Previously: Snape helps Lily with Transfiguration. However, Lily gets mad when Snape doesn't want his housemates to see him with her. Voldemort openly declares himself and his Death Eaters by attacking the Ministry. This event is what makes everybody realize just how serious the situation is. The Marauders come across Lily and Mary arguing with Slytherins. James hexes Mulciber. Lily says she could have handled it herself, but she also lets him know she appreciates what James did. She smiles at him for the first time, and as she and Mary leave, James feels butterflies in his stomach.
Chapter 28: An Altered Approach
Snow whipped around outside the window looking into the yellow glow of the Gryffindor common room, creating an unforgiving wall of white flurries that hid even the expanse of the Black Lake from sight. On the other side of the window, Lily curled up on the plush sofa, content and toasty in front of the crackling fire whilst she surrounded herself with blankets and pillows. A small pile of Chocolate Frogs sat on the table beside her, and The Magician's Nephew lay propped open on her lap.
But even some of her treats and a book that would always remain a childhood favorite could not distract her from the gloominess she felt now that Severus was spending the holiday at Mulciber's home. The news had come the week before the Hogwarts Express departed the Hogsmeade station to take students home for winter break, and though Severus promised over and over that they would have all of Easter together, that did not help the dread Lily felt upon hearing that she would spend Christmas with only Petunia for company, so she had written her parents to explain that she had too much schoolwork to do but that she would try to make it home for Easter.
So instead of going home, she had visited Professor McGonagall in her office to announce her intention to stay at Hogwarts during the break. Alice had wanted to stay with her, but her parents had already booked a vacation in the Alps before they would return home so they could get ready for the annual New Year's Eve Ball, and neither Marlene nor Mary could stay at Hogwarts either, leaving her all alone during the holidays.
So now here she was, preparing to spend the holidays in solitude with only teachers and a few other poor souls for the occasional company.
Lily sighed, turning the page once again to the familiar story of Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer as they explored the realm of Charn and coped with the turmoil that followed. It was a story she had fallen asleep listening to many times as a little girl when her mother's soothing voice rocked her into a peaceful slumber, back when magic had meant talking animals and fairy godmothers – all much different from the reality she lived in.
"What are you reading?" asked a curious voice suddenly from behind her.
At the completely unexpected interruption, Lily jumped violently in her seat at the question, but it was only Lupin. He stood a little ways away, looking very interested in the book that clearly was not one of their normal textbooks. Even under the golden glow filling the common room, he looked pale and tired.
"Oh, it's you, Lupin. Sorry, you just startled me is all," said Lily, holding her chest where her heart had nearly jumped out in fright. She stuck the bookmark between the pages and closed the book. "What are you doing here?"
Lupin gave a noncommittal shrug.
"Same as you probably – I'm staying here for Christmas. Thought I was the only one, though. May I?" he asked, gesturing to the empty chair that was opposite Lily.
Though she was weary of all the Marauders, Lupin was the only one of the four who seemed decent, so Lily simply shrugged at the question. Lupin gave her a small smile and walked over to take the seat while Lily studied him curiously.
With all the mayhem Potter and Black created for their entertainment, she had sometimes forgotten that Lupin was a Marauder under all that diligent studying and his much more reserved demeanor. She had never spoken much to him herself – certainly not a conversation just between the two of them – but Lily had always assumed that he was just a quieter version of Potter. Now however, she realized just how much she had associated with Lupin simply because of his friends. The person sitting in front of her was not anything like she would have expected a Marauder to be.
"Where are Potter and Black?" asked Lily cautiously, glancing around. Given her history with the boys, she would not have been surprised if they were lying in wait, preparing a perfect ambush while Lupin distracted her.
"At James's parents' house," answered Lupin evenly, leaning back into the armchair with a slab of chocolate that Lily had not the faintest idea where he got it from. "That's where Sirius spends all the school breaks he's not spending here since he tries to avoid going home to his … you know, relatives; Peter's back home with his mum. And you didn't answer my question: what are you reading?"
He nodded at the book with a frank curiosity she would not have expected from a Marauder.
"This?" repeated Lily, holding up the book to show him the colorful cover. "The Magician's Nephew. My mother used to read all the volumes in The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings out loud to me and my sister when we were little girls, and I've never really grown out of my love for those kinds of stories."
