Hey guys! Well finals are finally over and my summer has started. That
means, more time to write! So I'm sorry that I didn't have this up on
Friday like I said I would have, but I've been really, really busy, um,
saying "goodbye" to all of my college friends for the summer. He he he
*Coughs really loudly and wipes the evil grin off face. So, anyway, this
is a two-parter. It was already 20 pages when I typed it and I figured that
here was a good place to stop. He, he, he *wipes evil grin away again.
So hopefully you guys don't hate me too much for keeping you waiting and I really appreciate the understanding and patients of you all.
Here are the shout-outs!
Sammy Solo – The hedgehog is gone, I think he was assassinated! Yeah! Glad you like the cookies.
Aimee- Girl, you are good at making me feel guilty. So I updated to make you feel better lol. I hate goats! I'm starting a revolution to kill all goats on the face of the earth. Viva la Revolution!
Lilmisspotter- I love your name! That is so cute! Thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope that you continue to do so.
Ljstagflower4e/Jctigerwolf4e – Hey Rebecca! What up girl? Even though I emailed you to let you know the new chapter is up, I still want to say "Hey!" to my favorite non-slutty reader/reviewer lol.
Luthein- I hope that your vision is better since it has taken me almost two weeks to update. Since I played doctor once when I was a kid, I suggest that you start drinking heavily and your vision will improve. J/K.
Padfootlet – I want you to know that the reason I am posting this unfinished chapter is because you sent your hamster's over and they forced me to post it at poo-point blank. I hope you are happy. I love Julius Caesar, "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears: I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones." Antony, Act III. That's my favorite line of Julius Caesar. I hope you rock the house as Cassiius!
Flyingwind33- I think Nestle is a beautiful name! Be proud of it, it's awesome and interesting. When you get older, it will be a great ice breaker with guys, but that's another topic. Lol. I'm glad Faith and Sirius crack you up, I love writing them. Stay strong with school and if you need social studies help, I am a history major. Just let me know.
Alicia spinet – The evil monkeys have made my life hell for the past three days. Blast you and your evil flying monkeys! Now call them off cause I have posted, but don't call off Barney, he is good at back rubs.
MoreHPplease88- OMG, your review cracked me up! Finally someone with as demented a personality as mine. I can't believe that you read the whole thing in one sitting, that is awesome. You have rabid rabbits too? I thought I was the only one. This is AMAZING! Thanks for the review and I hope that you continue to read and review so we can continue this fun little dialogue. Lol. Keep the crazy men at bay. I've dealt with them before and they won't stop until they get your bellybutton. Don't let them get it! It's the key to the universe!
Hpgirl – Thanks for the review! I hope that my story isn't too romantic cheesy, I'm trying to give it the right believable balance. Please continue to read and review!
MDD5890 – You are my new favorite person! Thank you for the compliment! I totally agree with you that most writers make Lily come across as this rule- nazi that doesn't let herself laugh or have fun. I think Lily was a little bit of a troublemaker herself, except that she didn't let herself get caught lol. Thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope that you continue to in the future.
James And Lily 4eva – Thank you for the review. Now you can read! Get to it! Well, what are you waiting for? GO! And then review lol.
Littlesecertwriter – Hey, this is the first review I have ever gotten from you! Thank you for reading and reviewing my story! I hope that you didn't print out the whole thing. It's like 161 pages so far according to my computer, and this without the comments like these. So, here is the next chapter and I hope that you like it!
THE DISCLAIMER!!!!!!
Greetings, This is Marvin. I am a puma. I wanted to inform you that Spanky the Hedgehog will no longer be overseeing this operation. He unfortunately meet his untimely end by eating a bad mealworm. He was a rotten ruler, who smelled like stale pee and made weird hissing noises when he slept. So do not mourn the loss of Spanky for he is in a far worse place.
Anyway, like I said before. I am in charge now and things will be done a little differently. I have given Stephanie a two-week break to recuperate from her horrendous ordeal with Spanky. After much medication and a few treatment of electroshock therapy, she is feeling better and has agreed to sign her life, I mean story, over to me, Marvin the Puma.
I have several rules to be carried out. Stephanie does not own anything Harry Potter related. (That belongs to me now) Stephanie does not make cookies anymore. (I demand a full lobster dinner every night). Stephanie does not look to make profit for this story. (I, Marvin, intend to make profit on this story.) Evil monkeys, rabid rabbits, gangster hamsters and/or any other foul creature will become my dinner if sent to pressure my puppet, I mean, friend into writing faster. Any rescue mission attempt made to rescue Stephanie from her cage, I mean luxury condo, will result in a barrage of angry bees with five inch long stingers.
Now, I have said my piece and I am expecting all readers to follow this. Peace Out! Marvin the Puma.
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Chapter 17: Revenge Part I
James and Sirius had conjured up stretchers for the three girls while Peter ran into the Three Broomsticks to get Professor McGonagall. James walked back up to the castle, steering Lily with his wand. He was so angry. All his body could feel was a furious anger numbing his veins and limbs. He was absolutely livid at the people that did this to her. Lily was innocent. She wouldn't hurt anyone and yet she was the target of this horrible act of terrorism all because she was not a pureblood witch. Hatred for the people that did this to her boiled his blood and pumped through his veins. He had a pretty good idea who did this to her. Only a few people in Hogwarts were so deranged and evil enough to do it. He wished that one of them would cross his path as he walked up the castle stairs and into the entranceway. He didn't care that Professor McGonagall was two feet ahead of him; he would curse them into oblivion right in front of her.
As they walked along the hallways to the Hospital Wing, James tried not to look or react to the stares and whispers of several lower classmen. All he wanted to do was get them to the Hospital Wing and talk to Professor Dumbledore.
"Oh Merlin!" exclaimed Madame Pomfrey, as she hastily got up from her chair and surveyed the three stretchers before her. "Quickly, put them on the beds!" She pointed to three unoccupied beds near the windows. James, Sirius and Professor McGonagall levitated the girls off of their stretchers and onto one of the beds that Madame Pomfrey had instructed them too.
"You three stay here," said Professor McGonagall briskly, "I am going to get Professor Dumbledore and I'm sure that he will want to speak with you." She turned sharply and hurried out of the room.
"Are they going to be alright?" asked Sirius quietly as Madame Pomfrey checked Liz.
"In a few days," said Madame Pomfrey, scanning Liz with her wand. "They need to work themselves out of their unconsciousness and that may take a few days."
James angrily plopped himself down in a chair by Lily. He put his head in his hands and rested his elbows upon his knees. He couldn't believe this was happening. He wanted Professor Dumbledore to walk through those doors right now. He was going to demand that the offenders be punished and expelled from school. No, better yet, he wanted them to be tried and put in Azkaban for what they had done. No, Azkaban was too good for them. He wanted them placed before him, bound as he threw every curse he ever knew at them until they screamed for mercy. James lifted his head out of his hands. Sirius was sitting on the end of Faith's bed with his back towards James as Madame Pomfrey examined her. She murmured something and immediately Sirius angrily got up and swatted at a nearby table; knocking off several glass jars and a bedpan. Peter nervously watched Sirius from his chair by the window.
"Mr. Black, this is a hospital. If you cannot keep your anger in check I will have to ask you to leave," scolded Madame Pomfrey as Sirius walked to the window and looked down at the grounds below.
James turned his head towards Lily. She had bumps and bruises all over her arms and face. Her uniform was dirty and her silky hair was covered with dirt. James reached out to gently grab her hand and began to stoke it. All he wished was that she would wake up and it would be one big joke. Madame Pomfrey bustled over to Lily and began to check her for injuries.
"Mmmmm..." she said with a furrowed brow. "Well not as bad as Miss Ravenwood's injuries, but I there are a few broken ribs and these bruises looked pretty nasty." She walked away and disappeared through one of the adjoining doors.
"Broken ribs?" said James, turning to look at Lily.
Sure enough when he looked at her uniform more closely, a faint outline of the tip of a shoe could be seen imprinted near her ribs. Anger rose rapidly from the pit of his stomach and into his face. His eyes burned and he felt like he was on fire. Horrible questions of what happened flooded his mind. Where they beaten before they were cursed or were they cursed and then kicked while they were unconscious? What curse did they place upon them to knock them out like this? Was an Unforgivable Curse placed upon them? James let out a sigh of frustration. He just wanted some answers. Just then, the door opened and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall hurried into the room. Sirius turned around and practically ran towards them. James quickly got up off the chair and walked over to the two Professors.
"I know who did this and I want them expelled!" exclaimed Sirius, stopping in front of them.
"Mr. Black, I understand that you are very angry right now, but we need to sit down and figure out what has happened," said Professor Dumbledore quietly. "Will you three please sit down while I go and check with Madame Pomfrey on the condition of the girls." Dumbledore briskly walked to the door where Madame Pomfrey had disappeared moments before and disappeared behind it himself, followed closely by Professor McGonagall.
