Chapter 8
Halloween – a holiday that young children look forward to for spooky stories, TV show specials, trick-or-treating, and best of all; candy! M&M's, Snickers, Hershey's, Skittles, mints, and much more for free. Lily loved Muggle Halloween, but she realized that as long as she attended Hogwarts, she would not experience another one. She didn't mind, Remus had her excited for Halloween at Hogwarts for a long time. Tomorrow was the day.
Lily munched on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans while doing homework that Professor McGonagall gave her. She spit out a bean that tasted like bacon fat. Lily giggled. Vernon would have loved the taste of bacon fat.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she folded her finished parchment. Professor McGonagall will be pleased. The redhead was so happy that she did not hear James sneak up behind her. It took her a couple of seconds to realize that he snatched her homework right out of her hands.
"Hey, thanks Lily!" James ran up the boy's stairs to his dorm. Lily followed in pursuit, furious at him for "borrowing" her hard-earned completion.
"Haha, you can't come up our stairs, you're a girl!" James taunted with glee.
Lily shot up the stairs.
"Oh, maybe you can then..."
Lily stood in front of him, fists clenched and eyes narrowed with dangerous accuracy.
"Give me the parchment, Potter."
"I don't think I will," James replied calmly. "You see, I need copy it,"
Remus came out of the dorm to see what the fuss was about. "Just give it back to her," he pleaded.
Sirius poked his head out from behind Remus to egg James on. "No, you sissy, she's a girl! Are you going to give in to a girl?"
Unfortunately, James listened to Sirius. He waved the parchment within inches of Lily's angry face; teasing her, mocking her...
Without a warning, Lily attacked James like a crazed lion – scratching, biting, and clawing at him. It didn't take long for James to ignore the unwritten rule that boys weren't supposed to hit girls and punched her with all his might.
A concerned and frightened Remus fetched Molly the prefect. She stunned both of them and shooed the crowd away. Shaking her head, Molly dragged the two offenders to Professor McGonagall.
After hearing both sides of their stories, McGonagall's stony expression did not grow any softer. She looked equally disappointed in both of them.
"You're good kids," she began. "There should have been no reason to start a fight. You could've handled this more maturely. 50 points from Gryffindor." Both Lily and James' mouth hung open in horror. Lily's eyes lowered in shame. She could have reacted better.
"And," Professor McGonagall added, "The two of you will serve detention with Hagrid tomorrow."
"But that means we'll miss the Halloween activities!" cried James.
"You are correct, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said.
Lily and James glared at each other. Stupid James, thought Lily. I was going to forgive him but now, because of his little act, I'm missing out on Wizard Halloween! I'm going to get revenge – he will be SO sorry...
Remus looked very apologetic when Lily told him about their punishment.
"I'm sorry I got Molly," he said. "You might not have detention if I only –"
Lily dismissed his thought with a wave her hand. "Not your fault," she sadly smiled.
She cast a dark look at James, who was playing chess with Sirius. "It's James who started it all,"
As if he had heard what she said, James turned from his chess battle with Sirius. "Come help me Remus, you're good at this stuff!"
Remus went to join James and Sirius, leaving Lily to feel sorry for herself.