While Lily's encounter with Remus brought them closer together as friends, she found that whatever mixed feelings she may have had about James before were now most certainly bad ones. It bothered her that he would tell his friends before her so that he might be a priority. What sort of person did he think he was, laying claim to her like she was a toy in a store? No matter, she thought. He was only human; she was almost certain of it. Surely, he couldn't be prancing around as an animal in his spare time, although that would be a sight to see. Yes, two almost-humans were quite enough for this school.
At any rate, she hardly had time to think about it. She was studying ten different subjects, all of which were difficult in their own right. Lily had temporarily given up discovering the science behind everything she saw around her, focusing instead on understanding the magic by itself. She had centuries ahead of her to discover the rest.
However, Lily was always able to make room for trips to Hogsmeade or meetings for the Slug Club. Yes, she told herself, they were silly pastimes, but they would clear her mind. The Slug Club was a nice reminder of her abilities, which was greatly appreciated as her coursework grew more difficult. As for the trips to Hogsmeade, they were, to put it simply, fun.
Once every few weekends, she would take the trip with the rest of the eligible students, going off with friends to explore shops and eat something that wasn't cooked by house elves. Lily found herself particularly fond of the bookstore, Tomes and Scrolls. She often lost track of time, darting her eyes through one book after another. How odd, she thought. A Time Lady losing track of time. The idea was laughable.
One frigid Saturday in January, she found herself wandering around the village alone. Many of her friends had stopped inside Honeydukes, but Lily didn't particularly care for sweets. Instead, she decided to take a walk through the brisk air. She soon realized the cold had become unbearable, though, and popped her head inside of the Three Broomsticks to warm up. After buying a butterbeer, as was customary, she took a seat at an unoccupied table in the corner. She could see the heavy snowfall through the frosted window.
The hustle and bustle of the people inside had a beauty all its own. She knew she wouldn't see anything remotely like it at Spinner's End. Old witches sitting in shadows offered phony potions that would supposedly make the user more beautiful. Drunken wizards would wave empty bottles at one another, mistaking them for wands. Students around Lily's age would chase each other, shouting spells and accidentally hitting passerbys. She laughed as she watched.
Among those students, she noticed, were those four ridiculous boys. Lily snorted, turning her head away, looking for other familiar faces. The damage had been done, however, and her table was soon occupied with four third-year Gryffindor boys. She rolled her eyes and focused on her butterbeer.
Sirius had taken the seat next to her. His shaggy dark hair flopped in front of his eyes as he clinked his mug against hers before taking a sip. "Cheers."
James followed suit, tapping his butterbeer against Lily's as well before drinking. As he finished, he wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist. "So, Evans, how are you on this wonderful, beautiful day? Might as well be summer, eh?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Lily smirked. "Lovely, until you lot showed up. Tell me, do you wake up every morning and ask yourself how you're going to ruin my day, or does it just sort of happen?" It was obvious the question was directed at James.
"You flatter yourself to think that my day might revolve around you."
"Do I?" She raised an eyebrow
"Of course."
Lily turned to Sirius. "Do you think I flatter myself?"
Sirius laughed. "Well, I'm not so sure about that."
From the light movement of air around her ankles and the suddenly pained look on Sirius' face, Lily guessed that James had kicked his best friend under the table. She chuckled. "Clearly, I was mistaken. My apologies."
"Apology accepted. Carry on." James smiled, winked, and walked away, gesturing for his friends to join him. Remus begrudgingly stood up to follow, and Peter stuffed a Bath bun in his mouth as he scampered behind them. Sirius faked leaving and quickly sat down again.
"So, it seems like you've figured something out," he said, moving to the seat across the table.
"Well, to be fair, it is sort of obvious."
"True." Sirius smirked. He could hardly disagree. James had been smitten with Lily since the beginning of the year, and his infatuation had only grown as the months went on. It was almost shameful. "You haven't even seen the worst of it."
"Could you let James know something from me?" Lily asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Of course."
"Let him know that I am not a plaything to be claimed. I am a person, like him, possibly more so than him, and, the longer he lets his friends do the talking, the more my disdain for him will grow. Also, let him know that, if he asks, the answer will probably be no."
Sirius nodded, knowing that this message would never reach James' ears. "Sure." He tapped his butterbeer against hers once more, finished off his mug, and ran out the door.
Outside, the other Marauders were having a snowball fight. "Oi!" James called as Sirius walked out the door. "Where've you been?"
"The loo, sorry. " Sirius dove down quickly in front of the building, packing the white fluff on the ground into a small sphere. He tossed it with full force, hitting James right in the middle of the face.
As James wiped the snow off of his reddened nose, he was quickly attacked with another snowball from Sirius, this one hitting him squarely in the chest. "That's not fair! You're guiding it, aren't you?"
"Nope." Sirius gave a wicked smile. "I've just got good aim."
As Lily had now finished her butterbeer, she, too, walked outside. How utterly juvenile, she thought. Snowballs. Hitting others in the face with frozen water seemed so basic, so childish. And so fun.
Walking past them, she quickly hurried around the side of the building. She made four rather large snowballs fairly quickly, patting them into firm globes. Her hearts raced inside her chest as she flicked her wand, making the snowballs hover. With another flick, they went zooming off. She peeked her head around the side of the Three Broomsticks just in time to see the four boys wiping snow from their eyes. Lily laughed as she bolted down the street, out of sight once more, to rejoin her other friends at Honeydukes.
