Chapter 22: Sunday Afternoon

"I shouldn't have put all my revision off until this afternoon!" Alice despairs.

Marlene grins from her own bed. "Welcome to my typical Sunday afternoon. Nice to have company for once."

Emmeline looks up from the book she's reading – for fun, not for school. Emma, good girl she is, finished all her homework yesterday. "I told you you'd regret putting it off!"

"Aww, but then she wouldn't have been able to spend all that time with Frank," I tease from my desk, pausing in the middle of my Potions essay to twist around and grin at Alice.

Alice flushes bright red.

"And do you really regret that?" Marlene asks, playing along.

"Well... no," Alice admits, smiling sheepishly. Emmeline tsks and Marlene and I laugh. It's nice (and rare) to get afternoons like this, the four of us together and no Carol and Mary to disrupt the peace. I wonder idly where they are, and then push them out of my mind. I'm not going to waste my Carol-free time wondering about Carol.

"Any... news to share?" Marlene wheedles.

Alice just shoots her a stern look. Marlene smirks. "Right, right. Not the kiss-and-tell type. Got it."

Even Emma giggles at that.

We lapse back into studious silence, but just a few minutes later, after flipping furiously through Brews for the Serious Potioneer, I have to heave a huge sigh.

I stand. "My Potions textbook is failing me! Headed to the library. Anyone want to come?"

Alice looks at me, eyes wide and a little manic. "Lily. I literally do not have the time to walk down to the library if I'm going to get this all done today."

Marlene laughs. "Amateur. I'll help you pull off this last-minute homework session – I'm very good at it."

"Em?" I ask.

Emmeline, who'd been watching Alice and Marlene with a smile, suddenly gets squirmy and looks back down at her book. "Oh, uh, no thanks, Lily. I think I'll stay up here and read a bit more."

I try not to take it too personally. After all, a lazy Sunday afternoon read is perfectly normal Emma behavior. It's just, ever since Hogsmeade, Em's constantly finding excuses to never be alone with me. I think she's afraid I'll try and rope her into more Slytherin sleuthing. As if that's all I ever do in my spare time! She's just had the misfortune to be around for two separate incidents. So I guess I really can't blame her.

"Of - of course." I put on a bright smile and gather up my Potions homework and textbook to toss into my school bag. Then, as an afterthought, I tuck my Transfiguration assignment in, too. I think I did okay, but I'd feel a lot better turning it in tomorrow if I have James look it over first. "See you all later."

There's a chorus of "Bye, Lily!" and I head out of our dormitory to the library.

The castle is wonderfully quiet and sleepy. The rain lashes against the windowpanes, and I imagine that most everyone is spending today like my mates and I are – cozied up somewhere relaxing or finishing last minute homework.

I'm enjoying my walk in solitude so much that I decide to take the long way round to the library, and my route leads me past the Great Hall. The doors are flung open for anyone wanting to make use of all that table space and I peek in as I pass. Then I pause, back up, and take a second look.

But this is odd. A Sunday afternoon and all the Marauders are... studying? And extra odd – Remus is with them. I thought he was down with the stomach flu, or migraines, or any one of the many illnesses he always seems to be suffering from. He missed classes Friday, and dinner last night. I guess he's on the mend today.

But all of them studying together? That certainly can't be right. Remus may be studious, and Sirius and James might be smart, but none of them are likely to spend a Sunday afternoon studying. And still... it is extra odd that Remus is with them at all. He does look rather peaky.

Hmm. I have to give them a hard time for this.

Plus, I should probably speak to Potter about the prefect meeting tonight. And see if he'll look over my Transfiguration. And I suppose it'll be nice just to see his face.

I mean, we are friends, aren't we? Always nice to see your mates, that's all.

But as I approach them at the end of the Gryffindor table, my steps slow. If they are studying, I'm not sure what they're working on. There are no schoolbooks in sight and, now that I'm closer, I see that there's only one large piece of parchment on the table in front of them. James is the only one holding a quill, though both Remus and Sirius have their wands out. Peter, an uncharacteristically focused look on his face, leans over and gestures at the parchment, and James inks something in.

