There's not much plot change, just a little more about how Lily
really
didn't like James and stuff. I also cut some bits that are just
plain annoying a stupid. I decided that I want James's character
to be a little bit more true to the HP books and a little more a cocky
bastard, rather like he is in the current one I'm writing, the sequel,
just so it isn't as much of a shock when that happens. But it's
so hard! Anyway, I'll do my best! Oh, and I deleted that little
kiss atthe end. I decided thatit was stupid for them to already
be making out.
Chapter 1
Back to School
Lily looked out the window at the fast approaching platform. She was about to arrive at the one place on earth where she had ever known true happiness. She loved her parents, and they were always so proud of her, but her sister was so cruel. It had never occurred to Lily that Petunia was jealous, she had always thought that her sister was perfect, she had a serious boyfriend who she spent all of Lily's vacations with, Lily barley ever saw her sister, and Lily always felt out of place after a year spent with witches and wizards like herself when she returned to London for the three month summer vacation.
For the past four years since she had started going to Hogwarts she had survived the summers only by keeping up her correspondence with her numerous Hogwarts friends. There was one in particular who she sent letters to every day, and who always returned her mail within an hour. She had a box in her closet that was filled with two years worth of letters. He was the person she was looking forward to seeing most upon her return to Hogwarts.
Lily had always been popular. Perhaps it was her exotic, striking looks. She had large green eyes that sparkled, thick wavy red hair that she had been growing out for years and now reached her waist, a full bust that had been with her since her thirteenth birthday, she had developed early, and miles of long, tanned, muscular legs.
Perhaps it was the fact that she always spoke her mind, stood up to people when she thought they were wrong, and never gave in to pier pressure, or perhaps it was her big beaming smile, that she was always eager to extend to anyone, regardless of their social status. It always made her feel inferior to return home and find her older sister surrounded by friends, boyfriends, admirers, and A papers posted on the refrigerator. Petunia had always been plain, some might even say ugly. She had a long, horse like face, an indistinguishable figure, and way too much neck. Lily did not know what it was, but for some reason the phone of her house was always ringing off the hook, and the callers were not interested in her mother or father.
Lily loved every moment of her time at Hogwarts, and rarely regretted
her decision to give up a normal 'muggle' life for the exciting life of
wizardry. The only time she wondered if she had made the right decision
was when she received letters from her parents telling her about the
latest news in the town, Petunias achievements, and small talk about
their neighbors. Lily missed having papers pinned on the refrigerator,
she missed the feeling of accomplishment when she received an A, now
the only one congratulating her was herself.
Her parents did understand her latest achievement, however. Lily had
received a badge with her Hogwarts letter that year, telling her that
she had been made a Prefect. Lily had told the good news to her parents
who spent the rest of the summer praising her, buying her new clothes,
and mentioning it whenever they saw her with comments such as, "how's
out new prefect doing this morning?"
"Lily? Lily are you okay?" Asked Alice, her friend, waving a hand in front of Lily's face.
"What, sorry, yeah, what's going on?" Lily asked, jerked from her reverie.
"I said 'tell us about your summer', everyone else already has. Were
you even paying attention? Janette was telling us about Venice. It's
your turn. What were you staring at?" Alice asked, looking out the
window to discover what had been so fascinating.
"I was just looking out the window at the scenery. We're almost there. I can see the platform." Lily said, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.
"Oh, then we had better change, tell us about the summer tonight in the dorm, and I have a treat for you." Alice told her tauntingly.
"OOOOO, what is it? Alice, you know how much I hate surprises. Did you finally hook up with that hot guy from the lake who you were telling us about. Did that love potion I made you work? I wasn't sure if it would. I had to change the proportions and rewrite parts of it because I didn't want him to have his heart broken at the end of the summer or anything. It should have been enough for a hookup and second base, the rest was up to you." Lily asked, going off onto one of her rambles.
"I'll tell you about it tonight. We need to change now." Alice said, smiling.Alice had the looks of the cheerleaders from Lily's hometown where she grew up. She had always admired them when she was younger. She would go to the football games with her sister when she was 10 and her sister was 13. She had always resented them for there long blonde hair, perfect white teeth, big blue eyes, and short skirts.
Lily had a body to rival any of theirs, and she could practically talk with her eyes, and she had come to grips with her red hair, it put the final touches to her fiery personality. She would not be Lily without red hair. Severus liked it as well. He was her boyfriend of two years who she was looking forward to seeing. She hadn't sought him out on the train because her friends had told her it was too desperate, besides they had traditionally always sat on the train together.
