Chapter 9 ~ 'Tis the Season to be Folly
"I can not believe he had the sick guts to do that!" Lily yelled out in fury for the twentieth time. "Who does he think he is, touching my butt!?"
Sirius scowled, having heard this way too many times in the past 10 minutes.
"Oh, jealous, eh? Don't worry, Sirius. She'll be pinching your butt soon enough!" Remus chuckled.
"I will not, Lupin!" Lily defended herself. "If this wasn't my favorite book, I'd make you come over here and I'd give your own little rear-end a whipping, but I'd hate to put King Arthur through that experience."
"Ha ha! I think my 'rear-end' is quite cute, if you ask me!" He turned around and wiggled it.
"Oh yes! Talk about drop-dead booty-licious!"
Remus smiled triumphantly.
"Jeez...it's only 10 o'clock! We'd still be at the dance for two more hours if it weren't canceled." Ashley grimaced, disgusted.
"Yeah, about that...I'm really sorry, you guys." Lily apologized to them all.
"Sorry!? Sorry for what? That was not your fault, Lily!"
"Snape ruined it for everyone! Not you!"
"Well, I did over-react when he did that..." Lily sulked.
"He deserved it, if you want my opinion."
"Don't worry...he's going to pay for that one." Lily smiled naughtily. "Any ideas, boys?"
James, Sirius, and Remus huddled into a group, talked rapidly for a few minutes, and then yelled "BREAK!" and returned to where the girls were.
"Oh...we've got an idea, all right! An ingenious idea." James rubbed his hands together. "MWAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Everyone just stood there frozen from James' outburst of insanity, eyebrows raised. He stared at them until Lily couldn't take it any longer and snorted. Then they all started laughing.
"That was sure...eh....interesting."
"Very persuasive to the fact that you're a mad scientist."
More laughs.
"You think you're laughing now girls...but you just wait. You won't be able to breathe once you get a load of what we've got in mind."
"We can't wait!" Kristy said, thoroughly anticipating the moment.
"Well, we're not doing it until Monday. It'll be easier to pull off then, instead of on the weekends when you never know where people are. Plus, we need some time to figure out the exact plan." Sirius told them.
"Great, you're going to make me endure this suspense for three days! Talk about evil!"
"Sorry, but our services are closed on weekends."
"Yeah right! You're trying to tell me that you only cause havoc on weekdays!? Give me a break!"
"Hey! I'm insulted!" Sirius whimpered.
"Ha ha! Yeah...well, I'm tired. Good night folks! I'll see you all in the morning." Lily announced and headed off to bed.
"Me too!"
"Me three!" Kristy and Ashley also retreated upstairs to their room.
"Lily?" Kristy whispered.
"Wha...?" Lily moaned. She really hated being awoken while sleeping.
"You're going out with Sirius, aren't you?"
This hit Lily like a ton of bricks. She shot out of bed and her friends giggled. "What makes you think that?"
"Well, it's a bit obvious! Downstairs, you were in your 'Let's Plot Snape and Malfoy's Murder' mood, yet you were still smiling like you're insane."
"Oh..." Lily blushed. "If you really wanna know, yes."
"Ha ha Ashley! I knew it!" Kristy yelled victoriously and started filing her nails. "I'll be expecting our wager by Christmas."
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe you actually made a bet on whether Sirius would ask me out or not!" She laughed. "You're as bad as the boys."
"That's debatable," Ashley argued her point.
"I don't know...you may actually be worse."
"Hey! I resent that!" Kristy brandished her nail file as a sword.
"I'm just kidding!" Lily held up her hands in surrender. "NO BODY could be as bad as them."
"That's the truth..."
"Ok, now it's my turn...are you two going out with Remus and James?"
"Actually, no. We talked and decided we'd rather be friends. It surprised me that James said that! He's a flirt if I ever saw one." Kristy replied.
"And Remus said he doesn't feel ready to date yet. Just friends, but there's nothing wrong with that!" Ashley said.
"YES! Cha ching! I'm 10 galleons richer baby!" Lily danced around the room.
"Woah! Hold it! Are you implying that you and Sirius made a bet too? You little hypocrite you!" They all started laughing really hard.
