Once Upon a Time
A/N:
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Chapter 12: Poor Ickle Wittle Slytherin
James exhaled as quietly as he could, feeling his heart beating so rapidly against his chest that he felt it would jump out any random moment. Sirius brushed stealthily past him, startling him.
"Calm down, James. Honestly, you'd think we were doing something totally wicked, evil, and against the rules..." Sirius stopped, noting James's nodding head. "Well...anyways...Lily deserves it, remember?"
James pressed his lips together and responded by tightening his grip on the vial of purple liquid. "Let's go. First year dorms...Let's try this staircase."
Sirius tapped his foot impatiently and sighed in an obviously exaggerated manner before throwing his head back and pointing to a sign sloppily nailed onto the wall next to the staircase James was referring to. "Helloooo in there!"
James tilted his head back slightly, his face turning a light shade of crimson. "Fourth year boy's dorms," he read, squinting at the messy writing. "Oops. Guess we'd better try that one."
Sirius rolled his eyes as he pushed James out of his path. "Yeah, maybe the one marked 'First Year Boy's Dorms just might happen to be where he is."
James only smiled innocently back at his friend, further infuriating him. Letting out a loud growl, Sirius lunged at James, knocking him into a nearby armchair.
Silence.
"Er...Sirius?" James tried tentatively, breaking the stillness. He was lying flat out on the armchair, legs spread-eagled, with Sirius on top of him in a very inconvenient position.
"Hmm?" Sirius looked up, eyes glimmering.
"Do you mind—" James continued calmly. "GETTING THE HECK OFF ME????" With that, he shoved Sirius off his stomach and stood up.
Both boys then began dusting themselves off vigorously, and all that could be heard for the next couple seconds were clothes being slapped at again and again.
Finally, feeling considerably cleaner of what James thought of as 'Sirius-germs', he headed up the first year staircase, hearing Sirius plod heavily behind him.
"How should we do this?" Sirius asked as they emerged into the dormitory, which smelled strongly of sweat and socks.
"We'll just slip a few drops into his mouth—" James was cut off abruptly by a large, overpowering, and very sudden snore that emitted from behind on of the curtained beds.
"I'm guessing that's him," Sirius said good-naturedly, striding over to where the snore had come from. Drawing aside the curtain, he discovered it wasn't.
One by one, they began working down the line of beds, pulling the curtains swiftly aside.
"Oi! James! Over here," Sirius hissed roughly upon reaching the last bed in his row. He held the curtain aside and stared at the hook-nosed Slytherin boy in disgust. "And woe betide anyone who sees his face."
Rolling his eyes, James hurried over, careful not to spill any of the precious potion. His nose wrinkled in distaste as he leaned over the peaceful, slumbering first year, who was currently curled up in a tight ball, sharp nose pointing up, with a trickle of drool oozing out the corner of his mouth.
"Aww...ickle unnamed firstie needs the dwool wiped of his wittle mouth!" Sirius muttered scathingly under his breath as James poured the potion into the boy's mouth.
Shooting a death glare at Sirius (who was currently making comical faces in front of the Slytherin), James emptied the last of the potion into the boy's mouth, disgustedly wiped the stray drops clean with the edges of his pajamas, and motioning urgently at Sirius.
"Come on!"
Sirius immediately let go of the curtains, which gradually fell back into place after swinging back and forth for a few seconds, causing another large grunt to fill the room.
"Let's get out of here," James said in disrelish as he slid precariously down the stair-rail, Sirius close behind him.
Then, their deed done, they headed contentedly back to their own dorms, eager to see the potion take effect the following morning.
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Lily woke up the next morning to the gentle snores from her roommates and the cool breezes rushing in from an open window next to her bed. Yawning and trying her best to feign off sleep, she disentangled herself from her tangled bedcovers and set her feet firmly on the plush carpet floor. She padded unsteadily towards the bathroom, where she hastily took out her toothbrush and began to vigorously brush her teeth. Spitting, she turned on the water tap, rinsed her mouth, and splashed some of the deliciously cool water on her face.
