There was a wizard who was very well known in the magical world. Known for killing innocent people, muggles, wizards, all kinds of people. Killing for his own power, for satisfaction. This wizards name was Lord Voldemort. He was feared by many, those who knew of him, that is. Muggles didn't but that was because they were dense. In fact, people have learned not to speak his name.
Although, there were places where people felt as if they were safe from this wizard. Felt as if they were actually protected. They didn't have to sleep with one eye open or always looking over their own shoulders. This place was Hogwarts. The students, teachers, everyone felt safe there because they were under the watchful eye of Albus Dumbledore. The castle was protected with spells and enchantments many have never even heard of.
Though they were protected, that didn't stop the students from hearing about the deaths that occurred outside of the castle. Though they were protected, that didn't help their families. The Ministry, of course, was doing all they could to protect everyone but no one was able to stop this iniquity wizard.
James's POV"Cleaning the trophy room," Peter said as the four of the boys were walking out of Dumbledore's office. "That's not that bad, eh?"
"Actually I was expecting cleaning the Slytherins," Sirius said with a shiver. "So actually this is quite good."
They were already late for their first class, Charms, so they were taking their time, slowly walking towards the corridor. Dumbledore had just assigned them to clean the trophy room for a week, nothing more.
James, who had his bag slung over his shoulder, pulled an envelope out of the pocket inside it.
"Who's it from?" Remus asked, curious.
James chuckled. "Mum, she can't stand me leaving. Especially with Voldemort on the loose. It's rather amusing."
"You didn't open it at breakfast?" Peter asked.
"Does it look like I did?" James asked, glancing up, eyebrow raised.
"Nope."
James opened the envelope. Before getting a chance to read it, Sirius snatched it out of his hand.
"Ah come on, Padfoot. Give it back."
Sirius dropped his bag in the middle of the hallway and jumped on the platform that a suit of armor was on. He walked behind it, tearing the envelope open. His voice shrill, Sirius read:
Dear James,
I know, you've only been gone for a few hours but I just wanted to make sure that you were safe. Especially with You-Know-Who out there murdering innocent people. Be careful. Don't go looking for trouble. Tell Sirius and Remus the same, please. Oh and Peter too. I wouldn't want them getting their heads blown off. If you don't' reply then I'm going to assume that you're dead and it'll be just awful.
Write back.
Love,
Mum
"Wow, Prongsie, I didn't realize how straight forward your Mum was," Sirius said. He folded the letter into a paper airplane and sent it soaring to James, who caught it with ease. Then he hopped off the platform and picked his bag up off of the ground.
"Only when she's worried about me," replied James. He put on a boyish smile and stuffed the letter back in his bag.
Lily's POVLily's eyes were closed as Claudia led her into the Charms classroom. She had her fingers crossed they Potter and Black weren't in this class. They might have it another period, she thought hopefully.
"Well?" Lily asked, eyes shut tight, hand on Claudia's shoulder.
"It must be a miracle, Lils," Claudia replied. She pulled Lily's hand off of her shoulder. "They're not in here."
"Come on, ladies. Take a seat. Take a seat." Professor Flitwick was ushering them into their chairs, eager as can be.
They had learned that every year Professor Flitwick gave the same speech. The only thing that changed was when he stated the information that he was going to teach them. So they decided to ignore him. There was news in the Daily Prophet that had everyone talking, and worrying.
Lily pulled the paper out of Claudia's bag and quietly unfolded it. Claudia was leaning over her shoulder reading the article in a whisper.
" 'Though the cause is unknown, the death of forty-six year old Margaret Pinowski could only be the product of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. She was found in her bedroom at four thirty in the morning when her husband, Leo, came home from his job at the ministry. She had a ten year old daughter, Mindy, who would be starting Hogwarts next year. Rumor has it that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is somewhere in London as of Saturday but no one has seen him since.' That's awful."
"It is. And her poor daughter. She'll be here next year." Lily folded the paper back up and stuffed it inside Claudia's bag.
"He was last seen in London. That's scary," Claudia had turned chalky white while reading. Her father was in London right now.
"I'm sure your dad's fine," Lily said in a soothing voice. "He'll be sure to send you an owl reassuring it. And you can mail him too, you know. It's fine, Claud, I swear."
"But he's so close, Lils. It's scary."
"I know."
