Chapter 17 The Wrong Foot
"POTTER?!" Whatever Lily had been expecting when she opened the door to the Head compartment, it certainly wasn't James Potter, who stood there grinning at her with his usual arrogant grin, his hair in disarray. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't.
But there it was, the telltale Head Boy badge pinned to the front of Potter's robes. Ridiculous or not, James Potter was Head Boy. The very thought of it twisted Lily's stomach into knots.
"How - how can this be?" Lily wondered aloud, sinking into the nearest seat.
"Wondered the same thing myself," James shrugged as he flopped down into he seat next to Lily. "There's a definite silver lining though: now you and I will be able to spend loads of time together."
"No more than I can help," Lily snorted. "Let's have one thing clear straight off, Potter. I still hate you. I may have admitted once that I admired what you did for Snape, but that's as far as it goes."
"Right," James grinned assuredly to prove to Lily how much he believed that particular statement. "C'mon Evans, admit it. You don't hate me at all. I'm exciting and talented and an all-round decent bloke, really. You might as well admit it: this year is going to be great and you'd hate to miss a second of it."
Very deliberately, Lily reached into her bag and pulled out a small vial of liquid. "I was saving this for the next time you asked me out, but this occasion seems so much more appropriate," Lily's eyes flashed fire. "Do you know what this is Potter?"
When James shook his head, puzzled, Lily uncorked the vial and continued.
"It's Shrinking Solution, a very potent one. If at any time this year I feel you are antagonizing me or abusing your authority as Head Boy, my hand just might slip," Lily tilted the vial ever so slightly to illustrate her point, "and drop this on your trousers, if you catch my meaning." Lily corked the vial, stowed it in her bag, and started toward the door. "You and I have to conduct the Prefect's meeting in half an hour," Lily tossed over her shoulder. "I trust I'll see you there. Cheers." Lily opened the compartment door.
"Sure thing," James replied casually, not sounding threatened by Lily's promise. "Oh, and Evans?" Lily turned. "You do realize what this Shrinking Solution bit means, don't you?"
"No, but I'm sure you'll enlighten me," Lily was wary.
James grinned. "It proves that you've been thinking about my trousers."
Lily immediately flushed a spectacular shade of scarlet and fled the compartment, leaving James to laugh over his triumph.
* * *
Two hours later, Lily shut herself in the loo, her head spinning. She had just left the Prefect meeting, her first-ever meeting as Head Girl. It had been the longest hour and a half of her life. How could she possibly do this once a week? She'd never make it to October.
Potter hadn't been completely unhelpful during the meeting and most of the Prefects knew and respected her from past experience, but she couldn't spend this much time with James Potter. Despite the long respite from him over the summer, she was still distracted by him. How was she supposed to function like this?
Calm down, Lily told herself. What you need right now is to see your friends and relax. It won't always be this bad, you were just surprised. Unpleasantly surprised. GO and find your friends, it'll help you feel normal.
Lily took a deep breath, pushed open the bathroom door, and went to find her friends. Finally she located them in a compartment toward the back of the train, all of them looking relaxed and brown from the sun.
"...so I literally hid under the table until she passed," Alice was saying as Lily slid into the compartment. "Fabian teased me endlessly, of course, but it was worth it. Frank and I may have to elope if it ever comes to that point. I honestly don't know how I can get over this fear I have of her."
"Lily!" Morwenna exclaimed, noticing Lily's entrance. "You look lovely! Had a good holiday? Wait a minute...." Morwenna had a closer look at the badge pinned to Lily's robes and emitted a squeal of delight. "Congratulations!" she exclaimed, pulling Lily into a hug. "I always knew you'd make Head Girl, Dumbledore would've been daft to choose anyone else!"
Lily grinned among the shrieks and squeals and congratulations of her friends as Morwenna's words registered. Finally it felt just a bit good to be Head Girl and not like a load of extra headaches and responsibility.
As the commotion died down a bit, it occurred to Morwenna to ask the question Lily had irrationally hoped to avoid.
