Framboise et Coquelicot

Chapter 8 : Tombe la neige

"Do you want to stop?"

Panting, Lily looked up. She was sprawled in a rather undignified position on the cold floor of the Duelling classroom, and she groaned as she sat up. "I think that would be a wise decision," she said. "Your last batch of hexes nearly finished me off."

"Well, you´re still in one piece aren´t you?" James smiled and pulled Lily up.

"One sweaty piece you mean," she said, brushing back a damp lock of red hair from her sweaty forehead.

"One sweaty piece," he admitted with a grin, withdrawing her wand from his pocket and handing it to her.

The door opened just as Lily was about to perform a Freshening charm on herself, and Raven stepped into the classroom.

"I see Mr Potter still hasn´t managed to send you to the Hospital Wing, Miss Evans."

There was no mockery or gentle teasing in his tone, he was just stating a fact. Come to think of it, Lily had never seen him smile a genuine smile; he always looked so serious and stern... The fact that he never wore anything but black robes didn´t help either.

"Let´s just hope it will stay that way," Lily answered, a bit uneasily. Raven had never come into his classroom during her and James´ little sessions, and she was wondering how they could make an exit without being rude. But she needn´t have worried.

"You should go and change, Miss Evans," Raven said, his gaze sweeping down her dirty duelling uniform. "I need to discuss something with Mr Potter."

Lily threw a curious glance at James as she turned on her heels. He didn´t look thrilled at this unexpected turn of events. Promising herself she would try to question him later on, she made her way to a door situated to the right of the main entrance to the classroom. As she opened it, she wondered not for the first time how many enchantments had been needed to create the sizeable girls´ changing room that could be found behind it. By all rights she should have found herself in the corridor. The boys´ was situated on the other side of the entrance door, and both rooms had been added after the students had received their duelling uniforms.

Lily closed the door behind her. The room was narrow and quite bare. With its rows of pegs and wood benches lined up against the wall, it could have passed for a changing room you could find in any Muggle school had it not been for the rather unusual absence of shower stalls. Much to their delight, the students were allowed to perform Freshening charms on themselves to save time. It wasn´t as relaxing as a shower, but it was at least as efficient.

There was a huge full-length mirror standing on the wall opposite the door, and Lily walked up to it. Trying to stay objective, she studied herself, and despite her sweaty face and dirty uniform, she liked what she saw. The uniform was white (and very prone to getting dirty upon hitting the ground) and felt like a second skin; in fact it looked much like the fencing attire Muggles wore, except that no mask was needed. Lily was never one to worry too much about appearances, but she thought that the month she had spent training with James had shaped her figure nicely.

She waved her wand in a complicated pattern and watched in the mirror as her uniform returned to pristine white, and her skin and hair became dry and clean again. Her skill with charms had allowed her to tweak the spell a bit, and her hair now smelled of crushed raspberries. She brought a strand to her nose and smiled in appreciation. She hadn´t liked the apple scent of last week, but this one was perfect.

She turned away from the mirror and walked to the place where she had left her school uniform. Her skirt, blouse and jumper were neatly folded on the bench, and her shoes and socks carefully arranged underneath. It was a habit of hers that her clothes always had to be folded and ordered. Her room at home could be quite messy, but there would never be a stray sock or a wandering shirt anywhere.

As she slowly started to change she wondered what she was going to do until dinner. It was Tuesday, and she usually spent the afternoon the sixth year Gryffindors had free with Marian.

But her friend had gone to Hogsmeade to see Belinda Browning once more, and Lily didn´t expect her to return until nightfall. Granted the sun set quite early in early December, but it wasn´t even two o´clock, and she had at least three hours before her.

As she bent to put her shoes on she noticed a bruise starting to show on her shin, an unwelcome reminder of her close encounter with one of the classroom chairs during that last batch of curses James had thrown at her. He was becoming harder on her with each session, something she didn´t mind. The first lesson had been a bit awkward; it had seemed as if he had been afraid to hurt her. He didn´t have any qualms now, although she could see he was still being a bit cautious.

Lily searched under the bench for her tie before remembering she had put it on the top of her robes on the peg. It only took her a few more seconds until she was finished with her dressing.

