Chapter 3: Desires are seen. . .in a Mirror?
"Date at .... Hogsmeade, Lil?"
"Yeah. . ."
"Ohhhhh, I forgot to tell you," mumbled Lily.
"Tell me what?" asked Britt in somewhat confusion.
"The bet Jess and I made."
"Whoa-ho-oh. You made a bet? Do tell," Britt said, crossing her arms under her breasts and looking at Lily in amusement.
"Yes," said Lily dryly, smirking slightly. "I bet Jessica I could make James fall in love with me by midnight of the ball this Christmas."
Brittany's eyebrows raised. "That's quite a bet. Think you'll win?"
She grinned. "Of course."
"But it's James Potter we're talking about here. . ."
"Exactly. That's why I chose the bet. It's difficult and he needs to be taught a lesson."
"But what if. . ." She paused, then continued. "What if you fall in love with him in return?"
"Oh, what rubbish. I won't fall in love with James Potter."
Brittany grinned suddenly. "I bet that you'll fall for James before he falls for you."
"What? What nonsense. But I'll take the bet."
"If you lose, I get fifty galleons."
"Fine. Same in turn."
The two girls shook hands.
James hurried along the corridors that night, gasping for breath. He glanced at his watch and it told him it was a quarter till seven. Since they had rescheduled the date for tonight because their schedules had been so busy, he had almost completely forgotten about the bet. Again.
This is not doing good for your reputation, Jamsie, he mentally scolded himself.
They were to meet at The Three Broomsticks as originally planned and James was already running late. He took out the Marauder's Map and tapped it with his wand, muttering, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." Instantly, lines spread across the battered piece of parchment from the tip of his wand. He took a quick glance at it as he ran.
"Shit, that damn cat Mrs. Norris is coming," he murmured angrily. The little dot labeled 'Mrs. Norris' was scurrying down the hallway he was on. Glaring, he looked for another hallway away from that one that would still lead up the One Eyed Witch. He found it and took it.
Finally, he reached the statue. His watch read ten minutes until seven. If he ran, maybe he could make it, he reasoned. He said the password to the witch and slid down to the secret passage way. "Mischief Managed," he told his Map. It went blank again and he stuffed it in his robes.
James ran down the passageway, a stitch forming in his side from lack of more air. Atlast, the stairs came into view. Maybe he wouldn't be late afterall.
Lily entered the pub, cautiously looking about for her archenemy. Her cheeks were flushed from the slight cold forming outside as autumn progressed into winter and her hair was slightly tousled from the strong winds. She smoothed her firey hair back down and quickly straightened her dress.
"Hey, Lily," Madam Rosmerta called from the bar. "James is over there." She pointed a painted blue fingernail towards the back of the room.
Sure enough, a slightly disheveled James sat there, his chocolate brown eyes locking with hers. Warmth began to seep through her features. She blinked and looked away, some distant part of her mind immediately missing staring into those mysterious depths of his eyes.
James, being the gentlemen at dates that he was, pulled out her chair and scooted her in. Once more he walked to across the table and resumed the momentarily vacated seat.
Madam Rosmerta came by and placed two butterbeers on their table. "Anything else, dears?"
"No, that's all," James said, smiling.
Rosmerta ruffled his hair and walked off again.
Lily tried to conceal a smile. His hair was messy enough as it was--now it all stood up in different directions, making him look adorable. Lily paled slightly, her smile vanishing. Since when did she think James Harold Potter was adorable?
"Lily, are you OK?" James asked, frowning in what seemed to be concern.
She cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure?" James asked with concern.
"Yes," she said flatly. "I'm fine."
"If you're positive," he said quietly. He sipped his butterbeer thoughtfully.
Lily sighed softly to herself, the sound fading out from the noise around them. Her eyes fixed pointedly on a spot of the table and she tried to act thoroughly interested in it.
James smiled. "What's so interesting about the table?" he asked jokingly.
Lily looked up to meet his eyes. They sparkled merrily at her and he gave her that grin that sent girls swooning. Suddenly Lily was very afraid as she felt knots begin to form in her stomach. Wonderful feeling knots, but knots she didn't care to think about nevertheless.
A girl behind Lily thought he was smiling at her and she fainted.
