A/N: yeah i agree w/ you chrissy. i didnt plan it taking this long.
this is the last bit of chapter nine. I just started typing chapter ten so it will be posted sometime next week, plus i cant come as much til hurricane charley dies off.
"Yeah we came here to find Simone and Remus quite cozy."
"Oh that was nothing, unfortunately." Simone said.
"Well we have been telling you to make the first step."
"I will." Simone blushed.
"When? When we graduate?" Lily asked.
"I will, I just haven't found a good time yet." Simone blushed.
"Simone I am giving you till Christmas day, if you don't do anything by then I will ask him out for you." Lily said while getting under her covers and pushing Simone off the bed.
"I agree with Lils." Raven said.
"What ever." Simone said, clearly not believing that they would do that.
The next day the girls woke up with barely enough time to make it to class. they hurried in and walked to three seats in front of the marauders.
"I see you all shouldn't stay up late any more." James watched the three girls who clearly didn't get enough sleep take their seats.
"Yeah we went up after you and we still made it to breakfast." Sirius said as he walked over to Raven and giving her a quick kiss only to return back to his seat since the teacher walked in.
"Well just because we go up to our dorms doesn't meant that we are going to sleep." Lily whispered.
"Well that should tell you something." Remus whispered back, Peter stayed quiet as usual and watched them.
"Good Morning Class. I am Professor March, and for this year I shall be your defense against the dark arts teacher." The woman said slowly but every one could see she that she was a bit nervous. She also interrupted Lily from making a slick remark back to Remus.
"Well she doesn't seem mean." Lily whispered to Raven.
"Or possessed by an evil spirit." Raven replied.
"Or working for that dark lord guy." Simone replied.
"Or like the type to hit on her students." Sirius whispered, as they remembered their pass teachers.
"Actually
she seems completely innocent." Lily said as they all observed
their new teacher. She was about 5'6 her robes seemed to hang off of
her, they were obviously too big for her. She also had long black
hair that was in a sloppy bun and misty green eyes that were hidden
behind a pair of unbecoming glasses. She didn't seem any older than
twenty five.
" Now um I have been warned about a group of boys. I am guessing that that would be you?" The teacher said with a smile to the four boys. James jumped out of his seat and bowed.
"Yes the marauders at your service."
"Okay, well Professor McGonagall, has told me that it would be best if I put space in between you guys, but I think that that it isn't necessary."
"Well thank you my dear Professor." Sirius said in a gushing tone.
"It's a shame that she wont make it past this year." Remus whispered. Every one knew that there was some sort of jinx on the position there hadn't been a teacher yet to make it past a year. After their first class with Professor March Simone said that it was safe to think that they will have a normal teacher. The rest of their classes went by the same except every one else gave home work.
That night in the common room Raven needed to hold a meeting but James was there. She assumed that Lily was off with Eddy.
"Simone tell him to go to the kitchens and get you something." Raven pleaded.
"What ? Why?" Simone asked.
"I need to hold another meeting but he is here, and if I ask him to go he wont. Besides your always asking him to do these things so he wont think anything of it.
"okay." Simone said.
"Hey James." Simone yelled across the room from where they were doing their homework.
"What?"
"Can you go get me a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches?" Simone asked in the voice that she always used with the marauders when asking them for something.
"What is a few?"
"Like ten." Simone said innocently.
"Ten?" The marauders all asked.
"Yeah for me, Lily, and Raven."
"Okay fine." James said getting up and going to his dorm, most likely to get the map and cloak.
"Hey guys if he asks you to go say no." Raven said quickly as she sat on Sirius's lap.
"Why?" Remus asked.
"I need to talk to you guys." Raven said simply, wrapping her arms around Sirius's neck and laying her head on his shoulder. When she finished her sentence James came down stairs asking if any one wanted to come with him. Of course every one said no.
"Hey can you have them cut the sandwiches down the middle?" Raven asked.
"What ever."
"Actually I wouldn't mind a few of those sandwiches." Remus said.
"Yeah me too." Sirius agreed.
"And some pumpkin juice." Simone added.
"Why do I do this?" James asked as he walked through the portrait hole.
"Because it's tradition." Simone yelled back.
"Well can I at least get some one to help me?" James asked. As he said this Peter came walking past him.
"There you go, have Peter help you." Raven said. And they left.
"So why do you need to speak to us? Not that I mind this." Sirius motioned to Raven sitting on him.
"Christmas." Raven said taking in his scent.
"What are you talking about." Simone asked.
"We need to get those two together by Christmas." Raven said lifting her head off of Sirius's shoulder.
"I think that it may happen a little bit earlier than that." Remus said.
"What do you mean? Simone asked him, not looking him in the eyes, remembering what Raven and Lily had told her the night before.
" I don't know what I mean." Remus stared at something over her shoulder with a sort of evil glint in his eyes. Simone looked up and saw this. She followed his gaze and saw frank coming down from the boys dormitory. He waved enthusiastically at Simone as she waved him over. Remus continued his cold glares, but neither Simone or Frank seemed to notice, but Raven and Sirius caught on to what Lily had seen just the night before. That maybe Remus was finally falling for someone.
"Hey Frankie." Simone teased as Frank sat next to her.
"Oh god you promised to never call me that." He said with a smile.
"Well you know what they say, oaths and eggs are easily broken." Simone replied.
"Simmy who ever said that." Frank said snatching her book out of her hand. Simone shrugged.
"Hey don't call me that." Simone said with fake anger.
"Frank if you don't mind we were all in the middle of an important discussion." Remus said coldly. Both Raven and Sirius were watching with interest. Frank didnt seem to notice though, as he refused to give Simone back her book, jumping up from his seat as she chased him. Finally giving up Simone whipped out her wand and put a full body bind on him. Grabbing her book she sat back down with the group. Remus seemed pleased with this last act.
"Sim you're not just gonna leave him there are you?" Raven asked.
"What it's not like he's going anywhere." Simone replied.
