Chapter 2
Incantatum
By Laura/Teria (elineryn@yahoo.com)
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Lily sat bolt upright in surprise.
The puff bounced off of her forehead and rolled to a stop a few inches from her foot. She was so startled that as she instinctively reached out to catch it she experienced only a brief flash of coherent thought ("Wha--?") before her fingers closed around it and she realized that it was little more than a poorly transfigured cotton ball.
Too bad whomever was responsible was trying to pull a prank...otherwise, she'd have been more than willing to give them extra help with their lessons in that particular subject. She was just thankful that she hadn't been fooled into trying to eat it. Wouldn't that have been something to laugh about?
And speaking of which...looking down the table, Lily spotted the not-unexpected cluster of fifth-year Gryffindor boys. She should have been anticipating it, really. Whenever those four got together, someone nearby almost always was on the receiving end of a prank.
She rolled her eyes. If it wasn't obvious from their reputation that those boys had done it, it was quite clear from their miserably failing attempts to keep the grins off of their faces.
On one side of the house table sat little Peter Pettigrew - out of all of the boys in her House, Lily knew him the least. If she was shy, Peter was downright reclusive. He seemed to avoid completely conversation in the common room, preferring instead the sole company of the tight-knit clique the boys had formed. Little Peter, just now, was trying to cover up his laughing by coughing into his hand, but gave up the pretense altogether when he began to choke, his face turning bright red with his effort to regain his breath. Actually, Lily realized, studying his face, she hardly knew him at all...quite unusual, for a year as close and intimately friendly as theirs had turned out to be.
At the table next to Peter was Sirius Black. Though their class was only in their fifth year, Sirius had already gained a reputation for being "datable" - a fun person, but without any inclination toward commitment.
Lily suspected that, although all of his relationships ended with "just friends," the females ended up disappointed. At least, according to her dorm-mates, each of them dreamt of being the one girl to settle him down. Post-relationship, they generally either flirted madly with him afterwards, having deemed him "harmless", or treated him with a distanced friendliness that was more civil than sociable. He, however, maintained the same charming joviality as ever.
At this particular moment, Sirius was giving Peter a good solid clap to the back to stop his coughing, while at the same time leaning over the table and whispering quite conspiratorially to the boy facing him. Remus Lupin had joined their class just after the start of the first term of their first year at Hogwart's. He was quieter than the other three, seeming less an instigator of pranks than an enthusiastic observer of their results. Lily knew, however, that it was probably more a case of Remus' merely gauging their success and failure rates to determine which jokes were the best to reuse. Either way, she liked him quite a bit; he fairly radiated kindness, and always had something funny but nice to say to her in class.
But really, their entire first year had been full of new experiences, although they, being new also, hadn't known until the upperclassmen had filled them in. The most significant of these by far was the promotion of Albus Dumbledore, a former Transfiguration teacher, to the position of Hogwarts Headmaster. Right now, he was absent from his spot at the head table, but normally he presided over the Great Hall like a kind sovereign, often conveniently engaging himself in conversation just in time to miss the hijinks of the Gryffindor Four.
Oh, my. That group was always prowling around together. If they could just be separated, maybe Lily would have a chance to get to know them, but even her normal confidence faltered when all four were together. There was just something overwhelming about all of that camaraderie, the way it must feel when you're facing an opposing team on the sports field and you just know you're outnumbered and outmatched.
Or, maybe...maybe it was the presence of the group's fourth member, James Potter.
Where Sirius was brash bordering on recklessness, confident to the point of arrogant, or quick-tongued at the risk of offense, James seemed always to not only keep him in check but to bolster and support him, while steering him away from behaviors causing those less than desirable effects.
And besides, Lily had never really been one to go for the "bad boy" persona. She'd leave that for her classmates and her sister, and when they were whining about their failed relationships, she'd be snuggling up close to her sweetheart and nodding complacently. Yes, dear. Yes, I'm sure he's evil. Yes, all men are. Mm-hmm.
