I own nothing from Harry Potter
--
Upon entering the library, James frantically tried to flatten his hair while his eyes scanned the stacks. His gaze passed over many a flirtatious smile before coming to rest on the far corner of the room, where he distinctly saw a bright flash of red hair dash behind a bookshelf. Good, he thought, some privacy. Deliberately ignoring a few inviting whispers as he made his way to the back of the room, he deftly approached the bookshelf annoyingly obstructing his view of the ginger-haired enchantress behind it. Showtime, he though to himself as his mouth widened into a sexy grin.
--
Lily's eyes widened as she saw James Potter strut into the library. As soon as she glimpsed his athletic body and attractive eyes turn her way, she made a mad dash behind a convenient shelf. Although she doubted his presence had anything to do with her and probably more to do with some juvenile prank, she nevertheless felt too nervous to be near him. As soon as she saw his striking self swagger into the library, memories of their brief kiss came rushing back, and with them, tingling lips and blushing cheeks.
Mentally berating herself for her bashfulness, she picked up the nearest book (attempting nonchalant and blasé, but hardly exceeding timid and hesitant for she did not even notice the book was upside-down).
This was how the quidditch star found her.
--
James took a deep breath as he rounded the corner. There she was. As radiant as ever and twice as cute, for although her brow was furrowed in concentration, the title of the book she was reading was upside-down. James smiled at her adorability as he mentally cheered, now knowing that the stunning ginger was not as oblivious to his charms as she would have him believe.
"Hey Lily, good book?" he whispered in her ear.
Lily spun around quickly, her eyes wide with shock. Seeing James behind her, she hastily looked down at the volume, and noticing he had seen her reading a tome wrong side up, hastily shoved it back into the stacks. Recovering quite well (except her cheeks were on fire), she glanced up at him. Trying to sound sophisticated and mature, she asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you Marauders were averse to schoolwork?"
James smiled at her attempt at blasé, knowing that beneath her practised air of cool lay a very passionate nature.
"Well," he answered, "I could just go, but I wanted to return this." He held up her sketchbook. "But, if you don't want it, I'll just be off…" He made to walk away, knowing she would be the one chasing him for once.
Lily's mouth gaped at the newly revealed fact that James Potter, James Potter! Had her most personal possession. Making a mad grab for it, she jumped up and made to snatch it.
Possessing great reflexes, James lifted the book above her short reach and all but dangled it above her. (So much for politeness, but he just couldn't resist.)
Lily, realizing she could not outreach him, decided on a different approach. Placing her hands on her hips, she gave him her best glare.
Far from intimidating, the sight of Lily in front of him, hands on her hips, feet spread, and eyes glowing, was quite arresting. Her hair was flowing down her back in waves and her surrounding aura crackled with resolve. She was glorious.
James gulped and quickly handed her book back, before he embarrassed himself.
Lily grinned at her good fortune. She had been sure that getting her sketchbook was going to be caused by some sort of WWIII rather than a mere glower. She shot James a dazzling smile half in thanks and half in triumph (for it never occurred to her that her victory had less to do with her fierce look and more to do with what her fetching appearance did to James' body).
James gulped upon seeing Lily's dazzling smile. Jesus, he thought, I'm a goner.
Lily's smile quickly faltered as she realized that it was possible that he had looked at her sketches. Her drawings were incredibly intimate. She felt protective of them, almost in a maternal sense.
"Omygosh, you didn't—I mean, you didn't, err, you know, you didn't—look at them, did you?" She stammered out, shooting him a look of utter horror.
Shite, James thought. "Uh, no! Of course not, that would have been, uh, incredibly inconsiderate of me!" James lied through his teeth. Normally, James could pull off any untruth without breaking a sweat but the sight of Lily's imploring stare was shredding his nerves, he would have said anything to put her at ease.
She let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps he wasn't as bad as she had thought…
James felt a shiver run down his spine as she sent him a hesitant smile of thanks. He returned it, all the while feeling horrible for deceiving her.
Lily glanced down nervously. "Well, um, thanks for returning it unscathed, and, err, yeah. So, I'll…see you later, I suppose." She said.
James smiled at her. "Yeah. Actually, it's almost supper, why don't we go down to the Great Hall and eat together?"
"That sounds nice," she returned, "but I have to go see Professor Slughorn for a bit. I have a couple of questions about that essay he assigned. Maybe I'll see you in the Hall after I speak to him, or something." Lily's voice got progressively quieter as she marvelled at how attractive his smile was.
"Oh, well, I can walk you there and wait outside, You're not getting away that easily." He grinned as he joked with her.
She offered a hesitant nod before she could talk herself out of it. They quickly made their way out of the library amongst whispers that James effectively ignored.
Making their way to the dungeons, James and Lily switched back and forth between light jokes and companionable silence. James revelled in her presence. He had never been with a girl with whom he could just be with, without incessant chatter and flirting. He was damn near joyous by the time they reached Slughorn's office. James leaned up against the wall as Lily went through the door, assuring she would not be long and tossing him a shy smile, which he returned.
