TWO/PROFESSOR ESMERELDA
It was late Sunday morning, nearly noon, when Lily finally woke up. She sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes and checking her watch. She moaned angrily when she saw the time, and forced herself to pull out of bed and get dressed.
When she emerged into the common room fifteen minutes later, hair brushed and faced washed, she was feeling much more awake. She'd planned on studying today, but she thought she'd put that off until a bit later. Right now, she mostly wanted to head down to the Great Hall and get herself some food.
She was passing the couch in front of the fireplace when she had a sudden realization- there were two people on that couch. Not just any two people, but James and Victoria, making out. Lily rolled her eyes and walked on by, but she made sure she slammed the portrait behind her, just to give them a bit of a scare.
"What was that for?" the fat lady called irritably after her.
"Sorry," Lily said, turning around and smiling fake-sweetly. "Just making sure the hinges turned allright." She continued on her way, leaving a very grumpy fat lady behind her.
Lily joined the Gryffindor table as lunch appeared on the golden, shimmering plates. She found Susana and Cass easily, they were bickering loudly over the answers to a potions quiz that they were taking the next day.
"'Lo," Lily said cheefully, sitting down. Her friends looked up at her and stopped arguing.
"'Bout time you got up, Lil," Cass said, checking her watch. "I was wondering if you'd died."
"No, just tired," Lily said, yawning. She reached for an apple and took a big bite out of it.
"Seen Amos this morning?" Susana asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Lily grinned and rolled her eyes at her friend.
"No. Seen Charles this morning?" Susana blushed a bright red.
"No!" She said. "But I did see James and Victoria."
"Oy, so did I," Lily said. "They were going at it like monkies on the couch in the common room."
"Remind me not to sit there tonight," Cass said, grabbing a sandwhich from the platter in front of her.
"Those two have been dating FOREVER," Lily commented, stealing a few chips off of Susana's plate. "I'm surprised Victoria's not pregnant yet." The three of them giggled, and Susana said, "Yeah, well, you know what Peter told me a few days ago in Herbology?"
Cass groaned. "Susana, how many times do we have to warn you. DON'T talk to Peter. He's a sniffling whimp, and people will get the wrong idea." Susana merely blinked at Cass and turned her attention to Lily.
"Anyway," she said, pointedly ignoring Cass, who scowled and took a bite of her sandwhich.
"Yeah, what'd he say?" Lily asked, trying not to laugh at her friends. They argued over the stupidest things.
"He told me that James was only dating her because of his reputation," Susana said, eyes glinting. She lived for gossip.
"I believe it," Lily said, turning to pour herself some Pumpkin fizz. Not that she hadn't had enough last night.
"Anyway, we should go down and visit Hagrid today," Cass suggested, changing the subject. "We haven't seen him in forever."
"Yeah, but we may get in trouble," Susana said, looking a bit worried. "After all, the last time we went down there and professor Whettle caught us-''
"That's only because we were prodding the whomping willow. We won't this time," Lily said, waving her hand dismisivly.
"Great. It's settled then," Cass said, and the three friends turned their attention to the plates of food in front of them.
Meanwhile, up in the common room, James and Victoria had finally put a stop to their three-hour snogging session. Victoria was straightening her robes as James stood up. She'd been meaning to talk to him, and now was as good a time as any-
"James," Victoria said. "Can you sit down a second?"
"Sure, Vicky," James said, smiling at her and sitting down. "What's up?"
"Well, you know, we've been dating awhile," she started, not sure how to put this.
"Uh huh," James nodded his head in agreement. He was starving, and he crossed his fingers in hopes that Vicky wouldn't keep him here too long.
"And, well, I was thinking- d'you think, that, well, maybe, I mean, well."
"Out with it," James prompted, somewhat more loudly than he'd intended. Vicky looked up at him and tried to form the words she wanted to say in her mind. She was the hottest Gryffindor, and the most popular girl in the sixth year, but her brain was tinier than a frog's. James was just thinking this when Victoria finally strung her words together.
"Well, nine months is a lot, and I know originally we agreed to see other people, too- but you don't suppose- I mean, shouldn't we, that is to say-?"
"Go steady?" James asked, realizing what she was getting at.
"Yeah! Exactly!" Victoria said, nodding happily. James stared at her.
"I dunno, Vick, lemme think about that one," James said, getting off the couch.
"Why not?" She asked, surprised. She followed him out through the portrait hole and towards the Great Hall.
"Because, Vicky, what if we're not meant to be together? I need to have options," he said, giving her the same excuse he'd given her the last six times they'd had this conversation.
