A/N: I don't know what to say. It's . . . meh. But it's the biggest one I've written so far. Only one more prompt to go.
Disclaimer: I don't own. Please don't sue me.
Prompt #4: If you set off one more firework at 3 am I will fight you.
Lily threw back the last of the pungent coffee in her mug. Her face scrunched in protest of all the bitter coffee assaulting her senses. The caffeine rushed through her fatigue-ridden body but it did nothing to wake her up.
She glanced at her bedside alarm clock and the red digital '1:47 a.m.' blinked at her. Great. In seven hours Lily Evans would be attending one of the most important exams of her life.
Lily picked up the lab notes she had been going through and skimmed through it one last time. Not that she needed to, of course. She knew the material even better than the back of her hand. She could probably ace the test in her sleep.
But that didn't stop her from worrying.
You see, Lily Evans came from a long line of Compulsive Worriers. Her Great-Aunt Martha was a Compulsive Worrier. Her Grand-dad Jones was a Compulsive Worrier. Her Uncle Stu is a Compulsive Worrier. Her Dad is a Compulsive Worrier who married a fellow Compulsive Worrier, namely her Mum. Even the family cat, Garlic, is a Compulsive Worrier. (The cat was a ginger so they named him Garlic.)
It was inevitable that Lily Evans was born a compulsive worrier. They were the Compulsive Worriers™. It's the family business and who was she to say no.
For that reason, when Lily was finally settled in bed she just couldn't sleep. Maybe she couldn't sleep because she hadn't gone through her usual nightly routine. In addition to being the CEO of Compulsive Worriers™, Lily was also slightly OCD but only slightly and only in the matter of her nightly routine. She's not a nutter, okay?
So she got out of bed, gathered the notes she had pushed to the foot of the bed and set them straight on her desk. She changed out her now sweaty sweats and t-shirt into her favourite holey flannel pyjamas and bunny slippers. She brushed her teeth with her spearmint toothpaste, taking extra care to reach even those pesky places such as the back of her molars and between her pre-molars. She put the coffee mug to the kitchen sink, not bothering to wash it.
It was her housemate, Dorcas' day on the dishes. Dorcas had gone to a classmate's house for a study session. She then texted Lily 'I'm going to crash at Marlene's place. Try not to get murdered by a serial killer. xxx ' She had texted back a lone 'K' just to spite her and decided dirty dishes in the sink would be a nice 'Welcome Back' present for Dorcas to come back to.
She also sent her daily 'I'm still alive' message to her parents - A 'Yes, I'm staying hydrated and drinking plenty of fluids. No, I'm not using protection. Thought getting pregnant would be a nice graduation present to myself (I was joking, Mum. Please don't kill me. I don't even date. At this rate I'll be joining nunnery.)Love you. ' to her Mum and a 'Ha! Chelsea totally beat Arsenal. You owe me ten pounds! Send a cheque. Sweet Dreams and all my love.' to her Dad.
At long last, Lily was snuggled, warm and comfy under her grey covers. She drifted off to sleep and began to dream.
She was in the chemistry lab. She was standing at her place in a designer lab coat with sparkly white sequins (Gucci specially designed it for her). The professor was standing in front wearing a jade coat and nifty red top hat around which a live snake was slithering like a very evil, very ominous halo. Professor Slughorn was rocking the look if Lily could say so herself. His bushy moustache wobbled as he said in a professional game show host manner, "Your time starts . . . NOW!"
Brilliant. Now, if only Lily could figure out what her task was. Was she supposed capture the snake and make rabbit soup? Was she supposed to shave off the bushy moustache and donate it to cancer patients? Was she supposed to – ooh! Look! There were so many brightly coloured liquids in funky bottle of different designs. Some were fuming. Some were hissing. Some were spitting out sparks like sparklers. Some were doing the cha-cha. Some were singing a very odd rendition of 'I will survive.'
Aha! Lily clapped her hands in delight and jumped up and down, shooting several metres into the air each time and bumping her head on the ceiling each time. Lily finally understood. The professor wanted her to mix the liquids and make pretty colours. Well, that she could do. She was the only kindergartner who had known that blue and red mix to give violet and red and yellow mix to give orange. Now was a fabulous time to showcase her intelligence.
Lily picked up the crystal wine glass with the hissing blue liquid and the chipped mug of the singing red liquid. With all the skills of a contortionist, Lily set a diamond studded bowl on the counter using her feet. She poured the two liquids into the bowl when-
BOOM!
