Rowing (Open) - Black Lake - 10 June

[Deleted]

Disclaimer: All words in blue (3ddced) are direct quotations from Chapter 28 of Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix. Unfortunately, we are not JKR and she has the rights to all of that

Any referencing comes from here: clicky

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"Five more minutes!"

Sirius tapped the edge of his quill against his finished exam, and pushed his chair back to two legs as he watched Flitwick making his rounds. He wondered if the Charms Professor ever did anything fun for himself. Light up a cig when he was on break, or go down to Rosie's on the weekends and try to romance a lady or two. Sure, the boy had never seen his Professor around whenever he snuck out of the castle and down to the Broomsticks, but you never knew. Something oddly mysterious about that chap, he had no clue why though.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed one of his best mates causing a scene with his bloody loud yawning technique and when James so clearly sensed his gaze, turning towards him with a grin, and Sirius shot him one back, giving him a thumbs up at the same time. This exam was honestly a piece of cake. The Gryffindor boy hadn't been all too motivated to keep up with his school work this year, what with his parents going mad and inevitability of him thinking up ways he could ditch them. He'd been smoking more, drinking more - all the same, he'd sat down with Willa the week before and made sure to go over every possible concept and spell with her so that she'd do well and he'd inadvertently learnt a thing or two himself. He had half a mind to turn around and ask the girl how she was doing, but their friendship was still pretty new - only having met in October - and he was pretty certain the Prefect would want to pick a bone with him if he interrupted her hardest exam so he simply kept his eyes facing front.

"Quills down, please! That means you to, Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment! Accio!"

Sirius let out a bark of laughter as the rolls of parchment from around the room all flew forward and hit their tiny Professor, causing him to fall down. Honestly, that bloke was hilarious - he must be the type to go out. It would be a damn shame if he didn't. The minute they were told they could leave he grabbed his bag, and threw his quill and ink pot inside as he strode over to James. Doe, Robbins, and Evans were all in front of them, chattering away about something girly, most likely. Pete and Remus joined them and they all left the Great Hall together and walked towards the bright sun coming through the entrance doors. He glanced sideways with a smirk, "Did you like question ten, Moony?"

[Remus Lupin]

Remus scowled at the announcement, he could have sworn they had more time to finish the exam. Not that he wasn't already done, but he'd only checked over his answers once and that wasn't nearly enough time for him to double check them again. It certainly didn't help that he knew his friends were done, as one of them was yawning particularly loudly and the other had been tapping his quill against his desk. Luckily, he had sat in the row behind Sirius, and two seats away from him as well. It was enough distance so that he wouldn't get distracted, even if he could hear them.

Looking at his work, he used the edge of his quill to scratch his chin, frowning at one of his answers. He scribbled out part of the replying, doing his best to finish before Professor Flitwick called time. It was only a few seconds after he had finished writing that he he heard the Professors voice, and he sat his quill down on the table, satisfied. He watched the rolls of parchment fly through the hair, shaking his head as the Professor fell down. Surely he would have learned in his years of teaching that it was going to happen every time he summoned their exams.

Shoving his quill into his bag, he slung it over his shoulder and moved through the rows, stopping to wait for Peter before the two of them followed the rest of the students towards the door to the Great Hall. They met up with Sirius and James, and headed out the door, the four of them headed for the lake.

As Sirius asked him about question ten, Remus glanced at his friend. "Loved it," he said briskly. " 'Give five signs that identify the werewolf.' Excellent question."

"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" James asked him, a mocking tone of concern in his voice.

"Think I did," Remus said seriously, as their group joined the crowd that was piling out the front doors, everyone excited to be outside in the nice weather after spending time cooped up for the past few hours. "One: He's sitting in my chair. Two: He's wearing my clothes. Three: He's name's Remus Lupin...."

He joined in with Sirius and James as they laughed, although he noted that Peter didn't join in. Perhaps he hadn't appreciated Remus attempt at a joke?

"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes, and the tufted tail," Peter said, his voice anxious and concerned, "but I couldn't think of what else-"

"How thick are you, Wormtail?" James said, a tone of impatience and annoyance present. "You run around with a werewolf once a month-"

"Keep your voice down," Remus snapped, not entirely thrilled that James was so loudly announcing his condition to the group of people they were currently stuck in. He gave a sigh, hoping that they would soon get outside. He had a book he had been dying to read, and he wanted to enjoy the fresh air. Of course, there was a group of girls in front of him that Remus was sure James was going to follow once they made it out the door, and he hoped that the other boy would be on his best behavior.

[James Potter]

This was ace. Everyone had warned them to worry about the O.W.L.s, to take them seriously, that they were horrible. Maybe if you were shite at magic they were, but this week had been a breeze. Sure, it was obnoxious to have to stay quiet and still for so long, but the tests themselves were hardly worth the fuss that had been made. All he had after this one - Defense, psh, not a problem - was Transfiguration. Seeing as he was an animagus and had become one with only the help of books and his friends, James Potter figured he would be just fine.

Out of habit learned from Moony, more than anything, James set down his quill and tugged his roll of parchment closer to review his responses. Truth be told, he was more skimming than reading - he was a good writer and knew this stuff, he surely had done it right the first time. He quickly bored of this, letting out a yawn that said as much, and pushed the parchment away before running a hand through his already-tousled hair. Yeah, he'd be fine, walking out of here with an O, no doubt.

Deciding that he was more than done with this, the fifth year Gryffindor pocketed his glasses, tickling the Snitch in his pocket as he did, before turning around to give Sirius a grin, waggling his brows. He chuckled quietly at his mate's obvious excitement at being nearly done as well, and turned forward before he could get called out by Flitwick for disturbing the peace.

