Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, I do not own the Harry Potter books. About halfway through this chapter, I took some dialogue from the Order of the Phoenix, and that, I do not own either. Now that that's cleared up, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 8. McGonagall's Midterm Tests

Cas peeks around my shoulder, and gasps when she sees the mess in front of us. Our dorm room looks like it was torn apart by a wild animal. I carefully step forward, my wand still held in front of me, and inspect the damage.

"What happened…?" Cas murmurs.

"I don't know," I respond quietly.

"Wait where are Alice and Mary?" Cas asks, "maybe they got in a fight or something?"

"Huh… that's true I guess. I'd rather that have happened than somebody having broken into our dorm room."

The two of us look around the room, repairing a shattered mirror, and broken lamp among other things, and we look for anything missing or out of place.

"I don't see anything missing at all." Cas says.

"Me neither…" I agree, "but for all we know we missed something."

"Okay, well I guess let's just fix the rest of this, and find Mary and Alice, maybe one of them knows what happened."

I nod in agreement, and the two of us clean up the room before heading down to the common room looking for Alice and Mary. We find Alice talking to Frank in the corner of the common room.

"Hey Alice," I greet, "so when we went into the dorm room it was completely trashed, do you know what happened by chance?"

Alice looks at me confused, "it was trashed?" She asks.

"Yeah, we cleaned it up, but we have no clue what happened," Cas explains.

Alice shakes her head, "No, I've been down here with Frank for the past few hours."

"Okay then," I sigh, "do you know where Mary is?"

"I don't," Alice says, "maybe the library?"

"Guess we'll check there then. Coming lily?" Cas asks when I don't move.

I stare at her for a second, before I run back up to the dorm room. Cas yells my name, and rushes after me.

"Lily-"

"No, I've just remembered. We had quidditch practice, so I took it off, but I didn't even check for it, I always have it with me anyways. Ugh where is it," I dig through the drawers next to my bed.

"Where is what Lily?"

"My necklace," I respond.

"You think somebody broke in here… to steal your necklace?" Cas asks incredulously.

"Well yes."

"You've gone bloody mad."

"Just, help me look Cas. Please."

Cas stares at me, and when she realizes I'm serious, starts helping me search for my necklace. Ten minutes later, we've found nothing, but succeeded in making the room return to the state we found it in.

"I don't see it, I'm sorry." Cas apologizes.

I sit down on my bed dejected, "it's my fault I suppose. I shouldn't have ever taken it off."

"It might just be lost," Cas says.

"No, you don't understand, my necklace is a time turner."

Cas's eyes grow wide, "you have a time turner?!" She exclaims.

"Yeah, I bought a broken one in a store down Knockturn Alley… Borgin and Burke's maybe? And I spent 3rd and 4th year trying to fix it, until I actually succeeded last summer."

"You fixed a time turner…." Cas let's out a barking laugh, "of course you did."

"I honestly just thought it was pretty when I bought it first year, but I realized what it was, and decided I wanted to try and fix it, so that's what I did."

"Only you Lily," Cas shakes her head, "only you would somehow be able to fix something the ministry's best witches and wizards struggle to understand."

"Well, it doesn't matter now, it's gone," I shake my head, "how could I be so stupid."

"How could you have expected somebody to break into our dorm room and take it?"

"I don't know, but-"

"Exactly, you couldn't have expected it," Cas interrupts, "did you ever tell anybody it was a time turner?" She asks.

"No.. I don't think so…" I mutter, "though anybody could've seen it and known what it was."

"There is still no way you could've expected this." Cas retorts.

"What in the world happened in here," Mary's voice asks.

I look around at the room, taking in the mess we made and begin giggling, "I'm sorry, we were looking for my necklace."

"So you decided to pillage the entire dorm room?!" Mary exclaims.

"Hey, you should've seen it when we returned from quidditch," Cas says, "the mirror was totally shattered, and there were pillows and blankets thrown everywhere."

"What?" Mary asks, "start from the beginning."

