Chapter 11
Over the next few weeks James just ignored Lily, still confused at what to say. So, he just ignored her. Lily didn't seem to mind, she enjoyed the peace and quiet. Eventually Gabby became involved with James more than was necessary for thirteen year olds. The guys became involved with Quidditch and the girls became involved with guys involved with Quidditch. By Christmas, it was mostly Cat and Lily together, and they had become best friends.
"Lily, do you want to come over during Christmas break?" asked Cat.
"Sure, my parents are going to the Bahamas with the Potters, minus James, over the break and I don't want to stay at my grandmother's house with Petunia."
"Okay. I'll ask my aunt if you can stay during the break. I'll go write her now."
Cat ran over to her bed and scribbled a note on a piece of parchment, then gave it to her owl.
"Let's go down and pull a prank on Sirius, it's been a while," said Lily, digging through her trunk.
"What do you want to do?"
"Dungbomb him during dinner, so it looked like he pooted."
Cat burst out laughing, and fell off of her bed. Lily laughed at her friend. At dinnertime, they went downstairs, and Sirius was all ready there and they dropped two explosive Dungbombs under his chair, and as everyone filed into the Great Hall, they exploded under Sirius' chair. Lily and Cat laughed so hard, they both fell off their chairs. Sirius walked up to them, all smelly and the two held their noses, and tried not to laugh at the same time.
"So, you two think it's funny, don't you?" asked Sirius.
They shook their heads, then burst out laughing.
"You pooted real loud there didn't ya?" asked Cat.
Lily coughed because she was laughing so hard. Sirius blushed slightly and bent over close to them.
"You will pay, ladies, you will pay," he whispered.
That night an owl flew onto Cat's bed.
"Lily! It's from my aunt. She says you can come over for the break! The entire vacation, if you want, she doesn't care! And just to let you know, James is coming too, for Sirius."
"Whatever. I don't care, he ignores me and I ignore him. I'm actually enjoying him not talking to me."
"Okay."
Two days later they were boarding the Hogwarts Express for Christmas break. At Kings Cross, Cat met up with her aunt and uncle, Sirius's parents.
"Hello," said Lily.
Lily smiled. The Blacks looked at her as though she were a disease, Sirius's little brother hid behind his mother.
"It's genetic," whispered Cat.
Lily laughed.
"What are you two whispering about?" growled Mrs. Black.
"Nothing, ma'am."
"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Black," said James.
"Hello James," said Mrs. Black.
"Hello James," said Mr. Black.
When they got to the Black's house, they all went up to unpack. Before dinner, Sirius pulled Cat to the side, and filled her in on his plan. After dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Black went to their friends' party.
"Hey Lily, there's somewhere I wanna show you, c'mon," said Cat.
"Why don't you show James too," suggested Sirius.
"I've been to every square millimeter of your house," said James.
"You haven't seen this though."
"What is it?" asked Lily.
"It's a surprise," said Cat.
Lily shrugged, and they followed Cat and Sirius up a couple of flights of stairs, and into a storage room. Cat and Sirius let Lily and James in first then locked them in there. Both Lily and James spun around and James tried to open the door.
"It's locked," said James
They looked at each other.
"Sirius," they said together.
"I'm going to try to knock open the door," said James.
"You're not going to get it."
He tried and gave up after a while. He laid down on his side.
"Ouch!"
"What's wrong?"
"I have a bruise on my arm, it's nothing."
"Let me see."
He sat up and raised his sleeve. Lily examined it.
"Ouch! That hurts!"
"You're such a baby. You're bruised all right, but not your muscle. You bruised your bone, pretty bad too."
There was a sudden draft. Lily had an idea. She went to the window and go some snow from the windowsill, and put it on James' arm.
"Ow! That's cold."
"Suck it up. Hold it on there. I've got an idea. Cat left her bathroom window open. I think I can get to it from here; it's only a couple rooms over from here. I'll come back and get you when I'm back in the house."
"Question, Evans, how are you getting to the window? We're three floors up, and there's ice on the house."
"I'll come back to get you," said Lily, crawling out the window.
James stuck his head out the window.
"You're not leaving me here."
"You can't leave with your arm like that. I'll come back and get you, I swear it."
James sighed.
"I don't have a choice do I?"
"No."
Lily miraculously made it to Cat's open window without slipping. Lily changed clothes quickly then let James out of the storage room.
"What took you-- Why did you change clothes?"