But it's not like Lily would have any knowledge of that...
Despite being fairly popular with her Housemates, and even students outside of that nucleus, she'd never had a boyfriend before, and hadn't until recently even considered it. Her friends were always going on about this boy or that, but that kind of thing had never really interested her. What's the point of a relationship if you already know you're just going to break it off later? And besides, although her parents had never actually discouraged her from it, but she was pretty sure they wouldn't be too happy if she suddenly started bringing boys home over the holidays.
Yes...she hadn't, "until recently," considered it.
"Recently", meaning the train ride to Hogwarts earlier that month. She had known she'd been appointed to the position of Prefect since receiving an owl earlier that summer, but hadn't known who the other Prefect was until she had boarded the shiny apple-red Hogwarts Express and opened the sliding glass door of the special compartment at the end of the train.
James Potter had looked up from his book, over the rim of his glasses and grinned, a kind of half-smile that showed a little bit of tooth.
The kind of smile that made her knees turn weak.
She gave him what she hoped was a smile (her head was spinning, and she really couldn't tell) as she pulled her trunk into the compartment. He stood, making a movement to help her, but she managed to not only step on his foot but also to elbow him in the stomach as she tried to stand up straight.
"Sorry!" she'd said, blushing furiously to the very roots of her hair.
He'd smiled. "It's fine," he said. He had placed a hand on her elbow (it seemed that for some reason, she was still standing frozen in the doorway of the compartment), gently moving her forward before pulling her trunk in and shutting the door. She sat down on the seat opposite his, trying to compose herself, but her heart just wouldn't stop fluttering.
"How was your summer?" he'd asked.
She'd nodded (too quickly, she thought - why couldn't she just get control of herself? Ugh, what must he be thinking?) before answering. "It was alright. Yours?"
He'd grinned again before launching into a fairly detailed description of how he spent his entire summer practicing Quidditch on the sly (as he couldn't let himself get out of practice), and Lily was grateful for the time it afforded her to collect herself.
The rest of the conversation wasn't much more scintillating, but once she'd gotten a grip on herself, they'd had a pleasant chat that lasted from the Hogsmeade platform all the way to the front doors of Hogwarts. She'd even managed to crack a few jokes, and he'd laughed appreciatively. At the doors, he'd met up with Sirius, Remus and Peter, and her own friends had pulled her away to their little huddle, but not before he could wave goodbye to her. She'd smiled shyly back.
She felt a kind of tightening in her chest, an upwelling of some emotion she couldn't quite name. Excitement, maybe? Perhaps, but it was much more personal than a mere rush of adrenaline. Whatever it was, it made her want to shout and flail her arms around, but she managed, somehow, to keep her composure.
But oh, how she longed to wrap her fingers around one of the hot buttered biscuits on the table before her and just fling it at one of their heads, but her duty as a Prefect required her to act in a manner befitting. . .
Wait a second.
Her duty as a Prefect.
Oh, no! The first Prefect's meeting of the month! And she was going to be late!
Lily grabbed her things from the table and was in the process of stuffing them into her bag when she noticed that James, too, had apparently lost track of the time, as he was now in the process of waving his wand over what looked suspiciously like another cotton ball, the others gathered around him closely.
She slung her bag over her shoulder, stood up straight (head up, shoulders back, come on, now) and walked herself over to the four boys. She stood for a moment before Sirius looked up.
"Hey, Lils, whatcha want?" he drawled. Lils? Ha, and he hardly knew her. She felt her face heat up as three other pairs of eyes swiveled toward her, but she met and held James' gaze.
"Er," she said. "We're late, you know." She nodded, more for her own reassurance than anyone elses', but when she noticed the (charmingly) blank look on his face, her resolve hardened. "The Prefects' meeting?" she said. "The first one of the month?" Realization dawned, and she glanced at the roof of the Hall, gauging the sun. "Coming, then?"
----------------------------------
TBC.
