Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, so please don't sue (I'm a poor
student, you wouldn't get anything anyways)
Chapter 2: Dumbledore's Departure
What is wrong with me? Lily thought. She was waiting for the prefects to show up so she could begin the meeting, but her thoughts were elsewhere. She couldn't stop thinking about James and him kissing that other girl. It's not like I like him or anything, she thought, and obviously it was going to happen sooner or later, I mean he had a whole fan club to choose from! I mean I should be happy, he won't be bothering me so much anymore, no more teasing, no more constantly getting asked out by him.. Why can't I get that stupid kiss out of my head! ARGH!!! I've gone crazy, that's it, completely insane, there is no other explanation. That's it, I'm going to forget about it, think about something else, ok.. Hmmmm... OWL's are coming up... got to study up on Transfiguration, wouldn't want James to beat me.. James, always so smug and confident, with that stupid grin all the time.. Just then Lily felt a hand on her shoulder, she let out a scream and jumped three feet into the air, and whirled around to find herself face to face with none other than James Potter.
"Lily? Are you OK, you seemed a little out of it." He asked sounding concerned. Lily's face had turned bright red, and she had to catch her breath when she looked at him, she quickly backed away,
"Of course. I'm fine, I was just thinking about our OWLs," Oh, Merlin, she thought, why am I so nervous, this is JAMES! I'm acting like one of those stupid bimbos that hang off his every word. Get a grip on yourself, girl!!! She took a deep breath and tried to calm her heart.
"So James, I see you've gotten Head Boy, I must say, I'm more than a little surprised." She began, mentally slapping herself for sounding so rude.
"Yeah, so was I, actually" he replied, laughing good-naturedly. Then he looked down at his feet and an awkward silence seemed to grow between the two of them. When James finally looked up he had a serious look in his eye.
"Look Lily," he began softly, "I want to talk to you about something." He sounded quite serious, and Lily didn't know what to make of it. This sort of behaviour was really unusual for James, he was never serious about anything. Lily concluded he must be building up to some sort of joke, but decided to go along with it just in case. She was going to have to work with him a lot this year, it would be better if they didn't start out as complete enemies.
"Yes?" Lily prompted, "What is it?"
"Well..." James began, looking down at his feet again "its just that, I know things haven't really been too friendly between us, and I know that that is mostly my fault." He sounded so nervous and his words were coming out in such a rush. "I just wanted to tell you not to worry, that I won't be bothering you anymore, and that I hope we can, well, work together and maybe, maybe.. be. errr.. friends?" He looked up to meet her eyes. Lily was stunned, she kept thinking he was going to yell 'gotcha' or something more in character for James, but he just stood there staring at her, waiting for a response. Finally, Lily replied,
"Of course, well I'm sure if we are mature about it, we should get along just fine" Lily said, rather more coldly than she had intended. She mentally chastised herself, why do you always have to do that? He was just trying to be nice, wasn't he? You didn't have to bite his head off for it! That certainly isn't going to help your relationship with James! Lily smiled, trying to show that she was really serious about trying to get along. She was just about to apologize and say she would love to be friends with him when the two Ravenclaw prefects walked into the car, interrupting her thoughts. Lily promised herself who would finish the conversation later.
*****************************************************************
The meeting was finally over and James was heading back to his compartment with Remus who was giving him an odd look.
"Alright already! What is it?" James snapped. Taken aback, Remus gave James a quizzical glace,
"Oh it's nothing. Really. I just noticed you staring at a certain Witch from the Past during the entire meeting. I thought you were over Lily?" James sighed,
"I thought so too.., I really thought I just wanted to be her friend, but she's just so, so.. so Lily." James ran his hands through his hair nervously laughing, "But I guess she's made her feelings perfectly clear." After a few moments of silence James said in a cheerier voice, "Alright, Moony, from now on, if I say or do anything to suggest that I want Lily for more than a friend, you have the right to exact any sort of payment you see fit." Remus laughed,
"Alright... but you'll probably regret it" he grinned.
*****************************************************************
". and then I said that as long as we were mature, we should be able get along just fine." Lily finished explaining what had happened earlier to Alice, Emma, and Frank, hiding her face in her hands. They were all sitting at the Gryffindor table watching the first years get sorted. Just then the hat pronounced a small, gangly red-headed boy to be a Gryffindor and the four friends rose with the rest of the table and applauded.
"Lily, it'll be OK, I'm sure James will be fine" said Emma soothingly as they sat back down. Alice nodded her head in agreement.
"Just talk to him next time you see him, explain what happened." Alice suggested rationally.
