Chapter 6:
As soon as the present were unwrapped they made their way to the dining room for cake. The maid would throw away the paper and put the presents in her room. Lily deposited the barrette safely in her dresser on her own though. She saw back down next to James at the table, her dad carrying her birthday cake lit with thirteen candles in her direction. He sat it down in front of her and said, "Make a wish honey."
I wish James would love me forever and she blew out all of the candles. Lily was pleased to see she blew out all of her candles, though she didn't really expect her wish to come true. A girl could always hope though. She was having fun, ignoring her cousins. She got into a cake-eating contest with James and Sirius, with Remus as the judge. Each of them swore that they had won, though the clear winner wasn't ever decided. Lily got larger pieces since she was the birthday girl, but James and Sirius had about six slices.
Lily wasn't sure how she should act around James, so she acted just like she usually did, except she didn't flirt with any of the boys. She noticed her father's eyes on them a lot so before the piñata was broken Lily pulled James over to the side and said, "I'm not going to tell Dad we're going out for awhile because he'll want to talk to you. And I'm thinking you won't like this talk, so it's definitely best to postpone it for as long as possible."
"Okay, that'll work I guess." James agreed, even though he was kind of hurt Lily didn't want to tell her father about them. "Okay, time to bust the piñatas" Lily's mom said. "There are different piñatas for different age groups." Since her female cousins were older than her they had their own piñatas but declared they were too childish so James, Sirius, and Remus had their own piñata. James got a big kick from beating the piñatas and thought it was rather fun. Soon, everybody went home, even James. Lily had almost fallen asleep when the phone beside her bed rang. "Hello?" she answered groggily.
"Hi, Lily" James shouted through the phone.
"James? You don't have to shout." Lily said.
"Oh, I've never used one of these tellyphoneys before."
"Telephone. Anyhow, you're next door so there's a good enough connection you don't even have to talk loud." Lily told him.
"Okay, sorry. I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday again." he said.
"Thanks, and thank you for the barrette, I loved it." Lily said.
"You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it." James answered, and they continued to talk for quite awhile. Actually, both of them fell asleep on the phone. At one o'clock Mrs. Evans looked at the lights on her bedside table indicating the phones in use. She usually only needed it for Petunia, but she saw Lily was still on the phone. She went to go tell her daughter to hang up, but found her asleep instead, phone still in hand. She picked up the phone and could hear light breathing on the other end. She checked the caller ID and recognized it as the Potter's number. She smiled softly and hung the phone up. The next morning Lily woke up, extremely happy. She decided to go running again, for the first time in ages. She put on her only remaining running suit that fit and went out the door, telling her father what she was doing. She managed 5 blocks before she was tired and was about ready to fall down by the time she got back to her street. She saw sparks flying from behind the fence at James's house, so she let herself in the yard gate. She found James, Sirius, and Remus throwing exploding crackers at birds and things in the yard.
"You know that's animal cruelty and could be arrested by muggle police, right?" Lily asked, startling them.
James smiled and said, "Naw, we don't ever get caught."
"And I'm the Queen of Sheba" Lily said sarcastically.
"It's obvious you're not, you look like you fell out of a dumpster." Sirius said.
"I know I don't look that bad. Anyhow, my worst day is ten times better than your best day Black." Lily joked.
"Whatever Evans" Sirius joked back.
"Just don't complain to me when you are put in juvy." Lily said, gave a dazzling smile and walked out. James was still staring at where she was standing like a lost puppy dog.
"Hey, James, snap out of it." Remus said with a laugh.
"Yeah, tell us of this excellent idea that you have to help Remus."
"Well, Lily helped me think of it, and she found it in a Spanish book. Werewolves only attack people, so we are safe if we are in animal form." James said. "So, how are we going to turn into animals genius? I think you've spent too much time with Lily, she's fried your brains." Sirius joked.
"We need to become animagis. That way Remus won't attack us and we can be with him when he transforms." James said.
"That sounds awful dangerous and like a lot of work." Remus said.
"You're our best friend. We stick together." James said firmly.
"Thanks you guys. Is Lily going to try it too?"
"Yeah, we've both taken the personality indicator twice. She's a fox and I'm a stag." James said.
"Ha. A stag and a fox! You two are box of laughs!" Sirius said. "So James, when are you going to pick up the family rings?" Sirius asked.
"Why would I need them."
"You and lover girl Lily are getting married next week right?" Remus supplied.
"NO" James said.
"Well, let me be the Godfather of your first child. So when you two go on your gazillionth honeymoon I will baby-sit all of your fifty kids for you. But not for free." Sirius said devilishly.
"Anybody would be crazy to leave their kids with you Sirius. If we leave them with anybody, it will be Remus." James said, going along with the joke.
"No, because they wouldn't be able to stay with me for an entire month. That wouldn't be enough for you two." Remus said with a smirk.
"Just shut up you two." James said. Sirius and Remus kept teasing James until he was about ready to blow a gasket. "That's it. I'm going to see Lily." James said petulantly.
"Oh, wittle wuberboy is going to see his wuvergirl." Sirius said in a childish voice. James stomped out of the yard into Lily's. He knocked on the door and Petunia answered. She was wearing a rather trampish outfit.
"Oh, you're Lily's new boyfriend right?" Petunia asked, obviously eager for gossip.
"Petunia, Vernon's on the phone." Lily said sharply, effectively drawing her away from the door, allowing James to enter.
"What are you doing here?" Lily asked.
"Escaping from my supposed best friends." James said.
Lily said, "Do you want to play cards? My dad just taught me a bunch of new games."
"Sure, I don't know how to play any Muggle ones except for that one you taught me." James said.
"Oh, 21." she said, remembering when they played it, and also wondering when he would kiss her. "Let's see, there's bs, rummy, war, go fish, or spades."
Lily gave him a brief summary of each one and they decided on bs. They had been playing it for an hour before Sirius and Remus came in with evil expressions on their face. "Ah, the two lovebirds are flocking around each other." Sirius said.
"Grow up." Lily told him. Sirius kept on teasing them with rather unflattering phrases when James finally said when it was clear he wasn't going to quit, "Sirius just stop it right now. You're no longer funny."
