Love is the Heart of Acceptance; Hate is the Heart of Denial
LilyHeartsJames
Summary: It all started when her stupid sister made her miss the train. It all ended when Voldemort tragically took their lives. Read on to discover what happened to Lily & James in between.
Disclaimer: If I told you I created Harry Potter then you wouldn't believe me; 'cause everyone knows J.K Rowling did it. Unless you've been living under a rock :P
Dedication: AnnaxStoney- My first reviewer :D Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! :)
Notes: Thank you all so much for reviewing, favouriting and alerting. I really hope people will come back to this story and find more chapters awaiting them. And here you guys go. Thanks heaps, I appreciated it! :D
] CHAPTER TWO [
First Day Back
Lily awoke to a bright and early morning and snuggled up closer to her pillow, bringing her blankets up to her chin. She was back at Hogwarts; away from her snobby sister and her horrible boyfriend and was sleeping in her amazing four poster bed in Gryffindor Tower with her best friends surrounding her.
Lily was half tempted to wake up and start jumping on all of their beds but a knock at the door caused her eyes to snap open and she sat up abruptly, taking in the room around her that was much smaller than the seventh year girls' dormitory and there was only one bed. And she was currently occupying it.
She jumped up, slipped her feet into her fluffy rainbow slippers and made her way over to the door and wrenched it open, only to be met by none other than James Potter.
"Oh, it's you" she spat and the look on his face irritated her even further. She wanted nothing more than to wipe that annoying smirk off of his face.
"Good morning, Evans. Considering you slept in and was late for the train yesterday I took it upon myself to wake you up today" he announced in a proud voice and she rolled her eyes.
"One, my sister isn't here to be a cow and cause my alarm clock to not work and two, I was already awake. I don't need your help" she snapped and James shrugged and continued to smile at her.
"You're welcome by the way. I'll see you at breakfast. Nice slippers" he added with a wink and turned and strolled out of the Common room, the portrait slowly swinging shut behind him.
Lily ignored her beetroot red cheeks and shut her door ruthlessly and turned back to her wardrobe and began pulling out her uniform, ready for the day ahead.
"Lily! I cannot believe you get your own common room and living quarters. You are sooo lucky!" Dorcas exclaimed, sighing into the palm of her hand.
Lily crinkled her nose in disgust.
"I wouldn't call living with Potter for the entire year lucky" she responded and glared at the messy haired boy who was spreading marmalade onto his toast and talking to Remus and Peter about the classes they were taking. He must have felt a pair of eyes on him because he glanced up and his sparkling hazel eyes caught Lily's and a smirk swept across his face as she hastily lifted her gaze and narrowed her eyes at the butter instead.
Alice and Marlene noticed this exchange and smiled at one another knowingly and Roxanne rolled her eyes.
"Well like it or not; you're stuck with him. You might as well try to get along" she told her, her tone seeming bored and Lily's glare turned to her best friend who seemed not to care about receiving the well-known look feared by many people at the school.
"Getting along with Potter seems less inviting than suicide" Lily snarled and Roxanne sighed unsympathetically.
"Stop being dramatic, Evans. You've been working towards this Headship for years; don't let him getting on your wrong side screw it up for you. He only wants reactions out of you and you give them to him; it's what entertains him. Just ignore him" she explained and passed her a piece of toast with strawberry jam spread onto it.
Lily sighed and took it, thanking her friend gratefully. She was right; all Potter wanted to do was annoy her, that's why he always wore that annoying smirk in her presence, that was why he was a constant smartarse, and that also was why he asked her out continuously. He was waiting for her to crack. And she wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"McGonagall incoming" Marlene muttered and they all raised their eyes to find their Head of House striding along the Gryffindor table, handing out time tables to each student and stopping once every so often to answer a question or remind students not to be late.
Professor McGonagall was not a teacher to cross with; she was very strict, and a majority of the time spoke in a stern tone. Her dark grey hair was always tied back into a tight, constricted bun and on some days, was lurking underneath a pointed hat. She had a very brisk walk and wore a pair of small squared glasses. Behind these, were very meticulous, suspicious narrowed eyes always roaming about for trouble amongst the student body. She could sense a dilemma, nuisance or hassle from a mile away.
