AN: Well, I have to say that the Fervilodorius Curse is mine. I invented it. =) Also, asthesunshines, being an amazing reader, has informed me(oddly enough, the very day that I figured it out) that I'm worng about two things. 1, Molly and Arthur are like, 10 years older than Lily & the Marauders. 2, Ogg is the game keeper while Molly & Arthur are at Hogwarts, but it's Hagrid by the time the Marauders attend. I would also like to point out that Regulus Arcturus was a year younger than Sirius and Seeker of Slytherin, so that is wrong as well. Luckily, I don't think that there's going to be more Quidditch, so I don't have anything to really do about the last two oopsie's. However, Molly and Arthur are a rather integral part of my story, so I will be keeping them. If this puts anyone off from reading my stories, I'm extremely sorry. If it causes a large problem, think of it as an AU... where Molly and Arthur are younger.
Disclaimer: I do not, however, own Harry Potter or his world. That's all J.K. Rowling's imagination, I just got sucked in and decide to play with the characters.
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As she walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, Molly at her side chatting about the last quidditch game with Alice, who was also flanking her, Lily's spirits fell. She looked to the group of three, sitting in their casual stances, missing a Marauder. Sighing, she continued to walk on, eventually seating herself across from Sirius. The girls sat on her sides as they had while walking, bringing their conversation over Ravenclaw's advantages to an end.
"Where's James?" Molly questioned as the three girls filled their plates with biscuits, eggs, and golden hash patties. Sirius and Remus glanced at the girl who'd beaten Lily to the point, Peter still shoveling in his eggs. She watched the boys with interest as she buttered her biscuits and dribbled honey over them. Sirius shrugged and Remus took a bite from his hash patty. "Didn't get out of bed this morning, lazy prat. Asked him if he was coming, he just groaned and entirely refused that Hogwarts existed." Sirius spoke drolly, his eyes drooping a bit. It was quite obvious he was still half asleep, Lily stifled a giggle by taking a bite from her biscuit and chewing thoughtfully.
After swallowing, and waiting for Molly to stop giggling after Arthur tactlessly dropped his own honey-smothered biscuit on his shirt front, Lily spoke. "He's just going to lay about all day then? Can you imagine how furious Professor Flitwick will be when he doesn't show up? And while I'm at it, how exactly did you get into the Head dormitories? I never saw you, either." She spoke, eyes narrowed and trained directly onto him. His eyes widened a bit and he sat up straight, possibly for the first time in his life. She wondered idly if it hurt him, a small smirk fixing onto her lips. They stared each other down for a few moments before he apparently dismissed her, shrugging and slumping back down on the spot, stuffing a forkful of eggs into his mouth and blatantly refusing to answer her questions. She crinkled her nose in annoyance and took another bite from her biscuit.
"He probably just weasled the password out of James again. You'll have to get a new one from McGonagall. Again." Remus said, startling the teens who'd been eating in silence. Lily just shook her head, entirely unsurprised by the explanation. "Probably managed to get the password to the Head bathroom while you were at it too, didn't you?" She questioned serruptitiously after swallowing. Sirius merely cast her a rather annoyed glance, continuing to slowly fill his mouth with eggs and bits of hash patty as he refused once again to answer her. "Well, not to worry Sirius, I'll set everything right. Right as rain, matter of fact." She nodded curtly while he still watched her and ducked her head to eat her own food. The seven of them were silent, the only interruption of the quiet being Molly asking for a bit of help from Lily on her homework for Muggle Studies. This was unsurprising to her, as Molly sat next to Lily often, and she continued to prefer staring at Arthur rather than paying attention to Professor Gudillus. The woman would be furious, naturally, if she ever payed much attention to her Gryffindor students.
The bell rang suddenly, the loud ringing sending all from their table into a flurry, Molly stashing her books and parchments back into her shoulder bag while Lily stood, grasping her orange juice to take a few more gulps and the rest of them set off down the long Hall towards the large, open doors. Molly, Remus and herself continued walking down the long hallway outside the room, headed for History Of Magic, while the rest of the group split off to the left and right of the doors. The three were silent until they reached the door to the open room, a bit early from their speedy walk. They walked down the stairs quickly, walking down the first isle all the way to the end, where they sat and pulled out parchment and note-taking quills, tools necessary for a boring hour-long lecture by Professor Binns. Molly nearly jumped in surprise when said ghost came into the classroom via the blackboard.
