Hey guys, thanks for the reviews and the great comments. If you have any
suggestions or anything don't be afraid to tell me. I appreciate any
feedback. Chapter Four is a little darker, but I hope you like it. Don't
forget to Review!
Nothing is my own. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 4: The First Day of The Last Year
Lily, Liz and Faith entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The Marauders were sitting in their usually seats; second row from the front. Of course the only reasons they sat there was because this was their favorite class, and the Gryffindor girls sat in front of them. As the girls took their seats, they saw the familiar faces of seven Slytherins; five boys and two girls, including Bellatrix Black. Lily noticed that Bellatrix's face twisted into an evil smirk when she saw Lily, Faith and Liz sit down. Bellatrix casually leaned over to a boy who Lily recognized as Rabastan Lestange, brother of Rodolphus Lestrange; who was Bellatrix's boyfriend and had graduated the previous year. She quietly whispered something into his ear. The two Slytherins looked at the girls with matching smirks. Lily looked away with a feeling of dread resting in the pit of her stomach. Professor O'Malley entered the room and strode to the front. He was a tall and lean man with strawberry-blonde hair, and roughly in his mid-forties. He turned and faced the small class.
"Welcome to N.E.W.T. level Defense Against the Dark Arts. This is going to be the most intense level of this course that you have ever taken. Consider yourselves warned," said the Professor with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Now, this course will primarily consist of all practical lessons. The majority of the background information will be yours to study and research. You need to come prepared and ready to practice what you have learned. Also, as part of this course, a dueling component is required for preparation for the test. Any questions before we get started?" Professor O'Malley looked around at the fourteen students.
"Great," Lily thought to herself, "not only do I have to spend every free moment of my time in the company of James Potter, but also forced to duel with the most foulest humans on the face of the earth for a grade. Can this year get any better?" She scowled to herself and glanced over at Faith, who was grinning like Christmas had come early.
"Well then, take out your books and open them to Chapter 1: Applied Defensive Strategy." Professor O'Malley turned to grab his book.
James, Remus and Peter pulled their books towards them and began flipping through the pages. James looked at Sirius, who wasn't moving. Instead he was leaning back in his chair, arms folded and glaring at his cousin on the opposite side of the room. James nudged his friend, who turned to look at him.
"You alright mate?" said James concerned. Sirius let his chair fall on all fours with a soft bang.
"I don't trust her. When Bellatrix is happy it is never a good sign, and she hasn't stopped smiling since they came in," said Sirius grimly, nodding at the girls in front of him. James noticed that Bellatrix kept glancing at the three girls. James's brow furrowed as he nodded his head in agreement. As the Professor spoke, a greasy, oily, longhaired boy sitting opposite him caught James's eye. The boy was bent over his parchment and scribbling wildly, as if trying to catch every word verbatim. A smile flashed on James's face. He leaned over to Sirius.
"Well Padfoot look at it this way, at least we can finally hex Snivellus all we want and not get in trouble for it," whispered James. Sirius turned and grinned at his best friend.
"That doesn't sound like something a Head Boy would say."
"True right you are. But it sounds like something a Marauder would say," James flashed him a mischievous grin.
"Mr. Potter, would you like to answer this question?" asked Professor O'Malley slightly annoyed. James looked up at his Professor with an innocent look on his face.
"Professor I would love to answer this question, but I know that Miss Evans has a thorough background in this topic, so I would feel absolutely awful to deny her the chance to respond to this question."
The Professor looked at him skeptically. "You think Miss Evans has a thorough background on your opinion of what a good counter attack would be to a Paralyzing curse?" The whole class turned to look at James. The Slytherins were snickering on their half of the room. James noticed that Snape looked highly amused at him being caught off guard as he sat there with a smug look on his oily face. James turned and gave a dashing grin to the Professor.
"I certainly do, since she tried one out on me once not too long ago," said James as he caught Lily's eye and winked at her. Lily scowled and rolled her eyes as she turned back towards the front of the class.
