CHAPTER FOUR. MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Thank you for all of you who stuck
with it. Besides, I assume all you want to know just what happened when
Voldemort found Lily right, right? And I thank those four kind people who
have reviewed. Hey, four reviews and four chapters, isn't that odd? This
chapter is a bit more lengthy and the PG-13 rating comes in at some point,
but nuttin' too graphic. I don't like hard-core lemon, so you will not be
finding it in my fic. I am so glad that I was able to pump this baby out in
less than a week.
On another note; I HATE THE DMV. I had my license stolen so I had to get a new one and the DMV fucking sucks. First because I am under 18 I had to have a parent/guardian so my mom got pissed that I woke her up and took it out on poor widdle me. Then after waiting in a line for the door to open, which opened half an hour late, I got inside I had to wait an hour for them to call my damn number and then the lady I got couldn't fucking speak English worth a shit. So after all that, and I PAY with CA$H I get in line to have my picture taken and the line is to the damn door and when I am the third in line the machine BREAKS. So the lady says that I should come back in a couple of hours. So I get back and they still haven't fixed the fucking thing, and tell me to come back tomorrow. That is bullshit. Well, I did my revenge in because I sent the owner of that DMV a strongly worded e- mail about how their DMV fucking sucks ass. Also while I was there, there were more old people than you can shake a stick at and every employee was down right shitty and rude. And this one guy ahead of me in line looked as if he hadn't bathed in a week. I just thought I would like to share that with everyone. Sorry about the bad language, but just thinking about it gets me pissed. Lol.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, literary genius of the current era. Say I own it and I will spam your e- mail account with gay porn adds, and with pictures of Filch and Hagrid doing cough...unspeakable things (that picture actually exists. I found it on yahoo when I was looking up Harry/Draco yaoi). I also make reference to a novel called Deerskin and that is NOT mine either. It is property of Robin McKinley. If you have never read that book, GO GET OFF YOUR ASS AND READ IT!! It is fucking awesome.
One last thing, there is some L/J fluff in this chapter. Boo yeah! I am not very experienced at writing fluff, so gave this my best shot please let me know what ya think. On with the chapter, enjoy
V V
James sighed gazed up at the ceiling of the library. It was eight-o-clock at night, and he wanted to do other things than explain the duties to the new fifth year Prefects. He could be plotting his big Make-Severus-Snape's- Life-A-Living-Hell prank that he did every year, instead of wasting his time on little fifth years. The only reason he drug himself out of his 'deep' conversation with Sirius was the guarantee that he would see his lily flower before the night was over. After all, Lily Evans would never miss a night of Head Girl duty; she was the top notch student who was the only member of the female sex at Hogwarts who withstood the charm of the infamous James Potter. James chuckled at the thought. It was true that she somehow resisted his charm for the past six years of her life. Then again, James didn't see the greatness of the opposite sex until he was in his third year, but Lily acted like she still didn't fully appreciate the opposite sex. He didn't even thing Lily had ever gotten even halfway to second base, a position that he had been in since his fourth year. In fact, Lily only had two boyfriends in her entire six years at Hogwarts; Amos Diggory from Hufflepuff who she dumped because he only wanted what was inside her pants, and some fellow Gryffindor who slapped her and she had broken his nose the second he hit her then cursed him to have a pumpkin for a head. Even the school nurse, Madam Marsh, had trouble reversing the curse. Lily had of course earned herself a weeks worth of detentions, but seeing as how he, James, was in detention for six of the seven days she was in detention he had no problem with it.
Several of the new Prefects had begun to pour into the library before James notices their presence. He checked his watch, 8:15 PM, and still no Lily. Once again sighing he took it upon himself to stare absent mindedly at the ceiling. He couldn't start the meeting without Lily, so the new Prefects had to wait. He, himself, had never been a Prefect so James didn't really fully comprehend the duties, but Lily on the other hand was a Prefect for her fifth year so she could tell them all about what they had to do.
James remembered how Lily looked the first time he had thought of her other than a silly little girl who only wanted to ruin his life; back in the day when he saw her on the first day of his third year. She seemed to have bloomed overnight. In her first and second year, Lily was nothing more than a puberty deprived little girl who hated anyone of the opposite sex. Then one day, she seemed to have grown breasts overnight, and she actually had hips. James nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw her. Year after year she just seemed to get more beautiful. When James had seen her on the Hogwarts Express just two days earlier, he could feel his pants begin to tighten at the sight of her. She had grown to a height of 5' 5" and was so curvaceous she would make a sailor blush. Her peach skin was flawless, and her legs seemed to be miles long. The hip hugger jeans she was wearing only showed off her petite build and full hips. She wore a tight red shirt which showed off every once of well-rounded cleavage she possessed. Her hair was up in a lose bun around her long neck, and her sparkling green eyes showed out even more than they usually did. Of course his first reaction was to ask her out on a date, but she slapped him which only made James long for her even more.
James chuckled once again, only the infamous Lily Evans would refuse a date with the ring leader of the Marauders. He immediately sat straight up in his seat as Lily walked into the library. James was memorized at how much the Hogwarts uniforms really covered up. She seemed to have no figure at all, but when she wore her muggle clothing she looked so divine, even a glace of her beautiful eyes could make a man stop dead in his tracks. James grinned at her, but she didn't seem to have noticed it because her face was looking straight ahead.
