Not as Easy as That

James had planned on spending Monday night making out with Katiana. There were only two reasons he couldn't do that. The first was the fact that Katiana was "off-again" as he had broken up with her at lunchtime. His new flavor-of-the-week was a brainless Ravenclaw (what an oxymoron if there ever was one) by the name of Raiena, who was so excited that she was going out with "the James Potter" that she spent all of her time gazing at him with stars in her eyes. The second was that he had to attend the D&D Club, both because it was Dumbledore's orders and because Remus had dared him ... and James Potter rarely turned down a dare.

As it was, he was delighted to discover that the dueling part came first, and yet was disappointed to find out that only those who stayed through the entire meeting (even through the Debating portion) would earn their House points. James knew from personal observation that most would leave halfway through from boredom, frustration, giving up, or disgust.

He watched attentively as Professor Flitwick (who apparently had been a Dueling Champion in his youth) demonstrated the correct bow and posture which is required when beginning a duel. Then, he demonstrated several rudimentary hexes and charms, including the universally-used "Expelliarmus," "Tarantellagra," and "Locomotor Mortis." He then cheerfully smiled and said that students could then draw upon their own knowledge of spells and charms and hexes and jinxes learned through Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, or even Transfiguration if one felt the need to turn one's opponent into a toad.

At that point, Professor McGonagall had drawn names (randomly out of a hat) so as to determine whom the students would be facing during the first and second halves of the Dueling and Debating portions.

James, to his delight, discovered that he was facing Snape in the first half of the Dueling portion, and Sirius in the second half of the Debating portion. He would also be facing Lily for the second half of the Dueling portion and the first half of the Debating portion. Either way, he was pleased at having a chance to duel with Snape.

He and Snape got into their positions and smiled malevolently at each other as they prepared to duel.

Flitwick, cheerful as ever, did not seem to notice Professor McGonagall glancing nervously between James and Snape, Blaise Emerith (a Slytherin prefect) and Malfoy, and Sirius and Avery. All three duels were likely to erupt in extreme violence. Flitwick pointed his wand in the air and shot rather spectacular green sparks (he was the Charms teacher after all, and this was his forte) into the air before bellowing (in a squeaky voice), "Begin!"

The duel began simply. He and Snape were cautious with their efforts, first casting Shield Spells, and then Reinforcement Charms. Next followed the Probing Charm, as both sought the weakness in each other's shields. All three charms that both cast almost simultaneously first were not one normal Sixth Years would know, for they drew on a supply of knowledge only obtained when sneaking into the library after hours, whether in the Restricted Section or not.

James's Probing Charm returned, and he hid a smirk as he recognized his opponent's weakness. Being paranoid, Snape had blocked against all harmful spells ... but there were some that were distracting yet not dangerous that his Shield would definitely overlook. He raised his wand and yelled "Rictusempra" even as Snape raised his wand and yelled "Appelo Sirena". James cursed himself as he tried to cover his ears, but it was too late.

The Call of the Siren was one of those borderline Dark Spells (similar to Femnus Incitus) that James, in his carelessness, had forgotten to protect against. He had forgotten the fact that Snape was a Slytherin and had come from a long line of purebloods who practiced Dark Arts and surely knew at least a couple of Dark tricks that could still be used in school.

He watched helplessly as Snape convulsed with laughter even as the alluring melody began sounding in his head and causing him to stand in a trance-like state. Even as he attempted to resist the haunting tune, he could see Snape trying to grab hold of his wand (which had dropped in a particularly violent fit of laughter) to cast a Finite Incantatem.

Suddenly, there was a shriek (a shriek that sounded vaguely like Malfoy's, though it came out rather feminine). "Finite Incantatem" sounded Flitwick's voice, abruptly severing his trance and ending Severus's convulsions. Both turned simultaneously to see a very feminine Lucius.

"What did you cast, Miss Emerith? Not Femnus Incitus, I hope," Professor McGonagall sighed.