Lily woke in a panic, her fringe plastered to her forehead in sticky sweat. She stood on shaky legs as she slipped her feet into her bunny slippers. She wobbled to kitchen to get herself a cool drink of water.
What a funny, terrifying dream. And the saddest part was Lily could actually see it happening in real life. She could see Slughorn wearing such a hideous outfit but still looking absolutely smashing in it. (Slughorn was a barmy old coot.) She could see herself jumping like a five year old hopped up on sugar and banging her head on the ceiling. (Lily was very tall.) But most unsettling of all, she could see herself mixing two liquids that looked like it should not be mixed under any circumstance other than the annihilation of the world simply to see the end result. (Lily was very curious.)
BOOM!
And now her mind playing games with her. She had heard of people being close to an explosion hearing the sound like a broken record but never when the explosion was part of a dream.
BOOM!
There it was again.
Fizz. . . Snap! POP!
That's strange. It sounded like . . . firecrackers!
She moved to look out the window above the kitchen sink and she saw the silhouettes of four men. They wobbled, tittered, giggled and whooped. In the hands of two, there were sparklers. One was crouching over something on the lawn and another was watching the whole scene before him wordlessly.
Well, really. Getting drunk was one thing. Disrupting the entire neighborhood while you're at it is simply inexcusable. Not to mention that the boys didn't even live there. The house belonged to the elderly couple of Mr. and Mrs. Thomson.
Lily was livid. (And also a bit delighted that she didn't have another mental disorder but that's not important.) You know that stereotype of redheads being short-tempered? It was absolutely true in her case.
She stormed out of her house and towards the lawn, leading her bunny slippers to war. She grumbled to herself about 'Kids these days' and 'What is the world coming to?'.
"If you set off one more firecracker at 3 a.m. I will fight you!"
Nobody, not even the bat in the tree, paid her any attention. So much for a dramatic entrance.
She scowled at the boys. To her surprise she recognized two of the boys.
One was Remus Lupin, an intellectual who Lily was surprised to find here. She sat next to him during English Lit when Dorcas decided she'd rather skive off to have greasy burgers at the place that was stingy with ketchup packets like they were Scrooge. She had had many stimulating debates on Shakespeare with Remus. He was level headed, practical and reserved which is why it was so astonishing to find him giggling about sparklers and exclaiming, "Peter! Look at all the pretty colours!"
The other was Sirius Black. Though Lily had no common classes with the boy, she occasionally saw him in his mechanics class. When Lily was bored she would sneak into various classes just to see what she was missing out on. That's right; most people snuck out off classes, Lily snuck in to them.
Sirius was a smart egg with luscious black locks that was envied by every guy and girl alike. Though ladies flocked to him like moths to the flame, his one true love remained his motorcycle which he customised by himself. Lily enjoyed talking to him and exchanging witty banter while he teased her to no end about her bountiful quirks.
"Remus!" she screeched. She had more chance of talking sense into Remus than Sirius and she hadn't met the other two.
"Lily!" He jumped in delight on spotting her. "The sparkler's as red as your hair! Isn't it pretty? Isn't it pretty?!" He thrust the sparkler in her face and Lily stepped away in the fear of getting burned.
Hm . . . well, maybe he was better off talking to Sirius. Sirius was sitting on the porch steps and staring at the night sky. In all honesty, Lily was a bit worried about him.
"Sirius?" she began, lightly touching his shoulder so as to not startle him.
He turned and Lily was surprised to see all the emotions in his grey eyes.
"You're hair is as red as the blood of fallen warrior." Lily's mouth dropped. What's with Poetic Sirius? It's like he and Remus exchanged personalities. "But we shan't worry about fallen warriors tonight, because our warrior has returned home victorious!"
He stood up, wobbled on his feet and gestured to a lanky boy with hair that camouflaged with the dark night. He was crouching over a roman candle. Lily wondered where they got all these from.
Sirius grabbed two shot glasses that was beside him and poured what looked like tequila but smelled like vodka into them. He handed one to Lily.
"Tonight we celebrate!" he declared pompously. Sirius was more suited for theatre than mechanics. He downed the liquor in one go. Lily set hers down gingerly so Sirius wouldn't notice.
"Er-Sirius as great as that is, do you think you could maybe celebrate some other time, like, oh I don't know, NOT AT THREE IN THE BLOODY MORNING!"
"Oi, Prongs!" Sirius cupped his hands against his mouth and yelled. What kind of name was Prongs?
The lanky boy trudged to Sirius, making faces at him as he hiccupped.
