James was smart enough to realise when he needed help.
After the initial shock of finding himself staring at Lily Evans' hair from across classrooms and turning his head so fast that it clicked whenever he heard her name, and after the novelty of feeling his stomach flip because he had simply met her gaze or caught her smile in his general direction had gone, and after the nervousness had worn off and he stopped over-thinking every single she did in his presence, James got angry.
Who was Lily Evans, to make him turn this idiotic? Some random, short red-head with temper issues. He had woken up, two weeks after his first detention of the year, the first day of the Hogsmeade weekend, made his sleepy way down to the common room, and felt his legs seize up as he caught sight of her there with her friends. He had stared at her from across the room, and she hadn't noticed.
She had just sat there, talking, and James had felt the horrible uselessness of it all hit him. Lily didn't get short of breath when they passed in corridors, she didn't find herself day-dreaming about spending the day together in Hogsmeade, in the Three Broomsticks or Zonko's or hugging in the main street... She didn't even notice that he was so interested in her. She thought he was trying to trick her.
So then he got angry. And the worst part was that he didn't know who he was angry at.
"Lily." She looked up from her notes to find Sev hovering by her side. "About next week..."
"You mean the Christmas Hogsmeade?"
"Yes... I was... are you going with anyone...?"
"James Potter hasn't asked me again if that's what you're wondering." Lily knew she was being snappy, but lately Sev hadn't let up about Potter and if he'd talked to her today and if she'd said anything back and she'd had enough. Between the two of them, James and Severus were going to drive her crazy.
Snape twitched, and Lily could actually see him force down a snide remark. She sneered, an expression she'd picked up from years of hanging around him, and turned back to the Goblin Peace Treaties of 1667. He slid into the seat next to her, and after she did nothing he got out his own notes and started working. Lily managed to ignore him for a while but suddenly the silence was too much for her.
"Why does it bother you so much?" She ran a hand through her hair. "It's not like anything is... it's not like I'm going to say yes to him."
"You're not?"
She laughed at that. "Come on, Sev. James Potter is an immature idiot. I managed to humiliate him and now he's trying to save face by bothering me."
Since ignoring her at the first Hogsmeade trip, to the extent that he had slammed into her in the street and then carried on like nothing happened, James had started to pester her in lessons and the corridors. She had lost count of the times her ink bottle had 'mysteriously' tipped over onto her work, or she had felt rolled up paper hit the back of her head in lessons, he had even tripped her into a trick stair. So far it was just him, but after one infuriating confrontation in the Charms corridor where he denied all knowledge and Sirius stood in the background grinning Lily had decided to simply ignore him. So she learned how to magically clear ink without ruining her notes, and over-developed her ability to ignore any blows to the head and shoulders.
Severus remained annoyingly blind to the fact that she found the sudden interest from Potter irritating, which made it even more irritating because it was starting to strain their friendship. Sev now seemed to find it impossible to have a conversation where he didn't bring up Potter or the horrible things that Potter had done to him over the years. Add that to the fact that he was still smarting, she could tell, from the argument over the summer, even though Lily had been the one to apologise, and Lily was starting to find his company grate more and more on her nerves. If she wasn't careful, they were going to have another fight, and Lily knew her pride wouldn't let her be the one saying 'sorry' this time.
Severus hadn't answered her and, glad that she'd avoided bickering with him, she started working again.
"You're going to pull my arm off!"
James rolled his eyes at Sirius. "If you would only move faster..."
"Moony's not going anywhere James." Sirius tugged vainly at his arm. Peter, wrist clasped in James' other hand, was suffering in silence, unlike Sirius. "And I'm tired."
"I am too, idiot." James laughed, tossing his head. "I just spent the night as a-mmf!"
Sirius had dug his heels in, bringing them to a halt, and slapped his hand over James' mouth. "Don't-" He glared, "-be stupid. It comes to something when I have to tell you to keep quiet."
James bit Sirius, making him yelp and pull back his hand to look at it, disgusted, so James pulled again, moving fast so Sirius couldn't stop him again. The three of them burst into the hospital wing, Sirius still engrossed by his hand, and James dropped his friends' arms and moved towards Remus' bed.
