Chapter 16 Unprepared
That night the party in Gryffindor Tower went on until the wee hours of the morning. When Lily and Remus returned from their Prefect meeting at quarter to ten the party was already in full swing, with wall to wall banners, food and drink, and from the looks of the Gryffindor partygoers, it wasn't pumpkin juice.
"How did Black and Potter manage to DO all this?" Lily asked. It really wasn't a question of who had done it.
"Er - I dunno," Remus looked somewhat rueful. "Can I get some food or something?"
"No thanks," Lily was amused at Remus' poor attempt to change the subject. "I'm just going to go and congratulate Dorcas.
As Lily made her way to her friend, a familiar voice called out her name "Evans!" and suddenly there was James Potter standing right in her path. Lily sighed. Perfect. Potter on an ego high after a Quidditch victory.
"Evans," James was speaking with a bit more effort than usual and Lily was suddenly aware that he'd had a bit too much to drink. "Been looking for you everywhere. Doesn't matter though, 'cause here you are. Couldn't miss you with that beautiful red hair," James' expression suddenly turned serious, a frown creasing his forehead. "Why d'you hate me so much? I don't hate you," James looked so disappointed that Lily almost felt sorry for him.
"M'stomach flip-flops every time I see you," James continued. "Always has, ever since the first time I ever saw you."
"I -" Lily had no idea what to say. Her face flushed hotly and she fidgeted, looking everywhere but at James. So she did the only thing possible in the face of this much embarrassment. She beat a hasty retreat.
"Evans!" James called after her, but Lily had no intention of stopping.
"C'mon, Prongs," Sirius had come up behind James and was leading him towards the boys' dormitory staircase. "You can impress Evans with your romantic declarations later.
"Did I just say what I think I said?" James wanted confirmation.
"Yep," Sirius replied cheerfully, and James groaned, burying his head in his hands. "But don't worry, mate. I think only about half of the common room heard."
* * *
The parties in Gryffindor Tower went on for the next week and only stopped because of the looming threat of final exams. But even when faced with the crisis exams inevitably provoked, the Gryffindors were still in good spirits. They had won the Cup once again and it had been one in the eye for the Slytherins, who had caused them no inconsiderable amount of grief this year.
Lily was having a lot of difficulty studying for her exams. She just couldn't concentrate for any length of time, which was infuriating enough in itself, but the distraction was even worse. Lily could not get James Potter out of her head.
Suddenly he seemed to be everywhere; every time she looked up there he was. He hadn't spoken to her since the night of the Quidditch Cup; he seemed embarrassed about it, in fact. But even though he was leaving her more or less alone, Lily couldn't stop looking at him or thinking about him. She'd replayed his words to her that night in the common room over and over again in her head.
This behavior confused Lily thoroughly. She hated James Potter, why was he suddenly invading her mind this way? She couldn't read or study, or concentrate in class or at Prefect meetings. She was so absent-minded during her patrols that once some out-after-hours first years had snuck clear past her before she had realized they were there.
True, Lily hated James less than she'd used to. He'd proven during the Whomping Willow incident that he wasn't the mindlessly cruel bastard she'd always thought he was. And he hadn't been a git about it when she'd apologized to him and said that humiliating thing about admiring him outside of Dumbledore's office. And he was a great friend. Lily admired these things, but she still didn't like him or want anything to do with him, so why was she behaving as though she did? He was still an immature, arrogant, spoiled son of a bitch who only wanted what he couldn't have.
He just wouldn't get out of her head, that's all.
* * *
"Prongs!" a voice whispered in James' ear as something shook his shoulder insistently. James opened one eyelid a crack. Who in the bloody hell was waking him up at this hour of the night? Whoever it was, James was going to kill them.
Somehow it was not a shock to see Sirius standing next to James' bed, fully dressed and holding the invisibility cloak. James put on his glasses so he'd be able to see Sirius properly when he murdered him.
"What in the bloody - " James began, only to be silenced by Sirius.
"You have to come and follow that passageway we saw Bellatrix in with me," Sirius whispered. "We have to find out how she knew about that passage and what she was doing in it."
"Can't this wait until I'm awake?" James grumbled as he slid out of bed. Sirius grinned at him.
"Nope," he handed James his clothes.
"You do realize we have our Transfiguration exam tomorrow?" James whispered as they shuffled down the steps under his invisibility cloak.
"Like we need to study for that," Sirius snorted. "Quiet now." The two didn't talk anymore until they were safely inside the passage. Pulling off the cloak, James and Sirius followed the passageway past the kitchens and on down into the dungeons, keeping their eyes on the Marauder's Map for any detour tunnels. But there didn't seem to be any.
Finally James and Sirius reached the end of the passage and found themselves in the Potions corridor.
