Devil's Snare

          
“Lily! Here, don’t forget your book for herbology!” a dark-skinned girl called, running over to the redhead and handing it over.
Pausing, Lily Evans waited until the girl had caught up, thanking her for her kindness just as the girl ran by her, apparently late for a class herself. Laughing softly, she shook her head and cut across the courtyard to take a shortcut. Leaning against a tree, a boy with pale-blonde hair and cool gray eyes chuckled, causing her to whirl and face him. Great, it had to be Malfoy.



          
Lucius Malfoy stepped away from the tree, dusting off his robe as he did so, coming closer to Lily, who tensed at his approach. Undeterred, he remarked snidely on his way by, “With so much mud tainting the blood, it’s a wonder you don’t forget more things. I’m surprised you’ve lasted to year four, and to memorize such complex spells and formulas…”


          
“I’ll have you know I’m one of the top of the class of Gryffindor.” Lily snapped at him, feeling the sting of the words more than she would dare admit to. So what if neither of her parents had been wizards? That didn’t make her any less of a witch for it. Her spells always worked the first time. “Can you say the same?”


          
“Actually, I can. I’m at the top of my class as well.” Lucius replied amiably, his voice still taunting as he turned to face her, pausing in his steps for the moment.


          
Lily’s mouth twisted into a slight smile. “With, or without, Malfoy donations? I earned mine on pure talent and perseverance.”


          
“I’d watch what I say if I were you.” Lucius warned, snagging Lily’s arm go glare down at her with eyes gone cold as glaciers. A trait his son would inherit. “Mudbloods aren’t well received, and they can tend to be … damaged.”


          
“Well, you’re not me. And aren’t you glad for that?” Lily growled, pulling herself out of his grasp and storming off to her class. Now she really WAS late and it was all that bloody Malfoy’s fault!


          
Glaring at her back, as if he could kill her just with the intensity of his stare, Lucius finally whirled around with a swish of his cloak, going to find Nott, Crabbe and Goyle.


~~~


          
In the Great Hall during lunch, Lily had told the story of what happened to the rest of her group, which included James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and several of her girlfriends. After finishing her tale, she lifted her pumpkin juice and took a long swallow.
James slammed his hand down on the table, glaring towards the Slytherin table as he shouted, “He said WHAT!?”


          
Remus dug around in his pocket, coming out with a chocolate bar that had only one piece missing from it. He held it out to her, offering, “Here, have a piece of chocolate, it’ll make you feel much better.”


          
“What is it with you and the bloody chocolate, Moony?!” Sirius demanded, exasperated with his friend. He honestly believed that the werewolf had some serious addiction issues with the sweet.


          
Laughing softly, Lily took a piece of the chocolate, waving off the rest. “Thank you, Remus. It’s very nice of you.” Then she addressed the other two, as Remus pocketed the rest of his chocolate. “First off, everybody has some sort of addiction. What about your obsession with magazine photos of that gmmphhfah.” Her jewel-green eyes flashed warningly at Sirius from above the hand he had across her mouth. When he jerked his hand away with a yelp, causing the others to laugh, she then addressed James. “I don’t want you going over there and making more of a fuss then there has to be. So just leave off.”


          
“But he ….” James protested, pointing towards the other House table again, where Lucius could now be seen smirking at James’ dilemma.


          
However, Lily was firm with a shake of her head. “James, I said no. Are you really going to try and get me more upset than I already am?” Her glare made him re-think his plan.


          
With a soft, defeated smile, he shook his head. “No, Evans. You’re right. I won’t go make trouble at the Slytherin table.” With a sigh, he plopped his chin in his hand, poking at his lunch.


          
Sirius and Remus exchanged looks with each other, arching an eyebrow. Neither one of them were fooled by their best friend’s demeanor. Prongs was most definitely up to something. However, it seemed to mollify Lily, so they left it alone for the moment. Smiling now, she leaned forward and gave his cheek a peck. “Good boy, Potter.”




TBC