He'd sat up when the three of them came in, and now he was grinning, just as high on success as James.
"I can't believe," He whispered, "That you managed to keep in form for a whole night."
Sirius sat on the only chair by the bed, so James and Peter jumped on the bed itself, nearly squashing Remus' legs. Sirius ruffled his hair and spoke, straight faced.
"Well, we had incentive. It was stay in form or be mauled by that savage rabbit problem of yours."
"Did you see how high I could jump?" breathed James, lost in memory, "And I could run. Like, like flying with no broomstick."
"I could smell everything. Even some emotions, I think." Peter seemed stunned.
"I could tell what you were all thinking from your body language." said Sirius. He huffed when they looked disbelieving. "What? I could."
"I...I could actually think."
James frowned at Remus. "We could think anyway. It was just like being us, but... but wearing different clothes and being able to do different things. Like jump."
"No." Remus looked shatteringly happy. "I could actually... usually, when I transform, it's... I lose my mind. I'm just a beast, and I'm hungry. But when you all came, I sort off... came back. Like I was the one in control of the beast, not the other way round. I could tell myself what to do. And I remember most of it. Not just bits."
"You're also far less bloody and scratched." Peter was twitching his nose, like he was trying to gather scents. "Anytime you started on yourself Sirius bit you. Or James hit you with his horn things." Peter waved his hands above his head, fingers spread.
"Antlers." whispered James. "I had antlers."
"I had great big teeth."
"Moony had those too Sirius."
"Yeah, but mine were new."
"Technically, mine are new every full moon as well."
James could tell that Sirius was just about to start on them, when his watch beeped. He couldn't help jumping, because he'd been half dreading this all week, since he got the letter, but he still got up and headed for the door. The others didn't ask him where he was going, they knew, but he heard Sirius scoff something that sounded like, "Pathetic…" and didn't stick around to hear Remus' answer.
Today was the Christmas Hogsmeade weekend. His parents were coming. Because he had asked them and because he was smart enough to know when he needed help, though it was rare that he asked for it.
His dad was wearing a pink scarf. And he hadn't even nicked from his wife, no, his dad had actually walked into a shop and bought it. Stood at the checkout and paid for it with his own money without even trying to get the server to believe that it was a present for some one else. He had legitimately bought it for himself. And now he was wearing it. To Hogsmeade. To meet his fifteen year old son. A pink scarf.
James was already regretting this.
His mother looked normal at least, though she insisted on hugging him, and trying to tug his hair into shape, which he himself had long ago given up on. She kept an arm round his shoulders as they moved down the street to The Three Broomsticks, which was hard because he was taller than her. James couldn't actually remember what he had written in his letter, it had been scribed in an evening of anger and fury and broken quills and visions of Lily Evans face fluttering behind his eyelids… but it had apparently been garbled or desperate enough to demand an immediate answer and the promise of this meeting.
His mother tucked his scarf tighter round his neck, and brushed some of the snow from his shoulders. James made a token protest but secretly basked in the attention. She turned and fussed with his dad's jacket, and he fussed at hers' till she quit it.
"So James." His dad sounded amused. "We hear you have a bit of trouble with some girl."
"Yeah." James' gaze, travelling the street without a real purpose, caught on the sight of Grace with some boy, leaving Honeydukes. Emma followed them, and James was just thinking, hey that's odd where's- when another figure appeared from the shop, wearing a green scarf and matching bobble hat and it took him about three seconds of confused staring before he recognised her.
Lily had tucked most of her hair up under her hat, and James was strangely pleased to know that he hadn't fallen so far to be able to recognise her by her walk or her figure or some other stupid little thing. He still relied on her hair as her defining feature. She was carrying a Honeyduke's bag and swinging it as she walked with her friends and Grace's boy. His dad was asking him for details, James realised, and had been for a little while, and James had a sudden, surprising moment where his body took control away from his brain.
He bent down and, this snow was really bad, it didn't stick, packed himself a rough snow-ball. Barely aware of his mother, who was used to this treatment, ducking, James straightened up and lobbed it, with the skill of Gryffindor's best Chaser, at his target.
