Previously: Sirius gets a Howler from his mother for being Sorted into Gryffindor. Lily and James have started classes. Alice doesn't like their DADA professor, Banks. James and Sirius have already started to tease Snape, which causes Lily to become angry with them. A prominent Muggle-born goes missing.
Chapter 9: The Knockback Jinx
As James might have found a group of best friends with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, he had also found new worst enemies in the form of a greasy Slytherin and a vexed Gryffindor. After their disastrous end to the first Potions lesson, Snape had grown past his initial reluctance and took every opportunity to strike back at him and Sirius, whether it be making snide remarks, and he and Sirius usually retaliated with a comment of his greasy hair or large nose, occasionally even practicing their hexes on them. Though James would rather die than say it out loud, Snape was regretfully good at curses as it was easy to gather that he must have practiced before school – but that did not mean he and Sirius would not return the favor in kind.
While Evans may have hung around that slimy Slytherin she called a friend and disliked Quidditch of all things, she was also, regretfully, a Gryffindor who was friends with Prewett and the others and hung out with them in the common room much of the time. James may not have directed all his hate and nastier curses towards the girl, but she still stubbornly sided with Snape against her fellow Gryffindors for whatever ludicrous reason and thus, was a collateral casualty of several of James and Sirius's pettier jinxes. It did not help one bit that it was so amusing to rile her up and witness her entertaining little outbursts of ire – after all, she did not even like flying.
And one of those very incidents was happening at that very moment as the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins sat together in one of their Transfiguration classes taught by the Transfiguration teacher and the head of Gryffindor house, Professor Minerva McGonagall.
Mr. Ollivander had said that James's wand was excellent for Transfiguration when he had first purchased it in Diagon Alley, but even so, Transfiguration was soon becoming his best class by far even with his excellence in his other classes. Sirius was excelling himself with his own wand (Red oak and dragon heartstring, fourteen and a half inches, and unyielding when James asked.) Professor McGonagall herself was impressed by James's skill after observing him successfully transform the beetle they had been given to practice with into a button and gave Gryffindor back the ten points he and Sirius had lost after McGonagall caught them practicing their Levitation Charms for Flitwick on Snape's breakfast, and she was now congratulating him after James had effectively transfigured his frog into a bauble.
"Very good, Mr. Potter," said McGonagall as she swept past their table during her examination of the first year's attempts.
"Thanks, Minnie," said Sirius brightly.
He had been staring at Marlene McKinnon sitting a little in front of them (James was not sure why Sirius was doing that yet chose to remain silent on the matter – for now at least), but at McGonagall's rare praise, he dragged his attention to the teacher.
"Don't call me that, Black," said McGonagall, her eyes flashing at the nickname James and Sirius had come up with for her during their first Transfiguration lesson. She always referred to students by their surnames, but, like now, she did not add a mister or miss if they were irritating her.
"Continue practicing."
James caught Sirius's eye and flashed a grin before looking over to the table where Snape and Evans were sitting. Snape had also managed to complete his spell on his mouse and was now helping Evans with her rather fat chipmunk. She was consistently one of the top students in every class but Transfiguration, where James noticed that she struggled to achieve spells he performed on the first couple of tries.
Perhaps she needs another example, thought James sardonically as he studied Snape hold Evans's hand to give her the correct wand movement to transform her chipmunk.
He jabbed his own wand in their direction, and sure enough, Snape's tie transformed to match Marlene McKinnon's recently attained hot pink ornament. It took a couple seconds to notice, and Evans was the first. She glanced at her friend and gave a start, sending the chipmunk racing for freedom the moment it noticed that Evans was distracted. Professor McGonagall turned in their direction and undid the spell with a mere flick of her wand before swooping in front of James and Sirius, giving them each a stern look.
"Potter, Black, detention," she said austerely, her lips quite thin, afterwards heading over to where she had been helping Belvina Travers before the interruption. That was the fifth detention the two boys had earned since coming to Hogwarts – not including the fourteen times Filch had written them up – but James did not care much.
He instead just high-fived Sirius and was in the middle of congratulations before there was a bang and James's legs snapped together before he toppled over and off his chair – Snape must have retaliated with a Leg-Locker Curse.