Keeping a hand in his pocket to keep the Snitch there, as now that he'd given it a poke it seemed intent on freeing itself - he would definitely get a punishment for letting one out during an exam, and Mum would murder him for "ruining others' educational opportunities" or something - James re-rolled his parchment and idly retook his quill, fiddling with it as he looked about the room. Wormy and Remus were still working, Robbins - Sirius' new friend or whatever - looked bloody terrified, Doe seemed to be finishing up confidently, and...you're not gonna look around and not see her, who're you kidding?

She was too engrossed in her writing to notice, so James let himself smirk as he took in his nearly unimpeded view of Lily Evans, a few seats down his row. She'd tied back her dark red hair to get down to business, and the ink marks on her hands and forearms - shirtsleeves rolled up impatiently - and her ponytail swaying dangerously close to her ink pot made him think back to first year. He'd gotten abruptly pissed at Sirius for dipping the end of her long ponytail in ink - if he was remembering properly, he'd made a stink about her red hair needing to stay red, and that had been the end of that logic.

His shoulders shook with silent laughter at the memory, how explosive he'd been back then, so ready to spring to her defense when she clearly hadn't wanted it. It was either laugh at this or truly question where he stood with the lively girl, and James preferred a laugh. He looked away from her, hoping he hadn't drawn her attention by that, and started doodling on his scrap parchment as he waited for time to be called. James wasn't too poor of a sketcher, he had to admit, nodding approvingly at the Snitch he'd drawn. Maybe he'd sign up for Muggle Art...

A more intent and cursive - what was he doing? - L. E. joined the Snitch, and he amused himself with the lines of the letters, making them curve into each other, until Flitwick announced time, and the woosh of parchments brought him back to the moment. He laughed along with the others as their tiny professor fell - honestly, you think he'd learn - but quickly scratched out her initials before crumpling the parchment and shoving it in his bag with his other things. The boy stood and stretched, back cracking, as he waited for the boys to join him, nearest to the door as he was. The four fell into an easy banter as they left the hall with the other fifth years, breaking out of the stuffy room and into the summer sun, and James was pleased to note that they weren't far behind Lily, Doe, Willa, Guin, and a few other girls. But his attention was brought away from watching them walk and back to his mates as Remus called him out - James let out an exasperated breath as Remus had just named himself as a werewolf and nobody'd done anything but laugh! But this was a sensitive subject, so he was glad as Sirius changed the topic.

"Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake," he said with his usual confidence. "I'll be surprised if I don't get Outstanding on it at least."

"Me too," James agreed, giving him a grin before taking out the Snitch that was dying to be released.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Nicked it," he said with a shrug, playing with it as they walked towards their usual tree. If Doe hadn't been as good a Seeker as she was, he'd've volunteered to take the spot. Could totally do it, as was obvious from his ability to manage the Snitch here. He gave a grin as he saw Wormy out of his periphery, and started showing off, letting it get farther, higher, before he nabbed it back. They settled under the tree, with a great view of the girls, who had decided to go all the way to the lake. Now that was an idea...

He kept an eye on them as he toyed with the Snitch, almost missing a few times - although he'd never admit it - and making even more spectacular catches because of his slight distraction, to Pete's delight. He gave the bloke a grin, ruffling his hair, before returning his attention to the laughing group. Not like anyone could blame him - they were fine girls, fine, and he was more than tempted to head down there himself, make a splash...

[Peter Pettigrew]

It was with a sting that Peter took James' rebuke. Sure he did run with a werewolf once a month but it all looked very different when he was a rat. He was tiny and Remus seemed huge in that state. And honestly he was mostly just worried about Sirius possibly wanting to chase him, James maybe trampling him, and Remus losing it at any moment and killing them all. How was he to focus on all the little details with all that anxiety going on? As it was he was a nervous wreck through eh exam anyway, he couldn’t remember half of what he learned. Sure he had crammed with his mates and he had tried studying a bit with Daisy. Peter smiled; they hadn’t gotten much school work done. But that all seemed to go out the window when he sat down to the exam.
"Not really paying attention then." he mumbled looking away.

His eyes snapped back to his friends as they chatted, not surprised Sirius seemed confident he would get an O. James pulled a snitch from his pocket, releasing it and catching it for fun, and even though it had stung when James had called him thick; Wormtail watched him in awe. James was an excellent chaser and his reflexes where on point and Peter was envious and awed. He could be a seeker easily. They moved down to the beech tree and Peter was momentarily distracted by the group of girls by the lake, looking for Daisy. She wasn’t there and so he turned his attention back to James as they settled in.


Remus, of course pulled out a book to read, and Sirius looked plain bored but Peter was finding his amusement in James. Wormtail watched him with his mouth open. Every time James made a particularly difficult catch, Wormtail gasped and applauded. Amazed at how quick he was, quicker than the flitting gold bugger. Peter would never be that fast, well except in his animagus form. He was quite quick then. He was just starting to really enjoy the show when his other best mate chimed in.


“Put that away, will you?” said Sirius finally, as James made a fine catch and Wormtail let out a cheer. “Before Wormtail wets himself from excitement.”

Wormtail turned slightly pink but James grinned.


“If it bothers you,” he said, stuffing the Snitch back in his pocket.


“I’m bored,” said Sirius. “Wish it was full moon.”


“You might,” said Lupin darkly from behind his book. “We’ve still got Transfiguration, if you’re bored you could test me...Here.” He held out his book.

Sirius snorted. “I don’t need to look at that rubbish, I know it all.”


“This’ll liven you up, Padfoot,” said James quietly. “Look who it is…”


Sirius’s head turned. He had become very still, like a dog that has scented a rabbit.


