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Authors Note- Horrah, another chapter! Thanks to all our lovely reviewers- you're all spiffing, you know.
Chapter Nine
James paused in the portrait hole, looking straight into Sirius's defiant eyes.
"So." Sirius said simply, standing and crossing his arms across his chest. James glared at him, and then walked off towards the boy's dormitories door.
"Oh, no you don't," Sirius growled, and James whirled around.
"Oh no I don't what? Leave because you're being a stupid ass? Not tell you every little piece of news in my life? Oh no I don't go off and 'screw one of my followers?' What, Sirius?"
Sirius stared at him, scandalized. "God, James! I wanted you to stay so that we could sort out this whole f...this whole damn thing!" he cried.
"All right, fine. We can. What do you want to know?" James asked, walking over and sitting down in one of the chairs. His back was rigid against the cloth, and his hazel eyes flashed dangerously.
"Why the hell do you keep sneaking off? Who are you seeing? Why won't you tell me anything?? I've been watching you, I know you have some secret that you're just dying to tell, but are too cowardly to admit it," Sirius burst, waving his arms around for emphasis. James refused to let his mouth explode into the furious fountain of curses that were lingering impatiently upon his tongue. Instead, he just squinted at his former friend, refusing to back down.
"And if I do?"
"Do what?"
"Have a secret, you damn fool!"
"I thought we were friends, James! Just tell me and we'll be fine!" Sirius shouted at him.
"What if I don't want to?"
Sirius's face was turning slightly red with anger. But then suddenly, it was as though he completely deflated. His back and shoulders slumped, his arms fell to his side, and the anger in his eyes dimmed to an odd, ashamed and frustrated glimmer.
"Then don't. I just thought we could perhaps rebuild the friendship we once had, but clearly, I guess not, if your pride is just too big to sink to my level." He turned to walk up to the dormitories and then stopped, turning back. "I guess Snape's right. You're just the most damn arrogant person I've ever met," he spat, and then walked off.
James stared at the dark doorway where Sirius had retreated and then whirled around, his eyes searching the room for anything for revenge. And then he saw a desk with parchment unrolled on it. He stormed over to it and grabbed the parchment. Black, Sirius it said at the top, and as his eyes skimmed over it, he saw that it was Sirius' potion's essay. The one that had to be three feet long, and was due the next day.
Revenge bubbled in his heart as he saw that it was indeed three feet long, and finished. It was full of good facts and references from books that James had never even heard of. Grinning an evil grin, he rolled it up and walked over to the still-crackling fire.
Not pausing to think, he tossed it into the fire and watched as the edges grew black and curled inwards, until the entire thing was charred and burning, and eventually collapsed into weak, black crumbles.
He didn't even feel the slightest bit guilty as he marched over to the couch and, pulling off his sweater, wadded it up and laid down on the couch, using the sweater as a pillow.
And thus, he fell asleep.
~*~
"AAAAAGHH!" The roar exploded into James' ears and he sat up abruptly, his back cracking from his uncomfortable position on the couch. Ignoring the pain, he looked around until he saw Sirius over by the desk where the books and parchment had formerly lay.
"My essay! Where's my essay?" he yelled, opening the books and shaking them out, then dropping to his knees and searching the ground. At last he saw James and stood, marching over to him.
"What did you do to it?"
"Do to what?" James said innocently, though not able to conceal his evil smirk.
"AGH! I knew it, you bastard!" Just then, a few girls, chattering softly, came down from their dormitories, their bags slung over their shoulders. Pausing, they stared at the two boys, confusion written on their faces. "Hey, did you guys come down at all last night?" Sirius demanded, pointing a shaking finger at them. The three girls gasped and their eyes widened, shaking their heads. Sirius let out another shout of fury, turning back to James.
"You did it!!"
"Did what?"
"Shut up and stop lying! You did something to my potions essay! Last night, when I left, and you were still here, all full of your goddamn steam, and-" he paused and turned to the fireplace, where fresh logs lay, ready to be burned for that evening. Turning back to James, his eyes flashed.
