A/N: Yes, it's been more than a week. I had intended to get this up
quicker, but I really was waiting for more feedback. But I can't wait
forever. So here it is. (MorphManiac: If you did somehow miss the last
chapter, I gave you a little happy birthday note. If you didn't see it, I
repeat: HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY –BELATED- BIRTHDAY!)
At the precise second that Lily had posed her question, Professor McGonagall strode into the office hurriedly. She noticed the uncomfortable silence that she had walked in on, excused herself quietly, and took a seat near Lily. Dumbledore waited until McGonagall was settled and set about answering Lily's question.
"You, Miss Evans, will be working close alongside Mr. Potter."
Lily winced. "Close alongside?"
"That is what I said." Dumbledore nodded.
"As in?"
"Well," Dumbledore stated, trying to bite back frustration. School girls, especial Lily, could be so stubborn. "It might come to pass that you and Mr. Potter will be spending a good deal of your time together, more so than usual."
"But... but..." Lily stammered incredulously. At the moment, she didn't care what good cause this was for, being with James Potter wasn't worth it. "But..." she tried again weakly.
"Honestly, Evans, what *is* this obsession with my fanny?" James remarked airily. Lily's head snapped around to glare at James. The foreboding of a tremendous fight hung all about them. McGonagall cleared her throat, half to remind them of her presence, half to forestall the verbal (and often physical) battle between the two hot-headed Gryffindors.
"But you digress." McGonagall said in her usual matter-of-fact tone. "You seem to be forgetting the weight of the matter at hand."
"Yes," Dumbledore cut in, "this is beyond a petty fight between students. This is dangerous and should not be attempted without your full attention."
"Perhaps they shouldn't undertake it at all. Albus, you know I never condone putting children in this sort of situation." Professor McGonagall chided. James pouted, obviously not happy about being referred to as a child, but Dumbledore was angry for a whole other reason entirely.
"Are you implying, Minerva, that I do?" He whispered menacingly.
"N-no, Albus... I only meant..." McGonagall tried, realizing the full impact of her previous statement. Dumbledore just sighed.
"I suppose not... but it isn't as if this is my idea, nor do I approve either, but alas, it seems we have no choice."
Lily, who was still staring angrily at James, spoke next. "You never truly answered my question, sir. What is it you want us to do?"
"Well, no immediate action must take place, but I do have a task for you." He paused and Lily raised her eyebrows. Dumbledore lowered his gaze, almost like didn't quite want to meet Lily's stare as he delivered his last line. "You and Mr. Potter need to learn to work off each other. To prepare for what you must do in the near future, you need to develop senses about one another, so you need to spend all of your time together... er, get friendly." James looked like Christmas had come early. His smile seemed to threaten to break his very face in half, but Lily didn't seem happy at all. In fact, she felt like she had just been sentenced to life in Azkaban.
"Bugger," was all she could get out.
Dumbledore grimaced. "I know the arrangements are less than ideal for you, but you must understand that eventually you need to be able to cooperate civilly."
Lily snorted.
"Well, thank you professors, I believe we can take it from here." James said, standing. Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgement and James headed for the door. Lily sat in her chair, none too happy and still too shocked to do anything but sit. James rolled his eyes, lifted a kicking Lily out of her chair, and dragged her by the elbow to the door, giving a last wave over his shoulder to his professors. Lily and James walked through the halls in the general direction of their common room in a tension-filled silence.
"Is it really that bad, being with me?" James asked with slightly less enthusiasm than he started out with. Lily didn't answer and James tried again. "Why do you have me so much?" Lily scoffed and James rolled his eyes yet again. "Come on, our *professional* relationship is going to remain strained until we get past this, so answer me."
"Do you care?"
"I do, about you."
"You know, I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am." Lily spat.
"Can't you trust that I'm serious? Can't you be serious, just for now?" James whined.
"Aren't I always Sirius?"
Lily and James groaned.
"What are you doing here, Padfoot? And why do you insist on repeating that awful joke?"
"I thought I'd grace you with my humor, looked like you needed it. And I was down here because I was hungry, so I went to snatch some grub from the kitchens. I saw you were here in this hallway, so I decided to drop by." Sirius gestured to the parchment in his hand. Something on it made James grin like an idiot and Lily craned her neck to see what it said.
"What is that?" she asked, forgetting her anger for a second.
"Nothing, really," James mumbled hastily, still grinning, and waved his wand over the parchment saying "mischief managed". Lily knitted her brow, but didn't press the matter. If she had to spend so much time with Potter, she figured that she would find out eventually. Together, all three wandered into their common room, but when Sirius sprinted up to the boys' dormitories, James held Lily behind.
