Hello Everyone! Again I want to thank those of you that have taken the time
to review. I really appreciate it! Just a little f.y.i., I am going to try
and post a chapter a week. If any of you are studying to become secondary
education teachers or are secondary education teachers, you'll understand
why I can only write one chapter a week. But anyway ... Here's my
disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with Harry Potter.
Please don't forget to review!
Without further ado, here is my longest chapter to date. I hope you enjoy it.
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Chapter 5: Midnight Walks and Dueling
Lily and James both found that midnight had come faster than they thought. Both of their friends had retired to bed about a half an hour before they were to venture off to their duty. As James left his dorm, he glanced one last time in the mirror. He cursed at his unruly hair before walking out the door. His body was filled with anticipation as he thought about the two hours he would be spending alone with his crush for five years.
"Calm yourself James, you don't want to go and make a bloody fool of yourself," he thought as he emerged into the empty common room. He leaned against one of the tables and waited for Lily. Thoughts about conversation topics flooded his mind as he tried to lay out a plan for tonight. But his thoughts were interrupted as Lily glided down the stairs.
"Are you ready Potter?" she said as she walked over to him. James noticed that her hair was freshly brushed and she had a little bit of makeup on.
"Of course. I've been waiting for ages Evans," James smiled as he breathed in her perfume. "Shall we get going then?" The two students climbed out of the portrait hole and began to walk down the corridor.
"I figured we could start by checking out the usual snogging spots," said Lily casually as they walked down the stairs.
"It's only been a few minutes and already you are talking about snogging with me Evans?" James gave her his most charming smile. Lily threw him a disgusted look and his smile vanished. "Er.where are the usually snogging spots anyway?" he asked with a serious face.
"Um ..the trophy room, the broom cupboards on the first, third and fourth floors, the charms classroom, the library, the astronomy tower, the Great Hall.." Lily listed off.
"Who would be stupid enough to snog in the Great Hall?" interrupted James. "I mean that is just plain foolish. The room behind the portrait of Barnaby the Befuddled is much more private." James smirked at Lily. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Potter let's get one thing straight right away. I don't want to hear about your sexual escapades, alright?" Lily shook her head in disgust.
"It was only a joke Evans. You need to loosen up a little bit," said James. 'Wonderful James, real smooth.' He ruffled up his hair out of nervousness. Lily, having witnessed his irritating habit, let out a big sigh, which turned into a yawn.
"Don't start that Evans, we have..." James glanced at his watch, "an hour and forty-three minutes to go."
The two Gryffindors walked around the castle, looking in all of the known snogging spots. They caught a fifth year Hufflepuff girl and sixth year Ravenclaw boy in the broom cupboard on the fourth floor. After an embarrassing few minutes, two write-ups and a deduction of twenty house points later, Lily and James found themselves laughing as they headed towards the astronomy tower.
"No matter how many times I catch people I still can't help laughing," Lily giggled. James noticed how beautiful she looked when she was laughing. Her face lit up and her eyes looked like glistening emeralds in the darkness.
"How many people have to caught?" asked James suddenly intrigued. Lily paused for a moment, her face screwed up as she calculated in her head.
"I'd say Remus and I have caught at least seventy couples. But it doesn't really count since it's mostly the same couples that try and find new places." Lily smiled to herself as they entered the astronomy tower. "The most embarrassing one was last year when Remus and I caught Sirius and Heather Medina in the Great Hall." Lily was grinning from ear to ear. James stared at her in disbelief.
"What! They never told me that." James shook his head.
"They were probably embarrassed. They were only kissing, but I've never seen Remus laugh so hard in my life." Lily gave the tower a once over examination and headed back for the door.
"Well that's my best mate for you." James laughed as he magically sealed the door locked, making a mental note to tease Sirius when he got up tomorrow.
"Well it's not a good example to set with other girls," Lily stated as they walked down the stairs towards the DADA corridor. James looked at Lily with a curious expression on his face.
"Is that why Faith turned him down all those times?" he questioned.
"Partially," Lily smirked as if this was a joke that James didn't get. James raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to explain more. Lily sighed. "It's complicated with Faith and that's all I'm going to say." Lily stopped for a moment as they passed the DADA classroom and stared at the hallway in front of her. James looked at her concerned.
"I'm really sorry about earlier today," he said. Lily's face was somber and she nodded her head.
"Thank you for helping us out earlier today. It was very decent of you." She began to walk down the hall again; her eyes fixed straight ahead. "But for future reference, we can handle confrontations perfectly well by ourselves. We're used to it." Lily's tone was unemotional and detached.
" I don't doubt your talents as a witch Evans and I know better than anyone that you can handle yourself. I mean, I've probably been on the receiving end of your hexes more than anyone. But people like Bellatrix give all wizards a bad name, pureblood or not," stated James as he stopped at the end of the hall and turned to look at Lily. Lily looked up into his eyes. "Don't ever let anyone make you feel bad about who you are." As they stared into each other's eyes, Lily felt an odd sudden rush of gratitude towards James. It was the words that she needed to hear all day. James smiled and turned towards the hall in front of them.
An hour and half later, Lily and James had said their goodnights and drowsily headed up to their respective dormitories. As Lily laid her head down on her pillow, she couldn't help thinking that maybe James wasn't as big of a prat as she had thought.
"Well he still ruffles his hair.. and that is really annoying," she thought as sleep overtook her.