"Well Sim it seems that you and Frank are pretty close, do I se a relationship budding?" Sirius asked Simone but he kept his eyes on his friend. As he asked his question he could see Remus clenching his jaw tight. At this Simone surprised every one and began to laugh, clutching her side she fell out of her chair. Every one watched her.
"Oh...my...god...me and...frank?" Simone managed to get out. As she said this she walked over to frank and unfroze him.
"Hey what was that for?" Frank asked as he sat back up.
"Frank... you...need...to...hear...this..." Simone managed to say as her laughter died down.
"What?" Frank asked as he watched Simone wipe away her tears.
"They think that we like each other. Like each other like do you wanna go out on a date like." Simone said still recovering from her laughter. At this he began to laugh at the groups lost expression.
"Okay it was a stupid question. Sorry." Sirius said a little hurt.
"Oh no Sirius, its not you. Its just that." Frank immediately clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Its just that we are too good of friends to ruin our friendship with something like that." Frank continued for her. "Well I gotta go." He removed his hand and walked away.
"What was that?" Raven asked.
"Nothing." Simone said looking at the spot where Frank once stood.
"Back to business, either one of those two could be back at any moment." Remus said, watching Simone carefully as she seemed to be thinking about something. Sirius noticed this and Brought Raven's attention to it. After a few moments pause Raven continued.
"We need to get rid of Lewis."
"What do you suggest?" Sirius asked.
"I don't know, but I don't want my best friend hurt." Raven said.
"Well I think that this whole thing with her and Eddy is ending already, thanks to Rave." Simone said, trying not to feel Remus's stares.
"What do you mean?" Raven asked.
"Well you know Lils, she wouldn't dates someone that we weren't comfortable with. Since she thinks that you don't feel comfortable with him she's slowly starting to think that he's not all that great."
"Did she tell you this?" Sirius asked.
"No you can just tell."
"Great, so Rave keep up your dislike for the boy and he will be history."
"Speaking of which did any of you guys do your essay for history of magic?" Raven asked jumping off of Sirius's lap to go get her homework.
"Who ordered sandwiches?" James asked as he came walking through the portrait hole, Peter was right behind him carrying the pumpkin juice. Two minutes later Lily walked into the common room.
"Hey guys, oh sandwiches." Lily said as she sat next to Raven and grabbing a sandwich. The group stayed up till midnight and then went to their dorms.
"Hey Moony I see, that you have a thing for Simone." Sirius said as he got into bed.
"What? Why would you ask me that?" Remus said avoiding his friends eyes.
"Oh come on you cant den it, I saw how you were staring at her and Frank. I thought that you were going to attack him or something."
"Guys what are we talking about?" James asked as he stepped out of the bathroom.
"Remus and his crush on Simone." Sirius smiled at the look on Remus's Face.
"Moony you like Sim? Well Good for you." James said getting into his bed.
"When are you going to ask her out?" Sirius asked.
"I'm not." Remus said quietly.
"What did you say Moony?" James asked.
"I said I'm not, Prongs." Remus said getting irritated.
"What? Why not?" Sirius asked, completely bewildered.
"You know why." Remus said bitterly.
"Oh come on Moony you cant let your condition ruin you." James said.
"And what if she doesn't even care about that." Sirius asked. Remus scoffed at this and went to bed with out another word....
"So Simone I think Remus may have a thing for you." Raven said slyly.
"What?" Lily and Simone asked at the same time.
"Oh Lils you should have seen the looks that he was giving Frank tonight. Every time he said something to Sim, Remus's glare would get worse and worse. It was great." Raven said.
"Oh that's not true." Simone tried to protest.
"Yes it is." Raven replied.
"Oh well can we just go to bed?" Simone asked.
"Fine." Rave agreed reluctantly.
The following Saturday...
"Hey, what if the boys are mad that we did this?" Simone asked as the first full moon of the term approached.
"Why would they be mad?" Raven asked cluelessly.
"Well think about it. We three come along, well actually us two come along." Simone motioned towards herself and Lily." And all of a sudden we are taking part in their pranks. We hang with them all the time. We know of their map, most of us are on the house team, and we know Remus's secret."
"Which they don't know that we know right?" Lily raised an eye brow.
"Right, but them being animagi is really the only thing they have that we dont take part in, and now we are about to take that away from them. Have any of us stopped to think that maybe they kept this from us because not only they are helping a friend, but because they want something of their own?"
This put the girls to thinking. Have they really been taking over the marauders space? Were they unwanted and the boys were just being polite? After about five minutes of silence some one broke the silence.
"Well I would not like to think that we did this animagi thing for nothing. But I agree with Sim. Before Hogwarts it was always them four. Then Hogwarts started and we three started hanging with them." Raven said looking out the window in their dorm, the sun would be setting in about an hour.
"Yeah, you know I think that we were so wrapped up in all the fun that were having, that it never occurred to us that we never bothered making any other friends." Lily said quietly.
"And they never once complained." Simone replied.
"Okay this is what were are going to do." Raven said clearing her throat and taking charge. "We are not going to tell the boys of us being animagi. One of us is going tonight and is going to report to the remaining two what happened. Then after today we are going to give the boys their space. We have been going to this school for five years and damn it we are going to make some friends." Raven slammed her fist on her dresser."
"I agree with Rave." Lily said adapting the same attitude.
"Me too." Simone chimed in. "But Rave your dating one of them." Simone remembered.
"Well that doesn't mean that I have to suffocate the boy." Raven answered.
"So which of us will go tonight?" Lily asked.
"Well unfortunately, it cant be me." Raven thought aloud.
"Why not?" Simone asked.
"Well I am a bird, I wouldn't be able to get in since I have wings." Raven replied. The girls weren't planning on using the Whomping Willow as entrance. Instead they were planning on going into Hogsmead and going through the door of the shrieking shack.
"So that leaves either me or Sim." Lily concluded the obvious.
"I'll go." Both Lily and Simone said at once.
"Well Simone I think I should go." Lily told her friend.
"Why cant I go?" Simone asked.
"Well think about it, you've been a little uncomfortable with Remus and I don't think that seeing him as a werewolf would help." Lily tried to reason with her friend.