"Ah, eager students, I see. Very good, very good indeed." He spoke before proceeding to point a ghostly wand at the board, words in chalk magically appearing while their quills scribbled off across the parchment, noting the headlines. "Well, I still don't get these fashion trends, Lily. I mean honestly, why would any woman want to wear these wide-bottom pants? They are rather horrendous, you have to admit." Molly stated, her open Muggle Studies book in front of her. The redhead frowned at the drawing of a hippie while Remus discreetly snickered at the whispered words. "It's a statement, that's all Molly. It's just saying 'we're women and you can't tell us what to do', that sort of thing. Besides, you saw Tilly Masterson wearing them just this previous Saturday, and you said that they looked quite slimming on her." Lily replied. Molly pursed her lips, nodding as she placed the book back into her bag. "Yes, but... I don't know, they seemed to suit her." The other redhead replied.
Their conversation dwindled to questions over how boring today's lesson would be as other students began filing into the classroom, sitting in small groups, speckles of each houses colors everywhere, though the silver-green and scarlet-gold combinations stayed far away from each other. The bell rang once again, it's loud tinkle heard through-out the school grounds, and Lily settled in for a very long hour, tiringly similar to the long hour at the beginning of all her week days.
When class ended, the near-sleeping trio were alerted by their quills falling over on the desks and the bell tinkling once again, sending Lily off to an Advanced Transfiguration class with Remus, while Molly parted ways with them in favor of Divination. In this class the two eagerly sat in the front row nearest McGonagall, who chatted with her House students over various things, including Sirius' new-found knowledge of the Head dormitories and baths' passwords, while sixth and seventh years came filing into the room, eventually filling two-thirds of the seats. The Professor made a deep frown at her assesment of the fact that her Head Boy was not in attendance before delving into the day's lesson. The class ran a bit late, as McGonagall was forced to help two Hufflepuff boys, who'd managed to devoid each other of a few fingers in the process of the lesson. Remus and Lily chatted animatedly on their walk to lunch.
As they reached the Great Halls doors, Lily frowned and her eyes narrowed. She stalked rather angrily to where Molly, Alice, Arthur and Frank sat, reaching only onto the table for a slice of toast before setting off back the way she came. She was further irritated as she noted that Remus had left, and she hed off up stair cases, munching on the toast as she passed late-goers to lunch, who gave her stalking teen body a wide birth, even the few Slytherin's she passed didn't taunt her, though she heard them snigger behind her back as she continued on. When she got to the swerving staircases, she caught a brief glimpse at the top of the one she headed for before he stepped out of sight onto the seventh floor. The stairs stayed their path while she bounded up them, skipping a step here and there. She continued to stalk towards the Gryffindor tower's entrance, spitting out the password long before she reached the Fat Lady, causing the woman to squeak her painting open just in time for Lily to rip through the passageway, tearing across the nearly-empty Common Room and bound all the way up the stairs to her Head dormitories. She stopped only to speak the password to the beautiful lady in the portrait, who giggled at her obvious annoyance before squeaking open as well. A fire burnt in the fire place and Peter's head was thrown up to chase her with her eyes as she stalked to James' door.
She didn't bother to announce herself, merely barging in as she caught a slight 'Wait!' from Peter behind her. The moment her eyes fell upon James in his bed, they widened and all rage and annoyance faded rapidly from her system, leaving a rather cold feeling behind. She walked slowly towards his still figure as Peter could be heard entering the room. Remus stood from his seat on James' right side, grasping Lily's figure and helping her into the wooden chair while her green eyes remained glued to the boy's prone form. She jumped a bit, startled as James moaned, the cadence and fading making her think he was trying to speak. She leaned forward, subconciously trying to send comfort to the boy by her simple presence. She licked her lips, only now realizing her mouth was dry. "What happened to him?" Her voice was hoarse when she spoke, a bit scratchy to her ears.
