Chapter 42 Goodbye to Hogwarts
The seventh year students made their way to breakfast the next morning with considerably more cheer and volume than they had for weeks. NEWTs were officially over, and they still had a week of school where absolutely nothing was required of them. The rest of the student body wasn't quite so lucky; final exams were still in progress, and a good many cast dour looks at the exuberant seventh years.
The Gryffindor table was the loudest in the hall as the Gryffindor seventh years argued spiritedly over whether they ought to spend the day lounging by the lake or lounging in the common room. The arrival of the post scarcely put a dent in the proceedings, not even when owls delivered letters to Frank, Sirius, and Kathleen. Sirius accepted his letter from a black owl absentmindedly and carried on arguing with Remus and Peter about the merits of lake versus common room. However, when Sirius flipped the letter over and saw its seal, he abruptly ceased his efforts to upend the butter dish over Remus' head. Instead, he dropped said dish, which landed with a splat in Morwenna's lap, and began opening his letter with the air of someone forced to touch a man-eating tiger. The others waited patiently, with the exception of Morwenna, who glared at Sirius menacingly as she attempted to Scourgify the butter from her lap.
"So who's the letter from?" James ventured finally as Sirius set down his post.
"My family's solicitor," Sirius replied tonelessly. "My Uncle Alphard's died and left me all his money."
This was met with silence, as the others exchanged glances and shifted uncomfortably, not quite sure what to say.
"I'm sorry to hear about your uncle, Sirius," Lily said finally. "Were you very close?"
"Hadn't seen him in years," Sirius answered absently, scanning the letter once more. "He was disowned, y'know – like me. I s'pose that's why he left the money to me." James, Remus, and Peter looked at each other uncertainly; they'd never known Sirius to talk about his family in public before.
"What're you going to do with the money, Sirius?" Peter blurted after a few minutes of very uncomfortable silence.
"Dunno," Sirius mused. "I hadn't given it much thought." The Gryffindors then settled into a discussion of all of the things Sirius could do with his money. Soon they were all thoroughly immersed in this conversation with the exception of Lily, who couldn't help but t notice the particularly vicious glares coming their way from the Slytherin table. From Bellatrix, Rosier, Wilkes, and Rabastan Lestrange, to be specific. Uncomfortable, Lily nudged Dorcas on her left and Alice on her right, then nodded meaningfully toward the Slytherins to make her point. Alice nudged Kathleen and Dorcas kicked Morwenna under the table to spread the message, but through a serious of shrugs, all managed to convey that they had no idea why the Slytherins seemed more hostile than usual.
However, in spite of their determination to disregard it, the constant staring and whispers from the Slytherin table grew difficult to ignore. The Gryffindor wizards carried on with their conversation, oblivious to the fact that the witches were a bit quiet.
Alice finally snapped near the end of breakfast when Rosier and Wilkes, no longer content to glare, began mouthing insults. When Wilkes mouthed "Mudblood" to Lily, Alice, feeling thoroughly goaded, made an extremely rude gesture in retaliation, causing Morwenna to gasp and Dorcas and Kathleen to giggle. Noticing this disturbance, the boys glanced round to see Lily looking a bit strained, Morwenna wearing an expression of amused shock, Dorcas and Kathleen recovering from their respective giggling fits, and Alice blushing profusely, a satisfied expression on her face.
Interest piqued, James, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and Frank waited to be enlightened, but to no avail. Knowing the Marauders' taste for trouble, often-misplaced gallantry, and impetuousness, not to mention their long and distinguished history with the Slytherins, the girls elected to keep quiet rather than be responsible for starting a group duel or food fight.
In a rare compromise, the Gryffindors ended up spending half the day at the lake and the other half in the common room, and this pattern continued for the next two days as all ten of them overdosed on laziness and got brown sitting in the sun.
Of course, the Gryffindors didn't spend all of their time together. Lily and James, Remus and Kathleen, and Alice and Frank very often detached themselves from the group, cheeks flaming in the face of Dorcas', Morwenna's, Peter's, and, especially, Sirius' teasing.
Of course, even this deterrent wasn't enough to stop Lily and James from going off alone together. They walked through the grounds, played chess and Exploding Snap, or hid together in various deserted places throughout the castle, talking about their holiday plans and hoped-for careers or speculating about their NEWT results.
Even with the question of a possible Quidditch career out of the way, it seemed to Lily like James had something else on his mind. Still, Lily knew better than to press the issue; James was one of the most stubborn people she had ever encountered and he would tell her only when he was good and ready. Besides, Lily wasn't at all sure she wanted anything to interfere with her last days at Hogwarts. She was going to miss school very much when she left it.
At breakfast on Wednesday morning James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus announced their intention of spending the morning in their room "packing." Of course, nobody was fooled for an instant by this; the Marauders always did an end of the year prank, and besides, the others had seen the Marauders in the throes of plotting often enough and knew the signs. Still, everyone played along. Frank obligingly said that he wanted to speak with Professor Flitwick about something and Lily, Alice, Morwenna, Dorcas, and Kathleen declared their intention of going to the lake.
So after breakfast the five Gryffindor witches gathered up a few essentials and departed the empty common room laughing and talking, their footsteps and voices echoing in the deserted corridors. All of them felt more carefree than they had in recent memory; if anything odd was happening around them, they didn't take notice of it.
Bellatrix Black had been sitting in the common room bored, idly burning holes in the upholstery when Rabastan Lestrange burst into the room, out of breath from running. "Well?" Bellatrix looked at him expectantly, impatient for him to catch his breath.
"Meadows and the Mudblood are going out to the lake without your cousin or any of the other Gryffindor wankers," Rabastan reported, grinning.
"Excellent," Bellatrix proclaimed decidedly, getting up. A smile spread across her own face. "Go and get Rosier and Wilkes."
"Prewett, Marchbanks, and Kirkpatrick are with them as well," Rabastan added on a cautious note.
"I expected as much," Bellatris shrugged impatiently. "Try not to hurt them anymore than necessary. We won't be taking them with us; this wee kidnapping will bring enough trouble without them disappearing as well. Go and fetch Rosier and Wilkes, tell them what I've told you." Rabastan nodded and made his way to the stairs.
"Oh, and Rabastan?" he turned to find Bellatrix standing directly behind him, her smile almost glowing in her anticipation. "Make very certain that darling Severus is left out of it, won't you, pet?"
Alice, Lily, Morwenna, Kathleen, and Dorcas sat by the lake, laughing over the time Lily had told James off for picking on Severus Snape after the OWLs in their fifth year.
"'You bullying toerag!'" Alice shrieked in imitation of Lily, shooting a nearby tree trunk a passable imitation of Lily's Prefect Glare of Death. "'I'd rather go out with the giant squid!'" Unable to keep a straight face any longer, Alice collapsed into gales of laughter along with the rest of her friends.
"You were LIVID," Kathleen gasped, clutching her side. "And the look on James' face was priceless! I think he honestly expected you to swoon."
"I've never seen James so upset," Morwenna reminisced, wiping tears of laughter out of her eyes. "He moped about it all that summer."
"And just look at them now," Dorcas teased, sighing theatrically. "Head Boy and Girl, Hogwarts' perfect couple."
