Lily Evans and the Quidditch Captain

CHAPTER 1 - Head Girl

Lily Evans gave her parents a last goodbye hug as she prepared to go through the barrier to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. "I love you both," she said quietly.

Her mother clutched her tightly. "Be safe," she whispered, worry lines visible on her freckled face.

Lily released her, the weary concern she'd been feeling for months creeping up on her once again. "Mum...I know you'd rather I be with you at home...but...Hogwarts really is the safest place I can be right now. Dumbledore is the greatest living wizard and - " she lowered her voice as a pack of Muggles passed by, eyeing her trunk curiously " - and any dark wizard would have a hard time getting to the pupils right under his nose, even--even The Dark Wizard," she finished with a struggle.

"I know, darling," she said, still in a whisper.

"Are you sure -" started her father.

"Yes, Dad, I'm sure," she replied in a final tone.

He had approached her last night tentatively as she was packing, asked her whether it wouldn't be better for her to just forget about the wizarding world. "I know it's not as easy as that," he said quickly, sitting down on her bed, forcing his fingers through his wiry hair, "...I just want you to think about it. This dark wizard...he can't a list of all the witches in Britian! We could leave...go to the Continent...or even America! We could live in our world again -"

Lily started at the use of 'our'; she had stopped considering herself part of the Muggle world after her first year at Hogwarts.

" - and you'd be safe," he continued. "No more of this killing, this Voldemort..."

Lily flinched again, this time at the name, which she was not accustomed to hearing out loud. Her parents, in contact only with Dumbledore, did not know the taboo.

Her father looked at her with supplicating eyes. Sighing, she sat down heavily on her trunk, and struggled a few long moments with what to say.

"Dad," she said eventually, "I'm a part of the Wizarding world now. I can't go back to "normal" life just because there's a war--I could hardly go back even without a war! Even if we could just run away...do you think I would? It's like...if we were Jews, and we fled from Germany, there'd still be thousands of other Jews dying back at home. We'd keep ourselves safe, but we wouldn't solve the problem."

Her father's uncomprehending gaze made her groan inwardly. Though she supposed it couldn't be helped, her parents still saw the Wizarding world as a quaint British sub-culture that had little to do with their own "normal" world. They didn't understand that the normal world was inescapably linked with the Wizarding world, that whatever happened in one world would inevitably affect the other. "I-the Wizarding world is where I belong," she finished finally. "I can't leave it; I have to do what I can."

Petunia, who had been eavesdropping in the hallway, had then burst in and accused Lily of endangering them all. "You leave, then, you go back to your safe little school," she screamed, "and just leave us here to be attacked by God knows what kind of foul creatures! Be the selfish brat you always have been, and leave us here to suffer while you learn how to make rats grow moustaches and turn slugs into butterflies!" Petunia's face had chilled Lily's blood; normally a mask of cold distain, it now seethed with anger, every line alive with bitter hate.

Even now, in the station, the memory caused Lily to shudder. At her parents' looks of deepening concern, she knew she'd better leave quickly. Pulling them into another tight hug, she whispered, "I'll be fine." She released them quickly and, holding on once more to her cart, pushed through the brick barrier.

*****

Lily caught a glimpse of the familiar scarlet train through clouds of white smoke and her burden lifted slightly--it was hard to worry about dark wizards in the midst of all the excitement. Owls clattered in their cages; returning students called back and forth to each other, exchanging news from the summer as they hauled their trunks; first-years pried themselves away from overprotective families, trying desperately to look cool. The precarious state of the Wizarding world had hardly decreased the usual noise and bustle of the platform.

Mustering a smile for the first time in two days, Lily stowed her trunk safely on the train, then returned to survey the crowd of excited witches and wizards, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone she knew. She didn't see any of the girls from her year...there was Severus Snape, that greasy-haired git who had called her a Mudblood, lugging a ratty-looking black trunk...she turned away in disgust. A group of Hufflepuffs, a few Ravenclaw third-years...finally, she spotted a curly black head bouncing her way, followed by a slightly more sedate blond figure. They'd obviously seen her, but she waved excitedly anyway.

"Congrats on Head Girl," exclaimed the dark-haired girl as she collided with Lily in an exuberant hug. "Tilda told me just now, but I figured it'd be you. You'll have your own compartment, I suppose, which is stupid."

"Hi, Janet," said Lily, returning the hug. "Thanks!"

Tilda arrived breathlessly a second later, putting her arms around Lily a little less violently in greeting. "Thanks for the letter, so good to see you!" She pushed her mane of frizzy blond hair back with her hand. "D'you know who's Head Boy?"

Lily shook her head. "Not yet, no."

"Hope he's cute," was Tilda's brilliant reply. "We're going to go find Mirabel and get a compartment, all right? You'd better come and visit!"

