Chapter Seven: Words to be Marked
Ermengarde walked with Lily and Alice to the Great Hall where they would be taking their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. exam that morning. The Marauders caught up with them and gave her nods, smiles, winks, and waves. She heartily appreciated it and returned the grin.
"All right, Swi?" asked Sirius.
"All right," said Ermengarde. "What about you? Did you study enough?"
"Sure," said James. "This stuff's easy."
"Come on, Ermengarde. Let's find seats," said Lily. "There's Luminita and Nellie over there!"
Ermengarde followed Lily to the middle of the Hall and joined the other girls. Professor Flitwick passed out the exams and gave a little smile.
"All right, everyone – you may begin!" he squeaked.
Ermengarde looked down at her test and saw, to her relief, that it all was quite simple indeed. Her quill flew over the parchment, writing rather lengthy answers with ease. Someone gave a snicker behind her and she turned to see who it was: it was James, looking at what seemed to be question ten.
Ermengarde reached question ten ("Give five signs that identify the werewolf") and had to fight to choke back a small giggle herself. Remus was sitting not two seats away from her, probably answering that question at that very moment. She wondered how he had reacted when he first saw it.
The time flew by quickly and before she knew it, Professor Flitwick was giving the five-minute warning. She had already finished the exam and therefore did not care much, but from somewhere behind her she heard the distinct whimper of distress from Peter. She lolled in her seat a bit, looking around. She wished she could talk to someone...maybe Sirius was finished? She eyed him for a moment, hoping he would turn around and make a face or give her a smile or something, but he didn't. she turned her attention instead to James, who was now scribbling something on a piece of parchment.
"Done?" whispered Lily beside her, trying not to move her lips.
"Yes," whispered Ermengarde back.
"Easy?"
"Very."
"I thought so, too."
Flitwick collected the papers and dismissed everyone. The girls all walked together, chattering loudly and giggling. Ermengarde noticed Snape trailing behind them but paid him no attention. The Marauders were in front of them, going over the exam questions.
"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" James was saying to Remus, presumably talking about question ten.
"Come on," said Lily. "Let's go down to the lake. It's boiling out here!"
The girls went down to the edge of the lake and took off their socks and shoes. The water was deliciously cool on their feet.
"What did you think of the exam?" asked Nellie.
"It was okay," said Luminita. "I think I missed that question about Lethifolds, though...I couldn't remember what repelled them, so I said it was a Stupefying Charm, because I remembered that being mentioned in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
"No, no, the book said that the Stupefying Charm didn't work. It's a Patronus that does it," said Alice, looking worried.
"Oh, no!" said Luminita.
"Well, unless you're in a tropical climate, you won't meet one," said Ermengarde comfortingly.
"That's true," said Luminita. "I wonder if I can get half-credit...it was an unfair question, you know...geographically biased..."
The girls all laughed. Lily glanced back up at the school.
"Oh, for heaven's sake..."
The others turned to look. James was sitting with the other Marauders and playing with a Golden Snitch, letting it zoom away and catching it. Peter was nearly bursting out of his skin with excitement, his gasps and cheers carrying all the way down to the lake.
"Such a show-off," said Nellie primly. "But he's still—"
"—Quite good-looking," the others finished for her. Nellie giggled and blushed.
"What's going on over there?" said Lily suddenly, squinting to see.
The others followed her gaze and saw that James was pointing his wand at Severus Snape, who was crumbled on the ground while a group laughed.
"No, that's it. He's gone too far now," said Lily furiously, and she stood up, crammed her feet hurriedly into her shoes, and stormed off towards the Marauders and Snape.
"D'you reckon we should go too? Maybe we should help," said Alice anxiously.
"No," said Ermengarde. "Let her handle it. It's her business, anyway, we'd just make it worse..."
They watched for a few moments as Lily shrieked "Leave him ALONE!" at James, who seemed to be defending himself against whatever it was she was accusing him of.
"Oh, I hope he isn't rude to her," said Alice, wringing her hands. "He likes her so much and he'd just ruin it if he is..."
"I think he ruined it ages ago," said Luminita. "Remember third year, when he turned Snape's hair orange and hung him on one of the portraits?"
"Oh, yeah..." said Nellie, giggling again. "That was horrible...but still, quite funny, wasn't it?"
"You're so mean!" said Luminita, but she was smiling as well. "Snape's so nasty, though. He's bitter."
"Wouldn't you be, too, if your whole life, you'd been bullied?" said Ermengarde quietly. "I get the feeling that Snape's just...unhappy."
"Well, not everyone likes school, I suppose," said Alice.
