Disclaimer: All belongs to J.K Rowling!
Chapter 2: That Cute Redhead
Saturday; December 25, 1976
One thing better than Friday nights are Saturday mornings. Saturday mornings are peaceful and quiet, due to all Hogwarts students sleeping in till noon. No classes equal more sleep. And like always, the green eyed redhead differs from others.
At eight in the morning, Lily Evans woke up, stretching and yawning. She opened her curtains and looked to the side to find her fellow 6th year dorm mates: Alice Prewett, Marlene McKinnon, Hestia Jones, and Emmeline Vance. All which were happily asleep in the warmth of their bed.
Lily grumbled something about "Bloody Potter, making me wake up on a Saturday morning." She stepped on the cold floor, shivering slightly and hurrying inside the bathroom to shower.
When the hot, steamy water hit her back, she relaxed. Lily Evans usually did all her thinking in the shower, due to how stress-relieving it was. As she began added the body wash, she started having thoughts about the Potter Manor. James did say there were going to be a lot of Pureblood families, which just adds pressure to the muggleborn Gryffindor. Or what if his parents don't like her? Not that she cared that Potter's parents disliked or her anything…she just wanted to make a good impression. She sighed heavily and after half an hour of showering, she stepped out, with a towel wrapped around her body.
She got changed into a pair of Muggle jeans that stick to her thighs, showing her curves. She pulled on a nice purple shirt and a sweater on top. She put on her favorite black boots and moved over to the vanity. Merlin, she thought as she saw how she looked like. She waved her wand, drying her hair and began to brush it back into place. She added a bit of eyeliner and mascara, before getting up and grabbing her bag.
She looked at the clock to see that it was ten minutes before nine. She glanced at her reflection one last time and then made her way downstairs to the Gryffindor Common Room.
As she hit the bottom step, she had just noticed the four 6th year, Gryffindor boys. Sirius Black (an attractive, long haired boy; with grey eyes that all the girls fell for) sat next to Peter Pettigrew (A cute, chubby boy; with watery blue eyes). They were both laughing loudly at something Sirius had said. In front of them, with the back of their heads to Lily, were James Potter and Remus Lupin. She cleared her throat and the first to catch her eye was Sirius Black,
"Evans!" said Sirius, cheerfully. "My favorite redhead."
Lily smiled in acknowledgement, before walking over to greet the rest of the Marauders. "Hey Remus. Still friends with this set of mischief, I see. "
Remus chuckled and shrugged, "They're paying me." Followed by Peter yelling "hey!" from across the room. Lily turned her head to face Peter.
"Hullo, Peter" she smiled brightly at him. Peter waved politely at her. Lily had just noticed Potter's gaze and raised an eyebrow at him, "Good morning, Potter."
James grinned, "Morning, Evans. You're looking good today." He winked and stood up, "So, we have to walk over to Hogsmeade and apparate from there. Sounds good?"
Lily shook her head, "You guys know how to Apparate?" at this, the four boys nodded. "But we haven't even taken our apparition test yet!"
"Doesn't mean we don't know how…" stated Peter.
James interrupted, "You can always side-along with me."
Lily sighed and nodded, walking over to the portrait hole, trailing behind the Marauders. She was just walking behind them quietly, when she noticed Sirius right next her. The rest of the Marauders were up ahead, looking at this blank piece of parchment that Lily couldn't quite make out.
"So, Evans." Sirius started, with the usual grin. "Finally agreed to Prongs' date proposal, have you? We all knew you would come 'round."
Lily snorted, looking up to where Potter was. He looked so concentrated, pointing at that parchment. She shook her head and turned back to Sirius, telling him exactly what she told Marlene.
After the somewhat brief story, Sirius started cracking up. Like literally laughing loudly, causing the other three marauders to turn around and stare, confused.
"James didn't tell us that! He said that he just invited you and you said yes." He laughed again, annoying her. "I knew you wouldn't budge that easily."