"You know, Lily, for someone you claim to hate, you sure do talk about James a lot. I don't think you've stopped talking about him since you got back from that meeting!" Frank observed, a sly twinkle in his eye. Lily laughed,
" I guess you're right. Thanks guys, I'm just going to stop worrying about it." Lily smiled at her friends and turned her attention back to the front of the room, where 'Wheeler, Debbie' was just sorted into Ravenclaw. Just then she noticed a rather dishevelled and nervous-looking wizard run in from the side. He looked around wildly, until he seemed to find what he was looking for. Hardly any of the students noticed him as he ran up to Dumbledore, they were too enthralled with the sorting, but Lily was following his movements intently. She nudged Alice and Frank and indicated the wizard, who now appeared to be frantically trying to explain something to the Headmaster. As the trembling wizard reached the end of his explanation, something passed across the face of the Headmaster that Lily thought she would never see from Dumbledore in a million years. She saw fear: genuine, unmistakable fear. Lily felt her heart begin to pound. What could be so awful that it terrified Dumbledore? Lily didn't want to think about it. As they were watching, Dumbledore leaned over and whispered something briefly to Professor Mcgonagall; she looked startled but nodded. Then Dumbledore stood up and all but ran out the door following the nervous wizard.
Lily and her friends stared at each other in shock and disbelief. What was going on? Just than Emma, who had gone to the washroom, rejoined the table, she also looked a little startled.
"Dumbledore just ran past me in the hall, he looked really worried about something. He was with some guy who looked like he'd just been in a fight. Dumbledore said something about 'contacting the order immediately', and then he and the other wizard walked out of the castle, heading towards the woods, and... wait a second, what happened here?" Emma asked, noticing the looks on the faces of her friends. They filled her in and they began discussing what possibly could have been so urgent that the Headmaster had to leave in such a hurry, trying to keep their voices as low as possible. Suddenly Alice piped up,
"Shh. I think Mcgonagall's going to talk, maybe she'll let us know what is going on."
"Attention students, I know that the Headmaster usually gives this start of term address, unfortunately, urgent business has called Professor Dumbledore away this evening," a murmer went through the room "Quiet, Quiet please! Now Professor Dumbledore expresses his regrets that he cannot be with us tonight but assured me that he would be back tomorrow to great you properly. For now I would like to welcome the new first years to Hogwarts, I'm sure you will enjoy your time here, and I would like to welcome the rest of you back as well, I'm sure you're all ready to start right back into your schoolwork after a restful holiday." There were a few groans from the students. "Now, without further ado, let's eat." As plates of food appeared on the table, Lily looked at Frank, Alice and Emma.
"So much for letting us know what's going on!" Alice sighed.
"Well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow, nothing we can do now but wait."
End of Chapter 2
Please review!!!!!! Please???
Chapter 2: Dumbledore's Departure
What is wrong with me? Lily thought. She was waiting for the prefects to show up so she could begin the meeting, but her thoughts were elsewhere. She couldn't stop thinking about James and him kissing that other girl. It's not like I like him or anything, she thought, and obviously it was going to happen sooner or later, I mean he had a whole fan club to choose from! I mean I should be happy, he won't be bothering me so much anymore, no more teasing, no more constantly getting asked out by him.. Why can't I get that stupid kiss out of my head! ARGH!!! I've gone crazy, that's it, completely insane, there is no other explanation. That's it, I'm going to forget about it, think about something else, ok.. Hmmmm... OWL's are coming up... got to study up on Transfiguration, wouldn't want James to beat me.. James, always so smug and confident, with that stupid grin all the time.. Just then Lily felt a hand on her shoulder, she let out a scream and jumped three feet into the air, and whirled around to find herself face to face with none other than James Potter.
"Lily? Are you OK, you seemed a little out of it." He asked sounding concerned. Lily's face had turned bright red, and she had to catch her breath when she looked at him, she quickly backed away,
"Of course. I'm fine, I was just thinking about our OWLs," Oh, Merlin, she thought, why am I so nervous, this is JAMES! I'm acting like one of those stupid bimbos that hang off his every word. Get a grip on yourself, girl!!! She took a deep breath and tried to calm her heart.
"So James, I see you've gotten Head Boy, I must say, I'm more than a little surprised." She began, mentally slapping herself for sounding so rude.
"Yeah, so was I, actually" he replied, laughing good-naturedly. Then he looked down at his feet and an awkward silence seemed to grow between the two of them. When James finally looked up he had a serious look in his eye.
"Look Lily," he began softly, "I want to talk to you about something." He sounded quite serious, and Lily didn't know what to make of it. This sort of behaviour was really unusual for James, he was never serious about anything. Lily concluded he must be building up to some sort of joke, but decided to go along with it just in case. She was going to have to work with him a lot this year, it would be better if they didn't start out as complete enemies.
"Yes?" Lily prompted, "What is it?"