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Lily awoke five hours later to Faith singing along with the radio. Lily rolled over sleepily and looked at the clock and gave a miserable groan.
"Morning sleepyhead!" Faith looked over from her mirror where she was applying her eyeliner, her hair wrapped in a towel. "How was last night's escapade?" she asked with a sly smile. Lily grunted and rolled back over, not ready to become apart of the living just yet. Liz walked into the room freshly showered.
"Isn't she up yet?" asked Liz as she settled herself down in front of her mirror and took out her wand.
"She isn't receiving any visitors at the moment," Faith laughed and turned back to her mirror.
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"And Potter scores again! That's number thirty-one for Potter today!" rang a voice throughout the stadium. James raced back around the stadium and onto the tail of the opposing chaser who now had the quaffle. He urged his broom forward. He could feel the broom jerk forward under his grip and the wind in his face. He was moving up along side the chaser. His eyes were fixed on the quaffle. He was side by side with the opposing chaser. James reached to knock the quaffle out of his hands, when all of the sudden the chaser leaned over and started licking his face. James slowly came into consciousness and realized that there was something heavy on his chest. He opened his eyes to see a blurred black dog standing on his bed with his front paws on James's chest. The dog whined as James laughed.
"Good morning Padfoot," James patted the dog's head and stretched for his glasses. "I see we are very hungry this morning." The dog leapt down onto the floor with a thud. Remus entered the room, fresh from the shower.
"Padfoot! You have to stop doing that when we are in the castle! What if I was someone else?" said Remus as he closed the door tight. The dog wagged his tail once and then turned back into a man.
"Oh Moony, relax! Don't get your panties in a twist. I just thought I'd wake up Prongs with a little kiss since he probably didn't get one last night," said Sirius with a broad grin. Peter giggled from the other side of the room as he put on a pair of socks.
"You need a girlfriend mate, so you'll stop being so concerned with my love life," said James as he grabbed a towel and headed out the door.
"Hurry up! I'm starving!" Sirius called after him.
Half an hour later, the boys were happily inhaling their breakfast in the Great Hall. As Sirius tried to explain why England was a shoe-in for The Cup this year to Peter, James looked casually over at the Ravenclaw table in front of him. His eyes fell on a plump, petite blonde with brown eyes and an upturned nose. James grinned as he remembered his conversation with Lily last night.
"Hey Padfoot," James interrupted.
"Prongs, I'm talking here or are you deaf?" asked Sirius a little annoyed, but James noticed Peter looked relieved.
"I had an interesting conversation with Evans last night about snogging," James began. Remus looked over at him as he took a sip of his juice.
"Well unless you actually snogged her, I don't want to hear it," answered Sirius coldly. If there was one thing you did not interrupt Sirius on, it was Quidditch.
"How come you never told me that Remus and Evans caught you and Heather Medina snogging in the Great Hall last year?" Remus nearly spit out his juice as he started to laugh. Peter's mouth fell as he stared from Heather to Sirius.
"I didn't think it was any of your business," said Sirius with a cheeky grin. James raised an eyebrow at him. "Plus, she threatened to hex my manhood if I told anyone. Anyway, it wasn't one of my prouder moments." Sirius looked around as James, Remus and Peter laughed.
"Where is Evans anyway? I want to thank her for her inability to keep a secret," said Sirius as he looked at Liz and Faith who were deeply immersed in conversation. James looked down the table.
"I don't know?" said James. "Hey Ravenwood, Corentine! Where's Evans?" James called at the two girls. They immediately turned and looked at James with matching stares.
"Excuse me Potter? Can't you see that we are talking or has your head swelled so large that it has obstructed your vision?" said Faith highly annoyed.
"Have bad dreams last night Ravenwood? Or are you bitter cause I wasn't there to keep you company?" Sirius joined in, with a mischievous grin.
"Black, why would I want you to keep me company when the mere thought of it makes me want to vomit?" said Faith with a sarcastic smile.
"So, you have thought about it then?" said Sirius with an inquiring look on his face. Faith shot him a disgusted glare as Liz smiled and caught Remus's eye.
"Anyway.." said James trying to get them to focus on his question, "Where is Evans?"
"She's outside taking laps in the lake. If you hurry you four can catch her. Oh, and don't forget to fill your pockets with heavy rocks before you go in," said Faith with a great deal of sarcasm as she turned her attention to her food. The four boys laughed.
"She's still getting ready, why?" asked Liz, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
"Sirius wanted to thank her about something she witnessed last year," said James as Sirius elbowed him in the side. Remus laughed and shook his head.
"Oh, it wouldn't be happen to be about the Heather Medina snogging incident in the Great Hall would it?" Liz inquired, not looking at the boys.
"Good, then I'll thank Evans later for her big mouth." Sirius grinned and turned towards James. "Well I guess you were the only one that didn't know Jamesie-boy." Sirius turned back towards Peter and began talking about England again. James noticed that Faith had thrown a hurtful look at Sirius. The two girls got up and walked out of the Great Hall.
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"Just five more minutes" Lily thought to herself. She had just got comfortable again when she felt a rush of cold water hit her face. She screamed and jumped up startled, blinking water out of her eyes. Faith and Liz were standing above her bed with their wands out and smirks on their faces.
"What the bloody hell are you two doing!" Lily shrieked, anger rising into her face. "Have you gone completely mad!" She began to get out of her bed, sopping wet.
"It's almost eight-fifteen and you are going to be late for class Miss Head Girl," said Faith as she waved her wand and pink soap bubbles covered Lily from head to toe making her look like a living heap of cotton candy.
