Bad Day: Part One
"I'm late! Sweet Merlin, I'm late!" Lily Evans, a seventeen-year-old witch at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, ran in a perfect tizzy around her dorm room, trying to get dressed and brush her hair at the same time. Lily had dark red hair, just past her shoulder blades. Her green eyes were angry at her alarm clock for not waking her.
She stuffed her books in her bag, and sprinted down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Most teachers and students had gone, with only a few lingering, late, as she was. She ate a bowl of porridge as fast as she could with one hand while getting her books to fit into her bags with the other. Finally, she finished, and ran out into the cold January air.
"Of course," she thought bitterly, "I forget to bring a cloak." She trudged through the snow, taking a shortcut to Potions.
As she approached the entrance to the dungeons, she saw a blond head whip inside. Lily recognized it as her best friend, Cassie Clark. She ran to catch up to her, relieved that she wasn't as late as she thought. When she got in, she noticed that only three people were there, and she wasn't late at all. In truth, she was quite early. Sighing in frustration, she sat down next to Cassie.
"Morning, Lily. What's got you in such a bad mood?"
"Nothing, nothing," Lily sighed, and put her head down on the desk, cushioned by her folded arms.
Cassie left it at that. Lily wasn't one to provoke, especially in the morning, and especially when she was already in a foul mood.
People filed into the classroom, talking in loud voices that prevented Lily from getting her nap that she fully intended to get that day. She put her head up and waited for the teacher to take roll.
"Algorez!"
"Here."
"Annoert!"
"Here."
"Black!"
"Present and accounted for, Professor, and may I say you're looking magnificent today?" Sirius fixed Professor Holter with a goofy grin, while she gave him a condescending glare.
"No, Mr. Black, and if you speak out of turn again, it will be ten points from Gryffindor," she said softly, yet sinisterly. Contrary to Lily, the professor seemed to be in a good mood today.
Professor Holter continued down the list, and finally started the lesson. "You will be making an Apathy Potion today. Instructions are on the board. You have forty minutes. Go."
Lily got the ingredients and haphazardly put them on the desk while Cassie heated the cauldron.
"Dice three lizards' eyes and chop eleven cockroaches. Add to cauldron and stir clockwise three times," Lily read aloud softly. She sighed, and did so.
Cassie and Lily finished their potion quickly and filled a sample vile to hand into Professor Holter. As Lily was going up to the teacher's desk, a Slytherin put his foot out for her to trip. Lily saw, and calmly stepped over it. Walking back, she fixed him with a cold glare that could only be interpreted as, "Drop dead, scum." She supposed it was a bit much, but it was shaping up to be a perfectly horrid day.
Lily and Cassie walked to Transfiguration together, but when the arrived, Professor McGonagall's previous class was still in session. People began to congregate at her door, and Lily wondered if she had gotten her schedule mixed up. They, and the rest of Gryffindor, stood outside of the classroom for almost half an hour until finally, the class filed out, and they went in.
"My apologies, class, for keeping you. We will get started right away. Take out your textbooks and turn to page 729 for instructions on today's lesson," McGonagall said. She walked to her desk and sat down tiredly. "Practise transfiguring your animal into your partner's. You have the rest of the class period. Begin."
Lily looked at her textbook, and read the instructions. She performed the spell, and successfully transfigured her parrot into a daffodil. Unfortunately, Cassie's animal was a lizard. She tried again, and got it on her fourth try.
Lily looked around the room, and saw that most people had not gotten it yet. In the corner opposite her, however, were four boys that never ceased to get on her last nerve: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and their "leader," James Potter, the worst of the lot. They, of course, were all finished (they had probably just skipped the magic part and traded their animals) and were chatting rather raucously.
James looked up, and saw Lily looking at him (though he had not picked up on the look of disgust she wore). He ruffled his hair, and tried to flirt with her. Lily rolled her eyes and turned away. Three years of "courtship" and James had only managed to earn Lily's ire, rather than her favor.
This year, however, he was slightly different. He had stopped cursing people in the halls (he saved it for a potential humiliating prank, if they deserved it). He had even cut down on ruffling his hair, even though it proved to be a difficult habit to break. This, however, was not enough to redeem him, at least in Lily's eyes.
After class ended, Lily and Cassie met up with a couple of their other friends, Kathy and Larissa. While Kathy was more of a quiet type, Larissa was flamboyant, and always had a joke to tell. Today was no exception, and Larissa made her friends nearly choke on their lunch.
Once the girls had quieted down from the laugh that Lily in particular desperately needed, Cassie took the stage. "You know, Lily, I saw you looking at," she leaned in, and spoke in a whisper, "James Potter."
The other girls gasped, and their faces lit with anticipation. Lily looked at them almost calmly. She debated upon what to say, and submitted to telling them simply, "Later." They were disappointed, but understood that in Hogwarts, no secret could be risked being told in the open.
