Disclaimer: Once again, I do not anything besides characters that I have created myself.
Chapter 2:
Lily's POV, after talking with James:
I step toward the door quickly and close it behind me before James can smile at me charmingly one more time. I run over to my bed and drop my bag right next to it. I feel my face flood with the delightful smell and feel of my sheets and pillow. Almost instinctively, my mouth opens and I scream in shock into my pillow. I feel my vocal cords crack slightly as I draw out the scream. Suddenly, I feel myself being ripped away from my cosy pillow and the first thing I see are Audrey's anxious grey eyes peering at me.
"Merlin, Lily, I thought someone had died, the way that you screamed! What's wrong, are you okay? Did Potter do something to you?" Her panicked eyes turn suspicious. I barely hear her.
"James Potter knows my name." I whisper with wonder and shock.
Probably because he looked me up.
Audrey draws back at my words, surprised that I had screamed at something as small as that.
"And...?" Like this isn't the biggest development of the year. I sit up suddenly and hit Audrey's head that was still close to my face. We both grimace and I apologise.
"Audrey, this is the biggest development of the year! Here I was, believing that the Marauders thought my name was Leslie! And it turns out; they've known my name all along!" I say with a gigantic smile on my face.
"Audrey, you should have been there! James, he smiled at me like five times and god, he has such a great smile!" I sigh, the memories taking me over. "And he asked me to tutor him! I've got a tutor date with him today!" I say before I collapse with happiness onto my bed.
For a couple seconds, silence ensues as I think dreamily of James.
Suddenly, I feel cold, wet drops splash onto my face as I am jerked out of my daydream. I open my eyes and another cold drop splashes right into my eye.
I quickly rub my hand over my eye and see Audrey's face over mine again with her wet, dark brown hair splashing over me.
"Can you dry your hair, please? It's getting all over me." Now, that I wasn't in a state of shock anymore, I saw that Audrey wasn't wearing anything.
"Audrey! Bloody hell!" I say as I shield my eyes. She looks at me weirdly before she looks down at herself and realises.
"Oops." She laughed. "I wondered why it suddenly got so cold in here. I wouldn't have run in here in between conditioning if you hadn't screamed bloody murder." She says as she picks up her towel and walks over to her bed where she starts dressing.
"You want my advice, Lily?" She questions. I smile and jokingly say. "No." She ignores my answer.
"I don't think this is going to turn out well." She says simply and my smile disappears. "This is James Potter we are talking about. One of the hottest and most popular guys at Hogwarts. What could he really want from you?" I sit up and stubbornly fold my arms.
"My help on Charms." I deadpanned. She just looks at me from where she is putting on some jeans.
"I don't know, Lily. I just have a bad feeling about this. I don't want you to get hurt and I have a feeling that Potter is going to do just that." I melt a little but nonetheless straighten my back.
"I will be careful but I have a feeling as well and my feeling is telling me that James has good intentions. Besides, I think its about time that I let myself have a social life outside of you." I say in a final tone.
She holds her hands up and shrugs. "Don't say I didn't warn you." I glare at her.
"You sound like you want me to get hurt just so that you're right." I say in a begrudging tone. She sighs and walks over to me.
"Lily, there are two things that I don't want to be right about: this and the world ending." I smile slightly. Audrey smiles too but soon her face turns serious.
"I'm serious, Lily. I wouldn't ever want you to get hurt for my pride. I just want you to be careful around James. Who knows what he has got up his sleeve?" I nod and smile understandingly.
"You're right. Just because James has a nice smile doesn't mean that he is not capable of doing something mean. I think we've seen how far James can go in regards to Snape." I said impassively. Audrey's face grows angry and impassive but she lets that expression go and smiles sadly before she hugs me. After a while, we separate.
A few minutes later, I am about to change my shirt before Audrey stops me and peers at me.
"Lily, aren't we the same height?" I look up, my eyebrows knitted together.
"Uh…Yeah." She nods and walks toward her drawer where she keeps her clothes. She throws me a pair of dark colored jeans and a silky blouse.
