CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Another Year Gone
It was a cloudy spring day and the Gryffindors were huddled in the Common Room. Nobody really felt like working, but it seemed like nobody really felt like talking either, so an unusual silence lingered in the air. Sirius was lying horizontally across an armchair and flipping lazily through a magazine while Gwendolyn was writing a letter to her parents. Remus was reading, James seemed to be napping, and Lily was staring idly into space. Sure, they all had stacks of homework to do, but clearly no motivation.
“Where’s Peter?” James asked, abruptly jerking awake and breaking the silence.
“I think he and Janus were hanging out with Jack Bobbin and Mark Hughes,” Remus answered, not bothering to look up from his book.
“Oh, the Slytherins,” James said, his voice full of disdain.
“Give it a rest, James,” Gwendolyn said, still focused on her letter. “Jack and Mark are perfectly nice.”
“Yeah, it’s the rest of them we’re worried about,” Sirius said, tossing his magazine to the ground and leaning back in his chair.
Gwendolyn groaned. “Not you, too.”
Sirius didn’t respond. Lily stole a glance at him from the corner of her eye. He didn’t look very upset. In fact, he was probably just bored and wanted Peter around for entertainment. Lily sighed inwardly. It didn’t seem fair how the boys treated Peter sometimes, but she surmised that it probably wasn’t her place to say anything.
Just as Lily was about to go back up to her bedroom, Peter clambered in through the portrait hole.
“Hey guys,” he said in his high voice, plopping down on the sofa next to Remus. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing!” they all chimed in unison.
“How were the Slytherins?” James asked, barely masking his scorn.
“Pretty boring, to be honest,” Peter said with a shrug.
“Why do you hang out with them?” Sirius asked, his tone a little sharp.
“Well, my dad used to work with Mr. Bobbin, so at first it was just because Jack was a familiar face,” Peter answered defensively, and a bit nervously. “And then Janus knows Mark Hughes, so they just all formed a little group. But they’re not as exciting as you all,” he hastened to add.
Gwendolyn snorted. “Yeah, we’re a real barrel of monkeys over here.”
Peter smiled, but his smile faded at Sirius’s next question. “Wait, doesn’t Mr. Bobbin work for Lucius Malfoy’s father? Abraxas, or whatever his name is?”
Peter shifted a bit. “Yeah.”
“So does that mean your father works for Lucius Malfoy’s father?”
He shifted again. “Well, he used to, yeah. But that doesn’t mean anything. In fact, my dad quit because Abraxas was such a git.” Peter puffed out his chest in a little bit of filial pride.
“Didn’t you ride on the Hogwarts Express with Lucius Malfoy first year?” Lily asked. She had suddenly remembered seeing Peter trailing behind the gang of Slytherins who so repeatedly called her “Mudblood.” Not that she would ever accuse Peter of doing the same, but it was interesting. She hadn’t even given Peter a moment’s thought back then. It was funny how things changed.
Peter shrugged, but when he spoke his voice was a bit squeaky. “I knew him, that’s all. I didn’t want to ride on the train by myself; it was my first time!”
“You could have sat with us,” James exclaimed, gesturing between himself and Sirius.
“Well I didn’t know you then, did I?” Peter responded with a smile. James just grunted in response, so Peter continued: “Look, why all the questions? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, Pete, we’re just bored. These blokes have nothing better to do,” Remus answered, jerking his thumb in the direction of James and Sirius.
“Yeah, sorry for the interrogation,” James said, blushing a bit and cocking his head back. “I’m just going insane over here. Wish we had Quidditch practice today.”
“I don’t,” Sirius said. “I bloody hate Quidditch practice.”
“Liar,” Gwendolyn said, finishing her letter and picking up Sirius’s magazine from the ground.
Sirius again had nothing to say, but he did manage to kick Gwendolyn’s chair with one of his dangling legs. She just smiled.
It seemed as if they would all descend into silence again when there was a tapping at the window nearest James. He looked up to see his family owl flapping anxiously, a letter tied to his leg. He opened the window and untied the letter, patting the owl on the head and then watching it fly away.
“What’d you get?” Sirius asked, keen for something to talk about.
