Chapter 15 Spring Fever
With the Easter holidays past, the Hogwarts student body began, as it did every year, to focus on the final Quidditch match of the season. This match decided the winner of the Quidditch Cup, so naturally the opposing houses were always on rather hostile terms, but this year, however, the contenders were to be Gryffindor and Slytherin, who, in addition to the high state of tension that existed between them normally and this year especially, were also neck and neck for the Cup. Unpleasant confrontations between Gryffindors and Slytherins of all ages began erupting in the corridors, and after a particularly nasty showdown between a couple of first years who blew each other up, Professor McGonagall decided to take drastic action. As soon as she caught and deflated the first years, who floated round the castle for more than an hour before she and Filch managed to corner them, Professor McGonagall called a Prefect meeting.
Highly irritable and practically breathing fire after pursuing two student- shaped blimps through the corridors for more than an hour, Professor McGonagall assigned each of the Prefects additional duties, and she was so cross no one dared argue, or even grumble.
Consequently, Lily and Remus, along with the rest of the Prefects and the two Head students, became virtual strangers to their friends and common rooms as nearly every waking moment was spent either patrolling the corridors, library, and grounds or completing the mountains of homework that continued to accumulate every week.
The Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams were equally as scarce as they spent as much time, if not more, practicing as the Prefects did patrolling. In an attempt to make life easier for one of his best mates and to earn the gratitude of the girl he fancied, James, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, ordered his team not to trade words, blows, or insults with the Slytherins upon penalty of suspension. The team obeyed, some, namely Sirius, more reluctantly than others, which left them at a disadvantage as the Slytherin captain had given his team no such orders. So the Gryffindor team members had to be very careful never to walk anywhere alone, and the entire house pitched in to ensure that that didn't happen. So each year surrounded its team members and the first years spread themselves round, mostly to sixth year, which had three team members, James, Sirius, and Dorcas, and each year arrived for their lessons in a pack.
James and Sirius were collapsed on their beds, too exhausted to move after practice, one evening when Sirius unexpectedly raised his head and, with a great deal of effort, rolled onto his side to face James.
"Prongs?" Sirius asked eventually.
"Uh?" was all James could get out in reply.
"Are you hungry?" Sirius asked rhetorically. James managed to nod his head.
"Then let's go to the kitchens," Sirius finished in his best what's- the-worst-that-could-happen tone.
James managed to muster up the energy for speech. "Two things wrong with that. First, we shouldn't go anywhere by ourselves and second, I'm too tired to turn my head, let alone go anywhere."
"'Shouldn't go anywhere by ourselves? Too tired to move?' If I didn't know better, mate, I'd swear you'd misplaced your balls," Sirius said coolly. "What happened to James Potter, my best mate and fellow Marauder who broke one hundred and forty-seven school rules in a single day just to see how many he could break?"
"He's been running Quidditch drills for the past six hours," James sat up and nearly moaned with the effort. "And what do you need to go to the kitchens for? You still have all of those homemade sweets from your harem." James indicated the pile of plates, tins, and boxes in the corner from all of the girls who had baked Sirius things over the holiday to show how much they had missed him.
"I don't fancy sweets right now," Sirius shrugged. "Besides, some of those girls need diagrams to put on their hats, would YOU eat something one of them had made?"
"Point taken," James said after he had thought about some of those girls and the various ways they had proven their limited brain capacity for a moment. They were only going to the kitchens, after all, it wasn't like they were going to duel with the Slytherin team after he had told the Gryffindor team not to.
Crouching under James' invisibility cloak, James and Sirius snuck past the various Prefects on patrol, most of whom were too exhausted to do their jobs properly anyway, and made it to the kitchens without any incident. The house elves greeted them like long-lost brothers and after both James and Sirius were stuffed and had been outfitted with impressive bundles of food to take back with them, they decided it was time to return to their dormitory.
Shrouding themselves once more under the invisibility cloak, James and Sirius made for the secret passage that led from the main floor to the kitchens and on down to the dungeons. It made for less distance to sneak, and the chance of getting caught was practically nonexistent as the Marauders were the only ones who knew about this particular passage.
Or so they thought. Just as James and Sirius had entered the passage and removed the invisibility cloak, they came face to face with Bellatrix Black.
"What are YOU doing here?" Sirius snarled, immediately on the defensive against his least favorite cousin. "Don't you have some animal sacrifices to make or something?"
Bellatrix's psychotic grin took on a malicious tint. "Why if it isn't the blood traitor," she sneered. "Whassa matter, ickle Sirius, afraid to run into your bad, scary cousin in the dark?"
"No, I just fear for my virtuous reputation," Sirius sneered back. "After all, you ARE carrying on the Black family tradition of being a whore and a cocktease all at the same time and incest just isn't my cup of tea."
"Don't you dare speak to me about the Black family traditions, you filth," Bellatrix hissed, not quite so amused now. "You were never anything but a disappointment to my esteemed aunt and uncle and now you're nothing but a blot on the family tree. You haven't any right to the NAME of Black, so don't talk to me about traditions."
"Sorry to disappoint you, coz," Sirius sounded anything but disappointed, "but, unfortunate though it is, Black is my name and as long as that bothers you I'll keep it till I'm dead."
