Landslide 4
Lily stared at James, not taking his hand. Her mouth opened and quivered as she tried to force words out of her mouth. His hand dropped after a moment. James shook his head slightly in disbelief as he looked over the crowd. Lily looked out at them too, still cheering and jumping out of their seats. She then looked at Dumbledore, who was smiling warmly, and finally back to the Goblet.
There was a final ripple of blue flames, and then the fire extinguished completely. Madame Pomfrey patted her gently on the arm.
"Through the door, Ms. Evans."
Lily got up from her chair slowly and made her way to the end of the table. She looked out over the hall again, giving them a weak smile, and dissapeared.
Lily shut the door behind her and looked around the small room she was now in. It was nothing special, save a fireplace and a few chairs.
Along with the two other champions, Mr. Warrick and Mrs. Johanssen were there, talking quietly to themselves. When Lily had entered, they looked up at her and said their congratulations. Dumbledore came in shortly afterwards, and everyone sat down.
The minister, Mr. Frank Warrick, stood from his seat and adjusted his tie.
"Congratulations to you three on becoming school Champions. In addition to completing the three tasks throughout the year, you are exempted from the end-of-year exams, as well as unlimited time in the library, including after-hours. This tournament is not to be taken lightly. Each task will be open to interpretation, and it is up to you to complete it the best way you see fit. The Hogwarts student body, as well as the students from both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will be there to cheer you on at each task. As champion, you are not allowed to ask for help from friends, nor from teachers or the Headmaster. Your name has been drawn from the Goblet, and you are therefore bound by magical contract to participate in all of the three tasks, come hell or -"
Mrs. Johanssen gave him a stern look.
" - come what may." he finished. "Wilhemina, would you like to give them their first task?"
"Yes. Right then, it is important for every wizard to be able to problem solve in sometimes hectic situations. It is even harder when we do not know what is coming, and yet sometimes the hardest when we do. Therefore, we will tell you of only half the task. On November the twenty-third, at precisely 12:00 noon, Durmstrang's ship will sink to the bottom of the Hogwarts lake. You will get to the ship under supervision, and we will be providing your air supply. Any further instructions will be given to you once you reach the bottom."
"You are all now excused back to the Great Hall to join in the Halloween feast. Good luck to you all, and we'll see you at the lake in November."
Lilys head was spinning. She would have happily agreed to do the task, but to do it in front of the whole school? She knew something would go wrong with so many watching.
Once everyone had re-entered the hall, the applause broke out again. Lily shakily took her seat. James was pushing his food around his plate, not eating anything. Lily stared at him for a moment, pleading internally that she could think of something nice to say to him.
"James?"
He dropped his fork and threw his napkin on his plate.
"I'm going to eat with my friends today." he said angrily. Lily watched his back for a moment. She looked down the table at Dumbledore, who was also watching him go. She got out of her seat and approached him.
"Excuse me, Headmaster? Could I have a word with you?"
"Of course. What ails you?"
Lily sat down in the empty seat beside him, which had been vacated by Professor McGonagall as she went to investigate a small commotion.
"It's about the Goblet."
"Go on."
"Do you - are you sure that there wasn't a mistake?"
"A mistake?"
"Yes. Are you positive it was my name on the parchment?"
Dumbledore reached inside his pocket, and took out three slips of paper. He flicked through them, and handed one to Lily.
She knew, before even flipping it over to reveal the name, that it was hers. It was crinkled. She looked at her name again anyways, and sighed.
"Do not be troubled by Mr. Potter's reaction."
"I'm sorry?"
Dumbledore turned in his chair more to face Lily.
"The Goblet chose you as Champion because you were meant to compete in the Tournament. And I have faith that he will not remain bothered by this for long. All you need to worry about is completing each task as best as you can."
Dumbledore saw Lily look out at the students.
"Do this for yourself, and not for the school. You are the Champion, not them."
"But they're counting on me to win." she said in more of a whisper than she expected.
"They believe in you."
'Not all of them.' she thought, looking at James.
"Thank you Professor."
"You are very welcome."
Lily got up from her seat, not at all hungry anymore. She left the hall, which took so much longer with everyone asking her questions or congratulating her.
Instead of going to her dorm, she hung a right an went to the library. She had a thought to borrow a book on underwater life.
