Intentions
Everything You Want – Vertical Horizon
The previous days of October had been cool and cloudy, but when everyone woke up on Saturday morning, it was to sunshine and blue sky. After breakfast, the students set off on their walk to the local village of Hogsmeade.
Julia and Mary were talking animatedly as they exited the gate surrounding the castle grounds and started down the path that led to the village. Lily was following behind them, fussing with her scarf and adjusting her jumper as she walked.
"Gracious, Lils," said Julia, turning around and eyeing Lily curiously, "if I didn't know better, I'd think there was someone you were trying to impress."
"Why?"
"New jeans, new trainers, new jumper… you keep fussing with your hair and your clothes…"
"My old jeans and trainers were worn out, and I needed some new things before I came back," said Lily defensively.
"Right…" sighed Julia.
Lily rolled her eyes and picked up her pace so she could walk in step with her roommates. Mary was counting the money in her purse and Julia was now grinning up at the sunshine above them. "At least it's pleasant out and not freezing cold like it has been," said Lily, trying to change the subject.
"Oh, I know!" said Mary, rolling her eyes and launching into a tirade about how ridiculous the weather had been. Lily grinned to herself; she could always count on Mary to catch the bait she threw out and run with it, effectively saving her from Julia's all too knowing line of questioning.
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had already arrived and, as per their usual custom, immediately went into the Three Broomsticks. James and Sirius approached the bar to order butterbeers for their group and to tease the pretty barmaid, Madame Rosmerta.
"Hello, boys," She greeted when they approached the bar. "You've both grown quite a bit over the summer; what'll it be?"
"Firewhiskey," said James without hesitation.
"The house mead," said Sirius.
"Boys…"
"Raspberry mead," said James.
"Rum?"
"Rum and cider," suggest James.
"How about… four butterbeers?" laughed Rosmerta.
Sirius frowned. "I'll be seventeen in December," he said.
"Will you, now?" asked Rosmerta; she pulled out four bottles of butterbeer and set them on the bar. "Well, Sirius, my love, you stop in here when you're of age and the drinks will be on me," she said with a wink.
Sirius grinned widely and nodded. "Thank you, m'lady," he said before he and James wandered back to where Remus and Peter were sitting. As James took his seat and opened his bottle, he noticed that Remus had a disgusted expression on his normally calm face.
"What's up, Moony?" he asked. "You look like you've just seen Polly Puckle walk in here naked," he teased, thinking of the extremely thin Slytherin girl whom had a tendency to dress in a scantily clad manner that no one wanted to see.
Remus scoffed. "No… Bertram Aubrey is a prat," he explained, indicating the sandy-haired bespeckled boy at a table next to theirs.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Sirius before taking a sip of his drink and eyeing the boys at the table adjacent to where the Marauders were sitting.
"He doesn't give up easy; he apparently thinks you don't either, James. Though, you would never sink as low as he's trying to do right now," replied Peter.
"Meaning?" asked James, looking at either of them for a response. Remus opened his mouth to explain but then the door opened to the bar and three girls walked in.
"Hey, Lily!" Bertram called from his table, waving his hand at the girls who walked in. James saw Lily wave lightly in response, though her expression was hard as she looked at him. "Come over and have a seat with us," said Bertram, indicating the three empty chairs at the table he was sharing with Linghold and Rollingsfield.
Lily faked a smile and mouthed something to Julia, who laughed before nodding and following Mary to the bar. Lily sighed and weaved her way between various tables and people before reaching where she had been summoned to. "All right, Bertram?" she greeted in a cheerful voice.
"Will your friends be joining us? Oh, they're getting drinks; I've already got you a drink," he said lightly, scooting a glass of gillywater in her direction and pulling out a chair. "Have a seat with us."
James felt his blood boil and was about to stand up and call him out on his intentions when Lily chuckled in a non-humorous manner. Sirius, watching James' expression, turned and flicked his wand in the direction of the table. "Crescendo," he muttered. The voices at the table grew louder.
"Drink… right. Did, um… did any of you see Bertram buy this drink?" she asked, looking pointedly at the members of his table.
"Erm… no? We just got here," Max Linghold responded curiously.
Lily frowned. "Thanks, but no thanks, Bertram; I'm not much of a Gillywater girl," she explained.
"Want something else?"
"Not from you," she muttered under her breath.
"What was that?"
Lily smiled sweetly, but there was a flash of irritation behind her eyes. "Hey Max… could you guys go tell Mary and Julia I'll be there in a minute? I'd like to have a word with Bertram," she explained quietly.
Max looked confused, but nodded. "Um… sure. C'mon, Rollingsfield… I could use another drink," he said, getting to his feet and walking away with Rollingsfield in tow. Lily watched them go, not noticing that the four marauders were listening intently at the table next to where Bertram and her were talking.
She turned her eyes back to Bertram, noting that his face betrayed not a flicker of guilt. "Bertram, thank you for the drink; but I won't be drinking anything you buy me anytime soon."
"Why not? I'm just being polite," replied Bertram, crossing his arms over his chest in an affronted manner.
"Because I don't like you that way, and I don't want to be forced to," said Lily, dropping any pretense of civility.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Lily scowled and reached into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out the small vial full of pink liquid she had gotten from James over a fortnight ago. Bertram's eyes widened slightly, but he kept his face impassive. "Recognize that?" asked Lily.
"No."
"Funny… because I heard that you gave this to Westpelt in exchange for an essay for one of his classes. He was supposed to put it in my pumpkin juice," she said, a confused expression crossing her face. "Now, just what in Merlin's name would you be doing trying to put something into my drink?"
"Search me, because that never happened. You can ask Westpelt, I didn't do anything," said Bertram defensively. "Potter and Black just gave you that-"
"Really?" Lily asked, a knowing smile crossing on her face. "How did you know that I got this from Potter? Did I say that? No… no I don't think I did; how did he and Black come into the picture?"
