12 June 1976
Lily Evans had been crying all week long. It was incredibly embarrassing, as she was sixteen years of age as of January 30th, almost five months ago, as it was already June and the end of her O.W.L. examinations. In her mind, sixteen-year-olds, especially Gryffindors, had to protect their pride and dignity and crying was not a way to do so. To make matters worse, Ursula Greengrass, a nasty, self-absorbed Pureblood Slytherin who was a year younger than her, had informed her that her face was all red and blotchy. She was also told that her cheeks were permanently tear-streaked and she resembled a flobberworm. Pride and dignity? She no longer had any.
Lily was a good, sweet soul who rarely lost her temper, except around James Potter. She was a brilliant and diligent student who dedicated her life to her studies and her mates. She wouldn't let anything hurt those she cared about. True, they did occasionally poke at her for being a fiery redhead, and they did teasingly pray for the person who told Lily that her emerald-green eyes were beautiful, but Lily loved Emmeline Vance and Marlene McKinnon, and nothing would change that. She knew they loved her back.
Emmeline had enviable chocolate-brown hair that was beyond shoulder length and had blue-grey eyes that were so striking and had this knowing look about them. Her face was pale and pointed, but not unattractively so. She was also incredibly brilliant, and her intelligence rivalled that of Lily's herself. She was silent but wise, and never hesitated to give Lily or Marlene counsel.
Marlene McKinnon was a wonderful witch as well. She played for the Quidditch team and was a Chaser, an incredibly athletic one too. She was taller than both Lily and Emmeline, and was the best dueller either had ever come across. She had been training from quite a young age, and often helped Lily and Emmeline as well. She had thick, honey-blonde elbow-length hair and bright blue eyes that saw through folk every time. Her compassionate nature helped everyone when they needed it most.
Emmeline and Marlene had met Lily during their very first Charms class. They were partnered together, along with Alice Prewett, for the class, and all of them shared a desk together. The four of them had all become close, but there was no bond like Lily Evans', Marlene McKinnon's, and Emmeline Vance's.
Marlene was a Pureblood, while Emmeline was a half-blood. However, Marlene and Emmeline were both prosecuted because Marlene was a Blood Traitor and even Half-bloods were prosecuted. The McKinnons openly supported Muggleborns and Half-bloods, like the Potter and Weasley families, so Voldemort obviously wanted them dead.
Voldemort had been wreaking havoc ever since Lily discovered her magical abilities, perhaps even before. Her first Wizarding friend hadn't given her enough information about her new world for her to draw conclusions. Her first Wizarding friend had been sorted into a different House than herself, and it might have been different if he was sorted into Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, but he was rather unfortunately sorted into Slytherin, the House that rivalled Gryffindor like none other. This friend was Severus Snape.
Severus grew up in a poor family, with a constantly-drunk, abusive Muggle father named Tobias Snape who didn't give his wife and son two seconds of his day. He had lost all of his money when Severus was young to gambling, and had resorted to drinking his worries away. He didn't realise that his wife and son needed him. He tossed them away, and was rarely ever home. Severus' mother, Eileen Snape, was a Pureblood witch who had loved her son, but always defended and justified her husband's actions, never thinking to help him change. Thus, Severus had almost never spent time with loving parents and often spent time with Lily's instead.
Lily knew she and Severus were growing apart since Third Year, but only five days ago, he hurt Lily so terribly that she had cried for the first time since she was twelve, when Petunia, her snobbish but jealous sister, had, in a fit of rage, told all of the children whom Lily had previously been friends with before Hogwarts that she went to St. Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Girls. Apparently, they were all scared of Lily, and did not wish to speak to her ever again. Lily's mother and father, Carol and Brian Evans, had tried to console her, but she was so angry at Petunia that she refused to even acknowledge her presence all summer long, while Petunia had been insulting Lily with glee, as Lily did not even bother responding.
Severus had informed the young witch of the four Hogwarts Houses, and had continuously reinforced the belief that Slytherin was the best House, Gryffindor was the worst, Ravenclaw was alright, and Hufflepuff was for the rest, the nonunique. Therefore, Lily had asked to be sorted into Slytherin when her time had come. Lily had been told that it didn't matter whether she was Muggleborn or not, but Severus had come to Hogwarts only to start terrorising students of Lily's birth and called them the disgusting slur "Mudblood".
He had called her that too.
After the theoretical Defence O.W.L. examination, Lily was wading in the Great Lake with Emmeline and Marlene. It was incredibly sweltering and it seemed a good idea at the time. A few other girls, namely Dorcas Meadowes, a pretty, upbeat girl, Alice Prewett, a cheerful, short-haired sweetheart, and Mary MacDonald, a robust, lively Muggleborn witch, had joined them and began racing little boats that they had conjured in the Lake, and it was good fun to watch them do so.
"Mary, your boat is about to crash!" Alice giggled, pointing at the barely-visible lilac toy.
Mary groaned and tried to redirect the boat with her wand. She, along with the others, had been conjuring streams of water with the "Aguamenti" spell and were using the spell to propel their boats forward. Forcing the stream to flow into the water behind the boat, she tried to save her vessel from an unruly fate, but alas, no such luck.
"Shite," she swore, as her boat smashed into a rock and began filling with water, slowly sinking lower and lower into the lake until it was completely submerged. "I thought I was going to win; my boat was ahead." She sighed and wiped a few dark brown locks off of her sweaty, freckled forehead.
"Better luck next time, Mare," Marlene laughed, successfully avoiding the boulder that had claimed her friend's boat's life. "I'm definitely going to win now!"
It had certainly seemed that way, until another boat took the lead.
"Look out, Mar!" Lily exclaimed, gesturing to a jade-and-white boat that had just zoomed past Marlene's taking the lead. "Is that Dorcas' boat?"
"It most certainly is," Dorcas smirked, taking pride in her position in the race. She grinned at Marlene in that infuriating way of hers and propelled her boat just past a lilypad, reaching the other side of the lake.
Emmeline snickered and put a hand up. Catching the message, Dorcas smacked her palm against Emma's and yelled, "WE ARE THE ULTIMATE VICTORS!"
