Prank Wars, pt. 3

The next morning, Raven came to breakfast late, red-eyed and pale-faced. Harry couldn’t figure out why she was emotional. 

Lily refused to speak to Severus and pretended he wasn’t there. Halfway through breakfast, however, she couldn’t hold back any longer. 

“Why did you do it, Severus?” 

Severus looked up, clearly dreading her suspicion. He glanced over to the staff table, where Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were talking. “I…what do you mean?” 

“I saw you with those Slytherins. You could go to Azkaban for that! What were you thinking? What did she do to deserve—?” 

“I didn’t cast the spell.” 

“Why should I believe you? You can’t prove you didn’t!”

“You can’t prove I did.” 

“I hate it when you act like this! You’ve seen the Slytherins do horrible things, but you still hang out with them—” 

Lily noticed Raven was holding back tears. “Look, Raven—” 

Lily watched in dismay as Raven got up and left, crying inaudibly. She didn’t want to take back what she said, but she felt bad. 

After glaring at the two of them, Severus stormed after Raven. 

Lily jumped into conversation so she didn’t have to worry about them. “Do they—the professors—know what happened?” 

“I don’t know. We were all supposed to take care of the injured ourselves. After Violetta was tortured, though, I don’t know what they’re going to do…but they can’t take away Quidditch without going against what McGonagall said.” 

It turned out that Violetta made everyone promise not to say anything. It would only lead to controversy, since the Slytherins would deny it and accuse the Gryffindors of lying. So the first match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, was still on. 

On the day of the match, the air was humid and cold. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had arranged themselves between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins to prevent conflict.

Two chants began as the players took their positions, words mashing into an unintelligible roar. 

Harry had a new motivation to catch the Snitch as quickly as possible this time: to prevent anyone from getting hurt.

He took into the air and flew just slightly above the players. A few drops of moisture formed on his glasses and he wiped them away with his glove. 

Minutes went by with no sign of the Snitch. Through the mist, Harry could get a vague idea of what was happening. Hardly a play would go by without the shrill sound of a whistle and yells from either end of the stands. Lucius Malfoy glided along so casually that most of the time he wasn’t even looking around, just drifting, eyes locked straight ahead. 

At first, Harry thought this was because Lucius was counting on him to find the Snitch before trying to get it himself. Then Harry realized something else was going on. 

He hadn’t seen any flash of gold the entire time on the field, and as he was the best Seeker in Hogwarts, something had to be wrong. Harry had seen the Snitch released, so it wasn’t as though it wasn’t around somewhere. Maybe the Slytherins had cursed it from the stands, or put some sort of spell beforehand that kept it out of view. 

Harry continued to speed along, but gradually decreased his height. 

“…And Slytherin ties it up, 90 to 90!” 

Harry was low enough now to see blades of grass on the ground. Looking up, Harry saw Lucius descending after him. He gained speed, eying the ground. Then, he saw it resting in the grass by the Slytherin stand. Harry dove toward the ground, Lucius on his tail, and grabbed the Snitch. 

“Jacob Walker caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins!” 

It seemed as though the spectators thought the Snitch had been flying low to the ground, when it had been on the ground. 

As it turns out, the Slytherins had been trying to stall Harry so they had more time to do illegal plays. A couple members from each team were brought to the hospital wing, but there were no long-term injuries. Nothing was brought up about the pranks or the curse, but nothing was resolved, either. Harry knew the Marauders wouldn’t stop pushing the limits of the Slytherins and the teachers.

“Jacob, do you mind, well, we’ve got plans tonight. Can you handle, er…” James bared his teeth and barked. 

Harry rolled his eyes. “Sure. I’ll let you prank the Slytherins instead of taking care of your best friend.” 

“Right. Thanks.” James met back up with the other Marauders, leaving Harry to seethe. How could they be such awful friends?

After dinner, Harry and Remus trekked down to the Whomping Willow.

“I promise, I won’t let you get hurt this time.”

Remus shook his head. “It was an accident.” 

He still seemed uneasy, so Harry added, “I have better spells this time.” 

Remus rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not that…Do you fancy Lily?”

Harry almost tripped. “No. No, I don’t. Not at all.” If only he knew.

