Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine besides Alena, Janice, and Elisha, and all those characters listed as dance partners in chapter two, and, as far as I know, none of the events coming up happened for real, but I could be wrong….
Lily looked calm, but her heart was fluttering furiously inside.
James loves me, that wonderful voice in her head said, he really loves me!
Lily was about to mention that it was about time for lunch, when a not-so-wonderful voice sneered, “So…the Mudblood found a dance partner.”
Lily whirled around to see one of her worst enemies, then said mockingly, “I’m sorry, your owl has just been intercepted. Please call him back and try again.”
A boy with black, slimy hair grinned maliciously, and hissed, “So how’d a filthy Mudblood like you manage to attract a partner for the formal?”
By now a crowd had formed, including the Marauders. Lily was shaking with anger inside, but outside she seemed totally oblivious to what the boy was saying. Calmly, she asked in return, “Have you gotten a partner yet, Snivellus?”
The boy she called Snivellus scrunched up his face at that name, and replied, “My name is Severus Snape, and no, I don’t have a partner.”
Lily laughed. “Well, I can understand why! You’ve got such a big and greasy head, it’s nearly impossible for a girl in her right mind to stand three feet away from you, let alone hold hands with you!”
Severus began fuming as students from the crowd shouted, “Ooh!” and “You got told!” and “Burned!” As the voices continued, he seemed to be struggling with himself, and started to walk away, but suddenly he turned around, pointed his wand at Lily, and made a slashing movement in the air.
What looked like a purple flame was a force that cut into Lily’s skin like a knife, and as she uttered, “Oh…” she fell to the ground.
“Lily!” Alena, Janice, and Elisha fell to the ground beside their friend. Tears had formed, but they were shaking with anger.
The three pulled out their wands and shouted hexes and aimed them in Severus’s direction.
At the same time, James and the Marauders whipped out their wands, and, furiously, sent curses towards their enemy. James was about to dangle Snape in the air with anger, until he heard the girls scream Lily’s name.
James ran over to her and knelt to the ground.
“We have to get her to the Hospital Wing,” Alena said frantically.
“I’ll do it,” James said, and eased Lily up with “Locomotor Mortis.” Remus did the same for Severus, who had fallen a few feet away and was writhing in agony.
“Hey James, you don’t reckon we’ll get detention, do you?” Sirius asked him as James gently spell-carried Lily across the grounds.
“I don’t care,” James found himself saying. “I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
Very slowly, Lily opened her eyes. She squinted, and looked around. She was definitely inside, but she couldn’t tell where”
“Lily!”
James cried out her name and ran over to her bedside. The other Marauders and her girlfriends followed just as quickly.
Lily adjusted her eyes to the light and gazed at her friends. “Where am I?” she asked all of them.
“You’re in the hospital wing, love,” answered Madam Pomfrey, who was standing a few feet away. “Took a nasty spell to the chest, you did.”
“Yeah,” Sirius continued, “Snivellus used that horrible…whatever-curse-it-is on you. You collapsed immediately. Been here for three days.”
“It should be made illegal,” Alena said, wiping her eyes. “You could’ve been badly injured.”
“But I’m okay, right?” Lily asked cautiously.
“Of course you’re alright!” Janice hastened to reassure her. “Except…”
“Except…what?” Lily asked, looking to everyone for answers.
No one said anything. Finally, Sirius summoned up enough courage to say, “Well, let’s just say you’ll never look good in a bikini.”
Janice slapped him across the face and Sirius said, “Ow!” and rubbed it gently. Lily instinctively reached to her front and found a line to trace. “A scar…” she whispered.
“It could’ve been worse,” Elisha said. “If we hadn’t spell-carried you up here, you’d be in a right fix. Snivellus would’ve been, too, if Remus hadn’t done the same for him.”
“What do you mean?” Lily said with confusion. “What’s wrong with Snape?”
They all looked at each other. James finally said, “Well, see Lily, you have seven friends who will readily defend you if someone threatens you.”
“In other words,” Elisha said, “when you fell to the ground, we all cursed him. And we each used a different one.”
“Really?” Lily asked excitedly. “What did you use?”
James began to list all the spells they each used. “Let’s see…Peter used Expelliarmus, Sirius, Remus, and Elisha combined with ‘Eat Slugs’, Furnunculus, and Bat-Bogey, respectively, and”this is the best part”Janice and Alena and I used Jelly-Legs and Tarantallegra and Leg-Locker!”
