08.
Spreading Darkness continued...
Lily immediately broke out in a sprint, heading in the direction of the corridor. She heard James' and Remus' footsteps behind her, easily catching up to her. The three reached the portraits quickly, pausing a few seconds to catch their breath.
The wizard in the middle portrait had moved to the third frame, crammed in next to a boy of about seventeen, his brown hair messy. He was dunking a cookie in the glass of milk half-heartedly, and when he looked down at the three students beneath him, he sighed solemnly, obviously expecting them.
"Ah, I see my message got to you three fairly quickly," the older man said, giving the boy a pat on the back before returning to his own portrait, giving them a little space.
Lily watched the boy before her. There were bags under his eyes, even though she thought paintings didn't have problems like that. He looked stressed and unhappy, and she could tell that he wasn't in the mood to be talking to them.
"Are you Henry?" She asked kindly, trying to calm him down.
The boy, Henry, nodded glumly and continued drowning his cookie in the milk, the tips of his fingers getting wet. "Richard told me you were looking for me last night." He jerked his head in the direction of the wizard back in his portrait, who was apparently Richard. "Why were you looking for me?"
"We understand you weren't at the chess game yesterday, when the message was written. We were wondering if you were here when it happened. It's really important."
Henry sighed, pulling his cookie out of the milk and letting it fall on his plate with a wet plop. "Let me guess - you're curious if I saw whoever did it."
"Yeah, that's what we were wondering. Did you?" Lily asked nervously, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer when there was such a great chance that it would take away all her hope.
Henry leaned back, watching the three of them with piercing navy blue eyes, lingering on each individually. His gaze returned to Lily's own emerald stare as he opened his mouth to speak. "I saw something, but I'm not sure how much help it'll be."
"Well, what did you see?" James, ever the patient type, asked in a slightly frustrated voice.
"I saw someone in a black cloak and a funny mask. Sort of like a skull, really, but not quite as skeletal. I could tell it was a mask, but I couldn't see anything but the eyes - they were so dark that they almost looked black. He was fairly tall, probably almost as tall as you two, and he was fairly large. Very menacing, really. I hid beneath the table, but I saw him put the message up. He had some sort of concoction in a jar with him; it sort of looked like blood. After he was done writing the message, he put some spells on it, probably to keep people from getting it done, but I don't remember hearing the spells - they must have been nonverbal. After that, he left. I was afraid he saw me, though, so I got out of there fast - someone who would do that wouldn't hesitate to attack a picture, I'm sure. I avoided my portrait until a little while ago. Now I'm wishing I hadn't come back, though," he said, finishing off with the tiredness evident in his deep voice.
"So you never actually saw his face?"
"Nope, not a single peek."
"Well, this was a complete waste," James groaned, turning away to face the message once again, which seemed to gleam in the early-morning light. "We know just as much as we did before."
Lily sighed. "Well, thanks, Henry. If you remember anything else, could you let us know?"
He nodded, his gaze returning to his sad-looking cookie before he tossed it to the floor.
"Well, we might as well head to breakfast, talk to Padfoot and Wormtail. Maybe they'll have some ideas," Remus said as he began walking in the direction of the Great Hall.
James nodded and started following his friend. They didn't notice that Lily was still standing there, watching Henry.
"There's something you're not telling us, isn't there?" She asked, making Henry jump as he realized that she was still there.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Henry said, his eyes looking everywhere but at her face.
Lily's head tilted to the left as she considered the boy sitting in the portrait, the guilt and secrecy so plain on his face. She knew he was hiding something, she just couldn't figure out what it was.
"Lily!"
Lily turned to see that James and Remus had returned after realizing that she wasn't with them.
"What's taking you so long?" James asked, watching her.
Lily gave them a small smile. "Nothing, just thinking." She turned to join them, but not before giving Henry a long stare, one that clearly showed she would find out what he was hiding, sooner or later. He blushed and ducked out of his portrait, disappearing from the quiet corridor. Lily sighed and joined James and Remus.
They entered the Great Hall quietly, matching the noise level among the few students. It was fairly early, and the only people at the Gryffindor table were Sirius and Peter, who both looked tired and unhappy to be awake so early. The trio joined them across the table, Lily seated in between the two boys.
"Fancy meeting you here," James said cheekily, smacking Sirius on the shoulder. Sirius merely glared at him and tried to pierce his egg with his fork but missed in his sleepy haze.
