A WALK TO REMEMBER
Summary – The summer before his fifth year, Harry Potter stumbles across his father's old journal from his seventh year at Hogwarts and he reads about the continuous adventures of him, the Marauders, and his mother, Lily Evans; how they met, how they fell in love, and what brought them to their horrendous deaths. This story is based on the movie and book called A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks.
Disclaimer – Unfortunately, I own absolutely nothing. All of the characters and their names belong to author JK Rowling and the plot and character traits belong to Warner Brother's and author Nicholas Sparks.
Chapter 3 – The Spring Play:
Over the next week, James received several more punishments for the prank he pulled against Amos Diggory. He got a Howler from his mother and not to mention he also got an hour long lecture from Anna, or Annie as James called her, about being a responsible Head Boy and giving mother more stress than she already had.
Annie was not only the Charms Professor at Hogwarts, but was also actually James's older sister. She was only four years older than James, but received great grades and was truly a remarkable witch, so earned the post when she was only twenty years old. Everyone at the school, even those who did not know them, could tell that they were brother and sister. Anna Potter had long silky jet-black hair, the same pretty hazel eyes as James, and the same thin face as well. But despite their similarity in appearances, she always seemed more like a mother to James than a sister.
James was quite sick of the lectures and punishments. Personally, he felt that having to do that crappy play was punishing enough. He pondered these thoughts as he leaned back in his seat at the Three Broomsticks and looked around sipping his butterbeer. As he drunk, he saw Professor Starkson, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, enter the pub with his niece, Lily Evans. His niece was a small seventh year girl with dark red hair, which was always tied in a ponytail and a pale face. James knew that this girl was Muggle-born and was adopted by Starkson after the girl's parents died, or were rather murdered by Voldemort when she was eleven years old. Starkson was very overprotective of his niece.
Lily was known to be a very shy and quiet and did not have many, or rather, did not have any friends. She mostly kept to herself and she always had her face behind a book. But, the most intriguing thing about her was that she did not seem to care what others thought of her. She often sat alone at the Gryffindor table and was known to spend a lot of time with her uncle. Lily was often found in her uncle's office or in the library even more often than she was in the Gryffindor Tower. She also had a reputation for being extremely intelligent and gifted and this rumor was confirmed when she was appointed Head Girl. James noticed that she seemed to be most interested in Charms and Astronomy because those were the classes she participated most in.
However, despite all of this knowledge James had about her, they were not friends and no one noticed her when she entered the pub with her uncle. Actually no one ever noticed Lily Evans at all, except when they made fun of her when she walked by.
James yawned, stretched and leaned back further back in his seat. He was so happy it was a Hogsmeade weekend; he loved kicking back at the Three Broomsticks with his friends, sipping butterbeer and thinking of new pranks for the week. Though he was happy, James was still rather annoyed as well as sis punishments started the following day and he was not looking forward to them at all.
Achelle and Fiona made noises in their throats that sounded more like a laugh than a cough. They were looking at James's right and he turned to see what they were laughing at. Sirius, Remus, and Peter did the same. The shy, quiet, redheaded Evans girl was walking towards their table, looking to go past them to get one of the much quieter, more isolated booths in the back of the pub.
"Damn that Lily Evans sure has style," Fiona said sarcastically, eyeing the redhead's outfit up and down. James looked over at Achelle and Fiona and then back at Evans to compare the difference between their outfits. Personally, he did not see the big deal. Their outfits were practically the same except Achelle and Fiona's outfits were much tighter and a bit revealing. At least Evans' left a little to the imagination. He turned and looked at Evans again and saw she was wearing the same cream colored sweater that she wore all the time. James wondered if she actually owned another sweater.
"Didn't she wear that sweater back in second year?" Achelle asked coldly and sarcastically. Fiona laughed just as coldly.
"I wonder if that's the only sweater she owns," Peter chimed in. Everyone chuckled under their breath.
"Nice sweater!" Achelle blurted out as Evans walked by, clutching on to her books to her chest as though her life depended on it. She looked at the group for a moment and then gave a weak smile.
"Thank you," she said quietly, sounding almost like a mouse, and walked away. As she walked, the group started laughing insanely under their breath.
"Thank you," Remus squeaked, mimicking Evans. James and the group could only laugh even harder at the shy redheaded girl; a girl whom they knew nothing about.
James mumbled and groaned as he strutted towards the Great Hall for the first rehearsal for the Spring Play. In all honesty, he absolutely did not want any part of this project. It just was not something he and his friends decided to do and James had a certain reputation that he had to protect. He thought that maybe he could get the rest of the Marauders to play a prank on the Opening Night to make up for his embarrassment.
"Ahhh, Mr. Potter," announced a deep voice from inside the Great Hall as James entered it. He looked up and saw Professor Morandor, the Astronomy professor and Professor Spout, the new, young Herbology professor; they were the directors of the play. "It's so nice of you to join us; better late than never. Please, have a seat."
"Whatever," he muttered as he took the seat nearest to the door. He looked around and saw people sitting together, talking excitedly about the upcoming play and who would be playing what part. To James' immense surprise, in the corner was redheaded Lily Evans. She was sitting all by herself, listening intently.
