Chapter Three
September the First, Nineteen Hundred Seventy-Four
"Were you kidding?" James said, shutting the door to the compartment once all of them had settled into their usual spot on the train. "What you said in the owls you sent us?"
"No, I meant it - I almost didn't come back this term," Remus admitted carefully, feeling rather terrible with the way his friends were looking at him. After a great deal of thought, he had decided to write them all over the summer about a secret he had been keeping for a good while; they were already growing suspicious about the fact that he was always going to visit his grandmother, as he had always used as an excuse. "It's just been worse lately and I don't think it's safe -"
"What are you talking about?" Peter asked, wrinkling his nose and squinting in confusion. "I never got an owl -"
"He's a werewolf, Peter," Sirius groaned in exasperation - and at that moment, they heard an obviously feminine yelp outside the door. Pushing it open, they found, alone, a very surprised looking Davie. Remus and James glared briefly at Sirius for his lack of discretion - which in all honesty was nothing new - then turned back to Davie.
"Are we going to have to wipe her memory?" Peter asked, picking up his wand, a movement to which Sirius was the first to respond.
"If you try to do it, Peter," he snorted, swatting the wand away, "Maddux's brains will be poured all over the floor. Didn't you nearly fail Charms last year?"
"Only nearly!"
"Where's Lily?' James asked suddenly - the other boys rolled their eyes at the fact that James could be so easily distracted, but he didn't even notice their expressions, very much set on obtaining information from the girl just in case they did decide to wipe her memory. "You're always with her on the train, where'd she go off to this time?"
"She's a few cars down with Severus, he didn't seem to want me eavesdropping. Never does like me listening in when they're talking," Davie huffed tiredly. "But that's where they are -"
"Lovely," Sirius said, crossing his arms - James was unable to respond, seething with absolute jealousy at the news that Lily was off in a compartment with Snape. He would certainly pay later. "Now that you've regaled us with that lovely story, I'm afraid -"
"I can help!" Davie said, holding her hands up as though she were being arrested. "I - I think I have an idea." She moved over and sat inside the compartment, even without invitation, shutting the door again with her wand. Remus couldn't even look at her, until she prodded him with her elbow. "I'm not gonna tell anyone, Remus," she said good-naturedly. "But - Lily convinced me to do some reading over the summer. We're learning about werewolves this year -"
"Brilliant, I'll be sure to have perfect marks on that essay -"
"- and the bite of a werewolf only has transformational qualities in humans," Davie pointed out matter-of-factly. "So if you could be accompanied by - well, non-humans, you wouldn't have to be alone. What if you became Animagi?"
"Davie," James, said, crossing his arms. "Your parents work at the Ministry too, you know as well as I do that if people see a bunch of teenagers signed up as Animagi -"
"Honestly," Davie huffed. "What kind of troublemaker are you supposed to be? You don't really need to tell anyone you've done it!"
"That's dangerous," Remus pointed out hesitantly, but the other boys found the idea brilliant and set their minds immediately to figure out how it was done. Over the months that followed, they often sent Remus to Davie with questions, or concerns over whether or not she thought they may have botched something. Sirius, in particular, would often have trouble hiding the fact that her was unable to get rid of the tail when he practiced changing back, to which Davie would laugh - away from Lily, of course. Davie admitted to herself, it felt good for once to know something that Lily didn't. As highly as she regarded her best friend, Davie often felt as though she was never quite as good.
By midyear, just after the Christmas holidays, however, Remus was happy to report that the Marauders had been successful and finally would be able to accompany him during his transformations. From that point onward, Davie would make a point to watch them at least part of the time form the window as they ran across the grounds toward the Whomping Willow in the Animagi forms. Oddly enough, she found herself more worried about Sirius than the others; she chalked it up to being because he was clearly more reckless than the others, not out of any sort of preference or affection. The idea of affection toward Sirius Black was laughable.
Apart from their monthly excursions, however, the boys' nightly romps to Hogsmeade continued without even Davie's knowledge, as did the mysterious and intermittent appearance of parcels of fudge for Davie in the mornings. She strolled into the common room, snacking with particular satisfaction one day.
"Whoever sends me these must be a real gentleman," she laughed to Lily, who by now had come to terms with the fact that her friend was not in fact being poisoned and had lightened up about the entire situation. Davie glanced pointedly at Sirius with a deceptive grin. "You could learn from this bloke."
A pained expression flickered onto his face as Davie turned away.
