Chapter 18: Good-looking Prats
"Lily, you look terrible. Couldn't sleep last night?" Alice asked in Charms class as they practiced Switching spells on different objects in the classroom. Students were milling about as the teacher weaved through them all, correcting their movements and pronunciations. Before Lily could answer her, Alice looked up instinctively and quickly dodged a flying pillow that sailed near her head and landed behind them. A second later, James Potter sprinted by them and leapt over a chair, positioning himself right behind a scowling Lily.
"Potter! I'll get you! You can't hide behind your fair maiden forever!" Sirius Black yelled from the other side of the room as stopped himself from launching another item at James. Lily gave an annoyed sniff and pushed James away from her.
"Aha! Where are ya gonna run now, huh?!" cried Sirius, levitating a heavy Charms book in front of himself. He looked like he was about to shoot it straight towards James, who was right beside Lily and Alice now; Lily could feel Alice tense up beside her.
"James Potter and Sirius Black! Five points from Gryffindor for not being serious in a NEWT class!" cried Professor Flitwick in his high, squeeky voice. James and Sirius let out small groans (they were probably fake groans, Lily thought) but they knew better than to protest.
"Aww. I'll get you next time, Prongs," Sirius said, attempting to frown but failing as a grin spread across his face. Several girls nearby giggled and Sirius turned to wink at them. He levitated the Charms book back to its proper location at the bookshelf and slid it inside neatly.
"That's what you think," retorted James as he summoned the stray pillow back to its box, but not before making it collide with Sirius's head on the way there.
Lily gave a disgusted sigh in response. "Don't you ever stop?" she asked them, shaking her head and frowning.
Sirius and James stopped in mid-step and looked at eachother.
"No."
Lily rolled her eyes. They were so childish. Her thoughts once again strayed back to what Dumbledore must have been thinking when he chose James Potter as Head Boy. Obviously, the headmaster had had one to many butterbeers that night. Hmm, she thought, that's assuming he actually drinks butterbeer.
"Hey do you think Dumbledore drinks butterbeer?" she asked Alice abruptly, feeling very stupid a second later when she saw the surprised faces of James and Sirius staring at her. She hadn't expected them to hear her.
"Just something I was wondering..." she explained, feeling her cheeks get very red as Alice began to mumble out an "I don't know." Lily laughed nervously and tried her switching spell again, her wrist making sloppy swishes as she cast her first imperfect Charms spell. Sirius stared at her with one eyebrow raised; he shot a this-girl-is-a-nutcase glance at James, but James recovered quickly and smiled.
"Actually, I happen to know that he does. We've seen him." He nodded towards Sirius and Remus, who had just come up behind them. Remus frowned at the scene, he was sure there was going to be some sort of explosion. Evans and Potter too near eachother for too long never ended well.
To his surprise, Lily simply managed out a small "oh" and then bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything else. She tried very hard to keep any wayward words or sentences inside her mouth, but in a couple seconds her temper won.
"Well then he must have been very drunk when he made you Head Boy," she burst out angrily but quietly. Next to her, Alice gave a little snort and Lily saw her friend shake her head. Ah, why can't you just keep your mouth closed, Lily, she thought. You're just as bad as Sirius. She gave another sigh.
"Go away," she said tiredly. It's enough that you kept me up last night for no reason, thinking there would be some idiotic meeting, she thought. To her surprise, they turned and walked to the other side of the classroom and resumed talking and practicing spells on objects.
"Lily..." Alice began.
"Yeah, I know. I know," Lily interrupted, "sometimes I just can't help it."
Alice gave a little laugh. "I'm beginning to think that you like fighting with him," she said, eyeing James across the room and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Alice!" Lily admonished, following her gaze. She pursed her lips and watched as James flicked his wrist, a little too rapidly she noticed, and cast a decent magnifying spell. Okay, it was quite good, but not as good as hers. He then laughed, showing his perfect set of white teeth and then ran a hand through his thick hair, making it stand up a bit on the side. He gave a little bow, his tall and probably lean body bending gracefully with the ease of a Quidditch player. Suddenly, he straightened and turned to look at Lily, not acting surprised to see her staring at him. He smiled and winked at her.
Lily shuddered and quickly turned her head towards Alice, who was watching her with a knowing little smirk on her face. "Admit it, Lily, he's good looking," she said nodding, her eyebrows raised.
"N-No... Well... Ugh! But he's such a prat!" Lily said, trying to cover up her flustered mumbling. She shot another glance at James, who looked like he was about to shoot a pillow at the back of Remus's head, but then he noticed Lily was watching him again and dropped the flying object to the floor. Lily frowned and turned to Alice inquisitively.
"Yeah. Too bad, eh?" said Alice, who had turned around and had not seen James. Lily stared at the back of her friend's head, her long, brown, wispy hair floating about her Hogwarts robe as she moved about.
"Yeah..." Lily sighed for the third time that class. She hoped the world outside of Hogwarts would offer much more than the good-looking prats that her school did.