Confusion crossed Lupin's face.
"I haven't seen your sister around here. What's her name?"
That was when Lily realized her slipup.
"She … doesn't go here," she said lamely after a minute of considering what to tell the boy whose company she did not want to scare off anytime soon, especially since there were no other Gryffindors staying at Hogwarts during the break. "I don't really like to talk about it."
A look of sympathy crossed Lupin's face, and Lily hastily averted her eyes back to her book, feeling the hint of a blush in her cheeks. The silence that followed was not uncomfortable by any means, but it still felt weird to be in the same room as a Marauder without there also being an argument of some kind.
"It's so quiet around here without everybody," remarked Lily, internally flinching at her weak attempt to fill the silence between the two of them.
Lupin let out a quiet chuckle and said, "That's probably because James and Sirius aren't here – they made most of the noise during that Christmas prank of ours."
Lily shot Lupin a frown at that, flashing back to right before break when the Marauders had thought it would be funny to charm the first years in Gryffindor and Slytherin to glow red and green respectively. Neither the Ravenclaws nor the Hufflepuffs had been spared from the little Christmas light show. They had spouted little Santa beards for the occasion, though Lily could not be sure whether their unexpected facial hair was by the work of a potion or a spell – she did not want to ask.
"Y'know, if you have nothing better to do for Christmas, I know something that might put a little Christmas spirit in your day," said Lupin after a minute.
He stood up, and Lily shot him a puzzled look, wondering what he had planned. When Lupin noticed, he laughed and said, "Don't worry, it's nothing bad. You just look like you could use some cheering up. Follow me."
Beneath his calm exterior, there was a playful energy that reminded her of his status as a mischief-maker, and from that knowing glint in his eyes, Lily suddenly realized that perhaps Potter and Black were not behind all the pranks she had witnessed.
As there was nothing else that she would be doing for the rest of that day, Lily shrugged and followed suit, though not before asking, "And where would this 'Christmas spirit' be coming from exactly?"
"You'll see – oh, you'll want your cloak and a hat too," added Lupin, already heading up to his own dormitory no doubt to fetch his things. "When you're ready, I'll be waiting outside the Clock Tower in that courtyard," and then he was already gone, climbing up the spiraling staircase leading to the boys' dormitory.
By the time Lily met him in the courtyard, snug and warm from the heavy cloak and her hat, gloves, and scarf Marlene had given her as a gift for Christmas last year. The Heating Charms she had placed on all her clothes also helped to keeping the biting cold away from her skin, but even that did not stop her teeth from chattering as the icy wind raged without forgiveness. Lupin was there as well, dressed just as warmly, though he too shivered against the winter air.
"Did this have to be outside?" yelled Lily above the wind, her red hair whipping back and forth from the icy gusts descending upon them. She hastily pulled away locks that caught in her mouth, but the wind just pushed it right back out of place.
"C'mon!" shouted Lupin, not directly answering her question. "We'll be inside soon enough."
He turned and led her through the courtyard, past where some students' snow wizards still stood, though sagging and partially gone, and into the wooden bridge that offered little relief from the snowstorm. Lily slipped twice on patches of ice, but she caught the balustrade before she could fall and hurt herself. Thankfully, Lupin slowed his pace to match her cautious steps. He helped her down the slippery steps when the bridge ended, and Lily's feet sank into the snow that almost came up to her knees as she descended the last couple of stone steps.
By now Lily was hopelessly lost as to what they were doing outside so far away from the cozy Gryffindor common room, but Lupin trudged through the snow with a purpose. Dearly hoping that he was not taking her into the Forbidden Forest, Lily had no choice but to follow him and to trust a Marauder's judgment as she took care to step into Lupin's imprints rather than bother with struggling to make her own.
As it turned out, Lupin did not lead her into the forest. He instead turned to where Lily managed to discern the outline of a hut with glowing orange windows against the sprawling grounds. Once they finally close enough, Lily studied the cabin's exterior while Lupin knocked loudly against the large wooden door.
She had seen the hut before when all of her friends would take a break from studying to enjoy the fresh air, but she had never paid the hut itself much attention before as it was close to the Forbidden Forest, and Lily had no reason for venturing closer since she and the other Gryffindor girls preferred the Black Lake and open ground to play around in. It was cozy though, and it certainly looked inviting from the outside.
