Just Friends
By sheilajsn
Summary: This is a Lily/James FanFic. It takes place on their sixth year at Hogwarts, and it's the continuation of my first FF, A Beginning. So I suggest that you read that one first so you know why James and Lily seem to be friends now.
Disclaimer: I wish I were JKR, but I'm not. I'm just borrowing the characters that she created and using them in my humble attempt of a FanFic. I've also use some text from the books here and there, so if something sounds familiar to you, it probably is.
There will be HBP spoilers. I won't include a whole lot of information, but bits and pieces here and there. So be warned.
Chapter One: Reunions
Lily Evans, a fifteen-year-old girl with thick, dark red hair and startlingly green almond-shaped eyes, went through the barrier that separated the Muggle side of the King Cross Station from the Platform 9 ¾, from where the Hogwarts Express would depart taking all the students to another year in the famous school of witchcraft and wizardry. Lily had just taken a couple of steps pushing a luggage trolley when she heard her name being called.
"Lily! There you are!" A blonde girl was walking toward her with a wide smile in her round face and a cheerful look on her blue eyes.
"Alice!" Lily hugged her best friend, Alice Logan. They didn't stay in touch during the summer because Alice was visiting France with her family. Lily didn't realize how much she had missed her. "So, you had a good summer?"
"The best." Alice smiled even wider. "I have news that you won't believe."
"Then start talking," Lily said.
"Not now, and definitely not here." Alice grabbed Lily's arm. "We have to get ourselves on the train."
Both girls started walking toward the train pushing the luggage trolleys. Alice asked excited, "how were your OWL results?"
"I got twelve OWLs!" Lily exclaimed.
"What anyone would have expected of our little Miss Evans," Alice said with a smirk. "I got ten OWLs, and I managed to get all the classes I need to get into Auror training."
"That's great Alice!" Lily gave her friend a half hug. By that time they had already reached the train and started to unload their trunks from the trolleys.
"So," Lily tried to sound casual. "Have you seen anybody?"
Alice's eyebrow went up at the same time she was trying hard not to laugh.
"You mean if I've seen James Potter?" she asked grinning. "No, I haven't. But then again, I just got here."
Lily blushed. She wouldn't have thought Alice could see right through her.
"I didn't mean…" she muttered.
"Oh, come on Lily!" Alice interrupted her. "It's me you're talking to. Your best friend in the whole world." She passed her arm over Lily's shoulders. "You might have realized you like James two months ago, but I've known for ages."
"We're just friends." Lily was not giving up that easily.
"You keep telling yourself that Lils."
The two girls got to an empty compartment and put their trunks on the luggage rack. When they sat down Alice asked Lily.
"Do you know Frank Longbotton?"
"Well of course I know Frank," Lily answered rolling her eyes. "He's only a year older than us, and a Gryffindor Prefect. A little hard to miss."
"What do you think about him?" Alice insisted.
"Why?" Lily was confused. Alice had never talked about Frank before.
"Can you just answer the question?" Alice asked frowning.
"Okay!" Lily remembered Frank for a second, then said, "he is very nice and smart, and he's always willing to help anybody with classes and homework... I don't know Alice, I've never talked to him long enough to really get to know him."
"But you think he is a nice person?"
"I already said he's nice and he's also very kind. A gentleman," she said a little annoyed, and added, "not something I can say about many others."
"Can we focus here and not talk about James for five whole minutes?"
"Alice, what's wrong with you?"
Alice looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry Lily. I'm just a little anxious."
"But why?" She wished her friend would tell her what was happening. "Since when you're so interested in Frank Longbotton?"
"Since I'm dating him." Alice's voice was not louder than a whisper.
"What!" Lily jumped on her seat. "When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me you liked Frank? Aren't we supposed to be best friends?"
Alice was trying to talk but kept getting cut off by Lily's endless list of questions.
"Can you shut up for a second!" Alice had to shout to get her friend's attention. "At least if you want to know the answers to all those questions".
"Okay. But you have to tell me everything." Lily sat down again at the same time the train started moving. "Every little detail."
"Well, you know I went to France with my parents because dad had this international Aurors thing." Lily nodded and Alice continued. "Of course there were a lot of Aurors there and Frank's dad happens to be one too."
"I didn't know that."
"Neither did I. The thing is that Frank was also there, and we were the only two people who were younger than thirty. So obviously, we started to spend time together."
"And…" Lily urged her friend.
"And we got very close. We like all the same things. He also wants to be an Auror, and he has the OWLs for it, and I'm sure he's going to get the NEWTs this year." Alice closed her eyes for a moment. She looked like she was remembering. "Oh Lily! He is so sweet and kind. And he is so clever too. I can't wait for you two to really get to know each other."
"Alice, I don't know what to say. You haven't so much as glance at Frank… ever! This is really unexpected." Lily was a bit worried about her friend.
"Well, not all of us have liked the same guy since our first year at Hogwarts while pretending to hate him because we couldn't accept the truth." Lily glared at her. "Some of us are a lot less complicated," Alice finished with a smile.
