Disclaimer: I only own the plot!
A/N: Hullo again! Sorry!! I've re-written this chapter over and over.....sorry for the wait! Actually, I was reading my previous chapters and they totally SUCK!!! I want to improve so badly now....my only horrible excuse is that it's my first fanfic.
On to the story:
Chapter 17: Lily's Vision
"Settle down, settle down," Professor McGonagall called. It was a Friday afternoon. James and Remus were finally let out of the Hospital wing. The 7th year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw's only wanted to talk.
"I have more information regarding the upcoming Halloween Ball," everyone snapped to attention at the mention of the ball, "The ball will begin at 8 o'clock in the evening, next Saturday on Halloween. I would like to remind you that it is a masquerade ball, wear costumes to disguise yourself. At midnight the masks will come off and you can know the identity of your dancing partner. To celebrate Halloween, our Prefects have had the idea to hold various events throughout the day. The activity sheet will be posted in your common rooms; sign up if you want participate. You may be dismissed."
"What kind of costume are you gonna wear?" Morgan asked as the three girls left the classroom.
"No idea" Jeannie explained.
"Same for me," Lily said, "so does this mean that I don't have to get a date for the ball?"
"I guess you could," Morgan thought aloud, "But it wouldn't be any fun!"
"Why?" Jeannie asked.
"Well, it's fun to not know who everyone is. When nobody knows your identity, it's like you're free, you can do anything you want. You can dance with anybody you want and not have to worry about someone else getting jealous," Morgan pointed out.
"Fair point," Lily said, "So we go dateless?"
"I am!" Morgan said.
"I guess I will too then," Jeannie replied.
The three of them walked up to Gryffindor Tower chatting and gossiping. This was perfect. All of the girls wanted to avoid the boys in some sort of way. Jeannie was awkwardly avoiding the kiss with Remus, Morgan was pissed at Sirius because she thinks that he set off the werewolf and Lily was avoiding having to talk to James about knowing his secret.
"Godric Gryffidor," Lily stated the Gryffindor password clearly at the Fat Lady. The portrait swung open, they all walked inside and sat down in their usual place by the fire. Morgan picked up her new Witch Weekly magazine that arrived this morning, Jeannie started on her Charms homework and Lily took out her newest novel. The common room was quiet and deserted, except for 3 first years playing wizarding chess.
"Oh! I have to go!" Morgan said, checking her watch.
"Where? It's the weekend, we have no plans!" Jeannie said curiously.
"Ummm...Remedial Potions?" Morgan suggested. Jeannie and Lily exchanged looks, but Morgan didn't wait for her approval because she was out of the door.
"Remedial Potions?" Lily repeated.
"What's up with her? Since when was Morgan failing Potions?" Jeannie wondered aloud, but gave it no more thought and continued her homework. They spent their night by the fire, reading and occasionally chatting. Jeannie busied herself by trying to finish more homework. Lily fluttered her eyes shut; her book was getting boring and she was so tired. Maybe staying up late last night wasn't the best idea, Lily thought to herself.
Lily was running in a forest, again. She was afraid. She had the urge to find James, no not urge. Lily HAD to find James. It was important.
"James?! This isn't funny anymore! Come out, right now! James?" Lily heard herself saying. There were cries in the distance. Lily whipped her head around and sprinted in the opposite direction. She came across a clearing. James was lying there motionless; blood was trickling down his forehead. James' glasses had fallen off his face but his eyes were open, the pupils were rolling back into his head.
"James?!" Lily whispered in fear. Out of nowhere, a hooded figure appeared, hunching over James' motionless body. The hooded figure raised his wand, pointed it at James' chest and mumbled something. James screamed in pain.
There was a flash of green light.
James was dead.
Lily screamed, there was another flash of green light. Lily shut her eyes tight. There was an eerie silence.
"LILY!! Lily wake up!!" Lily was shaken awake by none other than James. Jeannie, Morgan, Remus and Sirius were all standing around Lily. Lily wasn't sitting on the comfy armchair, but on the cold hard floor. Her stomach churned unpleasantly, she rolled over on her side and threw up into the fire and extinguishing the flames. She turned to face the group and spotted James kneeling beside her.
"You're not dead," Lily murmured as touched James' cheek.
"What? What are you talking about? Of course not!" James stammered.
"Lily, are you okay? You fell asleep, you must have had nightmare, because you were screaming James' name," Jeannie said rushing down by Lily's side.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Lily said. She tried to get to her feet, but was unsuccessful. She tried to stand but fell, and James caught her.
"You're not fine. You're not in a right state. Come on let's get you to your room," James said, picking up Lily and started to carry her up the stairs to the Girl's dorm.
"Thank you," She muttered. She was weak, James was right. Lily shut her eyes. James placed her down softly on her bed. James took a blanket off her floor and wrapped Lily in it, he knelt down a kissed her softly on the forehead. If Lily was in a right state, she would have slapped James away, but she wasn't. She smiled silently to her self as James said goodnight.
Lily kicked herself mentally for liking the fact that James' was being sweet to her. Yet she was so tired, Lily spent half of the rest of her night debating her feelings. She concluded that she had only liked the kiss because she wasn't herself; she blamed it on the dream that she keeps having. She had let her guard down; she couldn't let that happen again. She was supposed to hate James, hate him with a passion.
The next week flew by quickly. Nobody mentioned Lily's nightmare reaction again, except James. He asked her if she was feeling better and she replied bitterly, "Why wouldn't I be?" Other than that one meeting, Lily tried to avoid James.
