25/4/02 – hopefully fixed swearing problem
[AN: … will think of comment later. Thanks guys for the reviews!! if i may borrow the expression, thank you to anyone who reviewed! besides I'm writing now & i can't get online so's I can't see who's reviewed. oh yes! new stuff to claim:]
**CLAIMER/DISCLAIMER** Rhonda is my own character… well not really but you know what I mean. Everything beyond that is the product of J.K. Rowling's genius!! See previous chapters for disclaimers on other bits, I'm too lazy to keep writing them. oh and the 2nd half of this chapter title is courtesy of Britney Spears
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
~ The world's at your feet
You've got it all
Your flashes of immortality
Yet we still watch you fall ~
*Chapter 4* Bitter sugar/I'm not a girl - not yet a bitch
It was early when Lily woke on Christmas Day. The dormitory was still quite dull. And very empty. Lily yawned and stretched on the bed, rolling over in the tousled sheets. Ol' Jamesie and his weird friends had gone home for the holidays, and she was all by herself.
Lily rolled onto her other side and toppled off the bed. She decided it was time to open presents. There was a huge lumpy parcel from her parents, containing new skirts and sweaters, as well as a boxed fruitcake and Muggle lollies. Under that was a used tissue, courtesy of her sister.
That ugly, horse-faced ungrateful Muggle of a Petunia. Lily shook herself and was determined not to think of her today. Already she had spotted a huge box wrapped in (strangely enough) pink, decorated with James' familiar untidy scrawl.
Finally at nine o'clock she dashed down to the Great Hall for Christmas breakfast. There weren't many students there so she bolted down a dozen pancakes and four glasses of orange juice. All this time she eyed Malfoy and Snape together at the other end of the table, snickering together like giggling morons, glancing at her every so often, no doubt planning some sick-minded activity.
She hurried back towards the common room and slammed straight into a tall black-haired girl.
'OOH!!' She was thrown backwards into a suit of armour.
'Ay! Are you okay!?' squeaked the girl, hurrying over to pick her up.
'Yes, yes, I'm all right,' said Lily, standing up and cradling her head. She could see birds.
'Oh, I'm so sorry!'
'No, it was my fault…' Lily stood and stared at the girl for a full minute, not quite remembering where she was supposed to be going. 'Er… what's your name?'
'Rhonda. Rhonda Twilless. You?'
'Lily Evans.'
'You!' she suddenly. 'I've heard things about you. Like that you're going out with that James Potter.'
Lily looked sideways at her and saw that her cheeks were a little pink. Tinged with green for envy. 'You're not attracted to my boyfriend, are you?'
'No…'
'You're not attracted to me, are you?'
It was Rhonda's turn to give Lily a weird look. 'What the hell are you thinking?!'
'Nothing.' Lily gave her a sweet charming smile and pulled on her arm. 'Come on, let's go out into the grounds. Got nothing better to do.'
They walked in silence for a while until they reached the lake and flopped down under the tree where Lily had sat with James just days before. Deep inside she hoped this wasn't going to be a sign.
She studied Rhonda's face carefully. 'What house you in?'
'…Slytherin.'
'Really? You're too nice to be in Slytherin!'
'Tell me about it.' Rhonda's face grew dark. 'I thought I was mean… and all that. Until just some time ago, one of my friends took a wand to her own head. Blew herself up. Apparently… apparently she liked me. And she couldn't say a word to anyone.' She bowed her head. 'And after that… I couldn't go hard on anyone anymore. I was afraid of it happening again.'
Lily felt a lump in her throat. She was starting to feel her sympathetic side again, which James had previously locked away. There was a scurrying noise from behind and her heart lurched. Malfoy and Snape!
'Quick!' She dragged Rhonda behind another nearby tree and waited, hardly breathing. The quiet scurrying escalated into trampling and Malfoy shot into view. He was panting hard as though he'd just come from a long run.
