Lily could not help but notice that everywhere she went heads turned to take a good look at her.
They were all whispering about her impressive escape from You-know-who last weekend, when Hosgmeade was attacked by Death Eaters and their leader.
No one explained why the Dark Lord had chosen to attack the village, but Lily knew better. She knew that good part of his future army was "breeding" in the school grounds. She was sure he was there because he was recruiting.
Now, going back to the gossip and leaving the serious stuff out;
Lily escaped the Dark Lord, but why had she had to do it the first place?
~~ a week ago ~~
The day of the attack she was actually safe and sound at The Three Broomsticks being held and protected with other students by Madame Rosemerta and the Head Boy. Head Boy and Lily's future ex-boyfriend, as she planned on breaking up with him on that particular day (Well, that was before the attack happened).
They were waiting to be safely evacuated by a Professor or an Auror, so when the door of the pub opened she was very surprised to see an extremely agitated Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team come inside the pub.
"He is not here." Lily heard her future ex-boyfriend say to him.
Potter turned around to leave, but the Head Boy held his arm out to stop him.
"You can't go." he said. "Its not safe."
"Who will stop me?" he asked daringly.
"Me." said the Head Boy, raising his wand, he looked very stupid doing so.
"I'd like to see you try" said Potter not raising his. He looked- huh- quite powerful.
The Head Boy said nothing and James Potter moved towards the door. It was locked; Magically locked.
"Alohomora won't work." He said when Potter pointed his wand at the door, but he was still trying silent spells.
"I said you can't go and that's an order." The Head Boy was pointing his wand at the door and therefore at him, seeing as James Potter would not stop trying to leave.
Everyone in the Pub was looking apprehensively at the scene developing in front of them, Potter turned around smiling, not a happy smile, but a very sadistic one.
He walked slowly to Lily's Boyfriend and said in a very dangerous tone.
"You are going to open that door" he raised his wand to the Head Boy's neck. "Right. Now." But the Head Boy didn't move, instead, he raised his own wand, not with the same confidence that James Potter did, obviously.
"Its for your own safety." he replied, but before anything bad could happen, the door magically opened. Lily stood between them, her own wand raised pointing at the door she just magically opened, her boyfriend looked absolutely perplexed at her, but Lily didn't notice, she was busy staring at James.
"Who've they got?" she asked, concerned.
Lily wasn't sure but James Potter looked almost relived to see her.
"Sirius." he answered shortly and they left the pub together. The Head Boy did nothing stop them.
~~ end of flashback ~~
Lily was not one to brag about herself, that was more Potter's style, but deep inside she wished people had seen the two of them fighting.
They dueled like they were dancing, never missing each other's movements. They escaped not only very powerful wizards but also dark creatures. She shivered at the thought of the Dementors they met on the way.
She had never seen him so determined before, the regular broad grin gave space to lips pressed in concentration. Everything they did was crucial to making sure they reached Sirius to bring him to safety, and they did. Rescuing Sirius Black was hard, reckless and involved a very crazy plan because being good at duelling was not enough to escape so many death eaters, but that is another story. Now the whole school knew and was talking about Lily and James' heroism.
Lily was sitting with the marauders more often due to Sirius' sudden affection and obsession with her. He was very grateful that Lily had helped James (Like she wouldn't risk her own life to help a fellow student, she said to him when he thanked her for the hundredth time). He was now trying to make Lily laugh at every chance he got, he also offered to carry Lily things (which she declined politely). He was determined to help Lily out in whatever she needed, even if it was cutting potion ingredients, Potter offered him his ingredients to cut instead when Lily declined, "I also saved you", but Black solemnly ignored him).
All the attention and interactions with the marauders distracted Lily from the thoughts about how she was supposed to break up with her Head Boy boyfriend who, by the way, was upset with her. Now that the lack of energy between them was so seriously undeniable, what choice did she have?
Her 6th year was coming to an end, they had only a few weeks before summer, exams were about to start and few friends from Gryffindor were sitting together during dinner complaining about it.
"I wish I was able to cast my patronus already." said Mary McDonalds. "I know they won't grade it but its such a nice spell!"
"I wish they required it already." said Remus Lupin.
"You say it because you can cast it." said Peter Pettigrew.
"It would be a big amount of zeros." said Dorcas Meadows.
"I heard Lily was able to cast it for the first time at the attack, right Lily?" asked Berta Jorkins who was not in their year and was not part of the group but was listening to the conversation.
Lily felt herself blush because of the sudden question. She didn't even think about how Berta knew such thing, instead she remembered, very vividly, when she produced her patronus. She was proud of herself, but she was trying to avoid thinking about it because it had been a bit odd. She felt James Potter's gaze on her. He was with her when she did it for the first time and he was one of the few able to do it too, she remembered when the his silver stag went jogging their path.
~~ a week ago ~~
"Come on Lily! Cast yours, I need your help." he said to her.