Bertram remained silent, his face reddening slightly.
"Though you are right, I did get this from Potter. He was under the impression it was a love potion that you were trying to slip me," said Lily.
"It was probably his, and he wanted to blame it on me and-"
"No… no, I don't think so," mused Lily.
"You think he wouldn't try something like that? He's fancied you for years - it's pathetic! Especially since you keep refusing him, and he won't take the hint. Besides, it doesn't look like a love potion. It looks like a confunding draught or a-"
"Specialis Revelio!" muttered Lily, flicking her wand at the glass of Gillywater. She, Bertram, and the four marauders watched as the liquid divided itself into equal parts and dissolved in color. Lily picked it up and examined it closely. "Hmmm…ashwinder eggs, clove flowers, deer's tongue; these are ingredients to a love potion… oh, and some gillywater mixed in as well."
"All right….so this is a little help to get you to notice me; but that vial there, Potter made that," Bertram said.
Lily laughed mercilessly. "First off, no, Potter and Black didn't make this. Second-"
"How do you know?"
"Because he said he didn't, and Potter wouldn't lie to me," said Lily with complete confidence.
"Oh, come on, Lily, don't be stupid. He'd-"
"Second!" shouted Lily, interrupting Bertram's train of thought, "you honestly expect me to believe that? I just showed you that the ingredients in the gillywater that you bought me were for a love potion. Who's calling who stupid?"
And with that, she tipped the glass over so it spilled in Bertram's lap and walked away toward where Julia and Mary were sitting, watching avidly with both their hands clapped over their mouths. Aubrey got up from the table and walked out the door, the front of his trousers drenched so it look like he had wet himself.
"Wow… when did you take that vial away from him?" Remus asked James and Sirius. Sirius was laughing loudly and Peter had an amused expression on his face as he watched Aubrey exit the bar.
"Full moon in September; that's why Sirius and I had detention for hexing the prat," said James, pointing out the door at Bertram's retreating figure. "See! We had reason to hex him, all right; I can't believe he was stupid enough to try it again!"
James sniggered loudly, shaking his head as he thought of Aubrey with the front of his pants soaked. The four boys garnered strange looks from Linghold and Rollingsfield as they sat back down at the table Aubrey had just vacated.
"That looked … interesting," mused Rollingsfield, turning back toward Linghold and lowering his voice. "She was definitely telling him off for something."
"I think it was hysterical," Linghold commented. "I don't know what he did, but it probably involved using her or blackmailing her into going out with him. Bertram has had it bad for her for a while. He's a git, I tell you, sneaky bastard," said Linghold before taking a sip out of his butterbeer.
Sirius was about to wave his wand and remove the amplification spell when James stopped him, shaking his head when Rollingsfield uttered his next sentence.
"Well, I don't blame him personally. Evans is a fox, everyone knows that; but she just won't give in to anyone," he said shaking his head.
"I'd hope she'd have better taste than Aubrey at least," said Linghold.
"What … you still think she's interested in you?"
Linghold shrugged. "She talks to me in Charms and in Herbology and during the Prefect meetings. She's always nice to me."
"She's nice to everyone," Rollingsfield commented.
Linghold nodded, but then a wicked smile spread across his face. He pointed across the bar to where Lily was standing with her friends. She was leaning over the table, playing with a long strand of her hair and resting her elbows against the wood as she talked with Julia and Mary about something they could not hear. Her jeans clung to her shapely hips, and the jumper she had tied around her waist accented how curvy her hidden figure really was. James swallowed as he followed Linghold's gaze, a mixture of curiosity about what Lily's figure looked like underneath the clothes, and rage over Linghold now undressing her with his eyes coursing through him.
"I bet I could shag her," Linghold said in a cheeky voice, grinning as Rollingsfield laughed. "And if I did, I'd bang the bloody hell out of her. I bet she's a minx in the sack, feisty as she is; her long legs spread wide, that'd be a sight to witness," he continued, gesturing with his hands how he would part Lily's legs if he ever got the chance.
"If you did, I'd have to learn legilimency so I could re-live it," laughed Rollingsford. "But I'd be more interested in her hips, or stomach than her legs… but anything that she keeps wrapped up under those damn jumpers would be fare game."
Linghold laughed and used his hands to make another rude gesture as the two boys continued to gaze at Lily's figure with hungry expressions. James' temper flared, and before he even realized what he was doing his wand was out and Remus had jumped up, trying to wrest it from his grasp.
"Get off, Moony," spat James.
"You don't want to do this, James," Remus warned.
"At least not here," muttered Sirius, who stood up and pushed James back in his chair.
James huffed and swore under his breath. "Bloody perverts; Samantha sPitchfield was right," he hissed, glaring at the other table.
"Like you don't think the same thing," said Peter shaking his head; Sirius laughed in agreement.
"Not like that I don't!" shouted James.
"James!" Remus shouted as James pulled out his wand again. "Just … cool it. You're right, they… that's more than just a bit offensive; but Linghold's a prefect. You hex him, and it would just be more trouble than it's worth."
"You hex him then; you're a prefect, he can't do anything to you," James suggested.
Remus chuckled. "I'd like to… but no, that's not the answer."
"Well, we should figure out an answer quick; because there goes Evans and her friends, and in three… two…one," said Sirius, counting down the seconds, "there goes Linghold and Rollingsfield after them."
James jumped up from his seat, followed swiftly by his friends, and stormed out the door. By the time they exited the bar, Rollingsfield and Linghold had caught up with Lily and her friends and were talking to them by Zonko's.
"…Slughorn's Christmas party that he throws every year. It's not that far away; the year has gone fast," Linghold was saying in a low voice. He was watching Lily with what James considered an inappropriate expression.
