Secretly
Lily Evans and James Potter have been best friends since their first year at Hogwarts. What happens when Lily discovers the one thing that has the potential to ruin their friendship? (Starts mid 6th year.)
Disclaimer: HA! Yeah right! I just wish they were mine…
A/N: I know that Remus should be a bigger part of the story, and I haven't mentioned him yet. Sorry! But, I hate Peter Pettigrew with a fiery, passionate vengeance because he is scum and I hope he dies or goes to Azkaban, or gets kissed by a dementor… You get the point. I'm just gonna keep Peter to a minimum. I know he's important for development, but I don't have to like him.
Chapter Two: Hogsmeade
The next day, Lily woke to the laughter of her roommates. Wondering what was happening, she opened the red curtains that surrounded her large four-poster bed. Instead of seeing her friends' laughing faces, Lily was greeted by a squadron of floating pillows. Her face was a mask of confusion, until the pillows suddenly flew and attacked her. From under the down filled pillows, Lily heard Evitabelle Pastare yell, "Pillow fight!" as she hit Laci Reeves with a pillow. Lily jumped up from her bed and joined in, and the room filled with hilarity.
Twenty burst pillows later, Lily surveyed the damage. There were soft white feathers everywhere and it looked like a blizzard had hit the room, followed by a tornado. "Oh," Lily began to state the obvious, "this could be bad. Bella, I hope you still have that good house elf friend of yours. Otherwise we're going to have to explain a lot," she pointed out, stressing the last word the most.
Seeing Evitabelle nod solemnly, Bella exclaimed, "Vita!" You were the one that started it! But yes," she answered Lily, "I'm sure Sari will be glad to save our asses. Again," she snickered. Lily giggled with her, and Vita and Laci joined in, laughing crazily one again.
James Potter cautiously opened one eye, not wanting Sirius to find out that he was awake. Even early in the morning, Sirius was still hyper and unpredictable. James heard shouts of "Remus, darling, up, up, up!" already. Although he felt sorry for Remus, James didn't want to endanger himself, so he groggily closed his eye, falling back to sleep.
"Jim-Jim!" sang Sirius lightly, "Rise and Shine!" He opened the curtains, allowing the bright white sunlight to stream into James' bed. James covered his eyes automatically.
"Ugh, Sirius. Go away," James moaned. "It's Saturday. I don't have to wake up until Monday."
"Ahem, James, I know it's Saturday. It's also a Hogsmeade day." James flew out of bed and threw on some clothes.
"Come on, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" James demanded with excitement.
Sirius laughed. "We have to wait for Moony and Wormtail. We have to eat breakfast. We have to get our shopping list, "Sirius counted off on his fingers. "And," he added, "we have to fix your glasses."
James straightened his glasses, which had been askew on his face. He then reached behind his headboard and produced a five-foot roll of parchment. "Glasses, shopping list. Check," James announced. "Moony, Wormtail! Breakfast, now," he commanded. "You too, Padfoot." And with that, he marched out of the dormitory room.
The four Marauders walked into the Great Hall and took their usual seats at the Gryffindor table with Vita, Bella, Lily, and Laci. "Hello, girls," Sirius greeted them in a voice dripping with fake charm.
The girls laughed. "Hey Sirius," they chorused. Lily giggled, batting her eyelashes at Sirius.
'You and me, Astronomy tower, nine o'clock,' Sirius mouthed, causing Lily to roll her eyes.
"Speaking of astronomy…" Remus began. James looked knowingly at his friend. Remus, being a werewolf, was talking about the full moon. Lily glanced over at them, as Laci, Vita, and Bella looked at each other, their faces showing confusion. Lily had accidentally found out about Remus' secret in third year. She had mixed feelings about it. Yes, she loved Remus (as a friend) but the burden of knowing his secret wasn't something she had bargained for. That was all in the past, but Lily wished that Remus would tell Vita, Bella, and Laci. They were also a part of the group, but Remus insisted that he didn't need more people worrying over him. They had just left it at that.
"Lily. Earth to Lily…" James called, his voice ringing in Lily's ears and drawing her out of her reverie. She looked around to see the Great Hall empty, except for James, herself, and a few stray first and second years. "Come on, Lils."
Lily started. "How long have you been waiting for me?"
"A few minutes. Everyone else is waiting, saving a couple of carriages," he filled her in.
"Oh."
"Is something wrong?" asked James, his features etched with worry.
"Oh, no, nothing's wrong," assured Lily. "Just thinking." She waved off his concern.
"Okay," said James uncertainly. "You know you can trust me. We're best friends, right?"
"Always," she added.
"No matter what," finished James with a grin. "But, we really do need to go now, Lils. I'd be surprised if they haven't already left."