Sirius pulled him into a hug and burst into tears. "I missed you, mate," he wailed. "Never go to the States again."
Lily was flabbergasted. It was 3 a.m. and she was watching Sirius Black crying and hugging another boy who was hiccupping. There was something you don't see every day.
The boy, 'Prongs' apparently, saw Lily over Sirius' shaking shoulders. He pushed up the glasses which had slid down his nose and untangled himself their embrace to smirk at her, making him go cross-eyed and lose his balance.
"Padfoot, there's a very fit bird starin' at us. D'you thin' she'd marry me if I kissed her bunny slippers?" he slurred. Obviously he was sloshed. Obviously they were all sloshed.
Lily's eyes narrowed. "Flattered but not interested," she bit out.
There was a retching sound from across the lawn. The pudgy boy who had been playing with the sparklers with Remus, was bent over and Remus shouted, "Uh-oh, Petey go pukey." And then he laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.
Sirius who was the most sober (which was saying something because he had a reputation of drinking away his sorrows. . . and his joy. . . and his anger. . . and his hunger which were basically the only feelings he ever felt) decided to become the responsible one.
"Alright lads, that enough. We're disturbing Evans here. Let's take this party inside. FALL IN, MEN!" he ordered. All the boys formed a line and marched into house.
"Thank you," she said exasperatedly. Even though she didn't figure out what the boys were doing in the Thomson's house, she was willing to let that slide for some sleep.
Lily returned home exhausted. It was 3:30 a.m. She crashed on the couch, too tired to haul herself into bed. She would solve that mystery tomorrow after her all-important exam. (In reality, it was just a tiny test that accounted for a measly ten percent of their grades.)
The next day, Lily woke up, cursing. She was late. She quickly ran through her morning hygiene routine. She wriggled into her favourite jeans for luck and donned a yellow jumper that made her look like the sunrise. She didn't pay special attention to how she looked that morning, just making sure that people wouldn't run in the opposite direction when they saw her.
She was halfway out the door, stuffing burnt toast into her mouth when her phone buzzed in her back pocket. Balancing her car keys, notes and toast all in one hand, she fished out her phone. A reminder appeared on her screen – 'LAB COAT, YOU DUNDERHEAD!' Cursing for what was the fiftieth time that day, she made a mad dash for her room, dug out her lab coat from the bottom of her closet, shrugged it on her shoulder and ran out for the second time that day.
She got into to her yellow Bug and drove like a madwoman, honking more than is considered polite.
She reached in the nick of time to the Medical lab. All the other students had just entered the lab.
"Miss Evans , you're late," sang Professor Slughorn with a teasing smile reserved only for his favourite student.
"I was studying, Professor," Lily replied with an angelic smile. "Wouldn't want to disappoint my favourite professor, would I?"
"Cheeky, Miss Evans," Slughorn laughed heartily. Lily slipped into her place.
Slughorn wrote one single question on the board and the exam commenced. Lily sighed on relief because he gave an easy test that Lily could do in her sleep. Which was a coincidence because Lily was dead on her feet.
Within half the allotted time, Lily had finished and was rolling her pencil back and forth on the counter top. She observed how her classmates were doing. Some were struggling; others seemed to be doing okay but the only other person who had finished was Severus Snape. Lily turned her head away from him, not wanting to acknowledge him. (To say that they weren't on good terms was a gross understatement.)
Instead she focused on the boy sitting in front of her. How odd, she recognised that mop of hair . . . oh, he was the boy from last night, the victorious warrior. And what was he doing?! He was going to get them all killed.
"You seem to have a knack for setting things on fire," she whispered to him. Slughorn wasn't paying any attention. He was busily tapping away on his phone, probably arranging another tea party with the Prime Minister and the Queen. A whole group in the back took advantage of this and was copying off each other marvellously.
"Sorry?" He looked adorable with his face scrunched in confusion, his hair ruffled and a pen tucked in his ear which made his glasses lie askew on his face. Lily could admit that much.
"You'll blow up the whole place," she indicated the test tube on the burner. He looked sheepish and offered her grin. Lily returned a tight-lipped smile.
"I had a long night."
"I know, Prongs."
He was surprised. He opened his mouth to question her but she stopped him.
"Finish your analysis."
An hour later, Slughorn told them to move out of the lab. As Lily passed him, he smiled and she winked back. Severus bumped into his shoulder roughly.
"Sorry," he grumbled. But he didn't move. They both just stood there awkwardly looking at their feet.