"You burned it."
"God, Sirius, no, I didn't!"
"Bloody hell!" Sirius lunged at him, grabbing at the throat of his robes. Gasping in surprise, James threw out a punch that landed heavily on Sirius' cheek.
"You admit it then!" Sirius yelled. "By fighting back, you admit it! You haven't told me you didn't do it!" he cried through ragged breaths. James kicked Sirius' shin and, not bothering to think, turned heel and ran out of the portrait hole, grabbing his bag on the way out that was lying conveniently on the ground. His feet slapped the stone floor as he raced through the halls, his former hunger now completely gone. Acting as though he was blind, he ran to the one place that was considerably far from the Gryffindor tower, and to a place that Sirius wouldn't think to go. The Owlery.
He shoved the door roughly open and staggered in, his feet slipping on the droppings littering the ground. He, James Potter, perfect boy, had punched his best friend, Sirius Black. Why, it was unthinkable! But Sirius started it, he told himself roughly, leaning against the wall. Very suddenly, he heard a crash of metal and the rustle of wings. Looking up, he saw someone lingering against a wall, in the shadows of the early morning.
"Potter?"
He squinted over towards the figure, and suddenly, she emerged into the dim light. His eyebrows raised as he saw someone he had only seen a few times in the halls, next to..someone, he couldn't place who. She was small and blonde, lightly freckled with bright hazel eyes that were watching him carefully.
"Yes, and who are you?"
"Claire Avery. I'm a Slytherin," she stated with a small swell of pride. James nodded.
"So I saw on your sweater," he said simply, crossing his arms over his chest. She smiled. "Why are you here? And why do you look so familiar?" he asked bluntly, peering at her as the sun went under a cloud and cast the room into shadows. A moment later, however, sunlight was back and he saw that she had walked over to a perch and had a simple brown owl on her arm, nipping softly at her ear. She grinned and turned back to him.
"I'm sending a letter to my parents before breakfast starts, so that it'll get there before supper." She took a step towards him and the bird on her arm fluttered its wings distinctly. "And you've seen me with Lily Evans and my other friend Kate." She grinned again, her eyes sparkling. James wondered why she seemed so wonderfully happy when usually the hatred between Gryffindors and Slytherins was a horrible barrier between them that made any kind of fraternizes between them nasty disputes and unpleasant conversations. However, this Avery girl looked excited and yet compressed at the same time, as though she had some reason to not be allowed to be talking to him.
"Figures," he said with a shrug, and suddenly her smile vanished, and she looked very thoughtful as she sent her owl soaring out the window with the letter tied tightly to it's leg.
"Where are your friends?" she asked him, her small smile appearing with a slightly concerned look as well that made her look all the more pleasant.
"Rem...er, Lupin is probably at breakfast, and Black is...well, I don't give a damn," he spat angrily, glaring down at the ground. He heard Claire sigh.
"Yes, I noticed that Black hasn't been with you the past few days," she said simply. He looked back up, staring at her. Did she follow him or something? She seemed to know him awfully well, about his friends and all, when he had never talked to her in his life. And yet, she was rather comforting.
"Oh, yeah, so anyways..." he muttered, feeling slightly awkward. But she didn't look awkward at all. She was staring out the large windows, smiling, the sunlight bathing her face and making her gold hair shimmer.
"What happened between you two?" Again, she surprised him with her blunt way of asking questions as though she was already good friends with him. James shrugged awkwardly.
"I dunno, just a stupid fight..."
"You know, you really shouldn't risk such tight friendships over something stupid. You never know what you have until you've lost it," she informed him wisely, locking her eyes into him. And suddenly, he realized how terribly right she was. It was like a kick to the stomach; Sirius had never done anything to him. He had burned his friend's essay and completely ignored him. In normal circumstances, James would have eagerly told his friend everything, and Sirius would have listened and laughed with him, practically scheduling his next date. Sirius would have loved the whole inter-house relationship, especially when it was with the Queen of all Slytherins.