"Who's Head Boy, then?" They all looked at Lily expectantly.
Lily sighed. "James Potter," she mumbled. Morwenna immediately burst out laughing and even after several minutes seemed unable to stop. The other joined in at first but eventually theirs subsided to grins and they began the inevitable teasing Lily had known would come..
As a result, the train ride seemed interminable to Lily, who was already having the worst day she could remember. It seemed that they would never reach Hogwarts.
* * *
As soon as the Prefect meeting ended, James and Remus went to join Sirius and Peter, James with a self-satisfied grin on his face. He was firmly convinced that he had the best luck in the world.
Remus and James had only been in the compartment a couple of minutes before Peter asked the inevitable question: "So who's Head Girl?"
"Lily Evans," James enunciated, letting the words roll off his tongue and not even bothering to hide his glee.
"You lucky bastard!" Peter exclaimed, clapping James on the shoulder.
"You do really have the damnedest luck, Prongs," Sirius' grin showed James that he knew just how much this meant to him.
"She's stuck with you now," Remus added. "She won't be able to miss what a grand chap you are."
"I still can't figure how our Prongs became Head Boy," Sirius was only half-joking. "It's not like he's proved himself to be a valuable member of the Hogwarts student body or some such shite."
"Unless you count causing mayhem as valuable," Peter put in.
"Mayhem happens to be very valuable," Sirius retorted defensively. "He's helped keep the staff on its toes for six years now. Dumbledore ought to thank him really."
"And he did. He made Lily and me Head Boy and Girl, who could ask for anything more?" James clearly was still marveling at his good fortune.
"Don't know why he didn't give it to you though, Moony," Peter was thoughtful. "You are a Prefect and everything."
Remus shrugged. "Don't know and don't care. Prongs is welcome to it."
"Wormtail's right though," James said a bit more soberly. "You've done everything to deserve this and by rights you should have it."
"Dumbledore must have his reasons," Remus repeated his often-said remark. "He always does."
The rest of the train ride passed more or less uneventfully by Marauder standards. As they drew nearer to their destination, James began to feel a bit nervous. He knew he'd have to help organize everything when they got off the train, and he had no idea how to do that. Typically he was one of the ones being organized, he had no idea how to get people like himself to go where they needed to. Did HE even know where they needed to go?
When the train stopped and the students poured out in their usual pandemonium, James was able to watch Remus, a veteran at this sort of thing, and more or less follow his example. Not to say that the entire experience went smoothly, but James managed and made it to the castle in one piece.
James' first real catastrophe as Head Boy didn't come until after dinner when all of the Prefects had received the House passwords and were about to lead the first years to the dormitories. James spied Sirius at one end of the Gryffindor table, talking earnestly to a first year and proffering what James knew from personal experience to be an Acid Pop.
Deciding that as Head Boy and an upholder of the rules he really ought to put a stop to this, James hurried over to Sirius and snatched the Pop from his hand as the first year looked on in terror.
"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, appearing baffled over this new and unexpected behavior from his best mate. "What're you on about?"
"Are you completely daft, Sirius?" James hissed urgently, peering over his shoulder. "Are you TRYING to get me in trouble?"
"I don't see what all the fuss is about," Sirius shrugged, then pointed out: "Besides, you used to do this all the time."
James was just about to argue with this statement when a voice alongside them demanded: "What in Merlin's name do the pair of you think you are doing?"
James turned to see Lily taking in the frightened first year and the Acid Pop clutched in James' fist, wearing what James had heard Morwenna refer to as her Prefect Look of Death.
"It's not what it looks - I mean I wasn't - " James stammered ineffectually.
"Let me guess: you're just holding it for someone," Lily retorted scathingly. "What do you think you're about, giving this first year an Acid Pop? He could burn a hole in his tongue!" The first year fled in terror at this point, joining a group of students about his size and stealing terrified looks at the seventh years.
"But honestly I wasn't giving him this Acid Pop!" James waved the incriminating evidence about as he spoke, taking away a bit of his testimony's credibility in the process. He turned to Sirius for help, but Sirius was too bust trying not to double over with laughter that he wasn't any help at all. Disgusted, James turned back to Lily.
