Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to a Genius, I'm no Einstein.
"How Did We End Up Here?"
Nunnya Buiznes
"Stupid…"
Left foot,
"Idiotic Potter…"
Right foot,
"Absolutely stupid…"
The complaints of young and beautiful seventeen year old Lily Evans
disappeared into the air as she trudged through the January snow. Her
attempt to calm herself by counting the footings she took as she made her
way to the castle wasn't working. Her red hair was a complete contrast of
color to the dead life around her. The trees bare, the lake frozen and silent,
even words died as they erupted from your mouth in a puff of fog.
Emerald eyes glanced ahead as Lily wrapped her arms tighter around
herself. She'd left Potter in Hogsmeade with a sore genital area after it had
a meeting with her knee. He'd been clever enough to forge a message from
her friend saying to meet there… she should have known.
Her feet met a familiar hard step as she reached the front of Hogwarts.
Lily sniffled as she continued, rather hastily this time, into the warmth the
school had to offer. She burst through the doors and shrugged off her
cloak as she sauntered into the Great Hall where the view of three friends
greeted her. One adorable, with dark ringlets falling on her shoulders and
pink dimpled cheeks that pushed out in a smile, this was Hestia Jones.
Black haired flirt of the year, Lily's eyes sparkled as the rested on her best
friend who was currently getting crushed in wizard's chess by another
acquaintance of hers. It was a slightly younger girl sixteen really, slender
and tall with high cheekbones and hair the color of corn when it's
harvested, her eyes like milk chocolate emitted warmth only few could give.
Those brown eyes glanced upwards and the corners of her mouth pulled in
a smile. "Hello Lily" the melodic voice greeted.
Lily ground her teeth together, still furious at Potter. "Hello Marlene" she
bit out before slamming her cloak over the end of the table with a smack
and sitting down across from the girl and next to Hestia. Lily tried to calm
herself as she glanced at the game. Hestia was doomed… why on earth did
she even play? Surely she'd figured out by now that she didn't do to well
at wizard's chess… perhaps she had a newfound hope after her latest fling,
a rather nerdy Hufflepuff, tried to teach her how to play. Hestia, as if
sensing her thoughts sighed and slapped her hands on the side of the table
while slowly turning her head with an accusing glare towards Lily.
"If you aren't going to help me why are you here?" she asked. "I
thought I set you up for a full day date… you weren't even gone an hour!"
she exclaimed her baby blue eyes staring into Lily's green so intently that it
almost made her feel guilty for a second.
Wait… guilty? Lily's eyes widened as her jaw dropped. "You set me up
with Potter? I thought he'd forged that note!" she exclaimed angrily only
to receive a secretive smile.
"Guilty" Hestiasighed moving a piece before cringing when Marlene's
knight smashed it to pieces. Hestia's blue eyes looked back to her friend.
"I haven't seen you on a date in a long… well never so I thought you
needed some fun. I mean James Potter… I know you actually have secret
feelings for him from the amount of talking you do on the subject." She
said referring to Lily always complaining about a certain hazel eyed chaser.
Lily rolled her almond shaped eyes and growled. She glared at her friend
witha look that said 'shut up'. Stupid truth or dare games with actual truth
potion… another friend, Emmeline Vancehad connections to get those
sorts of things. Brushing a strand of her long and wavy red hair behind her
ear she shook her head. "I think you're mental Hestia." She said simply
before turning to Marlene who'd been listening intently and the girl by her
side who seemed interested in nothing but painting her nails with a nasty
emerald color that just didn't look right on nails.
"Do you not agree?" she asked them in a dangerous voice, her hands
were clenched at her side, Hestia may have been her best friend but this
was uncalled for, "Marley? Emme?"
The girl with the green nails swirled around to face Lily; her chestnut
eyes glanced around confused before she flipped her braid of brown hair
over her shoulder and smack into Marley's face. "Sorry" she apologized
wide-eyed after she noticed she'd hurt Marlene.
"'s Okay" Marley said as she began to pack her chess set into her bag,
refusing to comment on Lily's question.
The brunette, Emme, or Emmeline looked back to Lily. "We all know
Hestia's insane but I agree that you need a break. After head girl duties and
top student homework you should have some fun… like me." She said
showing her pearly whites. Emmeline's interest in the topic left as she
picked up a muggle nail file and began to shape her rather long nails.
Hestia turned to the girl with a death stare, "We all know you have tons
of fun… have you even seen your last astronomy score?" she asked
accusingly.
Emmeline glanced up with an innocent look on her face, "What test
score?" she replied before going back to her nails.
Marley let out a loud snort as she closed her bag and raised one blond
eyebrow at Emmeline. "Do you even bother looking anymore Emme?" she
asked with a disapproving shake of the head which caused her shoulder
length hair to flop across her nose.
