Plot: The Marauders and their female counterparts, the Rogues, have been sworn enemies since first year. Seventh year means the big finale of their timeless battle - but it also means newfound maturity. Could this bring something more for Lily and her friends?
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its characters and themes are the property of J.K. Rowling. The only characters I own are Jamie, Hannah, Regan and a few minors. Other than that it's purely fanfic.
Chapter Notes: Yeah, so... it took a little longer than I anticipated. But I think I'm getting better at updating, little by little. I actually made a massive sacrifice to get this chapter done tonight - I have an exam tomorrow and I should really be studying. But hey, it's an English exam. I think this counts as studying. Or at least some very off-topic practice. Anyway, here we have Chapter Twenty, and I don't know about you but I think that's a major milestone. I may be less than a month into the story timeline-wise, but I've set a new personal record where word count is concerned. Anyway, enjoy the celebratory chapter - complete with a couple of big-ish events/confessions/revelations and a tongue-twister title!
QUICK NOTE: I forgot to mention - a HUGE thank you goes to HorseandArtFreak for encouraging me to get this chapter going. We've been having a rather interesting conversation about a... er... particularly terrible series, and her messages really got me pumped to write this story. And another shout out for RainbowCrystal, who deserves an award for persistent nagging. Thanks a heap to everyone who's reviewed as well - I can't believe some of the amazing things you've said about this story. Without your reviews TMATR would be nothing. (I'm not implying, of course, that this story is something. It's just better than it would be without your reviews. Um... yes. My point: you all rock!)
Chapter Twenty - Midnight Mischief Managed
"Where are those idiots?"
"They'd better hurry up, I'm freezing my butt off here!"
"Freezing? It's bloody boiling out here."
"That's because you're wearing twice your weight in robes, Regan."
"Oh yeah? And whose fault is that?"
"Well, I don't remember dressing you by force, so..."
Lily rolled her eyes and turned away from her friends' tennis match of an argument with a shiver. Like Regan, she'd bundled up for the pending, er, events of the night – but in a more strategic manner, with smaller, thinner garments and easily-removed bits of jewelery here and there. It didn't create quite the same marshmallow effect as Regan's attire, but she hoped it would do the trick.
It was rapidly approaching half past eight, and still the Marauders hadn't showed. She wondered if they would come at all. Under any normal circumstances, they probably wouldn't (at least, not by any conventional means – they'd set booby traps for their return, lock the Rogues out of the school for the night, or, more conniving yet, sneak up in the dark and cast some sort of body-defacing hex on them all). But this time, they – James and Remus, at least – seemed hell-bent on protecting whatever secret it was they were trying to hide – the secret that the Rogues had gained near-access to. Lily came to the conclusion that they were probably just running late. The Marauders never were famous for their punctuality.
She glanced over at Jamie, who was sitting hunched on a rock by the lake, gazing thoughtfully across the dark water. She looked so upset, so torn, that Lily crossed the distance between the two of them and sat next to her friend on the damp boulder. Sighing, she folded her arms for warmth and watched her breath unfurl in misty spirals on the crisp air.
"You look like you're having the time of your life," she said to Jamie, who still hadn't looked up from the lake. When her friend didn't respond, except to shift her gaze to her knees and bite her bottom lip, Lily went on. "You know, you did the right thing. Back there, I mean. With Frank."
Jamie's face fell a little as she turned to make eye contact with Lily. "I'm not so sure I did," she said very quietly.
Lily's brow creased. She spoke gently. "Of course you did, Jay. There was no use lying to him." A sudden thought occurred to her. "Wait – you did tell him the truth, right?"
Jamie's expression wavered for a brief moment, and she paused as if unsure how to respond, but then she said, "Yes, of course," and Lily exhaled in relief.
"He needed to know, trust me. And..." She hesitated, considering how to phrase her next bit of friendly advice, so as not to sound too pushy. "Now you're free to work on that other somebody."
Jamie's face went as blank as a clean slate board as she turned to look at the water again. Lily thought she caught a faint trace of anger in her friend's eyes, and wondered what she'd said to set her off.
"What, Jamie?" she inquired.
"Remus... he doesn't like me."
"What? How can you be so sure of that?"
Jamie sighed in exasperation. "Lily, he started a shouting match with me when I tried to confront him. He hasn't even spoken to me since. I don't know what else to think, except that he's trying to tell me he doesn't feel the same way but just can't figure out how to do it. It's obvious, and very simple, really. I've moved on."
Lily wanted to shake Jamie, to slap some sense back into her, to scream and tell her there was no way any of that was true, but she stopped herself for two reasons – one, she became aware of the fact that, in rooting for Jamie and Remus, she was really wishing desperately that there could be hope for her and James; two, she heard several deep voices from behind her. Upon twisting her torso around, she saw four all-too-familiar figures striding down the hill toward them, silhouetted dramatically in the moonlight.