"Whatever you say, Potter," Lily looked singularly unconvinced. "Just remember this: MY HAND WILL SLIP." With that, she whirled and walked away, appearing thoroughly disgusted.
"What did Evans mean by that?" Sirius asked curiously. James set the Acid Pop down and, running a hand through his hair, related Lily's earlier threat with the Shrinking Solution to Sirius.
If James had been expecting sympathy, he was doomed to disappointment. Sirius laughed so hard and so long he very nearly wet himself. Finally fed up, James hurled the offending Acid Pop at his best friend's head and went to see what fresh trouble his new Head duties could get him into.
* * *
Slytherin House was in an uproar that night after dinner. Many of them, particularly the seventh years, were outraged and disgusted over Dumbledore's choice of Head Girl. A Mudblood leading the school? Not while the Slytheirns had something to say about it.
Bellatrix Black was particularly livid, as Snape knew she would inevitably be. Not only was the new Head Girl a Mudblood, but she was Lily Evans, Bellatrix's academic rival and personal enemy. Lily refused to stay in her place as a Mudblood and that, as far as Bellatrix was concerned, was unforgivable.
To make matters worse, Bellatrix had, for the third year running, missed a Prefect appointment. She was the highest-ranked student in the sixth year who was not a Prefect, and this too rankled with Bellatrix, power hungry as she was. And here was Mudblood Evans, whom Bellatrix regarded as her inferior in every way, with the top spot in all the school. No wonder Bellatrix was spitting nails, Snape reflected.
Snape watched his classmate prowl round the common room, her expression well and truly frightening in its irrational rage. And there was no Lestrange here to calm her or distract her from her fury, which was bound to explode at any moment.
Spotting a few remaining first years in the corner of the common room, apparently too terrified and fascinated by Bellatrix to move, Snape made his way over to them.
"Are you aware of the time?" Snape addressed them icily.
"Er- yeah," one of them replied hesitantly.
"Then I suggest that you make your separate ways to bed," Snape stared the first years down. Without another word they all left the armchairs they had been occupying and hurried off, still peeking over their shoulders at the raging Bellatrix.
Feeling much put-upon as the eldest Prefect and the only one in the favored group's inner circle, Snape next went to see what could be done about Bellatrix.
"It would be prudent for you to get a hold of yourself," Snape spoke softly. Bellatrix whirled around.
"Get a hold of myself?" Bellatrix spat. Her body shook with the force of her rage as she launched into a furious tirade that included her feelings on Mudbloods in general and Evans in particular and why she would not stand for this degradation.
Snape barely listened, irritated. Naturally, he too questioned Dumbledore's prudence in making such a controversial appointment, especially in times like these. But it was done and doubtless Dumbledore hadhis reasons for appointing Evans. She was, after all, a well-liked and respected student, not to mention the last one who would ever abuse her power.
It was Potter that incensed Snape. How could Dumbledore willingly and knowingly designate so much power to that childish, egotistical bastard? He had never been in an authority position before, and rightly so. Potter was the very antithesis of authority and justice. Snape had very little doubt that he would soon feel the repercussions of Dumbledore's ridiculous choice.
It took quite a while to coax Bellatrix back into some semblance of sanity, and by the time she had been calmed and had finally consented to go to bed, it was quite late. Snape would have to call the select few back for a meeting tomorrow night.
With Lestrange gone, their little group looked to Snape for authority. After receiving his mark last spring, Snape had necessarily been much more a part of the Dark Lord's affairs. Most of Snape's impressions of the summer were jumbled ones of black cloaks and masks, of screams and laughter and forbidden incantations.
In the bathroom, Snape pulled up his left sleeve and studied his forearm, as he often did. The Marl had darkened to black now, but the pain was still fresh in his mind. Sometimes Snape forgot it was even there, it still seemed unreal that it was. He would never forget the pain of having that Mark activated the first time the Dark Lord had summoned Snape to his side. He had since grown accustomed to it, but between times it seemed as though the entire thing was a distant though still vivid nightmare.
