Previously: Sirius thinks that the Marauders should accompany Hagrid into the forest. They meet Aragog. While practicing the Mending Charm, Lily overhears her friends talking about the New Year's Eve Ball. Lily is surprised that James's family is so influential because he never talks about it. However, when Alice talks about attending, Lily once again remembers that she comes from a very different background.


Chapter 16: Lovey-Dovey Duels (Not)

Lily Evans did not like Valentine's Day. Perhaps it was all the entirely inappropriate things those mushy-gushy couples did in the school corridors, or maybe it was that Petunia loved Valentine's Day more than any other holiday, but whatever the reason, Lily did not like the day one bit. She would have happily forgotten about it entirely had Mary not given her and the other girls in the dormitory magical headbands that spit out pink and red hearts that clashed horribly with her hair into the air every three seconds (Lily had outright refused to wear the headband, opting for Severus's Christmas gift as her only decoration – which did not really count anyways, considering she wore it on a daily basis).

But as it was, she was one of the minority who did not like the sad excuse of a holiday.

After listening to Marlene and Mary gush in the dormitory during the morning about the Valentines they were hoping to receive at breakfast, Lily had exited the common room to head to the Great Hall, where many decorations of varying warm colors floated around the hall, mocking her. Much to her irritation, the sight of the incredibly annoying Gilderoy Lockhart met her when she looked around at the assorted tables, and several young girls eyed him with interest as he boasted to his minion, Bertram Aubrey, a rather plain boy who followed the much handsomer Lockhart around everywhere, about how he had ventured into the Forbidden Forest to save a five-year-old from a werewolf. At least in that area of finding Lockhart irksome, Lily knew that she was not alone as she looked over at her friends who had expressions similar to her own on their faces.

"Look at him," said Marlene in disgust as she gracefully folded herself into a seat at the Gryffindor table. "You would think he's a celebrity. He barely even tries in his schoolwork – Mary? Mary!"

She waved her hand in front of the girl in question.

At Marlene's snapping, Mary jerked her mind back to the present, but not before the others had caught her staring dreamily at Lockhart.

Looking between the three of them, she asked defensively, "What? It's not against the rules to look."

"Please, Mary, do not tell me you're crushing on him too," begged Lily as Alice piled her plate high with scrambled eggs. "He's just … gah, he's – well, he's Lockhart – annoying, self-centered Lockhart."

The way Lily spoke made it perfectly clear how far her own feelings extended towards the egotistical Ravenclaw, which were quite nonexistent ever since he had proclaimed that he was going to be the youngest ever Minister of Magic and offered her and Severus tips on how to be better brewers in Potions class.

Mary blushed and turned back to her bacon.

"He's still smart. I've hear rumors that his wand is cherry and dragon heartstring, which is supposed to be a powerful combination. And besides, he's good-looking," she said, turning back to smile at Gilderoy who was currently telling the girls (and Bertram) that whoever sent him the best Valentine would earn a kiss from his "amazing" lips.

Lily just shook her head in exasperation at the plump, infatuated girl.

"The wand is only as good as the wizard who carries it, Mary. If you want to say he's really good, then wait until he's at the top of the class at least. Just because he has a powerful wand, you can't automatically assume that he'll master it and that it'll be the best wand ever. I mean, what's your made of?"

Mary's eyes darted down to her own wand that was lying on the table next to her breakfast plate.

"English oak and unicorn hair," she mumbled humbly.

"Everybody's different," said Marlene. "My own wand – it's elm and dragon heartstring, twelve and a half inches, and rigid. Mr. Ollivander said it's good for martial magic."

She caressed it fondly before looking back up to Mary to reiterate Lily's point.

"Just because his wand is supposed to be really powerful doesn't mean that he's really powerful."

Just at that moment, hundreds of owls glided into the Great Hall, many bearing red or pink envelopes and boxes of chocolate to the many owners. Lily looked up in time to see a Brown owl alight next to her plate, gobbling up many of the scrambled eggs that Alice had kindly served her earlier. In its claws, the owl held Lily's usual copy of the Daily Prophet while another one had a little white envelope with a couple of sweets from her parents. All three of her friends had also gotten mail much like Lily's load, barring the newspaper of course.

Setting the sweets aside for another time, Lily carefully opened the envelope and unfolded the letter within.