"You filthy blood traitor!" Bellatrix screeched, well and truly furious by now.
"Better that than a psychotic bitch," Sirius shot back. Clearly enraged to even further heights, Bellatirx groped for her wand, but James and Sirius both had their trained on her before she could so much as draw.
"Wouldn't try it, Bellatrix," James kept his voice even. "You'd best be on your way."
Emitting a shriek of pure rage, Bellatrix spat at Sirius' feet before turning on her heel and striding down the passage.
"For someone who's a certifiable psychotic bitch, she certainly takes exception to being called one," James observed as he put away his wand.
"Yeah," Sirius said slowly, brow furrowed. "But how exactly does she know about this passage anyway?"
* * *
Lily stifled a yawn as she turned yet another corner in Hogwarts' maze of corridors. She had an hour left of her patrol before she could return to Gryffindor Tower for some much-needed sleep. Thank Merlin the Quidditch match was tomorrow or she'd have to start looking into anti-sleep spells.
For all of McGonagall's concern, there hadn't been much trouble really, Lily reflected. Sure, there had been the occasional little incident, a few threats between the two teams and some heated exchanges mostly, but Lily couldn't tell whether the lack of trouble was from McGonagall's precautions or if it was just as far as the two sides were going to go. After Potter had forbidden the Gryffindor team to fight the Slytherins, there wasn't much anyone could do, really.
Potter. He had changed so much in such a short time. Last year he would have been teaching his team how to perfect their Jelly-Legs Jinxes, not threatening them with dire consequences if they got into it with the Slytherins. Lily dismissed the thought that he had changed for her from her mind. That was just too presumptuous, not to mention egotistical. Egotistical on Potter's level of egoism, and that was one thing that hadn't changed. James Potter still had the healthiest ego Lily had ever seen.
Looking round for something to distract her from this train of thought, it occurred to Lily to wonder where Remus was. Usually she passed him several times on her rounds but tonight she hadn't seen him but once. Maybe he was breaking up someone's snog fest, Lily thought, amused. And if he was, chances were it was Sirius Black's. It would almost have to be, just because of the sheer amount of time Sirius spent snogging; the more time you spent doing it, the higher the chance of getting caught.
Lily's new train of thought was interrupted by some unusual noises coming from the classroom round the corner. It was either Peeves the poltergeist hard at work on some new scheme or Lily had a snogging session of her own to break up. As she rounded the corner, the second option seemed more and more likely. Lily could hear the whispering and rustling clothes.
Lily opened the door a crack and peeked in. Yup, there was the hormonal couple right there, apparently trying to swallow each other's heads as they leaned against the wall. Lily closed the door again and took a moment to put on her sternest expression, one Morwenna called her "Prefect Look of Death." Taking a deep breath, Lily pushed the door open, noisily this time, and went into her standard snogging session speech.
"All right, you two, break it up. You know perfectly well that's not allowed and I'm afraid - REMUS?!"
One of the snoggers had finally turned to face her and Lily came face- to-face with her fellow Prefect.
"What in the bloody hell are you about?" Lily demanded. "You can't just sneak off in the middle of your patrol to snog in an empty classroom! If McGonagall had caught you instead of me you'd - Kathleen?!"
Remus' partner in crime had finally turned, bringing Lily face to face with a blushing Kathleen Kirkpatrick. Lily felt her own blush creep up from the back of her neck to cover her entire face.
"Lily, please don't tell anyone," Kathleen pleaded, her voice earnest. "If McGonagall knew Remus had been snogging during his patrol she'd probably take away his Prefect badge, and that would be awful. So please, don't tell her."
Lily sighed, feeling a migraine coming on. "Look, I'm very happy that you two are together but - "
"We're not - er - together, Remus interrupted, glancing at Kathleen. "We're just - that is - "
"We don't want anyone to know about us," Kathleen put in. "We don't know whether or not this will go anywhere and until we do we'd just as soon not have anyone else know."
"You won't tell McGonagall, will you?" Remus asked anxiously. "I promise it'll never happen again and Kathleen will go back to Gryffindor Tower right now and I'll go and finish my patrol and I swear to you that I'll never break the rules while I'm on patrol again."
"Of course I won't tell McGonagall," Lily sighed, reluctant to be any part of this. "But you had better mean what you said just now. No more snogging on the job, all right?"
"Lily, you're the best," Kathleen exclaimed, hugging her. "And we really do mean it, I'm going back to the dormitory right now. Only please, please don't say a word to anyone. You promise?"
"I promise," Lily felt distinctly uncomfortable.
"You're the best," Kathleen repeated warmly. "You and I will talk in the morning. And Remus - er - I'll just see you later, shall I?"
"Right," Remus mumbled, equally as awkward. Kathleen left the classroom, Lily and Remus following her and staring at their shoes uncomfortably.
Once they had seen Kathleen to the portrait hole, Remus spoke up again. "Thanks, Lily."
"Er..." said Lily, not knowing what else to say.
"It really won't happen again," Remus said earnestly.
"Good," Lily said, looking him in the eye. "I believe you." Remuse smiled at her and Lily smiled back.
The two began to walk together in companionable silence.
"So how did this thing with you and Kathleen come about?" Lily asked finally.