"I guess." Simone gave in after a few minutes silence.
"So it's settled, Lily tonight you go. Now remember, when you come back tell us what happens." Raven said with complete confidence in her friend.
"Wait, what if something happens to Lily?" Simone asked, anxiety written all over face.
"What are you talking about Sim?" Lily asked.
"Well what if he attacks you?" Simone was now completely worried.
"Well none of the other marauders have been attacked." Raven tried to calm her friend down.
"Well of course he doesn't attack them, he knows who they are, and he has had plenty of time practicing self control around them. Lily on the other hand is free territory."
What Simone said made sense to everyone.
"Well that's a chance I am going to have to take." Lily said as she stood up.
"Are you sure?" Raven asked suddenly worried, herself.
"Yeah, I am positive." Lily smiled to reassure her friends.
"Wait!!!!" Simone half shouted as she just remembered something.
"What is it now Sim? You worry too much." Lily said as she finished the last bit of homework.
"Your eyes." Simone said looking at Lily's eyes.
"What about them?" Lily asked.
"The boys aren't stupid once they see you they will try to figure out who you are. And once they see your eyes they will figure it out."
"Yeah Simone is right." Raven agreed as they looked at their friends emerald green eyes.
"No one in this school has green eyes that even come close to yours." Simone stated.
"So what do I do?" Lily asked . "I cant keep my eyes closed."
"Your going to have to make a stop in Hogsmead. Buy contacts, put them on before you transform, but check to see if it works." Simone figured.
"Okay." Your going to have to leave now if you want to make it to the store, practice transforming, and still make it there before the boys.
"Okay." Lily hugged her two friends.
"Be careful, If Remus tries to attack and for some reason the boys cant help, get the hell out of there." Raven told her friend.
"Make sure the boys see you one more time before you leave, they'll have their map with them so give them a reason for you to leave the school grounds." Simone said. With out another word Lily turned around and walked down to the common room where the boys were eyeing the windows every few seconds.
"Hey Lils where have you been?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah we haven't seen or Rave or Sim all day." Remus said looking up from his book.
" Dumbledor told me this morning that my parents sent word that my grandmother was caught with a sudden illness and they have been trying to cheer me up. He gave me permission to go see her for a few days." Lily said sighing.
The boys all noticed that she had gone pale. So they didn't bother to think that she was lying.
"When will you be back?" Remus asked.
"Probably Thursday or Wednesday." Lily said. She knew that the full moon ended on Tuesday but she needed to make sure that they wouldn't suspect a thing from her.
"Sorry to hear about your grandmother." James finally spoke after watching the girl get paler by the second.
"Hey Lils are you okay?" Sirius asked.
"Yea I'm just a little nervous to see her." Lily looked at her watch and told the boys that she really had to go.
"Hey where are Rave and Sim?" Sirius yelled after her.
"In our dorm?" Lily yelled as she disappeared from the portrait hole.
"Crap they put me behind schedule." Lily thought aloud as she ran down the corridors and many flights of stairs. After dodging what seemed to her to be an endless amount of students, Lily made it to the school gates. The sun had already set and when she was sure that no one was watching she transformed into the tiger. After running and leaping for about five minutes Lily was both surprised and relieved that she had reached Hogsmead. The streets were surprisingly deserted as she transformed back into herself behind a shop. Lily was in regular muggle clothes so she didn't have to worry about anyone recognizing her as a student. Lily half ran into a beauty store as it seemed that most of the businesses were closing.
"Miss we are about to close." A kind looking witch said from behind the counter. She didn't seem to be any older than twenty and she had a slight French accent.
"Oh please I just need to buy one thing." Lily pleaded.
The witch seemed to debate whether or not to let Lily make her purchase. "Okay but be quick." The girl gave in.
"I will, I was wandering if you had any contacts?" Lily hoped that the answer would be yes.
"Yes we do." The girl motioned to a display that showed all the colors that they had .
"I'll take a pair of those baby blue ones." Lily said fishing for her money in her pocket.
"Why would you want to cover those beautiful eyes with every day ones like these?" The girl asked curiously.
"Oh it's an experiment." Lily replied quickly as she noticed that she was wasting time. The girl didn't seem to buy this excuse but she handed over the package anyway.
"Thank you !"Lily yelled back over her shoulder as she ran out of the shop. It was getting darker by the second when Lily rushed to the side of the beauty shop where she saw an old mirror propped up against the wall. She put on the contacts and transformed back into the tiger hoping that her eyes would still be concealed.
To he delight and relief they stayed concealed, she saw that the moon was approaching quickly and figured that the boys were already on their way to the Shrieking Shack.
' I have to get there before they do' Lily thought to herself as she approached the shrieking shack, making sure that she kept herself concealed by the shadows since there were still people in the street.
When she was insight of the shrieking shack she knew that the coast was clear since the people of Hogsmead avoided the place at all cost. She crept up to the door and lifted her paw to open the door. She was surprised at the seen before her, though she knew that she should have expected it. Their were claw marks on everything. The little furniture that there was was all turned over and lay across the floor. Lily could hear the Whomping Willow swishing above the ground, then it stopped.
"That must be them." Lily thought to herself. She heard the tree stop, her heart started racing, it felt as if it would burst out of her chest and run away in fear.
Lily carefully lay in a corner partly concealed by a turned over sofa. She didn't want to draw attention to herself immediately. She saw Remus run down from a passageway. When he entered the room he didn't look like Remus that Lily had learned to love like a brother. He was pale and beads of sweat were running down his face as he clutched his side.
Then right before her eyes Lily saw it happen. What the marauders had seen many times before. He slowly became darker and darker as fur began to sprout from his once pale skin. Claws appeared where there had once been fingernails. His kind face was replaced by one of complete anger, his snout seemed to be sniffing for something, but he was distracted by the entry of a black dog, a stag, and a rat that went for cover in a little mouse hole.