"What are you two doing up so early, anyway?" Remus asked as he reached for some toast.
"Wormtail here woke me up when he noticed you two were gone and made me come down here.
Coincidentally, I think I'm going to murder him later."
Peter was too tired to even take Sirius seriously, and instead slumped against his friend, his eyes slipping shut.
Lily watched him with concern. "I'm surprised he was able to wake up himself, let alone wake you up."
Sirius shrugged his friend off before going back to this breakfast in front of him, shoving food in his mouth in an attempt to wake himself up.
"So, where did you guys run off to anyway," Sirius asked as he chewed, causing Lily to look away in disgust.
"Back to the corridor. That picture returned, but he didn't tell us anything helpful."
"You mean we did all of that for nothing?" Sirius asked, groaning.
"Maybe not..." Lily said, before shutting her mouth. She hadn't meant for that to slip out -
she planned on keeping her suspicions to herself until she knew whether they were right or not.
James turned to look down at her. "What are you talking about, Evans?"
Lily blushed and poked at her muffin, heating up under the four gazes directed at her. "Nothing."
James nudged her lightly in the shoulder. "No, it's not ‘nothing’. You know something, don't you? Is that why you stayed behind?"
Lily bit her lip and continued ignoring the others, trying to decide what she should tell them.
"You already let the cat out of the bag, you might as well not leave us hanging," Sirius said, annoyance in his voice.
Lily looked up at the four Marauders watching her, her cheeks still colored a bright pink. "Well, I thought Henry was hiding something, that's all."
"What do you mean?" Remus asked, curious.
"Well, did you see how he was acting? He knows something else, I'm sure of it. I just don't know what."
"What could he possibly be hiding? And why would he hide something anyway - what does he have to gain from keeping information from us, other than pissing us off?" Sirius asked, still annoyed.
"I think he's scared," Lily said, finally looking back up completely rather than watching her breakfast. "The person really scared him, so much that he's worried for his safety."
"He's a picture - what's the worst that can happen to him?"
"There's plenty - this person could easily attack him. Pictures can be destroyed, you know."
"So basically, we're screwed because this baby is too scared to tell us what we need to know?"
Lily shook her head, watching the wall behind Sirius and Peter's heads with a faraway look as she fell deep into thought. "I think he'll tell us, he just needs time."
"And why would he tell us? It's not like we can bribe him or anything - he's just a picture."
Lily's gaze returned from its faraway place. "I think he'll tell us. Guilt, probably, will help us."
"What do you mean? Why would he be guilty?"
"Because he knows that the information he has could help us, and could put a stop to all of this. He's too scared right now, but I think he'll come around, hopefully sooner rather than later."
"So we're just going to sit around waiting in the meantime? Great plan," Sirius said sarcastically. Lily felt Remus shift next to her as he kicked his friend in the leg, causing Sirius to wince in pain.
"Well, we'll have plenty to do in the meantime," James pointed out as he took a bite out of his donut.
Lily glanced up at James questioningly. "What do you mean?"
"For one thing, Quidditch try-outs for the Gryffindor team are tonight. I'm the Captain this year so I have to be there running things. And Padfoot will be there of course."
"Trying out for beater again?" Lily asked as she started eating her muffin.
"Of course - Prongs needs me by his side, beating back all those nasty little Slytherins who will be trying to push him off his broom."
"Hey, I can defend myself - I'm much faster than you on a broom."
"True, but unimportant."
James nudged Lily. "Are you going to come and watch? You can sit with Moony and Wormtail."
"I don't know about that - I have loads of homework..."
"Come on, Evans, live a little. Besides, you know Prongs wants you to fall behind on homework again so that you need his help."
Lily rolled her eyes but she was laughing. It was true that it'd be fun to just watch a bunch of Gryffindors flying around on brooms, especially if it got her mind off of all the problems going on in the wizarding world. Besides, it was looking like it was going to be a gorgeous day, as the sky mimicked the colorful sunrise outside.
James smiled as he saw Lily actually considering his invitation, and his spirits rose even higher when she nodded and replied that she might as well.
"Might as well what?"
The Marauders and Lily turned to face Dillon, Ivy's younger brother, as he sat down next to Sirius.
"Lily here has decided to honor us with her presence at the Quidditch try-outs tonight,"
James said as he slung his arm around her shoulders. Lily rolled her eyes again but didn't bother attempting to get out from under his strong arm.
