Saturday morning arrived, and the castle buzzed with the usual excitement that came with a Hogsmeade trip. First and second year students looked wistfully on as third years and above were checked by Filch at the Entrance Hall to make sure they had permission before they set off for the little wizarding town on the outskirts of the Hogwarts grounds. Outside, a blanket of white clouds completely covered the sky, but snow had not yet begun to fall. Everyone was thankful, for the air was already chilly enough. Students hugged their jackets around their bodies and tucked their scarves around their necks as they headed out for their weekend outing.
Lily and Mary walked together, huddling so as to use their bodies for heat.
“Where to first?” Lily asked her friend, surveying the brightly lit shops of Hogsmeade.
“I don’t know about you, but I am in desperate need of a Butterbeer,” Mary answered, pointing at the Three Broomsticks on their right. The two girls hurried into the welcome warmth of the heavily populated bar.
A few things happened right upon their arrival. As they walked in, there was a sudden flash of smoke from the middle of the large pub. It was followed by an explosion of laughter from the students around it. Lily and Mary looked up in surprise as they were about to order their drinks.
“Wait here,” Lily said to Mary as she went off to investigate the scene.
Lily pushed her way through the students. When she got to the source of the commotion, James was standing there along with a small, shy, blonde third year Lily recognized as Jeffrey Marks. Except Jeffery was sporting a full-sized peacock’s tail and a very red face.
“James Potter!” Lily shouted above all the laughing in James’ face, who was wiping the tears out of his eyes.
“Oh hey, Evans, have you met Jeff here?” James gestured to the boy standing awkwardly beside him.
“James Potter, you are an arrogant arse.” Lily said coolly.
James’ laughing subsided as he took in Lily’s infuriated attitude. “Oh come on, Evans, we’re just having a bit of fun.” He socked Jeffrey lightly on the arm. Jeffrey showed no response, but stared fixedly at the floor.
“Sure, at his expense.” Lily glared at James. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”
“Come on, it was funny. A joke. Haven’t you ever heard of joking?”
Lily’s only response was another dirty glare, before she grabbed the third year by the arm and turned on her heel to leave. “Come on,” she murmured to him, “let’s get you to Zonko’s, I’m sure they’ll be able to set you right.” Lily and Jeffrey left the pub, Mary catching up with them quickly.
“James?” Mary asked in an exasperated tone.
Lily just nodded, still infuriated. She fast-walked to Zonko’s, forgetting the cold and her unbuttoned coat, practically dragging Jeffrey along in the process. Once they reached the joke shop, Lily explained the predicament to the store owner, who, thankfully, knew how to fix it.
“I know you think James is a jerk,” Mary said quietly as they browsed the aisles in Zonko’s. Lily was staring at the shelves, not really seeing anything. “but he really seems to have you all in a tizzy this time.”
Lily sighed. “I know. It’s just that after last night... I mean, I actually thought... he might not be that bad, you know? And obviously, he’s so... I don’t know what I was thinking. It must have been the altitude.”
Mary laughed. “You know James. He loves attention too much to behave in public.”
Lily nodded. That much was certainly true. James had been a completely different person when he was alone with her. Was he just putting on a show to get her to like him? Or was that James being himself, and he put on the show for everyone else? Lily frowned. Either way, she did not like the person James was when he went around hexing people for the fun of it.
Mary interrupted Lily’s thoughts. “Now can we please go get some Butterbeer?”
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“Severus.”
Avery’s cold voice echoed softly through the dungeons. Severus had been lost in his thoughts, which, as usual, had been focused on Lily. He had been remembering their last Potions class. Images of Lily and Sirius working together in a friendly manner still remained in the back of his mind, and, skilled Occlumens though he was, it was difficult for him to forget. Lily always talked about how much she hated James and Sirius. She swore that she loathed their arrogant manner, but there she had been, laughing and working with Sirius as if they were... friends. And although Severus did not despise Sirius as much as he did James, the two Gryffindors were cut from the same stone. If Lily somehow came to the conclusion that Sirius was worthy of her friendship, how could she keep James as an enemy? Was there a chance that she and James might actually become friends?
Severus inwardly seethed. This thought he could not stand. James, his sworn enemy, the one person he hated more than anyone, friends with Lily? His Lily? He knew James fancied Lily. He watched him try, over and over, to gain her affection. Each time, Severus was relieved when she refused him. But would she always refuse him? For some reason, Lily was not entranced by James’ cocky charm that had all the other girls competing for his attention. Severus’ worst fear, the feat that haunted at night, was that one day Lily would not be able to resist James’ advances anymore. That one day she would succumb to his flattery, his bold jokes, his Quidditch talent. Severus felt that he would rather die than see that day come.
“Severus. You’re going to do it.”
