A/N: Thanks for the reviews- you all made me grin! And while I was studying for biology too…must be some sort of new record. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, it was fun to write too…maybe even more than the first ;) Replies to the reviewers can be found at the end of the chapter!
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Chapter Two- You tempt me
Lily stared out the train window, watching fields and mountains and grass roll by in a blur. Vaguely, she took note of voices speaking to her.
"Lily?" Heather was staring at her, and Jessica was grinning.
"What?"
"Some reason you're ignoring us?"
Lily laughed and turned around to face them. "Besides the fact that you're irritating?"
"Ah, come on. We're not that bad." Jessica opened her mouth to state otherwise, but Heather poked her in the side.
Lily grinned. "Where is the food cart?"
"I dunno- let's go find it. Maybe she forgot about us." Jessica said, energetically jumping up out of her seat.
"Okay." Lily and Heather replied, following her out of the compartment. They passed through several others; obtaining weird looks from most of the students they went past. Then suddenly, Heather grabbed onto their shirts and said,
"There she is!" The old, frayed witch was smiling gently, her eyes watching the cart as she pushed it. The three of them started toward it.
Hearing voices from one compartment, one that sounded familiar, Lily stopped curiously to eavesdrop. Her friends failed to notice, and advanced to the food without her.
She smiled simply and pressed her ear against the closed door.
"So Prongs, what did the Head Girl have to say?"
She scowled, realizing where this was going, and only pressed her ear closer. She heard a laugh. "Well, not much. Besides to get out of her face. Not those exact words, but you know what I mean…"
"Bitchy, then?" another voice. This guy seemed skeptical.
A second laugh. "I dunno…she was rather funny, if you ask me. Attractive, too, like I said…"
Lily simply couldn't take any more. She opened the door and stepped in with force. Four boys swiveled their heads toward her, one in disbelief, the other three simply staring and looking amused.
Slowly, she advanced on James, until he began to back away. "What was that you were saying?" she asked softly, but in sharp tone. "Surely whatever it was can be said to my face. Don't mind me, for interrupting. Go on."
"I- er.." James stared at her.
"Just what I thought." She started to turn away, but he grinned abruptly. "What are you smiling about?"
"If I told you, you would probably try to strangle me…" his friends snickered.
Lily took no notice of them. "You're probably right." She turned to the other boys. "As for you three-"
"Lils!" Heather and Jessica appeared in the doorway. They took one look at the situation and to the exasperation of the guys in the compartment, burst out laughing. "Lily, I think it's time we get going…" Heather said, grabbing a hold of one of her arms and Jessica the other. They tugged her out of the door with only one backwards glance.
"But- I wasn't finished in there!" Lily said, trying to free herself from their grasp.
"No doubt you weren't. But I'm pretty sure you made your point…" Jessica was thoroughly amused-looking.
"Do we have to keep you on one of those muggle child leashes, Lily? Or will you listen to your poor friends?"
Lily scowled good-naturedly. "They were talking about me, what did you expect?"
"Did you see their faces?" Heather asked, finally letting out a laugh as they re-entered their compartment.
"They looked like they were about to pee on themselves!"
"If you two are finished, then I suggest we change into our robes…" Lily said, despite her wide grin.
"Are we that close?" Jessica asked, glancing out the window.
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"Yep, James. That's the perfect girl for you!" Remus smacked his leg, laughing uproariously. Their initial shock had worn off rather quickly.
Sirius added with a grin, "I suppose he did warn us, at that."
"Yeah, just before she burst in looking like someone had stolen her shoes right off of her!" Peter laughed along, munching on a chocolate frog.
"I don't find this amusing." James jumped in, shaking his head. "I can't believe she heard that! Girls aren't supposed to overhear us talking about them!"
"Oh, but she apparently has a way of making herself different."
"Why haven't we come across her before, Prongs?" Sirius asked thoughtfully.
"Oh, who knows. She's a Gryffindor too. That's what Dumbledore said, anyway."
"Is Dumbledore your new best friend or something?"
James rolled his eyes. In an attempt to change the subject, "Anyone up for a game of chess?"
"I want to finish eating first." Peter said.
Remus and Sirius simply sat there grinning.