Morgan was acting strangely. She was humming under her breath, meeting with other girls in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and constantly tapping her foot and drumming her fingers on her desk. There was a reason for Morgan acting so oddly. Lily found her answer when Jeannie's shrieks were coming from the common room. Lily ran down to investigate.
"Jeannie? Is everything alright?" Lily asked, running down the stairs.
"Look at this?" Jeannie managed to say, pointing and the notice board. Lily ran over to her side and looked at the notes. All she read was about the upcoming Hogsmead weekends and how some kid lost his Charms textbook.
"I don't see anything important," said a clueless Lily.
"No...Look!" Jeannie said pointing to the 'Halloween Events Sign-up Sheet'. Lily scanned the page. She found her answer at the bottom of the page.
...TALENT CONTEST
--Jeffery Webber (Poetry reading)
--Sirius Black (Comedy act)
--Danielle Anderson (Dancing)
--Morgan Fairchild (Performing with musical band)...
"So this is what Morgan has been doing at Remedial Potions," Lily joked.
"I didn't know she could sing!!" Jeannie exclaimed.
"Did you know that everyone can sing? It just depends on whether or not they sing well!" Lily said cheerfully, maybe she had too much sugar today.
"Whatever," Jeannie said, dismissing Lily's comment, "I have to talk to Morgan! I want to hear her sing!!"
Jeannie didn't wait for Lily's answer; she dragged her out of the common room. She started to wander around the school.
"Do you even know where she is?" Lily asked, annoyed that she was being dragged on an endless goose chase.
"No idea, let's check the Library," Jeannie said, and sprinted up the staircase.
They found Morgan talking quietly with a group of girls in the corner of the Library. Jeannie, being more mischievous than Lily had ever seen her, snuck behind one of the bookcases and listened intently to Morgan's conversation.
"--So, I signed us up for the talent contest," Morgan said.
"All we have to do is pick our song," A Ravenclaw girl with a really short black haircut said, Lily was pretty sure her name was Sarah Knight.
"We have three good songs that are ready for performance," A 6th year girl with curly blonde hair said, checking a list on her parchment.
"Which ones are they?" Morgan asked.
"Ummm....." The girl with blonde hair checked her list, "We could perform--"
A couple books fell from the shelf in front of the group. Jeannie's face appeared among the books. The girls stared at Jeannie, Jeannie gave a nervous laugh.
"Have you been spying on us?" A girl with silvery shoulder length hair asked.
"Ummm...No!! I was just looking from a book," Jeannie said, and picked up a random book from the shelf, "See?"
"Riiight," a girl said sarcastically, who had dark brown hair and bright brown eyes.
"Okay....I'm Jeannie! What's your name?" Jeannie asked the group of girls, trying to act kind, but had a hint of jealously in her tone.
"Hi, my name is Sarah Knight, from Ravenclaw," the girl with the black bob said, Lily was right.
"Liberty Adams," Said the girl with curly blonde hair and shaking Jeannie's hand.
"Hullo, I'm Isabelle Smith," the girl with silvery hair replied.
"And I'm Courtney Thompson," Said the girl with dark brown hair.
"So how did you guys meet Morgan?" Jeannie inquired.
"Excuse me for a moment," Morgan said, leaving the group of girls and rushing behind the shelf where Jeannie was hiding and Lily was mildly interested, standing off to the side.
"Why were you spying on me?" Morgan said in a harsh whisper.
"We wanted to find a book," Jeannie lied.
"Jeannie!! Stop lying! What do you guys want to know so badly?" Morgan asked, staring at Lily and Jeannie.
"Actually, Jeannie dragged me down her. We was wondering why you signed up for the talent contest, we didn't know you could sing!" Lily said truthfully.
"It's a long story really," Morgan tried to explain, "It began at Christmas of last year. I was sing Christmas carols on night, and we all bumped into each other, like fate. It was kind of a 'spur of the moment' idea. Our idea began to develop, and we formed a band."
"That's awesome, Morgs! Can we hear you sing?" Jeannie said eagerly.
"No way! It's a surprise!" Morgan said, "Now if you will excuse me, I have to practice."
"Satisfied?" Lily asked Jeannie, who nodded her head.
The next week went by pretty fast. You could tell Morgan was getting nervous, she was snapping at everyone who was talking to her, she was pacing in her room every night and skipped meals saying that she was feeling sick. She would get her band to come at all times to talk or to practice.
On Saturday, Halloween, Lily, Jeannie and Morgan woke up early. They were all glad that they didn't have to change into their robes. Lily quickly dressed herself in a cream colored sweater with form fitting Jeans. She gathered her hair back into a messy ponytail and applied a bit of makeup.
"Okay, I'm ready," Lily called to her friends.
"I'm almost ready," Jeannie said, buttoning up zipping up a white sweater over a pink shirt and a jean skirt, "Done!"
"Morgan, are you sure you don't want to walk with us?" Lily asked Morgan, who was attempting to apply mascara with a shaky hand.
"I'm fine; I have to meet the band in a half hour anyways. Go ahead without me," Morgan said, waving them goodbye.
"Alright, we'll see you later," Jeannie said. Lily and Jeannie left Gryffindor Tower and made their way on the grounds. The grounds were transformed over night. There was a huge Ferris wheel, different game stands, a large stage and students walking by while eating different treats.
"I had no idea this was going to be like a carnival!" Lily exclaimed gleefully.
"This is amazing! What do you wanna do first?" Jeannie asked. "A few rounds of games?" Lily suggested.
"Sure!" Jeannie said. They ran up to the nearest game both and started to compete against each other, to see who could get a ball into different sizes of hoops. Jeannie threw her ball into the smallest green hoop.
