"Have you seen the ring?"
"It's huge!"
"It's from Cartier's."
"Wouldn't it be a waste if she didn't say yes?"
"She's a waste on him."
"Minnie!"
"It's true, and you know it. But what about that necklace?"
"The rubies glisten in the most gorgeous way."
"And set in such gold!"
Minnie Moose and Daisy Duke, both Hufflepuffs in their own right, set straight to work on the little patch of herbs for the hospital wing as they gossiped away about the locket that Lily wore and the ring it upstaged.
The ring was set in platinum, with a lily made of perhaps thirty-five seven-carat diamonds (as part of the prenuptial agreement Claire cooked up, Lily would keep the ring no matter what) and it twinkled under the natural sunlight flowing through the greenhouse.
All four classes united under this class, and not only was Lily surrounded by her own friends, Jackie and Arabella, and a few chums from Ravenclaw, a group of Slytherin boys, headed by Snape, were also attending to her. Snape was even handling her herb bowl, so she wouldn't get her ring dirty, but she paid him no mind. She didn't seem to be paying attention to anything, just sitting there, smiling and looking pretty.
James sat on the other side of the room, grinding his Teryifis into powder fine enough to become makeup, and pretending not to hear when Lily said hello to him as she passed. He hadn't even looked up to see that her face looked momentarily hurt.
Sirius, though completely unhappy that Lily had even thought of accepting Snape's proposal, was singing and dancing to the invisible music of 'Lady Marmalade' (Patti LaBelle version) in his chair. He shut his eyes and sang the strongest note with not so much as a little waver.
Remus was actually paying attention to his assignment. As hard as it was, Remus concentrated and completed his masterpiece- Not the crushed and pasted herbs he was supposed to prepare, but a magnificent herb-machete figurine of Snape dieing.
Peter was allergic to the scent of Teryifis. In this order, Peter
- Sprouted bunny ears.
- The bunny ears turned pink.
- Broke out into hives.
- Started sneezing uncontrollably.
- Gained whiskers.
- Had a little fluffy tail poking out of his trousers.
- Began to belch and sneeze simultaneously.
What did Teryifis do? It was part of a potion that turned someone into a bunny.
Rafe found out that, very rarely, did Lily walk with an entourage that's number was less than fifteen. He finally tracked her down at the portrait of the Gray Lady, where she was saying goodbye to a bunch of Ravenclaw friends, who entered their portrait hole happily.
"Lily!" He called before she could catch up with her Hufflepuff friends- She would be worn out with gossip if she continued her path.
She turned and smiled. As she walked closer to him, Rafe could see her hug her books closer to her chest.
"Hey! What were you doing in Paris?" She questioned politely. Her eyes were wide and her fingers were fiddling with something on her sweater.
"Nothing in particular. You?" Rafe was struggling for casual conversation. At this very moment there was a prank being played in the Slytherin Common Room and Lily couldn't be anywhere near it.
"I, um, the Gryffindor Quidditch team won't have a manager next year, Rafe. She'll be married." Lily said finally. "God, most people would think letting a secret like that out would be relieving. It's not."
"Oh.." Rafe said, way too casually for Lily not to get suspicious. "Who to?"
Lily blushed a bit, but not in the happy, I'm-so-in-love blush. It was a blush of true and utter embarrassment, the type that one got when someone offended your mother. "Severus Snape." She said finally and quietly.
Silence. "So, er, was he the one that got you that locket?"
More silence. "Not really."
A silence so dead it was scary. "whose pictures are in there?"
Silence so dead it rotted. "Dunno. It won't open."
The rot began to smell. "Oh."
Behind Lily's back, Sirius quickly made an A-Okay sign, and then went back into hiding.
"Well, bye.." Rafe said quickly before disappearing around the corner. Lily stared at him, but shrugged it off and headed for the Common Room.
Things instantly returned to routine after Lily's engagement. Jackie and Arabella had a sofa moved not too far from Lily's chair, Sirius and Remus had their never-ending chess games, Peter would be struggling with his homework, the Quidditch team (or what remained of them) would be plotting, and James would be sitting and thinking. The rest had found the Common Room all too boring.
Not that that was hard. Everyone in the Common Room was completely wrapped up in what they were doing. It wasn't until Rafe actually punched him on the shoulder that James would look up from his target- The one he looked like he was trying to kill with his eyes. Lily.
"I know this may not seem obvious, because most of the girls here aren't too pushy or have boyfriends, but there are other fish in the Hogwarts lake. Take a look. There's a lot of variety." Rafe said reassuringly.
"Shove it, Rafe."
"It's better to have loved and have lost than to never have loved at all."
"Whoever wrote that was on crack."
"Does it hurt?"
"Bad, man."
Lily turned the page of her book. Romeo and Juliet. As unrealistic as Shakespeare was, it was always captivating to read about two people who would rather die for love than to live in society against their will.
"Think of ever getting your nose out of that book before your cookies grow fur and need to be named?" Asked a voice near her. She didn't look up.
"That took you a while, didn't it, Sirius?" She said as she scanned the page for the romantic part.
"Yes, and I am very proud of myself. May I suggest a name for the chocolate chip cookie?"
"Shoot."
"Snuppy Poo."
"Snuppy Poo?"
"I had another name, but I forgot it. So, Snuppy Poo."
Lily shook her head and turned another page. "Eat the cookies, Sirius."
"Yay!"