"So um. . .how's Quidditch?" she asked, trying to liven up the conversation.
"Quidditch season is over, Lil!" he exclaimed. "Oh, and a girl behind you just fainted."
Lily's eyebrows merely raised. The thunk behind her sounded and she frowned. "Geeze, James, you don't have to bring your stalkers with us, do you?"
"I couldn't help it!" he said indignantly. "I can't get rid of them!"
Lily titled her head a little in thought. "I think I can help you there--to get rid of them right now, that is."
"How?" he asked eagerly.
She cleared her throat and stood up on the table. "Lily, what are you--"
"MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION!" she called. "TO ALL OF JAMES POTTER'S FAN CLUB!"
Everyone went quiet and all the girls that were infatuated with James looked up eagerly.
"JAMES POTTER IS CURRENTLY ON A DATE WITH *ME*, LILY EVANS, AND WILL BE FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT! I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF WE WERE NOT DISTURBED BY YOU LIFELESS PEOPLE! NOW, IF ONE SHOULD OBJECT THIS, I WILL HEX YOU TWENTY TIMES OVER." She pulled out her wand. "NOW SCRAM!"
In a rush, all the girls left the pub. The others looked on blankly for a moment then cheered and once more, The Three Broomsticks carried on lively again.
"That is a good way," he said. "But now they all probably want to kick your ass."
He stood up to help bring her down on the floor again. She reached out and he picked her up, setting her down, but pausing midway. Suddenly, he found everything about her startingly fascinating. Her hair was disheveled and a slight blush crossed her freckled nose and cheeks. An overwhelming desire to kiss her washed over him and he leaned his head in slowly, arms wrapped around her still, leaving her a few inches above the ground.
Lily eyebrows raised and she somehow managed to move her wand without James noticing. A crash of a tankard falling sounded and James snapped out of it, setting her down completely. She breathed an inward sigh of relief.
James quickly helped her up the rest of the way and brushed off his hands.
Lily watched on in mild amusement then sat down again at the table, acting as if nothing happened.
He took his seat and sipped some more butterbeer, until he realized it was empty.
He blushed and called for Rosmerta, who in turn brought them two more butterbeers.
The night passed by slowly and two laughing figures could be seen in the corner of the room, talking animatedly and smiling mysteriously in a language only the two could decipher. Every once in a while, drifts of their conversation could be heard softly as the two discussed meaningless things.
"And then I found out that Sirius was correct after all. . ."
"Really? What happened then?"
James watched her as the hours passed, loving how her hair caught the light and shimmered and how her eyes brightly sparkled. He talked softly with her, watching her and listening.
"Ehm," James blushed. "The potion exploded. I do wish I had listened to Sirius."
She glanced at him, her hair tumbling over her shoulders. God, I love it when she looks at me like that, James thought.
She laughed, the sound musical and mesmorizing all at once. "Did you learn your lesson?"
"Of course I did," he said, trying to pull his usual grin but stopping midway.
"What's wrong?" she asked, immediately on the alert.
He blinked slowly. "I just suddenly find you amazingly beautiful," he muttered softly.
Lily frowned in confusion. She hadn't exactly caught what he said.
He seemed to snap out of it. "Nothing, nothing," he said, the lopsided grin coming back.
"You sure?" she asked before taking a small sip of her butterbeer.
"Yes." He glanced at his watch. "It's getting late. Shall we be going?"
They looked around. Other than Rosmerta, they were the only ones there.
"Yeah, I guess so," she said. "We don't want anyone to get worried." She smiled at him.
The two headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room, laughing as they did so.
Much much later, Lily sat on her bed, staring pointedly at the designs on her blankets and fingering the delicate threads. "What the hell is wrong with me?" she whispered.
Britt heard Lily's comment. "Sounds like a case of the love bug," she muttered, loud enough that Lily could hear but quiet enough that no one else could.
"I. AM. NOT. FALLING. FOR. JAMES. POTTER."
"Oh, sure you're not," Britt said, sitting up.
"I can prove it to you!"
"Lemme see the proof."
"Fine. I'll go in his dorm right now and kiss him and I won't feel a thing." She smirked. "And there are spells that can detect a lie." No one but Jessica knew that she could always manage to pass those spells, but she was very confident she would feel nothing.
"Then go right ahead," Britt said smirking.
