Chapter 4: Aftermath

When Lily didn't show up for breakfast with her roommates the next morning, James began to worry. He knew that the rumor effected her more than it did him. Even though it was about the two of them, everyone at Hogwarts had already known that he was in love with Lily. James also knew that the truth was embarrassing to her as well. Therefore, he wasn't sure exactly how to approach the situation.

The night before, when Peeves had unleashed the mischievous wrecking ball of a rumor outside the Great Hall, James had been one of the last students to hear it as he strolled lazily out of the feast.

"Prongs," Sirius said, throwing out his hand to stop his friend. "Do you hear that, Mate?

"Hear what?" James replied absentmindedly.

"You didn't get married by any chance did you?" Peter asked.

"Of course not Wormtail, why would you ask that?" James wondered.

It was then that he heard Peeves cackling overhead. James quickly pushed his way through the crowd of students.

"Oi, Peeves!" He yelled up to the pesky poltergeist. "You cut out that nonsense right now or I'll fetch the Bloody Baron."

James knew from experience that the ghost they called the Bloody Baron was the only being at Hogwarts who had any shred of control over Peeves.

"Hehehe, if it isn't Mr. Potty," Peeves snickered. "Where's Wifey, Potty?"

"I don't have a wife, Peeves," James yelled back. "Where do you come up with your ridiculous nonsense anyway?"

Instead of answering, Peeves unleashed a steady stream of dungbombs at James, whose quidditch reflexes took over. He dodged nearly all of them as he ran through the crowd and took off down the corridor. The poltergeist was hooting gleefully with every throw, thinking that he had outsmarted the infamous prankster, James Potter. In reality, James' plan was to run Peeves away from the cluster of meddlesome students, whatever the cost might be. He ran from Peeves for several minutes before he was able to track down the Bloody Baron.

Without another word, Peeves took one look at the blood-stained ghost and vanished through a wall.

Tired, annoyed, and anxious to see Lily, James made his way to the Gryffindor tower.

"There you are," Sirius greeted. He was sitting in the nearly empty common room with his feet up on a table. "You stink like dung, Mate."

"Have you seen Lily?" James asked, ignoring the comment. Scanning the room, he saw almost everyone staring his direction.

"You mean your wife? No, she vanished. But I did see Elise go running up to their dorm. I would guess Lily's up there too."

"Bugger off, Padfoot! You know she's not my wife."

"I don't know Prongs, it seems like there's a lot you're not telling me these days," Sirius replied.

Sighing, James flopped into the open chair next to Sirius. "I'd tell you if I could Padfoot, but for now just believe me that Lily and I aren't married, aren't dating, and probably aren't even talking after all of this."

"Why wouldn't you be talking?" Sirius asked. "What Peeves said wasn't your fault."

"Or was it?" Wren Goldstein interrupted. She stood glaring with her hands on her hips.

"What do you mean, Wren?" James asked, agitatedly. Wren was far from James' favorite person. He saw her as a gossip and a busy-body, and unfortunately as his ex-girlfriend.

"This has you written all over it Potter," she accused.

"What are you trying to say?" Sirius defended. "You think that James somehow persuaded Peeves to sing that stupid song?"

"I don't know, but are you saying that this doesn't sound like something Potter would do? Face it, everyone knows that you would do anything to win over Lily. For example, James, recall the time you serenaded her in front of the entire school?"

Sirius laughed, but his mouth snapped shut when he saw the nasty look his friend was flashing him.

"Or how about the time you refused to score a goal during the house cup game until Lily agreed to go out with you?" Wren continued, determined to prove her point. While it may have seemed like she was trying to defend her friend, Lily, the truth was, Wren had always resented James' undying love for the red-head.

"Enough, Wren. I had nothing to do with Peeves' rumor mongering, so back off."

"Fine, then maybe the rumor really is true," Wren concluded with excitement.

Before James could tell her otherwise, she had scampered off and was whispering intently with sixth year, Hannah Green.

"I hope Lily doesn't blame me for this too!" James said, shrinking into his chair.

When Lily woke up the next morning, she was instantly relieved to see the canopy of her four-poster bed hanging over her head, reminding her she was back at Hogwarts. It wasn't until she sat up that Lily remembered the events that had unfolded the night before. She moaned at the memory.

