A/N: Hi people, I would like to make a note (September 2, 2005). I wrote this story... last year? Earlier this year...? Yeah, this is one of my earliest stories that I kept posted, because so many people seemed to like it, and I have a buttload of reviews, so I didn't, and don't, want to take it down. Just note that this was in one of my more early writing phases, my style has changed since this story, don't judge my skills on this if you don't like it, or think it's too American (with which I agree). If you like this story, (and reviewed!) I really do thank you, it was your reviews that kept me updating almost every day. I hold all you people in the highest respect. I don't know when I'll be reviewing again; Grassy Cement is my main multi-chapter story (if you liked this, read that!) and I have a few more one-shots I'm working on. Review those too. :) So this might not get updated for awhile, even thoughit HASN'T been updated for awhile. I've also started my first year in highschool, yay, so I am much more busy. I still will post though! Just not this... I don't like this story very much anymore, personally, but that just might be writer's doubt. Tell me your opinions? Like I said, for all you people who have reviewed, I appreciate it more than you can imagine, and I'm so glad you like this story, the first one I was ever really proud of. I hope you guys like my writing.
Sincerely,
Catchy Pen Name.
(Haha, it's all formal.)
A/N 2, regular one for story: Everything that happens here is all in the same day. Yeah.
Ch. 20 "Weenie Love and Soap"
Lily's stomach twisted and knotted with nerves, although she didn't say a word as James reluctantly lead her up staircases, through corridors, around corners and through one hidden door to the Room of Requirements.
James did the usual act, walking past the door three times, concentrating hard on what type of room they needed. Right on cue, a gleaming oak door appeared with a golden handle. Lily's eyebrows arched at the door's appearance, but remained silent. James grinned at her, and beckoned her closer. His smile stayed plastered on his face as he opened the door and stood aside, allowing her to get a better look at the room. Lily's jaw dropped.
It was huge. Absolutely huge. It was at least the size of the Great Hall, if not bigger. And – as she also noticed, as it has hard not to – it was a ballroom. One of the grandest, most exquisite ballrooms Lily had ever witnessed. The walls were very high, holding up a ceiling proudly displaying a copy of Michelangelo's work on the Sistine Chapel. As Lily further looked into it, it was an exact copy. A large chandelier hung from a golden hook in the center of the room; the light shining in from one of the large floor-to-ceiling windows reflected off its crystals. The walls were covered with intricate pink and red roses, pure perfection down to the last petal. The tiny golden leaves and small pieces of diamonds fitted into the flowers showed them off even more. The floor was a lovely marble; the light shade perfectly accentuated the rest of the room.
Lily turned around slowly, her jaw still open. "What is this?" she croaked.
James laughed. "Your reaction was worth it."
"Worth what?" she asked. "What is this?"
"This," James responded as he strolled to the middle of the room, standing next to Lily, "is the grand ballroom at the Potter mansion." He sucked his breath in softly, waiting for her next response somewhat nervously.
Lily stood in her spot for a few seconds, letting what James just said fully sink in. "So this," she questioned, "is in your house? Your house?"
"Uh huh." He was swinging his fists at his sides and bit his lip. "I hope this won't be a problem."
"What, the fact that you have more money than the Minister of Magic himself? Or the fact that you're so rich you can give away a handful of Galleons and not even feel the weight difference in your pocket?"
He laughed slightly. "Both, I suppose. People do tend to get a little crazy once they find out how much – how well –"
"How you're filthy rich," Lily finished.
James grinned. "Yeah, that too."
"What, do you expect me to throw myself at your feet and propose my undying love to you just so I'd be well off?" she asked as she peered at her reflection in the shiny floor.
"Well, if that did happen, it wouldn't be anything I'm not used to." He also looked at his reflection, and the two were now side by side. His eyes then fell onto Lily's reflection and straight into her glowing green eyes.
"I never knew," Lily admitted after a small silence, finally tearing James's death ray away from her. "Did we come her to dance, or what?" She instantly regretted the words. I did not just say that.
James's lopsided grin sprang to life once again on his handsome face. "But of course," he replied in a very deep, southern voice.
"Nice accent," Lily giggled as she placed her hand in his outstretched one.
"I know, that's how my dad talks." He positioned Lily and himself properly and placed his other hand on her waist.