"Gosh, relax James, don't throw a fit."
"I'm not. Just lay off. I'm leaving" James said, walking out, Sirius and Remus on his heels.
"So, buddy, have you kissed her yet?" Sirius asked.
"Sirius, what are you on? You are more annoying than usual." James said irritably.
"Young love, it makes me the way I am. You haven't kissed her yet have you? I dare you to go in there right now and kiss her." Sirius said. "What?" James asked in a strangled voice.
"I double hippogriff dare you to go in there and kiss her." Sirius said. A wizard didn't ignore a double hippogriff dare.
"Fine" James said and walked back into the living room. Lily was getting ready to walk out the door just as he came in and she ran right into him. He automatically held out his arms to catch her, so he was already holding her.
"Oh, sorry James. What are you doing here? I thought you left." Lily said,
"I forgot to tell you goodbye. I will see you tomorrow." he said, and kissed her. Lily didn't know what hit her. It took her a second to realize what was happening, and then she laced her fingers around his neck as shiver went down her spine. The broke apart shortly and James said, "I'll call you" and left. Lily collapsed in the nearest chair
"My God, what just happened?" she asked the empty room, or what she thought was empty. Her mother had seen the whole thing.
"It looks like love sweetheart. You practically melted in his arms. I wouldn't normally say love to a thirteen year old, but it's written on your face."
"Mum, you're full of it." Lily said, trying to brush it off.
"Whatever you say sweetheart. I won't tell you're father until Christmas. I don't think James will like 'the talk' he gives his daughters' boyfriends."
Meanwhile James walked out and saw Sirius and Remus grinning at him.
"I honestly didn't think you would do it." Remus said.
"Talk about sparks flying. That was hot enough to melt wood." Sirius said.
"Does wood even melt you moron?"
"Who knows, but you get the point. The only problem is her mother saw." Sirius said, and James almost fainted.
"What?" he asked weakly.
"She came up behind us right as you two started playing tongue hockey." Sirius said.
"Then she walked into another room and stayed there, at least until we left." Remus said
"Great." James said flatly.
Only about ten minutes later Lily had to call James because her mom went ahead and told her dad about them. He was shocked that they weren't pretending anymore and insisted on talking to James at 5 o'clock the next day. Once she got James on the phone she said, "James, are you free at five o'clock tomorrow?"
"Sure Lily, I'm all yours." he said, thinking she wanted to do something with him.
"Actually, you're all my dad's. He wants to talk to you." Lily said grimly.
"Oh. Okay, I'll be there five o'clock sharp."
"Alright, see ya tomorrow then. Bye." Lily said, and hung up. "Daddy, please don't embarrass me." Lily pleaded with her father.
"I'll just say what needs to be said." he said noncommittally.
Lily met James at the door at five till five and said, "Hi, my dad's in a good mood today. I think."
"Gee thanks for the encouragement." he said sarcastically.
"Don't snap at me, it isn't my fault. Actually it is. You don't have to talk to him. We can just break up and this whole matter will be dissolved." Lily said.
"Is that really what you want?" he asked quietly, staring down into her eyes.
"No" she whispered.
James knocked on the door of Logan Evans's study as the clock struck five.
"Come in!" a voice shouted from the nether regions of the room. James walked in dressed in nice clothes, a pair of khaki pants and a blue shirt.
"Ah, punctuality, a quality often lacking in today's youth." Logan said cordially. James remained silent.
"Have a seat. Good, now I understand that you and my youngest daughter Lily have been growing closer. Going 'out'." he said calmly. "Yes sir" James said calmly, trying to hide that he was about ready to hyperventilate. Her dad was scary. He hadn't moved a muscle since he had planted himself in that chair.
"You seem like a fine young man, but I need to lay down a few laws adjust to be sure we understand each other."
James could already tell what was coming next.
"You and my daughter are away at boarding school nine months out of the year. I can't control you while you're there, but I hope I can influence your actions and put the fear of God in you. First of all, I DO NOT WANT MY DAUGHTER INVOLVED IN PREMARITAL RELATIONS."
James's eyes widened at the sudden forcefulness. "Now that we've crossed that bridge we can move on to the next item of business." he said calmly and James sighed with relief, causing him to smile. "First of all, treat my daughter with respect. She's a fine girl, but I know better than most that she's impossible sometimes. If you tired of her tell her to her face. Do not let her find out your attentions are elsewhere from others. Do not hurt my daughter. When your relationship ends I hope you two remain friends. If you break her heart, I will break your bones."
James hoped he was merely making his point.
"Yes Mr. Evans, point very well taken."
"Good, Lily has said you are the brightest at her school, next to herself of course. I see that she was right. That's the conclusion of my little speech, I'm glad we had this talk. You are more than welcome to stay for supper, it should be done in about ten minutes."
"Thanks, I'll go tell my parents" James said, grateful the talk was over.
"No need, you can call them." Mr. Evans said.
"I don't know the number" James said.
"What?"
"We very seldom use the phone." James said.
"Why?"
"It's a muggle invention, we don't need it except for other muggles."
"Oh, okay, hurry up then." Mr. Evans said, and James needed no urging. Lily saw James run out of the house and immediately went after her father. "Dad! What did you say to him to make him run out? I like him! He's my friend. You better not have alienated him!" Lily said outraged.
"Whoa, cool down tiger. I invited him for supper. He went to tell his parents. I like James, he seems very nice."
Lily was relieved; none of Petunia's boyfriends had ever got to stay for supper, so this was promising. James came back five minutes later, and they had to wait a bit for supper.
"Do I even want to know how it went?" Lily asked.
"Not bad, considering he scares the hell out of me and threatened to break my bones if I hurt you." James said.
"Ohh, I'm sorry about that. I apologize for whatever he said." Lily said, her hand over her eyes.
"It's okay. A small price to pay to go out with the Lily Evans." James joked.
"Ahhh, and I get to go out with the James Potter, most popular guy at school?" Lily joked in return.
"Oh yes, you're the luckiest little devil anywhere."
