Author's*Note: Wow—sorry for the delay guys! I've been..ugh..sick. I've had strep throat for a good week now and besides that, I've been pretty busy, but things are looking better now. It's actually my medicine that I owe this chapter to—I wouldn't be up this late if it wasn't for the fact that I had to take another dose at 12. Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter out a little quicker. Hope you guys enjoy this one..it's a bit longer than the others. Sorry if there's any mistakes—its late! Enjoy…
Chapter 4: Hijinks in Hogsmeade
By the time the first Hogsmeade weekend rolled around, James had all but decided to give up any kind of pursuit of Lily Evans. In the week that laid between his detention (which had turned out not to be quite so bad, given that it had been one of those few and far between joint detentions with Sirius) and his date with Chrysanthea in Hogsmeade, things had gone from bad to worse between him and Lily. It figured, ironically, that during a week that James had to call one of his best-behaved thus far at Hogwarts, Lily had chosen to full out ignore him. Some would call it bad luck; he just called it business as usual in his outstandingly horrendous relations with her.
Remus, however, was harboring a very different attitude. He wasn't about to give up hope that he could show Lily that James wasn't all that bad of a guy. Therefore, on the morning of the first Hogsmeade visit, he had made a point of drawing up a list of rules that James was to obey at all times during the trip. Lily was undoubtedly going to be in Hogsmeade, also, and he didn't want James to make an even bigger arse of himself in front of her. James wasn't very…er…eager to comply with his wishes, though.
"All right now, mate. Repeat back to me numbers 7 and 18."
James, who was sitting on the edge of his bed with his arms crossed defiantly across his chest, glared at his friend. "Moony, this list thing is completely pointless. Evans doesn't want anything to do with me. The girl is a shrew. An extremely attractive shrew, at that, but still a shrew."
"Lily, James, not Evans. Now as extremely charming as I know you are on dates, your previous comments serving as proof that you have a way with words when it comes to complimenting the ladies, I still believe that you're going to need to follow some sort of guidelines on this particular date."
"If I was still pursuing Ev—(then off Remus's pointed glare)—err..Lily..then maybe I would have to go along with a few rules, but I'm not. Why suffer at the hands of Lily when I could be much happier in the hands of Chrys?" James smirked.
"James, go look in the mirror. The letters g-i-t just appeared out of thin air on your forehead."
James shrugged. "OK. Maybe that was a bit unnecessary."
"Come on now, James. I'm convinced that I can make this plan work."
"I thought this was about me."
"Well, that's definitely not surprising."
James considered this for a few silent minutes. Then finally, he questioned softly, "Remus, you think I'm an arrogant prat, don't you?"
Remus studied him for a moment before answering. "James, I…I think there are certain parts of you that overshadow the nicer parts of your personality. Now, whether or not you want to change that is entirely up to you. You have to care."
"Moony, I-." James paused. "I don't know how one…er…goes about changing."
"If you want it that bad, a moment will surface that will allow you to show the kind of person you really are and want to be. You just have to wait….and in the mean time, follow the list that you're good friend spent an hour and a half making for you."
James grinned. "All right, fine. Numbers 7 and 18 did you say?"
"Correct."
"Number 7: Spilling your drink on your date's chest and then attempting to be a gentleman by dabbing it up is not considered proper date etiquette by anyone other than Sirius. Number 18: Do not attempt to kiss Chrysanthea in front of Lily in hopes of making her jealous…you will come off as even more of a prat than she already thinks you are. I do have one small question about that one, though. Does the same thing apply if she kisses me?"
Remus frowned slightly. "I'm going to ignore that last part and let you rely on your better judgment. How about number 12?"
James's eyes crinkled up for a moment in thought. "Err…Do not show any signs of further interest in your date."
"…although?"
"Although, you must show her the utmost respect at all times."
Remus smiled in satisfaction. "Very good. Now, which rule would you consider the most important?"
James thought for a moment. "Err…number 3. Walking behind your date just so you can ogle her arse is both rude and ungentlemanly."
