Devil's Snare

          
Knowing that his friends wouldn’t approve, the wild-tempered Marauder managed an afternoon where he wasn’t hanging around them, contriving to confront Malfoy and get him to back off once and for all. James had snuck a note into Lucius’ bag during their shared class together, Transfigurations, indicating they should meet in the field next to the Whomping Willow.


          
Hopefully, he’d get a lucky shot and knock the Slytherin close enough to striking range of the tree. And, if things were going badly, he’d just blind the other teen and slip into the secret tunnel that had been put there for Moony’s benefit. It was nearly a fool-proof plan, the dangerous part being of course that HE would be slammed too close to the Whomping Willow.


          
When he arrived at the tree, he was surprised to see that Lucius had gotten there first, but then realized that it should’ve occurred to him that the other boy didn’t have friends he needed to dodge before he could reach his destination. He stalked towards the other duelist, muttering, “Dammit. I wanted to be the one to be here first, so I could give him that snarky look he’s tossing my way.”


          
“Are you saying your prayers, Potter? Fine idea, gets things over with in a more expedient manner.” Lucius taunted, already disrobing and holding his wand out.


          
“Yes. One for you.” James called back, tossing his own robe down and pulling out his own wand. The duel would be over quickly enough that he didn’t have to worry about washing stains out later. “En garde.”


          
Lucius’ lips twisted into the aristocratic sneer he’d perfected, as he chuckled. “Quite cheek. En garde.”


          
Quick work indeed. Ten minutes later saw quite a turn of events.


          
James fell to the ground, grunting with the impact as he held a hand to his chest where the Slytherin boy’d gotten him with the full brunt of the spell, though his mouth and chin had caught some of the blast as well. Wincing, he braced himself onto his elbow, holding out his wand just in case Malfoy tried anything while he was incapacitated.


          
The platinum-blonde slowly made his way over to where James lay, staring down at him impassively before murmuring, "I'd not try that again, if I were you, Potter. My family raised children to disarm and hex as they cut their teeth. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if your family didn’t wait for your voices to crack first.”


          
James stood, glaring at the blonde for a moment, his eyes blazing with anger. He’d had enough of the bad-mouthing, not only of Lily, but of himself. He was just as pure-blooded as Malfoy, and was getting tired of being looked down upon just because of the choice of his friends. Dusting off his vest, he growled out, "If you weren't such a sanctimonious prick..."


          
For his part, however, it didn’t appear that Lucius was even paying attention to James’ tirade, his eyes trailing down James' chin, following the dribble of blood. Raising his hand, he stroked at the crimson trail, putting it into his mouth. James stepped back a pace, incredulous as to what his arch enemy was doing, snarling, 'What the fuck are you ..."


          
His protest was cut short with a softly-muffled cry as Lucius' hand darted out, snagged the back of his head and held him there as he leaned forward. Licking at the blood, Lucius swiftly kissed his arch-nemesis, dark and heavy, the air between them heating from combined body temperatures rising from something that neither could, at that moment, deny.


          
James felt his lips being nudged apart by Lucius’ tongue seeking entry, moaning softly at the thrilled tingle that coursed through his body at the demanding touch. His hands reached up, clutching at the gray vest that spanned across a very nicely feeling chest. Then his senses returned and he shoved Malfoy backwards with a snarl, his chest tight from denial. “Don’t ever do that again, Malfoy.” Turning, he stalked off towards the Courtyard, pausing only momentarily to snatch up his robes. He didn’t bother to look behind him to see that Lucius had begun trailing him into Hogwarts.


~~~


          
James found Remus, Sirius and Lily sitting on their favorite benches around a large tree in the Courtyard, and flopped down beside them, ignoring their horrified looks at his appearance. Sirius was the first to respond, putting his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Blimey, Potter, what happened to you?! You look as if you’d been dragged through the mud by the Willow.”


          
“I very nearly was.” James admitted, muttering foully under his breath, ignoring Remus who was smirking into his coffee, but to say, “Shove it, Moony. It’s your blasted tree.”


          
“And it’s saved us on many an occasion, I’d remind you.” Remus remarked airily, chuckling and asking, without reaching for any, “Need some chocolate?”


          
“Honestly, James, what could’ve been so bloody important that you were near …” Lily broke off as she spotted Lucius standing not a yard away. “What do you want?!”


          
Lucius merely smiled placidly as he sketched a mock-nod to her. “You might want to fix up your …. boyfriend’s … lip. It appears to have gotten itself damaged in our … endeavors.”


          
“He’s NOT my boyfriend! What do you mean ‘endeavors’!?” Lily instinctively denied, barking at Lucius before whirling on James and jabbing him in the chest, demanding, “This was about what he said to me, wasn’t it?! Do you always have to run to my rescue like some damned glory-hound hero?! I can take care of myself you know!” She was infuriated to know that James had dueled Malfoy, about ready to slug him herself. “I can cast spells and do magic and all that other stuff just as easily as all of you pure-bloods. Just because my parents weren’t wizards….”


          
Sirius then moved away from James, closer to Remus. If James was getting anywhere near more damage, he wasn’t about to put himself in the eway. Potter would heal in due time anyway. “Now, Lily, calm down, I’m sure James didn’t…”


          
The redhead didn’t even bother looking towards Sirius, muttering, “Oh shut up, Black.”


          
“Are some feathers a bit ruffled? One would think that with blood that common, the skin would be tougher… ” Lucius remarked, in regards to her ability to take comments, amused by the tirade. Busy dusting off his sleeve, he didn’t see Lily storm over to him until it was too late. All he saw was sunlight sparking off of red-gold hair, and a black flash which faded to white as she slugged him in the eye.


          
“Evans…..” everyone breathed, staring at the fuming female wide-eyed and reconsidering pissing her off in the future.





TBC