Okay, before I start with this part, I want to thank all the people who reviewed so far, no matter if it was 'Nail A Pudding On The Wall', 'As We Go On', 'Second Chance' (although this was a bad one) or 'I'd Love You To Hate Me'. You guys rock! Reviews are the only thing to keep me writing! And once again, to those who gave me some ideas: I really appreciate it! @----
This part's dedicated to my wonderful beta-reader, hermione potter. Hey, I should invite you to a cyber butterbear! No, don't change it, this time, it was intentional. Lol
I'd Love You To Hate Me
Part 5
They were out of the common room and halfway down the corridor when Lily stopped abruptly, causing James to crash into the girl as he was walking right behind her, thanks to the fact that they both shared his invisibility cloak. He knocked her on the floor, falling on top of her. Well, it was definitely not an unpleasant feeling, James decided immediately, but Lily quickly pushed him off and got to her feet, brushing some dust off her robes and hoping that James didn't notice her pink cheeks. As he was watching her intensely, he did, of course, and grinned.
He dropped it quickly when she shot daggers at him, though, and raised his hands, still sitting on the floor. "What did I do?" I didn't say out loud that I liked it, did I?
"You forgot the hat!" She glared.
"Hat?"
"You forgot to take the mind-reading hat we wanted to place in Kert's office along, jerk!" It's not very easy to forget the most important thing for a prank, darling. How did you manage it? Although I have to admit that it's not that difficult if you don't have a brain...
"Oh. Well, so did you." Why do you always blame everything on me?
"It was in your dorm." ...and therefore your task!
"Maybe, but..." He stopped and sighed. "Oh, let's just cut this off, it sounds like we're arguing three-years-olds. We'll fetch it together, come on." And if you find out that you're too tired to sneak into Kert's office tonight, you can sleep in my bed. - Did I just think that?
"Erm, only if you wake up the Fat Lady..." I don't want her to glare at me for the next week. Wow, that's even something you're good for, Jamie!
Don't give me this puppy look! You know I can't resist. Well, actually, you don't. "Okay, but let's go or the night's over."
***
"He looks incredibly innocent when he's sleeping." Lily commented, peering through the curtains of Sirius' bed. "Cute." But I certainly won't tell you that you're even cuter, and not only when you sleep.
James felt a pinch of jealousy and turned his back to her, searching for the hat in his trunk.
Lily walked over to where Remus was sleeping and opened the curtains just wide enough to have a look at the boy. She grinned. "Is that stuffed dragon always with him?"
"When he's in bed? I really don't know. Believe me, I usually don't sleep in one bed with him." I'd prefer sharing one with you...
"You don't?" That's good to hear.
"No, Lily, I don't." You almost had me saying 'Evans' here; I'm too used to it. But I like being called James; it would be a step back to use last names once again.
"Did you find the hat?" It's about time. Although I admire your ability to find anything in that chaos. "Then let's go! What were we arguing about, by the way?"
He grinned. "I can't remember."
***
At half past two in the morning, the corridors of Hogwarts were completely deserted; it seemed as if even Filch and Mrs. Norris had decided to go to sleep. This wasn't very likely, of course, as nobody had ever seen the janitor sleeping. There was some rumor going around in school that Mrs. Norris had been found dozing in front of the fire in Filch's office once. But it was the same thing it always was with rumors: Somebody had told their friend that they had heard from another one that someone had said to and so on. The person who actually had seen Mrs. Norris didn't speak up herself, and so most of the students believed that it was just a story someone had made up. However there were also some other - but very few - students who thought that Filch had threatened the witness into keeping the secret. However, on their way down to the dungeons where Kert had his office, Lily and James, hidden under the cloak, didn't see or hear any sign that indicated the presence of the janitor or his cat, and so they became quite careless after some time, not bothering to whisper anymore. It was then when Lily suddenly grabbed the hat James had been holding in his hands and threw it over his head, an evil spark in her eyes.
Mustn't think, mustn't think, mustn't think. James was close to a panic. With all his might, he tried to pull it off, but Lily used both her hands to keep it on his head. Had he not been so busied trying not to think he probably would have noticed how close they suddenly were, but at the moment, he really had other things in mind.
Don't think! Is the hat yelling out all this? I don't hear a thing. What if it told her that I love her? No! Noooo! It didn't repeat this aloud, did it? Is there any way to bribe a hat?