"Shut up, Meadowes" Marlene pouted, a rather beautiful sight, as many nearby fourth through seventh years noticed with zombie-like grins, as her boat slowed next to Dorcas' at the designated finish line. "Don't rub it in our faces." Even anger couldn't make blonde, tall Marlene McKinnon unattractive. Her blonde hair was braided loosely and her pale blue eyes shone fiercely.
Lily shook her head fondly, cherishing the warm feeling arising in her soul. Lily loved all of her mates and they were incredibly fun to be around. She high-fived Emma and Dorcas and congratulated them on their win. "Nice work, girls!"
A sudden groan from Marlene caught their attention. "Not again," the blonde sighed. Lily turned around and followed her gaze, and noticed a group of students gathered around a tree. It was a large number of students, quite a large number, and she knew for sure that when that many students were watching, it had to do with the Marauders.
The Marauders were a band of four students: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They were pranksters, renegades, and idiots, which was precisely why Lily hated all of them except for Remus Lupin, who was actually a close friend of hers. That, though, didn't stop her from disliking the others. Lily hated James Potter with every piece of her soul. Ever since their first interaction on the Hogwarts Express five years ago, Lily had come to dislike Potter's childish behavior and pointless pranks.
"Oh, damn," Mary giggled. "Look!"
Lily snarled audibly and ran towards the scene. The boys were really going to get it this time. They had riled Lily up so much that she would definitely take off points and hand out detentions. They were, not surprisingly, bullying Severus Snape for the umpteenth time that week.
"You — wait," she heard a raspy, breathless voice snap. "You — wait. . . ." It was Snape. He was flat on the grass, struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes. He was clearly trying to get up, but he kept tripping and falling back down.
"Wait for what?" Sirius Black, his long, glossy black hair falling elegantly in front of his face, was holding Snape and wandpoint. His grey eyes were cold and stony as they disdainfully glared at Snape. Lily scoffed. If Potter was king, then Black was his advisor. However, they shared equal influence in the school, so it wasn't fair to say that Potter had a higher status than his best mate. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"
Snape let out a stream of mixed, colourful swearwords and hexes, but his wand being ten feet away, nothing happened.
"Wash out your mouth," Potter said coldly, pointing his wand at Severus' forehead. He put up a facade of indifference, but Lily could tell from the way his hazel eyes were twinkling that he was enjoying this very much. Stupid git, she thought, as he said "Scourgify!"
Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, and choking him. Lily couldn't stay quiet any longer. Watching Potter choke her childhood friend was something she wouldn't stand for.
"Leave him ALONE!" she yelled, shoving people out of the way and moving to the front of the crowd. She put her hands on her hips and glared at Potter with as much dislike and hate as she could.
"All right, Evans?" Potter asked, his voice suddenly deeper and pleasant. He had dropped his voice so it sounded more mature, but it didn't matter because Lily didn't care. He casually ran a hand through his messy jet-black hair, making it stick up even more than it did before. She scoffed yet again.
"Leave him alone," she repeated, glowering at him. "What's he done to you?"
"Well," said Potter, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean…" A few people sniggered in the background, but Lily didn't find the statement hilarious at all.
"You think you're funny," Lily said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."
"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said James quickly. "Go on. . . Go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."
Lily was horrified that he ever thought she would say 'yes'. After all, Lily was just a trophy… just to prove that Potter could convince the unconvinced to go out with him. She hit him with a classy response. "I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the Giant Squid."
"Bad luck, Prongs," said Sirius Black briskly, turning back to Snape. "OY!"
But too late; Snape, who was free of his curse, had directed his wand straight at Potter; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of Potter's face, spattering his robes with blood. Lily would have started taking points right away - she knew what that spell was, and how dangerous it was. However, Potter whirled about; a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of graying underpants.
"Let him down!" she snapped at Potter.
"Certainly," said Potter and he jerked his wand upward. Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes, he got quickly to his feet, wand up, but Sirius said, "Petrificus Totalus!" and Snape keeled over again at once, rigid as a board.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted once more, drawing out her wand. The boys eyed her wand warily. Her duelling skill and creativity with hexes was well-known to everyone.
"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said Potter earnestly.
"Take the curse off him, then!" Lily retorted.
Potter sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the countercurse. "There you go," he said, as Snape struggled to his feet again, "you're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus —"
"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" he growled as he smoothened his robes disdainfully, not even bothering to meet her eyes and send a nonverbal apology her way.
She blinked. As soon as her ears registered the words, she let the shock run through her veins, the anger bubble in her blood, and the statement break her heart. She knew this would happen; she shouldn't have been surprised. But she just couldn't shake off the fact that her best mate had the audacity to call her a Mudblood.
"Fine," Lily said coolly, checking the impulse to burst into tears. "I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."
"Apologise to Evans!" Potter roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him.
"I don't want you to make him apologise!" she shouted, rounding on Potter. "You're as bad as he is… "
"What?" he yelped. "I'd NEVER call you a — you-know-what!"
"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can — I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."
She turned on her heel and stormed off.
"Evans!" Lily heard Potter yell, "Hey, EVANS!"
She didn't look back.
She ran back into the castle, willing herself to not cry, but her stupid tear ducts wouldn't have it. After stampeding back to the girl's dormitory, she crawled into her four-poster bed, drew the curtains so that they would hide the pitiful state she was in, burrowed herself into the duvet, and continued sobbing.
Snape and his friends had hurt Muggleborns like her and Mary, and he almost hexed Lily once to keep up his act. She didn't speak to him for days after that, but she eventually forgave him. As always, she saw the good in him. She just couldn't see it anymore.
The remaining O.W.L.s went smoothly. After every examination, she had either gone straight up to the dorms and studied or crawled into an armchair by the fire and studied. The previous day, a Friday, was the last day of exams for the poor, fatigued girl, so all she had to do until the end of term, two weeks from that instance, was to go to the library and read, or visit Hagrid.
