Usual stuff, spelling, grammar, description, and more detail in the duelling. Not a lot though.
Disclaimer: JKR owns it all. Hmm I wonder if she'd sell it to me…
Reviewers:
SpiderGirl05- Thank you! Yes I think the Jenny/Remus scene worked well. I was quite proud of that. Enjoy the next chapter!
MoonylovesFlo- Yeah I like to read fictions where the characters have arguments with their minds, cause it gives you the chance to get inside their head. Anywayz heres the update!
mkiara- Yes a broomstick or a heard of hippogriffs...nah thats too nice. Lets run her over with a steamroller! Then we can make a trampoline out of her! :-)
Ashley- Thanks for the review. I agree there always seems to be something wrong with James. Eh, hopefully that won't last long! LOL!
Tai Greywing- I know! I can't spell! It's horrible! I would update quicker but I'm worried I'd run out of chapters. I started chapter 12 when I posted chapter 4. It's now chapter 7 and it's still not finished! Methinks I'm in trouble!
A/N: I've hit a writers block session (HORROR!) and I'm currently stuck on chapter 12. Damn it! I have to find a new muse!Until then, on advice of my doctor (Tai Greywing) I am going to consume large quantaties of sugar and hope for the best. There is a very important authors note at the end of the chapter. Please read!
Chapter 7
A week later and Lily, Tash and Jenny couldn't stop noticing how Bellatrix's sneering was getting progressively more evil. Tash and Jenny assumed that this was because she would be facing Lily in the next duelling round, but Lily couldn't help feeling that maybe Bellatrix knew that she and James had been listening to them on Monday night. She tried to tell her friends, but Jenny was spending more time with Remus, and Tash just put it down to paranoia about the upcoming Defence class. Lily couldn't help but wonder if it was. She knew her chances against Bellatrix were not good.
"Watch it Snivilly!" Sirius shouted. He and Snape were currently duelling in the centre of the classroom. Snape had just given Sirius a rather nasty gash on his arm.
"You asked for it Black!" Snape replied. "Cestor morandum!"
A jet of blue light shot out of Snape's wand. Sirius pulled up a shield but the spell tore through it. He collapsed to the ground.
"Holy crap!" Lily heard Tash mutter. James, Remus and Peter dragged the half-stunned Sirius out of the middle of the classroom.
"I can't believe that greasy git beat me!" Sirius fumed.
"Tough luck," Lily said.
"Last up, Evans and Black," Ramton announced.
"Good luck Lils," Jenny looked far more terrified than Lily. Lily stood up but Tash pulled her back down quickly.
"She's slightly weak in her speed. Don't block her spells, dodge them."
"Thanks," Lily said weakly.
"Good luck Lily," James said. He smiled at her, and to her surprise and relief, Lily felt the feeling surge back into her legs.
"Three…Two…One," Ramton counted down. Lily immediately dodged a spell sent her way. It exploded against the wall leaving a dent.
"Invocatum!" Lily shouted. The stunning spell shot across the room. Bellatrix pulled up a red shield, sending the spell back at Lily. Lily ducked the spell taking Tash's advice to heart.
"Tracostor maxima!" Bellatrix shouted. Lily recognised the spell. It was a choking curse. She dodged to the side, but the spell made contact. Immediately she felt the air cut off from her lungs. She grasped her throat and struggled to breathe, and fell to her knees.
"THAT'S A DANGEROUS SPELL!" Jenny screamed. She, Tash and the Marauders had jumped to their feet. The Slytherins were also standing up, cheering at Bellatrix, who was advancing like a predator.
"Finite Incantatum!" Lily gasped pointing her wand at her neck. The pressure on her throat disappeared. Bellatrix sneered menacingly. There was another flash of light and before Lily could dodge she felt herself slam into the wall.
"Derecavum!" Bellatrix said. Lily felt something strong crush her against the wall. There was a solid mass closing in all around her. She struggled to free herself, but the compression curse continued to press her against the stone, crushing what felt like every bone in her body. Dimly Lily could make out Bellatrix smirking evilly at her.
"Expelliarmus!" Tash shouted from the sidelines. Bellatrix's wand soared out of her hand. The crushing force disappeared. Lily collapsed in a heap onto the floor.
