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Unwritten
Mei Queen
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Authoress' Note: This chapter is for wizardchick292 on fanfiction.net, for actually sending me a review to let me know that "Unwritten" hadn't been updated in over six months!! My profound apologies to everyone for that... There really isn't an excuse, actually. I blame school and the fact that I actually have a functional relationship (first time ever, so that's exciting). Also, if there are spelling errors in this chapter, please forgive me!! I don't really have a beta anymore, and I'm in the process of getting glasses (they just came in today, but I can't pick them up until tonight, & I wanted to post this chapter ASAP), so please…just…forgive me?
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Chapter 7: What's Up With the Marauders?
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"Eww," Lily moaned, dipping her grimy washrag into the bucket of water, water that had long since gone a murky brown with dirt. The Head Girl and Boy were serving their detention for taking food from the kitchens (which they didn't actually do in the first place, but so much for justice) by cleaning trophies in the Trophy Room- all the Muggle way. They were being supervised by the new caretaker, Mr Filch, who Lily thought could really stand some work on his people skills. Thankfully, however, the old man had needed to leave a few moments prior; his psychotic cat had detected a disturbance coming from the dungeons. It was a welcome change, leaving James and Lily to talk without fear of being shushed by the bad-tempered caretaker.
"Pretty nasty, huh?" James quipped, watching the redhead with a smirk. Lily was holding her washrag from her fingertips like some sort of poisonous viper, and he had the urge to do much the same thing with his, though he'd never admit it out loud. Cleaning the last of his row of trophies, James moved closer to Lily, starting to help her with her wall.
"You can say that again," the redhead replied with a slight shudder. Slightly put off by the awkward silence, Lily decided to attempt conversation. "So," she murmured, sighing and rubbing at a tarnished spot on the trophy with her sore arms, "are you looking forward to the holiday?"
James chuckled, running a hand through his hopelessly messy hair before replying. "Am I looking forward to seeing you in a dress that looks like candy floss and then proceeding to meet your entire family, you mean?"
Lily's cheeks reddened slightly and she turned away from James, hoping that he wouldn't notice the blush quickly spreading across her face. "Erm…yes, that."
"Of course I am," he replied immediately, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. James met her eyes with an eager smile. "I get to hang out with you for two weeks straight. What's not to like about that?"
Lily was so sure just a moment ago that there was simply no way that her cheeks could be any redder; oh, how wrong she was. Angling her body even further away from James, she continued tentatively. "Well, it should be fun. I'm glad that you're excited about it."
"Oh, I most definitely am," he murmured, leaning a little closer. Should I be offended by the fact that she keeps turning away from me? What's up with her tonight? She's acting oddly. I wonder if she's embarrassed that she's blushing? She shouldn't be, it goes quite well with her hair colour.
Satisfied that her cheeks had returned to normal, Lily turned back toward James with a smile. Well, at least she was smiling until she realised just how close James' face had gotten to her own. Eyes widening, she took a quick step backward, one that, as fate would have it, collided with the bucket of grimy water. As the water spilled all over the floor, the redhead lost her balance, toppling downward into the dirty, slippery sea. James reached out an arm to keep her from falling, but then the water sloshed under his shoes, causing him to fall, too…actually, causing him to land right on top of the Head Girl herself.
"Sorry," he muttered gruffly, brushing some dust off his shoulders, just about to get up off the ground. James was getting ready to hop up and help up Lily when he realised something- Lily's mouth, which was currently muttering in annoyance and lined in a tight irritated frown, was in unusually close proximity to his own. Before allowing himself to think twice, James found his lips on hers.
Huh? This is nice…but this shouldn't be happening. I don't have feelings for James…those kinds of feelings. At least I don't think I do. But then…why haven't I just pushed him away yet? That's what I need to do. Come on, Lily. Push him off, before he thinks you feel the same way! Lily was in the middle of mentally debating with herself when she heard a gruff male voice clearing his throat.
"I'm going to report this to Dumbledore," Filch threatened, eyeing the pair with irritation. "I leave for five minutes and you've gone and gotten water all over the floor, and now you're just canoodling like you've got the job done already! You young kids! You have no respect for your elders, for the rules, you have no respect for…for… anything!"
James smiled sheepishly, getting up off the ground and reaching a hand down to help pull Lily up, too. Though both of them were slightly embarrassed by being caught, neither truly regretted the kiss (good luck getting Lily to admit that, though).
