Lily sat in the first of the three detentions scrubbing an old, gold encrusted cup as she listened to James moan about cleaning. They had been assigned to clean the trophy room, a task harder than it sounded when you considered not only the number of items to be polished, but the fact using magic to do so was prohibited. Whilst James's initial reaction to the various quidditch cups and plaques of honour was highly amusing and somewhat endearing (he treated each quidditch item as if it was some holy object to be respected and worshiped in equal measure), the original enthusiasm quickly wore off, leaving him disgruntled and, worst of all, bored.
"You know, before I came to this school I dreamt about having my name engraved on one of these things," he said, haplessly waving a quidditch shield containing names and positions of a past star team in front of Lily, "I actually dreamt about it. And now I never want to see another one again, even if my name is on it." He said, dramatically sighing before placing the shield down and eying it longingly.
"You know, it would help if you actually cleaned it James," Lily remarked, putting the trophy she had been polishing back on its shelf before picking up an old and somewhat fragile medal dated from 1806.
"I know Lily," James sighed, unmoving, eyes permanently fixed on the quidditch shield, "but it's just so hard. I mean, I dreamt about this thing- dreamt about it. And all it amounts to is some dirty, flimsy piece of wood-"
"I wouldn't exactly describe wood as 'flimsy'."
"-and tacky bits of silver in the shape of shields."
"Again, silver- tacky? Your use of adjectives is rather disconcerting James."
James playfully threw her an angry look, "Lily! You keep interrupting my dramatic monologue, making it much less dramatic, making it more into a monologue than a dramatic monologue, ruining it entirely."
Lily laughed, rolling her eyes as James rambled on, complaining further about the idea of cleaning.
"I mean, really, why should we clean? That's what house elves are for, and if a wizard really had to clean something then all he would have to do is wave his wand and, boom! Everything would be sorted-"
"House elves?" asked Lily, creasing her brow in confusion as she cut through James's rant.
"Yeah, you know, house elves."
Lily continued to look at James confused. "Well I obviously don't."
"Little creatures with big, pointy ears and big eyes that help out around the house? I know not every wizarding family has them but how don't you know what they are, I thought every witch or wizard did?"
"Well, my parents aren't witches or wizards so I don't." Lily said slightly defensively, hands crossed over her chest.
"Wow, I knew something that Lily Evans didn't" James said smugly.
"Yeah, don't get used to it," She laughed, "Colin Jackson leant me a book called 'Hogwarts, a History' and it's got everything in it, so I will quickly catch you up."
"Yeah, that sounds really interesting," James said sarcastically, remembering the brick of the book he often saw on Colin's bedside table.
"It is," Lily said insistently, "really you should read it James, I liked it so much that I ordered my own copy- you could borrow it if you like."
James had no intention on even attempting to read the large book, but there was something about the way Lily looked at him with her deep, green eyes (or, indeed, just something about Lily) that instead made him instead say, "I would love to," without even a hint of sarcasm, causing a smile to spread across the young witches face.
"I promise you will love it," she said, hurriedly diving into her bag before extracting the large, bound book with the words 'Hogwarts, a History' etched on the cover in gold, italic writing.
"You carry this around with you?" James asked as he took the heavy book, buckling under the weight before dropping it into his own bag. Lily blushed.
"I like reading."
James raised his eyebrows but said nothing, turning instead to the previously abandoned quidditch shield and, for the first time that evening, contemplated polishing it. He took out the cloth and began to wipe it slowly across the little silver shields bearing past players names.
"Lily?"
"Yes James."
"What is actually going to stop us using magic to clean everything?"
Lily looked up, "Well, I guess nothing apart from the fact that we haven't been taught the spell yet. I think for the older students Filch would keep watch or a spell would be cast to stop other spells being used or something, but I don't imagine that that would be in place all of the time, it would be too impractical," She mused, "if you want we could check 'Hogwarts, a History', I'm sure it would say somewhere in there."
"No, no it's fine," James said, a small smile flickering over his face as he returned to scrubbing the quidditch shield.
"Why did you ask?" Lily said suspiciously, noting the change in James's demeanour.
"Nothing, nothing," he said in a sing song voice, giving Lily a teasing smile, "it's just, well, Remus might have taught me the cleaning spell."
"James, that cheating!"
"Cheating? I don't think it quite comes under that category. Besides, it's not like we should even really be here, we were just sticking up for Remus, we don't deserve this."
Lily sighed, a conflicted expression cast across her face.
"Come on Lily," James whined, "we won't do it all now, just each item individually so it will still take some effort and we will still have to stay here so we're still giving up our time."
"Fine," Lily sighed, defeated. James gave her a broad grin before taking his wand out of his robes and pointing it towards the quidditch shield,
"Scourgify," he whispered, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Both first years beamed as the previously dirty shield that had been covered in fingerprints was rendered clean, giving off a spotless shine.
"Perfect," James said, standing back to admire his handiwork before beginning to sort through the other items, cleaning them in a similar fashion. He was just over a quarter of the way through when Lily stopped him, saying it would be too suspicious if they cleaned too much on the first detention.