She gave herself a once-over in the mirror to check if anything was amiss, and when she was satisfied, went back into the classroom. James was still there, leaning against one of the window frames, staring outside. Raven was nowhere in sight. His tie was loose and the first button of his shirt undone. Messy hair and glasses slightly askew completed the picture. Lily´s first thought upon seeing him like that was that he looked like he had just had a good snogging session, and she immediately slapped herself mentally for it. She did not need to think of him engaged in activities such as snogging. It was bad enough she´d been nearly drooling - along with most of the other girls - the first time she had seen him in his tight duelling uniform... Another slap. She didn´t need to go there either.

Taking advantage of the fact that he was still unaware of her presence, she took her time to observe him. He was reasonably handsome... alright, he was quite handsome, and his gaze had a way of making a girl feel weak at the knees; it shouldn´t be allowed to be so ... so ... entrancing. Add to that the fact that it was pretty obvious he was a clever and powerful wizard, and you had a nice little package no girl at Hogwarts would mind receiving.

Of course, Lily was not noting these things because she saw him as a potential boyfriend. Of course not. It wasn´t a crime to admit that one of your friends wasn´t hard on the eye. What did Marian call that again? Oh yes, `completely detached and objective appreciation´. Nothing wrong with that.

As she stepped a bit closer to him, Lily noticed that his expression was gloomy and that he was glaring rather than staring at the view the window offered.

"James?"

James started and whipped his wand from his pocket in a flash, ready to throw a curse. He relaxed when he saw a shocked Lily standing a few feet away from him. "Sorry," he muttered, lowering his wand. "I´m a bit nervous these days."

"What did Raven want?" Lily asked, still a bit shocked from his extreme reaction.

"You wouldn´t believe it." James gave a short laugh, but there was no mirth in it.

"Try me."

James pocketed his wand and walked to the door. Lily followed; they knew they had to get out before the afternoon classes began.

"Our dear teacher wanted to know what I was doing for the holidays. A commendable, if not slightly suspicious concern on his part."

"You don´t like him, do you?"

James sighed as he closed the heavy door. "It´s his mysterious ways I don´t like. He´s always sweeping down the corridor in his black robes, trying to look broody and intimidating. He looks like an overgrown bat doing that, if you ask me."

Lily chuckled. "An overgrown bat? Give him some credit. Snape looks like an overgrown bat when he´s prowling about on his Prefect´s rounds. Raven´s too attractive to look like a bat."

James was appalled. "Attractive?!" he spluttered. "You find him attractive?!"

"Well, you have to admit that -"

"I don´t have to admit anything! Have you seen him when he´s angry, Lily? No? Well I have, and he looks like a bloody psychopath. It´s not a pretty sight."

"You don´t need to get all worked up like that. I don´t trust him any more than you do. But there´s no point in denying that he´s attractive."

James was about to cut in again, but Lily didn´t let him.

"Don´t worry though." She patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. "A lot of girls find you attractive too."

"I don´t care about -"

"Of course you care, James. Boys care about things like that. Case closed. Now, what about those holidays of yours?" Lily hoped he would accept the change of subject; she had a favour to ask him and it wouldn´t do if he decided to sulk for the rest of the day..

James was still a bit ruffled from the `attractive argument´ but answered all the same, albeit somewhat gruffly. "Nothing special, I´m going home. What about you?"

"Same."

They walked in silence for a bit, and Lily started to twist the Pet Tracker nervously in her pocket. They were getting close to the portrait of the Fat Lady, and she had to ask him now. It had seemed so simple when she planned it in Herbology that morning...

"What is it Lily?"

Lily jumped. "What?"

James nodded towards her pocket. "You´re fidgeting. You always fidget when you´re nervous about something."

"Nervous? I´m not nervous." Lily smiled brightly, hastily removing her hand from her pocket. "I was just thinking about something."

They turned a corned and the portrait hole came into view. Damn, too late for the indirect and insidious approach. Oh well, here goes nothing...

"Do you have a date for the Winter Ball, James?" she asked, knowing very well he didn´t thanks to subtle questioning of Peter. The boy was decidedly a mine of information.

James faltered in his steps. "What?"

Lily chanced a glance at him and saw that he was looking at her in a most peculiar way. "Do you have a date for the ball?" she repeated.

"I don´t," he answered slowly. "The boys and I have decided to go dateless. There´ll be certain things that we´ll need to take care of and we don´t want to be stuck with dates."

The portrait hole was only a few feet away. It was time for something drastic.

