Disclaimer: I'm not Jo. I do this to retain sanity. I do not make a profit from this.
There was a loud CRASH and Mulciber and Avery were suddenly lying pinned under a now chattered chandelier, stirring feebly.
Everyone in the entrance hall screamed and fled the hall as shards from the chandelier flew in every direction.
We covered our faces but stayed put, not wanting to miss anything more. Looking up, we saw, across the hall, Remus lift the chandelier off the two boys before, with a BANG, they were lifted off the ground by their ankles and, with Sirius and James steering them, were moved outside. The remaining crowd followed behind eagerly.
I looked back and saw that no teachers seemed to have noticed what had just happened.
"'Muffliato,'" Remus muttered from behind me and I turned.
"So they don't know?" I asked, looking back to the staff table where I saw McGonagall having an animated discussion with Flitwick, completely oblivious to the events that had just taken place. How did no one know? I asked myself.
Remus smiled. "Not yet." Then he turned and muttered, "Reparo."
The chandelier mended itself and flew back up to the ceiling. You would never have known that, only moments before, the chandelier had squashed two boys.
Wait…two? Where was Severus?
"LUPIN!" a voice roared.
Remus and I turned and saw Severus picking himself off the floor where he had obviously been flung, his pallid face livid.
"What the devil is going on?" he spat. "Why the hell did you just crush my two friends?"
"Did you not hear James, you moron?" Remus shouted back. "They attacked Lily!"
Severus turned to me, the anger in his ebbing away to be replaced by disbelief.
"Lily?" he asked. "Is this true?"
Jutting out my chin, I nodded before grabbing Remus's arm and marching outside to join the throng of cheering Gryffindors and few Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's. At the moment, James and Sirius were alternating between dunking Avery and Mulciber. Sirius dropped Avery into the water, picked him back up and then James dropped Mulciber into the water, and on it went.
I laughed loudly and pushed my way to the front, still clinging to Remus's arm and watched while the two Slytherin's were tormented.
While the crowd kept cheering, James and Sirius looked at each other, nodded once, and pulled both boys out of the water where they dropped them onto the bank.
They tried to scramble to their feet and get their wands at the same time, but James and Sirius got them first.
"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" the two friends roared simultaneously.
Mulciber and Avery's arms and legs snapped together and they wobbled precariously before they both toppled over.
James and Sirius, roaring in delight, rushed over and rolled them over onto their faces. Then they began poking and prodding the two boys faces with their wands, slowly changing them.
After about fifteen minutes of the two friends poking, they stepped back to admire their work and then high fived each other.
Mulciber now had long, wavy, bubblegum pink hair and very girly features. James had even put makeup onto Mulciber and I giggled, clutching Remus for support, not that he was much help due to the fact that he was almost collapsing from laughter. Avery, on the other hand, now very much resembled a gorilla with turquoise fur instead of black.
The crowd cheered ever more loudly and James and Sirius bowed, broad grins on their faces. Then they walked off, arms flung around each other's neck, laughing, as the crowd parted for them.
"POTTER! BLACK!"
The crowd froze and James and Sirius' smiles slipped a little.
Turning, I watched Professor McGonagall marching towards the crowd, which cleared completely for James and Sirius.
"Ah, hello professor," James said cheerily.
"What…is going on here?" McGonagall demanded.
James and Sirius exchanged a look, but didn't answer.
Professor McGonagall pushed past James and Sirius and then stopped, staring down at the Transfigured boys.
"To the headmaster's office," McGonagall ordered as she turned back around her, her nostrils flaring.
James and Sirius obeyed and walked slowly ahead of McGonagall and then disappeared inside the school. Not five minutes later, Madam Pomfrey and Filch walked out carrying two stretchers.
After enlisting the help from two nearby Gryffindors, they got Mulciber and Avery onto the stretchers and went back inside.
"How much trouble do you think they'll be in?" Alice asked from my right.
Without my noticing, Alice, Marlene, Mary, and Emmeline had formed a loose circle around Remus and me.
I shrugged.
"Probably detention, unless Dumbledore thinks they ought to be expelled," I replied. "But I hope he doesn't expel them."
"We should've just gone to Dumbledore in the first place," Mary said and we all murmured in assent.