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Lily sat down in the middle of Heather and Jessica at the Gryffindor table. All three of them glanced around; soaking in what was new since the year before. Nice decorations.
Lily spotted a flash of spiky black hair and did not refrain from scowling. He was watching her. And she didn't appreciate it one bit. About to get up and tell him that, Jessica poked her quickly in the side.
"What is-"she began, but Dumbledore cut her off.
"Welcome students! You must tire of me giving you almost the same speech every year, so guess what? I'm going to be quiet and let you enjoy your food. That is, after our Sorting Ceremony, of course."
A line of first years entered the Great Hall, a good deal nervous. McGonagall, as usual, stepped forward and solemnly began calling out names, as if it were a funeral procession. Lily smiled in remembrance of her Sorting day, like she did every year. She did, however, realize that one student in the line could hardly have been a first year. He looked to be about their age.
"And Whitemark, Luke." McGonagall said. She turned to the crowd while Luke settled himself on the stool. "Luke is a seventh year student, transferred from America. I hope you'll all show him the way around."
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat announced, almost without any hesitation. Luke flashed Lily's table a white grin. His dirty blond hair flopped into his face as he stood. He was rather attractive…nice body, too.
"Lils, you can't tell me that that one isn't good-looking." Heather winked at her. Lily shrugged, inwardly agreeing with her friend. Gosh, it's really too bad that I've denounced guys for all time…Never mind, I take that back. She frowned, noticing that James was still watching her. Fine. If he wants to play this game, I'll just beat him. She refused to take any notice of his dark eyes, even when she could feel them grazing her face.
Jessica and Heather, meanwhile, were busy watching the new American guy, Luke. With apparent ease, he sat himself down near the Marauders, cutely grinning at them.
Heather twirled a strand of dark brown hair around her finger. "Oh, how I would like to pick that one up."
"Yeah, maybe in a few days." Jessica winked.
Lily simply rolled her eyes and began to pick at the food that appeared in front of them. She was very keen with her eyesight though, and continued to watch James and his friends from the corner of her eye, taking care that nobody noticed.
"So, what's the agenda for this evening?" Heather asked, wiping her mouth and setting down her fork.
"I say sleep." Jessica yawned.
Lily nodded and stood up. Just as she turned around, she noticed Dumbledore advancing towards her, James hovering around him.
"Miss Evans." Dumbledore smiled politely at her. "I'm so glad to have such a dependable Head Girl. Not that our past students have not been…for that is one of our requirements." He glanced behind him at James, who had been smiling weakly at Lily, which had caused her to look annoyed.
"Yes, Professor. Did you need something? Anything I could do to help out?"
"Well, Miss Evans. At the moment, the only really helpful thing you and James might do is to get to know each other better. It's far too early to start planning anything, but it would be nice for you to be able to work well together when the time comes. Not that I don't have faith in you," he favored them with another smile, "I do. I know that you'll do Hogwarts proud this year."
Heather and Jessica were snickering from behind Lily, trying to pretend that they weren't listening at all. It was almost as if they had talked Dumbledore into this. In any case, Lily never knew… "Of course, Professor. Whatever you want us to do."
"I suggest you two meet up in the Heads room this evening, at whatever time. I needed you to be introduced to the area anyway, as you'll probably be spending a good deal of time there this year."
"Yes, sir." Lily mumbled as politely as she could, smiling without emotion.
"Thanks, Miss Evans." His eyes twinkled as he moved away. "And you too, Mr. Potter." He called back.
James advanced on Lily. Do I sense a little hesitance? So I am winning… "Er- Lily, how about eight tonight?"
"Yeah, whatever," she mumbled insolently.
"He told me already that our 'tower'…I suppose it is a tower…" Lily rolled her eyes, so he continued quickly. "well, it's not too far from the Gryffindor tower. I can meet you outside the portrait hole, and I'll show you the way. He gave me a map and…"
"Fine." She cut him off and turned away. "Ready?" Not waiting for her friends' answers, she slipped away and out of the Hall.