Lily grumbled, "Yeah, well. I'm only coming along because I'm forced to. Thanks to your best mate."
Sirius nodded, the laughter settling down. "You're lucky. Most of his dates would kill to be invited over his house." He smiled down at her, "It's a really nice house. That and his parents are great."
Lily smiled slightly; feeling a bit better knowing his parents won't eat her alive or anything.
James was arguing with Remus about the Marauder's map. "Moony, we should take the one-eyed witch passage! It leads right inside the cellar of Honey Dukes."
"But there's one in the Room of Requirement and it leads right into the Hog's Head bar. Which is a lot closer to our apparating spot." Argued Remus.
"Yes I know that, but the Room of Requirement tends to change various times; we won't know if we get the same passage way again. And the one-eyed witch is right by the DADA classroom; which is exactly upstairs." James contradicted.
Remus sighed and turned to Peter, "One-eyed witch or Room of Requirement?"
Peter thought about it for a quick minute and then pointed up, "One-eyed witch".
James grinned widely at Remus and looked back to tell Sirius. Instead, he finds him laughing loudly with a half-smiling Lily. A patch of jealousy flows through him, but he shakes it off, knowing Sirius wouldn't do anything. Hopefully.
A couple minutes later, the five of them were standing in front of the one-eyed witch. Lily looked over their shoulders in wonder. "It's a statue…why are we staring at a statue?"
James ignored her and took how his wand, tapping the witch's hump lightly and whispering, "Dissendium". Lily raised an eyebrow, but gasped quietly when the hump opened, revealing a passageway.
The first three marauders (Remus, Peter, and Sirius) walked in, leaving James and a very impressed Lily behind. James grinned cockily at her, "Filch knows most of the Hogwarts secret passageways…he checks them every night during patrols. Not this one, though."
"Nice." Was all Lily could manage to get out. James smiled and motioned towards the passageway,
"After you, m'lady."
Lily scoffed and walked ahead of him, entering the passageway. Just as she passed him, his eyes trailed down. "Eyes above the waist Potter."
His eyes snapped up, "What the bloody hell…"
The whole passageway was dark, expect for the small holes on the roof that allow the sun's light to shine inside. There were various spiders and other insects, but Peter was probably more scared than Lily was. The four marauders were talking about Quidditch and how to enter Dumbledore's office unnoticed. Lily sighed, trailing a little behind them. It had been about an hour since they had entered the passageway and it didn't look like they were going to arrive anytime soon.
"Maybe if you bribe the bird!"
"It's not a bird, Peter, it's a Phoenix." Corrected Remus, "And it's not stupid enough to accept some Jelly Slugs."
Peter frowned, muttering under his breath, "You don't know if you don't try, Moony."
Meanwhile, James and Sirius were arguing about the very common topic of Quidditch. "I don't care if you're the bloody Captain, Prongs, that new play is rubbish!"
James narrowed his eyes at Sirius, "It's brilliant and you know it! Probably the only reason ShackleBolt managed to get a hold of the snitch, last game."
"He got that snitch because I hit a bludger right on top of the Hufflepuff seeker!"
"That was part of the new play, Padfoot!" James said, throwing his hands up in exaggeration.
Sirius snorted, "New play, my arse."
Lily walked faster, catching up to her fellow Hogwarts students. "Guys, are we there yet? It's been nearly an hour."
James looked back at her, "Yeah, it's up ahead. Couple more minutes." She looked so tired to him and he was tempted to just wipe off the dirt off her face. She, however, would probably hex him till he cried. "Hey, Evans, are you worn-out?" Lily nodded, not quite sure where this was going. "I'll give you a piggy-back ride if you want." He grinned.
Lily scowled, but her weary legs were telling her otherwise. She cursed herself but looked up at him with a pointed look, "Fine. No tricks Potter."
Lily almost laughed at James' reaction. He looked so amazed that she had even considered it. He grinned from ear to ear and bend down a bit. "Hop on."
