Centaurs Attack!

"It.. depends. The charm sends it to James as I addressed it as such... If he doesn't know the charm, he can't send us back a message. But if he's by Evans, she would know it or something similar. She sent a distress message when we were stuck in the forest to the Gryffindor common room, remember? I never bothered to ask her how she did it..."

Lucius looked down at the parchment waiting to see what would happen.

-

"Ah! They figured out the redgemor charm! That was the same one I used to post a message on the common room board. Watch, Potter. I'm sure you'll need to use this if you want to peste- er... talk to Malfoy in the future."

Lily took out her wand, casting the charm on the parchment. "Here's how you do it. To send a message to some one after casting redgemor on a clean piece of parchment, address it to the person you want to see it. In this case, it's Malfoy." She wrote Lucius Malfoy right underneath the message.

Malfoy- Potter and I got your message. Nice work figuring out the charm! Is Sev there? Tell him I said hello and that we don't approve of 'redecorating'. What in Merlin's name do you even mean by that?

Evans and Potter.

"Now, they'll get it." She passed the quill over. "Write something, if you want. They'll get it."

James took the quill, and thought a moment or two before writing a message himself.

Lucius--I miss you and when I see you again, I shall snog you senseless. Snape I know you're grimacing at that. You really should stop, it's rather unpleasant. I'm only kidding. I can feel you glaring daggers! I'll put the quill down before I get into too much trouble, then.

Be careful Lucius, please.

Your Hero, Potter

Jame laughed, as he put the quill down.

--

Severus read over Lily's message.

"Lily's a smart witch, I should have suspected she would've known how to answer." He picked up the quill to write back, stopping just before making a stroke when Potter's message appeared. Severus read it, first grimacing at the kiss comment, then scowling that James had predicted his behavior and was being the usual toerag.

"He's intolerable, Lucius." Severus mumbled. "Your Hero. You answer, Lucius. Your reply will be less unpleasant and sarcastic."

"Ha..." Lucius read over the message, turning his attention back to Severus. "He's intolerable, but.... He's my intolerable hero I suppose." He chuckled and took his quill and the parchment to write back.

Dear Hero,

You are quite right, he's scowling, and rightfully so. I don't believe he'll want to know the details of our love life- but I'm looking forward to it. Tell Evans I'll make sure Severus's face doesn't stick like that as long as she prevents you from getting worry wrinkles.

Don't worry, we'll both be fine. We're sticking together and planning to go out and practice dueling in the forest to hone our skills to prevent any more unfair advantages.



He paused in the middle of the letter, thinking how to end it. He smirked a little and went back to finish it.

Thinking of you,

Your damsel.

-

Lily watched the new letter appear and rolled her eyes. "You two are a bunch of saps. I'm writing my own letter to Severus." She took a new piece of parchment, casted the charm and addressed it to Severus.

Sev,

Those two are ridiculous. Made for each other, I guess. I enjoyed sharing my bed with you in the dorm earlier. We'll have to make time to do it again soon, you know. I suppose my house will be safer, we'll only have to deal with snotty girls rather than homicidal boys.

Lily.

James grinned.

"Your Damsel." He repeated, a goofy grin on his face.

--

Severus' cheeks grew hot at the mention of them sharing Lily's bed. It sounded...well it didn't sound innocent even though it had been.

I would like that. Why don't you come with us to the forest to practice dueling? I know you are fiery and capable of taking care of yourself, but the extra practice couldn't hurt.

Sev.

Lily looked at James's face, and shook her head slowly. "You should see your face right now- you look... you just look like you're over the moon." She laughed. "You have it bad. You're in love... with Malfoy." She teased looking down at the letter she was working on with Severus.

I agree. A little extra practice couldn't hurt. Are you guys going to the forest now? It's a decent night out for a good duel. I think though we'll have to take lover boy Potter with us- if he knows we're going some place with Lucius, he may want to go. He's got this ridiculous look on his face right now. It's the most hilarious thing I've ever seen before. Wish I could take a picture for you.

She put down her quill, sliding the parchment underneath one of her other's to conceal it.

-

Lucius waited for her reply, his chin resting in his hand. "Well? What did she say? Is she going to duel with us?"

Severus peered down his nose at the message, and nodded.

