James and Lily: A History

Chapter 4: Close Calls

"Five more minutes mum," snorted Logan, who was sleeping on patrol in the Charms corridor, deeply engrossed in his dream as a world-famous Quidditch player. As one of Bulgaria's starting Chasers, he had just won the most valuable player award for the Quidditch World Cup, and thousands of female fans poured over the stands to place their hands on him. Unfortunately, it seemed one of his teammates was jealous, as she'd begun kicking him repeatedly in the shin.

"Stop kicking me!" yelled Logan, who suddenly awoke to see a pair of almond-shaped, green eyes sending a deathly glare at him. "What the bloody hell is your problem?"

"As your fellow prefect, it is my duty to see that you are on guard," replied Lily, not taking her deadly glare off him. "I'm reporting you to McGonagall."

"Ooh, is that a threat?" drawled Logan, bored, and rolling his eyes. "Who are you anyway? Have we met?"

"Indirectly I guess you could say. I'm a very good friend of Roxy Abin," answered Lily in a steely voice. "I saw you treating her like horse dung when you practically attacked her on the train."

It took a few minutes for Logan to figure out what this girl was talking about; when he did, he didn't know why she was getting on his case. "Look, I didn't do anything to her. We were just talking about her father's catering business--."

"Did it have to involve some comment about you tipping her father as though he was your servant?" interrupted Lily indignantly.

"Well it was a good cherry soda," said Logan, shrugging and feeling extremely annoyed as he struggled to stand up on his right leg, which had fallen asleep.

"You are such a prat! It wasn't what you said, but how you said it," yelled Lily, her eyes bulging and her face contorted with anger. "You treated her like some slave's daughter!"

"Woah there! No need to harass! I can say whatever I want," replied Logan, amused and entertained by this heated conversation.

Lily couldn't believe there existed such a narrow-minded, lazy, and arrogant schoolboy. Of course, Potter was arrogant, but he wasn't lazy and narrow-minded. She glared at Logan in silence, wishing she could punch him in the stomach to break his proud demeanor; he wasn't even showing any sign of frustration during the conversation. Actually, he looked very pleased.

"Who are you anyway?" asked Logan, his grey eyes sparkling in curiosity.

"Lily Evans," answered Lily stiffly. "Just because you can say whatever you want doesn't mean you can go around treating others like dung. I'm reporting you to McGonagall right now and--."

"I don't think so," interrupted Logan, chuckling.

"Why not?" said Lily, taken aback.

"Evans, you are so naïve. You have no evidence I was sleeping tonight on patrol duty. You can go to McGonagall right now, but when you bring her back I will be patrolling this hallway back and forth thanks to your wonderful wake-up call."

"Well--," said Lily, stammering. "I expect you'll be sleeping on the next patrol also, so I guess this is your warning. It was fun giving you that wake-up call, anyway," finished Lily calmly, although she was inwardly fuming with anger at her own stupidity.

There was a moment of silence when Logan DeGrasse held Lily in his gaze with his dark, grey eyes, and Lily stared intently back. She tried to read Logan's facial expression, but his eyes were almost pitch black: it was like looking into an empty well to search for something hidden.

"You're very bold Evans, very bold, considering you are so unwanted here," responded DeGrasse, taking off his gaze at Lily her.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not very well-liked by the Slytherins and others because you're Muggle-born. I don't give a damn about you, but Bellatrix Black does. You're one of her--uh--top priorities."

"It doesn't matter what you, or Bellatrix, or Lord Voldemort or anyone in your crowd thinks. Dumbledore's the headmaster of this school. I'm safe at Hogwarts," rebuffed Lily confidently.

"Dumbledore is human; he has flaws and weaknesses. You are very brave to say the Dark Lord's name Evans, but I'm afraid, once again: that only reflects your ignorance. Hogwarts has not been safe for the past few years now," replied DeGrasse, stopping abruptly in his tracks to face Lily as his dark grey eyes surveyed her, waiting for her reaction.

"What do mean?" said Lily, her voice shaking slightly.