"Mr. Potter I suggest you pay more attention on the class discussion and less attention on Mr. Black." The Professor gave him an unimpressed look and turned to address Liz, who had her hand up. Remus and Peter glanced at him sideways and silently laughed to themselves as Sirius began doodling on his parchment.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An hour and a half later, the class was over.
"Do not forget that we will be practicing the defenses against the Paralyzing and Navarus Curses on Thursday so come prepared. Have a good afternoon," said Professor O'Malley as the students packed up their books, parchment and quills. Lily, Faith and Liz packed up quickly and hurried out of the classroom and into the deserted hall.
"How lucky can this year get?" Faith exclaimed grinning from ear to ear.
"How can you be so excited Faith," said Liz frowning. "We have to duel with the Slytherins for our grade. That means that we have to be subjected to their curses, hexes and any other dirty spell they are willing to inflict upon us. That doesn't sound very bloody lucky to me."
"I have to agree with Liz, Faith. Battling Bellatrix for a grade doesn't sound like very much fun. It sounds like a punishment," Lily sighed.
"Ooooowwwhhhhh! Are the wittle bitty mudbloods afwaid of wittle owld me?" said a mock baby voice from behind them, followed by several deep laughs. Lily, Faith and Liz all stiffened but kept on walking, trying to ignore the taunts of Bellatrix and her cronies from behind them. Lily casually slipped her hand into her robe and grabbed her wand. Lily glanced at Faith and noticed that her face had become hard and stone-like. She felt Liz's breath quicken beside her. Lily's own heart was beating faster and she was taking slow deep breaths.
"Maybe they're deaf Bella," said a deep voice from behind them. "I think we need to get their attention." Lily tightened her grip on her wand as she prepared herself for a duel.
"I think maybe you are right, Rabastan," said Bellatrix, "they need to be taught a lesson in courtesy."
It happened in a flash. Lily, Liz and Faith spun around with their wands up.
"Expelliarmus!" Lily cried. Three wands came flying at her.
"Protego!" Bellatrix bellowed with cat-like reflects, and the spell bounced off of her and hit the sidewall with a bang, allowing her to keep her wand. However, the spell did not affect Faith, who had moved in towards Bellatrix and had her wand pointed right between her eyes, inches from her face. Faith's eyes were stone cold and bore into Bellatrix.
"Give me a reason," Faith whispered dangerously. Lily glanced over the shoulder of a shocked Rosier and saw that the four Gryffindor boys were briskly walking towards the situation in the hall. Lily held onto the three wands as Liz steadily pointed her wand at the three Slytherin boys.
"You don't have it in you mudblood." Bellatrix smiled and her eyes twinkled. She held her wand at her side.
Faith smirked. "Try me."
"Causing trouble again dear cousin?" said Sirius with a grim-face. He, James, Remus and Peter had their wands up and closed in on the four Slytherins.
Bellatrix looked at Sirius and smiled. "Isn't this sweet? Coming to rescue your sweetheart." She looked back at Faith, who still had her wand position between her eyes. "I always knew you had bad taste in women cousin, but she is even appalling for mudblood standards."
"I suggest you four take your wands and get to your next class before we get annoyed," said Remus, his wand pointed right at Avery. The three defenseless Slytherin boys looked at each other, and at Bellatrix. She glared at Faith for a moment, and then turned to look at her fellow housemates. She nodded her head towards the hall ahead of them. Lily threw the three wands back at their owners and moved to let them pass.
"You three will get yours. You can't be protected everywhere you go." Bellatrix strode off past the three girls; her buddies closely following behind her. When they had rounded the corner, Faith let out a calming sigh and looked up at the ceiling.
"Thank you guys," said Liz as she smiled at Remus, who smiled back at her and nodded.
"Are you alright?" James asked as he looked at Lily with concern.
"We're fine. We can handle them perfectly well by ourselves," Lily said as she stuffed her wand back inside her robe. She looked up at James, whose face was etched with concern. Before she could help herself, she gave him a small smile and quickly began fidgeting with the clasp on her bag.
"So Ravenwood, that makes me one up on you. I guess you'll have to repay me some how," Sirius grinned at Faith. Faith rounded on Sirius.