"Yes, she is. She asked if we're going tonight. She is right, the night is fair." Severus frowned. "She says she's bringing Potter along because he's a sap for you. I suppose you want to see him."

Severus wrote back in his small script.

Tonight is fine. We'll meet you at the Fat Lady and go from there. Lucius knows the spot and he'll take us there, as long as he's not too busy being mauled by Potter.

Sev.

"Let's go." Severus said, tucking the quill and parchment away. "The Fat Lady awaits."

"Is he really?" Lucius grinned. "I suppose I have Potter wrapped around my finger. Hold on." He pulled a mirror out of his bag, taking a moment to make sure he didn't have any bruises showing on his neck. They had mostly faded from view. Just in case he tightened up his collar and tie, taking a second to pull his hair back into a ponytail- he didn't want anything in his way while dueling.

"Alright, I'm done." He nodded and took off with Severus toward Gryffindor tower. He waited impatiently for Lily and James, wanting to see James in particular- especially after Macnair's attack on him earlier. He rubbed idly at his neck while he waited for them to come out of the portrait.

-

Lily mulled over the letter. There was little time to get ready. "Potter- get ready. Sev and Malfoy are on their way over- we're going to practice dueling in the forest. I'm assuming you want to go too to see your smoopy-poo princess Slytherin. ...I need to get ready." She said and went to go fetch a cable knit sweater. She debated weather or not to change out of her skirt- it wasn't too cold out and the skirt made it easier to move. She shrugged and came back down to the common room.

Severus raised a dark eyebrow at Lucius.

"Will you have time to pull your prized hair back in a real attack?" Severus walked along the hallways with Lucius, keeping quiet and arriving at the portrait.

Inside, James chuckled.

"Smoopy-poo princess Slytherin?" Now that was amusing. "You need to get ready? Merlin. It'll be tomorrow morning before we make it to the woods, then." James teased, as Lily left to prepare herself for her own 'smoopy-poo...all though, applying that term to Severus made it even funnier.

Lily returned with her sweater on, thankfully before morning approached. James followed her through the portrait hole. Lucius and Severus were already waiting for them.

"So glad to see you, smoopy-poo." James smirked at Severus, who wore a mixture of confusion and a glare upon his face.

"What are you on about, Potter?" Severus grumped, but James had ceased to pay any attention to him.

"Lucius--I'm so glad you're all right. I've missed you." He hugged Lucius, and kissed him briefly. "I know you don't mind my tagging along with you--not that perfection needs practice--I'm an excellent dueler. I just thought I'd come along for protective purposes. You never know when a damsel may need his hero."

Severus rolled his eyes.

"Lily..." Severus thought about a quick kiss hello but--Potter and Lucius, and even The Fat Lady. He didn't enjoy the idea of the small audience. He settled for holding her hand, and giving it a small squeeze. "I'm glad you're coming. I'll need someone to keep me from turning Potter into a toad."

"Oh please, Severus- of course not. But this is practice and I do have ample time to make sure my locks are treated properly." He said smugly and once James stepped out of the portrait hole the smugness fell away and relief spread over him. He wasn't quite sure why either. He hugged him back, probably longer than he should have- but the warmth and the genuine, positive emotion coming out of James was something he needed. He put his hands on James's face after the kiss, smilingly gratefully at him.

"I'm so glad to see you James. Thank you for coming with us tonight." Nothing really mattered right now, not Macnair, not their ruined belongings or his neck. Things were going to be alright. He reached down at took James's hand. "Evening, Evans."

"Evening Malfoy." She grinned at Lucius and then squeezed Severus's hand back, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "Sorry about the Smoopy poo. I taught Potter a new term on accident." She shook her head, looking to Lucius. "Well then, Malfoy- lead the way to the dueling spot."

Lucius nodded and started on his way- still holding James's hand while the walked. Once they were in the main hall with all of the rotating staircases, he stopped- feeling eyes on him. He glanced to the side to see Macnair out of the corner of his eye hanging close to the shadows. He trembled slightly, squeezing James's hand harder without thinking, and quickly turning his head away. "This way. Move quickly." He murmured, directing them downstairs.

Moments later, Lucius lead them out of the castle and toward the forest. He brought them down a path toward a circle of trees. "Here it is. Suck it in." He turned himself to the side and squeezed through a narrow space between the thick trunks. Inside the circle was a sizable space- enough for dueling- and protected from private from prying eyes.