"Ooh get you, Lily Evans, mastermind on how to break rules and not get caught," James laughed, but stopped cleaning never the less, sitting himself down on the floor opposite Lily. "So, we have got thirty minutes to kill" he said, checking his watch with a sigh.
"Hey, I'm not that bad company," Lily laughed, giving James a playful shove.
"No, you're not," He agreed, causing Lily to blush a shade of light pink and her lips to curve into a small smile.
"So…" she said, awkwardly looking around the room.
"So..." James repeated, leaving another awkward silence.
"I guess I really am bad company."
"No, you're not, you're very interesting, I keep finding new things out about you."
"Like what?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows suspiciously.
"Well, today I have learnt that you are a muggleborn and that you like to read books." James said, almost proud of having extracted this level of information from the young redhead.
Lily laughed, "I thought that was already obvious."
"Nope, not to me anyway. I mean, unless I'm missing the book constantly clutched in your hand, to the point it seems attached to you, or a giant, neon sign flashing 'muggleborn' on your forehead, how would it be obvious?" James asked bemused, remembering something his older cousin had said about witches expecting you to be a mind reader.
"Well, I am able to answer most of the questions asked in class, suggesting I read a lot, yet don't know basic things about wizarding society, suggesting I'm muggle born. I mean, only this morning I discovered that there is a Ministry of Magic."
"That means nothing," James said quickly, "I'm a pureblood and, until five seconds ago, I thought that the Ministry of Magic was an up and coming indie rock band, and I don't read despite the fact that I could easily answer any question in class."
"Arrogant much?" Lily asked lightly.
"Seriously though Lily, although I could kind of guess the bookworm thing, I would never have thought you were muggleborn, especially considering you sat with Snape on the train journey here." James said, not noticing the slight change in the way Lily looked at him.
"And what would Severus and I being friends have to do with me being a muggleborn?" She asked voice higher than it had been previously during the conversation.
"Well he's a Slytherin."
"So what?" Lily asked, arms crossed across her chest defensively.
"What do you mean 'so what'? I know your muggleborn and all but everyone knows what Slytherins are like. They are ambitious, proud idiots who value blood 'purity' above all else. And, no offence as it matters in no way shape or form to an ordinary, normal person, but they don't think your blood type is exactly the 'cleanest'." James spat, disgusted at even voicing this.
"Just because a few are like that doesn't mean everyone is, you shouldn't generalise people Potter."
James flinched at the reuse of his surname, bitterly retorting "actually, in the case of the Slytherins it more or less does."
"Please," Lily said, "not all Slytherins believe in blood purity or whatever you called it, just the same way that all Gryffindors aren't brave."
"Don't talk about Gryffindor like that," James said, aghast at the blasphemous words Lily had uttered.
"Well it's true," Lily said simply, trying to regain control of her voice, "Not all Gryffindors are brave."
"Yes they are!" James argued, his hazel eyes flashing dangerously in a way that mirrored Lily's green ones.
"Really? So if an evil dark wizard was to burst into this room would you honestly try and fight them, bearing in mind that you are only in first year?" She asked patronisingly.
"Yes, I would stay and fight them," James responded without as much as a hesitation.
Lily snorted, "Don't be silly Potter, you wouldn't stand a chance, if it were to actually happen you would run and hide and do the sensible thing."
"No I wouldn't, I would do the brave, noble and Gryffindor thing of staying to fight."
"Well that's stupid."
"No it isn't."
"Yes it is." Lily retorted, hand on her hip.
"I know I would probably end up dead, but if any average adult wizard was facing a truly powerful dark one then their knowledge of magic would be about as much use as mine, i.e. not a lot."
"So, that doesn't mean that you should stay and fight anymore than they should." Lily said as she angrily flicked a strand of red hair over her shoulder, caught up in the petty argument, "what would be the point in that, they would kill you immediately?"
"Yes, but it would give you enough time to run away." James said, blushing slightly, hastily adding, "So you could then go and alert the rest of the school."
Lily, caught off guard by the sweetness in what James had just said, especially considering the fact that they were in the middle of a raging argument, opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish before finally managing to say, "Well, you wouldn't actually do that."
"Yes I would," James said firmly, "because I'm a Gryffindor."Lily rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh.
"Look Lily, I promise you that if at any point in time an evil, dark wizard enters the room I will run in front of you and fight them- if you really want I would be perfectly happy to make an unbreakable vow with you right now," James said earnestly. Lily looked at him in silence for a moment, studying the dark haired boys hazel eyes, not sure whether to take him seriously or not.
"Don't be silly James," she said quietly, "and even if you would it wouldn't be because you're a Gryffindor, it would be because you're, well, you." She gave him a small smile.
"Same thing Lily; we're in Gryffindor because of who we are. The same way Snape is in Slytherin because of who he is."
"Severus is not a bad person." Lily said, a stiffness re-entering her voice.
"I never said that," James responded, implying that, despite never having actually voiced it, this was indeed what he thought, "I simply said I was surprised that he was friends with a- with you." James said, stumbling over his words in embarrassment.
"You know what Potter, you're the only person who seems to have a problem with me being a muggleborn, are you sure that you yourself aren't a blood purist."
