A/N: Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the delay in posting!!! I've just been SO busy. Anyway, James and Lily are still hiding their relationship (I know, I know, it seems too dragged out), but it all leads up to the next chapter :). I've been writing this chapter over the last four months so it may be a bit choppy, but hopefully you'll enjoy it! It's 8 pages typed! Hope it's long enough! Later days... Love from, Kate Year 5
Chapter 3
Souring, flying, and diving were the only activities at that moment that could make depressed James Potter almost happy. Using magic, James summoned a box of ordinary footballs to float about 30 feet away from the goal posts. Savagely grabbing ball after ball, he flung them towards the goal posts, not paying attention to where they eventually landed. Flaming anger was coursing through his blood, nearly hot enough to melt his skin. In two hours, he would have to entertain an annoying Hufflepuff and hide the jealous pit in his stomach every time he glanced at Remus with Lily, his Lily.
"Argh!" James yelled, launching a football with all his might at the giant hoop fifteen feet away from him. He turned back around and violently grabbed another ball.
UMF! The ball had rebounded off a goal post and planted itself directly on the back of James's head. Fuming even more than when he started, and rubbing the back of his head, James summoned the stray footballs lying among the freshly cut grass and flung them into a storage bin near the bottom left corner of the pitch. He tore through a rather muddy puddle with his Silver Arrow broomstick slung lazily over his shoulder. Reaching the gate, he slammed it open, breathing heavily and unhappily.
"Ouch!" an unknown voice yelped. "Be careful James! You could have killed me!"
"Lily? What are you doing here?" James gasped. Remembering he was in a fight with her he added, sneering, "Shouldn't you be getting ready, or something, with all your little girlfriends?"
Lily gaped at him. She had come to talk to him, and now he was completely ignoring her. Well, she supposed he did have a reason to be a bit peeved, as she hadn't talked to him in nearly two weeks, but after all, he was the one hiding a very important secret from her that seemed could severely endanger his life. Lily jogged a few feet to catch up to him.
"Look James, all you have to do-" she began.
"Don't 'Look James' me, Lily. I'm not telling you what Remus, Sirius, Peter and I are hiding. It is a confidential matter and if you know what's good for you, you'll keep you're big nose out of other peoples business. If you can't handle that, maybe our relationship isn't going to work out," he sneered.
Lily looked at him dumbfounded. "F-fine," she stuttered. "We're through." And she tore back up to the castle without glancing back once.
James stared after her, lost for words. He hadn't meant a word he said. He watched Lily all the way up to the castle door, where she turned, looked at him and then slammed the door shut. James kicked the dirt in frustration.
"Argh!" he bellowed, the sound echoing throughout the entire quidditch pitch. "Now you've done it, James," he muttered. "You have to go find Lily." He sprinted up to the castle and raced through the castle doors.
"Lily!" he called, hopelessly, wandering aimlessly through passages he had never seen before. "Lily," he muttered softly.
"Looking for your girlfriend?" spat an awful, greasy voice directly behind him. Easily recognizing the voice, James turned to face Snape and his Slytherin buddy, Avery.
"Yeah-" James started. "I mean, yeah right! You know dear Snape, the likelihood of Lily and I becoming a couple is actually less likely than you and I becoming a couple." James obnoxiously fluttered his eyes. Snape simply stared at him disgusted.
"Come on," Snape beckoned to Avery as James continued his search for Lily. After 30 more minutes, James began to search for a route back to the Prefect bathroom. After all, the dance did start in 20 minutes, and at the moment he was covered in slimy quidditch muck.
After relaxing for a mere 5 minutes in the massaging blue bubbles he had become rather fond of since the beginning of school, he pulled on his dark blue dress robes and headed back to the Gryffindor common room. He sat in an armchair, his friends around him, waiting for their dates to come down the stairs.
The arrival of the girls was announced by a choking noise made by Sirius. As James turned, he nearly felt his jaw drop. All of the girls looked gorgeous, but James could not take his eyes off Lily, who had been getting ready in the girls' dormitory all the while he had been searching for her. James rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Sure Lily was beautiful inside and out, but somehow, she looked different. She was wearing another green dress, tight and fitted, which went down to about mid-thigh. Her hair, up with curls spilling out of the top, was decorated with sparkling gold jewels. Her vivid green eyes were simply glowing under what appeared to be a gold eye shadow and an abundance of tiny gold sparkles. To finish the outfit, she was accented with gold earrings and the gold lily necklace he, James, had given her. She walked down the stairs well posed, and somehow more mature. James stared up at her in awe.
As Lily approached the boys, she caught James's eye. She fed him a sharp, putrid look before smiling at Remus. James's heart felt as if it were about to split, and stared at her longingly as she and Remus led the way to the ball. James walked behind her in a sort of daze.
"What is going on between you and Lily?" Alex whispered in his ear. James jumped. He hadn't noticed her walking behind him. "I know there is something going on between you two."