"Here are your time-tables, ladies. Miss. Evans, I heard about what arose yesterday. Is everything sorted?" she asked, bustling along towards them and handing them their time-tables.
"Everything is fine Professor; it won't happen again" Lily replied matter of factly. She would be having a chat to Petunia the moment she was home.
"I should hope not; it does not do for a Head Girl to be unorganised on her first day" McGonagall answered in a scrupulous tone and then carried on to the next group of students leaving Lily to sigh inwardly.
Marlene let out a loud yawn as Sirius Black strutted casually past her, flicking his hair over his shoulder and humming a low, positive tune to himself.
"Morning lads!" he greeted his fellow Marauders who moved along the bench to allow room for him to join them.
"When we left you fifteen minutes ago, you were standing in front of the mirror staring at yourself. Please tell me there's no crack in the mirror after you stood there making ugly faces at yourself?" James commented and Sirius punched him on the shoulder.
"Shut up; I was making sure my facial expressions matched my hair" he responded heatedly and Remus cleared his throat behind the Daily Prophet, choosing not to say anything.
"Sod off, Moony" Sirius snapped and James chuckled as Sirius pulled a bowl of porridge towards him and began shovelling it down, letting flecks of porridge fly everywhere as the girls and Remus gave him disgusted looks.
Roxanne grimaced as she turned to the girls and muttered something and Lily and Alice sniggered together as Marlene let out a groan and poured herself and Dorcas a glass each of orange juice. She then glanced at her friend and caught her blushing darkly.
Marlene raised her eyebrows at her and before she could ask, a seventh year Ravenclaw strolled past with his friends and caught Dorcas' eye and smiled at her.
As Dorcas stared back at him with bright red cheeks and a huge grin, her had that was holding her glass slipped and orange juice dripped all down the front of her robes causing her to squeal in surprise.
The boy tried not to laugh out of politeness, and instead turned to his friends and began talking animatedly with them while Dorcas held back tears of embarrassment.
"Look at me; I'm a mess! And we've only got five minutes until our first class!" she wailed, and Lily stood up and put her hands on her shoulders to calm her down.
"I'll take care of it" she promised and whipped her wand out of her pocket and with a flick; Dorcas' uniform was even cleaner than before.
"Oh, thank you Lily! I don't know what came over me, I'll-"
Marlene shook her head as she remembered her blushing friend staring at the boy with short, golden blonde hair and shiny blue/purple eyes that had previously left the hall. She chuckled quietly to herself. Dorcas had always been awkward around boys that she liked; and as her best friend, Marlene knew in an instant when this occurred.
"We'd better head off, we have Charms first with the Ravenclaws" she said and Marlene's eyes lit up mischievously. If that boy took Charms with them, she would somehow work out a way to get him and Dorcas talking to each other. Some way or another.
Roxanne stood from the table, pulling her back pack with her and slung it over her shoulders ready to head off to Charms with her friends who bustled to join her. They were about to leave when Sirius called out her name and she muttered to herself before turning and narrowing her eyes at him.
"What do you want Black?"
He smiled sweetly at her.
"What are you doing this weekend? Besides me?"
She opened her mouth to yell a stream of mixed swearwords at him when Alice clapped her hand over her mouth and Lily answered for her.
"She's busy with important things" she snapped and everyone around her laughed sneeringly and Sirius glared at her.
"I wasn't talking to you, Evans."
Lily shrugged.
"Good. Don't bother starting to either" she replied and turned on her heel and pulled Roxanne by the elbow with Alice on the other side of her, assisting her.
"I swear if I get a hold of him…" Roxanne trailed off and mumbled under her breath insanely until they reached the door of the Charms classroom and entered together with Dorcas and Marlene leading them inside.
First class wasn't the best, although it was with a house Gryffindor got along well with.
Mainly due to the Marauders, who were being pests towards the girls all but Remus who was conversing with Roxanne who tried her best to ignore Sirius tugging her hair from behind.
Lily was sitting beside Alice, and was blatantly glaring at James who took to staring at her in a bid to annoy her. Lily, who was not one to give up anything, dares included, glared right back at him not wanting to be the first to look away.
