"Wake up, wake up. We've a whole day of fun in front of us."
Alice felt like she'd barely slept at all when she was woken by Marlene's singsong voice. During the summer she'd almost managed to forget Marlene's habit of being in a terribly good mood every morning. Alice had never mastered the art of jumping out of bed with a smile, ready to take on a new day. She needed at least two cups of coffee before she could even start trying to be pleasant.
Alice creaked her eyes open. The sun shining was through the tall windows, filling the dorm with orange light.
"Five more minutes," Mary grunted into her pillow.
"If you don't get up now I will hex your ears off."
"You spend too much time with Potter and Black, I've always said that. Only they would threaten their friends out of bed." Lily stood in front of the mirror, brushing her long, dark red hair.
"I've got to, Lils, you know that. I've known James my whole life, and if you hang out with him, Sirius is part of the deal. And they're actually nice and funny, once you get to know them."
"Why don't you marry them then? Nice, funny, handsome Black and Potter," Lily said, rolling her eyes.
"Handsome? Did I just hear Lily Evans call James Potter handsome?" Mary sat straight up in her bed, a smile spreading across her face.
"It finallllly begiiiins," Marlene sang and pulled her school sweater over her head.
Alice laughed into her pillow as Lily snorted. Marlene's lifelong goal for Lily and James to get together seemed as distant as ever, and Alice couldn't see how that would ever change. Not only did Lily look like someone dangled a dirty sock in front of her whenever James was mentioned, she also seemed completely oblivious to the fact that James was head over heels in love with her. In fact, the last time Marlene had suggested the possibility of James in any way fancying Lily, she had straight out laughed and told Marlene she was mad.
"Come on, Al," Marlene bent over Alice's bed with her wand in her hand. "Get dressed, or I'll have to make you."
Sighing, Alice threw the blanket off herself and tossed her legs over the side of the bed.
"There we go," Marlene said, straightening up with a smile and putting her wand back into her pocket.
After thirty minutes of Lily not finding her books, Mary complaining about her hair and Marlene running around looking for nothing and everything, they sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, which had mostly emptied by now.
They had barely sat down before Professor McGonagall hurried towards them. Her hair was combed back in a bun as usual, although Alice thought it seemed even tighter now than before the summer.
"You are a bit late, girls, don't you think? Classes start in fifteen minutes," she said hurriedly while taking a stack of papers and, one at a time, tapping them with her wand.
"We're so sorry Professor-" Alice began.
"It's alright, Ms. Fortescue, just make sure you are in better time from now on."
She continued producing timetables and handed the stack to Alice. "You've got your first class with me so make sure you are on time. I would hate to take points from Gryffindor on the first day back."
Alice examined her schedule. It was like she had expected, longer days compared to last year but all the same lessons and teachers. Except for the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher.
"I can't believe it, we've got Transfiguration, Arithmancy and Potions today," Marlene sighed. "Apparently, this year has already decided to hate me."
"Hey guys, you heard McGonagall, we really need to get going," Lily said. With the departure of a group of Ravenclaw boys they were the only ones left in the hall.
"I hate Transfiguration," Marlene burst out when they left the classroom an hour and a half later. McGonagall had spent the first half of the lesson lecturing them about the importance of their O. and given them each a snail to practice the vanishing spell on. By the end of the lesson Alice was one of the few people who had managed to make their snail disappear completely. Marlene, on the other hand, hadn't been as lucky.
After Transfiguration they broke up. Lily set off to Study Of Ancient Runes and Mary to Muggle Studies, leaving Alice and Marlene to walk up the marble staircase to their Arithmancy class. Marlene had never liked, or payed much attention to, Arithmancy, honestly she'd only chosen it because her mum wanted her to. Marlene had wanted to please her. She couldn't wait until this year was over and she could drop the subject and never give it another thought ever again.
She had stopped listening to Professor Vector ages ago and was now doodling on the parchment in front of her. She looked up and her glance fell on Frank, sitting at the other end of the room. His gaze was fixed at Alice; she was beside Marlene, diligently writing down everything Professor Vector said.