Lily was absolutely oblivious to anything that had to do with dancing, except for the old movies she saw when the movie star and her secret lover get to dance in front of her husband and her entire family, who are all flabbergasted. Thanks to those, she knew to put her left hand on his shoulder. She slightly flexed her fingers and was sure she looked like a total idiot. "I've never heard you talk about your father," she continued, trying to cover up her ignorance.
The shoulder without Lily's hand raised and lowered, and soft classical music began to play. Lily instantly recognized it as Mozart. "He's never really around." Lily could tell he was a little uneasy on this topic, but before she could change it, he cut her off. "He's an Auror off fighting in Poland right now, so I never really get to talk to him, and if I do it's in a letter. But I'm used to it."
"Oh," Lily sputtered. "Um, what about your – do you have any other family?"
He smiled slightly. "My mum's a Healer. She's usually home, but now she's off with my dad, working at the Polish hospital. I have an older sister, Janine. She's a real witch."
Lily laughed in spite of herself. "Anyone's better than what I've got."
James frowned slightly. "Yeah, I figured that out."
The hand that was clasped in James's was starting to get a little sweaty. Lily just realized that they had been standing there like that, barely moving for the past couple minutes. James also took notice, but smoothly picked up where they left off.
"Okay," he said. The music had gotten louder, and it was ringing in Lily's ears. James stood still, counting in his head for the next cue to begin. He assumed Lily was doing the same, and suddenly moved forward, barging into an unwarned head girl. She fell down backwards, pulling James with her. They landed on the floor with a thump; all his weight was pushed onto Lily's chest, and her eyes watered in pain.
"Oh, Lily, I am so sorry," he said hastily as he tenderly pulled Lily to her feet. She had one arm lain protectively across her chest, knowing for sure that she would have a massive bruise there the next morning. Most girls liked hard bodies, but James's was way past that title.
"Could you – could you give me a moment?" Lily sputtered in a rather high-pitched voice.
"Sure, sure, yes, of course." James hustled out the door, quickly closing it on his way out. Lily sank to the floor and let out an ear-spitting scream. Screaming always helped everything. She tenderly pulled down her shirt collar and observed the amount of red skin. She winced slightly before reopening the door and beckoned James inside. His face was rather red and he kept his head down. Whether or not he heard the scream, Lily was afraid to ask.
James refused to look Lily in the eye, obviously not used to being in this type of a situation. Feeling much more dominant than she had a few minutes earlier, she briskly walked to the center of the room and turned up the music once again before casting an expectant look over James. He trudged over to Lily and once again took his position. After a slight hesitation he held his head up and began to recount for his cue. Lily now knew when to begin, and right as James lifted his foot off the ground she said abruptly, "James, I can't dance." That got him.
He slightly stumbled, but lily held his hand firmly in his and he straightened himself up quickly. "Pardon?" he asked.
"I can't dance," she repeated.
"I am so glad you told me this before we began, Lily," he said sarcastically. "Thank God you didn't wait." Lily rolled her eyes and he laughed. "What do you mean, you can't dance?"
"I can't dance. I don't think I can make it much clearer than that."
"So, you can't dance a waltz, or you can't dance period?" he asked her.
"Mm . . . the last one seems to be more accurate," replied Lily.
James sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "We have a long road in front of us," he stated.
Lily grinned and turned the music up as high as it would go. "Just the way I like it."
" . . . so he's in the Great Hall, and I was thinking of writing something on the wall, like, "Malfoy sleeps naked," in glowing hot pink writing. What do you think?"
"Mmm . . ."
"Sara!"
"What!"
"You're not listening to me!"
"Yes I am."
"What was I saying, then?"
"Something about doing something." She stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth as she finished the detail on the face.
Sirius's ice blue eyes rolled. He sat back in his seat and propped his feet on the back of Sara's chair.
"Quit it, Black," she murmured as she brushed them away.
He stubbornly replaced them the cocked an eyebrow at her. "You are so impossible when you paint, I hope you know that."
"Mmm . . ."
The two were in the common room, ignorant to the fact that their best friends were in the Room of Requirements, sweating and suffering to the art of dance. Sara and Sirius were in the far end of the common room, with Sirius planning his next prank and Sara working on her newest painting. It was a portrait of herself and Lily, and she was going to give it to her friend for her birthday. They were standing back to back, slightly leaning on each other, arms crossed and faces turned towards the camera, as it was a picture. It was taken during the summer, right after Lily's makeover.