James, Sirius and Peter threw themselves onto three empty chairs. James and Sirius exchanged angry glances as they waited silently for the Professors to emerge from behind the door. About five minutes later, all three of them emerged with grim faces. Professor Dumbledore conjured himself an overstuffed armchair in the middle of the room and took a seat in it. He motioned for the boys to come closer and they did. He sat with his fingertips together and looked intently upon the three boys.
"I have a request for all of you," said Dumbledore once the boys had settled in front of him. "Mr. Black, Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Potter, I know that this is painful for you all, but I need you to tell me what happened."
James took a deep breath and rattled off what he saw. He started from the time that Lily left the bar all the way up until Professor McGonagall ran over to them with Peter. Sirius sat there with his arms crossed above his chest. He stared at James and nodded his head from time to time. When James had finished, Dumbledore sat there for a moment very quiet.
"Is this what you two saw also?" he asked turning his attention to Sirius and Peter. Both of them nodded and Dumbledore once again remained silent. After a moment, he looked up at Professor McGonagall. "Minerva, if you would be so kind to seal the door, please." Without so much as a word in response, Professor McGonagall walked over to the door and sealed it with a quick flash of blue light. Once she had taken her seat, Dumbledore removed his hands from his chin and rested them upon the arms of his chair.
"What I am about to tell you boys can not leave this room," said Dumbledore slowly. "I am trusting that all three of you will keep what is said to yourself and in the utmost secrecy." He stared all of them straight in the eyes for a moment before continuing. "As you may already know, Lord Voldemort (there was a collective shiver throughout the room) is growing more powerful by the day. He is attracting followers from all over the country and into Europe. His war against muggles and wizards that are not 'pure blood', as he calls it, is growing rapidly. Voldemort's influence is spreading like a disease and with the Imperious Curse it is hard to know who is acting of their own free will and who is under his control. As you may have already speculated, his influence has spread to some of the students in this school........."
"I can give three guesses to who you are talking about," said Sirius angrily. "Like I said before, I am positive that I know who did it and it makes me sick that we share the same name."
"But you are not like them, Sirius," said James bracingly. He knew how touchy the subject of his family was to him and the last thing James needed right now was to have Sirius fly off the handle because of them. "We all know that." Sirius snorted and shook his head angrily.
"James is right Sirius," said Dumbledore. "I have my theory on who the culprits were and I'm quite certain that we share the same belief. However, without any positive identification by a witness of who it was, I'm afraid that there is nothing that we can do."
"What!" roared Sirius angrily. "But Professor, I know it was Bellatrix! I would bet my life on it!"
"What do you mean that you can't expel them!" yelled James. "Professor look what they did! Those girls didn't do anything to deserve this! They were attacked out of hate! How can they not be expelled for their actions? They deserve to be in Azkaban!"
"I completely understand and agree with you both," said Professor Dumbledore quietly. "But without a positive identification from one of the girls or a witness, the Ministry would not permit me to expel one of the students. This is what I am trying to tell you. With Voldemort's powers and influence rising, I'm afraid that he may have infiltrated the Ministry. It is the only logical solution as to why the Ministry has imposed such ludicrous laws. Unfortunately the Ministry has imposed those regulations upon this school. I'm certain that without a positive identification, the school is powerless to expel or formally punish anyone."
"This is complete dung!" yelled Sirius, throwing his hands up into the air. "Leave it to the Ministry to protect the criminals." James shook his head in disbelief.
"But you said that they cannot be expelled without a positive identification," said James hastily. "Maybe one of the girls caught a glimpse of who it was? All we have to do is wait for them to come around and then they can identify who did it."
"I hope that you are right, James," said Dumbledore. But there was a hint of sadness in his voice. "However, I know how Voldemort's followers operate and I am very doubtful that they would have been careless enough to allow themselves to be identified."
"So this goes unpunished," James spat hatefully.
"Well," said Dumbledore slowly, "according to Ministry rules, students can not be expelled without a witness or positive identification of the culprit. So I am assuming that it means for anything." His eyes twinkled as he stared at James.
"Wait a minute," said James slowly, staring skeptically at Dumbledore, "Are you saying that we can't be expelled for anything we do as long as we are not identified?" A thin smile spread across Dumbledore's face.
"In theory, that is what the Ministry has said," replied Dumbledore. James and Sirius looked at each other. James felt a bit of the anger leave his body as hope sprung up inside him. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he looked from one to the other. James smiled at him. Had Dumbledore really given him permission to fight back without the threat of being punished for it?
"Well, if you three will excuse me, I have a few other matters to attend to before dinner this evening," said Dumbledore, rising from his chair. The three boys instinctively rose from their chairs as well. Dumbledore vanished his overstuffed armchair with a wave of his wand. Professor McGonagall un-charmed the door and the two Professors disappeared down the hallway.
"Did he just give us permission to do what I think he said?" asked Sirius, looking at James with disbelief.
"I think so, Padfoot," said James, turning to look at his best friend.
"He is off his rocker," said Sirius as a mischievous smile spread across his face.
"We need a plan," said James, looking from Peter to Sirius. "But we should wait for Moony until we finalize it."
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James, Sirius and Peter spent all of Sunday devising a plan of attack. They had spent most of the day up at the hospital wing, but the girls had not yet awoken from their sleep. James was starting to get worried, but Madame Pomfrey assured them that the girls would wake soon and that they just needed some time. After a few hours, the boys eventually gave up waiting around the hospital wing and decided to do some homework to take their minds off of everything that was happening.
Remus entered the boy's dorm room a little past ten o'clock at night. Immediately James and Sirius told him what happened while he was 'visiting his mother'. Naturally, Remus was very angry and wanted retribution just like James and Sirius. That night, the four boys locked themselves in their room and did not turn in to bed until the early hours of the morning.
The boys awoke early Monday morning, just like they had the previous day, so they could stop and visit the hospital wing before heading off to breakfast. Remus was the first to awake. Actually, by the way he looked, James thought that it wouldn't be too far fetched to conclude that he probably didn't get any sleep to begin with. James thought that he definitely looked more tired and haggard than he usually did after the full moon.
As they walked into the hospital wing, James and Remus were greeted with a surprise. Liz and Lily were awake and picking at their breakfast.
"James!" said Lily, her face lit up as he entered the hospital wing and practically ran over to her bed. He carefully threw his arms around her and didn't let go for a long time.
"You had me very worried!" he said, not wanting to let go of her just yet.
"Why Potter, from the sound of it, it's almost like you missed me or something?" smiled Lily, not wanted to let go of him either.
"Maybe just a little," he smiled. He pulled back from her and slid his hands into hers. It felt so good to be holding her hands again. "Don't you ever do that to me again, Lily Evans," he said gazing intently into her eyes. Lily smiled warmly back at him.
"I'll try my best, but I can't promise you anything," smiled Lily. "You look awful. You look like you haven't sleep in days."
She reached up and pushed some hair out of his eyes. Her hand rested on his cheek for a minute. Her warm hand sent tingles all through out his body; tickling his spine and filling him with an overwhelming urge to kiss her. He reached up and gently placed a hand behind her neck. He leaned in and gave her the softest, most passionate kiss he had ever given her.
"Well, you look absolutely beautiful," smiled James, pulling away from her after a moment. Lily gave a short laugh.
"Yeah, I'm sure I'm a real stunner. Especially with all of the lovely bruises and bumps on my face and body." Lily shook her head and carefully leaned back on her pillow. She winced as she slowly settled herself into a semi-comfortable position.
"How are you feeling?" asked James, watching her with concern. Lily shrugged.
"Well, I'm alive," she said, giving him a small smile. "A couple of fractured ribs and some nasty bruises, but Madame Pomfrey says that she can fix that in no time. I just have to drink this dreadful position three times a day, before every meal and I should be out of here by Thursday."
"Well, Thursday isn't too bad," said James smiling sympathetically. "How's Liz feeling?" He asked looking at Liz and Remus, who were over by the window.
"She seems alright," said Lily, smiling slightly as she saw Remus embrace her and stroke her blonde hair soothingly. "She was already awake when I woke up. I think that the emotional scars will be worse than the actual ones. How did Remus take it?"
"He wanted to kick himself for not being here and then he wanted to kick the people that did this," said James solemnly. A thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Lily, you didn't happen to, er, see who did this to you did you?" he asked curiously.
Lily screwed her face up for a minute, thinking hard. What was she doing? She was in Hogsmeade, looking in a window at strange objects. She was laughing and then saw a reflection. She gave a full body shiver as the vision of several black hooded figures with wands pointing straight at their backs replayed before her like a movie.
"No," she said shaking her head. "I didn't see a face. Only black hoods and wands." James's face sunk slightly and he tried not to make it out to be a bigger deal than it was, but Lily saw right through it. "James, try not to worry. Maybe Faith saw who did it? I'll ask her when she wakes up again." James nodded his head. "Anyway, Madame Pomfrey said that Dumbledore is coming down later to speak with us. He'll do something about it, I know he will."
