Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, sadly. And, please note, that in this chapter I will be using the very words written and published by J. K. Rowling for part of the story that she wrote. It is not mine! thanks!
FOREWORD!!!
Dear Readers:
I'm Back!!!
Firstly, I'd like to say that I really appreciate all the support you have shown me through the ups and downs of my Fanfiction. I am so sorry all this drama about continuing it has unfolded. It now leads me to this conclusion:
I have decided to continue the story and be even more devoted to it than ever before. I really needed time to think and a summer without worrying about not updating every day really made me realize how much I missed it, all of this. I have many new ideas and such to make Something About You a great story. I may not be able to update very often, what with school and dance, etc., but I will try my hardest to update as much as possible on the weekends and any other free time I have over the next school year.
I have also decided officially to announce that Something About You will be the first installment in a trilogy entitled The Legacy Trilogy. The next installment will be titled something like We Might As Well Be Strangers. It will be based on Harry's final years at Hogwarts and perhaps his death, or otherwise. The last installment will either be about Harry's children or someone else's. I am not sure yet, but I will let you all know at a later date, preferably sooner, rather than later.
I hope you all take this news as a happy thing and go out and celebrate with Hagrid, Norbert, the Giant Squid, Grawp, Aragog, and Firenze and have a couple bottles of Butterbeer to cheer you up! Hey, this is a good thing! I know I'm sure happy!
Now, I have a date with the Womping Willow, see you all later!
Your devoted author forever and ever,
Lily Kay (aka lttlered)
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"I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart!" Lily sang.
"Down in my heart!" Chelsea joined in.
They flung their arms over each others shoulders and stopped walking, singing at the top of their lungs. "DOWN IN MY HEART!!!"
Kate laughed, but joined in anyway. "Do-hown in ma hea-eart!"
Lily grinned and finished off the song as they entered the Great Hall. The three girls stopped and struck a pose. "Down in myyyyyyy heeeeeaaaaaaaaaaart!"
The girls burst out laughing and skipped to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for a quick lunch before another O.W.L. exam. The whole hall was silent as they watched them stagger to the table, giggling madly. Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked on interestedly as the girls sat at their table.
They were all in extremely high spirits now that school was over, even though Lily had to go home to her Muggle family and they would not see the boys until the las week or two of summer break. For Lily, that was a blessing, though. She and Potter were at each other's throats again, even bickering more than usual. In retaliation to her going out with Sirius, Lily supposed, he had become more of a prick now than ever, pranking people mercilessly and hexing people in the corridors like he used to. Lily supposed it was because he wanted her attention, she did not know, but it was really getting to her.
Why couldn't he leave her alone? The truth was, James did not like it at all that for a whole year now he had been asking her out, and here, Sirius asks once and she ways yes. Well, that made James rather frustrated. His best friend was dating the girl her loved--no, liked. He did not lover her anymore. In fact, he made himself believe that he had never loved her, especially now that Samantha was around. He like Samantha a lot, possibly more than he had ever like Lily. In a way, it was just to prove a point. James could get over any girl he wanted, especially Lily.
He and Samantha were spending a lot of time together now. They had spent loads of Hogsmeade weekends together, hanging out and just talking and having a good time. He had a feeling Samantha wanted to kiss him, but he never let her. He figured that it was because he still liked Lily a bit, and that in truth, Lily had been his first and last kiss. He knew he would have to kiss Samantha soon, to present a more serious relationship, or she might leave him. James did not want that. He really liked her.
So James found himself rapidly deflating his newfound friendship with Lily. H found himself doing all the prickish things he used to do, just to annoy her. He was probably acting more arrogant and prickish than normal, well, what had been normal for him a few short months ago.
James and Lily both noticed that Chelsea and Remus were spending less and less time with the Marauders and the other Reds and more time together in the library. They did not yet know what the two were doing. Of course that led to Sirius's theory that they were snogging in the back of the library, but that idea was soon squashed as they watched the two going through massive amounts of notes and rather large volumes. So that was a mystery, as they were all pretty sure that Chelsea and Remus were not studying for O. W. L.'s, which was amazing, for them. Lily had started studying long ago.
