Oh yes, second chapter in three days! Don't get used to it, though - it won't happen often. A shorter chapter this time, but I think most of the other chapters will be around this length - the flashbacks made the other one longer.
Thanks to Caketin for proofreading it for me, and superstarsvtn for reviewing (only one review D= I'm hoping for more this time... /unsubtlehint) This chapter is dedicated to my little sister, becuase we couldn't even spend a weekend together without arguing. You know where you are in here, little fish, so I don't really need to say anything more.
I own nothing except the spotty dotty notebooks and clicky pens. Now onto the chapter...
CHAPTER THREE - PINK SURPRISES
And with that she pushed past him, quickly disappearing into the crowd. Lily let the flow of students around her pull her along, everyone except her knowing exactly where they were going. She hadn't exactly lied to James: she was supposed to be tutoring third years in the library, just not for another fifteen minutes. This meant she had ten minutes before she had to start off towards the library. Ten minutes alone with her own thoughts – a prospect she wouldn't have minded had her thoughts not been plagued by James Potter.
"You're an arrogant idiot and I can't trust you not to make a stupid mistake."
It was true – she couldn't. In fact anyone who thought they could trust James to go for a month without messing something up – be it a relationship, project or his chances with Lily – was, frankly, insane. From 'misguided attempts to entertain her' to asking her out straight after bullying her (then) best friend to walking out of a broom closet with another girl right in front of her, James had made every mistake in the book and more. He had also hexed a good percentage of the Hogwarts (mainly Slytherin, it had to be said) population and annoyed almost every teacher in the school with his numerous ridiculous pranks; yet he had still been made head boy.
Exactly why was a mystery to Lily and the other Hogwartians who knew James (which really accounted for all the other students) and even he had admitted he wasn't sure why Dumbledore had chosen him. Everyone had been very happy, but not too surprised, when Lily had arrived on the Hogwarts Express sporting the head girl badge, but for James there had been more than a few raised eyebrows and jokes that he had stolen it from Remus. However, it was James, and not Remus, who arrived in the prefects' compartment for the start-of-term meeting and who had his name announced at the feats, James who she would have to work with for the rest of the year.
Lily frowned slightly, shifting the weight of her bag on her shoulder before glancing at her watch. It was still only ten to three, which gave her five or so more free minutes, but she had nothing to do and there was no harm in being early.
She arrived in the Library with five minutes to spare, so she settled herself at a table and got out the textbooks and equipment that would need for the session. The three third years she had agreed to tutor were all eager to learn, she had been told. But for one reason or another they had all fallen behind on their transfiguration work. Transfiguration was, admittedly, more James' thing but she didn't want to put the younger students through the extra stress of James messing around or not turning up. When she had mentioned it to James, he had told her that he was already doing something on Wednesday afternoons, so he was glad that she had taken them on. He had said this with a kind of pride in his voice that made her wonder what exactly he was doing. Her first idea had been quidditch, but he couldn't have organised a quidditch practise when most of the team were still in class, so what was it?
She was soon pulled out of her thoughts when two thirds (or half if you counted Lily as well) of the tutor group arrived, explaining that Oliver was 'just talking to someone and would come very soon'. The two girls took seats across the table from Lily and chatted quietly whilst Lily watched the door, waiting for Oliver to arrive.
About two minutes later a small thirteen-year-old boy with mousy brown hair darted into the library. He looked around for a moment, spotted Lily and the two girls and made his way over. With all of their attention focused on Oliver, the entrance of a tall, black-haired boy with glasses went totally unnoticed to the three of them. Lily smiled at the three students now sat in front of her, opened the textbook and began to talk.
They had been going for just over ten minutes, and making extremely good progress, when Lily paused slightly, listening. There was giggling - a young girl from what Lily could tell - and an older, male voice coming from behind the bookcases to their left. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that she wanted a change of scene from third-year transfiguration or just plain curiosity that made her do it, but Lily stood up and took the few steps around the bookcases, closely followed by the three curious thirteen-year-olds. The sight that met their eyes was not one that Lily would ever have put any money on seeing. James Potter was sitting at another table next to a tiny girl who couldn't have been older than eleven. Her wavy blonde hair was kept out of her eyes by a pink alice-band and there was a look of total concentration on her face. James' hands were on the tabletop, keeping a beetle under control while the girl poked at it gently with her wand-tip. There was already a small pile of buttons on the table, ranging from flattened, circular beetles, to buttons with legs, to almost perfect coat buttons. Both James' and the girl's faces broke into smiles, conveying the pride they both had in the perfect bright blue button that was now sitting on the desk. They looked up, and only then realised that they were being watched. James' smile turned into a beaming grin, and the first-year continued smiling shyly.