"I win!" She exclaimed gleefully as the man handed her a stuffed teddy bear.
"Best out of 3?" Lily asked.
"You're on," Jeannie betted. Lily was about to throw her ball when she heard her name.
"Hey Lily!"
"Hullo Potter..." Lily said glumly, she didn't want her day to be ruined by Potter.
"Mind if I win you a prize?" James asked, leaning on the counter.
"No, that's okay, I think I can manage," Lily said bitterly, grasping the ball tighter in her hand.
"Where are Sirius and Remus?" Jeannie inquired.
"Sirius is practicing for the Talent show, while Remus is resting in the common room, He's sick again," James said, giving a meaningful look to Lily. Lily knew what that meant; it was the full moon last night. A jolt dropped in Lily's stomach as she reminded herself that she needed to talk to Potter about how she knew his secret.
"So you're all by yourself?" Jeannie asked James nodded his head, "Care to spend the day with us?"
"Jeannie," Lily hissed, the last thing Lily wanted was to spend her day with Potter.
"I would love to," James said, ignoring Lily. Lily turned her back to Potter and faced Jeannie. Lily sighed, clenching her jaw.
"It's your turn," Lily said, passing the ball to Jeannie.
"Mr. Potter! Ms. Evans, a word if you please," It was Professor McGonagall. She was gliding down the rows of stands and heading towards them.
"Yes, Professor," Lily asked, glad for the interruption.
"I completely forgot! As Head Boy and Girl, you are required to judge the Talent Contest along with the Headmaster and Heads of Houses. Please report to the stage at noon. Sorry for the interruption, you may continue. Good day," Professor McGonagall briskly stated.
"Good day, Professor," They all said in unison. The rest of the morning was spent with James hitting on Lily and Lily feeling as uncomfortably as ever. Jeannie was 'oblivious' to the happenings going on around her and just kept winning stuffed bears. Jeannie finally was carrying so many that she left James and Lily to drop them of in her room. Once Jeannie was out of sight, Lily turned on her heel and walked away from James.
"Where are you going?" James asked Lily.
"Away from you!" Lily said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I don't get it?"
"What don't you get, Potter?" Lily said, annoyed.
"Why don't you like me Lily? All I ever to is try, I try to be more nice, I try to be more mature and I try to be perfect. What's your problem? I want to know, Lily! What's wrong with me?" James said, angrily, grabbing Lily's wrist and spinning her around to face him. He tried to meet her gaze, but Lily only stared at the ground.
"Do you really want me to tell you?"
"Yes," James gulped.
"I hate you, I'm sick of you. I hate how you think you're all that, I hate how you think you're the best at everything and I hate how you think you can get any girl. Once you deflate you head, you'll understand that you're NOT all that, that you're NOT the best at everything and that you CAN'T get every girl. I hate it," Lily screamed, now looking in his eyes, "The only reason you like me is because you can't have me and you NEVER will! So do me a favor and fuck off Potter, because I'm sick of seeing your face!"
James' mouth dropped as Lily walked away from him. He was flabbergasted; he didn't know how to respond to this. Lily was right. James wanted what he couldn't have, he wanted Lily. He started to wander around the students, now noticing all the girls giggling and blushing in his direction. He truthfully never noticed them, not when he had Lily on his mind. James found himself standing in the lineup to get onto the Ferris wheel. The operator of the ride was stressful; he was filling up the seats, not caring if he split friends up. James found himself being guided into a seat beside a certain red-headed girl whose head was in her hands.
"Hullo again," James said, Lily looked up. "Perfect," Lily responded, she tried to leave her seat on the ride, but the balding operator pushed the bar across their stomachs so they couldn't move, then the wheel started to turn and they were raised into the air.
"Don't talk to me," Lily fumed, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Fine," James muttered grumpily and started to tap his fingers across the bars.
"Why do you have to do that?" Lily said, sounding annoyed.
"Do what?" James asked, purposely angering her.
"'Do what?'" Lily mimicked, "Stop tapping your fingers, it's giving me a headache."
"Is Mister Potter bothering Princess Lily?" James asked smirking, not stopping tapping his fingers.
"Shut up, don't call me that," Lily said, trying to turn her body away from him as the Ferris wheel made it's third spin around. James ignored her and continued to tap his fingers on the bar.
"Stop that!!!" Lily screamed and grabbing James' hand in attempt to stop him. He did stop, he just stared at her.
"What?" Lily asked, still holding his hand.
"You're touching Mister Potter," James said playfully.
"Don't get any ideas," Lily said though clenched teeth and dropped James' hand as if it was contagious. The ride came to an end in silence. The operator opened the bar to let them out. Lily immediately walked in the opposite direction of James.
"Lily, wait!" James called after her.
"What do you want this time, Potter? Come to annoy me again?" She asked coldly.
"No, I just wanted to tell you that its 12 o'clock, we have to go judge the talent contest," James informed her, showing Lily his watch.
"Fine," Lily said and headed towards the stage with James following closely behind.
"Just on time," Professor McGonagall greeted them, "right this way."
They followed her onto a platform beside the stage. Professor Dumbledore, Professor Bernhardt (Head of Ravenclaw), Professor Rohan (Head of Hufflepuff) and Professor Bode (Head of Slytherin) were already sitting at the table.
"You will sit here. After each of the performances, you will reward the participants a certain amount of points, using these differently numbered cards," Professor McGonagall explained, pointing to the large numbered cards that were stacked in front of each of the judges, "The contest is about to begin, so take your seats!"
