Love and War
Chapter 3
Lily sighed. 'Halloween. Goodness, it seems like only last week I had received my Hogwarts letter'
"Are you in pain, Evans?" asked James, grinning from across the table.
"No, why?"
"It looked like you were thinking, and we all know how hard that is for you."
She looked at him and dared him to speak again.
"No, actually, you must be confusing me with your own thinking skills, or lack thereof. We all know how you do that because you're so stupid."
Jenni and Gabby coughed into their napkins, even Remus and Sirius had to conceal their laughter. James glared at them.
"You need to grow up, Evans."
"Practice what you preach, Potter, practice what you preach."
She got up from lunch, and went to the library, to finish her Potions homework.
"James, give it up, you never win," said Remus, shaking his head.
"I do so!"
"Name one time," said Gabby.
"That one time, when you guys weren't around," said James in a 'Ha, I got you' tone.
She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, right. When have you gone near her when we weren't around," said Sirius.
James grumbled, then left the Great Hall. Gabby and Jenni looked at one another.
"He's SUCH a baby!" said Jenni.
"But a cute one," said Gabby.
Jenni rolled her eyes.
"I guess, in a certain light, MAYBE I could see it."
Gabby laughed. They got up and walked to the Library, after Lily. When they found her they dragged her off the Transfiguration before McGonagall got mad.
"Good morning, class," said McGonagall.
"Good morning, Professor McGonagall," the class recited.
James threw a paper airplane at Lily. He missed. He threw another, and another, and another. Finally, he hit her cheek. Her head snapped around so fast, that had there been sound effects, it would have sounded like a whip. James jumped a little, startled by her sudden reaction.
"Miss Evans?"
"Yes Professor?"
"Is there any reason for you to not pay attention?"
"No, Professor."
"Good, now..."
Lily looked at James.
'You WILL pay, Potter,' she mouthed.
James grinned in reply. Soon, class ended and Lily hurried out of class. James, on the other hand, casually strutted out of the classroom, and into a statue.
"That wasn't there before class," he muttered, a few people in the hall snickering.
"No, it definitely wasn't," said Remus, looking at it.
Lily hummed a few notes cheerfully, and walked to Charms. James glared at her retreating back. Sirius and Remus sighed, and looked at one another, silently agreeing on the same thing. The next six and a half years were going to be hell. After a Charms class full of James trying to get Lily to make a mistake, the class went to History of Magic, and everyone in class fell asleep, except Lily. She grinned and walked over to James, and drew a moustache and a pointed beard on his face, and 'I'm a loser, point and laugh' on his forehead with permanent marker, then she went back to her seat and pretended she was asleep. The bell rang.
"Oh—well, class dismissed then," said Professor Binns.
The entire class ran out of the room and headed to their dorms to drop off their things, then they headed to the feast. Lily walked behind James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. James always seemed to walk a step ahead of everyone else, and Lily was ecstatic at this, because that way, Sirius and Remus couldn't tell him ahead of time. A group of fifth years burst out laughing and a seventh year nearly fell out of the window he was leaning on. James looked around, as did Remus, Sirius, and Peter, but Sirius turned too soon and saw James's face, and tried his hardest not to laugh.
"What?" demanded James at Sirius's face.
"Bathroom," he managed, before Remus turned around.
"Oh no," he breathed.
Peter continued to look around stupidly, and Lily pointed to James. Peter turned and saw James, and began to hiccup uncontrollably. James looked up into a mirror on the wall. He touched his face, and whipped around at Lily. Lily, however, didn't notice, she was laughing too hard to care.
"How dare you," hissed James, dangerously.
Lily laughed even harder.
"Oh no—Potter's gonna—hurt me!" she managed through laughter.
"When this is over, you're gonna wish I had."
Lily rolled her eyes.
"What can you do that would make me want to endure pain?"
"You'll see."
"Ooooh! Scary!"
James stormed up to Gryffindor Tower and they went to the Feast. James and Lily did nothing but torment each other and seem to get total pleasure out of it, but James was almost always humiliated, and he always got hit revenge by making Lily cry, but he never saw her cry. James only saw Lily get angry, but he never saw her cry, which frustrated him to no end.
"James, just leave her alone," said Remus one night at dinner.
"Why? So she can humiliate me and get mad when I get revenge?"
Sirius shook his head.
"You're not gonna win, mate. You can't win against a beautiful woman."
James grimaced.
"You've got mental problems, don't ya?" James asked him.
Sirius grinned and winked.
"Not at all," he replied, very unconvincingly.
Soon, the first Quidditch match of the season happened. Lily watched, with some interest, but only compared it with other, Muggle, sports.
"American Football is far more brutal, but far less fun to watch," Lily said to Gabby and Jenni, in the middle of the match.