Once Lily took a seat next to James all of the fifth years stopped talking and focused their attention on the Head Boy and Head Girl. Lily looked around at them all, and James marveled at how she could keep such seriousness so late at night. "Welcome to the first meeting of the year. I am the Head Girl, Lily Evans and this is..." she droned on
"James Potter, official member of the Marauders," said James. It was not as if he really needed an introduction, because anyone who had spent a week at Hogwarts was well aware of the Marauders. Actually James suspected that there wasn't a student in the school who he hadn't played some kind of trick on.
"Yes. As new Prefects we are here to explain your new duties. Now just because you are Prefects doesn't mean that you have the power to dock points away, and DO NOT abuse your privilege to have the ability to put people in detention," she added menacingly. "All of you are expected to show that you are mature students and will not break the rules," Lily said. The fifth years seemed to be hanging on every word of Lily's speech, but James on the other hand was checking out more important things, such as how long and creamy Lily's legs were that stuck out of the black skirt that was the Hogwarts uniform.
For another half an hour Lily spent talking to the new Prefects, and once she was done she dismissed them. James stayed behind because the two of them had to plan the graduation ball that all seventh years were to attend.
After the last person left, Lily and James were completely alone. The two of them just stared at each other for the first ten minutes and this time it was James' turn to break the silence. "Did I ever say that you have the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen Lils," James said.
"Yes you have. Several times in fact," Lily said. She seemed to holding herself back from saying some vicious insults after their promise earlier that day to 'put aside their differences and work together'. "Well regarding this ball, I think that we should hold it the evening after N.E.W.Ts as a sort of 'Thank God that exams are over' type of thing," she said.
"I suppose that would work. Besides, the next day is a Hogsmead visit so all of us will finally get to have some fun before we all find out how horrible we did on our exams," James said, trying to get Lily to put down her defensive shield she had built around her.
Lily laughed at that and continued, "As decorations I think that we should hang the house banners over each of the house tables..."
"But the Gryffindor one will be the biggest and bestest one of all because Gryffindor is by far the best," James said in a mock-play tone.
"And I think that we should split the responsibility for the food and the music," Lily said,
"Cool. Hey, can I get food because that is what I know best," James said
"Ehh no, because I don't know anything about wizard bands. Because you have a more obvious connection I was hoping that you would take care of that," Lily said with slight embarrassment in her voice. She hated the fact that she was a muggle born because she always felt like such an outsider. True a majority of the school was muggle born, but at least they got to explore more about the world they belonged in because their families accepted it. Because of Petunia, Lily's parents had forced her to act like a muggle all during the summer. She felt like drowning as she felt the slight blush come across her face.
"Awe, come on Lils. It isn't that bad. All you need to do is just find someone that is feature on the WWN," said James.
"WWN?"
"Opss, sorry I forgot. I meant Wizarding Wireless Network," said James with guilt. Lily seemed, to him anyway, so in touch with the wizarding world that he sometimes forgot that she was a muggle born. "You know what, I'll take care of the music, and you can get the food," he said.
"Why all the sudden are you being nice to me?" Lily said. It was a very unusual thing for James to compromise with anyone and she wanted to know what he wanted in exchange.
"Why, I am hurt by that dear Lily. You must think that I always want something in return for my wonderful services," James said with fake concern and hurt in his face. His eyes on the other hand reflected his usual mischievous nature.
"Don't you always," Lily said as more of a statement than a question.
"So you think that I am nothing but an arrogant prat who only cares about himself," James said.
"Yeah, that about sums it up," Lily said.
"Since when have I asked for something in return for what you did?" James said.
"Fifth year, you attracted Snape and I told you to lay off you responded with 'I will if you go out with me. Go on-go out with me'. Last year when you cursed my cat to be Slytherin green and after you said the counter curse you said that I owed you at least one date down in Hogsmead. Fourth year when you..." Lily said with humor in her voice.
"Okay okay, you don't have to rub it in. But a bloke can change. And as a matter of fact...," James said. Well didn't really know what the 'matter of fact' was for the situation he was in, but he just felt like saying it anyway.
Lily laughed again, only this time it was a lot more than a chuckle, it was a full blown laugh. "As a matter of fact what?"
"No idea. Just felt like a good thing to say at the moment," James said.
At that both Lily and James laughed together. James was beside himself with glee. It was the first time him and the love of his life had had a decent conversation that didn't end up in one smacking the other. He hadn't felt this good since he had cursed Snivellus' nose hair to curl around his throat.
Lily on the other hand was having some trouble coping with what she was feeling. This was James Potter! He had made it his ambition to cause as much mayhem in her life as earthy possible. Why was he being so nice, and likeable? Lily didn't understand. And her reaction to him was almost unconceivable. She had become much jitterier, and was embarrassed easily. She didn't understand why all the sudden her stomach had butterflies in it when she talked to him. It was then when Lily chose to end it and announced that she was going to bed.
XVX
The rest of the week didn't go any better than her first day back. James took it upon himself to revert back to his I'm-the-biggest-ass-Hogwarts-has- ever-seen mode and it was beginning to piss Lily off. Twice that week he tired to pull his usual pranks on her, but only once did he secede. The first time Dorcas had overhead the Marauders talking about it and tipped off Lily. The second time James managed to put sneak some Bubotuber puss in the water that Lily happened to be washing her hands in, and one hour later her hands were so swollen Lily had to be excused from History of Magic to go to see the nurse.
