AN – OK. I thought up some explanations…
The charm wears off after five hours since it's supposed to be complicated to do, and even if Lily is a brilliant witch, she is still underage, after all. If she was older and had more advanced powers, she'd probably exceed the one-day limit…but fact is, her powers aren't that complex yet so five hours is as far as she can go. Her punishment was pretty harsh (me evil -_-) but she's a prefect, so breaking a rule requires heavier consequences because she's supposed to set an example for other students. James gets off easy 'cause he's been breaking rules even before he was a prefect, and those times made him closer to Dumbledore somewhat. Besides, if you could see the number of detentions he accumulated over the years, you'd see that he doesn't get off easy either. Anyway, I've done something in the plot that might make Lily's punishment more bearable ;PWere those answers rational? Or gratifying, for that matter? Whatever. My brain is still mush. Hope you'll accept those reasons, anyway…
Chapter 10: Never Let it Go
"She what?" James exclaimed. Sirius' only answer was to nod in a somewhat dejected manner.
"Yeah, that's all she said. She was biting my head off to leave her alone, but it was weird…like she didn't want to say what she was saying. You know?" Sirius explained.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Sirius, you're not making any sense," he interjected.
Sirius scowled. "Hey. Who was the one who chased after her through the halls and got yelled at for his efforts?" he demanded.
James barely registered his friends' bickering. All he was feeling at the moment was a dull ache in his heart. Why would Lily do this? After all they went through…after all his efforts to persuade her that he was going to be a real friend. Come to think of it, he never had a friend who was a girl before. Sure, unlike Sirius who always had a flavor of the week and was still in good terms with most of his exes, he wasn't a dating kind of guy, let alone a player. He never felt close to the opposite gender before.
Unlike now.
Because right now, if it had been someone else, he wouldn't be as shocked or hurt. This was Lily, and she was different. She was a person who never experienced having somebody care about her for the past six years, and James wanted to be the one to do that for her. He wanted to show her that not everybody was cold and indifferent, that there were some others who were capable of loving. That even though most people with that capability wouldn't for the life of them extend it to her, there was somebody who can. And he wanted that to be him.
"Yo Jamie, stop spacing. What's up with you?" Sirius' voice suddenly invaded his thoughts, and he snapped to attention.
"We have to find her," James concluded firmly, looking at his friends as if daring them to object.
Sirius shook his head. "But Prongs, I just spent my whole afternoon playing hide-and-go-seek with that girl. I don't want to go for another round," he complained, summoning a bottle of butterbeer from his trunk and draining the drink in seconds.
"Fine. Then I'll be the seeker," James stated.
Remus broke into a smile. "If you don't have any problems looking for a tiny golden ball with wings while in the air, then I don't see how hard it is to find Lily if you're the Seeker," was all he could comment.
"How are you going to look for her if she's disappeared from the map and used a charm on herself to make her invisible?" Peter pointed out.
James frowned. "I don't know. But I'll find a way. Are you guys coming?"
Sirius raised his sixth butterbeer bottle, which he seemed to be polishing off in the last few seconds that James and Peter had been talking. "Me pooped. Need to veg."
Remus shook his head. "I'd love to, but I have to serve a detention about half and hour from now. Professor McGonagall talked to me this morning and told me that we had to do our detentions separately so we wouldn't cause as much trouble."
James looked at Peter expectantly. Peter shook his head no too. "I have to start writing an essay on History of Magic, and it's supposed to be a roll of parchment long."
"Then you can copy mine," James suggested impatiently. Why were all his best friends dropping out on him?
"I can't, Professor Binns pulled me aside in our last class and told me that he suspected me for copying essays. I guess I've been doing it too often. I'm really sorry," Peter said.
James sighed. "Fine. I'll find her myself." He couldn't put this off for a minute longer. Lily couldn't give up on this, their friendship meant so much to him. He still didn't know why, but it was still that feeling inside him that kept telling him how important Lily was to him.
"Good luck," Remus called as he left the room.
And from the size of Hogwarts, he figured he needed as much luck as he was going to get.
*****
Where now?
