© Ariana Veelagrace and Clara Maplewood, years 2000-2002

Lily

Chapter 26

A/N: Thanks to The Hairy One for informing me that Arthur and Molly were at Hogwarts far before the Potters were. However, I can't back up and just pretend that #25 never happened, so please just bear with me for one more fic.




 


Lily sat staring at the bracelet for a good five minutes. That symbol was something...it was either very good or utterly evil. Did the chance that it was good luck outweigh the possibility of evil?

She looked up at the two empty beds again and slowly fastened the bracelet around her wrist. She could use some good luck.




The four Marauders sat in the common room, waiting for their dates. Sirius wasn't, though; he wasn't planning on going to the dance. James looked tense, Peter looked impassive, but Remus just looked hungry.

"Did they HAVE to push dinner back just for the dance?" he moaned, massaging his stomach. "It's torture!"

Sirius shoved him jokingly. "You've been feeding your face since lunchtime anyways!"

Remus glared at him. "You're not exactly fasting, yourself, Padfoot."  James rolled his eyes, causing Remus's laser-beam glance to turn in his direction. "What about you, Prongs? Going with Lil-"

He was cut off by a large pillow to the face. "Shut up about that, will you? It's really not that big a deal."

"Jeez! Wow, someone's uptight." Sirius was sprawled across the end cushion of the couch and was grinning sardonically.

"Well, Lily's a nice person and all that, but she's just a little..." he tapped his temple. "Ditzy."

"Ditzy?" Remus's mouth hung open. "James, she's outdone you in Charms more times than I could count."

"But that's it, isn't it? If she is smart, she doesn't exactly show it all that much.  At least, not around us. I don't know about you, but I really value intelligence in a girl, and she just doesn't fit the bill. Ow!" He was knocked back onto the chair by the same pillow that he had thrown at Remus. Then, the sound of feminine chattering descending the staircase made him spring up again. "All of you, be quiet! That's my date!"

Her voice was a little high-pitched and very silly-sounding. "So, then he walked up to me and-RIGHT in front of all of my friends, you can ask them-he says, 'so, Molly, would you like to go to the dance with me?' I know! I know, isn't that AMAZING? I mean, he's sooo cute, and he's the Seeker and everything, and he, like, really, really, hot!" her gaggle of friends burst into giggles of aggreement at this remark. "I know! I know! Isn't that just the most groovy thing you ever heard? It's just- oh, hiiiii, James! Ready?"

Sirius was clutching his sides and shaking with silent laughter. Remus was less discreet.  "James? Could I have a word?" He yanked James aside and talked to him in a lowered voice.  "Are you out of your cotton-pickin' mind?  I mean, if Lily's ditzy, what's Molly?"

James crossed his arms defensively. "Hey, do you have any right to talk like that about my date?"

"Well, you're pretty much...you said that you really value intelligence in a girl!"

"You still don't have any right to talk like that about my date." He pushed his way past Remus and linked arms with the still-chattering Molly.

"Sorry I'm a little bit late, I was just sitting there trying to get a response out of Harriet, but she was just sitting there on her bed, I thought, so she just wasn't talking to me and I got all sad, 'cause I thought she didn't want to be my friend anymore, so I was screaming at her, then I realized it was just her pillow, haha. So anyways..."

She was still chattering like a Kookaburra when James turned around and addressed the breathless Sirius and the smirking Remus and Peter. "So sue me," he muttered quietly before leading Molly out the portrait hole.






Lily looked at herself in her mirror. The first thought that came to her mind was exactly what the mirror said to her: "What a mess!"

Lily glared at wherever the mirror's eyes were, probably. "I've never done this alone, give me a break!" The mirror just laughed wheezily, and Lily looked herself over again.  The part in her hair was completely crooked, even though she had spent at least fifteen minutes straightening it carefully. Her hair itself was like a rust-colored bird's nest, tumbling hopelessly down her back to where it met her mismatched dress robes: An orange silk shawl over a purple velvet gown. She sighed. "You know how it could get worse?"

"I absolutely can't imagine, my dear."

"Brace yourself. I still have to pick out shoes."

With much trouble, she managed to decide on a pair of army-green monstrosities that had been passed onto her by her older sister, Petunia. Clutching a teal purse, Lily made her way down the dormitory stairs, the mirror's laughter following her into the Common Room.