Lily was about to say that she didn't like James when the compartment door swung open and a tall, dark-haired guy stuck his head in. Sirius Black was smiling widely, what made his gray eyes sparkle.
"Evans, Logan," he said in a sweet voice. "How very pleased I am to see you both. Exactly the ladies me and my associates were looking for."
"Hi Sirius!" said Alice cheerfully.
"Why exactly were you looking for us?" Lily asked with a tone of apprehension in her voice.
"Evans, loosen up." He went back to the corridor and shouted, "hey! What are you doing down there? I already found them." Then he walked in and sat in front of the two girls.
"So, how was your summer?" he asked them.
They looked at each other and started giggling.
"That good?" Sirius eyed them suspiciously, but he didn't have a chance to say anything else because Remus Lupin was standing at the door, looking as pale and exhausted as usual.
"There you are Alice," he said, and then he seemed to realize something and continued. "Sorry girls. Where are my manners? Hi Alice! Hi Lily! You guys had a nice summer?"
But before either of them could answer Sirius talked. "Apparently very good. But I think you're not supposed to ask."
Lily and Alice shared a complicity look.
"You see," Sirius continued. "They're not talking."
"They must have their reasons, Sirius." Remus winked at the girls. "Anyway, Alice…"
He was interrupted by the arrival of another guy, this one with glasses and very untidy black hair. He was smiling widely when he walked in the compartment and his hazel eyes were fixed on Lily.
"Hi Alice!" James Potter said without looking at her. "Hi Lily! How was…
"Don't ask about their summer!" Sirius interrupted him. "It is supposed to be a big secret".
"Oh, shut up Sirius!" Alice said rolling her eyes. "Enough with the summer. If you are really interested, it was very good, thank you."
Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Remus.
"Alice, aren't we supposed to be at the Prefects meeting?"
"I totally forgot about it! Let's go! We're already late." She rushed out the door with Remus behind her.
James sat down next to Lily, on the seat Alice had just left empty.
"James, where's Peter?" Sirius asked. "I though he was with you."
"He was," said James smirking, "but he locked himself in an empty compartment at the very end of the train."
"How in the world did he manage to do that?" Sirius asked trying not to laugh.
"I have no idea, mate," was James' answer.
Looking at James and Sirius' faces Lily had no doubt that the fact that Peter was locked down in a compartment was not an accident.
"And I guess it will be up to me to go rescue poor little Peter before he starts panicking," Sirius continued in the same mock concerned tone.
"If you do that you would be proving what a good friend you are," said James.
Sirius stood up and got very close to James. Their faces barely an inch apart. Sirius was looking straight at James' eyes. And he finally whispered.
"Whose friend?"
He walked over to the door and turned around just before exiting.
"Now, mind your manners, Prongs," said Sirius with a malicious grin on his face.
When Lily turned to face James, she noticed the murderous look he cast his friend.
"Prongs?" she asked.
"Oh! Yes, Prongs. It's a little nickname the guys gave me."
"I guess I never paid attention before, but I think I remember them calling you that." She pondered for a second. "You also call Sirius something, right?"
"Yes. Sirius is Padfood, Remus is Moony and Peter is Wormtail."
"Wormtail? What kind of a nickname is that?" They both laughed. "How did you come up with those anyway?"
"Lily, there you go again asking questions to which you don't want to know the answer. Let's just say that the Marauders needed cool nicknames." He leaned back on the seat and stretched his legs. "Someday I will tell you everything, but it's still too soon for that."
"Knowing you, Potter, I'm not sure if I ever want to know."
They remained silent for a while, watching through the window how the landscape changed as the train moved forward.
"So, how was your summer? If I'm allowed to ask," James finally said.
"Of course you can. For the first time ever I'll have to say that it was not good at all." For the look on his face she could tell James was trying to decide whether or not he should ask what had happened. She answered his unasked question. "It's because of my sister. She hates me and did her best to make my life miserable."
"You have a sister?" Lily suddenly realized how little James really knew about her.
"Yes. Her name is Petunia and she is two years older than me. We used to be very close but when I came to Hogwarts everything changed."
"She's a Muggle then?"
"Yes. I'm the only witch in my family."
"So, what did your sister do?"
"Oh! Nothing really important. She was just mean, always making comments about me being a freak."
"A what!" James sat up straight with his eyes wide open. "She called you a freak? What's wrong with her?"
"Yeah!" Lily couldn't help laughing at James' reaction. "That's what I thought the first time she said that last Christmas. But she just doesn't understand the things that I do at school. And I guess she's also a little bit jealous that my parents pay so much attention to me when I'm at home."
"You are too sweet, you know?" James relaxed again. "She calls you names and you find a way to justify her actions. I really don't know how you do it."
Lily blushed slightly under his intense gaze. "Well, it's the same thing when people call me a Mudblood. Words are not strong enough to hurt me. Besides, it depends on who is the person calling you names."
Now James seemed truly impressed. "You are the bravest girl I know. I remember when Snape called you a… Well, that. I wanted to rip his head off."
Lilly bit her lip. There was something she wanted to ask James, but she was not sure how he would take it.
"Can I ask you a favor?" she said cautiously.