"Okay," she said meekly, and he started jogging down the corridors, yelling back at her, "Gotta meet with McGonagall to schedule a detention. See you later!"
After a nice afternoon visit with Hagrid, Lily, Cass, and Susana found their way up to the Great Hall for dinner. They were starved, not having eaten anything since lunch. Of course, Hagrid had offered them a few things, but they knew better than to eat his food.
Victoria was sitting by herself at the end of the table when they came into the room. Lily looked up and down the table, until she found James, who was surrounded by his usual fan club. Deciding to be nice to Victoria, Lily lead her friends over to sit with her.
"Hey, Vick," Lily said, sitting down.
"Hello," Victoria said dully. It was well-know that she was somewhat, well, DIM, but she was alright if you didn't ask too many questions. Anyway, the girls shared a room with Victoria, so they knew her pretty well.
"What's wrong?" Susana asked as she took some chicken off of the platter in front of her.
"Oh, just James," Vick said, shaking her head and staring at her plate.
"What about him?" Lily asked, curious. They'd seemed very happy when she'd seen them earlier this morning.
"Oh," Vick sighed. "He just never seems to want to commit to anything."
"I see," Lily said. "So you asked him to go steady again?"
"Yeah," Victoria nodded glumly.
"Well, Vicky, cheer up. At least you know he's not seeing anyone else right now, so that's kind of like going steady, right?" Cass asked, helping herself to some rolls and steak. Their plates were considerably full now.
"No," Victoria shook her head and took a bite of what looked like a squashed roll. "He's seeing this girl in Ravenclaw, too. Jieyon Chang. She's on their Quidditch team."
"Oh," Susana said, scanning the Ravenclaw table for Jiji, as her friends called her. She, too, was surrounded by a huge crowd of people. The Quidditch players were all pretty popular. The seekers were, anyway.
"Sorry, guys, but I gotta run," Lily said, backing out of the conversation. "I'm supposed to be studying, and I need to go talk to Professor Esmerelda about the last quiz we took."
"Good luck," Cass said, grinning. Professor Saraphine Esmerelda was the Divination teacher. Cass and Lily didn't like her class much, so they made it a game to see who could cause the most trouble in that class.
Lily trudged up the stairs to the north tower, taking her time. She and Professor Esmerelda had had their differences, and she wasn't too keen on seeing her outside of class. The last time that'd happened, she'd lost 15 points for Gryffindor by "smart-mouthing" Professor Esmerelda.
Finally reaching the north tower, she called up to her teacher, who sent the ladder down to Lily.
"Good evening, dear," Professor Esmerelda said in a calm, cool voice. It reminded Lily of a bit of fog, it could wash over you, make you blank out and not see, then, in Lily's case, fall asleep.
"Hello, Professor," Lily said, walking up to Professor Esmerelda's "desk." It was more of a giant, circular pillow on the ground with a tea table set up in front of it.
"You have a question for me, my dear," Professor Esmerelda stated, implying that she'd foreseen this. Lily fought hard not to roll her eyes.
"Yes, Professor," Lily said. "I was wondering why you failed me on that last quiz."
"Ah, well, dear, you didn't try very hard on it, did you?" Professor Esmerelda asked gently.
"Yeah, I did," Lily said. She really HAD tried on that quiz, and gotten the lowest grade on it that she'd ever gotten in that class. She was better off making stuff up.
"Now, dear, it's not wise to lie to a divination teacher," Professor Emerelda said sternly.
"But I'm not lying!" Lily protested loudly. "That grade was so unfair!"
"Child, I suggest that you calm yourself," Professor Esmerelda said, standing up.
"But you're not giving me a fair chance here," Lily said. "Susana Longbottom is the slowest girl in the grade, maybe with the exception of Victoria, and you gave them BOTH C's for effort."
"I suggest that you stop talking to me in this tone of voice," Professor Esmerelda drew herself up supeiriorly. "Or you will find yourself in an even worse situation than you were in."
Lily took three deep, calming breaths, and proceeded in a somewhat more civilized way.
"May I re-take the quiz, professor?"
"No."
"NO!?" Lily shouted. "Professor, I need to pass this class to qualify for the N.E.W.T.s! This quiz lowered me to a D; THAT'S NOT A PASSING GRADE!"
"Miss Evans, that tone is COMPLETELY inappropriate and rude. Detention."
Lily just stared, then, "Fine. Fine. You know what? I don't care. I'll go arrange it with Professor McGonagall myself. It's better than standing in a room with you for another moment." Lily ran off and climbed down the ladder hurriedly, before Professor Esmerelda could give her any more punishment
It was late Sunday morning, nearly noon, when Lily finally woke up. She sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes and checking her watch. She moaned angrily when she saw the time, and forced herself to pull out of bed and get dressed.