"I didn't ask you interfere, so I don't owe you a damn thing." Lily saw a look of hurt in her eyes. She knew exactly how Faith was feeling, because it was the same feeling Lily had when she was called a mudblood. Liz sympathized with them, but did not fully understand since she was a pureblood and free of those taunts.
"Well that's gratitude for you," said Sirius who seemed slightly taken back. "We were just trying to help.."
"Well I don't need YOUR help. I can take care of myself." Faith turned away and began walking down the hall. Liz gave an apologetic look to Remus before following Faith down the hall. Lily stared into James' eyes for a moment, then slowly turned and looked at the floor as she followed her best friends.
"I think that plan of yours is going absolutely swimmingly, mate," said Peter to Sirius. Sirius threw a sharp, dirty look at Peter, who cowered from under it. "Come on, let's go," James offered clasping Sirius on the back. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next two classes passed by rather quickly and relatively uneventful. Unless you count the incident in charms where Peter accidentally set fire to a Ravenclaw girl's hair. Thus causing her to panic and almost set the entire room on fire before Professor Flitwick put it out, leaving the room to reek of burnt hair. All the teachers gave them the same speech about this being their hardest year and that they were going to have to be prepared to work extra hard in order to pass the N.E.W.T.s. James felt that this was an observation that they could have made without being addressed.
But before the boys knew it, they were seated in the Great Hall, enjoying their dinner. Every so often, one of them would glance at the girls who were sitting not to far away. James noticed that Lily seemed a lot happier than she had been earlier in the day. In fact, all of the girls seemed to be acting normally as they sat there laughing and talking. James looked at his watch. It was half past six; he had half an hour until his first meeting as Head Boy. His stomach gave a pleasant tug as he thought of being alone with Lily.
"Okay, so the full moon is on this Saturday night," Sirius began, looking at his friends. "What is the plan for this month's excursion?" He took a long gulp of pumpkin juice.
"Why don't we go and explore the caves near Hogsmeade?" said Peter looking excitedly from James to Remus to Sirius.
"We've done that a hundred times Wormtail," said James in a bored voice.
"With everything that is going on, I don't think it's a good idea to be parading ourselves around or too close Hogsmeade; nighttime or not," Remus said darkly as he took another bite of food. "Maybe it's a good idea to stick to the Forest or around the grounds."
"I think Moony is right. We can perfectly well find something to get into in there," said James as he dived into an apple pie. A loud roar of laughter attracted their attention as they looked down the table. The three girls were laughing hysterically. Liz had her hands covering her mouth and was leaning over her food; Lily was wiping her eyes and leaning back off the bench as Faith choked out the rest of her story in between laughs.
".So then this guy doesn't give up!" Faith laughed, "He comes back over AGAIN, for the third time and says to me 'Baby, you just missed out on the eighth wonder of the world.'" Lily and Liz laughed harder than ever.
"What did you say to him?" Lily choked out.
"I mean, what can you say to someone that ignorant who doesn't even know a blow off when he sees one? So, I laughed right in his face and I told him that they must really be desperate for more Wonders if they allowed a balding, pathetic, mid-lifer to make the list," Faith laughed. "The poor guy just looked at me all confused and walked away and hit on some other poor girl." As the girls collapsed into laughter again, James turned his attention back to his friends, who were finishing their discussion on their plans for this weekend's adventure. Remus looked at his watch.
"We better head off to the meeting Prongs?" James and Remus stood up.
"Well see you two back in the common room," said James. Sirius saluted him and took a swig of his drink.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
At seven o'clock James, Lily and Remus found themselves in Professor McGonagall's classroom. Professor McGonagall was repeating the list of their duties as well as their privileges. She handed out copies of everyone's patrolling schedules. Lily groaned to herself when she saw that she and James were doing the first late shift 12 am to 2 am tonight. James on the other hand was smiling like a kid in a candy store.
"And remember, any Prefect caught abusing their power will have the position revoked. This is a privilege, not a right." Professor McGonagall's eyes lingered on the six Slytherins. "Now, are their any questions? No? Alright then you are dismissed."
