Disclaimer: When in doubt. It's not ours.
Summary: A James and Lily Story. They both led seemingly perfect lives – appearing like flawless portraits. In 6th year, everything began changing drastically, forcing them to leave childhood, and their perfect images, behind forever. Follows The Marauders Era's 6th year at school.
Authors' Note: Sorry for making you wait so long. We ran into some difficulties. So without further ado…
Chapter 7: A Marauding Life for Me
"Ow! That's it! The next person to step on my foot gets a rat bite."
"Shut the bloody hell up Wormtail, someone will hear you!" Sirius hissed
"Here's an idea. Why don't you both hush up or we'll get caught!" James half whispered, half yelled the last sentence.
"Unlikely for that to happen. You know, I still can't get over the fact that all four of us can still hide under this thing. Sure, we all have to crouch to Wormtail's height and walk like hunchbacks, but…" Sirius began, but was interrupted.
"Someone's coming!" Remus hissed suddenly.
No sooner had Remus said so, the four Marauders shuffled quickly to flatten themselves against the nearest wall. The minutes ticking by seemed like hours to them, and finally a shadow of a silhouette appeared, and seconds later, the owner came into view.
Oh bloody knickers, was the unanimous thought that entered their heads when they saw who it was.
Professor Fairkemp, the Ancient Runes teacher who was anything but fair and had a particular knack for catching troublemakers in the act. It did not help that James and Sirius caused as much mayhem as possible in his class. Needless to say, the boys were not on the professor's favourite students list and if he could catch them wandering around the corridors after dark, he wouldn't hesitate to take the necessary measures to take them out of action.
Which was why the four of them were standing in military postures with their backs pinned to the wall, sucked in stomachs, and holding their breath while he walked by. They were even beginning to sweat lightly, as the professor took his time walking the long hallway muttering to himself.
Just as Fairkemp passed them, Sirius' stomach growled loudly.
Fairkemp stopped suddenly and began to listen intently, trying to radar in anything suspicious. After several more minutes, in which the boys had held their breaths for so long their faces were purple from the effort, he finally spoke, "Peeves, whatever you're doing, I'll catch you, just know that."
Then he walked off muttering to himself again, in more of a hurry. But as the professor neared the end length of the hall, James had taken out his wand and given it a soft flick and muttered something incoherent. The marauders who had been watching James' wand, now simultaneously looked up at the professor. The last glimpse that they had of Fairkemp before he was around the corner and out of sight was of his new rainbow tail. As soon as he rounded the corner, four breaths were let out in one big whoosh and then collective snickers.
"Sirius, didn't you eat three helpings of pie at dinner? Didn't that satisfy your appetite enough?" asked Remus bewildered.
James followed up, "Couldn't you have just ordered your stomach not to growl till Fairkemp walked passed?"
Sirius defended, "Don't you think I would have helped it if I could have? We'd have gotten a week in detention! That's five nights without snogging! Five!" He raised his hand and counted out the fingers, emphasizing each one as he counted. "I'd practically be like Fairkemp. Why do you think he's so bitter? He's ugly and has a hideous mole at the end of his nose; no woman wants to snog that."
"Sirius, shut up."
"I'm only telling the truth, Moony. Would you want to snog Fairkemp?"
Rolling his eyes, Remus replied resignedly, "No I'd rather snog McGonagall, but that's not the point."
Sirius cried out in protest, "Minnie is mine, hands off."
Giving a snort, James warned, "If she ever heard you say that she'd get sent to Azkaban for blowing your brains out."
"Thank you for being so supportive Prongs. If Remus ever tries to take away Lily from you, I'll say the same thing."
"I never said I was going to steal Lily away from James, or 'Minnie' from you."
"Then what were you saying Moony?"
"That … oh never mind. Why do I even bother?" Remus muttered.
"You bother for the sanity of the world," Peter piped out.
"Wormtail, can you try to refrain from squeaking when we're under the cloak? Mrs. Norris might come by and think you're some sort of rat, then attempt to hunt you, and in the attempt, rip Prongs' cloak."