Just then, the door opened and in walked the Marauders. Lily rolled her eyes as she saw James walk in, his hand automatically going for his hair. He was followed by Sirius who was grinning broadly and Remus was had a smirk on his face. Peter trailed in after them, miserably, trying to hold his bag. It seemed as though the strap was torn, or burned. It was smoking.
"Erlack," the two girls said together. James shot them a look as the boys sat down a couple rows over. Lily noticed Adrian staring at him from the font of the room. She almost gagged but thought better of it. Last time, Adrian threatened to flush all of her bras down the toilet.
She nudged Claudia and pointed over to Adrian. Claudia giggled and said, "Well apparently she doesn't know the true essence of James Potter."
"Evidently."
A balled up piece of parchment landed on Lily's desk. She stared at it, poked it once, and when it didn't explode, she opened it.
Lily darling,
Missed me didn't you? I bet you didn't think I was in this class. I bet you were quite depressed when I didn't walk in. And then I did. You must be very, very relieved. Meet me after class. I have a proposition to make.
Love, James.
Lily crumpled up the parchment and shot James a glare. He pretended not to notice.
Claudia, however, looked confused. "James knows big words like proposition?" she asked, an eyebrow arched.
"Evidently. Blah, I hate that boy."
"Don't we all."
"Not all of us." Lily took another glance at Adrian who had her head on her hand, staring at James, milking in his good looks and messy hair. It was disgusting.
"Are you going to write back?"
"Waste my time on Potter? Not a chance."
Claudia shrugged and pulled out some spare parchment to doodle on. Lily sat there, wondering what on earth James could possibly come up with.
James's POVJames sat there after throwing the note to Lily. He was staring at Flitwick, not taking in what he was saying. Daydreaming. Daydreaming about what it would be like if he won the bet. Sirius would pay. But Lily, she would actually like him. Like all the other girls in the school, he thought. His brain couldn't come up with a scenario where everyone won. Of course, he would win having won over the heart of another girl. But what would happen after that? What would he do with Lily? He couldn't possibly date her. That was out of the question. She was Lily after all. She's undateable. It was completely out of the question. The only thing left to do after that would be to break her heart.
But would that be too mean? After all of the time it took to win her over, to win the bet, would breaking her heart cancel it all out? Not only that but she would probably kill him. His mum didn't have to worry about Voldemort killing him. Lily would do it first.
"James. Potter. Mr. Potter."
Flitwick had been calling his name for the last thirty seconds and all he'd been thinking about was death.
That wasn't morbid at all.
His head snapped up when Sirius poked his side. "Wh-what?"
"You're out of it, Prongs. What's up with that?"
"Sorry, I just don't want to die."
"Oh, your mum won't kill you. Voldy might, but we're in Hogwarts. You're good for now."
"Not Voldemort." He lowered his voice. Flitwick and half of the class were staring at him. "Lily."
"She has no reason to… oh wait. Yes. Yes she does."
"Thanks for that Sirius."
"Any time, mate, any time."
"Is there a problem, Mr. Potter?" Flitwick squeaked, looking over his desk, the stack of books on his chair just not tall enough.
"Ah, no sir. Just lack of sleep, sir. That's it," James said, putting on his best 'I'm no trouble because I'm amazing grin.'
Professor Flitwick turned back to face the rest of the class and continued teaching. James continued zoning out and thinking of what way Lily would choose for him to die. Painful most likely. She wouldn't do anything illegal. She's too goody-goody for that. But she's smart. So it's bound to be painful. And it would take a while as well.
James thought of the ways. She could drown him, simple, but annoyingly long and boring. And scary.
He was so consumed with the thought of his death (once again, not morbid at all) that he didn't notice that the bell had rung. Not until Sirius thwacked him in the head with a book and a, "What is up with you, mate?"
"Sorry, just tired. First day back and all. No new pranks to look forward too. Boring."
He collected his books and walked out the door, almost forgetting about his proposition (Remus taught him that word) to Lily. It was an exchange. Ten pounds of chocolate for one date. No girl could decline that, right?
She was walking awfully fast. It just wasn't has fast day. Or his alert day either apparently.
A second year walked into him. A girl. She looks awkward, he thought. That was his first thought of the poor girl making her way to History of Magic. She looks awkward. Don't all second years? Maybe he was just imagining it.
"Sorry," he said, giving her a small smile. It was a bit out of character but he was tired.
"JAMES! POTTER! OY! OVER HERE!"
James spun around almost walking into the same second year, who giggled and ran off, probably to tell her friends that James Potter just walked into her.
