Disclaimer: I still don't own anything that JK Rowling does. Not a single thing. This is quite troubling.
This chapter is relatively short, at more or less 1900 words (believe it or not), and I owe it mostly to the silence of my house during spring vacation.
Chapter 1
Or
Of Melody and Her Three Thieves
Her first memory was of her sister.
Petunia had stolen her least favorite stuffed animal – a pink bear christened Melody – thinking that Lily wouldn't even notice. But three year old Lily was just as observant as sixteen year old Lily, and noticed within the hour that one of her many stuffed animals was missing. Lily then stormed across the hall, with all her toddler might, and screamed at Petunia to return Melody at once. The incident was a sight to behold, and for many years after, her parents used to tease her about it. She did get her stuffed bear back, though.
Lily liked to think about that little quarrel. Despite the fighting, Petunia and she were sisters back then. They made up and went back to being best friends. Melody became, rather quickly, her favorite stuffed animal.
Now even the smallest of triggers would lead the two to a full on blowout that could not be calmed down. For a long time she was best friends with someone that her sister hated, and now she had no best friend at all. And it was the day before the last day of their fifth year, and Lily couldn't find Melody.
"She's missing," she insisted, her roommates rolling their eyes. "Melody's gone."
"I'm sure she flew out the window, the miserable thing," said Tally. "It was so pink and fluffy and old. I wonder why you even kept it."
"You know, I was just wondering about that quill of yours," said Marlene. "You know, the one you've had since second year even though it's broken and you really can't use it? I wonder why you still have that."
Marlene knew exactly why Tally kept that quill, though nobody else in the room did, and that rather cruel comment made Tally blush very deeply and angrily. She didn't say another word about Melody.
The fifth year girls' dormitory was a mess. Everyone – except Lily, who had been looking for Melody – was packing their things and the room was full of the sound of trunks closing and articles of clothing being aimed at the bed but hitting the ground. Someone must have spilled their perfume, because the room was heavy with the scent of roses, which Lily hated, and every inch of floor was covered.
"I'm going to look downstairs," she announced, eventually giving up on searching in their dorm room. She had no specific memory of ever even taking it out of her trunk – but as she couldn't find it, maybe someone else had seen it.
James Potter was waiting for her.
He wasn't actually waiting for her, though that's been known to happen. He happened to be waiting for Sirius, actually, who had said he would finish packing quickly and come down for a quick game of chess. But Sirius wasn't coming down, and James had been waiting for almost forty five minutes when Lily ran down the stairs into the dimly lit common room.
"Evans," he greeted cheerfully. "How are you?"
"Annoyed," she said, not so cheerful herself. She sighed and resigned herself to ask, knowing that if she asked, she might live to regret it, but if she didn't, she definitely would: she needed to find Melody. "You haven't seen a – well, a teddy bear – have you?"
"No, sorry." His hand shot to his hair, messing it up the usual untidy state even more. Automatically, he added, "Do you need any help locating it?"
Lily snorted. "I don't want any help from you, Potter," she said disdainfully, and James was sure her nose must have risen just a little bit into the air. "I will find it by myself." As she started walking away, she heard James call: "If you don't want my help – what was the point in asking me?"
Lily stormed away, fuming as she climbed her way out of the Gryffindor common room. In fact, she was so angry, that she didn't notice that when she walked straight into the only other person on earth she despised more that James sodding Potter right now.
That was, coincidentally, Severus Snape.
"Okay, I'm ready," said Sirius as he finally graced James with his presence, a short moment after.
"I don't want to play chess anymore," said James, annoyed. "How long does it take to pack three shirts and a couple of books when you have magic?"
"A long time… if you're not looking forward to looking home," he replied.
After a second, James shrugged. "You're always welcome to just come stay with me instead, you know."
"Yeah, I know." Sirius shrugged as well. "But maybe later this summer. I've really got to go home, at least for my – you know what, I've got an idea. Let's do one last prank."
"One last prank – Sirius, we've got two more years in this place!" James said, instantly abandoning the more serious line of conversation. "What do you mean one last prank?"
"C'mon, we're not going to be here for a whole summer. That's months! How about we go – Vanish someone's hair. Or make the Great Hall's walls purple."
"That's an awful idea," James said. "Purple clashes with everything."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Fine then. You come up with something! Just go get your invisibility cloak and we'll be off."
James sighed, but did as Sirius asked, even if he was still annoyed.
"Lily-"
"What are you doing here?"
"I just –"
"Sev. What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"
Severus flinched at her beyond angry tone. "I came to see you."
"Did you now?" Lily's face was so close to his, he could see her nostrils flare. It was ridiculous, Severus thought. She had always forgiven him before. Why not now? "And how did you know that I was going to come out? Or were you going to send Mary in again?"