"Snape! Detention!" barked McGonagall, and James could suddenly move his legs again as McGonagall silently performed the counter-curse.
He scrambled hastily back into his chair before throwing Snape a look of loathing that the Slytherin matched as his wand pointed at him. Beside the little slime ball, Evans was glaring at him as well, though her wand still pointed to where the chipmunk had been before it escaped in the confusion.
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1971 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
Dear Mum and Dad,
School's been going great. There is so much to talk about, but I have been too busy to write to you much.
I am now a Gryffindor. Yes, weird, isn't it? The only house Sev really mentioned and talked about was Slytherin, but the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor instead because it thought the place I would be best in was Gryffindor, all of whom are known for bravery, nerve, and chivalry according to the Sorting Hat. The other three houses are Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, which Sev is in. I wish we were in the same house, but the Sorting Hat said it was really no contest for Gryffindor.
It's weird not being able to talk to Sev as much because Gryffindors and Slytherins only have a few classes together, but at least in Gryffindor, I have three new friends. Mum, you already met Alice Prewett at Diagon Alley. She is officially the most hyperactive girl in the school now. Marlene, Mary, and I have to take turns watching Alice and how much sugar she gets. I have another good friend in Ravenclaw who I rode the Hogwarts Express with – Charity Mueller. We don't talk as much as she's better friends with Marlene rather than myself, but we still hang out with her group of friends in the library, classes, and sometimes lunch.
Unfortunately, with the good comes the bad. The four boys in Gryffindor can be very – how do I put this? – infuriating. They love to prank people. Just on the first day alone, they blew up mine and Sev's potion, causing him to break out in hives, although at least Professor Slughorn gave them a week's worth of detentions for that, though they barely cared at all about it.
The classes are going great. I would have to say Potions and Charms are my favorite subjects so far. I'm usually one of the first people to get things to work in those classes! Professor Slughorn absolutely loves my "rare knack for potions" as he calls it. Severus and I always pair up for that class, and as far as I can tell, we're the best at it, though it's really not that different from baking. You're just using different ingredients.
Professor Flitwick is so sweet. He's the tiniest teacher at Hogwarts, and everybody loves him. For our first day of Charms class, he just put on a show with a bunch of charms – it was great. I think he said we're going to start practicing charms that require some actual concentration when we get closer to Halloween, which I'm really excited for since (so far) it's just been examples and really basic stuff like producing different flashes of light. He says that those are great for easing us into the real charms, though the actual spells for different colored sparks are for Defense Against the Dark Arts since apparently it's universally accepted as signaling other wizards and witches.
Defense Against the Dark Arts and Herbology are also strong classes, though Professor Banks isn't nearly as nice as the other teachers. She's really strict and has already given several students detentions, namely James Potter and Sirius Black, who are two first year boys in Gryffindor as well (and also happen to be the two worst), but Professor Sprout is the witch who teaches Herbology, and she's really cheerful and popular with a lot of the students.
Transfiguration is so hard. It took me the entire first week to turn my match into a needle, but Potter got it on his second try! Can you believe that? He doesn't do any homework or study at all, and I work so hard, but he's already a full week ahead of me! I'm probably going to fail that class, it's so difficult. It's the only class I'm having any real trouble with, but Professor McGonagall says that I'm really talented and that Transfiguration is simply harder for some people than others.
I'm not the fond of History of Magic. Professor Binns is our only ghost professor, and he's super boring. All we do is take notes in the class day after day after day. Astronomy isn't so bad. It's our only class held at night, but Professor Orion is in desperate need of a Remembrall most of the time. Everybody keeps hoping that he'll forget he actually has a class one of these days.
We also have to take Flying Class every week, and it's with the Slytherins. I know the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor, but I can't bring myself to fly more than two feet above the ground. I just stare at the grass, thinking about how far away it is. Oh, well.
The common room is so comfy. The armchairs are squashy and very comfortable. I particularly love to sit under the windows on the cushions, and Crackerjack loves taking up seats in the common room so much that he'll hiss if a Gryffindor tries to kick him out. I don't even know if my favorite spot is supposed to be a real sitting space or just decoration. At least none of the older students try to kick me out because 1) they never sat there before, so why would they start now? And 2) I don't think half the Gryffindors fit. A couple of the smaller people, maybe, but none of those guys on the Quidditch team have a chance at squeezing into my favorite spot – ha-ha! Yay for me!
