Chapter 129: Sugar and Too Much Spice (3)

"Are you sure about this?" – Sirius asked, his face dark and stern.

"Absolutely!" – Peter replied, with a mouth full of potato salad - "Nora heard Frank Longbottom talking about it, and he heard it from Thaddeus Hart's date for the Ball, Alice Fortescue from Hufflepuff."

"Sounds reliable." – Remus mocked him, finishing his lentil soup.

"Leif Thornton? Isn't he Hufflepuff's new Beater?" – James asked, absentmindedly stabbing the lamb chop in front of him with his fork.

"Sure is!" – Sirius scoffed condescendingly – "With the other Beater being Edgar Bones, they probably share one brain cell."

"Edgar Bones is not stupid." – Remus remarked, earning a growl from his friend – "Plus, even if this is true, I don't see how it's our business. If Catherine wants to go to the Ball with him, good for her. If not, she'll just reject his invitation."

"We can't just let all kinds of trash bother her!" – snapped Sirius – "She has enough on her plate with the elemental magic and taking care of Mary! She's even skipping lunch now just to help her move back to the dormitory from the Hospital Wing!"

"If you're so concerned, why didn't you invite her to be your date for the Ball?" – Remus retorted.

"Because…" – Sirius stammered, feeling a bit flushed – "Because I thought she didn't want to have a date for the stupid Ball! How was I supposed to know she changed her mind?"

"Well, in all honesty, she's never mentioned anything specific about it. I think, we've just assumed." – said James, readjusting his glasses.

"Why don't you invite her now, though?" – Peter suggested – "Go before Leif gathers his courage!"

"I can't, Peter!" – Sirius groaned – "If I do it now, she's going to think she's my last resort and feel humiliated!"

"Better that, than ending up with a guy who doesn't know which end of the wand is the handle." – James snorted – "I remember someone telling me he barely made it through the exams last year."

"Jeez, thanks, mate!" – Sirius replied, rolling his eyes – "In any case, I think it's our duty as Flame's friends to make sure this bloke doesn't bother her. There are plenty of more suitable people out there!"

"You better hurry then, because he may ask her any moment now." – Peter remarked, pointing at the tall, blond boy who had just left the Great Hall.

"Yeah, we should do it now!" – Sirius said, jumping to his feet and heading after the Hufflepuff. James immediately followed him, leaving Remus and Peter alone at the Gryffindor table.

"I should go or they'll end up doing something stupid!" – sighed Remus – "Are you coming, Peter?"

"Yeah, this is not something I'd like to miss!" – the other boy grinned.

In the Entrance Hall, the two wizards caught sight of Sirius and James already ascending to the first floor and hurried to catch up. By the time they managed to reach them, an ugly scene was unfolding in a corridor near the Library. Sirius had Leif Thornton pressed against the wall, whispering something in his ear, while James stood next to them with a sinister smile, his wand pressed against Leif's throat. The Hufflepuff's face was swiftly turning green, his round blue eyes wide with pure horror. Remus and Peter joined a small group of students watching the intense confrontation, none daring to intervene.

"Did you understand what we told you, pal?" – Sirius finally asked in a law voice.

Leif started nodding vigorously, his gaze quickly darting to James, who lowered his wand with a smirk.

"Good boy!" – Sirius chuckled, finally realising the Hufflepuff wizard, who initially fell to his knees before scrambling to his feet and hurrying towards the Library, constantly glancing over his shoulder.

"That should do." – James nodded with satisfaction – "He won't go anywhere near Flame if his life depends on it."

"What is wrong with the two of you?" – Lily's angry voice startled the two Gryffindors.

"Oh, Evans! I didn't know you were here." – James said, trying to sound as mature as possible, smiling at the visibly annoyed redhead standing only a few meters away from him.

"And if you did, would that have stopped you from torturing innocent people just because you can?" – she demanded, her eyes flashing and her hair crackling with static electricity.

