Ch. 16 "Zing"
Sara lazily hit the snooze button on the alarm clock, turned over and went back to sleep. Her snoring woke Lily up, and she looked at the clock. 6:57 a.m. "Sara, it's almost seven!" Lily exclaimed. She jumped out of her sleeping bag on the floor and walked over to Sara's bed.
Sara shifted. "We have time, Lily, chill out."
"Sara! We only have four hours until the train leaves! If I miss that train, it will be all your fault."
Sara refused to move, so Lily quickly began rummaging her trunk for something to wear. It was September 1st already, and Lily was shocked at how quickly summer had passed. She and Sara had spent their summer lounging, sleeping, watching TV, lounging some more, and shopping. A very memorable summer, Lily decided.
But, as quickly as it came, September 1st was here; the day Lily anticipated and dreaded at the same time. Lily walked into the bathroom for a cold morning shower, then went over to her trunk and pulled out the green shirt with the mid-length sleeves that Sara had given her. She also picked out those same jeans; an outfit she enjoyed wearing. Sara had also picked out a pair of green shoes that Sara insisted that she wore. Lily liked the shoes very much, as they didn't cause her feet to look like they were three times bigger then they actually were. Lily had also mastered the art of properly applying her make-up. She stepped back from the mirror and double-checked everything to make sure she looked okay. As Lily was brushing her hair, she glanced at the clock again. 7:35.
Lily walked back over to Sara and shook her again. "Sara," she said loudly and forcefully. "You have to get up."
"Five more minutes," Sara mumbled sleepily.
"No."
"Three more minutes."
"No, Sara."
"One more minute."
"No, Sara."
"Five more minutes."
"No, Sara, no more minutes. Wake up."
Sara whined some more, then slowly and angrily walked into the shower. Lily heard a scream and Sara shrieked, "Lily, you butt head! You left the cold water on!"
"Sorry!" Lily called back. At least she's awake, she thought happily.
Lily zipped her trunk shut and dragged it downstairs. She flopped onto the couch in the living room and clicked on the TV. Just as she was watching a show on Comedy Central (a channel everyone should watch) she heard a thump coming from the fireplace. Her head swiveled in that direction and standing before her, all covered in soot, was the bartender at the Leaky Cauldron, Ted Smith.
"Teddy!" Lily exclaimed. "I can't believe it's you, it's been so long!"
Ted looked up at her with a puzzled expression. "Do I know you?" he asked curiously.
"Teddy, how can you not know who I am?" Lily asked in a disappointed tone.
Ted shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I really don't know you . . ."
"It's me, Ted, Lily. Lily Evans. Lillian Marie Evans! Does that ring a bell?"
Ted's face broke into a grin and he pulled Lily into a brotherly hug, picking her up and twirling her around as he did so. "I know it's you, Lils, I was just messing with you." He set her down and grinned. "You look so different, Lils."
Lily looked down at her clothes and fingered the hem of her shirt. "You don't like it?" she asked disappointedly.
"I never said that. Wow, you look . . . wow, Lily, you look great."
Lily looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks. But you have Sara to thank for that, not me."
Ted cleared his throat. "Oh, is uh, is Sara here?"
"Well it is her house," Lily answered sarcastically. "Yeah, she's upstairs. You wanted to see her?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah, I did."
"Okay," Lily said slowly. "I'll go get her. Make yourself comfortable." Lily ran up the stairs and into Sara's bedroom, where she was sitting at her vanity and brushing her golden brown hair. "Sara!" Lily said. "Teddy's here!"
Sara stopped brushing and looked at Lily. "You mean Ted Smith?"
"Yeah. Why is he here?"
"I have no idea. Does my hair look alright?" Sara fixed her hair with her hands and stood up. She smoothed her skirt and looked in the mirror again. "Really, how do I look?" she asked Lily anxiously.
Lily raised an eyebrow. "Fine, Sara. Why are you primping yourself so much? You're dating Robert, remember that."
"Who? Oh, right, Robert," Sara said sadly. She sighed and walked down the stairs. Lily sat on Sara's bed and waited for her to come back. After a couple minutes, Sara practically danced back up the stairs and flopped down on her bed. She sighed happily and looked at Lily. Before Lily could ask what happened, Sara sand out, "I think I'm in loooooooooooooooove!"
Lily laughed and lay down next to Sara. "What happened?" she asked anxiously.
Sara sighed again and grinned. "Isn't he the best?"
"Teddy's like my brother, you know I can't answer that."
Sara squealed girlishly. "He asked me out! I'm going to meet him in the Three Broomsticks on our first Hogsmeade weekend. Isn't he the greatest?"
"Yeah, Sara? I really don't want to ruin this moment or anything, but . . . you're still dating Robert."
"Who's Robert?"
Lily looked at her, amazed. "Robert Saye, Sara! Your boyfriend."
"Oh, him." Sara frowned. "Well, I guess I have no choice. I have to dump him."
Lily was shocked at how easily Sara could get in and out of relationships. Lily had only been in one relationship, with Amos Diggory when she was in her fourth year. They had only gone out for a few weeks. Amos was very pleasant to talk to, and the two were still in contact, but Lily didn't enjoy the feeling of being tied down. She almost felt strangled.
After a comfortable silence, Lily looked at the time again, and urged Sara to finish getting ready. They told Sara's mum that they were ready to go and hopped in the car. The ride to the King's Cross was a quiet one; Sara's mind filled with Ted and Lily's with her new appearance. She was very nervous as to how the rest of the school would think of her new look. Lily had always been cautious to what others thought of her; a habit Lily hoped to break.