"So how was the exam?" Lily had hated the awkward silence but she hated him engaging in conversation even more. Lily was too tired to yell at him and she didn't want to start a fight.
"It was easy," Lily said refusing to look at his face.
"Of course, what with Slughorn making gaga eyes at you, it would definitely be easy." It was snarky comments like this that ended their friendship.
She glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I-uh," he stammered. Lily began to walk away from him.
"Forget it, Severus."
"No, Lily. Wait-I"
"Leave me alone, Severus."
"But-Lily"
"The lady said to leave her alone, Snivellus."
"Who are you?" Severus spat.
"I'm James."
"Who asked you?"
James, whose name Lily just learned, sent him an incredulous look. "Are you serious?"
"I'm leaving and if you follow me, Severus, I swear to God. . ." She turned away from the two who were staring each other down.
James turned to follow her.
"Where are you going?" Severus asked James.
"My name's not Severus," he said over his shoulder, not moving his eyes from the redhead speed-walking away.
James jogged to catch up with Lily.
"Thank you," he huffed as he caught his breath. She raised her eyebrows quizzically. "For the tip in the lab," he explained. She nodded. "I'm almost afraid to ask how you know but in my drunken stupor I remember hitting on a redhead."
Lily almost smiled. "You wanted to kiss my bunny slippers."
James grimaced. "Clearly I can't hold my alcohol."
"Clearly," Lily said dryly. "By the way, what are you doing in Mrs. Thomson's house?" She settled her hands on her hips and turned to face him. With the air of the father trying to get little Johnny admit that he was eating sugar, she asked, "Are you squatters?"
"What? No!" He was quick to explain himself. "We bought the place, it's ours. We have the deeds and everything. I can show you if you like. If you give me your number, I could WhatsApp you the pictures of the deeds and maybe even an address for dinner tonight." He winked.
"Are you - are you hitting on me?"
"I couldn't help myself." He fisted his hair. An apologetic yet smug smirk played on his thin lips.
"Unbelievable," she muttered to herself as she stormed away from him.
"I'm sorry?" he shouted as if asking whether it's the right thing to say.
After a quick stop at the library (She wanted to return a book that had been lying in her car for ages) and a hello to Madam Pince, Lily headed back home. She had no other classes except English and she wasn't in any shape to learn about the suicidal tendencies of poets who were depressed that their work wasn't getting any recognition. Besides she could always get the notes from Remus; Dorcas' notes were doodles and nifty comics. As entertaining as they were to read, it wasn't going to help her.
"Dorcas, I'm home!" she called from the front door. She was greeted by silence. She made her way over to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich for lunch. On the counter there was a plate of pancakes and blueberries and underneath there was a note from Dorcas.
'I got your text, you traitor. How dare you leave me alone in class? Anywho I came back to grab some books but I was hungry (all Marlene had was cornflakes. Bleh.) so I made some pancakes. And because I'm such a kind and generous human being I'm leaving you some. Bon Appétit! – Love, The Dork'
Who needs a sandwich when you can have pancakes? She dug in, her tastebuds tingled feeling more satisfied than in ages. Dorcas made the best pancakes in the world, even better than her Dad.
She settled in front of the television. There was nothing interesting on telly, just some soaps and a rerun of Deal or No Deal. She stretched her feet on the coffee table and balanced the plate of pancakes on her stomach as she yelled at Mr. Rupert Toiner for not taking the Banker's deal.
It was when Dorcas came home, making a racket at five in the evening that Lily realized she had fallen asleep in front of the telly.
"Lily!" And then there was a crash and a scream.
"Dorcas!" Lily jumped from the couch, resulting in another crash. The plate had fallen from her stomach and onto the carpeted floor. She rushed over to the hallway where the scream came from.
She found Dorcas under a pile of books, papers and coats. The coat stand had rolled over to the side.
"You know, I really think we should move the coat stand. I seem to trip on it every single time I come in through the door." She moved some of the books and papers to the side. "Help me up, will you?"
Lily extended her hand out to Dorcas. "Nobody else has this problem. It's just you."
"Only you and I live here."
"Exactly. I don't have this problem."
"Maybe you're right. Maybe the coat stand just likes redheads better. Him and the rest of the world."
"So the coat stands a he now?"
Dorcas gathered her books from the floor and straightened her plaid skirt. "I don't know; I didn't examine him or anything. That is your job, Dr. Lily."
"Thanks, but I don't think the syllabus covers sex determination of inanimate objects," Lily replied dryly.