"Why would Bellatrix care about a secret passage that leads from the main floor past the kitchens and down to the Potions corridor?" Sirius wondered aloud. "She's not exactly the sort to be sneaking out for a midnight snack, or not one from the kitchens anyway, I think she feeds on fear. That and the first years."
"Padfoot," James said suddenly. "This is where Bellatrix and Lestrange led that attack on Lily and the others. Remember when Morwenna mentioned that it seemed like the Slytherins came out of nowhere? What if they came out of this passage?"
"Yeah, I do remember that," Sirius said slowly, his brow furrowed. "How did they even find out about it? Most of them aren't the sort to go poking round Hogwarts looking for passages, they'd think it beneath their dignity."
"Right," James looked about thoughtfully. "The question is, then, how did they find out?"
* * *
James and Sirius lost no time telling Remus and Peter about their discovery the next morning at breakfast. Huddled together at one end of the long Gryffindor table and speaking in low voices to ensure nobody could overhear, they quickly related the story to the other two. Remus reacted with his usual rationality, offering suggestions as to the possible ways Bellatrix or any of the other Slytherins involved could have found out, but it was clear that Remus was quite concerned over the idea. Peter was quite upset as well, declaring he'd never be able to use that passage comfortably again. The very thought of it seemed to make him nervous.
However, the Marauders had no time to focus on this latest mystery. Final exams were now in full swing and the sixth year exams were particularly challenging in order to prepare them for next year's all- important NEWTs. Even James and Sirius were forced to spend some time in the library studying. Peter was on the brink of a complete mental meltdown as the Charms and Potions exams drew nearer, it was all the three other Marauders could do to get him through them.
Finally, the sixth years sat for their final exam, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the next morning it was time to board the Hogwarts Express once again for another summer holiday.
"Finally," Morwenna sighed as she flopped down into a seat in the train compartment for the long ride home. "I thought we'd never get through exams."
"Fancy next year being our last," Alice reflected as she set her owl's cage in the luggage rack.
"Eurgh, don't remind me," Kathleen shuddered. "We'll be facing NEWTs this time next year."
"After this year's exams I feel like I need to start studying now," Dorcas said dryly. "Aurors need top marks in everything."
"Lucky I don't want to be an Auror then," Morwenna quipped. "I hope I managed decent marks this year, let alone next. I just don't want to disappoint my family."
"What about you, Lils?" Alice was curious. "How'd your exams go?"
Lily started at the sound of her name. She'd been a bit distracted, as usual. "Er - I dunno. All right, I hope."
Truthfully, Lily wasn't at all sure how well her exams had gone. She'd been distracted over this ridiculous James Potter business for a good portion of the time, which hadn't exactly been conducive to studying. She was thoroughly relieved to be going home where she'd be able to forget about him completely. Hopefully by the time she saw him again in September she'd be over this stupid infatuation or whatever it was and things could get back to normal, with her hating him again.
The five girls chatted a bit longer, then Alice stood up, and blushing a little, announced that she was going to see Frank. To some people's surprise, Kathleen stood up too. "Think I'll walk with you as far as the corridor, Alice," Kathleen wasn't meeting Lily's eyes. "There's someone I want to go and talk to."
"What was that all about?" Morwenna wondered after the two had departed. Lily shrugged her shoulders, hoping she looked innocent.
Kathleen had confessed to Lily after she had caught them that night that she had liked Remus since the beginning of the year. She was interested in him; he seemed different from the other boys Kathleen had dated, he didn't brag the way they did. In fact, he seemed as though he had a secret. Kathleen wanted to be more than snogging partners with Remus, but she didn't know if he felt the same and until she did, she would take the snogging.
Clearly Kathleen was going to see Remus now for another clandestine snogging session. Lily wondered if Remus would ever get over his fears enough to confess his feelings to Kathleen or if he would ever trust her enough to let her in on his secret. As of now, things weren't looking good. They had been snogging since January for Merlin's sake.
Trying not to think about where they would snog on a train, Lily turned back to her friends.
* * *
The Marauders, minus Remus who had gone to do some unspecified Prefect duties, spent most of the train ride home playing Exploding Snap. After Peter's eyebrows were singed off during one particularly intense game, he refused to play anymore and watched, sulking, as Sirius and James carried on.
The train pulled into King's Cross Station toward dusk and students came streaming off the train to meet their parents. James, Sirius, and Peter joined the queue, searching for Mr. and Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Pettigrew in the crowd.
The Potters stood with Morwenna Marchbanks' parents off to one side, waving to the boys. As Peter had spotted his mum as well the three said their good-byes and promised to send letters within the next couple of days. Then James and Sirius went over to join the Potters and Peter to his mother, a stout, fussy-looking witch who immediately began to tell Peter off for singeing his eyebrows.