In that moment, as she was recollecting the events of the past week, Lily had been curled up in an armchair by the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room. She had hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face in her knees, her flaming-red hair cascading over her limbs. Her heart was still broken, her trust was abused, and she couldn't convince herself to allow herself to grow close to someone ever again.
Lily had drifted off to sleep hours before, muttering sonnets in her sleep - something she didn't know she did for years - and softly shifting about on the cushy chair. A Transfigured blanket had been draped over her body, and the baby blue fabric hid almost all of her long legs - for the exception of her toes, which had been painted red and gold some days ago to pay homage to her House.
The still-sleeping girl shuddered in her sleep, whispering about "stupid black hair" and "ridiculous hazel eyes" when a loud thud shook her awake. Snapping up from her cocoon on the chair, Lily felt her blanket slip down her legs and onto the floor, revealing her soft green vest and pink shorts. Lily blinked to clear her bleary and cloudy vision, and shook her head to wake herself up properly, her wavy red locks shivering.
She decided to begin searching for the source of the noise, shifting so she was properly sitting up. Tilting her head downwards, Lily scanned the floor to see if anything was out of place, and immediately noticed a figure sprawled on his or her stomach on the velvet carpet in front of fire. It didn't take her more than two seconds to realise that the mop of jet-black hair on the tall person's head belonged to her sworn enemy. She watched as Potter's torso expanded slightly as he rather loudly took a breath of air, and noticed it shrink when he expelled it. All he was wearing was the long-sleeved white shirt that was a part of their uniform, though his was rumpled, torn, and red-stained, and a pair of black trousers that had similar tears.
"Potter?" asked a dazed Lily. She shakily lifted herself out of the armchair, slid into her pair of blue slippers, which were right next to the chair, and crawled the couple of meters she needed to reach the boy, and sat herself cross-legged on the floor next to him. Lily noticed that a fan of Potions textbooks had been knocked over onto the floor, and proceeded to pick them up and gently pile them into a neat tower.
"I'm not really in the mood, Evans," he muttered, turning his scarred face and noticing Lily for the first time. Placing a palm on the carpet and pushing himself up with the strength of a Quidditch player, he rose up from the floor and sniffled as silently as he could, though not silently enough. Lily observed the streaks of tears on his cheeks and similarly stood up, looking the taller boy in the eye.
"You don't look too good," she sighed, scanning his torso once more to assess the wounds. "Don't make this difficult and tell me what happened."
James clenched his fists and stared down at his shoes. "I just… I can't deal with anything else today," he whispered. "Leave me alone, alright?" He turned around and started to trudge towards the boys' dormitory defeatedly, with a slight limp and shaky walk, his shoulders hunching visibly and his normally confident posture slumped.
"No!" Lily said quickly, grabbing the cuff of his shirt. She waited patiently as he turned back to face her, a fresh tear escaping his right eye. He reached a hand underneath his glasses and rubbed a hazel eye, letting out a shaky breath. Processing his heartbroken display, Lily gave him a small smile and tugged on his shirt. "Come on," she said kindly, gesturing to her armchair. "Sit down, and I'll heal the wounds for you."
"You'd do that?" asked James quietly. When Lily nodded, he brushed past her and collapsed into the chair, taking off his black, thick-rimmed glasses and placing them on the armrest. He ran a hand through his naturally uncooperative hair and draped the arm over the other armrest as Lily walked to the other side of the room, rather far as the Common Room could house a quarter of the Hogwarts population if it really was required to, to grab a golden-framed and red-cushioned stool from a table. She could have simply Summoned it, but if she had, she wouldn't have caught a glimpse of the night sky from an open window, one that wasn't far from the fire, and she wouldn't have realised that it was a full moon.
Full moon. Had an accident occurred? Was that why James had been so heartbroken and so physically wounded?
Lily stopped at the window and allowed her eyes to absorb the blinding white rays of the celestial body. Sucking in a breath through her teeth, she turned to James and asked him a question as tactfully as she could. "Potter, is Remus alright?"
An uncomfortable silence gripped the air, and James' resolute misery disappeared, instead being replaced with cold indifference. "Why do you ask?" he questioned coolly.
Lily sighed and looked down at her fidgeting, interlocked fingers. "Well… I know he's a werewolf, and there's a full moon tonight, so did something happen?" she responded cautiously, trying hard to not sound offensive or greedy for information.
James' nostrils flared, and despite his injuries, stood up to face Lily. "I don't know who the hell told you those rumors," he snapped angrily, a new fire blazing through his features, "but I recommend you do not go around repeating them. Honestly, Evans, I thought you were above petty gossip."
Lily met his eyes, watching him softly for a few moments of silence. "You don't have to lie, James," she said gently, using his first name for the first time. "I know already, and it's alright. If I was prejudiced… well, I deal with that enough myself," she chuckled ruefully. "Defending Remus is an admirable thing to do, but after being a Prefect with him for a year, I put two and two together. I didn't mean any offense. I just… is he alright?"
James opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly closed it, sinking back into the chair and letting out a small moan. He closed his eyelids, as though they were too heavy for him to keep open.
"Are you alright?" asked Lily, alarmed. "No, don't answer. Accio stool!" she said, pointing her wand at the chair. It zoomed towards her, hitting her in the abdomen before falling to the ground, but Lily took no notice, bending over and picking it up nimbly. She straightened herself, fingers gripped around the legs of the stool, and dashed towards the armchair. She delicately placed the small chair in front of James and sat down in it.
"Alright, er… I need you to take your shirt off," she blushed furiously, looking down at her feet. James took no notice of her and didn't respond to her command. Lily tried again, smacking the top of his head, allowing her fingers to brush through his prized hair for just a moment, and couldn't help but marvel at how soft his messy, wayward hair was. "Potter!" demanded Lily, glaring at him, trying her very best to recover from the second blush that was spreading across her cheeks.
James stirred, cracking his eyes open slowly. "Hm?" he muttered, absent-mindedly running a hand through his hair. Blinking a few times, he extended his arm, flexing a muscle ever so slightly, and reached for his glasses, gripping them by a hinge and sliding the temple behind an ear, his glasses hiding the genuinity of his hazel eyes.