Dear Lily,

We know you always say Valentine's Day is completely useless and have dubbed it Single-Awareness Day, so just think of this as an extra expression of love for our little witch. We're so proud of all that you've accomplished this year alone, and enclosed are those little chocolates you and Petunia loved as little girls.

Love you and miss you bunches!

Mom and Dad

Unable to help herself, Lily smiled, but the happy feeling was soon cut short when Marlene, who typically always borrowed Lily's copy of the Daily Prophet, made a noise much like an angry cat from beside her while she read the front page of the Prophet, eyes narrowing with each word. Lily quickly wrenched the newspaper out of Marlene's perfectly manicured hands and began to read the main article.

HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED DECLARES OPEN REBELLION AND THE MINISTRY'S RESPONSE

By Betty Braithwaite

The quickly growing dread of the Knights of Walpurgis and their mysterious leader, whose name is now beginning to spark fear whenever mentioned, has gripped the country in the past several months, rising exponentially with each attack. Unlike before, the Knights and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as we will refer to him have moved beyond creating riots in the Ministry of Magic and spreading propaganda demeaning to Muggles and Muggle-borns. They have now been indicated in several recent tragedies that have taken place in both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds, and their leader, still unnamed, has declared a war against "those filthy Muggles, Mudbloods, and vermin like them."

The body of Ms. Victoria Gobsworth, who was previously reported missing towards the end of last year, was recently found London, dead. Muggles, who later had to be Obliviated by Ministry of Magic employees, found Ms. Gobsworth's body on Sunday morning, which was floating in midair while her murderers had used her blood to write a message on the wall behind her, which read, "Mudbloods and Muggles, beware: You are next."

Contrary to previous suspicions, authorities now believe that Ms. Gobsworth was kept alive for several months, and said, when asked, that her captors had most likely tortured her during that time before finally murdering her. At first the Ministry was hesitant to point to any suspects before confirming to a reporter that the Knights of Walpurgis had claimed responsibility and that all evidence so far indicated them in the crime.

Ms. Gobsworth leaves behind a younger sister, Veronica Gobsworth, 43, who remains a highly trained Hit Witch for the Ministry as well as a former fellow Gryffindor and husband, Benjy Fenwick, 56, who works as a Magizoologist. At this moment they are both refusing to speak to reporters about the discovery of Ms. Gobsworth's body, but a spokesperson for the family has said that just like everybody else, they need time to grieve in peace. A memorial service is scheduled this Thursday at one o'clock at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, which Ms. Gobsworth had served faithfully and bonded with patients and other Healers for years before she took up the position as Chief Healer-in-Charge in 1965. Planners are expecting no less than 2,000 wizards and witches from around the world to attend.

This discovery comes weeks after a total of nine Muggles, including five children, were found dead in their home in Yorkshire over the Christmas holidays. Muggle Aurors (non-magical people call them policemen) have so far been unable to determine the cause of death, but the Department of Magical Law Enforcement says that it is clearly a wizard's murder. This, combined with the related disappearances of notable Muggle-borns like Ms. Gobsworth and the riots of pure-blood supporters, has led many wizards and witches to question what exactly the Dark Lord and his followers are capable of.

A spokesman for Minister Eugenia Jenkins, had this to say: "The methods this cult has resorted to are deplorable, but that does not mean they are not effective when making their point. Minister Jenkins has acknowledged the danger, and as a way to try to eliminate a major part of the problem at its source, the Ministry of Magic decreed that upon completion of N.E.W.T.s and subsequent graduation from an official magical academy, all British Muggle-borns will take the W.O.M.B.A.T. test as a way to prevent those who lack magical knowledge from entering the Wizarding community and interfering with witches and wizards."

The new decree has been met with criticism by some and support by others.

"It's absolutely outrageous," says Mr. Arthur Weasley, 21, who is a member of the joked-about Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. "Firstly, it has nothing to do with the problem at hand. Secondly, Muggle-borns have every right to be a part of this world, same as pure-bloods. The truth that they come from long lines of Muggles has nothing to do with their abilities and ought to be celebrated rather than discriminated. They're an important part of our culture and always have been. It's beyond depressing that the farther we progress, the less progressive our attitudes become."

The majority, however, have supported the Minister and her new legislation for varying reasons. Some believe that Minister Jenkins must do everything she can to appease the Dark Lord so as not to harm any more of the Wizarding community, and others express their relief that the Ministry of Magic seems to be stepping away from its pro-Muggle leanings that had been going on during the Leach administration. Most think that with only proven witches and wizards integrated within our society, the Knights of Walpurgis will have less reason to rebel.