"Fine. Follow me, if you will."
Getting up and pulling on a robe, she walked straight to James' dorm, Brittany hot on her heels.
Lily frowned and squashed the spider she had seen. She looked around quickly. Luckily, everyone else was still asleep.
Swift and silent as a cat, she walked to James' bed and leaned over it. He looked like an angel when he slept, with his hair all scattered across his face and his eyelids flickering once or twice from what appeared a dream.
She took a deep breath and pressed her lips against his.
His eyes fluttered open and he jerked back momentarily. Luckily, the drawings were closed to where James couldn't see Brittany in the background. He looked up with blurry eyes and saw Lily there.
"You kissed me?" he whispered. Before she could reply, he kissed her, emotions welling up and sprouting forth. Lily found herself caught up in the kiss and somewhere in the back of her mind she agreed that his passionate French kisses were enough to send you to the moon.
Then abruptly she pulled back, brought her wand she had brought forth out, muttered a sleeping charm and then a memory modifier, drew his curtains closed, and turned back to Brittany.
"So, did you feel anything?" she asked. "I trust you not to lie to me."
Lily put the most serious face she could muster on. "No, I didn't," she said monotonously and walked from the room.
"The liar," Britt muttered while walking back to her dorm room.
Jessica stepped out from the shadows as she watched Lily and Brittany enter their dorm once more.
She smirked and brought out her wand, pointing it at James, and taking the memory modifier away by a very powerful spell she had spent a long time working on.
Then, quietly as before, she crept out of the room with a big grin planted on her face.
The next morning, James said to Lily, "You are a really good kisser, you know that?"
Lily froze. She thought she had put a memory charm on him! Maybe she had been more tired than she had thought. . .
She cast a quick glance at Jessica. Sure enough, a smirk was planted on her face as she watched to the two of them.
That sneaky, lieing, backstabber. . .she thought.
"You sure you weren't dreaming, James?" Lily asked, tilting her head to the side.
"I'm sure."
Brittany seemed to realize what had happened. "Look! It's an owl for you, James!"
James' head turned and Lily immediately brought out her wand, modifieing his memory once more.
Lily breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Britt."
"Not a prob, Lil," Britt said grinning.
Jessica calmly ate her breakfast, concealing a smile.
Lily sat down across from her and cast her a glare. "Cheater."
"How so? You never said we couldn't erase memories. That wasn't part of the bet."
"You spied on me."
"I didn't spy, actually, Lil." She paused, a frown etching across her face. "I was already awake. It was nice of you to include me into the little session, now, wasn't it?" Hurt was tinging her voice. "And I include you in everything." She choked on her voice and picked up her bag, standing up. "I'm going to the library, if you'll excuse me." And she rushed out of the Hall.
"I--I didn't realize you were awake!" she called loudly.
Remus stood up and laid a hand on Lily's shoulder. "I'll handle it." He left the Hall quietly.
James sat in front of Lily. "Well, that was thoroughly interesting. Spying on whom?"
"Shut it, James, it's none of your business," she said quietly.
"Why should I?" he asked.
"Because I said so."
"And who're you?"
"We need to get to class," she commented and stood up from the table. The others followed suit. Today was going to be a long one.
"And today, class, we will be planting monkey's paws in the ground."
Lily raised her hand. "Real monkey's paws?"
"Yes, Miss Evans. They make an extremely useful plant. Who knows what it's called?"
A lot of hands went up. "Yes, Mister Potter?" the professor asked.
"Grelanda."
"Very good."
"Does anyone know what they do?"
Lily's hand shot up. It was the only one.
"Yes, Miss Evans?"
"They grant you only one good wish. If it's pure and true, then it'll work. If it's greedy and selfish, you will have to pay the consquences. The juice from the paws is also help made in the Veritasium--truth potion."
"Very good. 20 points to Gryffindor. Ten to you and ten for Mr. Potter."
Lily couldn't help but let a smug grin escape.
James grinned just as smugly to her back.
As the class worked later on, Lily's mind kept going back to the kiss. She felt only a little guilty for having done that, but at the moment she didn't have fifty galleons to give away. She remembered the gentle passion he had displayed within it but quickly realized where her thoughts had gone and pushed them down.
