Per Haskell’s circus had not been a big attraction. When it stuttered into town, people hadn’t clamoured for tickets or surged towards the tent’s entrance. In fact, it had been collapsing in on itself. That’s why Kaz had chosen it. There was nowhere better to start than at the bottom. He’d been lower, he would certainly push higher.
If you like the look of SoC content btw -- head to @grishaversebigbang and take a look at the amazing work they’re doing in the Grishaverse.
As always this is for @perhapsarat and Alfalfa.
Tagging those who asked (thank you for the support!): @massiverockcollection @kaz-aelin-and-jace-are-badass @hilariousseagoat @octoberrainposts @whimsicaldragonette
NINA
The man before her was not like any of her usual clients. For starters, he was a boy, not a man and, secondly, he didn’t have an appointment. Nina did not like people who showed up without appointments.
“Nina Zenik,” he said, voice like two rocks grating against each other. He knows my name.
“Appointment only I’m afraid.”
“I’m not here for a reading.”
Thirdly, he knew that it wasn’t her body for sale. Interesting. She took in his sharply cut suit, the shorn sides of his head, the cane he rested his gloved hands on. The sharp beak of a crow’s head poked through between his overlapping fingers. That rings a bell.
“That’s the only service available here.” She stood, gathering her skirts up and stepping around the small table at which all her readings took place. “If you’re looking for anything more, ask the girl next door.”
He shook his head. “I’m here to make you a proposition.”
“Again, there’s a bed down the hall.” Two more steps and she’d be within reach of her gun, tucked behind a few of her crystal balls. Usually, Nina was used to strange men blundering into her room. She would say a few pretty words, bat her eyelashes and send them to any of the other rooms in the brothel. Those other men never knew her name though.
“Have you heard the Circus is in town?” he asked. God, his voice was rough. Nina was at her chest of drawers now, but the gun wasn’t there. She span around and a shiver ran through her as she saw the gun -- my gun -- swinging round and round, his finger through the trigger. How? Maybe he was with the Fjerdans. Maybe he was just a man who wanted what he wasn’t -- the circus. One more look at his cane’s head and she connected the dots.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Per Haskell’s circus had not been a big attraction. When it stuttered into town, people hadn’t clamoured for tickets or surged towards the tent’s entrance. In fact, it had been collapsing in on itself. That’s why Kaz had chosen it. There was nowhere better to start than at the bottom. He’d been lower, he would certainly push higher.
oh what was that ????? a six of crows au multichap ???
i reread soc in three days, i have no impulse control, i love @perhapsarat and also the dysfunctional found family that is the six of crows
let me know if you want to be tagged when i post chapter one !
reinedeselfes replied to your post “just hit 50 thousand words on watch us rise who wants an extract?”
Congratulations!!!!! I wanna see it!
The next morning at breakfast, Potter is literally bleeding into his cereal. A cut on his cheek keeps opening up, no matter how many times he brushes his wand over it. The only one who doesn’t look worse for wear is Remus, and he looks furious enough to make up for it.
“Probably trying to become blood brothers,” Marlene says dismissively. “Or some other weird shit.”
“Nah, remember, they did that in third year,” Mary says, wagging her fork, mouth full of bacon. Lily cringes as she catches a sight of the mushed up red meat and forcibly holds a hand over Mary’s mouth until she’s swallowed. “Well, they tried to but McGonagall found them before they could go through with it.”
hillyminne replied to your post “just hit 50 thousand words on watch us rise who wants an extract?”
DO EET
“You can’t really believe he’s changed, just like that? You do remember what he was like last year right? And every year before that?” Maya reaches a hand across the table, resting it on top of Lily’s. “Do you really want to be friends with a boy like that?”
“What –”
“Don’t you remember what he did to Bertram Aubrey? And all those first years he sent to the Hospital Wing with cat’s tails because they were being too loud in the library? He bullied Severus, even if Snape gave as good as he got. You can’t have forgotten the day by –”
“The day by the lake? When my best friend called me a mudblood?” Lily knows she could should calm down, rationalise, but she can’t. She picks up her bag, slams whatever’s closest into the bottom, and stands. “Funnily enough, Maya, I haven’t forgotten. But thanks for the reminder.”
forgornifrey replied to your post “just hit 50 thousand words on watch us rise who wants an extract?”
can't wait for the upd8!!!
Alfie lets go of her hand to push open the door of the pub and Lily doesn’t like how upset that makes her. It’s just because his hand is warm. Inside, it’s bustling with students and the few locals brave enough to leave their houses on a Hogwarts weekend. She’s thankful that they’re not holding hands anymore when, a few steps inside, some Ravenclaws notice them and wave. He waves back but makes no move to go over to them and, for some reason, this sets the butterflies off an adventure around her insides. You’re sixteen Lily, get a grip.
“Want to find a table and I’ll get us some butterbeer?”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I don’t mind. I want to.” He smiles and she concedes. Her protestations when he paid for all of the food earlier had been shot down, and she doesn’t fancy drawing attention to themselves here.
“Alright, see you in a sec’.” She starts to make her way towards the back of the pub where there’s always a free booth or two when she spots Marlene waving madly at her from the other side. Grinning, she changes direction and –
“Merlin’s shit, sorry –”
“Potter!”
lindsue replied to your post “just hit 50 thousand words on watch us rise who wants an extract?”
yes
“Finally giving up on me?”
“I’m not your parents, Black.”
“You’re sounding an awful lot like them at the moment.”
“Merlin, Sirius. Don’t do this,” Remus interjects.