"Miss Marquand, the round was not yet fin…" Ramton started.
"She was going to kill her!" Jenny defended. Tash was currently being held back by Sirius. She was desperately trying to get at Bellatrix to do some serious damage.
"YOU TRY ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN BELLATRIX, AND I SWEAR TO MERLIN I WILL KILL YOU!"
"Lily?" James was bending over her. Lily wearily looked at him. Her head was aching fit to burst, and her chest hurt from the compressor curse.
"I'm fine," she groaned.
"No you're not," James said. "Merlin…what did she do to you?"
"Out of the way!" Jenny ordered hurrying away from World War three (Tash) and bending over Lily.
"Drink this," she ordered, shoving a vial of potion at Lily, who gulped it down without a word. Immediately the pain in her head and chest lessened to a tolerable level.
"Are you sure that's safe?" James asked, looking very concerned.
"I'm not getting full marks in potions because I'm poisoning people Potter," Jenny said, checking her friend over. "I don't think her ribs are broken. But you'll have a bruise Lils."
"I don't care," Lily said, sitting up slowly. Everyone in the class was looking at her, obviously worried that she was dead.
"Miss Black won the round fairly," Ramton said in a calm voice.
"SHE ALMOST BLOODY KILLED HER!" Tash screamed going dangerously red. "YOU ARE SUCH A GIT!"
"Miss Marquand you will refrain from using such language in my classroom, especially towards your teacher!" Ramton said in a very dangerous voice, which Tash obviously did not hear. "Two weeks detention."
"This is totally unfair!" Jenny rejoined the argument. Lily heard the bell ring in the distance.
"Make that three weeks," Ramton looked delighted. "And both of you will be there. Going through to the next round will be Potter, Snape, Black, Wilks, Lupin and unfortunately, Marquand."
"YOU ARE A BLOODY FAVORITIST!" Tash shouted, continuing with her rant.
"Tash I don't think that's a word," Peter said, but no one was paying him attention. Sirius dragged Tash to the back of the classroom to calm her down, everyone else bolted for the exit before the situation could become worse.
"Tash calm down!" Sirius said firmly, holding her against the wall by her shoulders to stop her from charging back to Ramton.
"Can you walk Lily?" James asked. Lily nodded and stood up slowly.
"I hate Bellatrix! I hate her!" Tash furiously repeated, as Ramton swept out of the room.
"Calm down," Sirius said again. Lily got up and joined them. Tash scowled but stopped struggling.
"Sirius is right Tash," Lily said soothingly. "Don't worry. You can kick Bellatrix in the finals."
"Come on," Remus said, "or we'll be late for potions."
And so, chest still aching, Lily allowed herself to be supported down to the dungeon.
OOO
Later that evening, Lily was sitting on her own in the library trying to finish her Transfiguration essay on the Protean charm. She was quite grateful for some peace. She was trying to get away from the noise of the Gryffindor tower. Her head still throbbed occasionally and she was finding it hard to concentrate sometimes.
Tash was talking to McGonagall about the fight. She had said she didn't give a damn about the detention, but she wanted to see Bellatrix punished for almost killing Lily. Jenny was in the common room with the Marauders, more specifically with Remus.
"Busy?" Lily looked up to see a tall dark brown haired Ravenclaw looking down at her. She knew him as Ethan Roberts. She smiled.
"No, I just wanted some peace and quiet," she said.
"Same here," Ethan smiled at her. Lily wondered why he was talking to her all of a sudden.
"Um Lily," Ethan began, apparently very nervous. "I was wondering if you could give me some help with my charms homework? I know it's your best subject."
"Sure," Lily said, feeling more than happy to help another person. "Where are you stuck?"
Over the next few hours, Lily continued to help Ethan on the essay. Finally it was nearly ten o clock, and Madame Prince was shooing everyone out with her wand.
"I have to go and do patrols," Lily muttered absently. Ethan cleared his throat.
"Um, Lily…I just wondered who are you going to Hogsmeade with?"
"Probably Tash," Lily said. "Jenny has a date."
"I was wondering if you wanted to…perhaps go with me?"
