A/N: Hello, all! Sorry for the long update, it was finals week, and I've been crazy busy! But now I'm on holiday break, so I should have a lot of time to write over the next week or so! I am literally sitting on the couch, MAKING myself write. Special thanks to The-Delectable-May-Reach. After your review, I read a few of your stories. You provided the inspiration I needed! Though I can't reveal its contents, I wrote a chapter that will come later in the story, and I must say, I LOVE the finished product! So now I'm back to Chapter 8. Hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own. Wish I did. Wish didn't come true. Sucks.
Chapter 8
(Lily)
As Lily sat in Transfiguration later that day, she pondered over her newfound friendship with Potter. She enjoyed his company; he had a way of lighting up a room with his lopsided grin. She even did her very best not to be thoroughly annoyed when the spell the McGonagall had assigned came so effortlessly to him, while she tried all period without success. But there was still something about being around James Potter that scared the living hell out of her.
As class finished, Lily collected her books and shoved them into her bag.
"Miss Evans," McGonagall called from the front of the room. "May I speak to you for a moment?"
Alice shot her a reassuring glance and turned to exit, leaving Lily alone with her instructor.
"Yes, Professor?"
McGonagall quickly swept to the desk behind her and looked at a sheet of parchment.
"It is, if my records are correct, your wish to become a Healer?" she asked.
Lily nodded.
"A well-suited choice, I believe. I was looking at your marks last night. Your potions scores are outstanding, along with every other class...there is, however, a matter of Transfiguration." Lily winced. She knew that was her weakest subject. "Though your work is by no means inadequate, St. Mungo's will accept nothing short of excellence."
She gulped.
"I—I'll work on it, Professor."
McGonagall gave a small smile.
"I have no doubt you will."
(James)
James sat in the Common Room that evening playing a game of Gobstones with his fellow Marauders. Every so often, his eyes flickered to the redhead sitting across the room from him. She had her nose in a book, as usual. James had always loved how she made faces to express the emotions she felt as she read. If something was funny, a smirk would sprawl on her face. If something was sad, her eyebrows would lift in sorrow. As of now, she must be quiet frustrated with whatever she was reading. Her lips were pressed together in a tight line, her brows furrowed. Every now and again, she'd run her fingers through her hair, shoving it out of her face, letting out a large sigh of exasperation.
"Blimey, mate," Sirius groaned. "How long do you intend to keep pining over Lily Evans?"
James sighed. He knew his friend was right. If, after the last six years, Lily still felt nothing for him, it was time to move on. She had made it perfectly clear that she had no desire for a relationship that was more than platonic with him. So why did he feel like by moving on, he was leaving her?
"You're right, Padfoot," he admitted. "From now on, I'm done with her. We're friends, and I just have to accept that's all we'll ever be."
Remus clapped him on the back.
"Don't worry about it, Prongs," he said. He leaned over where only James could hear him. "And you're not leaving her by getting over her."
James gave a sad smile. Somehow Remus always knew what he was thinking.
"James?" a voice interrupted them.
He looked up to see none other than Lily Evans standing over him, a hesitant smile on her face.
"Can I—er—can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Sure," he answered, following her to a secluded spot near the dormitory staircases.
"Listen," she began. "So you said you're rubbish at potions, yeah?"
James nodded.
"And I'm quite good at potions. And I'm rubbish at Transfiguration. And you're—"
"What exactly are you proposing here, Evans?" he asked with a smirk.
"I just thought, you know, as friends, maybe we could...help each other out?"
He gave her a lopsided grin.
"You've got yourself a deal," he said.
"Do you think you could meet me in the library on Friday?"
James nodded. He had originally planned to help Peter with his Herbology essay, but that could be rescheduled. He'd understand.
"Fantastic," she said, smiling. She held out her hand towards him. He grasped it, giving it a firm shake. "Always a pleasure working with you, Potter."
He chuckled as she left, and he returned to his game of Gobstones.
"Wormy, I'm afraid I'm going to have to postpone our study session on Friday," he said, giving an apologetic look.
Sirius snorted.
"So much for getting over Lily Evans."