Sirius was holding his ribs and gasping for air when she walked in, obviously laughing...at her! Before Remus could shut his gaping mouth or Sirius could stop laughing, she walked over and hit Sirius upside the head with her purse. Lily was about to hit Remus, but he stopped her arm befor the bag connected with his ear. "Whoa, whoa! I think there's a misunderstanding!"

"Just because I have the worst luck ever in picking out clothes doesn't give either of you the right to laugh at me!" she scolded shrilly.

"And just because Sirius is laughing when you walk into the common room doesn't give YOU the right to assume he's laughing at you." He let go of Lily's wrist. "We were laughing because James was on a spiel about how much he values intelligence in a girl, then that Molly McLeland comes down the stairs and goes down to the ball with him!"

Lily's anger melted instantly at the vision of the red-headed, roly-poly Molly chattering away on James's arm. She sat down next to Sirius and started laughing almost as hard as he was.

That instant, Gilderoy Lockhart glided into the common room as though he was a king wading among the common people. "Hello, hello, everyone!" he turned to Lily and winked. "My dear fiery-haired charmer." Turning to Sirius, Remus, and Peter in that order, he nodded majestically. "The lover in mourning, the brooding face-stuffer, and...What's your name again? Doesn't really matter, does it? Well, I'd just like you all to know that I have a faaaaabulous date. Ravenclaw...fourth year...QUITE the beauty, I must say, but..." he cupped his own face in his hand. "What DO you expect? Resistance?"

Lily rubbed her temples. "Leave, while we're all still in a good mood."

"Fine, fine, fine. I must go and meet Jessica, musn't I? Oh, but she is GORGEOUS!" He obviously was quite taken with his date's beauty, as he knocked his head against the frame of the portrait as he climbed out the hole. However, the accidental nature of this was thrown into doubt as the Fat Lady's voice was heard faintly.

"Hmmph. Serves the miniature egomaniac right, I say."




The ball had begun. James had already danced with Molly (which explained why his ears and toes both hurt an equal amount, Peter had already massacred his date's toes and she had stormed out in a huff, and Remus had completely ignored Vanessa for the appetizers. Lily was still waiting for Arthur in the common room.

James was sitting down at the Gryffindor table next to Molly, holding his ears discreetly, and Remus was pigging out on a plateful of stuffed mushrooms. "Hey, Prongs...have you TRIED these? They're fantastic!"

James wrinkled his nose at the gray, garlic-stuffed mushroom thrust under it. "Um...no, thanks." he pushed it away and sighed. "Molly, aren't you hungry?"
At the mention of food, she hopped up and, still chattering, made her way to the table of appetizers. James leaned back in his chair and clapped a hand over his eyes. "What in chocolate frogs was I thinking?"

"Not much," Remus managed to mumble out through a mouthful of stuffing.

"Can you just...not joke around?"

Remus swallowed. "Sorry. I was just really hungry!"

"Yeah...whatever. Look, do YOU have any idea why I asked Molly out?"

"Why are you asking me? I'm just an innocent bystander, you know." A look from James sobered him up. "All right, all right. You're not going to like this, though. Basically, I think that you asked her out because..."

James knew that Remus was still talking, but somehow it was blocked out. He had shifted his gaze to the door, and right through had walked a girl with long, tangled red hair, an orange silk shawl draped awkwardly over her shoulders, a purple dress, and too-large green shoes. All in all, she looked like a two-year-old who had tried to dress herself for the first time. But that truth somehow threw itself from the heights of James's mind.  All he saw walking in the door was a girl he couldn't take his eyes off of, and it wasn't from shock at her crazy wardrobe. It was from some new, overwhelming feeling that blocked all his normal senses from working; as though he was looking at Lily for the first time.

Then, he was brought back to the normal world by a tap on the shoulder by Remus. Remus leaned forward and lowered his voice. "That's why, James."




Lily clung bad-temperedly to Arthur's arm, muttering in his ear. "I can't believe you were late JUST because you were answering an owl from your mum. Was it REALLY that important?"