“Do what? Tell the truth? I didn’t fucking ask for any of you –”
“Next time you get absolutely slaughtered we’ll just leave you, yeah? That will go well. Don’t you remember the last time you ran off? You almost killed yourself you fucking –”
“Maybe I wanted to.” The words are a punch to her gut. I shouldn’t be here. It’s too late now though, she’s heard the worst. No one says anything for a long time. The silence hangs, tearing at her skin. She imagines Black and Potter facing off, Remus and Peter standing to the side, unable to get between. There’s the four of them, the marauders, but then there’s them. Potter and Black. A whole other thing entirely. Suddenly, Lily realises she doesn’t want to know about Black’s summer anymore.
you all get extracts !! these are all from chapters 6, 7, & 8 and i hope you like them !! for anyone not sure what’s going on, these are little snaps from my multi-chap watch us rise <3 @lindsue @hillyminne @reinedeselfes @forgornifrey
Her thighs ache and her hand has cramped twice but, the pile of rotas to go through is too intimidating and, also, now she’s started, she can’t really stop. She’s crouched on the floor next to her desk, slowly but surely scratching her initials into the wood just on the desk’s edge. She could have done it with her wand in two seconds. This feels more permanent. Proof she was really here, in Hogwarts as Head Girl.
“Didn’t know you were a vandal, Evans,” Potter says, his grinning face appearing next to her. Lily shrieks in surprise and the only thing that stops her from falling over is his invisible hand, suddenly, somehow, steadying her back. “Good thing we soundproofed this place, eh? Merlin knows what they’d think we get up to otherwise.”
His grin is blinding and she has to stop herself from smiling back. Her inevitable blush is already too much of a giveaway. Lily whacks his shoulder with the back of her hand and shoves him away, not disliking him being so close but also hating that she can’t get closer.
“You’ve got to stop sneaking around, Potter, else I’ll be forced to give you detention.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Do you feel threatened?”She asks, straightening up and brushing her robes down just so she doesn’t have to look at his stupid stupid smirk.
Looking considerate, he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his knuckle and then shrugs, lips still tugged up at the edges. “By you, Evans?” He pauses, letting the question hang, looking up at her with a glint in his eye. “Never.”
Lily tuts loudly and promptly turns round to clean the desk, desperate to give her hands something to do so she doesn’t grab his collar and demonstrate exactly how she’d like to take advantage of the soundproofing.
She hears him stand up, and some rustling and a drawer closing suggests he’s folding the cloak up and tucking it away. She’d found out about the cloak a week into seventh year and a week into them having the Heads’ office. Since then, he’d started coming into the office wearing it, seeing how much he can make her jump. If she’s being honest, half the reason she falls for it so easily is just because he puts her on edge. In a good way. In the best way. In a way that definitely does not go along with their agreement to be friends.
“You coming to dinner?” He asks as she shuffles papers into new piles.
“Fattening me up, Potter?”
“Making sure you eat, Evans,” he corrects.
“Lupin really was right about you being such a worrier.”
“Just a concerned... friend.”
She checks her watch instead of thinking about what that pause means, and decides that actually, she could do with eating a proper meal. “Fine, you can take me to dinner.” Turns out, checking her watch made her stop thinking altogether, because the second the sentence is out of her mouth, Lily realises what that sounds like. “I mean -” she turns around, subconsciously reaching up to tighten her bun around her wand. “Let’s go eat.”
He’s smiling far too casually. “Alright, Evans, if you insist.” He gestures towards the portrait hole, suggesting Lily should leave first and she grabs her bag before doing just that, finding the office a lot more cramped than usual.
“Aren’t you forgetting somet -” she starts when he steps through into the corridor, empty handed. “Actually, what did you come to the office for?” Usually he kept the cloak in his dorm, so it wasn’t like he’d come to put that away. And the office wasn’t even on the way to the Great Hall so he can’t have just been stopping by before dinner.
Potter blinks. Runs a hand through his hair. Then, with another smile, starts walking down the corridor. “C’mon Evans, haven’t you figured it out yet?”
Lily feels her cheeks heat up again, feels her whole body set alight. Words stumble around her mouth, and she weights up the pros and cons of just shoving him against the wall now and -
“Merlin’s beard Prongs, thought you’d died or something,” Black’s voice echoes around the corridor as he appears at the end of it. “You know they’re doing palak paneer tonight.”
“Just had to grab something Padfoot,” Potter looks over his shoulder at Lily and jerks his head gently. “You coming?”
* * *
After a reminder from McGonagall at breakfast the next day, Lily scuttles back to the head’s office to finish the rotas. She sees it as soon as she crosses the threshold. There, on her desk’s edge:
She hears a car pull up but Lily doesn’t pull away, even when it honks. Bertram has his hands firmly knotted in her hair and she doesn’t want to pull away. She’s going to miss this - miss him. He tugs on her lip, something he’d never quite gotten the hang of, and she can’t help but wince. Finally, he pulls away, and Lily just sneaks in one last kiss before he untangles himself and steps back, his cheeks pink.
“I’ll miss you,” he says, hand quickly finding hers.
“I’ll miss you too.”
The car honks again and Bert rolls his eyes. “Lily, this is Potter. Potter this is Lily.
Lily looks and finds a disturbingly wide smile on the face of her companion for the next twelve hours. He’s leaning out the window of what is possibly the reddest car Lily has ever seen, arm slung casually over the door, fingers tapping out a rhythm on the metal. She can’t see his face properly because it’s hidden by the most ridiculous pair of sunglasses she’s ever seen. They’d look more at home on a pin up icon from the 60s than him. She offers him a smile and he nods.
“Good to see your taste’s improved, Aubrey,” Potter says.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Potter holds up his hands, smile dwindling to a smug smirk. “I’m a gentleman, Aubrey, you know that.”
“Whatever, Potter. Just don’t.” Bert turns back to Lily and tugs her forwards until their chests are pressing. “You’ll call when you get there?”
“I promise.”
Thankfully, Potter looks away as they start to kiss again, pulling his arm back inside the car.
when james met lily (coming soon to a hellsite near you)
Kaz Brekker can pick any lock. Inej Ghafa can scale any roof. They’re powerful, unbeatable, intimidating, talented but - can they handle pretending to be in love?
What’s this?? A six of crows fanfic??? You bet! This is my first fanfic for these characters and this fandom so some of the characterisation might be a little off but please bear with me whilst I find my footing! This fic in particular has not been edited and is also not set in the Grishaverse. More like a limbo between that world and ours. What’s most important to know is that they had to leave Ketterdam for some reason or other and are in a new town where no one knows them. Yet.
