-Chapter 7-
-Broken Broomsticks and a Bite-
James stayed in the hallway behind the statue for a while longer. He was turning the scene he had beheld over and over in his mind. From what he saw, Snivellus was putting moves on Lily. He had only just called her a Mudblood at the end of last year . . . He just apologized to her. He could only be up to something and that wasn't a comforting thought. Especially if Snivellus had any kind of chance with her . . .
~-~-~-~-~-~
The day was beautiful and the D.A.D.A. O.W.L.s were only just over. Padfoot was bored so I tried to make him happy. Snivellus was walking our way and he would never see it coming.
"All right, Snivellus?" I asked him loudly; hoping the clusters of people around us would hear . . . particularly the tittering girls by the lake. Snivellus is smart in one area alone, the area of knowing whenever I say "Hi" to him he's about to get it. I think I gave to the worm pretty good. Padfoot and I gave it to him, I with a disarming charm and he with a charm that knocked him over.
I asked him how his exam went; Padfoot came up with a great line then,
"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment. There'll be grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."
People were laughing, and Snivellus started with his weak threats, a usual chorus of "You wait" s. It was Padfoot's turn to reply . . .
"Wait for what?" He began. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe you nose on us?" That ticked Snape off. . . His mouth started spouting swear words and profanities that. . . Well, Swear words that would turn even Padfoot's mom's ears pink . . . he also tried a few nasty hexes, but I'd already disarmed him.
He needed a good soap washing, so I gave him one. "Wash your mouth out." My voice was cold and hard. "Scourgify!" The bubbles were the colors my mom uses, Padfoot noticed that, he laughed, his loud barking filtering in with the other voices.
One voice stood out from them all.
"Leave him ALONE!"
It was she. My stomach cramped and my hand went to my hair, hopefully achieving its desired affect. The sun was bouncing off her dark red hair, giving her a halo fit for only the most beautiful angels.
"All right, Evans?" I was hoping to come across as cool and collected . . .
She didn't notice. Her anger was too high . . . after her asking me again, she asked me something I didn't have an answer to. So I thought of a funny line,
"Well," I was praying this would work for her. "It's more the fact he exists, if you know what I mean . . ."
It didn't work and my idea of her being an angel quickly faded after the next comment.
"You think you're funny," Her voice froze my heart. "But you're just a an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter."
I didn't hear much after that, but said something bold to my surprise, "I will if you go out with me Evans," I was unaware of anything but her emerald eyes. "Go on . . . Go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."
"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid."
~-~-~-~-~-~
James shivered in the cool hallway. The memory still hurt, James hoped that after a whole summer of apologizing and trying to get on good terms with her that Lily would finally see how much his heart ached for her.
James shivered again. This late September weather was amazingly cold. And he still had to practice Quidditch in it.
"James! James Potter!" echoed down the gloomy hallway.
James broke from his revelry to see his fellow Gryffindor keeper, Christopher Brett. Since Christopher was too long to chant everyone called him 'Brett'.
"Hey Brett." James replied.
"Oh!" Brett was startled by James's sudden appearance. "What are you doing lurking in the shadows like a Slytherin?"
"Don't think about it."
"Why not?" Brett was curious.
"Because!" James bit.
"Whoa! Man, you okay?"
James let out a sigh and ran a hand through his tousled black hair.
"Come on," James sounded tired. "Let's go to the pitch. I need to think."
As James and Brett wove their way through the halls, Brett studied James's face. He looked like he was trying to figure out how the world works. Or one of those timeless mysteries . . . maybe that was it . . .
"D'you have girl trouble?" Brett guessed he had poked something with his stab in the dark by the way James jumped.
"What?"
"I knew it." Brett had a cocky smile on his face. "Who is it?"
"Who is what?"
"Which young lady has finally caught the eye of the most devoted seeker Gryffindor has ever seen?"
"Come off it." James face matched the scarlet of his scarf as he pulled it from his bag and wrapped it around his neck. James and Brett exited Hogwarts School and walked through the bitter cold across the snowy grounds to the snow covered pitch.
"Hey James." Brett pushed through his chattering teeth.
"Yeah?"
"Race ya!" With that Brett was already running at full speed through the powder.
"No Fair!" James was quickly able to catch up and pass Brett. James reached the broomstick shed first; he leaned against the freezing wall panting heavily. Brett reached him laughing, his blue eyes shining from the exertion.
"You always" -pant- "Win!"
"Ya should learn how, but not against me!" James turned to open the shed.
What James found was horrifying.
All of the school brooms were scattered around the room, broken in half or shattered to pieces.
"What in the muggle earth went on in here?" Brett breathed.