His rambling thoughts came to an abrupt end when Lily let go off the hat and he finally managed to escape her. Eyes wide open, she stared at him, and the moonlight shining on her hair and making him want to put his arms around her.
Maybe this idea isn't that bad. She's completely shocked about the hat yelling out that... well. So if I kiss her now, I'd probably have enough time left to block the curse she'd throw at me. Yeah, it could be worth a try...
Just when he had come to this conclusion, Lily blinked. "It doesn't work."
"What?"
"The hat."
"What are you talking about?"
"James, the hat doesn't yell out thoughts! It doesn't work!"
"You mean..." A grin began to spread over his face. "You didn't hear what I was thinking when it was on my head?"
"No." Damn. You know I'm always teasing you about you not having any thoughts at all, but honestly, I'd give a lot for knowing what you're thinking!
"Then we have to go back, it's the wrong hat. Sirius was playing around with it, and I bet he confused his and the mind-reading one." Padfoot, I owe you!
Lily sighed. "Sounds very Sirius-like." I'll kill you, Sweetheart! I'm dying to hear James' thoughts, and it's your fault that it didn't work.
"You can wake him up. He won't be mad at you." Which guy wouldn't like it to be woken up by you?
"Am I supposed to be gentle?" ...which would mean no cold water.
"Nah." I really don't want you to kiss him awake. He's my best friend, but every friendship has its limits. "But make sure that he doesn't wake up the whole house, okay?"
"So it's cold water and a silencing charm." Lily nodded, looking satisfied.
***
"Wake up, sleepy-heads!"
Lily cheerfully bounced around in the girls' dorm, opening the curtains to her best friend's bed with a jerk.
Anatasha hardly blinked, groggily turning her face to the wall. "Lily! It's 6 am. Let. Me. Sleep."
"You're such a grumpy in the mornings!"
"I heard that."
The redhead grinned, then shuffled through her trunk, searching for a towel. Hearing the door to the bathroom creak open, Anatasha opened her eyes and sat up. "Lily Evans. Don't you dare taking a shower! You'll wake up the whole house with the running water."
Lily peered through the half open door. "And what do you expect me to do, genius? If I don't take a shower, then I'd literally asleep during Transfiguration."
"You look perfectly awake to me."
"That's a mask."
"It's not, by sheer chance, because of the night you spent with James?"
"No!"
Anatasha smiled sleepily. "Sure. Now, go to the Prefects Bathroom and let me sleep."
"Aw..."
"Unless you want to be badly injured."
"Okay, I'm going." Lily smirked, then threw the towel over her shoulder and bounced out of the door.
***
"Hey Boris!" Lily grinned at the statue that was located next to the entrance of the Prefects Bathroom. "How's life treating you?"
"Oh, a wonderful morning to you, Lily, I'm fine, just fine! But I'm searching for my gloves. I just woke up, and they were gone. Probably another one of Peeves jokes."
"Why don't you ask the Bloody Baron to help you when he passes the next time?"
"Oh, I'm sure he's a honest ghost, but he's giving me the creeps."
"I don't know then."
"Well, I'll think about that. It was nice to talk to you, now, go on, my lady, unless I'm wrong you wanted to take a bath."
"Yep, right. Seeya, Boris."
Lily gave the door next to him the password, then turned around once again as she could hear Boris the Bewildered speaking to someone, but when she recognized the voice of Filch, she quickly retreated into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
Now, that's what I call a narrow escape. I bet Filch's still mad because of this writing James left at the door of his office. Typical for James, I wonder what he was thinking with the - sadly - wrong hat on his head, he seemed to be rather relieved that I didn't hear it...
Lily carelessly dropped the towel on the floor and was about to take off her shirt when a voice made her jump.
"Morning, Lily. Just ignore my presence, okay?"
She whirled around to face James. He was leaning casually against the doorframe that marked the second entrance to the room, obviously completely unimpressed by the fact that all that prevented her from seeing his whole body was a towel he had wrapped around his hips.
"Go on and act as if I'm not there. I won't say a single word." He smirked. Ha! This time, there's nothing to write in italic for the author who's writing this silly story: this is exactly what I'm thinking.
"James! What are you doing here?" Clever, Lily, very clever. Obviously, he took a shower or a bath. Now he'll think that you're completely dumb. Great. - Wait a moment, since when do you care what James Potter thinks of you?
"Same as you. Why don't we take a shower together, Lily? You know, water's precious, we'd do Mother Nature a favor."