The food is great by the way. I've heard some students know how to get down to the kitchens if they're hungry, but I don't know how to yet.
I'll write again soon!
Lots of Love,
Lily
P.S: Tell Tuney I said hello.
Lily sighed as she looked over the letter. There were so many other things she wanted to say, but she could not for the life of her figure out how to say it. How would she be able to explain to her parents about the prejudice in the new world they had sent their daughter off too? And the Gryffindor boys? She simply did not know enough foul words – and she knew a fair share, courtesy of the football games on the telly that her father liked to yell at – to describe how terrible they were to her and Severus, but as there was no other way to say it, Lily carefully folded up her letter.
She watched from her spot under the window as several second years fought over copying Transfiguration homework and the notes that Professor McGonagall had given them while Crackerjack was curled up next to the fireplace. It was a good thing that his spot was out of the way of the common room because nobody ever bullied him into giving up his seat, which she had already witnessed when a particularly intimidating sixth year pushed Pettigrew out of one of the armchairs a couple days after the first night.
"Lily!" chirped Alice as she appeared at the portrait entrance before bouncing all the way to Lily's secluded corner. "It's the weekend. Let loose and have some fun."
She added a little dance move on the word "fun" with a swagger to her hips, though she just ended up looking like a total spaz loaded up on caffeine.
"I can't, Alice. I have to go up to the Owlery," said Lily as she got to her feet, showing Alice the just-finished letter.
"Okay, then I'll come with you," said Alice, pulling Lily along much faster than she had been walking originally, and Lily sighed. It was simply no use. If there was one thing she had learned over the past weeks, it was that Alice Prewett had a mind of her own, and it was a mind that Lily suspected operated on a slightly different plane of existence than the one they were on.
"You know," started Alice as they went through the hallway, Lily walking and Alice skipping, "Third years and up are going to Hogsmeade later, and a lot of second years are working on a huge project for Transfiguration or something and are going to be in the library studying all night. You know what that means?"
"Um … free common room?" she guessed.
"Yes!" Alice jumped in the air and punched it before she said, "I knew you would understand!"
"But we would still have to share with the boys," reminded Lily, and just like that, she burst her friend's bubble with a pop! Alice frowned – she obviously had forgotten that Gryffindor had first year boys, no matter how annoyingly obvious they were, though Lily did notice that Potter and Black were not as mean to Alice and Marlene like they were to Lily and Severus.
"We can share. The common room's big enough for eight," said Alice finally, shrugging like it was no big deal, but at the new look that crossed Lily's face at the suggestion, she hastily corrected herself: "Or not."
The walk to the Owlery was a pleasant one as one of the last warm bits of sunshine until the start of the next spring splayed itself across the stone tiles through the antique windows and Alice chattered along beside her. The tower many owls called home came into view as did the Quidditch pitch that held several figures – they looked like roughly the size of a rice grain from Lily's vantage point – zooming around on broomsticks, readying themselves for the start of the Quidditch season that everybody except Lily was excited for.
The tower itself was rather cool and drafty as Lily entered. The room had a never-ending ceiling, but unlike the rest of the spotless castle, the floor's straw was littered with a copious amount of owl droppings and leftovers picked clean from meals that were now only skeletons of little animals. Lily quickly discerned that the large draft was coming from glassless windows situated between the various owl perches. Alice kindly lent her own owl, a Screech owl named Marigold, to Lily, and Marigold did not need much persuasion to snatch the envelope from her hands and take off under one of the many arches.
"My owl may be a bit of a guzzler, but she's so pretty," said Alice with a sigh before they both turned to leave the hooting owls who were free from last-minute deliveries. Alice skipped over the skeletons, careful to avoid the mess, same as her friend.
Lily had just exited the bottom staircase of the Owlery when voice behind them said, "Lookie lookie, boys. We've got ourselves a Mudblood and a blood traitor."
At the words, Alice whipped around from beside her, grabbing her as if to reassure herself her friend was still there, and her normally cheerful face was set in a defiant scowl as she furiously growled, "Don't you dare call Lily that, you bastard."
Her wand was already out, and though Lily was not sure whether the situation warranted a wand or not, she took her own wand out as well, though it hung much more loosely in her hand than Alice's did in her tightly curled first.