"There, wear those." I pick up the jeans and put them up against my hips. They were the perfect height.
I looked up at Audrey and shook my head. "I can't fit into these. You don't have big hips like me." Audrey just looks at me.
"Please, Lily, my mom tells me every day in an effort to console me that I have 'birthing hips.' In my opinion, your hips don't look like you could give birth quite yet. Besides you don't know unless you try them on." From the look on her face, I know that she would not let me leave for breakfast without at least trying them on.
With a sigh, I pointedly take off the pyjamas I had put back on and begrudgingly, I put on the jeans. With a tug, I get the jeans on and button them.
"There, happy?" I look over at Audrey who has a satisfied look on her face.
"Come over here." I walk over to the mirror where Audrey is standing. In the mirror is a girl with a curvy body but jeans that accentuate every single curve. I stare at myself in the mirror.
Wait until James sees this.
"Wow." I say and twirl around. The jeans cling to me in every place and suddenly, I feel a smile envelope my face.
"I know, right? I knew they would be perfect! You can keep them; I think they're too small for me anyway." Audrey said before she slaps my arse and exclaims. "Damn, Lily, now you don't look like you're ten anymore!" I let the slight insult slide and laugh with her. In my happiness, I grab Audrey's hands and we start freestyle dancing right there. No music even needed. Giggling and twirling, I probably haven't had that much fun in a long time. Too bad it had to end.
The door to our dorm opens and in steps in the other girl that we share the dorm with, Violetta Grey. She has short, platinum blonde hair that today she has gathered into two ponytails on the side of her face. Her face is covered in red bumps but her charisma and confidence has made it so that she is one of the most sought after girls at Hogwarts. She's practically best friends with Sirius Black and there have been rumours that she is romantically involved with him which is ironic since Sirius' last name is Black and hers is Grey.
Violetta has always been nice to me but I've never really gotten to know her. She's on the Gryffindor Qudditch team and that dictates most of her time when its Qudditch season and even when it's not. So we never really see her around the dorm that much, only when she comes to sleep late at night. Sometimes she doesn't even come back at night. Audrey and I have assumed that she and the Marauders are out gallivanting somewhere. She is, after all, basically, an unofficial Marauder.
When Audrey and I hear the door open, we both freeze completely. Violetta comes into the room, seeing what we were doing and smiles slowly.
"Well, don't let my arrival stop you. In fact..." She whips out her wand and suddenly, music starts playing. I've never heard it before but it's just the sort of music to spontaneously start dancing to and that's what Violetta does.
Now I know why the Marauders love her. After who knows how long, all three of us collapse onto the floor, giggling like crazy. I don't think I've ever acted so girly.
"Merlin, after six years of living together in the same dorm, we have never had the clichéd sleepover dance sessions that I thought we would have every day when I came here...until now." She said and smiled over at us, her bright teeth catching me off guard for a moment.
A few more moments lapse in silence before all of us get up and awkwardly shuffle toward our own beds. I ponder how I just acted. I'm quite surprised that I let in Violetta that easily. I suppose it must be because I know she is a fairly good person and I have lived in the same dorm as her for six years.
"Its about time that I have a social life outside of you."
Audrey picks through something on her bedside table and I pick up the red, silky shirt that Audrey had thrown at me earlier. I toss the shirt between my hands and watch the silk slip easily. Out of curiosity, I change into the shirt and walk over to the mirror.
Suddenly, the silence is broken by a wolf whistle. I look over my shoulder and there stands Violetta with yet another smile on her face.
"Wow, Lily, where did that body come from?" She says with a teasing smile. I blush and look at myself more in the mirror.
"I know, right? Throw on some different clothes and that comes out." Audrey says from behind me. Audrey and Violetta both laugh and I smile slightly.
"Hey, you should wear that to your tutor date today." I curse Audrey in my head as my cheeks turn red at the mention.
