James Potter and The Unogua Board
James Potter and The Unogua Board Chapter 2 : Meeting The School

'Who's that?' Sirius asked, pointing at Lily, who was forced to sit opposite James.

She was scowling at her tea for being too hot and because McGonagall had just asked James to 'babysit' her for the rest of the year. Sirius, who had just came back from Christmas holidays, was puzzled at the new face scowling at James for no particular reason.

'Lily Evans. She's under my arm unntil school ends,' James said, looking at Lily intently.

Her eyes were a little red, for unknown reasons, and a light shade of purple was visible under her green eyes.

'Hullo Lily! Sirius Black,' Sirius greeted, sticking out his right hand.

Lily barely even looked up, but continued to frown at her tea. Sirius turned to James.

'Don't bother. She's always that way,' James said, sipping some coffee.

'Got our presents, Jimmy?' Remus grinned.

'Yeah, thanks a lot. A huge stinkbomb on the Christmas table with Dumbledore staring at me. Wonderful. I'm so honored,' James said bitterly, recalling the Christmas day when he unwrapped his present on the table where Dumbledore and the rest of the teachers were sitting. The stinkbomb had gone right off before the teachers, earning him another detention from McGonagall.

'It was suppose to bomb as soon as it was opened,' Sirius shrugged. 'As for Ms. Lily here… so sorry we didn't give you anything,' he said sweetly.

Lily drank her tea quickly and ate her eggs.

'Is she deaf and mute or too stupid to listen and talk?' Remus said in amusement, staring at the quiet girl.

'Actually, I'm neither,' Lily said curtly, glaring at Remus and Sirius.

'Ah! She has a voice!' Sirius said. 'So, what year are you?'

Lily ignored him and surveyed the Gryffindor table slowly.

'Is she always like this?' Remus asked.

'What do you think?' James replied.

~**~

'Evans, what is the difference of a rat's heart and a mouse's heart?' Professor Cerberus asked.

It was potions now and Cerberus was shooting his questionnaires at the Gryffindors. Lily happened to be his victim of the day.

Lily stared at the air blankly.

'Evans! Answer me!' Cerberus snapped, banging the table so hardly that the thick potion books jumped in response. Lily snapped out of her trance and turn to him.

'Yes, professor?' she asked calmly.

James groaned. Of all the Gryffindors, Lily just had to be his victim of the day. And it just so happen that Lily isn't really one to answer any questions.

'What is the main difference of a rat's heart and a mouse's heart?' He bellowed.

The Gryffindrs bit their nails nervously as the Slytherins sneered unpleasantly at the new girl.

'We learnt that last year,' Lily said.

'Nooo…' James moaned.

'I asked for an answer!' Cerberus bellowed.

'A rat's heart has mor heartstrings than a mouse's. It is much bigger by an inch and has a darker shade of red,' Lily said automatically without a single mistake. Cerberus's lips twisted into an ugly sneer.

'I'm afraid you had that wrong-'

'It's right,' Lily cut. 'Potions for Starters, page 135, chapter 4. Am I not right there, sir?'

'What's the use of the fifteen fungi?' Cerberus snapped.

'But that's at the very last page!' Lily protested.

'Answer me, Evans, or marks will be taken,' Cerberus said smoothly.

'It's to make,' Lily gulped, glancing up in the air, 'a- a- a-'

'C'mon, Lily!' James whispered.

Lily's face suddenly lighted up like a mini christmas tree and she turned to the Potions Master confidently and looked at him right in his eye.

'It is to make the animagi potion,' Lily finished.

'Right. At least you'd been doing some reading, Evans,' Cerberus spat spitefully, as if mad that he couldn't take points off Gryffindor. Lily glared at him sourly.

'He's always that way. Forget that git,' James whispered, when Lily sat back down onto her place. Lily grimly clenched her hands tightly.

~**~

The next morning, Cerberus walked into the Great Hall, drawing amused expressions to himself from all te four house tables. Professor Hart shot a glance at Lily, who was ignoring her cousin's looks.