Chelsea and Remus, on the other hand, were in truth working on their latest project, finishing the special binding potion needed to transform into and animagus from at will and honing Chelsea's abilities to concentrate on becoming the white wolf that so matched her personality. Remus had told her about James, Sirius, and Peter being animagi, as well as how their forms fit their personalities as well. I t was the same with the Patronus charm, used to ward off Dementors. You could not choose which animal you wanted to be, it just happened to adapt to the animal you were most like.
Sirius, which was also amazing, was still going out with Lily, as almost all the other girls he had dated before had at the most only lasted two weeks. What started out as a sort of fling for bother of them had become quite serious. It sort of surprised most of their friends, James included, but Sirius and Lily seemed perfectly happy together, to tell the truth.
Kate was usually hanging around with Chelsea and Lily or her new "boyfriend" from Hufflepuff, a guy named Amos Diggory and almost as popular as the Marauders, and almost as unpopular with the Marauders as a Malfoy.
Lastly, Peter was just...Peter. Tagging along behind the other Marauders and such. Lily, Chelsea, and Kate did not really like him, but he was there nonetheless, and they had to put up with him.
So they were all about to take another Ordinary Wizarding Levels examination, and they could not be happier. Chelsea, Lily, and Kate sat down across from the Marauder minus James, who was sitting with Samantha at the Ravenclaw table and was looking quite bored as she droned on and on about their last exam. The girls did not know her too well, but from the look on James's face they figured that she was a pretty great person.
Lily reached into the middle of the table to grab a sand which and failed to notice the glum faces the Marauders wore.
"Jeez, don't look so happy, guys!" she exclaimed. Sirius and Remus grunted in reply. Lily threw her hands up in defeat, still holding the sand which. "Fine. He'll be back, you watch. He'll come crawling back to us once that girl stops chattering about last years potatoes." The others nodded numbly. "God you guys, it's the end of the year and we can all hang out at each other's houses all summer! It's not like you won't wee him all the time!"
"Aw, Lily, it's nothing without Prongs," Sirius said.
"Well, like I said, he won't be with her all summer," she said nonchalantly, though she really wished he would.
If possible, this made Sirius and Remus even more depressed.
"I bet he would," Remus said, glancing at the Ravenclaw table. "You know, I bet he would do something like that and spend time with her all summer. Just seems like the sort of thing he'd do." Sirius nodded.
"Well, that wouldn't be so bad, you know?" Lily said. Remus and Sirius glared at her. "Fine, but just eat something, okay? and when he comes over, which he will, just ignore him. give him a taste of what you're feeling," she said, looking over Sirius's shoulder at the messy-haired boy walking towards them at that moment.
"How do you know--" But Sirius was cut off as James slid into a seat next to Sirius.
"Hi people!" Lily, Chelsea, Kate, Sirius, and Remus nodded politely. Peter let our a tiny squeak before Kate kicked his shin under the table. "Er, okay. How is everyone?" James asked after raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"Nothing," Sirius said. "How's Samantha?" James shrugged.
"We decided that it just wasn't working. Trust me, those kind of outer-house relationships never last," James answered, looking quite relieved as he said it. Sirius just bit into his sand which.
"Oh thank God!" Chelsea said after a minute. Everyone turned to her, mouths agape. "Hey, everyone's thinking it, I'm just saying it! Besides, no you're free to date Lily!"
"Hey! I'm taken here. and no way is Potter ever going to get his hands on me. The day he does will be the day I swear off men forever," Lily said fervently. "Er, that didn't really make sense, did it? I didn't think so." James scowled, but nodded just the same.
"Anyway, the day Prongsie and Tiger Lily get married, I will definitely laugh my head off. Prongsie m'boy, what would you like me to engrave on your tombstone," Sirius asked sincerely.
