CHAPTER FIVE:
***************
A/N: Okay, WOW! I had some severe Writer's Block for this chapter, mostly because my head was overrun with thoughts for chapter six!!! But, I sat down today and did my usual outlining deal, and I came up with what I thought was a cool idea. I'm sorry you all had to wait so long to get this; I've been really busy lately! What with my other stories (mainly The Muggle Project and Aurors In Training), school work, and sports, I just haven't had enough time to write this! You have to admit, these chapters are pretty long, especially for someone like me, whose chapters are usually ten pages max!! Okay, so let's see here. Haha, I'm sitting here thinking of how to start this. It's been a while. I know, I need some mood music! But what kind of music does this situation call for...Hold on, I need to look for some tunes—Got it! Have any of you ever heard 'Dancing in the Moonlight'? It so reminds me of Remus and the other Marauders!!! I suggest you all go out and listen to it RIGHT NOW! All right, I'd better stop procrastinating. You know, it's always hard for me to start a chapter, but once I get going, I can't stop!!! Hmmm...Okay I think I know where I want to start. Here goes.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you:
Chapter 5~
**Lily's Attempt at Being A Good Samaritan**
After what seemed like ages, the bell rang and signaled the end of breakfast. The seventh years had the day off, and could do whatever they pleased with it. The Leaving Feast was to be held that night, and the Hogwarts Express was departing from Hogsmeade early the next morning. Lily was going to miss Hogwarts; it had been the one place she could get away from her nasty sister, Petunia.
It was because of this that Lily convinced three of her friends to come with her on one last trip through the castle. She wanted to visit everything, and just spend the day reminiscing about all those good times.
Holly, Ali, and Vera followed her out of the Great Hall, and the four of them started up the Grand Staircase.
Madeline had decided not to accompany them. She had some business to discuss with David Boyd, the Ravenclaw Beater.
So the four friends started out on their tour, stopping practically every ten meters when they remembered some silly event. They were laughing, talking, and having a generally good time.
But there was still that air of sadness; this would most likely be the last time they would see the castle in its entirety.
Holly led them around a corner on the fifth floor, and they heard her emit a loud bout of giggles.
The remaining three poked their heads around to take a look at the adjoined corridor, and found themselves smiling as well.
A skinny broom cupboard stood at the end of the hallway, with its door slightly ajar.
Vera looked slyly from girl to girl, and Ali asked in a loud voice, "Shall we?"
Lily grinned before saying, "Once, for old times' sake."
The four girls stood there for a moment, and then started to laugh uncontrollably as they raced for the tiny room to the side of the hallway.
Vera was first in, but was quickly smashed against the far wall by Holly and Lily, who had nearly flown in behind her. Ali jumped into the cupboard after the other three and slammed the door quickly.
The four of them were packed like sardines, and there was absolutely no extra space. Vera had a chunk of Holly's brown hair in her mouth, and Ali's hand was nearly pushing Lily's nose off of her face. Holly could feel Lily's knee in her stomach, and Vera let out a small whimper as someone in front of her tried to readjust. It was a claustrophobe's worst nightmare.
"You guys," Lily somehow managed to sputter, "I think we've grown a bit since last year..."
FLASHBACK
It was already past two in the morning, and all five of the Gryffindor sixth-year girls were on their way back to their dormitory.
They had been outside on the Quidditch Pitch, flying about and testing Vera's new broomstick. It was a very good model, a Comet Two-Sixty, and they didn't want to miss the chance to try it out as soon as possible.
However, the five girls found themselves running for their lives. Argus Filch, the school caretaker, was after them. And he was very close to catching them. They sped through one corridor and saw a small broom cupboard, rushing in without thinking.
Ali hushed the others as they huddled together in the closet, hoping to god that they didn't get caught. Filch's hurried footsteps could be heard from the opposite side of the door, and Lily pressed her finger up to her lips, telling them all unnecessarily to be quiet.
Unfortunately, it was very dusty in that old broom cupboard. It hadn't gotten much use in the past couple years, as it was terribly filthy. Another unlucky factor was that Vera had a terrible allergy to dust.
The caretaker stopped just outside the closet, and they heard his voice as he cooed to his feline accomplice, "We'll find them, Mrs. Norris. They've got to be around here somewhere."
Vera's eyes began to water as her nose started to itch unbearably. Madeline noticed her strange reaction to the cupboard, and quickly held her hand across Vera's mouth, trying to stifle the noise.
But it was too late. She let out a series of short, wimpy sneezes, which resulted in quite a scuffle around her. The other girls struggled to get out of the line of fire, all the while making quite a ruckus.
They heard a triumphant laugh as the caretaker started towards their hiding place, and every one of them froze in horror. Their eyes widened at first, but they closed them tightly as the handle on the door started to turn...
"Oi, Filch! Over here!"
Suddenly, the knob stopped moving.
"I knew it! I knew someone was out of bed," they heard the old man grumble, "Just wait 'till Dumbledore hears o' this, he's right fed up with your little shenanigans..."
Lily leaned forward every so slightly and looked out the small crack between the door and the frame.
Her mouth dropped open in surprise as she saw Filch grab a young boy by the collar and start to drag him past the closet forcefully.
James Potter shot her a look of 'you-owe-me-BIG-time.'
Lily nodded slowly at the boy who saved all of them from the insane caretaker, and gave him a smile of gratitude. It was just too bad he didn't see it; Filch jerked him out of sight and nearly carried him down the stairs.
~~~~~~~~
The occupants of the cupboard had all been very quiet for the past few minutes as everyone relived that evening. When they recalled the part where Potter had saved their necks, Holly, Ali, and Vera turned to look at their friend.
"What?" asked Lily casually, attempting and failing to cross her arms over her chest.
Ali raised one eyebrow as Vera said, "Lily, what's going on between you two?"
"Who?" she deferred while desperately to breathe. The air seemed to be getting gradually thinner.
"You and James, dimwit," Holly laughed, pushing her playfully on the arm. However, this resulted in the other two girls being jabbed painfully in the ribs.
"It's getting kind of stuffy in here," Lily said in a panicky voice.
"Are you two for real, or what?" Ali asked.
Lily set her face in a neutral expression and looked over at her three friends.
"Yes. Okay? Now can we PLEASE get out of here?"
Holly gave her a bright smile before agreeing.
"Yeah," she said, "I think I lost the feeling in my leg about three minutes ago..."
"Good," came Lily's reply as she stepped out of the closet.
The four of them continued on their walk around the castle, back to thinking about their past at Hogwarts. Thankfully for Lily, the subject of James Potter didn't come up again.
~~~~~
**************
~~~~~
The Leaving Feast began at half-past six, and everyone in the seventh year was immensely happy. At the end of the meal, they would be considered legal adults. Tomorrow afternoon they would arrive at King's Cross-, and once they got off that train, Hogwarts had no more power over them.
Lily sat amongst all the other Gryffindors her age. Sirius and Ali were directly across from James and herself. Remus and Vera sat beside each other on Holly's left, and they were deep in conversation.
She saw Sirius give James a look of encouragement, and just as she was about to ask what was going on, the boy beside her cleared his throat loudly and said, "Hey, you lot."
Everyone stopped talking to look at him, and James continued, "Listen, me and Sirius were thinking...Well, now that we're all legal, why don't we sneak down to the Three Broomsticks tonight and have a bit of a graduation party?"
The rest of the group smiled as if to say that they thought it was a brilliant idea, but Lily hissed, "James Potter, are you INSANE?"
He looked at her over the rim of his glasses and said while raising an eyebrow, "For dating you, maybe. Do you ever have fun, Evans?"
Lily turned her head for a split second before looking him directly in the eye and scolding, "Potter, there was a bloody ATTACK in Hogsmeade less than a week ago, do you really think it's SAFE to go down there?"
"With all due respect, Lily, I doubt that Lord Voldemort (collective shudders from the rest of the group) would attack the same place twice, especially so soon. Besides, the rest of the village is rebuilt by now..."
"JAMES POTTER THERE IS NO WAY I AM SNEAKING OUT TONIGHT TO GO TO SOME PUB AND GET,--"
"SHH!" he said, arms waving. Lily had begun to attract the attention of other students.
She lowered her voice immediately, but continued on.
"Potter, this is WAY to dangerous, I am NOT going to sneak out of bed past curfew just to celebrate the fact that I can buy alcohol!"
Sirius took this opportunity to jump in and attempt to lighten the mood.
"Don't worry, Lily, I'm sure James would pay for you..."
"Oh shut UP!"
"Sorry," he murmured, turning back to Ali.
Lily shot James a look of pure venom, but he remained firm.
"Fine, Lily. YOU don't have to come."
"I wasn't planning on it. And I don't think any of YOU guys should, either."
Holly looked at her patronizingly, and the two other Marauders' girlfriends started to speak up.
"But Lily, I WANT to go!" Vera said, casting Remus a rebellious look. Ali seemed to agree with her as she whispered, "Lils, PLEASE don't be like this!"