She sighed and draped her arms around his neck, getting on. He grabbed her thighs and stood up straight. While she was quietly regretting this, he couldn't be any happier.
The other three Marauders were in their own conversation, when Sirius noticed James and Lily. He laughed, "Comfortable, Evans?"
Lily groaned and buried her head on James' shoulder. He could feel her light breaths against his neck, sending chills up his spine. He would've ruffled his hair right now if he could. However, he preferred his hands on her thighs than his hair, any day.
They finally reached the end of the passageway and made it into the Cellar of HoneyDukes. James, sadly, put Lily back down on her feet. The five students walked over to the back of The Three Broomsticks, their apparating location.
"Alright", started James, looking at Lily. "You can side-along with me, if you want."
Lily shook her head, "I've been with you enough, and I'll go with Remus over here." She walked over to Remus and placed her hands around his waist and Remus shyly did the same, giving his friend an apologetic smile before apparating to the Potter Manor.
"Traitor", James muttered. Then, with one last look at Peter and Sirius, he apparated.
POP
The three Marauders appeared right in front of the Potter Manor. James' house was huge, in Lily's opinion. From the outside, it looked just like a mansion. It was massive and royal. No wonder James was such a spoiled brat at school, he had his reasons! Lily smiled excitedly, waiting for James to open the door.
James stepped forward and pulled out his wand, muttering a couple spells. The knob turned and he opened the door for his guests. The three marauders walked in and disappeared, knowing where to go. Lily, on the other hand, just stood there. She was absolutely shocked at the size of his house. It was very modernly themed, with nice curtains and billions of other decorations everywhere.
Right in front of the door, there were white stairs, leading up towards some rooms. You were able to see the halfway upstairs, filled with frames. To the left, the kitchen started. And to the right, there was a sitting room. The Potter Manor had much more than just this, however, Lily was too dazed to move and see the rest.
"Alright, Evans?"
The daze broke with the familiar masculine voice. Lily looked back to find James, still casually standing by the door. "What? Oh yeah, of course…Nice house, Potter."
James smiled, "Yeah, it's a bit big. But it's home."
Lily nodded and walked over to the left, into the kitchen. By the table, having a cup of tea, was a woman. She had dark brown hair (very much like James') and a very slim body. She was humming to herself quietly until she saw her son.
"James! There you are!" She stood up and gave him a quick hug hello, before finally noticing the shy redhead behind him. "Hello, you must be Lily." She gave Lily a hug and smiled, "James has said so much about you."
"Mum", groaned James.
"Hush!" she said to James, before turning back to Lily. "You're that 'cute redhead' he can't stop talking about. And now I know why."
Lily blushed and became very interested with her shoes, "Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Potter."
"The pleasure is all mine." She gave Lily one last smile, before returning to her tea.
"Mum," started James. "Lily needs help with what to wear. I was wondering if you could assist her."
Lily noticed how strange her name sounded coming from his lips. It was…different. As if it was another dialect or something.
Mrs. Potter stared at Lily, as if imagining her in the dresses she had upstairs. She then replied, "Of course. Come along Lily." She stood and grabbed Lily's hand, leading her upstairs. Lily looked back at James with a worried glance. He smiled reassuringly at her and for that second, she actually felt okay.
That was until she started going upstairs, losing his smile. The second floor was just as elegant as the first. It had frames and portraits of the family everywhere. She stifled a giggle when she noticed a picture of James…in the bath. Mrs. Potter continued down a narrow hallway, filled with many clocks. Strange, Lily thought. All clocks had different times: New York, California, etc. She searched for London and found that it was already one in the afternoon. Merlin, how long were we in the passageway, she continued.
Finally, Mrs. Potter made it to a white, long door. She smiled and opened it, leading Lily inside.