"I see we get to spend a late, romantic evening together Evans," said James as he turned to face her. Lily rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.
"James, the only thing that never ceases to amaze me about you is your unrelenting persistence." Lily stood up and walked over to the door.
"Well at least I still amaze you," James called after her. He turned and strode over to Remus, who was chatting with Emily Hilton, a seventh year Ravenclaw Prefect.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lily Evans climbed into the Gryffindor common and dashed up the stairs to her dorm to drop off some of her books. When she emerged from her dorm she looked around for Liz and Faith. She found Liz sitting over by the fire intensely reading Potions for Professionals. Lily walked over and took an empty seat across from Liz, who looked up.
"How was the meeting?" asked Liz with a small smile.
"Lovely. Tonight I have patrolling duty with Potter," Lily gave a tired sighed. "I tell you Liz, if this year does not improve I'm going to drop out and live in the mountains." Liz laughed and nodded her head in agreement.
"Where's Faith?" Lily asked as she opened Accelerated Charms Volume II. Liz pointed towards the opposite corner of the room. Lily looked over and saw Faith standing talking to Sirius. Although her back was to them, by the look on Sirius's face, Lily could tell that she wasn't yelling at him.
"Why is she talking to Sirius?" said Lily skeptically.
Liz shrugged. "I dunno. She was sitting here reading, and then all of the sudden she got up and walked over to Sirius and Peter. She's been there for at least ten minutes." Liz looked back down at her book and began reading. Lily noticed out of the corner of her eye that James and Remus had returned and were monitoring the conversation very carefully. When Lily looked back, Sirius was smiling as Faith turned away. She walked over to the girls and plopped down next to Liz on the couch.
"Hey Lils, how was the meeting?" Faith asked as she picked up her book, not looking at Lily or Liz. Lily raised an eyebrow.
"What were you talking to Sirius Black about?" Lily asked. Faith glanced up at Lily as she settled her book on her lap.
"I was talking to him about earlier today." Faith began flipping through her book. Liz and Lily exchanged glances.
"Why did you do that for?" Lily asked looking at Faith closely.
"Because I felt that I owed him an apology," said Faith simply as she began to read Defenses for the Not-So Defenseless.
"So I guess since you apologized you owe him a sexual favor huh?" said Liz with a wicked grin spreading across her face. Lily burst out laughing as Faith hit Liz with a pillow, the corners of her mouth twitching.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * *
James and Remus entered the portrait hole and looked around for their friends. They spotted Peter sitting at a table in the corner, intently watching something. As James and Remus made their way over, they were shocked to see Faith and Sirius immersed in a conversation by the wall.
"What's going on?" asked James as he sat down at the table.
"I dunno. Faith came over and said that she fancied a chat with Sirius. They've been there for a while," said Peter as he moved his head trying to get a better view. "From what I can tell, she isn't going to hex him or anything. But you never know."
The boys saw Faith smile and nod before she turned to walk away. Sirius stood there for a moment smiling before he made his way over to the table.
"Well, your arm isn't charmed to your forehead, I take it that you had a nice little chat?" James asked as Sirius sat down next to Peter.
"She wanted to tell me how sorry she was for this morning," Sirius grinned. "Oh and how she realized that she was falling madly in love with me." The three boys snorted.
"Yeah right Padfoot," said Remus.
"If you keep deluding yourself like that we'll have to send you to St. Mungo's to have your head examined," James laughed as he pulled out his patrolling schedule. Sirius immediately snatched it and looked at it. His faced twisted into an evil grin as he read it.
"Oh! I see we have the opportunity for a little late night snogging with Miss Evans. Too bad she thinks you're so conceded mate. But then again, there are always other patrol nights." James smirked at Sirius.
"That's where you are wrong Padfoot old friend. This is an opportunity. It's an opportunity for me to show her how responsible I am. By the end of our patrol tonight I guarantee that she will look at me differently," James boasted as he pulled his Charms book towards him.
"She'll look at you differently alright. After the numerous hexes and jinxes she'll put on you that will leave you permanently disfigured, how could she not." Sirius shook his head in mock concern. "I pity you mate."
