Chapter 17: The Cold Shoulder
"Wizards and witches make the mistake of flicking their wands downward," preached Professor McGonagall during a particularly difficult Transfiguration lesson in which the students were struggling to turn inanimate objects into animals.
"When the wand is flicked upward instead of downwards, it produces the result of an object that has certain animal behaviors. For instance, a rock could start barking or a pillow could roll over independently," instructed McGonagall. The class suppressed laughs as their teacher surveyed them sternly. "The incantation is Ferremuto. But obviously, Mr. Potter already knows this spell. Otherwise, he wouldn't be carrying on a conversation with Mr. Black." McGonagall's lips were pursed in a very thin line as James and Sirius sheepishly met her eyes.
"You're right Professor," James grinned, surprising his entire class. "I wouldn't dare talk in your class unless I already knew the spell. Allow me to prove this to you." McGonagall nodded hesitantly.
James stood in front of the desk he was sharing in the back of the room with Sirius. He concentrated on the Galleon on his desk that he'd been informed was fake. He tapped it twice and flicked his wand down.
"Ferremuto."
The coin twisted, bended, and warped until it became a small golden dragonfly. The students watched in amazement as the dragonfly took flight and flitted around the room, finally coming to rest on Lily's scarlet head. She didn't make the vaguest of gestures to acknowledge the insect as it left its perch and continued to fly around the room.
"Well done Mr. Potter," McGonagall conceded. Of course she'd known that her top Transfiguration student would be able to perform the spell. "Ten points to Gryffindor. For homework I want you all to practice the Ferremuto spell on small objects that will produce small animals and insects. We don't want any snakes roaming around the castle." The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws sniggered at this comment.
"Class dismissed," McGonagall announced quite suddenly and the students hurried out of the classroom.
"Nice one Prongs," complimented Remus as the Marauders made their way into the Great Hall.
"Show-off," Sirius muttered, but the familiar mischievous glint in his eyes told James his friend was only joking.
The ceiling of the Great Hall was typical for late January. Heavy clouds that would surely bring snow loomed over the occupants of the room. James frowned as he watched Lily sidle up to Brighton Borrail and laugh appreciatively at something he whispered in her ear. Brigh and Lily had spent increasing amounts of time together since the Yule Ball, much to James' dismay. Their Heads Meetings had become strictly business and although Lily was civil towards James, her tone was laced with an icy dislike and she changed any subject that came too close to the Holiday Dance. James had attempted on several occasions to justify his actions on December the twenty-fifth but in vain.
Remus and Joanne were ignoring each other utterly and completely. Their friends were at a loss to know why neither of them cared to explain. Only Lily and Alexis had any clue as to why they were fighting as they witnessed their argument in the Entrance Hall.
"Pons! Aw ew gonna si' dow'?" called Sirius, whose mouth was already full of baked beans.
James tore his gaze away from Lily's scarlet mane, which shimmered when she bent her head back in laughter again. He slumped down next to an equally grumpy Remus and spooned some potatoes onto his golden plate.
"Is she still not talking to you?" Peter asked, taking in James' sulky expression.
James and Remus both shook their heads.
"Wait a second...you're both having girl troubles? I knew James was, but you too?" said Sirius incredulously.
Remus' eyes widened as he realized that Sirius hadn't been addressing him earlier. He mumbled something about having to get some fresh parchment and quickly exited the hall.
"Next thing you know, Peter will be moping over a girl," Sirius joked half-heartedly. Peter barely even recognized the attention he would have given anything for a couple months ago. In fact, it was a rare occasion that Peter was sitting with James, Sirius, and Remus. He usually was off finishing a homework assignment during most meals. Peter had fallen way behind in many of his subjects so his concerned friends completely understood his frequent absences.
"Hey sweetie," said Alexis as she pecked Sirius on the cheek.
"Good afternoon Lily," said James pleasantly but to no avail. Lily didn't even spare him a glance. Alexis sighed at her friend’s behavior.
"Come Sirius, let's get a move on," she said.
Sirius and Alexis descended the steps down to the dungeons with Lily, Joanne, James, Remus, and Peter all following them silently.
When they walked into the Potions classroom, Lily was greeted warmly by Brigh and took a seat next to him. James groaned angrily and pulled Remus by the arm to the seats behind Lily and Brigh.
"What's going on with you?" Remus muttered as Slughorn introduced the day's potion.
"I've had enough of her attitude," James fumed.
Slughorn waved his wand and instructions for the Calming Draught appeared on the board at the front of the room. James leaned forward towards Lily.
"Lily, I need to explain some things to you," James said just loud enough for her to hear him. As expected, Lily pointedly ignored James as she chopped her salamander eyes into small pieces.
"There are some things you don't understand, that even took me awhile to figure out. You have the right to know," James continued.
Lily dumped the chopped salamander eyes into her cauldron but glanced quickly behind her as she did so, obviously curious.