Lily looked at the space, then glanced down at herself. "Clearly Malfoy wasn't thinking about a womanly body." She patted her boobs. "This is going to hurt." She let go of Snape's hand in order to squeeze through. "Agggg." She moaned and brushed the debris off of her sweater once inside the circle. She turned toward the space for James and Severus to make their way through.

"I'm not sure Potter's head can fit through such a small space." Severus stated.

James squeezed himself through the small space, jarring his glasses a bit. He straightened them and smirked at Snape.

"My head's just fine...not so sure how that nose of yours will fare, though."

Severus' eyes flashed darkly for a moment, but then the corner of his lips twitched, as if he might've been just slightly inclined to smile. As thin as he was, Severus slipped easily through.

"My nose and I have successfully made it into the clearing."

"Excellent then- we're all through." Lucius said and glanced around at the four of them. "But... now the work begins. Severus and I know our dark magic- as unpleasant as that might sound." He eyed Lily who looked uncomfortable. "But that's how it is, as Slytherins we have a natural inclination toward the dark arts. However, that doesn't exactly mean we're going to run around and brutalize our classmates. ...Like the other members of our house who have obviously been hitting the dark arts fairly hard. It's better to be aware than to be ignorant of what's out there. And that's simply what Slytherins are-- careful. To protect yourself against the dark arts spells, you have to know them. At least the basics. Our rotating door of defense against the dark arts professors is terrible- those witches and wizards aren't well versed enough to provide us with a proper education. Those who haven't researched the subject by themselves are woefully behind compared to other schools."

Lily scowled and crossed her arms across her chest. "I don't like it. I don't like the thought of doing those spells-"

"You won't have to do them! But you don't want to not know what they are. How can you block something appropriately if you don't know what it is?"

Lily opened her mouth to say something but shut it. He had a point.

"Those who don't know dark magic spells can still perish because of them." Lucius said coolly to Lily who met his gaze with one of her own. He looked to his fellow classmates. "We were attacked by Rosier, Mulciber, Avery, Wilkes, and LeStrange. LeStrange is gone from the picture but who knows what he taught those four. Judging by the looks on their faces when he used an unforgivable none of them had done one before. However- now that they saw him do one, who knows what they might do? Unfortunately, they aren't at all pleased with my association with James, or Sev's association with Evans. Which puts you two both at risk for retaliation from them."

"Then bring it on." She looked to Lucius and Severus. "Show us what to do. I... don't pay attention in our DADA classes as they're weak anyway. I never wanted to touch dark magic but... these aren't the best of times so I'm a bit behind in the subject... but I'm game."

Lucius nodded. "Severus- shall we stage a duel then between us?"

"Of course." Severus agreed, and he moved towards the middle of the clearing as did Lucius. Both bowed respectfully to each other, and began. They had first tried to disarm each other, but both were quick enough to block the attempt. They were both fast and well matched. Severus knew more dark magic than Lucius, but much of it he kept in his head. It wasn't his intention to hurt Lucius, and Severus knew things that would certainly hurt should they meet their mark.

Sparks and light exploded from wands, illuminating the darkening woods with colors. A few times a counter-curse would not be uttered quickly enough, and one of them would be hit, but it was not enough to bring either of them to defeat. Severus was careful about what spells he used, as he wasn't sure what ones Lucius would know the counter-curses to. The dark spells he used were more common. Some of the ones Lucius threw back at him Severus was surprised that Lucius knew them, but Severus continued to counter them.

Lucius knew going into this that Severus was going to win. For every spell he knew, Severus knew two more. But the duel felt good, it was like stretching muscles he didn't know he had. The flash of colors, the sting of spells, the exhilaration of proving that he was nothing to be messed with even though many things liked to mess with him was everything he could want at that moment.

He lifted up his arm to cast a spell back at Severus when he was nailed by a returning spell in the side. He flew back and hit one of the trees in the circle. He slid down to rest on his backside, and threw up his hands in surrender. "You win, Severus. A fine duel." He grinned at him. "I would expect nothing else."

