Chapter 20

When it Comes Time to Leave...

The next day was Friday, Lily did her best to avoid her friends, it was somehow akward

now. They were only 15, why had they assumed that she would be having sex, it's not like she

had ever said that she was. She could not believe that they had believed those nasty rumors!

She tried not to think about it, she just went on with her usual routine until the end of the day.

She would not be with her friends for another two weeks. Holly was staying at Hogwarts, and

was excited for the dance, she teased Lily by saying that she hoped Nicky would be there so

they could dance together. Alice was going home, as was Caroline, with Ben, but Janette was

staying at Hogarts as well. She even had a date. Some guy none of the girls had met, she said,

his name was Freddy, he was a Ravenclaw and apparently also a feminist.

That night Lily packed her trunk and went to bed early. The next morning she woke up to

the sight of snow outside. There was a major draft and Lily wrapped a robe around her, putting

her slippers on to protect her feet from the cold floor. She left notes for all of the girls promising

to write and apologizing for over reacting. She double checked that she had everything she

needed. She had packed a few outfits, sweaters, all the necessary books and none of her

makeup. She slipped downstairs without waking anyone up and went to the great hall for

breakfast. The decorations were still up, there were christmas trees everywhere, trees that had

remarkably stayed fresh for several days. The streamers were already up in anticipation of the

upcoming christmas ball. The silver bells and mistletoe were hanging everywhere. Lily loved

christmas, it was her favorite holiday. She inhaled deeply, smelling the fresh, pine, christmasy

smell. There was only one other person at the Gryffindor table, it was Nicky. He was staring

down into a mug of cofee. He ran his hand through his hair, scratching the back of his neck and

yawning. The fire made the great hall warmer than the corridors, but it was still cold. Lily

shivered, making her way over to Nicky. She sat down, also yawning, glancing at her broken

watch. She pulled Nicky's arm towards her and felt his wrist for a watch. She pulled back his

sleeve and saw that it was only 5:15. No wonder there was no one here. He looked up from his

cofee. "Good morning."

"Umm.." She yawned, pulling a tray of eggs towards her.

"Why are you up so early?"

"Getting ready to leave. Can't wait to get home. Presents. You?"

"Couldn't sleep. Tired. Need cafine." He took a sip of his cofee and looked at her again.

"Are you going home for christmas?"

"I live in America. It would be a big hassle for nothing. I'm staying."

"Oh." Lily did not know what ele to say and turned back to her eggs.

"Did you bring your trunk down yet? What time does the train leave?"

"9:00. I didn't bring it, didn't want to wake people. Too heavy."

"I'll help you after breakfast."

"I'm good. I can get it. Just need to wake up." They passed a few minutes in silence, just

eating. As he was standing up, Lily said to Nicky, "maybe I will take that help, I'll bring it down

to the common room when I get back to the dorm."

"Alright." They were both more awake now, and so were several other people. It was now

close to 6:00, and people were starting to trickle into the dining hall. It would be abnormal for

people to wake up this early on a Saturday, except that a lot of people were going home for the

holidays. As they were walking out into the hall together, Lily pointed to the ceiling, "it's

mistletoe."

"Oh," Nicky started blushing, also glancing up, and then throwing a look at Lily. Lily moved

towards Lily, placing her lips on his. Several people walking in to the hall looked at them,

whispering to their friends. Lily pulled away and turned, also blushing. She walked up the stairs,

followed by curious glances, whispers, and Nicky. When they reached the common room she

motioned for him to wait for her while she ran upstairs. She grabbed her trunk and lugged it

down the stairs. When she reached the stairs leading down she found a slide, she put her trunk

onto the slide and pushed it, sliding down afterwards to a waiting Nicky.

"What happened?" Lily laughed, leaping gracefully onto the floor.

"Lily, Lily, do you need help?" It was James, he leapt up from his chair when he saw her.

"Not from you, thanks anyway though."

"Tough luck mate, well you did your best. Now get over her." Sirius shoved him, but all he

got out of James was a pillow thrown to his face. "What?!?! I'm just saying, give it up."