"Hey, Al." She poked a finger in her friend's shoulder. "Frank is looking at you."
Alice looked up from the parchment filled with her small, tidy handwriting, "he is not," she whispered.
"Not now, 'cause he saw you looked at him."
"Why would he be looking at me…you're mad, Marls."
"So you don't think he's got a thing for you?"
"Why would he?" Alice said, looking at her own hands. "I'm just-"
"-cute, smart, kind," Marlene interrupted her. "Nah, I can't see why he would like you either."
"Girls, is there anything you would like to share with the class?" Professor Vector asked. Marlene quickly shook her head."Then I would appreciate if you stopped talking. This is a class, not the time to catch up with friends."
Alice turned red and returned to taking notes while Marlene made a mental note to tell Frank he needed to pluck up his courage. She knew Alice liked him, she was just way too focused on her bloody "plan" to admit it.
"As homework, write a one-foot essay describing the magical abilities of the number seven discovered by Bridget Wenlock," Professor Vector told them.
Marlene dearly hoped the library would have some information on it because she hadn't listened to anything Professor Vector had said and she wouldn't take the humiliation of owling her mother and getting another lecture about how she needed to heighten her ambition level.
"I can't believe it. It's barely two hours into the term and we've already got homework," Mary complained when they met up on the way to History Of Magic
"That's how fifth year is, there's no turning back now…" Marlene felt a hand on her shoulder and didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Her brother, Will, had sneaked up behind them. "…half our year had collapsed by April."
Marlene rolled her eyes at him and looked to Mary and Alice, both of whom looked just as sceptical.
"Thank you, Will, for that unnecessary piece of information. Now, would you let go of me so we can get to History of Magic."
"Binns won't notice if you're late. Rumour has it that…" Marlene knew better than trying to shut her brother up so she simply walked away, leaving Will to tell his horror story to a group of second years who passed by.
Marlene sat down in her usual spot in the classroom, waiting for Lily to arrive. When Professor Binns made his usual entrance through the blackboard, Lily hadn't showed up yet, and neither had James or Remus, who was in Ancient Runes with her. Ten minutes into the lesson, when Professor Binns' rambling had put most of the class into a doze, the door creaked open. Lily sneaked in, James and Remus following behind her. Binns didn't seem to notice that his class was suddenly larger than when the lesson started.
"Babbling talked as if her life depended on it," Lily mumbled when she dropped down in the seat next to Marlene. Marlene noticed she looked tense but didn't think much about it. "What did I miss?"
"Don't know." Marlene tried to remember what Professor Binns had said. "Something about giants I think. Just copy from Peter after class." For some reason, Peter was the only one who managed to take reasonable notes of professor Binns' lessons. Marlene's notes mostly consisted of names and dates scribbled down at random. Lily nodded and started scribbling on a crumpled piece of parchment she had pulled out from her bag.
By lunch, Lily was already wondering how she would make it through the year. They'd already gotten more homework than before last year's end of year exams, and they had thought that would kill them. The teachers' constant talk about the importance of the O. didn't really help her to stay calm.
Lily, Marlene, Alice and Mary were on their way to the Great Hall for lunch when Lily heard noise coming from the corridor leading to the dungeons.
"Go on, I'll come after," she told the others, glancing down the corridor.
"Lily…what are you doing?" Alice's voice came from behind.
"I'm just…" Lily searched her head for a trustworthy lie to tell. "I need to ask Slughorn something. I'll be back in a second." From the corner of her eye she saw Marlene eye her suspiciously, but they still continued into the Great Hall.
Peeking around the corner, she spotted two students with green ties and, in between them, a boy who couldn't be more than eleven.
"These are our corridors; you better learn that, because we won't let you go as easy next time," one of the Slytherins said, towering over the boy.
"I-" The boy began, but he was cut off by the other Slytherin.
"We don't like mudbloods snooping in our corridors."
It wasn't until now that Lily recognized him, but there was no mistaking. Even without seeing his face Lily would never fail to place that black, greasy hair. She couldn't believe him. How could he use that word? How could he think it was okay as long as it wasn't used against her?
