It was November and fall was in full swing, dry red and brown leaves coating the unfrequented courtyard. In it's center, a fifth year Gryffindor spun around gleefully, her red hair twirling wildly around her. Towards the margin stood her lanky best friend, donning his Slytherin prefect badge for duty in half an hour. He observed her with amusement, fascinated at her capacity to have fun with anything at all.
"Come, Severus," Lily said coming to a full stop with incredible grace. "Come and be happy with me."
Severus knew that she said these kinds of things to everyone, but that did not stop his heart from skipping two beats. "You're awfully joyful today."
"Well, there are reasons to be joyful, don't you think?" She responded, her face lighting up with a smile. He couldn't help but smile too.
"Would you care to share any of these mysterious reasons, Ms. Evans?" Severus asked, his curiosity sparked.
"Would you care to take a guess, Mr. Snape?" Lily answered teasingly.
"All right…you convinced the house elves in the kitchens to make Treacle Tart every night?"
She giggled. "No."
"Slughorn finally asked for your hand in marriage?"
She guffawed. "No, but I don't think we may be too far from that."
"Potter grew a toe on his forehead?"
"No, although that would be lovely."
He smiled. "I'm all out of ideas then."
She squared her green eyes on his and beamed as she said "I've met someone, Severus."
His throat went dry. "Met someone? You mean, as in dating someone?"
"Well, I wouldn't say we're dating, right now we're just friends—"
"Who is he?" he demanded, beginning to feel himself agitated.
"Edgar Bones," she responded cautiously. "He's really nice to me, Severus, and I think he really likes me."
"Edgar Bones, Lily?! Oh, you have got to be kidding me." This was too much for Severus to bear. Lily had always captured the attention of men but none of them had ever gone so far as to actually date her. Maybe he was overreacting…but he had never seen her like this before, not about another man. He had been so fixated on Potter and his friends that another popular kid with a fancy Quidditch title had come in and swooped Lily, right under his nose.
"Why are you being so judgmental?" Lily inquired, her eyes lit up with anger. "You haven't even met him!"
"I don't need to meet him, Lily, everyone knows he's a prat!"
Lily just stared at him silently, a livid expression etched upon her face. He looked away to avoid her piercing green eyes. "I honestly thought you would be happy for me. I guess I should have known better."
Severus gave into her emerald gaze. "What do you mean by that?"
"You've been acting strangely for weeks now, I should have expected that you would react this way." She said matter-of-factly, a tone she mostly adopted when irritated. "Would you mind telling me what's going on?"
"Nothing's going on, I don't know what you're talking about." He lied. Severus had been dying to tell her all about Lupin and his twisted friends, but whenever he came close to recounting the events of that night, Dumbledore's words echoed in his mind and he brought himself to a stop.
"You can lie to everyone else, Severus, but not to me." She said looking up at him, Severus being several inches taller than her. "Just tell me."
"It's not that simple, Lily." He responded curtly, looking down at the russet leaves crackling beneath his shoes.
"It could be if you would just let me help you," she replied. "Honestly, what have you got to lose?"
Severus knew the answer to that question, yet he decided not to respond it, for he knew Lily would never understand. However, Lily was quite a bright witch, and it was not long before a look of realization dawned upon her ivory face.
"Oh…of course," she began quietly, letting out a wry laugh. "You have your precious Dark Arts and your precious Death Eater friends to lose."
Severus couldn't bring himself to look at her, much less provide a response.
Lily scoffed dismissively. "And the worst part is, you don't even try to deny it. I'm leaving, Severus."
He watched at her retreating figure and called "Lily, wait!"
She turned to face him. "And wait for what, Severus? For you to come around?"
Once again, he had no answer. Lily sighed and continued her path, leaving Severus alone in the cold, deserted courtyard, once again faced with the fact that she was slowly slipping through his fingers.
"So, Moony," Sirius called out with a huge grin on his face. "What's up with you and Kiffney?"