*
James was so angry after the feast. Why wasn't it him that had been named Champion? And Evans? Evans?! She was conceited enough as it was, and now she had Champion beside her name.
He also hadn't eaten much. Nothing looked appetizing in front of him, no matter where he sat. Sirius, Remus and Peter were also upset at not being chosen, but they were more worried about their friend, who seemed to be taking it a bit more to heart than he should have.
"So who's up for searching for more passages?" Sirius asked.
"No thanks," James said, although the others looked mildly interested.
"James, this isn't a big deal. You're still Head Boy, that's something." Remus offered.
"Mm."
"Come on. Prank on Snape?"
"No, no, I think I'll just go up to bed. I'll see you guys tomorrow in class."
"James?" Peter said.
He paused as he got out of his seat.
"I think you should have been picked."
James' face broke into a grin in spite of himself.
"Thanks, Wormtail."
James left, waving off a few girls that had jumped up to comfort him.
Sirius looked at Peter, who was busy shovelling food into his mouth, looking unpreturbed.
"Pete?"
Peter looked halfway up from his plate.
"You're making the rest of us look bad." he said, grinning.
Peter smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and started eating again.
*
James made his way up the stairways and hallways. A few more girls stopped him on the way, but he barely said anything to them. They looked disappointed, but he plastered his infamous grin on his face and they broke into fits of giggles.
He made his way around a corner, and bumped right into someone, knocking them both over.
"Sorry," James said, adjusting his glasses. "Oh,"
Lily pushed her hair out of her face, and tried to get up. All of the books she had been carrying had toppled to the floor.
"Sorry,"she said. "M - my fault."
"I thought the library was closed," he said, picking up a book and flipping through the pages.
"I have special priveleges." she said, piling the 8 or so books into her hands. She was saying it more to herself, but James overheard. Lily jumped as the sharp bang of a book slammed shut.
"I'm sorry you're dissapointed," Lily said, leaning all the books into one arm and holding out the other for the book James had.
"Understatement. Found in rivers or streams, feeds mainly on poor judgements and has a tendency to be weak."
"Ha ha. Could I have my book?"
James dropped the book on the top of the pile, ignoring her outstretched hand. Lily teetered, but managed to not frop anything. He left, going back the way he had come. Lily turned around and did the same. She too favoured taking a long route back to her dorm.
*
James awoke late, albeit in a better mood, although still miffed. He got dressed quickly, and, blessing his speed, ran to his Transfiguration class.
"Mr. Potter," tutted Professor McGonagall. "Late again? I'll overlook it this once, but don't let it happen again."
McGonagall had a certain soft spot for her best student, although James still managed to get 3 detentions a week in that class alone. He made his way to the back of the classroom, and dropped his books onto the table. Sirius shook his head.
"5 times late," he whispered to James, who was taking his wand out of his pocket. "You'll beat your own record soon."
"Now then, today we will be transfiguring these footballs into Puffskeins. I will deduct marks if the transfigured creature remains with black spots. The spell is located on page 546 of your texts, and please answer the questions on the board to hand in for tomorrows class. You may begin."
A football magically appeared in front of each student. Lily flipped open her texbook and was about to try the incantation, when a ball suddenly bounced off the back of her head. Or no, it was a Puffskein. She whirled arouns, amid hushed giggles and whispers.
James was sitting at his desk, no ball nor puffskien in sight. He was quietly starting his homework, acting as if nothing had happened. Lily turned back to her work, her quill scratching with more pressure than needed, against the parchment.
And again the same thing happened. A transfigured ball had hit her in the back of the head. She whirled around, now to laughter, and saw that Sirius' project was also missing. He, however, was talking straight-faced at James. Lily looked for where McGonagall was, and saw that she was outside speaking to Professor Flitwick. She dove underneath her desk, and grabbed the nearest puffskien. She got up again and hurled it towards James, hitting it square between the eyes.
A low "oooh," came from the other students.
James looked angrily at Lily, and picked up his wand. Lily picked up another creature.
McGonagall came in just as a puffskien and a hex went flying in opposite directions. She knew immediately by James' aggrivated grunt and Lily's sharp intake of breath what had happened.
"The two of you - outside - now!"