For @fleamontpotter because, well, Kayla you’re amazing and also the person I need to thank for getting me into soc in the first place !! You’re so strong, so funny and so genuine. Thank you for introducing me to this bunch of idiots and for persuading me to write a fic. (Also shout out to @zeniik for also supporting me in this endeavour!)
read on ao3!
Saturday, 23:54
The Palace
Never in a million years would Inej had thought that this would be her most difficult job. Breaking Kuwei Yul Bo out of maximum security prison? Strong contender for top spot. Stealing forty million from Jan Van Eck? Sure. A routine heist with Kaz? I don’t think so. Yet, there she was, in the middle of the ballroom, struggling to keep it together because, well, she knew why. She was struggling to keep it together because Kaz had his arm around his waist and was currently telling an earl how they’d fallen in love.
Three Weeks Earlier
Tuesday, 18:06
The Waffle House
“- no way we’ll be able to get in, it’s basically a prison. You can’t -”
“- as if, you really think -”
“- not your best plan, Brekker, really -”
“What about through the front door?” Matthias’ firm voice cut through the bickering and everyone turned to look at him. Even Kaz raised his eyes, barely a fraction, but that was something.
“Don’t be daft,” Jesper scoffed. “They’re not going to welcome a crew of thieves to their party.”
“They won’t be. They’ll be welcoming two guests on the list,” Matthias said, leaning forwards on his elbows so they all head to crane their necks to hear him. “Specht can forge the invites easily enough.”
“At a cost,” Kaz said, speaking for the first time since they ordered. As everyone else had been arguing about ways in, the security, the risk, he had just been slowly working his way through his pile of waffles, listening. Inej knew he heard everything, whether or not he reacted. If Jesper had Kaz’s poker face, he’d win a lot more games.
“Surely one you’re willing to fit?” asked Wylan. They all knew Kaz would fit any cost for this particular job. It was going to make his name.
“So, me and Matt go through the front door,” Nina butted in. “And then what?”
“It can’t be you and Matthias,” Kaz said.
Nina scoffed and, around a mouthful of waffle and syrup said, “Well who else is it going to be? Jesper and Wylan? Doubtful.”
“Back off, we’d make great inside men,” Jesper said, petulant. It’s a moot point though, and they all know it. Nina swallowed, stabbed another waffle with her fork, and made to add to her point. Kaz was ahead of her. And Inej was ahead of Kaz.
“It has to be me and Inej.” Wylan choked on his milkshake. The others all shared a look and then laughed. Kaz was right though. What would be the point of getting Nina and Matthias in when they didn’t have the skills to carry out the job? It would be tricky enough getting them in through the front door, let alone making a diversion to allow Kaz and Inej to sneak in without invites. It had already been agreed it could only be two people inside anyway. Any more and they’d start to lose track. Kaz was the only one who could pick the locks and Inej was the only one who could cross the distance between the house and the safe house without setting off the alarms. “Unless any of you have suddenly learnt to walk the tightrope?”
Nina looked at Inej across the table, and Inej could tell she was trying hard to keep her eyebrows under control. Inej shrugged in response to the silent question. I’ll do what needs to be done.
“But surely only you’d need an invite, Kaz,” Wylan said. “Inej is the Wraith, she doesn’t need the front door.”
“A couple is far less conspicuous than a man on his own,” Matthias supplied and Inej wouldn’t be surprised if he was enjoying this. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Kaz since he’d first suggested it.
“So what, you guys are brother and sister?” Jesper asked, eyes alight with glee, and Inej frowned. They were all enjoying it. Nina wasn’t bothering to hide her shit-eating grin, the absolute traitor.
Kaz sighed and made to stand up, pushing his now empty plate across the table. “We’ll be distant relatives of the earl. We’re too young to be married so we’ll be betrothed.” His eyes flicked to Inej for a second as he buttoned up his coat. “We can work out a backstory later.” Then he grabbed his cane and marched out, the bell above the door jingling to announce his exit. They all watched him walk across the street in silence and then turned back to press Inej. But she had gone.
18:44
“I know you’re there,” Kaz said to the alley’s shadows. He’d know she’d follow him, had felt her presence join him two roads down from the Waffle House. Usually, he waited for her to talk, if she ever did, but this time his patience had reached the end of its tether. He leant against the wall and waited, suddenly unsure if she’d appear.
“Engaged?” Inej said as she landed softly in front of him. Clearly she’d been tracking him from the roofs, her favourite method. Her face was unreadable. He knew his was just as blank.
“Something tells me we won’t pass for siblings,” he said, tone flat. They might both have dark hair, but that was where their similarities ended. Kaz was the moon and Inej was the canal water it reflected on, although he suspected that that metaphor only worked for their appearances.
“You realise this means we’ll have to act,” she paused, and he could tell she was choosing her next words carefully, “like we’re in love.”
“Never heard of an arranged marriage?”
“Kaz.” Her voice was almost a growl and he wasn’t sure how they’d gotten there so quickly.
“I’m sure you can handle a little pretence.” A dig about The Menagerie would be too far. A dig about The Menagerie would never be on the table, not when Kaz was involved, yet it still hung in the air, the potential of it, and he could guess that’s what she’s thinking about.
“But can you?”
18:50
Inej jumped before he could reply and she forced herself not to think about the flash in his eyes as she pulled herself up the wall. She reached the roof of one of the two buildings that made the alley and looked down to check if Kaz was still there. He was staring up, not at her, he would never be able to spot her, but she knew it was meant to give that impression. She sighed. Or maybe he’s just looking at the moon. Nina’s voice in her head answered, doubtful.
The crescent-moon wasn’t bright enough to guide her across the new city, and she longed for the Barrel’s familiar rooftops so wouldn’t need it. The Barrel and its city was behind them now, and Inej needed to forget it. They couldn’t go back. That’s why they were here, starting fresh, starting small - well in terms of numbers. This job was anything but small. Kaz wanted to make his name quickly, carve his place before anyone could try and threaten them. It was just them though, which was nice. It was a relief not to be second-guessing who to trust.
