Alright, chapter five! As always, I don't own Harry Potter, just the OCs you encounter. Reminder this chapter takes place during fifth year!
For the first time in weeks, Ruby felt like she could breathe. OWLs were over, and she could rightfully relax by the lake. Ever since their first year at Hogwarts, the Zeller siblings had an end of year tradition. At first it had just been Jude, Ruby and Amery, but when Zane joined their older brother in Hufflepuff the next year, the four of them always met down by the lake. After Jude graduated and went off to auror training, it had turned into just the three of them. This year though, the youngest Zeller Naomi, a new student to Ravenclaw was joining them for the end of year picnic.
The Gryffindors tended to be a wild bunch, especially with James Potter in their midst, so Ruby never felt bad about spending the last exam day with her siblings knowing that there would be some kind of celebration in the tower later. No matter how much Lily objected. She was a new prefect this year and had tried to use her new powers to reign the Marauders (Ruby still couldn't believe that ridiculous name) in. She even appealed to Remus, who was also wearing a prefect badge this year but her pleas fell on deaf ears. James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were as close as brothers. And as someone who had three brothers, Ruby knew they'd never give each other up.
Orla Zeller made regular care packages for her children off at school (and even for Jude who moved into his own flat) but her end of the year ones were always the best. There was no need for the Zeller kids (i.e. Amery and Roo) to knick food from the kitchens as long as she kept sending packages. They usually converged mid afternoon, and piled their food together. Sometimes Roo invited Lily to join them, who often felt isolated from her own sister. The year before, the Marauders had crashed but with good intentions of bringing more food.
However, being as this was Naomi's first year, she told everyone (except Lily) to bugger off. She didn't need to be scared by the likes of Sirius and James. Peter and Remus were much more mild mannered, but the other two could be over the top. Naomi was much more reserved and skittish than her older siblings.
They were all just about to tuck into some kidney pie when Sirius's bark like laugh floated down to water's edge. Normally she wouldn't think much of it, but it was followed by James' taunting voice. Roo sighed to herself, knowing that the pair of them were probably concocting some unfunny prank. She had known James and Sirius for her entire Hogwarts life, and she knew that they were good guys. They just seemed to overshadow that by being arrogant, pig headed bullies.
When Naomi nudged her in the side with a soft smile, Ruby decided that whatever James and Sirius were up too was none of her business. She ruffled her sister's blonde hair, and had all but turned her back when she heard Lily's voice carry over the small hill. Severus Snape's voice intermixed with hers and before any of her siblings could fix her with a weird look, Ruby jumped up and made way to the commotion. "Be right back." She knew Lily was having some trouble with her slimy friend, and while Roo did not like Snape even a little bit, she wouldn't let Lily get worked up over one of James' stupid idea of a joke.
Honestly, she wasn't sure who was obsessed with Lily more, Snape or James.
She just about reached her red headed friend when she heard it. Mudblood. It was almost enough for Ruby herself to march up to Snape and try to rearrange that big nose of his. She barely heard the exchange between the three of them before Lily turned and booked it back to the castle. James looked upset for a few seconds before turning back to Snape with a vindictive smirk on his face.
"Put him down James. Right now." Ruby called out, drawing her own wand. She couldn't believe they were acting like this, it was the last day for Merlin's sake.
"Bugger off Roo," He snapped, his eyes never leaving Snape who was suspended in mid air.
"I swear James if you do not put him down, you'll be joining him in a second. You are being an idiot." She retorted, moving closer to him. "All of you are." Ruby made a point to give Remus a harsh look, even though he was still pretending to be invested in his book.
"Why do you care? You hate Snape just as much as us." Sirius sneered, angry at his friend for defending the little creep.
"Yeah, but I care about Lily more, and you are upsetting her James. If you really cared about her, you'd stop it. I'm warning you one last time, let Snape down." At this point, a small group of people formed around them, including Amery, Zane and Naomi. It seemed though most were in favor of taking of Snape's pants, which was a sight no one needed to see. James looked like he was considering her before turning his wand back to Severus.