She took a monkeys paw, and began to plant it in the ground. It began to writhe in her hand, and she screamed. Loudly.
"Miss Evans, what seems to be the problem!?"
"It--It moved!" she said weakly.
"It was supposed to, Evans!" James said, rolling his eyes.
Lily said, "Well, the professor didin't say so!"
"Does she have to? Honestly, Lil. Seven years at Hogwarts and still you don't find anything out by yourself."
"Shut up, Potter."
"Whatever, Evans."
The rest of the class passed by silently.
That night, Lily couldn't sleep. Pulling on a robe, she snuck out of the Gryffindor Common Room.
She noticed a small room by the library, which was where she had been planning to go to get some reading done. She peeked into it and saw a mirror.
Curiously, she slowly set her latern down and walked over to it cautiously. She noticed the room was slightly dusty as if it had not been visited in quite some time. Finally, she stood before the mirror. At first, she saw only her reflection, but a shape began to materialize in front of her.
It changed into James' proud form.
Eyes widening, she looked behind her. No one was there. Frowning in confusion, she looked back at the mirror. There he was again. He was smiling, his eyes twinkling. She saw him place a hand on her shoulder and kiss her cheek. She placed a hand on her shoulder with tears forming in her eyes and discovered no one there. She placed a hand to her cheek, expecting to feel an imprint, but none was there.
Lily noticed the words inscribed at the top. Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on whosi. Lily was, in her tiredness, actually able to understand it. I show not your face but your heart's desire. No! She thought wildly. James isn't my heart's desire!
She stumbled back a step. James was still there, smiling beautifully, holding her in his arms and placing his chin atop her head. She wanted to cry. The scene was so overwhelming. Her heart fluttered at the sight of it. She looked behind her, expecting him to be there but he wasn't.
Scared of what she had seen, she stumbled out of the room, knocking over her latern. It shattered and the light went out. She didn't care as she ran blindly all the way back to the Common Room. She stumbled up the stairs, fell into her bed, and cried herself to sleep.
Though she didn't know it, James was in the Common Room, watching her as she stumbled up to her dorm.
A/N: Well, what did you think? We want atleast five reviews for next chap to be up. -Jess and Britt
"Date at .... Hogsmeade, Lil?"
"Yeah. . ."
"Ohhhhh, I forgot to tell you," mumbled Lily.
"Tell me what?" asked Britt in somewhat confusion.
"The bet Jess and I made."
"Whoa-ho-oh. You made a bet? Do tell," Britt said, crossing her arms under her breasts and looking at Lily in amusement.
"Yes," said Lily dryly, smirking slightly. "I bet Jessica I could make James fall in love with me by midnight of the ball this Christmas."
Brittany's eyebrows raised. "That's quite a bet. Think you'll win?"
She grinned. "Of course."
"But it's James Potter we're talking about here. . ."
"Exactly. That's why I chose the bet. It's difficult and he needs to be taught a lesson."
"But what if. . ." She paused, then continued. "What if you fall in love with him in return?"
"Oh, what rubbish. I won't fall in love with James Potter."
Brittany grinned suddenly. "I bet that you'll fall for James before he falls for you."
"What? What nonsense. But I'll take the bet."
"If you lose, I get fifty galleons."
"Fine. Same in turn."
The two girls shook hands.
James hurried along the corridors that night, gasping for breath. He glanced at his watch and it told him it was a quarter till seven. Since they had rescheduled the date for tonight because their schedules had been so busy, he had almost completely forgotten about the bet. Again.
This is not doing good for your reputation, Jamsie, he mentally scolded himself.
They were to meet at The Three Broomsticks as originally planned and James was already running late. He took out the Marauder's Map and tapped it with his wand, muttering, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." Instantly, lines spread across the battered piece of parchment from the tip of his wand. He took a quick glance at it as he ran.
"Shit, that damn cat Mrs. Norris is coming," he murmured angrily. The little dot labeled 'Mrs. Norris' was scurrying down the hallway he was on. Glaring, he looked for another hallway away from that one that would still lead up the One Eyed Witch. He found it and took it.
Finally, he reached the statue. His watch read ten minutes until seven. If he ran, maybe he could make it, he reasoned. He said the password to the witch and slid down to the secret passage way. "Mischief Managed," he told his Map. It went blank again and he stuffed it in his robes.