"Wake up, you great prat, wake up!" she hissed. "If you want me to heal you, you have to take off your shirt."
When James seemed to have zoned out again, his long eyelashes fluttering like a child who refused to admit they were tired, Lily sighed and muttered, "Mar will never let me live this down if she finds out," and reached for the button right underneath his collar. Slipping it out of its buttonhole, Lily repeated the same movement for two more buttons before pausing to run a finger over a red patch of skin an inch or two away from his shoulder. "Merlin, Potter, what did you do to yourself?" she marvelled, pushing the collar of his shirt aside to inspect the rash.
Truth be told, Lily had once wanted to be a Healer. Her father, Dr. Brian Evans, a cardiologist, had expressed great interest in the Wizarding profession of Healing, and naturally, Lily had wanted to please him, like any daughter would have. It had seemed an incredible thought at the time, but after learning about other professions, she decided that being an Auror, a protector of the people from evil, was what she wanted to do with her life.
But when the young witch saw James' injury, she knew that only a Healer would have even known what this wound came from, let alone how to treat it. Letting out a small gasp, she brushed a fingertip gingerly against the bite, characterised by two short, red, parallel scars, and muttered, "You need to get to the Hospital Wing."
"Why?" he breathed, eyelids flickering. Lily noticed the beads of sweat that were gathering on his forehead, and the defined shade of magenta his face was turning. She reached up for his forehead, and pressed the back of her hand against the wet skin. A tingle spread through her arm, from her fingertips all the way to her shoulder, but she brushed the feeling aside.
"You're burning up, and I can't heal this," she informed him, standing up and pushing her chair back as she did so.
"Why?" James asked weakly again, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Venomous Tentacula bite," Lily sighed, nervously pulling at her top and turning to face the girls' dorms. "I'm going to get a cloak," said she, biting her lip, "and my wand."
"Are you sure?" he muttered, watching her faintly as she walked up the staircase.
"Positive," she called, turning around one last time before heading up, sliding a hand along the rail. "I know what a Venomous Tentacula bite looks like, and I know that Alice is growing a secret patch in the Forbidden Forest for extra credit. My only question is why you were even in there…" Her bright gaze flickered to his fatigued one for a moment, before she turned back around and entered the dormitory, grasping the doorknob and twisting it open.
Walking into the cavernous but warm room, carpeted with a houndstooth pattern, coloured gold-and-red, she moved towards her four-poster and bent down at the footboard of the bed, pulling out a glossy brown trunk from underneath. She rummaged through the case, pushing a letter from her mother out of the way, before pulling out a midnight blue cloak and draped it around her shoulders, fastening the clasp at the top with slender fingers. Lily then reached over and grabbed her wand, swishy willow with a unicorn tail hair core, from underneath her pillow. Tucking it into a pocket, she then proceeded to bend over and close her trunk, sliding it back underneath her bed.
"Lily?" a voice murmured. Lily's head snapped up and she turned her head towards the direction of the nose. What she saw, aided by the fireplace to see despite the darkness, was Alice Prewett was sitting up in her bed, her short blonde hair sticking up in different places. "What're you doing?" she asked dazedly. "Is it time for classes already?"
"Hospital Wing," Lily sighed, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Er… a certain hurt someone tumbled into the Common Room and I'm taking him to the Hospital Wing. Just so you know, it's your fault."
"Ooh, a he!" another voice giggled. Lily groaned as Marlene sat up as well, sending a wink Lily's way. "Midnight date, then? You're wearing your 'perfect' cloak!" Lily felt a blush spread across her face, but hid her embarrassment rather well.
Lily held out three fingers. "Firstly, I do not have a 'perfect' cloak. This one was the first one I could find," she snapped, pushing a finger down with the index finger from the other hand. "Second, it is not a date! This person is hurt. He has a Venomous Tentacula bite. And it's 4 A.M., not midnight."
"There she goes again!" Alice snickered, now fully awake. "Who's the he?"
"One word, Alice. Frank," Lily growled, watching Alice's face fall.
"Frank Longbottom? He's the one who's hurt?" Mar asked, frowning slightly.
"No, but our dear mate Alice here knows exactly what I'm talking about," Lily said sweetly, giving Alice a grin. Lily was the only one who knew of Alice's fancy for Frank Longbottom. Alice shook her head and scowled.
"Bad move, Evans," she muttered, but simmered down, sinking back into her bed and pulling the covers over her person. Marlene raised an eyebrow amusedly, but said nothing else.
"Thirdly," Lily continued, "this person is hurt because of Alice's secret Venomous Tentacula project, the one in the Forbidden Forest. So really, this is Alice's fault."
Alice, though her voice was muffled by her comforter, called, "I apologise for accidentally setting you up with obviously someone who sounds like a brilliant bloke."
Lily completely flipped this time. "James Potter is not a brilliant bloke!" she exclaimed, positively fuming.
Marlene blinked. "Jay?" she asked incredulously. "What the hell? I thought you hated him!"
Lily clenched her fists and stormed out of the room, her cloak swishing behind her. Pushing the door open with her shoulder while simultaneously twisting the doorknob again, she stumbled slightly as the wooden door swung open and granted her entrance to the Common Room. As she walked down the stairs, before the door fully closed, Lily heard a last comment being made by Alice. "I think Lily is telling the truth."
Lily scoffed and hurried over to the armchair in which James was sitting. "Potter!" Lily called. "How are you feeling?" She sat down on the stool in front of him and waited for him to respond.
"Evans?" he asked quietly, waving a hand around. "Can you see the Snitches?" He blinked a few times, a grin plastered on his face.
"The what?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing.
"The Golden Snitches! Y'know, the ones the Seekers have to catch. Look! There's one near your face." He leaned forward and brushed her cheek with his fingertips, attempting to grab at the air, but when he discovered that there was no Snitch, he grumbled and leaned back into the chair, folding his arms across his chest. He ignored Lily's furious blush and darted his eyes around the room, as if looking for the tiny winged ball he so desperately desired.
"You're delirious," was all Lily could manage. "And you're sweating like mad. When did you receive the bite?"
