A Marauder's Life For Me
Chapter 5
As the weeks passed, the weather grew steadily colder due to the approaching winter season. It was halfway through the month of December when James woke up early on a Thursday morning. Light was just beginning to stream through the dormitory windows, signifying that sunrise hadn't been too long ago. He rolled back the covers and looked at the clock sitting on his bedside table – it read 5:45am. Knowing there was no way he was going to fall back to sleep, he got out of bed, walked over to the window, and sat down on the ledge. Out of the window James could see the big beech tree, the forest on the Hogwarts border, and the lake.
'That water must be really cold this morning,' James thought as he stared out onto the frost-covered grounds.
He sat there for a while, thinking about unimportant things. After a while, his thoughts turned to the pranks he and the other Marauders had pulled.
'That prank Sirius and I pulled in Potions the first day was pretty good, and so was the exploding Quaffle we put in the Slytherin's box of Quidditch balls… but we haven't pulled a prank in ages. But what could we do?'
James paused in thought as he looked back out the window. His gaze fell on the lake. His eyes widened and began to twinkle (as they always did when he became excited) as he looked from the lake outside to his friends, asleep in their beds. A grin spread across his face as he got up off the window ledge and went over to Sirius's bed.
"Sirius," James said quietly as he shook him. "Sirius, wake up."
Sirius turned over and mumbled something incoherent into his pillow. James rolled his eyes and shook him until he opened his eyes.
"Wassamatter?" Sirius asked blearily.
"Nothing's the matter, I just came up with our next prank," James said, his eyes still twinkling.
Sirius sat up, instantly awake.
"Okay, let's hear it," Sirius said, raising his voice in his excitement, but it was drowned out by the buzz of Remus's magical alarm clock.
Remus rolled over and hit a button on the alarm, which ceased it's buzzing instantly. He rubbed his eyes and stretched, then noticed Sirius and James.
"You two are up early," he said as he climbed out of his own bed and sat down on Sirius's. "What's up?"
"James was just about to tell me his idea for our next prank, seeing as we haven't done anything lately," Sirius said, looking from Remus to James. "Come on, James, let's hear it."
"I was thinking we could levitate someone's bed out over the lake (or someone, if that makes it easier) while the person is sleeping, and then wake them up when they're over the lake," James said, grinning. "We even have enough time to do it this morning, if you want."
"That's a great idea, James, but it's kind of cruel," Remus said.
"Who cares?" Sirius asked. "Let's go for it! But who should we prank?"
"Guys, that's still not very – " Remus tried again, but was cut off by Sirius answering his own question.
"I've got it! We should prank Evans!" Sirius exclaimed.
James's eyes lit up.
"Perfect! Let's get dressed; we've got about a half hour until the girls wake up."
"I'm staying out of this one," Remus said. "I might watch, but I'm certainly not helping."
"Suit yourself," Sirius said as he and James got dressed and raced out the door.
Thirty five minutes later, Lily Evans woke up to find herself floating twenty feet about the freezing cold lake. She screamed.
"Good morning, Evans!" Sirius yelled to her.
"This is your captain James Potter speaking, are you enjoying your flight?"
Both Sirius and James cracked up laughing as Lily screamed again.
"PUT ME DOWN, POTTER!" Lily yelled at him, trying to avert her eyes from the surface of the lake twenty feet below. "I'M AFRAID OF HEIGHTS, AND YOU'RE NOT HELPING!"
By now, quite a few students were out on the grounds watching Sirius and James's antics.
"You want me to put you down?" James asked.
"YES!" Lily yelled.
"Okay," James said.
Remus, meanwhile, had been up in the guys' dormitory reading his Charms textbook. It was very quiet up there, the only sound present was the noise made every time he turned a page. However, at that moment, a girl's scream shattered the silence. Remus ran to the window and looked out. He could see people standing around the lake, and one solitary figure floating over it. Remus's eyes widened in horror.
Two seconds later, Remus was dashing down the marble staircase, his cloak in hand. He burst out the Entrance Hall doors and was about thirty feet from the lake when he heard James say 'okay' and Lily scream as she fell from midair and hit the smooth surface of the lake.
Lily went underwater and came up about five seconds later, shivering profusely and trying to keep from going under once more. Remus threw his cloak to the side as reached the shore and then dove in after Lily. When he reached where she was barely treading water, he let her lean on him as he swam back to shore. When they got there, Remus picked up his cloak from the ground and wrapped it around both Lily and himself.