“Letter from my parents,” James answered. “They always write me on Saturdays, but forget to post their letters until the afternoons.”
Sirius’s face fell. Clearly news from James’s parents wasn’t enough to keep him occupied. But the news must have been of interest to James, for after a few minutes he groaned and crumpled up the letter. “I told them!” he exclaimed, tossing the wad of paper to the ground.
“Told them what?” Peter asked.
“They joined that bloody Society again,” he said.
It was Gwendolyn’s turn for a question: “Which Society?”
“The Society of Pureblood Sorcerers,” he responded.
“Oh, they’re the ones that went all crazy during Grindelwald’s time, right?” she asked, eliciting a nod from James.
“I mean, they got a lot more normal for a while”that’s when my parents joined,” he explained, “but then the Malfoys took over and everyone went mental again, and so they left. But then, this Christmas, there was an election and my mum’s friends, the Parkhursts, got elected to lead the thing and they’re not crazy.”
“Well, that sounds good. What’s the problem?” Remus asked.
“Apparently I was the only one who saw this coming, but there is now a need for ‘new leadership’ within the Society,” James said, shaking his head.
“What, there was a takeover or something?” Remus again asked.
“I guess! I don’t really know what happened. I think it was all pretty sudden, but the Parkhursts are out.”
“Who’s in?” Gwendolyn and Lily asked at the same time.
“That’s the thing: my parents didn’t say. The letter makes it seem like nobody’s in charge for right now, which can’t be a good thing. Anyway, it’s all very strange, and I told them not to bother joining again.”
“Too right! Bunch of pureblood freaks. Well, not your parents, of course,” Sirius said from his armchair, his brows furrowed in anger.
“Yeah. Anyway,” he said again, Levitating the crumpled-up letter with his wand and winging it into the fire, “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. No point, really.”
There was a chorus of agreement and everyone went back to his or her idling, without another moment’s thought about the ‘new leadership’ in the Society of Pureblood Sorcerers.
***
A few Saturdays later, James received another letter from his parents, and though it did not mention the Society, it did make for a good conversation starter. His father had written out a list of all the elective classes at Hogwarts, their pros and cons, and his personal recommendations for James.
A special time of year was upon the Gryffindors. Their schoolwork was in a bit of a pre-exams lull and it was the Easter holidays, but rather than relax, they were faced with a new challenge: choosing elective courses for the next year. They were all knee-deep in pamphlets and leaflets and recommendations from older students and parents, and while everyone had some idea of what he or she wanted to do, no one had a completely finalized schedule. But everyone had a preferred method of choosing classes.
Sirius was a fan of the question, “What do you think the easiest ones will be?” He posed this very query as he, James, Remus, and Peter clambered through the portrait hole. James was clutching his dad’s letter in his hand; he hadn’t much let it out of his sight for a day or two. He turned to face his friend and answered, “I don’t know. Muggle Studies, probably.”
“Yeah, and Care of Magical Creatures, I bet,” Sirius nodded in agreement.
James consulted the letter. “It looks like my dad doesn’t really recommend it though. He says I won’t learn too much.”
“No problem here,” Sirius said with a shrug as they reached their favorite corner of the room.
“Sirius, for as smart as you are, you sure are dumb,” Gwendolyn said from her seat. She was surrounded by pamphlets and had made her own lists, it seemed.
“It’s a tough life, Gwen. It’s a tough life.” He sat down on the couch next to her and picked up the pamphlet on Ancient Runes. “Yuck,” he said, his face contorting into an obvious grimace. “Why would anyone in their right mind take this class?”
“Hey!” she said, snatching it out of his hands. “I’m taking it, and I think it’s going to be fascinating!”
“I agree,” said Lily, who had just finished flipping through the pamphlet. “And I think you guys should really consider it.”
James perked up at this comment and looked at Sirius, his eyebrows raised. “I mean, it doesn’t look that bad, mate!”
Sirius rolled his eyes. “No thanks, James. Sounds like a class for smart people who care. I’m more interested in what Diana’s taking.”
