* * *
~ Improvising With the Best of Them ~
By: Oy! Angelina
* * *
It was almost a relief for Lily when the remainder of the Gryffindors returned on Sunday from their Winter Holidays. All the Years reunited with their estranged members, comparing tales while exchanging hellos. For their part, the 6th Years anticipated the return of three of their girls and Sirius a few days later. Picking out Gwen McGinnis, Cassidy Kinkade, and Millicent Meeks, Arabella and Lily were quick to greet them with James and the other boys smiling and waving off to the side.
A wavy locked brunette with handsome spectacles, Gwen McGinnis was quick to smile and faster to act. Being Muggle-born, she was easily excited by most things in the Wizarding world and was slightly boy crazy. She and Arabella had the nasty tendency to encourage one another along with shrieking conversations and giggling fits until someone had the sense to break them apart. By now, they were forbidden in most classes to partner up. A fan of Divination, Gwen appeared to be the only person in her Year who bothered to take the class seriously.
Dark complexioned with her chocolate colored hair always secured in a ponytail, Cassidy Kinkade was a precise girl who compensated for Arabella and Gwen's flighty natures. The tallest girl in Gryffindor, Cassidy was a Quidditch Beater for the House and natural athlete. Most of the girls in Gryffindor were fond of her for making herself an intimidating consequence for bullying Slytherin girls to deal with. Cassidy fancied Defense Against the Dark Arts but her true interest rested with Quidditch.
The simplest looking of the three, Millicent Meeks kept chin-length black hair fastened under a headband. She was more studious than Gwen, Cassidy, or Arabella and was graciously supportive of everything her friends set their minds to and was just fine being off-center from the lime-light. Soft-spoken with a shy smile, Millicent never had an ill comment to make about anyone and kept mostly to herself when she wasn't rounding out the 6th Year Gryffindor girls. Millicent favored Potions and the History of Magic for their lack of discussion.
Prior to being a Prefect, Lily had roomed with these girls and Arabella for five years of her life. This past year had left her somewhat on the sidelines with her responsibilities as a Prefect and preoccupations with James. Feeling as though she finally had a better handle of her demanding life, Lily was curious to see what was new with the girls.
Under Arabella's suggestion to help the girls unpack while they caught up, Lily found her in the 6th Year part of the Girl's dormitory helping Millicent arrange her books on a shelf along her desk as they listened to Gwen vividly describe her Muggle family Christmas.
" - so no sooner does my brother get done accusing me of being a menace just because he was nosing about in my room and found on of those horrible biting tea cups Sirius got me as a gag gift, he spills his eggnog all over the tree and caught it on fire!" Gwen reported sourly. "I spent my Christmas Eve serving hot coffee to the fire department while my parents were off rewrapping the presents that hadn't burnt up."
"Is this what all Muggles do over the holidays, Lily?" Cassidy inquired. "Or is it just the McGinnis clan that's as mad as hatters and giving the lot of ye a bad reputation?" Finished unpacking, Cassidy flopped across her bed with a Quidditch magazine in hand.
"Sod off, Cass!" Gwen laughed. "Tell us what did you do with your holiday since you're the bleeding authority on everything that passes for normal?"
"Oh nothing special." Cassidy admitted. "My parents did spring fer a new broom fer Quiddiitch but they consider it an investment since I'll be playing Chaser fer the Kenmare Kestrels out of Hogwarts. Provided they're not too thick to realize I'd be the best thing to hit fer that team in years."
"I'm sure you'll be drafted, Cassidy." Millicent offered an encouraging smile. "You're the most brilliant player at Hogwarts."
"Well, I'd put my lot in with Potter, but thank ye kindly all the same, Millie." Cassidy nodded from behind her magazine.
"Speaking of James Potter, how did things go with you and him at the Ball, Arabella?" Gwen turned to the blonde who was emptying Gwen's trunk of clothing.
"I bet you looked beautiful in your robes." Millicent nodded before turning to Lily. "Oh, and I'm sure the dance itself was lovely, Lily, with you over seeing it."
"You're right on both counts, Millicent, it was fabulous!" Arabella grinned.
"Sounds like you seduced James like the tart you are." Gwen teased.
"I did no such thing!" Arabella turned her nose up indignantly. "That was Lily's contribution to the magic of the evening."
"James and I are seeing one another presently." Lily confirmed awkwardly thanks to Arabella's introduction.
The three remaining girls turned to Lily, unsure of whether to congratulate her or chide her for going after the boy Arabella fancied.
"And yer fine with this, 'Bella?" Cassidy raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yes!" Arabella assured. "James and I are friends and I'm running steady with his mate, Remus Lupin."
"Lucky cows." Gwen muttered bitterly at the good fortune of her friends in landing two of the more popular boys in Hogwarts. Cassidy tossed one of her pillows at Gwen.
"Don't pay attention to Gwen; she only knows how to say congratulations in git." Cassidy shook her head. "Good show, the two of ye."
"Yes, they're both very nice young men." Millicent beamed.
"Okay, well if you're going to bother with snatching two of the foxiest lads in school, I want details and they better be of the squishy sort!" Gwen insisted with interest. Arabella looked as though she were about to launch into a few while Lily and Millicent shared a blush and discomfited smile. Cassidy simply rolled her eyes.
"Would it be a terrible inconvenience if ye did not?" Cassidy groaned. "Potter's my sodding Captain! I have to work with the man!"
It was Gwen's turn to roll her eyes.
"Come off it, Cass!" Gwen tossed the pillow back at Cassidy. "Didn't hear you complaining when you were snogging him under the pitch bleachers after practice."
Every mouth in the room dropped, as Gwen clapped her hands over her own gapping one. Cassidy looked traitorous.
"Ye know what makes something a secret affair, Gwen? SECRECY!" Cassidy bellowed.
"Oh, I'm REALLY sorry about that, Cassidy!" Gwen pleaded. Gwen had the rotten habit of speaking long before she actually considered what she was going to say.
Catching Lily's expression, Cassidy turned to her.
"It was a fling last year, probably before he started fancying ye." Cassidy explained. "Thought we'd see if we had chemistry on and off the pitch, but it turned out to be a casual sort of thing. We kept it hushed because he had been named Captain that year and we didn't want people to think he was showing favoritism or something. Gwen only found out because the girl's part voyeur!"
"What would that make you? An exhibitionist then?" Gwen scowled in a bratty sort of way. "Anyway, I said I was sorry."
"You all right, Lily?" Millicent pressed gently.
"Of course. I mean, I imagine James had a life before I came into it and it's not like anything's still going on." Lily replied with a smile before her eyes darted to Cassidy. "Nothing's still going on right?"
"Oh, bloody hell, Evans!" Cassidy groaned. "That was so long ago I'm sure we'll be covering it this term in the History of Magic."
Arabella wagged her wand at Cassidy.
"Well if you know what's good for you, you'll not think twice about advancing on my Mr. Lupin." Arabella warned with a smirk.
"Please, I'd be afraid I'd hurt the boy with him being the fragile sort!" Cassidy chuckled turning back to her magazine.
