Hey guys! So I don't know if I can keep up this updating spree, but I really feel awful about that long break, so I'm trying to make it up to you.
Ten minutes later, James slipped quietly into Potions. Slughorn didn't notice; he was already checking the students' potions. He seemed to be retching slightly after smelling Peter's blood-thinning potion, which was emitting copious amounts of murky, yellowish-brown smog.
James took a seat at an empty desk in the back of the classroom, intending to wait until class ended and explain to Slughorn why he failed to show up for class (slug-mucus version.) James re-considered his fib for a moment. Perhaps he would alter his tale to slipping in snail mucus instead.
James pulled out his copy of Advanced Potion Making out of his bag and turned to the index, searching for 'blood thinning potion,' but something on the back cover caught his eye.
This book is property of the Half-Blood Prince.
The half-blood prince? James frowned. He certainly hadn't written that, and it wasn't any of the Marauders' writing.
He flipped to the middle of the textbook. Every margin was stuffed full of notes. Even portions of the text were scratched out and written over. He thumbed through the pages. Few pages were devoid of the slanted hand-writing. There were even some spells scribbled down in the page corners that James had never heard of.
Muffliato, langlock, even one that was defined as a defensive spell described as one to make your enemies toenails grow at an alarming rate. He also came across a few more familiar-looking spells, such as Levicorpus, and Sectumsempra, the curse that Snape had – Snape! This must be Snape's potions book! They must have gotten them mixed up during their little scuffle. James checked his bag, and indeed, his copy of Advanced Potion Making was not there.
Fantastic. James was sure that Snape would be so very understanding and just switch back books, no questions asked. Yeah. Right.
James had no particular desire to hunt down Snape. His head gave a particularly painful throb with the thought. No particular desire indeed. The mention of Lily's surname caught his attention, forcing him out of his inattentive, agitated state.
"Well done, Ms. Evans, splendidly done, simply splendid!" Slughorn exclaimed, deeply inhaling Lily's potion, a deep shimmering red concoction. "Although none of us are surprised, I'm sure!"
Lily beamed as Slughorn moved on. She seemed to feel James's eyes on her, because she turned her head, and scanned the room. She met James's eye.
Where were you? she mouthed, her eyebrows pulled together in a straight line.
He shrugged and mouthed back, Later.
She frowned, but turned back to face Slughorn, who was assigning homework. James scribbled down their assignment, (If a muggle is in need of medical assistance and we have the magical means to heal them, should we? Discuss.)
James fought against the crowd pushing towards the exit as Slughorn dismissed them. He cast Remus, Sirius, and Peter a cheerful smile and wave to assure them that he was okay. Only Remus looked concerned. Well, Peter looked a bit distraught, but he always looked like that after Potions. It was a miracle that he got into NEWT level for Slughorn's class at all, and it had only been done with a lot of help from the rest of the marauders, and quite a bit of grace from Slughorn.
A small hand gently slipped into his. Lily.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Course." He replied breezily, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze as he looked over her head for the Potions Master . "I'm just going to apologize to Slughorn, all right?"
"You have crusted blood on your forehead." He looked down to meet her eyes slowly. She was staring at him with enough intensity to burn a hole through his brain.
James felt like a very small and guilty child as she raised her eyebrows expectantly. "We'll talk later, all right?"
She was clearly unsatisfied, but nodded and released his hand.
He watched her head bob away with the rest of the students, then approached Slughorn's desk to a lovely view of the professor's overlarge backside. His head was buried in a cupboard full of small, decorative, yellow boxes. A slightly sugary smell confirmed James's suspicion that the boxes contained a certain sort of crystallized fruit. James cleared his throat loudly.
Slughorn quickly jerked his head upward, smacking the top of his head on the roof of the cupboard.
"Merlin's beard, James!" Slughorn exclaimed, spinning around remarkably quick for such a large man. He swiftly wiped sugar from his lips
"Sorry, professor. I didn't mean to frighten you."
"Oh, it's all right." he waved a hand leniently. "I noticed your absence today. Are you feeling quite well?" He asked, massaging his bald spot where it had collided with the cupboard.
"I'm all right, sir." James assured him. "Just had a little slu-snail mucus-related accident in the corridor and paid a little visit to Madam Pomfrey. Nothing serious, but I just wanted to apologize for missing class."
"Don't worry yourself." Slughorn waved a hand leniently. "Just do the homework best you can – did you get the assignment?"
James nodded.
"Then you're all set."
"Well, actually, there's one more thing, Sir." James spoke on a sudden whim.
"What's that?"
