A/N: Well, another day, another chapter (she says merrily as if she posted
new chapters every day. NOT BLOODY LIKELY people!)
Nothing much happens here, it's just to get the story going.
Disclaimer: not mine, Hers. Looser, Winner. Student, contract with Bloomsbury AND Warner bros. This is getting really depressing. ***
Fwoopers and Fears
Lily was busying herself with a last-minute proof-reading of her Transfiguration essay ("The Disadvantages of Home-Transfiguration") when James and Remus strolled over to the Gryffindor Common Room work table.
James was considering coming back another time, she looked so "untouchable" with her head in her hand and a quill tapping on her scroll.
Remus saw the hesitation coming when James turned to say something, and wisely quickened the pace so James was forced to follow him in standing behind Lily's chair. Remus made a gesture with his head as to say "Go on then you fool", and James promptly cleared his throat to get Lily's attention. Lily gasped, and her hand holding the quill made an abrupt movement and knocked over her inkbottle. She turned around quickly with eyes wide open, and quickly turned it into a frown before turning back again. Half-heartedly she gently held up her essay against the light of the nearest fire. She now realised Professor McGonagall would have a hard time trying to read ink on ink, and sighed deeply before falling back into her chair.
James grimaced. "Sorry." he mumbled. He vaguely heard Remus whispering "Way to go mate."
Lily then looked around at him again, and to his immense surprise she smiled faintly. For some reason this also scared him. Was he going to get in a lot of trouble? He'd rather face Filch when caught red-handed, than Lily the redheaded.
"No problem" she replied then, and he squinted as if to try and decipher how sincere she was. When she turned around again and magically removed the ink from her essay, he gave a very audible sigh of relief.
"Such a good thing I'm a witch, James. Don't you agree?" she said lifting a corner of her mouth up in a slight smirk. She glanced at his sheepish features and grinned to Remus. "Are you done scaring me to death? Just let me secure the inkbottle before you give it another try."
"We didn't come here to frighten you, Lily." Remus gave James a good elbow in the ribs.
"I know, Remus, Sirius would have been here for that." Lily replied.
Remus glared at James.
"Oh. Right. Er.So Lily, what's your plans for the Christmas Holidays?" James tried to get his act together.
"I meant to go home, James, that's pretty much what I ALWAYS do.."
James laughed nervously, he always had a fear of asking girls if they wanted to visit his home. For some reason, the thought of their rejection or his mum saying "Would you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!" in front of said girls, made him just a tad nervous.
"Well. erhm, you see, it's like this. My parents are having this sort of fancy dinner-and-dancing on my father's birthday, and my mum sort of, er." he trailed off looking hopelessly over at Remus for help.
"What James is not very good at here, is the part of actually inviting you to this event," Remus drawled. He pointedly raised his eyebrows to assure the gaping Lily that this wasn't a practical joke.
"What about it?" she asked James with a slight crease in her forehead.
"What about what?" James asked.
"What about your mother sort of, kind of, almost, maybe." she hinted.
"Oh, she suggested I invite some friends over, as it tends to get boring with only Ministry officials. And she, very kindly, threatened to poison my pet fwooper if no girls showed up."
Lily's eyes lit up. She'll say yes! James thought excitedly.
"You have a pet fwooper?! Oh, I've got to see that! They're very rare in this part of the world, they don't like fog, I believe." she said animatedly.
James' heart dropped just a few kilometres. He had thought girls were mad for dances, and this one was fancy! She didn't react giggly before he mentioned a stupid bird he'd gotten from his Auntie Annie.
"Oh sorry, didn't mean to get so excited over a bird", Lily said apologetically. "My dad's sort of a bird specialist, and he practically went fanatical when he saw the birds in my copy of 'Fantastic Beasts'." she rambled on. "When did you say the party was?"
"New Years Eve. We tend to make it a double celebration, even though my dad's birthday is the 30th of December."
"Lovely!" she exclaimed happily. "I'd love to come, James, otherwise I'd be trading New Year's resolutions with my shadow. Mum and Dad always go to this grown-up party, and this year they were planning on leaving me home alone. Petunia obviously convinced my mum she was an adult too, but I can't imagine how she ever managed THAT." James grabbed his heart from the clouds this time, and managed a somewhat normal pleased look. "Tha's thrilling Lily, it would be a drag without you anyway" he said.
