Chapter 12

The Whomping Willow

When November came to a close, fierce winds and rains were threatening to tear down the school. Everywhere anyone went, they could hear trees from the Forbidden Forest creaking and moaning in the wind. Rain droplets the size of golf balls were pounding down from the sky, accompanied by streaks of lightning. Everyone was in solemn, bored moods. It seemed that without Quidditch to watch on weekends, and with Christmas break drawing ever closer, there wasn't much to do.

It was on one of these tedious, almost clear sky mornings, Lily found herself heading down to the abandoned Quidditch field with the marauders and Belle. But Remus wasn't with them, due to the full moon that night.

 A very light rain was trickling down from the heavy gray clouds- but it was the least amount of rain in a very long time, so Lily was pleased to get outside.

Lily was seated in the icy cold stands. Belle had concocted a little waterproof fire with her wand, and everyone was huddling around it for warmth. Everyone, that is, except for Sirius. Sirius had his own way of keeping warm-- bouncing around the stadium and being obnoxious.

"Jesus, maybe we should go back inside…" Peter muttered. "It's freezing out here."

"Aw, common, Pete. It's good to be outside." James said, stepping away from the tiny flames and looking out over the field. "I sure wish I had my broomstick with me…"

"We aren't even supposed to be out here, James." Lily reminded him. "Let alone flying…"

"Whatever." James said. "But I haven't flown my broom since summer. I bet it's rusting up in my trunk as we speak!" He said angrily.

Suddenly, Sirius' voice boomed throughout the empty stadium. He had found the magical megaphone.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen!" He hollered. His voice bounced off the metallic seats and echoed. "I would just like to remind the whole lot of you that the Slytherins are a bunch of big, old, stupid-heads…"

"Oh great…" Belle chuckled. "Just watch: Professor Walter will come down here and hear all this."

"And I'd like to make a 'shout out' to my good buddy Lucius," Sirius continued. "You heard me, Lucy! I'm challenging you, right here and now! I know we've whooped your ass in Quidditch one too many times, but I'd like to take you again, boy! Bring it on! Yeah, I bet you're cryin' now! Runnin' to your daddy!" He replied, even though no Lucius was in sight.

As Sirius continued to make fun of Lucius, somebody else entered the Quidditch stadium. Everyone but Sirius craned his or her necks to see whom it was. But when the two figures below, straightened up in rage, and started to march directly towards them, Lily knew it was a Slytherin student.

"Oh! And Siverus! You know I could kick your butt, so I won't even GO there!" Sirius laughed. "But, BRING IT ON anyway, son!! And trust me, if you hit on Lily one more time…"

By this time, the two people had reached Lily's group. And of course, it was Lucius Malfoy and Siverus Snape.

"SIRIUS!" James shouted. "SHUT UP!"

Immediately, the commentary stopped. Sirius must have noticed who had arrived, for he shouted down to them happily.

"Hey there Lucy! Come to take my challenge, I suppose?"

Lucius rolled his eyes. "Please. As if I would stoop so low."

"What are you two doing here?" James spat.

"I should be asking you the same." Lucius replied dully. "To be honest, James, I always thought you were better than this."

"Better than what?" James asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Than these… people. I'd have thought that the Heir of Gryffindor would choose better friends." Lucius said, grinning slightly.

"Heir of Gryffindor?" James repeated. "How did you--?"

"I suppose now you think you'll be treated like some king, don't you James?" Lucius said. "My father tells me that's what happens to all those who are weak minded."

"I wondered where you got it from." Lily whispered under her breath. Before she had even realized she had said it out loud, Malfoy spoke up.

"Nobody asked you, Evans." He turned back to James. "And I seriously would have thought that the King of Gryffindor would never have a Mudblood like her for a girlfriend." He said, motioning to Lily.

Lily looked up angrily, and glared at him. He did nothing but smirk. Everyone there knew that Mudblood was the worst thing you could possibly say to a Muggle Born.

"How dare you say that to her!" James shouted, taking a step closer to Lucius. Peter leapt up, in case he had to stop James from attacking Lucius. "And she's not my girlfriend!" James added, a touch of red brightening his cheeks—but whether it was embarrassment or rage, Lily couldn't tell.

