This one-shot was made for ReillyJade's Academy Awards Competition on HPFC. My quote was, "I'm not a smart man but I know what love is," from Forrest Gump. R&R. No flames, but constructive criticism accepted. I hope you like it. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Today's class was extra boring. Maybe today was not Professor Slughorn's best day. A bit dazed, Lily Evan's face rested upon her hand, sliding lower with each boring word that slipped out of Slughorn's mouth. Usually, she would've been taking notes, but it was a lousy day for her too. In fact, it was probably a bad day for everyone. Potter and his pack haven't even made an obnoxious joke yet. It was going to be a long day.
"…and finally you add a tablespoon of hellebore syrup. You may now begin." The potions master called. Still in a trance, Lily stayed stationary for a moment.
"Lily!" A quiet voice hissed.
"What?"
"He said we could begin. Were you even listening?" Alice said.
"Sorry, I sort of zoned out."
"Alright, so we heat up the cauldron. Now, go get the materials from the front desk. We need powdered moonstone, hellebore syrup…"
"Yeah I got it." Lily replied.
Just as she was reaching for the hellebore syrup, Severus walked up to her awkwardly.
"Hello, Lily."
The redhead didn't even glance up to her friend. She'd been avoiding him ever since he called her a…a bad name. It's been quite a few months since the incident. A few months since her best friend showed his true colors. A few months since her other half was lost.
Sev looked solemnly at her with his charcoal black eyes. He left with all of his materials in his hands. Lily reached for a bottle of the syrup when Potter came prancing about. A smug look was painted on his face.
"Hey, Lily," He said smooth like Elvis.
"What?" After her rare encounter with Severus, her day had instantly become ten times lousier. Now she was in no mood to deal with Potter's unbearable flirting… despite how she was starting to like Potter, but only a little. Just imagine a classroom, and the tip of a quill would represent her like for him.
Miraculously, Potter seemed to have become a much better person this final year at Hogwarts. He stopped bullying kids this year—at least stopped bullying them without reason. She hadn't heard if he and his posse had pulled any pranks and only rarely did he try to act so cool. Something in him, suddenly, clicked. Even more surprising, Potter stopped Sirius from doing anything hasty.
"Why the long face? A pretty face shouldn't be so sad."
"Shut up." With that, the witch marched off to her seat.
"Got the stuff?"
"Yeah, I got it."
After some crushing, cutting mixing and stirring the potion was a golden yellow. According to the potions professor, when it got to that stage of color, it was ready. Then Professor Slughorn came to grade their potion.
"This is very well done, ladies, "He commented. "This is a very advance potion; I'm surprised you two completed it successfully in your first try. Outstanding."
"Thank you, sir." The witches said simultaneously.
As Slughorn graded other potions, Lily heard some annoying snickering from behind her.
God forbid it be Sirius and Potter, Lily thought.
Unfortunately, nothing will ever stop the jokers from acting like six year-olds.
"Shut up!" She snapped at the two.
"Sorry, Evans, hey do you mind opening your potions book?"
"What…?"
When Lily opened the front cover of her textbook, she found a folded piece of parchment. After unraveling it, she read the messy handwriting.
Hey, Lils,
Meet me in the Great Hall at 11p.m., tonight.
I'll be waiting.
The witch was about to ask Potter what the bloody hell that meant, but Professor Slughorn spoke faster. "Class dismissed!"
Everyone rushed out of the room like a wild stampede. Potter was nowhere in sight. Why does he want to see her? Why does he want to see her so late? What was he planning the only way to find out what scheme he was frying up was to show up.
The moon rose up, giving off its ghostly aura. The castle was asleep and everything in it was ridged. Darkness surrounded Lily, hugging her tightly like a blanket. Alice snored softly from the other end of the room. Cautious like a fox, Lily slid off her bed and into her slippers.
It was a mystery for whatever motivated her to go to the Great Hall at eleven o'clock. Hopefully, she wouldn't get caught. Her record was squeaky clean, but now trouble is the name of the game. Lily's mouse-like instincts kicked in. she scooted out the fat lady's door, and zigzagged through the corridors and stairs. Finally, after what seemed like ages, she arrived at the Great Hall.
The Hall was completely barren. All the usual tables were put away, revealing the shiny polished floor. Noticing the sky, Lily realized that the magical ceiling now took the form of the glimmering stars of the Milky Way. It's not something you see everyday—only once in a blue moon. It was a gorgeous like a masterpiece.
After a couple of seconds of admiring the pseudo sky, Lily noticed a figure moving. The dark shadow advanced closer and closer. James Potter then came to light. He wore some blue stripped jammies.
"I knew it," Lily muttered.
"Knew what?" He replied.
"Oh, nothing… Now, please tell me why I am here." She demanded.
You're here because you listened to the note. I am here because I love you."
"What?" Lily has heard Potter say,"I love you" about a million times for six and a half years. It didn't really count though, because it seemed as if he was joking, doing it to annoy her, and he always said it in front of his friends. Now, he was alone. Now, he didn't even crack a smile. Now, he was strangely serious.
"I said that you're here—"
"No, no, after that," Lily said.
"Oh, I'm here because I love you." This wasn't like him at all.
"No, you don't love me. You have just been—"
"Lily—don't make fake reasons. I love you; I just want you to really believe it. I know I am not a smart man, but I know what love is. It's when you can't stop thinking about her. Love is when you dream about her. Love is when you think whether or not you have a future with her. It's when you'd catch a grenade for her. I would do anything for you, Lily; I need you to know how much you mean to me."
The witch couldn't believe her ears. It was so sweet. A bit too sweet, though. She really couldn't believe her ears.
"Look, you've been saying that for ages and…"
"And what?"
"You don't really mean it."
Suddenly, he took a step back. He took a deep breath and filled himself with energy. Finally, it burst out in a shout as loud as a bullet, "I LOVE LILY EVANS!"
"Shh!" Lily hissed as she put her hand over his mouth.
"I love—" Lily cut Potter off by pressing harder against his face.
"You're mad!"
"Mad in love," He muffled.
Moments later, however, the silence was accompanied by a soft meow. Footsteps followed. Mr. Filch. The young wizard gasped. Potter then pulled out some sort of cloak over them. When lily looked down she was…invisible?
"Students outta bed…I'll find you!" Filch grumbled.
"What's this?" The redhead whispered.
Now it was Potter's turn to say, "Shh!"
Potter's as mad as the Hatter. Screaming in the middle of the night was very arrogant of him. However, she sort of appreciated his will to keep on loving her. It's touching.
Under the cloak they stood, wondering if they would get caught. She looked beside her. James was smirking at her in the usual cute way. He leaned over to her ear," Wanna go out with me."
His cool breath tickled Lily's ear. She was tired of hiding her feelings. There's no denying it. Sometimes he was irritating and annoying. Other times he was sweet and just plain awesome. The negatives balanced the positives. James is definitely a tricky person.
Lost in thought, Lily didn't even notice when James was tugging her over from under the silky cloak. It was too late. Filch reach for nothing, happened to grab the cloak. They were exposed.
"There you are! You two are in a load of trouble" Filch said, grabbing them from the collar of their shirt. Surprisingly, Lily didn't care that they were in trouble. She didn't feel that familiar rush of panic when she does something wrong.
Behind the caretaker's back, Lily reached for James's hand. He snapped his head around to look at her. Beaming, the witch said, "Maybe."
I hope you like this story. I apologize for any errors. R&R. No flames, but constructive criticism accepted.