Chapter 46 Loss

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

A/N: Sorry this has taken so long. Life has been crazy and I went away for Thanksgiving. I also may have been distracted by scared of clouds, J/L fics. You should read them. I will try to update more frequently.

It was Saturday night and James and Lily were relaxing in front of the fire. Lily was lying on the couch with her head in James's lap. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly enjoying the feeling of James's hand in her hair. It had been a busy and stressful week. There had been another large scale attack in Diagon Alley. Several of their schoolmates had lost family members in this attack.

The Death Eaters promised that more attacks were imminent if the Minister for Magic did not step down immediately. Several of their classmates had been pulled out of school by worried parents. Lily couldn't understand how their parents could believe that they were in any more danger at Hogwarts than at home. In fact, given that Dumbledore was supposed to be the only one Voldemort feared, they were probably safer at Hogwarts than anywhere else.

In addition to the growing terror around them the amount of homework they were receiving had reached epic proportions. The fact that it was now entirely review was of little comfort. Lily frequently found herself reading questions and having to look up spells and information from the first half of her years at Hogwarts. Lily was amazed by the amount of knowledge that they had amassed in seven years.

"I got a letter from Petunia," Lily said quietly breaking the comfortable silence.

"Really?" James asked.

"Well, sort of. Mum sent me one and there was a section from Petunia."

"What did she have to say?" James asked curiously.

"She wants us to have dinner with her and Vernon over the Easter Holidays," Lily said. "I get the feeling that mum is making her."

"Do you want to?" James asked cautiously.

"It would be nice to try," Lily said. "It's been a long time since Petunia has willingly done anything to try and repair our relationship."

"Well, let's do it then," James said. "I'd love to meet this Vernon bloke."

"You will be nice?" Lily asked nervously.

"Of course, Love," James said grinning.

James knew that it bothered Lily that she and Petunia didn't get along. James didn't really understand how Petunia could dislike her sister just because they were different. It reminded him of Voldemort and his followers' attitude towards Muggle-borns.

"Thank you," Lily said smiling up at him.

"Anything for you, Love," James said stroking Lily's cheek softly.

Lily smiled and leaned her face into his hand.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too."

"What are you boys planning to do tonight?" Lily asked.

"Not sure yet," James said. "I'll be sure to take an appropriate number of points from us. Don't worry," James said grinning cheekily.

Lily laughed, "You are ridiculous. At least try and not get caught."

"Please, Love," James whispered rolling his eyes. "We have an invisibility cloak and The Map, how could we possibly get caught."

"How do you get that big head of yours under the cloak?" Lily asked grinning cheekily.

James looked at Lily and grinned deviously. Lily tried to scramble out of his lap but she wasn't fast enough. James held her fast with one hand and with the other began to tickle her.

"James," Lily gasped laughing hysterically. "James. Gah."

"You can't escape," James said grinning.

Lily continued to squirm, trying to escape his grasp.

"Apologize," James said grinning impishly.

"I. I," Lily tried but she was now laughing so hard she was having trouble forming words.

"I'm sorr, sorr," Lily gasped between giggles.

"Honestly, you two. Can't you find a nice quiet broom cupboard or abandoned tower?" Sirius asked cheekily as he, Remus, and Peter walked over, having just entered the Common Room.

James stopped tickling Lily but didn't release her.

"Padfoot, don't make me hex you," James said.

James turned back to Lily, "Now I believe there was something you wanted to say."

"Was there?" Lily asked smirking.

James raised his hand and wiggled his fingers threateningly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Lily said laughing despite the fact that James hadn't even touched her yet.

"You two are disgusting," Sirius said rolling his eyes.

"You're just jealous," James said.

"Not bloody likely," Sirius replied. "Are you ready?"

"Huh?" James replied.

"To go marauding?" Sirius said in exasperation.

"Oh, of course," James replied. "You guys have the stuff?"

Remus patted the bag he had slung over his shoulder.

"Excellent!" James replied. "I'll see you in the morning, Love," James said and he leaned over and gave Lily a lingering kiss.

"Come on, lover boy, let's get going," Sirius said grabbing the back of his robes and dragging him towards the portrait hole.