"What about a Tracking Charm?" I hear Sirius ask as I get into earshot.

"No," James and Remus say together.

"That wouldn't work," Remus elaborates. "Not long term. If..."

"Lily!" Peter says. Loudly. The other three jump, and there's a mad scramble as James and Sirius fight to fold the parchment up and get it out of sight. Like I haven't seen it at all. In fact, I don't even think this is my first time seeing this exact parchment. Hadn't there been a time or two before tutoring sessions I'd caught James working on something he really didn't want me to see?

"Well, that wasn't suspicious at all," I say sarcastically. "What are you lot working on?"

"Oh, you know..." James says evasively, at the same time Peter blurts, "Nothing!" and Remus supplies, "Homework?"

Sirius rolls his eyes. "Nice, mates." He looks up at me. "Clearly, we are up to Official Secret Marauders Business."

I take a seat next to him, ignoring the others. "Clearly," I agree. "Should I be worried?"

Sirius shrugs. "Probably. But nothing you can do about it."

I nod thoughtfully. "But you know, if you wanted it to be so secret, you shouldn't have been working on your 'Official Secret Marauders Business' in the middle of the Great Hall."

"Normally, I'd agree with you, Evans," Sirius drawls. "But don't you know the Great Hall on a Sunday afternoon is actually quite private?" He sweeps his arm out and I follow the gesture to see he's right. There's barely a handful of students scattered across the four tables, and this room is so large they might as well not be here at all. It's a much more deserted place than the library or the common room would be. You could only get more privacy out on the grounds, but one glance at the enchanted ceiling proves today's stormy weather is definitely not outdoor weather.

"I guess you're right," I admit. "Still, get up to any serious mischief and I'll have to put you all in detention."

It's mostly a real threat, but I must be getting much too friendly with the Marauders because they all find this exceedingly hilarious. Sirius barks out a laugh, and Peter squeals delightedly. "Head Girl putting the Head Boy in detention, can you imagine?"

At this, James grins up at me, eyes flashing mischievously, and my heart leaps. My insides have been doing weird things like that all week whenever he looks at me. Thank goodness we've moved onto Vanishing and Conjuring practice during tutoring so I don't have to spend those hours concentrating on his face anymore. I hurriedly look to the only reasonable Marauder.

"Help me out here, Remus. I'm sure you've had to keep this lot in line sometimes." To which the boys all laugh even harder. Remus gives me a tired, apologetic smile.

I shake my head in disappointment. "Well, at least I can rest easy knowing you won't actually be up to any mischief anytime soon."

That sobers them up. "What do you mean?" James asks.

"Well, clearly, whatever you're planning, you're having a hard time with. Sorry your scheming is causing you grief." I smile. The Marauders grimace at each other. So they ARE having a hard time.

"Can I help?" I ask.

Sirius snorts. "Right," he says. "Head Girl, straight-laced Lily Evans, helping the Marauders out on something clearly against the rules."

"Although, actually..." James looks at me appraisingly. "She might...?"

Sirius raises his eyebrows incredulously at him. Immediately, the four of them put their heads together and hold a furious whispered conversation. I look on in bemusement. James says something about Charms, and then Peter asks something that makes them all turn and stare at me.

"What?" I squirm.

It's Sirius that speaks. "Consensus is that while your expertise might actually be useful, none of us –" here James coughs loudly, and Sirius rolls his eyes and amends his statement. "None of us but James trust you not to go straight to McGonagall with this and we certainly can't have that."

I want to be offended, but they're not wrong. I have half a mind to go to her already, except that what would I be reporting on? A suspicious piece of parchment? Yeah, that wouldn't go over well. Besides. McGonagall's always been much more lenient on the Marauders than they have the right to deserve.

I sniff. "Well, I guess you'll just have to muddle on without my superior intellect. Best of luck."

Black rolls his eyes, but I ignore him. "Much as I enjoy indulging you all in your mischievous ways, I actually have a reason to be here." I turn to James. "Potter, prefect meeting tonight?"