"Excellent..and I'd have thought you'd think that the least important." Remus murmured dryly.
"Why? This way I can always tell her, 'Chrys, love, let me walk beside you so I can see your gorgeous face'. That's a winner right there."
"You know, if you could be genuine when you said stuff like that, you'd come off as a pretty nice guy."
"Yeah…and maybe if we practice a little more, you can even get me to jump through hoops." James deadpanned.
"Wouldn't do much good. Apparently, Lily's not much of a dog person."
*
"Now, girls, according to my itinerary we should be having lunch in the Three Broomsticks at 1:00. I know that that's a little late, so the exact time of that visit is really up in the air. If you have any suggestions…" Lily trailed off, smiling infectiously as she brandished a 2 foot long piece of parchment filled with her neat handwriting.
"Er…Lily…could you tell me whose brilliant idea it was to make an itinerary for a trip that we've been on countless times before?" Lola questioned, eyebrows raised.
"Mine, of course." Lily responded brightly.
"That would explain why they chose her to make it." Cecilia whispered to Leila.
"Lil, don't you think this is a little…extreme?" Leila asked, choosing her words as carefully as possible.
Lily's head tilted slightly to one side. "How so?"
"To put it quite plainly, you're usually not so…" Leila trailed off, thinking of a word that would fit wisely into her explanation.
"Psychotic?" Cecilia offered.
"I was going to say..er…organized." Leila shot her friend a stern look.
"Oh, now that's not important. What's important is making sure everyone's happy with the time I chose for our lunch."
"Why can't we just eat at 12:00 like we do every other time we go? That's when the most people are going to be--." Leila paused mid-sentence, a startling revelation having just occurred to her.
"What?" Lily inquired, her cheery expression now gone.
"I know why you're acting so..so…"
"Crazy?" Cecilia suggested.
Leila glared at her once more. "I was going to say flustered."
"I'm not flustered!" Lily protested, hands on hips.
"Why is she acting so....well, however she's acting!" Lola wasn't about to place herself on Lily's bad side. After all, she was being a little mental.
"If we chose to go to the Three Broomsticks at 12:00, the time when most people choose to eat lunch, James would probably be there on his date." Leila explained matter-of-factly.
Cecilia gasped.
Lola simply laughed. "Wait…so you're telling me that this whole thing is about James….again?"
Lily turned her head so that she wasn't quite looking at them any longer and nodded.
"So, now you…what? You like him?" Cecilia questioned incredulously.
"No!" Lily looked appalled at the mere suggestion of such a thing.
"Then why is it that every time you go into a fit of lunacy, it's about him!?"
"I've been ignoring him all week and things have actually been going pretty well for me. I figure that if I keep on ignoring him, things can only get better." Lily explained.
"For Merlin's sake, you'd think the boy had some horribly contagious disease or something the way you're behaving!" Lola scolded.
"Girls, the only way this is affecting you is through your stomachs. Does it really matter that much to you what time you eat?"
The other three all exchanged looks, then unanimously answered, "Yes."
"Fine, then I'll eat by myself!"
The room was overtaken by silence for a few minutes, giving each of the other Gryffindor girls time to muster up some guilt and then, in turn, a little sympathy.
Lola was the first to consent. "All right, Lil. Lunch at 1:00 it is."
"Yes, I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Leila confessed.
Lily beamed at both of them.
"I would, Lily, but I have a date with Dennis Corner for lunch at 12:00." Cecilia explained.
"That's all right. At least now I'll have some company."
Lola chuckled. "Were you really going to eat lunch by yourself?"
Lily rolled her eyes at them, laughing slightly. "Honestly, I think I would've been able to scrounge myself a lunch date."
Leila raised her eyebrows at her.
"Okay, given that every decent and (thinking of James) even some of the indecent boys around here already have dates, I probably would've just gotten it to go."
*
"Moony, your shoulder is blocking my vision." Sirius grumbled, giving his friend a slight shove.