“Oh, good. I mean, not good, but…” He faltered. 

“Because you fancy her.” 

Remus stopped, staring at Harry in shock. “How did you know?” 

“It’s kind of obvious.” 

“Oh no…” 

“I mean, to me it is, but I don’t think anyone else noticed. Especially James.” 

Remus didn’t say anything. He looked up at the sky, then started walking. Finally, he said, “You won’t tell anyone?” 

“Of course not. I’ve known for a while, and I haven’t told anyone so far.” Harry levitated a branch and it hit the knob on the tree. “Does it make you…unhappy to like her? Because of James?”

Remus swallowed. “I guess, if I could control it, I wouldn’t like her, but I—I can’t help it. I know he has a better chance than I do, in the end.”

They had reached the shack. Harry went upstairs and crouched by the hole in the floor. He peered down and said to Remus, who looked back up at him, “What about Raven?” 

“Raven?” He hardly had time to consider it before he shuddered and his head snapped back. 

Harry withdrew and pulled out his wand. A howl rose into the air, sending vibrations through the floorboards. Harry summoned the happiest thought he could; the time he first met his mother. A stag bounded forward, bright and pure. It slipped downstairs, which cut off the howl and brought on a long whine. Then, there was silence. 

Peering down the hole once more, Harry saw Remus eye the stag, snarling. The Patronus kneeled, still staring serenely at the werewolf before it. After a moment, Remus rested his head on his paws, regarding the Patronus until he fell asleep. 

The next morning, Harry saw that Remus had suffered no injuries from transforming. 

“Last night, before I transformed, what did you mean?”

“Er, what did I say again?” 

“It seemed like you were saying I should give up on Lily and consider Raven.” 

“Well, you should do whatever’s gonna make you happy. But I don’t think James is going stop fancying Lily.”

A week later, at Quidditch practice, Violetta pulled Harry aside. “I think James fancies me,” she said, trying not to smile. 

“You’ve noticed? He actually fancies someone else; he’s trying to make me jealous.” 

“Jealous?”

“I don’t fancy you, he just thinks I do.” Harry fidgeted, awkward. “It’s probably because, you know, you kissed me.” 

“That wasn’t anything! I’ll talk to him and tell him to—” 

“No, don’t.” Harry grinned. “It’ll be an inside joke; one more thing we can make fun of.”

“Brilliant.”

“Violetta, something’s wrong with my broom!” James called. “It’s pretty hard and a little stiff, can you help me fix it?” Violetta rolled her eyes, exchanged a grin with Harry, and went to help him. James shot Harry a smug look from down the field. 

That night, Violetta stood before the Gryffindors. Voldemort was gaining support at a faster rate than the year before, so the upperclassmen who planned on joining the Order of the Phoenix held monthly meetings about acting against his forces. “My little brother was killed about three years ago. He was only eight, but he was already showing signs he would be a very powerful wizard. He had such potential. 

“I was babysitting him that night. I was upstairs, he was downstairs. I didn’t hear them come in, or leave. When I went into his room to check on him, he was dead.” She paused a moment to take a breath. “I’ll never forget how I could barely recognize him, he was so torn up. We were told one of You-Know-Who’s werewolves tried to turn him, but my brother fought back, and was killed. That’s why I’m joining the fight against You-Know-Who. To make sure no one has to go through what I did.”

A few other Gryffindors spoke before the meeting was over. The younger Gryffindors headed to bed, the speakers stayed behind to talk with the others.

“Violetta, I’m sorry about your brother. I know what that’s like.” For a moment, Harry wished he could tell her that Voldemort would most certainly pay for what he’d done. 

“Thank you, Jacob. I don’t get sad about it much anymore. It took a while before I realized he wouldn’t want me to be unhappy. I had allowed myself to be miserable because if I wasn’t, I’d feel like I was shaming his memory. I realized he was just one person in the world that suffered because of You-Know-Who. Instead of making my life miserable, I had to make the world better.” Violetta paused to let him process what she’d said. “I think you’d be a good addition to the Order, when you’re of age.” 

The weather grew colder. After finishing their homework, Raven wanted to get outside, and asked Harry to join her. They ended up talking about her involvement in the Dark Arts.