"It's October, Max; we've only been back at school for a month," Lily replied with a light laugh, keeping her eyes on the various products displayed in the window. "I think it's all the course work that's making you think it's going by fast; it's getting very serious."
"Yeah… but you're keeping up nicely," said Linghold as he nudged Lily. "I watched your Interruptus charm the other day; it was well done," he praised with a wink.
"Well, thank you. I saw you accomplished it as well, so congratulations on that," she said lightly in response.
"It's cold, let's go to Honeydukes," Mary said suddenly, shivering and tugging at Lily's cloak. Lily and Julia nodded, waving good-bye to the two boys as they began to walk down the path toward the sweet shop. Linghold and Rollingsfield watched them, sniggering to themselves as Linghold made another inappropriate gesture in Lily's direction.
"Hey, Linghold!" shouted James before the others could stop him. "I'm not sure how your mum would feel about you doing that in public," he said making a face.
"Yeah, I think I might be blind after seeing that," Sirius chimed in, running to catch up with James. Remus shook his head and looked at Peter, whose expression was torn between chagrin and amusement.
"Well, Potter, your mum certainly enjoyed it the last time I saw her," Linghold said snidely.
James lost his temper. He growled an angry spell and jabbed his wand in Linghold's direction.
Linghold doubled over, his cheeks swelling as he made a horrible choking sound before vomiting a flood of slugs onto the dusty ground. Sirius and Peter laughed hysterically while Remus shook his head.
"James-" he started to say, but there was a flash of light and Remus was forced to pull out his wand and cast a shield charm to protect himself from Rollingsfield's sudden hex.
The spell rebounded and Rollingsfield dodged it while pushing the still vomiting Linghold out range of his jinxes His eyes flashed angrily as he waved his wand again. "Petrificus Total-"
"Protego!" James shouted, watching as the shield charm he conjured reflected the spell back at Rollingsford, who was forced to dive out of the way to avoid the jinx.
"Impedimenta!" Rollingsfield shouted from the ground. The jinx hit both James and Sirius who were standing closest and knocked them off their feet. James growled and attempted to stand, but was impeded by the jinx he was under. Rollingsfield stepped over to him, his eyes blazing with rage. "Furnun-"
"PROTEGO!" a new voice shouted behind them. Everyone accept for Linghold, who was still vomiting slugs, turned to see Lily storming down the path, her green eyes alight with fury.
"What is going on out here?" another new voice shouted. Professor McGonagall had suddenly come out of Zonko's and her face was full of anger. "Cursing each other? Shouting? This is ridiculous! Miss Evans, I'm ashamed of you!"
Lily stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide with shock. "Professor! I wasn't-"
"No excuses, none of you," she spat angrily, flicking her wand at Linghold who ceased vomiting and lay gasping on the ground. "Detention, all of you, tomorrow evening. You all know that fighting is prohibited no matter where you are! I'll be sending a note describing your duties. Yes, you too, Linghold... I saw those gestures, and I was not impressed," she shouted at them all before walking off.
Lily sputtered. "But, Professor… I just came back to-"
"No buts, Miss Evans. Detention… whatever your motivations, you still used engaged in a fight when you know it is not allowed," McGonagall called as she stormed off in the opposite direction.
Lily's face was red, her lips drawn in a tight line. She had never had detention, and she had only come back to purchase a spell checking quill and saw the boys fighting. All her intention had been was to stop them from hexing each other over whatever it was, but perhaps this would teach her to keep her nose out of other people's business.
"She was bang out of order for giving you detention, Lily; you didn't-" Max started to say.
James made an angry noise. "Shut up, Linghold! Don't try to butter her up after you -"
"Potter, mind your own damn business!"
"I don't think Evans' appreciates-"
"Shut up, both of you. I was just trying to stop this stupid, childish, immature nonsense! That is the last time I stick my neck out to help either of you!" Lily shouted, looking at both James and Max with great disdain.
"Lily… I didn't-"
"Evans, if you heard-"
"SILENCIO!" Lily shouted, flicking her wand. The four Marauders and two Ravenclaws all started to sputter defensive statements, but they were rendered silent by Lily's spell. She scowled and stormed off back to the castle, fuming about the situation she had gotten herself in.
It took several attempts to remove the silencing charm non-verbally; Remus had finally been the one who succeeded in the attempt.
"Merlin's pants the girl is powerful," muttered Sirius when he finally got his voice back.
"Yeah, but what did we do?" asked Peter, rubbing his throat.
"Defended her honor is all," James replied.
Remus sighed heavily. "I don't think she sees it like that, especially now that she has detention," he explained.
"It's just detention," said Sirius in a scathing voice.
"Lily's never had one, and to get one for not doing anything wrong… I mean, all she did was cast a shield charm to stop it. She's probably furious at all of us," he said.
"But-"
"I know what you're about to say, James. But she doesn't know what Linghold said, so all she sees is us fighting like a bunch of immature prats," continued Remus. "I'm just warning you; personally, I'm pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. Are we really that low that we sink to the level of those gits?" he asked. "How are we any better for stalking after them and firing various curses just because they acted like sixteen-year old boys?"
"We're sixteen! We don't act like that!" said Sirius defensively, watching as James and Peter nodded.
Remus made a face. "'I'll be getting snoggy-snog from Tottleham,' remember that? Or how about 'as long as I could do a silencing charm, I'd shag Flutterhorn,'?" he asked.
The three other boys made faces before nodding in agreement. James s
ighed heavily, "Why is it that I always feel like I'm apologizing to Evans about something?"
"If you don't want to apologize, don't," said Remus with a shrug. "But I'm going to; it's embarrassing, and since I have to be around her for prefect duty, I don't want her thinking that I lose my temper so easily."