Running or pretending she'd never been there wasn't an would be to go against everything she believed in and fought for. She stepped out from the wall behind which she had been partly covered.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
Severus spun at the sound of her voice and Lily thought she saw a slight blush spread across his face.
"Oh…hi, Lily."
"What are you doing?" she repeated, harsher this time.
"We…we were only…"
"What's this, Snape? Is the mudblood scaring you?" his friend asked. Now looking up at Snape, Lily caught a glimpse of his face. Evan Rosier.
"If you don't mind the 'mudblood' would like to talk to Snape alone," Lily said coolly.
Rosier didn't reply. He simply turned and walked towards the Great Hall. The small muggleborn boy hadn't moved an inch and Lily turned to him.
"Are you okay?" she asked. He nodded shyly, his eyes still set on the stone floor, and hurried off.
"What do you think you're doing?" Lily swirled and locked eyes with Severus.
"Come on, Lil. It was just for fun…"
"Didn't look like much fun to me."
Severus started fiddling with the end of his tie and said nothing.
"So that's what I am to you?" she asked. "A mudblood? Scum who should be locked away far from you and your precious little Slytherin friends?"
"No, Lil. Never. I would never think something like that about you."
"You obviously think so about everyone else who's like me."
"No I was just…"
"Please. I can't listen to your excuses anymore. Can you just, for once, tell me what you really feel?"
Severus visibly hesitated. "I can't, " he said, his voice emotionless. Before Lily knew it he had disappeared down the hall.
It wasn't until she sat down at the Gryffindor table, shook her head slightly to answer her friends' questioning looks, and started eating, that she remembered she hadn't taken any points from Slytherin.
The class entered the Potions dungeon and James sat down at the table he and Sirius normally shared, spreading his things over the deskspace Sirius' cauldron normally would've used. A minute later, he heard a sigh and someone sat down in the chair next to him. Without even looking up he knew who it was. She always had a scent of earl gray around her, and James wondered if she carried teabags with her in her school uniform. She had pulled her chair as far towards the opposite side of the table as possible. James palms started sweating, and he dropped the bottle of ink he was holding.
"Alright, Evans?" he asked, trying to act like nothing as the spilled ink soaked into his sneakers.
"Shut up, Potter."
"I thought you sat with Snivellus."
"Don't call him that. He's my friend."
"Not much of a friend if you'd rather sit with me."
Lily didn't answer.
"As you are very aware," Professor Slughorn began once everyone was seated. "You will take your O. this spring." Next to James, Lily sighed. He looked over to see her leaning against her hand. Wanting to make sure she was okay, he leaned over.
"How's it going, Evans?" he smiled.
"It's fine, Potter." She didn't look at him, and her tone was cold.
"...I will not be able to accept students who get any lower than an 'Exceeded Expectations' on their exam, so sadly many of us will be saying goodbye after this year," Slughorn continued to ramble. Lily's eyes were still glued to her empty cauldron, her face paler than usual and lips tightly pressed together.
"I think that is all for now." Slughorn rubbed his hands together and looked out over the class. "The assignment I will give you today is by far the most difficult potion I've ever asked you to brew, so keep focused. You will find the instructions on page 115 and all ingredients are in the cabinet over there."
James opened his book to page 115, and on top was written "Draught of Peace" in small, tidy letters.
Shortly, the room filled with different coloured vapours. Beside him Lily was working in silence. Her hands moved around the desk rapidly as she prepared the potion and her green eyes sparkled with passion. The liquid in her cauldron were bright orange, just like the book said it should be. James' cauldron, however, was so covered in smoke he couldn't tell the colour of the substance at the bottom.
Slughorn was walking around the room, and when he reached the desk where James and Lily were sitting he released a delighted squeak.
"Lily Evans, you've done it again!"
Lily looked very pleased."Thanks, sir."
"Oh, and you've added something extra. Is it pineapple I smell?"
"It is, sir. And it doesn't change the effect of the potion."
"Very clever, indeed very clever although, of course, I wouldn't have expected anything else from you."