The rest of the day went quickly enough, a relief to the dour Lily. Upstairs in the girl's dorm, however, her friends had not forgotten her little promise.
"Lily," said Kathy, "weren't you going to tell us why you were looking at James today?"
Larissa and Cassie's ears pricked, and they all gathered on Lily's bed. They sat, legs crossed much like a preschooler's Story Time, waiting for Lily to begin.
"I have nothing to tell," she said plainly.
Her friends were not going to settle for that. "Come on, Lily! Tell us you like him, and we won't bother you anymore!"
"Yes, you would, and no, I won't tell you that. There's nothing to say!"
"Then tell us why you don't like him, then," Cassie said.
"Because," Lily started, "he's a big, arrogant, overbearing, insolent git. I don't like him, and I never will."
"Oh, come on, Lily! He's been asking you out almost every day for three years! Can't you even feel sorry for him?"
"Precisely! Don't you see that as needy and somewhat creepy?"
"No, I think it's sweet that he is so persistent in you," said Kathy.
"And it's so cute how he always gets nervous around you," said Cassie.
"And just look at him, Lily!" proclaimed Larissa. "He's hot!"
"Then why don't you three date him, so he'll leave me alone!" Lily shouted, and went down to the empty common room. She sat down in a chair in front of the fire so she could reflect and fume.
"First I'm in a rush to class, just to find out I wasn't late," Lily thought angrily to herself. "Then the stupid Slytherin. and then I have to stand around doing nothing for half an hour, only to have my friends attack me about that bloody boy. I've just had the worst day in my life! At least tomorrow is Saturday, and I can sleep off this nightmare." She got up, and went back to her dorm, feeling better after ranting for a while. Lily decided to apologize to her friends for shouting.
"Hey, guys?" Lily said, announcing her presence to her dorm mates.
"Yes, Lily?" Kathy answered.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you. I've had a really rough day. I'm really sorry."
"It's okay, Lily," said Larissa. "It's not like we will condemn you just for being stressed."
"But we still think you should give James a chance!" proceeded Cassie.
Lily rolled her eyes, and got into bed. "Good night," she said. She was answered by three other "'Nights," and fell into a blissfully peaceful sleep.
A/N: I'll make this short. I had a bad day, so I thought I would write a sort of allegory to it, using Lily. I'm sorry if it's bad, and if the plot is quite nonexistent. I, obviously being the writer, hate it, so I would love to hear from you so you can give me tips to improve my writing. Thank you!(
"I'm late! Sweet Merlin, I'm late!" Lily Evans, a seventeen-year-old witch at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, ran in a perfect tizzy around her dorm room, trying to get dressed and brush her hair at the same time. Lily had dark red hair, just past her shoulder blades. Her green eyes were angry at her alarm clock for not waking her.
She stuffed her books in her bag, and sprinted down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Most teachers and students had gone, with only a few lingering, late, as she was. She ate a bowl of porridge as fast as she could with one hand while getting her books to fit into her bags with the other. Finally, she finished, and ran out into the cold January air.
"Of course," she thought bitterly, "I forget to bring a cloak." She trudged through the snow, taking a shortcut to Potions.
As she approached the entrance to the dungeons, she saw a blond head whip inside. Lily recognized it as her best friend, Cassie Clark. She ran to catch up to her, relieved that she wasn't as late as she thought. When she got in, she noticed that only three people were there, and she wasn't late at all. In truth, she was quite early. Sighing in frustration, she sat down next to Cassie.
"Morning, Lily. What's got you in such a bad mood?"
"Nothing, nothing," Lily sighed, and put her head down on the desk, cushioned by her folded arms.
Cassie left it at that. Lily wasn't one to provoke, especially in the morning, and especially when she was already in a foul mood.
People filed into the classroom, talking in loud voices that prevented Lily from getting her nap that she fully intended to get that day. She put her head up and waited for the teacher to take roll.
"Algorez!"
"Here."
"Annoert!"
"Here."
"Black!"
"Present and accounted for, Professor, and may I say you're looking magnificent today?" Sirius fixed Professor Holter with a goofy grin, while she gave him a condescending glare.
"No, Mr. Black, and if you speak out of turn again, it will be ten points from Gryffindor," she said softly, yet sinisterly. Contrary to Lily, the professor seemed to be in a good mood today.
Professor Holter continued down the list, and finally started the lesson. "You will be making an Apathy Potion today. Instructions are on the board. You have forty minutes. Go."
Lily got the ingredients and haphazardly put them on the desk while Cassie heated the cauldron.
"Dice three lizards' eyes and chop eleven cockroaches. Add to cauldron and stir clockwise three times," Lily read aloud softly. She sighed, and did so.
Cassie and Lily finished their potion quickly and filled a sample vile to hand into Professor Holter. As Lily was going up to the teacher's desk, a Slytherin put his foot out for her to trip. Lily saw, and calmly stepped over it. Walking back, she fixed him with a cold glare that could only be interpreted as, "Drop dead, scum." She supposed it was a bit much, but it was shaping up to be a perfectly horrid day.
