Treacherous | J. POTTER

16 | choices

James sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, his hand clenched tightly around his fork. Remus and Peter watched him warily. Neither of them really knew what had happened between the two when Sirius had left them alone but it was clear that something had happened and it was something bad.

"So I was thinking about our upcoming prank..." Remus trailed off. Normally he wasn't the one to suggest it but with Sirius and James so distracted lately, Peter and him had to step up. "And-"

"What?" James interrupted and the two looked up at him. He had a frown on his face. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Remus let out a sigh of defeat, "Nevermind."

"Hey," Sirius muttered as he placed his tray down on the table. "What did I miss?"

James looked up at the boy and quickly looked away, focusing on his food. He had been avoiding his friend ever since the day after they returned to Hogwarts and no one knew why. Well, it was clear that it had to do with Del but what specifically, no one knew.

Del, on the other hand, had been avoiding all of the Marauder's. She kept her distance in class and whenever they were heading the same direction in the hall, she mysteriously vanished.

After that night and with James finding out what had happened while she was at home, she couldn't face any of them. The worst part was she had no idea if the boy had told anyone or not.

She had managed to convince Snape to swap partners to avoid any possible awkward confrontations. James could have told Lily and that would have been beyond unbearable.

"Do you really think it's a good idea?" Snape asked with a slight frown. Prior to him speaking, they had been silent during their patrol. Snape was the only other person Del had voluntarily told seeing as Dumbledore had offered him the same position as her.

It wasn't as though the two were friends but they were acquaintances of sorts and cared at least a little bit about each other. After all, she had put the boy on her protection list.

"Do I have any other choice?" she countered.

He pressed his lips together but nodded in agreement. She didn't have another choice, not when it was a choice between herself and the people she cares about.

They walked through the hall when there was a noise from up ahead.

"Lily, go get a teacher," a familiar voice suggested.

"She's not going anywhere," someone replied.

Del and Snape shared a look before they both took off. They came to a halt upon seeing Bellatrix with her wand drawn on Lily and James.

"What the hell is going on?" Del demanded, her own wand drawn within seconds.

Bellatrix's gaze flickered over to her and her face dropped momentarily. She recovered swiftly, "Only having fun. Care to join?"

Lily's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she glanced back at Del. Del sucked in a breath before stepping forward, "You aren't supposed to be here."

"You're not in charge of what I do."

Del's lip quirked up slightly, "Would you rather he be here to talk to you right now?"

Her eyes widened slightly and Del's grip tightened on her wand. She glanced back at the three behind her.

"Get her out of here, Severus," Del requested, her wand still pointed at Bellatrix as she spoke. Snape nodded before guiding the reluctant Lily away.

"Get out of here, Potter," she suggested.

"No," he protested and she glanced back at him, her wand still aimed at her cousin.