Unfortunately, Professor Flitwick picked up on this and caused Lily to go bright red and admit defeat.
"Miss. Evans and Mr. Potter, if you do not stop making goo-goo eyes or whatever lovey dovey looks you adolescents do these days I will put you both into detention" he squeaked, and Lily almost yelled indignantly at him, wanting nothing more than to tell him she would never look at Potter in such a way.
Regrettably, she was not one to back chat with teachers and turned her glare to the window outside instead, her cheeks a blazing red.
"Stupid Potter…" she mumbled to herself and heard Alice's chuckle and her friend patted her hand kindly.
"Just ignore him, Lils. Remember what Roxy said this morning? He's trying to get you to fire up at him. Just pretend he doesn't even exist" she advised and Lily rolled her eyes in an annoyed fashion.
"That's easier said than done" she snarled as he tossed a scrunched up piece of paper at her head when Flitwick's back was turned. "He is so immature."
Alice nodded in agreement and they began copying down notes from the board while the teacher gave them the N.E. talk they had all been dreading.
"IF YOU DON'T STOP PULLING MY HAIR I WILL-"
"Miss. Scott, is there a problem?" Flitwick interrupted turning to face the class.
"Black keeps pulling my hair, sir" she answered before Sirius could beat her to it.
Flitwick raised his eyebrows at them both and then sighed, rubbing his temple in a frustrated manner.
"Mr. Black, collect your books and move to the front beside Miss. Sibbons" he commanded and Sirius groaned as he grabbed all of his things and as he walked past Roxanne and Remus' desk, he murmured; "this isn't over" so that only they could hear.
He threw his books onto the desk and slumped down beside the slightly obese girl who grinned toothily at him and he winced. Megan Sibbons wore braces and her face was full of acne. She wasn't exactly someone he enjoyed being in the company of. He pushed his pencil case into a comfy position and leaned on it; drowning out Flitwick's speech about their final year and being role models to the younger students as he glanced outside the window and allowed his thoughts to take over.
Roxanne was sick. Not ill sick, but sick of Sirius Black continuously throwing daggers at her over his shoulder whenever she glanced up at the board, causing her to grind her finger nails on the desk which made Remus cringe every time.
Dorcas kept looking over at the boy she'd seen in the morning, and thought no one was noticing. Except for Marlene, Alice and Lily. She hastily looked back down at her book, smiling to herself.
She'd seen him over the holidays in the bookshop getting his required books (what else did you buy from a bookstore?) and had hidden behind the shelf, peeking through the books at him, hoping he wouldn't notice. She didn't know his name, although he looked very familiar to her.
She heard Marlene clear her throat beside her and she looked at her questioningly.
"What?"
Marlene shook her head and scribbled something out in her book.
"Nothing. You seem… Happy that's all" she noted and Dorcas shrugged in reply.
"It's good to be back. I've missed all of this" she murmured with a small smile and Marlene sniggered.
"You mean Lily getting angry at James, James trying to seduce Lily daily with different techniques, Roxanne being at war with Sirius, Sirius being at war with Roxanne one day, chasing after her the next? Oh and Remus reading book after book after book in the common room, Peter following Alice around as though he's glued to her, you being attracted to that cute Ravenclaw guy over there…"
Dorcas nodded at every single one of them, and it wasn't until she'd written down another sentence that she realised the last thing that was said.
"I don't, I mean, I'm not, I-I I don't, I-"
"You have a little crush, Dorcy?" she pressed on and Dorcas shook her head swiftly.
"Don't call me that. I don't know what you're talking about" she answered and Marlene coughed loudly, causing the Ravenclaw student to turn around and look at them with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, excuse me. I've got a cold" Marlene explained and he nodded, giving her a smile and turning back to the front.
She turned to Dorcas and said in a low whisper, "If you don't like him then why are you grinning wildly? Why did you spill orange juice all over your front when he walked past and smiled at you? Why have you been trying and failing to make it unobvious you've been staring at him all morning?"
Dorcas opened and closed her mouth continuously and then suddenly blushed darkly.
