and her hand closed over the one that James had on her cheek.
Then James jumped up, breathless, and turned a deep shade of red.
"Lily, I'm sorry," he whispered, and rushed up to his dormitory, leaving Lily standing there, speechless.
She pondered on his purposes of kissing her when they weren't getting along very well, still. But as Lily thought of the kiss, she smiled. It felt like heaven when her lips met James', and it was bliss. She felt as though every part of her would burst and that every worry she ever had was gone. Little did she know, Lily Evans was slowly falling for James Potter—just like how all her friends told her.
- - - - -
Disclaimer: I own nothing but a few of my imaginary characters, and J.K. Rowling owns the rest. You can tell that I am not J.K. Rowling, because I have none of her charm, wit, or humor when it comes to writing narratives.
A/N: I actually updated in less than one week! I was predicting that this chapter would come in about three months, but instead, I RULED and I SUCCEEDED! Yes! LOL! Anyway, I hope you like it, and please review! Whoo-hoo! One more part, and it's their fifth year, where all the drama starts to happen…dun, dun, dun.
Thank you to all my faithful reviewers! I love you all!