Chapter 19: The Awful Prank
The way you make me feel, you really turn me on, you knock me off of my feet, my lonely days are gone! -Michael Jackson "The Way You Make Me Feel"
A\\N Refresher as requested...Agatha is the shallow girl James seems to like, and as for Lily and James...they had sort of a tentative friendship but now with Lily being all shaken up and used to a different and older James, everything's changed and they're back to bickering.
I blew past Agatha and James and Sirius, all of who were sitting at the table when I walked in, and ran straight up the stairs to Marlene's and my room, angrily brushing away tears, brushing Agatha aside as she stood up, mouth open to insult me, probably. I sat myself down on the bed after shoving a chair into the doorknob so no one could enter and smushed a pillow to my face, crying and hating that I was crying. I was dripping all over, getting my bed wet, but I didn't care. I kept seeing James's furious face, and couldn't help thinking about what he said. I changed into clothes, brushing my hair back miserably. I knew I had treated James unfairly, but I couldn't bear to go downstairs. Besides, he hadn't been a perfect angel either.
"Lily?" Marlene called from the door, knocking. I flicked the chair away with a swish of my wand.
"Come in," I whispered hoarsely, praying she was alone.
"Oh, Lily," she gasped, taking in my miserable face. "Sirius and I never would have left you two alone if we hadn't thought you were going to make up-"
"It's fine, Marlene," I said, trying to smile. "I'm fine."
"Obvious not," she said quietly, closing the door and sitting down on my bed, forcing me to surrender the brush so she could run it through her hair myself. "You've got to cheer up, we're going water skiing today," she murmured, combing the snarls out.
"Water skiing?" I sniffled excitedly.
"Yeah, it's a muggle thing-"
"I know!" I exclaimed, shooting up and wiping my eyes. "Tuney-Petunia and I, and my parents and cousins used to do that all the time!" I said excitedly.
"I thought that would cheer you up," she grinned, beginning to french-braid my hair. "So what were you and James screaming about?" She chose her words carefully. "I heard something about him being a hypocrite..."
"Ah, long story," I sighed, handing her the ponytail on my wrist. She took it, wrapping it around the end of my braid. I ran my hands along my head, checking for any strands sticking up-my hair tended to do that a lot, being wavy. "So...what's this with you and Sirius?" I teased, poking her belly as she pulled out clothes for today.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" She blushed furiously, heading for the bathroom.
"No, I think the lever goes up, dear-"
Marlene and I leaned over the edge, looking back toward the village, a tiny dot in the distance. Remus, Black, and Potter sat in the front of the boat, along with Marlene's parents, who were trying to work the boat.
"DAD!" Marlene screamed as the boat turned, shooting forward and pitching us both over the edge, headfirst into the water. We flipped around, treading water and spluttering. "Maybe you should let me drive, sweetheart," Marlene's mum said consolingly to her husband, rubbing his back.
"What about us?" We yelled over each other, squinting into the sun as the boat took off, jerking to a stop, then shooting off again, rocking all of its members overboard.
"Ah, a fish!" She screamed, pointing to my foot and screaming.
"Ahhh!" I screamed shrilly-I had more than enough experience with Greece's huge fish, and-
"You little-!" I exclaimed, splashing her with water once I realized she was bluffing.
"That was funny, you have to admit," she laughed, splashing back.
"For you!" I squealed, beginning to race toward the boat.
"Careful, dad might run you over!" Marlene called out teasingly as I neared the boat.
"I'd like you see you drive this thing, Marls!" Her dad called back jovially, accidentally knocking the lever with his hand, sending me back into the water.
"Argh," I growled when I came face to face with Black, Remus, and Ja-Potter. I began to swim toward the front of the boat again-Marlene and I threw our dropping life jackets over the edge of the boat, realizing it would be easier to climb up the side without them.
"You ladies realize there's a ladder here, right?" Remus pointed down to the back next to the motor.
"And risk getting chopped to bits by the propeller when it "accidentally" takes off again?!" I exclaimed, laughing. "We'll take our chances up here!" I managed to wriggle up to the top, dumping myself over the side, pulling Marlene up with both my hands. We both tumble on to the floor, laughing.
