Chapter Eleven
Swimming…well…sort of.
It never ceased to amaze Lily how fast time went at Hogwarts, it was always such a good time that she never noticed how the months would slip by. Other than the minor annoyance that was James Potter she could hardly complain about the new life she had found there. She didn't write home anymore and they didn't write to her, not that Lily had been expecting Petunia to keep up correspondence anyway. She had hoped that perhaps her mother might but she had left that hope behind by this point.
Lily could think of a million reasons she loved Hogwarts of the top of her head.
She had found a new friend in Remus lately, they would study together in the library sometimes if Remus couldn't be bothered trying to get James, Sirius and Peter to do their homework and when Lily's friends could not be found. Remus was enjoying his second year much more than his first, not so much lying, not as much anxiety eating him up inside. He was still keeping his lycanthropy a secret from his friends but he knew when he was with Lily that he didn't have to hide anything. Since the revelation that she knew, he had told her a lot of things about it. How agonising the transformations were and how Professor Dumbledore had treated him as if he was any other student when his parents approached him about allowing Remus to be schooled at Hogwarts.
Lily knew that the Whomping Willow had been a new addition for their first year but she hadn't realised why.
Remus said that every month before his transformations a teacher of Madam Pomfrey would escort him out of the castle across the grounds out to the Whomping Willow where there was a secret tunnel to a house near Hogsmeade Village. Hogsmeade was the all wizarding town close by the school.
Lily was quite supportive, her friends noticed that she and Remus had become good friends, they were glad, in fact they wanted to get to know him better as well. This is how, one Saturday afternoon, the three girls and Remus came to be sitting outside by the lake, it was late October and oddly sunny outside. The girls had decided to take this opportunity to go and sit by the lake because they wouldn't have many fine days like this left and often it was when they were sitting inside a classroom, looking longingly out of the windows.
Remus had decided to join them, glad to be included. He could never have hoped to make so many friends when he left his home on September 1st a little over a year before.
"Lil, how is your note taking in magical history?" Maggie asked, trying to be nonchalant. Lily laughed loudly,
"Subtle Mags," she said pulling out a thick stack of paper from her bag. She divided them, "I made a copy for you," she handed one copy to Mags, "and one for you and one for you." She gave one to both Mary and to Remus.
Remus looked surprised, "Why…" he stretched the word out, adding syllables because of his confusion.
"Oh please, Remus, I know you study a lot but the drool is a dead give away in class that you are actually sleeping, just like the rest of the class."
Remus grinned, "Colour coding and footnotes," he said, chuckling, "How professional."
Lily narrows her eyes, "I could always take it back." She said.
Remus clutched it firmly in his hands, "No, no, they were a gift." He said. Just as his hands relaxed their tight grip it was pulled from his fingers by somebody from above.
"Hey Remus." James Potter said sitting down beside him, "We saw you from the common room." He said in explanation.
Sirius sat on his other side and Peter stood, awkwardly hovering. Maggie and Mary both eyed Lily to see her reaction to their uninvited guest.
"Ditching us now are you?" Sirius asked eyeing the girls.
"Nope, just branching out, making friends, you might want to try it." Remus said.
"OK then," he leant over to his left sticking a hand in front of Maggie. "I'm Sirius."
"About what?" Maggie asked. Sirius withdrew his hand, "Funny, funny, and your name is?"
"Maggie Bell." She said tucking her hair behind her ears to keep it from blowing into her eyes.
Sirius eyed Mary who quietly added, "Mary MacDonald."
Lily laughed without humour, "You sat with us on the train, did you not know any of us?" She asked him.
"Of course we knew you Lily Evans, from our various encounters last year but I'm afraid the others names did slip my mind over the holidays." Sirius admitted with a shrug.
James nodded, "See your hair is just so red it is impossible to forget you and your temper."
Wary glances were exchanged. Lily sprang to her feet, wanting to make a dramatic exit but before she could get her bag, she caught her foot on a plant at the waters edge and, well. I think we could all have guessed what happened next. The splash was quite impressive as Lily disappeared beneath the water. Mary and Maggie jumped up, James and Sirius began laughing uncontrollably, leaning on either side of Remus for support so as to not fall over.
