Chapter Six: It's not what it looks like!
"OY! REMUS! RUBY! LOOK AT THIS!" shouted an eager voice. Lily's eyes flew open. She looked around her, only to find she had shifted postions during the night. From what started out as leaning on James's shoulder ended as her head being in his lap. She sat up swiftly, but in the process knocking James's glasses off.
"Lily! What're you--I thought you--and him--" Ruby said, as she ran into the common room. Lily quickly got off of James.
"No!" she said yelled to the crowd. "No, it's not what it looks like! It's *not* what it looks--" Lily stopped, frozen on the spot. In front of her stood Professor McGonagall, peering sternly at her.
"Professor, it's not what it looks like!" she said weakly, on the verge of tears.
"Come with me, Miss Evans," she said curtly. Lily hung her head as she followed McGonagall out of the portrait hole and into her office. Lily sat in a chair in front of Professor McGonagall's chair. She could feel Professor McGonagall looking at her.
"Well, Miss Evans? What do you have to say for yourself?" she asked quietly.
"What I have to say is that it's *not* what it *looks* like!" she shouted.
"We have witnesses, Miss Evans! Witnesses that saw everything you and Mister Potter did last night!" Lily's anger had reached the boiling point.
"WELL THEY LIED!" Lily shrieked. "NOTHING HAPPENED! NOTHING! I HATE JAMES AND I'D NEVER DO ANYTHING WITH HIM!" As soon as she'd said it tears sprang to her eyes.
"I'm not sure you mean that, Lily," Professor McGonagall said softly.
"I know, I don't mean it. It's just," Lily wiped her eyes, trying to swallow her tears, but it was no use, "it's just...what people think they saw...not what really happened."
"And what *did* happen?"
"NOTHING! N-NOTHING HAPPENED! I GOT T-TIRED SO I L-LEANED MY HEAD AGAINST HIS SH-SHOULDER AND FELL ASLEEP! IS TH-THAT SUCH A C-CRIME?" she sobbed and shrieked at the same time. "AND NOW BECAUSE EVERYONE TH-THINKS WE DID S-SOMETHING ELSE, IT'S GOING TO RU-RUIN MY REPUTATION!"
"Come now, Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall said soothingly, handing her a hankerchief. Lily dabbed her eyes. She sniffed loudly.
"Why--why isn't James here, too? He was there, he was with me!"
"Sorry, dozed off, what've I missed?" said James's voice. (A/N I know, I got it from Gilderoy Lockheart in the CoS.)
"Mister Potter, do you have any idea why you're here?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Not a clue."
"You're sure?"
"Absolutley positive."
"You have been convicted," Professor McGonagall told him, "of engaging in activities that Hogwarts strictly forbids. Though Miss Evans says nothing went on, we've yet to hear your side of the story."
"Erm...are you saying that I...and--and Lily...?" James said weakly.
"Yes."
"NO!" James said, his voice rising. "Of course not!"
"Okay, Mister Potter, Miss Evans, you may go. If I hear of any more activity of the sort, serious action *will* be taken." Lily ran out of the room, dabbing her eyes with her sleeve. James caught up with her.
"Lily, what's all this about--?" he asked.
"It's all my fault," she said quietly. "I shouldn'tve dozed off on your shoulder last night. There. Now you know." Lily brushed her dark red hair out of her face and ran off towards the portrait of the Fat Lady, leaving a stunned James in the middle of the corridor.
* * * * * *
"Have you heard?"
"Lily and James are back together!"
"Did you hear what they did!"
"Gross, with a Mudblood like her?"
"And then they went into the Girl's dormitories--"
"I can't believe Lily would do that!"
"I can't believe James did that!"
"Why did they do that?"
Whispers such as these could be heard everywhere Lily went; in corridors, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the common room, potions class, the loos(A/N in england, in case you didn't know, loos=bathroom), all over the place. And, of course, they were helped along by the Slytherin lot, Severus Snape in particular.
One afternoon, Lily, James and Sirius were heading down to lunch. Severus Snape and a boy they knew as Lucius Malfoy(A/N didja know that Lucius is a form of Lucifer=the devil?) ran over to them as they entered the Hall. Lily shoved her hand in her robes pocket and grasped her wand, prepared for what was coming.
"Look! It's the Mudblood and the Mudblood's lover!" Snape yelled. "What *will* they do next? You know, I'm surprised you two weren't expelled for what you did. Hah! That would've been a laugh, seeing the face on Evans if she got expel--"
"IMPEDIMENTA!" Sirius roared, his wand out. A jet of green light sent Snape flying across the room. Lucius pulled out his own wand.
"STUPEFY" Lucius shouted, pointing his wand at Lily. It was as though Lily was momentarily frozen when she saw the flash of red light coming toward her.
"PROTEGO!" James shouted, jumping in front of her. A shield-like form shot out of James's wand and the red light rebounded against it, flying back at Lucius and knocking him out. Sirius and James were both panting, and Lily still cowered behind James. She felt the eyes of all students in the Hall upon them.