"I'll take it up with the board of directors."
Dorcas went up stairs to her room to deposit her books. Lily set the coat stand upright and hung all the coats and scarves on it.
After Lily had cleaned the mess, she found Dorcas sitting on the sofa and changing the channel to catch up with news on BBC. Dorcas wanted to be a journalist and she read the newspaper religiously every day.
Lily settled in the loveseat and asked, "So what happened in class today?"
"It was totally awesome. Benjy Fenwick had his pet lizard in his pocket during class. It got out and crawled on Bella-bitch's desk and she screamed and made a scene. It was total chaos." She laughed.
"Damn it. I always miss the good stuff. Last time I missed the dance battle in the canteen."
"Oh yeah. That was a good day. Even Dumbledore joined in on that. He dragged along McGonagall too."
The girls laughed imagining the old man dancing a waltz with McGonagall as she continued to shout 'But Albus, I don't want to dance.'
"And what was today's lecture about?"
"I don't know," she shrugged. "I sort of zoned out. I think it was about Sylvia Plath."
"Should I bother to ask you for the notes?"
"Nah, though there is a lovely comic on lizards."
"Hm. . . I'll ask Remus for the notes," Lily said. "By the way, did you know the Thomsons moved?"
"Mhm. They came around on Saturday to inform us. You had a shift at the bookstore."
"Shame. I liked Mrs. Thomson's biscuits."
"Not like we ever tasted them. We've only smelt the aroma."
"True. They always kept to themselves. I think the only time I've properly spoken to them was when I moved in."
"They were more social before their children got married. Mum and Dad always went round to theirs for dinner once a month."
The house Lily and Dorcas lived in belonged to Dorcas' parents. That's why they could afford to stay in a house and not a flat like the rest of the student body. Dorcas' parents had moved to Salisbury to get away from the city. Dorcas and Lily only had to foot the various bills and chip in for groceries.
"Well, you'll never guess who moved in."
"Benedict Cumberbatch?"
"What?"
"A girl can dream."
"No. It's Remus, Sirius and two of their friends."
"What?!"
"That's what I said."
"But how can they afford it?'
"Hello? Sirius – tall, rich and handsome. Does that ring a bell?"
Dorcas groaned. "We'll never know peace."
"Do you know how I met them? They were bursting firecrackers at three in the morning."
"Bloody atrocious."
"So wanna go meet them?"
Dorcas was up even before she could finish her question. "Let's go."
The two girls stood on the porch, waiting politely for someone to answer the doorbell.
"Dried plants." Dorcas pointed out.
"Remind me never to let them housesit," Lily whispered back.
The sound of the door being unbolted put an end to their conversation. Sirius Black stuck his head out.
"Evans! Meadowes!" Sirius grinned and opened the door further. "What are you ladies doing here?"
"We're here to inform you that we have fallen victim to your charms and were wondering whether you'd indulge us in a wild night of passion."
"Really?" Sirius looked hopefully but his mouth tilted in amusement. Lily elbowed Dorcas not so lightly.
"No," Dorcas replied.
Lily grinned back at Sirius. "We're your new neighbours."
"No way."
"Yup," Lily confirmed. "That's why I spoiled your little soiree last night."
"Oh yes. Party pooper," Sirius accused.
"I actually wanted to see Remus. Is he around?" Lily asked. She still wanted to get his notes.
"The swot's studying. Come in."
"Remus!"Sirius hollered. He led them to the living room. On the sofa, the two other boys were sprawled out watching the day before's football match.
"Chelsea won," Lily said.
"What? No!" yelled James.
"Oh cheese and crackers," the small blonde boy said.
Sirius whooped. Sirius pranced around, singing, "I won. I won. I won. I won."
"Sod off," the bespectacled boy said sullenly.
"Actually, Chelsea won," Dorcas cut in amidst Sirius' chanting.
"Chelsea won, I won. Tomato, tomato." Sirius said. "I'll go get Remus. He owes me twenty quid now." And he left.
"We had a bet," the blonde boy lamented.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Dorcas asked.
The boy stood up and extended his hand, "Peter Pettigrew."
Dorcas shook his hand, "Dorcas Meadowes."
Peter extended his hand to Lily. Lily took his hand. "I'm Lily Evans."
Peter pointed to James, who was watching the match intently hoping that Lily was lying. "That brute's James Potter."
"Oi!" the boy cried indignantly.
"I know," Lily said. "We've met."
"You have?" This time it was Remus who spoke up.