"I can't, I never did it!" she replied desperate, seeing only a silvery smoke coming out of her wand. James' patronum was strong and bright but not enough to fight all dementors in their way.
Then he looked her, "Of course you can." he said it like it was obvious. He believed more in her than she did. He looked at her so confident that she would that when she tried again, to her big surprise, she did.
She saw her Doe jogging side by side with his Stag.
~~ end of flashback ~~
"Yes." Lily answered shaking her head from the thought. "I did it."
She still could feel his eyes on her, like he wanted her to look at him. If she did she would see James Potter moving his mouth silently, 'Don't tell them'.After the attack they actually discussed a lot about everything that happened, everything but that.
"Really?" Said Mary McDonalds enthusiastically. "You didn't mention it before. That's incredible Lily."
"This is really amazing Lily" said Remus, also enthusiastically. "I wonder what form it takes?" he asked, eyeing her curiously. Remus was also one of the few who could cast it.
"Ah…well. I-" but before Lily could say anything Sirius Black interrupted with a bark laugh.
"Please, don't say it, let me guess." he pretended to think. "A Tiger? Tiger Lily? Not that you are much of a flower but Tiger is a good fit." Their friends laughed, she didn't hear his laugh.
"I'd say it's a dragon and it went on casting fire like 'roooar'." said an excited Peter Pettigrew. Lily had a fame.
"You guessed all wrong." said James Potter. Lily was so taken a back by his sudden participation, that forgot she was avoiding his gaze, their eyes meet for the first time since the subject came up.
"If I am not wrong yours took the form of a Horse." he asked naturally "Right Lily?" he emphasized.
"I don't think so." Lily answered. Why was he lying like that?
"Well, it sure looked like one. Maybe a Unicorn?" he added uncertainly.
"There was no horn." she answered incredulously. "You know that."
"Right." he said "Right." he repeated, annoyed.
Something inside Lily said he wanted her to play along, but before she could think properly, she said "Its a Doe. Obviously. You saw it." she regretted saying it a second later. Sirius eyebrows travelled very far from his eyes, Mary McDonald put a hand in her mouth to hold a possible scream, Remus mouth formed a big 'O', Dorcas eyes went wide, Berta had a huge wicked grin, Peter looked apprehensive and James sighed starring at the great hall's ceiling, waiting for the worst.
"What?" Lily asked defensively. "Someone got a problem with my Doe?"
Sirius Black let out a big bark, or laugh, Lily couldn't tell anymore.
"I think you are very much aware that my friend here," and he clapped his friend's back who now wore a face as though he didn't care. "is a stag?"
"Is he a stag? He looks very human to me." Lily added sarcastically.
Sirius laughed even more loudly, followed by the others.
"Well, that should mean something." said Berta, smiling.
"It means my patronum is a Doe, a beautiful doe by the way."
"And James's a stag." added Remus slowly.
"And so what?" Lily said imitating Remus. Black barked again. That irritating prat, why she was friend with him again?
"Lily you amaze me." he said. "What do you say, Prongs?"
Prongs, like Black liked to call him, was too busy chewing potatoes to answer.
"Matching Patronus." Mary said dreamily before Potter could reply. "We all know what that means, right?" she added excitedly.
"A poor coincidence?" asked Lily sarcastic.
"Oh come on Lily." said Jorkins annoyingly "You know its not just a coincidence. It means Soulmates-"
"It means," Lily cut her off. "that some people will have the same animal because there is simply not enough animals for all witches and wizards to have a different patronus."
"Well, yours are not exactly the same. Aren't they more like..." Dorcas paused "a pair?" she added, Lily felt her face burn.
"And they say a patronus is also a representation of your emotions, isn't it the reason why we have to think about something happy?" Remus explained.
"What were you thinking about Lily?" mocked Sirius.
"Professor Grey also said, last class, that sometimes a patronus will change when there is a big change in your life; like a trauma or" Mary paused "love?" she said the last bit very quietly, probably afraid of Lily's reaction. Lily looked incredulously at Mary, who looked apologetic. The others were grinning. Lily didn't see James' reaction because she was avoiding looking at him again. Maybe she should have lied, they would never leave her alone now and James had known that all along. He had even tried to avoid it, now she understood his signs and the consequences of her lack of thinking.
"Too bad Potter still hasn't gotten over his infatuation with me to have his patronum matching mine." she knew that she took the wrong path before she ended her sentence, bringing back an old subject like that one was very low of her, but what could she do? Let her friends bully her beautiful Doe? Better bully James Potter instead, at least he deserves it.
"Excuse me?" Now James Potter seemed interested in joining the conversation.
"You heard me, Potter." Lily replied shortly. Sirius Black smiled broadly and transfigured a plate full of corn into a plate full of popcorn. Now he knew his friend was in the game.
Potter also smiled, but sarcastically.
"From what I remember, I cast my patronus first." He crossed his arms around his quidditch captain chest.
"Good for you, but I am sure mine was always a Doe." Lily replied. Potter laughed.