James blinked before grinning again and pointed excitedly at the invisible space next to her ear. "Look! There's the Snitch!" He lunged at the object he was hallucinating, pushing himself out of the chair and leaping forward.
"Stop!" Lily exclaimed, putting an arm out and catching him by the waist. "You need to have the bite treated now!" Lily pushed the boy up straight, where he staggered momentarily before he put an arm around Lily's torso to steady himself. Lily bit back the urge to shrug off his arm, remembering that he was injured and needed her support. "Come on," she whispered, snaking an arm back around his waist. She began walking towards the portrait hole, supporting the weight of James, who was much heavier than her.
Lily pushed the Fat Lady's portrait open and stopped for a moment, turning to James. "Potter, I'm going to go through first, and I'll help you from outside the Common Room, alright?" she asked tentatively, loosening her grip on him for a moment.
"Sure," he mumbled. James grabbed the wall shakily as Lily let go of him and placed a leg through the hole. She ducked underneath the roof of the hole and brought her other leg through the hole as well.
"Come on," she whispered, offering him a hand. Taking it, James lifted his leg and attempted to duck as well, but hit his head against the wall, groaning. "Bend down lower," Lily offered, pulling his hand down. She immediately realised what she had said and blanched, but thankfully, Potter noticed nothing. James complied and almost made it through the hole, but tripped and fell through the hole, stumbling and hitting the floor with an irritated grumble. Lily held back a giggle and lifted him up, mimicking the embrace from before so he could keep up with her.
James dropped his head onto Lily's as she began guiding them towards the Hospital Wing. Lily could feel his warm breath tickling her scalp, but she chose to not act upon it. She knew the poor boy was weak and couldn't even keep his eyes open long enough to sing a nursery rhyme, not that he would know any. It almost felt natural, the way his cheek was pressed against her head, and if it weren't for the hinge of his glasses poking her skin, she might not have even realised he was there. Unconsciously, Lily pulled James closer.
The dark, silent minutes passed by, as Lily trudged along the corridors and James limply held onto her. Of course, the minutes never felt lonely, for even if James was incapable of speaking, he certainly wasn't of no comfort. Even if the boy was not speaking, his presence comforted Lily, for reasons she could not decipher. Her close proximity to James allowed Lily, for the first time, to recognise his delicious scent. Taking in a deep breath, she inhaled the intoxicating scent of peppermint and a wood that Lily identified as Scots pine. Somewhat surprisingly, she wanted nothing more than to appreciate his wonderful, winteresque scent all night long.
Suddenly, somewhere on the fifth floor, Lily felt James pulling her down towards the floor. She looked down and saw that James had collapsed. Barely able to make out anything in the darkness, she pulled out her wand, muttering "Lumos," and her wand tip illuminated with a bright white light. Lily bent down, allowing his head to slide into her lap, and examined his expression, his mischievous hazel eyes obscured by his closed eyelids. His lips were slightly parted, and his previously heavy breathing had been reduced to quick, barely discernible breaths. "Potter," she breathed, placing the free hand on his shoulder and shaking it slightly. "Potter, get up!" When James did not respond, Lily tried again.
"Get your sorry arse off of the floor! Get up, you git!" Lily ripped his collar to the side and observed that the skin around his bite had flushed purple, as had his face. The poison had spread everywhere now, she was sure of it.
"Get up, Potter," Lily moaned, slapping his cheek lightly. "I can't get help at this hour, you have to wake up!"
James did not respond yet again. Lily muttered "Damn you, Potter" under her breath, and then whispered "Nox," putting out the light her wand had provided. She blinked in the pitch black for just a moment, before her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she darted her eyes back down to James' person. She sighed and proceeded to cast the Locomotion Charm on him. "Locomotor James," she mumbled finally, swishing her wand in the shape of a figure four.
James' body rose off of the ground about two inches before stopping. This was the signal for Lily to begin levitating him in the direction of her choice, so she pushed herself off of the ground and pointed her wand about a meter in front of her, continuing the distance towards the Hospital Wing. James' unconscious figure drifted ahead of Lily's path, and she began to sprint, starting to worry about how serious the bite really was. "Stay with me, Potter," she whispered.
At last, after carefully treading down the last set of staircases, Lily managed to locate the Hospital Wing in the dark. Finally spotting the dark oak wood of the door, she ran towards it, Potter serenely floating behind her. Lily frantically pounded on the door with her left hand, ignoring the brass knocker designated for the same purpose of alerting Madam Pomfrey, Hogwarts' resident matron and brilliant Healer, of an injury in the middle of the night. When no one answered the door, she rapped it smartly with her knuckles again. "Madam Pomfrey!" she exclaimed. After a few moments of silence, Lily could hear footsteps approaching the door.
"I will not have students awake in the dead of night! Care to explain why you thought it would be funny to… Miss Evans?" Madam Pomfrey asked, swinging the door open. "I never thought you, of all people, would be out of bed at this hour! A Prefect too," she tutted.
"Please, Madam Pomfrey, Potter here has a Venomous Tentacula bite," Lily whispered, stepping aside to allow Potter's sleeping figure to float forward. "I know there are full grown Venomous Tentaculas in the Forbidden Forest. I'm sure you know that I wouldn't have come to you if I wasn't completely sure." She bit her lip nervously as Madam Pomfrey's eyes widened in shock.
"Bring him to a bed, Miss Evans. I might have the antidote in my office, but there's no guarantee. Pomona might have it…" She trailed off, hurrying inside the large room.
Following her inside, Lily brought James to an empty bed near the far end of the room, and as soon as she was within a meter of the bed, she pointed her wand towards the ground, and he gently drifted to the ground, not making a sound as he softly hit the floor. Lily then proceeded to levitate him higher with 'Wingardium Leviosa', finally placing him on the bed. She watched as James limply began to ascend a few feet higher before stopping and lowering, slightly moving to the right simultaneously - courtesy of Lily's wand work - so he would land on the bed. Satisfied, Lily let out a breath and, after scanning the area around the bed, spotted a chair resting to the left of it. As quietly as she could, Lily slid into the chair, crossed one leg over the other, and folded her arms agitatedly, waiting for Poppy Pomfrey to return.