It was then when he realized how very close to him Claire was. He could see all the little brown flecks near her pupils in her eyes, and see the small smile that twitched at the edges of her lips.
"Don't worry, James," she whispered to him, and it sent shivers of confusion up his spine. "Sirius doesn't need to know about this." And with that, she kissed him, full on the lips. It took a moment for James to react, but he certainly didn't kiss her back. She pulled away and smiled at him, looking horribly satisfied.
"Ah, Claire...um, I really should get going," he muttered, making his way to the door. But Claire wouldn't stand for that. Grabbing his arm, she pulled him into another kiss. And just then, the door flew open and the most unexpected (and unlucky) person marched in, chattering to her other friend.
James shoved Claire away and gasped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Lily shrieked in surprise and stared at the two of them, her quick brain piecing the image of James' lips stuck to Avery's. But then, if she acted too scandalized, her relationship with James would be at stake.
"Avery? What are you doing here?" she asked incredulously, ignoring James completely.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" the confused Claire spat back. Lily looked disgusted.
"Well, excuse me for coming to deliver a letter! I really think we should go to breakfast now," she said quickly and shoved Claire out the door. Before she marched out the door, however, she threw James a look of such disgust, hatred and disappointment that it made James want to sink to the floor and become invisible.
~*~
"So please, Avery, if you would be so kind as to explain what was going on?" Lily asked, her voice quivering slightly as she filled her goblet with orange juice at breakfast. Claire blushed and pushed her bacon around in circles on her plate.
"Nothing, Lily.."
Lily slammed her fork down and glared at her friend. "If you don't tell me, I will completely leave you in the dust of our friendship and you can go wallow in your own stupidity and pride, but not after I have hexed you enough to make you as positively ugly as possible and no one will want to look at your disgusting face," Lily spat (literally) leaning across the table and glaring Claire with eyes that looked as though they could belong to a dragon.
"Yeah, and why the hell with James?" Kate cried from next to Lily. Claire shrank back.
"I was jealous..." she whispered. Lily said nothing, waiting for her to continue. Claire sighed heavily. "I was jealous of you, Lily. I knew you had some secret thing going on. It's what's been making you so happy and all," she said defiantly, looking up into Lily's eyes. "I wanted something too. Something to be happy about. You've just been ignoring Kate and me, and I think James is rather cute, and it didn't look like he had a girlfriend, so I just sort of...went for it, you know? Even though he isn't in the same house, I didn't think that would matter. I thought that maybe by me doing that I'd sorta be brave..."
Lily looked like she was going to explode, but she didn't. She took a few deep breaths and leaned in again so that she didn't need to display her secret to the whole school. They were at the end of the table, though, rather alone, so she didn't feel like she needed to worry about that.
"Avery, my dear, I can't believe how thick you are. It took Kate two days to figure out who my secret 'lover' is. And sure, I confirmed it, waiting for you to figure out." She paused. "It's James, you loser. James and I have been, well-together for quite some time now," she said, sinking back into her seat with a sad look on his face.
Claire looked scandalized and she clapped a hand to her open mouth. "What? Oh, Lily, I'm so sorry!" And she truly looked it, with tears quivering in her eyes. "If you would have only told me.."
But Lily didn't look satisfied. She glared at Claire still. "Did he kiss you back?"
"Yes," Claire said before thinking. Immediately, Lily looked furious again.
"Oh, that damn bastard!" she hissed to Kate, who nodded fervently.
"You really should dump him, Lily," Kate assured her. "He doesn't deserve you. He's all pumped up on pride and arrogance that he doesn't realize what he's done to you." Lily looked as though she might cry, but she nodded too.
"Yes. It's his damn fault." She turned back to Claire. "Did he kiss you first, or you kiss him?"
"Oh, I-" she started, before pausing to think. If she said that James had kissed her, Lily would dump him. And James would no doubt come to her, looking for some sympathy, since Sirius had abandoned him and Remus was always ill and such. Feeling awful, she said, "oh, Lily, he kissed me."