"You missed breakfast. Didn't you hear us tell you to get up before we left?" asked Liz as she magically dried Lily's bed and summoned her uniform from the closet. Lily tried to answer but couldn't as Faith now had her caught in a powerful drying spell, which prevented her from speaking. She felt like she was being put through a giant car wash. Faith flicked her wand and the blast of air stopped. With another flick Lily's hair was straight and shiny.
"I didn't hear you two leave! But for crying out loud guys, don't ever wake me up like that again! You nearly gave me a bloody heart attack." Lily flinched as make-up appeared on her face with a wave of Faith's wand.
"Sorry Lils, but this is the only way you would have made it to class on time," said Liz as she collected Lily's books and put them into her bag. "But we brought you some breakfast, so don't be too mad at us alright." Liz pointed to a bagel on her dresser as she smirked at Lily, who was putting on her uniform.
"It better be the best damn bagel on the face of the planet in order for me to forgive you." Lily looked in the mirror and pinned her badge to her chest, still angry with her friends.
"Your welcome for saving your sorry butt Evans," said Faith in her military tone that she inherited from her father. Faith grabbed Lily's bag from Liz and thrust it at her. "Now let's go or we're going to be late."
"Thanks guys," Lily smiled at her best friends as she bit into her bagel and hurried off down the stairs.
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Unlike the rough start in the morning, the day went by rather smoothly. Before Lily knew she was in her dorm, studying on her bed after an evening of patrolling the corridors with James. Faith was on the floor stretching and Liz sitting Indian-style on her bed practicing the wand movements for the Navarus Curse.
"I can't bloody well get it!" shouted Liz as she shook her wand in frustration. Red sparks flew out of its end and hit the parallel wall, shattering a picture frame. The people inside it scrambled to the sides for cover.
"Well destroying the room isn't going to get you anywhere with it," sighed Lily as she repaired the frame, the people inside shaking there fists at her. "Now you've gone and upset your family Liz," laughed Lily.
"They'll get over it," Liz replied sarcastically as she attempted to try it again. Faith laughed at her as she lay on her back and prepared to do some crunches. Liz shot her an annoyed look.
"Well what are you bloody laughing at down there? You should be taking this seriously. We have to know these so we can defend our lives tomorrow. Or have you forgotten that we have to duel the Slytherins?" said Liz looking at Faith disgusted. Faith stopped and sat up to look at Liz.
"Of course I haven't forgotten. Are you that daft?" Faith lay back down. "I mastered it last night while you were over there flirting with Remus Lupin."
"You were flirting with Remus?" asked Lily curiously, looking up from her parchment.
"No I wasn't flirting with Remus. He was helping me out with our Herbology assignment." Liz shook her wand again in frustration as thin wispy smoke came out of its end.
"But Herbology and Potions are your best subjects, Liz?" Lily glanced at Faith who was kissing the back of her hand in mock imitation of Liz. Lily started laughing, to which Liz looked over at Faith who continued to kiss the back of her hand.
"Oh shut up!" said Liz annoyed as she threw her pillow at Faith. "Go back to doing your crunches for Sirius." Lily and Faith rolled with laughter as Liz shook her head and continued practicing.
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Thursday morning came rapidly and soon the three girls and the Marauders found themselves once again in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. However this time, there were no desks. The chairs were lined up along opposite sides of the walls, and there was an enormous blue mat in the middle of the room. The Slytherins and Gryffindors sat opposite each other, eyeing the other group suspiciously. The tension in the air was thick enough to be cut with a knife. Professor O'Malley walked into the room and stood in the center of the blue mat.
"Good morning students," he greeted, "I do hope that you have studied and mastered the spells that we discussed at our last meeting. But I do suspect that we will find out rather shortly whether or not you have," a twisted smile played around his lips. With a wave of his wand, a piece of parchment appeared out of thin air.
"Our first group to duel will be Mr. Lestrange and Mr. Black." Sirius and Rabastan both stood up and walked towards the center of the mat to where Professor O'Malley was standing.
"Now, listen closely. I only want you to use the two spells that we have discussed. One is a defensive spell; the other is an attacking spell. The first person to successfully paralyze his opponent wins the duel and ten house points for their team. Any spell used that is not either the Paralyzing or Navarus spells are deemed illegal and that student is disqualified and penalized twenty house points. Are their any questions before we begin?" Professor O'Malley looked from an arrogant smiling Sirius to a surly looking Rabastan. "Okay then, duelers take your positions." Sirius and Rabastan turned and walked about twenty paces in the opposite directions. Both turned with their wands up. Professor O'Malley stood off to the side, out of their way.
"On three. One! Two! Three!" Rabastan waved his wand
"Paralizus!" he cried. Blue light shot straight at Sirius who reflected it with a wave of his wand. The two boys circled each other cautiously. "Paralizus!" Sirius cried, but Rabastan deflected it. Rabastan, deciding that he had had enough, began to throw continuous Paralyzing spells at Sirius, who laughed as he deflected them skillfully. Rabastan momentarily let his guard down as he wiped his brow on his sleeve, allowing Sirius to take advantage. With a swift movement, Sirius cast the spell right at the Slytherin's legs. Rabastan froze and fell to the floor with a loud thud. The Gryffindor's cheered loudly as Sirius gave a magnificent bow to them, winking at Faith as he came back up.
