K-I-S-S-I-N-G
For the Houses Competition
Hufflepuff: Year 4
Prompt: Child Nursery Rhyme (I googled it, K-I-S-S-I-N-G counts.)
Word Count: 2,004 words without the author's note.
—
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The top wizarding school in the world according to… well… Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was a magnificent castle on an unknown moor in Scotland with impossible architecture. It was known for its hidden location, massive library and extensive archives, and for its boys. Its boys were… totally and utterly annoying! Four in particular were the absolute worst. They were always causing mischief yet just managed to weasel out of getting expelled. They were seen as some of the coolest guys in school, but really, they were dweebs. They thought nobody would notice, but Lily did. They had nicknames for each other, secret handshakes, and a piece of parchment that was password activated (though she didn't know what it did exactly except insult people who didn't know the super-secret password. Except her. When she picked it up and tried to figure it out, all Mr. Prongs did was pester her about why she didn't go out with the handsomest and grooviest bloke in the whole school.
But back to the four maddening marauders:
Peter Pettigrew was the nice one, even if he was a little dim. He was the least cool of the lot and if it weren't for the other three, he would be at the bottom of the school food chain. He was a lump of a boy, but Lily could see him as the type of person who would own a bakery one day. He just needed a little more confidence in himself, but she believed in him.
Everyone thought Remus Lupin was the nice one, but he was just as big a troublemaker, prankster, and schemer as the other two. Lily figured that out when they became prefects and the places Remus would patrol were mysteriously unguarded when pranks were being set up. Nobody suspected him, because he was quiet. She decided not to call him out on it. After all, she did figure out about his lycanthropy and it seemed James, Sirius, and Peter did, too. So, perhaps, they could have a bit of fun once in a while. Loyal friends like that were hard to come by.
Sirius Black was the school "bad-boy." He was the 'Fonzie', The Ramones wannabe of the group and when he started it fifth year it looked ridiculous, but now he was starting to own the look. Whenever he wasn't in uniform, he would wear a leather jacket, a t-shirt, and leather boots with chains on them and constantly talked about his motorcycle. He also flirted with anyone who stood still long enough and was a notorious heartbreaker. Sometimes, he seemed the most malicious, but Remus was good at reeling him in.
And then there was James Potter.
James. Potter.
Ugh!
He was the ringleader and main instigator of mischief. He organized a series of unfortunate events that caused the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor of 1973 to quit just after Halloween. James used to torment everyone around him and strutted around like he owned the place. For a kid who inherited a fortune made from hair care products, he sure liked to keep his own a mess. He had a big, stupid, curly mop of hair; big, stupid glasses perched on his big, stupid nose; and constantly messed around with a snitch like it was a toy. Yet, somehow, he managed to not look like a total square; Instead, it made him look groovy. He dressed pretty well, too. Always up with the latest fads. Plus, he had warm hazel eyes and lovely brown skin—
Lily slammed her head into her book and groaned. Here she was up in a tree by the lake, trying to get some alone time, and instead she kept thinking about James. That boy drove her crazy from the minute she met him at the Welcome Feast. He was such a bully and always picked on the younger years. Er— well… he did. He sort of stopped sixth year. And then he only picked on her best friend, Severus Snape. Until… Severus decided he wanted to be just like everyone else in his House. James was still a hell-raiser, but he stopped being mean just for kicks.
No matter how much he'd changed, he was still infuriating!
And Lily was still thinking about him! She leaned back against the tree and wrapped a long strand of hair around her finger. She could think about something else. The day was warm but not quite scorching and there really was a lot to focus on. There was a nice breeze, the sky was that quintessential blue that couldn't be achieved in paintings, and the Giant Squid was dancing in the shallows of the lake. Yes, certainly much more interesting things to think about. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and there was a little line of ants that wouldn't go away no matter what spell she used on them. They reminded her of a certain Gryffindor boy who wouldn't go away— whoa! No! She was supposed to not be thinking about him.
Don't think about James. Don't think about James. Don't think about James.
Frankly, he had stopped garnering for her attention and… she found that she missed it. It was totally weird not having him following her around like a yapping puppy. Now, he seemed interested in other things. And other girls.
Oh look, she was still thinking about James. The very person she was trying not to think about!
Lily tried to focus once more on her book A Wrinkle in Time.
Mrs. Whatsit did not take offense. She explained, "Oh, it's my favorite kind of work, Charles. That's why they chose me to go along…"
After reading the same sentence over-and-over without absorbing a single word, Lily looked up and stared out at the lake, unable to concentrate more than ever. Ever since first year, she had wanted James to leave her alone. Now he was. She should be happy.
So… why did she feel sick to her stomach whenever she saw him locking lips with a pretty Ravenclaw girl? He was free to date whomever he bloody wanted. Why should she care? She didn't care.