"Come on, Jay, they're here," Lily muttered, getting to her feet. She and Jamie hurried to join Hannah and Regan, who were standing stoically at the base of the hill in preparation for a showdown with the Marauders. Lily's heart gave an excited little leap as it always did when confronted with the prospect of competition – though she wondered if, this time, it might have something to do with a certain black-haired boy walking toward her, hair disheveled, dressed casually in jeans and a grey t-shirt that somehow clung to his every muscle despite its bagginess.
"Rogues," Sirius acknowledged in a deep voice as the four boys came face to face with their foes.
"Marauders." Hannah nodded, her face stiff.
No one spoke for a moment or two, perhaps afraid to break the tension in the air. Puns aside, they were all being intensely serious as they stood facing each other. In fact, Lily didn't remember when they'd last been this businesslike since their biggest duel back in fourth year (Regan had summoned Peter's clothes while he was in the shower and tossed them into the Common Room fire, and it turned out the Marauders could actually be quite protective of their lump of a friend; they'd announced a four-on-four duel). James caught Lily's eye briefly before looking quickly away without so much as a smile.
Peter sneezed. At that moment, apparently, James deemed it safe to speak. "So what is it this time? Another game of hex-and-run? Or, Merlin forbid, have you called us here for a rematch – you know we won that duel fair and square."
"Bet they want to shove Veritaserum down our throats," Sirius said venomously. As soon as he said it, he must have thought he'd given them an idea or something, because his face became ever so slightly fearful.
Reminded of that painful night in the Heads' Room, Hannah glared furiously at him, her eyes filled with fire.
"Actually," she spat, "we thought we'd try something a little different tonight." She exchanged a glance with the other three Rogues (it was clearly intended for dramatic effect, but Regan still looked as if she might scream out in protest to what Hannah was about to say). "Lily, the table, if you please."
Lily nodded and slipped out her wand. She pointed it at a few decent sized rocks on the water's edge and spoke the incantation, "Planus saxum." Before their eyes, the rocks began to flatten and, with a little more spellwork, took the form of a low table on the dirt between them. As Lily stowed her wand away, Hannah fished out a small box from her pocket and knelt at the newly constructed table.
"Um... okay," Sirius said, baffled. "Not to sound all McGonagall or anything, but what is the meaning of this?"
He did sound like McGonagall, and for that Hannah fixed him with a mocking glare. Turning back to the task at hand, she opened the box and pull out a deck of misshapen cards. They were different from Muggle cards, Lily noticed as Hannah began to shuffle them – instead of the usual aces, spades, diamonds and hearts, these cards featured the four animals of the Hogwarts house crests: a red lion, a yellow badger, a sapphire eagle and a hissing green snake. The only other difference, apart from the thicker, rougher material from which they were made, was that the numbers were written in roman numerals, so Lily figured the game should be easy enough to comprehend.
"You know the drill," Hannah said without emotion, mindlessly shuffling the deck over and over. "We'll go with Gryffindor rules – red's the power suit, twos are wild cards, both halves of Godric take all. You get Salazar, automatic loss." Hands moving so fast they were but a blur in the partial darkness, she dealt eight hands before looking up at the others. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
Sirius's face held a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "I knew you had a few problems, Milton, but I never thought gambling was one of them. You can get help for that, you know."
Hannah's consequent glare was about twelve times colder than the wintry atmosphere. "I know it's hard, but at least try not to be an idiot. It's strip poker, Black. Maybe you're familiar with it? I seem to recall you bringing it up when we all met, back in first year. You and your flirtatious ways." She shook her head and sneered. Sirius just narrowed his eyes at her.
"Strip poker?" Peter whined. "But I'm not wearing any underw- OW!"
Sirius, who had just pinched Wormtail's shoulder, nodded curtly at the Rogues. "You're on. But expect to show some major skin, ladies, because I never lose at my own game." He lowered himself to his knees by the table, and the others, somewhat grudgingly, followed. The smirk never left Hannah's face as the rest of the Rogues crouched beside her.
"I wouldn't be so cocky, Black. We're leaving our fate up to the cards." As she said this, she slipped Lily an inconspicuous wink, which was the cue they'd arranged ahead of time. As Hannah went on to further explain the rules of the game (Peter not only looked terrified but utterly lost as well), Lily snuck out her wand and muttered the spells needed to tip the game just a little in their favour – not enough for anybody to take notice, hopefully, but enough to keep them safely out of the embarrassment zone.
"Right," Hannah began, when they'd all turned over their hands. "If one of us wins the hand, we pick a Marauder to take the blow. If you guys – by some miracle – win, you pick one of us. Get it?"
The Marauders nodded slowly while exchanging suspicious glances.
Hannah's eyes suddenly lit up with a new idea. "And you know what, I've got another rule to throw in. If somebody gets both halves of Godric, they can elect somebody from the other team to jump in the lake after undressing."
"It just keeps getting better," James muttered to Remus before they launched into play.
Lily, having very little experience with the game, tried to keep her best poker face on. She started out with three nines (red, blue and yellow) and a couple of fives. She was relieved to see her spell was working, but at the same time worried that the Marauders might somehow have gotten in on their extra luck. With her level of poker skill, the emotions were probably flitting obviously across her face as she peered over her cards.