In the meantime in the boys' dorm:
"So boys...did you work up the guts to ask them?" Sirius asked Remus and James.
"No, they asked us."
"And what did you say?"
"We told them 'no', that we'd rather be friends."
"AHH! You idiots! You were supposed to say yes! Man...now I owe Lily 10 galleons." Sirius sulked.
"Ha ha! Tough luck. I've already told you...do not mess with Lily Evans. She has a mysterious way of getting what she wants." James informed them. "Believe me, I've been her neighbor for nine years."
"Thanks for letting me know now."
"Well...tell us then! D'ya ask her?" Remus asked Sirius.
"Of course I did!"
"And she said no, didn't she?"
"Actually, she said yes, but not before giving me a hard time about it." He smiled widely.
"Ho! Guess who just won 15 galleons!" Remus ran over to James with his money pouch held open. "Go on mate! Dump it in!"
Sirius just laughed at James' face and then went to bed.
The weekend went by pretty slowly, as time always does when one is awaiting the next day. For them, that day was Monday, but now it had arrived and it was Trouble Time.
"Now listen Lily. I have the faint, disgusting hunch that Snape...uh..."
"What!?" Lily cried out impatiently, interrupting Sirius.
"That he..." He shivvered. "...fancies you."
"Ugh! Don't tell me stuff like that! Especially when I'm in a good mood!"
"Well, what you have to do is stop him in the hallway and...and..."
"Spit it out already!"
"Flirt with him."
Kristy and Ashley pretended to throw up as the boys snickered.
"Great plan geniuses!" Lily said sarcastically.
"You wanna do this or not?" James asked.
"Yes."
"Then please stop commentating and follow along here! We have to hurry or else we'll miss him in the hallway."
"Fine fine...please continue."
"Anyway, just talk to him, apologize, smile, whatever so we can put a curse on him really quickly." Sirius explained.
"And this curse will do what?" She wanted to know.
"You'll find out..."
"Come on! Let's go!" Remus shoved them out the portrait hole, leaving Lily completely clueless.
"Look! There he is!" They were on the second floor and Severus just emerged from around a corner with Lucius. "Go on Lily!" Sirius pushed her forward as the rest of them hid behind suits or armour.
Lily jumped in front of Snape so he wouldn't turn around and see them. "Ummm....Hi Severus. Could I have a word?" She fluttered her eyelashes sickly.
His eyes lit up and he smiled, elbowing Malfoy to leave. "Ok," he replied.
James, Sirius, and Remus, she saw, had covered their mouths with theirs hands so they wouldn't laugh outloud. She couldn't figure out what they found so funny about all of this. Kristy and Ashley were behind, about to gag.
"What is it?"
"I...er...just wanted to apologize for beating the crap out of you at the dance." Snape flinched, having been reminded that he was beat up by a girl. "I just hope that I didn't ruin our...friendship."
"Our friendship?" He looked astounded.
Just then, James muttered something and a slow stream of gold light protruded from his wand and was absorbed by Snape's backside. He was so surprised that he didn't even feel it hit him.
"Our friendship!? What are you talking about?" Lily's whole body trembled as she pretended to come out of a trance. Snape's eyes bulged.
"Yeah, you just said..."
"I don't know what you're playing at Pal, but if you've already forgotten how I despise even the thought of you, then I may have to remind you with a kick in the arse!"
Snape was in complete shock as he brushed past her, not wanting another beating.
"Ha ha ha!" They all ran out from behind the armour, bursting with laughter. "Did you see his face?"
"That was classic!" Kristy managed to say through her laughs.
"I don't think I've ever seen anything funnier!"
"You would make a great actress, Lily! Talk about add-libbing the original script! What an act!"
Lily was having trouble finding her air. "Thank you. Thank you! You'll not have to wait for long for the next show if you high-tail it to the Great Hall! Next presentation: Snape's Humiliation - Part 2!"
"You're right! We've gotta get down there or else we'll miss it!"
They ran as fast as they could to the hall and stopped suddenly when Remus held out his hands and motioned for them to stop. They were directly in front of the open doors to the hall and Snape had just taken a bite of his pancakes.