She swung herself across the last gap of her journey and landed easily inside her window. Though the city was unfamiliar, Inej knew how to travel quickly, whatever the terrain. She was sure to have beaten Kaz back, and possibly the others as well. Which is why she took the chance to wash herself, knowing that soon her room would be crowded with Nina and Matthias. It would have been alright sharing with just Nina. Matthias complicated things though. Well, Nina and Matthias, together, a duo, a package, complicated things. Mainly they complicated things at night when Inej wanted to be sleeping.
As she stood over the cramped room’s basin and used the skinny bar of soap to rid herself of the day’s grime, Inej thought about the job. About what pretending to be Kaz’s betrothed would mean. What ‘a little pretence’ would mean. Holding hands? Smiling at each other? Staring lovingly into each other’s eyes? Kissing? Inej could handle half of those things, and none with ease. Kaz could most likely handle zero off the list, and they both knew it. Maybe, if they were lucky, their pretence would only have to hold for the time it took them to cross the ballroom. Inej didn’t believe in luck though. She believed in her Saints and she wasn’t sure they still believed in her.
A Week Later
The Slat 2.0
Friday, 10:17
“How long have you been together?” Nina looked far too happy to have this job. So far, Inej and Kaz had been performing abysmally at what Jesper had nicknamed their ‘compatibility test’. Inej blamed Kaz. Kaz blamed Inej. They both blamed Matthias for putting them in this position in the first place. For the past week, Inej had fallen asleep thinking of all the different ways she could introduce her knives to Matthias’ stomach, face, throat, legs, really any part of his body that presented itself. Kaz had taken to reminding Matthias that his only real use was for his muscles, despite this being mostly false.
“Three years.”
“A year and a half.”
Nina raised an eyebrow. “They’ll gut you.”
“I’ll have slit their throats before they can try,” Inej said, pointedly sharpening Petyr . She had also taken to bringing her blades to these sessions, as a reminder that she had the ability to kill anyone she wanted to before they could blink. It was unnecessary, totally, but it kept her calm.
“We’ll stick to three years. It’s closest to the truth so it’ll be easier to remember.” Kaz’s suggestion was met with a grin from Nina and Inej imagined cutting both of their throats.
“Excellent thinking, Brekker. So, how long have you been together?”
“Three years.”
“Three years.”
“And how long have you been engaged?”
“A month.”
“Inej?”
“A month.”
“Brilliant!” Nina cried, clapping her hands together. “And now from the top.”
Kaz sighed. “Can we take a break?”
“Not if you don’t want to get caught! Now, how did you two meet?”
Inej answered monotonously for the rest of the session. They both knew the answers by now, and she’d hope so considering that they’d been going over the story every day since they came up with it. Most of it was the truth, or at least an adaptation of it. They had been working with each other for three years, so they’d been together for three years. Everything was derived from something in their lives, including how they fell in love. Jesper had come up with it, and Inej had just managed to restrain herself from skinning him. ‘You fell in love working together! Obviously!’ He’d declared, happening upon Kaz and Inej last Wednesday when they were first inventing the story. Kaz’s glare had been enough to shut any coward up, but Jesper was immune to them by now. He’d continued: ‘Every job you got closer and closer until, eventually, the sexual tension was too much and you sealed the -’. He’d only stopped when Kaz had rapped his cane on the floor twice, a warning.
Now Jesper wouldn’t shut up about it. Whenever he caught her without Kaz, he would ask her how the engagement was going, if they were waiting to consummate the marriage. Wylan wasn’t helping either. His favourite question was about Inej’s wedding dress.
She’d be relieved when, in two weeks, the job was over and she’d never have to talk about engagements or falling in love with Kaz again.
Two Weeks Later
Saturday, 20:30
The Palace
“Looking dapper, as always, Brekker,” Jesper said in Kaz’s ear as he and Inej joined the queue having their invites checked outside the palace. He was already regretting agreeing to having communications. It had been Wylan’s idea and, in truth, it was going to help. They wouldn’t have to rely on signals to know when to act, or be worried if someone didn’t show up to the rendezvous. Still, he’d rather not have everyone’s voices in his head when he was trying to focus. It was hard enough with Inej holding his hand. He’d had to buy a new pair of gloves, ones not adapted so he could easily pick locks, because he didn’t want to risk a single brush of her skin against his. His usual ones were tucked safely in his inside pocket, ready for when he faced the safe.
“And I just look like a mess?” Inej asked quietly, facing Kaz so that, to everyone else, it would just like they were chatting to each other.
“You look radiant,” Jesper said.
“Absolutely stunning,” Nina added.
“Positively a blushing bri-”
“If you’re quite finished,” Kaz interrupted, “should we get on with the job?” He refused to look at Inej. If she was blushing, it’s not like he would be able to tell anyway.
“Yessir,” Jesper said and Kaz could almost imagine his mock salute.
“In position Wylan?”
“Check.”
“Matthias?”
“Uhuh.”
“Jesper?”
“Guns at the ready-”
“Nina?”
“Yup. And I’ve got eyes on Rotty. He’s waiting by the exit route for you.”
“Good, then let’s get to work.” He and Inej moved forward with the line and he continued to stare straight ahead. He didn’t need to check she was ready, she was right next to him. Kaz was pretty sure he could feel her pulse flicking in her wrist. That couldn’t be possible though. Rather that than no pulse at all, he reasoned. But it wasn’t the time to start down that path. This was going to be an easy job. All he had to do was pretend to be engaged to Inej to get through the hall, and then they were basically finished. All he had to do was keep away from the memory of piled corpses and rotting flesh and blank eyes and lapping water and the stench and the
Kaz tightened his jaw. Not today, not now. Inej’s pulse was there. Even if he was only imagining that he could feel it. Everyone around him was living breathing beating alive. This job was going to be easy, over before he could think about it, and then his name would be made. All he had to do was pretend to be in love with Inej.
A little bit more of a wait but, it’s real! Chapter Five! In this one we see Sirius' birthday, Regulus, Slug Club, quidditch and maybe possibly even some more jily interaction. Thank you all for your lovely comments/tags, they really mean a lot and motivate me to keep writing more!! (Yes, that ~might~have been a hint...)