Lily just blinked and said, "I'm not going. But if you all want to get in trouble..."
"Thanks, Evans," Sirius replied, wrapping his arm around Ali, who began to blush gently.
The redhead only let out a frustrated sigh and went back to eating her food.
~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, dinner ended. Dumbledore stood up to signal the end of the feast, and as Professor Morris lightly clinked his fork against his wineglass, the headmaster started his speech.
"Well, we certainly have had an eventful year, I must say!"
By this time, every person in the Great Hall was absolutely silent.
"Yes. I would like to congratulate all the seventh years for graduating from Hogwarts--"
He broke off for a moment to allow a generous amount of applause from all of the oldest students in the room.
"I guess all I have to say is thank you for another wonderful year, and I wish you all the best of luck. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for..."
James smiled brilliantly as the old man continued.
"...the awarding of the House Cup!"
The entire Gryffindor house let out a multitude of cheers and claps, until the headmaster calmed them down momentarily.
"Yes," Dumbledore said, "In fourth place with two hundred and forty-eight points, we have Hufflepuff house."
There was a pitiful amount of noise for the last-place house.
"In third place, with two hundred and ninety-three points, we have Ravenclaw."
A slightly larger cheer went up.
"In second place, with three hundred and sixty-one points, we have Slytherin house."
One table applauded, while the three others booed.
"And, it is my great pleasure to introduce to you, the winners of the House Cup, with four hundred and three points...Gryffindor!"
Lily felt James leap up at this last sentence, and presently found her head wedged between two hugging Marauders. She thought she was about to go deaf from all the noise. Almost everyone in the Great Hall was cheering for them, and it was giving her quite a headache.
At long last, the applause subsided and the old man continued talking.
"Yes, well done, Gryffindor. Good job to all of you. Now, I see that it is getting late and you all need to get up early tomorrow to catch the train, so you are all excused!"
"Okay," James said in a hushed voice, "Meet in the common room at say, ten o'clock?"
"Got it," Holly whispered, turning to the rest of the girls. "C'mon," she said loudly, "Let's get back to the dorm."
Ali and Madeline seemed to take the hint as Vera replied in an equally loud voice, "Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired..."
"You guys, please don't do this-"
"Lily, stop being such a wet blanket."
The five girls were standing around their dorm room, and four of them were preparing to sneak down to the Three Broomsticks.
Holly was applying her eye makeup while sitting atop her bed, Ali was looking into the mirror compulsively, and Vera was rummaging desperately through her trunk for something suitable to wear.
Madeline stood beside Vera, scrutinizing her clothes.
"Please," Lily begged, "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Lils, what could go wrong?" Holly asked while trying not to blink.
"What could go wrong?" she said, mimicking her friend, "What could go wrong? Let me tell you what could go wrong. Filch could catch you, that's what could go wrong."
Madeline seemed to have an idea as she squealed, "Lils, sweetie, can I borrow your pink jumper?"
"What? Oh, sure," she said absentmindedly, still trying to talk Holly out of going.
Madeline rushed over to Lily's trunk to remove the sweater, and nearly ran it over to Vera. "This should be perfect," she mumbled while pulling it over the blonde's head.
Lily stopped arguing with Ali and Holly for just a moment when Madeline gasped and said, "Lily! Look at how good she looks!"
"She can have the damn jumper for all I care, just stop interrupting me!"
The other girl bit her bottom lip while turning to Vera and whispering, "Well, at least you have a new top..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily watched in dismay as all of her roommates walked out the dormitory door.
"You could always change your mind, you know," Ali said hopefully while looking back one last time.
"No," Lily said sadly, "Have fun, you guys."
The four girls gave her halfhearted smiles before turning to run down the stairs, hurrying to meet the boys.
Lily stood in the middle of their bedroom for a few minutes before grabbing a book and flopping onto her four-poster bed.
'This is exactly what I need,' she thought to herself, 'Just a nice, quiet night in the dorm.'
Too right. Things had been way too hectic lately, and she deserved some rest. She just wanted to lounge around and be lazy for one night.
Lily settled her head into her pillow and flipped to the first page of the novel.
Why would her roommates pass up this excellent opportunity for a relaxing evening? Why did they have to try and break as many rules as possible on their last night here?
Lily looked over at the clock. Ten-twenty. Time flies, eh?
She started in on her book, but her thoughts kept interrupting her.
After going through the first five chapters, she stole another glance at the grandfather clock in the corner.
It was only eleven o'clock.
Lily was starting to feel restless. She couldn't sit still anymore. Her mind raced as she thought of her family, her friends, and whatever came to mind.
What she really needed was to move. She needed to walk somewhere.
Tossing her feet over the side, Lily stood up swiftly and headed out the door. Just a little stroll, and she would come back.
She startled several third years as she entered the common room, and paused for just a moment to apologize. Lily walked purposefully to the portrait hole and pushed it open. The Fat Lady was nowhere to be seen.
She didn't pay this much mind, however, and continued on her midnight stroll.
Lily needed to mull things over.
Seriously, this whole thing with James was just too much. She was barely seventeen years old, and already they were expecting her to have a baby? With Potter?
Her feet carried her through the endless corridors, and after nearly twenty minutes of walking, she decided that maybe it wasn't the best thing to be caught out of bounds on her last night.
She turned at the end of a hallway and started on her way back.
Honestly, any offspring of James' was bound to be hazardous for society. Just as he was.
There was light coming from an open doorway, but Lily didn't pay much attention to it.
And the thought of actually...with James...
Although she had heard from a reliable source that he was quite gifted.
'Erlack,' she scolded herself, trying to shake the thought from her mind.
Just then, she heard hushed voices coming from the room with the light.
She crept up slowly, listening to the conversation. Immediately she gathered that it was between Mcgonagall, Flitwick, and Morris.
"Well," she heard Mcgonagall say, "As long as we don't stay long..."
"Ah, there's the spirit, Minerva," came the high-pitched voice of Professor Flitwick, "We'll be back before you know it."
"And you're sure the Headmaster's okay with this?" the transfiguration teacher asked cautiously.
Morris replied casually, "Yes, Minerva, he said it would be fine for us to slip off to the Three Broomsticks for a while tonight. I daresay I need to unwind. This year's been quite rough."
"I quite agree," Mcgonagall said, "I'm only thankful that this is Potter and Black's last year here. Lord knows those two will send me to an early grave."
Lily's eyes widened as she eavesdropped on the professors. They were going down to Hogsmeade? Where her friends were?
Lily's mind set as she whipped around quickly, tiptoeing away from the door. She heard some movement from the other room, and Morris said in a pleasant tone, "Minerva, my dear, have you seen my cloak?"
She was now far enough away that it was possible for her to run without being heard. Her heart raced as she sprinted to the front doors, thanking the higher powers for making sure she wasn't caught. Head Girl, running the corridors late at night? Not exactly the kind of thing expected of her...
Finally her quivering hands made contact with the giant, wooden door, as she pulled with all her might to open it real fast.
Her ankles got drenched in the wet lawn, but she didn't let that slow her down. A fiery red mass of loose hair followed behind her as she sped down the slope, past Hagrid's hut, past the closest section of the Forbidden Forest, and past the 'Welcome to Hogsmeade' sign.
The gravel crunched under her black school shoes, and as she rounded a tight corner, her hands flew up as she skidded to a halt before toppling over onto the street.
Regaining her composure, she once again took off in the direction of the pub, and once she arrived, threw the door open with force and scanned the room for her friends.
Her eyes rested on a group in the corner, who were all laughing and having a good time. Sirius sat with Ali on his lap, as Holly talked animatedly with James about winning the House Cup. Remus and Vera were left to their own devices at the far end of the table, and Madeline was, once again, looking at her fingernails.
Lily picked up the pace and jogged up to them, all out of breath.
"Well, look who finally decided to join the party!" Sirius bellowed happily.
Her arms rested on the tabletop as she tried to get her breathing straight. She had to tell them...
"Lily!" exclaimed James, clearly drunk, "Glad to thee you finally got some senth knocked into ye'!"
"James Potter, you are completely smashed," proclaimed his best friend, offering him another shot of firewhiskey. He downed it in one swallow and set it on the tabletop with gusto.
"How many is that, mate?" Sirius asked. He was obviously a little tipsy, but much less so that James.
"Dunno," came the reply, "Nine?"
"Well, Lily here has some catching up to do then, doesn't she?" smiled Ali, handing her a bottle of some strong-smelling alcohol.
"No," she said, "No. Stop drinking. All of you."
"Did you come down here just to wreck the party?" Madeline asked, semi- interested.
"NO!" Lily grunted, "I CAME DOWN HERE TO TELL YOU THAT MCGONAGALL, MORRIS, AND FLITWICK WILL BE HERE ANY SECOND AND IF YOU HAVE ANY SENSE IN YOU AT ALL, YOU WILL HURRY UP AND GET OUT OF HERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!"
