Chapter 14

(A/N) Hi! I'm back! I may be posting the chapters a little less often, as Spring Break's ended, and I have a lot of projects. (Strange… No homework, but five projects. I'm done with two!) Sorry, I had to add that little tidbit of my life. Thanks for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I own the plot, and Evelyn & Bella. Umm… J.K. owns everything else.

*~*~*~*~*

"Potter!" McGonagall snapped while pacing the room.

"Yes?" James asked uncertainly.

"Miss Evans is home for the next few weeks."

"I realize that," James answered.

"Don't talk back. Because of this, you and your partner will have less time for preparation than the rest of the prefects."

"I realize that."

"Potter!"

"Sorry, ma'am."

"Anyway, thus being said, I will need the two of you to practice together more often."

"What?" James asked. Obviously, he wasn't looking forward to the idea.

"Fine, if you'd like to ruin the entire Ball, fine by me, Potter. But you will be looking at a hundred points from Gryffindor," McGonagall answered, her mouth in a taut line.

"A hundred? Professor, aren't you blowing this a bit out of proportion? I mean, it's just the Opening Dance with her, not the whole ruddy Ball!"

"Excuse me? Are you questioning me?" McGonagall peered at him.

"No, not at all. I just think it's a little extreme. We both know all the steps, really. It'll be fine."

"You and your friends won't be trying anything… funny, will you?"

"Uh, no," James answered quickly. Too quickly.

McGonagall sighed. "Fine. But you and Miss Evans will have to catch up quickly on any new steps we learn. Should I find any pranks pulled, I will personally ensure that you and the rest of your little friends have detention until you graduate. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Potter?"

James grinned. "Crystal."

*~*~*~*~*

"Lily, you look great!"

"Shut up!" Lily said, turning around to see Evelyn and Bella squealing in excitement.

"Well, you look so… different," Bella stated.

"Let's see, I've heard that one six times, today. I heard 'You look great!' about fifteen times, and 'Wow!' about twenty. Anyone want to take a bet on which'll be the highest at the end of the day?" Lily asked sarcastically, taking out an imaginary note pad and pen.

"Whatever you say, Lily, dear. Wait until the Ball, you'll be the center of attention!"

"I was afraid of that," Lily grumbled, reaching for a jelly doughnut.

*~*~*~*~*

Lily Evans was beautiful.

James caught himself before he tripped over Peter. He had heard the words, "Lily Evans" and "Beautiful" in the same sentence.

Sure, she had always been a bit… pretty, but never was she 'beautiful'.

"Has anyone seen Evans?" James asked Sirius.

"Yeah," Sirius got a wistful, dreamy look on his face. "I've seen her."

"Sirius? Snap out of it!" James demanded.

"Wha- oh, right. She's- uh, she's… somewhere."

"Right. Be vague. Where is she?"

"Behind you, Potter," a new voice said.

Sirius began stuttering. "Uh, hi, Lily. You look-"

"Don't even start, Black. You wanted to see me, Potter?" she asked sweetly as James wheeled around.

"Evans." He avoided looking at her face. But then, if he avoided looking at her face, where was he supposed to look?

"So you know my last name. We have achieved that. Continue, please."

"McGonagall wanted to see you," he said giving up and looking into her eye.

Lily got a misty look on her face, and seemed to see right through him.

"Evans? McGonagall. Wants. To. See. You. Right. Now."

Lily shook her head. "Wha-? Oh, right. Sorry." She turned and left.

*~*~*~*~*

"And she was beautiful."

"Not especially," James threw a tennis ball at the wall.

"Her eyes are so… entrancing, I can't believe I never noticed before," a boy continued.

"Oh yeah, king of the articulates over here," James muttered.

"Her hair is auburn, but it's prettier."

"From entrancing to pretty. Lovely vocabulary change," James said.

"She's just so beautiful, and so… she's just so sophisticated, all of a sudden."

"Once again back to the long syllables," James added.

"She's beautiful."

"You said that," James pointed out. But he had to admit, Lily was beautiful.

'No, she's not. Evans is not beautiful.'

'You're right. What was I thinking?'

'On second thought, her eyes are really deep.'

'You dolt!'

'Sorry.'

'But you're right, she does have nice eyes.'

'I told you so. She changed a little, didn't she?'

'Yeah…'

"Arrgh! Stop it! Get… Out… Of… My… Head! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" James was hitting himself on the head.

"Potter?" James stopped hitting himself long enough to look at the speaker. Evans. Of course.

James straightened slightly. "Evans. Did you see McGonagall?"

"Yeah, she said that we need to catch up on a few steps of the dancing. Are you okay? I mean…" Lily gestured towards the heavy Transfiguration textbook James had been hitting himself with.

"Oh. Right. Uh, that's nothing."

"I'm sure. Anyway, we have another rehearsal tomorrow, as an individual practice for half an hour, then one with everyone else, starting at nine in the morning. Got that?"

"Uh, yeah, I know," James nodded slightly.

"Potter?"

"What?" James asked; he was getting a queasy feeling in the stomach.

