Left With YOU
Chapter 5
By Mrs. Padfoot
Author's Note: You know, we shouldn't really blame Mrs. Prongs for her short chapters. I mean, I guess you could say that we inspire each other. I always update these stories WAAAY faster than any of my solo ones.
(Of course, then it's her fault for not realizing this and not writing the chapter soon when inspiration was fresh in her mind.)
...okay, my bad. Go ahead and blame her. Yeah...
I almost made her an idiot in the AlexSteph section, but she didn't let me, and I ended up making myself look like an idiot. Well, kind of, anyway. But I do that kind of stuff a lot anyway... and you'll see what I mean. And I'm rambling. I was telling myself I didn't have anything to WRITE in an author's note and LOOK AT ME. Okay, shutting up now...
%%%
"Great," muttered Lily, slumping against the wall, "just great. Ditching James would've been a much better idea if HE HADN'T HAD THE LIST."
A bewildered first year gave Lily a weird look as he passed.
"Scaring first years, Lilikins?" asked Sirius as he passed.
"Go away," said Lily.
"No," said Sirius.
"I'm serious, Sirius," said Lily. "GO AWAY."
"And I said no," said Sirius.
"Why won't you go away, goddammit?" asked Lily.
"Temper, temper, Lilikins," said Sirius.
Lily rolled her eyes and stalked off.
Sirius followed her.
"Sirius. Go find your girlfriend and LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE?"
"Eesh, aren't we touchy tonight?"
"YES. GO AWAY."
"But see, Lily," said Sirius. "I'm on a mission."
"Yes, so am I," said Lily. Which she wasn't really, at the moment, but that wasn't what mattered.
"You have red hair."
Realization dawned.
"No. No, no and NO!"
"But Liiiily," said Sirius, "I'd go away if I could have a piece of your hair!"
"I don't care anymore! You can't have it!"
"Fine. I'll stalk you."
"Fine," said Lily, turning and walking in the other direction.
Sirius followed her, reaching toward her head, and just as he was about to grab it –
"Don't DO that!" she yelped. Still glaring at Sirius, she whipped out Professor Teasdale's hat. After a moment's hesitation, she pulled it on her head, making sure every last strand of her hair was underneath it.
"You smell," said Sirius.
"I know," said Lily.
It was okay, though. She could wash her hair later. It wasn't like she was trying to – impress anyone or anything.
No, really, she wasn't.
"You know, this isn't going to stop me, Lily," said Sirius.
"Yes, it is," said Lily.
"No, it's not," said Sirius. "I'm still stalking you."
"Yeah, but now you're going to stalk me at a five-foot radius," said Lily.
She had a point there.
"Liiiiily," said Sirius. "You can't stand the smell either. It's just ONE HAIR. ONE HAIR. ONE!"
Lily ignored him.
"Onnnnneeee haiiiiiiir, over the rainbow..." sang Sirius.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SINGING?!?" screeched Lily, turning around and glaring at Sirius.
"Oh look," said James, "Sirius is glare-able too."
"Glare-able?" asked Lily.
"Ask Sirius," said James.
"Er... don't think I will," said Lily.
James started to walk towards them, but stopped suddenly.
"What's that smell?" he asked.
"Lily's hat," said Sirius. "She's trying to ward me off because I tried to steal one of her red hairs."
James looked from Lily to Sirius to Lily.
And then he burst out laughing.
Lily glared at him.
"Fine," he said. "I'm not wanted. I'll just leave."
"No – wait – James," said Lily.
He turned around.
She mumbled something.
"What was that?" he asked.
"I said, I'm sorry, okay?"
James blinked.
"Did I hear you right?" he asked after a moment. He turned to Sirius. "Did Lily Evans just APOLOGIZE to me?"
"I'm not sure," said Sirius. "It was a bit... surreal."
"You two are so frustrating," said Lily, walking over to James and grabbing his arm. "C'mon, let's go."
%%%
"Okay, got the leaf," said Stephanie as Alex ran up to her.
"Steph," sighed Alex, "it says leaf from the FORBIDDEN FOREST. That's just off a random tree!"
"There are trees like these in the forbidden forest," countered Steph, not missing a beat.
"Yes, but..."
"Nobody will care, anyway."
"Yes, but I will," muttered Alex.
"Well, it's not my fault everything has to be perfect! Would you just loosen up a little? For once?"
"Fine," sighed Alex. "One leaf from the forbidden forest – check. Sort of."
"Oh, god," said Steph.
%%%
"Eyuuuh, Lily," said James, wrinkling his nose. "Would you PLEASE take off that hat?"
"It won't help," said Lily.
"Anything's an improvement," said James, "trust me."
"Whatever you say, James, daaaaarling," said Lily.
"You know, I feel like we've switched places," said James, "suddenly YOU'RE apologizing to me and calling ME darling."
"Yeah," said Lily, taking off the hat, "but you meant it."
"Are you saying you don't m – yeeuh, Lily, is that your hair or the hat?"
"The dreadful combination of both."
"But – what happened to the APPLES?" asked James.
"They were smothered," said Lily.
"That's horrible," said James, "why did you smother the apples?"
"Because of your annoying best friend," said Lily.
"Ah," said James.
"Anyway, how are we going to get a Filibuster?" asked Lily.
"Well, I don't have one, and I don't think Sirius or Remus does and Peter NEVER has them... how about Zonko's?"
"James, it's not a Hogsmeade – OH."
"You're starting to catch on," said James, "you'll be a first-rate Marauder in no time."
"Oh, wonderful," said Lily, "my lifelong ambition."
"Yeah, it's like that with a lot of people," said James distractedly, pulling out his wand and hitting the statue, revealing the dark passageway ahead.
"Great," muttered Lily. "Lumos."
And as they marched forward, Lily's hand slipped into James' despite the light of her wand. Not that she would ever admit it, of course.
James just smiled knowingly.