Saturday, January 5 (Sixth Year)

Padfoot

James jabs me in the ribs with his elbow and hisses for me to be quiet, but I can't stop laughing. I (barely) manage to keep it under control, but I'm shaking with it as I watch Snivellus around the corner. He's practically in tears after tripping over the wire we stretched across the hallway and spilling ink all over his books. He's trying to salvage a couple pieces of parchment—probably his homework—but I can already tell that there's no way he's going to swipe the ink off so that his professors can read his work. He looks furious, and he keeps glancing around suspiciously between attempts at cleaning his books.

Remus flicks his wand, and the trip wire disappears. "Good thinking," I whisper as I try to contain my laughter. I wipe my eyes and try to breathe. "'But Professor, someone tripped me,'" I whine in a high-pitched imitation of Snivellus' voice. "'Mr. Snape, I don't see a trip wire anywhere. Don't try to blame someone else because you tripped and ruined your homework.'"

I hear an angry huff behind me, and all four of us turn around. Lily is standing behind us, looking infuriated, with her hands on her hips. I've gotta hand it to James, he's got good taste. She's cute when she's angry, her green eyes flashing with spirit. "That wasn't funny!" she whispers furiously. "He probably worked hard on his homework, and he'll get no credit for it!"

"That's the beauty in it," I reply smugly, grinning. Looking at the other Marauders, I see that Remus is carefully avoiding Lily's gaze, looking completely sober. James doesn't seem to know how to react. The last few times Lily has seen us pulling mean jokes on Snivellus (regardless of how much he deserves it), she has gotten very angry, just like this. I think James is starting to realize that she isn't kidding, and it isn't helping his chances with her to act smug about the whole thing. He nervously runs a hand through his hair, eyes darting between her and me. Only Peter still looks remotely pleased about the successful prank, but he also looks uncertain.

"Who's there?"

We all freeze, turning to peek around the corner. Snivellus is livid. He's looking around; the snowstorm outside makes it dark enough in the corridors that our heads aren't entirely obvious peeping around the corner.

"I know you're there, and you're going to get it!" he says, his voice slightly shrill and shaking.

Lily groans and steps around the corner, ignoring the gesturing and whispered 'What are you doing?!'s from us Marauders. Snivellus takes one look at her and his expression turns absolutely disbelieving. Maybe even... a little hurt? I stiffen. "Merlin... Snivellus has a crush on Evans!" I whisper incredulously to Remus, Peter, and James. I nearly fall into another convulsive laughing fit, but before I can—and before the other Marauders can react to the news—Lily walks toward Snivellus and starts helping him pick up his books.

"Let me help you, Severus," she says kindly. I can't help noticing the way her eyes flick to his greasy hair—she may feel sorry for him, but at least she has the sense to see how revolting he is. "It's the weekend, you'll have time to get your homework redone—I'll help if you like—" She piles his books in his arms, takes out her wand, and aims a cleaning charm at his books. The ink disappears—even off of his homework, but unfortunately for him, it takes the ink of his answers away as well. I snicker a little; he's got blank parchment in place of his homework.

Snivellus jerks his head to the side to look behind Lily, glaring sullenly. He hates that Lily's helping him, I can tell; he probably knows it's out of pity. "I know you did this," he snarls, and I can also tell by his tone that he knows we're hiding. So I step out into the hallway.

"Oh, sorry, Snivellus, we must have left some wire lying around," I greet him, my voice dripping with sarcasm and smug gloating. "Maybe you should be more careful walking back from the library, y'know, what with all that homework you've just spent so much time on..."

I don't think James can help himself at the look on Snivellus' face. He bursts into laughter as he steps out into the corridor next to me and says, "Wow, how pathetic. I bet his own family can't stand him."

Before Snivellus can reply, Lily is bearing down on us, wand in hand and face livid with fury. I think we've struck a nerve. "That's enough! That's enough! All of you are horrible, no one deserves that! Leave him alone!" She's practically screaming. She's bound to attract any teachers hovering around nearby. "How would you feel if someone ruined your homework when you worked so hard on it?! You should know better than to do stupid things like this—you should know better than to insult someone's family—you're no better than him! No—no better than a Death Eater!"

Stunned silence greets the end of her tirade. Personally, I didn't think she had it in her to yell like that. We must have really ticked her off. Still, I think Snivellus, of all people, does deserve the way he's treated. And some families deserve to be insulted—take mine. I hate my family. That's why I live with James' family.