Lily's head popped up out of the water. Coughing and spluttering, she tried to gain footing in the shallow end of the lake's floor. She pushed herself up. A cool breeze swept by them and she began to shiver.
"Nice one Evans." James commented through laughing fits.
Lily didn't hear him as she grabbed her bag and legged it up the slope of grass to the castle.
Mary and Maggie stood still, exchanging looks, suppressing smiles as they followed her up the slope.
Remus groaned, "Why do you always have to do that?!"
"She just makes it so easy." James said shrugging, "It's the temptation."
Sirius looked thoughtful, "Do you think if we died her hair, she'd have such a bad temper."
James's eyes lit up, "Interesting question Sirius, interesting question."
Sirius grinned menacingly, "If you will excuse us gentlemen, Jamsie and I have some planning to do."
Remus groaned again as his two friends ascended the slope that moments before a soaking wet Lily Evans had.
Peter sat beside Remus who still held the notes that had been given to him.
Lily had changed out of her clothes and into her pyjamas by the time Mary and Maggie got back to their room, she wore her thick winter pyjamas and was sipping something that looked like hot chocolate. Her soaking wet hair had been pulled up out of her eyes and piled on the top of her head. It was the middle of the afternoon still.
"Hey Lil." Mary said softly.
Lily remained straight faced, as the two girls sat on either side of her bed.
"You OK?" Maggie asked.
"I'm fine." Lily said, she didn't sound it. "I think I might have gotten a cold."
"Potter's an idiot you know that, right?" Maggie asked.
"Of course," she said, in reality she was nursing her wounded pride.
"Well then, are you going to change and come down for dinner?" Mary asked happily.
"No, I'm not hungry, you guys go, I'll see you when you get back." She said trying to smile.
Sometimes she wished she didn't have such a bad temper, or that she wasn't so proud at times. Especially on that afternoon in October.
"Is there a charm or something that could do it, because I think Evans might notice us holding her head over a sink." James said.
Sirius laughed, "If there is one, we will find it before tomorrow."
"True enough." James said. "So, do we stake out the common room all morning or can we find a way into the girl's dormitories?"
"No, the founders considered boys untrustworthy, if we try to climb the stairs, it turns into a slide."
"How do you know that?"
"My cousin told me."
"Oh right, well, I thinks staking out the common room is probably our only option then."
"Yeah, do you think we could get Peter to do it?"
"Yeah, I think so. What if we wake up later than her and she isn't there?"
"I'd say go to the library and hide behind a bookcase until she turns up there."
"Oh yeah, sorry, wasn't thinking."
"Do you think Remus will help us look?"
"No, they're friends now, he would probably warn her rather than help us."
"Damn him and his friendly nature!" Sirius shouted with fake passion.
James elbowed Sirius, "Ha, ha, ha, very funny. I'd better find a way to do this if you want to go have some dinner."
"Oh you're just always thinking of me." Sirius said holding his hands over his heart, "I'll be back soon." He clapped James on the back as he passed and disappeared out the door and down the stairs.
James sighed, grabbed a couple of the books they'd gotten from the library that afternoon and took them down the stairs to the common room where he sat in one of the big overstuffed armchairs in front of the fire.
The weather outside was disappointing; it signalled the turning of the weather that year, the sun was seen rarely after that. The rain pattered down on the windows with dull thudding sounds.
"I think she's just upset." James heard Mary MacDonald say.
"Well I suppose and she hasn't heard from her family since she got back to school." Maggie added.
"Yes, well maybe she'll feel better tomorrow, she could just be embarrassed, I know I wouldn't like to humiliate myself in front of James Potter, he'll never let it go." Mary said as they climbed out of the portrait hole.
Suddenly James felt bad about what he and his best mate were up to, he quickly pushed that thought aside and continued thumbing through the pages of yet another thick volume.
Pilos – Dyes the hair, add additional colour to complete spell.
So, pick a colour, any colour.