Sirius was the one to answer. "Your precious little Snivellus, of course. Bit of payback I presume, for the quick little snog you two shared in front of the entire school." She stared at the boy in horror, entirely forgetting her previous anger at him and the fact that he shouldn't be here right now anyhow. When she only continued to stare at him, he proceeded, hints of anger carried in his voice to crash against her ears. "Well, you didn't think he'd just let that be, did you? He's a bloody Slytherin, Evans. Of course he won't. He's going to use every plan and curse he can think of to try and get you back from James, or at the least to punish him for being so much better in virtually everyone's eyes." Sirius cut himself off, his leg bouncing up and down furiously, arms draped of the arms of his chair. Her emeralds fell once again to James, who hadn't moved since she'd entered his room, possibly since the curse was put upon him.
The teen was nearly unrecognizable, only his hair proving his identity to her, in it's constant state of disarray. There were red boils and puss-filled blisters covering nearly every inch of skin that showed, she didn't need to pull the sheets down to confirmed they covered all of him. His eyes were lightly closed, and he stilled moaned, now she was certain they were words as they became more pronounced sounds. She reached forward to touch him, to let him know she was here, before Remus lightly grasped her upper arm. She turned her gaze to him, which she found to be quite an effort. He shook his head slightly. "If you touch him, some of the blisters will pop, boils will burn. The curse is designed to put him in great pain if anyone touches him. Sirius and I had to levitate him here in the dead of night from one of the less-trafficked tunnels." Remus spoke softly. Sirius picked up where he left off.
"I was the one who found him. I was looking for him, but I didn't expect to find him bloody laying on the ground like this. It was hell getting him out of his robes and into sleeping clothes. Probably only reason you didn't wake up was because Remus was smart enough to use a Silencing Charm before-hand." Lily felt bile rise in her throat, horrified by the thought. She pulled her arm out, realizing it was still half-outstretched towards to boy who was now silent. A long silence followed, dominated by her horror and mental questioning at how the boy she'd once befriended could do something like this to someone. Of course, Sirius had already answered that particular question, though her conscious mind adamantly refused it. Eventually, after a space of time Lily had no way to guess, there were muffled voices, both female. Lily was immediately reminded of Professor McGonagall and immediately she knew that the elder woman would do something about this. Sirius left the room, assumedly to meet the woman. Lily sat in silence, her eyes transfixed on James.
She hardly noticed when Sirius returned to the room, though his movement registered in his peripheral vision. She waited for McGonagall to enter the room behind him, though the moment never came. She tore her eyes from James to see Sirius, who appeared to be having a silent conversation with Remus. She could tell immediately by his expression that something was off, and it hit her rather suddenly. She'd been incorrect to assume he was going out to explain the situation to the woman, rather he'd left to difuse the situation and misdirect her attentions. Lily flew out of her seat and out the door before she registered she was moving at all. She pushed the painting open and flew down the stairs quickly as she could manage. Catching the woman by a 5th year boys' dormitory, she watched silently as a 6th year walked passed the two, before asking her into the empty dormitory room.
It was rather messy inside and she was reminded of the boy's room last year on the off occasion that she'd visit the room, only with Alice, as Frank shared a room with them. She faced the woman who watched her and wondered what she saw, before getting herself focused. "There's been a curse." She stated rather blatantly, watching the surprise rise on McGonagall's face. "Who?" The woman managed to ask. "It's James. And I believe, along with Sirius and Remus, that it was Severus Snape who cursed him." She blurted out, rather rushed. She pulled in a gasp of air while the words registered in the Head of Gryffindor's mind. "Other than the thought that they want to curse him back, I can't think of any reason that Sirius would mislead you." She said, slower this time. The elder woman pulled in a gust of breath, raising to her full height. Her pointed hat tilted towards the door. "Let us go." She simply said, her mouth set in a grim, serious line. Lily could only assume that it matched her own. They stalked up the stairs once again. The woman did not giggle in light of the serious faces, she merely squeaked open when Lily gave her the password.
