true loves poison • james potter

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Slowly, she turned to look at Remus, who's pale face somehow got even whiter, "I know it sounds bad, Lorelei, but-"

Grabbing her wand she charged toward him, "Lupin, what did you do?" She asked darkly.

"It was a prank!" He panicked, backing against the wall, "We do them all the time, we didn't know they were first years! James just thought it would be funny to-"

"James?" Lorelei asked quietly, plotting seven ways she could kill him.

Just then, Lily, James, Peter, and Sirius entered. "Woah, hey, hey hey-" James said walking up to the pair, "Lorelei, why do you have your wand pointed at Remus?"

Behind her Anna started crying again.

Lorelei turned her blackened gaze on James. "You're dead Potter."

Confusion washed over his face and he backed into Sirius, "What?"

"I'm going to ask you this once, and you damn well better answer truthfully: did you pour ink over the first years?" Her voice came out shaky, her anger barely contained.

Lily left the group to take care of the first years, and her quiet reassurances to them filled the room as Lorelei and James stared at each other.

Eventually, James answered. "Yes," he held up his hands, "But, Lorelei, I didn't know it would be first years! Okay! It's just a harmless prank, they're fine!"

"You scared them to tears, James!" She said, lowering her wand. Hot tears brimmed in her eyes, "They're eleven! What purpose was there in dumping ink over innocent children? Huh?"

"I didn't know they were eleven, Lorelei." He said, anger filling his features as he snapped back, "It was harmless! They're not injured."

"So it would have somehow made it better if they were twelve? Or older? There's nothing funny about putting other people down, James, do you hear me?"

"Godric, Lorelei. I think half the school can hear you! It was just a dumb, funny prank!"

Tilting her head forward, "This," she gestured to the three kids, where Anna was now crying into Lily's shoulder, "Is what you find funny James?" She said significantly quieter. "Well I find it disgusting that you think it's funny to bully children."

Turning from him she walked over to the kids and led Douglas and Steven out while Lily carried Anna to Professor McGonagall's office.

"They're going to be fine. I'll talk to Potter and the other boys." McGonagall said as the six of them met in her office.

Watching the professor leave, Lorelei turned to Lily after the door shut, "How could they do that?" She whispered harshly, not wanting the young slytherins to hear from where they were talking by McGonagall's desk.

Lily sighed. "James and them have always pranked people, especially slytherins."

"And that makes it okay?" She said, raising her voice a little, but remembering at the last word to be quiet.

"No, it just makes it predictable. I'm honestly not surprised. I've found plenty of slytherins who were pranked by James and them, and somehow they always get out of being suspended." She sighed, "James and Sirius rarely spend their days outside of detention."

Lorelei found it difficult to suppress her anger.

After a few moments of waiting, Professor McGonagall returned with James, Sirius, Peter and Remus in tow.

The tension in the room rose the second James set foot in the room. Lorelei refused to acknowledge him in any way as she walked over to the young slytherins.

"Miss Byrd," Professor McGonagall asked as she followed her to her desk, taking a seat behind it, "Would you mind recounting what happened in detail?"

Lorelei took a deep breath and told McGonagall how she left dinner early, found the kids, ran into James and the others, had Peter get Lily, and when she returned to the kids Douglas identified Remus as one of the boys who pranked him. "Professor, they're eleven." Lorelei's voice cracked as she barely contained herself from yelling, "And James found it comical that he dumped ink on them. They're children and James is five years their senior."

"Potter?" McGonagall asked, shifting her attention to the boy, "Is this all true?"

Lorelei missed any of his body language as she stared resolutely in the opposite direction at the kids.

He must have nodded, because McGonagall hummed. "Detention. For all four of you." She gestured at the boys. "For a week."

"Professor!" Lorelei said, looking back at McGonagall. "They dumped ink on three kids and left them! If I hadn't been around they would've been there for another hour before dinner ended."

"And what do you propose should be their punishment?" McGonagall asked, clearly annoyed at the situation.

Glaring at the ceiling, Lorelei forced herself to not yell out "Azkaban." And instead answer somewhat reasonably. "Three weeks detention for Remus, Sirius, and Peter. Suspension for Potter."

"Lorelei!" James said from her left, but she refused to look over at him. The other three gryffindor boys muttered indecipherable words of discouragement at McGonagall.

McGonagall held her hands out in front of her, "Stop acting like baboons." Waiting a moment until the boys had quieted, McGonagall addressed Lorelei. "I won't suspend Potter for this, Miss Byrd. But considering how you see justice must be served, I will give each boy two weeks detention, and they will be denied their weekly trips to Hogsmeade until their detention is served. Does that sound more fair to you Miss Byrd?" McGonagall waited until Lorelei nodded. "Mister Potter?" Presumably waiting until he nodded as well. "Alright then. Go back to your common rooms now. Goodnight students."

Lorelei turned and walked out of McGonagall's office quickly, not wanting to talk with anyone at all at the moment.

Unfortunately, Potter had longer legs than her. "Lorelei." He called, gaining on her.

Trying to out-walk him, she ignored his calls from behind her, but her efforts were in vain when she felt him grab her arm. Stopping, accepting defeat, she turned to face him, "What do you want from me."

Now that he had caught her, James looked lost for words. After a moment of his mouth being open but no sound coming out, Lorelei tilted her head, annoyance written plainly on her face.

"What happened today?" He asked quickly, his mind seemingly spurred into action, "Padfoot and I prank slytherins all the time and you've never commented on it before." He gave a harsh, humorless laugh, "It's not like the whole school doesn't talk about it, we've never hid it."

Lorelei slowly pulled her wrist from his grip. "James," She started firmly, but calmly, "I have never tolerated your behavior. I didn't even enjoy being near you until a month ago, and since then it's been a delicate friendship at best. I guess before now I didn't realize how awful of a person you are and how revolting your actions make you. Do you think it's okay to bully a child for fun? So you can laugh at them?" She shook her head, "I refuse to be friends with people who play with others emotions for amusement, so once you and the others decide to grow up and stop bullying children then you can talk to me."

Walking away she left James standing in the corridor, alone.