"I don't know." James surveyed the room for the one broomstick he cared about, his Black Flash. James found it; it was the only broomstick that was not littering the floor in shards.
"James . . ." Brett sounded suspicious of something. "Why is your broom the only one NOT broken?"
"I couldn't tell you . . ."
James and Brett stood there for a few more minutes like bumps on a log, taking in the scene, when they heard a familiar voice behind them.
"Bloody Hell!"
Sirius Black was goggling at the scene before him . . . Two boys standing in a wrecked shed. Sirius sighed and rubbed his hands together.
"Prongs . . ." He began.
"I swear it is not what it looks like." James raised his hands in defense,
"Of course it does!" Sirius shouted excitedly. "Someone is trying to frame you! You are not stupid enough to wreck all of these and then leave your broom untouched!" Sirius countenance turned dark, "But who?"
James and Brett shrugged; they had no idea who could have done it. Another Quidditch team wouldn't have done it because then they would have just destroyed their team's brooms. The Gryffindor team couldn't have done it either; they destroyed their brooms too. It was very puzzling, it would have to have been someone who doesn't play Quidditch and wanted revenge on everyone except James.
"How about you three explain what happened to the school brooms."
The boys spun, and standing in he doorway was the outline of Professor Minerva McGonagall, lit up by the sun glinting brilliantly off of the newly fallen snow.
~-~-~-~-~-~
"I was going out to practice."
"We both were."
"I followed the to get some entertainment."
"-And when I opened the shed-"
"We walked in and all the broom were-"
"Everywhere! Broken, smashed! It was inhumane!"
"HOLD ON!" Professor Dumbledore boomed. He was still new to this whole 'headmaster' thing. So some of his teaching ways were unconventional. "Tell me, one at a time, what happened exactly. I shall know if you are lying."
They each repeated their side of the story, put on their most truthful faces, and each story matched the other perfectly.
"Hm." Dumbledore sighed. "You three may return to your classes."
"Sir, what will we do for Quidditch?" James asked, Quidditch always on his mind.
"You should have other things on your mind, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore smiled and ushered them out of his office. As they made their way down the winding staircase, Sirius whispered to James,
"Well, at least one good thing came from that!"
"And what would that be?" James was still frowning from getting sent to the Headmaster without actually DOING anything to earn it.
"I have Dumbly-bore's office covered."
"What?" James asked a little too loudly.
"The spell for our map . . ." Sirius nudged.
James's eyes lit up, "You can't be serious!"
"Yes I can, do you need to see my birth certificate?" Sirius's lopsided smile made itself known as the three boys exited through the Gargoyle statue leading from Dumbledore's refuge.
~-~-~-~-~-~
"THE BROOMS ARE WHAT!?" yelled Carson Welsh, The Gryffindor chaser/captain.
Carson was a fifth year, but even at the age of 15 he was receiving owls from the professional Quidditch teams. Carson had a mind built for Quidditch, so it didn't bother James that someone younger than he beat him for Quidditch captain.
"All of our brooms are smashed." James was tired of explaining what he and Brett had witnessed earlier that afternoon. Carson ran a hand over his face and muttered a couple curses.
"You- you're not telling the truth, right?" James shifted his gaze to a short girl with long blonde hair. "This is just one of your 'pranks'. It has to be!" Danielle's hazel eyes were brimming with tears. James knew why, too. Danny had received her first broom for her 15th birthday this past summer.
James nodded, "I'm sorry but, that is the truth."
Danny buried her face in her arms and her boyfriend, Eric, massaged her back, whispering to her that everything would be okay, even though James could tell that he also felt like crying. Eric Yhao was also a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
There were papers fluttering along the Great Hall's wall, each of the four papers listed the House Team line-up. Gryffindor's looked like this:
Year-Name--------------Position
6th Christopher Brett - Keeper
5th Carson Welsh - Chaser/Captain
5th Danielle Richardson - Chaser
3rd Abihail Falsecress - Chaser
6th Eric Yhao - Beater
4th Clarice Covey - Beater
6th James Potter - Seeker
James turned his eyes away from the fluttering papers on the wall to his teammates. He could see them all mentally kissing their beloved broomsticks good-bye.
'I'm glad I don't have to do that.' James thought.
He sighed; they wouldn't get to practice for sometime, since there was only one broomstick left between 28 Hogwarts Quidditch players. James surveyed the other house tables; he saw similar faces that were crying, staring off into nothing, or just glaring at him. Glaring at him? James shook his head and stared in curiosity at the other tables, there actually were some people staring at him. Why? James hadn't done anything. Then he realized as far as they knew, he had broken every broom in the school except his.