Diana shook her blonde hair and laughed, apparently not taking Sirius’s comment as an insult. Lily groaned inwardly as Diana spoke. Try as she might to stomach “Di,” Lily just couldn’t tolerate her sometimes. “Care of Magical Creatures, of course! And probably Muggle Studies, because I’m half-Muggle, so it’ll probably be super easy.” She gave another tinny laugh and went back to examining her fingernails.
“See?” Sirius said, gesturing to Diana. “That’s the kind of attitude I admire in a student.”
Marlene shook her head and looked up from her color-coordinated, cross-referenced lists. “Diana, this is our best opportunity to study something really interesting, and you only want to look at pictures of Muggles driving cars? I don’t understand!”
Diana sneered at Marlene. The two girls, being on complete ends of the studious spectrum, often did not get along, and everyone felt the tension in the air thicken as Diana continued her stare-down, one eyebrow raised haughtily. Finally, she seemed to make up her mind what to say: “Whatever, Marlene. I’m going to take classes that will make me happy. You can suffer through Arithmancy, but don’t come crying to me when you have homework up to your ears.”
She got up from her chair and crossed the room to sit with her best friends, Galina and Adriana, who were both a year ahead. Marlene sighed and turned her attention now to Sirius, who could tell a reprimand was coming.
“Look, Marlene, don’t even start,” he said, pre-empting her attack. “I’m not just going to take easy classes, so settle down.”
This seemed to satisfy Marlene, for she smiled and turned back to her Arithmancy pamphlet.
James groaned. His decision had not gotten any easier in the past fifteen minutes. He turned to Remus, who was comparing pamphlets on Muggle Studies and Arithmancy. “What are you taking, mate?”
Remus sighed and shook his head. “I have no bloody idea. Arithmancy looks really good, but so does Ancient Runes, and if you all are taking Care of Magical Creatures, I want to take it, too. This is impossible!”
“Maybe you can sign up for more than two electives?” Peter suggested.
Gwendolyn shook her head. “I talked to Professor McGonagall about it, and she says it’s possible, but she doesn’t really recommend it. I guess having two electives in addition to all our normal classes gets really busy.”
“And don’t forget about Quidditch practices,” Remus added.
“Yeah, and Hogsmeade visits start next year!” Sirius exclaimed.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Lily asked, puzzled as to why a few Saturday trips would consume a large portion of Sirius’s time and energy.
“Well, with regular access to Zonko’s, we’ll really be able to step up our pranking capacity,” James responded as Sirius nodded.
“Think of the inventory at that store! I hope we get to go to Hogsmeade every weekend.”
“Do they have a class on how to put up with idiotic friends?” Gwendolyn asked as she rolled her eyes.
“Oh, Gwen, we were going to let you in on the planning, but if you think we’re just idiotic, I guess we’ll scrap that,” Sirius said in mock consternation. Gwendolyn looked worried for a moment, but must have realized that Sirius was kidding, for she shrugged nonchalantly.
“What you forget, Sirius, is that I have plenty of ideas on my own, thank you very much.” Whether or not this was true Lily didn’t know, but she wouldn’t put it past Gwendolyn. Sirius just nodded appreciatively.
“All right, I’ve had enough of these pamphlets,” Lily said, shuffling her papers into a stack. “Let’s do something. Does anyone want to take a walk with me?”
Marlene and Gwendolyn nodded and the three girls said their goodbyes and climbed out the portrait hole, leaving the four boys in the Common Room.
James looked forlorn as he picked up Lily’s discarded Arithmancy pamphlet. “Arithmancy. I really don’t want to take that.”
“So don’t,” Sirius said matter-of-factly.
“Yeah, but Lily’s going to take it,” James responded quietly.
“So?”
“I don’t know...” James hesitated. “It would be nice to be in the same classes as her.”
“Aww, you’re going to miss your girlfriend when she doesn’t sign up for Care of Magical Creatures?” Sirius teased, twisting his face into an exaggerated pout.
James ignored him. “Why does she have to be so smart?” he sighed.
Remus looked at James, his eyebrows creased menacingly. “James, you are just as smart as her. You would do fine in Arithmancy if you put in a little effort, I’m sure. And you too, Sirius.”
“Thanks mate, but I’m not going to sign up for a harder class just to chase after a girl,” Sirius said. “Besides, Diana is taking Care of Magical Creatures, and she’s prettier than Lily anyway.”