"If you'd told me then that I'd be in love with James Potter one day I probably would have brained you," Lily admitted, grinning sheepishly.
"Probably?" Alice had recovered sufficiently to join in the ribbing. "You DEFINITELY would've brained anyone who said that, and then you would've disemboweled James for good measure!" And they all relapsed into hysterical laughter again.
"Having fun, chicks?"
Lily turned slowly, knowing all too well who that voice belonged to. Even if she hadn't, the looks on Alice and Kathleen's faces would've told her.
And of course there was Bellatrix, dressed in a black hooded cloak, smirking as maniacally as ever. What surprised and alarmed Lily was that Rosier, Wilkes, and Rabastan Lestrange were with her, wearing matching cloaks. And that all of them had their wands trained on the Gryffindor girls.
Slowly Lily made her way to her feet, not wanting to give any of them a reason to jinx her. And she didn't think she could go for her wand fast enough. Better to distract them so that somebody else could. "What do you want, Black?"
"You, Mudblood. You and Meadows, that is," Bellatrix's smile was predatory; Lily had no trouble imagining her devouring a gazelle on a nature program.
"Yeah, that's quite likely, Bellatrix, : Dorcas drawled sarcastically. The others had stood up as well and Alice and Dorcas had made their way to Lily's side. "I'm sure with our past history that you want only to invite us somewhere for a spot of tea."
"Tea isn't likely to be offered where we're taking you," Bellatrix turned her smile on Dorcas. "If you come quietly it'll hurt less – at first."
"And why would we go anywhere with you, quietly or otherwise?" Lily quirked a brow, hoping she looked patronizingly amused and not scared witless.
"Because otherwise we'll hurt your mates," Bellatris said in tones of one pointing out the obvious. She moved forward, wand still at the ready. "The pair of you move quietly toward the forest, the rest of you stand where you are. Wilkes will tie you to the tree to make sure that you don't go looking for the big brave boys to come and save your poor ickle friends."
Alice looked disbelievingly at Bellatrix. "NO," she said slowly and clearly, as though she was dealing with someone who was rather simple. She, with Morwenna and Kathleen, stepped in front of Dorcas and Lily, wands drawn. Lily and Dorcas took the opportunity to draw their own wands, and the five of them faced the Slytherins wordlessly.
An odd gleam entered Bellatrix's eyes. "I was very much hoping you'd do that," she said. Suddenly Lily felt herself flying toward Bellatrix as though someone had used a particularly strong Summoning Charm on her. Reacting with Quidditch reflexes, Dorcas reached out and grabbed hold of Lily, pulling with all her strength against the force of the spell. Kathleen reached out to grab hold as well when Lily began to slip. All of a sudden, the unseen force of the spell released its hold on Lily and she fell with the other two girls in a heap, feeling her leg crack beneath her.
Bellatrix chuckled unpleasantly. "Bit hard to run away from mad scary Bellatrix with your leg broken, isn't it, poppet?" she taunted.
"She won't need to run away because we aren't going with you," Dorcas stated firmly as she and Morwenna struggled to get Lily upright. Lightning fast, Alice whipped her wand toward Bellatrix. "Conjunctiva!"
Unfortunately, Alice had been so concerned with speed that her aim left something to be desired. The spell hit Rabastan Lestrange instead and he staggered back, clutching his eye. It hadn't been Bellatrix, but at least her side was one man down. Taking advantage of the momentary chaos, Dorcas Banished Bellatrix into a nearby tree, Lily aimed a Silencing Charm at Rosier and Morwenna and Kathleen simultaneously hit Wilkes with Jelly Legs Jinxes, causing him to wobble twice as much as normal.
Deflecting Lily's spell neatly, Rosier lunged forward and grabbed Morwenna, causing Lily to topple to the ground, and before anyone could stop him, he'd levitated her high above the lake.
"Well done, darling," Bellatrix patted Rosier's cheek in congratulation. A small cut trickled blood down her forehead but she seemed otherwise in good spirits. She pointed her wand at the four remaining Gryffindors. "He'll drop her if you don't come with us quietly right now," Bellatrix addressed Dorcas and Lily casually, as though she were discussing the view of the lake rather than contemplating drowning someone in it.
Lily and Dorcas exchanged glances. "All right," Lily said at last, hobbling forward with Dorcas' support. "We'll lower our wands when you set her safely – "
"- AND gently, - " Dorcas interjected.
"And gently," Lily amended, "on the ground."
"Done and done," Bellatrix smirked and motioned to Rosier, who began to lower Morwenna slowly. But before the process could be completed, the sound of heavy footsteps coming toward the lake froze everyone where they stood. And before Bellatrix could threaten anyone into silence, Kathleen opened her mouth, drew in a deep breath, and screamed like a banshee.
"Eh? Wot's all this?" came Hagrid's familiar and, at that moment, amazingly beautiful voice. "All righ,' Lily? Ye look a bit – " Hagrid gasped as he caught sight of Morwenna suspended over the lake, terrified tears running down her face.
"Right," Hagrid said slowly. He raised the pink umbrella he'd been carrying and leveled it at the Slytherins. "The lot o' ye'll be comin' to th' castle wi' me now."
Bellatrix snorted derisively. "And I'll be damned before I take orders from a filthy half breed," she sneered. "You disgusting....." The rest of Bellatrix's words were obscured by Hagrid's Silencing Charm, and everyone turned their attention from Bellatrix to watch Hagrid lower Morwenna to safety with his pink umbrella.
"Now then," Hagrid said, turning to face the defiant Slytherins, who weren't quite so contemptuous anymore, "Like I said, you lot'll be followin' me to th' castle." He rather ruined the severe authority of this statement by returning the ear-splitting grin Lily was directing at him. He scooped up Lily and led the way, casting occasional wary glances over his shoulder at the Slytherins and the trailing Gryffindor girls, who were clustered round Morwenna.
Inside the castle, Hagrid sent a passing student for the Headmaster, unwilling to leave the Gryffindors and Slytherins alone. Lily leaned against one wall, Kathleen supporting her on one side, the rest of her friends clustered round her and Morwenna, who seemed quite shaken by her experience.
Dumbledore came quite quickly , Professors McGonagall and Astral trailing behind him.
"Here we are again, it seems," Dumbledore said, sounding faintly weary. "Hagrid, would you be so kind as to tell me what you saw?"
As Hagrid launched into his story, Lily did her best to look uncomfortable, shifting her weight and groaning a little. It actually didn't take much in the way of acting; her leg DID hurt and was very probably broken. Nevertheless, she had more important things to worry about.
Glancing uneasily at Lily, Kathleen interrupted the proceedings. "Excuse me, Hagrid, but Professor Dumbledore, may I take Lily to the hospital wing? Her leg's broken," Kathleen accompanied the last statement with a nasty look at Bellatrix.
"Go ahead, Miss Kirkpatrick," Dumbledore gave his permission. "Do you need assistance?"
"We'll be fine," Lily interjected before Kathleen could open her mouth. "It's not so very far."