"Now, Mr. Potter will play the leading male role..."
"WHAT?" James shouted, nearly falling out of his seat. He knew from the rumors that had been traveling that this play was a love story and he did not want to be the male leading role in any kind of sappy, love story. "No…no…I can't…see I didn't…I don't plan on doing any acting-"
"No arguments Potter or we'll go straight to Dumbledore and tell him that you're not cooperating" said Sprout. James growled and leaned back in his seat, muttering unpleasant words under his breath. Dumbledore was making sure that James would suffer for pulling this prank against Diggory. Diggory's parents must have created a terrible fuss over it.
"Lily Evans, who also wrote the music for this production, will be playing the part as the mysterious singer," said Morandor, beaming proudly at the redheaded girl. People turned and just stared at her for a minute before turning back to Morandor and Sprout. "And, Rainie Lesters will be playing-"
At this point James was no longer listening. He was too busy thinking about how he was going to be tormented for being in this bloody stupid play.
The rehearsal went smoothly, except James kept going out of his way to be bad and mess up the lines on purpose. He kept laughing out loud at how pathetic the play was and many of the other students joined in on the bashing. Everyone was particularly laughing at how James kept making faces during the script and at other people trying to rehearse their lines. By the end of the rehearsal, Mordandor and Sprout were both very frustrated with James and were not even sure they wanted him to participate in the Spring Play anymore.
After the rehearsal, James was walking slowly back to the Gryffindor Common Room, thinking of a new prank he could pull on Severus Snape from Slytherin, when he heard a tiny voice from behind.
"Would it kill you to at least try?" the quiet voice asked. James turned around and saw Lily Evans, looking at him with a somber look in her eyes.
"Try what?"
"Would it kill you to at least try to be good in the play?" Lily asked, rubbing her forearm with her free hand.
"Yeah, and I'm too young to die," James said coolly. He turned back around and continued walking towards the Gryffindor Common Room. As he walked, he felt somebody following him, and he looked behind him at the corner of his eye. James saw a glimpse of red and rolled his eyes before turning around to face Lily.
"Are you following me?" James snapped, annoyed. Lily looked at him wide-eyed and quietly shook her head.
"No. There's only one way back to Gryffindor Tower, and this is the way, and I am in Gryffindor…" Lily said, staring at him with an emotionless expression on her face. It was the way she always looked when she walked down the corridors.
"Whatever," muttered James, feeling embarrassed. He turned around, yet again, and continued walking.
"Did you hear about Amos Diggory?" Lily asked after several minutes of uncomfortable silence. James ignored her, though she did not seem to notice or care. "I hear he is still in the hospital wing. Are you going to visit him at all?" James turned around and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I take that as a 'no.'"
"Is this your idea of small talk or something?" James snapped impatiently. Lily stopped talking and just stared. "Because if it is your social skills need some work."
"I was just asking," retorted Lily defensively, but yet very softly. "After all, you and the rest of your friends were the ones who-"
"No one forced him to dive headfirst into a lake!" James snapped again, throwing his hands up in the air in a frustrated manner. "Is it my fault that he's completely gullible?"
"It's called peer pressure," said Lily, still clutching on to her books. "You and your friends are very intimidating people and he gave in…"
"Oh yeah? And how would you know anything about that?" James asked coolly; his voice resembling solid ice. "Read it one of your precious books?"
Lily stared at him wide-eyed for a second, looked down at the books in her arms, and then back up at James with an annoyed look on her face. But, she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, as though trying to regain her composure.
"Please," said Lily, patiently, "please don't pretend like you know me."
"But, I do," said James, crossing his arms over his chest. "I do know! We've been in all the same classes and lived in the same tower since first year. Why, you're Lily Evans of Gryffindor. You're Head Girl, you don't have any friends, and you've lived with your uncle since you were eleven. You sit at the rejected side of the Gryffindor table. You own exactly one sweater and you like to look at your feet when you walk. Oh yeah, and on weekends, you like to do Spring Plays and study in the library. How was that? Did that sound pretty accurate to you? It sounded pretty good to me."
"It sounded typical," said Lily, a slight smile on her face. "It also sounded pretty predictable. It's nothing I haven't heard before."
"So what are you trying to say?" asked James, raising an eyebrow. "You don't care what people think about you?" Lily smiled again; it was almost like a smirk.
"No, I don't," she answered honestly before brushing past him and walking towards Gryffindor Tower.
James could do or say nothing but roll his eyes impatiently and follow her.
"When you..." James paused, trying to remember the line. Sirius was sitting on the sofa, reading the script with James, helping him to memorize his lines. "Oh dammit bugger bloody hell!"
"You can swear all you'd like, Prongs," said Sirius casually as he flipped through the pages of the script. "It doesn't change the fact that this play is a load bull shi-"
"I know, Sirius, I know!" James interrupted, throwing his script angrily across the room. "I didn't write it, okay?"
"True, but you're the one who is going to make a jack ass out of himself in front of the whole school…" said Sirius, in a singsong voice, grinning maliciously. James glared at his friend as he went to go retrieve his script.
"Gee, thanks Padfoot," he said, frowning. "You're a real friend with real words of comfort." Sirius chuckled and stood up and patted James on the back.
