"Hey mate," Sirius said as he flopped down casually, sitting next to James in the deserted Gryffindor common room, "Remus got another letter after class today. His mum is sick again and he took off to be with her."
James looked up from the text he was currently studying; it was a week before Christmas break and they had a Potions exam in the morning, "Oh, damn." He replied, a hint of dismay in his voice, "I was hoping he would be here to help me figure out what I did wrong with that potion on Tuesday before the test."
Raising his eyebrow at James' comment, Sirius asked, "And what am I? Chopped liver?"
"Just as bad in Potions as I am, apparently." James replied with the truth, "You melted the bottom of your cauldron Tuesday. My potion just turned pink, the exact wrong color, and kept me awake with the jitters for half the night." Since the potion they were making was supposed to be a sleeping potion, James' reaction to it was the exact opposite of what it should have been.
Sirius grinned at James as he asked, a hint of the wicked about him, "So you made a stay awake potion instead? Big deal." He shrugged then and then brightened with a thought, "I bet we could make a fortune selling it to the 5th and 7th years, especially once O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. pressure starts."
James just stared at Sirius for a long moment, "I thought," he said, a trifle suspiciously, "that you didn't need money.
Sirius shrugged casually, and by his manner, James could tell that the idea was just a passing thought, "Well, yeah. And, oh I forgot to tell you," here he smiled, an easy smile instead of the haunted one he had been wearing of late, "as of today, it has been three weeks since I heard from my mother."
James congratulated Sirius on being under his mother's radar, it was a wonder, really, considering all the hexes they had been perfecting on certain Slytherins since October. As it stood, James had received another warning letter from home a few days ago, in his mother's hand this time, as Professor McGonagall had been forced to give him detention for hexing Rabastan Lestrange. In the part of his mind that was not occupied by school, James was worried about his father but managed to hide it from his friends as he was not ready to discuss the situation yet. He was still clinging to the hope that his father would, somehow, make it home on time for Christmas...
After a rather cheerless Christmas for the Trouble Triplets, it was business as normal as the three of them returned from their parent's homes. Remus looked gaunt and hollow, something that worried both James and Sirius, but neither one of them were ready to talk about their Christmas either so they could hardly press the point. Actually, the best thing that happened to James over Christmas break happened three days after Christmas; he received an Invisibility Cloak from his father, something not even his mother knew he had and James was determined to keep it that way. He hadn't even managed to bring it up with Sirius and Remus, whom he trusted absolutely, with all the other people about. The first Monday back, they were handed their new schedules, not surprised to see that their Flying class had been cut down to one day a week and Care of Magical Creatures added in it's place. James shrugged philosophically about it, it wasn't as if he could do anything about it and complaining wouldn't help either.
The days flew by and James was rather surprised to see how much he remembered over the Christmas break, marked mostly by his father's continued absence, as he earned Gryffindor ten points in Transfiguration and another five in Defense Against the Dark Arts in the first week. The Slytherins were leaving Gryffindor alone; the three of them decided that it was because a) they fought back and b) the Slytherins were getting bored with the game. As it was, James relaxed his guard around the third week back, along with the other Gryffindor first years. Well, all of them except Peter, that is. Peter had a hard time with magic and the more nervous he got, the more he screwed up even the simplest spells. The Slytherins sensed that, somehow, and contrived to haunt his very footsteps til just the sight of one of them would send him into almost epileptic shaking. James, Sirius, and Remus put their heads together to try to help Peter; staying close to the three of them seemed to help so Peter became their shadow outside of the dorms.
One day, right before dinner, James had simply had enough of his friends and, claiming he had a headache, slipped out of Charms a tad bit early, intent on taking a walk to clear the air. In truth, he did have a headache, so that wasn't a lie, but it was not borne of Peter's endless nervous prattle, Sirius' deadly sarcasm, Remus' chiding comments, or even the chaos in the Charms classroom. No, James had received another letter from his mother the night before; she still had not heard from his father; and James was really starting to worry. He scuffed his shoes on the stone floor as he ambled in the direction of the Infirmary and thought hard about his father's absence. James really wanted to be mad at his father for not being there on Christmas but the anger would not stay long, transmuting itself into gut clenching worry. Tearing himself into knots, James was not paying attention to his surroundings and, thus, he was rather surprised to find himself falling down the stairs to the dungeons.
James bounced, rolled, and, finally, skidded to a halt on the first landing; bruised and shaking with fright and pain. Stiffly, he got to his feet and gathered his books, wincing as each new movement caused a newly battered part of his body to introduce itself to his consciousness. James was just putting his foot down on the first stair to climb back up when he heard Rabastan's soft drawl come from somewhere below him. Thinking quickly, he pulled the Invisibility Cloak out from his bag and ducked under it before going to investigate the Slytherins.
"Look, Snape, I really don't care about all that." Rabastan's voice exploded into anger; James hurriedly rounded the corner so that he hear better. As he stood in one of the alcoves, James leaned out a little to get a better look. Rabastan was standing in front of Snape with his hands on his hips and Snape was back against the wall, trying to lean casually into it and failing miserably. "You know how to work that spell and I need to know. So just tell me already."