Lily, Morwenna, Dorcas, Frank, Alice, and Kathleen disembarked from the train in one big mass, scanning the crowd for their parents. Morwenna, Dorcas, and Kathleen, who had only joined them moments before the train pulled into the station, spotted their families right off and said their farewells and left. Lily began to veer toward the barrier. Her parents, unable to get onto Platform 9 ¾, would be waiting for her by the information desk.
As Lily gathered her things, she heard Frank say to Alice: "Look, there's my mum. Come and meet her, won't you?"
"Er - " Alice blanched. "I - I can't. I've - er - left something on the train. I'll just see you later, shall I, and maybe I can meet your mum then." Frank looked slightly confused by this logic but before he could say anything Alice had pecked him on the lips, told him she'd see him day after tomorrow, and was dragging Lily back onto the train with her.
"I can't meet Mrs. Longbottom now!" Alice hissed to Lily frantically as she began to question Alice's erratic behavior. "She's scary! PLEASE stay with me here till they go." Frank and his mother waited round for a couple of minutes for Alice to reappear but finally left, Frank seeming a bit upset.
"You know, if you want to continue seeing Frank you WILL have to meet his mother," Lily felt she should make sure Alice was aware of this.
"Of course," Alice said impatiently. "I just didn't want to meet her today. I mean, you saw her, Lils. ANYONE is entitled to a little warning before they meet that woman."
"Point taken," Lily couldn't argue with that. Mrs. Longbottom looked as if she could have personally caught and stuffed the vulture that adorned her hat.
Lily left Alice with her brother Gideon, who greeted Lily warmly, before hurrying off to meet her own parents, not watching where she was going, and ran full tilt into someone.
"Oh, Merlin, I am so - " Lily looked up to see who she had nearly flattened and was completely unprepared to see James Potter.
"S'all right, Evans," James almost mumbled, jamming his hands in his pockets as Sirius looked on, amused.
"I really am sorry," Lily managed, feeling herself beginning to blush. "Excuse me." Lily got herself out of there as fast as her legs would carry her.
"Sirius, who was that very pretty girl?" Mrs. Potter, who had been watching this exchange between Lily and her son with interest, asked.
"Lily Evans, one of the Gryffindor Prefects," Sirius said evasively. "She's in our year."
"Really?" Mrs. Potter mused, watching Lily as she went through the barrier. To Sirius' relief, she didn't pursue the subject. Mrs. Potter had long ago learned when not to push an issue.
* * *
James and Sirius once again spent their holiday on the Potter estate as London had, if anything, become even more dangerous in the months since their last holiday. Every day there was more and more news in the Daily Prophet about Death Eater activity and the witches and wizards they killed and the Muggles they baited. More witches and wizards were listed officially as missing every day as well and people went into hiding by the dozens. The fear in the air was a tangible thing; many in the wizarding world were near hysteria, refusing to say Voldemort's name. This trend became almost the norm, to the point where the Daily Prophet began referring to Voldemort as You Know Who some time in late July.
Nobody was immune to this fear, not even the influential Potters. James was extremely worried for his parents, both of whom held high positions in the Ministry and were among the most vocal against Voldemort and his supporters, after Dumbledore, of course. James and Sirius saw their headmaster several times during the summer holidays when he came to the Potters' home for various meetings, all of which James and Sirius were excluded from, despite their best efforts.
Naturally all of this cast a significant gloom over the summer; not even Sirius was immune. However, the boys carried on as best they could, playing Quidditch any hour of the day or night that struck their fancy and seeing Remus and Peter quite often. Life seemed to be going well for Remus despite the grim current situation; though he wouldn't divulge to anyone what was going on, he seemed happier than any of them had seen him in quite some time.
Of course, another factor was lowering James' spirits this summer: Lily Evans. He'd made a royal prat of himself at the common room party and James had failed to achieve the goal he had set for himself last summer: to persuade Lily Evans to go out with him.
James was lying in bed one morning in August thinking about this and wondering if he had a chance in hell of attaining this particular goal when he was rudely interrupted.
"Oy! Prongs!" Sirius bellowed from downstairs. "Hogwarts letters're here!"
"Coming!" James roared back as he began pulling on some clothes. It was about time he got up and snapped out of this mope anyway.
Still feeling a bit listless, James went downstairs to find Sirius.
* * *
Lily had spent her summer swathed in pink taffeta, or that was what it felt like to her. She had been required to go to dress fitting after dress fitting for her daft sister's god forsaken wedding and consequently had been forced to actually SEE herself in the pink nightmare that was her bridesmaid dress. Petunia was still in a state over her wedding but had unfortunately recovered herself enough to be especially nasty to Lily, hissing commands at her like an angry goose.