"And…what do we have here?" Slughorn moved over to look into James' cauldron.
"The draught of peace, Professor."
"Is it really? I don't remember the instructions saying it should look like a cloud."
"It's…my personal touch…" James improvised and smiled.
"Very well then," Professor Slughorn sighed. "I look forward to seeing the result. Both of you."
Fifteen minutes later Slughorn told them to get a bottle from the front of the room and fill their potion with it. The smoke in James' cauldron had finally scattered and revealed a baby blue liquid. James was quite pleased with himself. At least his potion was close to the result described in the book. Elizabeth Carter, on the other hand, had trouble getting her potion into the glass bottle since it kept evaporating every time she took it off the heat and Remus' potion smelled badly of fish.
After Charms, the last lesson of the day, they returned to the common room to find Sirius on the couch in front of the fire.
"Finally. I was getting bored," he smiled.
"Padfoot!" James was over by the couch in a few steps. "You'll never guess what happened!"
"You got bit by an animal who doesn't even have a mouth?" Sirius suggested.
"Very funny…" James said. "No, Evans sat next to me in Potions!"
"No way. I think it was the animal, it made you hallucinate. There is no way Evans sat next to you."
"It's true. I saw it myself," Peter assured Sirius.
"What about Snivellus?"
"I think they're fighting," Remus said.
"Okay, new conversation topic. I've got the greatest idea ever. Nifflers. We release them in the Great Hall at breakfast and then when people try and escape, they run into the stink bomb chaos."
"And…where are we supposed to get nifflers from?" Peter asked.
"I bet Hagrid's got some hidden in the forest. We'll ask him."
"Otherwise I bet my dad could get a few dozen from work." Remus sat down in one of the armchairs.
"That's great. And I'll order some stink bombs to Hogsmeade. Madam Rosmerta can keep them in the Three Broomsticks until we can go get 'em."
"I wouldn't like to jinx it but this could be the best prank ever pulled," Peter said.
"Black!" Someone suddenly shouted from behind and then Marlene threw her arms around Sirius' shoulders. "I missed you in Charms today."
"Missed my charm, did you?"
James didn't hear Sirius' answer; he'd spotted a familiar face across the room: David Marrow, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
"Hey, David!" James yelled. David spotted him and waved.
"Alright, Potter?"
"When'll we start Quidditch practice?"
David laughed. "Calm down a bit, will you. We haven't even got a seeker yet."
"Right," James sighed. "Amanda."
"She's working for the ministry now, I heard." David nodded sullenly.
"Dad said." James shrugged. "She's a nutter though, Dave. Who'd give up quidditch for paperwork."
"Exactly! Thank you, Potter." David looked very pleased. "No one else agrees with me."
"We're a special kind of people." James laughed. "Not everyone's got the determination."
"We need to have try-outs before we can start practising but that bloody Calvin Bulstrode has booked the pitch for the next two weeks, so we'll have to wait until then."
James nodded and David walked over to his friends.
.
"Why don't you try for Seeker, McKinnon?" Sirius asked Marlene, who still hung over his shoulders.
"I'm not good enough for that."
"Are you kidding me? You always beat James when we play in the summer."
"Uh, that's kind of a stretch, isn't it?" James asked.
"You really think I could make it?" Marlene looked at Sirius.
"Sure, McKinnon, you've got talent."
"I'll think about it," Marlene said. "Care if I sit with you?"
"Where are the others?" Remus asked.
"The library, doing homework. I didn't feel up to studying though. It's the first day back."
"Agreed. Why're all teachers total nutters. Homework on the first day…" Peter murmured.
"I take it you had a rough first day back," Sirius said.
"Worst day back ever," Remus confirmed.
"I got to sit next to Evans." James had a hard time not smiling wide when he said it.
"She was not as happy as you about it," Marlene told him. "Spent the entire Charms lesson talking about what an idiot you were."
"What'd I do this time?"
"Unclear. Probably existing a little too close to her."
Lily stuffed her Potions essay into her bag and turned to help Alice with hers when she saw a small blond standing a few bookshelves away with a pile of books in her arms.
