“We’ll be starting small,” James said to Sirius in Charms, later in the week. Sirius looked up at him and nodded, absentmindedly flicking his wand in an attempt to look like he was participating in class. Three feet away, Professor Flitwick’s hair caught fire; the tiny wizard hopped about the room, squealing, as Leda Wood grabbed her wand and shouted “Aguamenti!” A drenched Flitwick attempted to compose himself, his head smoking. Sirius didn’t notice.
“What do you mean, small?” he asked.
“With Lily,” James said patiently.
Sirius sighed heavily, and set down his wand. Turning to face his best friend, he said “James…is she really worth it?”
James faced him, almost defensively. “What do you mean?” he asked.
Sirius tilted his head to the side, considering. “You’re my best friend,” he said carefully, “and I’d do anything for you. But Evans…I don’t know if she’s the girl you think she is. If she can’t see what Moony and Wormtail and I can see, and she just thinks you’re conceited and a bully, then she isn’t the one for you.”
James softened. “Thanks, Padfoot,” he said quietly. Then he added, “Wow, that was like, a whole three minutes of seriousness for you.”
“I know,” said Sirius, mock-shuddering. “Don’t ever make me do that again.”
James grinned and clapped him on the back. But his gaze still strayed to Lily, across the room, who appeared to be concentrating hard on the spell that they were learning. “But I’m not giving up quite yet,” he murmured.
---
“We’ll be starting small,” Lily was saying to Mary in that same Charms class, half a room away from James and Sirius.
“Small with what?” Mary asked with a sigh, one eye on her Charms book.
“Pranking Potter,” Lily said. “Just something little to start off with, to see what we can get away with.”
“What do you have in mind?” Mary asked, curiosity seeming to get the best of her disapproval.
“Wink Jinx!” said Lily, grinning.
There was a pause. Then Mary deadpanned, “That’s really clever Lily. You’ll be able to make them wink at people whenever you want. They’ll be the laughingstock of the school soon for sure.”
Lily shook her head, unflustered. “It’s all in the timing,” she said. “I’ll let you know when it happens.”
Mary shrugged, and turned back to her Charms book.
---
Later that day, as the sixth years were finishing up with a particularly difficult Transfiguration class, Lily got her chance.
They had had their first essay due that day, and as Lily was pulling her scroll out of her bag to be collected, she overheard a whispered conversation between James and Sirius.
“Why didn’t you remind me that this was due?” James was hissing at Sirius, who, in turn, looked indignant.
“I’m not your bloody homework planner, mate,” Sirius said defensively. “And I didn’t think you’d be daft enough to forget the first assignment of the year! Especially for Transfiguration.”
“I’ve just been so busy,” James said miserably. “Being Quidditch Captain is more work than I thought it would be, plus, you know, everything else…”
Sirius shrugged. “So go explain to McGonagall,” he said. “She’s tough, but she knows you’re one of the best Transfiguration students of the year”and that’s without even knowing about your prongs, Prongs!”
What? thought Lily, feeling vaguely as though the remark was obscene.
A few seats below her, James just shrugged miserably. McGonagall waved her wand, and the class’s essays flew towards her.
Lily filed out of the room with the rest, but slipped behind the door to watch as James, now the lone student in the classroom, tentatively approached McGonagall.
“Um, Professor,” she heard him say quietly, and smirked as she heard McGonagall’s brisk reply.
“Yes, Potter?”
“It’s”it’s about my essay, Professor,” he stammered.
“What about it?” McGonagall asked sharply. “You know I do not accept late homework, Potter, so if your essay is not in this pile…”
“Well, it isn’t, exactly, but Professor, there were circumstances!”
“I’m sorry, Potter,” McGonagall said, “but I make no exceptions.”
Through the crack in the door that was her hiding place, Lily saw James step forward, and Professor McGonagall looked up at him. Seizing her opportunity, Lily whipped out her wand and aimed it, not without some vindictiveness, at James Potter’s rakish, smug, and swollen head.
“Conixi!” she whispered, and grinned as he winked roguishly at Professor McGonagall.
McGonagall swelled in anger. “Potter,” she said, her voice dangerously calm, “did you just wink at me?”
He gaped at her. “No!” he cried, smiling lightly. “Of course not, Professor””
”Conixi!” whispered Lily again, and James tipped McGonagall another enormous wink.
“Detention, Potter,” Lily heard McGonagall say coolly, “for blatant disrespect of authority.”
Her mischief managed, Lily grinned smugly to herself, slipped out from behind the door, and skipped to the Great Hall for lunch, where Mary was waiting for her.
---
“Well, Padfoot,” James said glumly, when he finally made it down to lunch, “I guess you were right. It’s impossible for me to get through the first week without a detention.”
“It seems a bit harsh, mate,” Sirius said sympathetically, patting him on the shoulder. Across from them, Remus nodded in agreement, his brow furrowed.