"I –" he began, but was interrupted by the Fat Lady portrait swinging forward. It revealed only a scrawny little second year, who proceeded to look at Lily and Snape and walk away.
And suddenly, Lily understood.
"You took it, didn't you?" she said, glaring at Severus. "You thought it would get me out, searching for it… And you were right." She took a deep breath, visibly attempting to calm down. "I want Melody back."
Snape hesitated, and for a moment, everything was silent. The only sound was that of the Fat Lady breathing.
You see, despite everything, Severus Snape actually knew Lily quite well. He knew that, in Lily's eyes, Melody was the last connection to her sister that she had. He knew that she was very protective of said connection, despite its nonexistence in his eyes. And he knew that she would do whatever it takes to get it back - including speaking to him again.
"I took it, okay? I took your stuffed bear. But I don't have it anymore. I wanted to talk to you and – " It seemed that Severus Snape was feeling guilty. At least, he looked like he felt guilty when he said, "I lost it, and I wanted to give it back, but it was too late."
But just as Severus Snape knew Lily Evans, so did Lily know her former best friend. She knew that he was a great liar, but that when it came to her, he couldn't spit out even a lie over what he ate for breakfast. And she knew that he was lying now.
"You didn't lose it, did you?" she breathed. "You gave it to someone – no, you threw her away. You threw my Melody away." Her tone was becoming rather dangerous, actually.
"I'm so sorry," he started saying. "I just wanted to talk to you, I swear – but then Mulciber saw, and I had to – "
"Go away, Severus," Lily said. "Go away and please, understand that when I said that our friendship is over, I meant over. Go AWAY."
There were some more moments of silence, and then Lily huffed, turned around and, after giving the password to the Fat Lady, walked right into Gryffindor tower.
"Padfoot?"
"Yeah, Prongs?"
"Want to go find a stuffed bear by any chance?"
Under the cloak, Sirius grinned. "I think I know whose greasy hair I want to vanish."
Sunday, June 20th, 1976, was a fine day, with a clear sky and cold air that was incredibly refreshing. The birds chirped and the bees buzzed as the Hogwarts students made their way down to Hogsmeade.
Lily was not in the mood for a sunny day.
She had stayed up packing later than her friends, and had yet to find the elusive Melody; she had hoped that maybe Snape had lied once more, but all hope was lost when the room was spotless and Melody was nowhere to be found.
So, Lily grimaced at the clouds as she loaded her trunk onto the train and sat down in a compartment with Marlene and Dorcas, simply waiting for the train to start moving and this year to end.
"Prongs, remind me why you spent seven hours last night looking for a pink teddy bear?" asked Sirius as they were loading their trunks onto the train. "And in the same time, remind me why I let you do it?"
"Because I promised I'd help you vanish Snape's greasy hair," said James. "Which we did. Rather successfully, and without getting caught, I might add."
"Yeah, but it's back now," he dismissed. "The effects of its greasiness will continue to affect me for a while. And speaking of things I can't erase from my memory – that awful stuffed animal. I can't believe you were willing –"
"Yeah, let's not speak of that incident ever again, please," said James, grimacing.
"Whatever it is, I concur wholeheartedly," said a friendly voice behind them. Remus Lupin, looking incredibly amused, was standing behind them. "Though I must ask, did you sneak into the Slytherin common room or did you vanish his hair after swimming into the lake?"
"Well, Remus, had you been there, you would've known, now wouldn't you?" said Sirius, in a tone that would have been put into better use when accusing someone of treason. "Where were you last night?"
"I was helping a third year with this –" he stopped midsentence. "James, why do you have something pink sticking out of your pocket?"
James looked down immediately, tucking the fluffy paw back in. "It belongs to Evans," he said proudly.
"My God James, you didn't steal it, did you? Because I promise you that will be counter-productive in the way of impressing her."
"I didn't steal it," promised James, just as Peter came along.
"Didn't steal what?" he asked.
"A pink teddy bear that belongs to Evans. And she lost it, so I'm bringing it back! Jesus, Remus, you can't be so suspicious all the time," said James. "Come on, let's go find a compartment before Moony explodes."
That day could have unraveled in many ways. For example, Lily and James could have, respectively, stayed in their own compartments and enjoyed the last bit of magic they had left before summer started. James could have kept the teddy bear, ignoring everything that happened around him and returning it to her politely as they got off the train, or alternatively, he could have given it to her just as they got on the train, and saved both Lily and himself quite a lot of heartache and trouble.
But the way that day turned out wasn't quite as peaceful as that.
A/N: The next chapter is so long I had to split it. So I hope you're looking forward to it. A small, almost-spoiler? James has a very hard time in giving Melody to Lily. It's adorable how hard he tries, though.
Thank you for those who followed, favorited, and reviewed. There's a good number of you, considering I published yesterday, and I'm thankful for every single one. Keep 'em coming!
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