- Chapter Ten -

~ Spring in October and Flying Flobberworms~

Things were almost back to normal the very next day. Nature seem to be born again, besides all of the dead leaves and bare trees, but the sunrise, though later than in spring, was still refreshing, similar to the day Aaliyah had left.

Lily shook her head, smiling, and said, 'Aaliyah's work,' to herself, slipping her cold feet into her slippers and heading for the bathroom. Yes, she was going to go to attend lessons. Why? James Potter? No. Aaliyah? Yes. Even though she wasn't around, she was still happily working her magic.

'Lily,' Vanessa groaned when her friend left the bathroom. 'What're you doing up so early? We're ex – ex – excused from classes, remember?'

'Yeah,' she replied lightly. 'I just don't want to miss today.'

'Oh, yeah, Miss Goody-Goody Two-Shoes wouldn't ever miss a day off school,' said Vanessa sleepily into her pillow. 'That re – re – reminds me … I've got a bone to pick with you when you get back … about where you were last night.'

'Okay,' said Lily a little over enthusiastically. 'Whatever, whenever. Erm … I've got to get dressed and go down for breakfast, you know … busy day! James and I have a meeting and –'

'Not workin',' said Vanessa flatly. 'Puzzokinit.'

Lily took that to mean 'Put a sock in it' and swiftly headed out of the dormitory as soon as she was dressed.

Maybe it was Aaliyah's absence, but Lily felt as lonely as ever, going down to breakfast alone; it was so early that even Alice and Cassie hadn't awoken. But Lily couldn't go back to sleep. She felt too wide awake, almost as though she was anticipating something. But what was there to anticipate?

'James!' Lily half squealed in delight upon entering the Great Hall, spotting her friend. 'Wow, you're up early. Sorry for keeping you awake last night …'

'Lily,' he said welcomingly, making some space between him and Remus for Lily to occupy, 'so are you. It's my fault. I should learn to be stricter and less compassionate with you.'

'No, don't,' she moaned jokingly, 'or else …'

'Or else what?' James teased. 'What're you going to do? Throw a Flobberworm at me?'

'Don't ever underestimate girl power,' Remus said warningly, reaching out for a wrap. 'You've heard it from me. Just don't James.'

'Oh?' James challenged. 'And why's that?'

'I can … I can … I can eat you!' Lily said randomly.

'Pfft,' James dismissed. 'Eat me. Go ahead. Go on. If you eat me, I'll … bite you.'

'What?' Lily said, her voice going high-pitched. 'That makes absolutely no sense, James!'

'It does … to me …'

'James, you're so "chivalrous", that even if I ate your best friend – not that I'd want to – you still wouldn't be able to touch me.'

'How much do you want to bet?'

'All I have,' Lily smiled pleasantly.

'Including me as a friend?' James asked, eyebrows raised.

'No,' Lily said absent-mindedly. 'Wait, if you're mine, then I can eat you anyway! This is working out really well, isn't it?'

'For you,' James joked grumpily.

Lily sighed happily. 'What would I do without you?'

'Get more peace,' Remus said quietly, trying to hide with a series of loud coughs.

'Fair point,' Lily grinned.

They finished breakfast with more jokes and light laughter, Alice, Cassie, Peter and Sirius popping up much later. They made their way out in the fields, enjoying autumn's weather, which did feel more like spring; the golden light, the tranquillity, the birth of unusual plants, the twittering birds.

'James,' Lily said suddenly, sitting up, 'daffodils blossom in spring, don't they?'

'Yeah,' he said lazily. 'Why?'

'Look, there's a bunch over there – and it's autumn.'

James sat up to; Alice tried looking at what the two were staring at. 'You're right, Lils,' she said finally. 'I wonder why …'

'Wait, it is October, right?'

'Yes,' Remus clarified.

Sadly, they had to split up at ten to eight when they were going their separate ways: Alice and Lily headed for Care of Magical Creatures, which wasn't much of a walk; James and Sirius made their way to the Quidditch pitch to use up their free period – the first game of the season was approaching, and James wanted to practise; Cassie and Peter made their way to the common room for their free hour, just as Remus trudged to History of Magic, unnaturally alone, not just on his way there, but for the entire lesson …. It was hard to believe she was around making jokes and requesting assistance with work not so long ago.

