CHAPTER SEVEN: Snapshots of a Year
November 15th, 1971
“However, before the negotiations could really get underway, the organizers were forced to suspend the delegation for two months while Ulfir the Usurper ‘dealt’ with a troublesome clan near his home town of”” Lily jumped as the tip of her quill snapped, forcing her to stop writing mid-sentence. She, along with a number of the other Gryffindor first-years, was sitting in the Common Room, her head bent over a particularly difficult”that is to say tedious”essay for History of Magic.
“OK, we’ve been here for two and a half months, and I still have not gotten the hang of these quills! Why can’t we write with ballpoint pens? I mean honestly, this is probably the fourteenth one I’ve broken!” she exclaimed, tossing aside yet another quill.
“You know what I think?” said Sirius, looking up from his parchment. “I think the quills are breaking themselves to get us to stop writing this horrific essay.”
“Well said,” Remus agreed. “‘An account of the delegations of the Inter-Goblin Round Table of 1284’? Who in their right mind wants to read about that, much less write about it!”
“Oh come on, History of Magic isn’t that bad. Some of these goblins were pretty wicked!” said Gwendolyn, whose essay was significantly longer than everyone else’s.
“Gwendolyn, just because you possess some unknown strength that allows you to actually stay awake in Binns’s class doesn’t mean you need to rub it in our faces,” Sirius retorted, tossing his now crumpled essay in her general direction.
It hit her square in the face. “OK, fine. How about this: I’ll agree to look over your essay if you give me some help in Potions.”
“Ooh, I’ll do it!” Lily said. Potions had quickly become one of her favorite subjects, and Professor Slughorn’s most recent essay topic”describing the various uses of Amaranthus petals in Health Potions”had been quite easy. Unlike her current essay. No matter how hard she tried or how many quills she went through, she could not form a coherent sentence about Orjifus the Fustigator.
“Who’s going to help me with my essay, then?” Sirius groaned. “Remus?” he asked hopefully.
“No can do, Sirius. Not unless you want it to sound like a four-year-old’s dribble.”
“Well, that would probably be better than what I’ve got now.” He paused, then smiled and turned his eyes again on Gwendolyn, fiercely batting his lashes. “Gwendolyn? Gwennie? Please?”
“Oh fine, Sirius, I’ll look over your essay, too, but only if you promise never to call me Gwennie again. And if you let me see your Transfiguration notes.”
“You can see my notes as soon as I’ve seen James’s. Eh, Potter?” He turned his head to the other side now, where James was also absorbed in his History essay. Or, as absorbed as one can be with Goblin affairs.
“I’m letting Peter borrow them right now, but you can copy them when he’s done,” he said, making a vague gesture in Peter’s direction.
“Honestly, does no one do their own work around here?” asked Marlene, stacks of books piled up almost to her chin.
“Doesn’t appear that way!” Sirius said brightly, reaching over to grab the Transfiguration notes from Peter’s lap. Peter squeaked in protest, but decided to keep quiet after Sirius aimed another wad of parchment at him.
Marlene just shook her head and buried herself”quite literally”in books again.
Lily smiled and bent back over her essay, fresh quill in hand: “A troublesome clan near his home town of Skrunda...”
***
December 17th, 1971
“Hey, did you all read the Daily Prophet today?” Lily asked one morning at breakfast. She was staring avidly at a copy of the paper.
“Yeah, what about it?” Sirius asked, not bothering to look up from his bacon.
Remus leaned over Lily’s shoulder and glanced at what she was reading. She continued, “A Ministry employee went crazy and murdered three Muggles in the name of... Hold on, let me get this right...” she propped the paper up on a water jug. “In the name of Lord Voldemort. Who is that, and why is he asking people to kill for him?”
“Probably just some nutter that couldn’t handle the stress of a Ministry job,” James said with a shrug.
Lily was ready to agree when Remus noticed something. “Lily, you’re a day behind. This is yesterday’s paper.”
She checked the date. “What’s the date today, then?”
