Chapter 5 Pranks, Plots, and Prejudices
After the now legendary Halloween feast and with no Hgsemeade weekend to look forward to until December, November at Hogwarts seemed rather dull in comparison to most of the students.
However, after the first week of November came and went, none of the students said that any longer.
It was the greatest string of pranks in Hogwarts history; it seemed there was no end to the originality, innovation, and access power of the Marauders. Nothing, nowhere, and no one was immune. Filch the caretaker seemed on the point of a nervous breakdown and many of the Slytherin first years lived in a constant state of terror. Some of the pranks the Marauders were punished for, others there wasn't enough proof to condemn them, but everyone knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Marauders were behind it. Who else had the skill, brains, and nerve to pull it off?
Since the completion of their piece de resistance, the Marauder's Map, just before Halloween, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had seemed to be able to get away with any prank they could imagine and spent more time planning and executing them than they did studying. This new level of ability and activity had only added to their legend; they were followed, stared at, and giggled over by even more of the Hogwarts female population.
Remus took this new state of affairs as calmly as he did anything else, but inside he felt slightly guilty, knowing deep down that he, a Prefect and supposed role model, was setting a very poor example indeed by spending several of his evenings in detention along with those he sent there for curfew restrictions and other minor infringements. However, Remus had had very little fun in his pre-Hogwarts existence as he had no mates to hang about with. His friendships with his fellow Marauders meant more to him than what kind of example he was setting for the first years, and, he reasoned, if he weren't in on these pranks, who would stop the others from going too far?
Peter of course was delighted with his new level of infamy. Of course, it was really only infamy by association as he and most of the school knew that he lacked the talent the other three possessed in spades, which kept Peter mostly at the level of devoted and enthusiastic admirer and lackey who did the dirty work. But Peter didn't mind his role in their little club, it was well suited to him and it was a role he played excellently. There were so many advantages to his friendships with the Marauders, and he owed them so much. By taking notice of him and befriending him, they had rescued Peter from obscurity and almost certain bullying and had elevated him to his current status as one of the most popular blokes in Hogwarts. Sure, most of the girls preferred the other three, especially James or Sirius, to him, and sometimes he got a bit jealous, but the girls weren't the most important thing.
With the Marauders, Peter received a taste of the glory he had sought his entire life, and for that, they had his loyalty.
Sirius had more devoted females flocking after him everywhere and hanging onto his every word, which luckily presented him with new opportunites, because frankly the old ones had been becoming a touch boring. This new rash of pranks, beginning with the one on Halloween, and the full moon trips to the Shrieking Shack and beyond were the only way Sirius could feel alive. Whether it was sneaking into the kitchens to spike the Cornish game hen basting liquid with Mobilibus potion, enchanting the suits of armor along the main corridor to point and laugh anytime a Slytherin walked by, or snogging a girl in Honeyduke's' store room, Sirius did it all for the same reason: the thrill. He needed to feel danger and have excitement ever present or he went stir crazy. The Marauder's Map took away virtually every barrier that stood between the Marauders and total access to Hogwarts, and Sirius was loving it.
James too was enjoying this new ultimate access to Hogwarts and planning every prank he had ever dreamed of pulling because it took his mind off of other areas that didn't come as easily to him, mainly his love life. Lily Evans was still very much on his mind, especially after he heard Frank's and Morwenna's accounts of what had happened on Halloween. James knew from Sirius just how much of a product Bellatrix was of the Black family and how psychotic she was herself. James knew firsthand how determined Bellatrix was and how vindictive when she felt herself to have been slighted. He was genuinely concerned for Lily and the others and he, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had determined to keep an eye on them. Aside from that, James' feelings for Lily were still very much present and her rejection of him was getting harder to take. He was fairly certain that he didn't want Lily just because he couldn't have her, as he had suspected at the beginning. These feelings seemed to be real, which made his situation all the more frustrating. He didn't even want to snog other girls in an attempt to forget about her as he had been able to do in his third, fourth, and fifth years. It wouldn't help, and these other girls weren't Lily, so why bother pretending?
So James devoted much of his boundless energy to pranks and the rest to schoolwork and his other obsession: Quidditch. He was captain this year, and the team was most definitely on so far this season.
But James wasn't giving up. Not by any means. In fact, he was seeking reinforcements in the form of his friends to help him with this plan of winning Lily Evans over.
* * *
While the rest of the school was impressed with the Marauders' audacity, most of Slytherin house was most definitely not amused.
