AN: Here we go! I really hope you enjoy this, it took me FOREVER as I had loads of writing blocks for no reason, school was busy and it's nearly Christmas so...
Acerrima proximorum odia - The hatred of those most nearly connected is the bitterest of all (Tacit)
—4th June, 1977–
It was my last half term in Sixth year. Exams had finished, so yes, this half term would probably be one of the most relaxed, however I was not looking forward to it.
The wait for results was agonising. We all were desperately hoping for the grades we needed to stay in our chosen classes. Sure, OWLs had granted us a years worth of lessons, but if our end of year results didn't keep up to scratch, we would most definitely be kicked out.
It was also the last half term before our last year. Our last year ever at Hogwarts, which had been my home for the past couple years, my place of safety. Once we leave, the realities of the outside world would come crashing down on us. A war was being fought. A war against evil wizards and witches who wanted people like me dead. Dumbledore provided a secure home, and soon I would have to leave.
Mother and father had been tearful as always. For them, not knowing quite what was going on was extremely frightening. As usual, we drove to the station and said our goodbyes on one side of the wall, before I would disappear through to the other side. We were early, and I was alone now.
So, when I arrived on the platform, I desperately looked for someone I knew, only to find that I only recognised two faces. Two awfully arrogant faces.
Sirius Black and James Potter. Ew. Well, I don't mind Black, but Potter? Ew. Just...ew.
So I guess I kinda turned in the other direction, sat myself down on an empty bench as far away from the two gits as humanely possible, and opened my book. Then time kind of lost itself.
Well, except from when two clumsy second years decided it would be a good idea to see if my hair could set their fireworks off. Maybe my hair does have sometime to do with all the completely awkward and embarrassing moments in my life.
One moment I was just sitting there, innocent as a witch can be, the next moment I see a wand pointed just above my forehead, and a shout of "Periculum!"
Red sparks erupted just above my head, catching my hair that was pulled back into a tight bun. I jumped up from my seat just as two more sparks joined the others. I felt myself grow hot and bothered, again, and the two guilty second years stared up in awe at their truly and utterly astonishing creation.
I know right, the sarcasm is hair-charring.
No, really.
Fortunately, Dory came and rescued me, running over from where she had just appeared. Somehow, she undid my birds-nest-hairstyle and tried charming the charred strands. My poor hair has never be the same. The second years ran off, cowardly rats that they are, and Dorcas dragged me onto the train, trunks in hand, my book tucked under my arm, in search for an empty compartment.
But, as I said before, nothing really turns out how you want it to, which is why, as we entered the train, non other than The two gits caught sight of us.
Perfect.
Dory! Evans!" Git number one called out to us, giving us what he must have thought was a heart-melting smile.
I just scowled, I really was not in the mood. I had just been told that my hair was fiery enough to light fireworks for merlins sake, of course I was not in the mood for Potter or Sirius. I turned away, signalling Dory to follow, and started down the train.
"Lily, Dory! Don't go! We only just arrived." Sirius chased after us as we walked away and Dory, the absolute angel that she is, saved me from using my own, slightly-more-heated reply.
"Not now, Black." Dorcas said, turning her head slightly. As I carried on walking, left, right, left, right. Breathe.
Footsteps behind me. I nearly snorted at the coincidence.
"Let me get that for you, Evans. We all know just how many books you like to bring" He insulted me via my love of books. Silly move, git number one, "- Merlin knows why- they're so heavy, I'm surprised your arm hasn't fallen off." He strode right up to me, bent to take my trunk, just as I stopped, face furious, and turned to look at him.
And I don't kid you, when I say that he just stood there with his stupid grin plastered on his stupid face, grinning down at me like he knew exactly what was going on.
Like he knew just how much he had just offended me, in how many different ways he had just angered me. Really, it was 1977 and a witch couldn't carry her own trunk ten steps to the next empty carriage? Really? Just because I was female, just because I had a vagina and boobs, it meant that suddenly, so very suddenly, I was not able to carry my own trunk? That made me mad, oh, so very mad. How dare he? How fucking dare he offer to carry my trunk even though I am clearly more than capable to do so? Just because 'oh, he is male, he is so obviously stronger than her'. Where is the logic? And really, I expected so much more from him and Sirius! Especially Sirius! The co-leader to my campaign! The recruiter of our growing 'Witch Which' club and support group. He practically helped me run the thing and yet he was simply letting this utter sexism happen right in front of his very eyes? Betrayal, that's what I call it.
And then Potter, who certainly isn't the only guy who has done this, but is also certainly the one who happens to be smirking so arrogantly in front of me, tried to gently push me forward.
And that just about did it. My breathing uneven, my voice rose and I crossed my arms over my chest, and glared at him.
"Potter. If you DARE, if you even TRY taking this from me, it will be your arm that will fall off."
It was a threat, or it was meant to be. But apparently being a git really effects your general knowledge, because he replied, all proud and arrogant:
"Oh don't burst, Evans. Just offering-" I didn't care what he was offering, and I grabbed my book and swung as hard as I could at his smirking face.
"FOR MERLINS SAKE, POTTER! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M IN NO STATE TO DEAL WITH YOU RIGHT NOW!"
And with that, I stormed away, Dory in tow, to find an empty compartment.
Ha.
It was a hellish day to say the least.
—Prefects meeting 1.0—
I went off to my prefects meeting alone. The end classroom was filled with general chatter, but I was still fuming. My face was still burning and I was running through the chain of events in my head.
Bloody Potter and his inflated ego. Thinking he could get the better of me! Ugh, how much I hated the kid. He thought everyone adored him just because he was captain of the Gryffindor Quiditch team. Just because of some bloody lucky genes and a cheeky smile. Just because he had more balls then anyone else and just because he had girls queuing to date him didn't mean I did. Ew, never ever would I want to have any sort of relationship with him. Girls literally dribbled at his feet, and rumours of his exquisite snogging skills were known by everyone, probably even poor McGonagall. I find it hard to believe he is a solid 10/10, no matter how hard Dory tries to convince me. I have had my fair share of snogging, and I tell you now, not one of those guys was near a-
Thwamp.
Whoops. I had been a little bit busy contemplating Potters snogging ability, I hadn't quite noticed the poor bloke I had just rammed into. I had crashed into him completely, toppling us both over. How embarrassing.
The crash had drawn quite a lot of attention, and I quickly got up and dusted myself down, marvelling at my clumsiness.
"You alright?" A deep voice asked, and my eyes focused on the boy who had been caught up in the fall.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry about that, honestly I wasn't looking where I was going, it has been such a long day already." I sighed. Really, the day couldn't have got any worse and I was already thinking about skipping dinner and calling it a day. Honestly, you can only go through so much before giving up. Clearly, today was just not my day. "Somehow my hair was set alight and then Potter came along and simply looking at him gets my stomach churning and then he offered to carry my trunk because for some stupid reason that prick thinks I'm not strong enough to carry it and then I was in a deep thought about how much I hated him and his snogg-" I spoke so quickly and so full of anger, the words sort of just tumbled out of my mouth without any sort of thought. My face was on fire.
The boy laughed and shook his head. "Really, it's fine. Lily, right?"
I nodded silently, not quite trusting my mouth anymore.
"I'm Liam. Liam Mildmoon," he smiled, and I took the chance to actually look at him.
Liam Mildmoon was a rather tall bloke. He was slightly lanky, but I'm sure I have seen him on the Quiditch pitch before. He was a hufflepuff, and his yellow and black striped tie clashed cutely with his blonde hair, quiffed at the front and short at the sides. He had a long face, but a toothy grin and large black eyes.
"Well it was very nice to meet you, Liam. And again, I really am sorry about my stupid day dreaming-" he cut me off, sighing to himself and resting a hand on my shoulder.
"No harm done, and it does sound like your day already has been quite a handful. Now, tell me how your hair was set alight." And he laughed at my embarrassment as I began to tell the tale for what felt like the 100th time.
I had just finished when he started cackling. Really, it wasn't that funny! I was completely embarrassed by the whole matter, especially as my hair still smelt funny. Apparently char doesn't wash well.
The heads called for silence, and began dishing out the usual orders.
"Welcome back. We hope you all had a lovely break, especially those of us who have now finished exams," The head boy paused for a couple cheers to pass, "and now, we can relax a bit more and hopefully this last half-term will be less stressful." I certainly hoped so too. Dealing with rounds, mentoring and revision left me with barely any time to myself, or any lie-ins. I was rather moody for most of April.
"This last half-term will be full, as usual. We have Merlin remembrance day coming up soon," he paused again for a couple groans, "and yes, as usual, we will need volunteers to do rounds in Hogsmeade on any other occasions like that."
That was the definite downside to being a prefect. Rounds on a weekend or Hogsmeade trip. Thankfully, though, only the head boy and girl would do halloween and on other dates through the year, certain people would be assigned. Luckily, I did valentines day, so I should be able to get out of this next one...
