Disclaimer: Same as before – characters you recognize are not mine. They belong to the talented Ms. J.K.
Author's Note: I again would like to thank all of those who reviewed the third chapter. I apologize if I keep dragging this on, but don't worry: the end is near! Yay, right? I just hope you all wouldn't get mad at me if I keep writing all these close but no cigar type chapters. I think it adds to the suspense, right? What else…some chapters may have a ton of stuff going on, and some readers might get confused, so I apologize in advance. Oh yeah, again, if you're interested in the mailing list, just let me know! I've already got some people in it, so thanks to those who emailed me about that! Anyway, here's the fourth chapter. Read, review, and enjoy!
Chapter Four: Dreams, Distractions, and Realizations
James Potter and his three friends sat idly in the common room, wasting away their first Friday evening of the school year. It had been three days since the incident in the Great Hall, in which Severus Snape accused the four friends of charming his robes into changing color from black to a sparkly pink. Unfortunately for the friends, his accusations were correct: Sirius had sneaked into the 6th year Slytherin dormitory very early in the morning and charmed the boy's robes.
James watched the fire lazily, nodding at some people bidding him a good night. He glanced at his three friends, each of which were occupied with something: Remus and Sirius were now playing a game of chess while Peter was slowly falling asleep, his head drooping onto the couch's armrest. How in the world does he keep up with us? Thought James, shaking his head in disapproval at the boy, who by now had started to snore quietly. James turned his attention to his other two best friends, who seemed to have finished their game in two minutes, Sirius protesting his quick defeat.
"Padfoot, be a man! Just admit that Moony here is a much better chess player than you are," said James with a smirk, amused at his best friend's actions.
Sirius sighed. "Fine – you are the best chess play there is, Mr. Moony," he said, bowing in defeat. "But your skills in mischief is not up to par with your truly."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Speaking of skills in mischief, you never did get the chance to tell us how you managed to sneak into the Slytherin dormitories without us."
"Well Moony, it's really quite simple: I went to the kitchens and asked our dear friends for help," answered Sirius, beaming proudly at his friends. "The mark of a good house elf is never getting seen, and the same goes for a prankster."
James gave his friend an annoyed look. "You could have woken me up and used my invisibility cloak – then I could have helped you!"
Sirius laughed. "Prongs, my dear friend, I would have taken you and Moony with me, but I doubt the two of you would have appreciated my waking you up at four in the morning! Besides James, you're horrible at charms!"
Remus shot his friend a dubious look. "And you're better?"
"Good enough to turn Snape's robe pink. James here can't even perfect a simple cheering charm!"
"You're full of it, Padfoot," scoffed James, getting up from his seat. "I'm going to bed."
Sirius and Remus watched as their friend disappeared from view. "Yeah James, you should get some rest," yelled Sirius after his friend, getting up from his seat and walking towards the portrait hole, beckoning for Remus to follow suit. "We have a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow – you wouldn't want to be late for your date."
Remus, who was right behind Sirius, smirked, hearing James' footsteps stop. "What date?"
"Oh you didn't know?" called Remus, stepping out of the portrait hole. "You're going to the ball with Kathleen Henderson (a Hufflepuff 6th year) and you'll be taking her robes shopping tomorrow." Quickly, Remus and Sirius stepped out of the room, snickering the whole time.
James, finally processing the information in his brain, ran back down to the common room, intent on screaming at his friends. Unfortunately for the boy, the common room was empty (save for a snoring and drooling Peter), prompting James to continue his trek back to his dorm room. I am going to kick their sorry asses…
~~*~~~*~~
Remus and Sirius walked along the trail leading to Hogsmeade, laughing jovially at a joke Sirius said. Yeah, it's alright for them to laugh and all, thought James bitterly, trudging a few feet behind his friends. They don't have to meet some random girl…stupid gits…
Noticing the absence of his best friend by his side, Sirius slowed down until he was striding alongside James. He amicably draped his arm around the boy, who was still muttering on about stupid gits. "Cheer up, buddy! Kathleen is the perfect distraction to your constant thinking about our mystery girl," said Sirius, giving his friend a somewhat supportive grin.
James gave his friend an annoyed look. "No she won't! I'm sure this Kathleen will do or say something that will revert my thoughts back to that mystery girl!" said James exasperatedly. "Practically everything I see reminds me of her!"