"So that leaves Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew then." Gwen commented thoughtfully. "Hey, where is Sirius? I didn't see him with the usual sort."
"Off with family." Lily quickly answered. "Last minute sort of thing, he'll be back in a few days."
"Nothing happened to them, did it?" Millicent's brow furrowed with concern. "I mean, I've been hearing horrible things involving Death Eaters all around."
"No they're fine." Lily assured. "Just some things to sort out."
"That's good to hear." Cassidy nodded gravely. "Those evil dark prats are getting bolder, more violent. Not that they were all that pleasant and subtle before hand."
"What are you talking about?" Gwen's eyes darted between Cassidy and Millicent. "I haven't heard anything about this."
"Neither have we." Arabella jumped in, gesturing to Lily.
"Not all that surprising." Cassidy remarked. "Gwen was off amongst the Muggle population who would be more than ignorant of this sort of thing and I very much doubt Hogwarts is looking to panic its students while ye were all on holiday."
"It's getting dark out there, Lily." Millicent breathed with a frightful look. "People are dying."
"It's not just random chaos and senseless carnage either." Cassidy grimly added. "No, the news has been keeping things low key but there's word about if ye know where to listen. They're done just going about, trying to scare people, You-Know-Who and his followers are getting organized for something."
"It's bad." Millicent's lips pressed together tightly. "It's like; I apologize for saying this but like what happened to the Potter family a few years ago."
"Assassinations?" Lily felt herself go pale. The rumors she had heard about the Dark Sorcerer and his supporters had always been disturbing and unfathomable to Lily and the sheltered life she had known, but the idea that they were staging for something exacting and deliberate unsettled her even more. Especially with only one Potter still left.
Arabella put an arm around Lily in a supportive, protective way.
"James is going to be positively fine, Lily. He has the best sort of people looking out for him and there's no place safer than Hogwarts." Arabella said firmly before turning to the other girls accusingly. "That's enough of this talk. It's entirely morbid and serves no purpose other than to scare the wits out of us!"
"Hey, we weren't trying to -"Cassidy started in an apologetic, but defensive tone.
"No, I know that." Lily eased. "It's just, I remember this old Chinese saying I heard about once. It was meant to be a curse long ago."
"What is it?" Gwen hugged herself.
"May you live in interesting times."
* * *
A rapping on his door jarred Snape from his potion work. It was nearing midnight. Glowering, Snape put down his supplies and opened his bedroom door to find Winifred Wilkes waiting on the other side.
Winifred Wilkes was a cousin of Snape's, though the blood was several generations removed. Their great-grandfathers had been identical twins, but the marriages and offspring that followed had resulted in completely different descendants. Severus Snape's side had remained the more scholarly in their function within Wizarding society. Wilkes' branch were a far more enterprising pedigree of Wizard to descend from their line. Although they bared different last names as well as distinctive qualities, Severus Snape and Winifred Wilkes were still members of the same pureblood crest.
"Go to bed." Snape ordered.
Ignoring him, Winifred brushed past her cousin and into his room.
"I think not. I've been back at school for hours and you haven't seen fit to say a proper hello to your own blood." Winifred smirked as she strode over to a chair. Tall like her cousin, with the same intrusive dark eyes, Winifred invested far more consideration into her appearance than Snape; almost to the point that she was compensating for his lack of attentiveness. In his more generous assessments of her character, Snape regarded Winifred as spoiled and vain.
"Seek out attention in the common room." Slamming the door behind her, Snape skulked back to his project. "I have matters to attend to and I am a Prefect, meaning I can't have Slytherin students wandering about."
"Don't you know Slytherin is all about nepotism, Sev?" Winifred stated. "You know, everyone missed you at Christmas."
As they were the same age, Snape had been exposed to Winifred his entire life. He neither adored nor hated her, but she was family which required a certain amount of tolerance and obligation on his part. For her part, Winifred was equally accommodating of him and offered rarely invited suggestions to him on how to improve the quality of his life. Snape never considered this to be a concern, unless it was for how Winifred feared he reflected her.
"I'm certain you did." Snape spoke thoughtfully as he measured some fluid in a vial. "I imagine you all had to turn on one another without the black sheep to prey upon."
"We're a family bloodline of black sheep, Severus." Winifred observed. "You're just more sensitive than the rest of us."
"I think you're the first person to apply that adjective to me." Snape noted dryly.
She was an adequate witch who neither floundered nor excelled in any particular discipline of magic. Winifred was far less cruel in her disposition than her Slytherin female counterparts, such as Mary Tudor, and had a few familiar relationships outside of her own House. Of course, considering the company she kept and the fact she WAS a member of Snape's family that said very little. A social predator with a desire to puppeteer the easily swayed, Winifred harbored similarities to his mother, Erinyes Snape; however she was a blood relative of his father's side which meant she was secretive in most of her own agendas and shrewd of ones possessed by those around her.
Still, Snape recognized the most dangerous thing about Winifred Wilkes was her unassuming facade of an indulged, hedonistic Slytherin girl that he made a point to always remind himself of.
"I don't know if I'm the only one to think that. Mary Tudor told me you've been behaving moodier than usual." Winifred reported. "Half the conversations in the common room are about how you took a Gryffindor to the Yule Ball."
"I assume you meant Lily Evans." Snape corrected.
"She's the redhead you pair with in Potions from time to time, isn't she? Never really talked to her but she's supposed to be the smartest out of that lot right? Reasonably attractive and I adore her hair." Winifred rambled in an approving tone as she examined her nails as though expecting something to happen. "How did that go?"
"She merely served as company, Winifred." Snape assured.
"And I never knew you to keep it, hence I'm intrigued." Winifred lost interest in her hand as she turned to Snape. "They say she's a Mudblood. If you're being coy because you're ashamed of that don't bother, can't do worse than Uncle Jason when he married that Gorgon. I swear there was never a Summer Solstice quite like THAT one."
"Don't recite babble and hearsay which are half-truths at best." Snape glared from over his cauldron. "I'm not ashamed of Evans. More to the point, we're merely colleagues and she's seeing Potter."
"Ah, the Heir!" Winifred recognized the name. With her social circles, how could she not? "Not that Potter bothers me all that much, but all things considering with his family history and such I'm amazed he's still alive to steal your dance partner away."
"He has many Auror friends, not to mention the eye of Dumbledore upon him." Snape ignored Winifred's assumptions. She had selective hearing when it came to conversations. It made her a more effective gossip.
"He'll have to leave the nest someday." Winifred shrugged. Snape was uncomfortable with this conversation. The lack of malice in her voice made Snape doubt his cousin wished Potter any specific ill, but the apathy suggested that she didn't expect much past the contrary. "In the meantime, I'd be willing to inconvenience myself by running a little interference for you with Potter. It might leave Lily vulnerable and in search of a shoulder to cry on."
Winifred smiled at Snape, as though she was seriously entertaining employing this idea.
"I'd advice you to direct your omni--sexual energy towards something else, Potter has Evans to amuse him." Snape exhaled in a warning tone. "Additionally, I would find it terminally nauseating to know you were bedfellows with that narcissistic prat or any he keeps close company with. It's entirely bad enough you're bedfellows with half the population of this school."