Avery’s voice brought him out of his reverie, back to the dark corner of the dungeons near the Slytherin Common Room where he was lurking with Avery and Mulciber. They could hear the faint advancing footsteps of a second year boy named Alex Kirkwald, the boy who had absentmindedly sat on the parcel of sweets Avery’s parents had sent him at home during breakfast the past week. Severus looked at the small slip of paper Avery was holding out to him, on which an incantation was written for a spell that would do something very unpleasant to young Alex, though Severus did not know what because he had not been listening.
Severus knew the boy did not deserve it, whatever was going to happen to him. He did not want to do it, he wanted to leave and let the boy alone. Avery was looking at him as though he knew what Severus was thinking. The power play between Severus and Avery was ongoing; Severus was the brilliant one, the talented one. However, Avery was cruel, and unyielding. His cold stare was daring Severus, egging him on while showing disbelief that Severus would.
Severus was angry. The thoughts of Lily and James were still running through his head. His hatred of James for being everything that he was not pulsed through his veins. Severus let his thoughts consume him; he ignored his reserve and took the slip of paper from Avery, uttering the incantation as he unleashed his dark anger on the unsuspecting boy.
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“James, would you quit pouting?” Sirius gave an exaggerated eye roll for the benefit of his friend sitting across the table at the Three Broomsticks.
James was sitting back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. “She’s so... ridiculous.”
Sirius shrugged. “If she’s so ridiculous, why don’t you stop obsessing about her?”
“I’m not obsessing.” James glared at Sirius. “She didn’t have to embarrass me like that. It was just a joke. It was funny. Right, Remus?”
James glanced over at Remus, who had been quietly sipping his Butterbeer. James always looked to Remus when it came to ethical issues. Remus’ stamp of approval was all he needed to feel confident in his actions, for the observant, thoughtful Gryffindor could always be counted on to recognize right from wrong.
Remus sighed. “Well, you’ve done worse.” He leaned back in his chair, taking time before he spoke, as he always did. Remus had a way of speaking that commanded attention, a natural manner about him that indicated that whatever he was going to say was worth hearing. “But I don’t think Lily was completely wrong in sticking up for Jeffery.”
James drummed his fingers on the table, thinking about what Remus had said. He had not pranked the third-year out of cruelty. He had just done it for a laugh. That was what he and Sirius did, they made their classmates laugh. Everyone else appreciated his jokes. Why couldn’t Lily?
“Why does she have to be so damn righteous all the time?” James groaned. “Why can’t she just have some fun.”
“Look, mate.” Sirius looked James in the eye. “Lily is very pretty. But honestly, you need to move on. Find another girl, maybe one who doesn’t hate your guts.”
James paused, looking down at the floor. “But she’s not just pretty,” he said quietly. “She’s not just another girl. She’s different.”
James looked up. Seeing Remus’ scrutinizing gaze, he wished he had not spoken. Sirius was frowning at him, his eyebrows furrowing together, as though he was having a hard time understanding what James was saying. Even Peter’s watery eyes reflected concern. James sighed and rested his head on the his hand.
“James...”
“I’m going to go get some more Butterbeer.” James stood up quickly, cutting off whatever insight to James’ emotions that Remus was about to utter. “You guys want something?”
“Yeah, try and score me a Firewhiskey,” Sirius said breezily, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up on the table.
“I’ll have a Butterbeer,” squeaked Peter.
On his way up to the bar, James spotted Bethany and her friends sitting at a table near the entrance. He was still feeling slightly guilty that their date had not lived up to her expectations. After his scene with Lily, Bethany had taken James’ moody attitude as her cue to dismiss herself to find her friends. Though James was relieved, since he did not really feel like entertaining a date in the mood he was in, he still felt bad. He forced a grin and waved at her from across the pub.
“Hey, Rosie, you’re looking good today,” James said to the young bartender, Madam Rosmerta, who was cleaning glasses with her back to him. She turned around, hand on her hip, when James addressed her.
“Rosie? Really?” She rolled her eyes but still gave James a smile. “What’d you need, hun?”
“That’ll be two Firewhiskeys and a Butterbeer, please.” James flashed her his handsome grin from across the bar.
The bartender cocked an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? How about we make that three Butterbeers and you don’t call me Rosie again.”
James pouted. “Come on, Rosmerta, I need to drink away my problems.”
Rosmerta snorted. “I work in a bar, kid. I can tell you that never works.” She pulled out two glasses from underneath the bar. “Lady trouble?”
“Yeah...”
“Anything to do with that pretty little thing who told you off a while ago?”
James just nodded glumly.
“Well, if you want my advice, I’d say that girl doesn’t seem like she’ll be fooled by any of your tricks. So maybe you should try another tactic.” Madam Rosmerta pushed the glasses towards James. “Now, if anyone asks how you got Firewhiskey, we’ll say you Confunded me,” she said with a wink.
The Untold Story by StarkidSkyler
Chapter Endnotes: Sorry about the delay, my dear readers- I have not forgotten you, I promise! I've written up until chapter six during the queue closure, and I've mapped out the story to be about seventeen chapters. I feel bad that this chapter is not more exciting, since there has been such a long wait, but things should start picking up. Thanks for bearing with me! -Skyler