Train Ride
Potter: If I hypothetically needed a way to communicate with someone besides owl post and besides this… box, what would the best way to do it? Assuming, of course that a random trip to Diagon Alley it out… – Lily
X~X
I'll answer your question with a question: if, say, you had a fully corporal patronus, how do you suppose one would go about… tweaking the spell so that the patronus would carry the message for you?
(How is that for full proof messaging?) –J
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Are yousure this is even possible? – Lily
X~X
Any luck on your projects? We've gone over every book in the library but we're having an unexpected challenge with the Patronus. (Doesn't help that the only person who can cast one is Prongs, and he's being a right git about it! I bet Remus gets it soon though.) To answer your earlier question: we're pretty sure Dumbledore uses his patronus for message carrying. (Do you think he uses his phoenix for such things, like message delivering? Or just the really important ones where he wants to look impressive?)
Any suggestions? On the Patronus problem. – Peter
X~X
Please keep in mind, this is extremely advanced magic. That means that self-confidence is going to play a part (although I'm not sure why I bother warning you about self-confidence). I'm also not sure that whatever niche in the spell allows it to carry messages is going to be varying between corporeal and non- corporeal forms of the spell. It's a matter of getting the spell to go to where you want it in the non-corporeal form; that might be easier with a corporeal version. If you have a patronus to practice on, I think it might have something to do with the intent. Remember, you have to maintain a particular state of mind when using the Patronus charm, that's what makes it so tricky to use when you actually need it, much less learning how to caste it.
It also occurs to me that a fully Corporeal Patronus is sometimes referred to as a Spirit Guardian in most of the older texts. Usually a Patronus acts merely as a shield, but if there is a particular state that this… Sprit Guardian form can manifest, it would be interesting to see if it moved solely where you direct it or if it seems to move with some of its own intent. If this is the case (moving with its own intent), it may merely be a matter of reaching this level and finding a way to communicate beyond the apparent need for protection…
… Etiquette classes?
Projects are slow going. Do you have any books available on the Fidelius charm or charms related too? – Lily
X~X
It had been a short fifteen minutes since the train had left the 9 ¾ platform and she had another fifteen before she had to go and track down the wayward Head Boy. She wished Professor McGonagall had sent word on who that was exactly. She didn't think Dumbledore would have put her in a position where she was matched with someone from Slytherin but she wasn't certain. Lily sighed and rolled her wand between her fingers. It would have been a lot less nerve wracking to figure the odds if being a Prefect was a requirement for Head Boy. But the Headmaster was just batty enough to pick someone outside of the Prefects to shake things up. He hadn't done it in the last few years, and she figured they were due some insanity.
Just one more thing to add to her list of things she had no control over.
Reaching up, she rubbed the muscles at the base of her neck and took a long, slow breath. She'd confessed a month ago to her parents about Snape and they'd been horrified and angry with her for keeping that to herself. It didn't matter that she'd been terrified that one wrong move would set Snape off or that she had an escape plan in place. At least after the initial argument they were making an effort to understand her reasoning but they were still hurt and angry. That she was considered an adult by the Wizarding world didn't faze them at all – she was only a seventeen-year-old who was still in school in their world. That she had kept something from them, when Snape was dangerous to all of them was the crux of their problem – not that she was testing what they thought of as her future independence.
She didn't particularly blame them. There was just so much of her life in the Wizarding world she didn't know how to share. Explaining Voldemort and his Death Eaters and why they terrified her so badly… well, she'd known when she chose to figure out a solution before mentioning the problem that she was risking a relationship that had already started to become a little tense at the edges. She'd tried casually easing magic into their lives, wearing her wand around openly throughout the summer – charms were her favorite and there was so many she'd always wanted to show them. But that had back fired too. Petunia had been… Lily set her wand down and rubbed her hands over her face.
She had tried to understand. Tried to explain to Petunia her reasoning, but everything she said just made the anger and the fights worse. Then, once she had finally admitted the truth about Snape… that fight had been the worst. She wasn't sure she was ready to examine – understand – why Petunia had reacted the way she had, much less forgive. (Of course, they didn't understand magic, but that didn't give her the right to have secrets, regardless that Petunia had kept many, many things from her. They had let Severus – that nasty boy who Petunia knew was always going to be trouble – into the house and he'd sat there and talked to their parents! Had the audacity to apologetic about the way he had disappeared and his promise that he was trying to fix their friendship. They could have been killed because Lily had made decisions for them! How selfish and stupid could she be? How stupid did she think they were that they couldn't understand her magic?)
She expected something from Snape but to actually hear it… how easy it would have been for him to just end it, take away the things that were more precious to her than magic… Petunia words had hurt. They hadn't been unexpected – no matter how much Lily missed her sister, Petunia had never forgiven her for being different. For being magical without her and now there were words between them that Lily wasn't certain either of them could ever take back.
