Hey….I updated really soon for me! lol…alright…thanx to all of you who reviewed…can I get like 15 before I post again? I'd be eternally grateful! Lol…alrighty then…I'll stop venting and get on with it…here you go! ENJOY!!!!! (shakes fist) cuz if you don't! lol…
~Hogwarts Reunion~
by: lilypad
Oh my gosh! There he is! Why is he looking at me like that? Lily said to herself, not really focusing on anyone or anything except James. This, however, seemed to give her a far off look because Sirius and Bella started saying that she might be mental. She snapped out of it in time to hear Sirius say, "Are you sure she's not disturbed?" which earned him a slap from Lily on the back of the head.
"Owww! Lilee! Don't hit me! I was one of your best friends!" Sirius whined so loudly that they had to cover their ears
"Only God knows what I was thinking back then!" Lily teased playfully.
"Hey!" Sirius pouted, and grabbed her in a headlock.
"Siri! Stop!" Lily sounded muffled when she tried to speak, so she gave up and gave Sirius a hard smack in the groin instead. He doubled over, wheezing, as Lily stood up and dusted herself off. "That's what you get for messing with me!"
"Ouch! Man, Lily! What do you do for a living?" Remus asked, as he came up behind her.
"Remus!" Lily yelled, turned around, and threw her arms around him in a tight embrace.
"Hey Lils. I missed you! Five years really is too much!" Remus kidded, returning her hug.
"Yeah! Definitely. Oh, and as to your question. I'm a Quidditch coach now!" She squealed. It was obvious that she loved her job.
"Whoa! Really?" Asked James, from his position near Dumbledore.
She turned towards him uncomfortably. "Yeah. I started about four years ago. I did my share of Ministry of Magic work before then. I gotta tell you. I hated it! It was so boring, and we had to wear suits!"
James laughed, and Lily shuddered. His laugh still had that influence on her. She checked to see if he had a wedding band. His hand wasn't anywhere in sight, so she asked the general public. "Hey you guys, are any of you married?"
Some people giggled, but the rest shifted their feet and smiled at each other.
"Yeah." Said Darlene Longbottom, holding out her hand to show Lily her gold band.
"Wow! Congrats Darlene!" Lily was happy for her.
"No." Came the general response from all of her friends. Lily sighed. So she and Bella weren't the only ones. And that meant that James was also single. She smiled to herself and turned around to look for Bella.
"Hey you guys, where's Bella?" She asked, and she saw Remus stiffen slightly.
"I dunno. Wasn't she with you?" Sirius asked, still in pain.
"Yeah." Just then, the door behind Lily was thrown open, and knocked Lily forward on her hands and knees.
She winced as she hit the floor, her scraped and cut knee hurting agonizingly. Remus and James must have seen her since because they rushed forward, offering help. She slowly got up, and attempted to lift her pant leg to expose her now-bleeding knee.
Sirius shied away from it as he hated blood, but Bella moved forward to offer an apology, all while staring at Remus.
"I'm so sorry, Lily! I seem determined to hurt you today!" Bella cried.
"It's okay, Ara." She stopped there for she was about to lift the pants off of her knee, but the material was stuck to her knee. She gently peeled it off, wincing the whole time, and sighed as soon as it was over.
"Holy! Lily, where'd you get that?" James exclaimed.
"Oh, it's nothing, really." She tried to console them as she was trying to sit up and failing miserably because she couldn't bend her knee. James lifted her off the ground in his arms, and set her down in his chair near Dumbledore.
"Oh my. Miss Evans, that seems to be quite the scrape! Just give me a second and I shall magic it better." Dumbledore mused, with a twinkle in his eye.
Lily smiled, and thought to herself, Brilliant Lily! Cause a scene your first hour here! What will James think of you now? Probably that you're a sissy and can't stand a little bit of pain. That thought was drowned out as James reached for her hand. She stared at the connected body parts, and then looked up at James. He seemed serene and sincere as he watched Dumbledore fumbled around to find his wand. She giggled as he finally took it out of his robes with a triumphant, "Hah!"
Dumbledore leaned over his desk and looked at the wound. "Alright. Let me remember. Ah yes! Meticulousa Reparo." And as he waved his wand, Lily felt the pain slip away and relaxed.
"Thank you sir. I'm sorry for being such a bother." Lily mumbled.
"No trouble at all, Lily." Dumbledore assured gently.
Lily sighed and realized that James was still holding her hand. Oh man! He doesn't even realize he's doing it anymore! He's done it with so many girls. I don't think he even thinks of me as a girl. I'm probably just one of the guys to him!
"Alright. I shall explain everything now that you're all here." Dumbledore stood up and exclaimed.
Lily glanced around at who else was there. There were quite a number of people in the small office. She surveyed each one.
First, there were James, Sirius, Remus, Arabella, and herself. That totaled five people. There were 20 altogether in the office, not counting Dumbledore.
Then there was a group of what she assumed to be Hufflepuffs. There were three blonde girls with big chests staring at James and Sirius and whispering to themselves. Guess they haven't changed much! She thought bitterly. Where the bitterness had come from, she had no idea.
Standing near the Hufflepuffs, there was a group of about six guys. She thought she recognized most of the as either Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs. There was the Quidditch captains, some prefect, and just some regular guys in their group.
Next, there was a group of about four sinister looking people. She thought that they must have been Slytherins. They looked at James and Sirius and mumbled to themselves. She could only presume that they were plotting.
Finally, there were two shy-looking people in the corner. One was a guy, and the other a girl. She guessed that they had been those types of people that only studied when they went to Hogwarts. She immediately thought that she would befriend them later.