James smiled at her. He didn't want to tell her that there was nothing he could do without a positive identification of the assailants. He wanted Dumbledore to tell them for himself and James did not want to be responsible for bursting their bubble.
"Ah, I suspected that you would be here this morning," said Madame Pomfrey, smiling at James as she walked over to Lily with several green and yellow pills. "Take these dear and try to eat something." Lily nodded and took the pills. She popped them in her mouth and took a large sip of juice.
"Disgusting," said Lily, making a face and taking another swig of juice. James didn't want to make her uncomfortable by staring at her while she was taking her pills, so his gaze followed Madame Pomfrey as she walked towards Liz and Remus.
"And how are we feeling," she asked looking at both of them. James heart stopped for a moment as he nervously looked at Remus.
"Alright," said Liz, stretching out her hand to receive the pills, not paying too much attention what Madame Pomfrey said. Madame Pomfrey glanced at Remus, who gave her a small smile in return, quite relieved that she didn't continue with her inquiries. Obviously satisfied with their answers she made her way over to Faith and Sirius.
"Did she fall back to sleep?" asked Madame Pomfrey walking over to Faith. She leaned over and gently placed a hand on Faith's shoulder. "Wake up Miss Ravenwood, you have a visitor who is eager to see you." Faith slowly opened her eyes and looked blurrily up at Madame Pomfrey. "Ah, that's better. Take these dear when you get a chance." Faith blinked and looked around the room until her vision rested on Sirius.
"Hi, love," said Sirius quietly, smiling down at her.
"Hey," said Faith in nothing more than a barely audible whisper. She blinked slowly and smiled slightly at Sirius.
"How are you feeling?" asked Sirius, settling himself a little closer on the side of her bed.
"Like I've been run over by a tank," she said quietly. "I bet I look like it too."
"Only a little," joked Sirius smiling at her, "But you are still absolutely gorgeous." Faith shook her head in disagreement. He lowered his head and took her hand with a deep breath. "Faith, about the other day. I acted like a complete git. You know that I'm absolutely crazy about you and I don't want you to give up your dream. That's not what I want at all. I just want you to be careful. And I understand if you need time or just want to have things be the way they are right now. I would rather have things like they are now, than not have you in my life at all." He looked up into her eyes, expecting to see the familiar scowl and narrowed eyes that he had grown accustomed to over the years. But instead she was smiling softly and there was no trace of anger in her eyes.
"Shut up you silly git," she said gently. "I'm the one that should be apologizing. I know what you meant and I mistook you for someone else and I should know better. Why don't we just forget it ever happened?" Sirius beamed at her.
"I knew you found me irresistible," said Sirius grinning at her.
"Well, maybe a just a little," said Faith quietly, smiling at him. "But don't let it go to your head, it's misshapen enough as it is." Sirius laughed as he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.
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Over the next few days, the boys couldn't help but be in better spirits, even despite the comments from the Slytherins and the load of homework that all the teachers were pouring on them. The boys had decided that Friday would be the day for "Operation Overlord." They all agreed that it was only fair to wait until the girls were released from the hospital wing before their assault was carried out, so they could witness and take some satisfaction in the absolute torture they were about to inflict upon all of the unsuspecting Slytherins.
James, Sirius and Remus entered the hospital wing on Wednesday afternoon relieved to see that the girls were out of their beds and moving around a bit more like normal. The three girls, who were still in their pajamas, had two hospital beds pushed together and were laying on them in deep discussion.
"I don't care what he says, as soon as I get out of here I'm going to kill that bitch," said Faith angrily, lounging against one of the headboards in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
"Well you can't just go up to her and curse her in front of the entire bloody school with all of the professors watching," said Liz laying on her side, also still in her pajamas.
"Well what about me? I'm the head girl for Merlin's sake, the last thing I need is to have my best friend expelled for excessive force in school. How is that going to make me look?" joked Lily sitting Indian-style on the end of one of the beds.
"Good afternoon, Ladies," said James announcing their presence. "What is all the commotion over here?" He bent down, gave Lily a quick kiss and took a seat right next to her.
"We just got done talking to Professor Dumbledore," said Lily grimly. "It seems that there is nothing he can do because neither one of us got a good look at who did this to us."
"Good look my foot," said Liz, sitting up so Remus could sit next to her. "I didn't even know what happened until I felt the curse hit me."
"Well all I saw was a long string of black hair sticking out from under one of the hoods," said Faith crossing her arms as Sirius plopped himself down on the end of the bed, causing everyone else to rise a few inches off the mattress for a moment. "And I'm going to tell you one thing, I know who it is and she is going to be very, very sorry that she messed with me."
"Well just don't get yourself expelled will you," said Lily. "I've made it through Hogwarts with you this far and there is no sense continuing without you now."
"Try not to get too discouraged love," said James petting the back of her head. "I have a feeling that she will get hers in due time." Lily looked up at him skeptically.
"What does that mean?" she asked, surveying him closely. "You aren't planning anything are you boys?"
"Me," said James giving her a dashing grin, "don't be silly. I'm head boy and if I made any sort of retaliation I would lose my badge for sure. And I'll be a painted hippogriff if I lose it to someone like Alexander Frey."
"Or worse yet, you could lose it to Remus," said Sirius grinning at his friend mischievously. "That would be just dreadful! It would be so horrible that women and children would run for the exits and men would jump out the windows." The others, including Remus laughed as Sirius jumped up to avoid the flying hand of Liz who looked completely reproachful at that remark. Sirius took this opportunity to settle himself opposite Faith. He smiled as he grabbed her legs and put them on his lap.
"Well, enough about getting even and all that sorts," said James cheerily, quickly trying to change the subject. "We have something that will make you all very happy." The girls looked at him inquiringly. He bent down and pulled up a very heavy backpack.
"Wow thanks Potter," said Faith sarcastically. "Like it isn't torture in here enough without you bring homework into it." She rolled her eyes and looked at Lily in disbelief.
"Well cheer up Ravenwood, we brought that too," smirked James. "Now before I was the expert Quidditch player that I am today, I spent a great amount of time in here and I better than anyone know how dreadfully boring it is to be cooped up in here for more than ten minutes. So we brought you presents." He opened the bag and tipped the contents onto the middle of the bed.
"Where did you get all of this?" asked Lily, looking at the pile of candy, games and magazines that James had poured out from the bag.
"Let's just say that I have a good connection," said James avoiding Lily's eyes.
"This is wonderful!" exclaimed Liz, going through the magazines.
"Well there is one condition," said Remus, addressing all of the girls who were scrounging through the pile like ravenous wolfs on a fresh piece of meat. "You cannot let Madame Pomfrey see you with all of these. She would have our blood."
"Deal," said the girls in unison.
"Look, I figured you'd enjoy this," said Sirius, handing Faith a magazine entitled Curses to Make Your Hair Curl, where a blonde-haired witch was being cursed by another blonde-haired witch.
"Oh, that's so thoughtful of you," said Faith leaning in to give him a kiss. The others made disgusted noises and a few 'get a private room' phrases were shouted in disgust at the sudden display of affection.
"Hey, where is Peter?" asked Lily looking around. "I've barely seen him since the attack."
"He said that he had something to take care of and he would see you later," said James, helping himself to a few Bertie Botts Every Flavor Jelly Beans. Lily and Faith exchanged glances. Never in all of the seven years that Lily had know the boys, had Peter ever been off doing his own thing. Apparently Faith thought the same thing.
"Well, it's getting late, we should probably get going before class starts," said Remus looking at his watch. "We'll come by later to check in." He leaned over and gave Liz a kiss before getting up.
"We'll come back after Quidditch practice," said James to Lily. "It's going to be a short practice since we are short a beater and a chaser."
"Well I'm sure that Sirius can handle it with out me," said Faith looking at Sirius. "He's never had any problems beating his balls before, anyhow." She gave him a nasty smile as the other laughed out of shock.
"It's a good thing you are injured because that would have cost you, Ravenwood," said Sirius smiling just as wickedly. "But I'll remember it, and you will be sorry young lady."
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That night Lily woke up in a cold sweat. Her dreams had been haunted by the dark hooded figures that she saw in the window reflection. She stared at the ceiling trying to shake the images out of her head. She glanced at the clock. It was 3:19 in the morning. She stared back at the ceiling, wishing that she was as smart as Liz and took the sleeping potion. She hadn't had a decent nights sleep in two days. Not wanting to go back to sleep quite yet, she sat up in her bed.
"Can't sleep?" said Faith from across the room, covered in darkness. Lily reached over and flicked on the light by her bed.
"No. I take it you couldn't either," said Lily, sitting up. Faith shook her head.
"I keep replaying the images that I saw. I feel like any moment they are going to burst through the door and finish the job." Lily saw Faith's face give a weak smile.
"Wanna talk?" asked Lily, moving the bed covers off her body and sitting up Indian style. Faith got up from her bed and walked over to Lily's. She sat down at the end of Lily's bed, one leg folded underneath her as the other dangled loosely off the end of the bed.
"I was thinking that I should have taken the potion like Liz," said Lily nodding over at Liz, who was sleeping soundly in her bed. "She is the only smart one."
