A/N: Sorry, I know I haven't updated in at least a month but my computer broke down. Anyways, this is Chapter 4.
Chapter 4:
"James! James wake up!" Remus bellowed banging on the headboy's dormitory door
The boy stirred in his sleep. Determined to not wake up, he pulled the covers over his jet-black hair to block out the noise caused by his friends.
Remus cast the Alohamora spell and both he and Sirius came rushing in the room.
Sirius walked over to his friend's bed and conjured a glass of water. With a sigh, he poured the clear liquid on James who yelled as he felt the cold water splash on his face.
" Padfoot? Bloody Hell Mate!
- Look Prongs, I normally wouldn't be waking you up, and that's because I would probably also be asleep but right now you really need to get up. Class started about 30 minutes ago. He added checking his watch.
Beside him, Moony was picking up books scattered all over the floor and shoving them in Prongs' already full, bag.
- Whaat? The teenager yelled and jumped out of his bed. Still half asleep, he started putting on his robes when he realized he was actually trying to put his pants on his head. Cursing, he finally managed to put on his uniform and slung his bag over his shoulder.
" Where's Peter? He asked as they scurried down the spiral staircase
- He already went down about an hour ago. Moony replied as they climbed through the portrait hole.
- And he didn't think of waking us up? Padfoot asked irritably
- Obviously not."
The three of them ran through the corridors but stopped abruptly as they realized that they had absolutely no clue of where they had class since their timetables were distributed during breakfast and they had missed it.
" Shit! What do we do now? James cursed
- Well… I say we look into every classroom.
- But that'll take hours! Sirius whined
- Come on, let's just start by the classes on this floor then."
They started peering into classes, trying to find fellow classmates in one of them when they were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. Remus looked up to see who was coming and sighed of relief when he saw a fiery red-head walking towards them, looking cross.
" You know how late you are? You already lost Gryffindor 10 points on the first day! Professor Flitwick was worried something had happened to you and sent me to look for the three of you! Why are you so Late? And you! She said pointing her finger at James You're headboy! I hope you aren't planning on being late every morning!
James was slightly embarrassed of having already failed acting as a role model, being heaboy, and tried to give Lily an innocent look which usually worked on other girls, but certainly not on Lily Evans. He noticed her eyes were red with anger.
Wait - no that didn't make any sense. How could her eyes be red of anger? James wasn't dreaming, they were certainly red and slightly puffy. This could only mean one absurd and very disconcerting thing: had Lily Evans, probably the toughest (yet sweet) and imperturbable girl James had ever met, been crying?
The thought lingered in James' mind for about a second, before he realized that was most certainly the most ridiculous thing he'd ever thought of:
Lily Evans, crying? Give me a break. I wouldn't be surprised if her eyes really were red from anger.
Lily Evans awoke that morning at 7:00, to the early rays of sunlight flooding through the corners of her curtains. It was quite nice to have a whole room for oneself. Her room was quite like her old, except for the fact that it was much smaller, but the decorations remained the same and were of the same red and gold.
As always, she took a long soothing shower. She took her time to prepare herself, making sure that she had all the books she needed in her bag before making her way down to the Gryffindor common room. It was, by then, only 7:45 and class started in more than hour. Knowing that Alice and Marlene were still sleeping, Lily decided to stay in the common room until they woke up as she didn't want to eat alone.
She took out one of her school books, and started reading it with a sigh.
People had always accused Lily of being a bore, as she would always read her textbooks before class. Little did they know that this activity bore Lily, but she endured it for she knew that if she wanted to maintain her good grades and the teachers' positive attitude towards her, she had to know beforehand what they were going to study this year.
Unlike Potter, she thought bitterly.
Indeed, Potter had always been in the top students of the class but seemed to never study. He was always playing pranks or practicing Quidditch and Lily was quite jealous of the fact that he could maintain such grades with so little effort. Of course, she was by far better than him, but her outstanding results came with a lot of effort put in.
She had finished reading the first chapter of her textbook on Goblin rights when a short, brown-haired girl walked through the portrait hole.
"- Lily! I didn't see you on the train!
- Mary! I couldn't find you in any compartment. Where were you? Lily said as she stood up to hug her friend.
Mary Macdonald was one of Lily's close friends. They had gotten close in the 5th year when Mary and Lily both became prefects and did their prefect duties together. Also Mary had comforted her when the incident with Snape took place.
Mary Macdonald had shoulder-length thin brown hair which she never tied except when she was playing Quidditch, deep blue-grey eyes and a few freckles on her nose. She wasn't as close to Lily as Alice and Marlene were for she, being pretty and smart, was quite popular both amongst boys and girls and had her own group of friends.