Cas quickly recounts the entire story, and in the end Mary is gaping at me, "of course, Lily Evans, only you would somehow fix a time turner."

"Hey that's what I said!" Cas high fives Mary.

"Enough with that," I grumble, "the point is, it's missing, and somebody stole it."

"Well think about it logically," Mary says.

"Logically how?" I ask.

Mary looks from me to Cas, "only a Gryffindor student can get into the tower. And even then, only girls can enter into our dorm. So, that narrows it down to maybe 30 students."

"That's still 30 people," I grumble.

"Well you can already subtract the four of us," Cas laughs, "so that leaves you with about 26 possible suspects."

"Ugh, that's still too many."

Mary nods, "but it's a start."

The next day, I search for my necklace again before classes, but I still come up empty. I try to forget about it as best as I can, and instead I focus on the positive things. We have our first quidditch game this friday. Me and Potter are getting along for once. And, I'm going to ace my transfiguration test later today, thanks to Potter. But, I'm never going to tell him that.

Professor McGonagall always gives her students a long test as a midterm exam. She claims it's to prepare us for our O.W.L.s, but I think she just likes to stress us out. I have the class with the Slytherins right after Charms, and I'm usually stressed out, but Potter actually helped relieve some of that with his transfiguration tips.

Charms passes without an issue, and me and Alice leave together to go to Transfiguration.

"You worried?" I ask.

"As always, yes," Alice responds.

"Yeah, McGonagall always goes crazy with her tests."

"I know!" Alice exclaims, "Last year I started crying when I tried to turn my key into a goblet but ended up with a mug instead."

"I remember that," I laugh.

Alice glares at me, "It was traumatizing for me."

"It definitely was, you were freaked out for the next three days until you got back your score and got an E on it."

"Still wasn't an O like you," Alice grumbles, "At least you have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, I suppose," I say, "Surprisingly enough, I'm more relaxed this time around because of something Potter said."

"Potter?" Alice asks, wriggling her eyebrows.

"Yeah.. uh what are you doing with your face."

"Nothing," she says innocently.

"Okay, well Potter came into the library on Monday, and I was struggling with the feather to sparrow transfiguration assignment."

"Oooh a study date with Potter!" Alice grins, with her entire face lit up.

"No! Ew Alice. Never say the words date and Potter in the same sentence."

"Ugh fine. So, he helped you relax about the test?"

"Yeah, he explained that I should focus on the process of the actual change and transfiguration instead of focusing on the product." I explain.

Alice looks thoughtful, "That's really smart."

"I know!" I exclaim, "I was totally shocked when he started speaking with such articulacy and eloquence. I could use some of that right about now"

Alice bursts into laughter, "Potter being eloquent? I sure never expected you to say that."

"Excuse me?" Potter's voice comes from behind me, "What's this about me being eloquent?"

I mentally facepalm at his words, but turn around. "Nice to see you, Potter."

"Really?!" Potter's entire face breaks into a smile, "That's the first time you've said that without a hint of sarcasm. Are you up to something?"

"Sadly, no." I respond, "I could just use some of your magical transfiguration powers. I'm hoping they'll rub off on me before the exam."

Potter smirks, "You know what would help my natural gift rub off on you better?"

"No."

Potter puckers his lips, "Come on Evans, you know you want to."

I speed up and quickly enter the transfiguration classroom, "Good morning Professor McGonagall."

"Good morning Miss Ev-"

"Come on one kiss Evans!" Potter yells, sprinting into the classroom, but running straight into Professor McGonagall. I almost laugh at how comically wide his eyes grow as he stutters to apologize, "Uh erm, sorry?" he says weakly.

Professor McGonagall stares him down sternly before saying with a trace of amusement, "Sit down Mister Potter."

He quickly rushes to his seat without another word, and I roll my eyes as I slowly walk to my own seat. The rest of the class files in, and Professor McGonagall begins her usual explanation of the exam.