"Very good Mr. Black! I award Gryffindor ten points." The Gryffindor's cheered again. James and Remus clasped Sirius hard on the back as he sat down in between them.
"Next group, Miss Orion and Miss Corentine." Liz stared straight ahead as she walked toward the center of the mat. A blonde haired, lanky girl with a superior expression walked over from the Slytherin side of the room.
"Duelers take your positions." Liz walked twenty paces, a look of pure dread on her face. "On three. One! Two! Three!" Orion sent a jet of blue light at Liz. Liz tried to deflect it, but her spell was too weak and she was hit square in the face. She fell to the floor with a thud as her eyes stared at the ceiling. The Slytherin's erupted with cheers as Orion walked back to her seat; her head held high and a smug look on her face.
"It's alright Liz!" Lily offered as Liz got up and walked over to her seat, looking very disappointed.
"You'll get 'em next time," said James as he clasped her on the back.
"Don't worry about it Liz. You'll curse that bitch off the face of the earth next week," Faith shook her shoulder.
Liz smiled mildly as her teammates gave her words of encouragement.
The duel continued to provide both cheers and disappointment to both sides of the room. Peter lost to Avery while James beat Snape with ease.
"Maybe next time Snivellus!" jeered James as he ran back to his side of the room and gave Sirius a high five. Snape sneered at James and slumped into his seat on the opposite side of the room.
Remus earned Gryffindor another ten points by beating Rosier. Faith won the fastest duel yet against Wilkes, as she twirled away from his curse and sent another one flying simultaneously at him; The Gryffindors couldn't determine which bang was louder; the bang of Wilkes missed curse on the back wall or the bang of Wilkes being slammed into the front wall by the force of Faith's curse.
"Bloody brilliant Ravenwood!" Sirius cheered as he gave her an enthusiastic high five. The cheers of the Gryffindors faded as Lily saw Bellatrix get up and casually walk towards the center of the mat; a wicked grin on her face. Lily straightened up and strode to the center. As she walked, she felt her stomach filling with lead.
"Duelers take your positions!" Professor O'Malley shouted for the seventh and last time. Bellatrix and Lily turned away from each other and walked twenty paces. As Lily turned towards her opponent, she saw Bellatrix smiling wildly and her eyes had a spark in them. Lily took a deep breath and held her wand up.
"One three. One! Two! Three!" cried Professor O'Malley.
Bellatrix started on two. "Paralizus!" A jet of blue light exploded towards Lily like a cannon ball.
"Navario!" cried Lily just in time to deflect the curse. Bellatrix sent one right after another at Lily, who just barely kept them from hitting her. Lily noticed that Bellatrix's curses were growing stronger with each incantation. She knew that eventually she wouldn't be able to deflect them. Lily deflected the last curse and screamed "Paralizus!" Bellatrix and Lily's curses hit each other and exploded into a shower of blue sparks. Lily was just about to cast the Paralyzing Curse again when Bellatrix smiled and waved her wand high above her head.
"Expuldeius!" cried Bellatrix as her wand came down and pointed straight at Lily's heart. Lily gasped as a surge of purple light hit her.
She did not know how long she was in the air for, but after what seemed like an eternity, she felt a crushing pain in her back as she smashed into the wall. She fell to the ground face first and lay there for a minute, unable to breath or focus on anything that was going around her. As she lay there, she heard commotion in the distance. Everything felt and sounded like it was happening in slow motion. She slowly raised her head to see a blurred Liz, James and Remus running over to her. She hazily saw that Professor O'Malley was standing in front of Bellatrix trying his best to hold her back as she screamed at Faith, who was forcibly being held back by Sirius and screaming right back at her. Lily could hear the Slytherins laughter and caught a glimpse of Peter sitting in his chair, biting his nails as he look nervously from Bellatrix to Faith and Sirius.
"Lily are you alright!" said a blurred Liz, checking her eyes for focus and alertness. Lily closed her eyes and nodded.
"We need to get her to hospital wing, she could have broken ribs," came James's voice. Lily felt someone gently press against her sides.
"No, she doesn't have any broken ribs," Lily heard Liz say as she continued to feel her gently press her back. "But she may have a concussion from hitting the wall so hard."
"She should still go to the hospital wing just to make sure," Lily heard Remus say. Slowly her vision became more focused and she began to sit up. Lily's head felt like it had been hit by an iron pole. A sharp pain caused her to clasp her head with her hand.
"Are you alright Evans?" Lily looked up at James. His face was nervous and pale and his eyes were full of concern.
"Yeah," was all that Lily could whisper.
"YOU LOW-DOWN PIECE OF FILTH BELLATRIX! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU TRY ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN ON ONE OF MY FRIENDS!" Lily saw Faith scream at Bellatrix as Sirius was struggling to hold her back.
"LET THAT BE A WARNING TO ALL OF YOU MUDBLOODS!" Bellatrix shrieked as she and the rest of the Slytherins were ushered out of the room by Professor O'Malley.
"JUST WAIT BELLATRIX! IT'LL JUST BE YOU AND ME ONE OF THESE DAYS AND I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU WITH MY BEAR HANDS!" Faith bellowed, still struggling against Sirius's grip.
"Faith calm down!" Sirius grunted as he struggled to hold on to her arms. "Faith look at me! LOOK AT ME!" he bellowed, causing Faith to stop struggling and turn to look at him. Her eyes were wild and angry. Sirius stared into her eyes, his brow furrowed. "Getting this upset is what she wants! She's not worth it!" Faith started to protest, but he cut her off. "Go see if Lily is alright." Faith took a deep breath and turned to walk towards Lily.