Lily laughed at the boys antics.

"And where are you four going at this hour?" the Fat Lady asked as the boys climbed out of the portrait hole. "The Head Boy and a Prefect, sneaking out at night. Shouldn't you be setting a better example?"

"Don't worry, we won't get caught," Sirius told her smiling. "And we know we can trust you to keep our secret," he said flashing her his most charming smile.

"Of course," the Fat Lady blushed.

"What do you say we go to the kitchens first?" Peter asked.

"Sounds like the start of an excellent evening, Wormy," James declared. "Is the coast clear, Moony?" he asked glancing at his friend.

Remus pulled out the Marauders' Map and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

He checked the map. "Filch is in his office. Peeves is bouncing around in the trophy room. The Prefects on patrol are way up by the North Tower…" Remus trailed off.

"What is it, Moony?" Peter asked.

"Nothing," Remus said but Sirius snatched the map out of his hands.

"Oh, look, Snivellus," Sirius said grinning. "I wonder what he's up to?"

"Let's go find out," Peter said looking over Sirius's should at the map.

"It doesn't look like he's up to anything," Remus said in a resigned voice.

"As Head Boy and a seventh year Prefect it is our duty to check out all suspicious activity, Moony," James said grinning.

"We're out after hours sneaking around the castle, too, you know," Remus pointed out.

"Yes, but we are not greasy, Voldemort loving, gits," James countered. "We'll go under the cloak. He won't see us."

"We don't all fit," Remus argued.

"Padfoot and I will go. You and Wormtail can keep a lookout," James said.

Remus sighed but did not argue any further with his friends.

The four boys headed down to the dungeons, walking quietly, despite the fact that they knew there was no one around. When they neared the corridor they knew Snape was in they stopped and James held his hand out to Remus for the cloak that was stored in his bag.

James and Sirius slipped under the cloak and crept down toward the corridor where Shape was. They rounded a corner and had to quickly flatten themselves against the wall to avoid colliding with him.

Sirius looked up at James with a devious expression on his face. James pointed his wand at Snape and suddenly Snape's arms and legs snapped together and he keeled over backwards. Working hard to suppress their laughter Sirius led the way back down the corridor to where Remus and Peter were hiding. James glanced at Snape as they passed. His eyes were moving furiously in their sockets trying to see who had cursed him.

When they reached Remus and Peter, James pulled the cloak off. As soon as they were free of the cloak Sirius burst out laughing. James joined in, leaning his arm on Sirius's shoulder for support.

"That was brilliant, mate," Sirius gasped. "I bet no one finds him until morning."

"What did you do?" Peter asked grinning.

"Put him in a full body bind," James said grinning.

"I'd have thought you'd rather have lost your taste for that particular jinx," Remus said crossing his arms and looking pointedly at James.

"This is so not the same. I would never," James said a hint of defensiveness in his voice. "He's not hurt."

"Relax, Moony, it's all in good fun," Sirius said. "Let's go to the kitchens. I'm feeling a bit peckish."

Remus sighed but followed his friends without further protest.

"Where to next?" Sirius asked as the boys exited the kitchen an hour later.

"How about back to your dormitory where you belong?" the voice of Filch wheezed behind them.

All four boys jumped and spun around. James hid the map that they had neglected to check before leaving the kitchen behind his back. Filch was standing there with Ms. Norris glaring at them from between his legs.

"The Head Boy and a Prefect. I would have expected better if it was anyone else but you two," Filch said nastily. "What's that you have behind your back," he added pointing at James.

"Nothing," James lied easily.

"Well, you won't mind showing it to me then," Filch said greasily.

James felt, more than heard, someone's wand tap the map and a quiet whisper that he hoped was the password.

"It's just a spare bit of parchment," James said.

"Give it here," Filch demanded holding out his hand.

Hesitantly, James brought the map out from behind his back and was relieved to see that it was blank. They had spent years working on it. Filch snatched it out of his hand.

"If it's just a spare bit of parchment then you won't mind if I keep it," Filch said.

"Um, well I was going to write my Potion's essay on it," James said lamely.

"I'm certain that you can afford to simply get another, Mr. Potter," Filch said pocketing it.