Many of these so called jokes were at their expense, and this had brought the already volatile Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry to new heights of tension.
So when Bellatrix Black and her cronies brought forth their tale of Gryffindor Mudblood humiliation, the time was ripe for vengeance.
The Slytherins rarely rallied around any cause. Most Slytherins lacked the needed loyalty and were too shrewd and self-serving to make unnecessary enemies. It was simply the nature of their house.
However, this insult to one of its most prominent leaders, with the age and weight of her family name and influence with certain powerful individuals, by a Mudblood no less, could not be ignored. The fact that said Mudblood was a Gryffindor and retaliation against her would be retaliation against Gryffindor was simply an added incentive.
Rodolphus Lestrange, infuriated that such a thing had happened to his girlfriend, was the ringleader, in addition to Bellatrix herself, of course, and quickly ensured the cooperation of most of the "select few" whose prestige in the house could not be rivalled.
The girls who had born witness to Bellatrix's humilaiation, Morgaine DuBose, Lourdes Arbor, Hera Mordred, and Claudia Heston, were of course in on the scheming, but only Hera, Morgaine, and Claudia wished to take part in the actual revenge. Lourdes found such things distasteful, but she was in the minority. Though only a few would wreak the actual vengeance, they did so with at least the partial knowledge and almost overwhelming support of the house.
Snape had no interest in these latest machinations. They seemed too trivial to bother with and too ill-advised to be borne. Naturally at least some, if not all, of them would be caught and punished, which could prove highly detrimental to their Hogwarts careers, now entering the crucial final stage. It would be appallingly idiotic of any of them, especially the seventh years, to do anything to jeapordize those all-important NEWTs.
Therefore Snape was extremely reluctant when Rodolphus cornered him in the common room that evening and suggested that Severus accommodate him with a private chat. Rodolphus held too many cards not to comply, so naturally Snape agreed.
Once settled in the empty Potions classroom near Slytherin's dungeon common room, Rodolphus came directly to the point.
It seems to me, Severus," Lestrange began, his expression too neutral for Ssnape's comfort, "that your devotion to certain worthy and important institutions has been, shall we say, somewhat lacking." Rodolphus paused, his eyes boring into Snape's letting him feel the weight of his implications.
"In good conscience," Rodolphus continued, "I couldn't allow this lack in you to go unnoticed by certain parties in leadership positions - nobody likes a fair weather friend, after all. Unless," Rodolphus paused again. "You can convince me of your fidelity."
Snape knew exactly what Rodolphus was implying. He had been expecting something along these lines, after all, ever since that first night back at Hogwarts when Lestrange had sought him out. He would have to do something for Lestrange to convince him not to report him to the Dark Lord. And Snape was fairly certain that this meant playing a prominent, and probably very vulnerable, role in this little revenge scheme. Snape's gut churned with fury at Lestrange's stupidity. To waste a debt such as this on such petty schoolgirl machinations was contemptible. He was contemptible to lead them into this ridiculous scheme that was bound to have a higher price than the satisfaction warranted. And Snape had no choice but to comply. Just to be certain, Snape decided to ask for clarification.
"Am I to understand that you require my assistance in this little manouever that you and Bellatrix are planning against a certain Mudblood?" Snape inquired coldly.
Lestrange smiled mirthlessly. "Your powers of perception are astounding, Severus," he sneered.
Snape's heart sank. He didn't want to sacrifice more than five years of hard work for this pointless little tiff. But he had no choice in the matter. Lestrange had the ears of all the right people, and he would bury Snape if he had the chance. Snape knew how the game was played, had seen it played and had heard others talking about it often enough to know.
Refusing to play the game Lestrange's way would be tantamount to suicide.
* * *
Friday afternoons the sixth year Gryffindors had Double Potions with the Slytherins. Most of them enjoyed this class because the Potions professor, Professor Colander, was easygoing and the nature of the work allowed them plenty of time to chat.
The Marauders, minus Remus who was in the hospital wing in anticipation of the full moon that night, worked directly behind Lily Evans and Alice Prewett, which made the class twice as enjoyable for James. He could look at Lily Evans without it being obvious that he was doing so and had plenty of time and freedom to joke about with his mates.
Today Lily and Alice seemed to be catching up with each other as Alice had apparently been spending a great deal of her free time with Frank Longbottom and hadn't talked to Lily since Monday.
"I'm glad it's going so well," Lily was saying, smiling her dazzling smile at her friend. "Frank is such a nice bloke."