The same routine went on for several weeks before James had suddenly become inactive, which for James Potter was an unusual thing indeed. Lily had her suspicions but she didn't share them with anyone but Dorcas and Anthy.
A couple of days later posted on the board outside the Great Hall were the date of the first visit to Hogsmead Village. Lily had been very much looking forward to it because she needed a chance to ask around the village if anyone would be willing to donate food the graduation ball at the end of the year. Lily wanted to get a bulk of the work out of the way so she had more time to study for N.E.W.Ts. It was rumored that even Sirius Black was seen in the library studying. Actually, Dorcas was the one who started the rumor because Sirius had asked her for directions to the library because he had never been there before. Lily laughed at that when she first heard it. But there was a down side because the Marauder's usual fan club was now seen snooping around the Library looking for sings of James, Sirius, Remus or Peter. Lily had found it rather distracting, and on one particular occasion she had cussed the group out for making too much noise.
On the morning of the Hogsmead visit Lily had woken up unusually early. The sun was just beginning to come up over the mountains to the North, and a faint orange outline lit up the valley where the Quidditch Pitch lay. No one in the dormitory was awake at the moment, so Lily quickly slipped out of her covers and escaped into the showers.
The showers for the Gryffindor girls were quite exquisite. The floors were solid white marble that never tarnished no matter the amount of dirt and grime. All of the sinks were pure porcelain and it too never tarnished. The taps to the sinks were made of the best crystal and a large red ruby was embedded on each. On one side of the bathroom were pool sized baths and each had a scarlet curtain that surrounded it to give the bather privacy. Many of the baths had names on them, because many of the girl students preferred to take a bath than a shower. The other side of the bath room was shower stalls and a golden curtain surrounded each. The tabs were, like the sinks, crystal and embedded with a ruby. They also had names on them, and Lily soon the stall with her own name glistening in bright scarlet letters.
After stripping herself of her pajamas, Lily slipped into the shower and let the lukewarm water wash over her pale skin. The feeling was pure bliss; Lily could lose herself in the warm water that cascaded her slender body. Reaching out her hand, Lily grabbed her bottle of shampoo which smelled of orange citrus. She massaged it into her hair, and then rinsed it from her scalp. Then she grabbed a bar of no scent soap and made a quick job of washing her body. Once her shower was over Lily stepped out and wrapped a fluffy white towel around her body.
Taking her wand, which Lily had brought with her, she summoned the clothes that she would wear to Hogsmead. Because it was a Saturday Lily could wear muggle clothes. She chose a pair of light baggy jeans that were around two sized too big, a black leather belt and a ruby red sweatshirt that was also several sizes too big. Once dressed, Lily muttered a simple spell that automatically made her hair dry.
Once Lily had returned to her dormitory she took out a necklace that her father had given to her; it was a simple emerald in the shape of a tear drop on a silver chain. It was Lily's most cherished possession. Lily's mother had always seemed to favor Petunia over Lily ever since her letter had arrived, but Lily's father, John Evans, seemed to understand how Lily was feeling more than anyone in the family could even conceive. One day when Lily and Petunia had had a particularly ugly argument that ended up with Petunia calling her sister a bitch and Lily crying in her room, she was only twelve at the time. Her father had come up and given Lily the necklace. It wasn't out of pity or sorrow, but out of love. He said that it belonged to his mother, and his grandmother and great-grandmother and so forth for six generations. Because there were no girls born when Mr. Evans was growing up the necklace was given to him to give to his daughter. Since then, Lily had always worn it no matter what. She never showed it to anyone, not even Dorcas and Anthy, because it was a precious keepsake and if anyone knew about it the necklace would most likely be stolen because of its value, beauty and historic placement. She wore it on the inside of her uniform, and it only showed the silver chain.
She also pulled out from her belongings was a book which she took with her to the common room. The fire was still in as full of a flame was when Lily had went to sleep the previous night. Taking a seat in her favorite chair right next to the fire, Lily opened up her novel, Deerskin, and began to read. Deerskin was her all time favorite novel, because in a way she could relate to the main character, Lissala Lissar. She was scorned by her family and suffered loneliness throughout her life until she reached the Yellow Kingdom and Prince Ossin. It was like the desertion Lily felt by her family until she reached Hogwarts. And like in the novel when Lissar has to face her real heritage and the person who raped her, Lily had to face reality every summer and do what she dreaded most. (A/N: Like I said, GO READ THAT BOOK. IT IS AWESOME! I HAVE READ IT SEVEN TIMES, AND IT GETS BETTER EVERY TIME. GO READ IT. NOW!)
As Lily read further and further she began to drift off to sleep, but what she saw in her dreams was not what she wanted to face...
XX Flashback CONTINUEDXX (HA! The moment that you all have been waiting for)
The Dark Lord took two more small steps toward Lily and in an instant seemed distracted by something else. Lord Voldemort was literally on top of her but by nothing but a miracle from God something had distracted Voldemort. Hurriedly he ran a far distance in the opposite direction of Lily. In that instant Lily felt like she could breath again and risked sighing out loud.
Out of the blue a small, somewhat pudgy figure emerged from out of nowhere. His voice was high and somewhat hoarse. Voldemort turned to this small figure, who was cowering on the ground. Voldemort walked right over to him as if he was expecting this stranger "You're late Wormtail," he spoke in his high cold voice.