James could not hear Snape's response for he was speaking too low but James did not want to risk moving forward, not when he knew that class was about to end and he would get trampled in the hall. Straining his ears, he caught "...spells like that..." and then, "learn...the Dark Arts?" Desperate to hear more, James managed to stay into place by sheer will power alone but did manage to catch Snape saying, "Malfoy would ..."
There was some more indistinct murmuring from Snape and then Rabastan cut him off, "Snape, don't you get it? Malfoy wants me to. And what Malfoy wants, he gets. You should know that by now." Snape opened his mouth to reply but James had leaned in a little too close to listen better, sending the statue in the alcove crashing to the floor. James made good his escape to the nearest boy's bathroom, secure under the Invisibility Cloak, where he hid the cloak in his bag once more before joining the rush to dinner with the other students, wondering what the hell that was all about...
By the time the end of the semester was rolling around, there were no firmer friends than James, Sirius, and Remus. Well on their way to establishing their reputations as trouble makers and pranksters before Christmas, they managed to entrench it in stone after Christmas, hexing any Slytherin that dared to give them grief and pulling off some truly classic pranks. Some of the spells they were using were highly advanced for their ages, something that earned them respect from their peers and the three of them took turns watching out for Peter, as well as helping him along with his homework. Occasionally, the other Gryffindors sat in when one of the Trouble Triplets were showing off their rapidly advancing magic skills, Lily almost never. After their last encounter on the way to that flying lesson, Lily withdrew from any overtures James made, but most especially when the word of the Trouble Triplets hexes or pranks got back to her ears. James did wonder at that but, since Lily was still treating him with chilly civility, decided to ignore it. The last day of classes, however, he couldn't ignore her...
Coming out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom where they just had their last final, James suddenly sighed, "Oh, damn." and turned to walk back into the room, shouldering Snape out of his way. Whereas at the beginning of the year, James would have apologized, this time he just snorted in disgust, thinking to himself, 'Dark Arts git.' The year had changed him quite a bit; the long absence of his father and having to deal with the Slytherins everyday had hardened him, almost to the point of Sirius' studied cynicism and borderline callousness; and it was apparent in his manner.
Lily eyed James nervously from her desk, she was gathering up her things to leave when James walked back into the now deserted classroom. She wasn't sure why he made her nervous lately but there was no denying that he did; there was just something about him that set her teeth on edge, "Potter." She said coolly and stoppered her ink bottle, stuffing it into her bag.
James glanced over at her and started to walk to his desk when he changed his mind, coming over to perch on her desk top, "Lily," he said, trying to sound casual, something was bugging her and this time he was going to find out what it was. "Why so formal all the sudden?"
Blushing, Lily turned away from James, picking up her books and hurriedly stuffing them into her bag, "No reason." She said quickly, cursing her stubborn books inwardly, "I just...well..." She could tell that her cheeks were glowing red now, something she despised, and looked at him for the first time, "It's not like you and I are exactly what I would call friends." Hell, none of them really are...
"None of who really are what?" Lily stared at James in absolute mortification, she had said that last part aloud. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, digging her fingers into her temples, "Nothing, James, really. Don't worry about it." Seeing that he was going to reach out to her, Lily panicked, "I'll see you later." She announced in her tightly controlled voice, afraid that the least little quaver would bring another onslaught of hopeless weeping, something she despised to do with a passion. Avoiding his gaze and his outstretched hand, Lily fled, running blindly down the halls of Hogwarts.
Puzzled, James walked over to his desk and picked up his almost forgotten Defense Against the Dark Arts book, staring at the spot Lily had just vacated. Something was bothering her but she did not want to talk about it. Normally, James was not one to pry into someone else's business but there was something about her that just reached out to him. Shrugging it off, he stuffed the book into his bag and started the long walk back up to the dorms where his packing awaited him.
Rounding a corner, James stopped dead in the halls for there was a rather large group of Slytherins in front of him, fortunately facing the other way. In the flickering torch light, he saw Malfoy, both the Lestranges, Narcissa, Bellatrix, Snape, and a couple others that he did not recognize offhand. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor after all, James turned on his heel to go another way but stopped when he heard Narcissa exclaim, "Oh, look, the mudblood is crying." Her voice was laden with sugary sweetness that did nothing to disguise the spitting contempt in her tones, "How cute; these animals can mimic our behavior. Now, mudblood, are you going to do what we want you to do or do we have to make you again?"
"Leave me alone!" Lily shouted defiantly, or tried to. "You lot..." From the sound of it, a hand slapped across the younger girl's face...
As if he were in a dream, James realized whom they were playing with and, forgetting that he was severely outnumbered not to mention only eleven years old, he went on the attack. Drawing his wand, he walked down the hall towards the group, saying in a deadly quiet voice, "Get the hell away from her."