On top of all this, Lily had had to endure an extremely unpleasant dinner with Vernon and his family, all of whom addressed her in loud, overpolite voices as though she were a rather stupid child when they weren't talking about and looking at her like an animal in a zoo. Lily was Petunia's black sheep, juvenile delinquent sister as far as Vernon's parents and sister Marge were concerned and Vernon, who knew the truth, regarded Lily as a freak to be feared and largely ignored. Lily, who had never had a migraine in her life before that evening, came home from the Dursely's with a severe one.
She saw Morwenna, Dorcas, and Alice occasionally over the holiday and Kathleen not at all, though she sounded happy in the letters she sent to Lily regularly. It was from Morwenna, Alice, and Dorcas that Lily learned how badly things were going in the wizarding world. Even still, Lily would have traded her pink taffeta any day to be back in it.
Lily had managed to keep James Potter out of her mind for most of the summer, mostly because she had a multitude of other things to occupy her time and thoughts. But much to her dismay, Lily would find her mind wandering to him before she put the thought firmly from her head. But it didn't always work.
Lily awoke one morning in August thoroughly disgruntled after having an extremely bad dream the night before. The details were vague, but Lily knew for sure that James Potter had been in it and that was enough to put her in a very sour mood.
To top it all off, Lily hadn't been awake for more than ten minutes when a bloodcurdling scream came form downstairs. Hoisting herself reluctantly out of bed and putting on her dressing gown and slippers, Lily shuffled down to see what all the commotion was about.
A white-faced Petunia was sitting in a chair sipping strong tea next to a rather annoyed Mr. Evans, but all else seemed normal.
"Good morning, darling," Mrs. Evans set down the sugar bowl she had been fetching for Petunia's tea and kissed Lily's cheek.
"Morning," Lily mumbled, sitting down. "What was all the screaming about?" It was too much to hope for that Petunia had finally seen Lily's bridesmaid dress properly and had been screaming in horror.
"An owl came with your school letter and it startled Petunia a bit," Mrs. Evans said mildly, handing Lily the letter while Petunia glared.
Lily slit the envelope, which was heavier than usual this year. Inside was the usual start-of-term note but there was another letter wrapped round an object as well. Lily scanned the note quickly and let out a gasp.
"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Evans was mildly concerned over Lily's behavior. Silently Lily handed the letter to her mother.
"Why, Lily's been appointed Head Girl!" Mrs. Evans exclaimed, beaming.
"That's wonderful! Congratulations, darling," Mr. Evans was equally enthusiastic.
For her part, Lily was flabbergasted. Head Girl? It was so much responsibility. Feeling like she was in a dream, Lily picked up her shiny new badge and examined it. It seemed that it was really true. Lily was to be Head Girl. She wondered who the Head Boy was.
The next two weeks flew by and before she knew it, Lily was once again standing on the Hogwarts Express, about to return to Hogwarts for another year. Except this year was the last she would spend at Hogwarts and she was returning as Head Girl.
As soon as the train was underway, Lily bolted for the loo and hurried into her uniform, pinning her badge securely to her robes. Then she made her way to the Head compartment at the front of the train.
On her way to the compartment, Lily tried to take deep breaths, but she still had butterflies in her stomach. Once again, she wondered who had been made Head Boy. Whoever he was, Lily sincerely hoped that he'd be helpful. She just wouldn't be able to do this on her own.
Lily stopped just outside of the compartment. She could see movement through the heavy glass pane, but it prevented her from distinguishing who the person was. She could only assume that that was the Head Boy as the compartment was accessible only by a password. She only hoped it wasn't Snape.
Taking one final deep breath, Lily pushed open the compartment door.
* * *
Author's Note: Wow, thanks for all the reviews, everyone! And I'm glad you liked the Quidditch in the last chapter; I wasn't sure I was doing it very well. Thanks for the encouragement. :-)
A quick note about Quidditch: some of you pointed out to me that James was a Seeker, not a Chaser. It does say that in the movie version, but JK Rowling said in an interview with Scholastic on October 16, 2000 (the same interview where she revealed that Lily's last name is Evans and that Harry's middle name is James) that James was a Chaser. So that's the canon I'm going with, not the movie. After all, the movie also has Ron going into the Forbidden Forest to do detention instead of Neville and Petunia and Dudley have dark hair instead of blond. Here's the link to the interview if you want to check it out: Special thanks to lilynjamesAAF, SexxySiriusBlackChick5, Ronald's Girl, danielle, James Potter09, Rita Skeeter4, Captain Oblivious, Bajan Girl, and Four Stars. Another chapter will be up soon, probably this weekend. Until then, review, review, review!