"Because the other ones were wet. Let's go get our revenge."
They both smiled mischievously, and they crept down to the living room and saw Cat and Sirius on the couch, laughing
"Did we miss something?" asked James.
"Not really," said Sirius.
"Clearly," said Lily, sarcastically.
"Um... How did you two get out?"
"Lily climbed on the roof to Cat's open window," said James.
"You could have killed yourself!" said Cat.
"And you would have been the only one who cared, Cat," said Lily.
"Not true! I would have cared! And Gabby, Jenni, Remus, Frank, Cliona, every guy in school, minus the Slytherins, because they don't care about anyone," said Sirius.
"And who would I annoy?" asked James.
"Well, I didn't fall, and back to the subject at hand. What in the world were you two doing?" asked Lily.
"Never mind that. James, what happened to your arm?" asked Sirius.
"I tried to break the door down, I bruised the bone, or so says Lily," said James.
"I've been in the Hospital Wing enough times to know what that is, and plus, my dad's a doctor."
"Well, look at the time; it's time for bed. Night," said Cat dragging Lily upstairs.
"Night guys," said Lily.
"Night," James and Sirius said together.
They went up stairs too, and they went to bed. Soon, they were back at school and James was back to terrorizing Lily.
"Look! It's the red- headed step child!" said James, walking past her. Lily looked pleadingly at Sirius and Remus; they broke eye contact and walked away. "Aw! Does the wittwe giwl have not come back?"
"Go away, Potter."
"Is that all you have to say?"
"You are not worth the air you breathe, much less the breath it takes to insult you."
Lily went back to getting her parchment, ink and quill out for McGonagall's class.
"Big words, Evans, but it seems you're out of your league," James hissed in her ear.
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter sat behind Lily, Cat, Gabby and Jenni and Lily faced the front of the room as a tear escaped her eye. McGonagall looked at Lily over her glasses and went on with class. James threw spitballs at the back of Lily's head, and she didn't move all of class. She sat leaning forward, her head in her folded arms, her tears going from her eyes into the sleeves of her robes. The bell rang to end class, and Lily immediately busied herself packing up.
"Miss Evans, could you stay after for a moment," said McGonagall.
Lily nodded.
"Don't wait for me, I'll be there in a minute," Lily muttered.
Cat, Gabby and Jenni nodded and left. Cat slapped James upside his head.
"You're such a jerk, y'know that?" she said as they walked out.
McGonagall closed the door behind the last student and Lily sat in the desk right in front.
"Is there anything you want to tell me?"
Lily looked up and saw McGonagall looking at her, caringly.
"No, ma'am."
"You know, revenge is always sweet."
Lily looked up at her, shock written across her face.
"I don't want to get in trouble."
"I know, from experience, that you cannot get expelled after a certain number of detentions."
"You had detention?"
McGonagall nodded.
"Quite a number of them, too. I believe I held the record for detentions ever, but as I can see, my record is about to be broken."
Lily and McGonagall both grinned.
"Wow."
McGonagall laughed.
"Detention isn't that bad, except Filch, Linus and Trelawney."
"Filch and Linus are frightening, and Trelawney's just nuts."
McGonagall laughed.
"That she is. Who's death has she predicted?"
"Remus. He's worried, poor Remus he went a few shades of green when she told him he was to be eaten by werewolves."
McGonagall swallowed hard.
"I wonder where she pulled that one from."
McGonagall's voice didn't give her away, but Lily did.
"I can't BELIEVE she'd do a thing like that! She nearly outed him!"
McGonagall looked at Lily.
"You mean, you KNOW?"
"Of course, it's obvious isn't it? Cat, Potter, Sirius, Peter and I all know."
"And you're—okay with it?"
"He's still Remus most of the time, and we're not stupid enough to go near him then, and we know that precautions have been taken so he doesn't hurt anyone."
"I am impressed with you, Lily. Most Muggle-borns would have heard the word 'werewolf' and panicked."
Lily smiled.
"I personally would never have guessed Remus to be a werewolf, Sirius maybe, but never Remus."
McGonagall laughed.
"Yes, Black does have that maniac look about him."
"Yes, but between you and me, I've liked him for a while."
"Then tell him."
The bell rang, Lily was late for Divination.
"I did, and he still locked me in a closet with Potter."
"You'd better get to class."
Lily sighed.
"Great," she said sarcastically. "Divination, just what I need now. Another class with Potter."
