Author's Note: Thank you to my readers. And I am sorry about the late updates. I'm down to the last two months of this semester, so all the work is beginning to pile up on me. Anyway, thank you, thank you for reading and for your patience. I hope you enjoy the story enough to review and read constantly. And I hope I can put the next chapter up sooner. Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven

Arguments

"That was a deliberate, cold-blooded ---"

"The game was over!"

"She was way out of line!"

"You filthy little ---"

"Gryffindor should forfeit the game!"

The Slytherins were furious. The crowd was a mess of cheers and shocked gasps and angry shouts. Their angry statements were answered mostly by the professors who had rushed onto the field to prevent a fist-fight or worse.

"Quiet down, we'll decide what is to be done."

"There is no need for name-calling."

"It is not up to you to pass punishment."

Narcissa had landed on the ground and dropped her broom. Biting her lip and wincing, she gingerly brushed her fingers against her shoulder. The pain was spreading down to her fingertips, like a thousand blades nipping at her skin. Her teammates were gathered around her, seething.

At the last moment of the game, Molly had directed a Bludger at Narcissa. And, being in the middle of attempting a goal, she failed to notice. The Bludger hit her squarely on her right shoulder, nearly knocking her off her broom. Her shot had missed. And in the midst of it all, James caught the snitch.

"I'm alright, thanks, this is just a scratch. Madam Dolley can mend bones in a heartbeat," she told them with a smile as she reached for her broom. One of her teammates picked it up for her. "That is, if the bones are broken."

She looked over at the Gryffindor team. Lily and Harriet, and Remus, Peter, and Sirius were there as well. They were having their own squabble. And much to her distress, it seemed that James was at the heart of that argument. Her team was ushering her off, but not fast enough for her to miss a saddened look from James. She did, however, miss the conversation that the Gryffindors were having.

It was James and Sirius against the rest of the team.

"I was not out of line! We were still in the game!" Molly argued.

"I had the snitch right in front of me, barely inches away!" James argued. "You couldn't hold off for another blasted moment?!"

"It was the Slytherin Beaters' fault, if anyone's to blame! They should've been doing their job! Was It my fault she was hovering there like a sitting duck?!"

"You should have had more sense than to trust those Beaters to do their job! Narcissa's a Chaser; she was in the middle of making a shot! Of course she'd be hovering around!"

"You're taking their side?!"

James turned red and looked about ready to kill.

"James, calm down, no one died or anything," Robert spoke up, his little voice barely making an impression, especially when James shot him a furious glare.

Molly crossed her arms over her chest. "Robert is right, James. No one died."

"Point is, you didn't have to injure her! You could've ripped her shoulder off!" Sirius shouted.

"No one asked you," Molly retorted.

Lily raised her hands. "Calm down everyone, please."

"Don't speak to him like that, Molly. You're the one on trial here!" James said harshly. He thought of Narcissa clutching her shoulder in pain, the grimace on her face was heartbreaking.

Molly fumed, her ears turning a bright shade of red. "I did nothing wrong! What I did was within the rules of the game!"

"I have half a mind to take you off the next game!" James yelled.

Sirius nodded in agreement, angry. "As well he should!"

"Stop it!" Lily almost slapped James. "Molly is right, James, what she did was within the rules of the game. She hit the Bludger before you caught the snitch. The following consequences were…"

She drifted off. James was glaring at her, a cruel, piercing glare that she felt herself cowering under. "James…" she murmured meekly.

He looked away from her and addressed his team. "Well, congratulations, Gryffindor, we won. Come on, Sirius, let's go." He marched off, without so much as another glance at Lily. The team watched him stalk off, harboring a mix of confusion and frustration within them. Even Remus and Peter hesitated before they hurried after their two friends. None of them could feel the elation of a game won. Lily watched him walk away and sighed sadly. She knew he was wrong, but she felt terrible nonetheless for not taking his side.

She and Harriet returned to the Hogwarts Castle as the stands began to empty, the wet grass sloshing noisily at their feet, the sound magnified by their silence. Harriet knew that Lily needed comforting, but she had no idea where to begin. It was never her forte, after all. It was usually Lily who kept calm and composed under these kinds of pressure. And to make matters worse, Severus was standing right at their path. He looked right at Lily and, as they passed, he spoke.

"I told you to think about it, Lily."

Harriet frowned at him. "Go away, Snape," she said haughtily. But Lily had spoken, too.

"I am thinking about it."

Harriet looked at her best friend with concern. Lily was worried, deep in thought about something that seemed out of her control. It was unnerving, seeing her act this way.

"Lily," Harriet said gently. "Is there anything you want to tell me…?"

She remained silent. They walked towards nowhere in particular. Harriet could feel a growing sense of unease. She watched as Lily clenched and unclenched her fist, watched as the creases on her brow deepened and the frown strain against her lips.

"Lily…?" she tried again, touching Lily's arm and making her stop. "Let's talk. What is it that Snape told you to think about…?"

They were on one of the moving staircases and she was leaning on one of the cold, stone banisters. "He told me that James was going to cheat on me with Narcissa."

"I don't think that's possible," Harriet answered matter-of-factly, almost scoffing that Lily was worrying about something that seemed, to her, so trivial.

"You don't believe him?"

"Who does? You're the only friend he has, Lily, and I still don't see why you stoop down to his level. For all we know he could be lying."

"You don't know him like I do. Sev would not lie to me."

"How well do you know him?"

Lily frowned at her. "Harriet, Snape is not the problem. James is."

"Why don't we look at this from another angle? Does Narcissa seem the type?"

"Well, she is a Slytherin."

"And so is Snape."

Lily screamed inwardly. Harriet sighed. They both knew that there could be no logical agreement between them. And what made matters more difficult was that neither could tell which side they were still fighting for.

"Is this because of how James acted at the game?"

"Yes," Lily replied truthfully. "Molly did what she had to do as a Beater. James must know that. He was defending Narcissa." A pause… "And I doubt he's doing it because of Sirius," she added at a look from Harriet. Again, there was silence, both of them deep in thought.

"I think we should give all parties a fair chance," Lily muttered. "I am not saying that I mistrust Severus, but I am not going to decide who I believe in until I know what's really going on."

"And how are you going to find out…?"

"Through the only one who has yet to give a statement. Narcissa."