Lily was slightly taken aback. She had done about three hours of charms homework with him and suddenly he wanted to go to Hogsmeade with her. She was quite sure that she had never spoken to Ethan before, why did he suddenly want to go to Hogsmeade with her? On the other hand, he did seem like a nice guy, and it wouldn't be as much fun without Jenny anyway. Tash would still be fuming about the duelling practise.
"Okay," she said. Ethan smiled at her.
OOO
"Where in Merlin's name have you been!" Tash said, "Jenny's been driving me mad! Every other word, it's Remus, Remus, Remus…"
"Mmm. I'll remember that when you have a boyfriend, or a date," Lily said. "And then I can complain about you. What happened with McGonagall?"
Tash pulled a face and imitated McGonagall.
"It is up to Professor Ramton to decide upon Miss Black's punishment," she said, snorting. "Punishment my broomstick! He'll probably congratulate her."
"I know," Lily said wearily. "So have you still got detention?"
"Yep," Tash nodded sadly. "But just for a week and Jenny got out of punishment, since all she did was try and back me up in the argument. Anyway where were you?"
"I was in the library," Lily said. "I was helping someone with their homework…and then I got asked to Hogsmeade."
"Serious?" Tash asked looking surprised.
"You called love?" came a voice from across the common room.
"Shut up Black!" Tash shouted before turning back to Lily. "Its not who I think it is is it?"
"Who do you think it is?" Lily asked, though she knew the answer already.
"I don't know," Tash said innocently. "A certain black haired bespectacled someone who happens to be our head boy?"
"No Tash," Lily sighed.
"Hey Marquand!" Sirius shouted across the room, drawing the attention of half the common room. "D'you wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?"
"For the thirty fourth time today Black, bite me twice!" Tash shouted back.
"Bite you? Okay whatever turns you on…"
Tash threw the nearest thing (which happened to be a heavy Transfiguration book) at Sirius before turning back to Lily.
"So was it or was it not James?" Tash asked.
"Actually," said Lily, "it was Ethan Roberts from Ravenclaw." Tash's head shot up.
"Roberts?" she asked. "What did you say?"
"Yes," Lily said slowly, sensing her friend's hostile tone.
"Lily he's bad news," Tash said.
"How would you know?" Lily asked. As far as she knew, there was no reason for Tash not to like him. Tash bit her lip.
"Because…I dated him in the fifth year," Tash said.
"You never told me," Lily said.
"Well it wasn't one of my prouder moments," Tash growled.
"Why?"
"He was cheating on me…with two other girls," Tash said. "Remember that week I spent in the dormitory not speaking to anyone?"
Lily nodded.
"That was post break up," she said.
"Well," Lily didn't want to be swayed, especially since Ethan had seemed so nice that afternoon. "It was two years ago. People can change. Look at James."
If she expected to lead Tash off with the last sentence it didn't work. On the contrary Tash's face dawned in comprehension.
"You're not seriously…" Tash trailed off as Sirius called for attention again. She threw a cushion and an inkbottle at him. "You're not really considering still going out with him are you?"
"Why not?" Lily asked.
"I just told you why not!" Tash said. "Trust me Lily, you'll end up getting hurt! Don't go out with him."
"I'll go out with who I want!" Lily said. She really didn't like what Natasha was telling her and she was having trouble believing it. Especially since Tash had never mentioned this before.
"Tasha!" Sirius wailed into the silence between the two friends. "You got ink on my handsome face!"
Both girls ignored him.
"What's going on?" Jenny asked, coming over to join them. She'd just climbed back through the portrait and looked downright alarmed to hear her two best friends using raised voices.
"Lily's going out with Ethan Roberts," Tash said.
"I'm not going out with him," Lily corrected. "We're just going to Hogsmeade."
Jenny took a sharp breath.
"Lily, I don't like the sound of this," Jenny said. "Ethan hurt Tash bad, you don't want it to happen to you."
"It was two years ago…" Lily protested before halting. "Wait a minute…" she turned and pointed at Tash. "You told Jenny and not me!"
"She was upset!" Jenny said, before Tash could respond. "I comforted! I'm Jenny, that's what I do!"
"How could you not tell me!" Lily cried. "I don't believe this!"
"No I don't either!" Tash yelled. "I don't believe you're putting a bloke above your friends!"
"I've had enough!" Lily shouted. "I have to go patrol." She stormed out of the portrait hole leaving a concerned Jenny, a furious Natasha, an ink stained Sirius and a stunned common room.