Their were five girls in their gang, all of whom were in Gryffindor. They all had other friends of course, especially Lily who was extremely popular, but these were her closest friends in the world. They could finish each others sentences, had similar opinions on what was hot, liked the same clothes, and could read each others minds. Or so it seemed to them and everyone else. They were like long lost sisters who actually got along.
After spending the first week of her stay at Hogwarts hating Alice for having the perfect cheerleader looks Lily had idolized in childhood, Lily had realized that she and Alice felt the same was about everything, down to and including food and nail polish colors. They even wore the same size clothing and could share. Janette, Lily, and the other two girls Holly and Caroline had found each other and discovered that they were soul sisters on the first Hogwarts train ride. They found themselves sharing a compartment on the train because there were no others available.
Caroline and Alice were both pure bloods, and Holly's parents were both magical, but Janette was the only ones in her family who had magical powers. Caroline, who also had problems with her sister, could relate to Lily. Caroline's sister was a squib who was very jealous of her older sister for her magical abilities.
Caroline had black hair that she always cut very short in a bob. It was the fashion of the time. Caroline was very rich, because she came from an old pureblood wizarding family. Caroline was not very pretty, but she was always willing to help in a problem. She did not handle conflict well, in fact, she didn't handle it. She avoided it. She was a very sweet sensitive girls who hated hurting peoples feelings. She didn't usually understand things such as guys, but she was always up on fashion, her mother made sure of that. Even now at 15 she hated breaking rules or getting into trouble, although with the influence of her friends she was breaking out of her cocoon a little bit. Caroline's parents always kept her with the latest, most fashionable clothing, and she did have very nice parents who were a lot like Caroline in temperament and disposition. They always sent generous Christmas presents to Caroline and her friends along with a monthly supply of sweets and snacks, even after the third year in which the girls were aloud to go into Hogsmede and buy their own food stashes. Caroline's parents, the Ruperts, argued that they did not go into Hogsmede often enough to feed growing girls, although Janette was the only one of the dream team still growing.
Janette came from a muggle family and had never heard of Hogwarts, didn't believe in magic, and had passed off the extraordinary things that always seemed to happen around her as coincidence or normal. She was seldom short on funny stories about things she had accidentally done to her friends, teachers, and family before she had been accepted to Hogwarts and learned to control her magical power. Janette had mouse brown hair that she 'naturally' highlighted over the summer. She told everyone else at Hogwarts that it was natural, and since the girls were the only ones in their dorm, and the only ones who knew about the lemon juice, blonde shampoo, and spray in, her secret was safe. She also had light brown eyes and a tanned Mediterranean complexion, although she did not live in a tropical climate and did not have ancestors from that part of the world. She continually denied using tanning product, and the girls did not doubt her because they shared everything.
Holly had deep auburn hair that was wavy and full which she wore a little past her shoulders. It was also the object of attention from many boys. For some reason whenever Holly was not wearing her Hogwarts uniform, her thin legs, hot pants, and short shorts always drew glances from the boys. Holly's grandmother had been part vela, and Holly had inherited her looks and powers to attract boys. Since the girls went everywhere with Holly they were always included in the best social circles and none of them were ever short on dates. Although she had not inherited the power to turn into a vicious man killing bird, her friends did tease her about having a temper and being insensitive and heartless when it came to turning down suitors.
This is not to say that they were all perfect. Holly had a tiny little reputation for being a slut. And Lily was known for being an ice queen. Alice too had her moments of both temper and sluttish ness.
Lily was changed into her robes and staring into space out the window when her thoughts were again interrupted by the door to their compartment sliding open. Lily looked up to see who it was and shrieked in delight. She sprang up and hugged Severus so tightly that a bystander would think they had been separated for years.
"I can console myself with the fact that she greeted us the same way-" Holly said, looking on with amusement.
"-when she saw us at the platform after the summer." Alice finished for her.
"Although you must give her some allowance-" Holly continued, grinning.
"-seeing as they are dating and she was separated from him longer." Alice said in turn, looking at Holly and smiling. They always enjoyed alternating sentences.
"Not to mention they don't dorm together." Holly concluded.
Lily gave them an exasperated look and said pointedly, "Do you mind?"
"Gotchya babe," Holly replied.