After shaking off Sirius, Lily decided that she had to go out to the grounds to lower the chances that they were going to find her. The chilly December air whipped her silky red hair into her face, but it was soothing. She had stayed beside the lake for about an hour when snow began to fall. It was weak enough not to be harshly cold, but it was enough to get her more than a little wet. She sighed resignedly and made her way into the castle. It was nearing dusk anyway, and her only chances of avoiding the marauders at dinner would be to eat earlier than them and bolt before they saw her.
As expected, the Great Hall was deserted. Food was starting to appear on the House tables, and Lily felt the familiar tingle of elven magic in the air. The house elves must have cast spells on the food to keep them fresh and hot until the students came to eat them. Lily walked to the Gryffindor table and pulled up a seat. She waved her wand and muttered a few words, and the platter of fried chicken in front of her issued a few harmless blue sparks that signaled that the elven spell was broken. She ate as fast as she could, finishing when it was five minutes to the normal dinnertime.
Relieved once again when she reached the entrance to the Hall without running into anybody, she started to make her way to the main staircase. She froze momentarily when she heard the sound of laughter and chatter from said staircase, and then headed for the dungeons. No need for another public spectacle where she was going to be told off for befriending the marauders again. She figured that once Sirius relayed the message to the others, they would turn on her too.
The tears threatened to fall as her footsteps echoed through the dark, empty hallways. For the first time in her life, she felt what it was like to be normal, and now she had to force herself to part with it. She would certainly miss them… Peter's gullibility and his squeaky, doubtful voice; Sirius' cockiness and wacky behavior; Remus' rational demeanor and calm nature; and…James. He was going to be the one she would miss the most. He was the one who made an effort to befriend her in the first place.
She didn't know why, but at that moment her heart felt heavier than when her parents died and Petunia's loathing of her, if possible, became hellishly worse. It wasn't just that she was experiencing it all over again, losing somebody she really cared about. She felt that James was the one who could finally bring her back up from her depressed and isolated state—and for a few weeks, he had. But now that was all gone. He probably hated her guts by now. He must think that she was just fooling him, that his friendship meant nothing to her because she could drop it whenever she pleased.
The crystalline drops ran down her pale cheeks now, and she made no effort to stop them. No matter what she did, she would always lose everything in the end. She started to run faster, just wanting to find a place where she could be assured some privacy.
She turned a corner and, because it was so dark, ran headlong into what felt like a brick wall. A warm, very familiar-scented brick wall.
*****
James had been looking for Lily the past hour and a half and found his way to the dungeons. In his distraction to find her, he didn't notice that he collided with somebody in the dim hallway. He looked down to see if he had knocked the person down and his eyes met bright emerald ones. "Lily!" he exclaimed. "I've been looking all over for you!"
Lily's eyes widened for a second. "Y-you've been looking for me?" she stammered, sounding as if she couldn't believe him.
James frowned. "Yeah, I was going crazy trying to find you. Is it true what Sirius said? That you don't want to hang out with us anymore?" he needed to know why. Didn't she seem happy when she was with them?
Lily's eyes were downcast, and she spoke in a soft tone. "It's not that I don't want to. I just think we can avoid trouble if we go back to how we were." Her voice was so sad, he felt the urge to hug her on the spot. But he felt that if he did, she would run off again.
"How can you say that? We can work it out. You have to stand up to the others a little. If you really want something, then you have to fight for it," he said reasonably, reaching out to touch her shoulder.
Lily took a step back to avoid his hand and flinched. She actually flinched. At him. "You don't know what it's like," she said quietly.
"What do you mean?" James asked her, concerned. "Come on, Lily. I thought you were tough. So what if you hear a couple of false rumors? As long as it's not true, you shouldn't be affected by it. You were the one who told me not to let anybody fool you."
Lily shook her head, her eyes hardening suddenly. "You don't know! It was the same with my family. All I wanted before my parents died was for Petunia and me to be the same again. As soon as she found out I was a witch, she suddenly hated me. We'd been so close before that…" she started to cry, and James felt horrible for perpetuating it.