"You know," he started, "I'm actually looking forward seeing you in some stage make-up. Now that's going to be a sight to see. Maybe I can get Achelle to take pictures. That way we can all remember, treasure, and laugh about the day that James Potter wore make-up."
"Sirius!" shouted James pleadingly. "Please, I only have three weeks to learn these lines! I need some help!"
"You need more than help, Jimmy, because who are you kidding?" Sirius asked, still grinning. It seemed as though Sirius was always smiling or grinning, no matter what the circumstances. Sometimes it infuriated James to know end; like now. "You couldn't learn this dung if you had three months. No, let me rephrase that. You couldn't learn this crap if you had three years."
"Padfoot, you're not helping," James said, flopping on to the sofa next to Sirius, running a hand through his already messy hair. Sirius chuckled.
"Hey, Prongs, you know I'm only joking with you," said Sirius, still grinning. James grinned too.
"I know," he said.
"Don't worry about it. On Opening Night, I'm going to be there, front row, and you can count on it," said Sirius, shaking James's shoulder roughly, "with tomatos." James laughed heartily.
"Thanks Padfoot."
"No problem, Prongs."
And they did their secret, infamous Marauder handshake.
That night, after a completely useless rehearsal with Sirius, James needed to clear his mind. And when he needed to clear his mind he always went for a ride on his broomstick late at night. There was something about looking at the stars and the cool night air did something to relax him physically and emotionally.
So, James grabbed his broomstick and opened the window of his dormitory and flew out into the crisp night sky. As he flew above the puffy, blue clouds, he saw a redheaded figure that he recognized as Lily Evans walking across the grounds towards the Quidditch Pitch, carrying a large bag.
"What the hell…?" James asked himself, frowning. Curious, he flew down towards the Pitch and hopped off of his broomstick while it was still a good ten feet from the ground.
"HEY!" James shouted anxiously. Lily quickly turned around, nearly hitting him with the large round tube he had earlier mistaken for a bag. At first she had looked terrified, but when she realized it was only a fellow peer, she just stared at him instead.
When Lily did not say anything to James about his presence, he simply asked: "What are you doing here?"
"I should ask you the same question," said Lily.
"You just look like you're up to something. Do you always walk around Quidditch pitches at night?" asked James dryly, as he clutched on to his broomstick. Lily gave a small mischievous grin. James had never seen her smile like and he suddenly felt intrigued.
"Maybe," was all she said, but she still had a mischievous look on her face. And when she turned around and continued walking, James could not help but shout out after her.
"Where're you going?" he asked again. Lily turned around, took out her wand, muttered "Lumos," and shoved the light in James's face.
"If you're so interested, then come and see," she said simply and continued walking towards the middle of the Quidditch Pitch. James stood there for a moment, shrugged, and followed her. He had to admit, he was interested in what she was up to. He had never seen this mischievous side of Lily Evans and it rather thrilled him. When he reached the center, he saw Lily bending over, setting up something.
"What is this?" James asked, standing beside the object she was setting up.
"This is my Muggle telescope," explained Lily. "I built it when I was twelve." James raised an impressed eyebrow.
"Go ahead; take a look," Lily suggested, gesturing towards it. James shrugged and looked into the telescope. To his utter amazement, he could see the planet Saturn mixed in with all the other millions and billions of beautiful stars in the deep blue sky.
"Saturn," he stated. "That's pretty cool."
"Yeah," said Lily looking at the stars. "I'm hoping to build a bigger one, so I can see Halley's Comet. It only comes around every sixty-five to seventy-five years. It's supposed to be passing Earth this spring. It's number five on my list."
"Number five? List?"
"Yeah, it's a to-do-list I've made, except for my life." Lily explained.
"What, like, get a new personality?" James asked bitterly. Lily ignored him.
"I'd like to be in two places at once without magic…" she said, counting off the items on her lifelong to-do list. "…get a Muggle tattoo….become the first woman Minister of Magic..."
"Ambitious," James said sarcastically. Lily continued to ignore him.
"...dance under the stars on the tallest Hogwarts tower…befriend someone I don't like, though I think I've just accomplished that one." Lily said, looking pointedly at James. James just rolled his eyes and shook his head. Lily smirked and continued looking at the stars through her Muggle telescope. He stared at her for a few moments before turning to look back up at the night sky.
"I get it," said James shortly. Lily pulled her head away from the telescope and stared at him with a raised eyebrow and a confused look on her face.
"Get what?" she asked.
"That you're into all this stuff," said James, gesturing towards her set-up. Lily looked down at the telescope, still looking confused.
"This...stuff?" Lily asked slowly. "I never thought this as simply…'stuff.' I mean, I have my beliefs, my hobbies…but don't you?"
"No," said James simply, "no, there's so much bad shit in this world to be worried about stupid things like that!"
"But, without suffering there would be no compassion," said Lily, looking somber. James gave an angry laugh in his throat.
"Yeah, well, tell that to those who've suffered," he growled. Lily stared.
"You don't know what it's like to suffer," she whispered.
"What?"
"Nothing," she said and continued looking through her telescope.