Thank you to my wonderful beta Ana (@htcake) who takes the time out of her busy schedule to make sure this fic is actually worth reading, and thank you to Bonnie (@steeveharrington) for accepting me as Jared* (what up) and suffering my endless need for validation.
Hope you enjoy this one!!
- R x
PS. * - this is a vine reference, just so y'all know
PPS. please let me know if you want to be tagged when I update in the future!
CHAP 1 - CHAP 2 - CHAP 3 - CHAP 4
canon: sixth year | word count: 7k | ao3: click the read more!
Hogwarts, November 1976
The Gryffindor common room was presumably built with rowdiness in mind. As Lily surveys the party, she decides this is a good thing. Every corner and hideaway has been monopolized by a couple, including Marlene and her partner. She’s broken her own rule of ‘not shitting where she eats’ and seems very comfortable in the lap of the Gryffindor’s seeker, Langley Robins.
Everyone else is either dancing or watching the half wrestling match, half full blown brawl taking place on the other side of the room. She would intervene, except it’s three third years and none of them have enough upper body strength to do any real harm. Plus, she’s sort of tipsy. Sort of being an understatement, and tipsy being a lie.
“Drunk, Evans?”
“Very,” she answers before she realises she’s opened her mouth. And before she’s seen who’s asking. “I mean, no. I’m a prefect. That would be… that would be inappropriate behaviour.”
The mystery voice turns out to be Potter – fuck – wearing the most dizzyingly patterned shirt Lily has ever seen. “Someone should tell Remus that,” he says, pointing. Lily, slowly, follows his arm, then his finger, across to where Remus is slumped in an arm chair. He’s passed out in a matching shirt, a truly nauseating number, firewhiskey bottle dangling precariously from his fingers. Peter (also wearing the same shirt) is trying to see how much stuff he can stack on him before he wakes up. Lily counts five cushions, two bottles of ink, about a dozen empty bottles and, on his chest, one sleeping Artemis. Lily can’t help the giggle that escapes. The very girlish giggle she would usually only employ when she’s flirting. Which she’s not. “Enjoying the party?”
After a bit of a wait here is chapter four! There’s a bit more plot, a bit more marauders, a bit more jily and a bit more Snape. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it. Let me know what you think!
As always thanks to the amazing @htcake for betaing and making this bearable<3
canon: sixth year | word count: 4.4k | ao3: read here
Hogwarts, September 1976
The fight is all anyone talks about for the next few days, but as in most semi-contained social eco systems it only takes another, just as dramatic event to catch everyone’s attention. This time it’s a third year accidentally accioing a girl’s robes. Lily is there when the accio event happens and it really is an accident, and far less dramatic then the fight, but she doesn’t mind that people have something new to talk about. She knows Remus has never liked this level of attention, even if Peter takes some enjoyment in stopping Madame Pomfrey from healing him and showing off his bruises much longer than he needs to. Plus, if people are talking about the fight, they’re also talking about the Slytherin boys and she’s definitely had enough of hearing about them. It’s bad enough being in Potions with three of them.
Especially when, in the last week of September, Sev and her are the first ones to arrive at the deserted dungeons. Maya is finishing the essay due in and Mary had forgotten her books and told Lily to go on while she sprinted back to the dorm.
She almost scarpers when she comes down the stairs and spots him there, alone, flicking through the textbook. From the steps she can see all his scribbling on the pages, his handwriting almost as familiar as her own. He looks up before she can hide and there’s a short second where his face lights up and Lily thinks he’s going to smile. He doesn’t.
Lily hoists her bag higher on her shoulder, resolutely deciding that she’s not going to give him the power to stop her from doing everything normally. She can stand behind him, waiting for everyone else. It doesn’t need to be a big deal. So she ignores the pain in her ribs, her heart, and simply joins him by the door, eyes fastened on the steps, hoping Mary hurries the fuck up.
“How- how- what do you think of Slughorn this year?” Sev says a few moments later, and Lily jerks her head around to look at him, almost in disbelief. He’s not looking at her. His eyes are firmly on the steps too and a distant part of her mind wonders what’s holding Avery and Rosier up.
“I think he’s being more dramatic.” She answers flatly, wishing she was able to ignore him just like she’d planned to do when she’d thought about this situation happening. If she was Marlene, or Maya, she could turn a cold shoulder or tell him to sod off.
Mudblood mudblood mudblood, in her head the scene replays, and she can see them all standing in a circle of other students, hatred and anger and confusion pushing them towards each other and tearing them away at the same time. But she can also see him lying on her bedroom floor, staring pensively up at her ceiling, asking how long it took her to cut out all the stars that are stuck up there. You can see the stars in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, you know. The real ones. He’d given her so much. Tried to take it all away too.
"I didn’t realise he could be more dramatic,” he laughs, cuts it off quickly. “At least he’s only given us one essay.”
“Yeah,” she pauses and mudblood deafens her. “Sev… We’re not-“
“I know.” He says it softly, still not looking at her, and she’s not sure what hurts more. Mudblood. I know.
There’s a sudden clatter of footsteps and Mary and Maya appear, followed closely by the rest of the class. At the same time Lily sees Avery and Rosier amongst the herd, Sev steps away from her, almost instinctively, and that hurts more than anything he could have said.
Don’t you dare cry over him, Evans. She bites back foolish tears as Maya and Mary join her at her side, shooting quizzical looks but knowing better than to say anything, partly in case they are overheard and partly because she’ll tell them when she’s ready. The Slytherins, led by Avery, leer at the Marauders, apparently hoping to goad them into a pre-class scuffle. In a surprising show of restraint though, Potter’s only response is to loudly ask Black what he’d thought of the article in the Prophet that morning about the Slytherins who slipped down the ladder of success.
Just as Black is telling Potter that he’d thought it rather insightful, Slughorn appears and ushers them in, tutting at the boys and jokingly asking them if they’re going to behave in his lesson.
Afterwards, Mary asks what Sev said to her but Lily brushes the question off and, thankfully, they don’t push it.