"Of course," he says. "Meet ten minutes before to prep?"

"Perfect," I say. "And, um... could you look this over for me?" I dig my (slightly crumpled) Transfiguration assignment out of my bag and hand it out to him. "I'd like to turn in something that doesn't make dear Minerva McGonagall sigh so heavily when she returns it to me for once."

"Cheers," Potter says, grinning. He takes the scroll from me. "Hang around for a minute and I'll look it over now, yeah?"

I shrug. "Sure. Thanks."

Potter slides down the bench a way to concentrate on my assignment.

I turn my attention back to the other boys. It makes me anxious to watch him read over my work, so I look at Remus instead. "And I'll see you at the meeting tonight, too?"

"Oh," Remus says, and for some reason, he looks surprised. And uncomfortable. "Well, no... I don't think I'll make it."

Now I'm the one surprised. I can always – well, pretty much always – count on Remus. You know, when he hasn't been coerced by his much more troublesome mates into causing mayhem. "No?"

"I don't think I'm feeling up to it," he says, looking down at the table.

Well, that can't be right. I mean, he's not bed-ridden, is he? He's with his mates, he's managed an afternoon stroll to the Great Hall, hasn't he? Then I notice Peter nibbling anxiously on his pinky nail, and Sirius lays a reassuring hand on Remus's shoulder before scowling at me.

I reassess. I'd assumed Remus must be recovering from his sickness, seeing as he is in the Great Hall, assisting in whatever mischief-making behavior they are all hiding, but... well, 'peaky' isn't really the right word for how Remus looks, is it? In fact, he looks downright horrid: exceedingly pale, deep, dark circles under his eyes, and I realize that he's been kind of slumped against the Gryffindor table this whole time.

"No, of course not," I say. "Just rest up this evening, Remus." Then I glare at the rest of them. "And you lot let your mate get better! Really, dragging him into whatever mischief you've got brewing instead of letting him heal..."

It's a tiny movement, and I only catch it because Sirius is sitting right beside Remus, so he's in my line of sight. Sirius's lips twitch into the quickest, most amused little smile. "What, Black?" I say, irritated. Really, why is it so amusing for me to worry about their mate? I'm more worried than any of them are, apparently. And Sirius had the self-righteousness to glare at me!

"Trust me, Evans," Sirius drawls, letting his smile grow into a smirk. "This is helping Remus." And now Peter can't help it either – he snorts.

"Oh really?" My voice comes out drenched in sarcasm, and I fold my arms.

"Marauder's promise," Sirius says, raising his left hand.

I look back at Remus, who smiles tiredly. "He's not wrong. Don't worry about me, Lily."

I survey the three of them. "I don't understand you lot at all," I say finally.

"Good," Sirius says, back to smirking at me. I roll my eyes.

"Well, I'll leave you all to your scheming. But so help me, if I come down for dinner later and find the Great Hall, I don't know, painted pink and green, I swear to Merlin you're all getting detention. Head Boy or not," I add sternly, before Peter can mock me again.

"That's not a bad idea," Peter muses instead.

"Come off it, Lily," Sirius says. "When's the last time we even pulled something like that?"

"What are you talking about? You lot pull big pranks all the time!"

"But when was the last time?"

This brings me up short and I stop to think. And think. While it's true the Marauders still generally goof off and cause minor havoc in classes (just earlier this week one of them cast an Impervius Charm on Professor Flitwick's desk so that whenever anyone went to turn in their homework, the rolls of parchment rebounded dramatically off the surface, consequentially knocking several students in the face), it's not the large-scale mayhem I'd had in mind. The raincloud, I almost say, but that had been only Potter, hadn't it? So, that left...

"The cream puffs," I say, surprised.

"Precisely!" Sirius says. "And that was...?"

"Almost three months ago," I say begrudgingly.

"Exactly. A bloody long time ago."

"But why?" I wonder aloud.