"Well someone has to pick up the slack with you practicing celibacy like wand motions." Winifred put mildly, earning her an aggravated noise from her cousin as he shot her another dark look.
"You have your projects and I have mine. I just like the challenge of making good children go bad." Winifred rationalized. "I'm not all that fond of the mind games in our House, Ravenclaws are about as exciting as a new shade of lip gloss, and the Hufflepuffs are such easy prey the Ministry should have laws established to protect them in their natural habitats. There's just something about knocking those Gryffindors off that perch they've lofted themselves upon that seems like jolly good fun."
Winifred shivered in a way that made Snape doubt it was on account of a draft. He rolled his eyes at Winifred's sense of amusement. She smiled knowingly at Snape.
"You know what that's about." Winifred looked to Snape like she was staring at her reflection. "With Lily, that is."
"I don't fancy myself the corrupter you do, Winifred." Snape stated blandly.
"I don't corrupt." Winifred pouted in such a manner that suggested she was trying to come off as insulted rather than flattered. "I just lay out perfectly viable alternatives to socially conscious behavior. Come on, we both come from a long line of instigators. You know that. And I know you LOVE to get people all worked up whenever you spot an opportunity."
"Be that as it may, it does not excuse the hour." Snape sighed. "Go back to the dormitories; we have classes in the morning."
"You speak as though you intend to sleep." Winifred teased, but stood up anyway.
"I will speak with you at breakfast tomorrow." Snape promised, glancing to make sure his cousin was actually leaving.
"Have fun brewing." Winifred waved herself off. "Give me a holler if you happen across an immortality draft or eternal youth elixir."
Hearing his door open and shut, Snape suppressed a shudder at the notion of Winifred being preserved for any indefinite period of time and went back to his work.
* * *
1967, January 7th
Dear Journal:
I can't help but appreciate how dull things were the first two days back on term without Sirius about. Classes were conducted without virtually any interruptions or explosions from the back and none of his friends seemed particularly inclined to pick up the slack. James had to split his attention between entertaining his peers with witty remarks when he wasn't impressing us all with how brilliantly he grasps our studies, Remus only interrupts a lesson when he was making a positive contribution to it, and Peter rarely has the initiative to try anything outlandish on his own.
Now that Slytherin and Gryffindor have regrouped from our winter sabbaticals the feud is in full swing. Naturally, everyone knows about my attending the Ball with Severus Snape by this point. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, for the most part, have the common courtesy to be perplexed by all this while mine and Severus's respective Houses just have more ammo to throw about. I get teased by a few of my fellow Gryffindors a bit and the Slytherin are just vulgar in their comments. I trust Severus is fairing much along the same respects. I suppose people will lose interest eventually and all this will just be catalogued into the regular jabs our Houses throw at one another to get a rise; it's not worth me being particularly bothered considering I doubt either of us expected anything less to be the aftermath of our casual date.
Still, Severus is avoiding me for good measure. We barely spoke during the Prefect meeting on Monday and he's made an effort to make sure we're not seen together anywhere else. I doubt this is entirely the work of school gossip since it never appeared to intimidate him before. We've had a rocky sort of alliance as of late to begin with. It seems like we can't have a conversation without it turning into a flurry of words or someone storming off. I know he's the sensitive sort, quick to suspect and hard to win over, I understand that with the parents he has but I can't say I approve of taking the brunt of it half the time. I'm tempted to just confront him and say "if you can't accept that I'm a Muggle-born Gryffindor witch whose currently seeing James Potter and regularly consorts with the boy you attempted to expel then I think we have nothing further to discuss."
That's about where I expect Severus to tip his hat to me and wish a terrible life to me and my friends as we part ways forever.
He can be a stubborn prat like that.
I know he has a particularly sour disposition and a bitter regard for most everything, but that doesn't mean I'm entirely comfortable with disassociating myself from Severus. He's wise and sincere as well as a cold-water dose of reality at times. I think more people could use a friend who almost always had something intelligent to say and told you what they thought even if you weren't particularly interested in hearing it. It's affirming in so many ways. Well, maybe I'm asking to have my cake and eat it too, but I have to be optimistic that there may be a time where Severus and I can accept one another's lifestyles and contacts without it erupting into some horrible brawl.
About the only thing distracting myself and most of the school from who my dance partner was at the Yule Ball is who I started seeing after it. Most of the school is well aware that James and I are attached between hearsay and James himself. Not to imply he's indecent or anything while were in public, but he's fond of holding my hand about the halls and I even caught him glaring off a few boys who were evidently watching me in a way he didn't approve.
As I've yet to see James chase some bloke down a hall and pummel him in a jealous fit, I'll take his protectiveness with a flattering regard.
Possibly the best thing to happen since school came back in term was the return of Sirius Black. It was a grand affair in the Gryffindor commons when Sirius came in this night. Like a wayward prince back to take the throne, this promised an end to the state of mourning throughout all the girls' lavatories in the school I've noticed. Sirius looked a little rung out, but was thrilled to be home again. James laid out a warm welcome and Peter was quick to say hello. Remus offered a brief acknowledgement before finding a quiet corner to keep to himself in. As expected, Sirius seemed hurt by this but made no effort to harass Remus on the topic of their strained friendship.
Still, I caught them glancing over at one another from time to time. Maybe this whole mess will have the decency to sort itself out.
* * *
The phantom opening and shutting of Lily's bedroom door persuaded Lily to stop writing in her journal for the evening as she placed the black book and peacock quill off to the side of her desk.
"Happy to have Sirius back to you?" Lily's green eyes darted, trying to pick up where James presently was.
"Naturally." James materialized out from beneath his invisibility cloak. Folding it up and placing it on the corner of her dresser, James flopped onto his girlfriend's bed. He cocked his head to watch her at her desk. "He's happy to be back too. Not that he's indicating they were mistreating him or anything but I reckon he wasn't too keen on being off somewhere when things are still in such disarray here."
"How's Remus taking the homecoming?" Lily questioned, stretching out a bit. James made motion for her to come by him so she obliged.
"Like a good sport, I'll give him that much." James moved to give Lily room next to him on the bed and took to rubbing her shoulders. It was a safe wager she'd probably been studying a bit before he got there and had every intention of investing herself in her studies a bit more once he left. She hadn't even changed into a set of pajamas yet.
"So he's speaking to Sirius?" Lily asked in a half sigh. She'd protest James's attentions if it didn't feel so positively good that moment.
"Not so much." James admitted in a disappointed tone. "He's not being rude or yelling at Sirius, but Remus is doing what he can to avoid him. Kind of puts myself and Peter in the middle since we all share the same room."
"And you needed a break from the tension." Lily guessed as she took hold of James's forearms and draped them in front of her.
"It's a perk, but I actually came around to see you." James murmured into her hair. "It's only been a few days off break but I miss you."
"Well I think we both recognized being a Prefect and a Quidditch Captain required an investment of time before we accepted the positions." Lily reasoned, but knew what James meant. The most they saw of each other the past couple days had been during classes and meals, otherwise with extracurricular activities preoccupying them and homework to study it was hard to find moments like this in a day.