The Gryffindor boys, out of pure concern for James (all right, and just a tad bit for their own amusement), had decided to tail James on his date with Chrysanthea to see how well he could follow Remus's rules.
"Oh, yes, Padfoot, that's the right thing to do. Shove me. I'm sure the people walking along these streets would just be terribly delighted to see a hand floating next to them in mid-air."
"I'd think it rather cool." Sirius muttered defensively.
"Well, you also thought it rather cool to put a Vanishing Charm on Bridgitte Bernard's hair yesterday morning, now didn't you?"
Sirius snickered. "C'mon, Moony. I was just doing a fellow student a favor. I'm sure she got to do some much needed catching up on her school work while locked up in her dormitory all day. Personally, I didn't think she seemed all that bothered by it."
"Sirius, she ran out of the Great Hall screaming and crying hysterically when Mei Chung pointed it out to her." Peter pointed out in a thoughtful tone.
Sirius shrugged. "Eh…I wouldn't go as far as calling her hysterical. A bit miffed, but not hysterical. Now, hysterical is when I--."
Sirius was cut off by a harsh shushing noise from Remus.
"I want to hear what they're saying." He explained, pointing to the couple ahead of them.
"On a hunch, I'd say Chrys is still talking about her hair and James is still listening dumbly."
"Padfoot, I'd love it if you were a mute."
"Hey, guys," Peter interrupted, "you don't think James will be mad about any of this, do you?"
"Well, let's see, Pete. We shoved a list of rules in his face, stole his invisibility cloak..and I also…er..borrowed his sweater, and are now stalking his every movement just so we can harass him about it later." Sirius pondered, while mockingly stroking the bottom of his chin.
Peter stared at him questioningly, his eyebrows raised as he waited for an answer.
"Nope, not at all."
*
"—I mean, Adalia said that I should wear it up, but then Sapphy said that that would bring too much attention to my face and if I had some sort of…you know..blemish or something, then it would be right out there for everyone to see. So, of course I couldn't wear it up after hearing that! Then, Eleanor—she's really a dear girl—offered to let me borrow this really gorgeous clip that her grandmother gave her, but sometimes I just have to trust my own judgement over the girls', so I just ended up wearing it down."
James, who had stopped listening to his date talk about 10 minutes earlier, nodded along agreeably to Chrysanthea's babbling. The girl was very pretty, but she certainly could stand to have a sock shoved into her mouth.
"James? James? James?"
James, apparently, had been caught. He blinked dazedly at her for a few seconds before saying the cleverest that came into his mind.
"Hmm?"
"James, were you—were you not listening to me?" Chrysanthea's eyes looked oddly shiny and her tone had become somewhat pathetic.
James shook his head firmly. "No..no! Well, um…actually, yes. You see, I was paying attention, but then I looked at you..and you're just so damn pretty."
Her eyes immediately lit up as a small blush crept over her cheeks. "Oh..why…why, thank you."
Internally, James heaved a great sigh. That had certainly been close. Thank Merlin he had the natural gift of being suave.
"James, would you…like to go get a coffee? I love going to Madam Puddifoot's. She decorates her shop ever so nicely."
"Sure, then. Lead the way."
*
"Oh, yeah…James is definitely in for a nice snog." Sirius commented, nudging both his friends.
"No part of James is coming anywhere near her lips." Remus shook his head sternly as he said this.
"Oh, please, Moony. She's taking him to Madam Snog-You-Off-Your-Feet's."
"He's right, Remus. That place has the same reputation as Bridgitte Bernard."
"—and what would that be?" Remus questioned, eyebrows raised.
"If you even come close, you're guaranteed a snog."
"Which, may I add, is why I greatly enjoyed that apology you made me give to her this morning." Sirius grinned reminiscently.
"Well, let's step in then!" Remus enthused.
"No! You'll blow our cover!" Sirius scolded.
"We don't have a cover..we're invisible--."
