2010Fest ♥ FIC: A Hex Gone Wrong
Title: A Hex Gone Wrong
Author: mandyloo
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 4,711
Warnings: Just a couple of angsty moments.
Summary: Lily can't stop talking and it's driving her friends insane, so they enlist the help of the Marauders.
Prompt: 61. Lily is hit by a curse that won't let her stop talking and James has to take care of her.
Beta reader(s): E
Author's Notes This started out as something much smaller and kind of exploded, so I'm excited and nervous to see what everyone thinks :)
It started off as just another Charms lesson, on just another Friday at Hogwarts. Lily Evans entered the classroom with her friends Mary MacDonald and Emmy Brown, and they sat at their usual table. Lily arranged her books neatly in front of her and adjusted her prefect badge.
Professor Flitwick began lecturing; Lily took notes. Really, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Things didn't change until they were told to partner up to practice a new charm. Mary and Emmy immediately grouped up, and Lily cast her eyes around the classroom, looking for someone to work with. Potter and his friends had all grouped up (thank goodness, she thought. I'd hate to have to work with any of them) and the two Hufflepuff students were working together.
Great. There was a Slytherin boy who always leered at her and a girl from Ravenclaw that would never shut up about her boyfriend.
And Snape. He glanced up at her, that pitiful look in his eyes like always. Ever since last year, he'd been trying to apologize, but there was no point. He had chosen his side. And the fact that his side wanted her to die made her feel a little less than friendly towards him.
Lily ran over to the Ravenclaw girl before he had a chance to say anything to her.
"Grace," Lily nodded to the girl as she straightened her notes. "So do you want to try the charm on me first, or should I go?"
Grace was about to answer when Lily felt someone tapping her on the back.
"Lily, come on, please just talk to me," Severus Snape whispered. She whirled around and glared at him.
"I have nothing to say to you, Snape. Just leave me alone already."
"But you know I didn't mean it--"
"Quit it. Honestly, you're worse than Potter," she spat, turning back to her partner. Grace, thankfully, pretended nothing had happened and began to practice the wand movement for the charm.
"I was right," she heard him growl behind her. "Why did I waste my time with such a stupid Mudblood?"
Lily was about to turn around and hex him (hey, at least he'd be quiet!) when she felt a sharp pain in her back and slumped over onto the desk.
"Goodness!" Professor Flitwick squeaked, hopping off his stack of books and running towards them. "Fifty points from Slytherin! Mr. Snape, the Headmaster's office at once!"
Other students had run forward too, and they all stood nervously around the desk. Flitwick tapped Lily gently on the shoulder. "Lily, Lily, are you ok? Where does it hurt?"
She suddenly sat up, looking at all the faces staring down at her.
"Wow, who died? You guys all look so worried. Are you worried about me? I mean my back twinges a little bit, but I think Snape messed up his hex, because he probably meant to do more damage. Oh, hi Professor! What is everyone doing over here? You should be practicing your charms! Charms are my favorite subject, you know," she said, turning back to the professor.
"Um, Lily..are you sure you're ok?" The tiny professor had never heard Lily speak that much in class, unless he had called on her to answer a question.
"Spiffy! A bit hungry though. Grace, you have any food? Food is a weird word! It's spelled with an 'ood' like 'good' or 'hood' and yet it's not pronounced like them! Isn't the English language just fascinating? Myself, I've always wanted to learn French. It just sounds so pretty and--"
Mary had reached over and placed a hand over her friend's mouth. "Bugger, she's still trying to talk. I can feel her mouth moving under my hand." She cautiously lifted up her hand.
"--I mean everything sounds better in French, right? My sister says the French are horrible, but really she's the one--" (Mary covered her mouth again)
"--who is horrible. I still can't believe she's marrying that Vernon bloke--" (A hand clamped down once more)
Her friends looked worriedly at their professor. "Is this some kind of side effect of the hex, Professor?"
"I'm not sure, but it's definitely not normal. Best take her to see Madame Pomfrey. You and Ms. Brown are excused to escort her."
Getting Lily to the Hospital Wing ended up being easier than they thought it would be. It was no trouble at all to convince the girl that they were going to see Madame Pomfrey.
"Oh I love Madame Pomfrey! It's almost worth being sick sometimes just to go see her. She's so nice, and she never says anything rude if I come in with some horrible hex on my face after being tripped by some awful Slytherins--"
It was Emmy that decided it would be easier to tie her scarf around Lily's mouth. At least then the talking was a much quieter, muffled sound.
Madame Pomfrey looked up from her desk as the three girls entered the Hospital Wing.
"Girls?" she asked, her eyes widening a bit as she took in Emmy and Mary leading Lily, each with a hand clamped tight over the redhead's mouth. "How can I, uh, help you?"
"Well, we're not exactly sure what happened," Mary started. "We were in Charms and Snape hexed Lily..." She paused, looking over at Emmy.
Emmy shrugged. "And now she's like this." She uncovered Lily's mouth.
"--and sometimes she lets me take a nap in the beds if I have a bad headache, oh Madame Pomfrey you're here! I was just talking about how you're always so nice. There should be a niceness award or something, and you would get it! Is niceness even a word? I should ask Professor Dumbledore, he knows everything, right?"
"Silencio!" muttered Madame Pomfrey. "Well, I've never seen this strong of a hex before."
"What is it?" Mary asked, looking worriedly at Lily, who was still moving her mouth, though no sound was coming out.
"It looks like something Mr. Snape invented himself. I don't think he meant for this to be the effect, but it has obviously caused her to talk incessantly."
Emmy rolled her eyes. "Well yes, we saw that. The question is can you fix her?"