"Thanks for all the sympathy, Snuffles." James chuckled. "Besides, I have something to say about that, too. The day I marry Lily will be the day I go and shag the Womping Willow. No offense, Moony," he added quickly, hearing his growl of displeasure. "I didn't know you felt that way about the Willow. So sorry."
Chelsea smacked Remus upside the head and glared at him.
"How dare you cheat on me! After all we've been through! I cannot believe you'd drop me for some tree-whore! I thought you were better than that, Remus. And that particular tree, too. What were you thinking!" Chelsea burst into fake tears, earning a few stairs from their table. She made angry fists with her hands and began beating Remus's shoulder weakly. "Wh-why, Remus? Why?" She choked on the words as she said them. Remus began to look really worried now.
"Wha-what did I do?" he asked, clearly at a loss as to why she was upset. Chelsea grew quiet. When she looked up she was grinning from ear to ear and pointed right into his face.
"You-you should have seen your face!" and she burst out laughing, still pointing at him but also clutching he stomach with the other arm. Remus grinned and returned to his lunch.
"Anyway, how about the girls come over? They can stay in the guest rooms. Potter manner," Sirius said, seeing the girls' faces.
"Oh. Do I get my regular room? I decorated it last time I was over," Chelsea said. Lily gave her a look.
"You've been to Potter's house?" Lily scoffed. Chelsea shrugged.
"We've known each other since we were toddlers, you know. I have so much blackmail. Ha!" Chelsea said, cackling evilly. Lily eyed her wearily.
"Good. Could you lend me some?" she asked.
"Sure thing. I've got everything from baby pictures to embarrassing love letters, Valentines, and Christmas ornaments. You can pick and choose when you come over to my house with Kate later in June." chelsea smiled sweetly at James's look of horror and mock outrage.
"How dare you?" James said. Chelsea smirked.
"Did you know that her had the biggest crush on me when we were little?" Chelsea asked, leaning over to pinch James's cheek.
"Ooo, you are evil," Remus said, raising an eyebrow.
"And you like it that way," Chelsea said, leaning over and kissing him swiftly. She pulled back and they both grinned.
"Eurgh. Please, I'm eating," Sirius said. Chelsea scowled at him and took a bite of her sandwich.
"Hey, why didn't you tell us you had blackmail before?" Lily asked. Chelsea smiled, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"You never asked," she said simply.
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The group decided to go down to the lake after lunch as they had some time before the exams began again. They sat down under their usual tree by the lake and got out some books and notes to study with.
"You know," James said after some time. "You know, the girls are going to be staying next to us most of the summer. Chelsea lives next door to me," he said pointedly. Sirius frowned.
"Oh, that's right. They're going to be at our mercy this summer," Sirius said evilly and eagerly, rubbing his hand together and grinning like he just set eyes on a large pot of leprechaun gold...or Zonko's pranks, you pick.
Lily groaned.
"Oh no. All summer with dumb, dumber, dumbest, and Mister Brilliant," she said, turning to Peter, Sirius, James, and Remus respectively.
"What?" sputtered Sirius. "I-I thought I was the brilliant one!"
"Oh, you are, but Remus is the true brilliant of the group. You're just a genious...gone mental," chelsea put in, earning a well-deserved high five from Remus.
"Hey, what's with you two and being evil, hmm? and why do you always pick on me? and, and that's not fair, he's your boyfriend," Sirius said indignantly.
"One," Chelsea said, "it's fun."
"Two," put in Remus, "we don't only pick on you. what about Jimmy-boy?"
"Three," Chelsea responded, "it is so fair."
Everyone stared.
"Sorry, we spend a lot of time together," Chelsea mumbled.
"I'll say," James said, breaking the silence. Chelsea glared at him.
"Chickens..." she warned quietly.
James blushed and said "Sorry. I'll-I'll just be shutting up now." He mumble incoherently for a minute.
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"Five more minutes!"