"Remember, Moony. We were sloshed. Evans was there."
Remus grimaced. "About that. . . Lily, I apologise for our less than modest behavior."
"I would have paid good money to see that," Dorcas interjected.
Sirius agreed, "I know, right?"
"I forgive you, Remus. It's him I don't like." Lily gestured to James.
"Again, oi!" James protested.
Remus crossed his arms. He wore a firm expression. "What did he do?"
"Yeah, what did I do?" James was now standing, completing the little circle they seemed to have formed.
"Hitting on me when you're drunk is one thing. Hitting on me when you're sober is inexcusable."
"James," Remus reprimanded. Peter and Sirius sniggered. Dorcas patted his arm in a 'It's nice to have known you' manner.
James sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I know I didn't make a good first impression. It's just that . . . well -" His hands lifted to ruffle his raven black hair. "You're really pretty." He finished sheepishly.
Lily blushed. Dorcas coughed.
Sirius came to his defense, "It's true. He never could handle beauty."
"Remember when we showed him the Canadian Prime Minister? He swooned." Peter giggled.
"It's a wonder he can control himself around me," Sirius said.
"It's a wonder people find you attractive," James retorted. His ears tinged pink and he looked like he would give a million pounds for the floor to open up and swallow him.
"Hey! I'll have you know-" Sirius began.
Lily said over Sirius' loud voice, "Remus, I actually came here to ask whether I could borrow your English lecture notes."
"Of course," Remus led Lily upstairs.
Dorcas told the others, "Well, I'm going to go. Can't miss the six o' clock news."
Nobody paid any attention. The three boys were arguing about Sirius' looks.
Soon the four boys next door became a constant in Lily's life. They were wildly entertaining; they always had an interesting story to tell. Peter made the best desserts on this side of London. He also had a knack on always picking the losing side of a bet, the trick was to pick the exact opposite of what Peter chose. Remus was the best person to study with and always had a fascinating opinion. He was a great person to watch What Not to Wear with. Sirius was the person to go to when one was feeling particularly adventurous. He would take you around on his motorbike to places of questionable reputation but damn, they made the best juicy buns. And James . . . well, Lily had no idea how to explain how he fit into her life. The day she met him, they had got off to an awkward start. The next morning he had shown up on her front steps with two cups of tea. And he had just fit.
Lily was lounging in her pyjama bottoms and a faded green t-shirt while watching the morning cartoons over a bowl of Cornflakes and Nutella when the doorbell rang. Lily grumbled at the interruption and trudged to open the door.
There stood James Potter, in baggy shorts and a football jersey, holding up two mugs and smiling hesitantly at her.
"Hi."
"Hi," Lily lifted her eyebrows at him.
"You wouldn't happen to have some sugar, would you? You see, I woke up and nobody was there so I made myself some tea because we live in England. As I turned to the sugar pot, I found it empty. Like seriously, an ant would have been offended. Peter probably used it all up for the banana muffins he made yesterday. Anyway, I can't drink tea without sugar; I would rather eat toe jam. Then I remembered there were friendly neighbours around here and isn't that what they did in the olden days? Borrow a cup of sugar? Except you don't really like me, so it seemed wrong of me ask for some sugar. So I brought a cup of tea for you too as a peace offering, provided you feel generous enough to give a git a chance and some sugar. What I'm asking is do you want to have some tea and let me make up for my prattish behavior? "
He had spoken very fast and looked winded by his spontaneous speech. Lily couldn't help but smile at his endearing ramble.
She moved aside to invite him in. "I could never say no to some tea." He stepped in, following Lily down the hall.
"Tom and Jerry?" he asked nodding at the TV set.
Lily shrugged, "Childhood favourite."
"Mine too." He seemed to have no qualms about making himself comfortable in her home. He flopped on the brown worn sofa. The tea sloshed in the mugs and some spilled on his jersey.
"Bugger," he cursed as the hot liquid dribbled down his chest. 'His very fit chest,' Lily noticed.
Lily took the cups from his hands and placed it on the coffee table. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's just now that now I'll have to wash this. It was my last clean thing to wear."
Lily laughed. "I'll go get the sugar." She carried the two cups into the kitchen. "How much sugar do you take?" she called.
"Two spoons," he called back.
Lily stirred the sugar in the tea and took it back to the living room. She sat next to him, handing him the tea wordlessly.
He mumbled a 'Thanks'. They took a sip together.
"You make good tea."
James beamed. "Cheers, Evans."