Remus sighed and raked a hand through his sandy hair. "It's been going on since January, just after - that night - with Snape and everything." Remus paused for a moment before continuing. "I was really upset over it," he admitted, "and Sirius and I weren't really speaking, so when Kathleen asked me to tutor her, I jumped at the chance to spend some time with someone else. We were just studying for a while, then one night it just sort of - happened."
"Why don't you want anyone to know?" Lily was confused.
"We're just snogging, it's not a relationship or anything," Remus explained. "And I suppose neither of us wants to deal with the labels and gossip that come with going public with this sort of thing," he shrugged rather dejectedly.
"So you don't fancy her as anything more than an occasional snogging partner at all?" Lily asked.
"I never said I didn't fancy her," Remus replied quickly. "I think it's her who doesn't fancy me that way. Not that it would matter if she did," Remus' tone became a trifle bitter. "Now that you know my deep dark secret surely you can understand why I might be a bit wary about getting up close and personal with anyone. I think it's better this way."
I see," Lily said slowly, and she did. It was perfectly clear that Remus fancied Kathleen as a lot more than a snogging partner but was afraid of the rejection he perceived as inevitable when people found out about his lycanthropy. Despite the fact that he had been snogging Kathleen when he was supposed to be patrolling the halls and she had not only caught him at it but had agreed to cover up for him, Lily suddenly found herself feeling quite sympathetic toward Remus.
"Remus, do I treat you any differently than I did before I knew your secret?" Lily asked carefully.
"No," Remus answered, seeming a bit confused by the change of subject.
"Then what makes you think Kathleen will?" Lily asked logically, cocking a brow at him.
"I ...." Remus stopped, unsure of how to answer this question. It had never occurred to him that Kathleen WOULDN'T treat him differently.
"If you want my opinion, you should give Kathleen a bit more credit," Lily continued. " I know her pretty well, and I really don't think she's enough of a git to treat you like some sort of non-person just because this thing you can't control happens to you once a month. You haven't anything to do with it, you don't CHOOSE to have that happen to you. And anyone who can't see that or who would treat you differently is a git. I mean, it's just ignorance, isn't it, and Kathleen isn't ignorant. Oh, look," Lily showed Remus her wristwatch. "Finally, this endless patrol is over! Let's get out of here, I'm exhausted."
Lily started toward Gryffindor Tower, leaving a bemused Remus to follow in her wake. He had never encountered anyone besides James, Sirius, and Peter who had this attitude about his condition. Lily's attitude toward the whole thing was a revelation to him. Then suddenly it occurred to Remus that Lily must face her fair share of prejudice and ignorance as a Muggle born and that just maybe she knew what she was on about.
Remus followed Lily, feeling more gratitude and respect toward her than he could say. Her attitude toward people was a revelation to him, and Remus realized how brave she was to go through her life with this attitude when there were so many witches and wizards against her.
* * *
The next morning dawned fair and bright, good Quidditch weather, James registered as he pushed the window open. Not so bright that they wouldn't be able to see and not much wind at all. Yes, definitely good game weather.
James roused Sirius, who, after much goading and nagging on James' part, finally rolled out of bed and got ready for the game, his expression grumpy.
At breakfast, James made sure that the entire team was present and accounted for and had eaten at least something. Once everyone had finished, he led them down to the pitch amidst the cheers of the entire Gryffindor table and a good number from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. The Slytherins, naturally, booed them at the tops of their lungs.
Lily caught Dorcas' eye as she followed her teammates out and mouthed "Good luck." Lily enjoyed Quidditch a good deal, especially now that she understood the game well. Her first couple of years she hadn't really and had been too shy to ask. But now, after reading Quidditch Through the Ages three times and five years of experience, Lily found the game to be more exciting than any Muggle sport she had come across.
Finally it was time for the crowd to go down to the pitch. Lily, Morwenna, and Kathleen made their way out together, Frank and Alice following close behind. The five settled themselves in the stands, other friends from their house joining them. Remus waved to them as he and Peter went on up the stands, but Lily and Morwenna motioned them over. Shrugging, Remus made his way to them and sat down next to Kathleen, Peter following behind him.
The match was off to an exciting, if dirty, start. At first Madam Hooch, Hogwarts' new Quidditch teacher, had been calling every penalty she saw but soon the players were spending more time making penalty shots than playing, so Madam Hooch was now calling only the worst offenses.
"Dorcas Meadows of Gryffindor in possession," Ludo Bagman, the fourth year Hufflepuff and Quidditch obsessive who was commentating today's game, intoned. "Meadows to Potter, Potter to Swinton, Swinton to Meadows - MEADOWS SCORES!"
Lily cheered along with the rest of the Gryffindor supporters. She was so wrapped up, in fact, that she didn't notice Alice jabbing her in the ribs and hissing "Lockhart!" in her ear until Lockhart was almost upon her. Realizing there was little she could do short of getting up and running away, next to impossible in this crowd, Lily watched him coming with the inevitable air of someone about to be executed.