"How is it played?" asked Jenni.
"It's simple. Eleven men on the field, from each team, in tons of padding and a helmet, trying to get the ball to the end of the field, called the end zone, and the other team tries to tackle them, or kill them, whichever keeps the ball from the end zone."
"That does sound brutal," said Gabby.
"Sounds fun," said Jenni.
Lily laughed, but Gabby just stared at her in horror.
"Ravenclaw wins!" shouted the announcer.
The Hufflepuff players landed, dejectedly on the field. Lily couldn't understand why, in the hour they had been there, Ravenclaw had scored two hundred points, to their twenty, but Amos Diggory had caught the Snitch, something the Ravenclaw Seeker couldn't seem to manage.
"That's absurd," said Lily, as they made their way back to the castle.
"I know, how can someone as cute as Amos, lose?" asked Gabby.
Lily and Jenni rolled their eyes.
"That wasn't what I meant. I don't see how, even with the points Ravenclaw scored, Hufflepuff could lose. I mean, Amos Diggory DID catch the Snitch."
"I know what you mean, Lil," said Sirius. "Now Gryffindor has to play Ravenclaw, and our Chasers aren't nearly as good."
"But our Seeker's better than theirs and so's our Keeper," said James.
"Good, I don't want to see Gryffindor lose to such nerdy bookworms," said Jenni.
Lily stopped, crossing her arms, and staring at Jenni, with a look on her face, that said, 'So being a bookworm makes you nerdy, eh?' All of them stopped and looked at Lily.
"You're on your own, Jen," said Gabby.
"That's not what I meant," said Jenni.
"Then what did you mean?" Lily asked her
"I meant that they're smart, so they're nerds."
"Well, I'm not doing too badly in class, what does that make me?"
"You're not a nerd."
"So, are you saying I'm stupid?"
"Yes, now let's get inside for lunch," said James, grabbing Lily's wrist and dragging her behind him.
She dug her heels into the ground, and tried to pull away from him. He stopped and faced her, about to say something, but she slapped him.
"Don't you ever touch me again," she said simply.
James got mad, and stormed into the castle.
"Okay, Lily, what I meant to say was that Ravenclaws' are nerds, and so are Slytherins, everyone else is okay in my book," Jenni tried again.
Lily smiled and nodded shortly.
"All right then, thank you for clearing that up."
They walked into the castle for lunch.
Lily sighed. 'Halloween. Goodness, it seems like only last week I had received my Hogwarts letter'
"Are you in pain, Evans?" asked James, grinning from across the table.
"No, why?"
"It looked like you were thinking, and we all know how hard that is for you."
She looked at him and dared him to speak again.
"No, actually, you must be confusing me with your own thinking skills, or lack thereof. We all know how you do that because you're so stupid."
Jenni and Gabby coughed into their napkins, even Remus and Sirius had to conceal their laughter. James glared at them.
"You need to grow up, Evans."
"Practice what you preach, Potter, practice what you preach."
She got up from lunch, and went to the library, to finish her Potions homework.
"James, give it up, you never win," said Remus, shaking his head.
"I do so!"
"Name one time," said Gabby.
"That one time, when you guys weren't around," said James in a 'Ha, I got you' tone.
She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, right. When have you gone near her when we weren't around," said Sirius.
James grumbled, then left the Great Hall. Gabby and Jenni looked at one another.
"He's SUCH a baby!" said Jenni.
"But a cute one," said Gabby.
Jenni rolled her eyes.
"I guess, in a certain light, MAYBE I could see it."
Gabby laughed. They got up and walked to the Library, after Lily. When they found her they dragged her off the Transfiguration before McGonagall got mad.
"Good morning, class," said McGonagall.
"Good morning, Professor McGonagall," the class recited.
James threw a paper airplane at Lily. He missed. He threw another, and another, and another. Finally, he hit her cheek. Her head snapped around so fast, that had there been sound effects, it would have sounded like a whip. James jumped a little, startled by her sudden reaction.
"Miss Evans?"
"Yes Professor?"
"Is there any reason for you to not pay attention?"
"No, Professor."
"Good, now..."
Lily looked at James.
'You WILL pay, Potter,' she mouthed.
James grinned in reply. Soon, class ended and Lily hurried out of class. James, on the other hand, casually strutted out of the classroom, and into a statue.
"That wasn't there before class," he muttered, a few people in the hall snickering.
"No, it definitely wasn't," said Remus, looking at it.