"Just a moment." Dumbledore quickly conjured a stretcher and helped Lily onto it. "Perhaps you could guide the stretcher, Miss Kirkpatrick, so that it doesn't bump into any walls and jar the leg further."
"Thank you, sir." And they were off, Kathleen steering the floating stretcher up the stairs.
"Help me off this thing," Lily said as soon as they were out of sight. She swung her good leg over the side.
"Are you daft?!" Kathleen was incredulous. "Your leg is broken, Lily! You need to be in hospital!"
Lily waved off this sage advice. "I have something to take care of first."
"Oh no you don't," Kathleen folded her arms, her expression mulish. "I won't help you hurt yourself worse, so you can just lie back down while I take you to Madam Pomfrey."
"Kathleen," Lily said with more patience than she felt, "aren't you just the least bit curious as to WHY Bellatrix, Wilkes, Lestrange, and Rosier were willing to go to considerable inconvenience, watch us for days looking for an opportunity, and even kill Morwenna just to get Dorcas and me to go with them?"
"Of course I am," Kathleen said impatiently, "but I fail to see what you can do about it now that you can't do after you've had your leg fixed."
"D'you remember that night I had to use Floo powder to go to the Ministry?" Lily asked slowly. Kathleen nodded. "Well, I need to go and talk to my source, and I'd just as soon do it while I know Bellatrix and the lot aren't in their common room. But I can't get there by myself." Lily gave her friend her most appealing look.
Kathleen sighed and pulled Lily's arm round her shoulders. "And how exactly, fearless leader, are we going to get into the Slytherin common room once we get there?" she inquired rather nastily.
"I haven't quite worked that out yet," Lily said airily, limping forward.
"I was afraid you were going to say that," Kathleen grumbled. There was a pause as the two girls shifted to find a tolerably comfortable arrangement. "You know something, Lils?" Kathleen said at last.
"What?"
"You spend WAY too much time with James Potter."
Severus Snape hadn't seen Bellatrix, Wilkes, Rosier, or Rabastan Lestrange all afternoon, an observation that made him distinctly uncomfortable. Much as he was attempting to find an alternative explanation, Snape was almost certain that this extended absence meant that they'd done something stupid.
Snape tried waiting for them in the common room, but he quickly grew restless and decided to look for them in the castle; there was a possibility that they could be lurking about Gryffindor Tower. But a thorough search failed to turn them up, so Snape went to the library for a few hours, feeling distinctly uncomfortable.
He still felt a sense of foreboding as he made his way back to the Slytherin dungeons a bit later, knowing that it was possible that Bellatrix and the others had returned but doubting it somehow.
As he rounded the corner to the portrait hole, Snape saw two figures standing before it and for a second hope surged through his veins. That hope turned to ice water halfway through as that unmistakable red hair came into view. It would seem that his premonition of trouble had been correct.
"Evans?" Snape's voice made both Lily and Kathleen jump. "What in Salazar's name are you doing here?"
Lily turned, with Kathleen's help, to face him. "I need to talk to you," she said levelly. "It can't wait." Snape sighed impatiently, glancing nervously round him, but he gestured further down the corridor and strode off without waiting or offering his assistance.
Exchanging irritated glance, Lily and Kathleen made their way more slowly to the potions supply cupboard where Lily and Snape had had their first fateful encounter. The three of them barely fit.
"All right," Snape snapped as soon as the door had been secured, "what's happened?" Quickly Lily gave him an account of her encounter with Bellatrix by the lake, Kathleen interjecting occasionally.
"So I've come to ask you," Lily finished, staring intently at Snape through the gloom, "is what do they want with Dorcas and me? Bellatrix hates me, and I do realize that it's possible that she could've found out about my part in warning the Ministry, but why Dorcas?"
"Bellatrix overheard you and Meadows discussing the incident in the library a few weeks ago," Snape replied crisply, his tone making it perfectly clear what he thought of such reckless behavior. "And she's informed the Dark Lord of her suspicions as well as the others who were involved with the – attack. They all believe that you and Meadows have found a way to spy on them. I would imagine she was attempting to take you to Voldemort for interrogation this afternoon."
Lily shuddered at the implications behind the word "interrogation." "But Dorcas doesn't know anything about any of it," Lily almost whispered. "I've never told her; how could Bellatrix have overheard us talking about it?"
"Maybe Bellatrix only overheard part of your conversation and decided it sounded incriminating," Kathleen ventured timidly. "She wouldn't have had to have heard much; she DOES hate you and she IS – er – "Kathleen glanced uneasily toward Snape "- very probably certifiably insane. She could've decided that you were guilty and somehow convinced everyone else of it too." Snape regarded Kathleen speculatively, wondering if she knew just how close to the truth she was.
A slight noise outside of the cupboard made them all start. As though this had been some sort of signal, Snape disarmed the locking charm on the door. "I've told you all I know," he said abruptly, "and I can't stay longer. Neither can you; Madam Pomfrey should tend to your leg, and you can't afford to be seen here any more than I can."
The three of them, after making certain that the coast was clear, stepped cautiously back into the hall. Snape made one more inspection of the corridor, glancing piercingly in each direction, before speaking again. "Be careful, Evans," he said formally. "Meadows should be too. Both Bellatrix and Voldemort want you dead."
"So what else is new?" Lily quipped dryly. "You be careful too, Severus. And thank you," Lily hesitated, as though considering her words. "You can always come to me or to Dumbledore if circumstances – change." When Snape made no word or gesture in reply, Kathleen and Lily turned to make their way back to the cover of the secret passage.
"What's all this, Severus darling?" Lily and Kathleen turned clumsily to find Bellatrix Black standing next to Snape, wearing an expression of suspicious surprise on her face. "I go to look for you, expecting to find you sulking with your potions, and instead I find that you've reclaimed half my prize for me."
"And I was just about to return it to you, Bellatrix," Snape replied, reaching surreptitiously for his wand.
Bellatrix moved toward Lily and Kathleen. "Thought you'd come to spy a bit more, did you?" she hissed. "And Kirkpatrick's in on it too."
"No," Snape spoke quickly. "I've been – questioning them. Kirkpatrick knows nothing. They claim they were down here looking for Potter and his lot."
A smile curved across Bellatrix's face. "Perhaps she'd better come along, just in case." She reached for Kathleen and shoved Lily toward Snape, who barely caught her, wearing a startled and embarrassed expression Lily might have giggled at in happier circumstances.
"Get your greasy hands off of her, Snivellus!" Lily didn't know whether to cheer or groan when she turned her head and found all four Marauders, wands drawn, staring back at her.
"The gallant Gryffindors!" Bellatrix's eyes gleamed in anticipation of hurting someone.
Sirius strode toward his cousin and grabbed Kathleen from her, then pushed Kathleen in Remus' general direction. "I've been wanting to do this for a long time," he said conversationally, moving his wand into the dueling position. "Most of my life, as a matter of fact."
"The sentiment's mutual, pet," Bellatrix gibed, taking a dueling stance as well. "I'll kill you swiftly for my aunt's sake."
Sirius laughed shortly. "I doubt you have to spare me suffering for her sake. Personally, I have no inhibitions about making you suffer."