"I'll raise you one piece of clothing," Hannah challenged, her poker face enviously set. Sirius, across the table, didn't so much as hesitate.
"Done," he said.
"Wait your turn," Hannah hissed savagely, turning to Jamie. "You first, Jay."
"Uh, call, I guess?"
"Lily?"
"I'll... call."
They carried on around the circle until Peter had folded, Remus and James had matched the bet and Sirius had raised it.
"Raise you one," he announced determinedly, staring Hannah down. "I told you I wasn't backing down that easily."
Hannah shrugged indifferently without meeting his eyes. "Suit yourself. But don't say I didn't warn you."
When the bet settled on three garments, Lily opted for a quick escape and folded as soon as she got the chance. Hannah rolled her eyes, but Lily stood by her decision, knowing she'd rather be safe than sorry. Hannah, Regan, Sirius, Jamie and Remus remained in the game and were getting ready to reveal their hands.
"Alright, go," Hannah said. "Why don't you start, Black? Just to get your pathetic hand over with."
Sirius's jaw was set as he narrowed his eyes. "I don't like your attitude, Milton."
"Well then we're even. Now go!" she insisted.
"Fine." He dramatically laid out his hand on the stone table. "Four sevens, if you count the wild card," he said triumphantly, leaning back. "You'd better start unclasping your robes, Milton."
"You must be in heaven," Hannah practically growled; Lily could have sworn she saw a bit of a blush on the blonde's cheeks, but it was difficult to tell in the frail moonlight.
"I've got a straight," Regan said as she put down her cards, causing Hannah to practically howl with glee.
"HA! What did I tell you? Shot down already. What happened to 'I never lose at my own game'?"
Sirius wasn't happy with this at all. His chest rose rapidly up and down in fury as he stared at Regan's near-perfect hand on the table. "Shut it. Remus is still in the game. If he wins, you're still going down."
Lily's attention shifted to Remus, but his face wasn't revealing any secrets. She'd have to wait and see whether or not her spell had truly worked.
Hannah dropped her cards casually onto the table and said, "Full house."
"Four tens," Jamie muttered.
They all turned to Remus, who finally glanced up from his cards with blank eyes. He stared at all of them in turn, making the round very slowly, until his gaze landed on Lily; it was filled with something almost like accusation, and her heart jumped. Had she been found out?
But then he tossed down a four, a three, a six, a goblin and a wizard (Lily assumed these were the equivalents of Jacks and Kings), and said, "I've got nothing. Bad luck, Padfoot."
Sirius let out a groan of frustration. "Great! Just great! Why would you even stay in the game with a hand like that, Moony?"
Remus's gaze flickered over to Lily's again, and she looked away instantly. "It's called bluffing you moron. And besides, it's not like it would have changed anything if I'd folded."
Sirius just sighed dejectedly in response as Hannah initiated a hushed commute with the other Rogues. "You all know who I vote for," she said evilly. "Lupin hardly deserves it."
"Agreed," said Lily, and was echoed by Regan and Jamie (although the latter did hesitate infinitesimally).
"Black, we pick you." The pride was blatant in Hannah's voice as she announced their decision, but Sirius's tone was nothing but pure acid.
"Of course you would." Lily thought he would protest, unwilling to accept his loss, but he barely paused before tearing off his cloak and throwing it to the ground. "There. Happy now? I'm telling you, this is all you'll be seeing. Enjoy it while it lasts."
"Oh trust me," Hannah said with a wink. "I'm enjoying every moment of this – watching Sirius Black get beaten at his own game by a bunch of girls..."
The game progressed slowly as the bets became more daring. Lily was cautious, folding if her hand wasn't guaranteed to save her; Sirius, on the other hand, played ruthlessly. Even when dealt a dud, he wouldn't give in, lest his dignity be injured. Hannah clearly got a hoot out of watching him falter with each round; his determined expression, his cocky smirk, and then his face screwing up with anger every time one of the Rogues knocked him down. By the end of five rounds, good old Padfoot was down to pyjama shorts and a skimpy white undershirt. He didn't look at all embarrassed, though Lily suspected it was only his tough exterior prevailing. James had lost his cloak, but only because Regan suggested they expand their target for a bit.
"This is just ridiculous," Sirius finally exclaimed. "How is that you haven't lost a single round? Are the cards rigged or something? You know what? I bet they are. That's just the sort of dirty trick you four would pull." He glared accusingly at them all while Remus muttered something to his knees. "What was that, Moony?" he asked. Remus simply shook his head dismissively.
"I'm boooooored," Peter whined from his spot next to James.
"That's because you've folded at the beginning of every round, dipshit," Regan said dully, playing with the ends of her hair. Peter's face fell at the insult, but Regan continued to look bored.
Next round, Peter didn't fold; in fact, he stayed in the game right till the very end, when only Hannah, Regan and Sirius remained. Needless to say, he ended up ditching five layers of clothing. This left him shirtless, clad only in a pair of fuchsia boxers and cringing in humiliation. He ran off and cowered behind a tree.