Lily looked at them, stunned at what had just happened. Apparently, Severus knew far more than what he let on about when it came to the dark arts. It made her frown, but right now-- it was an asset in their favor. She went over and helped Lucius up. "Seems like the counter curses are just as nasty as the spells."

Lucius nodded. "Even... if you just learned the counters, you'd be fine. Which... sounds like a fine idea. We'll split off. James, you're with me. Evans, you're with Sev. We'll teach you the counter curses."

Lily nodded and walked over to Severus. She gave him a concerned look. "Sev... when... when did you learn all of this?"

James glared a bit at Severus, and lightly touched Lucius side.

"Are you alright? That was a nasty one you took. You didn't have to be so brutal you know, Sn--" James caught himself, barely. "Snape."

"I...I've read a lot." Severus said, ignoring James as best he could though the expression on his face was unhappy. "We have more important things to do than discuss my study habits, Lily." Severus said, and moved to the side with her. Severus riffled through Lucius' bag which was on the ground. He pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink. In his small scrunched script he wrote down a few curses on the left hand side of the page, and their counters on the right.

"We'll go through these, starting with the first one. You don't need to learn the curse, but you need to know what it is so you can react to it with the proper counter." He demonstrated how to enunciate the curse exactly, and then the movement of the wand that went with it. He then put the two together and fired the curse off at a tree. Exploding boils erupted onto the tree bark. Severus did the same instruction with the counter, speaking it, demonstrating the wand movement, and then combining. The counter hit the tree and the boils cleared.

"Of course, the idea is to be efficient enough with the counter to keep the curse from reaching its target at all. Now, I will enact the curse again, and you try the counter."

Severus sent the curse to his target spot on the tree in a movement that was quick and graceful. Once again, the tree bark erupted into vicious boils that burst with green puss.

Meanwhile, James was attempting to pay more attention to what Lucius was saying, and less attention to the seductive way his lips moved while saying it. He found it was hard to do so, and hard in general.

"I...I'm sorry Lucius, could you repeat that?"

"James- I'm fine. The wind got knocked out of me is all." Lucius gave him a reassuring smile, dusting himself off. "Severus is an excellent dueler. Now then... Let's get back to work." He started off similarly to Severus- casting a curse on a tree, then demonstrating a counter.

He blinked in confusion when James wasn't getting it. "James, you have to concentrate. This is important..." He trailed off and then smirked in realization. James did better when rewards were offered. He pulled James further away from Severus and Lily so they couldn't hear what Lucius was going to propose. Severus wouldn't understand, but he had to get through to James some how.

"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. For every counter curse you successfully do, you'll have earned yourself five minutes of make out time. There's six counters I'll show you- you have a chance to earn a full half hour."

-

Lily watched Severus taking note and muttering the counter curse to herself to get ready for his example. Once the demonstration was done, she readied her wand and fired off the counter curse, making the boils vanish.

"Simple enough- or maybe it's because you're a good teacher." She paused and reached out to touch his arm. "I know it's a sore subject Sev... so all I'll say is please don't go to places where I can't follow." She reached down to take his hand, looking to him with sad green eyes.

"I don't want to lose you to darkness. I care too much about you to see you fall. We're together now, you're my boyfriend. Should you find yourself pulling away into the shadows..." She pulled off her necklace- a simple gold chain with an owl charm on it and put it around his neck. "Remember us."

Severus touched the pendant around his neck, remembering the one beneath which was his portkey. Tomorrow night it would take him to his first day at his new job. If Lily knew...but he wasn't doing anything wrong. He was just to watch the shop while the owner and his friends had their meeting. The next evening, Sunday, he was to tidy up the place and restock the shelves for opening on Monday. His job was simple, and harmless. Severus swallowed down the lump that had formed in his throat and nodded.

"I'm not going anywhere." He said in a quiet voice, and then kissed her briefly. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be." He smiled, just for a moment. "Now, we really must get on with this. It's getting late and it'll be dangerous for us to be out much longer."

Severus worked through a few more of the curses and counters with Lily, correcting her movements when they were a bit off, standing behind her and adjusting the tilt of her wrist, or running his pale hands along her arm to show her how to move it. He was so close to her, the scent of the shampoo she used on her beautiful, dark red hair, teasing his nose. He would enjoy touching more of her body--her pale neck, her strong shoulders, down her spine, the dip of her back and around to the curve of her hip...Severus backed off, blushing deeply in the darkness.

