Chapter 1: Hard to Get
“First day back, it’s the start of our Seventh Year and you haven’t given up yet, eh Prongs?” Sirius said with a sly smile, as James Potter tied a bow around a small package.
“This year,” he said, “is the year, Padfoot old friend. She wont be able to resist my charms."
“And why is that?”
“Well, its simple really…” he faltered. “Uh, well, because…"
“Good luck, Prongsie,” Remus said, laughing. “And what exactly is in that birthday present?”
“I’m not telling you, it’s a secret. Just for Lily,” James replied.
Sirius leant over to Remus and audibly whispered, “We’ll find out soon enough, once Lily throws it back in his face!”
They laughed, as James threw a pillow across the dormitory at Sirius. “She will not! This one’s special.”
Peter, who was unpacking his underwear into a drawer, suddenly spoke up. “I think this may be your year, James,” he said.
Everyone turned to look at him. “Well,” he stated simply, “you’re a handsome boy, she can’t refuse you forever.”
This set Sirius and James off into a fit of giggles. Remus looked on. “This is going to be a great final year for the Marauders,” he said, smiling.
***
Lily Evans was in a filthy mood. It was her first day back at Hogwarts for her seventh and final year, and things had not started out well at all. She had tried to use her new power as Head Girl for good, by scolding a group of Third Year Slytherins about to set off dung bombs outside the staffroom, only to be ridiculed when their bigger, tougher Seventh Year counterparts turned up. That hadn’t gone well at all.
But to make the day worse, she had received more homework than you could throw a hex at in both Ancient Runes and Divination, and if one more teacher mentioned N.E.W.Ts for a good while yet she would shout louder than she did at Potter.
That was another thing that annoyed her today: James Potter. However it was, despite what everyone else thought, his absence that irritated her today, and she didn’t quite know why. Not because she thought him anything special, but more that she had grown used to his stupid antics done to impress her over the years. It wasn’t that she couldn’t go by without one day of telling Potter to leave her alone, but after the dreadful summer she had had, Lily thought she could at least rely on him to make things seem like Hogwarts again.
Where was he?
Just as Lily entered the Great Hall for lunch, she spotted her friend Yves sitting chatting to a Sixth Year Gryffindor called Alice. She had become friendlier with the Seventh Years since she started dating James’s friend Frank Longbottom last year at the Summer Ball.
“Hi Lily,” Yves chirped, as Lily sat down next to Alice. “Good day so far? Mine’s been great except for the amount of homework I got! Professor Foxer gave us a 5-foot essay on the importance of artificial light to the development of the Muggle community! 5 feet! On the first day! How evil is she?”
Lily sighed and took a bite out of her bread roll. “Don’t get me started on my day.”
Alice looked sympathetic. “James bugging you already, is he?” she asked. “Doesn’t take him long.”
“Well, no actually. I haven’t seen him all day.”
“Don’t look too happy about it will you,” Yves said sarcastically. “People will think you don’t like him!”
“Haha,” said Lily, “very funny. Its just weird he hasn’t been hanging off my every word yet, is all.”
“Playing hard to get, I’ll bet,” Yves said.
***
Over by the Quidditch pitch, James ruffled his hair. “I tell you, the way forward this year is to play hard to get. That’ll get her noticing me.”
“Sure it will James. Leaving Evans alone will most certainly make her fall madly in love with you,” Sirius said, with a sly look in his eyes and a slight smile. “Go ahead, ignore her, avoid her, do all you can to stay out of her way. She’ll come running.”
James shook his head. “I’m telling you,” he said, “it’ll work. You’ll see. She wont be able to resist me.”
“The question is,” Remus put it, “how long will you be able to resist her? I mean, you wont be capable of staying out of Lily’s life for long. One week is what my money’s on.”
“Put me down for one day,” Sirius said.
“Cheers guys, it’s nice to know I have your support on this.”
“Oh no, Prongsie old pal, you’ve got us all wrong,” said Sirius, smiling. “We’ve been telling you to forget Evans ever since First Year!”