"Lily—"
"I tried to prove to her that I was the same old Lily, but she wouldn't listen! No, she hated me right then and there, all because of my magic, all because of the fact that she believed I was a freak. And then, my parents died, and the Ministry said that the Dark Lord was looking for me and they got in the way! I couldn't defend them! It was all my fault! And it was more reason for Petunia to hate me more—you don't know how painful it is for the only surviving family member you have left to loathe you so much that she'd disown you! All I wanted…all I wanted was for my parents to come back, and no matter how much I fight it won't bring them back. It won't bring them back, James! Now, without my sister, I don't have anything…" she sobbed harder, leaning onto the wall for support.
James felt helpless. Why did he even say those things? Stupid… now what was he going to do to make her feel better? Before he could think of anything, he took hold of Lily's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Lily," he said softly. It pained him so much to see her hurting so much.
Lily tried to wipe the tears away, her shoulders shaking. "Just—just go away, James. You don't need me, and I'm just a nuisance in your life. You're better off just forgetting about our friendship." More tears spilled down her cheeks, and she turned away from him, attempting to hide how much this was killing her.
James was shocked at her proclamation, and gripped her tighter. "How can you say that? Of all the people I've ever known, you're one of the very few who I want to hold onto as a friend. You mean a lot more to me than you think. Don't give up on this, Lily." How could he tell her that if she did what she was planning to do, he'd suffer too? Hadn't he already proven to her how much he needed her as his friend?
Lily slowly shook her head. "No, James… I have to. Then you won't have any more problems… That's all I bring. You guys have done a lot for me, but I've done nothing to return that. I'm useless. Everything would be a lot better if we stopped being friends." A steady stream of tears continued from her beautiful, morose eyes.
He had to do something. He brushed off Lily's tears with the back of his finger, and she trembled slightly.
"Just let go of me…please…" Lily pleaded.
"No. You have to swear to me that you won't break off our friendship," James said firmly.
Lily sighed. "No, I can't, James. You know it's the wise decision. Just-just leave me al—"
She cut off her words as soon as she felt James' lips on hers. James was shocked at his own actions, but at the moment it didn't matter, because at the moment he finally found out what made Lily so special to him.
Love.
Lily's arms went limp as she slowly surrendered to the kiss, and James wrapped one arm around her tiny waist, giving her zero chances of pulling away. At that moment, everything felt perfect.
And it was just that: perfect.
*****
Lily was stunned as James suddenly tilted her chin up and pressed his lips against hers, kissing her softly and sweetly. She instantly felt light-headed, and all the pain she was feeling suddenly dissipated…
She felt his arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer, and in the process putting more pressure into the kiss. A tiny voice at the back of her mind was screaming, No! You're supposed to forget about him!
But she couldn't pull away. Besides the fact that James was far stronger than her and he had no intentions of letting her go, her mind in itself didn't want the lip lock to end. She hadn't felt this happy ever since her parents were still alive. And that was something she hadn't experienced in a long time. It had been something that she had never wanted to end.
After what seemed like a few seconds (according to the timer, actually three minutes), James broke off the kiss. Both of them were breathing hard and James gave her an intense look that made her face flush. She opened her mouth to say something but—
"I love you, Lily."
Those four words rang sweetly in her ears and tears sprung from her eyes—this time in a good way. When was the last time she heard somebody, anybody, say that to her? The now familiar feeling of crystalline drops running down her cheeks assaulted her, and she just let them fall down.
James' eyebrows wrinkled in concern, and he wiped away the redhead's tears gently. "Don't cry, Lils… I'm sorry if I—"
Lily shook her head, her silky red tresses flying. She put an index finger to his lips to silence him. "No. It's just that—I can't even remember the last time somebody said that to me."
James just hugged her, hiding his shock at the revelation that this sweet, vulnerable girl didn't hear anybody tell her that they loved her in a long time. He knew that she had practically no family left… and no friends either. But he couldn't imagine something as horrible as living through six years without having anybody who cared.
Lily sighed and rested her head on James' chest, inhaling the soft scent that could only be associated with him. She wished that she could just stay like this forever…
"Ahem." A voice behind them suddenly caused them to pull apart from each other. Lily blushed furiously as she turned to look at the interrupter—her fellow sixth year Gryffindor: Aurelia Walden.