Maybe because their eyes hadn't been on the time, but Lily and James didn't notice and were shocked at the end of Charms, fourth period, as Defence Against the Dark Arts would be the last lesson they had together that day … not that they didn't not want it to be over.

Predictably, Darktoff was in a foul mood for the entire lesson, reducing Peter to tears nearer the end of it.

'Man up, Wormtail,' said Sirius disinterestedly, although he took Peter's lesson's worth of work and rectified the many mistakes.

They were in the warm, fireplace-lit common room, now. It was just Sirius, Remus, Peter and a sea of others who didn't really matter … not now that Aaliyah wasn't around, Remus thought.

Vanessa was spending more and more time alone up in the girls' dormitories as Lily spent an increasing amount of time with James planning the Hallowe'en dance. James, however, was also tied up with Quidditch. Besides the fact that he had had to hold trials and wasn't particularly pleased with the new team, he acted enthusiastic and hopeful. In fact, only Lily and the other Marauders knew how he truly felt.

That was another matter; the more Lily spent with James, the more she found herself easy around him. She was actually beginning to feel comfortable around him, and the voice at the back of her head no longer screamed, 'PERVERT!' every time she saw him. The voice at the back of her head began whispering other thoughts, actually … but Lily ignored it and tried not letting it affect her behaviour around James.

James was too busy, anyway. The first Quidditch match of the season was going to be on Saturday, and the team had admittedly improved in a short space of time. However, the weather had worsened, much to Gryffindor's displeasure. By the levels of tension, anyone could tell who Gryffindor would be playing against: Slytherin. Of course they were expected to chicken out due to poor weather conditions, but James was determined to win the game, anyway.

*.*.*

One heavy rain drop slowly fell onto James's cheek and his bright scarlet and gold robes, but it hit him like a bullet. It was Saturday. And it was raining. James ducked his head and stepped back inside to tell the team.

'Oh, NO!' groaned William Dowling, a Beater in sixth-year.

'Calm down, Dowl,' said Joe King, William's fellow Beater and sixth-year, 'or heavy thunders will be sent down.'

'Oh, ha, ha …' said William sarcastically.

'Come on, guys,' said James strongly.

'And girls,' Angela Smith, a Chaser, added.

'And girls,' James agreed. 'We can't let bad weather get the best of us. Look, we're already haven't disagreements. We're made of stronger stuff and we know it. It's just time to show everyone else that.'

'Great pep talk, James,' Lily said mildly, popping in with a large smile on her face. 'It's time for you guys to go, come on.'

'Yeah, right,' said James vaguely, kind of making out as though he didn't hear her. 'Come on, team, let's GO.'

Their energy was invigorating; they half ran out of the changing rooms with roars in the air and the latest brooms in their hands. Lily, on the other hand, was stumped; had James just left a room without noticing Lily? James was obviously spoiling Lily with too much attention. But, all the same, she wasn't used to being treated as a part of the wall …

She had been musing over this for too long; by the time she left the changing rooms, James and the Slytherin Keeper and Captain, Claude Montague, had attempted crushing each other's hands and Madam Hooch, the hawk-resembling referee, had blown her whistle.

Lily searched the Gryffindor stands until she spotted someone she was surprised to meet. She trod over many people's feet to get to where Vanessa was sitting by herself.

'Fancy seeing you here,' Lily murmured, sitting down.

Despite all of the noise, Vanessa heard her loud and clear. However, she pretended to stay focused on the game, staring with narrowed eyes at the Quaffle, which remained in James's possession for at least half a minute before –

'OH, DID YOU SEE THAT INTERCEPTION BY JUSTIN WAYWARD?' Leon Jordan, a Hufflepuff, shouted into the megaphone, wiping some of the rain off of his face. 'And Potter almost had it there. Ah, well, Quaffle's to Angela Smith – mighty fine and feisty that Chaser –'

'Jordan,' said McGonagall warningly, right by his side.

Jordan completely ignored the Transfiguration teacher, now going on about the Quaffle in Kelly Bell of the Gryffindor team's hands.

'Are you okay, Nessa?' Lily asked quietly, now concentrating on the Quaffle, too.