“I miss summer,” Maya moans, flinching at the cold as she presses her hand to the dorm window. Where she’s touched it, there’s a handprint in the frost and through the panes they can see snow on the tops of the distant mountains.
“It’s only been gone a week,” Lily says. October had arrived sharply, booting out the sun and heat very matter-of-factly and making up for how lazy summer had been in leaving. It hasn’t been sunny for quite some days, to the point that the Hufflepuffs had had to call off a training session on Tuesday because of the unforgiving wind.
“Still, I miss it.” Maya says and pulls her hijab closer round her neck. Their dorm is warm, even cosy, and it’s absolute shit that they can’t say the same for the rest of the castle. They’ve just got back from the library and walking through the halls had felt more like diving into the lake.
There’s a small tapping noise and Lily looks up from deciding which jumper is thickest and towards the window. Maya gets there first and lets the owl in. It hoots a thank you and flies over to settle on the headboard of Lily’s four poster, looking a little bit worse for wear.
“It’s Acklebey,” Maya can recognise the Hogwarts owl Lily uses to write to her parents and by now all of the girls have become familiar enough with each other’s mailing habits, so there’s no need to explain her excited grin as she hurries to untie the letter. The owl flies off as soon as she’s unattached the envelope, probably desperate to get to the shelter of the owlery. “You go down to dinner, I’ll catch you up.” She tells Maya, no longer hungry but desperate to read her mother’s words. Maya double checks that she’s sure, tugs on a jumper and then closes the door behind her.
Lily settles onto her bed and tears open the envelope, recognising her mum’s handwriting immediately.
Lily,
It was so good to get your last letter. I’m glad you’re writing so much. Your dad and I miss you lots n your letters make our week! Tuney is all moved out now and we’ve only chatted on the telephone a few times, but I think she’ll visit at Christmas.
About your letter: it’s good you’re enjoying the year so much. God knows your dad and I never liked school as much as you. Can you explain what human transfiguration involves… it sounds a bit too dangerous for younguns to be trying. Good that Potions is going well like usual, that teacher of yours definitely sounds like he knows what he’s doing.
Hopefully you’ll keep up with all your work, but it does sound like you’re getting a lot. Makes me tired just reading the number of feet.
Here everything is normal. Colder now September is over but your dad has more shifts down the mine and his cough seems to be getting better. He can’t finish the crossword without you and misses you a lot. I think I already said that.
Val popped in yesterday to say hi and asked how you were getting on. Everyone wants to know how you are! She brought over some apple pie but it’s too sweet for me. Maybe I’ll ask her to bake one I can send to you. Would you like that?
I’m sorry this letter’s so short, I’ve got about two loads of washing on and I promised I’d do the cake for Sunday’s service so I’m very busy. Say hello to all your friends.
Lots of love, your mum and dad x
She doesn’t realise she’s crying until a teardrop hits the paper, lined and clearly ripped out of a notebook, and she wipes them away quickly because there’s no need to cry. She just misses them. A lot.
Lily reads the letter a few more times, then grabs some parchment and writes an immediate reply. She explains the theory behind human transfiguration and tells her mum not to worry, there’s only a small chance she’ll get an extra leg. Then she asks about her dad’s cough, because she didn’t even know her dad had a cough to begin with. He’d had a ‘tickle in his throat’ over summer, but that had been there for years and no one ever paid much attention to it. Then she just writes and, by the time the girls come back from dinner, carrying a few new potatoes and sausages in a napkin for her, she’s got five sides of parchment finished.
“Do you want to write my letters home for me?” Marlene asks, taking a bite from one of the sausages before she hands her the food. “My mum would kill to get that many pages.”
“And mine,” Tegan says. Lily laughs and carefully folds the parchment up and tucks the pages into one of the muggle envelopes she keeps in her bedside table.
“Bad daughters,” Mary says with a shake of her head. “It’s not that hard.”
“You haven’t got Potter’s training schedule to contend with,” Marlene says, looking sick at the mere thought of it.
Lily licks the envelope and then asks, “What’s he got you doing now?”
“Four training sessions, two fitness ones and a strategy meeting every Wednesday lunch.” Tegan tells them with a dead expression behind her eyes and Maya, Mary and Lily all pull faces. Lily loves Quidditch but she’s glad she doesn’t have to play, especially with Potter as her captain too; for someone who prides himself on his casual façade, Lily’s heard enough stories, and seen enough, to know how much of a dictator he can be when Quidditch is involved.
“If he mentions the trophy one more time, I’m going to steal it and bludgeon him to death with it,” Marlene groans from where she’s sprawled face-down on Lily’s bed.
“I’ll help.” Tegan picks her beater’s bat up from where it’s propped upright at the end of the bed and pretends Mary’s old, stuffed bunny is Potter’s face. Mary rescues her bunny with a squeak of outrage, and they all squeeze onto Lily’s bed and listen to Marlene coming up with different ways to remove Potter’s legs from the rest of him.
“Oh, by the way, first Hogsmeade trip next weekend!” Mary says excitedly, once talk about murdering Potter has died down and they’re just ribbing Marlene for flirting with the new fifth year chaser. “It went up on the board over dinner.”
“Three Broomsticks?” Suggests Tegan.
“No I was thinking we could try out the Hog’s Head,” Marlene says sarcastically. They go to the Three Broomsticks every trip, it’s routine by now.
Tegan throws her a derisive glance from where she’s sat. “Whatever. Maybe you’ll be going to Puddifoot’s anyway, since you’re basically married,” Tegan jibes and, with a growl, Marlene dives at her. They fall off the bed and Maya, Mary and Lily lean over the side to watch them scuffle on the floor.
“Do you think this is because Marlene has about a hundred brothers?” Maya asks, sounding genuinely curious, as a snarling Marlene straddles Tegan and tries to get her in a headlock.
“Nah, it’s just because she’s feral,” Mary says and nods her head when Maya looks at her questioningly.
Lily pretends to think about the question, “Maybe it’s because Tegan doesn’t have any brothers. All the testosterone from the quidditch team is rubbing off on her because she’s not used to it.”