"Dorcas!" Lily cried out, and the girl turned around.
"Come sit with us," Lily said. Dorcas seemed to hesitate for a moment before sitting down opposite to Lily and putting the pile of books down next to her.
"What are all those for?" Lily asked, nodding at the books.
"Transfiguration, we're supposed to write an essay describing the theory behind vanishing spells, and I have no clue." Dorcas' voice, just like her, was tiny.
"Well, I'm no good at Transfiguration either," Lily told her.
"You're no worse than me," Dorcas said.
Alice looked up from her half finished essay.
"You had Defense today, didn't you?" she asked Dorcas, who nodded.
"How's the new teacher?" Lily asked.
"She's really cool. Had us try and conjure a patronus."
"Really?" Alice leaned forward. "That is really advanced magic, normally you wouldn't learn about that until seventh year."
"I know, but Professor Terry thought we might give it a try, given what's coming."
"So she actually believes there will be a war? Unlike that last nutter," Lily murmured.
"Yes," Dorcas said. "She really does."
"That's good." Lily looked at her watch. "I've got prefect meeting soon, I need to go." She threw her bag over her shoulder.
"I'll come with you." Alice stood as well. Dorcas said she would return some books. Lily and Alice exited the library, saying goodbye to the librarian, who pretended she was rearranging a pile of books.
"She's been ignoring me ever since I ate that sandwich in the library," Alice complained when they were out in the corridor and heading for the Gryffindor tower. "Have you got any ideas about Marlene and Mary?" They turned a corner and walked up a staircase.
"About how they won't talk to each other unless it's impolite, or regarding you and Frank? No."
"I just can't stand it. I hate people not getting along."
"I know," Lily replied. "If we tell them to get you and Frank together they might get along, " Lily joked. It wasn't until Alice turned red and giggled "don't" that it struck Lily. "You really like him, don't you?"
Alice hesitated and looked down at her shoes. "Maybe," she whispered.
Lily gasped.
"It's not that big of a deal." Alice assured her.
"For how long?"
"I don't know…since March maybe."
"6 months? How come I didn't know this?" Alice opened her mouth to reply. "And don't come dragging with 'the plan' because that's not the real reason."
"I don't know…I guess-"
"Lily!" Remus came running towards them. "I've been looking everywhere for you. I thought we were going to the prefect meeting together."
"We are, but it's not for another half an hour."
"It's in five minutes, you must've got your time wrong," Remus breathed.
"That's possible." Lily said, searching her bag for the note she had made but it had disappeared in the mess of books, parchments and quills. She turned to Alice. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Alice nodded and Lily set off together with Remus. At the end of the corridor they took a left and Lily suddenly found herself being dragged behind a door she had always assumed was a broom closet.
"Remus, what…?"
"Shortcut," he breathed heavily, hurrying down the steps of a staircase.
After taking countless other shortcuts they somehow managed to be at the meeting on time. It was held in a room which looked much like any teacher's office. Around twenty wooden chairs were placed in a circle in the middle of the room. Most of them were already occupied by 5th, 6th and 7th years. Lily sat down next to Hestia Jones, a fifth year Ravenclaw, who was in the same class as her in Ancient Runes, while Remus found a seat in between Bertram Aubrey and a sixth year Hufflepuff. The head boy, Sebastian Conoway, rose from his chair only a few moments after Lily had sat down and began going through the prefect duties.
Almost an hour and a half had passed before Remus and Lily set off towards the Gryffindor common room again.
"We have patrol together on Thursday," Remus informed her, looking down at the schedule they had been given. "Then I've got patrol with Bulstrode on Saturdays and with Bones on Tuesdays."
"I've got Hestia on Sundays and…" Lily looked at her schedule. "…you've got to be kidding me, I got Mulciber for Wednesdays. I expect that'll be… interesting," she sighed.
"We'll be so busy this year, with prefect duties on top of our OWLs."
"Yeah, we do get to use the prefect bathroom though," Remus said thoughtfully.
"And we can take points from other students, and put them in detention."
"Don't take too much advantage of the situation," Remus said, as if reading Lily's thoughts.