James nodded, thinking that he would apologize and warn her about Linghold's intentions. Just then, Julia happened to walk by, giving Sirius a cheeky smile as she passed.
"Hey, Julia," Sirius called after her. "Prongs is looking for Evans, d'you know where she is?"
Julia turned around, a confused expression on her face. "I'm sorry… were you talking to me?"
Sirius chuckled. "'Course I was; I don't see any other Tottleham's walking by."
"You didn't call me 'Tottleham;' you called me 'Julia.' you always call me by my surname, all of you. That's how I know that it's you talking to me instead of someone else," she explained.
The four of them considered her. "I guess I never thought of that," Sirius said.
"It's just a different kind of acknowledgement," explained Julia. "When someone calls me 'Tottleham,' I'm either prepared for teasing or getting lectured; if someone says 'Julia,' I expect something different."
"Different how?" asked James.
Julia shrugged. "I just take them more sincerely; it's more meaningful to hear my name versus my surname. It makes me think that they actually want to talk to me instead of just teasing."
James considered this, mentally noting to himself that he and Lily always referred to each other by their surnames. In fact, he'd only heard her call him "James" once: when she was in complete shock after recognizing him in his stag form. Other than that, it was always "Potter" when she talked or referred to him. Considering Julia's point of view, he wondered how it would feel to hear Lily use his real name versus his surname; he began to wonder if they were even really friends if she couldn't even use his first name.
"Anyway, what did you need?" Julia said, interrupting his thoughts.
"Erm… I was wondering where Ev- I mean Lily was," James said quietly.
"Um… Library, I think; she said she was working on something for Slughorn," Julia said lightly.
"Where are you going?" asked Sirius.
"Library," Julia responded curiously.
"Need to study?"
"Sort of," she said holding up her book. "Transfiguration is … not my best subject."
"Have a seat," Sirius said, flicking his chair and pulling over one of the squashy arm chairs for her to sit in. "I can help you, Julia," he teased, emphasizing her name seductively.
She grinned and sat down, opening her book and pointing to the section she was having trouble with. James had stood up and walked toward the portrait door when suddenly it opened and Lily walked in, her face flushed with color and her eyes looking at her trainers.
"Hey, Evans," said James, his hand flying to his hair and stomach erupting in butterflies. He had planned to muster his courage before talking with her, but now here she was right in front of him. He noticed her face was extremely red, he wasn't sure if she was blushing or had been crying. "You… all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Here," she said, thrusting a piece of paper at him and walking away. She repeated the motion as she passed the table where James and his friends usually sat, not saying a word to any of them.
"Hey, Lily," Remus called, jumping up and moving toward the staircase, "I'm sorry. I tried to talk to McGonagall and tell her that all you did was cast a shield charm to stop us fighting, but-"
"Remus, it's fine. I'm over it. Seriously, do I look like I can't handle a detention? Max just cornered me and was all apologetic too; he said he tried to talk McGonagall out of giving me detention and ended up getting another one," she explained, rolling her eyes.
"Well, I know you've never had one, and now you didn't even do anything wrong and you do so it's kind of unfair," said Remus.
Lily shrugged. "It's not a big deal. All I have to do is hang out with Hagrid for a few hours and 'assist' him; which you know will be just gabbing," she said with a smirk. "But what… I mean seriously, what was going on? Why did I have to stop you all from fighting?"
Remus stuttered, looking over his shoulder at James, Peter and Sirius for help. "Erm… well, Linghold … he was-"
"He was making a very rude gesture," said Peter matter-of-factly.
"That's an understatement," said Sirius.
Julia looked up from her book and glanced at Sirius with an amused expression. "What on earth could he have done that would make you blush?"
"Well… he made this gesture," said Sirius, lifting his hand to his mouth to demonstrate.
"He did not do that," Julia laughed, while Lily gasped before giggling and blushing a bright red.
"Believe it. Plus, he said some stuff that was a bit offensive to classy ladies such as yourselves," explained Sirius. He leaned over and whispered in Julia's ear, grinning when she gasped with indignation then started laughing hysterically.
"What?" asked Lily, stepping back down stairs.
"It was nothing," James said, stepping over toward her and trying to motion for Sirius not to repeat what Linghold had said.
"He did not say that," said Julia in-between her giggles.
"He did not say what, Julia?" asked Lily again.
"Apparently Max thinks you'd be quite the shag," said Julia with a laugh. "He said it a bit more derogatory than that… or were you embellishing, Sirius? I have a hard time believing Max would say or do anything like that."
"What exactly did he say?" asked Lily.
James sputtered as Lily walked back toward the table, but Peter blurted out the comment before James could stop him. "He said he'd bang the hell out of you if given the chance."
Lily's face looked aghast for a moment, but then she too burst out laughing. "He did not," she said, clapping her hand over her mouth as her face turned even redder.
"Why is it so hard to believe?" asked Sirius curiously.
"Max is too … naive! He's not like that at all, Sam say he's a bit of a pervert but I don't know if he's ever really kissed a girl. Plus, he's always so sweet and-"
"That's an act," said James coldly.
"Not all of it," Julia piped up. "I tried to snog him last year and he turned me down, very gently mind you, saying that he didn't want to spoil our friendship. He's sweeter than most sixteen-year-old boys," she said matter-of-factly.
Sirius looked taken a-back. "You tried to kiss him?"
"Yes… so?"
"Before or after the year end ball?" he asked.
Julia smirked. "Someone is testy. Before… and what is it to you?"
They began to talk in low voices, half arguing, half playing, while Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to go upstairs.
"Hey, Evans!" James called, suddenly very concerned that Lily didn't believe them about Max's intentions. "Seriously… he's not like that. He's not all sweet; Pitchfield-"
"Thanks for your concern, Potter, but I can take care of myself," she called as she walked upstairs.