"I am sure mine was always a Stag."
"Too be honest," Lily continued, ignoring what he just said. "You don't fit very well with a Stag." James Potter looked at Lily like he had just been stabbed in the back.
Now it was Remus Lupin turn to smile broadly, he asked Sirius to share the popcorn. "Of course Mate" Sirius answered.
"Oh really?" he replied sarcastically "Because you obviously look very much like a Doe."
"They are too elegant, and you, well you…" Lily said, ignoring his last comment.
"Me?" he insisted.
"You are not." She added stubbornly.
The others looked at them, very entertained. Berta Jorkins was the most excited of them. It was a long time since Lily and James had a row, that was very new gossip.
"You've got be kidding Evans! Are you really saying I am not elegant?" he asked ironically raising one eyebrow.
"Am I wrong?" she replied.
"I don't know if you are very knowledgable about the nature of a Deer." he asked annoyed.
"Are we leaving the elegance discussion behind already? That just proves the point." she said, casually now checking her nails, pretending that conversation had no importance to her.
"Well I am very knowledgable about that." he said ignoring her last comment this time. "Its been a while since I found out my animal totem is a Stag." he paused looking at her pondering what he was going to say next.
"They are very agile animals. I don't know if you are aware but this is one of my great qualities." he looked almost afraid about bragging. "I am sure you have seen me fly." he added finally.
"I would say your broom is agile, not you, by how you are so slow to argue." Lily scoffed, he ignored her provocation.
"If you take a closer look" he pointed at himself "you will see some physical resemblance with a stag." he continued. "Like Sirius here." he clapped his friend shoulder so hard that Sirius spit some popcorn out of his mouth. "His patronus is a dog, and look at him," he held Sirius Black's chin. "listen to his laugh"
"And me," he added. "Look my face" He pointed to his long thin nose proudly. "Do you see the similarities? Oh look!" he messed his hair charmingly. "Antlers." His hair was now more messy than ever.
"Are you comparing that thing" Lily pointed to his hair, disgusted. "To the beautiful antlers of a stag? You are offending my kind Potter."
Everyone was laughing very hard now but no one more than Sirius Black, who had tears in his eyes. Lily had the impression that he quite enjoyed her last comment, it was very well known that James Potter was obsessed with his hair.
"Did I leave the great James Potter speechless?" she asked in a mocking voice. He didn't answer. Instead he focused back on his food, bringing a big amount of potatoes to his mouth.
"And the winner is" Sirius Black stood to be next to Lily. "Lily Evans!" he said while raising Lily's right arm. Their friends laughing hard. James Potter pretended he was not even listening but Lily knew him too well. By the way his eyebrows were frowning, he was extremely upset. For some reason, that made her insides weirdly happy. Pissing James Potter off was so… pleasurable.
"But still. Your patronus' match!" said Mary excitedly.
"Oh Mary, just shut it." said Lily, wanting to change the subject.
"But-"
But Mary was never not able to finish her sentence because a blond girl approached their side of the table and went directly to James Potter.
"Hey." she said in a sweet voice while she ran her hands slowly through his hair bitting her lower lip, she looked very pleased. Lily could tell she was really enjoying doing that.
"Hey." he answered dryly. She lowered her head, probably to give him a kiss, that was Lily's guess. She didn't know, her long, shiny blond hair was blocking Lily's view. She whispered something in his ear and he stood up lazily. He left the great hall with her without looking back.
Then Lily noticed Sirius Black looking at her and at her hand apprehensively. She looked down at what he was looking at. Lily had stabbed the table with her fork without noticing and was pressing it very hard. Maybe she forgot to mention, like her, James Potter was also in a relationship, he had a Girlfriend. A Prefect Girlfriend. Lily heard they started dating after she gave him a detention. That was so him.
"Lily. Don't stab my hands. Please." Sirius Black said when Lily raised her fork again.
"Sorry." She said, choosing to drop the fork.
Everyone was already engaged in a new conversation about the exams and were not paying attention to Sirius and Lily's little interaction. It seemed that the last conversation was forced to be forgoten after the awkward interruption.
"Lily?" Sirius called carefully.
"What?" she asked, in a bad mood.
"He is breaking up with her." He whispered in her ear.
"What?"
"He is breaking-" Lily interrupted him before he could say it again.
"I heard." she said in whisper.
"Why are you telling me that?" Lily asked looking around checking if anyone was paying attention to them.
"He won't like that I am telling his secrets," Sirius said "But I thought you ought know." and he looked at the fork Lily just dropped like she was going to pick it up again and stab him.
"I don't." Lily said stubbornly and Sirius laughed/barked.
"Whatever you say," he said throwing his elegant hair back. "Mrs. Prongs."
Lily Evans gave Sirius Black a very loud and painful slap in the arm.
N/A: This is my first fanfiction in english! I really hope you all liked it! Feedbacks are appreciated ;) Thanks