"Shut up Padfoot and read your book," James smiled as Remus shook his head and Peter giggled. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Nothing is my own. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 4: The First Day of The Last Year
Lily, Liz and Faith entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The Marauders were sitting in their usually seats; second row from the front. Of course the only reasons they sat there was because this was their favorite class, and the Gryffindor girls sat in front of them. As the girls took their seats, they saw the familiar faces of seven Slytherins; five boys and two girls, including Bellatrix Black. Lily noticed that Bellatrix's face twisted into an evil smirk when she saw Lily, Faith and Liz sit down. Bellatrix casually leaned over to a boy who Lily recognized as Rabastan Lestange, brother of Rodolphus Lestrange; who was Bellatrix's boyfriend and had graduated the previous year. She quietly whispered something into his ear. The two Slytherins looked at the girls with matching smirks. Lily looked away with a feeling of dread resting in the pit of her stomach. Professor O'Malley entered the room and strode to the front. He was a tall and lean man with strawberry-blonde hair, and roughly in his mid-forties. He turned and faced the small class.
"Welcome to N.E.W.T. level Defense Against the Dark Arts. This is going to be the most intense level of this course that you have ever taken. Consider yourselves warned," said the Professor with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Now, this course will primarily consist of all practical lessons. The majority of the background information will be yours to study and research. You need to come prepared and ready to practice what you have learned. Also, as part of this course, a dueling component is required for preparation for the test. Any questions before we get started?" Professor O'Malley looked around at the fourteen students.
"Great," Lily thought to herself, "not only do I have to spend every free moment of my time in the company of James Potter, but also forced to duel with the most foulest humans on the face of the earth for a grade. Can this year get any better?" She scowled to herself and glanced over at Faith, who was grinning like Christmas had come early.
"Well then, take out your books and open them to Chapter 1: Applied Defensive Strategy." Professor O'Malley turned to grab his book.
James, Remus and Peter pulled their books towards them and began flipping through the pages. James looked at Sirius, who wasn't moving. Instead he was leaning back in his chair, arms folded and glaring at his cousin on the opposite side of the room. James nudged his friend, who turned to look at him.
"You alright mate?" said James concerned. Sirius let his chair fall on all fours with a soft bang.
"I don't trust her. When Bellatrix is happy it is never a good sign, and she hasn't stopped smiling since they came in," said Sirius grimly, nodding at the girls in front of him. James noticed that Bellatrix kept glancing at the three girls. James's brow furrowed as he nodded his head in agreement. As the Professor spoke, a greasy, oily, longhaired boy sitting opposite him caught James's eye. The boy was bent over his parchment and scribbling wildly, as if trying to catch every word verbatim. A smile flashed on James's face. He leaned over to Sirius.
"Well Padfoot look at it this way, at least we can finally hex Snivellus all we want and not get in trouble for it," whispered James. Sirius turned and grinned at his best friend.
"That doesn't sound like something a Head Boy would say."
"True right you are. But it sounds like something a Marauder would say," James flashed him a mischievous grin.
"Mr. Potter, would you like to answer this question?" asked Professor O'Malley slightly annoyed. James looked up at his Professor with an innocent look on his face.
"Professor I would love to answer this question, but I know that Miss Evans has a thorough background in this topic, so I would feel absolutely awful to deny her the chance to respond to this question."
The Professor looked at him skeptically. "You think Miss Evans has a thorough background on your opinion of what a good counter attack would be to a Paralyzing curse?" The whole class turned to look at James. The Slytherins were snickering on their half of the room. James noticed that Snape looked highly amused at him being caught off guard as he sat there with a smug look on his oily face. James turned and gave a dashing grin to the Professor.
"I certainly do, since she tried one out on me once not too long ago," said James as he caught Lily's eye and winked at her. Lily scowled and rolled her eyes as she turned back towards the front of the class.
"Mr. Potter I suggest you pay more attention on the class discussion and less attention on Mr. Black." The Professor gave him an unimpressed look and turned to address Liz, who had her hand up. Remus and Peter glanced at him sideways and silently laughed to themselves as Sirius began doodling on his parchment.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An hour and a half later, the class was over.