"Here it comes!" Their eyes were wide with anticipation when Snape sprung from his seat on the bench to on the table. Everyone got quiet until his behind started growing even faster than his ears did days before. There were laughs from all around, but this wasn't the funniest part. When his butt had grown 3 times its normal size, he put on a pair of sunglasses and shook his butt in a female, 7th years' face.
"Hey! I like pinching butts baby! Join the club and give mine a little squeeze!" He wiggled it in a circle in front of her.
"Get away!" The girl shrieked and ran from the room.
"The loser! Ha ha ha!" Remus yelled as everyone burst into hysterics, the 6 friends worst of all.
"I've never seen something so funny in my life!"
They were all leaning on eachother for support, but Sirius doubled over and fell. He was shaking so hard his feet couldn't support him anymore. This resulted in a dogpile on the floor at the entrance of the Great Hall. None of them could breathe. James and Remus were banging the floor with their fists. Sirius was squashed under everyone, but still cracking up, none the less. Ashley was holding on to her stomach, grasping for air. Everyone else was wiping away the flow of tears off of their faces. Even Dumbledore was chuckling, but McGonagall was outraged. What a sight.
"Severus! Get down from the table at once!" Professor Secreus Snape yelled, thoroughly embarrassed. "You'll be joining my in my office for detention for making a fool of both yourself and I for the second time!"
Severus snapped out of it, about screamed when he saw his bulging behind, and waddled out of the Great Hall, having to step over the dogpile. The whole school was still laughing and pointing.
"Awesome job guys!" Lily gave them all high-fives. "That was your best prank yet!"
"No doubt!"
"Thanks a lot!" She hugged them. "Hopefully he'll leave me alone from now on."
Sirius laughed. "I don't think he'll dare to go near you."
"Where'd you learn that spell, anyway? I don't think that's one they'd put in our textbooks." She asked.
"Oh no...that's just a newly-invented hex of ours. You like?"
"I like!"
"Good! Because there's more from where that came from!" Remus grinned.
"No, I think this was enough for one day! Come on! Care of Magical Creatures is going to start!" Lily grabbed her bag from off the floor, and her friends followed her to the classroom.
The month of November really flew by. It was the same as always: Pranks, detentions (for everyone but Lily who decided not to take part in the pranks), classes, and the first Quidditch game of the season. Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. Gryffindor beat them into the ground and won: 210 to 40.
They boys had started to act really strange lately. They'd seclude themselves in the library and would spend hours just roaming the halls, taking note of every little detail. They were all getting top marks, thankfully. Lily couldn't figure out how, because they never seemed to be doing homework, but all their grades were so high it was scary.
Sirius wasn't, to the relief of Lily, all lovey-dovey. She hated that. They'd hold hands in the hallway once in a while, but that was it.
Remus had started acting all jittery too. He couldn't stand still for more than 10 seconds, and then all of a suddne, he told his friends that he had to leave Hogwarts to go and celebrate Thanksgiving with his American 4th cousin. He left immediately, without even a goodbye! This sort of hurt Lily and the girls, but the boys seemed to be untouched by it.
Peter had also, very quickly, become a great part of the group. Even though he was a Slytherin, they'd go everywhere together. The best part was when Professor Snape would torment then in class, Peter would be right there to defend them, and Snape would have to back off because Peter was in his house.
"Remus!" Lily jumped up from the couch when he came into the common room a week later. "You're back! Did you have fun?"
"Uhh...yeah."
"OOH! The buildings in America must be fascinating! Now tell me, how was the house you stayed in? What was it like?" Lily was always thrilled with foreign arcitechture.
"Ehh...it was a shack." He replied.
"Really? That's odd." Her eyes then set on his arms which were bare, but normally concealed with long sleeves. "Jeez! What happened to you? You're hurt!"
"They're just scratches and cuts."
"But they're everywhere! What happened?"
"My 4th cousin's grandmother's cat...frisky little devil."
Lily eyed him with disbelief. "Hmmm...well, you had better go and see Madame Pomphrey! Go on!" She started pushing him out the portrait hole.
"It's ok Lily! YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A MOTHER TO ME!" He spat out before he had a chance to think. He bit his lip as he realized what he said.