It was the cardinal sin for any Quidditch player, to break a broom out of pure malice.
He ran a hand through his hair, wishing they would back off.
Other students began to filter into Great Hall for early dinner. Danielle dried her eyes; Eric wiped a few tears from his own brown eyes,
"Come on, let's go for a walk." She nodded and they left the crowding Great Hall hand-in-hand. The other team members dispersed among the Gryffindors filling up the table. James succumbed to his weariness by resting his head in his arms; he had fallen asleep when the other three Marauders walked up to him.
"Don't wake him." Sirius said. Peter and Remus nodded, the three sat on the opposite side of the table and began to fill their appetite with the delicious food. Sirius looked up when someone sat in the empty seat on the right of James. It was Lily. Sirius noticed she had turned pink around the edges of her face, it actually didn't look bad though, she looked healthy, and -if he dared to think it and he never turned down a dare- pretty.
Lily noticed Sirius staring at her and cocked an eyebrow at him, as if to say, what are you staring at? He quickly shook his head, and continued to busily eat. Lily rolled her eyes, 'Boys are so stupid'. Lily caught Maggie's eye,
"What are you doing after dinner?"
"Not much." Maggie pushed through a full mouth. Maggie swallowed and reached for another roll, as she reached so did Remus; they ended up grabbing at the same roll.
"Oh! I'm sorry." Maggie mumbled. Her face turned a brilliant shade of crimson.
"No, it's okay. You can have it." He offered the roll to Maggie, his shy smile lighting up his face.
"Thanks." She smiled back, and then quickly became engrossed in fixing it with butter. Remus calmly reached for another roll and continued eating. Suddenly James jerked awake, he jumped so high he practically landed in Lily's lap.
"Whoa! Prongs! Are you okay?" Sirius was standing up, and attracting a lot of attention.
Lily just sat still, even though a sixteen-year-old boy can be heavy, he was so tense. Lily could feel his muscles beginning to relax. She shook her head; she did not want to think about that, at least not at the same exact moment James Potter was on her lap. 'NO! He is still that bigheaded, arrogant. .' Her thoughts lost their power when James replied.
"Yeah," he sighed. "I'm good."
He realized where he was sitting, and hopped back into his seat.
"Sorry," His cheeks were tinted. "I guess I got a little excited from the dream I was having. I fell off my broomstick."
"You only fell?" Peter pressed.
James's face twitched. Peter had hit something. What had James really dreamt?
"I- uh- I'm going to the library." James muttered as he excused himself from the table.
From the teacher's table Albus Dumbledore watched the entire interaction. He realized these kids were getting older; soon they would start realizing what the real world was like. Watching them be so innocent, when so much was going on in the safe Hogwarts walls made Albus feel very old. Albus shivered, he never wanted to feel like that ever again.
"Minerva," Dumbledore began. "What do you think about being old?"
"Excuse me, Headmaster." Professor McGonagall said standing up from the table. "But I will tell you my opinion when I get there." She left the Great Hall in a miffed bustle.
Albus Dumbledore sighed and turned back to his dinner, but he couldn't concentrate on it. He looked back at the Marauders. They were discussing something, something important from the looks on the teen's faces. He watched Lily stand; she was also raising her voice because Dumbledore was starting to hear her voice straining to be heard above the crowd.
"I don't give a ---------didn't go there------harm-------know it!" he could just barely make out.
She then turned and left the Great Hall. Maggie stood to follow, but Remus Lupin grabbed her arm, she looked at him. Remus shook his head and said something to her; she seemed to relax as she sat back down. Peter put in his two cents, and Sirius made fun of it because he, Remus and Maggie began to laugh. It was good to see the young people laugh.
~-~-~-~-~-~
James wrapped his scarlet and gold scarf around his neck. This was way too much happening in one day. James crossed the eerie, snow-covered grounds. The snow glowed and crunched beneath his feet. James only knew one way to get rid of his troubles, to fly. James reached under the stands where he had asked Clarice Covey to place his broomstick there earlier that day so no student would get any ideas of false revenge. He retrieved his broom and mounted it. James kicked hard from the ground. James shot up through the bitter cold air.
It was marvelous to see Hogwarts smothered in a thick coat of snow-fur. James turned away from the sight to see another, the Forbidden Forest drenched in a pearly white froth. James dropped a few feet, and then he dropped some more.
'For the love of Pete,' James thought. He just dove.
He dove in the ground's direction. He felt the faster he moved, the farther away his problems could be. James held out the dive until the last two feet. He jumped onto the back of the broom and stood as he broom pulled a parallel with the ground.