"Do not forget that we will be practicing the defenses against the Paralyzing and Navarus Curses on Thursday so come prepared. Have a good afternoon," said Professor O'Malley as the students packed up their books, parchment and quills. Lily, Faith and Liz packed up quickly and hurried out of the classroom and into the deserted hall.
"How lucky can this year get?" Faith exclaimed grinning from ear to ear.
"How can you be so excited Faith," said Liz frowning. "We have to duel with the Slytherins for our grade. That means that we have to be subjected to their curses, hexes and any other dirty spell they are willing to inflict upon us. That doesn't sound very bloody lucky to me."
"I have to agree with Liz, Faith. Battling Bellatrix for a grade doesn't sound like very much fun. It sounds like a punishment," Lily sighed.
"Ooooowwwhhhhh! Are the wittle bitty mudbloods afwaid of wittle owld me?" said a mock baby voice from behind them, followed by several deep laughs. Lily, Faith and Liz all stiffened but kept on walking, trying to ignore the taunts of Bellatrix and her cronies from behind them. Lily casually slipped her hand into her robe and grabbed her wand. Lily glanced at Faith and noticed that her face had become hard and stone-like. She felt Liz's breath quicken beside her. Lily's own heart was beating faster and she was taking slow deep breaths.
"Maybe they're deaf Bella," said a deep voice from behind them. "I think we need to get their attention." Lily tightened her grip on her wand as she prepared herself for a duel.
"I think maybe you are right, Rabastan," said Bellatrix, "they need to be taught a lesson in courtesy."
It happened in a flash. Lily, Liz and Faith spun around with their wands up.
"Expelliarmus!" Lily cried. Three wands came flying at her.
"Protego!" Bellatrix bellowed with cat-like reflects, and the spell bounced off of her and hit the sidewall with a bang, allowing her to keep her wand. However, the spell did not affect Faith, who had moved in towards Bellatrix and had her wand pointed right between her eyes, inches from her face. Faith's eyes were stone cold and bore into Bellatrix.
"Give me a reason," Faith whispered dangerously. Lily glanced over the shoulder of a shocked Rosier and saw that the four Gryffindor boys were briskly walking towards the situation in the hall. Lily held onto the three wands as Liz steadily pointed her wand at the three Slytherin boys.
"You don't have it in you mudblood." Bellatrix smiled and her eyes twinkled. She held her wand at her side.
Faith smirked. "Try me."
"Causing trouble again dear cousin?" said Sirius with a grim-face. He, James, Remus and Peter had their wands up and closed in on the four Slytherins.
Bellatrix looked at Sirius and smiled. "Isn't this sweet? Coming to rescue your sweetheart." She looked back at Faith, who still had her wand position between her eyes. "I always knew you had bad taste in women cousin, but she is even appalling for mudblood standards."
"I suggest you four take your wands and get to your next class before we get annoyed," said Remus, his wand pointed right at Avery. The three defenseless Slytherin boys looked at each other, and at Bellatrix. She glared at Faith for a moment, and then turned to look at her fellow housemates. She nodded her head towards the hall ahead of them. Lily threw the three wands back at their owners and moved to let them pass.
"You three will get yours. You can't be protected everywhere you go." Bellatrix strode off past the three girls; her buddies closely following behind her. When they had rounded the corner, Faith let out a calming sigh and looked up at the ceiling.
"Thank you guys," said Liz as she smiled at Remus, who smiled back at her and nodded.
"Are you alright?" James asked as he looked at Lily with concern.
"We're fine. We can handle them perfectly well by ourselves," Lily said as she stuffed her wand back inside her robe. She looked up at James, whose face was etched with concern. Before she could help herself, she gave him a small smile and quickly began fidgeting with the clasp on her bag.
"So Ravenwood, that makes me one up on you. I guess you'll have to repay me some how," Sirius grinned at Faith. Faith rounded on Sirius.