James ran down the passageway, a stitch forming in his side from lack of more air. Atlast, the stairs came into view. Maybe he wouldn't be late afterall.
Lily entered the pub, cautiously looking about for her archenemy. Her cheeks were flushed from the slight cold forming outside as autumn progressed into winter and her hair was slightly tousled from the strong winds. She smoothed her firey hair back down and quickly straightened her dress.
"Hey, Lily," Madam Rosmerta called from the bar. "James is over there." She pointed a painted blue fingernail towards the back of the room.
Sure enough, a slightly disheveled James sat there, his chocolate brown eyes locking with hers. Warmth began to seep through her features. She blinked and looked away, some distant part of her mind immediately missing staring into those mysterious depths of his eyes.
James, being the gentlemen at dates that he was, pulled out her chair and scooted her in. Once more he walked to across the table and resumed the momentarily vacated seat.
Madam Rosmerta came by and placed two butterbeers on their table. "Anything else, dears?"
"No, that's all," James said, smiling.
Rosmerta ruffled his hair and walked off again.
Lily tried to conceal a smile. His hair was messy enough as it was--now it all stood up in different directions, making him look adorable. Lily paled slightly, her smile vanishing. Since when did she think James Harold Potter was adorable?
"Lily, are you OK?" James asked, frowning in what seemed to be concern.
She cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure?" James asked with concern.
"Yes," she said flatly. "I'm fine."
"If you're positive," he said quietly. He sipped his butterbeer thoughtfully.
Lily sighed softly to herself, the sound fading out from the noise around them. Her eyes fixed pointedly on a spot of the table and she tried to act thoroughly interested in it.
James smiled. "What's so interesting about the table?" he asked jokingly.
Lily looked up to meet his eyes. They sparkled merrily at her and he gave her that grin that sent girls swooning. Suddenly Lily was very afraid as she felt knots begin to form in her stomach. Wonderful feeling knots, but knots she didn't care to think about nevertheless.
A girl behind Lily thought he was smiling at her and she fainted.
"So um. . .how's Quidditch?" she asked, trying to liven up the conversation.
"Quidditch season is over, Lil!" he exclaimed. "Oh, and a girl behind you just fainted."
Lily's eyebrows merely raised. The thunk behind her sounded and she frowned. "Geeze, James, you don't have to bring your stalkers with us, do you?"
"I couldn't help it!" he said indignantly. "I can't get rid of them!"
Lily titled her head a little in thought. "I think I can help you there--to get rid of them right now, that is."
"How?" he asked eagerly.
She cleared her throat and stood up on the table. "Lily, what are you--"
"MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION!" she called. "TO ALL OF JAMES POTTER'S FAN CLUB!"
Everyone went quiet and all the girls that were infatuated with James looked up eagerly.
"JAMES POTTER IS CURRENTLY ON A DATE WITH *ME*, LILY EVANS, AND WILL BE FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT! I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF WE WERE NOT DISTURBED BY YOU LIFELESS PEOPLE! NOW, IF ONE SHOULD OBJECT THIS, I WILL HEX YOU TWENTY TIMES OVER." She pulled out her wand. "NOW SCRAM!"
In a rush, all the girls left the pub. The others looked on blankly for a moment then cheered and once more, The Three Broomsticks carried on lively again.
"That is a good way," he said. "But now they all probably want to kick your ass."
He stood up to help bring her down on the floor again. She reached out and he picked her up, setting her down, but pausing midway. Suddenly, he found everything about her startingly fascinating. Her hair was disheveled and a slight blush crossed her freckled nose and cheeks. An overwhelming desire to kiss her washed over him and he leaned his head in slowly, arms wrapped around her still, leaving her a few inches above the ground.
Lily eyebrows raised and she somehow managed to move her wand without James noticing. A crash of a tankard falling sounded and James snapped out of it, setting her down completely. She breathed an inward sigh of relief.
James quickly helped her up the rest of the way and brushed off his hands.
Lily watched on in mild amusement then sat down again at the table, acting as if nothing happened.
He took his seat and sipped some more butterbeer, until he realized it was empty.
He blushed and called for Rosmerta, who in turn brought them two more butterbeers.