'Damn! Gone! They're gone!' he yelled, as other pounding footsteps were heard and Snape appeared. He carried his wand.
'They can't have just disappeared!'
'I swear, I'd have gotten them if you didn't have so much FAT to lug behind you!!'
They fell silent for a moment, then Lily heard the sound of Malfoy being slapped. She giggled.
'It's them, isn't it?' whispered Rhonda, making a disgusted face. 'I know they're in my house, but I guess I hate 'em too.' She wriggled to the side a little, picked up an acorn on the ground and pegged it at them. It hit Snape's bottom and wedged right in. He gave a high pitched squeal and ran off, leaving Malfoy fuming.
Lily and Rhonda fell about in hysterical laughter, no longer able to contain themselves. Malfoy turned and looked at them, and his eyes glittered coldly when he recognised the black-haired girl from his own proud house. He stalked off, but already his mind was formulating plans.
That night, Lily sat in the deserted common room, writing a letter to James.
Dear James, she wrote, Miss you heaps. What have you and the boys been up to?
She paused, nibbling the tip of her quill, then wrote about the last few days in which not much had happened; "I've been having a great time. Malfoy and Snape came after me today, but they missed me. I've made a friend – her name's Rhonda and she's in their house, but she doesn't like them either." She detailed the escape with a little chuckle, then attached the note to a school owl's leg and watched it fly off into the evening sky.
Now with Rhonda by her side, Lily didn't find the Christmas holidays all too long. They spent every day together and managed to ward off Malfoy and Snape multiple times by exploiting the boys' stupidity. But Malfoy and Snape were quite undoubtedly lacking in intellect, they could hardly fail to notice the new friendship between the two girls.
'I reckon having a Slytherin near that Lily could pay off,' said Malfoy. 'We could bribe that … *thing* into squeezing information out of Lily.'
'I dunno…' mumbled Snape. 'We'd still have to cross pretty-boy James.'
Then one fateful morning Lily awoke to find her boyfriend standing over her bed looking down at her.
'Oh, Jamesie! You're back!' She rolled quickly out of bed and made to throw her arms around him, but James punched them back with all his strength. She squeaked as she felt the bones in one arm shatter. 'What's up with you?'
'What do you think you're doing!!' James bellowed in her face. His eyes turned red with ire and his ears were smoking again. 'Making friends with a Slytherin! You're going to the enemy, that's what!!'
'B-but James, I … she—'
'SHE'S A SLYTHERIN, AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS!!!'
'No!' Lily's tongue felt numb. 'She – she hates *them* too! She even threw an acorn up Snape's butt!'
'I don't care what she's done! She could be a spy! You were probably even cheating on me!'
'No!! No I wasn't!!! I'd never—'
'I don't want to hear it!' screamed James. Lily could do nothing but sob, and he continued his tirade. 'If you want me back you better go to that two- faced jerk right now and kick her from here to judgement day!'
Lily was silent. She hadn't yet sunk low enough to punch her friend, her first friend, in the face, even if James meant the world to her…
'You're just jealous, James!'
'Well you're so soft!! Well you'd better watch out for your own from now, Lily Evans, because I ain't takin' responsibility for when that idiot gets you!!'
He turned around and stormed off, leaving Lily shattered on her bed. She could hear the sounds of the Gryffindor common room below getting crowded, and she pulled the sheets up over her head, still sobbing. Her heart was pounding and she was still trembling from the impact of the fight. She knew now that she was left alone, unprotected and prone, by the abrupt ending of such a sweet young relationship!!! [AN: ughh… where the hell did I dredge that up from?!]
In the meantime, James had fumed and fallen down the steps out of the girls' dorms, where he was met by a relatively jovial Sirius.
'Hey baby! You just been up to see Lily?'
'DON'T CALL ME BABY!' James yelled. It was a yelling day for him and it felt pretty good.
'Aah, ack, what's ailing our Jamesie today?' Sirius adopted a sickeningly oily air. 'Has that Lily of yours finally gotten to you? Had a fight maybe?' He looked at James, and James was silent. 'Ah then, don't mind you sexy beast. You've always got better right next to you.'