"I don't know," shrugged DeGrasse, suddenly returning to his former carefree state. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Show me? Why can't you tell me?"

"Tell you? Why its not that simple, but obviously you want to know. So we'll meet again on October 31. Head's room. Eleven 'o' clock after patrol duty. Good-night Evans. It has been a pleasure talking with you," finished Logan, giving Lily a mock bow.

And with that, DeGrasse walked off.

Lily stood alone in the eerie charms corridor and absentmindedly stared at the carvings on the marble floor, pacing back and forth pondering over Logan's words, 'Hogwarts has not been safe for the past few years now.' Hogwarts--not safe? How can that be? It's impossible for Lord Voldemort to be infiltrating support into the school through the staff. Dumbledore would never hire a Death Eater.

"Suddenly, it hit Lily: black, empty eyes, a leering face. Voldemort didn't have supporters

in the staff. Voldemort had Bellatrix Black."

"Wormtail, did you shower today?" asked Sirius, squished in between James and Peter under the invisibility cloak.

"Uhm... I think so. I can't remember..." replied Peter in his usual squeaky voice.

"Shower again when we're done," said James, annoyed that he had to be stuck with a smelly Peter the whole night.

"Prongs, take out the map again to see if the coast is clear," advised Sirius, stopping to peer around the corner.

"Okay, but we better get started soon. Someone has an important Quidditch match tomorrow against Slytherin," said James, smirking and taking out the map from his pocket.

Completed at the end of their fifth year, the Marauder's Map was Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus' greatest accomplishment--more important than getting Outstanding in all their O.W.L.S and snogging with girls. Pointing his wand at the ragged parchment, James said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Black lines appeared from all corners of the parchment, weaving together to form a map of Hogwarts with its classrooms, people patrolling corridors, and secret passages. It was brilliant: if the map fell into the wrong hands--like Severus Snape--it would shoot back insults written by Prongs (James), Padfoot (Sirius), Moony (Remus), and Wormtail (Peter).

"Padfoot, your brother Regulus is coming this way. We'd better wait for him to walk by and then go through the doors," said James seriously. "Other than that, there's no one else. Filch is up in the Trophy room giving Rosier his detention." Pointing his wand again at the parchment, James muttered, "Mischief managed," and the map was wiped blank.

"What the hell is that sleazy slimeball doing, walking around in the middle of the night? Probably looking for Rosier, his new idol," spat Sirius bitterly. Regulus symbolized everything he despised--a muggle-hater, a follower, a disciple of his parent's beliefs.

"SH! Padfoot! I hear footsteps," said Peter, silencing them.

A fourth year at Hogwarts, Regulus Black sauntered past the trio huddling behind an eagle statue and took one of the staircases leading towards the dungeons. As soon as Regulus was out of sight, James, Sirius, and Peter sprinted towards the oak doors and pushed them open. James tore the invisibility cloak off, savoring the chilly, fresh breeze after the smoldering heat under the cloak. Looking upwards into the sky, James saw the white, bright full moon and smiled--perfect.

Arriving at the edge of the Whomping Willow, Peter transformed into a rat and prodded the knot at the roots, freezing the swaying branches. Meanwhile, Sirius frolicked around the willow as a large black dog, followed by James who suddenly had antlers growing out of his forehead and four legs. Peter crawled through the tunnel first being the smallest; James and Sirius trailed after, entering through the secret passageway one after another.

Long and dark, the tunnel led to the Shrieking Shack, which was built for Remus' horrendous monthly transformation. Because werewolves only harmed humans, James, Sirius, and Peter accompanied him as animals. Remus was painfully biting himself when James and Sirius arrived in the room. Noticing them, Remus bounded towards his friends like a playful dog meeting his masters, while Peter jumped and squeaked excitedly. Prongs, Moony, Padfoot, and Wormtail reunited, and their first sixth year adventure had begun.

"Lily! You okay? You look worried," asked Alice, who stayed awake to wait for Lily in the common room.

"Oh, it's nothing Alice. I'm just tired," answered Lily wearily. "Where's Roxy?"