The voice made Lily jump, she had not been expecting the exam to go by so fast. She looked up and saw the top of Professor Flitwick's head moving between the desks a short distance away. He was walking past James who straightened, put his quill down, and pulled his parchment towards him to reread what he had written. He yawned hugely and rumpled his hair, which he often like to do, making it even messier than it had been. Then, with a glance toward Professor Flitwick, he turned in his seat and grinned at Sirius who was sitting four seats behind him.
Sirius gave James the thumbs-up. He was lounging in his chair at ease, tilting it back on two legs. His dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance that James's could never have achieved, and a girl sitting behind him was eyeing him hopefully, though he didn't seem to have noticed.
Two seats along from the girl was Remus. He looked rather pale and peaky and was absorbed in the exam. He scratched his chin with the end of his quill, frowning slightly.
Peter, on the other hand, looked like a ball of whole-up nerves. He looked anxious, chewing his fingernails, staring down at his paper, scuffing the ground with his toes. Every now and then Lily noticed him glancing at his neighbor's paper hopefully.
And now James was doodling on a piece of scrap parchment. He sighed as he looked at the snitch and the embellished L. E. he had been drawing. He would try with Samantha again when they got back to school next year, but for now he had to do anything to keep Lily Evans out of his mind. Anything.
"Quills down, please!" squeaked Flitwick. "That means you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment! Accio!"
More than a hundred rolls of parchment zoomed into the air and into Flitwick's outstretched arms, knocking him backward off his feet. Several people laughed. A couple of students at the front desks got up, took hold of Professor Flitwick beneath the elbows, and lifted him onto his feet again.
"Thank you...thank you," panted Flitwick. "Very well, everybody, you're free to go!"
James hastily crossed out the L. E., jumped to his feet, stuffed his quill and the exam question paper into his bag, which he slung over his back, and stood waiting for Sirius to join him.
Lily got up and went to Chelsea and Kate and they walked out of the Great Hall in front of the Marauders.
"did you like question ten, Moony?" asked Sirius as they emerged into the Entrance Hall.
"Loved it," said Remus briskly. "'Give five signs that identify the werewolf.' Excellent question."
"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" said James in tones of mock concern.
"Think I did," said Remus seriously, as they joined the crowd thronging around the front doors eager to get out into the sunlit grounds. "One: He's sitting on my chair. Two: He's wearing my clothes. Three: His name's Remus Lupin...."
Peter was the only one that didn't laugh.
"I go the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes, and the tufted tail," he said anxiously, "but I couldn't think what else--"
"How thick are you, Wormtail?" said James impatiently. "You run round with a werwolf once a month--"
"Keep you voice down," implored Remus.
The Marauders strode off down the lawn toward the lake.
"Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake," Sirius said. "I'll be surprised if I don't get Outstanding on it at least."
"Me too," said James. He put his hand in his pocket and took out a struggling Golden Snitch. James didn't play Seeker, but he had extraordinary reflexes.
"Where'd you get that?"
"Nicked it," said James casually. He started playing with the Snitch, allowing it to fly as much as a foot away and seizing it again. Peter watched him in awe.
They stopped at their usual spot under the beech tree by the lake and threw themselves down on the grass.
The sunlight was dazzling on the smooth surface of the lake, on the bank of which Lily, Chelsea, and Kate had stopped, laughing and taking off their shoes and socks, cooling their feet in the water.
Remus pulled out a small book and was reading. Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather haughty and bored, but very handsomely so. James was still playing the the Snitch, letting it zoom farther and farther away, almost escaping but always grabbing it at the last second. Peter was watching him with his mouth open. Every time James made a particularly difficult catch Peter gasped and applauded. After five minutes of this, James still appeared to be enjoying the attention he was getting. He also kept ruffling his hair like he used to and kept glancing at Lily by the water's edge.
"Put that away, will you?" said Sirius finally, as James made a fine catch and Peter let out a cheer. "Before Wormtail wets himself from excitement."
Peter turned slightly pink, but James grinned.
"If it bothers you," he said, stuffing the Snitch back in his pocket.
"I'm bored," Sirius said. "Wish it was full moon, already. I can't wait till tonight."
