His Greatest Wish, by AndromedaMarine
Langlock
"Oh no," Lily whispered as she ducked behind Sev and gripped his arm with an iron strength. "Don't move, or he'll see me," she muttered.
Sev looked over and down at her. "Who are you talking about?"
"Oh, I didn't think to tell you—before we went home for Christmas holiday James asked me out, three times."
Sev felt as though his heart wouldn't start beating again. "He—he what?" he asked, his voice slightly strained.
She glared at him. "Don't make me say it again, Sev. He asked me to go with him to Hogsmeade during the last weekend before holidays, and twice more after that."
"And what did you say?" he replied, still staring at her.
"Well obviously I said no, as I went with you and Rem."
He swallowed, a little relieved. "And what about the other two?"
Lily smacked his arm, still hiding. "Do you really think I'd be interested in that stuck up toerag?"
Sev breathed a sigh of relief. "No, I don't."
It was their first full day back at Hogwarts after Christmas holidays and Sev's fourteenth birthday was the next Wednesday. What Lily said about Hogsmeade was true: she, Sev, and Remus had all gone to Hogsmeade together. The Circle would have gone as a group but Peter was severely atrocious in potions despite all the help from his friends, and was taking remedial lessons with Slughorn. That left Alice to go with Frank and Sirius. Since Regulus was still a second year, he wasn't yet able to attend. Mrs. Longbottom had signed the permission form for Sirius. They all shopped together for half the trip, met at the Three Broomsticks, and traded groups to shop for the others.
It had happened in the corridor between Charms and Defense. Lily's bag ripped and she told Sev and the others to go on without her, she could catch up. Sev wasn't so sure, but he went anyways, and wasn't happy about it. James, however, who had followed them out, wouldn't listen, and wouldn't return a book he'd picked up off the stone floor until she listened to what he had to say.
"So, Evans, want to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" he'd said, positively sure of himself. Lily saw the Prewett twins and the Diggory brothers watching them out of the corner of her eye.
Lily stared at James, her eyes narrowing. "Why on earth would I want to go to Hogsmeade with you, Potter?" she asked, a little scandalized.
"Well, we work well together on the Quidditch team, so I just thought—"
Lily cut him off. "No, apparently, you didn't, Potter, or you'd know that we only put up with you on the Quidditch team because you happen to be a better flier than everyone else who tried out for left Chaser. Unfortunately in your case your ego is more massive than your skill."
James ignored her tone and grinned instead. "Was that a compliment, Evans?"
Merlin, Lily thought, when did he become so egotistical? Oh wait—he's always been like this. "Sod off, Potter," she stated, staring him in the eyes, her features immobile. She stepped around him, seized her book from his hands, and stalked off down the corridor towards Defense.
He'd asked her again after Hogsmeade and again right before vacation, but this one was 'open ended' for when spring term started. She'd rejected him then, too.
She wasn't entirely sure she'd fended him off for good, because now, as she hid behind Sev, she could still see James walking towards them down the corridor. James was still too far away to say anything to Sev, but the Prewetts were with him and his attention was distracted for the moment. Lily took the opportunity to dive behind a tapestry.
"Say, Severus," James said as he approached, "Seen Evans anywhere? I thought I saw her when we got off the train yesterday, but I must've lost her."
Lost her indeed, Sev thought to himself with an inward sneer. "Of course I've seen her, Potter."
Lily bit her lip, wondering if Sev would out her.
"Great," James said in an obviously brightened voice, "where is she then? I want to ask her something."
Sev's left eyebrow went up. "You seem to be under the impression that I'm willing to subject my best friend to more of your unwanted proposals."
"Hey, why do you think they're unwanted? For all you know she's just playing hard-to-get."
Sev had to forcibly keep himself from punching his fellow Gryffindor on principle alone. "If the lady says 'no,' I suggest you back off. Seeing as she's said 'no' to you three times, I believe you have already asked two times too many."
Lily smiled when she heard Sev refer to her as 'the lady.'
James glared at Sev. "You're just jealous—"
"Of you?" Sev scoffed. "Hardly. Why would I be jealous of you?" The question was rhetorical, but Sev knew James would try to answer it anyway. That was part of the amusement.
"Well for one, I'm a better flier," James stated, his chest puffing out a little.
"And this has to do with Lily…how?" Sev was fighting back a laugh as he watched James Potter make a fool of himself.
Behind the tapestry, Lily was now biting down on her fist to keep from making any noises of mirth as she overheard Severus rip into James in her defense.