Lily and Cassie walked to Transfiguration together, but when the arrived, Professor McGonagall's previous class was still in session. People began to congregate at her door, and Lily wondered if she had gotten her schedule mixed up. They, and the rest of Gryffindor, stood outside of the classroom for almost half an hour until finally, the class filed out, and they went in.
"My apologies, class, for keeping you. We will get started right away. Take out your textbooks and turn to page 729 for instructions on today's lesson," McGonagall said. She walked to her desk and sat down tiredly. "Practise transfiguring your animal into your partner's. You have the rest of the class period. Begin."
Lily looked at her textbook, and read the instructions. She performed the spell, and successfully transfigured her parrot into a daffodil. Unfortunately, Cassie's animal was a lizard. She tried again, and got it on her fourth try.
Lily looked around the room, and saw that most people had not gotten it yet. In the corner opposite her, however, were four boys that never ceased to get on her last nerve: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and their "leader," James Potter, the worst of the lot. They, of course, were all finished (they had probably just skipped the magic part and traded their animals) and were chatting rather raucously.
James looked up, and saw Lily looking at him (though he had not picked up on the look of disgust she wore). He ruffled his hair, and tried to flirt with her. Lily rolled her eyes and turned away. Three years of "courtship" and James had only managed to earn Lily's ire, rather than her favor.
This year, however, he was slightly different. He had stopped cursing people in the halls (he saved it for a potential humiliating prank, if they deserved it). He had even cut down on ruffling his hair, even though it proved to be a difficult habit to break. This, however, was not enough to redeem him, at least in Lily's eyes.
After class ended, Lily and Cassie met up with a couple of their other friends, Kathy and Larissa. While Kathy was more of a quiet type, Larissa was flamboyant, and always had a joke to tell. Today was no exception, and Larissa made her friends nearly choke on their lunch.
Once the girls had quieted down from the laugh that Lily in particular desperately needed, Cassie took the stage. "You know, Lily, I saw you looking at," she leaned in, and spoke in a whisper, "James Potter."
The other girls gasped, and their faces lit with anticipation. Lily looked at them almost calmly. She debated upon what to say, and submitted to telling them simply, "Later." They were disappointed, but understood that in Hogwarts, no secret could be risked being told in the open.
The rest of the day went quickly enough, a relief to the dour Lily. Upstairs in the girl's dorm, however, her friends had not forgotten her little promise.
"Lily," said Kathy, "weren't you going to tell us why you were looking at James today?"
Larissa and Cassie's ears pricked, and they all gathered on Lily's bed. They sat, legs crossed much like a preschooler's Story Time, waiting for Lily to begin.
"I have nothing to tell," she said plainly.
Her friends were not going to settle for that. "Come on, Lily! Tell us you like him, and we won't bother you anymore!"
"Yes, you would, and no, I won't tell you that. There's nothing to say!"
"Then tell us why you don't like him, then," Cassie said.
"Because," Lily started, "he's a big, arrogant, overbearing, insolent git. I don't like him, and I never will."
"Oh, come on, Lily! He's been asking you out almost every day for three years! Can't you even feel sorry for him?"
"Precisely! Don't you see that as needy and somewhat creepy?"
"No, I think it's sweet that he is so persistent in you," said Kathy.
"And it's so cute how he always gets nervous around you," said Cassie.
"And just look at him, Lily!" proclaimed Larissa. "He's hot!"
"Then why don't you three date him, so he'll leave me alone!" Lily shouted, and went down to the empty common room. She sat down in a chair in front of the fire so she could reflect and fume.
"First I'm in a rush to class, just to find out I wasn't late," Lily thought angrily to herself. "Then the stupid Slytherin. and then I have to stand around doing nothing for half an hour, only to have my friends attack me about that bloody boy. I've just had the worst day in my life! At least tomorrow is Saturday, and I can sleep off this nightmare." She got up, and went back to her dorm, feeling better after ranting for a while. Lily decided to apologize to her friends for shouting.
"Hey, guys?" Lily said, announcing her presence to her dorm mates.
"Yes, Lily?" Kathy answered.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you. I've had a really rough day. I'm really sorry."
"It's okay, Lily," said Larissa. "It's not like we will condemn you just for being stressed."
"But we still think you should give James a chance!" proceeded Cassie.
Lily rolled her eyes, and got into bed. "Good night," she said. She was answered by three other "'Nights," and fell into a blissfully peaceful sleep.
A/N: I'll make this short. I had a bad day, so I thought I would write a sort of allegory to it, using Lily. I'm sorry if it's bad, and if the plot is quite nonexistent. I, obviously being the writer, hate it, so I would love to hear from you so you can give me tips to improve my writing. Thank you!(