"You might," said Remus darkly from behind his book. "We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you could test me.... Here." He held out his book.
Sirius snorted. "I don't need to look at that rubbish, I know it all."
"this'll liven you up, Padfoot," said James quietly. "Look who it is...."
Sirius's head turned. He became very still, like a dog that has scented a rabbit.
"Excellent," he said softly. "Snivellus."
Snape had emerged from the shadows of some bushes, stowing his O. W. L. paper in his bag and setting off across the grass. Sirius and James stood up. Remus and Peter remained sitting: Remus was still staring down at his book, though his eyes were not moving and a faint frown line had appeared between his eyebrows. Peter was looking from Sirius and James to Snape with a look of avid anticipation on his face.
"all right, Snivellus?" said James loudly.
Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been expecting an attack: Dropping his bag, he plunged his hand inside his robes, and his wand was halfway into the air when James shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
Snape's wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass behind hi,. Sirius let out a bark of laughter.
"Impedimenta!" he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet, halfway through a dive toward his own fallen wand.
Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had gotten to their feet and were edging nearer to watch. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained.
Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius advance on him, wands up, James glancing over his shoulder at Lily and the girls and the lake's edge as he went. Peter was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging around Remus to get a clearer view.
"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" said James.
"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said Sirius viciously. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."
Several people watching laughed; Snape was clearly unpopular. Peter sniggered shrilly. Snape was trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes.
"You--wait," he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing. "You--wait...."
"Wait for what? said Sirius coolly. "what're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"
Snape let out a stream of mixed swearwords and hexes, but his wand being ten feet away nothing happened.
"wash out you mouth," said James coldly. "Scourgify!"
Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him--
"Leave him ALONE!"
James and Sirius looked around. James's free hand jumped to his hair again.
"All right, Evans?" said James, and the tone of his voice was suddenly pleasant, deeper, more mature. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Leave him alone," Lily repeated. She looked at James with every sign of great dislike. It was hard to believe they had ever been friends. "what's he done to you?"
"Well, said James, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean...."
Many of the surrounding watchers laughed, Sirius and Peter included, but Remus, still apparently intent on his book, didn't, and neither did Lily.
"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "but you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."
"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said James quickly. "Go on...Go out with me, and I'll never lay a wan on old Snivelly again."
Behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off. Snape was beginning to inch toward his fallen wand, spitting out soapsuds as he crawled.
"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," said Lily.
"Bad luck, Prongs. Besides, I'm already dating her," said Sirius briskly, turning back to Snape. "OY!"
But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James's face, spattering his robes with blood. James whirled about; a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of graying underpants.
Many in the small crowd watching cheered. Sirius, James, and Peter roared with laughter.
Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile, said, "Let him down!"
"Certainly," said James and he jerked his wand upward. snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes, he got quickly to his feet, wand up, but Sirius said "Locomotor mortis!" and Snape keeled over again at once, rigid as a board.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted. She had her own wand out now. James and Sirius eyed it warily.
"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James earnestly.
"Take the curse off him, then!"
James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the counter curse.
"There you go," he said, as Snape struggled to his feet again, "you're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus--"
"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"
Lily blinked. "Fine," she said coolly. "I won't bother in the future. and I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."
"Apologize to Evans!" James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him.
"I don't want you to make him apologize," Lily shouted, rounding on James. "You're as bad as he is...."
"what?" yelped James. "I'd never call you a--you-know-what!"
"Messing up you hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can--I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."
She turned on her heel and hurried away.
"Evans!" James shouted after her, "Hey, EVANS!"
But she didn't look back.
"What is it with her? said James. trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him.
"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate," said Sirius.
"Right," said James, who looked furious now, "right--"
There was another flash of light, and Snape was once again hanging upside down in the air.
"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?"
That was the last thing Lily heard as she ran back to the castle.
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Remus was staring into the commonroom fire, a vacant expression on his face, when Chelsea sat down next to him. She quietly reached for his hand and brought it into her lap, stroking it gently.