That night the party in Gryffindor Tower went on until the wee hours of the morning. When Lily and Remus returned from their Prefect meeting at quarter to ten the party was already in full swing, with wall to wall banners, food and drink, and from the looks of the Gryffindor partygoers, it wasn't pumpkin juice.
"How did Black and Potter manage to DO all this?" Lily asked. It really wasn't a question of who had done it.
"Er - I dunno," Remus looked somewhat rueful. "Can I get some food or something?"
"No thanks," Lily was amused at Remus' poor attempt to change the subject. "I'm just going to go and congratulate Dorcas.
As Lily made her way to her friend, a familiar voice called out her name "Evans!" and suddenly there was James Potter standing right in her path. Lily sighed. Perfect. Potter on an ego high after a Quidditch victory.
"Evans," James was speaking with a bit more effort than usual and Lily was suddenly aware that he'd had a bit too much to drink. "Been looking for you everywhere. Doesn't matter though, 'cause here you are. Couldn't miss you with that beautiful red hair," James' expression suddenly turned serious, a frown creasing his forehead. "Why d'you hate me so much? I don't hate you," James looked so disappointed that Lily almost felt sorry for him.
"M'stomach flip-flops every time I see you," James continued. "Always has, ever since the first time I ever saw you."
"I -" Lily had no idea what to say. Her face flushed hotly and she fidgeted, looking everywhere but at James. So she did the only thing possible in the face of this much embarrassment. She beat a hasty retreat.
"Evans!" James called after her, but Lily had no intention of stopping.
"C'mon, Prongs," Sirius had come up behind James and was leading him towards the boys' dormitory staircase. "You can impress Evans with your romantic declarations later.
"Did I just say what I think I said?" James wanted confirmation.
"Yep," Sirius replied cheerfully, and James groaned, burying his head in his hands. "But don't worry, mate. I think only about half of the common room heard."
* * *
The parties in Gryffindor Tower went on for the next week and only stopped because of the looming threat of final exams. But even when faced with the crisis exams inevitably provoked, the Gryffindors were still in good spirits. They had won the Cup once again and it had been one in the eye for the Slytherins, who had caused them no inconsiderable amount of grief this year.
Lily was having a lot of difficulty studying for her exams. She just couldn't concentrate for any length of time, which was infuriating enough in itself, but the distraction was even worse. Lily could not get James Potter out of her head.
Suddenly he seemed to be everywhere; every time she looked up there he was. He hadn't spoken to her since the night of the Quidditch Cup; he seemed embarrassed about it, in fact. But even though he was leaving her more or less alone, Lily couldn't stop looking at him or thinking about him. She'd replayed his words to her that night in the common room over and over again in her head.
This behavior confused Lily thoroughly. She hated James Potter, why was he suddenly invading her mind this way? She couldn't read or study, or concentrate in class or at Prefect meetings. She was so absent-minded during her patrols that once some out-after-hours first years had snuck clear past her before she had realized they were there.
True, Lily hated James less than she'd used to. He'd proven during the Whomping Willow incident that he wasn't the mindlessly cruel bastard she'd always thought he was. And he hadn't been a git about it when she'd apologized to him and said that humiliating thing about admiring him outside of Dumbledore's office. And he was a great friend. Lily admired these things, but she still didn't like him or want anything to do with him, so why was she behaving as though she did? He was still an immature, arrogant, spoiled son of a bitch who only wanted what he couldn't have.
He just wouldn't get out of her head, that's all.
* * *
"Prongs!" a voice whispered in James' ear as something shook his shoulder insistently. James opened one eyelid a crack. Who in the bloody hell was waking him up at this hour of the night? Whoever it was, James was going to kill them.
Somehow it was not a shock to see Sirius standing next to James' bed, fully dressed and holding the invisibility cloak. James put on his glasses so he'd be able to see Sirius properly when he murdered him.
"What in the bloody - " James began, only to be silenced by Sirius.
"You have to come and follow that passageway we saw Bellatrix in with me," Sirius whispered. "We have to find out how she knew about that passage and what she was doing in it."
"Can't this wait until I'm awake?" James grumbled as he slid out of bed. Sirius grinned at him.
"Nope," he handed James his clothes.
"You do realize we have our Transfiguration exam tomorrow?" James whispered as they shuffled down the steps under his invisibility cloak.
"Like we need to study for that," Sirius snorted. "Quiet now." The two didn't talk anymore until they were safely inside the passage. Pulling off the cloak, James and Sirius followed the passageway past the kitchens and on down into the dungeons, keeping their eyes on the Marauder's Map for any detour tunnels. But there didn't seem to be any.
Finally James and Sirius reached the end of the passage and found themselves in the Potions corridor.