Lily gasped and a single tear trickle down her pale cheek. Standing, she grabbed her grab and Kate's hand, marching away from the table defiantly, leaving Claire to indeed wallow in her stupidity.
~*~
Lily stormed through the hallways towards Transfiguration, anger raging inside of her like a wild forest fire. Beside her, Kate was jogging to keep up with her friend.
"How dare he do that? How dare he even think about just...leaving me in the dust?" she shrieked, slamming the wall with her fist as she rounded a corner. "Damnit, I never did anything to him! I'd never cheat on him!" Suddenly she stopped and Kate ran into her shoulder, though Lily paid no heed. Turning slowly, Lily stared into Kate's eyes. "Kate, should I ditch Claire or James? I love James, and Claire too..." she paused, her eyes wide and confused.
"Oh Lily, don't ditch James, because...what if Avery was lying?" They began walking again, both pondering deeply.
"But what if she wasn't lying?"
"I dunno. But even so, Lily, he's a Gryffindor."
"He's a gorgeous Gryffindor. And besides, I like the whole inter- house thing. It's sorta forbidden and dangerous..."
"But what if someone found out?"
"They won't. Kate, I'm positive."
Kate snorted but carefully said nothing to offend Lily. Instead, she insulted James. "Lily, he's so arrogant..."
Just then, a first year scampered by them, his shoulder hitting Lily's side. "WATCH IT, FREAK!" she screamed down the hallway. The first year didn't turn back, but quite obviously began running faster. Lily snorted. "Pathetic little loser. And it was a Hufflepuff, too. I hope someone beats him up," she spat. Kate stared at her, shocked and yet relieved that the love-struck Lily Evans had fled and that the true Slytherin was still there.
Lily turned back to Kate. "What were you saying about arrogance?"
~*~
Authors Note- Ha. I like that ending. Sorry if I made it a little confusing...K-K, I hope you can pick it up and continue with such gorgeousness as you have before. Tatah! ~Clare
Authors Note- Horrah, another chapter! Thanks to all our lovely reviewers- you're all spiffing, you know.
Chapter Nine
James paused in the portrait hole, looking straight into Sirius's defiant eyes.
"So." Sirius said simply, standing and crossing his arms across his chest. James glared at him, and then walked off towards the boy's dormitories door.
"Oh, no you don't," Sirius growled, and James whirled around.
"Oh no I don't what? Leave because you're being a stupid ass? Not tell you every little piece of news in my life? Oh no I don't go off and 'screw one of my followers?' What, Sirius?"
Sirius stared at him, scandalized. "God, James! I wanted you to stay so that we could sort out this whole f...this whole damn thing!" he cried.
"All right, fine. We can. What do you want to know?" James asked, walking over and sitting down in one of the chairs. His back was rigid against the cloth, and his hazel eyes flashed dangerously.
"Why the hell do you keep sneaking off? Who are you seeing? Why won't you tell me anything?? I've been watching you, I know you have some secret that you're just dying to tell, but are too cowardly to admit it," Sirius burst, waving his arms around for emphasis. James refused to let his mouth explode into the furious fountain of curses that were lingering impatiently upon his tongue. Instead, he just squinted at his former friend, refusing to back down.
"And if I do?"
"Do what?"
"Have a secret, you damn fool!"
"I thought we were friends, James! Just tell me and we'll be fine!" Sirius shouted at him.
"What if I don't want to?"
Sirius's face was turning slightly red with anger. But then suddenly, it was as though he completely deflated. His back and shoulders slumped, his arms fell to his side, and the anger in his eyes dimmed to an odd, ashamed and frustrated glimmer.
"Then don't. I just thought we could perhaps rebuild the friendship we once had, but clearly, I guess not, if your pride is just too big to sink to my level." He turned to walk up to the dormitories and then stopped, turning back. "I guess Snape's right. You're just the most damn arrogant person I've ever met," he spat, and then walked off.