"I...um...think we've done enough for tonight. It's dark. It's late. We...should head back."

James was a very attentive pupil after Lucius had changed the lesson plan. James was eager to get that make out time, and he showed that when he tried, he really caught on quickly and could be a good student. Without too much difficulty, he enacted the counters to each curse. The last one was the most stubborn--but that too he finally won against with a victorious cry that caused an owl to flutter irritably out of one of the trees near them, and give out an annoyed 'whooo'.

James stashed his wand into the inner pocket of his robe, and moved towards Lucius, kissing him deeply. He pulled back but stayed close, entranced in Lucius' silver eyes that glinted with the moonlight.

"Thank you...I think I'll save my time until after our date. It wouldn't be proper." James kissed Lucius once more. "These don't count, they're just victory kisses." James smirked. "It really is getting late though, we should probably head back to the castle."

She nodded, feeling better after talking with him. "Okay. Okay, I trust you Sev. I know you wouldn't intentionally hurt some one. Save for Potter and his friends, and even then I know that's deserved." She grinned at him, turning her concentration on the lessons.

She felt better afterward, confident in herself and Severus. Once they were done she slipped her wand into her bag. "Alright then-- you're right. It's very late. Malfoy and I are prefects so it shouldn't be too hard to sneak back into the castle- but the worst of the creatures come out at night."

Lily glanced over to James and Lucius when he let out a victory cry. She raised an eyebrow at that, glancing to Severus. "I didn't know Potter was taking this so seriously. It's sounds like he just won the world cup over there. ...Sorry I wasn't that enthusiastic." She teased and reached down to take his hand. "I'll keep practicing the counters when ever I can. Next time we do this I'll be better."

Lucius bit down a laugh at James's enthusiasm. He liked seeing it, the way his eyes shone and glittered with victory. "James Potter- I do declare, you've shown remarkable improvement with just a little but of work. I'm so proud. One would think you've been offered a mountain of gold, but I know the truth."

He kissed him back, giving him a good long kiss in return for all of his hard work. "You deserve those victory kisses, you made me very proud James Potter." He murmured and ran a hand through his dark messy hair. He leaned over to whisper in his ear. "And you have won a full thirty minutes of make out time." He placed a hard kiss against his neck and pulled back- grabbing on to his hands.

"May... you never have to use what I just showed you." He squeezed James's hands. "But I feel better knowing that you know what to do now."

The four of them walked back towards the castle through the darkening woods. Severus' hand was linked with Lily's, not wanting to lose her in the darkness. It had not been wise that they'd stayed out so late. The moon and their lit wands gave them enough light to see around them and Severus kept on high alert, jerking his head this way and that like the twitchy creature he became when he was on guard. The forest was full of night sounds, strange ones, many that Severus could pick out and identify in his mind what creature they belonged to.

He could feel eyes in the treetops, looking down upon their small troupe. Severus quickly glanced upward, seeing the midnight spies of many eyes blinking back at him. Merlin. If they held practice again, he would keep better track of the time and not allow himself to get so lost in what he was doing that he didn't remind the others they should head back.

James kept with Lucius, holding his hand as well. Now and then he would tease Lucius by snaking his arm around his waist, grabbing his side, or touching him on the rear and then claiming innocence.

"It must've been a stick or er...you know. It's a forest, there are lots of things lurking that might accidentally grope you. I hear the woods are full of all sort of randy beasts." James chuckled a bit at this last part, not able to finish what he was saying with a straight face. "I swear!" He added, grinning.

Severus scowled, and averted his gaze to elsewhere, mumbling about indecent behavior, and James being the poster child.

Lily kept her eyes trained ahead of them, not wanting to get caught up on what felt like the whole forest was closing in on them. She tightened her grip on his hand, glancing back at him to make sure he was still there- as odd as it seemed. He was holding on to her hand so of course he was!

Still, it gave her some reassuring feeling to look and see him there. "I can't believe none of us thought to bring a watch." She murmured as the end of the forest was coming up upon them. "Especially since we just had that problem with centaurs in this same forest."

