Chapter 5- Twists and Turns

Heather shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine." She replied in answer to Jessica's question. Regarding Lily, of course.

            Heather supposed that this was still the Lily Evans who she had been friends with all these years. Then again, it had been a long time since Lily had gone out with any guy. It was some sort of progress, though it had gone in a totally different direction than they had hoped.

            "What I don't understand is, why Luke? Of all the- Oh, hello Lily." Jessica beamed a smile at their friend, who looked anything but calm.

            She plopped down into the seat next to them (in the common room), strands of auburn hair sticking out in all directions as if she had been running her hands through them in exasperation.

            "Anything new?" Heather beamed, ignoring her obviously foul mood.

"Anything new? I'll tell you what's new!" Lily spat out hurriedly. "I am going to kill that damn blond-haired idiot who calls himself my boyfriend! How long's it been? Two days? A week? Urgh! I'll tell you what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna-" She cut off abruptly, amid the others' raised eyebrows and amused grins. Her emerald eyes trailed over to the steps leading up to the dormitories, where the Marauders had just appeared. Lily clamped her mouth shut and stared pointedly at the floor.

            "Oh!" Heather burst out, but quietly, directed at both of her friends. "It was so obvious, Jessica! Why didn't we know?"

            "What? What?" Jessica swiveled her head in all directions. "I'm missing something, unless you're having another one of those psychopathic moments. Is your grandmother here?"

            Heather's forehead creased and she stared at Jessica; a look that plainly said, "You're out of your mind." She smiled then, her dark eyes scanning Lily's face rapidly. "As I was saying- we've got you all figured out now, Lils. Do you think you can hide it from us that easily?"

            Lily was still angry. She threw her hands up in the air animatedly. "What?"

"The only reason you're going out with Luke is to make James Potter jealous! So you do like him!"

            The red-head crossed her arms defiantly. "I don't know what you're talking about, and neither do you, clearly. I'm even more fed up with that freak than I am with Luke. However do you come to these conclusions? I-" She was losing speed with her words, however, and by the end, simply trailed off. Her friends' beaming smiles and eagerness only maddened her further. "This is just-just preposterous!" She got up and left the room, mumbling, heading up to their dorm, no doubt.

            Heather bit her lip to keep from laughing and turned to Jessica. "Now that we know exactly what's going on-"

            "-we're going to have some fun with it."

"Exactly. But how? James, it seems, is easily embarrassed. And Lily, well, is as hard-headed as they come…"

            "Brilliant!" Jessica muttered to herself. "You know Lily- we tell her one thing and she'll think the other, however much of a friend she is. All we have to do is convince her that James is a fool and she'll be more likely to submit…"

            "I don't think it will take much convincing." Heather mentioned, watching James, who was staring at the place where Lily had disappeared minutes before. "But it will help."

@-------------------@

            "Haha. You're so funny." Lily grunted sarcastically, picking mashed potatoes off of her face. Sirius only chuckled. James was purposely avoiding the whole incident, and Lily's friends were sitting off to the side, in deep discussion. Lily sighed, watching her friends and beginning to worry. The two of them plotting could only mean…something bad for her. She snapped her head around swiftly after feeling a hand on her waist.
            "Luke, I-"

The blonde-haired boy plopped down into the empty seat next to her and happily wrapped his arm around her. "Shh. I know you're happy to see me; we all are, of course. But there's no need to tell everyone."

            Lily grumbled something under her breath. But with a quick, almost not there, glance at James, she shut up and allowed the scene to unfold. Luke gave her a kiss on the cheek and a red rose appeared almost out of nowhere, until he stuck it under her nose, so that she was almost choking. "Erm-ugh." She tried not to sneeze, and scream, at the same time. "Thank you." She accepted the rose with a planned, sweet smile that almost seemed too unlike her. After a moments silence, with Luke staring uncomfortably at her, she cleared her throat and mentioned carefully, "Luke, dear. I left a few of my books in my dorm. Would you mind-"

            "I'll be right back!" he left speedily and she almost folded her hands and thanked God, holding back an annoyed sigh all the same, before she reminded herself of James- no- of the other people in the Great Hall. Certainly not James- she couldn't care less about him. Careful to mask her real emotions, she left the Hall slowly, telling herself that once she was in the confines of privacy, she could yell as much as she wanted. The problem was finding that privacy.

            Outside, she decided. I'll go for a stroll along the lake. Before she got far, though, her two friends caught up to her and walked apace on either side. She gritted her teeth and hoped for the best.

            "How are you two today? We haven't talked much, besides, of course, me yelling at you this morning for waking me up." Lily gave a small smile.

            "Oh, cut the crap." Jessica sent her a sideways grin. "You don't need to act around your friends. You're forgetting yourself."

