A/N – This is my second fan-fic, so please be nice and R&R
Disclaimer:
Methinks as thou art scrolling,
'Twill be obvious to thee,
That 'Harry Potter' etc. belongs to J.K Rowling,
And most definitely not to me.
A/N : Many Thanks to my Absolutely Fabulous Reviewers!
Piper-Loves-Leo: You really thought that? That's excellent. Glad you liked it!.
Adi Gallia1: Really glad you like it! Thank you!
MaisjetadoreSiriusNoir: Don't feel stupid! Glad you like Beauxbatons. Yeah, that girl is a bit like Fleur, but if you read this chapter, you'll find someone who is even more like her! Thanks for reviewing again!
WritingsOfATeenageDramaQueen: Thank you! You see it all the time? OMG are you serious? That's horrible, but also kind of cool…
mystikalolo: I think that that will be Delphine's only major appearance, but we'll have to see. James doesn't like her very muchanyway. Thanks for reviewing!
Rosie: glad you like it!
melissa: Thank you! I love Lily and James to bits.
Alicia: Thanks for reviewing!
Tooki: Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are way too kind!dreamy-crazygirl: Glad you liked the French! You are smart! Though I can honestly say that getting Lily and or James jealous by them both liking other people never once crossed my mind! I wasn't actually going to have anything important happen between them until the very end of the summit when an enormous bombshell is dropped! He he, you'll have to wait and see what that is! Anyway, thanks for reviewing! Much, much appreciated!
lil Angel99: Glad you liked it! Please, not the ducks, NO! Anything but the ducks! Have mercy, have mercy!
LostConscience: Glad you liked it! You're completely right. Lily is so blind. Thanks for reviewing!
DobbyGrl: Thank you! Thank you so much!
Mortari: He he he. Thank you! I love utter nonsense in fan fics too!
Dragonprincess: Yay! Thank you!
Celi: Thank you! Maybe you're right!
Chapter Eight - Games, Stags and Staring
"No, I wouldn't say that we were friends. We're acquaintances really. He's just a friend of a friend of mine."
James nonchalantly rearranged the dark red sludge on his plate. He had no idea what it was, and it didn't look or smell particularly appealing, but the boy sitting next to him had dared him to try some. Since when was James ever one to turn down a challenge?
"No, I wouldn't say that we were friends. We're acquaintances really. He's just a friend of a friend of mine."
Lily's words were continuously swirling through his head. He couldn't help but feel a bit hurt by what she had said. Surely they were more than acquaintances, they'd being hanging around with each other for nearly seven years after all! Still, that probably wouldn't have been the case if he and Lily hadn't had Chhaya as their mutual friend. If Chhaya didn't exist, Lily probably wouldn't talk to him at all. It was such a shame. Before the little incident with Snape on the train before first year, James was sure that he and Lily would have had at least a close friendship, but it wasn't to be. James just had to ruin it before it had even properly begun. Oh well, he sighed. Acquaintance or friend of a friend was a step up form mortal enemy or arch nemesis, wasn't it?
Sighing again, he looked down at the red goo on his plate and decided to take the plunge. He cut a small slice and put it slowly into his mouth. Hmm, not that bad. The gelatinous texture was rather off putting though. Looking back to the many diverse dishes on the table, James noticed a bright green crumbly substance, not too far away. Turning to the boy next to him, James was about to dare him to eat some, but for the first time noticed that the boy and every other boy at the table were all staring at something.
Looking in the direction of their aforementioned stares, James thought at first that they were all staring at Lily. He was about to let out a string of unsavory hexes on them, when he realised that they were in fact transfixed by the girl sitting next to Lily, to whom Lily was talking. And James could see why. She was a Veela. She had to be. With her flawless skin, fabulous smile, ethereal hair, piercing gray eyes and angelic facial features, there was no way that she was completely human.
She must be the Durmstrang Head Girl. He thought to himself. James hadn't even noticed when the Durmstrang representatives had finally arrived. He was too preoccupied by what Lily had said about him earlier.
"Ouch!" Exclaimed Lily. The group of Triwizard representatives were currently involved in an introductory session of name games and trust exercises. Unfortunately, all of the boys were still gazing continuously at Evangeline, The Veela Girl. Lily's partner, Achille, wasn't paying attention, and when Lily fell backwards, expecting him to catch her, she had fallen onto the ground with a loud thud.
Achille, of course, hadn't noticed, as he was still transfixed by Evangeline.
"Lily, are you okay?" Asked James, giving her a hand up.
"Yes. Thank you." She muttered.
"I saw you talking to that girl at lunch. Is it true that she's a Veela?"
"Yes, well she's half Veela, meaning that she can't transform into that strange bird thing."
"I thought as much. Well, it looks like we're not going to get much done in the next couple of days. Not with her occupying nearly everyone's thoughts."
"You know James, I'm quite surprised that you're not standing over there with the other guys, staring at her with googly eyes and saliva dripping down your chin." James smiled, knowingly.
"Oh, my dear Lily. Didn't you know? Men who have found true love aren't affected by Veela charms."
Lily scoffed.
"Yeah, sure. You are not in love with me Potter."