"Consider us gone." Janette told her. The girls had walked out into the hall, probably to listen at the door, Lily knew them too well.
"Girls, I mean it, I know you're there." Lily said, looking at the door suspiciously.
"All right all right, we're going, you'd think you were going to do the nasty or something…" Holly said, giggling. "I wonder what it would feel like on a train…" Said Holly and the girls ran down the corridor giggling madly. Lily couldn't help herself, she had to chuckle.
"Now that we're alone…" Lily whispered in Severus's ear as she pulled him over to the cushioned chair. She pulled him into a kiss, long and passionate. She had forgotten how bad of a kisser he was. He wasn't good looking either. But she felt bad for him, and he was so nice, most of the time. Not to mention interesting. She could always be herself around him, he was the only other person outside the girls who she was really comfortable with. The train slowed and pulled to a stop.
"I'd better go." Muttered Severus, a slow smile spread across his face, but it vanished as suddenly as it had come. "I'll see you soon." He shoved his greasy black hair out of his face. As they stood she noticed how short he was compared to her. She had hoped he would catch up to her over the summer. She told herself that h would be a late bloomer and smiled.
"Okay, I can't wait. See you in classes, I hope we have more together this year than we did last year." He murmured something in response, but she could not make it out.
As the train slowed to a halt the girls came back into the room. They had obviously come back and had been hanging around outside waiting for Severus to leave.
"So...well, what happened?" Said Caroline in a conspiratorial whisper.
"You dunce, could you be any slower, they made out." Replied Alice slapping Caroline's forehead with the base of her hand for emphasis. Caroline had never had a boyfriend and was rather thick when it came to all things guy related. She was very sweet, but led a sheltered life, and no matter how many times her friends explained it to her, it was not an intuition she possessed, perhaps it was something that needed to be experienced first hand.
"He wasn't here long…" Continued Alice, "how far did you guys go?"
"Don't be a pervert Alice! We just kissed that's all, I really need to talk to you later, but I'll save it for after dinner." The girls exchanged mystified glances, but Lily wasn't saying anything else. They half listened to the announcement about leaving their trunks on the train and how they would be brought to the castle separately. This was the fifth time Lily had heard this announcement, and she sighed with satisfaction and anticipation and she moved with the crowd towards the exits.
Because there were five of them and only three people could go in a compartment, they always separated two and three and rode with other misfits who were not paired with any of their own friends.
"So what are the groups this time?" Asked Caroline. "I want to be in a three, I got shafted last time."
"Okay," said Holly taking control as usual, she was bossy by nature and the other girls let her be in charge. She was in her element when she was making orders, and it was easier to let her have her fun. "Me, Alice and Caroline in one, and Lily and Janette in the other."
"Agreed!" Said the other four in unison, they looked at each other and smiled. Lily was so happy to finally be back where she belonged, at Hogwarts with her friends. This year would be perfect.
As Janette and Lily piled into a horseless carriage they were followed by two tall, muscular boys who had obviously not gotten haircuts all summer. Janette got in first and grabbed a seat by the window, Lily was seated next to the taller of the two boys. She couldn't help but notice as their shoulders settled into each others that he had a very toned, attractive physique.
Do not think that Lily! You have a boyfriend. Think of Severus, do not look at other boys like that! she told herself. She looked up at the boy whose muscular shoulder and thigh were touching her own. She noticed her was looking at her as well and as they made eye contact she gasped. James Potter of course. It had to be him who she was entertaining these thoughts about. Everyone knew Potter's scoop. He was a star on the quiddich pitch, he got good grades and was naturally very brilliant, although he never applied himself. That in itself was enough to make Lily dislike him a little, but the fact that he also was well known for picking on younger students for a laugh, and was equally well known for being a total ladies' man put her over the edge. Severus also happened to be one of the students who they chose to torture.
"Well well, if it isn't James Potter? Then this must be Sirius Black, you two are still attached at the hip, are you not? But where is the rest of your gang?" Lily did, of course recognize them at once. Anyone would. They were mini dieties at Hogwarts. You would have to be asleep under a rock not to know James and Sirius. Anyone would have noticed the sarcasm in her voice, but she could not help herself, they were the two who made Severus's life a living hell. In fact, until the second year they had been mean to Lily as well. They were so mean to him for no reason, and he was her boyfriend after al, and she did care about him, so she needed to stand up for him, even if he wouldn't stand up for himself.