"What other word is there to describe someone like… that." He retorted. Lily's face burned with shame, and she looked down at her shoes.

"Don't you say that to her." James warned, pulling out his wand.

"Or what, Potter?" Lucius growled, pulling out his own wand. "Because I'll say it again…"

"You do, and I'll curse you."

"James, stop." Lily said softly. "It's nothing to get expelled over…"

"Let me handle this, Lily." James argued.

"Siverus, it sounds like you've got some serious competition. If I didn't know any better I would say that James likes Lily as much as you do." Lucius laughed, making both James and Snape's faces turn red.

"I don't--" James began tensely.

"Sure. Whatever you say, your highness." Lucius snapped coldly, bowing to James with a sickening flourish. "Come Siverus. See you around, O Mighty King of Gryffindor."

When they were out of earshot, James kicked one of the tinny benches in rage.

"Shit!" He shouted. "How did he find out?!"

"Probably his dear old daddy." Belle said angrily. "And where does he come off calling Lil a Mudblood? Who does that?!"

"Apparently, he does." Peter said softly.

At this point, Sirius came bounding down the steps. When he reached them, he stopped abruptly.

"They left? No way! I was gonna kick their butts!" He moaned. "NOOOOO!" He called, falling to his knees. When no one laughed, or said anything, he leaned on his ankles. "Geeze, tough crowd."

"You have no idea." Lily said softly. "They called me a Mudblood."

"No way! That bastard!" Sirius said, shocked. "How rude!"

"Totally." Belle sighed. Everyone paused, in thoughtful silence. "I hate them all." She said. "What are their problems, anyway?"

"I don't know." James muttered. "But I wish they'd die. All of them."

"You could prank them…" Peter suggested half-heartedly.

There was a long, thoughtful silence. Lily wiped a lone tear out of her eye before anyone noticed it. He has no right to call me that… Just because her parents were Muggles, it didn't mean she wasn't a witch. She had trained for seven long years to become what she was today, and she was not a Mudblood.

Suddenly, Sirius broke the unearthly silence.

"Ah ha! I have the perfect idea. Leave it to me." Sirius said, smiling broadly. "I'll make all of your dreams come true by the end of the night!"

"Hang on… aren't you going to run it by us first?" James asked.

"No. But I can promise that you'll love me if you didn't already. And that you'll never have to worry about Snivellus ever again." And with that, he ran out of the bleachers after Lucius and Siverus.

Later that evening, Lily and James were sitting in the common room stumbling over homework, still waiting for Sirius to come back from his masterful prank.

"I've done it!" Sirius proclaimed magnificently, slamming the portrait hole closed gallantly. "Any moment now…"

"Any moment now, what?" Lily repeated. "What did you do?" She asked, on the verge of laughter.

"You wanna know?" Sirius teased proudly.

"Yes…"

"Do you really want to know?"

"God damn it, Si. Yes we want to know!" James said impatiently.

"Okay. No need to swear, Jamie." Sirius said. "Well, you know how tonight's a full moon? Well, let's just say that we won't be hearing from Snape for the rest of the year… or longer."

"What?!" Lily and James shouted at the same moment.

"I told Snape to prod the knot on the Whomping Willow. To get to Remus." Sirius said innocently. "He'll wind up biting Siverus, or something. Maybe that'll teach him to shut his fat mouth."

"What were you thinking, Si?" James exclaimed. "Firstly, it wasn't Snape who called Lily a Mudblood. And secondly, Remus is in his werewolf form… he won't care who it is… he'll bite Snape!"

"I know." Sirius said. "Isn't that what I said?"

"Sirius!"

"You said you wanted him dead. They're a bunch of bastards and they don't deserve to live. So, ta da! Your wish is granted!" Sirius proclaimed, his voice rising angrily, now that no one was appreciating his brilliance. "And besides, Remus won't hurt him…"

"Yes he will, Sirius." James said frantically, pushing his books aside, grabbing his wand and sprinting out of the common room.

"James…" Lily called uselessly after him.