James was still leaning against the wall as he heard someone scuttling along the corner. Taking in the ratty robes, the enormous amount of books crammed into his bag, and the greasy hair hanging from his pallid head, James cursed his luck as the Slytherin scurried closer.
The boy glanced up and his inky eyes connected with James'.
Great, Snivellus…
--
The two boys eyes locked on each other. It was hard to tell who was radiating more animosity. Snape dropped his bag and yanked his wand out of his pocket. Pointing it with shaking hands at Potter's insufferably messy head, he paused. Usually by now, Potter would have beaten him at the draw and commenced pummelling him with hexes; something was wrong.
--
James' eyes focused on the quivering piece of wood in his nemesis' hand. James knew he could take the greasy Slytherin no problem; it was the short redhead in the room next to him he was worried about. Their relationship was wobbly at best and he knew that he could risk no threat to their tremulous bond. Quelling the instinct to pound the git with curses, he shoved his hands into his pockets and said sneeringly, "Get lost, you twat. I'm already nauseous from being reminded of your existence, don't make me angry as well."
Snape's eyebrows shot up. Something was definitely up. Never before had James Potter, idiot extraordinaire, backed down from a fight. Snape smelled an opportunity a mile away; he took it.
"What's the matter, Potter? Mummy's death still eating away at you?" he asked with a sneer on his face.
James' body went rigid. He told himself to ignore the jibe. His mother had been one of the most respected people in the Ministry before her death; she was practically deified for her efforts against the Death Eaters. Still, his hand tightened on his wand.
Snape saw the minute change in body language; he went in for the kill.
"Oh, no, wait, what am I saying, of course it has nothing to do with your mother, mudblood lover that she was, let me guess… The rest of your little gang are in a tizzy? A lovers quarrel, perhaps?" Snape almost laughed in triumph at the muscle that ticked in rage in James' jaw. Opening his mouth to release another flow of insults, he suddenly stopped for he heard Slughorn's booming laugh coming from his office. Only one person could make Slughorn's voice reach that crescendo: Lily Evans.
James' eyes burned with rage, not only because of Snape's unfounded insults, but also because he saw the look of intense satisfaction in Snape's eyes. He knew.
"Ahhhh… Of course, why didn't I guess that little tramp in the beginning?" Snape asked, happiness practically dripping from his voice. "What, the mudblood whore not giving it up?"
James was no longer inactive because of resilience, his silence was now caused by the fact that he could only see red, he was so furious, he could feel every one of his veins pumping with the urge to throttle the slimy kid in front of him with his bare hands.
Swallowing, James said, "Shut your horrible excuse for a mouth! You're pathetic. Your own house thinks you're no better than the manure Professor Sprout uses in the greenhouses. You make everyone around you sick. You are nothing."
Snape's face darkened with ire. He was about to rejoin with something equally callous but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a flash of red hair coming out of Slughorn's office. A new plan formed in his quick-witted mind.
"Look, Potter, I don't want any trouble." He added a quiver to his voice. "It's just, the way you were talking about Evans with your friends last night was disgusting. I don't know the girl well, but she is my partner for Potions this year and it made me want to vomit the way you were bragging about fucking her hard then leaving her as soon as she fell for you. She would never fuck such a self-righteous prick like you! I—" Snape's impromptu dialogue was interrupted when the two boys heard a gasp from behind them.
James' eyes had been full of confusion two seconds ago, but now they flashed with panic. Now he understood where Snape's ridiculous accusation came from, and by the torn look in Lily's eyes, she believed every fallacious fucking word.
Her eyes connected with James'. She was too stunned to notice the look of accomplishment in Snape's eyes.
"No! Lily! That's not –" James was cut off when Lily turned around and started to run blindly. His feet immediately started to chase her, to explain. He was so anxious to right this wrong, he didn't hear the zoom of a body-binding curse shot his way from Snape's wand. He landed hard on the floor and he could only watch as Lily's body rocketed down the dungeon floor.
His eyes shot up to Snape's as he heard his footsteps approaching. Snape leisurely bent down to James' level, a disgusting look of glee gracing his sharp facial features. Turning James' body over slightly, so he could look in his eyes, he whispered joyfully, "As if a girl like her could ever, ever, be interested in a fuckwit like you." Straightening up, he picked up his overloaded bag of books and exited the dungeon, but not before sending a vicious kick to James' midsection.
--
Yes, Severus thought, let's see the brilliant James 'I'm an arrogant tyrant' Potter get himself out of this one. By the time Severus reached the library, he was whistling a tune and his mouth was curved in an incredibly rare smile. Yeah, it was going to be a good day…
--
Lily ran blindly down the corridor. Not noticing, not caring where her numb feet led her. How could she have been so stupid? She screamed at herself. She had told herself a million times that James 'fucking' Potter was a cretin whose sole aim had been to ruin her from the very beginning.
Soon, Lily was panting from her exertion, tears running down her face, staining her cheeks. Although she was gasping for breath, her feet continued their frenzy path. That is, until she careened into a heavy object and went sprawling to the ground.
Bewildered, she shook herself out of her stupor as her mind registered that her face was plastered to the ground.
"Bugger, Evans," a laughing voice called out, "If I had known you were so anxious to lay a hand on me, you wouldn't have had to jump me. Literally, might I add."
