Famous Last Words
Chapter 7 of 'The Ladies' Man'
by Marie McKinnon
"I think I found your diary."
"You read it." It wasn't a question but a statement. She knew he'd read it; how else
would he know her favourite place to go when she really needed to think was the top of
Gryffindor tower? Sitting on the edge of the wall around the top storey of a very high tower, she
purposefully looked away, pushing the thought of falling off out of her mind.
James hung his head. The fact that he knew she'd done the same didn't excuse his
behaviour. Her diary was full of thoughts, poems, stories, her hopes and dreams. His just had
what happened and how he planned on impressing certain people, or how to get certain girls to
like him. It wasn't the same thing. Looking at his diary was just like seeing a catalogue of what
happened in his life, not like looking at someone in a new light, like with Lily's.
"Those were my *private* thoughts, Potter. Have you no respect for privacy? Were you
trying to blackmail me into going out with you? I don't appreciate it when people see what I'm
thinking. My thoughts are for just me! Not you, not anyone, just me! You went behind my back
to find out what I really thought about you, and you knew it, didn't you? Anything to dig up dirt
on Evans, anything to get the last girl to go out with you, anything to make you seem like the
perfect, irresistable boy. Dumbledore's Golden Boy, Potter, that's what you are! No one ever
notices or cares that I've beat you in all the exams or have done better on the Quidditch field, just
because I'm not as popular as you are! I'm sick of this, so just go away and leave me alone! Get
out of here! Leave! I hate you!" By now the tears were running down Lily's cheeks. She had
poured so much into keeping her feelings secret that she wouldn't admit it when they came out
into the open. All the pent up emotions that had been vented into a piece of paper came pouring
out.
"Famous last words, Evans," James said maliciously. "You can't live without me. You
love me. I read it in your little diary, you can't deny it, it's down in ink. Get over here, Evans,
I'm not going to sit here while you throw a tantrum." The hurt look on her face became more
pronounced with every word. His hard mask remained in place for a total of two miliseconds
before he realized that this was his fault. He'd made the one girl he really loved cry, and now that
he'd realized what was going on, he'd gone and made the wound deeper by insulting her. "Oh,
d***, I'm sorry, Lily." Without another thought, he walked over to the wall and sat down next to
her. "Shh. It's all right, I'm here, it's okay. Don't worry." Almost automatically his arms found
themselves wound around her and his shoulder found a new use: a pillow for Lily's head.
She couldn't explain why she was crying. Being confused drove her crazy, which just
made her cry harder. James's comforting words did no good. He had been berating her almost
five seconds before, so why did he suddenly want to hold her and evaporate her tears?
"Potter," she said hoarsely. "Get off unless you can explain what the H*** is going on
inside your head. First you make me cry, then you scream at me, and now you try to comfort me?
I'm sorry, but even what I know you think of me isn't enough to allay my fears about your mental
health." A small smile played around the edges of her mouth.
"You want answers, go see a psychiatrist. Not even I can describe the inner workings of
my mind."
"Your mind has workings? I'm amazed, really I am."
"This is coming from the girl who's hopelessly in love with me, according to her diary," he
laughed.
"It's not written in stone yet," she commented, standing up. "Thanks. I feel a lot better
now."
James shook his head. "I should d*** well think so. My shoulder's fallen asleep from
your lying on it."
"Shove off, Potter."
"Aw, come on, ya know ya love me."
Lily cocked her head, pretending to be unsure. "I don't know. I need some convincing to
know that you're in love with me. Or so you say."
Holding up the diary, he grinned evilly. "You can't lie if you write in this. It'll even write
back."
"I noticed, Mr. 'love hotline on the WWN,'" she joked. "So you're saying if I put in
'James Potter is a complete b******,' it wouldn't cross it out?" He shoved her lightly, but she
gave as good as she got. He stumbled backwards, sitting down hard.
"What'd you do that for?"
"Eye for an eye justice. Ever heard of it?"
"No, but I *have* heard of 'thank God for privacy.'" James raised his eyebrows
expressively.
"Oh, no you don't. Even *I* don't like you that much."
He handed her the diary and a quill. "Just in case you don't trust me."
"All right, then," she smiled. Soon the words 'James Potter is a complete nimrod'
appeared on the page in messy, scribbled handwriting.
~I concur~
"Well, now," she asked triumphantly. "Who was right?"
"My turn."
Lily Evans is a sexy b****.
~How the H*** am I supposed to know? I'm only a book, you know, I don't have eyes or ears.
That's walls.~
"Ooh, it doesn't seem to like you very much."
"Shut up, Lily. If it could see you it'd agree with me."
James Potter loves Lily Evans.
~Oh, is that that girl's name? The one he was babbling on about? If it is, yeah, he does, he's been
scribbling about her for years.~
"Busted, Potter."
