Hi! Welcome to the second chapter. It was lots of fun for me to write this chapter. I just hope that you have fun reading it. Thank you so much. Please read and review, I get encouraged to write faster that way.
You have to understand one more thing before you proceed with the story, and that is the fact that Lily truly believes that she is in love with Ray, so whatever he says and does, she still thinks she loves him. James...well, he is another story.
Sumrandumperson has pointed out one mistake in my summary. I apologize for the mistake. The lh actually was supposed to be l/h (love/hate). I hope that clarifies any misunderstanding. As I am only human, I will make many more mistakes and I would really like it if you pointed them out to me so that I may correct them next time. Thanks sumrandumperson!
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own any characters that you may recognize in the story; they all belong to JK Rowling and her brilliant mind.
R/r please!!!
Chapter 2: He Smiles For Unknown Reasons
James sat in the common room thinking about the afternoon's events. Lily had just declared, in front of many people, that she loved Ray Chang. James smiled for unknown reasons, before he got up, and went up to the boy's dorm room without even acknowledging his friends, who were sitting in the common room observing him.
"Why was he smiling?" Sirius asked Remus confusedly after James left the room.
Remus shook his head getting up to stretch his arms and legs. They had been sitting there, paying close attention to James for the past four hours; waiting to see if James would say anything to them, but he only smiled insanely and kept his thoughts to himself.
"My personal guess," Remus began, sitting back down on the sofa, "is that he has lost all sanity." Remus frowned and looked at Peter, who was still thinking.
Sirius looked sarcastically, "Like he ever had any sanity! I told him that Lily would be tough, but did he listen to me? NO!" Remus smiled at Sirius's frustration, and Sirius continued more seriously, "I am always supposed to know what he is thinking and I am proud to say that I most of the time do, but I am just not getting him these days. It's killing me."
"I guess we will just have to wait and watch." Peter squeaked when all talk had seized.
Feeling tired and confused, the rest of the Marauder gang retired to their dorm to find James sleeping soundly; but still baffled and scratching their heads in utter confusion, Remus, Sirius, and Peter fell into a restless sleep.
"Lily! Hurry up!" Diondra yelled impatiently as Lily held up her pointy-finger in motion and mouthing 'one minute' while she frantically looked for her brush.
Lily's friends waited for Lily standing near the door, as Lily scuttled around faster and faster looking for the perfect of everything she had. Lily was taking extra time getting ready for school that morning; she wanted to look her best for her new found love.
After another ten minutes of Diondra screaming with all her lungs and Lily brushing vigorously, the four girls made their entrance into the Great Hall for a quick breakfast before their classes.
Lily, Piper, Grace and Diondra abandoned the Gryffindor table and went to sit at the Ravenclaw table. Lily seated herself next to Ray looking hopefully around and nodding to his friends.
"Hi, Ray!" Lily greeted sweetly with a smile.
"Hey, Lily!" Ray responded looking bored. "You look good." He stated simply without smiling.
Lily looked disappointed, but only for a second. Instantly, breakfast was magically before her. Lily was helping herself to a stack of pancakes when suddenly Ray caught her hand in midair right before the stack of pancakes hit her plate. Lily looked at Ray questioningly and Ray looked at her disapprovingly, before he changed his expression to a grieve smile.
"What?" Lily asked confused. Ray was still holding her hand in midair.
"Nothing, well, I thought, no, just forget it." Ray let go of the her hand, stood up pulling his book-bag over his shoulder and turned to leave; behind him, his friends were getting up and heading out with him. Ray turned back in mid-step towards the door, he looked at Lily and smiled sympathetically again, "Lily, it's just, maybe you should go on a diet."
For a moment, Lily thought she was in one of her nightmares; she looked hurt and embarrassed. Piper was about to say something in her defense, but Lily put her hand up stopping Piper. "He is right." Lily stated then turned to Ray and smiled, pulling back her tears, "You are right! I should, I don't want to get to beefy. Right?" Lily pushed the pancakes away and gulped down her pumpkin juice.
Ray left grinning happily, his book-bag swinging behind him.
James was sitting at the Gryffindor table holding his goblet full of pumpkin juice as tightly as possible without breaking it and wishing that it were Ray's neck instead. He had seen the entire incident, and stayed calm, restraining his anger.
Classes were scheduled to begin right after breakfast, so Lily and her friends, Diondra stopping to blow a kiss at Snape, left in a hurry for their first class of Wednesday: Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins.
James picked up his book bag setting down the empty goblet and walked outside following Lily and her friends closely, yet keeping out of sight. Sirius, Remus and Peter followed behind, watching James attentively, and heading towards their Care of Magical Creatures Outdoor classroom, which was near the forbidden forest.
James could see Lily's friends torturing her with questions and comments.
"THAT GOOD-FOR-NOTHING JERK!" Piper's voice was loud and angry, "HOW DARE HE? WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?" Piper usually never got angry; she was very patient and calm even in the toughest times, but seeing her yelling manically was a shock to everyone.