"Everyone knows girls go for the Quidditch players."
"You seem to have overlooked the fact that both I and the Prewetts are also Quidditch players, Potter, and so is Sirius since he made Seeker this year. If I'm not mistaken, of the twenty eight Quidditch players at Hogwarts, I daresay half are male. Do you consider yourself the only contender?"
Lily stopped laughing.
"You think you're competition?" James asked incredulously. "What girl would go for you?"
Sev smirked. "Again, I think you have failed to notice that Lily and I have been best friends for almost five years." He was acutely aware that he'd stepped onto dangerous grounds, talking about Lily while knowing she stood barely three feet to his side.
"No, I've noticed," James replied, eyeing his opponent. "I just didn't know until now that you have her on a leash."
Sev bridled at the insult and his wand was in his hand before he even knew the command had left his brain. Lily leapt out from behind the tapestry, forced Sev's hand down to his side and made a rude hand gesture in James's direction as she dragged Sev down the corridor. Once they were a safe distance away she shoved Sev into an empty classroom and closed the door, locking Sev on the inside with her out in the corridor. She walked swiftly back to where James, Gideon, and Fabian stood, still a little shocked.
"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid. While I don't know if any words I say can stop your foul mouth from ever speaking to me or Sev again, I can try! Lectiolanglock!"
Because James hadn't been expecting Lily to cast a spell, he didn't lift a shield, and it hit him with full force. He stared, but when he tried to say something to her, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. Lily smiled, satisfied. James turned to Gideon.
"What did she do?" he asked, surprised when he could hear himself speak. He turned back to Lily, but when he opened his mouth, his tongue stuck itself back to the roof of his mouth. He realized the effect of Lily's spell, and glared at her.
When Lily turned around she saw Sev standing several feet away, doubled over in laughter at what Lily had done to James Potter.
News of the spell was common knowledge by dinner.
Ever since before Christmas, Sev had never felt more at ease. The four Horcruxes were destroyed, Voldemort was on the run and seriously lacking support beyond the Death Eaters who had escaped Grimmauld with him, and it seemed like Sev had so much less to worry about—except, that is, for Potter's none-too-subtle advances on Lily.
Lily, however, couldn't stop thinking about what James had said to Sev while she hid behind the tapestry. Sev? Competition? Lily decided to talk to Alice, seeing as she was in no way equipped to answer this herself. Halfway into February she told her only girlfriend they needed to talk.
They talked inside the Room of Requirement for a while before Lily actually brought it up.
Alice responded, "I think he likes you."
Lily was rendered speechless, even though she suspected something like this would come up. She swallowed.
"You can't deny it, Lily," Alice said to her softly. "How long have you been best friends? Five years, right? Maybe a little more?" Lily nodded numbly. "And you've never seen it...the way he's always looked at you?"
Lily's eyes snapped up to meet Alice's. "How do you mean?" she asked with a mixture of curiosity and fear.
Alice began to shake her head as she talked, as if she couldn't believe it herself. "Every time I see him with his eyes trained on you...he's transfixed, Lily! He looks at you as though he's afraid he'll do something to make you stop liking him. He's in love with you, Lily."
Lily actually snorted. "You can't be serious!"
"Trust me, Lil. Sev's in love with you."
"How can you be so sure?" Lily asked, her voice suddenly quiet.
It took Alice a moment to answer. "Because I look at Frank the same way, and Molly and Arthur look at each other that way too. But ever since first year—I can't remember ever seeing him not in love with you."
Lily held up her hand, stopping the flow of Alice's words. "Please...stop. I—I can't imagine..." she trailed off, second-guessing what she had planned to say. I can't imagine being in love with Sev. But she had imagined it. Ever since the day before they first came to Hogwarts, she knew, deep down, the moment he'd embraced her with every ounce of him.
"But you can...can't you," Alice said for her. "And you have. I know what I've seen, I'm not blind. And I've seen that it hurts him that he hasn't said anything yet. I think you both are too afraid to do anything."
Lily's temper flared momentarily. "I'm not afraid of anything!"
Alice unflinchingly kept her gaze. "I know you, Lily. You're not afraid of the traditional things, like spiders or darkness or small, enclosed spaces. But you're afraid that somehow you'll lose him. If you want to take my advice, tell him what you feel, or at least make it easy for him to say something. Give him an opening and let him...work his magic." She ended with a smile.