"Actually, I'm helping already. Thanks for the offer anyway." Nicky said cooly from the wall

next to the stairs. "I tried to go up the stairs to help, but uh...I was stopped." He sure did blush a

lot, it was kind of cute when his face went all pink like that around the edges. The two walked

out of the portrait hole together and down the corridor towards the entrance hall. Argus Filtch

would be waiting there for luggage. You were to check your name with him on a master list, give

him your luggage, and then you werre free until 9:00 that morning. It was already half past six.

"So. You gonna explain what that was?"

"What?"

"Why don't you like James Potter, you were awfully cool towards him, he was only offering

to help."

"I just don't like him."

"You two were pretty tight not so long ago."

"Yeah, well, now we aren't."

"Okay then."

"Well, you weren't exactly all sweetness to him either you know. You shot him down

yourself."

"It wasn't me he wanted. Besides, I was following your lead."

"Well, fine then. I don't like him okay? End of discussion."

"Fine." They didn't talk for several moments. The reached the staircase and started down it.

"Well, what's this? Brining all of Hogwarts out with you Ms. Evans?"

"No."

"Well, you have a big enough trunk for it...how many is this, are thosoe yours aswell?" Filtch

pointed to Nicky.

"Yup." Mrs. Norris twisted herself around Lily's legs, looking up at her and purring.

"Is that all?" He asked sarcastically, as if she were taking a moving truck with her out of the

castle. Honestly, all she had was a purse, her trunk, and a little bag of books and such for her to

read on the train. He was totally overreacting.

"Yup."

"Well, alright then. I have your name checked off, you're free to go, but if you go outside

make sure that you don't track water all through the castle. It's been nothing but muck and

wetness for weeks, these kids have no respect for my work, think that the dirt and grime cleans

itself do they? I'll give them a lesson the won't forget. If only Dumbedore would let me use the

chains, I keep the whips well oiled as well." The two children left, giggling.

"Let's go outside, I challange you to a snowball fight."

"You're on, prepare to die." Lily ran out of the front doors laughing. She waved her wand,

conjuring gloves and a magic fire inside of a jam jar. She summoned a clump of snow, molding it

into a ball. As Nicky crept up behind her she smiled, turning and throwing the ball. It was not

Nicky however, it was Professor Grumbleguts, as the students had nicknamed him. His real

name was professor Gondlegots, but it was so rarely used that practically everyone had

forgotten it. He was one of the meanest, crankiest teachers at the school, and had a terrible

reputation of giving detentions for anything, up to and including smiling, banging on the desks too

hard, or getting friday essays in late. He was supposedly a good teacher, although he was not

very popular, and his tests were said to be impossible.

Even students who came from muggle families failed his muggle studies tests, and he was a

very severe grader. He was deffinately not someone to cross, he took points off for spelling

words wrong and misusing commas. He looked shocked as he was hit in the face with a

snowball. A moment later he was hit on the side with a ball from Nicky. He stood there looking

at the two miscreants.

"This behavior is totally inappropriate, for one thing you are dressed improperly for this

weather, look at me, I'm wearing layers, that's how you should dress. Secondly, a person should

be able to take their cat out for a walk without getting attacked, you don't value what you have

at all, you just run around, rushing through life. This is not a playground, this is a learning facility.

You need to slow down, you'll hurt someone, didn't your mother ever tell you that? You two

both have detention with me after break. You need to learn your lessons." As he wadled away

Nicky and Lily exchanged looks. By the time he was out of earshot they were both rolling on the

ground to constrain their laughter.

They both burst out laughing at the same time. Lily stood up, still laughing and threw a

snowball at Nicky, still on the ground. He threw one back and they broke into a furous

snowball fight, lasting until their hands were so cold that they couldn't form another snowball.

They collapsed onto the ground. Lily rolled over next to him, procuring the fire in the jam jar.

She wrapped her hands around the jar, with Nicky's hands covering hers. He had large hands,

and they helped her hands warm up faster. Lily started to stand, but Nicky pulled her back

down, he kissed her again. She was falling into the snow now, with his body on top of hers. She

kissed him back, and they lay there for several minutes while it started to snow. They thought

that they were alone, but a face from an upstairs window caught every movement.