Lily stood in utter confusion. Who is Wormtail, she thought to herself. The phrase sounded familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on it (A/N: The Marauders haven't used Peter's nickname in front of her OKAY!). When Lily finally had a chance to escape, curiosity kept her feet glued to the ground as she listened intently on what was being said.
"I am sorry master, please forgive me," the pitiful figure begged.
"That will depend on the nature of the news you bring me?" Voldemort said with his voice as cold as ice.
"Please master, don't kill me! I have heard nothing new that would aid you in anyway," the crouched figure said with plead in his voice.
"Well well well, this is a disappointment. And I thought you would provide much more adequate information than this. My spies have proven weak against that fool, Albus Dumbledore," Voldemort hissed, sounding like a snake getting ready to strike its prey.
"Master...please...I beg you..."
"SILENCE! You need to be taught just what happens to those who do not please Lord Voldemort" The Dark Lord raised his wand, aimed it at the poor figure and shouted "CURICO"
The figure cried and screamed out in pain. It was pain beyond endurance, and yet the soul was not released from the confines of his body. Lily had determined that the figure was male and around her age, judging by the voice. Lily could barley stand watching this poor man being tortured like that, but she knew that she couldn't help him either. Against the nagging voice in her head, Lily took advantage of the shrill screams and bolted away from Lord Voldemort and the poor fraction of a man that he was torturing.
XX Flashback Ends XX (well, nothing to get too excited about)
Lily was abruptly interrupted from her sleep by four male voices. Who would be awake at this time in the morning? Lily put her book down and waited for the four voices to show their faces. As the got closer, Lily could decipher what they were saying:
"Shit what a night that was!" Came a voice that sounded all too like Sirius Black.
"Best yet I would say" Lily's stomach gave an involuntary back flip at the sound of the voice of James Potter. Ever since the time they had their Head meeting, Lily had been extremely nervous around James, and she never could figure out why. Sure he had been nice to her one night, but what did one night say out of seventeen years of being an insufferable ass?
"That was a close one wasn't it ol' Padfoot"
"Like you didn't a few close ones yourself Prongs"
"A little too close for my liking" said the voice of Remus Lupin. He seemed somewhat shaken up but pleased none-the-less.
"Great work as usual Peter" said Sirius.
"Likewise Padfoot" said the energetic squeaky voice of Peter Pettigrew.
"And who was the one who stopped poor widdle Peter from being squashed by some gargantuan dog with feet the size of Britain? But do I get any thanks?" James said with mock insult.
After finding out who were the ones causing such a ruckus so early in the morning Lily went back to her book not really paying much attention to the Marauders talk enthusiastically about what ever they had just done. Knowing them, they had most likely set up another trap for Severus 'Snivellus' Snape. Lily hated how they seemed to pick Snape out of the crowd more than anyone else. True he was Slytherin scum, and Lily didn't care for him one bit she still felt sorry for him. He had been humiliated in front of the entire school more than anyone else in that generation of Hogwarts. It was almost sad what poor Snape had to go through, but the arrogant prat refused to accept help. The first, and last, time Lily had chosen to help him only resulted in her being called a Mudblood and James asking her out in front of the entire school again.
When the Marauders had reached the top of the stairs heading into the common room they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Lily Evans. All of them gave her nervous looks, when she looked up from her book and acknowledged their presence with nothing but a cold stare. Remus was the one to break the silence "Where you listening Lily?"
"No. why would I listen to the conversation of two egotistical prats that I hate?" Lily said matter-of-factly. It was known to everyone that Lily hated James and Sirius, but she held no grudge against Remus and Peter. Neither of them had done anything to cause her hate, so she treated them with respect. As a matter of fact, Lily admired Remus quite a bit because of his cool and calm demeanor and he was an all around nice guy. Lily suspected that she had maybe talked to Peter once in her life, and that was in her first year asking directions to the Quidditch pitch.
All four of the Marauders gave sighs of relief and Lily only rolled her eyes. Sirius, Remus and Peter went up to the Boys' Dormitories while James stayed in the common room sitting next to Lily. Lily paid him no notice until James spoke up "Why do you hate me and only think of me as an arrogant prat?"
"Do I really need to answer that question? I should think the answer is obvious," Lily said coldly. Next to Snape, Lily was the single person most pranked on in the entire school.
"Lily you really have no idea how the mind of the opposite sex works. Pity," said James. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that unless you are an arrogant prick like Snape that means that I think highly of you?"
"No" she said simply.
"Well it's true".
"I'll keep that in mind"
"Lils, would it kill you not to be so cold to everyone? It is as if you don't want anyone to be near you"
"So what is wrong with that?"
"Has something happened?"
"No," Lily said simply.
"Really"
"No"
"Really really?"
"No". Lily was really beginning to get irritated.
"Something has happened"
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"Yes"
"NO! Damnit Potter, NOTHING HAS HAPPENED," shouted Lily at the top of her voice. He didn't need to know everything. It was none of his business of no one but her father didn't flinch when the looked at her, or that she had narrowly escaped death by the Dark Lord. It was no one's business. Lily stormed off back to her dorm. Once she was out of eye and earshot, James said under his breath "Some has happened".