"Or we'll hate you," Janet said with a grin, and the two girls pushed on with their carts, vanishing into the thick press of students.

Lily scanned the crowd one more time for any familiar faces, and her eyes landed on a tall, muscular seventh-year Ravenclaw with cropped black hair. He caught her eye and flashed a winning smile, making his way toward her immediately.

"Lily, hi," he said, thrusting out his hand and grabbing hers in a handshake. "You Head Girl then? Thought so, congratulations."

Lily flushed a bit. If Sean McKinnon had made Head Boy, Lily wouldn't have minded at all. "You get a badge, too?"

"Nah," he said, looking a little disappointed. "I was going to ask you who it was. Too bad, really, though I s'pose I'll have my hands full enough with NEWTs and Quidditch. So you don't know who it is?"

Lily furrowed her brow. "No. I suppose it could have been Albert Griffin, but...maybe Remus Lupin?"

"Not me, sorry," came a quiet voice behind them.

Lily turned to see a wan-looking seventh-year with light brown hair, lugging a trunk that probably weighed more than he did. "Oh, Remus, hi, how are you?" She liked Remus--he was kind, quiet and intelligent--though as a prefect he'd been hopeless.

"Good," Remus replied, letting go of his trunk handle. "No, it's not me, I figured it was you, Sean."

Sean shook his head.

"It can't be Albert Griffin!" said Lily, hoping against hope. Albert was a sweet boy, in a sense, but Lily had rarely met anyone stupider. Last year he had asked her five times to remind him of both the password and location of the prefect's bathroom (as the password had been 'bathroom', Lily had found it difficult to be sympathetic). She couldn't count the number of times she'd had to run through the list of all the prefects in all the houses with him.

"Nah," came a boisterous voice from behind. "That berk wouldn't know a badge if it hit him square on the forehead."

Lily pressed her lips together. "Hello, Black."

The elegant black-haired boy chuffed Lupin on the shoulder. "Moony! How are you? Evans, McKinnon," he said as an afterthought, politely nodding to both. "We've saved you a seat," he said to Remus. "Oy, Prongs, come help Moony with his trunk!"

"Potter with you?" asked Lily tonelessly. "Oh good."

A tall boy with messy black hair and glasses, looking characteristically self-assured, ran up behind the other two. His eyes lit up when he saw Lily.

"All right, Evans? Good holiday?" His eyes flicked over to McKinnon, and he stood up a little straighter. "McKinnon, still Chasing?"

"Captain this year, actually," replied Sean, hiding his pride with difficulty.

"Yeah, I'm Captain, too," returned James smoothly. "Say, Evans, figure out who Head Boy is yet? We were shocked it wasn't Lupin here."

"Well, not too shocked," said Sirius. "Not too disappointed, either. Poor boy doesn't have to feel guilty for slacking on us anymore." Remus grinned, slightly abashed.

"Well, if none of you -" began Lily, but at that moment a piercing whistle interrupted her, calling everyone onto the train.

"That's our cue, gentleman," declared Sirius, and he and Remus together lifted his trunk and jostled it toward the train. James remained behind.

After an awkward pause, Sean cleared his throat and said, "Right...well, Lily, I'll see you in Herbology, then? You too, James. If not before."

"See you, Sean," returned Lily, unable to keep a flustered smile from her face as he moved away.

"So, Evans, need help with your trunk?" asked James, a trifle loudly.

"No, Potter, sadly it's already on. Don't worry, I'm sure another chance to prove yourself will come along shortly." With a satisfied smirk she clambered onto the train, not waiting to see the expression on James' face.

Chapter 2 - Head Boy

Lily had hoped to find the Head Boy waiting for her, but the compartment remained empty as the train pulled out of the station. For lack of something to do, she changed into her robes, then dropped into a seat and stared idly at the passing landscape for ten minutes.

She had just decided to check if the poor boy was lying bound in the hallway by some unfortunate jinx (she sincerely hoped they'd chosen someone a bit more competent than that) when she heard the door slide open. She looked up...and gaped at the boy who threw himself lazily into the seat across from hers.

"You--I don't--what--you!"

"I know," replied James Potter nonchalantly. "I was just as surprised when I got the letter. But, you have to hand it to Dumbledore...old man knows what he's doing." This said, he reached into his pocket, pulled out the Head Boy badge, and began flipping it in the air. "Parents were pretty proud. Good opportunity to prove myself, I suppose." He promptly put on the selfsame smirk she had displayed to him ten minutes earlier.

"Sorry I was late, by the way," he continued, "Had to visit some old friends. You can go, too, if you want, I won't tell."