"Are you trying out for seeker again, Dillon?" Remus asked, his breakfast already eaten.
"I think so. And Ivy mentioned trying out for beater rather than keeper this year."
"Really?" Sirius asked, his eyebrow rising in question.
"She said that spending more time with you guys has given her a lot of pent-up anger that she needs to get out, and she thought hitting bludgers would do the trick," Dillon said wryly as he reached over Sirius for some sausage. Lily giggled as the four boys tried to look offended but were barely hiding their own grins.
"Well, all the more reason to go, I guess - Ivy will need my support," Lily said as she finished up her muffin, daintily dabbing at her lips with her napkin.
"Sure, use all the excuses you want," James whispered loudly in Lily's ear. Lily scoffed and elbowed him in the stomach, smiling as he gasped for breath for a few seconds before recovering.
"Where is the lovely Ms. Parks anyway?" Sirius asked her brother. "I'd like to size up my competition, if I can call her that."
"I think you'll be surprised - she was practicing a lot over summer break. I have the bruises to show you," Dillon said as he proudly displayed a purple welt on his forearm. "Anyway, I think she's still in bed. A morning person, she is not. Although I'm sort of surprised to see that you managed to wake up before her, Lils."
"I just felt like waking up early today, I guess. I decided it'd be best to let her sleep in a little longer. I knew she'd be grouchy if I woke her up, plus I didn't feel like dealing with her questions."
"Questions about what?"
Lily bit her lip, saying the wrong thing for the second time that morning. "Just something we were talking about last night. Not really important."
The questioning look on Dillon's face remained, but the smirk also there showed that he was willing to let it go, at least for now.
James, Sirius, and Dillon return to their conversation about Quidditch, with Peter listening in amazement and awe. Remus, who didn't care much about Quidditch, turned to Lily with a smile on his face. "What do you say we leave these guys and head off to Herbology together? I doubt they'll even notice we're gone."
Lily smirked and nodded, grabbing her bag from the floor and getting up. Sure enough, the boys didn't notice them leaving, although Lily thought she saw James glance at them as they turned the corner.
"So, do you really think Henry will tell us what he's hiding?" Remus asked Lily as they headed outside to the greenhouses.
Lily shrugged. "I don't know for sure, but I have a feeling that he will, although it may take some time. I think he needs to think it over for a while before he decides what he's going to do, but I figure he'll do the right thing in the end. We're just going to have to hope that it's not too late."
"I hope you're right. But what should we do while we wait? We can't sit around and do nothing."
"I guess we'll just have to keep an eye out. Although I think we need to do something to prepare ourselves, maybe arm ourselves."
"Like what? Learning spells?"
"That'd be a good idea. This person hasn't attacked anyone yet, but it's best to be prepared. Maybe a few of us could get together after school some nights and practice some defensive spells."
"That actually sounds like a really good idea. We'd have to do it around Quidditch practices, of course, because you know that James and Sirius would want to join in, and if Ivy found out she would probably want to join in. We might as well ask Dillon if he wants to join us as well."
"I'm sure we're not the only ones who need this - we could probably find some other Gryffindors and a handful of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. We might want to keep it a secret, though - I'm not so sure that all of the teachers would want us practicing defensive spells by ourselves. And they might force us to let Slytherins join and you know that'd be a disaster, especially since they're probably the ones behind this all."
"True. Well, we can start off small; make sure that this is something we want to do. We can mention it to the rest of the Marauders later."
"Tell us what?"
Lily turned around to face James, who had come up behind them along with Sirius. Peter was nowhere to be seen, but Lily was sure that he wasn't too far behind.
"Lily had an idea for what we can do while we wait for Henry to get back to us," Remus said, before explaining her idea. When he was done, both boys nodded as they thought it over.
"Sounds like fun, plus it'll really help, although there's very little we don't know," Sirius said with a cocky grin on his handsome face. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Hey, where's Wormtail?" Remus asked, finally noticing his third friend's absence.
Sirius shrugged. "One minute he was behind us and the next he was gone. I figure he got lost or something. Hopefully some kind soul will remind him where his Charms class is."
"Anyway, back to Evans' idea," James said, waving off his friend's disappearance easily. "I think we should do it. We could find an abandoned classroom that the teachers tend to avoid and use some spells to keep people from finding it."
