I had never had much trouble with school in my life, regardless if it had muggles or wizards for students. But like all great minds throughout history, there was that one subject that never quite clicked.
Transfiguration, also known as my only 'E' from O.W.L testing.
"Take your seats, take your seats," McGonagall announced as she organized the papers on her desk. I was already sitting in my blasted seat next to Gertrude Knott, a reserved girl from Ravenclaw who never gave me more than frantic glances and closed-mouth grunts. It wasn't whom I was sitting next to that bothered me however; it was who sat behind me.
On cue, I felt the familiar, two-fingered tap on my shoulder. "What do you want, Potter?"
"What I want every day, of course," James replied, and I pictured his self-assured grin in my mind. I turned around and low and behold, there it was, ready to knock a girl off her broom from a mile away. "Just to say hi."
Ever since he had been assigned the seat behind me at the beginning of the final term, James would make an excuse to talk to me every day. After the first week he stopped trying to be clever and just settled with being downright upfront, making it all the more adorable (and a well earned number five for my list, now that I think about it). But if I let him know that I enjoyed our daily conversing, there was a great possibility he would just turn into a conceited arse again, I didn't want to risk it.
Merlin, do you know how difficult it is to pretend to still hate someone when you don't?!
So difficult in fact, that I didn't even bother. Instead, I grinned back. "Hi, James."
He gave me a cheerful look before turning towards Gertrude. "And hello to you too, Gertrude."
She glanced back nervously and gave a muffled "Hrrmp" back. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
"I'd say hi to Black, but it seems he's a bit preoccupied at the moment," I told James, nodding my head to the boy who occupied the seat next to him. Sirius was turned around in his own seat, flirting with the bodacious, yet highly intelligent Marlene McKibbon.
"Ah yes, here we see the wild Sirius in his natural habitat, hitting on females left and right in order to preserve his infamous reputation as 'manwhore'," James narrated and I laughed as Sirius, without turning around, gave James a very rude gesture with his hand.
"Mr. Potter, if you are through entertaining Ms. Evans, we can begin class," McGonagall snapped at the front of the room. I whipped around and sat up straight in my seat, wondering if Gertrude was giggling menacingly to herself or merely coughing.
"Sorry Professor, it's difficult for most people to resist laughing at my profound humor," James called back and I rolled my eyes. Sirius chuckled beside him.
"Potter, I think it's just you they are laughing at," McGonagall glared at him over her glasses and a muffled laughter echoed around the room.
I sighed, knowing the only reason James got away with his outbursts in Transfiguration was because he was so damn good at it. James (and Sirius too, for that matter) had passed every test, nailed every lesson, and aced every essay since First Year without lifting a finger. What was worse was that it was the class I tried hardest in, yet received the least success.
"Today we will be working on the 'Oppugno' spell," McGonagall instructed as the chalkboard began to sketch a multitude of birds. "Unfortunately, you will have to be teaching yourselves today, as I had to supervise detention and had no time to grade your tests."
"It was fun, we should do it again some time, Minnie!" Sirius exclaimed cheerily and McGonagall's eyes turned to slits.
"Mr. Black, why don't you demonstrate this advanced spell for the class?" she suggested through gritted teeth. Sirius' eyebrows rose as he pointed to himself modestly.
"Me?" He asked and McGonagall nodded sharply. Sirius grinned and flipped his hair pretentiously as he stood up. "It would be an honor."
Seconds later, tiny swallows erupted from his wand, completely in his control. James clapped supportively while McGonagall moved her lips as if she was muttering obscenities.
Like I said, they were naturals, and it sucked.
"Thank you, Black. You may take your seat," McGonagall ordered harshly, stopping Sirius from giving bows and offering autographs to Marlene. "For the rest of you, the lesson is on page 437 in your textbooks. Begin."
And then she disappeared into her office, knowing no one dared act too rowdy, even the two insufferable prodigies behind me.
Thirty minutes later, I had read and re-read the page eight times and attempted the spell twenty-four to produce nothing more than a feather.
"Lily?"
"I don't want any help, Potter!"