Vanessa suddenly turned to look at Lily, who had to stop herself from recoiling out of shock. Vanessa no longer looked like Vanessa. Her face was pale, tinged with grey, and her hair wasn't as sleek and shiny and she didn't seem to care about it getting soaked; she wore no make-up, so her eyes looked bare and there was no trace of a smile.

'Do I look okay?' Vanessa returned in a quieter tone.

'AND JAMES POTTER SCORED TEN POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR!' Leon shouted, punching the air with his fist.

Lily couldn't help but leap up and cheer furiously with many others, excluding Vanessa. She sat down again, looking embarrassed and isolated.

'Lily, give it up,' said Vanessa darkly. 'Potter's moved on from you. He'll only ever date Quidditch girls, anyway, probably.'

'Huh?' Lily said, innocently confused.

'He's not gonna like you again,' she explained clearly, still staring hardly at the Quaffle, 'so you can stop giving him so much attention and affection.'

Lily looked extremely offended. 'You're wrong. I don't want James. After all these years of resisting him! And besides, I like being just friends.'

'Just friends?' Vanessa challenged. She turned to look at Lily with a faint smirk and a raised eyebrow – she almost looked like her old self again. 'Okay, FriendLily, let's see your reaction when he sees a certain Angela Smith after the match.'

'Angela?' Lily repeated, her heart pumping faster than usual for no apparent reason. She was beginning to feel hot, although the rain began properly tipping it down. 'Why? What's he got with Angela?'

Vanessa smirked again. 'Hah, listen to you already. I've just been seeing them two around together a lot lately, that's it.'

'James has been with me a lot,' Lily corrected. 'And if he's not around me, he's been at Quidditch practise.'

'Exactly,' said Vanessa slowly, as though she was explaining something to a toddler.

'Oh,' Lily gasped. 'Well, I don't care, anyway. He has a life. He can date whoever he wants – as if I care! We're just friends and –'

'ANGELA SMITH SCORES AGAIN!' Leon shouted. 'THAT MAKES THE SCORE SEVENTY-FORTY TO GRYFFINDOR.'

'Whatever, Lily.'

Lily left the James conversation at that. She pretended to be concentrating hard on the Quaffle, as well, but soon found her eyes following a certain Gryffindor Chaser and listening to Leon's commentary, instead.

'Look, has Perry Dawes, the Gryffindor Seeker, found something? Oooooh … no, FALSE ALARM, PEOPLE. Potter with the Quaffle – intercepted by Montague and – hey, the Keeper shouldn't tackle the Chaser for the Quaffle unless they're in the zone!' Jordan complained. And sure enough, Madam Hooch awarded Gryffindor a free shoot, which James kindly gave to Angela, who scored; Lily felt something thud in her stomach.

'ANGELA SCORES AGAIN!' Leon shouted. 'AAAND we're back to the game! Oh, wait, what's this? Both seekers, Slytherin's Regulus Black and Gryffindor's Dawes, appear to have seen the snitch! Oh, JUST WATCH DAWES DIVE! Is he feinting or has he REALLY found the snitch? OW! Okay, he WAS FEINTING. Black's nose bleed looks like something …'

'Hold up just one second – PERRY DAWES HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINNNN two hundred and twenty-forty!'

A chant of 'Go, go, Gryffindor! Go, go, Gryffindor!' began, Lily and Vanessa only joining in half-heartedly. The Gryffindor Quidditch team landed ecstatically on the ground. Lily watched them with a beam on her face. It vanished almost as soon as James flung his arms around Angela, but she smiled weakly, feeling Vanessa's eyes on her.

'Let's go,' she mumbled, dragging Lily away.

'Lils, I know boys,' Vanessa said clearly, as the two trudged in the mud back to the castle. The area around them was desolate – no doubt everyone who wasn't in Slytherin was singing, dancing and screaming in the rain. 'They'll lead you on and then leave you alone.'

Lily said nothing.

'They'll play with your heart and break it, they'll –'

'Vanessa, that's enough,' said Lily firmly, stopping and turning to Vanessa, her hair dripping in front of her face. 'I do not, have not and never will have a crush on James Potter. We're just friends, end of. That's it, there's nothing more to it. Just. Friends.'

