Innocent?
Disclaimer- Not mine.
Peter walked into the Great Hall to find his friends sitting around the House Table, studying. Their O.W.L.s started on Monday and it had put most of the 5th years into a panic; Including Peter.
Peter sat down next to Sirius, his hands were shaking as they always did when he was nervous. James seemed to notice this because he said, "Something the matter Pete?"
Peter shook his head no but quickly decided he shouldn't lie and started nodding. "I'm going to fail these O.W.L.s." He said.
"No you won't." Lily assured him. "We studied this morning and you seemed to know everything pretty well."
"Besides you still have another night to study." Julia said.
Peter nodded, and looked down at his empty plate in no mood to eat. "Ready for the match today." A Slytherin said behind James, who was gulping down a tall glass of pumpkin juice that tasted rather sour that day.
James wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and turned to face the Slytherin, Snape. "What do you want Snivellus?" James asked.
Snape shrugged, "Just seeing if you were ready for the game." He said, a guilty smile crossing his face.
"Well get out of here." Sirius replied.
Snape's smirk only got wider, "Make sure you drink up Potter, we wouldn't want you to be too weak at the game today." Snape said before leaving.
James frowned and turned back to the group. "What was that all about?" He asked.
Remus shrugged, "I don't know but it seemed like he knows something we don't."
James glanced behind him as Snape made his way to his House Table. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking as well."
"We should get going." Julia said to James, standing up from the table. She hadn't eaten a thing, mostly because the match was in an hour or so.
"Yeah, I guess so." James replied, shoving one last slice of toast into his mouth.
A light, warm rain pattered down on the crowded stands. Despite the horrid weather, almost everyone had come to see the last game of the season; the game that would determine if Slytherin or Gryffindor won the house cup.
Sirius, Lily and Peter sat on the moist, wooden bench watching the teams getting ready below.
"Say where's Remus?" Peter asked, looking around for his friend.
"Right there with Olivia." Lily replied and pointed to the two Gryffindors making their way over to them.
"Oy." Sirius said as the two approached.
"Hello." Remus replied.
"You must introduce us to this lovely lady." Sirius said with a mischievous smile.
Olivia blushed and Remus shot Sirius a death glare. "Everyone, this is Olivia. Olivia this is Sirius, Lily and Peter." He introduced.
"Nice to meet you." Olivia replied politely.
Lily nodded, "I wish they'd get this game started because I really have to study…" She said.
"They're going to win today. I can feel it." Sirius said
"I sure hope so because I don't want to listen to the Slytherins boast about it all next year." Olivia replied, sitting down on the bench next to Remus.
"Well we've won the past three years so they really have no reason to boast." Remus said with a shrug.
"Look it's starting." Lily noticed, getting to her feet to watch the balls being released.
Others around her stood up as well and loud cheering began. "And they're off!" The Hufflepuff commentator said. "Today, as you all know, will decide who wins the quidditch cup." He began.
"And it's Potter with the quaffle!" He said as James snagged the quaffle after it was tossed up in the air by the ref.
James sped off down the pitch, adrenaline pumping. The light rain was building up on his glasses making it hard to see, but his favorite time to play quidditch was in the rain.
He raced down the pitch, a glimpse of red hair catching his eyes. He turned to see Lily Evans watching him from the stands. He gave her a dimpled smile before throwing the quaffle to Julia.
Lily waved back at him, her cheeks turning a light pink. She frowned as she felt her face, knowing she was blushing. What is wrong with me? She thought. She felt like she was turning into a girl in James lover club; one of the girls who swoons when James just glances at them.
Luckily, everyone was too preoccupied with the game to notice Lily was blushing. She distracted herself from the thought of why she was be blushing by cheering for her house.
"Carr with the quaffle, down the pitch she goes. And it's a pass to McGreg and over to Potter and…"
James brought his arm back to pass back to Julia when an almost invisible like force made James throw the ball into the hoop. And it wasn't just a normal shot; the strength behind the throw was probably three times of that of a professional quidditch player. Not to mention he was at least 25 feet from the hoop, which was a nearly impossible shot to make.
James frowned as he watched the quaffle fly into the hoop with ease. Why had it done that?
"Woah and Potter with a magnificent score! Gryffindor 10, Slytherin-Nothing."
"Nice shooting James." Julia said as she whizzed past him after the Slytherin with the quaffle.
