It was getting harder and harder for Lily to cope with James and Ashley's relationship; they were so sickeningly sweet, even in plain sight of teachers. Ashley especially made it a point to pull him into a kiss whenever Lily stood nearby. Those two were literally attached at the hip; it was sickening. Ashley was like a parasite; wherever James was, she latched onto him and refused to let go. James was pretty obnoxious too; when he had to talk to Lily, he addressed her with a cold, biting tone, continuing to follow Ashley around like a lovesick puppy.
A few days after Lily had written the letter to James, she was still anticipating his response. Due to the delay, Lily began to wonder whether he had gotten the letter at all. But she was very happy when the two of them, James and Ashley, entered the Great Hall. He had folded his arms, and he was beginning to snap at her a whole lot more.
The blonde looked frantic, rummaging through her pockets desperately, struggling to remain calm. Finally, she sat down across from the redhead saying, "James dear, please drink your pumpkin juice."
Watching carefully, like a hawk, Lily was baffled; why did she want him to drink the pumpkin juice? James must have been thinking along the same lines as Lily, for he snarled, "Why Ashley?"
She soothingly whispered, "No no, it's alright, James. Please, for me, drink it." He shrugged, raising the crystal glass to his lips. As he drank, Lily observed Ashley smirking and stowing a vial of pink liquid into her robe cautiously.
Her mouth wide open, thoughts were racing through Lily's head, as she suddenly became suspicious. That bit of pink liquid really did look like love potion, at least in her opinion. Hmm… She started considering if this was how she'd gotten him into her clutches.
Later in the day, Lily decided to investigate into matters more by splitting Ashley's bag in half, causing a few vials of pink potion to spill out onto the floor. Hiding around the corner of a wall, the redhead whispered 'Diffindo', spilling the potion.
After Ashley hastily picked up the vials and scurried away, Lily walked to the spot where the potion had spilt, sniffing the contents. Amortentia, yes definitely. To her it smelt a bit fruity, like chocolate strawberries, the crisp scent of fresh parchment, and something she couldn't place; it smelt like cologne, something that she'd definitely smelt before. The redhead shook her head, viewing the characteristic steamy pink spirals, knowing that Ashley was using love potion to attract James.
Thoughts were racing through Lily's mind, and she finally decided that she would have to put an end it. Not only was Ashley breaking a bunch of rules; James was also being affected. He was forced to fall in love with a girl he absolutely despised.
Later on in the day, when Ashley was walking alone in a corridor, Lily crept up behind her, petrifying her, "Petrificus Totalus." With a gasp, she fell to the floor, her arms outstretched and mouth wide open.
Lily walked next to her, saying in a fake, sweet voice, "I'm so sorry. My spell must have accidentally hit you. I was aiming for the wall in order to practice, but it ended up hitting you. Well, I'm so sorry; I forgot how to reverse the spell. I'll just take you into the Head's Dormitory and put you in an armchair, alright?"
True to her words, the redhead grabbed her wand and levitated Ashley into her room, dropping her onto an armchair. When the blonde wasn't looking, Lily cast an Invisibility spell on her, making sure to use all of her strength so that it would last overnight, "Okay Ashley, I need to find Professor Dumbledore; he'll reverse the spell. I heard he's out of the school, so just wait here for awhile, alright? James will probably come visit you."
Lily walked away, chuckling softly to herself. If she couldn't give James the love potion the next morning, the potion would wear off, and James would realize the truth. And tomorrow, Lily would undo the spells. Oh, James would get so mad at Ashley. It would be rather amusing to see his reaction; Lily definitely didn't think she was being cruel to her. The blonde had tortured her for years, and now she was unrightfully claiming James as her own.
As James walked into the room, he frantically said, "Have you seen Ashley?" He was wearing a handsome black suit and a blue tie, shifting nervously on one foot.
Lily looked at him, unable to take the smirk off of her face, "Umm…yes, why?"
"We were supposed to meet an hour ago for our date."
She raised an eyebrow, "Well, I'm terribly sorry James, but she asked me to tell you that she doesn't want to go."
He was suspicious, "I don't believe you. Why wouldn't she want to go? She was all over me for ages."
"She wants to go with you, obviously, but just not today. She said to say that she's in no fit state to go. Apparently she's not feeling too well."
He looked rather concerned, "Oh, okay. Is she alright?"
Lily shot him a reassuring smile, "Perfectly dandy."
He sighed, "Okay, well thanks for letting me know."
Unable to resist the opportunity, Lily asked, "What was that?"
He gritted his teeth, "Thank you, Evans."
When he disappeared from the room, Lily giggled, feeling her heart soar; the potion's effects were already starting to wear off. By the next day, Ashley would be as disgusting as a maggot to him.
After a few hours of sleep, Lily clambered off of her cot, quickly changing into a fresh pair of clothes and brushing her hair up into a high ponytail. A few minutes later, she calmly walked into the Great Hall where James was sitting, thinking about Ashley but looking the slightest bit nervous about the whole setup. Pretending that everything was fine, even though a huge smile was on her face, Lily looked at her watch. The potion's effects would wear off, about NOW!