"I know what's-" Lucius yelped when he felt James goose him. "-wrong with us. James Potter, it's hardly appropriate to be groping me in the dark like this--" He then sighed, figuring he was fighting a losing battle. Instead he grabbed James wandering hand and put it around his waist, clasping his hand over the other teen's to keep it pinned there. "Randy beasts hm? I think I might have caught one." He teased leaning over to peck his cheek. "I wish though... that I could take my beast to bed with me- it would ease my worries.." He whispered to him.

Lily just shook her head at the two boys. They were so open about everything, like there were absolutely no repercussions to their actions at all, at least when they were together. "Look at those two crazy kids." She snickered. "They better be paying some attention, or they're going to wind up falling."

The four arrived back at the Fat Lady safely. Severus kissed Lily briefly, ignoring James who was kissing Lucius' neck.

"Tomorrow night..." James purred against the soft, pale flesh, before pulling away and smiling fondly at Lucius. "Our date. Don't forget--meet me at the Fat Lady again, around seven."

James kissed Lucius once more, spoke the password for the portrait, and disappeared within. Severus hung back, touching the owl pendant Lily had given him. Pieces of his hair were sweaty from the dueling and sticking to the sides of his face. He had over heard James mention his date with Lucius tomorrow night, and it brought to mind what he would be doing tomorrow night, or rather, where he would be: that shop in Knockturn Alley, owned by the man with the scarred face. It was just a job--a temporary job at that. He wasn't doing anything wrong.

"Goodnight, Lily." I love you...Severus wanted to say it as he looked into Lily's dazzling green eyes. This was not the first time he had wanted to tell her, but not now in front of the Fat Lady and Lucius. Next time they were a lone, he thought, he might tell her. And then it will be next time again, and again, Severus. "Ah...I...sleep well, Lily. I hope it won't be in the library this time either--those chairs aren't very comfortable."

"I won't, James. I'll see you tomorrow night. 7 pm." He waved to him feeling optimistic about tomorrow. He wondered briefly what they were going to be doing, but it had to be better than getting chased by centaurs like last Saturday night. He touched his neck, still warm with the parting kiss from James. He savored it, looking happy.

"Night Sev!" Lily beamed at him. She leaned over and kissed him briefly on the lips, pushing the sweaty strands of his dark hair back and over his ears. "Be safe, alright? I'll see you soon! G'night Malfoy. Or... whenever you come off your Potter cloud."

"Huh?" Lucius gave her a dazed look.

"Hee. Nothing." She snickered. "Night guys!" Lily turned her back to them and went into Gryffindor to go to bed for the night- grateful for the chance to sleep in tomorrow after all the work they did tonight.

"Well... back to reality. I hope we still have beds to go to." Lucius said, half joking. "Come on." He motioned for Severus to join him on the walk back to Slytherin.

Severus fell asleep on his repaired bed immediately. The weight of the last couple of days--the craziness of it all, the Crucio, the dueling practice, everything just sent him into a deep and thankfully undisturbed sleep. He awoke late on Saturday, and decided he would find Lily and spend most of the day with her until he had to leave in the evening for work.

In the bathroom and freshly showered, Severus looked into the mirror. He shrugged on the graying material of his second-hand button up shirt, and let it hang open for a moment, exposing his thin, pale chest, which sported a sparse amount of tiny black hairs. He watched the pendants on the two necklaces rise and fall with his breathing.

The simple owl pendant Lily had given him lay atop the portkey with its skull-and-snake emblem. He touched them both, first the owl then the portkey, and then held them together, enclosed in his long fingers. Lily would not stop loving him if he couldn't afford to take her on nice dates, or buy her a gift now and then. Nor would she walk away from him if he wore his tattered and patched old school robe to the dance. He winced however, picturing Lily in something probably simple but nice, looking to his eyes completely stunning, while he looked like a faded scrap of embarrassment.

He let go of the pendants, the cool metal coming to rest again against his chest. He buttoned his shirt, and then pulled the owl on its chain out from beneath the fabric and tucked the chain under his buttoned collar so the pendant would hang and be visible. The portkey he left hidden, having decided against simply tearing it off of his neck and flushing it down the toilet.

He would give the job a chance, at least for the first weekend, and he would go from there.

Severus slipped back into the dorm to put his shower things away, and then walked through the castle towards the library, the first place he would think to look for Lily. As he walked he kept alert, and dragged the broken teeth of his comb through his damp hair--and people claimed that he was dirty, lacking personal hygiene, well screw them.