As one, the Slytherins turned around to look at the newcomer to their little game. When the crowd parted, James bit down hard on the exclamation rising in his throat, seeing, for the first time, Lily down on the floor with a glowing red hand print on her left cheek. Malfoy lifted an eyebrow, drawing James' attention, and drawled, "This doesn't concern you, Rotter. This is between the mudblood and us."
"Shut up." Continuing with that same quiet voice, James added, staring hard at Lucius, "Lily, come here." Lily spared one anxious glance at the Slytherins before getting to her feet and hurrying to James' side. Amazingly enough, the Slytherins let her do it, content to stand there and watch the power play between Lucius and James.
Disbelief crossed Lucius' face for a second before he laughed, a sound that had nothing at all to do with mirth. "You dare tell me what to do?" He asked, walking forward, looking for all the world like a cat stalking it's prey. "You filthy blood traitor, you have been a thorn in my side long enough." Pulling out his wand, he added, "It is time to stamp out the thorn."
Before Lucius could throw the first spell, James had taken advantage of the time Lucius wasted in throwing threats around, taking Lily's hand and shouting "Noxingis!" All the torches in the hall went out with a faint whooshing sound, plunging the hall into pitch blackness. Wasting no time, James began to run in the opposite direction, pulling Lily along with him, listening hard to the chaos erupting behind them as the Slytherins cast a bunch of spells where the two of them had been standing. Rounding a corner, a corner they were lucky enough to know blind since all the lights were out, James whispered, "Stop for a second."
The two of them stopped and Lily stared in his general direction, trying to catch her breath, "We have to hide." She whispered urgently and then, remembering where she was, continued, "I know where, follow me." The two of them set off down the hall as Lily, with her free hand on the wall so they wouldn't plow into it, lead them unerringly to the locked broom closet. Another whispered spell, "Alohomora." opened the door and a whispered, "Colloportus." locked it behind them.
"Lumos." James breathed a sigh of relief when the tip of his wand flared and filled the small closet with a soft white light. Quickly, he handed his wand to Lily and stripped off his robe, using it to stuff under the crack of the door. Pressing his ear to the door, he waited til the sounds of pursuit passed them before turning to look at Lily. She had slumped down to the floor, still holding his wand, looking lost and rather scared. James dragged a hand through his hair and squatted down beside her, reaching out to touch her arm, "Lily, you have to tell me what is going on."
Lily started at his touch and stared up at him, demanding without heat, "What do you think is going on?" She said far too evenly, the blush rising on her face giving lie to the words, "I ran into those Slytherins and they decided to pick on me. They have been doing that to me and every other student they have caught alone all school year."
It was true, James had been the brunt of their attacks himself a time or two, til he started fighting back. Still, there was that nagging sensation that Lily was again holding something back from him, "Narcissa said that they would make you do it again." Lily opened her mouth, James cut her off, "I heard her say it, Lily. What are they making you do?"
She sighed, flushed, and muttered, "It's nothing, James, really. In fact," here she laughed, a false high sound that was completely the opposite of her normal laugh, "it's rather stupid." Thinking fast on her feet was one of her strong suits, coming up with a solid lie was not, "They want me to write Lestrange's (the younger one) homework for History of Magic. I checked it for him a couple of times this semester but, when he wanted me to write the entire essay for him, I told him off. Apparently, he went and complained to Lucius and the rest was just bad timing."
Eyeing her suspiciously, James obviously did not believe that story for a minute. Not that Lestrange would try to make her do his homework so much as the rest of that little scene that he had broken up. Reaching out with a gentle hand, he touched her swollen cheek, "That doesn't explain this, does it?"
Lily tried to prevent herself from flinching away at his touch unsuccessfully, the paw print on her face was extremely sensitive to the touch right now, "I tried to get a quill out of my pocket and Narcissa slapped me. Apparently, she thought I was going to hex her or something, especially since the Gryffindors," Lily leveled a look at James so he would know she was dumping some of the blame onto him, "are becoming well known for retaliation."
"That is no reason to physically assault you, Lily!" James flared angrily, using his anger at the situation to hide the guilt her words caused him. The Gryffindors were starting to get a reputation, he knew it and so did the entire school. Hell, some of the other students were starting to take bets on when the Trouble Triplets were going to start trouble instead of just finishing it. "They can't hit you because they think you are going to end it with magic."
Lily lost the rest of her cool at that point, "Stop it, James!" He looked at her, calming down in the face of her formidable temper, which he had never seen unleashed. Rising to her full height, Lily glared down at James, "Part of this is your fault." She said quietly but with no less vehemence for lack of volume, "I am not blaming you so much as pointing out the obvious. Violence solves nothing and should only be used as a last resort. As far as any of the rest of us know, you three never bothered to try anything else with the Slytherins which caused no end of trouble for the rest of us. Now, if you don't mind, I am going to go back to the dorms to pack before we are stuck here for the rest of the night."
With that, she pivoted on one heel and unlocked the door, accidentally walking off with James' illuminated wand. The door swung shut behind her and James was left in the dark, staring blindly at the closed door. "What the hell was that all about?"