Sighing, Snape finished getting ready for bed and slipped into his four poster just as his clock changed to 4:00. This term was certainly off to a brilliant start.
* * *
Over the next few days, Lily saw more of James Potter than she had ever wanted to in her life.
While he still irritated her, Lily did notice a change both in him and in herself. James Potter wasn't as immature and annoying as he'd once been. He did still have a substantial ego, very substantial as a matter of fact, but he seemed to have grown up to some extent.
No doubt he was still a prat, though. The Acid Pop incident on their first night back proved that. Yes, he was definitely still a prat. Maybe she should go and buy some actual Shrinking Solution, Lily mused, instead of just keeping that vial of perfume around to scare Potter with. Not that it had worked, though she had noticed Sirius Black taking the mickey out of James over the whole thing.
Lily found that she herself had a bit more tolerance for him. He still seemed to be everywhere and Lily still thought about him a good bit, much to her own disgust.
This must stop at any and all costs.
Why had things changed? Lily sincerely wished she could hate James the way she always had before, with no sympathy and no reservations. Hating someone was so much more complicated when you knew they weren't the complete bastard you had always thought them. You even maybe felt a bit guilty for hating them, and thought about them more than you wanted to, couldn't keep your lips from twitching when they made a joke, noticed the nice things they did for people and their little idiosyncrasies. James Potter had become a person to Lily, and it was hard to hate someone once you thought of him or her as a real person. Not that Lily didn't want to hate him, it was just harder when he was on her mind constantly.
One thing was for sure, if Lily couldn't get James Potter out of her head, it was going to be a very, very long year.
* * *
Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews everyone, with special thanks to LavenderBrown, Ehlonna, jmsoftball9, Ronald's Girl, James Potter09, callio, Four Stars, xox fillii, and Risty. Sorry the link to the JK Rowling interview didn't work. Here it is again, and if it still doesn't work, you can email me and I'll give it to you. Next chapter will be up this week, in the meantime keep reviewing!
"POTTER?!" Whatever Lily had been expecting when she opened the door to the Head compartment, it certainly wasn't James Potter, who stood there grinning at her with his usual arrogant grin, his hair in disarray. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't.
But there it was, the telltale Head Boy badge pinned to the front of Potter's robes. Ridiculous or not, James Potter was Head Boy. The very thought of it twisted Lily's stomach into knots.
"How - how can this be?" Lily wondered aloud, sinking into the nearest seat.
"Wondered the same thing myself," James shrugged as he flopped down into he seat next to Lily. "There's a definite silver lining though: now you and I will be able to spend loads of time together."
"No more than I can help," Lily snorted. "Let's have one thing clear straight off, Potter. I still hate you. I may have admitted once that I admired what you did for Snape, but that's as far as it goes."
"Right," James grinned assuredly to prove to Lily how much he believed that particular statement. "C'mon Evans, admit it. You don't hate me at all. I'm exciting and talented and an all-round decent bloke, really. You might as well admit it: this year is going to be great and you'd hate to miss a second of it."
Very deliberately, Lily reached into her bag and pulled out a small vial of liquid. "I was saving this for the next time you asked me out, but this occasion seems so much more appropriate," Lily's eyes flashed fire. "Do you know what this is Potter?"
When James shook his head, puzzled, Lily uncorked the vial and continued.
"It's Shrinking Solution, a very potent one. If at any time this year I feel you are antagonizing me or abusing your authority as Head Boy, my hand just might slip," Lily tilted the vial ever so slightly to illustrate her point, "and drop this on your trousers, if you catch my meaning." Lily corked the vial, stowed it in her bag, and started toward the door. "You and I have to conduct the Prefect's meeting in half an hour," Lily tossed over her shoulder. "I trust I'll see you there. Cheers." Lily opened the compartment door.
"Sure thing," James replied casually, not sounding threatened by Lily's promise. "Oh, and Evans?" Lily turned. "You do realize what this Shrinking Solution bit means, don't you?"