"WHAT WAS HE THINKING? HE IS AN IDIOT LILY! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! HE WAS LYING, YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL, HE IS JUST TOO BLIND TO SEE IT!" this time it was Diondra who was yelling madly about Ray's comment.
"Right, don't listen to him, Lily. You are beautiful, and if he can't see it, then he needs to get his eyes checked." Grace patted Lily's shoulder comfortingly while Diondra and Piper nodded, both calming down.
Lily didn't say anything; she was so disappointed in Ray's behavior towards her. Although he had stated that she looked good, it had not been what Lily was expecting him to say; she had hoped for more enthusiasm. Lily started forcing all her thoughts to focus on her upcoming class with Professor Kettleburn, who was tough but fair.
James watched Lily admiringly; he truly loved her. Sirius saw the look on James's face, rolled his eyes, and impatiently walked over to where the girls were standing. Everyone was almost there, and Professor Kettleburn could be seen squinting over fairly large bush shaking his head, while holding his glasses.
"Hi Diondra!" Sirius smiled playfully. Remus and Peter were standing, both waving to the girls with huge grins on their faces.
Diondra frowned at the sight of Sirius, the last time they had spoken was on the train, and she still had not recovered from the insulting comment that he had made; nevertheless, she greeted the boys well.
James waited another moment before walking over to them himself. He greeted Diondra, Grace and Piper impressively, and turned to Lily.
"Hi Lily." James smiled his famous-girl-charming smile, "How are you?" He asked his grin grew wider when he saw the shocked look on Lily's face.
Lily flushed scarlet red; she wasn't expecting him to talk to her. Things were always tense between them and James never talked much, not to her at least. But now, James was talking to her as if they were old-time-buddies.
Lily half-smiled recovering from her shock, "Hi James! I am doing okay. You?"
But James didn't have time to answer, a long bang shot out from Professor Kettleburn's wand signaling the students that class was then beginning.
"Hello class!" Professor Kettleburn looked at the students with a sad smile. To his disappointment, the class was split into two different groups; on the right side stood a happy-good-looking group, and on the left stood a nasty-grumpy group picking their noses. "Right then," Professor Kettleburn said tonelessly nodding his head with a sad smile. It would have been a lie if he said that he was not expecting any sort of separation between the Slytherins and Gryffindors, after all, the two houses were archenemies.
Professor Kettleburn sat on a large rock and observed the students for another moment, then sighed, and began weakly, "Since it is just the first day of class, I thought we should begin with a quick review." His voice droned on getting weaker and quieter so the students had to perk their ears and listen more closely, "I have brought a young phoenix today," He backed away a couple of steps to show the pinkish red phoenix sitting on the low branch of a huge tree. "Would anyone like to volunteer to tell us something about the creature?" Professor Kettleburn looked around hopefully before spotting a bravely raised hand among the good-looking kids. "James Potter, please!"
James walked over to the phoenix, recognizing it as Fawkes, Dumbledore's favorite pet. He had seen the phoenix on a number of occasions in Dumbledore's office and it had seen him.
"Right, James, please tell us something about phoenixes."
James looked at the creature, affectionately stroking its feathers. He looked at the class and began to talk about the phoenix in the same rapturous tone, "Phoenixes are fascinating creatures. They may not look dangerous or powerful, but they have a beak that can crush through thick hide and the ability to carry up to 10 times their weight. Not only that, but their tears have healing powers." James stopped to look at the phoenix, before walking back to the students who looked both dull and unimpressed.
"Excellent Mr. Potter!" Professor Kettleburn beamed at his best student. "Take 20 points for Gryffindor for a fantastic explanation of phoenix's characteristics. You are by far, if I may say so, the best student I have ever had!"
James Potter was the most intelligent student in the entire school. He was excellent and perfect in every subject, especially Transfiguration. Even though he never stepped into a Library, he still scored high in the exams. The other Marauders were the same way, all highly intelligent. But the only subject the James always placed second in was Charms, whose top student was Lily.
Lily frowned when she heard Professor Kettleburn's last comment about James being the best student. Although James and her never talked there was no denial to how much competition there was between them. Lily looked at the hard, dirty ground drowning through what Professor Kettleburn was saying. Her eyes, then, strayed onto a guy standing near the back of the classroom with his friends; he had messy black hair, circle glasses, and melting-hazel eyes...Lily looked away, quickly when he turned and grinned at her.
Lily looked at her open Magical Creatures book, scanning her eyes back and forth pretending to read when all her thoughts were on James. Why did he talk to me? Why was looking at me? NO! He was not looking at me, I was looking at him and then he looked at me!
James was staring at Lily like he always did. He had completely zoned out Professor Kettleburn's lecture about phoenix's reproduction system. She was looking at me! She was looking at me! SHE WAS LOOKING AT ME! James said the same thing over and over in his brain not able to contain his happiness.
"Brilliant class! Wasn't it, Dia?" Sirius asked in mock-excitement. The class was over and they were all walking back to the castle.
"Brilliant would not have been the word I would have chosen, but then again, 'brilliant' is quite close to the 'boring' that I had in mind." Diondra tried to lose Sirius by walking faster, but he easily kept up with her.