James came back late from the Quidditch Pitch and flew directly into the Common Room. This startled most first years, but for the rest of the Gryffindors, this was a normal occurrence; James loved flying directly into the Common Room late at night. It was one of his many ways of showing off. When he dismounted from his broom and looked around, he saw Sirius, Remus, Peter, Achelle, and Fiona all sitting there looking worried.
"James!" Remus called out when he saw his friend, motioning for him to join the rest of the group.
"Where were you?" asked Sirius curiously. He was not grinning.
"We were worried," Peter squeaked up.
"Nowhere," said James shrugging. At that moment, Lily Evans came in through the Portrait Hole, holding the giant tube that contained her Muggle telesope. She caught James's eye and shot him a brief smile before walking up the stairs towards her dormitory. James just stared at her for a moment before returning his attention to his friends. "I was just out for a ride." Sirius, however, did not fail to notice the brief and barely noticeable exchange between his best friend and Lily Evans.
"James," said Sirius, pulling his best friend aside so that he was out of earshot of everyone else. "Are you okay? I mean, are we still cool and everything?"
"Yeah," said James, "yeah, everything's fine."
The next day, James was sitting in the Common Room desperately trying to memorize his lines, but like Annie commented, he was a hopeless case, or in this case, a hopeless actor. Just when he was about to throw the script across the room and march straight to Dumbledore's office so that he could turn in his Head Boy and Quidditch Captain badges, he heard the Portrait Hole open and close, and he turned to see who had entered.
In walked Lily Evans, who had somehow achieved the great task of reading a book while walking up to the girl's dormitories. James immediately jumped out of his seat and walked straight up to her.
"Evans?" he called out. Lily whipped around and looked at him. She gave a weak laugh and continued reading.
"What do you want, Potter?" Lily asked, still chuckling to herself. "I've known you for seven years and you've never been the first one to jump up and say 'hello' to me."
"Evans, I need help with my lines," said James, feeling embarrassed. But what other choice did he have? Lily looked up from her book, grinning.
"Is James Potter is asking me for help?" Lily asked, still grinning.
"Yeah..."
"That's a classic," she said, half laughing, walking back out through the Portrait Hole. James let out a quiet frustrated groan and followed her. He ran to catch up with her until he was walking beside her.
"Listen, Lily, I really need he-"
"You've obviously never asked anyone for help before have you?" Lily asked, not looking at him. She still seemed to be engrossed in her book. He did not need to answer for Lily already knew it. Plus, his silence answered her rhetorical question. "I thought so. Why should I help you, Potter? All you've ever done is make fun of me."
"Listen, I just want the play to be good, okay?" James snapped at her. 'Or maybe just don't want to make a fool out of myself,' James thought. But, that was a secret that was going to stay between him. Lily finally looked up from her book and stared at him for a minute, as though she was having an internal struggle with herself.
"Okay, I'll help" said Lily, "but, under one condition, Potter."
"Okay..."
"You have to promise you won't fall in love with me," said Lily.
James wanted to burst out laughing. Him? Love her? Not in this millennium. He could never fall in love with someone, or something, like Lily Evans. James held back his laugh when he saw the serious look on her face. If he wanted her to help, openly laughing in her face was probably not the best idea.
"Don't you worry your little red head, Evans, because that's not going to be a problem," he said, still holding back his laugh. Lily smiled brightly.
"Okay, I'll meet you in the library after dinner," she said simply and walked away. James rolled his eyes and went to find Sirius. The two of them were planning to put a spell on the Portrait of the Fat Lady by making her hair turn blue.
Parker Starkson entered the library to see his niece sitting in at a corner table reading another book. She had always loved to read, even before she came to Hogwarts. Ever since she was five you could always find her nose buried behind a book.
Parker smiled at her from a distance. She looked so much like her mother, his sister, Marigold, except her mother had had blonde hair. Lily had inherited her father's red hair, which went fantastic with her mother's bright, sterling green eyes. He was so proud of Lily. She was so pure; so full of goodness and love. It was a shame how this had to come about her.
When Robert and Marigold Evans were murdered, Parker could not even look at Lily. As though it was her fault that they were dead and unable to raise their own children. But, in the end, he had grown to love Lily more than anything else in the world; more like his own daughter than a niece. He was just as overprotective and loving as any father. Shaking out of his thoughts, Parker smiled and walked over to his niece.
"Hello, Flower," he said smiling. Lily looked up and beamed at her uncle. She loved her uncle just as much as he loved her.
"Hello Uncle Parks," she said smiling. She had been calling her uncle 'Uncle Parks' since she was a baby. She just could not manage to say 'Parker' and the nickname just stuck.
"Are you rehearsing for the play?" Parker asked. Lily nodded.
"Yes. Actually, I'm helping James memorize his lines. He should be here any minute." Parker suddenly frowned.
"James? As in James Potter?" he asked, looking angry and uncomfortable.
"Yes," said Lily. "Why?"
"Why? That boy is careless, he's dangerous; he's the worse kind of boy!" Parker nearly shouted at his niece. Lily looked at him thoughtfully.
"Parks, you need to give him a chance," she said, patting his hand gently. At the precise moment, James entered the library and walked over to the table where Lily and Parker were having their conversation.
