Take A Risk Or Just Smile
Rated: Innocent PG at the moment but we never know, it may change in the future.
Summary: Jealousy, love, curiousity. The most infamous love-triangle in Hogwarts history! LilyEvans.SevSnape.JamesPotter.
Disclaimer: It's all mine! Nooooo, just kidding...gotcha!! I own nothing.
Comments on chapter one: Not particularly funny, sorry about that but intros seldom are, right?
Chapter 1 - Intro"Hey!" Lily snapped.
"Wha? Were you saying something?"
Her best friend, Severus, looked at her with the same tired, empty look which he had been giving the English country landscape outside the large compartment window for about fifteen minutes.
"No, I wasn't. But neither have you, for a long time now. Are you okay?"
"Sure, yeah." He tried to give a cheerful smile, but failed miserably. The result made him look like a crocodile.
She snorted. "This smile is as real as Sirius Black's crotch when he's wearing his leatherpants." He laughed. "Now, are you going to tell me what's bothering you or am I going to have to use veritaserum?
His smile faded and he sighed. "It's just the usual, really. My parents fighting about everything and nothing. I just haven't been able to sleep a lot lately, since they're throwing plates and stuff at each other and things." He made the crocodile face again. "Anyway, I'm just glad we're getting back to school, I'll be home again."
Lily nodded and reached for her big, flower patterned bag.
"I have a little something for you, after all, you are the winner of a Ragolfin." The Ragolfin was a very highly thought of Potions Challenge, in which Severus had come, seen and conquered.
He brightened up like the sun. "You really didn't have to. "
"I wanted to."
She fished out a battered package in brown paper, which she then handed to him. "This is sort of a joke, but they'll look lovely on you."
She grinned as he took the package from her outstretched hands, excited but suspicious, and unwrapped it, revealing a set of hot pink robes. She laughed at his horrified expression.
"I hear it's the new black. " She commented jokingly, causing him to grin too.
"Really? Well, the odds of me wearing those are as high as the odds of you going out with Potter."
She thought it over. "Well. Sev, be fair, now." His brow got heavier. "The chances of you wearing those very stylish pink robes are way higher than the chances of me ever dating the toerag. Honestly, get real.
They both laughed. At that excact moment the compartment door slided open and in stepped none others than James Potter and Sirius Black.
"Speaking of the devil." Severus muttered.
"Talking about me Evans?" James asked happily, completely ignoring Severus.
"Get out." She said tiredly. "At least wait until we get to school before you start pestering me."
"You were sooo talking about me." James exclaimed, satisfied.
"Yes, I was, actually. I was just telling Severus how lovely it is that I am Head Girl. It will result in me getting a whole new common room to study in, where I am not constantly bothered by your presence, and attempts to woe me with dungbombs and jinxes that make my hair go purple."
He looked a bit hurt by her remarks, but then smirked and straightened out his robes at the chest in the right side, revealing a shiny badge.
Lily and Severus gasped in horror.
"Oh, no." Lily exclaimed.
"Oh yes." Severus corrected and grinned. "So you hadn't heard." He leaned against the compartment door, looking handsome as always. "Well, I'd say she's taking it pretty well Prongsie. No shouting or crying or anything."
"Well, yeah." James smiled, but he couldn't hide what looked like disappointment at her negative reaction. "The same can't be said about little Snivellus here," James said in mock concern. „there's foam coming out of his mouth, look!"
And with a professional swish of James' long wand, Severus' mouth was, indeed, foaming rather violently.
Lily sprang up. "Expelliarmus!"
James gasped as his wand flew from his right into Lily's left.
"I suggest you go find yourself your very own compartment now boys." She hissed with a glare that made Sirius reach for the doorknob.
"Okay." He answered and took James' wand from Lily's outstretched hand. He walked out without another word, and James followed behind, turning around in the doorway.
"So I guess I'll see you in Dumbledore's office later then?" He asked Lily.
"I guess there's no avoiding that." She answered rather grumpily and slammed the door in his still grinning face.
"Bastard!" Snape retorted loudly to himself.
"Don't you mean bastards?" She corrected.
She was so busy opening a bag of crisps, that she didn't notice him blushing. "Yeah, right
Lily sighed. The gargoyle in front of her didn't budge. She was supposed to be up in Dumbledore's office ten minutes ago, it was very unlike her to be late, but there had been a rather exciting duel in the going on in a hallway on the third floor between a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin. Of course Avery had beat Diggle with rather severe consequenses for the latter, but he had put up a good fight.
"Caramel galleons?" She tried. "No?" She cursed, causing the gargoyle to sigh tiredly.
"Children today. Why has no one just tried asking politely?"
Lily straightened up. "Your gargoyleness. Might I perhaps ask of you to move out of the way for a second, so I could head up to the Headmaster's office? Please?"
"No." Lily could have sworn she saw the ruddy thing smirk. "Must follow rules."
She about to kick it off its pedestal, literally, when none other than James Potter came jogging down the hallway toward her, grinning from ear to ear.
"You see the duel?" He asked.
"Yes." She answered curtly. "You know the password Potter? We're late."
"Oh yes." He came back to himself. "Pecan Pie."
