A/N: Sorry if I'm not the quickest updater, I hand write all my chapters and then I type them, so it takes a while. This chapter was going to have another part to it, but seeing as it was pretty long handwritten, I decided to end it where I did (Sirius had a lot to say and somehow her cat got a lot of attention). Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, I really wasn't expecting it! And for the record, I wrote this chapter in pretty pink pen. Haha. Merry Christmas (belated).
Chapter 2:
No Way
Lily Evans sat up in her bed quickly; the sun that spilled through the windows burned her eyes. She threw her blankets off of her; she was sweating particularly hard from the reoccurring dreams she'd been having the past few days about being trapped with James Potter for the rest of her life! She reached over and took a sip of the nice, refreshing water on her nightstand. Her heart beat heavily. Calm down, she told herself, taking deep breaths.
Lily stretched slowly, glancing at the calendar on the wall. It read: "Today is Saturday, December 20th." Her eyes grew large. December 20th! That meant she'd be leaving for James's house… tomorrow!
"I am not going to James Potter's house!" She cried angrily, causing her cat, Truffles, to give an annoyed yowl and dive underneath her bed. She heard some muffled noises from Autumn's bed as she threw her trunk open and searched for some clean clothes. "I will not! There is no way! Absolutely no way…"
"Lily, if you don't want to go that badly, go talk to Professor McGonagall about it, but don't torture us because of it," a groggy voice croaked from behind the curtains. Lily smiled immediately. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of this before? A mischievous grin spread across her face.
She pulled on her robes as quickly as possible, and kissed Truffles gently on his pink nose before gliding down the stairs happily, humming to herself.
What a beautiful day it was! The sun was shining, the birds were singing! Everything in the Gryffindor Common Room seemed to greet her with a glowing warmth. She made an eager point to smile and wave for everyone in the room who was reading or chatting softly. She couldn't possibly be in a better mood if she'd been told that Petunia was moving out - and would never be seen again.
Lily exited the portrait hole, whistling now, rather than humming. She was in such a state of bliss, however, that she did not notice the arm of a rather good-looking, dark-haired boy slide around her shoulders, his gray eyes shining in a cunning manner.
"Happy are we, Evans?" He asked, a cocky smile plastered on his face. "Maybe because you'll be staying with Prongsey and I over the winter hols? Oh, we'll have a good time, you and I. Just imagine, toasting marshmallows by the warm fire, singing Christmas carols -"
"Black!" Lily said suddenly, looking over at the handsome boy beside her.
"The one and only!" Sirius winked and slid his arm off of her slim shoulders.
"I'll have you know, Mr. Black, that I will not be going to Potter's house this holiday," Lily said happily, not caring that she was walking with her rival's best friend.
"But we will so miss you!" Sirius exclaimed in mock agony. Lily smirked at this. She was pretty sure they'd both celebrate… Wait…
"You're going to Potter's?" Lily demanded, pausing before the entrance to Professor McGonagall's office. There was no way she could go to James's if Sirius would be there! The stupid, cocky, immature jerk!
"Oh, Lily dearest, did James forget to mention something?" Sirius asked slyly, a grin plastered on his face. Lily stared for a moment, blinking stupidly at him, before he leaned closer to her ear and whispered, "I live there."
"Oh, no!" Lily protested, beginning to massage her temples. There was no way she'd stay with Sirius Black!
"Oh, yes," Sirius said with a laugh. He was obviously entertained by Lily's reaction to hs news.
"Oh, no!"
"Oh, yeeeeeeeeeees."
"Shut up, Black, I have to go see Professor McGonagall," Lily said quickly, grabbing the handle of the door. The metal was cold and unwelcoming. "You can tell James that I will not be coming to his house under any circumstances."
"Not even if your parents died and you had nowhere else to go?" Sirius asked cheekily.
"No."
"Even if… it was the only shelter from Death Eaters within a hundred miles?" Sirius inquired.
"I'd survive."
"What about if it was just you and James left on this earth and it depended soley on you two to repopulate it?"
"NO BLACK! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Lily exclaimed, gripping the handle to McGonagalls' office so hard she feared it would come off in her hand.
"As you wish, O Cranky One," Sirius said with a bow. "And Evans?"
"What?"
"Your hair smells nice."
"Leave." Lily took a deep breath, her grip loosening on the door handle. She had to be calm and mature about this, or McGonagall would never listen to her. Lily smoothed her robes and ran her fingers through her hair, wondering, exactly, if it did smell nice. Finally, she got the nerve to open the door.
"Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall said cordially, stacking the papers on her desk at the sight of the red-headed Head Girl.
"I was wondering if I might speak with you," Lily said quietly. She knew that Professor McGonagall was very strict, and she'd have to go about this very carefully if she wanted to get out of staying with James and Sirius. She shuddered at just the thought.
"Have a seat, Lily. I think I know what this is about," Professor McGonagall said, folding her hands on her desk, which, Lily noticed, was very organized.