"Yeah right, does this mean I get reprieve from your pranks?" Lily asked.
"Not on your life. And me?" James asked.
"Same here. Although I'm a lot safer than you." They ate dinner and Lily was just beginning to lose her finishing school manners, the fear of losing her plate was fading. James kept looking at her dad warily, and was surprisingly using manners she didn't know he possessed.
Chapter 7:
A few mornings later Lily was up at dawn to go running. She was determined to get back in shape. She had finally got to be able to run a mile without being fatigued. After that she was examining her straight hair, and decided she needed to do something different with it. It had been the same way for a year. She came home that afternoon with gold streaks running through her hair that would make Gryffindor proud. Lily didn't see James for nearly a week, and he almost passed out when he saw her hair. He stared at it for a while then Lily said, "Aren't you impressed?"
"Not especially."
"What?"
"You look like the Gryffindor banner."
"I can't believe you!" Lily shrieked.
"Can you take it out?" James asked.
"I can, but I won't."
"You're being purposely stubborn about this Lily." James said.
"I don't know WHO you think you are that you can tell me what to do, but you most certainly can't direct my choice of hair style. You forced me to cut it not so long ago when you put gum in it."
"I've apologized for it over and over." James said helplessly.
"I don't care!" Lily said her voice rising.
"Maybe if you get a different shade of highlights it wouldn't look so bright." James suggested.
"WELL FOR YOUR INFORMATION YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON WHO DOESN'T LIKE MY HAIR. YOU CAN GO JUMP OFF A BRIDGE FOR ALL I CARE!" Lily hollered, threw a rock at him and left.
She ran to her house, stomped up the stairs and carefully examined her hair. She had to admit, her hair did look awfully bright. She went down to talk to her mom. "Mum, is my hair too bright like this?"
"Sweetheart, it's very pretty like that, but it is bright. Would you like to tone it down? I've got some hair wash that will."
"Yes, I would like that." Lily said, telling herself that she wasn't doing this because of James. Now, instead of a bright gold, Lily had a more sedate gold. It actually looked stunning in her hair, setting off the deep red color. She wasn't about to talk to James though, she was still seething. He tried to call her every ten minutes, but she hung up on him every time. There was only a week left until it was time for them to go to platform 9 3/4 and James decided to settle their argument. He walked over to her house and Lily's mother said, "She at the outdoor pool."
James walked around to their pool and saw Lily sunbathing on a lawn lounge. He immediately noticed how much better her hair looked and quietly came up beside her.
"Your hair looks really pretty now." he said softly. She jerked awake and said, "Are you sure, maybe I should just take to wearing a head scarf."
"There's no need to be sarcastic. I come in peace."
"Really?"
"Yes, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad. You're hair was just a little bright. It looks wonderful now though." James said, hoping she wouldn't be mad anymore.
"Apology accepted."
"That easy? There's no catch?" James asked, shocked.
"You're too cute to stay mad at." she said.
"What?" James asked in a choked voice.
"Nothing, nothing." Lily said, and dropped her sunglasses back on her nose, signifying the end of the conversation.
"You know, you're never going to get any darker just burn. You will always be pale." James pointed out to Lily, whose skin was already turning red.
"I just forgive you of one insult and you go after me again?" Lily asked in a rage. "Geez, can't you take any constructive criticism?" James asked defensively, he hadn't meant to make her mad.
"Constructive criticism my ass" Lily muttered under her breath, but apparently James heard her because he said, "You've got a nice one of them too."
"WHAT?!" she shrieked.
"I didn't say anything." James said innocently. Lily stood up and said; "I am choosing to ignore that last comment because I'm in an excessively good mood today because Petunia isn't here. If you want to go swimming go get your suit."
James was surprised she wasn't yelling anymore, "Okay, sure, I'll be right back."
"Ask Sirius and Remus too!" she shouted after him. They had fun swimming (James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily) until Petunia got home and included herself in their group, effectively ruining the fun.
A few weeks later they were back at platform 9 3/4 boarding the Hogwarts Express. They met Peter in their compartment and he immediately said, "You will never believe what I heard!"
"What?" they all asked.
"That James and Lily are going out!" he squealed.
"Don't talk like a girl" Sirius said with distaste.
"Whom did you hear this from?" Lily asked carefully.
"Everybody. The entire school is talking about it." "What?" James asked in disbelief.
"A bunch of people saw you together in Diagon Alley" Peter said, "And Gina told some people about you two going out, and about Lily slapping your butt."
"How did she hear about that?" Lily asked in a strangled voice.
"I kind of told her about it." Sirius said sheepishly.
"Well, great" Lily said, now in a bad mood.
"Way to go, you got her riled up!" James said.
"It's not my fault she so temperamental" Peter said.
"Didn't you ever hear that you shouldn't listen to or spread rumors?" Lily asked.
"Well, everybody else does."
"Sheep." Lily muttered. "So I suppose everybody knows about it?" James asked.
"Yes" Peter said, happy to be able to be the only one to know for once. "Everybody is talking about it. There are several girls crying over it, and a lot of the boys would be ready to beat you up James, if you weren't so popular."
"What a comfort." James answered sarcastically.
"Uh, I'm glad I'm not Lily right now." Sirius said.
"Why's that?" Lily asked.
"Can you imagine, over a hundred rampaging, jealous, evil, mean-spirited, malicious girls all out for her blood."
"Maybe they'll get over soon. Very soon." Lily suggested with hope.
"Probably" they all said, but none of them meant it. Lily's first encounter was with a third year Ravenclaw that had always been nice to her before. She walked into their compartment and said, "Evans, I need to talk to you." Lily followed her out of the compartment into another. This matches the saying 'out of the frying pan, into the fire.' "Evans, you have stolen the most eligible bachelor at Hogwarts. Do not turn to any of us for kindness or friendship." the ringleader said.
"Why would I now? I never have before." Lily pointed out.
"Rude and snobby. You think you are so much better than us, mudblood, just because you're going out with James Potter."