James would be damned if he would believe Lily's story. She was being much more moody that usual and rose to even the smallest bait. James knew Lily better than almost anyone because he had followed her meticulously for the past six years of his life. She was a very intelligent and smart girl, who had a very short fuse. She cared about everyone close to her and even some people who were not so close to her. Lately however she seemed to be cutting herself off from everyone. Even Dorcas and Anthy were being cut out. It was as if she was building a barrier around her trying to keep everyone out, and her own feelings in. James was very concerned, because no one should have to deal with that, no one. He didn't know what he would do if he had to keep his feelings to himself. Most likely he would burst open, because keeping his feelings to himself was just one thing that James Potter could not do. He could no sooner walk on water than keep what he felt inside. He had no idea how Lily could keep so much inside, but it was clear that something was eating her inside and out.
Upon closer look, James noticed that Lily had left her book behind. He looked at the cover curiously and noticed that it was a muggle novel because the cover picture didn't move at all. Muggles are so weird, he thought to himself. How they could live without magic James had no idea. The book was tattered, but a clear picture of a woman with silver hair and startlingly green eyes was on the front, as well as a picture of a silver blonde long haired hound. The art was rather impressive and even wizard painters couldn't get a painting to move, only photographs did. Weird, the thought to himself.
X V X
End chapter. HA! I got this one out in less than a week just like I promised, and it is a couple Kb bigger than chapter three. Seeing as how I am getting didly shit for reviews I am starting to lose my urge to continue writing this, but I surprised even myself for getting this done so quickly. I promised that I would have this out in less than a week, and it is done! And by the way, just because I am an egotistical bitch, I KNOW THE TITLE TO BOOK 6! Chances are that the major Harry Potter webrings will have announced it, but I feel like being a prat anyways. I will make you a deal, if I get 10 reviews on this story (I have only gotten four reviews, so that means six more) I will announce the title in the next chapter. Well it will be the title to book 6 if Rowling doesn't change anything, or her editor doesn't suggest a different one. This took me fucking hours to crack on her website, but this is the most reliable piece of information that I can find so far on the net. So remember, six more reviews and I will announce it. I know that many people might already have cracked it, but there always that many more who don't know.
And because I am such a nice person, cough cough if I do get a total of ten reviews I will get the next chapter out within a week. So please please please please please please review.
On another note; I HATE THE DMV. I had my license stolen so I had to get a new one and the DMV fucking sucks. First because I am under 18 I had to have a parent/guardian so my mom got pissed that I woke her up and took it out on poor widdle me. Then after waiting in a line for the door to open, which opened half an hour late, I got inside I had to wait an hour for them to call my damn number and then the lady I got couldn't fucking speak English worth a shit. So after all that, and I PAY with CA$H I get in line to have my picture taken and the line is to the damn door and when I am the third in line the machine BREAKS. So the lady says that I should come back in a couple of hours. So I get back and they still haven't fixed the fucking thing, and tell me to come back tomorrow. That is bullshit. Well, I did my revenge in because I sent the owner of that DMV a strongly worded e- mail about how their DMV fucking sucks ass. Also while I was there, there were more old people than you can shake a stick at and every employee was down right shitty and rude. And this one guy ahead of me in line looked as if he hadn't bathed in a week. I just thought I would like to share that with everyone. Sorry about the bad language, but just thinking about it gets me pissed. Lol.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, literary genius of the current era. Say I own it and I will spam your e- mail account with gay porn adds, and with pictures of Filch and Hagrid doing cough...unspeakable things (that picture actually exists. I found it on yahoo when I was looking up Harry/Draco yaoi). I also make reference to a novel called Deerskin and that is NOT mine either. It is property of Robin McKinley. If you have never read that book, GO GET OFF YOUR ASS AND READ IT!! It is fucking awesome.
One last thing, there is some L/J fluff in this chapter. Boo yeah! I am not very experienced at writing fluff, so gave this my best shot please let me know what ya think. On with the chapter, enjoy
V V
James sighed gazed up at the ceiling of the library. It was eight-o-clock at night, and he wanted to do other things than explain the duties to the new fifth year Prefects. He could be plotting his big Make-Severus-Snape's- Life-A-Living-Hell prank that he did every year, instead of wasting his time on little fifth years. The only reason he drug himself out of his 'deep' conversation with Sirius was the guarantee that he would see his lily flower before the night was over. After all, Lily Evans would never miss a night of Head Girl duty; she was the top notch student who was the only member of the female sex at Hogwarts who withstood the charm of the infamous James Potter. James chuckled at the thought. It was true that she somehow resisted his charm for the past six years of her life. Then again, James didn't see the greatness of the opposite sex until he was in his third year, but Lily acted like she still didn't fully appreciate the opposite sex. He didn't even thing Lily had ever gotten even halfway to second base, a position that he had been in since his fourth year. In fact, Lily only had two boyfriends in her entire six years at Hogwarts; Amos Diggory from Hufflepuff who she dumped because he only wanted what was inside her pants, and some fellow Gryffindor who slapped her and she had broken his nose the second he hit her then cursed him to have a pumpkin for a head. Even the school nurse, Madam Marsh, had trouble reversing the curse. Lily had of course earned herself a weeks worth of detentions, but seeing as how he, James, was in detention for six of the seven days she was in detention he had no problem with it.