"As you well know, you will spend the next three weeks in the manor on the back grounds of Hogwarts. I trust you already know all of this?" Dumbledore had started speaking again. She let her thoughts wander as he began to tell them what they would be needing and how the reunion would work.
"-Finally, think of this as a game show. If you win, you will go away from this reunion happy as your reward. If you lose, you'll always regret coming. Now, go on! I know you're all shaking to get into the manor." Dumbledore dismissed them, and they all filed out.
Bella nudged Lily as they walked behind the rest. They had to force Sirius into going ahead with Remus and James. Lily turned to her and saw Bella incline her head towards Remus.
"Yeah. I talked to him. He's the same Remus he always has been. He hasn't changed one bit! He's still gentle, kind, and sarcastic all in one!" Lily teased. "Talk to him Bell! Come on! He was dying to talk with you, last time I checked!"
Bella looked nervous. "Really? Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure! Now go!" She shoved Bella off in Remus' direction and continued walking by herself after she made sure that the two started talking.
"Hey!" She heard a voice beside her. She turned her head and smiled.
"Hey James. What's up?" She asked casually.
"Oh, not too much. I heard you say you're a Quidditch coach?" He asked innocently.
"Oh yeah. What do you do now?"
"Oh. Well, I'm in the same field as you, actually." James said evasively.
"Come on! Tell me what you do? It has to do with Quidditch…" She trailed off.
"Fine. I'm a Quidditch player." James sighed.
Lily didn't throw herself at his feet like the rest of the girls he had told. Instead, she smiled in her way and said, "Good for you! I'm happy that you finally made it." He actually believed that she was happy for him, not that she was just saying it.
"Thanks. You too! I knew you'd give up office jobs someday!" He mocked.
"Hey! I can handle an office job, it just that office that can't handle me!" She laughed.
James looked at her sideways as they continued walking. He had this strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"What? What's that look?" Lily asked warily.
"Huh? Oh, I just…" He trailed off as he leaned in to kiss her.
Lily's eyes opened wide as she realized what he was doing. Oh my gosh! Lily! He's gonna kiss you! Do something! Don't jut stand there gaping like a fish. She closed her mouth and closed her eyes as James closed the distance between them. But, just as quickly as it had come, Lily was pushing James off and turning away.
"What?" James asked angrily. It was obvious that he wasn't used to being turned down.
"I just…I just can't right now…I'm sorry James." Lily said softly.
"You just can't?!" James repeated, and Lily thought that smoke might come out of his ears at any time now.
"I'm sorry." She said quickly, but James was already walking off towards Sirius and the blonde Hufflepuffs.
She swore to herself as she saw James put his arm around one of the girls and walk off without so much as a backwards glance. Well, she didn't need that! Perhaps James Potter wasn't all that she thought he was! Maybe he was just a jerk after all! Well, she didn't feel the same about him anymore! He was an arrogant, selfish, egotistic maniac and she hated him! Hate him? Do I really hate him? The answer came loud and clear. YES!!
She smirked to herself and stalked off alone toward the manor. If Bella was spending the next three weeks catching up with Remus, she'd spend the next three weeks catching up on her sports skills! She certainly didn't need James Potter to make this trip worthwhile for her! She scoffed at the idea and jogged the rest of the way to the house. She gasped as she neared it in its entire splendor.
The manor was huge, with the architecture almost exactly like that of Hogwarts. Lily knew a little about architecture as that was what she had wanted to be for a few years back when she had been younger. She had taken a few courses and passed some tests, but Quidditch was her life now. She inhaled as she walked into the front hall. It was amazing.
There were marble columns holding up the grand, spiraling, stone staircase that had carving of the different house symbols on them. The walls were lined with a very rich material that was a light wine colour, and had tapestries hung every now and then. They ceiling was extremely high and the chandelier was intricately carved crystal, which made the light coming in from outside bounce off in different directions.
As she walked farther in, Lily discovered that many rooms were like the front foyer, lavishly furnished and decorated. She paused to wonder where her room was when she saw a hand painted sign that said, "This way." She followed the signs and soon found herself upstairs and checking all of the rooms to find which one was hers'. She entered the second to last room and saw her picture from Hogwarts hanging above one of the beds. She threw down her duffel bag and fell onto her bed. Many faces peered in to see if it was the right room, and finally, Arabella's came.
"Hey Bella. We're sharing a room. Thank God! I thought I'd have to share with one of those blonde airheads." Lily said quickly.
"Oh, okay. Hey, roomie." Bella smiled.
Lily grinned coyly. "So, how was talking with Remus?"
"Uh, well, you see…" Bella stammered.
"Come on! Spit it out!" Lily prodded.
"Fine. We're kinda getting back together." Bella murmured into her pillow.
"What was that, now?" Lily called.
"We're getting back together!" Bella yelled back.
"Alright! Don't get mad!" Lily gave up.
"How was talking to James? I saw him come over to you!" Bella smirked.
Lily went white. Not with embarrassment, but with anger at the mention of him name. "Don't ever talk about that prat again!"
With that, Lily left the room in search for food leaving Arabella to wonder what had happened between them. First Lily had seemed smitten with James, and now she was as cold as ice towards him. What had he done?
Hey you guys! It's me!!!!!!! I'm gonna be HORRIBLY selfish right now and ask you to review…I know, I know! I'm such a horrible person, you know, wanting feedback from all the readers…lol…*wink wink* my whole point was for you guys to REVIEW!!!!!!!!!! Lol…alright! So do it!!!!!!!!! Please??? Lol…till next time…BYE!!!!!!
~lilypad~