"Levicorpus!" Ruby aimed her spell at James, who shot up in the air by his ankle. Within a second, she deflected whatever Sirius had tried to send her way, and sent him flying up with his friend as well. "I can't believe you." She hissed before turning to Snape and letting him drop to the ground. "And don't you even think of trying to talk to Lily after what you just called her, you slime ball." Ruby fixed Remus and Peter with disapproving glares before turning her back on all of them.
"Sorry to cut it short guys, but I have to find Lily." Amery and Zane both nodded in understanding while Ruby hunched slightly to hug her younger sister. "We'll do something fun when we get home, promise." Naomi looked a little teary eyed but hugged her sister back tightly.
There were plenty of places for Lily to hide, but Roo knew she'd be back up in the tower. There was the guarantee that Snape couldn't come after her, and the stairs offered her reprieve from James, if someone had let him down that is. Ruby tore through the castle, dodging people on the stairs and straight up pushing people out of her way.
"Lily?" She called out quietly to her friend, once she reached the girls dorms. She didn't answer but sniffed in Ruby's general direction. Roo moved across the room, dropping down on the foot of Lily's bed and patting the lumpy blanket. "If it makes you feel any better, I strung James and Sirius up by their ankles for being such wankers."
Lily offered her a quiet chuckle before starting to cry loudly. Although she considered herself a good friend, and a good listener, Ruby was not very good at comforting crying people. So she was very relieved to see Mary, and Willow come rushing through the doors. Mary should become a counselor or something; Ruby thought as she swooped in on Lily and started whispering words of comfort. Willow and Roo kept their distance, both awkward but wanting to be supportive.
Willow moved to her own bed, pulling a surplus of cloth flowers from her trunk and began weaving them into elaborate head bands for each one of the girls. Once Lily's tears had slowed, the blonde took a seat next to her and placed the delicate flower crown on top of her head.
"Thanks Will, it's beautiful." Lily said with a somber smile, as all the girls donned their new head gear. Before anyone else could comment, they heard a voice down the stairs shouting up for Ruby. She was going to ignore it, thinking it was James or Sirius, but she recognized after a minute that it was Amery. She excused herself before trotting down the stairs to face her brother.
"Figured you guys might need this." Amery said, handing over the basket full of food they had planned for their lake side lunch.
"Thanks Am, you're the best." Ruby hugged her brother around the neck with her free arm. "Where are James and Sirius?" Her voice got considerably colder.
"Well, Remus was going to let them down but I thought they needed to hang for a bit." Amery said dismissively, with a sly sort of grin. "I eventually let them down so now they are pissed at you and me." Ruby could have cried, knowing that her brother would always be on her side. "They are still outside though. Snape on the other hand," He looked considerably less happy when he brought up the Slytherin. "He's outside pacing the doorway asking everyone to get Lily for him."
Ruby sighed heavily, "I'll deal with it. Thanks for this Amery, really." She kissed his cheek before darting back up to the girl's dorms where Lily was surrounded by the other girls laughing at the ridiculous designs that Willow had drawn up. "Leftovers from Mrs. Zeller herself. I just gotta pop back down for a minute to deal with something." Before they could question her, Ruby was bounding back down the stairs and out through the portrait hole.
"Get out of here." She called out to Severus who had slunk into the shadows at the sight of her. "Lily doesn't want to talk to you and if you keep creeping around, what James and Sirius did will seem like child's play once I'm done with you." Ruby might have been little, more filled out and adult looking than the previous year, but still tiny, but she could make an imposing figure when she wanted. She pulled herself up to her full height, puffed out her chest a little, and placed her hands on her hips in a scary imitation of her own mother.
"I want to talk to Lily, not you." Severus sneered, taking a step out of the darkened corner.