"No, but I'm sure you'll enlighten me," Lily was wary.
James grinned. "It proves that you've been thinking about my trousers."
Lily immediately flushed a spectacular shade of scarlet and fled the compartment, leaving James to laugh over his triumph.
* * *
Two hours later, Lily shut herself in the loo, her head spinning. She had just left the Prefect meeting, her first-ever meeting as Head Girl. It had been the longest hour and a half of her life. How could she possibly do this once a week? She'd never make it to October.
Potter hadn't been completely unhelpful during the meeting and most of the Prefects knew and respected her from past experience, but she couldn't spend this much time with James Potter. Despite the long respite from him over the summer, she was still distracted by him. How was she supposed to function like this?
Calm down, Lily told herself. What you need right now is to see your friends and relax. It won't always be this bad, you were just surprised. Unpleasantly surprised. GO and find your friends, it'll help you feel normal.
Lily took a deep breath, pushed open the bathroom door, and went to find her friends. Finally she located them in a compartment toward the back of the train, all of them looking relaxed and brown from the sun.
"...so I literally hid under the table until she passed," Alice was saying as Lily slid into the compartment. "Fabian teased me endlessly, of course, but it was worth it. Frank and I may have to elope if it ever comes to that point. I honestly don't know how I can get over this fear I have of her."
"Lily!" Morwenna exclaimed, noticing Lily's entrance. "You look lovely! Had a good holiday? Wait a minute...." Morwenna had a closer look at the badge pinned to Lily's robes and emitted a squeal of delight. "Congratulations!" she exclaimed, pulling Lily into a hug. "I always knew you'd make Head Girl, Dumbledore would've been daft to choose anyone else!"
Lily grinned among the shrieks and squeals and congratulations of her friends as Morwenna's words registered. Finally it felt just a bit good to be Head Girl and not like a load of extra headaches and responsibility.
As the commotion died down a bit, it occurred to Morwenna to ask the question Lily had irrationally hoped to avoid.
"Who's Head Boy, then?" They all looked at Lily expectantly.
Lily sighed. "James Potter," she mumbled. Morwenna immediately burst out laughing and even after several minutes seemed unable to stop. The other joined in at first but eventually theirs subsided to grins and they began the inevitable teasing Lily had known would come..
As a result, the train ride seemed interminable to Lily, who was already having the worst day she could remember. It seemed that they would never reach Hogwarts.
* * *
As soon as the Prefect meeting ended, James and Remus went to join Sirius and Peter, James with a self-satisfied grin on his face. He was firmly convinced that he had the best luck in the world.
Remus and James had only been in the compartment a couple of minutes before Peter asked the inevitable question: "So who's Head Girl?"
"Lily Evans," James enunciated, letting the words roll off his tongue and not even bothering to hide his glee.
"You lucky bastard!" Peter exclaimed, clapping James on the shoulder.
"You do really have the damnedest luck, Prongs," Sirius' grin showed James that he knew just how much this meant to him.
"She's stuck with you now," Remus added. "She won't be able to miss what a grand chap you are."
"I still can't figure how our Prongs became Head Boy," Sirius was only half-joking. "It's not like he's proved himself to be a valuable member of the Hogwarts student body or some such shite."
"Unless you count causing mayhem as valuable," Peter put in.
"Mayhem happens to be very valuable," Sirius retorted defensively. "He's helped keep the staff on its toes for six years now. Dumbledore ought to thank him really."
"And he did. He made Lily and me Head Boy and Girl, who could ask for anything more?" James clearly was still marveling at his good fortune.
"Don't know why he didn't give it to you though, Moony," Peter was thoughtful. "You are a Prefect and everything."
Remus shrugged. "Don't know and don't care. Prongs is welcome to it."
"Wormtail's right though," James said a bit more soberly. "You've done everything to deserve this and by rights you should have it."
"Dumbledore must have his reasons," Remus repeated his often-said remark. "He always does."