"She wasn't feeling well so she went to bed. She'll have to go see Madam Pomfrey tomorrow morning. She might have caught the flu," responded Alice, not taking her round, bright blue eyes off of Lily as she sank into the nearest couch. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Alice. I just need some fresh air," said Lily, getting up to open the window. She gazed up into the sky and saw the beautiful, white full moon silhouetted against a black blanket of clouds. The Whomping Willow, unusually calm that night, piqued Lily's curiosity. "Hey Alice! Come over here! Do you see something odd down there?"

Running over to Lily, Alice looked down to where Lily was pointing. "It looks like some dog and some deer... strange. But they're probably Hagrid's pets running around. I mean, you know Hagrid. He has a lot of weird pets," deduced Alice, although she wasn't quite convinced with her own reasoning.

"Yeah... maybe..." said Lily, as she watched the creature with antlers crawl through the hole at the Whomping Willow's roots.

Tonight's destination: Hogsmeade. Padfoot, Prongs, Moony and Wormtail wanted to be the first Hogwarts students to explore the wizarding village at night. As the Marauders prowled around the closed Zonko's shop, a chilly, night breeze blew by, sending plumes of floating dust into the air, which shimmered under the illuminating, night fires stationed on the roofs of every two shops. Peering into Zonko's, Prongs discerned the outline of card games, bulging dung bombs, and a new kind of quill sitting behind a mullioned display window, "The Tricking Quill--Use this special quill to distract your fiends during tests, writing jokes and mocking messages." It would be great to use that against Snivelly as he puts grease stains on his Defense against the Dark Arts exam next Tuesday, James thought. Unfortunately, he would have to wait until Halloween to buy the quill, the date of their first Hogsmeade trip.

Unexpectedly, wild laughter pierced the air from Madam Rosmerta's: drunken men enjoying a good time after a long day of work. Prongs and Padfoot turned around to see if the shouts of humans aroused Moony's werewolf instincts. Luckily, Moony seemed to be entertaining himself by digging his paws into the legs of a nearby bench.

Trotting back towards Moony, Padfoot motioned to Prongs and Wormtail to visit the closed Honeydukes shop by turning his head towards its direction. However, the sound of footsteps caused them all to freeze in their tracks.

"Milly's Robe Shop is closed m'dear. Nobody would catch us around there," said the man, escorting a blonde woman with his arms around her.

"Teddy, I have to go back to the Ministry soon. You-Know-Who's been causing more trouble lately, and it's been an absolute wreck," responded the woman sadly, taking a seat under a night fire on the roof of Milly's Robe Shop.

"I know, but we could sit here and talk. I haven't seen you in ages," replied the man mournfully, putting his arms around her waist and hugging her tightly.

Wormtail quickly ran into a dark corner to hide himself from the couple, which was useless because no one would find a rat crawling around a village suspicious. Padfoot and Prongs impatiently pushed and shoved Moony into the corner of Zonko's joke shop to keep him in check, but the image of the man stimulated his hunger. Moony refused to move.

Remus struggled against Padfoot and Prongs, growing thirsty for blood. Blood. Human

blood. Want it, smells so tasty. So close. Sweat on tongue, Want it! Want to eat it! Howling ferociously, Moony kicked aside Padfoot and trampled over Prongs, bounding madly towards the wizard, refusing to let anything hinder his path. Thick saliva dropped from his fangs, his vision blurred in and out of focus because he refused to blink, he kept his mind focused on one action--bite him.

Seeing the wolf sprint towards her behind her boyfriend's back, the woman screamed, "My dear! Look out! Those eyes! It's a werewolf!" She grabbed her boyfriend's hand and dragged him as far away as possible from Milly's.