Mary elbowed her friend. "Emmy!" she hissed. "What she means, Madame Pomfrey, is there anything that can be done for Lily? To counter-act the hex?"
The nurse began to walk around Lily, waving her wand and muttering incantations under her breath. "I should be able to remove the effects using a potion that we use for those affected by nerves, since they also suffer from endless talking. I don't have any fresh stores available, though, so I will need to have Professor Slughorn brew some. If he gets started on it immediately, we can give the antidote to Miss Evans in about two to three days."
The girls' mouths fell open. "Three days? But what are we supposed to do? A Silencio won't last that long on her!"
"I can give you a sleeping potion to give her each night, so she can get some rest. Otherwise she'll just talk all night long and exhaust herself. As for the daytime, I'm afraid there's nothing you can do but wait it out. Extended exposure to the Silencio charm has its own adverse effects, as you should have learned in your lessons, girls."
She turned around and rummaged through a cupboard, returning with a small vial of purple liquid.
"Here is the sleeping potion. She only needs one sip, and she'll be good for a whole night. I'm sure this isn't the best of circumstances, but if I find out you've been giving her extra to make her sleep the next three days..." The older woman's stern glare told the girls that any punishment she would assign would be worth avoiding.
"Yes, Madame Pomfrey," Emmy and Mary replied. Taking the proffered vial, they turned Lily around and steered her out into the hallway.
"Well, this should be interesting," muttered Emmy as they walked to their next lesson.
Mary looked at Lily and sighed. Her mouth was still moving, producing silent conversations, probably about how she adored Madame Pomfrey.
***
As the girls sat down for dinner in the Great Hall later that day, Emmy was convinced it was a miracle she hadn't killed Lily yet. Sure, she was one of her best friends, and she loved talking with her about school and boys and what they wanted to do when they graduated. But this Lily, the Lily who talked non-stop about anything and everything, was driving her insane.
It seemed like anytime she began to run out of something to talk about, someone would walk by, leading to the inevitable ten minute speech about every interaction Lily had ever had with them. Or the time they walked past a window, and Lily launched into her thoughts on the use of owls as mail carriers. There was just no end.
Mary was handling it a bit better; she was at least trying to stay positive about it. She would nod along and pretend to listen to Lily, while Emmy fought the urge to just cast multiple silencing spells.
Meal time wasn't as bad, though. Thank goodness Lily liked to eat! Every time she would start to talk, the girls would hand her another cookie or piece of cake, and they would enjoy a blissful minute or so of silence.
The next day was both better and worse. There were no lessons, so they had no excuse to cast constant muffling spells on Lily. But at least they could get out of the castle. They managed to waste a few hours during the morning by convincing Lily to play hide and seek. They'd hide (casting disillusionment charms on themselves for extra protection) and she would wander around the grounds looking for them, all the while talking to herself or the occasional student that would walk by.
They planned to do the same after lunch, but were disappointed to find that it was raining heavily.
"Great, what are we going to do now?" grumbled Emmy.
"Maybe if we just hang out in the common room, she'll talk to everyone?" Mary suggested uncertainly.
Two hours later, Lily had managed to scare away almost all the students in the common room.
"Em, I think we need a back-up plan," Mary muttered under her breath. "I'm starting to think the only option is to just lock her in a room with some food until tomorrow."
Emmy's eyes lit up. "Hey Lily, I think that first year over there has a question about his Charms homework." She steered the redhead towards an unsuspecting young boy, who looked up with wide eyes at the chattering girl coming towards him.
"Charms, I love Charms! It's my favorite subject, and I'm quite good at it, so I'm sure I can help!" Lily gushed, clapping her hands together in excitement.
The first year looked afraid for his life.
Emmy turned away and marched up the staircase to the boys' dormitory, motioning for Mary to follow.
She threw open the door to the sixth year boys' room. "Ok, we need to talk," she announced to the room. Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew all looked up at the two girls with various degrees of surprise.
"Brown, I'm hanging out with my mates, but I suppose I can ask them to leave so we can have some time alone," said Sirius with a suggestive wink.
She punched him on the shoulder. "Ugh, no, you git. We've really got to do something about Lily." Mary nodded silently in agreement.
"I've never heard Lily talk this much," Remus replied quietly. "And I've spent two years attending prefect meetings and going on patrols with her."
"What does this have to do with us?" asked Sirius. "She's your friend to deal with, not ours. And besides, isn't Sluggy brewing up a potion for her?"
"Yes, but it won't be ready until tomorrow evening at the earliest, and we're already about to toss her off the Astronomy Tower." Mary sighed in exasperation.
"Which is why we need your help!" Emmy chimed in.
Sirius nodded, putting on his best business face. "Go on."
"We all know James is in love with Lily," she paused to glance over at the boy, who simply shrugged as if to say 'you caught me.' "If we can get the two of them together, he might be able to get her to stop talking."
"Whoa, how exactly is that going to work?" James asked, confusion clear on his face.
"Well usually when you talk to her, she gets mad and sulks for a while, so maybe if you talk to her she'll be quiet for a bit?" Emmy knew they were grasping at straws, but they didn't have many options.
"It will give you a chance to spend some time alone with her, maybe convince her you're not a complete idiot..." suggested Remus. James glared at him.
"Ok, it's settled then! James, you're coming with me. Mary will get Lily and meet us at the broom cupboard along the Charms corridor."
"Um, as much as I would love time alone with Lily, I'm a little nervous about being locked in a broom cupboard...with no exit."
"Come on James, you're not afraid of her, are you?" Sirius teased.
"Hey she may be tiny, but those fists still pack a mean punch! You have to remember, I'm an expert on getting hit by Lily Evans."
They all laughed at this.