The whole table looked at her dumbly, and Sirius threatened, "Lily Evans, if this is just a rouse to get us back to the castle..."
"IT BLOODY WELL IS NOT AND YOU HAD BETTER GET A MOVE ON BECAUSE THEY ARE NEARLY HERE!"
Sirius gave her an unreadable look and then said suddenly, "You heard the woman! Get going!" He reached over to elbow Remus in the arm as he muttered, "Plenty of time for that stuff later, mate."
Lupin shot him a hateful look and resentfully pulled away from his snog- session with Vera.
All the students were hustling about, trying to get out of the pub. But James was having a bit of trouble, seeing as he was absolutely wasted. Sirius stayed back to help him, and everyone else started towards the door.
Lily heard a muffled groan and a smack as James nearly shouted, "Padfoot, buddy, LET ME GO!"
She turned around, along with the rest of the group, to see a disgruntled Sirius trying to force a drunken James away from the table.
Black waved at them, signaling for everyone to go on without them. James was putting up quite a struggle.
Remus cast Lily a wary look, but she whispered, "Go, quick," before hurrying back to help Sirius with James.
He didn't need to be told twice. Remus grabbed Vera's hand and led the three girls out of the drink shop, ushering them across the street into shadow.
Lily, meanwhile, was trying to help Sirius get some control over James, who seemed to have managed to take another shot while he wasn't looking.
She put James' right arm over her shoulder as Sirius did the same with his left, but just as they were about to start out of the pub, the three teachers walked in.
"Shit," whispered Sirius, while wincing at their bad luck.
Lily looked throughout the room, trying to formulate a plan. There was an arrangement of miniature spruce trees near the door.
If only they could get over there for cover...
As if on cue, a large ball of mud hit the left window of the Three Broomsticks, commanding the attention of all three teachers and the barmaid.
Thank God for Remus and his distraction techniques.
Lily and Sirius took this as their one chance, and dashed to the exit. They vaguely heard the small tinkle of the bell above as they ambled through the door, and both of them greeted the cool night air. James was too drunk to notice.
"That was close," Sirius gasped, clutching at his heart.
"Yeah," Lily agreed, still full of adrenaline.
"Hey," he said, "Thanks."
She smiled and said, "No problem."
"Well," Sirius began, "We'd better get James here up to bed."
Lily rolled her eyes at the boy between them and whispered, "The sooner, the better."
He let out a barking laugh and started to pull James towards Honeyduke's, and the three of them were halfway there before Lily said, "Sirius, where are we going?"
The boy shot her a confused look before saying, "I thought James showed you the secret way—it'll be a lot faster."
"Sirius, the candy shop is closed."
He turned casually to face the store, and his thumb flicked across his nose subconsciously as he said, "Oh. Erm, right."
Shaking her head, Lily hoisted James' arm higher up her back as she replied, "Well, c'mon then."
The three of them started up the road, looking like a bizarre, crippled, three-headed animal. The walk back up to the castle was much longer and much more laborious, seeing as Lily now had a half-conscious boy hanging from her arm.
Her breath started to grow ragged as they hurried up the lawn, and there was a sharp pain in her side. Her knee felt as if it was about to shatter, and she had gotten several grass stains on the hem of her cloak.
Oh, the things she did for her friends.
Wait, had she just considered Sirius and James her friends?
Lily could have left them to fend for themselves; a quick escape with Remus and the girls would have been a lot easier and a lot less painful.
Her eyes darted to look over at her two companions. Sirius had his face set in determination, and was setting a quick pace up to the castle. James, meanwhile, was doing nothing to help and kept mumbling incoherently.
Sirius must really care for James. She knew they were best friends, but Lily didn't discover the depth of their relationship until that night.
Sirius would do anything for James, and if he was sober, she was sure James would do the same for him.
Lily thought about her own friends. Which of them would carry her the long distance from the Three Broomsticks to the school? Which of them would run out of bed at midnight to warn her of approaching teachers?
She thought that she would be lucky to have a friendship with anyone as great as the one James and Sirius shared.
Suddenly, she was brought back to reality as the toe of her shoe caught on a protruding rock.
"ARGH!" she groaned while falling to the ground. Using her elbow to absorb most of the shock, Lily hit the grass hard, pulling James down with her. Sirius bent over a bit to hold his friend together, but quickly shouldered most of James' weight to help Lily stand again.
"Fuck," she murmured, looking at the sizeable scrape on her arm. It stung something awful, and although it was dark, she could tell it had quite a bit of dirt in it.
"You alright there?" Sirius asked, trying to hold James up all by himself.
"Yeah," Lily returned sullenly.
"You know, you didn't have to come back."
She knew he was referring to her running back to the table to help him with James.
"Yes, I did."
"No, you didn't," Sirius smirked, once again wrapping Potter's arm around the back of her neck.
"Okay, so shoot me for trying to be a good friend."
"That's not how I meant it," he corrected, turning to look her directly in the eyes.
"And what did you mean, exactly?"
He gave her a sardonic smile and said, "You're a good person, Lily."
"I try," she said jokingly.
Sirius let out a small laugh and continued to lead the other two towards the front doors.
"You sure you're okay?" he asked.
This time she knew he wasn't talking about anything that had happened that night.
"I guess so," Lily said in a sorrowful tone, "It's all just so strange, you know?"
"Yeah, but then again, everything Dumbledore tells you's bound to be a little weird."
She laughed before saying, "Too true."
"So you're fine with all of this?"
"As fine as I can be, considering the circumstances."
Sirius said brightly, "Well, it could be worse."
"Yeah," she agreed, "It could have been you."
He shot her a serious look before cracking a wide grin.
"Nice one, Evans."
"I learn from the best."
The three of them were now at the entrance to the castle, and James was saying something about avocado-flavored broomsticks.
"...and they could be green...never hungry when playing Quidditch..." he stammered drunkenly.
Lily started to shake from a contained fit of giggles, and Sirius whispered, "Can't wait to tell him about this tomorrow..."
She shook her head as they started up the Grand Staircase. Her knee still ached terribly, but they were getting closer to the common room with every passing step. She could make it.
They had just climbed to the top of the staircase when a loud, resounding crash came from the Entrance Hall below them.
Sirius whipped around to see a very impish-looking Peeves floating over a broken potted plant. He had a mischievous grin on his face as he cupped his hands around his mouth...
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" the menace shouted, "IN THE GREAT HALL! STUDENTS OUT OF BED!"
"Shit," cursed Sirius, grabbing James forcefully and dashing with Lily along the corridor. They could still hear the crashes and screams coming from the entryway, and both of them knew that the danger hadn't passed yet.
They flew down the hallway and dashed to the staircase leading to the third floor. Gryffindor Tower was on the seventh level, and they had to hurry if they wanted to make it back before someone caught them.
Lily rounded the corner, with Sirius and James one step behind. Sirius was the only person carrying his delirious friend, and he hunched over as James was pulled up the stairs atop Sirius' back.
She skidded to a halt at the top of the third floor staircase, peeking her head around the corner to check for potential danger.
Seeing none, Lily motioned for the boy to follow her, and the three of them crept over to the next flight, proceeding to sprint up it.
Lily once again poked her head into the hallway before running across the corridor. She was about to motion for Sirius to grab James and come along, but her hand froze in midair as a faint light illuminated the end of the passage.
Biting her lip, she cautiously turned her head, straining to hear any noise coming from the end of the hallway.
"Yes, my precious, they must be close."
She recognized that voice. Lily spun around to face Sirius, who had a look of horror plastered on his face. Then again, most people were afraid of being caught out-of-bounds by Filch.
"Damn it," he whispered, clenching his fists nervously, "What now?"
She glanced down at their unconscious friend, who was lying helplessly between Sirius and the wall.
His face looked so innocent, so vulnerable...not the side you generally see of James Potter.
Her mind set, Lily turned to look at Sirius and said in the quietest voice she could manage, "I'll distract him. When you get the chance, run with him and don't look back."
"ARE YOU INSANE?" he shot, barely managing to stay inaudible.
"I'll be fine, just get him out of here."
She knew that Sirius was about to hand her James and grab the caretaker's attention himself, but she quickly added, "I'm not strong enough to carry him without you."
He knew that this was the only logical approach to the whole thing, and seeing as the old man was closing in, he had limited options.
Sirius nodded without much conviction, and she took that as her cue.
Lily leapt out of the stairwell and started racing away from Filch, in the opposite direction of the staircase.
She heard a cat screech as a reedy voice shouted, "YOU THERE! I FOUND YOU!"
The girl whipped around just in time to see the caretaker closing in on her, and a huddled figure behind him dash to the other stairwell.
"I've got you now," he said in a sinister cackle, reaching out to grab the back of her robes, "Thought you'd sneak out for a bit of a last-night adventure?"
Lily tried to mask her fear as she looked at his eyes calmly.
"And Head Girl to boot! Dumbledore is not going to be happy..."