James watched her retreating figure, a look of concern on his face. He suddenly turned on Julia. "Does she fancy him?"
"…doesn't matter who I was snogging; I wasn't snogging them at the same time I was you so… oh, I'm sorry, James, what did you ask?" Julia asked, as she clapped her hand over Sirius' mouth to stop his protesting.
"Does Evans fancy Linghold?"
Julia considered this for a moment. "No… she thinks he's a good bloke, which usually he is… but she doesn't fancy him."
"Oh… okay," said James in a relieved voice.
"He fancies her though, and he is awfully sweet to her so you'd better make a move before-"
"I've made around… ten moves! And I'm sweet to her too!" James said incredulously. "What-"
"You're growing on her… don't pull stuff like you did today and –I know, you were defending her honor apparently - but keep your head out of your arse about it. And how sweet have you been? I mean, what have you done for her lately? You're always very concerned about what she thinks of you and how it would feel for her to fancy you and make you happy, but you never think about ways to make her happy," said Julia sternly. "Think about that for a change." She turned her eyes back to Sirius and removed her hand from his mouth, smirking as he glared. "You may speak now," she said to him in a light voice.
"What did you do yesterday that McGonagall was going on about?" Lily asked Max curiously as they walked toward Hagrid's cabin.
"Oh, I flipped Potter and Black the bird because they were butting into me and Adrian's conversation, that's all," he said with a wave of his hand. "Shouldn't have done it, but there you go."
Lily nodded, the conversation she had with Julia and the other boys replaying in her head. "Is that all?" she asked suspiciously.
"Yeah; Potter was just jealous because I was talking to you. He's got like this… possessive obsession with you. It's unhealthy," said Max.
"I didn't think you minded Potter," Lily replied.
"I didn't… but this year he's been getting on my nerves. He's very immature, and I think you agree," said Max.
Lily shrugged. "He's not such a bad guy. We're friends now, he's actually matured-"
"He wants to be more than friends, Lils; you know that, right?"
"Yes, but he knows that I don't, so we're good."
"Don't be stupid, Lily. He's-"
"Hey now," she said warningly. "I'm not stupid. Potter is an all right bloke. I used to think that he was a prat, but I don't anymore. Yes, I know he would like it if I returned his affections, but I don't, and he's fine with that."
"Whatever… keep telling yourself that," said Max.
Lily frowned and continued walking. They reached Hagrid's cabin just in time to see him throw a large slab of steak onto the table in front of his cabin. "All righ', Lily? Max?"
Lily grinned at Hagrid and watched as Max cringed away from the bloody steak out of the corner of her eyes. "We're good, Hagrid; and how are you?" she asked cheerfully.
"Couldn' be better," he said lightly. "Got a treat for ya' today. James told me a while back that you could see 'em, so I thought I'd have ya help me out with feedin' and workin' with 'em today."
"Working with what?" Max asked, looking from Lily to Hagrid and back again.
Lily smiled broadly. "The thestrals?"
"Yup; they need some grooming done after walkin' around in all that mud, so that's what we'll be doing today. But, we gotta call 'em first, and get 'em some treats for stayin' still," he explained as he threw another bloody steak down in front of Lily and Max on the table.
"What are thestrals?" asked Max. Lily could tell by the tone of his voice he was trying to act curious, but in reality was a little more nervous than he wanted to let on.
Lily nudged him. "They pull the carriages at the beginning of the year. They look like horses… only… well, it's hard to explain. Obviously, you can't see them and-"
"Obviously," said Max in a slightly off put voice.
"Well… they can only be seen by those who have seen death. So… you haven't had anyone close to you die, or seen anyone die… which is a good thing, really," Lily explained, trying to sound like it was a positive thing to not see them.
"Oh…" he said looking at her with a slightly concerned expression. "I take it… yeah… who?"
"My dad," she said. Max nodded, fidgeting slightly and looking as though he wanted to reach out to touch her. Fortunately, Hagrid chose that moment to reappear with two large cutting knives. He handed one to Lily and one to Max, who eyed it nervously.
"Need to cut the meat up, they like it raw. Now… yer not supposed to use magic, but if you have trouble-"
Lily grinned and brought the knife down hard, slicing a small piece of the steak off and handing it to Hagrid, who chuckled lightly at her. "Muggle-born, remember? I've used knives several times in my life," she said with a grin.
"All righ', then. Max, yer in good hands. I'm going to take this," said Hagrid, holding up the piece of meat Lily had cut off, "and go fetch one of them. Be back in a few."
Lily nodded and returned to her steak, watching out of the corner of her eye as Max steadied himself and raised his knife to repeat the same motion she had used. "Woah, woah!" she said, grabbing his arm. "You're going to cut a finger off. I've done this before… I was showing off. Just take it easy, like this," she explained, taking his arm and showing him how to cut up the steak while avoiding his fingers.
"Oh… all right," Max said, taking the knife more firmly in his hand and trying to cut his steak. Lily was watching him, thinking to herself that it was obvious he'd never had to do anything without magic his whole life, when light footsteps were heard crunching the grass just before a low voice called out to them.
"Oy, Linghold," James called. "McGonagall switched our detentions. She wants you to go up and work with Peter on un-transfiguring the first years projects; I'm to come down here and… do whatever it is you guys are doing…" he explained, trailing off at the sight of all the blood and meat all over the table top.
Max stood up straighter. "I think I've got this," he said haughtily, glancing at Lily, who was grinning at James' arrival.
"Well… McGonagall says this might be a bit harder for me; she thinks I was having an easy go with the transfiguration, so she sent me out here," James explained, handing Max a note.
Max frowned. "Well, Lils… can we resume my Muggle chopping lesson at a later date?" he asked.