"What's wrong Lily?" James asked, as he joined five minutes later. Lily was sitting outside the portrait scowling at another portrait across from her.
"Tash is mad because I'm going to Hogsmeade with one of her ex's," Lily spat venomously.
"Oh," James's insides went cold. She had a date.
"Who are you going with?" he forced himself to ask.
"Ethan Roberts," Lily did not catch the tone in his voice. She was too busy being mad at Tash to notice that James did not speak for the rest of the night.
OOO
Over the next week, Lily felt the loneliest that she'd ever felt at Hogwarts. Tash was still not speaking to her, Jenny was attempting to make conversation whenever possible, but she had taken to spending a lot of time with Remus and the rest of the Marauders whenever the tension got too hard to break. Tash was still angry with Lily for choosing Ethan over her friends, and Lily was upset that Tash couldn't let her give Ethan a chance.
To top all matters, James was no longer speaking to her. Every time she was around him, he would withdraw into himself. And since James was no longer social, neither were Sirius or Peter. Remus was the only one who had spoken to her, and that was only after Wednesday when Jenny had broken down and told him everything.
In a vain attempt to distract her from her tattered social life, Lily began studying with Ethan after lessons. She got on well with him, but a part of her couldn't help wishing for her friends instead of him. But she was far too proud to go and apologise, especially when she couldn't see anything wrong with Ethan.
That weekend, was the Hogsmeade trip. Lily hurried out to meet Ethan, trying not to let the gloom show on her face. Heading down the staircase, she met Jenny, who was obviously making her way down to meet Remus.
"Hey," Jenny looked up at her. She hadn't been able to smile properly at her since the day of the argument.
"Going to meet Remus?" Lily asked.
"Mmm," Jenny nodded then with apparent reluctance, "are you going to meet Ethan?"
Lily nodded. It felt weird not being able to speak civilly to her best friend. They walked down to the next floor.
Jenny kept glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. Finally the pressure became too much.
"Lily we have to talk about Ta…"
"I don't want to talk," Lily replied. "So if you're going to lecture…"
"I'm not going to lecture," Jenny said. "I just want you to know why she's acting like this."
"I know why," Lily said automatically.
"Why then?"
"Because…" Lily trailled off. She really had no idea why Tash had been so upset about her and Ethan going to Hogsmeade.
"I'll tell you why," Jenny said as they reached the third floor. "Do you remember what happened in defence against the dark arts that day?"
"Sure," Lily said. "It was the second round of the tournament."
"Tash stopped Bellatrix from causing you permanent damage," Jenny explained. "And she got detention for it. Lily, Tash got three weeks of detention for saving your neck. And now you're repaying her by going out with her ex."
"So basically you're saying I owe her," Lily said.
"No," Jenny said. "You don't owe her, but I think the last thing she expected was for you to betray her like that."
"I didn't betray her!" Lily fumed. "She's the one with the problem, not me!" Jenny opened her mouth to protest, but Lily cut her off.
"There's Ethan, I have to go," she said, hurrying down the corridor trying not to think about what Jenny had said. She hated arguing with her friends…especially when she knew deep down that Jenny was right.
OOO
"Are you okay Lily?" Ethan asked, as they left Honeydukes. "Only you seem a little spaced out."
"I'm okay," Lily said. "I just had another fight with Jenny."
"Oh," Ethan lapsed into silence before saying, "do you want to talk about it?"
"No thanks," Lily said. She didn't feel like discussing her feelings with Ethan, particularly when he had been the subject of the argument.
"Shall we go for a butterbeer?" Ethan asked. Lily decided that a drink might be good for her.
"Okay."
They walked over to the pub, which sounded crowded from outside. Upon entering, Ethan went straight over to the bar and ordered two butterbeers from Madame Rosmerta. Lily gratefully took hers and looked around for a free table. Only then did she notice that James, Sirius and Tash were sitting in a corner. Tash was clutching her bottle and staring miserably at the table. Sirius had his arm around her, obviously providing some kind of comfort. James had noticed them come in, and was shooting glares at Ethan whenever he wasn't looking.