"I do not. I've always been the way I am, and I won't change. I can't help it if you classify it as rudeness and snobbines. Then again, you're all experts at those qualities." Lily said and walked out. "Sirius was right" Lily said flatly as she re-entered the compartment.
"What did they do?"
"They only threatened me, but I got the last word and walked out. I can take care of myself"
"Sure, you'll be saying that once we get to Hogwarts and they are all there" Sirius said.
"Whatever" Lily replied airily, then said, "So, have you taken the personality indicator?"
"Yeah, I'm a dog, Peter's a rat" Sirius said.
"Cool...." they continued to talk until the train rolled to a stop at the station. Lily walked defiantly out of the train, saw the malicious girls, and turned back to James. "I am not going out there by myself. It would be suicide."
"You must be exaggerating" James said.
"No I'm not." Lily said. James looked out the window, and saw that she was completely serious said, "Okay, I'll go with you." He held her hand and they walked out there together, much to the envy of the girls. Peter had to ride with some spare Slytherins so the four friends could ride together in one of the carriages that would take them to Hogwarts. After the carriages stopped Lily dragged them quickly to the great hall. This was difficult, because she only had two hands, but three boys. She ended up kicking James's heels while dragging Sirius and Remus.
"What are you doing Lily?" Remus asked.
"I don't want to be left alone with those maniacs. You're my temporary bodyguards."
"Whatever" Sirius said, clearly thinking she was over reacting. They ran across two stray first years, and James said with an evil look, "You know, they will put a hat on you. It will try to suffocate you, so take it off as fast as you can and stomp on it."
"If you don't, you will be put in the worst house." Sirius agreed. Remus and Lily had already started walking toward the table so they missed out on this conversation. There seemed to be a lot of first years this year so the line was trailing down off the stage, next to the Gryffindor table. James said, "Lily, you know how Snape says that stupid stuff to you, well I heard a good pick up line. I'll try to pick you up, okay?"
"Sure, go on ahead." Lily said, looking forward to this display of stupidity.
"Is your mother's maiden name Campbells?"
"No, it's Doyle."
"Well, you mmm mmm good."
"And you're ignorant." Lily told him, and the surrounding people started laughing.
Then one of the first years tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around.
"E-exc-excuse me, but, what are we really going to do with that hat? Somebody told me we would have to beat it up." One of them said.
"All you have to do is try it on-hey, quit kicking me!" Lily said, looking at James. "Just try it on, it will talk to you, and it will tell you the house you're in." Lily told her.
"Really? Thanks." the girl said relieved.
"Who told you that you had to beat it up?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"Them." the girl said.
"JAMES! SIRIUS! Why did you tell her that? She would have been humiliated!" "What're you going to do to James, Lily? Spank him?" Sirius asked.
"No. Ignore him." Lily said, turning around in her seat to face the proper direction. A few chairs down a rather cute sixth year Gryffindor hollered, "Hey, Lily. I like your hair! Do ya' wanna go out with me?" "Well, uh..." Lily sputtered, then her vocal chords gave out and she was silently moving her mouth, no words coming out. The sixth year was still looking at her expectantly. James turned a rather mottled red look and shouted at him "She's going out with me! Back off!"
The entire school turned to stare. He had shouted that just as the hat was finishing its song. Everybody was staring.
"Way to make an announcement." Lily said.
"I thought you were ignoring me."
"That's impossible when you just made the whole school aware of the fact that we are going out."
"Are you mad?"
"Not necessarily."
"Do you want to hear another pickup line?"
"Why not."
"That's a nice shirt, can I talk you out of it?" James asked with a grin. "Don't even try it buddy. You would end up with more broken bones than you can count, then I would hand you over to my dad." Lily said.
"Okay, okay, chill. It was a pick up line."
"Okay, if you're sure."
"I'm sure. I didn't mean anything by it. Now about Jonathon Davies asking you out." "I wasn't going to go out with him." Lily said.
"Yeah. Sure. That's why you couldn't tell him no." James said sourly.
"I was just surprised that he would ask me. He's a sixth year."
"What? A measly third year isn't good enough for you? Well exxcccuuusseee me! I guess it doesn't count that I'm quidditch captain, and in the top of all my classes. You're being attacked by girls because of me, but that doesn't count for anything." "James" Lily said in a deadly quiet voice, "you're going to have to trust me."
"I trust you Lily" James said with a sigh.
"Thank you."
"Now, if Mr. Potter and Miss Evans have sorted their problems we will proceed with the sorting of the first years." Professor McGonagall said sharply.
"We're good to go, thanks Professor!" James said cheerily, making the room laugh. Lily was unaffected and started watching the sorting of the first years, whistling loudly if one became a Gryffindor. Professor Dumbledore stood up and said, "First of all, I have a few announcements to make. The first Hogsmeade trip will be October first, a good time to purchase an outfit for the Halloween ball. The ball is open to all years. We have the Halloween ball every other year, and this time it will be costume, in the muggle tradition. Now, consume the food." Everybody ate until the point of exploding, then retired.
Chapter 8:
The next day they were sitting in the divination tower, near suffocating, listening to the overgrown mosquito babble on about palmistry. "Everybody, choose a partner, and you will work with them throughout our palmistry unit." James and Sirius were partners, so they could plan pranks instead of palm read, so Lily was with Remus.
"Students, examine the four lines of the palm: the fate, life, head, and heart lines. The structure, pattern, and length of these lines will determine the future. Look on pages 15-18 of Unfogging the Future, Grade 3 for translations."
"Okay, I'll read your palm first." Lily told Remus. She held his hand in hers, catching a glower from James. "Let's see, you have a profession in academics, lost love, lost friends, and umm, a pet goat?" Lily said.
"No, no, that curve means a short life." Remus corrected. Lily knew this, but she didn't want to say it. Werewolves didn't live over 75.
"Here, let's see yours" Remus said, taking her hand. "Okay, you won't have pets, but lots of children who will have parrots? No that doesn't make sense.", Remus said with confusion, but Professor Trelawney came over.