February Twelfth, Nineteen Hundred Seventy-Five
"A boyfriend!" Lily said in a surprised voice - Davie had half the mind to clap a hand over her friend's mouth, as they were sitting in the middle of the common room. She had been taking great precaution to whisper, and Lily had gone and tossed it all out the window. "You have a -"
"Had! And I'm whispering for a reason, Lily," Davie snapped, raising her eyebrows urgently. "Romnic Digby - and we've only just broken up -"
"You've only just broken up!" Lily said in a scandalized tone. "And you went about this whole thing without me even knowing! You've been seeing Romnic when you said you were going to the library, haven't you? And -"
"You're going out with a Slytherin?" Sirius asked with a distasteful scoff, having overheard on his way into the common room after Quidditch practice; Lily rolled her eyes at the sight of James who had already been sidetracked, regaling a group of girls with a story of yet another brilliant goal scored by him. Sirius, however, had not been sidetracked in quite the same way. "Bloody hell, are you that desperate?"
"I'll have you know, Romnic is very nice, and very intelligent, and - and I'm not seeing him anymore, in case you were only selectively eavesdropping!" Davie retorted indignantly. "And why do you care anyway?"
"I don't," Sirius scoffed, walking off to join his friends at a table on the other side of the room - Davie glanced at Lily with an irked brow, and Lily responded with a shrug.
"Hypocrite," Davie said nonchalantly. "You know, I know for a fact he's seeing a girl from Ravenclaw. What was her name again? With the blonde hair and the -"
"Why do you care, anyway?" Lily asked. Davie simply rolled her eyes.
"I don't."
At that moment, however, Professor McGonagall walked into the room with a piece of paper in her hand - her face did not look at all urgent, so it must not have been urgent. She simply tacked it onto the public board and left. Hurriedly, everyone hurried over to read it.
Attention Students Fourth Year and Higher
You are cordially invited to attend the Cupid's Arrow Ball
To be hold on Valentine's Day,
February the Fourteenth, Nineteen Seventy-Five
Formal attire is required
"A ball!" came the chorus of squeals from all of the girls in the room. Mary Macdonald gave an especially loud whoop, blatantly trying to get attention from whoever would give it.
"Who do you want to ask you?" Davie asked Lily curiously.
"Oh, someone's already asked me -"
"What?" Davie asked loudly, "But we've only just heard -"
"He's a fifth year. Prefect." Lily said primly, shooting a glance towards James Potter, who immediately tried to look as if he hadn't overheard. "Prefects have known about the dance for a few weeks now -"
"- and you didn't tell me?"
"Well, you've been scarce, maybe you were spending time with Digby," Lily huffed. "May I point out again, I didn't even know! Not even Severus knew, and I thought Digby was one of the sort he hung around."
"Don't be angry," Davie simpered, wheedling Lily insistently. "C'mon, Lily…"
"So if you haven't got a boyfriend, who do you plan on going with?" Lily asked her friend curiously. Davie was about to shrug dismissively when Remus Lupin strode over, tapping Davie on the shoulder. Lily simply grinned at Remus and gestured for Davie to turn around.
"'Lo, Davie," he said cordially, and Davie smiled at him, grateful that he had come over on his own instead of bringing his friends. "So about this dance," he asked nonchalantly. "Would you like to go with me? As friends? You've been a big help to me this term, after all." he asked quite smoothly - Lily and Davie, to James and Sirius' surprise, did not react with immediate disgust to Remus' arrival, despite the fact that he exuded much less charm than the other two boys. In fact, they seemed to welcome him into their midst quite openly.
"Sounds great! She would absolutely love to!" Lily piped up from behind Davie; the darker haired girl glanced questioningly at Lily before turning back to Remus.
"What Lily said," Davie laughed. "I'd love to. See you then!"
And with a grin, Remus strode back over to the table where James and Sirius were sitting with Peter, looking slightly displeased as though they'd caught a whiff of some spoiled milk. "Just asked Davie to the ball," Remus said calmly, purposefully avoiding Sirius' gaze to keep from laughing.
"Did you really?" Sirius said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I hadn't any idea, you were only right in the middle of the common room for everyone to see!"
Inexplicably, Sirius stormed off out of the common room, looking terribly cross.
That day at dinner, Professor Dumbledore called the entire school's attention to make an announcement, looking terribly displeased.
