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Hogwarts was alive again. Its corridors rang with the calls of friends rejoining after the holidays, the windows of dormitories and classrooms once again warmly aglow, the great hall tables crowded with hungry students. Although Lily had not wanted to let go of the special times with Remus, she couldn't help but anticipate her friends' return. She had set about to find them in the midst of returning students when she collided with a black blur. "Marlene .." she struggled to exclaim as the two toppled to the ground. "Marlene!" She tried to look angry but broke out laughing at the sight of her grinning face. "You know, you'd think I could go two weeks without your signature evil eye, but alas! I've missed it terribly!" Marlene threw back her head dramatically. "It has been a little quiet around here," Lily smirked. "Too quiet." Marlene grinned and stood, helping Lily to her feet. "Alice here said you wouldn't miss us a bit!" Lily turned to Alice, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face. "I did not!" Alice exclaimed. "Don't worry, I believe you," Lily laughed, embracing her friend. "But seriously, what have you done these past weeks. It must have been miserable without us!" Marlene persisted. "Wouldn't you like to know," Lily answered slyly. "Lily Evans is keeping a secret!" Marlene called before Alice clamped her hand over her mouth.
Lily laughed and lead her friends away from the busy great hall. "So, tell me what you guys did over the break." Marlene jumped in and began to describe her break which mainly included boring holiday parties at this pureblood families house or that one's. She commented on how she hadn't seen Sirius at the annual Christmas dinner at his parents place which was unusual, but she hadn't been able to get ahold of him to ask him how he was. Alice had stayed at home with her family and had a quiet Christmas. Lily told them about her Christmas, omitting the part about Remus being a werewolf and her telling Remus about her bond. All of them were sickened by the thought of James ever dating Cynthia and wondered what he would ever see in a girl like her.
Sirius, Remus, James and Peter were oohing and ahing over James practice quidditch set, as well as trying to figure out why Cynthia had given it to James. Remus knew, of course, having talked with Lily over the break, but he didn't say anything. "Maybe she wants you to teach her quidditch?" Sirius was shooting out questions, all of them getting vetoed by one of the other three. "Nah. She doesn't seem like the quidditch type. You know?" Sirius threw his hands in the air. "I quit! You all won't believe any of my suggestions so you can figure it out without me. If anyone needs me, I will be getting some much needed beauty sleep." The other three rolled their eyes and went back to looking at the set.
They sat there in quiet admiring it, until James stood up to go put it away. "James, why are you putting it away?" Sirius had come back to look at it and was now whining. "Because Sirius, I think it would be polite to go and thank Cynthia for the gift, right?" Sirius grumbled in agreement, wondering why he had to do that now and not later, like when they were going to dinner.
James wandered down to the common room keeping his eyes peeled for Cynthia. He didn't have to look far because the petite blonde had wandered over to where he was. "Hey James. How was your break?" James turned to look at Cynthia. "Cynthia, just the person I was looking for. My break was great. I want to thank you for the practice quidditch set. It's amazing." Cynthia blushed. "Your welcome." "I feel kind of bad that I didn't get you anything." "Oh, no worries James." "No really, I feel bad. Is there any way that I could make it up?" Cynthia thought for a bit, her face lighting up with an idea. "What if you taught me quidditch?" James face lit up. This girl was amazing! "Sure! I'd love to. What do you say tomorrow night?" Cynthia beamed. "Sure! I'll meet you down here! See you then." She turned to head back to her friends, giving James a wave as he headed back up to the boys dormitories. Neither of them noticed the figure sitting at the table right by where they were standing, and boy, was she livid.
Lily stormed into the library, her hair flowing behind her, blowing like flames in the wind. She hurried over to her usual table in the back corner between two shelves and sat down, putting her head in her arms and trying not to cry. Stupid Potter and his love for quidditch. Stupid Cynthia and her need to dig her nails into every guy at Hogwarts. (Actually, it was only just James so far, but Lily is a little mad and James is kind of her everything so yeah… You get the point.) She knew she was supposed to be here because she and Remus were going to work on their Transfiguration homework together, but she couldn't work. Not when stupid, petite, blonde Cynthia was sneaking her way into every little thing. The girl was a menace.