"Right, well, I guess that means Wormtail's out," James assessed with a raise of his eyebrows. They all turned to look at Peter slumped against a tall oak, but nobody bothered to get up and go after him. With a shrug, Remus dealt out the next round.
The others raised the bet to three, but when it came back around to Remus's turn, he did something totally unexpected. And stupid.
"I'll raise you seven."
Sirius was on too much of a roll to notice. "Call, yeah, whatever... wait, WHAT?"
"Seven," Moony repeated clearly. His poker face was impeccable – there was no hope in the world of reading it.
"I don't even have seven things left on me!" Sirius yelled out in exasperation.
"Consider yourself in debt," Hannah said with a pleasant smile.
Sirius growled, and, after what appeared to be a lengthy, very agonising internal debate, he finally folded.
Hannah smirked. "Wimp."
"Shut up."
"Tut tut, Black. You ought to show more respect to your superiors."
"Superiors, my ass," he spat, leaning backward and distancing himself from the table.
James whistled brusquely. "Oi, lovebirds. Are we getting on with the game or what?"
"Yeah," said Hannah, recovering quickly and resuming her poker stance. "Forget about him."
"Fold," Regan said bitterly, throwing her cards at the table with great force. Hannah called, convinced that the Rogues held the winning cards as usual, and Jamie and Lily folded just to be safe. Come to think of it, Lily's hand this time was notably poor – two fours and a piece of Helga Hufflepuff. She was sure, though, that Hannah's cards were much better. Otherwise there was no way she'd be so confident... right?
"Call," said James. Lily looked up at him, confused. Why in the world wouldn't he fold with the stakes set so high? The Marauders' luck was rock bottom and still dwindling. And yet he and Remus stayed in the game, peering with identical, unfaltering gazes over their cards.
The bet settled at ten, they began to lay down their cards. Hannah had five of a kind (thanks to a wildcard) and flashed it ostentatiously before their eyes before laying it down. Lily breathed a sigh of relief and was reassured that her spell was still in full swing.
And then Remus laid down a flush. Hannah's eyes widened to an impossible size, Remus looked smug, and Sirius let out a jubilant whoop. "YES! YES! YES!" he cried, elated. "Serves you right, filthy cheat!"
"Wow, you know, I can't believe how excited you are to see me naked," Hannah retorted bitterly. She fiddled uneasily with the clasp on her cloak before turning to James. "Wait, what about Potter? Show us your hand, so we know you guys haven't duplicated the cards or something."
James stared at her with a funny expression in his eyes. "Well, if you say so..." Slowly, in a very tension-building maneuver, James turned over his hand. Lily saw the faces of two glossy scarlet cards and gasped. Godric. Both halves.
"DAMN IT!" Hannah cried, her fingers entangled in her hair with frustration. "How could that have happened?"
"Just our luck, I suppose," James said with a shrug. He couldn't stop that cute little smirk of his from tugging at the corner of his lips, and Lily caught her heart performing a weird sort of flip-flop at the sight even though she knew this malevolence was aimed at her best friend.
"Whatever." Hannah coughed, stood up and began to take off her cloak. "One," she proclaimed as she dropped it to the ground in a dark heap. She pulled her turquoise sweater over her head. "Two." One shoe came off next, followed by the other, and then both socks. "Three, four, five, six." Hannah slipped the elastic out of her ponytail and let her blonde locks tumble down over her shoulders. "Seven."
"Hey, that's not a real piece of clothing!" Sirius complained.
"Hold your horses, Black. I've still got three to go." Next came her jeans, and then her long-sleeved shirt. "Eight, nine." That left a skimpy pair of white pyjama shorts and a red t-shirt, and under that, of course, only underwear. Lily's heart caught in her throat – she knew Hannah should have been more careful and piled on the layers like the other Rogues had, but she had too much faith in their cheating tactics. She had too much faith in Lily. Now she was being punished because Lily, who was now filled with guilt, watching Hannah prepare for ultimate humiliation, hadn't been able to cast a sufficiently durable spell.
"Right then." Hannah sighed and began to remove her t-shirt. Lily glanced at Sirius, who was practically ogling as the bane of his existence undressed before him, and then at James, who was hardly paying attention. This gave her an odd sort of satisfaction; one that she couldn't explain, that nearly made her cheeks turn red as she tried to quash it with other thoughts. Hannah pulled the shirt over her head, revealing a lightly tanned stomach and a lacy black bra. "Ten," she said finally, folding her arms across her front. Her voice took on a grumbling tone. "Are we done now?"
Sirius gulped and nodded very quickly, still staring at her as though his eyeballs were glued in that position in their sockets. Hannah, naturally, took notice of this straightaway. She planted her hands firmly on her hips. "You know, for somebody who frequently tells me how ugly I am, you're drooling an awful lot.
Sirius snapped out of it and turned away, a strange expression on his features. He said nothing.
Hannah picked up her t-shirt, but Remus cut her off.
"Wait," he said suddenly. Hannah looked confused; Jamie snapped to full attention and looked suspicious at the attention Remus was giving to her half-naked friend. "What about the rule?"
"What rule?" Hannah asked, totally oblivious.
