TBAY: Prank and the (Second) Pensieve Four

[derannimer]

No: HPFGUIDX 77685

"*Here,* puppy-puppy-puppy!"

Derannimer sits on a fallen tree at the edge of the forest, waiting. 

After a minute's thought, she stands up, waiting. She hates it when dogs try to lick her 
face, and she doesn't see why she should present an easier target if she can avoid it.

She doesn't have to wait for long, in any case. 

"Puppy!"

Sand sprays up and over Derannimer as Prank skuds abruptly into the sand in front of 
her. The dog promptly bounds up at her, trying to lick her face.

?Yeah, yeah, all right, all *right!* Argh!?

Derannimer shoves the slavering beast away from her and down into a sitting 
position. It looks up at her with hurt brown eyes.

?Suck it up,? says Derannimer firmly. ?I?m not a dog person. Anyway, I *am* going to 
play with you, so you?re not getting off too badly.?

Prank whaps his tail hopefully. Derannimer sighs, breaks a small branch-like-unit off 
the tree she had been sitting on, and throws it for Prank, who whips after it as though 
he has never seen a stick before, crashing into the surf.

?Hey! Derannimer!?

Derannimer turns to see a figure approaching on the beach. It?s. . . oh. 

It?s Marina. 

This will, Derannimer reflects, be a bit awkward. She hasn?t had a conversation with a 
Sirius Apologist since. . . since. . . since the lives of Sirius Apologists got quite a bit 
sadder. She notices, uncomfortably, that Marina is still proudly wearing her rather 
bedraggled red robes. Derannimer averts her eyes slightly as she responds to Marina?s 
call.

?Ah -- hi, Marina! Um. . . how, um. . . how are you doing??

Marina gives her a withering glare. ?How do you think??

?Er. . . ?

?I came over here,? says Marina abruptly, ?because I saw that you were gamboling 
about with that *dog.* I must say, it seems rather tactless, right after poor. . . after 
poor. . . ?

?Just pretend you said it,? says Derannimer hastily.

?after poor. . . he. . . after he. . . ?

?Just pretend you said that too.?

?Right. Well, anyway.? Marina glares at Derannimer. ?Rather tactless.?

?Um. Yes, well.? Derannimer stands on one foot, then stands on the other, then -- as 
she is standing in the sand -- almost falls over, then stands on both. She feels rather 
a bit. . . *uncomfortable.* It *is* an unfortunate time to be bringing up Prank, 
especially, she reflects, what with the beatings Sirius has been taking lately from 
various hordes of -- perhaps understandably -- gloating Snapefans. But she had had 
that idea about Prank. . . and it wasn?t really *that* tactless. . . 

?Look, Marina,? says Derannimer firmly. ?It isn?t even something about Si --?

?Ah!?

?-- him. It?s about Snape, actually. Just a little thought I had about the Prank, given 
what we see in that Pensieve scene.?

?I *knew* it. I?m getting a bit fed-up with all of you Bent Snapefans going after poor. . 
.   . . . just because he was a bit of a git at the age of fifteen. I mean, when you 
consider what your Severus --?

?Don?t I wish,? interupts Derannimer.

?-- was like, at the age of an awful lot *more* than fifteen, I don?t see why you can?t 
simply cut -- *him* a br-- ?

?Hey, hey!? Derannimer holds up both hands quickly, as if to ward off Marina, who is, 
come to think of it, striking a fairly aggressive attitude. ?Hey, I don?t want to get into 
that one now. I *do,* I think, cut Snape more breaks than I do -- um -- but I don?t 
want to get into that one now. And anyway, it?s totally irrelevant to my point. *Sirius,*? 
she says ruthlessly, ignoring the little shudder from Marina, ?*Sirius* is totally 
irrelevant to my point. My Prank idea has nothing to do with what we learn of Sirius in 
the Pensieve scene. It has to do with what we learn about James, and Lily, and Snape.?

There is a short silence. 

?Well,? says Marina finally, ?All right. As long as you're not being rude about. . . What?s 
the idea??

Derannimer does not immediately reply. When she does, she seems to be speaking 
rather carefully. ?Now, look, Marina, I know that you -- and, well, that George -- well, 
and a lot of people really --?

?Derannimer.?

 ?-- and I am sometimes willing to concede that they have a point in regards to some 
issues --?

?*Derannimer.*?

?-- and, well, I?m not crazy about the All-Day-Sucker version myself --?