Meanwhile, Padfoot was the first to recuperate in seconds; he'd only received a kick compared to Prongs who looked like he'd been trampled by a bull. Padfoot leaped forward and bit Moony's neck, pulling him back towards the shadow of Zonko's Joke Shop. He wanted to keep him out of sight if Ministry wizards arrived to take care of the situation. He couldn't stand to see Remus taken by the Ministry, punished for being a victim of a dreadful curse. Who would be the peacemaker when James wanted to sneak off into the Quidditch pitch while he wanted to find more secret hiding places for snogging? Who would help James, Peter, and him fill in the missing blanks of their brilliant schemes? Who would he copy his Transfiguration homework from and help James cheer him up after having a row with Regulus? Remus had grown to be his brother, and he couldn't bear it if anything happened to him. When Prongs thrashed forward to join Padfoot in pushing Moony back into the shadows, Moony finally gave up and unwillingly obeyed them, stumbling towards the shadow of Zonko's Joke Shop and following the path leading them back towards the Shrieking Shack.

"What a wonderful way to start a new year--get into a fight with a werewolf," barked Sirius in the boys' dormitory, trying to clean up his wounds with a hot washcloth.

"No kidding, I wonder what Remus is going to say tomorrow morning," said James, cleaning a large gash on his arm. "Padfoot you've got cuts on your face."

"That was so scary. I thought we were all going to die!" exclaimed Peter, shivering under his covers.

"Peter, you were hiding and squeaking in a dark corner while James and I were trying to control a werewolf. Why the bloody hell were you scared?" asked Sirius, annoyed by Peter's inane comment.

Ignoring Peter's muttered response, Sirius and James both sank back in their pillows without changing, falling into a deep sleep devoid of deadly werewolves.

"What happened to you three?" asked Lily in shock, sitting on a couch in the Gryffindor common room the next morning, seeing the bags under their eyes and the cuts and bruises on their faces.

"We were doing some serious, rough snogging last night," said Sirius, smirking and walking past Lily.

"Except for me Evans!" protested James. "Because I'm going to be waiting for you after I win the match versus Slytherin after lunch today." James leaned invitingly forward, gazing soulfully into her remarkable green eyes.

"Right, and hell will freeze over," said Lily, slamming shut her book and pushing James away. Feeling disgusted--James was inches away from me--, she decided to have a light breakfast to erase the picture of James being so close to her.

"Prongs, promise me something. After you kick DeGrasse's arse today in the match, a lot of girls are going to want to 'congratulating' you. Pick one of them for Hogsmeade--it's on Halloween," said Sirius sympathetically, patting James' shoulder. "It's the best thing chap."

Following Sirius to the portrait hole, James decided it might be the best thing for him too. He would never have a chance with a girl who felt sick around him.

James, Sirius, and Peter grabbed some toast in the Great Hall and made their way to the nurse's office to visit Remus. After persuading a very reluctant Madam Nellis to allow them to see Remus, they walked towards Remus' bed, pulling back his hangings to find him equally bruised and scraped.

"Moony! How are you feeling?" asked James with concern.

"Horrible. Look at you guys, you're all cut up and it's my fault. James, you have Quidditch later today," replied Remus, ashamed, refusing to look at James, Sirius, and Peter.

"But it was so much fun last night! Now we know we have to be more careful around Hogsmeade," chimed in Peter.

"Yeah. It's okay chap. We're here for you. We've still got to find out if there's really a secret passage behind that statue of Lachlan the Lanky!" exclaimed Sirius, lowering his voice We need to make sure Marauder's Map is flawless when it lures future students out of Hogwarts. We're imprinting our legacy, Moony!"

"Last night was nothing. We got to go to Hogsmeade before any of the other people do--maybe even some of the teachers! That was definitely worth it!" said James. "And for the first time, Peter prodded the knot without us having to show him which side of the tree it was on." James and Sirius both beamed at Peter, who blushed and turned away, glad he could be a vital part in their nightly ventures.

Looking from James and Sirius' glowing eyes to Peter's blushing face, Remus couldn't help but grin. His friends would stick with him no matter what happened on during the full moon, and they were right--they were building the Marauder's Legacy.

"So, who wants to bet that secret passage behind Lachlan the Lanky is a dud?" smirked Remus, as he lay there in bed surrounded by his friends--no, brothers.

Chapter 4: Close Calls