"Now, I think a visit to your Head of House is in order. Don't you," Filch asked smiling.

The four boys looked at each other. While they couldn't stand Filch, he was infinitely preferable to Professor McGonagall at the moment. James was fairly certain that she would not be at all pleased to find out that they had been caught, out of bounds, at night.

"Well, let's go," Filch said. "I dare say you know the way."

"Mr. Filch, it's eleven o'clock at night. What is going on?" Professor McGonagall asked as she entered her office.

"I found these four leaving the kitchen," Filch replied pointing with his thumb at the boys behind him.

Professor McGonagall looked at them, her eyes narrowing and her mouth becoming dangerously thin.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black, Mr. Pettigrew, what do you have to say for yourselves?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"We fancied a snack," Sirius replied.

James groaned internally. Now was not the time to be cheeky. They were in trouble enough.

"I also found Mr. Snape in one of the corridors of the dungeons' in a full body bind," Filch added.

'Shit,' James thought. Though how Filch could ever prove that they were the ones that had hexed Snape he didn't know.

"Really," said Professor McGonagall, her mouth getting even thinner. "Did he see who did it?"

"No, Ma'am but he said he could have sworn he heard Mr. Potter and Mr. Black laughing somewhere in the vicinity," Filch replied.

"Snape would make up anything just to get us in trouble," Sirius retorted.

"Be that as it may, you were still out of bounds and out after hours. I should be able to expect better from four seventh year students. Especially you two," she said looking at James and Remus. "A Prefect and the Head Boy."

They both hung their heads.

"A week's detention for all three of you," she said.

"Come on, Professor," Sirius groaned.

"Don't argue or I shall make it two," she said warningly.

Sirius promptly shut up.

"And let's see, Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew, I think we'll make it fifteen points apiece."

Sirius and Peter both groaned. James exchanged a nervous glance with Remus. If she was taking that many from them what was she going to take from him and Remus?

"Mr. Lupin, as a Prefect I think we'll make it thirty," Professor McGonagall continued.

James saw Remus wince and the color drain from his face. So far they were down sixty points.

"And Mr. Potter, you are Head Boy. I should be able to expect better from you," Professor McGonagall said giving him a look of the utmost disapproval. "I don't think I have ever been more disappointed in a Head student from my house. Fifty points, Mr. Potter."

James opened his mouth to protest but Professor McGonagall silenced him with a look.

"I shall escort the four of you back to the Gryffindor Common room to ensure that you don't get lost on the way," she said and the boys didn't dare argue.

"Shit," James declared as he slammed the door to their dormitory behind him.

"Bloody hell," Sirius added.

"I told you to leave Snape alone," Remus growled at them. "But no, you two didn't want to listen."

"Oh, come on, Moony," Sirius started.

"No, he's right," James snapped.

"Come on, Prongs, he deserved it. The greasy git," Sirius argued.

"No, it was stupid and careless. If we'd have just left him be we probably wouldn't have gotten caught," James shot back.

"One hundred ten points," Peter groaned.

"That's mostly my fault," James sighed. "You two only lost thirty points total."

"Now, to be fair, my thirty points doesn't help matters. You and I lost together lost more than double what they lost," Remus reasoned.

"Slytherin, is ahead of us in points now," Peter moaned. "We were only fifty points ahead of them."

"Unless, Slughorn deducts points for Snape being out of bounds," Sirius said. "I mean, it's only fair, he was."

"Yes, but unfortunately the only way to prove that would be to admit that I put the jinx on him. And I don't think that would go over well with McGonagall," James grumbled. "He can just claim that it happened right before curfew and that he couldn't return to his common room."

"Git," Sirius grumbled. "What is it with him and getting us in trouble anyway?"

"No idea," James shrugged.

"You'd think he'd have learned," Sirius grumbled.

James glared at him. "I'm pretty sure all he learned from that was to hate us more," James said angrily.

"James, let it go," Remus said quietly.

James sighed, "I'm going to bed. Maybe when we wake up we'll find that this whole thing was a bad dream."

"I can't believe Filch took the map," Peter added.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Sirius groaned. "All that work, just down the drain."

James sighed as he pulled on his pajamas.