Several of the new Prefects had begun to pour into the library before James notices their presence. He checked his watch, 8:15 PM, and still no Lily. Once again sighing he took it upon himself to stare absent mindedly at the ceiling. He couldn't start the meeting without Lily, so the new Prefects had to wait. He, himself, had never been a Prefect so James didn't really fully comprehend the duties, but Lily on the other hand was a Prefect for her fifth year so she could tell them all about what they had to do.
James remembered how Lily looked the first time he had thought of her other than a silly little girl who only wanted to ruin his life; back in the day when he saw her on the first day of his third year. She seemed to have bloomed overnight. In her first and second year, Lily was nothing more than a puberty deprived little girl who hated anyone of the opposite sex. Then one day, she seemed to have grown breasts overnight, and she actually had hips. James nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw her. Year after year she just seemed to get more beautiful. When James had seen her on the Hogwarts Express just two days earlier, he could feel his pants begin to tighten at the sight of her. She had grown to a height of 5' 5" and was so curvaceous she would make a sailor blush. Her peach skin was flawless, and her legs seemed to be miles long. The hip hugger jeans she was wearing only showed off her petite build and full hips. She wore a tight red shirt which showed off every once of well-rounded cleavage she possessed. Her hair was up in a lose bun around her long neck, and her sparkling green eyes showed out even more than they usually did. Of course his first reaction was to ask her out on a date, but she slapped him which only made James long for her even more.
James chuckled once again, only the infamous Lily Evans would refuse a date with the ring leader of the Marauders. He immediately sat straight up in his seat as Lily walked into the library. James was memorized at how much the Hogwarts uniforms really covered up. She seemed to have no figure at all, but when she wore her muggle clothing she looked so divine, even a glace of her beautiful eyes could make a man stop dead in his tracks. James grinned at her, but she didn't seem to have noticed it because her face was looking straight ahead.
Once Lily took a seat next to James all of the fifth years stopped talking and focused their attention on the Head Boy and Head Girl. Lily looked around at them all, and James marveled at how she could keep such seriousness so late at night. "Welcome to the first meeting of the year. I am the Head Girl, Lily Evans and this is..." she droned on
"James Potter, official member of the Marauders," said James. It was not as if he really needed an introduction, because anyone who had spent a week at Hogwarts was well aware of the Marauders. Actually James suspected that there wasn't a student in the school who he hadn't played some kind of trick on.
"Yes. As new Prefects we are here to explain your new duties. Now just because you are Prefects doesn't mean that you have the power to dock points away, and DO NOT abuse your privilege to have the ability to put people in detention," she added menacingly. "All of you are expected to show that you are mature students and will not break the rules," Lily said. The fifth years seemed to be hanging on every word of Lily's speech, but James on the other hand was checking out more important things, such as how long and creamy Lily's legs were that stuck out of the black skirt that was the Hogwarts uniform.
For another half an hour Lily spent talking to the new Prefects, and once she was done she dismissed them. James stayed behind because the two of them had to plan the graduation ball that all seventh years were to attend.
After the last person left, Lily and James were completely alone. The two of them just stared at each other for the first ten minutes and this time it was James' turn to break the silence. "Did I ever say that you have the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen Lils," James said.
"Yes you have. Several times in fact," Lily said. She seemed to holding herself back from saying some vicious insults after their promise earlier that day to 'put aside their differences and work together'. "Well regarding this ball, I think that we should hold it the evening after N.E.W.Ts as a sort of 'Thank God that exams are over' type of thing," she said.
"I suppose that would work. Besides, the next day is a Hogsmead visit so all of us will finally get to have some fun before we all find out how horrible we did on our exams," James said, trying to get Lily to put down her defensive shield she had built around her.
Lily laughed at that and continued, "As decorations I think that we should hang the house banners over each of the house tables..."
"But the Gryffindor one will be the biggest and bestest one of all because Gryffindor is by far the best," James said in a mock-play tone.
"And I think that we should split the responsibility for the food and the music," Lily said,
"Cool. Hey, can I get food because that is what I know best," James said
"Ehh no, because I don't know anything about wizard bands. Because you have a more obvious connection I was hoping that you would take care of that," Lily said with slight embarrassment in her voice. She hated the fact that she was a muggle born because she always felt like such an outsider. True a majority of the school was muggle born, but at least they got to explore more about the world they belonged in because their families accepted it. Because of Petunia, Lily's parents had forced her to act like a muggle all during the summer. She felt like drowning as she felt the slight blush come across her face.
"Awe, come on Lils. It isn't that bad. All you need to do is just find someone that is feature on the WWN," said James.
"WWN?"
"Opss, sorry I forgot. I meant Wizarding Wireless Network," said James with guilt. Lily seemed, to him anyway, so in touch with the wizarding world that he sometimes forgot that she was a muggle born. "You know what, I'll take care of the music, and you can get the food," he said.
"Why all the sudden are you being nice to me?" Lily said. It was a very unusual thing for James to compromise with anyone and she wanted to know what he wanted in exchange.
"Why, I am hurt by that dear Lily. You must think that I always want something in return for my wonderful services," James said with fake concern and hurt in his face. His eyes on the other hand reflected his usual mischievous nature.
"Don't you always," Lily said as more of a statement than a question.
"So you think that I am nothing but an arrogant prat who only cares about himself," James said.
"Yeah, that about sums it up," Lily said.
"Since when have I asked for something in return for what you did?" James said.