"Oh...I'm sorry Remus. I was just..."
"Forget it! I'm going to take a nap." He turned on his heels and ran up the stairs.
Lily was fighting back tears as she shrugged at Sirius and James who were giving eachother worried looks. "It'll be ok, Lils. He's just tired. Take our word for it."
She sighed and slumped back onto the couch, completely perplexed.
The Tenacious Trio, plus Peter, had really started increasing their time together. In fact, Lily rarely ever saw them! By the middle of December, it had really begun to worry her, so one day after classes, she approached them where they were huddled in a corner of the common room, talking in very hushed voices. They were so engrossed in whatever they were doing that Lily just walked up to them and leaned over to see what they were doing, and not a one of them noticed. She caught the words: "Now, these days are full moons, so we should..." before she interrupted.
"Ahem!" She cleared he throat, searching for their attention. "Whatcha got there?" She asked as James threw a book under the skirts of the couch to hide it from her view. "O---K--- Apparently I'm not wanted here." She turned, flipping her hair which she now curled daily, and started to storm off when Sirius stopped her.
"Wait! Lily, we're sorry. It's a...uh...surprise." James elbowed him really hard. "Ouch!"
"Ummm...yeah. Anyway, Uncle Odysseus just put a charm on the lake to freeze it over and keep the creatures from bothering us. It's even snowing! I was just wondering if you all wanted to skate with me."
"Sure!" Sirius was elbowed again. "Oh. Sorry Lily, but we're a little busy."
Lily frowned and let out an exasperated sigh. "Argh! Fine...I'll be reading a book then. Maybe even study a dead language, I'm so bored!"
Sirius sighed as well as James retrieved the book they were looking at and continued with their whispering.
All of a sudden, Lily slammed her book shut. "You know what? I think I'll go ask Snape to skate with me! At least he doesn't isolate himself from everybody, including his FRIENDS!" And she left to go look for him, leaving the boys stunned.
"Lily! Wait!" Sirius called for her, but he was too late, for she had just slammed the portrait door to emphasize her point.
"Argh! What's gotten in to them?" She asked herself agitatedly, not really expecting an answer. "Fine! If that's the way they want to play it, let's play. They'll see how it feels to be totally ignored!" She threw open the front doors, hoping they'd break, but she had no such luck. According to Lily's philosophy on life, When infuriated, break something. It always helped to calm one's nerves. "Brrr...It's freezing out here." She wrapped her scarf more tightly around her neck and scolded herself for forgetting to return to her room to put on more layers of clothes. The boys had made her so mad, she never thought to go back and dress warmer. "I'll have to live with it. Anyone who thinks I'm going back up there is crazy."
She power-walked over to the lake which was glimmering beautifully under the 30 kids skating on it. Unfortunately, everyone was skating in couples. "I'll just wait for someone to ask me. Snape's already skating with another girl."
There was an area covered in different skates, so she got there, picked out her size, and got on the ground, thankful that she was wearing her snow pants or else she'd really be cold. She was almost finished lacing her skates when a short, chubbyish boy came up to her.
"Hi. I'm Victor Dursley from Hufflepuff. I'm a second year. D'you wanna skate with me?"
Lily just stared at him for a while. She knew she had heard his name somewhere before...but where?
"Well?" He asked.
"Ok." She answered and pushed herself out of the snow. They walked to the ice and the minute Victor stepped on, he fell. 'Oh great,' She thought, trying not to laugh. 'No wonder he was the only one out here without a skating partner. I'm a bad skater, but from what I've seen, he's even worse!' She offered her hand and he took it, just about pulling her down with him, but eventually, he was up.
"Sorry 'bout that. I'm an awful skater."
She rolled her eyes. No kidding. "Don't sweat it. So am I, but I'll try to help you."
Lily soon found out that she wished she had never said that. He'd take two strides and fall. This was wearing her out! "By the way, do you have any siblings?" She asked him, wanting to figure out where she recognized his name from.
"Yeah, I have a brother, Vernon. I actually am pretty sure that he's dating your sister. Petunia, is it?"