"He really is," Alice blushed. "He makes me feel special, like I'm something completely out of the ordinary and amazing."
"Which is true," Lily smiled at her friend.
James was distracted just then as Sirius leaned over and whispered: "Prongs! Create a diversion so I can put this Dissolution Solution on the Slytherin's cauldrons."
Being the good friend and devoted troublemaker that he was, James turned his attention to Sirius to hear the details of the plan, but his ears perked up as he heard the girls discussing the upcoming holidays.
"What are you doing for the Christmas holidays?" Lily asked as she tossed a handful of powdered dragon's teeth into her cauldron.
"Going to Edinburgh to see my grandparents with my family," Alice replied. "We haven't been for ages. What about you, Lils?"
"I haven't decided yet," Lily sighed. The subject was a rather depressing one for her this year. "I might very well stay here. In fact, I probably will"
"But you never stay at Hogwarts for Christmas," Alice said, her brow furrowing. "Is there any reason in particular?"
Lily opened her mouth to answer but unfortunately James realized he was supposed to be causing a distraction and suddenly gave a yelp of pain.
"A rat, professor! It ran across my table and surprised me and I burned my hand," James lied smoothly and utterly convincingly, clutching his hand in supposed pain.
As he had known they would, most of the girls in the room shrieked and stood on the chairs, causing enough of a general uproar for Sirius to sneak over and apply the potion to the side of Heston's cauldron and then go on down the line of Slytherin cauldrons.
"Settle down and get back to work, all of you," ordered Professor Colander, sounding mildly irritated. "Potter, you may put your hand under the faucet, or is it bad enough to need to go and see Madam Pomfrey?"
"I think it's all right, Professor," James said innocently. No way was he missing this.
The room settled down again and a few seconds later the Dissolution Solution had worked its way through the cauldrons, dissolving holes large enough for the potion to leak onto the floor. The Freezing Formula immediately hardened into a sheet of ice, causing the Slytherins to slip and slide on the sheets of ice. The Gryffindors sniggered rather nastily and Professor Colander was incensed.
"I have warned you repeatedly not to spill the Freezing Formula!" the professor screeched.
"But we didn't, Professor," protested Claudia Heston, flapping her arms about frantically in an attempt to keep her balance. "Someone's put holes in our cauldrons." Heston's flapping increased as her struggle to stay upright became more difficult. "EEEEEE!" she shrieked as she finally fell on the ice.
"Someone help Miss Heston up," barked Colander. "Does anyone know anything about these mysterious holes?"
"Sirius Black did it," Evan Rosier spoke up. "I saw him."
Professor Colander swelled like a toad. "Mister Black," she huffed in an outraged tone. "Did you put holes in these cauldrons?"
Sirius looked bored. "Yes, I suppose I did."
"So you have disrupted this class' learning, not to mention your own, and all for a childish prank. You should be ashamed, especially with NEWTS coming up next year. Does it matter to you at all if no one comes out of Hogwarts knowing how to brew a decent potion?" Colander scolded.
"Why bother really, Professor, when everywhere you go has pre- brewed?" Sirius inquired, struggling to hide his amusement.
"Detention, Black! Effective immediately after the rest of the class is dismissed! You may help me clean up this mess you made." Professor Colander snapped. "Everyone else may begin cleaning up."
"You lucked out there, Padfoot," James whispered.
"Yeah," Peter piped up. "Wouldn't want to miss the full moon, would you? But I think you'll have enough time, Madam Pomfrey won't be taking Moony to the Shrieking Shack for another two - OUCH!!" Peter's revealing little statement earned him simultaneous pinches from both of his mates.
"Just hurry. Wouldn't want to have to do without you," James said cryptically to Sirius, finally ceasing to glare at Peter.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Sirius grinned.
* * *
Alice, Lily, and the other sixth year girls had returned to their dormitory after Potions, laughing over the Marauders' latest prank. Four of them, at any rate. Lily refused to.
After a few minutes of chatter, the gilrs dispersed, Kathleen and Morwenna to the common room, Dorcas to the library. Alice waited deliberately, wanting to find out what was eating Lily.
When the door closed behind Dorcas after she had extracted a promise from Lily to meet her in the library after a bit, Alice stopped fiddling with her hair and went to sit on her bed next to Lily's.
"So we never did finish our chat earlier," Alice said. "What's making you change your holiday plans?"