"Ah, Miss Evans," James grinned and winked at the third-years by her side, "fancy meeting you here."
She found herself smiling, almost impressed by him helping younger students. Of course he was supposed to be doing it anyway - it was part of his role as head boy - but so far James hadn't exactly accepted all of his responsibility.
"So this is why you couldn't take these three?" she gestured at the students she had been tutoring.
"Yup," he smiled at the girl next to him and glanced at Lily. "Elizabeth, this is Lily Evans, our amazing head girl," the blonde girl smiled at Lily and she smiled warmly back. She also cursed herself as she giggled slightly at James' compliment. He was just showing off, for Merlin's sake, but she knew that she had to stay friendly in front of the younger kids.
"And Miss Evans, this is Elizabeth James - the girl with the best surname out of the entire first year and soon to be Minnie's top student."
Lily smiled slightly but shook her head disapprovingly. "You shouldn't call her that in front of the younger students; you're setting a bad example. But nice to meet you, Elizabeth."
"I am most apologetic and I shall remember that for next time," James' mock formality made the younger girls giggle, and Lily watched curiously as he picked up his wand from the table. What was he planning now? He was probably going to show off some fancy trick and then ask her out in the hope that she wouldn't be able to turn him down in front of the younger kids. He could be so predictable - and so wrong.
James was grinning as he raised his wand, and Lily knew straight away that her suspicions were correct. But what hid fancy trick was, Lily didn't find out until it actually happened. Trust James to use non-verbal spells at every opportunity. He traced a complicated path in the air with his wand, and four of the buttons on the table suddenly turned into pink roses. Elizabeth and the two third-year girls gasped in amazement and Oliver nodded, impressed. James took the admiration in his stride and gave a rose to each of the three girls then nodded to Oliver, putting his hand in his pocket. He pulled out a chocolate frog and tossed it to the boy, who grinned and muttered his thanks.
Lily felt the corners of her mouth twitch slightly, but she stopped herself smiling. James had a way with the younger kids - a side of him she hadn't seen before - but letting him know would just help to inflate his already over-large ego. There was still one pink rose left on the table, but they all (even Elizabeth, judging by her slightly concerned look at James and then Lily) knew exactly where it was going.
He stood up, the smile he seemed to save just for her on his face and the rose in his hand. "Miss Evans," he started, handing the rose to her with a flourish and ignoring her rolling her eyes at him, "would you give me the pleasure of having you accompany me to Hogsmeade this weekend?"
"Potter, now is not the time to discuss our personal lives, but to spare you asking me again - no. There are so many things I would rather spend my time doing." Her voice was colder, but she was still trying to sound professional - resisting the urge to call him an arrogant prat and tell him to stop showing off was difficult, but not impossible.
He put on an over-exaggerated 'sad' face, although his eyes were still smiling. "Ah, go on Evans," he said, dropping his formal tone. "Just one date?"
She frowned slightly. "First of all, I've already said now is not the time for this discussion and second the answer's still no and begging isn't going to get you anywhere." Her voice made it clear that the conversation was over, but just in case he decided to push her temper to the limit (something she really wasn't in the mood for just then) she turned her back on hi and gestured for Oliver and the two girls to follow her back to their studying.
The library was almost empty now - he was alone. Everyone was at dinner. He should have been, too, but he wasn't hungry. No, that was a lie, but dinner wouldn't satisfy him. He wanted something else.
He fiddled absent-mindedly with his wand - tracing patterns in the air. There were buttons left on the table. He pulled one towards him. It changed into a book, a lily, a quill; it changed faster and faster until a rose lay on the table. A black rose. He picked it and slipped it into his bag; a small smile played on his lips.