Leaning her head back against the seat, she took several deep, calming breaths. She was on the train and so were Snape and all his friends. In the end, it didn't matter how much her family hated her, hated her magic – in roughly nine hours, everything would be finished and her family would be safe, as safe as she could make them without getting them out of London. And she'd never been more thankful for magic than when she was shrinking boxes and furniture and loading the miniaturized version of their things into their car. Thankfully her parents had agreed with her that they couldn't stay where they were – even if Lily managed the traditional Fidelius charm, the earliest she could hope to use it would've been over Christmas Holiday. She didn't dare cast such a complex spell based solely on books; she needed to speak to Flitwick first. So staying at her childhood home was out. But finding a house in the short amount of time before she left school was impossible. Moving in with her mother's brother until they could secure a new place was the best option for the time being. Better yet, they were waiting another week after Lily was back in school before putting their old house on the market. Lessening the chances that Snape would realize that his hold over her was gone. She needed the time to finish putting them under the necessary protections. She had finally decided on a plan to hide her parents behind the Fidelius, just not in the way Snape would expect.
Everything magical, every small memento she'd ever brought home and kept in her rooms over the years was packed away in her school trunk, shrunk down and stored – she'd stayed up late the night before expanding the charms on the truck so that everything would fit. Somewhere in her trunk was the Portkey Potter had made for her – she hadn't dared leave it behind with her family after Petunia had screamed such hateful things at her. As if Lily wanted her family to be in this danger, as if she was somehow personally responsible for the path that Snape had chosen. Pressing her heel of her palms into her eyes she fought down the tide of emotions that had been sitting like a knot in her chest for months now. She'd lost Sev. Her family was furious with her and Petunia had made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with her.
But she hadn't been willing to get rid of any of her magical mementos and that included her message box and Portkey... and the photo albums from her younger years. She'd sat on the empty floor of her bedroom four nights ago just holding the weight of her gobstone Portkey, slowly going through those old photos, trying to understand why. It had become a habit, holding the gobstone, rolling it from palm to palm after a long day. She didn't know if it was because it represented escape – more than one kind – or if it was a symbol of an offer a friendship she found herself lonely for… but whatever it was, simply holding it had left her… not content, but less alone.
And she was lonely. She had friends – she could probably even find their compartments if she just stood up and walked into the hall. But none of them were what Snape had once been – a best friend. She'd already resolved to put more effort into getting to know the other girls her age (regardless of house) but right now, she was just tired. And angry. Angry at her family for being so mad at her when she was only trying to protect them, frustrated with Dumbledore for not being someone she could have asked for help with this. At herself for being unable to do this in a way that kept her from antagonizing everyone around her. For letting this summer dredge up old feelings she sworn she'd bury, when she'd promised herself she wouldn't let him hurt her like this. But the boy she had once thought could never betray her was dangling her family's lives in front of her like bait on a hook.
A sudden loud rapping noise had her head snapping around and her heart residing in her mouth.
"James Potter is one extremely sexy man."
And her pulse picked up for an entirely different reason than fear. Shoving her braid over her shoulder she lurched to her feet and then hesitated. She'd spent the summer buried in books and struggling through complicated rune patterns, working to develop a defense system that she couldn't even put into place until her parents had a new house. And somewhere in the crazy that was her head space, she'd found herself keeping an eye on her little message box.
Because those notes… sometimes they were a week apart, but they grounded her. There had been the occasional temptation to use her Portkey so she could render Sirius Black bald and scaly, but Peter's quick diatribes over events made her smile and Remus was a solid presence to bounce schemes across. But Potter… James was something else. Those fast, almost casual notes in-between schemes and theories always managed to somehow come across as if he cared. (She'd finally realized he liked her but this was… more. Something else. Better.) For more than their projects… an offhand remark or question that brought her up short for reason she couldn't explain away rationally. He wanted more than her opinion on the Patronus charm (they hadn't cracked the Communicative Patronus as of a week ago when she'd told them she'd be too busy to write) he'd wanted to know how she was doing. How her family was doing. Things about her.
She hadn't quite managed to decide how she felt about him .
"Come on Evans, I know you're in there. I can stay out here and make a scene all day!" His voice lowered. "I said the password!"
She blinked at the door and curled her fingers around her wand. The password. That ridiculous password that he had used last end of term… to let her know it was just him and the boys. Cancelling her locking charm, she jerked open the door and glanced around the hallway. It was still empty, students not quite up and about looking for friends who weren't in their compartments yet. Finally she glanced at Potter, who was grinning at her.
"Hello, Evans. You're one tricky bird to track down when you want to be."
`And the warm fluttering in her stomach had nothing to do with the smile on his face. Narrowing her eyes, she made a show at glancing at the floor. "I don't see Pete, so I suppose you got lucky, then."
His eyes laughed at her but then the smile faded as his too serious hazel gaze carefully trailed over her face. "You look exhausted."
Lily crossed her arms and frowned at him. "I've had a busy week."
Instead of answering, he just continued to watch her. Feeling a little uneasy, she shifted her weight and sighed at him. "I've got to be at the Prefect meeting in… seven minutes."