"Is it really that obvious?" she hissed and Marlene nodded.
"Only to me" she answered and Dorcas sighed in response.
"Oh, and Lily and Alice noticed too" she added with a smirk and Dorcas groaned.
"I am so uncool" she muttered and Marlene shook her head at her.
"You are not, you're just awkwardly cute. Now, get ready to talk to him" she instructed and snatched Dorcas' quill and threw it at the Ravenclaw in front, hitting him squarely in the back.
Dorcas gasped out loud, staring at her friend in surprise.
"Marlene! How could-"
"Excuse me? Does this belong to you, by any chance?"
Dorcas turned to the boy in front who was grinning at her and holding out her quill.
She opened and closed her mouth wordlessly, making his smile falter.
Marlene stomped on her foot under the table and Dorcas cleared her throat.
"Oh, um… Yes, it is. It… Err, slipped out of my hand" she said lamely and he passed it back to her, his fingers grazing her palm. She tried to appear as though she hadn't stopped breathing, but it seemed as though her heart had caught inside her chest and stopped working for a second before beating back into work.
"Th-thank you" she said shakily and he winked at her, making her cheeks go bright red.
"I'm Ben by the way. Ben Wood" he declared, shaking his hand. Dorcas was busy staring at him and Marlene shook her head.
"She's Dorcas, and I'm-"
"Marlene, I know" he answered for her and she was taken aback, not expecting this adapt knowledge he had of her.
"Nice to meet you' she said smiling at him and he grinned back and shook her hand as well.
"You too. Dorcas" he added, nodding at her and turning back to the black board.
Dorcas turned to Marlene, a huge, giddy smile on her face.
She waved her hands around animatedly before picking her quill back up and beginning to write, with a new formed energetic bounce to her note taking.
Marlene grinned as she too began taking more notes.
"I have never wanted to commit murder so severely before in my life until now" Roxanne snarled as they stormed down into the dungeons for potions. With the Slytherins. Just to brighten their already gloomy day.
Lily trailed along beside her, wallowing in her self-pity.
"I hate to say it; but I agree" she answered sombrely and Roxanne snorted rudely.
"Lies, you love to say it. You just won't admit it because if you killed Potter you'd lose your badge" she replied and Alice was the one to burst into laughter.
"I'm pretty sure in that scenario; I would have more to worry about besides losing my badge. Getting sent to Azkaban for instance?" Lily explained and Roxanne nodded, stroking her chin in mock thought.
"Touché, Miss. Evans. Oh great, there's your boyfriend" she added darkly and Lily glanced towards the dungeon doors and sure enough, her old best friend, Severus Snape was standing there boring his black eyes into hers.
"Does he have to stare like that all the time?' Lily asked gravely and Alice smiled sweetly at her.
"He just misses you Lily. You know he regrets-"
"He doesn't. He spends his days with his nose behind every Dark Arts book he can find and curses people like me. He uses that word for other people who have the exact same blood; I'm not an exception. And he doesn't deserve my forgiveness" she snapped, turning away from him.
Alice fell silent and Lily instantly felt guilty.
"Alice, I'm sorry."
She offered her a smile and Alice shrugged and smiled back at her.
Roxanne rolled her eyes.
"I think Lily is right not to forgive him; he's a prat! Someone who calls their 'best friend' that disgusting word is not worthy of your presence" she exclaimed, glaring over her shoulder.
Lily shrugged and sighed to herself.
"Let's forget it, we're going inside anyway" she said quietly and they all traipsed into the room silently, feeling the conversation was a little too personal for Lily's liking.
She sat down beside Marlene because all their seats were assigned and Dorcas took her seat beside James who asked her to trade with Sirius as their usual start of year joke.
"Sorry James, you know I can't" she told him and he grinned and shrugged his shoulders.
"It was worth a try though" he told her and she shook her head.
"You've been trying for the past two years!"
"It's my last chance!" he responded and they both laughed briefly.
"Settle down class! Settle down!" a large man shouted as he waddled through the room, his belly visible as he nodded at everyone who instantly quietened.
Horace Slughorn suddenly burst out into a wide grin.