"Mr. Filch, as you can plainly see, I was only patrolling the hallways to make sure that the other students observed curfew on their final night of term."
He flashed her a yellow-toothed grin while mumbling, "Rubbish. You know there's severe punishment for rule breakers..."
Lily shot him a furious glare before he yanked roughly on the collar of her shirt.
"In my day," he grumbled while pulling her down the stairs she had moments before climbed, "We had real ways to teach students a lesson or two."
They were walking briskly through the second floor corridor, heading straight for the Grand Staircase.
"Sometimes, they'd hang students by their ears from the dungeon ceiling. All those little hellions would be put through everything short of the Cruacius Curse itself. Old Felix never used that one...a tad too risky."
"Please, Mr. Filch, could you stop threatening our students with corporal punishment?"
Lily looked up gratefully to see Professors Mcgonagall and Morris standing just inside the doorway, looking up at them.
"But Minerva, look who I found roaming the corridors at nearly two in the morning."
He pulled on her clothes once again so that she was facing the Transfiguration and Potions teachers, with a look of pleading on her face.
"Mr. Filch, you are aware that the young woman you are holding ever-so- rudely, is indeed, the Head Girl?"
"Of course I'm bloody well aware, and she was disobeying school rules! I caught her out-of-bounds!"
"I was patrolling the hallways!" she shot back, a look of burning defiance in her eyes.
"Is that so?" asked Morris, who was now almost five meters away.
"Yes!" she exclaimed, tearing away from Filch's powerful grasp, "I heard that some third years were going to try and sneak out, so I went to go secure the corridor!"
The two Professors turned to look at the caretaker sharply, patiently waiting for him to say something.
"Oh, er..." he murmured, suddenly very interested in his shoes.
"I think it's time you returned to your dormitory, Ms. Evans," Professor Mcgonagall said sharply, lips pursed in a thin line.
"Thank you, professor."
Lily started up the Grand Staircase in a very professional manner while listening close to the two teachers scold the grizzly old man.
When she turned the corner, however, she broke out into a full-blown sprint and raced to the portrait of the fat lady.
The girl flew through these corridors for what seemed like the umpteenth time that night, and she just wanted to get to the tower as soon as possible. She was getting really tired.
Glancing at her watch, Lily rounded the last corner and jogged up to the portrait.
"Hey, you there!" she gasped, sounding irritated.
It took her several minutes to wake the fat lady, but she finally managed to do it. The woman in the picture was not very happy at the thought of being awoken at such an obscene hour.
Lily stumbled through the portrait hole, glad to be back. It had been quite an eventful night.
However, much to her dismay, it wasn't over.
"Well, that was fast," she heard an amused voice call from across the common room.
Lily looked up to see Sirius reclining in an armchair by the fire.
"I would have thought you'd have gone to bed," she replied airily, heading for the girls' staircase.
"And miss the chance to make sure you were still alive?"
"Sirius Black, if I didn't know better, I'd say that you were actually worried about me."
She was now standing over him, one eyebrow raised.
"Perhaps," he mused, stroking his chin in a thoughtful way.
She let out a small scoff and said, "Goodnight, Sirius."
Lily was halfway to the stairwell when she heard him say in a playful tone, "That's it then? You're not going to tell me all about your encounter with our crazed caretaker?"
"Nope," she shouted from the bottom step, "You can get the details tomorrow, along with everyone else."
"Oh, c'mon now, I know what goes on in that dorm!" he called from his red chair, "You're gonna tell all those girls before me?"
All he got for an answer was a muffled, "Seems like it," and the noise of a closing door.
Lily shut the door to her room quickly and walked across the room in two steps, flinging herself on top of her bed. She didn't even bother to pull up the blankets, seeing as she was so tired. Her eyelids were heavy, and all she needed was a bit of rest...
"Lils, babe, were you planning on going to sleep in your school clothes?"
Biting her lip as to stop herself from shouting out in frustration, the redhead rolled over to face her three best friends, who were all standing around her like a pack of hyenas.
Madeline was already asleep.
Lily glared at Holly, who was standing in the middle of Vera and Ali.
"What does a girl have to do to get some sleep around here? I was supposed to have an early night!"
Holly laughed and bent over to give her exhausted friend a hug.
"Thanks, sweets."
"Yeah, well, what are friends for, eh? Now if you don't mind, I really need to get some rest..."
Lily started to drift off, muttering incoherently, much like James had earlier that evening.
Vera grabbed a spare blanket and tossed it over her, asking Ali's help to tuck Lily in before retiring to their own beds.
At long last, they all fell asleep.
**********************
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
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Before she knew what had happened, Lily found herself viciously woken up, fed, and on the train. Her trunk was jam-packed, and she even had to enlarge it just a bit so all of her cosmetics would fit in.
But now she was sitting in a compartment with five other people, and no one had very much room.
Ali contented herself by sitting on Sirius' lap by the window, Vera and Remus held hands to their left, and Lily and James sat on opposite ends of the other bench. She had white gauze wrapped around the scrape on her arm from the previous night, and her knee was feeling much better.
Ali seemed to notice the considerable distance between Lily and her boyfriend, but when she brought it up with Sirius, he only deterred, "Well, they're not very affectionate, I guess."
The young girl frowned, but quickly forgot her suspicions as Sirius pulled her closer.
Vera and Remus stood up slowly and opened the compartment door.
"And where are you two going?" James asked teasingly, holding back a smile.
"None of your damn business, Prongs," his friend replied before grabbing Vera's hand and pulling her out into the hallway. Remus slammed the door loudly, and James' hands flew up to his ears in pain. He still had an awful headache from the night before.
Lily rolled her eyes as she watched through the glass as the two lovebirds walked to the back of the train. Remus had become a lot more outspoken lately.
"I can't believe we're done with school," Ali said, looking longingly out of the window at the passing scenery.
"Yeah, but on the bright side, we don't have to see Morris or Filch anymore," Sirius laughed, tucking a stray bit of hair behind his girl's ear. She smiled at him before James added, "That and the fact that we're all grown up."
Lily was just about to ask him where that logic had gotten him before when Ali asked, "What are you all planning on doing, now that we're adults and everything?"
Sirius shot a look at Potter before saying, "Well, me and James have a flat lined up; its just a couple blocks south of the Ministry."
"You two already have a place to live?" Lily asked in a disbelieving voice.
"Yeah, don't you?" James replied, turning to face the girl on his left.
"Well, no, I was going to go home and stay there until I find a flat of my own."
"That's what I'm doing," Ali added, "At least, until I get a job."
"Oh shit, we have to work now, don't we?" Sirius asked, giving off a rueful look.
"Yes, Sirius, you do have to work. How else would you get the money to buy me stuff?" Ali teased gently. There was a look in her eyes that suggested something...
"Point taken," he replied, sending her the same message. The two of them proceeded to stand up and follow the route Remus and Vera had taken only moments before.
"Be right back, mate," Sirius called to James as he exited the room, girlfriend in tow. Ali seemed to forget about James' lingering hangover, and closed the sliding door forcefully.
The boy beside Lily once again grabbed at his ears, muttering to himself, "When will it bloody end?"
"Well, you've learned your lesson, haven't you?"
James stopped covering his hearing and turned to face her slowly. A small grin played across his lips as he said, "Yes, and I swear never to drink again."
"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?" she returned, mirroring his smile.
They stared at each other for a few moments, and just before it got awkward, James said quietly, "Thanks."
She only scoffed and said, "Forget about it."
"No really, Sirius told me all about it. Not very many people would have turned back, but even less would have bloody ran out to distract Filch for us."
Lily smiled as she thought for a second or two.
"I guess this makes us even," she murmured before rising to walk out of the small room.
James watched her step outside and into the narrow hallway, and sighed thankfully as she slid the door shut slowly. A faint 'click' sounded as the compartment closed, and he leaned back into the upholstery, his headache grateful for the silence.
A/N: *WOW!* That took a lot longer than I expected, but anyways, here it is! And now, I have a few things to say to my faithful reviewers:
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Ally of Pirate's Swoop: Yes, but the school part wont be the main backdrop. There will be a sizable part that takes place during Christmas break, and I'm not exactly done fine tuning, so who knows? But ch 6 takes place while Ginny is still at Hogwarts, and I think that nine will be post- school.
US HP Fan: Lol, thanks, I thought it fit well.
Bluestripes: Wow, you're very complimentary. I really tried to make it as realistic as possible. I'm glad you didn't shoot me. I hope you like this chapter!
Eric2: Thanks, it took me a few tries to get it right, but I was really happy with the end result.
I've got a joke: Cousin dearest, I killed your cat.
ZagZig722: Well, you're not alone! Seems there's a whole group out to put a bullet through me...
Brown*Pryde: Yes, but if they caught him then there wouldn't be a plot for the rest of my story. And we wouldn't want that, now would we? Lol!
There were a ton more of you who reviewed, and I really appreciated it! I'm just so tired, I wrote like all day today, I'll respond to yours next time!