Remus, who by now was walking alongside the other two, shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Really Prongs, you need to get over this girl. Move on, buddy!" mused Remus, trying to cheer his friend up. Finally reaching the town and walking amongst the people in the street, Remus pointed at a girl sitting in front of Madame Rialto's Robes. "Kathleen is the perfect first step in forgetting about this mystery girl of yours, James."
As the boys get closer to the girl sitting in front of the shop, a look of mild approval spread on James' face. Well, gotta hand it to those two – she does seem pretty, he thought, eyeing the girl's long, curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. Let's just hope her conversation skills are bearable. (i.e. that she isn't some ditz)
James approached the girl slowly, shooting his friends a deadly glare when they suddenly gave him a strong push towards the girl, sticking their thumbs up in encouragement. Stumbling to the dusty ground, James quickly stood up, brushing off any dust settling on his robes, and extended his hand to greet the girl. "Hello there. Kathleen I presume?"
With a great yelp from James, the girl pulled the boy into a great, crushing hug. "OH MY GOD! I can't believe I'll be going to the ball with James Potter!" squealed the girl, unaware of James' annoyed look and the snickers from Sirius and Remus. Beaming at the other two boys and clinging onto James' arms, she said: "Thank you so much, you two! I've always wanted to spend some time with James here!" She giggled. "Well, let's go honey!"
James' eyes opened wide as saucers, shooting an I'm going to kill you two glare at Sirius and Remus, who were laughing at their friend's misfortune.
"She seems like a nice and peppy girl, eh?" said Sirius, stifling one last chuckle as James and Kathleen disappeared from view. "I'm sure James will thank us late—ow! Watch it there!"
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry – hey, it's you!"
A small smile spread across Sirius' lips, beaming at the blonde girl standing in front of him, who was accompanied by an unfamiliar girl with short, curly brown hair. "Well, I never thought I'd see you outside of a prefect meeting," he said with a grin. "You know…I never did get the chance to introduce myself. I'm Sirius Black, and this here is Remus Lupin."
The blonde girl smiled, shaking Remus' hand. "Pleased to meet you two. I'm Diana Watson, and this is Arabella Figg," she said with a smile as Arabella shook the boys' hands.
"Diana Watson? Then you must know Agatha Potter, he's our friend's little sister," said Remus. "She said she met you during the train ride to Hogwarts."
"Aggie? Oh yes, she's such a sweet girl. Too bad she's only a first year," replied Diana with a smile. "Who's her brother?"
"James Potter – that bumbling git that was with me during the prefect's meeting," said Sirius, smirking. "He's not with us right now…he's…er… with someone…haha…"
"Oh, him. I'm sure I'll meet him some other time," said Diana. "So…where are you two headed? Arabella and I were headed to Zonko's – she wants to check out some presents for her younger brother."
"Why don't you two come with us? I'm sure you two can give me some suggestions or something," proposed Arabella. "After all, you did turn Severus' robes pink, right?"
"Right you are! Let's go then!" exclaimed Sirius, draping an arm around Diana.
Remus rolled his eyes good-naturedly, walking alongside Arabella. "This is going to be a long day…"
~~*~~~*~~
James sighed, resting his chin on his hands. Only ten minutes has passed, but the boy has already had the urge to run away atleast fifty times. How long does it take to pick dress robes? He thought, shaking his head in exasperation. Glancing outside the window shop, he saw his two friends walking with two girls he had never met before. Great, while I'm suffering, my best friends are off having fun! This isn't fair!
"How about this, James?" came a voice, disrupting James' thoughts. "It's beautiful, isn't it? I asked Madame Rialto if she has it in a different color…I mean, red isn't really my color, isn't it James? Red's not a very pretty color anyway…it's too violent or something…I'm more of a pink person, really? Yeah, pink is the perfect color for me: very feminine and beautiful. A perfect color for someone like me – feminine and beautiful. What do you think, James? Is red a good color for me? Or do I look better in pink?"
James stared at the girl, dumbfounded, not paying her any attention. One word kept repeating over and over inside his head. Red…red…red…
"I'm sorry again for running into you – I suppose I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going," she said, giving James a bright smile. The boy watched as the auburn-haired beauty sat across from him, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and gently setting the two glasses of ice cream onto the table. He observed as she gently placed her red purse on the table, gingerly closing the flap. He smiled. "So…is red your favorite color or something?"
The girl looked at James, her emerald eyes holding wonder and amusement. "Why do you say that?"
A small grin spread across James' features. "Well let's see…your headband, your purse, your shoes, your shirt, and your ice cream – they're all red. I think I'm seeing a little pattern here: you like red."
