Lily Chapter 28: Sirius's Foolish Prank, a harry potter fanfic

Lily

Chapter 28

A/N: I've been thinking, and "The Lily Series" is a kind of prosaic name for its content. I need a title that will get people interested faster, but I can't think of anything! Please, when you review, offer some suggestions for a new title. I'm open to suggestions!

Disclaimer: Everything that belongs to J.K. is hers. Have a nice day!

James gawked at Lily. "What did you do?" he demanded.

Lily shrugged as though it was of no importance, but her words cut like a knife. "I didn't stay out of the way, that's for sure."

"Hey, I said I was sorry about that!"

"What if that's not enough?"

"What IS enough?"

"Forget it. All I did was go to the Slytherin boys' dormitories, find Severus, get shaving cream all over his face...Shaving cream is a white, fluffy cream. Muggle men use it to shave their faces; they don't have Shaving Charms...and set a few fireworks off under his mattress."

James gawked again. "Are you kidding me?"

"No. Like I said, I can fend for myself." She seemed pretty satisfied with herself.

James shook his head. "I guess you can." He laughed a little at what Severus Snape must have looked like at that moment, with white fluffy cream all over his face, and jumping up and down from the fireworks.

Then, Sirius came down the stairs, closely followed by Remus. Sirius had obviously been told everything that had happened at the dance, because he sat down next to James and crossed his arms paternally. "Denial, denial! All this time, you said 'oh, it never ha-"

Remus had tackled him and stuffed a small pillow in his mouth. "Shut up!"

Sirius wrestled him away and removed the pillow. "All right. Item two. What are we going to do about that idiot?"

"What idiot?" James seemed a little clueless.

Sirius sighed. "You have much to learn, Grasshopper." He stood up, slicked back his hair, and sneered, imitating the "idiot" in question. "Out of my way, Potter!"

"Oh, you mean Snape."

Sirius clapped a hand over his forehead and fell back onto the couch in exasperation. "Yes, I mean Snape. I have an idea about what to do."

"What?" Remus's eyes shone eagerly. Lily and James had each gotten their revenge already, but he wanted some of his own. "What can we do?"

Sirius leaned in to whisper a plan. "Listen, first we tell him how-"

He was interrupted by Professor Dumbledore walking into the common room and clearing his throat. "Mr. Lupin?"

Remus stood up and followed him out of the portrait hole, turning back at one point. He drew, in the air, the shape of a full moon and sighed. Sirius noticed that more students were coming downstairs, so he just smiled and said, "Trust me on this one. It'll be great!"

That morning at breakfast, Sirius finished quickly and got up, looking very excited about something. He beckoned for Peter to come with him. They walked past the Slytherin Table, and Lily could hear Sirius saying very loudly, "You have to freeze the Whomping Willow by pressing that knot, Peter. Then we can go down the secret passage." He finished speaking right as they passed Severus Snape's seat, leaning in a little closer to Snape as he spoke.

Lily looked confusedly at James. "What do you think he's trying to do?"

James shrugged, purposely avoiding Lily's emerald gaze. "Does anyone ever know what Sirius is trying to do?" She laughed, sending a shiver down James's spine.

Peter and Sirius returned to the table, and Peter glanced sideways for the briefest instant at Lily, making her stomach turn. Then, he dropped his eyes down to the silver charm bracelet she still wore on her wrist. A smile crossed his face, but only Lily seemed to realize that it wasn't a friendly smile, but a mocking one. A smile that teased, as though he knew something she didn't. A mad, maddening smile.

James shot Sirius a quizzical look. "What was all that about?"

Sirius just smiled and made the "quiet" gesture, putting a finger to his own lips. "You'll know in a day."

James's curiosity wouldn't allow him to shrug it off and wait until the next day to know what Sirius was planning. He retreated into quiet thought, trying to figure out what could possibly be going on.

It was halfway through Charms when Professor McGonagall walked through the door. "Miss Evans? May I see you for a moment?" Lily got up and hesitantly followed McGonagall. She led out the door and closed it behind them. "Miss Evans, you have shown astounding magical potential in your years here."

"Thank you, Professor." Lily was quite flattered. Professor McGonagall gave few compliments, if any, to students.

"You have demonstrated very good work habits, and you are, frankly, a shining example of a Hogwarts student. It's because of this that Professor Dumbledore and myself have decided to promote you to the fourth year."

Lily's jaw dropped in shock. She had read through Hogwarts, a History, and there was no mention of students being promoted any number of years at Hogwarts! This must be a huge honor! "Th-tha--thank you!"

"Of course, we will be supplying you with a new set of books, and a new schedule. We have no doubt that you will exceed expectations in this new position."

Lily felt slightly dizzy. "Um...thank you...I've got to get back to class now...thank you!"

As she turned back and put her hand on the doorknob, McGonagall placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Your things will be moved to the Fourth Year girls' dormitory."

This didn't hold any water with Lily. It wasn't earth-shattering information.

At least, not until later on in Charms class.