"Ah ha! I knew I had heard your name before! He met Petunia in Diagon Alley."
"We're twins, unbelievably. We're nothing alike, except out looks. He shouldn't even be allowed to set foot in Diagon Alley! He hates everything about the wizarding world, including me."
"Him and my sister must be a good couple then. She's a disgrace to our family and to the whole wizarding world. She doesn't ever want to come near me, but truthfully, that's a blessing."
Victor laughed just before he fell again.
The next 15 minutes consisted of nothing but skate, fall, skate, fall, skate, fall, fall again...and as nice as Victor was, she was getting sick of his falling.
Finally, Snape skated over to them. He gave one disgusted look at the clutz and said to him, "You mind if I skate with Lily for a bit?"
Lily sighed in relief as Victor answered, "Sure. I'm a little sore anyway." He left the ice, massaging his behind.
"Thank God you came Severus. I don't think I could have handled him any more. I can barely handle myself! I've got bad balance."
"Then let me give you some balance." He held onto her hand to keep her from falling. "So, where's Black?"
"Oh...I asked him, Remus, and James to come out with me, but they refused. They're so aggrivating! I never see them anymore except in class, and even then it's like they're too busy for me!"
"What jerks. I tried to tell you about them the first time we met."
She laughed lightly. "You make it sound like they're evil. Don't worry about me. I'm just going to ignore them in return."
"Well, please don't go overboard and ignore me too. Plus, I'd never ignore you."
This was a little much for her and made her shudder.
"You're shivvering. Are you cold?"
Lily suddenly became aware again that she wasn't wearing many winter clothes. "Yeah, I forgot to dress warmer."
"That's ok." He answered, letting go of her hand and instead, putting his arm around her waist, pulling her close.
She felt herself blush and hoped they weren't catching too many eyes. Everyone knew she was dating Sirius. WAS. But she decided not to think about it because no matter how odd it seemed, Snape was keeping her warm.
They skated for a long time together with their arms around eachother. Lily was actually starting to get the hang of this skating thing. Everything was perfect and Lily forgot all about her grudge until she saw Sirius standing at the edge of the lake, frozen, with a look of great hurt in his eyes. They stopped in front of him.
"Lily...how...how could you?" He stuttered, not taking his unblinking eyes off Snape. "He hates me!"
"Well, apparently, he doesn't hate me!" She walked off the ice until she was nose to nose with Sirius. "And let me tell you, you're lucky I don't hate you!"
"Hate me?"
Lily glared at him.
"How could you hate me? I'm your boyfriend! Your best friend!"
"Best friend huh? Boyfriend?"
Sirius nodded.
"Ok, listen buster. Three things: Number 1, best friends don't ignore eachother! Number 2, NEITHER DO PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING OUT WITH EACHOTHER!!!" She screamed this last one, then, pushed him as hard as she could into the snow. "Number 3, you'll be lucky if I talk to you before next year!!!"
Lily stomped off back to the castle. She couldn't remember ever being more outraged at anyone, and boy did she want to smash something. Her fury was so great that she could have torn up the whole common room in 5 minutes, but she'd probably be expelled. So, she did the next best thing: her dorm room.
She marched straight past everyone in the hallway (including Kristy and Ashley) without even a hello and the same through the common room, occupied only by James and Remus who just sat there imagining what had happened.
As soon as she was in her dorm, the destruction began. Books were thrown on the floor and stomped on, clothes skewed the room along with the pulled-out drawers, sheets, pillows, and quills. The cloth was yanked off of all of the four-posted beds, and once there wasn't anything of Lily' left untouched, she tore everything off of her friends' beds.
A house elf had come in to fluff the pillows and put mints on the bed like she did every evening, but the sight of Lily demolishing everything in her path terrified the poor creature. Instead of interrupting, it smartly stayed in a corner, praying that Lily didn't spot her and try to break her too.
"Lily! What are you doing!?" Kristy screamed.
Her friends had just barged through the door, having head the commotion downstairs. They ran over to Lily who had just collapsed on the floor.
"Lily!"
"Oh my God, look at her! She's burning up!"
Lily was twitching, red-faced, covered in sweat, and eyes fluttering uncontrolably.
