Chapter 3
A Turning of Events
The Dragon's eye restaurant and Hogsmeade was a bussel with activity as people all shapes, sizes and nationalities arrived in all imaginable numbers. Some of the guests were eating and some were out on the dance floor swaying to the slow music that was playing.
Lily and Julie walked into the restaurant and looked around. Lily was wearing an emerald green Asian style dress and green dress sandals with straps that wound their way elegantly up her legs to just below her knees her auburn hair was pulled back into a braid down her back. Julie was wearing royal purple one-piece dress with matching high-heeled shoes and handbag.
"Julie," whined Lily, "How did I let you talk me into going on a double blind date with you?"
"Oh stop griping and at least act like your having a good time." Said Julie through the side of her mouth while trying to smile at their dates, which turned out to be a couple of Ravenclaws named John Collins and Ethan Pickerel.
"A couple of way to eager Ravenclaws," Lily thought. But she decided that she would just make the best of things. As Lily sat down at the table she spotted James lounging in a back corner booth sipping on a cherry phosphate, a syrupy soda-like drink that many of the students used to pacify their sweet tooth. Images of last night came flooding back to her and she started turning red again and excused herself disappearing into the ladies bathroom as quickly as she could find it.
"Why, oh why did I throw myself into his arms last night," she thought as she leaned against the sink trying to get her blushing under control, "I shocked him and completely embarrassed myself."
Once she managed to stop blushing she walked out of the bathroom and straight toward her table willing herself to not look at James. She was about half way back to her table when she bumped squarely into Lucretia Masters a Tall Slytherin. She was wearing a short slinky black dress that didn't leave much to the imagination a thick layer of makeup and ruge lipstick
"Well what have we here," she sneered, "A little lost Gryffindor."
"Yeah, said Angus Malfoy Lucius Malfoy's younger brother, "and look at her outfit."
"Makes you look like a woods nymph." Laughed Lucretia.
" That's better than looking like the floozy of Fifth Avenue!" retorted Lily.
"You little tart!!" yelled Lucretia swinging for Lily's nose. At the last second someone grabbed her arm, pulled her away waltzing her out onto the dance floor.
Lucretia's swing connected with Angus's Jaw and sent him flying backwards into a table smashing it to pieces.
"Oh Angy," she said rushing to his side, " Are you hurt?"
"I told you not to call me that in public," he hissed before either of them could get to their feet they were grabbed by one of the waiters and quite literally thrown out the door.
Lily laughed at the spectacle. Then it dawned on her she had been so busy laughing at Lucretia and Angus that she hadn't realized that the person who had pulled her out of harm's way and who was now dancing with her was James.
"I suppose now that Lucretia will we gunning for me too," he said with a smile. Lily giggled
"Yeah, especially since you caused her to deck her own boyfriend." James rolled his eyes and snorted
"Those two deserve each other."
They continued dancing. James now had his hands resting lightly on her hips and she had her arms around his neck. She didn't now how long they had been dancing when suddenly someone grabbed her arm.
"May have a word with you," Julie growled through clenched teeth and a forced smile, "Alone." Julie practically dragged Lily into the bathroom.
"What do you think you're doing?" she snapped the minute the door closed.
"Well," said Lily feeling a little indignant, "James did keep me from getting a bloody nose. I thought one little dance was the least I could do."
"ONE little dance," said Julie shaking her had, "You horse's neck you've been dancing with him for nearly an hour!" Lily looked at her watch and was shocked to find out that it said 7:05 P.M. instead of 6:15 P.M.
"Bugger," she said to herself, "how could this happened, How could I dance with him for that long and not realize it?" Gathering up her courage she walked out of the bathroom and found that James had gone back to his table and was sitting with his back to her. Taking a deep breath she walked over to him.
" I didn't mean to interfere in your date," he said quietly when she walked up next to him, "I'm sorry." Lily was surprised
"How did you know?" she asked. James turned toward her and that's when she saw that he was now sporting a shiner over his left eye.
"Well," he said pointing to the shiner, "When a guy you hardly know comes up to you, tells you to back off, then jerks your glasses off and does this it's pretty much a dead give away." With that he got up quietly and walked out.
* * * * * *
James walked down the hall toward the library, thankful for Madame Pomfrey's healing salve that had gotten rid of his black eye. Still he couldn't help but smile the shiner was the only unpleasant part of the evening. He had really, really enjoyed dancing with Lily and she seemed to enjoy it to maybe she even lik--,
"Hold it," he said to himself, "Lily Evan is one of the prettiest girls in the school she's not likely to be interested in a be speckled daredevil."
He was just about to round the corner when he overheard two Ravenclaw boys talking,
"Great Merlin," said the first one, "Did you see Ethan's face last night?"
"Yeah," said the second, "He looked like he'd been hit in the eye with a fifty pound sledge hammer!"
"You've got that Right," said the first one, "And he got back so late that Madame Pomfrey had already left and, as luck would have it, she took the Key to the medicine chest with her so he had to spend the night with his left eye swollen shut."
"Boy," said the second boy, "what could he have done to earn that?"
"I heard that he had a date last night with Lily Evans and that he did something that really ticked her off."
James stood there for a minute after they had walked out of earshot with his eyes wide and his heart pounding.
"Could it be?"
* * * * * * *
The Marauders now stood in a secret room off of one of the passageways that they knew so well. Dressed in their trademark red cloaks they stood facing Lily Evans who on her knees in front of them. It was James who spoke.
"Do you Lily Evans pledge to guard the secrets of the Marauders with your life and to live by the Marauder code which is Honor Courage and Loyalty?"
"I do so pledge," she replied without any hesitation. James tapped his wand on both of her shoulders and smiled.
"Then rise Lily Evans and join us." As she stood one of the others brought a cloak and draped it around her shoulders. And they welcomed her. Then once the induction ceremony was out of the way, they got down to business.
"Peter," said James, "have you been able to come up with any information on those three goons that tried to waylay us outside the orphanage two nights ago?"
"Yes I do," replied Peter pulled some papers out of the satchel that was lying on the table. He hand each of them papers with mug shots on them before continued,
"Their names are Lucas Moorhead, Lucinda Golan, and Drake Bordeaux. Real cretins all of them and they work for Sir Cecil Roderick."
"Wait a minute," said Remus "Isn't he the son or something of that Philanthropist Alistair Roderick the man who started the orphanage?"
"Nephew, actually," said Sirius.
"Why would he want to abuse his uncle's project?" asked Lily
" It's not as surprising a turn of events as you think, Lily," said James, "while Cecil is Alistair's nephew, they are nothing alike."
"Okay," said Sirius, "we all agree that Cecil Roderick is capable of this but we still don't know why?
"That My friend," said James, "Is the sixty-four thousand dollar question."
TBC
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