Suddenly he was the one shifting his weight, hand going to back of his head for a moment before he tried to smile. "Yeah… about that."
Lily arched both brows and wondered if the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach meant what she thought it did. "Yes?"
The hand that wasn't in his hair went to the pocket of the robes he wore and he pulled out a shiny, shiny badge that took several seconds for her to process. Instead of shock, there was a relief – which surprised her. Potter – James – was Head Boy. Somehow, the one person she hadn't really considered to be in the running was… and the jumbled up mess that was her emotions had another layer she'd have to dig through, later. Like what it meant that he'd seemed to just know that she was Head Girl. But a sudden thought had her frowning.
"Why would Dumbledore give both Head positions to Gryffindor?"
When she glanced back up, James was watching her with those dark eyes. "Not disappointed?"
Uncertain where this conversation was going, she slowly shook her head. "Should I be?"
Shoving both hands into his pockets he looked away from her, a frown on his face. "I don't know what I was expecting… hell, Evans."
And it was that sudden awkwardness in his voice and stance that had her lips twitching. It was nice to know she wasn't the only one trying to wrap her brain around the well, friendship that had somehow sprung between them through letters. Now that they were here in person, they were clearly both off their games. Five years of hostilities didn't disappear overnight, but somehow they had bridged the worst of it. Taking a deep breath, she shifted her weight from foot to foot.
"James… look, this… hell with it, if this is this bad with you how am I supposed to deal with Sirius?"
James blinked and the unease melted from him. His smile was slow in coming, but it made her stomach jump. "On first name basis now, are we, Lily,?"
Leaning back against the doorjamb she shrugged, hiding her sudden nerves. "I figured it was best to accept that your insanity had caught sometime during the summer."
"Insanity?"
Lily leveled him with a flat stare. "I didn't realize that a plan that has less than forty possible problems would be acceptable."
James grinned. "Thirty-five, Lils. Think of it this way: there are four marauders. On any given issue, each one of us can probably handle maybe ten major problems. So we give ourselves a five problem cushion. That way we come out on top!"
"A five problem cushion…" Lily said slowly, not certain she had heard that correctly.
"See?"
"Not at all," Lily muttered. She didn't even want to think about it too hard. If she admitted that sort of… thinking made sense, she'd be doomed. It was already headache inducing to realize she could follow those crazy patterns enough to know where he was coming from if she thought about it; she didn't want to start agreeing with it. She was saved from the wicked gleam behind James' eyes when her wand buzzed.
"Oh bollocks… we're going to be late."
James shook his head. "Rule Number One: We're never late unless we say we're late."
Lily stopped from where she was turning to shut her compartment door. Before she could even start broaching that particular idea, James leaned into the compartment, wand extended and proceeded to shrink and pocket her trunk. It was done with a startling amount of ease and surely she'd imagined that the summoning spell had been done non-verbally? Shaking out of her shock, she casually twirled her wand between her fingers and stared at James.
"So is there a good reason why I shouldn't give you feathers before our meeting with the prefects beyond rule breaking or are you going to give me back my trunk?"
"I'm thinking Rule Number Two should be something like 'Do Not Hex the Head Boy when He's Only Being Helpful!'" James muttered.
"Is that so?"
"Course. Makes no sense to come back here to get your trunk when we could just bring it with us," James tried.
She glared at him. "And why would we take it with us? I had planned to return to this compartment when the meeting was over!"
Looping his arm through hers, he started riffling through his pocket as he pulled her down the aisle. "Well, I rather figured you'd be sitting with us – Remus will probably implode if he doesn't get to natter at someone who isn't us about the final variations of our new communication venture. We think we've gotten the last of it of nailed down, after all. Then there is the fact that I can't imagine leaving your trunk lying about is a good idea if a certain greasy bat goes a-wandering. And finally, I brought a bribe."
The skips in his reasoning shouldn't have been logical. She should have been offended at the suggestion that she couldn't lock and ward her trunk good enough to keep Snape out. And she certainly shouldn't be fighting to return that that coaxing smile. Instead she poked him in the ribs with her wand. "A bribe."
"I'd have brought chocolate, but Remus has this uncanny ability to sniff it out and 'save it' if he thinks it's going to leave the compartment." James made a noise of triumph and pulled out a small vial. "Peter snitched it."
Lily blinked at it. "Pete snitched what?"
He shook the little vile and his grin was encouraging her to join in the insanity. "Pepper Up. Since you didn't find it necessary to give us details on what exactly your plans were this week – just that you were busy – we took precautions. Good thing too."
Lily's fingers closed around the vile when he pushed it into her hands. "This is a cold cure, Potter."
He waved his hand. "You've been wearing yourself down to the bone. And it's not just a cure for a cold, Lily. I'll have you know, that there is a black market trade,/i> for this potion among our fellow seventh years. It'll start up sometime right before Christmas and carry on strong until we graduate. We're going to have to hand off our potion supplies to some enterprising sixth year – only way we'll survive. Better take it now so that most of the steam is gone by the time we get to our meeting."