"That must be Peter." Lily mused to herself as she watched the rat peek it's little head out from the hole. No one seemed to notice their visitor. That was until a few minutes later. The stag and the fox managed to get the were wolf relaxed and they were all just laying there. When Remus began to sniff the air again, the dog and the stag began to sniff the air also. They all smelled something in the air, something that had never been there before.
They followed the scent to the corner of the room, where they found a tiger laying there with it's eyes closed. It seemed to be sleeping. The dog gave the stag a puzzled expression, which he sent to the were wolf. The rat still was in his little hole. The stag stepped forward an nudged the sleeping creature slightly. Lily opened her eyes, slightly surprised to be looking into the sapphire blue ones that belonged to James. The stag stared blankly at the baby blues eyes that stared back at him.
The stag stared into the eyes obviously not finding what he was looking for. The dog did the same. They figured that this tiger was an animagus for tigers wouldn't roam the area of Hogwarts. Even if they did, how did this one come into the Shrieking Shack? The only question remained was who? Who was this? Lily being more nervous than ever, and a little ashamed that she dosed off, after only a few minutes carefully stretched her two front legs. She didn't want to make a wrong move and end up being attacked.
She moved slowly past the stag and the dog and stood in front of the were wolf. She knew that if she expected to live that she would have to some how get his trust. She stood in front of the were wolf that had been growling at her. She stood there, not moving. The wolf circled around her, his growling getting louder. If Lily was in her human form she knew that she would have died from fright before she was even discovered. But one of Lily's talents was to be able to hide her fear, no matter how great it was. The tiger stood still, only looking straight ahead. Remus didn't seem to find what he was looking for, which was some indication as to who this person was.
Lily felt nothing short of relief, when he finally backed off. The stag and the dog did the same. The three animals walked back to their corner where they sat and to Lily's surprise watch her. Lily tried her best to ignore the stares, so she did anything to keep herself busy. She had taken a deep fascination with one of her paws when she noticed movement from the corner of her eye. Her head shot up and she had seen the stag and the dog run through the passageway to which they came from.
"Great." Lily thought to herself. "Now if he wants he can murder me, and there will be no witnesses." Lily thought to herself. To her surprise though the were wolf kept to himself, only throwing occasional glances to her. Almost an hour had passed before Jams and Sirius had appeared again. The stag and the dog were both pushing two large trays of random food. Lily had taken interest with her paw again, when the stag walked over and dropped a rather large steak in front of her. Lily looked up into the eyes of the boy that she was destined to (of course she didn't know that yet [wink].) before he turned away and went back to his friends.
The rest of the weekend basically went like that. The day of Remus's transformation came about. The marauders looked into the corner where Lily had made her temporary home and was surprised to find that she was gone. They looked around but there was no trace of her. After Remus changed backed the boys followed suit and rushed him to the hospital wing.
Lily awoke during the night and slipped out of the shrieking shack unnoticed. She needed to leave before the residents of Hogsmead awoke. This time she took her time with her getting to the school. When she reached the school gates she used all of her effort to change back, since she was exhausted from the weekend, and she slowly made her way up to the school. By the time she got up to the school it was six in the morning. She knew that the boys were already in the school for they had awoken right after she closed the door to the Shrieking Shack. She had only stayed a minute to listen to them move around the shack, obviously they were looking for her.
By six thirty Lily was making her way up the stairs to her dormitory. At that moment her bed seemed like heaven to her. She was surprised though to find Simone and Raven sitting on it waiting for her.
"Oh my God Lils you're back!" Raven shouted as she and Simone raced off her bed to hug her. Lily took one look at her friends and it became evident to her that they hadn't slept since she left.
"How was it? How are you?" Simone asked leading Lily to her bed so that she could lay down.
"Oh God I am exhausted, and it was horrible and informing at the same time." Lily said as she brought herself to a sitting position.
"What do you mean?" Raven asked as she and Simone sat at the other end of the bed.
"Oh God I don't know how James, Sirius, and Peter do it. I got there a few minutes before Remus and it was horrible watching him transform." Lily said as she took the cup of water that Simone offered her.
" Did they see you?" Raven asked trying to break the silence.
"Yeah, Sirius was the one who realized that some one else was in there. Oh you guys were right to tell me to get those contacts. They figured that I wasn't an actual tiger, so they kept trying to figure out who I was." Lily let out a deep sigh.
"How's Remus? " Simone asked quietly.
"Yeah did he try to attack you?"
"No, but I've got to admit that I was scared to death of him. They pretty much ignored me. I left before any of them woke up."
"How was it informing?" Raven asked.
'Well I learned that they pretty much have it together and they don't need us. Even though I was there they kept their focus on Remus." The girls then remembered the deal that they made before Lily left for the shrieking shack.
"Lils we got the homework that you missed." Simone told her.
"Lils we got the homework that you missed." Simone told her friend hoping for a change in subject.
"Thanks Sim, well I'm going to get some sleep." Lily announced.
"But what about classes?" Raven asked.
"Well I have study hall first period so that gives me more sleep time. I'll eat at lunch."
"Okay." Simone and Raven chorused.
"Oh if the boys ask, I left to go visit a sick grandmother and I am not expected till Thursday. So you guys can act surprised when I show up to class." Lily said before slipping into a sleep that would be full of images of Remus's transformation.
When Lily awoke she saw that she had an hour before her second class was to begin which was transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs. She decided to take a long shower, hoping that the hot water would help bring the color back into her face, she was dressed and ready with fifteen minutes to spare.
" Well Ms. Evans I heard that you weren't feeling well and had to miss yesterdays classes. I suspect that you are feeling better?" Professor McGonagall asked as Lily walked into the room. She was the first one there.
"Yes Professor." Lily said as she took her seat. After a few minutes students started entering the room. Raven came in with Simone and the marauders behind them. They were obviously trying to put some space in between them and the boys, which wasn't working. They all stopped when they saw Lily.
"Oh my gosh Lils you're back." Raven exclaimed.
"How is your grandmother? Is she any better?" Simone asked.
"Yeah she is." Lily responded.
"I thought you weren't due back till Thursday." James told her.