That was when the door opened, revealing a towering man with wild black hair that would have put Potter's to shame. Lily instantly recognized him as the gamekeeper who she had occasionally seen at feasts and around the grounds and such, but she had only really met him once, back when she had first arrived here – even then he had not talked to her as he had an entire flock of first years to guide to the castle at the time. He was intimidating to her then, and time had not tamed the frightening appearance.
"Hi, Hagrid!" greeted Lupin cheerfully.
"Remus, yer should'a come sooner!" said Hagrid, smiling down at him, which was when Lily noticed that he was wearing a flowery apron. "Come on in – don' want yer and yer friend standin' in the cold now, do I?"
He stood back, and Lupin eagerly entered. At first, Lily was hesitant to follow, but the thought of standing out in the cold any longer than she had to was enough of a push to accept the welcome, so she scurried in.
Inside, the warmth was a longed-for relief to Lily, who had become all too aware of the numbness lingering in the tips of her ears and nose. She pulled off all her extra layers and placed them beside Lupin's things in front of a roaring fire, letting her mess of red hair dangle to her back. She tried combing through it with her fingers, but after encountering numerous tangles, she gave up – it would not have helped much anyways because at that moment an enormous boarhound leaped towards her. Lily yelped, at first afraid that the dog would attack her, but he just ended up licking her and soaking her clothes in a large amount of slobber.
"I though' yer were stayin' here for the holidays, Remus," said Hagrid after he closed the door, abruptly cutting off the howling blizzard. "Worried yer'd forgoten where I lived – back, Fang!" – This was to the dog throwing himself at Lily – "Hang on a sec' and I'll boil some water."
Thankfully, Hagrid finally got Fang to give Lily enough room to move to a seat beside Lupin.
Hagrid busied himself with the kettle, giving Lily plenty of time to examine his house. Everything had been made for a person Hagrid's size, including the chair she was sitting on if her dangling feet were any indication, but other than that, it could have been easily mistaken for her family's old log cabin, complete with a crackling hearth and a couple of (oversized) armchairs. Certainly, the cozy house was not what she expected from a man like Hagrid.
"Here we go," said Hagrid, setting down three separate mugs of tea. Once he had settled himself into his own chair, he gave Lily a warm-hearted smile. "And who is this?"
Lily, who had been in the middle of tasting her tea, swallowed a bit more than she meant to when Hagrid addressed her, scalding her tongue.
"Lily, sir," she choked out quickly, "I'm Lily Evans."
"Ah," said Hagrid with a chuckle and a knowing glance at Lupin who, as the only one of them with the sense to blow on into the mug before drinking it, had paused long enough from his tea to peek up with a sheepish smile. "Yeah, now I know who yer are. James talks 'bout yer quite a bi'. And don' bother with no 'sir' rubbish – it's Hagrid."
The nervousness Lily had previously felt vanished at Hagrid's words: Potter talked about her? Just what did annoying, spoiled, egotistical Potter say?
"Whatever you've heard, Hagrid, it's either exaggerated or a flat-out lie," insisted a flushing Lily stubbornly, crossing her arms and scowling. She threw a sharp glance Lupin's way, but he just shrugged helplessly and continued sipping his tea in silence while observing the exchange over his mug.
Hagrid laughed.
"I'm no' sayin' I believe his stories or anythin' – jus' said he talks 'bout yer."
"Oh," was her meek reply.
As it turned out, tea at Hagrid's was not so bad. Contrary to what his fearsome appearance portrayed upon first glance, the gamekeeper proved to be gentle and warm-hearted in the way he smiled at certain things and gave her consoling pats on the back, which still felt an elephant dropping on her shoulders every time he did it, at other moments. Pretty soon, Lily found herself opening up to Hagrid since those beetle-black eyes were so kindly in the way they listened to her speak of Petunia and her anxiety over the new anti-Muggle laws.