When she emerged into the common room fifteen minutes later, hair brushed and faced washed, she was feeling much more awake. She'd planned on studying today, but she thought she'd put that off until a bit later. Right now, she mostly wanted to head down to the Great Hall and get herself some food.
She was passing the couch in front of the fireplace when she had a sudden realization- there were two people on that couch. Not just any two people, but James and Victoria, making out. Lily rolled her eyes and walked on by, but she made sure she slammed the portrait behind her, just to give them a bit of a scare.
"What was that for?" the fat lady called irritably after her.
"Sorry," Lily said, turning around and smiling fake-sweetly. "Just making sure the hinges turned allright." She continued on her way, leaving a very grumpy fat lady behind her.
Lily joined the Gryffindor table as lunch appeared on the golden, shimmering plates. She found Susana and Cass easily, they were bickering loudly over the answers to a potions quiz that they were taking the next day.
"'Lo," Lily said cheefully, sitting down. Her friends looked up at her and stopped arguing.
"'Bout time you got up, Lil," Cass said, checking her watch. "I was wondering if you'd died."
"No, just tired," Lily said, yawning. She reached for an apple and took a big bite out of it.
"Seen Amos this morning?" Susana asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Lily grinned and rolled her eyes at her friend.
"No. Seen Charles this morning?" Susana blushed a bright red.
"No!" She said. "But I did see James and Victoria."
"Oy, so did I," Lily said. "They were going at it like monkies on the couch in the common room."
"Remind me not to sit there tonight," Cass said, grabbing a sandwhich from the platter in front of her.
"Those two have been dating FOREVER," Lily commented, stealing a few chips off of Susana's plate. "I'm surprised Victoria's not pregnant yet." The three of them giggled, and Susana said, "Yeah, well, you know what Peter told me a few days ago in Herbology?"
Cass groaned. "Susana, how many times do we have to warn you. DON'T talk to Peter. He's a sniffling whimp, and people will get the wrong idea." Susana merely blinked at Cass and turned her attention to Lily.
"Anyway," she said, pointedly ignoring Cass, who scowled and took a bite of her sandwhich.
"Yeah, what'd he say?" Lily asked, trying not to laugh at her friends. They argued over the stupidest things.
"He told me that James was only dating her because of his reputation," Susana said, eyes glinting. She lived for gossip.
"I believe it," Lily said, turning to pour herself some Pumpkin fizz. Not that she hadn't had enough last night.
"Anyway, we should go down and visit Hagrid today," Cass suggested, changing the subject. "We haven't seen him in forever."
"Yeah, but we may get in trouble," Susana said, looking a bit worried. "After all, the last time we went down there and professor Whettle caught us-''
"That's only because we were prodding the whomping willow. We won't this time," Lily said, waving her hand dismisivly.
"Great. It's settled then," Cass said, and the three friends turned their attention to the plates of food in front of them.
Meanwhile, up in the common room, James and Victoria had finally put a stop to their three-hour snogging session. Victoria was straightening her robes as James stood up. She'd been meaning to talk to him, and now was as good a time as any-
"James," Victoria said. "Can you sit down a second?"
"Sure, Vicky," James said, smiling at her and sitting down. "What's up?"
"Well, you know, we've been dating awhile," she started, not sure how to put this.
"Uh huh," James nodded his head in agreement. He was starving, and he crossed his fingers in hopes that Vicky wouldn't keep him here too long.
"And, well, I was thinking- d'you think, that, well, maybe, I mean, well."
"Out with it," James prompted, somewhat more loudly than he'd intended. Vicky looked up at him and tried to form the words she wanted to say in her mind. She was the hottest Gryffindor, and the most popular girl in the sixth year, but her brain was tinier than a frog's. James was just thinking this when Victoria finally strung her words together.
"Well, nine months is a lot, and I know originally we agreed to see other people, too- but you don't suppose- I mean, shouldn't we, that is to say-?"
"Go steady?" James asked, realizing what she was getting at.
"Yeah! Exactly!" Victoria said, nodding happily. James stared at her.
"I dunno, Vick, lemme think about that one," James said, getting off the couch.
"Why not?" She asked, surprised. She followed him out through the portrait hole and towards the Great Hall.
"Because, Vicky, what if we're not meant to be together? I need to have options," he said, giving her the same excuse he'd given her the last six times they'd had this conversation.