"Yeah well my grandma was doing much better so my parents told me that I couldn't stay any longer." Lily said carefully.
"Well glad to hear it." Sirius said, breaking the silence.
"Mr. Black this is not PDA 101 so will you please move away from Miss Potter?" Professor McGonagall demanded.
"For you, always." Sirius said as he gave Raven a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Mr. Black?" Professor McGonagall's temper rising.
"I'm moving, I'm moving." Sirius put his hands in the air and backed away.
The Hufflepuff girls and a few of the Gryffindor girls gave the professor a grateful look and Raven a look of loathing.
"Oh go sod off." Raven said as she saw the girls giving her the not so pleasant looks.
"Detention, and ten points from Gryffindor. That language will not be tolerated." There was soon the sound of snickering (from the girls of course) filling the room, as Raven's face got red with anger. A few of them giving each other high fives. Obviously they did not approve of Sirius getting a girlfriend. Some of them were now trying to get his attention.
"Oh two play at that game. They think that they can take my boyfriend away from me?" Raven muttered to herself..
"Com on Rave sit down." Simone said pushing Raven into her seat. The boys were once again sitting behind Lily, Simone and Raven. When the Professor turned her back, Raven let out a yell.
"Ow Sirius that hurt." Raven said with a look of fake hurt.
"Mr. Black you can join your girlfriend in detention tonight." Professor McGonagall said she tapped the board. When she did Raven smiled sweetly at the girls who were giving her bad looks. "Please begin to copy what's on the board." She said as she sat down and began to grade papers.
"Raven I didn't even do anything to you." Sirius hissed as he leaned forward so that the Professor wouldn't hear.
" I know." Was all she replied because the Professor was looking at them.
A month has passed and this is where we find our Gryffindors. Lily was still with Eddy much to Raven's disgust. Which obviously meant that the group had not yet succeeded in getting James and Lily together. Simone still had not yet asked Remus out. Raven and Sirius were still dating much to the school's shock. and the girls had not succeeded in trying to give the boys some space. Of course it would be quite hard to give someone space if they keep following you around every time you try to get away. And now we meet back up with our characters...
"Welcome Hogwarts to the first Quidditch match of the season!" Remus shouted on the enchanted microphone. "Today we have Slytherin versus Gryffindor." Remus voice seemed distant to the Gryffindor players as they waited to fly out. Lils aren't you nervous or afraid that you'll let down your house?" Sirius asked as Lily stood there with a calm look on her face.
" We'll see." Was all Lily said as the seven players flew out onto the field, taking practice laps while the Slytherins did the same.
"Okay now everyone has gotten in their positions. The captains Chandler and Keys have shaken hands and they are off. Evans and Greene are off looking for the snitch..." Remus's voice became distant, after that everyone was in their own zone only to be able to catch bits and pieces of his words.
"And Slytherin scores leading eighty to seventy..."
"This game must be the longest game that I have ever seen at Hogwarts." Remus tried to speak louder since it started to rain. The game had been going on four hours when there was an outraged cry from the Gryffindors and cheering from the Slytherins. There was still no sign of the snitch.
"Potter has been hit! Raven Potter has been hit by a bludger sent to her by Baxter." James, Sirius and Lily turned their attention to Raven who was at the other end of the field. She was quickly falling with her broom when she managed to pull herself together right before she hit the ground. She flew upwards clutching her right arm while she had a look on her face that basically read that not one Slytherin was to consider themselves safe.
"Rave you okay? " Sirius asked rushing to her side. The referee had called a time out to see if she was okay. The rest of the team was right behind them. The referee blew her whistle after checking her out. The game was back on.
"Well it seems that Raven Potter is okay and is refusing to let a substitute continue the game for her." Remus said was Raven zoomed by the box where he was commentating, rage written on her face.
"Oh my well Raven may have one working arm but she is bringing double trouble for the Slytherin seeker. And Black doesn't seem to pleased that his girlfriend was attacked either." Sirius watched as his best friend hit a bludger towards one of the Slytherin chasers.
"And it seems that the two seekers have seen the snitch! It's about damn time."
"Mr. Lupin I expect you to watch your mouth." Professor McGonagall scolded.
Raven joined Sirius and James where they were watching Lily fight to get the snitch that was moving even faster than usual if that was even possible. The entire pitch went silent as they watched the two drenched seekers fight for the lead. Raven was holding onto her arm that was blinding her from the pain.
"Rave you okay?" Sirius asked not taking his eyes off the two seekers.
"Yeah." She did the same. Something seemed to catch Raven attention though. One of the beaters were up to something.
"Oh I don't think so." Raven said getting an evil grin on her face. She snatched Sirius's bat so hard that he almost fell of his broom.
"Rave what are you doing?" James asked as Raven held both bats in her hand.
"And Evans is trying to be led away from the snitch." Remus shouted, outrage clearly in his voice.
"And Raven seems to have gotten an idea."
Raven flew across the pitch, stopped one of the bludgers and sent it straight for the seeker, which hit him in the square of his back. His team mates were yelling at him to go find the snitch, but he was too busy trying to find his breath.
"Well the Slytherins seem to be taking their anger out on Evans as she tries to find the snitch. It seems she wants this game to be over with just as much as everyone else does." Remus watched as the Gryffindors tried to help Lily but it was helpless. And Raven had both bats. Raven saw the snitch and she knew Lily saw it too. She flew a few a few dozen feet above the players to retrieve a bludger. She hit one towards the two beaters getting them at the same time.
"Raven seems to be on a rampage." Remus said as he watched her hit a bludger with each bat in two different directions.
"And Lily has the snitch! Lily Evans receives one hundred fifty points for catching the snitch. Attention to all Gryffindors you know the drill ! Common Room!" Remus shouted.
The pitch went silent as the angry Slytherin captain charged at Raven from behind. None of the Gryffindor players saw this since she was still way above them all except Lily who put on a burst of speed on her broom that she didn't even know that it had. Lily caught Raven ten feet off the ground and put her to her feet. The teachers speeding onto the field to stop an on coming fight. Lily on the other hand as already near the Slytherin stand where the attacker was.