"You can ask me anything." He smiled widely.
Lily took a deep breath and said slowly. "Would you let Snape alone?"
Surprise and confusion draw on James' face. He looked like he was looking for the right words but soon enough he seemed to give up and just blurted out.
"Why do you defend him so much?"
"Why do you attack him so much?" she asked him a little louder than she had planned.
"You don't know him Lily. He's not the innocent, helpless little guy that you seem to think."
"But he can't be half as horrible as you seem to think."
"Yes he is. He's a sneaky little grease ball and he hates me."
"You sound like a five-year-old. If he's really that bad, you can be the bigger man and ignore him."
James remained silent for a moment, thinking. His hazel eyes were fixed on her green ones. He sighed loudly and said.
"I can promise you that I won't go looking for trouble with Snape. But that's the best I can do." He leaned back on his seat.
Lily smiled and leaned back next to him. "That's more than I was hoping for."
They sat silently for a while until Lily spoke again.
"What about your summer?"
"Pretty decent, actually," he said without looking at her. "I got myself a roommate."
"A roommate?" She saw his lip curl.
"Sirius. He finally had enough of his family and left. He's living at my house now."
"But why?" James turned to face her.
"Come on Lily! You have met a couple of Blacks, haven't you?"
Lily remembered Narcisa and Bellatrix Black. They were Sirius' cousins and had already graduated from Hogwarts. Like most members of the Black family they had been sorted into Slytherin.
"Well," she said slowly. "Narcisa and Bellatrix are no piece of cake. They think they're better than everybody else because they are purebloods."
"And how about Regulus?" James asked her.
But she didn't think Sirius' little brother was that bad. He was two years younger than them and was also a Slytherin. Lily had always had the impression that he was a lost and confused little kid. He seemed to be just following along with what was expected from him.
"I think Regulus is not all that convinced about the importance of the purity of blood."
"That's what makes it worst. He is just too weak to stand up to his mother and tell her he disagrees with her. He's letting her push him in any direction she wants."
"How come Sirius is not like that?"
"He's just too stubborn to let anyone push him around." He laughed at the thought. "Actually," he added in a more serious tone, "Padfoot is the strongest person I know." He looked into Lily's eyes. "Well, he and you…" He smiled again "… and Moony."
"Are you going to add anyone else in your ever growing list of strong people?" she asked trying to sound amused so he didn't notice that she was truly touched by the fact that he thought she was strong.
"No. That's about it." He grinned widely.
The compartment door swung open to let in Sirius, followed by Peter Pettigrew.
Half and hour later, when Alice and Remus returned to the compartment accompanied by Frank Longbotton, Lily was reading, while Sirius, James and Peter were playing a game of exploding snap. Lily thought that this was the first time she saw Peter being better than Sirius and James at something. He seemed to know that and was enjoying every bit of this unusual experience.
"Hey!" Alice said and everybody looked up. "Do you guys know Frank?"
Sirius, Peter, James and Remus shared a part confused, part amused look. Sirius responded.
"Alice, we're all Gryffindors. Of course we know Frank. He is the coolest prefect ever. Except for Moony here. No offense." He smirked.
"None taken," he said smiling. Lily had the impression that he was thinking the same thing as her. By "the coolest prefect ever" Sirius meant that he never gave the Marauders detention when they broke the rules.
Frank went to sit next to Alice. James and Sirius seemed to have finally understood his presence in the compartment. Peter, on the other hand, only looked interested in getting Sirius and James into the game again.
"Wait. You two…?" James started but he seemed to decide not to ask.
"Yes Potter. We are dating." Frank answered James' unasked question.
James shot Sirius a sideways glance that made Lily suddenly remember that he and Alice had gone out a couple of times last year.
Alice had been interested in Sirius for a long time, just like every other girl in school (with the exception of Lily and maybe one or two Slytherins.) When Sirius finally asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him she was really excited.
Back then Lily thought they had hit it off, but before the Christmas break, it was all over. Lily knew Alice was wishing for a long-term relationship, but Sirius didn't seem to be interested in any type of commitment.
Alice was heart broken, but by the end of the school term she had accepted the fact that everything was over between her and Sirius. Still, Lily was very surprised to hear she was dating Frank now.
Lily glanced at her friend. She, Frank and Peter were immersed in what appeared to be a very interesting conversation about exploding snap tactics and neither of them had noticed the other conversation that was taking place. But this was a silent one. Sirius, James and Remus were communicating without words, just by looking at each other. Lily smiled. She wished she could be part of that, but she was certain that no matter what, there were some things that these three boys would never share with her or anybody else.
Remus was the one who noticed her. She was startled when his brown eyes met hers. She blushed and stared resolutely at her hands folded together in her lap. She felt like an intruder.
Lily looked up when she heard James, Remus and Sirius snickering.
Sirius said, "you know what Evans? I might have been wrong about you all along."
Lily didn't know exactly what he meant, but she was pretty sure it was supposed to be a compliment.
"You know what Black?" she said, "I might have been wrong about you too."
All four of them burst out laughing this time. They laughed even harder when they saw the confused faces of Peter, Alice and Frank.