Violetta raises her eyebrows at me as I turn back toward the mirror, acting like I hadn't heard Audrey at all.
"What date?" Violetta questions me with an intrigued smirk on her face. I pretend like I've been momentarily been struck deaf. Of course Audrey is always here to help.
"Lily has a tutor date with James Potter today. She needs to look good while she seductively tutors him on the complications of the Fidelius Charm." Audrey says with a wink towards me. I just glare back at her with a beet red face.
"Ohhhhhhh! James and Lily!" Violetta exclaims. I put my hands onto my face and groan.
"Oooh!" Audrey says in a sign that she has a new idea. Not a good sign. "I have an idea. I've got my old uniform from last year which would fit Lily perfectly! She could be like the studious, sexy tutor!" Audrey and Violetta both exclaim and run towards the drawer where Audrey keeps her clothes. Soon, the old uniform emerges and they try to convince me to try it on.
Ten minutes later, I am staring at myself in the mirror. What the hell has happened to me?
The buttoned down shirt doesn't allow me to button up past my boobs so a lot of skin is showed there, needless to say. The skirt is 10 centimetres below my hips and the skirt clings to me like a second skin. I have to say I look like a vixen but I'm not sure that's a good thing.
"Damn, Lily. James will be drooling if you turn up in that!" Violetta exclaims. I don't even contemplate wearing it, I decline immediately.
"No, there is no way I am going to meet James looking like a slag! What does that say about me? That if I a bloke so much as looks in my direction, I whip out the boobs? No, I will not do it!" Violetta and Audrey both groan.
"Alright, alright. We'll just save that for the bedroom." Violetta says with a saucy wink as my face once again turns red and I start to feel annoyed.
Minutes later, I have changed clothes and we are walking to the great hall for breakfast. After that the hours pass quickly before it is finally time to get ready.
Audrey convinces me to put on the blouse and my new (although, really, old) jeans. She also tries to convince me to wear makeup and put my hair up but I refuse, saying that I didn't want to look like I was trying too hard.
A couple minutes later, I'm in the library in the aisles filled with books, flipping through a book that I think will help James understand some important concepts. Suddenly, I feel a pair of arms slide around my waist. Terrified, I flinch and drop the book I was holding. In shock, I just stand there.
In my shock, I feel someone planting little kisses onto my neck. Despite the fact that I was basically being sexually harrased, a tiny part of me was starting to enjoy it...Then the person speaks.
In a low murmur with a hint of surprise, the person says. "Love, why are you so stiff? What's wrong? Are you still mad about yesterday?" The bloke says in a deep voice and with those words, I snap out of my shock.
"...I think you've got the wrong person." I say in a whisper. He merely chuckles.
"What are you talking about? I would know that arse anywhere!" He says in a flirtatious low murmur before he slaps my arse. I jolt and turn around in his arms. Sirius Black's arms.
His face is a centimetre away from mine as he stares at me in shock. Finally, he seems to realise that he can't actually recognise 'that arse' anywhere. He jolts as far away from me as the small hallway would allow.
"Lily? Lily Evans?" Uncomfortably, Sirius runs his hand through his hair and doesn't look me in the eyes while he mutters a flustered apology. With flaming cheeks, I say that it's okay when at that moment I really don't feel like it is. I feel like at any moment I might start hyperventilating. And just when I thought things couldn't get more uncomfortable and just awful, they do.
James Potter walks in. I can imagine what it looked like. Lily Evans and Sirius Black shuffling awkwardly, as far away from each other as possible between the book shelves. I would be suspicious if I walked in on that and clearly, James was too.
"Uh...Lily, there you are. I was looking for you." He looks at me oddly and turns toward Sirius. "Sirius...What are you doing in the library? I thought you weren't intelligent enough to read." James says in a weak attempt of a joke, mostly because of his hostile tone. His eyebrows are skimming the top of his hairline and on his lips is a stilted smile.
Sirius looks away from James' slightly glaring gaze and awkwardly stutters out a response.