'Look, Lily, look! Cerberus's face!' James half-cried and half-laughed, pulling Lily's robes.

'Don't pull me! And yes, I know,' Lily scowled without looking up.

'You carely even raised your eyes!' Sirius said.

'It said "I'm a dolt" right?' Lily said quietly, eating her eggs.

'How did you know?' Remus asked in amazement.

'…'

'Lily? One moment, please,' Hart said, clasping a hand on her shoulder.

'I'm fine and I didn't do anything, Bec,' Lily said, drinking her tea.

'Are you sure?'

'As the sky is blue, I swear my life,' Lily said.

'Not that serious, are you?' James chided.

'Let her be,' Hart said, sighing. Lily murmured something under her breath after Hart left which James failed to catch.

'What did you say, Lily?' James asked curiously.

'…'

'Speaking of Cerberus, how'd you know the answers yesterday?'

'…'

'Not telling?'

'…'

'Fine,' James shrugges. I'll find it out someday.

~**~

'So, why not tell us about yourself, Lily?' Remus suggested that night.

'She won't say a thing,' James replied, seeing Lily doing her essay.

'Why not?' Sirius asked.

'How should I know? She's doing her essay? Ask her yourself!!' James shot.

'She's gonna be that way? If I stay like that, I'd go nuts,' Remus said.

'Hey Alicia! Janice!' James called to the pair of giggling twins at the other side of the common room.

'What do you want?' Janice called.

'Can you do us a favour?'

'Depends,' Alicia shrugged.

'Try to talk to Lily there,' James said. 'That okay with you?'

'Sure, why not?' Alicia replied, after a short talk with her twin.

'Hey, who're you? We're Janice and Alicia Moon. Nice to meet you!' Janice said cheerfully, bouncing to Lily.

'Twins! Yep!' Alicia chirped.

'… I'm Lily Evans,' Lily said slowly.

'Why so silent?' Janice asked. 'Heard you were under James's wing.'

'Yes, I am,' Lily said.

'You don't talk much, do you?' Alicia piped.

'… I guess I don't.'

'Which school are you from?'

'Epetons. It blew up.'

'Oh. Sorry. So how's Hogwarts?' Janice asked.

'Pretty fine.'

'Want us to show you around? I don't think James makes a pretty good tour guide, does he?' Alicia offered.

'No. It's okay. James is fine enough.'

'How's you manage to answer Cerberus's questions yesterday? For a shourt moment, I thought us Gryffindors will lose fifteen points!' Janice said in admiration.

'… I, uh, studied earlier,' Lily said, turning back to keep her parchments and pull out a muggle story book.

'You must be awfully smart, then! Cerberus likes to torture us Gryffindors. He hates them. I mean all and not just one,' Alicia said.

'Oh.' Lily couldn't see what had that got to do with her.

'You don't talk much, do you?' Janice asked.

'I asked that already! And she said yes!' Alicia cut.

'I'll be at the dorm,' Lily said, leaving without another word uttered.

'What's with her?' Alicia asked, turning to James.

'I don't know. She hardly speaks to me. Say one sentence. That would be the maximum,' James shrugged.

He got up and went back to his dorm. He took out his Invisibility Cloak and draped it around himself before standing in front of the mirror to make sure he is really hidden from view. The last time he used it, his left shoulder was sticking out and he had earned a detention for wandering late at night in the school halls.

James then set off for the girl's dorm. Upon entering the second year's room, he went straight to Lily's bed, which is the nearest to the door. It had to be her bed because it was the only one with all it's curtains down and the girl was nowhere to be seen. James peeked in.

Lily was sitting on her bed, her back facing him and holding a big stuffed bear (about half the size of her) hard as she murmured under her breath. Feeling curious, James climbed in to hear what she's saying.

'And they'll all die. I don't want anyone to die,' Lily murmured silently.