Lily was disappointed to find that she had to sit next to Potter and was at the end of the table, so she couldn't strike up a conversation to ignore him. The crowd of students thickened as the time for the contest grew closer. Finally, at 12:30, Professor Dumbledore stood up to make a speech.
"Welcome students! Welcome to the first ever Hogwarts Talent Contest. We are happy to introduce our first contestant, Jeffery Webber. He will be sharing his poetry."
There was a polite round of applause as Dumbledore sat down and Jeffery Webber took the stage. Jeffery, a 3rd year, had odd poems to share, but his voice didn't quaver at all. At the end of his performance, there was uncertainty and few clapping. Lily rated him a '6'. Following Jeffery, there was a dancer, flamethrower, ballerina, piano player, solo singer, but nothing really mind-blowing or amazing. But then Sirius came on stage to give his comedy act. Sirius was really quite funny, Lily noted. Everybody laughed and ended up rolling on the floor, Lily had almost peed herself at one joke targeted towards the Slytherins. Lily awarded him a '9', while James awarded him a '10' and the teachers an '8'.
"Thank you, thank you," Sirius said, bowing to his audience and leaving the stage.
"Up next is an enlightening new band, which currently has no name," Professor Dumbledore said cheerfully and sitting back down.
Morgan, Sarah Knight, Liberty Adams, Isabelle Smith and Courtney Thompson walked on stage. Sarah sat in front of the drum set, Isabelle on the keyboard, Liberty on the bass, Courtney on the guitar and Morgan stood in front of the magical microphone.
The music began. Isabelle played a few cords on the keyboard, and then Courtney on the bass joined in. It was a sweet sounding song; Morgan flashed a playful smile and started to sing.
"I wonder how I ever made it though a day,
How did I settle for a world in shades of gray?
When you go in circles, all the scenery looks the same,
And you don't know why,
And I looked into your eyes,
Where the road stretched out in front of me and I realized,
Lily was shocked. She never knew Morgan could sing! Why would she keep this from us? Morgan sang softly, then guitar and drums exploded, and Morgan sang louder.
"I never lived before your love,
I never felt before your touch,
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive,
But then again, how was it really living?
I never lived before your love."
Morgan belted out the high notes. James looked over his shoulder at Lily. He wanted her so bad, why was this so hard? Why couldn't she give him a chance? He wanted to give her everything.
"I wanted more than just an ordinary life,
All of my dreams seemed like castles in the sky,
I stand before you and my heart is in you hands,
And I don't know how I survived without your kiss,
Cause your giving me a reason to exist."
Out of the corner of Lily's eyes, she could see James staring at her. She blushed and James turned away. What is wrong with me? Why have I changed so much? I'm supposed to be....what am I supposed to be? I'm not supposed to be acting like a dimwit of a girl who thinks James is God!
"And I don't know why the sun decides to shine,
But you breathed your love into me just in time,"
Morgan sang the end of the song.
"I never lived before you love,
I never felt before your touch,
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive,
But then again, how was it really living?
I never lived, I never lived, I never lived before your love...."
A thunderous roar erupted from the crowd. It was amazing, the band was phenomenal. Lily grabbed the '10' cue-card and stood up on her seat. She was screaming as loud as possible, waving her card around in the air and jumping up and down on her chair. Eventually, Lily made her way to sit back down, but noticed James. James was looking up her skirt, and had a stupid smile on his face. Lily's face turned sour. She raised her card high into the air and brought it down, full force, smacking James on the top of his head. In result, the card broke into.
'Welcome back, Lily,' she thought to herself, satisfied as James rubbed his head.
There were two more performances after Morgan's band played. Both came nowhere close to good, they were abysmal. At the end, Professor McGonagall tallied up the points of each of the performances and handed the results to Dumbledore. He walked on staged and cleared his voice.
"Let's give another round of applause for the participants," Dumbledore said, there was more cheering as the participants walked on stage, "Everyone did a fantastic job, but I won't keep you waiting any longer. Here are the results: In third place, Danny Harden with his interesting display of fire breathing"
A 4th year Ravenclaw with dark brown hair walked up to receive a small medal. There was a fair amount of cheering, the boy smiled and waved to the crowd.
"In second place, Mister Black, for his hilarious display of comedy."
Sirius walked from the line of participants, grinning broadly. As Dumbledore awarded him a silver medal, Sirius gave a thumbs up to James who was cheering loudly.
"And first place goes to...drum roll please...Morgan Fairchild, Sarah Knight, Liberty Adams, Isabelle Smith and Courtney Thompson for their musical performance."
There was a thunderous applause that arose from the crowd. Each of the band members shook hands with Dumbledore, then was handed a large trophy. Lily ran off the platform to meet Morgan, who was running to meet Lily. The collided together with a hug.
"Congratulations Morgs!! You sang beautifully!" Lily exclaimed.
"Thanks, Lils! I can't believe it. I was so nervous; I didn't think anything would come out of my mouth. It all paid off in the end....." Morgan said, then squealing with delight. Jeannie came running up beside them.
"Morgan!! I never knew you had it in you!! I never knew you could sing, let alone sing like....like....that!! It was amazing!" Jeannie screamed, as the crowed all tried to congratulate the winners.
"Thanks Jeannie!! Let's get out of here!" Morgan suggested.
"I agree, let's start to get ready," Jeannie said.
"Okay," replied Lily. The three of them walked up to the castle.
A/N: I'm so sorry! That took forever, I know!! I just wasn't satisfied with it or was too lazy to write, so I made myself sit and type all day!! Sorry for the wait....REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW.......you get the idea!