For a moment, Lily was speechless, then went pale. "I'm so sure that Mother Nature's all you care about."
"You don't believe me?"
"No."
"I'm hurt." he informed her, although this statement clashed with his grinning face.
"And I'm sooooooo impressed by this." was the sarcastic answer.
"You're sure you don't want to take a shower with me?" Come on, Lil, please?
"Yes, absolutely." Or not...
"Aw..."
"Stop giving me this puppy look and get out of here!"
"Like that?"
"Like what?"
"Wrapped up in a tiny towel?"
"Then get dressed!"
"Well, I would. But my clothes are in your hands."
"How come?"
"Take a look under your towel." I hope you're not going to keep them. My wand's there as well, I couldn't even conjure some.
"Oh." Lily looked down, then bent and picked them up. I keep them, I keep them not, I keep them, I keep them not....
"So, are you going to leave me this way?"
Leave you? Nope. I'm just not sure if I want to give you your clothes. I kinda like you this way. Despite her thoughts, Lily tossed him his trousers, boxers and a shirt.
Had James not been an excellent Quidditch player, he probably would have let them fall to the floor to pick them up later, but as he was this excellent player, he leaped after them out of a sudden reflex and caught them in mid-air. Not that this was a bad thing; the only problem was that, while reaching for his clothes, he lost control over his towel that slipped to the floor. Which left him standing in the middle of the Prefects Bathroom with a pile of clothes in his hands and a towel to his feet, but nothing to cover up his nudeness.
For a few seconds, Lily just stared while James went more and more red, then she slowly turned around and faced the wall.
James was dressed within a minute, enough time for him to recover and to put his usual grin back into place. "This wasn't quite as I imagined. It would be only fair if you'd take a shower with me now."
"You wish, James Potter." Lily had turned back, not wanting to argue without actually seeing him.
"Yeah, I really do."
"Get out of here and let me take my shower!"
"You could at least let me watch."
"I will at least curse you if you don't get lost in this very instant."
"Note to self: Never address Lily Evans early in the morning." I'll keep that in mind, just in case that we wake up together anytime. I'd better make you a coffee then before trying to start a conversation. - What am I thinking?
"Note to self: Check that James Potter isn't in the bathroom before taking a shower." Or was it the other way round? Check that James Potter is in the bathroom before taking a shower?
"Note to self: Remind Lily Evans that she has to take a shower with me when she's in a better mood." I certainly won't forget that.
"Note to self: Go to the Library to find a good curse to throw at him the next time he's speaking of showers."
By now, they were both grinning, which made their comments appear by far less threatening. But still, they went on.
"Note to self: Remind Lily Evans of that shower and then duck very quickly."
"Note to self: Point wand down so that the curse hits ducking James Potter."
"Note to self: Don't duck, take a step to the side."
Lily couldn't answer; she was laughing too hard. Isn't it odd how you can laugh about the silliest things? You just have to be in the right mood. Lily surely was in this special mood, and seeing her cracking up acted like a disease on James: He was infected, and soon, they were both rolling on the floor, occasionally choking out unintelligible words.
James was the first of the two to gain back his self-control, and, holding his aching belly, he sat up, still erupting into snorts of laughter from time to time. Lily soon followed his example, and for several minutes, the both of them were just sitting on the floor, trying to recover, then James got up and stretched out a hand to pull Lily to her feet.
"So, you're still determined not to take a shower with me?"
For some strange reason, Lily, instead of slapping him like he had expected, erupted into laughter once again, but it didn't take her that long to calm down this time. When she did so, she still had a huge smirk on her face.
"I'll never ever take a shower with you, James!" Actually... - No, stop it.
He raised a brow. "You're sure about that?"
"Yep. Stop bugging me."
"Well, you could always change your opinion. You just have to tell me." ...and I'd probably start dancing around in the common room.
"The day I take a shower with you is the day you're asking me to marry you."
James grinned and knelt down. "Lily, would you agree to be my wife?"
"Correction:...is the day you're sincerely asking me to marry you, without any ulterior motive." ...which, knowing you, won't happen as your mind's always in the gutter.
"Is this a yes?" He looked up at her, flattering his eyelashes and giving her his most charming smile.
"Didn't you listen? I said: Without any ulterior motive."
"But I just want you to be my wife so that you'll finally take this shower with me."
"Taking a shower together is an ulterior motive."