Lily hummed a few notes cheerfully, and walked to Charms. James glared at her retreating back. Sirius and Remus sighed, and looked at one another, silently agreeing on the same thing. The next six and a half years were going to be hell. After a Charms class full of James trying to get Lily to make a mistake, the class went to History of Magic, and everyone in class fell asleep, except Lily. She grinned and walked over to James, and drew a moustache and a pointed beard on his face, and 'I'm a loser, point and laugh' on his forehead with permanent marker, then she went back to her seat and pretended she was asleep. The bell rang.
"Oh—well, class dismissed then," said Professor Binns.
The entire class ran out of the room and headed to their dorms to drop off their things, then they headed to the feast. Lily walked behind James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. James always seemed to walk a step ahead of everyone else, and Lily was ecstatic at this, because that way, Sirius and Remus couldn't tell him ahead of time. A group of fifth years burst out laughing and a seventh year nearly fell out of the window he was leaning on. James looked around, as did Remus, Sirius, and Peter, but Sirius turned too soon and saw James's face, and tried his hardest not to laugh.
"What?" demanded James at Sirius's face.
"Bathroom," he managed, before Remus turned around.
"Oh no," he breathed.
Peter continued to look around stupidly, and Lily pointed to James. Peter turned and saw James, and began to hiccup uncontrollably. James looked up into a mirror on the wall. He touched his face, and whipped around at Lily. Lily, however, didn't notice, she was laughing too hard to care.
"How dare you," hissed James, dangerously.
Lily laughed even harder.
"Oh no—Potter's gonna—hurt me!" she managed through laughter.
"When this is over, you're gonna wish I had."
Lily rolled her eyes.
"What can you do that would make me want to endure pain?"
"You'll see."
"Ooooh! Scary!"
James stormed up to Gryffindor Tower and they went to the Feast. James and Lily did nothing but torment each other and seem to get total pleasure out of it, but James was almost always humiliated, and he always got hit revenge by making Lily cry, but he never saw her cry. James only saw Lily get angry, but he never saw her cry, which frustrated him to no end.
"James, just leave her alone," said Remus one night at dinner.
"Why? So she can humiliate me and get mad when I get revenge?"
Sirius shook his head.
"You're not gonna win, mate. You can't win against a beautiful woman."
James grimaced.
"You've got mental problems, don't ya?" James asked him.
Sirius grinned and winked.
"Not at all," he replied, very unconvincingly.
Soon, the first Quidditch match of the season happened. Lily watched, with some interest, but only compared it with other, Muggle, sports.
"American Football is far more brutal, but far less fun to watch," Lily said to Gabby and Jenni, in the middle of the match.
"How is it played?" asked Jenni.
"It's simple. Eleven men on the field, from each team, in tons of padding and a helmet, trying to get the ball to the end of the field, called the end zone, and the other team tries to tackle them, or kill them, whichever keeps the ball from the end zone."
"That does sound brutal," said Gabby.
"Sounds fun," said Jenni.
Lily laughed, but Gabby just stared at her in horror.
"Ravenclaw wins!" shouted the announcer.
The Hufflepuff players landed, dejectedly on the field. Lily couldn't understand why, in the hour they had been there, Ravenclaw had scored two hundred points, to their twenty, but Amos Diggory had caught the Snitch, something the Ravenclaw Seeker couldn't seem to manage.
"That's absurd," said Lily, as they made their way back to the castle.
"I know, how can someone as cute as Amos, lose?" asked Gabby.
Lily and Jenni rolled their eyes.
"That wasn't what I meant. I don't see how, even with the points Ravenclaw scored, Hufflepuff could lose. I mean, Amos Diggory DID catch the Snitch."
"I know what you mean, Lil," said Sirius. "Now Gryffindor has to play Ravenclaw, and our Chasers aren't nearly as good."
"But our Seeker's better than theirs and so's our Keeper," said James.
"Good, I don't want to see Gryffindor lose to such nerdy bookworms," said Jenni.
Lily stopped, crossing her arms, and staring at Jenni, with a look on her face, that said, 'So being a bookworm makes you nerdy, eh?' All of them stopped and looked at Lily.
"You're on your own, Jen," said Gabby.
"That's not what I meant," said Jenni.
"Then what did you mean?" Lily asked her
"I meant that they're smart, so they're nerds."
"Well, I'm not doing too badly in class, what does that make me?"
"You're not a nerd."
"So, are you saying I'm stupid?"
"Yes, now let's get inside for lunch," said James, grabbing Lily's wrist and dragging her behind him.
She dug her heels into the ground, and tried to pull away from him. He stopped and faced her, about to say something, but she slapped him.
"Don't you ever touch me again," she said simply.
James got mad, and stormed into the castle.
"Okay, Lily, what I meant to say was that Ravenclaws' are nerds, and so are Slytherins, everyone else is okay in my book," Jenni tried again.
Lily smiled and nodded shortly.
"All right then, thank you for clearing that up."
They walked into the castle for lunch.