"S'pose we've got better things to spend our time on these days," Sirius says. Then he rolls his eyes, again, for probably the hundredth time. The sass on this boy, honestly. "And, well, suppose the Head Boy wants to do his job right or whatever."

"Really?" I ask, glancing over to where James is still bent over my essay, occasionally tapping a word with his wand.

"Really, Evans. Give Prongs some credit!" Sirius says, exasperated.

"Of course I do," I say, stung. "Potter has been surprisingly brilliant to work with."

"But that's just it! Why does that even have to be surprising? Why are you always expecting the worst out of him?" He shakes his head and I look at him in surprise. I can't believe he's getting so worked up over this. "When are you going to see that he's not that same fifteen-year-old you're determined to make him out to be?"

I just gape at him, then look to Remus and Peter. Peter just shrugs in a he's-right-you-know kind of way, and Remus, who now has his head resting on his arms, says nothing in my defense.

"Lily, this was great! Just caught a couple misspells and highlighted a spot where I think you could add a bit more explanation of how Conjuring follows Gamp's Law of..." James trails off as he slides back to our group and senses the change in mood. "Um, you all good?"

"Peachy," I say, getting up. "Just great. Thanks so much, Potter." I snatch my essay from his hands. "You were exceptionally helpful. Just like I knew you'd be." I give Sirius a pointed look. See! I don't always expect the worst of James! "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay..." James says, looking between Sirius and me in confusion. "Um... also, Lily?"

"What?" I say, still irritated at Sirius.

"Let's keep the meeting short tonight, I can't stay long, I've got..." he trails off. "Stuff," he finishes, very vaguely.

I want to snap at him about what could possibly be more important than his Head duties, but I feel Sirius's stare burning a hole in the back of my head and clench my teeth. I mean, at least James is still coming, so that's something.

"Fine," I say between gritted teeth. "7:30 early enough for you?"

For some reason, Potter looks at Remus. He nods. Potter turns back to me. "7:30 is good."

If Sirius wasn't watching me so closely right now... "Good," I say. "See you tonight." I give them all curt nods, ignoring Sirius's narrowed gaze. "And let poor Remus get better, for Merlin's sake!" I say as I leave.

I stride out into the corridor. I mean, really! Always expecting the worst in him? Merlin, no! Potter and I have been getting along fantastically the last few weeks. I'm not sure what's got Sirius all worked up or given him the impression I still think of Potter as that lousy fifteen-year-old he'd once been.

Except...

I mean, I do still insist on calling him Potter. And wasn't that tied to the whole "Potter before and James now" dilemma?

And suppose Sirius knows that I've explicitly told Potter – more than once this year – that I don't trust him. Those Marauders are thick as thieves. It wouldn't be surprising if Potter had shared some of that.

And just now, when James had asked to keep the meeting short, I'd automatically assumed – still assume, honestly – it's for some stupid Marauder purpose. And not, you know, something valid.

So maybe just a few weeks of James and I finally playing nice isn't enough for Sirius to buy that I could see Potter had changed.

Oh Merlin. I think Sirius might be right.

When I sweep into the library, still intent on finding a helpful Potions text, I'm startled all over again.

I'm headed to the Potions shelves, but as I get near, I notice who's sitting at the table right next to them. I've just solved the mystery of Carol's whereabouts. She's sitting at a table near the Potions section (of course), deep in conversation with – wait for it – Regulus Black.

What?

This is not a pairing I'd ever anticipated. I'm not even sure how they'd know each other – different Houses, different years. Same muggle-born prejudices and general unpleasantness, though. So there's that.

But before I can puzzle over this too much, Carol sees me. She says something to Regulus, then gets up and stands right in front of the entrance to the Potions shelves, deliberately blocking my way, a hard, determined look in her eyes.

Oh Merlin, now what? Are we really going to do a confrontation in the library of all places? Where's mad Madame Pince and her hurricane of possessed spell books when you need them? Carol and I have had very little to do with each other since she filled in for Potter on rounds a few weeks ago, though I felt her glaring at me every time James sat by me at dinner, or we left the common room together to go to the library for tutoring – probably because between all the time James spends with me, and the conclusion of the Arithmancy project they'd been working on, James has had very little time left over for her. I guess it is about time for her irritation to reach a boiling point.