"What classroom would we use, though? They're all used at some point," Remus pointed out, causing the four to pause and think. Then an idea popped into Lily's head and a smile spread across her face.
"What about the Room of Requirement?"
"The what?" Sirius asked, obviously annoyed to be out of the loop.
"You mean Potter didn't tell you what we found in the library yesterday?"
"Well, a lot of stuff happened after that, if you recalled. Finding the Room of Requirement definitely wasn't the biggest thing that happened yesterday."
"Who cares about that - what's the Room of Requirement?" Sirius asked, still frustrated.
"It's a special room that's nearly impossible to find. If we use it, we'd be almost guaranteed to keep it a secret."
"Sounds good. We could check it out later this week."
The group all nodded as the bell rang out across the castle, alerting them to the time.
"Well, guess we'd better head into the greenhouse," Remus said as he gestured to the glass building about ten yards away from them. The group headed over through the open door, finding a table of four. They sat in silence as the other seventh years in their N.E.W.T.-level Herbology class came in and found their own seats.
The class went by fairly quickly for Lily - she was too busy taking notes before tackling their class project to worry about anything else. The rest of the day continued in the same manner, until it was already dinner, with Lily and Ivy eating with the Marauders before they headed out to the Quidditch field for try-outs.
"Are you ready?" Lily asked her friend worriedly, who was merely pushing her food around on her plate rather than eating it. Ivy was a very good keeper, but there was no guarantee that she'd be good enough as a beater, especially since there was only one position open - the other beater position was as good as Sirius', thanks not only to his friendship with James but also because of his great skill.
"Great, just great," Ivy said, flashing one of her trademark smiles, but with only about half the normal wattage. "I just want to get this over with."
"If what Dillon tells us is true, then you have nothing to worry about," James said, overhearing their conversation. "Besides, our old beater graduated last year so at least the only real competition you have at the moment is Padfoot."
Ivy didn't look very reassured, but Lily shot James a smile in thanks.
"Maybe we should head down to the pitch now," James suggested. "We're all done eating anyway; just sitting here will only freak us out."
"Speak for yourself. I feel great," Sirius said, but he shut up when Remus, James, and Lily all shot him a glare. "But we can go if you want."
The six of them headed to the pitch, joking around as they neared it. At the stands the group split in two, with James, Sirius, and Ivy headed down to the field while Lily found a spot with Remus and Peter. They settled in as the group down on the field began to grow, first through seventh year Gryffindors milling around with their brooms, some new and others very, very old. Lily caught sight of Dillon standing next to his sister, probably trying to give her advice or at least calm her down. Lily gave her friend a silent prayer of support, desperately hoping that she would get the beater position. If Ivy didn't get it, Lily knew she'd be inconsolable and wouldn't get over it for months. The two girls were alike in most ways, but Ivy's passion for Quidditch was something that Lily didn’t really understand, although she certainly respected it, if only for the sake of her close friend.
"Don't worry about Ivy - I'm sure she'll be fine," Remus said, reading Lily's worried expression easily. Lily smiled in thanks before turning back to the field, where the try-outs were just beginning.
"Okay, Gryffindors, please separate into four groups. We'll test the seeker first, then keeper, next chasers, and end the night with beaters." James' voice rang out, loud enough without a spell to amplify it.
There were four people trying out for seeker, including Dillon. James released the snitch into the air, stepping back and letting the magical golden ball do the testing for him. Lily cheered as Dillon darted around the other Gryffindors, catching the snitch after only ten or so minutes. Lily quickly stood up, clapping her hands loudly as Dillon flew back to the ground, accepting a hug from his sister as he handed the snitch to James, a sheepish grin on his face.
James did the same thing a few more times, releasing the snitch again and again to test them.
Dillon caught it two more times, and missed it another two. Lily crossed her fingers and hoped that the Parks luck would continue for Ivy.
As the four seeker hopefuls joined the stands, the next group stepped up, this time trying out for Ivy's old position of keeper. Lily congratulated Dillon with a hug before turning back to the field to watch the keepers take to the sky, including one of Lily and Ivy's roommates, Emma Vane. Emma was quite skilled at flying, blocking the most quaffles from sneaking through the three suspended hoops. Lily cheered loudly for her, excited at the thought of having two roommates on the Quidditch team.
Once the keepers were done, it was time for the chasers. James, as Captain, automatically got the position of chaser, so there were two open spots on the team. Seven people were trying out for the two positions, including a few giggling first and second years who didn't have any idea what they were doing. Lily couldn't help but laugh when one of the girls ended up flying straight into the ground, jumping up in seconds with her face bright red.