Sirius took his feet down and leaned in towards the picture. He studied it momentarily then glanced at Sara. Her tongue was still poking out in the corner of her mouth and her eyes were narrowed in concentration. Her hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head, and some loose strands hung limply in front of her face. She bushed them away impatiently, leaving a trail of blue paint on her cheek. Sirius chuckled slightly and leaned back in his seat.
Sara noticed Sirius's expectant glare, and sighed loudly before unwillingly cleaning up. Once she closed all her paint bottles and cleaned her brushes, she gathered her things before standing up and returning a glare to Sirius. Sirius watched her trudge towards the girls' dormitory stairs and disappear around the bend. "Come on!" he heard her screech, and he rolled his eyes before getting up and reluctantly following her.
His foot was just about to touch the first step, when he froze in midair. "They'll slide," he called to Sara.
"Put a freezing charm on it!" she called back from her dormitory.
Sirius blinked astoundingly. "I can't believe I never thought of that," he whispered as he whipped out his wand, muttered the right spell under his breath, and ran up the stairs. He knocked lightly on the ajar door before stepping into Sara's room. "Sara," he called.
"In here," she replied, her voice coming from the bathroom and slightly muffled by the sound of running water.
"Why'd you want me to come?" he asked as he sat down on the messiest bed, which he assumed to be hers.
The water was turned off and Sara came back into the room. "So you can keep talking to me about whatever," she explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Right. Well, I was thinking –"
"Sirius Black thinking!" a gasp. "Oh my, does anyone have a camera?" Tanya cried rudely. She had just come bursting through the door. Her hangover had just ended, and she was still a bitch.
"Oh, Tanny, how I do love you're obnoxious timing," Sara shot back.
"Well at least I don't snog Sirius Black in a room that doesn't even belong to me!" she cried.
Sirius stood up next to Sara. "A fantasy even I will not fulfil," he spat.
Tanya snorted loudly. "Pul-leeze, Black, not every girl wants to have sex with you. You're not even that cute," she added snobbishly with a hair flip.
"As if you even know what cute is!" Sara exclaimed. "Don't call someone who's cute ugly, Huggins." Sirius's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.
Tanya snorted again. "Whatever," she said, and she left the room.
"She can't even think of a good comeback," Sara muttered angrily as she threw herself on her bed. "What's the point to fighting with her? It's not even fun. God, is she stupid. No wonder she's such a drunk."
"Do you think I'm cute?" Sirius asked, rather bluntly.
Sara sat up and arched her brows. "What?"
"Do you think I'm cute?"
A slight blush was quickly taking over Sara's face. "No, of course not!"
"Oh." Sirius was also starting to blush, and once he noticed it he blushed even more. There was a small silence between them. "Bye then," he mumbled as he went for the door, the prank completely gone from both of their minds.
Sara blinked, then turned around and screamed into her pillow.
Sara walked limply into the Great Hall for dinner and sat at the far end of the table, away from everyone else. She had been very quiet lately and was extremely depressed. She distractedly filled her plate with who knows what and stared at it.
"Hi Sara," Lily greeted as she sat down across from her best friend. She quickly took notice of her odd behavior and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Oh, Lily!" Sara cried out loudly. Some people turned their heads, but quickly went back to their food. "I am such an idiot!" she continued to wail.
"What happened?" Lily asked concernedly.
"I – I – he – we – I – he – we –"
"Full sentences, if you don't mind," Lily suggested as she scooped mashed potatoes on her plate.
"I – he – I said – and she – she – oh what a bitch."
The corners of Lily's mouth turned upward. "Come on, Sara, tell me what happened."
Sara's head slammed on the table and she groaned. "He hates me. Sirius," she added before Lily could ask. "Huggins came in and she called Sirius ugly and I told her not to say that and I guess the way I said it implied that I like Sirius and I don't like him I just think he's a little bit cute but that's besides the point 'cause Sirius asked me if I liked him and I said no and he got kind of sad and he looked really pitiful and I think he's super hot but I'm with Teddy I really like him but no one's cuter than Sirius and I was to too lazy to do my homework and I'd better not fail."
"So you like Sirius and he thinks you don't and you're afraid to break up with Ted 'cause you like him," Lily summarized. "Am I right."
"A little too perfectly," Sara replied. She put her head in her hands and groaned again. "My life is a soap opera. It's full of soap. And I don't even like soap!"