Maya and Mary stretch out an understanding “ah” and Tegan manages to give them the middle finger before overpowering Marlene and bending her arm behind her back. Mary throws a pillow into the mix and before anyone can blink, an arm extends from the tangle and she gets dragged into the fray too. Lily laughs but it’s quickly and efficiently cut off by Mary grabbing her wrist and yanking her off the bed, using her as a human shield whilst Tegan pummels them with the pillow.
The Hogsmeade weekend comes quickly and Lily and the girls race down the stairs, feeling a bit seasick by the time they reach the Entrance Hall. On trip days the stairs tend to get a lot more excited, as if they know how much everyone wants to get out of the castle and are trying to stop them.
With his usual litany of muttered complaints, Filch herds them into the line already stretching back from the doors, and demands to see their permission slips. He spends about five minutes inspecting each of them, and almost refuses to believe that Mary’s is real. It takes some time to persuade him, but then they’re out of the doors and huddling together as they follow the stream of students.
“I hate Scotland.” Tegan’s voice is muffled behind her scarf as they fight their way against the wind. “You never get shit like this in the valleys.” There’s no point replying because the wind would just snatch away any conversation, so they stay silent until they reach the Three Broomsticks and can recover from the biting gusts.
Maya points out the Marauders sat at one of the tables near the back, already surrounded by bags from Zonkos and she, Mary and Tegan go to join them whilst Lily and Marlene queue at the bar.
“You meeting your brothers?” Asks Lily while they wait to be served.
“Can you believe them? They said it was ‘too embarrassing’ to go for lunch with me,” Marlene says, drawing quote marks in the air. “All three of them. Bunch of traitors.”
Lily shakes her head in support, “Wankers, all of them.”
“Even Arnie and he’s only eleven. He doesn’t even know what embarrassment is.”
“What can I get you ladies?” Madame Rosmerta interrupts their conversation and they order four hot chocolates and a butterbeer.
“How is he getting on?” Lily asks once their drinks are being made.
Marlene shrugs, “Okay, I think. He’s got friends but I think he’s struggling with all the new magic. He never expected there to be so much theory.”
Lily thinks about how much theory they have in sixth year and laughs, “You gonna warn him?”
“I would if we had had lunch today,” Marlene says jutting her chin out. Lily grins and then accepts the tray from Madame Rosmerta, levitating it over to the table because she doesn’t want to risk dropping it. Tegan picks it up out the air and sets it down on the table, handing the drinks out.
“Butterbeer? In the morning,” Remus says, feigning outrage.
“Fuck off Lupin,” Marlene says and flicks some of the froth into his face.
“What’s that?” Asks Lily, leaning across the table to see what Potter and Black are reading. It’s a small pamphlet with a sketch of Hogwarts on the front.
“’A hit by hex commentary of the confrontation that has the whole castle talking’,” says Potter, pitching his voice to a tone that reminds Lily of him in first year.
"By Gilderoy Lockhart,” adds Black.
Lily frowns, “The Ravenclaw boy who tried to kick Peeves out the castle last year?”
“Hogwart’s very own Narcissus,” Remus confirms.
“What’s he saying?” Tegan asks, cradling her chin in her hand to listen.
Black clears his throat and then begins reading, “’If you weren’t lucky enough to witness the fight that everyone’s been talking about then, fear not, because our Editor-in-Chief, the one and only Gilderoy Lockhart was there and has all the action for you, straight from the side lines.’”
“Editor-in-Chief?” Marlene snatches the pamphlet from Black’s hand and looks at the back where there’s a list of contributors. “’Editor-in-Chief, Gilderoy Lockhart. Editor, Gilderoy Lockhart. Researcher, Gilderoy Lockhart. Manufacturing, Gilderoy Lockhart. Publisher, Lockhart Incorporated…’ Is this even allowed?”
“He was handing them out in the Entrance Hall until Filch confiscated them off him,” Peter shrugs, “so probably not.”
“Filch will confiscate anything though. Remember when he tried to take those dungbombs off us in third year?” Pouts Black, snatching the pamphlet back and tossing it onto the table. On the other side a sketch of Lockhart himself grins toothily up at them all, hair waving slightly.
“I wonder why he’d do a thing like that,” Maya says and rolls her eyes. Black pointedly refuses to acknowledge her comment.
“Apparently he’s petitioning Dumbledore to start an official Hogwarts newspaper.” Remus, wanting to get back on the subject, says and flips the pamphlet over to point at the title. Lily reads it upside down. If The Walls Could Talk.
“Sounds more like a gossip rag if you ask me,” Tegan says, although she does look interested. Students at Hogwarts are bred to be interested in everyone’s business and the idea of it being delivered routinely in a neat little phamplet isn’t too shabby.
“Funny you should say that…” Peter points to the contents, squashed below the sketch of the castle. He reads it out, “Page 1, Current Affairs; page 2, Affairs.”
"Very tasteful,” Lily says with a snort that almost sprays her friends with hot chocolate.
“Which does your fight fall under?” Asks Mary innocently.
“Ha,” Potter smirks, “both.” He stretches his arms into the air and then clasps his hands behind his head, knocking Black’s shoulder in the process.
“Arrogance isn’t a virtue you know,” Maya tuts.
“Let him have it, it’s his only personality trait,” Marlene says dryly. This gets a laugh out of everyone but Potter just frowns, looking genuinely upset. Although Lily can’t be sure, because she hasn’t got all of his facial expressions catalogued. That would mean she’d spent a long time looking at him, and that definitely is not the case.
They all leave just as it starts snowing, the hot chocolate in her stomach not hot enough to keep Lily warm for longer than a second. She shivers as the snow finds its way to every bit of her exposed skin and wishes she had a time-turner so she could dress more warmly this morning.
“No scarf?” Potter asks, letting the other three boys pull ahead with a more relaxed strut.
Lily looks up at him, ignoring Marlene’s eyebrows behind him. “At the bottom of my trunk. I thought the summer might hold out a little longer.”
“This is Scotland,” he smiles and then unwinds his scarf from his neck before holding it out to her. She waves it away, words stuck in her throat, so he just wraps it around her neck, warm fingers brushing her skin once, twice. “I’m built to handle the cold.”
