Golden Years

“You don’t know what to do about this, do you?”

“Not in the slightest, no,” Lily agreed. She and Remus were in the library, hidden near a window towards the back of the shelves. The sunset was gorgeous outside, but unfortunately, Lily couldn’t find comfort in it.

“Ok. Go over it one more time for me,” Remus said from his chair.

“Right. So, Snape comes up to me after class and says he has to warn me about something. Normally I would tell him to fuck off, but with everything happening recently, I had to be sure there wasn’t a real issue,” Lily began, pacing as she spoke.

“Understandable,” Remus acknowledged. “Go on.”

“Right, so I pull him into a hallway and tell him to either tell me what’s going on or walk away. And he tells me, damn that dramatic evil greasy bastard, that bad things are going to happen and to stay away from the sign of the snake. Which, as far as I can tell, is utter bullshit.”

Remus looks at her thoughtfully. “What classes does Snape take?”

“I don’t bloody know, why would that- oh. You think he’s talking about a rune or something?” Lily asked. Remus shrugged.

“Could be. I don’t know, though, he might be clever, but Mulciber and the others don’t seem like they would have the patience or the smarts to learn much about runes.”

“I still think Mulciber should have been expelled after the Hogsmeade attack,” Lily responded darkly.

“Yeah, well, it’s Dumbledore. Beyond a few detentions he doesn’t really know how to handle discipline,” Remus replied. “But that’s not important right now. I have to ask, Lily, why come to me about this? Why not any of the others? Sirius knows more about Death Eaters and the Dark Arts.”

“I trust you. And I don’t want to stress out or scare any of the others. I haven’t mentioned it, but Alice startles easier now, after everything. Marlene gets a little nervous when she can’t see the exit of the room she’s in. Mary… well, Mary could meet a Death Eater and still sleep soundly the night after. She’s never phased by anything. But even Sirius doesn’t like getting too close to the fire in the common room anymore.” Lily lowered her voice, concern for her friends seeping through her words.

“And you came to me because I’m harder to shake?” Remus asked, a sardonic smile on his face.

“Well, kind of. Also you’re the smartest of the bunch. Don’t scoff, you know it’s true.” Lily cut off Remus’s protests. “We all get decent grades, but you’re the brightest.”

“The brightest wizard, maybe,” Remus said quietly. “But you’re on my level, if not higher, Lily.”

“Yeah, well, I still can’t figure this out. Not without help.”

“That’s why I’m here, Lils. So, sign of the snake. Could be a symbol that Death Eaters use?”

“I doubt it,” Lily replied. “Wouldn’t we have heard about something like that?”

“I suppose,” Remus responded. “But maybe it’s a bit more subtle. Do you think it’s a drawing or image, or something else?”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to watch out for it if it’s not visible, so it’s probably an image. And obviously, it’ll have something to do with snakes.”

“Will it though?” Remus mused. “Would it be a literal snake or something more symbolic?”

“I…. Don’t know,” Lily said frustratedly. “God, there’s too much we don’t know. How do we figure this out? We need something else to go off of.”

“Yeah. Look, Lily, there’s not much we can do without more information. I’m sorry, but we don’t even know what this sign looks like. Without anything else, we really don’t have anything to go on.”

“I know. Thanks for trying.”

“Anytime,” Remus replied. “And hey, if I work something out, or you get more information, we’ll try to figure it out, alright? I’m not a fan of bad things happening at Hogwarts either.”

Lily smiled. “Yeah, thanks Remus.”

——————————————————————————————

“Guys, I have some interesting news!” Sirius burst into the common room, where for once, the entire group was quietly studying.

“Sirius, goddamnit, we had peace and quiet for twenty whole minutes,” Lily said exasperatedly.

“Sounds dreadful. Anyway, back to my announcement,” Sirius replied.

“Can this wait?” Mary asked. “I’ve almost finished my history of magic essay.”

“Yeah, and I still have some transfiguration practice to do,” Frank said.

“You’re all useless nerds, every last one of you. Fine, I’ll wait. But no longer than ten minutes,” Sirius huffed, collapsing onto the couch.

About two minutes passed. Sirius stood and began to pace, sighing at random intervals and varying volume. He was ignored by all.

At five minutes, he began to make random things float around the room. He stopped when he almost spilled Remus’s tea and Remus shot a withering glare at him.

At seven minutes he resorted to leaning over everyone’s shoulders as they tried to work. Marlene finally snapped.

“Jesus fucking christ son of a virgin, what the bloody hell do you want, you overdramatic son of a bitch?”

“I’m glad you asked Marly!” Sirius grinned. “You see, dear old Minnie has come to me with some information.”

“Praise the Goddess’ name!” Alice cried.

“Praise the Goddess, almighty McGonagall!” The rest of the group called in response.

“Someday she’s gonna catch us doing that, and it will end very badly for us.” Sirius paused. “Anyway, she told me that there’s gonna be some changes to the next few Quidditch games.”

“What?” Marlene asked. “Why weren’t the teams notified?”

“Oh no, marvelous Marlene, the changes won’t affect the actual games, no. It’s just going to make things more interactive!”

“Explain,” James said, playing along.

“Right. My gorgeous, incredible, wonderful-in-bed boyfriend is getting a co-commentator! This co-commentator will go and interview the players before each game in the locker rooms and whatnot, and they’ll do interviews after. They’ll also be up in the box beside Remus, helping with regular commentating during the game.” Sirius finished with a flourish.