"James Potter, Lily Evans, and Sirius Black! My office! Now!" shouted a curt voice at the staff table. Professor McGonagall swept over to them and shoved them out of the Great Hall. The threesome followed her to the third floor and down one corridor. A statue of a Phoenix stood there, its wings spread wide.
"Avifors," she said to it, almost wearily. The statue began to crumble as a real Phoenix emerged from it's cramped space in the rock. Lily watched it an awe, while James and Sirius stared at McGonagall, mouths open.
"Well, go in! We don't have all day to stand around gaping at me," she said brusquely. James and Sirius continued to stare.
"Y-you did wandless magic!" Sirius said weakly.
"Yes, well, go *in*! Now!" she sort of pushed them all in the office that Lily recognized.
"You all know why you are here *this* time, correct?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Yes Professor."
"Lily, James, as Head Girl and Boy I *did* expect better of you."
"You're not taking away our badges, are you?" Lily asked.
"...No, Miss Evans, I suppose not. But I must impare on *both* of you the seriousness of what you have done. You will both recieve detentions...and thirty house points will be taken. Each."
"Thirty?"
"EACH?"
"Would you care to make it fifty, Mister Potter?"
"No..."
"As for Mister Black here," Professor McGonagall motioned to Sirius, "he also, will be recieving detention. Sirius, you are to polish each trophey in the trophey room...fifty times. James and Lily...well, I have a special task for you. Come to my office tonight at nine 'o clock. And James, wear that blasted invisibility cloak. Dismissed." Lily, James and Sirius stood up and walked out of the office.
"Hey, at least you two get detention together," said a sulky Sirius.
"Oh shut-up," said Lily coldly. "I never wanted detention in the first place."
"Little Miss PMS is back," Sirius murmered to James. Lily gripped her wand tightly, beginning to pull it out.
"Short-tempered, that one," Sirius muttered. Lily wheeled around, her red hair fanning out behind her. Sirius's eyes widened in horror.
"Caninus!" Lily yelled, her wand out. Before Sirius could think of a way to protect himself, he mutated into a large Rottweiler wearing Sirius's robes. Lily grinned at the barking dog. But her smile vanished as the dog began to chase Lily and James down the stairs. Lily and James laughed as they looked back on the dog.
"Are you going to turn him back?" asked James as he pulled her behind a tapestry. Lily smiled.
"Not tonight."
"OY! REMUS! RUBY! LOOK AT THIS!" shouted an eager voice. Lily's eyes flew open. She looked around her, only to find she had shifted postions during the night. From what started out as leaning on James's shoulder ended as her head being in his lap. She sat up swiftly, but in the process knocking James's glasses off.
"Lily! What're you--I thought you--and him--" Ruby said, as she ran into the common room. Lily quickly got off of James.
"No!" she said yelled to the crowd. "No, it's not what it looks like! It's *not* what it looks--" Lily stopped, frozen on the spot. In front of her stood Professor McGonagall, peering sternly at her.
"Professor, it's not what it looks like!" she said weakly, on the verge of tears.
"Come with me, Miss Evans," she said curtly. Lily hung her head as she followed McGonagall out of the portrait hole and into her office. Lily sat in a chair in front of Professor McGonagall's chair. She could feel Professor McGonagall looking at her.
"Well, Miss Evans? What do you have to say for yourself?" she asked quietly.
"What I have to say is that it's *not* what it *looks* like!" she shouted.
"We have witnesses, Miss Evans! Witnesses that saw everything you and Mister Potter did last night!" Lily's anger had reached the boiling point.
"WELL THEY LIED!" Lily shrieked. "NOTHING HAPPENED! NOTHING! I HATE JAMES AND I'D NEVER DO ANYTHING WITH HIM!" As soon as she'd said it tears sprang to her eyes.
"I'm not sure you mean that, Lily," Professor McGonagall said softly.
"I know, I don't mean it. It's just," Lily wiped her eyes, trying to swallow her tears, but it was no use, "it's just...what people think they saw...not what really happened."
"And what *did* happen?"
"NOTHING! N-NOTHING HAPPENED! I GOT T-TIRED SO I L-LEANED MY HEAD AGAINST HIS SH-SHOULDER AND FELL ASLEEP! IS TH-THAT SUCH A C-CRIME?" she sobbed and shrieked at the same time. "AND NOW BECAUSE EVERYONE TH-THINKS WE DID S-SOMETHING ELSE, IT'S GOING TO RU-RUIN MY REPUTATION!"
"Come now, Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall said soothingly, handing her a hankerchief. Lily dabbed her eyes. She sniffed loudly.
"Why--why isn't James here, too? He was there, he was with me!"
"Sorry, dozed off, what've I missed?" said James's voice. (A/N I know, I got it from Gilderoy Lockheart in the CoS.)