"I don't think he's happy at home, either," said Ermengarde. "I mean...he's sad, it seems. Look at him. I would be, too, in that situation."
Ermengarde pointed at the now upside-down Snape, surrounded by whooping and laughing students and feeling such a surge of pity that it was almost overwhelming. It was strange; she had always suspected that Snape was not evil (horrible though he always had been to her), that evil was not born, but made...perhaps these experiences were what made him so sour.
Lily was now hurrying back towards them, looking rather pale. James was calling after her, but she did not look back. As she approached, Ermengarde could see tears streaming down her face.
"What happened, Lily?" the girls were all saying fretfully, but Lily wouldn't say anything.
Looking over Lily's shoulder, Snape was still visible, back in the air, upside-down, robes falling around his head. Ermengarde hurried past her, barefoot, and sprinted up the lawn towards the Marauders.
"Oy!" she shouted. "OY!"
James looked at her in surprise and Remus's eyes finally left his book.
"What's wrong, Swi?" asked James in surprise.
"Just...let him down," said Ermengarde softly.
It was perhaps the way she said it, so gently and calmly that convinced James, or maybe it was the look of compassion in her vivid eyes, or it could simply have been that James needed someone other than Lily or a Marauder to ask him to stop. Whatever the reason, James lowered his wand and Snape flipped right-side up, landed on the ground, and fell over sideways. Ermengarde went to Snape's wand and picked it up.
"Here," she said, holding it out to him.
Snape snatched it from her and got up in a billowy sort of way. He gathered his things and stood up, hunch-shouldered. He had a look of pure hatred on his sallow face as he glared at James.
"Just wait," he spat.
"Yeah, you've mentioned that already. Wait for what?" James said back, just as nastily.
"It won't happen today," said Snape, baring his teeth. "Maybe not even while we're still at school. But you'll see – you'll get what's coming to you. You'll regret all this, mark my words."
"Got those words marked, Padfoot?" James asked Sirius sarcastically.
"Got them," said Sirius.
"Don't you have somewhere to slither off to, Snivelly?" said James.
Snape glared at him for a second more and then stared at Ermengarde with a look of distinct loathing. When she saw this, Ermengarde felt shaken, thinking for sure that he would not – could not – be angry with her after she had helped him. Snape grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and pulled her so close that she could smell his putrid breath.
"You meddling little swot," said Snape in a voice of deadly quiet. Then he turned to James. "You're just lucky you had your little army of Mudbloods today, Potter, but they won't always be there for you!"
And, shoving Ermengarde out of the way so forcefully that she had to grab hold of Sirius to keep from falling, Snape pounded away wrathfully. She held on to Sirius's arm for a moment or two, too shocked by what had just happened to move. The crowd slowly dispersed and Sirius helped Ermengarde stand upright again.
"Are you okay, Ermengarde?" asked Remus. He looked very worried and pale.
"I – yes, I suppose so," she responded.
"You're not hurt?" he persisted.
"No," she said.
"Well, if he ever so much as blinks at you again, I'll hex him until he doesn't look like a human anymore," said Remus. Ermengarde had never heard him sound so angry.
"He already doesn't," said James. "Evans all right?"
"She's...yes," said Ermengarde.
"I suppose I should go talk to her?" James said, unsure.
"If you think you should," said Ermengarde. "But...not in front of her friends, all right? And don't make any jokes. At all. Can you do that?"
"I can do that," said James, and he walked off towards the lake.
"Ermengarde, you left your shoes!" said Nellie, who was panting from running them up to her.
"Oh...thank you," said Ermengarde.
Nellie nodded and walked back, but not before grinning sweetly at Sirius.
"Well, I, um, I think I'll head back to the common room," said Ermengarde in what she hoped was an offhand and casual tone of voice.
"I'll come too," said Remus. "I could do with a bit of a lie-down."
Remus and Ermengarde walked in silence until they reached the common room, but it was not an uncomfortable silence. In fact, it was one of the most comfortable silences Ermengarde had ever been in. They sank into armchairs and stared around for a few minutes.
"You know," said Remus suddenly. "That was really good what you did back there. It was...very noble. Especially since he was so rude to you when you first met him, and then the business of the parchment, and...well, anyway...it was good of you to defend him."
"Thank you," said Ermengarde, a bit taken aback at this praise.
Remus coughed and ran his hand over his face. He looked quite pale and sickly, and Ermengarde wondered if it was because of the quickly- approaching full moon. He crossed to the window and stared down at the grounds.
"There's Prongs and Lily," he said. "It looks as though it's going okay..."
Ermengarde said nothing. She was too busy trying to understand why there was a wistful note in his voice.