"You girls are crazy," her mum stood over us, handing us the life jackets. She absolutely insisted all of us wear one, even her husband. "Now put these on, you can be crazy with them on," she emphasized, and we buckled them back up, grumbling. I spared a glance at the recently de-feathered boys-all three were whispering-that was no good. They were probably up to something devious and evil.
"We'd better sleep with our door locked, Marls," I muttered as we sat back down, nudging her shoulder and nodding at the whispering boys. They had their heads bent together-now they burst out laughing and snorting, covering their faces and trying to contain themselves.
"Alright, who's going to try out these death contraptions first?" Marlene's dad points toward the bag. "Some muggle man helped me put them on."
"I'll do it!" Sirius swaggered up, chest puffed out. He smiled cockily at Marlene, and I began to snicker into my palm.
"Black, have you ever-"
"Padfoot, have you ever-"
I stopped, glaring at James as he glared at me. We had said almost the same thing in the same second.
"Erm...no, I've never done it," Sirius said, diffusing the tension. "Can't be that hard, though," he said airily, stepping out into the water. "Erm...how exactly do I..."
"Oh, Sirius," Marlene's mum sighed. "Why don't we duplicate the boat and skies-"
"But the muggles-"
"We'll get rid of it before we go back in," she promised. "Just so Lily can show Sirius how to do it. You have done this, right, Lily?" she looked at me expectantly.
"Oh, yeah. Loads of times." I nodded.
Within minutes, the boat was duplicated down to the stain on the front seat, and each of Marlene's parents was driving one-Marlene watched me from the second, and the boys were watching Sirius from the first.
"No, no, Sirius, not like that!" I cried, exasperated. I pulled out my feet and swam over to him, finally just pulling the straps for him after he kept rushing ahead of my explanation. I floated in the water in front of him, untangling the straps. "There," I sighed, jumping back to my own. "We're ready!" We called up to Marlene's parents.
"Do we start out fast, or-"
"Whoooooaaaaaaaaaa!" Sirius yelled. His boat had already shot straight ahead-he flew into the air, not having the proper balance, and fell straight back into the waves, his boat moving on without him.
"You've got to start slower than that," I said smugly as Marlene's mum brings me right past him.
"I got it, I got it," he muttered, embarrassed as James and Remus roared with laughter.
"Alright, then, if you say so. Ready!" I called, holding onto the rope and waiting to be lifted out of the water. "Remember to start out sl-oooooow!" The last word was drawn out into a scream and I clench my leg muscles, struggling to keep my balance. I finally got used to the rhythm of the waves, and relaxed.
"Whoooooo!" I shouted, laughing as the sea sprayed into my face. "Yeah!" I let one hand go, and one foot, gliding by Sirius, who was still trying to put on the skis.
"Show-off!" He called after me, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Amateur!" I screamed back over the noise of the motor and the waves, laughing. He finally got them on, and I shouted instructions as we circled around. The boat started out slower than a crawl, and worked up slightly, slowly-Sirius had all of his muscles clenched, his legs locked-
"Bend your knees!" I called. "Relax!"
"Got it!" Sirius called with clenched teeth, stiffly bending his knees as the boat began to speed up. Our boat slowed so we were skiing neck and neck, and then Sirius capsized, falling over sideways, completely stiff, as if he'd been petrified.
"Oh Sirius," I sighed, jumping off my own skis and swimming over to help a very wounded Sirius.
"At least your ego should take a few days to reinflate," I sighed, tapping him playfully on the head.
"Oh, shush," he muttered. "How do you do that?"
"Easily," I said cheekily, ducking as he mock-swung his fist at me. "Okay, stand like this-lean back-no, Sirius, lean back," I glided in front of him, leg knocking against his as I floated. I pushing his chest back with both hands-
James coughed something from the boat.
"I know!" Sirius called back. James coughed something again. I looked at him, befuddled.
"Yeah, mate..." Another spasm of coughing.
"No. Alright. What now?" He grinned at me devilishly. I heard Marlene's dad asking Sirius what that was all about.
