Rain
She watched a small spider climb up the window frame. Beyond, she looked into the dark, stormy horizon and the rain made tiny ripples on the surface of the lake. It had been raining non-stop for days, making everyone miserable.
It wasn't like her not to listen in class, she was usually the one madly scribbling down notes, but today; today she was almost asleep. Just like everyone else.
He, as usual, sat watching her with his head propped up on his hand. He, unlike Wormtail who was sitting beside him, was not asleep. Not yet, anyways. Padfoot sat behind him, his head on the desk and was snoring away. Moony sat beside him, staring at the small bloc of honeydukes chocolate in front of him through bleary eyes. He couldn't blame them. The rain was pacifying everyone.
"Class dismissed," Professor Binns announced from the front of the class. Those who were still awake shook their sleeping friends, and soon the class was filled with the noise of shuffling desks and the start of soft chatter.
"It looks like you're stalking her, mate," Padfoot yawned and poked him between the shoulder blades.
"Isn't he though?" Moony asked before breaking off a piece of the chocolate, popping it into his mouth, and stretching.
"Either that or…no," Padfoot shook his head, causing hair to fall back in front of his face. "No, he's most defiantly stalking her."
"Am not." He snapped out of what was called 'the trance' as she got up. Blackwood went over to her, and he was obviously damn funny because she started laughing.
No. He wasn't jealous.
"Just go talk to her, Prongs," Moony suggested.
"And what'll I say? If it were up to you it would be something like 'Lily, your arse looks smashing in that skirt!'" He quipped.
"Aye, Prongs. Why not? What've got to lose?" Padfoot slung his bag over a shoulder, and the four of them headed for dinner.
"Aside from my life? Not much, Padfoot, not much at all,"
"I can think of other things you might loose, Prongs. Like the ability to have children…" Moony supplied. Prongs and Padfoot winced.
"But Prongs is a guy….He can't—Ooh!"
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Later that night, he found himself in the kitchen. The clock hit eleven and Wormtail jumped.
"Shouldn't we be going back now?" He asked tentatively.
"Relax Wormtail, we've got the invisibility cloak," Padfoot took another sip of butterbeer. He gave a sideways look to Moony. "Riightt?"
"Well, I thought Prongs had it…"
"And I thought you had it, Padfoot,"
"And if I thought Moony had it then…." Realization dawned on the four marauders. "Aw crap. So nobody brought the cloak?" The other three Marauders shook their heads.
"If we leave now, we might be able to make it back in time." Wormtail squeaked.
"He's right, Padfoot. We should go," Moony said. The four thanked the houseleves; after all, they had been there for a good two maybe three hours and had made a huge mess.
"Sirs are very welcome," Squeaked the house elf, Blinky, before running off.
"You scared her, Padfoot." Prongs commented dryly as they entered the hallway. A faint mew came from down the hallway, and Mrs. Norris came trotting down the hall.
The four figures stood, frozen in fear until they heard the calls of their new caretaker down the hall.
"What's that, my pretty? Students out of bed?"
"Shit! Split up!" Sirius hissed, and the four friends spilt up and Filch rounded the corner.
"It's the Potter boy and his friends…"
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The Astronomy Tower was really quiet. Lily Evans sat near the edge of the Astronomy Tower, watching the rain fall soundlessly. She had, by now, lost track of time she realized. It was probably, if not already, near their curfew. She sighed and stood up. She was about to leave when the door flung open and in ran Potter.
"Evans?---Evans! Crap," He was clearly out of breath. She heard some form of shouting behind him until the door slammed back shut. "Look, please, please don't hate me for what I do next,"
"Potter, what are yo-" Before she could another word in, James turned her around the corner and kissed her. He tasted like butterbeer and pumpkin pasty's she noted. The door to the tower slammed open once again, there was a grunt, a muttering of 'well. Nobody's here, precious.' , and the door slammed shut again.
What was he doing?
"Get off of me, Potter!" Lily shrieked, pushing him away with one hand and slapping him with the other. "I thought you were above trying something like that! You're--- "
For a moment, hurt flashed through his eyes. For a moment she felt like she was seeing James Potter for the first time; without the other Marauders, without the usual girl on his arm and without his 'I-think-I-own-the-world' smile.
"Wow. That's harsh, Lily, even if it's coming from you…" She heard him mutter. He looked down at his feet, ran a hand through his hair. He said nothing else.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She inquired.
"It means that I've taken almost all I can take. I've sat there and smiled while you've fired shot, after shot of insults at me. I can't keep doing that, Lily. Not even for you." His expression was unreadable. Without saying another word, he gave her a mock salute and made his way to the door.
Why did that look in his eyes make her feel so bad? Why did she get that gut-wrenching feeling in her stomach when she watched him leave?
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"So what do you think, Alice?" Alice sat straight across from Lily, on the edge of her bed. Lily had just re-told the story to Alice.
"You were harsh on him, and totally out of line. From the sounds of it, he was trying to get away from Filch. And, as you said, you were talking. Had he not…prevented you from talking when he did, not only would he have been caught, but you would have been too Lily," She looked over at Lily knowingly. "And besides, did you even bother to get his side of the story?" From the guilty expression on Lily's face, Alice could tell the answer.
"Talk to him, Lily," She advised. "Apologize. He'll forgive you, he's not that bad of a guy. I promise."
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For the next week and a half before school ended, she did not speak James Potter. She did not hear of James Potter. The only time she saw Potter was during the exams, and since she could not speak to him then, he seemed to disappear right after.
"Have you apologized?" Alice asked on the last day of school. The pair were packing up their trunks, placing things where'd they remember them for the next year. Lily shook her head.
"I…I haven't seen him."
"Then write to him, corner him on the train or something. Just find some way to apologize before summer, Lily. Because, then, I can promise you that it will become worse."
"I know." She whispered. She grabbed a remaining piece of parchment from the desk and her quill before heading down to the common room.
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"Have you even spoken to her, mate?" Sirius asked. The four marauders were walking down the train hallway, looking for an empty compartment.
"No. Not yet."
"Well, if you're planning to, you might want to soon. In four and a half hours, you won't see her for the next two months." Remus advised.
"I know." He whispered, opening the compartment door. They dropped their bags, rifling through their things to find their homework for the summer. Contrary to popular belief, the Maruaders did (or tried) to finish all their summer homework on the train ride home, which left the summer free for…well…Marauding. James rummaged around in his bag, looking for his notes on his history of magic assignment when he came across a neatly folded piece of parchment. Unwrapping it, he was startled when he recognized the writing.
Dear James,
I shouldn't have gotten cross with you. It was the wrong thing to do. I didn't think that you might've done…what you did for a reason, and that perhaps, you're not thatbad of a person. What I'm really trying to say is;
I'm sorry.
I am so sorry for what I've said to you. I'm sorry for all the times I've slapped you, I'm sorry for all the times I've insulted you.
I know that if I say sorry now, it might seem insincere. It's not, James. That much I can promise you.
I'm sorry it's taken me this long to contact you and apologize, James, and I can absoloutly understand if your livid with me. I just…wanted to apologize for what I've said to you.
Lily
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Not the piece I'm happiest with. It was just an idea I had: What if James finally snapped. Lily seemed to criticize everything that James did, so I thought that maybe James one day would have enough and Lily would regret what she said. It was just an idea.