“Excellent,” he said softly. “Snivellus.”


Snape was on his feet again, and was stowing the O.W.L. paper in his bag. As he emerged from the shadows of the bushes and set off across the grass, Sirius and James stood up. Lupin and Wormtail remained sitting: Lupin was still staring down at his book, though his eyes were not moving and a faint frown line had appeared between his eyebrows. Wormtail was looking from Sirius and James to Snape with a look of avid anticipation on his face.

[Willa Robbins]

“Five more minutes!”

Oh no oh no oh no! Willa looked up from her parchment as Professor Flitwick came up the column, quickly trying to configure her words - maybe she could get an extension if she said the right thing - but before she could, the Ravenclaw Head of House had bypassed James, Sirius, and herself, his small feet clicking against the stone. She returned to her essay, doing her best to remember everything that she'd studied with Sirius - who had finished a while ago, brilliant as he was - but was distracted by a loud yawn that could only have come from James. She looked up to see him and Sirius exchanging some sort of happiness, and her own pit of worry expanded, because how was it that they were done and feeling so good about it? This had become, unfortunately, a common enough experience during this neverending week. She wasn't a particularly poor student, but she'd appreciated extra time that some professors had offered over the years, but...this was a standardized exam, she couldn't expect anything...

She shot Sirius a look, even though she knew he wouldn't see, hoping that they could study that night for Transfig...all these heavy subjects seemed to come naturally to her new friend, and Merlin knew she could use a bit of help.

Would you focus?! You've got just a few minutes to tie this together.

Willa returned her attention to her writing, adding phrases here and commas there, hoping that she'd done enough to pass with an A. She just needed to pass, then all of her work - and Sirius' - lately and for years wouldn't have gone to waste...

Time was called, and she immediately set down her quill, not wanting to be called out like her classmate had been, although she wished she could've - You did all you could, and it's literally out of your hands now. Just clear your head for a while, you'll feel better and be able to study more productively later if you've taken a break.

The Hufflepuff caught Lily's eye and skipped ahead a few rows to meet up with her, catching Doe and Guin as they left. Wanting to think of anything but the exam, Willa began, pushing through her nerves and putting on a smile, "You know what would feel great? Going down to the lake - much too stuffy in there, don't you think? If we're lucky, maybe we can spy the squid! Warm enough for him to be out and about, after all."

[Pandora Nott]

Pandora quite enjoyed exams. Not that she had any, of course. There was still an entire year before the girl had to worry about her O.W.L.'s. And since most of the Professor's were busy preparing and grading exams, it had been a slow week. Sure, they still had classes, but the homework had been light. And today had been even better, as they'd gotten out of classes early. The weather was wonderful, and Pandora had gone with her classmates outside to sit near the lake. She'd broughten a book, but was finding that joking with her classmates was far more comfortable.

Laying on the grass, she stretched her hands above her, squinting into the sunlight. "Hey Carolyn, can we lay out here and study all the time? I'm so tired of the stuffy common library," she said, rolling onto her stomach so she could see her best friend. She glanced around at the other fourth years, pulling the ends of her hair into her mouth to chew on. There was Arnie and Benji, they were best friends but she didn't know them too well. Arnie and her talked, and Benji was nice but she didn't spend too much time with them. Charlotte and Daisy had joined them, they were in Gryffindor. Pandora liked them, they were quiet and nice to study with. Not to mention that Charlotte and Carolyn were both excellent at History of Magic, which was a topic Pandora absolutely hated. She couldn't wait to be able to drop it in the next year.

Letting the hair fall from her mouth, Pandora gave a a sigh. Before too long the exams would be over and the outdoors would be flooded with fifth years who were trying enjoy a bit of a break after their test. It was a shame, really, as it was still quiet even with the amount of students who were already outside. "Next year we'll be in the ones trapped inside..."

[Deleted]

"Five minutes..."

Having been calm for the whole rest of the exam Lily's heart begin to race. She looked up, imploringly at Flitwick for a brief moment then set herself to crafting her conclusion. In her relative haste, the young girl smudged her latest sentence. Okay taking a breath for a second wouldn't hurt. She straightened up and figured pulling up her sleeves would be a productive excuse. She stretched her neck from side to side then delved back in.

She was completely unaware of the rest of her surroundings. Sounds of classmates finishing up and yawning or setting down quills reached her hectic ears. Just as she heard "Quills down" Lily punctuated her last sentence. That had been rather close. She had mere moments to reread snippets of her essay before it flew off the desk. It's not like she could do anything about it. It gave her enough piece of mind, however, to unfold her exam-sore frame and stretch both hands into the air. She glanced around at her friends. She gave Doe a wink then attempted to suavely locate Severus.

He looked worse for wear. a splotch of ink was on his nose and he had already buried himself in the notes that they had made together. They had made a wager that if she achieved higher notes in potions than he did in defense than she would treat him to drinks next time they were in Hogsmeade and vice versa. It gave her an extra drive to get through the O.W.L.S.

Giggles alerted Lily back to the present. She glanced over just in time to watch Flitwick struggle under the weight of the parchments that had just flown at him. She smiled earnestly and allowed herself to chuckle. Chairs scratched against the stone floor as Flitwick managed to pant out: "Thank you...thank you. Very well, everybody, you’re free to go!”

Lily quickly packed her things and floated past Flitwick in Severus' direction. She stopped briefly to say "Thanks Professor" and catch a piece of parchment that was slipping out of his grasp. Her eyes were on Severus' back when Willa entered her line of sight. She smiled at her Hufflepuff prefect friend and changed course slightly. "Hiya, dear. How'd it go?" she asked as she approached. They had also managed to catch up with Doe and Guin. While the two were Lily's roommates, she was glad to have Willa there. Sometimes Lily had no idea how to act around the two rowdier Gryffindore girls. Especially with one being Potter's current object of attention affection.