(Lily)
The week passed rather quickly; classes were finally beginning to pick up again. Lily found that she really enjoyed the new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. She had a warm quality, though she made it quite clear that she would not be tolerating nonsense.
As Professor Salem entered the room, Sirius Black let out a loud wolfwhistle. She rolled her eyes. Sure, she could be seen as attractive, but she was their teacher for Merlin's sake.
Salem's eyes snapped towards the immature boy. Her lips pursed together in a serious expression. Everyone, even Potter and Black slightly shrunk under her authoritative gaze.
"I'm going to say this once, and only once. I will not tolerate that sort of behavior, young man. Do I make myself clear?"
Black recoiled faintly at her expression.
"Yes, Professor."
Lily had to hand it to Professor Salem; she was rather impressed. No one, not even McGonagall had ever been able to rein in the rowdy boys that made up the Marauders. Peter was a bit of a coward, sure, and gave in immediately. Remus was typically tolerable, and rarely gave any cause for reprimanding. Even Potter could be curtailed on occasion. But, in the six years Lily had been at Hogwarts, she had never seen Sirius Black put into check by a teacher.
Lily quickly decided she was going to like her new instructor.
That Friday afternoon, she sat in the library waiting for James Potter. They had agreed to meet at five, and he was now fifteen minutes late. Lily sighed in annoyance.
Finally, he entered the room, scanning the tables for her face. At last, he caught sight of it and made his way toward her.
"You're late," she said irritably.
"I know," he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, Flitwick held me after to 'discuss my intolerable behavior.'"
She shot him an indignant look.
"If you're going to be late every time we do something like this, why don't we just stop here? I'm not going to waste my time waiting for you."
"Aw, Evans, don't be like that," he said, rolling his eyes. "It won't happen again."
"Good," she retorted. "Now about that Transfiguration essay..."
They studied for a good hour or so, before James leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms.
"Alright, then," he said through a yawn. "I should get back to the Common Room."
"Aren't you coming to supper?" she asked.
He shook his head.
"Nah, I have Quidditch tryouts tomorrow. We've got about twenty people to watch, and I want to make sure everything is prepared."
She felt a pang of pity for the boy in front of her. He shouldn't have to go without dinner.
"Well alright, then," she said. "I suppose I'm off."
They parted ways, and Lily headed to the Great Hall. She chatted with Alice an Mary through dinner; they discussed classes and professors, Lily never truly paying attention. She couldn't help thinking about James, alone in the Common Room. It was admirable, really, that he would commit himself so fully to the team that he would skip dinner. She knew very well that he, along with all the other teenage boys, quite enjoyed their food.
So as they were departing the hall, she grabbed an extra napkin and slipped some extra rolls and turkey in it.
"Hungry there, Lils?" Alice teased.
"No," she answered, "just taking some up for a friend. Potter skipped to work on Quidditch tryouts."
Mary rolled her eyes. "That's exactly how it starts. First she sneaks him dinner, next she'll be sneaking snogs in a broom cupboard."
Lily elbowed her friend.
"Would you relax? It's just some sodding food."
Alice raised her eyebrows and clucked her tongue. "Touchy, touchy."
The redhead sighed in frustration and continued to the Common Room.
Mary caught her arm before she stormed through the portrait hole.
"Come on, Lils," she said, "we're sorry. We didn't mean anything by it; just taking the mickey out of you."
"Well stop!" Lily demanded. "I'm sick of you two always insinuating that there's something going on between Potter and me. I was just trying to do something nice for my friend."
Alice sighed sadly.
"You're right," she said remorsefully. "We apologize. We won't do it anymore."
Lily felt her anger soften.
"It's okay," she told them. "It's just...Potter's still a bit of a sore spot with me, you know?"
They nodded, and Alice wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"It'll pass."
They entered the portrait hole, and Lily's eyes searched the Common Room. It was filling up quickly as students returned from dinner. At last, she found a mess of black hair facing away from her. James was in an armchair, scribbling something on a piece of parchment. She slipped across the room to him, and placed the extra food on the end table next to him. He started, looking at the napkin and up at her.
"Thought you might be hungry," Lily said with a small smile.
As if on cue, his stomach rumbled loudly. One corner of his lips lifted, giving her his signature cockeyed grin.
"Thanks, Evans," he said softly.