"What was that?" I asked, completely confused.
"What was what?" He asked innocently.
"That coughing communication!"
"Oh! Prongs and I get a lot of practice with that. Detention, you know," he said knowingly. "When we're pretending to have a coughing fit, and the teacher's don't know any better that we're planning our escape."
"Useful," I admitted, pushing him further back. "Sirius Black! Stop flexing your muscles, I know you have them! Lean back!" Sirius threw back his head and laughed as James coughed something furiously.
"There," I said, disgruntled, as Sirius was finally leaning back far enough. "Now put your hands here, and get ready, bend you knees, hold on tight but relax."
"Got it," he nodded, clenching his teeth. "Okay. Whew. I can do this," he nodded again, talking more to himself than me.
"Yeah, you tell yourself that," I smirked, clapping him on the back. "Okay. I'll let Marlene on now, and you two love birds can ski," I winked, paddling off and showing Marlene how to do it herself. After many false starts, they were finally both skiing, whooping and laughing as they bounced over the waves.
I grinned at them both, snapping a picture with the camera from my bag and laughing, trailing my fingers in the water with one hand and holding tightly to the edge with the other hand, wary of falling in once more.
"Lily!" Remus called, and the boats slowed as he jumped boldly over one side of the boat and crawled up into ours.
"Hey," I beamed as he came to sit by me, and the boats started up again. "What's up?"
"I want to know where you went for those two days," he asked grimly, worriedly.
"Remus, we've been over this," I ducked my head and unconsciously traced my left forearm, where Susanna's Dark Mark used to be. I shuddered-remembering the name brought back images, and suddenly the sun seemed to darken. I shivered, drawing my knees up to my chest. Remembering the killings. Green lights shot in my mind's eye as I watched over and over again-
"Lily!" Remus shook my shoulder, a slight edge of panic in his voice.
"Oh! Sorry!" I snapped to attention. "Remus, I already told you, I don't know," I said quietly, looking into his dark eyes and pleading wordlessly not to ask me again. I fingered the helicopter charm on my necklace.
"You got that when you were gone," he nodded at the necklace that I was playing with.
"Yeah, I did," I said uncomfortable.
"Maybe you shouldn't wear it."
"Why?" I snapped my head up, looking at him suspiciously. There were a lot of bad things that happened in those three years, but what my necklace symbolized-that wasn't one of them. There was no way I was giving up my three-charm necklace.
It had been my last gift from James.
"It might be...I dunno, cursed, or-"
"Remus, it's alright, I promise," I told him firmly. "I know you think..." I stopped myself before I blurted out the whole story to him. "Have you every heard of Daivat Frobisher?" I asked suddenly. I could tell this caught him off-guard.
"Erm...yeah, I think so," he said. "The legends with him taming all the dragons and such, and having control over all the elements, being the most powerful wizard of all time?"
I snorted into my hand. "Okay."
The boats began to slow as Sirius and James traded place, showing him how to strap himself in.
"Lily, want to go?" Marlene pulled herself over the side of our boat, and seconds later I was strapping myself in, giving the okay signal.
"Whoo!" I yelled with joy, turning into a scream of fear as James came inches away from on his own skis, which he was, surprisingly, riding quite well on.
"James-jump off!" I yelled-we were about to crash!
"What?" He yelled, squinting at me.
"JUMP-OFF!"
"Why?" He looked at me, befuddled.
"Bec-ah!" I screamed as our bodies collided sideways, wrecking both of our balances and sending us into the water, rolling over each other until we hit the water, gasping and choking.
"That's why," I spluttered, rolling myself upright and coming face to face with James. I tried to pull away, but James moved with me-
"What are you doing?" I tried to move away again, but he was pulled with me-
"I didn't know you were that attracted to me, Evans," he winked.
"I'm not!" I assured him quickly.
"Aw, Evans, you're going to hurt my feelings! Agatha d-d-dumped me today, and I w-w-would have expected some sympathy," he sniffed dramatically, putting his hands on his heart as the boats began to circle back toward us.