“McGonagall’s tough,” he said slowly, “but she’s never been unfair. You’d think failing you on the homework you didn’t turn in would be enough, but she had to add a detention on top of it?”
“Ah, well,” James said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, “the detention may have been for something else…”
“Wha’ for?” asked Peter from down the table, his mouth bulging with the last of his lunch.
“Um,” said James, “I think the words she used were ‘blatant disrespect of authority…’”
Sirius and Peter guffawed, and Remus teetered between looking amused and looking stern. “What did you do?” he asked severely.
“Winked at her?” James said, wincing.
Sirius stopped laughing instantly. “What possessed you?” he asked, horrified.
“I don’t know!” James yelped. “I didn’t even know I did it! But it wasn’t on purpose, either time!”
“You did it TWICE?” thundered Sirius. A group of girls at the Ravenclaw table looked up, giggling, and Peter made shushing motions at Sirius.
“I’m telling you,” said James, sounding frustrated, “I didn’t do it on purpose. It was almost like I was jinxed or something…”
Sirius waved away this idea with a flick of his hand. “You weren’t jinxed,” he said. “You couldn’t have been. Who could out-trick the tricksters of this school?”
“You just can’t admit that you’re secretly in love with McGonagall,” said Peter, with an uncharacteristically straight face that caused Remus to choke on the end of his treacle tart as he tried not to laugh.
James threw a roll at Peter, who caught it. “Thanks,” he said, grinning, and bit in.
Sirius grinned again, and ruffled James’s hair. James scowled at him.
---
Lily allowed herself some time to gloat over her success before resuming her schemes. One Saturday in late October, she shook Mary awake.
Mary turned away from her, pulling a pillow over her face.
“Lily,” she said, her voice muffled, “I don’t even want to know what time it is right now. What are you doing?”
“Potions!” said Lily cheerfully. “Come on.”
Mary pulled her pillow off of her face and blinked up at her. “Lily,” she said calmly, “it’s God-knows-what time in the morning. On a Saturday, no less. I’m not doing homework.”
“It’s not homework,” Lily said.
“What is it then?” asked Mary suspiciously, sitting up.
“You’ll see!” Lily sang, skipping away. She was counting on Mary’s curiosity getting the best of her, and sure enough, she heard a grumbling Mary slip out of bed and follow her down the stairs.
Lily led her friend down through the castle, eerily empty so early in the morning, to Slughorn’s classroom, and slipped inside.
Mary followed her in, running a hand through her hair and yawning. “You could have at least told me why you dragged me all the way down here”” she started to say, and then stopped at the sight of Lily adding ingredients to a cauldron.
“Those are Ashwinder eggs,” she said slowly.
“Yes,” said Lily, just as evenly, dropping them into the potion.
“You’re making a love potion.”
“Yes,” said Lily again.
There was a long pause, and then Mary squealed loudly, causing Lily to jump so violently she almost overturned the potion.
“I’m so excited!” Mary babbled. “I was worried, you know, when you dragged me out of bed this morning that it might be for another silly prank, but I’m glad to see that you’ve moved on from childish games like that, and onto things that matter!”
Lily sighed heavily, and began to stir the potion.
“But won’t you get in trouble?” Mary asked. “I mean, love potions aren’t exactly, you know, allowed.”
Lily shrugged. “I asked Professor Slughorn if I could use his classroom to do extra practice work,” she said. “He didn’t question it.”
“Oh, of course not, he loves you,” Mary said. “But Lily, I think this is the part where I tell you that you wouldn’t have any trouble getting boys if you’d just talk to them. You don’t really need a love potion, you know that right?”
Lily waved her away. “I don’t care about boys,” she said, “and this potion isn’t for me.”
Mary’s face fell. “Oh…” she said hesitantly. “Who’s it for then?”
Lily grinned. “Sirius Black.”
“Um, Lily….you may not have noticed this, but he tends to not have trouble in that department…”
“He’s going to drink it,” Lily said. “He’s going to drink all of it, and become mysteriously infatuated with James Potter.”
Mary’s mouth dropped. “Lily,” she said quietly, “that’s horrible. And…sort of brilliant.”
Lily’s grin widened. “It should be fun.”
Mary nodded fervently. “I can’t wait to see,” she said. “But after this…you’ll let it go, right?”
Lily peered at her. “If they’ve learned their lesson,” she said softly.
Mary bit her lip and was quiet for a moment before saying “All right then. What do we need?”
“Most of it’s done,” Lily said, pulling the spoon she had been using to stir out of the cauldron. “All I need now is some of Potter’s hair. Preferably off his head, instead of a brush or something”it’s better if it’s fresh, and we want to make sure it’s him. And then, of course, a way of getting Black to drink it.”
Mary nodded. “I’ll take care of getting it to Sirius,” she said. “You just need to get the hair from James.”
