Sirius sank back onto his heels, looking as though a lightning bolt had hit
him. "There-there's no countercurse?"
James turned on Malfoy. "There is, and one of them has the page." He pointed his wand again. "Hand it over. Now."
Snape shrugged. "I threw it in the common room fire."
Remus blew several fuses. "YOU DID WHAT?"
"All right, all right, boys, now settle down! What's all this about?"
A pretty blond witch, about thirty years old, had entered the room. She wore pale pink robes and had tied her curls back with a darker pink ribbon under her hat.
James tried to raise Lily to her feet and failed. "Professor, Snape did some kind of freeze thing, and we don't know the countercurse!"
The teacher knelt down next to Lily and felt her forehead and cheeks. She stared up at James in polite bewilderment.
"There's nothing wrong with her, not as far as I can see."
James stared. "There isn't? But, Professor--" He stopped as Lily opened her eyes and blinked. "Lily! Are you all right?"
Vanessa and Sirius bent over her. "Is she awake? How'd you do that?"
Lily felt as though she had been buried and taken out of her grave again; as though someone had set one of the Pyramids on her chest. "What happened?" She looked up at James, who was holding her head in his lap and sat up quickly. "What happened?" she repeated.
No one could answer that, because no one exactly knew, except Snape and Malfoy, and they didn't volunteer anything. There were several halfhearted er's while Lily struggled to free herself out of the mountains of cloaks that she had been swathed in.
James tried to explain. "Professor Zimmermann, Snape did this kind of freeze hex and Lily, here, went all cold and stiff, sort of as if she were dead or something."
Professor Zimmermann frowned. "Lily Evans, I think it is?"
Lily nodded weakly, too worn out to answer.
"Well, I think you'd better go to the hospital wing, just in case. I'm not punishing anyone, since I have no evidende, but I don't want any magic in here except what I have assigned, all right?" The class nodded. "Sirius, would you accompany Miss Evans to the hospital wing, since I don't think she knows where it is yet. Class, back to your seats." She turned to Lily. "Dear, you can leave your things. I'll have someone take them back to the dormitory later." James turned to Sirius. "Hey, Sirius, I can take her there--you don't have to bother." He reached for Lily.
Sirius shook his head determinedly. "No. I was told to go, and I will. C'mon, Lily." He put her arm around his shoulders, acting as a prop, and together they left the classroom, leaving behind a fuming James.
They reached the hospital wing and introduced Lily's problem to Miss Hilton, the hospital nurse. She tutted a bit and then told Lily she'd have to stay for a day or so, since she never knew what aftereffects that charm might have. She handed Lily a long, white nightgown and bustled out of the room.
Lily sank onto her assigned bed, feeling like a lump of lead. "Sirius, I don't know how you managed to get me this far. I feel like I weigh ten thousand pounds and then some."
Sirius smiled at her. "You don't. Are you sure you'll be all right? There's nothing else you need?"
Lily's eyelids drooped. "Sleep?"
Sirius grinned. "That might help. If you're not asleep by lunch, I'll send you a card with a Sleeping Breeze inside. That might help."
Lily reached for the nightgown. "Sirius--" she managed to stand up-- "Sirius, thanks." She gave him a hug, dropping back onto the pillow right afterwards. For some reason, Sirius' face was red and he left quickly, after his "Anytime."
As fast as she could, Lily changed into her nightgown behind a screen, feeling like and even worse than dead. She had just enough energy to take her hair down from the ponytail it had been in all day and climb into bed; Miss Hilton had to pull the covers over her.
She woke goodnedd knows how much later, with a bowl of soup beside her. Lily spotted some movement near a door and called to it. "Miss Hilton?"
The plump witch darted over. "Did you want something, doll?"
Lily wrinkled her nose at the 'doll' part. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Goodness, dear, you slept like a corpse. I'd say ten hours, dear. It's around eight now, and I suppose you'll have some visitors as soon as dinner's over." She gestured towards the bowl on the nightstand. "Eat your soup!"
Lily obeyed, though each mouthful was like sawdust. She kept straining her ears for the noise of people after dinner downstairs and hardly noticed that the bowl was empty and that she was still dipping the spoon in. She couldn't have been more relieved when a buzz downstairs announced that dinner was over and that she'd have some company.
The first person that came in was Amanda. She brought several treacle tarts up and a get-well card from Eva, who, she said, was buried under homework. Vanessa followed, with some Chocolate Frogs and Every Flavor Beans. Close behind Vanessa were Peter and Remus, who were almost buried under a large bouquet of tiger lilies.
