"Thank you all for coming" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out around the Great Hall, which had been cleared of its four tables for a change. "Last week's Duelling Club was very well received, so I'm pleased to hand it over to Miss Meadowes for another week. Does anyone have any questions before we begin?"
"Yeah, can I be paired with Snape so I can hex him to bits?" Alice muttered, for Lily's ears only.
The redhead smiled. "I think Black's got a head-start on that one" she whispered, eyeing Sirius, who was tapping his wand impatiently. His eyes were boring into the back of Severus' head, which was turned as he whispered into Regulus' ear.
Marlene poked Sirius with her wand "your non-verbal spells aren't that good, you know."
"A boy can dream" he smiled "are you here to stop me committing murder?"
She snorted "please. I'm here to ask you let Lily get a shot in first."
Sirius considered it. "Seems fair" he agreed. "Can I duel you first? I want to get some easy practice in."
Marlene drew her elbow back sharply, colliding with his ribs. Sirius let out an audible splutter.
Dorcas cleared her throat, staring straight at the two Gryffindor Beaters with an unimpressed look on her face. "Thank you for coming" she repeated "we'll be taking lessons today from one of the best duellers in wizarding history. Please welcome-"
The doors to the Great Hall crashed open and everyone turned as the three remaining Marauders bundled into the room. Remus at least had the decency to look sheepish. He'd seen Doe duel and didn't fancy being on the wrong side of her.
"Gentlemen, you seem to have rather rained on my parade" a familiar voice chided them as their Headmaster took to his place next to Dorcas. "Take your places please."
"Sorry, Professor" Peter squeaked, mortified.
What had been complete silence turned into excited titters as students from all year groups, all houses, realised that they were going to get to see the legendary Albus Dumbledore duel.
"Please continue, Miss Meadowes" Professor Dumbledore said warmly.
"Thank you, Professor. As I was saying, it's a pleasure to have you here today, and I was hoping that we could split the room into small groups to practice the most important part of duelling – defensive spells.
"To demonstrate, Professor Dumbledore and I will duel" Dorcas gulped loudly, earning a chuckle from the audience. "He'll be using a mixture of verbal and non-verbal spells against me, which I will need to defend. All of my defensive spells will be verbal, so that everyone knows the basics. When you practice you can use whichever you prefer, but communication within your group is key.
"Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore and I will be circulating the room to help your groups with any issues you might be facing. Keep it clean, okay? Anyone who's seen to be casting too harsh a spell, and without a fair warning, will be dealt with by taking away house points and whatever else is deemed appropriate by the Professors."
James, who had shuffled over to the other Gryffindors, leaned across to whisper in Lily's ear: "does Doe have a death wish? Duelling Dumbledore?"
Lily laughed softly, ignoring the heat of his breath on the side of her neck "she likes a challenge" was her reply. "I don't doubt she can give him a run for his money."
"Nor do I" James hastened to add "she's the most hardcore of all of us. There's no way she won't be first in line for Auror training."
"Thank you, Miss Meadowes. Shall we begin?" Dumbledore's voice boomed from the front of the room, pulling the Heads back into reality.
Dorcas smiled, and took her stance, wand at the ready. She threw a cursory glance to the corner of the hall where her friends had gathered. Marlene winked and Alice stuck both of her thumbs up enthusiastically. She exhaled deeply, huffing a curl out of her eyes. "Ready when you are, Professor."
"I'll start easy, Miss Meadowes" he assured her, before raising his wand: "Stupefy!"
Dorcas cast the stream of red light aside with an effortless "protego."
Dumbledore held his hand up and addressed the audience "as Miss Meadowes has just demonstrated, confidence is crucial to any spell. Clear pronunciation, and undeniable intent will only seek to intensify your duelling abilities."
Without warning, he aimed a trip jinx at Dorcas' feet, causing her to fall to the floor. "Apologies, Miss Meadowes, but it's imperative that you pay attention to your partner's body language in duelling" he beamed at her "shall we go again?"
Dumbledore spent the next five minutes attempting everything from a jelly-legs jinx to reducto, flames flying out of his wand, to icing the floor, but Dorcas moved like a dancer, side-stepping, ducking and shielding at every opportunity. The audience watched open-mouthed as she finished the duel with a smirk and an expertly-placed "expelliarmus".
"O-ho!" Dumbledore exclaimed in glee "bravo, Miss Meadowes! Shall we get everybody else started?"
They split into pairs instinctively. Peter sidling up to Alice, knowing that she was a good teacher. Remus found himself paired with Amos Diggory, the two were old Defence Against the Dark Arts partners, Sirius chose Marlene which left…Lily and James.
"Scared, Evans?" The Head Boy waggled his eyebrows as they faced one another. "Promise I'll go easy on you."