Although Filch had all the evidence he needed to issue the two a weeks' worth of detentions, in an extraordinary act of generosity he only told them to clean up the mess and finish out their task at hand. While he threatened them with the shackles apparently ready to use in his office, the caretaker in the end punished them no further for the "incident", and the rest of the detention progressed much the same as it had begun- in awkward silence, with some very stiff limbs.
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"What did you make of that?" James called, jogging slightly to catch up with Lily, who was quickly making her way down the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor. The redhead had left just as early as Filch would permit; she was not comfortable with the idea of walking all the way back to the Tower with James, the person she'd just had such a sweet but entirely awkward and confusing moment with.
Cheeks reddening, Lily turned towards him, wondering briefly why he had to be so blunt. She had left early just to keep from rehashing the kiss and everything that it might mean. She hadn't pushed him away; what if he took that as a sign that she was interested? Because, after all, she definitely wasn't interested... If he was to ask me to Hogsmeade right this instant, I'd just have to turn him down again. Well…I'm pretty sure I'd turn him down, anyway…
She mentally shook herself out of her thoughts, meeting James' eyes before replying, "Um…I dunno. It was…okay, I suppose."
James' eyebrow shot upward, obviously confused. "What was 'okay'? Oh, you mean the fact that he didn't punish us further? Which, believe me, was so much more than 'okay'…but sort of peculiar. Maybe he's hoping to get in the good graces of Dumbledore before using his power to punish the student body…"
Lily tilted her head to the side, looking at James as if he had sprouted an extra head. What in the name of Merlin's beard is he talking about? I'm guessing obviously he isn't thinking of the same incident that I am…I'm guessing by "punishing the student body" he's talking about Filch. It's a relief, definitely, that he's not trying to rehash the kiss and whatever it might mean. It's too confusing, just way too much to deal with right now. Hell, I still have to survive an entire holiday around Petunia, the older sister with the permanent sneer. I've got enough on my plate, thanks, I don't need any awkward "so…what does that make us?" conversations at the moment.
James copied her, smirking slightly. "What ever has you so confused, firecracker?"
The redhead's cheeks reddened to rival the shade of her hair. Caught again. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just thinking about the match against Slytherin tomorrow. Speaking of which, we had better win, Mr Quidditch Captain."
The Marauder's hazel eyes began to sparkle with obvious excitement. "You're coming, right? You and Eduina both? I need some cheerleaders, after all."
Great, a day spent watching Quidditch…Edie will have to remind me some of the rules, but it should actually be a nice change of pace from all the NEWT level essays that have been clogging up my weekends…Lily shook herself out of her thoughts, meeting James' eyes with a wide grin. "Of course I'll be there. After all, someone has to boo Sirius when he hits the Bludger at you instead of the Slytherins."
James snorted in response. "Cut the bloke some slack, that was one time! So…what are you doing tonight?"
"Dunno. The usual. Hexing the innocent, howling at the moon, all the usual girly things," the redhead replied with a shrug.
James' eyes widened and his gaze trailed to the window. "It's a full moon tonight."
"Yeah," Lily affirmed, looking to him with concern etched in her eyes. "So? What's wrong?"
"I just realized I left something when I was in the Gryffindor dorm," James muttered. "Can you make it back on your own? I've gotta go."
The redhead nodded weakly, managing a wave and a "try to make it back before curfew", before shaking her head and finishing the long walk up to their Tower.
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The morning of the Quidditch match came much too quickly for the students' liking, especially that of the Marauders. At breakfast, James' head had been propped on his hand and it occasionally slipped off, sending his face precariously close to his bowl of oatmeal. Sirius had given up on food (a first for him, truly), and was now head-down on the table, snoring. Peter had bags under his eyes, and was yawning constantly. Curiously, Remus was nowhere to be found.
"Where did they say Lupin was again?" Eduina whispered to her best friend Lily.
Lily shrugged. "Something about the Hospital Wing. Apparently James got back to the dorm after our detention and found Remus with a high fever, sweating in bed. James walked him down to the wing, then and there."
Eduina's eyes widened in shock. "You actually believe that story?"
The redhead eyed her friend defensively. "And why shouldn't I?"
"Oh, I don't know," Edie replied casually. "Maybe the fact that it paints James as the hero, when
Remus, if he really were sick, would have had the common sense to go down to the Hospital Wing ages before James got
back from detention. Considered that one yet?"
Lily mulled it over, her gaze travelling down the table to where the Marauders were falling asleep on their plates. If Remus just had to be walked down to the Hospital Wing, why do they all look so exhausted? Something's going on. "No, no I hadn't. Potter's in for serious questioning."