"Good morning Lily!" Alice said all too cheerfully. "Are you excited for our last ever first day of class?"

"Ugh, it's not the classes I'm thinking about," Lily grumbled. "I'm not exactly excited to face the aftermath of Peeves' stupid rumor."

"Oh, Lily, it will all blow over soon enough," Alice assured her.

"I don't know," Wren added, popping her head out between her bed curtains. "People were pretty interested last night."

"Not helping, Wren," Elise snapped as she rolled out of her bed. "Lily, whatever people are saying, it doesn't matter. You're Head Girl. You're above gossip. You just have to show our busy-body classmates that you don't care what they say."

Lily wished it were true. She wished that she didn't care what other people thought of her. Outwardly she appeared confident and secure in herself, but inwardly, she was terrified of rejection. Right now she stood at a crossroads. She could choose to rise above the rumor by going about life as she otherwise would. Or, Lily could fight against it, doing everything in her power to assure people it wasn't true.

"Earth to Lily," Elise chimed, waving her hand in front of Lily's expressionless face. "You still with us?"

Lily blinked. "Oh. Yeah, I was just trying to decide what to wear today," she lied, returning to her wardrobe.

"Hmm, you were trying to decide which uniform to wear today? Likely story," Elise teased.

Lily pulled out her standard black Hogwarts robes and scowled at her friend.

"Can I give you some advice, Lily?" Wren asked from where she stood in front of the mirror, applying layer upon layer of mascara.

"Do I have a choice?" was Lily's snarky reply.

"I think you should ignore James," Wren said. "If you stay away from him, people will eventually get a clue and realize you are definitely not married."

Elise looked at Lily and rolled her eyes.

"You know what, you're right," Lily began.

"Of course I'm right, this is me we're talking about," Wren said with a pompous grin.

"Actually Wren, I meant Elise was right," Lily explained smugly. "I need to be above this gossip. As Head Girl I need to set a positive example for the rest of the school."

Together the four Gryffindor seventh year girls made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. The corridors were buzzing with excitement as students anticipated the start to a brand new year.

"Miss Evans?"

Lily spun around to see her Transfiguration professor following after her.

"Good morning, Professor," Lily greeted cheerfully.

"And to you, Dear," Professor McGonagall replied warmly. She had always been fond of Lily, who was a great student and a kind girl. "I was wondering if I could have a quick word with you before breakfast."

"Of course, is everything ok?" Lily asked nervously.

"Why don't we step into my classroom for a moment," she suggested, gesturing over her shoulder to the nearest door.

Lily told her friends she would meet them later and followed Professor McGonagall inside.

"I'm glad I ran into you," McGonagall began. "I was hoping I'd also run into Mr. Potter, but you will have to cue him in on our discussion later."

Lily's heart thudded in her chest. What was she referring to? Why did she want to talk to Lily and James? Lily feared the worst, and assumed that even their professors had heard about the rumor from the night before.

"First of all I would like to say congratulations," McGonagall said.

Lily felt herself blushing. "Er-Professor, that's not necessary."

"Nonsense, it is quite an honor to be named Head Girl. To be quite honest, I always thought that you were the perfect choice."

Head Girl, of course! Lily thought to herself. That's what all this is about, not some stupid fake marriage. Wow, I'm being paranoid today.

"Thank you very much, Professor," Lily replied, relief washing over her.

McGonagall proceeded to give Lily a packet of responsibilities and expectations for head students.

"The Headmaster would like to find a time to meet with the both of you later this week, and will expect you to have read this thoroughly."

Lily took the packet and nodded. "Anything else?"

"That is all for now. You better run along and get some breakfast. You've got a big day ahead of you."

"Indeed," Lily agreed. "I will be sure to pass these along to James," she added as an afterthought as she waved goodbye.

James felt unreasonably anxious when Lily pushed her way through the large oak double doors into the Great Hall. For once in his life, he couldn't think of how he should treat her. Should he ignore her? Should he be cordial? Should he act like he hadn't heard the rumor?

"Help," James whimpered to his friends when Lily began walking straight toward him. In their history, that had only ever meant one thing - Lily was pissed. Only this time she wasn't exhibiting the telltale rigid, huffy stomp that James was so used to seeing. No, this time she looked almost pleasant.