On the ground, Lily let out a groan of frustration, for she recognized the confidant drawl. Of course this would happen. Of course she would have a run-in with the rest of the Marauders after discovering that their leader had intended to screw her over (both literally and metaphorically). Her nightmare was made a reality when she pulled herself of the ground and faced the boys in front of her. Their jovial expressions quickly dissipated when they saw the tears running down her cheeks.
Suddenly, the rage within Lily came to a boiling point. She wanted to injure every single jackass that would mess about with a girl's hormones simply because he could. She wanted to macerate and slimy bigots who whispered mudblood in her ear every time she correctly answered a question in class. But most of all, she wanted to slap herself for opening up to a boy who she had known would only hurt her. In a word, Lily was pissed.
Her fiery green eyes connected with her counterparts. Both Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were staring at her with horrified eyes. Oh, she thought to herself, they were good. If she hadn't known about their malicious deception, she would have fallen for their practiced looks of innocence.
"Are you happy?" she whispered to them.
"What?" Remus asked, bewilderment and concern lacing his question.
"I asked," she began, "Are. You. Happy?"
The two boys looked at each other, an unspoken question passing between them. What the bleeding fuck had Prongs done?
"Look, Lily, I have no idea—" Sirius stared.
"Don't you dare try to deny it," she spat at him, "You know what? I don't even want to hear it." The two boys' eyes widened at the quiver in Lily's voice. Lily's voice never quivered.
Before the two Marauders could sort out what the redhead was so furious about, she turned and ran off in the direction of Gryffindor tower. Remus went to chase her, but Sirius held him back.
"No, mate," Sirius said, "We have to find Prongs, see what he did to her, and sort this mess out."
Both boys reluctantly turned and went in search of their messy haired friend.
--
James Potter stared at the ceiling. He had long ago ceased attempting to break the bonds that held him; if there was one thing Snivellus knew, it was his dark magic. James' only course of action was to wait for someone to rescue him. The only thing he could be thankful for was the fact that Slytherins rarely ventured into this part of the dungeons, but then again, neither did any Gryffindors…
Being in such an awkward position at least gave James some time to think. He had to, simply had to, rectify this bloody mess.
Lily had been so unsteady with him since the beginning; he had no idea how to approach the situation, especially since it looked to her as if he hadn't run after her. He let out an aggravated sigh, the discomfort of the stone floor was really starting to get to him, but not nearly as much as the recent developments in his relationship with Lily. He felt helpless. Before now, he had never fully known true powerlessness. Things had always come easy to him. Before Lily, that is. Grades, friends, girls… He had never known the pain of vulnerability until he hit this dungeon floor and the impact of what Lily had heard had hit him. The way she had looked at him, he had felt his insides rip when he had seen the expression in her eyes go from astonishment to pure, unadulterated, pain.
He shut his eyes as his masochistic memory replayed the event over and over in his mind. Again and again, he saw the devastation radiating from Lily's being and the joy exuding from Snape's. As he thought of Snape's supreme satisfaction with the situation, his muscles clenched.
He will pay… He will suffer… He will endure hurt that he didn't even know existed…
As these murderous thoughts rampaged through his head, he heard a number of footsteps approaching. He couldn't turn his head to see to whom they belonged. He just hoped they were friends, opposed to foes…
--
Lily stampeded up the staircase to her room, ignoring the questioning looks she was receiving from her schoolmates lounging in the common room. Her entire being was solely focused on getting to her dorm and collapsing on her bed, hopefully numbed to her pain by then.
--
Marlene was whistling to herself. She actually had the dorm to onesies for once, without the incessant chattering of her vivacious, but somewhat annoying, roommates. Mar had decided to straighten up her dorm while she anxiously awaited Lily's return. She was still very incredulous to the rapid advancement of James and Lily's relationship. Imagine, only last year Lily had reamed him out in front of half their year down by the lake, and now they were snogging in the forest! Marlene smiled to herself, knowing that if anyone deserved to be happy, it was her best friend.
Still smiling, Marlene righted all her stationary on her bookshelf, avoiding under her bed. She only needed to kill a couple hours, cleaning under her bed would require days, and possibly a search party…
As Marlene was alphabetizing her books, she heard heavy footsteps approaching her doorway. It was probably Vance panicking over a run in her nylons, she chuckled to herself. All her previous amusement vanished the instant Lily staggered into view, her tears obvious and her limbs shaking.
Oh no, she thought to herself, what the hell had he done?…
--
"Fucking hell, mate," James heard a familiar voice say above him, "What happened?"
Although James could not see his saviour, he would know that voice anywhere. Sirius Black.
"He can't answer you, dolt," another welcomed voice answered, " He's obviously body-bound."
"Obviously…" Sirius muttered as he undid the curse.
Feeling slowly returned to James' body, along with a new sense of dread. What the hell was he going to do? Jumping up quickly, he whirled around to face his friends, meeting their questioning expression with a look of rage.
"That son of a bitch! I'm going to bloody murder him with my bare hands!" James yelled, quickly turning, preparing to run of in search of the slimy sixth year. Just as quickly, he felt two pair of hands grab onto him to stay him.