Grimacing a little at knowing that she'd have an evening of steam bursts to look forward to, she glanced over at James and was startled at the serious way he was watching her. Suddenly realizing exactly what he was trying to do – they? Peter? – she took a deep breath and downed the potion. Squeezing her eyes shut, she felt the potion hit her system and the usual odd sensation of steam pouring out of her ears. But that was alright, it was a good cover for the way her heart was pounding.
They were trying to take care of her. Why?
"If you've poisoned me, I'll do something drastic."
"And get saddled with all the work this year by myself? Or worse, risk your replacement to be a snake? I'd never hex myself like that!" Shaking his head like she had said something quite silly, he looped his arm through hers and pulled her down the hall. "Rule Number Three: Never leave your partner behind!"
Lily frowned at him. "How does that relate to poisoning me?"
James just grinned and opened the door to the compartment where the prefects were waiting. "Ladies first."
X
Peter looked up from his stack of chocolate frog cards that Remus had given him and shrugged. "You're just whining because James isn't here to keep you entertained."
Sirius sulked. "Remus is gone too."
Peter heaved a sigh and started gathering his piles. He'd started his collection his first year and Remus was an excellent source. He'd eaten more chocolate frogs in six years than most people ate in their lifetimes. But when Sirius was this bored, it didn't hurt to be cautious. He'd consider setting them on fire if he thought he could get away with it. "Yes. I've got an exploding snap deck in my trunk."
Sirius waved his hand. "Nah, not much fun if there is just two of us."
Satisfied that his collection wouldn't be used as entertainment fodder, Peter leaned back studied his friend. Sirius was prone to bursts of drama – or manly displays of emotion, as Sirius called them. Peter called it unnecessary drama, Remus called it angst and James just hexed him until he shifted into anger, which was more manageable. Since he had spent most of the summer with this brooding friend, Peter was pretty sure he had a handle on what was bothering him. Or at least, options.
"Evans isn't going to change things so much that we lose him, Paddy."
Sirius eyed him for a long time, as if debating his willingness to talk about this. Peter just waited. Sirius had been grumpy and prone to moments of sulking all summer – usually timed with the arrival of a new note. Regardless of whom it was addressed to. (Peter still had his; they were tucked at the bottom of his trunk and under protection spells that rivaled the Map.) While Peter understood his frustration at the blind devotion from James to Evans when she hadn't ever done more hand out scathing words in the past, he still remembered her face in the compartment last year. And the way she'd held Remus' secret like it was her own – that fierceness when she threatened to take him to the ministry and that streak of mischief he'd only caught a glimpse of when she'd told him about the Misuse of Magic warning. She was smart. And Peter thought that underneath all those crazy girl layers, she'd be good for James.
Besides, it wasn't like James would leave any of them behind. They'd sworn. And all those old rituals and blood workings they'd studied over the summer to figure out the best way to protect each other proved it (even if the grimoire was still a work in progress).So whatever it was that was bothering Sirius was bordering on stupid as far as Peter was concerned, but he knew better than to say that out loud. He didn't want itching powder in his boxers again.
"I'm not worried about Evans, Wormtail."
Peter leaned back and lifted both brows. Something about the expression finally made a smile crack the stone of Sirius' face.
"You definitely spent too much time around Mum P if you're giving me that look, Pete. Fine. And I'm not worried about Evans – she's a bird, therefore crazy, but she had the balls for a Misuse of Magic warning. And flaunted it."
Peter dug through his pockets and found the two peppermint humbugs he'd swiped from his mum's stash on the way out the door. Tossing on to Sirius, he popped the other one inside his mouth. Sirius mimicked his motion and it was silent for several minutes.
"This about Regulus then?" Peter finally asked, careful to keep his words neutral. When Sirius didn't immediately deny it, he nodded. "First real summer away from him, even if he was a pillock and didn't go with you."
Sirius finally blew out a breath and dropped down so he was lying flat against the seat cushion, staring up at the ceiling. His voice was tight with anger when he spoke. "I'm not worried about him."
Peter rolled his eyes. Like any of them believed that. Sirius was arrogant and proud enough to spite himself, but he made up for it with his unbreakable loyalty. That he expected any of them to believe that he could cut his brother completely from that loyalty was stupid. Unfortunately, pushing Sirius would just end up with curses being thrown. "If it's Regulus and you want to talk about it…"
"I'm not some bird, Pete, who needs to discuss their every feeling."
Peter crunched down on what was left of his candy. "Why does everyone assume that a problem involves feelings? Evans is a totally separate matter than anything else, honestly. It's not like a certain furry problem involved feelings – well, it involved Remus' feelings, but the problem wasn't really feelings based. But magic based. And we fixed it. Like always. So I got to say, Sirius, this reluctance of yours is mostly dumb."
Sirius cracked one eye open and looked amused. "Done?"
Peter grinned. "Yes."