Remus shook his head before his werewolf senses kicked in. Sensing someone, or someones, were nearby. He gave a low whistle to get the others' attention before whispering, "Follow me."
They began to edge slowly back from where they came from and walked on for about five minutes before they reached the cause of the sound.
In a small, secluded corner, Vincent Smith was locked in an embrace with Bellatrix Black, and embracing was not the only thing they were doing.
"I think I am going to hurl." Sirius and James gagged together.
Then James' eyes lit up. He beckoned the other three to follow him behind a tapestry of a particularly revolting wizard. Remus, already onto James' plan, searched for the certain which brick would reveal a small room with a window that looked out on the hallway, at the exact spot that Vincent and Bellatrix were making out. From the outside, a person would not see the window, but a painting of the Forbidden Forest instead.
Once inside the room, the cloak was taken off and James took out the Marauder's Map from his pocket and search for teachers on night patrol. "Alright, it looks like McGonagall will come by this way in about 3 minutes or so, probably to go to Dumbledore's office and try to get a restraining order against Sirius – "
"Hey! What's that supposed –?"
"– so when she's near enough, Padfoot, I want you to perform that leg gluing to the floor charm on the pair. Peter, you transform and go scare them so that Bellatrix creates a racket. Sirius' dear 'Minnie' will come to investigate the noise, discover this disgusting couple in a heap and give them a detention," James said brightly.
"James, this isn't going to work." Remus said wearily.
"And why not? Moony, the plan is brilliant!" Sirius whined.
"Because, Sirius, you of all people should know that Bellatrix is hardly going to be scared of a rat. If anything, she'll kill Peter with a spell."
The only sound heard was Peter giving a horrified squeak. James gave a shrug while Sirius opened and closed his mouth uselessly." But… No… Blast, he's got a point," Sirius finally accepted.
"Which is why I think that instead of endangering Peter, you should do an illusionary charm to make her see something she really fears," continued Remus thoughtfully.
Sirius' face glumly looked up, "That girl doesn't fear anything but old Voldy and her hag mother's disapproval."
Remus smiled blandly, "Would the hag disapprove if Bella was caught with someone that's not a pureblood?"
Sirius, giving Remus a questioning look before it dawn on him, "Smith is muggle-born? Him going on and on about how he can trace himself back to royalty?"
Remus' nodded, making James, Sirius, and Peter's break into mischievous grins. Remus had neither discouraged nor approved of their prank, but offering a suggestion was as good as anything.
James suddenly spoke in excitement, "Instead of getting their legs stuck to the floor, I'll perform a greasing charm to make the floor impossible to stand on."
Sirius followed in addition, eye lit with an impish look, "Leave the illusionary spell to me. I've waited all my life to see sweet Bella squirm."
"Wormtail, you keep a lookout for McGonagall and signal us when to start. Moony, can you safeguard this place so that's its soundproof? We'll need it when McGonagall nears so we can perform counter-spells. Who knew this could be so much easier. Good call, Moony." James asked hurriedly
Remus nodded knowingly before dragging Peter, who gave a squeak in excitement, to their posts by the door. James and Sirius were fiddling away with the back portrait to open it just enough to give the wands leeway for movement, when Remus saw McGonagall's shadow appear around the corner.
She wasn't alone either. Remus could hear Dumbledore's soft humming in the background and McGonagall spoke to him. He moved his hand in a jabbing motion, shut the tapestry, and quickly gave the signal to his two friends who grinned back before giving a thumbs up sign.
No more than a few seconds later, there was a horrified, echoing female scream, a loud thump of falling persons and more yelling. Dumbledore and McGonagall's footsteps got louder as they grew nearer, as James quickly poked them in remembrance to perform counter-charms. Remus quickly performed the sound-proofing spell to hide their triumphant whoops and yells.
Once the professors had arrived at the scene, the Marauders all crowded around the view window to watch the show unfold. It was a rare sight to see the Queen of Slytherin caught in the presence of someone of impure blood, much less making out with them.
"Mr. Smith! Ms. Black!" McGonagall gasped out in shock.
