A/N: Sorry for the delayed update, I have been extremely busy!!! Anyway, thanks to all who reviewed!!!
Chapter 9 – Twisted Train Ride
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"LILYYYY! BELLAAA" Lily heard someone call out from behind her.
She and Bella had been about to walk through the barrier to 9 and ¾, and it was a bit of a struggle turning their trolleys around, what with all the weight from their trunks.
"SIRIIIIII! Bella shouted and they hugged each other warmly, Sirius lifting Bella of the ground and spinning her around.
Lily was standing beside them, laughing at what idiots two of her very closest friends could be, when she realised James was standing next to Sirius.
"Hey James" Lily said softly, and he looked up and smiled.
"Hey Lily" he replied, still smiling, although his eyes wavered off in another direction.
"James?" Lily asked, "Anything wrong?'
"N…no, I'm fine" he said, smiling reassuringly, although his expression showed otherwise. "Guys" James said, trying to get Sirius and Bella's attention, "We'd better go onto the platform, the train's leaving in five".
The four of them walked onto the platform, soon to be greeted by Zani, Marie, Peter and Remus.
By the time everyone had greeted each other, it was time to get on the train. The eight teenagers ran down to the heads compartment (A/N: In this story, I'm allowing the Heads' friends to sit in the heads compartment, although I'm not sure they would be allowed to).
Once everyone had put their things away neatly, they settled into comfortable positions. The head's compartment wasn't that different to normal compartments, with the exception of lounges instead of the usual uncomfortable seats.
The group, as they often do, shared a very awkward silence, until Sirius blurted out "Let's play truth or dare!" The group groaned, but as no one had any better ideas, they agreed.
"Ok, I'll start!" Sirius shouted excitedly, like a little boy, "I pick…Wormtail! Truth or Dare?"
Peter looked thoughtful for a moment, then said "Truth".
"Ok…hmmm, ok, Wormtail, who's the lucky girl that you're after at the moment?" Sirius asked.
Peter blushed the colour of Lily's hair and muttered "Cherie Delaney" in a voice no louder than a whisper.
"Who?" Sirius asked eagerly.
"Cherie Delaney!" Peter said clearly, and went, if possible, even redder.
Cherie was a very pretty, intelligent Ravenclaw, and possessed the secret ingredient to a Marauder's heart; blonde hair. However, lately this had become a thing of the past, as Sirius was with a brunette, Remus a black head (A/N: that's sounds really bad!) and James was after a certain redhead, but this obviously didn't apply to Peter.
"Well go on then, ask her out!" Sirius said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Well Padfoot, one, she's got a boyfriend, and two, I asked for truth, not dare" Peter said, quite proud of himself for getting himself out of that situation.
Sirius looked defeated. "Ok then, Jamie, you turn!"
And so the game went on for another half an hour until it was Sirius' turn to ask again.
"Prongsie, do you like Lily?" Sirius asked his best friend, only asking because he had run out of things to ask, but he already knew the answer (or so he thought).
"No" James said, and six of his friends were absolutely shocked; Lily just felt hurt, though she couldn't figure out why, she thought she was over her stupid little crush on 'Potter'.
"W…what do you mean, Prongs? Who do you like then?" Sirius asked, still recovering from shock.
James looked at them with no expression on his face whatsoever.
"I don't believe you, Prongs! Prove it!" Sirius said.
"Fine Padfoot, I'll go and ask her out then!" James said, and walked out of the compartment door, slamming the doors shut as he went.
The group sat in a stunned silence, avoiding looking at Lily.
Lily herself was having a millions things rush through her head. 'What does she have I don't?' and 'Am I too ugly?'. But the main thing going through her head was 'Why did I have to fall in love with him?'.
'Love? she asked herself. 'Since when did I love James Potter?'.
'Since first year' another voice told her. Lily tried to shake the thought away, but deep down she knew this was true.
'But how could have been in love with someone when I was eleven years old?' Lily thought. She couldn't answer that question. She had no idea.
The compartment door opening interrupted Lily's thoughts.
"So Prongs" Sirius said awkwardly, "How'd things go?"
"Terrific! We're going to the next Hogsmeade trip together!" James said, smiling.
"That's great!" Remus said, forcing a smile.
Bella glared at James and said, "Yeah, Potter, terrific" with a tone in her voice that said she was extremely pissed off at the teenage boy standing in the middle of the Head's compartment.
Lily forced a smile and looked out the window. 'This is going to be a great year!' Lily thought sarcastically.
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Weeks past by, and soon Hogwarts was back to normal after the holidays. Well, actually, it wasn't so normal. No one had heard Lily and James bickering since before summer holidays. In fact, no one had seen them together at all apart from when they were attending their Head Boy and Girl duties. They went to their Head's dorm at different times, and purposely avoided each other while they were in there. The reason why this was happening was because, after the ride on the Hogwarts Express, Lily started to ignore James, and James retaliated by doing the same thing back to her.
Their friends were torn between the two of them, and on the first Hogsmeade trip, they decided to do something, but their plan was rudely interrupted.
"Bella!" Lily called out to her best friend from outside the Gryffindor 7th year girl dorm. "We're going to be late for Hogsmeade!"
"Alright, alright! I'm coming!" Bella shouted and opened the door, hair dripping down her back, and sliding her shoes on.
"What took you so long?" Lily asked as they walked down the stairs.
"I woke up late" Bella replied simply.
"Bel, you always wake up at like, 6:30. What were you up to last night?" Lily asked curiously. The pair had made their way out of the Gryffindor tower and were making their way to the entrance hall.
"I was with Sirius…Lil don't get any ideas, we were just talking" Bella said after seeing Lily expression.
"Why?" Lily asked coldly. She didn't want her friends to hang with HIS (James') friends, although that was made quite difficult, as Sirius and Bella were going out, as were Zani and Remus.
"Let me think, Lily, oh that's right, he's my boyfriend! And because YOU don't want me to hang out with him, I have to see him behind your back!" Bella said.
Lily glared at Bella. "Fine, go hang out with them! See if I care!" she shouted, and began to turn around. By now they had reached the entrance hall, where all students 3rd year and above were assembled, waiting to be marked off to leave for Hogsmeade, and some heads started to turn when they heard Lily shouting.
"Lily, this is so immature! Ok, I understand you don't want to be near James; I think he's a bastard too! But forcing the rest of us to stop hanging out is just stupid Lil!" Bella shouted back, and Lily turned back around. By now, the majority of students were watching the two, including their other six friends.
"What a great best friend you are, Arabella, you back-stabber! Fine! Go have fun with THEM! I'm staying here!" Lily shouted, and began ran back up to her dormitory, leaving Bella dumbfounded.
Lily could hear the students begin to chat about what had just happened, but she didn't care. She didn't care she had just lost all her friends. She didn't care everyone now thought she was a cranky bitch. She felt like she was floating; like everything that just happened was a dream.
Lily had accidently taken the longer route, and began to run faster.
'What's wrong with me?' she suddenly thought. 'I just lost my best friends in the world! Lily realised, and felt tears gathering in her eyes.
She made her way into the Head's dormitory, tears flowing down her cheeks.
She could feel someone else's presence in the room, and slowly turned around.
"Lily?"
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A/N: Ok, that's it! Please, please, please review!!!!
jellybeanqueen