Mischief Managed

By Lily Evans Potter

Step back into the magic of a familiar world.

After a venomous fight with her best friend, Lily Evans is dreading a lonely summer back in Cokeworth with only her sister Petunia for company. However this summer and her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have a transformative effect on Lily, shaking her all

• Language: English
• Publisher: Magic Press
• Release date: May 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9780975662939

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

I wouldn’t go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid.

The words of Lily Evans rang in James Potter’s ears that night as he walked up the spiral staircase to the Gryffindor common room.

He couldn’t possibly be as bad as Snivelly. I mean he joked around a bit and he had added a nasty amount of laxative potion to a jug of pumpkin juice on the Slytherin table last week but that was different to saying something as blatantly racist and disgusting as mudblood. Completely different. The word was practically medieval. At least among the wizards and witches that James knew. Of course, there would always be a few radicals who believed magic should be kept in one bloodline, but James had always been under the impression that their numbers were extremely small since the fall of Grindelwald.

Gellert Grindelwald had been locked in the most secure cell in Nurmengard for over thirty years, and his once prolific influence had waned dramatically in that time. He was now a chapter in the more modern History of Magic books, slender volumes like Wizarding in the Modern Era or A Contemporary History of Magic, both written in the last ten years. James had skimmed through these books in preparation for his History of Magic O.W.L exam, but he had retained very little of the actual details about Grindelwald’s current following.

Still, he doubted that Snivelly was one of those fanatics. How he hated the little git. The worst part of the afternoon had been the look on Lily’s face. Her expression had not changed when she looked from Snivelly to him. As though they were same. Equally rotten. Girls were so pig-headed sometimes.

‘Don’t beat yourself up mate,’ Sirius had declared when James gave a deflated sigh while pulling off his robes. ‘Snivellus deserved it, the little git. It was the right thing to do.’

‘I don’t think Lily saw it that way Padfoot,’ injected Remus. ‘Perhaps not your best move Prongs, given the history between Severus and Lily.’

‘Alice said that she didn't come down to dinner, spent the whole hour locked in Myrtle's bathroom,’ added Peter unhelpfully.

‘When have you ever spoken to a girl, Wormy?’ asked Sirius.

‘Well I didn't exactly speak to her, more overheard her say it in passing,’ answered Peter.

‘That’s called eavesdropping,’ corrected Remus.

‘I also heard that Severus is waiting outside the portrait-hole to apologise,’ added Peter, wanting to provide some value to the conversation without giving any direct advice on what should be done.

‘Ha! Fat chance she accepts,’ said Sirius.

‘Oh, I don't know that I agree with you there Padfoot,’ said Remus. ‘Lily and Severus have been friends a long time, grew up on the same street, there’s a lot of history there.’

James’ jaw tightened ever so slightly, but he continued to silently remove his robes, not trusting himself enough to speak without yelling.

His friends waited for him to say something and then realising he wouldn’t, Sirius asked a question that had long puzzled James. ‘Why on earth would anyone choose to be friends with Snivelly for this long? I mean it’s been years.’

James did not know the answer to Sirius’ question, it wasn’t like Lily couldn’t make other friends, she was smart, funny and very pretty. He climbed into bed with a heavy feeling in his chest and a churning in his stomach, unrelated to the large portion of roast chicken he had consumed at dinner. He found it difficult to fall asleep that night as thoughts about Lily forgiving Snape, and the verminous dislike in her eyes when she looked at him swam in his mind.

‘I’m sorry,’ implored a guilty looking Severus Snape.

‘Save your breath,’ answered Lily Evans, her green eyes flashing dangerously. The rims of her eyes and the tip of her nose were flushed from crying, but she held her face impassive.

Severus struggled to find the words to express the bitter regret that was currently eating him alive. He opened his mouth and then closed it again without speaking. There was so much he wanted to say to her. That James Potter was a prat. That he had been minding his own business after the exam. That Black and Potter needed to be taken down a peg. Or three. That he had never wanted to hurt her. That she had been his best and only friend. The only person he had ever actually told about his father. He wanted to tell her all this in words that would bring the characteristic warm smile back to her face. This was like trying to get all his ideas down on the Defence Against the Dark Arts paper, only so much worse.