"Why would Bellatrix care about a secret passage that leads from the main floor past the kitchens and down to the Potions corridor?" Sirius wondered aloud. "She's not exactly the sort to be sneaking out for a midnight snack, or not one from the kitchens anyway, I think she feeds on fear. That and the first years."
"Padfoot," James said suddenly. "This is where Bellatrix and Lestrange led that attack on Lily and the others. Remember when Morwenna mentioned that it seemed like the Slytherins came out of nowhere? What if they came out of this passage?"
"Yeah, I do remember that," Sirius said slowly, his brow furrowed. "How did they even find out about it? Most of them aren't the sort to go poking round Hogwarts looking for passages, they'd think it beneath their dignity."
"Right," James looked about thoughtfully. "The question is, then, how did they find out?"
* * *
James and Sirius lost no time telling Remus and Peter about their discovery the next morning at breakfast. Huddled together at one end of the long Gryffindor table and speaking in low voices to ensure nobody could overhear, they quickly related the story to the other two. Remus reacted with his usual rationality, offering suggestions as to the possible ways Bellatrix or any of the other Slytherins involved could have found out, but it was clear that Remus was quite concerned over the idea. Peter was quite upset as well, declaring he'd never be able to use that passage comfortably again. The very thought of it seemed to make him nervous.
However, the Marauders had no time to focus on this latest mystery. Final exams were now in full swing and the sixth year exams were particularly challenging in order to prepare them for next year's all- important NEWTs. Even James and Sirius were forced to spend some time in the library studying. Peter was on the brink of a complete mental meltdown as the Charms and Potions exams drew nearer, it was all the three other Marauders could do to get him through them.
Finally, the sixth years sat for their final exam, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the next morning it was time to board the Hogwarts Express once again for another summer holiday.
"Finally," Morwenna sighed as she flopped down into a seat in the train compartment for the long ride home. "I thought we'd never get through exams."
"Fancy next year being our last," Alice reflected as she set her owl's cage in the luggage rack.
"Eurgh, don't remind me," Kathleen shuddered. "We'll be facing NEWTs this time next year."
"After this year's exams I feel like I need to start studying now," Dorcas said dryly. "Aurors need top marks in everything."
"Lucky I don't want to be an Auror then," Morwenna quipped. "I hope I managed decent marks this year, let alone next. I just don't want to disappoint my family."
"What about you, Lils?" Alice was curious. "How'd your exams go?"
Lily started at the sound of her name. She'd been a bit distracted, as usual. "Er - I dunno. All right, I hope."
Truthfully, Lily wasn't at all sure how well her exams had gone. She'd been distracted over this ridiculous James Potter business for a good portion of the time, which hadn't exactly been conducive to studying. She was thoroughly relieved to be going home where she'd be able to forget about him completely. Hopefully by the time she saw him again in September she'd be over this stupid infatuation or whatever it was and things could get back to normal, with her hating him again.
The five girls chatted a bit longer, then Alice stood up, and blushing a little, announced that she was going to see Frank. To some people's surprise, Kathleen stood up too. "Think I'll walk with you as far as the corridor, Alice," Kathleen wasn't meeting Lily's eyes. "There's someone I want to go and talk to."
"What was that all about?" Morwenna wondered after the two had departed. Lily shrugged her shoulders, hoping she looked innocent.
Kathleen had confessed to Lily after she had caught them that night that she had liked Remus since the beginning of the year. She was interested in him; he seemed different from the other boys Kathleen had dated, he didn't brag the way they did. In fact, he seemed as though he had a secret. Kathleen wanted to be more than snogging partners with Remus, but she didn't know if he felt the same and until she did, she would take the snogging.
Clearly Kathleen was going to see Remus now for another clandestine snogging session. Lily wondered if Remus would ever get over his fears enough to confess his feelings to Kathleen or if he would ever trust her enough to let her in on his secret. As of now, things weren't looking good. They had been snogging since January for Merlin's sake.
Trying not to think about where they would snog on a train, Lily turned back to her friends.
* * *
The Marauders, minus Remus who had gone to do some unspecified Prefect duties, spent most of the train ride home playing Exploding Snap. After Peter's eyebrows were singed off during one particularly intense game, he refused to play anymore and watched, sulking, as Sirius and James carried on.
The train pulled into King's Cross Station toward dusk and students came streaming off the train to meet their parents. James, Sirius, and Peter joined the queue, searching for Mr. and Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Pettigrew in the crowd.
The Potters stood with Morwenna Marchbanks' parents off to one side, waving to the boys. As Peter had spotted his mum as well the three said their good-byes and promised to send letters within the next couple of days. Then James and Sirius went over to join the Potters and Peter to his mother, a stout, fussy-looking witch who immediately began to tell Peter off for singeing his eyebrows.