"And unless you get into an all- out brawl, I see no reason for a teacher to be notified."
Lily grinned, and picked up her bag.
"You are so cool, Professor," said Lily, taking her pass and walking slowly to the North Tower.
When Lily made it to class, it was half over.
"So glad you could make it, Miss Evers," said Trelawney.
"Evans, and couldn't you SEE that I was going to be late."
Half the class snickered.
"Yes, but I didn't See how long you'd be."
"Well, I'm here, aren't I?"
"Yes, yes, now sit, we're reading about Crystal Balls."
Lily rolled her eyes and sat next to Cat. Cat shot Lily the, 'where were you?' look. Lily grinned and began jotting things down on her Divination notes, and refused to show them to anyone. Sirius looked up at Lily, and winked at her, and it took all she had not to grin and blush, she just smiled and went back to her notes. Finally, the bell rang, and the students ran out of the classroom, and headed to their Common Rooms, Lily went to the window seat, putting her feet up on the seat, sitting parallel to the window, and began writing ideas onto paper. Soon, she became uninterested in that, and began sketching what she saw outside, which was James, Cat, Peter, Remus and Sirius sitting under the beech tree, whispering amongst themselves. Behind them, she drew a werewolf, a large dog, a stag, a panther and a rat. Lily knew all about their Animagus forms, Cat had told her, but the boys didn't know she knew. She, too, in fact was contemplating becoming an Animagus, but wasn't sure. Once Lily was done with their outlines, she began to shade instead of color her friends.
"Wow, Lils," said Sirius.
Lily flipped the parchment over and looked up at him.
"Hey, Sirius."
"Can I see that?"
"No."
"What is it?"
"Nothing, nothing at all."
He looked at her.
"You've been awful secretive today, Lils."
He went to snatch the parchment, but Lily was faster than he was.
"You're always secretive, why can't I be secretive for once?"
"I dunno, I was just curious."
"I never ask what you're up to."
"That's because Cat tells you."
"Not all the time."
He shrugged.
"C'mon, you know you can tell me anything."
"No I can't, because you don't listen."
Lily walked away, and up to her dorm. She put the drawing in a magical lock box under her bed, and then went to dinner. The next day she went to Hogsmeade and visited Zonko's, then headed to the Three Broomsticks and sat in the back, by herself, until just after lunch.
"Hey, can I join you?"
Lily looked up and saw a tall red head who was a year higher than she. His name was Leo Harris. She smiled at him.
"Sure."
He sat down.
"You looked lonely, and I thought I'd come and keep you company, get to know you, that sort of thing."
"Thanks, we haven't been officially introduced, I'm Lily Evans."
"Yes, I know, I've heard about you, I'm Leo Harris."
"I've heard of you too."
He grinned.
"You have? What have you heard about me?"
"You're the sweetest guy in Gryffindor, and I've heard you're Muggle- born and you are noble."
He looked a little uncomfortable, but he played it off.
"I've heard you've saved the day a number of times, and you are a baron's daughter."
"Sort of. My grandmother is a baroness, and my father probably won't take it and it will be either mine or my sister's duty to take over."
He smiled, and nodded as she spoke.
"Wow, do you have to do this etiquette routine every summer?"
Lily laughed.
"No, if my parents made me do that, I'd freak."
He laughed, staring at her.
"Mine make me do it, and I do everything wrong, so they'll just give up and leave me to whatever."
Lily nodded.
"I understand completely."
He tucked her hair behind her ear, and she blushed.
"I never realized how beautiful you really are."
She became very shy and turned away a little.
"Thank you, but I'm really not that pretty."
"Yes, you are."
"Thank you for the compliment, but I do not deserve it. If you'll excuse me."
She stood and walked away. Lily paid Madame Rosemerta and left, heading back up to Hogwarts. When she got back to the school, she went to her dorm, put her new items in her trunk and sat on her bed, finishing her homework.
"Hey Lil! What are you doing back all ready?" asked Jenni, bounding in behind Cat and Gabby.
"I had some homework to finish."
Cat sighed.
"We have to get you out of this homework phase. It's not healthy," she said.
Lily laughed and closed her Transfiguration book.
"Well, at least I'm doing something productive."
"I do things that are productive," said Gabby, flopping on her bed, right next to Lily's.
"James isn't productive."
Gabby gasped and threw her pillow at a grinning Lily.
"Lily Maria Evans! I'm gonna get you for that!"