Lily entered the common room the next morning with Katie and Marlene and was slightly disappointed, but not surprised, to not find James waiting for her. She figured they must have been out late doing, whatever it was they were doing.

"Do you want to wait for James," Marlene asked.

"No," Lily said. "They're probably having a lie in. Who knows how late they were out last night."

As they walked down the stairs into the Entrance Hall they saw a rather large crowd of Gryffindors gathered around the hourglasses that held the House Points

"What's going on?" Lily asked. "What is everyone looking at?"

"No idea," Katie replied.

Marlene shrugged.

"Slytherin is in the lead," Mary said emerging from the crowd.

"How?" Lily asked. "We were ahead by at least fifty points last night."

"Yeah, well, we seem to be down more than one hundred this morning," Mary grumbled.

"What?!" the three girls exclaimed.

"How?" Katie asked looking at Lily.

"How am I supposed to know?" Lily asked.

"Well, you're the Head Girl," Marlene said.

"That doesn't give me psychic powers," Lily retorted. "I've been here as long as you have."

Lily had barely sat down when she heard someone calling her name.

"Hey, Evans, do you know what happened to all our points?" Davidson, the Gryffindor Seeker called.

"I've no idea. Why do people keep asking me?" Lily asked glaring.

"Well, you're Head Girl, so I figured if anyone would know, it would be you," Davidson replied.

"Well, sorry to disappoint by I have no idea," Lily replied. "I had nothing to do with it."

After the fifth person came up to her to ask about Gryffindor's missing points Lily threw down her fork.

"I've no idea how we lost all those points," she yelled to the table at large. "I wasn't the one who took them!"

Then she picked up her fork and returned to her eggs. No one bothered her after that.

When she and her friends were finished they headed back up to the Common Room.

Lily climbed through the Portrait Hole and spotted James sitting on the couch in front of the fire. The other three Marauders were occupying chairs around the fire.

"Hey, there," Lily said leaning over the back of the couch and giving James a kiss.

She pulled back quickly when he didn't respond and gave him a concerned look. It was not like James to not kiss her back. He just stared at the fire. She glanced at the other three boys and then looked at Katie and Marlene, both of whom looked just as confused as she felt.

"James?" Lily asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Why didn't he kiss her back? What was going on? Everything had been fine when he'd left last night.

"James," Lily said again, her concern evident now. "What's wrong?"

James took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Did you see the hour glass?" he asked cringing.

"Yes," Lily said hesitantly. "I've only had a half dozen people ask me about it. Do you know what happened?" she asked dreading the answer she knew was coming.

James nodded and resumed staring at the fire.

"Filch caught us," he said slowly.

"How?" Lily asked incredulously. They had an invisibility cloak and the Marauders' Map. How could they have possibly been caught?

"We were careless," James said slowly. "We didn't even bother to check and make sure the coast was clear before we left the kitchens."

Lily closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She could hex all four of them right now. How could they be so careless?

"It was you four who lost all those points?!" Marlene exclaimed.

"Keep it down, woman!" Sirius hissed.

"Hush, Padfoot," James snapped.

"To be fair, Padfoot and Wormtail only lost fifteen points apiece," Remus said.

"So you and Remus each lost forty points?" Katie asked in surprise.

"No," James grumbled. "McGonagall took thirty points from Remus and fifty from me."

"That doesn't seem fair," Katie said.

"Well, as Remus is a Prefect and I'm Head Boy she seemed to feel that she should deduct points accordingly," James replied pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Don't forget the week of detention we each got," Peter added.

"That still seems a bit extreme," Lily said. "What were you doing when Filch caught you?"

"Leaving the kitchens," Remus said.

"And she took one hundred and ten points?" Lily said. "I mean, I know you were out after curfew and technically out of bounds, but it's not like you were doing anything too horrible."

The four boys exchanged a glance which unfortunately for them did not go unnoticed by Lily.

"What are you leaving out?" she asked folding her arms.

"Well, Filch may have been tipped off to our presence by Snape," James said staring at his lap.

"How did Snape know you were out? And even if he did wouldn't he have had to have been out after curfew to catch you?" she asked.