The rest of the train ride passed more or less uneventfully by Marauder standards. As they drew nearer to their destination, James began to feel a bit nervous. He knew he'd have to help organize everything when they got off the train, and he had no idea how to do that. Typically he was one of the ones being organized, he had no idea how to get people like himself to go where they needed to. Did HE even know where they needed to go?
When the train stopped and the students poured out in their usual pandemonium, James was able to watch Remus, a veteran at this sort of thing, and more or less follow his example. Not to say that the entire experience went smoothly, but James managed and made it to the castle in one piece.
James' first real catastrophe as Head Boy didn't come until after dinner when all of the Prefects had received the House passwords and were about to lead the first years to the dormitories. James spied Sirius at one end of the Gryffindor table, talking earnestly to a first year and proffering what James knew from personal experience to be an Acid Pop.
Deciding that as Head Boy and an upholder of the rules he really ought to put a stop to this, James hurried over to Sirius and snatched the Pop from his hand as the first year looked on in terror.
"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, appearing baffled over this new and unexpected behavior from his best mate. "What're you on about?"
"Are you completely daft, Sirius?" James hissed urgently, peering over his shoulder. "Are you TRYING to get me in trouble?"
"I don't see what all the fuss is about," Sirius shrugged, then pointed out: "Besides, you used to do this all the time."
James was just about to argue with this statement when a voice alongside them demanded: "What in Merlin's name do the pair of you think you are doing?"
James turned to see Lily taking in the frightened first year and the Acid Pop clutched in James' fist, wearing what James had heard Morwenna refer to as her Prefect Look of Death.
"It's not what it looks - I mean I wasn't - " James stammered ineffectually.
"Let me guess: you're just holding it for someone," Lily retorted scathingly. "What do you think you're about, giving this first year an Acid Pop? He could burn a hole in his tongue!" The first year fled in terror at this point, joining a group of students about his size and stealing terrified looks at the seventh years.
"But honestly I wasn't giving him this Acid Pop!" James waved the incriminating evidence about as he spoke, taking away a bit of his testimony's credibility in the process. He turned to Sirius for help, but Sirius was too bust trying not to double over with laughter that he wasn't any help at all. Disgusted, James turned back to Lily.
"Whatever you say, Potter," Lily looked singularly unconvinced. "Just remember this: MY HAND WILL SLIP." With that, she whirled and walked away, appearing thoroughly disgusted.
"What did Evans mean by that?" Sirius asked curiously. James set the Acid Pop down and, running a hand through his hair, related Lily's earlier threat with the Shrinking Solution to Sirius.
If James had been expecting sympathy, he was doomed to disappointment. Sirius laughed so hard and so long he very nearly wet himself. Finally fed up, James hurled the offending Acid Pop at his best friend's head and went to see what fresh trouble his new Head duties could get him into.
* * *
Slytherin House was in an uproar that night after dinner. Many of them, particularly the seventh years, were outraged and disgusted over Dumbledore's choice of Head Girl. A Mudblood leading the school? Not while the Slytheirns had something to say about it.
Bellatrix Black was particularly livid, as Snape knew she would inevitably be. Not only was the new Head Girl a Mudblood, but she was Lily Evans, Bellatrix's academic rival and personal enemy. Lily refused to stay in her place as a Mudblood and that, as far as Bellatrix was concerned, was unforgivable.
To make matters worse, Bellatrix had, for the third year running, missed a Prefect appointment. She was the highest-ranked student in the sixth year who was not a Prefect, and this too rankled with Bellatrix, power hungry as she was. And here was Mudblood Evans, whom Bellatrix regarded as her inferior in every way, with the top spot in all the school. No wonder Bellatrix was spitting nails, Snape reflected.
Snape watched his classmate prowl round the common room, her expression well and truly frightening in its irrational rage. And there was no Lestrange here to calm her or distract her from her fury, which was bound to explode at any moment.
Spotting a few remaining first years in the corner of the common room, apparently too terrified and fascinated by Bellatrix to move, Snape made his way over to them.
"Are you aware of the time?" Snape addressed them icily.
"Er- yeah," one of them replied hesitantly.