"That's not the case!" – James attempted to defend himself – "We were protecting Catherine from being put in an awkward situation by someone clearly below her level! If anything, we were just acting like her big brothers!"

The nearby drinking fountain suddenly erupted, sending a stream of cold water spraying over James and Sirius, soaking them from head to toe.

"Bloody Hell!" – Sirius swore, spitting out water while the surrounding students looked on nervously.

"It seems this place is getting really old. The pipes need urgent replacement." – Greg McMahon noted, a lazy smile playing on his lips as he made his way through the students and stood next to Lily.

"You damn prick! It was you!" – James yelled, drawing his wand.

"Me?" – Greg laughed, unimpressed, his ocean-blue eyes remaining ice cold – "I don't need to go around showing off my wand skills. It's a very weak act, Potter. You're lucky I didn't catch you red-handed this time, or you might have missed the Halloween Ball for yet another detention."

"Screw you, McMahon!" – James hissed, beside himself with anger – "There's nothing that can stop me going to this party together with Evans!"

"Pff!" – Lily laughed mercilessly – "You must be insane, James Potter! Even if I didn't have a date for Friday, which I do, I would rather go out with a Slytherin than someone as insecure, malicious, and idiotic as you!"

James' face turned bright red as he bit his lower lip as hard as he could in order to avoid saying something that would ruin his chances of even talking to Lily. He was well aware that people behind him were whispering among themselves, quite pleased with the latest scandal unfolding before their eyes. The young wizard took a deep breath and attempted to smile at the girl.

"I'm sure, you're going to change your mind eventually. I can wait. You'll realise one day I'm not half as bad as you think."

"No?" – Lily sneered, her face full of disgust – "In my book, you're not better than people like Mulciber or Lestrange. It's just that your targets are different. Actually, I take that back. You're worse because they at least care about their friends."

"Hey! James is a terrific friend!" – Sirius intervened, irritated.

"You're one to talk! The two of you are the same!" – Lily snapped – "Look at what you've just done! Not only you bullied a completely innocent person, but thanks to your efforts, Catherine's probably going to be alone at the Ball. I doubt anyone would dare come near her now. Do you have any idea how low her self-esteem has been recently? For you, this might be some exciting big brother play, but she's really miserable and feels unattractive. Do you have any idea how hard this is for a girl?! Of course, you don't! You're just two empty-headed, selfish prats who don't care if their best friend is mocked, as long as she caters to all your whims! Shame on you!"

With that, Lily turned abruptly and walked away, followed by Greg. The rest of the crowd began to disperse, students hurrying to their afternoon classes. James stood in the middle of the corridor, staring at the spot where Lily had disappeared.

"I'm not sure I'll ever understand your obsession with this girl! She's evil, this Evans!" – Sirius attempted to lighten the mood, winking at Remus and Peter who carefully approached – "Honestly, what got into you to ask her out like that? It was lame, mate!"

"Do you think what she said was true?" – James asked softly.

"About you being an insecure, malicious idiot?" – Sirius smirked, patting his friend on the back – "No way!"

"About Catherine!" – James snapped, turning toward Remus – "Did you know about her feeling that way?"

"No…" – the amber-eyed boy shook his head – "I mean, we all know Slytherins mock her for all kinds of reasons, but I never thought she cared about having a date for the Ball or that she paid them any heed."

"We really screwed up!" – James hissed angrily – "How could we not notice she felt in such a way about herself? We're together all the time!"

"That's because it never even crossed my mind that anyone could think of her as being ugly, let alone say it or make her believe it!" – Sirius responded heatedly – "That's not a reason to just throw her in the hands of the first loser!"

"So what then?" – Remus snarled, feeling frustrated by Sirius' unreasonable stubbornness and its effect on Catherine's well-being.

"Actually, Moony, if you and Sirius agree, I have an idea that can make things better, even if just a little bit." – James said suddenly with, a mischievous smile spreading across his face.