"You can be defence" Lily told him "I've got some rage I need to channel."
"My pleasu-" he didn't finish the sentence before Lily sent a stinging hex in his direction, which he knocked back easily. "Merlin, Lily, give me a chance!"
"If you try and levicorpus me, I swear to Merlin…" they heard Marlene say behind them. They shared a fleeting grin, before drawing their wands again.
Lily had spent most of the week knocked out on the after-effects of the strong Sleeping Draught the girls had procured from Professor Slughorn. It felt like her brain was just waking up again, and she was determined to use it properly. She still felt like she was drowning in hundreds of different commitments, but she was tired of being angry for no real reason.
Well, there was one reason. She just didn't know how to process it yet.
But target practice on James Potter would inevitably make her feel better.
"What knickers are you wearing today, just out of interest?" Sirius inquired, as Marlene dodged his petrificus totalus and sent a leg-locking curse at him in retaliation.
"Get a life, Black" his partner laughed. "Remus has more of a chance than you at this point."
Sirius held up a hand to his chest "my heart!"
Marlene hurled a bat-bogey hex in his direction, which he dismissed with a lazy flick of his wand, catching Peter in the rebound.
"Sorry, Pete!" Marlene yelped "wasn't meant for you."
"Not a natural dueller, are you, McKinnon?"
"Trust me, Black, I can shove this next hex right where the sun doesn't-"
"Mr Black, Miss McKinnon!" Professor McGonagall barked from the other side of Remus "less flirting, more practice please."
"Sorry, Minnie, it's just my natural charm!" Sirius called back, laughing as he missed a stupefy by millimetres.
"I will end you" Marlene assured him, shielding herself as she took a step closer.
"Keep talking dirty to me, McKinnon, I've got a murder to plot and this is filling my time nicely."
Marlene held up a hand to signal a pause to their duel. "You're not seriously going to pull anything here, are you?" she hissed, turning her head slightly to watch Snape and Regulus in a cordial duel. The concentration on Snape's face was undeniable.
"With the Headmaster in the room? Sure, why not." Sirius responded sarcastically.
"Just…be careful, alright?"
Sirius' face softened. "Course, who would back you up in Quidditch if I went to Azkaban forever?"
Marlene rolled her eyes. "Reckon I'd cope, you know."
"Incorrect" Sirius grinned, getting ready to aim another hex at his friend. "You can't live without me, McKinnon."
The blonde shook her head and bit back a small smile. The warmth in her stomach, which she was quite sure was matching a certain spark in his eyes, was not good. Not good at all.
"Victory!" James exclaimed, triumphant, as he helped Lily up from the floor. Professor Dumbledore was dismissing the room, and he'd managed to land a protego which had been strong enough to knock Evans clear off her feet. "You okay? That can happen if you stand too close."
"I'm fine" Lily lied. She knew she was a sore loser, she didn't need to hear it from Potter, especially when she was in a fragile state mentally.
"Come on" he smiled "I'll walk you to the office? I've finally chosen a colour scheme for the Christmas Ball, I think you'll be surprised at how daring it is."
Despite herself, Lily found herself matching his smile. His enthusiasm for the Christmas Ball was both completely unexpected and utterly contagious. "I was actually going to get some fresh air" she flapped at the collar of her school shirt "it's been a bit stuffy in here. But we could go afterwards?"
"Sure" James turned to the Marauders and gave them a wave "see you at dinner!"
The unlikely pairing strolled into the grounds together in comfortable silence. The air was bitter, just as Lily had hoped it would be. The crisp winter toned down the red in her cheeks from the effort of duelling and, noticing her shiver, James shrugged out of his robes and draped them over her shoulders.
"Aren't you cold?" she asked him as they made their way towards the bottom of the hill.
He shrugged. "Not really. You get used to it with Quidditch, you're out here in all weathers, so..."
Lily nodded. The silence fell again.
"Lily, can I ask you something?" James' voice was uncharacteristically serious.
"Of course."
"Are you okay?"
Lily shouldn't have been so ruffled by the question, but she was. "What do you mean?"
"It's just…the other week, with the stuff that was going on in the Prophet, and you weren't sleeping. You've just seemed a bit, I don't know, disconnected? I know you've got the girls to talk to, but I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do."
"Why?"
James frowned "why what?"
"Well, why would you want to help? I thought you weren't going to try and pull the romantic crap this year." Lily internally scolded herself for being such a bitch as she waited for his answer.
"I thought we were friends, Lily. I worry about my friends" James looked hurt by her accusation. "Haven't we been getting along okay? Plus, we're spending all this time together, I just…you know what, forget it."