Three boys stepped out from behind the stairs, and Lily instantly recognized the tallest of the group as Mulciber. The boy to his immediate left was Cadmus Avery, who Lily recognized from the classes they shared, and he was sneering at them cruelly – it was he who had called Lily a Mudblood. Standing behind them, a little shorter and a little scrawnier was a boy from their Sorting as well, Rabastan Lestrange.
"What do you want?" interrogated Alice viciously.
"Manners, Prewett, or I'll have to teach you a lesson starting with your Mudblood friend here," mocked Mulciber in a baby voice. "I do have several people who know some good hexes. How 'bout it, half-blood?"
Lily swallowed hard before the boys parted to reveal –
"Sev? What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.
Severus was looking around to anything that was not her. Tucking his black hair behind his ear and his eyes darting everywhere at once, he said, "Well, I …"
Here, he trailed off, unable to come up with anything else to say, and he looked helplessly at Avery who was still glaring at Lily and Alice.
Avery, however, was not as reluctant as Severus was to do anything. He stuck out his abnormally long wand and shouted, "Furnunculus!" waving his wand at an unsuspecting Alice who was not quick enough to avoid the hex.
She cried out in pain the instant the spell, which was easily recognizable as the same Pimple Jinx Severus used on Potter with during their first DADA class, hit her smack in the middle of her face. Painful boils erupted across her usually clear skin, forming ugly red hills in the form of pimples and huge zits, a couple of which swelled and popped. Alice's wand clattered to the stone floor, but she paid no attention as she continued to howl from the sting of Avery's curse.
Fury rose in Lily as she tried to hold Alice comfortingly though the girl barely noticed. She turned and glowered at. Severus had been the one to study combative jinxes and hexes at her house while Lily was content to pour over the charms and such, but at that moment she remembered the spell Banks had started teaching them. Nobody had tried it yet in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, but it was the first spell to leap into Lily's head.
"Flipendo!" she shouted, stabbing her own wand at Avery and sending a jet of bright blue light his way.
Lily had not been expecting much to happen as she had yet to even practice the Knockback Jinx, but her rage at Avery seemed to triple her power. The book had said beginners usually pushed opponents back when first using it, but instead of Lily's jinx simply sending Avery stumbling backwards, it slammed straight into his chest and knocked him flat on his back.
As Avery struggled to breathe as the sudden thrust knocked the air from his lungs, Severus glanced up at Lily repentantly while the two other Slytherins, Mulciber and Lestrange, now looked at Lily with blank surprise. Up until that moment, Lily was one of the few to not react with hexes to anybody, not even the Gryffindor boys, but the assembled people seemed to realize that simply because she had not used jinxes of that type before, that did not mean that she was not above retaliating in such a fashion.
Stuffing his hands into his robes, Mulciber quickly withdrew his wand, pointing it back at Lily. He opened his mouth to say a curse that would no doubt knock her out cold, but before he could, Severus cried, "Don't!" and he knocked Mulciber's arm away from Lily.
Mulciber stared at the skinny boy in disbelief, but Severus stared back defiantly while Alice whimpered from Avery's curse that was still in effect.
That was when a voice said, "What on earth is going on here?"
Emmie the Prefect had arrived on the scene. Without hesitation, she ran up to the dueling first years, pointing her wand at each of them in turn. Behind her was another person, this one a tall boy with dark skin and a small gold earring in one ear. If Lily had to guess his age, it would be about third or fourth year – older than herself but younger than the prefect he followed.
That was when Emmie noticed Alice, who was covered in angry red pimples, and Lily, who still had a protective hand on Alice's shoulder. She rounded on the Slytherins, and they all stood there, staring at Emmie with something just short of terror. It may have been one thing to challenge a fellow first year, but it was an entirely other matter to pick a fight with a much more accomplished fifth year prefect and her acquaintance. Mulciber seemed to realize this first and called for his Slytherin buddies to run. Severus did, but not before shooting one last apologetic look at Lily.
"What happened?" demanded Emmie as Lily helped a still whimpering Alice to her feet.
At Emmie's question, she glanced back at her.