James nodded and decided to brush off what he had just felt. "And Slytherin in possession. It's Renold with the quaffle, now Dyna, Renold again and a pass to…And Potter with an excellent block!"
James frowned again, trying to figure out what had caused him to do that. He had been a clear ten feet underneath Renold before he had thrown the quaffle. James was a good quidditch player, but was he that good? Not to mention the fact his broom was getting old and wasn't as fast as it used to be.
James was so preoccupied with this thought; he had let a Slytherin Chaser snag the quaffle away from him.
"Time!" Narcissa, the Slytherin Captain, called to the ref.
James could hear the stands murmuring and wondered what they were saying. James flew over to Julia who was frowning as well.
"Nice stop there James." She said, watching the Slytherins talk.
"Er, thanks I guess."
Julia turned to him, "You guess?"
James nodded, "Something weird is going on with me."
"What? You're an amazing Chaser?" Julia asked.
James merely shrugged as he watched the Slytherin team break out of the huddle. "Potter." The very young, Madame Hooch called to him after speaking quickly to Narcissa.
"Er, yeah?" James asked, landing next to her.
"Is there anything you'd like to tell me?" Hooch asked.
James frowned, "Huh?"
"Mr. Potter, Narcissa, the Slytherin team and myself, have concerns that you may have used some game enhancing potions to make you play better."
"What?" James asked, stunned. "I never!" He nearly shouted.
"So you won't mind us doing a simple test?" Hooch asked, pulling out her wand.
"Do whatever you like. I have never taken those potions before." James said confidently.
Hooch nodded, "Alright, it'll only take a second." She muttered a couple of words, frowning the whole time. "May I see your arm?" The blood vessels in James' arm turned a bright orange before fading back to their normal green-blue color.
"Mr. Potter, you are out of the game." Hooch said, grabbing his arm and nearly dragging him off the field.
"But I've never taken anything before!" James said, digging his feet in the ground so Hooch couldn't pull him any farther.
"Obviously you have!" Hooch snapped. "You know I have no tolerance for cheating."
"But I didn't cheat!" James shouted back. He didn't mean to be so rude, but he was frustrated.
"I did the test and it's never wrong." Hooch began, "So lie to me all you want, but either way, you're team is going to have to play with one less chaser today."
James glanced behind him to see the Slytherin team smirking at him. "Madame Hooch, what is going on here?" Dumbledore asked as he joined the two.
"She's taking me out of the game!" James said, infuriated.
"And why is that?" The headmaster asked.
"Because he took a game enhancing potion." Hooch said. "I already did the test."
Dumbledore looked slightly disappointed at James, "Shame too." Hooch continued. "You were such a good chaser…"
"But I haven't ever taken this potion before!" James repeated. "You are not taking me out of this game." James said. "My team needs me."
"You're right," Hooch said. "I'm not just taking you out of this game, you're off the team permanently."
"What!" James said, wrenching his arm out of her grip.
"You heard me." Hooch continued. "You will not play on the House Team anymore."
"But-You…She…" He stuttered. "Professor, you can't let her do this!" James said to Dumbledore.
"But those are the rules James." Dumbledore replied.
James heart dropped, Quidditch was his life and now it was being taken away from him. "I did not take the stupid bloody potion!" He said, but had used much more rude curses.
"Mr. Potter, please calm down." Hooch said.
"I will not bloody calm down!" James said, dropping his broom. "And don't Mr. Potter me!" He barked.
"Please James, we can talk this through if you calm down." Dumbledore said.
"Give me a truth potion!" James suggested. "Go ahead do it! I'm not lying!" He said.
"I don't think that is necessary." Dumbledore said.
"I bet Slughorn has some." James said, backing up from where he was, towards the center of the pitch. He squinted up at the teacher's stands looking for his potion's professor.
"James…."
"Slughorn!" James shouted up to the stands. "Professor Slughorn!" He called.
"You know giving you the Truth Potion isn't ethical." Hooch said.
"So? I'll give it to myself." He was more than willingly. He'd do anything to clear his name.
Dumbledore looked at the desperate Gryffindor and nodded. "James, I believe that you didn't take the potion." He said.
Hooch looked over at Dumbledore and said, "But the test."
Dumbledore shook his head, "You know James is not one to cheat." He said and Hooch couldn't argue with that.