"You clearly said at the beginning that, should somebody win with both halves of Gryffindor, they could elect someone from the other team to jump in the lake."
Hannah froze, and her face became irritated. "Oh come on, I've already been put through enough trouble, don't you think?" She gestured at the small amount she was wearing.
"Not enough to make up for the trouble you caused," Remus stated. He made an eye gesture at the cards. "Cheating, Rogues? I knew you played dirty, but this game is supposed to be played fair and square. I have to hand it to you, Lily – that was a nice bit of charm work. Damn near impossible to reverse."
"You... you reversed it?" she stuttered dumbly.
Remus nodded. "Sorry. But the tables had to turn eventually."
"I choose Milton," Sirius called out without turning fully around. His voice squeaked as he said, "To jump in the lake, I mean."
"Well, whoop-dee-doo," Hannah said sarcastically. She turned on her heel and walked swiftly over to the edge of the lake. It was a bit of a drop from here, and the water was the perfect depth; deep enough for a jump, but shallow enough not to be too dangerous. Hannah inhaled and exhaled slowly. "I'll bet this is freezing," she muttered more to herself than anyone else. Lily felt another pang of guilt as Hannah readied herself for the jump.
It hit her then, as Hannah stood under the stronger beams of moonlight, just how different her friend looked. She looked somehow thinner, almost unhealthy; her ribs were almost sticking out under her skin, and her arms had lost a considerable about of substance. There also seemed to be a larger gap between her thighs than normal, and Lily could almost make out two pale lines on the side of one of her hips, but she figured it was probably just a trick of the light.
"I can't believe you're making me do this," Hannah whimpered, taking one step closer to the edge of the lake. Nobody said anything, and then Hannah giggled and ran forward. "CANNON BALL!" she screamed, flinging herself upward in a high arc and into the water with a splash. While the others stood there, perplexed, Hannah resurfaced and laughed. "You're all freaks. That was hardly even a punishment, actually. It's quite nice in here."
"Oh, really?" Sirius challenged, speaking for the first time since James's miracle win.
"Yes. In fact, I dare you to jump in. It'd probably do you some good – you know, recover what reputation you have left as a man..."
Sirius needed no more encouragement; a split second and he was at the edge of the lake. Another, and he sprang off and plunged into the water. His dark head came up a couple feet from Hannah's, coughing and sputtering. "You bitch, you LIED!" he bellowed, shaking water from his hair. "This is bloody FREEZING!"
"Told you you were a wimp," Hannah replied casually as she swam toward the rocky bank and began to pull herself out of the water.
Five minutes later both Hannah and Sirius were back on solid ground and everyone was dressed again. Peter had needed some coaxing to come out from behind the tree, but eventually he was persuaded (Lily heard James telling him "Come on, Wormtail, Regan's so staring at you right now", and thought that might have played a minor role in his emerging from hiding).
"So," Remus said, after handing his cloak off to a pleading Sirius, "are you done with us now?"
Lily was about to breathe a sigh of relief at the notion of this evening's events being over when Hannah stepped in and said, "Nice try, oh-wise-one. I'm afraid that didn't quite meet the mark for what we had in mind."
James, hands stuffed in pockets, rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah? I think you're just bitter because you lost to us and now you haven't had the chance to take advantage of the circumstances."
Lily thought he was probably right, but one look at Hannah's face made her rethink that judgement. She was torn somewhere between livid and embarrassed, her face wavering between the two emotions, her eyes narrowed at the Marauders.
"You may be right, Potter, but we're not giving up without a fight. We've still got the blackmail material, remember?"
James's expression darkened at this. "How could I forget?" he muttered, angling his body away from the Rogues and retreating from the conversation.
"Well, make up your minds soon," Sirius grumbled, "'cause it's got to be minus a billion out here." He shivered.
"Aww, how cute, Hogwarts' 'heartthrob' is acting like a five-year-old girl," Hannah cooed.
Sirius scowled. "Say that again, Milton, and this five-year-old girl is going to rip your ugly head off."
Hannah flinched ever so slightly at the comment but carried on as normal, scoffing at his threat. "You'd never hit a girl," she spat, taking a confident step forward. "You don't have the guts."
Remus cut in. "You two, I don't think this is-"
"Oh yeah?" Sirius challenged indignantly, ignoring his friend's intervention. "Well since you certainly don't act like a girl, I think I can make an exception."
Hannah only smirked, apparently positive this was an argument she couldn't lose. "Black, just because the girls you date – if you can call it dating – are total pushovers doesn't mean that's how every girl has to act." She narrowed her eyes and adopted a firm stance before him. "And go ahead," she hissed. "I dare you."
Sirius stood motionless, his face illustrating the indecision in his mind. One of his fists clenched, but Lily couldn't tell whether it was in preparation for a swing or a simple gesture of fury. A moment later he unclenched it, exhaled, and turned away from Hannah shaking his head.
"Well, since Black here is obviously a total pansy, I think we've found our next game," Hannah declared, speaking to the others now.