"What you saw… looked bad but- I mean it wasn't what it seemed and-,"
"Potter don't you dare tell me I was seeing things," Lily said fiercely, angry red spots appearing high in her cheeks. James groaned in frustrated and stirred the lavender potion in front of him faster, causing it to slosh dangerously close to the top of the cauldron.
"No, I was the one seeing things," James tried to explain. Lily turned around to face him, abandoning her deep purple potion.
"Are you trying to tell me that Alyssa tricked you into liking- into being in that situation with her?" Lily demanded. James cringed.
"Yes," he squeaked.
"What kind of a bloody fool do you take me for?" she hissed. "I've had enough of you Potter."
She turned back to her potion and stirred it vigorously.
James was in a room adorned in crimson and gold. Hues of red swam in front of him in their lush beauty. Out of the abyss came a slender figure. James could hardly make out her hair for it blended in perfectly with the scarlet hangings. Her emerald green eyes were bright with promise and forgiveness. She was coming closer, ever closer. Almost there. Inches away. He reached out to touch her and-
"Oi! Prongs!"
James felt himself being cursed back to consciousness, the woman slipping farther and farther away.
"If you want anything to eat you'd better hurry up. Breakfast ends in twenty!" Sirius' voice rang in James' ears.
James cursed the person who selected the time breakfast ended on a Saturday and climbed out of bed. He got dressed, mussed up his hair, and trudged down to the Great Hall. Even the smell of hot syrup didn't fully wake James up. He barely took notice when the usual owl delivered the Daily Prophet to Remus. What jolted James out of his slumber was when Remus suddenly spit his orange juice out all over the paper.
"You okay mate?" asked Sirius as he whacked a coughing Remus on the back.
"Fine," Remus gasped. He cleared his throat. "Look at this." Remus lowered the paper so his friends could see the front of it. James peered over the top of the now orange juice soaked Prophet. A skull, looking oddly out of place against the night sky, loomed in a foreboding way above a small two-story house. A serpent protruded sickeningly from the skull's mouth and swam around the skull.
"What's that?" Peter shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I don't know what that is?"
"None of us do Wormtail," replied Remus. James shifted his gaze to the words beneath the photo.
Mysterious Muggle Killings Baffle Aurors
At what is estimated to be 9:03 last night, Wesley Horowitz of fifty-three Brook Lane, Bedworth alerted Ministry of Magic Aurors to the sound of screaming in his neighborhood. "My wife and I woke up when we heard a horrible screaming and immediately told the Ministry," says Mr. Horowitz. Aurors arrived on the scene just as the skull and serpent pictured above appeared above fifty-one Brook Lane. Loud popping following the appearance of this mark indicates the Disapparation of a witch and/or wizard. Aurors inspected the house and found the bodies of Candace and Martin Welden and their daughter Irene in the master bedroom. After the bodies were inspected, the only possible explanation for these deaths was determined to be the dreaded killing curse. Aurors are confident the culprit of this tragic crime will be caught, although they are baffled as to why these harmless Muggles were given such a fate. However, this reporter has reason to believe that this murder is connected to the recent trespassing of Minister Ignatius Balatro's office. That's right dear readers; the skull and snake discovered in the sky above the Welden's home is identical to that of the picture on the threatening note found in the Minister's office. Is this killing what the note threatened?
-Kenneth Jennings
"Merlin," Remus murmured when he had finished the article.
"Who the bloody hell does that kind of thing?" growled Sirius as he dug into his porridge. Peter squirmed even more in his seat and James watched curiously as he turned a pale green.
"You alright Peter?" James asked. Peter hurriedly looked around himself as if all eyes were on him and squealed,
"Fine, just fine."
James shrugged. Lily was passing by him on her way out of the hall. James immediately noticed the gold and scarlet mittens she was pulling on and the matching scarf wrapped around her neck.
"Going to watch the practice Lily?" he called, making sure she was within hearing distance. To James' disappointment, Lily passed him by without recognizing his comment or his presence. He sighed, deflated.
"I'm gonna head on out," James announced and left for the pitch.
Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were going to face off in a Quidditch match during the upcoming weekend and the winner of the match would be playing Gryffindor for the cup. James had decided to begin practises for the championship match early. He wanted the Gryffindor Quidditch team to practise two separate tactical strategies; one in case they played the Hufflepuff team and the other in case they played Ravenclaw.
As he walked through the deep snow however, the Gryffindor Team's Captain was thinking about anything but Quidditch. And it had to do with a certain Head Girl he couldn't help but notice standing by herself, looking out over the frozen lake.
A/N: So what did you think? Let me know in a review! Thanks to my betas Kaity445, dramaanjelsj, Madam Bones, and Miss Felton. Again, a note about my myspace: the URL is www.myspace.com/missradcliffe. This webpage will contain updates about my stories and little bits of information about the stories and myself. If you’d like to friend me, please send me an e-mail through myspace to let me know you’re a “fanfiction person.”
Loathing or Love? by Miss Radcliffe
Chapter Notes: This chapter deleted itself while in queue and I haven't had the time to resubmit because of midterms. Sorry for the excuses and I hope you like this chapter!
Miss Radcliffe~