Diondra and Sirius walked in front while Peter trailed close behind Sirius like a tail. Remus and Grace were talking about their next class after lunch, History of Magic with the Ravenclaws, while Piper quietly listened to them arguing about the importance of Goblin independence. That left Lily and James to walk at the back, listening to all of the conversations. They were all heading to the Great Hall. Lily pondered her brain for something to say as an awkward silence continued between them. Say something...anything! Her brain screamed inside.
It would be impolite to not say anything! James walked next to Lily, his brain going through every piece of information that he had and trying to decide what to say.
"So," Lily began to his surprise, "Do you like magical creatures?" Lily blushed stupidly.
James smiled and nodded, "Yes, my family owns many magical animals, we own 2 phoenixes, an Augurey, about 13 pixies, many owls and not to forget a stag."
"A stag? Really?" Lily asked. She had never known anything about James, other than what he displayed at school, but she was not surprised. James came from a wealthy pureblood family. In fact all of the Marauders were from wealthy pureblood families, and Piper was too from a wealthy pureblood family.
"Yes, we call him Prongs. He is very handsome, clever, and quite the ladies man."
Lily chuckled at the description. "Wow! I would like to see him."
James didn't say anything. They were now only a couple of yards away from the castle. Behind them were a group of Slytherins commenting rather loudly than usual about the Marauders and whom they were associating with.
Severus Snape, with an ugly disorientated face and greasy hair was standing at the front of the group, pulled out his wand and ranted, "I never believed that James Potter was as smart as he claimed he was, but I never doubted, until now, if he had any sense or not. Seems like poor Potter is a lot more dumber than he looks." A loud howl of laughter followed, and this time it was Lucius Malfoy's turn to speak foully.
Lucius Malfoy, or better known as Malfoy, was a dark wizard. He was a wealthy pureblood, and was rather proud of his heritage, almost too much. He had shoulder-length blonde hair and piercing cold blue eyes. "You're right, Severus!" He began, stopping to make sure that James and the other Gryffindors in front were listening, "That has to be the reason why he is associating with that ugly mudblood!"
Sirius stopped in mid track hearing the cruel joke that Lucius made, he turned around, forcing everyone to turn with him and face the Slytherins. He walked up to where James and Lily were standing, his wand pointing dangerously at Snape and Lucius; but James didn't say anything.
Lucius saw the wand in Sirius's hand and the glare of madness in James's eyes and drew back. Remus and Peter were waiting for something to happen.
Snape didn't move, he had a nasty-winning grin on his face and he spoke calmly, "What now, Black, are you defending your good-for-nothing friend?" Snape looked behind Sirius and saw Diondra and Grace standing outraged. "Well, I don't think you should waste your energy trying to help these mudbloods, not talking about Piper of course." Snape beamed at Piper and Piper looked away disgusted.
Diondra walked closer to the front of the group, seeing the look that Snape was giving Piper sickened her. She looked from Snape to Piper, who was staring at the ground.
Diondra spoke up feeling the moment, "Oh! Snapey! How long has it been since I talked to you!"
Snape saw the huge mock-flirting grin that Diondra always gave him and faltered. His expression read 'disgusted', but Diondra was certainly not seeing it.
Instead she kept going on, "I know, baby!" She yelled walking closer to the Snape, "Too long!" With that she threw her arms around Snape and instantly planted her lips on him.
One kiss was enough to lose the Slytherins, as Snape pulled away from Diondra and quickly walked away murmuring something about 'mudblood tongues and how he had to wash his mouth now'.
Diondra turned around to face her friends, Sirius's jaw was open wide from shock, Grace began to giggle, and Lily and Piper looked too bewildered to speak as James and Remus looked confused and Peter looked like he couldn't care less.
"Close your mouth, Sirius." Diondra walked over to him and pushed his jaw up with her finger. Sirius jumped out of his shock and looked at her admiringly.
"I did it! I did it! I really, really did it!" Diondra smiled, as she pushed past everyone and hugged Grace, who was still giggling. "Your plan worked! I am so loving you right now, Gracie!" Diondra jumped up and down excitedly.
It took a moment for Lily to remember Grace and Diondra's conversation on the train. Lily smiled and hugged Diondra, who hugged her back tightly still excited.
"Why did you kiss him?" Sirius asked scratching his head.
"I love him, silly!" Diondra yelled and began jumping up and down again with her two hands held up to her mouth.
"Oh? Really?" Sirius was still in shock. Although he knew that Diondra liked Snape, he had never believed it, but now, all he could do was doubt if he was right or not.
No one saw Sirius's face fall as Lily, Piper and Grace listened attentively as Diondra explained how passionate the kiss was. The Great Hall smelled more inviting than Lily could ever remember, having not eaten anything since breakfast, her stomach growled ordering her eat. She immediately looked for Ray at the Ravenclaw table, but he was missing and neither were his friends.
