Priori Incantatem [HARRY POTTER FANFICTION]

Chapter 22: Mishaps and Mayhem

Chapter 22: Mishaps and Mayhem

The following Saturday evening, Lily found herself on the early patrol shift. As it was the early shift and not yet after hours, there was relatively little to do, which gave Lily plenty of time for self- reflection.

It seemed absolutely incredible that she should have been "going out," as it were, with James Potter for an entire week. Not that the time she spent with him hadn't been enjoyable, it definitely had. He still tried to make her laugh almost constantly, she was still annoyed by the way he mussed his hair, and they had spent this past week talking about every subject under the sun and arguing over at least half of them.

Lily was having a great time with James, she admitted it, but she was also finding that Alice had been right, the fear didn't go away. The truth was she just didn't understand what James found so special in what she perceived as her commonplace appearance and personality. Deep down, Lily was afraid that he'd wake up one morning, probably tomorrow morning, and realize that Lily wasn't so fabulous after all. Or worse yet, he'd lose interest in her now that the pursuit was over and bugger off. Or who knew, maybe James wasn't as interested in a relationship with her as he seemed to be. After all, James hadn't ever been in a relationship of any length or with any degree of seriousness to it until now.

And was a long-term relationship with James Potter what Lily wanted anyway? Sure, she fancied him desperately, found him funny and charming, despite the arrogance and admired his loyalty and courage and ability to do the right thing. He still exasperated her and drove her mad at times, but anytime they fought, making up almost made the argument worth it.

Lily was shaken from her reverie by the sound of footsteps in the corridor. It still wasn't after hours and was perfectly acceptable for students to be in the corridors, so Lily was unconcerned. She turned with a reassuring smile on her face that died on her lips when she saw who the person in the corridor was. Bellatrix Black.

Bellatrix's smile, on the other hand, widened and took on a catty expression. "If it isn't our sainted Head Girl in the flesh," Bellatrix mocked. "All alone at last, eh ickle Mudblood?"

"Bugger off, Black," Lily ground out, nervous in spite of herself and determined not to show it. "Don't you have a devil to worship?"

"Tsk, tsk, Evans. You shouldn't mock things you don't understand," Bellatrix's voice held the thinnest veneer of her previous mocking confidence; she was definitely angry. "It's unwise, especially for one in your precarious position."

"'Precarious?' Goodness, has someone been brushing up on their vocabulary?" Lily was pleased at the cool condescension in her tone; where had that come from? "I must say, it's a big improvement over the shrieking and baby talk."

"Clearly you haven't learned your place yet, Mudblood, even after that little lesson I tried to teach you last year," Bellatrix hissed. Her composure was hanging by a thread, every word an effort. "We never did finish that lesson, did we pet?"

"You wouldn't dare," Lily replied coolly, her chin held high. "You've already been put on probation once for attacking students, you'd be tossed out of here on your ear, especially in light of the recent scare over an attack on Hogsmeade. Surely you can't believe that Dumbledore and the school governors don't know exactly who was behind that scheme."

Bellatrix's hands were shaking with suppressed fury, her lips white with rage. "I may not be able to deal with you as your kind ought to be dealt with inside these walls, but there are other times and places, Mudblood," Bellatrix's tone was quiet, her insanity had never been more in evidence. "Your time will come, Evans. And I'll be there when it does. You may depend upon that."