James sliced through the chilly air standing on the back of his broom. He pushed down on the back of the broom, as he rose through the air James was subconsciously using magic to balance on the vertical broom. James jumped off of the broom and felt the air rush past him as he fell towards the frozen earth. James reached out his hand and called his broom to him, the broom fell through the air to his outstretched hand. James deftly pulled it under his plummeting body, and then sped off again, racing over to the edge of the snowy pitch.
James began to trace the outer rim of the pitch, daring himself to leave it.
James, being a Marauder, took himself up on that dare.
~-~-~-~-~-~
Lily knotted her scarlet and gold scarf about her neck. Then she set out in one of the tunnels she had seen the Marauders using in the previous year. She had traveled it at another time to see if there was anything down it that could get the annoying boys in detention. It was cold down here, and soon the tunnel exited into the even colder night embracing the Hogwarts grounds. Lily pulled her coat tightly around her; she knew James was not in the library. The reason she knew that was because James never went to the library when he wanted to think, he went to the sky.
Lily admired James's flying talents, only because she didn't possess any.
'And if he wasn't so stuck-up I might like him too.'
She quickly let her train of thought go back to its previous carriage, her non-existent flying talent. At least she didn't think she had it because she never actually got the broom off of the ground that first year with Madame Greer. Lily had to bend down and pick up the broomstick in front of all the other first years. So needless to say, Lily didn't even participate in the later broom games they played as they advanced in years at Hogwarts. Lily helped referee from the ground.
Lily made her way through the snow to the Quidditch pitch. What she didn't know was that a young man on a broom was following right behind her, as quietly as he could.
Lily stopped, the hairs on the back of her neck were prickling, and she realized someone was watching her . . .
James swooped in and snatched up Lily, who screamed her head off. James placed a hand over her mouth, so the racket she was making wouldn't bust his eardrums. Lily bit the large hand covering her mouth, whoever had her was definitely not going to be holding on long.
James yelled in pain and fell off he broom, still holding onto Lily. They fell twenty feet into the soft snow.
Lily opened her eyes and saw blood staining the pure white snow; she was laying on someone too. She heard him groan and quickly rolled off of him. She raised her hand; she was ready to knock the living daylights out of the perv who grabbed her . . .
When she saw his face.
Contorted with pain, James's face stared up at her.
He groaned again. Lily stared, horrified at what she had done.
"James," she stuttered. "I didn't know . . ."
"Shut up." He muttered through clenched teeth. "Just help me get to Madame Pomfrey."
"Yeah . . ." her voice trailed off. Lily pulled James from the snow, removed her scarf, tied it around his hand, and they set off through the snow to the tunnel.
"James, I am so sorry."
"Forget it. I shouldn't have sneaked up on you."
"That's true . . ."
"There's nothing to say after that point." He told her.
Lily was shocked. He didn't want to put a guilt trip on her?
"Lily, I can't read minds, but I can read your emotions."
She remained silent.
They reached the tunnel and entered, still in a deep silence. They walked through it and just before they reached the end Lily said,
"I really hate flying."
James laughed and made a comment about maybe he will change that. Lily wondered if she would let him, but pushed the thought aside as they reached the office of Madame Pomfrey. Lily knocked on the door. No one answered. She knocked again. This time there was a shuffle of feet from inside, and Madame Pomfrey opened the door. The sight she saw was the most amazing sight she had ever seen.
She kept her ears open when the students talked in the Infirmary, but no one had mentioned Lily Evans and James Potter being an item. In fact she only heard things about how much Miss Evans detested Mr. Potter, and yet here they were. She blinked and spoke,
"Yes?"
"I hurt my hand."
"Come in and let me see it."
James removed his uninjured arm from around Lily and walked into the Infirmary. Lily only then noticed how close they had been. Lily then decided to go down to the Gryffindor common room and see who was there. She was also going to go give news to anyone who cared about James's hand.
~-~-~-~-~-~
"Mr. Potter I would like you to stay here for the night."
"Is it that bad?" his voice was tinged with panic.
"No. No, I do not wish for you to travel the cold halls of this drafty school with an injured hand. And I see that question in your eyes. Yes, you may still play Quidditch. Even though I don't know how anyone is, I heard the brooms were all broken."
"They are." James cast down his eyes, hoping Madame Pomfrey hadn't heard the false part of the rumor too.
"Hmmm.." She sighed. "Well, I'll send someone for your warmest night clothes."
James nodded, ran a hand through his hair, and sunk down into the hospital bed. He would sleep tonight; there was no Sirius to wake him up with another devious plan.
(End Chapter 7)
(For Myr Halcyon who gave the humorous line about Sirius's birth certificate.)