Lily fidgeted with a bit of blanket. "It's my sister," she said finally. "She's..well.. I don't quite know where to begin." Lily opened a drawer in her bedside table and removed a flowered envelope. I received this yesterday from my mum," Lily explained. "Go on and read it. It'll make it easier for you to understand." Alice unfolded the letter.
"My Dearest Lily," it began.
I am writing to tell you about some very unfortunate incidents that have been taking place at home since you left.
First, your father and I want you to know that we have been tirelessly persuading Petunia to tell Vernon the truth about you ever since you left. We are deeply ashamed that Petunia told such a terrible lie and that Vernon, who is soon to be a member of our family, should think so poorly of you. You are a dear, sweet girl who has never caused us a day of worry and we refuse to go along with this ridiculous lie.
Incoorectly, it seems, Dad and I hoped that it would be easier to persuade Petunia to tell Vernon the truth after you were away and she would no longer have to face you. Petunia has been adamant for many months now, absolutely refusing to see our point of you or let go of this bitterness she seems to harbor. It was only recently when she agreed to tell Vernon, and even then it was only Vernon, not his family. I was firmly convinced that Vernon would be relieved to know the truth.
Again, it seems I was wrong. Vernon and Petunia had a row when she told him, and he called the engagement off last week. As of yesterday they are reconciled, but the wedding has been pushed back to next December and Petunia is frightfully upset. Irrationally she seems to blame you for what happened instead of placing the blame where it belongs, on her own shoulders for telling the lie in the first place.
I feel you deserve fair warning: I do not know what Petunia will do or say when she sees you at Christmas, nor do I know what Vernon will do or say, and ultimately I have little control over the matter. I have never seen Petunia so distraught or so angry at you. You are of course always welcome at home and your father and I would be delighted to see you and are doing everything in our power to change Petunia's mind, but I do feel you should be warned about what's waiting for you in enough time to make other plans for Christmas if you want to.
I hope all is well with you and I am terribly sorry to have to be the bearer of such distressing news. Write to me soon and tell me what your decision is.
With all of my love, Mum
"This is absurd!" Alice said indignantly. "How could your own sister go about telling lies about you then blame you when she gets caught in her own lie? What did she say about you, by the way?"
"It's rather funny, really," Lily smiled and proceeded to tell Alice about her supposed stints in a correctional facility and her first meeting with Vernon.
Alice was in peals of laughter. "How could anyone believe that of you when they saw you? This Vernon bloke really must be thick!"
"He looks thick," Lily shrugged.
"Why is your sister telling these lies? What's she ashamed of?" Alice asked in a more serious tone.
Lily searched for the words to explain. "She thinks I'm a freak," she said.
"Why?" Alice genuinely didn't understand. As a pureblood wizard who had never lived outside of the wizarding community, Alice had never been given any reason to think her way of life was strange or be ridiculed for her differences. Additionally, she was one of the kindest people Lily had ever known; it wasn't in her realm of possibility to even think about hating someone for being different.
"Well, because I'm a witch," Lily squirmed, not wanting to be the one to ruin Alice's innocence.
"Why on earth is that a reason to lie and be upset?" Alice still didn't get it.
"Petunia doesn't like things that are out of the ordinary or things she doesn't understand," Lily explained. "They scare her. She's afraid of who I've become and what I do here, so she thinks I'm a freak."
"She's the one about to marry a prat," Alice snorted.
"It's a lot like the prejudice against Muggle borns in the wizarding world," Lily elaborated. "Most people don't like people that are different or that they don't understand. But with Muggles, all witches and wizards are 'freaks'. My sister wouldn't care if you were from the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black or if you were a common Muggle born. Either way you aren't like her and that makes you a freak."
A long silence followed as Alice digested this information, fully appreciating just how difficult it was to be Muggle born and Lily waited nervously to hear what her friend would say.
"You should stay here for Christmas, Lily," Alice said finally. "At least you're wanted here."
"By some people, at least," Lily smiled rather grimly.
"Well, the one who don't want you don't matter, do they?" Alice said. "It's only a few of them as opposed to an entire bloody race of Muggles, and besides, there're loads of people who do want you here. The rest are just eejits like that Vernon Dursley."
Alice smiled at her friend and Lily smiled back, touched. As the two girls made their way to the library where Frank and Dorcas were waiting to study for their upcoming Potions exam, Lily suddenly felt very glad to be where she was.
Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, especially Crimsonkisses, Willow23, Blue Eyes At Night, and Lily Rowling Potter. The reviews mean so much to me and they really help to motivate me to keep writing. More chapters to come.