"Whoa, Prongs," Remus said, "What the hell is happening? We find you on the floor, bound, we find Lily crying, running as though she has hell on her heels out—"
James cut him off.
"What! You saw Lily? Where did she go? I have to explain! I have to talk to her! I have—"
Sirius cut him off in a similar manner.
"Damn right you have to explain, but to us first. Why were you attacked? And more significantly, why was Lily 'stoic extraordinaire' Evans crying when she all but ran us over?"
James ran an aggravated hand through his hair. "It was all a misunderstanding. Snape told—"
"Snape! I should have known that rat had something to do with this!" Sirius said.
Remus shot him a look for interrupting.
"Yeah," James continued, " I was waiting for Lily outside Slughorn's office when he walked by. I tried to ignore him but he just kept trying to pick a fight. Eventually, he saw Lily come out of the office before I did so he pulled a 180, spouting some ridiculous bull about me bragging about fucking her then leaving her. I had no idea what he was talking about and by the time a I figured out the true extent of his plan, Lily was halfway down the corridor and I was intimately acquainted with the dungeon floor."
The two boys stared in disbelief at the horrible situation.
"That slimy git!" Sirius ground out, "When I get a hold of him…" This threat was followed by a group of obscene and violent hand gestures.
Remus held up his hand. "Yes, we have to take care of Snape, but it's more important that we handle Lily's reaction first. The longer you wait to talk to her, Prongs, the worse it will be."
James knew his friend spoke the truth, and was happy (not for the first time) that he had such a sensible friend. James ran another hand through his messy hair (this time less aggravated, more resigned). " Right," he said, "You're right, I'll go talk to her now, to explain…" Without another word, he jogged of towards the Gryffindor tower, all the while agonizing over what he would say to make things right.
--
Marlene stared helplessly at her friend. What could she possibly say to make this better? Although Lily's version of the story was frequently interrupted by hiccups and Kleenex-breaks, Marlene had a firm grasp on the situation. How could she have been so stupid? She had honestly believed that James' interest in her friend had been genuine, that someone had finally seen what an amazing girl Lily was. But obviously, she had been wrong.
Lily was lying lethargically on her bed. Not moving, not caring, when it hit her… How many times had she seen her roommates fling themselves on their bed, crying their heavily made-up eyes out over some boy who didn't appreciate them? How many times had she seen her classmates suffer from a boy's indifference and apathy? Too many to count… When had she become like them? All her school career she had pitied their lack of self-worth but the second a boy had started paying attention to her, her holier-than-thou attitude melted away. Sitting up suddenly, the situation started to take on a new light.
Marlene glanced at her friend. "Uh, Lils?" she said quietly, asking without words why her friend had abruptly sat up.
Lily glanced at her friend. What right did she have to feel sorry for herself? She had Marlene, the best friend a girl could ask for. She had her schoolwork, her family, her pastimes, but most importantly, she had herself. And no jumped up self-obsessed quidditch captain could ever take that away.
"You know what, Mar?" Lily said, "I should really be thankful. Yeah. Thankful. I mean, I barely even liked the kid. Better to know now than find out when it was too late…"
Marlene smiled at her friend, and almost believed her, except for the slight quiver in her voice every time she said thankful. Rather than pressing the issue, she just smiled wider at Lily's new outlook on the situation, whether real or contrived.
"Yeah," Lily continued, "Thankful… Yeah… Ummm… You know, I don't feel like being cooped up in here any longer. Why don't we go down to the library and start that Herbology assignment, or something?"
Marlene was surprised at her friend's suggestion but tried to hide it. "Uh, sure. Sure, that sounds, uh, great!"
Lily smiled at her friend. "Cool," Lily said, "I just want to have a shower first. Why don't I meet you down there?"
Both girls knew Lily took ridiculously long showers.
Marlene agreed and went to gather her materials as Lily prepared her shower.
--
As Lily loped down the stairs of her dormitory, her hair still damp from her shower, She had almost convinced herself she was not affected by James' newly revealed callousness. Almost. Perhaps she would have succeeded had she not run into him at the bottom of the stairs, as if he had been waiting for her…
She tried to walk past him, ignoring his presence, but he grasped her arm to stop her.
This caused a definite reaction.
"Don't touch me!" She snarled at him and made to yank her arm away.
"Look, Lily, please, you have to understand. I didn't—"
"Look, Potter, spare me. As far as I'm concerned, the only sound I want to hear from you is the sound of your footsteps going far, far, away." She growled at him through clenched teeth.
"No, Lily, you don't under—" he started again.
"No, I think I understand perfectly…" she interrupted, "Not that it matters. Or need I remind you? I would rather date the oct-pedalled creature in the lake than be caught anywhere near the likes of you!"
James' eyes narrowed, not wanting to admit how much her words hurt him. His pride reared its ugly head, and he did something he would regret for the next year or so of his life.
"Fine, Evans," he said, his voice dangerously low, "That's just fine."
The two stared at each other before Lily turned unexpectedly and stalked off to the library, leaving James feeling as if he had just torn his heart out and fed it to one of Hagrid's 'pets'.