Sighing, Lily sat down at the Gryffindor table. A delicious steak appeared before her, she dug her fork in to eat when she suddenly remembered the conversation with Ray. Piper was eyeing Lily very angrily, when put her fork down and just drank her juice instead.
The Marauders were sitting next to the girls. James was observing Lily through the corner of his eyes, Sirius was thinking about Diondra, Remus was still partly arguing with Grace, and Peter was eating excessively fast.
When Lily finished her pumpkin juice, she just sat there watching everyone eating the food hungrily.
"Lily, eat something, please?" Piper said blandly.
Lily looked at Piper sadly, "I am sorry, I can't. I love Ray."
James found his anger rising again at the thought of Ray, but he didn't say anything. Sirius saw the anger in James's eyes and nodded to him calmly.
The rest of lunch was eaten with silence and angry, confused, and hungry looks.
The warning bell rang more loudly than ever as the eight Gryffindors ran to History of Magic. They walked in through the door right as the tardy bell rang. The good thing about this class was that it was with the Ravenclaws. Lily instantly spotted Ray sitting at the front of the class. Ray motioned her to come sit by him, and she did as she was told, abandoning her friends with an apologetic look. Piper looked absolutely outraged.
The other Gryffindors sat at the back of the classroom together in the remaining seats.
"Hi, Ray!" Lily greeted sitting down next to him.
He beamed at her pleasantly. "You look absolutely marvelous!" The way he said it made Lily's stomach clench. A sudden odor had come out of his mouth. It was the smell of firewhiskey. Lily tried not to look disturbed as Ray went on in an alcoholic fashion. "I want you!" He spoke lazily drooping on her, half asleep.
"Ray?" Lily bit her lip as she watched him lean against her shoulder and close his eyes, "Where you drinking?"
Ray's eyes suddenly opened wide and he looked at her madly. "THAT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, YOU WRETCHED GIRL!" he yelled, attracting the attention of the class. Lily's cheeks flushed the color of roses and tears began to appear in her eyes. Ray swooped back down as the silver-colored Professor came into the classroom filling it with an icy touch.
Professor Binns entered through the front blackboard rubbing his glasses with his transparent shirt and holding his briefcase with his left hand. He looked as boring as the subject. He looked at the class sitting with their heads on their desk. His eyes found his favorite student, James sitting at the very back with his group of friends. Professor Binns beamed at the class, and began to talk in a boring fashion.
James pretended to pay attention about the Goblin Rebellions of 1707, but his mind was fully fixed on Lily and whom she was sitting next to. How dare he yell at her! James crunched up the parchment in his hand attracting the attention of his friends.
"What are you doing?" Sirius whispered, his eyes not leaving Professor Binns as he leaned next to his friend.
When Professor Binns walked over to the board to write notes, Sirius stole a glance at James, and then to what he was looking at. Lily was sitting in the front of the classroom with Ray snoring loudly on her shoulder. She was copying notes hurriedly from the board. "We will get him, Prongs. We will get him." Sirius whispered.
James looked away and looked at his friends (Remus, Peter and Sirius). "Tonight, the Marauders are going on a Ravenclaw raid!" His voice was dangerously low. The others nodded their heads, and Sirius smiled mischievously.
The class was over as quickly as it had started. One by one, the students piled out of the classroom. Ray's weight was breaking Lily's back, she way holding him up before she dropped unable to bear his weight. Someone behind her came up and gave her a hand lifting her up off the floor. It was Keane Ye, and the other Ravenclaws standing behind him.
Ray was sprawled on the floor snoring loudly. Lily looked tiredly at Keane and he understood. "Don't worry, Lily, we will take it from here." Keane motioned the other Ravenclaws to pull Ray up and help him out of the classroom. Lily followed up to the Ravenclaw staircase where she parted quickly to go to her last class of the day: Divination.
I hope he will be all right. Lily couldn't help but worry as she headed for the Divination tower. She made a mental note to herself to talk to Ray about his drinking.
Lily was so consumed in her thoughts she didn't even notice the figure that she had painfully pushed to the ground and landed on top of. Lily met James's chocolate-like hazel eyes. As reality kicked in, Lily quickly got up, "S-sorry! I am so sorry. I wasn't paying attention." James was sitting up on his elbows staring at Lily with a flirtatious grin spreading on his face.
James extended a hand motioning her to help him up and Lily did. Lily blushed seeing the look on James's face. She found the ground more interesting than his admiring eyes.
James chuckled, "We should run, we are going to be late for class."
Lily smiled, and James held out his hand friendly. Lily took it and they began to run down the hall as another warning bell rang loudly.
James and Lily walked into the Divination classroom where the spunky looking Professor Trelawney was standing at the front taking attendance. Her eyes narrowed when she saw James and Lily, "You are late." She spoke strictly. "The punishment for being late is detention! Now, take your seats!"
James and Lily looked somber and sat down together on the left side of the classroom. The divination classroom was something out of ordinary. It was filled with mystical things, but poor Professor hadn't a clue how to use them.
Sirius, Remus, Peter, Diondra, Grace and Piper were sitting on the other side eyeing the couple curiously. James smiled playfully at Sirius and he smiled back a glint visible in his eyes.
