Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places, objects or spells that
have anything to do with the Harry Potter world.
Chapter 9~As a friend at least
It was 2 O'clock on Sunday afternoon, the day after the St Valentine's Day ball. Sirius and James were still in
bed. Sirius was fast asleep, but James was still awake. He just didn't feel like facing the world today -
especially Lily. He didn't care about feeling embarrassed anymore - he didn't care about anything. He felt
numb inside, as though his heart had been torn in two.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sirius fell out of bed about an hour later, looked at his watch and started to get dressed. He yanked open the
curtains of James' bed. James was completely submerged underneath his quilt, apart from his hair, which
stuck out the top. "You're still in bed! You're getting worse than me mate. Are you awake?" Sirius tugged at
the quilt and James' face appeared. He opened one eye lazily, said, "Piss off Sirius" and pulled the quilt back
over his head. "I take it your date didn't go too well then." James didn't reply. "Don't be such a lazy bugger!"
James still didn't reply, so Sirius tried again. "Eejot, Arsewipe, Dipshit." When James still didn't reply, he knew
that something was wrong. "James," he hesitated. He was quite useless when people were upset. "James,
are you okay? James, please say something."
"I already said something. Now piss off and leave me alone." James spoke monotonously, without any
expression. "Was your date bad?"
"Awful, now PISS OFF!" Sirius walked down to the common room and sat down next to Laura, who was talking
to Lily. He listened to their conversation for a while before they realised he was there.
"I don't know. I really upset him though."
""Are you sure you did the right thing?"
"No, I'm not sure. He probably hates me now."
"Have you seen him today?"
"No."
Sirius joined the conversation. "He's still in bed. I don't know what happened between you two last night Lily,
but he's downright depressed. You've really upset him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James didn't get out of bed at all that day. He lay trying to convince himself that he didn't care, but it was no
use. He cared so much that it hurt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James was awoken at 7:30 the next day by Remus and Sirius. "Lessons. You can't stay in bed for the rest of
your life mate." They persuaded him to get out of bed and shoved him into the bathroom. After he had
washed they took him down to breakfast. Lily and Laura were already there. They sat down at the opposite
end of the table, as far away as possible. James couldn't bare to see Lily; he needed to forget about her. He
didn't talk much during breakfast. They went to Charms early for once and James took his mind off of Lily by
concentrating on his work. Lily didn't talk to him. She felt so guilty, but she needed to talk to him alone. They
both reached History of Magic before Sirius and Lily took the chance to talk to James. "James?" She asked
rather uncertainly. "Can't we just be friends?" He turned to look at her. His eyes looked dead and he spoke
lifelessly. "No. There's no point. I won't bother you anymore." He turned away as Sirius entered the room
and stayed silent for the rest of the lesson.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James didn't talk to Lily until Wednesday, when his instinct took over. At the end of their last lesson, Lily
started to cry. She had a headache and felt dizzy and sick. She was still sitting in her seat even though the
lesson had finished five minutes ago. James hadn't realised that the lesson had ended either and was staring
into space when he heard Lily sob. As he got up to leave he scraped his chair across the floor, causing Lily to
look up and realise that there was nobody else there. She picked up her things, stood up, swayed and fell to
the floor. James walked over and gently pulled her to her feet. His face was full of concern and he spoke
softly. "Do you need to go to the hospital wing?" To Lily his face was a blur.
"Yeah." James helped Lily to the hospital wing. When they reached the hospital wing Lily realised that she
didn't want him to leave. She asked him to stay, but he shook his head and left. Lily finally realised how much
she needed him. She wanted him there, as a friend at least. She remembered him asking what was wrong
with him - there wasn't anything wrong with him. She liked him for who he was. She been too scared to
admit it to herself before now, but she realised how nice he had been to her and that she hadn't even given
him a chance. She pulled her knees up to her chest and cried into herself. She had lost James and she had to
get him back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily tried to talk to James on Friday. He flatly told her that he knew about her feelings and thought that it was
best if they didn't talk. She needed to get him alone and make him listen to her somehow. On Saturday, she
spotted her chance when she saw this notice on the board outside the Great Hall. It read:
FOURTH YEAR MUGGLE STUDIES CAMPING TRIP
We will be going on our annual muggle studies camping trip to research and experience the muggle way of camping once again this year. We would like some older students to come along and help. If you would like to volunteer, please add your name below.
Enya Nerak
Waseid Neckle
James Potter
Lily added her name to the list and anxiously awaited the next weekend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please Review! I have written the next chapter (I think it's better than this one!), I just need to type it up. Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 8 - ShorTi, Figz, Laura, Galadrielhermione10067, Panda10s, lily+jameslvr, LegolasMirkwoodElfPrince, Kitty-X-404, Izzy and Jan. Also thank you to Maraudertimes who reviewed chapter 1 and asked for the second chapter. Thank you to Jan again for pointing out the mistake in chapter 4 - James isn't a seeker and I knew that so I have no idea why I wrote that he was. He's not a beater, but a Chaser and I have now altered the chapter accordingly. Thank you everyone and don't forget to click the button at the bottom to submit your review!