"Yeah, well maybe I would have passed it along if I had known this was going to happen for me." James mused softly and he hugged Lily closer to his chest.
Lily smiled to herself.
"Flattering, but I know how much you love Quidditch." Lily called James's bluff, facing him with a slight turn of her head.
"I do." James relented as he ran his lips over the crown of her head. "But I have my priorities in life."
"That's just new girlfriend novelty talking." Lily teased as she leaned the side of her head against James's chest. She could hear the medley of his breaths and heartbeat.
Both were slightly accelerated.
"I'm not sure about that." James confessed. "I mean, I haven't had all that much experience in courting women but it never felt like what we have between us even at the best parts. Even the worst times spent with you, Lily, are some of my better days."
"I can understand that." Lily agreed as she kissed he bottom of James's chin. She peered into his eyes as though she expected to find something there.
"It's a funny sort of thing, James. It's not that I was miserable in my life before things between us started sorting themselves out, but it didn't feel like it does now. I've always felt like my life started without me and now I have to constantly try to catch back up with it before I fall too far behind. Now, everything I do is without my usual hesitation. I'm not living after some shadow of a life I never fashioned. I'm living without looking back."
James said nothing, he only nodded. As though he fully understood the fractured thoughts she had just confessed. Feeling one of James's hands on the small of her back while the other stroked the side of her neck, Lily saw a quiet sort of expression on James's face that was neither a smile nor a frown.
It was a look of contentment.
Pulling her closer to him, James took Lily's mouth with his in a gentle kiss. It forced a sigh.
* * *
Sirius was on such thin ice his feet almost felt cold.
He had only spent three days with Aurora and her colleagues, answering their repetitive questions and cooperating as asked. Most of the people in Aurora's department were willing to accept he wasn't anything more impressive than a thoughtless prat with attention-seeking tendencies.
Sirius didn't need three bloody days to tell them all that.
Still, Sirius knew it was better that he jump through some hoops and repeat himself a whole lot if it meant his Family, the Ministry, and Hogwarts had a piece of mind about his piece of mind. Deciding it would cause everyone a few less headaches if he made an attempt to behave, Sirius was resolved to tone down the usual roving spectacle that happened to be Sirius Black once he returned to school and made certain his first week back passed in a particularly uneventful fashion.
Keeping his jokes light and infrequent so as not to disappoint his fans without annoying the Professor present, Sirius wanted to show he was making an effort to get back into the swing of his life without provoking any concern about the way he was going about it. In the halls, he was his usual, social self with most people until a Slytherin typically crossed his path. While Snape was keeping silent about Remus's secret he saw fit to mention where Sirius had been while everyone else was at school to his Housemates.
Sirius found it ironic that despite all of Slytherin's insinuations about how ruddy mad he was they appeared to harbored no concerns about taunting his mental stability relentlessly. Still, the worst Sirius found himself doing was trading the standard batch of insults with Snape and his House.
Suffering through the first of many long weekends, Sirius was confined to the House common room save for meals. He almost missed attending classes since it gave him an excuse to get out for a bit. For the most part, James and the others were good about keeping him company. Sirius only saw Arabella and Remus on occasion. Remus pretty much only spoke to Sirius when he had to and otherwise avoided eye contact with him when they were in their bedroom with James and Peter. Sirius attempted a few conversations now and then, but quickly ended them when he found Remus to be an unappreciative participant.
He especially got cross when Sirius tried explaining himself or apologizing again.
Completely without a clue as to how to earn Remus's forgiveness if he wouldn't allow him a word edgewise. Sirius knew being pushy would do little to help things. When the rest of their friends had gone off, Peter approached Sirius, curious to know why he hadn't been implicated more seriously in what had happened New Years. Sirius explained that he had been the one to do all the plotting and dragged Peter along in spite of his eventual objections so it was only fitting that he take full marks on this blunder. Peter offered to confess everything on his part to McGonagall if Sirius thought it would help him out of his current bad plight, but Sirius refused. Justifying this to Peter by saying if he changed his current running story now, people would be far more suspicious of him; Sirius really had no desire to get anymore of his friends in trouble at this specific juncture in his life.
James and Lily were being phenomenally supportive of him in spite of his stupid behavior. When they weren't passing him their notes for the days he had missed they were spending large portions of time with him. Arabella tried to be friendly for her part, but Sirius didn't expect or demand too much of her. He recognized how conflicted this situation probably was leaving her and wouldn't dream to fault her for any distance she might place between them.
The other Gryffindor 6th Year girls, being out of the loop as they were, saw fit to spend spots of time with him. Talking Quidditch with Cassidy, casually flirting with Gwen, and being gentlemanly to Millicent, the sweet thing she was, Sirius recognized things could be a lot worse off.
Then Remus would walk on by, deliberately not looking at him, and Sirius deflated completely.
This was just how things were at the moment.
Desperate and caged within his own life, Sirius feared he'd chew through his own limbs soon if things didn't shape up a bit between himself and Remus.
* * *
"Dare I ask why you're in such deep thought these days, Prongs?" Sirius inquired as he and James made their way through a lower corridor of the castle. They had just stopped back at the dorms after lunch for their Potions supplies.
"Lily's birthday's tomorrow." James responded. "Just trying to decide which plot to run with."
Sirius slung an arm around James's shoulders.
"Well I'm going to be a mate and help you keep from driving her off with some elaborate, over-the-top gesture that will probably look good on parchment but blow up in your face once put into practice." Sirius offered.
"No offense Padfoot, but you're not exactly a credible source for grand ideas as of late." James spoke without thinking. Catching a hurt expression slap across his best friend's face James quickly added. "Of course you're fairly well versed in getting women to fancy you and I'm always a world-class prat when it comes to all-things Lily so probably good to get your advice on this."
"Clever lad." Sirius grinned approvingly. "Okay, if you're planning anything that draws unnecessary attention to her, I say throw it out this instant. Lily hates being made a spectacle of."
"You think?" James ran a hand through his hair. "You probably have a point with that."
"I'd also think twice about dropping a sack of Galleons on her." Sirius mused. "Christmas was just a month ago and astronomy globes aren't cheap and it's anyone's guess what that tiara ended up costing you."
"Money doesn't matter to me." James shook his head.
"Oh I know you're the generous sort, James, but it might make Lily self-conscious." Sirius suspected. "You've only been seeing one another a few weeks and she might think you're trying to buy her or some other mad notion these Muggle-Born girls get when they date a guy who happens to be well off."
"Damn Muggles and their feminist movements." James grumbled. "Don't they appreciate how hard they're making chivalry on the rest of us?"
"Yeah, well if you two get to talking about marriage, I want to be there when you try and sell Lily on taking your name." Sirius smirked.
"I reckon I should start figuring how to phrase 'You're going to be Mrs. Potter and like it' in a manner that won't get me pummeled now, shouldn't I?" James laughed. "No but serious, since you've effectively shot down all my working plans, what should I do about Lily's birthday?"