Professor Trelawney began speaking about their new lesson, "Now class, I understand that you may not be as advanced as me in reading tarot cards, but I want you to try you best and I will help you when I can." She pointed the set of cards on every table, "I will also be pairing up with a person that you have to work with for the rest of the year in order to improve your seeing senses." She looked at her clipboard eyeing the class.
"Gilderoy Lockhart, hmmm, let's see..." Professor Trelawney looked thoughtfully over her clipboard and an idea popped into her head and a grin spread across her face, "With Lily Evans, of course!" Lily looked absolutely disgusted from her head to toe.
Besides having detention, being the star-wanna-be's partner was much worse. Gilderoy waved to her a flirtatiously grin spreading across his face. His teeth were yellow and crooked, but all Lily could do was sympathetically smile back. James began to chuckle, and Lily glared at him apparently not amused.
"Shut it, Potter!" she whispered in his ear. As if on cue, Professor Trelawney began pairing again, this time much faster. "James Potter with Jacqueline Wolfe!"
A Hufflepuff, blonde haired girl squeaked happily as her name was called out. She waved at James and James nodded seriously. This time it was Lily's turn to laugh, but James didn't get mad, instead he stared at her his admiring eyes on again and made her blush.
"I want Sirius Black with Colette Young! Remus Lupin with Brynn Gatewood! Peter Pettigrew with Lauren Graves! Jacob Broom with Piper Colvard! Grace Kim with Reese Jackson! Diondra Davis with Amos Diggory!" Professor Trelawney's paused to catch her breath; she looked up to see the disgusted faces on the Marauders, except for Sirius, and Diondra looked like she was going to regurgitate last month's mashed potatoes. Professor Trelawney frowned and continued, "All of you must plan to meet at least three times a week to read your tarot cards. You will each have a report on what your future says in a calendar."
Everyone in class looked utterly bored and uninterested. James kept stealing glances at Lily and Lily blushed furiously glaring back at him.
Class was over with a big speech on the importance of tarot cards that Sirius had fell asleep through. The end of class bell rang more pleasantly that Lily had ever remembered. The Gryffindors left the tower gratefully heading towards the Great Hall. Classes for the day were over and Lily couldn't wait to get something to eat, seeing she hadn't eaten anything the entire day.
The Marauders accompanied the girls. Lily had forgotten all about Ray and the condition he was in that morning. She was now playfully flirting with the one boy that she had despised.
"James, stop don't!" Lily yelled as James pulled her book bag off her shoulder and carried it with ease.
"Don't worry, Lils! It's not a problem for our Jamesie!" Sirius voice mockingly came from the front of the group. James scowled at Sirius that shut Sirius up, and then he looked at Lily with his boyish charm.
"Lily, honestly, you are getting thinner by the day! You should eat more, you know. Until you don't improve your diet, I am going to carry around your books even you if you don't listen to me." James voice was more serious, yet you couldn't tell he was indirectly telling her to forget about what happened with Ray.
Lily suddenly remembered about Ray, but before she could say anything, they had reached the Great Hall. Surprisingly standing there was none other than: Ray with his cronies.
When Ray spotted Lily in the back of the group, he stretched his arms wide and called out, "Lily!"
Lily heard a voice that was semi-familiar in front of her. A strong-good looking boy had come by to her and embraced her tightly. Lily recognized Ray after a moment. He pulled away from the hug, and stared at Lily.
"I am so sorry, Lily! I love you so much. I love you so much..." He hugged her again unsure of what he was doing.
Lily didn't say anything. At that moment her brain pounded her to say something back, but her heart told her not to. Ray pulled away from the hug and looked around at the group of Gryffindors. James was standing by the side as-if someone had buried him alive. Sirius and the others were looking mutual.
Ray acknowledged them boringly and looked back at Lily. His hands did not leave her shoulders. "I want you to come with me..." Ray whispered rather loudly. "I want you to come with me tonight and..." his voice faltered, and Lily looked confused.
"Why, Ray?" She asked her voice as low as his. The others' eyes were still on them looking curious.
"Because I want you to!" Ray's voice began to get louder and anger was visible quickly.
"I can't, sorry." Lily stated stubbornly, "I have to go do my homework."
"But Keane can do it for you, you will have the time of your life! I want you to come with me!" Ray began to yell.
James wanted to leap on top of and pound Ray as hard as he could for yelling but Sirius was pulling his silently back.
"I can't, Ray!" Lily said stubbornly still looking very calm and yet annoyed by Ray's behavior.
"YOU HAVE TO!" Ray began to pull Lily with him. He had a firm grip on her arm and Lily was struggling to go free, then suddenly from behind them all—
"Let her go, Mr. Chang." It was James's voice, but it was so calm and low that Lily had to really stay focused to hear what he was saying, "Please, let go of her, Mr. Chang." He repeated again grabbing a hold of Lily's other hand and pulling her away from Ray.