"No, no, no. Let's see your hand Miss Evans. You will marry at a young age, to your true love, have several children, very good Lupin, and die, but come back to life. Very interesting. Hmmm, you will hold only two jobs, but for a long time. My, my dear, you will have black times, but they will grow brighter, never despair. No matter, your life will be long, as will that of your family's" James and Sirius were openly laughing, turning Trelawney's attention to them. "Ah, Mr. Black, let me see your palm. Yes, you will never abandon your friends, though others will doubt. Never give up hope though, that's what's important. We can live on hope. Things will come around one day for you though, don't despair. And you, Mr. Potter. You will also marry young, to your true love. Have several children, and proverbially live happily ever after. The dark lord will disrupt your life for a long period, but things will right itself." James snatched his hand back, looking at her warily. Sirius was making a kissy face at him and saying, "Aww, Jamesie and Lily are going to get married, have lots kids, and live happily ever after."
"SHUT UP!" James and Lily both shouted.
"Students, your assignment is to read somebody's palm, somebody other than today's partner, and write down a prediction. Class dismissed."
Everybody exited the room, eager for defense against the dark arts. They had a new teacher this year, a wizard in his 40's. They walked in the class, and Lily said, "Uncle Marzipan?"
"Ah, Lily, I'm not surprised to see you here. I always knew you had the makings of a great witch. There are many prophecies about you, but that's neither here nor there."
They took their usual seats, James immediately said, "He's your uncle?"
"Yeah, my dad's brother."
"I though you were completely muggle-born." James said.
"So did I." Lily surprised them all. When all the students were seated the professor said in a strong voice, "Hello, I am Sinnient Evans." There were gasps from around the room. The first was very few of them had ever met a Sinnient before. Sinnients were the most powerful wizards in the world. Most of the time they didn't even need a wand to do magic. There was only a handful every century. The second was his surname. "Ah, the mudblood has her uncle here to save her." Lucius Malfoy said in a nasty voice.
"SILENCE! I will not tolerate that language in this classroom. I will not endure insults over a person's lineage. I happen to be aware of a few stains of your family's blood, Malfoy." Their lesson was one of the best ever, they learned about boggarts. The next lesson would be about dementors.
"Lily, I want to speak with you this evening, before dinner." her uncle told her as they were leaving.
"Sure" she replied. The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully, they had all of the same classes. Lily met her uncle before dinner.
"Lily, it's good to see you again."
"I'm glad to see you too, Uncle Pan."
"I really have a test for you. There is a good chance you could have at least some of the traits of a Sinnient since we are related."
"Hold out your wand hand. Now think about the happiest moment of your life." Uncle Pan said. Lily thought really hard, then focused on when James asked her out. Immediately a gold light came out of her fingertips, levitating her off the ground. She screamed and crashed down to the floor.
"Yes, you have some of the powers of a Sinnient. A full Sinnient wouldn't have fallen when they quit focusing. Don't worry, though, with some practice you could get that under control."
"What?"
"If you build up your magical strength you will improve your skills. You won't need a wand. A full Sinnient never needs a wand, and their glow is brighter, but yours is excellent. Let me see your palm."
"Not again."
"What?"
"We had divination today, and I'm supposed to die, then come back alive, marry my true love, have oodles of kids, and live happily ever after." Lily said.
"Well, let's have a look see, shall we?" "Amazingly enough, your teacher is right. If we find the right person, the Sinnency powers will be strong enough to make a full Sinnient. Sinnency refers to the powers of a Sinnient by the way. Let me just use this spell here to check for any half-Sinnients. Ah, there's even one here at Hogwarts. A Gryffindor like you nonetheless. Would you happen to know James Potter?"
"Yeah, he's my boyfriend." Lily said.
"Really?" her uncle raised his eyebrows. "I will talk to James, you talk to Professor Dumbledore during supper."
"WHAT? I can't talk to the Headmaster!" "Yes you can my dear. A Sinnient has no superiors. You are a half-Sinnient, the entire world is your peer." Lily walked into the Great Hall with her uncle, giving her friends a small smile as she kept walking by the Gryffindor table. She saw her uncle stop and start talking to James. Lily walked to the head table over to Dumbledore's side.
"Hello Miss Evans. What can I help you with?" he asked kindly.
"Professor Evans wished that I talk to you."
"About what?"
"About my being a half-Sinnient." she said quietly, but the surrounding teachers heard. Dumbledore's eyes widened, McGonagall fell completely out of her chair, Professor Flitwick fainted, and Madame Morano started breathing raggedly.
"Sit down Miss Evans." Lily obediently sat.
"Tell me about this."
"There's not really a lot to tell sir. I focused on the happiest moment of my life and gold light shot out of my hands, but it wasn't very bright. My uncle thinks there's another half-Sinnient here."
"James Potter?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes."
"It's been questioned many times with him. His parents tested him as a child, and he needs the correct partner also for the Sinnency to work. You two have my permission to work together on this, but keep it a secret until it is perfected and I've approved it."
"Yes sir." Lily said and headed towards the Gryffindor table, where she sat down and started shoveling food.
"Lily, James. Let's go to my classroom now." Marzipan said quietly, and they followed. He led them down the hall silently. When he entered his classroom he said, "First of all James, focus on the happiest moment of your life and see what happens." James extended his right hand and thought about making quidditch captain and flying. Nothing happened. "Try a different thought." James thought about asking Lily out, and her saying yes. A scarlet light shot out of his hands, levitating him off the ground. He looked in awe, and then fell with a thud. "EXCELLENT!" Marzipan shouted, "You two, this is tremendous! Better than I expected! Scarlet and Gold! Gryffindor colors! That means you two are full Sinnients when combined!"
"Well, that's great and all, but my posterior is a little sore now." James joked.
"A small price to pay. You should soon be able to harness your powers so you don't have this problem. Whenever you two are together you should be able to do magic without a wand." "Let's try some simple charms first." he said. Lily said; "Petrifuclus Totalus!" and her uncle froze. James said, "Sulcufirtep" and he was able to move again.
"Excellent. Let's try that levitation again."
Lily and James both concentrated on the moment, then felt themselves rising in the air, only this time they didn't fall when they looked. There was a tremendous fusion of light swirling around.