“Huh. That actually doesn’t sound too bad. Might get more people excited about the game,” Marlene mused. “For the record, this person wouldn’t just be barging into the locker rooms, right?”

“No, I’m sure they’ll wait until everyone’s ready for them. And the interviews are really only so they can throw out some interesting tidbits during the game anyway. Your privacy will be respected,” Sirius responded.

“Well, that sounds neat,” Frank said.

“Yeah, it might be fun to have someone to banter with,” Remus smiled.

“Yeah, it sounds fun. Do we know who the person is gonna be?” Peter asked.

“Actually, perfect Peter, they’re right here in this very room!” Sirius announced. “For you see, the nominee for the position of brand new commentator is our very own, Dorcas Meadowes!”

“What?” Dorcas asked, shocked. “But I barely know anything about Quidditch!”

“Sure you do,” James replied. “You’ve listened to me and Marlene talk about it forever, I’m sure you’ve picked up on more than you think.”

“And if you’re still not sure, you can ask me anything you want to know,” Marlene promised. Doras turned to her and smiled weakly.

“And if I make a fool of myself?”

“Au contraire, Cas. The whole point is just to make things entertaining, making a fool of yourself is part of the job!” Sirius said.

“And I’ll be there to talk you through it,” Remus responded.

“Ok. Yeah, alright. I’ll do it,” Dorcas said. James cheered and Marlene wrapped her arms around Dorcas in a hug.

“It’ll be fun,” Lily called out from her chair. “And even if it’s dull, it’s not like it’ll kill you.”

——————————————————————————————

“This is going to kill me.”

“Elaborate, if you don’t mind,” Lily sighed resignedly.

Dorcas had grabbed her and James on their way to dinner and pulled them into the kitchen. When they realized this was another freakout over Marlene, they settled in and called for some food, knowing it would take awhile.

“I can’t do this Quidditch thing. No way. I almost cried when I saw Marlene in a tank top, what if I walk in on her shirtless? You know how much I panicked when I woke up with her cuddling me, I don’t think I can handle more of this,” Dorcas cried. “I went on for two hours because her arm was around my waist, do you have any idea how useless I truly am?”

“Ok, it’s alright,” James soothed. “You’ll do ok and this is alright.”

“No it’s not! Pull yourself together, woman! Level up and ask her out!” Lily exclaimed.

“Level up?” James asked amusedly.

“Man up is dumb. Are men used to bleeding every month? I think not. To say ‘man up’ is to play into misogynistic stereotypes. No, level up is the proper term,” Lily replied. James grinned.

“Couldn’t agree with you more, Evans. About the level up thing and the asking her out thing.”

“No way. No way am I asking Marlene out. What if she thinks I’m a creep? What if I ruin our friendship?” Dorcas asked frantically. “I couldn’t stand her hating me.”

“None of those things will happen. Look, if you’re not ready to ask her out, then don’t, but you don’t have to worry about losing her over this. Marlene definitely won’t think you’re a creep, and she won’t stop being your friend. Unless you actually do some creepy shit, but you wouldn’t even know how to be creepy if you tried,” James said.

“Yeah. C’mon, Cas, it’s Marlene we’re talking about. Remember when everyone thought she and Sirius were dating? They stayed friends,” Lily remarked.

“Yeah, but they weren’t actually dating,” Dorcas replied.

“Ok, but the point is Marlene won’t abandon you because you have feelings for her,” James responded.

“How can you be sure?”

“Because she’s not a total asshole,” Lily answered sarcastically.

——————————————————————————————

“I’m a total asshole.”

Lily groaned. “Why is everyone determined to prove me wrong today?”

“What?” Marlene asked, looking at Lily curiously. “What are you-“

“Nothing,” Lily winced. “Just continue.”

Marlene had called for a common room sleepover after Lily got back from the kitchen. Lily groaned, knowing she was going to be subjected to more complaining about feelings. Honestly, the way Dorcas and Marlene gushed about each other was cute, but it was getting to be exhausting to sit through. They needed to hurry up and go out. This ridiculous plan better work.

“Ok, so, explain why you’re an asshole?” Sirius asked from where he was lounging on the couch.

“I’m definitely gonna make sure Dorcas sees me shirtless.”

“Ok what?” Lily asked, sitting up from where she had been resting her head against Sirius’s legs. “Why?”

“I have to find a way to gauge if she’s interested in me, you know? And is it so bad that I want her to know I have a six-pack?” Marlene asked.

“Ok, the gauging interest thing is fair, but don’t you think that’s a little crazy?” Sirius asked. “I mean, going straight from awkward pining to being half-undressed is a big jump.”

“Actually, no,” Marlene replied. “I’ve been dancing around my feelings for her for so long. At least this way I’ll know if she’s attracted to me.”

“It’s hard not to be,” Lily joked.

“Aw, thanks babe. If the Dorcas thing doesn’t work out I’ll be sure to hit you up,” Marlene laughed. “Anyway, the way I see it going, she comes in while I’m shirtless, and if she acts like everything is normal, I’ll know she’s not really into me. If she shows signs of interest, I’ll know it’s time to get a bit flirty,” Marlene explained.

“Huh. Ok then. I guess that could work?” Sirius said. “Actually, yeah, it might. Remus just about jumped me the other day after Quidditch practice-“

“And that’s enough of that!” Lily cut him off. “Are you sure about this, Marly? It’s kind of a lot.”

“Red has a point, Micks.”

“I know. But honestly, what’s the worst that could happen?”