Lily was quiet for a few moments. "Sorry, James" she said quietly. "I'm not really okay, to be honest" she could feel tears prick at her eyes and she blinked them away furiously. "I suppose I didn't expect this year to be so…"
"Busy?" James filled the space for her.
"I guess so. How are you doing it all? Head Boy, homework, Quidditch captain? I feel completely out of my depth as it is."
He smiled at her "Evans, why would you think that I wouldn't understand how you felt? Aren't we in this together?"
"But you're always so happy. And you're getting everything done, and I just feel like I can't keep up with anyone and I clearly can't fake being okay if you of all people have noticed."
James sighed, the clouds of his breath threatening to crystallise in front of him "I don't feel like I'm giving my all to anything" he admitted. "I'm terrified for our first match next week, if the Christmas Ball is a bust then I'll be a laughing stock, and I had to go and see Dumbledore on Monday because I got a W on my Potions essay. I haven't even told Sirius that."
He collected himself "what I'm trying to say is, everyone's struggling, and you have a huge amount of responsibility this year. You're doing brilliantly, but it's not going to be easy. But we'll all muddle through it together. You know we can always study together in the office if everything else gets too much."
Lily, who was taken aback by his admissions, took stock for a second or two. "Thank you, James. I'm sorry if I haven't been easy to deal with lately." She didn't know what possessed her to take his hand and give it a quick squeeze, but she did.
He ignored the frissons of electricity creeping up his hand and nodded. "Any time. Shall we head in? Your hands are freezing."
She nodded and let him lead them back towards the castle, wondering how on earth she'd become friends with James Potter and, more pressingly, when he'd started to become so flipping mature.
Maybe she'd been missing out all this time, after all.
"Listen" Remus tore open a chocolate frog as he sat in the middle of the boy's dormitory. "You cannot get caught if you're going to do this, not tonight."
"Agreed" James nodded "but that's why I'll be with Filch, talking to him about the Christmas Ball theme, it leaves Padfoot and Wormy to carry it out."
"Are you positive that this is a good idea?" Pete asked. He always was the nervous one, and the rat in him was making his nose twitch.
"I think it's the best idea I've had all year" Sirius said confidently, fishing the Invisibility Cloak out of James' open trunk, his pockets clinking as he bent down. "Have you got the map?"
Pete pulled the blank parchment from his back pocket. "Yep. Remus, you'll be sentry?"
Remus saluted, chomping on the last of the frog.
"First prank of the year, boys" James beamed. "Don't let me down."
"Aye aye, captain" Sirius slapped him on the back. "Go and charm Filch about chair covers."
James did as he was told, cornering Filch minutes before dinner was due to start. They stood together just outside the Great Hall as the Head Boy excitedly showed his chosen swatches for the theme – icy blue and sparkling silver – before walking the caretaker into the hall, Mrs Norris circling under their feet as they did so, and showing him his preferred configuration of chairs and tables for the event.
"What do you think?" he finished, turning to face Filch, who wore a dumbstruck expression.
"It can be done" the cantankerous caretaker grumbled. "How big's the tree going to be?"
"We haven't decided that yet" a familiar voice said behind him. James smiled warmly at Lily as she entered the hall for dinner, alongside the girls. "Can we let you know, Mr Filch? James is just getting a bit overexcited about the whole thing."
"Amazed he's done any work" Filch said pointedly.
"Thanks for your time, mate" James stuck out a hand to shake. Filch looked at it, suspicious, and moved away.
James shrugged. "I tried."
"Ready for food?" Remus appeared behind the Head Boy and Girl. "I'm really craving toad in the hole tonight…"
The meal got underway, and it wasn't long before Sirius and Peter joined the other seventh year Gryffindors at the dining table.
"Doe, you were wicked today" Sirius lauded their resident duelling queen "what's on the agenda for next week?"
Dorcas laughed, spearing asparagus with her fork. "You just want to get a head start on Mar."
"I don't think I'm going to be winning any duels in the near future" Marlene admitted glumly "how's your nose, Pete?"
Pete sniffed heavily. "Please don't remind me."
They all laughed, and sank into easy conversation with one another. Alice was explaining the mystifying concept of the day's Herbology homework to her classmates, when they were interrupted by a shriek from the Slytherin table.
"What the fuck?" Dorcas muttered, standing on the bench to check she wasn't imagining things.
She wasn't. Everyone at the Slytherin table had aged by about seventy years. Ivy Rook was screaming at her wrinkled hands, whilst Nott and Dolohov were turning a deep shade of scarlet under their beards. Snape drew his wand in preparation.
"Congratulations, now you're as outdated as your blood politics!" Sirius cheered from the other side of the hall, raising his own goblet and taking a long swig.