James Potter thinks Lily Evans is a sexy b****.
~Well, that's more up my alley. He most certainly does, I can tell you that much. See entry 357,
he goes over it all in detail.~
Lily grabbed for the book, flipping through pages as she went. James flushed scarlet,
pulled it away from her, and shut it with a snap.
"Fermus! There, now you can't open it."
"And I was really looking forwards to seeing that entry, too." She pouted slightly, but he
knew she was just kidding.
"Too late now. Sorry, dear, come back in the morning."
A mischievious glint appeared in Lily's eye. "Oh, I will, be sure about that." It was her
turn to raise her eyebrows expressively.
"Famous last words. You can't get into our dorm, you're a girl."
"Am I really? I had no idea! This is big news, alert the presses, call the newspapers!"
He rolled his eyes. "I would, but I don't think the Daily Prophet takes advertisements."
"If it did you'd have been advertising for a straight jacket several years ago."
"A what?"
"Never mind," she sighed. For a second she'd forgotten he was pure-blood. "It's a
Muggle thing."
"Whatever you say, dear."
"I'm not your 'dear.' I'm more of a caribou." Trying to be lighthearted in the face of a
very serious issue wasn't as hard as Lily'd thought it would be, though she wished he'd be blunt
and get to the heart of the problem. They knew they were in love, but should they try to hush it
up or should they just start going out?
Reading her thoughts, James asked "What would everyone say if I asked you to the
graduation ceremony? The Head Boy and Girl are being named, so we've got to be there."
"Do you really give a d*** about what everyone else is going to think?"
"Not really. So will you go with me, then?"
"I s'pose."
"My diary's finally convinced you, has it?"
"Don't flatter yourself. I've been trying so hard not to ask you myself that it was almost a
relief to be able to dismiss it."
"You love me, then? Cause I know I love you."
"Famous last words, Potter," she joked. "I'll find you in the library with someone else
before I know it. And you *won't* be doing a project."
"Very funny."
Disclaimer: As I have said countless times, I am *not* J. K. Rowling. That having been
said, you will understand that I do not own anyone in this chapter. If you don't, I would
recommend a mental check-up. Lord knows I've had enough of those in the past weeks. Joking.
Well, that's really all I have to say. Oh, wait, not it's not. REVIEW OR I'LL THROW
PRETZELS AT YOU!
Chapter 7 of 'The Ladies' Man'
by Marie McKinnon
"I think I found your diary."
"You read it." It wasn't a question but a statement. She knew he'd read it; how else
would he know her favourite place to go when she really needed to think was the top of
Gryffindor tower? Sitting on the edge of the wall around the top storey of a very high tower, she
purposefully looked away, pushing the thought of falling off out of her mind.
James hung his head. The fact that he knew she'd done the same didn't excuse his
behaviour. Her diary was full of thoughts, poems, stories, her hopes and dreams. His just had
what happened and how he planned on impressing certain people, or how to get certain girls to
like him. It wasn't the same thing. Looking at his diary was just like seeing a catalogue of what
happened in his life, not like looking at someone in a new light, like with Lily's.
"Those were my *private* thoughts, Potter. Have you no respect for privacy? Were you
trying to blackmail me into going out with you? I don't appreciate it when people see what I'm
thinking. My thoughts are for just me! Not you, not anyone, just me! You went behind my back
to find out what I really thought about you, and you knew it, didn't you? Anything to dig up dirt
on Evans, anything to get the last girl to go out with you, anything to make you seem like the
perfect, irresistable boy. Dumbledore's Golden Boy, Potter, that's what you are! No one ever
notices or cares that I've beat you in all the exams or have done better on the Quidditch field, just
because I'm not as popular as you are! I'm sick of this, so just go away and leave me alone! Get
out of here! Leave! I hate you!" By now the tears were running down Lily's cheeks. She had
poured so much into keeping her feelings secret that she wouldn't admit it when they came out
into the open. All the pent up emotions that had been vented into a piece of paper came pouring
out.
"Famous last words, Evans," James said maliciously. "You can't live without me. You
love me. I read it in your little diary, you can't deny it, it's down in ink. Get over here, Evans,
I'm not going to sit here while you throw a tantrum." The hurt look on her face became more
pronounced with every word. His hard mask remained in place for a total of two miliseconds
before he realized that this was his fault. He'd made the one girl he really loved cry, and now that
he'd realized what was going on, he'd gone and made the wound deeper by insulting her. "Oh,
d***, I'm sorry, Lily." Without another thought, he walked over to the wall and sat down next to
her. "Shh. It's all right, I'm here, it's okay. Don't worry." Almost automatically his arms found
themselves wound around her and his shoulder found a new use: a pillow for Lily's head.