"I-I just couldn't stop it, not this time. I hate it when they do that!" Remus clenched his other hand into a fist and looked down. Chelsea could see the strain on him and she was happy that over the summer she could possibly join him on nights like these.
"I know, I know. Remus...look at me." Remus looked at her face, a frown on her face, and she cupped his cheek in her hand. "I know we're Prefects, and I know we're their friends, and I know that we have the hardest position of all. We may not want to punish them like we have to, but...but maybe next year will be better. I'll be with you then, always." Remus smiled weakly. "Always...."
Remus looked into her grayish blue eyes, wondering how so many colors could fit in so small and special a place. He leaned in to kiss her and a short while later they fell asleep smiles on their faces, not to awake until the full moon came out and all hell inevitably broke loose.
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Lily hadn't spoken to him all through dinner and he was worried. He hoped that what had happened earlier would not affect their relationship, but he knew it would. He knew, too, that Lily would not forgive him willingly for a very long time.
And so Sirius moped around the darkened corridors of the castle, a glum expression on his face. It made him so angry, that James could be so stupid, but he couldn't pin it all on James. It had been him, too, he knew. He could probably not fix it, either.
He stopped and kicked the wall, wincing in pain when his toe hit. Stupid walls, he thought, stupid life. Sirius stopped when he heard something down the hall. Snape came out from the shadows down the corridor and smirked at him.
"Trying out for the ballet, Black? All that hopping and spinning ought to get you somewhere." Sirius's face hardened.
"What do you want?"
"Only for you to know that one day, you and Potter and that stupid Mudblood bitch will pay. You'll all pay for what you've done to me. One day I'll find out all your secrets and then you will suffer pain like no other." Sirius strode up to Snape and shoved him roughly against the wall, getting right up in his face and pinning him to the wall.
"You know nothing of pain. If you want pain, go to the Womping Willow tonight and prod the knot on the tree. Go down the passage and walk until you get to the door at the end of the tunnel. You'll see." Sirius let go of Snape and stalked off down the corridor. Snape scowled and walked the other way, turning down another passage.
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Lily gasped from her hiding place behind a suit of armor in the corridor. She had been following Sirius, hoping to have a word with him.
How could he be so stupid? Lily knew at once what he was planning. He wanted Snape hurt in some way, and what better than to hand him over to a werewolf. She had to do something!
Lily ran down the corridor and to the Gryffindor commonroom, the only place she knew where she could find help. That help was James Potter.
Upon entering the commonroom she ran to the window to see Remus and Madame Pomfrey cross the lawn to the Willow. Chelsea was asleep on the couch in front of the fire, Sirius was out in the castle somewhere, Remus was in the Womping Willow, Peter was down in the kitchens, Kate was in the library, and James, he must be in the boys dormitory.
Lily silently crept up the stairs so as to not wake Chelsea and knocked on the dormitory belonging to the Marauders. She opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind her. She could hear water running behind the closed bathroom door and walked over, putting her ear to the door and making sure not to step on anything nasty on the floor of the room.
"Potter," she called sharply. "Potter! James!"
She heard the water turn off and the sound of feet padding across the bathroom floor. James opened the door and looked down at her, one eyebrow raised, one hand holding a towel around his waist and the other carrying the robes he had worn that day.
"Hello," he said. Lily closed her eyes and sighed. This was going to be hard, especially since she supposedly wasn't speaking to him.
"I need your help," she said through gritted teeth, her eyes still shut.
"How so, Evans?" She wished he wouldn't do that right now. It was annoying as hell and she really needed his help. Well he wasn't helping very well.
"Okay," she said, opening her eyes and letting all her guards down. "Okay, Sirius told Snape how to get in the Womping Willow and he was really mad at Snape and said some really stupid things and Remus has already gone down to transform and I don't know where Sirius or Snape is and so I had to come here and ask you for help which is really stupid and extremely hard since I'm not speaking to you and--"
"Whoa, there! I can't understand a thing you're saying." He had honestly never heard anyone speak that fast.