James’s face flushed in anger, but he didn’t say anything to Sirius. Instead, he took one more glance at the Arithmancy packet, then tossed it back on the table and stood up. “OK, I’ve had enough, too. I’m going to go to the Quidditch pitch. Anyone coming with me?”
None of the boys made any move to get up, so James clambered out of the portrait hole by himself, Arithmantical thoughts still percolating in his mind.
***
After everyone finally settled on classes, school picked up the pace again. The rest of April flew by, as did May, and before they knew it, the Gryffindors were facing final exams. But the exams passed without too much fanfare, and everyone did just about as well as they expected.
They were all now sitting by the lake on a lazy June afternoon. People had started to pack up their trunks as the Hogwarts Express would leave the next day, but they had a few hours of blissful freedom before the Leaving Feast.
Students were sitting in clusters all around the edges of the lake. Gwendolyn and Lily had taken their shoes off and were dipping their toes into the water. Marlene was afraid of the Giant Squid, so she was a little more removed from the water’s edge. And the boys were lying down, basking in the sun.
“Did you all hear that Dumbledore sacked Professor Benton?” James asked.
“What? No!” Gwendolyn said, jerking her head around to face James. “Why?”
“For being the worst bloody Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in the history of time,” Sirius said, shaking his head. “I didn’t learn a bloody thing this year.”
“Oh sure you did,” James said. “You learned how not to teach a class. And that sometimes, second-year students are more knowledgeable than their teachers.”
Sirius and Gwendolyn laughed, but Remus and Lily did not. “That’s not fair, James,” Lily said. “She was obviously nervous, and really young! Can you imagine teaching classes to all these obnoxious students? It would be really hard. Give her a break!”
“OK, fine! You don’t have to jump down my throat! Sirius insulted her, too, you know,” James said, throwing his hands into the air defensively.
“Well...” Lily stalled. “Shame on you, too, Sirius.”
Sirius just shrugged. “It’s not my fault she was bad, Lily.”
“She had to have some merit,” Remus said rationally. “Professor Dumbledore wouldn’t have hired a bad professor on purpose.”
“She was probably the only one who would take the job because of the curse,” Gwendolyn said, nodding her head knowingly. “I’m telling you!”
“Oh, you and that silly curse,” Remus said. “Just because the job has a high turnover rate doesn’t mean that it’s jinxed.”
“Fine, believe what you want to believe,” Gwendolyn said. “But you won’t see me rushing to apply as soon as I graduate.”
“That’s probably also because you hate Defense Against the Dark Arts,” Sirius added.
Gwendolyn shrugged. “Fair point.”
Lily glanced at her wristwatch. The afternoon was rapidly evaporating. She lifted her feet out of the water and slipped her shoes back on. “OK,” she said, pushing herself up off the grass and dusting off the seat of her pants, “I’m going to head back up to the dormitory for a bit before the Feast. See you all in a little while.”
As she trudged back up the hill to the castle, Lily was struck with the same melancholy that had hit her the year before. She was glad school was done for a while, but she was facing another summer of nothingness, and that prospect did not seem too exciting at all. She knew that the minute she stepped off the Hogwarts Express and into her parent’s car it would be back to a life of Petunia’s whining, of loneliness, and of waiting.
But things weren’t really so bad. Gwendolyn had already promised that they would spend lots of time with each other over the summer, and Lily thought that maybe she would just stay for weeks with the Hightowers. It wasn’t a bad idea, especially since Gwendolyn’s brother Chadwick would be around, and Lily had developed something of a crush on him.
She smiled inwardly as she reached the Fat Lady and spoke the password. As she climbed into the Common Room, she felt another wave of joy, this time mixed with pride. The Gryffindors had again won the House Championship, and the Great Hall would be draped in scarlet and gold for the second year in a row.
Lily waved to a few people as she climbed the circular staircase leading to her dormitory. As soon as she entered the room she collapsed onto her four-poster bed and stared at the ceiling, reflecting on the past nine months. It had been a good school year. Very good, in fact. And as she stared at the ceiling, she was quite sure that even better times were just around the corner.