"Which corresponds with your BO," Lily added with a smirk.
"Exactly!" she exclaimed. "Hey!" she added after an afterthought. "Did you just imply that I smell bad?"
Lily laughed and, without even thinking about it, glanced down the table. Her eyes fell on Simon Good and she choked on her food.
"Don't choke," Sara said once Lily had stopped.
"Thanks," she returned sarcastically. She once again looked at Simon, then cleared her throat loudly and stood up.
"Where ya goin'?" Sara asked.
Lily took a deep breath. "I've made my decision about Simon," she bravely announced.
"And?" Sara asked excitedly.
Lily took another deep breath. "I'm saying yes."
Sara gasped aloud as she watched Lily walk towards Simon, whisper something in his ear, and then exit the room with him. "I can't believe it," she said in disbelief. "My best friend is in love with a weenie."
TA DAA! (gasp!) No Lily no! Don't do it!
I have a survey for you people. I'm pretty sure that I'll repost The SeventhYear, and I don't know if I should add Sara as another character or not. Should I add her, or stick to other characters? I need answers!
And since I looove giving you guys huge chunks of my personal life, here goes: Fall Out Boy is such an AMAZING BAND! I have one of their songs stuck in my head, along with "My Immortal" by Evanescence, "Let Go" by Frau Frau, and "She's the Blade" by Sugarcult. All very good songs. Very. AND! If you haven't seen the movie "Donnie Darko" I STRONGLY urge you to. It is such an amazing movie. If you want to find out even more about me, look at freakin-person'sresponse. Thatfreakin person is full of questions.
Red-Emerald: Sorry if the whole "drunk Tanya" thing was sudden, and don't worry, you will find out who her "husband" is soon.
kisstheunicorn: Thanks for the review! And you just keep procrastinating.
mizlovegood: THANK YOU! I was so worried! I was like, "Oh no, she'll think I'm a bitch." Lol, I tend to panic easily. Glad you like my story, and I'll keep reviewing yours! PS Can't wait for All Else's sequel.
soccerchic1989: Sorry the last chapter was somewhat pointless! You are really the only person who points this kind of stuff out to me. What would I do without you?
knoxjazzbabe: Okay. My story is SOMEWHAT based on Rowling's. I'm kind of going off in my own little world here, so yeah. I will do another story (after this) that's more like how it should be, but this one is a little not like the story. Thanks for the review!
freakin-person: You're back! Oh, the horror! Lol. I keep hitting the Caps key by mistake and it is pissing me off. Sorry. Fav sport: Swimming is so much fun (scuba diving on Great Barrier Reef!) and I like rock-climbing. I'm scared of hights, but oh well. Mainly sports that don't involve running, cuz I get tired easily. But like, regular running is fun. Like, in the summer I'll wake up early and go sprinting just cuz it's fun. Fav animal: I love animals in general (if I decide to work with animals as a career I'm considering a marine biologist) but my fav would have to be a TIGER! Roar, baby. I like to draw, write (only if I'm in the mood though) PAINT! watch TV, go on computer, write in journal, read my oh so fantabulous books, or . . . do whatever else I'm in the mood for. I am a very spontaneous person. When you say "which harry potter character would you like to pair up with" you mean like date, right? Well, it depends on the era. MWPP: Sirius or Remus. Harry: Fred or Oliver or Cedric? He was hot, so maybe. But Fred and Oliver rock. School subject: Umm...LUNCH! Lunch this year KICKS ASS. Really, I love it. But a subject subject, um, US History (World History if I took it this year) and Art. I don't watch any Japanese shows, but I must say you sparked my interest. Which ones do you watch? Wait, do you mean shows that speak Japanese or something like anime? TV channel: VH1, Comedy Central are big. E! when they have SNL on, USA for Law&Order:SVU, UPN for Veronica Mars...stuff like that. And FOX for Friends and American Idol. My best friend is Sara! The character Sara is more based on me, but I think the name Sara is so pretty, even though it's so common I want to barf. I have one little sister, she's 11. Most hated person: won't name names, but I'll just say that I'M ON TO YOU BITCH! Wow, random. If I had to write all this and you end up not reviewing for this chapter, I will be utterly disappointed. Yeah. I would say something catchy right here like, "Thanks for the review!" or whatever, but my fingers hurt. Ow.