Lily was so surprised, she couldn't say anything, and she felt humiliated and embarrassed
"SHE IS MINE, POTTER!" yelled Ray, "I CAN DO WITH HER AS I PLEASE!"
Ray's friends came close behind him ready for a fight.
"Lily is a person. She is not yours until you start treating her with some respect." Diondra spoke disgustedly.
"And I suppose you would be the one to give me lessons in this matter. I heard what you did to that poor Snape. Tease him lot, don't you? And now, are you going to tell me that you're giving him respect?" Ray's voice was cruel, cold and questioning.
"Look, Ray, I love Severus, and that is something, that I don't need to prove to you!" Diondra walked furiously into the Great Hall, and Sirius ran after her.
Lily's brain was pounding. She could say anything. Lily bit her lip and looked up into Ray's eyes. Ray seems so tempered...why? She thought staring at the floor. I suppose love drives you insane; in any case, I must learn to get along with him. I love Ray. I told everyone that I did. I have to love Ray. I do love Ray! The last part she thought doubtfully.
"Lily, say something! Tell this, Potter, that you are mine!" Ray demanded shaking her out of her thoughts.
Lily looked up again avoiding James's eyes. "Look, Ray, I am really tired. I am yours, and you know that. Can we just forget about it and go have dinner?"
Ray smiled triumphantly, forgetting the real reason why the fight had begun, and led Lily away from James to the Ravenclaw table. James was still holding her book bag. James smiled, again for unknown reasons.
Remus put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "So, any ideas for the Ravenclaw raid tonight?"
"THAT POTTER! HE DRIVES ME COMPLETELY BOLLOCKS! Why does he care so much about you anyway?" Ray thought more to himself. Lily let herself he dragged away from James and the others to the Ravenclaw table. Lily was hardly paying attention to what Ray was saying.
"Maybe he..." a wild thought came into Ray's mind; he looked at Lily doubtfully and then shook his head in his foolishness. There is no way! The most desired guy in all of Hogwarts would ever go for a girl like Lily.
He sat down, followed by his friends and Lily at last. "Eat something light!" he ordered.
Lily ate the salad and drank her pumpkin juice. Her stomach growled loudly, but Ray didn't hear it. Ray was too busy talking to his friends to pay attention to Lily.
James, Remus, Piper and the remaining others were sitting at the Gryffindor table. James was still smiling crazily and staring at Lily, undetected.
Diondra, Piper and Grace were talking about the way Lily was behaving. But they didn't notice Sirius, Remus and Peter whispering away about what to pull on the Ravenclaws.
"We will need many dungbombs!" Sirius whispered. Remus nodded and added 'dungbombs' to a quite lengthy list of supplies needed for the raid.
"We don't need anything." James whispered, turning away from Lily.
"What?!" Sirius asked disappointment coming into his features. "You mean we are not going to do the raid?!"
"No, we are definitely doing the raid. But if we use all these things, they will know it's us. We have to use our brains; we can only use the pranking spells." James seriously stated.
"Why don't you want them to know it's us?" Peter asked confused.
"Because, pee-brain!" Remus began irritated by Peter's thick questions. "He doesn't want Lily to know he cares about her!"
"And another thing, I won't be able to come with you on the raid." James said again, looking again. "I have something to take care of."
Sirius began to protest before looking at James was staring at and understood what he had to 'take care of'.
Dinner was over quickly, the Marauders escorted the girls to the Gryffindor tower. In the common room, Sirius played exploding snap with Remus, Peter, and Diondra, while Piper, Grace and James worked as quickly as possible to finish their homework.
An hour later, the exploding snap game stopped being fun and crossed the borderline to boredom. The magic clock on top of the fireplace read 8:30. It was way past curfew and Lily was nowhere to be found where she was supposed to be. James didn't look too worried. He instead concentrated on his essay.
Piper put her quill down and sighed, "Where is Lily? It is past curfew, she is never this late! James, I am worried!"
James looked up from his essay, but didn't say anything. Piper could see that he was thinking the same thing although he didn't look like it.
"What do reckon we should do?" Diondra came and sat down on the couch beside Piper, and so did the others who were playing exploding snap.
"Should we look for her?" Sirius asked James.
James shook his head, "Lily can take care of herself...besides...I think we should trust Ray once in awhile."
"What do you mean?" Piper questioned.
"I mean I doubt if he even pays attention to her." James explained turning back to his essay.
The others looked unsatisfied but didn't say anything.
Another hour passed, but Lily was not back yet. Everyone began to worry now, everyone that is except for James, who sat rooted to the stop finishing his essay.
"James, we should really--" Diondra began before the portrait hole opened wide and a girl in tears came running in like her hair was on fire. Instantly, without even acknowledging her friends, Lily headed for the girls' dorm.
The other girls ran after her. James didn't look up from his essay; he didn't even look up when Sirius gave him a questioning look.
"Lily, what happened? Please tell us!" Diondra pleaded at Lily's bed. Lily was collapsed on her bed crying into her pillow.
"What happened?" Piper asked concerned sitting on Lily's bed and putting at hand on her shoulder.