"Relax, James, it will be fine. For some reason this hex has made her real chipper and happy all the time, so I doubt she'll hit you," Mary said in a comforting tone.
"Let's go!" Emmy grabbed James by the arm and dragged him forcibly out of the room, ignoring the panicked look on his face.
When they made it to the cupboard, they found Mary and Lily already waiting outside. Lily appeared to be listing every flavor of ice cream she could think of, in order of preference.
"Potter!" Lily squealed as they walked up. "Mary told me they have a surprise for me in the cupboard! Do you have a surprise too?"
"Um, yea, I guess..." James nervously ruffled up his hair.
"I love surprises! I love how you don't know what it's going to be- it could be anything! There could be cake in there! Or a pony! I always wanted a pony when I was little. Maybe it's a Muggle thing. Tuney said I was silly but then I said it's because she already looked like a horse!" Lily dissolved into giggles.
"Right, have a good night then!" Emmy unceremoniously opened the cupboard, quickly shoving James and Lily in before closing the door. Putting a quick silencing spell on the cupboard, she turned to Mary. "Guess we'll see if he's still alive in the morning, huh?"
Mary laughed weakly.
***
James was sitting in a bucket. He tripped and fell into it when Emmy shoved them in the cupboard, and it was too dark for him to even bother trying to find a better place to sit.
"Ugh, why did I let them take my wand?" he grumbled to himself.
"Potter!"
"Yea, Evans?"
"It's dark in here."
"...yea, I know."
"I used to be afraid of the dark, when I was little."
"I didn't know that."
"What were you afraid of?"
James froze for a second. Was Lily really asking him questions, genuinely interested in his childhood fears? This couldn't possibly be the same girl who ignored him unless she was assigning him a detention or taking off points for pulling a prank.
"Um...well there was a giant spider one time. In the bathroom. My dad caught it and let it outside, and I was always afraid it would get back in and eat me."
"I still don't like spiders. I heard they can crawl in your ear and lay eggs."
"That's...disgusting, Lily. Where did you hear that?"
"In primary school, when we studied bugs. You called me Lily." She sounded surprised.
"Oh, yea, sorry about that." He started to feel panicked. Very small room, plus an angry Lily Evans, did not equal an ideal situation for him.
"No, I like it. You should call me Lily all the time. 'Evans' sounds like I'm in trouble or something."
He laughed. "Like you'd ever be in trouble, Miss Perfect Prefect."
"I got in trouble a lot in primary school."
"Really? I don't believe you."
"Oh yea, all the time. I talked too much. I just wanted to be friends with everyone, but the teachers would yell at me and give me detention." She paused. "And the other kids thought I was a bit weird."
James felt like he could hear her frowning. "Is that why you're quiet now?"
"I guess. I wanted to do well here, make my parents proud and show my sister that I could still be successful even though she thinks I'm a freak. And then coming here, and people finding out I was Muggle-born..."
He sighed. "Yea some people don't make it very easy for Muggle-borns to make friends around here."
"It made me really sad my first year. I tried so hard, but no one besides Emmy and Mary would talk to me. The Slytherins would call me names, trip me down the stairs....except Severus, of course."
"Snape?"
"Yea, he was my best friend."
James snorted. "I'm sorry, are we talking about the same person? Big nose, greasy hair, enormous git?"
Lily laughed quietly. "We grew up near each other, used to play at the same park. He was the first to recognize that I had magic in me, was the only person I knew setting off to Hogwarts. Do you remember, on the train?"
He remembered. He and Sirius had joined Lily and Snape because all the other compartments were full. "I never knew you were friends. I thought you just ended up sitting together."
"He seemed to think his housemates wouldn't like him being friends with a Gryffindor, so we didn't hang out a lot in public. But he was there for me. He listened, when I was worried about not being smart enough, being a Muggle-born. He was there when I got the letters from my sister, telling me she wished I never existed, that I was a freak, an embarrassment."
"So then that day, after the O.W.L.'s, you were still friends then?"
"Yea...until he called me that. Mudblood. After years of telling me blood didn't matter to him, he called me that. He tried to apologize, said it slipped out. But I knew he meant it. It was like he just tried to forget that part of me when we were together. And he was always around those awful kids, talking about joining Voldemort after Hogwarts. He chose his side."
"I'm...I'm sorry Lily. I've never liked Snape- he's a disgusting, sneaky, evil git- but I'm sorry he hurt you."
He could hear her sniffling
"Come here, where are you..." He tried to make his way towards the sound, slamming into a few more buckets along the way before reaching out and touching her arm. He pulled her against his chest, one hand on her back while the other stroked her hair.
"Thanks. It's in the past, I can't dwell on it. There are greater evils in the world, you know?"
"Unfortunately, yes. But I intend to do something about that."
She picked her head up from his chest, looking where she thought his face was. "Like what?"
"I don't know exactly, but if there's going to be a war, if Voldemort starts something, I want to fight. I don't care who's pureblood or half or Muggle-born. It's a load of crap. People aren't defined by that. I mean, look at Sirius and his family. Purebloods, the lot of them, but they're all fanatical about getting rid of the Muggle-borns and Sirius wants to have nothing to do with them. And you, you're the best student at this school, but you're the first in your family to be magic. I can't let somebody try to stop people like you from being able to learn about magic, from being able to come to Hogwarts."
"Wow, James. That was really nice."
"It's true. And you called me James."
They both laughed.
"Sorry, would you prefer Potter?"
"Nah, I get that enough from McGonagall."
"I want to fight too, James. I want to fight him. I've been reading up on it, and I think I want to become an Auror, you know, to help stop him from hurting people."
"Yea, I've been thinking about that too."
"Are you scared?"