"What are you going to do something about it, mud blood." The last part he dragged out as he had a stupid smirk plastered on his face.
"Wait, where's Lils?" Sirius asked as the teachers turned to leave, they heard this. Every one turned to see Lily leaping off her broom only to tackle the Slytherin who was facing her. They both fell off their brooms and hit the ground with a loud thud.
"Ms. Evans, Mr. Rafter stop this immediately!" Professor Astrus shrieked. But the two were two busy with their fight in the mud. Everyone even the Slytherins were shocked that Lily was the one punching, he couldn't even get one punch in.
"Oh my God, Evans has lost her mind, she has lost her mind!" Remus shouted into the mic.
"And here she is, Gryffindor's pride and joy. Lily Evans!" Sirius shouted above the cheers in the common room. Lily walked in with her quidditch uniform still on. People from different corners were telling her great job on winning her first game and on beating the sense out of Rafter.
"Lils that was great!" Remus came over.
"Really what happened to and I quote 'Oh my God, Evans has lost her mind, she has lost her mind' ?" Lily raised an eyebrow.
"Well Evans, you have got to admit that was pretty insane. Jumping off your broom high in the air." James said from behind her.
"When did he get there?" Lily thought to herself. "Well it seemed like a good idea at the time and it still does." Lily accepted the butter beer that Simone got for her.
"Well it was the most brilliant thing you have ever done and will ever do." Sirius exclaimed. Peter agreed.
"Padfoot don't encourage her." Remus laughed.
"Hey where's Rave?" Lily looked around the crowed room. There was music, food from the kitchens and lots of drinks. Everyone was talking to their friends, dancing, or eating, but there was no Raven.
"Right here." Raven said coming in through the portrait hole.
"Oh Rave how are you? That one nasty hit you took." Lily said as she stood beside her friend.
"Oh Madame Taylor fixed me right up, it wasnt that bad. It would have been worse if my arm wasn't at my side. How are you? That was the greatest thing on earth that fight. You were awesome!" Raven praised from Sirius's side who had pulled her into his arms.
"Ah get off of it, it was just a spur of the moment kind of thing." Lily said as she took in a deep breath.
"So what punishment did you get?" James asked.
"Oh well it was hard to understand McGonagall through her yelling, but I think she said two weeks detention and twenty points off. At least that's what I think she said."
"Well that's not that bad. Did Rapter get punished?" James asked.
"Oh he got a month and a half's worth of detention and sixty points off. Let's see for calling me a mud blood, for provoking me to fight him, for knocking Raven off her broom, oh and for cursing while McGonagall was ranting." Lily counted on her fingers. She noticed that James tensed when she mentioned the mud blood thing.
"Well he got what was coming to him. Well on a brighter note, no Slytherin or any other student will ever bother you again." Simone joked.
"Yeah if they do, then they have serious problems in the head." Sirius remarked.
Thanksgiving was approaching and things seemed to be going in slow motion. So Raven decided to speed things up Sirius had slipped Lily and James a light sleeping drought so that a meeting could be held.
"We are going to leave them alone, together." Raven told them one night, desperate and running out of ideas. "We tell them that we have a detention and we just don't come back."
"Good, but there is a flaw in that plan." Remus drawled. It was now three in the morning and Raven refused to let them go to bed.
"And what is that?" Raven asked indignantly.
"Well just because we leave them doesn't mean that they will hang together. They could stay in their dorms. One could go wandering, Lily could be with Lewis, there are endless possibilities." Remus sat up in his seat.
" Well Sirius and I could easily take care of that." Raven waved him off.
"We could?" Sirius asked jerking awaking from his slumber.
"Yes, we could. All we would have to do is to convince our fellow Gryffindors tostay in their dorms." Raven replied.
"And how would you do that?" Simone asked for Sirius.
"We'll think of something." Raven simply said.
"And when is this to take place?" Remus asked.
"Tomorrow night." Raven started but then she thought about something. "Actually it's tonight since the day has started. Sirius you will be persuading the girls and I will be persuading the guys." Raven stood up to go to bed but Sirius grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down.
"Wait why do you persuade the guys, shouldn't it be the other way around?" Sirius asked a strange look in his eyes.
"Well no." Raven replied. Simone and Remus slowly got up as they sensed a fight coming along. They took a few steps back so that they were out of the line of fire but still able to see and her everything. Simone who was only 5'6 felt really comfortable next to Remus who was in her opinion about 5'11.
" And why not?" Sirius tried to restrain his voice. Raven who was too tired decided to just get straight to the point.
"Well I am afraid that wouldn't work because most of the Gryffindor girls do not like me that much."
"And why is that?" Sirius's voice had calmed down and he stood there searching her eyes for the answer.
"Because I am dating you." Raven briskly walked past him and up the stairs to her dormitory. Sirius turned his gaze to Simone and Remus.
"Sim is that true?" Remus asked the question that his mate was about to.
"I am afraid so. Actually they don't talk to any of us. The only girls in the school who don't seem to have a problem with us are the ones who have boyfriends and first years." Simone replied indifferently. But the two boys stood back and stared, surprised at what they heard.
"But why?" Sirius managed to get out. Simone noticed that Remus was staring at her and she quickly looked at the ground.
"Well actually it's because of you." Simone said quietly. She knew that Raven and Lily would be mad that she was telling them this.
"Us?" Remus and Sirius asked, bewildered.
"Well I guess they are kind of jealous that they are not so close to you, the marauders I mean.
"Why?" Remus asked.
"Well you guys are handsome and smart." Simone supplied.
"There are plenty of good looking blokes in this school what makes us so different?" Sirius asked. This was something that the marauders never understood, but they did take advantage of that. Now they were finally going to get their answer. Simone looked up and looked Sirius in the eye.
"Of course there are plenty of good looking guys in the school, but they lack something that you four have."
"What's that?" Remus and Sirius asked in unison.