Lily, Morwenna, Dorcas, Frank, Alice, and Kathleen disembarked from the train in one big mass, scanning the crowd for their parents. Morwenna, Dorcas, and Kathleen, who had only joined them moments before the train pulled into the station, spotted their families right off and said their farewells and left. Lily began to veer toward the barrier. Her parents, unable to get onto Platform 9 ¾, would be waiting for her by the information desk.
As Lily gathered her things, she heard Frank say to Alice: "Look, there's my mum. Come and meet her, won't you?"
"Er - " Alice blanched. "I - I can't. I've - er - left something on the train. I'll just see you later, shall I, and maybe I can meet your mum then." Frank looked slightly confused by this logic but before he could say anything Alice had pecked him on the lips, told him she'd see him day after tomorrow, and was dragging Lily back onto the train with her.
"I can't meet Mrs. Longbottom now!" Alice hissed to Lily frantically as she began to question Alice's erratic behavior. "She's scary! PLEASE stay with me here till they go." Frank and his mother waited round for a couple of minutes for Alice to reappear but finally left, Frank seeming a bit upset.
"You know, if you want to continue seeing Frank you WILL have to meet his mother," Lily felt she should make sure Alice was aware of this.
"Of course," Alice said impatiently. "I just didn't want to meet her today. I mean, you saw her, Lils. ANYONE is entitled to a little warning before they meet that woman."
"Point taken," Lily couldn't argue with that. Mrs. Longbottom looked as if she could have personally caught and stuffed the vulture that adorned her hat.
Lily left Alice with her brother Gideon, who greeted Lily warmly, before hurrying off to meet her own parents, not watching where she was going, and ran full tilt into someone.
"Oh, Merlin, I am so - " Lily looked up to see who she had nearly flattened and was completely unprepared to see James Potter.
"S'all right, Evans," James almost mumbled, jamming his hands in his pockets as Sirius looked on, amused.
"I really am sorry," Lily managed, feeling herself beginning to blush. "Excuse me." Lily got herself out of there as fast as her legs would carry her.
"Sirius, who was that very pretty girl?" Mrs. Potter, who had been watching this exchange between Lily and her son with interest, asked.
"Lily Evans, one of the Gryffindor Prefects," Sirius said evasively. "She's in our year."
"Really?" Mrs. Potter mused, watching Lily as she went through the barrier. To Sirius' relief, she didn't pursue the subject. Mrs. Potter had long ago learned when not to push an issue.
* * *
James and Sirius once again spent their holiday on the Potter estate as London had, if anything, become even more dangerous in the months since their last holiday. Every day there was more and more news in the Daily Prophet about Death Eater activity and the witches and wizards they killed and the Muggles they baited. More witches and wizards were listed officially as missing every day as well and people went into hiding by the dozens. The fear in the air was a tangible thing; many in the wizarding world were near hysteria, refusing to say Voldemort's name. This trend became almost the norm, to the point where the Daily Prophet began referring to Voldemort as You Know Who some time in late July.
Nobody was immune to this fear, not even the influential Potters. James was extremely worried for his parents, both of whom held high positions in the Ministry and were among the most vocal against Voldemort and his supporters, after Dumbledore, of course. James and Sirius saw their headmaster several times during the summer holidays when he came to the Potters' home for various meetings, all of which James and Sirius were excluded from, despite their best efforts.
Naturally all of this cast a significant gloom over the summer; not even Sirius was immune. However, the boys carried on as best they could, playing Quidditch any hour of the day or night that struck their fancy and seeing Remus and Peter quite often. Life seemed to be going well for Remus despite the grim current situation; though he wouldn't divulge to anyone what was going on, he seemed happier than any of them had seen him in quite some time.
Of course, another factor was lowering James' spirits this summer: Lily Evans. He'd made a royal prat of himself at the common room party and James had failed to achieve the goal he had set for himself last summer: to persuade Lily Evans to go out with him.
James was lying in bed one morning in August thinking about this and wondering if he had a chance in hell of attaining this particular goal when he was rudely interrupted.
"Oy! Prongs!" Sirius bellowed from downstairs. "Hogwarts letters're here!"
"Coming!" James roared back as he began pulling on some clothes. It was about time he got up and snapped out of this mope anyway.
Still feeling a bit listless, James went downstairs to find Sirius.
* * *
Lily had spent her summer swathed in pink taffeta, or that was what it felt like to her. She had been required to go to dress fitting after dress fitting for her daft sister's god forsaken wedding and consequently had been forced to actually SEE herself in the pink nightmare that was her bridesmaid dress. Petunia was still in a state over her wedding but had unfortunately recovered herself enough to be especially nasty to Lily, hissing commands at her like an angry goose.