James stared at the dark doorway where Sirius had retreated and then whirled around, his eyes searching the room for anything for revenge. And then he saw a desk with parchment unrolled on it. He stormed over to it and grabbed the parchment. Black, Sirius it said at the top, and as his eyes skimmed over it, he saw that it was Sirius' potion's essay. The one that had to be three feet long, and was due the next day.
Revenge bubbled in his heart as he saw that it was indeed three feet long, and finished. It was full of good facts and references from books that James had never even heard of. Grinning an evil grin, he rolled it up and walked over to the still-crackling fire.
Not pausing to think, he tossed it into the fire and watched as the edges grew black and curled inwards, until the entire thing was charred and burning, and eventually collapsed into weak, black crumbles.
He didn't even feel the slightest bit guilty as he marched over to the couch and, pulling off his sweater, wadded it up and laid down on the couch, using the sweater as a pillow.
And thus, he fell asleep.
~*~
"AAAAAGHH!" The roar exploded into James' ears and he sat up abruptly, his back cracking from his uncomfortable position on the couch. Ignoring the pain, he looked around until he saw Sirius over by the desk where the books and parchment had formerly lay.
"My essay! Where's my essay?" he yelled, opening the books and shaking them out, then dropping to his knees and searching the ground. At last he saw James and stood, marching over to him.
"What did you do to it?"
"Do to what?" James said innocently, though not able to conceal his evil smirk.
"AGH! I knew it, you bastard!" Just then, a few girls, chattering softly, came down from their dormitories, their bags slung over their shoulders. Pausing, they stared at the two boys, confusion written on their faces. "Hey, did you guys come down at all last night?" Sirius demanded, pointing a shaking finger at them. The three girls gasped and their eyes widened, shaking their heads. Sirius let out another shout of fury, turning back to James.
"You did it!!"
"Did what?"
"Shut up and stop lying! You did something to my potions essay! Last night, when I left, and you were still here, all full of your goddamn steam, and-" he paused and turned to the fireplace, where fresh logs lay, ready to be burned for that evening. Turning back to James, his eyes flashed.
"You burned it."
"God, Sirius, no, I didn't!"
"Bloody hell!" Sirius lunged at him, grabbing at the throat of his robes. Gasping in surprise, James threw out a punch that landed heavily on Sirius' cheek.
"You admit it then!" Sirius yelled. "By fighting back, you admit it! You haven't told me you didn't do it!" he cried through ragged breaths. James kicked Sirius' shin and, not bothering to think, turned heel and ran out of the portrait hole, grabbing his bag on the way out that was lying conveniently on the ground. His feet slapped the stone floor as he raced through the halls, his former hunger now completely gone. Acting as though he was blind, he ran to the one place that was considerably far from the Gryffindor tower, and to a place that Sirius wouldn't think to go. The Owlery.
He shoved the door roughly open and staggered in, his feet slipping on the droppings littering the ground. He, James Potter, perfect boy, had punched his best friend, Sirius Black. Why, it was unthinkable! But Sirius started it, he told himself roughly, leaning against the wall. Very suddenly, he heard a crash of metal and the rustle of wings. Looking up, he saw someone lingering against a wall, in the shadows of the early morning.
"Potter?"
He squinted over towards the figure, and suddenly, she emerged into the dim light. His eyebrows raised as he saw someone he had only seen a few times in the halls, next to..someone, he couldn't place who. She was small and blonde, lightly freckled with bright hazel eyes that were watching him carefully.
"Yes, and who are you?"
"Claire Avery. I'm a Slytherin," she stated with a small swell of pride. James nodded.
"So I saw on your sweater," he said simply, crossing his arms over his chest. She smiled. "Why are you here? And why do you look so familiar?" he asked bluntly, peering at her as the sun went under a cloud and cast the room into shadows. A moment later, however, sunlight was back and he saw that she had walked over to a perch and had a simple brown owl on her arm, nipping softly at her ear. She grinned and turned back to him.