As the sun began sinking behind the trees of the Forbidden Forest, Lily found her anxiety growing as she waited for the beaters try-out to begin. Her attention began to wander as James ran the same exercises over and over again, still trying out the chasers. By the time they returned to the ground with their brooms over their shoulders and the beaters took to the skies, Lily's fingers were digging into the flesh of both Dillon and Remus' arms on either side of her, who both had the decency to ignore it while they too waited nervously for the bludgers to be released.
"Don't worry, Lily, she'll be fine - she spent almost every day practicing this summer," Dillon said, his voice slightly strained from the pressure on his arm.
"Plus, James will be slightly biased towards her - not only are we sort-of friends with her now, but he probably hopes he'll get in your good graces if he puts her on the team," Remus pointed out, a wry smile on his pale face.
Lily scoffed but secretly hoped that he might be right, although she wasn't sure if Ivy's position on the Quidditch team was enough to get her to go out with James.
Lily's fingers dug further into the boys' arms as Ivy took to the sky next to Sirius, lazily circling around the outskirts of the group as she waited for the bludgers. She glanced in their direction, smiling when she saw Lily slightly freaking out. She shot them a wink before turning her attention back to James, who was about to open the locks on the bludgers. He shouted to get everyone's attention before explaining the try-outs.
"Once I release the bludgers, try to direct them towards those fake Quidditch players over there," he pointed to a group of dummies suspended from the air, all looking suspiciously like Severus Snape. "Try and hit as many as possible, and avoid hitting your fellow beaters - sabotage will be frowned upon, mostly because we're afraid you'll end up hitting one of us during a real game, and we definitely can't have that. So, good luck, and may the best beaters win," he called out dramatically as the chains fell off of the bludgers and they flew up into the sky, immediately trying to knock everyone off their brooms.
Lily tracked her friend as she dodged a bludger, hitting it as it passed by. It missed the dummies but she did manage to hit it in the right direction. Lily watched anxiously as it came back, knocking someone off their broom before it headed in Ivy's direction again. At that point, Lily was nearly cutting off the circulation in Dillon and Remus' arms.
As if she could sense the pressure on her, Ivy noticed the bludger and hit it with all her might, successfully hitting two of the dummies at once.
"Good job, Ive!" Lily shouted, letting go of Dillon and Remus' arms to clap her hands together loudly, missing the boys rubbing their sore arms.
The rest of the try-outs went better as the night went on. The bludgers managed to knock everyone off until the only two left on their brooms were Ivy and Sirius, who were circling each other while they watched warily for the bludgers. Lily's hands had returned to their previous grips on Dillon and Remus' arms, but there was a huge smile on her face now, the product of watching Ivy hit bludger after bludger at the dummies. Now, there was only one left to hit, and both Ivy and Sirius were desperate to be the ones to hit it.
There was only one bludger left soaring around - James had locked up the second one, preparing to head inside soon. All that was left to do was see who had knocked down the last dummy. All of the Gryffindors who had tried out already were sitting in the stands, watching excitedly.
Lily bit her lip as the bludger flew back to the pair, whizzing at high enough speeds to leave behind a whistling sound. It headed towards Ivy's head, almost too fast for her to react. Sirius suddenly bumped into her, pushing her out of the way of the bludger. Sirius even missed hitting the bludger in his haste to push her out of the way.
Dillon let out a low whistle next to Lily. "Looks like I have a new brother. Wonder what it would be like to have Sirius Black as a brother-in-law..."
Lily laughed. "I really doubt that Sirius is the type to marry anytime soon. He probably just wants to be the knight-in-shining-armor and have a fling with your sister."
"Okay, I'll pretend I didn't hear that..." Dillon said.
"Sorry," Lily giggled. "Ooh, the bludger is coming back!"
Lily watched with bated breath as she waited to see who would hit it. Ivy had recovered from being pushed out of the way of the bludger and she and Sirius were both waiting anxiously to see who would hit the bludger and the dummy first. They both practically had the position of beaters in the bag, so this wasn't so much about who would make the team as it was a contest of pride. They both looked prepared to kill to get that bludger - Lily hoped it wouldn't come down to that.
