Lions Inside¹ | James Potter

twelve

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(Superstition//Stevie Wonder)

As they all finished their desserts, Peter finishing off Andrea's slice of chocolate cake for her, the foursome headed off to their common room. Sirius glanced over to the Slytherin table, trying to find someone.

"Who're you looking for?" Andrea questioned him as she saw him looking. 

"Our dear old friend, Snivellus. I didn't see him come in and he still isn't here. Seems like he's skipped dinner altogether." Andrea glanced over and couldn't spot Snape either.

But she did catch someone looking their way. 

He had a skinny face, his cheekbones very high and very detailed. Black, soft curls that framed his sharp features with hair that reached his neck, growing a little longer than Peter's hair but not as long as Sirius'. But what caught her off guard were the eyes. 

They were looking right at them, and they had an identical colour to Sirius. 

Andrea nudged Sirius in the back, not taking her eyes off the pale Slytherin.

"Sirius, who's that?" Sirius turned around and looked down at Andrea, before looking in the direction she was staring. 

As soon as he looked up his eyes locked with the boys. Sirius offered him a small smile, raising his hand slightly to give a wave of greeting. 

At the gesture, the boy's eyes went wide, as if he hadn't meant to get caught staring and quickly looked away, talking to the girl next to him. Sirius sighed and kept walking.

"That's my brother, Reggie." Andrea came to a halt, causing James to crash into her back. Snapping out of it she hurried after Sirius, grabbing the sleeve of his robes. "Your brother? How come this is the first I'm hearing about this? I didn't know you had a brother?" she fussed. 

Sirius went to answer her but was distracted when he heard Remus yell out in the Entrance Hall in front of them.

"Watch it!" Remus growled, sounding more aggressive than he usually did. Sirius turned and it seemed Andrea and James had heard it too. All three of them rushed out to the hallway to see what Remus and Peter were up to.

As soon as they came into the hall Sirius burst into laughter. In front of them stood a very angry Severus Snape, his usual black curtains coloured bubble-gum pink. But James didn't laugh like Sirius. Remus had drawn his wand and had it pointed towards Snape. Snape also had his wand out and was pointing at a scared-looking Peter. 

At the sound of Sirius' laughter, Snape moved his wand and pointed it towards James instead. "YOU!" he hissed; his face livid. "Me," James responded casually, trying to size up the threat Snape posed at this moment. They were practically five against one, the odds were not in his favour.

"You're going to pay for this!" he threatened, taking a step toward James. James crossed his arms and without Snape being the wiser, slipped his wand out of his inside pocket and held it concealed.

"You're mistaken Snivellus. This," he nodded towards Snape's hair, "- Is payback for what you did to Andrea," he said in a harsh tone. Andrea turned to James. She had no idea they had been planning payback for what happened. She would've wanted to be involved in that. 

Snape sneered at Andrea. "You need them to fight your battles for you?" he laughed with no humour in his laugh. Andrea went to speak but James cut her off, taking half a step forward and blocking her behind his shoulder.

"You should be happy. If she had taken revenge on you herself, you'd be in the Hospital Wing right about now," James said calmly. "And besides, you made it quite clear that this wasn't just between the two of you when you told her to tell me that was for Potions, you git," James growled, getting angrier the more he thought back to it.