“Well, Lily, I’m no genius, but you might just want to add one to the date at the top of that paper, no?” Sirius said with a wicked grin.
“You’re right: you aren’t a genius,” she shot back.
“December 17th.” Remus rolled his eyes. “Here’s today’s copy,” he said, tossing it to her.
“Thanks.” She was silent for a while as she skimmed the front page. “Look!” she exclaimed. “The man was found dead in his cell in Azkaban this morning!”
No on said anything, which was not quite the reaction she was expecting. “Doesn’t that seem a little fishy?”
Again, nothing. Lily turned to Gwendolyn. “Not strange at all?”
“Lily, have you read anything about Azkaban? It’s wicked scary,” Gwendolyn replied through a mouth full of cornflakes. “If”Heaven forbid”I ever ended up there, I’d probably die in about five minutes!”
But Lily wasn’t satisfied. She turned to her other side. “Remus?” she asked.
“I guess it’s a little strange, that he ended up dead the very next day...” he said hesitantly. “But I think I’m with Gwendolyn on this one. He probably just died of shock.”
Lily shrugged and returned to her breakfast. But something really didn’t seem right. This ‘Lord Voldemort’ character... She silently vowed to keep an eye out for more news of him.
“Anything else newsworthy?” Remus asked.
She continued to peruse the newspaper. “Nothing, really. Oh, the Montrose Magpies got a new Seeker, but””
“Seriously? Is it Tom Hawkins?” James was now rapt with attention. He turned to Sirius. “You remember they were thinking about signing him?”
Sirius nodded vehemently. “Yeah, Lily, who is it?”
“Some guy named Nathaniel Sutton,” she answered.
“Sutton? Are you serious? Can I see that?” James asked, gesturing toward the paper, which Lily handed to him.
Soon James and Sirius were deep in discussions about the Magpies, with occasional comments from Peter, Remus, and Gwendolyn. Any thoughts about the dead “nutter” from the Ministry had been forgotten by all except Lily.
***
February 22nd, 1972
“Does anyone know where Remus is?” Lily asked as she emerged from the spiral staircase of the girl’s dormitory.
“I thought he was with you,” Sirius said, deigning to look up from his copy of Quidditch Preview 1972.
“Sirius, I just came from the girl’s dormitory. How could he have been with me?”
“I was just making sure no one had figured out how to get up there yet,” he said with a wry smile.
Lily just shook her head. “James, do you know where he is? I haven’t seen him since Herbology this afternoon. Is his mum sick again?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t think so. He hasn’t said anything about her since he got back from visiting her last month, so I just assumed she was better,” James answered. “He was around this afternoon, but he looked a bit under the weather. Maybe he’s in the hospital wing?” He gave a little shrug.
“Do you think we should go check?” asked Peter, his voice full of concern. “I mean, we could just run up to the Hospital Wing and see. He did look kind of queasy during Herbology.”
“I think we all were a bit queasy after those Pustulant Puffer Plants, Pete,” Sirius said, his face twisted into a grimace.
“I think we should go check,” Lily said, forcing herself not to think of the plants, which had indeed been disgusting. “This isn’t the first time he’s been in the Hospital Wing this year”it could be something serious! Do you two want to come?”
“Look, and I don’t mean to sound, well, mean, but I don’t think you guys should go. I tried to go visit Michael McKinnon after the Quidditch match last week, and Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t even let me in!” James said, putting down his copy of Quidditch Preview 1972.
Lily was about to say something, but Sirius spoke before she could. “Wait. You visited Michael McKinnon in the Hospital Wing? Are you serious?”
“No, I tried to visit Michael McKinnon in the Hospital Wing, don’t you listen?” James said defensively, though Lily noticed a slight flush creep up his cheeks.
Sirius was laughing. “Why did you want to visit him?”
“I just wanted to talk to him about the match! He was brilliant until he got hit by that Bludger!”
“Oh, sure. You just wanted to talk about the match. James, you should cozy up to Marlene; maybe she’ll take you home over the summer and you and Michael can talk about Quidditch all day long...”