"I had just given Alice's owl Marigold a letter to send, and the Slytherins appeared when we left the tower," said Lily before guiding Alice to the exiting staircase, rubbing her comfortingly on the poor girl's back.
"Who provoked who?" asked the tall boy. Though he only a little older than herself and Alice, his voice was slow and deep.
Alice sniffled through her tears, still unable to see. "Mulciber called Lily a – the 'M' word." She seemed incapable of repeating the word "Mudblood".
Emmie gasped in both shock and fury, her eyes wide. "He didn't!"
Alice started crying again, though whether from the pain or the situation, Lily did not know. Thinking it would be better to finish the story for Emmie and the boy rather than let an injured and sobbing Alice continue as they started to make their way to the Hospital Wing, she said, "That was when Avery pulled out his wand and yelled 'Furnunculus', and his curse hit Alice in the face. I got angry and retaliated with a Knockback Jinx, which was when you showed up, and … well, you two saw what happened after that."
Biting her lip to refrain from saying anything she might regret, Emmie turned to the boy beside her and said, "Kingsley, go get Professor McGonagall. Tell her to meet us in the Hospital Wing."
Kingsley nodded and ran in the opposite direction before Emmie turned to Alice and said reassuringly, "C'mon, sweetheart. Madam Pomfrey will be able to fix you up in a jiffy."
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1971 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
"What – the – bloody – hell – was – that?" hissed Lycoris between his heavy breaths.
After seeing the prefect and her sidekick, Severus's friends had taken off quickly, tearing down the corridor in an effort to put as much distance between them and the prefect as possible. Even though Severus was the last of the group to take off running, it took little effort for him to catch up with Mulciber, and all of them had continued to run until a panting Cadmus called for a stop as they rounded a corner on the second floor.
"What was what?" asked Severus innocently, though he had a pretty good idea of what part of the encounter Lycoris referred to.
"You know what!" said Lycoris, and after he had finally regained his breath, he strode up to Severus, standing almost toe to toe so that he could stare him down.
"I don't care who your mother was – a Mudblood-lover Prince is just as bad as a Weasley or a Potter in my book."
"I'm not a Mudblood-lover!" defended Severus, partly out of defense and partly out of fear.
"Is there another explanation for why you knocked Lycoris's arm out of the way?" asked Cadmus. He too had stopped panting and was now glaring at Severus.
Severus found himself stuck on what to say: the real explanation was that he never wanted Lily to get caught in the crosshairs in the first place, but there was no way to phrase that so it sounded more pleasing to pure-bloods like Lycoris and Cadmus. Even though his mother had told him stories about how many old Wizarding families behaved, he still received a bit of a shock when Lycoris used 'Mudblood' not even a day after they arrived at Hogwarts.
No, the truth was not going to cut it, so Severus decided on a lie – and considering how often he was forced to hide his emotions from his father, Severus was getting to be a pretty good liar.
"Because, Cadmus," explained Severus slowly, drawing himself up and wiping his face of as much emotion as he could, "You seem to forget that we are only first years. The damage you are capable of is minimal, and only idiots would rate petty jinxes above the trouble it's worth. So unless you can honestly give me a better reason to curse another student in front of a prefect when they could fix whatever you did in less than a second, then I will continue to wait until you can actually inflict damage and make it worth the consequences."
He waited with baited breath as both Cadmus and Lycoris considered his words, and finally Lycoris shrugged and said, "Fair enough."
Severus internally breathed a sigh of relief.
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1971 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
True to Emmie's word, Madam Pomfrey, a kind-hearted but stern woman who was the Hogwarts resident matron, only needed ten seconds to set Alice right, but it took another hour before she and Lily were allowed to leave the Hospital Wing since Professor McGonagall arrived soon after Alice was healed. Only after she heard the full story did her teacher allow the two to leave with the promise of fifty points from Slytherin and detention for Mulciber, Avery, and Lestrange – thankfully not Severus as Lily managed to talk McGonagall out of that – as well as McGonagall awarding Gryffindor ten points for Lily's excellent use of the Knockback Jinx.
Alice, whose cheeks were back to their normal pink thanks once again to Madam Pomfrey's healing magic, followed Lily out of the Hospital Wing where they started to head for the common room. Other students were also gradually finishing with their outdoor activities and filed into the corridors as well, curious as to the fifty points Slytherin lost but barely aware of the ten points Gryffindor gained.