-Broken Broomsticks and a Bite-
James stayed in the hallway behind the statue for a while longer. He was turning the scene he had beheld over and over in his mind. From what he saw, Snivellus was putting moves on Lily. He had only just called her a Mudblood at the end of last year . . . He just apologized to her. He could only be up to something and that wasn't a comforting thought. Especially if Snivellus had any kind of chance with her . . .
~-~-~-~-~-~
The day was beautiful and the D.A.D.A. O.W.L.s were only just over. Padfoot was bored so I tried to make him happy. Snivellus was walking our way and he would never see it coming.
"All right, Snivellus?" I asked him loudly; hoping the clusters of people around us would hear . . . particularly the tittering girls by the lake. Snivellus is smart in one area alone, the area of knowing whenever I say "Hi" to him he's about to get it. I think I gave to the worm pretty good. Padfoot and I gave it to him, I with a disarming charm and he with a charm that knocked him over.
I asked him how his exam went; Padfoot came up with a great line then,
"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment. There'll be grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."
People were laughing, and Snivellus started with his weak threats, a usual chorus of "You wait" s. It was Padfoot's turn to reply . . .
"Wait for what?" He began. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe you nose on us?" That ticked Snape off. . . His mouth started spouting swear words and profanities that. . . Well, Swear words that would turn even Padfoot's mom's ears pink . . . he also tried a few nasty hexes, but I'd already disarmed him.
He needed a good soap washing, so I gave him one. "Wash your mouth out." My voice was cold and hard. "Scourgify!" The bubbles were the colors my mom uses, Padfoot noticed that, he laughed, his loud barking filtering in with the other voices.
One voice stood out from them all.
"Leave him ALONE!"
It was she. My stomach cramped and my hand went to my hair, hopefully achieving its desired affect. The sun was bouncing off her dark red hair, giving her a halo fit for only the most beautiful angels.
"All right, Evans?" I was hoping to come across as cool and collected . . .
She didn't notice. Her anger was too high . . . after her asking me again, she asked me something I didn't have an answer to. So I thought of a funny line,
"Well," I was praying this would work for her. "It's more the fact he exists, if you know what I mean . . ."
It didn't work and my idea of her being an angel quickly faded after the next comment.
"You think you're funny," Her voice froze my heart. "But you're just a an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter."
I didn't hear much after that, but said something bold to my surprise, "I will if you go out with me Evans," I was unaware of anything but her emerald eyes. "Go on . . . Go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."
"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid."
~-~-~-~-~-~
James shivered in the cool hallway. The memory still hurt, James hoped that after a whole summer of apologizing and trying to get on good terms with her that Lily would finally see how much his heart ached for her.
James shivered again. This late September weather was amazingly cold. And he still had to practice Quidditch in it.
"James! James Potter!" echoed down the gloomy hallway.
James broke from his revelry to see his fellow Gryffindor keeper, Christopher Brett. Since Christopher was too long to chant everyone called him 'Brett'.
"Hey Brett." James replied.
"Oh!" Brett was startled by James's sudden appearance. "What are you doing lurking in the shadows like a Slytherin?"
"Don't think about it."
"Why not?" Brett was curious.
"Because!" James bit.
"Whoa! Man, you okay?"
James let out a sigh and ran a hand through his tousled black hair.
"Come on," James sounded tired. "Let's go to the pitch. I need to think."
As James and Brett wove their way through the halls, Brett studied James's face. He looked like he was trying to figure out how the world works. Or one of those timeless mysteries . . . maybe that was it . . .
"D'you have girl trouble?" Brett guessed he had poked something with his stab in the dark by the way James jumped.
"What?"
"I knew it." Brett had a cocky smile on his face. "Who is it?"
"Who is what?"
"Which young lady has finally caught the eye of the most devoted seeker Gryffindor has ever seen?"
"Come off it." James face matched the scarlet of his scarf as he pulled it from his bag and wrapped it around his neck. James and Brett exited Hogwarts School and walked through the bitter cold across the snowy grounds to the snow covered pitch.
"Hey James." Brett pushed through his chattering teeth.
"Yeah?"
"Race ya!" With that Brett was already running at full speed through the powder.
"No Fair!" James was quickly able to catch up and pass Brett. James reached the broomstick shed first; he leaned against the freezing wall panting heavily. Brett reached him laughing, his blue eyes shining from the exertion.
"You always" -pant- "Win!"
"Ya should learn how, but not against me!" James turned to open the shed.
What James found was horrifying.
All of the school brooms were scattered around the room, broken in half or shattered to pieces.
"What in the muggle earth went on in here?" Brett breathed.
