Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize is probably J.K. Rowling's creation. Anyone you don't recognize is probably mine, though I haven't added anyone in yet... and I might not, let's see how it goes.
A/N: This is my first attempt at fanfics of any kind, so please review! Any advice or comments (nice, please!) would be appreciated. A couple notes, just in case: Anything in italics are their thoughts, anything in bold is emphasized, and anywhere you see a row of ~~, the point of view changes.
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Lily sighed and put her head in her hands. This was the 4th time she'd attempted that darn Transfiguration homework, and couldn't figure it out! She closed her eyes and let out a loud sigh. She'd always been horrible at Transfiguration, but only two weeks into her 7th year and she already knew she wasn't getting high marks. And this homework was the least of her problems...
'Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself!' Lily scolded herself inwardly. She knew that if she began the long list of things about herself and her life that she'd change, it would never end.
'Just try the problem again.' Another sigh. No matter how many different ways she went about it, Lily knew she just couldn't get it. She packed up her books and left the library, heading for the Gryffindor tower.
When she reached the entrance, she was greeted with, "Password, dearie?" from the fat lady, answered by, "linguine," and the portrait swung open. Lily entered the loud, crowded Common Room, and began to make her way around everyone. The fireplace was lit, and people were enjoying the warm atmosphere. Every armchair and every comfortable couch was filled with chattering teenagers; the room was all too much for Lily. Though she was pretty good at slipping through crowds pretty much unseen, it wasn't easy to step around people's conversations or to avoid games of Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess.
She made her way towards the staircase where she could escape to her dorm room, shut the door, and be safe. She was almost there when someone stepped in front of her, blocking her way. When she looked up from the floor, she came face to face with the infamous Sirius Black. He was smiling wickedly, and Lily was getting nervous.
"Excuse me, please," she said quietly. Without a word, he stepped aside, still grinning. But as she walked by, she felt something cold and slimy slide down her back. Lily screamed, Sirius laughed, and suddenly everyone was laughing, staring, and pointing at her. Lily glared at Sirius, then burst into tears and ran past him up the stairs.
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James sat in one of the armed chairs, discussing Quidditch with his buddies: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, the Marauders. Close to the warm fire, with a group of girls perched on the arms of surrounding chairs and couches, hanging on his every word, James was having a normal evening.
Then, something unexpected happened. Sirius jokingly pushed the two girls that had been inhabiting his lap off, stood up, and walked towards the girl's staircase. James casually looked on, confused. He saw a girl -- what was her name again? -- walk toward Sirius. Oh, that's right, she was Lily Evans, Head Girl. He should've recognized her right away, he was Head Boy; but she didn't talk much, and didn't seem to have many friends. Why was Sirius talking to her?
Suddenly, he snapped out of his subconscious thinking when he heard a scream. He looked up, concerned, to see Lily Evans running upstairs clutching at her back, and Sirius laughing hysterically. In his hand, he held a small vial with a bit of -- what was it? -- oh no... It was his (Sirius's) own concoction. A bit of Sam's Super-Slimy Sticky Sludge from the joke shop in Hogsmeade, added to a little maple syrup.
'Oh no! He didn't...' groaned James, as chatter again filled the room and people forgot about the "invisible" girl. 'I'm going to have to talk with him.' He got up out of his chair.
"Sirius, c'mere," he said. There was an odd sternness to his voice that he didn't recognize. Sirius noticed it.
"Aww, come on man, it was just a joke... and it was funny!" he said, still chuckling.
"Just come here. It's late anyway, the room will start clearing out soon."
With a moan, Sirius followed James to their dorm. "What's up? You've never gotten angry with any pranks I've ever pulled, even on girls..."
"I know, but those girls haven't been Lily Evans. She's Head Girl. And she's never done anything to get noticed by the rest of us, I don't think she wants to. You shouldn't have done that...what's she ever do to you?"
Sirius got a weird look on his face. Then it started to break into a grin. "You like her, don't you...?" It was more of a statement than a question.
"No! Of course not! Look around... with all that other girls in this school, why would I bother with her?"