They reached the station with time to spare. Sara's mum walked the two girls to the barrier separating platforms 9 and 10. She gave her daughter and Lily big hugs, then disappeared into the crowd as she walked away. Sara walked through the barrier first, quickly followed by Lily, and together they walked to the Hogwarts Express, hoping that they could find an empty compartment. They hauled their trunks onto the train and walked the train's length, all the way to the back where they found a compartment. They sat down, closed the door and readied themselves for the long train ride.
They heard the shouts and commotion caused from the other students boarding the train, and to block out the noise, they launched into a deep conversation about the upcoming NEWTS.
Just as the train began to move, there was a knock at the compartment door. "Who is it?" Sara called.
"Open the door and find out," a voice called back that sounded oddly like Sirius Black's.
"What do you want, Black?" Sara asked.
"Open the door and find out," he repeated.
"Why do you want me to open the door?" She asked. Sara looked at Lily and grinned.
"Are you going to open the door or what?"
Sara groaned and slid the door open. Standing before her with matching grins were Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Their gaze quickly fell from Sara to Lily and their jaws all dropped in unison.
Lily blushed and looked at her feet. Silence followed, and Lily knew the boys hadn't changed their expressions. "Wow," Sirius said finally. "Do I know you?"
"I get that a lot," Lily mumbled and looked at him.
"Wow," he repeated.
"Well?" Sara asked excitedly. "What do you think?"
"I think –" James began, but was interrupted by Remus.
"She looks spectacular," Remus said with a warm smile in Lily's direction. Her heart began to rise and she found herself smiling. She had never gotten such compliments before.
"I think –" James said again, this time interrupted by Peter.
"You look great, Lily," Peter squeaked. "You look different, and then –" he cocked his head to one side, "you look the same. Who did it?"
"Sara," Lily said softly.
Peter looked at Sara and smiled. Sara was on the verge of bursting with pride. She elbowed Lily in the side and smiled widely. "You're a hit!" she said excitedly. "I can't wait to show you off to the rest of the school!"
"You're joking, right?" Lily asked.
Sara just smiled again. "Where's Tanya?" she asked James. "Did you dump her yet?"
Before James could answer, Sirius said, "Not yet. But we're hoping that it'll be soon." He dodged a slap to the head from James and took a seat opposite Sara and Lily.
"She's with Nicole Kay," James told Sara.
"Oh," Sara said in a disappointed tone. "I wanted to show her Lily. Doesn't she look great?"
"I think –" James attempted again. Before he could finish his sentence, Tanya opened the door and slid into his lap.
"There you are," she cooed into his ear. "I was worried." She looked around the small train compartment and her gaze fell on Lily. Lily had expected Tanya to throw a list of insults her way, but all Tanya did was glance quickly at James, then out the window. She hadn't even commented on Lily's new look.
Lily was confused by this, but decided against further thinking about it and leaned her head against the window, listening to the rest of the group pick up her and Sara's conversation on the NEWTS. After that topic got boring, they switched to the new broomstick coming out called Lightning Bolt 6000, then the new song the band Troll Breath had just written, then death. Lily only joined in with the conversation on death, when she offered her knowledge on the Hindu belief of reincarnation, which created a whole new conversation.
They finally reached Hogwarts and the group stood up at once, eager to get to the feast. Sirius was the first one to exit, then Peter, closely followed by Sara, Remus, and Tanya, leaving Lily and James as the last ones in the compartment.
"Lily," James called out just as she was about to leave. She turned around to face him. "Yeah?"
"I think you look ama –"
"Lily, come on! There's food waiting!" Sara interrupted. She burst through the door and dragged Lily out by the arm.
"zing," James lamely finished to himself. He, too, gathered his things and walked out of the compartment, although this time, with a frown on his face.
Yeah, James's response. But aha! I have cut it in half again! Because the other other half is Lily's response to James's response! Aha!!!
lilred-07: once again, my first reviewer! i am so glad that you liked the chapter, and thank you for the compliment on my description.i was so worried that it would suck and everyone would hate it, but i guess that's not the case.
Lady Cantara: i would not DREAM of letting lily wear louie vaton, so don't worry and i will not let her tuen into one of those super ultra slutty punk chicks, so once again, don't worry. and i am so glad that it wasn't cheesy. thank you for the review!
ourlittlesecret7: yes, i did stop halfway! and i did it again! lol.
GSCer: i am sorry you thought it was cliche, but apparently, you were the only one who said so, so i guess it wasn't THAT bad. thanks for the review.
InLuvWitRupert: whoooooooaaaaaaa, did you give me one helluva long review! lol, but i don't mind. just keep 'em coming. and oh my god, you mentioned full house! lol, i love it when stephanie says, "how rude" lol.
FallenFlower: i am so glad you like the new summary. i like it much better than the old one; it sucked. now anyway, the accent? you know on lord of the rings and lost dominic mohagon or whatever? he's charlie on lost, i don't know who on LOTR, but i am addicted to his accent. lol, i love it. oh, and thank you for the compliment on her makeover. i didn't want it to be that instant makeover, either. and i can't believe you thought sara would do something like that to the shampoo! lol, i can't believe i didn't think of that.
DOJ: your review did not sound harsh at all. but it really made me think aout where i was heading with this story and whatnot, so thanks! oh, and for the review too. glad you like the story, and i hope you do good on the exams!
freakin-person: isn't sara such a genius? lol, thanks for the review! nice name, by the way.
BeCkY6: :-) right back at cha.
SiriusJamesRemus'sgirl: that is the exact order i would put them in, too. (referring to name) screw peter. i am so glad you like the story, keep reading!