Incantatum
By Laura/Teria (elineryn@yahoo.com)
----------------------------------
Lily sat bolt upright in surprise.
The puff bounced off of her forehead and rolled to a stop a few inches from her foot. She was so startled that as she instinctively reached out to catch it she experienced only a brief flash of coherent thought ("Wha--?") before her fingers closed around it and she realized that it was little more than a poorly transfigured cotton ball.
Too bad whomever was responsible was trying to pull a prank...otherwise, she'd have been more than willing to give them extra help with their lessons in that particular subject. She was just thankful that she hadn't been fooled into trying to eat it. Wouldn't that have been something to laugh about?
And speaking of which...looking down the table, Lily spotted the not-unexpected cluster of fifth-year Gryffindor boys. She should have been anticipating it, really. Whenever those four got together, someone nearby almost always was on the receiving end of a prank.
She rolled her eyes. If it wasn't obvious from their reputation that those boys had done it, it was quite clear from their miserably failing attempts to keep the grins off of their faces.
On one side of the house table sat little Peter Pettigrew - out of all of the boys in her House, Lily knew him the least. If she was shy, Peter was downright reclusive. He seemed to avoid completely conversation in the common room, preferring instead the sole company of the tight-knit clique the boys had formed. Little Peter, just now, was trying to cover up his laughing by coughing into his hand, but gave up the pretense altogether when he began to choke, his face turning bright red with his effort to regain his breath. Actually, Lily realized, studying his face, she hardly knew him at all...quite unusual, for a year as close and intimately friendly as theirs had turned out to be.
At the table next to Peter was Sirius Black. Though their class was only in their fifth year, Sirius had already gained a reputation for being "datable" - a fun person, but without any inclination toward commitment.
Lily suspected that, although all of his relationships ended with "just friends," the females ended up disappointed. At least, according to her dorm-mates, each of them dreamt of being the one girl to settle him down. Post-relationship, they generally either flirted madly with him afterwards, having deemed him "harmless", or treated him with a distanced friendliness that was more civil than sociable. He, however, maintained the same charming joviality as ever.
At this particular moment, Sirius was giving Peter a good solid clap to the back to stop his coughing, while at the same time leaning over the table and whispering quite conspiratorially to the boy facing him. Remus Lupin had joined their class just after the start of the first term of their first year at Hogwart's. He was quieter than the other three, seeming less an instigator of pranks than an enthusiastic observer of their results. Lily knew, however, that it was probably more a case of Remus' merely gauging their success and failure rates to determine which jokes were the best to reuse. Either way, she liked him quite a bit; he fairly radiated kindness, and always had something funny but nice to say to her in class.
But really, their entire first year had been full of new experiences, although they, being new also, hadn't known until the upperclassmen had filled them in. The most significant of these by far was the promotion of Albus Dumbledore, a former Transfiguration teacher, to the position of Hogwarts Headmaster. Right now, he was absent from his spot at the head table, but normally he presided over the Great Hall like a kind sovereign, often conveniently engaging himself in conversation just in time to miss the hijinks of the Gryffindor Four.
Oh, my. That group was always prowling around together. If they could just be separated, maybe Lily would have a chance to get to know them, but even her normal confidence faltered when all four were together. There was just something overwhelming about all of that camaraderie, the way it must feel when you're facing an opposing team on the sports field and you just know you're outnumbered and outmatched.
Or, maybe...maybe it was the presence of the group's fourth member, James Potter.
Where Sirius was brash bordering on recklessness, confident to the point of arrogant, or quick-tongued at the risk of offense, James seemed always to not only keep him in check but to bolster and support him, while steering him away from behaviors causing those less than desirable effects.
And besides, Lily had never really been one to go for the "bad boy" persona. She'd leave that for her classmates and her sister, and when they were whining about their failed relationships, she'd be snuggling up close to her sweetheart and nodding complacently. Yes, dear. Yes, I'm sure he's evil. Yes, all men are. Mm-hmm.