"No, Professor McGonagall," Emerith said, sounding contrite despite her rather pink hair. "It was a simple Feminea Charm. I didn't think it would be so strong. I forgot that I had a Duro on my wards to strengthen anything I shot out."

Malfoy, meanwhile, was glaring at her. "That's not true!" he said, in a rather soft, breathy voice. He looked furious. "You said Duro Feminea! You meant it!"

"It was an accident, "Emerith protested. "I was taken aback by your Sikale no Morei. I was barely able to block it."

"With a Denosa Orialla!" Malfoy crowed triumphantly.

Professor Flitwick spoke in a tight, infuriated voice. "Did you not hear me when I said that there would be a) no Dark spells borderline or otherwise, and b) no spells from foreign countries? Those are the kind our Hospital Wing cannot treat."

"This could account for detention-" Professor McGonagall began, but Emerith and Malfoy began shouting over her.

"He cast a Jubilei Markatus and hit me!"

"She cast a Pallasi Nomore!"

"Silence!"

Both participants in the disastrous duel turned to look at Professor Flitwick. Even with his rather diminutive stature, he looked rather intimidating. "As this has become a dispute over who cast the most forbidden spells, or who cast the forbidden spells first, it is useless to listen to your squabbling. As it is, you two will remain throughout the entire dueling stretch and remain for the debating stretch. It is mandatory. You two will not earn your House points, however. Rather, 100 points will be taken from Slytherin for this! You will also have to sit out the entire dueling stretch with Silencing Charms on your mouths! Is that understood?"

Both Emerith and Malfoy nodded rather meekly, each recognizing the danger of crossing Flitwick right now. Both walked towards the direction he pointed (without even asking that he change them back to their original forms) and silently bore the public humiliation as he cast a "Silencio" on both of them before turning abruptly to face the student body. "Any more casting of foreign or Dark spells will result in 100 points from each House, rather than 50." This caused silence. Each knew that while the Slytherin House had been in the lead, with 132 points, most other Houses didn't even have 100 points, and would end up in the negatives!

James and Snape exchanged mutual worried glances. Although Snape's "Appelo Sirena" would definitely have lost them 100 points, both their Probing Charms could count as borderline dark. Both gave a tight nod. Neither was going to rat the other out, and both were going to have a semi-honest duel of sorts.

At the signal to continue their duels, James and Snape both Reinforced their Wards as well as cast new Shield Spells, but both were careful not to send out any spell found in the Restricted Section, which, of course, greatly limited their choices. Out of curiosity and a sense of mischief, James cast a "Scourgify" at Snape's hair, to see whether it was always that greasy. To his immense surprise, once the grease disappeared, curls popped out of Snape's head. There was an utter silence as he gaped at the Slytherin ... Snape had curls? In that lapse, Snape shot an unintelligible spell at him. He had barely enough time to block it with a quick twist of his wand and a muttered phrase that wasn't exactly in the Restricted Section, per se, but wasn't exactly a typical spell used on the dueling ground. As a matter of fact, it was a retaliation spell of sorts. It was a wizarding version of the Muggle saying, "I am rubber, you are glue. Whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you like glue." Only, it wasn't whatever the other said, but whatever spells the other cast.

Snape, of course, was well-equipped to deal with such a rudimentary spell, and quickly annihilated the spell coming towards him even as he shot another spell at James. James, of course, had been prepared for this, and had set up a hasty Specialiti Shield Charm (one of the several he had discovered while researching in the library) and cast an Expelling Charm on Snape. Snape blocked it easily, of course, but he overlooked the Sideways Hex James had added onto the Expelling Charm, and thus, one of his stronger Shields was Expelled as well. Cursing under his breath, he flicked his wand and muttered an anti-Eavesdropping Charm.

