Lily
As soon as she was certain that the wild rose bushes had removed her from James' sight, Lily ran into the house and into the deserted kitchen, pressing her back against the wall and closed her eyes. What was that all about? Had she really been so desperate to confide in someone about her sister that as soon as someone mentions her she just spills everything out? That someone being James Potter, the one person she had never felt she could have a decent conversation with let alone confide in. It was just...wrong!
Well...to be perfectly honest it hadn't been James Potter at all. James Potter was loud, obnoxious, intolerable, pigheaded and a pest. The boy she had just confided in was the complete opposite, a stranger, someone she had never met before that somehow looked completely identical to James Potter. That had to be the answer; James Potter was not the sort of person to offer a shoulder to cry on; he was a git.
And she certainly wouldn't give James Potter a kiss. Not in a million years, even if it was a peck on the cheek; he'd get too carried away and use it against her, boasting it throughout Hogwarts.
I mean I wouldn't even do it in the first place whether or not he did use it against me...
Suddenly, the kitchen door opened releasing an abrupt burst of music and conversation from the room behind and Lily darted behind it; she didn't want anyone to see that she had been crying so badly. People ask too many questions. She watched as Eli emerged from behind the door. Swiftly draining the last few dregs of Fire Whisky from his glass, he placed it onto the table and exited the room, finally deciding to climb the large staircase. Lily sighed with relief that Eli hadn't lingered and found a clean glass in one of the cupboard, pouring herself a new glass of Fire Whisky to bring her back to the real world.
Lily placed the glass against her lips and let the whisky burn them gently as she caught sight of herself in the kitchen window before it had a chance to pass them and enter her mouth. Gasping she reached up to touch the giant purple blotch on her cheek and swiftly covered it up with her hand. Making up her mind that she had to get a proper look at the damage, she decided to dodge the other people enjoying the party and head upstairs in search of a mirror. Copying Eli's actions, she swallowed the entire glass of Fire Whisky, wincing, and hurried up the large staircase.
Lily slowed when she reached the top of the staircase; she could hear Rose Marshall and her heart sank. Rose had also been involved in the collision and she couldn't help but wonder how she felt seeing as James hadn't been there to help her but had swiftly left the room with Lily in his arms instead. Well however she had felt then, she sounded angry now and Lily decided to swiftly enter the bathroom in order to avoid her at all costs.
Lily walked over to the mirror and leant heavily on the basin in front of it shocked at the vivid colour of her black eye. Stupid Potter...
What was she doing here? She didn't even know his parents well enough to deserve an invite and when she had decided to turn up she had gotten punched in the face!
Shortly followed by a breakdown and subconscious kissing...
No, it wasn't like that. It was only a peck and he was being sweet. When was that ever likely to happen again? She wouldn't kiss Potter again she was definite.
Almost definite...
No what was she saying, of course she was definite! Potter was an idiot, she wasn't the type to go around kissing idiots...even if they did offer their shoulder to cry on when no-one else did. Suddenly the reflection of a blue figure appeared behind her and Lily whirled around to face Rose.
Oh crap...Please don't let her hit me...I don't want another black eye...
Oh," Rose said surprised, coming to a halt, "Sorry, I didn't know anyone was-"
"Don't worry about it," Lily smiled, trying to be friendly even though she could imagine Rose's fist getting very friendly with her face very soon. Rose stared at Lily but she didn't seem to be angry, instead Lily noticed the redness, the puffiness of her eyes. She looked tired and hurt and drawn; all that for James Potter?
"Looks like it hurts," Rose said, nodding at her bruise.
"Its fine, I've got ice," Lily replied holding up the towel James had given her, "Are you ok?"
"It was just punch," Rose shrugged but Lily continued to stare straight into her eyes; she couldn't help it, she wanted to understand how anyone could want someone like James so badly. She wanted Rose to confide in her, she wanted to assure her that she wanted nothing from James, that she simply wasn't interested...even if she did just have the powerful urge to kiss him.
Shut up. It was a peck on the cheek.
"Is erm...is James downstairs?" Rose asked and Lily wanted to grab her shoulders and tell her to snap out of it; she could do better than Potter; he was a git.
"He's in the garden I think," Lily replied, "He might have come in by now though; it's cold outside."
"Right," Rose nodded, "Well I'm...I'm going to go downstairs now." And with that Rose hurried out of the bathroom leaving Lily to watch the space where she once stood.
Right, that's it, I can't take it anymore; I'm going to show her what Potter's really like, even if it kills me.
Rose
Rose watched as Lily stepped forward to speak just as Matt grabbed her round her waist and whisked her off around the dance floor, leaving her to dance with another one of James' relatives. Allowing him to take her by the waist, she smiled and let him lead her across the floor, until suddenly, there was an almighty scream and a soft mass was at her feet, causing her to stumble as they tangled and wobbled beneath her. To her horror she felt a sharp pain as her hip slammed into the wooden table against the back wall and she fell into a heap. Icy cold, sticky liquid rained down onto her dress and soaked through to her skin.