"Then I suggest that you make your separate ways to bed," Snape stared the first years down. Without another word they all left the armchairs they had been occupying and hurried off, still peeking over their shoulders at the raging Bellatrix.
Feeling much put-upon as the eldest Prefect and the only one in the favored group's inner circle, Snape next went to see what could be done about Bellatrix.
"It would be prudent for you to get a hold of yourself," Snape spoke softly. Bellatrix whirled around.
"Get a hold of myself?" Bellatrix spat. Her body shook with the force of her rage as she launched into a furious tirade that included her feelings on Mudbloods in general and Evans in particular and why she would not stand for this degradation.
Snape barely listened, irritated. Naturally, he too questioned Dumbledore's prudence in making such a controversial appointment, especially in times like these. But it was done and doubtless Dumbledore hadhis reasons for appointing Evans. She was, after all, a well-liked and respected student, not to mention the last one who would ever abuse her power.
It was Potter that incensed Snape. How could Dumbledore willingly and knowingly designate so much power to that childish, egotistical bastard? He had never been in an authority position before, and rightly so. Potter was the very antithesis of authority and justice. Snape had very little doubt that he would soon feel the repercussions of Dumbledore's ridiculous choice.
It took quite a while to coax Bellatrix back into some semblance of sanity, and by the time she had been calmed and had finally consented to go to bed, it was quite late. Snape would have to call the select few back for a meeting tomorrow night.
With Lestrange gone, their little group looked to Snape for authority. After receiving his mark last spring, Snape had necessarily been much more a part of the Dark Lord's affairs. Most of Snape's impressions of the summer were jumbled ones of black cloaks and masks, of screams and laughter and forbidden incantations.
In the bathroom, Snape pulled up his left sleeve and studied his forearm, as he often did. The Marl had darkened to black now, but the pain was still fresh in his mind. Sometimes Snape forgot it was even there, it still seemed unreal that it was. He would never forget the pain of having that Mark activated the first time the Dark Lord had summoned Snape to his side. He had since grown accustomed to it, but between times it seemed as though the entire thing was a distant though still vivid nightmare.
Sighing, Snape finished getting ready for bed and slipped into his four poster just as his clock changed to 4:00. This term was certainly off to a brilliant start.
* * *
Over the next few days, Lily saw more of James Potter than she had ever wanted to in her life.
While he still irritated her, Lily did notice a change both in him and in herself. James Potter wasn't as immature and annoying as he'd once been. He did still have a substantial ego, very substantial as a matter of fact, but he seemed to have grown up to some extent.
No doubt he was still a prat, though. The Acid Pop incident on their first night back proved that. Yes, he was definitely still a prat. Maybe she should go and buy some actual Shrinking Solution, Lily mused, instead of just keeping that vial of perfume around to scare Potter with. Not that it had worked, though she had noticed Sirius Black taking the mickey out of James over the whole thing.
Lily found that she herself had a bit more tolerance for him. He still seemed to be everywhere and Lily still thought about him a good bit, much to her own disgust.
This must stop at any and all costs.
Why had things changed? Lily sincerely wished she could hate James the way she always had before, with no sympathy and no reservations. Hating someone was so much more complicated when you knew they weren't the complete bastard you had always thought them. You even maybe felt a bit guilty for hating them, and thought about them more than you wanted to, couldn't keep your lips from twitching when they made a joke, noticed the nice things they did for people and their little idiosyncrasies. James Potter had become a person to Lily, and it was hard to hate someone once you thought of him or her as a real person. Not that Lily didn't want to hate him, it was just harder when he was on her mind constantly.
One thing was for sure, if Lily couldn't get James Potter out of her head, it was going to be a very, very long year.
* * *
Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews everyone, with special thanks to LavenderBrown, Ehlonna, jmsoftball9, Ronald's Girl, James Potter09, callio, Four Stars, xox fillii, and Risty. Sorry the link to the JK Rowling interview didn't work. Here it is again, and if it still doesn't work, you can email me and I'll give it to you. Next chapter will be up this week, in the meantime keep reviewing!