The class was whispering as they both got silently out of thier seats, and pointing to Lily's green hair. McGonagall closed the door behind her, and looked down at them with a severe expression.
"As Head Boy and Girl, - and school Champion," she added, smiling momentarily at Lily (James scowled), "You need to set an example for all other students. I do not take class disruption lightly, and I'm afraid that I will be assigning the both of you detention, as well as 5 points from Gryffindor for the both of you."
McGonagall took out her wand and Lily's hair was soon back to it's original auburn. Now her hair matched her angry demeanor. For 6 straight years, she hadn't gotten a detention once. And now - ugh, she was so mad.
*
The rest of the week flew past, Lily dreading the upcoming detention the whole time. At least it would be served in the Library, but how many things could you do in the library as punishment?
She opened the doors to the library at exactly 12:00 noon. The rest of the school had left an hour earlier for Hogsmede, and wouldn't be arriving back until after dinner. There were only a few first and second years in the library at this time.
Lily made her way up to the circulation desk, where she saw Madame Pince waiting patiently with James.
"Lily! There you are! How's my bookworm champion?"
Lily didn't look at James, and for good reason. His face wore the expression as if he'd stepped in something foul.
She chose instead to just smile weakly and nodd.
"So what's on the agenda?" James asked.
"Oh, right right. Well, there's about 26 boxes in that room over there, full of overdue slips. You need to throw out the old ones and organize the others into piles according to House and year. Then just distribute them to the Heads of Houses. That's it, you can go start now."
She waved them away, burying her nose in 'Charms that Don't (Or at least Shouldn't) Backfire'.
Lily and James had been organizing and magicking away hundreds of overdue slips for the past two hours, and they werejust about done. A sudden hiss and swear shot across the room. Lily got up quickly from her place on the floor and went to investigate.
"What happened?" She asked, finding James holding his finger so hard his knuckles were white.
"Nothing Evans, it's a paper cut."
"Ouch. Need a bandaid?" she soothed.
"Just pass me my wand." he said, frustrated.
Lily handed him his wand from the table. He tried to grab it, but couldn't let go of his finger to manage it.
"Urgh, move -" he ordered, trying to stand up.
"Oh, let me." she said, taking out her wand and sitting beside him. He narrowed his eyes.
"Not likely."
"It's a stupid paper cut, I can mend it as soon as anything."
"I don't need your help."
"Why are you being so stubborn?"
"I'm not stubborn, I can just -"
Lily grabbed his hand and waved her wand.
"Mendus,"
A shot of white came out of her wand and onto the tip of his finger. The blood disappeared, the cut had closed.
"See?"
James pulled his hand back.
"Why do you always do that? I said I was fine on my own, and there you go - doing it anyways."
"You weren't able to do it by yourself,"
"I would have if you'd have minded your own business."
Lily stared at him for a moment.
"Why are you so angry?"
"I'm not angry!" he said loudly, getting up. She got to her feet too.
"Then you're jealous!"
"Why the hell would I be jealous?"
They were both yelling at each other now.
"You wanted to be champion, but I got it instead. That makes you jealous!"
"I'm not! As soon as I act upset, you think I envy you!"
"That's because you're always mad at whatever I do!"
"Not true!"
"Yes it is! I never hear a 'Good Job' or a - sincere - 'Congratulations'. You're always pissed off!"
"So I need to praise you all the time?"
"NO!" Lily yelled, her eyes stinging. 'Don't cry, not now - not now.'
"THEN WHAT?" he yelled back. The two were right in each other's face.
"JUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I'M THERE!"
"I ALREADY DO THAT!"
"How?! By making me feel guilty? Making me angry, annoyed, upset, or confused?"
"No!"
"Then how?"
James had the sudden impulse to do something that was confusing enough for the both of them, but -
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he frustratingly yelled in her face.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" she yelled back.
They stared blankly at each other for a moment, then quickly turned away to hide their amused faces. Lily picked up the few boxes of organized overdue slips and took them to the librarian. James did the same. They couldn't look at each other the entire time, and didn't speak at all for weeks to come. When they had turned away from each other, it had looked like one was still upset at the other, and that's what they believed.
But by this time Lily had 'bigger fish to fry' (in the words of Argus Filch).
The first task was tomorrow.