"I don't know." James surveyed the room for the one broomstick he cared about, his Black Flash. James found it; it was the only broomstick that was not littering the floor in shards.
"James . . ." Brett sounded suspicious of something. "Why is your broom the only one NOT broken?"
"I couldn't tell you . . ."
James and Brett stood there for a few more minutes like bumps on a log, taking in the scene, when they heard a familiar voice behind them.
"Bloody Hell!"
Sirius Black was goggling at the scene before him . . . Two boys standing in a wrecked shed. Sirius sighed and rubbed his hands together.
"Prongs . . ." He began.
"I swear it is not what it looks like." James raised his hands in defense,
"Of course it does!" Sirius shouted excitedly. "Someone is trying to frame you! You are not stupid enough to wreck all of these and then leave your broom untouched!" Sirius countenance turned dark, "But who?"
James and Brett shrugged; they had no idea who could have done it. Another Quidditch team wouldn't have done it because then they would have just destroyed their team's brooms. The Gryffindor team couldn't have done it either; they destroyed their brooms too. It was very puzzling, it would have to have been someone who doesn't play Quidditch and wanted revenge on everyone except James.
"How about you three explain what happened to the school brooms."
The boys spun, and standing in he doorway was the outline of Professor Minerva McGonagall, lit up by the sun glinting brilliantly off of the newly fallen snow.
~-~-~-~-~-~
"I was going out to practice."
"We both were."
"I followed the to get some entertainment."
"-And when I opened the shed-"
"We walked in and all the broom were-"
"Everywhere! Broken, smashed! It was inhumane!"
"HOLD ON!" Professor Dumbledore boomed. He was still new to this whole 'headmaster' thing. So some of his teaching ways were unconventional. "Tell me, one at a time, what happened exactly. I shall know if you are lying."
They each repeated their side of the story, put on their most truthful faces, and each story matched the other perfectly.
"Hm." Dumbledore sighed. "You three may return to your classes."
"Sir, what will we do for Quidditch?" James asked, Quidditch always on his mind.
"You should have other things on your mind, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore smiled and ushered them out of his office. As they made their way down the winding staircase, Sirius whispered to James,
"Well, at least one good thing came from that!"
"And what would that be?" James was still frowning from getting sent to the Headmaster without actually DOING anything to earn it.
"I have Dumbly-bore's office covered."
"What?" James asked a little too loudly.
"The spell for our map . . ." Sirius nudged.
James's eyes lit up, "You can't be serious!"
"Yes I can, do you need to see my birth certificate?" Sirius's lopsided smile made itself known as the three boys exited through the Gargoyle statue leading from Dumbledore's refuge.
~-~-~-~-~-~
"THE BROOMS ARE WHAT!?" yelled Carson Welsh, The Gryffindor chaser/captain.
Carson was a fifth year, but even at the age of 15 he was receiving owls from the professional Quidditch teams. Carson had a mind built for Quidditch, so it didn't bother James that someone younger than he beat him for Quidditch captain.
"All of our brooms are smashed." James was tired of explaining what he and Brett had witnessed earlier that afternoon. Carson ran a hand over his face and muttered a couple curses.
"You- you're not telling the truth, right?" James shifted his gaze to a short girl with long blonde hair. "This is just one of your 'pranks'. It has to be!" Danielle's hazel eyes were brimming with tears. James knew why, too. Danny had received her first broom for her 15th birthday this past summer.
James nodded, "I'm sorry but, that is the truth."
Danny buried her face in her arms and her boyfriend, Eric, massaged her back, whispering to her that everything would be okay, even though James could tell that he also felt like crying. Eric Yhao was also a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
There were papers fluttering along the Great Hall's wall, each of the four papers listed the House Team line-up. Gryffindor's looked like this:
Year-Name--------------Position
6th Christopher Brett - Keeper
5th Carson Welsh - Chaser/Captain
5th Danielle Richardson - Chaser
3rd Abihail Falsecress - Chaser
6th Eric Yhao - Beater
4th Clarice Covey - Beater
6th James Potter - Seeker
James turned his eyes away from the fluttering papers on the wall to his teammates. He could see them all mentally kissing their beloved broomsticks good-bye.
'I'm glad I don't have to do that.' James thought.
He sighed; they wouldn't get to practice for sometime, since there was only one broomstick left between 28 Hogwarts Quidditch players. James surveyed the other house tables; he saw similar faces that were crying, staring off into nothing, or just glaring at him. Glaring at him? James shook his head and stared in curiosity at the other tables, there actually were some people staring at him. Why? James hadn't done anything. Then he realized as far as they knew, he had broken every broom in the school except his.