It was about midnight and the Marauders were currently in the third floor corridor polishing the suits of armor and the hideous statue of Gunhilda the Gorsemoor as part of their punishment for the Snape Incident. A couple of days after Dumbledore had spoken with them, he had decreed that they would receive detention for every night until Christmas Break, where they were to respond to Mr. Filch. Remus had been granted half the amount of time, although they still did not understand why Remus had been given detention at all. Filch had left about fifteen minutes ago, scandalized as Peeves shook awake every painting in the castle, leaving the four boys to themselves.
"What's it to you, Padfoot?" Remus responded jestingly, causing the other three boys to howl.
"But seriously Moony," James said. "Why don't you ask her out?"
"She clearly fancies you." Peter added.
"You really think so?" Remus asked with an eyebrow arched.
"Come on mate, you saw how she greeted you at dinner." Sirius said. Marie-Germaine had waltzed over from the Hufflepuff table to greet Remus with a more than friendly hug, which left Remus with flushed cheeks and three gaping friends.
"I guess you're right," Remus admitted, permitting himself a small grin. "But wouldn't that be strange, her being a year smaller that me?"
"Not at all, Moony," James replied as if were obvious. "You should think of it as an advantage."
"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "Just look at Frank and Alice."
"Lily and Edgar Bones." Peter said absent-mindedly.
All three heads turned towards Peter.
"What? She's actually going out with that prat?" James asked rather aggressively.
"Wormtail, I told you to keep your mouth shut." Sirius hissed.
Peter started stuttering uncontrollably. "I-I-I though you knew, Pr-J-James, since we saw in them Hog-Hogsmeade."
"Wait, what is going on?" Remus asked.
Sirius sighed. "During the Hogsmeade Saturday a couple of weeks ago, we saw Emmeline and Lily alone in the Three Broomsticks. We were about to go over there when Edgar Bones sat down. He immediately starting flirting with Lily, you could tell from a mile away, but she didn't seem to notice." He paused to look at James, who was looking at him as though he were being filled in too. "We didn't want to tell you that they were going out already because we didn't know how you would take it, Prongs."
Truth was, James himself didn't know how he would take it. He knew someday it was bound to happen; Lily was too beautiful to be single forever. He had just maintained hope that he would be able to win her over before somebody else would, but turns out his efforts were futile. He kicked the back of Gunhilda the Gorsemoor's statue in a childish attempt to make himself feel better, only to wind up feeling worse.
He looked up at his friends, who were eyeing him cautiously. "It's alright… it was bound to happen…"
Three sympathetic pats on the back later, the Marauders returned silently to work. Remus resumed his post of buffing the base of Gunhilda's statue, when he suddenly asked, "James…was this crack here before you kicked the statue?"
James looked over Remus' shoulder. The statue had slid forward only a few centimeters, creating a tiny gap in the floor. "Not that I remember. Why, do you think I broke it?"
"Filch would have a field day." Sirius snorted, looking into the subtle crack as well.
"Light it up to see what's down there, Sirius." Peter urged rather timidly.
Sirius pulled out his wand and muttered "Lumos," poking the wand into the narrow crack. "I can't see much, but it looks like it goes pretty far down. What'd you reckon it is?"
"Let me see if this works." Remus said contemplatively as he pulled out his wand. He tapped it against the statue and muttered "Dissendium." The heavy statue slid forward revealing a slim passage, too dark to reveal it's destination.
The four boys stared in solemn silence at their new discovery. "Remus, you're a genius." James said, gaping.
"So, who's going first?" Sirius asked.
"I'll do it," James said, his hazel eyes gleaming with adrenaline.
"Go ahead, Prongs." Remus said patting him in the back.
James edged towards the tunnel and leapt into the darkness, forgetting Lily, Edgar, Snape, Filch and everything else. For now, he only needed his friends, whom were right behind him.
AN: Hi guys! Sorry I didn't update on Thursday as I usually do, but my computer took a hit and I sent it to get fixed over the weekend. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Remember to leave your comments (good or bad) and/or recommendations!