Lily was so focused on calming down and not crying or losing her temper that she didn't hear Remus walk over and put his stuff on the table. She felt a hand on her arm and looked up, to find Remus looking at her. She knew that he probably knew what had happened, being roommates with James and all, but that didn't really help. She still needed someone to vent to. "Hey, you okay?" Lily put her head back into her arms, the threat of crying more prevalent than ever. She slowly shook her head. Remus scooted his chair closer and began to rub her back. "Hey, it'll be okay. It's not like they're dating or anything." A muffled yet could be heard from the pile known as Lily. Remus sighed. "Okay, fine. They're not dating, yet. But who knows, maybe they won't end up dating and everything will be okay." Lily lifted her head high enough out of her arms to give Remus a look that said, Seriously? "Okay, fine. Maybe they will end up dating. I mean, James does like quidditch, a lot, and Cynthia asking him to teach her quidditch certainly will make things more complicated, but hey. Maybe the bond will step in and sort things out." Lily shook her head once again. "Lily, I have no idea what you mean by that. Would you please lift your head out of your arms and explain this to me?" Lily gave a sigh and lifted her head out of her arms. "The bond hasn't progressed enough for that to happen." Remus continued to rub Lily's back as she rested her head on his shoulder and began to cry. "It'll work itself out Lils. It'll work itself out."
"That is a snitch," James pointed to a still, golden ball behind glass. "It's the seeker' job to catch this for the team. When they do, the game ends and we receive one hundred and fifty points." James voice trailed off as he became transfixed by the trophies in the case. "Let's go fly now, James. Please?" Cynthia was growing weary of the trophy room. "Alright," James conceded, stealing one last look at the case before turning and heading to the door. The fields were blanketed in snow, matching the snow capped towers of the castle. Cynthia had borrowed an old cleansweep because Sirius, no matter how much James begged and bribed, wasn't ready yet to "expose his broom to the outside world." It remained carefully wrapped in his trunk until the snow let up.
James lead Cynthia outside to the quidditch field and showed her how to mount the broom, where to grasp, how to hold herself on the broom and how to steer. He watched Cynthia gain a little air before taking off himself and flying around the pitch, testing out his new Nimbus. He loved it. It flew so easily, responded well and, of course, the speed wasn't so bad either. After taking his broom around the pitch a couple of times, James headed back to where Cynthia was and explained the rules and plays of Quidditch. They spent the next few hours throwing a quaffle around the pitch and racing each other, with James usually winning because, well, he had a better broom. Cynthia argued that if they had had the same or similar brooms she could have given him a run for his money. James wasn't so sure.
When they finally headed back, it was dark and they were laughing and covered from head to toe in mud. They split up when they got to the common room, promising to meet up for dinner later. Cynthia headed up to her dorm to clean up and change while James headed over to a heated chess match between Remus and Sirius. Remus and Sirius glanced up as he headed over. "How'd it go?" Remus looked James up and down, shocked at how much dirt he had managed to get on himself, but then again, this was James. "It was great actually. She seems really into quidditch and she isn't that bad. I think with some more practice she would be able to make it onto the team." Sirius glanced up from the game to look at James. "Really? Huh. What position do you think she would play?" "Well, we mainly worked with the Quaffle today, throwing back and forth so probably Chaser though maybe Keeper." "Well, there's a chaser and keeper graduating this year, so maybe she can take one of those spots." "Yeah, maybe." They sat in silence for awhile, Remus and Sirius glancing at each other and then to James who was completely oblivious. Remus sighed. "Dude, you have got to shower." James came out of his reverie and looked down at himself. "Oh, yeah, sorry. I'll be down in a bit." Remus and Sirius shook their heads as he walked away. "So, what happened with his infatuation with Lily?" "I don't know Sirius. Checkmate." "Seriously, Remus?! Let me win for once!"
"So, he taught her how to play Quidditch." Remus sighed. "Lily, it's not that big of a deal. It was one harmless little lesson, I don't think this is going to change anything." Remus looked up to see Lily's face, pure anger and hatred for Cynthia. "Lily." She sighed. "Fine. I guess it isn't too big of a deal. I just don't like it when she's with him. Or if he's with any other girl for that matter." Remus raised an eyebrow. "A little possessive are we?" Lily blushed and shoved him. "Shut up."
Lily sat alone in her dormitory that night. Well, she wasn't really alone. She was talking with Rowena about the bond, trying to get a better idea of what was going on. Rowena, I feel like I'm losing him. I guess I can't really lose him, but, well, you get the idea. He's been hanging around this girl named Cynthia and it makes me feel uncomfortable, more than when he is around other girls. How can I fix this? Your bond is still much too young for it to make him feel uncomfortable being around other girls and seeing as he doesn't know about the bond, he won't feel all the emotions that you do. I suggest you find something to get you two closer. Maybe a common interest, or even better, try doing something that he likes. Don't give up. The bond, however young it is, won't let him be with another girl for too long. He will eventually, for lack of better terms, get bored and move on, searching for something that's missing. So don't worry too much. Just focus on getting to know him a little bit better and giving the bond time to mature. All will be fine.
