A/N: Hehe. This one is up sooner than the last one was. Yay for me! Review, and excuse all my errors. I really need to get myself a beta reader, and stop being so lazy. Have you ever had one of those days when the littlest thing just makes you want to burst into tears, and cry for 2 hours? Well, I'm warning you that is the side of Lily we are going to see today. Don't worry she hasn't gone crazy!^_^
***
"Are you sure you're not mad, Lil?" Maria asked, somewhat nervously.
It took every bit of self-control Lily had not to jump across the table and strangle Maria. She settled for yelling.
"Mad? Why would I be mad? I mean, what you did was nothing. Pish posh. So, you made James Potter fall in love with me. No biggie. Especially since his idea of a romantic date is a trip up to the Astronomy Tower in the dead of night! Tell me why I would be mad, Maria! Huh? Huh?"
Lily's eyes were bulging out of head, and Maria winced slightly. She had never seen Lily this upset over something so trivial. Lily was one of those people who could smile no matter how awful she felt on the inside. She had always put up a strong front, never allowing people to know when she was really upset. To see Lily like this, worried Maria.
And pish posh? What the Hell did pish posh mean? Since when did Lily say words like pish posh? That in itself was quite a mystery.
"I'm pretty sure she's gone mad." Meagan said in an undertone to Rachel.
Rachel nodded and bit her lip trying to contain her laughter. She whimpered when she caught sight of the look she was getting from Lily.
"I just can't believe that you would do that. I mean, what kind of friends are you? I can deal with James, but the thought of you three doing that just makes me so mad." Lily stared into her mashed potatoes sullenly, trying to hide the tears that were beginning to form.
Maria looked at the ceiling and let out a sigh. She didn't know what to say. This was not the Lily she knew.
"I'm sorry Lily. We thought it was just a joke. You're my best friend. I would never hurt you on purpose. You know that. I didn't know you would care so much." She said trying to make herself feel better just as much as she wanted Lily to feel better. She had never felt this guilty before.
"Yeah, Lil. I mean, how many times have me and you played jokes that other people have taken a little too seriously?" Rachel said, trying to be sympathetic. She wasn't used to comforting people, least of all Lily, and wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to be saying.
"It will only be for two more hours." Meagan said, putting her around Lily. "The potion wear off by 9:00."
Lily shrugged her arm off. "I don't know why this is bothering me so much. Maybe I'm PMSing or something. I just need to be alone." She muttered more to herself then to her friends as she got up and walked out of the Great Hall.
***
"Do you know what the weirdest thing in the world is?" James asked Sirius, Remus, and Peter as he shoveled large amounts of food into his mouth.
"The way Dumbledore's eyes always seem to twinkle as if he is slowly undressing you with his eyes?" Sirius supplied.
"No, you poor, sick, perverted little boy." James said disgusted.
"Almost more so then you, James, my dear." Sirius said tranquilly.
James rolled his eyes. "As I was saying. It's weird to be completely in love with someone but at the same time know it's only because of a love potion. It's like half of me wants Evans, and the other half is saying that that's the craziest thing I've ever thought before."
"I still can't believe you left me out of your little plan, Remus." Sirius said sadly. "I could have had such fun." He began to stare off into space, a forlorn expression on his face.(hehe. I rhymed!)
Remus stared down the table at his partners in crime. They were all staring morosely at their food with identical expressions of guilt on their faces.
"Say, where is Lovely Lady Lily?" Remus wondered aloud.
James felt the familiar jerk in his stomach that he had begun to get used to throughout the day. I don't care where Lily is. It's just the love potion. Even as he thought this, James felt his feet propelling him out of his seat toward the doors of the Great Hall in search of the object of his affections.
***
Lily sat leaning against a tree staring at the setting sun. She knew exactly why she was so bothered by what had happened. It had nothing to do with the joke itself. It was more of the principle of the matter. Lily has always been perfect at everything she did. If she wasn't the best she felt she had let people down, most of all herself. She had always been sharp-witted, never allowing anyone to get the better of her. The fact that her own friends had deliberately hurt her made her feel somehow vulnerable. It made no sense, but at the same time was the only reason she was so bothered.
I should not be bothered by this, Lily told herself sharply. I play pranks on them all the time and they never care. I need to get over myself and stop being such a baby.
Yet her brooding thoughts would not exit her mind. She let out a moan, and leaned her head back to look at the now-dark sky. It had to be around eight or nine by now. She closed her eyes for a second, but they popped open when she sensed that someone else was with her. She looked up into the face of James Potter.
"Hey Potter." She said too tired to care what he had to say now.
"I thought you might be out here." He said in a voice far gentler than what Lily was used to. "Are you OK?"
"I should be asking if you're OK." Lily said dumbstruck. She had never seen this side of James even with all the crazy things he'd been saying throughout the day. "Why are you being nice?"