Why had he reacted like that to her insults? Why hadn't he just screamed the truth at her, forced her to listen? Her reminder of their interaction at the lake had reopened old wounds of his that had never fully healed. He had wanted to hurt her the same way she had hurt him, but now, he was the one suffering… How was he going to get out of this one?
--
James sat in the back row of McGonagall's classroom, half worshipping, half-resenting the way the sunlight bounced off Lily's brilliant hair. It had been six days, six days! since their heated encounter in the common room. At first, he had been reluctant to swallow his pride and apologize, but now it was more a matter of Lily's ability to slip out of his reach. He had quickly realized that a Lilyless existence was not something he wished to be subjected to for a prolonged period of time, and he had attempted corner her to beg for forgiveness and reveal his innocence of Snape's accusations. But, as fate would have it, he had found out the hard way that Lily had traces of a Marauder in her: hard to track down if she wanted to stay unfound and even harder to latch onto when located.
He watched as she bent over to retrieve her quill that had just fallen of her desk. As she leaned forward, her shirt rode up and James almost let out an audible moan at the milky expanse of skin her position revealed. Jesus, he had to get a hold of himself! She wouldn't even look at him anymore, let alone want anything to do with that…. aspect of a relationship…
James let out a bored sigh as he reclined in his wooden desk. Did Minnie just say they'd be turning cacti into a bonnet? For fuck's sake, James thought, we're not first years. He tuned out completely then, knowing he could do this in his sleep…
--
On the other side of the room, our redheaded protagonist was not feeling nearly as confident. Although by no means a dunce when it came to Transfiguration, Lily always felt that transfiguring things came much harder to her (although she loathed admitting it).
After McGonagall finished her lecture, Lily went up to the front to retrieve a cactus for Marlene and herself. Carefully timing her walk so she would come into no contact with Potter, she returned with two plants.
Marlene gave her a half-smile as she received her little prickly plant. She was by no means a fan of Transfiguration either.
Lily let out a sigh of resignation as she read the instructions for the fourth time. Oh well, she thought, no time like the present. Looking over, she saw that Marlene's cactus had at least started to take on a paisley pattern, unlike Peter Pettigrew's, two rows over, whose cactus had actually sprouted legs and tried to run off. Peter had to keep whacking it with his wand to keep it in his grasp, much to the amusement of his friends.
Lily's thoughts turned to the band of miscreant Marauders in the back row (3 of whom had been successful on their first attempt and were now trying on their bonnets and fluttering their eyelashes at professor McGonagall (who was unsuccessfully trying to still her amused lips.) Just thinking about James and his friends made her scowl. Although she still told herself she was thankful that she had found out about Potter's malicious intentions before anything, well, you know, happened, she knew that deep down, that was untrue. The boy had the Alexander the Great's charisma and Casanova's charm, how could any girl remain immune? Letting yet another sigh escape her lips, her attention returned to her cactus, its little untransfigured prickles mocking her inabilities. Maybe if she—
"Miss Evans," an authorative voice interrupted her musings, "Perhaps if you tried waving your wand, your cactus might react."
Lily blushed a deep, deep, red as her mind registered that a teacher (her head of house, no less) had just told her off. Her classmates laughed openly at the fact that a teacher had just scolded quiet little Lily Evans.
"I don't think that's true, Minerva, with all due respect," a confidant voice spoke up in the back. "It's no secret Evans' wand couldn't transfigure a worm into a toothpick, let alone attempt anything more advanced than that."
Lily whirled around at the callous remark, her eyes connecting with those of Sirius Black, the one who had made the jibe. Instead of seeing the usual mirth and immaturity that was typically reflected in his eyes, she noticed he was staring at her with something akin to contempt.
Bloody hell, she thought, why is he so angry? His friend hurt me! I should be the one ragging on him! Trying to quell the feelings of mortification washing over her, she sank lower in her chair and weakly waved her wand over the cactus. No change. Figures…
--
Sirius Black stared at the redhead as she sunk into her chair. He felt a sadistic pleasure, knowing he had hurt her pride, the same way she had hurt his friend's pride. Before he could really enjoy her discomfort, he received a quick jab from James. He glanced over and saw his James glaring at him.
Honestly! What was he supposed to do? He had just witnessed six days of Prongs feeling dejected and whining over Lily like she was some sort of goddess, or something…
As he faced James, he realized that Minnie was talking to him.
" – more respect! 10 points from Gryffindor!" she ground out at him.
Rather than being embarrassed, he gave her a wink. Please, he could get 10 points for Gryffindor in his sleep!
--
Remus stared at the interaction in the classroom. He knew that Sirius was not really aggravated with Lily, just with the situation. The Marauders were used to being in control, especially when it came to girls, so it was understandable that they would all feel a little out of their element now that they were dealing with a bird that didn't simply fall at their feet…
Oh well. Remus thought as he untied his bonnet, prefect patrols starts tonight. That leaves one ace still up our sleeve…
--
The halls were unusually quiet tonight, serving only to highlight the uncomfortable awkwardness between the redhead and the werewolf. Remus valiantly tried to nurture conversation but he quickly found out that Lily had some sort of weird Potter-detection superpower; every time he tried to bring up his friend's plight he would receive a glare that Remus would wager would effectively silence Voldemort himself. Ergo, Remus had very little wiggle room when it came to championing his friend, but he figured he had patrols all year with Lily, why not develop more of a rapport with her? After all, she seemed to be the kind of person he could really like, which would help if she and James could ever get over themselves.