"I won't," Lily sighed.
Thursday arrived, and so did the Gryffindor 5th years' first Defense lesson. During the past two days, the word of Professor Terry being the best Defense teacher in many years had spread through the castle faster than lightning. It must have been a first for the whole class to be lined up outside the classroom before the lesson started. Professor Terry opened the door and let the class in. All of the benches stood against the walls and created an open space in the middle of the room.
"You can sit down on the floor," Professor Terry told the class as the last students entered. "My name, as you might know, is Jean Terry, but you will call me Professor Terry. I will be your teacher this year and I will do my best to prepare you, both for your exams and for your life once you're out of Hogwarts." She moved through the room and took a book from the shelves in the back. "Now, today we will attempt some very difficult magic, something you usually don't learn until you're in your last year." She opened the book and showed the page to the class. "Patronuses."
Some of the class gasped.
"But, before we get to practice, who can tell me what a patronus is?"
A few hesitant hands rose in the air. Professor Terry gave the word to Alice.
"It is the only protection from Dementors. It is like a shield, consisting of happiness and hope but lacking the ability to feel despair, therefore a dementor can't hurt it."
"Exactly," Professor Terry agreed. "Now, a full, strong patronus takes the shape of an animal, usually an animal reflecting the witch or wizard who conjures it, but an incorporeal patronus, that is, one without a shape, can also be effective in preventing Dementors. Now, if you would stand-" Sirius thought the class had never obeyed an order that quickly before "-we will get started."
Sirius and the other Marauders stood and moved towards the middle of the room.
"To conjure a patronus you must concentrate on one single happy memory, a very powerful one."
Sirius tried to find something in his mind, a really happy memory. He thought about the time before he had started Hogwarts. There were certainly some fairly happy memories from that time, but nothing powerful enough. He thought about when he had been sorted into Gryffindor and his first night at Hogwarts, but quickly ruled it out. He had been more scared than happy that night. Maybe later, when he became friends with James, but that wasn't a single memory, it had happened over time. He finally settled on the time, in their second year, when they had made life a living hell for Mr. Pringle by using a charm that caused muddy footsteps to follow him around. They had laughed so much at the time. Sirius smiled at the recollection.
"Has everyone got their memory?" Professor Terry asked.
The class nodded.
"Good. Now, the incantation is Expecto Patronum, everyone say it together."
"Expecto Patronum," the class chanted. Sirius tried to join in but stumbled over his words. James looked over and grinned at his best friends. Sirius shot him a toxic look.
"One more time," Professor Terry encouraged.
"Eprexso partontum," Sirius tried to pronounce it correctly, he really did, but it seemed impossible.
"Now, take out your wands and spread out in the room-" The class did as she asked. "-hold your wands out straight in front of you, focus strongly on your happy memory, and say the words."
The room filled with noise and movement. Sirius hesitated because, even though none of his classmates had managed to produce anything they, at least, got the words right.
"Expecto Patronum," Remus tried next to him, without much excitement. He looked over at Sirius and shrugged. "There's no idea to try," He sighed.
"Why not?"
"I can't conjure a full body patronus here…in case…"
Sirius understood the implication and nodded.
"Why don't you try it?" Remus asked.
"What's the point. I can't pronounce the incantation, and every memory I can think of is shitty." Sirius shrugged, trying not to sound as hopeless as he felt. "What memory have you got?"
"In second year, when you found out...about my little furry problem," Remus said.
"That is bloody brilliant. I wish I had something like that."
"What's yours?"
"The muddy footstep incident of '72."
"That's good as well."
"Not patronus good."
"Look! Professor!" James exclaimed and Sirius turned. Emerging from the tip of James wand was a shining, white shield. The class had stopped what they were doing to look at James' progress.
"Very good, Mr. Potter." She came over to him. "Keep trying."
"Eprexso partontum." Sirius tried vaguely, waving his wand. Understandingly, nothing happened.
