Hola, mi amigos. Just kidding, I'm definitely not Spanish or Hispanic. I'm not even taking Spanish in school! *cough* GERMAN *cough*
Anyhoo, I'd love if you'd take some time to write a review (even flamers!) and/or favorite this story. I have no idea if this story has potential…it's just a little something that popped into my brainstorming head. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I am not, nor will I ever be, JK Rowling. I'm just a hyperactive teenager sitting at her (very old) computer. The cover image is courtesy of Google Images, which I do not own either.
Note: A paragraph in bold and italics is Lily's writing.
White. It is cold, hard, blank, and expressionless.
White. It is pure, clean, empty, and waiting.
Lily's fingers inched toward the sharpened quill sitting in a full pot of midnight blue ink. At the last second, instead of gripping the large feather, they latched onto a plain, old, muggle pencil. She twirled it in her hand and then set the pink eraser against her pursed lips. She quirked her eyebrow and narrowed her eyes at the offending blank first page of the red, leather-bound journal. After thinking, she oh-so-carefully placed the sharpened tip of the pencil on the first line.
The whole world looms ahead of me, coming faster than James Potter on a broomstick, and all I can do is sit back and watch. I have no plan, no job, no money, no family to guide me, and nearly no friends to be by my side.
She sighed and sank back into the plush seat of the train. Her life had been thrown into shambles last Easter when her parents were killed. Petunia hated her, now more than ever, and Lily couldn't bear to be in the same house with her for more than a week, at which point Alice had invited her to stay at the Prewetts' home.
The only consolation Lily had received was when she had been looking through her trunk, cleaning it out for the new school year, and had found the red journal. It had been wrapped in brown paper and tied with a bit of string with a note attached:
I'm still here for you.
She knew who had written the note. It was the same person that had chased after her mercilessly for six bloody years. He was the only one who had the guts to hide the book in her trunk—in the girls' dormitories!—and not get caught.
She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of the compartment door sliding open. The boy with shaggy black hair slunk in almost unwillingly and slouched onto the seat across from her. He nodded towards her hands. "I see you found it, then."
She started and hastily looked into her lap and saw the book. "Oh! Yes, I got it." She sheepishly added, "I meant to thank you for it."
"No need. I saw you finished up your other one. Figured you'd be lost without something to write in every second of every day." He grinned. "It reminded me of your hair."
Lily reached up and twirled a piece around her finger. She was about to retort to his flirtatious comment, when she realized that maybe it wasn't so flirtatious at all. The words had come out of his mouth with a different tone than the usual teasing he spoke to her with.
"Well, thanks again."
They lapsed into an almost comfortable silence before his friends barged into the compartment, first Sirius, then Remus, followed by Peter. "PRONGSIE!" Sirius shouted. "I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN A FULL TWENTY MINUTES!"
James sighed. "Hey, Padfoot. Nice to see you've grown up a little since the last time I saw you."
Lily snorted in laughter, and Sirius and Remus became aware of her presence. Peter was too busy trying to catch his breath. "James," began Sirius. "Did Lilypad just laugh at something you said?"
"She did, indeed, Padfoot." James sat back against the cushions. "I'm sure she's laughed at something I've said before. Isn't that right, Lils?"
She nodded. Sirius looked at her skeptically. "Name one time."
Her eyes widened and she stuttered, "Uh…there was that one time—when he…um…fine! That was the first time I've laughed at something he said! Happy?"
Remus shook his head as he sat on Lily's right. "The whole reason we came here anyway was to say that we're glad you made Head Girl."
She felt the blood rush to her cheeks. "Thanks, Remus."
"And good luck working with this git," Sirius jerked his head to the Potter boy.
A sudden rap sounded on the compartment door. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" the old witch asked. All four boys suddenly jumped up and attacked the cart, purchasing almost every sweet from the woman, who looked just as frightened as Lily.
"Oi! I want some too, you know!" Lily exclaimed and all the boys turned to look at her with their mouths full to bursting with chocolates and gummies.
James gulped down what food was in his mouth. "Sorry, Lils. Want some chocolate frogs?" He dropped several in her outstretched hands.
They all filed back into the compartment and Sirius started bickering with James about quidditch. Peter unwrapped a pumpkin pasty, and Lily watched as he brought it up to sniff at it with his long, pointy nose. She scrunched hers up in return and watched as Sirius threw yet another Dumbledore chocolate frog card to the ground. Remus had pulled out a copy of the Old Man and the Sea and was now reading it intently. Lily couldn't stand the book. She was more interested in Jane Austen and To Kill a Mockingbird. Books that moved along rather quickly compared to Hemingway.
The next thing she knew, Remus was nudging her and saying they had to get to the prefects' compartment for the meeting. She got up and stretched her arms over her head, wincing as her back popped. James's eyes widened and he threw a look to Remus, who just shook his head.
.:*:.
The prefects' meeting went by smoothly, or rather, as smoothly as it could with people gaping at James and twittering among themselves, asking each other how in Merlin's name had James Potter, Maurader extraordinaire, make Head Boy? Lily didn't even know. What she did know was that Dumbledore must have his reasons, and as barmy as those reasons were, she would trust him. Afterwards, she and James walked back to their friends' compartment in a companionable silence.
The compartment, however, was nowhere near silent. The door slid open to reveal chaos, led by Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon, who were engaged in a shouting match that had every other occupant of the space covering their ears. Lily waved her wand, casting a silencing charm, sighed, and sat down.
"Didn't any of you remember that you are magical and are capable of silencing these two maniacs?"
Remus, Peter, and Alice shook their heads sheepishly. James grinned and threw himself down across Lily. She shoved him mercilessly onto the floor.
"Ow. Lilypad, how could you hurt me so?"
She shot him a triumphant smile and said, "Simple. You were on top of me. I was squished. So, in return, I shoved you. Deal with it, Potter."
The rest of the train ride occurred in much of the same way. For while their relationship still had a way to go before it could be considered friendship, they attempted to get along for the sake of their mutual friends.
.:*:.
Lily looked up at the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall and marveled at the millions of stars portrayed. Sighing, she turned back to Marlene and listened to what she was actually saying.
"…so then, he had the nerve to ask me out! Again! As if when I said no the other fifty times, I hadn't actually meant it!"
"Welcome to my life, Marlie," Lily mumbled. She didn't realize she was heard until Marlene responded, "Yeah, well, at least the bloke asking you was James Potter and not Sirius Black."
Lily started when she heard the word was. Marlene was right. The last time Potter had asked her out was…right after her birthday last year! Around Valentine's Day. Some small, miniscule, barely-there part of Lily mourned the lack of invitations from him to be his girlfriend. The rest of her, however, was rejoicing in the sense of freedom.
.:*:.
Later, when all the other Gryffindors had left the common room, Lily continued to stare into the smoldering fireplace. She missed her mother and father terribly, although she hated to admit it to anyone. She was barely conscious of the tears leaking out of her emerald eyes as she curled her arms around her knees she had brought up to her chest.
A loud bang and some ferocious swearing (most likely from Sirius) shook her out of her reverie. Rising, she wiped the last of her tears and slowly climbed the stairs to the girls' dormitories. After getting ready for sleep, she got into her four-poster bed and opened up her notebook to her earlier entry.
She skipped a line, indented, and wrote very carefully.
And it scares me.
There you have it, folks. The first chapter of The Curious Writings of Lily Evans. Feel free to leave a review or favorite. I love reviews (hint hint)!