Peter did not look up again as they stalked past, Lily guessed it was because she would be expected to return, though she doubted they were expecting McGonagall, as the door was still open a crack. She pressed it open and walked into the room where Sirius sat staring at James and Remus paced at the foot of the bed. After a long moment of silence they both looked to her, their recognizal of McGonagall registering immediately as Remus freezed and Sirius sent a seething glare towards Lily. On any other occasion this would have put Lily off a bit and she would have most likely fought with him. This time though, she simply turned her gaze to James and went to take her previously vacated seat. McGonagall walked to the bed side, examining James' condition. Before anyone could stop her, she reached out to touch the side of his face, presumably to turn his head. Lily heard the discomforting sound of a blister popping over the boy's low groans as McGonagall ripped her hand away from his face. He moved barely an inch before settling down again, still moaning a bit.
"This is the Fervilodorius curse, I recognize it well. A horrible thing to set on someone. The boils and blisters burn when someone comes in the vicinity, they pop if touched. It stinks, as you can tell, and is horribly painful for the cursed person. He will be immobile up to a week. This is an extreme curse for a simple classmate rivalry." The woman stated, clasping her hands together and flicking her eyes between the two boys who watched their friend like hawks. Remus answered the unasked question, clearing his throat. "He's rather... Let us say jealous, that James is with Lily. He's been upping his game ever since she started to sit with us and whatnot, but this is the first thing he's done since that Quidditch round between us and Slytherin. Expect he's still in a fury about them being together." The boy's voice faded out as his attention returned to his dark haired friend, who's moans were more like mumbling now, the closest he'd gotten to real words as of yet.
McGonagall moved, catching her attention once again. "This curse, sadly, may not be undone. Lily, I would like for you to watch over him, give him water now and then, remember not to touch him. Boys, get to your classes, lunchtime will be over shortly. I will leave the password the same for now so that you may check on him frequently. I am going to speak with Slughorn about this for now." The woman said before spinning and stepping out of the doorway, a purpose intent in her step as she stalked off in much a similar fashion to Lily's earlier departure from the Great Hall which now seemed years away to the girl in question. Sirius abruptly stood and walked out, obviously fighting the urge to disobey orders. Remus tossed a rapid 'Good Luck' over his shoulder as he left the room, pulling the door softly closed behind him. Lily redirected her attention immediately to James, settling in to watch over him. She could conjure a glass of water when the time came, she knew.
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Lily jolted awake, unaware of just exactly where she was for a couple of moments. She glanced about the unfimiliar room, the walls covered with charmed posters of famous Quidditch teams and whatnot. When her eyes landed on the empty, rumpled bed, her memory came flying back to her in little images. The past two days had been horrid, really. Thursday had taken much too long to get here, as far as she was concerned. James had been confined to his bed for the past two days due to the horrid curse Severus had cast on him, though she'd seen he was getting better rapidly, he was even able to converse with her for the better part of yesterday, cracking jokes in excess, she assumed he was attempting to make up for Sirius' absence. The full weight of the empty bed crashed into her just then and she stood, the chair scraping against the floor in protest and the blanket she hadn't realized was covering her fell to her feet. She gazed at it for merely a second before calling out to James.
Opening the door and stepping into the light of the fireplace in the early morning, James' hectic black locks fluffed up as he whipped his head aroud, viewing her over the top of the couch. The blisters and boils were gone, to her utter shock, taking all traces of themselves with them in their departure. Matter of fact, she didn't think she'd ever seen his skin looking better. She smiled lightly, walking over to join him on the couch. She noted he had Remus' notes for the past few days of Transfiguration, History of Magic, and Charms splayed out on the low table before him and papers in his lap. He appeared to be sifting through the homework he'd missed, finishing them before today's classes. She sat next to him, avoiding a small pile of papers he'd already finished.