She was about to perform the Cutting Charm. Her wand was pointed at a carrot lying placidly on the desk. "Slicio Cari……!" In dismay, she forgot to finish the charm, not to mention that she missed the carrot completely. Aside from clipping off the top of Professor Flitwick's hat, the beam from her wand sliced the desk in half. The wand dropped out of her hand. She was moving out of her dormitory...she wouldn't be alone anymore. Her first reaction was excitement, but then she got a sick feeling in her stomach, realizing how easy it would now be to forget Chrissy and Chantel, in the midst of everyone else. And what about the poor fourth year girls? Every single person she got close to was at risk of attack by Voldemort, she knew that. Voldemort - she didn't even like to say the name anymore - would go to any lengths to hurt her. Should she talk to Professor McGonagall about it? What would she do?

The questions screeched to a halt when Professor Flitwick's dismayed squeak reached her ears. "Well...thank you, Lily, but I wasn't planning on getting my hair cut for a few weeks."

Lily's cheeks went as red as her hair. "Reparo," she muttered, fixing her desk. "Sorry, Professor."

Lily kept the news to herself until that night in the common room. Sirius was still grinning from ear to ear, at times laughing like a hyena for no apparent reason. Peter was milling around, straying near the window simply to torment Lily. James was sitting in an old armchair, looking like that sculpture, "The Thinker." He rested his forehead pensively on his fist and drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair.

Lily had been thinking, too. There was no doubt in her mind that Voldemort would go after anyone she got close to, so what was the use in moving to another dormitory? At least when she was alone, she wasn't endangering anyone but herself. Something, though, told her that it was essential that she survive. That there was nothing more vital to wizardkind than her survival. A very, very faint memory drifted into her mind. It was a memory of that page in "Famous Witches and Wizards," the one about her. That was why she had to live long enough. Her son would conquer Voldemort.

Her thought process was interrupted by James jumping out of his seat and shouting. "Sirius, you IDIOT!"

Sirius just beamed on. "Figured it out?"

"What on Earth were you thinking? No, don't tell me, I don't want to know!"

Sirius's smile faded. "Hey, he was asking for it, calling Lily a Mudblood!"

"Did you stop to think that he might get KILLED because you just wanted revenge?"

"He could have killed her, squeezing her ribs like that! She could have been suffocated!"

"Well, was she?" James raged. "Did he kill her? I don't think so!" He opened his mouth to say more, but, apparently having no more words for the situation, he ran as fast as he could out the portrait hole.

Sirius looked half angry and half humbled. "He's headed for the Willow," he muttered, heading for the window. "We can see it from here."

They saw Severus walking towards the Whomping Willow and picking up a long stick. Hesitantly, he took a few steps forward and prodded the knot on the tree. The falling darkness cast long shadows over everything, and he poked a few places before hitting the right knot. When he did, the tree suddenly became eerily calm.

Lily gasped and realized what Sirius had intended to happen. She crossed her fingers and held her breath, whispering, "Hurry, James!"

Sirius pressed his nose to the glass and seemed very anxious. Severus had already lowered himself partway into the tunnel when a lone figure sprinted across the grounds and hit him, running at full speed. Severus was knocked out of the hole and sent rolling over the dewy green grass. The figure (apparently James) shouted something at him and ran back to the school.

Sirius collapsed into an armchair, running his fingers through his hair distractedly. "Oh, jeez...What was I thinking?"

"Not much!" yelled Lily.

Sirius's head snapped up at her. "I thought at least you'd be on my side, Lily. I did it for you, right?"

"Did you honestly think I would have felt better if he had died?"

"Yes-I mean no! I mean...I don't know." He seemed really upset. "Did I really almost kill someone, Lily?"

"Well, YOU didn't...It would have been Remus."

"Oh, jeez..." He covered his own eyes and shook his head. "What if James hadn't figured it out? Remus would have had two on his conscience, and it would have been my fault!"

Lily bit her lip to try to stem the tears that rose behind her eyes. "I guess so."

"I'd have been no better than...than whoever it was, you can't say, right?" He looked positively sick at the thought.

"Sirius, drop it." Lily was starting to get that feeling of revulsion again, knowing that the person Sirius was talking about being "no better than" was sitting right in the room, pretending a look of concern. "Save it for James, when he gets back."

At that exact moment, James re-entered the portrait hole, red-faced, chest heaving. "I still can't believe I had to do that."

"Look, I'm sorry!" Sirius said.

"Would that be enough if Severus was dead now? If he had gotten through the passageway and now, he was lying there in the Shrieking Shack, mauled? Would it be enough if you said, 'I'm sorry?'"

"Well, he's not, is he? I seem to remember you saying that my attempt at revenge wasn't justified, because Lily's ribs weren't crushed. Now, I'll tell YOU that 'I'm sorry' IS enough, because Severus isn't dead. Happy?"

James sighed, but didn't seem satisfied. "All right. Why is it so hard to stay angry at you?"

Sirius cupped his own face in his hands. "You just can't stay mad at this face! Charisma, looks, intelligence, I've got it all!"

Lily made a derisive noise in her throat. "Now you're just starting to sound like Gilderoy. What next, are you going to start gabbing about Jessica?"

Imitating Gilderoy, Sirius plastered a toothy grin on his face and looked smarmily at Lily. "Well, 'my dear firey-haired charmer,' I have a faaaaaaabulous date! Fourth year, Ravenclaw, and beeautiful!" He walked over to the portrait and banged his own head against the frame in cruel but accurate imitation.

Lily, Peter, and James were laughing to begin with, but their mirth re-doubled when Gilderoy himself called across the room. "Be careful, Sirius! That frame's pretty hard!"