"Oh, hello, Frank," James said as a tall boy with light brown hair and freckles came running up to him. He was in his sixth year in Gryffindor and captain of the Quidditch team.
"Hello, Potter. How was your summer?" he asked.
He probably wasn't interested, just trying to be nice, but James decided to annoy him a bit. "It was actually really boring Frank. Honestly, let me tell about it. First we had to take care of my grandmother from Poland who has this skin thing where she gets all flaky. We had to douse her in lotion twice a day. It was a right awful smell; I can't ever see strawberry lotion again without wanting to puke. And then my grandfather was complaining about being alone so he came too. Then decided that he wanted to go visit some goats, but there weren't any near us at the time so we-"
"James, shut up. I have to tell you something!" Frank was bobbing up and down, his face red from excitement.
"Oh yeah? What is it then?" James grinned. He loved driving Frank insane.
"We're starting a month early this year. We're going to kill Slytherin for the Cup. It's going to be incredible. I worked on a few plays over the break and realized that we need a new beater, seeker, and chaser! Now that Brown is gone, you and Mangino are going to have to work on plays with a new one. But don't worry, I only take the best, as you well know." He clapped James on the shoulder. His knees almost buckled on impact but he managed to stay up.
"That's great, Frank. When are try-outs going to be?"
"Try-outs?"
"Yes, for the new seeker, beater, and chaser?"
"Oh, I hadn't thought about that."
"Well you need try-outs to choose someone, you know that right."
"Yes, but I haven't planned anything."
"I'd start that."
"Yes, good idea then."
"Let me know and I'll come to help. So you don't explode."
"Right. Thanks."
Frank turned around, now thoroughly confused at the prospect of scheduling something other than practices and he walked right into Alice Dressler, a fifth year also in Gryffindor. She had a round face and dark hair pulled back into a plait. She was talking to a couple of her friends, until Frank walked into her that is.
Now, Alice is pretty shy. But when it comes to people walking into her she gets a little crazy. Mostly because she is so shy so people normally think they can take advantage of her. But what most don't know is that Alice has got a mean right hook.
James watched with a crooked smile. He always loved seeing someone boss around his captain as much as his captain bossed around him. It was amusing.
"You could at least say excuse me."
"It was an accident Alice, I swear."
"Sure it was. You purposefully ran into me."
Frank was eager to get to his next class. Or at least, eager to get away from Alice.
"Now why would I do a thing like that?"
"How should I know? You're a Quidditch player."
Frank stopped dead. James gasped a little.
"She didn't," James whispered to himself.
Alice stood there with a daunting smirk on her face.
"And what's wrong with being a Quidditch player?" Frank asked.
"Oh, nothing of course," Alice said swiftly, turning away.
But Frank grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around. They were gathering a crowd now. There was already a semi circle formed around them and more people were filling in the gaps either to watch to get passed so they're not late for class.
James turned around, not wanting to see where this brawl was going to head, and decided to take one of his trusted shortcuts to his next class.
Lily's POVShe waited for him. Actually waited for him to see what he wanted. She had said to Claudia, "No, go ahead, I'm sure it won't take long. It is Potter you know." And Claudia left to Transfiguration. Lily was alone. But walking at a normal pace down to hall, a pace that James could certainly catch up to.
But he never came.
He stood her up.
And they weren't even on a date.
What's that say about James Potter?
That he's unreliable of course.
She started to march off to Transfiguration in hope that she would still get a seat near Claudia when she heard yelling.
"JAMES! POTTER! OY! OVER HERE!"
Lily saw that it was Frank Longbottom, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and sixth year heartthrob. She sighed a bit at the sight of him but continued walking as James was now distracted and wouldn't catch up to her any time soon.
When she got to Transfiguration, Lily saw that Claudia had put her bag on the empty chair next to her. Lily sighed again, this time with relief and hurried over to her side.
"Thanks, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get a spot."
"No problem, Lils. So…."
"So?"
"Come on, Lily!"
"What?"
"What'd he want?"
"Potter?"
"No, the grim reaper," Claudia replied sarcastically. "Of course Potter. Who else?"
"Haha."
"Well?"
"He stood me up!" Lily complained. It wasn't that she was looking forward to meeting him but if you say you have a proposition to make then you mind as well show up to the proposition making place!
"How is that possible? It's not like you were on a date!"
"I know, but he didn't come. He went and talked to Frank-"
"Ohhh, Longbottom?" Claudia had had a crush on him for some time now. Although, he probably didn't know this as he was the James Potter of the sixth year. Just a bit less cocky.