A small smile spread across James' face. "Really? Thank you Professor." He said happily.
Dumbledore nodded serenely. "I trust you Mr. Potter." Dumbledore said. Even though James and his friends had a tendency to cause trouble, Dumbledore knew him well enough to know that he was a good boy and wouldn't do something like that.
Hooch, however, did not share the same views. James was a troublemaker and did a lot of things just for the attention of it. And performing perfectly at a quidditch match would sure give him that attention. "What-." Hooch began but James cut her off.
"So I can play then? Really?" James asked.
"I'm afraid not." Dumbledore said.
"What? But you said-!" James said, frustrated again.
"I'm sorry James, but you still have the potion in you." Dumbledore said. "You're going to have to sit this game out."
"But I-!"
"Please James." Dumbledore said.
James frowned but decided not to argue with him anymore. He was so grateful that he wasn't off the team that he decided not argue with the man that had made that possible.
James nodded, "Alright, fine Professor." James said.
"So that's it?" Hooch asked. "What kind of punishment does he get?"
"I didn't take the potion!" James nearly exploded at the professor. "I shouldn't be punished for something I didn't do."
Dumbledore gave James an upset look but said; "I think not playing in this game is enough of a punishment for him."
James looked over at his team who where watching them talk, trying to catch a part of their conversation. He sighed, knowing he let them down. He turned to Dumbledore, looking at the ground. Hooch made her way over to the Slytherins to tell them what she had just heard.
"Do you have to tell them really why I am out of the game?" He asked Dumbledore.
Dumbledore frowned, "I have to give them a reason why."
James nodded, "Oh, right." He said, still looking at Dumbledore's feet.
Dumbledore walked past James and towards the center of the field. He put his wand up to his throat and began to talk, his voice magnified.
"I have an announcement to make." He began. James turned and walked off the field, not wanting to even see the Gryffindors' reaction to their best chaser being kicked out of the game.
He was ashamed to think of how his team must feel about him if they really believed that he had taken the potion.
"Mr. Potter will no longer be able to play in this game."
James realized that no matter what Dumbledore told them, people would still believe that James had taken the potion intentionally.
"It seems that someone has slipped Mr. Potter a potion to make him play differently today; a potion to enhance his performance." The crowd broke out in murmurs and Dumbledore realized the same thing that James had; that people would think less of James.
"To prove his innocence, James has offered to take the Truth Potion tomorrow evening, after the fifth years finish their O.W.L.s." He explained. "If anyone doesn't believe his innocence, you may talk to me about it." He said before walking off the pitch.
Julia's mouth hung open as she looked at the departing James. She didn't know what to believe. What she did know was that James was so good that he really didn't need to take a potion to help him. He was clearly the best chaser on all four house teams.
Lily looked down at the pitch, a hand covering her mouth.
"He took a potion to make him play better?" Peter asked.
"Of course not." Lily said, pushing through the crowd to find James.
"You're not going to stay and watch the rest of this? It is the last game." Sirius asked.
Lily shook her head, "I don't even like this game. I only come to see our friends play." She replied, and continued down the steps of the stands.
Lily reached the last step, out of breath. She looked around to find James standing by the fence of the pitch.
James was debating whether or not to leave. He wanted to see if his team won, but he knew staying at the pitch would only make him angrier.
"James!" Lily called over to him.
"Oh, hey." James said. The rain began to pick up, saturating the ground with water.
"What happened?" Lily asked.
James shook his head, "It was Snape." He said, watching the match.
"What was Snape?" Lily asked.
"Snape gave me the potion." James replied.
Lily frowned, "I don't think so. Why would he give you a potion to make you play better?" She asked.
James went silent for a while, the steady beating of the rain hitting his glasses. "Because he knew this would happen." James answered.
"But James, it just doesn't make sense." Lily said.
"You heard him at breakfast today. He told me to drink up so I wouldn't be tired at the game. Remember?"
Lily nodded. Snape had said that.
"And my pumpkin juice hadn't tasted right."
"James I really don't think-." Lily began but was cut off.
"I'm going to get him back for that."
"James you don't even know he did it."
"He did do it Lily."
"But-."
"I know he did." James said, turning to her. "And he's going to pay for it." He said.
"James, don't you dare do anything to him." Lily said. "You have no proof."
"Yes I do Evans." James said, not really caring what Lily thought on this subject. He just wanted revenged for what was done to him.