The night passed by slowly and two laughing figures could be seen in the corner of the room, talking animatedly and smiling mysteriously in a language only the two could decipher. Every once in a while, drifts of their conversation could be heard softly as the two discussed meaningless things.
"And then I found out that Sirius was correct after all. . ."
"Really? What happened then?"
James watched her as the hours passed, loving how her hair caught the light and shimmered and how her eyes brightly sparkled. He talked softly with her, watching her and listening.
"Ehm," James blushed. "The potion exploded. I do wish I had listened to Sirius."
She glanced at him, her hair tumbling over her shoulders. God, I love it when she looks at me like that, James thought.
She laughed, the sound musical and mesmorizing all at once. "Did you learn your lesson?"
"Of course I did," he said, trying to pull his usual grin but stopping midway.
"What's wrong?" she asked, immediately on the alert.
He blinked slowly. "I just suddenly find you amazingly beautiful," he muttered softly.
Lily frowned in confusion. She hadn't exactly caught what he said.
He seemed to snap out of it. "Nothing, nothing," he said, the lopsided grin coming back.
"You sure?" she asked before taking a small sip of her butterbeer.
"Yes." He glanced at his watch. "It's getting late. Shall we be going?"
They looked around. Other than Rosmerta, they were the only ones there.
"Yeah, I guess so," she said. "We don't want anyone to get worried." She smiled at him.
The two headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room, laughing as they did so.
Much much later, Lily sat on her bed, staring pointedly at the designs on her blankets and fingering the delicate threads. "What the hell is wrong with me?" she whispered.
Britt heard Lily's comment. "Sounds like a case of the love bug," she muttered, loud enough that Lily could hear but quiet enough that no one else could.
"I. AM. NOT. FALLING. FOR. JAMES. POTTER."
"Oh, sure you're not," Britt said, sitting up.
"I can prove it to you!"
"Lemme see the proof."
"Fine. I'll go in his dorm right now and kiss him and I won't feel a thing." She smirked. "And there are spells that can detect a lie." No one but Jessica knew that she could always manage to pass those spells, but she was very confident she would feel nothing.
"Then go right ahead," Britt said smirking.
"Fine. Follow me, if you will."
Getting up and pulling on a robe, she walked straight to James' dorm, Brittany hot on her heels.
Lily frowned and squashed the spider she had seen. She looked around quickly. Luckily, everyone else was still asleep.
Swift and silent as a cat, she walked to James' bed and leaned over it. He looked like an angel when he slept, with his hair all scattered across his face and his eyelids flickering once or twice from what appeared a dream.
She took a deep breath and pressed her lips against his.
His eyes fluttered open and he jerked back momentarily. Luckily, the drawings were closed to where James couldn't see Brittany in the background. He looked up with blurry eyes and saw Lily there.
"You kissed me?" he whispered. Before she could reply, he kissed her, emotions welling up and sprouting forth. Lily found herself caught up in the kiss and somewhere in the back of her mind she agreed that his passionate French kisses were enough to send you to the moon.
Then abruptly she pulled back, brought her wand she had brought forth out, muttered a sleeping charm and then a memory modifier, drew his curtains closed, and turned back to Brittany.
"So, did you feel anything?" she asked. "I trust you not to lie to me."
Lily put the most serious face she could muster on. "No, I didn't," she said monotonously and walked from the room.
"The liar," Britt muttered while walking back to her dorm room.
Jessica stepped out from the shadows as she watched Lily and Brittany enter their dorm once more.
She smirked and brought out her wand, pointing it at James, and taking the memory modifier away by a very powerful spell she had spent a long time working on.
Then, quietly as before, she crept out of the room with a big grin planted on her face.
The next morning, James said to Lily, "You are a really good kisser, you know that?"
Lily froze. She thought she had put a memory charm on him! Maybe she had been more tired than she had thought. . .
She cast a quick glance at Jessica. Sure enough, a smirk was planted on her face as she watched to the two of them.
That sneaky, lieing, backstabber. . .she thought.
"You sure you weren't dreaming, James?" Lily asked, tilting her head to the side.
"I'm sure."
Brittany seemed to realize what had happened. "Look! It's an owl for you, James!"
James' head turned and Lily immediately brought out her wand, modifieing his memory once more.
Lily breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Britt."