"I was thinking that too," said Faith smiling at Liz. "But I don't want to get dependant on that stuff. I figure that I need to work it out or it will continue to haunt me. Call me stubborn, I guess."
"Well I wouldn't call you anything else," joked Lily. "Want to have a gorge fest?" Faith smiled and nodded. Lily reached underneath her bed and pulled out the bag of candy that James had left them. The girls dug in.
"You know," said Faith, looking at a brown colored jellybean. "There are some things that I will never get used to in the wizarding world, and this is one of them. Why would anyone want to eat jellybeans that aren't specifically sweet? I mean, can you really call it a "treat" if its not always sweet?"
"I don't know," laughed Lily. "Maybe it's the gamble factor. You know, the excitement is in not knowing what it is. Is it chocolate or mud? Peach or salmon? Spearmint or tripe? But I know what you mean. Some things still seem so foreign to me too."
"Well, here's to hoping it's chocolate," said Faith popping the jellybean in her mouth. Immediately she made a grotesque face and spit out the jellybean into her hand. "YUCK! Well, it wasn't chocolate and it wasn't mud and I don't think I really want to know what it was." Lily laughed as Faith waved her wand over the jellybean and it vanished into thin air. She reached over and grabbed the glass of water sitting on Lily's bedside table.
For the next half and hour the girls laughed hysterically as they each tried different jellybeans and the looks on the others' face as they spit random ones out.
"This is fun," said Lily as the girls decided to finally put the jelly beans away and give their taste buds a break. "We always have such a good time together."
"Yeah we do," said Faith putting the bag back on the floor. "My best memories are with you and Liz." Faith pointed her wand at her bed and summoned her pillow. She placed it behind her head and leaned against the footboard. You know, this is going to sound weird, especially coming from me, but I'm really going to miss this place."
"It's not weird. I know what you mean," said Lily, settling back on her own pillow, propped up against the headboard. "I can't believe that at this time next year, we will be out there." She nodded towards the window.
"It's so strange to think about," said Faith. "I'll be in the academy, you'll be in the Ministry and Liz will be in Healer school." She let out a sigh. "Then throw James and Remus into the picture and our schedules are going to be full. We aren't going to have time to see each other much are we?"
"Yeah we will. The academy is only for a year, then we can get a flat and we'll have a lot of time to see each other," said Lily reassuringly.
"I haven't told my parents about the Auror program yet. They still think I'm coming back after Hogwarts," said Faith looking a little uneasy.
"Faith, you have to tell them. They are going to be suspicious when you don't return home for summer," said Lily.
"I know. I'm going to tell them at Christmas," said Faith bracingly. "My dad is going to have a stroke when he finds out. The deal was that I could stay here if I promised to come and live back home when I finished."
"Well, if your parents disown you, you can always stay with me on holidays you know that," smiled Lily. "My parents love you, for some odd reason." Faith laughed.
"You know, you really are my best friend Lils. You're really all the family that I got," smiled Faith, looking Lily straight in the eyes.
"Yeah, same here. I mean, I consider you more of a sister than my own," smiled Lily right back. "Let's make a pact," said Lily sitting up.
"Okay," said Faith following suite. "What is it?"
"That no matter what happens with families, careers or boyfriends, we always rely on each other and know that we can always trust each other with our problems and that we never, ever loose touch or let anything come between us."
"Deal," said Faith reaching out to shake Lily's hand. The girls smiled at each other and leaned back again.
"Well one thing is for sure," said Faith, looking around the darkened room. "It will be nice to get out of here tomorrow." Lily nodded in agreement.
"Come on, let's pick out ball dresses," said Lily, pulling the drawer on her bedside open and pulling out several muggle and wizard magazines.
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Thursday came and all three of the girls were very happy to be out of the hospital wing. All of their internal bruises were healed, but some of the bumps and bruises were still visible on their hands and faces. The boys seemed especially happy at their return into the normal school and were quite cautious about who came near them when they walked in the halls. Lily, Liz and Faith sensed this too and though they found it a bit irritating, they figured that they would let them do this for the rest of the day and tomorrow they would put a stop to it.
The day went pretty smoothly, with much thanks to Sirius's expert cursing abilities. Those students that were unlucky enough to be heard gossiping by either Sirius, James or Remus ended up taking a vacation to the hospital wing for various deformities. By the time dinner had rolled around, most of the school had gotten wind of the consequences for gossiping about the Head Girl and the attack. However, Lily tried not to pay attention too much to the various stares of other students as she ate her dinner and talked with her friends. As the Gryffindors got up and decided to turn in to the common room for the night, Lily noticed that Faith hung back a little.
"Are you coming?" asked Lily as she stood up.
"In a second," said Faith a little to pleasantly. "I have a homework question that I need to talk to Professor McGonagall about." Lily looked at her skeptically.
"Faith, I have known you for seven years and not once in those seven years has anything good ever come out of that tone of voice," said Lily sitting back down, causing James to look at her confused.
"I don't know what you are talking about," said Faith a little to innocently, looking at Lily like she was crazy.
"Whatever you are planning I suggest you abort it right now before you land yourself right into detention for the rest of the year," said Lily crossing her arms sternly. The innocent smile on Faith's face turned to a twisted smirk.
"Oy, are we going back to the common room or what?" called Sirius half way up the Gryffindor table. Lily raised her eyebrows at Faith, waiting for an answer. Faith looked at Sirius and back to Lily. The smirk slipped off her face.
"Okay, you are right, Lils," said Faith grabbing her bag and making to stand up. "Let's go back to the common room." Relieved, Lily stood back up. She grabbed James's hand and walked up the isle in between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables. As Lily and James rounded the end of the Gryffindor tables and began to head for the door of the Great Hall, a loud whisper and a horrible thunder of laughing, lead by an all too familiar high pitched shriek, caused the blood in Lily's veins to turn ice cold. She tried to ignore it and glanced over at James. His face had turned rigid and he was glaring at the Slytherin table. His hand immediately dove inside his robes.
"James, don't," said Lily grabbing for his arm. "Let's just get out of here and go back to the common room." James did not remove his arm, but kept walking towards the door.
"Well, those bruises certainly are an improvement to their appearances. At least now they look more like what they really are; horrible pieces of filth not worthy enough to be in the same league as house elves, " said a mousy-looking brown-haired Slytherin girl, sitting near the end of the table. Lily steered James towards the door. As they walked out, Lily glanced back. Her stomach gave a horrible turn as she saw Faith march right over to the Slytherin table. Lily abandoned James and turned to go and grab Faith.
"What did you say?" said Faith loudly enough for half of the Great Hall to stop in mid-conversation and focus their attention on her. The Slytherin girl did not at all look phased by this sudden outburst of attention. She sat there smugly and stared at Faith.
"I said that those bruised are an improvement to your appearance, mudblood," she said as several other Slytherin's laughed.
"That's what I thought you said," said Faith sweetly. She moved in closer to the table.
At this, Lily practically ran over to the table to grab Faith. Faith shook off Lily's grip and placed both hands on top of the table. The two Slytherins that she shoved in between recoiled from her like she was a leper and bumped into the people sitting on the other side of them. Faith leaned in very close to the Slytherin girl, who was becoming more and more uncomfortable with each closing inch Faith was taking.
"You know, it is a real sign of cowardice to attack your enemy when their backs are turned." Faith turned her head and looked straight at Bellatrix, who was obviously very amused by the scene that Faith was causing. "It means that you are afraid to face your enemy straight on in a fair fight because you know that you will lose." Faith glared right into Bellatrix's eyes. Bellatrix sat smugly at her table as half of the Great Hall stared from one to the other.
"Is there a problem here?" said Professor McGonagall briskly as she approached the scene in front of her. Faith straightened up and turned to face her.
"No problem at all Professor," said Faith politely. "Just a friendly little conversation between Houses."
"We were just leaving Professor," said Lily, grabbing a hold of Faith's arm and pulling her away from the table.
"Then I suggest you get to wherever you are going," said Professor McGonagall sternly. Lily nodded and the girls strode over to the entrance of the Great Hall, where the others were waiting.
"What was that all about?" asked Sirius skeptically, grabbing a hold of Faith's hand.
"Nothing," said Faith nonchalantly. "Just girl talk." Sirius and James exchanged glances and they headed up to the common room.
* * *** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The boys decided to turn in a bit earlier than usual, but the girls didn't seem to take notice since they were still not up to par since the attack. Around half past midnight, they reemerged from their dorm room, hidden underneath the invisibility cloak. A few late studiers occupied the common room, but a well-placed stink charm by James sent most of the students running for the dorm exits.
"That could not have worked better than if we placed Snivellus in here ourselves," whispered Sirius. The boys tried to muffle their amusement and slowly moved towards the portrait hole.
"How is look?" asked James trying to look over Remus's shoulder at the Marauder's Map.
"We have to be careful on the fifth floor due that horrible cat.........and it looks like the dungeons are all clear, but we need to watch out for the Prefect's monitoring the Great Hall area," whispered Remus.