"That's a lovely idea Willa!" she beamed. Lily had planned to meet up with Severus after the test, but he seemed content to review in great detail the last few hours of their lives.

As the group moved towards the entrance hall Lily hung back for a second. "I'll meet you out there." she said then approached the Slytherin. She snaked an arm through his and whispered in his ear. "I'll be by the lake with a few girlfriends, yeah?" She didn't expect much of a reaction but at least she had made contact. Lily knew that his own intellegence commonly plagued Severus. This was one of those times. Over the years she had learned to just take a step back during these times and let him find his way back to her. A strange foreboding rooted itself in her heart as her arm slid from his.

The crowd pressed in on her as she separated from him and weaved her way back towards her friends. The sun shone down on them as they made their way towards the lake.

[Deleted]

It didn’t take long after Prongs had pointed out the slimy Slytherin that Sirius was on his feet, following the git across the grass.

“All right, Snivellus?” said James loudly.

Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been expecting an attack: Dropping his bag, he plunged his hand inside his robes, and his wand was halfway into the air when James shouted, “Expelliarmus!”

Snape’s wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter.

“Impedimenta!” he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet, halfway through a dive toward his own fallen wand.

Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had gotten to their feet and were edging nearer to watch. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained. Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius advanced on him, wands up, James glancing over his shoulder at the girls at the water’s edge as he went. Wormtail was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging around Lupin to get a clearer view.

“How’d the exam go, Snivelly?” said James.

“I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment,” said Sirius viciously. “There’ll be great grease marks all over it, they won’t be able to read a word.”

Several people watching laughed; Snape was clearly unpopular. Wormtail sniggered shrilly. Snape was trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes.

“You - wait,” he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing. “You - wait...”

“Wait for what?” said Sirius coolly. “What’re you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?”

Snape let out a stream of mixed swearwords and hexes, but his wand being ten feet away nothing happened.

“Wash out your mouth,” said James coldly. “Scourgify!”

Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape’s mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him –

“Leave him ALONE!”

Sirius looked around and rolled his eyes as he saw Evans approaching them. He had no idea what James saw in the bird in the first place – yeah she was pretty sometimes, but outside of that Sirius didn’t see much point in getting to know her. Girl went out of her way to give him detention it seemed like – his best mate deserved someone better than that. James deserved someone that Sirius approved of, for starters.

(OOC: Sorry for keeping you waiting with this one - and for keeping it so short on my end! Felt like there was some important stuff that shouldn't be trifled with )

[James Potter]

James' attention strayed from the girls to a less pleasant sight - Snape. How the greasy git had managed to keep Evans as a friend for all these years was beyond him. She was lively, talented, gorgeous. He was simply rubbish, when all was said and done - doing well in Potions hardly spelled a future of success, when one was unable to actually make friends, just hold on to one from childhood so tightly that the kind-hearted girl she was didn't want to let go. She was needed by the Slytherin - why his House wasn't enough to push her away from him from the start was maddening, but beyond the current point - and her heart stronger than her head, in this case.

She just didn't get it, didn't see what he and the Marauders did. That he was a snake in all senses of the term. That he didn't deserve her company.

He'd been debating asking the girl out for the majority of the year, but she was always with Snivelly of all people, and James knew that the snake was bad-mouthing him to her behind his back...as long as he was doing that, there was no chance she'd agree...

James darted a look back to the lakeshore before prodding Sirius in the direction for entertainment, standing with him and walking with purpose, wand twirling between his fingers. He shot Paddy a grin before announcing their presence to the Slytheirn - it was rather amusing, how quickly Snape jumped to the right conclusion about the meaning of his address. Well - the amusing bit was that he wasn't quick enough. It was easy to disarm him, sending his wand meters away - and the look on his face when he realized he was wandless? Priceless.

Again, the git was too slow, this time for Sirius, and was to remain that way with the Impediment Jinx. James gave his wand another practiced spin before gripping it firmly and closing in on him with Sirius. He was pleased to note the attention they were gaining, fellow exam-takers enjoying the entertainment after being cooped up. James looked over his shoulder to check the lakeside, and saw the group of girls still at ease...

He spoke more loudly as he and Sirius continued, not caring if they drew the attention of a professor along with that of Evans. He took each opportunity to embarrass the snake, seeing him foaming at the mouth with pink soap bubbles a rather satisfying moment, before -

There you are.

At Lily's yell, James held in a smirk, running a hand through his already-mussed hair before turning to see the girl.

"All right, Evans?" he asked calmly, voice dropping as he cocked a brow as if nothing was the matter.

"Leave him alone," Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of great dislike. Pity - she was much prettier when she wasn't seething, although he had to admit there was something undeniably grand about being able to affect her like this. Never could keep her cool around him, that Lily Evans. "What's he done to you?"

He gave her a look of mock-consideration, knowing that regardless of what he said, he was in the proverbial dog house with this one. "Well, it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean..." James let out the smirk he'd been holding back as he got a laugh from the crowd at that, eyeing her in challenge.

"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."

"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said James quickly. Never one to waste opportunity, the Gryffindor continued confidently, taking a step towards her. If the Slytherin meant so much to her - "Go on...Go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

Behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off. Snape was beginning to inch toward his fallen wand, spitting out soapsuds as he crawled.

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," said Lily. James' face fell slightly, and he was glad for Sirius' quick return covering up his disappointment.