"He's going to go save him, that spoil-sport." Sirius sighed, as he fell onto the couch.

"Sirius, what were you thinking?" Lily moaned.

"He wouldn't have gotten killed. He's a smart kid, right?" Sirius reasoned. But the seriousness of his action was slowly weighing in on him.

"You never know, Si." Lily shook her head. Sirius sighed again.

"I won't be expelled, will I?" He asked nervously.

"I hope not." Lily said, walking over to the couch and sitting down next to him. She put her hand on his knee. "I really hope not."

"Maybe I should go with James?" Sirius said after a moment's silence.

Lily hesitated. "Unfortunately, I think you've done enough, as it is."

James stumbled back into the common room very late at night. His hair was disgruntled, and his glasses askew.

"Well?" Lily asked him cautiously.

"He's fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine." James said tonelessly.

"No, it's not." Lily said, reading the look on his face. "What happened?"

"Snape saw Remus. He knows. He's going to tell everyone…" James said softly. "I got him out of the tunnel just before Remus saw him. Dumbledore showed up and brought us to his office. Snape's still there."

"What about me?" Sirius asked, licking his dry lips. "What did Dumbledore say about me?"

"Nothing… yet." James said. "But I'm sure Snape told him." James replied, falling onto the couch and removing his glasses, to knead his knuckles into his forehead.

"Will he be expelled?" Lily asked fearfully.

"I couldn't tell you." He sighed. "But Sirius-- what made you think to do that?"

"No one calls my friends Mudbloods and gets away with it." Sirius stated edgily. "And having Snape dead seemed like a good idea at the time."

"I just hope everything turns out okay." Lily sighed.

The three of them sat in silence for a while, until James got up wordlessly and headed up to bed.

The next morning was Sunday. Sirius was nowhere to be found all morning. Hoping to find him, Lily headed down to the lake. Sure enough, Lily found Sirius sitting on the wet grass, staring out at the rough waters.

"I dunno what I was thinking, Lily." Sirius said softly, without looking away from the lake. "I honestly didn't think he'd actually go."

"What exactly did you tell him?" Lily asked him quietly.

"Well, he'd always been really curious of where Remus goes on the full moon. So, I told him. All he'd have to do was press the knot on the Whomping Willow, and he'd find out." Sirius sighed.

"And he went to the tree?" Lily asked in shock. "How stupid…"

"I know! I didn't think he'd go! That tree is so violent; it could break your neck. But he went, and he saw Remus. God, Lily… its all my fault."

"It'll be fine." Lily said reassuringly.

"No, it won't. I'll be expelled." Sirius moaned. "My parents will hate me…"

"It'll be fine, Sirius." She repeated.

"Lily, I'm only 16… I have my whole life ahead of me… I can't be expelled!" He said, not hearing a word Lily said.

"You're only 16?" Lily repeated, but realizing that was off subject, she shook herself. "Anyway, just go talk to Dumbledore. Let him hear your side…"

"I should." Sirius replied. He stood up, and wiped the dewdrops of his cloak. "You're a good kid, Lily." He added with a smile, watching her.

Lily smiled. "Thanks."

Sirius came back to the common room late that afternoon. Lily, James, and Peter watched him enter the room. His face looked crestfallen, and it didn't look good.

"Sirius?" Lily prompted softly. Sirius didn't answer but passed her and flumped down on the couch with a frown on his face.

"What did he say?"

"Dumbledore didn't expel you, didn't he?"

Sirius sighed heavily.

"Well?" James and Lily asked.

"He…" Sirius began. Lily bit her lip nervously. "…Said I could stay!" Sirius shouted, his frown melting away into a huge award-winning grin.

"You're staying?!" James shouted with joy. He clapped Sirius on the back.

"That's great Si!" Lily cheered, giving him a hug.

"What about Siverus?" Peter asked.

"He's been sworn to secrecy, and I have to serve 10 detentions… but that's fine by me! Oh- and James, Walter and Snape thought you were in on it, so you have to serve 7… but that's fine! Everything's fine!" Sirius said in all liveliness.

"That's great, Si!" James yelled. Then he paused, and confusedly said, "Wait- 7 detentions?"