Lily sighed. 'All will be fine.' That's all she could hope for right now. Marlene and Alice walked into the dorms as Lily was putting the book away. "Hey, where have you two been?" Alice and Marlene glanced at each other, sharing a look only girls can understand. "We saw what very well may be the hottest guy in Hogwarts practicing Quidditch shirtless." Marlene fanned her face and fell back onto her bed. Alice sat down next to Marlene with a sigh. "Alice here is absolutely smitten with the boy. Me, not so much. He's just not my type." Lily gave a small giggle. Marlene's type could only be described with one word, well two. Sirius Black. But don't let her hear you saying that because she doesn't like it. Apparently that's wrong, but when she gets around Sirius, she is just like Alice is right now. Smitten.
"So, describe this boy." Lily looked at Alice who was holding on to the post of the bed and staring off into space, dreamily and then to Marlene who was sitting up on her elbows looking at Alice with an amused expression. Alice gave a deep sigh and looked off dreamily. "He's wonderful." Lily shared a look with Marlene. This girl was already smitten. "He's got these gorgeous brown eyes that I could just melt in. And his hair is this sandy brown that I want to run my fingers through, it looks so soft. He's got amazing abs. And his arms." Alice gave out a sigh. "I would never feel scared in those." She sighed again, looking wistfully off into the distance. Both Lily and Marlene knew that she was thinking about her boy. Lily gave a slight giggle watching Alice. She was so smitten. "Alice" Lily called out to her friend, bringing out of her reverie. "You've told us all about him, but we don't know who he is." She gave a quick glance over to Marlene. "Or at least, I don't." Alice blushed and looked down at her feet before muttering something. Lily gave a confused look at Marlene who just shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry Alice. I didn't quite catch that. Could you repeat it?" Alice sighed and looked up from her feet, glancing at Lily through her bangs. "His name is Frank Longbottom. He's a fifth year in Gryffindor. He's also the quidditch captain."
Lily looked at Alice in surprise. Frank Longbottom? One of her best friends was currently crushing hard on her tutor. Well, sorta tutor. It was a long story. Alice looked at Lily in confusion. "Lily, do you know Frank?" Oh dear. Lily thought quickly. "Um, well I think I have see him around and definitely have seen him at the quidditch games. Other than that, no. I don't really know him." Alice continued to look at Lily, but with a more suspicious look. Something was up with Lily, but know was not the time to press. "Okay." Lily sighed. Whew! She gave Alice a smile. "So tell me more about this Frank boy."
James sat in the dining hall, a heap of scrambled eggs and greasy bacon before him. He lifted a fork to his mouth, but before he could take a bite, Cynthia had plopped down beside him. He was pleasantly surprised. "James, I've been thinking about quidditch next year. Think I have a chance?" James attempted to hastily swallow his mouthful of eggs. "With a little practice I'd say you have a shot!" Cynthia's mouth curled up into a grin. "Any suggestions for me?" James opened his mouth to offer himself for the position, but became distracted as a flit of red hair passed his table. Cynthia caught the hesitation and followed his eyes to Lily Evans as she sat down a few tables away. "Any suggestions?" she repeated, an edge to her voice. James's attention jolted back to their conversation. "How about we meet every Saturday at noon, on the quidditch pitch." The harshness in her eyes subsided, and she gave a satisfied smile. "Sounds like a deal." Cynthia left the bench to join her friends, and James turned back to his eggs and bacon, feeling a mixture of happiness and confusion. He shrugged his shoulders and continued eating.
James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter left the dining hall in light spirits. They had spent almost the entirety of breakfast discussing the latest defeat of the Falmouth Falcons to the Chudley Cannons, along with their own plans to spend all of summer on their broomsticks. "Did you see the look on that seeker's face when Cannons' beater sent that quaffle straight towards his nose?" Sirius doubled over in laughter. None of them were particularly fond of the Falmouth Falcons, especially Sirius. It was his cousin's favorite team, so he went out of his way to revel in every one of their defeats.
Lily sighed as she left her dorm room. Alice had spent the last hour gushing over Frank Longbottom and Lily had to agree with her. He was quite dashing, though, mainly because of the bond, she wasn't drawn to him in the way that Alice was. That poor girl was smitten. Head over heels in love. She headed down to the common room and, after glancing around to make sure that no one was up, headed out of the common room.