Ashley shook her. "Lily! Wake up!" Her head just bobbed up and down. "She's passed out! Go get some help!"
Kristy took a last look at the violently twitching Lily and ran down the stairs yelling "HELP!"
A couple of days later, "You're awake! Thank God!" was heard throughout the hospital wing.
"Lily! It's about time! You've been out cold for two days!" Kristy hugged her, as did Ashley.
Lily was really tired and everything was spinning. "Wha...what happened?" She asked groggily.
"You passed out from extreme exhaustion. Madame Pomphrey said your body couldn't take the pressure, so your brain went bezerk, causing you to pass out. Then you had a seizure. Oh Lily, we were so scared!"
"By the way, what were you doing to our room? What made you so mad?"
It took Lily a few seconds to remember, but once she did, she was wide awake. "I was infuriated," She said simply.
"So you destroyed our dorm?"
"Uh...yeah. Maybe I should mention that when I'm mad, I bash things."
"Obviously! But what could possibly make you so mad? Snape and Malfoy?"
"No, Sirius."
"WHAT!?" They both said at the same time.
"Yes, actually, all the boys, but him worst of all."
"Why?"
"If you haven't noticed, they've been ignoring us...mainly me. Then Sirius thinks he can tell me what to do like I belong to him. Plus, I know they're hiding something from me, and if they don't want me to know, fine, but they don't have to be rude about it!"
"Yeah, you're right I guess."
"Of course I am, and you won't be too happy to know that I don't intend on speaking to them."
"WHAT!?" They repeated.
"I'm not talking to them...ever."
Kristy and Ashley's jaws dropped.
"And there's nothing you can do to change my mind." Lily finished just as Madame Pomphrey came in.
"Goodness! How long have you been up? We need to take your temperature and here...drink this." Lily reluctantly swallowed the intolerable potion and immediately fell asleep, but not before hearing Madame Pomphrey push the girls out of the hospital wing. "She's worn out! Shoo shoo!"
Madame Pomphrey wouldn't let Lily out of the hospital wing for 2 more days, but throughout those whole 2 days, not once did Lily even consider backing down from her vow: She wasn't going to speak one solitary word to Sirius, James, Remus, or Peter.
She didn't speak to them in class, in the dorms, in the hallways, nor during meals, even though she sat across from Sirius, James, and Remus. Kristy and Ashley sat to the right and left of her.
Countless times the boys saw her in the halls and would follow her, trying to apologize or get her to talk, but it was a worthless cause. She'd just walk faster until she reached a girls bathroom where they couldn't bother her, unless they were REALLY determined. Once, James actually chose to venture into the bathroom after her, but ran out when he saw there was another girl in there, staring at him.
Lily's school marks had also begun to drop rapidly. Coincidently, she was partnered with one of the boys in almost every class. Doing the work required communication, so Lily just refused to take part in it. In a matter of a week, this resulted in her being summoned to the headmaster's office.
"Hello Lily."
"Hello Professor Dumbledore."
"Please, sit down." He motioned to a teal armchair in front of his desk next to a beautiful fire-colored bird, about the same color as her hair. "Do you know why I've asked you to come here?"
"No sir."
"It is because of you academic work as of late. You do realize, don't you, that up until a week ago, you were the top 1st year student in the school, followed closely by your friends, Misters Potter, Lupin, and Black?"
"No sir."
"Well, you were. But to be quite frank, Miss Evans, I'm a very concerned. You have all been declining in your efforts on school work, but I feel you are suffering worst of all."
"Yes, I do realize that sir."
"Perhaps there is something you wish to discuss with me? Anything I can counsil you on?"
"No sir."
"Nothing has happened emotionally in your life, has it?"
"Umm...I was just imformed by my parents that my dog died, but other than that, I'm fine."
Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Very well. Off you go."
Lily was entirely grateful to leave. Dumbledore had a almost annoying knack of pricking her conscience, but she was stubborn and believed that she could handle herself. "I wish people would quit pestering me and stop worrying! I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." She said as she walked to History of Magic with Professor Alvin Loritz.