"Why?" I asked, suddenly trying to stop my grin.
"She thought I was a creeper for showing up in her bedroom covered in feathers," he shrugged, grinning.
"Oh, James!" I gasped, feeling guilty and secretly, maybe just a tiny bit pleased. "That was my fault, I'm sooo sorry!"
"It's alright," he shrugged. "You know what would make me feel better?"
"What?"
"Give me a kiss," he grinned, puckering up and leaning in. I ducked underwater, forgetting we were attached and he came down with me, knocking foreheads.
"If you-" he spluttered, coughing. "Wanted-" cough- "To kiss underwater, warn me-" cough, cough- "Next time!" He spluttered.
"Ugh, you're impossible," I rolled my eyes, pulling my life jacket away from his and swimming away, back up to the boat.
Later that day-James
"Ready, Padfoot?" He whispered down to his best mate, leaning out the window. "She's coming up!"
"Ready!" Sirius ducked and hid from the other side of the road.
Lily
I continued to towel-dry my hair from the shower after water-skiing, walking up the stairs slowly to my room. I pushed open the door, doing a double take and narrowing my eyes as I realized I wasn't alone.
"James, what are you doing?" I sighed, glaring at him as he leaned up against the wall across from the door right next to the window.
"How about that kiss, Lily-kins?"
"DO NOT call me Lilykins," I growled, pointing at him.
"Pooky?"
"No."
"Delicate and lovely flower, holder-eth to my heart-eth?"
"That's a mouthful. How's Evans?"
"No, no. How about Mrs. Potter?" He winked.
"How about you-"
"Give me a kiss?" He finished eagerly.
"No!"
"What if I were going to fling myself out the window if my lover should not kiss me?" He cried dramatically, sticking a leg out the window, arm outstretched to me.
I rolled my eyes, not responding.
"What, you would let me die like that?"
"You're crazy, James, but not suicidal." I turned my back to him, picking up clothes from the floor and flinging them back into the closet.
I turned back around, and James was-
Gone.
"James?" I called cautiously, looking around. "That's not funny James, don't hide from me!" I called, voice rising with panic. I stuck my head out the window, and screamed with shock-James-he had actually-
I ran downstairs-
"Out of my way!" I yelled at Remus, who attempted to stop my frantic run. "James, James-" I knelt at his side-he was eagle-spread, eyes closed, and-
Lips puckered.
"Kiss me now, Evans?" He opened an eye, and I could hear Sirius laughing hysterically from the other side of the road. Slowly, I put the pieces together-this had been planned.
"James Perseus Potter!" I yelled with fury, smacking his cheek. He looked up at me, stunned. "Don't you ever do that again!"
He sat up, not speaking for a moment-
"I bet now's not a good time to tell you you're head girl and I'm head boy," he grinned furiously.
"Funny, Potter."
"No, I'm serious!" He grinned widely, pulling out a badge from his pocket and flashing it in his face.
"No, I am!" Sirius said petulantly, staggering up to us. "That, Evans, was revenge," he grinned evilly. "And for the record, school letters came this morning-and yes, Prongs here is head boy."
"Did you nick that from Remus?" I turned back to James. He shook his head gleefully. "Are you serious, James? Don't say a word!" I snapped, pointing to Sirius who had his mouth open, about to make some witty retort, no question.
"Yes," he said smugly, and I threw my hands up in the air.
"This is going to be one long year.
September 1st-Seventh Year Girls' Dormitories
I looked up at the full moon rising in the sky-I noted that Remus would be a werewolf tonight. I wondered where he went when he was a werewolf-there were rumors that his mum was sick and he went to visit her, maybe he actually went away...but something in this explanation didn't quite seem right. I was sitting on the window seat of the seventh year common room-it was after the feast, the sorting, and Dumbledore's speech, and Alice, Dorcas, and Emmy were reunited with Marlene and I. We had been swapping stories for hours, unpacking and laughing. The sun was going down fast, and the moon was taking it's place-I couldn't help being worried. At the feast, I had overheard Sirius telling Snape to come down and-something. I hadn't heard the rest-but it was Sirius doing the daring, and it was Snape agreeing foolishly to do whatever Sirius had baited him into. If that was any indicator, there would be major trouble tonight.