"I-I thought that...Lily was someone else. And I tried to prank her but thank god, Lily has such great reflexes..." Sirius emphasizes the great and looks at me pointedly like I should have reacted a little faster when he started...seducing me, for lack of a better word.
I glare slightly at Sirius and nod my head vigorously at James. "He basically just attacked me." I say in a low murmur, shooting a satisfied glance at Sirius. In my head, I wonder what the hell has gotten into me. When have I suddenly been able to talk to Sirius Black and James Potter without stuttering like crazy and saying something ridiculously stupid?
It's hard to be uncomfortable around them.
James seems to believe us and he turns toward Sirius. "Sirius, control your urges around Lily. I know she's looking very good today." James said with a smile and a wink toward me. I blush like always.
Sirius rolls his eyes. "I'll try to." He says in a heavily sarcastic voice but despite his tone, his expression is saying something completely different than what his tone might suggest. "Don't you both have somewhere to go? The broom cupboards perhaps?" He says with raised eyebrows. I draw back a little. Is he mocking us?
James looks at Sirius annoyingly and says defiantly. "Yes, in fact, we do." Sirius stares at us with surprise and an amused expression.
"Well, well, well. James works fast these days." Sirius says with yet another mocking tone. It really is starting to annoy me. But I keep my annoyance in.
But James doesn't. "I just meant that we do have somewhere to go to. But I'm not going to tell you where that is because you seem to think you already know. Although, you're wrong." James says in a frustrated tone. I can assume that Sirius has probably done this before, assumed that he's right and then been too bloody stubborn to admit that he might be wrong.
"Come on, Lily. Let's go to that secret place that we'll do secret things in and talk secretly about..."He stops talking at the expression on Sirius' face. He looks like he's suffocating from keeping in his laughter. James' eyes narrow and he purses his lips. Sirius lets out a burst of laughter.
"You know, you're not helping your case." Sirius says in between chuckles and I can't help but giggle a little. James fell right into that one.
James rolls his eyes and smiles before laughing as well. "Seriously, Lily, let's go. I don't want to be in this git's presence anymore." James says jokingly before he walks out. I nod to Sirius and follow James. But before I can take two steps, Sirius grabs my wrist and takes a step closer to me.
I look up at him and realise that are faces are mere centimetres apart. Sirius stares into my eyes and whispers.
"Don't tell anyone about what happened." I look back at him steadily in the eyes.
Who would I tell?
"I wasn't planning on it." I whisper back and Sirius lets go of my wrist as I walk away. I turn the corner and spot James' messy hair immediately.
I sit down in the chair next to James and sit there awkwardly for a moment. James is staring in concentration at the torch lining the library wall with a confused expression. After a few more seconds of just sitting there, I snap my fingers in front of his face.
"James." He blinks and turns at me with an inscrutable expression. My eyes wander around the room restlessly for a while before I look back at James.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask him calmly, staring intently at the table. James blinks at me, surprised, but answers back.
"I was just trying to figure you out." He says simply, staring at me with the exact infuriating expression as before. I fidget nervously under his intense gaze and sigh in annoyance as he continues to stare at me with his head tilted.
"How's that going?" I ask him with a slight smile. James smiles back at me.
"Not so good. But I'll crack the code soon enough." I raise my eyebrows. I don't really fancy being called a 'code' that needs cracking. But I don't say anything, I just look back at James' handsome face. He really is gorgeous. He has a strong jaw, really the most important part of a man in my opinion. After a few moments of silence, James speaks.
"So, what have you got planned?" James asks and I stop staring at his jaw.
"Well...I hadn't really planned anything because I don't know what exactly you need help on." I said in my normal voice.
"Alright, that is easy. I can't get the bedazzling hex right and I have a few questions on my homework." I nodded and thought for a minute.
"The hard thing about the bedazzling hex is the motion that you have to get right with your wand. If you don't get it right, the spell doesn't work at all. So, get out your wand." All the while I talked, James looked into my eyes the whole time and seemed like he really was trying to understand what I was saying. It was the first time someone had ever acted like they cared about what I was talking about besides with Audrey and maybe even Sirius.