Finally, after a long pause he stammered ‘I never meant to call you a Mudblood, it just—’

‘Slipped out?’ Lily’s voice was ice.

He could see that she was close to tears again. He started to speak, to say that he would do anything for her, anything to make her forgive him but something in her hazel eyes made him bite back his words.

They stood facing each other in a tense silence before Lily spoke.

‘Look Sev, I’m sorry but I can’t do this anymore. There’s nothing more to say. I came out here to hear you out as a courtesy because of all our years of friendship. But you can’t even apologise to me. Do you think so little of me that you think I could hang out with anyone who can treat a person like you’ve treated me? Sev, I’m done,’ and without so much as a glance back, she turned on her heel and made her way back through the portrait hole.

Severus stood in the corridor and watched her retreating back with an expression half of anger and half of regret etched into his face. He stood in the corridor until some second years, a group of boys and girls reached the portrait hole.

‘What are you doing up here, Snape?’ one of the boys asked callously. ‘Found your way out of Slughorn’s arse finally?’

‘Nah, Paul everyone knows the only reason he tries in Potions is to get into Evans’ pants,’ another boy with a gap between his front teeth answered.

Snape drew his wand then. It would be good to let out some of his hurt on these gits.

At the sight of his wand the second years practically crawled over one another to get to the safety of their common room.

Severus began striding away from the Gryffindor portrait hole, silently vowing to himself that he would win back Lily somehow.

Lily briefly told the other girls in her dormitory that she wanted to be alone, as she passed them on the stairs. She curled up in her favourite part of the room, a cozy windowsill that looked out on the Whomping Willow, a tree named for the fact that it attacked anyone who tried to go near it.

For several minutes, she allowed the tears to run freely down her face again. She let herself fall into the ache of losing her best friend and the sting of his words. She knew that tomorrow she would have to paint on a brave face and pretend that she wasn't hurting, but in this moment, she allowed herself to grieve the hurt of what all the years of her friendship with Severus had come to.

When Alice and Marlene trooped up the stairs an hour or so later, they assumed Lily was already asleep. The curtains surrounding her bed were closed and they could hear her breathing deeply. They exchanged worried looks, the whole of fifth year had seen what had happened by the lake. The girls quietly got ready for bed, leaving Lily undisturbed.

Once she could hear the reassuring snores of her roommates, Lily crept from her bed and down the staircase to the common room. She was relieved to find that it was empty and that she did not need to use her status as prefect to chase any rowdy third years to bed. Deciding she should occupy herself with something, she picked up a forgotten book from the table beside her. It was a 6th year potions book, her favourite subject and for several hours she lost herself in intricate recipes and procedures for brewing new and incredible potions. Lily felt her eyelids gradually growing heavier and heavier, and it was not until she was awoken by a gentle careful shake that she realised she had fallen asleep in a common room armchair.

Lily looked up blearily at the person standing over her and seeing that it was James Potter, she tried to snap her brain into focus as she pulled her dressing gown closer to her chest.

‘Alright Petal?’ James said quietly.

‘We are not on a nickname basis Potter,’ Lily replied coldly

‘Clearly not even on a first name basis, Evans,’ said James cooly.

‘Why are you out here so early?’ Lily countered.

‘Early morning flying practice.’ James stifled a yawn.

Lily hated the way he always had an answer for everything. Nothing ever seemed to get to James Potter, it was as though he was immune to getting hurt.

‘Look Evans, I just have to ask, you didn't forgive Snivel- I mean Snape, did you?’

‘That’s entirely none of your business Potter,’ Lily answered. She gave James her best poker face, she couldn't let him see how much she was hurting over Severus’ outburst.

‘Well if that’s how you feel then,’