Gabby got up and Lily jumped off her bed, laughing and Gabby chased her around the Girls' dorms and Lily just kept laughing until Gabby gave up.
"So, I win?" said Lily.
"For now."
The two began laughing and collapsed on Lily's bed.
"So how come you left Hogsmeade so early?" asked Jenni as she and Cat sat on Lily's bed.
Lily shrugged.
"Nothing more for me to do down there. I bought my pranks, bought a scarf and some new robes, ate lunch, met a guy, then came back here."
"Who'd you meet?" demanded Gabby.
"Leo Harris. He's a fourth year."
"I've heard of him, he's hot!"
Lily nodded.
"He thinks I am, too."
Gabby and Jenni screamed and Cat laughed.
"What'd he say, Lil?" Cat asked over the squealing.
"We just talked for a while, and I left him sitting there."
"Why?" Gabby asked, shocked at Lily for doing such a thing.
Lily grinned.
"Hard to get, hon, hard to get."
"Oh."
They laughed and Gabby went on about James and what Lily should do about Leo, and more about James. Too soon it was time to begin studying for exams, and Lily was just trying to keep herself busy to keep from worrying about summer vacation. Lily opened an enormous book on potions and sat and read it out in the courtyard. Soon, someone sat next to her.
"That's a pretty big book," he said.
"Yeah, I'm just bored right now's all."
She looked up and saw Leo smiling at her.
"Wanna go down to the kitchens and get something to eat?"
She smiled sweetly.
"No, but thank you for asking."
He looked down at his feet, embarrassed, and looking upset.
"Oh, well, I'll catch you around."
He stood and went to leave.
"Hey Leo?"
He turned around, and Lily stood up, placing the book on the bench.
"Yeah?"
"Maybe we could have lunch some other time?"
He smiled, and walked up to her, grabbing her around the waist and kissed her, then he let go of her. Lily was frozen in place, her eyes closed and her lips puckered slightly.
"Yea, definitely," he said, walking away.
Lily returned the book to the library and wandered around the grounds for a while. Cat walked up to her and they went back to their dorm to study. Three days later, the four girls were still studying in their dorm when they heard someone shouting from the Common Room.
"Lily, Lily let you light shine through so I may see your beautiful visage!"
Gabby, Jenni, Cat and Lily looked at one another, and all walked out to look over the railing at who was yelling.
"Oooo, it's your boyfriend," cat- called Jenni, quietly.
Lily laughed as Leo got on his knees and put his hands together.
"Thank you God for this beautiful woman you have sent down to earth to me, yet she is just beyond my grasp! Come to me, Angel, I beg of you!"
The entire Common Room was staring at him as though he were mad, and Lily had thought so too.
"And what if I say no?"
"I will die slowly of a broken heart!"
"Well, I'll come down, but only because I don't want to be listed as a cause of death."
Nearly everyone laughed and most clapped and cheered as Lily descended the stairs into the Common Room, where Leo immediately took her hand and left her to the grounds where he had set up a picnic.
"Here you are," he said, as they sat down.
She smiled at him and he set out the food, and he waved his wand and music began to play.
"This is lovely, Leo."
He smiled, bashfully.
"I wanted this to be special, like you."
She smiled at him.
"Thank you."
"I'm sure it means nothing to you, I expect you get this all the time."
"Not at all. No one has ever done something nice like this for me before."
"Really?"
She nodded.
"Really."
"What do the other guys do for you?"
"Other guys? What other guys?"
She took a sip of her butterbeer, but choked on it as Leo replied.
"You ex-boyfriends."
She shook her head as she tried to maintain her grace.
"What ex- boyfriends?"
"James Potter said—"
"Well THAT'S the problem right there."
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? What do you mean what do I mean? James Potter is a prat who lives to do nothing but make my life miserable."
"Well, he said you'd gotten with a lot of guys—"
At this Lily stood up.
"Thank you, Leo, but I have to go."
She walked to Gryffindor Tower, found the biggest book she could and threw it across the room and hit James square in the head.
"Nice aim!" said Sirius, only to receive a glare from James.
"What's your problem, Evans?" James shouted.
"You! I can't believe you! You ACTUALLY told people that I was easy?! You WILL pay for this one, James Potter, if it's the last thing I do, YOU WILL PAY!"
She punched him, breaking his nose, and she walked up to her dorm where she waited until she'd slammed the door before she began crying.