Ethan talked quite animatedly about charms and History of magic, which he liked. Lily had been very surprised to learn this, thinking that she was the only one who liked the class. However, this conversation just reminded her of the breakfast on the first day back with her friends.
After about fifteen minutes, Tash, Sirius and James got up and left the bar. Lily felt her mind leave with them. If there was one person she missed more than Tash, it was James. She had got to know him very well over the last month, and had even begun to hope that they might be friends. Now he was avoiding her at all possible times. This added to her loneliness, since she desperately wanted someone to talk to.
'You know you miss him for another reason besides friendship,' said the little voice in her head ominously.
'No I don't,' Lily thought irritably. 'James is a nice guy but he's still annoying.'
'Then why are you still thinking about him?'
"Shall we go for a walk?" Ethan asked. Lily pulled herself out of her thoughts.
"Sure," she smiled, trying to look cheerful.
They walked down the village road winding in and out of the students, heading towards the sweet shop and pub. They passed Jenny and Remus, who were on their way back from Zonko's joke shop. Lily smiled at them, causing Remus to smile back, and Jenny to nod slowly. Obviously she was still not over the argument.
Lily vaguely wondered where James, Sirius and Tash had gone. Tash had seemed very upset. She must have been if she had turned to Sirius for comfort. Lily had never seen them so close without Tash blowing up at him. But now she thought about it, Tash had been hanging round with the Marauders a lot since last Monday.
'That's because you're pushing her right into his arms,' the annoying voice returned.
'Does she have feelings for him?' Lily wondered. Sirius had all but admitted he might have feelings for her on the night of the full moon. 'No,' Lily thought. 'Tash can't stand to be in the same room as him.'
'Sound's like you used to be with James,' her mind said.
Lily was about to think more on it, but then remembered that she was on a date, and wasn't supposed to be thinking about Tash or James anyway, especially since she and Tash were not speaking to each other.
"Do you think it's really haunted?" Ethan asked. Lily noticed that they had come to a stop right outside the shrieking shack.
"Mmm, I don't know," Lily said, smiling inwardly to herself since she of course knew the true use of the shrieking shack.
"There's a rumour going around that there are ghosts of past Hogwarts students living in there," Ethan continued.
"Really?" Lily asked, her mind not really on the topic. She was daydreaming about James, Sirius, Remus and Peter on a full moon. James really had looked breathtaking as a stag…
'Argh! Stop thinking about him!' she scolded herself.
At this point Ethan gave a loud yelp and spun around. Lily looked over her shoulder to see what had happened.
"Something poked me!" Ethan cried. Lily looked around suspiciously. There was a thump and Ethan gave another yell. Lily looked over just in time to see a large branch fall to the ground. She put two and two together.
"Come on, let's go," she said. Both of them walked back to the main street and set off in the direction of Zonkos.
Ethan kept looking over his shoulder as though expecting to see a ghost. Lily had a shrewd suspicion as to what had happened at the shrieking shack.
It was crowded inside Zonko's. Lily and Ethan kept to one side of the shop, trying not to get lost it the sea of students. Lily could see why the Marauders liked this shop so much. It was every pranksters dream.
Ethan was looking at various trick sweets, when suddenly there were loud hysterical screams from the corner of the shop. It seemed someone had dropped a bag of dungbombs beside the door, and a very nasty smell was wafting through the store. Everyone bolted to the exit most pulling up their robes over their faces. Lily copied them, feeling nauseous from the smell. Ethan grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly towards the door.
Once outside, Lily looked up and down the street. She saw, James, Sirius and Tash looking down at the shop with the sort of amused expression that one would usually see on Dumbledore. She had a fair idea now who had set the dungbombs off in the shop, and she intended to have a talk with a certain black haired bespectacled boy during patrol on Monday.
A/N: Hee Hee. Pranks galore! I have some bad news also, well for you at lot at least. The bad news is that I'm going on holiday for a week on Saturday and I won't be able to update. The good news is that I will update the second I come back from holiday, which will be the next Sunday (5th June). The other piece of good news is that even though it's study leave I'll be able to write more, so I might possibly be increasing the updates when I do get back. Can't promise anything though (for gods sake stop wittering Mei!)
Next Chapter: Lily gets a horrible surprise and the morning of the first Quidditch match brings some bad news.
May Stardust fall in your dreams!