He got out his wand and I stood up and walked behind him. I laid my hand over his wand hand and showed him the correct way to cast the bedazzling hex. I was blushing the whole time but I reminded myself that I was just being helpful and with tutoring I have to do everything I can to make sure that James understands the material.
"Do you have that?" I ask and James nods. I walk back to my chair and tell him to point his wand toward me and practice the spell. He looks a little anxious at first but he complies and soon, I am not visible anymore. The spell worked.
For several minutes, James practices the spell on me and things around him.
"So, first question. What makes the Fidelius Charm so difficult?" I think for a moment.
"Well, the thing is..."
Fifteen minutes later, James is silently doing his homework, asking me questions occasionally while I study for my DADA final.
"So, Lily, what really happened with Sirius? Don't tell me you fell for his charm." He says with a smile but I can't help but notice that he seems a little annoyed.
"Exactly what he said. I was flipping through this book when Sirius tried to prank me. He...jumped onto my back and tried to scare me but I started hitting him until he fell off my back and noticed that I wasn't exactly who he thought I was. He was mortified." James starts laughing at my made up story. I soon join in at how preposterous the story and how different it is from the truth. Well, it was true that he did kind of attack me.
I am still laughing slightly when James' laughing dies and he stares at me with yet another thoughtful expression. I stop laughing and try to focus on my DADA study guide for finals. But the words on the page aren't registering; I peek up and see that James is still staring me. Before I even form the sentence in my head, I say it.
"What? Am I more fascinating than your Charms homework?" I say, not even looking up. I expect James to blush and go back to what he was doing. But he surprises me.
"Definitely." He said softly, still looking me in that way. I blush and challenge him.
"And why is that?" I said in a careful voice, looking over James' shoulder at nothing in particular.
"You confuse me. One minute you're stuttering and counting spiders. The next you're loud mouthed and assaulting Sirius Black. And the minute after that, it seems almost like you're...flirting." He says with a bewildered look. I blush and mutter.
"I'm not flirting." James hurriedly explains what he meant.
"Oh, I'm not talking about with me. I'm talking about with Sirius." This time, I look up.
"What? Why would you think that?" I sputter in confusion. I was so not flirting with him!
He scoffs. "Oh, I saw that little glare you shot at him with that little smile. You were so teasing him! And Sirius was giving it right back." He said derisively like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I stare back at him with flaming cheeks.
"No need to act so jealous." I say, only half sarcastically. James opens his mouth but nothing comes out. Finally, he sighs and goes back to his homework without another word.
A few more minutes pass uncomfortably before James speaks.
"I'm sorry. I don't want to make this uncomfortable. It doesn't apply to me at all whatever is happening or not happening. Besides, better Sirius than Snape."
I glare at him and lay down the law. "Listen, Potter. I barely know you so don't go acting like you know what's best for me or that you have the right to barge into my business." James looks a little shocked but nods nonetheless.
"You're right. I'm sorry." He says with his head ducked. James looks up and his glasses flop slightly to the side.
"Can we just start over?" He said with a bashful and hopeful smile. I smile a little at the look on his face and nod.
An hour later, I am laughing so much that tears are emerging from my eyes.
"Then the donkeys ran away when McGonagall came over and Sirius made everything worse by saying, 'Hey, Minnie love, looking good today.'" James and I collapse into giggles and Madam Pince marches over to us.
"That is it! Last warning! Get. Out!" James and I try to stifle our laughter while we pack up our things and once we got outside of the library, we dissolve into laughter again. My stomach hurts from laughing too much.
Between giggles, James huffs in a perfect impression of Madam Pince. "'Get. Out!'"
That just makes us laugh all the harder. After we calm down, James throws his arm over my shoulder.
"Lily, I believe this is the start of a beautiful friendship." I smile at the ground.
"I agree." I murmur as I try to duck out of James' arm.