Lily stared for a few moments, then slowly shook her head, a smile spreading on her face. "So it is Remus. You've convinced him to let you have the badge for half an hour so you can pull a big prank before term even starts. Oh, it's so obvious!"

James sat up indignantly, casting off his casual demeanor. "You don't believe Dumbledore would have chosen me?"

"Oh, that'd be the perfect job for you, wouldn't it?" said Lily, laughing. "Hexing all the Quidditch players who aren't on your team in the halls--they wouldn't be able to report you, would they?"

"Hey, I've stopped hexing people in the halls, if you haven't noticed," retorted James defensively.

Lily had noticed, in fact, though she stopped herself from admitting it. For years Potter and Black had cast every jinx they'd learned on any student unlucky enough to cross their paths in the corridors. Over the last year they'd calmed down quite a bit--but that didn't wipe the other five years from Lily's mind. "And you'd be free from all the rules," she went on, "so you'd just go on breaking them as much as you ever did. There's just no way they'd give you a job like this. You and Black have gotten more detentions together than the rest of Gryffindor House! Even Remus was hopeless, what could they possibly expect from you?"

"Listen," he said, a trifle shortly, whipping a piece of parchment from his pocket and thrusting it out at her. "If you don't believe me, here's the letter from Dumbledore himself."

Lily took the letter in disbelief. It was the Head Boy letter, a copy of the one she herself had gotten...and it was addressed to "James Potter."

"Oh, Lord," she groaned. A whole year of leadership with James Potter and his huge head? As if classes, meals, and the occasional Slug Club dinners weren't enough.

"I'm that bad, am I?" he asked, trying (and failing miserably) to sound offhand and cheerfully amused. He looked out the window, his casual demeanor gone. "Rather have Griffin doing it? Or McKinnon?" His eye flicked back to her for an instant.

Lily didn't answer. How could she explain to him that his very presence seemed to agitate her? His casually arrogant air, that annoying habit of ruffling up his hair whenever he thought a girl was looking...that stupid snitch he'd nicked fifth year and carried with him everywhere since...and his relentless pestering her to go out with him...those were all insufferable, yes, but it was more than that, something that needled her even when he calmed down with the rampant hexing, even after his big head returned to a tentatively normal size. At times he was good-natured, intelligent, and actually fun to be around...and yet she still felt that surge of annoyance when she saw those glasses, that unruly black hair, and she couldn't hope to explain it.

But she would have died before she said all this to anyone, much less Potter. So she merely stammered, "Sorry...no...yes...I mean..." At his hurt look, she mustered herself. "We're getting off on the wrong foot." Taking a deep breath, she stuck out her hand. "Congratulations on making Head Boy," she finished firmly.

Hiding his disappointment, Potter took her hand. "Thanks."

"I would rather have you than Griffin, anyway," she admitted.

His eyes flickered again, and she realized he was mentally completing her sentence, "but not McKinnon."

"Well, ah..." she blundered on. "Let's check on the prefects, shall we? We'll need to assign corridor duty, and patrol a little ourselves."

After a moment Potter nodded, evidently deciding to accept what he got for the time being. He shrugged his robes on over his normal clothes, and both he and Lily pinned on their badges for the first time (though Lily rather suspected he had tried his on before). Finished, Potter slid open the compartment door, and made to walk through it, but at the last second he stepped back and dropped into a comic bow.

"After you, m'lady," he intoned in an affected accent.

Impatiently biting back a smile, Lily stepped through the compartment door. This would certainly be an interesting year.

*****

The rest of the journey to Hogwarts passed quickly enough, if you didn't count Lily having to pull apart two third-years who had somehow magically stuck themselves together, or having to clear up the damage caused by two fifth-years who had started dueling across the tea cart.

When the train chugged into Hogsmeade Station, Lily and James hustled all the first years over to the looming giant that was Hagrid, who waited to take the group across the lake to the castle. The cold and dark, as well as Hagrid's misleadingly wild appearance, made them huddle together in an amusingly frightened group. A few of them glanced back at Lily with worried, pleading eyes; she gave them what she hoped was a reassuring smile as they followed fearfully in Hagrid's wake.

Lily surveyed the older students as they claimed the horseless carriages in groups--she hoped she would not be stuck again with Potter. But, there, Black and Lupin were calling to Potter, arms waving recklessly from the window of a nearby carriage. Potter started after them, calling back to Lily, "See you at the castle!"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Lily started along the line of carriages, hoping to find Janet and Tilda. She saw them joining another Gryffindor a few spots up, but as she raised her arm to get their attention she felt a sudden jerk at her feet. Before her mind registered what was happening she smacked into the hard, cold ground, her hands and face scraping roughly against the gravel.