"Which is...?" Regan questioned in a bored tone. She was slowly picking apart a pinecone and throwing the pieces at Peter, who didn't seem to notice.
"Dare," Hannah said loudly. "The other half of Truth or Dare. You eavesdroppers might recall hearing that somewhere before." She glared at the Marauders; Sirius glared back, James and Remus exchanged an almost guilty glance, and Peter looked confused.
"I don't remember hearing it."
"Pete," James urged, "you were right in front of the peephole when they brought it up."
"Oh."
Hearing James speak so casually of that fateful night made Lily's stomach twist, and no matter how hard she tried to suppress the negative reminiscence, it didn't work.
"I think that's a great idea, Hannah," she said, stepping forward. She wasn't sure what made her do it; maybe the sudden memory, or maybe the fact that she was half-frozen and barely awake. That might do it. The others seemed surprised to hear her speak, but she held her ground, smirking. "And no Imperiusing us, boys."
"Are you suggesting we're involved with dark magic?" Sirius joked, sounding hurt. "Evans, I'm offended."
Lily shrugged. "Just gotta cover all our bases. Like Potter said before, evil takes a certain degree of intelligence, and I can't say any of you even come close to the cut-off mark."
"Spoken like a true McGonagall, dear Evans," Sirius commented with a curt bow.
"Okay, okay, enough dilly-dally," Hannah cut in, sounding annoyed. "So who wants to go first?"
After a quick round of "Spin the Wand" (Regan volunteered Peter's wand for the deed), Jamie was appointed the first worthy recipient of a dare. While Jamie fiddled nervously with one of her sleeves and begged Hannah to demand a re-spin, the Marauders huddled a few metres away to decide her fate. After a minute or two, they returned – three with anticipatory smirks on their moonlit faces and one bearing a frown. Remus didn't look happy at all, though not it wasn't in a "Why me?" sort of way. It seemed more like concern for somebody else.
"Alright," Sirius announced, "we've got it." He shot James and the other Marauders a scheming glance and turned back to the Rogues. "It's your lucky day, little Miss Love – Moony here has agreed to be your personal punching bag."
Remus folded his arms sullenly as if to contrast Sirius's "agreed" statement. He shot Jamie an apologetic look, but she just averted her eyes, looking entirely disbelieving.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" Sirius urged with all his usual impatience.
"Er...," Jamie began, "what exactly do you want me to do?"
"Land a nice right hook on our friend here. Preferably to the face, but you can choose."
Jamie looked uncomfortable and made no move to accept the dare, so Lily stepped in in her defense. "Look, guys, she clearly doesn't want to do it, so can't you come up with something a little more... civil?"
"Ah, but is not general incivility the very essence of love?"
Lily snorted, her eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. "You read Muggle literature? I must admit, Black, that's rather pathetic."
Sirius scratched his head. "Literature? Actually, Bertha Jorkins screamed it at me... right before she tried to pick a fight over the pattern on my socks and then insisted we were meant to be together."
Lily smiled a bemused smile. "Nice. Real nice."
"Back to the point," Hannah interrupted. "Are you guys gonna choose a new dare for Jamie or not?"
"Absolutely not," Sirius said shrilly, sounding offended.
James shrugged and translated. "Padfoot says they have 'issues to sort out'."
"Fine, I'll do it," Jamie suddenly piped up. The others turned to look at her in surprise as she moved gradually toward where Remus was standing.
"Are you sure, Jay, 'cause they're not being very fair about this...," Hannah told her.
"A dare's a dare," Jamie justified with a tiny shrug. She stepped up right in front of Remus, looked at him for a few seconds, and then swung her arm back. The blow was quick, almost too quick to see, but everyone saw Remus hunch over in pain after Jamie's fist hit his cheekbone. Somebody – Lily couldn't tell who it was – gave a gasp; it could have been Hannah, Peter, or even Lily herself. She was too transfixed with what had just happened to pay much attention. That punch had clearly been more than just obligation – it was filled with actually feeling. What was going on between those two? Jamie had been quite secretive lately, and she'd oftentimes been acting strangely. But this? This was totally out of character.
"Sorry," Jamie muttered quietly, turning and whisking quickly back into the ranks of the Rogues. Her voice was so blank that Lily wondered if she actually did harbour any regrets for the punch at all.
"Okaaaaaaaaaay," Sirius said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between the two groups. "Uh, shall we spin again?"
Another spin of Peter's abused wand chose its owner as the next candidate, and Regan practically danced for joy at this. The Rogues congregated away from the Marauders and began to contemplate suitable dares. It was rather difficult – they knew that pretty much anything at all would embarrass Peter, but for that reason Hannah and Regan deemed most of the suggested dares "not fun enough". Finally, Hannah gave a gasp so loud that the Marauders glanced over worriedly at them.
"I've got it!" she whispered excitedly. "What if we let him pick the thing he most wants to do?"
Regan's voice turned very dull. "And why would we grant Pettigrew that luxury?"
"Don't you get it? By letting him pick a dare, we find out what it is he really wants to do... Trust me, it can work."
"Sure," Regan said, crossing her arms, "but I'm telling you, it's a waste of a very valuable dare."