"Sirius may have tried, but Bella wouldn't let him go without us, don't worry." Lily smiled at her friend's loyalty. Mess with Bella, and you were in trouble. But mess with her friends? All of Hogwarts learned right away that Bella Heaven, as sweet as she was, was a force to be reckoned with.
Finally, James and Lily rejoined Sirius, Remus, Bella, Vita, Laci, and a reluctant Peter. Peter had been sick for a couple of days, as he blatantly refused to drink Madame Charisse's pepper-up potion, arguing that it would make everything worse. He hadn't wanted to go to the wizard village, but James insisted that he join them for a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, at the very least.
"It's about time! You guys took forever," exaggerated Peter, punctuating his statement with a loud sneeze.
"We only managed to save one carriage. The other was taken." Remus left it at that, causing a questioning look to cross James' face.
"Snape," Sirius spat angrily. Severus Snape was public enemy #1, at least according to the Marauders. In the middle of fourth year, Sirius' brilliant idea for a prank on Snape backfired, nearly killing the latter. James had managed to save Snape before he had an inevitable run-in with Remus the werewolf. Sirius, of course, thought it would be amusing, but he only ended up making thins worse. Snape discovered Remus' secret and James was nearly killed rescuing Snape. Dumbledore had sworn Snape to secrecy, under penalty of a memory charm if he told. Since then, Snape's and the Marauder's mutual hatred had increased, if that were possible.
"Whatever," James said, not wanting to drag up the past anymore. "We can all just squeeze in this carriage."
"The girls can sit on our laps." Sirius grinned devilishly.
"Or we could just magically enlarge the seats," Lily proposed logically.
"And ruin all the fun?" Sirius looked shocked. "Bella, be a rebel with me! Sit on my lap." Bella agreed, and the usual flash in her eyes didn't appear.
'Maybe Sirius has a better chance than I thought,' Lily mused. Once they were all situated, the carriage began the journey to Hogsmeade.
The group of eight had finally reached Hogsmeade. As they stepped out of the carriage into the familiar territory, everyone began talking at once. Nobody knew what was being said, as the little snippets of conversation weren't very explicit. Eventually, they all stopped talking, realizing that it had gotten them nowhere. "Okay," James took charge. "What does everybody want to do? One at a time."
Peter said, "I want to start at the Three Broomsticks. That way I get butterbeer, spend time with all of you, and I can go back to the castle while you go shopping." Everyone nodded their agreement, and the bunch headed toward the cozy pub. The inside was packed, but they managed to snag a large table that was well hidden in the corner. A few minutes after everyone sat down, Madame Finola arrived to take their orders. Her sparkling high heels clicked expectantly as she tapped her pen on a notepad.
"Butterbeers all around," James requested. "Oh, and one of those huge ice cream tub things, what are the called?" He glanced at his friends.
"I always thought they were called tub things," Sirius said.
"No, there's a name," James insisted.
"Okay, so that's eight butterbeers and an extra large tub of Malachi's magical ice cream," Madam Finola repeated, still tapping impatiently.
"Aha! So that's the name." James looked satisfied. "I knew it," he told Sirius triumphantly.
"Yes, that's it," Lily cut in, allowing Madame Finola to leave their table. Soon the conversation shifted to activities for the rest of the trip. The four girls chattered excitedly about shopping for clothes, make-up, and jewelry. James, Sirius, and Remus discussed pranks, occasionally adding items to their growing shopping list. Peter simply sat there, trying to control his sneezing. However, when Madame Finola came with their drinks, the table grew quieter as everyone began sipping their butterbeer. Just a few minutes after that, the waitress brought over a huge tub of colorful ice cream, setting it on the table along with eight sundae spoons and a tall pile of paper napkins.
"Dig in," she advised, and walked away. Everyone grabbed a spoon, except Peter, who was busy watching the woman's rear as she approached another table.
"Peter!" Lily admonished, "That's rude." Peter, realizing that he had been caught, turned a shade of red. He grabbed a spoon and began eating the ice cream with the rest of them.
When the last of the ice cream had disappeared into Sirius' mouth, the eight friends got up to go. "Oh!" James suddenly stopped short. Everyone turned to look at him. "It's Lily's birthday in a week. March seventh." Lily glared at him. "What?" James asked her innocently.
"James," she hissed, "why do you think I was so interested in memory charms last year? I made them all forget! My biggest mistake was letting you remember."
"Come on, Lils, we're your friends. Not Petunia," he said pointedly. "We do care about you, and know that what you really want is a birthday you can enjoy. Petunia isn't here to screw things up. Don't worry about it," James was sincere.
"Fine," Lily gave in, touched by his little speech. "But I'm warning you, Potter. No common room party. I really don't want all of the attention." In her first year, Lily had gone home to a big birthday party. Her parents took her out of school for the occasion. However, Petunia and her friends had ruined it for Lily. Her sister had turned from her best friend to her worst enemy while Lily was away, and it had been like that ever since. Lily was always reminded of this on her birthday, which she used to look forward to.