The gargoyle finally moved away, causing Lily, who had guessed only sweets, not pastries, to curse again. They stepped into the marble staircase, which spiralled gracefully up into a small hallway with only one dark wooden door, with an elegant brass knocker the shape of a griffin.
Before they got as far as to knock on the door, Dumbledore had already opened it.
"Why hello Heads. I must say that your timing is not a good foreboding for your Heads year.
"Well-" James began but was cut off by the Headmaster.
"Don't worry about it my dear boy. I understand that there was something highly interesting going on in the hallway on the third floor, am I right?"
They both smiled awkwardly.
"Right," Dumbledore said. "And now, something less fun, your duties as Head boy and girl, are for the most part, four things. First off, you are to patrol the hallways two nights a week from dinner to three after midnight."
Lily was shocked, that made... She tried to calculate... well, it certainly meant a lot of alone time with James, who seemed thrilled at the prospect of them being together so much.
"Secondly," Dumbledore said. "you are to organize and raise money for a gathering, or a party, for the students leaving Hogwarts this spring." Both James and Lily liked the idea of this, and nodded obediently.
"Thirdly, you are in charge of the prefects, and you must organize their patrolling schedule, and all ten of you are to work together to maintain order and administer discipline." James did not seem pleased with this, he was usually the one striving to get things out of order and be generally non-disciplined.
"But most importantly, you are supposed to notify me, if you become aware of any, and I mean any practice of the dark arts within the walls of Hogwarts. We all know that most Death Eaters go through here, and they don't go through without getting their first taste of dark magic. So, I would rather deal wih these people as students, still open minded and ready to change, instead of having to face them in a few years time, when Voldemort will have turned them into these monsters which people usually become around him. This man has made perfectly eligible people into cold-blooded murderers and soulless tools of destruction. He spreads evil like a weed, he sows ideas into people's minds, leaving them to grow his unhealthy attitude towards 'pure blood'. And he is gaining power, I'm afraid. We should by all means kkep our eyes and ears open, and unite against him, because only then can we take him down."
Lily felt sort of surprised to have Dumbledore confide in them like this, usually what he'd say to her was something along the lines of 'nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak', or 'I was delighted with the turkey, although the sock may have changed the flavor to the worse, I am afraid, fond as I am of socks...'
She glanced at James, sitting beside her, and was pleasantly surprised to see that his face had a look of strong will and determination etched upon it.
"I couldn't agree more." He said. "I already have a few suspects, if you'd be interested."
"I am, James, but not tonight, I have a very important meeting," He looked at his clock "five minutes ago. There is a lot more to being headmaster than just sitting around in here, reading and drinking tea." He gave a small smile and peeked at the two of them over his half moon spectacles. "I believe that the two of you will make as they say 'a hell of a team."
Lily couldn't fight off a grin. Hell was a very good way to put hundreds of hours with James Potter alone in dark hallways in the night.
"Thank you." James said, obviously quite proud.
"Well, I'll be off then. I wish you have a good night. The password to the Heads common room is Bloom, and there you will also have private dormitories, although I understand perfectly if you'd rather stay in the Gryffindor dorms, they are by far the most fun of all the school's dorms." He grinned.
They said goodbye and left, down the marble stairs again, and past the gargoyle, who was now snoring loudly.
"Want to check out our common room now?" He pointed into the hallway, in the opposite direction of where she was heading, Gryffindor. "It's on the fourth floor."
"No." She said, enjoying the look on his face. "I'm tired. We'll do it tomorrow. Besides, I don't want to be caught in the hallways at this hour."
James looked at her as if she was the dumbest thing he'd ever met, eyebrow's high and a smirk on his lips.
"Lily," He said in a know-it-all voice. "We're heads now. We could do aerobics in the entrance hall all night, and no one would bother us."
She thought this over. "Cool."
He seemed pleased with her answer, maybe he thought she didn't strongly dislike him anymore. What an arse.
"Anyway, Head or not, I have classes in the morning and I could fall asleep anytime now. You are welcome to stay behind here and do aerobics."
It took him a while to understand that she had just offended him.
"No thanks. I'll walk with you." He said kindly. Lily screamed on the inside. Was this man immune to insults?
"Lovely." She muttered and strode into the hallway before him. He trotted after her like an obedient lapdog.
A few minutes of complete silence passed, she enjoyed seeing him squirm in awkwardness, aching for something to say.
"Lily?"
"Yes?" She answered uninterestedly.
"Stop walking."
She came to a halt with a sigh. "What?"
"I was just wondering. Now that we're heads, and we are going to spend a lot of time together, could we try to be civil to each other? Every time I say something you give me the cold shoulder. Is it going to be like this all year? Because, if so, we have a problem."
She was taken aback. For the most part because she knew he was right. And that had never happened before.
"I guess maybe we should just settle on a truce." She finally said.
He seemed very pleased with that.
"And James?" He nodded. "This goes for Severus as well. Keep your claws off him."
James grimaced. "Do I have to?"
"Yes. Or it's off." She answered curtly.
He sighed and resumed walking after her, not quite as content as he'd been a few seconds before.
And as they headed up separate stairs, she to the girls' dorms and he to the boys', her goodbye was maybe just a fraction warmer than it had been on the train earlier.
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