Not more than two minutes later, Madam Pomfrey silently made her way back to the actual Hospital, so silently that Lily didn't even notice her in the dark or shadows until she had forced the opening of a small, crystal vial between James' lips. Lily watched anxiously as a fiery red potion that was brighter than the color of blood but softer than that of fire trickled from the bottle into his mouth. When Madam Pomfrey had administered the full contents of the vial to James, she stepped back and, with her wand, vanished the vial ('Evanesco!').
"Well, Miss Evans, I believe Mr. Potter should be fine for a few hours. I will, however, need to know when he received this bite in order to treat him accurately," she muttered quietly enough so that only Lily could hear her, in case any other student in the Hospital was awake.
"I don't know," answered Lily, truthfully. Potter had been incapable of telling her much, so she knew very little about how he actually received the bite.
"In that case, I will administer another dose in an hour or two, after he wakes up. Thank you for bringing him to me," Poppy sighed. "You may leave now." She turned around and left the room, leaving Lily alone with her thoughts. Deciding that it would be best if she returned to the dorms, she sneaked one last look at James, who had rolled over onto his right side and was serenely muttering "bloody slow broomstick." Without further ado, she stood up and left the Hospital Wing, only stopping to cast a quiet 'Lumos.'
13 June 1976
"How the hell does it take that long to drag your arse out of bed, get dressed, and head down to breakfast, you git?" Marlene demanded as Lily stumbled into the Great Hall the next morning. Lily ignored her, smoothening her plait with her thumb and forefinger as she slid next to Emmeline on the bench, who offered her a smile. Her forehead creasing thoughtfully as she surveyed the breakfast options, Lily's eyes wandered until she spotted the hot buttered toast, the sight of which made her mouth water. She cheerfully reached for a couple of slices and a mug of coffee, and began to nibble on the bread.
"Well?" Marley inquired again from across the table. She was sitting just opposite to Emmeline, who rolled her eyes and tossed her mad mate an apple.
"Patience, Mar, let the girl inhale her food," she smirked, pushing the bridge of her rectangular, rimless glasses up her nose elegantly. "After all, from what I've heard, she's had quite the busy night."
Upon hearing this, Lily socked Emma's upper arm with a strength no one imagined she had. "Damn, Lils, calm down!" Emma groaned, massaging her arm. "I was only joking, Lily, no need to get so worked up."
"You know," Lily sniffed, shooting Emmeline a dirty look, "for a midget-of-a-swot, you can really be a bitch sometimes. Don't tell me you honestly believe what Marlene and Alice told you."
Alice and Mary, who were sitting next to Marlene, stopped their heated discussion - which had been about the utter stupidity of the latest Spellbound magazine edition - and began to snicker at Lily's remark. "Oh, feisty," Mary snorted, giving Lily a small smile. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, Lils, she was just taking the mickey out of you. All in good fun, yeah?"
Lily sighed and helped herself to a few ripe, ruby-red strawberries, savoring their delicious taste as she scanned the Great Hall for a few faces. "Potter's not here," she observed. "He must still be in the Hospital Wing."
"Worried, are you?" Alice giggled, tearing her copy of Spellbound to shreds with the Severing charm ('Diffindo!'), harboring a smug smile. "That's what that horrible magazine deserves."
"The magazine isn't too bad, really," Lily commented, reaching for a torn page that had flitted into the gingernut biscuits. Brushing a few crumbs off of the paper, she read the heading on the page out loud. "Evidence of Grindelwald's Secret Affair with Leta Lestrange Resurfaces after Nearly Half a Century," Lily announced, choking on her coffee. "Never mind. I take that back," she said in a raspy voice, trying to force the sensation of heat down her throat. "Grindelwald and Leta Lestrange? Everyone knows she was engaged to Theseus Scamander."
"If anything, she could have had an affair with Newt Scamander," Emmeline added thoughtfully, tapping her chin with her forefinger. When Hufflepuff students overheard Emma's comment from the next table and hissed, clearly scandalised by the turn of the conversation, she shrugged. "What? It's just speculation."
"They're just mad that we're targeting a Hufflepuff celebrity," Mar scoffed, rolling her eyes at the bothered students. "Yet they badmouth Gryffindors on a daily basis."
"That's not fair, Mar," Lily protested. "That's more of the Slytherins."
"Like Snape," Dorcas offered before thinking.
An uncomfortable silence blanketed over the table. The girls all knew of Lily's feud with Snape, and Mary had told them all that he had even threatened to sleep outside the Gryffindor Common Room if Lily didn't speak to him. Lily looked down at her plate and poked at a biscuit moodily. Noticing the tense atmosphere, Marlene coughed before adding, "And Evan Rosier, the git. He can barely stay on a broomstick for more than two seconds, but he thinks it's alright to go around hollering at the top of the voice that Slytherins have the Cup in the bag."
Alice wrinkled her nose in agreement. "Did you hear what Emma Vanity said about Regulus Black?" she asked eagerly, taking a big sip of Earl Grey from her mug. She licked her upper lip nimbly, before picking up a digestive biscuit and dipping it in her mug.
"That's revolting, Al, I've told you not to do that in front of me," Mary frowned, glaring at the offending biscuit. Alice simply grinned at her best mate before biting off the soggy bits of the biscuit. Mary retched and shook her head, pointedly looking in the opposite direction.
"Anyways," Alice started, after finishing her biscuit, "Vanity reckons that darling Reg could take over as Seeker for Travers next year! Frank told me he overheard our very favorite Quidditch team talking about it before they were forced to leave the pitch to let Gryffindor practice. What do you make of that?"
"Bloody brilliant," Marlene spat, wiping her mouth, which was coated with water, with her sleeve. "Black's a Beater for our team, and I don't think he'll take too kindly to playing against his brother. Merlin knows what I'd do if I had to face James or Mac in a game." James and Marley were as close as brother and sister, having grown up together. Though the Potter's magnificent estate was far from the McKinnon's more humble home, James' parents were quite close to the McKinnons and thus had them over very often for dinner. Mac, which was short for Malcolm, was Marley's Ravenclaw brother, and he was in Third Year. He didn't play Quidditch like Mar, who was a Chaser of similar skill to James, so Marlene never had to worry about facing him. Neither did Marlene's sister Margaret, who would start at Hogwarts next year. It was all rather reassuring for her.