Lily groaned while placing her hands on the table and standing up. "'Eh,
girls lets stop this… we're not first years anymore" she scolded making the
others look at her… Lily Evans angry was a rather scary concept.
Emmeline actually dropped her nail file when she jumped at the sound of
Lily's voice. "Now take a deep breath" she finished, conducting deep
breaths around the table. Only Marlene really obeyed. Breathing in, holding,
and breathing out. Hestia took a small breath and Emmeline had just given
Lily an odd look.
"Alright, well I'm out of here, got a date with Sirius, must get ready."
Hestia said, her eyes glittering mischievously. She stood up and twirled a
strand of her silk-like black hair before walking off in the direction of the
Gryffindor common room. Lily sighed, she'd kill Hestia tomorrow.
Emmeline quirked an eyebrow at Lily "What happened to the
Hufflepuff?" she asked only to receive a shrug.
Lily stood up and grabbed her cloak from beside her. "Want to come
with me to the Library?" she asked the other two. "I've got a Care of
Magical Creatures essay to write, the whole thing is on the crossbreeding
of hippogriffs I thought I ought to get a head start on it."
Emmeline shook her head declining the offer politely, "There's a
Ravenclaw over there who's been eyeing me the whole time." She said with
a very Hestia-like smile.
Lily turned to Marlene who'd kept her head down and stared at the
table. "What about you Marley?" she asked sweetly.
Marlene's head whipped up in surprise. "Oh, erm sure…" she answered
before standing up. With a shy smile she slung her bag over her shoulder.
Lily smiled and walked to the other side of the table, bent down and
whispered in Emmeline's ear, "Good luck, he's sure a looker." She said
referring to the Ravenclaw boy before walking out of the Great Hall with
Marlene close behind her. They walked up the staircases and through the
hallways in silence, those awkward silences that you always tried to avoid.
It made Lily frustrated, why did Marley have to be so damn shy? She'd
ask her questions that were on the top of her list of topic starters only to
receive a yes, no, or a maybe. Lily almost sang for joy when she saw the
doors to the library, she held the door politely for Marlene and received a
meek "Thank you" in return. Lily rolled her eyes as Marlene went off to a
table in the corner of the room and set her bag down. Lily waited until
Marlene had disappeared behind a shelf to toss her cloak on the table as
well. She bit the side of her cheek as she walked over to the magical
creatures research area, two whole isles of shelves that reached to the
ceiling most of the books dusty from a lack of use. She searched for a
while, her finger skimming titles before opening a book and peering through
it only to be disappointed at its lack of information.
"I think this might help you."
Lily jumped at the sound and twirled around to see Marlene smiling sweetly
and holding out a leather-bound book.
"I asked the librarian where I could find some information for your
essay and she said the school just ordered this book." Marlene said.
Lily took the book from her and glanced at the title, 'The Crossbreeding
of Hippogriffs' Lily groaned at how clever Marlene was, ask the librarian.
Duh. "Thanks Marley… did you find what you were looking for?" Marlene
shook her head 'yes' as Lily walked over to the table, Marlene followed
and sat down across from here.
"Thanks by the way, that's really nice of you." Lily said before opening the
book and skimming its contents.
"Your welcome" Marley said softly.
Lily looked up; she'd finally had enough of Marley's shyness, or rather
she'd had enough today… she'd been stressed out by approaching
NEWTs and everything else that had been going on. "Marley… you can
speak up you know, well don't yell because we're in a library and all but
you don't need to act like I'm going to bite your head off." She said
shaking her head in desperation, red strands drifting across her face, a few
landed in her mouth. "Pffft" Lily spat trying to cleanse her mouth of the
hair. She giggled, embarrassed, and looked back at Marlene with a smile.
Surprisingly Marlene had her hand in front of her mouth and was
laughing slightly, well more like snorting but it was better than quiet
Marlene. Lily smiled; she'd known the girl for a few years. They never
became close though, she always tagged along with Emmeline. Even when
the prefects got together Marlene remained quiet and let the other
Ravenclaw prefect speak, the polite Hello and Goodbye were all that
passed between the two. So even with the horrid morning with Potter, Lily
could crack a real smile. "Thanks Marlene" Lily said before slinging her
cloak over her shoulder and leaving with the book in her hand. Marlene
smiled knowing exactly what Lily had meant.
Shaking her hair back over her shoulder Lily clutched the book for her
essay to her chest. Approaching the painting of the fat lady she smiled.
"Hello, how are you today?" she asked, however many times she did this it
still felt ridiculous, though the portrait was much nicer when she did.
"Just wonderful Darling… Password?" the lady asked.