"So," he started awkwardly, "you do hate me then?" Lily looked at him and thought very quickly. She tried to pull out a memory of one moment that made her hate this boy, but there was none. Really, at their first meeting, he was just so immature and he rubbed her the wrong way. All of their subsequent meetings thereafter just compounded the negative feelings, adding new dimension to his apparent self-centeredness. She nodded.
"You hate me," James whispered, his head hung low to his chest. "I guess I can deal with that." Lily shot him a questioning look. "Well, you see, because there's a fine line between love and hate." Lily rolled her eyes.
"There's a fine line between genius and insanity as well, and you're a loony."
"Huh?"
"That's just a tired old cliché, Potter."
"That's the beauty of clichés, *Evans*, they hold true no matter what time period you are in. Besides, love and hate are very similar, strong passions. It should only take a bit of effort to get one to... straddle the line." James said confidently.
"I am NOT straddling ANYTHING!" Lily huffed. James burst out laughing and Lily's cheeks flushed a deep red after grasping the full meaning of what she said. She muttered an embarrassed "good night" and advanced towards the girls' dorms with James following closely.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked hotly.
"Dumbledore said we had to 'spend all of our time together'. Said we had to get... *friendly*, he did." James said while suggestively wiggling his eyebrows. Lily's nose crinkled in anger.
"Pronsy! What happened to your face, it's all red?" Sirius exclaimed as his friend entered the bed chamber that the four Marauders shared.
"Lily smacked me." James replied simply.
"Twice in one day?" Peter squeaked, recalling the incident on the train.
"I guess so." James sighed and flopped down on his bed.
Remus wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "I thought slapping was a bad thing, why are you smiling?"
"Maybe he's into the dominatrix type." Sirius suggested, chuckling. Remus threw a pillow at him. "Nah, just kidding," Sirius corrected himself, breaking into a new fit of giggles, "he's just happy because the map had a sort of magical labeling hiccup or something. The dot that should have been labeled 'Lily Evans' was labeled 'Lily Potter'!"
A/N: Aww, see it's still fluffy. So, how do you want this to go? Romantic with a bit of action? Action packed with a bit of romance? Or an equal balance between both? Only you decide! Except of course when I do the deciding, in which case, you are screwed. (Oooh, is that pushing my PG rating?) Anyway, haven't started the next chap yet, but I do get motivated after reading lots of reviews. And while you wait for the next chap, read my newest HP fic Alliance.
TeenTypist: Fantasimo? Lol, I just love the verbs you use! Honestly, that may be my driving force in writing this. I hope I didn't leave my semi- cliff hanger-y chapter ending off for too long. Does ten days count as soon? Eh... well, it's here now. Hope you enjoy!
At the precise second that Lily had posed her question, Professor McGonagall strode into the office hurriedly. She noticed the uncomfortable silence that she had walked in on, excused herself quietly, and took a seat near Lily. Dumbledore waited until McGonagall was settled and set about answering Lily's question.
"You, Miss Evans, will be working close alongside Mr. Potter."
Lily winced. "Close alongside?"
"That is what I said." Dumbledore nodded.
"As in?"
"Well," Dumbledore stated, trying to bite back frustration. School girls, especial Lily, could be so stubborn. "It might come to pass that you and Mr. Potter will be spending a good deal of your time together, more so than usual."
"But... but..." Lily stammered incredulously. At the moment, she didn't care what good cause this was for, being with James Potter wasn't worth it. "But..." she tried again weakly.
"Honestly, Evans, what *is* this obsession with my fanny?" James remarked airily. Lily's head snapped around to glare at James. The foreboding of a tremendous fight hung all about them. McGonagall cleared her throat, half to remind them of her presence, half to forestall the verbal (and often physical) battle between the two hot-headed Gryffindors.
"But you digress." McGonagall said in her usual matter-of-fact tone. "You seem to be forgetting the weight of the matter at hand."
"Yes," Dumbledore cut in, "this is beyond a petty fight between students. This is dangerous and should not be attempted without your full attention."
"Perhaps they shouldn't undertake it at all. Albus, you know I never condone putting children in this sort of situation." Professor McGonagall chided. James pouted, obviously not happy about being referred to as a child, but Dumbledore was angry for a whole other reason entirely.
"Are you implying, Minerva, that I do?" He whispered menacingly.
"N-no, Albus... I only meant..." McGonagall tried, realizing the full impact of her previous statement. Dumbledore just sighed.
"I suppose not... but it isn't as if this is my idea, nor do I approve either, but alas, it seems we have no choice."
Lily, who was still staring angrily at James, spoke next. "You never truly answered my question, sir. What is it you want us to do?"