Nothing in James ever expected the bear to reply, but that is exactly what it did! The stuffed bear answered Lily in a quiet whisper. He lean closer to hear.

'—and don't worry, Lil! If you want to talk to me face to face, you can always come to my office,' the bear said gently in a voice like Hart's.

'No. I'm more comfortable this way,' Lily said quietly. 'Everyone'll die someday, but I don't want him to die that way. Is there a way, Bec, to change destiny?'

'I'm afraid not, Lily. If fate should decide that we should die at that time, we should. There's no way one can interfere with destiny, so stick that at the back of your head,' the bear replied rather matter-of-factly. James, straining his ear, accidentally knocked onto Lily's pillow.

'Who's there?' Lily called sharply, jerking to where James is standing. James held his breath sharply and silently wished to his lucky stars that Lily will be not smart enough as to start feeling around for the invisible person.

And thankfully, James's lucky star granted his wish.

'Probably one of them, sneaking up for a trick,' Lily said dismissively.

'You really shouldn't communicate with them any longer. You mix both present and future now. Hang on, past, too. See what had happened? What'll happen will happen, Lily, and you must face it with courage, not fear,' the bear said gently.

'No. I'll have to go one. What I had started, what I had believed in. It's my destiny, should it be written in paper, to communicate with them. For if I stop—' Lily stopped at once. 'Who's there? You're not one of them! Come out! Petrificus totalus!'

Then again, lucky stars could turn unlucky. James felt his body stiffen as the cloak fell out of his grip. He fell onto the soft bed, thanking the Heavens that it isn't the hard floor.

'James!' Lily cried in surprise.

James did a sort of gesture, as if to say "Put Me Back!" to Lily.

'Sofus. Were you eavesdropping at me?' Lily demanded sharply.

'No. I was wondering what were you doing, talking to yourself. Besides, what am I eavesdropping? It's only you!' James said. Lily's eyes bore into him. Somehow, James wished he hadn't tried to make things funny. Jokes don't get through Lily's head.

And besides, which idiot would talk to a bear of all things to talk to? Okay, so he was eavesdropping, but—

'So you were eavesdropping,' Lily concluded, as if reading his mind.

'I wasn't!'

'Out, James!' Lily ordered curtly, pointing at the door.

Great. I just help increase her loathe to boys, James moaned, running out of the dorm. But why hadn't Lily questioned him what was he doing in a girl's dorm? James remembered something.

'Uh, can I have my cloak back?' James asked.

'Here,' Lily said, giving him the cloak.

~**~

'Where were you, Potter?' Sirius asked, visibly annoyed, when James returned to his dorm.

'Sneaking around,' James replied casually.

'Where?'

'Lily's dorm.'

'And what? Copy her text book? You have better things to worry about there,' Sirius said, rolling his eyes at James. Somehow, that didn't seem like James.

'She was speaking to her toy bear,' James muttered. 'And I'm smart enough to not need to copy any essays, unlike you.'

'Like what?' Remus asked curiously.

'Transfiguration, Potions—'

'No, not that! What is Lily saying to her bear?'

'Oh, all sorts. Tons of things,' James said breezily.

'Yes, but what?' Sirius demanded.

'Let's make this short.'

'Yes…?'

'Lily needs to answer some questions tomorrow,' James said, dropping onto his bed.

No, not some. Loads of them.

~**~

AN: *clears throat in a dignified way* Hello people!!!!! Yes, I did notice that this Lily isn't exactly the sort that is portrayed in the other types of fanfictions we all have known so well and loved. I don't know what possessed me, but the way Lily [in this story] is acting is how I was when I was younger [about her age now – twelve]. Yes, I do purposely don't answer calls, just to annoy people, so this is perfectly true!! Only her personality, that is. And now, thinking back, I think people think of me the way James now unfolds the story *grins sheepishly* that's what I now think of myself back then! Anywayz, I'd love to hear from you all. Criticisms and flames will be taken not as rubbish or anything, but for my future reference J hopefully, my English can improve this way ^^ ciao!!!