Ermengarde walked with Lily and Alice to the Great Hall where they would be taking their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. exam that morning. The Marauders caught up with them and gave her nods, smiles, winks, and waves. She heartily appreciated it and returned the grin.
"All right, Swi?" asked Sirius.
"All right," said Ermengarde. "What about you? Did you study enough?"
"Sure," said James. "This stuff's easy."
"Come on, Ermengarde. Let's find seats," said Lily. "There's Luminita and Nellie over there!"
Ermengarde followed Lily to the middle of the Hall and joined the other girls. Professor Flitwick passed out the exams and gave a little smile.
"All right, everyone – you may begin!" he squeaked.
Ermengarde looked down at her test and saw, to her relief, that it all was quite simple indeed. Her quill flew over the parchment, writing rather lengthy answers with ease. Someone gave a snicker behind her and she turned to see who it was: it was James, looking at what seemed to be question ten.
Ermengarde reached question ten ("Give five signs that identify the werewolf") and had to fight to choke back a small giggle herself. Remus was sitting not two seats away from her, probably answering that question at that very moment. She wondered how he had reacted when he first saw it.
The time flew by quickly and before she knew it, Professor Flitwick was giving the five-minute warning. She had already finished the exam and therefore did not care much, but from somewhere behind her she heard the distinct whimper of distress from Peter. She lolled in her seat a bit, looking around. She wished she could talk to someone...maybe Sirius was finished? She eyed him for a moment, hoping he would turn around and make a face or give her a smile or something, but he didn't. she turned her attention instead to James, who was now scribbling something on a piece of parchment.
"Done?" whispered Lily beside her, trying not to move her lips.
"Yes," whispered Ermengarde back.
"Easy?"
"Very."
"I thought so, too."
Flitwick collected the papers and dismissed everyone. The girls all walked together, chattering loudly and giggling. Ermengarde noticed Snape trailing behind them but paid him no attention. The Marauders were in front of them, going over the exam questions.
"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" James was saying to Remus, presumably talking about question ten.
"Come on," said Lily. "Let's go down to the lake. It's boiling out here!"
The girls went down to the edge of the lake and took off their socks and shoes. The water was deliciously cool on their feet.
"What did you think of the exam?" asked Nellie.
"It was okay," said Luminita. "I think I missed that question about Lethifolds, though...I couldn't remember what repelled them, so I said it was a Stupefying Charm, because I remembered that being mentioned in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
"No, no, the book said that the Stupefying Charm didn't work. It's a Patronus that does it," said Alice, looking worried.
"Oh, no!" said Luminita.
"Well, unless you're in a tropical climate, you won't meet one," said Ermengarde comfortingly.
"That's true," said Luminita. "I wonder if I can get half-credit...it was an unfair question, you know...geographically biased..."
The girls all laughed. Lily glanced back up at the school.
"Oh, for heaven's sake..."
The others turned to look. James was sitting with the other Marauders and playing with a Golden Snitch, letting it zoom away and catching it. Peter was nearly bursting out of his skin with excitement, his gasps and cheers carrying all the way down to the lake.
"Such a show-off," said Nellie primly. "But he's still—"
"—Quite good-looking," the others finished for her. Nellie giggled and blushed.
"What's going on over there?" said Lily suddenly, squinting to see.
The others followed her gaze and saw that James was pointing his wand at Severus Snape, who was crumbled on the ground while a group laughed.
"No, that's it. He's gone too far now," said Lily furiously, and she stood up, crammed her feet hurriedly into her shoes, and stormed off towards the Marauders and Snape.
"D'you reckon we should go too? Maybe we should help," said Alice anxiously.
"No," said Ermengarde. "Let her handle it. It's her business, anyway, we'd just make it worse..."
They watched for a few moments as Lily shrieked "Leave him ALONE!" at James, who seemed to be defending himself against whatever it was she was accusing him of.
"Oh, I hope he isn't rude to her," said Alice, wringing her hands. "He likes her so much and he'd just ruin it if he is..."
"I think he ruined it ages ago," said Luminita. "Remember third year, when he turned Snape's hair orange and hung him on one of the portraits?"
"Oh, yeah..." said Nellie, giggling again. "That was horrible...but still, quite funny, wasn't it?"
"You're so mean!" said Luminita, but she was smiling as well. "Snape's so nasty, though. He's bitter."
"Wouldn't you be, too, if your whole life, you'd been bullied?" said Ermengarde quietly. "I get the feeling that Snape's just...unhappy."
"Well, not everyone likes school, I suppose," said Alice.
