"Oh, Ophelia, you were brilliant!"
Lily and Alice gushed over to their friend with hugs at the conclusion of her first match- in which she had undoubtedly become the star, scoring twelve of Gryffindor's twenty points and helping them storm away in victory.
“Really, Lily?” Ophelia smiled sarcastically.
Lily had to admit that lately, she hadn’t been the most supportive of Ophelia’s new Quidditch career. To her, Quidditch meant James Potter, and she tried to distance herself from that boy as much as she could. However, watching Ophelia zoom around with the Quaffle in her hands and a manic glint in her eye, Lily had to admit that Ophelia was born to play.
“Of course!” Lily replied.
“She’s just been being stupid these past few weeks,” Alice said as if Lily was not even standing there.
“Lily Evans? Stupid? Can’t be,” a voice said from behind.
Lily didn’t even need to turn around; if she didn’t recognize the sound of James’s voice by now, then at least she could count on the fact that he always had some comment to make.
“Good game, Owens,” he said with a smile, going to stand next to Ophelia. “I’m just disappointed you didn’t join the team sooner!”
“Good game yourself, and cheers,” she replied with a smile.
“I’ll see you ladies later, I’m going to go get out of these sweaty things,” he said, pointing to the state of his dirty Quidditch robes. Lily noticed in disgust that a couple of girls a few feet away had silently exchanged glances of longing.
If there was one thing in the world that Lily hated, it was girls like those. All they wanted was to date James because he was Quidditch Captain, and handsome, and popular, and then maybe if they dated him they would be popular too. Well, they wouldn’t be! Everyone would still think that they were a couple of dim-witted hussies who just...
“Lily?”
Lily snapped out of her own brain. “Uh... yeah,” she said stupidly.
************************
"It's going to be brilliant!" Sirius groaned at Remus, Peter, and James. James was grabbing his broom and they were getting ready to go back up to the castle after the game. "Would you three just stop worrying? We're going to become Animagi!"
“Sirius, it’s illegal, and the risks...”
“Don’t you want company when you transform, Moony? Make it a little easier for you, eh, mate?”
Remus seemed to reluctantly agree by the look on his face.
“Plus, we’re halfway there! We’ve done all the research! Pretty soon we will officially be Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs!”
"Shh!" Remus hissed as the last of the students walked away from the Quidditch pitch.
James smiled at the thought of the names that they had given themselves when they found out what animal forms their human bodies took; Remus was, of course, the werewolf, Peter was a rat, Sirius was an enormous black dog, and James was a strong, white stag.
He remembered how, back in his second year, he and his friends had found out that Remus was a werewolf. As opposed to deserting him, as Remus had thought they would, it brought them even closer together. And they all had one person to thank for it- Lily Evans. She, having figured it out before anyone, had persuaded Remus to tell his friends in the first place. James smiled at what a good friend Lily was. She wouldn’t let Remus believe for a second that his friends would not care for him anymore, and she kept his secret, not even telling her best friends. Lily and the Marauders were the only people (besides Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey, of course) that knew.
“I’d say about next year this time, it’ll be done,” James said, adding finality to the conversation.
As they reached the entrance hall, their way was blocked by a group of Slytherins. James would have hated them anyway, the filthy racist scum of a House that they were, but it was an unusually horrible bunch. There were four of the ugliest boys that you could ever lay eyes on, Lestrange, Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle; a pompous Sixth year with white-blond hair named Lucius Malfoy, Sirius' brother Regulus, and Sirius’ cousins, Bellatrix and Narcissa Black.
Regulus looked very much like his brother indeed, but he was a bit shorter and stockier. James knew that Sirius had always been very close to his brother, but being in different, if not enemy, houses put a strain on their relationship. Bellatrix and Narcissa looked very different for being sisters. Bellatrix had long, dark hair like Sirius had, but her matching dark eyes didn’t have the same warm and friendly glow that his had. They were cold and sullen, and they made what would have been an attractive face like her cousin’s mean and odd looking. She was tall and had long, elegant limbs that constantly reminded James of a spider’s. Narcissa was extremely thin with blond hair and pallid skin that made her look almost dead. Across her face she always wore an expression of disgust. Now that Sirius was there, it intensified.