Thanks a million to all of those who helped me out with this one.
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A/N: Okay, WOW! I had some severe Writer's Block for this chapter, mostly because my head was overrun with thoughts for chapter six!!! But, I sat down today and did my usual outlining deal, and I came up with what I thought was a cool idea. I'm sorry you all had to wait so long to get this; I've been really busy lately! What with my other stories (mainly The Muggle Project and Aurors In Training), school work, and sports, I just haven't had enough time to write this! You have to admit, these chapters are pretty long, especially for someone like me, whose chapters are usually ten pages max!! Okay, so let's see here. Haha, I'm sitting here thinking of how to start this. It's been a while. I know, I need some mood music! But what kind of music does this situation call for...Hold on, I need to look for some tunes—Got it! Have any of you ever heard 'Dancing in the Moonlight'? It so reminds me of Remus and the other Marauders!!! I suggest you all go out and listen to it RIGHT NOW! All right, I'd better stop procrastinating. You know, it's always hard for me to start a chapter, but once I get going, I can't stop!!! Hmmm...Okay I think I know where I want to start. Here goes.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you:
Chapter 5~
**Lily's Attempt at Being A Good Samaritan**
After what seemed like ages, the bell rang and signaled the end of breakfast. The seventh years had the day off, and could do whatever they pleased with it. The Leaving Feast was to be held that night, and the Hogwarts Express was departing from Hogsmeade early the next morning. Lily was going to miss Hogwarts; it had been the one place she could get away from her nasty sister, Petunia.
It was because of this that Lily convinced three of her friends to come with her on one last trip through the castle. She wanted to visit everything, and just spend the day reminiscing about all those good times.
Holly, Ali, and Vera followed her out of the Great Hall, and the four of them started up the Grand Staircase.
Madeline had decided not to accompany them. She had some business to discuss with David Boyd, the Ravenclaw Beater.
So the four friends started out on their tour, stopping practically every ten meters when they remembered some silly event. They were laughing, talking, and having a generally good time.
But there was still that air of sadness; this would most likely be the last time they would see the castle in its entirety.
Holly led them around a corner on the fifth floor, and they heard her emit a loud bout of giggles.
The remaining three poked their heads around to take a look at the adjoined corridor, and found themselves smiling as well.
A skinny broom cupboard stood at the end of the hallway, with its door slightly ajar.
Vera looked slyly from girl to girl, and Ali asked in a loud voice, "Shall we?"
Lily grinned before saying, "Once, for old times' sake."
The four girls stood there for a moment, and then started to laugh uncontrollably as they raced for the tiny room to the side of the hallway.
Vera was first in, but was quickly smashed against the far wall by Holly and Lily, who had nearly flown in behind her. Ali jumped into the cupboard after the other three and slammed the door quickly.
The four of them were packed like sardines, and there was absolutely no extra space. Vera had a chunk of Holly's brown hair in her mouth, and Ali's hand was nearly pushing Lily's nose off of her face. Holly could feel Lily's knee in her stomach, and Vera let out a small whimper as someone in front of her tried to readjust. It was a claustrophobe's worst nightmare.
"You guys," Lily somehow managed to sputter, "I think we've grown a bit since last year..."
FLASHBACK
It was already past two in the morning, and all five of the Gryffindor sixth-year girls were on their way back to their dormitory.
They had been outside on the Quidditch Pitch, flying about and testing Vera's new broomstick. It was a very good model, a Comet Two-Sixty, and they didn't want to miss the chance to try it out as soon as possible.
However, the five girls found themselves running for their lives. Argus Filch, the school caretaker, was after them. And he was very close to catching them. They sped through one corridor and saw a small broom cupboard, rushing in without thinking.
Ali hushed the others as they huddled together in the closet, hoping to god that they didn't get caught. Filch's hurried footsteps could be heard from the opposite side of the door, and Lily pressed her finger up to her lips, telling them all unnecessarily to be quiet.
Unfortunately, it was very dusty in that old broom cupboard. It hadn't gotten much use in the past couple years, as it was terribly filthy. Another unlucky factor was that Vera had a terrible allergy to dust.
The caretaker stopped just outside the closet, and they heard his voice as he cooed to his feline accomplice, "We'll find them, Mrs. Norris. They've got to be around here somewhere."
Vera's eyes began to water as her nose started to itch unbearably. Madeline noticed her strange reaction to the cupboard, and quickly held her hand across Vera's mouth, trying to stifle the noise.
But it was too late. She let out a series of short, wimpy sneezes, which resulted in quite a scuffle around her. The other girls struggled to get out of the line of fire, all the while making quite a ruckus.
They heard a triumphant laugh as the caretaker started towards their hiding place, and every one of them froze in horror. Their eyes widened at first, but they closed them tightly as the handle on the door started to turn...
"Oi, Filch! Over here!"
Suddenly, the knob stopped moving.
"I knew it! I knew someone was out of bed," they heard the old man grumble, "Just wait 'till Dumbledore hears o' this, he's right fed up with your little shenanigans..."
Lily leaned forward every so slightly and looked out the small crack between the door and the frame.
Her mouth dropped open in surprise as she saw Filch grab a young boy by the collar and start to drag him past the closet forcefully.
James Potter shot her a look of 'you-owe-me-BIG-time.'
Lily nodded slowly at the boy who saved all of them from the insane caretaker, and gave him a smile of gratitude. It was just too bad he didn't see it; Filch jerked him out of sight and nearly carried him down the stairs.
~~~~~~~~
The occupants of the cupboard had all been very quiet for the past few minutes as everyone relived that evening. When they recalled the part where Potter had saved their necks, Holly, Ali, and Vera turned to look at their friend.
"What?" asked Lily casually, attempting and failing to cross her arms over her chest.
Ali raised one eyebrow as Vera said, "Lily, what's going on between you two?"
"Who?" she deferred while desperately to breathe. The air seemed to be getting gradually thinner.
"You and James, dimwit," Holly laughed, pushing her playfully on the arm. However, this resulted in the other two girls being jabbed painfully in the ribs.
"It's getting kind of stuffy in here," Lily said in a panicky voice.
"Are you two for real, or what?" Ali asked.
Lily set her face in a neutral expression and looked over at her three friends.
"Yes. Okay? Now can we PLEASE get out of here?"
Holly gave her a bright smile before agreeing.
"Yeah," she said, "I think I lost the feeling in my leg about three minutes ago..."
"Good," came Lily's reply as she stepped out of the closet.
The four of them continued on their walk around the castle, back to thinking about their past at Hogwarts. Thankfully for Lily, the subject of James Potter didn't come up again.
~~~~~
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The Leaving Feast began at half-past six, and everyone in the seventh year was immensely happy. At the end of the meal, they would be considered legal adults. Tomorrow afternoon they would arrive at King's Cross-, and once they got off that train, Hogwarts had no more power over them.
Lily sat amongst all the other Gryffindors her age. Sirius and Ali were directly across from James and herself. Remus and Vera sat beside each other on Holly's left, and they were deep in conversation.
She saw Sirius give James a look of encouragement, and just as she was about to ask what was going on, the boy beside her cleared his throat loudly and said, "Hey, you lot."
Everyone stopped talking to look at him, and James continued, "Listen, me and Sirius were thinking...Well, now that we're all legal, why don't we sneak down to the Three Broomsticks tonight and have a bit of a graduation party?"
The rest of the group smiled as if to say that they thought it was a brilliant idea, but Lily hissed, "James Potter, are you INSANE?"
He looked at her over the rim of his glasses and said while raising an eyebrow, "For dating you, maybe. Do you ever have fun, Evans?"
Lily turned her head for a split second before looking him directly in the eye and scolding, "Potter, there was a bloody ATTACK in Hogsmeade less than a week ago, do you really think it's SAFE to go down there?"
"With all due respect, Lily, I doubt that Lord Voldemort (collective shudders from the rest of the group) would attack the same place twice, especially so soon. Besides, the rest of the village is rebuilt by now..."
"JAMES POTTER THERE IS NO WAY I AM SNEAKING OUT TONIGHT TO GO TO SOME PUB AND GET,--"
"SHH!" he said, arms waving. Lily had begun to attract the attention of other students.
She lowered her voice immediately, but continued on.
"Potter, this is WAY to dangerous, I am NOT going to sneak out of bed past curfew just to celebrate the fact that I can buy alcohol!"
Sirius took this opportunity to jump in and attempt to lighten the mood.
"Don't worry, Lily, I'm sure James would pay for you..."
"Oh shut UP!"
"Sorry," he murmured, turning back to Ali.
Lily shot James a look of pure venom, but he remained firm.
"Fine, Lily. YOU don't have to come."
"I wasn't planning on it. And I don't think any of YOU guys should, either."
Holly looked at her patronizingly, and the two other Marauders' girlfriends started to speak up.
"But Lily, I WANT to go!" Vera said, casting Remus a rebellious look. Ali seemed to agree with her as she whispered, "Lils, PLEASE don't be like this!"