"Because that's what you look like. It makes no sense, we know, but they're out of everything else but red roses."
Sirius was last, with the get-well card and a small teddy bear with a scarf and mittens. "Just because you had that Freezing Hex put on you. Hope you get better soon."
He and Amanda stayed with her until she fell asleep, which didn't take as long as Lily had thought it might, as they were telling her about their classes after she left. Amanda talked the most. "So, you know, Snape didn't get into trouble at all? And neither did Malfoy? Well, right after class, James and Remus sorta cornered him. I don't know what they did, but afterwards, Snape would have solemnly sworn he was a hedgehog to the end of his days. If I were them, I'd have made him wash his hair, but then, they're guys, they don't think of stuff like that."
They left her no homework, and the day would have been perfect, except...Why on earth hadn't James come?
Miss Hilton released Lily from the hospital wing the next morning, just in time for breakfast. Lily was still a bit shaky, but she managed to get dressed, make the bed, gather her things, and walk downstairs without collapsing. Putting her things in the dormitory, she ran over all the faces she'd seen yesterday. She had awakened after Snape hexed her with her head in James' lap, and he'd sounded really worried, so why didn't he at least come and see her? She puzzled over it all the way down to the Great Hall, where she slid into her usual seat, across from Sirius and next to James and Amanda. All of them were happy to see her, all of them waved to her to come and sit down, all except James. Not thirty seconds after she had sat down, James took his newspaper and left to go sit next to Sheila. Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Peter stared at his empty seat.
"What on earth was that about?"
"I don't know...?"
"He didn't even say 'see you guys later; what's wrong with him?"
"It wasn't my fault, was it?"
Sirius shook his head. "Lily, the last thing it is is your fault. He's just in a bad mood. He'll be back before evening."
But James wasn't. He sat as far away from Lily and Sirius as he could during Charms and didn't show up for lunch or dinner at all. No one knew where he went and no one had any idea why. Lily didn't talk much all that day either, and it wasn't until Amanda suggested a walk around the grounds that she cheered up a bit.
Outside, the sun was setting over the lake and twilight set in. Lily and Amanda found themselves chattering aimlessly about random things and about their families and about how wonderful Hogwarts was, but Lily couldn't really pay attention. All she thought of was James' strange behavior that day.
They were just turning back to the castle when Lily turned back around.
"What?"
Lily frowned. "I don't know, but I saw something.
"You saw what?"
"It was a sort of large bird--There it is again!" She pointed to a black speck that had crossed the rising moon.
"What do you think it is?"
Amanda shrugged. "I don't know and I'm going inside. See you later." Amanda left Lily standing on the front steps.
Lily didn't stay on the front steps. She crept towards the black dot, which had landed near the lake in the meantime. She tried to be as silent as she could manage, and, since she'd used a Petrifocus Totalus on the grass blades, she succeeded very nicely. Lily crept behind a tree, just the right distance away from the person, for so it was, who was sitting on the grass with a broom beside him.
James was sitting by the lake, staring into the ripples. He didn't speak or move for about thirty minutes; then he got up and went back to the castle, but he walked and looked as if he was carrying all of Versailles on his back.
The next few weeks were pleasantly average; James was speaking again and Lily had learned several of the jinxes he had invented. He was in the common room one evening, teaching Lily the 'Sprout' hex; it caused the victim to sprout whiskers, fur, and cat's ears. James was being the victim, and so far, Lily had only managed to give him long, droopy whiskers that reached to his shoulders. She'd tried the charm about a dozen times, and James still wasn't lookng like a cat.
"All right. One more time. Forestia!"
James closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for the whiskers to grow down to your waist, I really didn't!" Lily gasped out. "I just can't do this. I just can't!"
"Yes, you can." Sirius' voice came from behind an armchair; he'd been watching the whole session unnoticed. James jumped and looked rather uncomfortable.
Sirius stood up. "Here, let me show you." He took Lily's hand in his, swished it once and pointed. "You do that." She repeated the motions. "Good. Now try it with the words."
Lily took a deep breath, swished and pointed. "Forestia!"
James' face, which had been clean except for several waist-length whiskers, had sprouted a furry coat that reminded Lily somewhat of a cat. His ears moved to the top of his head and grew pointy and furry. He wasn't James anymore; he was--well, strange.
"I did it! I really did it! Oh, Sirius, wow!" And she hugged him tightly, making him exaggerate a choking sound. "I really did it!"
James' face grew cold. He threw his wand down on top of his unfinished Charms homework and stormed up to the boys' dormitory.