With this, he sidled up erotically to James, winking provocatively and making such suggestive movements that only the dullest of morons wouldn't get the message. Remus, though a little pink, fell about laughing at this but stopped when he saw that James' ears were belching out smoke once more.
James clenched his fists, obviously trying hard to fight another violent outburst. 'I'm going Sirius,' he said finally. 'I need time out. Don't you dare come near me.' He turned and left the common room.
'Ooooooohhhh!!!!' whispered Sirius to Remus. 'I think poor old Jamesie copped a beating from his precious Lily!!'
Lily, in her cocoon, was thinking quite the opposite. She needed James, if anything because she *wanted* him, and she was certain he wanted her. But he'd beaten her up today, and here was the end of everything.
Later that day when she went out to lunch she sat far away from James and co., and ate quickly. When she was finished she approached him.
'James! Hey, James! Please listen to me!'
He turned around and looked vaguely over her, his eyes narrowing. 'What do you want? Why aren't you out with your little Malfoy?'
Lily felt a little cowed. 'Believe me James, I wouldn't cheat on you. Honest.' She looked pointedly at him. Slowly, gradually, the hardness in his eyes crumbled and he gave her the same loving glance he had back when they were on good terms.
Lily smiled weakly at James, and he cocked his head at her. She raised her eyebrows.
'Oh, Jamesie!' She rushed towards him, flinging her arms out, and tripped over his deliberately outstretched foot. As she crashed face first onto the cold hard floor she heard a high-pitched evil laugh, thick and cruel; she worried herself for an instant fearing that Voldemort was standing over her body.
Then she heard the hollow crunch of her own skull and was plunged into darkness.
[AN: wow…. that's the longest chapter I've written yet!!!!! (and a pretty slow one too…) ^_^ hmm, some things there I hadn't foreseen. what did you guys think??!! Please tell me! ( see y'all later!]
[AN: … will think of comment later. Thanks guys for the reviews!! if i may borrow the expression, thank you to anyone who reviewed! besides I'm writing now & i can't get online so's I can't see who's reviewed. oh yes! new stuff to claim:]
**CLAIMER/DISCLAIMER** Rhonda is my own character… well not really but you know what I mean. Everything beyond that is the product of J.K. Rowling's genius!! See previous chapters for disclaimers on other bits, I'm too lazy to keep writing them. oh and the 2nd half of this chapter title is courtesy of Britney Spears
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
~ The world's at your feet
You've got it all
Your flashes of immortality
Yet we still watch you fall ~
*Chapter 4* Bitter sugar/I'm not a girl - not yet a bitch
It was early when Lily woke on Christmas Day. The dormitory was still quite dull. And very empty. Lily yawned and stretched on the bed, rolling over in the tousled sheets. Ol' Jamesie and his weird friends had gone home for the holidays, and she was all by herself.
Lily rolled onto her other side and toppled off the bed. She decided it was time to open presents. There was a huge lumpy parcel from her parents, containing new skirts and sweaters, as well as a boxed fruitcake and Muggle lollies. Under that was a used tissue, courtesy of her sister.
That ugly, horse-faced ungrateful Muggle of a Petunia. Lily shook herself and was determined not to think of her today. Already she had spotted a huge box wrapped in (strangely enough) pink, decorated with James' familiar untidy scrawl.
Finally at nine o'clock she dashed down to the Great Hall for Christmas breakfast. There weren't many students there so she bolted down a dozen pancakes and four glasses of orange juice. All this time she eyed Malfoy and Snape together at the other end of the table, snickering together like giggling morons, glancing at her every so often, no doubt planning some sick-minded activity.
She hurried back towards the common room and slammed straight into a tall black-haired girl.
'OOH!!' She was thrown backwards into a suit of armour.
'Ay! Are you okay!?' squeaked the girl, hurrying over to pick her up.