"Wow you're not asking easy questions tonight, are you?" he laughed nervously. "Yes. I am. Dumbledore is nervous, and that makes me scared. Are you?"
"Let's see, am I scared about fighting a war against a lunatic who wants to wipe out 'my kind'? No, not at all." She punched him playfully. "Of course I am. But for me, it seems like fight or not, I'll get the same end."
He pulled her back towards him. "Don't say that."
"You actually sounded nervous when you said that. Are you going to be sad if I die, James Potter?" she teased, poking him in the chest.
"Lily, that's not funny. Of course I will be. You're....I mean I...well you just shouldn't joke about things like that." He hugged her tightly to his chest.
"I know," she said softly. "Sometimes joking about it keeps me from falling apart though."
"Yea, I know."
"So tell me about your family," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. There was something about tonight, in a dark broom cupboard, that made hugging James Potter seem alright.
"Well it's just me and my Mum and Dad."
"No brothers or sisters?"
"Nope."
"Lucky. You want my sister?"
James laughed. "I always wanted siblings though. It got lonely being the only child. I played by myself a lot."
"Did you have an imaginary friend?" she teased.
"Shut up, and yes. His name was Pierre."
"A French imaginary friend? My, how cultured of you!"
"Yea, yea. What was it like growing up with a sister?"
"Fun, most of the time. We played together a lot. She was my best friend. We'd go to the park, or stay home and play with our dolls. But then she got older and started secondary school, and I got my Hogwarts letter. Then I was a 'freak' and she was embarrassed to call me her sister."
They sat in silence for a moment, James stroking her hair again.
"Ugh!" Lily exclaimed.
"Gah, what?" James instinctively reached for the wand that was not in its usual spot in his back pocket.
"I just remembered. Tuney's getting married. I have to be a bridesmaid."
He laughed. "You had me thinking it was something horrible."
"The dresses are hot pink."
He choked on his laughter. "You're kidding me. That sounds...awful. And with your hair. Oh wow, you're going to look great."
"You should see her fiancé. He looks like a walrus with a red face. And I don't just mean because of the mustache. I'm pretty sure he's about the same size as a walrus too. Seriously!"
They both laughed hysterically, shaking, tears rolling down their faces.
Lily rested her head on James' shoulder as the laughter began to die down, her sleepiness starting to take over. The last thing she remembered was hearing a very quiet "Good night, Lily."
***
When Lily woke up the next morning, she was confused. She looked around her, squinting in the bright light that was streaming in from under the door. She was in a broom cupboard. Curled up on the floor. With James Potter.
Then she remembered. Emmy and Mary taking them there. Talking about childhood fears, ambitions, betrayals. Laughing until she cried.
She smiled as she looked at James' sleeping face. His glasses were crooked and he was snoring slightly. She tried to sit up without moving him, but he woke up.
"Morning," he said with a wide yawn.
"Good morning," she replied, not sure if she should feel embarrassed for waking up like this, with him.
"Sleep ok?" He straightened his glasses and sat up, stretching his arms over his head.
She nodded. "You?"
"Not too bad for a broom cupboard." He grinned at her.
She looked at him curiously. Something was different, different from when she first walked into the cupboard last night, but she couldn't tell what. Maybe it was just that she didn't know what to say. She had talked a lot lately, maybe she just ran out of words.
"Hey, your potion is ready today, isn't it?"
"Huh? Oh yea, the antidote...yea I guess so. I should probably go see Madame Pomfrey about that."
She got up and opened the door, which thankfully had been unlocked. She headed towards the hospital wing, that gnawing feeling of uncertainty still lingering in her mind.
***
James left the cupboard shortly after Lily and began to wander aimlessly down a random hallway. He didn't want to go back to his dorm just yet. His mates would be asking about what happened, what she said in there. It just seemed...wrong to tell them. She'd been under the influence of a hex, she'd probably hit him once she found out that he knew all these details about her life, her feelings, her childhood. She might not believe it, but he did care about her, and he didn't want to hurt her like that. She had been hurt too many times already, he had learned.
After walking for a while, his stomach started to rumble. He decided to make his way towards the kitchens when he heard someone shout his name. He turned around and saw a flash of red coming at him.
"I'm cured!" Lily cried as she ran down the hallway towards him.
"That's great! So Pomfrey fixed the potion then?"
"No, I didn't take it."
James furrowed his brow in confusion. "You didn't take it? But I thought you needed the antidote to stop all this," he waved his arms around wildly as he searched for a word.
She nodded. "I went to her, and she said I was cured. I guess it wore off."
"Oh," he replied, still confused.
She looked a little embarrassed, staring down at what was apparently a very interesting spot on the floor. "She, uh, thinks it wore off a few hours ago."
His eyes grew wide. "Really?"
"Yep." She tilted her head up cautiously, as if afraid to continue. "So I guess, um, I guess all that time I couldn't stop talking was good. It seems I realized that you are actually a person and not just some annoying, trouble making toe-rag, and I kept talking to you after that because I was enjoying myself."
"Wow. Lily, that might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me," he said, sounding a little stunned. But that trademark sly grin was back in an instant. "So does that mean you wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?" He looked hopefully at her for a moment, then seemed to come to his senses, shaking his head. "Nah, joking of course. Guess I'll see you around then."
With a small wave he turned around and began walking down the hallway, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. But he only made it a few steps when--
"James!"
He whirled around at her voice, waiting expectantly.
"Three Broomsticks, 1 o'clock?"
He nodded mutely, not sure how to react to such a reply from Lily Evans. She simply smiled sweetly at him, though he noticed a slight pink tinge in her cheeks.
They both turned around and headed off in different directions. James laughed quietly to himself as he thought about the recent events. Never had he appreciated Severus Snape as much as he did that day.