Lily's lower lip is quivering. She turns furiously and storms away past Snivellus, who looks as stunned as we are, clutching his books to his chest. James hesitates, and then runs after her. He looks guilty. I think Lily's words struck a chord in him.

Snivellus stares for a second, then adopts his customary greasy sneer, brushing past us and walking quickly away. I exchange glances with Remus and Peter, who both look as if the sky has caved in. I feel quite the same. "She was awfully mad," Peter says quietly. Understatement of the year, if you ask me.

Remus glances out the window. There isn't much to see but the gray-white swirling past the windows; it's snowing something awful. But he looks exhausted. He murmurs dully, "We should get back to the tower."

Moony

I'm tired, and I just want to go to sleep. I didn't sleep well last night, either. I'm not sure what's giving me such bad nightmares this month, but I hope it doesn't mean the change will be worse tomorrow night. I was dragging through classes on Friday, as the other Marauders didn't fail to notice, and today the only time I had any sort of energy was when we were playing that prank on Snape... but now I feel awful about that.

I climb through the portrait hole before Sirius. The common room's not very full, so it must be earlier than it seems. Most students are still at the library studying, or maybe even in the Great Hall for dinner. I think I'll skip dinner tonight. I haven't been very hungry, or else I've been nauseated. I've barely been able to manage two meals between the last two days.

Sirius climbs through behind me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Dinner's soon, Moony, we can probably head on down." He glances around the common room, looking rather serious for once... I think Lily's lecture sobered all four of us, at least a little.

"I'm really not hungry," I reply half-heartedly. "I just want to go to sleep."

Sirius must have been checking the time, because now he says, "Remus, it's only five thirty in the evening. You haven't eaten much of anything today or yesterday. Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey."

I'm a little surprised by his concern. Usually Sirius is the last to suggest going to the Hospital Wing. But I shake my head and say, "It's just the full moon coming up. I'll be fine after that."

"If you say so," he replies, plopping down sideways in a plush armchair with his legs draped over one of the arms. He looks up at me and says, "Lily really blew up back there. I didn't know she could scream like that." He sounds cavalier, as if Lily's outburst had only been a tad out of the ordinary, hardly remarkable. It annoys me.

"We really made her angry," I murmur, deciding that bed can wait a little bit longer as I lean against the back of Sirius' chair, looking down at him. "I feel bad about it. I hope James tracked her down, and she's okay." I don't dare tell him that I even feel a little badly about what we did to Snape. I know him. That just wouldn't be a good idea.

He shrugs. "She'll get over it. I wonder what pushed her over the edge?"

I frown. This isn't heading in the direction I intended. I hadn't realized until now that I was intending for it to head in a certain direction... but I am. "She compared us to Death Eaters," I say in a hushed tone. I look up to make sure no one's paying attention to our conversation; I don't want to worry someone if they hear us talking about Death Eaters. "Maybe we did go a little far."

"We've done tons worse than that to Snivellus," Sirius says dismissively. He's giving me a curious look. "Besides, he deserves it. You know that. He's practically a Death Eater, I'll bet."

My frown deepens. I suppose it wouldn't surprise me if Snape turns out to be a Death Eater. But I wonder how he would have turned out if more people were nice to him, like Lily tries to be. It's stupid to think this way... but I can't help wondering. "Maybe he doesn't. Lily obviously doesn't think so. She said no one deserves it, remember?"

Sirius shakes his head, and I can tell he isn't about to change his mind. "She didn't mean that. You-Know-Who deserves far worse than stupid little pranks like that, after all, and you know she'd admit it. People are what they are, and Snivellus is a greasy little git with his nose too far in the Dark Arts."

People are what they are... and I'm a werewolf, I can't help thinking. I shudder. I don't want to talk about this anymore. At all. I don't want to think about the monster inside me. So I stand up and cast one last glance down at Sirius. "I'm going to bed."

He seems worried about me as I turn and head up the stairs to our dormitory. I collapse on my bed, dreading the nightmares I expect to trouble my sleep, but not wanting to stay up and brood over what's happened, either.

Padfoot

The Great Hall is packed for dinner, the same as it was for breakfast and lunch. Usually students come and go as they please to dinner, taking their time; today, though, it's miserable outside. Any kid in his right mind is eager to get done with studying as quickly as he can, and there's not much else other than studying to occupy us on days like this, so the Great Hall tends to be full and buzzing with chatter when the weather is horrible. The enchanted ceiling reflects the blizzard outside, snow falling so thickly that it looks like a blanket of grayish-white over the hall.