It was the cardinal sin for any Quidditch player, to break a broom out of pure malice.
He ran a hand through his hair, wishing they would back off.
Other students began to filter into Great Hall for early dinner. Danielle dried her eyes; Eric wiped a few tears from his own brown eyes,
"Come on, let's go for a walk." She nodded and they left the crowding Great Hall hand-in-hand. The other team members dispersed among the Gryffindors filling up the table. James succumbed to his weariness by resting his head in his arms; he had fallen asleep when the other three Marauders walked up to him.
"Don't wake him." Sirius said. Peter and Remus nodded, the three sat on the opposite side of the table and began to fill their appetite with the delicious food. Sirius looked up when someone sat in the empty seat on the right of James. It was Lily. Sirius noticed she had turned pink around the edges of her face, it actually didn't look bad though, she looked healthy, and -if he dared to think it and he never turned down a dare- pretty.
Lily noticed Sirius staring at her and cocked an eyebrow at him, as if to say, what are you staring at? He quickly shook his head, and continued to busily eat. Lily rolled her eyes, 'Boys are so stupid'. Lily caught Maggie's eye,
"What are you doing after dinner?"
"Not much." Maggie pushed through a full mouth. Maggie swallowed and reached for another roll, as she reached so did Remus; they ended up grabbing at the same roll.
"Oh! I'm sorry." Maggie mumbled. Her face turned a brilliant shade of crimson.
"No, it's okay. You can have it." He offered the roll to Maggie, his shy smile lighting up his face.
"Thanks." She smiled back, and then quickly became engrossed in fixing it with butter. Remus calmly reached for another roll and continued eating. Suddenly James jerked awake, he jumped so high he practically landed in Lily's lap.
"Whoa! Prongs! Are you okay?" Sirius was standing up, and attracting a lot of attention.
Lily just sat still, even though a sixteen-year-old boy can be heavy, he was so tense. Lily could feel his muscles beginning to relax. She shook her head; she did not want to think about that, at least not at the same exact moment James Potter was on her lap. 'NO! He is still that bigheaded, arrogant. .' Her thoughts lost their power when James replied.
"Yeah," he sighed. "I'm good."
He realized where he was sitting, and hopped back into his seat.
"Sorry," His cheeks were tinted. "I guess I got a little excited from the dream I was having. I fell off my broomstick."
"You only fell?" Peter pressed.
James's face twitched. Peter had hit something. What had James really dreamt?
"I- uh- I'm going to the library." James muttered as he excused himself from the table.
From the teacher's table Albus Dumbledore watched the entire interaction. He realized these kids were getting older; soon they would start realizing what the real world was like. Watching them be so innocent, when so much was going on in the safe Hogwarts walls made Albus feel very old. Albus shivered, he never wanted to feel like that ever again.
"Minerva," Dumbledore began. "What do you think about being old?"
"Excuse me, Headmaster." Professor McGonagall said standing up from the table. "But I will tell you my opinion when I get there." She left the Great Hall in a miffed bustle.
Albus Dumbledore sighed and turned back to his dinner, but he couldn't concentrate on it. He looked back at the Marauders. They were discussing something, something important from the looks on the teen's faces. He watched Lily stand; she was also raising her voice because Dumbledore was starting to hear her voice straining to be heard above the crowd.
"I don't give a ---------didn't go there------harm-------know it!" he could just barely make out.
She then turned and left the Great Hall. Maggie stood to follow, but Remus Lupin grabbed her arm, she looked at him. Remus shook his head and said something to her; she seemed to relax as she sat back down. Peter put in his two cents, and Sirius made fun of it because he, Remus and Maggie began to laugh. It was good to see the young people laugh.
~-~-~-~-~-~
James wrapped his scarlet and gold scarf around his neck. This was way too much happening in one day. James crossed the eerie, snow-covered grounds. The snow glowed and crunched beneath his feet. James only knew one way to get rid of his troubles, to fly. James reached under the stands where he had asked Clarice Covey to place his broomstick there earlier that day so no student would get any ideas of false revenge. He retrieved his broom and mounted it. James kicked hard from the ground. James shot up through the bitter cold air.
It was marvelous to see Hogwarts smothered in a thick coat of snow-fur. James turned away from the sight to see another, the Forbidden Forest drenched in a pearly white froth. James dropped a few feet, and then he dropped some more.
'For the love of Pete,' James thought. He just dove.
He dove in the ground's direction. He felt the faster he moved, the farther away his problems could be. James held out the dive until the last two feet. He jumped onto the back of the broom and stood as he broom pulled a parallel with the ground.