Over the next few weeks James just ignored Lily, still confused at what to say. So, he just ignored her. Lily didn't seem to mind, she enjoyed the peace and quiet. Eventually Gabby became involved with James more than was necessary for thirteen year olds. The guys became involved with Quidditch and the girls became involved with guys involved with Quidditch. By Christmas, it was mostly Cat and Lily together, and they had become best friends.
"Lily, do you want to come over during Christmas break?" asked Cat.
"Sure, my parents are going to the Bahamas with the Potters, minus James, over the break and I don't want to stay at my grandmother's house with Petunia."
"Okay. I'll ask my aunt if you can stay during the break. I'll go write her now."
Cat ran over to her bed and scribbled a note on a piece of parchment, then gave it to her owl.
"Let's go down and pull a prank on Sirius, it's been a while," said Lily, digging through her trunk.
"What do you want to do?"
"Dungbomb him during dinner, so it looked like he pooted."
Cat burst out laughing, and fell off of her bed. Lily laughed at her friend. At dinnertime, they went downstairs, and Sirius was all ready there and they dropped two explosive Dungbombs under his chair, and as everyone filed into the Great Hall, they exploded under Sirius' chair. Lily and Cat laughed so hard, they both fell off their chairs. Sirius walked up to them, all smelly and the two held their noses, and tried not to laugh at the same time.
"So, you two think it's funny, don't you?" asked Sirius.
They shook their heads, then burst out laughing.
"You pooted real loud there didn't ya?" asked Cat.
Lily coughed because she was laughing so hard. Sirius blushed slightly and bent over close to them.
"You will pay, ladies, you will pay," he whispered.
That night an owl flew onto Cat's bed.
"Lily! It's from my aunt. She says you can come over for the break! The entire vacation, if you want, she doesn't care! And just to let you know, James is coming too, for Sirius."
"Whatever. I don't care, he ignores me and I ignore him. I'm actually enjoying him not talking to me."
"Okay."
Two days later they were boarding the Hogwarts Express for Christmas break. At Kings Cross, Cat met up with her aunt and uncle, Sirius's parents.
"Hello," said Lily.
Lily smiled. The Blacks looked at her as though she were a disease, Sirius's little brother hid behind his mother.
"It's genetic," whispered Cat.
Lily laughed.
"What are you two whispering about?" growled Mrs. Black.
"Nothing, ma'am."
"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Black," said James.
"Hello James," said Mrs. Black.
"Hello James," said Mr. Black.
When they got to the Black's house, they all went up to unpack. Before dinner, Sirius pulled Cat to the side, and filled her in on his plan. After dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Black went to their friends' party.
"Hey Lily, there's somewhere I wanna show you, c'mon," said Cat.
"Why don't you show James too," suggested Sirius.
"I've been to every square millimeter of your house," said James.
"You haven't seen this though."
"What is it?" asked Lily.
"It's a surprise," said Cat.
Lily shrugged, and they followed Cat and Sirius up a couple of flights of stairs, and into a storage room. Cat and Sirius let Lily and James in first then locked them in there. Both Lily and James spun around and James tried to open the door.
"It's locked," said James
They looked at each other.
"Sirius," they said together.
"I'm going to try to knock open the door," said James.
"You're not going to get it."
He tried and gave up after a while. He laid down on his side.
"Ouch!"
"What's wrong?"
"I have a bruise on my arm, it's nothing."
"Let me see."
He sat up and raised his sleeve. Lily examined it.
"Ouch! That hurts!"
"You're such a baby. You're bruised all right, but not your muscle. You bruised your bone, pretty bad too."
There was a sudden draft. Lily had an idea. She went to the window and go some snow from the windowsill, and put it on James' arm.
"Ow! That's cold."
"Suck it up. Hold it on there. I've got an idea. Cat left her bathroom window open. I think I can get to it from here; it's only a couple rooms over from here. I'll come back and get you when I'm back in the house."
"Question, Evans, how are you getting to the window? We're three floors up, and there's ice on the house."
"I'll come back to get you," said Lily, crawling out the window.
James stuck his head out the window.
"You're not leaving me here."
"You can't leave with your arm like that. I'll come back and get you, I swear it."
James sighed.
"I don't have a choice do I?"
"No."
Lily miraculously made it to Cat's open window without slipping. Lily changed clothes quickly then let James out of the storage room.
"What took you-- Why did you change clothes?"