"Somehow I don't think he'll even do or say anything until after summer, because I made him promise to tell me whatever it is he's been keeping from us all," Lily reasoned. "Somehow…what he's been so occupied with seems more important."
"Maybe this is what he's going to tell you!" Alice thought out loud. "That he's in love with you!"
Lily shook her head. "From how he goes on about it, it doesn't sound like that. I—I'm not sure. I don't really know what to expect when he tells me."
Alice's brow furrowed. "Just…do what you feel is right. If now isn't the right time to say anything, then wait."
Wait. That's all I've been doing. Waiting.
March was now almost over. Remus's last transformation had gone off without a hitch, despite it being his birth month. Lily, Sev, and Sirius were all seated in armchairs around the fire in the Gryffindor common room, spellbooks on their laps and half-written essays scattered around. Sev, naturally, was the only one done with homework—in fact, he had already finished for the week and was looking forward to playing Hufflepuff in that weekend's Quidditch match.
Ever since James's encounter with Lily's wand, he hadn't tried to speak to her outright. In fact, it didn't seem to bother him even when they played Quidditch.
But that night as Sev and Sirius bid Lily goodnight and went up to the boys' dormitory, James came through the portrait hole appearing smug as he clutched a sheet of parchment. He handed it to her and stood silently, smiling, looking very pleased with himself. The common room was empty except for them.
Reluctantly Lily read the parchment and stared at James. "You just don't know how to quit, do you, Potter?"
Clearly, this wasn't the reaction he'd expected.
"Let me ask you something, Potter, and since I've come to love the fact that you can't physically speak to me, you may write your answer." She handed the parchment back to him. "Why in Merlin's name have you fixated on me? Everyone knows Mary Macdonald can't keep her eyes off you."
James frowned and rescued a quill from his bag. He wrote, I keep asking you out because you're smart and pretty, and I want to get to know you.
No one had ever said this to her before. Of course, it was implied by Sev since he was always in a relatively good mood around her, but it took Lily a little by surprise. Her face softened, but her resolve didn't. She looked her fellow Chaser in the eye. "That's sweet, James, but did it ever occur to you that I don't feel the same?"
James's eyes widened in disbelief. He still couldn't speak. Taking pity, Lily waved her wand and said the counterspell.
Now free to speak to her, James spluttered. "What do you mean, Evans? Why not? What have I done wrong?"
Lily couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, James, when it comes to me, you've done everything wrong."
Incredulity spread across his face. "But Amos Diggory said—"
"Listen, I've heard what Amos Diggory said, James, everyone has. But he's never met a girl who wasn't attracted to him. You won't be everyone's type, James, and quite honestly, you're not my type."
His face darkened. "And I suppose Severus is?"
Lily smiled, but didn't say anything. It was all the answer James needed.
"I get it," he muttered darkly. "You prefer the danger."
Lily's smile was instantly replaced by a frown. "What on earth do you mean?"
"His unnatural knowledge. He's got to be the first kid since Merlin himself that could do all the advanced spells he can. How much do you really know about the Princes, Evans? None of the Princes have ever been Sorted into Gryffindor—until him. Isn't that, you know, suspicious? Nearly all of them have ties to the Dark Arts. My father says—"
"I don't give a damn what your father says, Potter," Lily expounded angrily. "Sev is a good person, and so is his mother. Watch what you say about 'breaking tradition,' because Sirius is the first Black to be a Gryffindor, and it's because he's different from his family. Did it ever occur to you that the same is true about Sev? You've got no right sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. Now go and leave me alone, before I hex you again—and this time it won't just be your tongue sticking to the roof of your mouth."
The look in James's eyes was venomous. He drew himself up, shoulders thrown back. "Fine. But don't come running to me when you realize how wrong you are."
Lily held his gaze, impassivity on her features. "Oh, but that's exactly what you want me to do. Run to you."
A flash of anger crossed his face. He turned on his heel and stomped up the staircase to the boys' dormitories.
Lily sagged in relief, and sat back down in an armchair, still for several moments as she ran the conversation back over in her mind. She shook her head a little, gathered up her books and essays, and climbed the staircase to her room.
It was a beautiful afternoon a few days before the Hogwarts Express would take Hogwartians back to London for the summer. Lily, Severus, Remus, Frank, Alice, Peter, Sirius, and Regulus were all outside down by the lake, lounging in the shade beneath the enormous oak tree. Lily and Sev were on their backs, Lily using Sev's arm as a pillow. Sirius was skipping rocks into the lake, Regulus sat with his knees pulled up to his chest as he watched the gamekeeper tend to the Hogwarts grounds, Alice could hardly keep her eyes off Frank, who was reading a book, Peter had pulled out a pack of Exploding Snap, and Remus frowned as he looked up the hill towards the castle.
