Credit to JK Rowling! Enjoy my Jily fans! XOXO -L
Chapter 1:
I kissed my mother on the cheek and gave one last hug to my greying father.
"I'll be safe, I promise. Just-," I paused and took a breath, "just tell Tuney I said congratulations and I hope she's really happy with Vernon."
Unfortunately, while running out the door to get to King's Cross before the Hogwarts Express left, my sister was showcasing her brand new engagement ring in the living room. Three and half carats. Princess cut. Nice.
"Lily, I know she will appreciate hearing that. I'm sure she's sorry she couldn't see you off to your last year at school, but you know how she gets around Vernon." My mother's eyes pleaded with me, begging me to believe her pathetic excuse for my sister's absence: a brunch with the in-laws.
"She's missed the last five times, mum, I can't say I'm not impressed that she has found five other things to be doing on September first every year."
"Darling, you know she loves you. This day is just hard for her." She caressed my cheek. "You know that." Petunia has always had an issue with me going away. Jealousy, hatred, sadness that she was alone all year. I tried to understand it, but that was almost as hard as it was for Petunia to stomach me being magical and her not.
"Now, stay safe at school and get high marks like you always do. We couldn't be prouder of you for the last six years, love," my father said, his temples wrinkled with lines creasing his soft skin. The loudest engine I've ever heard blew off its final whistle and I grabbed my parents together for a final hug before running off to find a seat.
"Marlene? Alice?" I shouted down the hallways trying to find my friends. I had my head popped into a compartment when a pair of hands pulled my shoulders back and twisted me to face the grabby intruder. I was ready to yell before I snapped my mouth closed.
"Oh, Potter, it's you. I was ready to dismember whoever thought it was alright to grab me, but seeing as you're my new partner this year, I'll spare you."
His dark hair had grown over the summer, covering his eyes a bit and he had a slight glasses tan line from too many hours in the sun. A new scar on his left cheek, the shape of a wishbone still looked fresh and his frame was definitely different.
"Evans! My new right hand man, well I guess woman. I just thought I'd say hello before we spend the next few hours on this bore of a train ride just day dreaming of all the filthy sex we could have on Dumbledore's wooden desk this year," he said with his infamous smirk. I raised my hand to slap his stupid smile right off his stupid, structured face, but he caught my wrist and winked. "I'm only kidding, Lily. I promise to keep my day dreaming to a minimum and try to leave out the dirty details when I explain my dreams over cereal in the mornings." He leaned down to kiss my cheek. How chummy he must feel to be the Head Boy with me.
"By the way, Marlene and Alice are down the hall to your right."
I procure a thankful, sweet smile at his smug face and twist my wrist out of his grip."How sweet of you to let me know, James! Thanks a million!" I jab my elbow into his gut, which was quite firm, and silently cast a silencing charm on him. "Oh, and keep that pretty mouth of yours shut for me, dear. Can't have our possible, forbidden shag being gossiped about the train!" I holler as I sweep myself into my friends' compartment. Poor Potter, the charm I used doesn't have a counter curse, but a time limit. I hope three hours will teach him his lesson.
James and I have what some may call a complicated relationship. We have been fighting like wildfires ever since we got sorted into Gryffindor and throughout the years it developed into an odd type of friendship. We drive each other insane and end up angry rather than happy most of the time when we are together, but strangely, James and I almost get a kick out of each other's company.
"Finally! Lily, tell us about your summer!" Alice screeched in my ear as she pressed her body to mine in a enveloping embrace the moment I walked through the door. Always the hugger.
"Well, for starters," I whipped out a badge from my pocket with a wide grin spreading on my lips, "I got Head Girl!" Screams surrounded me and for the next few hours, I really thought it would be a simple, final year.
"Would you like to do the honors?" I asked as Potter and I stared at the portrait of three nuns. They had on traditional eighteenth century robes and were around a small table beading rosaries.
"If you insist, Evans," James said raising his wand.
"I don't insist. I mean I can do the charm, too. I wouldn't even mind doing the charm at all," I refuted and took a step forward matching his distance from the frame.
"Well, I think it is traditional for the Head Boy to be the first to open the Heads' Portrait if I recall, Hogwarts a History, correctly."
"Oh shove it, Potter. It says no such thing in Hogwarts a History. You just want to have the power in our dynamic."
He scoffed. "You bloody offered, Evans! What do you want from me?"
"I never offered! I asked if you wanted to do the honors! It's different!"
Potter scoffed dramatically and rolled his hazel eyes. "It is the same exact thing, woman! Let me open the bloody door before we die of old age out here! Last thing I need is a first year git to walk by and think we're so dense we can't cast a simple charm!"