She couldn't explain why she was crying. Being confused drove her crazy, which just
made her cry harder. James's comforting words did no good. He had been berating her almost
five seconds before, so why did he suddenly want to hold her and evaporate her tears?
"Potter," she said hoarsely. "Get off unless you can explain what the H*** is going on
inside your head. First you make me cry, then you scream at me, and now you try to comfort me?
I'm sorry, but even what I know you think of me isn't enough to allay my fears about your mental
health." A small smile played around the edges of her mouth.
"You want answers, go see a psychiatrist. Not even I can describe the inner workings of
my mind."
"Your mind has workings? I'm amazed, really I am."
"This is coming from the girl who's hopelessly in love with me, according to her diary," he
laughed.
"It's not written in stone yet," she commented, standing up. "Thanks. I feel a lot better
now."
James shook his head. "I should d*** well think so. My shoulder's fallen asleep from
your lying on it."
"Shove off, Potter."
"Aw, come on, ya know ya love me."
Lily cocked her head, pretending to be unsure. "I don't know. I need some convincing to
know that you're in love with me. Or so you say."
Holding up the diary, he grinned evilly. "You can't lie if you write in this. It'll even write
back."
"I noticed, Mr. 'love hotline on the WWN,'" she joked. "So you're saying if I put in
'James Potter is a complete b******,' it wouldn't cross it out?" He shoved her lightly, but she
gave as good as she got. He stumbled backwards, sitting down hard.
"What'd you do that for?"
"Eye for an eye justice. Ever heard of it?"
"No, but I *have* heard of 'thank God for privacy.'" James raised his eyebrows
expressively.
"Oh, no you don't. Even *I* don't like you that much."
He handed her the diary and a quill. "Just in case you don't trust me."
"All right, then," she smiled. Soon the words 'James Potter is a complete nimrod'
appeared on the page in messy, scribbled handwriting.
~I concur~
"Well, now," she asked triumphantly. "Who was right?"
"My turn."
Lily Evans is a sexy b****.
~How the H*** am I supposed to know? I'm only a book, you know, I don't have eyes or ears.
That's walls.~
"Ooh, it doesn't seem to like you very much."
"Shut up, Lily. If it could see you it'd agree with me."
James Potter loves Lily Evans.
~Oh, is that that girl's name? The one he was babbling on about? If it is, yeah, he does, he's been
scribbling about her for years.~
"Busted, Potter."
James Potter thinks Lily Evans is a sexy b****.
~Well, that's more up my alley. He most certainly does, I can tell you that much. See entry 357,
he goes over it all in detail.~
Lily grabbed for the book, flipping through pages as she went. James flushed scarlet,
pulled it away from her, and shut it with a snap.
"Fermus! There, now you can't open it."
"And I was really looking forwards to seeing that entry, too." She pouted slightly, but he
knew she was just kidding.
"Too late now. Sorry, dear, come back in the morning."
A mischievious glint appeared in Lily's eye. "Oh, I will, be sure about that." It was her
turn to raise her eyebrows expressively.
"Famous last words. You can't get into our dorm, you're a girl."
"Am I really? I had no idea! This is big news, alert the presses, call the newspapers!"
He rolled his eyes. "I would, but I don't think the Daily Prophet takes advertisements."
"If it did you'd have been advertising for a straight jacket several years ago."
"A what?"
"Never mind," she sighed. For a second she'd forgotten he was pure-blood. "It's a
Muggle thing."
"Whatever you say, dear."
"I'm not your 'dear.' I'm more of a caribou." Trying to be lighthearted in the face of a
very serious issue wasn't as hard as Lily'd thought it would be, though she wished he'd be blunt
and get to the heart of the problem. They knew they were in love, but should they try to hush it
up or should they just start going out?
Reading her thoughts, James asked "What would everyone say if I asked you to the
graduation ceremony? The Head Boy and Girl are being named, so we've got to be there."
"Do you really give a d*** about what everyone else is going to think?"
"Not really. So will you go with me, then?"
"I s'pose."
"My diary's finally convinced you, has it?"
"Don't flatter yourself. I've been trying so hard not to ask you myself that it was almost a
relief to be able to dismiss it."
"You love me, then? Cause I know I love you."
"Famous last words, Potter," she joked. "I'll find you in the library with someone else
before I know it. And you *won't* be doing a project."
"Very funny."
Disclaimer: As I have said countless times, I am *not* J. K. Rowling. That having been
said, you will understand that I do not own anyone in this chapter. If you don't, I would
recommend a mental check-up. Lord knows I've had enough of those in the past weeks. Joking.
Well, that's really all I have to say. Oh, wait, not it's not. REVIEW OR I'LL THROW
PRETZELS AT YOU!