James exploded from his seat, gagging, "Eww! I kissed Ashley Parker. Disgusting! Ugh… She gave me a stinking love potion."
Everyone in the hall looked stunned, but Lily just burst into laughter, her voice echoing through the hall.
James looked at Lily with a guilty expression on his face, "And you, I'm sorry. The only reason I never properly apologized to you was because—"
Lily held her hand up, "We can talk in the Head's common room, James. First, finish your breakfast."
So he began chomping on his breakfast, occasionally remarking, "Eww… Parker. I'm gonna kill her."
Aishu turned to me, "Wow, that was a big surprise."
Dorcas just smiled, "I knew that something was up all along! She is so not his type."
Alice looked shocked, "Then why didn't you say something about it, Dor?"
She rolled her eyes, "Well, I didn't know what was up. I just knew something was up. What about you, Lily?"
"Well, I know the full story. I was the one who saw her pouring love potion into James' pumpkin juice. And then I investigated; it was Amortentia. So I petrified Ashley, and she's laying there now in the Head's Dormitory."
Aishu was astonished, "It was you who figured it out!"
Dor snorted, "Well obviously it was her, Aishu. We all know how much of a whiz she is at anything that has to do with Potions."
She blushed as Aishu and Alice nudged her, smiling. After breakfast, James and she walked into the Common Room. Along the way, he was quiet, though he kept shooting her friendly smiles, thinking about how he would start a conversation with her when they returned to the dormitory.
The instant they walked through the portrait, he remarked, "I'm really sorry about what I said before, Lily. I was just really frustrated at the time. I—I really didn't mean it."
Lily shook her head, "No, James. What you said was true. I was acting very horrible to you, even though you didn't do anything wrong."
"Thanks, but either way, I shouldn't have ranted like that at you."
Lily nervously said, "James, I think you should know that I petrified Ashley so that the love potion would wear off."
He looked surprised and ran at the redhead, engulfing her in a hug, "Thank you so much! If you hadn't realized that she was poisoning me, then I would've been stuck with her forever!"
"You're welcome. Do you want to see her?"
James looked extremely angry; his face was red and puffy, and he looked as if he were about to blow up, "You know where she is?"
"Yeah."
"Show me!"
Nervously shifting, Lily said, "Umm…I don't think that's a good idea."
He snarled, "Don't you think I deserve to see that jerk?!"
Lily threw her hands up into the air, "Fine! Fine!" She quickly undid the Disillusionment Charm and the Petrifying Charm.
Ashley sat up quickly, pure fury emanating from her face as she glared at the redhead. She began, "You little—"
Before she could finish her sentence, James slapped her face, and Lily winced as he spat, "How dare you try to fool me with love potion?!"
She stared at Lily murderously, shooting him a look of contempt. Taking out her wand, Ashley pointed it at Lily, "Cru—"
James looked extremely horrified, slamming into Ashley. She yelped and dropped her wand as pushed her up against the wall, his hands tightening on her throat.
Shocked, Lily stepped in front of James, "What are you doing? You could seriously hurt her!"
He snarled, "She tried to use the Cruciatus Curse on you, Lily. That's illegal."
"I know, but stop! We'll hand her over to Dumbledore and see what punishment he gives her."
James released her reluctantly, "Fine."
Grabbing her arm, Lily said, "We'll take her up to his office, okay?"
James agreed, and they started walking, dragging her along though she screamed and tried to bite Lily, resisting their force.
His eyes venomous, James said, "Don't you dare try to hurt us, Ashley! Don't you think you've done enough harm?"
After a couple of minutes of silence, James perked up, "Hey Lily, I know this sort of a bad time to be asking, but can we be friends?"
A smile crept over Lily's face, "Yeah, sure."
When they took Ashley to Dumbledore, he clucked, angrily reprimanding the blonde and calling her parents with an suspension letter ready in his hand. A huge smile was plastered on Lily's face, and if anything, it got bigger when James kissed her on the cheek, rushing out to the Quidditch field for practice.
Lily knew it was only a friendly gesture; it was only on the cheek, after all. But still… She found herself sort of hoping that James would get attracted to her but also desperately hoping that she wouldn't fall for him. I mean, she had been despising him, wishing that he would just disappear off of the planet, for more than six years.
And then, all of sudden, things seemed to have flipped. She completely fell over the edge, and Lily knew it. She was just trying to deny it. Because it was dangerous. The thought that she, the goody-goody, could like the arrogant, hot-headed, rude, condescending, pompous, mean, self-righteous, and overconfident James Potter…was just outrageous. Out. Rage. Ous.
He, meanwhile, still liked Lily. A lot. And he was tingling at the thought she might, just a tiny bit, like him back. James was beginning to experience more of Lily's flaws, like her veiled vision, literal thinking, temper, and stubbornness, but if anything, it just intensified his crush on her.
In fact, to an outsider, it seemed that all was well, and the two were great friends. But James and Lily both had conflicting emotions in their minds, and neither of them wanted to make a move forwards. Based on the direction they were headed in, it seemed almost certain that they'd never get together.