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Don't forget to review!
Please don't forget to review!
Without further ado, here is my longest chapter to date. I hope you enjoy it.
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Chapter 5: Midnight Walks and Dueling
Lily and James both found that midnight had come faster than they thought. Both of their friends had retired to bed about a half an hour before they were to venture off to their duty. As James left his dorm, he glanced one last time in the mirror. He cursed at his unruly hair before walking out the door. His body was filled with anticipation as he thought about the two hours he would be spending alone with his crush for five years.
"Calm yourself James, you don't want to go and make a bloody fool of yourself," he thought as he emerged into the empty common room. He leaned against one of the tables and waited for Lily. Thoughts about conversation topics flooded his mind as he tried to lay out a plan for tonight. But his thoughts were interrupted as Lily glided down the stairs.
"Are you ready Potter?" she said as she walked over to him. James noticed that her hair was freshly brushed and she had a little bit of makeup on.
"Of course. I've been waiting for ages Evans," James smiled as he breathed in her perfume. "Shall we get going then?" The two students climbed out of the portrait hole and began to walk down the corridor.
"I figured we could start by checking out the usual snogging spots," said Lily casually as they walked down the stairs.
"It's only been a few minutes and already you are talking about snogging with me Evans?" James gave her his most charming smile. Lily threw him a disgusted look and his smile vanished. "Er.where are the usually snogging spots anyway?" he asked with a serious face.
"Um ..the trophy room, the broom cupboards on the first, third and fourth floors, the charms classroom, the library, the astronomy tower, the Great Hall.." Lily listed off.
"Who would be stupid enough to snog in the Great Hall?" interrupted James. "I mean that is just plain foolish. The room behind the portrait of Barnaby the Befuddled is much more private." James smirked at Lily. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Potter let's get one thing straight right away. I don't want to hear about your sexual escapades, alright?" Lily shook her head in disgust.
"It was only a joke Evans. You need to loosen up a little bit," said James. 'Wonderful James, real smooth.' He ruffled up his hair out of nervousness. Lily, having witnessed his irritating habit, let out a big sigh, which turned into a yawn.
"Don't start that Evans, we have..." James glanced at his watch, "an hour and forty-three minutes to go."
The two Gryffindors walked around the castle, looking in all of the known snogging spots. They caught a fifth year Hufflepuff girl and sixth year Ravenclaw boy in the broom cupboard on the fourth floor. After an embarrassing few minutes, two write-ups and a deduction of twenty house points later, Lily and James found themselves laughing as they headed towards the astronomy tower.
"No matter how many times I catch people I still can't help laughing," Lily giggled. James noticed how beautiful she looked when she was laughing. Her face lit up and her eyes looked like glistening emeralds in the darkness.
"How many people have to caught?" asked James suddenly intrigued. Lily paused for a moment, her face screwed up as she calculated in her head.
"I'd say Remus and I have caught at least seventy couples. But it doesn't really count since it's mostly the same couples that try and find new places." Lily smiled to herself as they entered the astronomy tower. "The most embarrassing one was last year when Remus and I caught Sirius and Heather Medina in the Great Hall." Lily was grinning from ear to ear. James stared at her in disbelief.
"What! They never told me that." James shook his head.
"They were probably embarrassed. They were only kissing, but I've never seen Remus laugh so hard in my life." Lily gave the tower a once over examination and headed back for the door.
"Well that's my best mate for you." James laughed as he magically sealed the door locked, making a mental note to tease Sirius when he got up tomorrow.
"Well it's not a good example to set with other girls," Lily stated as they walked down the stairs towards the DADA corridor. James looked at Lily with a curious expression on his face.
"Is that why Faith turned him down all those times?" he questioned.
"Partially," Lily smirked as if this was a joke that James didn't get. James raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to explain more. Lily sighed. "It's complicated with Faith and that's all I'm going to say." Lily stopped for a moment as they passed the DADA classroom and stared at the hallway in front of her. James looked at her concerned.
"I'm really sorry about earlier today," he said. Lily's face was somber and she nodded her head.
"Thank you for helping us out earlier today. It was very decent of you." She began to walk down the hall again; her eyes fixed straight ahead. "But for future reference, we can handle confrontations perfectly well by ourselves. We're used to it." Lily's tone was unemotional and detached.
" I don't doubt your talents as a witch Evans and I know better than anyone that you can handle yourself. I mean, I've probably been on the receiving end of your hexes more than anyone. But people like Bellatrix give all wizards a bad name, pureblood or not," stated James as he stopped at the end of the hall and turned to look at Lily. Lily looked up into his eyes. "Don't ever let anyone make you feel bad about who you are." As they stared into each other's eyes, Lily felt an odd sudden rush of gratitude towards James. It was the words that she needed to hear all day. James smiled and turned towards the hall in front of them.
An hour and half later, Lily and James had said their goodnights and drowsily headed up to their respective dormitories. As Lily laid her head down on her pillow, she couldn't help thinking that maybe James wasn't as big of a prat as she had thought.
"Well he still ruffles his hair.. and that is really annoying," she thought as sleep overtook her.
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Lily awoke five hours later to Faith singing along with the radio. Lily rolled over sleepily and looked at the clock and gave a miserable groan.