"Well, yes, but seeing as we weren't about to tell McGonagall that, it hardly matters," James said. "As it would have required admitting that we had seen him. And he didn't see us, so."

"And how did he know you were out past curfew if he didn't see you?" Lily asked.

Katie and Marlene both gave her a slightly curious look. Lily pretended not to notice. She'd promised not to tell anyone about James's invisibility cloak.

"It's possible he heard us laughing," James said quietly.

"Do I want to know?" Lily asked with a sigh.

"Probably not," James said. "But I'm sure you'll hear about it eventually anyway. So I might as well be the one to tell you."

Lily glared at him.

"We," James hesitated. "No, I put a body bind on him and we just kind of left him in the corridor. He couldn't prove it was us because he didn't see us. But I'm not sure McGonagall bought our denial either."

"Clearly," Lily said angrily.

"Hey, Lily, James," Mary called as she and Abby entered the Common Room followed by Roger from the Gryffindor Quidditch team. "Do either of you know where all our points went?"

Lily gave an exasperated sigh. "Why don't you explain," she said glaring at James. "I'm going to go to the Library and do some homework."

"Lily," James said in a strained voice.

"Not right now," she said. "I just need some space, okay."

She turned and went up the stairs to the girls' dormitory to get her homework. When she came back down the four boys were still sitting around the fire looking morose. She also noticed Roger over in a far corner whispering with several other people looking mutinous and casting dark glances over at the four boys. And they weren't the only ones. So apparently James and his friends had told Mary, Abby, and Roger the truth.

She saw James look in her direction but she turned away pointedly and headed towards the portrait hole.

She found a secluded table in the back of the stacks in the Library and threw her stuff down on the table. She couldn't believe him. How could he have been so stupid? She knew that he and Snape still hexed each other when they thought she couldn't see. She wasn't stupid after all. From what she understood Snape was just as guilty as James in that regard. And she knew James well enough to know that he wasn't going to miss an opportunity to hex Snape before Snape could get him. And considering that Snape's hexes tended to be a lot more sinister than James's she honestly preferred him to get Snape before Snape got him.

But to just hex him and leave him abandoned in a deserted corridor in the middle of the night. That was just asking for trouble. Even if Snape hadn't heard them laughing he would have accused James and Sirius. He hated them, James in particular. So why would James be so stupid?

Lily sighed and pulled out her notes. She really needed to start studying. She had hoped to have James to help her with Transfiguration but she needed to be away from him for a while. She didn't want to fight with him and if she tried to talk to him right now a fight was inevitable.

Several hours later Lily didn't feel like she had retained much from her study session but she was feeling marginally calmer. She cleaned up her notes and her revision questions and decided to drop her things off in her dormitory before heading off to lunch. When she arrived in the Common Room he didn't see James or any of their friends and assumed they must have already headed off to lunch.

When she arrived in the Great Hall she quickly spotted Katie and Marlene sitting with Mary and Abby and headed over.

"Hi," she said sliding into the empty seat next to Katie.

"Lily, there you are," Marlene said. "Have you been in the Library all this time?"

"Yeah," Lily said. "I just needed to be alone and calm down a bit. Have you seen James?"

"As far as we know they're hiding up in their dorm," Katie said.

"Cowards," Mary added.

"On a scale of one to ten how hacked off is everyone at them?" Lily asked curiously.

"Oh, about a thirteen I'd say," Katie replied.

"They've lost us loads of points over the years," Marlene said. "But never this many this close to the end of the year. And now Slytherin is probably going to win the House Cup."

"They were royally stupid," Lily agreed. "How far behind are we now? I didn't think to look."

"Well, we're only in third place. We're sixty points behind Slytherin and thirty points behind Ravenclaw but we're ten points ahead of Hufflepuff," Mary answered.

"But there's still time," Abby said. "We've got two months to go. If we win by a large enough margin at Quidditch and those boys use their brains for good in class. And maybe if you lay it on really thick with Slughorn."

Lily laughed, "Even I can't make up that many points, no matter how thick I lay it on Slughorn."

"Oh, come on, he adores you," Mary laughed. "And you're graduating soon. You should be able to at least squeeze twenty or thirty points out of him between now and the Leaving Feast."