The bludger came back faster than it had the first time, this time directed right in between the two as they waited. Lily closed her eyes, praying silently that it wouldn't end up veering to the side and knocking one of them off their brooms. Her eyes popped open when she heard the distinct crack of the bludger being hit by one of the bats. She saw the final dummy plummet to the ground as Ivy raised her arms in triumph, dropping her bat to the ground before shaking hands with Sirius, a smug smile on her face.
"She hit it, not Sirius?" Lily asked, a little surprised.
Dillon leaned down and whispered in Lily's ear. "Don't tell Ivy this, but I'm almost positive that he let her. Sirius could have easily gotten that bludger, but he let her get it."
"Well, he's really trying to butter her up, huh?" Lily said with a smirk. "Come on, let's go down there."
The four headed down to the field, where Sirius and James were deep in conversation while Ivy was surrounded by a bunch of people congratulating her. Figuring it would take Ivy a while to get away from her fans, Ivy headed over to the two dark-haired boys along with Remus and Peter while Dillon tried to sneak into the crowd to congratulate his sister.
The two boys stopped talking when they saw the three people approaching them.
"I don't think I've ever seen Sirius Black miss a bludger," Lily smirked, coming up next to the boys with her arms crossed over her chest.
"He probably missed it because he was too busy watching Ivy with his tongue hanging out," Peter said, laughing at his joke. James and Remus both laughed while Sirius punched his friend's shoulder. Lily giggled behind her own hand, watching Sirius' cheeks color slightly, a very rare sight.
"The sun was in my eyes and I missed it," Sirius grumbled.
"Padfoot, I hate to break it to you, but there is no sun - it's almost completely set, and it was behind you so it wouldn't have bothered you even if it were higher," James said as he patted his friend on his back as if he were sorry for Sirius’ lack of intelligence.
"Oh, shut up," Sirius said, turning his fist half-heartedly on James.
"Great comeback," Lily said sarcastically, still giggling.
"Wow, Evans sure has gotten a bite to her bark since she's been spending more time with us. Personally, I blame Moony - I think he's a bad influence," James said lightheartedly.
"How about we head back to the common room before someone gets into a fight," Remus suggested, a wry smile on his face.
"Sounds like a good idea - we can have a party in the common room," James said, slinging his arm around Lily's shoulders, who got a whiff of James' armpits.
"Hopefully you can take a shower first," she said as she coughed.
"What, so you can join him?" Sirius asked, still smarting from being the butt of the joke.
"And you wonder why she doesn't want to spend time with us, mate," James said as he squeezed Lily's shoulder, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "But you can join me if you want."
Lily scoffed as she elbowed James in the stomach, getting out from underneath his arm and sticking herself in between Peter and Remus, her arms crossed over her chest again.
They spent the whole walk listening to James and Sirius make plans for an impromptu party in the common room. Sirius and Peter went off to the kitchens to get some food. James spent the rest of the walk trying to convince Lily to dance with him while Remus rolled his eyes and wished he had gone to the kitchens with Sirius and Peter.
After ten minutes of James whining, Lily finally broke down. "Fine, I'll dance with you, as long as you shut up!"
James quieted down with a smug smile on his face.
The party began very quickly, with Gryffindors coming in from the Quidditch field or their dormitories. The arrival of food, thanks to Sirius and Peter, was welcomed with cheers. Lily got a butterbeer before retreating to one of the seats in front of the fire, relieved to finally have a moment to herself.
"Hey, Evans, I believe that's my seat."
Lily groaned as she looked up to James, who was probably there to claim his promised dance.
"I don't see your name on it, Potter."
"Ooh, touché, Evans."
"Let me guess, you want your dance now?"
"Well, that's why I originally came over here, but I think I'll take a rain check on that. You look like you're taking a well-deserved rest after our eventful few days back at Hogwarts, huh?"
"Yeah, I am. It has been crazy, and I have a feeling that it's only going to get crazier. Hopefully the craziness will be balanced with some relaxation, but I have a feeling it won't."
"You're probably right, but at least we aren't going to sit back and let all this stuff happen to us. If we go through with your idea of forming a club, then we'll get the chance to fight back. It'll be nice to not feel like we're pawns in a game, but actual competition for all the craziness out there. So, what do you say we toast to fighting back?" James held up his own glass of butterbeer, a grin on his face.
Lily gave him a little smile before clinking her glass against his. "To fighting back."
They took big gulps of their drink before giving each other equally shy smiles.