Puzzled when James left so suddenly, Lily went back up to her dormitory as well. She met Amanda on the steps and got chased all the way up to her four- poster, since she'd tried out her 'Sprout' charm again and succeeded. She sat on her bed for a bit, looking out onto the lawns, when a darkish shape swished towards her window and started rapping on it.
"Alisande!" Lily opened the window quickly and took the rather oversized letter from her owl, who took off towards the Owlery almost immediately. Pulling the window shut and drawing the curtains, she leaned back into her pillows to read. The first sheet was from her mother.
Darling, how are you? You've had several calls from your friends, they're all wondering where you are. I can't exactly tell them or give them your address (since I don't even know it myself), but I told them that you'd write (I told them you're at boarding school in America). But if you ever get a letter written, let Alisande bring that to me, too, and I'll see that your friends get it. Not much is happening here; I've been trying out those potion ingredients and Petunia went to a movie last week with Vernon Dursley.
Your father wants to send this, so I'd better say 'bye.
Love, Mom
Lily smiled. She put the letter under her pillow, wondering what the results of the experiments were.
The second and third pages were from her father, with an answer to her question.
I suppose your mother told you that she has tried out those Diagon Alley beetle eyes things and the dragon liver mess. I don't blame Petunia for practically moving in at that Dursley's, as this house STINKS. Stinks as in bad. It's also filled with almost permanent smoke, which won't leave even if we turn on all the fans and open the windows. Anyway, we had some serious rain, and I've pasted some pictures of your mother's garden, which, well, isn't a garden anymore, to put it bluntly. It's more like a rather dirty pond. (Here he had taped some pictures of a sort of mud puddle.) Petunia has taken over your room; transformed it into a cross between a greenhouse and a den. It has too many plants in it, to put it kindly. I don't think you can even see the window from the door, or vice versa. But I've told your friends that asked for you that you moved in with your grandmother, which I later found out was a mistake, as your mother told them you went to boarding school. You'll have to explain; I have no words or imagination that will fit this mess. I've made Petunia write something, but she's insisting on using the last few lines of this page and not getting her own sheet. I just think she doesn't want to keep any sort of contact with evil witches who would sweep down on her and cut her eyes out as soon as they have learned how to. (Here he drew a flower with a few petals.)
Love you,
(I love you not.
I love you.
I love you not.)
Dad
The rest of the page (about two lines) were taken up with a sort of scribbly writing.
Lily, you shuld nevr have left. I haf to do all srts of expleinin were you went. And so ha I took posessn of your room. Ha ha. Petunia.
Lily raised her eyebrows, then, setting the letters on her night-table, smiled a bit. "The first thing I need to do when I graduate is make Petunia learn how to spell. That was pathetic."
She yawned, then, taking a look at the clock, which read ten o'clock. Lily quickly slipped on her nightgown and, getting into bed, drew the four- poster's curtains.
The next morning, Lily raced downstairs to breakfast. For once, Peeves had decided to move on to the Ravenclaw dormitories, so for two days, Lily had gotten enough sleep. Making sure no one was waiting outside the portrait hole to get back in (since only a few people could pronounce James' ridiculously long password), she went downstairs quietly, determined to confront James about what had happened in the common room last night.
With luck, she managed to get caught up in a large group of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw girls, and, completely encased, managed to slip to her seat next to James unnoticed. With an abrupt motion that couldn't and didn't fail to attract his attention, she pulled out her chair and sat down. Without waiting for him to mumble out a "Hi", she faced him squarely.
"Why did you leave the common roon like that last night?"
He started. "Like what?"
"You know very well what I mean. You got all huffy and stormed out of the room. Why?"
"I--I--I didn't-"
"Yes, you did. Did you get mad about something I did?"
"I didn't get mad."
"Yes, you did. You're sitting right here till you answer me."
Sirius interrupted. "If he really doesn't want to tell, he'll sit there right through classes. I'd look up some curses, if I were you--oops." James had thrown him a ferocious glare. "I mean, try persuading him nicely--oh, what's the use. James, better look up a really good Shield charm. Sorry, man." He pushed his chair back and ran out of the Great Hall as quickly as he could.
James half-smiled, obviously amused, then turned back to his Charms homework.
Trying to force a bit of conversation, Remus moved to Sirius' now-vacant seat. "Hey, James, when's the next Quidditch match? I heard you've been training a lot."
Lily frowned. "Quidditch?"
James took his eyes off of his homework. "Don't tell me you've never heard of Quidditch. Please don't tell me."
"I haven't. It sounds like a balloon-blowing-up contest."