"Lily?" Emmy said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "What's so interesting at that window?" She tugged at my arm.
"Oh, sorry," I said, flustered, following her back into the middle of the room. Emmy looked tanner, and her curly brown hair was sun-streaked with blonde. I threw another glance over my shoulder at the window, of our view of the Whomping Willow in the distance-I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad would happen tonight. I hadn't seen James, or Sirius, or Remus since the feast, but before that it had been three weeks ago since we left for Greece. I hadn't seen Peter Pettigrew at all since last year. Hopefully, they all matured a ton over the last three weeks...and...maybe they were inviting Snape to a tea party. I cracked smile.
"So how was Greece?" Doe finished telling about her summer, and Marlene and I launched into a fully-detailed description of our own vacation, repeated with relish the prank war we'd launched into halfway through July.
I had almost forgotten about what I'd heard Sirius tell Snape-almost. I was walking part the window, grabbing pajamas out of my trunk-and saw a figure, tall and thin-Snape-walking toward the Willow, looking behind him cautiously, wand out.
"I need to talk to McGonagall about classes, I'll be right back," I rushed, grabbing my wand and running out the door to the confused calls of my friends. I sprinted down the corridors, panting, arms pumping-
"STUDENT OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed. "AND RUNNING DOWN THE HALLS, SHE IS!"
"Stop it Peeves, I'm head girl, attending to my duties!" I snapped at the ghost who was holding something behind his back, grinning wickedly.
"This one's feisty, she is, and a liar, too," his smirk grew. "I should report you, I should."
"What makes you think I'm lying?" I crossed my arms, narrowing my eyes. Peeves was wasting my time, I had to get down there- "You know, Peeves, I've got to go, move, now-Baron! Baron! Bloody Baron!" I almost cried with relief. Peeves paled as the only being who could control him drifted slowly through the walls, silver stains on his ghostly robes. "Baron, I am head girl and Peeves won't leave me alone! He's accusing me of-"
"Peeves," the Baron whispered in a booming, raspy voice. If it was possible to do so, Peeves paled even more.
"Y-y-yes, your Bloodiness sir, your most -"
"Peeves!" The Baron barked.
"Yes, I'm going-I'm going now!" He muttered mutinously, sliding through the wall.
"Thank you," I called after the Baron, but he did not turn around, only drifted through the wall opposite of Peeves. I continued to sprint toward the doors, praying that I would make it without another run-in. I pushed out of the front doors of the school, breath catching in my throat as I stumbled, legs screaming from running so far. I continued to jog-
"SEVERUS SNAPE!" I yelled. I saw a dark figure going-going into the base of the Whomping Willow-and disappearing.
Suddenly, a piercing howl cut through the air, and everything made sense.
The Whomping Willow-there must have been some sort of passage, or something down there, and that was where Remus was transformed-Sirius probably thought it would be funny to lead Snape straight toward a werewolf.
"Snape, stop, I know you can hear me!" I screamed, shaking myself out of my haze and dashing forward. The rest of the Marauders-they were Animagi-did they stay with Remus when he transformed? Were they all in on this?
The Whomping Willow appeared to be frozen. But the limbs were beginning to twitch, almost like it was coming back to life-without giving it a second thought I dashed through the tree, head down and-
Thwack.
I landed hard on my back, neck muscles tightening involuntarily before my head could snap back. I laid back, my lungs making the motions of inhaling and exhaling, but I couldn't breath-I frantically pounded my chest, heart racing-when I could finally breath again I whipped my wand out, knees bent and facing the tree. It must have been a particularly big limb that had knocked into my stomach. Adrenaline was beginning to settle in, so I couldn't feel it much, but I was almost positive I had a broken rib. But I winced and tried to put it to the back of my mind-I faked a dodge to the left, but changed my direction as soon as three limbs reached down and swung at where they thought I would be. They swung up and righted themselves, shuddering angrily-but it took a few seconds for them to be ready to swing again. My eyes darted back and forth, calculating quickly-if I could make a few fake dives and then just dart through-if only I knew how to do a disillusionment spell. I ducked and rolled to the right, stopping up short, but the tree was expecting that-as I lunged the other way it caught me in the back, attempting to send me flying-but I locked my legs around the limb, and my arms as well-I tried to twist around, but gave up as soon as the tree started shaking me once I resorted to that tactic-I tried to twist my head completely around and look behind me, hoping I could jump off into the tunnel-I realized with a start my wand was gone. The tree stopped moving for a moment, holding me straight upside down-I held on tighter, blood rushing to my head.