Lily smiled charmingly, "Ooodleump" she replied. The fat lady smiled
as the portrait swung open to reveal the hole to the common room. Lily
stepped inside expecting everyone to be gone at Hogsmeade only to hear
the sound of someone crying. Worry- wrinkles bunched up her forehead as
she frowned. Walking silently on her tiptoes she followed the noise to the
edge of the room, where she saw a person sitting in the windowsill. Who
she saw made her gasp.
"Hestia?" she shrieked running over to her friend and wrapping her arms
around her. Lily had always been the motherly type. No one ever made her
friends cry. "Hesi, what's wrong?" she asked soothingly.
Hestia wiped her eyes; her mascara had run giving her the appearance of
a raccoon. She would have looked lovely if not for the smudged make-up
and sour look on her face. Lily knew automatically what went wrong: The
Date. Lily detached her arms from the trembling girl and sat in the other
edge of the window sill. She shivered slightly at the cold chill that crept
through the window and looked up at Hestia, knees pulled up to her chin
and arms wrapped around them sadly. It was a pathetic state to see Hestia
in. She hadn't been this bad with break-ups ever since she first dated
Fabian Prewett in her fifth year, nasty break-up they had. Fabian had gone
celebrating his completion of NEWTs with his ex girlfriend Andromeda
Black. Needless to say after her first real boyfriend Hestia had never been
the same.
"Why does it always happen to me?" Hestia whimpered blinking tears
away once more. "Peter walked up to me when I was waiting for Sirius at
Three Broomsticks and said that he wasn't feeling good. I saw him later
with that… that tramp, Selene McKay." Hestia took in a deep breath and
glanced out the window, strands of her black hair were plastered to her
face by the tears she'd shed. "It doesn't even stop there, he spotted me
and smiled, I had to act natural so when he waved I walked over there and
he insisted on introducing me to his girlfriend and I to her as 'the girl on the
quidditch team' "she continued "I mean Lily we've been dating on and off
for a month, Yes I know I've dated others too." She said when Lily gave
her an odd look. "But I mean, he wasn't even nice about it, he acted like he
barely even knew me. Worse even, I turned to leave and I saw Peter and
James laughing… Remus was there too but you know him. He never really
gets into these things." Hestia finished wiping another tear from her eye;
she sniffled a bit before burying her face on her knees again.
Lily's jaw was clenched. Her eyes were a mix of furry and sympathy.
How dare they do that? Her mind screamed. Oh those boys were going to
pay, and it was about time too. Always torturing Severus Snape and other
unlucky passerby's with their silly pranks. Now Hestia… no one ever did
these things to her best friend. Hestia had protected her from many nasty
rumors and now it was her turn to help out her friend. Payback was on its
way. Lily stood up quietly ready to hunt down Sirius and teach him a
lesson. As she walked once more out of the common room, her book
forgotten on the window sill, Hestia peered up slowly. A look of
satisfaction and mischief glittered in her eyes.
Lily Evans was once again furious; though it was a common thing for
her she'd never truly been this irate. Color flushed through her cheeks and
her hair was flung back wildly, swaying as she walked like flames licking
the air. The hallways had become crowded as dinner was approaching. Lily
pushed and shoved her way through the crowd, certain that she'd find
Potter and Black showing off somewhere. Sure enough she was right. Well
half right, as she approached the great hall she saw Potter with Peter and
Remus laughing… automatically she thought of Hestia. Her fists clenched
she stomped over to them. James turned around at an unexpected tap on
his shoulder; a lopsided smile crossed his face as he ran a hand through his
untidy black hair. Lily stood there, her arms crossed over her chest and her
foot tapping impatiently.
"Why my fair Lily, I feared I would never see you again." He said
dramatically. Peter snickered beside James. Lily glared at him. The short
and chubby blonde stopped immediately as if someone had cast a stunning
spell. Lily ignored him once he began to scratch his acne.
"I don't know Potter, perhaps you should fill me in on what's going on…"
spat Lily accusingly.
James' hazel eyes widened slightly, "What? I haven't done anything!" he
exclaimed.
"Pfft!" Lily muttered "As if you don't know!" she yelled. By now the pair
had caught the eyes of most around them, Remus had engaged in
conversation with a young third year in attempt to stay out of it. A jumbled
sound came from James' mouth before Lily punched him in the nose. "I'm
sick of this!" she yelled, the volcano of Lily had exploded. "You're always
ruining people's lives! Mine in particular!" she screeched. "Now you and your friends are after Hestia! She never did anything to you! I… I hate
you!" she finished, her face now as red as her hair and her green eyes still
glaring. Potter stood there; hand over his nose with droplets of blood
seeping through. Lily pivoted and marched off pushing through a clatter of
girls ready to fawn over James. Slowly a tear formed in the corner of her
eye. He made her so frustrated! Acting like he truly wanted to court her and
then hurting her best friend. Honestly!
"Lily!"