James' eyes almost fell out. "You poor, deprived child. Here, let me explain."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Poor child. Poor, poor child indeed. She'll be here till lunch, if I know James." And he left the hall, trying to shut out James' explanation of how exactly the Quaffle fit into your hand and the record of how many fouls had been made in a single game.
Lily walked out onto the Quidditch field that evening with James, as the team had a practice that day. Several of the team members were already there, though she didn't know any of them. One, a tallish boy wih red hair, waved to them to come over.
"So, James, brought your girlfriend to watch?"
James blushed scarlet. "John, she's not my girlfriend. I--I just found out this morning at breakfast that she'd never heard of Quidditch before now, so--so I just thought I'd bring her to a practice."
John gave him a Look, then turned to Lily. "So, did he bore you out of your mind all day telling you about Quidditch?"
Lily shrugged. "It might have been more understandable if he'd actually explained the basic rules of Quidditch. He didn't even mention that this was played on broomsticks."
The team stared at James, who went even redder. "Hey, I forgot she didn't know what this was about. And how did you know that this was played on broomsticks?" he challenged, whirling on Lily.
She pointed to the broom in his hand. "I might have thought you were going to do a detention or something, but you said you were going to Quidditch practice."
John looked puzzled. "Detention?"
"Yeah." He looked even more puzzled. "Broom, sweep, floor...?"
John shot a half-smile. "Oh, right. I knew that!" He saw his teammates not bothering to hide several sn iggers and quickly picked up his broom. "OK, time for practice, isn't it?" He shot into the air.
Five other blurs followed him. James was still on the ground, throwing a scarlet robe on over his own. "Lily, you don't have to stand here. There're bleachers over there"--he pointed towards a clump of trees--"and I don't think we'll be that long."
A girl with raven-black hair leaned down from her perch on her broomstick.
"Yo, James, quit denying it. We'll make you divorce if you don't come up here right now!"
James scowled at her. "Anya, shut up."
He turned back to Lily. "See ya later." And he was off, kicking the ground hard. Lily went to the bleachers James had pointed out and sat down, smiling as she remembered the red on James' cheeks as he was accused of being her boyfriend.
Lily was surprised at how fast time flew. The only clue she had to how late it was was the moon rising over the field. The team members noticed it, too, and, after John sent the Quaffle through the middle golden hoop, they landed on the dewy grass. Lily jumped right off of the bleachers and half- ran towards them. "Wow, guys, that was really good! I couldn't do an eighth of that if I tried my best!"
Miranda, the raven-haired girl, slithered out of the scarlet robes. "This is your first time ever seeing a Quidditch match or practice?"
Lily nodded. "I was raised with Muggles."
Miranda nodded, understanding. "Oh. But do you like it? I mean, from what you saw today."
"Oh, yes! I think you're wonderful!"
John laughed. "Then I guess you'd better come out here more often. James never plays this well."
James turned on him and pulled out his wand. "John, I told you before--shut it!"
"All right, all right! Man, you can't even talk to him!" he added. "Won't let you lie about him, won't let you tell the truth--OW!"
James was retrieving his broom from where it had been flung--at John's stomach.
"So," Ashley, a brunette Chaser, added, "you've really never heard of Quidditch before now?"
Lily sighed. "Really really.
"Seriously? I don't know why James even took a second look at you--he'd normally never get close to anyone who'd never heard of Quidditch." She ducked a swipe from James' broom and sped, laughing, back to the castle.
The rest of the team had by now gone inside. James turned to Lily. "I think we'd better go, too."
"Oh, right." Lily nodded.
They passed the time up to Gryffindor Tower talking about miscellaneous things, then, when they came to the hallway before the portrait hole, James stopped his remarks about the blond streak on the back of his head he and Remus had given Snape one day (he'd carefully avoided mentioning Sirius).
"Listen, Lily, about what they said on the field earlier? I mean, about you and me?"
Lily was determined not to blush as hard as he was. She shook her hair back from her face. "Yeah, what about it?"
"Well, I thought that, well, maybe--" They had rounded the corner by now and were facing the portrait hole and a bunch of amused team members. "Go on, James, go on!" Miranda was sn iggering. "Why don't you continue?"
James blushed again. "Why on earth are you guys still out here?" was his puzzled and rather annoyed answer.
John raised his eyebrows. "Because Mr. Brilliant here made up a password no one else can remember, much less pronounce."
James rolled his eyes. "Oh, right. Hippopotomonstrosequippedaliophobia." The portrait door swung open. As the team piled inside, Lily pulled James' sleeve.
"What did you want to tell me?"