"Aw." He looked downcast, but quickly brightened up. "So if the shower's an ulterior motive, how about sharing a bed?"
Lily shook her head in disbelief. This isn't happening, I'm dreaming, must be. There's no way that James Potter just asked me to marry him, even if it was only a joke. A weird dream this is, really! Not an unpleasant, though...
"No answer?" James smirked. "So you're considering?" Why am I doing this? I don't really mean this stuff, do I? Although, okay, maybe I do, the shower- and the bed-part, at least. But asking her to be my wife! What if she said yes? Not that this was going to happen, of course, but what if? I wouldn't actually want to marry her. Would I? Nah, she's only sixteen and I'm seventeen. Besides, I don't think I'll ever marry. But if, then Lily definitely wouldn't be that bad...
"James, in case you failed to notice, I shook my head."
"I chose to ignore it."
"You're impossible."
"Thanks, I think."
"But you'll leave the bathroom nevertheless."
"I will?"
"You will."
"But I don't want to."
"Who cares?"
"I do."
"You don't count."
"Is this how you treat every guy that proposes to you?"
"This is how I treat every guy that only wants to marry me because he wants to sneak into my bed."
"How do you know that this was the only reason?"
"Is there any other?"
Dangerous question. "Um..."
She sighed. "Just get out, James."
Finally giving in, he grabbed the rest of his stuff that was still lying on the floor near the entrance, then waved cheerfully and bounced out of the door. Half smiling, Lily sat down, knowing him far too well to start undressing right now. True to her expectations, James waited a minute before peering in once again.
He looked disappointed to see her fully dressed. "Aren't you going to take your clothes off for that shower?"
"Only if I'm sure that you're not coming back. And now I'm going to take care of that." She pulled out her wand and pointed it at him, summoning his wand into her hands, then shoved him out of the door and locked it with a spell.
Outside, there was silence for a short second, and then she could her James' voice again, mixed with quiet snickers. "I'm going to ask Sirius for his wand, you know. Seeya in ten minutes."
Lily moaned. "Great. Ten minutes to undress, take a shower, dry myself and get dressed again. Well, I'd better get started."
***
"Padfoot! Wake up, or you'll miss the experience of your life!"
Sirius reluctantly opened one eye to glare at James who was hopping up and down at the end of his bed. "If this isn't really, really, really good, then you'll be in quite some trouble, Prongs!"
"Trust me, it is!" James grinned and proceeded to Remus bed. He didn't have to wake him up, though, as he had already been jerked out of his sleepiness by the noise coming from Sirius and James.
"So what is it? What are you talking about?"
"Get dressed and take your wands with you, I'll explain then."
Remus and Sirius were ready to go in a couple of minutes - they had decided to let Peter sleep; he wasn't a person you'd like to have around in the mornings (A/N not only). So the three boys climbed out of the common room and made their way to the Prefects Bathroom, led by James.
"So, what's this all about?" Sirius asked once again.
"Care to watch Lily taking a shower?" James smirked.
Remus stopped abruptly and grabbed his friend's sleeve. "You aren't serious, are you?"
"No, I'm Sirius!" the so-called put in, but Remus just rolled his eyes and continued.
"Because this is not a joke, Prongs, it's perverse! I thought you love this girl and not only her body! You wouldn't want one of your admirers burst into the room when you're undressed, would you?"
"Well, depends on her looks..." James grinned, but quickly changed his attitude when he saw his friend's glare. "No, I wouldn't want that, Moony, but Lily saw me naked, too, so it's just fair, isn't it?"
"She... What? I think you have to explain that, Jamie-boy!" Sirius leaned forwards with a rather amused face.
James blushed. "Oh, it was just an accident. She walked in the bathroom when I was about to dry myself, and then she tossed me my clothes, and when I leapt after them, I accidentally let go off my towel."
"Oooooohhh." Sirius and Remus erupted into fits of giggles synchronically with James standing beside them, waiting for them to calm down. Eventually, they did.
Wiping the tears from his eyes, Sirius looked at his friend, mischievous sparks dancing in his eyes. "Now, Jamsie, this was a first attempt to make her yours. Not a bad one, I'd say, which girl wouldn't be captivated by your chiseled body, hardened by daily Quidditch practices? It's the famous James Potter-charm."
"Well..." James wriggled uncomfortably. "It didn't work on her, though. She still didn't want to take a shower with me."