Lily just blinked and said, "I'm not going. But if you all want to get in trouble..."
"Thanks, Evans," Sirius replied, wrapping his arm around Ali, who began to blush gently.
The redhead only let out a frustrated sigh and went back to eating her food.
~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, dinner ended. Dumbledore stood up to signal the end of the feast, and as Professor Morris lightly clinked his fork against his wineglass, the headmaster started his speech.
"Well, we certainly have had an eventful year, I must say!"
By this time, every person in the Great Hall was absolutely silent.
"Yes. I would like to congratulate all the seventh years for graduating from Hogwarts--"
He broke off for a moment to allow a generous amount of applause from all of the oldest students in the room.
"I guess all I have to say is thank you for another wonderful year, and I wish you all the best of luck. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for..."
James smiled brilliantly as the old man continued.
"...the awarding of the House Cup!"
The entire Gryffindor house let out a multitude of cheers and claps, until the headmaster calmed them down momentarily.
"Yes," Dumbledore said, "In fourth place with two hundred and forty-eight points, we have Hufflepuff house."
There was a pitiful amount of noise for the last-place house.
"In third place, with two hundred and ninety-three points, we have Ravenclaw."
A slightly larger cheer went up.
"In second place, with three hundred and sixty-one points, we have Slytherin house."
One table applauded, while the three others booed.
"And, it is my great pleasure to introduce to you, the winners of the House Cup, with four hundred and three points...Gryffindor!"
Lily felt James leap up at this last sentence, and presently found her head wedged between two hugging Marauders. She thought she was about to go deaf from all the noise. Almost everyone in the Great Hall was cheering for them, and it was giving her quite a headache.
At long last, the applause subsided and the old man continued talking.
"Yes, well done, Gryffindor. Good job to all of you. Now, I see that it is getting late and you all need to get up early tomorrow to catch the train, so you are all excused!"
"Okay," James said in a hushed voice, "Meet in the common room at say, ten o'clock?"
"Got it," Holly whispered, turning to the rest of the girls. "C'mon," she said loudly, "Let's get back to the dorm."
Ali and Madeline seemed to take the hint as Vera replied in an equally loud voice, "Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired..."
"You guys, please don't do this-"
"Lily, stop being such a wet blanket."
The five girls were standing around their dorm room, and four of them were preparing to sneak down to the Three Broomsticks.
Holly was applying her eye makeup while sitting atop her bed, Ali was looking into the mirror compulsively, and Vera was rummaging desperately through her trunk for something suitable to wear.
Madeline stood beside Vera, scrutinizing her clothes.
"Please," Lily begged, "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Lils, what could go wrong?" Holly asked while trying not to blink.
"What could go wrong?" she said, mimicking her friend, "What could go wrong? Let me tell you what could go wrong. Filch could catch you, that's what could go wrong."
Madeline seemed to have an idea as she squealed, "Lils, sweetie, can I borrow your pink jumper?"
"What? Oh, sure," she said absentmindedly, still trying to talk Holly out of going.
Madeline rushed over to Lily's trunk to remove the sweater, and nearly ran it over to Vera. "This should be perfect," she mumbled while pulling it over the blonde's head.
Lily stopped arguing with Ali and Holly for just a moment when Madeline gasped and said, "Lily! Look at how good she looks!"
"She can have the damn jumper for all I care, just stop interrupting me!"
The other girl bit her bottom lip while turning to Vera and whispering, "Well, at least you have a new top..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily watched in dismay as all of her roommates walked out the dormitory door.
"You could always change your mind, you know," Ali said hopefully while looking back one last time.
"No," Lily said sadly, "Have fun, you guys."
The four girls gave her halfhearted smiles before turning to run down the stairs, hurrying to meet the boys.
Lily stood in the middle of their bedroom for a few minutes before grabbing a book and flopping onto her four-poster bed.
'This is exactly what I need,' she thought to herself, 'Just a nice, quiet night in the dorm.'
Too right. Things had been way too hectic lately, and she deserved some rest. She just wanted to lounge around and be lazy for one night.
Lily settled her head into her pillow and flipped to the first page of the novel.
Why would her roommates pass up this excellent opportunity for a relaxing evening? Why did they have to try and break as many rules as possible on their last night here?
Lily looked over at the clock. Ten-twenty. Time flies, eh?
She started in on her book, but her thoughts kept interrupting her.
After going through the first five chapters, she stole another glance at the grandfather clock in the corner.
It was only eleven o'clock.
Lily was starting to feel restless. She couldn't sit still anymore. Her mind raced as she thought of her family, her friends, and whatever came to mind.
What she really needed was to move. She needed to walk somewhere.
Tossing her feet over the side, Lily stood up swiftly and headed out the door. Just a little stroll, and she would come back.
She startled several third years as she entered the common room, and paused for just a moment to apologize. Lily walked purposefully to the portrait hole and pushed it open. The Fat Lady was nowhere to be seen.
She didn't pay this much mind, however, and continued on her midnight stroll.
Lily needed to mull things over.
Seriously, this whole thing with James was just too much. She was barely seventeen years old, and already they were expecting her to have a baby? With Potter?
Her feet carried her through the endless corridors, and after nearly twenty minutes of walking, she decided that maybe it wasn't the best thing to be caught out of bounds on her last night.
She turned at the end of a hallway and started on her way back.
Honestly, any offspring of James' was bound to be hazardous for society. Just as he was.
There was light coming from an open doorway, but Lily didn't pay much attention to it.
And the thought of actually...with James...
Although she had heard from a reliable source that he was quite gifted.
'Erlack,' she scolded herself, trying to shake the thought from her mind.
Just then, she heard hushed voices coming from the room with the light.
She crept up slowly, listening to the conversation. Immediately she gathered that it was between Mcgonagall, Flitwick, and Morris.
"Well," she heard Mcgonagall say, "As long as we don't stay long..."
"Ah, there's the spirit, Minerva," came the high-pitched voice of Professor Flitwick, "We'll be back before you know it."
"And you're sure the Headmaster's okay with this?" the transfiguration teacher asked cautiously.
Morris replied casually, "Yes, Minerva, he said it would be fine for us to slip off to the Three Broomsticks for a while tonight. I daresay I need to unwind. This year's been quite rough."
"I quite agree," Mcgonagall said, "I'm only thankful that this is Potter and Black's last year here. Lord knows those two will send me to an early grave."
Lily's eyes widened as she eavesdropped on the professors. They were going down to Hogsmeade? Where her friends were?
Lily's mind set as she whipped around quickly, tiptoeing away from the door. She heard some movement from the other room, and Morris said in a pleasant tone, "Minerva, my dear, have you seen my cloak?"
She was now far enough away that it was possible for her to run without being heard. Her heart raced as she sprinted to the front doors, thanking the higher powers for making sure she wasn't caught. Head Girl, running the corridors late at night? Not exactly the kind of thing expected of her...
Finally her quivering hands made contact with the giant, wooden door, as she pulled with all her might to open it real fast.
Her ankles got drenched in the wet lawn, but she didn't let that slow her down. A fiery red mass of loose hair followed behind her as she sped down the slope, past Hagrid's hut, past the closest section of the Forbidden Forest, and past the 'Welcome to Hogsmeade' sign.
The gravel crunched under her black school shoes, and as she rounded a tight corner, her hands flew up as she skidded to a halt before toppling over onto the street.
Regaining her composure, she once again took off in the direction of the pub, and once she arrived, threw the door open with force and scanned the room for her friends.
Her eyes rested on a group in the corner, who were all laughing and having a good time. Sirius sat with Ali on his lap, as Holly talked animatedly with James about winning the House Cup. Remus and Vera were left to their own devices at the far end of the table, and Madeline was, once again, looking at her fingernails.
Lily picked up the pace and jogged up to them, all out of breath.
"Well, look who finally decided to join the party!" Sirius bellowed happily.
Her arms rested on the tabletop as she tried to get her breathing straight. She had to tell them...
"Lily!" exclaimed James, clearly drunk, "Glad to thee you finally got some senth knocked into ye'!"
"James Potter, you are completely smashed," proclaimed his best friend, offering him another shot of firewhiskey. He downed it in one swallow and set it on the tabletop with gusto.
"How many is that, mate?" Sirius asked. He was obviously a little tipsy, but much less so that James.
"Dunno," came the reply, "Nine?"
"Well, Lily here has some catching up to do then, doesn't she?" smiled Ali, handing her a bottle of some strong-smelling alcohol.
"No," she said, "No. Stop drinking. All of you."
"Did you come down here just to wreck the party?" Madeline asked, semi- interested.
"NO!" Lily grunted, "I CAME DOWN HERE TO TELL YOU THAT MCGONAGALL, MORRIS, AND FLITWICK WILL BE HERE ANY SECOND AND IF YOU HAVE ANY SENSE IN YOU AT ALL, YOU WILL HURRY UP AND GET OUT OF HERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!"