PS-- The song is by Kelly Clarkson and is entitled: "Before Your Love"
A/N: Hullo again! Sorry!! I've re-written this chapter over and over.....sorry for the wait! Actually, I was reading my previous chapters and they totally SUCK!!! I want to improve so badly now....my only horrible excuse is that it's my first fanfic.
On to the story:
Chapter 17: Lily's Vision
"Settle down, settle down," Professor McGonagall called. It was a Friday afternoon. James and Remus were finally let out of the Hospital wing. The 7th year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw's only wanted to talk.
"I have more information regarding the upcoming Halloween Ball," everyone snapped to attention at the mention of the ball, "The ball will begin at 8 o'clock in the evening, next Saturday on Halloween. I would like to remind you that it is a masquerade ball, wear costumes to disguise yourself. At midnight the masks will come off and you can know the identity of your dancing partner. To celebrate Halloween, our Prefects have had the idea to hold various events throughout the day. The activity sheet will be posted in your common rooms; sign up if you want participate. You may be dismissed."
"What kind of costume are you gonna wear?" Morgan asked as the three girls left the classroom.
"No idea" Jeannie explained.
"Same for me," Lily said, "so does this mean that I don't have to get a date for the ball?"
"I guess you could," Morgan thought aloud, "But it wouldn't be any fun!"
"Why?" Jeannie asked.
"Well, it's fun to not know who everyone is. When nobody knows your identity, it's like you're free, you can do anything you want. You can dance with anybody you want and not have to worry about someone else getting jealous," Morgan pointed out.
"Fair point," Lily said, "So we go dateless?"
"I am!" Morgan said.
"I guess I will too then," Jeannie replied.
The three of them walked up to Gryffindor Tower chatting and gossiping. This was perfect. All of the girls wanted to avoid the boys in some sort of way. Jeannie was awkwardly avoiding the kiss with Remus, Morgan was pissed at Sirius because she thinks that he set off the werewolf and Lily was avoiding having to talk to James about knowing his secret.
"Godric Gryffidor," Lily stated the Gryffindor password clearly at the Fat Lady. The portrait swung open, they all walked inside and sat down in their usual place by the fire. Morgan picked up her new Witch Weekly magazine that arrived this morning, Jeannie started on her Charms homework and Lily took out her newest novel. The common room was quiet and deserted, except for 3 first years playing wizarding chess.
"Oh! I have to go!" Morgan said, checking her watch.
"Where? It's the weekend, we have no plans!" Jeannie said curiously.
"Ummm...Remedial Potions?" Morgan suggested. Jeannie and Lily exchanged looks, but Morgan didn't wait for her approval because she was out of the door.
"Remedial Potions?" Lily repeated.
"What's up with her? Since when was Morgan failing Potions?" Jeannie wondered aloud, but gave it no more thought and continued her homework. They spent their night by the fire, reading and occasionally chatting. Jeannie busied herself by trying to finish more homework. Lily fluttered her eyes shut; her book was getting boring and she was so tired. Maybe staying up late last night wasn't the best idea, Lily thought to herself.
Lily was running in a forest, again. She was afraid. She had the urge to find James, no not urge. Lily HAD to find James. It was important.
"James?! This isn't funny anymore! Come out, right now! James?" Lily heard herself saying. There were cries in the distance. Lily whipped her head around and sprinted in the opposite direction. She came across a clearing. James was lying there motionless; blood was trickling down his forehead. James' glasses had fallen off his face but his eyes were open, the pupils were rolling back into his head.
"James?!" Lily whispered in fear. Out of nowhere, a hooded figure appeared, hunching over James' motionless body. The hooded figure raised his wand, pointed it at James' chest and mumbled something. James screamed in pain.
There was a flash of green light.
James was dead.
Lily screamed, there was another flash of green light. Lily shut her eyes tight. There was an eerie silence.
"LILY!! Lily wake up!!" Lily was shaken awake by none other than James. Jeannie, Morgan, Remus and Sirius were all standing around Lily. Lily wasn't sitting on the comfy armchair, but on the cold hard floor. Her stomach churned unpleasantly, she rolled over on her side and threw up into the fire and extinguishing the flames. She turned to face the group and spotted James kneeling beside her.
"You're not dead," Lily murmured as touched James' cheek.
"What? What are you talking about? Of course not!" James stammered.
"Lily, are you okay? You fell asleep, you must have had nightmare, because you were screaming James' name," Jeannie said rushing down by Lily's side.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Lily said. She tried to get to her feet, but was unsuccessful. She tried to stand but fell, and James caught her.
"You're not fine. You're not in a right state. Come on let's get you to your room," James said, picking up Lily and started to carry her up the stairs to the Girl's dorm.
"Thank you," She muttered. She was weak, James was right. Lily shut her eyes. James placed her down softly on her bed. James took a blanket off her floor and wrapped Lily in it, he knelt down a kissed her softly on the forehead. If Lily was in a right state, she would have slapped James away, but she wasn't. She smiled silently to her self as James said goodnight.
Lily kicked herself mentally for liking the fact that James' was being sweet to her. Yet she was so tired, Lily spent half of the rest of her night debating her feelings. She concluded that she had only liked the kiss because she wasn't herself; she blamed it on the dream that she keeps having. She had let her guard down; she couldn't let that happen again. She was supposed to hate James, hate him with a passion.
The next week flew by quickly. Nobody mentioned Lily's nightmare reaction again, except James. He asked her if she was feeling better and she replied bitterly, "Why wouldn't I be?" Other than that one meeting, Lily tried to avoid James.