"Snape--" Lily panted. "Willow--Sirius--Remus--" James seemed to get the meaning as he pushed her aside and strode to his bed, flinging his robes down upon it.
"Well, turn around, will you?" Lily blushed and did as she was told. A minute later she felt him grab her wrist and tug her along, out of the room and down to the Entrance Hall. He swore and let go of her, running to the doors and opening them quickly. "Stay here!" Lily wanted to protest, but nodded and watched the doors close after him.
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James ran as fast as he could, thinking that transforming would be faster, but too risky at this time of night, especially with Snape out and about. He reached the Willow in record time and picked up a stick that was lying there. He prodded the knot on the tree and the tree froze just long enough for him to slip through the passage.
He lit his wand and could see the fresh footprints on the tunnel floor. He ran along the passage, wand in front of him, straining his ears for any sign of Snape ahead. If he wasn't there, James would just have to wait for him to come. But as the tunnel wore on, he could see the outline of Snape looming near.
"Snape!" The other student stopped walking. "Snape!"
Snape turned around and sneered at James.
"What do you want, Potter? Come to try and stop me, have you? When I get to the end of this tunnel I will have quite a story to tell and I will have you finally expelled." James could feel the acid in his voice. "What do you keep down here, Potter? I know it has something to do with Lupin."
James growled and decided there was nothing else to do. He stunned Snape, but not in time. It was then that the door at the end of the tunnel, the door to the Shrieking Shack, burst open, and Snape got a good, long view of the werewolf there.
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Remus awoke in the Hospital Wing the next day, feeling utterly spent, worse than usual, in fact. He racked his brain for what could have happened, but knew it was in vain. He could almost never remember what happened when he transformed.
He sighed and took in his surroundings. Madame Pomfrey kneeling over a bed with Snape in it, giving him a potion, Sirius, Chelsea, Kate, Peter, and Lily sitting in chairs in various places around the ward, and the last thing, that confused him the most, James in a bed across from his, blood still smudged on his forehead. Remus gasped and sat up abruptly, immediately regretting it as his head span.
At once, Chelsea ran over, startling everyone else into getting up and coming over as well.
"What happened? Why is James in the bed over there? What about Snape? Oh God, I didn't-I didn't bite anyone, did I?" Chelsea sat down on the bed next to him, at a loss for words. Remus groaned and shut his eyes.
"You didn't bite anyone, Remus, but you hurt James pretty badly. Snape is okay, he just got hit by a strong stunner, and you're fine, probably just a little bit sore from what happened," she said gently. Everyone pulled up chairs and sat around him, saying nothing for a long time.
"I'm so sorry," Remus moaned. "It's all my fault. Everything's all my fault."
"Shh. Shhh, everything will be all right. Nothing's your fault, Remus, hun." Chelsea took his hand in hers and rubbed it with the pad of her thumb reassuringly. Remus looked down at their hands and frowned.
"Who dragged Snape into this?" Remus asked after a minute. Chelsea looked at Sirius, who in turn looked at Remus. Remus held his gaze and nodded. He then lay down and stared at the ceiling, willing himself to go to sleep.
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School ended rather quickly for the seven friends, much to their joy and dismay, depending. James had gotten better, but now had a scar that ran from his right collarbone to his left hip bone. Remus tried to hold no grudge against Sirius, but was silent most of the time to him anyway. Snape had been told, by Dumbledore, to never tell anyone of the events of that night or the fact that Remus was a werewolf.
They all boarded the Hogwarts express on their last day of school, hoping to forget and remember the happenings of the year, yearning to go home and go back to Hogwarts at the same time. They promised to meet together many times over the summer, no matter that some of them hated each other, and to write, as always.
They sat in one of the compartments in the middle of the train in silence, watching the scenery roll by through the large window. Chelsea and Remus sat together, hands attached, reading an untitled book very carefully. Every now and again, one of them would make a quiet comment to the other about a paragraph or picture, thought none of the others bothered to listen, they were used to it now.