James took advantage of Snape's distraction to knock the wand from his hand and help Lily to her feet. He then escorted her over to Peter; Remus and Kathleen seemed a bit busy. "Take Lily to the hospital wing," he ordered his friend. "Sirius and I have things to take care of."
"Yes, General," Lily snorted, giving James a mock salute. "Shall I throw my arms round you and have hysterics now, or wait 'til later?"
James had the grace to blush. "Well, Snape was about to hurt you, and you're hardly in any condition to duel with him yourself," he defended his actions. "You're lucky we saw Alice and Dorcas talking to Dumbledore and got here in time."
Lily rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to throw her shoe at James. "He wasn't hurting me," she whispered, moving away from Peter and giving James a pointed look. But before she could say more, she noticed Snape trying to catch her attention. "Oh, right," Lily said aloud, remembering Snape's cover story. "You slimy little bastard," Lily screamed theatrically at Snape.
"Knock him unconscious," Lily hissed to James.
"Huh? I thought you didn't want me to hurt him," James ran a hand through his hair, thoroughly confused.
"I don't" Lily explained, wondering how her boyfriend could be so thick and still get away with so many pranks. "But it has to look like he struggled, or Bellatrix will know."
"Right," James said, grinning in comprehension and brandishing his wand. "Though I don't think she's in a position to notice much of anything," he nodded toward Sirius and Bellatrix in illustration.
While all of this was happening round them, Sirius and Bellatrix had begun what really did appear to be a duel to the death. Both appeared to have been hit several times by various jinxes, but they were circling each other nonetheless, eyes sharp for any sort of opening.
James had just finished putting a Full Body Bind on a livid, white- faced Snape and was just conjuring ropes for good measure, when a step in the corridor and a cry of "Stop that immediately! Expelliarmus!" alerted them to Professor Astral's presence.
"Seems we'll have to finish this another day, coz," Sirius smirked lopsidedly round a bloodied lip.
Bellatrix's own lips curled into a matching smirk. "I look forward to it."
Compared to the standards they'd grown used to, the next few days passed uneventfully for the Gryffindors. They spent a good deal of their time in Gryffindor Tower, the girls having, understandably, lost their taste for the lake somewhat.
Sirius and Bellatrix each served a night in detention for their duel. Sirius had a strong suspicion that if he'd been dueling with anyone but Bellatrix, Professor McGonagall would've suspended him from the Leaving Feast as well. Still, he wisely refrained from saying a word and served his last detention at Hogwarts cheerfully enough, particularly when James deliberately pissed off Filch and joined him.
After swearing her to secrecy, Lily told Dorcas everything, from her role in thwarting the Ministry attack to Snape's warning in the dungeons. Dorcas took her new status on Voldemort's shit list philosophically enough, her only comment being that she was glad she'd decided to become an Auror rather than a Quidditch player as it'd be too easy to stage a death on a Quidditch pitch.
The seventh years spent their second to last night at Hogwarts at the seventh year dinner Dumbledore held every year as a special opportunity for all of the seventh years to say farewell to each other and to all of their professors and find out who'd been top in each of the classes. Not surprisingly to anyone, James, Sirius, and Lily took top honours in most of the subjects, though Remus was best in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Snape in Potions. James and Sirius were shocked to the point of speechlessness when Professor McGonagall embraced them both gruffly, her eyes suspiciously wet, and turned away clutching a handkerchief. Flabbergasted, they turned to look at each other.
"Tears of joy," Sirius pronounced decidedly. James nodded his emphatic agreement.
Finally it was the last day, and the Gryffindors, after spending the day packing, made their way down to the Leaving Feast. The Great Hall was decorated in red and gold; Gryffindor had won the House Cup for the tenth year running. Once the Great Hall had been filled, Professor Dumbledore stood to make his usual end of the year speech.
"Another year has come and gone," he began, a somber expression in his fathomless blue eyes, "and I hope it has been an educational and memorable one for everyone here. Because the world outside of Hogwarts' walls is uncertain indeed, and the time you have inside the relative safety of these walls is shorter than you may think.
"Some of you have ended your time inside of these wall and will be leaving us to go and take your places in the world. As I have already mentioned, the world outside is an uncertain place these days, and a dangerous one as well. I ask you to remember all that you have learned here, not only in terms of spells and potions, but also in terms of what is right and what is wrong. I ask all of you to live by what you know to be right and to use your extraordinary talents to improve our world rather than for selfish gain or in defense of outdated prejudices. Wizards and witches can live in peace if only everyone could do these things, and I hope that peace can begin with you, the future of wizardkind. Everyone must make choices that define who they will become, and I ask all of you, whether you are leaving Hogwarts or joining us again next year, to choose what is right and not what is easy."
Dumbledore paused again, a twinkle entering his eyes. "That's quite enough out of me; let the feast begin!"
Apparently this was a signal for something other than the beginning of the feast. As soon as the words were out of Dumbledore's mouth, the hall was filled with explosions, smoke, and a dazzling red and gold fireworks display. The candle sconces in the walls began to spurt champagne like fountains, and confetti poured from the ceiling above. The students shrieked and screamed and began catching the champagne in their goblets, most of them grinning from ear to ear.
Brushing confetti out of her hair, Lily glanced over at James, unsuccessfully trying to hide her smile.
"Well, we couldn't leave without saying goodbye, could we?" James asked with his most mischievous smirk, handing Lily a goblet of champagne. "Cheers!"
"Cheers," Lily replied rolling her eyes as she leaned over to kiss James anyway.
The seventh years boarded the Hogwarts Express the next morning bleary-eyed from lack of sleep and too much champagne; the farewell party in the Gryffindor common room had gone on 'til dawn, Professor McGonagall miraculously not seeming to have heard them this time.
They settled in the Head compartment as usual and, after casting sad looks at the retreating castle until it disappeared out of sight, proceeded to sleep for the next few hours, waking in time to catch the trolley just before it moved on down the hall and then settling into a round of Exploding Snap.
Finally the train made its way into King's Cross station and the ten Gryffindors gathered up their belongings and made their way onto Platform 9 ¾.
The Marauders stopped to glance back at the train. "It still seems a shame that we had to leave the Marauder's Map behind," Peter sighed regretfully. James and Remus nodded their agreement.
"I dunno," Sirius said pensively. "I rather like the idea of leaving a legacy for some future generation of worthy troublemakers to knick from Filch. Maybe our kids'll find it some day."
James, Remus, and Peter snorted their derision at this idea and began to make their way through the crowd.
Author's Note: Because some of you seemed to be confused in your reviews, let me remind everyone that THIS IS NOT THE END OF THIS STORY. I'm planning, at this point anyway, to write all the way up until Halloween 1981. My thanks as ever to everyone who reviewed; I love to hear from long- time fans and new ones alike. I really do appreciate you taking the time.
Also, if anyone's interested, Morwenna, Dorcas, and Alice from my story are being featured in another fanfiction.net story. It's called The Time Guardian and the Prophecies and it's by Cecilia Orechio. Only the first chapter of this story is up, and I've read future chapters; it's a really good story. Stop by and read and review it if you have time.
I'm trying to update Priori Incantatem about once a week, just so everyone has a time frame to go by. Thanks again to all my reviewers; hope everyone enjoys!