"Because the other ones were wet. Let's go get our revenge."
They both smiled mischievously, and they crept down to the living room and saw Cat and Sirius on the couch, laughing
"Did we miss something?" asked James.
"Not really," said Sirius.
"Clearly," said Lily, sarcastically.
"Um... How did you two get out?"
"Lily climbed on the roof to Cat's open window," said James.
"You could have killed yourself!" said Cat.
"And you would have been the only one who cared, Cat," said Lily.
"Not true! I would have cared! And Gabby, Jenni, Remus, Frank, Cliona, every guy in school, minus the Slytherins, because they don't care about anyone," said Sirius.
"And who would I annoy?" asked James.
"Well, I didn't fall, and back to the subject at hand. What in the world were you two doing?" asked Lily.
"Never mind that. James, what happened to your arm?" asked Sirius.
"I tried to break the door down, I bruised the bone, or so says Lily," said James.
"I've been in the Hospital Wing enough times to know what that is, and plus, my dad's a doctor."
"Well, look at the time; it's time for bed. Night," said Cat dragging Lily upstairs.
"Night guys," said Lily.
"Night," James and Sirius said together.
They went up stairs too, and they went to bed. Soon, they were back at school and James was back to terrorizing Lily.
"Look! It's the red- headed step child!" said James, walking past her. Lily looked pleadingly at Sirius and Remus; they broke eye contact and walked away. "Aw! Does the wittwe giwl have not come back?"
"Go away, Potter."
"Is that all you have to say?"
"You are not worth the air you breathe, much less the breath it takes to insult you."
Lily went back to getting her parchment, ink and quill out for McGonagall's class.
"Big words, Evans, but it seems you're out of your league," James hissed in her ear.
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter sat behind Lily, Cat, Gabby and Jenni and Lily faced the front of the room as a tear escaped her eye. McGonagall looked at Lily over her glasses and went on with class. James threw spitballs at the back of Lily's head, and she didn't move all of class. She sat leaning forward, her head in her folded arms, her tears going from her eyes into the sleeves of her robes. The bell rang to end class, and Lily immediately busied herself packing up.
"Miss Evans, could you stay after for a moment," said McGonagall.
Lily nodded.
"Don't wait for me, I'll be there in a minute," Lily muttered.
Cat, Gabby and Jenni nodded and left. Cat slapped James upside his head.
"You're such a jerk, y'know that?" she said as they walked out.
McGonagall closed the door behind the last student and Lily sat in the desk right in front.
"Is there anything you want to tell me?"
Lily looked up and saw McGonagall looking at her, caringly.
"No, ma'am."
"You know, revenge is always sweet."
Lily looked up at her, shock written across her face.
"I don't want to get in trouble."
"I know, from experience, that you cannot get expelled after a certain number of detentions."
"You had detention?"
McGonagall nodded.
"Quite a number of them, too. I believe I held the record for detentions ever, but as I can see, my record is about to be broken."
Lily and McGonagall both grinned.
"Wow."
McGonagall laughed.
"Detention isn't that bad, except Filch, Linus and Trelawney."
"Filch and Linus are frightening, and Trelawney's just nuts."
McGonagall laughed.
"That she is. Who's death has she predicted?"
"Remus. He's worried, poor Remus he went a few shades of green when she told him he was to be eaten by werewolves."
McGonagall swallowed hard.
"I wonder where she pulled that one from."
McGonagall's voice didn't give her away, but Lily did.
"I can't BELIEVE she'd do a thing like that! She nearly outed him!"
McGonagall looked at Lily.
"You mean, you KNOW?"
"Of course, it's obvious isn't it? Cat, Potter, Sirius, Peter and I all know."
"And you're—okay with it?"
"He's still Remus most of the time, and we're not stupid enough to go near him then, and we know that precautions have been taken so he doesn't hurt anyone."
"I am impressed with you, Lily. Most Muggle-borns would have heard the word 'werewolf' and panicked."
Lily smiled.
"I personally would never have guessed Remus to be a werewolf, Sirius maybe, but never Remus."
McGonagall laughed.
"Yes, Black does have that maniac look about him."
"Yes, but between you and me, I've liked him for a while."
"Then tell him."
The bell rang, Lily was late for Divination.
"I did, and he still locked me in a closet with Potter."
"You'd better get to class."
Lily sighed.
"Great," she said sarcastically. "Divination, just what I need now. Another class with Potter."