"Remus, face it. James is on his own with this one."
"He's not ready to be on his own! He's a prat when he's on his own!"
"Maybe we should have a little faith in him." Peter suggested, trying to sound as unobtrusive as possible.
"Faith? Faith?! Wormtail, the girl has been going on about her hair since he met with her a half an hour ago. If I were him, I'd be snogging her just to get her to shut the bloody hell up!"
Remus, who would normally have a dry remark to shoot back at his friend after hearing such a comment, remained quiet, his eyes fixed ahead of them.
"What?" Peter inquired.
"They just went it in." He moaned, shaking his head in a grave fashion.
"C'mon, then. Let's hurry up and tag along behind someone so we can sneak through the door." Sirius urged, prodding Remus's back.
"No, that's too risky. We're going to have to just…look through the window."
"Well, that's just not right. It would be like we're spying on people." Peter whined.
"Pete, in case you haven't noticed, we already ARE spying on people, so consider your conscience still dirty."
"That's not even the worst part, though, Sirius." Peter grunted.
"Oh, and what's the worst part?"
"I wanted to get a scone in there."
*
James, who would normally be in heaven in a place like Madam Puddifoots, was beginning to get very nervous considering his current position. How was he supposed to follow Remus's rules in a shop full of couples attached at the lip?
"James, are you okay? You haven't touched your coffee." Chrysanthea pointed out, running a hand through her hair and smiling brightly at him.
James's stomach lurched slightly as he watched her hand tousle her own hair. It turned out that that action was, indeed, every bit as annoying as Lily Evans had claimed it to be. As her hand slipped out of her hair, it came to rest right on top of his own.
"Oh, yes, yes, I'm perfectly fine." To rectify his answer, James picked up his steaming mug and, without thinking, downed half the cup. Unfortunately, he didn't realize his mistake until he felt a horrible burning sensation in his throat and began to cough and sputter, his fingers pointing wildly at his mouth.
"Oh!" Chrysanthea pulled out her wand and bent closer to him.
"Err…I forget the…the…the um…the spell for this!" She cried out, looking almost as upset as him. Several people around them had separated and were staring at them, wide-eyed.
"Water!" James managed to choke out, looking around him for help.
"Oh, that's it!" Chrysanthea looked triumphant. "Scourgify!"
James's eyes widened considerably as his mouth began to fill with soapy water. Completely frustrated, he bent under the table and spit the water out of his mouth, his hand searching the top of the table frantically for his wand. When his fingers finally closed around it, he pointed it to his bent form and sputtered the counter-curse as clearly as possible.
As his mouth began to dry out, he took several steadying breaths. Chrysanthea looked positively mortified at having cursed her date.
"James! I…I am…so sorry."
His own voice echoed in his head. "Although, you must show her the utmost respect at all times."
Biting his lip, James managed to grumble, "It's..fine."
Chrysanthea's hands were over her face and she continued to eye him nervously.
Taking a quick glance around him, James's suspicions were confirmed. Almost every eye in the shop was focused on the two of them, albeit the two pairs that belonged to a couple in the back who were enjoying a rather..er..passionate embrace.
"Would you mind…er…leaving?"
She shook her head firmly in response.
"Then..uh…then, let's go." James reached out his hand for Chrysanthea to take. She slipped her hand gently into his, her eyes still apologetic.
Before another word could be uttered between them, James had led her out of the shop.
*
"See, Lil? You really had no reason to worry. We came a whole half an hour early and look! No James." Leila pointed out, her hand motioning at all the James Potter-less tables around their's at The Three Broomsticks.
Lily looked hesitant. "Well, I guess you guys were right. I've been a bit paranoid this week."
"A bit?" Lola raised her eyebrows at her.
Lily smiled slightly. "All right, a bit and then some."
"Now, we can have a nice, relaxing lunch. No paranoia, no commotion--." Leila's voice was cut off by a louder one yelling out each of their names.
The girls turned to find a very angry looking Cecilia marching over to their table, dragging a small boy along with her.