"Hey Evans!" He yelled, "Nice hat!"
She turned, of course, as soon as he'd said her name, so the snow that was aimed for her 'nice hat', actually hit her in the face.
Her hat still fell off though. As that had been his initial motivation (her hair was now down around her shoulders in a red wave, peppered with white as the snow on her face melted), he didn't much mind. Lily seemed too, however, but part of James had been expecting this, he'd been pushing her for months now, and was surprised at long it had taken for her to snap. So he was rather more prepared for what happened next than his father, because he was already ducking out of the way as fast as he could as his dad opened his mouth to ask "What the hell are you doing?", so Lily's angrily cast spell perfectly aimed at the spot where James had just been, hit his father straight in the chest.
James had a horrifying instant where he all he could think was that'smyfaultthat- before he realised that his dad was in the grip of a perfectly cast, and probably silently cast as well, Petrificus Totalus. His dad, slowly at first, but gaining more and more speed, fell back into the snow. James stared at him for an instant, shocked. Then he started laughing.
His mother was too, and James, doubled over, was dimly aware of Lily sprinting over, hat forgotten. She slid to her knees in the slush by his father, panic on her face.
"Finite Incantatum!"
His dad now unstuck, and the expression on his retired-auror face absolutely priceless, James stopped sniggering enough to reach down a hand to Lily. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet, but then she grasped who he was and ripped her hand away. James felt absolutely, soul-jarringly crushed before his anger reflex kicked in and he decided to re-start making her life hell.
"Nice shot, Evans."
She ignored him. She was too busy helping his mum help his dad up. She was also stammering apologises, but deliberately avoiding eye-contact with James. James' father, once upright, seemed to see the funny side, or got that Lily wasn't exactly in the mood for criticism right now. He patted her shoulder absently.
"There's honestly no harm done." James' dad ignored Lily's stammering. "Really, that was quick. Never saw it coming." He looked Lily up and down, and James saw his eyebrows twitch as they came to her hair. "I take it you know my son?"
Lily blinked. "Wait, you're James'…" She, finally, looked at him, but she looked anything but friendly. "I am so, so sorry." James had the distinct impression she had wanted to add for you onto the end of that, and, by the way his mum was grinning, she did too.
Her friends, still up the street and finding it just as hilarious as James did, called her name. James recognised Grace's shout.
"Oy! Come on, Evans! Talk to your deadly enemy later!"
James tried to decide whether to grin or wince. True, he was at this moment in time trying to irritate Lily, but he didn't quite want to be her enemy. "You should go practise your aim, Evans."
She turned on him, retort forming in her mouth, but his mum jumped in first.
"Maybe you should practise your dodging James. You almost didn't make that."
"Hah!" James tossed his head, watching for Lily Evans' reaction in the corner of his eye. "I can dodge just fine; Evans just can't hit her target."
Her wand, she'd been messing with it between her palms again, poked his chest. He met her gaze and grinned.
"Think you can dodge from here Potter?"
James decided she wasn't joking and tried to slowly back away, because he did not need the embarrassment factor of getting hexed in front of his parents. "No."
"Then shut up about my aim. And-" She reversed her wand so it was pointing away from him and started to turn away. "Do not insult my choice in headwear."
"I didn't-!" But she'd gone, so he stopped what he was about to say. It was probably for the best, blurting out that she'd looked adorable in her green hat wasn't a smooth move. Back with her friends, he watched as she picked up her hat and started away in the direction of the post office. She raised a hand over her head and for a moment thought, (hoped, prayed, sacrificed to heathen gods), that she was waving. But then a soft weight settled over his head and eyes, and he knew different.
His dad stared at the pink and black hat that had just been magically shoved onto James' head. It had ear flaps.
"James." He said, deadly serious. "Please, please tell me that she's the girl. Please."
Lily dithered. Shifting her weight from foot-to-foot, she tried desperately to talk herself out of it.
"They'd probably think I was rude."
"You already hexed his dad, Lily. Anything you do after that is politeness itself."