"Are you sure you're alright? You look sick," Lily shifted her books. "Not that I care, anyway."

"I'm fine. Uh, see you tomorrow, then."

"Yeah. Until then, Potter," Lily nodded, glancing at him once more before leaving.

"Hey, Evans?"

"What?" Lily stopped, turning around.

"Uh… Never mind."

"No really, what?"

"Never mind." James shook his head. He was pretty sure that it had been her in his head a few days ago, but then, maybe he was just hearing things.

*~*~*~*~*

"Lily! Over here! Come over here!" Sirius called.

Lily glanced over her shoulder, but changed her mind and joined her friends walking down to the Lake.

"Hi," she greeted.

"You look great," Remus said.

Evelyn and Bella laughed.

"What?" he asked.

"Lily's taking bets on how many times she's going to hear that," Evelyn informed him.

"Fifty-five," Sirius said promptly. "Here's a… knut."

"Feeling cheap today, aren't we?" Lily asked, but took the knut anyway.

"But you do look great," Sirius added.

"Not a bad act for you, Evans," James nodded slightly.

"Gee, thanks ever so much, Potter. Coming from you, it's the compliment of the century," Lily said sarcastically. Brushing a stray strand of hair back, she glanced out the window. "Lovely weather we're having, isn't it? I love spring!"

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "That's Lily for you. Loves spring, she does. Nothing gets her down."

Lily laughed, something that made James shift uneasily. "That's right. Nothing gets me down. Not even you, Potter."

*~*~*~*~*

"Wonderful! You all make me so proud!" Professor McGonagall wiped a tear.

Some of the prefects were staring in a bewildered way at their professor.

"You all shall be wonderful at the Ball! Those individual lessons really did work!"

"I think she's lost her marbles," a Ravenclaw near Lily murmured.

"I agree."

Lily glanced at James, who seemed to be deep in thought.

"Hey, Potter?"

Startled, James turned at her voice. "What?"

"You were thinking."

"Yeah. So?"

"Don't. You look different when you think," Lily grinned.

"I'm always thinking."

"Sure."

"I am!"

"Sure!"

"What? You think that I don't think?"

"You said it, not me," Lily answered. "So, what were you thinking about, anyway?"

"Nothing," James answered stiffly.

"Meaning something."

"I am entitled to have my own thoughts."

"Not in this school," Lily replied.

"I won't tell you what I was thinking until you tell me what you saw."

"I see many things. I see flowers, I see people. I see many, many things. So specify," Lily said, knowing perfectly well what he was talking about.

"Out with it, Evans."

Lily's smile was completely gone. "You really want to know?"

"Yes."

"I saw people. Some I know, some I don't. I saw millions of people. I think they're all the people you've ever seen in your life, from your friends to the lady down at the bagel place. They were calling out to you, but you didn't seem to hear them. I also saw me."

"What are you talking about, Evans?"

Lily ignored his question. "Then, I saw a black cloak on the floor behind them. There was a wand in it. Eleven inches, mahogany. It was stuck in a large rock of some sort, then it grew into a tree, and a phoenix was on it. A blue phoenix."

"Uh, Evans? Phoenixes are red."

Lily ignored him. "The phoenix was singing, but then someone killed it with a curse. The cloak became larger and larger, until it covered everything. And somehow…" Lily paused, tilting her head, "Somehow, all the people disappeared, and all that was left was a field of wheat, and a reaper, singing a song, too, only it wasn't the same as the phoenix's. He was smiling slightly. It was sunny, completely sunny, and sweltering hot, but the reaper wasn't sweating. Then a piece of paper fell down at my feet. There was only one word on it: POTTER. Then, everything became dim and black. The reaper was still smiling, but only now, he was on a river, in a long, narrow, canoe."

"Evans?"

Lily's voice had become hollow, as if she couldn't hear him. "There were small glimmers in the black water, it seemed like the lost souls of everyone I had seen before. Then, I saw a light above. A bird, a dove, it dropped something over the reaper, a flower. The reaper picked it up and tried to destroy it, but it wouldn't work, for some reason. Then…"

"And then?" James looked at her.

Lily's eyes suddenly closed, then opened again.

"And then?" James asked.

"And then what, Potter? What are you talking about?"

"You were saying that you saw-"

"I told you that?" Lily clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Yeah. Didn't you?"

Lily frowned. "Forget I said anything. Really. How far did I get?"

James gave her a strange look. It was as if she didn't remember telling him. "You told me about a reaper… and darkness… and a light, with a bird that dropped a flower."

"Alright prefects, Head Boy and Girl, you are all dismissed now," McGonagall said.

Lily quickly took this chance to pack everything away. "Have a nice day, Potter. I'll see you later."

James stared at her as she left. At the moment, he could only think of two things.

'One: What had she been talking about? Two: Lily Evans had really nice eyes.'

"I've lost it," James groaned, returning to the thing he'd done most that day: hitting himself on the head.

*~*~*~*~*

(A/N) Not too short, not too long, I hope. Review, please! I want to know what you think!

To Come: The Ball… Lily faints, goes into a long trance (she can't breathe during those), and, um, dreams.