“Stuff it, Sirius,” James said, tossing a cushion at his friend. But his blush was gone and he was grinning widely. “We’ll see who’s laughing when I get on the team next year!”
Sirius shrugged. “Fair enough, mate.”
“Anyway, Lily,” James said, turning his attention back to her. “It’s just not worth it. If he’s not back tomorrow morning, I’ll go check on him with you, but Madam Pomfrey really does not let anyone into the ward.”
“Why were you looking for him, anyway?” asked Sirius.
Lily shifted and looked down at the floor. “Oh, I just wanted to talk to him.”
Sirius stared at her blankly, as if the idea of wanting to talk to someone for no particular reason was completely foreign.
She registered this confusion and quickly added, “And I need help with my Herbology homework.”
“I can help you with that, Lily!” Peter said excitedly beside her. “I’ve already finished it.”
“There you go, Lily,” Sirius said gaily. “Don’t need Remus at all! You’ve got Peter right here.” He gestured with his magazine at Peter, who was now beaming.
“Oh thanks, Peter, that’d be really great...” Lily said, albeit somewhat hesitantly. Thankfully, no one perceived this hesitation. “I’ll just go up to my dormitory and get my books.”
Peter nodded. “I’ll be right here!”
She started to climb the stairs she had just descended, casting a look back at the Common Room, as if hoping to see Remus suddenly walk through the portrait hole. When, of course, he didn’t, she gave a little sigh and proceeded to her room. She would certainly not be able to “just talk” with either Sirius, James, or Peter, so she might as well get some work done. She reached the dormitory, grabbed her Herbology homework, and headed back into the Common Room, feeling strangely alone.
***
April 19th, 1972
It was a blustery April afternoon and Remus was sitting in a quiet corner of the Gryffindor Common Room. The room was alive with the hustle and bustle of a Sunday afternoon: students getting ready for classes the next day, or discussing the Quidditch match the previous day, or just generally lounging about.
Remus happened to be putting the finishing touches on a Transfiguration essay. Sirius and James, of course, had finished it hours ago. They had quickly emerged as the best students in the class, despite Professor McGonagall’s continued suspicion of Sirius after the “needle incident” on the first day. Remus wasn’t quite sure what they were up to at the moment”probably wandering around the castle, as they had taken a liking to. They claimed to have found a genuine secret passage, and all Remus really wanted to do was put down his essay and go join them. But the last paragraph was giving him real trouble. It’s ironic, he thought, that I go through so much actual transfiguration myself and still struggle in the class...
Thinking about this made him grimace. The next full moon was just two days away, and already he was starting to feel nauseous. This would be his ninth transformation at Hogwarts, and he had no idea how he had been able to hide it thus far. Oh sure, he had come up with acceptable lies: I don’t feel well. I sprained my ankle. My Mum is sick. My Great-Aunt died.... But it still felt so wrong, lying to his best friends like that. He felt deceitful, even. And though he was told time and time again by his parents and superiors not to let anyone in on the secret, he was always worried that he might slip up.
His friends were really great, though, and if they had noticed anything, they had kept their mouths shut. And sure, he had noticed a few looks that had passed between Sirius and James, but so far he was pretty sure they didn’t suspect anything. But he wasn’t sure just how long he could keep up the lies.
He was lucky. He really was. There were times when he felt he didn’t deserve such a pair of friends as he had found in Sirius and James. And Peter, too, though he was more reserved than the two boisterous ones. And Lily, of course, who was always good to talk to, and a welcome change from the boys.
As he was ruminating on said friends, one of them walked down the stairs into the Common Room, carrying what looked to be a record player.
“Hey, Lily,” he said, crossing the room to help her with the cumbersome item. “What are you doing lugging around this thing? You know it won’t work here, right? All the magic makes it go haywire.”
“Yeah,” she said, grinning. “That’s what I thought when I first tried it on the second day of school. It kept shooting out sparks in my trunk, and obviously there was no place to plug it in.”
“So you’re going to throw it away?” he asked, confused at why she was beaming.