"I was merely going to tell you your shoe was untied, but I'll take note," James replied simply and I sheepishly checked my laces. He was right. "But whydon'tyoutryaputtinglooseningyourwrist."
I glared at him, to which he replied with an adorably sheepish smile. A part of me wanted to ignore him and continue to learn the spell on my own, but instead I found myself relaxing my wrist and trying again.
"Oppugno." Instantly, a single bird appeared out of nowhere and landed delicately on my hand. I stared at it in amazement. Being a muggle born, magic never ceased to amaze me.
"Nicely done," James smiled and I pursed my lips.
"Thanks for the advice," I muttered, hating to admit James was better at any subject than me.
"Not a problem. It's not every day Lily Evans needs your help," he pointed out and I scoffed.
"I did not need your help, it was simply useful!" I snapped. James put up his hands in surrender.
"Of course, of course," he nodded, trying to look meek, but his cheeky grin gave him away. I rolled my eyes playfully and put my elbows on his desk.
"How is it that you excel in Transfiguration without the slightest bit of effort?" I asked, surprised at my own blatant question. James reciprocated my pose so we were hardly a foot apart, only separated by a wooden desk.
"I resent that claim, Evans," he proclaimed. "I happen to have worked very hard in Transfiguration. Now I'm just ahead of everyone else."
"What is that supposed to mean? Did you get tutored during the summer or something?"
"No," James answered simply and I felt myself getting annoyed. "We taught ourselves. You'd be surprised what you can learn outside of the classroom."
"We?" I raised an eyebrow, subtlety cueing he explain things to me in English.
"We,' James ominously repeated. The bell rang for the end of class and everyone began to pack up their books. I turned away from James, frowning from confusion, and slide my own textbook into my book bag. I hated not knowing the answer to something, whether it was an essay question or a secret a friend was keeping. But James was hardly my friend…wasn't he?
McGonagall scurried out of her office. "You have an essay due for next Monday. You may discuss any controversial topic in Transfiguration today. I expect at least twelve inches!"
I groaned, cursing my ability to predict the future. Well, there goes my Sunday.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
I stared at the blank parchment in front of me, my jaw slacked and my eyes lazy. Unfortunately, I had been right when I guessed McGonagall was going to assign an essay. Even worse was the prompt she had given us.
In all modesty, I had always been pretty good at writing essays. You pick out the key words from the prompt, research them, and just write all the information you find. Easy enough. But McGonagall had asked to pick a controversial topic, which was basically asking us to pick our own death and explain why. There were too many options! How was I supposed to choose a specific subject?
So I sat, looking dumbly at my piece of parchment, waiting for inspiration to strike. The common room was proving to not hold much stimulation after all.
The familiar sound of people jogging down the stairs from the dormitory caught my attention, and looked up just in time to see the Marauders arrive, all looking anxious. James was checking the watch his parents had sent him for his 17th birthday, Sirius was looking over his shoulder out the window, Peter was biting his nails, and Remus looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.
"You have the cloak?" James asked Sirius hurriedly. Sirius lifted his fist to reveal the same multicolored cloak I always found them with clutched in it. Personally, I suspected it to be an invisibility cloak, but where in the world would they have gotten a thing like that?
"You okay, Moony?" Sirius asked, gently nudging Remus with a sly smile. Remus looked over at his mate and grinned genuinely; it looked out of place with his current appearance.
"Never better, Padfoot," Remus joked and Sirius barked a laugh.
"Aw, we're missing dinner again," Peter complained.
"Duty calls, Wormtail!" James clapped him on his back and I grinned triumphantly. Alice officially owed me five sickles.
"We've got everything, let's go!" Sirius cried excitedly, rubbing his hands together and grinning mischievously. It was the same look I had seen before a prank was going to be pulled. I narrowed my eyes and mentally scratched number four off my list. Being a Prefect, I could hardly just sit by and watch chaos ensure at the hands of incompetent ignoramuses.
"Go where?" I interjected and stood up. The boys froze and looked over at me with wild expressions, obviously thinking the common room had been empty when they came down. Raising my eyebrows, crossing my arms, and jutting out a hip, I put on a look that said 'Don't even think about it'. Or, at least, I tried.