Twelvegrimmauldplace
Chapter 9~As a friend at least
It was 2 O'clock on Sunday afternoon, the day after the St Valentine's Day ball. Sirius and James were still in
bed. Sirius was fast asleep, but James was still awake. He just didn't feel like facing the world today -
especially Lily. He didn't care about feeling embarrassed anymore - he didn't care about anything. He felt
numb inside, as though his heart had been torn in two.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sirius fell out of bed about an hour later, looked at his watch and started to get dressed. He yanked open the
curtains of James' bed. James was completely submerged underneath his quilt, apart from his hair, which
stuck out the top. "You're still in bed! You're getting worse than me mate. Are you awake?" Sirius tugged at
the quilt and James' face appeared. He opened one eye lazily, said, "Piss off Sirius" and pulled the quilt back
over his head. "I take it your date didn't go too well then." James didn't reply. "Don't be such a lazy bugger!"
James still didn't reply, so Sirius tried again. "Eejot, Arsewipe, Dipshit." When James still didn't reply, he knew
that something was wrong. "James," he hesitated. He was quite useless when people were upset. "James,
are you okay? James, please say something."
"I already said something. Now piss off and leave me alone." James spoke monotonously, without any
expression. "Was your date bad?"
"Awful, now PISS OFF!" Sirius walked down to the common room and sat down next to Laura, who was talking
to Lily. He listened to their conversation for a while before they realised he was there.
"I don't know. I really upset him though."
""Are you sure you did the right thing?"
"No, I'm not sure. He probably hates me now."
"Have you seen him today?"
"No."
Sirius joined the conversation. "He's still in bed. I don't know what happened between you two last night Lily,
but he's downright depressed. You've really upset him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James didn't get out of bed at all that day. He lay trying to convince himself that he didn't care, but it was no
use. He cared so much that it hurt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James was awoken at 7:30 the next day by Remus and Sirius. "Lessons. You can't stay in bed for the rest of
your life mate." They persuaded him to get out of bed and shoved him into the bathroom. After he had
washed they took him down to breakfast. Lily and Laura were already there. They sat down at the opposite
end of the table, as far away as possible. James couldn't bare to see Lily; he needed to forget about her. He
didn't talk much during breakfast. They went to Charms early for once and James took his mind off of Lily by
concentrating on his work. Lily didn't talk to him. She felt so guilty, but she needed to talk to him alone. They
both reached History of Magic before Sirius and Lily took the chance to talk to James. "James?" She asked
rather uncertainly. "Can't we just be friends?" He turned to look at her. His eyes looked dead and he spoke
lifelessly. "No. There's no point. I won't bother you anymore." He turned away as Sirius entered the room
and stayed silent for the rest of the lesson.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James didn't talk to Lily until Wednesday, when his instinct took over. At the end of their last lesson, Lily
started to cry. She had a headache and felt dizzy and sick. She was still sitting in her seat even though the
lesson had finished five minutes ago. James hadn't realised that the lesson had ended either and was staring
into space when he heard Lily sob. As he got up to leave he scraped his chair across the floor, causing Lily to
look up and realise that there was nobody else there. She picked up her things, stood up, swayed and fell to
the floor. James walked over and gently pulled her to her feet. His face was full of concern and he spoke
softly. "Do you need to go to the hospital wing?" To Lily his face was a blur.
"Yeah." James helped Lily to the hospital wing. When they reached the hospital wing Lily realised that she
didn't want him to leave. She asked him to stay, but he shook his head and left. Lily finally realised how much
she needed him. She wanted him there, as a friend at least. She remembered him asking what was wrong
with him - there wasn't anything wrong with him. She liked him for who he was. She been too scared to
admit it to herself before now, but she realised how nice he had been to her and that she hadn't even given
him a chance. She pulled her knees up to her chest and cried into herself. She had lost James and she had to
get him back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily tried to talk to James on Friday. He flatly told her that he knew about her feelings and thought that it was
best if they didn't talk. She needed to get him alone and make him listen to her somehow. On Saturday, she
spotted her chance when she saw this notice on the board outside the Great Hall. It read:
FOURTH YEAR MUGGLE STUDIES CAMPING TRIP
We will be going on our annual muggle studies camping trip to research and experience the muggle way of camping once again this year. We would like some older students to come along and help. If you would like to volunteer, please add your name below.
Enya Nerak
Waseid Neckle
James Potter
Lily added her name to the list and anxiously awaited the next weekend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please Review! I have written the next chapter (I think it's better than this one!), I just need to type it up. Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 8 - ShorTi, Figz, Laura, Galadrielhermione10067, Panda10s, lily+jameslvr, LegolasMirkwoodElfPrince, Kitty-X-404, Izzy and Jan. Also thank you to Maraudertimes who reviewed chapter 1 and asked for the second chapter. Thank you to Jan again for pointing out the mistake in chapter 4 - James isn't a seeker and I knew that so I have no idea why I wrote that he was. He's not a beater, but a Chaser and I have now altered the chapter accordingly. Thank you everyone and don't forget to click the button at the bottom to submit your review!
Twelvegrimmauldplace