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Kings Cross Station never faltered to be busy. More particularly, Platform 9 3/4 never failed to be busy. Genevieve had arrived with all of her friends (excluding Lily as she had gone home from the Potters early to spend more time with her muggle family) and was now holding on tightly to the suitcases her mother had completely reorganised prior her trip to the Potters. She was fearful they might get swept away in the crowd.
"Careful, Wormtail," Sirius warned Peter, catching the stumbling boy before he fell flat on his face. "Don't want an injury now, do we?"
"I can't help it if people fall into me and knock me over," Peter retorted, "That's their fault, not mine."
Genevieve caught sight of Lily not so far away, her hair glowing orange and a sullen look on her face. She turned to all the boys. "None of you mind if I go to Lily, do you?" she asked them all.
James perked up at the mention of the girls name, his neck craning above the crowd as he searched for her. Once he did, his eyes lit up and a beam spread across his face. It dropped slightly as he spotted the frown she was wearing. "Can I come? She doesn't look too happy," he worried.
"I don't think you being there will make her any happier, Prongs," Remus said dryly.
Sirius snickered. "She makes a hot chocolate for you once and now you're convinced she's in love with you."
Genevieve shot them both glares to which they hastily shut up. She smiled kindly at James. "Ignore them, Prongs, they like to make fun because they're both jealous that you prefer Lily over them. That hot chocolate was the start of something good," she assured, "I just know it."
"Yeah, even if she did indirectly threaten to poison you."
James's face pulled into a confused frown. "How do you know about that? I never told you guys about that part," he questioned, and then his eyes went wide. "Were you spying on me, Wormtail?"
A bright shade of red blossomed across Peter's cheeks. "I- It wasn't just me!" he defended himself nervously, taking a cautious step away from James for good measure. "Gen was with me too, and it was all her idea anyway! I didn't even want to do it, my stomach was still hurting!"
James turned to Genevieve to ask if that was true, but the girl was already fleeing into the crowd in Lily's direction to avoid a scolding. When she looked over her shoulder to send him a wide, and most definitely pleased with herself grin, he made sure to two fingers up in response.
Soon enough, Genevieve was stood with arms wrapped around Lily, a toothy smile on her face. Lily's mood had lightened the minute she saw the girl, and now she was laughing into her embrace.
"You're happy, arent you?" Gen asked, the smile not leaving her face.
"More like thankful," Lily said quietly, her eyes flicking momentarily to the boy at Petunia's side. Genevieve had to hide her grimace at first, but after she realised he was fixing her with the most disgusted look possible, her eyes sharpened into a piercing glare that made the mans gaze instantly avert to the ground.
Lily quickly said goodbye to her parents, letting them embrace and kiss her and shower her in goodbyes. When she went to say goodbye to Petunia, however, the older sister stuck her nose up haughtily and breathed out a high-pitched, forced laugh. "Goodness, Sugar plum, you're so funny!" she told the man loudly and side-eyed Lily. The man (Sugar plum, as Petunia had called him) had not made a joke in the slightest.
Once the two girls were out of listening distance from the couple, Genevieve finally let the laughter she had been withholding escape from her throat. This set Lily off, and together the girls clutched onto each other with red faces and tightly shut eyes as they tried to regain their composure. Several onlookers were shooting them concerned glances, but they didn't care. In that moment, they laughed like it was only them two in the whole train station, because it was a reminder that despite all the madness in the world that was unwinding, they still had the bility to laugh.
"Was that- Was that Vernon?" Genevieve managed to ask Lily as she attempted to steady her breath, hand on heart. "The one she called Sugar plum?"
Lily nodded, a grin still playing at her lips. "Charming, isn't he?"
"He looks like a right bell end," Genevieve said simply. "But I suppose that means hes a perfect match for Petunia the Prat."
Lily gasped and nudged Genevieve lightly. Slowly, they were now working their way towards the entrance of The Hogwarts Express. "Don't be so crude, Gen," she urged, but a smirk was tugging at the corner of her lips.
"It's not being crude if it's the truth, my dear Carrot top," Genevieve retorted. "And if the guy's anything like your sister, then I'm sure he deserves it. Is he always so uptight and... normal?"
Lily avoided all eye contact with Genevieve so she wouldn't be sent into a fit of laughter again. They were now boarding the train. "Honey, Vernon is always uptight and normal."
"How boring," Genevieve droned, "We both know which Evan's sister has got the better boyfriend, then."
"I don't have a boyfriend," reminded Lily in puzzlement.
"'Course you do," Gen scoffed as if it was common knowledge, "You have James."
Lily rolled her eyes. "James is not my boyfriend," she denied.
Wow, that hot chocolate really did mean something. As they walked down the corridors and reached an empty compartment, Genevieve said with a smile, "He may not be your boyfriend, but I can tell you like him a lot more."
"Oh, yeah? How?"
"Because you just called him James."
Lily's eyes that gleamed like emeralds went wide as she realised what she had done, and her hand reached up to cover her mouth as if she had just used bad language. It's lucky Genevieve caught the blush on the tip of her nose, else she might have thought that Lily had just accidentally slipped up with the name.
Genevieve placed her suitcases inside the empty compartment. "You stay here, I'm going to find the trolley lady," she told Lily, and was soon enough heading back down the trains narrow corridor.