Morgan was acting strangely. She was humming under her breath, meeting with other girls in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and constantly tapping her foot and drumming her fingers on her desk. There was a reason for Morgan acting so oddly. Lily found her answer when Jeannie's shrieks were coming from the common room. Lily ran down to investigate.
"Jeannie? Is everything alright?" Lily asked, running down the stairs.
"Look at this?" Jeannie managed to say, pointing and the notice board. Lily ran over to her side and looked at the notes. All she read was about the upcoming Hogsmead weekends and how some kid lost his Charms textbook.
"I don't see anything important," said a clueless Lily.
"No...Look!" Jeannie said pointing to the 'Halloween Events Sign-up Sheet'. Lily scanned the page. She found her answer at the bottom of the page.
...TALENT CONTEST
--Jeffery Webber (Poetry reading)
--Sirius Black (Comedy act)
--Danielle Anderson (Dancing)
--Morgan Fairchild (Performing with musical band)...
"So this is what Morgan has been doing at Remedial Potions," Lily joked.
"I didn't know she could sing!!" Jeannie exclaimed.
"Did you know that everyone can sing? It just depends on whether or not they sing well!" Lily said cheerfully, maybe she had too much sugar today.
"Whatever," Jeannie said, dismissing Lily's comment, "I have to talk to Morgan! I want to hear her sing!!"
Jeannie didn't wait for Lily's answer; she dragged her out of the common room. She started to wander around the school.
"Do you even know where she is?" Lily asked, annoyed that she was being dragged on an endless goose chase.
"No idea, let's check the Library," Jeannie said, and sprinted up the staircase.
They found Morgan talking quietly with a group of girls in the corner of the Library. Jeannie, being more mischievous than Lily had ever seen her, snuck behind one of the bookcases and listened intently to Morgan's conversation.
"--So, I signed us up for the talent contest," Morgan said.
"All we have to do is pick our song," A Ravenclaw girl with a really short black haircut said, Lily was pretty sure her name was Sarah Knight.
"We have three good songs that are ready for performance," A 6th year girl with curly blonde hair said, checking a list on her parchment.
"Which ones are they?" Morgan asked.
"Ummm....." The girl with blonde hair checked her list, "We could perform--"
A couple books fell from the shelf in front of the group. Jeannie's face appeared among the books. The girls stared at Jeannie, Jeannie gave a nervous laugh.
"Have you been spying on us?" A girl with silvery shoulder length hair asked.
"Ummm...No!! I was just looking from a book," Jeannie said, and picked up a random book from the shelf, "See?"
"Riiight," a girl said sarcastically, who had dark brown hair and bright brown eyes.
"Okay....I'm Jeannie! What's your name?" Jeannie asked the group of girls, trying to act kind, but had a hint of jealously in her tone.
"Hi, my name is Sarah Knight, from Ravenclaw," the girl with the black bob said, Lily was right.
"Liberty Adams," Said the girl with curly blonde hair and shaking Jeannie's hand.
"Hullo, I'm Isabelle Smith," the girl with silvery hair replied.
"And I'm Courtney Thompson," Said the girl with dark brown hair.
"So how did you guys meet Morgan?" Jeannie inquired.
"Excuse me for a moment," Morgan said, leaving the group of girls and rushing behind the shelf where Jeannie was hiding and Lily was mildly interested, standing off to the side.
"Why were you spying on me?" Morgan said in a harsh whisper.
"We wanted to find a book," Jeannie lied.
"Jeannie!! Stop lying! What do you guys want to know so badly?" Morgan asked, staring at Lily and Jeannie.
"Actually, Jeannie dragged me down her. We was wondering why you signed up for the talent contest, we didn't know you could sing!" Lily said truthfully.
"It's a long story really," Morgan tried to explain, "It began at Christmas of last year. I was sing Christmas carols on night, and we all bumped into each other, like fate. It was kind of a 'spur of the moment' idea. Our idea began to develop, and we formed a band."
"That's awesome, Morgs! Can we hear you sing?" Jeannie said eagerly.
"No way! It's a surprise!" Morgan said, "Now if you will excuse me, I have to practice."
"Satisfied?" Lily asked Jeannie, who nodded her head.
The next week went by pretty fast. You could tell Morgan was getting nervous, she was snapping at everyone who was talking to her, she was pacing in her room every night and skipped meals saying that she was feeling sick. She would get her band to come at all times to talk or to practice.
On Saturday, Halloween, Lily, Jeannie and Morgan woke up early. They were all glad that they didn't have to change into their robes. Lily quickly dressed herself in a cream colored sweater with form fitting Jeans. She gathered her hair back into a messy ponytail and applied a bit of makeup.
"Okay, I'm ready," Lily called to her friends.
"I'm almost ready," Jeannie said, buttoning up zipping up a white sweater over a pink shirt and a jean skirt, "Done!"
"Morgan, are you sure you don't want to walk with us?" Lily asked Morgan, who was attempting to apply mascara with a shaky hand.
"I'm fine; I have to meet the band in a half hour anyways. Go ahead without me," Morgan said, waving them goodbye.
"Alright, we'll see you later," Jeannie said. Lily and Jeannie left Gryffindor Tower and made their way on the grounds. The grounds were transformed over night. There was a huge Ferris wheel, different game stands, a large stage and students walking by while eating different treats.
"I had no idea this was going to be like a carnival!" Lily exclaimed gleefully.
"This is amazing! What do you wanna do first?" Jeannie asked. "A few rounds of games?" Lily suggested.
"Sure!" Jeannie said. They ran up to the nearest game both and started to compete against each other, to see who could get a ball into different sizes of hoops. Jeannie threw her ball into the smallest green hoop.