Are the Muggle-borns among us worth it? Or is Minister Jenkins correct in pushing for the safety of our nation, even if it means inconveniencing a small portion of the population in both magical schools and the magical community in general?

The more that Lily read, the less she found herself wanting to know. It was a blow directly to her gut, striking at the very thing she feared most: that she was indeed inferior to her classmates. The little but significant insecurity about how she had only Muggle blood as opposed to the witches with generations of magical blood had been buried so deep that it was almost possible to believe it did not exist – but it still existed, ever-present and ever-growing, as it came back at every instance the world around her reminded her that she was different.

Beside her, Alice, ever the faithful friend, grew angrier the farther into the article she read over Lily's propped up arm.

"That's a complete pile of hippogriff dung! I probably couldn't pass the W.O.M.B.A.T. test even if I tried! It's just a bunch of stupid, random facts. How in the name of Merlin's left buttock do they expect you to pass it when you haven't yet completed your first year at Hogwarts?"

Lily's stomach was somewhere in her throat as she said, "I don't have to worry about it unless I pass our N.E.W.T.s in seventh year."

That may have been her explanation for the girls, but the truth was that she simply did not want to think about some test that she had never heard of. Almost unconsciously, her hands went up to her necklace, flipping it between her fingers as she stared at the newspaper article.

"Stupid politics and Merlin's left buttock aside," said Marlene as a smile curved her playful lips; she apparently found Alice's word choice very amusing, "We should probably get going. I don't think Banks will accept Valentine's Day as a reasonable excuse."

Alice groaned when she heard Banks's name and muttered, "Some Valentine's Day."

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1971 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

"Something is wrong with Remus. I don't care what he says, there's something going on," whispered James to Sirius as they made their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class they still had to share with the Slytherins. "Don't you think he's looking a bit peaky?"

Sirius gave their friend, who was currently helping Peter carry his things a little ahead of them, a critical look.

"You're right, Jamesie-Boy. Remus isn't telling us something."

Remus's normally tan skin looked sickly and pale in the sunlight, and dark shadows were visibly present under his eyes as he squinted away from the sunlight. Every few weeks Remus would look like this, and every time James tried to help him, he always found some kind of excuse that both James and Sirius silently but flatly refused to believe.

However, James did not have long to ponder this as they entered Banks's classroom which would have stayed the same except for the little fact that all the tables and chairs had been stuffed to the side of the room, clearing a large space in the middle that James has seen only one other time. Seeing that everybody was putting their things on the stacked desks and chairs, the Marauders hastily hurried to do the same before standing a little farther in the back of the room in a little circle, Remus and Peter joining them this time.

"Why are the desks and chairs like that?" squeaked Peter excitedly, chewing on his nails.

Remus assessed the room with a professional eye.

"We're probably dueling again," he said.

Behind the fellow Marauder, James glanced back at the doorway and felt a strong surge of dislike as both Snape and Evans entered. She was giggling at something that greasy-haired Slytherin was saying as they headed towards the far corner of the classroom putting down their stuff. James hoped that she would break away and join Prewett, Macdonald, and McKinnon, but she frustratingly stayed right where she was at, by Snape's side as if they were old pals.

"Why does she hang out with that slimy Slytherin git? Doesn't Evans have something better to do with her time?" demanded James, glaring at the odd pair in the corner where Snape was laughing at something Evans said.

Remus shrugged.

"I think they were friends before Lily came to Hogwarts. How else can you explain a Slytherin and Gryffindor being sociable with each other?"

"But Evans is a Muggle-born," pointed out Sirius as if it were the most obvious thing ever. "She couldn't know about Hogwarts or magic before she got her Hogwarts letter."

"Muggle-born doesn't necessarily mean oblivious. I overheard her talking to Alice one time, and by the sound of, Lily already had some control over her magic before she came here," said Remus.

"Impossible," scoffed James, staring at the little redheaded girl.

The ability to exert control over one's magic before proper training was such an incredibly rare gift that many people did not believe it happened, and James would not have believed it himself if his father had not talked about how, when he was in Hogwarts, a boy in Slytherin had managed to do it many years ago.

At that moment, Professor Banks strode into the class, clapping her hands to catch people's attention.

"Good morning, class," she said in her usual stern voice. "I don't care if you're enamored with Valentine's Day. It's useless and has absolutely no place in my classroom. Today we are going to pair up to practice dueling."