"This is the first day of your last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. How do you feel?" he asked the class at large and Sirius was the one to answer.
"No more homework!" he shouted and a majority of the class all cheered at his response.
"Oho! Is that so Sirius m'boy? Well I suppose you're right" Slughorn announced and then made his way up to the black board.
"Now, as procedure I must go through the start of year N.E. talk with you all and-"
The class all groaned loudly, although James and Sirius were loudest.
"I shall try and make this as quick and painless as possible" he promised before branching out into his speech and the stopped to take the roll when he was finally done, half an hour into the lesson.
"I don't know about you, but he droned on longer than Flitwick" Roxanne muttered to Alice who nodded in agreement.
"You'd think they would all just get us together in a group and have one teacher tell everyone at the same time" she answered and Remus leaned over and whispered; "but then the teachers wouldn't get to try and hammer how much more important their subject is than any others."
Alice started and then held her hand over her chest in surprise.
"Remus Lupin; are you talking while a teacher is?" she asked in a shocked voice and he simply smiled back and carried on listening to Slughorn as though it had never happened.
"Now, I know that you have a lot of subjects to focus on, but I must remind you that this class is one of the trickiest, most valued classes of all in this castle and you must not take it lightly…"
Remus turned to Alice and Roxanne with an 'I told you so" expression and they both giggled quietly.
Sirius, who was sitting beside him rolled his eyes and started tapping a beat onto the desk until Slughorn said the magic words; "now go ahead and get your ingredients!" and he leapt off of his seat and headed towards the ingredients cupboard with Remus trailing behind him.
Lily pulled some ingredients into her hand and Marlene grabbed what she couldn't carry and hurried back to their desk. Lily turned to follow her, almost bumping into Snape.
"Sorry" she apologised shortly and he stared down at her and opened his mouth to say something but was shoved roughly out of the way by James.
"Move, Snivellus" he snapped and Snape narrowed his eyes and advanced towards him.
"Don't talk to me like that, Potter" he snapped, almost spitting his name out.
Lily sighed agitatedly as James opened his mouth to reply.
"I'll talk to scum like you however I like" he puffed out is chest, hoping Lily would notice.
Snape was about to respond when Lily suddenly lost it.
"ENOUGH! Honestly, can the pair of you be any more immature? Seriously, grow up" she snarled, stomping away to her desk leaving them both speechless.
James narrowed his eyes and then turned on his heel just in time to help Dorcas carry some things back to their own desk.
Lily was not in a good mood as Marlene noticed, watching her cut the ingredients aggressively. She was being careless, glaring daggers at the herb she was slicing ferociously while possibly pretending it was someone else.
Marlene was about to warn her to take care and suggest that she should take over when Lily suddenly let out a loud yelp and whipped her bleeding finger up to her mouth, sucking on it.
There was too much blood, she had to wrap it up in a bit of her robes but her cry out had alerted Slughorn.
"Ah, Lily m'dear. You'd best be off to the Hospital wing. Mr. Lupin? Please assist Miss. Evans to Madame Pomfry" he instructed and Remus nodded in return.
At this, Slughorn noticed that Sirius would be left in charge of their potion, and the memory of Sirius being in such a position last term made him shudder. It involved explosives, much cleaning and the rebuilding of the store room.
"Actually, no. On second thoughts, not you Lupin. James, boy. Miss. Meadows seems at ease with your potion. Help escort Miss. Evans to the Hospital Wing" he said and James, grinning, nodded enthusiastically.
Lily's mood turned even more sour, if that was even possible as she swept from the room the second James left his seat.
"Aw, come on Evans. Don't be like that" he called after her as she stormed down the hallway so that he had to jog to catch up.
"Like what?" she replied, not caring even the slightest.
James snorted.
"Well where do I start?" You're cranky, moody, bitter, sooky-"
"I am not sooky-"
"Angry, upset, flustered, aggravated, annoyed, emotional, short-"
"What does my height have to do with any of this?" she asked stopping suddenly and turning to face him so that he walked right into her.
He stepped back the tiniest bit, causing her to raise her eyebrows at him.
"Because you're cute. I'm much taller than you" he answered matter-of-factly.
She sighed.