"Okay then. Let Operation Overlord commence," said James. The boys moved towards the portrait hole and slipped out into the darkness.
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Don't forget to review!!!!!
Marvin the Puma
So hopefully you guys don't hate me too much for keeping you waiting and I really appreciate the understanding and patients of you all.
Here are the shout-outs!
Sammy Solo – The hedgehog is gone, I think he was assassinated! Yeah! Glad you like the cookies.
Aimee- Girl, you are good at making me feel guilty. So I updated to make you feel better lol. I hate goats! I'm starting a revolution to kill all goats on the face of the earth. Viva la Revolution!
Lilmisspotter- I love your name! That is so cute! Thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope that you continue to do so.
Ljstagflower4e/Jctigerwolf4e – Hey Rebecca! What up girl? Even though I emailed you to let you know the new chapter is up, I still want to say "Hey!" to my favorite non-slutty reader/reviewer lol.
Luthein- I hope that your vision is better since it has taken me almost two weeks to update. Since I played doctor once when I was a kid, I suggest that you start drinking heavily and your vision will improve. J/K.
Padfootlet – I want you to know that the reason I am posting this unfinished chapter is because you sent your hamster's over and they forced me to post it at poo-point blank. I hope you are happy. I love Julius Caesar, "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears: I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones." Antony, Act III. That's my favorite line of Julius Caesar. I hope you rock the house as Cassiius!
Flyingwind33- I think Nestle is a beautiful name! Be proud of it, it's awesome and interesting. When you get older, it will be a great ice breaker with guys, but that's another topic. Lol. I'm glad Faith and Sirius crack you up, I love writing them. Stay strong with school and if you need social studies help, I am a history major. Just let me know.
Alicia spinet – The evil monkeys have made my life hell for the past three days. Blast you and your evil flying monkeys! Now call them off cause I have posted, but don't call off Barney, he is good at back rubs.
MoreHPplease88- OMG, your review cracked me up! Finally someone with as demented a personality as mine. I can't believe that you read the whole thing in one sitting, that is awesome. You have rabid rabbits too? I thought I was the only one. This is AMAZING! Thanks for the review and I hope that you continue to read and review so we can continue this fun little dialogue. Lol. Keep the crazy men at bay. I've dealt with them before and they won't stop until they get your bellybutton. Don't let them get it! It's the key to the universe!
Hpgirl – Thanks for the review! I hope that my story isn't too romantic cheesy, I'm trying to give it the right believable balance. Please continue to read and review!
MDD5890 – You are my new favorite person! Thank you for the compliment! I totally agree with you that most writers make Lily come across as this rule- nazi that doesn't let herself laugh or have fun. I think Lily was a little bit of a troublemaker herself, except that she didn't let herself get caught lol. Thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope that you continue to in the future.
James And Lily 4eva – Thank you for the review. Now you can read! Get to it! Well, what are you waiting for? GO! And then review lol.
Littlesecertwriter – Hey, this is the first review I have ever gotten from you! Thank you for reading and reviewing my story! I hope that you didn't print out the whole thing. It's like 161 pages so far according to my computer, and this without the comments like these. So, here is the next chapter and I hope that you like it!
THE DISCLAIMER!!!!!!
Greetings, This is Marvin. I am a puma. I wanted to inform you that Spanky the Hedgehog will no longer be overseeing this operation. He unfortunately meet his untimely end by eating a bad mealworm. He was a rotten ruler, who smelled like stale pee and made weird hissing noises when he slept. So do not mourn the loss of Spanky for he is in a far worse place.
Anyway, like I said before. I am in charge now and things will be done a little differently. I have given Stephanie a two-week break to recuperate from her horrendous ordeal with Spanky. After much medication and a few treatment of electroshock therapy, she is feeling better and has agreed to sign her life, I mean story, over to me, Marvin the Puma.
I have several rules to be carried out. Stephanie does not own anything Harry Potter related. (That belongs to me now) Stephanie does not make cookies anymore. (I demand a full lobster dinner every night). Stephanie does not look to make profit for this story. (I, Marvin, intend to make profit on this story.) Evil monkeys, rabid rabbits, gangster hamsters and/or any other foul creature will become my dinner if sent to pressure my puppet, I mean, friend into writing faster. Any rescue mission attempt made to rescue Stephanie from her cage, I mean luxury condo, will result in a barrage of angry bees with five inch long stingers.
Now, I have said my piece and I am expecting all readers to follow this. Peace Out! Marvin the Puma.
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Chapter 17: Revenge Part I
James and Sirius had conjured up stretchers for the three girls while Peter ran into the Three Broomsticks to get Professor McGonagall. James walked back up to the castle, steering Lily with his wand. He was so angry. All his body could feel was a furious anger numbing his veins and limbs. He was absolutely livid at the people that did this to her. Lily was innocent. She wouldn't hurt anyone and yet she was the target of this horrible act of terrorism all because she was not a pureblood witch. Hatred for the people that did this to her boiled his blood and pumped through his veins. He had a pretty good idea who did this to her. Only a few people in Hogwarts were so deranged and evil enough to do it. He wished that one of them would cross his path as he walked up the castle stairs and into the entranceway. He didn't care that Professor McGonagall was two feet ahead of him; he would curse them into oblivion right in front of her.
As they walked along the hallways to the Hospital Wing, James tried not to look or react to the stares and whispers of several lower classmen. All he wanted to do was get them to the Hospital Wing and talk to Professor Dumbledore.
"Oh Merlin!" exclaimed Madame Pomfrey, as she hastily got up from her chair and surveyed the three stretchers before her. "Quickly, put them on the beds!" She pointed to three unoccupied beds near the windows. James, Sirius and Professor McGonagall levitated the girls off of their stretchers and onto one of the beds that Madame Pomfrey had instructed them too.
"You three stay here," said Professor McGonagall briskly, "I am going to get Professor Dumbledore and I'm sure that he will want to speak with you." She turned sharply and hurried out of the room.
"Are they going to be alright?" asked Sirius quietly as Madame Pomfrey checked Liz.
"In a few days," said Madame Pomfrey, scanning Liz with her wand. "They need to work themselves out of their unconsciousness and that may take a few days."
James angrily plopped himself down in a chair by Lily. He put his head in his hands and rested his elbows upon his knees. He couldn't believe this was happening. He wanted Professor Dumbledore to walk through those doors right now. He was going to demand that the offenders be punished and expelled from school. No, better yet, he wanted them to be tried and put in Azkaban for what they had done. No, Azkaban was too good for them. He wanted them placed before him, bound as he threw every curse he ever knew at them until they screamed for mercy. James lifted his head out of his hands. Sirius was sitting on the end of Faith's bed with his back towards James as Madame Pomfrey examined her. She murmured something and immediately Sirius angrily got up and swatted at a nearby table; knocking off several glass jars and a bedpan. Peter nervously watched Sirius from his chair by the window.
"Mr. Black, this is a hospital. If you cannot keep your anger in check I will have to ask you to leave," scolded Madame Pomfrey as Sirius walked to the window and looked down at the grounds below.
James turned his head towards Lily. She had bumps and bruises all over her arms and face. Her uniform was dirty and her silky hair was covered with dirt. James reached out to gently grab her hand and began to stoke it. All he wished was that she would wake up and it would be one big joke. Madame Pomfrey bustled over to Lily and began to check her for injuries.
"Mmmmm..." she said with a furrowed brow. "Well not as bad as Miss Ravenwood's injuries, but I there are a few broken ribs and these bruises looked pretty nasty." She walked away and disappeared through one of the adjoining doors.
"Broken ribs?" said James, turning to look at Lily.
Sure enough when he looked at her uniform more closely, a faint outline of the tip of a shoe could be seen imprinted near her ribs. Anger rose rapidly from the pit of his stomach and into his face. His eyes burned and he felt like he was on fire. Horrible questions of what happened flooded his mind. Where they beaten before they were cursed or were they cursed and then kicked while they were unconscious? What curse did they place upon them to knock them out like this? Was an Unforgivable Curse placed upon them? James let out a sigh of frustration. He just wanted some answers. Just then, the door opened and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall hurried into the room. Sirius turned around and practically ran towards them. James quickly got up off the chair and walked over to the two Professors.
"I know who did this and I want them expelled!" exclaimed Sirius, stopping in front of them.
"Mr. Black, I understand that you are very angry right now, but we need to sit down and figure out what has happened," said Professor Dumbledore quietly. "Will you three please sit down while I go and check with Madame Pomfrey on the condition of the girls." Dumbledore briskly walked to the door where Madame Pomfrey had disappeared moments before and disappeared behind it himself, followed closely by Professor McGonagall.
James, Sirius and Peter threw themselves onto three empty chairs. James and Sirius exchanged angry glances as they waited silently for the Professors to emerge from behind the door. About five minutes later, all three of them emerged with grim faces. Professor Dumbledore conjured himself an overstuffed armchair in the middle of the room and took a seat in it. He motioned for the boys to come closer and they did. He sat with his fingertips together and looked intently upon the three boys.