"Morning sleepyhead!" Faith looked over from her mirror where she was applying her eyeliner, her hair wrapped in a towel. "How was last night's escapade?" she asked with a sly smile. Lily grunted and rolled back over, not ready to become apart of the living just yet. Liz walked into the room freshly showered.
"Isn't she up yet?" asked Liz as she settled herself down in front of her mirror and took out her wand.
"She isn't receiving any visitors at the moment," Faith laughed and turned back to her mirror.
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"And Potter scores again! That's number thirty-one for Potter today!" rang a voice throughout the stadium. James raced back around the stadium and onto the tail of the opposing chaser who now had the quaffle. He urged his broom forward. He could feel the broom jerk forward under his grip and the wind in his face. He was moving up along side the chaser. His eyes were fixed on the quaffle. He was side by side with the opposing chaser. James reached to knock the quaffle out of his hands, when all of the sudden the chaser leaned over and started licking his face. James slowly came into consciousness and realized that there was something heavy on his chest. He opened his eyes to see a blurred black dog standing on his bed with his front paws on James's chest. The dog whined as James laughed.
"Good morning Padfoot," James patted the dog's head and stretched for his glasses. "I see we are very hungry this morning." The dog leapt down onto the floor with a thud. Remus entered the room, fresh from the shower.
"Padfoot! You have to stop doing that when we are in the castle! What if I was someone else?" said Remus as he closed the door tight. The dog wagged his tail once and then turned back into a man.
"Oh Moony, relax! Don't get your panties in a twist. I just thought I'd wake up Prongs with a little kiss since he probably didn't get one last night," said Sirius with a broad grin. Peter giggled from the other side of the room as he put on a pair of socks.
"You need a girlfriend mate, so you'll stop being so concerned with my love life," said James as he grabbed a towel and headed out the door.
"Hurry up! I'm starving!" Sirius called after him.
Half an hour later, the boys were happily inhaling their breakfast in the Great Hall. As Sirius tried to explain why England was a shoe-in for The Cup this year to Peter, James looked casually over at the Ravenclaw table in front of him. His eyes fell on a plump, petite blonde with brown eyes and an upturned nose. James grinned as he remembered his conversation with Lily last night.
"Hey Padfoot," James interrupted.
"Prongs, I'm talking here or are you deaf?" asked Sirius a little annoyed, but James noticed Peter looked relieved.
"I had an interesting conversation with Evans last night about snogging," James began. Remus looked over at him as he took a sip of his juice.
"Well unless you actually snogged her, I don't want to hear it," answered Sirius coldly. If there was one thing you did not interrupt Sirius on, it was Quidditch.
"How come you never told me that Remus and Evans caught you and Heather Medina snogging in the Great Hall last year?" Remus nearly spit out his juice as he started to laugh. Peter's mouth fell as he stared from Heather to Sirius.
"I didn't think it was any of your business," said Sirius with a cheeky grin. James raised an eyebrow at him. "Plus, she threatened to hex my manhood if I told anyone. Anyway, it wasn't one of my prouder moments." Sirius looked around as James, Remus and Peter laughed.
"Where is Evans anyway? I want to thank her for her inability to keep a secret," said Sirius as he looked at Liz and Faith who were deeply immersed in conversation. James looked down the table.
"I don't know?" said James. "Hey Ravenwood, Corentine! Where's Evans?" James called at the two girls. They immediately turned and looked at James with matching stares.
"Excuse me Potter? Can't you see that we are talking or has your head swelled so large that it has obstructed your vision?" said Faith highly annoyed.
"Have bad dreams last night Ravenwood? Or are you bitter cause I wasn't there to keep you company?" Sirius joined in, with a mischievous grin.
"Black, why would I want you to keep me company when the mere thought of it makes me want to vomit?" said Faith with a sarcastic smile.
"So, you have thought about it then?" said Sirius with an inquiring look on his face. Faith shot him a disgusted glare as Liz smiled and caught Remus's eye.
"Anyway.." said James trying to get them to focus on his question, "Where is Evans?"
"She's outside taking laps in the lake. If you hurry you four can catch her. Oh, and don't forget to fill your pockets with heavy rocks before you go in," said Faith with a great deal of sarcasm as she turned her attention to her food. The four boys laughed.
"She's still getting ready, why?" asked Liz, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
"Sirius wanted to thank her about something she witnessed last year," said James as Sirius elbowed him in the side. Remus laughed and shook his head.
"Oh, it wouldn't be happen to be about the Heather Medina snogging incident in the Great Hall would it?" Liz inquired, not looking at the boys.
"Good, then I'll thank Evans later for her big mouth." Sirius grinned and turned towards James. "Well I guess you were the only one that didn't know Jamesie-boy." Sirius turned back towards Peter and began talking about England again. James noticed that Faith had thrown a hurtful look at Sirius. The two girls got up and walked out of the Great Hall.
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"Just five more minutes" Lily thought to herself. She had just got comfortable again when she felt a rush of cold water hit her face. She screamed and jumped up startled, blinking water out of her eyes. Faith and Liz were standing above her bed with their wands out and smirks on their faces.
"What the bloody hell are you two doing!" Lily shrieked, anger rising into her face. "Have you gone completely mad!" She began to get out of her bed, sopping wet.
"It's almost eight-fifteen and you are going to be late for class Miss Head Girl," said Faith as she waved her wand and pink soap bubbles covered Lily from head to toe making her look like a living heap of cotton candy.