James frowned, trying to realize the significance of that. Moments later, as he dodged a hex, he realized that now, he wouldn't know whether the hexes/curses Snape fired were minor or major, and blocking them all would just be a waste of his energy. Scowling at not having thought of it himself, he cast his own anti-Eavesdropping Charm and shot a Nightmare Hex at Snape. Meanwhile, he set up one of the simpler and more acceptable monitoring charms that would tell him when a hex/charm/spell entered a certain radius of him, and was about to send a sharp "Petrificus Totalus" at Snape when red sparks shot into the air and all of his shields and wards dissipated.

Professor Flitwick, standing on a pile of books, announced a break while people found their second set of partners.

James found himself facing a Lily he never thought he would see. He had, of course, been disappointed to find that he was only facing Lily when he first found out. But when, as instructed by Flitwick, he cast an "Auris Priori Incantato", much like "Priori Incantato", but showing a number of previous spells besides just one, and showing them only to him, he had been quite startled to find that she had cast a number of competent spells, as well as a few that were found only in the Restricted Section. One glance at her face showed that she was highly unimpressed by the types of spells he had cast.

He put one of his more infuriating smirks on his face, knowing how much it angered the Fifth Year, and watched as she fumed silently, even as she half-paid attention to Flitwick's friendly advice and dire warnings. She seemed intent on waiting for the "Begin!" and soon the anticipated start signal soared into the air.

James quickly cast a number of competent and useful shields and wards, and looked up to see that she had at that same moment also finished casting her wards. Each surveyed the other rather warily, uncertain of what exactly the other was capable of. Hoping to distract her, he called out, "By the way, who were you dueling earlier?"

"Lestrange," she said shortly. James whistled under his breath. Rodolphus Lestrange was one of the more deranged Slytherins, and even other Slytherins were scared of him. The fact that she was able to hold her own despite the fact that he was two Years older than her, and had a handy knowledge of the Dark Arts and no scruples counted much in her favor. "But Professor Rainwater was watching the entire time," she added. James nodded in understanding. Of course Professor Rainwater would be watching ... she wouldn't want her first D&D Club to be ruined by a wand-happy Slytherin. "And you?" she asked, before flicking her wand towards her hand.

James watched in interest, wondering what spell she had hand-monitored (which meant she would be able to control the spell to a certain extent with her hand) even as he flicked his own wand and muttered a complicated Negating Charm that would work temporarily, negating any hex she sent his way. "Snape," he said, rather cheerfully.

"I expect there were a lot of forbidden spells before Flitwick's '100 points' speech," she said, even as she cast her own Negating Charm and began to mutter what was obviously going to be an incredibly long and complicated spell.

Curious at how she had gained so much dueling knowledge without directly disobeying school rules (because Lily was the type who would never disobey school rules), James began to set up a series of trap-spells, which would be triggered if she sent any spells in his direction after the Negating Charm wore off. "That reminds me, I need to research ways to throw off the 'Appelo Sirena'," he said, wondering what her incredibly long charm would be.

He got his answer soon enough. Her hand-monitored spell, the one he had almost forgotten, sent him flying in the air, as he realized that it was a version of "Levitus". He silently appraised her cleverness, because the spell had already been cast, and wouldn't trigger any of his trap-spells, even as he worked furiously to counter it. She had, by the looks of it, finally finished her complicated spell. He relished the look on her face as she realized that she had just set off a series of trap-spells and began blocking them as fast as she could. However, with her movements, her left hand, the one not holding the wand, but the one with the hand-monitoring charm on it, moved convulsively as well, and James felt himself shake up and down.

Too late he realized also that the long complicated spell she had sent his way was in reality a series of small charms linked together, and while each individual charm set off a separate trap-spell, there was one or two charms that had escaped the trap-spells (probably because he hadn't set up enough) and were now headed his direction. He could see the three of them clearly, thanks to his minor monitoring ward, but couldn't tell what they were. Thankfully, his erratic flying (caused by Lily's hand) helped him to dodge one, even as he ducked his head and missed another. The last, unfortunately, smashed right into him, just before the teachers realized that he was flying above their heads (they couldn't tell earlier because they seemed concerned over a Sirius vs. Lestrange duel.)