"Well..." James began, looking down at his feet again "its just that, I know things haven't really been too friendly between us, and I know that that is mostly my fault." He sounded so nervous and his words were coming out in such a rush. "I just wanted to tell you not to worry, that I won't be bothering you anymore, and that I hope we can, well, work together and maybe, maybe.. be. errr.. friends?" He looked up to meet her eyes. Lily was stunned, she kept thinking he was going to yell 'gotcha' or something more in character for James, but he just stood there staring at her, waiting for a response. Finally, Lily replied,
"Of course, well I'm sure if we are mature about it, we should get along just fine" Lily said, rather more coldly than she had intended. She mentally chastised herself, why do you always have to do that? He was just trying to be nice, wasn't he? You didn't have to bite his head off for it! That certainly isn't going to help your relationship with James! Lily smiled, trying to show that she was really serious about trying to get along. She was just about to apologize and say she would love to be friends with him when the two Ravenclaw prefects walked into the car, interrupting her thoughts. Lily promised herself who would finish the conversation later.
*****************************************************************
The meeting was finally over and James was heading back to his compartment with Remus who was giving him an odd look.
"Alright already! What is it?" James snapped. Taken aback, Remus gave James a quizzical glace,
"Oh it's nothing. Really. I just noticed you staring at a certain Witch from the Past during the entire meeting. I thought you were over Lily?" James sighed,
"I thought so too.., I really thought I just wanted to be her friend, but she's just so, so.. so Lily." James ran his hands through his hair nervously laughing, "But I guess she's made her feelings perfectly clear." After a few moments of silence James said in a cheerier voice, "Alright, Moony, from now on, if I say or do anything to suggest that I want Lily for more than a friend, you have the right to exact any sort of payment you see fit." Remus laughed,
"Alright... but you'll probably regret it" he grinned.
*****************************************************************
". and then I said that as long as we were mature, we should be able get along just fine." Lily finished explaining what had happened earlier to Alice, Emma, and Frank, hiding her face in her hands. They were all sitting at the Gryffindor table watching the first years get sorted. Just then the hat pronounced a small, gangly red-headed boy to be a Gryffindor and the four friends rose with the rest of the table and applauded.
"Lily, it'll be OK, I'm sure James will be fine" said Emma soothingly as they sat back down. Alice nodded her head in agreement.
"Just talk to him next time you see him, explain what happened." Alice suggested rationally.
"You know, Lily, for someone you claim to hate, you sure do talk about James a lot. I don't think you've stopped talking about him since you got back from that meeting!" Frank observed, a sly twinkle in his eye. Lily laughed,
" I guess you're right. Thanks guys, I'm just going to stop worrying about it." Lily smiled at her friends and turned her attention back to the front of the room, where 'Wheeler, Debbie' was just sorted into Ravenclaw. Just then she noticed a rather dishevelled and nervous-looking wizard run in from the side. He looked around wildly, until he seemed to find what he was looking for. Hardly any of the students noticed him as he ran up to Dumbledore, they were too enthralled with the sorting, but Lily was following his movements intently. She nudged Alice and Frank and indicated the wizard, who now appeared to be frantically trying to explain something to the Headmaster. As the trembling wizard reached the end of his explanation, something passed across the face of the Headmaster that Lily thought she would never see from Dumbledore in a million years. She saw fear: genuine, unmistakable fear. Lily felt her heart begin to pound. What could be so awful that it terrified Dumbledore? Lily didn't want to think about it. As they were watching, Dumbledore leaned over and whispered something briefly to Professor Mcgonagall; she looked startled but nodded. Then Dumbledore stood up and all but ran out the door following the nervous wizard.
Lily and her friends stared at each other in shock and disbelief. What was going on? Just than Emma, who had gone to the washroom, rejoined the table, she also looked a little startled.
"Dumbledore just ran past me in the hall, he looked really worried about something. He was with some guy who looked like he'd just been in a fight. Dumbledore said something about 'contacting the order immediately', and then he and the other wizard walked out of the castle, heading towards the woods, and... wait a second, what happened here?" Emma asked, noticing the looks on the faces of her friends. They filled her in and they began discussing what possibly could have been so urgent that the Headmaster had to leave in such a hurry, trying to keep their voices as low as possible. Suddenly Alice piped up,
"Shh. I think Mcgonagall's going to talk, maybe she'll let us know what is going on."
"Attention students, I know that the Headmaster usually gives this start of term address, unfortunately, urgent business has called Professor Dumbledore away this evening," a murmer went through the room "Quiet, Quiet please! Now Professor Dumbledore expresses his regrets that he cannot be with us tonight but assured me that he would be back tomorrow to great you properly. For now I would like to welcome the new first years to Hogwarts, I'm sure you will enjoy your time here, and I would like to welcome the rest of you back as well, I'm sure you're all ready to start right back into your schoolwork after a restful holiday." There were a few groans from the students. "Now, without further ado, let's eat." As plates of food appeared on the table, Lily looked at Frank, Alice and Emma.
"So much for letting us know what's going on!" Alice sighed.
"Well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow, nothing we can do now but wait."
End of Chapter 2
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