"You missed breakfast. Didn't you hear us tell you to get up before we left?" asked Liz as she magically dried Lily's bed and summoned her uniform from the closet. Lily tried to answer but couldn't as Faith now had her caught in a powerful drying spell, which prevented her from speaking. She felt like she was being put through a giant car wash. Faith flicked her wand and the blast of air stopped. With another flick Lily's hair was straight and shiny.
"I didn't hear you two leave! But for crying out loud guys, don't ever wake me up like that again! You nearly gave me a bloody heart attack." Lily flinched as make-up appeared on her face with a wave of Faith's wand.
"Sorry Lils, but this is the only way you would have made it to class on time," said Liz as she collected Lily's books and put them into her bag. "But we brought you some breakfast, so don't be too mad at us alright." Liz pointed to a bagel on her dresser as she smirked at Lily, who was putting on her uniform.
"It better be the best damn bagel on the face of the planet in order for me to forgive you." Lily looked in the mirror and pinned her badge to her chest, still angry with her friends.
"Your welcome for saving your sorry butt Evans," said Faith in her military tone that she inherited from her father. Faith grabbed Lily's bag from Liz and thrust it at her. "Now let's go or we're going to be late."
"Thanks guys," Lily smiled at her best friends as she bit into her bagel and hurried off down the stairs.
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Unlike the rough start in the morning, the day went by rather smoothly. Before Lily knew she was in her dorm, studying on her bed after an evening of patrolling the corridors with James. Faith was on the floor stretching and Liz sitting Indian-style on her bed practicing the wand movements for the Navarus Curse.
"I can't bloody well get it!" shouted Liz as she shook her wand in frustration. Red sparks flew out of its end and hit the parallel wall, shattering a picture frame. The people inside it scrambled to the sides for cover.
"Well destroying the room isn't going to get you anywhere with it," sighed Lily as she repaired the frame, the people inside shaking there fists at her. "Now you've gone and upset your family Liz," laughed Lily.
"They'll get over it," Liz replied sarcastically as she attempted to try it again. Faith laughed at her as she lay on her back and prepared to do some crunches. Liz shot her an annoyed look.
"Well what are you bloody laughing at down there? You should be taking this seriously. We have to know these so we can defend our lives tomorrow. Or have you forgotten that we have to duel the Slytherins?" said Liz looking at Faith disgusted. Faith stopped and sat up to look at Liz.
"Of course I haven't forgotten. Are you that daft?" Faith lay back down. "I mastered it last night while you were over there flirting with Remus Lupin."
"You were flirting with Remus?" asked Lily curiously, looking up from her parchment.
"No I wasn't flirting with Remus. He was helping me out with our Herbology assignment." Liz shook her wand again in frustration as thin wispy smoke came out of its end.
"But Herbology and Potions are your best subjects, Liz?" Lily glanced at Faith who was kissing the back of her hand in mock imitation of Liz. Lily started laughing, to which Liz looked over at Faith who continued to kiss the back of her hand.
"Oh shut up!" said Liz annoyed as she threw her pillow at Faith. "Go back to doing your crunches for Sirius." Lily and Faith rolled with laughter as Liz shook her head and continued practicing.
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Thursday morning came rapidly and soon the three girls and the Marauders found themselves once again in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. However this time, there were no desks. The chairs were lined up along opposite sides of the walls, and there was an enormous blue mat in the middle of the room. The Slytherins and Gryffindors sat opposite each other, eyeing the other group suspiciously. The tension in the air was thick enough to be cut with a knife. Professor O'Malley walked into the room and stood in the center of the blue mat.
"Good morning students," he greeted, "I do hope that you have studied and mastered the spells that we discussed at our last meeting. But I do suspect that we will find out rather shortly whether or not you have," a twisted smile played around his lips. With a wave of his wand, a piece of parchment appeared out of thin air.
"Our first group to duel will be Mr. Lestrange and Mr. Black." Sirius and Rabastan both stood up and walked towards the center of the mat to where Professor O'Malley was standing.
"Now, listen closely. I only want you to use the two spells that we have discussed. One is a defensive spell; the other is an attacking spell. The first person to successfully paralyze his opponent wins the duel and ten house points for their team. Any spell used that is not either the Paralyzing or Navarus spells are deemed illegal and that student is disqualified and penalized twenty house points. Are their any questions before we begin?" Professor O'Malley looked from an arrogant smiling Sirius to a surly looking Rabastan. "Okay then, duelers take your positions." Sirius and Rabastan turned and walked about twenty paces in the opposite directions. Both turned with their wands up. Professor O'Malley stood off to the side, out of their way.
"On three. One! Two! Three!" Rabastan waved his wand
"Paralizus!" he cried. Blue light shot straight at Sirius who reflected it with a wave of his wand. The two boys circled each other cautiously. "Paralizus!" Sirius cried, but Rabastan deflected it. Rabastan, deciding that he had had enough, began to throw continuous Paralyzing spells at Sirius, who laughed as he deflected them skillfully. Rabastan momentarily let his guard down as he wiped his brow on his sleeve, allowing Sirius to take advantage. With a swift movement, Sirius cast the spell right at the Slytherin's legs. Rabastan froze and fell to the floor with a loud thud. The Gryffindor's cheered loudly as Sirius gave a magnificent bow to them, winking at Faith as he came back up.
"Very good Mr. Black! I award Gryffindor ten points." The Gryffindor's cheered again. James and Remus clasped Sirius hard on the back as he sat down in between them.