"My Lord!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "I never though I would see anything like this again!" "What?" both Lily and James asked, still levitating.
"I've only seen reproductions of it." he said, short of breath.
"Are you having a heart attack Professor?" James asked.
"No, Godric Gryffindor was the only Sinnient ever known to produce gold and scarlet beams. It is said only the heir and mate can produce those colors. I've only met two other Sinnients in my life. Marzipan, who has silver and black, and Tom Riddle, the heir of Salazar, who has green and silver. Godric was an amazingly powerful wizard. I am dizzied at the power you two would have together."
"Can we come down now? My arms hurt." Lily said, earning a whispered "Sissy" from James, earning him a good kick in the shins.
"Children, I suggest you take care of each other. Don't purposely inflict harm on the other. You have amazing powers together, do not take them for granted." Dumbledore said, "I can see you already have them under control. You may use them if you wish, if it doesn't cause a problem with the other students. I know it's a treat for myself to see them." He turned and left. James and Lily also left, both awed and scared. The next morning James and Lily, the Kind and Queen of Pranks were dethroned by Sirius and Gina. Before breakfast James and Lily were playing a game of chess while waiting on everybody else. Sirius asked, "Can I see your palm for divination Lily?"
"Sure" she said, and held her arm out behind her to Sirius.
"Hey James, can I read your palm for the assignment too?" Gina asked, and James gave his sister his hand. Gina and Sirius had a tube of crazy glue, which they spread liberally on their hands. "Okay, let's go." Gina said.
James and Lily stood up, and Sirius said, "Here, you two walk together." and he took James's hand and put it around Lily's waist, and put Lily's hand on James's neck. Gina whispered a permanency spell that would make it stick for five hours, give them a twenty minute break, then restick for four hours.
Chapter 9:
James and Lily walked like that down to the great hall, but when they tried to eat they couldn't.
"James, I'm stuck."
"I can't move my hand" James said, "Hey, ouch, you're going to tear my skin off my neck."
"Well I want my hand back."
"Well, I want mine too."
"Neither of you are going to get it back for five hours." Sirius said.
"WHAT?" they both shouted at the same time, making the entire hall stare at them.
"After five hours you get a twenty minute break, then it's four more hours stuck together.
"You're joking." Lily said flatly.
"Nope." Sirius said proudly.
James was lucky because he had his right hand free, while Lily had her left. She couldn't do anything with her left hand, so she only ate toast for breakfast.
The first obstacle of the day was on the way to transfiguration. James was walking too fast for Lily, causing her to fall. James fell with her. They ended up as a pile of tangled limbs in the hall. "Hey, ouch" Lily said.
"You punched me."
"You pinched me."
"Hey, watch the claws!"
"GET YOUR HAND OFF MY-"
"It's off!"
"Shut up, so we can stand up" Lily said. They managed to get up, and started walking again, to the amusement of the rest of the school. Once they got to class they had to scoot their chairs together for a mini couch.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Evans, please break it up!" McGonagall shouted.
"We're glued together, see?" Lily said, and made the mistake of swinging her arm, causing James's face to come close enough to hers for him to kiss her.
"MR. POTTER, MISS EVANS!" McGonagall yelled, snapping them back into reality.
"Sorry." Lily said. James smiled.
"Since you two are all fired to show off, why don't you two demonstrate the powers you have newly discovered?" she said, obviously in a nasty mood.
"Do you have anything in mind?" James asked sweetly.
"How about some levitation, then some transfiguration." she commanded, not asked.
Lily and James levitated in the air, then James transfigured McGonagall's desk into a cow, and Lily changed a bookshelf into a teddy bear.
"Excellent job you two, ten points to Gryffindor." she said, impressed. They continued through the lesson, and then headed to double divination. As they were walking in the door Professor Trelawney called, "James, Lily, you two will need to be each other's partners when we read palms again." James and Lily sat together, and then Trelawney started talking again, "Today we will begin our four class in depth study of each of the different lines. The four palm lines are Fate, Heart, Head, and Life. Today we will start with the Fate line."
The class groaned. Who would be killed this year? "First, the length of the line will determine the owner's age. Examine each millimeter of the line minutely, looking for the smallest detail. Then, I want a report on your partner's hand." The class groaned. A report.
Three weeks later was the day of quidditch tryouts. Lily, James, Sirius, and Caitlin Mentz were the old players, so they had to judge for the best new ones. They decided on a seventh year seeker, a fifth year beater, and a second year chaser. James announced that the list of the people who made it would be in the common room at 8 in the morning. As soon as he said that he ran off, chasing Lily who had put a sneezing hex on him, causing several of the people trying out to laugh and wonder how this quidditch team would work when two chasers were so infatuated with each other.
On September first the five friends went to Hogsmeade on the weekend trip. Lily went off on her own though, to find a costume. She would rather not know what the guys were planning on wearing. She walked into "Corinthia's Costumes" and started browsing, while saying out loud, "Hmm, a veela, maybe a hooker? Ha, no way. Let's see, a fairy? What about a female vampire?"
"YES! This is PERFECT!" Lily shouted, much to the shop patrons' amusement. She grabbed the costume and rushed to the dressing rooms. It fit her like a second skin. It was a black silk dress that was floor length, but a slit up the leg halfway up her thigh. It had spaghetti straps, and over the dress went a black veil-like material long-sleeve fitted over dress. It was also floor length and had silver lacings down the front. She bought her outfit, deciding to go as a vampire. She went to another shop and bought black and silver shoes, and to another to buy an onyx necklace on a silver chain and matching earrings. She went to the makeup store to buy black and silver hair glitter as well as body glitter. She got some really neat silver eyeliner and some mascara that was black, but made the tips of her eyelashes silver. She was giggling with delight when she met the boys, loaded down with bags of stuff. The boys were also carrying paper sacks. Lily was roaring with laughter, along with Remus and Peter, when James and Sirius were making fun of the Hogwarts students. Every person in the Three Broomsticks was laughing at the impressions of Narcissa Sciver and Lucious Malfoy. When they moved on to Jack Brock, a Hufflepuff, some people were hyperventilating. Lily finally stopped their self-appointed stand up comedy acts by pointing out they wouldn't get to go to Honeydukes if they didn't hurry and leave. This stopped James in mid-sentence, then he picked up his packages and bolted towards the door, his friends chasing after him. He got there ahead of them, and they saw him staring longingly at the shelves stacked high with chocolate. They were glad the boy was rich because he would have broken down on the spot if he hadn't been able to buy out half the store with what he had with him. James was in his own little chocolate world, moving only to look at a different chocolate display. The sad part was Sirius and Remus looked the same way, while Peter had stopped across the street at the lollipop store. After about fifteen minutes of them staring at a particularly handsome statue of a chocolate broomstick Lily tapped them on the shoulders and said, "Either buy some blasted chocolate or get out."