"I have a request for all of you," said Dumbledore once the boys had settled in front of him. "Mr. Black, Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Potter, I know that this is painful for you all, but I need you to tell me what happened."
James took a deep breath and rattled off what he saw. He started from the time that Lily left the bar all the way up until Professor McGonagall ran over to them with Peter. Sirius sat there with his arms crossed above his chest. He stared at James and nodded his head from time to time. When James had finished, Dumbledore sat there for a moment very quiet.
"Is this what you two saw also?" he asked turning his attention to Sirius and Peter. Both of them nodded and Dumbledore once again remained silent. After a moment, he looked up at Professor McGonagall. "Minerva, if you would be so kind to seal the door, please." Without so much as a word in response, Professor McGonagall walked over to the door and sealed it with a quick flash of blue light. Once she had taken her seat, Dumbledore removed his hands from his chin and rested them upon the arms of his chair.
"What I am about to tell you boys can not leave this room," said Dumbledore slowly. "I am trusting that all three of you will keep what is said to yourself and in the utmost secrecy." He stared all of them straight in the eyes for a moment before continuing. "As you may already know, Lord Voldemort (there was a collective shiver throughout the room) is growing more powerful by the day. He is attracting followers from all over the country and into Europe. His war against muggles and wizards that are not 'pure blood', as he calls it, is growing rapidly. Voldemort's influence is spreading like a disease and with the Imperious Curse it is hard to know who is acting of their own free will and who is under his control. As you may have already speculated, his influence has spread to some of the students in this school........."
"I can give three guesses to who you are talking about," said Sirius angrily. "Like I said before, I am positive that I know who did it and it makes me sick that we share the same name."
"But you are not like them, Sirius," said James bracingly. He knew how touchy the subject of his family was to him and the last thing James needed right now was to have Sirius fly off the handle because of them. "We all know that." Sirius snorted and shook his head angrily.
"James is right Sirius," said Dumbledore. "I have my theory on who the culprits were and I'm quite certain that we share the same belief. However, without any positive identification by a witness of who it was, I'm afraid that there is nothing that we can do."
"What!" roared Sirius angrily. "But Professor, I know it was Bellatrix! I would bet my life on it!"
"What do you mean that you can't expel them!" yelled James. "Professor look what they did! Those girls didn't do anything to deserve this! They were attacked out of hate! How can they not be expelled for their actions? They deserve to be in Azkaban!"
"I completely understand and agree with you both," said Professor Dumbledore quietly. "But without a positive identification from one of the girls or a witness, the Ministry would not permit me to expel one of the students. This is what I am trying to tell you. With Voldemort's powers and influence rising, I'm afraid that he may have infiltrated the Ministry. It is the only logical solution as to why the Ministry has imposed such ludicrous laws. Unfortunately the Ministry has imposed those regulations upon this school. I'm certain that without a positive identification, the school is powerless to expel or formally punish anyone."
"This is complete dung!" yelled Sirius, throwing his hands up into the air. "Leave it to the Ministry to protect the criminals." James shook his head in disbelief.
"But you said that they cannot be expelled without a positive identification," said James hastily. "Maybe one of the girls caught a glimpse of who it was? All we have to do is wait for them to come around and then they can identify who did it."
"I hope that you are right, James," said Dumbledore. But there was a hint of sadness in his voice. "However, I know how Voldemort's followers operate and I am very doubtful that they would have been careless enough to allow themselves to be identified."
"So this goes unpunished," James spat hatefully.
"Well," said Dumbledore slowly, "according to Ministry rules, students can not be expelled without a witness or positive identification of the culprit. So I am assuming that it means for anything." His eyes twinkled as he stared at James.
"Wait a minute," said James slowly, staring skeptically at Dumbledore, "Are you saying that we can't be expelled for anything we do as long as we are not identified?" A thin smile spread across Dumbledore's face.
"In theory, that is what the Ministry has said," replied Dumbledore. James and Sirius looked at each other. James felt a bit of the anger leave his body as hope sprung up inside him. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he looked from one to the other. James smiled at him. Had Dumbledore really given him permission to fight back without the threat of being punished for it?
"Well, if you three will excuse me, I have a few other matters to attend to before dinner this evening," said Dumbledore, rising from his chair. The three boys instinctively rose from their chairs as well. Dumbledore vanished his overstuffed armchair with a wave of his wand. Professor McGonagall un-charmed the door and the two Professors disappeared down the hallway.
"Did he just give us permission to do what I think he said?" asked Sirius, looking at James with disbelief.
"I think so, Padfoot," said James, turning to look at his best friend.
"He is off his rocker," said Sirius as a mischievous smile spread across his face.
"We need a plan," said James, looking from Peter to Sirius. "But we should wait for Moony until we finalize it."
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James, Sirius and Peter spent all of Sunday devising a plan of attack. They had spent most of the day up at the hospital wing, but the girls had not yet awoken from their sleep. James was starting to get worried, but Madame Pomfrey assured them that the girls would wake soon and that they just needed some time. After a few hours, the boys eventually gave up waiting around the hospital wing and decided to do some homework to take their minds off of everything that was happening.
Remus entered the boy's dorm room a little past ten o'clock at night. Immediately James and Sirius told him what happened while he was 'visiting his mother'. Naturally, Remus was very angry and wanted retribution just like James and Sirius. That night, the four boys locked themselves in their room and did not turn in to bed until the early hours of the morning.
The boys awoke early Monday morning, just like they had the previous day, so they could stop and visit the hospital wing before heading off to breakfast. Remus was the first to awake. Actually, by the way he looked, James thought that it wouldn't be too far fetched to conclude that he probably didn't get any sleep to begin with. James thought that he definitely looked more tired and haggard than he usually did after the full moon.
As they walked into the hospital wing, James and Remus were greeted with a surprise. Liz and Lily were awake and picking at their breakfast.
"James!" said Lily, her face lit up as he entered the hospital wing and practically ran over to her bed. He carefully threw his arms around her and didn't let go for a long time.
"You had me very worried!" he said, not wanting to let go of her just yet.
"Why Potter, from the sound of it, it's almost like you missed me or something?" smiled Lily, not wanted to let go of him either.
"Maybe just a little," he smiled. He pulled back from her and slid his hands into hers. It felt so good to be holding her hands again. "Don't you ever do that to me again, Lily Evans," he said gazing intently into her eyes. Lily smiled warmly back at him.
"I'll try my best, but I can't promise you anything," smiled Lily. "You look awful. You look like you haven't sleep in days."
She reached up and pushed some hair out of his eyes. Her hand rested on his cheek for a minute. Her warm hand sent tingles all through out his body; tickling his spine and filling him with an overwhelming urge to kiss her. He reached up and gently placed a hand behind her neck. He leaned in and gave her the softest, most passionate kiss he had ever given her.
"Well, you look absolutely beautiful," smiled James, pulling away from her after a moment. Lily gave a short laugh.
"Yeah, I'm sure I'm a real stunner. Especially with all of the lovely bruises and bumps on my face and body." Lily shook her head and carefully leaned back on her pillow. She winced as she slowly settled herself into a semi-comfortable position.
"How are you feeling?" asked James, watching her with concern. Lily shrugged.
"Well, I'm alive," she said, giving him a small smile. "A couple of fractured ribs and some nasty bruises, but Madame Pomfrey says that she can fix that in no time. I just have to drink this dreadful position three times a day, before every meal and I should be out of here by Thursday."
"Well, Thursday isn't too bad," said James smiling sympathetically. "How's Liz feeling?" He asked looking at Liz and Remus, who were over by the window.
"She seems alright," said Lily, smiling slightly as she saw Remus embrace her and stroke her blonde hair soothingly. "She was already awake when I woke up. I think that the emotional scars will be worse than the actual ones. How did Remus take it?"
"He wanted to kick himself for not being here and then he wanted to kick the people that did this," said James solemnly. A thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Lily, you didn't happen to, er, see who did this to you did you?" he asked curiously.
Lily screwed her face up for a minute, thinking hard. What was she doing? She was in Hogsmeade, looking in a window at strange objects. She was laughing and then saw a reflection. She gave a full body shiver as the vision of several black hooded figures with wands pointing straight at their backs replayed before her like a movie.
"No," she said shaking her head. "I didn't see a face. Only black hoods and wands." James's face sunk slightly and he tried not to make it out to be a bigger deal than it was, but Lily saw right through it. "James, try not to worry. Maybe Faith saw who did it? I'll ask her when she wakes up again." James nodded his head. "Anyway, Madame Pomfrey said that Dumbledore is coming down later to speak with us. He'll do something about it, I know he will."
James smiled at her. He didn't want to tell her that there was nothing he could do without a positive identification of the assailants. He wanted Dumbledore to tell them for himself and James did not want to be responsible for bursting their bubble.