"And what about you, Evans?" Sirius shot back at her. "Broken up with your other girlfriends have you? Having an orgy with only one other person won't work too well darling." Sensing fireworks Janette looked up. She had been dozing off, but was now wide awake. This was not going to be pretty. James did not say anything, he just stared at Lily with his dark, soulful eyes, he looked hurt by her words. She did regret what she had said, she did not want a fight. She was just so confused and Severus only said mean things about them. He hadn't really done anything to merit her outburst, maybe she should apologize. Janette ruined any potential for reconciliation with what she said next.
"Excuse me, Mr. Black, but I do not appreciate being spoken to, or about, in such a degrading manner. Obviously something is bothering you, why don't you vent your frustration on someone else though, it is not welcome here." Janette could have insulted him, but after years of that she discovered the fine art of being a school marm. If you did not insult them, they could not have a comeback and you were saved any potential embarrassment. Black, realizing what she was doing, turned sharply and gazed sullenl out the window after looking at James for support, but receiving none. James, still not having said anything, continued to stare and Lily.
"What are you staring at?" She said, knowing full well how accusing her tone was. He remained unfazed, and replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world,
"Your hair, it's so shiny, is it as soft as it looks?" Black snorted a sound of disgust as James reached out and stroked her hair. Lily slapped his hand away and reached protectively for her hair, as if holding it would keep him from stealing her hair from her. "Sorry," muttered James, I don't know what came over me." He was not acting like the cocky bastard who she always assumed was behind the strutting and parading about Hogwarts. In fact, what a gentleman! He is really sincere I think too, it makes me want to apologize to him. I bet he would be a great kisser...WHAT? What are you thinking Lily, how could you think that? You have a boyfriend, remember, think of Severus she told herself for the second time that night.
The carriages slowed and stopped and they started moving towards the castle. It was so magnificent and majestic. She heard the familiar cry of "First years, over here, first years." Memories of her first year, rowing across the lake to the castle and seeing it through the willows, it was beautiful, unlike anything she had ever seen. She remembered the tension of standing in line in front of the whole school waiting to be sorted. She remembered how the sorting hat had debated between Ravenclaw, because she was so clever and motivated, and Gryffindor, because she was so brave and bold. As they moved with the crowd towards the castle doors she heard a familiar voice mimicking his best friend.
"You dult, what were you thinking, 'your hair is so shiny is it as soft as it looks?' Could you be any lamer man, did you really think she would fall for that?" Lily heard the voice of SIrius say in a mocking tone.
"I wasn't trying to make her fall for anything, shove off man. You know I get stupid around her, I have no control over what I say." Muttered James, unintentionally loud enough for her to hear while shoving Sirius into a group of third year boys. Lily smiled. She looked at Janette, but she appeared not to have heard.
They reached the castle and went into the hall. As Lily and Janette sat down on a bench that was empty enough to have enough room for Alice, Holly, and Caroline. To her horror Sirius sat down next to her followed by James, Remus, and Peter. Peter was not really part of their group, but he followed them everywhere, did whatever they said, and was basically a slave for them.
Sirius slipped his arm
around her waist and whispered in her ear, "hey baby, your hair really
is as soft as it looks." He released her after nuzzling her hair.
She angrily pushed her hair out of her face and said,
"I'm afraid you need to move, there won't be room for my friends."
"Ouch babe, that hurt, and here I was thinking we were like this." He crossed his fingers representing how close he thought they were.
"Apparently, you were mistaken, please leave." Lily asked him again. She had been ignoring him for three years, why did he suddently want to sit next to her?
"Hey Lily! Long time no see!" It was Alice, calling from the other side of the bench where she, Caroline, and Holly were sitting. Lilly shot her a look of pure venom as Sirius bust into fits of laughter. "What? Did I do something wrong that I don't know about?"
"No!" Said Lily pouting.
"I do apologize for my friend. At this moment I am ashamed to call him that. Sirius here does not have much of what the rest of us like to call tact," came a deep, soft, consoling voice. Lily looked up, her cheeks stained crimson to see that the speaker was Remus Lupin, a member of Sirius's gang, although he had always been her favorite because he was so mature and above their childish pranks, was the one speaking to her. She smiled to see that he also was wearing a Prefect badge. "I see that we will be working together as prefects, congratulations."
"Thanks and all that, for her sake, but if she is going to be working with you I believe condolences are more in order." Holly said sharply, this comment being met by snickers from the other girls.