"Jeez what's going on?" She heard Matt yell, dropping to his knees in front of Lily Evans who appeared to be sprawled across the floor.
"Lily!" James cried and bent down to her level.
"Get away from me, you idiot!" Lily cried, clutching the side of her face as he heaved her into his arms and Rose winced as her stomach lurched with envy, tearing her eyes away from them.
"My dress!" she cried suddenly realizing the extent of the damage done, her hands pawing at the red stains on the powder blue.
"What happened?" asked Lily's father.
"Is she hurt?" Eli's mother asked, standing behind her son.
"Nice going, James," Eli smirked and to Rose's disappointment, James hurried from the room with Lily in his arms. Within seconds, a stranger offered her his hand and she accepted miserably, allowing him to heave her to her feet. Sadly she watched as James hurried Lily to the bottom of the garden and to her embarrassment, she felt the hot sting of tears in her eyes and hurried from the room before anybody could notice.
Running into the upstairs bathroom, Rose turned on the taps and threw as much of the dress' skirt as possible into the basin, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
She was such an idiot. Had she really thought that James' feeling for her had changed in the slightest since he had last seen her? How could it have when she had spent all these in France and he had done the same in England with Lily Evans? Running her fingers through her hair she turned on the taps only slightly and began to rinse the punch out of her dress, scrubbing and scrubbing until most of the stains had faded if not vanished.
Even when she had been at Hogwarts he had refused to pay attention to anyone else other than Lily. Grabbing a handful of toilet paper, Rose dabbed at her eyes, groaning when she discovered that most of her makeup had been removed by the tears. Why couldn't she just forget about stupid James Potter? Sniffing she pulled the wet half of her dress out of the sink and turned off the taps before going on the hunt for some form of towel or dry cloth. As soon as she left the bathroom however, she rammed into something hard and stumbled backwards, slamming her back into the wall behind her.
"Why is everyone around here so clumsy?" Eli snapped, straightening out his jacket.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Rose snapped, standing up and hurrying past him.
"What's wrong with you?" Eli asked with a raised eyebrow, "It wasn't that much of a collision."
"Nothing."
"Is crying for no apparent reason a French thing then?"
"No, and I'm not French, I just live there. Are all Durmstrang students impolite and obnoxious?"
"I know you're not French Rose," Eli said ignoring the jab, "I did in fact live a few doors away from you remember? I also went to Hogwarts with you before we both decided to leave."
"You know strangely enough I always forget that," Rose snapped, opening an airing cupboard in the hope of finding a towel, "Maybe the experience was just too unpleasant."
"And I'm the obnoxious one here?" Eli asked his eyes turned to loathing, "You know what Rose; you're just as pathetic as James. I thought moving to France would bring you class and manners, but clearly I was wrong. Enjoy the rest of the party sobbing to yourself up here." And with that, Eli stormed down the stairs to join the others.
Rose growled and grabbed a tea towel, slamming the cupboard door shut and marched into the bathroom again, only when she got there, Lily Evans was staring avidly into the mirror chewing on her lip.
"Oh," Rose said surprised, coming to a halt, "Sorry, I didn't know anyone was-"
"Don't worry about it," Lily smiled, whirling around to face her when she saw her reflection standing behind her in the mirror. Rose stared at Lily; she must have been washing her dress for quite some time because a large purple bruise had appeared on Lily's cheekbone and her eyes were slightly bloodshot from tears.
"Looks like it hurts," Rose said, nodding at her bruise.
"Its fine, I've got ice," Lily replied holding up the towel James had given her, "Are you ok?"
"It was just punch," Rose shrugged although she knew that Lily was really enquiring as to why her eyes were slightly red and puffy, but she wasn't going to answer that; it was far too embarrassing.
"Is erm...is James downstairs?" Rose asked; Lily must of thought she was really stupid still asking for him when it was so obvious that he only had eyes for her.
"He's in the garden I think," Lily replied, "He might have come in by now though; it's cold outside."
"Right," Rose nodded, "Well I'm...I'm going to go downstairs now." And with that Rose hurried out of the bathroom, wiping the rest of the black gloop from her eyes; she didn't need to dress up anymore, especially seeing as she had been wasting her time with it before. Lily never wore make-up.
Author's note: Ok I realise that this story might be moving a little slow but I'm trying to make this realistic here and not making her just throw herself at him after claiming to hate him for so long lol But I hope you like the climax to the build up when it comes. Yes it's all planned out this time unlike the others XD As always PLEASE REVIEW xxx