"You guys possess a certain amount of charm with out being pushy. You are loyal to every one dear to you with out being anti social. You guys are smart, but you're not nerds. You are funny but are not complete clowns, well not one purpose. You're athletic but you don't let it control your lives, and there's something about you that just demands respect. So they figure that the other guys are not that great because while they have these qualities, they don't have all of them." Simone finished.
"But we really don't care, we have each other so that's all that matters." Simone added. "Well I better get to bed. Please don't tell them I told you, they really don't want you guys to know.
"Okay. Good night Sim" Sirius said.
"Yeah good night." Remus echoed.
"Hey Prongs we gotta go." Sirius said looking at his watch pretending like he was late for something.
"Wait where are you going?" James looked up from the essay that he had just finished.
"Detention." Moony answered quickly. We have to serve a night session with Filch.
"What am I supposed to do?" James complained, jumping off his bed.
"Lily's here talk to her. I am sure that she wouldn't mind." Sirius said casually.
"Yeah, what ever. I need to talk to Rave about something any way."
"Oh she's coming with us, so is Sim." Remus stated.
After the two friends left James sat on his bed. Two minutes had passed and he was already sick of the silence. "Well it could be worse than Evans suppose." James reasoned as he walked down the stairs to find the common room abandoned, which was unusual for a Friday night but he shrugged it off. The only occupant was Lily who was sitting on a couch facing the fire. She seemed to be deep in thought. After calling her name for two minutes he walked over to her and nudged her slightly, but not before noticing how pretty and how calm she seemed at the moment. This time he didn't bother to push the thought out of his head.
"Oh hi Potter." James noticed that her voice was distant.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" James motioned towards the couch she was sitting on.
"Go ahead." After a few minutes silence he decided to say something.
"So what are you thinking about?" James asked, his eyes glued to the firelight. Lily forcefully took her eyes off of the fire and looked at him.
"He really does look nice. There's no point in denying him that much. Lily thought to herself. " Oh well I am just trying to figure out how to end it with Eddy." She said aloud.
"With Lewis? Why?" James asked taking his eyes off of the fire.
"Well I don't know, it's kind of died down. He's actually kind of boring and Raven doesn't seem to like him, and he's in his seventh year. He should be with some one in his year." Lily responded.
"Wait let me get this straight, one of your reasons to break up with the guy is because my sister doesn't like him?" James asked.
"Well when you say it like that it sounds stupid." Lily replied indignantly.
"So explain it in a way that doesn't seem stupid." James challenged. Lily thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up.
"Got it. Okay, James how does Sirius feel about any girlfriend that you have ever had?" Lily asked.
"He's supported any relationship that I have ever had." James replied automatically.
"Every single one?" Lily asked.
"Yeah. Where is this going?" James asked.
"You'll see. Now what if one day you start dating some one and Sirius doesn't like them? He refuses to say why, but you can see it in his face when ever the person's name is mentioned."
"Well I would find that kind of strange." James replied after a moments thought.
"Exactly and after a little over a month wouldn't it start to change your views on the person?"
"I guess." James admitted.
"Well that's what's going on with Raven and I." Lily leaned back in her seat.
"I guess I could understand that." James practically whispered. They fell into silence again.
"Well Potter, why aren't you dating anybody? You should have dated half the school by now." Lily smiled at what she said.
" Why would you like to give it a go?" James smirked at her.
"Come on." Lily stood up and grabbed his wrist pulling him off the couch.
"Evans I was joking." James said, bewildered as to what was happening.
"Oh get over yourself Potter. I'm just taking you over there to play a game of chess." Lily pointed to a table in the corner that had a board already set up.
They played a few games, giving up after a while because they always ended up in a tie. They played exploding snap and a few muggle card games. Every game ended in a tie. They couldn't help but to laugh at this. After another hour of playing any game that they completely forgot about their friends who had not yet returned. Both James and Lily were determined to win over the other so they kept challenging the other but nothing was working.
"Okay Evans, we have tried games, random school trivia, and a breath holding contest and we are still tied. So we are going to try something of mine." James said.
"Okay, what is it." Lily asked.
"You'll see, it's a surprise for now." James muttered something and Lily's eyes closed shut.
"Potter what are you doing?"
"Just relax." He led her over to the couch and went to start on their next challenge.
After a few minutes he announced that he was done. He walked over to her and took the charm off her.
"Potter what the hell did you do to the common room?" Lily looked at the once comfortable common room and saw that he had turned it into an obstacle course, a full muddy obstacle course, tires and a climbing wall and all. Lily turned to go to her room but something was wrong with the picture in front of her.
"Potter where are the dormitories?" Lily asked turning around almost falling back since James was right behind her. "He needs to stop doing that." Lily thought to herself as she balanced herself.
"Don't worry there still there but I put a charm temporarily removing the staircases. It gives us extra space."
"Well it is obvious that you have lost your mind, so if you don't mind can you please give me back my staircase so that I can go and pray for you?" Lily asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Oh come on Evans this is the way for us to break our tie, so that I can prove that I am better than you and that you cheated your way through all those games." James knew that he struck a nerve.
"You think that I cheated? As if. I would love nothing more than to prove to you that I am better." Lily smiled. James explained what to do and said that there was a camera at the end to photograph who won. The entire field was covered in mud to, according to James, make things a little more difficult. To say in the least James was flabbergasted as to how Lily managed to not fall from the running in the mud, and how she managed to keep up with him, a few times she would even take the lead. When they climbed over a short wall, the final obstacle both reached the finished line and began to rejoice.
"Potter why are you so happy that I won?" Lily managed to say since she was gasping for air.
"What are you talking about? It is clear that I won." James responded, he too was trying to catch his breath.
"Well there's a simple way to find out." Lily summoned the photograph that had just appeared and looked at it unbelievingly. James who saw her face began to smile.
"Ha I knew I won." James grinned. "But Ms. Evans you do put up a nice challenge."
" I wouldn't be congratulating myself just yet if I were you." Lily's lost expression was soon replaced with a smirk.
"What?" James asked, dumbfounded. He walked over to Lily and looked over her shoulder at the picture.