Lily gasped quietly at the room when she entered. It was huge. Are all rooms this big? It was painted a beautiful light violet, filled with small paintings of flowers here and there. However, that wasn't even the beginning of it. There were dresses everywhere! Not just wizard dress robes, but actual Muggle dresses! She smiled as her fingers traced the lining of the first dress she saw.
Lily turned to Mrs. Potter, "This is…too much. I mean…"
"Lily," interrupted James' mother. "It's all yours. I never had a chance to actually see these dresses being worn, considering I had James." She smiled warmly at Lily; a smile that resembled the one James had just given her. "Trust me; you're going to look amazing." She nodded while adding, "James will fall in love with you all over again." She turned to the dresses, looking through a huge rack of violet ones.
Lily wanted to say that she did not think of James like that, at all. She was practically being forced to spend the week with the bloody prat. But, why contradict the woman who is basically giving you clothes? She grinned and went towards the dresses.
"And then we take it!"
"Padfoot, Dumbledore is always in his office. Besides, what do you want with his Pensieve?" questioned Remus.
"You can view memories on it, Moony! Think about it: watching our old pranks and seeing where we went wrong. It's brilliant!"
"It's rubbish."
Sirius frowned, settling back on the couch. He muttered, "Werewolves are such downers…" He turned his attention to his other marauder. "How about you, Pete? Good idea, eh?"
Remus glanced at Peter, but he had already been nodding excitedly, "Brilliant."
Sirius grinned at Peter, before turning back to Remus in a mocking manner. Remus sighed, burying his head back into the book he was holding. At that same moment, James entered his room to find his three friends.
"Hey Prongs. Just got back from snogging Evans?"
James shook his head, "Mum is helping her with what to wear for the party."
Sirius nodded, "Make sure to ask her to dance. She can't possibly reject you in front of everyone."
"Hopefully not," James replied.
The Marauders were quiet for a moment before Sirius spoke again, "So as I was saying, we snatch the Pensieve…."
Lily had literally tried on dozens of dresses. Who knew picking a dress was so complicated? Either the dress was too long or too short. Maybe it was too red and it clashed with her hair. Sometimes it didn't fit her properly, or it was too strange-looking.
Finally, after about three hours of the same thing, they had found the dress. It was a beautiful, silky pastel pink. It hit the floor elegantly and when it reached her chest, it separated into a fancy V-neck. Which, as Mrs. Potter added, "Complemented every feature of her body."
They picked gorgeous black heels, plus accessories. Mrs. Potter looked at Lily, gleaming with glee. At that moment, the door opened. Inside, walked a tall man with square glasses. He had messy hair black hair and hazel eyes. It was if James had an older version of himself.
"Well," he started, walking right behind Lily. "You look like my son's next girlfriend."
Lily blushed slightly, shaking her head. Mrs. Potter smiled and greeted her husband with a peck on the cheek. "Stop it Charlus, you're embarrassing her."
James' dad crookedly grinned and patted Lily on the shoulder, "Nice to finally meet you, Lily."
Lily looked up at him and grinned back, "Pleasure."
Mr. Potter nodded once at Lily before turning to his wife, whispering something in her ear and stepped out of the room and into another right across the hall. Mrs. Potter turned back to Lily, "Now, it's nearly six. The guests usually arrive by then so let's finish your make-up and then you're free to go."
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Potter." Lily said gratefully.
"Please, hun. Call me Dorea." Lily smiled shyly and nodded.
The clock hit six thirty and Lily was nowhere to be found. Most guests had arrived and were waiting in the large ball room, seated in their tables. Three of the marauders were in there too, awaiting their last marauder, James.
James was in front of the living room stairs, pacing. Mr. and Mrs. Potter passed him, heading towards the ballroom.
"James," started Dorea. "Darling, you're going to pace a hole on the floor."
"Where's Lily?" asked James, worriedly. Mrs. Potter smiled,
"On her way," with that she looked up pointedly and left into the ballroom with Charlus on her arm.