"Yes, Longbottom. Would you listen already?"
"Sorry, sorry."
"Well I walked out of the classroom, slowly so he could catch up. Because he's Potter and can do anything," she taunted. "Anyway, Frank," Claudia sighed at his name, as Lily had, "came up to him and started talking and that's where I left."
"So apparently it wasn't that important then?"
"Apparently not."
"Speak of the devil…"
Lily turned to see who it was. But of course it was James Potter who walked through that door. He was the only 'devil' she knew of…
Being himself, James strutted across the room, tipped an imaginary hat at McGonagal who raised an eyebrow, and walked behind Lily. "Sorry about that," he whispered in her ear. "Quidditch business."
Lily rolled her eyes.
"Reschedule?"
"Not a chance, Potter."
"Come on, Lils, just this once."
Lily looked up at him like he was insane. Had he just called her Lils? No one but Claudia calls her that. It was an unwritten rule. Well, Joel called her Lils at some point but he was known to break rules, wasn't he? Not that Potter wasn't. It was just frustrating.
She ignored him as he told he to meet him before lunch and pulled out some parchment. The bell rang and McGonagal was already having them take notes.
After class, Lily and Claudia had to take the long way to the Great Hall to dodge Potter and his cronies. During class they had overheard him telling them they he was going to try and corner Lily and Claudia so they decided to mess with his mind a bit and make him search.
"…through the fourth door on your left, you can't miss it," a voice was saying as Lily and Claudia rounded a corner.
It was Joel.
"Thank you, sir. I hear Professor McGonagal's really brutal and if you're late on your first day…" she drew a finger across her throat.
"Aw, Joel was actually being nice to a first year!" Lily said in shock.
Claudia was laughing at Joel who was grinning like the maniac he is.
"What?" Lily asked, evidently clueless.
"She said McGonagal, Lils which means she's heading off to Transfiguration. This innocent boy here conveniently sent her off towards the History of Magic Wing. Well class," Claudia explained.
Lily punched his arm. "Mean!"
Joel shrugged and smiled a cocky smile so cocky that it could rival James's.
"It happens."
James's POV"You're going to lose this bet, Prongs," Sirius said, picking up two sandwiches and putting them on his plate. "You know what that means, right? That means I win."
"Not yet, we have until my birthday. That's in four months. It's plenty of time." Though James wasn't so convinced himself.
Lily seemed to hate him more and more with each day. It's not as if he did anything any normal teenage boy would do. He was just better at the mischief an tricks than the rest. Not to mention, all the other girls at Hogwarts thought he was cute. But why didn't Lily? Girls had always been a mystery to him. Even his own mother, who would randomly be in good moods and baking or in sour moods and reading novels in front of the fireplace for hours, not wanting to be disturbed, was a mystery to him. It was days like those where James's father would go out and play Quidditch with his friends or go fishing in the pond.
But Lily was even weirder than that. She didn't even want to be friends with him. Everyone at Hogwarts was dying to be his friend.
He voiced these thoughts to Remus who said, "Maybe it's the way you think highly of yourself. The way you treat other people. The way you wont be friends with anyone else, more than pranking them anyway."
James thought about this. It started off as just him. He had met Sirius in the Great Hall on the third day of school. Remus came about a week later when they had to get in pairs in Potions. Peter hadn't come until their second year. He was always the quiet one. The awkward one. The others weren't even sure how he had gotten into their group. He just had. It was like a weird, unknown entry.
"Peter! Peter's here. We didn't kick him out and, well, look at him!" James said, pointing over to the boy who was eating a muffin.
"But look how you treat him…"
"He's Peter. We treat him like Peter."
Remus sighed. James understood what he meant.
"I get it. If I want to win this bet, then I have to be nice to Peter!"
Remus laughed at this and said, "You've got it. Kind of. There's more to it… but other than that you've got it. Actually. No, no you don't. Not at all."
"Potter!" Frank was running up to him for the second time that day. "I've got our schedule. There are try-outs tomorrow right after classes. Right after you reminded me I went off to McGonagal and asked when the pitch would be ready."
"You mean right after you fought with Alice?"
"Well yes…"
"Is that what that bruise is from?" Sirius called from down the table. He spotted the bruise on Frank's cheek. Frank shrugged an uncertain shrug. "I knew it, mate, she got you good."