            "I am not." She mumbled.

"Then why the pleasant attitude? I mean, you aren't mean to us ever, but you aren't the brightest person around, friend."

            She grimaced. "Fine. What are you guys following me for?"

"We are your friends. We have that right. I thought." Heather stated.

            Lily exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry. I haven't been a very nice friend."

"You never were." Jessica replied simply, and then laughed when she saw the red-head's stricken expression. "I'm just kidding."  

            "And I'm just annoyed today. This past week has been hell."

"I wonder why." A hint of sarcasm from Heather was not unusual.

            "You did it to yourself." Jessica said. "If you'd only give in, who know's why you don't, then Jam-" Heather nudged her hard in the side. "Ow-Oh." They shared a look, and Lily stopped, looking between them.

            They were now next to the lake, the Saturday sun casting reflections of the castle into the water. Sighing once again, Lily dropped down into the grass, supporting herself on her elbows. "I'm not stupid you know."

            "No. Just very stubborn."

Lily turned to look at them as they sat down beside her. She scowled. "So? And what about it?" she asked, laying one arm across her stomach.

            "Nothing." Jessica replied, quickly.

The two of them (Heather and Jessica) shared another glance, and then Heather said, "You know, I'm actually glad that you didn't decide to go out with James."

            Lily turned to face her and her expression turned red, or pink, or some related shade. "I was never considering it!"

            "Well- I'm glad then."

There was silence for awhile, with Lily making small, frequent shifts in her position, while Heather and Jessica fooled with their robes and watched her at the same time.

            "Why do you say that?" the red-head asked, after a time, unable to keep it inside any longer.

            Jessica bit back a knowing smile. "Well- he's a jerk."
"Mm. Full-fledged." Heather agreed.

            Lily gaped. "What?"

"Yep. I was just too blind to see it before. But I do now, and I'm glad you stayed away."

            "Oh." She replied, and then was silent. She stared out into the lake, apparently deep in thought over something. Then she smiled abruptly. "Well- I have a few essays to get done and I don't want to spend my whole weekend doing them. I'll meet back up with you guys in the common room or something later. Okay?"

            "Sure. Of course." They replied in unison. Lily had already started to jog back up to the castle, though, and didn't notice them share smiles and a quick high-five.

@-------------------@

            Not really knowing what possessed her to do so, Lily decided to work on her essays in the Heads room. She slung her bag full of books, parchment, and quills over her shoulder casually and made her way over. She had done a superb job of avoiding Luke so far; in fact, she hadn't seen him since breakfast.

            It wasn't until she was inside of the Heads room, staring at the fire, that she realized what a mistake it was to come here. What was she thinking? She wasn't the only one with access to this place…But apparently, he had already figured that one out.

            James stood from his spot at a desk on the side of the room and stared at her. "Glad you came." He said simply, approaching her. "Luke has been stumbling around the whole school in search of you."

            "Well good. Something to keep him away from the mir-" she stopped, remembering that it was James she was talking with. She fell silent.

            After a pause, he inquired quietly. "Lily, why are you doing this to me?"

"Doing what?" she attempted at innocence, and began to inspect her nails.

            He grumbled something too low for her to hear, and frankly, she wasn't sure she wanted to. She sent him a scowl before walking over to the couch and dropping down into it, setting her bag beside her and staring into the fire.

            She felt James sit down beside her, after a fashion, and turn towards her. She pointedly ignored his glance.

            "Come on, you can at least look at me."

"No!" she huffed.

            He let out a long breath and she felt the hotness on her cheek. He was doing it on purpose. Damn him.

            "Look James." She said, still staring into the fire. "You're like a stalker. And I don't much like stalkers. My friends also told me that-"

            "Oh, and since when do you listen to other people?"
She paused, unknowing of her next move. "You don't know me!" Was the best reply she had.

            "I think I know you better than even you do."

She shrugged uncomfortably and decided to ignore his last comment. "No good comes out of arguing." She mumbled, not really meaning for him to hear it.

            But he did. "I can't argue with that."

She felt him lean closer, and thoughts ran through her mind like lightning. She could scoot away, but that might prove one or another of his darn points. But if she stayed, well, she knew herself to give in too easily upon physical contact. She'd rather stay with arguing. It was no good once he kissed her. And yet, by the time she decided to pull away, no matter how much he ridiculed her for it, it was already too late. She was too weak, then. And weakness was something Lily Evans hated more than anything else. Her past proved to her that it was no way to live.

            James kissed her lightly just below her cheekbone. Lily turned to yell at him, but instead found his lips on hers. She pushed him off roughly. He came back. "This is what it takes with you, isn't it? A fight?"