Vincent Smith looked up with a sort of happy grin and slightly coloured cheeks. But Bellatrix was now sputtering and stuttering, her face an extremely dark shade of red and a look of utmost horror on her face. They were both rather sweaty and messy looking with their hair extremely dishevelled and several items of clothing seemed to be threatening to be undressed.
McGonagall had a very stern and scandalized look on her face, but Dumbledore simply looked at them with a smile on his face as if they were amusing him with circus acts.
"A talk with Professor Slughorn and Professor Sprout is in order." McGonagall, now recollected, said sternly.
"Prof…professor… it's n-not what it l-l-looks like…someone…" Bellatrix finally managed to sputter almost incoherently.
"You can explain all that to your Head of House. Up you go now; we wouldn't want any other someones to get to you." Dumbledore said lightly before slipping an oddly furtive glance toward the tapestry. The Marauders could have sworn that he had given them a twinkling wink, but before they could read his facial expression, he had turned and motioned for a slightly annoyed Professor McGonagall to take the two students to their Head of Houses.
They followed silently behind her, but when Vincent Smith accidentally brushed against Bellatrix, she looked up and gave him a seething glare, as if it was his entire fault. This caused him to almost ricochet away from her and continue to walk on the other side of the hallway.
As soon as they were gone, and Remus once again made sure that the room was sound proof, there were suddenly large howls of laughter. Sirius was on his knees banging on the floor, while James leaned against the walls and clutched his stomach. Peter was so red, that he looked sunburnt and even Remus was gasping for breath between laughs.
It took them a good while to calm down. When the laughing had died away considerably, the Marauders each took a wall in the chamber to lean against. Facing each other, whenever they caught each others' eyes, there would be a breakout of chuckles and breakouts of sniggers once more.
"Pranking makes me hungry. Let's head to the kitchens for a bite," Sirius suggested with twinkling eyes.
There was a collective light-hearted laugh from the other three. After every prank that had gone off well, the Marauders celebrated by raiding the kitchens. Unanimously, they got up, went under the Cloak, and after checking the coast was clear, went off on their way.
As soon as they stepped inside, they were surrounded by house elves, bringing forth cool cloths and desserts of every kind. Taking samples of this and that, they went to sit down and began to talk over the highlights of the night.
"Wonder how long they'll be in detention for it?"
"Smith will likely go through detention with Sprout, but dear Bella will probably get off free. You know how much Slughorn wants her to be part of his club."
"Hello, she was caught rolling all over the ground, screaming in a secluded corner. Even if Slughorn is going easy, she'll still get detention. It was after hours."
"Maybe it's a new Death Eater tactic. Voldemort probably told Bella to snog people until they suffocate and die. If so, she could have at least chosen a more private place."
"Sirius, if I don't recall, you go off in the same sort of corners nearly every other night and to make out. Sometimes with several different girls in a night. It's disgusting."
"Kissing is not disgusting Moony. You should find yourself a girl and do it more often. Take the Hurricane; or Miss Prude Princess if you're desperate."
"You're only annoyed because she's one of the few who isn't affected by you're so-called-charm," teased Peter.
"When I tell you to be more assertive and insult people Petey, I don't mean me."
"Oh shut up."
"I think I'll be taking Hestia to my favourite classroom sometime this week…maybe after the Hogsmeade trip tomorrow." Sirius said thoughtfully.
Remus jerked his head up. "What! That's insensitive. She's just out of a messy break-up, and her best friend likes you." He said hoarsely.
Sirius shrugged and began to talk about some Ravenclaw girl he thought was gorgeous and was going to seduce out of studying. James took this opportunity to think about how he was going to win Lily's heart.
Her hair was such a rich shade of Auburn, and her eyes so forest green, the way she threw back her head when she laughed at something particularly funny (James hoped one day she could laugh like that at one of his jokes), the way she liked to woft the scent of her food before she took a bite, the way her canine teeth were slightly crooked…
"Earth to James!" Someone barked into his ear, causing him to jump.