"Sure, just let me know when," she teased. Max nodded and winked at her before walking back toward the castle.
James watched over his shoulder until Max was well out of sight, then looked back at Lily. "What are you doing?"
Lily grinned and slammed the knife down on the table again dramatically. "Thestrals… they need grooming apparently."
James' eyes went wide and then he laughed at her. "Well… I can see that you need no help wielding tools. Let's see how I can manage, shall we?"
He walked around to the other side of the table and looked at the knife before cutting off a few slices of steak, looking pleased with himself.
"I'm glad to see you didn't try to imitate me," said Lily with a grin.
"Are you mad? I could have lost a finger doing that… I've used kitchen utensils a few times, but not much. My mum made me do it all without magic whenever I helped her; said it was good for me to learn," he said rolling his eyes.
"It is good," replied Lily. "Some things are better done the muggle way. Maybe I'll change my thoughts after I get out of school, but for now I'm used to this type of work."
James nodded, watching as she cut up the stake in front of her much faster than he was working on his. Soon enough, they had a pile of small pieces of meat and it was at that point they heard a strange bellow from around the other side of Hagrid's cabin.
"That'll be Hagrid, I bet," Lily said. She picked up the pieces of steak and put them in a bucket that Hagrid had set on the ground, allowing James to pick it up as they walked over toward where the strange bellowing had come from.
Once they were behind the cabin, James noticed that Hagrid had set up a paddock of sorts and appeared to be shunting a creature inside of it. He was pushing against something James could not see in a gentle way and then shut the gate and grinned at James and Lily as they approached.
"All righ, James? Wha' happened to Max?" asked Hagrid, looking behind them for the blonde Ravenclaw.
"McGonagall switched our detentions; thought I'd have to put in more effort out here with you two than if I was un-transfiguring things," said James with a smile.
Hagrid chuckled and waved them over. James watched as Lily looked eagerly upon the invisible creatures inside the paddock. She reached out to touch one of them but then withdrew her hand sharply.
"S'all right, Lily. They love it when someone pets 'em. This here's Gehn, one o' the younger ones," Hagrid said. He took a piece of steak out of the bucket and handed it to the creature. James watched as the invisible animal pulled it out of Hagrid's hand and it disappeared into thin air. It was amazing, curious, and frightening all at the same time. James tentatively walked forward and joined the two of them.
"I think what we'll do, since you can' see 'em, James, is have you hold one while Lily cleans the hooves and brushes the dirt off their skin. Yah… that'll be best. Let me go get a rope and hackamore and we can get yeh started," Hagrid said as he wandered off toward his cabin.
James watched Lily closely; she was petting the invisible creature with a curious and sad expression on her face. "What does it feel like?"
"It's… it's actually really smooth; like leather," she said. "It must be really weird for you not to see it."
"That's an understatement," he said with a laugh. "Tell me what they look like."
Lily pursed her lips and tilted her head to one side. "They look like horses… only black and leathery. They don't have fur or hair, accept for a little tuft at the end of their tails. And they have wings… like a bat's," she said, still stroking the animals head and peering around to look at its body. "They have hooves like horses, and they're really skinny… emaciated looking."
Lily turned over her shoulder and took in James' expression, a mixture of curiosity and nervousness. "Come here," she said, holding out her hand to him. James swallowed and walked forward slowly; Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, gently pulling him around to the gate of the paddock. She opened it and stepped inside, pulling James with her. "They won't bite you," she told him as they walked forward and Lily stopped, resting her hand against the animal's invisible flank.
"I can't see it… how do I know where to touch it?" James asked, swallowing loudly and trying not to show how nervous he was.
"Don't you trust me?" asked Lily.
James looked at her, she had a small smile on her face and her eyes were full of encouragement. The longer she held onto his hand and watched him, the more color flooded into her cheeks. James finally smiled and replied, "Yes."
"All right, then," Lily said, turning her eyes back to the creature and placing James' hand on it lightly. She placed hers on top of it and guided his hand all the way down the neck and over the Thestral's flank.
It was possibly the strangest experience James had ever had. He could feel the animal's leathery skin, feel the wings under his finger tips as Lily guided his hand along its body. He felt ears and a jawbone as she guided his hand along the animal's nose, and when it smelled the blood on James' hands, it turned and nudged him with its head.
"Maybe he's hungry," said James. Lily stepped over toward the edge of the paddock and picked up the bucket of steak pieces, handing James one and laughing when he jumped as the animal pulled it away from him.
Lily watched James hold out another piece of steak for the thestral, jumping each time the animal pulled it out of his hand. He reached forward and felt around until he found its leathery skin again and began to stroke it lightly, examining the dirt on his hands when he was finished. His expression was calmer now, but still a bit hesitant as she watched him. "See… they're not so scary, are they?"
"I wasn't scared," said James. Lily tilted her head and smirked at him. "All right… I was nervous. I wasn't scared."
"Wow," she replied as a smile lit up her face. "James Potter just admitted a weakness; I'll have to send a message to the Prophet."
"Yeah… well make sure they print it on the front page. If I'm going to be labeled as nervous, I might as well be arrogant about it," he said, grinning when Lily laughed and pushed him lightly. "How did you learn what they were?"
Lily sighed and turned her eyes to the ground. "When I came back last year… I panicked when no one else could see what I was talking about. Julia thought I was going mad. I finally went to Madam Pomfrey and asked her to admit me to the hospital," she explained with a small laugh.
"No kidding?"
"Nope. I thought I had lost it… no one else could see them. But, she explained it to me, and then I was curious so I went to the library and asked Professor Kettleburn about them. He said they didn't usually come up until N.E.W.T. studies, so he just gave me the basics. I actually kept on with Magical Creatures this year for that reason," she explained, reaching forward to pet Gehn's flank, resting her hand alongside James'.