Vanessa shrugged, but dropped it. They walked in silence to the empty and silent common room, but both of them could still hear the ringing in their ears, the cheering, the screaming, the shouts of congratulations … it was sickening.

McGonagall ordered the students to go to their common rooms, because, as pleased as she was with Gryffindor's victory, they were going to catch colds and Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be happy at all.

'Go, go, Gryffindor, GO, GO, Gryffindor,' came shouts from outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.

'GRIFFIN!' someone shouted, making the Fat Lady swing open to allow them to enter.

There came shouts of 'WOOOOOOOOOO!' and 'POTTER ALL THE WAY!' and 'GO DAWES!'; Lily's and Vanessa's presence seemed to be ignored completely.

'Prongs,' Sirius shouted from Vanessa's end of the common room, 'come 'ere and 'elp us get a pint! Of Butterbeer, that is!'

'Nah, mate,' James called back, looking engrossed in a sea of excited and awestruck faces around him.

'Come on!' Sirius shouted. 'You're always either at Quidditch or with Evans! What, have you two got a thing going on?'

If the common room was noisy before, it was nothing compared to the noise now; Lily Evans with James Potter?

James detached himself from his fans and made his way to Sirius.

'Don't say that!' he hissed.

'What, you and Evans?'

'Yeah, sh! We've got nothing going on!'

'Oh, yeah right,' Sirius laughed. 'Of course you two have. I can't believe I didn't see it before,' he mocked.

'Shut up, Sirius.'

'Admit it!' Sirius grinned. 'You know it, and I do too, now.'

'Sirius, I'm NOT dating Lily Evans! She's just some girl!' he burst. 'I don't know her, like her, or anything! She's just some girl I see against my will almost every day! It's not my fault I ended up being Head with her – believe me, I didn't want this! Seriously, she's nothing, that's all there is to it!'

The noise in the common room subsided immediately as eyes searched the common room. Lily made it easier for them; she snuck out from her corner and brushed past James, saying, 'Thanks, Potter,' as acidly as she could.

'Well done, Prongs,' said Sirius lightly, watching James's eyes trail after Lily. 'You've done it again.'

After a moment's silence, James said: 'More like you made me do it again.'

'Nah. Well, she's "just some girl". Good to have you back, by the way. Fancy sneaking out to Hogsmeade to get this party started?'

Sighing, James shrugged and went along with his friends to the passage leading to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. They trudged carefully along the narrow, dark and unstable passage, Sirius and Peter going on about the game with an occasional 'yeah' from Remus. They were careful not to mention Regulus, Sirius's younger brother.

Sirius then felt a painful blow in the head, but it seemed as though he was expecting it. He raised his hand above his head and pushed on a loose tile enough to see that the cellar of Honeydukes was thankfully clear.

'All good,' he whispered. 'Let's just grab stuff and run.'

They filed out of the passage way and scattered, like rats, around the room, shoving hands into barrels of jelly slugs, peppermints, chocolate frogs (Sirius in particular), and more.

'Wait,' Sirius hissed, poking his head up, his nose twitching like a dog's. 'I hear someone coming … yes, let's go!'

Peter and Remus had already slid back into the passage way, but Sirius stayed back, noticing that James was rummaging for something inside his Quidditch robes.

'What are you doing?' Sirius hissed, 'Let's go, quick!'

James completely ignored him. He extracted a petite bag, pulled it open and withdrew some galleons. He then left it on the shelf of jars and followed Sirius, who was shaking his head and muttering, 'You could take over for Moony, Prongs.'

Remus, knowing what James had done, hung his head down in shame.

Everyone – besides Vanessa – in the common room were overjoyed to have so much food and sweets in their hands. Vanessa sat sulkily in the corner of the room.

'Nessa, have you seen Lily?' James asked her, nibbling a cauldron cake.

'No,' she replied coldly, 'and don't call me that. It's Gills to you.'

'Look, I didn't mean any of that!' he said impatiently. 'You know what I'm like!' He huffed when she didn't look convinced. 'If only Aaliyah was here. She would back me up.'

He left her pondering on her remorseful thoughts at that poignant note, and joined the party, acting happy and carefree.

