To all those who know me in real life, aka Ate Cathy, Tracey and Daia (and if ever, my BABY brother), FORGET THIS IS ME WRITING!!!
The ones who read the author's notes might know what I'm talking about.
AMEN?
GOOD.
ENJOY!
(--)
It was the end of that year's season of toil. Lily carefully walked down the dark corridor in front of the portrait. She was walking briskly, as her assigned time to change was ticking away.
In Fracas, you don't know who's who unless you're the Laedan or the announcer. To prevent the members from finding out who their fellow members are, they are given assigned time to get out of their dorms, don their cloaks and change eye colors.
Lily activated her Legilemency to find that there were no minds present around. She conjured up her cloak, changed her eye from green to beryl-colored. After that, she began to walk more slowly, as the risk of being found out was gone.
She reached the painting and went inside. That night was an important night for her. She had been challenged for the first time. By the looks of it, the one who challenged her was an upperclassman. She smiled behind her mask. This was going to be fun.
Word that there was a Dragon Patronus in the Fracas got around the underground arena quickly. In her first match, Lily had lost. It was quite a disappointment for the Fracas, as having a Dragon for a Patronus was unheard of, and they wanted to know how powerful she was.
After that match, no one challenged her again. It was probably because they thought she was weak. That night, however, Lily was out to prove them wrong.
She had been training for that night, coming to the arena unnoticed during free nights and practicing on her own. She really hoped that she would be able to win this time.
"Our match for tonight is between the Dragon and Coral!" the announcer cried from behind the rostrum. Lily took her place at the left side of the arena. Her yellow-eyed opponent graced the other side.
"As you all know, the winner of this match will determine the next match. Coral had challenged the Dragon as she won the last match against Doroway."
Lily looked around the arena. The other hooded figures were staring at them expectantly. Lily felt nervous and uncomfortable under their gazes. She took a deep breath.
"Players ready? We shall start then. Wands out!"
Lily took out her wand and raised it, as if on a duel. The whistle sounded.
Lily concentrated on a happy memory: her last birthday party celebrated at home… the first one her parents went to.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Her Dragon came out. Jason had taught her to charm it into a beryl color, so that it would follow the Fracas code. The other side let out a yellow-colored sting ray. It was just as huge as her Dragon, and its sting bore three dangerous-looking blades.
The ray seemed like it wasn't going to attack soon, so Lily took the opportunity. Jason taught her that being on the defense first didn't guarantee sure win, even though most players prefer attacking last. There wouldn't be much difference anyway when they get to the middle of the match.
Her Dragon clawed violently at the ray. It dodged the attack smoothly. Lily tried whipping the tail at the opponent. The ray dodged it again.
Come on! Lily thought as the ray avoided attack after attack. Its movements were so soft and fluid that it could easily get out of the way.
"Coral has an amazing ability to dodge attacks!" the announcer said. "But how long will this keep up?"
After a few more minutes of attacking, Lily realized that she was exhausted.
How could I be so stupid, she thought. That's just a basic strategy! Why didn't I see it?
She told herself not to panic. She lost her last match because she did. She didn't want to repeat the same mistake.
She made her Dragon stop attacking, and just waited. She closed her mind, trying to ease her mind. She was mentally tired already. Her eyes hurt a little, which was not good. If she drained her energy, her true eye color might show.
"What's this? The Dragon has finally stopped its assaults. What would the ray do now?"
Lily opened her eyes just in time to see that Coral had her sting ready to whip her Dragon. She dodged it on time, and managed to bite the sting by the Dragon's teeth.
She bit at the part closest to the body, where there were no blades at all. A whale-like sound came out from the ray. It was wailing in pain.
"Incredible! The Dragon has the ray by the sting!"
Lily had her Dragon resist the wild thrashing of the ray. It was hard. Coral was very stong, but Lily knew that this time, she had to be the winning side.
She made her Dragon flap its wings, still clutching the ray by the mouth. Then her Dragon shifted its weight on the ray, ruthlessly sitting on it. Coral was desperately trying to free itself. The blades of its sting almost hit the Dragon's face.
"Ooh! That was a close one! But the Dragon definitely has the upper hand of this match. How long will Coral last?"
As if on cue, the sting ray disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Yes!" Lily cried as her Dragon let out a proud roar (A/N: Do dragons roar or shriek or… what?)
"The winner of tonight's match is none other than The Dragon!"
(--)
Lily woke up groggily to the sight of the white ceiling of the infirmary. She tried to remember what happened: the insult from Aice, the duel with Frank, the rebellious wound…
She gasped as she felt a painful sensation on her back. She let out a small wail. She couldn't sit up.
"You're magically bound to the bed, my dear." Madam Pomfrey said, emerging through her bed's hangings, carrying what seemed to be a small cauldron of something Lily couldn't place. "You shouldn't move or else your wound will reopen. It wouldn't close magically and the bleeding wouldn't stop, so we had to sew it the muggle way."