"What about a surprise party?" Sirius shrugged. "Lots of fun and it plays off your personal strengths: misdirection, lying, and pulling something out of your hat when people least suspect it."
"I don't know." James grappled with the suggestion. "I doubt it would be much of a surprise since it would be right on her birthday and I don't feel that pretending I forgot would win me any points with her even if the party was fab."
"Well, we can always do it in the Slytherin common room." Sirius chuckled wickedly. "THAT would be a surprise for everyone."
"Yeah, I'll just go ask Snape to see about punch and noise makers." James rolled his eyes.
"Okay, if we're not going to do it for Lily, can we have that be MY Birthday party?" Sirius laughed some more, impressed with his idea.
"I think I'll go with a party in the common room, cake from Honeydukes, and the present I think she'll fancy the most." James committed himself. "I'll be out at Hogsmeade half the night and up the rest pulling this together."
"Could you pick out a present for Lily from me while you're at?" Sirius asked. James stopped walking and gawked at Sirius with a scandalized expression.
"Sirius, I'm liable to hurt you if you've forgotten Lily's birthday!" James hissed, prompting Sirius to laugh.
"I'm teasing you, Prongs!" Sirius assured gleefully. "Come now, you should be well aware that I memorized the birthday of every pretty girl at Hogwarts. It's going to be Owled to her in the morning."
"Oh it bloody better." James shook his head. Catching sight of Lily ducking into the Girls' bathroom with the other 6th Year Gryffindor girls, James nudged Sirius. "I'm going to wait about for Lily, you're free to join me so long as you don't breathe a word about her birthday."
"Not a problem." Sirius agreed as he followed James over to a pillar near the lavatory.
* * *
"What are we doing for Potions today?" Gwen questioned Lily as she adjusted her shoulder bag in the girls' bathroom as Lily smoothed out her auburn hair in front of a mirror.
"Practical Enchantment Drafts." Lily replied.
"What do those do?" Gwen applied a bit of gloss to her lips.
"Once you prepare the base potion, you cast a Charm on the mixture and any inanimate object you dip in it will have that spell infused into it. It's what you use when you want a broom to sweep under its own power or have your shoes lace themselves once on your feet. You know, practical magic." Lily turned away from the mirror. "You should know this, Gwen; it was part of our chapter assignment due."
"Brewsteem assigned homework?" Gwen demanded, genuinely bewildered. "Bloody Hell. I must have tuned her out somewhere after she started moaning about the ulcers we were giving her."
"I'm sure if you slip it on her desk before the end of the afternoon she won't even notice." Lily shrugged. "Still, you should pay closer attention or check in with myself or Millicent if you're unsure."
"Yes, dreadfully wicked of me to go about being less than perfect. Whatever was I thinking?" Gwen muttered.
Sighing, Lily pulled her bag from the ground. Absentminded and immature, Gwen was the sort of Witch who would probably always require someone to tap her on the shoulder to remind her not to forget her wand. Wagering that Gwen had grown far too accustom to having Cassidy or Millicent looking out for her, Lily hoped she wouldn't have to be the one to break it to Gwen that one of these days she'll need to function independently.
"We should be heading off." Lily announced. "Arabella and the other girls went on ahead of us and you certainly don't need to be without homework AND tardy."
Stepping out of the lavatory, James and Sirius looked as though they were debating something intensely between them.
"What do you reckon those set of Headboy's are working out?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.
"Well, my birthday's tomorrow. Maybe that has something to do with it." Lily guessed as they approached the two boys.
" - well they are about the same build so I reckon it's fair." Sirius finished with an approving nod, as he and James turned acknowledging the presence of Lily Evans and Gwen McGinnis.
"What have we been missing?" Lily smiled as James unburdened her of her supply bag. Sirius mimicked along with Gwen's pouch.
"Nothing." James insisted with a grin that warranted suspicion. "You're just in time to help Sirius and myself settle a wager about which of us it the faster sprinter."
"Oh I really couldn't say." Lily shook her head.
"Dunno." Gwen paused thoughtfully as they started walking towards the dungeons. "James is fast on a broom but that might say little for his legs and I only see Sirius in fast motion when it's either girls or a pranked Slytherin involved."
"Actually, that's not QUITE what we were debating." Sirius interjected, shooting James a grin. "You see, we're curious as to how fast we are with roughly 50 extra kilograms of weight over our shoulders."
Lily and Gwen furrowed her brows as they exchanged queer glances.
"50 kilograms -" Lily started to question before she felt James hoist her over his shoulder as Sirius did the same with Gwen. Both girls squealed in shock as Sirius and James took off down the hall cackling madly to themselves as they attempted to beat one another to Potions class.
Although the situation was odd and sudden, Lily and Gwen found themselves laughing along with the two boys shouldering them as they stopped in front of the Potion's classroom. Still laughing, the boys caught their breaths as they straightened out their uniforms.
"I think Sirius may have beaten me." James admitted with a wide grin.
"Yeah, well I don't have those knobby knees to work with." Sirius teased. "We'd best get in. I think class is about underway."
Making their way over to a vacant station near Remus and Arabella, Lily and James seated themselves and began to arrange their supplies. Sirius took a spot by Peter while Gwen reunited with Cassidy. The seating arrangements were in slight disarray since lessons resumed. Prior to her seeing Remus, Arabella traditionally paired with Millicent Meeks and with Lily no longer collaborating with Snape like before Milicent had been at a loss since it was obvious she'd be pairing with one of the Slytherin.
On the Monday back to school, Avery and his lewd sneer offered to work with her, until Snape announced he had no intention of pairing with the lazy Nott who would expect him to put in all the effort for the remainder of the term. Thus, Snape took Millicent on. It was an effective lab partnering since Millicent was a competent witch, followed instructions passively, and drew no attention to herself which did little to invite Snape's ire.
For the Practical Enchantment Drafts, everyone required additional components that were placed along the Slytherin's half of the dungeon. As Lily and James made short work of setting up their cauldron and getting their base potion simmering she was the first to venture over to the surplus supply counter.
Passing by their station for ingredients, Millicent offered a polite smile of acknowledgement as she went back to her stirring. Lily smiled back before offering a more approving one to Snape.
"I didn't get a chance to mention it earlier, but it was decent of you to work with Millicent." Lily praised.
"Decency had little to do with it, Evans." Snape replied as he kept his eye on his cauldron. "I require a partner capable of keeping up with the lessons. I would sooner place my wand hand in a boiling mixture than have to compensate for Nott's 3rd Year grasp of Potion brewing."
"Well Millicent's quite skilled with her potion work." Lily nodded.
"She's adequate, yes." Snape relinquished.
"That's about as best a compliment you can get off Severus." Lily assured with a smile at Millicent who had a questioning look as to what she'd done wrong. Relaxing a bit, Millicent nodded and focused on her work. Snape glared at Lily.
"It should also be noted she has far less cheek than my previous partner." Snape dryly informed. Lily laughed in an amused manner before she continued walking. Snape's eye caught Mary Tudor whispering something between her boyfriend Aaron Lestrange and Avery and Nott who were next to them.