“No! I think I’ve found a way to make it work.”
“But there isn’t any electricity in the castle. It’s not possible.”
“Yes, but I just need the record to spin around, right? And then it’ll play!”
Remus wrinkled his nose and stared cautiously at the record player. “I’m not sure, Lily. I think it might take more than spinning.”
“Well, we’ll try anyway. Maybe if I put enough magical force into it something will happen!”
He smiled, encouraged by her enthusiasm, but he was still skeptical.
She pulled over a small table, set the record player on top of it, and pulled out the record she had carried down with her. It was by The Beatles, Remus noticed. “You like The Beatles?” he asked as Lily placed the record on the spindle and raised her wand arm.
“I love The Beatles,” she replied, narrowing her eyes to focus on the record player. “Don’t you? Doesn’t everybody?” She cast him a quick glance and smile.
He grinned. “Yeah, my Dad has most of their albums, and we used to listen to them all the time when I was little. Until they broke up, of course.”
“Saddest day of my life!” she exclaimed, still holding her wand high in the air.
Remus just laughed, as he wasn’t sure if she was kidding. He cleared his throat. “So, umm, what spell exactly are you going to try?”
“Well, I stayed after Charms the other day”the lesson where Professor Flitwick talked about Motion Charms, you know? And he said there was a Revolving Charm that we’d be learning soon, but he showed me how to do it already. I wanted to try the Revolving Charm on the Revolver album, because that would just be so cool, but I think I left it at home. So this will have to do!”
She brought her arm down in a strange sort of circular motion and tapped the edge of the record player. For a split second, it looked like nothing would happen, but then the record actually began to spin. Lily was elated as faint strains of a song poured forth. She clapped her hands together and bounced up and down.
“What song is this?” Remus asked over Lily’s singing.
“‘Any Time At All,’” she sang, in tune with the chorus.
Remus listened to the lyrics for a minute. “I can’t believe it’s working!” he said. But he spoke too soon. Right after the words had left his mouth, John and Paul’s voices got a bit higher. And then a bit higher still. Soon “Any Time At All” sounded as if it was being performed by chipmunks. Lily’s euphoria quickly turned to dismay as she looked at the record now spinning out of control and actually emitting smoke. “Oh no!” she cried. “He didn’t teach me the counter-Charm!”
Remus laughed, but it didn’t seem like Lily was going to join in. “Look,” he said, patting her on the arm, “We’ll just wait until it spins itself out. I’m sure it will be fine!”
Sure enough, the record eventually slowed down, and with a horrible screeching noise it came to a halt. Lily heaved a sigh and turned her face to Remus. “Well, it was worth a shot, right?”
He smiled. “Absolutely. I’m sure you’ll figure out how to work it better in no time.”
“I hope so. I can’t live without this music!” She gathered the record player into her arms. “Ooh, it’s still a bit hot,” she said as she headed back toward the spiral staircase. “Well, I guess I’d better go finish that Transfiguration essay. It’s a monster!”
“Yeah, thankfully I’m almost finished with mine,” Remus said, gesturing to his essay.
“OK, well I’ll probably see you for dinner later. Good luck!”
“You too,” he called as she climbed the stairs and disappeared into the dormitory, just as Sirius and James bounded back into the Common Room.
“Remus!” James called, his face flushed. “Are you done yet? You have to come see what we’ve found!”
Yes, he was very lucky....
Of Cauldrons and Comrades by LuthAn
Chapter Notes: Hello, hello, dear readers! Welcome to Chapter Seven, where I introduce the first of two special features in this story. Each year that the kiddos are in Hogwarts, there will be one chapter called "Snapshots of a Year," which is pretty much exactly as it sounds: little snippets and scenes that move time forward and give you brief glimpses into their lives. So instead of dragging the story on and on and on, we go from November to April in 3000 words! Pretty nifty from an author's point of view. :)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little glimpse, and if you don't, well, a regular chapter is just around the bend. Thanks to the betas, naturally. Happy reading!