A/n; My last chapter was way too happy. Did you notice that? It's because I told my friend Katie to ask out this boy that I liked and he said he'd tell me the next day! So I'm sitting at my computer talking to my all-time crush, Collin McCann * see reference to him in my story MST Club * and EnglishBrat at 9:25 ET, writing something up for Language Arts and waiting for answers from Katie. Happy Reading!
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A few weeks later, under constant scrutiny from either Madame Blank or her own friends, Lily was finally allowed to get up one morning and stiffly walk out the door of the Hospital Wing.
James and his group of Merry Men we still searching for whoever had 'hexed' Lily's broom, and she found them staying up late every night looking things up in the library.
"James, give it up. I'm not dead or anything!" Lily said, sitting in the library finishing her Potions essay late one night.
"If we teach whoever it was that cursed your broom a lesson, the same mistake won't happen again," Remus said tiredly, plopping a particularly heavy book on the table. Dust flew up in waves and Lily sneezed several times.
James coughed a few times before swatting the dust away. He opened the book carefully, Sirius and Remus looking over his shoulder with great interest.
The pages were wrinkled and yellowing from ages of being on the shelf. Interesting words that seemed to be written in Gallic or hieroglyphics of some sort adorned the pages.
"What the hell is that?" Sirius asked, looking at the book in confusion.
"Sirius Black, how many times do I have to tell you not to swear in front of me?" Lily exclaimed sternly. Her curiosity got the better of her, though, and she found herself sneaking glances at the book at the night wore on.
The library air soon was rid of Sirius' badmouthing and settled down as Lily continued to work and James tried to decipher what was written in the book.
Lily had hit a particularly hard spot on her composition and looked up suddenly as if to be hit by inspiration.
James seemed to think it was ample opportunity to look up too. His eyes suddenly shifted over to Lily involuntarily. She was also looking at him, her green eyes misted over slightly. He coughed suddenly as a sort of excuse to look down and bent his head low so she wouldn't see him blush a very dark red. Lily, also blushing, looked up to make it look like she'd never stared at him to begin with.
What the hell was that, Lily? She asked herself, blushing furiously. She noticed that even after she'd looked away, it was more embarrassing that she hadn't maintained eye contact.
James sighed. What was going on with him and Lily? They barely knew each other and yet he felt he'd known her for years.
Lily, pretending to have figured out what to write, instantly moved her hand to start writing. She suddenly felt immediate warmth when she noticed that, to her utmost horror, her arm was resting lightly against James'. Blushing for the third time that evening, she and James both simultaneously jerked their arms away. Face flaming, Lily picked up all of her books with shaky hands and quickly excused herself, muttering something that sounded like 'damn animal magnetism.'
Sirius whistled in a low tone. "I can't turn my back on you two for five minutes, can I?"
James scowled. "It wasn't anything, you twit. It was just…"
"I get it James," Remus piped up, smirking.
"N-no you don't, it's seriously not what it looks like," James stammered, trying to conceal the truth but only blushing pink from the effort.
Sirius and Remus exchanged knowing looks.
"What'd I tell you James? It's not good to fall for someone you just met," Sirius said smiling widely.
"You're both bonkers. I'm leaving and going to go sort out my scattered thoughts," James said rubbing his forehead.
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"I hate my stupid hormones. They're making me go insane!" Lily cried, throwing the door open dramatically and flopping just as significantly on her bed. Misty raised her head up sleepily.
"What's this about hippos?" Arabella muttered rubbing her eyes and yawning.
Lily tossed her book onto the floor, resulting in a satisfying smack on the wooden floor.
"What's wrong with you, girl?" Arabella said, giving her a goofy look.
Lily looked serene when she said calmly, "I think I like James Potter."
A faint thud could be heard echoing off the walls as Sabrina fell off of her bed. "ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?"
Lily flipped over onto her stomach, deep in thought. "He seems to like me… and he made it perfectly clear in the library." She smirked.
"What'd he do?" Misty asked earnestly, learning forward so she wouldn't miss a word Lily said.
Lily smiled dreamily. "He was staring at me… and our arms were touching and stuff…"
Arabella and Sabrina exchanged glances.
"That is so sweet Lily, he probably does!" Misty squealed.
"Come on Lily, you call that expressing your feelings?" Sabrina scoffed.
Lily's head jolted up, her eyes flashing. "Wouldn't you?"
Sabrina rolled her eyes. "You haven't even been kissed yet, have you?"
Lily frowned. "I didn't think it mattered if you get kissed or not. I would've thought you of all people would know that!"
Sabrina shrugged. "Don't bite my head off, all I'm doing is criticizing James."
"Well don't! I don't appreciate the fact that you're criticizing the way he decides to show his emotions!" Lily said angrily.
"Lily, take a chill pill or something, because you're head's going to pop right off if you don't stop getting overheated!" Arabella said, throwing a pillow at Sabrina to temporarily delay her.
"Maybe James can cool you down!" Sabrina sneered to Lily as Lily ran out the room, blinded by rage and tears of sadness.
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"It looks like the end of a short-term friendship. Over a guy," Misty said sadly the next morning at breakfast.
"Seems to me that they're both up to here," Arabella said pointing to her neck, "with fighting over him."
Misty sighed and morosely pushed her scrambled eggs around on her plate. Was this what they were both expecting?
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" Drawled a girl's voice. It was Sabrina, bedecked in black eyeliner and a fetching silver necklace that plunged down the low neckline of her robes. Misty and Arabella exchanged shocked looks as Sabrina sauntered towards them.
"Is Lily here yet?" Sabrina said in an unusual high-pitched voice.
"Are you on glue or something?" Arabella said, casting a look at Sabrina.