He pulled out Snape's Potions book and handed it to Slughorn. "Could you give this to Snape next time he comes in for class? He, er, lent it to me the other day." Snape could keep James's Potions book, too, he didn't really care, as long as he didn't have to go near Snape.
"Sure, sure." Slughorn took the book in his meaty hand and smiled at James brightly. "I didn't know you and Severus were on such good terms! Good for you, resolving old issues, mending severed ties..."
James gave a grim smile. Slughorn opened a cupboard full of old copies of Advanced Potion Making and threw Snape's in.
"Thanks." James set off; glad that he would not have to speak to Snape again anytime soon.
"Anytime, Mr. Potter! And expect an invitation by owl post sometime soon. I enjoyed seeing you at my Slug Club gathering last week!" He gave James one last hearty wink.
"Hey, Potter! Is it true Snape landed you in the hospital wing?"
Now James was really tired of the gossip. He was exhausted, his head hurt, and he'd just gotten told off for daydreaming in Defense Against the Dark Arts.
He'd been late for that too, and Lily had just rushed off to Ancient Runes, so he hadn't yet told her what had happened… He was actually still debating whether he should or not. Although, apparently everyone knew that Snape and James had dueled, so there really was no point in trying to lie to her. He was just afraid that she would think he'd instigated the fight. And should he tell her what Snape had said?
If you hurt Lily again, I will kill you. The words shouldn't bother him. He had never really hurt Lily, and he never would. But it actually scared James, mainly because if Snape was interested in being a death eater, which he clearly was, he wasn't opposed to the idea of unjustified murder.
James shook off the morbid thoughts and trudged on to Divination, eager for the day to end.
Professor Kirk was in the middle of a long-winded speech about the correlation between Pluto and inopportune luck when it hit James, hard.
He started as suddenly as if someone had slapped him across the face, quickly swung his bag around his chair and started digging through it furiously.
Please let it be in here, he prayed fervently. It had been in Terminology of Herbology, 7th edition, he was sure. He plucked the book out of his bag. It seemed much too worn out…
It wasn't his.
He frantically flipped to the back page, just to be sure. Scrawled in the corner were the same words: This book is property of the Half-Blood Prince.
He slammed the book shut, incensed.
"Prongs?" Sirius hissed, casting him a concerned glance. James shoved Terminology of Herbology aside and proceeded to take out each of his books and search them, not caring that the rustling pages were making a ruckus. As a last resort, he dumped his bag upside-down on his desk, scattering quills and inkwells everywhere.
"Mr. Potter!" Professor Kirk stared at him with alarmed eyes. "Whatever is the matter?"
"I – er, couldn't find a sharp quill, sir." James managed to stutter, barely conscious of everyone's eyes on him.
"Well, I see you have one now." The professor eyed James's desk, littered with fresh, though distinctly ruffled quills.
"Er, yes." James picked up a quill from his desk sheepishly. "Sorry."
Professor Kirk resumed his lecture with a shake of his head. James sunk lower in his seat. The marauder's map was gone, and in the hands of the worst person possible – Severus Snape.
When Sirius and Peter approached him after class, James promised to talk to them later, and his bad mood seemed to progress as the day went on. The notion of telling Dumbledore what had happened was torturous; but telling the marauders would be an experience similar to pouring sulfuric acid into his own eyes. They would be so disappointed. Peter had lost the map several times; all of them had misplaced it once or twice, but none of them had ever lost it to enemy hands before. He told the Quidditch team to practice without him, because of his head, which was throbbing steadily again.
He made his way to dinner, impatient to spend time with Lily, but she was mysteriously absent from the Gryffindor table. He instead sat with Wormtail, (Sirius was at practice, Remus, Charms club) and ate his ham pie in silence, besides the whispers that seemed to follow him wherever he went.
Afterwards, he considered going to hang out with Peter and Remus in Gryffindor Tower, but the recollection of the noisy uproar of the Gryffindor common room deterred him. Instead, he escaped to the library to work on his Potions essay, which was twice as difficult to complete since he'd missed the lesson. He found a quiet table in the back of the library where no one would bother him and set to work. He scratched across the top of a fresh piece of parchment,
If a muggle is in need of medical assistance and we have the magical means to heal them, we should.
Okay, James. He pressed his palms into his eye sockets, his elbows resting on the table. We should help muggles, but how, without revealing our secret?
He began listing his ideas and reasons at a slow, methodical pace. He felt his eyes grow heavy as the hour grew late, and tried not to think of the marauder's map, or the flying rumors, or Snape's livid face. Maybe Snape hadn't found the map yet. There was a good chance that he didn't look at his Herbology textbook every day…
James stared unseeingly at the library's copy of Advanced Potion Making and tried to figure out how to get the map back. Maybe he could switch back books before Snape realized…
It killed him to think of their precious work, in Snape's greasy hands.