"Well, no immediate action must take place, but I do have a task for you." He paused and Lily raised her eyebrows. Dumbledore lowered his gaze, almost like didn't quite want to meet Lily's stare as he delivered his last line. "You and Mr. Potter need to learn to work off each other. To prepare for what you must do in the near future, you need to develop senses about one another, so you need to spend all of your time together... er, get friendly." James looked like Christmas had come early. His smile seemed to threaten to break his very face in half, but Lily didn't seem happy at all. In fact, she felt like she had just been sentenced to life in Azkaban.
"Bugger," was all she could get out.
Dumbledore grimaced. "I know the arrangements are less than ideal for you, but you must understand that eventually you need to be able to cooperate civilly."
Lily snorted.
"Well, thank you professors, I believe we can take it from here." James said, standing. Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgement and James headed for the door. Lily sat in her chair, none too happy and still too shocked to do anything but sit. James rolled his eyes, lifted a kicking Lily out of her chair, and dragged her by the elbow to the door, giving a last wave over his shoulder to his professors. Lily and James walked through the halls in the general direction of their common room in a tension-filled silence.
"Is it really that bad, being with me?" James asked with slightly less enthusiasm than he started out with. Lily didn't answer and James tried again. "Why do you have me so much?" Lily scoffed and James rolled his eyes yet again. "Come on, our *professional* relationship is going to remain strained until we get past this, so answer me."
"Do you care?"
"I do, about you."
"You know, I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am." Lily spat.
"Can't you trust that I'm serious? Can't you be serious, just for now?" James whined.
"Aren't I always Sirius?"
Lily and James groaned.
"What are you doing here, Padfoot? And why do you insist on repeating that awful joke?"
"I thought I'd grace you with my humor, looked like you needed it. And I was down here because I was hungry, so I went to snatch some grub from the kitchens. I saw you were here in this hallway, so I decided to drop by." Sirius gestured to the parchment in his hand. Something on it made James grin like an idiot and Lily craned her neck to see what it said.
"What is that?" she asked, forgetting her anger for a second.
"Nothing, really," James mumbled hastily, still grinning, and waved his wand over the parchment saying "mischief managed". Lily knitted her brow, but didn't press the matter. If she had to spend so much time with Potter, she figured that she would find out eventually. Together, all three wandered into their common room, but when Sirius sprinted up to the boys' dormitories, James held Lily behind.
"So," he started awkwardly, "you do hate me then?" Lily looked at him and thought very quickly. She tried to pull out a memory of one moment that made her hate this boy, but there was none. Really, at their first meeting, he was just so immature and he rubbed her the wrong way. All of their subsequent meetings thereafter just compounded the negative feelings, adding new dimension to his apparent self-centeredness. She nodded.
"You hate me," James whispered, his head hung low to his chest. "I guess I can deal with that." Lily shot him a questioning look. "Well, you see, because there's a fine line between love and hate." Lily rolled her eyes.
"There's a fine line between genius and insanity as well, and you're a loony."
"Huh?"
"That's just a tired old cliché, Potter."
"That's the beauty of clichés, *Evans*, they hold true no matter what time period you are in. Besides, love and hate are very similar, strong passions. It should only take a bit of effort to get one to... straddle the line." James said confidently.
"I am NOT straddling ANYTHING!" Lily huffed. James burst out laughing and Lily's cheeks flushed a deep red after grasping the full meaning of what she said. She muttered an embarrassed "good night" and advanced towards the girls' dorms with James following closely.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked hotly.
"Dumbledore said we had to 'spend all of our time together'. Said we had to get... *friendly*, he did." James said while suggestively wiggling his eyebrows. Lily's nose crinkled in anger.
"Pronsy! What happened to your face, it's all red?" Sirius exclaimed as his friend entered the bed chamber that the four Marauders shared.
"Lily smacked me." James replied simply.
"Twice in one day?" Peter squeaked, recalling the incident on the train.
"I guess so." James sighed and flopped down on his bed.
Remus wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "I thought slapping was a bad thing, why are you smiling?"
"Maybe he's into the dominatrix type." Sirius suggested, chuckling. Remus threw a pillow at him. "Nah, just kidding," Sirius corrected himself, breaking into a new fit of giggles, "he's just happy because the map had a sort of magical labeling hiccup or something. The dot that should have been labeled 'Lily Evans' was labeled 'Lily Potter'!"
A/N: Aww, see it's still fluffy. So, how do you want this to go? Romantic with a bit of action? Action packed with a bit of romance? Or an equal balance between both? Only you decide! Except of course when I do the deciding, in which case, you are screwed. (Oooh, is that pushing my PG rating?) Anyway, haven't started the next chap yet, but I do get motivated after reading lots of reviews. And while you wait for the next chap, read my newest HP fic Alliance.
TeenTypist: Fantasimo? Lol, I just love the verbs you use! Honestly, that may be my driving force in writing this. I hope I didn't leave my semi- cliff hanger-y chapter ending off for too long. Does ten days count as soon? Eh... well, it's here now. Hope you enjoy!