"Bad luck, Prongs," said Sirius briskly, turning back to Snape. "OY!"

But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James's face, splattering his robes with blood. James whirled about; a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of graying underpants.

James glared up at the other boy, remorseless. This was his problem - he chose actual violence and harm over things that were really harmless at the end of the day. James' cheek was hot where he'd been hexed, and he felt the blood from the wound running down his face. Keeping his wandarm firmly in position, keeping the slimy thing dangling in the air, he wiped his cheek onto his shoulder, wincing as he succeeded only in smearing the blood, making himself more of a mess.

[Deleted]

The girls made their way purposefully down to the lake. Doe and Guin were happily gossiping about the latest Marauder antics. First, praising James for his dashing Quidditch moves then Sirius for keeping up his suaveness throughout the exam period. Willa was keeping suspiciously quiet on the manner. Lily knew something vaguely about a rescue, but the two had been so swamped with exams on top of prefect duties that it had all fallen through the cracks.

“Well I think Remus and Peter have been considerably dashing through the entire ordeal….” Lily interjected impishly. Peter, of course, was never praised for his roguishness or looks. But she had to give the boy credit, as far as she knew he hadn’t had all too many nervous break downs. Remus, Lily found, had a particular handsomeness to him. She glanced in the directions of the marauders. Her poor friend looked worn ragged, but there was something enticing about a man so caught up in his studies. Her focus shifted then to Severus, still pouring over the .O.W.L.s. The questions aren’t going to change, dear. She encouraged him in her head. She sighed and turned back to the group as they reached the waters edge.

Lily followed the other girls as they liberated themselves of their socks and shoes. She slipped her Hogwarts robes off and rolled up the pants of her jeans before setting herself beside her friends. Every now and then Doe would glance back at where the marauders lounged under a tree. After the fourth or fifth time Lily took a look back to see just what was so interesting. Potter had somehow nicked a snitch and was showing off as Peter watched mesmerized. After a near miss Lily smirked and rolled her eyes. He had tried to play it off as a particularly interesting catch, but Lily liked to believe that he might have missed. She hardly had an eye for Quidditch but something about his movement made her think there was a good possibility of a loose snitch on the grounds.

That was all the attention she deemed to afford the marauders on such a beautiful day. She kicked up some water at Doe in jest, if not a bit of annoyance. She was debating simply immersing herself in the lake as the sun beat down on them. There was nothing so relaxing as enjoying the Hogwarts grounds with her friends after a particularly difficult exam.

Her peace was broken into abruptly by the sound she hated most in the world rang across the grounds. “All right, Snivellus?” said James loudly.

Lily’s heart was immediately in her throat. She was paralyzed on the spot, terrified that turning around would confirm her worst suspicions. Not today. She implored silently with Potter. Merlin’s beard, not today. The universe ignored her plea. “Expelliarmus!” A small thud, barely audible except for Lily’s utter attention, confirmed that Potter’s spell had met its target. Lily cringed as Sirius’ recognizable barking laughter was followed with “Impedimenta!” Red hair whipped around her face as Lily’s head spun around just in time to watch Serverus be knocked off his feet, halfway through a dive toward his own fallen wand.

Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had gotten to their feet and were edging nearer to watch. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained. ! Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius advanced on him, wands up, James glanced over his shoulder at the girls. He clearly had not seen her eyes wide with indignation. If he had wouldn’t he stop? But perhaps he wasn’t looking at her… Dorcas was a more likely candidate. Lily briefly looked at her trying to gauge her reaction. Peter was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging around Lupin to get a clearer view. Was no one else as appalled as she was? Why was Remus simply sitting there… studying?!? The dolt! And Peter. Out of all of them. If it hadn’t been for Potter and Black, didn’t he think that perhaps he would be on the receiving end of such bullying? Lily rose to her feet as Potter decided it was worth his while to add insult to injury.

“How’d the exam go, Snivelly?” said James.

And of course Black had to weigh in on the matter… “I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment,” said Sirius viciously. “There’ll be great grease marks all over it, they won’t be able to read a word.”

Several people watching laughed. Guin being one of them. Lily rounded on her furiously but could hardly get a word out as the horrifying event continued. Severus was trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes. Why wasn’t Lily moving? She could do the counter jinx. She took a step, hand on her wand, but was stopped by a voice she had never heard from him, “You - wait,” he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing. “You - wait...” It was just a shade darker than the voice Severus usually used when bad mouthing the troublemakers. It sank deep into Lily and made her shiver. Where had the boy she loved gone? Who was this young man?

“Wait for what?” said Sirius coolly. “What’re you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?”

That’s enough. Leave him alone. You’ve done enough. She was ready to scream at them. Ready to use her own wand to make them finally listen. They were all getting too old for this. Hadn’t they seen over the years how Severus wasn’t like one of the typical Slytherins. He was different he was… letting out a stream of mixed swearwords and hexes, but his wand being ten feet away nothing happened.

“Wash out your mouth,” said James coldly. “Scourgify!” Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape’s mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him - Potter had finally exceeded the limit of what Lily could bear.

“Leave him ALONE!” Lily finally erupted. She stormed towards them, shoes and socks forgotten, fingers wrapping around the wand in her back pocket.

James and Sirius looked around. James’s free hand jumped to his hair again. She hated when he did that (and most everything else for that matter). Everyone but her found his constantly messy hair roguishly charming. The git. As if looks and Quidditch skills were everything.

“All right, Evans?” said James, and the tone of his voice was suddenly… deeper, honeyed. It was exceedingly out of place with the current situation, driving Lily even wilder with rage.

“Leave him alone,” Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of great dislike that she had honed over the years. “What’s he done to you?”