"Lily Evans," Lockhart began in the booming voice he reserved for such occasions. Whatever earth-shattering declaration he was about to make was destined never to be uttered, however, because Sirius just happened to beat a Bludger toward the bench Lockhart was standing on in the Gryffindor stands at that moment. Lockhart let out a squeal like a frightened pig upon seeing the Bludger hurtling his way and toppled over into the highly entertained crowd. Lily and her friends immediately burst out laughing at this, nearly wetting themselves in their mirth, and when Lily's attention finally returned to the game she could have sworn Sirius Black winked at her.
* * *
As the match wore on the Slytherins' tactics grew dirtier and dirtier. Madam Hooch was flabbergasted and hardly knew where to look first, let alone when to blow her whistle. The players had collided so many times that the spectators had stopped reacting.
James shook his hair out of his face and looked round at his team. Higgins had a small lump on his temple where one of the Slytherin Beaters' bats had connected with his forehead, Dorcas had a cut above her right eye, Swinton had sustained some sort of injury to his ankle and Sirius was sporting a bloody nose.
"Time out!" James bellowed and gathered his team together. "Right, we're tied 30 to 30 so it's still anyone's game but we have to get out of this soon if we don't want to be carted off the pitch on stretchers, which is exactly what the Slytherins are going for," James came to the point.
"No shite," Sirius muttered, brushing away a trickle of blood.
"Sullivan, where do we stand on the Snitch?" James asked his Seeker.
"I've seen it loads of times but whenever I get close those two boulders the Slytherins call Beaters chase me away waving their bats," Olivia Sullivan reported.
"They've gotten her a few times too," Higgins piped up. "I got this," he indicated the lump on his forehead, "trying to come to her rescue."
"Just try to hang in there," James sighed. His whole body ached from his many collisions with the Slytherin players. "But Sullivan has to get that Snitch soon or their plan will have worked and some of us will have to sit out. Do whatever you can to help Sullivan get that Snitch."
The game resumed, and James watched Sullivan circle round the pitch, keeping her eyes open for any sign of the tiny winged ball. Sirius was staying close to Sullivan, James noted, and wondered what he was up to.
James had no more time to watch Sirius and Sullivan and gave his mind back to the game, scoring a few more goals. Unfortunately the Slytherins were keeping up, scoring just as many goals by any means necessary.
"Sullivan dives!" Ludo Bagman suddenly exclaimed. "She's going for - I think she sees the Snitch! And there's Hurst right on her tail. The Snitch must be close to the ground, Sullivan isn't stopping! And Hurst is keeping pace with her! Either they're going to crash or Hurst is going to knock Sullivan off her broom - that's cobbing right there if I ever saw it Madam Hooch - but Sullivan still isn't stopping! It looks like - they're going to - SULLIVAN PULLS UP!"
There was a loud "Ooooh!" from the crowd as Hurst connected with the ground with a sickening crunch.
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Bagman was beside himself. "SULLIVAN DOES A WRONSKI FEINT! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! But wait! Sullivan's off again! Does she see the Snitch for real this time? She does! She's going for it... Ouch! Stopped again by the Slytherin Beaters and that one looks like it hurt. Shake it off, Sullivan!" The Gryffindors watched in dismay as their Seeker rolled over in midair, clutching her stomach where Wilkes' bat had connected with it. "But what's this? Here comes Gryffindor Beater Black, he's headed straight for the Slytherins with Higgins right behind him!"
The crowd watched, silent with shock as Sirius and Higgins hurtled toward the Slytheirn Beaters, clubs raised.
"And it looks like the duel of the Beaters here," Bagman continued uncertainly. "It probably won't come to blows, though. Oooh! Looks like I was wrong and that looks like it hurt! Apparently the Gryffindor Beaters feel that the Slytherins have hit their Seeker one too many times," Bagman winced as Sirius' bat connected with Slytherin Beater Wilkes' leg. "Well this is just - I mean it's - is anyone watching the Bludgers out there?"
The Gryffindors and Slytherins in the stands were on their feet, cheering their Beaters on as they circled and chased each other, brandishing their bats. Madam Hooch had blown her whistle once rather half- heartedly, but seemed disinclined to interfere after all of the Slytherins' dirty tricks.
"Sullivan seems to be breaking up the fight," Bagman observed with a touch of disappointment. "Hold on - SULLIVAN'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"
A great cheer went up from the Gryffindor end of the stands as the Gryffindor team raced over to Sullivan, catching her in the middle of a team hug.
"Padfoot, you great prat, you were bloody brilliant!" James roared over the shouts of the team and the cheers of the crowd.
"Wilkes and Guilford had it coming!" Sirius shouted back, grinning widely as Dorcas ruffled his hair. "Someone had to get us out of this thing before we all ended up in the bloody hospital wing."
Professor Dumbledore waited in the middle of the pitch for the Gryffindor team to descend, his eyes twinkling with merriment. James finally came forward to take the cup, looking round at his team.
When his eyes met Sirius' James grinned, motioning him forward. Understanding James perfectly as usual, Sirius reached for the cup's other handle and together James and Sirius hoisted the Quidditch Cup high over their heads and, their team surrounding them, turned to face the cheering crowd.
* * *
Author's Note: Told you this chapter would be longer than the last one! :- ) Please review and tell me what you thought.... Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, special thanks to Four Stars, blazedsorceress, Risty, Zy, Sammie Tonks, Eowyn Jade, and Captain Oblivious. More to come soon!