Lily blushed very faintly and turned her head an angle that didn't display the colours of her cheeks, and softly asked how and when she should get there. She knew of course where the Potter mansion was, multiple birthday parties had been held there with nearly all of Gryffindor house invited. But it was a long way from her own muggle town to James' home in some forgotten land of magical mist and strong, vaguely familiar calls of nature surrounding it. Suspiciously peaceful that place was.
"Floo?" James suggested.
"Preferably as a last resort."
"Well, you could always ride with Sirius on his flying motorbike."
"He finally got it then, the ruddy sodding lucky bastard. If he'll have me, I won't refuse such a confusingly attractive offer", Lily said.
She could stand Sirius for a while, if she was going to fly a motorbike! Forget the kites and bring on the dangerous vehicles! Better not tell mum though. She'd probably rage about for an hour before saying something like "If you fall off and break every bone, don't come running to me." Total waste of time and energy, conversations like that.
"Will I be the only girl?" she suddenly remembered to ask.
"My sisters will be there. Do you need any other girls?" James asked worriedly.
Asking a girl he knew very well was hard enough, and SHE hadn't giggled yet.
"No, guess not. Well, as I said, I'd love to come, thanks for inviting me."
"Sure Lily, no problem. And I'll ask Sirius about the lift. See you at breakfast then." James said smiling bashfully before leaving hurriedly.
Remus stayed and grinned at her. "So, got a dress yet then? My cousin refused to go to a party on two weeks notice when she didn't have a brand new outfit."
"Well, she probably wasn't very good at sowing charms then," Lily winked.
Remus sniggered. Lily obviously wasn't one of those silly girls who only cared about the accessories. Little did he know, Lily was frantically searching her mind for some of those she could use.
"I'm guessing I am going to have to look smashing at this gathering then, since you are so kind as to make me nervous already?" she continued.
"Well, as James said, Ministry people are coming. Besides, I know none of us would mind showing you off in a nice dress." he said and looked pointedly at James, stepping out of the portrait frame.
Lily didn't catch his deeper meaning behind that look, but she did see James, and she blushed furiously at the thought of him complimenting her on her looks.
Satisfied with her expression, Remus excused himself to follow Sirius and Peter out of the Common Room.
Lily snapped out of her dreamy state, she didn't want to miss breakfast. James would be there. And he would be in class as well.
Thank Merlin the professors hadn't noticed her inability to pay attention in class these past months. It wasn't her fault James was so dashing when he non-conspicuously passed notes with the rest of the Marauders.
Disclaimer: not mine, Hers. Looser, Winner. Student, contract with Bloomsbury AND Warner bros. This is getting really depressing. ***
Fwoopers and Fears
Lily was busying herself with a last-minute proof-reading of her Transfiguration essay ("The Disadvantages of Home-Transfiguration") when James and Remus strolled over to the Gryffindor Common Room work table.
James was considering coming back another time, she looked so "untouchable" with her head in her hand and a quill tapping on her scroll.
Remus saw the hesitation coming when James turned to say something, and wisely quickened the pace so James was forced to follow him in standing behind Lily's chair. Remus made a gesture with his head as to say "Go on then you fool", and James promptly cleared his throat to get Lily's attention. Lily gasped, and her hand holding the quill made an abrupt movement and knocked over her inkbottle. She turned around quickly with eyes wide open, and quickly turned it into a frown before turning back again. Half-heartedly she gently held up her essay against the light of the nearest fire. She now realised Professor McGonagall would have a hard time trying to read ink on ink, and sighed deeply before falling back into her chair.
James grimaced. "Sorry." he mumbled. He vaguely heard Remus whispering "Way to go mate."
Lily then looked around at him again, and to his immense surprise she smiled faintly. For some reason this also scared him. Was he going to get in a lot of trouble? He'd rather face Filch when caught red-handed, than Lily the redheaded.
"No problem" she replied then, and he squinted as if to try and decipher how sincere she was. When she turned around again and magically removed the ink from her essay, he gave a very audible sigh of relief.
"Such a good thing I'm a witch, James. Don't you agree?" she said lifting a corner of her mouth up in a slight smirk. She glanced at his sheepish features and grinned to Remus. "Are you done scaring me to death? Just let me secure the inkbottle before you give it another try."
"We didn't come here to frighten you, Lily." Remus gave James a good elbow in the ribs.
"I know, Remus, Sirius would have been here for that." Lily replied.
Remus glared at James.
"Oh. Right. Er.So Lily, what's your plans for the Christmas Holidays?" James tried to get his act together.
"I meant to go home, James, that's pretty much what I ALWAYS do.."