“Cousin!” Bellatrix stepped forward in a falsely happy voice. “Long time no see. We never get to spend quality time together anymore!"
James never saw Sirius look more angry than when he was in close proximity to a family member. He looked fit to kill, his eyes filled with hate. “Don‘t talk to me, Bella," he snapped.
She laughed. It was more like a shriek; cold and creepy, that pierced the air. “Of course, why spend time with us when you’ve got these blood-traitor friends of yours?”
"Guys, let's not get into a row," Regulus muttered under his breath; he was, however, not giving James the friendliest of looks.
“Good idea. Just get out of our way then,” Sirius said with a slightly loathing tone.
“Maybe we don’t feel like it, Black,” Lucius Malfoy said casually as he strode forward.
“Shove off, Malfoy,” James piped in, shoving his wand threateningly in Malfoy's face. He hated Malfoy possibly more than he hated Snape, and that was saying a lot.
“James, Sirius... come on now,” Peter said from behind them. He looked as if he wanted to run straight out of the hall.
“Oh, look now, your little minion doesn’t want to play with the big boys,” Malfoy said. “I guess tubby here isn’t used to a good duel. Not when he’s got big friends to protect him.”
The Slytherins behind Malfoy howled with laughter.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Lucius, so shut it,” Sirius said, stepping next to Peter.
“It’s okay, I can defend myself...” Peter whispered to Sirius, but Sirius didn’t back off.
“Come on, let him fight for himself, Cousin!” Bellatrix declared. “You know how it is for him! Always a bridesmaid, never a bride...”
There was more laughter from the Slytherins. James didn’t quite know what to say. Peter was nearly shaking beside him, and he couldn’t help but want to protect his friend. Remus was standing behind Peter, his wand out, but not moving.
“I know you’ve got talent in there somewhere, Pettigrew, you don’t need these so-called friends of yours to mask it with their own all the time. Come on. Fight me.” Bellatrix’s face was looming in on Peter’s; no one could help but stare at her.
James could see Peter’s brain processing what Bellatrix was saying. All he could do was hope he didn’t fight her, that he didn’t give her what she wanted. Peter was about to raise his wand when from the corner of his eye, James saw Malfoy discreetly begin to raise his own and point it at Peter.
Before he had a chance to strike, James did. Malfoy was smashed against the nearest wall before he had blinked.
“Oh no you don’t, Potter,” Bellatrix warned, advancing on him, but she was hit with another curse.
James looked back and saw it was Sirius who had taken her out.
“Now, get out of our way,” Sirius sneered.
At that point, it became a full on duel. Wands were flying everywhere, jets of red and yellow sparks rising into the air. Even Regulus had defended Narcissa and given Remus quite the bloody lip. No one could see a foot in front of them. James thought he had stepped on Nott, but it was actually Peter, whom he heard begin to whimper as he tried to take on Lestrange, who was roughly the size of a boulder. James had a black eye and what he knew what was going to be a giant bruise on his left shoulder. He was just about to advance on Malfoy for the second time when they were interrupted.
“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?”
Professor McGonagall ran up the stairs in a fury. Her eyes were stern and beady, her face contorted with rage. “Fighting in the corridors is not tolerated! I am ashamed of all of you!”
James put his wand away, but didn’t stop glaring at Malfoy.
“Detentions for each of you this Saturday, and I’m taking thirty points each from your Houses. I better not witness something like this ever again,” she warned, and she pointed for the Slytherins to get to their common room.
James watched as they walked away slowly and menacingly, their eyes gleaming and their robes torn.
Professor McGonagall then advanced on Sirius, Remus, Peter and James. “I must say, I would have expected better out of Gryffindors,” she said sternly, and then walked away in a huff.
James, disappointed but still shaking from anger, looked over at Sirius. He had a mad look on his face.
“Good thing for them that I wasn’t put in Slytherin like the rest of my family,” he said angrily. “I would have killed the whole lot of them in their sleep.”
No one noticed that Peter began walking to the dormitory by himself.
All Right, Evans? by anglophile
Chapter Notes: YAY! AP's are over! Now I just have finals to look forward to...