"You have all taken my mid-term tests before, but I will give you a refresher on how it works, just in case you've forgotten my rules," She stares at Black when she says this. "The first part is the written exam. You have an hour to finish the multiple choice and short answer part of the exam. Then, I'll give you a fifteen minute break, just like they do in the O.W.L.s. After your break, you will all return, and begin the practical part of your exam. Again, you will have an hour to complete it. Any questions."

The class remains silent, and McGonagall nods her head, "Okay, then let's begin."

A packet appears in front of every student, and we quickly begin working on the exam. About half of the time has elapsed, and Potter stands up to turn in his exam. Previously, I would've believed he just rushed through it, but after seeing how intelligent he is with Transfiguration, I think he is just that smart. Merlin, Lily focus! I shake my head, and redirect my focus to my exam.

With about 15 minutes to spare, I turn in my test, and remain seated until the rest of the time runs out. I stare at the back of Potter's head while I wait. He's been acting almost sweet lately. Not with the teasing of course. But… for less than a millisecond… I considered taking him up on his offer. When he offered to um.. Rub some of his talent off on me. Oh merlin I sound bloody ridiculous. I can't even think the words in my own head. When he offered to kiss me I mean. There you go brain, I've admitted it to myself. For a split second… I considered actually kissing James Potter. What has the world come to? I hate him, he's still scared of me, and my stupid brain is fantasizing about kissing him. I tear my eyes away from Potter, and try to focus on anything else. Oh look, ceiling tiles. Those look fascinating, I wonder how many there are.

I'm on ceiling tile number 137 when Professor McGonagall calls time, "You may leave the classroom, use the restroom, and get some fresh air now," She tells us.

Me, Mary, Alice, and Cas leave the classroom together, and quickly head to the bathroom before heading outside.

"I actually think the test went okay so far," Mary says.

"As okay as being stabbed in the eyes with a bloody fork," Cas laughs.

Alice's eyes widen, "Cas! That's so brutal,"

"Sorry, I couldn't think of a better metaphor,"

"That's when you just don't use a metaphor Cas!" I laugh.

"Well I just…." she trails off looking into the distance, "Um, maybe we should go this way?" She suggests, pointing back towards the castle, blocking my view of whatever she was looking at.

"Nonsense," Alice says, "I want to go outside," she moves past Cas to see what Cas was avoiding, and gasps, "Actually, yeah, lets go this way." She grabs my shoulders and starts turning me in the other direction.

I wrestle out of her grip, thanking the extra strength training sessions for quidditch, and sprint away from them towards where they were staring. I stop once I see what they were trying to steer me away from, and stand deadly still. Mary, Cas, and Alice catch up to me and all begin speaking at once,

"Lily, leave it."

"Let's just go."

"Back to the castle?"

I glare at them all, "Cowards," and restart my sprint towards the huddle of people by the Great Lake.

As I get closer, I hear Potter say "Wash out your mouth," before casting a Scourgify charm at Severus. I yell as loud as I can "leave him ALONE!"

Potter turns towards me, ruffling his hair, and dropping his wand slightly, "All right, Evans?"

My eyes flash with fury, "Leave. Him. Alone." I repeat, "What's he ever done to you?"

His eyes harden and I can hear part of the edge in his lighthearted voice, "Well.. It's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean."

Remus shakes his head at Potter's words, though he remains seated, engrossed in his book.

I walk straight up to Potter's face, and say harshly, "you might think you're funny, but you are just an arrogant, bullying toerag. Leave him alone Potter."

His entire body flinches, and I see him set his jaw before saying, "I will if you go out with me, Evans."

"How many times do I have to say! I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid!" I screech.

I start to move towards Sev to help him up, but he's already got his wand pulled out, and cuts the side of Potter's face with a silent jinx. With reflexes he could've only gotten from quidditch, Potter spins around and Sev is suddenly hanging upside down with his robes falling down to reveal his grey underpants. Everybody around them starts laughing, and I pull out my own wand "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Potter evaluates my expression, and says, "Evans, don't make me hex you."