After the now legendary Halloween feast and with no Hgsemeade weekend to look forward to until December, November at Hogwarts seemed rather dull in comparison to most of the students.
However, after the first week of November came and went, none of the students said that any longer.
It was the greatest string of pranks in Hogwarts history; it seemed there was no end to the originality, innovation, and access power of the Marauders. Nothing, nowhere, and no one was immune. Filch the caretaker seemed on the point of a nervous breakdown and many of the Slytherin first years lived in a constant state of terror. Some of the pranks the Marauders were punished for, others there wasn't enough proof to condemn them, but everyone knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Marauders were behind it. Who else had the skill, brains, and nerve to pull it off?
Since the completion of their piece de resistance, the Marauder's Map, just before Halloween, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had seemed to be able to get away with any prank they could imagine and spent more time planning and executing them than they did studying. This new level of ability and activity had only added to their legend; they were followed, stared at, and giggled over by even more of the Hogwarts female population.
Remus took this new state of affairs as calmly as he did anything else, but inside he felt slightly guilty, knowing deep down that he, a Prefect and supposed role model, was setting a very poor example indeed by spending several of his evenings in detention along with those he sent there for curfew restrictions and other minor infringements. However, Remus had had very little fun in his pre-Hogwarts existence as he had no mates to hang about with. His friendships with his fellow Marauders meant more to him than what kind of example he was setting for the first years, and, he reasoned, if he weren't in on these pranks, who would stop the others from going too far?
Peter of course was delighted with his new level of infamy. Of course, it was really only infamy by association as he and most of the school knew that he lacked the talent the other three possessed in spades, which kept Peter mostly at the level of devoted and enthusiastic admirer and lackey who did the dirty work. But Peter didn't mind his role in their little club, it was well suited to him and it was a role he played excellently. There were so many advantages to his friendships with the Marauders, and he owed them so much. By taking notice of him and befriending him, they had rescued Peter from obscurity and almost certain bullying and had elevated him to his current status as one of the most popular blokes in Hogwarts. Sure, most of the girls preferred the other three, especially James or Sirius, to him, and sometimes he got a bit jealous, but the girls weren't the most important thing.
With the Marauders, Peter received a taste of the glory he had sought his entire life, and for that, they had his loyalty.
Sirius had more devoted females flocking after him everywhere and hanging onto his every word, which luckily presented him with new opportunites, because frankly the old ones had been becoming a touch boring. This new rash of pranks, beginning with the one on Halloween, and the full moon trips to the Shrieking Shack and beyond were the only way Sirius could feel alive. Whether it was sneaking into the kitchens to spike the Cornish game hen basting liquid with Mobilibus potion, enchanting the suits of armor along the main corridor to point and laugh anytime a Slytherin walked by, or snogging a girl in Honeyduke's' store room, Sirius did it all for the same reason: the thrill. He needed to feel danger and have excitement ever present or he went stir crazy. The Marauder's Map took away virtually every barrier that stood between the Marauders and total access to Hogwarts, and Sirius was loving it.
James too was enjoying this new ultimate access to Hogwarts and planning every prank he had ever dreamed of pulling because it took his mind off of other areas that didn't come as easily to him, mainly his love life. Lily Evans was still very much on his mind, especially after he heard Frank's and Morwenna's accounts of what had happened on Halloween. James knew from Sirius just how much of a product Bellatrix was of the Black family and how psychotic she was herself. James knew firsthand how determined Bellatrix was and how vindictive when she felt herself to have been slighted. He was genuinely concerned for Lily and the others and he, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had determined to keep an eye on them. Aside from that, James' feelings for Lily were still very much present and her rejection of him was getting harder to take. He was fairly certain that he didn't want Lily just because he couldn't have her, as he had suspected at the beginning. These feelings seemed to be real, which made his situation all the more frustrating. He didn't even want to snog other girls in an attempt to forget about her as he had been able to do in his third, fourth, and fifth years. It wouldn't help, and these other girls weren't Lily, so why bother pretending?
So James devoted much of his boundless energy to pranks and the rest to schoolwork and his other obsession: Quidditch. He was captain this year, and the team was most definitely on so far this season.
But James wasn't giving up. Not by any means. In fact, he was seeking reinforcements in the form of his friends to help him with this plan of winning Lily Evans over.
* * *
While the rest of the school was impressed with the Marauders' audacity, most of Slytherin house was most definitely not amused.