They joined the group back by the lake and Hannah delivered their verdict. "We've decided to let Mr Pettigrew choose his own dare." She grinned conspiratorially. "Whatever it is he most wants to do."
"Are you serious?" Sirius scoffed. When Regan opened her mouth to comment, he snapped, "That pun is SO not funny anymore, Tain." Regan just shrugged and resumed her blasé stance, while Sirius broke into a disbelieving laugh.
"Don't be so immature, Black. It's our decision and you can make what you want of it. Now quit stalling and get to it."
Sirius shrugged, amused, and turned to Peter. "So, Pete, you lucky man, what's it to be?"
It turned out that, if Sirius had been stalling with his incredulity, Peter was aiming to keep this little game going into the early hours of the morning. He stood in deep thought, pondering the ideal dare. Regan groaned, yawned, and slumped down against the base of a large tree with her eyes shut. Lily spent this time watching James out of the corner of her eye, comfortable to do so under the night's dark cloak. He didn't appear to be paying attention to the hushed conversation between Remus and Sirius; instead, he was staring across the Black Lake with blank eyes as if he wasn't really seeing anything there. Lily had to admit, he looked pretty cute when he was deep in thought (unlike Peter, who looked like a constipated flobberworm). With his eyes narrowed, shoulders hunched slightly forward, bedraggled hair blowing in the wind...
James's eyes locked onto hers, and she promptly turned away. As she waited for her burning cheeks to cool down, she mentally kicked herself for acting so awkwardly. She'd never had trouble speaking very directly to James Potter in all her six years and some at Hogwarts. Why should she avoid his gaze now?
Peter suddenly made a bizarre noise, like a deranged horse or a a pig caught in a lawnmower. He sounded pained, but when Lily glanced over at him she saw that he was, in fact, very excited. He smiled as if he'd just had the world's greatest epiphany, and motioned for Sirius to come closer. Sirius obeyed and leaned down as Peter whispered something in his ear. The taller boy's eyes grew to almost three times their normal size as he listened, his mouth dropping open in stupefaction.
"Er, alright mate, if you say so...," he whispered a little too loudly. Sirius stood up and collected himself. His face took on a devious expression while the Rogues looked on in confusion. "Wormy here wants us to choose his dare for him... and uh... we dare him to kiss Tain! Er... on the lips!" His tone was altogether unconvincing, partly because he sounded so uninspired but mostly thanks to the enthusiastic nodding Peter was doing in the background.
One of Regan's eyes snapped open. "Tell me that was a bad dream," she said stonily, glaring daggers at all four Marauders.
"You heard it right," Lily mumbled, feeling incredibly sorry for her friend.
Regan threw her head back against the tree trunk in displeasure. There were several sharp intakes of breath at the same time; she did it with such force that it looked very, very painful. Regan, however, did nothing but stand up slowly and growl, "The entire universe is against me."
As Regan shuffled forward, the others formed circles around her and an ecstatic Peter. Comparatively, the look on her face was one of pure abhorrence, as if in this instant she were in the very depths of hell.
"Alright, Pettigrew, get this blasted thing over with," she spat in irritation. "And if you dare make any more moves – I'm warning you – you'll be off to the Hospital Wing in a miniskirt with broccoli sprouting out of your ears."
Peter gulped and nodded an intimidated nod, but eagerly stepped forward to close the distance between them. Regan closed her eyes and stood still; Peter stretched up on his tip-toes craned his neck, as Regan was considerably taller than him. His mouth formed a stupid, skewed sort of K shape as he puckered his lips and moved in for the kill. He missed the first time because he was trying to close his eyes to make it more dramatic, but finally he found his target. Regan's face screwed up in agony but Peter looked as blissful as Dumbledore surrounded by Muggle sweets. He put his hands on her face and kissed her passionately, meriting no response of course, but satisfied all the same. When he finally pulled away, Regan stumbled backwards and started coughing and wiping at her mouth with the sleeve of her robes.
"Ugh! Ugh! UGH!" she shouted. "The deal was LIPS, not TONGUE – you MORON!"
Peter didn't seem to notice her outraged cries; he stepped backward with one foot at a time, thoroughly dazed. He might as well have floated away on a cloud.
"Uh, Earth to Wormy," Remus said, waving a hand in front of Peter's face. "You're about to get totally maimed. Might be a fair idea to run for cover about now."
Snapping halfway back to his senses, Peter took Remus's advice and hid behind his friends while the Rogues attempted to calm Regan down.
"Regan, it's alright. It's over now. You don't have to do it again," Jame consoled, holding one of the brunette's arms steady as she fidgeted, getting ready to take a run at Peter.
Regan's teeth clenched. "I highly disapprove of acting like such a sissy, but I NEED MOUTHWASH NOW!"
"Alright, alright. We'll head back to the castle and get you some," Lily offered.
"Wait," whispered Hannah. She gestured at the Marauders. "They're still winning. We can't leave now!"
Lily sighed, rolling her eyes. "Look, it's only going to get worse from here. We should probably just pull out while we still can."