"And unless you get into an all- out brawl, I see no reason for a teacher to be notified."
Lily grinned, and picked up her bag.
"You are so cool, Professor," said Lily, taking her pass and walking slowly to the North Tower.
When Lily made it to class, it was half over.
"So glad you could make it, Miss Evers," said Trelawney.
"Evans, and couldn't you SEE that I was going to be late."
Half the class snickered.
"Yes, but I didn't See how long you'd be."
"Well, I'm here, aren't I?"
"Yes, yes, now sit, we're reading about Crystal Balls."
Lily rolled her eyes and sat next to Cat. Cat shot Lily the, 'where were you?' look. Lily grinned and began jotting things down on her Divination notes, and refused to show them to anyone. Sirius looked up at Lily, and winked at her, and it took all she had not to grin and blush, she just smiled and went back to her notes. Finally, the bell rang, and the students ran out of the classroom, and headed to their Common Rooms, Lily went to the window seat, putting her feet up on the seat, sitting parallel to the window, and began writing ideas onto paper. Soon, she became uninterested in that, and began sketching what she saw outside, which was James, Cat, Peter, Remus and Sirius sitting under the beech tree, whispering amongst themselves. Behind them, she drew a werewolf, a large dog, a stag, a panther and a rat. Lily knew all about their Animagus forms, Cat had told her, but the boys didn't know she knew. She, too, in fact was contemplating becoming an Animagus, but wasn't sure. Once Lily was done with their outlines, she began to shade instead of color her friends.
"Wow, Lils," said Sirius.
Lily flipped the parchment over and looked up at him.
"Hey, Sirius."
"Can I see that?"
"No."
"What is it?"
"Nothing, nothing at all."
He looked at her.
"You've been awful secretive today, Lils."
He went to snatch the parchment, but Lily was faster than he was.
"You're always secretive, why can't I be secretive for once?"
"I dunno, I was just curious."
"I never ask what you're up to."
"That's because Cat tells you."
"Not all the time."
He shrugged.
"C'mon, you know you can tell me anything."
"No I can't, because you don't listen."
Lily walked away, and up to her dorm. She put the drawing in a magical lock box under her bed, and then went to dinner. The next day she went to Hogsmeade and visited Zonko's, then headed to the Three Broomsticks and sat in the back, by herself, until just after lunch.
"Hey, can I join you?"
Lily looked up and saw a tall red head who was a year higher than she. His name was Leo Harris. She smiled at him.
"Sure."
He sat down.
"You looked lonely, and I thought I'd come and keep you company, get to know you, that sort of thing."
"Thanks, we haven't been officially introduced, I'm Lily Evans."
"Yes, I know, I've heard about you, I'm Leo Harris."
"I've heard of you too."
He grinned.
"You have? What have you heard about me?"
"You're the sweetest guy in Gryffindor, and I've heard you're Muggle- born and you are noble."
He looked a little uncomfortable, but he played it off.
"I've heard you've saved the day a number of times, and you are a baron's daughter."
"Sort of. My grandmother is a baroness, and my father probably won't take it and it will be either mine or my sister's duty to take over."
He smiled, and nodded as she spoke.
"Wow, do you have to do this etiquette routine every summer?"
Lily laughed.
"No, if my parents made me do that, I'd freak."
He laughed, staring at her.
"Mine make me do it, and I do everything wrong, so they'll just give up and leave me to whatever."
Lily nodded.
"I understand completely."
He tucked her hair behind her ear, and she blushed.
"I never realized how beautiful you really are."
She became very shy and turned away a little.
"Thank you, but I'm really not that pretty."
"Yes, you are."
"Thank you for the compliment, but I do not deserve it. If you'll excuse me."
She stood and walked away. Lily paid Madame Rosemerta and left, heading back up to Hogwarts. When she got back to the school, she went to her dorm, put her new items in her trunk and sat on her bed, finishing her homework.
"Hey Lil! What are you doing back all ready?" asked Jenni, bounding in behind Cat and Gabby.
"I had some homework to finish."
Cat sighed.
"We have to get you out of this homework phase. It's not healthy," she said.
Lily laughed and closed her Transfiguration book.
"Well, at least I'm doing something productive."
"I do things that are productive," said Gabby, flopping on her bed, right next to Lily's.
"James isn't productive."
Gabby gasped and threw her pillow at a grinning Lily.
"Lily Maria Evans! I'm gonna get you for that!"