In the horde of students moving towards the Great Hall for lunch, Sirius managed to lose the others. To be honest, he wasn't paying an awful amount of attention to what he was doing. By the end of the lesson he was one of the few who hadn't managed to produce as much as a faint cloud. Sirius had always been top of the class, without putting much effort into it. Now he was at the bottom.
Sirius followed the stream down to the Great Hall, and was hoping to find his friends seated at the table already. However, after searching the table a number of times, he could say for certain that they weren't there. Instead, Sirius walked over to Marlene and Lily, who were talking enthusiastically.
"Hi ladies," he said.
To begin with, they didn't take any notice of him. Then Marlene turned with a sigh and said, "Timing, Black." Unlike Lily, Marlene's lips creased into a smile, although she tried to hide it.
"Oh, was I interrupting something?" Sirius grinned at her irritated face.
"Actually you were," Lily told him. "We were discussing something important."
Sirius shrugged and sat down next to Marlene.
"Did you want to tell us something, or can we go back to our conversation now that you have told us you're here?" Lily glared at him.
"Actually, I was wondering if you'd seen James and the others."
"Not since Defense. I thought they were with you?" Marlene said.
"Nope. I lost them."
"You lost them?" Marlene raised her eyebrows.
"Yes."
"How?"
"I don't know, McKinnon. One minute they were there, the next they weren't. Isn't that normally how you lose things."
"No, that's how things disappear," Lily corrected him.
"Same thing. Well, if you haven't seen them I'll-"
A creak caused Sirius to look over towards the entrance hall. Entering through the door were his three best friends entered, all soaked in water. Sirius laughed.
"Blimey, what happened to you all?" Sirius burst out, once they came walking up the side of the Gryffindor table.
"We got into a fight," Remus said.
"That 6th year Ravenclaw git said she was better than me!" James sounded highly offended.
Sirius knew what was coming,
"She did what?" Lily asked skeptically.
"Said she was better than me."
"And that was the reason you hexed her?"
"I was offended."
"So, you hexed her and then Peeves came and threw water balloons over you?" Sirius asked, mostly to stop the argument about to break out.
"That bloody witch released a freaking tsunami over us…" James said grumpily. Marlene laughed loud and Lily looked like she had just gotten very good news.
"Finally," Lily said in an undertone.
"Come again, Evans?" James smiled.
"I said I will need to dock ten points from Gryffindor for that."
She took her bag and started towards the exit. Marlene followed her, still laughing.
It was long past curfew when Mary crept through the corridors that night. She was carrying her high heeled shoes in one hand to minimize the noise she made. Her feet walked bare on the cold stone floor. Looking around every corner before she turned it was second nature now, since there were always prefects patrolling the corridors. She was just about to walk up the stairs to the third floor when she heard a noise from further down the corridor.
For a moment Mary hesitated, before her curiosity got the better of her and she started towards the sound. It was dead quiet except for the continuous noise, getting louder every step Mary took.
She suddenly realised what she was doing: she was walking unarmed towards something that, for all she knew, could be a Slytherin waiting to attack. She fumbled after her wand only to cut herself on something sharp on the inside of her cardigan pocket.
"Fuck," Mary burst out on reflex, knowing she had now brought attention to herself.
"Mary?" A voice said.
"Dorcas?" Mary asked, not quite believing it. It was late, and nowhere near the Hufflepuff common room. "Are you okay?" She went over and squatted next to her friend. Dorcas cheeks were red and carried traces of tears. "What happened?"
"Ivy…" Dorcas sobbed. "She…she told me to come with her." Mary tried to recall who Ivy was. A Hufflepuff, maybe the year above them?
"Okay. What happened then?" she asked.
"Lucy met us in the entrance hall… and we went here. They…they told me to wait in the classroom while they went to get something," Dorcas continued, fighting against her tears. "When they didn't come back I thought I would go back to the common room, but the door was locked." Tears fell down her cheeks. "I waited for a long time… And then they returned. There were others with them, two blokes and another girl. Th-they came into the room again, one of them took their wand out, and… and the others l-la-laughed. Then there was a sound… and they thought someone was coming, so they ran. They forgot to lock the door."