It was a day before the Christmas holidays and still, the boys hadn't heard anything from Lily. They were actually really worried about her; her grades were plunging (as were their own) and she wasn't her usual, hyper self. Even stranger, Sirius, Remus, and James had gone a whole 2 weeks without a single detention. They just weren't in the mood for pulling pranks.
At dinner that night, Sirius decided, once again, to attempt to get Lily to talk.
"I can't believe Professor Evans! I feel sorry for anyone related to the dimwit, he's so…OUCH!"
Instead of replying, Lily just kicked him from across the table, really hard. "Well, it was worth a try."
Lily just sat there as nonchalant as could be, eating her chicken like she didn't even do anything. "You know girls," she told Ashley and Kristy. "I'd advise you to not talk to them either. Talking to nuckleheads like them makes you dumber by the day."
They were just about to comment when Dumbledore asked for the hall's attention. "I'd like to make an announcement please!" Everyone went silent. "As you all know, today is the last day before the Christmas holidays." There was quick eruption of cheers. "The Hogwarts Express will depart tomorrow at 8AM for anyone who wishes to visit their families. For those of you who are staying here, there is a sheet of parchment in your common room for you to sign. Thank you!"
Afterwards, a murmur began about who was staying and who was leaving for Christmas.
"I'm going home tomorrow," Kristy announced.
"So am I. My parents always host this huge party and they expect me to be there," Ashley said. "What about you, Lily?"
"I'm staying here."
"Awww...why?"
"Mum and Dad told Petunia that she could have a party of her own this year. All her friends are coming...including that Vernon Dursely she like, and personally, I'd rather not have the pleasure of witnessing that."
"Petunia's older than you, isn't she?" James inquired.
Lily didn't reply.
"Yes, by two years." Ashley answered for her as James shot her a 'look'.
"You weren't supposed to tell me! I was hoping she'd answer!"
"In your dreams. If you haven't noticed, anything you do or say is going to get her to talk anytime soon."
"Argh! You're hopeless Lily Evans! Come on guys. Let's go. We've got...uh...stuff to do." He winked at them, and they all left, leaving Lily contemplating what they possibly could be up to.
Later that night, Lily left her bed where she was reading to go and write her name on the list of the people staying, and unfortunately, her 3 most unfavorite people happened to be sitting in the corner, whispering, excluding the rest of the world, as usual. She chose to continue to ignore them, but as she put the magic self-inking pen to the parchment, she was strongly tempted to give up her promise to herself and start screaming at them when she was what else was written there.
"AHH! It never fails! I'm gonna kill 'em!!!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.
The boys all stood up, laughing, as James strolled over to Lily like he was 'Mr. Hot Shot'. "Well Lils..." he smiled. "Looks like you're staying with us over Christmas, and would ya look at that?...all the other Gryffindors are going home!...Imagine that!"
Lily gritted her teeth so they were grinding, determined not to say anything, while thinking: 'For God's sake, I wouldn't doubt it if they bribed everyone to leave!" Instead of telling them this, she did the next best thing. She walked up to James casually, making him think she was actually going to talk, and smacked him across the face as hard as she could, then turned to go upstairs and help Ashley and Kristy finish packing, but as she went up the stairs, she saw the 2 girls running up as quickly and quietly as they could. They had been standing on the stairs, watching, the whole time.
"Great! That's just great!" Lily yelled as she barged into her room. The girls were sitting on their beds, supposedly doing homework, but Lily could see right through their act.
"What's wrong?" Kristy asked, closing her Potions textbook and pretending she didn't have any idea what really was wrong.
Lily inhaled deeply to calm herself as anger began to swell within her face. But she thought it best to control her temper this once. After all, these were her best friends, so instead, she thought back to her favorite Shakespearian Drama. "There is a kind of confession in your looks which your modesties have not craft enough to color." That was the greatest quote ever, in her opinion. Basically, it mean 'You are lying. I know it because you are too stupid to hide it from me'.
They looked at her blankly.
"Ehh...what was that again?"
Lily sighed. "You have a confession in your looks which your modesties have not the craft to color."
Kristy tsk'ed as she shook Lily's shoulders. "Poor Lily. This silence business is getting to your head. Now, if you please, in English."