Arthur shrugged. "Well, she likes it when I answer her mail really quick."  Lily rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly as she was led over to the Gryffindor table.  Arthur pulled out her chair and smiled apologetically. "I'll go get some punch or something, all right?"

"Sure." she watched as he walked away, nearly colliding with Molly McLeland as she made her way around the buffet table as though stocking up for a famine. Lily sat back in her seat and wondered to herself why she had ever said 'yes.'

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Severus Snape looking down his wickedly curved nose at her. "Hello, Lily."

Lily shrank away from his touch. "Hello, Severus."

"I was wondering if you would give me the honor of this dance."

Something was wrong here. Normally, Severus Snape avoided Gryffindors at all costs, especially friends of James. "Wh-why?"

He smiled a thin, twisted smile. It looked painful. "Can't a person ask a lady to dance without being interrogated?"

"Yes."

"Then you'll dance with me?"

"No."

He scowled darkly and walked away. Something was definitely wrong, Lily decided. If it had just been a stupid dare, Severus would have been all too happy that she had declined the offer. But no, he had looked distinctly disappointed...or angry.





James had gathered Remus and Peter together and were giving them instructions. "Listen, whenever Lily is dancing with Arthur...try to cut in, all right?"

Remus understood completely, but Peter was confused. "Why?"

"Please don't ask me!" he snapped desperately. "Just...first dance, it's you, Moony, next, it's you."

"Why not you?" This time, it was Peter and Remus in unison.

"Trust me!" James said loudly. He watched as Arthur asked Lily to dance and walked out onto the dance floor. A sick feeling started in the pit of his stomach, but he fought it down and walked halfheartedly to where Molly stood, mercifully, eating instead of talking.




Lily was finding that Arthur, though a generally nice person, was not the best date in the world. He couldn't find much to talk about, and every time they made contact while dancing, his ears went very, very red and he just looked down at his feet to make sure they were going in the right directions. Since she knew he couldn't see her, she rolled her eyes upward as though asking for some sort of help.

That help came in the form of a familiar voice. "May I cut in?" Remus was standing dignifiedly next to the careening couple. Arthur willingly broke away and rushed to the Gryffindor table, burying his face in a napkin embarrassedly. Remus proved to be a much better dancer than Arthur; he never went out of time with the music, and he didn't seem at all bashful about holding her hand like the dance dictated.

"What exactly are you up to?" she asked, smiling. "Is this one of yours and James's pranks?"

"What do you mean? Nothing about James. Nothing."

"Okay." She shrugged as best she could while they were dancing. "Just wondering." They danced for most of the song, but then a girl in fire-red dress robes stormed over and practically shoved Lily out of the way. Her angry, black coffee-colored eyes shot a poisonous glare in Lily's direction as she danced possessively with Remus. Lily, left without a dancing partner, muttered to herself. "That would be Vanessa."

The dance ended quickly, much to Vanessa's dismay. Lily noticed, however, that Vanessa's large hands kept an unusually tight grip on Remus's arm as they stormed back to the Ravenclaw table. Lily headed back in the direction of her seat, but Arthur cut her off just before she sat down. "Would you please dance with me? And...keep dancing, this time?"

"Oh..." He really looked hurt, and it was kind of hard to resist such an obviously heartfelt invitation. "Sure."

He grinned lopsidedly and swept Lily back to the dance floor for about another three-quarters of a dance full of confusion. At about that point, Peter remembered his role and went at it with a spirit.

Before she could react, Lily was dancing with him. She had put her hand on his shoulder, he had put his on her hip, and their other hands were holding each other. Her mind screamed with disgust that she was actually holding that hand...the hand that had been soaked in Chantel's blood not so long ago! Her stomach heaved at the realization that she was actually this close to a murderer.

He smiled a perfectly cordial smile, but in Lily's eyes it was twisted and insane. He leaned forward a little and whispered in her ear. "I know where he put the dagger."

She couldn't pull away! The same curse that prevented her from giving away his name as that of the murderer stopped her physically from moving away from him! He wasn't holding her any tighter than normal, but she felt like the air was being strangled from her.

Again, he whispered gratingly in her ear. "Liking that curse? It's the convenient way to silence people we need to stay quiet...but people who could be useful to us in the future."