"Fifth year, you attracted Snape and I told you to lay off you responded with 'I will if you go out with me. Go on-go out with me'. Last year when you cursed my cat to be Slytherin green and after you said the counter curse you said that I owed you at least one date down in Hogsmead. Fourth year when you..." Lily said with humor in her voice.
"Okay okay, you don't have to rub it in. But a bloke can change. And as a matter of fact...," James said. Well didn't really know what the 'matter of fact' was for the situation he was in, but he just felt like saying it anyway.
Lily laughed again, only this time it was a lot more than a chuckle, it was a full blown laugh. "As a matter of fact what?"
"No idea. Just felt like a good thing to say at the moment," James said.
At that both Lily and James laughed together. James was beside himself with glee. It was the first time him and the love of his life had had a decent conversation that didn't end up in one smacking the other. He hadn't felt this good since he had cursed Snivellus' nose hair to curl around his throat.
Lily on the other hand was having some trouble coping with what she was feeling. This was James Potter! He had made it his ambition to cause as much mayhem in her life as earthy possible. Why was he being so nice, and likeable? Lily didn't understand. And her reaction to him was almost unconceivable. She had become much jitterier, and was embarrassed easily. She didn't understand why all the sudden her stomach had butterflies in it when she talked to him. It was then when Lily chose to end it and announced that she was going to bed.
XVX
The rest of the week didn't go any better than her first day back. James took it upon himself to revert back to his I'm-the-biggest-ass-Hogwarts-has- ever-seen mode and it was beginning to piss Lily off. Twice that week he tired to pull his usual pranks on her, but only once did he secede. The first time Dorcas had overhead the Marauders talking about it and tipped off Lily. The second time James managed to put sneak some Bubotuber puss in the water that Lily happened to be washing her hands in, and one hour later her hands were so swollen Lily had to be excused from History of Magic to go to see the nurse.
The same routine went on for several weeks before James had suddenly become inactive, which for James Potter was an unusual thing indeed. Lily had her suspicions but she didn't share them with anyone but Dorcas and Anthy.
A couple of days later posted on the board outside the Great Hall were the date of the first visit to Hogsmead Village. Lily had been very much looking forward to it because she needed a chance to ask around the village if anyone would be willing to donate food the graduation ball at the end of the year. Lily wanted to get a bulk of the work out of the way so she had more time to study for N.E.W.Ts. It was rumored that even Sirius Black was seen in the library studying. Actually, Dorcas was the one who started the rumor because Sirius had asked her for directions to the library because he had never been there before. Lily laughed at that when she first heard it. But there was a down side because the Marauder's usual fan club was now seen snooping around the Library looking for sings of James, Sirius, Remus or Peter. Lily had found it rather distracting, and on one particular occasion she had cussed the group out for making too much noise.
On the morning of the Hogsmead visit Lily had woken up unusually early. The sun was just beginning to come up over the mountains to the North, and a faint orange outline lit up the valley where the Quidditch Pitch lay. No one in the dormitory was awake at the moment, so Lily quickly slipped out of her covers and escaped into the showers.
The showers for the Gryffindor girls were quite exquisite. The floors were solid white marble that never tarnished no matter the amount of dirt and grime. All of the sinks were pure porcelain and it too never tarnished. The taps to the sinks were made of the best crystal and a large red ruby was embedded on each. On one side of the bathroom were pool sized baths and each had a scarlet curtain that surrounded it to give the bather privacy. Many of the baths had names on them, because many of the girl students preferred to take a bath than a shower. The other side of the bath room was shower stalls and a golden curtain surrounded each. The tabs were, like the sinks, crystal and embedded with a ruby. They also had names on them, and Lily soon the stall with her own name glistening in bright scarlet letters.
After stripping herself of her pajamas, Lily slipped into the shower and let the lukewarm water wash over her pale skin. The feeling was pure bliss; Lily could lose herself in the warm water that cascaded her slender body. Reaching out her hand, Lily grabbed her bottle of shampoo which smelled of orange citrus. She massaged it into her hair, and then rinsed it from her scalp. Then she grabbed a bar of no scent soap and made a quick job of washing her body. Once her shower was over Lily stepped out and wrapped a fluffy white towel around her body.
Taking her wand, which Lily had brought with her, she summoned the clothes that she would wear to Hogsmead. Because it was a Saturday Lily could wear muggle clothes. She chose a pair of light baggy jeans that were around two sized too big, a black leather belt and a ruby red sweatshirt that was also several sizes too big. Once dressed, Lily muttered a simple spell that automatically made her hair dry.
Once Lily had returned to her dormitory she took out a necklace that her father had given to her; it was a simple emerald in the shape of a tear drop on a silver chain. It was Lily's most cherished possession. Lily's mother had always seemed to favor Petunia over Lily ever since her letter had arrived, but Lily's father, John Evans, seemed to understand how Lily was feeling more than anyone in the family could even conceive. One day when Lily and Petunia had had a particularly ugly argument that ended up with Petunia calling her sister a bitch and Lily crying in her room, she was only twelve at the time. Her father had come up and given Lily the necklace. It wasn't out of pity or sorrow, but out of love. He said that it belonged to his mother, and his grandmother and great-grandmother and so forth for six generations. Because there were no girls born when Mr. Evans was growing up the necklace was given to him to give to his daughter. Since then, Lily had always worn it no matter what. She never showed it to anyone, not even Dorcas and Anthy, because it was a precious keepsake and if anyone knew about it the necklace would most likely be stolen because of its value, beauty and historic placement. She wore it on the inside of her uniform, and it only showed the silver chain.