The girl giggled. "I don't think pink counts as red, you know?" she said, looking at her shirt and the strawberry ice cream in front of her. "My shirt and the ice cream are both pink"
"True, but pink is derived from red, isn't it? Mix red with white, and you get pink…"
The girl smiled, her emerald eyes a pool of amusement. "You're an observant one, aren't you?"
"I can't help it: I like observing beautiful things…" replied James, avoiding the girl's blushing gaze.
"But it's funny, isn't it?
"What is?"
"Pink coming from the union of white and red," began the girl, a serious look spreading on her face. "Red is often associated with war, bloodshed; and white is often associated with purity, peace. Put them together and you get pink: the color representing feminity. What do you suppose that means?"
James looked at the girl, admiration apparent in his eyes. "And you said I'm the observant one?" he said, sharing a laugh with the girl. "I suppose pink is a perfect color to represent women: beautiful but dangerous, am I right?"
The girl laughed. "That's a good analogy!"
"It is, isn't it?" said James. "So red is your favorite color then?"
The girl shrugged. "I don't know, really…I mean, I suppose…although, I know I don't look good in red anyway…or any color for that matter…"
"What are you talking about? You'd look good in any color…especially red and pink…" said James, his eyes gazing at hers intently. "You're the kind of girl who would look good in anything."
As though to prove that red was indeed her favorite color, a light shade of red spread across the girl's cheeks, her eyes looking down at her ice cream. "Thank you…"
"I was just being honest…"
"Come on James, be honest! Tell me which color looks better on me – red or pink?"
James snapped back to reality, Kathleen's voice permeating his thoughts. He looked at the girl standing in front of the mirror, wearing red dress robes, and pink dress robes clutched in her hands. "Red or pink? What do you think, dear?"
"Neither."
Kathleen looked at James, a bit taken aback. "What?!"
"I said, you don't look good in either color, Kathryn," he said, getting up from his seat.
"Kathleen," she corrected him, a bit peeved that the boy got her name wrong. "Well then, what color do you think will look good on me?"
"Black."
"Black?" she repeated, her voice a mixture of disgust and confusion.
"Yes – black. So why don't you just wear your school robes?" said James, slightly annoyed that Kathleen is taking a long time to buy dress robes. "I'll be wearing mine, and so is a majority of the school. Why can't you?"
"James! Don't you want to have a date that looks good?" she whined, pleading for him to cool down.
Sighing, James took a seat. "Listen, just buy some dress robes, alright? Only make sure it's not red or pink, because neither one of those colors is right for you." Only one person looks good in red or pink – and trust me, she's not you…
Kathleen squealed, taking joy in James' telling her that she can buy dress robes. "Thanks dear! It will only take a minute…now should I get green or blue? Or maybe lavender? Or fuchsia?"
James groaned. This is going to be a long day…
~~*~~~*~~
James and Kathleen emerged from Madame Rialto's shop fifteen minutes later, the Gryffindor prefect holding a bulging pink bag, a somewhat sour expression on his face.
"Where do you want to go, Honey?" asked the girl, twirling a strand of curly hair in her finger.
"Please don't call me that," said James, running a hand through his messy hair as he shook the girl off his arm. Looking around the street, the boy spotted his two friends standing in front of the Three Broomsticks, talking animatedly with two girls James did not know. "I'll be right back," he told Kathleen, shoving the pink bag towards the girl.
"Why hello there, James!" greeted Sirius with a mischievous smirk. "Having a fun date?"
"I'm going to fucking kill you!" exclaimed James through clenched teeth, shooting Sirius a deadly look.
"James! Mind your manners," said Remus calmly, tilting his head towards the two girls next to him.
James scratched the back of his head, a sheepish smile lining his lips. "Sorry about that. Hey – you're the girl from a few days ago!"
"You remember? I'm Diana, and this is Arabella," she said, introducing herself and her friend. "Who's your lady friend over there?"
The group turned its attention to the curly haired girl standing in front of the robes shop, waving at them. "Is that Kathleen?" said Arabella, squinting. "Yeah, it is! Kathleen!" Arabella ran towards the girl, giving her a huge hug, and after a few minutes of talking, brought her back to the group.
"James dear, we should go," simpered Kathleen, taking a hold of James' arm. "We still have to go to Honeydukes!"
James gave his friends a now familiar death glare, allowing the girl to drag him away from the group, who watched the two as they disappeared from view.
