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Chapter Five: James, the Bully

The next week appeared to last forever. It was only Wednesday but Lily was already craving for the weekend. All the teachers were sending an awful lot of homework. They didn't seem to care that the NEWTs were more than a year away, and Lily and Alice had been very busy with classes.

Lily hadn't seen much of James (except during classes and meals) because he too was very busy with his newly acquired Quidditch Captain responsibilities. He was planning to hold tryouts on the upcoming Friday to fill the open positions. Three of the players had graduated the previous year and the Gryffindor team needed a new beater, keeper and seeker.

Lily knew this had James in a not-so-cheerful mood. He wanted to win the Quidditch Cup on his first year as Captain. Gryffindor had won the cup for the previous three years and he was determined to keep that record.

That day they had sat through a particularly complicated Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which got everyone in a bad mood. They were starting to study the Patronus charm. It was a very difficult charm that required a great deal of concentration and mental power. It was used as a protection against Dementors. Lily had never seen a Dementor but she had read about them. They were the guards of Azkaban, the wizarding prison.

"Why do we have to learn that?" asked a plump Hufflepuff girl. Lily always had trouble remembering her name. "Aren't they supposed to be on our side?"

"For the time being," said Professor Idius Dragonheart gravely. "But Dementors are fowl creatures. They don't mind if the person in front of them is guilty or innocent. They will attack anyone they can. Besides, it's required material for your Defense Against the Dark Arts NEWT."

Even though Lily was usually very good with charms she had trouble casting the spell. At the end of the class she was the only one that had managed to produce a vague and shapeless silvery mist. However, Professor Dragonheart was very pleased by it and told her that even though that was not close to a corporeal Patronus, it was very impressive that she could have done it on her first attempt.

He had sent them a two-parchment essay about the Patronus charm. And it was exactly that what Lily was doing when James, Sirius, Remus and Peter entered the common room later that evening. James was obviously furious. He walked toward Lily and sat on the couch next to the one she was sitting on. Sirius, who had a weird look in his eyes, sat on the arm of Lily's couch.

"Hey Evans! Ask my friend James what he will be doing the next five evenings," he said trying hard to keep his voice even.

James gave him a murderous look, but Lily knew them well enough to guess what was going on.

"So, what did you get detention for this time, James?" Sirius, Remus and Peter started laughing so hard that a group of seventh years that were studying for their NEWTs turned and shush them annoyed. James didn't seem to find her question funny.

"Oh! Evans is making jokes now. Ha! Ha! She is hilarious."

"Come on, Prongs. It was funny," said Sirius, even though he didn't sound the least bit amused. "What you should be asking, Evans, is not what he got detention for, but how he got caught," he added, looking rather angry this time.

"Sirius is right James. You shouldn't have let Flitwick catch you." Peter sounded disappointed.

"Shut up you gits!" Apparently James was loosing his patience.

"Actually Prongs, you should tell her why you got in trouble," Sirius insisted with a malicious grin. "She would be so proud."

"Sirius, shut up! I'm telling you." This time James' voice was cold.

"Oh stop it!" said Sirius standing up. He now seemed to be mad at James. "We're just teasing you, mate. But I forgot you're no fun when you're around little Miss Perfect."

James stood up and planted himself in front of Sirius. Peter seemed to shrink on the chair he was sitting on. James and Sirius examined each other, their faces so close that their noses were almost touching. Lily though they were going to have a fistfight, until Remus put a hand on each of their shoulders.

"That's enough," he said calmly. "Padfoot, you stepped a little over the line."

"Oh sure, take his side Moony. I forgot I was talking to the Lily Evans fan club." He grabbed his backpack and walked toward the stairs. James made an attempt to follow him, but Remus stopped him.

"I'll talk to him. You stay here for a while."

Remus looked at Peter, who followed him up the stairs without a word. Lily turned to James, who had sat down again and was now pressing his palms to his temples. He looked tired and frustrated.

"What was that all about?" Lily asked.

"Sirius is a moron," he said simply.

"Why is he mad at you? And me, for that matter."

"He's not mad at you." He grinned. "He just hates me right now because I got detention for a stupid reason and ruined a plan we've been working on for weeks."

Lily was not sure if she wanted to know the answer, but she asked anyway.

"So, are you going to tell me why you got detention?"

He let out a sigh and said, "Snape."

"What! I thought you said you were going to leave him alone."

"No. I said I was not going to start anything with him. But I will certainly get myself into any situation that he has already started."

"What happened now?"

"He was terrorizing a first year Ravenclaw. Apparently the kid didn't see him and bump him. When I got there Snape was ready to hex him."

Lily looked at James trying to understand what he just told her. For a moment she wondered if he was lying. No. There was only sincerity and indignation in his eyes.

"And you stopped him?"

"Yes. Threw him a good hex. But Flitwick was walking out of a classroom and all he saw was me hexing Snape. He didn't care very much about explanations."

"And the Ravenclaw kid? He didn't tell Flitwick what was going on?

"He was out of there before I could even finish hexing Snape. Sirius is furious because I got in trouble for a Ravenclaw."

"Why did you do it?"

He looked perplexed as if the answer was pretty obvious.

"Snape was going to hex the kid. And believe me, he didn't seemed to be planning on using a tickling charm." James tightened his grip on his wand. "The big bully."

Lily couldn't help but laugh at his last comment.

"I never thought I'd see the day when James Potter was going to call someone else a bully." She realized too late that her reaction had been a mistake. James seemed truly hurt. "I'm sorry James, but you have to understand that to hear you referring to another person as a bully, being a bully yourself, it's hilarious."

He stood up and said, "you know what? You're right, maybe I am a bully, but I've never bullied someone who couldn't defend himself." And he left.

Lily watched him walk up the stairs without so much as looking back. She realized that maybe she had been mistaken about James Potter all these past years. Granted, he was a troublemaker, he enjoyed pulling pranks on people, but his pranks were harmless. He was never mean or cruel to anybody. With the exception of Snape, he was always nice and pleasant to everybody. She finally understood why everybody seemed to like James. He was really not arrogant and obnoxious. The fact that he was so confident and so charming made him irresistible.

I can't believe I used to find him annoying, she thought as she walked toward her dorm.