"I dunno. I just thought you might need someone to talk to." James said suddenly on the defense again. "You're not the only one who got played today, Lily. I'm the one who took the love potion. I could kill, Remus."
"I never thought Remus had it in him." Lily said with a small smile.
"Remus is the mastermind behind all our plans, believe it or not. Me and Sirius just carry them out." James said, before abruptly changing the subject. "Why do you hate me Lily?"
"Huh?" Lily asked surprised. "Cause you always...well, you see...I guess I just never liked the idea of you."
Now James was the surprised one. "The idea? Ok, Lily, you're making a lot of sense now."
"Well, I never wanted to be one of those girls who bow down to a guy's every wish. I always hated the way girls follow you around, going crazy if you say one word to them. I guess I always blamed you for that."
"Isn't that a bit hypocritical? You have guys drooling all over you every second of the day, and you break a new boy's heart every week."
"I like to be in control." Lily said simply, so softly James could barely hear her. "I don't like the thought of some guy being able to hurt me like that."
"You think I would hurt you?" James asked his face only inches away from her. His breath felt warm on her face. "Try taking the weight of the world off your shoulders sometime, Lily. You'll feel a lot better."
For a moment Lily simply stared into James' warm brown eyes. They held a serious note that Lily had never seen before. James had just pinpointed the exact problem that had plagued Lily for what seemed like all her life. She couldn't understand the strange connection to the guy she had despised for so many years. But before Lily could say another word James was leaning in to kiss her. His lips brushed lightly against hers, slowly becoming more forceful. He took his sweet time before turning the kiss into a full-fledged snog, opening his mouth to let his tongue in. The whole time he was gentle though, not like many of the guys she knew who just jammed their tongue down her throat, nearly choking her.
Lily tried to ignore the sparks of electricity shooting through her body, something she had never felt with another guy. It's just the love potion, she told herself. This is not the real James I am kissing. Yet she allowed herself to be wrapped in his arms, noting how their bodies seemed to mold together.
When she finally pulled away she quickly caught her breath before asking, "What time is it?"
James stared at her shock. Whatever he had expected her reaction to be when he kissed her, it was not this. To be sure, he didn't know what he had expected her to do. He hadn't even known what he himself had been doing when he had leaned forward to kiss Lily. He just knew that he felt the need to show her that she didn't always have to be the strong model of perfection she tried to be.
He glanced at his watch. "9:45. Why?" he asked trying not to sound annoyed.
"Then it was you I was kissing."
"Who did you think it was, Snape?" James asked sarcastically.
"The love potion wore off at 9:00" Lily said with the shadow of a smile starting to play at her lips.
"So..."
"You kissed me on your own free will." Now she had a goofy grin on her face.
"Well, I'll be damned." James said wryly, also grinning, realizing what Lily meant.
"Rachel won the bet." Lily said starting to laugh hysterically.
"Huh?"
"She had a bet going with Michael that would hook up this year."
"Oh. Well, who said we ever hooked up?" James asked innocently.
"Me. You got a problem with that?" Lily asked attempting to scowl, through her laughter.
"I don't think there's any point in answering that question. And what the Hell is so damn funny?"
"This whole day." Lily called out before skipping off to the castle.
***
"I wonder what Lily is doing out there." Meagan said worriedly flipping absent-mindedly through a magazine.
"I'm sure she's fine." Maria said, twisting a lock of her glossy black hair. She didn't sound very convinced of her own words though.
"I feel so bad about what we did to her." Rachel said with a sigh. "We knew she hated James. I think deep down I just did it as a way to win my bet with Michael. You guys know how competitive I get. I feel so bad that I would use Lily like that. As if she even cares if I get my money or not."
Maria untangled her hair from her fingers and stood up. "Ok, that's it. We've got to stop this. We know Lily. She'll forgive us for this. We've got to stop worrying about her. I'm sure she'll come in any moment now cooled down and ready to talk."
As if on queue Lily burst through the door, auburn ringlets bouncing and eyes shining. She was whistling "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", and doing what looked like some sort of jig.
"Why hello, Lily." Maria said puzzled. "Did you have a nice evening?"
"Splendid, Maria dahling, splendid." Lily laughed. "Will you listen to me, I sound like a giggling school-girl."
"You are a school-girl in case you had forgotten, and you must definitely are a giggling one right now." Meagan said with a bewildered smile.
Lily grinned. "Thank you Meagan. Well, I'm exhausted. I'll see you foxy ladies in the morning."
She promptly fell asleep, leaving Meagan, Rachel, and Maria staring at each other, bewildered, each wondering if Lily had finally knocked a couple of screws loose in her head.
***
A/N: Ok, you can't blame a girl for trying. I know this wasn't very good, but I'm not a mushy type of person. Sap makes me want to throw myself over a bridge. Please review! I love all the beautiful people who have been kind enough to so far. You guys are my heroes! O_0