"Don't call the first years 'gits.' We want them to respect us and like us, James." He better not screw up the whole year by ruining our reputation. "This is stupid. I'll open it." I reached into my pocket for my wand, but James grabbed my elbow. He is quite grabby today.
"Let me do it, Lily. I can handle it," he said in a dramatic tone, his eyes staring so deeply in mine like this was life or death. Such a theatrical beast.
"Grab me like that one more time Potter and I'll drag your ass all the way to Australia and leave you with the dingos!"
"Dingos? Really? All alone in the outback, by myself. Cold, probably at night-"
"Shut up, Potter! I have no patience for your theatrics!"
He sighed and hung his head in defeat. "Go ahead."
I raised my wand and the spell was leaving my lips when the door swung open. I cranked my head towards Potter with fury in my eyes.
"Oops. Did I accidentally open the door with my prestigious non-verbal magic? How silly of me! But I guess I didn't get Head Boy for nothing!" He said sarcastically as he laughed happily like a giddy school boy. His eyes twinkled and he gestured for me to walk in.
My eyes were stone and I mumbled, "just go." He shrugged and walked through. I lifted my left leg high in the air and gave his rump a kick to the ass. Serves him right.
"Evans!"
"Potter!" I mimicked his tone childishly. Ugh, there was a long, long year ahead of us.
"Welcome to Advanced Potions! Introductions seem a tad silly since I recognize every face in the room, so let's hop to it! We are brewing the Draught of Living Death which is so potent, one drop would kill a full-grown, adult wizard. A measly mist to the tongue could take down anyone under the age of sixteen, truthfully. Now, pair up!" Slughorn commanded as he whisked himself towards me. His bright smile and constant, teary eyes greeted mine and he grasped my hand with both of his. "My lovely Miss Evans! How was your summer?"
After a few long moments of chatter with the professor, I turn to see everyone has paired up, even Marlene. I raced over to her partner's side and pushed his rump off the stool. "Beat it, Black. Only legitimate students taking this class can be in here," I explained as I shoved his arms over.
"Oi! Evans, I am in this class! Back off will you? I need a partner as good as Marlene to brew this poison up to be able to spike your pumpkin juice tomorrow," he guffawed.
"Hey now, let's keep the death threats to a minimum, Padfoot," James said as he came up behind me and placed his arms lightly around my the tops of my biceps. "Evans, I know you're going to despise this, but I don't have a partner."
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "Wow, Potter, how did you know?" I ask sarcastically as I stomp over to the free cauldrons. So typical that I get stuck with the guy who has slept through six years of potions class.
"Now, class, Mr. Snape seems to be partner-less. Who here wouldn't mind a plus one?" Slughorn asks as every pair of eyes in the room darts to the floor, ceiling, fingernails, really any place but the professor's gaze. I stupidly excel at eye contact so next thing I knew, Severus was on my left side and James was on my right.
"Who doesn't love a good trio, eh?" James tried, attempting to brighten the immense tension that just entered the atmosphere. My history with Snape was almost as gruesome as James'. One moment we were best friends taking on the world together, the next I was making friends with girls in my year and Snape was doing the same with his Slytherin dorm mates. Unfortunately, he made friends with the wrong kind of people and then we stopped talking all together after fifth year. Awkward glances in hallways and run-ins in our neighborhood during holidays made everything more horrible for our tensed relationship. I definitely didn't hate him and he really didn't hate me, but friends grow apart and change. We went our separate ways.
"I prefer to work alone, Potter," Severus spit out, "and I most certainly don't like a teammate with a head the size of a basilisk on my team so stay out of the way. Luckily, Lily and I actually have brain cells to contribute."
"Hmm, the same brain cells that got you three months of detention last year for petrifying a second year? Please, do bestow all of your wisdom unto me, Snivellus," James retorted with the utmost sass. He really just can't refrain from talking back, could he?
"Boys!" I interjected, jutting my hands between the two, "can we just brew the potion and then move on? I'm sure we are all looking forward to getting to leave class as soon as possible. This takes anywhere from an hour to three hours to boil so let's just shut up and get on wth it." Don't they understand that the fastest this is over, the faster we can leave?
The boys muttered and opened their potions books. Snape went to get the ingredients while Potter and I began to heat the cauldron.
"How were you friends with him for so long, Evans?" James asked as he lit the fire at the base of the cauldron in front of us.
I shrugged my shoulders. "We grew up together. He was the first person to tell me about magic and introduced me to the world of Hogwarts. I don't know, for the first few years he was really my best friend, but," I paused and embarrassing chills ran down my arms, "people change."
"Yeah, they do."
I looked at Potter and he stared into my eyes a moment too long to be normal eye-contact behavior, before ducking his gaze down at the textbook he suddenly seemed very interested in.