"Oh, well, I suppose you wouldn´t want to take me then..."

As Lily had expected, James stopped abruptly. Complete bewilderment could be read on his face. Complete bewilderment and something else too. But intent on reciting her little speech from memory, Lily didn´t notice.

"I wouldn´t be a burden though, you know. I´ll have some things that will need to be taken care of too; you´d be free to roam about with the boys."

The change in James´ countenance was so subtle that Lily didn´t notice it. Only the observant but often overlooked guardian of Gryffindor Tower, the Fat Lady, saw the brief flashes of anger and then resignation pass across his handsome face.

"Then why don´t you go alone too?" he asked a bit coldly.

"Er... well, Howard has been asking me repeatedly to go with him, but I can´t. If I tell him I´m going with someone else, he´ll be disappointed but he´ll let it go. But if I show up without a date, it will seem suspicious and he´ll be angry. I still have some hope of bringing up the Muggle-born bashing issue and I can´t afford to have him angry with me."

"What `things´ do you need to take care of during the ball?"

Lily hadn´t planned on telling him that much, but things were not going as expected. "It´s about Marian," she whispered, although the hallway was deserted. "You´re one of the few who knows what happened this summer and how she doesn´t need to take another blow. She´s been ranting about the merits of her Charms tutor, Gregory Wentworth. I think she´s infatuated with him, and she´s going with him to the ball."

"Your point is?" James interrupted impatiently.

"My point is I found him snogging some Hufflepuff girl in a dark corner the other day!" Lily exclaimed furiously. "That boy is only going to end up hurting Marian very badly, and I need to look after her the night of the ball. I´ve made a few inquiries, and I found out that Wonderboy invariably tries to put the moves on a girl whenever pumpkin juice and butterbeer are flowing. It´s so easy to slip a drop of some potion or other in your date´s goblet. I´ll need to watch the bastard carefully. If all goes well, I´ll catch him red-handed, and Marian won´t suffer too much."

"Then why don´t you watch him from Howard´s side? He and Wentworth are such great friends."

"I´ve thought of that already. But I can´t... As you said, you have some duties towards your date. Howard will expect dances, walks outside and private conversations. All of that is highly incompatible with careful watching. Plus, he would notice straight away if my attention wanders."

Lily clearly saw the flash of anger passing across his eyes this time.

"I see... so you prefer asking good ol´ James. James who is always here when you need him. James who always helps. Of course he won´t ask you for dances, walks outside or private conversations; why would he? It´s so simple and easy to ask him!"

James was ranting.

Lily had never heard him do that before. She didn´t know what was worse - the ranting or the incredibly angry tone under which she could hear hurt. What had she said for him to get into that state? She couldn´t see any reason why he should get so worked up.

"But James, I thought you said you didn´t want a normal date because you had things you needed to do. It´s exactly what I want too. It would be a deal between friends. After all, I did the same for you once. Remember when you asked me to go to that fair in Hogsmeade so you wouldn´t have to go with Emma Rowland?"

Surprised that she had just interrupted him in the middle of his tirade, James blurted out, "But that was fourth year!"

"So?"

James looked at her for a moment, but he did not seem to see her at all, and his eyes were unfocused. It was unnerving. She couldn´t read anything in their dark blue depths, but it wasn´t because he was shielding his emotions from her. It was because there just was nothing in them.

"So nothing," he said softly. Then he blinked and snapped back to reality. "I won´t go to that ball with you Lily. I´m sorry. I can´t see why Howard Clint would be so angry if you decided to go alone anyway. I´ve never seen him angry with you."

"Oh." Lily really didn´t know what else to say. She wasn´t angry, just shocked. It was the first time James had refused her something she wanted from him. He always came round after some persuasion. "Alright then."

James looked at her strangely. " `Alright then´?"

Lily nodded. "I think I´ll manage." She then turned towards the portrait and gave the password.

"Lion´s lair."

Once she was in the common room, she realised James hadn´t followed her.

"You´re not coming?"

"No, I just wanted to walk you back to the common room. I have an appointment with Dumbledore."

Lily refrained from asking what it was about; she knew she wouldn´t get an answer.

"I´ll see you later then."

His answer was muffled by the screeching sound of the portrait swinging shut on its hinges. Clearly, the fifth year prefects in charge of the greasing had forgotten to do their jobs yet again. Sighing, she took out her wand and performed a quick charm. It would do the trick for a while.