But it's not like Lily would have any knowledge of that...
Despite being fairly popular with her Housemates, and even students outside of that nucleus, she'd never had a boyfriend before, and hadn't until recently even considered it. Her friends were always going on about this boy or that, but that kind of thing had never really interested her. What's the point of a relationship if you already know you're just going to break it off later? And besides, although her parents had never actually discouraged her from it, but she was pretty sure they wouldn't be too happy if she suddenly started bringing boys home over the holidays.
Yes...she hadn't, "until recently," considered it.
"Recently", meaning the train ride to Hogwarts earlier that month. She had known she'd been appointed to the position of Prefect since receiving an owl earlier that summer, but hadn't known who the other Prefect was until she had boarded the shiny apple-red Hogwarts Express and opened the sliding glass door of the special compartment at the end of the train.
James Potter had looked up from his book, over the rim of his glasses and grinned, a kind of half-smile that showed a little bit of tooth.
The kind of smile that made her knees turn weak.
She gave him what she hoped was a smile (her head was spinning, and she really couldn't tell) as she pulled her trunk into the compartment. He stood, making a movement to help her, but she managed to not only step on his foot but also to elbow him in the stomach as she tried to stand up straight.
"Sorry!" she'd said, blushing furiously to the very roots of her hair.
He'd smiled. "It's fine," he said. He had placed a hand on her elbow (it seemed that for some reason, she was still standing frozen in the doorway of the compartment), gently moving her forward before pulling her trunk in and shutting the door. She sat down on the seat opposite his, trying to compose herself, but her heart just wouldn't stop fluttering.
"How was your summer?" he'd asked.
She'd nodded (too quickly, she thought - why couldn't she just get control of herself? Ugh, what must he be thinking?) before answering. "It was alright. Yours?"
He'd grinned again before launching into a fairly detailed description of how he spent his entire summer practicing Quidditch on the sly (as he couldn't let himself get out of practice), and Lily was grateful for the time it afforded her to collect herself.
The rest of the conversation wasn't much more scintillating, but once she'd gotten a grip on herself, they'd had a pleasant chat that lasted from the Hogsmeade platform all the way to the front doors of Hogwarts. She'd even managed to crack a few jokes, and he'd laughed appreciatively. At the doors, he'd met up with Sirius, Remus and Peter, and her own friends had pulled her away to their little huddle, but not before he could wave goodbye to her. She'd smiled shyly back.
She felt a kind of tightening in her chest, an upwelling of some emotion she couldn't quite name. Excitement, maybe? Perhaps, but it was much more personal than a mere rush of adrenaline. Whatever it was, it made her want to shout and flail her arms around, but she managed, somehow, to keep her composure.
But oh, how she longed to wrap her fingers around one of the hot buttered biscuits on the table before her and just fling it at one of their heads, but her duty as a Prefect required her to act in a manner befitting. . .
Wait a second.
Her duty as a Prefect.
Oh, no! The first Prefect's meeting of the month! And she was going to be late!
Lily grabbed her things from the table and was in the process of stuffing them into her bag when she noticed that James, too, had apparently lost track of the time, as he was now in the process of waving his wand over what looked suspiciously like another cotton ball, the others gathered around him closely.
She slung her bag over her shoulder, stood up straight (head up, shoulders back, come on, now) and walked herself over to the four boys. She stood for a moment before Sirius looked up.
"Hey, Lils, whatcha want?" he drawled. Lils? Ha, and he hardly knew her. She felt her face heat up as three other pairs of eyes swiveled toward her, but she met and held James' gaze.
"Er," she said. "We're late, you know." She nodded, more for her own reassurance than anyone elses', but when she noticed the (charmingly) blank look on his face, her resolve hardened. "The Prefects' meeting?" she said. "The first one of the month?" Realization dawned, and she glanced at the roof of the Hall, gauging the sun. "Coming, then?"
----------------------------------
TBC.