The seventh year students made their way to breakfast the next morning with considerably more cheer and volume than they had for weeks. NEWTs were officially over, and they still had a week of school where absolutely nothing was required of them. The rest of the student body wasn't quite so lucky; final exams were still in progress, and a good many cast dour looks at the exuberant seventh years.
The Gryffindor table was the loudest in the hall as the Gryffindor seventh years argued spiritedly over whether they ought to spend the day lounging by the lake or lounging in the common room. The arrival of the post scarcely put a dent in the proceedings, not even when owls delivered letters to Frank, Sirius, and Kathleen. Sirius accepted his letter from a black owl absentmindedly and carried on arguing with Remus and Peter about the merits of lake versus common room. However, when Sirius flipped the letter over and saw its seal, he abruptly ceased his efforts to upend the butter dish over Remus' head. Instead, he dropped said dish, which landed with a splat in Morwenna's lap, and began opening his letter with the air of someone forced to touch a man-eating tiger. The others waited patiently, with the exception of Morwenna, who glared at Sirius menacingly as she attempted to Scourgify the butter from her lap.
"So who's the letter from?" James ventured finally as Sirius set down his post.
"My family's solicitor," Sirius replied tonelessly. "My Uncle Alphard's died and left me all his money."
This was met with silence, as the others exchanged glances and shifted uncomfortably, not quite sure what to say.
"I'm sorry to hear about your uncle, Sirius," Lily said finally. "Were you very close?"
"Hadn't seen him in years," Sirius answered absently, scanning the letter once more. "He was disowned, y'know – like me. I s'pose that's why he left the money to me." James, Remus, and Peter looked at each other uncertainly; they'd never known Sirius to talk about his family in public before.
"What're you going to do with the money, Sirius?" Peter blurted after a few minutes of very uncomfortable silence.
"Dunno," Sirius mused. "I hadn't given it much thought." The Gryffindors then settled into a discussion of all of the things Sirius could do with his money. Soon they were all thoroughly immersed in this conversation with the exception of Lily, who couldn't help but t notice the particularly vicious glares coming their way from the Slytherin table. From Bellatrix, Rosier, Wilkes, and Rabastan Lestrange, to be specific. Uncomfortable, Lily nudged Dorcas on her left and Alice on her right, then nodded meaningfully toward the Slytherins to make her point. Alice nudged Kathleen and Dorcas kicked Morwenna under the table to spread the message, but through a serious of shrugs, all managed to convey that they had no idea why the Slytherins seemed more hostile than usual.
However, in spite of their determination to disregard it, the constant staring and whispers from the Slytherin table grew difficult to ignore. The Gryffindor wizards carried on with their conversation, oblivious to the fact that the witches were a bit quiet.
Alice finally snapped near the end of breakfast when Rosier and Wilkes, no longer content to glare, began mouthing insults. When Wilkes mouthed "Mudblood" to Lily, Alice, feeling thoroughly goaded, made an extremely rude gesture in retaliation, causing Morwenna to gasp and Dorcas and Kathleen to giggle. Noticing this disturbance, the boys glanced round to see Lily looking a bit strained, Morwenna wearing an expression of amused shock, Dorcas and Kathleen recovering from their respective giggling fits, and Alice blushing profusely, a satisfied expression on her face.
Interest piqued, James, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and Frank waited to be enlightened, but to no avail. Knowing the Marauders' taste for trouble, often-misplaced gallantry, and impetuousness, not to mention their long and distinguished history with the Slytherins, the girls elected to keep quiet rather than be responsible for starting a group duel or food fight.
In a rare compromise, the Gryffindors ended up spending half the day at the lake and the other half in the common room, and this pattern continued for the next two days as all ten of them overdosed on laziness and got brown sitting in the sun.
Of course, the Gryffindors didn't spend all of their time together. Lily and James, Remus and Kathleen, and Alice and Frank very often detached themselves from the group, cheeks flaming in the face of Dorcas', Morwenna's, Peter's, and, especially, Sirius' teasing.
Of course, even this deterrent wasn't enough to stop Lily and James from going off alone together. They walked through the grounds, played chess and Exploding Snap, or hid together in various deserted places throughout the castle, talking about their holiday plans and hoped-for careers or speculating about their NEWT results.
Even with the question of a possible Quidditch career out of the way, it seemed to Lily like James had something else on his mind. Still, Lily knew better than to press the issue; James was one of the most stubborn people she had ever encountered and he would tell her only when he was good and ready. Besides, Lily wasn't at all sure she wanted anything to interfere with her last days at Hogwarts. She was going to miss school very much when she left it.
At breakfast on Wednesday morning James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus announced their intention of spending the morning in their room "packing." Of course, nobody was fooled for an instant by this; the Marauders always did an end of the year prank, and besides, the others had seen the Marauders in the throes of plotting often enough and knew the signs. Still, everyone played along. Frank obligingly said that he wanted to speak with Professor Flitwick about something and Lily, Alice, Morwenna, Dorcas, and Kathleen declared their intention of going to the lake.
So after breakfast the five Gryffindor witches gathered up a few essentials and departed the empty common room laughing and talking, their footsteps and voices echoing in the deserted corridors. All of them felt more carefree than they had in recent memory; if anything odd was happening around them, they didn't take notice of it.
Bellatrix Black had been sitting in the common room bored, idly burning holes in the upholstery when Rabastan Lestrange burst into the room, out of breath from running. "Well?" Bellatrix looked at him expectantly, impatient for him to catch his breath.
"Meadows and the Mudblood are going out to the lake without your cousin or any of the other Gryffindor wankers," Rabastan reported, grinning.
"Excellent," Bellatrix proclaimed decidedly, getting up. A smile spread across her own face. "Go and get Rosier and Wilkes."
"Prewett, Marchbanks, and Kirkpatrick are with them as well," Rabastan added on a cautious note.
"I expected as much," Bellatris shrugged impatiently. "Try not to hurt them anymore than necessary. We won't be taking them with us; this wee kidnapping will bring enough trouble without them disappearing as well. Go and fetch Rosier and Wilkes, tell them what I've told you." Rabastan nodded and made his way to the stairs.
"Oh, and Rabastan?" he turned to find Bellatrix standing directly behind him, her smile almost glowing in her anticipation. "Make very certain that darling Severus is left out of it, won't you, pet?"
Alice, Lily, Morwenna, Kathleen, and Dorcas sat by the lake, laughing over the time Lily had told James off for picking on Severus Snape after the OWLs in their fifth year.
"'You bullying toerag!'" Alice shrieked in imitation of Lily, shooting a nearby tree trunk a passable imitation of Lily's Prefect Glare of Death. "'I'd rather go out with the giant squid!'" Unable to keep a straight face any longer, Alice collapsed into gales of laughter along with the rest of her friends.
"You were LIVID," Kathleen gasped, clutching her side. "And the look on James' face was priceless! I think he honestly expected you to swoon."
"I've never seen James so upset," Morwenna reminisced, wiping tears of laughter out of her eyes. "He moped about it all that summer."
"And just look at them now," Dorcas teased, sighing theatrically. "Head Boy and Girl, Hogwarts' perfect couple."