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Poll A Hex Gone Wrong
Author: mandyloo
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 4,711
Warnings: Just a couple of angsty moments.
Summary: Lily can't stop talking and it's driving her friends insane, so they enlist the help of the Marauders.
Prompt: 61. Lily is hit by a curse that won't let her stop talking and James has to take care of her.
Beta reader(s): E
Author's Notes This started out as something much smaller and kind of exploded, so I'm excited and nervous to see what everyone thinks :)
It started off as just another Charms lesson, on just another Friday at Hogwarts. Lily Evans entered the classroom with her friends Mary MacDonald and Emmy Brown, and they sat at their usual table. Lily arranged her books neatly in front of her and adjusted her prefect badge.
Professor Flitwick began lecturing; Lily took notes. Really, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Things didn't change until they were told to partner up to practice a new charm. Mary and Emmy immediately grouped up, and Lily cast her eyes around the classroom, looking for someone to work with. Potter and his friends had all grouped up (thank goodness, she thought. I'd hate to have to work with any of them) and the two Hufflepuff students were working together.
Great. There was a Slytherin boy who always leered at her and a girl from Ravenclaw that would never shut up about her boyfriend.
And Snape. He glanced up at her, that pitiful look in his eyes like always. Ever since last year, he'd been trying to apologize, but there was no point. He had chosen his side. And the fact that his side wanted her to die made her feel a little less than friendly towards him.
Lily ran over to the Ravenclaw girl before he had a chance to say anything to her.
"Grace," Lily nodded to the girl as she straightened her notes. "So do you want to try the charm on me first, or should I go?"
Grace was about to answer when Lily felt someone tapping her on the back.
"Lily, come on, please just talk to me," Severus Snape whispered. She whirled around and glared at him.
"I have nothing to say to you, Snape. Just leave me alone already."
"But you know I didn't mean it--"
"Quit it. Honestly, you're worse than Potter," she spat, turning back to her partner. Grace, thankfully, pretended nothing had happened and began to practice the wand movement for the charm.
"I was right," she heard him growl behind her. "Why did I waste my time with such a stupid Mudblood?"
Lily was about to turn around and hex him (hey, at least he'd be quiet!) when she felt a sharp pain in her back and slumped over onto the desk.
"Goodness!" Professor Flitwick squeaked, hopping off his stack of books and running towards them. "Fifty points from Slytherin! Mr. Snape, the Headmaster's office at once!"
Other students had run forward too, and they all stood nervously around the desk. Flitwick tapped Lily gently on the shoulder. "Lily, Lily, are you ok? Where does it hurt?"
She suddenly sat up, looking at all the faces staring down at her.
"Wow, who died? You guys all look so worried. Are you worried about me? I mean my back twinges a little bit, but I think Snape messed up his hex, because he probably meant to do more damage. Oh, hi Professor! What is everyone doing over here? You should be practicing your charms! Charms are my favorite subject, you know," she said, turning back to the professor.
"Um, Lily..are you sure you're ok?" The tiny professor had never heard Lily speak that much in class, unless he had called on her to answer a question.
"Spiffy! A bit hungry though. Grace, you have any food? Food is a weird word! It's spelled with an 'ood' like 'good' or 'hood' and yet it's not pronounced like them! Isn't the English language just fascinating? Myself, I've always wanted to learn French. It just sounds so pretty and--"
Mary had reached over and placed a hand over her friend's mouth. "Bugger, she's still trying to talk. I can feel her mouth moving under my hand." She cautiously lifted up her hand.
"--I mean everything sounds better in French, right? My sister says the French are horrible, but really she's the one--" (Mary covered her mouth again)
"--who is horrible. I still can't believe she's marrying that Vernon bloke--" (A hand clamped down once more)
Her friends looked worriedly at their professor. "Is this some kind of side effect of the hex, Professor?"
"I'm not sure, but it's definitely not normal. Best take her to see Madame Pomfrey. You and Ms. Brown are excused to escort her."
Getting Lily to the Hospital Wing ended up being easier than they thought it would be. It was no trouble at all to convince the girl that they were going to see Madame Pomfrey.
"Oh I love Madame Pomfrey! It's almost worth being sick sometimes just to go see her. She's so nice, and she never says anything rude if I come in with some horrible hex on my face after being tripped by some awful Slytherins--"
It was Emmy that decided it would be easier to tie her scarf around Lily's mouth. At least then the talking was a much quieter, muffled sound.
Madame Pomfrey looked up from her desk as the three girls entered the Hospital Wing.
"Girls?" she asked, her eyes widening a bit as she took in Emmy and Mary leading Lily, each with a hand clamped tight over the redhead's mouth. "How can I, uh, help you?"
"Well, we're not exactly sure what happened," Mary started. "We were in Charms and Snape hexed Lily..." She paused, looking over at Emmy.
Emmy shrugged. "And now she's like this." She uncovered Lily's mouth.
"--and sometimes she lets me take a nap in the beds if I have a bad headache, oh Madame Pomfrey you're here! I was just talking about how you're always so nice. There should be a niceness award or something, and you would get it! Is niceness even a word? I should ask Professor Dumbledore, he knows everything, right?"
"Silencio!" muttered Madame Pomfrey. "Well, I've never seen this strong of a hex before."
"What is it?" Mary asked, looking worriedly at Lily, who was still moving her mouth, though no sound was coming out.
"It looks like something Mr. Snape invented himself. I don't think he meant for this to be the effect, but it has obviously caused her to talk incessantly."
Emmy rolled her eyes. "Well yes, we saw that. The question is can you fix her?"
Mary elbowed her friend. "Emmy!" she hissed. "What she means, Madame Pomfrey, is there anything that can be done for Lily? To counter-act the hex?"