With the Easter holidays past, the Hogwarts student body began, as it did every year, to focus on the final Quidditch match of the season. This match decided the winner of the Quidditch Cup, so naturally the opposing houses were always on rather hostile terms, but this year, however, the contenders were to be Gryffindor and Slytherin, who, in addition to the high state of tension that existed between them normally and this year especially, were also neck and neck for the Cup. Unpleasant confrontations between Gryffindors and Slytherins of all ages began erupting in the corridors, and after a particularly nasty showdown between a couple of first years who blew each other up, Professor McGonagall decided to take drastic action. As soon as she caught and deflated the first years, who floated round the castle for more than an hour before she and Filch managed to corner them, Professor McGonagall called a Prefect meeting.
Highly irritable and practically breathing fire after pursuing two student- shaped blimps through the corridors for more than an hour, Professor McGonagall assigned each of the Prefects additional duties, and she was so cross no one dared argue, or even grumble.
Consequently, Lily and Remus, along with the rest of the Prefects and the two Head students, became virtual strangers to their friends and common rooms as nearly every waking moment was spent either patrolling the corridors, library, and grounds or completing the mountains of homework that continued to accumulate every week.
The Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams were equally as scarce as they spent as much time, if not more, practicing as the Prefects did patrolling. In an attempt to make life easier for one of his best mates and to earn the gratitude of the girl he fancied, James, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, ordered his team not to trade words, blows, or insults with the Slytherins upon penalty of suspension. The team obeyed, some, namely Sirius, more reluctantly than others, which left them at a disadvantage as the Slytherin captain had given his team no such orders. So the Gryffindor team members had to be very careful never to walk anywhere alone, and the entire house pitched in to ensure that that didn't happen. So each year surrounded its team members and the first years spread themselves round, mostly to sixth year, which had three team members, James, Sirius, and Dorcas, and each year arrived for their lessons in a pack.
James and Sirius were collapsed on their beds, too exhausted to move after practice, one evening when Sirius unexpectedly raised his head and, with a great deal of effort, rolled onto his side to face James.
"Prongs?" Sirius asked eventually.
"Uh?" was all James could get out in reply.
"Are you hungry?" Sirius asked rhetorically. James managed to nod his head.
"Then let's go to the kitchens," Sirius finished in his best what's- the-worst-that-could-happen tone.
James managed to muster up the energy for speech. "Two things wrong with that. First, we shouldn't go anywhere by ourselves and second, I'm too tired to turn my head, let alone go anywhere."
"'Shouldn't go anywhere by ourselves? Too tired to move?' If I didn't know better, mate, I'd swear you'd misplaced your balls," Sirius said coolly. "What happened to James Potter, my best mate and fellow Marauder who broke one hundred and forty-seven school rules in a single day just to see how many he could break?"
"He's been running Quidditch drills for the past six hours," James sat up and nearly moaned with the effort. "And what do you need to go to the kitchens for? You still have all of those homemade sweets from your harem." James indicated the pile of plates, tins, and boxes in the corner from all of the girls who had baked Sirius things over the holiday to show how much they had missed him.
"I don't fancy sweets right now," Sirius shrugged. "Besides, some of those girls need diagrams to put on their hats, would YOU eat something one of them had made?"
"Point taken," James said after he had thought about some of those girls and the various ways they had proven their limited brain capacity for a moment. They were only going to the kitchens, after all, it wasn't like they were going to duel with the Slytherin team after he had told the Gryffindor team not to.
Crouching under James' invisibility cloak, James and Sirius snuck past the various Prefects on patrol, most of whom were too exhausted to do their jobs properly anyway, and made it to the kitchens without any incident. The house elves greeted them like long-lost brothers and after both James and Sirius were stuffed and had been outfitted with impressive bundles of food to take back with them, they decided it was time to return to their dormitory.
Shrouding themselves once more under the invisibility cloak, James and Sirius made for the secret passage that led from the main floor to the kitchens and on down to the dungeons. It made for less distance to sneak, and the chance of getting caught was practically nonexistent as the Marauders were the only ones who knew about this particular passage.
Or so they thought. Just as James and Sirius had entered the passage and removed the invisibility cloak, they came face to face with Bellatrix Black.
"What are YOU doing here?" Sirius snarled, immediately on the defensive against his least favorite cousin. "Don't you have some animal sacrifices to make or something?"
Bellatrix's psychotic grin took on a malicious tint. "Why if it isn't the blood traitor," she sneered. "Whassa matter, ickle Sirius, afraid to run into your bad, scary cousin in the dark?"
"No, I just fear for my virtuous reputation," Sirius sneered back. "After all, you ARE carrying on the Black family tradition of being a whore and a cocktease all at the same time and incest just isn't my cup of tea."
"Don't you dare speak to me about the Black family traditions, you filth," Bellatrix hissed, not quite so amused now. "You were never anything but a disappointment to my esteemed aunt and uncle and now you're nothing but a blot on the family tree. You haven't any right to the NAME of Black, so don't talk to me about traditions."
"Sorry to disappoint you, coz," Sirius sounded anything but disappointed, "but, unfortunate though it is, Black is my name and as long as that bothers you I'll keep it till I'm dead."