She faltered for a moment… why was he so persistent? Picking up the
pace she continued to wherever her feet decided to take her.
"Lily Wait!" James screamed again as he ran forward. He'd healed his
nose quickly; it hadn't been broken or anything but bloodstains still
marked his white shirt. Finally he caught her, his hand rested on her arm
and she spun around, the tears still in her eyes but fury marking her face.
"Please Lily, just listen. I have no idea what you're talking about I swear!"
he said desperately, shaking his head. "I haven't evencursed Snivilly yet,
let alone hurt Hestia." He said. His breathing was harsh after running after
her, Lily looked up.
Hazel clashed with emerald.
"How can I believe you?" Lily whispered; she was not in the mood for
another fight. "But I will remind you of what's wrong anyways. Sirius and
you obviously planned on embarrassing my poor friend in Three
Broomsticks. They had a date you know… her and Sirius. From what I've
heard you and your little puppet friends stood off to the side and laughed
while she was made a fool." Lily whimpered, the tear leaked down the side
of her face. "It makes me absolutely sick…" she finished.
James was horrified. "Lily… Sirius wasn't with me this afternoon. He
said he had family business he had to take care of… I… I really don't
know what going on." He said again. Lily tried to speak but James began
again, his hand reached for hers as he pulled her closer to him "Why can't
you just trust me for once? You've never even given me a chance…
Merlin's beard Lily! I've liked you for four years now and you've rejected
me ever time I asked you out. Now it's down to this. You always thinking
I'm the reason bad things happen, and me begging you to just listen to
me."
Lily looked up confused… could James actually be sincere? Lily took
her chance… she supposed she could either miss out on a great thing or
just embarrass herself. It was worth the chance. "I…I just never thought
you really liked me James." She stuttered, the problem momentarily
forgotten. "I liked you a lot but I didn't want to have my heart broken… I
mean you're that kind of guy. A heart-breaker." She said looking at her
shoes. James placed a finger under her chin and tilted it upward to look
him straight in the eye.
"No Lily, you're unique, feisty even. I've never had a girl back talk me like
you do. Not only do you have a great personality but you're beautiful and
smart as I'm sure you know." He said. Lily smiled slightly.
"This is sure a change of pace then eh? How did we end up here
anyways?" she asked letting out a giggle. "I mean, wasn't I beating you up
a few minutes ago?"
James smiled, "Care to go on a date sometime? I think I deserve a few
of them for what you did to my nose, and what happened this morning
especially with the fact that I was innocent and all."
Lily blushed, "Sorry about that…I suppose that would be okay, maybe
once or twice." she muttered, still a bit insecure about this.
The corners of James' mouth lifted in a smile. "May I perhaps have a
kiss as an apology?" James asked with a wink. Lily rolled her eyes; she
supposed James would always be somewhat cocky. She slapped him in
the arm before surprising him by standing on her tip-toes and giving him a
peck on the cheek.
The blush rose on her cheeks but before either could say anything a
whispering voice was heard around the corner.
"That was all?"
"Shhh!" sounds of scolding were heard before James pulled out his wand
and pointed it towards the eavesdroppers. Three people scattered out
before they were cursed. Sirius Black, with his dark brown eyes and
perfect black hair. A smug smile was on his face as he looked at the
couple. The second was expected, Peter Pettigrew, gray eyes fearful and
dirty blond hair in disarray. Then Hestia Jones, with a twin smile of Sirius'.
"Hesi?" Lily's jaw dropped.
"Sorry Lily, we would have given you lovebirds a few extra make-out
minutes but Petey here decided to be annoying. I do make a lovely actress
though don't I?" she said flipping her curly black hair around in a
glamorous way.
James got the accusations before Lily could, "What the hell do you all
think you're doing?" he asked rather furious, realization dawned on him in
a moment though. "Sirius mate you set me up!" he exclaimed, "I can't
believe you!"
Hestia looked at the two "Well it worked didn't it? I mean it's so
annoying to have both you moping around because you like each other and
you never actually go on a date. Alright I was sick of it! So, I and my
brilliant mind formed a plan that would for sure get Lily to have an actual
conversation with you." She finished.
Lily pulled out her wand as well and pointed it at them, "Well I suggest
that if you have any sense you should leave and reconsider
eavesdropping." She said dangerously. Peter was the first to scatter; Sirius
held his hands up in surrender before running off and Hestia gave her a
wink before swaying her hips in a celebration strut down the Hogwarts
hallways.
Lily turned back, "Now where were we?" she asked mischievously.
James smiled before leaning down for their first actual kiss.
The End
Authors note: Comments? Mistakes? Want to edit my story? Please hold the flames though constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms! I want to improve my writing but I don't want the fun to be taken out of it by insults. Just a short one-shot I wrote. Well only story I've finished butI had fun writing it. I just hope someone out there likes it.