Lily tried to talk, but only let out a muffled sound.
"Don't talk. You'll drain yourself."
"---ank…"
"Mr. Longbottom is facing disciplinary measures. By the looks of it, he was about to get suspended. Imagine what Augusta would say to that! "
Lily's heart sank. Frank in suspension? No way!
"However," she continued as she dropped an amount of potion into Lily's mouth. "Mr. Potter had shown up to the Headmaster's office, telling them that he saw someone else cast the spell, although he couldn't place the culprit. Mr. Black supported him. The Headmaster decided to conduct an investigation first before pressing charges, even though the two witnesses are unreliable, in my opinion."
Lily felt relieved as she watched the nurse's retreating back. She couldn't imagine life at Hogwarts without Frank, especially when she knew that it was her own fault if he did get suspended… or expelled. However, the matter about James Potter saving the day was unexpected.
Come to think of it, he was there when it happened. Lily remembered seeing him and Black behind that shield. She had stunned Black, too. Then there was that look on his face when she said that Potter was…
Lily sighed. When she gets out, she had a lot of apologizing to do.
(--)
"I can't believe they're still fighting." Sirius sighed to Peter as the two played wizard's chess in the common room. On one end, Remus was reading a book. On the other, James was writing something up.
"I miss our hideout." Peter said. "We can't go in there until they decide to be friends again. Did James apologize already?"
"No. Remus doesn't want to talk to him yet."
(--)
Dear Evans Lily,
I know that you clearly do not want to see me when you're in such a helpless state, so I decided to write you a letter instead.
I just wanted to tell you that Frank is still "grounded", according to Professor Sprout. Weird, how that woman disciplines her kids. Anyway, he's not allowed to get out of his dorm besides during meals and classes, so he can't visit you. He also, can't owl anyone. His parents have been notified though.
He wants you to know that he's not angry with you anymore, as he's used to your PMS moods.
Along with this letter, I present you with the thing that makes the world go 'round …books! They are shrunken to fit the envelope, as madam Pomfrey would kill me if she found out. I hope that the reading material would do fine for your reading pleasure, as I picked them out myself.
I will not spoil this letter by asking you out through it, even though I'd really like it if you you'd say yes (hehe). But seriously, I would, even though what you said back there is huge throw-back to my ego.
Yours,
James
James read and reread his letter to check if what he wrote was "sensitive" enough for a girl. He had a trash can filled with discarded rejects of his letter to Lily. He wanted her to say yes for once, but there was a hidden agenda to this.
If Remus sees that he's taking the advice, he might be forgiven. Remus was the kind of person who absolutely, sadistically loved being able to say "I told you so". So James is swallowing his pride to let Remus get the satisfaction of being right.
James sealed the letter and headed for the Infirmary. He inwardly wished that Lily was still unconscious so he could slip the letter beside her and get away silently.
He reached the Hospital Wing and quietly walked through the ward. He spotted the redhead on one of the beds. He placed the letter beside her pillow. He was about to slip away when she stirred.
James froze, afraid that he might be spotted. Lily just turned her head to face him, yet she was still asleep. He let out a breath of relief and looked at her.
Lily was not really an attention-grabber when it came to appearance. She was plain. Perhaps the most noticeable part of her is her fiery red hair. She was also paler than most girls, most likely because she mainly stayed indoors.
Before he knew it, James found himself pushing stray red locks away from her face to get a better look. She was really pretty up close. It was too bad he'd have to break her heart in the end, if ever his mission would even get to phase 1, which was the part when she would say yes.
Suddenly, Lily moved her head towards the direction of James' hand. Subconsciously, he smiled as he felt her breath on his hand. He held her face like that for a while.
Alas, the mood was broken once James heard footsteps echo louder and louder from outside.
He quickly withdrew his hand and ran out of the infirmary, wondering why he spaced out earlier and why he suddenly felt lighter upon touching Lily Evans's skin.
(--)
Madam Pomfrey woke Lily up to check up on her spinal wound. She woke up into a bad mood, as she was dreaming of having someone caress her face softly. The hand was callused, yet she liked the feeling. When she woke up, she felt a little disappointed that it was only a dream.
It had been almost a week since her duel with Frank, and her friend didn't even bother to visit her. It was a harsh revenge, harsher than hexes. The sadness slowed down her recovery, but she did manage sit up.
When the nurse left, Lily noticed the letter beside her pillow. She opened the enveloped and read it.
Okay, short chapter… sorry. Really sorry. I know you're probably not contented, but please bear with me (is that how you spell bear?). Anyway, the next xhapter is just around that very near corner and I'm trying to do this as fast as I can because when school starts, updates would have to wait for months.
AMEN?
GOOD.