“With all your layers of fat?” Finally she finds her voice, and manages to raise an eyebrow too. Cool, cool.
“Exactly Evans,” Potter grins and takes a step back, sliding his hands into his pockets, “exactly.”
“Thanks,” she says, before he turns away.
“What are friends for,” he winks and then turns, almost slipping on the wet ground but catching himself just in time. He jogs to catch up with the boys and Lily imagines the blush on his face.
“Nice scarf,” Maya says, slinging her arm over Lily’s shoulder at the same time Mary does. Lily blushes and ducks her head down, burying her chin into the scarf and pretending not to hear her friends.
October drags, sticking its heels in and refusing to leave. The snow doesn’t settle, just leaves the grounds soggy and the castle cold. Professors take the opportunity to give the sixth years even more work and Lily finds herself in the library every spare moment, trying to finish essays before she is handed the next one.
Distractions worm their way in though, and she finds herself playing Exploding Snap with the Marauders or walking down to the pitch to watch the Gryffindor’s practice or flicking through to the back of Witch Weekly. One day she even finds herself reading through all of Lockhart’s If The Walls Could Talk, which Filch had officially classed as contraband two weeks ago. A perk of being a prefect though is that she still gets access to all the contraband she confiscates, so she hides herself behind a pile of books on conjuring spells and flicks through the copies.
Rumour has it that Lucinda Talkalot is only second rate on the pitch, but first rate in bed… What a lot of people don’t know is that the Lockhart family actually founded… To take a sneak peek inside the library’s Restricted... This week in the Hufflepuff’s surprisingly rowdy… her eyes wander over the pages, taking in the Affairs section but skipping over the Current Affairs, which always seem to relate back to Lockhart or his family’s achievements.
She pretends she’s reading all of them just for something to do. But she also pushes all the other copies to the side when she finds the one she wants.
… straight from the side lines. It all began with a single, off-hand comment from Slytherin Quidditch team member Evan Rosier. “How did your summer go?” He asked the handsome member of the Marauders, Sirius Black. This was apparently a touchy subject for Mr Black, who didn’t answer Rosier’s question but instead hexed him. James Potter, Marauder and man who got rejected by Lily Evans… Lily stops reading and takes a steadying breath. …was not happy about this and soon it was an all-out brawl. The Marauders can certainly handle themselves in a fight, but so can Slytherins and it’s hard to say who would have won if Professor McGonagall, hard line teacher and animagus, hadn’t intervened.
“Not the best writer, is he?” Potter announces himself, appearing suddenly over her stack of books and making her jump. Lily slams the pamphlet down and pushes the pile away, although it’s too late to pretend she hadn’t been reading it. Potter winks as if he’s just discovered some big secret and is promising not to share it. “Don’t worry, we all have guilty pleasures.”
“It’s not… I was just…” Lily pulls her wand from her bun and arranges her hair to calm herself down. “I thought I’d see what all the fuss was about.”
Potter grins and asks, “Which one were you perusing… ah,” he snatches up the one she’d dropped like it’d burnt her. “Thought this was old news by now?”
“Took it off a Slytherin beater this morning. They’re still not over it,” she says, happy to have some sort of defence.
“No,” he drops down into the other chair, “they don’t seem to have the ability to get over things. Terrible at obstacle courses, I heard.” Potter smiles at his own terrible joke, half hiding it behind the pamphlet. Lily struggles not to smile back. “Hey,” he looks up, “I tell you who else hasn’t gotten over this. Pa- Black. He won’t stop quoting it to us. ‘The handsome member of the Marauders’ has really gone to his head. I don’t suppose you could do a mate a favour and –“
“Confiscate his copy?” Interrupts Lily.
“He’s got eight copies, Evans, eight! I don’t know where he’s getting them from. Every time I throw one away, another is on my pillow when I get back.” He shakes his head and tilts the chair back, looking quite put out by the whole thing, “Disgusting.”
“I did always think it was Remus who was the handsome one,” Lily says, looking at him out of the corner of her eye whilst she pretends to flick through the other pamphlets.
“Each to their own, I’ve always rather fancied Pete myself.”
“Potter?” She looks at him suddenly, the thought burning in her head since she read the story.
He looks at her. His smile hesitates, as if he knows what’s coming. “Evans?”
“Is his summer a touchy subject?”
Potter tilts the chair back further. Runs a hand through his hair. Considers her. Runs a hand through his hair again. Then he says, “I don’t know if I’m the one you should be asking.”
This is a fair answer. This is also a true answer, but Lily knows Black would sooner give Lockhart an exclusive on his summer than answer any questions she has about it. “But he’s okay? That’s what I meant.”
“He had a change of address,” Potter says, no longer looking at her and setting his chair back down. He hands her back the pamphlet and sounds eerily expressionless when he speaks again. “Good luck with all that reading.”
She doesn’t want him to leave on a sour note. Not that it’s sour. Just… stale. “Where are you going?” He swings around and shrugs, half smile, his half smile on his face.
“Got some planning to do. Can’t be known as the Marauder who got rejected by Lily Evans forever, can I? Need to make a name for myself.” His hazel eyes meet hers for a second, almost as if daring her to keep talking about the subject, but then -
“Shh!” Madam Pince appears, armed with her feather duster and a half manic look in her eyes.
“See you around, Evans,” Potter stage-whispers before saluting Pince. The librarian replies by chasing him with her duster. Lily watches him out the library and then drops her head onto the desk and groans to herself. You’re a knob.
A few seconds later, she’s jerking her head up again as a first year timidly approaches and shoves a familiar looking scroll onto the desk. Before Lily can ask anything or say thank you, the first year runs off and disappears amongst the shelves. She shakes her head and unfurls the scroll, happy to see that this year Slughorn has skipped the exploding confetti.
Dear Miss Evans,
It has been too long delayed but I would now like to cordially invite you to a meal to celebrate the start of the school year on 15th November. There will of course be excellent food and, as always, stimulating company. Do let me know if you’ll be in attendance, although I’m not sure what else you have to be doing!