The curse spoke for her. "You're a rather good dancer." She practically choked on the words that came out of her mouth. Lily wanted to scream that this was him, this was the rat who murdered Chantel, that Sirius should come and punish him somehow! That...she gulped thinking about this...that this boy, who she was dancing with, this boy should be thrown into Azkaban for life.

The dance ended, and Peter let go, smiling mockingly.






Lily was very shaken by that encounter, and she sat down as far from Peter as she could without being alone: at the Ravenclaw table. Remus cast her a pleading glance as his date's red-painted nails dug into his forearm. Lily smiled nervously; behind Remus, Vanessa was throwing burning glares in her direction.

Arthur had given up and was listening to Molly chatter away near the punch bowl. Oddly (and miraculously) enough, he seemed to be hanging on her every word.

Peter seemed to have left; Lily didn't spot him anywhere. She breathed a sigh of relief and started to walk across the dance floor to the Gryffindor table. That tense breath was sucked right back into her lungs as she felt a pair of rough hands seize her and force her into a dancing position. She looked up, only to see the malevolently gleaming black eyes of Severus Snape staring down at her. "You!" she gasped out.

He grasped her tighter and spoke sharply. "Me. Now, listen, you little Mudblood. I know that you know more about Chessy and Kentell, or whatever their names were, that you let on.  I know that you know exactly how both of them were killed, because I know you were there."

He was squeezing the breath from her lungs, so she just managed to choke out words.  "Chrissy and Chantel!"

"It's not important!" he raged. "I need to know this. Now, tell me. Tell me about the blonde-haired one first."

"You know what happened, she was killed by Voldemort!"

"How?!?" He didn't let up at all, only squeezed harder.

"He set a wolf on her!"

"A werewolf, am I correct?"

Lily was silent. Her first instinct had been to tell him that he was correct, but then, she realized that she would have to say the werewolf's human name for Severus to be satisfied. Her mind flashed back to the first night she was at Hogwarts...she had been thrown down a secret passage to the Shrieking Shack, and Remus had attacked her, but then, when he transformed back into a human..."promise you'll never tell," that's what he had said.

"I said, am I correct?" Her air was completely cut off. Severus was stronger than he looked, she thought, as darkness started to swirl. Then, her lungs re-inflated with startling suddenness. Severus had been knocked backwards by a well-aimed punch to the face.

Lily got her vision back into focus and realized who it was. "James!" She scrambled to her feet and took out her wand, running forward to help.

"Stay out of this, Lily!" He yelled, pushing her back.

"This is about me; it's my fight!" she shouted angrily.

"Stay out of it!" He pushed her back again, blocking a punch from Severus. They both whipped out their wands and circled around each other, teeth bared.

Severus, taking advantage of James's preoccupation with getting Lily out of the way, shouted, "Serpensortia!" A huge black snake flew out of the wand and towards James, ready to sink its fangs into his shoulder, but James moved at the nick of time, letting the snake lock its jaws around his wand.

James was just about to remove the snake from his wand and send a spell at Severus, but Dumbledore was suddenly in between them, blue eyes burning fiercely. "May I ask what's going on here?"

"He was suffocating Lily!" James growled, still staring fixedly at Severus.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Dancing with a girl is hardly suffocating her, I'd say, Headmaster."

"Why don't you just-"

"That's enough!" Dumbledore cut James off before he said something that would land him in detention. "I must say, I would never have expected this of two students of your caliber!"

"Jealousy is far below his level, Headmaster," Severus said, his hawk-like black eyes twinkling wickedly.

Lily stepped forward. "He wasn't jealous, you little-" Dumbledore cleared his throat, and she backpedaled. "He wasn't jealous! You practically crushed my ribs!"

"Can I help it if I'm not the best dancer?"

"It had nothing to-" then Lily stopped. What was she doing? Rushing to the defense of James? James, who had just told her to "stay out of" her own fight? She stopped talking and remained quiet.

Dumbledore looked from Lily to Severus to James, then back to Lily. "Can I trust you three that this will not happen again?" Three heads nodded. "Good. Mr. Snape, Mr. Potter, five points from each of your houses. Make sure this never happens again," he added seriously as he walked back up to the High Table and resumed the ball, looking only a bit pensive as he reviewed the different stories in his mind.