Lupin listened to it as well, but she was thankful that he did not offer up judgments and merely watched with curious eyes, only speaking when he had something to say about whatever subject the conversation drifted to. When the topic turned to Lily's strained friendship with Severus, she was careful not to mention Severus's name to Hagrid – she hardly wanted Potter to hear all about their relationship next time he was in here. However, as Lily was talking, she caught Lupin's eye – he knew exactly which friend she was talking about. A part of her warned her to stop talking about it, but for some reason, Lily trusted that Lupin was going to respect that everything mentioned in Hagrid's hut was told in confidence.
When night finally fell and Lily realized it was time to leave lest she find herself out-of-bounds at the mercy of Filch, she lingered for as long as possible until Hagrid promised he would always have his door open. With that pledge to reassure her, Lily turned around to once again brave the outside with Lupin.
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1972 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
"Remind me again: why are we snooping around in your dad's office of all places?" asked Sirius.
"Because," explained James as he brushed his finger against the titles on the book spines, "Mum and Dad's office is much easier to search for books on modern magical law than the Hogwarts library and my family's collection, and we need to know how to not get caught if we're going to attempt illegal Animagi transformations."
It was New Year's Eve, which meant that his parents were currently indulging in the luxuries offered by the annual ball, this time hosted by the Crouches. While it usually meant that James would be only one of a large group of kids wandering about the house, this year his parents allowed him and Sirius to stay here by themselves since the Prewetts and the McKinnons were passing the evening at the Marchbanks home, though it was only very grudgingly that Mrs. Potter consented to let James and Sirius run about the manor by themselves with only a busy Dilly to watch the two boys.
"Let's see …" said Sirius in a bored voice as he skimmed the books on the third shelf from the top. "I've got Extraordinary Trials in History – nope, we need modern regulations – um … there's Laws of Conduct When Dealing with Muggles – aren't wizards just supposed to Obliviate them when they see magic? Completely useless."
He tossed it back in the general direction without a second glance.
"Hmm, I think I found one that could be useful," said James, squinting as he pulled out a thick, plain black volume that blended perfectly with the arrays of other books his parents owned. "This one's called An Overview to Laws of Transfiguration – there's an entire chapter for Animagi."
"Oh, good," said Sirius with light sarcasm, carelessly dropping a book titled Magical Misdemeanors in the Modern Law onto the coffee table. "I've always wanted an entire chapter of a law textbook to entertain myself with."
Thinking it better not to respond, James opened to the chapter containing restrictions for Animagi and slowly skimmed. Many of the little tidbits were superfluous, such as the processes potential Animagi would need to go through for placement on the public registry and the warnings about the dangers of attempting those kinds of difficult transformations, but some articles proved important, such as the fact that besides multiple confirmed eyewitness accounts, it was difficult to prove if one was an unregistered Animagus since it was impossible to force somebody to transform into the animal they were – it seemed like the main way witches and wizards were caught was when the transfigurations went horribly wrong or there were reliable eyewitness accounts.
"Does it have the master list of ways to get away scot-free with breaking the law?" joked Sirius from behind his shoulder. "You know, tricks Babbitty Rabbitty used so she couldn't get in trouble with the Ministry after she duped the King and the Charlatan?"
"Yeah," fibbed James, rolling his eyes. "Right next to the directions of how cure all the accidents the transformation might cause."
Sirius shrugged, fake obliviousness clear on his face.
"Hey, how am I supposed to know if I don't ask?"
"Well, at least we've got this for now," said James as he pocketed the book. "C'mon, we should head to the library. My family's collected quite a lot of things to the archive over the years, and there's probably something about the transformation itself in there that can help us."
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1973 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
Clank!
Thump!
"Ow!"
Lily bolted up from her pillows, hand jumping up to the place on her head where the heavy object had abruptly woken her from a dream that had been rather pleasant. A spot roughly the size of a tennis ball flared with a sharp pain, but it quickly dulled until it was only a steady throbbing that, while undoubtedly painful, was much more bearable. Hand still massaging her scalp, Lily glanced down and spotted the culprit: her lamp, which was now laying right next to the little dent in her pillow where she rested her head every night. The lamp itself was thankfully still intact – her mother had painstakingly decorated it by hand with little crystals and acrylic paint, and Lily had no wish to see it broken.
"Oops," whispered Mary sensitively, squinting her eyes in sympathy for Lily. Her hands were half-raised as if she had attempted to catch the lamp before it did any damage – well, that was an epic fail.