"Thanks for standing up for me back there," said Lily as they climbed the marble staircase to the first floor.
"No problem. By the way, remind me not to get on your bad side. I would hate to be on the receiving end of your Knockback Jinx; it was pretty scary," said Alice.
Lily laughed lightly and said, "Don't worry about that. You're already firmly on my good side." She was thoughtful for a second and then, "Am I really that scary?"
Alice howled for the second time that day, but it was not from pain – it was from laughter.
"Once the Gryffindor boys realize that you're not reluctant to hex them, I think they're going to be more careful so that you don't catch them breaking the rules. Didn't you see Lestrange's face? He's terrified of you now that he knows you're more than willing to fight fire with fire."
Lily shrugged, unable to answer. Alice was right, she was not above jinxing somebody who irritated her, but it was still a little disconcerting. That was what Potter and Black did to settle any arguments, not her. She was supposed to be the one to talk things through, not whip out her wand at every little thing that happened to annoy her or hex anything that happened to move in her presence simply because she needed the target practice.
Alice noticed her silence and said, "Don't worry, Lily, it's not just that. You can be intimidating sometimes when you're angry, but add the fact that in only two months, you almost knocked out Cadmus Avery with a single spell, you can be downright scary – I can only imagine how scared Potter and Black will be when they find out."
"Well, those boys," – Lily could not come up with another name for them as she was not sure one existed to accurately describe them – "will be the next to taste my Knockback Jinx if they can't straighten up soon," she grumbled.
Alice raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "Don't you think you're overreacting a little. They just like to have some fun is all."
Lily stopped in her tracks and stared at her.
"Fun?" she repeated, nearly speechless, "Alice, they curse and bully Severus at every opportunity they get! It's not like they just play harmless jokes or anything, those … marauders are cruel and heartless and –"
That was when she heard someone moving behind her. Unwilling to take another chance that day, she whipped out her wand, and Alice did the same thing beside her.
The mystery person stepped out from behind the statue, and Lily raised her wand a little higher before growling, "Whoever you are, you don't want to test me right now. I've had a really, really bad day."
There was a chuckle at Lily's warning, and another person also appeared behind the first individual, who held up his hands in compliance and said in an amused voice, "Easy, Evans. Don't hex me now."
And just like that, her really, really bad day got even worse.
It was the voice of someone who always seemed to revel in testing her temper and frequently teased her with the name "Firehead", and unfortunately it was a voice Lily had gotten to know quite well over the past few weeks.
She groaned and asked coolly, "What do you want now, Potter? Don't you have some sweets to steal from innocent, little children? Today is not a good day to irritate me any farther than your overinflated ego already does on a daily basis."
Black stepped out from behind Potter; it was he who had snickered at Lily's earlier statement. Black was looking at her with more dislike than Potter, who was regarding her with a mix satisfied glee and unconcerned nonchalance.
"We're just walking. Is that a crime, Miss Don't-Mess-With-Me? And by the way – marauding? That's a bit harsh even for you."
"It is what you do," answered Lily stubbornly with her eyes still narrowed at the two of them. "The only thing morons like you two know how to do is strut around this castle like you own the place, and your one pleasure is making Severus and me as miserable as you can with as many snide comments and humiliating hexes that you can think of. But you do have my pity, though. After all, how many other idiots depend on insulting others to be happy? None, that's how many. You're marauders, plain and simple."
There was a moment when they considered her words with thoughtful looks before Potter, unbelievably, grinned at Black and said, "You know, Sirius, I think we got ourselves a title after all."
Black brightened, much to the dismay of Lily, who had been hoping to embarrass them – or at the very least anger the two preposterously calm boys, and Black answered Potter gleefully, "Yes, my fellow Marauder, I think little Firehead here just gave it to us."
"No, I didn't!" protested Lily, but even then she could tell that every complaint she could think of would be completely useless against them. What had she done now? The last thing she needed to hear was the phrase "Marauding Marauder" running around school like a wildfire after whatever prank those two had created.
"Hush, Evans," said Potter, waving his hand flippantly in her direction and not even bothering to glance her way. "We're having a serious marauding plan for Marauders who intend to maraud only."