There was an amused glint in Aurelia's eyes as they flicked from the mortified Lily to James who looked calm and laid-back, and back again. "Sorry to bother your…uh…I mean…you… but you're blocking the door to the Advanced Potions classroom, so do you mind?"
Lily stepped aside, farther from James, and watched apprehensively as Aurelia stood in the doorway, using a Summoning Charm to whisk a few rolls of parchment she must have left from their previous lesson. She turned back to them, clutching the pieces of parchment in her hands. She smiled somewhat reassuringly at Lily, who was paling whiter than a hospital bed sheet.
"Don't worry, Lily…your secret's safe with me," she promised solemnly, though her words were hardly convincing since she was smirking. Her tone seemed sincere, though. "Oh yeah…you too, James…sorry again. Gotta go, still have a bunch of stuff in Potions to do…" she stated, looking like she wanted to get away as quickly as possible—at least before Lily or James could cast a Memory Charm on her—or worse, a horrible hex that they could blackmail her with. "So…see ya." She started walking away.
"I'll come with you," Lily said nervously, falling into step behind Aurelia. Before she could follow, though, James grabbed her wrist.
"Meet me in the common room at twelve o'clock?" he whispered, sending chills down her spine.
Lily flushed even redder, imagining what James could possibly plan for in a midnight rendezvous. "Um…sure." James smiled warmly at her before walking in the opposite direction as Aurelia, slipping into the shadows and disappearing from sight. Lily went to catch up with Aurelia, who was already ten paces away.
"Oh, sorry about that. See, I don't really feel comfortable listening to other people's private conversations, so I left when James had a quick word with you," Aurelia apologized as Lily caught up. "You don't mind, right?"
Lily shook her head. "Of course not. Um…do you mind if I ask you a favor—?"
"Not to tell anybody about you and James?" Aurelia interrupted gently.
Lily nodded, her cheeks reddening again.
"No problem. Like I said, your secret's safe with me… Do I really look like I'm a nosy gossipmonger or something?" Aurelia joked.
"No, no, I-I didn't mean it like that," Lily answered, biting her lip.
Aurelia laughed. "I was just joking, Lily. C'mon, let's eat dinner."
"I already did," Lily replied quickly. Aurelia raised her eyebrows.
"Oh? Well, I guess it must be hard when the whole school's against you, huh? Don't mind them, they'll get sick of their own bull eventually. As long as you ignore them and let them know you don't give a damn what they say, they'll lay off you," Aurelia advised.
"Thanks." Lily stared intently at the blue-eyed blonde, wondering if she wasn't one of those people who seemed nice at first but stabbed you in the back once they gained your trust. For the six years she'd been a dorm mate with Aurelia, the girl didn't seem like that type at all.
They walked in silence as they ascended the stairs out of the dungeons and into the entrance hall. Lily expected Aurelia to go inside the Great Hall, but she was surprised when the girl walked right past the entrance with Lily.
"I thought you were going to eat dinner," Lily said, puzzled.
Aurelia shrugged. "I'm not really hungry. I just ate a snack a couple of hours ago…besides, I think you need the company while your man's chowing down in the Hall."
Lily reddened at the words "your man" but didn't comment on it. "You don't have to do that for me, you know. I'm fine being alone…"
Aurelia just shook her head. "It doesn't bother me. Besides, I have this weird tendency to skip a meal occasionally… call it a sporadic diet." She grinned at her own remark.
"But…I don't understand… Why do you want to accompany me? I'm just an outcast." Lily still didn't get why certain people were suddenly getting on friendly terms with her this past few weeks. She didn't even ask for it.
"Don't say that. You're a nice girl, Lily, and you shouldn't be keeping to yourself. There are a lot more people out there other than some mindless dolts in Hogwarts who believe that wearing trendy clothes and having good gossip ready at their dispense means that they're part of the 'in' crowd. That nobody would think twice of badmouthing them because they're not weird. I'm not saying you are, but I like the way you can stand up to what you want and ignore what others say about you."