“Haha, very funny” James said, rising to return to lessons. “Seriously though, this is going to be tough. I’ve spent all summer thinking about Lily and now we’re back this hard to get thing is keeping me away from her!”
He debated this issue all the way to Potions, being stubbornly ignored by Remus and Sirius, who were discussing who might fill the two empty Chaser positions on the Quidditch team. Once they reached the dungeons and lined up alongside the other Seventh Years taking Potions, James dropped the subject of Lily: she was standing near the head of the queue.
Once the bell rang, the door opened and the Potions master, Professor Slughorn, was preceded out of the classroom by his exceedingly large stomach.
“Welcome, my eager young pupils!” he exclaimed, his moustache twitching as he spoke, “to another year of learning! Please enter quietly and take your places as usual. There will be no need for your practical equipment today.”
The class groaned as one unanimous objection. No practical equipment meant only one thing: a N.E.W.Ts lecture.
As predicted, once the class was settled, James in his usual place in between the other Marauders, and seated just behind Lily, Professor Slughorn smiled at them and said, “As you know, this year is the most important you will ever undertake during your education at Hogwarts: it is N.E.W.Ts year, boys and girls! Now I know you are all very excited by this, as it means we will be exploring new and ever more interesting potions, but it also demands a certain amount of hard work and determination that you have not yet experienced.”
Slughorn continued in this fashion for most of the lesson, outlining the different potions they would attempt, how these would aid them in their exams, and how they should structure their revision of all the past six years’ work. Most of the class began to lose concentration, and the only ones still making notes by the time the bell rang at the end of the double period were Remus, Lily, and a Hufflepuff boy called Tommy.
As the class rose to leave, however, Slughorn put up his hard to signal that he was not quite finished with them yet. “I have one more thing to say,” he said, holding up a short, podgy finger, “and that is this: although Professor Dumbledore would not have me frighten you, I am sure you are much more capable of taking bad news than the little First Years. Therefore, I shall not hold back on what I am about to tell you. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has, over the course of the summer, gathered to himself an immense army of loyal supporters. I am sure many of you have been keeping up with the news and know of the increasing number of deaths being reported. I can tell you, with my inside information on Ministry proceedings: it is worse than we could have imagined. Do not be alarmed, for you are quite safe here at Hogwarts while Dumbledore is around. Even so, times are dark, and I wish all of you to be on your guard. Stay close to your friends, and especially your families, for you never know what might happen next. That is all…now, Homework-“ he said to groans from the class as they picked up their quills to note it down, “is as follows: 4 feet on the effects of snake venom if used incorrectly in a Sleeping Draught. To be handed in next lesson. Now off you go, boys and girls! And don’t forget what I said!”
The class filed out, heavy with the thought of yet more homework, and the doom of Voldemort. As Lily was about to leave however, Slughorn called her back. “Oh, Miss Evans, could I have a word please?”
James bent down to tie his shoelace so that he could listen. Sirius rolled his eyes and stepped over him.
“Miss Evans, I am holding my first Slug Club gathering this Friday in my office. Usual time. I do so hope you can make it. Will you alert the usual from your year?”
“Yes, Professor,” Lily answered.
James stood and preceded her out of the door, running to catch up with the others. He made sure not to turn around to look at Lily as he did. That bloody Slug Club was a joke, he thought.
“Playing hard to get, huh?” Sirius said, jokingly, once James had reached them. “I guess in the fine print it doesn’t mention anything about being allowed to eavesdrop.”
“I wasn’t! My shoelace needed tying.”
Sirius raised his eyebrow. “Six years of friendship and that’s what you take us for? Idiots? That’s the most rookie excuse I ever heard. Raise the bar, Prongsie. We’re Marauders, remember?”
The four friends climbed up the flights of stairs to the Gryffindor Common room, to collect their things for the next lesson.
Love Conquers by dumbly_dorr
Chapter Notes: Those of you who managed to read this chapter before it all went haywire will know what it is about. I would love it if you re-read it. For those who haven't read it yet, this chapter introduces the principle characters and their personalities. I hope you enjoy it, please read and review!