Disclaimer: Anyone who sounds familiar, probably are. They probably belong to JK Rowling. Chrissie however, is mine. As is Haylie. You steal them, I put a curse on you. Got it?
Chrissie couldn't understand why, when she woke up that morning, she felt a sudden pang of dread. As far as she was aware, it was just any other day. Confused, Chrissie slipped her feet out of bed and let them land on the cold wooden floor.
"Who's up?" Chrissie's friend Lily yelled quickly as she ran out of the bathroom and back into the dormitory. Lily looked worried, her green eyes darting around quickly.
"Wow, Lily. Calm down!" Chrissie exclaimed, grinning a little. "What's wrong?"
"Today is what's wrong Chrissie!" Lily exclaimed, calming herself down. "14th February".
"What, Valentine's Day?" Chrissie said slowly. She looked into Lily's worried eyes before realising what that meant. "Oh shit! Valentine's Day!"
"What am I going to do?" Lily asked, sitting down on the bed next to her. A grumble came from the occupant of the bed as they fell out.
"Ignore him. You seem to be quite good at that" Chrissie replied, walking into the bathroom. She knew she looked and was acting cool, calm and collected but her stomach was in knots. Lily wasn't the only one with boy problems.
Lily followed Chrissie into the bathroom and watched as Chrissie brushed her hair.
"I can't just ignore him Chrissie! Every Valentine's Day it gets worse, you must have realised by now!" Lily exclaimed. She had a point. Every year that they had been at Hogwarts, James had declared his love to Lily very openly. Every year had gotten bigger. At first he just asked her to be his Valentine but last year he had a singing quartet come in while he offered her a bouquet of lilies (to match her name obviously) and a box of really expensive chocolates from Honeydukes.
"Alright, so maybe you can't ignore it" Chrissie said, turning and facing Lily. "But maybe you can avoid him?"
"No, I can't avoid him! He is head boy! We are doing rounds tonight!" Lily said. She sunk to the ground and hugged her legs. This was just getting ridiculous.
"Maybe someone should go and talk to him. Tell him to maybe tone it down a bit?" Chrissie suggested.
"Yes! Brilliant!" Lily exclaimed, looking up at Chrissie, her eyes wide with hope. "You can go!"
"Umm, no. You seriously misunderstood what I was saying" Chrissie said quickly. "When I said someone I didn't mean me"
"Oh come on! Chrissie, you're my best friend! No one else will!" Lily begged.
"I can't!" Chrissie replied. She desperately didn't want to go anywhere near the Marauders, especially today of all days.
"Yes you can! Come on Chris, please? For me?" Lily asked.
"Fine. But you owe me sooo much!" Chrissie said. Her heart was beating a million beats per hour now. Her hands were sweaty and she was sure she was going bright red. The idea of talking to them was that bad. Chrissie walked slowly back into the dormitory where her other friend. Haylie, was dressed and ready to leave.
"Oh, hey Chrissie" Haylie said happily. She was holding a box in her hands and was grinning madly. Valentine's Day was okay for her, she had an amazing boyfriend.
"Hey. Sorry if Lily made you fall out of bed but you know, she was having a Potter crisis" Chrissie explained as she went through her clothes and found an outfit.
"Oh, no problem. I'm meeting Matt by the lake in ten minutes so it was probably good that you woke me up" Haylie said happily. Chrissie smiled at her as she said goodbye and left. Chrissie pulled on a pair of jeans and a red baggy jumper. Taking deep breaths, Chrissie walked out the dormitory door and down the stairs leading to the common room. Chrissie hoped the boys would be up by now and in the common room because she hated the thought of going into their dormitory.
When Chrissie walked into the common room she swore, quite loudly.
"Why does God hate me so much?" She asked nobody in particular. The common room was empty. Chrissie built up a lot of courage and slowly walked towards the staircase on the other side of the common room. Her feet felt as if they were carrying weights as she took a few nervous steps upstairs. Finally she reached the door which read '7th Year Boys'. Chrissie suddenly realised she had no idea what she was going to do. Asking if James would like to ignore Lily today seemed crazy, James never left Lily alone. It was like asking for a miracle. Chrissie was about to run back downstairs when she head a voice in her head.
"Come on Chris, please? For me?" Lily's voice echoed in her head.
"Fine Lily, for you" Chrissie whispered. She braced herself as she knocked on the door. She heard a grunt as someone walked to the door. It opened just a fraction but she could see Peter's eyes looking out.
"Umm. Hi Peter" Chrissie stuttered.
"Hi" he said unsurely.
"Is James in there?" Chrissie asked, trying to sound relaxed.
"Yeah. Why?" Peter asked. Peter may have been dumb but Chrissie could see why the others let him hang around them, he was loyal and almost like a body guard. Not that they needed one obviously, they were all quite strong and could hex someone to oblivion.
"I need to talk to him, is that okay?" she replied, trying to make it seem like it was something she did everyday.
"Wait a sec" Peter said. He closed the door, then Chrissie could hear mumbling from the other side. The door opened again and Peter reappeared.
"You can come in" he said, opening the door widely. Chrissie stepped in reluctantly. He eyes quickly darted around the room and took in everything. Peter was walking back to his bed and slipped back in. He had obviously been forced to get out to open the door. Remus was on the other side of the room, on his bed reading. He glanced over his book to watch Chrissie enter. James walked swiftly over to Chrissie, waiting for her to start talking. Fortunately for Chrissie, Sirius was still asleep in his bed.
"Umm James…" Chrissie started, trying to plan out what she was gong to say in her head. It was no use though, nothing was going to work.
"Yeah…" James said slowly, looking at Chrissie expectantly.
"Look, we all know you like Lily" Chrissie said. This got a few chuckles from Remus and Peter who were both looking on.
"But she is absolutely terrorized!" Chrissie said, letting words just come out of her mouth. She realised that the best things she had ever said were when she stopped letting her brain control everything.
"What do you mean?" James asked, sounding a little concerned.
"Well, she is terrorized. What more do you want me to say?" Chrissie asked, wishing she really did have something else to say.
"She can't be terrorized, Lily doesn't get terrorized!" James exclaimed. Chrissie looked at him in a sort of shocked way.
"Well what do you call it when she is sitting in foetal position in our bathroom, too frightened that you will bombard her with some sort of supposed 'love' dedications to leave the dormitory? She was almost in tears when she convinced me to come over here" Chrissie said. Lily wasn't actually almost in tears because it takes a lot to make her cry but still, it added effect.
"Really?" James asked, shocked.
"So maybe you want to tone it down a little this year?" Chrissie asked nervously. She really wanted him to say okay so she could leave before Sirius woke up.
"Umm, okay" James said, nodding. Chrissie sighed with relief.
"Great. Thanks. Maybe that will calm Lily down" Chrissie said, turning and walking towards the door.
"Oh, and Donaldson" James added quickly. Chrissie's stomach knotted again as she heard her last name being called out. She stood still and prayed for the best.
"Yeah?" she asked, trying to sound unaffected.
"Padfoot really likes you. Just warning you" James said. Chrissie's muscles tightened as she left the dormitory. She didn't like how James had said, 'Just warning you'. Lily might have been off the hook but Chrissie certainly wasn't.