Lily sighed and remembered how she couldn't even try to make her friendship with the marauders work out. She didn't fight for what she wanted. She could still clearly see the disappointed and shocked look on Sirius' face when she told him that they couldn't be friends anymore. What was wrong with her? Couldn't she take the pressure of a few stupid rumors that didn't have an ounce of truth in them? If she wanted them as friends, then why couldn't she fight for it? "I guess I don't deserve their friendship after all," she muttered under her breath.
"Sorry—what?" Aurelia said, squinting at the serious expression on Lily's face.
"Oh—no, it's nothing," Lily replied quickly. They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and stopped.
Aurelia raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Koosalagoopagoop," she told the Fat Lady.
"Try saying it ten times as quick as you could, dear, that's a challenge," the Fat Lady said before swinging forward to admit them.
Aurelia laughed as they climbed into the portrait hole. "She must forget that we're sixteen now. We stopped playing that long-password game in third year." Her expression turned serious again. "I know that we haven't been that close this past six years, and that I can't gain your trust easily. I guess that…I guess I just took it all for granted when you were around. Sorry."
Lily nodded, wondering why Aurelia was apologizing to her. It had always been her choice to keep away from other people like they had a disease she could catch—she probably already held royal rights on the word misanthrope for that. But Aurelia was so nice to her. Lily was the one who took Aurelia's friendliness for granted. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have thought too little of how you always attempted to have a friendly conversation with me. I'm sure your friends wouldn't like it too much if you engage in a talk with the school outcast." She was always causing trouble for others.
"Nah, they're not like that. Some, yes, but that's just their pride that's in the way. I'm sure that if you hang out with them, they'll like you," Aurelia answered. She opened the door to the girls' dormitory and went on inside. "So, what do you want to do? Wizard chess or a makeover?" She grinned as Lily shifted uncomfortably at the mention of "makeover."
"Wizard chess. Save makeovers for before the Christmas ball," Lily responded. She only registered the meaning of her words when Aurelia gave her a full-fledged smile, showing off her perfectly straight white teeth.
Lily Evans had just accepted another friendship, even right after she had just vowed she would never have another one ever again.
*****
The four marauders left the Great Hall late as usual, since Sirius wolfed down a food amount big enough to feed a whole village. And that was just the main course.
"What's up with you, Rem?" Sirius asked the werewolf, who appeared deep in thought.
Remus looked up and smiled. "Oh, I was just wondering how you'd survive once you grew up and your parents don't need to support you anymore. The cost of your food consumption alone could probably diminish your monthly salary in about a week." Sirius scowled.
James smirked. "Try three days," he snickered.
"From the way you're saying things, you're implying that I'm a total pig," Sirius said in a mock offended tone.
James adopted a solemn countenance. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did we leave that part out? You are a total pig," he teased. Sirius whacked him on the arm. Remus and Peter laughed.
"Hmph. You're just jealous of the fact that I can consume that much food and still be built. Compared to the speed of my metabolism, you three are incompetent," Sirius retorted.
Peter pretended to kowtow at Sirius' feet. "We bow down to your superior capacity in burning body fats, o Gluttonous One," he proclaimed in pretend praise.
"Oh, shut up," Sirius said, rolling his eyes and turning the corner. He bumped right into Professor McGonagall, whose stack of papers flew everywhere at the impact.
"Black, you were given eyes to see and feet to avoid collisions. Why on earth would you not have seen me walking towards you with a three-foot pile of quiz parchments?" McGonagall said irritably, watching as the four boys scurried around to pick up the loose pieces of parchment.
"So sorry about that, Professor M. I was temporarily blinded with your radiating beauty," Sirius said charmingly.
"Flattering comments won't give you higher grades, Black. Oh, and Potter, I need to have a word with you about your detentions." Professor McGonagall started to walk away, James following behind her with a confused expression on his face. His three friends waited a little ways away from them.
"Poured it on a little thick, didn't we?" Peter joked to Sirius.
"Yeah, yeah. You know I only said that to avoid getting another detention this week. You can keep McGonagall's temper at bay if you shower her with compliments," Sirius said sarcastically. He watched as James started to walk back toward them.
"What did she say?" Remus asked curiously.