“Well,” said James, appearing to deliberate the point, “it’s more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean…”

She absolutely did not. She counted on Severus’ existence, at times it was the only thing that kept her going. Especially at home. Her lips pursed as many of the surrounding watchers laughed, Sirius and Wormtail included, but Lupin, still apparently intent on his book, didn’t. “You think you’re funny,” she said coldly. “But you’re just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone.” She reiterated her last point with a tone of finality.

“I will if you go out with me, Evans,” said James quickly. Thoughtless jerk. Weren’t he and Dorcas, the girl standing right behind Lily, in the midst of the ‘will they/won’t they’ stage of dating? “Go on...Go out with me, and I’ll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again.” Behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off. Snape was beginning to inch toward his fallen wand, spitting out soapsuds as he crawled.

Everything the sloppy haired, cocky, brat was saying continued to infuriate the red head who was seconds away from sending him to the hospital wing. She chose, however, to fight with her words. “I wouldn’t go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant Squid…” said Lily. She was just about to tell him she couldn’t since she happened to be going out with the very object of his torment. Before a word could leave her mouth, however, Sirius had interjected and Severus was taking matters into his own hands.

“Bad luck, Prongs,” said Sirius briskly, turning back to Snape. “OY!”

But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James’s face, splattering his robes with blood. Lily cared nothing for Potter, but Severus’ spell was like a knife through her heart. He had mentioned something that he was working on to defend himself from Lily’s housemate. She had had no idea that it was so… so… vicious. Lily had always accused the marauders of the sole brutality and maliciousness in this relationship. So then how could Severus… why would he…Potter gave her no real time to think.

James whirled about; a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of graying underpants. Many people in the small crowd watching cheered. Sirius, James, and Wormtail roared with laughter. Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile, said, “Let him down!” She had, as pleasantly as possible, suggested to Severus on multiple occasions that better personal hygiene might deter the jeers. He clearly had chosen to ignore that sound advice. It hadn’t stopped Lily, however, from continuing to stand up for him.

“Certainly,” said James and he jerked his wand upward. Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes, he got quickly to his feet, wand up, Lily shifted her attention briefly to give him a pleading look, but Sirius said, “Locomotor mortis!” and Snape keeled over again at once, rigid as a board.

This was going way too far. “LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Lily shouted. She had her own wand out now, holding it steadily in the direction of the tormenting marauders. Lily was more gratified to see that James and Sirius eyed it warily. “Ah, Evans, don’t make me hex you,” said James earnestly.

“Take the curse off him, then!” she bartered insistently.

James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the countercurse. “There you go,” he said, as Snape struggled to his feet again, “you’re lucky Evans was here, Snivellus - ” How Lily wished Potter would stop using that horrid nickname.

“I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!”

Her heart stopped altogether. He had promised. Every step of the way. For five years. Why now? Why so suddenly? She had thought… well apparently she had been wrong.

Lily blinked, the only reaction she would allow Potter, the marauders, and Severus privy to, “Fine,” she said coolly. “I won’t bother in the future. And I’d wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.”

[James Potter]

Hearing the laughter of the crowd, James let out a loud one himself, smiling through the lingering sting in his cheek. Naturally, Evans didn't take well to whatever-he-was-to-her dangling in the air with his shorts for all to see - at her suggestion, James gave a quick assent and flick of his wand, giving her a look of challenge as he heard the snake topple to the grass behind him. A smirk was the boy's natural response to Sirius' quick thinking - no good letting Snape up, the proof of what the other boy would do to get back at a joke had torn his face - but at Lily's roar, James stiffened, eyeing her apprehensively. He knew as well as anyone how talented of a witch she was, and meant his next - she could give him a run for his galleons, and that wasn't a fight he wanted to have. His quarrel was with Snape, not her. So at her insistence, James gave his wand a wave, countercurse appropriated, and her dear Severus was free.

He was midway through his remark to said Slytherin when he dared that. It was a word James had known for life - and known for that long not to use. His parents had been very clear on that - that family and blood didn't make you better or worse, that it was who you were as a person that did. James rounded on him, but Lily beat him to the punch. James' thick brows rose in shock as she used the nickname only he and the boys did - F*ck, you're mad.

"Apologize to Evans!" James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him. For whatever sh*t he was always in with Lily, the other boy's words were inexcusable. You didn't use them unless you meant them - there wasn't any pretense of a joke - it was foul - sick - only the worst of the worst -

"I don’t want you to make him apologize," Lily shouted, rounding on James. "You’re as bad as he is…."

"What?" yelped James. He kept his wand at the snake, but looked to the girl imploringly as he continued earnestly. "I’d NEVER call you a - a you-know-what!"

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you’ve just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can - I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK." She turned on her heel and hurried away.

"Evans!" James shouted after her, "Hey, EVANS!"

But she didn’t look back. "What is it with her?" said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him. It was only the five hundredth time that she'd walked away from him in a huff - but this was different, wasn't it? Her beyond-idiotic friend had just shown his true colors - and he'd been the one to make it happen - didn't that mean anything to her? He kept looking between the girl and Snivellus, not wanting either of them out of his sight.

"Reading between the lines, I’d say she thinks you’re a bit conceited, mate," said Sirius.

"Right," said James, who looked furious now, "right - " His agitation got the best of him, and he took a number of quick paces before glaring at the most worthless piece of human garbage he'd ever had the displeasure of laying eyes on. His motion ceased as quickly as it began, save for his wand - with a silent flick of his wrist, the spell was done.

There was another flash of light, and Snape was once again hanging upside down in the air.

Lily was already pissed and not coming back - what did it matter? The boy deserved what was coming for him, treating her like that.