"W-what?" James asked, shocked of her sudden accusation.
Alex grabbed his arm in order to separate them from the rest of the group. "It's completely obvious, you know? You two are constantly sharing looks with each other and whenever your name is mentioned, she always sort of melts into this dream world."
James just stared at Alex, unsure of what to say. He wanted to tell her everything, but couldn't bring himself to say it. Alex noticed the pained look on his face.
"Come off it, James. Honestly, you can tell me."
"There's nothing between us," he mumbled, but Alex wasn't finished.
"You like her, don't you?" she asked, knowingly.
Opening his mouth, James was about to admit his feelings. "I-"
"James!"
James turned to see Jenna running towards him. "I'll talk to you later, Alex," he sighed, and seeing Jenna's bouncing head, he prepared himself for a long night.
***Several Hours Later***
James dragged his feet over to the high table piled with food and drinks, and unhappily grabbed two glasses of pumpkin juice. He stood there for a moment, allowing himself to absorb the peace around him. He couldn't stand listening to Jenna gush on about her dangerous adventures at muggle malls or heroism in major fashion emergencies for one more minute. James glanced at his watch. Three more hours until it was over. Ugh. 3 more hours.
Unhappily James turned and began to force his feet back to the fluffy chairs where Jenna was sitting directly next to the dance floor. However, when James got there, Jenna wasn't alone. James slowly glanced over the shiny pointed shoes, perfectly ironed grey pants, tight white shirt and slick blonde hair before he knew Jenna was talking to the conceited and cocky Amos Diggory, who also happened to be Jenna's ex-boyfriend. Jenna looked as though she had a rather forced smile planted on her face, and when she met James's eyes, she looked awfully apologetic.
"Hey James. Do you, er, mind if I dance with Amos a little bit?" she said almost reluctantly.
James shrugged, and tried to hide his joy of not having to listen to Jenna gab his ear off for at least 30 minutes, maybe even the rest of the night! Forcing a straight face James managed to ask, "Do you still want some punch?"
"Thanks mate," said Amos, grabbing both cups and handing one to Jenna.
"That one was - mine," James finished to himself as both Jenna and Amos had disappeared onto the dance floor. For the first time, James noticed he was quite alone. Having no where else to go as his friends were all on the dance floor, James made his way over to the wooden tables near the entrance to the Great Hall and sat down in a wobbly vacated chair. Playing with the scratches in the wood, he began to carve a simple lily that resembled the pattern of Lily's necklace.
"Hey mate," Remus interrupted, pulling a seat up next to James.
"Hullo Remus," James mumbled, going over the carving a little harder.
Remus fed James a puzzled look. "What's up with you tonight? You've been lifeless since you returned from the pitch and I'm positive that's like no ordinary James Potter I know," he smiled. James kept his face down, staring intently at the carving.
"Alright. You can tell me later," Remus concluded, observing James wasn't going to tell him anything at the moment. "But in the meantime, I'm feeling a bit off color - full moon tomorrow night," he whispered. "I know this may be a lot to ask, but could you entertain Lily for the rest of the night?"
For the first time, James looked up at Remus, shocked and horrified. "What?!" he responded, flabbergasted.
"Thanks mate," Remus grinned and was out of the hall faster than you could say, "werewolf."
Awkwardly, Lily, who had been standing behind Remus, sat down next to James. As soon as James opened his mouth, she turned her back to him and stared at the stone wall beside her.
"Look Lily," James began very inarticulately. She continued to ignore him and stare at the wall. "Erm... Okay," he continued. "I need to say this to you whether you are going to listen to me or not. Lily, I like you. I really like you. What I said back there at the pitch was just an ugly display of the jealousy coursing through my body as to the fact that one of my friends had a date with the one girl I cherished above anyone else in the entire world. Lily, I'm sorry. You don't have to respond or anything -"
Lily swiveled on the spot, a grin the size of a chesire cat spread across her face. "Oh James!" she cried, throwing her arms around his shoulders.
"Care to dance?" James asked, standing up and offering her his hand.
Lily looked at him tentatively.
"Oh come off it, Lils. Who honestly cares what the rest of the school thinks."
Lily beamed and gladly accepted his arm. However, they only walked a few paces until a magnified voice interrupted them, echoing throughout the hall.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! It is my pleasure to now announce your Hogwarts King and Queen!"
James moaned. Of course he had to be interrupted now.
"Will the winners please come up to the High Table when their name is called. And now for the moment you have all been waiting for. Drum roll everyone." The voice paused a minute until everyone was stomping their feet. "Our King of the evening is - Mr. James Potter!"
James's face went white with shock. He looked over at Lily who looked as flabbergasted as he felt. He was so shocked he didn't even notice the excessive screaming from the Hufflepuffs.
"And now for your Queen. Everyone! Put your hands together for Miss Jenna Cooperson!"
The Hufflepuffs exploded in celebration. James looked over at Lily again, who stared back blankly, looking extremely green.