It only took a couple of minutes for Genevieve to track down the trolley lady, wheeling around her treats and snacks with a smile on her face as she greeted the students. From there she bought a Pumpkin Pasty for Lily (she hadn't asked for one, but she had feeling the redhead would want something sweet) and a box of Cauldron Cakes for herself. She then made her way back down the train.
Whilst the Marauders would be in the far end compartment at the very back of the of the train, Genevieve had decided to sit with Lily for a while in the middle of the train. She was sure the boys could last without her for at least an hour.
Genevieve finally reached the compartment that Lily had claimed their own, but a frown pulled at her face instantly. She hung back as soon as she noticed the raised voice of a man from the inside. From the sound of it, he had been there a while.
"You cannot be serious, Lily. They are buffoons, complete idiots! You are better than them!"
With a tense jaw, Genevieve realised the person who was shouting was Severus Snape. Every word spoken was prolonged, each syllable being stretched out. His tone, however, wasn't its usual monotonous self. It was weak, desperate. Genevieve peered through the glass of the compartment window, making sure to remain unseen.
"They're my friends. Insulting them is like insulting me, so I strongly advise against that," Lily cautioned. Her eyes were locked on the scenery outside, never straying to spare the boy in front of her a second glance.
"Lily, please, I am begging you to listen to me," Snape croaked faintly. "I am sorry. I've never been so sorry in all my life. Please."
With a shake of her head, Lily dismissed his pleading. "I don't care for anything you have to say, Severus. You've changed. You're cruel now, perhaps the cruelest person I've ever met," she commented coolly, dropping her gaze to inspect her nails.
A proud smirk formed on Genevieve's face.
"Ah, yes. And perfect Potter isn't cruel at all, is he?" Snape spat, his demeanour going from weak to hostile in a matter of milliseconds. "Casting spells on anyone he doesn't like, hexing Slytherins left and right, prancing around the halls of Hogwarts like his is in charge. You used to hate him, and now you suck up to him like everyone else. You were gallivanting around his house for Christmas, Merlins sake!"
"Potter has matured, you've just grown too bitter to see that."
The compartment door slid open, and in walked Genevieve with the fakest of smiles on her face. "Well, it looks like your time spent begging for Lily's forgiveness and wailing about James is well and truly up, Snivellus." She placed the treats she had bought on the compartment seats. "Have a marvellous trip back to your original carriage, because I can assure you, you are not staying in this one."
Rage contorted Snape's face into an ugly sneer. "I could say as much about you as I could for Potter, Lewis," he hissed. "You're an obnoxious loudmouth who trails after Lupin in hopes that one day he'll return your pathetic feelings. In case you haven't noticed, he won't. He probably finds your desperate attempts at catching his attention embarrassing. Want to know why he will never reciprocate your feelings?" A sick grin painted its away across his lips. "There's a full moon coming up, I'm sure you'll find out then."
Without hesitation, Genevieve made a grab for Snape, her arms out wide and ready to force him to the ground. She would have succeeded as well if it weren't for the pair of strong arms that wrapped themselves around her waist securely and tugged her away from him.
She realised who it was quickly. "Calm down, Genny!" Sirius yelled at the girl thrashing around in his arms, his eyebrows drawn together worriedly.
But Genevieve was barely listening. Her ears were ringing painfully as those words repeated in her head. "Keep talking, Snape!" Genevieve seethed, her eyes burning with resentment. "Keep talking and I'll fucking kill you."
"Might as well do it before the dark wizards get to you, I heard they have a thing for Mudbloods."
Lily drew in a sharp breath.
Saving Snape from Genevieve's attacks had suddenly became very boring to Sirius. He wondered to himself why he had stopped her in the first place. After all, he had practically called Genevieve desperate and outed Remus's lycanthropy to Lily. This was just the icing on the cake, the extra push. Sirius loosened his grip around her, purposely waiting for her to slip out of his grasp, and when she did, he made no move to hold her back. He only rolled the compartment doors blind down so nobody could see what would happen next.
A clenched fist struck Snape's hooked nose. Harshly. The sound of a bone cracking stood out ear-piercingly despite the shouts of several people and yelp of Lily.
He clutched at it as the first droplets of blood dripped down onto the compartment floorboods, his scared eyes trained on Genevieve as he watched her get dragged back once again. This time it wasn't by Sirius, though. It was James.
"Get out, Snivellus," James demanded quickly, glaring straight at Snape.
James didn't have to tell Snape again. He fled from the compartment at the first chance he could get, holding his rapidly bleeding nose on the way and avoiding all eye contact with everyone on the way. Once he was gone, the compartment door was slid shut, and James dumped Genevieve down on the seats.
Silence. Complete and utter silence filled the room. Genevieve took this moment to observe everyone who had actually entered.
Lily was curled up in the corner, her eyes wide and her knees tucked into her chest. She had found the Pumpkin Pasty though, and was taking slow bites from it while processing what had just happened.
Peter was leant against the compartment door. She didn't know when he had came in, but he was now staring in disgust at the blood on the floor.
Sirius was at the window, already smoking a cigarette and trying his hardest to fight away his smug grin. He caught sight of Genevieve glancing over at him and sent a sly wink.
James was cleaning his glasses, messing with his hair, bouncing his leg. He was doing anything but keeping still, growing nervous with the deepening silence.
The only person who wasn't in the room was Remus. He was on prefect duties, blissfully unaware of what had just happened.
"And you say we would be lost without you," Peter quietly mumbled, sharing a smirk with Genevieve.
✧･ ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*