James looked up, following his mother's gaze. His hazel eyes met her emerald green ones. She was walking gracefully down the steps, taking one at a time; her long pastel pink dress hitting each step slowly. Her face looked perfect (in his opinion, at least.) and he could smell the strawberry perfume from downstairs. She smiled as she hit the final step.
Bloody hell, he thought. "You look, er- stunning." He grinned at her.
She pushed a piece of red hair behind her ear, "Thanks, Potter. You look pretty dashing yourself." She said this as she looked him over. He did look pretty attractive in his black and white dress robes.
He grinned even wider, "Thanks. So um…" he motioned towards the ballroom door. She nodded and they looped each other's arms to enter formally inside. It wasn't a "romantic" action. Well, at least not in Lily's point of view. James, on the other hand, could not stop grinning. He opened the ballroom doors and in they went.
It was a huge banquet hall with various tables everywhere. Each white table had its plates and silverware, plus a nice vase of flowers in the middle. All the tables were scattered around a big opening in the middle; to dance afterwards.
Lily's stomach churned as she noticed all the new faces. Most tables had rich, pureblood families. She suddenly felt as if all eyes were on her; which they sort of were.
As soon as they entered, most faces turned to see the pair. Lily smiled shyly and followed James to the Table with the Marauders. When she sat down, she noticed it wasn't just the marauders. Tables were made to fit eight. They were seated in a circle: Peter, Remus, Sirius, Lily, James, Frank Longbottom, Rudolphus Lestrange, Evan Rosier, and then back to Peter. The three new guests were 7th years, according to Lily's memory.
As she sat down between James and Sirius, she smiled politely at everyone. Most of them smiled back; except of course, Rudolphus and Evan.
"Lookin' good, Evans." Commented Sirius, with a wink.
Lily rolled her eyes playfully, "Wish I could say the same, Black."
Sirius clutched his chest, pretending to be hurt for a couple seconds before shrugging it off. Lily smirked and looked around at the new guests.
Frank Longbottom, being the sweet guy that he is, smiled at her in greeting. However, her main problem was Rudolphus and Evan. Seriously; it's as if they were trying to see who could glare the hardest at Lily.
Rudolphus Lestrange and Evan Rosier were both 7th year Slytherin boys at Hogwarts. Both their families are followers of the Dark Lord, so they're obviously going down the same path. They didn't want to go to a blood traitor's dinner party, but were forced to. Considering, James' mum was a Slytherin and Evan's mom was somewhat mates with her.
'Are they ever going to bloody stop glaring daggers at me?' thought Lily. However, her thoughts did not last long, due to James' outburst.
"Lestrange, Rosier; would you mind and stop glaring at Lily?" His voice sounded forced.
Evan sneered, "What, Potter? You don't like me ogling your girlfriend?"
Before James could answer, Lily interrupted, "I'm not his girlfriend."
Rudolphus turned to Lily, "How dare you talk to a pureblood? Filthy mudblo-"
Lestrange, however, was not able to finish his sentence. Sirius had stood up and punched him right in the jaw. It wasn't one of those fights where one hits the other and they're basically rolling on the floor. It wasn't one of those, due to Sirius' punch being so hard that Rudolphus passed out on the spot.
Evan growled at Sirius before mumbling, "Blood-traitor. No wonder your mum blew you right off that wa-"
James threw the next punch, causing Evan to fall right over Lestrange. The former snapped his fingers and three house elves appeared, carrying the bodies out. No one had really noticed this "fight", due to Mr. and Mrs. Potter greeting them all.
Lily's eyes were wide. When James and Sirius sat back down, she spoke. "You guys shouldn't have done that."
James shrugged, "Forget about it."
She smiled weakly and nodded, turning her head back to her plate. Mrs. Potter waved her wand and the food appeared; everyone digging in happily.
"Arthur," whispered Molly Weasley to her husband. "See that couple there?" She pointed towards James and Lily talking.