"Frankly, I don't care," Lily sighed, finishing the last of her coffee. "I've never really enjoyed Quidditch. I love flying, but Quidditch ruins the art of flying."
"We know, Lily, you tell us every day," Emmeline groaned, but the corners of her mouth twitched upwards. "Though I'm sure James would be delighted to know that you fancy a romantic ride on a broomstick in the sunset."
"Sod off," Lily scowled. Stuffing the last of her toast into her mouth, she reached for three thin pancakes that were drizzled with a chocolate sauce. "Anyways," she started, stabbing the center of her stack with a fork and slicing a piece with a silver, rather blunt knife, "why is Regulus replacing Travers? I thought Travers was a year under us, so it's not even like he's leaving Hogwarts next year."
"Merlin, Lily, take human bites," Mary scolded as Lily, completely ravenous that morning, shoved a behemoth-of-a-bite down her throat.
Alice cleared her throat, obviously trying to grab the attention of several students at the table. Knowing the truth would spread like wildfire, she raised her voice and began to speak. "Travers apparently has been going out with Siobhan Stebbins, one of their Chasers, for a whole year, and Vanity caught them snogging under the stands after a game! Vanity has a strict no-dating policy, so she had to either force Travers or Stebbins off of the team."
"Isn't Stebbins the bird who refused to stop writing during the Defence Theoretical O.W.L.?" interrupted Dorcas. "She's far more intelligent than Travers. How did they even get involved? It sounds like a money fling."
"Their parents want them to get married, but they don't care about how utterly stupid Travers is," Marlene answered promptly. "It's pathetic because the Traverses are the only family that will take Stebbins since her sister, Saoirse, married a Muggle and moved to Armagh. In the end, it is sort of a money fling. Travers is incredibly wealthy, and Stebbins isn't, but is really smart. Travers' parents want a smart bird, Stebbins wants a Pureblood and money, and Travers wants Stebbins because she's the smartest girl who'll have him, and help him make money."
"That is really complicated," Lily complained. "Why can't they just date who they like?"
"That's Purebloods for you, Lils," Marlene laughed.
"The Traverses are still slimy, Slytherin gits," Mary concluded. "Maybe more blood-tolerant than the Lestranges, but still slimy gits."
"Back to the story," Alice chirped. "Stebbins argued that Travers' grades were so horrendous that it would be better for him if he was off the team next year. Even if she does want an idiot like him, she still put her self-interests first and tried to preserve her spot on the team. And, she's got plenty of smarts, so it's absolutely fine for her. Vanity bought her act and told Travers that he's off the team next year. Serves the prat right," she finished with a smirk.
"Does Travers care? I mean, does he care that his girlfriend basically had him thrown off the team?" Dorcas mused, taking a sip of warm milk.
"If you mean, 'does he care that if he protests, then his girlfriend will dump him?', then yes. He does care. If he protests, his girlfriend will dump him. He needs Stebbins, but she doesn't necessarily need him. If there's one thing Pureblood Slytherins are good at, it's manipulation. They are bloody manipulative and get what they want by blackmailing. It's the only reason why Travers is at Stebbins' mercy right now. And it's the reason for why Travers is off the Slytherin team, Vanity is keeping Stebbins, and Regulus is replacing Travers," Marlene explained thoroughly.
"Why Regulus, though?" Emmeline asked thoughtfully, pushing her empty plate, save for a few crumbs, towards the center of the table. "He could've chosen someone else."
"Reg is already a reserve for the Slytherin team, and he's gotten loads better over the year," Mar complained, taking a bite out of the apple Emma had given her earlier. "He - mm, that's good, Em, where did you get this apple from?" she asked through a full mouth, spraying a bit of juice as she spoke.
"I visited the Kitchens earlier," Emma replied quietly, turning pink. Lily questioned her behavior internally but chose not to say anything.
"Really? I'll have to go there for myself! This is terrific! How do you even get to the Kitchens?"
"Just - just continue," Emmeline blushed more furiously, looking down at her lap.
"You're a strange one, Emma Vance. As I was saying, ickle Reggie got loads better over the last year, and Vanity reckons he's ready for the team. Plus, she just wants to piss Black - Sirius, not Regulus - off by putting his little brother on the team. Isn't that unbelievable?"
Everyone nodded grimly in agreement with the exception of Lily and Alice. "I don't think it's unbelievable. Vanity and Black are both rivals, aren't they? They're both Beaters on their respective Quidditch teams, and she might just want to distract Sirius while they're playing so she has the one up."
"Vanity's actually a good Beater," Alice added grudgingly. "She doesn't need Sirius to be distracted. She's just done it so Sirius will foul more. That way, the Chasers on the Slytherin team have more free shots. It's not a bad idea, to be honest."
"I mean in terms of morals, you twits. It's unbelievable that she'd go that low," Marlene sighed, licking the flesh of the apple. "This is really sweet. Merlin, Emmeline, why didn't you give me one earlier?"
"Marlene and her apples, Alice and her digestive biscuits, and Lily and her pancakes. Can't anyone here eat properly?" bemoaned Mary.
"Potter," Lily acknowledged as James crawled through the portrait hole into the Common Room that evening. His face still harbored a slightly pink shade, but otherwise looked as fit as a fiddle.
"Evans," he returned, giving her a small nod. "Thanks for last night."
Lily studied his expression for a split second. His eyes were clouded, and dark circles underneath his eyes highlighted his stress. His mouth was curved downward into a frown as he lifted a hand and ran it through his hair, which, Lily noted, was as messy as usual. "Speaking of which, are you alright?" she asked. She was sitting at a table with her lavishly illustrated, and, not surprisingly, rather expensive copy of 'Hogwarts: A History' open to a page about the Kitchens, out of interest of the morning's conversation. Sitting on a stool with one leg crossed over the other and hair wrapped in a messy bun, she had one hand underneath the back cover of the book so she could flip to the next page with her thumb.