"Relax, these kind of decisions take time my dear Lily." James said.
"Oh yes, should you buy semi-sweet, milk, dark, or white chocolate? So many choices, so little time."
"This is a matter of extreme importance." Sirius said seriously.
Lily threw up her hands in exasperation, and bought herself a chocolate brick. James on the other hand bought a 1/2-pound brick of each kind of chocolate, and Honeydukes had many varieties. He also bought nine boxes of chocolate, the kind you gave as gifts. One specifically for Halloween, Christmas, Boxing Day, Easter, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, April Fool's Day, Birthday, and National Quidditch Day. When Sirius and Remus gave him questioning looks he merely said, "For Lily."
Chapter 10:
On October thirty first, Lily was so excited she woke up at six o'clock. The day started off well when an owl came swooping in with a box of chocolates from James came in. All the chocolates were either in ghost, bat, or bone shapes. She noticed several jealous stares and thanked James profusely. The day dragged along until it was finally five o'clock and she went to fix her hair. She separated all the blond streaks on the outside part of her hair, and braided the ones on the top half of her head into tiny braids, then pulled them back. She then put a bunch of glitter in her hair and body, and then fixed her makeup. She got dressed in her costume, and at seven o'clock walked down the stairs to meet James.
"Wow." Lily said, looking at James, who was dressed in black pants, a black silk shirt, black shoes, and a black cape with silver fastenings. She could tell he was supposed to be a vampire by his lengthened canine teeth. "Umm, Lily, I forgot to ask you, but will you go to the ball with me?" James asked.
"Of course, who did you think I would go with?" Lily asked.
"I didn't want you to think I was taking you for granted." James said, slightly embarrassed.
"Never." Lily said softly.
Sirius had dressed as a princess, and Remus was dressed like a gypsy. "W-wh--why are y-you d-dressed like that?!" Lily laughed.
"I lost a bet to James. If he would have lost, he would've been wearing this right now." Sirius said.
"I don't want to know about this bet, so let's go." Lily said.
James managed, "Lily, what did you do to your eyes?"
"They're contacts that make them this color." Lily said. She currently had contacts in that made them the same silver as Sirius's. "Who are you two going with?" Lily asked them.
"I'm going with Lalinka from Hufflepuff." Remus said, while Sirius declared he was going with Tatiana from Ravenclaw. James and Lily walked to the great hall, hand in hand, scaring more than one first year as they went.
"Soooo, how did you two lovebirds know to dress as vampires?" Sirius asked.
"ESP" they both answered sarcastically and simultaneously.
"Yeah, right. There's Tatiana!" Sirius said, motioning her over. She came over with a rather sour look on her face upon seeing Lily and James together. Obviously she was another Potter fan. Remus also met Lalinka, who turned out to be Tatiana's twin sister. Apparently both of them were jealous that Lily and James were going together. The three couples found a ghost-shaped table. As soon as the first song came up, Lily and James started dancing to the strains of "I Got You Babe". They danced, then ate some of the feast, then danced some more, and finished the feast, then voted on the different costume categories.
Dumbledore stood up and said, "I have the winners of the costume contest. For best Gryffindor costumes I have Sirius Black, the princess, and Lily Evans, the vampire. For best Ravenclaw costumes I have Tatiana Rudencoff, the mermaid, and Shane West, the Gringott's Goblin. Out of Slytherin there's Lucius Malfoy, the angel, and Narcissa Scivor, the veela. From Hufflepuff, there is Gretchen Lowlander, Snuggles the bear, and Amos Diggory, the cowardly lion. Would the best costumes out of each house please rally on the dance floor for the victory dance. Lily and Sirius were dancing, Lily feeling rather stupid next to the princess. She wasn't sure who should be leading. They were both leading, making a rather strange looking dance. They actually looked kind of cute when Lily twirled Sirius around and received a crème pumpkin for their prize.
"Now, here's the best couple awards. James Potter and Lily Evans from Gryffindor. Mr. and Mrs. Dracula! Narcissa Scivor and Lucius Malfoy from Slytherin, the veela and the angel. Greneta Brown and Lunny Adams, Scarlet O'Hara and Rhett Butler from Hufflepuff. Last but not least, Willa York and Christopher Menkins, the banshee and a mummy. Please take your dance, then come and receive your prize." "Well, Lily, you definitely need some Dracula teeth." James said, and before she could do anything he hexed her teeth to grow about three inches.
"Hey!" she wailed.
"Relax, here, I'll put them back if you don't make a scene." James said.
"I'll show you a scene." she muttered once her teeth were back to normal, but changed her mind and rested her head on James's chest.
"POTTER! EVANS!" McGonagall yelled. " I better see daylight between you two. NOW!"
James and Lily immediately backed up, so there was a grand total of 1.5 inches between them. After the dance they received pumpkin-flavored chocolate hearts. Lily was having a lot of fun, because if James didn't want to dance, he always encouraged her to dance with somebody else. Then, Severus Snape tapped on Sirius's shoulder, signifying he wanted to cut in. He wasn't dressed any differently, but that was scary enough. Sirius looked like he wanted to resist, but handed Lily over anyhow. Snape kept trying to waltz Lily over to the doors, but she kept leading him back. Finally Snape cut to the chase, and leaned down and kissed Lily.