Sirius grunted and shut his eyes. Peter shrugged and went back to his chocolate frog cards. Wrinkling his nose at yet another Dumbledore, it took a minute for him to realize that Sirius wasn't asleep, but studying him through one cracked eyelid.
"Everything went alright at home, Pete?"
Blinking, he put the card in his hand down. "Mum was her usual self if that's what you're asking. It was short I guess."
"You're still down with the plan once we graduate, right?"
Peter nodded. "Yup."
The door slid open and Sirius sat up, fingers curled around his wand. Remus arched a brow. "Yes, I'm an evil Slytherin ambush. Consider yourselves hexed."
Sirius huffed as Remus sat next to Peter. "One day, my superior dueling reflexes will save your life. Then we'll see who is all sarcastic."
Peter grinned at Remus. "He's sulking again."
"I thought I sensed some excess angst wafting down the hall."
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "How would you like to be a couple of different colors?"
"I'm partial to purple myself," Remus offered as he pulled out a book. "Pete?"
"Yellow is good."
James stuck his head inside. His eyes were bright behind his glasses and there was a shit-eating grin firmly planted on his face which told Peter that his meeting had gone well (both of them. Evans and the Prefects). "I like red. That cart is just down the hall – I want some pumpkin pasties. Anyone else?"
"Chocolate frogs," Remus said at the same time Peter did. Grinning at each other, they high-fived. Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.
"I suppose I'll take some Berties."
Lily shifted around James, making her presence known. She looked tired and Peter felt himself grinning like an idiot when a waft of steam blew out of her ears. His grin turned into a laugh when she grimaced at Sirius. "Those things are disgusting."
James shrugged. "I'll get you some pasties then, Lils. Okay then, the usual for the rest of us. I'll be back!"
Lily opened her mouth to argue and then shut it. Sighing, she squished in next to Remus, leaving James to sit next to Sirius. Peter scooted over to give them a bit more room. "How did the meeting go?"
She shrugged and pushed her braid over her shoulder. "As good as could have been expected – some grumblings about both of us being from Gryffindor, of course."
Remus hummed his agreement. "I think we caught them off guard with James."
Sirius gave a long suffering sigh and sat up; throwing his legs back to the floor so there was room for James when he returned. He frowned at Lily for a moment before shoving his bangs out of his eyes. "Evans."
She arched a brow. "Sirius."
He leaned back, bracing his elbow on his forearm so he could plant his chin on his knuckles. Gray eyes narrowed as he studied her, lips pursing as he clearly thought something through. Recognizing the look for what it was, Peter rolled his eyes and glanced at Remus. Remus looked torn between laughter and kicking him.
"So, Evans, what is this I hear about you receiving a Misuse of Magic warning?"
Lily blinked at him. "That depends, what have you heard?"
"That you had one."
She shrugged. "Okay."
Remus glanced at her. "Okay?"
"Sirius is apparently just confirming the events mentioned during a conversation I had with a particular twosome, previously. I can hardly make myself a liar, can I?" Her lips curved at the edges. "However, I can't confirm or deny more than that."
Sirius placed a hand over his heart. "Are you denying us details?"
Lily mimicked one of Sirius' favorite motions, flicking her hand in his direction. "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. Azkaban and I wouldn't get along."
He snorted, gray eyes suddenly surprisingly serious. "Azkaban doesn't get along with anyone."
James slid precariously into the compartment. Peter lurched to his feet at the same time as the others. Remus reached for the wiggling packages of frogs, Peter balanced the pastries and Sirius slid the compartment door shut, locking it. And Lily… Lily was already casting the charm she'd used last year, the one they'd never heard before – he missed the incantation, but he thought Remus might have caught it that time.
James stared at her for a moment, hair going in all directions. "What was that?"
Lily arched a brow at him. "What was what?"
Remus nudged her with his shoulder as he dug into the bag at his feet, pulling out several bottles of shrunken pumpkin juice and handing them out. "Muffilito?"
"Close," she conceded. She looked a little hesitant. "But not quite."
Sirius looked interested even as he shredded the packaging on one of James pasties after he opened the box of Berties Beans. "More secrets, Evans? Don't want us digging through your obscure charms books?"
She drummed her fingers on her thigh for a moment. Finally she sighed. "You won't find it in a charms book."
Peter exchanged a glance with Remus. "You made it up?"
"No."
James studied her for a moment and then shrugged, sitting down and sprawling out next to Sirius and snatching the last of the pasties from his grasp. "Those are mine."
Sirius grinned. "Tasty."
Peter swiped several chocolate frogs from Remus who sighed, but allowed it. He offered one to Lily and she smiled her thanks, taking it. "So since the meeting went well, why'd you both come back tense?"
Lily sighed as she deftly caught the frog that was determined to leap away. "Two Gryffindors? I'll have to check the library to be sure, but I don't think that's happened. I'd think something like that is usually frowned upon. And is a pretty big statement to make right now."