And Valentines day is a big one, because most people are too loved up to care about whether they are truly hidden or not. Which meant interrupting many snog-a-thons and shagging sessions. Definitely and eventful night, as you can imagine if you saw some of your class mates sticking their tongues down another's throat.
"The main thing during these last few weeks is restlessness. As you all know, we can all get a little bit...ahem...rowdy during the last couple weeks, and it's up to you lot to help the staff and us keep order." The head girl stated, looking around at all of us earnestly. "But most of all, as you know, it's our last couple weeks as heads and members of this school, so we really wanted to show our thanks by throwing a little party for you all..." Ooooh's and ahhh's crept round the room as we looked at each other in delight. "But more on that as we draw closer to the end of the year."
"For now, we wanted to discuss some little tips to help the newer prefects with these last few weeks, which will definitely be...eventful..."
The rest of the meeting went on. We had to put our name down for rounds, and although I did try desperately to pair with Liam, it seems I ended up with Remus Lupin.
I did well though, it was just my luck that he managed to get his name down quick because I saw Sev- no. Snape. I saw Snape eyeing the slot up.
It wasn't that I was purposefully avoiding Snape, but, well, okay I was. I was avoiding him. Throughout the whole meeting he was desperately trying to catch my eye or join a conversation. I had been determined not to do so. After what happened last year, I was no longer friends with him. I would treat him like I treated pretty much everyone else I didn't know. No more potion club on a Thursday and no more studying with Snape. He had called me a mudblood, and that was the end of our friendship.
It's hard for me to address the incident as I don't have any sort of understanding about what actually happened. One second I was having a relaxing time with Mar, the next I'm desperately trying to hold back the tears that threatened to plummet down my face faster and harder than anything I have ever known.
My relationship with Snape was strictly (his terms not mine) unofficially officially private. No one was to tag along, and we never really spoke about what we would talk or do together to anyone else. He had always stood up for me when he could, without getting into much trouble in his own house, and kept his mouth shut as soon as wands were drawn. He was that sort of guy, never to say something he didn't mean, never to act in a way he didn't plan or do for a specific reason. Which was why the incident was such a shock to me. The 'mudblood' word had never been used or even hinted at between us. I had asked, in the earlier stages of our friendship, whether being friends with a muggleborn bothered him. He would always answer the exact same, "blood really doesn't matter to me," and shrug it off. It was never mentioned again, and in my mind I didn't think it really affected him other than some of the more judgemental Slytherins taunting us.
As soon as the word left his mouth, I could tell he instantly regretted it. This strange mixture of shock and horror was staring me directly in the face, and I didn't recognise the boy who had spoken the word, and I don't think he did either. I decided then that I didn't think I could look at him much longer, and turned to leave as soon as I could, and over the next couple weeks, I swapped seats, changed my routine and made home in the common room to avoid any sort of contact. It took me a while to get used to his absence. Of course, I had all my other friends to turn to, but no one quite got Potions like he did.
So of course I made it my business to make sure Remus Lupin took the same slot as I did. I passed my quill directly to him, pointed at the free space next to my name and pretty much forced him to sign there. Ha!
"Bit keen, aren't you Evans..." he rowdily bit off, before ruffling my hair up and dodging as I tried to swat him back.
—A couple days later—
I could feel Potters muscular shoulder under my finger as I tapped him. I felt my cheeks turn a spectacular shade. It was a stupid idea anyway.
"Potter," I said, shifting from foot to foot, looking anywhere but his amber eyes.
He nodded, and hand instinctively moved to his hair and ruffled through his dark strands.
"Potter," I repeated, a bit softer, realising my voice had been unnecessarily harsh. He put his pen down, looking up from his work.
"Evans." He replied, as he caught my eye and I sighed. Better cut to it, make it quick.
"Have you seen Remus?" I asked, hoping that he could point me in the right direction and just leave me be. But apparently not.
"Urm, well he was up in the dorm only a couple minutes ago, getting ready. Do you have rounds?"
He asked me, but I knew he knew the answer. Remus would have told him and the look in his eye gave it away. Git.
"Yes, in a couple minutes actually. Do you think I should wait here?" I said, the words coming out too fast. Merlin, now I would have to spend more time with him if he said yes. Oh Merlin. I can't think of anything as bad.
"Well, I guess you probably should wait here, so that he doesn't miss you." He grinned up at me and patted the empty seat beside him. I slowly sat down in the chair next to him, and sent him a wary look.
What was I doing, sitting here with Potter, waiting for Remus? The Common room was busy, but we had a secluded table in the furthest corner from the portrait hole. Laid out on the table in front of us was a series of Charms textbooks, parchment and scraps filled with tight writing which i recognised to be Sirius'. The margins of the textbooks were either crowded by notes, or delicate drawings, doodles. They were quite good really, the drawings. There were snitches and wands and swirls of colour, dancing around the page. I traced them with my finger. He quickly covered up a golden snitch with writing in it, but I didn't quite catch what it said.
"I'm just doing my Charms homework, Evans. I'm not going to bite." He commented, and I heard myself laugh and I smiled. I leant over to see what he was writing, his writing chaotic but neatly slanted, and started reading his answers. Charms is my favourite lesson, after all. His answers were detailed and light, not too much information but just the necessary. He was mostly correct, it was just...
I frowned slightly, pointing at question 4.
"You know, Potter, for such a bright boy that people make you out to be, I can't believe you could get this wrong." He looked at where I was pointing, rereading his answer. He must have realised his mistake, and sent me a cheery smile, picking up his quill.
"The movement for a simple 'Substantive' Charm is not twist left and jab forward. Flitwick even said in his lesson today that it was jab and then flick upwards."
He stared at me. Hah, Potter. Not such a known-it-all after all. If I'm honest, it wasn't the easiest question, but really, was he listening in Charms? I thought back. It was after someone had asked that question about when to perform the spell, and Flitwick has mentioned how to perform it; if I remember correctly, Potter had been whispering to Sirius, whilst Remus was taking notes. Really, how did this boy do so well in class?
"Well, I'm ever so sorry Evans. Let me just correct my answer..." he took his time rewriting my answer, looking at me when he was finished,
"Is that better?" He asked. I nodded and carried on reading, and continued to pick out his silly mistakes.
Finally, after I had gone through all three pages of parchment worth of homework, and Potter had corrected his answers, did Remus finally make his way down the staircase.
I jumped up from where I was seated.
"Moony, its about time. I don't think I could handle having all my Charms work being corrected by this boffin." Potter said, sending a hooked thumb in my direction. Uh, rude. I blushed.
"Boffin?" I questioned, and Potter got up, standing next to Remus, who was putting on his robes.
"Oh yes. A boffin." Potter grinned mischievously down at me. Why was he so tall; it was slightly intimidating.
"Just because I pay attention in my lessons and put effort into my work, it doesn't make me a boffin." I replied without missing a beat, angrier by the second and Potters grin just widened. He was so rude. I needed to get away before I hit him. I really wanted to hit him, smack that mischievous smile right off his stupid face. Ugh, my fingers itched to...to swipe and scratch and...
Luckily, before I could do any damage, Remus stepped in and pulled me away, muttering all the while.
"Come on, Lily. No point wasting our time here. No point waisting our time here..." with one last look, I stormed away, stomping out of the portrait hole, not looking back, but knowing fully well that he was smirking.
Prat.
—A little later on—
Turns out, the rounds were not that bad. No one hexed us, and I'm still here to tell the tale. In the end, it was more like a continuous walk around the tower, filled with endless chatter to Remus, who I didn't really know, it turns out.
He really is quite interesting. He is half-blood, but his mother is ill, which explains why he was always out of school. He gets ill often as well, but he doesn't make a big deal of it. His favourite subject is Defence against the Dark Arts, but he also enjoys Transfiguration and Potions. He prefers Chocolate Frogs to Cauldron Cakes, loves chocolate, and Dumbledore is his favourite professor. He has no siblings and therefore counts the Marauders as his brothers. He says that 'James' isn't actually a prat and is actually considerate and understanding (sure...), Sirius has a wicked sense of humour, and Peter is kind-hearted, enjoys a laugh but has his head screwed on straight, unlike the other two. They are his brothers, and he loves them for that. He enjoys lessons and Quiditch, but doesn't play Quiditch; he isn't interested in playing. He loves practical work, however can't bare essay writing. He wants to become a Professor, and teach Defence. He finds it hard to trust people, however he is getting better at it. He is more of a morning person than evening, but doesn't "get up as ridiculously early as James does". He enjoys being a Prefect, however Sirius endlessly teases him about it, and Remus hopes he doesn't ever become Head boy.
By 9:00pm, we reached the Common room again, knowing a whole lot more about each other then before we had started. It was late, but we took a seat and carried on talking. I enjoyed his company. He was really quite interesting and had a great sense of humour. We ate his endless stash of chocolate and chatted about books we had both read (who knew Remus was such a bookworm?). However, entertainment of the evening was definitely whispering as we watched Susan Bones and Bryan Arthur break up. It was quite a scene, and we were in fits of laughter.