"You filthy blood traitor!" Bellatrix screeched, well and truly furious by now.
"Better that than a psychotic bitch," Sirius shot back. Clearly enraged to even further heights, Bellatirx groped for her wand, but James and Sirius both had their trained on her before she could so much as draw.
"Wouldn't try it, Bellatrix," James kept his voice even. "You'd best be on your way."
Emitting a shriek of pure rage, Bellatrix spat at Sirius' feet before turning on her heel and striding down the passage.
"For someone who's a certifiable psychotic bitch, she certainly takes exception to being called one," James observed as he put away his wand.
"Yeah," Sirius said slowly, brow furrowed. "But how exactly does she know about this passage anyway?"
* * *
Lily stifled a yawn as she turned yet another corner in Hogwarts' maze of corridors. She had an hour left of her patrol before she could return to Gryffindor Tower for some much-needed sleep. Thank Merlin the Quidditch match was tomorrow or she'd have to start looking into anti-sleep spells.
For all of McGonagall's concern, there hadn't been much trouble really, Lily reflected. Sure, there had been the occasional little incident, a few threats between the two teams and some heated exchanges mostly, but Lily couldn't tell whether the lack of trouble was from McGonagall's precautions or if it was just as far as the two sides were going to go. After Potter had forbidden the Gryffindor team to fight the Slytherins, there wasn't much anyone could do, really.
Potter. He had changed so much in such a short time. Last year he would have been teaching his team how to perfect their Jelly-Legs Jinxes, not threatening them with dire consequences if they got into it with the Slytherins. Lily dismissed the thought that he had changed for her from her mind. That was just too presumptuous, not to mention egotistical. Egotistical on Potter's level of egoism, and that was one thing that hadn't changed. James Potter still had the healthiest ego Lily had ever seen.
Looking round for something to distract her from this train of thought, it occurred to Lily to wonder where Remus was. Usually she passed him several times on her rounds but tonight she hadn't seen him but once. Maybe he was breaking up someone's snog fest, Lily thought, amused. And if he was, chances were it was Sirius Black's. It would almost have to be, just because of the sheer amount of time Sirius spent snogging; the more time you spent doing it, the higher the chance of getting caught.
Lily's new train of thought was interrupted by some unusual noises coming from the classroom round the corner. It was either Peeves the poltergeist hard at work on some new scheme or Lily had a snogging session of her own to break up. As she rounded the corner, the second option seemed more and more likely. Lily could hear the whispering and rustling clothes.
Lily opened the door a crack and peeked in. Yup, there was the hormonal couple right there, apparently trying to swallow each other's heads as they leaned against the wall. Lily closed the door again and took a moment to put on her sternest expression, one Morwenna called her "Prefect Look of Death." Taking a deep breath, Lily pushed the door open, noisily this time, and went into her standard snogging session speech.
"All right, you two, break it up. You know perfectly well that's not allowed and I'm afraid - REMUS?!"
One of the snoggers had finally turned to face her and Lily came face- to-face with her fellow Prefect.
"What in the bloody hell are you about?" Lily demanded. "You can't just sneak off in the middle of your patrol to snog in an empty classroom! If McGonagall had caught you instead of me you'd - Kathleen?!"
Remus' partner in crime had finally turned, bringing Lily face to face with a blushing Kathleen Kirkpatrick. Lily felt her own blush creep up from the back of her neck to cover her entire face.
"Lily, please don't tell anyone," Kathleen pleaded, her voice earnest. "If McGonagall knew Remus had been snogging during his patrol she'd probably take away his Prefect badge, and that would be awful. So please, don't tell her."
Lily sighed, feeling a migraine coming on. "Look, I'm very happy that you two are together but - "
"We're not - er - together, Remus interrupted, glancing at Kathleen. "We're just - that is - "
"We don't want anyone to know about us," Kathleen put in. "We don't know whether or not this will go anywhere and until we do we'd just as soon not have anyone else know."
"You won't tell McGonagall, will you?" Remus asked anxiously. "I promise it'll never happen again and Kathleen will go back to Gryffindor Tower right now and I'll go and finish my patrol and I swear to you that I'll never break the rules while I'm on patrol again."
"Of course I won't tell McGonagall," Lily sighed, reluctant to be any part of this. "But you had better mean what you said just now. No more snogging on the job, all right?"
"Lily, you're the best," Kathleen exclaimed, hugging her. "And we really do mean it, I'm going back to the dormitory right now. Only please, please don't say a word to anyone. You promise?"
"I promise," Lily felt distinctly uncomfortable.
"You're the best," Kathleen repeated warmly. "You and I will talk in the morning. And Remus - er - I'll just see you later, shall I?"
"Right," Remus mumbled, equally as awkward. Kathleen left the classroom, Lily and Remus following her and staring at their shoes uncomfortably.
Once they had seen Kathleen to the portrait hole, Remus spoke up again. "Thanks, Lily."
"Er..." said Lily, not knowing what else to say.
"It really won't happen again," Remus said earnestly.
"Good," Lily said, looking him in the eye. "I believe you." Remuse smiled at her and Lily smiled back.
The two began to walk together in companionable silence.
"So how did this thing with you and Kathleen come about?" Lily asked finally.