"Listen, Potter. You're invading my personal space. You're giving me a headache. You're a rude, arrogant, bullying arse who deserves to be in much severe pain. If you don't move, and if you call me cute once more, you'll know pain at a whole new level" she warned savagely and he stepped sideways around her.
"Okay, have it your way then" he replied offhandedly and they set off once more towards the Hospital Wing with James humming the school theme, getting louder and louder as they advanced along the corridor.
"Shut up."
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy, Warty, Hogwarts-"
"Shut up!"
"Teach us something please!-"
"I said shut up!"
"Whether we be old and bold or young with-"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
James opened his mouth to continue, but Lily shocked him with her next sentence.
"Just stop fucking singing for fuck's sake!"
There was an eerie silence as they walked through the castle, making it seem very awkward. It was actually starting to irritate her, but anything was better than his voice.
"You just swore" he answered matter-of-factly and she rolled her eyes.
"Really? I think you imagined it" she answered heatedly, ashamed at herself.
Lily Evans did not swear; she did not like using expletives and had never used them as she found them very rude and unattractive. And yet here she was using the f-word.
Curse Potter and his ability to drive her insane and get on her very last nerve! She thought angrily and forced herself to clench her fists to keep her from strangling him when she noticed him smirking.
When they finally reached the Hospital Wing, Lily turned to James.
"Bye now, Potter. You can go back to class" she told him, a little too enthusiastically for his liking.
"I can't just leave a crippled you to make your way back to class on your own! What if you fall?" he asked, dumbfounded.
Lily stared at him as though she found him the most unintelligent person on the planet. Truthfully, she did. Apart from Peter. Now that kid had problems.
"I injured my hand, Potter. Not my foot. Goes to show how much you care. Not that you would anyway" she added more to herself than to him.
He opened his mouth to argue but Madame Pomfry, the overwrought hospital nurse who was a tad bit too over protective of every single student that was unfortunately under her care, cut in before he could answer her.
"Miss. Evans, Mr. Potter! What can I do for you?" she asked and Lily held up her finger to allow her to observe it.
"I cut it in potions" she explained and Madame Pomfry tutted.
"Well, you'd better come in here so I can further examine and heal it" she told her, pulling her by the injured hand and making her wince.
"You boy!" She barked at James who was following them. Wait outside; it's very unhygienic in here. Too many pathogens roaming around" she explained with a disgusted facial expression, a mix between an upturned pig's nose and a frog's mouth and her eyes almost popping out of her sockets. James tried to stifle his laughs at the pathogen frenzied witch until the curtain closed where he had a small chuckle to himself.
"How's your finger, Lils?"
Lily was back in the Gryffindor Common room with her friends, sitting beside the fire with a bandaged hand. She had tried to explain to the nurse that an entire hand bandage was unnecessary, but fell upon deaf ears. She was complaining about how it was too risky for the pathogens to crawl up under a single finger bandage and Lily didn't argue; she didn't understand what went through that crazy broad's mind most of the time.
She shrugged and leaned back into the sofa, thinking of how to answer Alice who was also writing a letter to her boyfriend, Frank Longbottom. He finished Hogwarts the year before, and they were still together after spending weeks of the summer apart due to Alice's family holiday and Frank's strict Mother. It had been very hard on them being apart, even for a few days.
"It's okay, it feels heavy though" she replied, feeling dozy by the fire.
"Ah, thanks to the many layers of bandaging Pomfry insisted upon" Roxanne teased and Lily rolled her eyes.
"She needs to get a life besides that hospital" she grumbled and the others nodded in confirmation.
"Mar-Marlene" Lily said in between yawns, and her friend glanced at her.
"Yes, Lily?"
"Sorry about leaving you with the potion, thanks for finishing it" she told her for the umpteenth time that night.
Marlene laughed at her.
"I told you Lily; it's fine. Besides, the way you're all chummy with Slughorn, you'll get a definite pass for your ingredient crushing attempt" she quipped, making Lily snigger.
"Very funny. I hope I didn't damage them too much" she replied and Marlene shrugged.
"I managed to save them all" she promised her and gave her a wink.
Dorcas was staring into the flames of the fireplace, deep in thought.