"Lily, you look terrible. Couldn't sleep last night?" Alice asked in Charms class as they practiced Switching spells on different objects in the classroom. Students were milling about as the teacher weaved through them all, correcting their movements and pronunciations. Before Lily could answer her, Alice looked up instinctively and quickly dodged a flying pillow that sailed near her head and landed behind them. A second later, James Potter sprinted by them and leapt over a chair, positioning himself right behind a scowling Lily.
"Potter! I'll get you! You can't hide behind your fair maiden forever!" Sirius Black yelled from the other side of the room as stopped himself from launching another item at James. Lily gave an annoyed sniff and pushed James away from her.
"Aha! Where are ya gonna run now, huh?!" cried Sirius, levitating a heavy Charms book in front of himself. He looked like he was about to shoot it straight towards James, who was right beside Lily and Alice now; Lily could feel Alice tense up beside her.
"James Potter and Sirius Black! Five points from Gryffindor for not being serious in a NEWT class!" cried Professor Flitwick in his high, squeeky voice. James and Sirius let out small groans (they were probably fake groans, Lily thought) but they knew better than to protest.
"Aww. I'll get you next time, Prongs," Sirius said, attempting to frown but failing as a grin spread across his face. Several girls nearby giggled and Sirius turned to wink at them. He levitated the Charms book back to its proper location at the bookshelf and slid it inside neatly.
"That's what you think," retorted James as he summoned the stray pillow back to its box, but not before making it collide with Sirius's head on the way there.
Lily gave a disgusted sigh in response. "Don't you ever stop?" she asked them, shaking her head and frowning.
Sirius and James stopped in mid-step and looked at eachother.
"No."
Lily rolled her eyes. They were so childish. Her thoughts once again strayed back to what Dumbledore must have been thinking when he chose James Potter as Head Boy. Obviously, the headmaster had had one to many butterbeers that night. Hmm, she thought, that's assuming he actually drinks butterbeer.
"Hey do you think Dumbledore drinks butterbeer?" she asked Alice abruptly, feeling very stupid a second later when she saw the surprised faces of James and Sirius staring at her. She hadn't expected them to hear her.
"Just something I was wondering..." she explained, feeling her cheeks get very red as Alice began to mumble out an "I don't know." Lily laughed nervously and tried her switching spell again, her wrist making sloppy swishes as she cast her first imperfect Charms spell. Sirius stared at her with one eyebrow raised; he shot a this-girl-is-a-nutcase glance at James, but James recovered quickly and smiled.
"Actually, I happen to know that he does. We've seen him." He nodded towards Sirius and Remus, who had just come up behind them. Remus frowned at the scene, he was sure there was going to be some sort of explosion. Evans and Potter too near eachother for too long never ended well.
To his surprise, Lily simply managed out a small "oh" and then bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything else. She tried very hard to keep any wayward words or sentences inside her mouth, but in a couple seconds her temper won.
"Well then he must have been very drunk when he made you Head Boy," she burst out angrily but quietly. Next to her, Alice gave a little snort and Lily saw her friend shake her head. Ah, why can't you just keep your mouth closed, Lily, she thought. You're just as bad as Sirius. She gave another sigh.
"Go away," she said tiredly. It's enough that you kept me up last night for no reason, thinking there would be some idiotic meeting, she thought. To her surprise, they turned and walked to the other side of the classroom and resumed talking and practicing spells on objects.
"Lily..." Alice began.
"Yeah, I know. I know," Lily interrupted, "sometimes I just can't help it."
Alice gave a little laugh. "I'm beginning to think that you like fighting with him," she said, eyeing James across the room and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Alice!" Lily admonished, following her gaze. She pursed her lips and watched as James flicked his wrist, a little too rapidly she noticed, and cast a decent magnifying spell. Okay, it was quite good, but not as good as hers. He then laughed, showing his perfect set of white teeth and then ran a hand through his thick hair, making it stand up a bit on the side. He gave a little bow, his tall and probably lean body bending gracefully with the ease of a Quidditch player. Suddenly, he straightened and turned to look at Lily, not acting surprised to see her staring at him. He smiled and winked at her.
Lily shuddered and quickly turned her head towards Alice, who was watching her with a knowing little smirk on her face. "Admit it, Lily, he's good looking," she said nodding, her eyebrows raised.
"N-No... Well... Ugh! But he's such a prat!" Lily said, trying to cover up her flustered mumbling. She shot another glance at James, who looked like he was about to shoot a pillow at the back of Remus's head, but then he noticed Lily was watching him again and dropped the flying object to the floor. Lily frowned and turned to Alice inquisitively.
"Yeah. Too bad, eh?" said Alice, who had turned around and had not seen James. Lily stared at the back of her friend's head, her long, brown, wispy hair floating about her Hogwarts robe as she moved about.
"Yeah..." Lily sighed for the third time that class. She hoped the world outside of Hogwarts would offer much more than the good-looking prats that her school did.