"If you'd told me then that I'd be in love with James Potter one day I probably would have brained you," Lily admitted, grinning sheepishly.
"Probably?" Alice had recovered sufficiently to join in the ribbing. "You DEFINITELY would've brained anyone who said that, and then you would've disemboweled James for good measure!" And they all relapsed into hysterical laughter again.
"Having fun, chicks?"
Lily turned slowly, knowing all too well who that voice belonged to. Even if she hadn't, the looks on Alice and Kathleen's faces would've told her.
And of course there was Bellatrix, dressed in a black hooded cloak, smirking as maniacally as ever. What surprised and alarmed Lily was that Rosier, Wilkes, and Rabastan Lestrange were with her, wearing matching cloaks. And that all of them had their wands trained on the Gryffindor girls.
Slowly Lily made her way to her feet, not wanting to give any of them a reason to jinx her. And she didn't think she could go for her wand fast enough. Better to distract them so that somebody else could. "What do you want, Black?"
"You, Mudblood. You and Meadows, that is," Bellatrix's smile was predatory; Lily had no trouble imagining her devouring a gazelle on a nature program.
"Yeah, that's quite likely, Bellatrix, : Dorcas drawled sarcastically. The others had stood up as well and Alice and Dorcas had made their way to Lily's side. "I'm sure with our past history that you want only to invite us somewhere for a spot of tea."
"Tea isn't likely to be offered where we're taking you," Bellatrix turned her smile on Dorcas. "If you come quietly it'll hurt less – at first."
"And why would we go anywhere with you, quietly or otherwise?" Lily quirked a brow, hoping she looked patronizingly amused and not scared witless.
"Because otherwise we'll hurt your mates," Bellatris said in tones of one pointing out the obvious. She moved forward, wand still at the ready. "The pair of you move quietly toward the forest, the rest of you stand where you are. Wilkes will tie you to the tree to make sure that you don't go looking for the big brave boys to come and save your poor ickle friends."
Alice looked disbelievingly at Bellatrix. "NO," she said slowly and clearly, as though she was dealing with someone who was rather simple. She, with Morwenna and Kathleen, stepped in front of Dorcas and Lily, wands drawn. Lily and Dorcas took the opportunity to draw their own wands, and the five of them faced the Slytherins wordlessly.
An odd gleam entered Bellatrix's eyes. "I was very much hoping you'd do that," she said. Suddenly Lily felt herself flying toward Bellatrix as though someone had used a particularly strong Summoning Charm on her. Reacting with Quidditch reflexes, Dorcas reached out and grabbed hold of Lily, pulling with all her strength against the force of the spell. Kathleen reached out to grab hold as well when Lily began to slip. All of a sudden, the unseen force of the spell released its hold on Lily and she fell with the other two girls in a heap, feeling her leg crack beneath her.
Bellatrix chuckled unpleasantly. "Bit hard to run away from mad scary Bellatrix with your leg broken, isn't it, poppet?" she taunted.
"She won't need to run away because we aren't going with you," Dorcas stated firmly as she and Morwenna struggled to get Lily upright. Lightning fast, Alice whipped her wand toward Bellatrix. "Conjunctiva!"
Unfortunately, Alice had been so concerned with speed that her aim left something to be desired. The spell hit Rabastan Lestrange instead and he staggered back, clutching his eye. It hadn't been Bellatrix, but at least her side was one man down. Taking advantage of the momentary chaos, Dorcas Banished Bellatrix into a nearby tree, Lily aimed a Silencing Charm at Rosier and Morwenna and Kathleen simultaneously hit Wilkes with Jelly Legs Jinxes, causing him to wobble twice as much as normal.
Deflecting Lily's spell neatly, Rosier lunged forward and grabbed Morwenna, causing Lily to topple to the ground, and before anyone could stop him, he'd levitated her high above the lake.
"Well done, darling," Bellatrix patted Rosier's cheek in congratulation. A small cut trickled blood down her forehead but she seemed otherwise in good spirits. She pointed her wand at the four remaining Gryffindors. "He'll drop her if you don't come with us quietly right now," Bellatrix addressed Dorcas and Lily casually, as though she were discussing the view of the lake rather than contemplating drowning someone in it.
Lily and Dorcas exchanged glances. "All right," Lily said at last, hobbling forward with Dorcas' support. "We'll lower our wands when you set her safely – "
"- AND gently, - " Dorcas interjected.
"And gently," Lily amended, "on the ground."
"Done and done," Bellatrix smirked and motioned to Rosier, who began to lower Morwenna slowly. But before the process could be completed, the sound of heavy footsteps coming toward the lake froze everyone where they stood. And before Bellatrix could threaten anyone into silence, Kathleen opened her mouth, drew in a deep breath, and screamed like a banshee.
"Eh? Wot's all this?" came Hagrid's familiar and, at that moment, amazingly beautiful voice. "All righ,' Lily? Ye look a bit – " Hagrid gasped as he caught sight of Morwenna suspended over the lake, terrified tears running down her face.
"Right," Hagrid said slowly. He raised the pink umbrella he'd been carrying and leveled it at the Slytherins. "The lot o' ye'll be comin' to th' castle wi' me now."
Bellatrix snorted derisively. "And I'll be damned before I take orders from a filthy half breed," she sneered. "You disgusting....." The rest of Bellatrix's words were obscured by Hagrid's Silencing Charm, and everyone turned their attention from Bellatrix to watch Hagrid lower Morwenna to safety with his pink umbrella.
"Now then," Hagrid said, turning to face the defiant Slytherins, who weren't quite so contemptuous anymore, "Like I said, you lot'll be followin' me to th' castle." He rather ruined the severe authority of this statement by returning the ear-splitting grin Lily was directing at him. He scooped up Lily and led the way, casting occasional wary glances over his shoulder at the Slytherins and the trailing Gryffindor girls, who were clustered round Morwenna.
Inside the castle, Hagrid sent a passing student for the Headmaster, unwilling to leave the Gryffindors and Slytherins alone. Lily leaned against one wall, Kathleen supporting her on one side, the rest of her friends clustered round her and Morwenna, who seemed quite shaken by her experience.
Dumbledore came quite quickly , Professors McGonagall and Astral trailing behind him.
"Here we are again, it seems," Dumbledore said, sounding faintly weary. "Hagrid, would you be so kind as to tell me what you saw?"
As Hagrid launched into his story, Lily did her best to look uncomfortable, shifting her weight and groaning a little. It actually didn't take much in the way of acting; her leg DID hurt and was very probably broken. Nevertheless, she had more important things to worry about.
Glancing uneasily at Lily, Kathleen interrupted the proceedings. "Excuse me, Hagrid, but Professor Dumbledore, may I take Lily to the hospital wing? Her leg's broken," Kathleen accompanied the last statement with a nasty look at Bellatrix.
"Go ahead, Miss Kirkpatrick," Dumbledore gave his permission. "Do you need assistance?"
"We'll be fine," Lily interjected before Kathleen could open her mouth. "It's not so very far."
"Just a moment." Dumbledore quickly conjured a stretcher and helped Lily onto it. "Perhaps you could guide the stretcher, Miss Kirkpatrick, so that it doesn't bump into any walls and jar the leg further."