James and Sirius, who both had been howling with laughter while Lily was suspended over the lake, were now frowning.
"Remus, why'd you go after her?" James asked as Remus and Lily slowly walked by. "You said you weren't going to get involved!"
"Yeah, well, I didn't think you two were actually going to do something this mean and stupid," Remus replied bitterly.
Remus turned back around and began walking Lily toward the castle when she placed her hand on his shoulder, clearly telling him 'I'll be right back'. She handed him her side of the cloak and strode purposefully toward Sirius and James, shivering all the while. It was clear to the other students that Sirius and James were having an awful lot of trouble holding in their laughter.
"You thought that was funny, didn't you?" Lily asked them.
"Yeah, we thought so," Sirius replied.
Lily turned away from them and began walking back towards Remus. James stayed where he was for a minute before catching up to Lily and putting his hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"Lily – " James began.
SMACK!
The sound echoed throughout the grounds as James staggered back a few paces from the force of Lily's blow, clutching his cheek. Sirius ran up to Lily but stopped five feet from her when he realized she was pointing her wand in his face.
"Don't make me do it, Black, because I will," Lily said softly with an underlying note of anger in her voice. "You two are the biggest wankers I have ever had the misfortune to meet! What have I ever done to you? Abso – bloody – lutely NOTHING! If either one of you ever hoped to become friends with me, forget about it, because this means war."
She stared at the two of them for a few more seconds before turning around and stalked back to Remus, who instantly wrapped her in the cloak again. The two of them then headed up to the castle and the Hospital Wing. The crowd of students began to disperse and head back to their dormitories, chattering all the way. James, who had had a hand to his cheek the entire time, finally let it fall to his side. There, upon his right cheek, was a bright red handprint the size of Lily's hand.
"Ow," James said softly.
There was silence for a moment before Sirius spoke.
"Okay, next time, I come up with the prank."
"Shut up, Sirius."
Remus and Lily walked through the Entrance Hall doors and up the marble staircase in the direction of the Hospital Wing. Lily's lips were blue, her teeth were chattering, and she was shaking beneath Remus's cloak. Remus also had blue lips and was very cold, but for the sake of having saved Lily, he was trying not to shiver (too much). Despite the fact that both were wearing soaking wet (and very cold) clothes, being bundled up in Remus's cloak together warmed them up a bit.
They reached the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey was busy trying to fix a student who currently was growing moss from under his arms. Remus sat Lily down on one of the beds and gave her his cloak before going over to talk to Madam Pomfrey.
"Madam Pomfrey?" Remus asked, shivering now that he was no longer wrapped in the cloak with Lily.
Madam Pomfrey cured the boy with the moss under his arms with a swish of her wand, let him know that he was free to go, and turned to Remus.
"Mr. Lupin, you're all wet, and not to mention shivering! How did this happen?" she asked.
"Take care of Lily first, she was in the lake longer," Remus said as he walked back towards Lily, who had gotten under the bedcovers with Remus's cloak still wrapped around her.
"The lake?" Madam Pomfrey asked, shocked. "What were you and Miss Evans doing in the lake?"
Remus began to explain to the nurse what had happened as she looked over Lily and then gave her some Pepper-Up Potion to warm her up.
"James and Sirius thought it would be funny to levitate her over the lake while she was sleeping and have her wake up suspended in midair," Remus said, his anger towards his two friends returning in full measure. "Of course, it wasn't funny at all. She woke up and – "
"Y-Y-Yelled at him – J-J-James – to p-put me down," Lily stuttered because her teeth were still chattering. "S-S-So he d-did. R-Right into the l-lake."
Madam Pomfrey then gave some Pepper-Up Potion to Remus, bundled both him and Lily up in blankets, and had him sit down next to Lily on the bed.
"Sirius and James said they were going to do something like this earlier this morning," Remus continued, moving slightly closer to Lily as he spoke. "I didn't think they'd actually do it, though."
"B-Bastards," Lily muttered under her breath.
"Miss Evans!" Madam Pomfrey said.
"S-S-Sorry."
"However, that doesn't explain why you are wet, Mr. Lupin," Madam Pomfrey said, looking at Remus pointedly.
