Chapter Four: New Friends, Old Friends?
Lily was the first student to the library on the third Saturday of term. Her friends had decided to sleep in. However, they were taking one less class than she and she needed the extra hour of schoolwork more than she needed the extra hour of sleep. At least for now, that might change in two months. Lily had her Transfiguration notes spread out on the table and a stack of books along with them. She had smuggled in a crumpet and a few pieces of bacon. It had been barely half of an hour when someone sat down at the table opposite her.
"Can we talk?" Lily glared across the table at the person who was interrupting her. Severus had a book in his hand and was staring at her.
"No." She proceeded to ignore her former best-friend's attempts at conversation. He yammered on for what seemed like forever when a third person joined the table.
"Lily, mind if I join you?" Remus ignored Snape altogether but smiled at Lily.
"Of course, Remus. Snape was just leaving." She gave him a cold look indicating that their friendship was over and not to bother speaking to her again.
"Fine, spend your morning with a monster like him and his childish friends." Snape moved out of sight, presumably to the table where he had left the rest of his belongings.
Remus watched him go. A pit was forming in his stomach. Snape might not know for sure but he certainly had suspicions. He waited for Lily to say something, to tell him to get away from her. She just looked at him with a smile, waiting for him to sit down. He sank into the seat that Snape had just vacated and pulled out his History of Magic book from his knapsack.
"I think you're the only person I know who continued with History of Magic." Lily laughed as he started working on another essay about the uprising of some oppressed magical species.
"That's because I'm one of the privileged few who actually scored high enough on their OWL to be allowed to continue." Remus smiled a cheeky grin.
Another hour passed and students began to filter into the library. Madam Pince had begun leaving the circulation desk periodically to monitor the students who were in the library. She kicked out students who had brought food in with them. Anyone who was over the volume of an inaudible whisper soon found themselves packing up their belongings as well. When she got to the table where Lily and Remus sat she stood for a moment, glaring at Remus.
"I am the only one here, Madam Pince." Remus tried to flash a charming smile, "I would never let James or Sirius cause mayhem in here. I like books too much to let them do that."
Madam Pince stood for a moment longer before deciding that the statement was suitable enough for her not to make him leave. Marlene and Alice showed up at some point after. Marlene had snuck food from lunch in for Lily which was gone almost immediately. Lily stated she didn't want Pince to come and kick them out. When Frank and Colin showed up a second table was pulled over so that they could all sit together. It was nearing dinner when something unusual occurred.
"Oh Moony!" The six Gryffindors looked up to see two black-haired boys walking their way.
Marlene couldn't help but laugh. In all the years at Hogwarts she had never seen Sirius Black enter the library. Before then she had been positive he didn't even know where it was. She didn't miss that James didn't immediately take the open seat next to Lily. He ended up sitting down next to Frank while Sirius snagged the chair next to Remus and flipped it around. James greeted everyone and pulled out his Transfiguration essay. Alice and Marlene both noticed Colin move away from Sirius and took the seat next Lily.
"Aww, I don't bite, Colin. That's Remus's job." Sirius winked at his friend whose scowl could have rivaled Madam Pince's.
"I'm not worried about any of you biting me, Black. I just wanted to sit next to Lily." Colin smiled at Lily. She missed his quick glance at James but no one else did. Alice gave a warning look at Marlene. They should probably leave for dinner to avoid some sort of explosion in the library, magical or verbal. Remus prepared himself to kick Sirius when Madam Pince popped around the corner.
"Moving tables! Crumbs!" She shrieked when she saw that not only had they pulled tables together and someone had brought food in but three of four Marauders were there together. "Out! OUT! All of you! I will not have you plotting mischief and eating in here. All of you out."
She stood over the them as they packed up their knapsacks. Remus, James, and Sirius left in their own little cluster. Marlene, Lily, and Colin became another trio. Alice and Frank brought up the rear. Sirius turned and winked at Colin just before the Marauders three turned the corner. Colin smirked and winked back. When the girls and Colin turned the corner, the boys had vanished. Instead of taking their things back to Gryffindor Tower they headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. It had become normal over the past three weeks for Colin and Frank to join the three sixth-year girls. Frank had asked Alice to the first Hogsmeade weekend the last Saturday of September. On occasion Aiden would join them, some of the other seventh-year girls trickled over too (usually when Aiden was present). Sirius was the only one who seemed to object to these new friendships. He would sit and pout at the table. Both Remus and James would kick him when he'd been staring at them for too long.
"She's stopped talking to him." Remus wasn't sure if Lily would want James to know this but in his heart, he knew the two of them were meant to be together.
James looked at Remus and then at Lily. She was once again laughing at something Colin had said. Across the room, Snape wasn't glaring at the Marauders as he normally did. James noticed that Snape was glaring at Colin now. Not that he didn't share the sentiments a little bit, but it was kind of annoying to watch Snape pine after Lily. "How do you figure that?"