"What happened? Where's Dennis?" Leila questioned, her brows furrowed.
Cecilia's eyes narrowed, her face reddening as she gritted her teeth. "Dennis is outside...alone. Do you know what he did?! He..he just stood there..and..and watched!!"
"Watched what?" Lily asked patiently.
"Watched this poor boy get hexed by a few Slytherins! Can you believe that I had to be the one to save him? I honestly cannot believe he could be such a..a…GIT!"
The boy, who Lily recognized to be a first year Gryffindor, was cowering behind Cecilia, hiding his face from view.
"Oh, don't be that way," Cecilia reprimanded in a soft voice, "they can help."
Cecilia took his arm and pulled him in front of her. The girls all gasped softly. The boy's entire face was covered with gigantic boils and the skin on his arms was oddly fish-like.
"Can you girls watch him? I'm going to go give Dennis exactly what he deserves..the selfish prat!"
They all nodded silently as Cecilia stormed out of The Three Broomsticks, leaving the fearful boy behind.
"What's your name?" Lily asked, hoping her voice was gentle.
"Bill..Bill Weasley."
"Here…sit down. Let me take a look at you and see if I can recognize any of these hexes." Lily pulled out a chair for him and, as soon as he sat down, began to examine him closely.
"Has this ever happened before?" Lola questioned.
"No….no, just this time. They…they were bullying a girl in my year…and I tried to stick up for her. A whole lot of good that did me." He murmured, his tone pathetic.
"That was very kind of you." Leila commented, smiling genuinely at him.
"Could I…could I just……go?" He asked, looking very uncomfortable at their table.
"Well…no. I don't want them to start on you again and I'm afraid Cecilia would kill us if we let you out there…especially in the state your in now. At least let us..bring you back to normal." Lily tried to develop a sense of kind authority in her voice.
"I'd rather leave……if you don't mind."
Lily could tell that the boy was not the type that was usually bullied. She had misinterpreted the fearful look on his voice. He was not scared of the boys who had just hexed him. He was scared of what other people might think if they saw him looking the way he did.
"Listen. We'll buy you a few butterbeers while we try to figure out how to clean you up a bit. Is that all right with you?"
The boy's expression was one of apprehension.
"We don't bite……at least not boys your age." Leila giggled softly at her own joke.
"Leila!" Lily turned her attention away from the boy briefly to glare at her friend.
"Just trying to lighten the mood." Leila shrugged.
"Sit down, Bill. We're really not that bad. At our best, we can even manage to be entertaining." Lola commented, trying her best to make their offer sound tempting.
Bill let out a short laugh. "All right. For a little while."
*
"James, I think I might know of something to…er…alleviate things a bit." Chrysanthea smiled suggestively at him as they walked down the street together.
"I know of something, too. A butterbeer. Do you mind if we stop in at The Three Broomsticks for a bit?"
She appeared to be a little put out. "Well, I guess that would be all right."
"Excellent."
They walked in silence for a few moments.
"James, could we stop walking for just a moment?"
Thinking back once more to the rule about being respectful, James halted. Chrysanthea grinned, satisfied, and stepped closer.
*
"What is she doing?" Remus questioned, craning his neck a little.
"Maybe she'll curse him again." Sirius sniggered appreciatively at his own comment.
"She's leaning forward…I'm going to go out on a whim and say that she's about to kiss him." Peter muttered dryly.
"No! Quick..think of something we can do to stop it."
"Not to worry, Moony. I have the perfect idea. Thank Merlin it rained earlier."
Remus and Peter both exchanged worried glances as Sirius extended his arm, pointing his wand at the couple.
*
"Chrys, I really think we should just head on over to The Three Broomsticks."
"I have a much better plan." Her eyes contained a mischievous glint.
"No, really, I think we should-."
Before James could finish his sentence, Chrysanthea pulled him into her by the front of his robes. Instead of falling into a kiss, however, James and Chrysanthea just…well…fell.
