Their Seventh Year

I don’t love this chapter, but I needed to transition back to Hogwarts.

Chapter 26- Back to Hogwarts

It was not, after all, the holiday James had hoped for.  Five people had died in the raid on the McKinnons’ holiday party, among them Donald McKinnon, Flora’s father.  That alone made it certain no one was in any mood to enjoy the remaining week and a half they had off school.  They knew other people who had lost family members to attacks by Death Eaters, but it had never come so close, and it had never seemed quite so real to James until he found himself looking at the end of Malfoy’s wand.

There was no question as to why the attack had been on the McKinnon’s.  A well-off and pureblood family, they had come out vocally against Voldemort and had criticized the Ministry for not doing more to stop him in the early days of his rise to power, when he could have been stopped.  They had influence, influence that they were using against Voldemort, and James could not help but see the parallels to his own family.

His parents had been angry enough, his father had yelled for three hours, but he took it in stride, knowing the anger was not about their sneaking out or gatecrashing the party, but about the fear they must have felt when they heard about an attack and found his bed empty.

James was relieved when the time came to go back to school, because that drew his mind back to the one bright spot in the holidays- Lily.  Sometimes he would wonder if he had just imagined it all, but no, it had been real, he had kissed her, and not been slapped for it.  In fact, her reaction had been pretty favorable.  They had not talked about it, they had not talked about anything, but James was pretty sure that he and Lily Evans were unofficially together.  As for making it official, well, that was something he planned to take care of as soon as he saw her.

And he didn’t have to wait very long for that.  As soon as they were on the train they passed an open compartment and his stomach gave a not-unpleasant flip-flop.  She was already sitting there with .  James suddenly felt uncharacteristically shy, but Peter was actually the one who broke the ice.

“Mind if we sit in here?”

“Of course.”  gave them a fair attempt at a smile, and immediately vacated the seat next to Lily and gave James a pointed look, which he guessed to mean he should sit there.  It wasn’t very subtle, but he didn’t really mind.

“So how was the rest of your holiday?”  He addressed the question to both girls, it was Lily who answered. 

“It was…all right.  You know, quiet.”

“Yeah.  Have you…heard from Flora?”

nodded.  “She’s, well, she said she’s okay.  She should be here.”  She glanced around, and then shrugged.  “So, did you guys all finish the homework for the holidays?”

It was not a particularly interesting topic, but it was a safe one, and they all seized on it gratefully.  It was much easier to discuss potions essays and charms projects.  As the conversation came more naturally James glanced down at Lily’s hands, folded in her lap, and saw that she was wearing the bracelet.  Despite himself, he grinned.

It was precisely eleven and the train had just started to move when Flora stepped into the compartment and the conversation came to a dead stop.  She looked normal, if a little pale.  There was a moment if silence before she shifted uncomfortably.

“Stop staring at me like I’ve got three heads, I’m fine, “ she said irritably, before dropping into a seat next to .

“So, does anyone…um…want to play exploding snap?”  Peter finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

“Sure, I will,” replied Sirius, and James was pretty sure that if Peter had suggested wresting an angry hippogriff at that moment someone would have agreed to it, if just to provide a distraction.  Sometimes, Peter’s complete lack of tact worked in everyone’s favor.

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The train ride back to Hogwarts was easier than Lily had anticipated.  Flora was more or less silent but the boys kept up a comfortable chatter with her and Alice sometimes joining in.  She was acutely aware of James sitting right next to her.  She had not seen him since that night but he had written her once, just to make sure she was okay.  She felt somehow wrong about it when it seemed the world had fallen apart in the last week and a half, but she had barely been able to wait for the holidays to end to see him again. 

It was strange when she considered that the last time she’d been on the train to Hogwarts, at the beginning of the last term, she had been horrified to discover she would have to work with him.  It was strange how quickly things could change.  Had he changed, or had she?  Or perhaps both of them were different people than they had been five months ago.

There was a feast of sorts to welcome them back from the holidays, but there was a subdued air over the entire school.  Those who had not been at the party had heard about it, and the Gryffindor table was particularly silent.  As they were usually among the loudest, the other students seemed to take a cue from this and it was one of the quietest meals Hogwarts had seen.  A few snickers and smug glances from the Slytherin table were ignored, but Lily was glad when the meal was over and they were released to their common rooms.

And perhaps because of the traveling, or because people wanted badly to get back to their normal routines, the common room cleared out early too, so that by nine only a few students were left, including Sirius and Peter working feverishly on the homework they had not done over the holidays.

“Well, I’m going to go up.  Don’t want to be too tired for the first day back at classes.”  announced and Remus and Peter stood to go as well.

“I’m going to stay down here for a bit.”  James replied.