Sirius leveled her with a calculating look. "You're not the first Muggleborn Head, but it doesn't happen often. So that's two statements."
Peter chewed on his chocolate thoughtful for a moment. "Especially after this summer."
Lily bit into her frog instead of answering. She'd never taken out a subscription to Daily Prophet, her first few years she hadn't been interested. Too busy learning to care what was going on… and then the attacks had started. Or, she'd noticed them. She still wasn't sure how much of that had been her being too busy or how careful Snape had been to keep that away from her. But by the time she'd have been interested in getting the paper herself, she had decided she didn't want to subscribe and risk the owls being followed. So instead, she borrowed papers after her friends had finished them. So other than what she had found in that one trip she'd risked to Diagon Alley, she didn't really have a lot of information regarding what had happened over the summer.
Remus sighed. "In the world of pureblood politics…"
"It'd be a bribe." Sirius said lazily.
"What?"
James slouched over. "We don't know that."
Sirius rolled his eyes and studied a yellow spotted bean. "Sure we don't."
Lily arched a brow. "Are you going to explain or keep going with the half-conversations? Because if this is another one of those 'things' you don't want to tell me about, then you should probably finish this later."
They looked at each other for a long moment and Peter shrugged. Sirius gave a long suffering sigh and motioned with his hands. James nodded.
Remus considered her for a moment before speaking. "Hypothetically…"
Lily blinked and a small smile tugged at her mouth. "I haven't heard that word in ages…"
Shoulders moving in a shrug, Remus pushed his hand through his hair. "Um, yes… anyway, there is a… very good chance that while the current terror is being enacted, there is a secondary, political movement that is being pushed into place."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Pureblood politics are vicious when we aren't having a sort-of war going on."
Lily frowned at that. She knew there was an entire way of thinking, a way of being, that she had very little understanding of. She'd seen it with Snape, saw the way his newer set of friends moved and interacted around each other. That deliberate formalness. She'd seen it occasionally between James and some of the other houses, but Gryffindor was so laid back that most of those customs were rarely on display in the common room.
"So… being appointed as Head Boy…"
James sighed heavily, lacing his fingers together and watching her from under his messy bangs. "Being Head Boy? Not really. I've never wanted it honestly, never considered it. I mean, I know the Quidditch Captains are formally considered in the running, but to actually pick one? Especially one that wasn't a Prefect…" He studied her, the green in his eyes bright. "But being Head Boy with you…"
Peter grinned at the way Lily's cheeks went pink. "'Specially since he isn't aware of our back and forth communication this summer."
Lily cleared her throat. "So you think Dumbledore is trying to what? Garner support by… leveraging the Head Boy position? To what purpose? And doesn't that seem to contradict his hands off policy where the Houses and Blood Views are concerned?"
Sirius shrugged, leaning back. "It's a long game our Headmaster is playing."
Would what they were saying have made as much sense as it was if she hadn't just had gone through the past summer? The Headmaster wasn't being deliberately malicious; she'd never gotten that sense from him. But she could see where the big picture might be overwhelming the smaller details… if that was what was happening. She blew out a breath. It could be nothing more than an old man trying to give children a chance to grow up… and not realizing that the other side had no such compunctions.
"I suppose," Lily said slowly. "It would depend entirely on the way that you chose to look at his actions… but what is so important that he needs to garner your support in this way? What you're suggesting is plausible if you look at it in a very specific light. But this is Dumbledore – what reasons do you have to suspect that he would willfully manipulate the situation to his advantage like this? Does he really need to?"
Remus studied her from behind pale eyes. "I don't know, Lily. But don't you think it's irresponsible of us not to consider these things?"
She hesitated. "Maybe… I suppose. But we're only just now seventeen, Remus. There is a lot we don't know, that they won't be willing to tell us. I think it would be irresponsible to put everyone into their boxes when we don't know what all the details are. Can you imagine that Dumbledore isn't doing something about Voldemort?"
Peter opened his mouth but she held up her palm. "I'm not saying that I disagree with you that there might be something else going on or that we shouldn't be cautious. I'm not… there is a lot of activity going on in the halls that I think Dumbledore is turning a blind eye to. But that doesn't mean he is automatically… that he is deliberately setting up students like chess pieces."
Sirius arched a brow at her. "So what, you think that it's okay that this is being ignored? Come on Evans, let's be real here. The biggest advantage to James being Head Boy is you as Head Girl."
Lily took a deep breath. "That's awful assumptive of you, Sirius."
He snorted. Lily refused to look at James. She didn't understand how casually they were throwing this around – like it was the most common knowledge, a fact that had been in front of her face for years. Or that they would assume that the only reason James Potter would be appointed as Head Boy was because Dumbledore was either playing some strange game of debts, or was matchmaking.