"Mister Potter, do you have any idea why you're here?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Not a clue."
"You're sure?"
"Absolutley positive."
"You have been convicted," Professor McGonagall told him, "of engaging in activities that Hogwarts strictly forbids. Though Miss Evans says nothing went on, we've yet to hear your side of the story."
"Erm...are you saying that I...and--and Lily...?" James said weakly.
"Yes."
"NO!" James said, his voice rising. "Of course not!"
"Okay, Mister Potter, Miss Evans, you may go. If I hear of any more activity of the sort, serious action *will* be taken." Lily ran out of the room, dabbing her eyes with her sleeve. James caught up with her.
"Lily, what's all this about--?" he asked.
"It's all my fault," she said quietly. "I shouldn'tve dozed off on your shoulder last night. There. Now you know." Lily brushed her dark red hair out of her face and ran off towards the portrait of the Fat Lady, leaving a stunned James in the middle of the corridor.
* * * * * *
"Have you heard?"
"Lily and James are back together!"
"Did you hear what they did!"
"Gross, with a Mudblood like her?"
"And then they went into the Girl's dormitories--"
"I can't believe Lily would do that!"
"I can't believe James did that!"
"Why did they do that?"
Whispers such as these could be heard everywhere Lily went; in corridors, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the common room, potions class, the loos(A/N in england, in case you didn't know, loos=bathroom), all over the place. And, of course, they were helped along by the Slytherin lot, Severus Snape in particular.
One afternoon, Lily, James and Sirius were heading down to lunch. Severus Snape and a boy they knew as Lucius Malfoy(A/N didja know that Lucius is a form of Lucifer=the devil?) ran over to them as they entered the Hall. Lily shoved her hand in her robes pocket and grasped her wand, prepared for what was coming.
"Look! It's the Mudblood and the Mudblood's lover!" Snape yelled. "What *will* they do next? You know, I'm surprised you two weren't expelled for what you did. Hah! That would've been a laugh, seeing the face on Evans if she got expel--"
"IMPEDIMENTA!" Sirius roared, his wand out. A jet of green light sent Snape flying across the room. Lucius pulled out his own wand.
"STUPEFY" Lucius shouted, pointing his wand at Lily. It was as though Lily was momentarily frozen when she saw the flash of red light coming toward her.
"PROTEGO!" James shouted, jumping in front of her. A shield-like form shot out of James's wand and the red light rebounded against it, flying back at Lucius and knocking him out. Sirius and James were both panting, and Lily still cowered behind James. She felt the eyes of all students in the Hall upon them.
"James Potter, Lily Evans, and Sirius Black! My office! Now!" shouted a curt voice at the staff table. Professor McGonagall swept over to them and shoved them out of the Great Hall. The threesome followed her to the third floor and down one corridor. A statue of a Phoenix stood there, its wings spread wide.
"Avifors," she said to it, almost wearily. The statue began to crumble as a real Phoenix emerged from it's cramped space in the rock. Lily watched it an awe, while James and Sirius stared at McGonagall, mouths open.
"Well, go in! We don't have all day to stand around gaping at me," she said brusquely. James and Sirius continued to stare.
"Y-you did wandless magic!" Sirius said weakly.
"Yes, well, go *in*! Now!" she sort of pushed them all in the office that Lily recognized.
"You all know why you are here *this* time, correct?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Yes Professor."
"Lily, James, as Head Girl and Boy I *did* expect better of you."
"You're not taking away our badges, are you?" Lily asked.
"...No, Miss Evans, I suppose not. But I must impare on *both* of you the seriousness of what you have done. You will both recieve detentions...and thirty house points will be taken. Each."
"Thirty?"
"EACH?"
"Would you care to make it fifty, Mister Potter?"
"No..."
"As for Mister Black here," Professor McGonagall motioned to Sirius, "he also, will be recieving detention. Sirius, you are to polish each trophey in the trophey room...fifty times. James and Lily...well, I have a special task for you. Come to my office tonight at nine 'o clock. And James, wear that blasted invisibility cloak. Dismissed." Lily, James and Sirius stood up and walked out of the office.
"Hey, at least you two get detention together," said a sulky Sirius.
"Oh shut-up," said Lily coldly. "I never wanted detention in the first place."
"Little Miss PMS is back," Sirius murmered to James. Lily gripped her wand tightly, beginning to pull it out.
"Short-tempered, that one," Sirius muttered. Lily wheeled around, her red hair fanning out behind her. Sirius's eyes widened in horror.
"Caninus!" Lily yelled, her wand out. Before Sirius could think of a way to protect himself, he mutated into a large Rottweiler wearing Sirius's robes. Lily grinned at the barking dog. But her smile vanished as the dog began to chase Lily and James down the stairs. Lily and James laughed as they looked back on the dog.
"Are you going to turn him back?" asked James as he pulled her behind a tapestry. Lily smiled.
"Not tonight."