Lily sat with a sketch book on her lap and a charcoal pencil in her right hand. She was discreetly sketching all of them on the train with intense detail. James looked on from where he was seated across from her, trying but failing to look vaguely interested in the book on his lap, Advanced Transfiguration.
Sirius sat next to James and played Exploding Snap with Peter, while Kate sat on the ground with her back propped on the seat by Lily, Chelsea, and Remus. They were all content to stay there in silence and wait for the journey to end.
Three hours into the ride, the door to the compartment slid open and three young Slytherins they did not know peeked in curiously.
The shortest one had long, curly, bushy red hair and blue eyes and had an air of innocence about her, though if you really knew her you could see how determined and loyal she could be. Lily and James unconsciously searched each of the Slytherins auras with their magic, not particularly liking what they were seeing.
The second shortest had dark brown hair and was scowling somewhat. She did not look like she wanted to be there at that point in time, more like someone had forced her there.
The last one had long blondish hair and had a haughty expression on her face. She radiated Slytherin. She pressed her mouth into a grim line and stepped forward into the compartment.
"Mind if we join you? Everywhere else is full," she said. By now, everyone had looked up at them. She nodded a thanks before anyone answered and swaggered over to the seat next to Lily, dropping herself in it neatly. She looked at Lily. "I'm Shelby, by the way, Shelby Black. I'm related to him." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Sirius. Lily nodded her understanding as the other two girls filed in. Sirius scowled at Shelby.
Shelby leaned in to Lily and said quietly "We're the outcasts of the family. My mum's a halfblood." She pretended to gag. "That and she didn't want to name me after a stupid star." She smiled and straightened in her seat.
The redhead had sat by the window next to Peter and smiled at them all.
"I'm Camille Gribbick," she said sweetly.
"And I'm Marina Z.," added the brunette girl, glaring at all of them as she sat on the floor underneath the window.
"What does the Z stand for?" Peter asked curiously. Marina shifter her eyes to him and glared. Peter yelped and tried to hide behind Sirius. Sirius just scowled at Peter and pushed him away.
"Well, I'm Lily Evans, this is Remus Lupin, Chelsea Pendragon, James Potter, Sirius Black, Kate Walters, and Peter Pettigrew," Lily said, gesturing to each one respectively.
"What are you guys, first years?" asked Sirius. Shelby raised and eyebrow at him.
"You know how old I am. God, for my cousin, you are sure a dummy," she said, folding her arms across her chest.
"Well, you're still midgets so I always assume midgets are ickle firsties!" Sirius said defensively.
"Please don't call me a midget," Camille said, fluttering her eyelashes. Sirius looked at her as if she was insane.
"Yeesh!"
"Yeah, fatso, don't go calling us short, you traitor. We're vertically challenged," Marina said, eyes smoldering. Sirius had the feeling she wanted to call him worse things than a traitor, but he took no notice. Instead he looked down at his stomach and pinched at it. She gave a short cry and jumped up.
"James! James, does this look serious to you?" He pointed to the nonexistent fat on his belly.
"Yes," James said very seriously. "Yes, I believe it does look Sirius. Very Sirius! Yep, definitely Sirius!" Sirius inhaled a sharp breath and stared with wide eyes at James. He obviously missed the pun, but everyone else laughed. Sirius gave up and sat down and glowered unappreciatively.
Shelby rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, we're Third Years. We skipped a year, too," Shelby said. She perked up. "We're special!!!" she squealed. She jumped up with Marina and Camille and they did this sort of rain dance and a complicated handshake with a lot of hooting and snorting. When they sat down again, everyone stared at them, though they didn't seem to notice.
"Well, anyway...."
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AFTERWORD
Well, that was the 15 page eighteenth chapter to Something About You! You know, before, when I had to write in all the italics and such it was 21 pages. What a rippoff!!! Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it! Hey! Why don't you review and tell me? Great idea! You go do that.
Anyway, I have a date with the Womping Willow! See you soon!
-Lily Kay (lttlered)