Hannah looked indecisive for a second or two before she exhaled and gave in. "All right. But We can't let them think they've won just yet."
"Oi! What are you two whispering about?" Sirius called suspiciously over to them.
"What insufferable gits you are," Hannah replied easily, turning to face the Marauders. "We're gonna call it a night, but don't get cocky – you haven't seen the last of us yet."
"No, we don't have that kind of luck," Remus said with a roll of his tired eyes.
"Ah, but someday we will, my friend," Sirius remarked, giving Remus a pat on the shoulder.
"Aww," Hannah said sweetly, "Poor ickle Marauders. So delusional..."
"In your dreams, Milton."
"Oh, you wish you had a part in my dreams. I'm afraid those are limited to people I actually respect."
"Whatever."
"Right, um, we should head back to our dormitories," Lily interrupted, gesturing at Regan in all her furiousness, and at Peter, who still looked like he was on hallucinogens of some variety.
"Lily's right," James agreed. "It's getting late and the longer we stay out the more we risk getting caught by Filch... or whoever happens to spot us from the windows."
With that in mind they all started to migrate in the direction of the school entrance, mind you, in a somewhat distorted procession; Regan walked far ahead of the others, keen to get to that mouthwash, while Jamie and Hannah were several paces behind her. Lily's legs were so stiff, and her toes so cold, that she found herself walking at the very back of the group, behind the Marauders.
To her surprise, James fell back from the group and began to walk beside her.
"Hey, um... Lily?" he asked hesitantly, his hands deep in his pockets.
"Mmm?" Lily responded with chattering teeth.
James paused a moment and got that thoughtful expression on his face again that was so- wait. Lily stopped herself before her cheeks could go red again and tried to concentrate on whatever James was about to say.
"About what you guys saw last night... well, I know technically you have the right to tell the whole school if you want to, but I think it would be best if you kept quiet."
Lily regarded him quizzically. So that was what he'd been worrying about. But... why? What could be so big that he had to actually confront her personally to stop it getting out?
"Look, I know it's not really fair," he went on when Lily stayed quiet, "but... what we were doing last night, it's far more serious than this... 'war' or whatever it is that's going on between the eight of us. It's not my place to elaborate on the details, but do you think you could... you know... ask Hannah to let this one slide?" He looked at her with such pleading, such worry in his eyes that Lily just nodded without giving it a second thought.
"Yeah, sure," she said. "I'll do what I can." She thought for a moment. "And I'm pretty sure Hannah won't argue with me... we've been a bit touchy since we had a little falling out a while back."
James looked at her with concern. "You two had a fight?"
Lily lowered her head. "It wasn't anything huge... I sort of half stuck up for Sirius after that whole chocolate incident and she bit my head off for it, and- wait, why am I telling you all this?"
He just laughed, apparently enjoying her little rant. "Beats me," he said. Then his voice took on a more serious tone. "And, er, by the way, Lily... that agreement we made earlier, about not asking each other any questions..."
"About the Room of Requirement. Right."
"Well, since you aren't going to tell anybody about the whole Whomping Willow thing, I think it's only fair if we keep our mouths shut about whatever the hell you four were doing in that room. I mean, it's not like I'm not curious or anything, but..."
"It's none of your business," Lily said, though her voice was teasing, and she said it with a smile. "But yeah... thanks. I appreciate that. I'm sure Hannah – and the others – will, too."
James grinned. "Well, I guess that's settled, then."
"Yup."
"And Sirius is looking at me weirdly, so I'd probably better go explain myself." He gave an apologetic shrug. "You okay to walk by yourself?"
"I've only been doing it since I was two," Lily retorted sarcastically. James laughed and offered a little wave before jogging off to catch up with the Marauders.
For some reason, Lily couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She breathed in deeply and let the frigid night air fill her lungs in attempt to stop her heart from beating so fast, but it hardly worked at all. Instead, she decided to stop and reflect. It was only then that she realised what she'd just done. She'd just had a meaningful private talk with James Potter – and, not to mention, she hadn't ripped his throat out in the process. On top of that, she'd made a secret agreement with James Potter. Worst of all, she had a stupid, dopey smile on her face. Because of James Potter.
And yet, no matter how hard she tried to wipe it away, it stayed firmly in place until she fell asleep that night.
A/N: I know. I fail at chapter endings. But I had to end that one there or it would have gone on for at least three more pages, I think, and I decided it was better just to upload now and save whatever else I have to say for the next chapter. Speaking of that next chapter... yes... well... er, my schedule is a little tight for the next two weeks. I have five exams and therefore a rather Everest-like mountain of study to do. Knowing me, however, there may be a chapter in the works or even uploaded by this Friday, because I'm such a procrastinator. Don't get your hopes up, but it's possible.
Oh, and I'm truly insulted that nobody played my little page break guessing game in the last chapter. (Yes, I know. It's dorky. But that's just me.) As a reward, there was a grand total of ZERO page breaks in this chapter, because clearly, you're all no fun at all. (I'm kidding, of course. Feel free to disregard my pathetic guessing game.)
~Sam (PrincessEarth)