The nurse began to walk around Lily, waving her wand and muttering incantations under her breath. "I should be able to remove the effects using a potion that we use for those affected by nerves, since they also suffer from endless talking. I don't have any fresh stores available, though, so I will need to have Professor Slughorn brew some. If he gets started on it immediately, we can give the antidote to Miss Evans in about two to three days."
The girls' mouths fell open. "Three days? But what are we supposed to do? A Silencio won't last that long on her!"
"I can give you a sleeping potion to give her each night, so she can get some rest. Otherwise she'll just talk all night long and exhaust herself. As for the daytime, I'm afraid there's nothing you can do but wait it out. Extended exposure to the Silencio charm has its own adverse effects, as you should have learned in your lessons, girls."
She turned around and rummaged through a cupboard, returning with a small vial of purple liquid.
"Here is the sleeping potion. She only needs one sip, and she'll be good for a whole night. I'm sure this isn't the best of circumstances, but if I find out you've been giving her extra to make her sleep the next three days..." The older woman's stern glare told the girls that any punishment she would assign would be worth avoiding.
"Yes, Madame Pomfrey," Emmy and Mary replied. Taking the proffered vial, they turned Lily around and steered her out into the hallway.
"Well, this should be interesting," muttered Emmy as they walked to their next lesson.
Mary looked at Lily and sighed. Her mouth was still moving, producing silent conversations, probably about how she adored Madame Pomfrey.
***
As the girls sat down for dinner in the Great Hall later that day, Emmy was convinced it was a miracle she hadn't killed Lily yet. Sure, she was one of her best friends, and she loved talking with her about school and boys and what they wanted to do when they graduated. But this Lily, the Lily who talked non-stop about anything and everything, was driving her insane.
It seemed like anytime she began to run out of something to talk about, someone would walk by, leading to the inevitable ten minute speech about every interaction Lily had ever had with them. Or the time they walked past a window, and Lily launched into her thoughts on the use of owls as mail carriers. There was just no end.
Mary was handling it a bit better; she was at least trying to stay positive about it. She would nod along and pretend to listen to Lily, while Emmy fought the urge to just cast multiple silencing spells.
Meal time wasn't as bad, though. Thank goodness Lily liked to eat! Every time she would start to talk, the girls would hand her another cookie or piece of cake, and they would enjoy a blissful minute or so of silence.
The next day was both better and worse. There were no lessons, so they had no excuse to cast constant muffling spells on Lily. But at least they could get out of the castle. They managed to waste a few hours during the morning by convincing Lily to play hide and seek. They'd hide (casting disillusionment charms on themselves for extra protection) and she would wander around the grounds looking for them, all the while talking to herself or the occasional student that would walk by.
They planned to do the same after lunch, but were disappointed to find that it was raining heavily.
"Great, what are we going to do now?" grumbled Emmy.
"Maybe if we just hang out in the common room, she'll talk to everyone?" Mary suggested uncertainly.
Two hours later, Lily had managed to scare away almost all the students in the common room.
"Em, I think we need a back-up plan," Mary muttered under her breath. "I'm starting to think the only option is to just lock her in a room with some food until tomorrow."
Emmy's eyes lit up. "Hey Lily, I think that first year over there has a question about his Charms homework." She steered the redhead towards an unsuspecting young boy, who looked up with wide eyes at the chattering girl coming towards him.
"Charms, I love Charms! It's my favorite subject, and I'm quite good at it, so I'm sure I can help!" Lily gushed, clapping her hands together in excitement.
The first year looked afraid for his life.
Emmy turned away and marched up the staircase to the boys' dormitory, motioning for Mary to follow.
She threw open the door to the sixth year boys' room. "Ok, we need to talk," she announced to the room. Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew all looked up at the two girls with various degrees of surprise.
"Brown, I'm hanging out with my mates, but I suppose I can ask them to leave so we can have some time alone," said Sirius with a suggestive wink.
She punched him on the shoulder. "Ugh, no, you git. We've really got to do something about Lily." Mary nodded silently in agreement.
"I've never heard Lily talk this much," Remus replied quietly. "And I've spent two years attending prefect meetings and going on patrols with her."
"What does this have to do with us?" asked Sirius. "She's your friend to deal with, not ours. And besides, isn't Sluggy brewing up a potion for her?"
"Yes, but it won't be ready until tomorrow evening at the earliest, and we're already about to toss her off the Astronomy Tower." Mary sighed in exasperation.
"Which is why we need your help!" Emmy chimed in.
Sirius nodded, putting on his best business face. "Go on."
"We all know James is in love with Lily," she paused to glance over at the boy, who simply shrugged as if to say 'you caught me.' "If we can get the two of them together, he might be able to get her to stop talking."
"Whoa, how exactly is that going to work?" James asked, confusion clear on his face.
"Well usually when you talk to her, she gets mad and sulks for a while, so maybe if you talk to her she'll be quiet for a bit?" Emmy knew they were grasping at straws, but they didn't have many options.
"It will give you a chance to spend some time alone with her, maybe convince her you're not a complete idiot..." suggested Remus. James glared at him.
"Ok, it's settled then! James, you're coming with me. Mary will get Lily and meet us at the broom cupboard along the Charms corridor."
"Um, as much as I would love time alone with Lily, I'm a little nervous about being locked in a broom cupboard...with no exit."
"Come on James, you're not afraid of her, are you?" Sirius teased.
"Hey she may be tiny, but those fists still pack a mean punch! You have to remember, I'm an expert on getting hit by Lily Evans."
They all laughed at this.
"Relax, James, it will be fine. For some reason this hex has made her real chipper and happy all the time, so I doubt she'll hit you," Mary said in a comforting tone.