"I don't care what you want, Snivellus." Ruby bit out. "You humiliated her today, you were only concerned about what your stupid little Purist friends thought about the dirty mudblood coming to your rescue. You only care about yourself." She drew her wand and pointed it in his direction. "If I so much as hear as whisper of you skulking around here anymore, I will perform the best entrail expelling curse you've ever seen." Ruby said nothing else as she turned on her heel and stormed back into the common room.
"Tell her how sorry I am." She heard Snape mutter before the portrait slammed shut.
With a combined effort, the girls kept Lily in good spirits for the rest of the day and night, only leaving the dorm to fetch some pumpkin juice, where unfortunately Lily encountered Snape still lurking outside. Unfortunately, they couldn't stay holed up in there forever as they had the train to board the next morning. With heavy hearts, they packed up their school books, and dragged their trunks down to the common room. From there someone else loaded them on the train for them. Lily took one glance at James and bolted from the common room. Willow and Mary followed suit after fixing James with a scathing look, trying to catch up with and secure a good spot on the train. Ruby lingered behind, telling them that she wanted to catch up with Amery but she really wanted to corner James.
"Don't you even start with me Sirius Black, unless you want me to ignore your letters all summer, bugger off. I'm still mad at you."
"Like I'm not mad at you!" Sirius snorted.
"I don't care if you're mad at me, you were behaving like a bunch of children, and you deserved it." She shoved him out of her way and faced James. "We need to talk."
With a nod, James dismissed his other friends, Remus and Peter both filling out the door with a sheepish smile in Roo's direction and Sirius openly huffing and puffing. With everyone else gone, it left only him, Ruby and a younger students loitering around. "What?" His voice was harsher than what she was used too. James was usually very lively and always friendly so it was strange for Ruby to be regarded like that.
"What happened yesterday was really out of line, James. I think Snape is as much as a wanker as you, but I respect Lily's friendship with him. And if you ever want Lily to fancy you back, you need to get on board with that." She sighed heavily. "Not that it matters, because I don't think they'll be friends anymore. But bullying will not endear you to her, James. It just makes you look like an even bigger prat."
James looked like he was about to argue for a second before frowning and throwing an arm around Ruby and began guiding her out the portrait hole and through the hallways. He was never the type to stay mad for long. "I know Roo, I just don't know what gets into me when she's around." She tried very hard not to roll her eyes at the dreamy note his voice took. "Snivellus doesn't even deserve her friendship-"
"I agree but it doesn't mean you should start hurling him up in the air every time you see him. You just look like an arse. Not saying it excuses him, but according to Lily, his family is pretty messed up. I think you acting like that just reminds her of his parents. I don't think you want that association James. Everyone knows you're a good guy, you just act like a total pig sometimes."
At least there was no one who could say that Ruby Zeller wasn't honest.
The pair walked in silence through the corridors and to the grounds before James spoke again. "Yeah, I guess you're right." James said simply, sighing in defeat.
"I am right James. I love you guys, but Lily is my best friend. I think you'd stand a chance if you grew up a little."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Roo." There was a smile on his face when it said it.
"Anytime James, or what is it that the rest of the guys call you? Prongs."
James definitely grinned at that, ruffling Ruby's hair as they approached the train.
"Yeah Prongs, but that's an exclusive Marauder's only nick name."
"Aren't I an honorary 'Marauders' member yet?" She asked with an eye roll, what a stupid name.
"Nope, sorry. No girls allowed!" James shouted as he dropped his arm from her shoulders and started jogging to catch up with Remus.
"Thanks for talking Ruby. I'll tell Sirius to remove the stick up his arse. He's just mad you got the drop on him."
The day Ruby Zeller stopped rolling her eyes at James would be the day the world stopped spinning.
I was really looking forward to writing this chapter. I had something else planned originally, but I figured a take on Snape's worst memory would be better. I am back on my regular updating schedule! I have chapter six finished for next week and chapter seven (where the flash backs will stop and the story will move forward) started which will hopefully keep me a chapter or two ahead of posting. Chapter six was A LOT of fun to write. If you like fluff, be prepared for lots of it! Please let me know what you think! I love hearing from you.