"Thank you, sir." And they were off, Kathleen steering the floating stretcher up the stairs.
"Help me off this thing," Lily said as soon as they were out of sight. She swung her good leg over the side.
"Are you daft?!" Kathleen was incredulous. "Your leg is broken, Lily! You need to be in hospital!"
Lily waved off this sage advice. "I have something to take care of first."
"Oh no you don't," Kathleen folded her arms, her expression mulish. "I won't help you hurt yourself worse, so you can just lie back down while I take you to Madam Pomfrey."
"Kathleen," Lily said with more patience than she felt, "aren't you just the least bit curious as to WHY Bellatrix, Wilkes, Lestrange, and Rosier were willing to go to considerable inconvenience, watch us for days looking for an opportunity, and even kill Morwenna just to get Dorcas and me to go with them?"
"Of course I am," Kathleen said impatiently, "but I fail to see what you can do about it now that you can't do after you've had your leg fixed."
"D'you remember that night I had to use Floo powder to go to the Ministry?" Lily asked slowly. Kathleen nodded. "Well, I need to go and talk to my source, and I'd just as soon do it while I know Bellatrix and the lot aren't in their common room. But I can't get there by myself." Lily gave her friend her most appealing look.
Kathleen sighed and pulled Lily's arm round her shoulders. "And how exactly, fearless leader, are we going to get into the Slytherin common room once we get there?" she inquired rather nastily.
"I haven't quite worked that out yet," Lily said airily, limping forward.
"I was afraid you were going to say that," Kathleen grumbled. There was a pause as the two girls shifted to find a tolerably comfortable arrangement. "You know something, Lils?" Kathleen said at last.
"What?"
"You spend WAY too much time with James Potter."
Severus Snape hadn't seen Bellatrix, Wilkes, Rosier, or Rabastan Lestrange all afternoon, an observation that made him distinctly uncomfortable. Much as he was attempting to find an alternative explanation, Snape was almost certain that this extended absence meant that they'd done something stupid.
Snape tried waiting for them in the common room, but he quickly grew restless and decided to look for them in the castle; there was a possibility that they could be lurking about Gryffindor Tower. But a thorough search failed to turn them up, so Snape went to the library for a few hours, feeling distinctly uncomfortable.
He still felt a sense of foreboding as he made his way back to the Slytherin dungeons a bit later, knowing that it was possible that Bellatrix and the others had returned but doubting it somehow.
As he rounded the corner to the portrait hole, Snape saw two figures standing before it and for a second hope surged through his veins. That hope turned to ice water halfway through as that unmistakable red hair came into view. It would seem that his premonition of trouble had been correct.
"Evans?" Snape's voice made both Lily and Kathleen jump. "What in Salazar's name are you doing here?"
Lily turned, with Kathleen's help, to face him. "I need to talk to you," she said levelly. "It can't wait." Snape sighed impatiently, glancing nervously round him, but he gestured further down the corridor and strode off without waiting or offering his assistance.
Exchanging irritated glance, Lily and Kathleen made their way more slowly to the potions supply cupboard where Lily and Snape had had their first fateful encounter. The three of them barely fit.
"All right," Snape snapped as soon as the door had been secured, "what's happened?" Quickly Lily gave him an account of her encounter with Bellatrix by the lake, Kathleen interjecting occasionally.
"So I've come to ask you," Lily finished, staring intently at Snape through the gloom, "is what do they want with Dorcas and me? Bellatrix hates me, and I do realize that it's possible that she could've found out about my part in warning the Ministry, but why Dorcas?"
"Bellatrix overheard you and Meadows discussing the incident in the library a few weeks ago," Snape replied crisply, his tone making it perfectly clear what he thought of such reckless behavior. "And she's informed the Dark Lord of her suspicions as well as the others who were involved with the – attack. They all believe that you and Meadows have found a way to spy on them. I would imagine she was attempting to take you to Voldemort for interrogation this afternoon."
Lily shuddered at the implications behind the word "interrogation." "But Dorcas doesn't know anything about any of it," Lily almost whispered. "I've never told her; how could Bellatrix have overheard us talking about it?"
"Maybe Bellatrix only overheard part of your conversation and decided it sounded incriminating," Kathleen ventured timidly. "She wouldn't have had to have heard much; she DOES hate you and she IS – er – "Kathleen glanced uneasily toward Snape "- very probably certifiably insane. She could've decided that you were guilty and somehow convinced everyone else of it too." Snape regarded Kathleen speculatively, wondering if she knew just how close to the truth she was.
A slight noise outside of the cupboard made them all start. As though this had been some sort of signal, Snape disarmed the locking charm on the door. "I've told you all I know," he said abruptly, "and I can't stay longer. Neither can you; Madam Pomfrey should tend to your leg, and you can't afford to be seen here any more than I can."
The three of them, after making certain that the coast was clear, stepped cautiously back into the hall. Snape made one more inspection of the corridor, glancing piercingly in each direction, before speaking again. "Be careful, Evans," he said formally. "Meadows should be too. Both Bellatrix and Voldemort want you dead."
"So what else is new?" Lily quipped dryly. "You be careful too, Severus. And thank you," Lily hesitated, as though considering her words. "You can always come to me or to Dumbledore if circumstances – change." When Snape made no word or gesture in reply, Kathleen and Lily turned to make their way back to the cover of the secret passage.
"What's all this, Severus darling?" Lily and Kathleen turned clumsily to find Bellatrix Black standing next to Snape, wearing an expression of suspicious surprise on her face. "I go to look for you, expecting to find you sulking with your potions, and instead I find that you've reclaimed half my prize for me."
"And I was just about to return it to you, Bellatrix," Snape replied, reaching surreptitiously for his wand.
Bellatrix moved toward Lily and Kathleen. "Thought you'd come to spy a bit more, did you?" she hissed. "And Kirkpatrick's in on it too."
"No," Snape spoke quickly. "I've been – questioning them. Kirkpatrick knows nothing. They claim they were down here looking for Potter and his lot."
A smile curved across Bellatrix's face. "Perhaps she'd better come along, just in case." She reached for Kathleen and shoved Lily toward Snape, who barely caught her, wearing a startled and embarrassed expression Lily might have giggled at in happier circumstances.
"Get your greasy hands off of her, Snivellus!" Lily didn't know whether to cheer or groan when she turned her head and found all four Marauders, wands drawn, staring back at her.
"The gallant Gryffindors!" Bellatrix's eyes gleamed in anticipation of hurting someone.
Sirius strode toward his cousin and grabbed Kathleen from her, then pushed Kathleen in Remus' general direction. "I've been wanting to do this for a long time," he said conversationally, moving his wand into the dueling position. "Most of my life, as a matter of fact."
"The sentiment's mutual, pet," Bellatrix gibed, taking a dueling stance as well. "I'll kill you swiftly for my aunt's sake."
Sirius laughed shortly. "I doubt you have to spare me suffering for her sake. Personally, I have no inhibitions about making you suffer."