"I went into the lake after Lily," Remus said simply.
"H-He saved m-me," Lily stammered, looking at Remus.
"Did he, now?" Madam Pomfrey asked, looking at Remus appreciatively. "That was very kind of you, Mr. Lupin. Now, I'll be back in ten minutes to give you some more potion, seeing as you're both still very cold."
Madam Pomfrey walked away and disappeared into her office, shutting the door behind her. Remus and Lily sat in silence, both staring in different directions before Lily turned to look at him.
"R-Remus?" she asked.
"Yeah?" Remus said, turning his head to look in her direction.
"T-Thanks," Lily said, moving so close to him that she was practically leaning on his chest. "I owe y-you one."
Remus smiled and, taking his arm out of the blanket, wrapped it around her, pulling her to him.
"It was nothing," he replied. "I didn't really even think about what I was doing, it just sort of happened. I have a question, though."
"Yeah?" she said, looking up at him.
"You don't think I'm a prat because I hang around with Sirius, James, and Peter, do you?"
"Nah," Lily replied, smiling. "I might have before, but you proved otherwise."
"Good."
Twenty five minutes passed before Madam Pomfrey popped out of her office again, potions in hand. However, she stopped in her tracks when she saw Remus and Lily. Remus was lying on his back, his head against the pillow, with Lily lying directly next to him, her head on his chest. It was on that morning that Lily became good friends with Remus Lupin and learned to hate James Potter and Sirius Black.
Four years later, Lily had still kept her word. The date was August 15th, and she was sitting on the bed in her room, reading a letter from none other than James Potter.
Evans,
How's your summer going? Do you miss me? I know I miss you. Do you want to meet Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I in Diagon Alley on the 28th? We can get our books and stuff and eat lunch, too. So, how about it?
Looking forward to your reply,
James Potter
P.S. Will you go out with me?
P.P.S. Please don't say no.
Lily laughed before getting up off her bed, grabbing parchment and a quill, and sitting back down again. Five minutes later, she read over her finished letter.
Potter,
My summer has been wonderful so far, if you ignore the fact that my sister can't stand to be in the same room with me. No, I don't miss you, but if Petunia keeps this up, I just might. Wait, did I really just say that? I must be losing my mind! Anyway, my Mum was planning to take me to Diagon Alley on the 29th, but I'll see what I can do (if you promise to behave). I'll try and bring Kat, Daria, and Meg too.
Tell Remus I said hello,
Lily Evans
P.S. No, I will not go out with you.
P.P.S. That's right, Potter, I said no.
After deciding that her letter was okay, Lily went over to her owl's cage, tied the parchment to Snowflake's leg with one of her golden hair ribbons, and sent Snowflake on her journey to find James Potter.
Lily stared out the window for a while before her cat, Scooter, jumped up on the bed, curled up next to her, and fell asleep. Everything was quiet, until –
"Hey, Evans!"
Lily jumped and whirled around to face her desk, from where she thought the voice (which ironically sounded exactly like James Potter's) was coming.
"Earth to Evans! Anyone home?"
"P-Potter?" Lily stuttered, still mystified by the source of the noise.
"Yep," James replied proudly.
"How is it that I can hear you?" Lily asked. "You're not in my room, are you?"
"He wishes, Lilykins, he wishes," came the voice of Sirius Black.
"Black?" Lily asked.
"Prankster extraordinaire, at your service," Sirius replied.
"Okay, you two," Lily said, "I'm getting annoyed here, as well as kind of spooked. Either tell me where your voices are coming from and how I can hear you or I'll – "
"Or you'll what, Lilykins?" Sirius asked.
"Or I'll – "
"Okay, that's enough!" Remus Lupin's voice said. "No more bickering!"
"Finally, a voice of reason!" Lily exclaimed. "Remus, can you tell me how in Merlin's name I can hear you guys?"
"It's James's letter. It has a voice teleportation charm on it so that it works like a telephone," Remus explained.
"Okay, now I have another question. Why are you bothering me?" Lily asked. "I just sent a reply back with Snowflake. She's a fast owl; couldn't you have waited an hour or two to get my answer?"
"No, he couldn't," Sirius said, chortling. "You should have heard him debating with himself whether or not to send you this letter in the first place. It was hilarious."
"It was driving me nuts," Remus put in.
