-1CHAPTER 7: MISTAKES
After getting dressed, Lily left her room. She had thought about what Remus said before deciding to give James another chance and not be mean to him. Lily walked downstairs, and when she reached the kitchen, the boys were already sitting at the table. In front of each boy was a plate of eggs and toast, an additional plate was in between Remus and James. When Lily had entered the room, Sirius and James were having a conversation about broomsticks, but all talking ceased as the three boys looked at her. James' eyes quickly turned to his plate. Lily walked over to the empty chair, taking her seat. Tension hovered above the table and nobody spoke. For a few minutes, the sound of forks hitting plates filled the otherwise silent room.
'C'mon, say something to him,' Lily's conscience urged her.
'But what?'
Suddenly, a jug of orange juice on the opposite side of James caught her eye. She glanced back at the empty glass in front of her.
"James, will you hand me the orange juice, please?" Well, it was a start.
James pushed the juice to her wordlessly.
"Thanks," Lily said, but received no answer from him. She gave another attempt at a conversation. "So, uh, where are your parents at?"
James pretended not to hear her and looked up at Sirius.
"Hey, Padfoot, are you up for a game of Quidditch?"
"Sure," Sirius replied uncertainly.
The two boys stood from the table before Apparating out of the kitchen.
"Oh, yes, Remus, James is a great guy," Lily scoffed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm so glad I decided to give him a chance."
Remus sighed. "He's just upset."
"Yeah, well so am I," Lily stood from the table.
For the next couple of days, Lily and James ignored each other. Both absolutely refusing to speak to the other. It got to the point where even James' parents noticed. Remus was in the middle of it all: He mainly hung out with Lily because he didn't want her to have to be by herself while he was hanging out James and Sirius, which made James feel like Remus was taking Lily's side. Their games were also annoying Sirius. Remus was his friend too, and even though he loved James like a brother, he was growing tired of always hearing him complain about Lily and how she was brainwashing Remus. So finally, Remus and Sirius had had enough and decided to do something about it.
"Sirius, why are we going to Lily's room?" James asked his friend.
"I already told you," Sirius sighed as if talking to a child, "She wants to talk to you."
They stopped in front of her room, and Sirius opened the door. The two boys stepped inside. It was the first time James had seen the room since Lily was there. She had changed the color of the wall to a light blue, a stuffed dog rested on the bed, Jasper's empty cage sat on the dresser, and a Muggle picture of Lily and a middle-aged man, who he guessed was her father, was on the bedside table, next to her wand. James realized something was missing. Lily.
"Padfoot, she's not even in here."
"She will be in just a minute. She said for you to wait here," Sirius told him.
James sighed and sat on the bed. A second later, Lily and Remus entered the room. Lily was smiling at something Remus said, but her eyes suddenly narrowed.
"What are you doing in my room, Potter?" she asked angrily.
James immediately knew something was up, and looked from Remus to Sirius. "What's going on?"
Sirius was the first to speak.
"Remus and I are tired of you two giving each other the silent treatment, so you are going to stay in this room until you quit acting childish."
Lily snorted, crossing her arms. "Well, then, I guess we'll be in here a while because Potter doesn't have a mature bone in his body."
"What's your problem?" James asked as he stood from the bed.
"You're my problem."
"At least they're talking," said Sirius while Lily and James continued to argue.
Remus nodded. He noticed Lily's wand on the table; as he was reaching for it, Lily whirled around.
"What are you doing with my wand?" she asked, as a horrible thought popped into her head. "Wait, you can't possibly leave me in here while Potter has a wand and I don't."
"James doesn't have a wand either," Remus informed her. "Now, when you two decide to treat each other like human beings, let us know."
With that, he and Sirius left the room, closing the door behind them. Lily walked over to said door and tried turning the knob.
"Locked," she sighed before turning back to James. "This is low, Potter, even for you."
James laughed in disbelief. "You actually think I planned this?"
It was Lily's turn to laugh. "You're not smart enough to plan something like this, but you were definitely in on it."
"Trust me, Evans, if I was to get myself locked in a room with a girl, it would be someone much prettier than you, and a lot less haughty."
"Haughty," Lily repeating, feigning admiration. "Don't you think that word's just a bit too intelligent for you? Maybe you should stick to smaller ones, like cat and dog. We wouldn't want you to chock."
Lily smirked in victory, expecting James to look defeated, but she was taken back when he only laughed.
"That's the best you can do?" James chuckled. "Challenging my intelligence when you bloody well know that I'm in the top five percent of our class? You're loosing your touch, Evans." Before Lily could say anything, James continued, "What's next? Are you going to criticize my Quidditch skills?"
"Actually, now that you mention it, I have always wondered how your broom gets off the ground," she began. "It must be pretty hard with your huge head on it. I mean, how much ego can one broom hold?"
"Lily, if I was really so full of myself, do you think I would have risked my life by standing between you and the werewolf?"
"You're an Animagus, Potter! Everyone knows that werewolves are only a threat to humans. Your life was only in danger for what? Two seconds? Wow, big hero."
James sighed. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"
"How am I being stubborn? Huh? Just because I don't bow down to you?"
James was no longer able to take it.
"I never expected you to bow down to me. Lily even after I saved your life, I never truly expected you to be grateful. Most people in your position would have been grateful, but not you. No, you use it as another excuse to hate me. You always go on about how conceited I am, but you're so full of yourself that you can't even admit you were wrong."
"I thought I did admit I was wrong. The other day at breakfast."
"Lily, all you did was try to act as if nothing had happened. When someone admits they were wrong, they acknowledge what they did, take responsibility for it, and apologize. They don't ask the person they hurt to pass the juice and wonder where their parents are."
"You're such a hypocrite," Lily scoffed. "You stand there and talk about acknowledging what you've done wrong, but you don't practice what you preach. Tell me, James, why is it that you can act like an arrogant prat for six years of your life, but should be forgiven just because you acted like a decent person for two days? Yet, when I do one thing you think is wrong, suddenly, I need to repent for my sins?"
"Lily, I know I haven't made the best choices in my life. I did act unreasonably. I hurt other people. However, I've also learned from my mistakes. That's why I've been doing all this. I'm becoming a better person, trying to make up for all I've done. Unlike you, I don't expect people to just forget what I've done because that's what the bigger person does, Lily. They keep trying to prove themselves. They don't get mad at someone else when things don't go their way, and then act like it's the other person's fault."
James could see the rage in Lily's emerald eyes.
"Get out of my way," she seethed, pushing past him.
James grabbed her upper arm gently.
"No, Lily, Remus and Sirius are right; we need to talk this out."
"I don't want to talk to you anymore. Now let me go."
James released his grip on her with a sigh. Lily walked over to the door and pounded on it.
"Let me out of here right now. Black, Lupin, I know you two are out there. You both very well know that I don't need a wand to injure Potter."
The door opened, and Lily stormed past the two boys. On her way down the steps, she passed Mike.
"Lily?" he asked, but she ignored him and kept walking.
Mike walked down to her room where the three boys were standing.
"Okay, what happened?"