"So, Lily… Uh, have you started that essay Sprout gave us last week?" Remus asked, mentally slapping himself for his new level of banality.
"Yes." Lily simply replied, offering no further details.
"Oh, that's good." He replied. "Ummmm… Finding it difficult?"
"No." She answered.
"Sticking with monosyllabic answers. Consistency is an admirable trait." He said to her with a friendly wink, hoping to crack a smile.
No luck.
Lily was actually wishing they would come across some snogging fourth years or something to break up this stilted conversation. Didn't this boy give up?
Remus sighed to himself. Usually when he was alone with girls, he couldn't stop the flow of constant chattering from their mouths, now he found himself wishing Lily would say something, say anything! He knew Prongs would grill him the second he returned to the dormitory, and he had nada to report.
"Look, Lily," he began, feeling something akin to desperation, "James didn't have anything to do—"
"Ughhh!" Lily semi-yelled, and whirled to face him. "What is your problem! Don't you boys see anything, or are your enormous egos blocking your corneas! I don't like him! I never did! I never will! In fact! I don't even like you! SO WHY DON'T YOU SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE! YOU BOYS ARE SO SELF-CENTERED! MY GOSH, YOU THINK YOU'RE THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE REST OF US MERELY REVOLVE AROUND YOU!" Lily's fierce eyes gave him the glaring of a lifetime as he stood there, completely speechless.
"Wow, Look, Lily, I—"
"DID I SAY I WAS DONE? It's rude to interrupt." The irony of her last statement seemed to be lost on her. She continued her tirade. " Look, just go back and tell him he and all of your little friends had better just leave me and Marlene alone, got it?"
He stared at her in surprise.
"GOT IT?" she asked again.
"Uh, yeah, got it." He said, with something similar to respect in his eyes.
"Right. Well, good, then." She said, now beginning to feel embarrassment for her outburst. "Right. So, look. Let's just get this over with. You go that way, I'll go this way."
"But we're not supposed to spilt—"
She was already gone. Great.
--
Remus ran his hand over his face as he ascended the stairs to his dorm. Hoping to quietly slip in unnoticed, he slowly turned the doorknob. Tiptoeing in, he—
"How'd it go?" a voice called out from a body lying on top of James' bed.
Remus gave up his attempt at light footsteps and threw himself on his bed.
"Well," Remus began, " Do you mean before or after she yelled at me then stormed off?"
James swore and crossed his arms in frustration. "Dammit. What did she say?"
Remus rolled his eyes. "Oh, you know, the usual. We're self-centred berks and the like."
Sirius spoke up. "We're not self-centred, we're just confident. Honestly, that chick has a wand shoved up her—"
Remus glared at him.
"Fine, you ol' stick in the mud." Sirius said. "I don't see what the big deal is, Prongs. She's a bird. You know all about girls. Just up the Pottter charm and she will melt like butter."
Peter spoke up. "She's not just some bird, Padfoot, she's Lily Evans!"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Honestly! All this Lily Evans business! Its ridiculous! A bird is a bird is a bird is a bird! Look, Prongs, the meek apology is obviously not working, it's time to up the ante."
"How so?" James asked.
"You dunce," Sirius said, laughingly whilst aiming a pillow at his head. "I'm not giving you the birds and the bees talk again, you know the drill, innuendos, pick-up lines, hanging out together at quidditch celebrations, I guarantee you, she will be mad in love with you after a couple of tries."
James caught the pillow and threw it back. "I don't mean to offend the oh-so-great self-proclaimed deity of women, but Wormtail is right, there's no way in hell Lily would ever fall for that."
"I beg to differ," Sirius said, "the only reason Evans seemed more immune to our charms is because no one has ever tried it with her."
"What!" James asked disbelievingly. "I was trying to get her to like me for ages. I—"
"Oh, please, Prongs," Sirius interrupted. "I'm not talking about your pansy 'please be my friend so we can prance about in a flower garden and read sonnets to each other' crap. What you need to do is be the man in the relationship! Women like to be treated like damsels and other shit like that."
"I don't know…"James said slowly.
"Well, I do," Sirius interjected. "So just listen to me. Tomorrow, you will go up to her and ask her to the Hogmeade trip this weekend. Do not take no for an answer. At least when she agrees, the rest of us will be saved from your constant whining over the girl for a couple days."
"I still don't—"
"Ugh! Fine then! I dare you to ask Lily to Hogmeade this weekend! Happy now?" Sirius said.
No, James was not happy. A Marauder dare was practically a command from God. He had to complete it. Fucking hell, it looked like Lily was getting asked out tomorrow…
--
She was in hell.
That was the only logical answer.