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"And the Quaffle's up!" yelled a Hufflepuff that Lily didn't recognize. Remus really must be sick, the redhead thought to herself nervously. He's never missed a match; he always loves commentating…
James Potter and Sirius Black appeared to have shaken off the fatigue that was so apparent with them this morning; James had already captured the Quaffle and scored a goal for Gryffindor. Sirius, meanwhile, was happily knocking Bludgers at every Slytherin he could manage.
"They seem to have recovered well," Edie quipped over the roars of the Gryffindors.
Lily nodded fervently in reply. "So it seems. Wait, what's going on now?"
Edie shook her head. How Lily had made it through six years at Hogwarts without learning the rules of Quidditch was a true travesty in the eyes of Eduina. The brunette took a deep breath before explaining. "Okay, James has taken the Quaffle from Flint and he's headed for the Slytherin Keeper. The reason they keep going from left to right like that is because Potter's trying to predict which direction the Keeper's going to block. He better shoot soon, though…"
"Why?"
"If he doesn't," Edie replied impatiently, "one of the Slytherin Chasers will come along and steal the Quaffle- sort of like that! Foul!"
Lily looked at her best friend in bewilderment. "But it wasn't a foul. The Slytherin actually took it
without pushing James or anything. Why is that a foul?"
Eduina sighed. "It's not. But 'Potter, you're an idiot!' hardly supports the Gryffindor
cause."
"Oh."
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The rest of the match progressed in much the same way- a play would happen out on the field, Lily would ask Eduina to explain, the Hufflepuff would narrate in a very annoying manner (even the Slytherins had to be missing Remus, he was so much better a commentator than this bloke was). James began to lose momentum as the match progressed, and the Slytherins easily came into a firm lead over the Gryffindors. The Slytherins won the match by over two hundred points, mostly because, as Edie had put it, "Potter was not on his game today."
Sirius hardly helped things. He began to doze off in midair toward the middle of the match, and when a ball or player would fly too close to him and jog him awake, he began to swing his bat randomly at everything. The grand total of damages in the match of Gryffindor vs. Slytherin totalled as follows- one Slytherin had a broken arm, two Gryffindor players had bone fractures, one Bludger had mysteriously gone missing, and after doing all of the above, Sirius had somehow managed to give himself what Madam Pomfrey described as a "slight concussion".
All in all, the Gryffindor Quidditch team had seen better days, and the team's players were not about to let their Captain forget it.
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"James, what was that out there? Because I sure as hell know it wasn't Quidditch!" the smallest member of the team, Seeker Emmeline Vance, demanded in frustration. She threw her equipment on the ground of the locker room as if to prove a point. "Your head was somewhere today, James, but it was nowhere near that Quidditch Pitch. Potter, I really don't want to gang up on you since we're your friends, and we care about you. But it's moments like this that really disappoint me...and the team. We all wanted you to be our Captain, and after today's performance I suddenly can't remember why."
This statement was met with sad nods from the entire disappointed team (well, except the injured members, who were currently being taken to the Hospital Wing by a very cross Poppy Pomfrey). James looked up at his team, shame apparent on his face.
Emmeline continued. "We don't want to guilt trip you too much, James, but we just really want you to know that we know you can do better. With you as our Captain, we've actually got a shot at the Cup this year! That'd be the first time in twenty years! Please…get it together. For Gryffindor."
James nodded, shaking his head slightly. "I remember back in the day when I used to give you all the chastising pep talks."
Emmeline smiled wryly in response. "Things change."
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"How's Moony doing?" Peter Pettigrew asked nervously, striding into the Hospital Wing after the match. Madam Pomfrey was currently trying to get the one Slytherin in the ward to cooperate and drink the bone-mending potion, but she seemed to be having a hard time of it. That was all the better for Peter, who was technically breaking the rules by being in the ward during non-visiting hours to whisper with Sirius Black.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Typical stuff. Exhausted. Still a little furry, so Poppy's got that curtain bit still up. She says he won't be released until late this evening, right before curfew. She doesn't want students harassing him again."
"Last time was ridiculous. Everyone asking about his dead aunt," Peter muttered, shaking his head and shooting his watery blue eyes toward the curtained bed that contained Remus Lupin. "We need to think of some more plausible excuses."
"So how did we make out in the match?" Sirius asked eagerly, leaning toward the blonde boy slightly. Sirius had knocked himself out before the final score had been announced, so he was keen to catch up on the news.
Peter sighed. "You really want to know?"
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"Edie, where's James at?" Lily asked impatiently, attempting to heave her things (which, to her dismay, included the candy floss dress) up onto the Hogwarts Express. The carriages had just arrived at Hogsmeade, and the students were about to board for the journey to King's Cross Station. Everyone, it seemed, but James Potter. Lily had been searching for him all morning, to no avail. She could not find him. Sirius, Peter, and Remus were all nowhere to be found as well.