On top of all this, Lily had had to endure an extremely unpleasant dinner with Vernon and his family, all of whom addressed her in loud, overpolite voices as though she were a rather stupid child when they weren't talking about and looking at her like an animal in a zoo. Lily was Petunia's black sheep, juvenile delinquent sister as far as Vernon's parents and sister Marge were concerned and Vernon, who knew the truth, regarded Lily as a freak to be feared and largely ignored. Lily, who had never had a migraine in her life before that evening, came home from the Dursely's with a severe one.
She saw Morwenna, Dorcas, and Alice occasionally over the holiday and Kathleen not at all, though she sounded happy in the letters she sent to Lily regularly. It was from Morwenna, Alice, and Dorcas that Lily learned how badly things were going in the wizarding world. Even still, Lily would have traded her pink taffeta any day to be back in it.
Lily had managed to keep James Potter out of her mind for most of the summer, mostly because she had a multitude of other things to occupy her time and thoughts. But much to her dismay, Lily would find her mind wandering to him before she put the thought firmly from her head. But it didn't always work.
Lily awoke one morning in August thoroughly disgruntled after having an extremely bad dream the night before. The details were vague, but Lily knew for sure that James Potter had been in it and that was enough to put her in a very sour mood.
To top it all off, Lily hadn't been awake for more than ten minutes when a bloodcurdling scream came form downstairs. Hoisting herself reluctantly out of bed and putting on her dressing gown and slippers, Lily shuffled down to see what all the commotion was about.
A white-faced Petunia was sitting in a chair sipping strong tea next to a rather annoyed Mr. Evans, but all else seemed normal.
"Good morning, darling," Mrs. Evans set down the sugar bowl she had been fetching for Petunia's tea and kissed Lily's cheek.
"Morning," Lily mumbled, sitting down. "What was all the screaming about?" It was too much to hope for that Petunia had finally seen Lily's bridesmaid dress properly and had been screaming in horror.
"An owl came with your school letter and it startled Petunia a bit," Mrs. Evans said mildly, handing Lily the letter while Petunia glared.
Lily slit the envelope, which was heavier than usual this year. Inside was the usual start-of-term note but there was another letter wrapped round an object as well. Lily scanned the note quickly and let out a gasp.
"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Evans was mildly concerned over Lily's behavior. Silently Lily handed the letter to her mother.
"Why, Lily's been appointed Head Girl!" Mrs. Evans exclaimed, beaming.
"That's wonderful! Congratulations, darling," Mr. Evans was equally enthusiastic.
For her part, Lily was flabbergasted. Head Girl? It was so much responsibility. Feeling like she was in a dream, Lily picked up her shiny new badge and examined it. It seemed that it was really true. Lily was to be Head Girl. She wondered who the Head Boy was.
The next two weeks flew by and before she knew it, Lily was once again standing on the Hogwarts Express, about to return to Hogwarts for another year. Except this year was the last she would spend at Hogwarts and she was returning as Head Girl.
As soon as the train was underway, Lily bolted for the loo and hurried into her uniform, pinning her badge securely to her robes. Then she made her way to the Head compartment at the front of the train.
On her way to the compartment, Lily tried to take deep breaths, but she still had butterflies in her stomach. Once again, she wondered who had been made Head Boy. Whoever he was, Lily sincerely hoped that he'd be helpful. She just wouldn't be able to do this on her own.
Lily stopped just outside of the compartment. She could see movement through the heavy glass pane, but it prevented her from distinguishing who the person was. She could only assume that that was the Head Boy as the compartment was accessible only by a password. She only hoped it wasn't Snape.
Taking one final deep breath, Lily pushed open the compartment door.
* * *
Author's Note: Wow, thanks for all the reviews, everyone! And I'm glad you liked the Quidditch in the last chapter; I wasn't sure I was doing it very well. Thanks for the encouragement. :-)
A quick note about Quidditch: some of you pointed out to me that James was a Seeker, not a Chaser. It does say that in the movie version, but JK Rowling said in an interview with Scholastic on October 16, 2000 (the same interview where she revealed that Lily's last name is Evans and that Harry's middle name is James) that James was a Chaser. So that's the canon I'm going with, not the movie. After all, the movie also has Ron going into the Forbidden Forest to do detention instead of Neville and Petunia and Dudley have dark hair instead of blond. Here's the link to the interview if you want to check it out: Special thanks to lilynjamesAAF, SexxySiriusBlackChick5, Ronald's Girl, danielle, James Potter09, Rita Skeeter4, Captain Oblivious, Bajan Girl, and Four Stars. Another chapter will be up soon, probably this weekend. Until then, review, review, review!