"You're brave," James said with a smile.
"I am a Gryffindor," replied Lily.
James laughed. "No… I mean going to Madam Pomfrey like that. If it'd been me, I'd have just kept my mouth shut… pretended I had taken a funny potion or something rather than let people think I was mental. That took guts, Evans."
Lily smiled. "Well, I'm glad you see it that way. I was sure she was going to tell me something about Muggle-borns going mad easier than normal witches."
James made a "pshht" sound and laughed. "Evans! You are normal. If anything, all the pure-blood in-breeding causes them to go insane more often than Muggle-borns. You can't let all this blood purity nonsense get to you; you're more of a witch than all the pure-bloods I know. And if anyone says different, tell them to shove it and hex them," he said.
Lily laughed gently, feeling a little sheepish for admitting that she let all the talk get to her. But James' continual reminders that her blood status meant nothing to him, or anyone else in their house, made her feel like she did belong in this world, despite what all the others thought.
Hagrid came back just then. He put the hackamore onto the thestral and James and Lily set to work cleaning it.
After two hours, two hours in which Hagrid, James, and Lily talked endlessly about everything going on at school, they were released from detention and headed back to the common room. James was about to ask Lily if she'd like to go to supper, but she ran upstairs as though something was summoning her attention and didn't say a word to him.
It had been the first time he'd had fun in a detention since Sirius had presented him with the two-way mirror they used to talk. James knew he wasn't imagining Lily flirting with him; she'd even confessed to it when they were walking back. Julia's words echoed in his head, and he thought perhaps Remus was right and he should apologize for acting like an idiot and causing her to get a detention.
After dinner, James didn't see her back in the common room and he began to become curious as to her whereabouts.
"Anyone seen Evans?" he asked to the room at large, watching as Julia and Mary shook their heads and the rest of the people ignored him.
"James," Remus called, beckoning him over. "She's probably in the broken girls bathroom on the second floor. That's where she goes to… you know," he explained, indicating himself.
"Oh… yeah, I guess it is about your time of the month isn't it," replied James, laughing when Remus gave him an affronted glare. He ran upstairs to fetch his invisibility cloak and headed out the door. When he reached the out of order bathroom on the second floor, he looked around before pulling off his cloak and stepping inside.
It was damp and cold in the room, out of order signs hung on all the stalls and the sink appeared not to be connected to the water system. He walked a few more steps in before a ghostly wail echoed out of one of the stalls.
"Who enters my domain?" the voice said.
"Erm…"
"Myrtle, that's not scary," said Lily with a chuckle. James heard footsteps coming from the end of the stalls and Lily's slight figure appeared, glancing at him curiously. "How did you find me?"
"Moony told me you'd probably be in here," he explained.
Lily shrugged. "It's very private in here," she explained, moving out of sight back down the line of stalls. James followed quietly, his face reddening slightly as he watched her resume her seat on the floor.
"It's a boy!" the voice yelled in a scandalized tone. A ghostly figure of a younger girl with glasses and dark hair appeared. "This is a girls' room; Lily, you didn't invite him, did you?"
"No, I didn't; but he means no harm," she said, not looking up from her potion. "Myrtle, this is James Potter. Potter, meet Myrtle."
"Pleasure," said James with a small smile. The ghost named Myrtle merely huffed and glided back into her stall, disappearing with a flush of the toilet.
"That's… well… I'll be honest… it's…"
"Unique? Strange? Awkward?" Lily suggested.
"All of those really," said James.
Lily smiled. "Imagine trying to use the toilet with her in here - not exactly the most comfortable experience either. But, that's why no one comes in here, which makes it a safe place to do this," she said indicating the cauldron.
James sat down, intrigued by the way she was stirring the contents in the cauldron. Slughorn's magazine was laid beside her, and she kept checking her watch to make sure she was stirring it for the appropriate amount of time. James found himself fascinated with her movements; her hands were incredibly small, her fingers long and delicate. She moved her hands intricately as she added various ingredients, the motion fluid and silky, almost like a dance.
"Can I ask why you were looking for me?"
"I um… well, I wanted to apologize," said James.
Lily looked up curiously. "To me? What for?"
"Well, for the detention. I mean … it's sort of my fault you were there, I shouldn't have-"
"Hexed Max? Acted like a child? Perhaps… but I've learned to expect it."
"Expect what?" asked James.
Lily shook her head and looked down. "Expect you to lose your temper over something someone else said or did. I'm not your keeper, I don't have any control over what you do, and I shouldn't get so up in arms about it. I should keep my nose out of other people's business."
James frowned. He opened his mouth to say something, but Lily interrupted him.
"But, you shouldn't be apologizing to me; maybe you should apologize to Max," she suggested.
"I am not apologizing to him," said James firmly. "He insulted my mum, and he said those childish disgusting things about you and-"
"Max told me all he did was give you the finger," said Lily.
James chuckled derisively. "I wouldn't have hexed him for that. Merlin knows I've given the finger to several people for a few things. He was… talking about you… and it was disgusting, so I hexed him," said James. "But you stopped it with that shield charm; that was impressive. Evans, I still can't believe you considered not coming back; do you even realize how powerful you are?"
Lily shrugged. "I'm not any more powerful than you, or Black, or Remus. Marlene can take my shield charm out with a good jinx, and so can Julia."
"Well, it took us a good hour to get rid of that silencing charm," said James.
"No, come on; it did not."
"No, I'm serious! It did; it was rather annoying actually," confessed James.
"Sorry about that," Lily chuckled. "I didn't want to know what was going on at that point, and I knew you were all going to go into 'it's not my fault!' I just wanted to shut you up," she said unashamedly.
James laughed. "Well, shut us up you did. I saw that you … um… you shut Aubrey up yesterday as well."