"Students," he began, his voice booming loudly over the entire Great Hall. "Earlier this afternoon, we were informed that one of our students appears to have gone missing. While we do not feel this is cause for all of you to panic, I feel it is of utmost importance to remind all of you to keep in mind where you ought to be at any given time. I find it of extreme important to find this student and decide who is responsible for his disappearance."
"Who is it?" Davie piped in.
"Severus Snape," Dumbledore replied succinctly. Davie immediately turned to glare at Sirius, sitting almost directly across the table from her, with a very bad feeling about the situation. Sirius, however, did not look perturbed in the least.
"I bet you think it was me, Maddux," he said, eyes narrowed as he leaned across the table. "Suppose you think James and I ought to take the blame anytime anything happens to Snivelly -"
"Your words," Davie huffed, "not mine."
The day of the Cupid's Arrow Ball, Lily and Davie relished the opportunity to take the day off of class and wake later than usual - it was nice, Davie admitted, to simply not think about studying for the entire day and fuss over herself, something she honestly took very little time to do on a daily basis.
"I think you just agreed to go with Remus to make someone else jealous," Lily mused as the two of them were getting ready; Davie was running a brush through her hair and was for once letting it down from her usual pigtails.
"What?" she said, brow furrowing. "Who would I want to make jealous? If you're talking about Romnic -"
"Not Romnic, silly!" Lily grinned. "Sirius! He seemed rather upset when he overheard."
"Oh?" Davie asked impishly. "Not nearly as disappointed as James looked when he overheard that you were going with someone else. Nearly choked on a pasty, he did."
Meanwhile, the boys were downstairs, giving one another the once over before they were to split up and meet the girls they were escorting. James and Sirius, it would turn out, managed to very quickly snag a pair of twin Hufflepuff girls - Sirius was quick to haughtily point out that they were two of the prettiest girls in their year.
Remus was about to toss Sirius a witty retort when he looked up at the stairway - James and Sirius followed his gaze and simultaneously gulped at the appearance of two very familiar girls.
Lily had put her hair into a prim French braid with tiny white flowers sparsely woven in by Davie. She was wearing a rich, red-colored dress with sheer sleeves attached to a velvet bodice and a flowing skirt. Her lips were frosted a light pink color, making her eyes stand out on her features even more.
"I'm going, now!" she called out to Davie, before skittering down the stairs. She gave Remus a friendly wave, and walked very pointedly past James Potter without a word.
Davie, meanwhile, was still fussing a bit over the strap of her shoe. Her hair flowed down past her shoulder blades, a dark sheath contrasting her ivory-colored gown lined with gold that sat snugly around her waist, but flowed freely to the floor.
"Bloody hell," Sirius muttered, blinking incredulously.
"Remus! There you are!" Davie said, waving as she plodded lightly down the staircase. She gave him a glance and smiled kindly. "You look dashing tonight," she laughed.
"And you look absolutely regal," Remus replied, jokingly planting a kiss on the back Davie's hand.
"And - you look good as well," Davie said, glancing at Sirius after brief moment. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were a gentleman." Sirius blinked. "I'm joking," Davie pointed out. Whether or not it made anything better, Davie didn't stay to see as Remus invited her to leave the common room.
Sirius' jaw clenched. He hoped they had a terrible time.
At the beginning of the dance, Davie was far too shy to dance a single step, and Remus certainly had his work cut out for him. Davie had caught sight of Lily with her escort, dancing quite well - her parents had signed her up for dance lessons at a young age - and felt slightly discouraged.
"Why else would you come to a dance if not to dance?" Remus laughed, tugging at her arm and trying to pull her from her seat. The heels of her shoes were digging into the floor as she tried not to move.
"But Remus!" she whined, "I don't dance -"
Remus, however, would not take no for an answer, and eventually wore Davie down enough to pull her onto the dance floor. "So, what was that you were saying about not dancing?" he asked teasingly. "You seem to be doing just fine."
Davie opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the sight of Sirius walking across the floor and towards them just as a slower song was coming on. "Oy, Moony!" he called out, approaching the pair. "My date seems to have found someone more entertaining -" he gestured towards a blonde girl, now dancing with a different boy on the dancefloor. "Would you mind terribly if I borrowed yours for a bit?"
Eyes glinting, Davie stepped forward and stomped hard on Sirius' foot before storming clear out of the Great Hall, into the main corridors.
"What a slimy, despicable windbag," Davie huffed to herself, walking down a corridor and taking a turn that was somewhat unfamiliar in the dark. "I was having a good time before he came along and - oof!"