“I have nearly a dozen books that my relatives have given me over the last couple years. ‘Happy Christmas, how about cursing someone at school!’ and, ‘Here, have a book with 183 easy ways to torture!’” Raven shook her head and scoffed. 

“So that’s why you can’t leave? Because of your family?”

“No…well, partly.” She braced herself against the wind. 

“Then what’re the other reasons?”

“I dunno,” Raven said, and the brief moment she’d opened up to him was gone. Harry thought they’d been getting somewhere, so he persisted.

“No, tell me.” 

“I said, I don’t know!”

Harry stopped. “What about Sirius? His whole family is in Slytherin! How come he isn’t?” 

Raven kicked at the snow as she spun to face him. “Because he’s arrogant and, I dunno, he doesn’t care what his family thinks. Why don’t you ask him?” 

“That’s not the point.” Harry took a step closer, lowering his voice. “Everyone has a choice. Some people die because of their choices, some die for their choices. But you’re only twelve, you don’t have to worry about life or death.” 

He took her shoulders and realized she was trembling. “The direction you’re taking…you’ll kill before most other people your age would have a real job. It’s strange to imagine now, as a kid, you’d be capable of that.” 

Raven’s face was splotchy and streaked with tears. She couldn’t bring herself to speak, so she just wrapped her arms around Harry. 

It took a few minutes, but after wiping her face and taking some deep breaths, Raven was able to talk. “I know now what I was doing is wrong. I—I thought I was too far in, and I—I thought that Se—Severus would lose himself with the Sly—Slytherins if I wasn’t there.” 

“It’s okay.” Harry began walking again, slowly, and Raven followed.

“What’s Severus gonna say?” 

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out. Look, even if he gets mad at you, and refuses to talk; you made the right decision.” 

Raven hunched her shoulders against the wind. “I hope so.” 

The next day, when she told Severus, he nearly snapped his quill in half. “What do you mean?”

Harry was a ways back, trying to seem like he wasn’t listening, but he was unable to continue his conversation with Lily.

“What do you mean, ‘You’re done’?”

Raven avoided his eyes. “Severus, I’m just tired of being a part of this, and…” 

Harry’s attention flipped back to Lily and he noticed she too was listening in on Raven and Severus. 

“…I’ve always been against it, I think, but I thought we’d both gone too far in to leave.” 

“You’re right. You are too far in.” Severus crossed his arms. “They’re going to go after you.”

“Can’t you stop them?” Raven’s hands shook and her voice was strained. 

Severus struggled for a moment, uncrossed his arms, and replied in a low voice, “I’ll try, but I’m not old enough to make much of a difference—” 

“Severus, just leave with me!” Raven grabbed his hands. They were almost at eye level, so there was nowhere for him too look other than at her. “Please, before it really is too late! They’ll ruin you, and I know you want to say no, but they’re honestly evil.”

Severus’ expression hardened. “You’ve been talking to Jacob, haven’t you.” 

“You’re missing the point.” Raven took her hands away, but held his gaze. 

Severus studied her, expression cold, but his eyes darted too much and his face was reddening. “‘We’re in this together, Severus,’” he whispered, forcing his emotions into anger. “‘They don’t know what they’re missing, Severus. Don’t listen to Jacob, Severus.’”

Raven looked as though she’d been slapped. “Stop. I can’t help that I’ve changed, Severus.” 

Severus raised his voice. “‘I wasted so much time before, being against the Dark Arts, Severus. The Dark Lord knows the truth about the world, Severus. Honestly, Severus, this is the best part of school. Thank you so much, Severus.’” 

Lily ran to Raven’s side. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she demanded, as Raven broke down in her arms. 

“What’s wrong with me?” Severus repeated, hysterical. “What’s wrong with her! We’ve worked for so long to get to where we are, and now she’s—she’s throwing it away!” 

Raven glared at him through her tears. “You’re the one throwing your life away!” 

“Severus, it’s Raven’s decision.” Harry stepped between them. “Why does it matter if she leaves? You don’t want to, so what difference does it make?”

Severus looked down and turned. “I’m going to bed.” He ran upstairs, now more alone than ever.