Sirius shrugged. "That's kinda what I was wondering." He flopped on his bed, closed the curtains, and murmured "goodnight." Within thirty seconds, James could hear him snoring.
He flopped on his own bed, and drew the curtains shut. But he couldn't fall asleep. All he could think of was Lily, screaming and running up the stairs. 'Gosh she's pretty,' he thought. 'Oh please,' the devil's advocate part of his mind said, 'How could you, the most popular boy in school, like Lily Evans, the shyest, quietest, not-so-popular girl in school? You've got everything going for you, why waste it on her? She's not even worth dreaming about.'
'Oh, shut up,' he admonished his advocate. 'I can dream about anyone I please.' He was on his back, hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes... there was her face. He blinked and shook his head, but her face remained. 'I don't like her, I can't like her! She's not even close to my type. She's really pretty. But she's so quiet. Sirius shouldn't have done that. She didn't want to be noticed. I've got to do something. I'll apologize for him... and offer to do her a favor, I guess. No, I don't like her! Do I? But, I don't think we'd ever get along. Oh well, I'll talk to her tomorrow, anyway. Everyone deserves a chance..' And with that, he fell asleep.
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Lily was on her bed, her face buried in a pillow. Tissues were clutched in her hand, and she was still crying. 'Why!?' she kept asking, 'why did he do that to me? I've never done anything to him, ever!' She thought about this for a while. She knew Sirius teased anyone and everyone, but it wasn't fair.
'All those faces, staring at me... laughing too... it was horrible.' That was all she could picture, the faces. But after a while all the laughing and staring faces blurred together in her mind. Except one.
One face stood out from the others. She knew the face well... it was James Potter, the guy she's had a crush on for six going on seven years. 'Why is he even looking at me?' She wondered. Then she noticed that he wasn't laughing. He was staring, yes, but his look was one of... 'concern? No way. He couldn't be, he's never looked my way before.' Lily didn't know. All she knew was that she was hurt and embarrassed. Finally, exhausted from crying, she fell asleep to the sound of her own sniffling. She wasn't looking forward to tomorrow.
A/N: This is my first attempt at fanfics of any kind, so please review! Any advice or comments (nice, please!) would be appreciated. A couple notes, just in case: Anything in italics are their thoughts, anything in bold is emphasized, and anywhere you see a row of ~~, the point of view changes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily sighed and put her head in her hands. This was the 4th time she'd attempted that darn Transfiguration homework, and couldn't figure it out! She closed her eyes and let out a loud sigh. She'd always been horrible at Transfiguration, but only two weeks into her 7th year and she already knew she wasn't getting high marks. And this homework was the least of her problems...
'Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself!' Lily scolded herself inwardly. She knew that if she began the long list of things about herself and her life that she'd change, it would never end.
'Just try the problem again.' Another sigh. No matter how many different ways she went about it, Lily knew she just couldn't get it. She packed up her books and left the library, heading for the Gryffindor tower.
When she reached the entrance, she was greeted with, "Password, dearie?" from the fat lady, answered by, "linguine," and the portrait swung open. Lily entered the loud, crowded Common Room, and began to make her way around everyone. The fireplace was lit, and people were enjoying the warm atmosphere. Every armchair and every comfortable couch was filled with chattering teenagers; the room was all too much for Lily. Though she was pretty good at slipping through crowds pretty much unseen, it wasn't easy to step around people's conversations or to avoid games of Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess.
She made her way towards the staircase where she could escape to her dorm room, shut the door, and be safe. She was almost there when someone stepped in front of her, blocking her way. When she looked up from the floor, she came face to face with the infamous Sirius Black. He was smiling wickedly, and Lily was getting nervous.
"Excuse me, please," she said quietly. Without a word, he stepped aside, still grinning. But as she walked by, she felt something cold and slimy slide down her back. Lily screamed, Sirius laughed, and suddenly everyone was laughing, staring, and pointing at her. Lily glared at Sirius, then burst into tears and ran past him up the stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James sat in one of the armed chairs, discussing Quidditch with his buddies: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, the Marauders. Close to the warm fire, with a group of girls perched on the arms of surrounding chairs and couches, hanging on his every word, James was having a normal evening.