If I end up going dateless to Petunia's wedding, the redhead thought viciously, beginning to settle into a train compartment, I'm never going to forgive him.
Lily began to panic as even fewer students remained on the platform, and more came onto the train. "Eduina! What if James doesn't come? I'm going to have to dance alone! I'll have to deal with all of Vernon's mates! Do you know how stupid Vernon is? Well, multiply that by a billion. That's about the intelligence level of that brute's family and friends…"
Edie rolled her eyes, looking toward the window. Potter, if you don't get on this train within five minutes and stop her strain of incessant babble- you will deeply regret it, the brunette thought irritably, searching the platform for a mop of messy black hair. A smile quickly lit up on her face. "There he is!"
"Where?" Lily demanded, crowding Edie at the window.
"There," Edie pointed, and indeed, James was huffing and puffing, running to the platform. "It looks like he's run the whole way here. It…doesn't even look like he's showered. Well…that's disgusting."
The redhead's nose scrunched in distaste. "I can only imagine what Petunia will say if she sees him like that. At least he's going to make the train, that's a really positive development."
"I'll say. I'll go out and flag him down to our compartment," the brunette volunteered, leaving Lily alone in her thoughts for a moment. The redhead leaned back against the cushioned seat of the compartment, allowing her gaze to trail out the window. How is this wedding going to go? Hopefully everything will go smoothly…I don't really expect James to charm Petunia and Vernon; Merlin knows they're not the charming type themselves. But I'm hoping that at least having a date that knows about magic, one that's my friend…one that just kissed me during detention…Lily. Don't think about that. It's confusing enough without you dwelling on it…James doesn't seem to want to talk about it, so you shouldn't spend too much time rehashing it.
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Lily's thoughts were interrupted when the compartment door slid open, revealing an impatient Eduina and a panting, out of breath James.
"Haven't been jogging, Potter?" Lily quipped with a grin.
"Oh, so it's Potter now, is it, Evans?" James replied, chuckling slightly. He was relieved. For once, Lily Evans had called him "Potter", and James was absolutely positive that it wasn't because she was so disgusted with him that she had to use his last name. For once, James Potter knew she was only teasing. Our relationship…whatever it is…has come a long way, James thought happily, his usual crooked grin lighting up his face.
James settled into the seat next to Lily, allowing his arm to recline on the back of the seat.
"So where are your mates?" Eduina asked curiously, getting up to buy some candy from the trolley.
"They're staying at Hogwarts this holiday," James replied quickly, catching the pumpkin pasty that Eduina threw at him easily, and then deftly catching the one flying toward Lily's face before it hit her cheek. Handing the redhead her pumpkin pasty, he thanked Edie and took a bite of his. "Peter and Remus…their families are sick…really sick. Sirius always comes to my house over Christmas. Actually, last year even Peter and Remus went. Now that was a party," he murmured, thinking fondly of that Christmas, one that had undoubtedly involved too much firewhiskey. "Anyway. Yeah, they'll be at Hogwarts."
Eduina and Lily nodded simply. They hadn't expected James to divulge as much about his mates' lives as he had, the girls certainly didn't want to pry further. James coughed slightly at the uncomfortable silence. "I'm going to go get cleaned up, I'll be right back."
The girls nodded again, meeting each other's eyes with unease as James closed the door to the compartment.
Eduina spoke up first. "That was awkward."
"Yeah," Lily replied, nodding sadly. "I didn't know that the boys had nowhere to go over Christmas…I'd have invited them to Petunia's heinous marriage if I knew. I wish there was something we could do…I wouldn't want to be stuck at the castle over the holiday, that sounds terrible."
Eduina's gaze trailed to the floor sadly, and she began to absentmindedly twist a chestnut curl around her finger. "Maybe there is."
"Maybe there is what?" Lily snapped, looking up crossly.
"Something we can do," the brunette prompted. "I'll bet you there is. I'll think about it. Can I owl you over holiday?"
"Sure," Lily replied, snorting slightly. "James is going to be bringing the magical element into the Evans household. We might as well have owls too, if nothing else than to be the icing on Petunia's proverbial wedding cake."
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Authoress' Note: (Part 2) - Please review! They're good for the soul, and I'd really like to know what you think about where the story is going, the pace, characterizations, etc. It's been awhile since I've written for this story (obviously), so it was a little more difficult than usual. Hope this chapter was up to par!