H is for HUMILIATE

"Evans!"

Lily looked up from her homework. "Yes?" she said to James as he came to sit down next to her.

"What're you doing?"

"Homework. Transfiguration."

"Transfiguration's easy," James said. "Leave it until tomorrow and come play Gobstones with us!"

She bit her lip. "Gobstones is a game for children," she said, but in the back of her mind she desperately wanted to.

"A game for children?" James repeated. "Oh, Lily. Lily, Lily, Lily. You poor, deprived soul."

"Is it not for children?"

"No, it is. But it's still fun. Come on, you can join my team."

"I thought I was on your team?" Sirius Black, who was obviously eavesdropping, called from the other side of the common room.

"You can be on Peter's team."

"I thought I was on Peter's team?" Remus Lupin said.

"You are. You can have a team of three." James turned back to Lily. "What do you say? Play with us? I'll bet you a galleon our team wins."

Lily smiled politely. "Thank you for the offer, but I have to focus on my studies."

"Oh, come on, Evans, just - "

"Please don't badger me. I told you I want to finish my homework."

"What about when you're done, then?"

She shook her head, eyes fixed on the quill in her hand. "I have plans with someone."

"Who?" James demanded. "Sirius?"

"Not Sirius." She glanced over at the boy in question who was laughing as the Gobstones squirted ink all over Remus' face. "I don't think I'd be able to handle him, to be honest."

"Who, then?"

"Severus Snape, if you must know. He's my friend from home, we've made plans to walk around the Black Lake for awhile."

James snorted. "Snivellus Snape?"

"Don't call him that."

"Come on, Lily, just play one round with us. He can wait."

She shook her head. "I don't want him to wait. I really dislike being late. And I'll go crazy if I have my unfinished homework hanging over my head. Maybe we can play Gobstones when I get back?"

James sighed. "Suit yourself, I s'pose. But he is a Slytherin, you know."

"I know. And I don't care. There's a bit of Slytherin in me, you know."

Sirius snorted. "A bit of Slytherin in you?" he repeated. "Which one?"

Lily's face turned bright red as she realized his joke, and she flung her Transfiguration book into her rucksack. "Don't bother waiting up for me," she snapped. "I don't think I'm in the mood to play with any of you."

Sirius grinned. "Aw, you'll let the Slytherin play with you, but not us?"

She whipped her head around to glare at him. "How would you like it if I made sex jokes about you and your cousin Narcissa?" she snapped. "Because I've been talking to Emily Vanity, and she says the two of you snogged at a Christmas party last year."

"Woah," Peter Pettigrew said. "Is that true?"

Sirius clenched his jaw.

"Not so fun when it's you being humiliated, eh, Black?" Lily said with a grim smirk.

"Sirius, is it true?" Peter asked again.

"It's normal in my family," he tried to explain, but his friends were already roaring with laughter, and Lily was marching up to her dormitory.

[Collect A Collection Competition: James Potter (Marauder's Era)]

[So You Think You Know Your Character Competition: Lily Evans - what does your character dislike?]