Secretly
Lily Evans and James Potter have been best friends since their first year at Hogwarts. What happens when Lily discovers the one thing that has the potential to ruin their friendship? (Starts mid 6th year.)
Disclaimer: If I owned it, do you really think I would be writing fan fiction? Didn't think so.
Chapter One: The Meeting
Lily Evans smiled as she watched the scene the Marauders were creating in the center of the Gryffindor common room, her eyes sparkling with mirth. James Potter, her best friend, looked over at her and winked. "Come on, Lils. Join us!" he shouted across the room.
"No, I think I'll just keep a safe distance from you guys," Lily giggled.
"Pleeeeease?" James begged, giving her his best sad puppy look.
"James Harold Potter, don't you dare look at me like that!" Lily warned, avoiding his bright blue eyes. James stuck his lower lip out in response. "Fine," Lily gave in, rolling her eyes. James' frown was replaced by a smile as she walked over and perched on the arm of the couch next to James. "The things I do for you…" she muttered, shaking her head of thick red hair.
"Aww, Lilikins, we love you too!" Sirius said happily, bouncing down onto the plump red couch, next to them. "Besides, what would you really rather be doing at seven o'clock on a Friday night? Sitting by yourself, or-"
"What?" Lily shrieked. "It's seven?" She turned to James, who looked confused by her outburst.
"Oh, right, the prefects' meeting! I completely forgot about that," James thought out loud, a look of realization crossing his face.
"Well, come on then," she ordered James, dragging him through the portrait hole. "Laurel's gonna kill us," she moaned.
"Oh, Lily, look at the bright side. At least Dumbledore won't be there this time. We only have to deal with the wrath of Laurel."
"James, how is that supposed to make me feel any better? Do you even remember the last time Laurel was mad at us?" Lily asked impatiently.
"Erm, vaguely," James lied.
"She made us clean the Head Boy and Head Girl dorms and common room for two weeks, and if Dumbledore hadn't stopped her, it would have been longer. We had to wait on her hand and foot! She treated us like her house elves, for crying out loud," Lily complained about the memory.
James cringed. "Don't worry, Lils, I'm sure it will be fine. We just tell her we forgot, it was a simple mistake."
"A simple mistake that we promised never to make again," Lily reminded him as they neared the meeting room. "Pineapple pudding." As the door to the cozy room swung opened, sixteen pairs of staring eyes greeted Lily and James.
"Hey Laur," James began casually, "sorry we're a little late."
"Evans, Potter, you're late. Again," Laurel glared at them. "Let's get back to the meeting, I'll deal with you two in the end. Now," she continued, "we were discussing final plans for the end of year parties. This year is coming to a close very soon, and we only have three months left to prepare-" She was interrupted by a snort from James. "Something the matter, Potter?" Laurel questioned, irritated by his unwelcome disturbance.
"No, no, of course not," James answered nervously. He didn't want to get Laurel any more upset with him than she already was.
"Good. Then you will please keep your mouth shut. So, does anyone have any ideas for the end of year party?" Lily raised her hand tentatively. "Yes, Lily?" Laurel called.
Lily smiled. She was glad that Laurel had called her by her first name; it meant that she wasn't still upset about Lily and James' tardiness. "Well, I think that we could start with a school wide end of year celebration. Something that everyone is welcome to go to. Then, later, we could have a dance or something for the older students, while first, second, and third years go back to their common rooms for a smaller social get-together." She looked around the room, glad to see heads nodding in approval. Lily raised her head to see what Laurel had thought of this idea.
"I like it. That way, everyone is involved in some kind of celebration, and the older students can have a private party without the nuisance of younger students around," Laurel stated her opinion thoughtfully. "What do you think, Cullen?" she asked the Head Boy.
Cullen, who had been quiet for most of the meeting, also approved of the idea. "Thank you, Lily, for that wonderful idea," he smiled. Lily's cheeks blushed pink, and James' eyes rolled. Lily had had a crush on Cullen in third year.
"Okay," Laurel took over the discussion once more. "Next week we will reconvene to delegate jobs, and go into further planning detail. The meeting will be next Friday evening at seven o'clock sharp," she emphasized the last word, glancing at James, and then at Lily, who blushed deep red. "Alright then, you are free to go. Lily and James, stay with Cullen and I for a bit." The four waited until everyone else filed out of the room, chattering with excitement.
Eve Rhoswen looked back at Lily and waved. "Bye, see you later," she called, and mouthed the words 'good luck' to the pair. Lily waved back and smiled weakly.
As soon as Eve walked out the door, Laurel got right down to business. "Lily, James," she regarded them. "This is the second time you have been late to a prefects' meeting. I know that this may not sound like a very bad offense, but as a prefect your job is to set an example for the school. We can't very well have everyone in Hogwarts running late all of the time, now can we?" She laughed at her own little joke. Laurel continued, "However, Lily, you have certainly redeemed yourself with you magnificent ideas for the end of year celebration. Therefore, I will let both you and Mr. Potter here off the hook this time." She smiled, "I'm sure that in the future, you will make punctuality your top priority."
"Yes, of course. Thank you, Laurel, we appreciate it," Lily thanked the Head Girl. She then elbowed James, startling him back into the conversation.
"Erm, yes, of course. Thank you," James mimicked what Lily had said. "See you next week, Laur," James said, relaxing slightly. Lily grabbed his arm and pulled him out the door.
Once they were safely out of earshot, James said to Lily, "That was brilliant, Lil, bloody brilliant." Lily smiled as James launched into another sentence. "Thank you so much for redeeming us with your magnificent ideas for the end of year celebration," James quoted, mocking Laurel.
"James!" Lily scolded. "It was nice of her to let us go this time."
"Yes, Lily dear, in fact, it was magnificent!" James laughed.
"James!" she admonished once again. "Stop it! I'm serious."
"No, you aren't Sirius. You're Lily," James joked. He turned to a suit of armor as they passed it in the hallway. "Don't you know? Simply magnificent, darling, magnificent!" he crooned. Lily sighed and gave in to James' end of the week silliness.
When they reached the common room, it was practically empty, except for Sirius, who was sound asleep on a couch at the fire. Lily walked over to gently shake him awake. "Siri, wake up. You gotta go up to your room. I'm sure your bed is much more comfortable," Lily reasoned with the snoring boy. After five minutes of trying to wake Sirius, James came over.
"Give me a turn, Lils. I've got an idea." James leaned over as though he was going to whisper in Sirius' ear. Instead, he shouted, "Sirius, wake up!" jolting poor Sirius awake.
"Jamesie," Sirius whined. "Why'd you do that? I was having a wonderful dream about me and Bella."
"Sorry, Sir, it had to be done," James told him.
"Oooh, Sirius, you better not let Bella hear you talking about her like that. She won't be happy," Lily warned. Bella Heaven was one of her dorm mates, and a good friend. She could get very temperamental when people talked about her.
"I swear, it's all good," Sirius smiled, a dreamy look crossing his face.
"Okay, I'm gonna turn in now, you guys. See you tomorrow," said Lily, pulling them each in for a hug. "Good luck with that Bella dream, Siri."
"Yeah, goodnight Lilikins," Sirius replied.
"Night, Lils," added James. "Don't forget though, we only have three months until the end of the year." He laughed.
Lily sighed. "What am I going to do with you?" she muttered with a smile. "Goodnight, boys," she said again, and made her way up the stairs to the girls dormitory, leaving James and Sirius alone in the common room.
Ooooooook, peoples, that's the first chapter, hope you liked it!!!!! Please review and tell me what you thought about it… Try not to be mean tho, lol. More soon, probably within the next week.