She dated James Potter last year.
The thought crossed Lily's mind before she could stop herself. It was getting quite ridiculous; Just because Potter was, and she had to admit it, very handsome, toned and- STOP.
Just because Potter was okay-looking and wasn't exactly her archenemy anymore didn't mean that she should think about him as much as she did. It was too unhealthy and disturbing for her.
So, you want to go grab some breakfast? Mary asked, snapping Lily out of her thoughts
- Er… yeah sure. she replied as she looked at her watch. It was 8:15, Marlene and Alice won't be awake until 8:30 and Lily was starving.
The two of them headed towards the Great Hall and sat on on the far right of the long wooden table. The great Hall was packed with students chattering about their first day of school and they barely found space for them to sit. As Mary and Lily began eating, a number of owls swooped into the hall and deposited packages on the plates of a few students. The red-head spotted her owl flying towards her, carrying what was most probably the Daily Prophet.
- Anyone we know dead? Mary asked cynically.
- Actually… yes! Oh no! Mary look it's horrible!
- Whaaat? She chocked on her food. Mary always asked the same question every morning, but she always knew the answer to be "no" unlike this time.
- Yes. Professor Hayes, our defense against the dark-arts teach-
- Yes yes, I know who he is! But how… when did he die?
- Last night. According to the article, he was discovered dead this morning in his home with the Dark Mark floating above. Lily replied gravely.
Around them, the atmosphere in the Great Hall seemed to get heavier as more and more horrified whispers were heard, and students read out the article to their surrounding friends.
- He was muggle-borne, Lily said replying to Mary's silent question. Guess this means we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. Again.
Indeed she was right, for a few seconds later Dumbledore stood up, asked for silence before he began speaking.
"As you all may or may not know, Professor Hayes, your defense against the Dart Arts teacher. He paused an instance, letting his gaze wander across the room, has been murdered last night.
Their was an uproar, the students who hadn't heard the news cried and gasped of horror and those who were already aware of the murder passed the Daily Prophet around or engaged themselves in grave conversations about Death Eaters. Lily was dumbstruck: somehow reading it in the Daily Prophet hadn't seemed real until Dumbledore announced it. Professor Mcgonagall clapped her hands loudly to bring back the students to order.
The headmaster thanked her and began speaking again.
" As we haven't had the time to find a replacement, you will have no class during your Defense Against the Dark Arts periods. Professor Mcgonagall will now distribute your timetables. " He sat down, then started a conversation with Professor Grubby-Plank, who was sitting beside him. Her eyes were slightly swollen; it was obvious she had cried at hearing the news of Hayes' death.
At this announcement, there were no cries of joy for the new free periods. Instead, the students wore horrified looks on their face and some even looked on the verge of tears. After a few minutes, The Great Hall regained of its habitual loudness, and conversations resonated conversations once again.
Finally, Lily and Mary finished eating, and made their way to the second floor corridor, where they would have their first lesson of the Day: Charms.
Lily was eager to start class again, she was hoping that the homework would make her forget about the terrible news she had learnt the same morning.
Professor Flitwick opened the classroom door, and gestured his students inside. As usual, Lily picked a desk on the second row, not to close to the front nor to the back. Her seat enabled her to talk without the teacher immediately noticing, but also to listen to the lesson without having to crane her neck to see the blackboard.
" Who here is able to show me the mobiliarbus charm? Anybody? Why yes, miss Evans."
Her hand had shot in the air as soon as professor Flitwick had questioned the clas, which earned her a few mocking imitations on behalf of some Slytherin boys which Lily determinedly ignored.
Aiming to the small tree Professor Flitwick had just conjured she cast the spell confidently, willing the tree to move to the right.
But something was wrong. She hadn't even felt the warm tingling feeling that rushed through her every time she used her wand. Worse, nothing happened, the tree didn't budge.
She felt herself go red with embarrassment as the whole class stared at her dumbstruck, and suddenly, Lily felt this ridiculously strong and childish urge to cry. She held back tears and somehow managed to disguise one of her sobs into an apologetic laugh.
Get a grip of yourself, Lily!
Professor Flitwick seemed to shocked to speak. In the classroom, there reigned a heavy silence occasionally broken by a few mocking snickers until the Professor regained his senses and said in what he tried to be an amused voice:
" Well there's always a first for everything." Before picking another student to demonstrate the spell, who managed it and earned 5 points for his House.
Professor Flitwick then started a lesson on the Engorgement Charm.
But Lily wasn't listening.
It wasn't possible, she had managed the spell hundreds of times last year, so why couldn't she do it now?