I stare at him incredulously. Did he really just threaten me? "Take the curse off him." I fume.

Potter sighs and mutters the countercurse to release Sev. "There you go," he says, "you're lucky Evans was here Snivellus."

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

I blink, processing what just happened. And I start to say, "Fine, I won't bother you in the future then." But, nobody can hear me over the outrage of those around me. Cas immediately draws her wand and points it at Snape, about to go off on him. But, Potter beats her to it.

"Apologize to Evans!" He threatens.

I round on him, "You're just as bad as him!" I screech, "I don't want you to make him apologize."

Potter's entire expression turns furious, "I am NOTHING like him."

I spin on my feet, and stalk off back towards the castle. I hear Black say, "Good one Prongs,"

Potter mutters, "Shut up," and then yells, "Evans!" I hear him start to chase after me, but I hear Cas's voice, "Let her go."

I rush back into the Transfiguration classroom, and join the other 3 students waiting for the next part of the exam to start.

"Are you okay Miss Evans?" Professor McGonagall questions.

I force a smile, "Yes, thank you."

The rest of the class files in, and both Potter and Sev... Snape glance at me multiple times, looking like they want to apologize. I thank Merlin when both of them think better of it and leave me alone. Professor McGonagall begins the practical part of our exam, which is to transfigure a strawberry into a hamster. I immediately immerse myself in the test, and do my best to ignore what just happened. I finish with 20 minutes to spare, which is the fastest I've ever completed a transfiguration assignment. I pass my hamster to Professor McGonagall and quietly ask her if I can leave. I lied and said I had lady things to deal with, but it worked, and she let me leave early. I immediately head back to the gryffindor tower. Lunch is directly after Transfiguration today, and I am not about to sit through an entire meal with Potter and Snape both trying to talk to me.

I collapse on my bed once I enter the dorm, and begin sobbing. I can't even explain why I'm crying right now. Part of it is mourning my lost friendship with Sev, but I already saw that coming that day in the astronomy tower when I saw him with Mulciber and Avery. I can't believe it, but I'm actually upset about Potter. I thought he'd grown up some this year. And Merlin, I think I'd begun to like his company. But today, he proved to me he hasn't changed whatsoever. I curl myself into a ball, and lay on my bed quietly sobbing, and that's how Mary, Alice, and Cas find me when they come in about 20 minutes later.

"Lily, I'm sorry," Alice's voice breaks as she wraps me in a hug.

I only sob in response, and Mary and Cas join our hug, wrapping me in a safe shield. We stay like that until we need to leave for our next classes, at which point they help me clean myself up, and pull myself together.

We have quidditch practice later that night, and Cas has to drag me down.

"I can't be held responsible for what I do to him when I see him," I threaten.

"Lily, if you maim one of our players the week before a game, I am going to murder you. Okay?" Cas says sweetly.

"I won't physically harm him," I mutter, "Just punch him around a bit, or verbally knock some sense into him."

"How about, you just act like your perfectly kind and normal person?" Cas suggests, "You know how much Radek freaked out last time the three of us weren't getting along. And, you've never seen him angry before a quidditch game. Let me tell you, you don't want to see it."

"Ugh, fine, I'll just ignore him how about that?"

Cas considers this, "Okay, but, you need to act normally and keep proper communication while up in the air."

I groan, "That is the last thing I want to do right now, he will just think it means he's forgiven."

"Well that's why you give him the cold shoulder at all times except for when you're in the air." Cas says.

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"Yes," I say, "I'll be as amiable as it is necessary for us to have a good practice."

"Okay." Cas nods, "Then let's go down to practice."

As soon as I enter Potter's line of eyesight, he rushes over to me "Evans! Let me explain."

I glance at Cas and she sighs, "Lily isn't speaking to you right now Potter."

"But Evans!" He exclaims, "I was just-"

"Sorry, Lily doesn't want to hear it." Cas interrupts.