James laughed nervously, he always had a fear of asking girls if they wanted to visit his home. For some reason, the thought of their rejection or his mum saying "Would you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!" in front of said girls, made him just a tad nervous.
"Well. erhm, you see, it's like this. My parents are having this sort of fancy dinner-and-dancing on my father's birthday, and my mum sort of, er." he trailed off looking hopelessly over at Remus for help.
"What James is not very good at here, is the part of actually inviting you to this event," Remus drawled. He pointedly raised his eyebrows to assure the gaping Lily that this wasn't a practical joke.
"What about it?" she asked James with a slight crease in her forehead.
"What about what?" James asked.
"What about your mother sort of, kind of, almost, maybe." she hinted.
"Oh, she suggested I invite some friends over, as it tends to get boring with only Ministry officials. And she, very kindly, threatened to poison my pet fwooper if no girls showed up."
Lily's eyes lit up. She'll say yes! James thought excitedly.
"You have a pet fwooper?! Oh, I've got to see that! They're very rare in this part of the world, they don't like fog, I believe." she said animatedly.
James' heart dropped just a few kilometres. He had thought girls were mad for dances, and this one was fancy! She didn't react giggly before he mentioned a stupid bird he'd gotten from his Auntie Annie.
"Oh sorry, didn't mean to get so excited over a bird", Lily said apologetically. "My dad's sort of a bird specialist, and he practically went fanatical when he saw the birds in my copy of 'Fantastic Beasts'." she rambled on. "When did you say the party was?"
"New Years Eve. We tend to make it a double celebration, even though my dad's birthday is the 30th of December."
"Lovely!" she exclaimed happily. "I'd love to come, James, otherwise I'd be trading New Year's resolutions with my shadow. Mum and Dad always go to this grown-up party, and this year they were planning on leaving me home alone. Petunia obviously convinced my mum she was an adult too, but I can't imagine how she ever managed THAT." James grabbed his heart from the clouds this time, and managed a somewhat normal pleased look. "Tha's thrilling Lily, it would be a drag without you anyway" he said.
Lily blushed very faintly and turned her head an angle that didn't display the colours of her cheeks, and softly asked how and when she should get there. She knew of course where the Potter mansion was, multiple birthday parties had been held there with nearly all of Gryffindor house invited. But it was a long way from her own muggle town to James' home in some forgotten land of magical mist and strong, vaguely familiar calls of nature surrounding it. Suspiciously peaceful that place was.
"Floo?" James suggested.
"Preferably as a last resort."
"Well, you could always ride with Sirius on his flying motorbike."
"He finally got it then, the ruddy sodding lucky bastard. If he'll have me, I won't refuse such a confusingly attractive offer", Lily said.
She could stand Sirius for a while, if she was going to fly a motorbike! Forget the kites and bring on the dangerous vehicles! Better not tell mum though. She'd probably rage about for an hour before saying something like "If you fall off and break every bone, don't come running to me." Total waste of time and energy, conversations like that.
"Will I be the only girl?" she suddenly remembered to ask.
"My sisters will be there. Do you need any other girls?" James asked worriedly.
Asking a girl he knew very well was hard enough, and SHE hadn't giggled yet.
"No, guess not. Well, as I said, I'd love to come, thanks for inviting me."
"Sure Lily, no problem. And I'll ask Sirius about the lift. See you at breakfast then." James said smiling bashfully before leaving hurriedly.
Remus stayed and grinned at her. "So, got a dress yet then? My cousin refused to go to a party on two weeks notice when she didn't have a brand new outfit."
"Well, she probably wasn't very good at sowing charms then," Lily winked.
Remus sniggered. Lily obviously wasn't one of those silly girls who only cared about the accessories. Little did he know, Lily was frantically searching her mind for some of those she could use.
"I'm guessing I am going to have to look smashing at this gathering then, since you are so kind as to make me nervous already?" she continued.
"Well, as James said, Ministry people are coming. Besides, I know none of us would mind showing you off in a nice dress." he said and looked pointedly at James, stepping out of the portrait frame.
Lily didn't catch his deeper meaning behind that look, but she did see James, and she blushed furiously at the thought of him complimenting her on her looks.
Satisfied with her expression, Remus excused himself to follow Sirius and Peter out of the Common Room.
Lily snapped out of her dreamy state, she didn't want to miss breakfast. James would be there. And he would be in class as well.
Thank Merlin the professors hadn't noticed her inability to pay attention in class these past months. It wasn't her fault James was so dashing when he non-conspicuously passed notes with the rest of the Marauders.