James shrugged. "The usual." But his eyes were averted, as if there was something he didn't want to tell them.
Sirius was the only one who noticed, but he decided not to push it.
Even he could exercise self-restraint sometimes.
*****
Lily glanced up at the clock in the girls' dormitory. The lights in the room were off, and her four roommates were fast asleep. The clock read 11: 55.
She grabbed her silk lounging robe (don't ask. It can't be a bath robe 'cause it's silk.) and shrugged into it, aware that her heart was beating faster than it had ten minutes ago. It was amazing how James had this effect on her. Before, when they were just friends, she always felt that it was weird how her gloomy mood lifted when she saw him, but now she understood. She couldn't recognize it before because it had been such a long time since there was another person who cared this much about her.
She went down the stairs and paused at the bottom step, peering around at the dim common room. It was empty. Shrugging, she went on ahead and bumped her shoulder with another person who, apparently, had rushed down the boys' staircase like she had at the girls'.
"Hey. Sorry about that," James said with a grin, and she felt her heart beating at a staccato rate. Before they could even make it to the couch, James brought her close to him and caught her in a sweet, tender lip lock.
Her breath caught at the swift motion, but she responded, pressing her lips firmly against his and running her hands through his unruly jet-black hair. She shivered as she felt his fingers touching her face, and after a few more seconds she reluctantly pulled away from him.
James smiled. "Hey. We can't get any talking done if we don't actually sit down first. Then when we finish discussing some things, we can continue with…the fun stuff." He grinned knowingly and led her to the couch in front of the fireplace. Lily watched as he brought his wand out and muttered "Incendio," pointing the want at the hearth. A cheerfully cracking fire immediately sprang up there, illuminating the common room.
"What are we going to talk about?" Lily asked.
James looked at her with intense eyes, and she actually felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand up. "You weren't serious when you said you didn't want to be friends with Sirius and the others, right?" he said.
It was hard to focus on an answer when he was staring at her intently like that. "I—well, I guess…I was serious," Lily admitted. "It's just that—"
"You don't want that to happen," James finished for her quietly. Lily, surprised at how easily he could read her thoughts, stayed silent. "It's easy to tell, Lily. I know that you like being with us. Giving up the only thing that makes you happy is wrong. And for that matter, why would you give it up in the first place? It doesn't make sense." He shook his head.
Lily sighed. "I know. But it does make sense—to me. You know what will happen if I always hang out with you guys. I don't care if they come after me, but the problem is that you guys will be affected too. It just makes me guilty that I'm causing you all this trouble—when you have the option of avoiding it."
"And avoiding it means avoiding you," James pointed out. "We don't want you to avoid us, Lily. What reason would make you think we'd do the same to you?"
"It's for the best," Lily argued.
"For the best? Lily, the 'for the best' you're talking about is for the best of the gossip hunters and dirt diggers of Hogwarts. 'For the best' isn't for your best—because the best thing for you is a group of people who'll be there for you and make you feel like you belong, not more suffering to add to your life. And because we're your friends, what's best for you is best for us. Don't do this to us, Lily. And most importantly, don't do this to yourself," James said in a gentle voice.
Lily's eyes watered, and she blinked the tears away. "But Sirius and Peter—they know that other people's opinions matter. The four of you are the most popular guys in Hogwarts. Any news that has to do with you spread around the school faster than wildfire. You know your friends, James. And you saw Sirius. He was upset when Peter told us about the rumors."
James shook his head. "I admit that Sirius does have a superficial side to him but," he took a deep breath, "inside, he's really down to earth. And he doesn't want you to go either. Why else would he search the whole castle for you?"
All the statements that he pointed out made sense. "But what about the other students?" Lily whispered.
"They don't matter. Who cares what they think?" James said, smiling at her.
"I do," Lily replied quietly. James' smile faltered.
"I thought they didn't matter to you before."
"Yes, but this is different. This isn't just about me," Lily answered sadly. She stared at the flames before her, avoiding James' eyes.