"Hey Lily, Professor," said James, nodding his head towards them. Parker gave James a glare, which James cowered under and Lily smiled slightly to try and reassure both of them.
"Erm…Lily…?" James asked after several moments of uncomfortable silence. "Are we going to rehearse?"
"Sure! Just let me put my library books away and we'll get started," she said as she got up and dashed towards the stacks with a armful of thick, leather-bound books. Feeling immense tension, James turned back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
"Errm…thanks for letting me run lines with Lily," said James, not knowing what else to say. Parker just stared at him.
"I didn't let you," he said coldly.
"Oh!"
"Let's get one thing straight, Mr. Potter," he said walking slowly towards James, who was still cowering at the look his professor was giving him. "You may think that the world bows at your feet and that I don't see you and your friends from where I stand in front of the classroom. But, I see you."
James just nodded and to his immense relief, Lily came running back with empty arms and a pleasant smile on her face. She sat down as Parker slowly smiled at his niece, and then walked away and out of the library.
"Ready?" Lily asked cheerfully. James nodded and sat down, opening his script. Thank Merlin that no one was in the library so they could see him talking to the most weirdest girl in all of Hogwarts. His reputation would go down the drain.
James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Achelle, and Fiona were all sitting in the Great Hall eating their breakfast. Well, actually, Fiona was on Sirius's lap, kissing him rather passionately and inappropriately. Achelle was eyeing up James, obviously wanting the same attention that Sirius was giving to Fiona, but James was so fed up with her pathetic behavior that he decided to just ignore her hints and advances. Remus and Peter were discussing Quidditch.
James grinned as Peter knocked over a glass of orange juice, spilling it all over Fiona and Sirius, who were so wrapped in themselves that they did not seem to notice.
"Hey Potter," came a sweet quiet voice from the opposite side of the table. James looked up and saw Lily standing in front of the whole group, a small smile on her face. "Are we still meeting you in the library after dinner?"
Sirius, Remus, Peter, Achelle, and Fiona all glanced at James, looking suspicious, astonished, or just looking at Lily like she was crazy. Suddenly, James felt sick. How could she do this to him? He had really improved with acting abilities and memorizing his lines with Lily's help and he had come to really enjoy spending time with her but had a reputation to protect. His friends would never accept someone as ridiculous as Lily Evans. Someone like Lily would just flush everything he had worked for at Hogwarts right down the toilet.
"In your dreams…" said James half laughing at her and half looking at her like she was the most ridiculous thing in the world. Sirius started chuckling with Fiona. Orange juice came squirting out of Remus's nose and Peter was sniggering under his breath as Achelle gave Lily a smug, satisfied grin.
Lily's smile immediately transformed into a frown. She stared at James blankly for a moment, her eyes blinking repeatedly. James just stared back at her with his arms folded across his chest, and an eyebrow raised coolly. But, she did not say anything. Instead, Lily nodded slowly and walked away, looking at her feet.
"Where's your sweater?" Sirius called out to her in mock concern, making the group laugh heartily at her; except for James. James could barely give a fake, weak chuckle. Normally, he would have laughed at Lily, but at the moment, he felt so guilty. Why? He had dumped girls like that before. So, why was he feeling guilty now?
Instead of pondering them any longer, James ignored his thoughts and followed his friends to class.
Lily was not in the Common Room, the seventh year girls' dormitory, the library, or the Great Hall. That meant that there was only one other place she could be: her uncle's office.
James did not want to confront Lily in front of Professor Starkson but what other choice did he have? He needed to apologize to her so that she could forgive him and they could continue running lines together. He just had to make sure that she knew that this was a secret.
Hesitantly, James dashed to the office and knocked on the door. To his immense surprise, Starkson did not answer the door; Lily did. When she answered, she originally had a small, sweet, and pleasant smile on her face, but when she saw who knocked, her smile instantly turned into a dangerous frown. She glared at him for a minute before automatically shutting the door in James's face.
James ran a frustrated hand through his untidy jet-black hair and let out a small groan. He knocked on the door again.
"Lily! Lily c'mon…please open the door!" James shouted through the door. Suddenly, the door opened and James immediately backed away, because Lily came storming out like a bat out of hell, glaring at him.
"What do you want?" she asked, not angrily, but almost sweetly, but James could still hear the venom in her voice.
"Listen, Lily, I was hoping maybe we could still run lines together," said James, looking at her square in the eye. Lily looked at him for a minute and raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, but not just so anybody can see, right?" she asked coolly. James did not want to tell her he could not spend time with her because she was not someone his friends would approve of her; even there was no reason why they should not approve. She just was not the type of person they liked spending time with; she was the kind of person they liked playing pranks on. That thought did not make sense to James. Why would they not like Lily? He was definitely starting to enjoy spending time with her.
"Well..." he said slowly, trying to quickly to come up with some kind of excuse. "I just thought it would be more fun...by…surprising everyone with how good I get; how much I improve." Even the words, as he said them, sounded ridiculous to James and he knew that Lily was no fool. She would know why he was making lies up like this.
"Like…we could be secret friends?" Lily suggested, smiling sweetly. James's eyes widened in relief and he suddenly felt so much better.