"Here man, trade seats with me, I don't want to sit next to this one, even if she does have soft hair." Said Sirius to James. He whispered in James's ear and James gave him an evil look, but slid over on the bench next to Lily. Again she felt the slight pressure of his thigh and shoulder on hers. She tried to move away but Janette shoved her back at James.
"What are you doing, we're cramped enough as it is down here, Caroline is about to fall off the bench."
"Sorry," muttered Lily to Janette, "I didn't mean to." She turned and met James's eyes, "It was her fault, I didn't mean to shove."
"No problem," replied James, suddenly fascinated with the tablecloth.
"So what did-" Started Sirius, but he was cut off by the entrance of the ready-to-be-sorted first years and as Professor Ewing, the transfiguration teacher, read from his parchment, the first years took turns going up on stage, sitting on the stool, and putting on the hat.
When the sorting was finished Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, stood, preparing to make the start of term address.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts, and welcome to our new students. I know you will all have a wonderful year here. I trust that your summers were all lovely, and now that your minds are sufficiently empty, we can proceed to attempt to refill them with the invaluable knowledge that he undoubtedly leaked out over the past months. I have only one announcement to make before we feast, and that it to introduce a new faculty member. Professor Longbottom will be teaching defense against the dark arts. He is an auror at the ministry of magic, but has agreed to put his training on hold in order to assist us." Professor Dumbledore announced. There were loud cheers at this. Lily saw why. Professor Longbottom was extremely handsome, and most of the cheers were coming from girls. Alice and Holly squealed with excitement. Lily regretted having gotten special permission to drop defense last year.
The food arrived and everyone began loading their plates, except Lily, who was engrossed in her own thoughts. She started at the ceiling, which was one of the many things at Hogwarts that amazed her all the time. In the book Hogwarts, A History, it explained about the charm that was put on the ceiling to make it look like the sky outside. Even after having read the detailed explanation in that book, she still did not understand how it worked. Perhaps it was just one of many inexplicable things in Hogwarts and all anyone could do is smile, nod, pass it off to magic, and let it go.
"What are you staring at, the food is here, you're acting as if you've never seen Hogwarts before, are you okay?" Whispered a deep throaty voice in her ear. She snapped her head down, startled, and hit James Potter in the nose with her head. "Ow."
"Oh My Goodness! Are you okay? Speak to me? Are you hurt, is anything broken?" Lily asked, looking around to see if James was okay.
"I'm fine." Said James, but his voice was nasal and contorted.
"Come with me, I'm, taking you to Madame Pomfrey, come on right now." Lily decreed."No, really I'm fine." He said waving her away. She stood up and grabbed his arm, and although he was much stronger than her and could easily have resisted he got up and allowed her to drag him to the hospital wing, but not before Sirius could give him a big, obvious wink and exchanged a snicker with Remus.
"Where are you going?" Called Caroline at Lily's retreating back. She turned to Black, "Where is she going with Potter, what have you done?"
"Me?" Said Black in an injured tone, "but precious, I'm hurt, how could you think such a thing of me?"
"Oh, you shameless flirt, cut the sweet talk, where has she
gone?" Holly snapped at him. "But my beauty, how can I help but flirt
with one as stunning as yourself?" He batted his eyelashes for effect.
"All right all right, she's taken him to the hospital wing because she
slammed into his nose and possibly broke it." He said after receiving
the combined glares of Holly, Alice, Caroline, and
Janette.
"Oh," said the four together, they then proceeded to tuck into the delicious meal. Black, Remus, and Peter followed suit and devoured a goodly portion of the meal set before them. The girls grabbed a napkin and took Lily's favorite foods and wrapped it up for her to bring back to the dormitory in case she missed the entire meal.
As Lily dragged James up to the hospital wing they did not talk. They stopped outside the door and she said "Are you sure that you're alright?"
"I told you, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." James insisted.
"But I hurt you." She said desperately. "Let's go see Madame Pomfrey."
"All right, but I assure you, I'm fine, I was cushioned by your soft hair." He followed this remark with a chuckle, but stopped when he realized that he was the only one laughing.
"Madame Pomfrey? Are you here? I think I broke James Potter's nose." Lily said, addressing the nurse.
"Oh dear, let me see. Mmmmmm...Yes dear that's broken, wait right here, my first patient of the year, isn't this exciting. You sure are fast, not even here for two hours." She bustled out of the room to fetch the necessary materials.