"Yes, Professor. As you may know, I have a lot of work this holiday and I will hardly be able to get it done if I live with Sirius and James for two weeks," Lily began calmly. "Besides, my parents had the complete wrong idea here. You see, Petunia told them I was good friends with James, when she knows I'm not. Petunia and I aren't very popular with one-anther."
Professor McGonagall sighed deeply before saying to Lily, "I can greatly understand the reason staying with Mr. Potter and Mr. Black could be a bit distracting. However, I am not allowed to give you permission to stay. It was you parents wishes that you stay with Mr. Potter and I am in no place to go against them."
Lily's face fell. Did she honestly think that Professor McGonagall would let her stay here with her parents wanting her to go? Lily almost wanted to cry. She almost wanted to open McGonagall's window and dive out into the snow. She would rather freeze to death than be annoyed by James and Sirius. Why couldn't Remus live with James? Remus was the best one! She would much rather spend her time with him.
"But Professor -" Lily began to protest, but McGonagall stood from her chair and raised a finger to silence her. Lily watched as the moved to the window, her emerald robes swishing softly.
"Lily, I hate to send you somewhere against your own will. But," Professor McGonagall turned to face her, "for some reason Professor Dumbledore believes it would be for the best."
"What?" Lily exclaimed, standing abruptly from her chair in frustration. "There is no way I could possibly benefit from two weeks with Arrogant and Prat," Lily said through gritted teeth.
"Watch your language, Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall instructed curtly. "Now, I cannot tell you what is running through that man's head but I can say that you will be saying with Potter this holiday and there will be no way around it."
Lily looked down at the Professor's desk morbidly. On one side, rolls of parchment where piled neatly. In the middle, a stack of clean parchment, and next to it lay her quill. Lily wanted to pick it up and stab her with it. She could feel her disappointment being quickly replaced by anger.
"Shouldn't you be getting to breakfast, Miss Evans?" Professor McGonagall asked tentatively, pulling out her chair and taking a seat behind her desk once more.
"Yes, but I'm not hungry," Lily replied spitefully, turning and moving swiftly towards tehd oor. That old man was off of his rocker. There would be no benefit in living with James - whatsoever.
"Miss Evans?"
Lily turned quickly, attempting to force her face into a passive, downtrodden expression.
"Is there anything else that I may help you with?"
Lily shook her head and exited the room into the empty corridor. All over the school there were signs of Christmas cheer. Mistletoe here, some holly there. Lily, personally hated seeing couples kissing happily beneath the mistletoe. It reminded her of how she hadn't dated anyone since the summer before sixth year. And he had been a muggle. God help her.
The corridors were, for the most part, empty. Everyone was in the Great Hall, enjoying their breakfast. Lily smirked and veered away from the large room. She wasn't in the mood for food. She wasn't in the mood for life, as a matter of fact. Absentmindedly, Lily found herself climbing the stairs to the Gryffindor Tower. If she absolutely had to go, she should probably start packing.
Lily muttered the password and climbed blindly through the portrait hole. Upon entering the Common Room, she found that she was not the only one skipping breakfast. Lily's breath caught in her throat and she stopped dead in her tracks.
James was seated in the chair next to the fire, his legs curled beneath him as he bent over a book, his quill poised in one hand. She watched as he raised the other hand to ruffle his hair thoughtfully. She wanted to scream. She absolutely hated it when he did that. She narrowed her eyes viciously and walked determinedly (but not quietly) to the staircase.
"Morning, Evans," James's voice said. She spun around to glare at him for speaking, but he hadn't looked up from his book. This made her even more angry. Why wouldn't he face her?
"Potter," Lily spat, before rushing up the stairs less-than-gracefully, entering her dormitory, and slamming the door loudly behind her. What gave him the right to be nice?
Lily walked over to her bed where Truffles was laying, curled up and purring sweetly. She scooped him up in her arms, kissing his soft, brown fur on the top of his head. He opened his eyes and mewed affectionately at her.
Truffles was, by far, the sweetest cat in the world. She'd gotten him when she was twelve, and had called him Truffles because all of him was a chocolatey brown, except underneath, where he was pure white. Lily stroked his fur for a minute while she looked around the room. Tonight would be her last night here for two weeks. How depressing.
As her eyes passed over her bed, she caught sight of a piece of rolled parchment that was tied neatly together by a gold ribbon. She set Truffles down gently and reached for it, wondering who's handiwork could have tied a bow so neatly. She slid it off gently and unrolled the parchment. A slightly untidy scrawl greeted her.
"Evans -
Meet me tomorrow morning at Eight A.M.
Sharp. We need to get the train to my house.
Don't be late.
-James"
Lily did spare the time to ball this letter and throw it at the wall. Just because she was going to his house he thought he was the boss. No fucking way.
She threw her trunk open and began tossing everything she'd need inside. Truffles let out a meow from the bed, his green eyes smiling.
"You're not getting out of this, Truffles," she said sternly. "I need someone to keep me company. Or sane."
He mewed again and Lily continued to pack, every movement becoming more frustrated.
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