The common room was deserted, as the other years were in their afternoon classes. Marian was in Hogsmeade, Beth and Amy must be planning their precious ball somewhere, and the boys ... well, Merlin knew where they were. She collapsed into a comfortable chair and murmured a lazy `incendio´ to light the fire. It was rather chilly in the castle in December.

She couldn´t believe how fast the time had flown: the Christmas holidays were less than a week away and she would soon find herself back in the Muggle world again. It was funny how she felt she didn´t belong there anymore. She had her family, who always welcomed her when she came back - with the notable exception of her sister Petunia. But she never felt quite at home any more in the pretty house in Hertfordshire. Although she loved the place very dearly, she couldn´t call Hogwarts her home either. In fact, she felt as if she were in limbo, waiting for the time when she would finally settle somewhere for good, with someone if possible.

She´d had the `Raspberry Jam Dream´ quite often since the beginning of the year, and she knew that was what she wanted and needed. But it was what it was: a dream, at least for now.

Her case was not totally hopeless, though. She was a good student, and for the most part, liked what she was learning; she had friends...

Speaking of friends, she would have to talk to Howard at dinner. James was right: he wouldn´t be too offended if she told him she was going to the ball alone. Marian´s well-being was very important to her, and she was going to make sure that nasty bastard Wentworth wouldn´t endanger it.

There was also the `Remus case´. Lily still didn´t know what to do about that. Peter had held his tongue as promised, and none of the other boys knew that she knew. Should she interfere in their affairs? Normally she wouldn´t; she was curious, but not a compulsive snoop like that Rita Skeeter from Slytherin. But there was the issue of the boys´ safety. She had discovered that all four beds were empty on the nights of the full moon. It could only mean that Remus had company wherever he was kept in confinement. It was utter madness on the boys´ part. Unless they took steps to ensure their protection...

A tapping on the window closest to her shook Lily from her thoughts. Puzzled, as she wasn´t expecting any mail, she opened the iron latch and found a big white owl waiting on the stone ledge. She recognised it instantly: it was the bird the pet shop in Diagon Alley used each year to send her the `Protection´ package for her cat. Cléobulle wasn´t a magical species, and since you never knew what he could end up swallowing whilst at Hogwarts, he required some kind of special protection that had to be renewed yearly.

Lily took the little package and the owl flew away immediately. Well, it would give her something to do... She decided to go and check to see if Cléobulle was in the dormitory, without much hope. At least she had the Pet Tracker now.

As expected, she didn´t find her cat in the dorm. She still made the necessary preparations, which didn´t take long. Once she had fished the special metal bucket out from under her bed and filled it with water from the never-empty jug each dorm was provided with, she opened the package and sprinkled the fine powder it contained into the cold water. She muttered the incantation she had learned by heart four years ago, and the water started to tremble gently.

There, the bath would be ready by the time she found her wayward cat.

She took the velvet bracelet out of her pocket, and not quite sure about what to do with it, she passed it around her wrist. What had he told her again? To hold the charm in her palm? It seemed about right, and she closed her fingers around the shiny black marble.

Nothing happened.

Damn, how very Howard to give her a gift without the instructions. She racked her brain for a few minutes, trying to remember every wizarding object she had come into contact with since she´d started at Hogwarts, comparing the way they worked. It didn´t take her long to decide what she should do.

She closed her eyes simply said, "Cléobulle" in a clear voice. She smiled as she felt the marble getting warm in her palm; there had been no need for instructions after all.

The lids of her closed eyes were like the blank screens you found in Muggle cinemas, and soon a picture appeared against them. She had no trouble in finding what she wanted. The black coat of Cléobulle stood out quite vividly against the bright orange of the chair he was sleeping in. The little devil was spending the afternoon in the Divination classroom! A classroom which appeared to be empty for the moment.

Lily didn´t fancy walking all the way up to the North Tower and back, but she had already prepared the protective solution and didn´t have a choice.

***

Lily precariously opened the trapdoor and suppressed a grimace as she caught the heady scent of the incense that seemed to be perpetually burning in the classroom. Old Professor Trelawney didn´t to want to abandon his touring of the East, where he was happily predicting disasters to whoever required his services, and his daughter seemed to be at Hogwarts to stay. She had redecorated the classroom to her own tastes, draping chintz cloths over the lamps and `dressing´ the windows with nearly opaque curtains, everything in the same tones of dark red. Strangely enough the atmosphere wasn´t oppressive, even with the ever-burning fire and the incense, but rather stuffy and made anyone drowsy in less than a minute. Lily hated the place.