Snape doubted much good would come of this.
* * *
"Playing around on Potter, Evans?" Mary Tudor inquired, her dark and sultry features hinged on predatory.
Lily turned away from plucking fresh leeches from a large jar to glare at Tudor.
"I don't pry in your conversations Tudor." Lily politely deflects, but an indignant expression had already formed over her mouth.
"Don't get all prissy, Luv." Aaron Lestrange advised while checking to see if his slicked brown hair was still in place. "We're being civil here."
"I very much doubt this discussion is heading anywhere innocent." Lily frowned as she attempted to gather her supplies more quickly.
With their voices low and even and everyone in the middle of their primary brewing, the rest of the room appeared completely oblivious to Lily's exchange with the Slytherins with the exception of Sirius Black who was only a few stations over. Lily doubted that he could hear what was being said but his pale blue eyes kept returning to that direction. Severus also made it a point to keep his attention divided between his project and what his Housemates were up to.
"Come on, we're just trying to sort things out here." Serpen Nott's bound brunette length of hair tilted along with his head. "If Snape's getting bothered over Mudbloods, I think his friends should know about it.
"Don't insult my perception of things." Lily huffed. "Passing yourself off as his 'friends' when you come down on him just as hard as me, honestly! Well, I simply refuse to encourage whatever depraved thoughts you're already doing."
"Oh that's bloody rich!" Nott scoffed. "You're the biggest tease at Hogwarts, Evans, how could you do anything but!"
"Isn't that the truth?" Lestrange nodded. "I bet Gryffindor's pretty little Prefect has such a need for attention she's willing to purr against anything that might offer it to her."
Lily felt her mouth drop slightly, utterly appalled.
"Five points from Slytherin for unprompted vulgarity." Lily notified.
"Unprompted?" The fair features and sharp nosed Regius Avery challenged. "You entirely invited that one upon yourself!"
"Remove an additional five from Slytherin House for back-talking a Prefect." Snape instructed Lily while glaring between Avery and Nott.
"I remember a time when all of us used to have a good chuckle at a Mudblood Gryffindor's expense, Severus." Lestrange returned Snape's harsh look.
"And I recall a time, Lestrange, when your knuckles used to drag along the floor." Arabella interjected as she joined Lily by the counter for her own supply of leeches. "I believe it was when you skulked your way into class."
"Go cough up your hairballs somewhere else, Figg." Tudor insisted, bristling. "No one invited your vapid opinion into this conversation."
"Oh, lay off a bit, Mary. I like Figg's wicked tongue." Avery cackled as he leaned over and patting Arabella on her behind, causing her to jump and scream a bit.
Half the heads turned in class at this startled noise. Most had quizzical expressions but evidently none had seen Avery's grope of Arabella since James, Remus, and Peter were only glaring from their stations instead of making their way over. Sirius, however, had taken note of this and was making his way over with a more than cross expression.
"Don't Sirius!" You'll get in more trouble!" Peter pleaded helplessly behind him.
"What's going on over there?" Professor Brewsteem demanded in a tone that suggested she was almost afraid to ask.
"Regius Avery being entirely inappropriate with Arabella Figg." Lily reported with narrowed eyes on Avery who was sneering back.
The entire room was paying attention at this point. Winifred Wilkes and her partner, the olive skinned and black curled Florence Copia, craned their necks to see what was happening. The burly Hekate Undercross who paired with the burlier Walden Macnair had wicked smirks as they snickered.
For the Gryffindors part, Cassidy Kinkade and Gwen McGinnis were exchanging hushed whispers while glaring over. Remus, James, and Peter were making their ways over to join the rest of their friends, while Millicent seemed entirely unsure of what to do with herself.
"I think you and I should have a word, Avery." Remus glowered, feeling his usual composure threatened slightly under the vague question of how inappropriate Avery was being with his girlfriend.
"Oh, calm yourself Lupin." Nott snapped dismissively. "It would break my heart to watch you collapse under the strain of walking and talking all at once."
"You Gryffindors need to lighten up." Avery rolled his eyes. "I was only making sure Figg knew she had her options open once she's done waiting around for Lupin to stop being too sickly to show her the best sort of attention."
Maybe it was because Avery had touched her or possibly his insult of Remus, even that smug expression on his face came off as more than enough incentive for her. Whatever the motivation, Arabella slapped Avery square on the jaw for one or all these reasons.
"Miss Figg!" Professor Brewsteem shouted in a flabbergasted pitch.
Leaping to his feet, eyes flaring, Avery shot his hand out, shoving Arabella hard against the counter behind her.
The entire room jumped to their feet.
Sirius jumped on Avery.
"BLACK! AVERY! ENOUGH!" Brewsteem screeched. In the same way they did during her lessons, the class ignored Brewsteem entirely and invested themselves into the brawl unfolding.
Nott made motion to jump in and help assist Avery but Remus grabbed him by the collar of his robes and pulled him into their own fight which Arabella joined in on. Turning on Peter, Lestrange cast a leg-locking curse against him, causing Peter to trip over himself in. The hulking Undercross dragged Gwen over the desks to pummel her properly while Cassidy leapt over to lend aid to her friend as Macnair caught sight of James and decided to settle some scores on and off the pitch. In the background, Wilkes and Copia aloofly applauded and critiqued both sides of the fight.
Aware that none of her students were even acknowledging her presence let alone heeding her commands for order, Professor Brewsteem decided it was time to bring in someone whose authority they might respect.
"SNAPE! EVANS!" Brewsteem screeched at the Prefects. "GET YOUR HOUSES UNDER CONTROL THIS INSTANT WHILE I FETCH THE DEPUTY HEADMISTRESS."
"Let's just truss everyone up until the fighting stops." Lily organized with Snape in a sharp shout. "I just need to get my wand."
This prompted Mary Tudor to spin around with an exuberant sort of expression.
"Unarmed Evans?" Tudor hissed gleefully. "Pity for you."
Pulling out her own wand with the intent to turn it on the red haired Gryffindor, Lily did the only thing she could at the moment.
Improvise.
Tossing the jar of leeches at Tudor's feet, its impact against the ground caused the water and leeches inside to splash up on Tudor's bare legs and provided the parasites with the opportunity to latch on her flesh. Screaming in hysterics, Lestrange ignored the wobbling Peter to help his girlfriend. Lily took this as an invitation to head back to her workstation and retrieve her wand.
Ignoring the nagging urge to join the fray alongside his fellow Slytherins, Snape resigned himself to his duties as a Prefect and the need to reestablish order. Recognizing Millicent Meeks had no visible inclination to begin brawling alongside her housemates and appeared too stunned to be of any other use besides a target, Snape seized her wrist and dragged her after him towards the corner of the room where his cousin was presently cackling from.
* * *
Pulling out his wand, James kept his eye on Walden Macnair. Tall and broad, Macnair was intimidating without the benefit of a magic, even though he was a mediocre Wizard at best. Like James, Macnair was a Chaser and Captain of his House Quidditch team which left little love between them to be lost. Feeling himself smirk, James jerked his head over towards where Remus, Peter, and Sirius were presently brawling.