"Let's go!" Emmy grabbed James by the arm and dragged him forcibly out of the room, ignoring the panicked look on his face.
When they made it to the cupboard, they found Mary and Lily already waiting outside. Lily appeared to be listing every flavor of ice cream she could think of, in order of preference.
"Potter!" Lily squealed as they walked up. "Mary told me they have a surprise for me in the cupboard! Do you have a surprise too?"
"Um, yea, I guess..." James nervously ruffled up his hair.
"I love surprises! I love how you don't know what it's going to be- it could be anything! There could be cake in there! Or a pony! I always wanted a pony when I was little. Maybe it's a Muggle thing. Tuney said I was silly but then I said it's because she already looked like a horse!" Lily dissolved into giggles.
"Right, have a good night then!" Emmy unceremoniously opened the cupboard, quickly shoving James and Lily in before closing the door. Putting a quick silencing spell on the cupboard, she turned to Mary. "Guess we'll see if he's still alive in the morning, huh?"
Mary laughed weakly.
***
James was sitting in a bucket. He tripped and fell into it when Emmy shoved them in the cupboard, and it was too dark for him to even bother trying to find a better place to sit.
"Ugh, why did I let them take my wand?" he grumbled to himself.
"Potter!"
"Yea, Evans?"
"It's dark in here."
"...yea, I know."
"I used to be afraid of the dark, when I was little."
"I didn't know that."
"What were you afraid of?"
James froze for a second. Was Lily really asking him questions, genuinely interested in his childhood fears? This couldn't possibly be the same girl who ignored him unless she was assigning him a detention or taking off points for pulling a prank.
"Um...well there was a giant spider one time. In the bathroom. My dad caught it and let it outside, and I was always afraid it would get back in and eat me."
"I still don't like spiders. I heard they can crawl in your ear and lay eggs."
"That's...disgusting, Lily. Where did you hear that?"
"In primary school, when we studied bugs. You called me Lily." She sounded surprised.
"Oh, yea, sorry about that." He started to feel panicked. Very small room, plus an angry Lily Evans, did not equal an ideal situation for him.
"No, I like it. You should call me Lily all the time. 'Evans' sounds like I'm in trouble or something."
He laughed. "Like you'd ever be in trouble, Miss Perfect Prefect."
"I got in trouble a lot in primary school."
"Really? I don't believe you."
"Oh yea, all the time. I talked too much. I just wanted to be friends with everyone, but the teachers would yell at me and give me detention." She paused. "And the other kids thought I was a bit weird."
James felt like he could hear her frowning. "Is that why you're quiet now?"
"I guess. I wanted to do well here, make my parents proud and show my sister that I could still be successful even though she thinks I'm a freak. And then coming here, and people finding out I was Muggle-born..."
He sighed. "Yea some people don't make it very easy for Muggle-borns to make friends around here."
"It made me really sad my first year. I tried so hard, but no one besides Emmy and Mary would talk to me. The Slytherins would call me names, trip me down the stairs....except Severus, of course."
"Snape?"
"Yea, he was my best friend."
James snorted. "I'm sorry, are we talking about the same person? Big nose, greasy hair, enormous git?"
Lily laughed quietly. "We grew up near each other, used to play at the same park. He was the first to recognize that I had magic in me, was the only person I knew setting off to Hogwarts. Do you remember, on the train?"
He remembered. He and Sirius had joined Lily and Snape because all the other compartments were full. "I never knew you were friends. I thought you just ended up sitting together."
"He seemed to think his housemates wouldn't like him being friends with a Gryffindor, so we didn't hang out a lot in public. But he was there for me. He listened, when I was worried about not being smart enough, being a Muggle-born. He was there when I got the letters from my sister, telling me she wished I never existed, that I was a freak, an embarrassment."
"So then that day, after the O.W.L.'s, you were still friends then?"
"Yea...until he called me that. Mudblood. After years of telling me blood didn't matter to him, he called me that. He tried to apologize, said it slipped out. But I knew he meant it. It was like he just tried to forget that part of me when we were together. And he was always around those awful kids, talking about joining Voldemort after Hogwarts. He chose his side."
"I'm...I'm sorry Lily. I've never liked Snape- he's a disgusting, sneaky, evil git- but I'm sorry he hurt you."
He could hear her sniffling
"Come here, where are you..." He tried to make his way towards the sound, slamming into a few more buckets along the way before reaching out and touching her arm. He pulled her against his chest, one hand on her back while the other stroked her hair.
"Thanks. It's in the past, I can't dwell on it. There are greater evils in the world, you know?"
"Unfortunately, yes. But I intend to do something about that."
She picked her head up from his chest, looking where she thought his face was. "Like what?"
"I don't know exactly, but if there's going to be a war, if Voldemort starts something, I want to fight. I don't care who's pureblood or half or Muggle-born. It's a load of crap. People aren't defined by that. I mean, look at Sirius and his family. Purebloods, the lot of them, but they're all fanatical about getting rid of the Muggle-borns and Sirius wants to have nothing to do with them. And you, you're the best student at this school, but you're the first in your family to be magic. I can't let somebody try to stop people like you from being able to learn about magic, from being able to come to Hogwarts."
"Wow, James. That was really nice."
"It's true. And you called me James."
They both laughed.
"Sorry, would you prefer Potter?"
"Nah, I get that enough from McGonagall."
"I want to fight too, James. I want to fight him. I've been reading up on it, and I think I want to become an Auror, you know, to help stop him from hurting people."
"Yea, I've been thinking about that too."
"Are you scared?"
"Wow you're not asking easy questions tonight, are you?" he laughed nervously. "Yes. I am. Dumbledore is nervous, and that makes me scared. Are you?"