Lily sighed to herself as she tried to focus on Binns' voice and ignore the niggling suspicion that she had snuffed it last night and awoke to a world where she had double History of Magic with the Marauders and Slytherins, patrols with Lupin, and Potions with Snape! How the hell was she supposed to survive the year when the very universe was out to get her!
Looking down at her notebook and seeing that all she had to show for half a History class was the date and a drawing of a John Lennon beating Binns with a large tree branch. Great, now even her doodles didn't even make sense!
Growling, she crossed out her drawing and tried to pay attention to the front. A futile attempt, for she felt a ball of paper hit her head. Whirling around, she saw Potter give her a cheeky wave and point to the paper ball, obviously meaning for her to read the note scrawled on it. Scoffing, she turned to the front (but not before sharing a miserable glance with Marlene, who looked ready to tear her hair out of her scalp to make sure she hadn't expired from boredom and just failed to notice.)
Lily listened to Binns' voice. It sounded surprisingly like the drone of a motor, very calming, soothing, almost sleep inducing…
Lily gasped in shock when she felt another paper ball hit its mark, breaking the lull the droning was having on her.
Her knuckles turned white with frustration as the minutes ticked by and the amount of paper balls around her increased. The class had long ago awoke from their stupor and was being entertained by the Gryffindor quidditch captain pelting the redhead with parchment.
Lily closed her eyes in an attempt to quiet her rage. If he threw one more ball….
And he did.
Letting out a roar fit for an Amazon queen, Lily jumped out of her desk and threw her History of Magic textbook at Potter (missing, of course, it hit the wall and fell to the floor with a resounding thump.)
No one moved.
Lily glanced at Marlene. She was looking at her as if she was wearing a telescope on her head and announcing she was Frieda the Forgetful back from the dead.
Lily slowly sat down, hoping against hope that she would be swallowed up into the floor by a gaping hole and cease to exist.
Near the back, she heard Black let out a low wolf whistle, apparently in appreciation of her lack of accuracy.
Lily glanced up at the professor. He was gaping at her! GAPING! Binns did not gape! She hadn't even thought he had had any facial muscles!
He started to splutter. "Well! I! I never! That is just—In all my years! That's it! Evretts! Detention! Tonight!"
Lily wanted to die. In all her years at Hogwart's, she had never had a detention! She sunk into her chair amidst giggles and cursed the day she met James Potter. It was his fault!
Marlene put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Marlene had served detentions before, usually for being caught in the forest, again.
Lily rubbed her eyes as she willed the clock hands to move faster. After what felt like an eon, the class was finally let out, but not before Binns reminded her to come to the classroom after supper tonight. Honestly, the man couldn't even remember her name, yet her humiliation seemed to be easy enough to recollect!
She gathered her books and shoved them hastily into her bag, hoping to deter everyone from commenting about her recent mortification. Obviously, the fates had different ideas.
"So, Lils," a voice called out behind her. "Detention, eh? Honestly, you do have a certain streak for unprovoked attacks."
Lily whirled around and faced the voice. Sirius Black. That's just great.
"Really," he continued, "First, you land Prong's in the Hospital Wing with you with a snake bite, than you almost run me over in the hallway, and then you chuck a book at Prong's head! I see a pattern developing."
She stared at her verbal attacker; he was flanked by his popular friends. They always seemed to attack in numbers. Sniffing in what she hoped was a dignified manner, she refused to answer him. Marlene saw this and decided to step in.
"Really, Black," Marlene said, "Have you ever noticed that you always seem to need at least two of your friends panting after you before you deign to pick on someone? You're just scared is all. Why don't you back off, unless, of course, you want to wake up with a hungry niffler in your bed tomorrow."
Lily sent a silent look of thanks to her friend.
Sirius, though, seemed anything but insulted. "You know, Mar, you seem so eager to get near my bed, all you have to do is ask." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"Wow," she said coolly to him, "I think I just vomited in my mouth."
Turning quickly, she pulled Lily through the classroom doors, but she still heard Black's parting comment, "No need to deny, McKinnon, the quiet ones are always the kinkiest!"
The girls made their way to the Great Hall for dinner, both blushing profusely and cursing the Marauders.
Dinner passed all too quickly for Lily's taste. She could hear her peers whispering about the incident and she could also hear the Marauders' loud laughter.
She watched time fly by until Marlene told her she couldn't wait any longer without risking getting another detention for tardiness. Reluctantly, Lily agreed. She made her way to the classroom, dragging her feet.
She turned to knob slowly; wishing lightening would strike her and get her out of this mess. She slowly walked into the classroom, and looked up at Binns' desk. A polite greeting died on her lips. For instead of seeing Binns' beady black eyes staring at her, she saw James Potter leaning back in the professor's chair, as though he sat there all the time.
"Hey, Lils." He said, obviously amused at her dumbstruck look.
What the bloody hell was going on?
--
James stared at the dumbstruck girl in front of him. He smirked at her look of horror. He was about to comment on her apparent lack of mental acumen, but he stopped himself. Remembering Sirius' advice, he ran a hand through his hair and tried his best to adopt a sexy smile.
"What are you, I mean, why—what the hell!" Lily spluttered out, turning a surprising colour of red.