"He loves me. Ray loves me, I know he does." Lily mumbled getting up from her pillow to wipe off her tears.
"What?" exclaimed Piper, "What do you mean 'he loves you'?"
"Besides the literal meaning, that is?" Diondra added.
"He loves me, I know he does!" Lily said again stubbornly. She refused to say anything more than that. After ten minutes of Grace, Piper, and Diondra pleading for her to say something else, Diondra went downstairs shaking her head concerned.
Diondra found Sirius, Peter, James and Remus still there.
"What happened?" James asked, unusually concern in his eyes surprised Diondra.
"She says nothing." Diondra simply stated. "I think Ray might have done something to her."
"No," James shook his head. "I put a curse on him so that he wouldn't."
"What curse?" Sirius asked excitedly, "I knew you must have done something, or else, you wouldn't have been that brave. Especially because it's Li—Ow!" Remus hit Sirius in the back of the head to make him stop. "Oh! Sorry!" Sirius whispered reading the look on Remus's face.
But Diondra hadn't noticed anything; she was waiting for James to speak.
"I turned him gay for the night." James smiled.
"You can do that?" Diondra asked shocked.
"Yes, it's a simple curse. He must have acted really mean to her. That's why she is hurt. At least he didn't do anything to her physically."
Diondra looked like she was going to kiss James. She leaped happily. "You are the bomb, James!" she ran up the stairs to inform the others.
"You stag!" Remus put a hand on James's shoulder.
James turned around and nodded.
Lily lie awake listening to the night sounds. The crickets were chirping, the wolves were howling, and the owls were owling. She tried to take her mind off the event that took place that night, but it was too hard to.
Her mind lingered over and over onto Ray and how he behaved so vulgarly.
FlashbackLily watched her friends leave the Great Hall with the Marauders. There was barely anyone left in the Great Hall. Most students had retired either to the Library to finish their homework or their house towers to goof-off with their friends.
Lily watched as Ray talked joyfully with his friends. He didn't even bother looking at her.
"Um...Ray?" Lily called out. Ray turned around irritated and bored.
"What?" He scowled.
"It's getting late...I should go." Lily was waiting for Ray to say something, but Ray looked uninterested and dull.
"So?" Ray asked again dully, "Why should I care?"
Lily was startled and by the looks of everyone else, they were too. "Ray, I was wondering if you wanted to drop me off at the Gryffindor tower?" Lily asked hopefully.
"That would be a waste of my time. Sorry, I don't waste my time on girls." He looked at her queasily and then turned to the Slytherin table and looked at Snape in, almost, a flirting way. "See Severus over there." Ray pointed and Lily watched as Ray licked his lips sexily. "Now, he is worth my time. Excuse me."
Ray headed for the Slytherin table and extended a hand out to Snape. "My dear fellow!" he exclaimed. "You, by far, are the most gorgeous person I have ever had the chance to lay my eyes on!"
Snape thought it must have been some trick and punched Ray in the face. Ray got up off the floor to face the Slytherins' howling laughter. "Your punches are sweet and refreshing, my dear fellow! Although I would have preferred a kiss, this is not bad at the least."
Lily stood up, tears now in her eyes, from her perspective, she believed that Ray was insulting her. Swinging her heavy book bag onto one shoulder she ran out of the Great Hall towards the Gryffindor tower.
Flashback
Another tear fell down Lily's cheeks and more filled her eyes ready to pour out at moment's notice.
Feeling tired and weak she heard her stomach growl again. She had not eaten anything except for the salad at dinner.
Lily laid silent and still not wanting to waste the precious energy that she had left. A door opened quietly in the dark and she strained her eyes to see who it was, but the black velvet air could not be seen through.
Lily heard footsteps coming closer to her bed near the window. The moonless sky did not aide her curiosity. At first, Lily began thinking that it was just her imagination, but that proved to be wrong, when a whisper from the darkness was heard.
"Lily?" It came. The voice was unrecognizable. It was so low that Lily took a moment to realize that it was not her imagination.
"Lily?" It came again. But this time it was more audible.
Lily sat up in her bed; she felt a weight sitting on her bed. "Who is it?" She asked shocked and curious.
"It's me; James." The voice was calm.
"James? What are you doing here?" Lily questioned. Lily's stomach growled louder at the moment, and even in the darkness, James could see Lily blush scarlet.
"I have a surprise for you. Will you come with me?" He asked extending his hand.
Lily didn't know what to say. What surprise? Her brain ordered. "What surprise?" Lily spoke quietly.
Diondra was moving in her bed and Lily made a mental note to lower her voice. Lily felt James move closer to her face to whisper.
"You do know the meaning of the word, don't you?" He touched her cheek and she blushed not knowing why.
"But why?" Lily asked again.
"Trust me? Please, stop with the interrogation. We have to go now. Follow me, and quietly." James pulled her out of bed and Lily forgot to hesitate in her surprise.
James dragged Lily out of the Girl's dorm and into the lightless common room.
"What are you doing?" Lily asked; she was confused now.
"Shhh!" James called back. "I am taking you somewhere. Please, relax. I am not going to hurt you."