Lily stared at James, not taking his hand. Her mouth opened and quivered as she tried to force words out of her mouth. His hand dropped after a moment. James shook his head slightly in disbelief as he looked over the crowd. Lily looked out at them too, still cheering and jumping out of their seats. She then looked at Dumbledore, who was smiling warmly, and finally back to the Goblet.
There was a final ripple of blue flames, and then the fire extinguished completely. Madame Pomfrey patted her gently on the arm.
"Through the door, Ms. Evans."
Lily got up from her chair slowly and made her way to the end of the table. She looked out over the hall again, giving them a weak smile, and dissapeared.
Lily shut the door behind her and looked around the small room she was now in. It was nothing special, save a fireplace and a few chairs.
Along with the two other champions, Mr. Warrick and Mrs. Johanssen were there, talking quietly to themselves. When Lily had entered, they looked up at her and said their congratulations. Dumbledore came in shortly afterwards, and everyone sat down.
The minister, Mr. Frank Warrick, stood from his seat and adjusted his tie.
"Congratulations to you three on becoming school Champions. In addition to completing the three tasks throughout the year, you are exempted from the end-of-year exams, as well as unlimited time in the library, including after-hours. This tournament is not to be taken lightly. Each task will be open to interpretation, and it is up to you to complete it the best way you see fit. The Hogwarts student body, as well as the students from both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will be there to cheer you on at each task. As champion, you are not allowed to ask for help from friends, nor from teachers or the Headmaster. Your name has been drawn from the Goblet, and you are therefore bound by magical contract to participate in all of the three tasks, come hell or -"
Mrs. Johanssen gave him a stern look.
" - come what may." he finished. "Wilhemina, would you like to give them their first task?"
"Yes. Right then, it is important for every wizard to be able to problem solve in sometimes hectic situations. It is even harder when we do not know what is coming, and yet sometimes the hardest when we do. Therefore, we will tell you of only half the task. On November the twenty-third, at precisely 12:00 noon, Durmstrang's ship will sink to the bottom of the Hogwarts lake. You will get to the ship under supervision, and we will be providing your air supply. Any further instructions will be given to you once you reach the bottom."
"You are all now excused back to the Great Hall to join in the Halloween feast. Good luck to you all, and we'll see you at the lake in November."
Lilys head was spinning. She would have happily agreed to do the task, but to do it in front of the whole school? She knew something would go wrong with so many watching.
Once everyone had re-entered the hall, the applause broke out again. Lily shakily took her seat. James was pushing his food around his plate, not eating anything. Lily stared at him for a moment, pleading internally that she could think of something nice to say to him.
"James?"
He dropped his fork and threw his napkin on his plate.
"I'm going to eat with my friends today." he said angrily. Lily watched his back for a moment. She looked down the table at Dumbledore, who was also watching him go. She got out of her seat and approached him.
"Excuse me, Headmaster? Could I have a word with you?"
"Of course. What ails you?"
Lily sat down in the empty seat beside him, which had been vacated by Professor McGonagall as she went to investigate a small commotion.
"It's about the Goblet."
"Go on."
"Do you - are you sure that there wasn't a mistake?"
"A mistake?"
"Yes. Are you positive it was my name on the parchment?"
Dumbledore reached inside his pocket, and took out three slips of paper. He flicked through them, and handed one to Lily.
She knew, before even flipping it over to reveal the name, that it was hers. It was crinkled. She looked at her name again anyways, and sighed.
"Do not be troubled by Mr. Potter's reaction."
"I'm sorry?"
Dumbledore turned in his chair more to face Lily.
"The Goblet chose you as Champion because you were meant to compete in the Tournament. And I have faith that he will not remain bothered by this for long. All you need to worry about is completing each task as best as you can."
Dumbledore saw Lily look out at the students.
"Do this for yourself, and not for the school. You are the Champion, not them."
"But they're counting on me to win." she said in more of a whisper than she expected.
"They believe in you."
'Not all of them.' she thought, looking at James.
"Thank you Professor."
"You are very welcome."
Lily got up from her seat, not at all hungry anymore. She left the hall, which took so much longer with everyone asking her questions or congratulating her.
Instead of going to her dorm, she hung a right an went to the library. She had a thought to borrow a book on underwater life.