"Okay," she said meekly, and he started jogging down the corridors, yelling back at her, "Gotta meet with McGonagall to schedule a detention. See you later!"
After a nice afternoon visit with Hagrid, Lily, Cass, and Susana found their way up to the Great Hall for dinner. They were starved, not having eaten anything since lunch. Of course, Hagrid had offered them a few things, but they knew better than to eat his food.
Victoria was sitting by herself at the end of the table when they came into the room. Lily looked up and down the table, until she found James, who was surrounded by his usual fan club. Deciding to be nice to Victoria, Lily lead her friends over to sit with her.
"Hey, Vick," Lily said, sitting down.
"Hello," Victoria said dully. It was well-know that she was somewhat, well, DIM, but she was alright if you didn't ask too many questions. Anyway, the girls shared a room with Victoria, so they knew her pretty well.
"What's wrong?" Susana asked as she took some chicken off of the platter in front of her.
"Oh, just James," Vick said, shaking her head and staring at her plate.
"What about him?" Lily asked, curious. They'd seemed very happy when she'd seen them earlier this morning.
"Oh," Vick sighed. "He just never seems to want to commit to anything."
"I see," Lily said. "So you asked him to go steady again?"
"Yeah," Victoria nodded glumly.
"Well, Vicky, cheer up. At least you know he's not seeing anyone else right now, so that's kind of like going steady, right?" Cass asked, helping herself to some rolls and steak. Their plates were considerably full now.
"No," Victoria shook her head and took a bite of what looked like a squashed roll. "He's seeing this girl in Ravenclaw, too. Jieyon Chang. She's on their Quidditch team."
"Oh," Susana said, scanning the Ravenclaw table for Jiji, as her friends called her. She, too, was surrounded by a huge crowd of people. The Quidditch players were all pretty popular. The seekers were, anyway.
"Sorry, guys, but I gotta run," Lily said, backing out of the conversation. "I'm supposed to be studying, and I need to go talk to Professor Esmerelda about the last quiz we took."
"Good luck," Cass said, grinning. Professor Saraphine Esmerelda was the Divination teacher. Cass and Lily didn't like her class much, so they made it a game to see who could cause the most trouble in that class.
Lily trudged up the stairs to the north tower, taking her time. She and Professor Esmerelda had had their differences, and she wasn't too keen on seeing her outside of class. The last time that'd happened, she'd lost 15 points for Gryffindor by "smart-mouthing" Professor Esmerelda.
Finally reaching the north tower, she called up to her teacher, who sent the ladder down to Lily.
"Good evening, dear," Professor Esmerelda said in a calm, cool voice. It reminded Lily of a bit of fog, it could wash over you, make you blank out and not see, then, in Lily's case, fall asleep.
"Hello, Professor," Lily said, walking up to Professor Esmerelda's "desk." It was more of a giant, circular pillow on the ground with a tea table set up in front of it.
"You have a question for me, my dear," Professor Esmerelda stated, implying that she'd foreseen this. Lily fought hard not to roll her eyes.
"Yes, Professor," Lily said. "I was wondering why you failed me on that last quiz."
"Ah, well, dear, you didn't try very hard on it, did you?" Professor Esmerelda asked gently.
"Yeah, I did," Lily said. She really HAD tried on that quiz, and gotten the lowest grade on it that she'd ever gotten in that class. She was better off making stuff up.
"Now, dear, it's not wise to lie to a divination teacher," Professor Emerelda said sternly.
"But I'm not lying!" Lily protested loudly. "That grade was so unfair!"
"Child, I suggest that you calm yourself," Professor Esmerelda said, standing up.
"But you're not giving me a fair chance here," Lily said. "Susana Longbottom is the slowest girl in the grade, maybe with the exception of Victoria, and you gave them BOTH C's for effort."
"I suggest that you stop talking to me in this tone of voice," Professor Esmerelda drew herself up supeiriorly. "Or you will find yourself in an even worse situation than you were in."
Lily took three deep, calming breaths, and proceeded in a somewhat more civilized way.
"May I re-take the quiz, professor?"
"No."
"NO!?" Lily shouted. "Professor, I need to pass this class to qualify for the N.E.W.T.s! This quiz lowered me to a D; THAT'S NOT A PASSING GRADE!"
"Miss Evans, that tone is COMPLETELY inappropriate and rude. Detention."
Lily just stared, then, "Fine. Fine. You know what? I don't care. I'll go arrange it with Professor McGonagall myself. It's better than standing in a room with you for another moment." Lily ran off and climbed down the ladder hurriedly, before Professor Esmerelda could give her any more punishment