At the last second, Chrysanthea, for a reason unbeknownst to her and James, but very well known by Remus, Peter, and Sirius, had tripped and flown backward, pulling James right down with her…into a muddy puddle.
Chrysanthea squealed as she eyed her robes, which were now sopping wet and dirty. James looked no better, either. Without so much as a glance at his robes, however, he stood up and shook out the arms of his robes a little. Seconds later, Chrysanthea managed to pull herself up, her face very red.
"James?" She questioned tentatively.
"Yes?"
"I think we should just head on over to The Three Broomsticks."
"What a marvelous idea."
*
"I'm going to head into the bathroom." Chrysanthea murmured as soon as they entered The Three Broomsticks.
Without even answering her, James quickly made his way over to a table and sat down in a rush. He laid his head down, for he now had a pounding headache. He would've appreciated dead silence at the moment, but he knew he wasn't going to get that. Still, he didn't expect to hear shocked gasps from behind him. Lifting his head a little and turning around, James came face to face with the girl who'd been ignoring him for a straight week.
"Hullo, Lily." He muttered lamely, his head sinking into his hands.
"You look…horrible."
"That's lovely. You sure do know how to get a guy's spirits up."
"I'm sure you deserved whatever happened." Lily replied shortly.
James shook his head pathetically. "Actually, no. This time, I didn't."
Lily eyed him curiously. As much as she wanted to get away from him before she found herself in the foul mood that usually accompanied his presence, she felt oddly sorry for him. He looked absolutely miserable and, to be honest, she'd never before seen him that way.
"Not that it's any of my business, but…what happened?"
"You're right. It isn't any of your business."
Lily let out a small huff, then said in an exasperated tone, "Oh, Bill, don't hide your face. He's no one to be embarrassed over. Trust me."
James turned around completely. He raised his eyebrows at a small red-haired boy sitting next to Lily who looked about as fit as he did. "What's your excuse?"
The boy actually cracked a smile, an action that seemed to annoy Lily.
"Don't answer him, Bill." She commented quickly.
"Why can't he answer me?" James questioned, feeling that she was being a little unnecessarily edgy.
"You're a bad influence." She muttered.
"You don't have to listen to her, Bill. You can talk to James if you want." Lola told the boy, giving Lily a disapproving look.
James smiled at his fellow Gryffindor Quidditch team member. "Thanks, Lola. Oh, and hi Leila."
Leila smiled and held up her palm in a small wave, happily surprised that she'd been acknowledged.
"I got in a fight with some Slytherins." Bill answered, puffing out his chest slightly in a tough manner.
"What did they do to you?"
"They hexed him. Nothing you should be preaching about, huh?" Lily inquired bitterly, glaring at him.
"What is that supposed to mean?" James demanded.
"Meaning you've hexed plenty of innocent bystanders over the years. Don't pretend to be sympathetic."
"I'm not like that anymore Lily. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Bill about what happened--."
"Since when do you care?"
James's brows furrowed for a moment as he thought back to the conversation he'd had that morning with Remus.
"James, I…I think there are certain parts of you that overshadow the nicer parts of your personality. Now, whether or not you want to change that is entirely up to you. You have to care."
"I care." James's voice sounded surprisingly genuine to Lily, and slightly sharper than it had been before.
Her eyes seemed to soften slightly as she eyed him speculatively.
"Well, that's……that's good to know."
"It is, isn't it?" James murmured reflectively to himself.
"What?"
"Nothing." He shook his head dismissively. "Bill, I'm here with someone right now, but if you'd like to talk, I'll be right over there."
James pointed distractedly toward a new table that would put distance between Lily and Chrysanthea.
Bill nodded, finally looking pretty upbeat.
"I'll see you later, James." Lily's eyes locked on his own for a moment and James's heart skipped a beat.
"Bye, Lily."
James noticed, even as he watched a newly freshened up Chrysanthea walk towards him, that he, too, was feeling a little more upbeat.
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