Peter's already at the table. When he sees me, he waves, grinning. "Hey, Sirius, I didn't think you'd come... where's Moony?"

I can't help grinning a little at how eager and young he sounds. He's our age, but he seems like he's some over-excited little third year, not a sixth year. Still, I'm not feeling so great, myself. I think Remus rubbed some of his low spirits off on me. "Tired," I reply. "He's gone to bed early. Have you seen James?"

Wormtail shakes his head, his blonde hair flying. He's getting a little heavier this year... He's always been a little plump, but now I'm starting to think he should probably cut back on the sweets.

I'm not altogether very hungry, but I shovel down my food automatically, hardly tasting it. Peter's chattering beside me, I think about the nearly-finished Marauder's Map (my idea, I'm proud to say, though James inspired it), but I'm only listening with half an ear. Up at the Staff Table, Professor Dumbledore is having an animated conversation with Professor McGonagall; Hagrid, the gamekeeper, isn't there, but he usually steers clear of the castle except for special occasions.

I'm halfway through my meal when James and Lily, looking slightly flushed, enter the Hall together. I grin; by the looks of it, James has made up to Lily, and she's ready to give him the time of day. I knew she liked him, at least a little. I give a small wave, and they hurry over to sit next to Peter and me, though Lily doesn't look quite like she's ready to forgive the rest of us Marauders even if she's made up with James. Peter looks up from his nearly-finished food and grins broadly. "I knew she liked him," he says, and I make sure he can't see me roll my eyes.

"Hey, Padfoot," James says slightly breathlessly, sitting across from me since there's not enough space for the two of them on either side of Peter or me. Lily sits next to him, eyeing Peter and me distrustfully. "Wormtail. Where's Remus?"

"Sleeping," Peter pipes up helpfully.

"What's with your nicknames?" Lily asks James. I give him a goofy grin while she isn't looking, and I can tell he has trouble not beaming back now that Lily's on speaking terms with him. Instead, he kicks me under the table, and I jump. Lily looks at me, startled, and thankfully seems to forget her question.

"Sorry about upsetting you," I tell Lily by way of apology, and Peter nods fervently as he finishes off his meal. "We didn't mean to."

She doesn't look happy about this apology, and she replies curtly, "It's Snape you should apologize to."

I almost choke on my food, but a look from James stops me from replying indignantly. Lily seems to accept my silence as a sort of peace treaty and begins eating. I finish my own food as quickly as I can and try to catch James' eye so we can have a little talk, but he shakes his head and gestures to Lily.

My mouth twitches into a frown, and I roll my eyes and get up from the table. "I'm going back to the common room. I'll see you later."

* * *

It's late at night before I get to talk to James alone. Lily has retired to bed, leaving James and me in a nearly empty common room in front of the blazing fire, warding off the chill of the blizzard outside. The fact that James and Lily wouldn't separate for anything had been irritating me to no end, but now that she's gone, I let it go and grin at James. "I told you she doesn't hate you."

He blushes and grins back. "Shut up, Padfoot. She was right, today."

I raise my eyebrows at him, surprised. "I know you had to tell her you were sorry about the thing with Snivellus, but this is me. Not Peeves. I won't go dancing off to tell her whatever you say to me."

He musses his hair with a hand and pushes his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose. "I mean it, Sirius. I talked to her about it... and... you know how she's Muggle-born. And I said something about Sniv—Snape's family. That's how You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters are. They hate you just if you have the wrong sort of family, or just if you associate with the wrong kinds of people, like Muggles and Muggle-borns."

"But we hate Snivellus just for being his slimy little self," I point out. James watches me with his hazel eyes, and I can tell that Lily's gotten to him.

"He's awful, I know. And he's into the Dark Arts..." He sighs. I know he's fighting not to slide back into just hating Snivellus like normal, and I'm about to encourage it—the little git deserves being hated—when he finishes, "Still, we shouldn't always be so horrible to him. Just when he earns it, not for no good reason."

I shake my head and laugh. "Okay, Prongs." He'll be over this in a week, I tell myself. Funny what a girl can do to a bloke. I've never been seriously interested in a girl, but I've seen boys our age head-over-heels for one, willing to do whatever she wants. "Let's go to bed."