At that dismissive gesture, her sizzling temper flared to the surface quicker than it had ever erupted before. If there was one thing Lily Evans did not appreciate, it was someone waving her away without a second thought. Petunia and her intolerable friends had done that enough times over the recent years, but she was not going to stand for it anymore, let alone in Hogwarts, the one place she could be free of Petunia's horrible treatment.
Alice must have sensed that Lily was only seconds away from bursting because she quickly grabbed Lily's arm and gave a cautionary shake of the head to the two boys, but they either did not see it or ignored her completely because Black soon inquired, "By the way, Evans, what is this rumor that you two got into a little skirmish with some Slytherins? The only people who should be able to duel with those Slytherins are Marauders – like us. I don't think anybody would love to see them squirm more than I would."
Lily's anger was coming up on its limit, and, still furious at Potter for waving her down glibly, she cooed mockingly in a baby voice, "Aww, are the poor little Marauders unhappy – Guess what, Black? I don't actually care what you think, so shut up and get in line if that's really what you want to do."
Alice was unable to not say anything as Lily inched towards her breaking point.
"She has a wicked Knockback Jinx, Black. I would watch out," she warned Black seriously, but those two Marauders just laughed her cautionary words off facetiously, throwing back their heads and roaring with hilarity.
"You're kidding," said Black. "Banks has only introduced us to that spell very recently. Jamesie and I have only just started practicing that spell, but you're saying you've already got it? Ha! Good joke, Prewett!"
Alice simply stepped away helplessly while Lily's temper hit maximum capacity. There may be that little insecurity of never fitting in anywhere ingrained deep within her, but to be mocked aloud by somebody – Sirius Black no less – was the last straw, and fury flooded her mind, her bright eyes flashing dangerously. Through his sniggers, Potter must have noticed her positively deadly expression as he took a few steps back nervously, but Black paid no attention, too caught up in his amusement.
"FLIPENDO!" bellowed Lily furiously, and the results were glorious: a bang and a burst of bright blue light, the force of Lily's jinx threw Black through the air for several yards before he crashed into a statue of some old warlock petting a fierce-looking lion with a sickening thunk!
"Sirius!" yelled Potter to his friend, but Black was too stunned from his collision to properly respond.
Potter then quickly turned on them, whipping out his wand determinedly, no doubt to hex Lily, but as she was no longer an unsuspecting little witch, Alice was quicker than she had been against Avery and thus more efficient.
"Vermillious," cried Alice in Lily's defense.
The red sparks that sizzled and crackled in front of Potter were not much of an offensive spell per se, but as he reflexively batted them away to keep from getting burned, it gave Lily a chance to hit him with another Knockback Jinx. It was not nearly as powerful as the one that she had jinxed Black with, but it still did the trick.
"Willing to take that back, boys? After you manage to stand up of course," shot Lily, smirking at the sight of the two of them humbled for once at her hands – and they thought they were better than her.
"We'll get you, Evans. You watch your back," grunted Black, but it was not much of a threat when he was still trying to get to his feet without falling over and his voice was muffled from his face being pressed against the floor.
"We'll see. Let me know when you're done snogging the floor."
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1971 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
During dinner time, James cautiously watched both Evans as she chattered aimlessly with the other girls in her dormitory and Snape, who was silently switching between eating his own food at the Slytherin table and looking longingly at Evans. After getting over the initial astonishment of the incident earlier that day, James realized that he had underestimated a person – actually underestimated somebody, getting a surprise rather than the normal thrill.
James Potter did not like surprises.
It was always Snape who shot back at Sirius and him with a hex or curse, not Evans. That girl would simply glare at him – or if she was really angry, she would bite back at any of his practiced jinxes or nasty comments of Snape's greasiness with some sharp remarks of her own. James hated to admit it, but Evans was by far the best of the best when it came to venomous comebacks and snappy one-liners. Though doubtful for himself, he knew that she would be an excellent person to have on his side for arguments.
He had not, however, considered that Evans was also as proficient at combative hexes as she was at those benign charms she was always practicing in the common room. It was obvious that she had skill, but he had simply never imagined her dueling someone like him or Sirius with something other than pretty but useless spells. Actually, it would have been laughable, but that was before she showed any indication that her more adverse magic was to be taken seriously right alongside her benevolent magic.