"Ah, I suspected that you would be here this morning," said Madame Pomfrey, smiling at James as she walked over to Lily with several green and yellow pills. "Take these dear and try to eat something." Lily nodded and took the pills. She popped them in her mouth and took a large sip of juice.
"Disgusting," said Lily, making a face and taking another swig of juice. James didn't want to make her uncomfortable by staring at her while she was taking her pills, so his gaze followed Madame Pomfrey as she walked towards Liz and Remus.
"And how are we feeling," she asked looking at both of them. James heart stopped for a moment as he nervously looked at Remus.
"Alright," said Liz, stretching out her hand to receive the pills, not paying too much attention what Madame Pomfrey said. Madame Pomfrey glanced at Remus, who gave her a small smile in return, quite relieved that she didn't continue with her inquiries. Obviously satisfied with their answers she made her way over to Faith and Sirius.
"Did she fall back to sleep?" asked Madame Pomfrey walking over to Faith. She leaned over and gently placed a hand on Faith's shoulder. "Wake up Miss Ravenwood, you have a visitor who is eager to see you." Faith slowly opened her eyes and looked blurrily up at Madame Pomfrey. "Ah, that's better. Take these dear when you get a chance." Faith blinked and looked around the room until her vision rested on Sirius.
"Hi, love," said Sirius quietly, smiling down at her.
"Hey," said Faith in nothing more than a barely audible whisper. She blinked slowly and smiled slightly at Sirius.
"How are you feeling?" asked Sirius, settling himself a little closer on the side of her bed.
"Like I've been run over by a tank," she said quietly. "I bet I look like it too."
"Only a little," joked Sirius smiling at her, "But you are still absolutely gorgeous." Faith shook her head in disagreement. He lowered his head and took her hand with a deep breath. "Faith, about the other day. I acted like a complete git. You know that I'm absolutely crazy about you and I don't want you to give up your dream. That's not what I want at all. I just want you to be careful. And I understand if you need time or just want to have things be the way they are right now. I would rather have things like they are now, than not have you in my life at all." He looked up into her eyes, expecting to see the familiar scowl and narrowed eyes that he had grown accustomed to over the years. But instead she was smiling softly and there was no trace of anger in her eyes.
"Shut up you silly git," she said gently. "I'm the one that should be apologizing. I know what you meant and I mistook you for someone else and I should know better. Why don't we just forget it ever happened?" Sirius beamed at her.
"I knew you found me irresistible," said Sirius grinning at her.
"Well, maybe a just a little," said Faith quietly, smiling at him. "But don't let it go to your head, it's misshapen enough as it is." Sirius laughed as he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Over the next few days, the boys couldn't help but be in better spirits, even despite the comments from the Slytherins and the load of homework that all the teachers were pouring on them. The boys had decided that Friday would be the day for "Operation Overlord." They all agreed that it was only fair to wait until the girls were released from the hospital wing before their assault was carried out, so they could witness and take some satisfaction in the absolute torture they were about to inflict upon all of the unsuspecting Slytherins.
James, Sirius and Remus entered the hospital wing on Wednesday afternoon relieved to see that the girls were out of their beds and moving around a bit more like normal. The three girls, who were still in their pajamas, had two hospital beds pushed together and were laying on them in deep discussion.
"I don't care what he says, as soon as I get out of here I'm going to kill that bitch," said Faith angrily, lounging against one of the headboards in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
"Well you can't just go up to her and curse her in front of the entire bloody school with all of the professors watching," said Liz laying on her side, also still in her pajamas.
"Well what about me? I'm the head girl for Merlin's sake, the last thing I need is to have my best friend expelled for excessive force in school. How is that going to make me look?" joked Lily sitting Indian-style on the end of one of the beds.
"Good afternoon, Ladies," said James announcing their presence. "What is all the commotion over here?" He bent down, gave Lily a quick kiss and took a seat right next to her.
"We just got done talking to Professor Dumbledore," said Lily grimly. "It seems that there is nothing he can do because neither one of us got a good look at who did this to us."
"Good look my foot," said Liz, sitting up so Remus could sit next to her. "I didn't even know what happened until I felt the curse hit me."
"Well all I saw was a long string of black hair sticking out from under one of the hoods," said Faith crossing her arms as Sirius plopped himself down on the end of the bed, causing everyone else to rise a few inches off the mattress for a moment. "And I'm going to tell you one thing, I know who it is and she is going to be very, very sorry that she messed with me."
"Well just don't get yourself expelled will you," said Lily. "I've made it through Hogwarts with you this far and there is no sense continuing without you now."
"Try not to get too discouraged love," said James petting the back of her head. "I have a feeling that she will get hers in due time." Lily looked up at him skeptically.
"What does that mean?" she asked, surveying him closely. "You aren't planning anything are you boys?"
"Me," said James giving her a dashing grin, "don't be silly. I'm head boy and if I made any sort of retaliation I would lose my badge for sure. And I'll be a painted hippogriff if I lose it to someone like Alexander Frey."
"Or worse yet, you could lose it to Remus," said Sirius grinning at his friend mischievously. "That would be just dreadful! It would be so horrible that women and children would run for the exits and men would jump out the windows." The others, including Remus laughed as Sirius jumped up to avoid the flying hand of Liz who looked completely reproachful at that remark. Sirius took this opportunity to settle himself opposite Faith. He smiled as he grabbed her legs and put them on his lap.
"Well, enough about getting even and all that sorts," said James cheerily, quickly trying to change the subject. "We have something that will make you all very happy." The girls looked at him inquiringly. He bent down and pulled up a very heavy backpack.
"Wow thanks Potter," said Faith sarcastically. "Like it isn't torture in here enough without you bring homework into it." She rolled her eyes and looked at Lily in disbelief.
"Well cheer up Ravenwood, we brought that too," smirked James. "Now before I was the expert Quidditch player that I am today, I spent a great amount of time in here and I better than anyone know how dreadfully boring it is to be cooped up in here for more than ten minutes. So we brought you presents." He opened the bag and tipped the contents onto the middle of the bed.
"Where did you get all of this?" asked Lily, looking at the pile of candy, games and magazines that James had poured out from the bag.
"Let's just say that I have a good connection," said James avoiding Lily's eyes.
"This is wonderful!" exclaimed Liz, going through the magazines.
"Well there is one condition," said Remus, addressing all of the girls who were scrounging through the pile like ravenous wolfs on a fresh piece of meat. "You cannot let Madame Pomfrey see you with all of these. She would have our blood."
"Deal," said the girls in unison.
"Look, I figured you'd enjoy this," said Sirius, handing Faith a magazine entitled Curses to Make Your Hair Curl, where a blonde-haired witch was being cursed by another blonde-haired witch.
"Oh, that's so thoughtful of you," said Faith leaning in to give him a kiss. The others made disgusted noises and a few 'get a private room' phrases were shouted in disgust at the sudden display of affection.
"Hey, where is Peter?" asked Lily looking around. "I've barely seen him since the attack."
"He said that he had something to take care of and he would see you later," said James, helping himself to a few Bertie Botts Every Flavor Jelly Beans. Lily and Faith exchanged glances. Never in all of the seven years that Lily had know the boys, had Peter ever been off doing his own thing. Apparently Faith thought the same thing.
"Well, it's getting late, we should probably get going before class starts," said Remus looking at his watch. "We'll come by later to check in." He leaned over and gave Liz a kiss before getting up.
"We'll come back after Quidditch practice," said James to Lily. "It's going to be a short practice since we are short a beater and a chaser."
"Well I'm sure that Sirius can handle it with out me," said Faith looking at Sirius. "He's never had any problems beating his balls before, anyhow." She gave him a nasty smile as the other laughed out of shock.
"It's a good thing you are injured because that would have cost you, Ravenwood," said Sirius smiling just as wickedly. "But I'll remember it, and you will be sorry young lady."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * *
That night Lily woke up in a cold sweat. Her dreams had been haunted by the dark hooded figures that she saw in the window reflection. She stared at the ceiling trying to shake the images out of her head. She glanced at the clock. It was 3:19 in the morning. She stared back at the ceiling, wishing that she was as smart as Liz and took the sleeping potion. She hadn't had a decent nights sleep in two days. Not wanting to go back to sleep quite yet, she sat up in her bed.
"Can't sleep?" said Faith from across the room, covered in darkness. Lily reached over and flicked on the light by her bed.
"No. I take it you couldn't either," said Lily, sitting up. Faith shook her head.
"I keep replaying the images that I saw. I feel like any moment they are going to burst through the door and finish the job." Lily saw Faith's face give a weak smile.
"Wanna talk?" asked Lily, moving the bed covers off her body and sitting up Indian style. Faith got up from her bed and walked over to Lily's. She sat down at the end of Lily's bed, one leg folded underneath her as the other dangled loosely off the end of the bed.
"I was thinking that I should have taken the potion like Liz," said Lily nodding over at Liz, who was sleeping soundly in her bed. "She is the only smart one."
"I was thinking that too," said Faith smiling at Liz. "But I don't want to get dependant on that stuff. I figure that I need to work it out or it will continue to haunt me. Call me stubborn, I guess."