The hall erupted into chaos as the Slytherins drew their wands and advanced on the Gryffindor table (at a snail's pace, one might add). Professors had risen from their seats to intervene and the other houses had descended into hysterics.
Poor Professor Slughorn was beside himself, alternating between yelling his displeasure and fretting about how long it would take to brew a potion to reverse the effects of whatever had been put in his house's pumpkin juice.
Lily looked at James, who quietly clinked his goblet with his three best friends, and felt her heart sink to the balls of her feet. "Nice one, you morons" she snapped, pushing past them on her way to the door.
"The usual suspects, I assume?" Professor McGonagall said from above Sirius' head. The head of Gryffindor sighed heavily "Black, Lupin, Pettigrew, Potter, detention. I'll see you in the Astronomy Tower at 7pm for the foreseeable future."
"But Professor-" James began. He was silenced by her cutting stare. Minnie was not fucking about tonight.
"I'm incredibly disappointed in you, Mr Potter" she remarked. "I thought Head Boy was the right choice for you, but I think you need to go and explain to Miss Evans that she'll need to carry your workload whilst we decide what to do with you."
"I cannot believe how irresponsible you are" Lily hissed.
She and James were in the Head's office again. They were meant to be going over table decorations for the Christmas Ball but, instead, James Potter had come to tell Lily Evans that he had detention later that evening.
"I didn't do any of it!" the Head Boy insisted, holding his hands above his head in surrender. "Are you saying that my best mates are incapable of pulling off a prank without me?"
"You're telling me" Lily jabbed him in the chest with a finger between each word "that you didn't know they were planning anything?"
James shifted his weight from one foot to the other "well…"
"And that you didn't get involved in any planning? None whatsoever? So you've been give detention for absolutely no reason?"
The tips of James' ears were starting to redden "look, Evans-"
She scoffed. "Whatever, Potter. For the record, I thought you were actually acting like a grown up and doing an okay job as Head Boy, but clearly you just can't wait for Dumbledore to take your badge off of you, so you might as well just go and hand it into him."
"That's not true" James insisted "I want to be Head Boy! I've spent three days doing the menu for the Christmas Ball!"
"Then fucking grow up, James!" Lily exploded "because we cannot have this argument every other week."
"But they-"
"Don't you dare tell me they deserved it. Don't you dare. What happened to all the good work we were doing with this? The Herald, Duelling Club, the support centre? Why would you go and ruin something that's this important with a stupid prank?"
James couldn't answer.
Lily's voice was weak when she spoke again "don't you understand how much danger you're putting muggleborns in?"
"Lily, that's not fair."
"No" she retaliated "what's not fair is that every muggleborn in this school will have to suffer this week because you've riled up some of the most dangerous people in Hogwarts for your own entertainment. Did you hear what Nott did to Colin Kirksby on Monday night? He cornered him in the corridor, immobilised him and removed half the bones in his arm, one by one. He's still growing them back in the Hospital Wing. This is a game if you're a high-society pureblood, Potter, but not for people like me."
As much as James resented the implication that he was in any way a member of high society, he had to admit that the Head Girl had a point.
"I'm sorry, I…we, we weren't thinking. We just wanted to do something to make a difference, wind them up a bit."
"You'd all already made a difference" Lily pointed out "and now you've completely fucked it up. If you'll excuse me, I'd like the office to myself to go over the Christmas decorations. I'll get Alice in here for a second opinion. You can look at them if you ever get out of detention."
James nodded and left the Head Girl to it, letting the door slam behind him.
Lily shook her hair out of her eyes, shaking the idea of him out of her head. Clearly she was wrong and he hadn't changed a bit.
She'd always worked better alone anyway.
A knock came at the door of the office shortly afterwards, and Lily rose to answer it.
"Severus?"
She could see that the spell had been reversed. She didn't doubt that he kept an antidote for almost every potion imaginable – he'd always been the more competent of the two of them at understanding the big picture.
She stepped into the hallway and locked the door behind her, not wanting him in her office. "What are you doing here?"
"Is Potter here? Is that who you're protecting?" he laughed hollowly, motioning at the closed door.
"No, I'm working. What do you want?"
He pushed some of his hair out of his face, and she noted that he looked even paler than usual. His eyes were like black holes. "Did you know what they were going to do at dinner?"
Feeling uncomfortable, Lily took a step into the middle of the hallway, hoping to guide him away from her door. "Of course I didn't. Is that all you came here for?"
He shook his head. "No."
"Severus, what do you want?"
She'd been paying so much attention to him that she hadn't seen the big picture, she never did.
"You, mudblood" said a familiar voice from behind her.
Lily turned, hand on her wand. She was just in time to see a bright flash of red coming from Dolohov's own.
Then the world went black.