"Marl?"
Marlene turned to her and frowned.
"What's up?"
"How does Ben know your name?" she asked curiously, taking her friend by surprise.
"Why, I'm not exactly sure. It was kind of creepy to be honest. I've never spoken to him before" she answered and Dorcas smiled.
"Is this Dorcas' cute little crush?" Alice teased, making the said girl go a vibrant shade of red.
"Ah! Dorcas, that is so adorable! Are you going to ask him to Hogsmeade?" she pressed on, and Dorcas shrugged in reply.
"She can't just ask him out like that; she needs to talk to him first" Roxanne explained and Alice shook her head.
"Since when are you the boy expert?" she questioned and Roxanne shrugged.
"I'm not; I'm just saying that she should get to know him a little better before jumping into it too quickly. He might just want to be friends, or like someone else."
Dorcas gasped, her eyes beginning to well up.
Alice glared at Roxanne for causing this reaction in their friend.
"What I mean is" Roxanne backtracked, trying to correct herself, "You want to be sure he likes you if you ask him out right? So talk to him, and maybe even-"
"Flirt with him" Alice and Marlene said in unison, plans forming in their minds.
"I don't know… I've never flirted with a guy before. I don't know how! What if I make a fool of myself?" Dorcas asked worriedly and Alice batted a hand in her direction.
"You will not; we'll train you. We will help you be flirty. Guys like that; they think it's sexy" Marlene told her and Alice grinned.
"Marlene helped me when I wanted to be more than friends with Frank. So we'll all help. Won't we guys?"
Roxanne nodded eagerly.
"I'll show you how to enjoy activities with guys; like Quidditch. All guys and girls like Quidditch. You could come to practice with me and-"
"Um, that's great input Roxy but I don't think that will help. They can go watch a Quidditch match for fun, on a date maybe, but I don't think it will help get Dorcas her guy" Marlene explained gently.
Roxanne raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"What I mean is, before we get to the date stage, we should start at step one: Trying to help Dorcas gain confidence around Ben. And then, when she thinks the time is right, she could ask him to go with her to the first Quidditch match of the season. And maybe even go to Hogsmeade the following weekend" she added, so as not to hurt Roxanne's feelings.
Roxanne nodded in satisfaction, and grinned.
"What do you think, Lils?"
There was no answer from the redhead, but they heard low, quiet snores coming from the nestled Head Girl who seemed very content in her spot by the fire. They all grinned at each other and watched her for a while longer and talked about Dorcas' boy dilemma, if you could really call it that.
It must have been much later when Lily half-awoke from her deep slumber due to being swayed around back and forth. She was being carried in someone's arms, and she had no idea how she had gotten from the couch beside the fire in the Common room, to here. Wherever 'here' was.
"Shh, it's alright Lily. I'm putting you to bed. You fell asleep" the familiar, masculine voice informed her, but the soft rocking motion of her body slowly made her drift back off to sleep and he chuckled quietly so as not to reawaken her.
"Squiggly Piggly" James told Frederick the Forlorn, who grimaced at him and swung forwards, allowing him entrance.
He walked in past the Head's Common room and went straight to Lily's room and turned the knob of the door, opening it slowly. He then strode over to her bed and pulled back the sheets and set her down on it very gently. He pulled off her shoes and socks without her waking, and then took off her tie and hung it over the end of her bed. He tucked her in, pulling the blanket over her chest and watched as a small smile formed on her face. In her sleep, Lily was peaceful.
James shook his head at himself. He should better get back to his own bed before she awoke suddenly and accused him of attempting to rape her or something, because he could definitely imagine her doing that.
He sighed, but before leaving he leaned down and softly pressed his lips to her forehead, not being able to stop himself. He straightened up and left the room, casting one more look over the sleeping beauty before closing the door and making his way to his own room.
A/N: Wow that was a whopper of a chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it though :D But please, please let me know because if you don't review I'll never know if anyone likes it. And besides, I like getting feedback :)
Thank you for reading ;) Have a Happy Easter wherever you are and I hope many chocolates find you safely :)
Love always,
LilyHeartsJames
xoxoxoxox