"You asked her that?" Remus stared at his friend; eyes opened wide in shock. "Knowing Lily, this was just about the most stupid thing you could do."
"Did she slap you?" Sirius wanted to know a broad smirk all over his face.
"No. Actually, she laughed."
"She laughed? Lily Evans laughed? Are you sure that it really was her?"
"Positive."
"What was me?" Grinning, Lily sneaked up behind James and joined the talking circle.
"Nothing." James blushed, once again. He seemed to do that quite a lot recently, much to the amusement of his friends.
"Sure." she replied ironically. "Why don't we get breakfast? I don't want to be late for Potions. Not today, anyway."
James quickly nodded, relieved to get away so easily. For now, at least, as he knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it as soon as Lily was no longer within earshot.
*****
Uh, James is becoming quite a pervert, isn't he? I didn't intend to make him behave like this, it just happened. I guess I know far too well which thoughts are busying the minds of boys at around seventeen. *Tries not to think of her boyfriend when saying this* With seventeen, they're beginning to calm down, though - most of them, anyway - but as we're in 1977, I'd say that James is exactly in this state of mind in which he would behave like this. It's only my theory, though. Come to Lily's thoughts: She jumps from secret insults to secret compliments, and I know it's kinda confusing. In my opinion, this is reflecting how she's feeling, because she doesn't know at all if she hates or likes James, and, if the last one's true, then in which way she likes him.
To all those who are waiting for me to finally write back: Sorry, I have not much time at the moment. Teachers suck. School sucks, too. And most of all: Tests suck! It's also the reason why I have to stop writing right here. And I want to see Dawson's Creek.
And this is once again a very long author's note, sorry about that. It's just that I feel obliged to answer the questions of all those who took the time to review. So, if you don't want to read it, no problem, just stop reading right HERE!
Flora: Well, I guess you noticed that I used this idea with the towel... *g* Thanks.
Hermione Black: Thanks for the sympathy. ;-) Well, my report was okay, I guess, and as we went to a Leonardo da Vinci exhibition just a couple of days later, it was rather interesting, as I already knew a few things about him. The only problem was that it took me some time to do. I'd wish you good luck for your tests, but as you already had them...
Kelly Ann: Top 3? J J J
Little Witch: I wanted to send you a thank-you-email for your offer, but I didn't have the time. So I'll do it here. Thank you very, very, very much. I already have a beta-reader now, and a good one, too, but nevertheless, thank you.
Skyflyer: Nah, Sirius didn't give Love Potion to poor Jamsie, it's just a good excuse James made up, because he didn't want to admit that he really felt something for her. *g*
Bunny chan: No snow? But... How do you celebrate Christmas? Without snow? How sad... Snow and Christmas, this sort of belongs together. For me, at least. Hey, know what? I finally managed to read some of your stories! I found out that I have to save them and then open them with another browser to be able to read them. The review-option doesn't work, though, so I'm saying this here: Great stories, I like them very, very, very much.
Metal mouth, Yael: You inspired me, did you notice?
MoonSerpent: Math and Science? Ugh! I often get the feeling that I should burn those books, and Geography, too. I'll write two tests tomorrow, Geography and French, and I didn't learn yet. I don't want to!
SeaSheLL: You've never been mentioned in a fic? Liar! ;-) Here you are, mentioned in my fic! J
Padfoot's Gal: Yep, I speak Italian. Not as good as French or English, but it's okay, I guess. I think that the Grammar's just about the same as in French, though I wouldn't pronounce it like French, especially not the 'rrrrr'-thing.
Waterlily: Of course I'll write the Snape-James-kissing-scene. *grins in evil anticipation*
Beth: No, he's not always there when I upload stuff, it was by chance that he was annoying ;-) me the last two parts of this series. *g* Hey, and now you're even mentioned in an author's note.
Ana:): What did those two boys DO?
Hermione Gulliver: James kissing Snape during the Welcome Feast next year? Uh-uh, poor firsties, they would have nightmares for the rest of their lives... Nah, can't do that to them. Well, Jamie-boy has three weeks to do what he needs to do before kissing Snape. Should be around the middle or the end of October then, I think. Something like that. When's Halloween? I always forget that 'cause it's not really celebrated in Germany. The 31 October? The Halloween dance would be a good chance, wouldn't it?
Jessie: Oh, that's mean. It's a bad idea your parents had there, really! But never mind, take as much time as you need.