Chapter Two.
"Aren't you leaving?" Lily said with her back turned to James.
"No, I-..aren't you?" James ruffled up his hair.
"Well, I thought I'd just stay here since it's probably full everywhere else on the train. And I can't be bothered to move my stuff again."
"Right…I thought the same…will you be really mad if I stayed?" James glanced over at Lily.
"If you bother me, then yes."
"Yeah okay, I'll just err- I'll just sit over here, reading ..uhm..something." James started looking in his bag.
Every now and then, Lily looked over at James from behind her Daily Prophet. He looked very uncomfortable and he'd been sitting like that for the last hour, not moving a single muscle except his eyes. He'd been looking at the same page since he'd opened the Qudditch book. He hadn't even looked out at the beautiful surroundings passing them by as the train moved on. Lily sighed.
"Sorry! Am I bothering you?" James's eyes snapped up at Lily.
"No, it's just…you look really uncomfortable and you've been on that same page for 63 minutes, are you that slow?"
"No, but you said I couldn't bother you and, well…I'm not sure what seems bothering to you."
"Asking me out, eyeing me up and down, hexing people, ruffling your hair up all the time…that's annoying. Reading and turning pages are not." Lily rolled her eyes.
"So I'm allowed to talk to you? Because you didn't mention that." James grinned.
"See! There it is! That stupid grin on your stupid face!" James quickly stopped smiling. The best thing he could do was to shut up until they were at Hogwarts…
"Sorry, I'll just keep on reading then…"
More time passed and the silence was really bugging James. He wasn't used to a quiet ride to Hogwarts. It wasn't boring, he was always happy around Lily, but he just wished they talked, like friends. He looked out of the window and saw a snowy owl soaring through the sky in the distance.
"Lily?"
"Hmm?"
"Can we just…try to have a normal conversation? There's two more hours before we're at Hogwarts and I've read this book twice already."
"Pick up another book then." She hadn't even looked up from the paper.
"Right…" He sighed. He knew when a battle was lost.
"How was your summer?" She put the Prophet down.
"What?"
"I said; how was your summer?" Her emerald green eyes found his brown.
"I heard that, I just thought you didn't want to have a conversation."
"I just asked you a question so clearly I do want to have one." She rolled her eyes.
"Yes, so it seems…Err, it was nice. Sirius moved in and he's staying until he finds his own place. I learned some new tri-…err, some new spells I mean and relaxed a bit. No big holiday because dad thinks we have a dark time ahead of us and that it's best to spend the time we have at home with just close family and friends." He said.
"Your dad sounds like a clever man."
"He is." James smiled. There hadn't been many normal conversations with Lily in all those years they'd known each other and just now he remembered how much he loved them. "So how was yours?"
"It was pretty normal. I hung around the house a lot, did some reading, spent a weekend in Italy, met my sister's new boyfriend" Lily shuddered. "and learned some new hexes. So you better watch your back!" Lily smiled.
"Oh, I will" James laughed, secretly slightly scared of how severe these new hexes might be. "Do you like your sisters' boyfriend?"
"No." Lily answered quickly. "He looks like a freaking walrus! He's so obnoxious, even worse than you."
"Wow, that's really saying something isn't it?"
"Exactly! She hasn't told him about me and what I can do of course, it might scare him away you know, but it seems like he shares her love for a completely normal life. I can't stand either of them, at least not him. I would never have believed that she would choose a guy like him! It seems like she chose him just to annoy me." Lily breathed fast. "Sorry…I shouldn't have told you all of that, they just make me so angry sometimes."
"Yeah, I can tell." James observed Lily and could tell that she was glad to be away from them. "But you're moving out after Hogwarts, aren't you? Then you don't have to see them often."
"That's true…but I just want my old sister back…" Lily sighed.
"What do you mean?"
"It's nothing, you wouldn't understand anyway. It's too complicated."
"Try me."
"No, really, Potter. It's nothing. So, are you looking forward to the last year?"
"I wish I was, but I'm not. Definitely not when I'm Head Boy. So many responsibilities."
"Yeah. I'll try and help you out, okay? If there's anything you're wondering about then just ask."
"Really? Okay, well if that's the case…do you want to go out with m-"
"NO, POTTER!" Lily covered her ears. "Anything but that. Please. Believe me, if I wanted to go out with you then I would ask you, okay? So stop asking me out on a date!"
"I-…yes, sorry. I'll stop. Old habit, you know." He blushed.
James had just made the whole room so much colder, he knew it. Honestly, it just slipped out of him, but he knew he had to stop it. Friendship first, as Remus kept on saying.
"I don't want to go out with you! Ever!" Lily glared at him. Ouch, that hurt more than he thought it would. The train was slowing down and Lily started gathering her things as fast as she could. "Thank Merlin we're finally here. I'll see you at school, Potter." and then she stormed out.
"See you later, Lils…" James sighed. "Stupid, stupid, stupid…"
"Talking to yourself again, mate?" Sirius stood in the doorway, grinning.
"Yes. I just asked Lily out again."
"And what did she say?" James's head snapped up.
"What did she say? You're asking me what she said? Does it look like it was a good answer to you? Am I jumping up and down on my seat out of happiness?"
"No. But I have no idea what you're reaction to a good answer would be since she's never said yes." Sirius said.
"Thanks, thanks a lot for reminding me." James dropped his head on the table.
"Oh, come on, Prongs. I'm just messing with you. You can be upset later, there's a warm feast waiting for us up at the school. Now, I know you don't want to miss out on that, so let's get of this train, yeah?"