Many of these so called jokes were at their expense, and this had brought the already volatile Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry to new heights of tension.
So when Bellatrix Black and her cronies brought forth their tale of Gryffindor Mudblood humiliation, the time was ripe for vengeance.
The Slytherins rarely rallied around any cause. Most Slytherins lacked the needed loyalty and were too shrewd and self-serving to make unnecessary enemies. It was simply the nature of their house.
However, this insult to one of its most prominent leaders, with the age and weight of her family name and influence with certain powerful individuals, by a Mudblood no less, could not be ignored. The fact that said Mudblood was a Gryffindor and retaliation against her would be retaliation against Gryffindor was simply an added incentive.
Rodolphus Lestrange, infuriated that such a thing had happened to his girlfriend, was the ringleader, in addition to Bellatrix herself, of course, and quickly ensured the cooperation of most of the "select few" whose prestige in the house could not be rivalled.
The girls who had born witness to Bellatrix's humilaiation, Morgaine DuBose, Lourdes Arbor, Hera Mordred, and Claudia Heston, were of course in on the scheming, but only Hera, Morgaine, and Claudia wished to take part in the actual revenge. Lourdes found such things distasteful, but she was in the minority. Though only a few would wreak the actual vengeance, they did so with at least the partial knowledge and almost overwhelming support of the house.
Snape had no interest in these latest machinations. They seemed too trivial to bother with and too ill-advised to be borne. Naturally at least some, if not all, of them would be caught and punished, which could prove highly detrimental to their Hogwarts careers, now entering the crucial final stage. It would be appallingly idiotic of any of them, especially the seventh years, to do anything to jeapordize those all-important NEWTs.
Therefore Snape was extremely reluctant when Rodolphus cornered him in the common room that evening and suggested that Severus accommodate him with a private chat. Rodolphus held too many cards not to comply, so naturally Snape agreed.
Once settled in the empty Potions classroom near Slytherin's dungeon common room, Rodolphus came directly to the point.
It seems to me, Severus," Lestrange began, his expression too neutral for Ssnape's comfort, "that your devotion to certain worthy and important institutions has been, shall we say, somewhat lacking." Rodolphus paused, his eyes boring into Snape's letting him feel the weight of his implications.
"In good conscience," Rodolphus continued, "I couldn't allow this lack in you to go unnoticed by certain parties in leadership positions - nobody likes a fair weather friend, after all. Unless," Rodolphus paused again. "You can convince me of your fidelity."
Snape knew exactly what Rodolphus was implying. He had been expecting something along these lines, after all, ever since that first night back at Hogwarts when Lestrange had sought him out. He would have to do something for Lestrange to convince him not to report him to the Dark Lord. And Snape was fairly certain that this meant playing a prominent, and probably very vulnerable, role in this little revenge scheme. Snape's gut churned with fury at Lestrange's stupidity. To waste a debt such as this on such petty schoolgirl machinations was contemptible. He was contemptible to lead them into this ridiculous scheme that was bound to have a higher price than the satisfaction warranted. And Snape had no choice but to comply. Just to be certain, Snape decided to ask for clarification.
"Am I to understand that you require my assistance in this little manouever that you and Bellatrix are planning against a certain Mudblood?" Snape inquired coldly.
Lestrange smiled mirthlessly. "Your powers of perception are astounding, Severus," he sneered.
Snape's heart sank. He didn't want to sacrifice more than five years of hard work for this pointless little tiff. But he had no choice in the matter. Lestrange had the ears of all the right people, and he would bury Snape if he had the chance. Snape knew how the game was played, had seen it played and had heard others talking about it often enough to know.
Refusing to play the game Lestrange's way would be tantamount to suicide.
* * *
Friday afternoons the sixth year Gryffindors had Double Potions with the Slytherins. Most of them enjoyed this class because the Potions professor, Professor Colander, was easygoing and the nature of the work allowed them plenty of time to chat.
The Marauders, minus Remus who was in the hospital wing in anticipation of the full moon that night, worked directly behind Lily Evans and Alice Prewett, which made the class twice as enjoyable for James. He could look at Lily Evans without it being obvious that he was doing so and had plenty of time and freedom to joke about with his mates.
Today Lily and Alice seemed to be catching up with each other as Alice had apparently been spending a great deal of her free time with Frank Longbottom and hadn't talked to Lily since Monday.
"I'm glad it's going so well," Lily was saying, smiling her dazzling smile at her friend. "Frank is such a nice bloke."