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James walked with the other Marauders. That Luke fellow was lagging behind them. How full of himself can one guy be? I have a feeling that he isn't going to be a pleasant roommate. And we had enjoyed only the four of us in our dorm, anyway…
The fifth boy who had shared a dorm with them had left in third year, transferring to a different school. And now they had the nerve to place another guy in with the Marauders. And a self-centered one, at that.
"He reminds me of Gilderoy Lockhart." Sirius whispered to the others.
"Who?" James asked.
"Oh, just this wizard that all of the girls think are cute. Supposedly, he's supposed to be out chasing werewolves or something…But it just doesn't strike me as something someone who wears his cap a certain way would do." Remus murmured.
They approached their dorm and Sirius traditionally kicked the door open. The four Marauders stepped in, grinning.
"What? It's…clean."
"Amazing."
"Alright- time to mess it up!"
They started throwing things around, as they usually did, while Luke stood in the doorway appearing bewildered.
"Do they let you do that here?"
The guys stopped to stare at him. "What do you mean by let us?"
"Who says they have to let us do anything." Peter answered. "We do what we want, here in this dorm."
"If you can't abide by that, then I suggest-" Sirius was cut off.
"No, I think this'll be great!" Luke flashed them another smile and stepped into the room, shutting the door. "Which bed is mine?"
"The one by the bathroom." Remus answered, not looking so happy about any of this. To think of it- another guy invading their space. It was preposterous!
"Now, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, guys," Sirius' grin included all of them, minus Luke, "and-"
"Oh, shoot!" James interrupted suddenly.
"What?" Peter and the rest looked at him inquiringly.
"I was supposed to have met Lily ten minutes ago! I've gotta go!"
Remus burst out laughing. "You'd better hope she doesn't try to kill you."
James stopped to grin at them. "Yeah- if I'm not back in an hour….then just wait longer." He finished with a wink and disappeared out the door.
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Lily tapped her foot against the floor impatiently. He's driving me crazy and I haven't even talked to him for a full half hour yet. Where is he? She watched the unmoving portrait hole with contempt. If he isn't here in two seconds, I'm going to…
Suddenly, it sprang to life, and out tumbled James Potter. He looked flustered, glancing at her nervously.
"Er- this way." He said, walking down to the right.
"Now just wait one minute!" Lily said loudly. "Where were you? Don't tell me that you didn't notice that you were fifteen minutes late!"
"I did…I was, um, held up for personal reasons. Sorry, Lily."
He did appear sincere with his apology, so Lily decided to let it go…this time.
"Fine. Don't let it happen again."
"You're starting to remind me of McGonagall."
Lily began to laugh, then remembered what she was about, and stopped to glare at him. He shrugged.
"Here we are." They stopped before a large portrait of an owl. It hooted softly at them.
"Wool Socks" James stated quickly, and the owl hooted again before moving aside.
Lily turned to him in amusement. "Wool socks?"
James grinned back. "Yeah- Dumbledore said we could change it." He barked a laugh. "I dunno. I find it rather amusing."
The conversation ended as they walked in. It was a large room. Marble tiles covered the floor, with a fireplace spreading light throughout the chamber. Little candles hanging in their holders lined the walls. A few old paintings and artwork decorated the scene. Lily opened her mouth in slight disbelief. She moved farther into the room, noticing two doors next to each other, opposite the fireplace.
She opened one and saw that it was a brilliant bathroom…even better than the prefects'. The pool looked rather inviting…and that hot tub. She contained a grin and moved on to the next door. A bedroom? She snorted. Like she was about to sleep here, where he had access. There were two twin beds, on separate sides of the room, and the same type of curtain surrounding them as in the dorms. Even if she would never use it, this room was also rather nice.
Lily turned around and spotted James still in the marble floored room, scanning a bookshelf near the fireplace.
"There are some pretty cool books here, Lily." He said, sensing her presence behind him. Yeah, and now he's going to tell me that he loves to read. She almost laughed. For her, and a guy, to share the same pastimes was...improbable.
"Uh-huh." She replied, dropping onto and sinking into the couch in front of the flaming fireplace. She sighed in delight. What a pleasant place to do homework. That is, as long as he didn't have the same idea…
"So, Lily." He said, and she noticed that he had seated himself next to her. "What d'you wanna talk about?"
"What do you think?"