Lily decided that the only way to move forward in her life at this point was to ignore Grace. And keep talking to herself.
"They look quite busy."
Emma leaned round her. "They're laughing at James. You should join them. You'd have fun doing that."
"I did apologise before…"
"Go do it again, it can't hurt." Grace's boy looked put out as they all turned to look at him, annoyed. "What? I can't offer my advice?"
"No. Lily just-" Grace shoved her, firmly. "Go, for Merlin's sake!"
Lily let her momentum carry her forward for a couple of paces, then advanced under her own power, until she was finally standing, fidgety and shy, at the table the Potters sat round. James' father was saying, "Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame, James," while James himself was banging his head on the table and fervently muttering, "Please don't start quoting people I've never heard of, just please." James' mother noticed her first, and she smiled, friendly, so Lily gathered her Gryffindor courage and spoke up.
"Umm…" Ignore Potter, ignore Potter, IGNORE POTTER. "I, umm, I wanted to apologise again, for…" She was blushing; she just knew it, "For earlier…"
Mr Potter merely grinned. He looked a lot like James when he did that, she noticed, and apparently messy hair was hereditary. James had his mother's eyes though, which explained why both he and she were wearing glasses and his father had none. Lily wondered why she was noting all this. James' dad, picking up on her nervousness, relaxed his crooked grin into a calmer smile.
"There really was no harm done. That was frankly impressive, you're quick."
"Umm, thank you…?" Was that right? How were you meant to respond when someone you've attacked merely comments on how well you attacked them and not why you attacked them in the first place? Every single Potter, Lily decided, must be mad.
On a whim, because she really wasn't sure how to explain what had happened, Lily fished in her pocket and pulled out her pack of Wurple's Everlasting Peppermints. She, shyly, offered Mr Potter one. "Sorry." She muttered again. "I really shouldn't have done that…"
"Pshh." Mrs Potter flipped her hair. "You were provoked." She glared at James, and Lily saw him sink a little in his chair. She decided she liked James' mum. She turned the mint packet to her, and when Mrs Potter had gravelly taken one, returned it to her pocket. James spoke up for the first time since she arrived at his table.
"Don't I get a mint?"
He didn't sound offended, he sounded highly amused, but Lily's hand still went to cover her pocket protectively. "Umm, no." She wished she hadn't left her wand back at the table, her fingers itched. "They're peppermints. Umm, they're my peppermints." The three of them were looking at her oddly, and Lily cracked under the pressure. "They say they last forever but really it's only a couple of hours and I've only got half a packet left and Grace had some annoying boy with her so they'll last even less time and-" Lily paused to breathe, "I really need them to get through this. Also you insulted my hat."
"Oh… kay…?"
Now she was really blushing. Lily could feel her cheeks burn. "Right." She looked down at her feet, wishing she hadn't come over. "I'll just be… going back to…umm. Sorry again."
She walked away, using the amusing walk that occurs when someone really wants to get away from somewhere but also doesn't want it to look like they really want to get away so end up sort of scurrying.
Merlin, James Bloody Potter must be having a field day laughing at her.
AHHH!
I'm sorry this took so long… really. But with the first chapters I was on a wave of new story motivation and now I've mellowed out. Also, these are really just transitions to the fun bits at the moment; setting up things and all that jazz, when we get farther in I'll probably start writing furiously as I get to the bits I like. :) Thanks to those who reviewed, and I hope you're still sticking around! :D
Well there you go. Hopefully that helped make what James and Lily are thinking a bit clearer, and showed that Lily and Sev are still at odds. Also, I delivered the promised time skip, snow, James' parents and peppermints, go me! Next chapter might be a month, a week, or three weeks and five days, I really don't know. I do however know that there will be one, and when it comes your way it will include:
Lily makes a new friend
Lily tries to patch up an old friendship, with the talking equivalent of a finger plaster on a stomach wound
James sends a letter
James gains a new nickname
(Can I ask your opinion? Is the constant mentioning of Lily's wand-twirling tendencies annoying, or does it work? I find it amusing, which is why I write it, but what do you think?)