Then, something unexpected happened. Sirius jokingly pushed the two girls that had been inhabiting his lap off, stood up, and walked towards the girl's staircase. James casually looked on, confused. He saw a girl -- what was her name again? -- walk toward Sirius. Oh, that's right, she was Lily Evans, Head Girl. He should've recognized her right away, he was Head Boy; but she didn't talk much, and didn't seem to have many friends. Why was Sirius talking to her?
Suddenly, he snapped out of his subconscious thinking when he heard a scream. He looked up, concerned, to see Lily Evans running upstairs clutching at her back, and Sirius laughing hysterically. In his hand, he held a small vial with a bit of -- what was it? -- oh no... It was his (Sirius's) own concoction. A bit of Sam's Super-Slimy Sticky Sludge from the joke shop in Hogsmeade, added to a little maple syrup.
'Oh no! He didn't...' groaned James, as chatter again filled the room and people forgot about the "invisible" girl. 'I'm going to have to talk with him.' He got up out of his chair.
"Sirius, c'mere," he said. There was an odd sternness to his voice that he didn't recognize. Sirius noticed it.
"Aww, come on man, it was just a joke... and it was funny!" he said, still chuckling.
"Just come here. It's late anyway, the room will start clearing out soon."
With a moan, Sirius followed James to their dorm. "What's up? You've never gotten angry with any pranks I've ever pulled, even on girls..."
"I know, but those girls haven't been Lily Evans. She's Head Girl. And she's never done anything to get noticed by the rest of us, I don't think she wants to. You shouldn't have done that...what's she ever do to you?"
Sirius got a weird look on his face. Then it started to break into a grin. "You like her, don't you...?" It was more of a statement than a question.
"No! Of course not! Look around... with all that other girls in this school, why would I bother with her?"
Sirius shrugged. "That's kinda what I was wondering." He flopped on his bed, closed the curtains, and murmured "goodnight." Within thirty seconds, James could hear him snoring.
He flopped on his own bed, and drew the curtains shut. But he couldn't fall asleep. All he could think of was Lily, screaming and running up the stairs. 'Gosh she's pretty,' he thought. 'Oh please,' the devil's advocate part of his mind said, 'How could you, the most popular boy in school, like Lily Evans, the shyest, quietest, not-so-popular girl in school? You've got everything going for you, why waste it on her? She's not even worth dreaming about.'
'Oh, shut up,' he admonished his advocate. 'I can dream about anyone I please.' He was on his back, hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes... there was her face. He blinked and shook his head, but her face remained. 'I don't like her, I can't like her! She's not even close to my type. She's really pretty. But she's so quiet. Sirius shouldn't have done that. She didn't want to be noticed. I've got to do something. I'll apologize for him... and offer to do her a favor, I guess. No, I don't like her! Do I? But, I don't think we'd ever get along. Oh well, I'll talk to her tomorrow, anyway. Everyone deserves a chance..' And with that, he fell asleep.
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Lily was on her bed, her face buried in a pillow. Tissues were clutched in her hand, and she was still crying. 'Why!?' she kept asking, 'why did he do that to me? I've never done anything to him, ever!' She thought about this for a while. She knew Sirius teased anyone and everyone, but it wasn't fair.
'All those faces, staring at me... laughing too... it was horrible.' That was all she could picture, the faces. But after a while all the laughing and staring faces blurred together in her mind. Except one.
One face stood out from the others. She knew the face well... it was James Potter, the guy she's had a crush on for six going on seven years. 'Why is he even looking at me?' She wondered. Then she noticed that he wasn't laughing. He was staring, yes, but his look was one of... 'concern? No way. He couldn't be, he's never looked my way before.' Lily didn't know. All she knew was that she was hurt and embarrassed. Finally, exhausted from crying, she fell asleep to the sound of her own sniffling. She wasn't looking forward to tomorrow.