"Hey, Frank. Can I talk to you in private?" James felt awkward about asking Frank's advice but he was the only person he could think of besides Joel who was already slightly mad at him for using Lily like that.
"Sure, Potter. What do you need?"
James muttered indistinctly under his breath.
"What was that?" Although Frank thought he had some idea of what it was, he made James ask again, in a stronger, more determined voice.
"How do I get a girl to like me?"
"I thought you had this all figured out by now, Potter?" Frank crossed his arms cockily. "Aren't you the king? That's what I've heard."
"Well, of course I am. But it's a bet you see. A bet that I need to win so that Sirius will lose, the prat." James grinned.
"You're willing to break a young girls heart for your own pleasure?" Frank asked in mock-concern. James nodded. "I'm proud of you, mate. You're learning well."
"You have been my captain for two years now."
"Yeah, I'm an amazing teacher. What can I say?"
"So? Any advice?"
"Depends? Who's the girl?"
"Evans."
"What kind of girl name is Evans?"
James rolled his eyes. Sometimes Frank could be really dense.
"Lily Evans, mate. Stay with me here!"
"Oh, the fiery redhead?"
"Yes the… well I wouldn't call her fiery but yes the redhead."
"But isn't she the one that gave you that scar?" Frank pointed down to James's foot. Last year Lily had gotten mad at him for God only knows what this time and stomped on his foot- his bare feet – breaking the skin. It scarred.
"Yes…"
"She's violent, mate. Be careful with her."
"Right. So…" James was getting impatient now. "Any advice?"
"Well, I've got my own problems as it is, Potter. But… why don't you buy her something nice. The next Hogsmade trip, maybe. Buy her candy. Everyone loves candy."
"Bribery? But that's wasting my money. Maybe I can get Sirius to do it."
"Such a nice friend," Frank said sarcastically.
Lily's POVLily woke up the next morning with a headache, feeling tired, but not as tired as the night before. She rolled out of bed and put on her slippers. After grabbing her shower bag she walked, yawning, to the bathroom to take a shower.
The bathroom had stonewalls so it was always cold in there. There were three shower stalls and a toilet leading off into a small room off the left hand side. After she took her shower, Lily got dressed feeling a little more awake than before and dried her hair, finally pulling the top half of it into a hair tie.
She stuffed all of her books back into her bag that she had left strewn all across the floor by her bed. After yawning, she picked up a book, sat on her bed, and waited for Claudia who came out of the shower about then minutes after that.
Claudia yawned and then said, "Hey Lils. What's got you up so early?"
"I don't know. I just woke up and decided I needed to shower. So I claimed a shower."
"That's weird. Normally we have to drag you out of bed."
Now, Lily didn't normally lie to Claudia but this one was so small it didn't matter all that much. The real reason that Lily got out of bed early was because yesterday she saw a boy. A pretty boy, in her eyes. She was pretty sure his name was Ridge Miller. He was a fifth year in Ravenclaw, the same year as Joel. They were dorm mates and pretty close friends. She just wanted him to notice her as other than being Joel's friend in Gryffindor.
Ridge was tall and had dark, curly brown hair that fell into his light brown eyes. He was thin but had strong, muscular arms. That's what Lily first noticed. His arms. She had an arm fetish. It was a pretty weird fetish.
Lily hadn't even told Claudia about this so-called crush because she didn't even know what it was. She didn't know if she was going to either because Lily thought it would just pass right over and there would be no need for anyone to know.
The main point was that she wanted to look nice. To be noticed. The only one that ever noticed her was Potter and she didn't need any more attention from him. He was annoying already.
"I'm in a rather good mood this morning, Claud," Lily said, putting her book down on the table as Claudia pulled a sock on and then a shoe.
"Why?" Claudia asked, stumbling because of lack of balance.
Lily thought of something quick. "Um… no reason in particular. It's just a nice day, isn't it?"
"You're acting a little strange."
"No, just lack of sleep, you know?"
"Sure."
"Want to go get breakfast?"
"Yeah, I told Joel to wait for us at the bottom of the staircase."
"Alright."
"Just let me get my other shoe on. Bloody things in a knot."
A/n: Well, there you have it. Chapter three. This is all going somewhere I swear. I hope you liked it. Oh um… to answer the question I can remember, yes I'm going to go through their seventh year. Review! Because reviews are totally dizzy-making. (Sorry, I just read Pretties, the sequel to Uglies. It's really good. Read them. OH! And Twilight and New Moon. Those books are amazing too!)
Siriusly Klutzy