"Next group, Miss Orion and Miss Corentine." Liz stared straight ahead as she walked toward the center of the mat. A blonde haired, lanky girl with a superior expression walked over from the Slytherin side of the room.
"Duelers take your positions." Liz walked twenty paces, a look of pure dread on her face. "On three. One! Two! Three!" Orion sent a jet of blue light at Liz. Liz tried to deflect it, but her spell was too weak and she was hit square in the face. She fell to the floor with a thud as her eyes stared at the ceiling. The Slytherin's erupted with cheers as Orion walked back to her seat; her head held high and a smug look on her face.
"It's alright Liz!" Lily offered as Liz got up and walked over to her seat, looking very disappointed.
"You'll get 'em next time," said James as he clasped her on the back.
"Don't worry about it Liz. You'll curse that bitch off the face of the earth next week," Faith shook her shoulder.
Liz smiled mildly as her teammates gave her words of encouragement.
The duel continued to provide both cheers and disappointment to both sides of the room. Peter lost to Avery while James beat Snape with ease.
"Maybe next time Snivellus!" jeered James as he ran back to his side of the room and gave Sirius a high five. Snape sneered at James and slumped into his seat on the opposite side of the room.
Remus earned Gryffindor another ten points by beating Rosier. Faith won the fastest duel yet against Wilkes, as she twirled away from his curse and sent another one flying simultaneously at him; The Gryffindors couldn't determine which bang was louder; the bang of Wilkes missed curse on the back wall or the bang of Wilkes being slammed into the front wall by the force of Faith's curse.
"Bloody brilliant Ravenwood!" Sirius cheered as he gave her an enthusiastic high five. The cheers of the Gryffindors faded as Lily saw Bellatrix get up and casually walk towards the center of the mat; a wicked grin on her face. Lily straightened up and strode to the center. As she walked, she felt her stomach filling with lead.
"Duelers take your positions!" Professor O'Malley shouted for the seventh and last time. Bellatrix and Lily turned away from each other and walked twenty paces. As Lily turned towards her opponent, she saw Bellatrix smiling wildly and her eyes had a spark in them. Lily took a deep breath and held her wand up.
"One three. One! Two! Three!" cried Professor O'Malley.
Bellatrix started on two. "Paralizus!" A jet of blue light exploded towards Lily like a cannon ball.
"Navario!" cried Lily just in time to deflect the curse. Bellatrix sent one right after another at Lily, who just barely kept them from hitting her. Lily noticed that Bellatrix's curses were growing stronger with each incantation. She knew that eventually she wouldn't be able to deflect them. Lily deflected the last curse and screamed "Paralizus!" Bellatrix and Lily's curses hit each other and exploded into a shower of blue sparks. Lily was just about to cast the Paralyzing Curse again when Bellatrix smiled and waved her wand high above her head.
"Expuldeius!" cried Bellatrix as her wand came down and pointed straight at Lily's heart. Lily gasped as a surge of purple light hit her.
She did not know how long she was in the air for, but after what seemed like an eternity, she felt a crushing pain in her back as she smashed into the wall. She fell to the ground face first and lay there for a minute, unable to breath or focus on anything that was going around her. As she lay there, she heard commotion in the distance. Everything felt and sounded like it was happening in slow motion. She slowly raised her head to see a blurred Liz, James and Remus running over to her. She hazily saw that Professor O'Malley was standing in front of Bellatrix trying his best to hold her back as she screamed at Faith, who was forcibly being held back by Sirius and screaming right back at her. Lily could hear the Slytherins laughter and caught a glimpse of Peter sitting in his chair, biting his nails as he look nervously from Bellatrix to Faith and Sirius.
"Lily are you alright!" said a blurred Liz, checking her eyes for focus and alertness. Lily closed her eyes and nodded.
"We need to get her to hospital wing, she could have broken ribs," came James's voice. Lily felt someone gently press against her sides.
"No, she doesn't have any broken ribs," Lily heard Liz say as she continued to feel her gently press her back. "But she may have a concussion from hitting the wall so hard."
"She should still go to the hospital wing just to make sure," Lily heard Remus say. Slowly her vision became more focused and she began to sit up. Lily's head felt like it had been hit by an iron pole. A sharp pain caused her to clasp her head with her hand.
"Are you alright Evans?" Lily looked up at James. His face was nervous and pale and his eyes were full of concern.
"Yeah," was all that Lily could whisper.
"YOU LOW-DOWN PIECE OF FILTH BELLATRIX! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU TRY ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN ON ONE OF MY FRIENDS!" Lily saw Faith scream at Bellatrix as Sirius was struggling to hold her back.
"LET THAT BE A WARNING TO ALL OF YOU MUDBLOODS!" Bellatrix shrieked as she and the rest of the Slytherins were ushered out of the room by Professor O'Malley.
"JUST WAIT BELLATRIX! IT'LL JUST BE YOU AND ME ONE OF THESE DAYS AND I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU WITH MY BEAR HANDS!" Faith bellowed, still struggling against Sirius's grip.
"Faith calm down!" Sirius grunted as he struggled to hold on to her arms. "Faith look at me! LOOK AT ME!" he bellowed, causing Faith to stop struggling and turn to look at him. Her eyes were wild and angry. Sirius stared into her eyes, his brow furrowed. "Getting this upset is what she wants! She's not worth it!" Faith started to protest, but he cut her off. "Go see if Lily is alright." Faith took a deep breath and turned to walk towards Lily.
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