James consciousness seemed to slowly separate from his body as his mind shut down. Snape was there, in his imagination, his fingers slick with black oil… or was it ink? His fingers elongated, becoming tentacles of a miniature octopus, which crawled up Snape's arm, leaving a trail of black ink. The dark liquid slowly oozed into the shape of a dark mark, changing from the black of night to the dark, thick red of blood.
"Out! OUT!" Madam Pince screeched, bringing James abruptly back to awareness by thwacking him on the back of his already very sore head with an Encyclopedia of Toadstools. "The library is a place of study, not of sleep! And we're now closed!"
She waved her wand over his place at the table, so that his belongings came to life and started hitting him, forcing him up out of his chair.
Madame Pince and his possessions drove him out of the library and through the door, which slammed closed behind him. His papers and quills clattered to the floor, lifeless, in the hallway.
He felt like yelling in pure aggravation, but felt this wasn't proper Head Boy behavior, so instead bent down and picked up all his things for the second time that day, using some of his favorite choice words to depict Madame Pince under his breath.
Finally, he straightened up and checked his watch. It was only ten o' clock, but -
"Hey! Potter—!"
James had had it. "WHAT?"
"Er."
He spun around.
It was Lily.
She had a wicker basket tucked under one arm, and a disconcerted expression on her flushed face.
He had never seen anything so beautiful.
"Oh." He gave a relieved smile. "It's you."
"Yes it's me." Lily raised her eyebrows. "You know, it's rather rude to shout at someone before you even know—" He closed the distance between them in three long strides and swept her up into his arms, inhaling the scent of fresh parchment and sweet berries.
"Oh!" she gasped as her feet left the floor.
"Sorry." James hastily set her down. He paused for a moment to drink in the view of her, with her gorgeous almond-shaped eyes and effervescent smile. "I've had a pretty awful day. You have no idea how good it is to see you."
"You want to go on a walk and talk about it?" Lily asked, her eyes communicating sympathy.
He frowned and ran a hand through his hair. "Lily, it's ten o' clock. The doors are already locked. What are you doing out here anyways? And what's in the basket?"
She smiled, reached up, and smoothed the top of his hair, sending a tingle down the back of his neck. "You seem a little disoriented."
He shook his head. "Just a little. So what's in the basket?"
"I grabbed some dessert for us." She said proudly, showing James the basket. In it lay several raspberry tarts, and from the smell of them, fresh from the house-elves' ovens.
"You went to the kitchens?"
"Yup." She nodded, her eyes sparkling. "I nipped in to update them on the Christmas Ball and ended up staying to help them make dinner!"
James felt his eyebrows shoot up into his hair. "Oh."
"It was quite fun, really." She shrugged. "So do you want to grab a jacket and take a walk around the lake?"
"Sure." James said, eager at the prospect of finally getting to spend some time with Lily. His nap in the library hadn't been exactly refreshing, but, Lily's vigor was contagious. "So how are you?" He asked cheerfully, taking her hand in his own and setting off towards their tower.
"Me?" she surveyed him dubiously. "Fine. What's going on with you? I've been… hearing things."
He shook his head. "It's been a long day."
"I heard that Severus beat you in a duel." James felt Lily's eyes flicker suspiciously to his forehead, where the stain of blood had betrayed him earlier.
"You of all people should know that you can't believe everything you hear." He joked. "How's the baby coming along?"
She rolled her eyes, but laughed and patted her flat stomach. "Quite well, thanks for asking." Her playful tone suddenly turned serious. "How's your cracked skull?"
James turned his head sharply towards her, disconcerted. "How'd you know?"
She smiled in a sad, knowing way. "I ran into Sirius on his way to Quidditch practice, and he mentioned that you were skipping because of a concussion. It doesn't take a genius to put the truth and rumors together." Her hand clenched in his for a moment, and her next words were barely a whisper. "What did he do to you?"
"Hey." He swung her around to face him, taking her other hand in his. "I'm okay. It's not a big deal." He was alarmed to see that her eyes, jade in the darkness, glistened with moisture. "Lily…"
She sniffed and hastily wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I'm sorry, I just… him, and you, getting hurt, and then Voldemort and everything…." James pulled Lily in to his chest, wrapping his arms securely around her, as though he could protect her from distress.
He rested his chin on the top of her head. "Don't worry about me."
She pulled back and looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "Stop being attracted to me."