Her tirade was ended abruptly when she heard a loud thumping sound somewhere down the corridor. After overcoming her initial surprise, she rushed over towards the source of the sound.
"Hello?" she called out, unable to see anyone. "Is someone there?" The thumping continued, and Davie continued walking forward with her arms extended - she felt her palms hit something solid, and grasped a handle. Gripping it and giving it a hard yank, she felt it click open and something heavy than herself came tumbling out on top of her.
"Ouch!" came a masculine yell. The handle had clearly been attached to some sort of cabinet - the vanishing cabinets that turned up around the corridors, and screamed for pranksters to push poor unsuspecting people into.
"Who is that?" Davie asked, unable to adjust her eyes to the darkness.
"Maddux?"
"Snape?" she said in surprise. "You've - you've been in a cabinet? For two days?"
"Not," he snarled, standing up and dusting himself off. "by choice. It's not hard to guess how I ended up in there." Davie pulled out her wand and cast a small light on the area, and Snape raised an eyebrow. "A bit overdressed, aren't you?"
"There was a ball," Davie huffed.
"Hm," Snape said noncommittally. "You could actually pass for a lady in that dress." Davie fell silent, realizing that her earlier comment towards Sirius really had been a bit offensive. "That was a compliment, by the way."
"Err," Davie began, "thanks -"
"Snivellus!" came a voice down the corridor. Davie turned and rolled her eyes at the sight of Sirius. "Felt like bothering ol' Maddux for looking like a girl for once? I know it's a bit unusual, but there's no need to -"
"Do you hear yourself talking?" Davie snapped, pursing her lips in annoyance. "You're a bit of a git, you know - the only way you have any pride is to insult everyone else -"
Sirius flinched, but stalked up towards Davie without seeming too terribly affected by her words. "You know, it's very rude to talk to me that way. I have dozens of girls in there wanting to dance with me and I came out here to make sure that you were alright."
Davie was considering whether to retort or simply draw her wand, but before having a chance to do either, all of them heard the creak of a nearby door, followed by the heavy thud of footsteps.
"Three little students out for a stroll?" Apollyon Pringle, the school caretaker, said nastily. He was a tall old man with a bump on his crooked nose, and wiry gray hair. "You've just made my -"
"We were - investigating!" Sirius said quickly. Pringle glared at him skeptically, and Sirius glanced at Davie, for once looking pleadingly at the girl - Davina Maddux was wholly unaccustomed to Sirius Black actually needing anything from her.
"Yes, Mr. Pringle," she affirmed fluidly. "I - I heard a sound coming from out here while I was in the Great Hall for the dance. It wouldn't stop and I got worried, so I can out and I - I found Snape,' she said, gesturing at the other young man, who had simply been standing silently. He was clearly tired from being cramped up without food for two days, as he had no energy to argue.
Apollyon Pringle eyed the girl critically. "But Black -"
"He escorted me to the ball," Davie lied, a lie which surprised even Sirius. "And - well, sexist bugger that he is, he wouldn't let me out wandering the corridors on my own so even when I tried to step out without him, he came after me."
Sirius, of course, knew better than to let his confusion show - an alibi was an alibi after all - but he could not at all see why Davie was covering up for him, or why Snape was corroborating. He did, however, have a sneaking suspicion that it was for Davie's sake, something which he did not like in the very least.
A/N's
I hope any of my readers (I'm not sure how many of them there are, honestly) aren't too peeved with me switching around things in the timeline - it happens a few more times throughout the Marauder-Era part of the story. And yes, there is another part besides the Marauders' years at Hogwarts in this story, which is the part I haven't finished proofreading. It's currently in the works right now, and I might make some changes to it, though that isn't likely. But you know, if you'd like to save someone or plead their case, feel free to do so in reviews!
I'd like to thank BlackGryphon101, Angel-son of Caesar, cocogirl198, and MistressSamoyedXXKingWhippet for favoriting and/or subscribing to this story. A special note also to Angel-son of Caesar, I noticed in your author's notes on what I've read in your story ("The Little Things") that James/Lily is your favorite pairing. Hopefully you continue reading this one, because Lily and James get a considerable amount of airtime, at least in the first half or so of the story.
When people give me feedback or favorite my stories, I always try to mention them at least once out of appreciation in my notes, and often read their work as well, though I haven't had as much time lately, though for my readers of this story, I will hopefully start doing so more reliably once my school schedule smooths out a bit.
I'm also considering doing actual chapter titles, though it's something I haven't done in my stories for a good while. Opinions, anyone?