"You mean James Potter and…the redhead?" asked Arthur, taking a large bite into his chicken.
Molly nodded before turning to Fabian and Gideon, her younger brothers that were in their 7th year at Hogwarts. "Fabian, do you know who that girl is, next to James?"
Fabian looked towards James' direction to see the pretty redhead laughing, "'Course, that's Lily Evans. She's a muggleborn prefect at Hogwarts."
"And she looks absolutely brilliant with that dress," added Gideon, looking at Lily.
Molly smiled, "How about you invite her over to our table, Gideon? We could chat, yes?"
Gideon eagerly got up and jogged over to Lily's table.
"So Frank," started Lily. "I was talking to Alice the other day…"
"Alice?" Frank interrupted. "Did she happen to mention me?"
Lily smiled widely, "She mentioned you a bit. Something about…Hogsmeade perhaps?"
Frank's whole face lit up, "Oh? Really?" Lily nodded. "Heh, fancy that."
For the rest of the conversation, Frank's face stayed in the same happy gaze he had conjured the moment Lily had mentioned Alice and Hogsmeade together.
Just as Lily was laughing at some story James and Sirius had told her, she noticed Gideon Prewett walking towards her table. She immediately blushed slightly. She had fancied him once, back in 5th year. You know what they say: old habits die hard.
James saw her random change in emotion and looked for the source, finding one of the Prewett twins walking his way.
"Hey guys," Gideon waved at everyone. "I was er- wondering if Lily could come to my table over there. Molly wanted to chat."
Lily's face lit up, just like Frank's had before. However, James' darkened.
"If that's alright." Added Gideon.
Lily nodded excitedly and got up from her chair. "Yes, of course." She smiled a goodbye to Sirius and James and followed Gideon to his table.
Sirius Black turned to his fellow marauder, "Tough luck, Prongs."
James just groaned into his food.
Lily had never felt so…giggly. She followed Gideon to his table and sat between him and his twin brother, Fabian. She grinned at Molly and Arthur, "Hi, I'm Lily Evans."
"Ah, yes. Hullo Lily. Fabian and Gideon just told us about you." Answered Arthur.
Lily Evans almost jumped in glee. He talks about me, oh Merlin. She smiled and nodded instead. Arthur continued,
"So, you're muggleborn, yes?" Lily nodded. "Tell me, what's the function of a rubber duck?"
Lily looked confused, "Of a rubber duck?"
"Oh stop it Arthur!" said Mrs. Weasley. "You'll have to excuse him dear; he just got promoted to the 'Misuse of Muggle Artifacts' office in the Ministry."
Lily smiled, "Its fine, really."
For the rest of the dinner, she stayed in that table. She got to know Gideon much better; Fabian too of course. It was really a lot of fun. She had completely forgotten about James and Sirius. Right when she looked back at James' table, Gideon stood up and grabbed her attention.
"Hey, want to dance?" he motioned for the dance floor, where various couples were dancing.
She blushed furiously, "Oh, um, yes of course." She grinned and grabbed his hand, allowing him to lead her into the dance floor.
Back at the Marauder's table, Frank was talking nonstop about his "soon-to-be girlfriend".
"….she even told her friends! I mean, if she doesn't call that fancying me then I don't know what is!" He grinned widely at his friends.
James was balancing his head on both his hands, staring at his food. That was until Sirius nudged his stomach, "Prongs. Look at the dance floor."
James looked up to find his Lily with bloody Gideon Prewett. Gideon Prewett! Is she serious?
"Looks like she has a thing for redheads." Commented Sirius, "One thing you have in common, eh?"
James growled and glared angrily at the dancing pair.
If his hand moves any lower, I swear to Merlin...
Lily wrapped her arms around Gideon's neck, while the latter's hands moved to her waist. He pulled her closer in every beat. They moved in harmony; following the song's rhythm. She could feel his thumb creating small circles on her lower back.