They slipped into a comfortable silence, the only noise being the sounds of Tom chasing Jerry around only to fall on his face.
"So who's your favorite- Tom or Jerry?" It was James who broke the silence.
"Jerry. He's smart and funny and cute."
"That's cute. How long have you two been dating?"
"Shuddup," she muttered and lightly punched him.
"Ow," he complained. "Is this what Jerry faces? An abusive relationship?"
He was treated to another punch but it couldn't have hurt because he was laughing and Lily was smiling.
"Who's yours?"
"Mine? Oh no, I'm single." He said. He leaned towards her and wiggled his bushy eyebrows, "Single and ready to mingle."
It was a pathetic joke but in spite of that Lily laughed. "I was talking about Tom and Jerry, you doof."
"Tom's owner."
"The owner?"
"Mhm. She's far too underappreciated. And she's got great legs. Makes you wonder what the rest of her looks like."
Lily laughed again. "Charming."
" I've been told that I'm a very charming bloke-"
"By your mum?" Lily interrupted.
"Nah, she thinks I'm a nuisance and rues the day I was conceived."
"I understand her pain." Lily put her hand to her heart in mock empathy.
"You, Lily Evans, are being a bloody nuisance."
"A matter I take pride in."
"Pish posh, you're a Miss Goody Two Shoes. Remus told me as much."
Lily raised her eyebrows at that. "Been gossiping about me?"
James looked flustered. He began examining the chipped tea cup he was holding as though he were seeing it for the first time.
"I might have pestered him into telling me everything he knew about you," he admitted in a small voice, looking anywhere but her. "I tried asking Sirius but he just took the mickey out of me."
On any other occasion Lily would have been cross about anyone gossiping about her behind her back but it was Remus. A softer softie had never roamed the earth.
"And what did you learn about me?"
"You're name's Lily Evans. You're studying medicine, just like me. But you're also taking English Lit. Why? Medicine is hard enough as it is."
"I thought it would look good on my job application."
"Yeah, because that's what's going to set you apart; you know English unlike the other ninety percent of people living in England," James remarked sarcastically.
"I know that now." Lily said defensively. "It's interesting though."
"Tell me, do you sleep at night?"
"I do, when the local hoodlums aren't bursting firecrackers at three in the morning," she said pointedly.
"Touché."
"How do you sleep at night, knowing you're responsible for a lady's sleepless night?"
"Meh, it's nothing new. Many a ladies have spent their nights tossing and turning in bed, thinking of me. You'll soon find yourself in the same position. It'll probably go on my tombstone – 'James Potter, the man of your dreams.'"
"No, it'll probably be 'James Potter, the man of your nightmares.'"
"You got that right, Lily." Sirius burst into the living room, brandishing a buzzing smartphone. "James, this is the fourth time your Mum's calling. I answered once but I think she wants to talk to her son."
James excused himself to answer the phone.
"You should lock your door, Lily. It's not safe," said Sirius.
"You're right," replied Lily. "You might come in again."
"Hey!"
After living next door to the boys, Lily realised she liked having the boys around. She couldn't even imagine her life without them. What did she even do for fun before them?
There was only one problem.
James Potter.
He was a goofy dork. He sat with her in class causing Severus to glare at her like she had just gifted him a bottle of shampoo for Christmas. He'd come over every Saturday morning to watch cartoons and eat Cornflakes without sugar. He cheated at Monopoly during Game Night and claimed that it was in the rule book. He'd stolen her knickers, which was a dare, but he gave them back in front of Slughorn, which was not part of the dare.
And yet Lily Evans found herself fancying James Potter.
When she had told Dorcas this, Dorcas had said that she didn't see any problem in it and called Lily a lunatic. She even offered to ask out James on Lily's behalf.
But Dorcas just didn't get it. What if she asked him out and he rejected her? What if she asked him out only to find that he had been secretly married the whole time? Or worse, what if she asked him out, they date and then they break up?
Now, that would just create a whole other dimensions of problems that she did not need. She saw James countless times in a day. Attending class would become awkward. She wouldn't be able to talk to the boys because you are not supposed to talk to the ex's mates. Her Saturday mornings would become dull without his commentary. She'd never taste his perfect cup of tea. She'd never be sent pictures of cute animals. She'd never get any more Pun of the Day text messages. It just wasn't worth all that trouble.
Bah, who needs love anyway? (Lily Evans did.)
And so she convinced herself that she had gotten over him. Too bad the others could see right through her.