"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly’s pants?"

(ooc: and END CANON come on back ya'll thanks for your patience!)

[Remus Lupin]

Was it really necessary for them to tease Peter so much? Remus would have liked to scold them, after all, Peter had at least tried. They had all studied together, and Peter also had gotten Daisy to help him study. It was a good effort, and he was positive that Peter would do fine. Still, he kept his mouth shut and smirked when James pulled out the snitch. It wasn't surprising that he would have stolen something like that.

Remus also wasn't surprised when his friends had picked a spot where James could still stare at Lily Evans. While he understood that his friend liked the girl, he mostly felt bad for Lily. They had become close over the years, a fact that was bothersome whenever James decided to try and pester him for information. So when they all settled down, Remus pulled out one of his school books, intent on studying and ignoring the his friends.

He could hear Sirius complaining, and of course his friend refused to help him study. That was fine by him. He was blocking out most of their words, he needed to get as much knowledge in as he could. And while the three of them shouldn't have a problem with their their Transfiguration O.W.L. given the circumstances, Remus was not in the same boat. It wasn't a tough subject for him, but it wasn't exactly as natural as was for the three of them.

"All right Snivellus?"

Remus froze, his eyes no longer scanning the pages. Surely they wouldn't start being cruel to Severus, not with a good portion of the school watching. And not with Lily right there. But James and Sirius were up and moving, and Remus couldn't remove his eyes from the page. They were glued to the words, not moving, and not absorbing any information. Instead his was listening. Spells were being cast and Remus was begging himself to move. He was a prefect, this was his job. He had been placed in this position for a reason, right? But standing up against James and Sirius right now...no.

Remus was afraid of them, at times, a fact he kept to himself. They had come a long way since the days of Sirius being a stuck up pureblood, but the two boys could occasionally be crueler than Remus liked. Especially when it came to Severus. He couldn't understand their fascination with picking on the Slytherin. Last year it had almost resulted in one of them dying, or getting expelled. And perhaps that was why Remus couldn't move, why he didn't move. He was angry that Severus knew his secret. Why should he know? Severus had no right, none at all. This was Remus' secret, his to pick and tell. And while Severus had been sworn to keep it secret by Dumbledore...

So Remus stared at his book, listening to the events unfold with horror. This was going further than he thought, and Lily had gotten involved. James was not going to be pleased with Lily's reaction to this whole situation later, although Remus was sure that he would face some anger from the girl himself. After all, he was supposed to be doing something. He should have been the one to get up and go over to them.

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudblooods like her!"

Remus' eyes snapped up from his book, finally looking at the scene in front of him. James had blood on his robes, which made him frown. Severus had gotten violent? Perhaps the situation was more dire than it had originally seemed. Remus watched as Lily spun on her heels and walked away, James shouting after her. He was angry, an anger that he knew he wouldn't be able to control if he gave it. It was far too close to the moon for this. So he stood and dropped his book as James turned back around towards Severus.

Remus was over to the three boys in a matter of steps, doing his best to keep from shaking. He pulled out his own wand, fully ready to block and return any spells or hexes any of them might throw his way. He stopped behind James and Sirius, clearing his throat loudly.

"That's enough," he hissed out.

[Deleted]

Severus Snape could easily say he was having possibly the worst day ever. And he’d grown up with his father. His exams had gone fine, he had no doubt about that. However, going outside had led to another round of bullying from Potter and his annoying friends. Except of course for that pacifist prat, Lupin. Although, he just sat there and allowed it which was just as bad.

He was studying for the Transfiguration O.W.L., something he wasn’t entirely looking forward to. Potions was always his best subject, all his other subjects were more challenging. Not that he struggled per-say, he and Lily studied often enough. He just didn’t want to risk making any stupid mistakes on the exam. He was doing a thorough examination of his notes, checking and double checking them. He wasn't going to risk forgetting something small. Perhaps he could convince Lily to practice the practical application of the spells later for the other portion of the exam.

His studying had been interrupted by the usual teasing, which he’d grown extremely tired of. He tried to tell himself it was nothing, that the names and the hateful words were just that, words. They couldn’t do any real harm aside from stinging him inside. Then things started turning towards a teasing that was more… physical.

He’d watched in horror as his wand went flying from his hand and landed a decent space away from him. He dove for it, but before he had the chance to get it, he’d been hit with yet another spell. This time he was knocked to the ground.

He took deep breaths, as his vision turned red at the whole thing. He was sick of being their punching bag. Sick of being teased and tormented day in and day out. Where did they get off thinking this was something to be PROUD of!? And just after he’d let out a number of curses he wanted to throw at the group of imbeciles, Potter shot scourgify at him.

He was spitting out soap bubbles as he tried to talk. The soap was making it hard to breathe, and he gasped for air. Just then, Lily showed up and tried to get them to stop. He couldn’t believe she thought he couldn’t defend himself. As soon as he was righted he’d make them pay, she’d see. They would all see.

And then Potter had the nerve to try and ask out Lily. And Lily didn’t even tell him that she was currently very much TAKEN. And within a minute he had his wand and pointed it straight at James. He smirked as he watched blood fall from James’ face. He was finally going to get what was coming to him.

That was until he suddenly found himself dangling in the air. Upside down. It lasted just long enough for everyone to see much more than he wanted them to. Then Lily convinced Potter to let him down. Lily was always the one coming to the rescue. As if she thought he couldn’t stand up for himself. Did she think he was weak? And then Potter had the gall to say if Lily wasn’t there…

“I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!” He realized the gravity of what he’d said the moment he said it but he was too angry to care. He watched her turn and leave after Potter screamed at him to apologize to her. She still hated Potter, but she hated him too now. Then Potter turned and hand him dangling once more, and threatened to remove his pants.