"First, the attitude of turning a blind eye by Dumbledore has worked pretty well for you for the last six years, Black. I'd say you don't really have a lot of room to complain about it. I also don't think you realize how much of a surprise it isn't that James is Head Boy… the surprise is that both of us are from Gryffindor." She took another deep breath, stubbornly not looking. "Prefect is a leadership position, and while yes, it does acquaint us with the school rules, I'd say you four have managed to find and break, if not every single one of them, then all but the most obscure. Quidditch captaincy offers the same leadership role and in some ways, teaches how to respond to pressure better than being a Prefect. If you sat down and drew parallel lines of the two duties, I think you'd find several startling similarities. That is why it isn't a surprise that a Quidditch Captain would be Head Boy, even if they aren't Prefect. I think you'll find that it has always been one or the other, if not necessarily some mixture of."
Peter blinked at her. "You know a lot about this."
She sighed. "I had a vested interest in figuring out who would be in a position of leadership this year."
Remus wore a slight smile. "Plus there is that poll."
Lily rolled her eyes. "There is that."
"Poll?" James spoke for the first time since the conversation came up and Lily darted a quick glance at him. His face was serious and there was something about the way that he was watching her that turned her butterflies into bats. Swallowing, she looked away, not willing to hold that gaze.
"The usual straw poll at the end of the term last year in our prefect meeting," Remus drawled. "I may have forgotten to mention it, but you came out pretty close to the top. So did Lily."
James threw a bean at Remus, face scrunched up in a false scowl. "Thanks mate."
Remus smiled. "No problem."
Peter reached over and tentatively chose a bean. "So does this mean we've decided that Prongs earned his position as Head Boy? Or are we sticking with the conspiracy theories?"
"Vote?" Remus asked.
"Pass," Sirius said flatly. "I'm not going either way until we get more evidence. I still say there is more to this than we're seeing."
Lily studied him, lips compressed before she nodded. "Pass."
Sirius blinked at her and so did James. "Huh?"
She rolled her eyes. "I think that it is possible that James earned the position, the Head of Houses have to agree after all. But that doesn't mean that Dumbledore didn't have a secondary or third reason for suggesting him. We'll probably never find out why he did what he did, but yeah, this whole both Heads in Gryffindor? It makes me uncomfortable."
Remus and Peter exchanged glances.
"I'll take conspiracy," Peter offered.
"Deal."
Lily frowned at them. "What?"
Peter grinned. "Well, we could go either way, so we're splitting it down the middle. James?"
He leaned back, foot jangling against the floor, eyes planted on Lily. "If I say conspiracy, I'm voting against myself. If I say earned, I'm voting for myself. Pass."
"I suppose that works for now. We'll reconvene at a later date then!" Peter decided. He popped the bean into his mouth and made a face. "Grass. Yuck."
James leaned forward. "Now that we have that out of the way… you going to tell us what you decided to do about your parents, Lils?"
Green eyes narrowed. "Call me Lils again, and regret it."
He held up his hands, but he was grinning. "Alright, Lily."
She would have continued to glare at him if Remus hadn't nudged her. "Lily?"
"Do you mind…" she held up her wand and they all nodded so she layered the protections. Wondering why James Potter was Head Boy was one thing, this was her family. When she was finally satisfied that she was safe as she could make them, she blew out a breath. She'd almost accuse them of letting her in on their theories and conspiracies to get her to talk about her own – that twisty, mind boggling logic – but they already knew pieces of it. And other than the way Sirius was watching her, alert and mildly distrustful, it was like they had just… assimilated her into their world over the course of the summer through several dozen messages.
And even though James Potter made her uncomfortable, and this blatant acknowledgement of his feelings for her (as if everyone knew…) was baffling and terrifying, she felt better. Safer. These four were still young, but one day they were going to be formidable – were already dangerous – and for some reason they were including her… and she'd already made the decision to trust them.
"I'm putting them under the Fidelius."
Peter blinked. "But I thought you had to be present for that. How is that going to work?"
Lily shook her head. "No, I mean yes. If I was hiding their location, I would have to be there. But I'm not. At least, not yet."
Remus reached over and tugged on her braid. "Maybe you should start from the beginning."
"The problem I have is that… that Snape knows where I live. That there is the possibility that he would tell his… friends."
James narrowed his eyes. "He threatened you."
She pressed her lips together for a moment before continuing. "Other than Snape, no one knows who my parents are. Their names. I'm sure Hogwarts has the records, but by the time those become an issue… well, they won't be an issue. But my point is that my parents are Muggles, which makes them nearly invisible."
"Other than Snape," Peter said.
"Other than Snape," Lily agreed tiredly. "Which is why I'm hiding who they are – their names, them – under Fidelius. I'm ninety percent sure it will work – Snape will still know who they are but he won't be able to tell anyone else."
James' brows were tucked together. "That only works if he doesn't know where they are and hasn't already told someone about them."
Lily nodded. "I moved them out of our house last night, or at least, most of their stuff. They're waiting a week, but they're going to sell the house. They're staying with family right now – Snape doesn't know where that is. Over Christmas I'll look into putting a Fidelius on their new house but… they should be safe. And Snape… he doesn't share."