James cupped his hand on her chin and turned her head slightly so that she faced him. "I don't care what other people think. If you want something, you have to believe that you can attain it, and you have to do something to actually get it. You can do anything you set your mind to. You have to fight. And you don't have to listen to what others say, because it's what you believe that matters. Nothing else does."
Lily knew he was right. She was just being paranoid. But she couldn't come out of her outcast state just like that, as if nobody would notice that she was suddenly engaging herself in the world of socialism. She had to do this bit by bit. "O-okay. But I'll have to think about it first… I can't just go out there and announce that I'm officially a non-outcast or something," she voiced her thoughts out loud to him.
James nodded. "Then what will you do?"
"Can you just not show anybody about my friendship with you guys and…about us? At least, not right away…" she trailed off uncertainly.
James hugged her, and she sighed in relief. He understood, and he cared enough to let her do things her way. That was enough. "All right. But promise me that you're going to face them when you can deal, and that you'll stand up for what you want."
"I promise," Lily reassured. The student body didn't have the right to decide who she could or couldn't be friends with, and they most definitely didn't have the right to tell her that she should be an outcast forever. And she would tell them what was on her mind eventually. Right now she still had to learn how to handle the pressure.
"I've got some good news," James announced after a moment of silence.
"That's nice. I haven't had any of that this past few days," Lily muttered. James laughed.
"Well, it's just that since you still want to keep the whole friendship thing secret, then there's a way we can see each other at a time other than the middle of the night," he said, gesturing at the darkness outside.
"How?" Lily asked.
"McGonagall talked to me a few hours ago about my detentions, and she said that she paired the two of us in all of them. Something about promoting 'prefect unity,' I think. All the detentions she chooses are in places where no students are around so that they can't give us a hand on things," James explained.
"Oh, so the only times we have a chance to see each other during the day is when we do some sort of tedious task like waxing all the floors on the fifth floor or dusting the hundreds of statues in Hogwarts."
James shrugged. "Hey, you can't be picky about detentions," he joked. "The teachers who assign it aim to make the student as horrendously miserable as possible."
"Way to make a rule breaker feel better," Lily said sardonically, but she smiled.
Things were finally looking up.
*****
AN – Yessss!!! I finished the tenth chappie. Now if I can only finish the bad stuff…like homework and projects and school whatnots.
Raei Dagger: You call this a chapter???
Dimantrien: Shaddap, I have writer's block.
Raei Dagger: That's always your excuse.
Dimantrien: Well, excuse me if my lackadaisical prose doesn't gratify your nonsensically high standards, o Iniquitous One.
Raei Dagger: In English, please.
Dimantrien: That is English, you dolt.
Raei Dagger: I'm not a dolt!
Dimantrien: * nods her head * Oh, of course not. How could I have been mistaken? You're no dolt, you're a bai—
Raei Dagger: Urusai!
Dimantrien: I don't think there are many Japanese-speaking readers who are into Harry Potter, Raei.
Raei Dagger: You never know. Besides, the sentiment still stands.
Dimantrien: Whatever. Someday, I'll flood one of my reviews in RoaSC with your whole nickname—uncensored. Bwahahahaha.
Raei Dagger: Abazureon'na.
Dimantrien: Nope, that's Yankee. Let's go. We have a lot of homework to do…
Raei Dagger: * groans * Don't remind me.
Dimantrien: Well, next time, tell your adviser not to pile ridiculous masses of schoolwork on our poor heads.
Raei Dagger: Right. And get myself an offense? No thank you.
Dimantrien: Lazy-ass coward.
Raei Dagger: Shut up. If one of us has to be lazy, it's you. For every chapter you upload I would've already uploaded three or four.
Dimantrien: Point taken. But if only I had my own computer, and wouldn't need to share with three other PC maniacs, I'd be more punctual in updating…
I don't write romance that well, so sorry if it doesn't come out good. Adding that to my lack of enthusiasm in writing (you would too if you knew you had a ton of homework to do after you finished a chapter), I don't know if my work is remotely satisfactory even to my own standards… I'll feel so much better once March 12-14 pass and I'll be free from school for two months and a couple of weeks. Summer vacation in the tropics is the life.
"Play is a full time obligation. Work is something you do in your free time…"
~Dimantrien ;P