He grimaced, not able to do much from his position. But Lupin took that moment to decide he wanted to intervene. He didn’t need help from some filthy, secret-keeping werewolf. He looked down at his wand, which had fallen to the ground beneath him. He looked back at Potter and his cronies, saying the only thing he could think of.

“Too scared to mock me when my feet are on the ground, Potter?” He sneered at him, as soon as he was on the ground they would pay.

[Deleted]

Evans was a nightmare on the best of days, but to see her coming to such a pathetic excuse for a wizard's defense was just too much and all of his confusion on that subject bubbled out in a laugh at James' words. Too true, mate, too true. His laughter continued when Evans started to insult his best mate and he gave him a slap on back for encouragement - not that the bloke needed it as this was the way they usually engaged one another. Insults and banter and the like. But -

Prongs, what are you doing? 'Course James had asked her out a couple times before, she was fit enough and could clearly get to him in a way most birds couldn't but Sirius - ever the semi-pessimist - couldn't see this working out the same way one of those muggle love stories would. Evans was too stubborn to give in whens they were surrounded by so many people. Regardless of whether she wanted to go out with James or not.

"Bad luck, Prongs," said Sirius briskly, as the idiot girl turned him down again, before turning back to Snape. "OY!"

Sudden rage boiled in him as he took in the blood on James face - who did Snivellus think he was to be using spells like that against them! As much as he wanted to, Sirius had never used a charm that could actually hurt each other. Git was f*cking mental. He couldn't have been pleased than the moment that Snape was flipped upsidedown and he nearly double over with laughter as he took in the underpants Snivelly was wearing.

All too soon, Prongs was letting the git down at Evans' order and said git was one again trying to get at his bleeding wand. As if they didn't know what he would do with it if he got the chance -

“Locomotor mortis!” and Snape keeled over again at once, rigid as a board.

Little Miss Prefect drew her wand and Sirius prepared himself mentally for the duel that was about to happen. She was a right pain in the arse but he wouldn't discredit her wandwork - he'd be an idiot himself if he did. Obviously he would need to follow James' lead on this one - it would be irritating to his best mate if he jinxed the girl of his affections - even though they had totally discussed him trying things out with Doe.

“Take the curse off him, then!”

James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the countercurse. “There you go,” he said, as Snape struggled to his feet again, “you’re lucky Evans was here, Snivellus - ”

“I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!”

Sirius mouth dropped open. Sure, he had grown up hearing slurs like that at home, and had even used them a couple times before he knew any better. But Snape was supposed to be this annoying bird's best mate wasn't he? Didn't that in itself warrant more f*cking respect? Plus she was a Gryffindor! THAT WARRANTS RESPECT ALL ON ITS OWN. His grip on his wand tightened in preparation for a jinx regardless of how much he disliked the redhead. No one got away with something like this - especially not some f*ckwit he already hated. Although, he nearly used all of the adrenaline coursing through him to throw a jinx at Evans when she went off on James.

James didn't use slurs like this.

James had been the first f*cking person on earth who had told him not to use them. What the f*ck was Evans playing at?

But as he took in the look on his mate's face at not only her outright rejection but also her terrible words about his character - Padfoot just couldn't let James think she was right or something.

"Reading between the lines, I’d say she thinks you’re a bit conceited, mate," said Sirius, his voice filled with sarcasm and distaste. He was all too ready for James to start taking out his aggression on the Slytherin - it meant that he wouldn't need to hear a gigantic rant about the redhead once they got back to the dorms.He'd heard enough of them over the years to last him a lifetime - but good ol' Moony had decided that their fun and games were done.

Sirius head whipped back to the slimy Slytherin when he spoke and with an ease that he wasn't completely feeling, he sauntered over the wear Snape's wand lay, picked up and tossed it to Pete before tossing along his own afterwards. "You want a fight Snivelly? I'll give you one - man to, well, a pathetic excuse for a man." He said as he pushed back the sleeves of his shirt.

[Daisy Hookum]

It was nice having free periods. Daisy had taken full advantage of her time off of classes to catch up on some light reading. So far her morning had been spent in the common room catching up on the latest Witch Weekly magazines she hadn't had the time for. Things had been busy recently since Peter had his O.W.L.'s this year. She had been doing her best to help him study, although she was never disappointed when those study sessions turned into something far more entertaining.

She gave a sigh, before looking up from her reading. She was going to be quite content when exams were over so that she could have her boyfriend be less stressed. But at the same time, it was a reminder that she would be dealing with the same exams next year. At least she would have someone who had already taken them to help her out.

Gathering her bag, she looked around the empty common room. Peter would probably go outside after his test, it was far too nice of a day to be stuck inside for too long. And so with that knowledge, she headed out of the castle. It was when she reached the doors outside that Lily Evans stormed past her, visibly upset. Whatever happened, Daisy wasn't sure. If they had been closer she would have gone after Lily, but Daisy was almost positive the other girl wasn't going to talk to her.

With a shrug, Daisy hurried outside only to see a scene that she had not been expecting. And so within seconds she was running across the grounds towards the group, arriving just as Sirius threw a wands towards Peter. A boy was dangling in the air, and she stopped next to Peter to take a glance up. -- Severus, she had heard about him. Peter had complained about him a lot last year. And whatever was going on, no one looked happy. Sirius was in the the Slytherin's face, James was holding him up in the air, and Remus looked...he looked angry. Something that Daisy had never really seen. 

"What's going on? Why are you doing this?" She hated how faint her voice was, and she reached out to grip Peter's robes for support.