"I didn't ask you interfere, so I don't owe you a damn thing." Lily saw a look of hurt in her eyes. She knew exactly how Faith was feeling, because it was the same feeling Lily had when she was called a mudblood. Liz sympathized with them, but did not fully understand since she was a pureblood and free of those taunts.
"Well that's gratitude for you," said Sirius who seemed slightly taken back. "We were just trying to help.."
"Well I don't need YOUR help. I can take care of myself." Faith turned away and began walking down the hall. Liz gave an apologetic look to Remus before following Faith down the hall. Lily stared into James' eyes for a moment, then slowly turned and looked at the floor as she followed her best friends.
"I think that plan of yours is going absolutely swimmingly, mate," said Peter to Sirius. Sirius threw a sharp, dirty look at Peter, who cowered from under it. "Come on, let's go," James offered clasping Sirius on the back. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next two classes passed by rather quickly and relatively uneventful. Unless you count the incident in charms where Peter accidentally set fire to a Ravenclaw girl's hair. Thus causing her to panic and almost set the entire room on fire before Professor Flitwick put it out, leaving the room to reek of burnt hair. All the teachers gave them the same speech about this being their hardest year and that they were going to have to be prepared to work extra hard in order to pass the N.E.W.T.s. James felt that this was an observation that they could have made without being addressed.
But before the boys knew it, they were seated in the Great Hall, enjoying their dinner. Every so often, one of them would glance at the girls who were sitting not to far away. James noticed that Lily seemed a lot happier than she had been earlier in the day. In fact, all of the girls seemed to be acting normally as they sat there laughing and talking. James looked at his watch. It was half past six; he had half an hour until his first meeting as Head Boy. His stomach gave a pleasant tug as he thought of being alone with Lily.
"Okay, so the full moon is on this Saturday night," Sirius began, looking at his friends. "What is the plan for this month's excursion?" He took a long gulp of pumpkin juice.
"Why don't we go and explore the caves near Hogsmeade?" said Peter looking excitedly from James to Remus to Sirius.
"We've done that a hundred times Wormtail," said James in a bored voice.
"With everything that is going on, I don't think it's a good idea to be parading ourselves around or too close Hogsmeade; nighttime or not," Remus said darkly as he took another bite of food. "Maybe it's a good idea to stick to the Forest or around the grounds."
"I think Moony is right. We can perfectly well find something to get into in there," said James as he dived into an apple pie. A loud roar of laughter attracted their attention as they looked down the table. The three girls were laughing hysterically. Liz had her hands covering her mouth and was leaning over her food; Lily was wiping her eyes and leaning back off the bench as Faith choked out the rest of her story in between laughs.
".So then this guy doesn't give up!" Faith laughed, "He comes back over AGAIN, for the third time and says to me 'Baby, you just missed out on the eighth wonder of the world.'" Lily and Liz laughed harder than ever.
"What did you say to him?" Lily choked out.
"I mean, what can you say to someone that ignorant who doesn't even know a blow off when he sees one? So, I laughed right in his face and I told him that they must really be desperate for more Wonders if they allowed a balding, pathetic, mid-lifer to make the list," Faith laughed. "The poor guy just looked at me all confused and walked away and hit on some other poor girl." As the girls collapsed into laughter again, James turned his attention back to his friends, who were finishing their discussion on their plans for this weekend's adventure. Remus looked at his watch.
"We better head off to the meeting Prongs?" James and Remus stood up.
"Well see you two back in the common room," said James. Sirius saluted him and took a swig of his drink.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
At seven o'clock James, Lily and Remus found themselves in Professor McGonagall's classroom. Professor McGonagall was repeating the list of their duties as well as their privileges. She handed out copies of everyone's patrolling schedules. Lily groaned to herself when she saw that she and James were doing the first late shift 12 am to 2 am tonight. James on the other hand was smiling like a kid in a candy store.
"And remember, any Prefect caught abusing their power will have the position revoked. This is a privilege, not a right." Professor McGonagall's eyes lingered on the six Slytherins. "Now, are their any questions? No? Alright then you are dismissed."
"I see we get to spend a late, romantic evening together Evans," said James as he turned to face her. Lily rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.