"I'm so sorry, does it hurt?" Lily asked anxiously.
"Only a little. It's not too bad." James told her.
"Oh, your so brave." Cooed Lily. Was she trying to seduce
him? She had a boyfriend. Why did she have to keep reminding herself of
that? This was the mean James Potter. The same James Potter who was a
conceited ass and always teased her boyfriend. The same James potter
who she had spent the last three years ignoring and avoiding because he
was a bully and because he teased her and because of some bloody row
they had had that resulted in neither one speaking to the other since
the second year. "Will you ever forgive me?" She pulled him to
the nearest bed and sat down, patting the space next to her.
"I told you, I'm fine, don't worry. But what about you, how does your head feel?" James asked, taking the seat.
"My head, oh right, I didn't even feel anything, like you said, lots of thick soft hair to soften the collision, too bad it didn't help you." This time she joined him as he chuckled.
This was nice, he wasn't being a conceited ass, why did she think that he was? Come to mention it, what did she really know about him? Everything she heard had been gossip and hearsay, most of it from Severus. She couldn't believe that he was spreading nasty rumors, but apparently she had misjudged him. But on the other hand, he was always flying around the Quiddich pitch, waving and winking and occasionally blowing kisses at girls. He had a reputation as a guy who got around. Not to mention all of the pranks. Him and his friends were constantly causing trouble and getting into detention. Lily was a good girl, she did not fall for bad guys.
Madame Pomfrey bustled back into the room with anesthetics and bandages.
"Will you be all right? I'll run back to the feast and save some food for you." Lily offered.
"Okay, Thanks, here, I'm done, I'll come with you." James said, standing up.
"All right then, lets go. Madame Pomfrey can we go, is he alright now?" Lily asked, thinking how quickly she had managed to do thatand wishing she had thatkind of power and ability.
"Oh yes, he's fine, it wasn't a serious break." Madam Pomfrey assured her.
"All right, we're off." Halfway down the hall she realized that
she was holding his hand. She quickly let go, but he either didn't
notice, or pretended not to.
By the time they reached the great hall it was time for deserts. She
grabbed a pie and ran off to the dorms with her friends, who had
finished. They wanted to get
unpacked and talk before it was too late, classes did start tomorrow.
"Nanight boys." Whispered Holly seductively. Caroline hit her arm laughing when they were halfway up the marble stairs,
"and you called him a shameless flirt, ha, you should see yourself." Giggling they reached the dormitory and Lily let them in, because she was a prefect she knew the password, Cawdsodswallop she said to the fat lady.
"Welcome back Lily, I'm so pleased to see you in good health, and the rest of you." She nodded at the rest, the grin she had had plastered on her face while addressing Lily disappeared.
"How do you do it?" Said Janette in awe. "Even the pictures love you, who don't you charm?" "I don't know what you are talking about," Lilly replied hautily. They ran up the stairs to their dorms and unpacked their clothing first. After going through the packing of tomorrows sacks, folding clothes, drawer dividing, and the hanging up of dresses and skirts, they arrived at the really fun part; makeup and jewelry. Although Lily did not have any makeup because her mother did not approve, always a sore point with her. As they were unpacking they showed eachother the newest additions to their own wardrobes. They also sat in a circle, as was the tradition, and exchanged little gifts that had something to do with their summers. Alice gave everyone messages in a bottle from the lake, Caroline gave them magnets that were shaped like different foods because she had gone to France and Italy, Holly gave red skirts from Bulgaria, where she spent her summers with her grandmother and cousins, Janette gave them mini blow up beach toys shaped like different animals because, she explained, she had spent the summer at the pool, and Lily gave everyone Chocolate, because she hadn't done anything over the summer, but had eaten a lot of chocolate, the girls laughed.
Alice was about to start telling about her summer, but Lily interrupted. "I'm so sorry Al, but this is important, so can we do current news and then your summer?"
"Sure hon, I don't care, I don't want to hear about my summer, I was there."
"Thanks. You know how I'm dating Severus? That was a rhetorical
question Caroline, well there is no chemistry. I really like him, but
he is ugly and can't kiss, always talks bad about James, and I always
thought it was true but now tonight I met him and none of what Snape
says is true, he never has anything interesting to say and…" once she
had gotten into her flow, it was hard to stop, but it just hit her that
one of her reasons for wanting to break up with him was James, which
didn't make sense. She hadn't wanted to dump Snape until she met James.