"Anyone invite Potter and his tagalongs?" Remus asked as a general question. Lily felt Sev tense and they both sat up.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding," Lily muttered as she saw James Potter coming down the hillside followed closely by Gideon, Fabian, Amos, and Cordon. "I've told him off so many times this year I can't even count them all anymore," she said to everyone beneath the tree. Her warning back in March had been effective for about three weeks.
Remus frowned at Lily's statement. "I knew he was determined, but not that determined."
"He doesn't even care that Mary Macdonald has practically been throwing herself at him at every available moment," Sirius supplied, skipping another rock into the lake. A giant tentacle rose from the depths of the water and the rock bounced off it.
Lily, who still hadn't done anything in regards to Alice's advice, watched in trepidation as James neared them. It seemed like nothing would make the overzealous Gryffindor back off.
"Hey Evans," James called out, another smirk on his face.
When James came upon their group, something Lily had not expected happened. The six boys formed a circle around Lily, Sev directly in front of Lily and closest to the approaching Potter. Alice, with a scary expression on her face, walked up to James and pointed her wand in his face. "You've bothered her quite enough," she said.
James didn't seem to take her seriously (Alice was almost six inches shorter than James and her round face made her look younger than fourteen) and attempted to brush past her.
Sev's eyes narrowed. "In Merlin's name, Potter, what will it take to convince you that Lily has no interest in you?" He felt Lily's hand grip the back of his shirt and fist it.
"Lily, come on," James said, ignoring Severus. "Just one date, all right? If you hate it I promise I'll never bother you again."
Sev didn't miss it that James had used Lily's first name instead of her surname. This Chaser wasn't kidding.
Lily prodded Sev near the kidneys and he reluctantly moved out of the way. "Seeing as I find you repulsive, egotistical, self-obsessed and completely irresponsible, my answer would have to be no. Now that I think about it, you would be the perfect match for my sister. And if you knew me at all, Potter, you'd know that my sister and I are about as similar as a Gryffindor and a Slytherin." She looked over her shoulder. "No offense, Reg," she said with a little smile. He tipped his head at her, the smile mirrored.
"You're just afraid of having a better time than hanging around with this lot," James shot back, immediately regretting it when Lily's nose flared in a tell-tale sign of outrage. No one stopped her when she stepped forward and slapped James Potter across the face.
That's my Lily, Sev thought as he tried to keep himself from laughing. Instead he reached forward and rested a hand on Lily's shoulder. No words were needed as she stood down and watched with the rest of their friends as James, the Prewetts, and the Diggorys all retreated back up the hill to the castle. That's my Lily.
Sev didn't take his hand from Lily's shoulder until James and his tagalongs disappeared over the top of the hill. Lily's shoulders shook a little as she turned to face the six boys and Alice. "This is out of control," she stated, stress evident in her beautiful green eyes. "No doubt he'll double his efforts next school year and make it very difficult for me to resist hexing him into next century."
Sirius made a noise of approval. "You should do that anyway."
"Don't worry about it, Lils," Frank said. "You've got six guys willing to pummel his face in for you if he doesn't permanently process your distaste for him."
"And a girl to kick him where it really hurts," Alice added with a twinkle in her eyes. All the boys flinched a little, well aware she wasn't kidding.
Lily let out a heavy sigh. "Thanks, guys. I just wish there was something I could say to make him back off permanently." She was grateful for their support and knew without a doubt she would support them equally if it ever came to that.
They settled back down under the tree and resumed what they'd been doing before Potter showed up, but the mood was less enjoyable for Lily, who couldn't shake the annoyance caused by Potter's determined outlook, and for Sev, who worried that maybe—just maybe—Lily might take James up on his offer.
A/N: In a previous version of this author's note I failed to account that langlock is Severus's invention. For the purpose of this story, Severus taught langlock to Lily sometime during first term and what Lily used is her own variation that she came up with since James kept asking her out even after she'd kept rejecting him. It is not unreasonable that Lily could come up with her own variation of the spell (she is a clever witch, after all). "Lectio" is Latin for "selection." Also, the first sentence Lily says before she hexes him is purely JKR's.