"How long have you been up and at this?" She questioned lightly as he went back to his work, bending over the papers and biting his lip a bit. "Round about 4, I guess. I'm not tired though, and I definitely don't need to go back into my room." He stated defensively, his eyes tearing away from the paper in front of him once again to land on her. "Relax, I'm not going to tell you that you need more rest. You look pretty good from where I sit." She stated, reaching toward him. He flinched away from her, causing her to pull back the extremity, a mask of confusion gracing her face. "It still... Burns a bit, when I get near someone. I already saw Sirius this morning, suppose he'll be coming back soon." He stated, pulling his eyes away from her. She nodded slightly as he went back to his work, though he couldn't see it. She frowned when she looked down at herself for the first time. Her uniform was rumpled and there were marks on her knees from where they'd been pressed into the edges of the chairs. She stood and walked to her own room, shutting the door and changing into a crisp uniform, leaving the dirty one on the floor just inside the door for the house elves as she always did. Grasping her bag from where it rested next to James' door, she shut the light off in there and shut his door, going back to reclaim her spot next to him on the near over-stuffed sofa.
She pulled out her own papers and referred to the notes spread over the low table. Most of the homework and classwork she'd missed was finished, she'd done it during the downtime while she'd been caring for him. As she put the finishing touches on a Transfiguration essay due yesterday, Sirius stated the password, coming into the room with McGonagall and Remus in tow. He collapsed lazily into a plush red chair next to the fire, staying out of the way as McGonagall once again fretted and fussed over James, eventually agreeing that he should be fine, the burning should be gone by the end of the day, if not by their lunch hour break.
"I thought the curse was supposed to last a week?" Remus questioned quietly after McGonagall revealed his apparent health. The elder witch waved a hand in the air, attempting to demonstrate a point that none of the four understood. "It is an estimated time, Mr. Lupin. Sometimes it can take longer than a week, even. Mr. Potter here seems to have a better resiliance to the curse. There is nothing greatly remarkable about this, really. He is an active young man and extremely talented with his magicks. It could be any combination of these two factors that made him stronger against the curse." She stated simply. The four students sat in silence, mulling over this thought. Lily shrugged, following James' lead and returning to the business of her homework. McGonagall twisted, her deep green robes floating on the air behind her as she stalked out. "I shall expect to see you all in your classes today." Her voices travelled up the staircase.
Lily set her quill on her paper, raising her gaze to Sirius. "What did you do?" She questioned. It was never a question of whether he did something to Severus, always what he did. He responded by simply smirking at her before turning to look at Remus, laughing now. Her gaze turned to the other boy, who rolled his eyes at his friend. James was now paying attention to his friends as well. Remus leaned against the edge of the fireplace. "He did a form of... Payback. Rather effective, if I do say so myself. Bloody brilliant in its un-cruel form. I asked McGonagall what she and Slughorn had spoke about. Apparently, he wasn't so pleased that our friend Severus cursed one of his favorite pupils. He said to let us... 'work it out'." Even Remus smirked a bit at this while Sirius let out another bark of laughter and Lily simply shook her head.
Later that day, as Lily walked into her Advanced Potions class with James, Remus, Sirius and Frank, she understood Sirius' humor. There, sitting in the furthest corner from view, though still in the front row, was a pink-haired Severus. It was really a brilliant show of Transfiguration knowledge, Lily contemplated as she hid a rampant giggle with her hand, clamped over her mouth. The group took their seats, surrounding each other as Lily contemplated the Slytherin boy. He was bent over his desk in a way that advertised to her that anything green on his outfit had turned pink. His hair seemed fluffy, in a way that reminded her somewhat of a Furby, a toy she and Petunia had shared in their youth. His skin was a beautiful shade of lavender, and the cheek she could see was a flaming red from his blush. She forced herself to look away when she noticed the pointed, rather elven ears poking out from the cotton candy hair. It was, as Remus had promised, a rather brilliant way to get back at him, and tamer than Sirius' usual payback curses. She wondered briefly if it was actually a curse, or just a lingering form of Transfiguration Sirius had learnt somewhere. She decided, as James draped an arm over her shoulders, that she didn't truly care as long as James was happy. Nothing else mattered.
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AN: End installment four! Tell me whatcha think! This one was longer, I'm proud of myself.