[1] Exie Attia is one of the Boys ✓ | LILY EVANS

Chapter Forty

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[ CHAPTER FORTY ]
The Ultimate Gryffindor

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Words had escaped Exie's lips before she'd fully decided what was coming next. All she knew was she just had to hold Severus's attention long enough for the boys to a) figure out she was providing a distraction and b) act on it. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long: James rarely missed an opportunity when handed to him so readily.

After a few moments of silence, Severus prompted, "What did she say?"

"Er..."

"I bet she didn't say anything at all."

"No, she did, I'm just ... remembering, okay?" An idea uddenly came to her as the adrenaline coarsed through her veins, "She said she reckoned you'd go anyway and that you'd play dirty because that's what you always seem to do now. Even though you promised she doesn't really trust you like she'd used to and that you'd go anyway because you do things for you not for her."

"What? How can she say that when I am doing this for her... everything I do is for her!" Severus instantly cried, turning away from the boys.

"To her you're as bad as James in many ways. You fight under her name but really you do it because you like the fight and your life would be hollow without it - "

"No, it wouldn't! I would have paralysed him, didn't you hear me before, I want him gone! My life isn't hollow, I have great things coming for me - "

"Shame she's not one of them..." Sirius cut in, his voice growing ever weaker. Time was running out, she needed to speed things along and nobody seemed to be getting it. It was her fault for making her words a little too interesting, nobody wanted to miss anything. 

In a fleeting second, she made eye contact with James, looking down at his wand before turning he gaze quickly back up to his face. He did seem to notice thankfully but sadly so did Severus, looking on the brink of resuming the fight once more.

"She used to trust you thought a lot when you were little," He stopped mid-turn, wand outstretched although she felt in control right now, "When she was little her friends and sister made her feel like a freak for accidental magic but not you. You know, right back at the start when me and her began talking you were one the first people she told me about. I remember she said I'd probably not heard the best things about you but deep down she knew you had a good heart. Even after everything that happened, she still had nothing but nice things to say about you. She said you were sweet and looked out for even when you didn't have to. And she told me how smart you were, that you could even get an Order of Merlin if you really worked for it because you were that capable."