"Good morning," Lily greeted as she squeezed onto the bench between James and Elise.

She willed herself to stay calm and ignore everyone who was staring and pointing at her.

"Morning, Lily," Remus, Sirius, and Peter greeted from across the table. James was still busy collecting himself.

"Potter, I brought you something," Lily reached into her bag and pulled out the paperwork that McGonagall had given her. "I bumped into Professor McGonagall this morning, and she asked me to give this to you. We're supposed to read it before our meeting with Dumbledore later this week. Which reminds me, we need to come up with a time that works for both of us to meet with him. How about tomorrow during free period?"

When James didn't answer, Lily looked up from spreading jam on her toast to see him staring at her, a strange look plastered on his face.

"What?" Lily asked, feeling incredibly self-conscious.

"It's just that I thought that... you know... that you would be upset," he stammered.

Lily wasn't sure how to respond. So much for ignoring what had happened. She took a huge bite of toast to buy some time. To Lily's dismay, Hannah Green, who was sitting four people down from her, leaned across the table and caught her eye.

"Congratulations on the marriage, Mrs. Potter," Hannah said, feigning excitement. "And am I mistaken, or is that a baby bump I see under your robes?"

It took every ounce of self control she could muster to remain calm.

"That's enough Hannah," James said firmly. "I'd expect you to know better than to believe a rumor started by Peeves."

"So you're saying it was just a rumor then?" Hannah countered.

"Of course," James replied, losing his patience. "And even if it weren't, Hannah, stop sticking your nose in other people's business. Nobody likes a gossip."

The finality in his tone gave Hannah (and the dozen other students who'd been eavesdropping) no choice but to drop the subject.

"Sorry," James whispered to Lily. "I really have no idea how this all happened."

Looking into his eyes, Lily knew he was telling the truth.

"I believe you."

Those three magic words were all James needed to hear. Never before had Lily chosen to believe him. It had seemed that she always saw the worst in him. Admittedly, he often deserved it, but there were several times when Lily refused to see the good in him despite his best efforts.

As if summoned by the fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach, a gust of wind blew through the hall as dozens of owls cascaded in to find the recipients of their deliveries.

James' owl, Reuben, landed on the table in front of him and began to nibble on Lily's toast. She scratched his head and fed him the scraps of crust off her plate. James untied the letter and rolled-up edition of the Daily Prophet from his leg.

Sirius reached for the newspaper while James tore open the envelope.

"Oi, Prongs?" Sirius said after a few moments. "Isn't this guy a friend of your dad?"

He was brandishing the paper, pointing to an article with a headline that read "MISSING" and a photo of a balding man looking somberly out of the page.

"Yeah, that's Vinny Moore," James said sadly, snatching the paper from Sirius. "My dad used to work with him at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He's missing?"

"Yeah, they make it sound like he just wandered off or something," Sirius scoffed. "How coincidental seeing as there's a mass-murdering maniac on the loose."

"He did not wander off. Moore is an incredible wizard, and he's a threat to Voldemort, which means there is no way this is a coincidence!"

"Indeed, Mr. Potter. Vincent Moore was more important than you even realize," Professor McGonagall interjected sadly, looking over James' shoulder. She had been making her way around the Gryffindor table passing out semester timetables and had overheard their conversation

"What do you mean, Professor?" James asked.

"He was Head of Magical Law Enforcement and the leading supporter of an anti-You-Know-Who movement within the Ministry."

"So you think it was Voldemort then? Not a random disappearance?"

McGonagall's lips pursed. "All I can do is speculate, Mr. Potter."

"Did you know him, Professor?" Lily asked, noticing the sadness in her voice as she spoke of him in the past tense.

McGonagall nodded stiffly. "A long time ago. We used to work together at the Ministry."

"Professor, you said Moore was the leading supporter of an anti-Voldemort-" James began.

"Please stop saying his name!" she scolded.

"Sorry, but if he was leading the movement, what's going to happen now? At the Ministry I mean."

McGonagall pursed her lips. "That's a discussion for another day, Potter. For today, you've got bigger things to worry about. Such as which N.E.W.T. level classes you have on your schedule."