That idiot, he was ruining her relationship with Snape, Snape wasn't
that bad, maybe he would change...
"Thank god! Honey, we didn't want to say anything because you seemed really into him, but he is a git, and he's mean to all of us. We're so glad you don't like him."
"You guys don't like him either?" Asked Lily, turning to each girl in turn. "Why did you let me waste two years trying to fix him then? You're supposed to tell me things like that, that's what friends are for, remember! I changed him so that we would be more compatible, I even got him obsessed with potions, and nothing worked, you guys are supposed to tell me when I'm with the wrong guy. What were you thinking?"
"What were we thinking? I believe a more appropriate question is what were you thinking. We tried to tell you, if you will remember, it was the closest we ever came to a fight. You said we didn't know him, so don't blame us for your mistake." Holly told her, sounding irritated.
"I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me? I don't know what I was thinking." Lily begged imploringly.
"Of course we forgive you. You made a mistake, its okay, we all have. Forgiveness is what friends are for. However…" Alice trailed off at the end of her sentence and in a flash she was up and throwing a pillow at Lily. That led to a full blown pillow fight, ending with the girls lying on the ground panting. "Now about my summer.…" Alice told them about how she gave the love potion to her hot lake buddy, but another girl had drunken it instead, pouring some into the lake. "Every time I went out on the lake for the rest of the summer the fish followed me, singing. I think that attracted out elusive hotty more than a potion ever could, so yes, in addition to hooking up with the hot guy, I got the fish and a random girl into the bargain. Lils' I thought you said that thing was weak, what did you put into it?"
"Why? Did the fish behave strangely, fascinating...I wonder if human potions has a different effect on animals, if I could just remember the exact measurements I could run some experiments…"
"Lily, stop the potions talk." Alice told her, holding up her hands.
"Oh, what, sorry? Woah, I'm sooo tired, can we turn in for tonight? Sorry, lets continue this tomorrow night okay? We want to be fresh for our classes tomorrow, first day back and all…" Said Lily in a drowsy, half conscious voice as she spoke around a yawn.
"Wake up Lils' we're already late, we need to get to classes now." Lily, only half contious started around the blurred room. The other girls were dressed and waiting for her. She jumped out of bed and threw on her clothes shouting for the girls to go ahead, she didn't want to hold them up. As she ran down the stairs to the common room glancing at her watch she felt someone grab her. She looked up and saw that it was Remus.
"Running late are we?" He asked in a deep, groggy voice.
"Just a little, is breakfast over do you know?" Lily asked him, looking hastled.
"I think so, classes start in 20 minutes though, you'll be too late for food, I have some eggs and toast here, you can share mine if you like." Remus said, showing her his plate.
"Thank you so much." She said as she breathlessly plopped into the chair. He pushed his plate towards her.
"Here, finish it, I'm not hungry. If you mind using my fork you can use your hands, I won't be repulsed or anything, and I promise, I won't tell anyone." She glanced up and saw a laugh behind his dancing eyes.
"Thank you, I don't mind using your fork." She dug into the eggs and then ate the toast. "Do you have a schedule?" She asked around a mouthful of toast as she finished her bite.
"Here. We have double potions with the Slytherins first period. It's about to start, I'll walk with you." The made their way down to the dungeon for potions with Professor Inkbeat, she was Lily's favorite teacher. She had gotten Lily hooked on potions and this was the class she looked forward to more than all others.
"There you are!" Called Janette, "we missed you at breakfast."
"Sorry about that, I was too late for food, so I ate with Remus, he gave me his eggs and toast. Shall we find seats near each other?"
"I think you should sit with Severus." Said Holly pointedly, you two need to talk. "Don't worry, we don't have any other classes with Slytherins this week." This was said in an aside to Lily so no one else could hear. "We'll get seats close by in case…" She let the rest of the sentence hang so that Lily could fill it in herself.
Lily nodded and muttered, "Thanks. Well, let's get this over with." she said with a sigh, making her way over to Severus. "I owe you for getting me out of this one. I would never have had the nerve otherwise."
"You would probably keel over and die without us here, or else just self destruct." Holly observed.