Lily shrugged hopelessly. “I have no idea how I’m going to do that,” she said. “Hopefully it’ll work out…I’m going to bottle this potion now though, to have it on hand. Just in case the opportunity presents itself.”
Mary nodded, and began to help her clean up.
As Lily was returning the extra ingredients to the student supply cupboard, she heard someone behind her. She happened to be, at that moment, standing on the very top rung of the ladder, trying to squeeze the rosemary leaves back into their place, when she heard the door swing open. Startled, she twisted around to see who was coming in, and slipped backwards off the ladder.
It was a short fall, but in the seconds before she hit the ground, Lily closed her eyes, and braced herself for the collision. Much to her surprise, the surface she crashed against was soft”and breathing.
She scrambled to her feet, already apologizing, and turned to catch a glimpse of the boy who was sprawled on the floor at her feet. She blinked hesitantly.
“Sev?”
He scowled up at her. “What are you doing in here, Lily?” he asked roughly.
She glared back at him, hands on hips, immediately on the defensive. “Extra Potions work,” she snapped. “Why are you here?”
“None of your business,” he barked.
She rolled her eyes. Then she looked at him, still on the ground, and sighing, stepped forward and offered him her hand.
He looked at it, then up at her. For a moment, they just looked at each other”half warily, half hopefully”but before Severus could move, one way or the other, the door to the storeroom burst open.
“Lily, what’s taking you so”” Mary asked, stopping abruptly at the sight of them. “Oh,” she said, her lip curling slightly.
Snape scoffed, and turned away from Lily, getting to his feet. “Good luck with your extra Potions,” he said scathingly, and walked out the door.
Lily sighed heavily. “Come on,” she said to Mary, and followed him out the door.
“What just happened in there?” Mary asked, catching up to Lily.
“Nothing! He came in when I was putting the rosemary back. Knocked me over. It’s the first time we’ve spoken in months.”
“You’re not going back to being friends with him again, are you?” asked Mary suspiciously.
“Hardly,” Lily said. “That was barely a civil conversation.”
They turned the corner, and she groaned. “Oh, speaking of civil…”
Snape was striding down the corridor a few feet before them, looking at the floor, oblivious to the fact that he was about to run into half the Gryffindor Quidditch team, muddy from practice. At the head of the pack was James Potter. Lily saw his hand twitch to his pocket, fingers already closing around his wand at the sight of Severus, but then he looked up, and his eyes met Lily’s. He let go of his wand, and”she wasn’t sure if he even realized what he was doing”held both his hands in the air, palms up, empty.
Snape glanced up, finally, and saw the team. Hissing, he veered right, turning down a corridor that led to the dungeons. The whole exchange had taken less than a few seconds”Lily wasn’t sure anyone else had even noticed. Mary certainly hadn’t”the tiny girl skipped from Lily’s side towards the team, where she linked arms with Leda Wood, who played Keeper. She gave Lily a meaningful look over James Potter’s shoulder, and Lily saw her chance.
“Potter,” she said, trying to sound as severe as possible. She almost laughed as he jumped, and looked at her guiltily.
“Evans.”
She walked towards him. “Come here,” she said, sighing. “You have mud in your hair.”
She lifted her hand to brush the dirt from his messy black hair. The position brought her uncomfortably close to him, but it had the desired effect”he didn’t notice as she subtly yanked a few hairs from his head, and slipped them into her robes.
“That’s better,” she said, turning away from him to follow Mary and Leda, and the rest of the Gryffindor team, who had started back to the tower ahead of them.
“Wait, Evans,” she heard James say from behind her.
She stopped walking, but didn’t turn around. In a moment he was by her side, looking inquisitively down at her. “Why are you being so nice to me this year?” he asked.
Startled, she said, “I’m not,” and started walking again.
“Yes, you are,” he insisted, keeping pace with her. “The casual conversations at meals. You’re civil when we get partnered together in class. I thought that after last year, you wouldn’t even stand to be in the same room with me””
She shook her head, remaining silent for a few minutes, unsure of what to say. They reached the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, and James darted forward to give the password, holding the portrait open for her. She climbed inside. It was still relatively early, and the common room was deserted.
She heard James clamber in behind her, and she turned to face him.
“About last year,” she said, choosing her words carefully, “I’ve moved on. I’m not angry about what happened anymore.”
His grin was infectious”she almost didn’t want to continue.
“But,” she said, and his smile faded, “I won’t forget it. And I’m not sure I can forgive. You haven’t changed, Potter, and don’t try to tell me that you have. I saw you, back in the corridor. You would have hexed Severus if I hadn’t been there. It doesn’t matter how nice you are to me”you’re still arrogant and a bully.”
She turned on her heel, heading up the stairs to the girls’ dormitory, leaving him behind her, now more determined than ever to add the final ingredient to her potion.
Trickster by Willow Rosenberg
Chapter Notes: The games begin...--------