Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. All characters belong to a woman with a great imagination and determination, capable of creating this world that is the center of so many stories.
Sins of Angels: Sorry it took this long, I've been really really busy. But I have Spring Break now, so I should post again at least once before next week ends. Anyway, Thanks to all reviewers, and, again, sorry to keep you waiting. Enjoy.
Chapter 3 – Bumpy Train Ride
When James entered the next train car, Lily was nowhere to be seen. He traveled down the corridor, glancing in compartments, but Lily wasn't there. He ran into the next car and the next as well, both times not seeing her.
She was in the bathroom of the first car he came chasing into, a hand on her mouth and a silencing charm on the room. Her captor released her. She turned to see none other than-
"Snape?" she asked, unbelieving. He flinched a bit and nodded. She looked around. "Um, what are you doing?"
Snape sighed. Well, he had to do it. She was here, and so was he, he had to now. "Um, I wanted to…to apologize."
She stopped her looking around. "What?"
"Apologize. For that…the thing I called you last year."
Lily looked at him, doubt in her eyes. "What?" she repeated, this time slower.
"I'm…sorry, Evans, you were only trying to help, I guess."
Lily stared at him. "You're serious, aren't you?"
Snape nodded. It was around now she noticed that his hair wasn't greasy at all. It fell on his face as Sirius's does, providing just the right touch. His nose wasn't as prominent as he swept the noticeably soft hair from his face. He coughed hurriedly, realizing that his hair was still soft. "Just so long as you know," he said, glanced up at her through his black eyes and opened the door, pushing her out.
As luck would have it, because luck always has it, she landed in the arms of James Potter. The startled boy looked down at her as she pushed herself from him, hitting her back to the door which had not been fully closed yet, and in return fell into the bathroom. Snape, his wand in hand and hair back to normal, caught her from falling completely, his cheeks turning a delicate shade of red, and James Potter stared in awe at the sight in front of him.
"You! Get off of her!" James yelled and sprang forward, wand in his hand.
"Stop it, Potter, he's helping me up!" Lily snapped. James paused as Snape levered Lily to her feet slowly. Snape sneered, rejoicing in the fact that Lily had just scolded him, just scolded James Potter, and he'd listened like a damn dog!
Lily got up and carefully dusted herself off, taking care to stay in between the two boys. James suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her behind him. "Did he hurt you, Evans?" he asked harshly, staring at Snape with hate. "I saw you were in here alone. Did he?"
She was about to answer, about to scold Potter and reveal the truth, but one look at Snape silenced her. "Potter, go away. It is none of your business what I discuss with others. Leave. Now."
James carefully stepped backwards into the hall, his eyes never leaving Snape's face. As he came out, Sirius put a hand on his back to stop him. Lily sighed. This wasn't going well at all.
"Saw you rush out mate, and I came after…well, what do we have here?" Sirius said, looking at Lily, her face a mask of fear, and Snape, his a mask of hate. "Well, I see we're about to get off to an interesting start, aren't we?"
"Back off, Black," Lily said and stepped out of the room, shutting the door. But Snape caught it, sneering.
"I daresay it will get very interesting," the Slytherin said, his black eyes sparkling with a challenge.
Lily looked to James and Sirius. "Leave. Now. Go back to your compartment before I take off points."
At this, Sirius laughed. "Honestly, Evans, don't you know me well enough to realize I don't care about points? Our Quidditch skills more than make up for it."
"I'll confiscate your broom," Lily said threateningly, at which the boy laughed again.
"You can't do that. Now move, Evans, I'd rather not hex you as well."
Lily stood in front of Snape, stretching out her arms, her face determined. Sirius looked at James, who regarded the whole scene uneasily. James sighed, took a look at Lily, and turned to his friend. "Come on, Sirius, let's go," he said quietly to the surprised faces of everyone else.
"What?" Sirius was able to bark. "Let's go? James, it's…it's Snivellus! What's wrong with you?"
"Let's go, Sirius!" James said louder and waited for Sirius to start walking. The two boys glared at each other for a while until Sirius turned with a flourish and left, James following. Lily breathed in again. She jumped as the bathroom door slammed shut behind her.
Looking around, she sighed and realized too late she left her things in the Marauder's compartment. She frowned, and walked back to it, determined to get her things. She stopped outside the just opened door when she heard them screaming.
"James, I can't believe you did that!" Sirius yelled, pacing the compartment. Peter looked to James and Sirius with apprehension as Remus tried desperately to figure out what happened.
"Get over it, Sirius. It was no use to get into trouble this early."
"Don't feed me that, Prongs! You didn't want to do it because she was there!"
"So what? Maybe I didn't want to hurt her!"
"Look, this little obsession with her has to stop, James! She's ruining your life!"
"She's not ruining my life! It's about time we grew up, Sirius!"
"No! No! You do this every damn year, every year James! You can't suddenly start to act mature, it won't happen!"
"Maybe you should try it sometime."
"You're just trying to be like Charles!"
"What's wrong with that? Last I remember you looked up to him just as much as I did!"
"And look what happened to him," Sirius said quietly. James's face turned pale. "Oh, I'm sorry, mate, I didn't mean it," Sirius stumbled hurriedly as James got up. "Look, I didn't mean it, it just slipped out, you know?"
James didn't respond. He opened the door fully and turned right into Lily, who was frozen in fear. He looked at her with surprise.
"What are you doing?" he asked quietly. She gulped.
"My trunk," she stammered just as quietly. He turned around and went into the bathroom at the head of the train car. Sirius rushed out after him but stopped as the door slammed. He turned to see Lily, still frozen in the same place. He advanced on her and grabbed her roughly by her robes.
"Look what you're doing, Evans!" he commended as Lily looked at him, frightened. "There's fear in your eyes, for once. Wizening up, are we? He doesn't deserve this from you! You can't try to make him grow up like this, it won't happen. Stop doing this to him!"
"I…I don't know what you mean," Lily croaked, her scared eyes locked with his fierce ones. "I'm not doing anything to him."
"I swear, Evans, before the end of this year you will get what's coming to you. So will Snape. When you least expect it, it'll come."
Lily trembled as Remus appeared behind Sirius. "Let her down," he commanded.
"Shut up, Moony. You're just as bad as she is."
"You can't stop him, Padfoot," Remus said sadly. Sirius glared at Lily one last time before he let her go, moving past her. "Are you okay?" he asked Lily quietly. She nodded.
"My trunk," she said. Remus let her in and she entered, to be greeted by Peter's stare. It was no where near Sirius's, but it conveyed the same thing. She shifted uncomfortably as she pulled out her trunk and dragged it out to the hallway along with her other things. A young boy ran into the compartment as she was walking out, and she recognized him as Regulus Black. He had the same good looks as his older brother, but his hair was considerably shorter.
"Where's Sirius?" he asked excitedly. Remus shrugged.
"Sit down, Regulus. He'll be back."
Regulus sat next to the door, which he closed. As if a spell had been broken, Lily stopped thinking about what just happened and started to move her trunk. She carefully maneuvered it to rest in between two cars and sat down, taking out her book. She read the rest of the ride, receiving stares from passer-bys. When the whistle sounded, she was first off the train, and had already got one of the smaller carriages, which set off as she sat down. She wondered, not for the first time, what pulled them. However, all thoughts were lost as she pulled up to her second home, Hogwarts castle.