"But BRYYAAANNNNN!" Bones shrieked, tears running down her flushed face. Remus whispered a highly accurate impersonation into my ear and I felt my own tears rolling down my cheeks.
"Susan, you KNOW she likes me more!" Arthur fought back, rolling his eyes at the distressed girl in front of him. I felt a little bad, but when you have had such a good evening as I had, it really was necessary to take a seat and watch.
"You can't say THATTTT"
"I can, Susie-"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
"Right. Susan, you KNOW I can say that-"
"FOR MERLINS SAKE, ARTHUR, JUST GO AWAY!" Susan finally shouted.
"Urgh, stubborn girls and their stupid, sodding feelings." Arthur turned away, muttering all the way, whilst Susan sat down, sobbing into her friends arms.
"HE JUST BROKE UP WITH MEEEEEE!" She wailed, whilst her friend rubbed her back reassuringly.
I turned to Remus, face straight, and whisper-wailed, "Aghhhh, he just broke up with meeeee!" And both Remus and I fell back into the sofa, laughing and gasping for breath.
—The girls dorm—
After the nights entertainment, I wandered up to the dorm on a high. However, I opened the door to a chaotic scene; Marly hopping about, trying to dodge the mountains of clothes that completely covered the wooden floors.
"What in the world-'' I muttered, making Marly jump out of her skin and miss her foot, causing her to slip on one of Dory's Quiditch arm pads and then tumble to the ground, cushioned by the clothing there.
"Fuck!" She cursed loud, grabbing her foot which had only just dodged the corner of a bed. "Fuck fuck fuck!"
I would have gone over to help, had I known where to start. There was just no way I could get to her without stepping on, or potentially tripping on, the piles upon piles upon piles of clothes that were strewn before me.
Every cupboard in the room had been flung open and emptied. Every single sock had somehow made its way onto the floor, and every chest of drawers sat empty and bare.
I couldn't help but laugh a little. Here I was, after curfew, walking into the dorm to find my friend cursing whilst desperately trying to get up, but failing quite miserably.
She tried grabbing onto the bed, but slipped again after stepping on Alice's silk scarf. She fell back onto her bruised bum.
"Fuck! For fucks sake!" She looked over to me, scowling fiercely. "Lily! Please, help me. I can't for the life of me get up, and I can't seem to find anything! All I want to do is go to bed, but I can't and now I have made this mess and I am going to have to tidy it up and," she looked about her, patting down her robes, "and of course!" She sighed and rolled her eyes, "of course, I can't even find my bloody wand!" she looked at me helplessly, her eyes big and watering slowly as she realised the mess she was in. "Please, Lil."
I giggled to myself, drawing out my wand.
"Here, stay still." And I cast a charm and together we watched as socks, jumpers, robes, bras, hairbands, jackets, dresses and more folded themselves back into their drawers neatly, and the floor was revealed once more, with only Marly left on it.
She sighed in relief, leaning her head back onto the floor, and I made my way over.
"Mar, what's going on?"
And I watched as she blinked slowly, a tear dripping down her pink cheek as her chest heaved.
"Hey, Mar come on. Don't cry, look the mess is all gone. Don't cry..." I said, running over to her and squeezing her shoulders.
She gasped a little bit, sitting up next to me, and attempted a smile.
"Tha...thanks Lil," she stuttered, wiping her nose with her sleeve, and I grabbed a tissue for her.
"Here," I patted on her bed and she came over and sat down. "Now, what in the world was that all about?"
"Oh, nothing Lil, really nothing..." Marley got out, not quite catching my eye and I immediately knew something was up.
Since when did Marley keep secrets from me?
We had been best friends since day one, and since then we had never not told the other when something was going on. She knew everything about me, everything. She knew all about my sister and her little petty mind games and she knew about Snape. She was the first one I told back in third year when I lost my wand and she was also the first one to know I kissed Matheiw Pallay back in Fourth year. She always knew who I liked and disliked. She always knew when something was wrong and she even had my timetable stuck on her wall so she knew where I would be after each lesson.
Yet she wouldn't tell me why I had just found our room look like a bomb had hit it with her crying in the middle of it all.
"Nothing is wrong? Really, Mar, as if I am gonna buy that one," I whined, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms over my chest.
"Fine, okay. I was just looking for something I lost," she turned her nose to the air stubbornly and stood up, "Lily, I'm going to bed now." And she ushered me off the bed and began to undress.
I sighed.
I had no idea what she was looking for, but it was clearly important, otherwise she wouldn't have emptied everyones closets. But she wouldn't tell me, and it meant a lot to her.
Giggling voices approached and the rest of the dorm entered, oblivious to the mess it had been a couple minutes ago.
"-but you will never guess what he said next. He said he was going to..." Alice stopped her excited chatter when she spotted Marley red eyed and snotty.
"Marley?" She asked, and the other girls looked at her too. "Mar? You are not crying, are you?" She asked in shock, making her way over to where the stubborn girl was quietly brushing her blonde locks.
She smiled at them like nothing was wrong, settled her brush down onto her chest of drawers and tied her hair into a bun on top of her head as she did every night.
"No? Why, does it look like I have?" She asked, lying through her teeth. I stared at her in disbelief, squinting my eyes.
Alice sighed in relief.
"Oh, yes. Yes, it does. I got all worried for a second," Alice carried on, turning to Dory and Emma who had entered with her. "It wasn't just me, was it?"
"I did wonder for a second," Dory started, and Emma nodded along as she made her way to her bed and began getting ready for bed. "But I have never seen Marley cry so I didn't quite know for sure."
Marley giggled and turned away from me.
"No no, I'm quite alright. Slughorn had a go at me in Potions today so I'm worn," she whined, getting into her duvet and snuggling down.
"Sluggy never did like you did he?" Dory commented, biting her lip, and I nodded. Slughorn really had disliked Marley.
"But I was just telling Dory and Em what Frank had asked me just after dinner," Alice mentioned and Marley wiggled her brows suggestively as she did whenever there was any of this type of news.
"Ooo, lets hear," Marley asked, "did he woo you with a haiku or snog you into submission?"
"Marley!" Emma cried as she often did. She was rather shy and didn't enjoy Marley's dirty chatter.
"I heard he was rather good at the whole 'eating each others face off' business," Marley carried on, and poor Emma marched into the bathroom and locked the door after her.
"Marley, I-"
"We all know Alice wouldn't let that happen" Dory started, "if you know Alice at all, she probably jumped him!" Dory called from her side of the room, and we all burst into laughter as Alice went bright pink.
"Was he a good one, Al?" Marly asked, as Alice climbed into bed, "did he make you-"
"He's good with his wand, I heard," I added and Mar cackled out loud, "oh yes, I hear he really has some good wand work."
And that was that. Marley, Dory and I were all rolling around in laughter, Alice was dying in humiliation and I'm sure Emma was probably make a bed in the bathtub.
—Horrifically early the next day—
"Blood hell, where the actual-"
I turned over in my bed. It was early. Far too early.
"Where the actual fuck did I put my bloody socks?"
Agh. Stop. Making. Noise.
"'Put them somewhere safe," she mimicked "somewhere you will remember, pah. As if. I bet she bloody well moved them on purpose just to prove a bloody-"
"SHUT UP!" I screeched, probably far too loud and far to aggressively, but it was 6 am so I got away with it.
"Alright moody. I'm just trying to find my BLOODY socks! I have training in TEN MINUTES and I haven't eaten a fucking thing-" Dory shouted back, and I sat up, now wide awake.
Her black curls tied tightly on her head, Dory was tossing books over her shoulder. She was dressed for practise, with her maroon quiditch kit, minus the socks and shoes.
"Well where did you last see them?" I asked, getting up. I was up now, I may as well make myself useful.
"I chucked them somewhere yesterday," she answered, now on her hands and knees and digging about under her bed.
I sighed. It was far too early for this. I grabbed my wand and quickly accio'd them.
"Holy shit-" Dory had rather a dirty mouth at 6 am, if you hadn't noticed.
"Why are you up so early anyway? Surely you can't have practise now?" I yawned, stretched and grabbed some uniform. It was a stunning day and I was going to make the most of it.
"Don't even get me started. Only a right pillock would have practise at 6 am," she sat down on my bed as I did my shirt buttons up. "And that right old pillock demands that we all be there or we are kicked off the team. He is barmy, the fucking dolt, absolutely off his rocker," Dory moaned as I pulled on my shoes and clumsily tied my hair in what I hoped was a rather sophisticated messy bun-birds-nest thing.
"I can't agree with you more," I muttered, shoving my toothbrush into my mouth and having a quick scrub.
"I mean, who is even awake enough at 6 am to play quiditch? Which, may I remind you, is a highly dangerous sport! Think how easily you can be knocked off your broom or how easily distracted one is at such an unearthly time in the morning!? I'm quite surprised no one has injured themselves yet," ahh, with the minty taste of toothpaste in my mouth, I made my way back into the dorm where Dory was impatiently pacing.