"How should I know?" he replied, confused. "All you've done so far is yell at me."
Her face heated up, and she wasn't sure herself whether it was from the slight sting of shame (unlikely), or from annoyance. "Yeah, well you deserved it." She defended.
"That's what I like about you." He smiled, scooting a little closer, to her careful awareness. "You don't care what other people, other girls do, and you much less try to be the same."
Oh, I wasn't always this way. Lily thought to herself. I hated being shy…and I hated everything that came with it. And I forced myself to change. And now…well, I'm a disagreeable person. Much better than being too shy. Yes, much. "Yeah." She replied weakly, before she knew that it had come from her lips. Weak? Her? She almost grinned and wanted to make up for her last statement…but then, she noticed that James was considerably closer than before…
For a second, she forgot herself. She let him lean close, even anticipated it. And then, her moment of willing compliance ended. She scooted away and shot him a glare. "What are you doing?"
"I wanted to kiss you…" he said uncertainly, attempting to get in a smile. She continued to glare at him. "I'm sorry, but you tempt me."
She rose from the couch angrily, turning to face him. "Well that's too bad. It's never going to happen. The sooner you realize that, the better." She replied, walking away. He tried to catch her arm while he laughed, but it didn't happen. She was gone already. That's what she thinks. I prefer to believe otherwise.
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A/N: Hehe, I like this story more as I continue. Well, in any case- I'm really glad you liked the first chapter and I hope this one follows it up well enough. Please review! ;) The more reviews- the quicker the next chapter comes up!
Thanks to all of you reviewers out there, it means a lot to me!
angelsmelody13- I'm so happy you liked the first chapter! I hope you continue to read. And thanks for the offer (of help)! Might need it sometime…ToonedIn- Lol, well, you're the second reviewer ;) Anyway, in regards to the paragraph issue, I tried to fix that in this chapter- I hope it's better. If not, let me know and I'll see what I else I can do about it. Thanks for your review; I really appreciate it! Empress- Really? You added me to your fav story list? That's awesome! Thanks a lot! About your suggestion- I will get to that, eventually ;) But I'm glad you brought it up, it made me realize that I should probably get into that, shouldn't I? Anyway, thanks again! TheYellowSubmarine- You never fail to review my stories, do you? You should know how much I appreciate that!! It really does mean a lot to me to have a faithful reviewer ;) Now- the HTML problem. Hehe, don't know much about computers myself. But are you using Microsoft Word? If you are, all that I do is click save as, when I'm saving, and save it under Web Page. I indent normally and don't skip lines in paragraphs…only hit return. It works for me…but if you're still having problems let me know and I'll see what else I can do to help =) btownbabe- Lol, I'm happy you like it so far ;) I hope you keep reading and thanks a bunch for reviewing! Iloverupert13- I've always had problems with interesting dialogue…so you can imagine how happy I was about your comment ;) Thanks a lot…hope you liked this chapter too! evillalmanotlamma(frogs- I'm glad you liked the beginning! Hopefully it'll stay that way…I enjoyed writing this chapter, but I don't suppose that means that everyone will enjoy reading ;) Thank you! Raven-gal2002- That I'll do ;) Update soon, I mean, lol. Hope you liked this chapter! Punkkittin01- Lol, well hopefully we'll see about her liking him later on…but you know the basic story ;) I'm just going to elaborate a bit. Thanks for the review!! Sirius' lover- Thanks for another review; I'm glad you read almost all my stories ;) If not all, at that. Hehe, I'm glad you thought it didn't suck!! KoolKitty/AnotherKoolKitty/Aria- Don't worry about me thinking you're weird ;) It won't happen…it turns out that my mind is much weirder than anyone might suspect. But anyway- I'm glad you reviewed! Lol, and I will continue…I actually wrote this chapter only a few hours after I posted the first…and I've already started on the next. Too bad I have to write it periodically and I can't just sit down and finish though…oh well- I'll talk to you soon! ChickenSoup3- I'm happy you think so ;) Thanks!
I'm sorry for this list of thank you's taking up so much space- but I always feel like I should respond to reviews or it might seem sort of pointless to review in the first place. Plus, when you guys ask me questions, I can't just not respond ;) hehe