"Anyway," James said, a note of annoyance clear in his voice, "what was your answer to meeting us in Diagon Alley for lunch and to go shopping for our supplies?"
"Well, my Mum said she was planning to take me to – "
Lily stopped speaking abruptly as a knock sounded on her bedroom door.
"Evans, what was – "
"SHH!" Lily exclaimed as her sister suddenly opened the door.
"Freak, who are you talking to?" Petunia asked.
A moment of silence passed in which Lily clenched and unclenched her fists before answering her sister.
"Nobody, Petunia."
"That's a lie! I distinctly heard you talking! Are you hiding some boy in here?"
The Marauders heard the anger in Lily's voice when she had first replied, and they weren't surprised when she exploded at Petunia this time.
"How DARE you, Petunia!" Lily raged. "I'd never do something like that! I'm not like you!"
"You BITCH!" Petunia screamed, and then stormed out of the room.
Lily sat down on her bed, the letter still near her pillow, as tears began to roll silently down her cheeks. After a couple minutes of silence, James decided he was brave enough to speak.
"Lily?"
Lily jumped, having forgotten the Marauders could still talk to her and hear her.
"What is it?" Lily croaked, her throat not working properly due to her crying.
"Are you okay?" Remus asked, concern present in his voice.
"Not really," Lily replied as she wiped away her tears.
"I knew your sister supposedly wasn't nice to you, but this – this is going above and beyond being mean," Sirius put in. "It makes me want to –"
"-Hex her into the next millennium," James finished for him. "D'you want us to come over there?"
"No," Lily replied. "I'll get over it. It's nothing new."
In the silence, James turned to look at Sirius and Remus with a wide-eyed and horrified look in his eyes. After a minute of wiping away some more tears, Lily made up her mind – she needed to get away for a while.
"Guys," Lily began, "I'm going out for a bit. I'll – "
"Lily, you shouldn't go out driving if you're upset, you might get into an – "
"Potter, who said I was going anywhere in a car?" Lily asked. "Hell, I don't even have a car. I'd like one, but that's not the point. I'm going out, and if I don't hear from you again today, have a good day."
"You too," Remus said as Lily grabbed a light jacket and left her bedroom.
After a while, James decided to ask the question that had been running through his head since Lily left her bedroom to go 'out'.
"Where d'you think she went?" he asked.
"The same place she goes every time she's upset and not at Hogwarts," Remus replied calmly.
"And that would be…?" Sirius asked, interested.
"The park by her house in Surrey."
As soon as Remus had finished his sentence, James had hopped off the dresser he had been sitting on and left the room. Remus and Sirius quickly left the room and followed after him.
Down three flights of stairs James went, thumping all the way. Once he reached the first floor, he bolted down the corridor, stopping in front of the doors to the study. Without the thought of knocking ever entering his mind, James threw open the doors.
Sitting behind the study desk was Mr. Potter, and across from him was the Prime Minister of France. Both turned their heads simultaneously as the study doors banged against the walls.
"Dad?" James asked while trying to catch his breath from all the running he had done.
"Please excuse me for a moment, Mr. Jardin," Harold said to the Prime Minister of France.
"Go right ahead," Mr. Jardin replied, smiling.
The Auror-turned-Minister of Magic pulled James aside and looked at his son.
"James, what is it?" Mr. Potter asked. "I'm in a very important meeting with the Prime Minister of France right now, as you saw and so courteously interrupted, so you better have a good excuse for me."
"I need you to set up a portkey for me that goes to Little Whinging in Surrey," James said, staring at his father.
"That's what you need?" Mr. Potter asked incredulously. "For what reason?"
Now that James was standing here with his father, he knew the reason was going to sound stupid even before he said it. However, he wanted to get there, so …
"To see Lily," James said simply.
"I don't want you causing her any trouble," Mr. Potter said, looking at James with a serious expression as he dug through the study desk drawer, "so take Remus with you. He'll make sure you don't get into too much trouble."
Hearing this, Remus entered the study quietly while sweeping a stray piece of hair out of his eyes.
A yell of "Hey, don't forget me!" was heard from the hallway, followed by Sirius rushing into the study, his hair sticking up much like James' from running down three flights of stairs.
Mr. Jardin smiled at the scene before him as Mr. Potter found the item he was looking for (a bright yellow tennis ball) in his desk, pulled out his wand, and muttered "portus" before handing it to James, who grinned at his father.