She shrugged, taking a seat beside him. "How are the tryout preparations coming?" she asked.
He let out a tired sigh and shoved his face into his hands.
"I've been staring at the same twenty three names for the past two hours, and I'm so exhausted I can hardly see straight," he groaned. "So I suppose it's going as well as can be expected."
Lily felt a wave of sympathy rush over her. She couldn't remember a time when she'd ever seen him look so drained.
"Alright, Potter," she said, standing up in front of him, "eat your food, and then it's off to bed with you."
"But I have to—"
"Don't be an idiot. You're not going to be any help to your team if you can't even keep your eyes open tomorrow," she pointed out.
He sighed.
"Fine." He quickly wolfed down the leg of meat and bread that she had brought him. James stood, rubbing his eyes. "Night, Evans. And thanks."
She gave him a nod, and headed to her own dormitory. As she lay in bed that night, thoughts of the messy-haired boy came to her.
He's an idiot, she thought. How anyone can be that obsessed with Quidditch, I'll never know.
After a while, she heard Mary and Alice come up to bed. The last thing she remembered was the sound of Mary brushing her teeth before sleep washed over her.
(James)
"Alright, you lot," James yelled commandingly to the group in front of him, "you're obviously all here because you think you're good enough to make the team. Now just because you were on the team last year does not guarantee that you will be this year, is that clear?"
The veteran players nodded in agreement.
"Good," he continued. "Now, I expect every player that is on my team to make a complete commitment to this sport. That means that Quidditch becomes your top priority. If anyone here is not willing to totally dedicate themselves to this, please leave now."
No one budged.
"Very well. Sirius will be at the end of the pitch, assisting me. All those interested in Keeper or Beater, follow him. For those interested in Seeker or Chaser, you're with me."
The group split nearly evenly in two, and James flew to his end of the stadium.
"Chasers, you're up first. Seekers...I dunno, just go do whatever you want until I call you. Now, we're going to start with passes. If you do not make the first cut, you will be tapped on the shoulder. I don't want to hear any shit from any of you. Just leave with some class."
The exercise commenced, and James made his rounds, tapping out those that couldn't keep up. He had narrowed it down to four before moving on.
"Thank you. Seekers! You're up. I'm going to release the Snitch. You are to wait thirty seconds. After that, I'm going to make it simple for you. Catch the Snitch."
They did as they were told, and James made his way to the stands to meet Sirius.
"Anyone looking promising?" James asked.
"I like Collins for Keeper. He's fast, but big enough to block the Quaffle," Sirius muttered. "And he's only a fifth year, so he's going to be here for a while. As for Beater, I like Parker and Rogers. Rogers was here last year, so you wouldn't have to train him, but Parker would make a good reserve player."
James nodded. This continued for a few hours until James had collected enough information. He blew his whistle loudly, grabbing the attention of everyone on the pitch. They landed and formed a small huddle.
"Alright, I think that's it for today," he concluded. "Thanks to all of you for coming out. The final cuts will be posted tomorrow."
He collected his broom, and headed back to the castle, not seeing the pair of green eyes on him in Gryffindor tower.
(Lily)
Lily watched James make his way back up to the castle, thinking of how exhausted he had to be. They'd been at it for nearly six hours; she didn't even know his attention span lasted that long. The sun was just setting over the lake, creating a purple haze over the grounds. Lily made her way to her bed and, once again, buried her nose in a book.
She didn't get far. Just a few minutes in, she heard a tap on her window. A barn owl waited just outside her window. That was strange. Post was typically delivered at breakfast. She made her way to the bird and unlatched the window. She took the note from its foot and sent it back on its way.
Her stomach clenched as she stared at the words on the paper.
What do you call a Mudblood that doesn't know her place?
Dead.
She quickly crumpled the parchment in her trembling hands. She yanked open a drawer of her dresser and shoved it as far in as she could.
No one will ever find out about this, she thought. Ever.
A/N: Lily, Lily, Lily. What will we do with you? Anywho,it's finally done! So sorry again for the long wait! I promise I'll really do everything I can to get the next chapter up soon. Things are crazy now, but things will get back to normal soon. Thanks for reading, and please REVIEW!