The next day, he awoke early, just to track Lily down and explain to her. He waited for her in the Heads' room, knowing she would be early to get there for their meeting.

'Okay, let's get this done and over with,' she sighed, sitting down on the sofa.

'Wait, Lily –'

She cut him off by holding her hand up. 'We're here to discuss more about the Hallowe'en dance, that's it.'

'Wait! How can I make it up to you?' he said desperately. 'You know I didn't mean any of that, come on.'

No, she didn't. But this was a chance to humiliate James Potter.

'Okaaaay …' she said playfully, thinking and fiddling with her hair, 'I want you to … dress up as a Flobberworm for the dance!'

'What?' James spluttered. 'No WAY!'

'Oh …' said Lily sadly, grimacing and staring at her shuffling feet. 'So you really did mean it, then? You meant everything you said to Sirius?'

James stared at her with narrowed eyes. 'Oh, you're cheeky, you are … fine. Where am I going to get a Flobberworm costume from?'

Lily stared at him disbelievingly. 'Me plus magic equals Flobberworm outfit.'

It took Lily a little over half an hour to produce James's costume, but when she did, it was well worth it. There was James Potter, standing in a long, brown Flobberworm outfit, shocked at the mess he had gotten himself into.

'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!' Lily laughed, clutching her sides. Her laughter continued for several minutes, until James gave her that okay-joke's-over look of disinterest. She wiped a tear from her eye and said, 'All right, I'm done. Wait, no I'm not! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA …!'

'I'm done, too,' said James impatiently. 'I've got Quidditch practise to get to. Bye. Wait, Lily, I can't get out of this!' he said, frustrated.

'Looks like you're going to have to bunny hop your way downstairs,' Lily giggled. 'Okay, I'll help,' she said reluctantly.

'Help me out of this or help me downstairs?' James asked darkly.

'Hmm … now that you mention it, I think I'll only help you to the changing rooms.' She smiled pleasantly and took his arm.

It was so awkward. James had to literally hop down so many stairs – twice, he jumped and would have slipped and missed a step had Lily not been there. They were completely oblivious to the few staring eyes – bunny hopping proved to be a huge distraction.

They had taken so much time that the other members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team had already gotten changed and were all energised, despite the fact that it was only half-past eight in the morning.

They burst into peals of laughter when Lily and James entered the changing room. To James's horror, he found himself having to fly in that outfit.

'Why have you held Quidditch practises right after the match anyway?' Lily said defensively.

'Because,' James said irritably, grabbing his broom, 'I don't want our fitness levels to drop.' Detecting that Joe King would try making something silly out of what James had just said, he rushed on: 'You won't understand. Quidditch stuff.'

Lily once again felt like a part of the wall as the team, still laughing (apart from James), marched out of the changing rooms.

She ignored that feeling, however, although she was still upset with what James had said. Instead of heading back to the Heads' room, she hung about in the stands, watching a Flobberworm (also known as James) fly. Something whispered in the back of her head:

'And they never let me down,' smiled Dumbledore. 'You'll see. You two will be friends by the end of this year. Maybe even a couple by the end of this academic year.'

'Maybe when Flobberworms fly,' Lily said stubbornly.

And with that they were dismissed, Lily and James somewhat worried; what if they turned out to be friends?

'You know,' said James quietly after closing the door after him, 'it would've been funnier if you'd said "when merpeople" or "when Hinkypunks fly" instead. They can't ever fly given that they live in water.'

How correct James was. If she had said "when Hinkypunks fly", she wouldn't be sitting in the stands, wondering if Dumbledore had seen this coming. What did this mean, if anything? Would Lily and James really become a couple? An item, maybe? No, she was over thinking this. But she wasn't the only one.

'Great practise, team!' James bellowed as he landed on the ground.

Lily hung about outside the changing room, wanting to remind him that they hadn't planned much of the Hallowe'en dance, but there was an intense diversion.

She got tired of waiting, so she made to leave, but a tug at her elbow held her back. She turned around and found her face only inches away from James's. The intensity with which he gazed into her emerald eyes made colour rise to her cheeks. But she didn't want to drop her gaze.

He then murmured seriously, still holding gently onto her: 'Lily, a Flobberworm flew.'

Sunday 16th October 1977