The whole table looked at her dumbly, and Sirius threatened, "Lily Evans, if this is just a rouse to get us back to the castle..."
"IT BLOODY WELL IS NOT AND YOU HAD BETTER GET A MOVE ON BECAUSE THEY ARE NEARLY HERE!"
Sirius gave her an unreadable look and then said suddenly, "You heard the woman! Get going!" He reached over to elbow Remus in the arm as he muttered, "Plenty of time for that stuff later, mate."
Lupin shot him a hateful look and resentfully pulled away from his snog- session with Vera.
All the students were hustling about, trying to get out of the pub. But James was having a bit of trouble, seeing as he was absolutely wasted. Sirius stayed back to help him, and everyone else started towards the door.
Lily heard a muffled groan and a smack as James nearly shouted, "Padfoot, buddy, LET ME GO!"
She turned around, along with the rest of the group, to see a disgruntled Sirius trying to force a drunken James away from the table.
Black waved at them, signaling for everyone to go on without them. James was putting up quite a struggle.
Remus cast Lily a wary look, but she whispered, "Go, quick," before hurrying back to help Sirius with James.
He didn't need to be told twice. Remus grabbed Vera's hand and led the three girls out of the drink shop, ushering them across the street into shadow.
Lily, meanwhile, was trying to help Sirius get some control over James, who seemed to have managed to take another shot while he wasn't looking.
She put James' right arm over her shoulder as Sirius did the same with his left, but just as they were about to start out of the pub, the three teachers walked in.
"Shit," whispered Sirius, while wincing at their bad luck.
Lily looked throughout the room, trying to formulate a plan. There was an arrangement of miniature spruce trees near the door.
If only they could get over there for cover...
As if on cue, a large ball of mud hit the left window of the Three Broomsticks, commanding the attention of all three teachers and the barmaid.
Thank God for Remus and his distraction techniques.
Lily and Sirius took this as their one chance, and dashed to the exit. They vaguely heard the small tinkle of the bell above as they ambled through the door, and both of them greeted the cool night air. James was too drunk to notice.
"That was close," Sirius gasped, clutching at his heart.
"Yeah," Lily agreed, still full of adrenaline.
"Hey," he said, "Thanks."
She smiled and said, "No problem."
"Well," Sirius began, "We'd better get James here up to bed."
Lily rolled her eyes at the boy between them and whispered, "The sooner, the better."
He let out a barking laugh and started to pull James towards Honeyduke's, and the three of them were halfway there before Lily said, "Sirius, where are we going?"
The boy shot her a confused look before saying, "I thought James showed you the secret way—it'll be a lot faster."
"Sirius, the candy shop is closed."
He turned casually to face the store, and his thumb flicked across his nose subconsciously as he said, "Oh. Erm, right."
Shaking her head, Lily hoisted James' arm higher up her back as she replied, "Well, c'mon then."
The three of them started up the road, looking like a bizarre, crippled, three-headed animal. The walk back up to the castle was much longer and much more laborious, seeing as Lily now had a half-conscious boy hanging from her arm.
Her breath started to grow ragged as they hurried up the lawn, and there was a sharp pain in her side. Her knee felt as if it was about to shatter, and she had gotten several grass stains on the hem of her cloak.
Oh, the things she did for her friends.
Wait, had she just considered Sirius and James her friends?
Lily could have left them to fend for themselves; a quick escape with Remus and the girls would have been a lot easier and a lot less painful.
Her eyes darted to look over at her two companions. Sirius had his face set in determination, and was setting a quick pace up to the castle. James, meanwhile, was doing nothing to help and kept mumbling incoherently.
Sirius must really care for James. She knew they were best friends, but Lily didn't discover the depth of their relationship until that night.
Sirius would do anything for James, and if he was sober, she was sure James would do the same for him.
Lily thought about her own friends. Which of them would carry her the long distance from the Three Broomsticks to the school? Which of them would run out of bed at midnight to warn her of approaching teachers?
She thought that she would be lucky to have a friendship with anyone as great as the one James and Sirius shared.
Suddenly, she was brought back to reality as the toe of her shoe caught on a protruding rock.
"ARGH!" she groaned while falling to the ground. Using her elbow to absorb most of the shock, Lily hit the grass hard, pulling James down with her. Sirius bent over a bit to hold his friend together, but quickly shouldered most of James' weight to help Lily stand again.
"Fuck," she murmured, looking at the sizeable scrape on her arm. It stung something awful, and although it was dark, she could tell it had quite a bit of dirt in it.
"You alright there?" Sirius asked, trying to hold James up all by himself.
"Yeah," Lily returned sullenly.
"You know, you didn't have to come back."
She knew he was referring to her running back to the table to help him with James.
"Yes, I did."
"No, you didn't," Sirius smirked, once again wrapping Potter's arm around the back of her neck.
"Okay, so shoot me for trying to be a good friend."
"That's not how I meant it," he corrected, turning to look her directly in the eyes.
"And what did you mean, exactly?"
He gave her a sardonic smile and said, "You're a good person, Lily."
"I try," she said jokingly.
Sirius let out a small laugh and continued to lead the other two towards the front doors.
"You sure you're okay?" he asked.
This time she knew he wasn't talking about anything that had happened that night.
"I guess so," Lily said in a sorrowful tone, "It's all just so strange, you know?"
"Yeah, but then again, everything Dumbledore tells you's bound to be a little weird."
She laughed before saying, "Too true."
"So you're fine with all of this?"
"As fine as I can be, considering the circumstances."
Sirius said brightly, "Well, it could be worse."
"Yeah," she agreed, "It could have been you."
He shot her a serious look before cracking a wide grin.
"Nice one, Evans."
"I learn from the best."
The three of them were now at the entrance to the castle, and James was saying something about avocado-flavored broomsticks.
"...and they could be green...never hungry when playing Quidditch..." he stammered drunkenly.
Lily started to shake from a contained fit of giggles, and Sirius whispered, "Can't wait to tell him about this tomorrow..."
She shook her head as they started up the Grand Staircase. Her knee still ached terribly, but they were getting closer to the common room with every passing step. She could make it.
They had just climbed to the top of the staircase when a loud, resounding crash came from the Entrance Hall below them.
Sirius whipped around to see a very impish-looking Peeves floating over a broken potted plant. He had a mischievous grin on his face as he cupped his hands around his mouth...
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" the menace shouted, "IN THE GREAT HALL! STUDENTS OUT OF BED!"
"Shit," cursed Sirius, grabbing James forcefully and dashing with Lily along the corridor. They could still hear the crashes and screams coming from the entryway, and both of them knew that the danger hadn't passed yet.
They flew down the hallway and dashed to the staircase leading to the third floor. Gryffindor Tower was on the seventh level, and they had to hurry if they wanted to make it back before someone caught them.
Lily rounded the corner, with Sirius and James one step behind. Sirius was the only person carrying his delirious friend, and he hunched over as James was pulled up the stairs atop Sirius' back.
She skidded to a halt at the top of the third floor staircase, peeking her head around the corner to check for potential danger.
Seeing none, Lily motioned for the boy to follow her, and the three of them crept over to the next flight, proceeding to sprint up it.
Lily once again poked her head into the hallway before running across the corridor. She was about to motion for Sirius to grab James and come along, but her hand froze in midair as a faint light illuminated the end of the passage.
Biting her lip, she cautiously turned her head, straining to hear any noise coming from the end of the hallway.
"Yes, my precious, they must be close."
She recognized that voice. Lily spun around to face Sirius, who had a look of horror plastered on his face. Then again, most people were afraid of being caught out-of-bounds by Filch.
"Damn it," he whispered, clenching his fists nervously, "What now?"
She glanced down at their unconscious friend, who was lying helplessly between Sirius and the wall.
His face looked so innocent, so vulnerable...not the side you generally see of James Potter.
Her mind set, Lily turned to look at Sirius and said in the quietest voice she could manage, "I'll distract him. When you get the chance, run with him and don't look back."
"ARE YOU INSANE?" he shot, barely managing to stay inaudible.
"I'll be fine, just get him out of here."
She knew that Sirius was about to hand her James and grab the caretaker's attention himself, but she quickly added, "I'm not strong enough to carry him without you."
He knew that this was the only logical approach to the whole thing, and seeing as the old man was closing in, he had limited options.
Sirius nodded without much conviction, and she took that as her cue.
Lily leapt out of the stairwell and started racing away from Filch, in the opposite direction of the staircase.
She heard a cat screech as a reedy voice shouted, "YOU THERE! I FOUND YOU!"
The girl whipped around just in time to see the caretaker closing in on her, and a huddled figure behind him dash to the other stairwell.
"I've got you now," he said in a sinister cackle, reaching out to grab the back of her robes, "Thought you'd sneak out for a bit of a last-night adventure?"
Lily tried to mask her fear as she looked at his eyes calmly.
"And Head Girl to boot! Dumbledore is not going to be happy..."
"Mr. Filch, as you can plainly see, I was only patrolling the hallways to make sure that the other students observed curfew on their final night of term."