'Yes, yes, I'm all right,' said Lily, standing up and cradling her head. She could see birds.
'Oh, I'm so sorry!'
'No, it was my fault…' Lily stood and stared at the girl for a full minute, not quite remembering where she was supposed to be going. 'Er… what's your name?'
'Rhonda. Rhonda Twilless. You?'
'Lily Evans.'
'You!' she suddenly. 'I've heard things about you. Like that you're going out with that James Potter.'
Lily looked sideways at her and saw that her cheeks were a little pink. Tinged with green for envy. 'You're not attracted to my boyfriend, are you?'
'No…'
'You're not attracted to me, are you?'
It was Rhonda's turn to give Lily a weird look. 'What the hell are you thinking?!'
'Nothing.' Lily gave her a sweet charming smile and pulled on her arm. 'Come on, let's go out into the grounds. Got nothing better to do.'
They walked in silence for a while until they reached the lake and flopped down under the tree where Lily had sat with James just days before. Deep inside she hoped this wasn't going to be a sign.
She studied Rhonda's face carefully. 'What house you in?'
'…Slytherin.'
'Really? You're too nice to be in Slytherin!'
'Tell me about it.' Rhonda's face grew dark. 'I thought I was mean… and all that. Until just some time ago, one of my friends took a wand to her own head. Blew herself up. Apparently… apparently she liked me. And she couldn't say a word to anyone.' She bowed her head. 'And after that… I couldn't go hard on anyone anymore. I was afraid of it happening again.'
Lily felt a lump in her throat. She was starting to feel her sympathetic side again, which James had previously locked away. There was a scurrying noise from behind and her heart lurched. Malfoy and Snape!
'Quick!' She dragged Rhonda behind another nearby tree and waited, hardly breathing. The quiet scurrying escalated into trampling and Malfoy shot into view. He was panting hard as though he'd just come from a long run.
'Damn! Gone! They're gone!' he yelled, as other pounding footsteps were heard and Snape appeared. He carried his wand.
'They can't have just disappeared!'
'I swear, I'd have gotten them if you didn't have so much FAT to lug behind you!!'
They fell silent for a moment, then Lily heard the sound of Malfoy being slapped. She giggled.
'It's them, isn't it?' whispered Rhonda, making a disgusted face. 'I know they're in my house, but I guess I hate 'em too.' She wriggled to the side a little, picked up an acorn on the ground and pegged it at them. It hit Snape's bottom and wedged right in. He gave a high pitched squeal and ran off, leaving Malfoy fuming.
Lily and Rhonda fell about in hysterical laughter, no longer able to contain themselves. Malfoy turned and looked at them, and his eyes glittered coldly when he recognised the black-haired girl from his own proud house. He stalked off, but already his mind was formulating plans.
That night, Lily sat in the deserted common room, writing a letter to James.
Dear James, she wrote, Miss you heaps. What have you and the boys been up to?
She paused, nibbling the tip of her quill, then wrote about the last few days in which not much had happened; "I've been having a great time. Malfoy and Snape came after me today, but they missed me. I've made a friend – her name's Rhonda and she's in their house, but she doesn't like them either." She detailed the escape with a little chuckle, then attached the note to a school owl's leg and watched it fly off into the evening sky.
Now with Rhonda by her side, Lily didn't find the Christmas holidays all too long. They spent every day together and managed to ward off Malfoy and Snape multiple times by exploiting the boys' stupidity. But Malfoy and Snape were quite undoubtedly lacking in intellect, they could hardly fail to notice the new friendship between the two girls.
'I reckon having a Slytherin near that Lily could pay off,' said Malfoy. 'We could bribe that … *thing* into squeezing information out of Lily.'
'I dunno…' mumbled Snape. 'We'd still have to cross pretty-boy James.'
Then one fateful morning Lily awoke to find her boyfriend standing over her bed looking down at her.