"He really is," Alice blushed. "He makes me feel special, like I'm something completely out of the ordinary and amazing."
"Which is true," Lily smiled at her friend.
James was distracted just then as Sirius leaned over and whispered: "Prongs! Create a diversion so I can put this Dissolution Solution on the Slytherin's cauldrons."
Being the good friend and devoted troublemaker that he was, James turned his attention to Sirius to hear the details of the plan, but his ears perked up as he heard the girls discussing the upcoming holidays.
"What are you doing for the Christmas holidays?" Lily asked as she tossed a handful of powdered dragon's teeth into her cauldron.
"Going to Edinburgh to see my grandparents with my family," Alice replied. "We haven't been for ages. What about you, Lils?"
"I haven't decided yet," Lily sighed. The subject was a rather depressing one for her this year. "I might very well stay here. In fact, I probably will"
"But you never stay at Hogwarts for Christmas," Alice said, her brow furrowing. "Is there any reason in particular?"
Lily opened her mouth to answer but unfortunately James realized he was supposed to be causing a distraction and suddenly gave a yelp of pain.
"A rat, professor! It ran across my table and surprised me and I burned my hand," James lied smoothly and utterly convincingly, clutching his hand in supposed pain.
As he had known they would, most of the girls in the room shrieked and stood on the chairs, causing enough of a general uproar for Sirius to sneak over and apply the potion to the side of Heston's cauldron and then go on down the line of Slytherin cauldrons.
"Settle down and get back to work, all of you," ordered Professor Colander, sounding mildly irritated. "Potter, you may put your hand under the faucet, or is it bad enough to need to go and see Madam Pomfrey?"
"I think it's all right, Professor," James said innocently. No way was he missing this.
The room settled down again and a few seconds later the Dissolution Solution had worked its way through the cauldrons, dissolving holes large enough for the potion to leak onto the floor. The Freezing Formula immediately hardened into a sheet of ice, causing the Slytherins to slip and slide on the sheets of ice. The Gryffindors sniggered rather nastily and Professor Colander was incensed.
"I have warned you repeatedly not to spill the Freezing Formula!" the professor screeched.
"But we didn't, Professor," protested Claudia Heston, flapping her arms about frantically in an attempt to keep her balance. "Someone's put holes in our cauldrons." Heston's flapping increased as her struggle to stay upright became more difficult. "EEEEEE!" she shrieked as she finally fell on the ice.
"Someone help Miss Heston up," barked Colander. "Does anyone know anything about these mysterious holes?"
"Sirius Black did it," Evan Rosier spoke up. "I saw him."
Professor Colander swelled like a toad. "Mister Black," she huffed in an outraged tone. "Did you put holes in these cauldrons?"
Sirius looked bored. "Yes, I suppose I did."
"So you have disrupted this class' learning, not to mention your own, and all for a childish prank. You should be ashamed, especially with NEWTS coming up next year. Does it matter to you at all if no one comes out of Hogwarts knowing how to brew a decent potion?" Colander scolded.
"Why bother really, Professor, when everywhere you go has pre- brewed?" Sirius inquired, struggling to hide his amusement.
"Detention, Black! Effective immediately after the rest of the class is dismissed! You may help me clean up this mess you made." Professor Colander snapped. "Everyone else may begin cleaning up."
"You lucked out there, Padfoot," James whispered.
"Yeah," Peter piped up. "Wouldn't want to miss the full moon, would you? But I think you'll have enough time, Madam Pomfrey won't be taking Moony to the Shrieking Shack for another two - OUCH!!" Peter's revealing little statement earned him simultaneous pinches from both of his mates.
"Just hurry. Wouldn't want to have to do without you," James said cryptically to Sirius, finally ceasing to glare at Peter.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Sirius grinned.
* * *
Alice, Lily, and the other sixth year girls had returned to their dormitory after Potions, laughing over the Marauders' latest prank. Four of them, at any rate. Lily refused to.
After a few minutes of chatter, the gilrs dispersed, Kathleen and Morwenna to the common room, Dorcas to the library. Alice waited deliberately, wanting to find out what was eating Lily.
When the door closed behind Dorcas after she had extracted a promise from Lily to meet her in the library after a bit, Alice stopped fiddling with her hair and went to sit on her bed next to Lily's.
"So we never did finish our chat earlier," Alice said. "What's making you change your holiday plans?"