He laughed. "Impossible."
"You see my point, then."
"I didn't know I was that obvious." He mused, his eyebrows high on his forehead.
"You're only as subtle as a bludger." She grinned.
"And you sure know how to ruin a moment." He grinned back, pulling out of their embrace.
"I guess I'm not exactly comfortable with the whole 'emotionally vulnerable' thing yet." She admitted, putting her hand back into his as they started walking again.
"Well, I must admit, I would be a little frightened if you started balling your eyes out on me."
"I thought I already did that. It didn't scare you away." She gave him a cute little smile. "But I still want to know what happened with you and Sev - erus."
James shook his head "It was stupid, but if you really want to know…"
"I do." She said asserted. "I want to know how harshly I should jinx him tomorrow." It was rather amusing. On the one hand, she was tiny and feminine, the picture of innocence, with a wicker basket tucked under one arm, but the incensed glint in her eye was alarming.
James shook his head. "Well, it was actually about you, I guess."
"You were fighting over me?" she seemed to be struggling to keep her voice even.
"I guess you could say that." He sighed deeply. "I really didn't try to pick a fight, Lils, honestly. It was kind of unavoidable."
"I believe you." Her fingers tightened around his. "Go on, then, what'd he do?"
Lily listened attentively, occasionally nodding and grimacing as James told her honestly what had happened, even Snape's morbid warning.
"What?" Lily cried at this point. "He is so melodramatic!"
James couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I thought so too. But that's not the end of everything. It gets worse."
"What could be worse than cracking your head open?" She seemed to be steeling herself.
"Well, after I went to the hospital wing and everything, I realized. Snape... kind of, took the map. Without even realizing it."
The smile slid off her face like stinksap. "What?"
He turned to her, distressed to see the horror in her eyes. "Our books got mixed up and the map was in my herbology textbook."
"Oh, no… James." Lily bit her lip anxiously. "This isn't good."
"I know." James moaned.
"At least they can't get in it, right? The whole 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good' thing."
"Right." He affirmed. "I'm so glad now that we put that extra protection in place. That's the only reason why I'm not having a panic attack right now."
"But there's always a chance they could somehow break through the protective enchantments. I wouldn't really want to take the risk."
He grimaced at her.
"So I suppose we should tell Dumbledore, right?" Lily pursed her lips together.
"Probably." James sighed wearily. "But you know, Lils, there's a good chance he doesn't even realize he has it yet. Do you think, if we act quickly – "
"We could get it back using the invisibility cloak?" She bit her lip nervously.
"It would be tough without the map, but we could do it."
"It would include sneaking into the Slytherin common rooms, wouldn't it?" Lily's eyes grew wide at the thought. "And looking through Severus' stuff."
"I've done much worse." James muttered guiltily.
"Well I have no trouble believing that." She shook her head.
They arrived at the tower entrance. James pulled out his wand and tapped on the door. They ducked through, both deep in thought, and walked up the stairs in silence.
"I'll meet you down there in a minute, I'm going to bundle up a bit." Lily said, walking into her dorm.
"All right." James went down the hall to his dorm, dumped his stuff on his bed, and changed into a pair of faded jeans and a thick hoodie. He dug the invisibility cloak out of his trunk, and walked back out into the hall.
"Ready?" Lily came out of her dorm, wrapping a hand-knitted purple scarf around her neck, the basket of raspberry tarts hanging on her arm.
"Yup." They linked hands and walked down and out into the hall again.
"Since we don't have the map, we might want to use this." James held up his invisibility cloak.
"Do you think that's really necessary?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "We are head boy and girl after all."
"I'm not sure, but you know how Filch is. He seems to have the patrol schedule memorized, so he'll know it's not our turn, and it's after curfew."
"Not to mention Peeves." Lily added. So James threw the invisibility cloak over the both of them and they set off down the dim, quiet hall.
"Plus, I like being this close to you." James teased after a moment, looking down at her under the cloak.
"I knew that was the real reason." Lily rolled her eyes. "I guess I can tolerate it."
"Tolerate?" James scowled. "You sure know how to make a guy feel unloved, Lilykins."
"Well, you make up terrible nicknames."
"I do not!"
"Wormtail?"
"That one was Sirius' doing."
"Well, only Remus' nickname actually makes sense."
"Actually, they all make sense." James said quietly.
"How so?" Lily looked up at him quizzically.
"I guess I'll have to show you sometime." He gave a cheeky grin.
"Show me what?" She frowned.
"You'll find out when I show you."
"Which will be when?"