"I'm alright. Madam Pomfrey went bonkers when she saw the other… wounds and was rather angry you didn't mention them to her. They weren't really a big deal. After shoving more of the potion down my throat, she made me rest for an hour before forcing me out of the Hospital Wing. I wasn't really paying attention to much last night, so I didn't notice the bite," he admitted.
At this, Lily's gaze softened. "What really happened last night?" she asked quietly, her emerald eyes meeting his hazel ones.
At first, James opened his mouth, as though he were about to respond, and then closed it, like he had done the night before. Then, he started again. "Go ask Snivellus if you really want to know," he snapped, walking towards the staircase that led to the boys' dorms. "I'm sure he's blabbed to half the Hogwarts population by now, the slimy git," he added icily.
"You know," Lily said angrily, narrowing her eyes at his retreating figure, "when you asked me out for the first time, you know, last week, the least you could have done to show that you actually cared for me was to be nicer to Sev - him. Even before you asked me out, you spent so much time bullying Snape, keeping up a heated rivalry, and all that drama, when you could have just been nicer to him."
"What difference would it make?" James shot back at her, turning around immediately. He gave her a cold glare that was otherwise unreadable. The way he had tensed up, his fists clenched and posture far straighter, had no effect on Lily. She was just as angry as him in that moment, and nothing he said would make her back off.
"It could've been the biggest difference!" Lily announced, standing up and facing him boldly with a demeanor she only ever had put up around him. Putting her hands on her hips, her nostrils flared as she hissed "Hexing my best mate is no way to win me over!"
By this point, all of the Common Room had picked up on their row and had begun listening intently. The normally noisy room had quieted down to a level so low that a student didn't have to strain their ears to hear a Prefect's badge drop.
"Even after he called you that dirty insult, you're still calling him your best friend and remain on his side?" he scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "And here I was thinking you were actually smart. I - no, let me finish," he said, holding a hand up as Lily opened her mouth to interrupt him. "Do you know how hard it is to watch you consistently call me stupid and arrogant, when I have to watch you, every damned day, spend time with that arsehole who just wants to serve Voldemort? Do you know how often I have to question your intelligence and your better judgement? I honestly care about you, Evans, no matter what Snivellus fills your head with. He may tell you that I'm a terrible person who has nothing better to do than to bully people who are weaker, and he may tell you that I'm an idiot who only lusts after you because you are the only one who doesn't care that I fancy you, the only one that doesn't drop into a dead faint swooning at the thought of that, and maybe he's right. But in the end," his face contorted with fury as his voice dropped to a whisper, "I'm not a bad person. You never look past what Snape tells you." After finishing his rant, he let out a huff and stormed off again.
Lily grit her teeth and yelled, "I reckon Snape was right about you after all!" even though Potter had already stormed out and was too far away to hear her. Everyone in the Common Room had listened to their row, and in the silence, whispers began to spread through the mass of students as they tried to interpret the feud and fuel the rumor mill.
Scowling at a Second Year who was gaping at her with a mixture of awe and confusion, Lily tugged at the rubber band in her hair, the one that was holding her bun in place, and pulled her hair down so it flowed over her shoulders. Using the same rubber band, she tied her flaming red hair into a ponytail, something she would do every time something riled her up and she needed to calm down. After doing so, Lily scanned the room for her mates and caught Emmeline's eye, who was staring at her rather queerly. Waving Emma over, Lily gave her a strained smile and waited for Emmeline to join her.
Emmeline left her spot by the bookshelves, where she was playing Chess with Mary and Dorcas, and walked towards Lily disappointedly. "What the hell was that for, Lily?" Emma asked with a sigh. "You were getting along so well!"
"You, Emmeline Delacour Vance, are supposed to be on the side of your best mate!" Lily snapped furiously. "You can't side with everyone when they tell you that Potter and I are meant for each other! You saw that! He is an idiot who doesn't take 'no' for an answer! He still tried to convince me that Severus was wrong! After seeing that, how could he have been wrong about his arrogance? He makes me sick!"
Emmeline shook her head and sighed. "He thanked you for last night, and apologized for the O.W.L. incident. You need to learn to forgive, Lily. Put your ego and stubbornness aside for once."
"He's the one with the ego and arrogance," Lily insisted. "I don't care for him, I don't care what happens to him, and I certainly don't care if he survives this war or not."
"Don't say that," Emma frowned. "He's a good person, like he said. If you can't see past his flaws, then maybe you're the one who's flawed and he doesn't deserve you. But you two are the right people for each other because you two are the most stubborn arses I have ever seen."
"Don't go all romantic on me now. I hate him! I hate him, and he hates me. We can't be friends, and we can't go out. It will never work, mark my words."
"It will, and I won't bring a present to your wedding. You don't deserve it, you little idiot."
"Who are you calling little, Miss Five-Foot-Two-Inches? You're shorter than everyone except for Alice!"
"I'm more mature; ergo, I am bigger in terms of attitude."
"Mature? You need to get your facts straight, Vance. Aren't you the teaser in this group?"
"Mar teases everyone too, and you call her mature."
"She corrects. There's a fine line."
"You'll regret this, Lily Evans."
"I know."
"No, I mean about James," Emmeline sighed. "He'll move on, and when you finally realise what a good person he is, he'll have a wife and three children."
"Good riddance. That way, I'll be rid of him for good."
"But who will fight alongside him?"
"I don't know, you, perhaps?"
"I'm not dating that prat."
"Aha! You finally see what I think!"
"You're a prat too. You're meant for each other."
"Shut up and sod off."
"You should too."
They continued their playful banter until Mar arrived and demanded to know all the details about the Potter and Evans argument in the Common Room. It kept them up until midnight. The last thing Lily told her best mates was that Remus and Sirius were going to ask Emmeline and Marlene out, respectively. That shut them up for the rest of the night, and they finally fell asleep, not worried at all about being late to class tomorrow because Emmeline always woke them up on time without fail.
