the marauders- an inseparable bond

[9] the aftermath

The next morning, both James Potter and Severus Snape had bruised faces, so naturally, everybody assumed they'd been Muggle-duelling. Severus had shrugged of his friends' questions, and now was settling into a bowl of porridge to read the Daily Prophet, which had just arrived by morning post, when Lily sat down next to him. He looked up from his newspaper. He'd known it wouldn't be long till she came to see him, but he didn't think that she would come to Slytherin table, as she never did because of her strong dislike of his friends. She opened her mouth to speak, but as he already knew what she would say, he set down his newspaper, took her hand, and led her out of the Great Hall.

When they reached a deserted alcove where, in a whisper, he explained to her what had happened.

"Oh my god." she breathed, when he had finished his story. "So you were right... He was a werewolf..."

Severus nodded.

"But... why would Sirius say he wasn't friends with them anymore? I know perfectly well he is..."

"A trick. To get me to believe what he was saying so I could get myself killed."

"But Potter... he saved your life!"

Going very red in the face, Snape replied:

"He was saving his own neck as much as mine. Surely he would have been expelled if I'd died because of his little joke."

"But it wasn't his joke. It was Black's."

"Lily, they do everything together, especially scheming. It's obvious Black was only the spokesperson because they knew I'd never believe Potter."

"I guess you're right."

But Lily Evans was thinking hard. She had so thought that Potter had decided to be nice... yet, she was quite gullible. She resolved that it was time to talk to James Potter again.

He was sitting at the Gryffindor table, smiling and talking, surrounded by friends. How could someone so arrogant be so liked? She supposed it was only because he was good at Quidditch and because of his looks. With as much confidence as she could muster, she walked up to where the marauders were sitting and said:

"Oi! Potter. Black. I need to talk to you."

James grinned at her. Why was he always grinning like an idiot?

"Sure thing, Evans."

The two boys followed her out of the Great Hall.

"Sev explained to me what happened last night, but I want your version of the events."

Sirius looked uncertainly at James, who said:

"Let's be honest."

Sirius gave a short nod and began to tell the story. At one point, he stopped, and James took over, finishing the tale off.

"That was an awful thing to do," she told Sirius, "but at least you felt bad afterwards and told the truth. James, well, that was very kind of you."

James blushed deep scarlet.

"But what I don't understand," she continued, "is why this Thompson guy has it in for Sev."

"We're just as clueless as you, Evans." James said cheerfully.

"Well then, I guess I'm going to go talk to him." she said, and before they could protest, she was gone.

***

James and Sirius, curious, looked out for Lily that day, but the only time they saw her was during lessons, and since the teachers were pushing harder than ever to get them to succeed on their rapidly approaching OWLs, they had no chance of talking to her then. After dinner, they saw her walking somewhere determinedly.