"I win!" She exclaimed gleefully as the man handed her a stuffed teddy bear.
"Best out of 3?" Lily asked.
"You're on," Jeannie betted. Lily was about to throw her ball when she heard her name.
"Hey Lily!"
"Hullo Potter..." Lily said glumly, she didn't want her day to be ruined by Potter.
"Mind if I win you a prize?" James asked, leaning on the counter.
"No, that's okay, I think I can manage," Lily said bitterly, grasping the ball tighter in her hand.
"Where are Sirius and Remus?" Jeannie inquired.
"Sirius is practicing for the Talent show, while Remus is resting in the common room, He's sick again," James said, giving a meaningful look to Lily. Lily knew what that meant; it was the full moon last night. A jolt dropped in Lily's stomach as she reminded herself that she needed to talk to Potter about how she knew his secret.
"So you're all by yourself?" Jeannie asked James nodded his head, "Care to spend the day with us?"
"Jeannie," Lily hissed, the last thing Lily wanted was to spend her day with Potter.
"I would love to," James said, ignoring Lily. Lily turned her back to Potter and faced Jeannie. Lily sighed, clenching her jaw.
"It's your turn," Lily said, passing the ball to Jeannie.
"Mr. Potter! Ms. Evans, a word if you please," It was Professor McGonagall. She was gliding down the rows of stands and heading towards them.
"Yes, Professor," Lily asked, glad for the interruption.
"I completely forgot! As Head Boy and Girl, you are required to judge the Talent Contest along with the Headmaster and Heads of Houses. Please report to the stage at noon. Sorry for the interruption, you may continue. Good day," Professor McGonagall briskly stated.
"Good day, Professor," They all said in unison. The rest of the morning was spent with James hitting on Lily and Lily feeling as uncomfortably as ever. Jeannie was 'oblivious' to the happenings going on around her and just kept winning stuffed bears. Jeannie finally was carrying so many that she left James and Lily to drop them of in her room. Once Jeannie was out of sight, Lily turned on her heel and walked away from James.
"Where are you going?" James asked Lily.
"Away from you!" Lily said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I don't get it?"
"What don't you get, Potter?" Lily said, annoyed.
"Why don't you like me Lily? All I ever to is try, I try to be more nice, I try to be more mature and I try to be perfect. What's your problem? I want to know, Lily! What's wrong with me?" James said, angrily, grabbing Lily's wrist and spinning her around to face him. He tried to meet her gaze, but Lily only stared at the ground.
"Do you really want me to tell you?"
"Yes," James gulped.
"I hate you, I'm sick of you. I hate how you think you're all that, I hate how you think you're the best at everything and I hate how you think you can get any girl. Once you deflate you head, you'll understand that you're NOT all that, that you're NOT the best at everything and that you CAN'T get every girl. I hate it," Lily screamed, now looking in his eyes, "The only reason you like me is because you can't have me and you NEVER will! So do me a favor and fuck off Potter, because I'm sick of seeing your face!"
James' mouth dropped as Lily walked away from him. He was flabbergasted; he didn't know how to respond to this. Lily was right. James wanted what he couldn't have, he wanted Lily. He started to wander around the students, now noticing all the girls giggling and blushing in his direction. He truthfully never noticed them, not when he had Lily on his mind. James found himself standing in the lineup to get onto the Ferris wheel. The operator of the ride was stressful; he was filling up the seats, not caring if he split friends up. James found himself being guided into a seat beside a certain red-headed girl whose head was in her hands.
"Hullo again," James said, Lily looked up. "Perfect," Lily responded, she tried to leave her seat on the ride, but the balding operator pushed the bar across their stomachs so they couldn't move, then the wheel started to turn and they were raised into the air.
"Don't talk to me," Lily fumed, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Fine," James muttered grumpily and started to tap his fingers across the bars.
"Why do you have to do that?" Lily said, sounding annoyed.
"Do what?" James asked, purposely angering her.
"'Do what?'" Lily mimicked, "Stop tapping your fingers, it's giving me a headache."
"Is Mister Potter bothering Princess Lily?" James asked smirking, not stopping tapping his fingers.
"Shut up, don't call me that," Lily said, trying to turn her body away from him as the Ferris wheel made it's third spin around. James ignored her and continued to tap his fingers on the bar.
"Stop that!!!" Lily screamed and grabbing James' hand in attempt to stop him. He did stop, he just stared at her.
"What?" Lily asked, still holding his hand.
"You're touching Mister Potter," James said playfully.
"Don't get any ideas," Lily said though clenched teeth and dropped James' hand as if it was contagious. The ride came to an end in silence. The operator opened the bar to let them out. Lily immediately walked in the opposite direction of James.
"Lily, wait!" James called after her.
"What do you want this time, Potter? Come to annoy me again?" She asked coldly.
"No, I just wanted to tell you that its 12 o'clock, we have to go judge the talent contest," James informed her, showing Lily his watch.
"Fine," Lily said and headed towards the stage with James following closely behind.
"Just on time," Professor McGonagall greeted them, "right this way."
They followed her onto a platform beside the stage. Professor Dumbledore, Professor Bernhardt (Head of Ravenclaw), Professor Rohan (Head of Hufflepuff) and Professor Bode (Head of Slytherin) were already sitting at the table.
"You will sit here. After each of the performances, you will reward the participants a certain amount of points, using these differently numbered cards," Professor McGonagall explained, pointing to the large numbered cards that were stacked in front of each of the judges, "The contest is about to begin, so take your seats!"