"Well I wouldn't call you anything else," joked Lily. "Want to have a gorge fest?" Faith smiled and nodded. Lily reached underneath her bed and pulled out the bag of candy that James had left them. The girls dug in.
"You know," said Faith, looking at a brown colored jellybean. "There are some things that I will never get used to in the wizarding world, and this is one of them. Why would anyone want to eat jellybeans that aren't specifically sweet? I mean, can you really call it a "treat" if its not always sweet?"
"I don't know," laughed Lily. "Maybe it's the gamble factor. You know, the excitement is in not knowing what it is. Is it chocolate or mud? Peach or salmon? Spearmint or tripe? But I know what you mean. Some things still seem so foreign to me too."
"Well, here's to hoping it's chocolate," said Faith popping the jellybean in her mouth. Immediately she made a grotesque face and spit out the jellybean into her hand. "YUCK! Well, it wasn't chocolate and it wasn't mud and I don't think I really want to know what it was." Lily laughed as Faith waved her wand over the jellybean and it vanished into thin air. She reached over and grabbed the glass of water sitting on Lily's bedside table.
For the next half and hour the girls laughed hysterically as they each tried different jellybeans and the looks on the others' face as they spit random ones out.
"This is fun," said Lily as the girls decided to finally put the jelly beans away and give their taste buds a break. "We always have such a good time together."
"Yeah we do," said Faith putting the bag back on the floor. "My best memories are with you and Liz." Faith pointed her wand at her bed and summoned her pillow. She placed it behind her head and leaned against the footboard. You know, this is going to sound weird, especially coming from me, but I'm really going to miss this place."
"It's not weird. I know what you mean," said Lily, settling back on her own pillow, propped up against the headboard. "I can't believe that at this time next year, we will be out there." She nodded towards the window.
"It's so strange to think about," said Faith. "I'll be in the academy, you'll be in the Ministry and Liz will be in Healer school." She let out a sigh. "Then throw James and Remus into the picture and our schedules are going to be full. We aren't going to have time to see each other much are we?"
"Yeah we will. The academy is only for a year, then we can get a flat and we'll have a lot of time to see each other," said Lily reassuringly.
"I haven't told my parents about the Auror program yet. They still think I'm coming back after Hogwarts," said Faith looking a little uneasy.
"Faith, you have to tell them. They are going to be suspicious when you don't return home for summer," said Lily.
"I know. I'm going to tell them at Christmas," said Faith bracingly. "My dad is going to have a stroke when he finds out. The deal was that I could stay here if I promised to come and live back home when I finished."
"Well, if your parents disown you, you can always stay with me on holidays you know that," smiled Lily. "My parents love you, for some odd reason." Faith laughed.
"You know, you really are my best friend Lils. You're really all the family that I got," smiled Faith, looking Lily straight in the eyes.
"Yeah, same here. I mean, I consider you more of a sister than my own," smiled Lily right back. "Let's make a pact," said Lily sitting up.
"Okay," said Faith following suite. "What is it?"
"That no matter what happens with families, careers or boyfriends, we always rely on each other and know that we can always trust each other with our problems and that we never, ever loose touch or let anything come between us."
"Deal," said Faith reaching out to shake Lily's hand. The girls smiled at each other and leaned back again.
"Well one thing is for sure," said Faith, looking around the darkened room. "It will be nice to get out of here tomorrow." Lily nodded in agreement.
"Come on, let's pick out ball dresses," said Lily, pulling the drawer on her bedside open and pulling out several muggle and wizard magazines.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Thursday came and all three of the girls were very happy to be out of the hospital wing. All of their internal bruises were healed, but some of the bumps and bruises were still visible on their hands and faces. The boys seemed especially happy at their return into the normal school and were quite cautious about who came near them when they walked in the halls. Lily, Liz and Faith sensed this too and though they found it a bit irritating, they figured that they would let them do this for the rest of the day and tomorrow they would put a stop to it.
The day went pretty smoothly, with much thanks to Sirius's expert cursing abilities. Those students that were unlucky enough to be heard gossiping by either Sirius, James or Remus ended up taking a vacation to the hospital wing for various deformities. By the time dinner had rolled around, most of the school had gotten wind of the consequences for gossiping about the Head Girl and the attack. However, Lily tried not to pay attention too much to the various stares of other students as she ate her dinner and talked with her friends. As the Gryffindors got up and decided to turn in to the common room for the night, Lily noticed that Faith hung back a little.
"Are you coming?" asked Lily as she stood up.
"In a second," said Faith a little to pleasantly. "I have a homework question that I need to talk to Professor McGonagall about." Lily looked at her skeptically.
"Faith, I have known you for seven years and not once in those seven years has anything good ever come out of that tone of voice," said Lily sitting back down, causing James to look at her confused.
"I don't know what you are talking about," said Faith a little to innocently, looking at Lily like she was crazy.
"Whatever you are planning I suggest you abort it right now before you land yourself right into detention for the rest of the year," said Lily crossing her arms sternly. The innocent smile on Faith's face turned to a twisted smirk.
"Oy, are we going back to the common room or what?" called Sirius half way up the Gryffindor table. Lily raised her eyebrows at Faith, waiting for an answer. Faith looked at Sirius and back to Lily. The smirk slipped off her face.
"Okay, you are right, Lils," said Faith grabbing her bag and making to stand up. "Let's go back to the common room." Relieved, Lily stood back up. She grabbed James's hand and walked up the isle in between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables. As Lily and James rounded the end of the Gryffindor tables and began to head for the door of the Great Hall, a loud whisper and a horrible thunder of laughing, lead by an all too familiar high pitched shriek, caused the blood in Lily's veins to turn ice cold. She tried to ignore it and glanced over at James. His face had turned rigid and he was glaring at the Slytherin table. His hand immediately dove inside his robes.
"James, don't," said Lily grabbing for his arm. "Let's just get out of here and go back to the common room." James did not remove his arm, but kept walking towards the door.
"Well, those bruises certainly are an improvement to their appearances. At least now they look more like what they really are; horrible pieces of filth not worthy enough to be in the same league as house elves, " said a mousy-looking brown-haired Slytherin girl, sitting near the end of the table. Lily steered James towards the door. As they walked out, Lily glanced back. Her stomach gave a horrible turn as she saw Faith march right over to the Slytherin table. Lily abandoned James and turned to go and grab Faith.
"What did you say?" said Faith loudly enough for half of the Great Hall to stop in mid-conversation and focus their attention on her. The Slytherin girl did not at all look phased by this sudden outburst of attention. She sat there smugly and stared at Faith.
"I said that those bruised are an improvement to your appearance, mudblood," she said as several other Slytherin's laughed.
"That's what I thought you said," said Faith sweetly. She moved in closer to the table.
At this, Lily practically ran over to the table to grab Faith. Faith shook off Lily's grip and placed both hands on top of the table. The two Slytherins that she shoved in between recoiled from her like she was a leper and bumped into the people sitting on the other side of them. Faith leaned in very close to the Slytherin girl, who was becoming more and more uncomfortable with each closing inch Faith was taking.
"You know, it is a real sign of cowardice to attack your enemy when their backs are turned." Faith turned her head and looked straight at Bellatrix, who was obviously very amused by the scene that Faith was causing. "It means that you are afraid to face your enemy straight on in a fair fight because you know that you will lose." Faith glared right into Bellatrix's eyes. Bellatrix sat smugly at her table as half of the Great Hall stared from one to the other.
"Is there a problem here?" said Professor McGonagall briskly as she approached the scene in front of her. Faith straightened up and turned to face her.
"No problem at all Professor," said Faith politely. "Just a friendly little conversation between Houses."
"We were just leaving Professor," said Lily, grabbing a hold of Faith's arm and pulling her away from the table.
"Then I suggest you get to wherever you are going," said Professor McGonagall sternly. Lily nodded and the girls strode over to the entrance of the Great Hall, where the others were waiting.
"What was that all about?" asked Sirius skeptically, grabbing a hold of Faith's hand.
"Nothing," said Faith nonchalantly. "Just girl talk." Sirius and James exchanged glances and they headed up to the common room.
* * *** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The boys decided to turn in a bit earlier than usual, but the girls didn't seem to take notice since they were still not up to par since the attack. Around half past midnight, they reemerged from their dorm room, hidden underneath the invisibility cloak. A few late studiers occupied the common room, but a well-placed stink charm by James sent most of the students running for the dorm exits.
"That could not have worked better than if we placed Snivellus in here ourselves," whispered Sirius. The boys tried to muffle their amusement and slowly moved towards the portrait hole.
"How is look?" asked James trying to look over Remus's shoulder at the Marauder's Map.
"We have to be careful on the fifth floor due that horrible cat.........and it looks like the dungeons are all clear, but we need to watch out for the Prefect's monitoring the Great Hall area," whispered Remus.
"Okay then. Let Operation Overlord commence," said James. The boys moved towards the portrait hole and slipped out into the darkness.
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