Potter shakes his head and walks back over to Radek and the rest of the team. Me and Cas join them, and I purposefully stand as far away from Potter as I can. By the end of practice, I still haven't spoken to Potter, or Black for that matter. However, I did begrudgingly pass the quaffle to Potter when needed, and communicated with our general hand signals, in order to have a successful practice. Despite my best efforts to stay calm, my professionalism was not mirrored by him, and at every chance he got, Potter would fly up next to me and beg me to let him explain himself. Each time he did that, I would fly away without a word. But, by the 7th time, I was getting annoyed. I made sure Radek wasn't watching, and I flew over to Black right when he was hitting a bludger, and I grabbed his arm, and swung the bat aiming for Potter. I moved away quickly so Black couldn't tell it was me who did that, although he could probably guess, and I watched as Potter narrowly avoided the bludger with a look of fear on his face. I think he too realized that the bludger was sent by me because he didn't bother me for the rest of practice.

After practice, me and Cas walk back up to the common room, and I take a quick shower before heading off to my prefect rounds with Remus.

"Hey Remus," I greet once he exits the common room.

"Hey Lily," he nods at me.

We begin our rounds in silence, but Remus quickly breaks it when he says, "He really is sorry you know,"

"Remus, as much as I appreciate your loyalty to your friends, the last thing I want to think or talk about is James Potter."

He nods, "Okay then. I won't say anything else. Just, you know my character by now I hope. And, I would never let James or Sirius do something that actually hurts somebody. And I wouldn't let them humiliate someone either, unless I thought they deserved it. So, just remember that, and don't be too hard on him."

I nod slowly, "Okay, I do trust you to be a good person. Which, I'm still sorry I insulted your character, I shouldn't have ever done tha-"

"Lily," Remus interrupts, "You've already apologized. It's okay, everybody has bad days."

"Still sorry." I mutter.

"And maybe that's how James is feeling?" Remus cocks an eyebrow.

"Wow. That was good, I must admit," I laugh, "I might talk to him eventually, just not yet. Not today at least."

"Understandable," Remus agrees.

We finish up our rounds, and return to the Gryffindor tower for the night. I quickly change into pajamas, and lay on my bed staring at the ceiling. I can't help but replay the entire scene with Potter and Snape. Two things stick out in my mind each time I see it in my mind. I see Potter's face scraped with blood, and I hear the word Mudblood shouted out at me. It keeps echoing in my mind, and I hear it reverberate against my mind's walls continuously, without growing quieter. It wasn't the first time somebody called me a Mudblood. But, this time it feels more real. This time, I'm accepting the words as a label that will follow me my entire life.

Potter's face though, I saw his blood, and it looks the exact same as mine. I truly don't understand… what makes my blood muddy? Actually, what sort of insult is that. Anybody with eyes could see that everybody's blood looks the exact same. It's red both inside and outside of our bodies, and only appears different depending on the amount of oxygen the blood contains. Honestly, they're all just ignorant if they don't understand basic biology. I guess I'll accept the insult then because they're really just making a fool of themselves. Something which I thought Snape was smarter than, but obviously not.

I turn on my side, and let my mind drift and doze off into a peaceful sleep.

Author's Note: For the Snape scene, I took some of the dialogue from the Order of the Phoenix book to try and keep some accuracy to the original story. So, I do not own a lot of that dialogue specifically. However, I did change it slightly, so it is not 100% canon. For example, the original scene took place during an O.W.L.s exam break, not a mock O.W.L.s exam Professor McGonagall gave the students.

I also decided to change the scene slightly because it is from Lily's perspective. I feel like Snape's memory of it might've been warped by his own mind trying to cast him in a more victimized position, and James in a worse light. That's just how I decided to interpret it to fit my story of what I think happened, so if you don't agree with that, I'm sorry, that's what I decided to do.

Oh, and, I know it is probably highly unlikely that Lily managed to fix a time turner when she was 14-15 years old, but I think that she would be resourceful enough and smart enough to figure it out.

Well, laters. I have completed this chapter, finally, enjoy the next one if that is up, and have a great day/night :)