"Here's everything we need. As top of the class for three years in a row, I'll be taking the lead. Lily, would you pass me the root of willow?" Snaps asked. It was definitely within his reach and I was no one's assistant. I was head of the class, too. We were always competing for the top spot. And Slughorn adored me. I opened my mouth to object, but James interjected.
"You have two grimy hands, Snape. Use them."
"I'm sorry I guess we can't all depend on the dozens of house elves living with us in the summer like you, Potter."
James' family had elves?
"You're comparing Lily to an elf? Hmmm, what an interesting comparison to a girl I think you'd rather imagine as a very well hidden secret sock in your drawers," James quipped back.
Gross.
Snape blushed bright red and seethed, avoiding my eyes. "Stick to shoving your broom up Black's ass, Potter. And keep that future Ministry mouth of yours sealed. Nobody likes a snitching dolt."
"A snitch? Me? That's quite funny considering I have proof that you were the one who reported Remus to Ministry officials. Happy Dumbledore shut that down before you woke up with that hook of a nose on your face ripped off."
James was seething. His shoulders were raised to his blood-red ears, his left eye had a slight twitch and his palms were clenched around his wand. I wouldn't be surprised if he let out a curse or two.
Snape scoffed and smiled cruelly. "His days are numbered. This school isn't for half-breeds."
"Severus!" I shouted, stepping in. How pathetic of him to dare put down half-breeds, he himself being a half-blood. His father was a banker. Snape finally met my gaze with enlarged pupils and then stormed out of the classroom, knocking over the cauldron in the process. Fire caught Potter's sleeve and I had to put it out with a scurgify charm.
"Thanks, Evans. I'm, uh, sorry about that. No one riles me up like him," James explained rubbing his shoulder. His robe was still smoking and I could see the pink skin that had been singed in the process.
"James, your skin is burnt. You need to get to Madam Pomfrey before it's too late for her to heal the flesh. I can do the potion myself, really."
He inspected his arm and shrugged. "I've been worse than this, Evans." He had a sort of sad, twinkle in his eye, like he had a mischievous secret that doubled as a broken past.
"Quidditch?" His eyes flashed and he nodded, but I wasn't convinced.
He avoided eye contact with me and fiddled with his hair. "I can brew a potion, you know. I really hate bringing this up, but my dad actually patented Sleak-eazy. I grew up with the worst slicked-back hair you've ever seen. I won't go near the stuff now." He shivered. "Too traumatizing."
Dramatic git. "I never knew that."
"I keep that fun fact to myself. My mother would be mortified if I was going around not only bragging about my father, but also bragging about my father and his hair potion with my hair looking like this."
Potter? Being humble? No wonder his hair was always a mess, he's been abused with hair potion his whole life. I always assumed his messy-do was just another scheme to act pompous whenever he ruffled his hands through it.
"But your hair is always a mess. Do you ever comb it?" I mean, sure not using a greasy hair potion is one thing, but never brushing it through? I can't even fathom the tangles.
"Comb it? Evans, I don't even own a comb."
"Not even with your fingers?" His hair looked soft, almost silky in its naturally wild state. Maybe he's just too perfect for tangles.
Merlin, did I just think that?
"I'm sure you've noticed my habit of fluffing it up, Lily. You mentioned it every time we have ever had a row how much it irks you." He paused from sorting the vials Snape had brought over, "although, you don't see me mentioning your lip nibbling, do you?"
"My what?"
"You bite your lip, Evans. You've never noticed?"
He looked smug, like he knows something I don't.
"I don't bite my lips. At least, not routinely," I said and then bit at my lower lip.
"Dammit! That was just a coincidence."
"Looked like a habit to me."
"Why do you care if I bite my lips? I must just do it as a reflex to chatting with annoying boys like yourself." I reached up to touch my lower lip. It did seem a bit swollen already, but wasn't it always puffy?
"Maybe because I'm jealous you get the pleasure of nibbling on your lips all day when I never get the chance. It's unfair and rude, Evans."
My eyes practically roll to the back of my head. "Oh, shove it, Potter. Save your lines for the fifth-year tarts just looking for some decent-looking Quidditch boy to deflower them before they turn 16."
"Oh, decent looking? Lily, I think I deserve more credit than that."
I glanced him up and down, cursing myself for it. He noticed and smirked.
"You're infuriating, Potter."
"Well, don't go biting that lip of yours, Evans," he leant down as he spoke, like our conversations was a secret, dirty almost. "I may just go wild."
I shove him back and began preparing ingredients for the potion. "Save it for your bedtime fantasies, James. Because that's all they will ever be." I glanced up to gage his reaction. That smirk was still ever present. Git.
"We'll see, Evans. We'll see."