James shook his head. "You know, everyone probably thinks I'm the annoying one in this relationship, but you're bloody persistent."
"Are you saying I'm annoying?" Lily poked his firm stomach.
"Ouch!" He protested. "I wasn't flexing!"
"It certainly felt like you were." Lily mused.
"I knew you only wanted me for my body." James grinned teasingly.
"You're arrogant." Her full lips puckered into a disproving pout.
"Not the first time I've heard that come out of your mouth." He shrugged. "It's not my fault, though. You're the pervert."
"Am not!" Her jaw dropped an inch in indignation.
James just chuckled as redness rose to Lily's cheeks. "Is this your first time ever sneaking out of the castle after hours?"
"Yes." Lily replied, biting her bottom lip nervously, the pink still on her cheeks. "It's kind of exciting, isn't it?"
"Well I suppose I've become kind of accustomed to the thrill of it." James shrugged.
"Oh, yes, I forgot I'm speaking to the master." Lily rolled her eyes.
James gave a small bow in her direction. "At your service, Mademoiselle.
She smiled up at him from under the cloak, then sobered, her eyes debilitatingly enormous. "I'm really sorry about your map."
His brow furrowed. "It's not your fault."
"I do feel kind of responsible though." Her brow furrowed. "You and Severus wouldn't be fighting if it weren't for me."
"That's stupid, Lily." James said, but gently. "You can't blame yourself for existing. If we're going to think like that, we may as well blame me, Remus, Sirius, and Peter for making the map in the first place."
"I know, but you put a lot of work into that map. I just feel terrible that you lost it."
"A lot of it was Sirius' doing." James admitted.
"Yes, but I know it meant a lot to you and your, er, cronies."
"Yeah, I guess it really does. It's like the fifth marauder." He grinned. "We always argue over who's kids are going to inherit it."
Lily laughed. "Whoever has kids first?"
James nodded thoughtfully. "That means my kids."
Lily frowned. "Why do you say that?"
"Because," James said matter-of-factly, "If I'm being honest, Peter is, regrettably, indefinitely single. Sirius can't take any relationships seriously—"
Lily stifled a giggle at his choice of wording.
"—and Remus doesn't put himself out there enough. He doesn't think he's ever going to get married because of his furry little problem." He sighed. It was all somewhat callous, but it was true.
"So that leaves you." Lily summarized, looking into his eyes intently under the cloak.
"So that leaves me." He repeated, a bit of sadness in his smile. "But you know I love kids. I would have twelve of the little buggers if it was up to me."
Lily's eyes widened in alarm. "I thought you were kidding about that in Hogsmeade!"
James chuckled at her expression. "I guess twelve isn't necessary. But being an only child, I've missed out on the whole sibling experience, so I want to have a big family."
"Me too." Lily said after a moment of silence. "My family is small to begin with, and I really only feel like I had a sister until I was eleven years old. It's almost like we weren't sisters anymore after I started at Hogwarts."
James squeezed her fingers in-between his. "I'm really sorry Lily. I wish I could make her see sense."
"It's all right." Lily gave a shaky sigh. "I have you now, and that really makes all the difference."
He gave a cheeky grin. "Stop it. I can almost feel my head inflating."
She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe how much I've come to appreciate your overlarge head."
"Me either." James shook his head. "But I must say, it's a positive change."
"Amazingly enough, for me too." She grinned back at him.
James could feel his heart beginning to race as it always did when Lily gazed into his eyes for a long time, before she stubbed her toe on a loose stone in the floor and tripped, so that the invisibility cloak slid off of her. The basket of desserts fell to the ground on its side, causing the cloth napkin full of tarts to fall halfway out and send one of the pastries flying across the hallway.
"Ow!" She began to jump on one foot. "That bloody hurt!"
James tried not to laugh, but he couldn't help it. He pulled the cloak off of himself so she could see him. "Are you all right?" he managed.
"Ergh. Yes." She winced as she put her foot back on the floor, casting him a resentful glance. "Bloody rocks. Whose idea was it to make a floor out of stones anyways?"
James was about to answer when a sudden wheezing sound alerted him.
"Who's there?" A disgruntled, male voice suddenly echoed down the hallway.
"Damn." James cursed under his breath.
Please review! Chapter 16 is almost finished and I think you guys are gonna like it!(; But the amount of follows and favorites I've been getting in contrast to reviews is ridiculous. There's at least 10 follows/favorites for every review I receive. I love that you guys are following and favoriting, but I still want to hear your opinions-what you liked, what you didn't, what you want to see from Lily and James and all that jazz. So yeah, please review. I'll update faster if you do, honest! Thanks for reading!