James' hand moved in a reflex action to smack the person. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that he had been holding a particularly creamy pastry, and it ended up on Sirius' face.
Sirius resignedly sighed before wiping the cream off his face. Licking the cream from his lips he said, "I wasn't asking you for a piece of pie mate, but thanks anyway."
"Oh, sorry. I was just –"
"Thinking about a certain red-headed spitfire who wants to blow your brains out whenever she sees you?" suggested Sirius knowingly.
James' face turned slightly pink, "Shut up Padfoot."
"Just a quote I heard somewhere before." Sirius said while faking innocence and pretending he didn't hear James.
"Speaking of Lily," James, in turn was pretending he didn't hear what Sirius said, "I want to do something romantic to her tomorrow in Hogsmeade."
Remus and Sirius both groaned. Peter, not really getting it, just piped up, "Oh yeah? What is it?"
"Prongs, do you realize, that in your blind persistence, you continue to make yourself look like prat?"
"I do not! I just…" James trailed off, then realized what Sirius was saying was true. "Alright, I do make an arse of myself in front of her all the time. I can't help it! It's just when I see her, my brain turns off and I act on impulse." He looked to Remus hoping for advice, and got it.
Remus stared at him thoughtfully before saying, "James, instead of trying to win Lily's affections when she has a boyfriend –"
"Who's a git, though he's got better hair than you mate," Sirius added in an attempt to be helpful.
Remus glared at Sirius (who didn't notice) before continuing, "– you should just try to win her friendship at the moment."
"Moony has got it right on the money, mate." Sirius spoke up, causing everyone to raise their eyebrows at him, "With girls like Lily, you need to win her friendship first. Then after she and that idiot break up, try winning her love."
James looked at him, stunned, before saying in bewilderment, "What in bloody hell happened to you? Normally, you'd have told me to go and snog her senseless."
"Well considering I do want my best mate to be alive, I would suggest the safer route."
James shook his head with a frown and got up. His friends followed in turn, when they saw what seemed like a blazing look in his eyes. Giving each other worried looks, they followed closely behind him in fear he might suddenly do something that would late be regretful. Their feet took them swiftly to the common room, running into no one very interesting (though Peeves passed along making burping noises), while they wondered about James.
Reaching the Far Lady, James barged out from under the cloak first and muttered, "Felix Felicis." An appalled portrait hastily opened to reveal the common room and hurried them inside.
James scanned the room with his alert hazel eyes, and saw Lily and Mai working on their homework by the fire. He attempted in vain to flatten his wild hair before walking stiffly over. Clearing his throat, he said rather breathlessly in a noticeably deepened voice, "Hi Lily."
Lily finished dotting an "i" before looking up. When saw who it was, her face twisted into a suspicious frown, "What do you want Potter?"
James was beet red and seemed be at loss for words.
Lily continued to stare at him warily before saying curtly, "Potter, I really don't have time to be amused by your antics right now."
Finally collecting himself, James gave an unsure smile. "Oh, it's nothing. Just though I'd say hi. Um…well, I guess I've done that already. Er…Bye." He gave a wave and backed away slowly, timid smile still plastered on his face. Lily's brilliant green orbs followed his path as he turned suddenly to rush up the stairs to the dormitories.
"What was that about?" Mai asked curiously.
Lily was still staring at the staircase where James had disappeared when she replied, still mystified, "Well, taking into account that it's Potter, whatever he's up to, it can't be good." Scowling, she quickly returned back to her work as not only Mai was looking at her strangely, but the other three Marauders who had just passed by were giving her furtive looks as well.
When Sirius, Remus, and Peter burst into their dorm they found James bouncing without a care in the world on the bed. "I tried being her friend," he said calmly, "but it didn't work, so I'm going to do it my way now."
When James Potter had his mind set on an idea, he was not to be swayed. His friends glanced around at each other silently, a sign of unease.
There was no stopping him.
So there you have it. It's a bit shorter than we would have liked, but we ran into several technical difficulties. Hope you've enjoyed it and feel free to give suggestions. We're open lots of possibilities.
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