"Are all these yours?" Mr. Jardin asked Mr. Potter as James tossed the tennis ball up, only to have it caught and stolen by Sirius on its way down.
"Nope," Harold replied as Sirius, Remus, and James left the study. "Only the one with the messy black hair that sticks up in all directions."
With that last comment, Mr. Potter sat back down and resumed talking business with Mr. Jardin.
Lily reached the park in five minutes, give or take a bit. It was empty, with the exception of four bunnies sitting under a tall oak tree about ten feet away from the bench on which she was sitting. Two of them looked smaller than the others – Lily thought they looked like babies.
The two baby bunnies started chasing one another around the park in good spirits. Lily watched them, thinking of Petunia and herself when they were younger. The very thought brought tears to her eyes, and within minutes, she was crying. Crying so hard, in fact, that she didn't even hear James Potter sit down next to her on the bench.
"Here," James said, holding out a linen handkerchief to Lily and making her jump slightly.
"Thanks," Lily replied, taking the kerchief out of James's hand and blowing her nose in it, not yet realizing who the kerchief and voice belonged to.
After blowing her nose several times more, Lily noticed the initials JAP embroidered on the bottom right corner of the kerchief.
'JAP?' Lily thought. 'Who is – '
Her thoughts broke off as she looked up into James's face and gulped.
"Evans, are you okay?" he asked, a look of sincere concern on his face.
Lily's crying had made her so choked up that all she could do was shake her head no. In response, James handed her a second handkerchief and did something that he wasn't sure was too smart – he put his arms around her, pulling her toward him.
Remus, who was hiding behind some bushed with Sirius some feet away from where Lily and James were sitting, said, "That was really stupid."
Lily visibly stiffened as she felt James put his arms around her, but after a few seconds, relaxed into his embrace. She was still very upset, but somehow having James hold her made the pain lessen.
"Shh," James said, holding her tightly and rubbing her back much like a mother would do to her child. "It'll be okay."
Lily continued to sob for another five minutes or so, and then finally using the handkerchief to dry her eyes.
"S-sorry I got your robes all wet," Lily said, pointing at the huge wet spot on the front of James's robes.
"It's alright," James replied with a smile. "They'll dry."
Lily put on a small smile as James brushed a stray piece of hair out of her eyes.
"So, what could be so horrible that it makes you cry like this?" James asked. "I've never seen you cry before."
"It's just – my – Petunia – she's – she's so EVIL!" Lily burst out, finally finding the right words to use.
"Was she always like this?" James asked, handing her yet another handkerchief.
"No," Lily replied softly. "Only since I got accepted to Hogwarts."
"Why? What makes you going to a different school than her a reason to be so evil?"
"You heard her," Lily replied, getting upset once again. "She thinks that because I'm a witch, I'm a freak, and I'm different. She likes things to be normal, the way they were when she was brought up. Anything else is wrong, and not the way she likes them."
"No wonder you're upset," James replied, looking straight at her. "D'you want to come back to my place? You're more than welcome to hang with Sirius, Remus, and I."
"No thanks," Lily replied, smiling at him. "Thanks for the offer, though. I really appreciate what you did for me today. It was awfully nice and quite unlike the you I usually see. I really needed it."
"You're welcome," James replied, smiling at her. "I hope you feel better, Lily."
"Thanks," Lily replied. "D'you want your kerchiefs back?"
"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind," James said, grinning. "Once you wash them, of course."
"No, I'm going to stick snotty kerchiefs in your back pocket and make sure you keep them there for the next two years – of course I'll give them back once I've washed them," Lily replied, grinning back at him.
"Good. Then I'll see you at Hogwarts?"
"Yeah," Lily replied, smiling at him. "Have a nice rest of the summer."
As Lily returned to her house from the park that day, she thought, 'Wow. Maybe James Potter isn't so bad…'
A/N: I'm sorry for the REALLY long wait for this chapter, school has been really hectic, and my finals are next week. School ends for me on the 21st, so I'll be able to update more often. I also got a job, so that has been keeping me from having a lot of writing time. I promise, however, to try my best to update without months in between. Two weeks left until the end of school, and FREEDOM!
Hugs to all my readers and reviewrs,
Astronomylover