Handing the seventh years their timetables, she continued on down the table without another word. The girls glanced over their schedules eagerly, feeling a bit anxious for the difficult classes they were about to begin. James, on the other hand, couldn't stop thinking about what more McGonagall might know about the mysterious disappearance. He exchanged a meaningful look with the other Marauders, silently communicating a need for more information.

The girls were oblivious to the silent exchange as they compared schedules. Unfortunately they had less classes together than Lily would have liked.

"You're taking advanced Potions too, Lily?" Alice asked.

Lily nodded.

"Frank said that was the hardest class he ever had to take," she divulged. Frank was Alice's boyfriend of three years. He had graduated from Hogwarts the prior spring.

"Lily will do just fine," James said, interrupting their conversation. "She's a whiz at Potions, you know."

Embarrassed and frustrated with James, Lily bit her tongue and held back a fiery retort.

Lily and Alice walked together to Potions, which was their first class of the day. Absentmindedly, Lily threw open the door to the dungeons where class was held. She felt the door collide with something solid.

"I'm sorry!" Lily cried, realizing the solid object was in fact a person. "I didn't see you there."

"Obviously," the person moaned as he hoisted himself from the ground.

Lily groaned. She would have rather run into the blasting end of a blast-ended skrewt than Severus Snape, but there he stood before her.

"Watch where you're going," he said in his slow, articulate drawl.

The dungeon suddenly seemed suffocatingly small. Lily and Severus, who had once been best friends, had an epic falling out during their fifth year. Severus had made it very clear that he did not approve of Lily's blood status, and she made it known that she did not approve of his extremist Slytherin mates. Since then, they had experienced very few interactions.

"Excuse me, Severus, I need to find a seat," she said coldly, trying to shoulder her way past him. He stepped in front of her again, blocking her from passing.

"So I hear that congratulations are in order," Severus droned with a twisted smirk.

Lily was both embarrassed that the news of Peeves' rumor had reached him and furious that he had the audacity to harass her about it.

"Are you sure you want to go there Severus? Because believe me, my patience today has just about run out."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about congratulating you. I meant that you should be congratulating me."

"Oh, yeah? And exactly why is that?" Lily growled.

"Because I was right and you were wrong for five years," Severus said venomously. "I told you that you would eventually become desperate enough to settle for Potter, that arrogant prat, but you always protested. I believe you once told me you would rather die a slow, painful death than date him. Looks like I knew better all along."

"Really Severus? I never expected you to succumb to gossip. Then again, I also never thought you would succumb to chumming with blokes who torture and kill people for being halfbloods like you!" She screamed. In six years, Lily had never before outed Severus for his blood status. Even after their friendship had ended, she knew how dangerous it would be for him if his mates found out he'd been lying about his muggle father.

In an instant, a look of rage flashed across Severus' face, and his arm swung back above his head. Before Lily could even flinch, his arm froze, just inches from her face. Alice gasped behind Lily, but stood stunned as his arm lingered overhead.

"Severus!" Professor Slughorn, the Potions master, roared from behind him, his wand still raised from the freezing spell he had cast. "You will never ever strike a woman, do you hear me?"

Snape looked furious as he stood with his arm frozen above his head. Slughorn, a portly man, waddled over to him.

"I ought to have you suspended for such crude behavior!" Slughorn bellowed, a purplish color rising in his cheeks.

"Professor, with all due respect, I think that Severus was upset, but I don't think he actually meant to hit me," Lily said, unsure why she felt compelled to defend him.

When he was younger, Severus' father had regularly abused him and his mother. Lily had even seen it happen once, through the window of their house. She had never told Severus what she had seen. Perhaps that's why she defended him now. With a childhood spent as the victim of violence, it wasn't surprising that he reacted that way.

"I saw what I saw, Lily, my dear," Slughorn countered. "This boy had no intention of stopping his swing."

The professor studied the boy's smug face.

"One month's detention, Mr. Snape," was his verdict. "And you'll serve it with me in the dungeons. That way I can teach you a thing or two about how to treat a lady."

"Fine," Snape sneered. "Will you please release my arm."

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! I'd love your feedback if you wish to review. Sorry for the wait for this chapter. The next one is written and coming soon!