"Well, go on," she muttered, pushing him to the High Table.
"I don't want-" he resisted.
"Go!" she insisted, pushing him as hard as she could.
Suddenly James felt his legs turn to lead as he forced himself over to where Professor McGonagall was holding his crown. Jenna was already there, an excited and satisfied expression on her face as she beamed across the crowd.
"Well done, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, placing the crown on his head.
James forced a smile and inwardly groaned. As a slow song began to play, Jenna grabbed his hand and forced him onto the dance floor. James felt his face reddening as Jenna pulled him so close that he could hardly breath. Quietly she whispered in his ear.
"Oh James! Can you believe we won? The entire school thinks we would make the BEST couple!"
"Er... Umm.. Yeah," James responded, obviously unenthusiastic to the idea.
"So what do you fancy?" Jenna questioned, slowly moving her finger up his spine, causing a chill to race down his back. "Will you be my boyfriend?"
James's insides froze. "W-what?" he gasped.
"Will you be my boyfriend?" Jenna pressed on, massaging his back and moving even closer to him. James looked at Jenna. She was beautiful. Being over powered by his masculine emotions, he almost agreed. But then he looked over at Lily, sitting in the corner, ashen-faced and shocked. He loved, well at least really liked, Lily. Jenna may have seduced many guys purely on her beauty, but he wanted a relationship based on more than appearances. He wanted to be able to carry on an interesting conversation with the person he dated, and with Jenna, that was not a possibility. A relationship with Jenna would mainly consist of fooling around. Not that he objected to fooling around, but he was really looking for something more. And for him, Lily met and exceeded that something more.
"James!" whispered Jenna impatiently, forcing him to snap back to reality.
James pushed a few inches between him and Jenna's petite body and rooted his feet toe the ground. She looked at him curiously, along with the rest of the hall, wondering why on earth he had stopped dancing.
"Come on James," she muttered. "Everyone is looking at you now."
Slowly, James began to sway to the music again and they danced in silence. When the rest of the hall had also begun to dance, Jenna muttered, "You still haven't answered my question."
James looked up at her and opened his mouth to refuse her proposal, but she put a finger on his lips.
"Maybe this will help you," she smiled slyly, and bent over and kissed him gently on the lips.
Unconscious of his actions, James kissed her back. Coming to the realization Jenna was not Lily; he pushed her off him and began to back away from her. However, a crashing in the distance distracted a good portion of the Great Hall. James and Jenna looked over and saw Lily and some poor first year sprawled on the floor, along with two knocked over chairs and a broken table. Jenna began to laugh and James just froze. Lily looked over in his direction, distraught and heartbroken. She began to clumsily back out of the hall, groping the walls with her hands as a guide. She didn't even bother to help the poor first year who was still whimpering on the floor. On instinct, James began to follow Lily, but Jenna grabbed his hand in protest.
"Where are you going?" she asked innocently, fluttering her eyelashes.
James wrenched his arm from her hand, attracting the attention of the crowd. "I'm going after my girlfriend," he grunted, loud enough for everyone relatively close to him to hear. Gasps followed him out of the hall, but he didn't care. He had to find Lily.
James quickened his pace and began an elaborate search of the castle. Immediately he went to the Gryffindor common room, but Lily wasn't in any of the fluffy armchairs by the fire or at any of the chess tables. Ignoring the 'Girls Only' sign, James made his way to the girls' dormitory and pounded on the door.
"Lily!" he called. "Lily, open up! I know you're in there!"
After five minutes of no response, James opened the door. He switched on the light and stared into a quiet and seemingly empty room. He looked under the beds, behind the curtains, and even in the trunks, but Lily was nowhere to be found.
Confused as to her whereabouts, James scurried out of the dormitory, through the common room, and up to his dorm. He wasn't expecting to find Lily there, but instead grabbed his invisibility cloak so he could search for her without being interrupted.
James walked the halls aimlessly for hours upon hours. He came across Mrs. Norris once, with her glowing, lamp-like eyes. By "accident," James trapped her in a closet so she wouldn't cause him any unwanted trouble on his escapade for Lily. By 3 a.m., James was so tired he was nearly sleepwalking. He had searched the library, great hall, prefect's bathroom, charms classroom, dungeons and even the teachers lounge, but he could not find Lily. Giving up hope, James began his trek back to the Gryffindor common room. He only stopped when he came across the picture of the badger, raven and snake all encircling the house of the lion, which he had found in his second year. He stared at it blankly for a few minutes. He glanced at his watch, but his eyes were too blurry to read the numbers. Concluding that there was no possible way he could complete the 15 minute journey back to the common room, he decided to camp in the bed behind the portrait for the night. James pulled back the lever and sleepily walked inside. He trudged over to the appealing bed and was about to collapse on it. He took off his robes and the shirt he was wearing underneath, then heard a gasp in the corner. James froze and looked up to see Lily, the animagus potion ingredients spread around her, sitting awkwardly in the corner, her face stricken with tears.