"Yeah…" James got up from his seat and got his luggage. "You're right, feast first then depression later." They walked out of the train.
"I'm not sure if you'll be depressed later. At least not if you're in your Common Room."
"What do you mean 'your'? I know you think I have a big ego, but I never claimed Gryffindor Common Room to be mine."
"I'm not talking about the Gryffindor Common Room. I'm actually talking about yours." Sirius grinned. "Well, it's not yours alone, you'll have to share it with Evans, but I can't really see that as depressing. At least not for you, me maybe and her of course, but not you."
"Padfoot, slow down, what in Merlin's pants are you talking about?"
"I heard it from a 6th year girl." His smile widened. "Clearly, the Heads get a place of their own. Just like a normal Common Room, only smaller I guess. She was saying how 'lucky Lily is because she gets to share a place with James Potter'" Sirius said with a girly voice, then he turned around because James has stopped in his tracks.
"I…I get a place at Hogwarts with Lily? This entire year?" James felt nauseated.
"Yes! Isn't that just great?" Sirius had a genuine smile on his face.
"No! It's not great at all! That leaves me more moments of messing everything up! I need to learn how to shut up, how to behave, I…Sirius…I have to grow up!"
"Woah woah! James, relax. Mate, you've grown in case you haven't noticed, mentally and physically. We're no longer those little brats who used to mess around with 1st years. Now we mess with potential Death Eaters!" Sirius grinned, but James only groaned.
"Sirius, you know what I mean! I can't be 100% boy if I have to share a place with a girl! I'm not prepared for this!" James started walking again.
"Come on, Prongs. You'll have to be prepared for this if you're moving in with Lily after graduation."
"I'm not even friends with her yet and you think we'll move in after graduation?" James stopped and looked at Sirius as if he were the dumbest person on this planet.
"Of course. Do you know why? Because you're James Potter and she's Lily Evans. Everyone in this school can see that you fit together, you just have to figure it out yourselves. Or in this case, Lily has to figure it out. Do you know how many bets are going around school about when you guys are finally hooking up? Every single student is betting!" He opened the door to a carriage. "I think even McGonegalls' put some galleons in on that."
"You're mental, Padfoot, you really are."
"So are you, Prongs, and we wouldn't have survived without our madness!"
Lily had found Alice, Elly and Frank and was currently sitting in a carriage with them. She was trying hard not to focus on Potter, but it was simply impossible. She had had a nice conversation before he screwed everything up again. They'd talked, smiled and she had even brought up sensitive stuff about her relationship with her sister in front of him. She honestly did not know if she liked him or not, as a friend. He could be friendly, funny and nice. But he could also be a complete arse, a bigheaded toe rag and a girl-chasing git with absolutely no respect for rules! Okay, truth be told he'd only chased after her, she'd never seen him with another girl, but she was sure the chasing was just a game. After she'd let him have her he was bound to dump her and that was unnecessary pain she would not go through. It would be humiliating as well.
"Lily, are you in there?" Alice waved her hand in front of Lily's eyes.
"What?"
"We've been trying to talk to you for five minutes with no response. What were you thinking about?"
"Oh, sorry, I just…I got a bit lost in thought I suppose. Nothing special on my mind." She smiled, but caught Elly's look. Elly knew she'd been thinking about him, she always knew. Lily guessed best friends always had a psychic link, that's why Alice didn't know and she returned her attention back to Frank.
"So, Lily, excited about testing your Head Girl skills?" Elly sniggered.
"Yes, I mean, it's not like I've done anything like it before. Oh, wait, I was a Prefect." Lily joked. "I don't think it'll be that different from last year."
"It'll be sad to not share a dorm with you, but I'll survive." Elly's smile faded.
"What?"
"It'll just be sad, you know, to not have our late-night talks."
"What do you mean, Elly? We'll still have them."
"Not if you're not sleeping in our dorm."
"….You're kicking me out? How's that even possible?"
"What? No! Don't you know?"
"Know what?" Lily was starting to freaking out at this point, where was her dorm?
"That you and the Head Boy have your own little Common Room and two dorms?"
"….what?" Lily looked dumbfounded at Elly.
"Yeah, so, basically…you're leaving us to sleep with James."
"Ha-ha, you're so funny I forgot to laugh, Elly." The carriage had stopped, Alice and Frank were already outside and heading up the stairs towards the entrance.
"I'm not joking, Lils, I'm serious." Elly stepped out of the carriage.
"No you're not. You are not Sirius, you are Elly, and the Elly I know doesn't joke around like this so stop it. It's not even funny!"
"It's not supposed to be funny," Elly said "it's the truth." Lily stood outside the carriage, watching Elly catch up with Alice and Frank. Could she be telling the truth? Was Lily Evans really destined to share a Common Room with James Potter for an entire year?
"God, I hope she's wrong…so wrong…" Lily thought out loud and looked up at what she could see of Hogwarts. "I do not want to spend more time with Potter this year." She started walking up the entrance and when she glanced back she caught a glimpse of Sirius and James. They looked happy, normal, clever. But she knew that when they opened their mouths, stupidity pored out. Lily thought they could've been friends, but that was before they really started picking on Severus. Lily was not the kind of girl that hung around idiots who thought they were worth a lot more if they picked on weaker people. She and Potter weren't even friends, how could he imagine that she would actually go on a date with him? Lily sighed and turned her head.
"It's never going to happen, Potter."
Thank you for reading! Review or not, it's up to you3 Just keep in mind that I can't make any changes or get better without 'em!