Sirius studied her. "You've got a secret keeper?"
Lily bit her lip and then let out a long breath. "Hypothetically…." She caught Remus' grin and tugged on the ends of her braid. "I would say I don't understand the Wizarding worlds need to have a secret keeper. I do have one… for this. But all my research… I don't understand why say, a married couple doesn't make their partner the keeper instead of a third party."
Remus seemed to choke on his chocolate, coughing into his hand and Sirius just blinked repeatedly at her. "Huh."
James tilted his head, a smile playing across his lips. "You and your charms…"
Lily would not blush. She would not. Instead she picked at her robes and narrowed her eyes. "What does that mean?"
He shrugged. "You were right about the Patronus charm too. It's all about intent."
"You cracked it?" Lily heard the interested in her voice and couldn't help it. Imbedding a secondary charm into a charm whose primary purpose wasn't communicative was fascinating. And something she'd have to further look into when she wasn't buried in protective work. And N.E.W.T.s.
Peter nodded. "Four days ago. Not entirely sure Mum P was excited to receive the "we're somewhere in the woods!" message, but live and learn, right?"
"The woods?"
Remus cleared his throat. "It's um… a story."
"That we might be bribed to tell you later," James hastily interrupted. The tips of his ears were a little red and Lily blinked. She hadn't thought it was possible to make James Potter blush. "But the point is, we can show you the charm. Later."
Lily shook her head. "That's…"
"Amazing?"
"Wicked?"
"Prodigious?"
"Finished?"
"Ooo, five points for word use, Moony!" James declared.
Lily snorted and glanced at Peter. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "What? It's the truth. I'm glad it's over. We had less trouble with um, other projects."
James seemed to consider that before shrugging. "Which shows us just how secure this method is for sending messages, assuming anyone even knows about it, the actual simplicity of the method makes it complicated?"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, Prongs, that explains it perfectly."
Peter shook his head. "What he is trying to say, and failing, is that simple is better. I think. He could be trying to say that it's actually a sort of complicated simplicity in that no one knows about it – we think – but that would be confusing. Or I'm confused. Or both."
"Ah," Lily solemnly nodded. "That certainly explains it."
Remus pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think we've hit that wall of too much serious conversation. Their brains just start shutting down. It's an epidemic."
"Nice of you to recognize it for once, Moony," Sirius said cheerfully. "Pete has a deck of exploding snap in his trunk."
"We have food," James agreed, pulling out his wand and considering a bean before transfiguring it into a mostly sturdy table. Smiling, he settled it into place while Remus used a sticking charm to make it stay.
"And we have an entire box of Berties beans." Peter added, staring at the brightly colored treats as if they were dangerous. Which they were.
Lily arched an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but what does any of this have to do with anything?"
Remus smiled at her, shifting so Peter could dig through his trunk. "Tradition."
"Tradition."
"The Marauder Annual Exploding Snap or Death by Bertie Bean Tournament," James proclaimed with a large smile. "It's epic."
"Epic." Sirius repeated, finger wagging in her direction. "It's our last year, and this year, I'm winning. You hear that Pete? Your reign of two years running is over."
Peter made a noise of triumph and pulled out his deck; rolling his eyes at Sirius, clearly ignoring his bravado. "Winner takes all… that includes the remaining stash of chocolate, whatever snacks Mum P sent along for us and a quarter of what Remus has stashed in his trunk. And one prank veto right."
"Losers risk their taste buds." Remus finished as he worked on applying sticking charms to the jars of pumpkin juice so they wouldn't fall to the floor via the vibrations of the train or future exploding cards. "Or eyebrows, I suppose."
Lily blinked as Peter expertly shuffled the deck before dealing out the starting hand, including her. She took her cards, considering the intent, determined expressions around her. They'd done it again. Pulled her in without asking, without her permission – assumed she was part of their madness. Peter looked up suddenly and grinned at her, an open, inviting invitation that pulled a smile out of her in return.
In a couple of hours, she'd meet with Professor Flitwick, complete one of the most complex charms she'd ever attempted. She'd return fire at Snape and open herself up to a more direct form of attack – one she was confident she could handle. She'd start her responsibilities as Head Girl and start worrying about this… thing between her and James Potter and wonder what it would take to bribe him into doing most of the weekly point calculations if she agreed to manage to patrols. N.E.W.T.s. But until the train stopped, she was in a crowded compartment with four brilliant idiots with too much time on their hands and a container of Berties Beans she refused to eat. Idiots who seemed, for reasons that both included and excluded James Potter, to want to be her friend… who were already her friends, even if that friendship was new.
Flipping her first card out, she smiled slowly at Remus. "I like dark chocolate."
Amber tinted eyes narrowed. "Keep your hands out of my chocolate, Evans. You have to win it first."
Sirius swore as a card exploded in his hand and Peter snickered. James was grinning as he leaned away from his smoking friend, hair sticking up in all directions. Next card she wanted to play tucked between her fingers, Lily smirked.
"Oh, I plan on it."