"Exactly!" James said in relief. "Exactly! It was like you were reading my mind!" Lily was still smiling sweetly and nodding.
"Great," she said, "maybe you can read mine." Suddenly, her sweet smile turned into a nasty glare. James immediately got the hint and all the relief he had previously felt came seeping out of his body; like a bucket being drained. He took a deep breath and looked down at his shoes in shame and guilt. Lily narrowed her eyes at him and turned her back on him to go back into the office.
"Lily," he said regrettably; and it sounded sincere. "Lily I can't just be your friend. That's not how it works. You have to understand that. I want to be friends with you but I just…can't."
"Look, James, I just thought I saw something in you," said Lily, looking at James through the crack of the open office door, "something good. But, I was very wrong; very wrong."
With that, Lily sighed sadly and closed the door. James watched as the door closed and threw his hands up in frustration and swore loudly. When he swore, Professor Starkson came storming out, his eyes flaming angrily at James. James immediately backed off, muttered a weak apology, and ran off down the corridor, leaving a very angry Professor Starkson behind. The professor was not angry because James had sworn; he was angry because that boy hurt his niece, and he had not even realized it.
But selfishly, James was not worried about Lily Evans at the moment. Sure, she was not some airhead and you could talk to her easily, and she was pretty in her own way, and she was sweet and nice, and everything. That could not be why James was so frustrated over losing her as a secret friends. It was because without her help, he was going to mess up horribly during the Spring Play. He was going to humiliate himself in front of everyone. That had to be why he was so angry towards this situation with Lily. What other reason could there be?
James stormed to the boy's dormitories and flopped on to his bed with his face in his pillow. He let out a very frustrated yell and took his face out of his pillow and looked out of the window. He could not remember the last times he felt so annoyed and restless; like he had no control over the events that were going on around him.
Sighing, James jumped off his bed and went rummaging through his trunk. He came across the Marauder's Map, his Invisibility Cloak, some books, some merchandise from Zonko's, a bunch of Dungbombs, and his old yearbooks. James took out this year's yearbook and started skimming through it. James finally came across Lily Evans's picture. She had the same small smile on her face, and he realized that she never really wore a big smile, at least no one ever seen her wearing a big smile. James looked down at her ambition for life, listed under her picture and it said 'To Witness a Miracle.'
James took a deep breath. Well, he would damn well give her a miracle.
James practiced day and night for the Spring Play. He improved on everything; his hand motions, the way he stood, but most importantly, he memorized his lines and found creative and fun ways to deliver them without being disrespectful towards the material. During rehearsal, however, he would slip into a daze and ignore what the Professor Sprout and Professor Morander were saying to everyone, except when they were talking to him, of course.
But, the two professors were mostly talking to Lily about her horrible posture. Like James had accurately pointed out earlier, she liked to look at her feet when she walked and her shoulders were always hunched. Professor Sprout was spending a lot of time showing Lily how to throw her shoulders back and walk like she was some kind of princess. James would glance over and notice that Lily looked slightly more attractive when she walked like that.
It was the day before opening night and James took a deep breath. He felt he was ready and he was going to give the best performance he could make it; even if everyone else thought it was horrible. James knew he was going to give it his all.
Quite frankly, it was really a miracle that he had pulled all that off what had in just a few weeks. The Marauders were certainly impressed, but Sirius insisted that he still bring tomatoes anyway; just in case.
James had no idea what he was doing or why he was doing it. He just found himself walking towards the hospital wing, not knowing what in the world he was going to say. He entered the hospital wing, biting his lip and wanting to run away.
"Potter?" asked Madame Lustin from her office when she saw him enter. She was a plump and kind woman who was known for not being very that strict when it came to visiting hours. She personally believed family and friends were the best kinds of medicine. "I wasn't expecting to see you here with the Spring Play tonight and everything. What can I do for you? Are you ill?"
"I came here to see Amos," said James, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
"Amos Diggory?"
"Yes…Diggory…"
"He's just over there," said Madame Lustin, pointing to a curtain in the corner of the room that had been drawn for Amos's privacy. James nodded to show his thanks and slowly walked over to the curtain and walked behind it. Amos was lying in bed reading a book on Quidditch. He looked up and saw James and he rolled his eyes and continued reading, ignoring him.
"I know you don't want to see me. But, I came here to say I'm sorry," said James. Amos made a noise in his throat that sounded a bit sarcastic.
"Well, you did," Amos said coldly. "Do you feel any better?"
"No, I feel like shit."
"You know, I thought I actually wanted to be your friend," started Amos, but he paused and looked at directly at James, as though he were scum of the earth, "but now I have no idea why. No idea."
James sighed and looked at the ground. He looked at his feet for a minute but then gave a weak chuckle. Somehow, this intrigued Amos and he looked at the Marauder at the corner of his eye.
"You know the first time I made that dive," he told Amos, as though he were telling a friend an old story. "I thought I was such a bad arse. I...I remember telling the rest of the Marauders that I...that I meant to fall off and belly-flop." James gave another weak chuckle. For the first time in a few minutes, Amos turned to look at James fully.
"Did it hurt?"
"Like hell."