They were all gathered around the telly in the girls' house, scarfing down huge slices of chocolate cake and celebrating Peter's win in the 'Three tiers for Cake' competition.
"I'm so full I will pop," Sirius declared. A chorus of agreement followed. They had eaten the three tiers chocolate cake that had won Peter the first prize.
"I nominate Lily to put away the dishes," said Dorcas. "All in favour say 'Aye'."
Four 'Aye's punctuated by one particularly loud 'Nay' rang through the rather large living room.
"Majority wins," Dorcas chirped cheerily.
"Why me?" Lily whined.
"Because I did the dishes yesterday."
"Why not the boys?"
"Because they're our guests."
"What she said," reiterated Remus.
"They are over here so much that they practically live here," Lily countered.
"That's right," Sirius agreed. "Prongs, go help the lovely Ms. Lily and represent us men."
"What?" shouted an enraged James.
"You're still my slave," Peter announced. Dorcas and Lily stared at him, aghast.
"I didn't know you batted for that team, Potter," Dorcas teased.
"For the last time, Peter, how was I supposed to know that your goldfish was just sleeping and not dead?" whinged James huffily
"So you just flushed him down the toilet? Didn't even give me a chance to say goodbye?"
"That settles it," Dorcas said. "Go do the dishes with Lily."
"No way!" Lily exclaimed. She had started collecting the plates and spoons. "I don't want the murderer."
"It's the murderer or nothing, Lily," said Remus.
"Take it or leave it, Evans," Sirius added.
"Fine," Lily decided. "I'll take it."
"I'm not going," James sat in the sofa arms crossed, face scrunched like a petulant child.
"If you don't go, James, I'll tell Lily why we call you Prongs," Sirius threatened.
James shot up and began gathering all the plates along with Lily who was moving at the pace of a snail. He ushered her into the kitchen.
Lily could just make out Dorcas asking "Why?" and Sirius replying, "All I'm telling you is tons of whiskey and completely starkers except for dog antlers."
Lily laughed and James groaned. Silently they began to do the dishes. James washed and Lily dried. In five minutes they were almost done when they heard the sound of the door closing and the latch falling in place.
Lily and James turned to each other, wide eyed.
"Did they just-" Lily began, incredulity colouring her tone.
"Lock us in?" James jiggled the door knob. "Yeah, they sure did."
"The annoying berks," Lily muttered. "Guys, this isn't funny." Lily shouted through the white wooden door.
There was shuffling and whispering on the other side of the door.
"Damn right, it isn't funny," Sirius replied. "I'm suffocating in the sexual tension."
The air in the kitchen suddenly became hot. Lily felt clammy, like she was going to deliver a speech in front of a thousand people.
"We're not letting you out till you erm- resolve your issues," Dorcas piped in.
"Remus would like to add that he is not part of said hare-brained scheme and beg you not to end his life." Remus sounded nervous.
"Peter agrees with Remus and would like to give up Sirius and Dorcas as sacrifice." Then there was the sound of feet erratically hitting the carpeted floor and Sirius yelling, "Cowards!"
They could hear Dorcas mumbling, "That's right; leave it to the woman to do the work." Then she spoke up more clearly, "Okay you two, have fun but not too much fun. Remember we cook food in there."
And then there were two.
Lily and James turned to each other and smiled nervously, though in their present state of mind it came across as a grimace.
"At least they left us food," James joked.
Lily laughed a short, surprised laugh. And before she knew the words were out of her mouth.
"James, do you want go out with me?"
At first, James' face lit up. Lily felt hopeful. Then James' face fell. And so did Lily's spirits.
"Lily," he began and smiled sadly. "You don't have to ask me out to get out of here. They'll let us out eventually."
Lily laughed. "You're so daft. I want to go out with you."
"Really?"
"Really."
James moved away from Lily to the small kitchen table. He moved the chairs to opposite sides and took out ice cream from the freezer and set it on the table.
"Er, James. What are you doing?"
"You wanted a date."
The next morning, Sirius called through the door, "Are you decent?"
"Yeah," James shouted back. "We just got dressed."
Lily smacked James. "We did not," she claimed indignantly.
Sirius gasped loudly. "You mean you're- you're . . . naked?"
There was a scuffle and an 'Ow.' The door unlocked. James and Lily emerged out holding hands.
"Oh good," said Dorcas. "My plan worked."
A/N: So. . . I shared this. How about sharing your thoughts in the form of a review? You know, an eye for an eye, tit for tat and the likes. REVIEW PLEASE.