?WHOA! Derannimer, no, not -- whoa whoa whoa.?

Derannimer stops and looks apprehensively at Marina.

?Yes, I know,? she says. ?I know you. . . don?t care for Lollipops. But, please, just give 
me a minute with this one.? She sits back down on the fallen tree -- Prank is still off in 
the surf, trying to deliver the death blow to the stick -- and, after a moment?s 
hesitation, Marina shrugs and sits down too. 

?Okay,? says Marina, ?What?s your --? she shudders -- ?Lollipops!Prank idea??

?Well, let me just mention a couple of points here and see if you can guess where I?m 
going.?

?Okay. . . ?


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Now, I doubt that I would have even *thought* of this theory a few months ago; for 
one thing, I would have considered it *highly* unlikely to be confirmed in canon, and 
for another, we didn't have that wonderful Pensieve scene. But we have it now --

<pauses for a moment to savor OOP Chapter 28>


-- and I think that a few of the things we discover there about the relationships 
between James and Lily, Snape and Lily, and Snape and James, have a possible 
relevance to the Prank.

As of the Pensieve scene -- we have *got* to find another way to refer to that scene, 
btw -- here are how the relevant relationships between James, Lily, and Snape seem 
to stand.

James wuvs Lily.

James hates and abuses Snape.

Lily hates James, at least in part for his treatment of Snape.

Snape absolutely hates James.

Snape does not like Lily intervening on his behalf. How, entirely, he feels about her, 
we aren't all of us altogether sure. (Hey, this is *Snape.*)

As of some time by the end of seventh year -- so, okay, about a two year difference 
-- there have been some rather interesting developments, on more than one front.

James still wuvs Lily.

James saved Snape's life. He still, apparently, hates and abuses Snape. But not in front 
of Lily, but not in front of Lily.

Because Lily has softened up to James considerably.

Snape has definitely not. Snape seems, particularly, to harbour bitterness and 
resentment over the fact that James once saved his life.

We still don't know entirely how Snape feels about Lily.

Oh, and one more thing.

James once said, in Snape's hearing, that he, James, would start treating him, Snape, 
better --

". . . if you'll go out with me, Evans."


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"What are you *saying,*" demands Marina of a now slightly smirking Derannimer.

"Weeellllll. . . you know, it's not impossible that James's actions in the Prank were 
motivated partly by a desire to --"

"*What!*"

"-- to impress his would-be lady-love."

"Yes, but --"

"And you know, pre-OOP, Pip and Elkins and Captain Cindy and Eileen and I had a 
conversation about how James found out about the Prank? Because it seems like James 
didn't find out from -- er? And Pip and the Captain and I thought that James found 
out from Lily? Well, I must say, *that* idea seems to have held up reasonably well in 
the aftermath of Hurricane Jo, wouldn't you say?"

"No! How would Lily have even *known* about the Prank in the first place?"

Derannimer doesn't reply for a minute. She sits there, frowning. Then, at last, she says 
slowly: "That is a hard one. But, you know, I think I've found a way to work it.

"As I said a minute ago, Pip and the Captain and I thought that it was probably Lily 
who told James. That's not what Elkins and Eileen thought, though. They thought that 
it was more likely to have been Peter.

"Elkins wrote: 

> part of the social function of the guy in the group of 
> friends who isn't *quite* in the same league as everyone else 
> is to serve as admiring audience to tales of the others' exploits.

>snip<

> I don't find it at all inconceivable that Sirius would have
> told Peter that he'd just sent Snape down the tunnel. I don't
> find it at all inconceivable that Peter, who does seem to be 
> prone to seeing the more pessimistic possibilities inherent 
> in any given situation ("He was taking over everywhere!" 
> "You're going to kill me too?"), might have twigged to the 
> godawful potential ramifications of this action long before 
> Sirius would have. And I don't find it at all inconceivable 
> that he would have then gone and told James all about it. 
> Isn't that what Peter does? He's a *rat,* isn't he? A 
> tale-teller? A betrayer of secrets? And someone who looks to 
> those he perceives as more powerful than he is to resolve 
> problems for him.

"And, you know, I can agree with *almost* everything in that statement. Given what we 
see of Peter in OOP, he seems to have been very much the 'admiring audience'; I don't 
have a problem believing that Sirius told him; I don't have a problem believing that 
Peter freaked out. I *do,* however, have a problem believing that Peter would have 
looked to James Potter to resolve this particular problem. Does Peter have any reason 
to believe that James would try to stop Sirius? That James wouldn't just laugh and 
heartily concur with Sirius that it was a good joke?"