"What?!" James yelped, "no, Lily, not at all. I would never, ever, ever think like that."
"Then why are you saying I can't be friends with someone because of my lack of magical ancestors?" Lily asked, eyebrows arched high above their normal position in a looked that mimicked McGonagall's fiercest.
"Lily, that wasn't what I was saying," James squirmed, "I was simply saying that Snape holds those views and therefore I was surprised he would be friends with you."
"Severus does not hold those views." Lily said firmly.
James looked at her pityingly before slowly saying, in a kind, calm voice, "Lily, as much as you want to believe that, it's not true, just a few hours ago I saw him-"
"Severus does not hold those views." Lily repeated, cutting James off quickly.
"Lily, just listen to me-" but James was interrupted again, this time however by Argus Filch, the caretaker, opening the door, causing the trophy room to go unbearably quiet as Lily and James froze, mid argument.
"You're free to go." He sniffed before exiting immediately, mumbling something about how if he had his way he would string them up by their toenails overnight.
"Lily," James continued, but the girl immediately gathered up her things and stormed out of the room without so much as a 'goodbye Potter'.
James cursed himself for even bringing up the subject, but he was right. The image of Margo's immobile body was still fresh in his mind and, whilst the girl was now perfectly alright, what Snape and the others had done, simply because she was muggleborn, was still just as disgusting. And the fact that Lily was accusing him of harbouring similar views… The idea made him sick. Whilst he wasn't planning on apologising for what he had said about that slimy Slytherin friend of hers - he had, after all, been right - he thought he should at least make it clear that he had no prejudices against muggleborns or half bloods. He quickly exited the trophy room and hurried towards the Gryffindor common room, hoping to find the small red head and make it up to her.
AN: not a brilliant chapter I know.. sorry about that :/ I've kind of only just realised that not bothering planning anything in advance might not be a good idea and might lead to this story becoming boring (be honest, is this story becoming a bit boring?) so yeah, sorry again :/ I will try and think of an actual plot, but for now this story is just going where it wants to (something I'm not quite sure is a good idea as I'm on chapter 27 and I think they're still only in the first few weeks of school) also I'm worried that I'm leaving loads of loose ends all over the place as technically everything in their dormitory is still glued to the ceiling (again, despite the number of chapters in between that happening and this happening it is actually still the same day) so yeah, I think this story might be falling apart :/ but never fear as I am going to do my best to continue with it and I'm hoping that this is just a phase of self doubt opposed to the reality that my story dosn't work. What I might have to do is go through and eddit it and combine loads of chapters together, but then that would mean that you won't be able to leave any signed reviews until I get back up to this number of chapters, something I don't want to happen as your encouragement and advice is invaluably helpful (I'm not just saying that, I honestly mean it and don't think that this story would have ever reached this point without you lovely, lovely (and undoubtedly sexy) people). So yeah, I'm in a bit of a muddle :/ sorry :/ if you have any advice on how to make this chapter/story better then please leave it, no matter how harsh it sounds (if you're worried about me then judging your storys/calling you a hypocrite/hunting you down and brutally murdering you (none of which I will do) just leave an anonymous review) thank you so so much for reading my story, and a special thankyou to you if you review, favourite or add it to your alerts as it means so so much :)
sorry for being slightly negative
~millie-mae :)
Princess Juliet Rose 7/16/12 . chapter 26
Hi I Love this story! It appears you have posted chapter 26 twice. :) Great story, Keep up the fantastic work!
thank you so so much :) and also thank you for telling me that, although I've checked and don't think I have? is there still two chapters for chapter 26 up for you? If there is please tell me and I will try and sort it out (although I'm not sure how I would go about doing that as I can't see two versions- any suggestions?) :) thanks again :)
Anon 7/12/12 . chapter 11
I thought this was canon? Remus has a brother...?
Anyways, I'm a bit confused, but I still enjoy reading this. /reads on
yeahh... ok, basically it is more or less canon, however I'm not sticking to it ridgedly so whilst JKR has never said Remus has a brother, she also hasn't (as far as I'm aware) ever made it clear that he's an only child so I'm yeah, just jumping in and going with it :/ sorry, I know it's not strictly cannon but it more or less will be :) sorry for the confustion :S
Bayba 7/12/12 . chapter 26
Great story! Please continue (:
thankyou! and I will :)
Guest 7/11/12 . chapter 26
TrolOlolololol
:)
Guest 7/11/12 . chapter 26
I hope that Cruel, Unfair Herbology teacher gets what he deserves!
He is worse than Snape and maybe even Umbridge (I don't remember how to spell her name)!
LOL, another great chapter and I can't wait for more :)
Always on the lookout for your next update!
ukie-girl
pahah :) thanks I guess and yeah that's how you spell it :) and thank you so so much :) your reviews mean a lot to me :)
Dndchk 7/11/12 . chapter 26
YES! YOU UPDATED!
Short chapter, but still lovers it! Fire Klumpp and get sprout!
Chapter 19 is up, btw.
May your plot bunnies flourish!
yeah :) haha :P and thank you :) but yeah, the plot bunnies seem rather non existant at the moment :S