He shrugged. "Nothing important. Forget it."
James turned on Malfoy. "There is, and one of them has the page." He pointed his wand again. "Hand it over. Now."
Snape shrugged. "I threw it in the common room fire."
Remus blew several fuses. "YOU DID WHAT?"
"All right, all right, boys, now settle down! What's all this about?"
A pretty blond witch, about thirty years old, had entered the room. She wore pale pink robes and had tied her curls back with a darker pink ribbon under her hat.
James tried to raise Lily to her feet and failed. "Professor, Snape did some kind of freeze thing, and we don't know the countercurse!"
The teacher knelt down next to Lily and felt her forehead and cheeks. She stared up at James in polite bewilderment.
"There's nothing wrong with her, not as far as I can see."
James stared. "There isn't? But, Professor--" He stopped as Lily opened her eyes and blinked. "Lily! Are you all right?"
Vanessa and Sirius bent over her. "Is she awake? How'd you do that?"
Lily felt as though she had been buried and taken out of her grave again; as though someone had set one of the Pyramids on her chest. "What happened?" She looked up at James, who was holding her head in his lap and sat up quickly. "What happened?" she repeated.
No one could answer that, because no one exactly knew, except Snape and Malfoy, and they didn't volunteer anything. There were several halfhearted er's while Lily struggled to free herself out of the mountains of cloaks that she had been swathed in.
James tried to explain. "Professor Zimmermann, Snape did this kind of freeze hex and Lily, here, went all cold and stiff, sort of as if she were dead or something."
Professor Zimmermann frowned. "Lily Evans, I think it is?"
Lily nodded weakly, too worn out to answer.
"Well, I think you'd better go to the hospital wing, just in case. I'm not punishing anyone, since I have no evidende, but I don't want any magic in here except what I have assigned, all right?" The class nodded. "Sirius, would you accompany Miss Evans to the hospital wing, since I don't think she knows where it is yet. Class, back to your seats." She turned to Lily. "Dear, you can leave your things. I'll have someone take them back to the dormitory later." James turned to Sirius. "Hey, Sirius, I can take her there--you don't have to bother." He reached for Lily.
Sirius shook his head determinedly. "No. I was told to go, and I will. C'mon, Lily." He put her arm around his shoulders, acting as a prop, and together they left the classroom, leaving behind a fuming James.
They reached the hospital wing and introduced Lily's problem to Miss Hilton, the hospital nurse. She tutted a bit and then told Lily she'd have to stay for a day or so, since she never knew what aftereffects that charm might have. She handed Lily a long, white nightgown and bustled out of the room.
Lily sank onto her assigned bed, feeling like a lump of lead. "Sirius, I don't know how you managed to get me this far. I feel like I weigh ten thousand pounds and then some."
Sirius smiled at her. "You don't. Are you sure you'll be all right? There's nothing else you need?"
Lily's eyelids drooped. "Sleep?"
Sirius grinned. "That might help. If you're not asleep by lunch, I'll send you a card with a Sleeping Breeze inside. That might help."
Lily reached for the nightgown. "Sirius--" she managed to stand up-- "Sirius, thanks." She gave him a hug, dropping back onto the pillow right afterwards. For some reason, Sirius' face was red and he left quickly, after his "Anytime."
As fast as she could, Lily changed into her nightgown behind a screen, feeling like and even worse than dead. She had just enough energy to take her hair down from the ponytail it had been in all day and climb into bed; Miss Hilton had to pull the covers over her.
She woke goodnedd knows how much later, with a bowl of soup beside her. Lily spotted some movement near a door and called to it. "Miss Hilton?"
The plump witch darted over. "Did you want something, doll?"
Lily wrinkled her nose at the 'doll' part. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Goodness, dear, you slept like a corpse. I'd say ten hours, dear. It's around eight now, and I suppose you'll have some visitors as soon as dinner's over." She gestured towards the bowl on the nightstand. "Eat your soup!"
Lily obeyed, though each mouthful was like sawdust. She kept straining her ears for the noise of people after dinner downstairs and hardly noticed that the bowl was empty and that she was still dipping the spoon in. She couldn't have been more relieved when a buzz downstairs announced that dinner was over and that she'd have some company.
The first person that came in was Amanda. She brought several treacle tarts up and a get-well card from Eva, who, she said, was buried under homework. Vanessa followed, with some Chocolate Frogs and Every Flavor Beans. Close behind Vanessa were Peter and Remus, who were almost buried under a large bouquet of tiger lilies.
"Because that's what you look like. It makes no sense, we know, but they're out of everything else but red roses."