"Um, we, er-" Potter stuttered, glancing me over with wide eyes. I smirked at his loss for words, but unfortunately, the others weren't as easily stopped.
"Evans, don't you have some course work to be doing? That parchment in front of you seems strangely blank." Sirius, also known as the most egotistical male on the planet, gave me his signature smolder.
As if that would stop my interrogation.
Stepping away from the table, I walked over to them confidently. "I had only just sat down when your antics interrupted me."
Lies, I had been sitting at that table for a good thirty minutes.
"We don't need you getting involved in our private business, Evans," Sirius drawled pompously. "So why don't you go run back to your little essay-"
James coughed and glared at his best mate, sending him a mental message, which I couldn't decode. Sirius received it however and rolled his eyes, letting James take over. "What Padfoot means is-"
Merlin, again with the nicknames!
"You shouldn't be concerned."
"Then why can't you tell me where you are going?" I replied haughtily.
"Why can't you just leave us alone?" Sirius mocked, mimicking my tone.
"Oh shove off, Black-"
"Speaking of shoving off, we should be going," Remus interjected, his voice sounding weak and in pain. My annoyance at Sirius instantly dissolved as I noticed Remus' yellow-tinted skin and sunken in eyes. He looked horrible, as if he hadn't seen proper sunlight in weeks . Sirius gave me once last frown before throwing an arm around Remus' hunched shoulders.
"Right, come on then," James declared and led the charge for the door. I reached out and grabbed his arm, feeling tingles in my hand at the contact.
"James," I said simply, desperately hoping he would crack. James looked down at me with pained eyes, and I don't recall ever seeing such a beautiful brown in my life.
"Don't worry about it, Lily. I'll see you tomorrow."
He shrugged his arm free and left me on the other side of the portrait hole as the group departed. When I realized they weren't coming back, I stomped over to my table and crossed my arms in defeat.
"Whatever they're planning they'll soon get their dues for it," I told myself and tried to focus on my essay once more, but nothing came to mind. Cursing, I slammed my quill against the table, only to break the tip off the end. Groaning in frustration, I dragged my feet up to my dormitory to get a replacement.
Although my dormitory was empty, movement caught my eye as soon as I entered. It was coming from out the window. I moved closer and stared below to see…feet. Four pairs of trainers moving across the grounds, and I would have bet my cauldron that they belonged to the four boys I talked to not ten minutes ago!
I gasped as everything suddenly clicked in my mind. The cloak they had was an invisibility cloak! They were all too tall to have it cover their entire bodies, so only their feet would be exposed.
I watched as the feet headed towards the Whomping Willow, a treacherous tree that had been planted the summer I came to school. Six years later it was full grown and huge, so no student ever bothered going near it. Except them, apparently.
Suddenly, one of the pair of trainers vanished and was replaced by some sort of small creature; I was too far away to see what it was. It scurried over towards the Whomping Willow and suddenly, the tree's branches and trunk froze as if petrified. The feet walked towards the Willow and disappeared into hole at the base of it's trunk.
I closed my mouth, unaware it had been hanging wide open. What the hell did I just see? Obviously, there was a secret tunnel under the tree, which no one would have possibly known about because they were too scared to get close enough. But how the hell did Potter and his friends know about it then? Where did it lead? And were they going through it to go werewolf hunting?
My heart pounded as adrenaline rushed through me. I need answers, and the only way I would ever be able to sit down and focus on that essay is if I got some. Certainly no one else would tell me, so I was just going to have to find out myself.
Throwing a sweatshirt over my long sleeved t-shirt, I stuck my wand through a loop in my jeans and tied my long red hair into a ponytail. Whatever Potter and his friends were up to, they wouldn't get away with it. I was going to get some answers, essay be damned.
Smirking confidently, I left the common room and headed for the courtyard. Ready or not Marauders, here I come.
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Up next: Lily follows the Marauders down a surprisingly dangerous path, but it's nothing it comparison to what she encounters late on.
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