"So shall we go inside then?" asked Arabella, motioning towards the Three Broomsticks.
"Yeah, I'll introduce you two to Lily," added Diana, entering the tavern, Sirius and Remus in tow.
~~*~~~*~~
Lily Evans sat at a table in the Three Broomsticks, waiting for Euan to bring over their drinks. She had agreed to accompany the boy during the Hogsmeade trip, seeing as they will be going to the Autumn Ball together. Sighing, she looked outside the tavern window, watching Hogwarts students pass by, all with jovial smiles on their faces. I wonder what Bella and Di are up to…
"Hey there! Got the drinks!" came a voice, interrupting Lily's thoughts. The auburn-haired girl looked up, Euan who was holding two tankards of butterbeer. The boy sat down, handing Lily one of the glass, brushing off a few strands of sandy blonde hair off his eyes. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, neither one not knowing what to say. Finally, setting the butterbeer down onto the table with a light bang, Euan looked at the girl in front of him and spoke. "So Lily, will you be coming to the Quidditch exhibition match on Wednesday? Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor – should be exciting!"
Lily gave the boy a sweet smile. "I'll try, Euan. I overheard Dumbledore talking to Professor Flitwick about him wishing to meet me that day, so I'm going to have to check," she replied, somewhat relieved that Euan didn't pursue the subject. To be honest, Lily wasn't much of a Quidditch fan. Not once, in her five-year stay at Hogwarts, has she gone to a single Quidditch match (although her two friends have been trying in vain to get her to come). "But don't worry, I'm sure you'd do a great job. You are captain and all that!"
Euan gave the girl a thankful smile, taking a swig of the butterbeer and spilling a small amount on his robes. "Oh damn! I'll be right back, Lils." Lily watched as the boy walked away from the table, almost running into Madame Rosmerta. Shaking her head in amusement, the girl shifted her gaze to the tankard on the table, looking at the warm liquid conforming to its shape. Butterbeer…
Lily watched as the boy sitting across from her shoveled a spoonful of frozen dairy in his mouth, slightly coughing at the coldness. "Are you alright?" she asked, reaching out for the boy's forearm. "It's a bit cold, so try not to put too much in your mouth."
"You'd think after seventeen years I would know that," mumbled the boy, slightly amused at himself. "I'm glad you ran into me, actually. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the chance to taste their new butterbeer flavor!"
"That's butterbeer? I didn't even know that!" exclaimed the girl. "I just told the owner that I wanted to get a tall glass of the new stuff they've just brought out – it looked like the one you ordered before I ran into you."
"Oh, that was just plain ol' vanilla," said the boy, scooping a smaller amount of ice cream. "I can't believe you didn't even ask me what flavor I wanted! What if I didn't like it?!"
A sheepish smile spread across the girl's face. "I'm sorry…but I mean, you do like that flavor, right? It looks good from where I'm sitting."
"It is," replied the boy. A small smirk spread across his lips. "Do you want to try it?"
Lily shook her head primly. "No, it's alright. I'm fine with the strawberry."
"No really, come on taste it," offered the boy, shoveling a tiny amount of the dairy onto the spoon. "It's really good!"
"Oh alright," said Lily, sighing in defeat. She motioned to scoop some of the frozen dairy with her spoon, but the boy gently took a hold of her forearm. Lily looked at the boy, confused. "I thought you wanted me to taste it?"
"Here," said the boy, raising his spoon, offering the ice cream to the girl. "It's clean, you know…otherwise I wouldn't be eating from it."
Lily looked at the boy, bewildered, contemplating as to whether or not to take up the boy's small offer. After a second of thinking, and noticing that the boy will not put the spoon down, Lily decided to take the boy's offer. "Alright then."
The boy watched with amused eyes as he spoon-fed the girl, a small blush creeping across her cheeks. "Good, isn't it?"
Lily could only nod, avoiding the boy's intrigued gaze.
"Yoo-hoo! Anybody home?" asked Arabella, waving a hand in front of Lily's face. "Have you noticed she's always spaced out? I wonder what's on her mind?"
Diana lightly shook the girl's shoulder, snapping Lily out of her trance. "Hello there! What have you two been up to?"
"Nothing much. So, where's Euan?"
"He went to go wash some butterbeer he spilled on himself," explained Lily, turning her attention to the two boys standing behind Diana. "Hello there, I'm Lily. And you are?"
"Sirius"
"Remus"
"Pleased to meet you," Lily said with a friendly smile. "Please, have a seat."