Sirius was last, with the get-well card and a small teddy bear with a scarf and mittens. "Just because you had that Freezing Hex put on you. Hope you get better soon."
He and Amanda stayed with her until she fell asleep, which didn't take as long as Lily had thought it might, as they were telling her about their classes after she left. Amanda talked the most. "So, you know, Snape didn't get into trouble at all? And neither did Malfoy? Well, right after class, James and Remus sorta cornered him. I don't know what they did, but afterwards, Snape would have solemnly sworn he was a hedgehog to the end of his days. If I were them, I'd have made him wash his hair, but then, they're guys, they don't think of stuff like that."
They left her no homework, and the day would have been perfect, except...Why on earth hadn't James come?
Miss Hilton released Lily from the hospital wing the next morning, just in time for breakfast. Lily was still a bit shaky, but she managed to get dressed, make the bed, gather her things, and walk downstairs without collapsing. Putting her things in the dormitory, she ran over all the faces she'd seen yesterday. She had awakened after Snape hexed her with her head in James' lap, and he'd sounded really worried, so why didn't he at least come and see her? She puzzled over it all the way down to the Great Hall, where she slid into her usual seat, across from Sirius and next to James and Amanda. All of them were happy to see her, all of them waved to her to come and sit down, all except James. Not thirty seconds after she had sat down, James took his newspaper and left to go sit next to Sheila. Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Peter stared at his empty seat.
"What on earth was that about?"
"I don't know...?"
"He didn't even say 'see you guys later; what's wrong with him?"
"It wasn't my fault, was it?"
Sirius shook his head. "Lily, the last thing it is is your fault. He's just in a bad mood. He'll be back before evening."
But James wasn't. He sat as far away from Lily and Sirius as he could during Charms and didn't show up for lunch or dinner at all. No one knew where he went and no one had any idea why. Lily didn't talk much all that day either, and it wasn't until Amanda suggested a walk around the grounds that she cheered up a bit.
Outside, the sun was setting over the lake and twilight set in. Lily and Amanda found themselves chattering aimlessly about random things and about their families and about how wonderful Hogwarts was, but Lily couldn't really pay attention. All she thought of was James' strange behavior that day.
They were just turning back to the castle when Lily turned back around.
"What?"
Lily frowned. "I don't know, but I saw something.
"You saw what?"
"It was a sort of large bird--There it is again!" She pointed to a black speck that had crossed the rising moon.
"What do you think it is?"
Amanda shrugged. "I don't know and I'm going inside. See you later." Amanda left Lily standing on the front steps.
Lily didn't stay on the front steps. She crept towards the black dot, which had landed near the lake in the meantime. She tried to be as silent as she could manage, and, since she'd used a Petrifocus Totalus on the grass blades, she succeeded very nicely. Lily crept behind a tree, just the right distance away from the person, for so it was, who was sitting on the grass with a broom beside him.
James was sitting by the lake, staring into the ripples. He didn't speak or move for about thirty minutes; then he got up and went back to the castle, but he walked and looked as if he was carrying all of Versailles on his back.
The next few weeks were pleasantly average; James was speaking again and Lily had learned several of the jinxes he had invented. He was in the common room one evening, teaching Lily the 'Sprout' hex; it caused the victim to sprout whiskers, fur, and cat's ears. James was being the victim, and so far, Lily had only managed to give him long, droopy whiskers that reached to his shoulders. She'd tried the charm about a dozen times, and James still wasn't lookng like a cat.
"All right. One more time. Forestia!"
James closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for the whiskers to grow down to your waist, I really didn't!" Lily gasped out. "I just can't do this. I just can't!"
"Yes, you can." Sirius' voice came from behind an armchair; he'd been watching the whole session unnoticed. James jumped and looked rather uncomfortable.
Sirius stood up. "Here, let me show you." He took Lily's hand in his, swished it once and pointed. "You do that." She repeated the motions. "Good. Now try it with the words."
Lily took a deep breath, swished and pointed. "Forestia!"
James' face, which had been clean except for several waist-length whiskers, had sprouted a furry coat that reminded Lily somewhat of a cat. His ears moved to the top of his head and grew pointy and furry. He wasn't James anymore; he was--well, strange.
"I did it! I really did it! Oh, Sirius, wow!" And she hugged him tightly, making him exaggerate a choking sound. "I really did it!"
James' face grew cold. He threw his wand down on top of his unfinished Charms homework and stormed up to the boys' dormitory.
