A/N: Man, I'm sick today and it sucks, I've been walking around with tissues hanging out of my nose cuz the darn thing won't stop dripping! Also, has anyone ever pictured Remus as Brad Pitt from Meet Joe Black except instead of blonde hair he'd have brown hair with silver highlights? Yea, these fantasies come when you have a cold.
Disclaimer: I own Aria, Ashley, Glenn, and West. Four whole characters! Whoo!
Chapter 7: Of Apologies and Persuasions
James didn't know what to think when he saw Lily at breakfast the next day. She seemed completely normal, like nothing had ever happened. Her eyes were red, which she said was because she was tired, but he had a strong feeling she had been crying, even though he couldn't picture her crying. He was still angry and confused about why Glenn had called her a thief, but decided not to press the matter further until she was ready. When asked about how the mission had gone, they had said nothing of their meeting with the professor, only that it had gone well and that their food stock had been replenished. Remus and Sirius thanked her again and again. Sirius even offered her the reward of dating him, which he promptly received a slap for.
During Divination that day, Dumbledore sent for Lily, and she was happy to leave the hot, stuffy classroom. She was almost thankful, for one more minute of Trelawny moaning about the end of the world and she was sure she would have gone insane. Everyone except for James shot her questioning looks, which she ignored. Aria, Ashley, Remus, and Sirius were especially curious about why she was being called to the Headmaster. They didn't think that a little midnight escapade would get her into so much trouble. They had done it millions of times, and the Headmaster had never done anything about it. And if being caught out of bed was why she was summoned, why hadn't Dumbledore called for James too? When they shot her curious stares, she shook her head and mouthed 'later'.
Lily followed McGonagall to Dumbledore's office, where, after saying the password, she left her. Great, she thought. I'm going to get a talk on respect. That son of a bitch should be fired and given a talk on respect. Ooh, I'll teach HIM a lesson on respect if I ever get the chance. I'll KILL him. She was shocked for a moment. This was getting out of hand. She had never been this angry before, and it was taking over her. She didn't want to kill anyone. Lily took a few deep breaths to calm her self and waited a few minutes before stepping off the golden escalator, and into Dumbledore's office. He was sitting at his desk, talking to the fireplace. As she stepped further into the office, she gasped when she saw that Dumbledore was talking to West, whose head was sitting in the fireplace, and not the fire. CRAP! West knows! Now he's gonna be all upset. God, he'll hate me! Dumbledore smiled warmly at her when he saw her, which surprised Lily. She had expected him to give her a stern look and yell. West gave her the stern look she had been expecting, looking furious while he did it.
"Hello Miss Evans," said Dumbledore. "I thought that Professor West would like to take a part in our conversation, so I took the liberty of inviting him here. Is that all right with you? Oh, and would you like a lemon drop? I'm sure you know of them." Lily was temporarily stunned. He's supposed to be yelling his head off, and he's asking me if I mind that he invited someone here. And he's asking me if I want a lemon drop? No offense West, but the dude is completely insane.
"No-no I don't mind," she said. "A-and no thanks, I don't want a lemon drop." Dumbledore smiled.
"Good. Now, the reason I called you to our office today was to-"
"Yea, yea, I know. You're going to lecture me about how the professor is always right, even when they're slandering you about things in your past that you can't help now. Or when they're slandering you're Headmaster, they're still right. And the student should never, ever call the professor less than lovely terms, no, they should just sit there and take the crap that the professor is giving them like an idiot," said Lily angrily before she could stop herself. West looked scandalized.
"LILIAN GRACE EVANS! Have I taught you nothing? Where are your manners! You don't talk to your professors like that and you don't interrupt people! Not unless they're me!" Yea, yea, whatever. Lily sighed.
"I'm sorry Professor West, I'm sorry Professor Dumbledore. I am both ashamed and admonished for my lack of respect towards both you and Professor Glenn, and I can assure you that it will not happen again." She curtsied and smiled sweetly.
"Quit the act, its not amusing at all," West snapped. "Professor Dumbledore, I'm really sorry about this."
"Quite all right," said Dumbledore, amused. "No need to be sorry, Miss Evans. Its never fun to be lectured, though I was not planning to yell at or lecture you." Lily first looked surprised, and then turned a deep hue of scarlet. Smooth move Evans you did it again.
"See what happens when you act before you think?" said West. She made a face at him, and then turned back to Dumbledore.
"Um, you weren't?"
"No, of course not," he said. "I called you to my office because I wanted to apologize for Professor Glenn's behavior. What he said was disrespectful and uncalled for. I am ashamed that a Hogwarts professor has behaved in this way. I will speak with him soon about his behavior." Lily didn't know what to think. Not many people had ever apologized to her. This was the first time in a long time that anyone (besides West and Evan and the professors) had bothered to trouble himself or herself with doing that.
"Whoa," whispered Lily, still surprised. She was beginning to like the old man, even though he was a little weird. "I-I-I mean, th-thank you professor." Dumbledore smiled warmly.
"I should be thanking you, for still staying here." West smiled happily. Lily was learning that people weren't all bad after all, which was exactly what he had wanted for her.
"I should be going now," said West. "I have a staff meeting in two minutes." Dumbledore nodded. "Bye Lily. Please try and stay out of any more trouble, ok?" Lily nodded.
"Hey professor," she said. West looked at her.