She smiled kindly at him and he grinned back. They talked while they danced (Which was about five songs straight.) She really enjoyed his company; but of course, good things never last.
Before she knew it, Gideon was tapped on the shoulder by another guy. She couldn't make out his face until he switched with Gideon.
"Potter what are you doing?" Whispered Lily harshly at James as his hands slid around her waist. Obviously, to not look "rude", she placed her hands on his shoulders.
He grinned slightly, "Dancing. You're doing it too, actually." He moved closer, just as Gideon was.
Lily moved back a step, "That's not what I meant, you arsehole! I was dancing with Gideon!"
His grin dropped, "Prewett? Ah, well. Now you're dancing with me."
She glared at him, "I prefer him."
"That's too bad, considering I'm here instead. Merlin Evans, it's just one dance."
"I don't want to dance with you!" She narrowed her eyes at him, angrily.
He tightened his hold on her, "Gideon isn't good for you."
Her cheeks flushed with fury, "Who are you to decide for me?"
Some were watching this interaction between the pair. They weren't exactly discreet about it either way. Mr. and Mrs. Potter stared worriedly.
"Well, he isn't. Did you see how far down his hands went?"
Lily scowled, "They did not! You think every guy that touches me is horrible! Just because you can't get over me, doesn't mean nobody else can fancy me!"
James stopped dancing for a second, "I didn't say that. Stop putting words into my mouth, Evans."
"Stop stealing people's dance partners!" yelled Lily (quite loudly). And with that, she pulled away and ran out of the ballroom, leaving James alone in the middle of the floor. Everyone stared at him as he analyzed what had just happened. He ruffled his hair and walked out, speechless.
Lily ran out and turned left, going deeper into the Potter Manor. She didn't quite know where she was going; she just wanted to get away from James Potter. He always had to ruin everything! Out of all the bloody girls he could've fancied, it just had to be Lily. She sighed and picked up her dress slightly so it wouldn't get dirty.
She continued down a wide hall, until she found a door. She opened it and walked inside curiously.
The whole room was Gryffindor colors; every single spot. There was a collection of brooms in one corner and all the walls were covered with Quidditch Posters. She walked towards a desk to find billions of photographs, framed.
There was one of the marauders, waving back at her. Another was of a shaggy dog and a stag in the forest. She went through a couple pictures of the same people; until she reached one that she was in. She remembered it like if it were yesterday.
She picked up the frame and looked at it closely. It was in their fourth year, near Christmas: James was trying to get her under the mistletoe, but she-
"Kept pushing me away..." a voice said. She looked back to find James, looking at her seriously. He walked over to her and grabbed the photograph. "It's the only picture that we're both in. Even though I was being a prat…it counts." He looked down at the picture and chuckled, before putting it back down.
Lily quietly went over and sat on the edge of the bed in the room (which must have belonged to James). He followed and sat next to her.
"Sorry about that; in the ballroom, not the mistletoe." He smiled at her but she shook her head. So he continued, "I was being a prick. I shouldn't have filled in for Prewett."
Lily sighed, "One resolution down."
He grinned at her, "That's what you're thinking about?" He laughed and stood up."Actually, I counted this dinner as two." He shrugged and took out his hand, "C'mon, I'll take you back to Hogwarts."
She groaned, lying back against his bed, "Oh no, I can't walk that passageway again!"
He smirked, thinking how right she looked on his bed; as if she belonged there. He snorted at his thoughts and looked down at her, "I have another idea. Go change and meet me downstairs by the stairs in twenty minutes."
Lily hurried back into the big room of dresses to change. After she had nicely folded her clothes and changed back to her regular clothes, she heard a knock.
"Er-Come in?"
Inside, walked Mrs. Potter. "Hey Lily." She eyed her clothes warily, "Leaving so soon?" Lily nodded. "I know it's none of my business, but is everything alright between my son and you? You had quite a roll in the ballroom?"