At these words, the entire class started whispering excitedly. All their classes had either been lecturing and notes or practicing certain spells. Dueling was one of the things James had looked forward to most when coming in Hogwarts, but he had never imagined that first years would be allowed to duel each other.

Professor Banks clapped her hands again to catch everybody's drifting attention, giving each one of them a firm glare.

"This is not to be taken lightly, and there are going to be strict rules in place. Anybody who breaks a rule will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say 'wizard'."

At these words, the students once again snapped up to give her undivided attention.

"Do I have you now? Good. Now, as I was saying, there are going to be strict rules in place to prevent any … unfortunate accidents from occurring. You are only allowed to use minor jinxes and hexes which will wear off quickly and have absolutely no lingering effects. However, you may pick and choose spells as you please – it would excellent practice if you don't tell your partner which spells you will use. The purpose of this exercise is to give you a feel for what it really means to fight."

At these words, classmates began to break out into enthusiastic conversations and made to move towards people they wanted as partners; James himself immediately moved to be with Sirius until Banks clapped her hands once more for silence.

"Your partners have already been chosen for you," she explained, and there was a unanimous chorus of groans at the words that every student hated to hear. Banks then started to read off the pairs in a monotonous voice: Travers with Macdonald, Sirius with Wilkes, Snape with Peter, Remus with McKinnon, and so on. The list went on and on until James heard his name called – he was with Evans.

Okay, thought James as he watched Evans's smile drop instantly and release the strange, little necklace she had been playing with before Banks called her name. Banks must secretly want me and Evans dead.

Evans did not look one bit happy as she went to stand opposite James, who felt a tug in his gut when he saw Snape squeeze her hand in a reassuring way.

"Try not to cry too hard when I kick your pretty little arse," said James aloud, giving her an easy grin, which she did not return.

"We'll see who's crying when I'm through with you," smirked Evans, raising her wand at him. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

It was one of the first spells they had learned in Charms class, and Evans, who was frustratingly exceptional with charms, was particularly excellent at the Levitation Charm. James whipped around to watch for objects flying towards him, but too late, he realized Evans had used in on himself. His school robes rose up in the air, seizing him along with them, and while James was too busy trying to get down, Evans smartly cast a Jelly-Legs Curse as he fell back to the floor.

His legs still feeling very wobbly, James instantly shot back with a Trip Jinx from his sitting position. Evans hastily ducked to avoid the jet of light, which flew over her head and hit an unsuspecting Travers, much to her partner Mary Macdonald's delight.

"Furnunculus! Locomotor Wibbly! Petrificus Totalus!"

James hammered Evans with as many spells as he could think of, but to his continual displeasure, she was successful in avoiding each and every one of them, twisting and turning like a gymnast until one of James's Knockback Jinxes, which Evans herself had always excelled at, hit her, and she launched backwards into the desk, colliding with a large thunk! James stood back while Evans struggled back on to her feet, looking much sorer from her crash.

"The Knockback Jinx, eh, Potter?" she asked, holding her side tenderly. "That's usually my go-to spell."

"Why, Evans! You just gave me a compliment!" he cried out, laughing.

"No, I didn't!" she snapped. "This is what my compliment for you looks like!"

She made to curse James, who was ready to duck, but Professor Banks interrupted her quite loudly.

"I think that's enough for right now, class!" she yelled across to the assorted students. "You all have – Macdonald! Travers! What do you think you're doing?"

Mary Macdonald, who James had never seen do anything remotely violent, was currently engaged in a wrestling match with the gangly, rather raccoon-like Belvina Travers, a girl in their year but a Slytherin. Both wands lay forgotten on the floor, and Travers held Macdonald under her arm while the much shorter, pudgier girl ferociously punched back against the ruthless grip with everything she had.

With a little help from Remus and McKinnon, who had been one of the few pairs to actually practice their defensive spells – as opposed to many other pairs, such as Sirius and Wilkes, who had taken the opportunity to hammer their partners with every jinx and curse first years could think of – Professor Banks physically pulled apart the girls who were still kicking and clawing viciously at each other, and after she could be sure the distance between the two students was safe enough, Banks turned to face Macdonald and Travers – and Merlin, she was livid.

"I have never seen such a display! Twenty points from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Detention for a week! Everybody else, you're dismissed!" yelled Banks, and every student, keen to escape her rage scrambled for the door, James and Sirius following them only a little bit slower than everybody else.