Remus told them about the morning in the library. He left out his suspicions that Snape knew about him though. For one thing, Sirius was bound to stand up and proclaim that Remus was not a monster and for another there were too many people that could overhear. James was a little pleased to hear that Lily had ignored him though. He was hoping that the little grease ball would continue to annoy Lily and she'd turn him into a toad or something.
"Lily, could I sit here?" Colin gestured to the open armchair. It was well past bed but Lily was insistent on finishing the reading for Charms in the morning. "Thanks. Look I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to Hogsmeade on Saturday?"
The Common room was empty except for a handful of very tired and stressed NEWT-level students. Lily couldn't keep the blush or the smile from her face. She told Colin that she would go with him.
"Right. Brilliant!" Colin stood up. Before either teenager knew what was happening, Colin bent over and kissed Lily's cheek. When he realized what he'd done, horror flared on his face. "I'll see you Saturday."
Lily watched the boy bolt for the boys' dormitory. She felt a swell inside herself. Colin Smith had just kissed her. Colin Smith had just asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him. Colin Smith had kissed her! Lily couldn't keep her focus on the reading after that. Her mind kept drifting to the end of the week and the Hogsmeade trip. She picked up her Charms book and made her way up to the sixth-girls dormitory. Marlene was completely out and snoring. Alice stirred when Lily came into the room but didn't wake. The other two girls who shared the room, Mary McDonald and Beatrice Harper, didn't wake either. Lily changed into her nightgown and crawled into her bed. Normally Marlene's snoring kept Lily awake but tonight sleep settled over her. She dreamed of the sandy-haired, grey-eyed boy.
"Spill the beans, Evans!" Marlene blocked the door after Mary and Beatrice had left. "You look like you're flying on cloud nine right now."
"Colin kissed me." Lily slapped a hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to just blurt it out. "Well he kissed my cheek, but it was after he asked me to Hogsmeade Saturday."
"Did you say yes?" Alice had leapt off her bed to hug Lily.
"Of course, she said yes! Look at her!" Marlene was hugging Lily now too. "Wait a minute! Who am I going to go to Hogsmeade with? You're both deserting me!"
On their way down to breakfast, the girls tried to brainstorm who Marlene could ask to Hogsmeade for the weekend. They went through all the obvious choices starting with Aiden. Marlene immediately turned that idea down stating she'd have every single seventh-year girl in the castle attacking her if she tried to snag that bachelor. Alice told Marlene she was just going to have to find someone or go alone. Lily offered they go as a group for a little while so that Marlene wouldn't be alone. The blonde refused.
"I will not spoil your first date with Colin. Worst comes to worst I'll go hang out with James and Remus." Marlene poured herself some orange juice from the pitcher. "Oh Lily, come on. They're not so bad. I think James is starting to grow up a little. I mean you saw their prank for the Sorting. It was quite clever. And no one got hurt or was in danger of being hurt."
Lily admitted that the prank had been amusing but she wouldn't go as far as saying he was growing up. "That's a bit of a stretch, Marlene."
"I don't think you're being fair Lily, you have to admit he's stopped pestering you all the time," Alice never had a problem with James. He was rather funny and the pranks he and the others played were quite brilliant. She'd be lying if she said the week leading up to the April Fool's Day wasn't one of her favourite weeks of the year and that was thanks to the Marauders. "He's barely spoken to you this year and when he has it hasn't sparked an argument. It's already been three weeks and not one thing has been done to the Slytherins."
Alice and Marlene rolled their eyes as Lily stubbornly ignored any good thing said about James. Colin and Frank joined the trio. Marlene was like a firecracker, accusing the two boys from stealing her best friends away from her that weekend. Alice stuck her tongue out at Marlene and smiled at Frank. Lily blushed when she and Colin made eye contact. They were a little shier than usual that morning at the table. The boys left them at the entrance as they made their way down to the dungeons with the other seventh-years taking Potions. Marlene was taking advantage of her spare period to catch up on the Charms reading she had neglected while Lily and Alice made their way to Arithmancy. They had only just settled into their seats when none other than Sirius Black slid into the seat in front of them.
Tossing his hair to the side as he whipped around, "King, Evans. Alright?"
Lily didn't hate Black but she was often suspicious of his motives. Alice would never admit it to Lily for fear of being yelled at but she liked Sirius, as a friend. He was funny and she thoroughly enjoyed his dramatics. James and Remus sat down in front of them as well. Remus greeted them happily. He was full of energy this week with the new moon.
"Alright, Evans?" James ruffled up his hair and smiled at Lily. Lily didn't glare at him per se but she didn't mirror the warmth that the boys had exuded. She really hated the way he mussed his hair like that. It stuck out every which way and looked like he had just tumbled out of bed. The boys turned around as their professor entered the classroom and the lesson began.
The Marauders trailed after the two girls as the students made their way to Transfiguration. Sirius was eavesdropping in on their conversation. He caught snippets of this and that. Alice was excited for her first real date with Frank Longbottom on Saturday. Would the workload let up at all? Lily was questioning whether taking eight classes was worth it or not. Alice was more concerned about whether or not Colin was going to give her a real kiss in Hogsmeade. Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. "Prongs! That rat Smith kissed Evans!"