"Lily," she stays, stopping right in front of me.

"Carol," I say, keeping my tone level. I take full advantage of my very unremarkable five feet six inches because at least it gives me an inch or two over Carol and I can look down at her. Power moves, and all that.

"What, exactly, are you doing with James?" she demands. No preamble. Just getting right into it.

Oh, for Merlin's sake, was everyone going to get after me about James Potter today? All I want is an adequate Potions textbook to help me finish my homework!

"Excuse me?" I ask, scoffing and jutting my chin out in disbelief. I can't believe she's just going to lead with that, and that she wants to have a conversation about James in the middle of a rather crowded library. Doesn't she know this is how rumors start?

And in any case...

"I'm not even sure what you mean by that," I add, rolling my eyes.

"Oh, come on, Lily," Carol snips. "You're not exactly hard to read; you let all your emotions show on your face, and any time you see me with James, you glare."

"Well, obviously," I say, louder than I intended to. I glance around and realize several students at the tables nearest are watching us with growing interest. I lower my voice. "News flash, Carol – I don't like you. And you don't like me. Honestly, exchanging glares is almost friendly with us. Me glaring at you, regardless of whatever company you're keeping, is hardly anything to get worked up about."

She just scowls more, even though I'm completely right. "Well, whatever it is, I want you to back off of him."

"Back off how? We're Heads together, and friends, I'm not just going to –"

"Oh, don't give me that!" Carol hisses. "You couldn't even look at him before this year without spitting. Don't think your little flirtations are going unnoticed."

I start to protest, but she bulldozes on.

"I just want to know what you're playing at. You don't even like him! So, what are you trying to get out of this? Because James doesn't deserve to be messed with the way you are messing with him."

"Have you gone off your rocker? How am I supposed to be messing with him?" I don't even know where to begin with all that's weird and wrong about what she's saying. Don't even like him... when I could stand to like him a lot less! Haven't I spent most of this year annoyed with myself at how taken in by James I've been? And for him to be messed with, he'd have to fancy me back, which, yeah right. I mean, he couldn't possibly, right? Not after how rotten I'd been to him all these years...

Hmm. Yeah, really can't consider that right now.

"You just better watch your back, Lily Evans. Not everyone thinks you're so great." Carol says, and I hate to admit it, but for a moment she looks truly terrifying. I look over to where Regulus Black is watching us, face blank, and shiver. "Just keep your filthy Mudblood hands off him."

The fear dissipates immediately, replaced by rage. Carol loves to pull the Mudblood card out – it's her classic sucker-punch move and I'm so over it. So I really can't be blamed when my temper takes over and I start saying some very stupid things.

"I'll bloody well put my hands wherever I want, Carol. You don't actually have a say in what I do or don't do with James." Her eyes widen. "And furthermore..." Shut up, Lily, shut up...! But my traitorous mouth keeps going, and much louder than I really should be speaking while in a library. Full of many, now very captivated students for an audience, no less. "Furthermore, my dear mate James also informed me that whatever you thought was going on last year between the two of you, it wasn't as big a deal as you think. Get it through your over-inflated head, Robins: he doesn't like you." I sniff. "He never did. You really ought to be the one leaving him alone. He's clearly moved on. If he even needed to."

She takes a step back like I've slapped her. Then she does just that.

Slaps me, I mean.

I'm so stunned I don't say anything as she storms past me, out the library door. Regulus doesn't get up to follow, just watches her with that same blank, bored expression he's worn the whole time.

I press a hand to my stinging cheek. Everyone watches me, equally stunned. All those faces, people who are not going to hesitate to share how the Head Girl just had a very huge, very public throwdown with Carol Robins. Over James Potter. The Head Boy. Carol's ex.

Oh, Merlin.

This could get messy.

"Umm... right." I say. "Back to your studies then."

And then, without getting my Potions book, I turn and leave the library too.

I've got damage control to do.