"Didn't you say you hadn't eaten?" I grabbed Dory's arm and began making my way down to breakfast. I, for one, was starving.
We entered the almost-empty hall and quickly made our way over to the table where mostly the team sat and ate.
"About time Dory, don't ya think?" Sirius called as we approached, "was beginning to think you weren't coming!"
"Now, now Black. Don't jump to conclusio-"
"And you've brought company, fancy that!" He cut her off, chewing loudly on a piece of toast.
Ew. Manners much.
"Good morning to you too, Sirius," I sat down opposite him and started piling my plate with my favourites. Toast, crêpes and of course, melon. Yum.
"And what would you be doing up so early this fine morning?" Sirius asked, downing a glass of pumpkin juice loudly.
"I was woken up, actually. It wasn't planned. Had it been my choice, I would still be sleeping, tucked up and fast, fast asleep, not due to wake up for another couple hours." I sighed rather dramatically, before sending a noisy Dory a (what I hoped was) menacing stare. "But of course, someone had misplaced her socks this morning and completely forgot she was a witch, and I had to be woken up by her dirty, colourful language."
"Ooooh, Dorcas Meadowes! I did not know you had such a wide, colourful vocabulary; please, enlighten me," Sirius shouted, grabbing the teams attention.
"Cut it, you wanker," she snapped back, "anyways, I only learnt from the best."
And the bint nodded her head in my direction, causing pretty much the whole teams eyes to follow.
I must have turned a marvellous shade of scarlet.
"Well I never, my Lily Evans has a potty mouth?" Sirius called in mock horror.
"Oh haven't you heard, Padfoot," Potter called out from where he was sitting, "Evans vocab is nearly as wide as my-"
"My oh my! I don't think I have heard a single foul word leave her mouth before-" Sirius cut in, just in time.
"We hold secret meetings to discus the fine art of cussing!" Dory quipped back, making me choke on my tea.
"Can we join?" Potter asked innocently, and I shook my head.
"It's all very top secret. Only those with potential are allowed to join," I quickly answered, mopping up the mess I had made with a quick flick of my wand.
"Shame. It really does sound like something I would enjoy..."
"I wonder Lily, would you mind helping out at practise?" Dory turned and asked, and I shook my head out of habit.
Voluntarily going to quiditch practise? Uh uh. No way. Quiditch was boring enough as it is. The only thing that makes me go to the matches was the team spirit (there was no way anyone could put Gryffindor down without me going after them with hexes at the tip of my tongue) and to watch Sirius and Dory play. I was in no way whatsoever interested in the game. In fact, I found it all a bit stupid really. Football was crazy enough, and that was with one ball. So why on earth would you need four!? Especially one which was purposefully (some would say tactically) hit towards another player with the power to knock them off their broom. Really, people made such a big deal over it.
"Lil-yy" she whined, shaking my arm, "nothing physical, we just need someone to help James keep track of our laps."
I eyed her dubiously.
"That's it. All you have to do is stand their and simply draw a tally every time James says so." She smiled sweetly at me, "and it's not like you have anything better to do..."
I rolled my eyes. She knew me too well.
"Fine, I will do it." She clapped her hands in glee, "but if you dare, if you bloody dare try get me on one of those wooden sticks you call a broom, I will personally make sure it's your last practise, Dorcas Meadowes!"
And then the captain called his team (and me) out to the pitch, where he stood everyone on the pitch for a briefing.
"Right. This morning we will, urm, today we will be doing as I said, which is some stamina training." He looked at me as if to make a point, before carrying on. "You will all be doing laps for ten minutes straight," a couple moans broke out, "and we will count how many you do. The more you do, the higher stamina you show and this will be recorded."
"Really, Prong- Captain?" Sirius complained, "at this time in the morning?"
"You saw how quick those Hufflepuffs were last season," Potter commented back, lifting an eyebrow, "and you're all lacking a bit of stamina anyway. You all get hot and sweaty before scoring, for Merlins sake."
The team sighed, and picked up their brooms.
"Five warm up laps to get you started," Potter called, before sticking two fingers into his mouth.
Immediately, the team rose into the air, and flew off as soon as the high pitched whistle could be heard.
The captain turned and handed me a clipboard.
"Right Evans, all you have to do is tally when I say, okay?" I nodded in understanding, feeling slightly intimidated by this new, bossy side of the guy standing before me.
"Surely you should be flying as well, Potter?" I added cheekily, and his hand went to his hair.
"I have to keep count," he explained, checking the time on his watch, before looking back up at me, "besides, I wouldn't want to make the team look bad."
"Ahh, I think they are excuses, Potter," I shook a finger at his chest, "and especially as the captain, surely you would need to keep fit as well?"
"Trust me, I do keep fit. What do you think I spend my spare time doing, Evans?"
I thought. Hm, what could Potter do in his spare time? Think of new pranks to pull? Seduce fifth years in the corridors? Read a novel? I wonder...
"I would rather not know," I grunted, turning away from and quickly drawing up a tally. The team were just finishing their 'warm up,' and were landing in front of us again.
"Good, right. Is everyone here?" We all looked back into the sky as the last flyer landed. I stood at the front next to the captain, watching as they all breathed heavily and wiped at their sticky foreheads.
"What I want you all to think about as you fly is your spatial awareness. Urm," his hand went straight to his hair and he squinted his eyes in thought. "Right, spatial awareness is important, because you need to know what's around you, especially if it's a bludger coming at full speed towards your head." He looked suggestively at one boy at the front and Sirius laughed.
"Trust Woody to not see that one coming," he called out, rustling the boys hair.
"Coming from you Sirius! You thought that poor Hufflepuff defender was a bludger and broke his collarbone, you arse," Dory called and the team broke out into a breathy laughter.
"Nice one Dory," Potter called, winking at me. "But back to spatial awareness. I just want you to be persistent and maybe you could enjoy it as well?"
"Enjoy it?," Sirius grunted, earning him a slap across the face.
"On my whistle," and then the captain blew and they were off, just blurs in the sky.
"Right, so what am I doing?" I asked, the realisation dawning on me that I didn't quite know what I was doing.
Potters eyes snapped onto me after watching his team for a few seconds.
"Oh, yeah. So, just write the numbers on the back of their kit down, so Dory is three," I jotted down a three and then Potter read out all the numbers for me.
"And look, Dory has just finished her first lap, so put a tally..." he watched as I did as he asked, before giving me more as the rest of the team finished their first lap.
"Perfect." He fiddled with his own broom as I finished my tallying.
"What number are you, then?" I asked, stepping back to have a look at the back of his kit.
"A lucky seven," he answered grinning back at me.
"Lucky?"
"Yeah, it's meant to be superstitious or something," he lifted a brow and grinned. "I was seven days old when I first showed any signs of magic."
"What did you do?"
"I summoned dads beer and took a sip."
"You have a long way to go."
"I know," he smirked.
"So, that makes it a magic number?" I asked, slightly dubious.
"Especially in Quiditch," he explained, "there are seven hundred fouls, and seven players on a team."
"Right, of course," I muttered shaking my head at him in shock. Who knew someone could be so bonkers over Quiditch?
"And, as you are so into your charms, there are seven different known spell types."
"Jinx, hex, curse," I started.
"Counter-spell, healing spell, transfiguration and-"
"Charms." I finished off, staring at him in awe. I had honestly never thought about the number seven before, and I certainly was never going to look at it the same way again. "Merlin, it really is quite-"
"Lucky," Potter cut me off, smiling widely at me. "It's a very lucky number. Two..." he pointed back down at my neglected clipboard as we remembered the task ahead of us.
"Oh, yeah," I mumbled as I fiddled with the tally.
Potter scratched idly at the back of his head. "I think I have lost count."
"Huh?"
He stared absently into the sky at his team, "we were talking and I forgot to tell you when they..." he waved in the teams general direction and I nodded.
"Who would have done the most?" I showed him the board.
"Goldstein, four," he pointed and I quickly tallied up...
—Quiditch changing rooms—
"Lily Evans, I cannot believe it!" Dory shouted as she collected her kit bag.
"What?" I asked in bewilderment. I stared as she collected her dripping hair into a bun and picked up her broom. She stomped past me.
"It has been six years, six years, and you have never, ever let me take you on a broom," she shouted, her voice growling.
I rolled my eyes. I hated flying. It wasn't that I was scared of heights, because I wasn't. I didn't mind heights really, but flying is more than just heights. I like to have control, especially if I am 100 metres off the ground on a magical twig.
"And you don't even like the twat, and you let him whisk you off round the pitch!" She jabbed her broom into my stomach as I caught up with her, causing me to yelp in pain. Really, a dirty mouth and violent actions. Dory was going to need counselling.
"Dory, I told you he practically threatened me! You know I wouldn't have-" I started, rubbing my tummy to make a point.
She whirled round as we left the building.
"Oh don't you start that with me, Lily Evans!" Her face was bright red and we were gathering quite a lot of attention as the rest of the team filed out. "You can chat someone round your finger just as well as your charms and you bloody well know it."