Remus sighed and raked a hand through his sandy hair. "It's been going on since January, just after - that night - with Snape and everything." Remus paused for a moment before continuing. "I was really upset over it," he admitted, "and Sirius and I weren't really speaking, so when Kathleen asked me to tutor her, I jumped at the chance to spend some time with someone else. We were just studying for a while, then one night it just sort of - happened."
"Why don't you want anyone to know?" Lily was confused.
"We're just snogging, it's not a relationship or anything," Remus explained. "And I suppose neither of us wants to deal with the labels and gossip that come with going public with this sort of thing," he shrugged rather dejectedly.
"So you don't fancy her as anything more than an occasional snogging partner at all?" Lily asked.
"I never said I didn't fancy her," Remus replied quickly. "I think it's her who doesn't fancy me that way. Not that it would matter if she did," Remus' tone became a trifle bitter. "Now that you know my deep dark secret surely you can understand why I might be a bit wary about getting up close and personal with anyone. I think it's better this way."
I see," Lily said slowly, and she did. It was perfectly clear that Remus fancied Kathleen as a lot more than a snogging partner but was afraid of the rejection he perceived as inevitable when people found out about his lycanthropy. Despite the fact that he had been snogging Kathleen when he was supposed to be patrolling the halls and she had not only caught him at it but had agreed to cover up for him, Lily suddenly found herself feeling quite sympathetic toward Remus.
"Remus, do I treat you any differently than I did before I knew your secret?" Lily asked carefully.
"No," Remus answered, seeming a bit confused by the change of subject.
"Then what makes you think Kathleen will?" Lily asked logically, cocking a brow at him.
"I ...." Remus stopped, unsure of how to answer this question. It had never occurred to him that Kathleen WOULDN'T treat him differently.
"If you want my opinion, you should give Kathleen a bit more credit," Lily continued. " I know her pretty well, and I really don't think she's enough of a git to treat you like some sort of non-person just because this thing you can't control happens to you once a month. You haven't anything to do with it, you don't CHOOSE to have that happen to you. And anyone who can't see that or who would treat you differently is a git. I mean, it's just ignorance, isn't it, and Kathleen isn't ignorant. Oh, look," Lily showed Remus her wristwatch. "Finally, this endless patrol is over! Let's get out of here, I'm exhausted."
Lily started toward Gryffindor Tower, leaving a bemused Remus to follow in her wake. He had never encountered anyone besides James, Sirius, and Peter who had this attitude about his condition. Lily's attitude toward the whole thing was a revelation to him. Then suddenly it occurred to Remus that Lily must face her fair share of prejudice and ignorance as a Muggle born and that just maybe she knew what she was on about.
Remus followed Lily, feeling more gratitude and respect toward her than he could say. Her attitude toward people was a revelation to him, and Remus realized how brave she was to go through her life with this attitude when there were so many witches and wizards against her.
* * *
The next morning dawned fair and bright, good Quidditch weather, James registered as he pushed the window open. Not so bright that they wouldn't be able to see and not much wind at all. Yes, definitely good game weather.
James roused Sirius, who, after much goading and nagging on James' part, finally rolled out of bed and got ready for the game, his expression grumpy.
At breakfast, James made sure that the entire team was present and accounted for and had eaten at least something. Once everyone had finished, he led them down to the pitch amidst the cheers of the entire Gryffindor table and a good number from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. The Slytherins, naturally, booed them at the tops of their lungs.
Lily caught Dorcas' eye as she followed her teammates out and mouthed "Good luck." Lily enjoyed Quidditch a good deal, especially now that she understood the game well. Her first couple of years she hadn't really and had been too shy to ask. But now, after reading Quidditch Through the Ages three times and five years of experience, Lily found the game to be more exciting than any Muggle sport she had come across.
Finally it was time for the crowd to go down to the pitch. Lily, Morwenna, and Kathleen made their way out together, Frank and Alice following close behind. The five settled themselves in the stands, other friends from their house joining them. Remus waved to them as he and Peter went on up the stands, but Lily and Morwenna motioned them over. Shrugging, Remus made his way to them and sat down next to Kathleen, Peter following behind him.
The match was off to an exciting, if dirty, start. At first Madam Hooch, Hogwarts' new Quidditch teacher, had been calling every penalty she saw but soon the players were spending more time making penalty shots than playing, so Madam Hooch was now calling only the worst offenses.
"Dorcas Meadows of Gryffindor in possession," Ludo Bagman, the fourth year Hufflepuff and Quidditch obsessive who was commentating today's game, intoned. "Meadows to Potter, Potter to Swinton, Swinton to Meadows - MEADOWS SCORES!"
Lily cheered along with the rest of the Gryffindor supporters. She was so wrapped up, in fact, that she didn't notice Alice jabbing her in the ribs and hissing "Lockhart!" in her ear until Lockhart was almost upon her. Realizing there was little she could do short of getting up and running away, next to impossible in this crowd, Lily watched him coming with the inevitable air of someone about to be executed.