"May I inquire why the scrawniest amongst us gets to fight the ogre?" James jokingly called over to his friends.
In response to the Gryffindor's quip, Macnair kicked a stool into James's knees, forcing him to sway forward from the collision. Macnair was gracious enough to correct James's stance by jabbing him in the jaw before shoving him on top the nearest potions' station.
"It's going to be a right treat to bloody you up off the pitch, Potter!" Macnair announced as he choked James against a desk with one large hand while landing a punch to James's face with the other once again.
Struggling against the huge Slytherin, it was impossible for James to call out a single hex as Macnair continued to strangle him as he sputtered blood from his freshly cut mouth. Not wishing to lie down and take being pummeled by Macnair, James's mind worked for a fast solution.
The answer came in the form of a wooden stool smashing over the back of Macnair's head. Collapsing in an unconscious heap at James's side, Lily dropped the broken off legs from her hands as she kicked Macnair sharply in the side.
"And it was a right treat giving you a concussion, you sodding git!" Lily spat vindictively.
James was shocked.
Grateful, but still shocked.
He never imagined Lily had it in her to be the violent sort of person but the way she just sent the bludgeoned Macnair dazed to the floor she certainly challenged all of James's previous modes of thinking.
"Why didn't you just curse him?" James's voice croaked out, still recovering from Macnair's grip.
"Didn't have my wand on me." Lily shrugged as she took a step over to where she and James had staked out for the Potions and land pulled her wand from her bag. "I saw fit to improvise, considering he was trying to murder you and all."
James blinked before a smile stretched across his face.
"I'd kiss you if there wasn't so much blood in my mouth!" James assured, causing Lily to laugh.
* * *
"Wager I'll hit Regius?" Winifred Wilkes asked Florence Copia as she pulled out her wand and pointed it at Sirius and Avery who were struggling and punching on top a workstation.
"Wager you'll hit one of them." Florence laughed and turned an interested eye onto the two boys fighting.
"Stupefacio." Winifred cast against Avery, putting her wand down with a smile as he slumped to the ground unconscious. Sirius Black glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.
Winifred waved with a broad grin.
"Florence is rather fond of your face, Black. Just keeping it in tact as a favor." Winifred reported.
"Just like old times then?" Sirius flashed a knowing grin at Florence.
"Greenhouses have nothing to do with this." Florence shook her head.
"One time gesture, Black." Winfred chimed in before she and Florence laughed at one another.
Sirius smirked at the girls in amusement until Snape walked along leading Millicent Meeks with him and absently waved his wand at the Gryffindor boy.
"Salvulnus." Snape hit Sirius with a Salt Sore Wound curse forcing him to cry out in shock.
"Oh…you…bast - AH!"
"Lovely boy, not that bright though." Florence commented with a smile as she watched Sirius double over making anguished noises.
Millicent had her hands over her mouth as she had an expression of wide-eyed shock. A reliable sort of girl and a pacifist by nature, Millicent was finding all her peers pummeling one another to be enough without having Prefects viciously hexing them with spells that made injuries feel like salt had just been poured over them.
"Was that -" Millicent squeaked out.
"Necessary?" Snape questioned with an amused smile and his eyes roamed over towards Sirius. "Very."
Turning his attentions back on Winifred and Florence, Snape eyed them.
"I understand why you'd prefer to keep to the sidelines, Winifred, however, I had not suspected you'd attack our own Housemates." Snape noted.
"Well I do when Avery tells me I need about as much prepping to get hot as a combustion charm." Winifred countered. "He's quite vulgar, you know."
"Traditionally, Winifred you're only expected to be insulted when something slanderous is spoken about you, not common knowledge." Snape informed. "Since you've already made an effort to do so, start subduing some of our classmates before McGonagall sees this mess."
Winifred and Florence both turned to Millicent who gasped slightly. Snape glared coldly at the Slytherin girls.
"Why not someone whose actually contributing to the discord at hand rather than a trembling little girl?" Snape suggested through his teeth.
"Corpusardium Leviosa." Winifred swished and flicked her wand at Lily across the room, causing her to suddenly start rising from her feet until she was pressed with her against the ceiling staring down at the floor. James Potter had his wand in his hand, trying to figure out a way to dispel the incantation without causing Lily to plummet to the ground face first.
"I thought Prefects went without saying." Snape admitted in a threatening voice.
"She just finished braining Macnair with a stool." Winifred defended herself, causing Florence to snort a laugh.
"You speak as though she inflicted any actual damage to him." Snape replied unappreciatively.
Distracted by Lily's present situation, James didn't notice Mary Tudor, now leech free, hit him with Propulsion Curse until he was dazed and on the opposite side of the room. Turning her attentions on Lily, Tudor flashed a sadistic smile at her easy target of her vengeance.
Winifred had an obnoxious, expectant smile on her face as her eyes drifted from the scene to her cousin.
"Expelliarmus." Snape forced Tudor's wand out of her hand, causing her to look around for where it had fallen too. Gwen McGinnis interrupted the Slytherin's search when she threw herself at Tudor and tackled her to the floor.
"It appears Winifred's not the only one to attack a Housemate on behalf of a pretty face." Florence teased.
"She was defenseless. It's different." Snape argued, irritated with the two girls.
"Yeah, well your defenseless little wallflower has her wand now and just propelled a stack of books at Aaron Lestrange for attempting to hit Potter with a cauldron." Winifred pointed out.
"Be silent you cackling harpies." Snape muttered.
A loud bang from the back of the classroom caught the attention of most everyone in it. Professor McGonagall had her wand pointed in the air as smoke drifted from the top as she scanned the room with a shocked. The noise had even managed to rouse Macnair who was looking around while rubbing the back of his head.
"In all my years at Hogwarts I never . . ." McGonagall trailed off as Professor Heilsing followed in after, eyes narrowed and accusing with a distraught Professor Brewsteem right behind.
"On. Your. Feet." Heilsing barked. "All of you."
Straightening themselves up, half the students were nursing injuries while the other half were recovering from various curses. Snape cleared his throat.
"Avery's unconscious and Evans is, well presently indisposed." Snape reported as he nodded toward the ceiling. The Professor's followed the gesture to see Lily still hanging from the ceiling with an apologetic expression.
"Would someone be good enough to help me down?" Lily sighed. Stifled snickers hissed through the air. Professor McGonagall, Snape, and James all had their wands out and ready but Nott beat them to the job.
"Removere Incantarium." Nott dispelled.
Lily shrieked as gravity returned to her and she plummeted to the ground with a loud thud. McGonagall and the rest of her House raced over to Lily to see if she was alright. All the Slytherins but Snape were laughing out loud at the spectacle. With a dangerous expression, Professor Heilsing swept over to Nott who was doing an unsuccessful job of looking innocent.
"I have half a mind to give you over to the Gryffindors with a bow on your neck for that sadistic stunt, you thoughtless git." Heilsing assured Nott as she turned to Professor McGonagall. "How is she?"