       She mumbled something against his mouth, but he hardly cared what it was, and she didn't seem to want to repeat herself anymore. Finally, they pulled away. She grabbed her bag, containing her books, and rose from the couch. So did James.

"I-I should go. I'll just be-"

James grabbed her arm and she turned slowly, to see him grinning behind her. "Shall I give you one for the road?"

       "You're a corny bastard, aren't you?" she twisted her arm out of his grip.

"Hey." he shrugged. "It works."

       "Well not with me. Sorry to disappoint."

"Hardly." he mumbled.

       She made another move to leave, making it halfway across the room, but he stepped between her and the door. "You are the most stubborn person I have ever known." he said, looking at her seriously.

       She smiled sarcastically. "And proud of it."

"Why won't you just give me a chance?"

       "Because I don't trust you. It's too easy."

"Easy? You call this easy?" he let out an annoyed breath and grunted. "Fine. At least admit that you need me."

       She snorted humorously. "For what?"

"You wouldn't have come back here unless you expected to meet me." he explained.

       "Yeah, right." she said softly. "Believe me, you're nothing more to me than a way to escape reality. You aren't real. And you never will be."

       He let go of her arm, where he had been holding it. Then he suddenly seemed pleased with himself. "Well then, you need me to be unreal."

       She threw her hands up in the air. "Oh! Of all the-" he cut her off abruptly, kissing her lightly. He pulled away, but she was leaning forward.

       "Proof." he shrugged.

She shook her head and stared at him. "No. It's just instinct."

       "If that's what you want to think, nobody's stopping you."

"Damn right."

       He smiled again, only making her angrier with his insistence. "Well then. I guess you really are into Luke." he said lightly. "You'll be together a long while, I suppose." he shrugged and moved around her towards the door. "Oh well."

       She opened her mouth in confusion, following him out of the Head Rooms, until she spotted Luke jogging down the hallway towards them.

       "You found her for me! Thanks, James!" Luke huffed, shoving Lily's books at her. "Where have you been? I've been looking for ages!" Her mouth worked silently, searching for some way to set everything straight. You dug this hole. She reminded herself. And now you're digging deeper.

      James looked between them, almost with glee, and she felt a sudden compulsion to slap him and demand what he meant of all this. But he only winked at her and started down the corridor. She stared after him, a bit confused, but all in all knowing exactly what he was trying to do. And it only aggravated her further.

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A/N: Hopefully I'm not losing your interest. I got more feedback for last chapter! Thanks a lot!!

Kitty- Do you really like it that much? It makes me so happy! Yes, of course, I'll keep writing. And as for Lily coming to her senses, well, we'll see…Raven-gal2002- Lol, I'm so glad you're sticking by the story. Hope this chapter was alright for you ;) Zetta- Lol, mush, huh? It was never a strong point of mine, but I try. Thanks again! (anon)- Thanks! So glad you like Lily and James; I do too- obviously- lol. goodmorning(iluvfrogs);):);(:P- A new name =) Thanks for continuing to review! It's much appreciated, believe me. Lamina Court- Lol, I agree. Lily is a little short of sane. But who cares, anyway? So am I! Thanks for another review, as always. Starblaze- Yep, I stopped. And started again. You updated your story, didn't you? I need to read the updates ;) Little Rogue- Thanks! So glad you liked it! Snow White- Why? Because Luke is retarded! Yes, and not worth the time. Although he was necessary for the plot, so I'll give him that. Lol, thanks a bunch. AnotherKoolKitty- Yeah, I probably should go for a change, shouldn't I? Oh well, I will eventually. I'm too tired to think of anything good ;) So it probably won't be until summer, lol. Lauren- Of course I'll send you an email! Thanks for leaving a review for me! Chickensoup3- Thanks? I'm confused- I'm supposed to be the one thanking you =) (anon)- Thank you for such nice comments! I hope you continue to enjoy the story! Caz- Happy to hear that you think so! Golden.Slumbers- I like the new name! Hmm- I did rhyme- didn't I? I'm so horrible at poetry…Lol, nope, don't think the HTML works in reviews. And don't thank me, I didn't solve anything- I'm pretty hopeless at anything like that. Thanks again for reviewing!! Forbidden- I'm not usually funny, so thanks! Mei Queen- Thanks a bunch, again! I hope this chapter was agreeable for you, lol. Nauzzo- You like it that much? Thank you! JadeAngelou- Lol, thanks so much. I'd say more, but this is getting entirely too long, if I do say so. Louisa Potter- Brilliant, you say? That's very nice of you. dREaM cHicK- Lol, I'm not sure how she can, but she does. Yes, and Luke is dumb. Thanks for your multiple reviews- this fic and others!