James gave in. "Okay, no common room parties.
Lily looked relieved. "Thank you."
"Even thought it is your sixteenth," James added.
"All I need is you guys. No big parties. Now," her tone changed, "Let's shop!" Peter went back to the castle, and the girls and the remaining Marauders split up, arranging to meet back at the Three Broomsticks at two.
"Come on!" James dragged Sirius and Remus through the front doors of Zonko's joke shop. He looked around like a kid in a candy store, anticipating all of the pranks they would pull before the end of the year. "Okay." He looked at their list. "Dungbombs are first on the list, that's aisle three."
"Honestly, James, we're perfectly capable of getting there on our own," Remus said, indicating himself and Sirius. "You don't have to hold our hands and lead us."
"Right." James dropped their hands. His excitement from the morning had returned, and had apparently doubled too. "Now, walk yourselves over to aisle three."
Remus sighed, "He's hopeless," and followed his friend in pursuit of the dungbombs. As James filled a basket with dungbombs, Remus noticed Sirius' eyes widen as he saw something down the aisle. "What is it, Sirius?" Remus questioned his friend. Sirius must have been shocked speechless, as he kept walking without responding to Remus.
He grabbed a package off the wall, exclaiming, "Exploding quills! I've been waiting for these to come out since last official trip!" He grinned, remembering all of the unauthorized visits to Hogsmeade since then. God, he loved those secret passages.
"Ooooook," Remus looked at him strangely. James' voice was suddenly heard from another aisle. Remus wondered when he had left.
"I've got the color changing ink," shouted James. "And the gum, the stuff that makes you look strange. Oh yeah, they have the really nasty flavored Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans here now too." Sirius had disappeared to wherever James was, so Remus gave in, joining them on the hunt for prank supplies.
Lily, Laci, Vita, and Bella stood in front of Madame Marguerite's outlet. "Well? What are we waiting for?" Bella exclaimed, pushing the girls through the front doors. They stumbled through the door, and a collective gasp was heard from the four. "Wow," breathed Bella.
"She has really outdone herself this time," Laci decided. Everyone looked around in amazement. Madame Marguerite had a new theme for her shop every month. This month, it was decorated with shimmering green shamrocks floating around like little snowflakes. Flowers danced on the ceiling, their falling petals creating a fragrant carpet. A large banner in the front greeted visitors in flowing script: "Welcome to Madame Marguerite's!" This was all that the girls could see well from the front.
Suddenly, Madame Marguerite emerged from a hidden back room. "Do you girls like my latest design?" She smiled. "I couldn't really decide if I wanted it to center around St. Patrick's Day, but it's okay for now. It's nice to celebrate the holidays once in a while." A small figure peered out from behind her. "Oh, right! Forgive my lack of manners. This is Rhiannon, and Brenna is still in the back. They're leprechauns, it all adds to the theme," explained the elegant woman. "Adorable creatures, really… Well," she clapped her hands, "I'm sure you lovely ladies are here to shop, no to listen to my discourse. If you need any help, just call on us," she finished, retreating back to the private room.
The girls went shop crazy, picking items like there was no tomorrow. They compared products, occasionally shouting across the store. Rhiannon and Brenna were a big help to them; Brenna got over her shyness and was a great personal shopper. Everyone left the store satisfied, promising to visit during the next Hogsmeade trip.
The four girls stepped outside into the fresh March air, each holding a shiny green gift bag from Madame Marguerite's. "Well, we still have about an hour before we meet the guys, where do you want to go?" Lily looked around at her friends.
"Clothes!" Bella blurted out. Everyone laughed and headed toward Penelope's Closet to appease Bella.
When the neared the store, Laci suddenly remembered, "I have to go to Arielle's for something really quickly. I'll meet you guys at Penelope's." She ducked into the accessory store. As promised, she rejoined the group just five minutes later.
"What did you pick up?" Vita asked.
"Oh, nothing," Laci said innocently, holding back a smile. They dropped the matter and resumed browsing the robe selection.
An hour later, both groups reconvened in the Three Broomsticks, stealing their table once again. All seven people were laden with packages and eager to enjoy a steaming butterbeer. While waiting for the waitress, they chattered animatedly about their purchases. When they finally left the tavern, it was very late and the seven friends were exhausted. They headed back to Hogwarts, eager to plop down onto their four-poster beds and sleep until late Sunday morning.
LATE NIGHT MUSINGS: Why do all of the Marauders' names end with the letter S? Well, except for Peter, he never belonged anyway… mutters angrily about hatred of Peter Pettigrew lol, please review! I'll take CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, but, really, you don't have to be excessively cruel to me, please spare me!!!
A/N: I will be away for three weeks, so I probably won't update for a while. I don't know how much time I'll have to write, but I'll try to get another chapter out soon. Please review!!!