"So you're saying that Peter instead told *Lily*? Did he even *know* her?"

"I'm not saying he exectly *told* her; he sort of 'slipped,' and mentioned something in 
front of her at dinner or in the Common Room, let's say. Peter does seem to have 
been regarded as an idiot by James and Sirius -- 'forgetting' and mentioning a thing 
like that might be exactly the sort of thing they'd *expect* Peter to do. And after all, 
he'd *seen* Lily go so far as to pull her wand on James when she thought he'd gone 
too far. He might easily have figured that she wouldn't be a bad person to tell."

"And he didn't just go to a teacher. . . "

"Snitch. 'Forgetting' and dropping a hint to a fellow classmate, even a disliked one, is 
one thing. Running to a teacher, who had direct power of punishment, would both be 
seen as a bigger betrayal and be far, far harder to explain away as an accident."

"Oh, right." Marina sits, apparently brooding, for a minute, then abruptly says: "Well, 
why didn't *Lily* go to a teacher? Why in the world would she have gone to *James*? 
Lily *hated* James, why would she have told him about the Prank?"

"Easy. Or -- er, well, possibly not. But Not That Hard, anyway. She didn't *tell* him 
about the Prank -- she *confronted* him about the Prank! She assumed he was in on 
it! So she told him how disgusting he was and then he protested that he didn't even 
know what she was talking about and then he found out about the Prank! And *then*" 
says Derannimer with relish, "James decides to go after Snape. Possibly he's afraid of 
expulsion, because Lily says she's going to Dumbledore. Possibly he wants to salvage 
some hope of at least halfway amicable relations with Lily, and he knows that if Lupin 
kills Snape because of -- er -- and Lily thinks that he, James, was in on it, that's *it.* 
Possibly when he was faced with her disgust he had a vague suspicion that Er had 
gone a bit too far in his fun, and gets the brilliant insight that perhaps something 
ought to be done about it.

"I personally suspect that it's some of all of those three. But for purposes of the 
current discussion, it's number two that's really important."

"Well, Derannimer," says Marina skeptically, "this is all very well and good -- and, yes, 
I suppose it's *possible* that James learned of the Prank from Lily -- but. . . well, 
granted, the view of the Marauders that we get from that Pensieve scene was a far 
more negative one than most posters thought JKR was going for, but even so -- d'you 
really think she'd go so far as to have James save Snape's life in an effort to. . . what, 
score points?"

"Win the favor of a fair lady," says Derannimer easily. "It doesn't sound *half* so sleazy 
if you put it in heraldic terms. It's a very Gryffindor thing to do, too, isn't it?

"Actually, though," she says, looking around and lowering her voice, "I kind of *prefer* 
the sleazier sounding version of this theory in some ways. I think. Or maybe I don't. 
*That,* however, is not the point. In a way, the point is not even whether or not James 
had any Lily-directed motives at all, ignoble or otherwise. The point is whether or not 
Snape *thought* he had; as long as you've got that, you can have at least a pared-
down version of the theory, although. . . " she hesitates briefly before plunging on, 
"although I think there's *quite* a good possibilty that James did indeed have 
impressing Lily in mind when he went to save Snape."

"Ah." If Marina had been reading from a script, her line would have "resignedly" 
written in front of it, just before the colon. "So then Lollipops!Snape thinks that James 
only saved his life to score points with the girl that Snape himself had the hots for --"

"-- and it *worked.*"

"And this causes great bitterness and resentment and what-have-you."

"Well," says Derannimer reasonably, "it would, wouldn't it?"

"Well, yeah, *if* you accept Lollipops!Snape --"

"-- which I do --"

" -- which I don't."

"Well. It's an idea, anyway."

"Not a great one, though. Derannimer, I do hope you know that this is all fanfiction?"

"No!" says Derannimer, in a strangely shrill voice. "No! I don't know what you're talking 
about! I'm not. . . 

". . . I mean. . . 

". . . er. 

"Oh, very well."

She sighs. "You don't suppose I could have dibs, do you?"




Derannimer

---------

There's an awful lot of good "reading material" to draw on for this topic; I think that if 
you read these two posts and their respective responses, however, you'll get a lot of it.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/51157
(Pip's original "Harry Has TWO Parents" post)


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/51195
(My "Who told James about the Prank?" post)