"Oh, so sorry," came a sneering voice. "It's so hard to tell where your spells are going in the dark, especially as Mudbloods are difficult to spot at night."

Fuming, Lily looked up to see the thin, sallow figure she'd noticed earlier at the London platform, his wand out and ready. "Snivellus!" she spat. "Twenty points from Slytherin for attacking the Head Girl, and another fifteen for foul language." She struggled to feet, glaring at him. A few surprised students halted on their carriage steps, watching.

"Snape!" shouted a nearby girl in Slytherin robes. "You ugly git, you're losing us points already!"

"Get in the carriage and stop embarrassing yourself," called another.

Snape gripped his wand more tightly, but his tone suddenly turned smooth. "I am merely fulfilling my duty as a loyal servant to the - purity - of Hogwarts. Those who wish to bow to filthy little Muggle-borns may; I, however will not."

"Twenty more points!" growled Lily through clenched teeth. "And detention with McGonagall, if I have anything to say about it." Her right hand clutched her wand inside her robes; she was on the verge of pulling it out when a hand on her arm stopped her. She glanced around and saw McKinnon standing by her side, his own wand out. A few watching Gryffindors had also drawn wands and moved closer.

"You'll lose more than house points, if you keep this up," McKinnon said to Snape. "Lily may not be able to hex you, but that won't stop any of us." He gestured to the pack of growling Gryffindors.

Snape's eyes flicked around the circle, taking in the scene. "I...apologize," he said finally, drawing out the word, caressing it. "It won't happen again." And with a twitch he turned and lumbered off toward a carriage, a malicious smile still playing across his face.

Lily wrestled with violent anger for a few moments before managing to stifle it. The onlookers, taking their cue from her, grudgingly pocketed their wands and climbed back into their carriages, some of which began moving.

Lily sighed. There was no point in pursuing Snape at the moment. Perhaps she would report him to McGonagall later, or, even better, Slughorn, but until then she needed to find a seat. "Thanks, Sean," she finally said wearily. "You stopped me from doing something really nasty. You'd better find a carriage...I guess I'll see you at the castle."

"Well, ah..." he said, slightly flushing. "There're probably not many empty seats left...d'you...ah...d'you want to ride with my friends? And...well...me?"

"Oh!" Lily also flushed. "Yeah, sure, great, thanks."

He led her to a waiting carriage, where three other Ravenclaw 7th-years were sitting. She waved nervously in greeting and climbed inside. They all nodded affably in return.

When Lily, still pink in the cheeks, had settled next to Sean, a thin, blond-haired boy across from her waved his arm in greeting. "Hey, Lily! Jon Brady, if you don't remember. That was some show. Can't believe Snape thought he'd get away with it."

The carriage lurched and began moving. The girl next to Jon, a cheerfully plump girl named Mirabel, scoffed. "Snape'll try anything. He only dared it because he knew Lily couldn't hex him back. I'm glad I didn't make Head Girl! Just looking at that slime makes me want to whip out every jinx I know." She smiled at Lily. "Congrats, by the way."

"Thanks," said Lily. Mirabel had been a prefect with Sean, and so had been in line for Head Girl; Lily was relieved to see there were no hard feelings.

"Well," came a stuffy voice from Sean's other side, "what I want to know is where was the Head Boy during all of this?" Lily shifted and saw Ethel Mamet, a rather dumpy, frizzy girl with a snub nose.

"Oh," said Lily, startled--she hadn't even noticed Potter's absence. "It all happened so quickly...he was in his carriage with his friends, I suppose he didn't even notice."

Ethel smiled just as stuffily as she talked. "Of course, we all thought Sean here would have made and excellent Head Boy, but..." and here she heaved a great sigh, "I suppose Dumbledore had his reasons."

Sean blushed. "I'm sure Potter will make an excellent Head Boy, or Dumbledore wouldn't have chosen him."

"For heaven's sake, Ethel, are you saying Dumbledore doesn't know his business?" asked Mirabel rather snappily, a look of long-suffering exasperation on her face.

Ethel shrugged and leaned back in her seat, apparently finished. There was a rather awkward pause, which Mirabel finally filled by insulting Snape again. Jon joined in, and the two passed the trip by abusing him hotly, reaching the castle just as their extensive vocabulary of insults reached its limit.

Lily added an insult or two, but for the most part brooded silently on the silly attack. When her anger waned, she realized just how odd it was of Snape to confront her like that in public. While they'd certainly never been friendly, neither had gone to great lengths to display any open hostility; indeed, until that horrible afternoon by the lake last year, Lily had always rather pitied Snape. But even after he'd openly called her a Mudblood, he'd never tried to harm her. Now he had openly declared war. For the first time, when Lily thought of Snape, she felt more than annoyance--she felt, instead, the stirrings of fear.