*
James was so angry after the feast. Why wasn't it him that had been named Champion? And Evans? Evans?! She was conceited enough as it was, and now she had Champion beside her name.
He also hadn't eaten much. Nothing looked appetizing in front of him, no matter where he sat. Sirius, Remus and Peter were also upset at not being chosen, but they were more worried about their friend, who seemed to be taking it a bit more to heart than he should have.
"So who's up for searching for more passages?" Sirius asked.
"No thanks," James said, although the others looked mildly interested.
"James, this isn't a big deal. You're still Head Boy, that's something." Remus offered.
"Mm."
"Come on. Prank on Snape?"
"No, no, I think I'll just go up to bed. I'll see you guys tomorrow in class."
"James?" Peter said.
He paused as he got out of his seat.
"I think you should have been picked."
James' face broke into a grin in spite of himself.
"Thanks, Wormtail."
James left, waving off a few girls that had jumped up to comfort him.
Sirius looked at Peter, who was busy shovelling food into his mouth, looking unpreturbed.
"Pete?"
Peter looked halfway up from his plate.
"You're making the rest of us look bad." he said, grinning.
Peter smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and started eating again.
*
James made his way up the stairways and hallways. A few more girls stopped him on the way, but he barely said anything to them. They looked disappointed, but he plastered his infamous grin on his face and they broke into fits of giggles.
He made his way around a corner, and bumped right into someone, knocking them both over.
"Sorry," James said, adjusting his glasses. "Oh,"
Lily pushed her hair out of her face, and tried to get up. All of the books she had been carrying had toppled to the floor.
"Sorry,"she said. "M - my fault."
"I thought the library was closed," he said, picking up a book and flipping through the pages.
"I have special priveleges." she said, piling the 8 or so books into her hands. She was saying it more to herself, but James overheard. Lily jumped as the sharp bang of a book slammed shut.
"I'm sorry you're dissapointed," Lily said, leaning all the books into one arm and holding out the other for the book James had.
"Understatement. Found in rivers or streams, feeds mainly on poor judgements and has a tendency to be weak."
"Ha ha. Could I have my book?"
James dropped the book on the top of the pile, ignoring her outstretched hand. Lily teetered, but managed to not frop anything. He left, going back the way he had come. Lily turned around and did the same. She too favoured taking a long route back to her dorm.
*
James awoke late, albeit in a better mood, although still miffed. He got dressed quickly, and, blessing his speed, ran to his Transfiguration class.
"Mr. Potter," tutted Professor McGonagall. "Late again? I'll overlook it this once, but don't let it happen again."
McGonagall had a certain soft spot for her best student, although James still managed to get 3 detentions a week in that class alone. He made his way to the back of the classroom, and dropped his books onto the table. Sirius shook his head.
"5 times late," he whispered to James, who was taking his wand out of his pocket. "You'll beat your own record soon."
"Now then, today we will be transfiguring these footballs into Puffskeins. I will deduct marks if the transfigured creature remains with black spots. The spell is located on page 546 of your texts, and please answer the questions on the board to hand in for tomorrows class. You may begin."
A football magically appeared in front of each student. Lily flipped open her texbook and was about to try the incantation, when a ball suddenly bounced off the back of her head. Or no, it was a Puffskein. She whirled arouns, amid hushed giggles and whispers.
James was sitting at his desk, no ball nor puffskien in sight. He was quietly starting his homework, acting as if nothing had happened. Lily turned back to her work, her quill scratching with more pressure than needed, against the parchment.
And again the same thing happened. A transfigured ball had hit her in the back of the head. She whirled around, now to laughter, and saw that Sirius' project was also missing. He, however, was talking straight-faced at James. Lily looked for where McGonagall was, and saw that she was outside speaking to Professor Flitwick. She dove underneath her desk, and grabbed the nearest puffskien. She got up again and hurled it towards James, hitting it square between the eyes.
A low "oooh," came from the other students.
James looked angrily at Lily, and picked up his wand. Lily picked up another creature.
McGonagall came in just as a puffskien and a hex went flying in opposite directions. She knew immediately by James' aggrivated grunt and Lily's sharp intake of breath what had happened.
"The two of you - outside - now!"