"Lily Evans," Lockhart began in the booming voice he reserved for such occasions. Whatever earth-shattering declaration he was about to make was destined never to be uttered, however, because Sirius just happened to beat a Bludger toward the bench Lockhart was standing on in the Gryffindor stands at that moment. Lockhart let out a squeal like a frightened pig upon seeing the Bludger hurtling his way and toppled over into the highly entertained crowd. Lily and her friends immediately burst out laughing at this, nearly wetting themselves in their mirth, and when Lily's attention finally returned to the game she could have sworn Sirius Black winked at her.
* * *
As the match wore on the Slytherins' tactics grew dirtier and dirtier. Madam Hooch was flabbergasted and hardly knew where to look first, let alone when to blow her whistle. The players had collided so many times that the spectators had stopped reacting.
James shook his hair out of his face and looked round at his team. Higgins had a small lump on his temple where one of the Slytherin Beaters' bats had connected with his forehead, Dorcas had a cut above her right eye, Swinton had sustained some sort of injury to his ankle and Sirius was sporting a bloody nose.
"Time out!" James bellowed and gathered his team together. "Right, we're tied 30 to 30 so it's still anyone's game but we have to get out of this soon if we don't want to be carted off the pitch on stretchers, which is exactly what the Slytherins are going for," James came to the point.
"No shite," Sirius muttered, brushing away a trickle of blood.
"Sullivan, where do we stand on the Snitch?" James asked his Seeker.
"I've seen it loads of times but whenever I get close those two boulders the Slytherins call Beaters chase me away waving their bats," Olivia Sullivan reported.
"They've gotten her a few times too," Higgins piped up. "I got this," he indicated the lump on his forehead, "trying to come to her rescue."
"Just try to hang in there," James sighed. His whole body ached from his many collisions with the Slytherin players. "But Sullivan has to get that Snitch soon or their plan will have worked and some of us will have to sit out. Do whatever you can to help Sullivan get that Snitch."
The game resumed, and James watched Sullivan circle round the pitch, keeping her eyes open for any sign of the tiny winged ball. Sirius was staying close to Sullivan, James noted, and wondered what he was up to.
James had no more time to watch Sirius and Sullivan and gave his mind back to the game, scoring a few more goals. Unfortunately the Slytherins were keeping up, scoring just as many goals by any means necessary.
"Sullivan dives!" Ludo Bagman suddenly exclaimed. "She's going for - I think she sees the Snitch! And there's Hurst right on her tail. The Snitch must be close to the ground, Sullivan isn't stopping! And Hurst is keeping pace with her! Either they're going to crash or Hurst is going to knock Sullivan off her broom - that's cobbing right there if I ever saw it Madam Hooch - but Sullivan still isn't stopping! It looks like - they're going to - SULLIVAN PULLS UP!"
There was a loud "Ooooh!" from the crowd as Hurst connected with the ground with a sickening crunch.
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Bagman was beside himself. "SULLIVAN DOES A WRONSKI FEINT! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! But wait! Sullivan's off again! Does she see the Snitch for real this time? She does! She's going for it... Ouch! Stopped again by the Slytherin Beaters and that one looks like it hurt. Shake it off, Sullivan!" The Gryffindors watched in dismay as their Seeker rolled over in midair, clutching her stomach where Wilkes' bat had connected with it. "But what's this? Here comes Gryffindor Beater Black, he's headed straight for the Slytherins with Higgins right behind him!"
The crowd watched, silent with shock as Sirius and Higgins hurtled toward the Slytheirn Beaters, clubs raised.
"And it looks like the duel of the Beaters here," Bagman continued uncertainly. "It probably won't come to blows, though. Oooh! Looks like I was wrong and that looks like it hurt! Apparently the Gryffindor Beaters feel that the Slytherins have hit their Seeker one too many times," Bagman winced as Sirius' bat connected with Slytherin Beater Wilkes' leg. "Well this is just - I mean it's - is anyone watching the Bludgers out there?"
The Gryffindors and Slytherins in the stands were on their feet, cheering their Beaters on as they circled and chased each other, brandishing their bats. Madam Hooch had blown her whistle once rather half- heartedly, but seemed disinclined to interfere after all of the Slytherins' dirty tricks.
"Sullivan seems to be breaking up the fight," Bagman observed with a touch of disappointment. "Hold on - SULLIVAN'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"
A great cheer went up from the Gryffindor end of the stands as the Gryffindor team raced over to Sullivan, catching her in the middle of a team hug.
"Padfoot, you great prat, you were bloody brilliant!" James roared over the shouts of the team and the cheers of the crowd.
"Wilkes and Guilford had it coming!" Sirius shouted back, grinning widely as Dorcas ruffled his hair. "Someone had to get us out of this thing before we all ended up in the bloody hospital wing."
Professor Dumbledore waited in the middle of the pitch for the Gryffindor team to descend, his eyes twinkling with merriment. James finally came forward to take the cup, looking round at his team.
When his eyes met Sirius' James grinned, motioning him forward. Understanding James perfectly as usual, Sirius reached for the cup's other handle and together James and Sirius hoisted the Quidditch Cup high over their heads and, their team surrounding them, turned to face the cheering crowd.
* * *
Author's Note: Told you this chapter would be longer than the last one! :- ) Please review and tell me what you thought.... Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, special thanks to Four Stars, blazedsorceress, Risty, Zy, Sammie Tonks, Eowyn Jade, and Captain Oblivious. More to come soon!