After successfully waking herself up, Lily sauntered casually back to her trunk and slipped into a pair of clean, ironed robes before sitting herself down on a nearby chair to await the awakening of her roommates.
As she sat there picking impatiently at her nails, her mind began drifting over the past few action-packed weeks.
She had, she admitted reluctantly to herself, been a bit rude to James and Sirius, but that couldn't be helped, could it? They were simply asking for more, with their behavior. Grinning, Lily pictured James's shocked face when he had turned into a pudding lump.
"Well, he is kind of cute," she said defensively to no-one in particular. Her voice sounded strangely loud in the quiet room, so she shut her mouth immediately. She frowned slightly her mind began whirring slightly—this James Potter...why did he look so familiar to her? She cast her mind wildly on various memories before her eyes lit up extravagantly. She had been ten years old at the time, and bumped into him at a Muggle bus stop.
Lily sighed, tracing the pattern of her quilt with her index finger. He had been cute even then, she recalled as she straightened up abruptly against the wall. His smile, his glimmering eyes, his tousled black hair... Lily sat in her trance for quite a while before she was roughly jerked out by a stampede to be the first to the bathroom ( her roommates had just waken up).
"I should apologize for what I did to him earlier this year," she whispered to herself, wondering why she didn't apologize sooner. "Yeah...at breakfast later, I'll find him..."
With that, she stood up and hollered for her best friend, Cynthia Longbottom, to get a move on.
***********
"Oh, that git over there? He's Severus Snape—awful chap if I ever met one." Two of their newer acquaintainces, Remus Lupin answered the twosome's question as Charlie Figg stared at the oily Slytherin in disgust.
"Snape...sounds like he deserves his upcoming humiliation," Sirius grinned slyly, eyes trained on Snape.
"So does Lily," James responded, his eyes trained on the large double doors, looking for any sign of a redhead. Only a few moments later, Lily entered the Great Hall, with one of her friends by her side, busily chatting.
Sitting by his side at the breakfast table, Sirius let out a tremendous guffaw as Snape suddenly arose from his seat and began stalking flat-footed towards Lily, who had frozen on the spot, bewildered eyes following his progress.
"Look at him!" James said hysterically, pointing. Snape was walking like a crippled man on a mission—stoop shouldered, feet turned in, and lower jaw jutting out like a gorilla.
By now, most people in the Great Hall had turned in interest to watch the scene. Even the teachers seemed to be watching out of the corner of their eyes while pretending to ignore it all.
Snape stopped inches in front of Lily's startled face (nearly running her over), and made began grunting in a low, unintelligible voice.
"Er..." Lily said unsurely, her eyes casting about wildly before landing on the two troublemakers, who were laughing and poking each other. "James...Sirius..." She muttered between clenched teeth. She quickly pasted a sweet smile on her face and turned back at the greasy-haired boy in front of her. "Pray tell, what do you WANT?" she said, finally losing control and shrieking the last word.
"Lily, I love you. Will you marry me?" Snape bent down on one knee, holding out a slightly flattened cream puff on his filthy, outstretched palm, as if offering a large diamond ring.
Lily's eyes narrowed in hatred as she watched James double over as a fresh wave of laughter hit him.
She let out a breath before riveting her gaze once more to Snape.
"Um...I really don't think so," Lily answered finally, as no witty remarks came to mind. "Why don't you try that bloke over there? You know, the ugly one with glasses and messy hair." She pointed.
James's head shot up at the reference to him. "Oh, no, Lily...I couldn't possibly take that honor from you." He ducked under the table for a few seconds before surfacing again, his face beet red from laughing. "Being the gentleman I am, I'll let you go ahead."
Bloody idiot,
Lily thought angrily, hands balled up into tight fists. This is going to be a loooonnngg day. I wonder how long this'll last?A/N: If you got all the way down here, please review.