Puzzled when James left so suddenly, Lily went back up to her dormitory as well. She met Amanda on the steps and got chased all the way up to her four- poster, since she'd tried out her 'Sprout' charm again and succeeded. She sat on her bed for a bit, looking out onto the lawns, when a darkish shape swished towards her window and started rapping on it.
"Alisande!" Lily opened the window quickly and took the rather oversized letter from her owl, who took off towards the Owlery almost immediately. Pulling the window shut and drawing the curtains, she leaned back into her pillows to read. The first sheet was from her mother.
Darling, how are you? You've had several calls from your friends, they're all wondering where you are. I can't exactly tell them or give them your address (since I don't even know it myself), but I told them that you'd write (I told them you're at boarding school in America). But if you ever get a letter written, let Alisande bring that to me, too, and I'll see that your friends get it. Not much is happening here; I've been trying out those potion ingredients and Petunia went to a movie last week with Vernon Dursley.
Your father wants to send this, so I'd better say 'bye.
Love, Mom
Lily smiled. She put the letter under her pillow, wondering what the results of the experiments were.
The second and third pages were from her father, with an answer to her question.
I suppose your mother told you that she has tried out those Diagon Alley beetle eyes things and the dragon liver mess. I don't blame Petunia for practically moving in at that Dursley's, as this house STINKS. Stinks as in bad. It's also filled with almost permanent smoke, which won't leave even if we turn on all the fans and open the windows. Anyway, we had some serious rain, and I've pasted some pictures of your mother's garden, which, well, isn't a garden anymore, to put it bluntly. It's more like a rather dirty pond. (Here he had taped some pictures of a sort of mud puddle.) Petunia has taken over your room; transformed it into a cross between a greenhouse and a den. It has too many plants in it, to put it kindly. I don't think you can even see the window from the door, or vice versa. But I've told your friends that asked for you that you moved in with your grandmother, which I later found out was a mistake, as your mother told them you went to boarding school. You'll have to explain; I have no words or imagination that will fit this mess. I've made Petunia write something, but she's insisting on using the last few lines of this page and not getting her own sheet. I just think she doesn't want to keep any sort of contact with evil witches who would sweep down on her and cut her eyes out as soon as they have learned how to. (Here he drew a flower with a few petals.)
Love you,
(I love you not.
I love you.
I love you not.)
Dad
The rest of the page (about two lines) were taken up with a sort of scribbly writing.
Lily, you shuld nevr have left. I haf to do all srts of expleinin were you went. And so ha I took posessn of your room. Ha ha. Petunia.
Lily raised her eyebrows, then, setting the letters on her night-table, smiled a bit. "The first thing I need to do when I graduate is make Petunia learn how to spell. That was pathetic."
She yawned, then, taking a look at the clock, which read ten o'clock. Lily quickly slipped on her nightgown and, getting into bed, drew the four- poster's curtains.
The next morning, Lily raced downstairs to breakfast. For once, Peeves had decided to move on to the Ravenclaw dormitories, so for two days, Lily had gotten enough sleep. Making sure no one was waiting outside the portrait hole to get back in (since only a few people could pronounce James' ridiculously long password), she went downstairs quietly, determined to confront James about what had happened in the common room last night.
With luck, she managed to get caught up in a large group of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw girls, and, completely encased, managed to slip to her seat next to James unnoticed. With an abrupt motion that couldn't and didn't fail to attract his attention, she pulled out her chair and sat down. Without waiting for him to mumble out a "Hi", she faced him squarely.
"Why did you leave the common roon like that last night?"
He started. "Like what?"
"You know very well what I mean. You got all huffy and stormed out of the room. Why?"
"I--I--I didn't-"
"Yes, you did. Did you get mad about something I did?"
"I didn't get mad."
"Yes, you did. You're sitting right here till you answer me."
Sirius interrupted. "If he really doesn't want to tell, he'll sit there right through classes. I'd look up some curses, if I were you--oops." James had thrown him a ferocious glare. "I mean, try persuading him nicely--oh, what's the use. James, better look up a really good Shield charm. Sorry, man." He pushed his chair back and ran out of the Great Hall as quickly as he could.
James half-smiled, obviously amused, then turned back to his Charms homework.
Trying to force a bit of conversation, Remus moved to Sirius' now-vacant seat. "Hey, James, when's the next Quidditch match? I heard you've been training a lot."
Lily frowned. "Quidditch?"
James took his eyes off of his homework. "Don't tell me you've never heard of Quidditch. Please don't tell me."
"I haven't. It sounds like a balloon-blowing-up contest."