"Just because you don't believe it, it doesn't mean that it's not true."
"Yeah, okay, whatever you say. Just shut up and do these exercises with me. You might actually prove yourself to be useful for once. The partner I've got at the moment is a hopeless case."
"Why pretend anymore Lily? I know that you're dying to be in my arms!"
"What did I say before Potter? Shut. Up."
James chuckled.
"Okay Lily, chill out! And it's James, remember? Now, turn around and prepare to fall back into my warm, welcoming, trustworthy arms."
Lily smirked, but turned around. She put her arms out and slowly began to fall backwards, feeling the air rush under her. Then, just before she thought that she was about to hit the ground again, strong arms caught her and held her close. Lily smiled as she felt James' warm chest against her back. She could even feel his heart racing. She sank into him and breathed in his scent. It was a mixture of soap and apples, and very comforting. After they had stood there for what seemed like hours, Lily noticed that all the girls were staring at them with knowing smiles.
"James," Lily said softly. "James, you can let go of me now."
"Oh, right, yeah…sorry." Said James awkwardly, blushing with embarrassment.
"Only a acquaintance? Just a friend of your friend? That is not what it appeared to be in the room beforehand, Lily! Said Ariane teasingly, poking Lily in the ribs.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Said Lily airily.
Ariane just smirked at her. Lily pretended that she hadn't seen and changed the subject of conversation.
"You know, I really wish that you and the other prefects were allowed to do everything with us. It would be nice to have you around more often, instead of just being there to make sure I get up in the morning and know where to go."
"Yes, that would be nice, although I am certain that I would dislike the lectures and meetings you are permitted to attend, very much."
"They're not all that bad. One of the speakers we had this afternoon was hilarious."
"It is six o'clock Lily. Time for you to go down to dinner."
"Aren't you coming too?"
"No, I am not. The Prefects will be dining alone in the kitchens and then setting up the Magical Projecting Screen for the film this evening."
"Oh, okay. Would you mind showing me the way to the Dining Hall again?"
"Of course Lily. That is my job."
Lily had been enjoying the summit immensely. They would have breakfast early every morning and then have meetings, debates and lectures about leadership and inter and intra-school unity, until lunchtime. After lunch, they would usually play games such as Quidditch or have Wizard's Chess, Exploding Snap or Gobstones Tournaments. After a brief and informal afternoon tea, they would be given leisure time until dinner, which they would usually spend exploring the castle and its grounds or, when lucky, the city of Paris. After dinner, they would watch a film on the M.P.S. and then retreat to their rooms, where they would be served a light supper before bed.
Lily couldn't sleep. That probably had something to do with the enormous full moon that was currently shining through the window, directly onto her face. She attempted to close the curtains and block out the moonlight, but they were made of a silky, sheer material and only managed to dim the bright light slightly.
Lily sighed in defeat and instead looked out the window, which had a beautiful view of the grounds, which were currently flooded with the moon's silver light and just aching to be explored.
Shivering slightly, she got out from under her warm duvet and reached for her winter cloak that was draped over a nearby chair. Creeping quietly out of her room and into the common room that she shared with James, she made as little noise as possible, for fear of waking him.
Trying to remember the way out of the castle, she made her way towards the Entrance Hall. The grounds of Beauxbatons Castle were very different at night. Everything was illuminated by the silvery, ethereal light of the moon and seemed soft and alien to what she was used to. Lily lay down on the soft grass, which was completely devoid of snow. She loved Beauxbatons, it was beautiful, but it was also rather sterile. No snow was allowed to fall form the heavens over the ground, everything in the grounds was neatly trimmed and topiaried. No leaf was out of place and every perfectly spherical rosebush had exactly twelve white, blemish free blooms. Beauxbatons was beautiful, but it lacked Hogwarts' warmth and sincerity. For the first time, Lily missed the chattering portraits, moving staircases and even irritating Peeves.
The soft sound of lapping water nearby made Lily sit up suddenly. Looking around for an intruder, she found the source of the noise. Drinking from the lake was a graceful silver stag. Lily's breath caught in her throat as the elegant beast began to move cautiously towards her. It came closer and closer, until it stopped, just in front of her. Lily timidly put out a hand, to stroke its neck, but it instead moved its head and licked her palm with its warm, pale pink tongue. Lily giggled and patted it gently on the head, between its antlers. Lily smiled and it let out a sound that sounded like a strangled moan. The stag seemed to be leaning into her hand, urging her to rub its scalp with greater intensity. It moaned again, but all of a sudden, Lily found her hand rubbing the scalp of none other than James Potter.
He moaned and Lily withdrew he hand immediately from his head.
"You-" She began, but James cut her of by kissing her. Lily melted, but then remembered whom she kissing. She pushed him away aggressively.
"You're an animagis?" She hissed. "Underage and unregistered? Do you have any idea how much trouble you can into for that James? I sure as hell hope that you didn't do this in another pathetic attempt to impress me! Because if it was, I'm most certainly not! And how dare you think that you can distract me by kissing me like that? What makes you think that you can kiss me at all?That was completely out of line! What are you go-"
"Lily, shut up! I can explain, okay."
"I most certainly hope so James. You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do."