"No! Today is the first day James N. Potter sees the true me, which is way better than Lily's stinky old personality," Sabrina said, flipping her black hair over her shoulder.
"Stinky old personality, eh?" Lily said, who'd just come into the Great Hall. Misty frowned nervously and tried to duck out of sight.
"That's right! And you'd better be prepared to lose James to me, Lily!" Sabrina said, smiling confidently.
Lily smirked. "He's all yours, really."
"You guys are fighting over a guy and it's pathetic. Just admit defeat, either one of you. Or one of you could go out with Sirius or Remus…" Misty said thoughtfully.
"I refuse to go out with Sirius. He's way to perverse for my delicate virgin ears," Lily said primly, sitting next to Arabella.
"I think he's quite comical!" Misty said.
"Comical? Since when were you a brain buff?" Lily asked confused.
"Brain buff? No way, you ladies were born to sit on the beach and tan wonderfully," Sirius said cheekily, suddenly coming over to where they were sitting.
"Hey Siri-" Lily said but was cut off when Sirius grabbed her arm practically out of her socket and dragged her literally halfway across the castle back to Gryffindor.
"Where are you taking me, you big Neanderthal?!" Lily shouted in his ear as he led her up the staircase to the 1st Year boy's dorm.
"YOU IDIOT! I'M NOT GOING IN THERE!" she hollered at him, trying in vain to twist out of his strong grip.
"Lily, there's nothing in there you probably haven't seen… I hope," Sirius said nervously. He twiddled the doorknob but it was locked.
"James, open up. I have Lily right here so cool your jets," Sirius said eagerly.
"Ooh but James doesn't want to cool his jets when he's with LIIIIIIIIIILLLLLYYYYY, he just wants to heat up!" Remus could be heard through the door, laughing madly.
"Agh! I cannot work with you two! You're impossible!" James cried in frustration. Lily tried desperately to control her flourishing blush.
"Just open the door and we won't have to tease you about your passionate infatuation with Miss Evans," Sirius said, grinning as the door slowly swung open.
Lily, who'd had her eyes shut in case of unexpected flesh exposure, opened her eyes gradually when she was sure everyone in the dorm was fairly covered up.
"Goodness Lily dear, you're shoulders are so tense they'd not move if an earthquake were to overtake Hogwarts! Please, do sit down," Sirius said, flourishing into a bow.
Lily smiled slightly and shyly and sat down on the nearest bed.
"James, put on a shirt or pants or whatever item of clothing you happen to be missing because Lily's here," Remus said sternly poking a lump on the bed next to where Lily was sitting.
"I'm trying to find something to wear but it's kind of difficult!" James said his voice muffled and strangely choked.
"What he means is that Lily really wouldn't care what James was wearing anyway," Sirius cracked.
James sighed loudly and pointedly and pulled the covers off. To Lily's relief, he was wearing slacks and a short-sleeved shirt.
"Well, good morning everyone!" she said sarcastically.
"You'll be back in the Great Hall eating and chatting about us once we explain what we've discovered," James said.
"What makes you think we were talking about-"
"Totally irrelevant," James snapped, "anyway, last night we were in the library… as you know-"
"Yeah, and James was totally trying to, like, hit on you!" Sirius said loudly, mocking the way some girls at Hogwarts talked.
Remus threw a pillow at him. "Continue, please."
James cleared his throat pointedly. "Anyway, after you left we saw Lucius Malfoy and his little rat friend- what's his name again?"
"Severus Snape?" Lily offered.
James wrinkled his nose, "Eurgh, how can you even remember that scumbag's name?"
"What makes him so bad? He's nice to me, and just because he hangs out with Lucius doesn't mean he's evil!" Lily retorted. She was starting to think that the whole situation was starting to smell fishy.
"He hangs out with Lucius Malfoy. He has to be bad. Period," Sirius said rationally.
Lily shrugged when out of the blue Remus asked, "Lily's still looking a bit tense, James. Why don't you offer her a back massage or something?"
Sirius suddenly started laughing and high-fived Remus while James looked at them murderously.
"May I please continue my story before one of you is drowning in your own puddle of blood?" he asked through clenched teeth.
Remus gulped. "It was all in good fun, James, don't need to get touchy."
Lily grinned weakly and tried to relax.
"ANY BLOODY WAY! They were both talking in low voices and we all went to go investigate," James said, a bit peeved.
"Yeah, we heard them say stuff about how they couldn't believe how well their plan worked to throw you off the broom," Remus said seriously.
Lily buried her face in her hands. "How did I know it was some person I'd made an enemy of?"
"Because that's usually who it is?" Sirius suggested.
Lily glared at him from the cracks between her fingers.
"And then they said I was an utter moron for going after her!" James cried indignantly.
"That's not denying the truth exactly," Sirius said truthfully.
"What was I supposed to do? Let my friend drown?" James asked acidly.
"I wouldn't have appreciated it much you know!" Lily snapped.
"We want to ask for your permission to get revenge on those two weasels, is all," Remus said before a fistfight could break out.
"Oh, you guys, I don't know about revenge…" Lily said uneasily.
"Do you want James to kiss you?" Sirius asked pointedly.
"Revenge sounds good!" Lily said quickly.
All three boys grinned widely at each other.
"But don't mention my name if you should get in trouble!" Lily said warningly.
"Cross my heart and hope to die, Miss Evans!" Sirius said.
Lily smiled and got up off the bed, heading for the door. They may all be crazy and too sarcastic for their own good but their hearts are in the right place, Lily thought happily as she closed the door behind her.
"Did you just promise Lily I'd kiss her?" Lily heard James ask.
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a/n; (continued) Ok, there was chapter 12 and if you hadn't noticed, Lily and James are… well… diggin' each other! WOO! But will it stay that way…?