“Me too, I’m just trying to finish this up.”  Muttered Sirius, until Remus gave him a kick without even pretending to be subtle.  “Ow!  I mean, er, I can always finish it tomorrow.”  He amended quickly.

“Right, um, Lily, can I have a word?”  James said quickly, as she had been planning to go upstairs as well.  “About, um, classes, of course.”

“Oh, sure.”  She tried to ignore the knowing looks of Sirius and Alice, and as soon as they had disappeared upstairs turned back to him with a coy smile.  “That was such a clever code James, I’m sure our friends believed you completely.”

He grinned and ran a hand through his hair.  “Well, Sirius always said I’m a bad actor.”

“What, so you didn’t want to talk to me about classes?”  She said innocently.

“Erm, not at the moment.”  He said, reaching for her hand and pulling her back down on the couch.  “We just…never really had a chance to talk, with everything that happened.  And I thought we should talk properly.”  He took a deep breath.  “The thing is Lily, I know I haven’t done very well in the past at letting you know I liked you, but I really need you to know I’m sincere.  I do care about you.  Nothing has to be set in stone, but I guess I’m asking if we can give this a shot?  I mean, a real one, because we haven’t given ourselves a fair chance yet.”

He stopped, and then looked adorably expectant.  Lily looked down at their linked hands on the couch.

“At the party, that wasn’t some big revelation James.  I guess I’ve liked you for a while, I just didn’t want to admit it.  Which is not to say you don’t drive me insane, but for some reason, I like you anyway.  That night at the party, everything is so muddled because it seemed so perfect and then it all fell apart, but it also made me realize some things.  I saw the man you’re going to be, that you really already are aside from your occasional immature moments, and I saw that life is uncertain, especially now, and I see no point in wasting more time.”

He smiled, slowly.  “Is that a yes then?  Are we official?”

“Yes, that’s a yes.”

“You know I’m probably still going to drive you crazy?”

“I have considered that possibility.”

“Good, as long as you’re forewarned.”

“James?”

“Yes?”

“Stop talking.”

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James wasn’t sure what he’d been thinking when he expected his friends to be asleep when he came back into the room.  In fact, he was met by three expectant grins.  He didn’t say anything immediately, just went about getting ready for bed, until finally Peter snapped first, as always.

“Well?”

“Well what?”  He replied casually, enjoying himself.

“Oh, so I suppose you and Lily were really talking to each other about classes down there?”  Retorted Sirius.

“Not exactly.”  He shrugged.  “Let’s just say Lily and I are officially together.”

Peter pumped his fist in the air and Remus gave him a satisfied nod.  “About bloody time.”

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James was so distracted by his newfound happiness Sirius found it relatively easy to give him the slip the next morning on the way to breakfast.  Normally, he didn’t miss breakfast, but he made an exception because if he didn’t speak to her it was just going to keep eating at him until he did.  He saw her heading for the owlery and he knew it was as good a chance as any.

For someone who ought to have better instincts, living in Slytherin as she did, it took her several minutes to realize she was being watched.  It was only after she had released her owl she turned and saw him standing there, and gave a start.

“You startled me.”  She said, unnecessarily.

“Sorry.”  He replied with absolutely no sincerity.  “How was your holiday?”

“Why do you care?”

“I was being polite, it’s something you might try.”

“You came all the way up here to be polite?”

He ignored that.  “Did you hear about the McKinnons’ party?” 

She looked slightly surprised by the abrupt changed of subject.  “Of course.  They have these things called newspapers, and…”

”Funny, I thought you might have had a more firsthand account.”  He interrupted her.

For the first time since she had noticed him, she actually looked at him, and he fancied he saw her flinch slightly, if it was only in her eyes.  “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, being as we saw your brother there, hard to tell behind the Death Eater mask of course but then he’s not to hard to recognize, I thought he might have given you his account of the evening.”

She was good, very good.  Her face gave away almost nothing, but she did go a shade paler.

“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand Black.”

For the first time, he saw that dangerous quality that made her a Slytherin.

“What exactly is it that I don’t understand Arianna?  Because it all looked pretty clear to me when your brother tried to kill my best friend.”

“Well, I’m happy for you that your world is that simple.”  She snapped.  “Since everything is so bloody clear to you what are you wasting my time for?”

“Are you a Death Eater?”

“I don’t have to answer to you.”

He took a step closer, and gripped her upper arm.  “Are you?”

“No.”

She was meeting his eyes directly, and he wondered if she was lying.  If she was, she was an accomplished liar, but given that she was a Malfoy, that was hardly out of the question.

“But your brother is?”

She jerked her arm out of his grip and tossed her hair back.  “So will your brother be, in a few years, so maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to judge me.”

She turned on her heel and walked out, leaving him stunned.