"They still would've done it," Remus said quietly and everyone looked at me.
"He really loves you," Emmeline said quietly and I blushed.
"Come on, let's go inside," I said.
As one, the whole Gryffindor house trooped up to the tower silently and waited for James and Sirius to return.
Around seven o'clock, McGonagall entered the Common Room alone and looked around at her silent house.
"Lily Evans," she called, her eyes finding me. "Come with me."
Dread filling my gut, I stood and followed her out of the tower and down to the headmaster's office.
She rapped her knuckles on the door before entering, letting me go in first.
"Miss Evans, headmaster," she said quietly.
The first thing I saw was Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, his fingertips together, staring gravelly at the two boys sitting before him. He looked up at our entrance.
"Miss Evans, please sit," he said, his voice lacking its usual exuberance.
He conjured up a comfy looking chintz chair between James and Sirius and I sat, avoiding his electric blue eyes.
"Mr. Black and Mr. Potter tell me that a few nights ago, you were attacked by two Slytherins. Is this true?" he asked in a quiet, grave voice. I nodded. "They also tell me that you refused to tell a teacher." Again, I nodded. "Why?"
I took a deep breath and said, "I'm not really sure. I just thought that the matter would drop if I didn't bring the teachers into it."
"Meaning that by keeping this from teachers, you wouldn't be attacked again," Dumbledore said.
"I suppose, sir." I kept my eyes to my lap, too terrified to look up at him.
Would I get in trouble for not saying anything?
"I see," was his response. Then he looked at McGonagall and said, "Please take Mr. Black and Mr. Potter to your office. I will meet you there after I talk to Miss Evans."
McGonagall nodded and ushered James and Sirius out of the room. The door closed with a snap and I was suddenly acutely aware that I was alone with the headmaster.
"Miss Evans, tell me what happened before Mr. Avery and Mr. Mulciber attacked you," Dumbledore said.
I swallowed convulsively and said, "Well, I had gone out by the lake to study Charms and, when it was starting to get dark out, I headed back up to the school." I paused for a moment as flashes of that day ran through my day. I cleared my throat and continued. "I had just made it to the steps when Mulciber and Avery called out my name. I ignored that and they didn't like that. And then they attacked me."
"Did you defend yourself?"
"I did," I replied in a strong voice. "I Stunned them both and went back up to Gryffindor tower."
"But why didn't you go to Madam Pomfrey?" he inquired.
I flushed.
"I thought I would be okay," I replied in a quiet voice.
"But you went?"
I nodded. "After I got back to the Common Room, I was bombarded by my friends who insisted I go see her."
"And now did Mr. Potter get involved?"
"I met him on my way back up to the Common Room," I said. "He asked me what had happened to me."
"And you told him?"
"Well, no. I lied at first," I said.
"What did you tell him?" he asked.
"I told him I fell," I said, suddenly realizing how lame that had sounded. It still sounded lame.
"He didn't believe you, I assume," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Er, no," I admitted. "He kept asking, so I finally told him."
"Did Mr. Potter tell you of his plans, Miss Evans?" he asked me.
I shook my head. "No," I answered truthfully. "I mean, I suppose they planned it, but I guess I was just hoping they wouldn't do anything. I mean, after all, James is Head Boy. I thought he would've smartened up and not go back to his immature pranks."
Dumbledore was silent for a moment before he said, "Very well, Miss Evans, you may go. You are not in trouble."
I was dismissed.
After I said an awkward "Goodnight, headmaster", I walked to the door but, before my courage could leave me, I turned and said frantically, "Sir, please don't expel them! I mean, they were standing up, not only for me, but for everyone who had ever been victims of those two boys. Please, sir! Please-!"
"Thank you, Miss Evans," Dumbledore said quietly in a stern voice. "That will do. Please return to Gryffindor Tower."
Hanging my head, I left feeling utterly defeated.
As I walked the familiar steps back to the Tower, I feared the worse for James and Sirius.
I mean, Dumbledore wouldn't expel them…would he?
Okay, so, I sincerely hope you enjoyed this new chapter! Please review and let me know what you think! Oh, and I'm going out on a limb and saying that Mulciber and Avery are surnames. :)
Have a lovely rest of the week!
~TheTragedyIs13~