"Let's see, am I scared about fighting a war against a lunatic who wants to wipe out 'my kind'? No, not at all." She punched him playfully. "Of course I am. But for me, it seems like fight or not, I'll get the same end."
He pulled her back towards him. "Don't say that."
"You actually sounded nervous when you said that. Are you going to be sad if I die, James Potter?" she teased, poking him in the chest.
"Lily, that's not funny. Of course I will be. You're....I mean I...well you just shouldn't joke about things like that." He hugged her tightly to his chest.
"I know," she said softly. "Sometimes joking about it keeps me from falling apart though."
"Yea, I know."
"So tell me about your family," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. There was something about tonight, in a dark broom cupboard, that made hugging James Potter seem alright.
"Well it's just me and my Mum and Dad."
"No brothers or sisters?"
"Nope."
"Lucky. You want my sister?"
James laughed. "I always wanted siblings though. It got lonely being the only child. I played by myself a lot."
"Did you have an imaginary friend?" she teased.
"Shut up, and yes. His name was Pierre."
"A French imaginary friend? My, how cultured of you!"
"Yea, yea. What was it like growing up with a sister?"
"Fun, most of the time. We played together a lot. She was my best friend. We'd go to the park, or stay home and play with our dolls. But then she got older and started secondary school, and I got my Hogwarts letter. Then I was a 'freak' and she was embarrassed to call me her sister."
They sat in silence for a moment, James stroking her hair again.
"Ugh!" Lily exclaimed.
"Gah, what?" James instinctively reached for the wand that was not in its usual spot in his back pocket.
"I just remembered. Tuney's getting married. I have to be a bridesmaid."
He laughed. "You had me thinking it was something horrible."
"The dresses are hot pink."
He choked on his laughter. "You're kidding me. That sounds...awful. And with your hair. Oh wow, you're going to look great."
"You should see her fiancé. He looks like a walrus with a red face. And I don't just mean because of the mustache. I'm pretty sure he's about the same size as a walrus too. Seriously!"
They both laughed hysterically, shaking, tears rolling down their faces.
Lily rested her head on James' shoulder as the laughter began to die down, her sleepiness starting to take over. The last thing she remembered was hearing a very quiet "Good night, Lily."
***
When Lily woke up the next morning, she was confused. She looked around her, squinting in the bright light that was streaming in from under the door. She was in a broom cupboard. Curled up on the floor. With James Potter.
Then she remembered. Emmy and Mary taking them there. Talking about childhood fears, ambitions, betrayals. Laughing until she cried.
She smiled as she looked at James' sleeping face. His glasses were crooked and he was snoring slightly. She tried to sit up without moving him, but he woke up.
"Morning," he said with a wide yawn.
"Good morning," she replied, not sure if she should feel embarrassed for waking up like this, with him.
"Sleep ok?" He straightened his glasses and sat up, stretching his arms over his head.
She nodded. "You?"
"Not too bad for a broom cupboard." He grinned at her.
She looked at him curiously. Something was different, different from when she first walked into the cupboard last night, but she couldn't tell what. Maybe it was just that she didn't know what to say. She had talked a lot lately, maybe she just ran out of words.
"Hey, your potion is ready today, isn't it?"
"Huh? Oh yea, the antidote...yea I guess so. I should probably go see Madame Pomfrey about that."
She got up and opened the door, which thankfully had been unlocked. She headed towards the hospital wing, that gnawing feeling of uncertainty still lingering in her mind.
***
James left the cupboard shortly after Lily and began to wander aimlessly down a random hallway. He didn't want to go back to his dorm just yet. His mates would be asking about what happened, what she said in there. It just seemed...wrong to tell them. She'd been under the influence of a hex, she'd probably hit him once she found out that he knew all these details about her life, her feelings, her childhood. She might not believe it, but he did care about her, and he didn't want to hurt her like that. She had been hurt too many times already, he had learned.
After walking for a while, his stomach started to rumble. He decided to make his way towards the kitchens when he heard someone shout his name. He turned around and saw a flash of red coming at him.
"I'm cured!" Lily cried as she ran down the hallway towards him.
"That's great! So Pomfrey fixed the potion then?"
"No, I didn't take it."
James furrowed his brow in confusion. "You didn't take it? But I thought you needed the antidote to stop all this," he waved his arms around wildly as he searched for a word.
She nodded. "I went to her, and she said I was cured. I guess it wore off."
"Oh," he replied, still confused.
She looked a little embarrassed, staring down at what was apparently a very interesting spot on the floor. "She, uh, thinks it wore off a few hours ago."
His eyes grew wide. "Really?"
"Yep." She tilted her head up cautiously, as if afraid to continue. "So I guess, um, I guess all that time I couldn't stop talking was good. It seems I realized that you are actually a person and not just some annoying, trouble making toe-rag, and I kept talking to you after that because I was enjoying myself."
"Wow. Lily, that might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me," he said, sounding a little stunned. But that trademark sly grin was back in an instant. "So does that mean you wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?" He looked hopefully at her for a moment, then seemed to come to his senses, shaking his head. "Nah, joking of course. Guess I'll see you around then."
With a small wave he turned around and began walking down the hallway, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. But he only made it a few steps when--
"James!"
He whirled around at her voice, waiting expectantly.
"Three Broomsticks, 1 o'clock?"
He nodded mutely, not sure how to react to such a reply from Lily Evans. She simply smiled sweetly at him, though he noticed a slight pink tinge in her cheeks.
They both turned around and headed off in different directions. James laughed quietly to himself as he thought about the recent events. Never had he appreciated Severus Snape as much as he did that day.
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Poll A Hex Gone Wrong