"Haha, probably. See you after class, I'll give you all the details." Lily told her friends, hurrying the catch up with Severus. "Hey, Severus, will you sit with me?" He pushed his hair out of his face and she struggled with herself not to cringe. How had she never noticed before how smarmy and greasy he was? How could she had dated him? What had changed so suddenly to make her realize? When had she become so superficial? This was so not her. There was more to him than greasy hair. And what would she ever do without him there? She was used to him being there. They had dated for…well for ever.
"Sure, love to." He replied. They grabbed a table together in the middle and read the directions on the board to figure out what potion they would be making and what materials it required.
"Severus, we need to talk. I don't think that this relationship is really working out. Don't get me wrong, I really like you, but not as anything more than a friend. You will still be my friends wont you?" Lily said in a rush. Now that she had said it she felt much better about her decision to break up with him. She felt a remarkable sense of relief.
"I don't know how I could, I love you Lily. You are the only person I have ever loved, I don't think I could stand being with you as friends after having been your boyfriend. Friendship cannot compare with love, and it is not good enough for me. If you change your mind, tell me." He then moved to another empty table. James put his supplies on the spot beside her.
"Aren't you working with Sirius?" She demanded in a rather irritated tone. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts, and if she had to have a partner she would have preferred one of her friends.
"I prefer you." He said simply, beginning to chop up some supplies, looking at her sideways from under his hair.
"Why, because I'm better at potions than you?" She asked, rather unfairly. But she was not in a very fair mood right now.
"That, and your much prettier than he is. You have much softer hair." They both laughed. Her uneasiness seemed to melt away.
XXX
Severus watched from the other side of the room as his tormentor approached the love of his life. They started laughing and she playfully hit his arm. What competition was he for James Potter? Quiddich champion. This was ridiculous. Not only did James and his cronies swagger around making his life miserable, but they also moved in on his girl, how insensitive was he?
XXX
"I saw you a James getting pretty cozy together, immediately proceeding your breakup, I don't fail to notice. I'm sorry Lily, you'll forgive me for saying it, but it is a bit insensitive to Severus to be flirting with his arch enemy right after you dumped him. I heard his speach about how he loved you, and he was watching you two the entire class." Caroline reprimanded as they walked down the hall after class. Lily had a huge smile plastered on her face. She felt much better now. James was very sweet.
"Don't be ridiculous. I was not flirting. And he just thinks it's love, he will understand one day when he is truly in love that what we had was only a crush, and a one sided crush I might add."
"Whatever you say," replied Caroline, sounding doubtful.
"Shut up guys, here he comes. We'll leave you two love birds now." Alice said, giggling.
"If you dare, I will never speak to any of you again, I'm not kidding, don't you dare walk away from me." Lily said in the tone of voice that she only used when she was serious, and people always did what she said when she was serious.
"Lils, what happened? What's wrong with you?" Janette walked over to her and looked into her eyes.
"I'm so confused. Nothing bad happened, I just, I don't know okay, leave me alone. But don't you dare leave." Lily said, heat rising in her face.
"Calm down, we're here. I'm not going anywhere, I promise, But seriously, how was it?" Alice gave her a sly grin and Lily looked at her, meeting her eyes, "do you think you like him? Are you finally going to forgive him after all these years of hating his guts?" Alice asked her. Lily sighed feebly. She did not honestly know what to make of this sudden turn around. She certainly liked the attention, it was quite flattering actually, but she did not understand his motives. perhaps it was a dare.
"I'm not sure. Maybe." Lily said at last, a smile spreading across her face. James Potter, interesting thoguths popped into her minds at the sound of his name resounding in her head. But with them came the doubts.
Oh no, what if I made an awful mistake? What if Severus is actually a decent kisser? Just because I'd never kissed anyone else doesn't mean he was bad, I had nothing to judge it against, no comparison. Oh no.
"Does that mean I can hook up with him? I mean like, later, you saidonly maybe, so can I have him?" Alice asked.
"We're not dating or anything. We've barely even talked. So we sat together once in potions, who cares? Right?" Lily asked, looking at the others nervously.
"Whatever you say cough cough Lily has it bad" Holly replied.
"You guys are ridiculous" Lily told them.
XXX
Snape, walking a few paces behind them, heard every word. Could this be true? How could she have gotten over him so fast? Had she ever cared for him? He needed to get revenge on James Potter for this, this was the last straw, James was going down.
XXX
Authors Note: So, this is my firstfanfiction, so please be helpful and kind. Suggestions are welcomed, although as you can see I've already posted a lot. But I'm in the revision process now, so any comments, question, anything at all is welcomed. Thanks!