"Sto-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-op!" I yelled, whole body being shaken as the tree began to shake me. Suddenly it swooped down, and I saw my opportunity-I tucked and rolled, hitting my knees and elbows and cutting my cheek, and several other places-
I finally rolled to a stop, breathing hard, and-more or less-in one piece.
I was on my back, legs and arms sprawled out, straining my eyes to see past the darkness.
I stayed still, breathing hard until my eyes finally adjusted. I crawled, as quietly as I could, down the path-
"Snape!" I hissed once I came upon him.
"Lily?" He whirled around. "What are you doing here? Are you in on this?" He narrowed my eyes.
"No! And don't think I'm doing you any favors, Snape, but I heard Sirius telling you to come here and I knew he couldn't be up to any good-"
"When is Black ever up to any good? Petrificus Totalus!" Snape hissed, and suddenly I froze, limbs straightening until I was laying on my back, eyes staring out wide. I tried to move, struggled to scream, but nothing-
"This is for your own good, Lily," he whispered, muttering something else-a disillusionment charm. He stood me up against the wall, stiff as a board, and bounding away.
"Snivellus, what are you doing here?" I heard bangs and shouts and growls, and a scream-and James was talking-
"That mongrel, that foul git you pass for a human-he told me to come-said to prove-I wasn't a coward," I heard Snape gasp.
"Come on, we've got to get you out, now, Snape, you attacked him-"
"No, Potter!"
"Snape, don't make me petrify you! You don't understand!" James whisper roared. I struggled harder than ever to move, but couldn't-I tried to scream, but my mouth wouldn't move. James was saving Snape-but who would save me? It wasn't Snape's fault, of course, but he'd practically locked me in the vincinity of a werewolf, defenseless, unarmed, and practically invisible. Stupid Snape, he had always been good with disillusionment.
Over the course of the next few minutes, bangs and snarls, growls and roars erupted not far from where I stood, paralyzed. My ribs were starting to hurt-there was more than one broken, I could tell, and being paralyzed wasn't doing them any wonders.
"Peter-"
"WAIT!" Snape roared before James could stun him. "LILY'S OUT THERE!"
"Shit!" James swore loudly, then proceeding to calling Snape every imaginable curse word. Snape took it all.
"You-you-you left Lily out there, petrified and invisible, not to mention wandless, with a bloody werewolf? Are you daft, Snape?!" James roared.
"I didn't know it was a werewolf, Potter, so if you care about your little girlfriend at all-"
"It's too late, Snape, you've ruined everything!" James snapped. "You attacked him, and now he has your scent-Sirius and Peter can only hold him back for so long, us two and Lily need to get out of here!"
"I don't need your help!" Snape snarled, their voices growing nearer, but the lie was evident even from a distance.
"Bullocks!" James spat. "Where did you put her?"
"I-I don't know!" Snape answered, breathing hard.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" James roared. I had never heard him sound so fierce.
"I just-"
"Homenun Revelio!" James muttered, and suddenly my body felt warm-a soft, golden glow lit me for a moment, and then it was gone-
"Deatuse lociantiqui!" James pointed his wand in my general direction, and I was visible again. He muttered the next word and I stumbled out of my paralysis, right into his arms.
"Lily, what are you doing here?" He murmured, catching me. I sobbed once into his shoulder, not noticing Snape look away with a crushed look on his face. "Are you hurt?" He looked me over, eyes filled with fear. I shook me head. "We've got to get out of here, Remus-"
"I know," I nodded. "Let's run."