"That is in English! The most elegant English ever! In fact, Shakespeare made up hundreds of words that we use everyday such as: alligator, bump, employer, and spring. The quote you just heard was from his best play 'Hamlet'.
"Lily! We really don't need a history lesson. Just get to the translation."
"Well, to be quite blunt, it means: I can tell you're lying. It's written on your faces and you're not smart enough to cver it up from me."
Ashley and Kristy sighed in unison, knowing that she was right.
"Oh! I'm sorry guys...that was a little harsh..." Lily caught herself in the middle of humiliating her friends.
"No Lily, it's ok. We understand. We really didn't mean to eavesdrop. We were just...there."
"Yeah, we were just about to tell you about them staying, but you beat us to it. That's why we happened to be standing there."
"Oh, right. Sorry, I blew up. It's just that, I really like all of them, but they make me so mad! They can be so uncourtious and they don't even realize it! I want to make them feel how I've felt for the past month...completely and utterly invisible. I've been praying that they'd come to their senses because...I really do miss them...a lot." As she said this, her friends' faces lit up. Lily saw and snapped, "And don't you DARE tell them I said that!"
She could tell they were disappointed, but still, as good friends would, they promised, even though they knew that the boys also missed Lily as the flowers miss the sun at night.
"Kris? Ash? Could you do me a favor?"
"Sure!"
"Go downstairs and ask each of them why they are staying...and don't tell them I sent you!"
"Aye aye captain!" Kristy saluted Lily as the pair of them marched down the stairs, leaving Lily coincidently humming 'You Are My Sunshine'. She always sang it to brighten her spirits and it had become a daily ruitine ever since James, Sirius, and Remus hadn't been around to do the job and be the Lily Flower's sunshine.
Meanwhile:
"Hello boys!" Ashley greeted them cheerily.
"Hi," they all replied.
Kristy strained her neck to see what they were doing. "Planning tomorrow prank, eh? 'Bout time! You shenanigans have been mischief-free for quite some time now! Going for a record?"
"Oh shut up!"
"Geez! You don't have to get your panties in a bunch! We were just wondering why you all are staying for Christmas."
"Well, for one, Sirius' parents are Jewish." James clarified.
"Really? you never told me you were Jewish!"
"Maybe that's because I'm not."
"Huh?!"
"My family is! Not me."
Kristy was prepared to comment again when Ashley interrupted. "Ok...anyway, what about you two?"
"My family is visiting a long-lost relative in...Africa," Remus said.
"How is that person related to you?"
"Uh...great great grandma...?" He replied quickly and unconvincingly.
"And you?" Kristy pointed to James.
"I uh..." He stuttered.
"He's afraid of Santa Clause!" Sirius yelled.
The girls burst out laughing. "No, seriously! Why isn't he going home?"
James was about to protest when Remus covered his mouth ad shoved his head into the floor to shut him up. "He figures Santa can't come to Hogwarts since he isn't a wizard."
"Ok! That's all we wanted to know!" They went back upstairs and entered the dorm, positively cracking up.
"What's your guys' problem?" Lily said grumpily. "Was it James' face or Sirius' abnormally disfigured nose? Because looking at them always makes me laugh."
"No, nevermind."
"So..." Lily waited impatiently. "Did they tell you?"
"Well, yes and no."
"What are you talking about?"
"They answered why, but they gave us totally ridiculous answers." Ashley explained.
"Sirius' family is Jewish, Remus' family is in Africa, and...and James is..." Kristy started laughing again. "James is agraid of 'Ol St. Nick! Or...so they say."
"HA! I knew it!" Lily exclaimed. "I guarantee that they are staying just to pester me. Oh well. They'll get no more of my attention than what they have already been given...ZIPPO! End of story."
"Whatever Lily."
"Yes, they're probably lying to us about why they're staying, but I think you are taking this too far. Try to make up with them. Maybe just for Christmas. This is a holiday for cheer and friends, and they always used to make you so happy. Plus, you said it yourself. You miss them..." Kristy went to her four-poster. "I'm going to bed. I'll wake you all up in the morning when it's time for us to leave. And Lily?"
"Mmm?"
"Think about what I said."