James took advantage of Snape's distraction to knock the wand from his hand and help Lily to her feet. He then escorted her over to Peter; Remus and Kathleen seemed a bit busy. "Take Lily to the hospital wing," he ordered his friend. "Sirius and I have things to take care of."
"Yes, General," Lily snorted, giving James a mock salute. "Shall I throw my arms round you and have hysterics now, or wait 'til later?"
James had the grace to blush. "Well, Snape was about to hurt you, and you're hardly in any condition to duel with him yourself," he defended his actions. "You're lucky we saw Alice and Dorcas talking to Dumbledore and got here in time."
Lily rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to throw her shoe at James. "He wasn't hurting me," she whispered, moving away from Peter and giving James a pointed look. But before she could say more, she noticed Snape trying to catch her attention. "Oh, right," Lily said aloud, remembering Snape's cover story. "You slimy little bastard," Lily screamed theatrically at Snape.
"Knock him unconscious," Lily hissed to James.
"Huh? I thought you didn't want me to hurt him," James ran a hand through his hair, thoroughly confused.
"I don't" Lily explained, wondering how her boyfriend could be so thick and still get away with so many pranks. "But it has to look like he struggled, or Bellatrix will know."
"Right," James said, grinning in comprehension and brandishing his wand. "Though I don't think she's in a position to notice much of anything," he nodded toward Sirius and Bellatrix in illustration.
While all of this was happening round them, Sirius and Bellatrix had begun what really did appear to be a duel to the death. Both appeared to have been hit several times by various jinxes, but they were circling each other nonetheless, eyes sharp for any sort of opening.
James had just finished putting a Full Body Bind on a livid, white- faced Snape and was just conjuring ropes for good measure, when a step in the corridor and a cry of "Stop that immediately! Expelliarmus!" alerted them to Professor Astral's presence.
"Seems we'll have to finish this another day, coz," Sirius smirked lopsidedly round a bloodied lip.
Bellatrix's own lips curled into a matching smirk. "I look forward to it."
Compared to the standards they'd grown used to, the next few days passed uneventfully for the Gryffindors. They spent a good deal of their time in Gryffindor Tower, the girls having, understandably, lost their taste for the lake somewhat.
Sirius and Bellatrix each served a night in detention for their duel. Sirius had a strong suspicion that if he'd been dueling with anyone but Bellatrix, Professor McGonagall would've suspended him from the Leaving Feast as well. Still, he wisely refrained from saying a word and served his last detention at Hogwarts cheerfully enough, particularly when James deliberately pissed off Filch and joined him.
After swearing her to secrecy, Lily told Dorcas everything, from her role in thwarting the Ministry attack to Snape's warning in the dungeons. Dorcas took her new status on Voldemort's shit list philosophically enough, her only comment being that she was glad she'd decided to become an Auror rather than a Quidditch player as it'd be too easy to stage a death on a Quidditch pitch.
The seventh years spent their second to last night at Hogwarts at the seventh year dinner Dumbledore held every year as a special opportunity for all of the seventh years to say farewell to each other and to all of their professors and find out who'd been top in each of the classes. Not surprisingly to anyone, James, Sirius, and Lily took top honours in most of the subjects, though Remus was best in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Snape in Potions. James and Sirius were shocked to the point of speechlessness when Professor McGonagall embraced them both gruffly, her eyes suspiciously wet, and turned away clutching a handkerchief. Flabbergasted, they turned to look at each other.
"Tears of joy," Sirius pronounced decidedly. James nodded his emphatic agreement.
Finally it was the last day, and the Gryffindors, after spending the day packing, made their way down to the Leaving Feast. The Great Hall was decorated in red and gold; Gryffindor had won the House Cup for the tenth year running. Once the Great Hall had been filled, Professor Dumbledore stood to make his usual end of the year speech.
"Another year has come and gone," he began, a somber expression in his fathomless blue eyes, "and I hope it has been an educational and memorable one for everyone here. Because the world outside of Hogwarts' walls is uncertain indeed, and the time you have inside the relative safety of these walls is shorter than you may think.
"Some of you have ended your time inside of these wall and will be leaving us to go and take your places in the world. As I have already mentioned, the world outside is an uncertain place these days, and a dangerous one as well. I ask you to remember all that you have learned here, not only in terms of spells and potions, but also in terms of what is right and what is wrong. I ask all of you to live by what you know to be right and to use your extraordinary talents to improve our world rather than for selfish gain or in defense of outdated prejudices. Wizards and witches can live in peace if only everyone could do these things, and I hope that peace can begin with you, the future of wizardkind. Everyone must make choices that define who they will become, and I ask all of you, whether you are leaving Hogwarts or joining us again next year, to choose what is right and not what is easy."
Dumbledore paused again, a twinkle entering his eyes. "That's quite enough out of me; let the feast begin!"
Apparently this was a signal for something other than the beginning of the feast. As soon as the words were out of Dumbledore's mouth, the hall was filled with explosions, smoke, and a dazzling red and gold fireworks display. The candle sconces in the walls began to spurt champagne like fountains, and confetti poured from the ceiling above. The students shrieked and screamed and began catching the champagne in their goblets, most of them grinning from ear to ear.
Brushing confetti out of her hair, Lily glanced over at James, unsuccessfully trying to hide her smile.
"Well, we couldn't leave without saying goodbye, could we?" James asked with his most mischievous smirk, handing Lily a goblet of champagne. "Cheers!"
"Cheers," Lily replied rolling her eyes as she leaned over to kiss James anyway.
The seventh years boarded the Hogwarts Express the next morning bleary-eyed from lack of sleep and too much champagne; the farewell party in the Gryffindor common room had gone on 'til dawn, Professor McGonagall miraculously not seeming to have heard them this time.
They settled in the Head compartment as usual and, after casting sad looks at the retreating castle until it disappeared out of sight, proceeded to sleep for the next few hours, waking in time to catch the trolley just before it moved on down the hall and then settling into a round of Exploding Snap.
Finally the train made its way into King's Cross station and the ten Gryffindors gathered up their belongings and made their way onto Platform 9 ¾.
The Marauders stopped to glance back at the train. "It still seems a shame that we had to leave the Marauder's Map behind," Peter sighed regretfully. James and Remus nodded their agreement.
"I dunno," Sirius said pensively. "I rather like the idea of leaving a legacy for some future generation of worthy troublemakers to knick from Filch. Maybe our kids'll find it some day."
James, Remus, and Peter snorted their derision at this idea and began to make their way through the crowd.
Author's Note: Because some of you seemed to be confused in your reviews, let me remind everyone that THIS IS NOT THE END OF THIS STORY. I'm planning, at this point anyway, to write all the way up until Halloween 1981. My thanks as ever to everyone who reviewed; I love to hear from long- time fans and new ones alike. I really do appreciate you taking the time.
Also, if anyone's interested, Morwenna, Dorcas, and Alice from my story are being featured in another fanfiction.net story. It's called The Time Guardian and the Prophecies and it's by Cecilia Orechio. Only the first chapter of this story is up, and I've read future chapters; it's a really good story. Stop by and read and review it if you have time.
I'm trying to update Priori Incantatem about once a week, just so everyone has a time frame to go by. Thanks again to all my reviewers; hope everyone enjoys!