He flashed her a yellow-toothed grin while mumbling, "Rubbish. You know there's severe punishment for rule breakers..."
Lily shot him a furious glare before he yanked roughly on the collar of her shirt.
"In my day," he grumbled while pulling her down the stairs she had moments before climbed, "We had real ways to teach students a lesson or two."
They were walking briskly through the second floor corridor, heading straight for the Grand Staircase.
"Sometimes, they'd hang students by their ears from the dungeon ceiling. All those little hellions would be put through everything short of the Cruacius Curse itself. Old Felix never used that one...a tad too risky."
"Please, Mr. Filch, could you stop threatening our students with corporal punishment?"
Lily looked up gratefully to see Professors Mcgonagall and Morris standing just inside the doorway, looking up at them.
"But Minerva, look who I found roaming the corridors at nearly two in the morning."
He pulled on her clothes once again so that she was facing the Transfiguration and Potions teachers, with a look of pleading on her face.
"Mr. Filch, you are aware that the young woman you are holding ever-so- rudely, is indeed, the Head Girl?"
"Of course I'm bloody well aware, and she was disobeying school rules! I caught her out-of-bounds!"
"I was patrolling the hallways!" she shot back, a look of burning defiance in her eyes.
"Is that so?" asked Morris, who was now almost five meters away.
"Yes!" she exclaimed, tearing away from Filch's powerful grasp, "I heard that some third years were going to try and sneak out, so I went to go secure the corridor!"
The two Professors turned to look at the caretaker sharply, patiently waiting for him to say something.
"Oh, er..." he murmured, suddenly very interested in his shoes.
"I think it's time you returned to your dormitory, Ms. Evans," Professor Mcgonagall said sharply, lips pursed in a thin line.
"Thank you, professor."
Lily started up the Grand Staircase in a very professional manner while listening close to the two teachers scold the grizzly old man.
When she turned the corner, however, she broke out into a full-blown sprint and raced to the portrait of the fat lady.
The girl flew through these corridors for what seemed like the umpteenth time that night, and she just wanted to get to the tower as soon as possible. She was getting really tired.
Glancing at her watch, Lily rounded the last corner and jogged up to the portrait.
"Hey, you there!" she gasped, sounding irritated.
It took her several minutes to wake the fat lady, but she finally managed to do it. The woman in the picture was not very happy at the thought of being awoken at such an obscene hour.
Lily stumbled through the portrait hole, glad to be back. It had been quite an eventful night.
However, much to her dismay, it wasn't over.
"Well, that was fast," she heard an amused voice call from across the common room.
Lily looked up to see Sirius reclining in an armchair by the fire.
"I would have thought you'd have gone to bed," she replied airily, heading for the girls' staircase.
"And miss the chance to make sure you were still alive?"
"Sirius Black, if I didn't know better, I'd say that you were actually worried about me."
She was now standing over him, one eyebrow raised.
"Perhaps," he mused, stroking his chin in a thoughtful way.
She let out a small scoff and said, "Goodnight, Sirius."
Lily was halfway to the stairwell when she heard him say in a playful tone, "That's it then? You're not going to tell me all about your encounter with our crazed caretaker?"
"Nope," she shouted from the bottom step, "You can get the details tomorrow, along with everyone else."
"Oh, c'mon now, I know what goes on in that dorm!" he called from his red chair, "You're gonna tell all those girls before me?"
All he got for an answer was a muffled, "Seems like it," and the noise of a closing door.
Lily shut the door to her room quickly and walked across the room in two steps, flinging herself on top of her bed. She didn't even bother to pull up the blankets, seeing as she was so tired. Her eyelids were heavy, and all she needed was a bit of rest...
"Lils, babe, were you planning on going to sleep in your school clothes?"
Biting her lip as to stop herself from shouting out in frustration, the redhead rolled over to face her three best friends, who were all standing around her like a pack of hyenas.
Madeline was already asleep.
Lily glared at Holly, who was standing in the middle of Vera and Ali.
"What does a girl have to do to get some sleep around here? I was supposed to have an early night!"
Holly laughed and bent over to give her exhausted friend a hug.
"Thanks, sweets."
"Yeah, well, what are friends for, eh? Now if you don't mind, I really need to get some rest..."
Lily started to drift off, muttering incoherently, much like James had earlier that evening.
Vera grabbed a spare blanket and tossed it over her, asking Ali's help to tuck Lily in before retiring to their own beds.
At long last, they all fell asleep.
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Before she knew what had happened, Lily found herself viciously woken up, fed, and on the train. Her trunk was jam-packed, and she even had to enlarge it just a bit so all of her cosmetics would fit in.
But now she was sitting in a compartment with five other people, and no one had very much room.
Ali contented herself by sitting on Sirius' lap by the window, Vera and Remus held hands to their left, and Lily and James sat on opposite ends of the other bench. She had white gauze wrapped around the scrape on her arm from the previous night, and her knee was feeling much better.
Ali seemed to notice the considerable distance between Lily and her boyfriend, but when she brought it up with Sirius, he only deterred, "Well, they're not very affectionate, I guess."
The young girl frowned, but quickly forgot her suspicions as Sirius pulled her closer.
Vera and Remus stood up slowly and opened the compartment door.
"And where are you two going?" James asked teasingly, holding back a smile.
"None of your damn business, Prongs," his friend replied before grabbing Vera's hand and pulling her out into the hallway. Remus slammed the door loudly, and James' hands flew up to his ears in pain. He still had an awful headache from the night before.
Lily rolled her eyes as she watched through the glass as the two lovebirds walked to the back of the train. Remus had become a lot more outspoken lately.
"I can't believe we're done with school," Ali said, looking longingly out of the window at the passing scenery.
"Yeah, but on the bright side, we don't have to see Morris or Filch anymore," Sirius laughed, tucking a stray bit of hair behind his girl's ear. She smiled at him before James added, "That and the fact that we're all grown up."
Lily was just about to ask him where that logic had gotten him before when Ali asked, "What are you all planning on doing, now that we're adults and everything?"
Sirius shot a look at Potter before saying, "Well, me and James have a flat lined up; its just a couple blocks south of the Ministry."
"You two already have a place to live?" Lily asked in a disbelieving voice.
"Yeah, don't you?" James replied, turning to face the girl on his left.
"Well, no, I was going to go home and stay there until I find a flat of my own."
"That's what I'm doing," Ali added, "At least, until I get a job."
"Oh shit, we have to work now, don't we?" Sirius asked, giving off a rueful look.
"Yes, Sirius, you do have to work. How else would you get the money to buy me stuff?" Ali teased gently. There was a look in her eyes that suggested something...
"Point taken," he replied, sending her the same message. The two of them proceeded to stand up and follow the route Remus and Vera had taken only moments before.
"Be right back, mate," Sirius called to James as he exited the room, girlfriend in tow. Ali seemed to forget about James' lingering hangover, and closed the sliding door forcefully.
The boy beside Lily once again grabbed at his ears, muttering to himself, "When will it bloody end?"
"Well, you've learned your lesson, haven't you?"
James stopped covering his hearing and turned to face her slowly. A small grin played across his lips as he said, "Yes, and I swear never to drink again."
"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?" she returned, mirroring his smile.
They stared at each other for a few moments, and just before it got awkward, James said quietly, "Thanks."
She only scoffed and said, "Forget about it."
"No really, Sirius told me all about it. Not very many people would have turned back, but even less would have bloody ran out to distract Filch for us."
Lily smiled as she thought for a second or two.
"I guess this makes us even," she murmured before rising to walk out of the small room.
James watched her step outside and into the narrow hallway, and sighed thankfully as she slid the door shut slowly. A faint 'click' sounded as the compartment closed, and he leaned back into the upholstery, his headache grateful for the silence.
A/N: *WOW!* That took a lot longer than I expected, but anyways, here it is! And now, I have a few things to say to my faithful reviewers:
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Ally of Pirate's Swoop: Yes, but the school part wont be the main backdrop. There will be a sizable part that takes place during Christmas break, and I'm not exactly done fine tuning, so who knows? But ch 6 takes place while Ginny is still at Hogwarts, and I think that nine will be post- school.
US HP Fan: Lol, thanks, I thought it fit well.
Bluestripes: Wow, you're very complimentary. I really tried to make it as realistic as possible. I'm glad you didn't shoot me. I hope you like this chapter!
Eric2: Thanks, it took me a few tries to get it right, but I was really happy with the end result.
I've got a joke: Cousin dearest, I killed your cat.
ZagZig722: Well, you're not alone! Seems there's a whole group out to put a bullet through me...
Brown*Pryde: Yes, but if they caught him then there wouldn't be a plot for the rest of my story. And we wouldn't want that, now would we? Lol!
There were a ton more of you who reviewed, and I really appreciated it! I'm just so tired, I wrote like all day today, I'll respond to yours next time!
Thanks a million to all of those who helped me out with this one.