Now James knew better.
But that did not mean that he did not want revenge for how she and Prewett had embarrassed him – James fully intended to come out on top over Evans to teach her that while she may be a good witch, he was a better wizard. It only meant that he had more competition than he thought he did.
"We're going to prank them, right James?" asked Sirius from beside him, scowling at his plate as if it too had jinxed him. Like himself, Sirius could not forget the little skirmish between them.
"No worries, my fellow Marauder. They won't know what hit them," whispered James as he critically studied Evans where she sat farther down the Gryffindor table. He hated Snape because he was a nasty little snake from Slytherin and thus disliked Evans by default, though he considered her more of a rival than a nemesis. Evans was still a Gryffindor after all, even if she was a Gryffindor who hung out with a Slytherin.
Sirius seemed satisfied with that and clapped his hands, saying, "So to business: How do we do that?"
That was a good question. Evans had the other Gryffindor girls behind her as well as her oily friend Snape.
"Well," started James slowly, "The first thing we need to do is learn every curse and jinx we can. We'll see how it goes after we're a step up from them."
Sirius scoffed and attacked his lasagna. "Homework? Now why should we do that when we already have homework?"
"You don't do the homework anyway," James pointed out.
"Too true, my fellow Marauder, too true."
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1971 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
"I'm sorry, Lily, I really am," apologized Severus for the fifth time as he and Lily meandered about the grounds, drinking in the sunlight and enjoying the last bit of pleasant weather that was left until next spring. "Lycoris asked me if I wanted to join them for a walk is all. You know how rare it is for me to be included in the popular group, Lily, but I swear I didn't know Cadmus would curse your friend."
Lily watched as a large group of fourth and fifth years played Chicken with the newly planted and distant Whomping Willow. Severus was right – after all, that was what had happened in primary school since he and Lily were always the ones to get picked on for their "stupid games" as the bullies always called them. She could hardly blame Severus for wanting to join those who included him.
"I believe you, Sev," she said quietly. When she said nothing else, Severus did not see any reason to fill the quiet between them, and they walked in silence after that, simply enjoying the sight of the lush Hogwarts grounds.
She peeked at Severus out of the corner of her eye. He had changed in just the small amount of time they had been at Hogwarts, but Lily was not sure if it was for better or worse. In those carefree moments they shared before Hogwarts, whether it be jumping off swings in their playground or gazing up at the clouds from their secluded little groove, he was always her friend Sev – the awkward, dreamy little boy she had grown to love and care for. Now in the presence of magic and people, he often grew quiet in classrooms and spent hours in the library, pouring over books. No longer was he just Sev, he was Severus Snape, a descendent of the Prince family and a proud Slytherin.
Severus glanced at her as if aware of her wandering thoughts, and Lily hastily started examining the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She was positive Severus did not buy her act, but he did not ask her what she had been thinking. The silence between them was not uncomfortable – they were too attuned to each other for any length of silence to be like that. It was just peaceful.
After several minutes like that, Severus unexpectedly bent down with his back to her, and Lily peered curiously. When he had finally turned around, Lily saw that he was holding a flower, a small but pretty daffodil with bright white petals. Severus held it out for her to take it.
"For you," he said quietly.
Upon looking at the perfect little daffodil, Lily broke out into a smile. "You remembered," she said happily, taking it. Holding the flower up to her nose, she closed her eyes and inhaled the sweet fragrance, the grin ever-present on her face.
It had been several weeks into their friendship when Severus had pointed out a flower vendor on the side of the street. He had asked Lily if she wanted some lilies, but she broke out into a small rant about how many people expected that her favorite flower was the one she had been named for until Severus calmed her down enough for her to explain that daffodils were her favorite flower. Needless to say, he spent the next day tirelessly searching for the perfect daffodil to surprise her with on the playground.
Severus cracked his own smile.
"Of course, I did," he said. "How could I not?"
Up until that point, Lily never expected him to remember that small tidbit, but he had, even after over two years had passed since Severus had startled her with that perfect little daffodil.
"Oh, Sev," she said wistfully. For some reason unknown even to her, Lily soon found herself laughing while she placed the daffodil on her ear for decoration, and when Severus started to join in, it started to feel like those joyous moments in their groove by the creek back home.