"Good!" said Amos honestly, a suuden grin appearing. He and James looked at each other and chuckled.
"I guess I'll see you around in class then?" asked James, grinning sheepishly. Amos nodded.
James turned to leave the hospital wing and when he walked through the door, he felt a lot more relieved, a lot better. He felt like a heavy burden had been taken off his chest and shoulders and he was free to run.
It was the night of the Spring Play.
Surprisingly, James's performance was not all that bad. But, the final scene was coming up soon and he was getting extremely nervous. That was the scene James always had a major problem with. Professor Sprout said something about being able to 'feel the emotion' and he just was not feeling anything in that final scene.
James looked out into the audience and saw Sirius and Fiona; Fiona practically in Sirius's lap in the second row; right behind Remus and Peter. You could tell Remus was trying very hard not to fall asleep and Peter was openly snoring away. James gave an inward laugh at the look at his friends.
Achelle was with the rest of the students who worked with the school newspaper; interning for the Daily Prophect. She was the photographer and had to take live action pictures from the play.
Annie was sitting in the front row with the other professors, smiling proudly at the fine performance her brother was giving; the performance that he worked so hard to give and no one really knew that but her.
But what almost infuriated James and almost made him leap off the stage was the man sitting next Annie. He was a tall, skinny man with messy brown haired and handsome face. It took all of James's inner strength and willpower to ignore him. Professor Starkson was also sitting with the other professors, at the far end and much to James's discomfort; he was watching him very intently.
Finally, Rainie, the leading lady, said her final words as Lily walked on the stage. She was completely covered in a hooded cloak, which completely covered her and her face. It startled James at first because she looked like some kind of Death Eater. Rainie said some more words to Lily and stormed off the stage. James took a deep breath.
It was the final scene.
James said some of his lines as Lily lowered her hood and took off the cloak. James turned to look at her and his voice got caught in is throat and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Lily looked nothing short of beautiful. In fact, James had never seen anything as nearly as gorgeous as how she looked right there.
Lily's dark red hair, which was always tied back in a ponytail, was flowing down her back in beautiful, elegant dark red curls. James was amazed at how long her hair was, it was almost to her waist. She was wearing make-up that brought out her features beautifully.
Lily was also wearing an emerald green dress made of pure silk that reached the floor and flowed behind her when she walked and it was crisscrossed in the back. The dress brought out her eyes beautifully. James was surprised to see that they were also emerald green, sparkling magically. The dress hugged every curve that Lily had, which no one knew she had since she always wore baggy dresses and robes. She just looked nothing short of amazing. James could not take his eyes off her as he said his lines to her; he was surprised he was even able to remember his lines at that point.
James did an amazing job of covering up his obvious astonishment and adoration for Lily while on the stage but two people did happen to notice it; the two people who were watching James the closest. Parker Starkson shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Lily did indeed look beautiful and he did not like the looks that the boys were giving her, especially the one on the stage. Achelle had completely stopped breathing altogether.
"You look so familiar," said James, as he performed. "Like a girl I knew once, only she was a dream."
"Tell me about this dream girl," said Lily, looking at James square in the eye. He just melted in a forest of green depths.
"I don't remember her. All I know is..." James paused. The line was supposed to be 'All I know is that she could sing beautifully,' but that line was not good enough, especially not good enough for Lily Evans
"All I know is..." James repeated, "…is that you're beautiful..."
Lily stared at him, eyes almost widening, but she prevented them because they were currently in front of the entire school. James felt he could just stare at that beautiful face and those green depths for an eternity. But, his spell was broken because he could hear Sprout whispering, "The song, James, the song!" James reluctantly tore his eyes away from Lily's.
"The dream girl!" James said, covering up for when he messed up the previous line. "I don't remember her, but I do remember that she could sing beautifully. Please, help me to remember her. Will you sing for me?"
With that, Lily nodded and a light music came on in the background.
"I've been down, now I'm blessed
I felt a revelation coming around"
James's eyes would not come off of Lily. She was just so pretty, no not pretty, beautiful and her voice sounded like that of an angel.
Lily stood up and walked across the stage and looked towards the audience, James watching her every move.
"I guess it's right, it's so amazing
Every time I see you I'm alive
You're all I've got
You lift me up
The sun and the moonlight"
Parker smiled as he heard Lily's voice. It sounded so much like her mother's. But, he could not stop looking at James because he was openly staring at Lily. What intrigued him the most was that he was not staring at her in a rude manner, like most boys in the audience were, such as Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. But, he was staring at her lovingly. His eyes looked so innocent and scared, like a young child, filled with adoration and joy. James Potter was looking at Lily like he adored her, like he...loved her.
'No,' thought Parker, 'James Potter will not fall in love with my niece. I won't allow it.'
"All my dreams are in your eyes
I wanna be inside your heaven
Take me to the place you cry from
Where the storm blows your way
I wanna be the earth that holds you
Every bit of air you're breathing in
A soothin' wind
I wanna be inside your heaven"
Lily turned back to look at James with a strange smile on her face. James's heart fluttered at her smile, but then he saw it was not a true, genuine smile because she was only acting. The truth was, she was still angry with him for blowing her off the way he did. James could not believe he did that. He was such a fool. He knew that she was beautiful on the inside, which was why he had come to enjoy spending time with her. James had no idea that she was just an all-around beautiful person.