She spotted Cléobulle close to the fire. He was still asleep in the orange chair and seemed very much at home.

She was about to cross the room to collect him when she heard the unwelcome sound of metal clinking: Trelawney´s precious jewellery.

"What can I do for you, my dear?" the cricket-like woman asked in her misty voice. "Is your Inner Eye troubling you?"

Lily tried not to snort at the ludicrous idea of her `Inner Eye´ ever troubling her. She greatly doubted she even had an `Inner Eye´ in the first place. "I´m just here to pick up my cat, Professor."

Trelawney´s eyes grew wider - if that was possible - behind her glasses. "Your cat?" she said in an agitated voice. "This is your cat?" She began wringing her hands together causing her bracelets to clink madly. "Yes, yes, take him away, he shouldn´t stay in my classroom, he disrupts the balance of energies. Take him away!"

"But why didn´t you throw him out before if he disturbed you?" Lily asked, puzzled.

Trelawney looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Throw him out?" she screeched, her voice no longer misty. "You don´t throw black cats out of a room if you want to live a long and serene life!"

Lily goggled. Even she hadn´t thought Trelawney could be so far gone that she would freak out like that. Her teacher was now looking fearfully at her cat as if he were some kind of demon coming straight from hell. For his part, Cléobulle - now awake and languidly stretching - was surveying the scene with an obvious disinterest. Lily tried to hide her grin as she walked up to her cat and picked him up from the chair.

Seeing that the `thing´ was under control, Trelawney calmed visibly. "Well, of course you didn´t know about the danger he represents, dear," she said. "We only study cats and their use in Divination in Seventh year. But do be careful around him, dear, I wouldn´t trust him if I were you."

The grin threatening to become a chuckle, Lily made her escape hastily. Going down the ladder with Cléobulle was tricky, but she managed, and she was soon laughing to herself in the empty corridors. Wait until she told Marian...

***

Cléobulle knew what was going to happen to him as soon as Lily opened the door of the dormitory. Brimming with magic, the solution was now bubbling, and had turned to a shocking pink colour.

"There, sweetheart, we´ll have a nice little bath now. Remember how we take one every year?"

Cléobulle remembered only too well and frantically clawed his way out of his mistress´ arms. Once free he made a beeline for the nearest bed and squeezed under it as fast as he could.

Lily tutted and pulled her wand out. "I´ll have you know that I´m highly disappointed in you, Cléobulle," she said conversationally, kneeling on the ground and peering under the bed. She could see his eyes glowing like two small lamps in the darkness. "I had hoped we could do things differently this year, but alas..."

There was a noise and the door of the dormitory opened suddenly. Cléobulle shot from under the bed and flew like an arrow toward his salvation. He was Petrified just as the tips of its whiskers brushed the door.

There was a soft laugh and the newcomer picked up the poor cat from the ground. "I see your aim is as good as ever, Lily."

Lily smiled. "I do my best." She then got up and brushed some dust off her robes. "What are you doing here so early, Marian? I wasn´t expecting you until much later."

Marian put the stiff Cléobulle under her left arm and closed the door with the other. "Belinda had an important appointment and I didn´t stay long." She walked over to her bed and dropped her school bag and Cléobulle on it. The heavy bag didn´t bounce, and neither did Cléobulle. "Merlin, Lily! What have you been feeding this cat? I swear he is heavier than Hogwarts: a History!"

"I know. I had to carry him all the way from the Divination classroom, and I could hardly feel my arms when we arrived at the portrait."

"The Divination classroom?" Marian lifted a brow.

"Long story, but you should enjoy it." Lily picked up Cléobulle from the bed and brought him to the water bucket. She looked into his frantic eyes and sighed; he was a very resentful creature, and she was sure she wouldn´t see him for a week after this was finished. Well, it was for his own good anyway, she thought as she lowered him carefully into the water. The solution was activated as soon as Cléobulle was immersed up to his neck into it. It started to sizzle and little sparks began to fly everywhere. The poor dear had to marinate in there for quite a while.

Lily went back to Marian, who was waiting expectantly on her bed, and made herself comfortable.