Gabby got up and Lily jumped off her bed, laughing and Gabby chased her around the Girls' dorms and Lily just kept laughing until Gabby gave up.
"So, I win?" said Lily.
"For now."
The two began laughing and collapsed on Lily's bed.
"So how come you left Hogsmeade so early?" asked Jenni as she and Cat sat on Lily's bed.
Lily shrugged.
"Nothing more for me to do down there. I bought my pranks, bought a scarf and some new robes, ate lunch, met a guy, then came back here."
"Who'd you meet?" demanded Gabby.
"Leo Harris. He's a fourth year."
"I've heard of him, he's hot!"
Lily nodded.
"He thinks I am, too."
Gabby and Jenni screamed and Cat laughed.
"What'd he say, Lil?" Cat asked over the squealing.
"We just talked for a while, and I left him sitting there."
"Why?" Gabby asked, shocked at Lily for doing such a thing.
Lily grinned.
"Hard to get, hon, hard to get."
"Oh."
They laughed and Gabby went on about James and what Lily should do about Leo, and more about James. Too soon it was time to begin studying for exams, and Lily was just trying to keep herself busy to keep from worrying about summer vacation. Lily opened an enormous book on potions and sat and read it out in the courtyard. Soon, someone sat next to her.
"That's a pretty big book," he said.
"Yeah, I'm just bored right now's all."
She looked up and saw Leo smiling at her.
"Wanna go down to the kitchens and get something to eat?"
She smiled sweetly.
"No, but thank you for asking."
He looked down at his feet, embarrassed, and looking upset.
"Oh, well, I'll catch you around."
He stood and went to leave.
"Hey Leo?"
He turned around, and Lily stood up, placing the book on the bench.
"Yeah?"
"Maybe we could have lunch some other time?"
He smiled, and walked up to her, grabbing her around the waist and kissed her, then he let go of her. Lily was frozen in place, her eyes closed and her lips puckered slightly.
"Yea, definitely," he said, walking away.
Lily returned the book to the library and wandered around the grounds for a while. Cat walked up to her and they went back to their dorm to study. Three days later, the four girls were still studying in their dorm when they heard someone shouting from the Common Room.
"Lily, Lily let you light shine through so I may see your beautiful visage!"
Gabby, Jenni, Cat and Lily looked at one another, and all walked out to look over the railing at who was yelling.
"Oooo, it's your boyfriend," cat- called Jenni, quietly.
Lily laughed as Leo got on his knees and put his hands together.
"Thank you God for this beautiful woman you have sent down to earth to me, yet she is just beyond my grasp! Come to me, Angel, I beg of you!"
The entire Common Room was staring at him as though he were mad, and Lily had thought so too.
"And what if I say no?"
"I will die slowly of a broken heart!"
"Well, I'll come down, but only because I don't want to be listed as a cause of death."
Nearly everyone laughed and most clapped and cheered as Lily descended the stairs into the Common Room, where Leo immediately took her hand and left her to the grounds where he had set up a picnic.
"Here you are," he said, as they sat down.
She smiled at him and he set out the food, and he waved his wand and music began to play.
"This is lovely, Leo."
He smiled, bashfully.
"I wanted this to be special, like you."
She smiled at him.
"Thank you."
"I'm sure it means nothing to you, I expect you get this all the time."
"Not at all. No one has ever done something nice like this for me before."
"Really?"
She nodded.
"Really."
"What do the other guys do for you?"
"Other guys? What other guys?"
She took a sip of her butterbeer, but choked on it as Leo replied.
"You ex-boyfriends."
She shook her head as she tried to maintain her grace.
"What ex- boyfriends?"
"James Potter said—"
"Well THAT'S the problem right there."
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? What do you mean what do I mean? James Potter is a prat who lives to do nothing but make my life miserable."
"Well, he said you'd gotten with a lot of guys—"
At this Lily stood up.
"Thank you, Leo, but I have to go."
She walked to Gryffindor Tower, found the biggest book she could and threw it across the room and hit James square in the head.
"Nice aim!" said Sirius, only to receive a glare from James.
"What's your problem, Evans?" James shouted.
"You! I can't believe you! You ACTUALLY told people that I was easy?! You WILL pay for this one, James Potter, if it's the last thing I do, YOU WILL PAY!"
She punched him, breaking his nose, and she walked up to her dorm where she waited until she'd slammed the door before she began crying.