"It can't be." He groaned.
"But obviously it can, another tie." Lily smiled at him, obviously glad that he wasn't pleased with this.
"That's it I give up." James threw his hands in the air. He muttered something that Lily couldn't catch and changed the common room back with a flick of his wand and walked over to the window. He was soon too involved in his thoughts to notice the red head watching him. Lily took in the boys appearance and began to laugh, she was soon in a uncontrollable fit. This brought James out of his thoughts as he watched the red head try to gasp for air.
"What, may I ask is so funny?" James asked leaning against wall.
"You!" Lily managed to get out.
James looked down and noticed that he was covered in mud, Lily on the other hand had only gotten her feet dirty.
"You think that's funny do you?" James asked getting an idea in his head as he walked over to Lily. Lily who stopped laughing guessed what he was going to do started to back away.
"Potter I was kidding, there is nothing funny about your appearance. Potter I am warning you if any mud gets on me" Lily didn't even get to finish her sentence since James ran right at her.
"Potter!" Lily shrieked as she ran away from him, both of them laughing as the chase went on. Simone made her way into the common room but stopped after two steps. Remus who was right behind her stopped himself right in time before colliding with her. Raven and Sirius were holding hands behind them and noticed that no one was moving.
"Sim why aren't you, moving." Raven ended. In the common room James was still chasing Lily. He gave one big leap and tackled her to the ground. She screamed out in between her fits of laughter.
"Potter you got mud on me." Lily said but she wasn't as mad as she expected herself to be. James who still had her pinned to the floor pretended to be thinking.
"Now what were you saying would happen if I got any mud on you?" James grinned. The four friends stood there with their mouths hanging open.
Lily didn't say anything, James loosened his grip and Lily took her chance. With the strength she had left she pushed him off and rolled over so that she was now on top. She used her hands to pin down his arms.
"Wouldn't you like to know." Lily replied, looking him dead in his eyes. Sirius took the chance to clear his throat, everyone else's had gone suddenly dry. Lily and James slowly broke eye contact and looked over at their friends.
"Oh hey guys." James and Lily chorused.
"What took you guys so long?" Lily asked, forgetting that she was on top of James.
"We decided to go for a walk, I see you two managed to find something to do." Remus observed with amusement. Lily looked at him for a moment wondering what he was talking about, but then she looked down at James.
"Oh, sorry." Lily jumped off of him. They both got up and started to dust themselves off, when they remembered that they were covered in mud, and they were only making their appearance worst. When they looked up they erupted into laughter again.
"Should we leave you two alone?" Raven asked hopefully.
"No, don't be ridiculous." Lily said wiping the tears from her eyes only resulting in smearing mud on her face.
"I'll clean up, you go shower." James said as he muttered spell to different parts of the room.
"Thanks, I'll be back Rave, Sim." Lily turned and headed up the stairs. Remus helped James with the cleaning.
"Thanks Moony I'm going to go invest in a shower." James walked up to his dorm.
When the two were gone the group began to speak about what they had just witnessed. Peter joined them a few minutes later saying that he was at a tutoring session. Sirius congratulating his girlfriend on coming up with a working plan.
"See told you that things would pick up before Christmas." Remus said.
"Well let's hope things keep going this way." Simone replied.
"Let's hope that what keep going what way?" James asked as he and Lily came back down at the same time. Lily whose hair was wet was down, and was wearing a comfortable tee shirt and a pair of shorts. James came back wearing pajama pants and a plain black shirt.
"Your new found friendship." Sirius replied from his spot on a couch. He was seated at one end and Raven was outstretched on the rest of it, her feet resting on his lap. James walked over to Lily.
"Yeah it's quite refreshing from your perpetual silence." Simone voiced.
"Like oh my god Evans, like they have been talking about us." James sounded like a third year Hufflepuff, but Lily went along with it.
"Yeah like we should be so like honored." Lily began to jump up and down.
"And like it's like Sirius Black and like Raven Potter." James said linking arms with Lily and leading her to the couch while performing this charade.
"And like you cant like forget about Simone Cassadine and like Remus like Lupin. Wait till Babs hears about this." Lily was still jumping up and down.
"Okay we get the point." Raven watched her brother. Everything about those two together was right. She watched as They walked around the Common room, still talking in those fake voices.
"Will you two shut up?" Sirius asked as looked up.
"Fine, you fun sucker." James muttered.
"I heard that." Sirius replied.
"I know." James said as he walked over to the group, Lily was getting a piggy back ride and was gloating on how she won the race, only to be reminded that he won too.
"So you guys, what's up?" Raven asked her best friend, trying to conceal her excitement.
"Nothing, you?" Lily asked jumping off.
"Nothing, so what's up with you guys? You are actually talking to one another and it's pleasant and not relating to school work." Raven asked, every one was watching the pair. Peter was trying to figure out what was going on.
"Nothing we just realize that we enjoy the other's company." James shrugged.
"So I didn't sense love in the air?" Remus asked hopefully.
"What?" Lily laughed, James joined in.
"We just became actual friends." James replied not believing the conversation that he was having.
"Yeah, the day that one of us asks the other out is the day that pigs fly." Lily replied good naturedly.
"Yeah, wait hey." James said with mock hurt. "I'll keep that in mind though." James grinned only resulting in Lily rolling her eyes. Lily walked over and sat at a window seat near the group, close enough to be part of the conversation, but far enough to think to herself.
After a while people started doing their own thing. Raven started drifting to sleep while Sirius was watching her. Simone was laying on another couch and Remus was sitting on the floor in front of her and she was reading with him over his shoulder. Peter was up in the boy's dorm. James was watching Lily, Lily was staring out the window, absorbed in her own thoughts. A few minutes later she was sleeping peacefully. James got Sirius's attention so that they could leave. Sirius transfigured a pillow into a blanket and covered Raven, James did the same for Lily. They got Remus's attention, he looked at the sleeping figure behind him and smiled. He too covered her and the boys walked silently up to their dorms. Each with some one on their minds.