Breaking James out of his thoughts, Lily turned and walked up and down the stage as she continued singing with that angelic voice of hers. Little did she know that James was still watching her every move with his eyes filled with adoration for her.
"When we touch
When we love
The stars light up
The wrong becomes undone
Naturally my soul surrenders
The sun and the moonlight
All my dreams are in your eyes"
Lily than stopped walking up and down the stage and turned to James and sat down at the table across from him, singing sweetly.
"And I wanna be inside your heaven
Take me to the place you cry from
Where the storm blows your way
And I wanna be the earth that holds you
Every bit of air you're breathing in
A soothin' wind
I wanna be inside your heaven"
Lily, once again, turned away from James, much to his dismay while still sitting down, now singing to the audience, smiling sweetly in her divine voice.
"When minutes turn to days and years
When mountains fall
I'll still be here
Holding you until the day I die"
Lily stood up again and walked towards center stage, standing at the edge of the stage, singing more loudly and stronger than she was before. James still did not take his eyes off of her. As she sang, she was giving him butterflies in his stomach. Why was he feeling his way towards Lily Evans, out of all people? Why had he worked so hard to be so good in the play to impress her? The thought was crazy, absolutely crazy, but he could not deny it any longer.
James Potter was falling for Lily Evans.
"I wanna be inside your heaven
Take me to the place you cry from
Where the storm blows your way
And I wanna be inside in your heaven
I wanna be inside
Where the storm blows your way
And I wanna be inside your heaven
Take me to the place you cry from
Where the storm blows your way
And I wanna be the earth that holds you
Every bit of air you're breathing in
A soothing wind
I wanna be inside your heaven"
Lily turned from the audience and walked slowly back to the table and sat across from James, who was still looking at her with joy and idolatry. He could not take it any longer. Just as the music died down he leaned across the table and towards Lily's face. He closed his eyes and felt his lips brush against hers.
As he gave her that small kiss, the music stopped completely. The audience applauded as James pulled away, looking into Lily's eyes, the color of a green forest. Lily was stunned and stared at James wide eyed, speechless and immobile. James just bit his lip, not pulling his eyes away from Lily's eyes, wondering if he had made a mistake and scared Lily completely away.
The curtain closed, leaving Lily to sit there completely astonished and James a nervous wreck.
Parker shifted very uncomfortably in his chair. He knew that kiss was not supposed to happen in the play. Lily would have told him about a kissing scene. Did James Potter really have feelings for Lily? Or, was he just playing with her like he did all the other girls he dated?
Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Fiona thought nothing of the kiss, thinking it was just part of the play, applauded loudly for their friend. Remus was clapping and whistling loudly as Sirius did catcalls.
Achelle's breath, which she had been holding throughout the entire scene, was sucked into her throat. She knew that that kiss was not part of the play. Lily Evans's face was way to shocked at James's action. If it had been a part of the play, Lily would have seen it coming and would be smiling at the audience instead of looking at James like he had lobsters crawling out of his ears.
Why did James kiss her? Did he like her? If he did, Achelle knew she would stop at nothing to make sure Lily Evans did not get him. James belonged with her and no one else. She would make sure of that.
After the play, Annie came running up to her brother and hugged him tightly.
"Jimmy, I couldn't believe it! What a transformation! You went from horrible to fantastic!" Annie said brightly, hugging her brother tightly. James laughed nervously.
"Thanks, Annie, but please stop!" James said, grinning embarrassedly. "And, don't call me Jimmy, at least not in front of the guys. They'd never let me hear the end of it." Annie laughed and smiled at James, ruffling his hair.
"Don't go wandering around late," she warned, smiled and walked off. James smiled back and immediately looked around for Lily. He saw her leaving with her uncle, who was staring furiously at James, and Pofessor Sprout, no doubt talking about the performance or the play itself. Lily's pretty curly red hair was once again pulled into a loose ponytail.
James was about to go after her when a hand on his shoulder held him back. Swearing to himself, he turned around. And whom he saw was the last person he wanted to see, they very last. It was the same person who had made him want to jump off the stage.
"Fine performance, son," said Reginald Potter.
It was James's father.
James narrowed his eyes at him and pulled his arm away.
"What are you doing here?" James snarled, giving his father a deathly glare.
"Anna told me about it," said Edward, trying to pretend that he did not recognize his son's obvious dislike for him. "I thought maybe we'd go to Hogsmeade and get a bite after the show."
"I'm not hungy," James said coldly and he brushed past his father.
"James, don't walk away!"
"You taught me how!" James shouted angrily, never turning back to look at his father.
Reginald Potter sighed and looked at the ceiling in frustration. He did not know or understand why he kept trying to reach out to James because he knew that James would never forgive him for abandoning him, Anna, and their mother.
Disclaimed of the Song – The song that was used in this chapter and the poem in the first chapter is "Inside Your Heaven" performed by Carrie Underwood.
A note from the Jitterbelle. I hope you're enjoying the story and revisions for far. Please enjoy and don't forget to review as they are greatly appreciated!