He wasn't even the reason she was up in a tree in the first place. She had so many other thoughts in her head. He just happened to be her main focus at the moment.
Groaning, she bonked her book against her head. She didn't like James.
She didn't hate him either.
He furiously stood up for his friends and picked fights with those Death Eater wannabes in Slytherin. Especially when they were trying to hurt others. James liked to poke fun and didn't know when to quit, but he wasn't cruel. At least, not anymore. She admired that he would stand up to five Death Eaters at once, even without his friends to back him up. As much as he liked to give the boy a hard time, he would hex anyone that made serious fun of Peter Pettigrew.
But she didn't like him. It was just… infatuation. He was one of the best looking boys in the school, to be honest. And his better attitude made him all the more attractive. Physical attraction meant nothing.
"See, I told you we could get some alone time."
Lily glanced down and saw James leading his new girlfriend over to the tree. It was a rather nice day. Perfect snogging weather. Of course, of all the trees to climb she chose James' favorite tree.
The pair were so sweet it made her sick. She hated feeling this way. How could James make her feel this way?
Lily scrunched her nose at the wet sounds of kissing. Before her brain knew what she was doing, she dropped her book over the edge and heard a satisfying thonk! A smirk blossomed on her lips.
"Ouch!" James shouted.
Bulls-eye! Lily looked down and saw James rubbing his head. He picked up the book, looked up, and saw her.
"Oi, Evans!" he shouted. "What's the big deal?"
"Oh, nothing," she said. "My hand slipped."
"You did that on purpose!"
"You can't prove that."
James pushed his glasses up his nose and stood with his arms akimbo.
"So, you just happened to drop your book on my head?"
"Yes, you summed up the definition of accident perfectly."
Lily sat up so she was sitting on the branch like a bench. Her leather clog slid off her foot and hurtled towards James' head.
"OW!"
"Okay, now that was an accident," she said, clenching her toes to keep her other shoe on.
"So you admit the book was on purpose?"
"I didn't say that."
They bickered back and forth for a couple minutes until James' girlfriend rolled her eyes and stomped away.
"Oh, now look what you did," he said.
"Hey, you're the one who decided to keep talking to me, James," Lily retorted. "Besides, why don't you go pester her for another date? You're good at that."
"What is this about, Lily?"
Lily paused. He never called her by her first name before and she found she liked it coming from his mouth better than her last name. Know what? This wasn't helping her attempts— er— reasoning that she was absolutely not into James Potter.
"Nothing," she said.
James raised an eyebrow. "Either you come down here and tell me what's wrong, or I'll climb up there and you'll still tell me what's wrong."
"Do what you want, but I'm not gonna say anything."
"Suit yourself." James jumped up and caught a branch. He hauled himself up and carefully scaled to her level.
Lily crossed her arms and looked away. She saw something out of her peripherals and saw her shoe. She took it from James and slid it onto her foot.
"When did you start calling me Lily?" she asked.
"What?"
"You used to call me 'Evans' but just now you called me Lily."
"Well, you used to call me 'Potter'," he countered. "And you haven't for a while. What changed?"
"Nothing."
"Oh, so you still hate me?"
This gave her pause. She looked down at her hands.
"I don't hate you," she said softly. "I just found you self-centered and obnoxious. But I didn't hate you."
James hung on his branch in a way so he could look more closely at her.
"And… how do you feel about me now?"
"I… dislike you… less," she replied, turning to look at him.
Green eyes met hazel and found each expression unreadable. A light breeze blew across the grounds and with it, loose flora. James reached out and plucked a stray leaf out of her hair. Lily was telling herself that she wasn't wishing he let his fingers drift over a lock of her hair. Because, she didn't.
"Listen," he said. "I—"
"Ooh, what's this?" a voice sang from the ground.
Lily looked and saw the rest of James' crew. Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin. All had expressions of mischief and amusement.
"Lily Evans and James Potter," said Remus, crossing his arms. "Never would have figured it."
"James and Lily, sittin' in a tree!" Sirius chanted, and the rest of the Marauders joined in.
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love! Then comes marriage! Then comes baby in a baby carriage!"
"Name him after me, mate!" Sirius called.
James grinned at Lily and she rolled her eyes, he was incorrigible. Sirius and Peter made loud, obnoxious kissy noises.
"Well, I'm not kissing you in a tree," she said, crossing her arms.
"Ooh, so you would kiss me— AGHHH!" The branch in his hands "mysteriously" broke and he fell to the ground landing right on top of Sirius.
Lily was concerned until James looked at her with his cocky grin and gave her a thumbs up.
"I'm okay!"
Lily smiled and shook her head. Yeah, that James Potter absolutely drove her mad. Perhaps one day she would tell him, but today was not that day.