Turning Tables

Chapter 32 - Dangerous

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No matter how difficult the Easter holidays had been for Lily personally, they turned out to be a short-lived reprieve; they hadn't been back at Hogwarts a day before the teachers began to pile on the work ahead of their NEWTS at the end of May. This was why Lily found herself bad-temperedly dragging a substantial bag of books back from the library on a Sunday afternoon, cursing the fact that the Head's living quarters were five floors up from the library, when she was intercepted by a second year waving a note. She snatched it grumpily and muttered an incredibly disingenuous thank you to the brunette girl who'd handed it to her. The second year nervously backed away from the expression on the Head Girl's face and turned to head back downstairs. Lily mentally berated herself for her rudeness and called a far more sincere thank you after the girl, who acknowledged it with a brief nod. Lily unfurled the parchment and scanned through it, her mood deteriorating further with every line. She thrust the note in her pocket with a scowl, shouldered her heavy bag again and continued her stomp towards her dorm.

The bright April sunlight was streaming through the windows, lighting up the quiet Head's common room; quiet until Lily's school-bag hit the floor with a thud, having been thrown rather aggressively to the ground, and the redhead threw herself down on one of the sofas, crossed her arms and glowered around the room. James lifted his quill from the parchment he was working on and looked over at his girlfriend, then back at Frank and Alice who were sat on the floor with him as they went over their Herbology homework. Frank shrugged and Alice just gave him a little smile and an encouraging "go ahead" gesture.

He cleared his throat and turned his head to face his fuming girlfriend.

'Everything okay Lils?'

Her eyes flashed to his face and burned holes in him, and he knew instantly that it had been the wrong thing to say.

'Oh everything's peachy! No problems here! Unless you count that the ministry is run by prejudiced idiots.'

She huffed her exasperation and determinedly looked away from him, her scowl fixed on the window on the far side of the room. James put down his parchment and quill and stood up to make his way over to her. Frank caught his attention and pointed at himself and Alice before gesturing towards the door. James shook his head; they needed to get their work done since NEWTS were so close, and he knew Lily's moods well enough to recognise that she was more frustrated than angry, and that she needed an opportunity to vent. He was pretty confident he could have her calmed down very shortly, and if he couldn't, well Frank and Alice could make their exit later if needs be.

He sat himself down next to her and she angled her body further so she was half facing away from him. He took the opportunity to rub her shoulders gently.

'What happened Lil?' He kept his voice quiet and comforting and continued to knead her shoulders gently, trying to soothe out the tension in them.

She sighed and reached into a pocket, pulling out a note that she handed to him. He paused his ministrations for a moment to take it and read, his brow furrowing as he scanned quickly through it.

'You have got to be kidding me.' He re-read the note, wondering if it would make more sense second time around. No, definitely not.