"No you don't."
"Lily please." James said. "He did do it. He has a reason to. He hates Sirius and me. He also wants to win the Quidditch cup because Slytherin hasn't won it in a couple years. Then this morning…"
Lily shook her head, "James…"
"It all fits Lily!" James replied.
Lily shrugged, knowing she wasn't going to change his mind, though she'd still try, "If you're going to do something to him, you'll have to get past me first." Lily said.
James frowned, "Are you sticking up for him?" James asked.
"Yes I am." Lily snapped.
"What are you in love with the greasy thing?" James snapped back.
"Of course not!" Lily said, her face going pink from anger. "But you don't know he did it." The truth was, Lily had felt bad for Snape. He never fit in, even with Slytherins. He was very smart and witty; he just didn't have a friendly attitude.
"Well I don't care what you say, because I'm going to do what I want." James said, rather childishly.
"Okay but you're still going to have to get me out of the way first."
James rolled his eyes and turned around. "I'm leaving."
"You don't want to see the game?" Lily asked, forgetting about their argument almost instantly.
"Not really." James replied.
"'Kay, bye then."
James turned to her. His dark hair was wet and plastered to his handsome face. "Bye Lily." He said, turning back around and running a hand through his hair.
Lily groaned inwardly as she felt her heart skip a beat.
A lot of students and professor had gone to see James take the Truth Potion the following evening. Most people hoped that James hadn't taken it. Students generally looked up to James. He was, after all, a very likeable person.
Lily had chose to stay behind at the common room. She knew James didn't take it and she didn't need proof of it. Instead, she decided to tidy up the common room; the room being a mess after Gryffindor's victory party after they had won the match yesterday. Besides, at that moment, she wasn't talking to James and she didn't want him to think she was supporting him by going.
"I knew you didn't take that potion." A first year Gryffindor said as he, James and other Gryffindors entered the common room a half an hour later.
"Of course I didn't." James said, entering the common room. He spotted Lily and walked over to her. "You didn't come?"
"I'm not talking to you Potter, so leave me alone." Lily said angrily.
"Why not?" James asked.
Lily frowned and looked up at him. "Why not?' She repeated. "Why not? Maybe because you made a fool out of Snape," She began. "Yourself and me today." Lily snapped, recalling the event after their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. (A/N- That would be the scene from the book)
James frowned, "But Snape called you a…a you know." He said.
"I'm not talking about Snape right now!" Lily said. "I'm mad at you James!"
"Well you shouldn't be." James snapped.
"Why not? I told you that you didn't have enough proof!"
"Do you honestly think I care what you think Evans?" James barked.
Lily recoiled and looked down at the table. James scratched the back of his neck, realizing what he had just said. "Actually, that's not true at all." He said, with a light chuckle.
Lily nodded but still didn't look up at him. For some reasons not clear to Lily, she felt hurt by what he had said even though she knew it wasn't true herself. "Look Lily," James said, realizing that she didn't just shrug off his comment. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I also shouldn't have done what I did to Snape, I suppose." He said.
"Woah mark this on the calendars." Sirius said, who had been listening to their conversation. "June, 13th at 8:43, James Potter admits he was wrong." He joked.
Lily chuckled, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have told you what to do." She said.
"Forget it." James said with a shrug.
"Are you two done with this emotion filled moment?" Julia asked. She was sitting on the couch next to them, her chin resting on the arm of the chair.
James grinned, "Yeah Carr, we're done."
"Good." Julia said, sitting up. "So who's excited for summer?" She asked.
Sirius groaned, "Not me." He said.
"Ah, you can come over my house if your parents bug you too much." James offered.
"I can't wait. I could use a break from all of this work." Lily said, collapsing on the couch.
"I second that." Remus added.
"Only two more days." James said, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. "Two short days…"
A/N- Et volia! Hope you enjoyed and thank you so much for all of the reviews! I decided to change the D.A.D.A OWL until after the quidditch match so it gave James and Sirius a reason to do what they did to Snape.
A lot of you want Lily and James to get together soon and I promise they will! As you could see in this chapter, Lily just might be changing her mind about James.
Plus their results for OWLs will come over the summer and I wonder who's going to win that bet…
Thanks again to all of my reviewers. Say, if I get a good amount of reviews, I'll be sure to make next chapter super exciting : ).
Please review.
Kait