It was obvious that Lily couldn't ease his flight, either, as she was too busy convulsing with laughter, the "Rictusempra" being the only trap-spell she hadn't managed to dodge.

A quick series of "Finite Incantatem"s and Cushioning Charms avowed a rough, but cushioned landing as he dropped to the floor. It was only after he landed that he realized the only charm he had not managed to dodge was one that gave him long hair tied back with green ribbons, and a girl's bonnet. He realized that if the separate charms strung together had hit him head-on, he would have ended up greatly resembling a girl, without any side-effects of the ones that did so using borderline Dark Arts or foreign un-curable spells.

Ruefully admitting defeat, he held out his hand to shake with a rather shaken-up Lily Evans, who had obviously been very ticklish. Her green eyes, usually rimmed with disdain or uncertainty were now filled with laughter, and, out of impulse, he lifted her hand to his lips, kissed it, and murmured, "I think I've met my match."

Now James was, by nature, a very flirtatious boy. For some reasons, the girls seemed to flock around his rumpled black hair toffee-colored hazel eyes. He didn't mind much. In fact, he enjoyed it to the point that besides his on-again, off-again Katiana (who merely interested him because of the fact that she actually managed to stay aloof during her off-again periods), he didn't really care about the girls that he dated. They were just pretty faces. Of course, he respected he ones that didn't drape themselves all over him, although he was acutely aware that if he offered a random girl in the hallway a chance to accompany him to Hogsmeade, it would be snatched off before the words could come out of his mouth. All in all, James Potter was not accustomed to rejection.

So after he performed the aforementioned act of kissing Evans's hand and murmuring words at her, he did not expect a slap, and a sharp, "James Potter, what the Netherworlds do you think you're doing!" (He was now required to think of her as Evans, Lily being too delicate a name for someone whose hand was forever slapping people.)

James Potter blinked. "Umm ... acceding the match as a stalemate," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean, you do acknowledge the stalemate, don't you? You were unable to prevent the Rictusempra, and I the-" at this point, he gazed ruefully at a stray black curl draped over his shoulder "and I the charm, so neither of us won."

"I didn't mean that," Evans said, narrowing her eyes. "Are you trying to be funny? I'm referring to the absolutely disgusting thing you did to my hand!"

James looked confused. "All I did was kiss it."

"My point exactly," Evans said triumphantly. "Now it has Marauder-germs all over it. I'll have to Scourgify it a number of times before I can feel clean again."

James was smart, which was one reason why he was in line for the position of Head Boy. (Although, as a matter of fact, Remus had been Prefect all through Fifth Year, and the only reason he wasn't prefect now was because some teacher or other--probably Borgins, the slimy jerk--had complained that he was absent too often. So he was the Sixth-Year Gryffindor Prefect in absentia--he thought that was the term, but he wasn't sure--until Remus completed the set amount of days before he could resume his position as Prefect again.) He also knew when he was being insulted. But, he was surprised by this turn of events. There were, of course, girls in the school who would turn him down if he asked them out on a date, but he generally didn't ask them out. Either way, everyone, or at least all of the Marauders, knew that James preferred the thrill of the chase to the actual catch. This did not mean that he did not appreciate his girlfriends. On the contrary, he often spent entire nights detailing to his friends his ... appreciation for his girlfriends. It was merely the fact that James liked girls with a certain character. Paradoxically, girls with that kind of character didn't really approve of James Potter. So, he had to settle for Katiana when she was on-again, because he figured she was as close to that kind of character as he would ever get while in Hogwarts. But that's not the point. The point is that ordinarily, James would have known better than to pursue Lily Evans.

Ordinarily. But now, he was suffering from the aftereffects of several curses (he would later protest), so he could not help the words from escaping his mouth.

"Will you go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"

To be continued ...