"Hey!" Peter had caught up with them. "I take offense to you using rat in a derogatory way!"
"Wormtail you don't even know what 'derogatory' means," Sirius waved him off and looked at James expectantly. "Well what are you gonna do, Prongs?! You can't let that scumbag kiss her and get away with it!"
James didn't have the chance to tell Sirius for the thousandth time since school began that he wasn't going to interfere with Lily's life anymore. Sirius went crashing to the floor tangled with a long-limbed blonde person. Remus helped Marlene up from the floor and asked if she was alright. Sirius swatted James assisting hand away and glared at the girl. "Watch where you're going, McKinnon!"
Marlene, who usually had inappropriate words ready to throw Sirius's way, thanked Remus for helping her up and ran to catch up with Lily and Alice. Sirius made a snide remark about how the girl should be careful where she throws her giantess body around and clamored up off the floor. He asked Peter if it looked like there were any bruises from where he'd been body slammed. The boys ignored him and continued down the hallway. "I could have died!"
"You're fine, Padfoot. Come along before we're all late and McGonagall puts us in detention." Remus called over his shoulder. Sirius continued to grumble as they made their way into the classroom. The only open seats were next to Lily, Marlene, and Alice. James strategically placed himself two seats down from Lily. Close enough where he could eavesdrop but far enough where Lily wouldn't think it suspicious. Sirius plopped down next to Lily and smiled at her. Remus thought it would be a good idea to sit next to Sirius, attempting to keep him in line for the next hour although he knew by now nothing he did would achieve that goal. Peter sat down on the end.
As soon as Professor McGonagall began the lesson, the students were silent. The number of students who had moved on to NEWT-level Transfiguration was a testament to McGonagall's skill at teacher and ability to prepare her students for their OWLs. She had begun the year by telling them that NEWT Transfiguration was nowhere near as easy as OWL Transfiguration and she expected all of them to be prepared for each and every class. Now in their third week of class, the sixth-years had their noses to the grindstone. McGonagall collected their essays and stacked them on her desk. She started the class by quizzing them on the readings they were supposed to have done for today. They were currently focusing on human transformations.
Lily raised her hand to answer a question and Sirius launched his up the air to give her a high five. The girl turned her head and scowled at him as McGonagall called on her to answer. Sirius decided that every time Lily raised her hand he'd high five her. Alice, Remus, and James thought it was funny and worked to contain their laughter. The blood was beginning to boil in Marlene and Lily. When McGonagall's back was turned Lily elbowed Sirius hard in the ribs and whispered to him to knock it off. Out of the corner of her eye she saw James pass a note to Sirius but she couldn't read what it said when he opened it. They passed the note back and forth a number of times, chuckling softly when they read what the other had written.
"Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, I'm sure you two would prefer to spend your Saturday in Hogsmeade with your classmates instead of with me in detention." McGonagall had her lips pursed in her usual scolding way.
"Minnie, you know that James and I would adore spending our weekend with you!" Sirius grinned at her and James stuffed the note in his pocket.
"Mr. Black." It was merely a warning and you could tell that the professor was having a hard time not letting a ghost of a smile creep up her face. Everyone knew she had a soft spot for the two boys. It didn't mean she didn't punish them when she caught them in some wrongdoing or other but they did get away with some things. Sirius calling her Minnie for example.
Sirius and the other boys continued to pass notes throughout the lesson. Lily worked hard to ignore them. She wanted to tell them off after class for passing notes but she was uninterested in starting an argument. She hadn't realized until then that it was nice to not yell at James and Sirius all the time. Marlene was clearly chomping at the bit to lash out at Sirius. Lily wouldn't mind her friend yelling at him either. He had been a right arse throughout the lesson. Lily's bag split as they were leaving the classroom and she waved her two friends on to their next class so they weren't all three late.
James watched Lily stoop down and begin picking up her things. Sirius smirked and dragged Remus and Peter away. His wand had been haphazardly shoved into his pocket and it didn't take a genius to figure out what he'd done. James took the hint and went to help gather up Lily's belongings. He vanished the broken inkwell that had smashed when it hit the floor. A couple scrolls of parchment had rolled away from her and he picked those up.
"You dropped these too," James smiled. He ruffled his hair up as Lily took the parchment from him. "Um, Lily…I want to apologize to you."
Lily froze. What was he apologizing for? She looked around the corridor to see if his friends were around. Splitting the seam on her bag was a good way to get her alone for some stupid prank. "What are you playing at, Potter?"
"I wanted to apologize for the absolute arse I've been in the past." James didn't miss the annoyed tone. "I was wondering if we could start fresh? Turn a new leaf so to speak?"
"I don't think so, Potter. I don't know what you're playing at but I know you're just going continue to be an arrogant toerag." Lily stalked off, hoping she wasn't going to be late for Charms now.