"I don't think he's happy at home, either," said Ermengarde. "I mean...he's sad, it seems. Look at him. I would be, too, in that situation."
Ermengarde pointed at the now upside-down Snape, surrounded by whooping and laughing students and feeling such a surge of pity that it was almost overwhelming. It was strange; she had always suspected that Snape was not evil (horrible though he always had been to her), that evil was not born, but made...perhaps these experiences were what made him so sour.
Lily was now hurrying back towards them, looking rather pale. James was calling after her, but she did not look back. As she approached, Ermengarde could see tears streaming down her face.
"What happened, Lily?" the girls were all saying fretfully, but Lily wouldn't say anything.
Looking over Lily's shoulder, Snape was still visible, back in the air, upside-down, robes falling around his head. Ermengarde hurried past her, barefoot, and sprinted up the lawn towards the Marauders.
"Oy!" she shouted. "OY!"
James looked at her in surprise and Remus's eyes finally left his book.
"What's wrong, Swi?" asked James in surprise.
"Just...let him down," said Ermengarde softly.
It was perhaps the way she said it, so gently and calmly that convinced James, or maybe it was the look of compassion in her vivid eyes, or it could simply have been that James needed someone other than Lily or a Marauder to ask him to stop. Whatever the reason, James lowered his wand and Snape flipped right-side up, landed on the ground, and fell over sideways. Ermengarde went to Snape's wand and picked it up.
"Here," she said, holding it out to him.
Snape snatched it from her and got up in a billowy sort of way. He gathered his things and stood up, hunch-shouldered. He had a look of pure hatred on his sallow face as he glared at James.
"Just wait," he spat.
"Yeah, you've mentioned that already. Wait for what?" James said back, just as nastily.
"It won't happen today," said Snape, baring his teeth. "Maybe not even while we're still at school. But you'll see – you'll get what's coming to you. You'll regret all this, mark my words."
"Got those words marked, Padfoot?" James asked Sirius sarcastically.
"Got them," said Sirius.
"Don't you have somewhere to slither off to, Snivelly?" said James.
Snape glared at him for a second more and then stared at Ermengarde with a look of distinct loathing. When she saw this, Ermengarde felt shaken, thinking for sure that he would not – could not – be angry with her after she had helped him. Snape grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and pulled her so close that she could smell his putrid breath.
"You meddling little swot," said Snape in a voice of deadly quiet. Then he turned to James. "You're just lucky you had your little army of Mudbloods today, Potter, but they won't always be there for you!"
And, shoving Ermengarde out of the way so forcefully that she had to grab hold of Sirius to keep from falling, Snape pounded away wrathfully. She held on to Sirius's arm for a moment or two, too shocked by what had just happened to move. The crowd slowly dispersed and Sirius helped Ermengarde stand upright again.
"Are you okay, Ermengarde?" asked Remus. He looked very worried and pale.
"I – yes, I suppose so," she responded.
"You're not hurt?" he persisted.
"No," she said.
"Well, if he ever so much as blinks at you again, I'll hex him until he doesn't look like a human anymore," said Remus. Ermengarde had never heard him sound so angry.
"He already doesn't," said James. "Evans all right?"
"She's...yes," said Ermengarde.
"I suppose I should go talk to her?" James said, unsure.
"If you think you should," said Ermengarde. "But...not in front of her friends, all right? And don't make any jokes. At all. Can you do that?"
"I can do that," said James, and he walked off towards the lake.
"Ermengarde, you left your shoes!" said Nellie, who was panting from running them up to her.
"Oh...thank you," said Ermengarde.
Nellie nodded and walked back, but not before grinning sweetly at Sirius.
"Well, I, um, I think I'll head back to the common room," said Ermengarde in what she hoped was an offhand and casual tone of voice.
"I'll come too," said Remus. "I could do with a bit of a lie-down."
Remus and Ermengarde walked in silence until they reached the common room, but it was not an uncomfortable silence. In fact, it was one of the most comfortable silences Ermengarde had ever been in. They sank into armchairs and stared around for a few minutes.
"You know," said Remus suddenly. "That was really good what you did back there. It was...very noble. Especially since he was so rude to you when you first met him, and then the business of the parchment, and...well, anyway...it was good of you to defend him."
"Thank you," said Ermengarde, a bit taken aback at this praise.
Remus coughed and ran his hand over his face. He looked quite pale and sickly, and Ermengarde wondered if it was because of the quickly- approaching full moon. He crossed to the window and stared down at the grounds.
"There's Prongs and Lily," he said. "It looks as though it's going okay..."
Ermengarde said nothing. She was too busy trying to understand why there was a wistful note in his voice.