Lily wiggled away from him outraged, and slapped him as hard as she could. Then she started kicking and punching him. James and Sirius were at their table laughing so hard tears were streaming down their faces. Once she had given him his second black eye McGonagall called her off of him.
"Mr. Snape. That is twenty points from Slytherin for unwanted advances toward a female."
"What about her? She was mauling him!" Lucius Malfoy hollered.
"Self defense! End of discussion." McGonagall said, "The ball is officially over. You may thank Mr. Snape from Slytherin for this."
The entire hall groaned, and reluctantly trailed to their common rooms. Lily walked over to Sirius and James, who were still laughing.
"What's so funny?" she asked dangerously.
"N-nothing." Sirius said.
"Really, because I saw you laughing."
"We were laughing at Snape kissing you!" James said, still laughing.
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think I'll go find him and do it again. This time I won't hit him though." Lily said, and walked away from James. "Did it just sound like she broke up with me?" James asked.
"Yeah, it did." Sirius said.
"LILY! WAIT!" James yelled, and started chasing her down the hall.
"Leave me alone James!" Lily shouted.
"NO! You don't belong with Snape! You belong with me!" James shouted after her.
"Ah, Severus, I was looking for you." Lily said, coming up behind him. He looked at her with fear. "Don't worry, I just over-reacted. I'm sorry."
"It's okay Lily." Snape said, and went to kiss her again. This time she let him, just to make James mad. She wanted him to turn green with envy.
"NO! LILY! SNAPE! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" James yelled.
"Is that any of your business, Potter?" Severus asked.
"YES! She's my girlfriend!"
"Not anymore, I'm not" Lily said. Snape kissed her again.
"YOU DIRTY, SLIMY GIT!" James hollered, and ripped Snape away from Lily. "LILY WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING" James shouted.
"Umm, kissing Snape?"
"DON'T BE SMART WITH ME, YOUNG LADY! YOU BROKE UP WITH ME FOR NO REASON!"
"Really, I seem to think that I had a reason."
"WELL ENLIGHTEN ME THEN!"
"You laughed when he kissed me. You thought it was funny. It was disgusting, vulgar, repelling, nasty, horrendous, and just terrible. But my boyfriend laughs. You could've said 'that was terrible Lily' or 'I feel sorry for you Lily' but noooo. I go through a traumatizing experience, and you LAUGH!" she shouted.
"WELL, EXXXCCCCUUUUSSSE ME. I DIDN'T KNOW YOU EXPECTED ME TO KISS THE GROUND YOU WALK ON!" Now Lily was yelling, "I DON'T EXPECT YOU TO KISS THE GROUND I WALK UPON. I EXPECT YOU NOT TO LAUGH WHEN SOMEBODY KISSES ME! I GET SLAPPED BY THE ENTIRE FEMALE POPULATION OF HOGWARTS JUST BECAUSE I GO OUT WITH YOU, BUT YOU LAUGH WHEN SOMEBODY KISSES ME!"
"I wasn't laughing because he kissed you. I was laughing because you beat the hell out of him."
"Gee thanks.."
"Well what do you want me to do? Punch him?" James asked.
"Well..." WHAP, and Snape started crying and scuttled into the Slytherin common room.
"I'm sorry James. I just needed to calm down."
"It's okay Lily."
"Goodnight James, see you in the morning." Lily said calmly and started walking towards the Gryffindor tower.
"Hey, I punched Snape and I don't even get a goodnight kiss?" James asked indignantly.
"Well, I just kissed Snape. Do you want me to kiss you now?"
"How about you brush your teeth first."
"Okay." Lily said, and skipped off to the common room. Lily got ready for bed, scouring her mouth with her toothbrush. She dressed in old blue pajamas with teddy bears and braided her hair in pigtails for bed. She had just laid down thinking she had forgotten something. After about fifteen minutes she shot up in bed, surprising her roommates.
"What's going on Lily?" Renee asked.
"Nothing, nothing. I'll be right back she called. She was running down the stairs, trying to hurry, because she wanted to go back to bed. She saw James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter sitting in the common room. She ran over to James, kissed him lightly on the lips and said, "Sorry, I forgot. Goodnight James." and ran back upstairs, collapsed in bed, and was almost asleep when Adriana said, "What did you do?"
"I promised James I would give him a kiss goodnight after I had brushed my teeth."
"Ohhhh" the girls in the room said knowingly.
"Whatever" Lily said, and was asleep. Meanwhile, downstairs...
"What was that about?" Remus asked.
"I asked her if I even got a goodnight kiss for punching Snape, but she wanted to brush her teeth first since she had kissed Snape."
"Ha, she forgot about you!" Sirius laughed.
"Oh, shut up." James snarled.
"I saw you eyeing her teddy bear pajamas. You will probably steal them from her sometime. They would probably go with those teddy bear boxers your mom gave you for your birthday. You know, the ones with the teddy bears that dance around, running into each other?" Sirius said.
"Yes! I know which ones you're talking about!" James said.
"Calm down, James. After all, Sirius has those with sheep on them." Remus said.
"Oh, shut up Lupin. You have a pair with chickens." Sirius said.
"Can we just close this subject?" Remus asked.
"Sure, I wasn't the one who started it." Sirius said.
"YOU WERE TOO! YOU SAID I WANTED TO STEAL LILY'S PAJAMAS!" James shouted, and the common room stared at him.
"I think I'll go warn Lily" Gina said. Five minutes later Gina dragged an irate Lily down the common room.
"Gina! It's 11:30. I should be asleep now, and you're babbling about my teddy bear pajamas."
"Lily! My brother is going to steal them from you if you don't watch out. He even has shorts to go with them."
Lily rubbed her eyes, and flung one braid over her shoulder. "I doubt he's going to try to steal them while I'm still wearing them, and if he tries it while I'm not, well good riddance to them."
"I don't know, it's extra incentive for James to steal them while you're in them." Gina said.
"What?" Lily asked blankly.
"Pay attention!"
"I heard you, but I don't see what you're talking about. I'm going back to bed. This is nonsense, I need to sleep." Lily said, and turned back to her room.