Lily fidgeted with a bit of blanket. "It's my sister," she said finally. "She's..well.. I don't quite know where to begin." Lily opened a drawer in her bedside table and removed a flowered envelope. I received this yesterday from my mum," Lily explained. "Go on and read it. It'll make it easier for you to understand." Alice unfolded the letter.
"My Dearest Lily," it began.
I am writing to tell you about some very unfortunate incidents that have been taking place at home since you left.
First, your father and I want you to know that we have been tirelessly persuading Petunia to tell Vernon the truth about you ever since you left. We are deeply ashamed that Petunia told such a terrible lie and that Vernon, who is soon to be a member of our family, should think so poorly of you. You are a dear, sweet girl who has never caused us a day of worry and we refuse to go along with this ridiculous lie.
Incoorectly, it seems, Dad and I hoped that it would be easier to persuade Petunia to tell Vernon the truth after you were away and she would no longer have to face you. Petunia has been adamant for many months now, absolutely refusing to see our point of you or let go of this bitterness she seems to harbor. It was only recently when she agreed to tell Vernon, and even then it was only Vernon, not his family. I was firmly convinced that Vernon would be relieved to know the truth.
Again, it seems I was wrong. Vernon and Petunia had a row when she told him, and he called the engagement off last week. As of yesterday they are reconciled, but the wedding has been pushed back to next December and Petunia is frightfully upset. Irrationally she seems to blame you for what happened instead of placing the blame where it belongs, on her own shoulders for telling the lie in the first place.
I feel you deserve fair warning: I do not know what Petunia will do or say when she sees you at Christmas, nor do I know what Vernon will do or say, and ultimately I have little control over the matter. I have never seen Petunia so distraught or so angry at you. You are of course always welcome at home and your father and I would be delighted to see you and are doing everything in our power to change Petunia's mind, but I do feel you should be warned about what's waiting for you in enough time to make other plans for Christmas if you want to.
I hope all is well with you and I am terribly sorry to have to be the bearer of such distressing news. Write to me soon and tell me what your decision is.
With all of my love, Mum
"This is absurd!" Alice said indignantly. "How could your own sister go about telling lies about you then blame you when she gets caught in her own lie? What did she say about you, by the way?"
"It's rather funny, really," Lily smiled and proceeded to tell Alice about her supposed stints in a correctional facility and her first meeting with Vernon.
Alice was in peals of laughter. "How could anyone believe that of you when they saw you? This Vernon bloke really must be thick!"
"He looks thick," Lily shrugged.
"Why is your sister telling these lies? What's she ashamed of?" Alice asked in a more serious tone.
Lily searched for the words to explain. "She thinks I'm a freak," she said.
"Why?" Alice genuinely didn't understand. As a pureblood wizard who had never lived outside of the wizarding community, Alice had never been given any reason to think her way of life was strange or be ridiculed for her differences. Additionally, she was one of the kindest people Lily had ever known; it wasn't in her realm of possibility to even think about hating someone for being different.
"Well, because I'm a witch," Lily squirmed, not wanting to be the one to ruin Alice's innocence.
"Why on earth is that a reason to lie and be upset?" Alice still didn't get it.
"Petunia doesn't like things that are out of the ordinary or things she doesn't understand," Lily explained. "They scare her. She's afraid of who I've become and what I do here, so she thinks I'm a freak."
"She's the one about to marry a prat," Alice snorted.
"It's a lot like the prejudice against Muggle borns in the wizarding world," Lily elaborated. "Most people don't like people that are different or that they don't understand. But with Muggles, all witches and wizards are 'freaks'. My sister wouldn't care if you were from the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black or if you were a common Muggle born. Either way you aren't like her and that makes you a freak."
A long silence followed as Alice digested this information, fully appreciating just how difficult it was to be Muggle born and Lily waited nervously to hear what her friend would say.
"You should stay here for Christmas, Lily," Alice said finally. "At least you're wanted here."
"By some people, at least," Lily smiled rather grimly.
"Well, the one who don't want you don't matter, do they?" Alice said. "It's only a few of them as opposed to an entire bloody race of Muggles, and besides, there're loads of people who do want you here. The rest are just eejits like that Vernon Dursley."
Alice smiled at her friend and Lily smiled back, touched. As the two girls made their way to the library where Frank and Dorcas were waiting to study for their upcoming Potions exam, Lily suddenly felt very glad to be where she was.
Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, especially Crimsonkisses, Willow23, Blue Eyes At Night, and Lily Rowling Potter. The reviews mean so much to me and they really help to motivate me to keep writing. More chapters to come.