Before stepping into the library, Severus tucked the comb up his sleeve, and cast a simple drying charm for his hair. It lay long, lank, and still slightly greasy despite the washing--and as the day wore on, the oiliness would only increase. It was just the way things were, and he was hardly concerned enough to fret over it hour upon hour to try and keep up with its insistence upon being greasy.

Severus passed by rows of bookcases, hoping to find Lily here. If not, there were other places he could search.

Meanwhile, James was spending time with his mates. Sirius was beginning to lighten up about him being gooey over Malfoy. Lupin was having fun suggesting date ideas. James had decided upon using the Room of Requirement for their date tonight. He and Lupin plotted out various ideas, while Sirius looked bored by it, and Wormtail just seemed mopey and even jealous.

"You going to shag him tonight?" Sirius asked, as he leaned lazily against a tree and twirled his wand between his fingers. James looked up, a half-smirk on his lips.

"Padfoot, I'm not that sort, you know?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Since when?"

"Since...well, what's wrong with being a gentlemen?"

Remus laughed, and reached over to pinch one of James' cheeks.

"Our dear Prongs is becoming a gentlemen. How sweet." Remus sat back, and pulled a bar of chocolate from his pocket. He broke the pieces off, and shared them with his friends.

"There's rumors about Malfoy being easy, you know." Sirius said, stealing James' piece of chocolate and chewing on it. "And you want to fuck everything that moves--other than Wormy--" Peter looked offended, but Sirius went on. "I'll have to say I don't believe you that shagging is not in order for the night."

"Would you like me to take photos?" James said sarcastically, giving his friend a smile. Sirius pretended to consider it, which made Remus grin.

Lily in the meantime was in the library, a few magazines spread out on the table. She wasn't doing anything school related, rather- she was looking for a dress to wear to the ball. It had to be something different, but not flashy. She wanted to make a statement about being a muggle born witch, but not make Severus uncomfortable. She could afford a nice gown, but she knew Severus's situation was not as comfortable as hers.

The last thing she ever wanted to do was make him feel worse about something he couldn't help.

But in the same regard, she wanted to wow him more than anything else. She turned the magazine, page by page, looking at the gowns. They were all very similar. Big, poofy, and not what she would wear. She thought of Severus's taste, and his interest in the dark arts.

Maybe she should wear black. Black was always sexy, mysterious, and looked good with her red hair. She never had to worry about it clashing. She frowned still, not finding anything that she would even consider. She wanted a short dress- one that would show off her legs as she was rather proud of those. She'd ask Lucius for a hand later. She watched Severus walk by the book stacks.

"Sev! Over here." She waved to him, trying to get his attention. She began to straighten out the table, stacking up the magazines to make room for him. "I was just looking at some dresses for the ball."

-

Lucius was looking for James and his crew- he had to. He forgot to ask him when and where he wanted to meet for their date tonight. He wore tight fitting black pants, gloves, and a black shirt of similar material- completely covered from the neck down- but the fabric showed off what made Lucius, Lucius. His hair was pulled back, held together by a red ribbon. In his hands he carried a large box of the fudge he bought from Hogsmede.

He spotted the four of them, and sighed. No one ever really approached the marauders, and up until a bit ago he never would have bothered with them before. He steeled himself before going over to them.

Before saying anything, Lucius marched himself over to James, cutting through the group, and kissed him full on the lips. When he broke away, he turned back around to look at the three of them.

"I come bringing amnesty fudge." He drawled and handed Remus the box. "And a question." He poked James in the arm. "How can we go on a date if I don't know the time or the place for said date...?" He gave him an amused look.

Severus turned on his heel at the sound of Lily's voice. He strode over quietly, and sat down next to her.

"Dresses, well, I'm afraid I won't be much help. Malfoy's coming along to pick something for me, actually. He would be better to ask about such things or--perhaps our friend Lockhart." Severus joked. "He seems to have quite an eye for womens clothing, in fact there's a rather nasty rumor that he wears it on occasion."