I didn't know whether she was really angry or just playing at it.
It had all started when the team had left to shower, and Potter asked me to help clear up.
"Oi, Evans!" He shouted, and I turned to see him plodding towards me, broom in hand.
"Fancy helping me tidy up?" He asked, picking up some neglected brooms from the ground. "Just need to get these back to the broom shed," he pointed over to the wooden hut.
"Sure." I bent over and began picking up the sweaty brooms, noticing just how heavy they were. I could only carry three before my arms would ache.
"Merlin, these are heavy!" I exclaimed in surprise, wondering how on earth Potter managed to tuck seven or eight under his arm and then a couple more over his shoulder.
"Have you never held a broom, Evans?" He asked, as we made our way over to the hut.
I shook my head. "Only back when we had to take flying lessons. I haven't gone near one since."
"Why not?" He asked, with a face of pure horror as if he couldn't believe it.
"Well if you hand't noticed, Potter, I certainly am not into Quiditch," I said, dumping my brooms into the cupboard.
"That's still no reason not to fly," he said, as we trudged back up to the pitch to collect the remaining few left.
"I'm just not interested, okay?" I bit out, getting bored of the conversation. I made my way to the furthest broom and all but dragged it to the next. My arms killed.
"But you won't understand the adrenalin-" he started, and I whirled round at him.
"Potter, I'm. Not. Interested." I bit my tongue before I could say anything I would regret. I had an unhealthy habit and I really needed to do something about it.
"Okay, okay, change of subject." He held up his hands in surrender, whilst still managing to balance three on his shoulder.
I went to pick up a particularly heavy broom, when he shouted out, "nope, not that one! You can leave that there."
"Why?" I asked stubbornly.
He stood straight, holding onto the brooms this time. "That ones mine, and I want it to stay there."
I rolled my eyes and began walking back to the hut.
"Did you just roll your eyes at me, Evans?"
He ran to catch up, still managing to keep those damn brooms on his shoulder.
"Yes, that was an eye roll, Potter."
"I am the captain of the team, Evans. You don't roll your eyes at me," he mocked.
"Mighty sorry, captain," I joked back. He poked me in the ribs playfully.
"Oy!" I furrowed my brows, stopping in my tracks. "You just touched my person!"
He poked me again, and I swatted him away. "Potter!"
He grabbed my arm and pushed me forwards, towards the cupboard where he grabbed the final brooms off me and locked them away.
"Really Potter, there is no need for this. I can walk by myself without you pushing me!" He was still holding onto me, so I had to go wherever he went. "Potter! Hey- stop that! You are going the wrong way anyway! I'm going back to the castle-"
He stopped, and finally let go of my arm, causing me to jump in delight.
"Hurrah! Look, my arm! I'm free once more!" I did a little jiggle and stepped away from him.
"Not quite yet." The captain's voice was low and he looked at me with squinted eyes. It was very intimidating. My eyes widened.
"What in the world-"
"Get on the broom," he said, nodding towards his broom innocently lying on the floor. I stared at it dubiously.
"Go on, it's not gonna bite," he muttered in a lighter tone, and pushed me forward slightly.
"No, Potter, I really must be going-"
He came closer, a pushing finger dangerously close to my chest.
"Fuck off," I called, swatting his hand away.
"I said," and he took another step towards me, so I had to take walk backwards, closer to the broom, so I wasn't being prodded, "get on the broom."
"Why?"
"Because I said so!" He rolled his eyes and waved his hand threateningly. I had no choice.
"Up," I called to the broom, like we did back in first year flying classes. Surprisingly, the broom came straight to my hand and I slowly hopped on, gripping rather tightly onto the handle.
"Okay, I'm on. Now I'm getting off-"
And I began to swing my leg back over the side, as Potter jumped on and all but flew off.
I will admit it. I did scream. Just a little, okay maybe a bit, but he went so quick and I thought I was going to fall!
"Fuck!" I screamed, the wind in my face causing my eyes to water. I couldn't see much, Potter was just a maroon and brown blob in front of me.
"Bloody hell! Potter get me down!" I screamed, holding on as tight as I could onto his shoulders.
"Not a chance," he called back, aiming upwards.
"Shit, bloody fucking-"
"Hold on," he called again, and I closed my eyes tight, tucking my head into his back so I couldn't see.
"Potter please! I beg, please, can I get off!" I shouted out, muffled by his back.
"We haven't even done the best bit yet..."
"JAMES POTTER!" I screeched, hating the sound of my own voice.
"Alright, alright," he mumbled just so I could hear him, and I felt the broom slow down and I looked up again. We were headed straight for the ground, and although we were slower than before, it seemed to come to us quite quickly, in fact, if we didn't stop soon we might... oh my, it was there, we were going to crash...
"Potter! UP! Fly UP!" I began to yank the broom upwards as hard as I could, my breathing increasing in speed. Oh my god. I was going to die.
This was it. There was no way we could make it. The grass was so close I could probably reach out and grab it. We were going to crash, and there was no way we could both come out alive.
I clenched my eyes shut and dug my nails into his shoulders. I was waiting, waiting for the inevitable crash...
Hang on. I was still... I could still feel his shoulders...
I popped one eye open, gasping at the sight. We were flying. We were still bloody flying! How had we done it? We had been so close!
The captain guided the broom back to the ground.
"Bloody hell, Potter!" I screamed, staring at the back of his head with all the anger I could muster in my state of shock.
His shoulders moved up and down, in a strangely familiar motion. We stopped, and I slid off as quick as I could, my legs feeling like jelly.
I looked back up to the captain, still on his broom, to see he was laughing. He was laughing! The bloody wanker had almost killed the both of us, and was laughing!
"You actually have the audacity to laugh?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. "You almost killed us both, Potter, if I hadn't pulled the broom up when I had-"
He laughed even more, leaning forward onto his broom, mouth open wide so I could see all his teeth.
"I give up. Your mad. Completely bonkers," I turned my back to him and began making my way up to the castle.
That was it. My first near-death experience. What would have happened if we had crashed? Would anyone see? Would anyone come help us? Or would anyone realise we had gone missing?
"The Wronski Feint." The captain, of course, still on his broom, had flown up next to me. I refused to answer.
"When a seeker pretends to spot the snitch far below and races to catch it, hoping the opposing seeker will copy. At the last second before reaching the ground, the feinting seeker pulls out of a dive, and the following seeker would crash into the ground," he explained, grinning at me.
"Vile," I commented at that sick idea of a tactic. Tricking someone to crash into the ground? Really!?
"Genius."
"You call that genius?" I muttered, "we nearly died there, Potter. We nearly died!"
"Ahh, Evans, live a little, ay?" And the bastard flew off before I could say another word.
"Asshole," I muttered and I heard him laugh somewhere in the distance.
And that's when I made the decision to go find Dory, who I thought wouldn't try and kill me. But watching her now, I wouldn't be too sure.
"Dory, please. Calm down, okay?" I watched as her shoulders dropped, thankful for how calming I sounded. "Let's just...stop. I didn't want to, merlin, I didn't want to, and you know that. It's just a broom, for merlins sake. We really are so stupid," I made a poor attempt at a laugh, daring to walk slightly closer.
"Right, yes. Sorry, Lil, you're so right," and she dropped her back on the floor in defeat. "Why am I getting so worked up? He probably had to threaten to shag you to get you on a broom-"
"Who shagged who?" A deep, and annoyingly familiar voice called as he exited the male changing rooms. Sirius Black.
"No one shagged anyone, Sirius," I sighed.
"He must have promised you a thorough shag in order for you to actually sit on his broom," he smirked, eyes lighting up at the sight of me turning a dark shade of red.
"I don't need a thorough shag from anyone, thank you very much," I bit back, my face hot.
"If you are ever in need-"
"I'm sure she will have other, more skilled blokes begging on their knees to sleep with her," Dory bit out, rather aggressively.
"Feeling left out, are we?" Sirius grinned again. I was so desperate just to slap him across his bloody face. "I guess I could talk to Potter for you, try and convince to let a third join the party..."
I stuck two fingers in my mouth. Gross. As much as I loved Sirius, he really did have the dirtiest mind.
"I think we should be going, before he gets carried away," I muttered, grabbing Dory before she could say anything else and dragging her back to the castle.
—That evening—
The next Hogsmeade trip was on Merlin remembrance day, and was a big deal, according to Alice, Marly and Dorcas. Emmeline, rather the bookish type, spent her Hogsmeade trips cuddled up reading a novel.
I wasn't too excited. I have been to Hogsmeade many times before, and Merlins was just another trip, another date in the calendar. In the past, Merlins Day was a day to look forward to; lessons were cancelled, uniform was optional and the library was filled with Merlins works.
"I can't wait! Frank has promised to take me." Alice sat upon her bed, next to Dory, and we all chatted about the upcoming event.
"Aw Frank is so sweet," Marly whined, looking at Alice in aspiration, "I wish I had a Frank to take me to Hogsmeade." She sulked, and I wrapped an arm around her.