Lily calmed down and followed James out of the common room into the cold corridor.
Lily began to shudder, seeing that she was only wearing a white tank top and plain navy pants. In her hurry, she had forgotten her cloak. The corridor brought, with the chill, the light. Lily looked up to see James; he was studying a piece of parchment very carefully. He looked at Lily when he felt his eyes on her.
"Don't worry. We won't get caught." He saw her state and her shivering with coldness. He, instantly, removed his cloak and poured it cross her.
Lily didn't understand why James was doing this, but she followed curiously. He led her down the corridor and they turned and walked for an endless time. James was holding her hand and he was bent reading the parchment. His hands were warm and Lily felt her stomach clench.
James led her into a corridor filled with many portraits of odd things; he kept searching for the right one. His face showed realization when he found the one.
His pulled a dazed Lily closer to the painting. It was a painting of a fairly large fruit basket filled with every fruit imaginable. James grinned at Lily and Lily looked questioningly back. James took out his wand and tapped the greenish-yellowish pear on the painting.
Suddenly the painting moved back revealing a large door; James pulled a stuck Lily towards, and inside the door.
The room inside was marvelous. It was a replica of the Great Hall, only without the hundred students; it was filled with hundreds of house-elves.
"Welcome, Mr. Potter." An elderly looking house-elf called out. He was working quite dangerously close to the stove.
"Hello, Fred. This is my friend, Lily."
Lily was too shocked to speak. She had never been in a room like this. She looked up at James admiringly and curiously.
As if reading her mind, James answered, "Welcome to the Kitchens, Lily."
He was still holding her hand tightly. He led her over to a small table at the corner of the huge room.
"James," Lily began, still confused, "What are we doing here?"
"Well," James began, "I am really hungry. So, I am here to eat."
"But why am I here?" Lily asked again impatiently.
"Because I don't like to eat alone. Naturally, I would ask Remus, Sirius or Peter to come with me, but they are all sleeping soundly and I didn't want to disturb them. Remus can get really ugly if you wake him up in the middle of a good dream." James's eyes bore into Lily's and he couldn't help but lose his words.
"Take me back at once!" Lily ordered unbelievably.
"Look, I am hungry. Please, let me eat." James protested with a puppy-dog face. Lily hesitated, but agreed to stay until he was finished eating. "Thanks, Lily! Hey, Fred!"
The elderly looking house-elf immediately left his post by the stove and came hurrying over to James and Lily. "Yes, Sir?"
"Can you please get me some a chocolate sundae, and maybe some butterbeer?" James turned to Lily, "And what would you like to have, Lily?"
"No, thanks." Lily shook her head, "I am not that hungry." Her stomach growled madly.
"Doesn't sound like it." James grinned and chuckled softly. "Please, eat something, at least, to accompany me."
"I will have some butterbeer, then." Lily said to the house-elf.
The house-elf scurried away and instantly came with a large bowl of ice cream and two large cups of butterbeer.
Lily began drinking one of the best butterbeers she had ever tasted, and James began eating the large bowl of ice cream. James took a small spoonful and then looked at Lily. Her cup was already half empty.
"Would you like to have some? Please try it. Fred is quite the expert on sundaes." James held up a spoonful of ice cream to her mouth. Her mind cried for her to taste it and instantly, Lily opened her mouth and grabbed the spoon giggling.
The ice cream was better than she had expected. The delicious, rich chocolate flavor burst in her mouth and made her oddly, warm up.
James chuckled seeing her hungry expression, "Would you like some more?" He held up another spoonful and fed Lily.
Lily this it continued for another hour. Lily had finished the entire bowl, laughing and giggling as James told her the 'Marauder detentions'.
Lily had lost all thought of time, it must have been way past midnight when James finally led her back to the Girls' dorm.
Lily turned around to face James; she looked into his hazel, warm eyes. "Thank you." She whispered.
"Please, don't mention it." He leaned in closer to look at her and she took a step back.
She felt the hard wall touch her back and James stepped closer moving his arms slowly around her tiny waist.
"James?" Lily questioned looking up; they were uncomfortably close and Lily could not even breathe easily.
James wasn't listening; he was looking into her fresh pickled green eyes. He moved in closer grinning broadly and closed the small gap between them.
Lily tried to resist the kiss but couldn't help it. Although she didn't kiss back, she didn't protest either. James kissed her quietly holding her up against the wall as she started to melt in his arms.
What am I doing? Lily screamed finding reality still existing inside of her, Remember Ray? How could you betray him like that? Lily's brain kicked her back to reality and she reluctantly pushed James away. James wasn't shocked or surprised.
Lily's eyes had tears in them and she held up her hand when James started to apologize. "Goodnight, James." With that Lily walked into the Girls' dorm and quietly shut the door.
James smiled satisfied. She is so perfect! He thought returning to the Boys' dorm cloaklessly smiling insane.
Next chapter.... Don't know yet...but something good is guaranteed...I hope
Do you like it so far? Do you hate it? Please review!
Thanks so much!
dinis