The Next Great Adventure (A Marauders Fan Fic)

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Christmas had come and gone for the year, and with the slow and inevitable encroachment of the spring, erasing the snows of the winter and washing them away with refreshing rain came the promise of exams. Lily had been working and making notes intermittently since they had come back to school after Christmas but during the Easter holidays she began to work hard and not a day passed by that she wasn't seen in the common room, notes and books surrounding her like an impenetrable wall.

"I never see you any more Lily," Sev complained one day as they walked through a corridor after lunch, sitting down beside an old suit of armour and leaning their backs against the crumbling stone wall.

"I'm sorry Sev; I've just been really busy with work. It is our O.W.L.s you know," she said with a wry laugh. "How are you holding up?"

Sev gazed at the tapestry opposite them as he frowned. "I'm fine. Avery and Nott claim that we don't need to work... they keep saying that-" Here he broke off abruptly, realising that it was a bad idea to tell Lily exactly what it was that they had said. Unfortunately though, he wasn't about to get away with it that easily.

"What do they keep saying?"Lily asked suspiciously.

"Oh just that they don't need to work for their O.W.L.s," he replied dismissively.

"But they do; they're not... well..."

"Well what?"

"Well they're not the brightest are they?" Lily said. "Why don't they need to work?"

"Ah, they um... think that they'll be able to..."

"Spit it out Sev," she said impatiently.

"They think that they'll be able to join You-Know-Who once they leave," he muttered, his voice small.

"And will they?" Lily questioned, her voice harsh.

"Probably," Snape admitted quietly as Lily frowned, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "I really wish you wouldn't hang out with them Sev; they are nothing but bad news."

"We are not getting into this again. What about Potter? Now he is bad news."

"Oh Merlin! You're such a hypocrite! Apart from your obsession with him what has Potter ever had to do with this? We are not getting into this!" Lily cried, leaping up and striding down the corridor as Snape called after her, "Wait! Lily I didn't-"

Not many days later a notice appeared on the board, notifying the fifth years that they were to attend a Careers' Meeting with Professor McGonagall soon. Lily's was scheduled for the first Friday afternoon after the holidays and so she found herself sitting in McGonagall's austere office, opposite the witch in question herself.

"Well now, what do you have in mind Miss Evans?" Professor McGonagall asked. "You are a bright witch, to be sure."

"I've been thinking about maybe being an Auror or a Healer," Lily replied nervously.

"Good," she said thoughtfully as she flicked through some leaflets. "Yes, well both of those are very demanding jobs and you'll have to perform incredibly well at N.E.W.T. level, as well as excelling in your O.W.L.s," Professor McGonagall replied. "Though I'm sure you will have no problem with that whatsoever Evans," she said, allowing a small smile to stretch her thin lips. "Yes Jones and Fortescue wanted to know about becoming Aurors as well; it seems to be a surprisingly popular choice this year," she said, her wry grin successfully hiding her knowledge of the desperate need for Aurors, what with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's rapid rise to power.

"Which do you think would be better Professor?" Lily asked.

"I personally think that, having taught you since you started here, you would be better suited to Healing, but ultimately the choice is yours," McGonagall replied. "Not that you wouldn't make a brilliant Auror though Lily. Just know that, whichever you choose, I will do my utmost to help you achieve what you want, since both fields are extremely competitive."

"Thank you Professor," Lily said, taking the leaflets which McGonagall held out to her in her extended hand.

"You will of course need to choose what you study accordingly; St Mungo's is very strict in that potential Healers must have studied Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Herbology at N.E.W.T. level. The good thing is that both St Mungo's and the Ministry accept roughly the same N.E.W.T.s, though to be a Healer you need at least five at Exceeds Expectations or higher; the same for being an Auror but they do not strictly require Herbology, just another subject. It is all very hard work and I must warn you that they will require a lot of work and training before you can begin. Luckily I do not need to tell you that you must be prepared to put the work in. I think that that will be all," she finished.

"Thank you Professor," Lily replied, standing up and leaving McGonagall's office, the heavy wooden door shutting behind her with a low click before she tripped lightly down the worn stone stairs, her footsteps echoing around the empty corridors.

She was a couple of corridors away from Professor Flitwick's Charms classroom when she turned a corner and bumped into someone, rebounding off their hard chest and dropping her books, their pages fluttering as they fell to the floor. Raising her eyes slowly she met a surprised pair of hazel ones which stared back at her, the eyebrows above quirked in confusion. "What are you doing here Evans?" Potter asked curiously.

"I might as well ask you the same thing," she snapped as she tried to grab all of her books, scrambling around on the floor.

"Well I was- I was just about to go to Charms," he replied, watching her pick her things up.

"Really? In the middle of the lesson? Did you honestly think that I'd fall for that?" she asked scathingly.

He ran his hands through his hair agitatedly, making it stick up in every direction. "Okay Evans, you got me, I wasn't going to Charms," he admitted. "But what were you doing? It's not like you to miss a lesson," he said, the look in his eyes reaching scarily close to admiration.

"I just had my Careers Meeting with Professor McGonagall," she replied, clutching her books to her chest as she stood up, wisps of hair floating around her head in disarray. "Not that it's any of your business Potter."

"Oh. Was it... interesting?"

"Much more interesting than talking to you; now I am going back to Charms," she replied, trying to push past him; James started to walk beside her, scuppering her plans though. "What do you want Potter?" she asked, exasperated.

"Well obviously aside from you to be my girlfriend I just thought that I'd accompany you back to Charms," he said blithely, once again running his hands through his hair as Lily sighed. "See, I knew you liked me really," he said with a smirk.

"That was a sigh of frustration Potter; contrary to what you believe not everyone in this world worships at your feet. For the last time, just like after the Quidditch match and this Wednesday, I do not want to go out with you and I never will and finally, I am perfectly capable of walking to Charms by myself."

"But I want to come with you."

"Since when have you ever actually wanted to go to a lesson Potter? You might as well do yourself a favour and bunk off to wherever you were going before you so unceremoniously crashed into me," Lily replied before marching off down the corridor.

"Wait but you walked into me!" James finally said when Lily was nearing the end of the corridor. His only reply was a stony glare as she turned and vanished and it was so cold that one of the witches in a painting on the wall pursed her lips in disapproval and said, "Oh I'd watch out for that one son; it doesn't seem like you're in her good books at all."