"What," he said, his voice sounding seductive next to her shrill screech, "Can't a guy visit his favourite girl?"
Lily narrowed her eyes at his light banter. Scoffing at him, she whirled around and went to sit in her usual seat. She would just ignore this miscreant until Binns deigned to grace her with his vapid presence…
--
James stared at Lily's brilliant hair, glowing eyes, and blushing cheeks. So many times he had to stop himself from prostrating himself at her feet and begging forgiveness. He couldn't, not now that he had implemented Sirius' plan (that was failing more every second).
Whistling to himself, he decided he just needed to up the Potter charm, yeah, that was it. Lily just needed to see what a great guy he was and she would come to realize what an idiot Snape was.
Glancing over at her, he noticed she was bouncing her foot in irritation. The rapid movement was making her chest jiggle, which was in turn doing untold things to James sensibilities. Jesus, he thought, as he crossed his legs.
"Erm, Lily," he began, his voice actually cracking! He cleared his throat. " I mean, uh, Evans, Binns left this note for you, here, on his desk."
"What!" Lily said, jumping up. "That's been here this whole time and you just decided to tell me now!"
James leaned back in his seat, merely smirking that much harder.
Sighing in exasperation, Lily grabbed the note.
Miss Evernas,
Due to a large amount of unavoidable responsibilities (Lily scoffed at the blatant lie) I will be unable to join you this evening. However, you will write "I must not throw the History of Magic textbook across the room for it is a valuable learning tool that should be respected at all times" on the chalkboard 50 times.
That is all.
Professor Binns
Lily groaned. Could he have possibly created an even longer line? Shooting a frustrated look at Potter, she grudgingly went over to the chalkboard and commenced.
James laughed when he saw the insanely long line Lily had to rewrite over and over. Upon hearing his chuckle, she turned around and gave him a glare. Still chortling to himself, he sent her a hearty wink (and felt his insides wither when she seemed even more immune than ever.)
--
Lily wrung her hand out. It was hard work. She had quickly realized that she would have to write minusculy to accommodate all fifty lines. Also, she could feel Potter's eyes boring into her back. She refused to acknowledge his presence, but she soon found herself wishing he would just go up in a puff of smoke, or fall out of a window.
--
James knew she was almost finished, he also knew his staring was making her uncomfortable. He could see her neck muscles twitching in irritation and her eyes darting over him every once and a while.
Meanwhile, he was trying to figure out a plan. She would be heading back to the common room soon, and he needed to ask her out. More importantly, he needed her to say yes. Although he was usually confidant to the point of annoying, the second his eyes connected with hers he became a bundle of nerves, tripping over his words and acting like an idiot.
After what seemed like ages, he saw her sign her name at the bottom of the board. She turned quickly around and picked up her books, hoping to escape him, but by the time she was ready to leave, he was already holding the door open for her with a smile on his face.
She sighed and walked out the door briskly, hoping he would by some chance of God, lose interest in the chase. No such luck.
"So, Evans," he began, his voice sounding rather husky and mature. "We're playing Ravenclaw on Friday, are you coming?"
"If Marlene drags me, I suppose," she replied, trying to sound bored. In all actuality, she enjoyed getting outdoors and watching the games, but the last person she would tell that to was this messy-haired quidditch fanatic.
"Cool," he said, "I'll dedicate all my goals to you, then." Yet another wink. Maybe the kid had an eye twitch.
Lily made a sound halfway between a snort and a scoff; she refused to dignify that with an answer. She sped up, fervently wishing the founders had built the tower closer to the History of Magic classroom.
Only another flight of stairs to go…
"Right," he continued, ignoring her rebuff, "Then, I was thinking we could go to Hogsmeade this Saturday, to celebrate and all that. What do you say?"
She stared at him. Was he deranged?
Again, she ignored his question as she said the password to the tower.
Climbing through, she tried to ignore both the sound of his voice and the many eyes witnessing their encounter.
"Come on, Evans, all the girls want to be the one to go out with me. You should really be thankful."
By the new level of rage in her eyes, that was apparently the wrong thing to say.
"Ha!" she yelled, catching Potter and the rest of the common room off guard. "Thankful, you say? Thankful! Yeah, right Potter!"
Apparently, the boy didn't understand the value of sarcasm.
"Great!" he said, "I'll meet you—"
"Oh my god, Potter! You cannot seriously think I would ever, EVER, voluntarily be within 20 feet of you! You make me ill!"
All surrounding viewers' mouths dropped at her audacity. No one talked to James Potter like that!
"Look, Evans—" he began, only to be interrupted again.
"No! YOU look, Potter. You had best leave me alone, unless you want one VERY pissed of redhead on your hands."
And with that, she stormed past him to the staircase leading to her room, but not before yelling at her audience, "NOTHING TO SEE! GET BACK TO YOUR WORK!"
After her exit, all heads swerved around to stare at the popular Marauder. Rather than allow his audience to see how much Lily's words had hurt him, he gave a dramatic bow and went to climb the stairs to his room. He didn't feel like having to explain that outburst to the gossip-starved people in the common room, especially when Vance was looking at him like he was some sort of delectable meal.
Ugh, shudder…
--