Mary's hands shook in anger, and she was about to say something when, suddenly, there were voices and footsteps coming towards them. Mary straightened and drew her wand, ready to hex whoever approached them. She had to restrain her impulses when Lily appeared, the tip of her wand glowing, with Remus following close behind.
"Mary, what are you doin-?" Lily's eyes moved from her to Dorcas, still leaned against the wall, and she stopped.
Mary leaned forward and said in an undertone, "something happened. I don't know what, really. She might be hurt, we need to get her out of the hallways."
Lily nodded, "we'll take her to the Gryffindor tower, until we know what's going on," she said.
Mary linked reassuringly as they walked towards Gryffindor tower. The Fat Lady wasn't happy to be waken up, and grumpily asked them why they were out at this time of night. Lily ignored her question and gave her the password.
Dorcas sat cuddled up on the sofa next to Mary, wearing Remus' grey sweater on top of her thin t-shirt. Her head leaned on Mary's shoulder, moving slightly with every small sob.
"I'll go fetch McGonagall," Remus offered, straightening from the wall he'd been leaned against. "Do you need anything else?" '
Dorcas shook her head, and with the promise to be back soon, Remus exited the room.
Lily sat in one of the armchairs; her pale face and worried eyes mirrored Mary's feeling of unease at not knowing what had happened. . Mary didn't know what to say to make anything better, so she sat quietly.
Mary didn't know how much time had passed when suddenly the portrait hole burst open and Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout came dashing in. Remus followed shortly after.
"What's happened?" Professor McGonagall demanded. "Lupin said someone were hurt."
Professor Sprout was over by Dorcas in an instant, and started to examine her.
"I'm okay... they didn't hurt me," Dorcas said quietly.
"Are you sure?" Professor Sprout asked.
"I think you had better go to Madam Pomfrey, and she will examine you," Professor McGonagall said.
"Perhaps that is wise. However, if you're not in any immediate danger, you could all do with a little hot chocolate." Professor Sprout took her wand out and produced four cups of steaming chocolate.
"Now, Pomona, are you sure-" Professor McGonagall pursed her lips at the cups on the table.
"No potion in the world helps sadness quite as effectively as a cup of our house elves' finest chocolate, Minerva."
Mary almost thought McGonagall would snap back, but she didn't.
"Well then, if you've got this handled, Pomona, I will return to my office. There are a pile papers waiting for grading."
Lily and Mary chatted quietly as they drank their chocolate. Remus stirred his spoon round and round, looking at the swirls twisting on the chocolate's surface. Dorcas was still sitting on the sofa with her knees pressed tight against her chest. Professor Sprout had pulled up a wooden chair and was waiting for Dorcas to finish.
For the next quarter of an hour they were quiet, before Lily suggested they'd go to bed.
Mary rose from the sofa and embraced Dorcas in a hug before joining Lily up the stairs to the girls' dorm.
Dorcas stood too but, just before she exited the portrait hole, she she turned and hurried back towards Remus.
"Your sweater." She took it off and held it out for him to take it.
"You can return it later. You'll need it, it's cold."
"I'll just forget it. I always forget things." She pushed the sweater into his arms and hurried back towards the portrait.
It wasn't until later, when he climbed into bed, that Remus made the connection; the name Dorcas had rung a bell with him. In first-year; she'd been full of life, always talked a lot in Herbology. She had laughed and used the garden-tools as a microphone for singing Muggle songs. Over the years, she had disappeared into the crowd of students and until tonight Remus had completely forgotten about her. How could that bubbly person possibly be the same as the small sad creature who had been sitting on the sofa tonight?
He thought about himself. How had he been before Greyback attacked him, before they started moving around until they had lived in so many places Remus was sure some of them were abroad? He couldn't remember a thing from that time. Had he once been as alive and happy as the Dorcas he remembered?
When he fell asleep that night his dreams were haunted by laughing girls transforming to werewolves behind closed doors.
A/N: I'm back again! Didn't take me too long, did it?
Thanks to those who followed and favourited the story! It honestly made my holidays (and took me through this insuffereable cold)
Until next time… mischief managed
/Liz