She wasn't quite sure where she was going. All she knew was that she needed some air. She was sure that if any of the professors saw her, they would let her walk around, especially if she used the bond as her excuse. She felt kind of bad at the thought of tricking the professors, but in a sense it was kind of true. She did need to clear her head and walking around the castle seemed to help.
She was wandering down the corridor when she heard voices. Faint ones. She began to panic ever so slightly and quickly ran to hide behind the painting of the fruit, hoping that whoever it was didn't see her feet or the outline of her body through the tapestry. As the voices grew closer, she held her breath. One, to ensure they didn't hear her breathing and two, to see if she could hear better their conversation. (Well, it's not eavesdropping if they don't know about it and it was a side effect of holding her breath so they wouldn't hear her. It's all coincidental.)
"I'm telling you. There was a door up there." She heard a scoff and a chuckle. "Yeah, sure Sirius. And I'm Godric Gryffindor." Sirius?! After learning that it was none other than James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, she held her breath a little harder (if that was even a possibility) and listened harder. "If, there was a door up there, then why didn't we see it when we were just up there?" Huh? A disappearing door? Lily pushed her ear gently into the tapestry (as if that would help her hear their conversation better). "I dunno, James. Maybe it's like the stairs, and it moves, but I'm telling you that there was a door there earlier today." It got quiet for a little bit and she heard the boys shuffle by till they were standing almost right in front of her.
"Hey!" She froze, thinking that had seen her outline through the tapestry or her feet. SHe held her breath and tried to make herself blend in with the wall as best she could, hoping they wouldn't see her. "Look guys, we're by the kitchens." Lily's head shot up and she began to listen more intently. The kitchens? "Anyone fancy a midnight snack?" She heard the sound of rustling fabric and she assumed that they were either shaking or nodding their heads. "James, mate, it's late and after the week that we've had I'd really just like to go to bed. Besides, you've got that stash from your mum under your bed that we still haven't eaten." "Oh, that's right! I had completely forgot. Remus and Peter you okay with not going to the kitchens?" Remus agreed while Peter said no, before quietly muttering in agreement with the rest. She heard the boys laugh. "Ah, Peter. We can always count on you to want to eat. C'mon, I'll let you pick from the stash first." She heard some more laughter as they continued on their way, heading down the corridor.
As they were heading down the corridor, she heard Remus ask Sirius what floor he found the door on. "Oh, it was on the seventh floor, left corridor. It was weird though. It just randomly appeared as I walked by. Wonder what's behind that door?" "Probably a trap door of some sort." She heard James laugh. "Yeah, maybe you'd appear in another world where you have smarts, muscles and are liked by the girls Sirius." The boys dissolved into laughter as they turned the corner and Lily couldn't help but chuckle herself. Poor Sirius. But he did bring it on himself with his constant obsession over his looks, grades (even though he constantly complained about the homework), and how he was with the ladies.
Lily waited for a bit until she was absolutely sure that they were gone before she crept out from behind the tapestry. She turned around and looked at it, realizing how close she had been to being found by the boys. She studied the tapestry for a little while longer before heading down the corridor that the boys came from.
She continued walking down the corridor, up several flights of stairs and through several other corridors before coming face to face with a blank wall. She gave a small smile before she closed her eyes and began to think. When she opened her eyes, a door stood in front of her. She smiled. If only Sirius knew what this room actually was. Oh the trouble those boys would get into. She gave another small chuckle before opening the door and going in, being sure to check that no one was following her. She had just closed the door behind her when a voice called out to her from above.
"Finally! I thought you were never going to get here." She turned around and smiled up to where she assumed the voice came from. "I got a little hung up. Ran into some people in the corridor and had to hide until they left. But I'm here now." The voice gave a laugh. "Would those people happen to be four boys whose voices I heard outside the door just a few moments ago?" Lily laughed again and nodded as the person touched down. "They would be." The person shook his head before mounting his broom and kicking off. He got up a ways before looking back down at Lily.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Grab a broom and get up here. We haven't got all night." Lily shook her head and laughed before getting a broom. "Coming Frank."
So, there's chapter 10. So sorry this took so long. My friend and I have had one hectic first semester of college, but it's done (well, it's been done since December 9th. We've just been relishing in the fact that we can go to bed before 1am…). Anyways, we will try to be better at posting chapters in the future, but can only promise so much seeing as the next semester starts next Monday (we are both so terribly excited *so much sarcasm rn*). Anyways, we love all of you for being so understanding and so patient! Thank you all so much!
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