Noticing that Lily did not bother to soften her glare, Mary added hopefully, "Happy Birthday?"
"Merlin, sweetie, it's not going to be happy day for anybody if you put the birthday girl in a coma," chastised Marlene in her usual motherly voice. In her slender fingers, she held a small stack of presents – three, one from each of the girls – and there was a larger stack at the end of the bed.
"Anyway," said Marlene, turning back to Lily with a gleaming smile and placing the three presents in Lily's empty lap, "Here's to a happy birthday, darling."
"You guys, thanks so much," said Lily after pushing the little lamp incident out of her mind. She examined the top present, which was wrapped in a purple paper. It was about the size of her shoe, and when she shook it, there was a dull bead-like noise.
"That's mine," said Alice excitedly as she plopped down on Lily's bed, watching her curiosity with eager eyes. "I really hope you like it…. You have no idea how long it took to find a witch who sold them in between the World Cups."
Lily said nothing as she was too intent on unwrapping the paper to reveal the present, which was much odder than the normal packaging. The basic structure of the gift resembled a pair of binoculars, but the resemblance ended there. These things were bronze with bits of metal sticking out at weird angles, all culminating to the two glass circles at the end that had reminded Lily of binoculars in the first place.
"Thanks, Alice," said Lily uncertainly as she turned them over in her hands, examining the present for a vital clue towards what it was. There was none, but since Alice looked so proud of herself, Lily kept up a smile for her friend's sake. "They're, um, nice."
"I thought you would like them!" said Alice with her usual bright, peppery smile, oblivious to a Muggle-born's uncertainty when it came to purely Wizarding gewgaws. "It's nearly impossible to find Omnioculars when there's no major Quidditch competition happening. Now you can watch the games here and focus on all the team members who you want to focus on – I guess it goes without saying that you can also choose to ignore certain players as well."
With the oddment now explained in better terms, Lily gently placed the omnioculars on her nightstand and turned to a bright yellow birthday bag with To Lily; From Mary written clearly on the side. Mary looked apprehensive as Lily peeked in the bag, pulling out bits of fluffy cloth with lions jumping up and down – clearly a substitute for Muggle tissue paper – to reveal a blank photo album just waiting to be filled with pictures. The cover was the swirly blue of the ocean, with a phrase stitched to the cover in elegant writing the color of gold:
Love is the friendship that has caught fire; it is the quiet understanding that flows through the unbreakable bonds; it is the communal poise that holds steadfast against the good and the bad; it is the constant loyalty that stands unwavering against time's tides. Love is and will always be the heart of life.
It was a bit of surprise that a girl like Mary would get her something sentimental as opposed to heaps of sweets, but she appreciated it nonetheless. Lily traced the golden words with the tip of her finger, a smile on her lips as she reread those letters which spelled out an absolute truth.
"I thought it would be good to start documenting our years here," said Mary tentatively, biting her fingernails nervously as she watched for Lily's reaction. "I know that I'm not the best when it comes to getting presents, but I thought you would like the cover and –"
Her rambling cut short when Lily leaped out of her bed to give both Mary and Alice one massive hug, squeezing them tightly as she said, "Thank you so much, both of you. I love absolutely love them."
"Hey, hey, hey, girl," laughed Marlene gently with a twinkle in her eyes, and she held out a small circular package. "Don't forget about my present."
Releasing Alice and Mary from her grasp, Lily took the present. After a moment of ripping off the sleek wrapping paper that Lily would have hesitated to pulverize had it not been for the mystery that lay underneath, a headband fell out. It was not one of those cheap ones that came in packs of ten, but it was a fabric one, made of shimmery, silver silk while little white stars leaped around the headband until it came to the point where Lily was clearly supposed to tie the ribbon together so the two ends could dangle.
"It's lovely," said Lily as she reached up to wrap the ribbon around her hair, tying it so the two ends hung just behind her ear until it went over her shoulder the slightest bit. "Really, all of you."
"What are friends for, darling?" said Marlene.
Note: I changed the timeline of when Lily and Remus became friends because I felt that she should be on good terms with at least one Marauder before fifth year. That way Remus plays a bigger part in getting James and Lily together. (Plus, one of the scenes from "The Prince's Tale" made it seem like Lily was friendly with Remus – at least, that is what it sounded like to me.)