The class was whispering as they both got silently out of thier seats, and pointing to Lily's green hair. McGonagall closed the door behind her, and looked down at them with a severe expression.
"As Head Boy and Girl, - and school Champion," she added, smiling momentarily at Lily (James scowled), "You need to set an example for all other students. I do not take class disruption lightly, and I'm afraid that I will be assigning the both of you detention, as well as 5 points from Gryffindor for the both of you."
McGonagall took out her wand and Lily's hair was soon back to it's original auburn. Now her hair matched her angry demeanor. For 6 straight years, she hadn't gotten a detention once. And now - ugh, she was so mad.
*
The rest of the week flew past, Lily dreading the upcoming detention the whole time. At least it would be served in the Library, but how many things could you do in the library as punishment?
She opened the doors to the library at exactly 12:00 noon. The rest of the school had left an hour earlier for Hogsmede, and wouldn't be arriving back until after dinner. There were only a few first and second years in the library at this time.
Lily made her way up to the circulation desk, where she saw Madame Pince waiting patiently with James.
"Lily! There you are! How's my bookworm champion?"
Lily didn't look at James, and for good reason. His face wore the expression as if he'd stepped in something foul.
She chose instead to just smile weakly and nodd.
"So what's on the agenda?" James asked.
"Oh, right right. Well, there's about 26 boxes in that room over there, full of overdue slips. You need to throw out the old ones and organize the others into piles according to House and year. Then just distribute them to the Heads of Houses. That's it, you can go start now."
She waved them away, burying her nose in 'Charms that Don't (Or at least Shouldn't) Backfire'.
Lily and James had been organizing and magicking away hundreds of overdue slips for the past two hours, and they werejust about done. A sudden hiss and swear shot across the room. Lily got up quickly from her place on the floor and went to investigate.
"What happened?" She asked, finding James holding his finger so hard his knuckles were white.
"Nothing Evans, it's a paper cut."
"Ouch. Need a bandaid?" she soothed.
"Just pass me my wand." he said, frustrated.
Lily handed him his wand from the table. He tried to grab it, but couldn't let go of his finger to manage it.
"Urgh, move -" he ordered, trying to stand up.
"Oh, let me." she said, taking out her wand and sitting beside him. He narrowed his eyes.
"Not likely."
"It's a stupid paper cut, I can mend it as soon as anything."
"I don't need your help."
"Why are you being so stubborn?"
"I'm not stubborn, I can just -"
Lily grabbed his hand and waved her wand.
"Mendus,"
A shot of white came out of her wand and onto the tip of his finger. The blood disappeared, the cut had closed.
"See?"
James pulled his hand back.
"Why do you always do that? I said I was fine on my own, and there you go - doing it anyways."
"You weren't able to do it by yourself,"
"I would have if you'd have minded your own business."
Lily stared at him for a moment.
"Why are you so angry?"
"I'm not angry!" he said loudly, getting up. She got to her feet too.
"Then you're jealous!"
"Why the hell would I be jealous?"
They were both yelling at each other now.
"You wanted to be champion, but I got it instead. That makes you jealous!"
"I'm not! As soon as I act upset, you think I envy you!"
"That's because you're always mad at whatever I do!"
"Not true!"
"Yes it is! I never hear a 'Good Job' or a - sincere - 'Congratulations'. You're always pissed off!"
"So I need to praise you all the time?"
"NO!" Lily yelled, her eyes stinging. 'Don't cry, not now - not now.'
"THEN WHAT?" he yelled back. The two were right in each other's face.
"JUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I'M THERE!"
"I ALREADY DO THAT!"
"How?! By making me feel guilty? Making me angry, annoyed, upset, or confused?"
"No!"
"Then how?"
James had the sudden impulse to do something that was confusing enough for the both of them, but -
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he frustratingly yelled in her face.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" she yelled back.
They stared blankly at each other for a moment, then quickly turned away to hide their amused faces. Lily picked up the few boxes of organized overdue slips and took them to the librarian. James did the same. They couldn't look at each other the entire time, and didn't speak at all for weeks to come. When they had turned away from each other, it had looked like one was still upset at the other, and that's what they believed.
But by this time Lily had 'bigger fish to fry' (in the words of Argus Filch).
The first task was tomorrow.