James' eyes almost fell out. "You poor, deprived child. Here, let me explain."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Poor child. Poor, poor child indeed. She'll be here till lunch, if I know James." And he left the hall, trying to shut out James' explanation of how exactly the Quaffle fit into your hand and the record of how many fouls had been made in a single game.
Lily walked out onto the Quidditch field that evening with James, as the team had a practice that day. Several of the team members were already there, though she didn't know any of them. One, a tallish boy wih red hair, waved to them to come over.
"So, James, brought your girlfriend to watch?"
James blushed scarlet. "John, she's not my girlfriend. I--I just found out this morning at breakfast that she'd never heard of Quidditch before now, so--so I just thought I'd bring her to a practice."
John gave him a Look, then turned to Lily. "So, did he bore you out of your mind all day telling you about Quidditch?"
Lily shrugged. "It might have been more understandable if he'd actually explained the basic rules of Quidditch. He didn't even mention that this was played on broomsticks."
The team stared at James, who went even redder. "Hey, I forgot she didn't know what this was about. And how did you know that this was played on broomsticks?" he challenged, whirling on Lily.
She pointed to the broom in his hand. "I might have thought you were going to do a detention or something, but you said you were going to Quidditch practice."
John looked puzzled. "Detention?"
"Yeah." He looked even more puzzled. "Broom, sweep, floor...?"
John shot a half-smile. "Oh, right. I knew that!" He saw his teammates not bothering to hide several sn iggers and quickly picked up his broom. "OK, time for practice, isn't it?" He shot into the air.
Five other blurs followed him. James was still on the ground, throwing a scarlet robe on over his own. "Lily, you don't have to stand here. There're bleachers over there"--he pointed towards a clump of trees--"and I don't think we'll be that long."
A girl with raven-black hair leaned down from her perch on her broomstick.
"Yo, James, quit denying it. We'll make you divorce if you don't come up here right now!"
James scowled at her. "Anya, shut up."
He turned back to Lily. "See ya later." And he was off, kicking the ground hard. Lily went to the bleachers James had pointed out and sat down, smiling as she remembered the red on James' cheeks as he was accused of being her boyfriend.
Lily was surprised at how fast time flew. The only clue she had to how late it was was the moon rising over the field. The team members noticed it, too, and, after John sent the Quaffle through the middle golden hoop, they landed on the dewy grass. Lily jumped right off of the bleachers and half- ran towards them. "Wow, guys, that was really good! I couldn't do an eighth of that if I tried my best!"
Miranda, the raven-haired girl, slithered out of the scarlet robes. "This is your first time ever seeing a Quidditch match or practice?"
Lily nodded. "I was raised with Muggles."
Miranda nodded, understanding. "Oh. But do you like it? I mean, from what you saw today."
"Oh, yes! I think you're wonderful!"
John laughed. "Then I guess you'd better come out here more often. James never plays this well."
James turned on him and pulled out his wand. "John, I told you before--shut it!"
"All right, all right! Man, you can't even talk to him!" he added. "Won't let you lie about him, won't let you tell the truth--OW!"
James was retrieving his broom from where it had been flung--at John's stomach.
"So," Ashley, a brunette Chaser, added, "you've really never heard of Quidditch before now?"
Lily sighed. "Really really.
"Seriously? I don't know why James even took a second look at you--he'd normally never get close to anyone who'd never heard of Quidditch." She ducked a swipe from James' broom and sped, laughing, back to the castle.
The rest of the team had by now gone inside. James turned to Lily. "I think we'd better go, too."
"Oh, right." Lily nodded.
They passed the time up to Gryffindor Tower talking about miscellaneous things, then, when they came to the hallway before the portrait hole, James stopped his remarks about the blond streak on the back of his head he and Remus had given Snape one day (he'd carefully avoided mentioning Sirius).
"Listen, Lily, about what they said on the field earlier? I mean, about you and me?"
Lily was determined not to blush as hard as he was. She shook her hair back from her face. "Yeah, what about it?"
"Well, I thought that, well, maybe--" They had rounded the corner by now and were facing the portrait hole and a bunch of amused team members. "Go on, James, go on!" Miranda was sn iggering. "Why don't you continue?"
James blushed again. "Why on earth are you guys still out here?" was his puzzled and rather annoyed answer.
John raised his eyebrows. "Because Mr. Brilliant here made up a password no one else can remember, much less pronounce."
James rolled his eyes. "Oh, right. Hippopotomonstrosequippedaliophobia." The portrait door swung open. As the team piled inside, Lily pulled James' sleeve.
"What did you want to tell me?"
He shrugged. "Nothing important. Forget it."