"Not a prob, Lil," Britt said grinning.
Jessica calmly ate her breakfast, concealing a smile.
Lily sat down across from her and cast her a glare. "Cheater."
"How so? You never said we couldn't erase memories. That wasn't part of the bet."
"You spied on me."
"I didn't spy, actually, Lil." She paused, a frown etching across her face. "I was already awake. It was nice of you to include me into the little session, now, wasn't it?" Hurt was tinging her voice. "And I include you in everything." She choked on her voice and picked up her bag, standing up. "I'm going to the library, if you'll excuse me." And she rushed out of the Hall.
"I--I didn't realize you were awake!" she called loudly.
Remus stood up and laid a hand on Lily's shoulder. "I'll handle it." He left the Hall quietly.
James sat in front of Lily. "Well, that was thoroughly interesting. Spying on whom?"
"Shut it, James, it's none of your business," she said quietly.
"Why should I?" he asked.
"Because I said so."
"And who're you?"
"We need to get to class," she commented and stood up from the table. The others followed suit. Today was going to be a long one.
"And today, class, we will be planting monkey's paws in the ground."
Lily raised her hand. "Real monkey's paws?"
"Yes, Miss Evans. They make an extremely useful plant. Who knows what it's called?"
A lot of hands went up. "Yes, Mister Potter?" the professor asked.
"Grelanda."
"Very good."
"Does anyone know what they do?"
Lily's hand shot up. It was the only one.
"Yes, Miss Evans?"
"They grant you only one good wish. If it's pure and true, then it'll work. If it's greedy and selfish, you will have to pay the consquences. The juice from the paws is also help made in the Veritasium--truth potion."
"Very good. 20 points to Gryffindor. Ten to you and ten for Mr. Potter."
Lily couldn't help but let a smug grin escape.
James grinned just as smugly to her back.
As the class worked later on, Lily's mind kept going back to the kiss. She felt only a little guilty for having done that, but at the moment she didn't have fifty galleons to give away. She remembered the gentle passion he had displayed within it but quickly realized where her thoughts had gone and pushed them down.
She took a monkeys paw, and began to plant it in the ground. It began to writhe in her hand, and she screamed. Loudly.
"Miss Evans, what seems to be the problem!?"
"It--It moved!" she said weakly.
"It was supposed to, Evans!" James said, rolling his eyes.
Lily said, "Well, the professor didin't say so!"
"Does she have to? Honestly, Lil. Seven years at Hogwarts and still you don't find anything out by yourself."
"Shut up, Potter."
"Whatever, Evans."
The rest of the class passed by silently.
That night, Lily couldn't sleep. Pulling on a robe, she snuck out of the Gryffindor Common Room.
She noticed a small room by the library, which was where she had been planning to go to get some reading done. She peeked into it and saw a mirror.
Curiously, she slowly set her latern down and walked over to it cautiously. She noticed the room was slightly dusty as if it had not been visited in quite some time. Finally, she stood before the mirror. At first, she saw only her reflection, but a shape began to materialize in front of her.
It changed into James' proud form.
Eyes widening, she looked behind her. No one was there. Frowning in confusion, she looked back at the mirror. There he was again. He was smiling, his eyes twinkling. She saw him place a hand on her shoulder and kiss her cheek. She placed a hand on her shoulder with tears forming in her eyes and discovered no one there. She placed a hand to her cheek, expecting to feel an imprint, but none was there.
Lily noticed the words inscribed at the top. Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on whosi. Lily was, in her tiredness, actually able to understand it. I show not your face but your heart's desire. No! She thought wildly. James isn't my heart's desire!
She stumbled back a step. James was still there, smiling beautifully, holding her in his arms and placing his chin atop her head. She wanted to cry. The scene was so overwhelming. Her heart fluttered at the sight of it. She looked behind her, expecting him to be there but he wasn't.
Scared of what she had seen, she stumbled out of the room, knocking over her latern. It shattered and the light went out. She didn't care as she ran blindly all the way back to the Common Room. She stumbled up the stairs, fell into her bed, and cried herself to sleep.
Though she didn't know it, James was in the Common Room, watching her as she stumbled up to her dorm.
A/N: Well, what did you think? We want atleast five reviews for next chap to be up. -Jess and Britt