James sliced through the chilly air standing on the back of his broom. He pushed down on the back of the broom, as he rose through the air James was subconsciously using magic to balance on the vertical broom. James jumped off of the broom and felt the air rush past him as he fell towards the frozen earth. James reached out his hand and called his broom to him, the broom fell through the air to his outstretched hand. James deftly pulled it under his plummeting body, and then sped off again, racing over to the edge of the snowy pitch.
James began to trace the outer rim of the pitch, daring himself to leave it.
James, being a Marauder, took himself up on that dare.
~-~-~-~-~-~
Lily knotted her scarlet and gold scarf about her neck. Then she set out in one of the tunnels she had seen the Marauders using in the previous year. She had traveled it at another time to see if there was anything down it that could get the annoying boys in detention. It was cold down here, and soon the tunnel exited into the even colder night embracing the Hogwarts grounds. Lily pulled her coat tightly around her; she knew James was not in the library. The reason she knew that was because James never went to the library when he wanted to think, he went to the sky.
Lily admired James's flying talents, only because she didn't possess any.
'And if he wasn't so stuck-up I might like him too.'
She quickly let her train of thought go back to its previous carriage, her non-existent flying talent. At least she didn't think she had it because she never actually got the broom off of the ground that first year with Madame Greer. Lily had to bend down and pick up the broomstick in front of all the other first years. So needless to say, Lily didn't even participate in the later broom games they played as they advanced in years at Hogwarts. Lily helped referee from the ground.
Lily made her way through the snow to the Quidditch pitch. What she didn't know was that a young man on a broom was following right behind her, as quietly as he could.
Lily stopped, the hairs on the back of her neck were prickling, and she realized someone was watching her . . .
James swooped in and snatched up Lily, who screamed her head off. James placed a hand over her mouth, so the racket she was making wouldn't bust his eardrums. Lily bit the large hand covering her mouth, whoever had her was definitely not going to be holding on long.
James yelled in pain and fell off he broom, still holding onto Lily. They fell twenty feet into the soft snow.
Lily opened her eyes and saw blood staining the pure white snow; she was laying on someone too. She heard him groan and quickly rolled off of him. She raised her hand; she was ready to knock the living daylights out of the perv who grabbed her . . .
When she saw his face.
Contorted with pain, James's face stared up at her.
He groaned again. Lily stared, horrified at what she had done.
"James," she stuttered. "I didn't know . . ."
"Shut up." He muttered through clenched teeth. "Just help me get to Madame Pomfrey."
"Yeah . . ." her voice trailed off. Lily pulled James from the snow, removed her scarf, tied it around his hand, and they set off through the snow to the tunnel.
"James, I am so sorry."
"Forget it. I shouldn't have sneaked up on you."
"That's true . . ."
"There's nothing to say after that point." He told her.
Lily was shocked. He didn't want to put a guilt trip on her?
"Lily, I can't read minds, but I can read your emotions."
She remained silent.
They reached the tunnel and entered, still in a deep silence. They walked through it and just before they reached the end Lily said,
"I really hate flying."
James laughed and made a comment about maybe he will change that. Lily wondered if she would let him, but pushed the thought aside as they reached the office of Madame Pomfrey. Lily knocked on the door. No one answered. She knocked again. This time there was a shuffle of feet from inside, and Madame Pomfrey opened the door. The sight she saw was the most amazing sight she had ever seen.
She kept her ears open when the students talked in the Infirmary, but no one had mentioned Lily Evans and James Potter being an item. In fact she only heard things about how much Miss Evans detested Mr. Potter, and yet here they were. She blinked and spoke,
"Yes?"
"I hurt my hand."
"Come in and let me see it."
James removed his uninjured arm from around Lily and walked into the Infirmary. Lily only then noticed how close they had been. Lily then decided to go down to the Gryffindor common room and see who was there. She was also going to go give news to anyone who cared about James's hand.
~-~-~-~-~-~
"Mr. Potter I would like you to stay here for the night."
"Is it that bad?" his voice was tinged with panic.
"No. No, I do not wish for you to travel the cold halls of this drafty school with an injured hand. And I see that question in your eyes. Yes, you may still play Quidditch. Even though I don't know how anyone is, I heard the brooms were all broken."
"They are." James cast down his eyes, hoping Madame Pomfrey hadn't heard the false part of the rumor too.
"Hmmm.." She sighed. "Well, I'll send someone for your warmest night clothes."
James nodded, ran a hand through his hair, and sunk down into the hospital bed. He would sleep tonight; there was no Sirius to wake him up with another devious plan.
(End Chapter 7)
(For Myr Halcyon who gave the humorous line about Sirius's birth certificate.)