"It all started with that gift Howard gave me for my birthday..."

***

By the time diner came around, Cléobulle was Unpetrified, charmed dry and already sulking somewhere in the castle.

It was the same scene every year since she had got him, and Lily wasn´t worried. She was thinking of what she would tell Howard. She spotted him at the Ravenclaw table, and keeping her eyes trained on him, she tried several different conversations in her head. When he finally looked up from his apple pie and noticed her staring at him, she had not yet found a suitable one.

She was rather surprised to see him get up and nod toward the doors, silently asking her to follow him out of the hall. Marian was recounting Trelawney´s encounter with Cléobulle to the boys, and Lily was able to slip out of her seat unnoticed. She wished she could have stayed a little longer though, as Marian always did great imitations of her least favourite teacher.

"What is it, Howard?" Lily asked when she arrived in the Entrance Hall.

"I wanted to talk to you about Gregory Wentworth," Howard whispered, looking around him to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

Lily´s ears perked up. "What about him?" She tried to keep her voice casual.

"Gregory is a good friend of mine but he ... well, he has a certain reputation with ... with..."

"With girls?" Lily provided helpfully.

Howard nodded.

"Yes, with girls. I usually try not to interfere as it´s none of my business, but I couldn´t help but notice he was rather taken with your friend Marian."

"Yes, she happily announced to me she´s going to the ball with him, even though she used to hate balls and stuff."

Howard cleared his throat. "As Head Boy, I was made aware of Marian´s state and situation, and I´m a bit worried. I don´t think Gregory has strong feelings for her, but I know that it won´t prevent him from being a bit forward with her; he doesn´t know about last summer, you see. There have been previous cases of a relatively harmless potion being slipped into drinks during events such as feasts and parties and I ... I hope you won´t be angry if I were to say that Marian could fall victim to what is normally nothing more than a little fun, because Gregory would never go as far as sleepi- he would never go too far. But your friend doesn´t need someone playing with her like that..."

Lily blinked. It was almost the same little speech she had made in front of James earlier in the hope of enlisting his help. And it was quite unexpected to hear it from Howard´s mouth now.

"I´m worried about her too," she said. "She seems oblivious to any of his shortcoming and she won´t listen to me when I try to warn her. I know she will be terribly disappointed when she finally realises what kind of boy he is. And the worst thing is that she´ll blame herself for her temporary blindness."

"I know, that´s why I wanted to tell you my plan. But I must warn you, I don´t think you´ll like it. Hell, I don´t like it, I can´t even believe I thought of it."

Lily told him to go on anyway, she would do anything for Marian.

"Well, I know for a fact that they haven´t even got as far as kissing yet, and -"

"Wait a minute, how can you be sure?"

"He would have told me otherwise, he´s never discreet about these things. Anyway, I also happen to know that he´s planning to use an Anti-Inhibition potion on her at the ball before dragging her to a deserted corner. It´s his usual tactic. Now, I think that the best way for Marian to come out of this dangerous infatuation is for her to witness with her own eyes that, as far as Gregory is concerned, any comely witch has her chance with him."

Lily nodded without much enthusiasm. Although she agreed with his theory, the `with her own eyes´ part was going to be difficult.

Howard went on. "You can´t roam the castle day and night with Marian in tow in the hopes of catching Gregory snogging in an empty classroom."

Another nod from Lily.

"So it leaves us with the option of you being the comely witch that will snag Gregory´s attention."

Had she heard him right? Was the boy in front of her some Slytherin stuffed with Polyjuice Potion? "I beg your pardon?"

"Don´t get offended, it´s not as bad as it sounds. You have to hear me out."

"It´d better be worth it."

"It will be. What I propose is that you accompany me to the ball. It will look perfect: two friends from Ravenclaw dating two friends from Gryffindor. We´ll stay close to Marian and Gregory, watching them without being too obvious about it. We act the moment we see Gregory uncork the vial. You´ll have to find a way to take Marian´s goblet from her and to drink it right in front of her." Howard raised his hand to prevent Lily from objecting. "Don´t worry, I´ll have given you a potion that will neutralise the effects of Gregory´s prior to the ball; you´ll only have to pretend you´re suddenly finding him quite attractive. He´s not one to refuse the advances of a pretty girl, and he´ll drag you onto the dance floor or into a secluded corner. You´ll hand me the goblet before you go with him, and being suspicious of the unexpected behaviour of my date, I´ll examine the rest of the juice you´ll have left in the bottom. Marian isn´t stupid, and she´ll work out everything. It´ll be a shock, but she won´t be angry with you, because she´ll think you´re under the influence of the potion. I doubt that she´ll spare Gregory a glance afterward."