"Fortunate enough to not have broken her neck." McGonagall informed crossly glaring at Nott. "However I don't think her arm and a few of her ribs share the same luck. I'll take her and anyone else in need of Madam Pomfrey's attention with me to the Hospital Wing."
Standing up suddenly, James's expression was furious as he made motioned to race over to Serpen Nott to do undoubtedly violent things however, Remus and Peter took a strong grip of his arm and robes to hold him back. Had McGongall and the other Professors been absent, there was little question James's friends would have made little effort to restrain the throttling he had in mind for Nott.
"You heard the Deputy Headmistress, get along with you!" Heilsing snapped to the injured. "The rest of you can head on back to the common room and tell your fellow Slytherin all about how you managed to loose them 110 points from your House in the span of five minutes."
Several protests rang out in protest. Professor Heilsing's gray eyes didn't waver for an instant.
"Oh, you think my math's off? Well I'll do the figuring aloud: 50 points for this atrocious behavior and 60 more for Mr. Nott's warped sense of humor." Heilsing rationalized coldly. "I hope it was worth the giggle, now back to the common room where best of luck to the lot of you in not getting lynched by your peers for putting Slytherin in last place for the House Cup."
Snape nodded to the other 6th Years.
"Someone revive Avery, we're leaving." He urged through his teeth. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Potter and the others help Lily to her feet while attempting to avoid touching any places she may have been injured. Swiftly, he led the Slytherin out of the Dungeon Classroom, leaving their House Head behind.
Remus, Peter, Arabella, and Gwen followed Millicent back to Gryffindor where she would brew up some ointments for their minor cuts and bruises. Summoning a stretcher to carry Lily to the Hospital Wing so as not to complicate her injuries, Professor McGonagall kept a concerned eye on her Prefect and a sharp one on the rest. Thanks to Snape's curse, Sirius needed his wounds flushed out from the salt in them, James possibly had a concussion after Tudor blasted him across the room, and Cassidy was nursing a few sprained fingers and a twisted knee from her scuffling with Underwood.
The Slytherin causalities consisted of Mary Tudor's legs which had dozens of open sores from where the leeches had been attached with slight burns for where Aaron Lestrange had burnt them off. Nott was a plethora of injuries thanks to the dual beating by Remus and Arabella. Hekate Undercross had a swollen lip and even worse looking eye courtesy of Cassidy Kinkade, along with miscellaneous bite marks from Gwen McGinnis. Macnair probably could have used a bit of attention but he probably didn't want to admit how he had gotten himself hurt in the first place.
"Mr. Nott, I believe it would be best if you stood close to me for I fear what my House might do to you without my constant presence." Professor McGonagall advised in a cold voice. Nott looked uncertain if he was any better off with the Gryffindor Head but stood near her nonetheless as James Sirius, and Cassidy threw him murderous looks.
"Once you see to them, Professor Brewsteem and myself will meet with you at Dumbledore's office." Professor Heilsing informed. "He should be aware of this."
"I couldn't agree more." McGonagall nodded stiffly. "I will be along shortly."
* * *
Madam Pomfrey was less than thrilled to have over a half-dozen students to tend to all at once and asked Professor McGonagall to see to the less serious injuries while she focused her immediate energies on restoring Lily. Finding James unsurprisingly at Lily's side, Madam Pomfrey passed him a small flask as she pulled her wand out while at the side of Lily's bed.
"Drink that down Potter, it should help any trauma you've managed to do to that usually thick head of yours." Pomfrey ordered. "Once you're done with that, see what you can do to keep Evans attention since mending bones can be a bit painful."
Already groaning and wincing from her injuries, Lily seriously doubted it could be much worse to the pain she was presently experiencing and glanced to James who had finished downing his elixir.
"How you holding up?" James asked with concern. He took hold of the hand of hers which wasn't attached to the broken arm so she'd have something to grip onto if the pain got to be too much.
"I've had better days." Lily tried to joke. She did everything she could to ignore Madam Pomfrey and keep focused on James and through the pain. James nodded sympathetically as she caught his eyes glare over at Nott with utter loathing. In the same instant, James's expression completely lightened up as he grinned broadly at her.
"You know Lily, when I watched you drop Macnair with that shot to the head I could have proposed to you on the spot!" James beamed. He held her hand a little bit tighter as he felt her tense and saw her features contort with fresh pain from Pomfrey's healing magic.
"Thank you, Mr. Potter for reminding us all that romance is far from dead." Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes at James before turning to Lily. "And Miss Evans - "
Lily cringed from more than just pain as she turned to receive her scolding.
"Macnair must be three times your size."
A flicker of admiration danced over Madam Pomfrey's eyes as she suppressed an amused smile that James and Lily couldn't fight back.
* * *
* * *
AFTERWARDS
Sorry I just wanted to write a scene with a bunch of ass-kicking. I figured this sort of thing probably happens every so often with the Gryffindors and Slytherins so big ol' rumble time. Anyway, lots of fun, lots of characters, but I guess the only real question is who is going to get to Nott first? James? Snape? Arabella? Sirius? Wifflesnip? (that would be a bit funny I think). Oh well, if something happens it's going to happen to Nott's ass!
See you in a week!
Some Meanings:
Florence Copia = Prosperous Wealth
Hekate Undercross = Hekate was the Greek Goddess of dark witchcraft who was also associated with the Underworld and crossroads.
Regius = Kingly
Salvulnus = Sal "salt" + Vulnus "wound"
Serpen = Latin derivative of "Serpent"
* * *
Little Black Backpack
By: Stroke 9
* * *
Well I know it,
It's a shame,
a shame I can't show it
I see it
I can see it now
But I'm so far below it...
Don't wanna,
Don't wanna talk about it,
I say why not?
Don't wanna think about it
I say there's got to be some good
Reason for your little black backpack
Upsmack
Turn around he's on his back and:
Don't wanna tango with you
I'd rather tangle with him
I think I'm gonna
bash his head in
This shouldn't to concern you
Except that
Just don't expect to get your
Bloody black backpack back
I can feel you
Yes i can, what about that don't you understand?
I can sense you
Something sensual
But it's less than I planned
Don't wanna,
Don't wanna talk about it,
I say why not?
Don't wanna think about it
I say there's got to be some good
Reason for your little black backpack
Upsmack
Turn around he's on his back and:
Don't wanna tango with you
I'd rather tangle with him
I think I'm gonna
bash his head in
This shouldn't to concern you
Except that
Just don't expect to get your
Bloody black backpack back
You're tryin to find the reason
For the way you feel tonight
Your mind, is lined, with layers of lead
HAVE YOU HEARD ONE THING THAT I'VE SAID?
Don't wanna,
Don't wanna talk about it,
I say why not?
Don't wanna think about it
I say there's got to be some good
Reason for your little black backpack
Upsmack
Turn around he's on his back and:
Don't wanna tango with you
I'd rather tangle with him
I think I'm gonna
bash his head in
This shouldn't to concern you
Except that
Just don't expect to get your
Bloody black backpack back
Don't wanna tango with you
I'd rather tangle with him
I think I'm gonna
bash his head in
This shouldn't to concern you
Except that
Just don't expect to get your
Bloody black backpack back