A sudden image of Snape writhing on the ground filled Lily’s head. His legs were squirming a little, but not nearly enough. His face was contorted with pain as little tentacles and bats emerged from his skin, and huge, slimy slugs forced their way out of his mouth. Lily had been giggling at first, but now it was full-blown laughter. She almost hurt from the curse, she was laughing so hard, but soon she stopped long enough to ask, “So, heh, when can I leave the Hospital Wing?”
“Madam Pomfrey’s given you permission to leave right now if you want to,” answered Alena, “so long as you always have someone by your side and you come for more medication by tomorrow morning.”
Lily smiled. “Let’s go out now,” she decided, “there might still be time to see the sunset.”
The eight of them made their way to the front entrance to Hogwarts and entered the natural world just as the sun was sinking behind the trees. There was some orange, pink, and pale green dancing across the sky, but still a good amount of light blue. As they began to tour the grounds Lily asked, “Umm, would it be all right if James and I had some time alone for awhile? We can meet you all again in about ten minutes.”
For a second everyone, including James, stared at her. Lily began blushing furiously, but Janice saved her with, “I think it would be all right to let them alone. We can skip stones on the lake and talk if that’s okay with the rest of you.”
The group agreed and Lily and James made their way slowly to the water’s edge where they sat down and stared into nothingness for awhile. Then Lily finally said, “Thanks for cursing Snape for me.”
James laughed nervously. “I wasn’t the only one, you know.”
Lily smiled kindly and said, “I know, but a long time ago I told you never to intervene when I was arguing with Snivellus, but I’m glad you did this time. So thanks.”
She offered her hand and James shook it, saying, “Well, you know, I just wanted to make sure I still had a dance partner for the formal.”
James held onto her hand. It was very warm and strong, and Lily wondered, To hold on, or to let go? That is the question. As much as she liked him, this was a new experience for her, so eventually she pulled away, and tried to stand up.
“Oh!” Lily moaned, and fell because of her weakness.
“Here.” James helped her up, and the two headed in the direction of their friends. Sirius was telling some excellent jokes, and soon James and Lily were laughing along with them. They began walking again, this time closer to the woods. The sun was almost down, and there were a few thick clouds in the sky.
When Sirius’s jokes ran out, Lily commented, “Hey, look, the moon’s up! Let’s stay and see it, it’s full tonight.”
The Marauders stopped in their tracks, and James asked slowly, “What did you say?”
Lily repeated, “I said that the moon is full tonight. But you can’t see it now, looks like a cloud covered it.”
Remus looked up and began running toward the woods. Lily took no notice of him.
“How would you know?” James asked nervously.
“Oh, Professor Sinistra gave me an astronomy calendar since I’m not taking her class anymore. You know, with constellations and moon phases”James?”
James seemed to be struggling to find words. Finally he said frantically, “Lily, you and the girls go inside. It’s about time for supper anyway.”
Lily got ready to protest, but Janice interrupted with, “He’s right, Lily, we ought to go inside, dinner should be starting soon.”
“Why don’t you three go inside,” Lily suggested. “I’ll join you in a little bit”just after I get a good look at the moon from out here.”
“Fine,” said Elisha, “we’ll see you in a few minutes.”
The threesome hurried across the grounds and Lily turned to face James as he said, “Lily, I told you to go inside.”
“But I don’t want to go inside.”
“You can see the moon just as clearly in the Great Hall, the ceiling’s enchanted!”
“So? Why do you want me to go inside, anyway?”
James searched for words. “Look it’s”it’s going to be dangerous in a few minutes.”
Lily placed her hands on her hips. “So why don’t you go inside with me?”
“I know how to master the danger!”
“And what’s to say I don’t know how?”
“Trust me, you don’t.”
“Fine.” Lily crossed her arms. “Tell me what the danger is.”
“There’s no time for that, just go inside!”
“I’ll go in if you tell me what it is!”
“But I can’t tell you!”
Lily opened her mouth again, but suddenly stopped. She turned chalk white as she whispered, “James?”
Impatiently, he whispered back, “What?”
“Don’t look now, but there’s a werewolf emerging from the forest, and it’s running at you from behind.”
James turned deathly pale and started breathing slowly with fright. He whispered, “So what do you suggest we do about it?”
Lily groped for an answer, but suddenly shouted, “Duck!”
A/N So, what are you thinkin’? I really liked this chapter, a lot of action, really cool. And thank you to my new beta, LaneTechFreshie! She's given me some great ideas, and is very supportive. Thanks a lot!