"I'm sending a letter to my parents before breakfast starts, so that it'll get there before supper." She took a step towards him and the bird on her arm fluttered its wings distinctly. "And you've seen me with Lily Evans and my other friend Kate." She grinned again, her eyes sparkling. James wondered why she seemed so wonderfully happy when usually the hatred between Gryffindors and Slytherins was a horrible barrier between them that made any kind of fraternizes between them nasty disputes and unpleasant conversations. However, this Avery girl looked excited and yet compressed at the same time, as though she had some reason to not be allowed to be talking to him.
"Figures," he said with a shrug, and suddenly her smile vanished, and she looked very thoughtful as she sent her owl soaring out the window with the letter tied tightly to it's leg.
"Where are your friends?" she asked him, her small smile appearing with a slightly concerned look as well that made her look all the more pleasant.
"Rem...er, Lupin is probably at breakfast, and Black is...well, I don't give a damn," he spat angrily, glaring down at the ground. He heard Claire sigh.
"Yes, I noticed that Black hasn't been with you the past few days," she said simply. He looked back up, staring at her. Did she follow him or something? She seemed to know him awfully well, about his friends and all, when he had never talked to her in his life. And yet, she was rather comforting.
"Oh, yeah, so anyways..." he muttered, feeling slightly awkward. But she didn't look awkward at all. She was staring out the large windows, smiling, the sunlight bathing her face and making her gold hair shimmer.
"What happened between you two?" Again, she surprised him with her blunt way of asking questions as though she was already good friends with him. James shrugged awkwardly.
"I dunno, just a stupid fight..."
"You know, you really shouldn't risk such tight friendships over something stupid. You never know what you have until you've lost it," she informed him wisely, locking her eyes into him. And suddenly, he realized how terribly right she was. It was like a kick to the stomach; Sirius had never done anything to him. He had burned his friend's essay and completely ignored him. In normal circumstances, James would have eagerly told his friend everything, and Sirius would have listened and laughed with him, practically scheduling his next date. Sirius would have loved the whole inter-house relationship, especially when it was with the Queen of all Slytherins.
It was then when he realized how very close to him Claire was. He could see all the little brown flecks near her pupils in her eyes, and see the small smile that twitched at the edges of her lips.
"Don't worry, James," she whispered to him, and it sent shivers of confusion up his spine. "Sirius doesn't need to know about this." And with that, she kissed him, full on the lips. It took a moment for James to react, but he certainly didn't kiss her back. She pulled away and smiled at him, looking horribly satisfied.
"Ah, Claire...um, I really should get going," he muttered, making his way to the door. But Claire wouldn't stand for that. Grabbing his arm, she pulled him into another kiss. And just then, the door flew open and the most unexpected (and unlucky) person marched in, chattering to her other friend.
James shoved Claire away and gasped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Lily shrieked in surprise and stared at the two of them, her quick brain piecing the image of James' lips stuck to Avery's. But then, if she acted too scandalized, her relationship with James would be at stake.
"Avery? What are you doing here?" she asked incredulously, ignoring James completely.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" the confused Claire spat back. Lily looked disgusted.
"Well, excuse me for coming to deliver a letter! I really think we should go to breakfast now," she said quickly and shoved Claire out the door. Before she marched out the door, however, she threw James a look of such disgust, hatred and disappointment that it made James want to sink to the floor and become invisible.
~*~
"So please, Avery, if you would be so kind as to explain what was going on?" Lily asked, her voice quivering slightly as she filled her goblet with orange juice at breakfast. Claire blushed and pushed her bacon around in circles on her plate.
"Nothing, Lily.."
Lily slammed her fork down and glared at her friend. "If you don't tell me, I will completely leave you in the dust of our friendship and you can go wallow in your own stupidity and pride, but not after I have hexed you enough to make you as positively ugly as possible and no one will want to look at your disgusting face," Lily spat (literally) leaning across the table and glaring Claire with eyes that looked as though they could belong to a dragon.
"Yeah, and why the hell with James?" Kate cried from next to Lily. Claire shrank back.