"Maybe if I tell him that I suddenly wish I was in his house," Lily said thoughtfully.

The other girls laughed.

"Oh, that would get him," Katie agreed. "You might be able to get thirty points right there. Just tell him you've realized that Slytherin is clearly the best house and you wish you could go back to first year and beg the Sorting Hat to make you a Slytherin."

"But don't tell James or Sirius beforehand because I'd really like to see the look on their faces," Marlene laughed. "They deserve it after losing all those points."

Lily laughed, "I'm not sure Professor Slughorn would buy that. I can't be too obvious that I'm looking for points."

"Speaking of the boys have they eaten at all today?" Lily asked.

Lily entered Gryffindor Tower a little while later and headed over to the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

"Hey, Evans, you know that's the boys' dorm don't you?" Davidson called from his corner of the room.

Lily looked at him and rolled her eyes before proceeding up the spiral staircase. She stopped when she reached the Marauders' door and took a deep breath before knocking loudly.

"What the bloody hell do you want?" Sirius shouted as he answered the door. He stopped short when he realized it was her. "Oh, it's you," he said grumpily.

"Well, fine then. I won't give you any of these sandwiches if that's how you're going to be," Lily quipped.

Sirius looked at the plate of sandwiches and grinned. "Have I told you lately how fantastic you are? I'd kiss you if I didn't think James would hex me."

Lily snorted. "Thanks. I think. Can I come in?"

"Of course, you have sandwiches," Sirius said stepping back and ushering her in.

Lily walked in and looked over at James who was lying on his bed.

"Hi," he said running his hand nervously through his hair.

"Hi," Lily said. "I thought you boys might be hungry so I brought sandwiches."

"Thanks, Lily," Remus said.

"Yeah, I'm starving," Peter said.

"So have you been hiding out in here all morning?" Lily asked.

"Heck of a lot safe here than we'd be out there," Sirius replied. "The whole house is hacked off at us."

"Yeah, I'd noticed," Lily said a slight edge in her voice. "Must have something to do with you sending us from first to third place in the House Cup."

"Yeah…" James said.

"But you don't hate us," Sirius said. "You brought sandwiches."

"These are pity sandwiches," Lily replied. "But no, I don't hate you. Mind you I'm inclined to turn a blind eye to anyone who hexes you at the moment."

"Look," James said. "We know we were stupid and careless. We deserved to get caught. We didn't even think about consulting the map before we left the kitchens. And we're really sorry that we lost Gryffindor the lead in the House Cup. I'm pretty sure no one feels worse about it than us."

Lily put the plate of sandwiches down on Remus's side table and walked over to James. She flopped down on his bed next to him and took his hand.

"I just don't understand how you could be so stupid as to hex Snape and in the middle of a deserted corridor after hours," Lily said. "I mean even if he hadn't heard you laughing you had to have known he would just assume it was you. He always assumes it's you four. Or you really," she turned to look at James. "I really don't understand what it is about you that he hates so much."

"Well, our first encounter on the train wasn't ever going to lead to us being best friends," James said fairly.

Lily smiled faintly at the memory. "To be fair he was just as rude to you as you were to him."

"True," James agreed.

James rolled over on his side and propped himself up on his elbow so he was facing Lily. He flicked his wand and a sandwich flew off the plate and zoomed into his outstretched hand. He took a bite and gave Lily a thoughtful look as he chewed.

"We should have just listened to you, Moony," he said after he swallowed. "Would have saved us a whole lot of trouble."

"I could have tried harder," Remus said.

"Please, like we would have listened to you," Sirius said. "You know what idiots we are."

"You'd think I'd have learned after seven years," Remus said.

James finished his sandwich and looked at Lily.

"Do you want to go for a walk, Love?" he asked rubbing her stomach absentmindedly with his hand. "I could really do with getting out of the castle."

"Sure," Lily replied smiling.

"See you guys later," James said grabbing Lily's hand and leading the way out of their dormitory and down the staircase.

A/N: Yes I know Filch is a Squib. I'm functioning on the assumption that he got someone to lift the jinx from Snape. I was going to make this chapter longer but I figured that you have waited long enough for an update. So I am just going to make it two chapters.