'Oh, Jamesie! You're back!' She rolled quickly out of bed and made to throw her arms around him, but James punched them back with all his strength. She squeaked as she felt the bones in one arm shatter. 'What's up with you?'
'What do you think you're doing!!' James bellowed in her face. His eyes turned red with ire and his ears were smoking again. 'Making friends with a Slytherin! You're going to the enemy, that's what!!'
'B-but James, I … she—'
'SHE'S A SLYTHERIN, AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS!!!'
'No!' Lily's tongue felt numb. 'She – she hates *them* too! She even threw an acorn up Snape's butt!'
'I don't care what she's done! She could be a spy! You were probably even cheating on me!'
'No!! No I wasn't!!! I'd never—'
'I don't want to hear it!' screamed James. Lily could do nothing but sob, and he continued his tirade. 'If you want me back you better go to that two- faced jerk right now and kick her from here to judgement day!'
Lily was silent. She hadn't yet sunk low enough to punch her friend, her first friend, in the face, even if James meant the world to her…
'You're just jealous, James!'
'Well you're so soft!! Well you'd better watch out for your own from now, Lily Evans, because I ain't takin' responsibility for when that idiot gets you!!'
He turned around and stormed off, leaving Lily shattered on her bed. She could hear the sounds of the Gryffindor common room below getting crowded, and she pulled the sheets up over her head, still sobbing. Her heart was pounding and she was still trembling from the impact of the fight. She knew now that she was left alone, unprotected and prone, by the abrupt ending of such a sweet young relationship!!! [AN: ughh… where the hell did I dredge that up from?!]
In the meantime, James had fumed and fallen down the steps out of the girls' dorms, where he was met by a relatively jovial Sirius.
'Hey baby! You just been up to see Lily?'
'DON'T CALL ME BABY!' James yelled. It was a yelling day for him and it felt pretty good.
'Aah, ack, what's ailing our Jamesie today?' Sirius adopted a sickeningly oily air. 'Has that Lily of yours finally gotten to you? Had a fight maybe?' He looked at James, and James was silent. 'Ah then, don't mind you sexy beast. You've always got better right next to you.'
With this, he sidled up erotically to James, winking provocatively and making such suggestive movements that only the dullest of morons wouldn't get the message. Remus, though a little pink, fell about laughing at this but stopped when he saw that James' ears were belching out smoke once more.
James clenched his fists, obviously trying hard to fight another violent outburst. 'I'm going Sirius,' he said finally. 'I need time out. Don't you dare come near me.' He turned and left the common room.
'Ooooooohhhh!!!!' whispered Sirius to Remus. 'I think poor old Jamesie copped a beating from his precious Lily!!'
Lily, in her cocoon, was thinking quite the opposite. She needed James, if anything because she *wanted* him, and she was certain he wanted her. But he'd beaten her up today, and here was the end of everything.
Later that day when she went out to lunch she sat far away from James and co., and ate quickly. When she was finished she approached him.
'James! Hey, James! Please listen to me!'
He turned around and looked vaguely over her, his eyes narrowing. 'What do you want? Why aren't you out with your little Malfoy?'
Lily felt a little cowed. 'Believe me James, I wouldn't cheat on you. Honest.' She looked pointedly at him. Slowly, gradually, the hardness in his eyes crumbled and he gave her the same loving glance he had back when they were on good terms.
Lily smiled weakly at James, and he cocked his head at her. She raised her eyebrows.
'Oh, Jamesie!' She rushed towards him, flinging her arms out, and tripped over his deliberately outstretched foot. As she crashed face first onto the cold hard floor she heard a high-pitched evil laugh, thick and cruel; she worried herself for an instant fearing that Voldemort was standing over her body.
Then she heard the hollow crunch of her own skull and was plunged into darkness.
[AN: wow…. that's the longest chapter I've written yet!!!!! (and a pretty slow one too…) ^_^ hmm, some things there I hadn't foreseen. what did you guys think??!! Please tell me! ( see y'all later!]