Severus opened the cover to one of the magazines and looked over the girls on the first two pages. They seemed overdone with the poofs and sparkles, and the powdery cotton candy colors of the dresses seemed to reek of 'little girl' and not 'young woman'. There was just something not right about it, but then, who was he to know about such things? Girls liked poof, and sparkles, and all those things that made Severus want to wrinkle his nose at them. Lily didn't seem like the type for those sort of dresses though. She was a strong woman, the red-headed warrior, not a dainty dopey fragile little princess. No, that would be Malfoy. Severus thought, and a corner of his lips quirked up into a small smile. It didn't matter, though. This was Lily, and as far as he was concerned, she would be beautiful if she wore a potato sack to the dance.

He couldn't resist teasing her however, as he turned the page onto an atrocious bubblegum pink poof, with bows here and there, the accents in a horrible white lace which looked like something found on a tragic curtain atop a window looking out onto a valley of rainbows and frolicking unicorns.

"This one's nice." Severus said, managing to keep a completely straight face, as if he were completely serious. He turned to look at Lily, retaining the serious look for just a moment longer until he could no more. He had just imagined her wearing such a thing--and it had undone him. He grinned at her with the amusement, which even reached his dark eyes and made them crinkle a bit. It was the closest to laughter he would get.

"It's...it's...tragic, really. It looks like it was put together by a crew of singing birds and dancing mice...who were half blind. Honestly, I couldn't imagine you wearing that one." Severus flipped through a few more pages, hoping there were some better prospects but they all seemed gooey and fluffy and ridiculous.

"Do you like any of them? I should probably be able to tell Malfoy what color you're wearing, he may want to know so he can coordinate us or something."

--

James returned Lucius kiss, glad to see him as always.

Remus thanked Lucius for the fudge and opened it straight away.

"I told you last night, Lucius. Fat Lady, 7pm--but it's alright, I know your head has been swimming with luscious thoughts of me and you must've forgotten. I can't fault you for being so infatuated."

Sirius gave a bark of laughter. Remus offered Peter a piece of fudge, and the pudgy boy refused it while giving Lucius a suspicious glance.

"More for me, then." Remus commented, enjoying the chocolate.

"So, are you going to let him shag you tonight?" Sirius asked Lucius with a wicked grin.

"Sirius mate, have some fudge." James stuffed a piece of fudge into Sirius mouth. "You talk to much."

Lily looked down at the one Severus was pointing at. She made a face as if she had smelt something terrible. "You... you aren't serious, right? You're not. It's a joke. That's your joking face." She said staring at his dead pan expression until he finally broke it.

"I would never wear that. Pink clashes with red hair! I'd be a big pink nightmare." She wailed at the thought, looking to him with a frustrated expression. "This is hard, Sev. Girl stuff is hard. And witch fashion is terrible compared to muggle fashion. Who wants to wear tons of fabric!" She looked miserable at the thought.

"Maybe I'll ask Malfoy to go with me. But I'm going to a muggle store for my dress. I really want to look different at the ball. I don't want to look like a princess, or a witch- I want to look... oh... I don't know. I think I'll know when I see it." She shrugged and put the magazines away.

"I'm really excited for this Sev. I can't wait!" She grinned. "We're going to have the very best time- and if Lockhart shows up in what I plan on wearing-- I'll strangle him."

-

Lucius blinked and then groaned. "You did tell me, James- I'm sorry. I do have a lot on my mind, and if it were all about you I think I'd be in a far happier place." He smiled at him, reaching over to steal a piece of fudge. He couldn't resist chocolate.

"You're welcome, Lupin. I can't resist Honeydukes chocolate... what's the matter, Pettigrew? Don't like fudge?" He looked over to the blonde boy and shrugged. He didn't trust him, not one bit. He didn't trust Sirius either, and was indifferent about Lupin.

He 'hmphed' at Sirius. "Honestly, Black. Don't be so crass. Where you hoping for pictures of our glorious copulation?" He smirked. "Well. I'm camera shy, so you're out of luck." He made a sad face, drawing a line down from his eye to his cheek, as to signify one single tear. "When it happens, I'm certain James won't tell you. ...Or... you had better not tell me you told them." He gave James a serious look before it melted away into a laugh.

"I can't even scowl properly when I'm around you- all that training down the drain." He leaned over and pecked his cheek, glancing over to the pack of Slytherins. "...However... I should go. I believe my house is putting me on some kind of probation." He looked over his shoulder at them.