"S'Alright Marly, you got me. We can have a date." I giggled and Marly smiled. I didn't mind going with Marly, in fact, they always turned out better than going on a date.
"And Dory can tag along too," Marly added, patting the girl in question on the leg.
"Joyous. I'd much rather be on the Quiditch pitch-" Dory started before we cut her off.
"Doryyyyyy."
"Come on, you can't do that!"
"We promise it will be fun."
"We will go to The Three Broomsticks and get Butterbeer and have a better time than quiditch."
"We will force you to come."
"Yes. Yes we will. We will chase you and charm you to come with us and we will make sure you enjoy it."
"Yes, and we will go to Honeydukes and Zonkos and we can go on a walk and..."
"And you will come with!"
"The only exception would be if a boy asks you out-"
"-which would never happen-"
"And then-"
"Don't be sour, Dory, you know boys adore your fiery temper!"
"Oh yes, remember back in fourth year when Michael Gubblin asked you out after a rather rough Quiditch practise and you chucked a quaffle at him!"
"And then you snuck out during the night to snog him in the dungeons as an apology-"
"Ugh, don't remind me!"
"-but you weren't warned before hand that McGonagall was patrolling down there, and of course she walked right into your kinky little performance..."
We all burst into laughter as Dory covered her face in shame.
"Fine! Fine. I'll come. But you have to swear that no one will know about...about McGonagall walking in whilst I was giving Michael a wa-''
An owl tapped on the window, interrupting Dory. He was light brown, with amber eyes and two whiter feathers on his chest. In his beak he held a letter.
A letter. For me.
"Lil, it's for you!" Alice was closest, and opened the window as I rushed over, grabbing the letter. I opened it and read it.
Dear Boffin,
Just thanking you for the help with my Charms, Flitwick got a lovely surprise and even bothered speaking to me at the end of the class about my immense improvement.
See you later, I'm sure,
James Potter
"Who is it?" Alice asked, leaning forward to read it. I rolled my eyes and pulled it to my chest.
"Really, it's nothing. Just Potter thanking me for helping with his charms."
"You helped Potter with charms?"
I nodded, heating up a bit. I got up and walked over to my chest of drawers.
Typical. Typical Potter. Such a silly note, so unnecessary. I picked up some parchment and a quill, writing my reply:
Dear Potter,
Thank you for your totally unnecessary note, it was comforting to know Flitwick noticed your suddenly correct homework, rather surprising really.
Maybe it's better for you, and me, if you pay attention in class rather than chat, and then maybe you will be blessed with another talk from Flitwick after class.
See you later, probably not,
Lily Evans, not a Boffin
Lily Evans, not a Boffin,
Thank you for your reply, it really was surprising, unlike when Flitwick noticed my homework, which, like the rest of my work, was correct.
Sirius and I were merely having a chat about Hogsmeade trips, talking of which, is coming up very soon. Any plans?
See you later, I'll make sure of it,
James Potter
Potter,
No thank-you for your ever arrogant reply. I'm pretty sure I just saw Flitwick in the Hospital Wing, drastically suffering from shock. Maybe you won't be getting a chat from him anytime soon.
Hogsmeade plans? No, probably out with Dory and Marly, like three widows. Al is with Frank for most of the day, nauseating lovebirds that they are.
See you later, I BLOODY WELL HOPE NOT,
Lily Evans, Still not a Boffin.
Lily Evans, Still not a Boffin,
Thank you for your kind words. I hope my work didn't cause Flitwick to pass out, did it? I know I'm quite astonishing, but I didn't make him faint, did I?
I don't think I will be getting a chat from him any time soon then.
Well, I can't let you go to Hogsmeade a widow! Why don't you come to Hogsmeade with ME? I'm sure it will be fun, boffin.
See you later, I promise,
James Potter
Potter,
No thank-you for your letter, still not necessary. I just sent Flitwick some flowers, and I hope you will too, as the culprit. And no, your arrogance didn't make him faint, but your surprisingly CORRECT homework did.
Nope, I don't think you will be getting a chat with him any time soon either.
Potter, no, I will not go with you to Hogsmeade, if that was an invitation. I wouldn't want to risk fainting, and then not receiving flowers, like poor Flitwick.
Don't call me boffin.
See you later, at your funeral,
Lily Evans, who is going to bed and won't reply.
Lily Evans, who is going to bed and won't reply,
The Lilies are for you, not Flitwick, as I believe you deserve them more.
Let's hope sleep knocks some sense into you, there is still time to accept my invitation tomorrow.
I won't call you a boffin, if you call me 'James'.
See you tomorrow, with some sense,
James
—The next morning—
The Lilies were still there, on my bedside table, when I woke up the next morning. My other dorm members didn't question them, except Marly who raised an eyebrow at the sight of them.
We went down to breakfast, where the other sixth years already sat. I sat next to Remus, Marly on my other side. Dory and Alice sat opposite, and Peter and Black next to them. Potter hadn't arrived yet.
"Morning!" Sirius was in a bright mood, as he almost never was on a weekend which wasn't Hogsmeade. Marly and Dory murmured their greetings back, helping themselves to the spread in front of us.
I wasn't hungry, so just went to grab the jug of Pumpkin juice, when a larger hand reached the handle before I did. I looked up to find Potter standing there, smirking, with my jug in his hand. I instantly felt that familiar fire burn in my stomach, and glared.
"Evans, what a lovely morning it is, sleep well?" He asked me, full of mockery and knowing. I blushed, growing angrier.
"Oh for merlins sake, Potter. Can't a poor girl get a drink of Pumkpin juice before being interrogated?" I shot back, giving him a scowl, and nodding my head towards the jug that was now pouring a glass..wait... TWO glasses of Juice. Oh Merlin.
"Of course, Evans," He smirked again, picked up a glass, handed it to me and said, "as you wish."
I huffed, looking about to check no one was watching. This was so embarrassing. I took the glass from his grasp and took a long gulp. I sat down, immediately joining Marly and Sirius' conversation about Merlin knows what.
"-but of course, we can't assume that, can't we Lily?" Marly looked at me, a knowing grin plastered on her face. I simply stared at her, confused. She sighed, looking back at Sirius, and saying loudly,
"Lily woke up to a bedside table FULL of Lilies." I blushed, she really didn't need to say it that loud, Sirius was just next to her.
"I think she has a secret admirer." My mouth dropped open. WHAT?
A secret admirer? Was she kidding! It was only Lilies, and only from Potter. It wasn't even a proper bunch of flowers, just one or two. It was nothing. She wasn't meant to tell everyone.
Goodness, I really needed to teach her to shut her mouth.
"A secret WHAT?" Potter asked, apparently only hearing the last part of Marlys announcement. Oh Merlin.
Marlene smirked, "A secret Admirer," she repeated. Potter had a similar reaction to me, mouth gaping like a fish, blushing cheeks and eyebrows furrowed.
Merlin, Merlin, Merlin.
"An...an..Admirer? Who?" Potter asked, growing redder by the second.
"Well, I thought it might be Liam Mildmoon, that Hufflepuff prefect," Remus joined in, leaning forward in his seat, hands slotted together, "but he was sent to the Hospital Wing." He raised an eyebrow at Potter, who was avoiding eye contact. I narrowed my eyes. Odd.
"Odd isn't it?" Sirius added, as if reading my mind, and Marly nodded her head over-enthusiastically. I narrowed my eyes at them all.
They were all acting so...knowingly. They knew something, something about Liam.
"What's going on?" I asked no one in particular. No one answered so I looked at Potter, who was, suspiciously, avoiding me.
"For Merlins sake, Potter. What did you do?" He carried on eating, munching away at his breakfast. I huffed until finally someone answered. It was Sirius.
"I think old Prongs heard that Mildmoon was thinking of asking you to Hogsmeade." He said, winking at me, and I blushed deeply. Remus joined in again.
"So, it's quite a coincidence that Mildmoon is in the Hospital Wing this morning, isn't it?"
Potter grunted and Sirius, Remus and Peter chuckled.
Hospital Wing? But wait, did Potter hex Liam? He didn't even know the poor bloke! Surely Liam didn't do something so bad that Potter had to go hex him, did he? But Potter has been known go round hexing people for no apparent reason...
But, Remus had said Liam was going to ask me to Hogsmeade, and Potter asked me to Hogsmeade so mayb-
"Not too late to change your mind, Evans." Potters face was mere centimetres from mine. Everyone else was getting up to go, and I was still frozen in my seat.
"I won't go to Hogsmeade with you until pigs fly, Potter." I got up and turned away from him, and stalked out the hall.
—Later on—
We made our way to the Common Room, dripping wet and on a high. It had been such a great day, and I was slightly glad to be back in the warmth, the goosebumps on my arms, legs and neck turning blue.