"I was jealous..." she whispered. Lily said nothing, waiting for her to continue. Claire sighed heavily. "I was jealous of you, Lily. I knew you had some secret thing going on. It's what's been making you so happy and all," she said defiantly, looking up into Lily's eyes. "I wanted something too. Something to be happy about. You've just been ignoring Kate and me, and I think James is rather cute, and it didn't look like he had a girlfriend, so I just sort of...went for it, you know? Even though he isn't in the same house, I didn't think that would matter. I thought that maybe by me doing that I'd sorta be brave..."
Lily looked like she was going to explode, but she didn't. She took a few deep breaths and leaned in again so that she didn't need to display her secret to the whole school. They were at the end of the table, though, rather alone, so she didn't feel like she needed to worry about that.
"Avery, my dear, I can't believe how thick you are. It took Kate two days to figure out who my secret 'lover' is. And sure, I confirmed it, waiting for you to figure out." She paused. "It's James, you loser. James and I have been, well-together for quite some time now," she said, sinking back into her seat with a sad look on his face.
Claire looked scandalized and she clapped a hand to her open mouth. "What? Oh, Lily, I'm so sorry!" And she truly looked it, with tears quivering in her eyes. "If you would have only told me.."
But Lily didn't look satisfied. She glared at Claire still. "Did he kiss you back?"
"Yes," Claire said before thinking. Immediately, Lily looked furious again.
"Oh, that damn bastard!" she hissed to Kate, who nodded fervently.
"You really should dump him, Lily," Kate assured her. "He doesn't deserve you. He's all pumped up on pride and arrogance that he doesn't realize what he's done to you." Lily looked as though she might cry, but she nodded too.
"Yes. It's his damn fault." She turned back to Claire. "Did he kiss you first, or you kiss him?"
"Oh, I-" she started, before pausing to think. If she said that James had kissed her, Lily would dump him. And James would no doubt come to her, looking for some sympathy, since Sirius had abandoned him and Remus was always ill and such. Feeling awful, she said, "oh, Lily, he kissed me."
Lily gasped and a single tear trickle down her pale cheek. Standing, she grabbed her grab and Kate's hand, marching away from the table defiantly, leaving Claire to indeed wallow in her stupidity.
~*~
Lily stormed through the hallways towards Transfiguration, anger raging inside of her like a wild forest fire. Beside her, Kate was jogging to keep up with her friend.
"How dare he do that? How dare he even think about just...leaving me in the dust?" she shrieked, slamming the wall with her fist as she rounded a corner. "Damnit, I never did anything to him! I'd never cheat on him!" Suddenly she stopped and Kate ran into her shoulder, though Lily paid no heed. Turning slowly, Lily stared into Kate's eyes. "Kate, should I ditch Claire or James? I love James, and Claire too..." she paused, her eyes wide and confused.
"Oh Lily, don't ditch James, because...what if Avery was lying?" They began walking again, both pondering deeply.
"But what if she wasn't lying?"
"I dunno. But even so, Lily, he's a Gryffindor."
"He's a gorgeous Gryffindor. And besides, I like the whole inter- house thing. It's sorta forbidden and dangerous..."
"But what if someone found out?"
"They won't. Kate, I'm positive."
Kate snorted but carefully said nothing to offend Lily. Instead, she insulted James. "Lily, he's so arrogant..."
Just then, a first year scampered by them, his shoulder hitting Lily's side. "WATCH IT, FREAK!" she screamed down the hallway. The first year didn't turn back, but quite obviously began running faster. Lily snorted. "Pathetic little loser. And it was a Hufflepuff, too. I hope someone beats him up," she spat. Kate stared at her, shocked and yet relieved that the love-struck Lily Evans had fled and that the true Slytherin was still there.
Lily turned back to Kate. "What were you saying about arrogance?"
~*~
Authors Note- Ha. I like that ending. Sorry if I made it a little confusing...K-K, I hope you can pick it up and continue with such gorgeousness as you have before. Tatah! ~Clare