"That´s quite Slytherin-ish of you, Howard," Lily said after a moment of silence. "May I ask why you´d be willing to do this?"

"You may. I have two reasons. Firstly, as Head Boy, I feel concerned about the well-being of a student, and I will add that my concern is amplified by the fact that this student is your best friend. Secondly, it offers me a way to do a good deed without antagonising one of my close friends. I don´t approve of his ways, but he´s never caused any damage to this day, and I would hate to lose his friendship, which would have happened had I interfered overtly in his affairs."

"Yes, I was right," Lily mused. "You´re being quite Slytherin-ish about the whole thing."

"Well, a Head Boy has to have many qualities."

Lily would never have thought she´d ever see Perfect Howard smile a naughty smile, but there it was... It seemed that today was a day of surprises: she had unexpectedly failed to get James to enrol in one of her little schemes for the first time, she had collected the priceless memory of Trelawney frightened out of her misty wits by a sleeping Cléobulle, and to top it all, she was about to get enrolled in a very unorthodox scheme which wasn´t of her own invention but which had been concocted by the Head Boy himself.

"I´ll have to keep that in mind if I want to be Head Girl next year. I suppose we can call ourselves `partners in crime now´, can we?"

"I suppose we can." Howard chuckled.

"Alright then, partner, we´ll have to meet sometime before Sunday to go over all the details."

"How about Friday after the Prefect meeting?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Well in that case, I´ll see you then," Howard said cheerfully before walking away.

The Great Hall had started to empty a short while ago, but Marian was still seated at the Gryffindor table. She had finished eating and was scribbling on a parchment, most likely something about her Potions project.

"You want to head upstairs?" Lily asked when she was close enough.

Marian immediately stood to her feet. "Sure, I was just waiting for you." She stuffed the parchment and self-refilling quill in her pocket, looking speculatively at Lily. "You were gone for quite a long time. Did Howard suddenly become extremely fascinating?"

"I think he´s turning into a Slytherin."

"Well, I must say it´s about time. He needs a bit of that bad boy aura to attract girls. It will give him a dash of sexiness and a touch of mystery."

Lily giggled. "Since when do you think that Slytherins are sexy?"

Marian let her gaze sweep along the Slytherin table before leaving the Hall. "I´ve always thought it. I had a crush on Henry Figg when I was twelve. Too bad he was seventeen and left the school at the end of my second year."

"Henry Figg? As in Henry Figg the son of Arabella Figg, the most famous female Auror?"

"The very same."

"I didn´t even know he was at Hogwarts in our time!" Lily exclaimed, dismayed. She wanted to be as good an Auror as Arabella Figg, and she hoped to obtain an Apprenticeship under her orders after passing her N.E.W.Ts. An acquaintance with her son would have been useful.

"Don´t be so disappointed." Marian could read Lily´s face like an open book, and she tried to comfort her. "He wouldn´t have talked to you anyway: we were lowly second years, not to mention Gryffindors."

"Do you think all the Slytherins really buy that `let´s bash the Gryffindors´ crap?"

"Well if they don´t they´re very good at pretending."

"But that´s just it: they´re supposed to be very good at pretending," Lily insisted. "So how can we really know anyway?"

A year ago Marian would have launched herself into a lively tirade on the possible workings of the mysterious Slytherin house. Now she just waved Lily´s question aside as if she couldn´t have cared less.

"Simple: we can´t."

The two friends had talked their way to the common room where they found the fire blazing for the empty chairs and their fellow Gryffindors glued to the tall windows.

Marian gave Lily a big, happy smile and dragged her up to their dormitory. She opened the window wide and stuck her head outside, laughing.

"Look! It´s snowing!" She collected a few snowflakes on her tongue and swallowed them, still laughing. "Stop worrying about setting things right at Hogwarts; come and taste the first snow of the year!"

But Lily wasn´t worrying about house feuds anymore. She was just watching her friend laughing at the window, and she swore to try and keep her as happy as she was now, gathering snowflakes on the tip of her tongue.