My white lacy top was stuck to my skin, slightly transparent, and my jeans were ruined. My shoes were soaked and I took them off so my feet could warm themselves on the carpet. I pulled my hair back into a messy bun, and we all made our way to the empty sofa near the fireplace. The common room was nearly empty, and it was nice to be able to crash out on the best sofa near the fire. I sat as close as I could to the flames, and grabbed a blanket from the back of the sofa, and chucked it over Marley and Remus who had sat down next to me.
"Exploding snap? Anyone for a game?" Peter asked, bringing out a packet of cards and dealing them out as we all nodded in anticipation. I had played a couple times, and had seen Peter play it all the time with the rest of the Marauders.
We hadn't intended to let the boys crash our date, but they had. Non too surprisingly, it had been fun. They joined us for a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks and then we all trekked to Honeydukes to stock up on some sweet bits.
I had headed straight to my favourite, the fudge. Mmm, fudge. Gooey and sweet, I would do anything for a lump of the stuff. I had been joined by Potter, too.
Ah, a fellow fudge lover.
"Fudge lover?" I asked, sifting through the different flavours; Popping Peppermint Fudge, Candy Cane Fudge, Easy Peanut Butter Fudge, Pumpkin Butterscotch Fudge, Merlins Messy Marshmallow Fudge, Creamy Milk Chocolate Fudge, White Chocolate Cookie Dough Fudge, Salted Dark Chocolate Toffee fudge...
"Chocolate fudge, in particular." He replied, reaching out for a slab of milk chocolate drizzled, creamy fudge.
"Hmm, good choice. Might go for one of those myself..." I picked one up, and then a White Chocolate Cookie Dough Fudge slab and compared the two, as if weighing them out in my hands. I put on a thoughtful face, staring down at them. He laughed to himself.
"Hard choice," he commented, watching me.
"Oh, very."
"Which do you think? White chocolate Cookie dough or Creamy milk Chocolate?" He raised an eyebrow, a sudden grin appearing on his face.
"Hmm..." I thought, shrugging my shoulders, and then, "I'm not good at making decisions. Let's get both." I grinned up at him. Mmm, I could smell the fudge and it made my insides melt. I craved the sugary delight.
A hand snatched my fudge out of my hand.
"Oy!" I shouted, looking up to see that Potter had nicked my fudge and was running off with it. "Potter! Get off, that was my fudge!" I called out after him, jogging to catch up. He was at the till.
"Merlin Potter, I wanted that!" I called, slightly out of breath, "that was my fudge." I pointed down at my slabs eagerly.
He rummaged in his pocket, and brought out a couple coins.
"No worries, Evans, this ones on me." He handed over the coins to the guy at the desk, and hummed as we waited for a receipt.
I watched as the slabs were scanned and wrapped up in a tiny cream bag, tied securely with a ribbon. How my heart soared whenever I received a gift looking like that...
"Potter, you are a right pain in the arse, do you know that?"
"Well, now that you mention it..." He turned to me, as my face blushed red and I grabbed my fudge up from the till, and joined the rest of the Gryffindors by the door, patiently waiting.
"Took your time there, Prongs," Peter shouted, as he opened the door and we all went outside, surprised by a sudden rainfall. I sent him a smile, pocketing my fudge.
I skipped out into the rain, opening my arms to the sky and grinning. The cool droplets soaked me, and my clothes stuck to me like glue. Marly skipped out behind me and we started to spin around and twirl about, laughing and giddy with adrenaline.
Dory and Alice huddled under an umbrella. Peter stayed inside, near Potter who was leaning onto the doorframe, watching. Sirius skipped out and joined us, jumping in the puddles.
"Oi Sirius!" I laughed, as he splashed me. I shook my head at him and we giggled, twirling about.
My arms were shaking because I was so, so cold but I couldn't stop because it was intoxicating; once you started you couldn't stop.
"Oi, Prongs, hurry up!" Padfoot shouted, hair dripping, arms around Peter who was trying to scurry away from him, covering himself with his robes.
Potter grinned and stepped out, immediately showered with raindrops, hair dripping and glasses splattered. You could see the moment he first felt the freezing water hit his skin, his smile dropped a little and his shoulders lifted. It was very cold, yet so refreshing, as if washing your feelings away, washing your troubles away, and your sense and soberness is flicked to the back of your mind, because no one is watching. He opened his arms up to the sky, just like I had, and opened his mouth, drinking in the rain. Water trickled down my neck, down my back, under my clothes. I didn't care.
I noticed Dory sending me a look, and I asked, "Dory? You okay?" The others were talking, so I just leant over to her.
"Oh, I'm alright, but what about you? The last time you touched anything that could explode or set anything on fire, it was those awful second years!" she smiled at me knowingly, and I grinned. After the incident, I hadn't gone near anything that could be set alight, I didn't want to be reminded of the embarrassment.
"I'm alright Dory, I don't think these will set my hair alight," I pointed to my hair and chuckled. Dory really was so sweet, checking I was okay with playing cards.
"What second years?" a low voice said, from a sofa next to ours, and I turned to see Potter looking at us, genuinely worried. I winced at the thought of being reminded of the story, and let Dory explain as much as she knew.
When she had finished, Potter was smirking.
"So it wasn't me who got you in such an awful mood," he punched a fist into the air, and Dory laughed and shook her head.
"No...it was some silly second years!" She said, between giggles, and I looked at her oddly. Dory didn't normally giggle. That was weird.
"But Potter you didn't exactly help the situation, did you?" I asked, noticing that Sirius was now listening in as well.
"Well no, but how was I supposed to know you had just been bullied by two second years?" He retorted, shooting me a competitive look. Sirius eyed me, before saying himself, "Ah, I heard about this, on the platform right? Just before we saw you?" I nodded and thought back.
It was true, Potter and Black hadn't and couldn't have known about what happened on the platform, but they were still annoying. I blew out me cheeks, crossed my arms and leant back into the sofa. I refused to let them get this one over me.
"Fine, you didn't know, but a witch should be able to carry her own trunk without a wizard trying to take it off of her. I was perfectly capable to take it to my compartment by myself, thank you very much. "
And then I turned to Remus, and asked him whether he liked fudge, before digging out my own fudge and opening it to offer him some. But as I opened the wrapping, I noticed my fudge was engraved with something...
I shook my head in disbelief and continued to open my chocolate fudge, except that it wasn't a plain slab anymore. There, carved right in the middle, was a flower.
It was a Lily, I realised. A Lily, like the ones up on my bedside table. And I wondered how he had managed to do that? I had been there, watching him pay for it, grabbed them off the till and ran out into the rain. The glorious rain, where I spun and lost myself for a couple minutes. He hadn't taken it then. I remember the feeling of it in my pocket. So when had he done it?
"Urm, Lily? " Remus coughed and brought me back. I had been staring at my fudge for far too long. I shook my head in disbelief, unable to speak. The game had been forgotten by everyone else as well.
This Lily was like all the others. Exactly like last years. And the year before. And the year before that. How odd that I'd never mentioned it, and just thought it was Sirius playing a joke on me, and all those times I had confronted him, and he had denied doing it. And Sirius never denies his jokes, for he was proud of them, he enjoyed the glory too much to deny it. He had always denied doing it, and I never believed him. Because who else would have done it? I wasn't friendly with any of the other Marauders, and non of my friends would, it just wasn't like them.
And after all this time, it had been him? Why? It just hadn't clicked before, when I had received the Lilies last night. I was too tired, too tired to realise what was staring me in the face! And I had been the one to bring up flowers as well, and he had planned on sending them again this year, but I made it so obvious and he sent them to me the evening before instead.
And why was it that only now have I realised? A silly little fudge Lily, when last night it had been the real things, real Lilies. Oh Merlin, I was losing it, well and truly losing it.
And thinking back now, I must have sat there, gaping at him for about five whole minutes, catching eye contact once. It was the first time I truly looked at him, y'know?
I looked, as he laughed with Sirius and Peter, how he was waiting patiently for the game to start, leaning back in the sofa, arms crossed, shoe-less feet flat against the carpet. His jaw sharp, eyes blazing, mouth formed that all-knowing smile. He looked at me, my mouth open, face shocked and eyes wide, and his smile slid, and formed into a concerned frown. I looked down at my fudge, briefly, and looked back up to see his reaction. And, as expected, his eyebrows raised, mouth smiled reassuringly and the corners of his eyes crinkled.
A genuine, caring smile.
And even though I was a good distance away from him, I knew it was him.
—Potions—
One of my favourite lessons, Potions. The dark, eery dungeons were lit by candles, casting shadows across the brick walls. The room smelt damp.
Cauldrons were placed on each desk, one between two. Today, it was a partnered practical lesson.
"Morning," Slughorn called as we took our seats. He sent a knowing smile my way, before standing up before us all.
"Today we will be brewing the Shrinking solution," he beamed round at us all proudly, before stepping over to the desk at the front where a small, bottle-green flask was standing.
"You have all come across this particular solution before, I am sure, as you will remember from your third year exams, you had an exceptionally nasty question on the fatal results if this potion is brewed incorrectly." Murmurs snaked round the class, and I nodded. I remembered that question clearly because that was the one Mar had moaned about all summer.