Lily was disappointed to find that she had to sit next to Potter and was at the end of the table, so she couldn't strike up a conversation to ignore him. The crowd of students thickened as the time for the contest grew closer. Finally, at 12:30, Professor Dumbledore stood up to make a speech.
"Welcome students! Welcome to the first ever Hogwarts Talent Contest. We are happy to introduce our first contestant, Jeffery Webber. He will be sharing his poetry."
There was a polite round of applause as Dumbledore sat down and Jeffery Webber took the stage. Jeffery, a 3rd year, had odd poems to share, but his voice didn't quaver at all. At the end of his performance, there was uncertainty and few clapping. Lily rated him a '6'. Following Jeffery, there was a dancer, flamethrower, ballerina, piano player, solo singer, but nothing really mind-blowing or amazing. But then Sirius came on stage to give his comedy act. Sirius was really quite funny, Lily noted. Everybody laughed and ended up rolling on the floor, Lily had almost peed herself at one joke targeted towards the Slytherins. Lily awarded him a '9', while James awarded him a '10' and the teachers an '8'.
"Thank you, thank you," Sirius said, bowing to his audience and leaving the stage.
"Up next is an enlightening new band, which currently has no name," Professor Dumbledore said cheerfully and sitting back down.
Morgan, Sarah Knight, Liberty Adams, Isabelle Smith and Courtney Thompson walked on stage. Sarah sat in front of the drum set, Isabelle on the keyboard, Liberty on the bass, Courtney on the guitar and Morgan stood in front of the magical microphone.
The music began. Isabelle played a few cords on the keyboard, and then Courtney on the bass joined in. It was a sweet sounding song; Morgan flashed a playful smile and started to sing.
"I wonder how I ever made it though a day,
How did I settle for a world in shades of gray?
When you go in circles, all the scenery looks the same,
And you don't know why,
And I looked into your eyes,
Where the road stretched out in front of me and I realized,
Lily was shocked. She never knew Morgan could sing! Why would she keep this from us? Morgan sang softly, then guitar and drums exploded, and Morgan sang louder.
"I never lived before your love,
I never felt before your touch,
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive,
But then again, how was it really living?
I never lived before your love."
Morgan belted out the high notes. James looked over his shoulder at Lily. He wanted her so bad, why was this so hard? Why couldn't she give him a chance? He wanted to give her everything.
"I wanted more than just an ordinary life,
All of my dreams seemed like castles in the sky,
I stand before you and my heart is in you hands,
And I don't know how I survived without your kiss,
Cause your giving me a reason to exist."
Out of the corner of Lily's eyes, she could see James staring at her. She blushed and James turned away. What is wrong with me? Why have I changed so much? I'm supposed to be....what am I supposed to be? I'm not supposed to be acting like a dimwit of a girl who thinks James is God!
"And I don't know why the sun decides to shine,
But you breathed your love into me just in time,"
Morgan sang the end of the song.
"I never lived before you love,
I never felt before your touch,
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive,
But then again, how was it really living?
I never lived, I never lived, I never lived before your love...."
A thunderous roar erupted from the crowd. It was amazing, the band was phenomenal. Lily grabbed the '10' cue-card and stood up on her seat. She was screaming as loud as possible, waving her card around in the air and jumping up and down on her chair. Eventually, Lily made her way to sit back down, but noticed James. James was looking up her skirt, and had a stupid smile on his face. Lily's face turned sour. She raised her card high into the air and brought it down, full force, smacking James on the top of his head. In result, the card broke into.
'Welcome back, Lily,' she thought to herself, satisfied as James rubbed his head.
There were two more performances after Morgan's band played. Both came nowhere close to good, they were abysmal. At the end, Professor McGonagall tallied up the points of each of the performances and handed the results to Dumbledore. He walked on staged and cleared his voice.
"Let's give another round of applause for the participants," Dumbledore said, there was more cheering as the participants walked on stage, "Everyone did a fantastic job, but I won't keep you waiting any longer. Here are the results: In third place, Danny Harden with his interesting display of fire breathing"
A 4th year Ravenclaw with dark brown hair walked up to receive a small medal. There was a fair amount of cheering, the boy smiled and waved to the crowd.
"In second place, Mister Black, for his hilarious display of comedy."
Sirius walked from the line of participants, grinning broadly. As Dumbledore awarded him a silver medal, Sirius gave a thumbs up to James who was cheering loudly.
"And first place goes to...drum roll please...Morgan Fairchild, Sarah Knight, Liberty Adams, Isabelle Smith and Courtney Thompson for their musical performance."
There was a thunderous applause that arose from the crowd. Each of the band members shook hands with Dumbledore, then was handed a large trophy. Lily ran off the platform to meet Morgan, who was running to meet Lily. The collided together with a hug.
"Congratulations Morgs!! You sang beautifully!" Lily exclaimed.
"Thanks, Lils! I can't believe it. I was so nervous; I didn't think anything would come out of my mouth. It all paid off in the end....." Morgan said, then squealing with delight. Jeannie came running up beside them.
"Morgan!! I never knew you had it in you!! I never knew you could sing, let alone sing like....like....that!! It was amazing!" Jeannie screamed, as the crowed all tried to congratulate the winners.
"Thanks Jeannie!! Let's get out of here!" Morgan suggested.
"I agree, let's start to get ready," Jeannie said.
"Okay," replied Lily. The three of them walked up to the castle.
A/N: I'm so sorry! That took forever, I know!! I just wasn't satisfied with it or was too lazy to write, so I made myself sit and type all day!! Sorry for the wait....REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW.......you get the idea!
PS-- The song is by Kelly Clarkson and is entitled: "Before Your Love"