Lily shook her head, "Sorry about that. We tend to, um, do that. Everything's fine, really. He's going to take me back to Hogwarts."
Dorea smiled, "No wonder he mentions you so much." She looked over at the pastel pink dress Lily had put away. She went over to it and dropped it into a small bag. The bag was no bigger than Lily's palm, and the dress managed to fit inside. Dorea looked at Lily's amazed stare and added, "I charmed it. Here, keep the dress."
Lily hesitated, "Oh no, I shouldn't."
"But you should." She placed it on Lily's hand and grinned. "I'll say your goodbye to Charlus later."
Lily nodded and headed for the door. Just before she left, she heard Mrs. Potter, "Oh and Lily!" Lily looked back at her. "He isn't as bad as you think he probably is. A bit annoying, yes. But his heart is in the right place."
Lily smiled, "I know, Mrs. Potter." And with that, she hurried downstairs to James.
Downstairs James was lazily resting on the couch with Sirius. Remus and Peter were inside the ballroom, still talking to Frank.
"So she forgave you?" asked Padfoot.
"Yep."
"Just like that?"
"Yep."
"And now she's letting you take her back to Hogwarts?"
"Yep."
"Women."
"I know," sighed James.
Just then, Lily came down the stairs. She stopped in front of James and Sirius. "Ready." Potter nodded and pulled out his broom; Lily's eyes widened. "No! I don't even know how to fly!"
Sirius snorted, "Relax, Evans. You'll be flying with Prongs over here."
Lily eyed James curiously, but sighed in defeat. She didn't want to have a repeat of the long passageway. She nodded and walked to James' side.
"Are you coming Padfoot?" questioned James.
"Nah. I got a date with a brunette." Sirius smirked, "Bye lovebirds!"
James and Lily both snorted. He guided her out into his backyard. Which was about twice the size of the actual house. Bloody Potter Manor.
Once in the backyard, he mounted his broom; waiting for Lily. She looked at it closely, hesitating.
"I won't bite, Evans."
She rolled her eyes and hopped on, wrapping her arms around his waist. He grinned widely and flew off the ground happily. He zoomed through the clouds, doing random loops and quick turns. Lily gripped tighter to his waist, burying her head into his back.
"Potter!"
He smirked, going just a tad slower. "Yes, Miss Evans?"
"If you don't slow the bloody hell down we're going to fall!" she screamed.
He laughed and blasted off, already flying over the Hogwarts Black Lake. He lowered his broom and Lily could feel the water sprinkling under her feet. She smiled slightly and for that moment, she was actually enjoying herself. With James Potter.
He landed just above the Gryffindor Tower and managed to sneak in without getting caught by the prefects patrolling. Just as they had muttered the password to the Fat Lady, they made it inside the Common Room.
"Wow that was…fun." Lily smiled, "Bloody insane; but fun."
James grinned, heading towards the boy's dormitory. "Glad you had fun. Goodnight Lily."
"Goodnight, Potter."
Lily skipped inside her dormitory to find that all her roommates were still out, except for Alice.
"Hey Al," greeted Lily.
"Hey Lils, why are you in such a good mood? Snogged any good-looking blokes?"
Lily laughed, "Sadly not. But speaking of good-looking blokes, guess who I saw today? Frank Longbottom."
Alice immediately turned scarlet and started fidgeting, "O-Oh really? Did he happen to mention me?"
Lily smirked and landed on top of her bed; just before she closed her curtains she whispered to Alice, "Loads. Just shag the poor bloke already, Alice." She smiled and tucked herself in, falling asleep in a second.
She couldn't quite recall her dream. All she remembers was a mop of dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Could've been anyone, really. All she knows was that it was one of the best she's had.
Author's Note:I don't really like this chapter; i'm sorry if i ruined it for all of you :/ The next chapter is the Forbidden Forest+ another resolution. I think i overly used the divider button...Review with any comments!
Much love, Rachel.