"What."
"You still owe me a lollipop."
***
Lily went back to the Gryffindor common room, since Divination had ended when she had been in Dumbledore's office, and found her friends waiting for her, and groaned. She was not in the mood to tell why she had been called to Dumbledore's office.
"Whatever is the matter, Flora?" asked Sirius evilly. Lily gave him a very weird look.
"Flora?" she asked. "Flora. I don't even want to know where you got that. You must have been high when you made that up."
"He's always high, Lily," said Remus, busy drawing something. Sirius pretended to look confused.
"What in the name of Silver Arrows are you talking about?" he asked. "I've had my feet on the ground all day!" James groaned.
"That was lame, Sirius," he said.
"That and Flora," said Aria. Sirius grinned mischievously.
"What's the matter, Aria? Are you jealous? Do you want me to make up a nickname for you too? How about Melody?" Aria threw a book at Sirius, who ducked just in time.
"How about not?" she suggested. "And what on earth would I be jealous of?" Ashley could see that the subject needed to be changed.
"Quidditch tryouts are tomorrow. Are you going to try out, Lils?" Lily shrugged.
"I don't know. I've never played Quidditch before in my life. I know how, but I've never actually played."
"Why don't you try out then?" asked Remus, putting down his pencil. "There's a first time for everything."
"Why don't you try out then?" Lily asked. She noticed that James, Sirius, Ashley, and Aria sent quick looks towards Remus, who seemed to take no notice of it. He smiled cheekily and then answered.
"If I tried out for a Quidditch position, then I'd get it hands down, and then McGongall would have to do the commentary. The game would be boring if I wasn't in the top box screaming about how bad the other team is. No one would come to see the games!" Everyone except Lily laughed out loud. She shook her head sadly.
"Remus, Remus, Remus. And I always thought that you were the sweet, kind, smart one."
"Aw, Flora, you're a bit slow," said Sirius. "Anyone can see that I'm obviously the brains between Jamesie, Remi, Petie, and me." Remus stared at his friend.
"Siri, I can't believe you just said that."
"If you're the brains, Sirius," started Ashley "then James, Remus, and Peter are geniuses."
"Are you implying that we're not geniuses?" asked James, highly offended.
"Ha," said Lily. "If you're a genius, then I'm Albert Einstein or John Nash or Leonardo DaVinci."
"Who in the name of Quidditch are they?" asked James, very confused. "Are they muggle cartoons like Tickle?"
"Its Tigger," corrected Lily, "and no, they are real, not car-"
"If you don't mind me cutting in to your little flirting session here, I'd like to know please, Lils, if you are going to try out or not," Aria interrupted. Lily and James both looked startled.
"Flirting?" gasped Lily. "Me? And him? Flirting? Are you out of your mind Aria? Well of course you are, you always are, but seriously!"
"Ew," said James childishly, scrambling over the chair. "I don't like her. She has cooties!" Lily laughed.
"I won't comment again, but are you going to try out Lily?" asked Aria. Lily sighed.
"I will if you shut up about it." Aria smiled brightly.
"Good, because we already signed you up for it. We figured you'd make a pretty good beater. Now, I have to go meet Amos somewhere or the other." She walked out of the common room. Lily was shocked.
"Um, guys, can you do me a favor?" she asked.
"What?"
"Next time you plan on involving me in something, can you tell me what it is before I'm involved in it?'
"No!"
"By the way," she said, rolling her eyes. "When are tryouts?"
"Tomorrow," said Ashley as she took out her parchment and quill to write an essay. Lily did a double take.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you," she said laughing. "I thought that you said that the tryouts were tomorrow." Ashley looked surprised.
"But they are tomorrow, Lils, you didn't hear me wrong." Lily almost fell out of her chair. She groaned for a while.
"Is it that time of the month again?" asked James innocently. Lily glared at him.
"I've never played Quidditch before in my life, and tomorrow I'm expected to tryout for it?" she moaned. James smiled brightly.
"I'll teach you how to play! I've been looking for an excuse to not do that essay on the essence of an emanation elixir." Lily looked at him doubtfully.
"He's the next best thing to me and Remus, who would apparently get that spot hands down," said Sirius mockingly.
"Sirius, you know that I can beat you in Quidditch any time. I've done it before," said Remus, which shut Sirius up.
"Fine," Lily gave in. "Let's go, I have stuff to do."
"You have stuff to do?" asked James, sarcastically. "Pray tell, Madam Lily, what stuff have you to do?" he ducked as she aimed for a slap at his head.
"I have to re-arrange my stuffed animals, if you must know, and tuck Tigger in bed. I've been neglecting him for a while and I want to make it up to him," she sniffed. James opened his mouth, but decided that it would be best to keep it shut, lest Lily get offended. Heaven forbid that happening.
At this point I want to thank all the dearies who have reviewed so far (yea, I know I should've done this before, but I'm lazy):
Crazed syromaniac
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James'girl289-yea, I know its weird, but so am I!J
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KitKat-thanks for your input, but I dunno how the story will be, its kinda just writing itself.
DaeLily
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Jujubee-thank you! I'm glad my story is unique!
Bratgoddess88-I have no idea what happened to him. Someone should start a Fluffy fic.
Quinn
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Skye007lex-yea, maybe Lily will beat the shit out of them
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Anastazia Silverwind-thank you! You're so sweet!
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