"So, you're also a prefect?" asked Remus, taking a seat across from the three girls. "Sirius here is also a prefect – only been to one meeting, this boy."
"Oh please! I'm not the only lazy prefect!" exclaimed Sirius, shocked. "Look at J—"
"Sirius Black!"
"Euan Oldham! Ready to get trounced on Wednesday?" greeted Sirius, shaking the boy's hand in a manly way.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" replied Euan with a chuckle. "Well, we'll see. Say Lily, would it be alright if we go to Zonko's? I have to buy something…"
"Umm…is it alright if I meet you there? I want to talk to the girls for a minute."
"Alright. Well Sirius, good luck on Wednesday's match!" said Euan, leaving the group.
"Say Sirius, I think it's about time for us to leave," said Remus, standing up. "Besides, Lily here wants to speak to them."
"Yeah…I suppose we could go find Prongs and see how he's doing," agreed Sirius, following his friend's example. "Well you three, we'll see you around. And Lily – it was very nice to meet you."
Nodding, the two boys said their goodbyes, walking out of the Three Broomsticks.
"Hey Padfoot…Lily…"
Sirius shot his friend a puzzled look. "What about Lily?"
"Red hair, emerald-green eyes, beautiful pale skin…does she sound familiar to you?"
Sirius continued to stare at his friend in confusion, trying to process Remus' words. After a few seconds, his jaw dropped. "You don't think she's the mystery girl, do you?"
"Well…she does fit the description…and her name has four letters in it," began Remus. "Should we tell James?"
"I don't think we should, Moony. I mean, what if it's not her?" replied Sirius, thinking hard. "I don't want to get Prongs' hopes up."
Remus sighed. "I suppose you're right…well then, let's go look for our Casanova of a friend…"
~~*~~~*~~
"You know Lils, I wanted to ask you something," began Diana, wrenching her eyes away from the two boys who had exited the Three Broomsticks. "You've been so spaced out lately, and I wanted to know what's been on your mind…"
"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," said Lily, biting the bottom of her lip. "You see, over the summer…" The two Ravenclaw girls listened to their friend intently, gasping and smiling as the redhead told them about the boy she had met over the summer. After a few minutes, a short silence filled the air.
"So wait…what's this boy's name again?" asked Arabella, intrigued.
"James," replied Lily. "I know I shouldn't be thinking about him…but, this nagging voice in my head keeps reminding me that I may have made the biggest mistake of my life! What if I just ruined my destiny? I mean – what if we were meant to be together?"
"Whoa Lily – slow down there!" said Diana, talking a hold of her friend's forearm. "Just because you spent two hours talking to a guy, it doesn't necessarily mean you two are destined for each other…what if this boy's some sort of psychotic witch killer? You never know…"
Lily sighed. "Well…I felt really comfortable with him, you know? I would think a girl will have an inkling if she's talking to some psychotic witch killer, as you put it…besides, he doesn't look like the type who cold hurt anybody."
"Lily, the guy had messy black hair…that kind of spells psychotic witch killer to me!" said Arabella with slight humor. "But I suppose the glasses and hazel eyes softened his features, eh?"
Lily smiled at the girls. "I don't know…I guess I'm just going to have to go about my life thinking of the one boy who got away," said Lily with a sigh, getting up from her seat. "Well, I better go now – wouldn't want Euan to wait for me and all. I'll see you two later!"
The two girls watched as Lily exited the tavern, a slightly somber expression on her face.
"Poor Lily…you can't blame her, really," muttered Dian. "He did sound adorable…"
Arabella nodded, staring off to space as she played with her earring. She suddenly gasped. "Oh my goodness Di! James – glasses, hazel eyes, messy hair: doesn't that description sound familiar?!"
"Agatha's brother!"
~~**~~~**~~
Eep! I am so sorry if that was a horrible chapter…don't worry. I will end this story soon and the two will meet…I added some flashbacks here to kinda add a pinch of the desired L/J most people wanted. Sorry it's not such a romantic story…but there will be some romance in the end, so please don't lose faith in me. I can honestly say this chapter isn't really the best one – although I am really proud of that one line, "I can't help it: I like observing beautiful things." That line is golden right there! Haha…sorry, but I just think those were extremely sweet words to come out of James' mouth…Well, thank you again for reading this story, and please don't forget to review. I shall email you all (those in the mailing list) when I post chapter 5! God bless you all and until next time!
~~:Azaleafaye:~~