"Although I expect most of you to be able to brew this quite accurately, you will be working in pairs. Your task today is to not only brew it, but I would like you to write up a more detailed, more accurate recipe, which will help you in the future. Let me tell you now, you will certainly make many dangerous potions today, so please don't try and touch it or eat it." He spoke carefully, looking each and every one of us in the eye.
He began pairing us off. I waited patiently as Marlene, Dory and Alice were all paired off and I was left. I knew Slughorn well. It was clear what he was going to do.
"Lily, you and Severus can go off over into that corner. I'm sure you will work well together as usual. Penelope and..."
A couple years ago, I would have been delighted. Paired with Sev for potions? Any day! We worked well and both had a natural love for the subject. Had it been second or third year, I'm sure I would have been marvelling at my luck.
But it wasn't. It was sixth year and I was paired with Severus. Or really, I should call him Snape, we are not on a first name basis anymore.
I gloomily made my way over to the corner desk, catching eyes with one particular individual. Potter stared at me with a clenched jaw and dark, dark eyes. I shivered.
I broke away from his eyes and concentrated on the task ahead.
1. Juice two Shrivelfigs and add their ruby blood to your cauldron.
2. Stir slowly.
3. Gently heat your potion.
4. Chop four daisy roots more finely and add to cauldron.
5. Add five hairy caterpillars.
6. Add well-shaken wormwood.
7. Stir vigourously.
8. Juice four leeches and add.
9. Stir slowly and with caution.
10. Shake rat spleen and add to cauldron.
11. Add a splash of cowbane.
12. Stir slowly.
13. Heat on a high temperature.
14. Wave wand in a particular figure (pg 574)
I had a lot to do.
—A little later on—
I played Gobstones with Sirius and Peter that evening. Remus was home, looking after his mother, and Potter had gone off after Potions by himself. Both Sirius and Peter were distracted, and they both kept glancing over at the Portrait Hole every time it opened.
"You two alright?" I asked, but they just nodded, and Peter took his time throwing his next Gobstone. Sirius was winning, and both Peter and I had suffered from large amounts of the dreadful smelling liquid that covers you when you lose; I was in desperate need for a shower.
Whilst Peter was taking his turn, Sirius and I continued to work on our newest handshake. Believe it or not, he had forgotten our last one, and we needed a new one to piss Potter off.
"No, Sirius," I moaned when he fist bumped me with the left hand, "the other hand!" We started again:
Left hand high five, but don't let go, pull together, hip bump, left legs in, our toes touching in the middle, right fist bump, jazz hands out, three jumps back into a full body jump. Ooof.
Sirius pulled faces the whole time, being the joker he is. The sort of person who makes every movement dramatic, and the whole 'hand'shake was rather good. Apparently, the first time we had created one, Potter had moaned during the whole of Defence to Sirius about it. Sirius and I spent the whole evening in fits of giggles laughing about it, ending up with us creating more and more, my all-time favourite being the one where I get on his shoulders at the end and we whizz about the room, whilst Peter throws glitter over us.
"Oi, Peter, it's time." Sirius suddenly said, bringing me out of my daydream, he was looking at Peter with wide eyes, as if relaying a secret message, and Peter nodded.
"Ah, sorry Lils. We arranged to go..to go revise now." Peters voice quavered a bit, and he got up and started packing his Gobstone set away. Suspicious, the Marauders never revised. And a test after the exams? Really?
Sirius nodded his head in agreement, getting up and stretching his arms wide above his head and yawning dramatically.
"In fact, Prongs should be up soon as well, " Sirius added, as if making a point, and checked his watch.
"Night Lily," Peter said, before leaving up the dorm staircase with Sirius at his heels, who shouted back a quick, "See ya, Lils." It was a quick escape, and I didn't believe the 'revising' story one bit, but I really needed a hot shower, and Potter was due as well, I really didn't want to speak to him either, so I went upstairs to our dorm and undressed, making my way towards the bathroom.
The relaxing feeling of water tumbling down my back, washing that awful smell off of me, wasted away a whole hour, and I paid special attention to washing all of the sticky substance out of my hair, instead lavishing it with the last drops of my favourite Stawberry Fields scented shampoo (I really needed to get mother to send some more), of which I had bought the year before with Sirius and Dory when we went into Muggle London, and I showed them around Harrods. We had shown Sirius his first ever Leather Jacket as well, the start of his jacket phase. Now, you would never see him without one. They was dark and gothic, but it suited him perfectly, and it was what made Sirius Sirius.
It was his first time seeing cars and motorbikes as well, and he forced poor Dory and I to go bike shopping with him. He very nearly bought one, and I think he seriously plans on going back in the future to buy it. It makes me laugh thinking about how his face lights up whenever someone mentions it, and I always see him reading Bike magazines, and I make sure that whenever I see one, I give it to him.
I turned the water off, and joined the rest of my Dorm members with the usual scavenger hunt. It was a full moon, and the glistening light shone through the windows, lighting up the scene in front of me; clothes were thrown from bed to bed, missing socks were desperately searched for, and spare quills and parchment were chucked into the middle of the room. Alice, being the clumsiest, was searching desperately for her hairbrush, whilst Mary, who was always organised, was ready for bed, and had resulted to lying in bed reading one of her old muggle novels.
"So," Marley started, from where she was sitting on the floor in front of a rather large pile of washing, "Fraser shared the details on the party."
Mary looked up. "Party?" She questioned, and I too raised my eyebrows at the word.
Sorry, a party? I don't think the message quite got to me.
"Fraser?" Emma repeated whilst tossing a handful of papers into the bin.
"Seventh year, Slytherin," she answered looking up at us like this was common knowledge, "I must have told you about him?" I shook my head. Nope, there was a Michael and a Borris, but Fraser certainly didn't ring a bell.
"Save that for another day, what's the party about?" Mary impatiently motioned for her to carry on.
"Yeah, some after-party for the end of year. Loads of boys and booze," she winked at me in particular, the known celibate spinster in the dorm.
It's not like I am all anti-boys. Boys are fine. Boys are great, in fact boys are Gods when you have had enough of female bitchy-ness. However it has been a significantly long time since I have involved myself in any relationship of sort. Or a hookup.
Sure, I have dated in the past, and some lovely chaps at that, but not for a while have I really 'got myself out there' as Mar puts it. Apparently, if I wait any longer my 'boobs will sag' before I have another relationship at the rate I am going, according to Marley. I'm a 'lost cause just waiting for Prince Charming to come wipe me off my feet when I should be going out and socialising with the opposite gender.' Marley feels very strongly about this, as you can see.
I have many friends that are boys, many are my closest. Take Sirius or Remus or Liam for example. I wouldn't survive without them, yet apparently I don't socialise with other boys, potentially one I have some sort of crush-like interest in. Which is how Marley started her "we will go to EVERY party" campaign to "get me out there."
Not only does this mean I am forced to spend my evening holding back her hair whilst she retches into the loo, but she also decided that she would be the one to chose my outfits. So far I have had to attempt to dance in one of her dangerously short mini skirts and cropped hardly-there tops, I have worn a tutu (yes, a ballerina tutu) and a leotard and on the first night of Halloween I was a dinosaur (onesies are not something I would recommend as a party outfit, coming from an expert), and then at the second party- the Hufflepuffs do go crazy when it comes to Halloween- I was a Veela and dressed in the highest, most glittery heals you can imagine, then triple the height.
My feet never recovered.
"And what did Fraser actually tell you about this party?"
"Well, a couple doors down from their common room, there is a large study room, specifically designed with alcoves and arches. It's quite large, I've heard, big enough for a party and drinks."
She nods worryingly enthusiastically.
"Right, and when is it?" I ask dubiously.
"Saturday night," I groaned internally. I had no excuse. Marley knew my rounds were on a Thursday, so she would force me to go. Not even homework could get me out of this. "Perfect for Lil as she definitely does not have rounds that night." She adds, just to prove.
Mary and Dory giggled and I closed my eyes.
Parties are good. Parties are great and as an adolescent, I should be looking forward to it. But of course, I was not. In fact, the only thing I was looking forward to was my charms lesson the next day, in which we were having a practical lesson.
Yay, a party of heavy drinking and even heavier music.
"Don't look too excited, Lil," Dory comforts. She loves a party, and especially because she is on the Quiditch team, she could get with loads of blokes in one night, then be assured they wouldn't remember in the morning. That never seemed the case with me.
"I don't think I will go," I mutter.
"Huh?" Emma grunts.
"Sorry Lil, what was that?"
"I think I'm busy that day."
"Busy?"
"What else could you possibly be doing on a Saturday night?"
I think hard. Planned disease? Date with Satan? Spontaneous counselling?
"My great-aunts turtle just died."
"Merlin that sounds dreadful! How did that happen," Marley quips.
"It was a tragic death, I would rather not talk about it."
"Ah, of course. Well, have a good night grieving Lil," and the lights were switched off and all to be heard was the restrained giggle coming from Dory's bed.