"James, the only thing that never ceases to amaze me about you is your unrelenting persistence." Lily stood up and walked over to the door.
"Well at least I still amaze you," James called after her. He turned and strode over to Remus, who was chatting with Emily Hilton, a seventh year Ravenclaw Prefect.
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Lily Evans climbed into the Gryffindor common and dashed up the stairs to her dorm to drop off some of her books. When she emerged from her dorm she looked around for Liz and Faith. She found Liz sitting over by the fire intensely reading Potions for Professionals. Lily walked over and took an empty seat across from Liz, who looked up.
"How was the meeting?" asked Liz with a small smile.
"Lovely. Tonight I have patrolling duty with Potter," Lily gave a tired sighed. "I tell you Liz, if this year does not improve I'm going to drop out and live in the mountains." Liz laughed and nodded her head in agreement.
"Where's Faith?" Lily asked as she opened Accelerated Charms Volume II. Liz pointed towards the opposite corner of the room. Lily looked over and saw Faith standing talking to Sirius. Although her back was to them, by the look on Sirius's face, Lily could tell that she wasn't yelling at him.
"Why is she talking to Sirius?" said Lily skeptically.
Liz shrugged. "I dunno. She was sitting here reading, and then all of the sudden she got up and walked over to Sirius and Peter. She's been there for at least ten minutes." Liz looked back down at her book and began reading. Lily noticed out of the corner of her eye that James and Remus had returned and were monitoring the conversation very carefully. When Lily looked back, Sirius was smiling as Faith turned away. She walked over to the girls and plopped down next to Liz on the couch.
"Hey Lils, how was the meeting?" Faith asked as she picked up her book, not looking at Lily or Liz. Lily raised an eyebrow.
"What were you talking to Sirius Black about?" Lily asked. Faith glanced up at Lily as she settled her book on her lap.
"I was talking to him about earlier today." Faith began flipping through her book. Liz and Lily exchanged glances.
"Why did you do that for?" Lily asked looking at Faith closely.
"Because I felt that I owed him an apology," said Faith simply as she began to read Defenses for the Not-So Defenseless.
"So I guess since you apologized you owe him a sexual favor huh?" said Liz with a wicked grin spreading across her face. Lily burst out laughing as Faith hit Liz with a pillow, the corners of her mouth twitching.
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James and Remus entered the portrait hole and looked around for their friends. They spotted Peter sitting at a table in the corner, intently watching something. As James and Remus made their way over, they were shocked to see Faith and Sirius immersed in a conversation by the wall.
"What's going on?" asked James as he sat down at the table.
"I dunno. Faith came over and said that she fancied a chat with Sirius. They've been there for a while," said Peter as he moved his head trying to get a better view. "From what I can tell, she isn't going to hex him or anything. But you never know."
The boys saw Faith smile and nod before she turned to walk away. Sirius stood there for a moment smiling before he made his way over to the table.
"Well, your arm isn't charmed to your forehead, I take it that you had a nice little chat?" James asked as Sirius sat down next to Peter.
"She wanted to tell me how sorry she was for this morning," Sirius grinned. "Oh and how she realized that she was falling madly in love with me." The three boys snorted.
"Yeah right Padfoot," said Remus.
"If you keep deluding yourself like that we'll have to send you to St. Mungo's to have your head examined," James laughed as he pulled out his patrolling schedule. Sirius immediately snatched it and looked at it. His faced twisted into an evil grin as he read it.
"Oh! I see we have the opportunity for a little late night snogging with Miss Evans. Too bad she thinks you're so conceded mate. But then again, there are always other patrol nights." James smirked at Sirius.
"That's where you are wrong Padfoot old friend. This is an opportunity. It's an opportunity for me to show her how responsible I am. By the end of our patrol tonight I guarantee that she will look at me differently," James boasted as he pulled his Charms book towards him.
"She'll look at you differently alright. After the numerous hexes and jinxes she'll put on you that will leave you permanently disfigured, how could she not." Sirius shook his head in mock concern. "I pity you mate."
"Shut up Padfoot and read your book," James smiled as Remus shook his head and Peter giggled. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *