Author's Note: I was going to wait to post this chapter until tomorrow morning but I remembered that today is the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. I couldn't resist myself :)
Chapter Eight: Quidditch Season
Everyone woke up the next morning feeling tired but refreshed. For the OWL and NEWT students, the previous night had been a wonderful stress relief. Dumbledore had let the party last past midnight. Finally ending when the first- and second-years, hopped up on sugar, began to crash. The Marauders knew that this was definitely one for the books. Sirius was starting to see that there could be some fun in pranks that didn't involve hexing Slytherins, Snape in particular. Not that he didn't miss it, it just didn't give him the same opportunity to meet pretty fifth-year girls.
There were only two topics that could be discussed at breakfast, the Halloween party the night before and the start of Quidditch season. The first Quidditch match would be the first Saturday of November, six days away. Gryffindor versus Slytherin, because there was no other way to open the Quidditch season. Sirius and James were at the center of attention since they had planned last night and they were on the Quidditch team. James was captain of the team this year.
"We're going to pound Slytherin to a bloody pulp on Saturday," Sirius was very excited in the team. James had drafted an amazing team. "The Quidditch Cup is already ours."
Remus, Marlene, and Peter were sitting at the table already. James was a little surprised to see that Marlene had separated from her friends to sit with the Marauders for breakfast. Lily and Alice were sitting with a cluster of seventh-year students this morning. James slid into the seat next to Marlene and Sirius sat down opposite.
"Your prank last night was genius." Marlene grinned at James. "How much trouble did McGonagall give you Black?"
"Minnie, thought it was wonderful and would never give me detention for professing my love for her." Sirius buttered his toast.
"Is that so, Mr. Black?" Professor McGonagall was standing behind him in between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables.
Sirius dropped his knife and turned around just in time to see Professor McGonagall walking out of the hall. The students who had heard and seen the exchange snickered as they turned back to their breakfasts. The boy glared across the table at Marlene. "You could have warned me, McKinnon."
"But I thought she loved you professing your love for her?" Marlene quirked an eyebrow. Remus, James, and Peter laughed at Sirius. Instead of retaliating with some witty remark he took a bite out of his toast.
Down the table Lily had Colin's arm wrapped around her. She had had a wonderful night dancing with him last night. She was surprised at the amount of Muggle music that had been played, British and American. Even more impressive was the Marauders act as ABBA. They had been truly brilliant. Lily thought that Remus and Marlene made an absolutely adorable couple. She was surprised at how well Sirius had been behaving in the past week with Marlene spending more time with the boys. Despite the amount of work Lily had to do today she knew she'd do it with a smile on her face. She excused herself from the table, giving Colin a quick kiss on the cheek. Lily waved at Marlene and Remus as she passed by.
James watched the retreating back of the redhead. Marlene snapped her fingers in front of his face. "She has a boyfriend, Potter."
"Yeah. I know." James watched the girl who was a doe walk out the doors.
Lily, Remus, Marlene, and Alice were sitting at a table in the library. Each had a book of Runes translations in front of them, Together, they were working on a particularly challenging assignment that had been assigned to them. All of them were concentrating so hard that they didn't realize that a group of students had come up to them.
"Isn't this just a mishmash of magical mishap." The snide remark came from a Slytherin girl flanked by another girl and three boys. Snape was among the group. "A Mudblood, two blood traitors, and some sort of beast."
Lily rolled her eyes and ignored them. She didn't even bother taking her eyes of the page she was reading. Alice tensed a little in her seat but didn't comment.
Remus snorted, "O for effort, T for creativity."
"Quite the harem you've got here, Lupin. Tell me, have King and Evans put out for you like McKinnon?" Lily continued to ignore the comments. She pressed her foot down on Remus's under the table. He glanced across the table at her and she mouthed 'prefect.' He scowled slightly and nodded though he would have rather hexed the Slytherin students. If James and Sirius had been there wands would already have been drawn.
"Oh no, not Evans. I can see the mutt sleeping with blood traitors but no one wants to touch a Mudblood." Snape sneered at Remus. It wasn't as easy to push his buttons as it was for Potter and Black but he knew it was only a matter of time.
"If you lot don't take off, I'll take points." Lily's voice sounded as disinterested and bored as ever.
Snape sneered at her this time, "Can't take points away from another prefect, Mudblood."
Marlene stood up, three strikes and Snape was out. "You greasy little git!" Marlene didn't even pull her wand out. She dove at Snape and tackled him to the floor of the library. She landed a beautiful punch on the nose before Remus yanked her off of him.
"The blood traitor doesn't even know how to use magic to hex someone." The snarky Slytherin girl burst out laughing.
Lily had stood up when her friend tackled Snape. "Ten points from Slytherin, Nott. Get lost before I take more."
Nott opened her mouth to say something as snarky as her last comment when Alice cut her off. "Silencio! Now slither off back to your hole."
Snape, whose face was covered in blood, undoubtedly had a broken nose and slunk off. Nott followed him. The other three Slytherins stood for a moment longer then stalked off after them. Marlene watched them go. She glared at their backs until they turned the corner of one of the bookshelves. The blonde slumped back down into her seat seething.
"Happy hate week, ladies and gentlemen." Alice muttered under her breath as she tried to find the page her book was open to before Marlene had knocked it off the table when she tackled Snape.
That week more students were sent to the hospital than any other time of the year. It was mostly younger students that got caught in the crossfire without the necessary skill to defend themselves. After a close call on Tuesday afternoon, James and Sirius made sure to travel together and always had the invisibility cloak in one of their bags. Sirius had decided to stop hating Marlene after he found out she'd punched Snape in the nose. James almost broke his promise to himself about hexing Snape when he found about the incident in the library on Sunday. Sirius vowed he'd avenge the sweet Lilyflower's honour by hexing Snivellus for James. At breakfast on Monday, Sirius turned Snape's hair bleach blond. No one was able to undo it until the following morning.
Lily kept out of the way for the week. Even though the entire school knew she was dating Colin they also knew the girl was a weakness for James. If the Slytherins did enough damage to her and set James on a rampage he would get into enough trouble to not be allowed to play the opening game. Not that Lily cared about Potter getting to play Quidditch or not, she didn't fancy ending up in the hospital wing like she had in her fourth-year. Colin was equally concerned about his girlfriend's safety. James had caught Lily flanked by three seventh-year boys on her way into breakfast on Tuesday morning.
Sirius chose to look at the positive side of things, "Look at it this way, James. At least you don't have to try and protect her and yourself. It's almost like you've hired Colin and his friends as her personal bodyguards."
"Yeah, because Lily isn't irritated that she can't go anywhere alone right now?" Marlene was flipping through the Daily Prophet to see if there was any news worth sharing. Remus was reading over her shoulder and snatched the paper from her hands. On the second to last page, at the very bottom, was a small article about an attack near London. He passed the page around the group and they all glared across the room at the Slytherin table. Plenty of students had been affected by the war, it was noted that none of those students were in Slytherin.
"Why isn't this on the front page?" Marlene whispered angrily. "People ought to know that things are getting worse."
James thought he should write to his parents and see if they had any news they would share with him. He felt very cut off at school when the Prophet wouldn't print real news. He was shaken out of his thoughts with a nudge from Sirius. Andrew Connors had taken a bat-bogey hex to the face. Lily Evans had been most unceremoniously shoved to the floor beside the Ravenclaw table. Sirius and Remus stood on the bench to get a better look of what was going on. Marlene blocked James from rushing to Lily's side.
"I'll go. Stay put before you risk our chances of winning on Saturday." She looked at Sirius and yelled at him to sit down, he was making himself a target.
Marlene went to help Lily to her feet. Colin was kneeling down next to her looking at her cheek. Lily had a scratch from cheekbone to ear. It was shallow but she was bleeding all the same. Professor McGonagall appeared beside the students who'd taken hexes. She asked for Colin, Aiden, and Marlene to help her escort Lily and Andrew to the hospital wing to get checked out by Madam Pomfrey. Lily tried to refuse but McGonagall gave her a stern look and informed Lily that she did not have a choice in the matter.
As McGonagall escorted her students out, the hall began to buzz. A sixth-year Ravenclaw girl chucked a biscuit at the back of James's head. The boy turned around to yell at the person who'd thrown food at him and was greeted by Emmeline Vance twisted around in her seat.
"It was Black. Thought you ought to know." She spun back around to her friends and continued whatever conversation she was having. James knew Lily was friends with the Ravenclaw but what did Sirius have to do with Lily almost getting hexed?
Remus and Sirius gave James an inquisitive look. "Emmeline says it was you that sent that hex. But that doesn't make any sense."
A rather unattractive sneer formed on Sirius's face. "She wasn't talking about me. She was talking about the other Black." Sirius pointed across the hall to where his younger brother was sitting amongst a group of sixth- and seventh-year boys. They were patting him on the back and congratulating him on his bold attempt.
"Save it for the pitch, mate." James muttered.
"Thanks for the happy birthday, you little shit." Sirius muttered as he glared across the hall at his little brother.
On Thursday night, Lily got up from her seat in the Common Room and made her way towards the portrait hole. Colin grabbed her wrist, Remus and Frank stepped in front of the portrait hole. This was the last straw. People had been attempting to throw hexes at her all week. Colin was by her side every moment he could possibly be without skiving off classes. She knew that Slytherins were goading James, her friends, and other members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Lily finally snapped. It was a true testament to how James had matured and stayed out of Lily's way over the past two months because no one was prepared for the explosion that occurred that night in the Common Room.
"I am not a delicate flower! I am not a child! I am capable of defending myself against any bloody Slytherin that tries to hex me!" She screeched at Colin. She twirled around and yelled at Frank and Remus to get out of her bloody way. Neither of them would move. Frank was Colin's soldier, Remus was James's. Lily spun around a second time searching for Potter in the crowded Common Room. "Potter! Tell your dog to move out of my way! I don't need you or your friends trying to protect me!"
James had his back to Lily and the portrait hole. He froze like a deer in headlights when she heard him yell his name in that tone. He glanced up across the table he was sharing with Sirius, sheer panic across his face.
"Hey! Remus isn't James's dog!" Sirius was now shouting too. "I am!"
James shook his head and looked at Sirius as if he was certifiably insane. This was not good. Not good at all. Lily hadn't yelled at anyone since the incident by the lake last June. She had spent the last four and a half months letting anger boil deep within her and someone was going to get hurt. Probably physically. James figured if Marlene could throw a decent punch so could Lily. Sirius completely ignored all the signs James was giving him to run while he still could.
"So why aren't you over here blocking the door then, Black?" Lily huffed. She had her wand in hand and sparks were flying from the end of it.
Sirius stormed across the room until he was a few feet away from Lily. The change in distance did not lower the volume level at which he was yelling. "Because I know you can bloody handle yourself. And because you're snogging Colin NOT James. I'm not going to tell you where you can and cannot go!"
Lily glared at Sirius. "Fine then!" She turned back around and stormed out the portrait hole, slamming her shoulders straight into Frank and Remus.
"Thanks a lot, Black." Colin muttered as he moved to follow her.
Sirius caught the older boy's arm and shook his head, "If you know what's good for you, you won't follow her." Sirius meant it with the best intentions. Too many times he'd been on the receiving end of her hexes, not as often as James, but often enough,
Remus followed Sirius over to the table. They sat down and look at James. "Would one of you please go get the map and make sure she doesn't kill a Slytherin on her way to the library or wherever it is she's going?"
Sirius grinned and pulled the map out his bag. He had thought that carrying it around was a good idea this week. Best way to avoid pesky Slytherins was to know where they were planning to ambush you. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The boys scanned the parchment around the Gryffindor Tower. Lily couldn't be too far away from the Common Room yet. Remus spotted her footsteps going down the stairs towards the fifth floor. "I think she's headed to the prefects' bathroom. Yes, that's definitely where she is headed."
"If you ask nicely, Prongs, I'll take the invisibility cloak and go sit outside the bathroom as a guard." Sirius whispered to him. Concern was etched into James's face. A pleading look was all Sirius needed. Sirius handed the map to James and transferred the cloak from James's bag to his.
Marlene was sitting with Alice by the fire and she watched the three Marauders at the table. They didn't look like they were scheming. Marlene nudged Alice as Sirius picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. The boy winked at Colin as he made his way out of the Common Room. James continued going over his Quidditch plays while Remus fiddled with an old piece of parchment on the table.
"What do you think that was about?" Alice was as confused as Marlene. The two girls became more interested in watching James and Remus than finishing their Potions essays. A quarter of an hour later James pulled out a mirror from his pocket. He held close to his face and started whispering. Remus pointed something out on the parchment to James. The two boys looked like they were about to have an aneurysm. James and Remus started to talk in heated whispers. Remus pointed to something else on the map and James started talking into the mirror again. They still looked concerned but it was more of 'someone is in trouble' instead of 'someone is about to die.'
"Think we should go find out what they're up to?" Alice asked as she watched James ruffle up his hair.
"Nope. I plan on staying far away from anything that involve those boys until after the game. No need for us to get caught up in whatever nonsense they have planned."
Lily returned to the Common Room just before curfew. She didn't say goodnight to Colin or her friends. She went directly up to the dormitory and the curtains were closed around her four-poster bed when Alice and Marlene went up to bed. Sirius showed up not long after Lily returned. Colin and his friends gave Sirius dirty looks before making their way up to their own dormitory. The Marauder slumped down into a chair next to Remus and James. "You're lucky you're my brother, James."
Saturday dawned bright and early. The sky was clear and there was a wonderful crispness in the air. The students of Hogwarts made their way down to the Quidditch pitch. There was plenty of chatter among the students and excitement buzzed in the air like a swarm of bees. James led his team down to the pitch with plenty of Gryffindors flanking the team. No one would put it past the Slytherins to pull a dirty trick at the last minute. There were some older Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students that stuck close to the Gryffindor team, showing who they would be cheering for in the game.
The students left the team in McGonagall's capable hands at the Gryffindor team's locker room. James stood beside the head of house as his teammates filed past them. He saluted McGonagall. The barest hint of a smile graced her lips. She gave him a curt nod and left to go find her seat in the stands.
"Alright. We've spent the past month and half preparing to crush Slytherin. Today is our day. We haven't spent the past week dodging hexes and spending an extra ten minutes getting to class to lose to this lot." James was proud of the team he had put together this year. He had spent every day since finding out he was going to be Quidditch Captain thinking of plays and going over them in his head. "This game isn't about our team or their team. Today's game is about all the first- and second-years that were sent to the hospital wing because the Slytherins are bullies. Today is about not being able to walk anywhere alone all week because you knew that they would take a cheap shot to foul our chances. This is for the entire house of Gryffindor. Let's go out there and show them who the real kings and queens of Hogwarts are!"
Sirius clapped James on the back as they made their way out of the locker room. "Does this mean we're kings, Prongs?"
James grinned and slapped Sirius back in response. "We're going to party like kings tonight."
It was an absolutely brutal game. The Slytherins stopped at nothing. They threw foul after foul at the Gryffindor players. Madam Hooch was getting more and more furious, but there seemed to be no end in sight. Despite it being such a clear day, the snitch continued to evade both seekers. The Gryffindor team was up by 30 points, 80-50. James took a bludger hard to the back. Sirius flew up beside him and asked if he was okay. James waved him off and told him to prevent Regulus from getting the snitch at all costs.
Sirius grinned, "With pleasure." He walloped a the next bludger that came at him right at Regulus's head. The younger Black stayed conscious long enough to get to the ground below. Madam Hooch blew her whistle for a time out while Regulus was lifted onto a stretcher and sent up to the hospital wing and a reserve seeker was called up for the Slytherins.
"Padfoot, that's not what I meant!" James cried exasperated. He was rubbing the tender spot on his back where he'd been hit by the bludger. He was going to have a mighty bruise there in the morning.
"Maybe I knocked some sense into that thick skull of his!" Sirius muttered as he flew off to do a loop around the pitch.
As the game started again, the older Gryffindor students were high up in the stands. Lily was sandwiched between Colin and Alice. Remus, Marlene and Peter were sitting in front of her. To the surprise of many people, Lily loved watching Quidditch. The only reason she had never tried to play was because she was a terrible flier. They all cheered as Ralphs, a fifth-year on the Gryffindor team scored another goal for them.
Someone sat down behind Lily and leaned forward. "Cheering for Potty, Evans?"
"Well I'm certainly not cheering for your team of cheaters, am I, Nott?" Lily sneered as she turned around to face the sixth-year girl. Snape and another girl were sitting with her. The other Gryffindors could sense trouble and turned around. As soon as the seven Gryffindors turned around the crowd gasped. They whipped their head back around to the pitch where Sirius was speeding towards a body that was falling towards the ground. Sirius caught an arm and pulled up on his broom with all his might. The boy lost control of his broomstick fifteen feet above the ground as he tried to pull James's unconscious body onto his broomstick. Both boys fell the fifteen feet to the ground. The students in the stands were on their feet.
The Gryffindors in the stands were calling for the Slytherins to forfeit the game. They were terrified they had just lost their two veteran and experienced players. James was still unconscious but Sirius stood up and ran to where James was lying on the field. Madam Hooch had called another time out. Professor McGonagall was running on to the field.
"What happened?" Marlene shouted to the people around her in the stands.
"One of the Slytherin beaters smashed him on the head with a bat!" A fourth-year called out from a couple rows away.
Sirius was clearly arguing with Madam Hooch on the field. Professor McGonagall was guiding the stretcher with James's body on it off the pitch. The Gryffindor team gathered around Sirius as a little third-year girl, the reserve chaser, joined the team on the pitch.
"I guess McKinnon is shagging all three," Nott sneered. "I owe you five Galleons, Severus."
Marlene screeched as she tried to clamor over Lily to get to Helena Nott. Remus yanked her back. Frank wasn't quick enough to grab Alice as she climbed over the seat and tackled the vicious girl. "You stupid bitch!" Everyone around them was shell-shocked. No one had ever seen the sweet little Alice King like this. Frank and Colin managed to separate the two girls. At this point no one was paying attention to what was going on down on the pitch.
"That's twenty points from Gryffindor, King." Snape smirked when things had calmed down.
The week had been too much for Lily and she was sick and tired of boys. "Hey Severus, prefects can't take points away from prefects, right?"
Snape leered at Lily. She was over the seat so fast if you blinked you would have missed it. She slammed her curled up fist into Snape's face. His face spurted blood for the second time that week. Another broken nose. Someone yelled. Everyone watched as the Gryffindor seeker dove towards the ground. People held their breath and screamed when he pulled up on his broom, snitch held high above his head. The Gryffindor team swarmed him when they landed on the ground.
"AND GRYFFINDOR WIN! 250-80!"
Remus, Peter, and Marlene went with the Gryffindor team to check on James in the hospital wing. They all returned to the Common Room annoyed that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let any them in. The only exception was Sirius who stayed with an unconscious James for almost two hours before returning to Gryffindor Tower. The party was in full swing thanks to Remus and Peter. Alice was dancing with Frank, who looked at Alice like she was the most amazing thing in the world. He had doubted her abilities to be an auror in September but after the spectacle today he knew better. Colin was hanging around his group of seventh-year friends. Lily was nowhere in sight.
A second round of cheers rang through the tower as Sirius entered through the portrait hole. He was quickly surrounded by friends and fans alike. Someone put a drink in his hand. The cute fifth-year he'd been snogging that week appeared at his side and gave him a kiss. "Turn the music up!" Sirius shouted before giving her another kiss.