"You did? Were you listening?"
"It was kind of hard not to notice something was going on; we were sitting right next to him," said James.
Lily shook her head and clicked her tongue in a disapproving manner, but James could see a smirk playing on her lips. "He tried to do spike my drink again, stupid boy. What is it? I don't understand, I really don't."
"Don't understand what?"
"Why-why - would someone want to slip me a love potion? That's such a foul thing to do; and I've already expressed that I'm less than interested in him, so I don't understand why he'd do that. It would wear off eventually, unless he kept giving it to me of course," she said with a shudder.
"You've expressed less than an interest in me, but here I am," said James.
"Yeah, but we're friends," said Lily.
"Are we?"
Lily looked up, a little trace of hurt in her eyes. "I think you're my friend."
"I am," said James with a smile. "On a last name basis, though."
There was silence for a few moments while Lily stirred her cauldron and added various ingredients. "So, tell me…Potter," she started, James noted the continued use of his surname. "Did Max really insult your mother or did he say something about 'banging' me?"
James sighed. "He said it all, and then this morning he was talking about that damn Christmas party and how he was going to make sure you didn't go alone; are you going with him?"
"What if I was?"
"He's only after you to get in your knickers," said James bluntly. "Don't give me that look, it's the truth."
Lily sighed and turned her eyes back to the potion; Max was quite possibly one of the sweetest and most polite boys she knew within Hogwarts. Even today, he'd been polite with her and a little protective, just as James was being; she had a hard time believing that he could have that level of inappropriate contact on his mind. "It's not like you don't think about the same-"
"Hey now, that's not fair," said James hotly. "First off, getting into your knickers isn't on the list of reasons why I like you. Second-"
"It's not on the list?" asked Lily, frowning at him. "That's a shame… I definitely don't want to go out with a bloke who doesn't even want to kiss me," she teased.
James paused and looked at her curiously, watching as she blushed but kept the sarcastic expression on her face. "All right, then… it's on the list. But, I'd definitely do something more than take you to a stupid Christmas party before I'd try that," he said unashamedly, watching Lily turn her eyes away and blush.
Lily swallowed heavily, the feel of James' eyes on her making her stomach erupt in butterflies and tingles to run all over her skin. "You didn't answer my question, Potter. What if I was going with him?"
"Well, as your friend, I would tell you not to," said James.
"As my friend? Or as my friend who has a very serious crush on me?"
James paused, thinking before he answered. "Both, but more so as a friend, because I'd say the same thing to Tottleham, or McKinnon, or Felicity or any other girl I'm friends with," he said.
"Felicity," Lily repeated. She paused thoughtfully before speaking again. "She asked you to Hogsmeade."
It was James' turn to swallow and blush. "That she did. But, I said no."
"Why? She's very pretty, and she obviously fancies you."
James shrugged. "I told you a while back: she's flighty, and she's not that into me. Besides, I prefer going stag to most things, honestly," he said.
Lily nodded, then burst out laughing. James looked at her quizzically. "I'm in on the joke now; you like going stag. That's clever, Potter, very clever," she said, shaking her head and laughing some more.
"Oh, yeah," agreed James, chuckling himself. "Most people don't get it, so the novelty of saying it kind of wore off. But I'm glad it amuses you."
"You're much more amusing than I ever wanted to admit," Lily confessed.
James smiled and narrowed his eyes curiously. "Evans, you like me."
"I didn't want to, but I do like you, Potter. You and your little gang aren't nearly as bad as I made you out," she acquiesced.
"No… you like me," said James. He wondered if maybe he was pushing it, but the longer he talked to her the more the idea stuck in his head. She had stayed out with him after making the potion for Remus, she had pointed out his partial transformation during class rather than letting him suffer the consequences, she was talking to him more during class and responding to his notes… during detention she openly admitted to flirting with him, she was skeptical and amused by the fact that he told her that kissing her wasn't on the reasons of lists why he liked her…
Lily raised her eyes; they were narrowed as she stared him down, a half smile lingering on her lips. "Don't push it, Potter."
James held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "All right… all right."
"I like you, but not in that way," Lily lied, the words slipping from her lips just the way she had rehearsed in her head. She had finished stirring the ingredients, and now they needed to stew for a few days before Remus could take the potion. Lily stood and began to move her cauldron and other items into the stall at the end of the row. James jumped up to help her arrange things.
"Tego," Lily muttered. James watched as the cauldron and other items vanished from sight. He pulled out his invisibility cloak and escorted her underneath it.
"You know, if you want to borrow this to sneak down here, all you have to do is ask," he said as they walked.
"I'll remember that; it's probably much more reliable than my disillusionment charms," she said quietly.
"You can ask me anything, Lily," muttered James, purposely using her name and watching as she blushed before shaking her head and sighing heavily. "You can even ask me to back off if you wish."
Lily nodded, feeling more color move into her cheeks.
"Do you want-"
"Don't ask, Potter," she said quietly, her voice shaking slightly. "I'll ask you."
James nodded, trying to bite back the smile that was coming to his lips. "All right, I'll wait."
A/N: Reviewers, you are beautiful beautiful people. I really like this story, and seeing your feedback makes my heart all warm and just brightens my day. Thank you thank you thank you! I've had several people ask, and Yes, I do write ahead. The story is on chapter 8, but I'm currently writing chapter 16. This keeps my beta (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SIERRA) and myself busy, and keeps the readers for having to wait so long. Oddly enough, I read the Harry Potter series after my second child was born... all seven books in the span of about two weeks in July of 2007. Why? I hate waiting, I'm insanely impatient. I decided when the stories became popular and people were urging me to read them, I would wait until they were finished, knowing the two years or so in between books would be the death of me =). But, on to other things, thanks for your reviews, your feedback, and your continued enjoyment of my story =)