She also pulled out from her belongings was a book which she took with her to the common room. The fire was still in as full of a flame was when Lily had went to sleep the previous night. Taking a seat in her favorite chair right next to the fire, Lily opened up her novel, Deerskin, and began to read. Deerskin was her all time favorite novel, because in a way she could relate to the main character, Lissala Lissar. She was scorned by her family and suffered loneliness throughout her life until she reached the Yellow Kingdom and Prince Ossin. It was like the desertion Lily felt by her family until she reached Hogwarts. And like in the novel when Lissar has to face her real heritage and the person who raped her, Lily had to face reality every summer and do what she dreaded most. (A/N: Like I said, GO READ THAT BOOK. IT IS AWESOME! I HAVE READ IT SEVEN TIMES, AND IT GETS BETTER EVERY TIME. GO READ IT. NOW!)
As Lily read further and further she began to drift off to sleep, but what she saw in her dreams was not what she wanted to face...
XX Flashback CONTINUEDXX (HA! The moment that you all have been waiting for)
The Dark Lord took two more small steps toward Lily and in an instant seemed distracted by something else. Lord Voldemort was literally on top of her but by nothing but a miracle from God something had distracted Voldemort. Hurriedly he ran a far distance in the opposite direction of Lily. In that instant Lily felt like she could breath again and risked sighing out loud.
Out of the blue a small, somewhat pudgy figure emerged from out of nowhere. His voice was high and somewhat hoarse. Voldemort turned to this small figure, who was cowering on the ground. Voldemort walked right over to him as if he was expecting this stranger "You're late Wormtail," he spoke in his high cold voice.
Lily stood in utter confusion. Who is Wormtail, she thought to herself. The phrase sounded familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on it (A/N: The Marauders haven't used Peter's nickname in front of her OKAY!). When Lily finally had a chance to escape, curiosity kept her feet glued to the ground as she listened intently on what was being said.
"I am sorry master, please forgive me," the pitiful figure begged.
"That will depend on the nature of the news you bring me?" Voldemort said with his voice as cold as ice.
"Please master, don't kill me! I have heard nothing new that would aid you in anyway," the crouched figure said with plead in his voice.
"Well well well, this is a disappointment. And I thought you would provide much more adequate information than this. My spies have proven weak against that fool, Albus Dumbledore," Voldemort hissed, sounding like a snake getting ready to strike its prey.
"Master...please...I beg you..."
"SILENCE! You need to be taught just what happens to those who do not please Lord Voldemort" The Dark Lord raised his wand, aimed it at the poor figure and shouted "CURICO"
The figure cried and screamed out in pain. It was pain beyond endurance, and yet the soul was not released from the confines of his body. Lily had determined that the figure was male and around her age, judging by the voice. Lily could barley stand watching this poor man being tortured like that, but she knew that she couldn't help him either. Against the nagging voice in her head, Lily took advantage of the shrill screams and bolted away from Lord Voldemort and the poor fraction of a man that he was torturing.
XX Flashback Ends XX (well, nothing to get too excited about)
Lily was abruptly interrupted from her sleep by four male voices. Who would be awake at this time in the morning? Lily put her book down and waited for the four voices to show their faces. As the got closer, Lily could decipher what they were saying:
"Shit what a night that was!" Came a voice that sounded all too like Sirius Black.
"Best yet I would say" Lily's stomach gave an involuntary back flip at the sound of the voice of James Potter. Ever since the time they had their Head meeting, Lily had been extremely nervous around James, and she never could figure out why. Sure he had been nice to her one night, but what did one night say out of seventeen years of being an insufferable ass?
"That was a close one wasn't it ol' Padfoot"
"Like you didn't a few close ones yourself Prongs"
"A little too close for my liking" said the voice of Remus Lupin. He seemed somewhat shaken up but pleased none-the-less.
"Great work as usual Peter" said Sirius.
"Likewise Padfoot" said the energetic squeaky voice of Peter Pettigrew.
"And who was the one who stopped poor widdle Peter from being squashed by some gargantuan dog with feet the size of Britain? But do I get any thanks?" James said with mock insult.
After finding out who were the ones causing such a ruckus so early in the morning Lily went back to her book not really paying much attention to the Marauders talk enthusiastically about what ever they had just done. Knowing them, they had most likely set up another trap for Severus 'Snivellus' Snape. Lily hated how they seemed to pick Snape out of the crowd more than anyone else. True he was Slytherin scum, and Lily didn't care for him one bit she still felt sorry for him. He had been humiliated in front of the entire school more than anyone else in that generation of Hogwarts. It was almost sad what poor Snape had to go through, but the arrogant prat refused to accept help. The first, and last, time Lily had chosen to help him only resulted in her being called a Mudblood and James asking her out in front of the entire school again.
When the Marauders had reached the top of the stairs heading into the common room they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Lily Evans. All of them gave her nervous looks, when she looked up from her book and acknowledged their presence with nothing but a cold stare. Remus was the one to break the silence "Where you listening Lily?"
"No. why would I listen to the conversation of two egotistical prats that I hate?" Lily said matter-of-factly. It was known to everyone that Lily hated James and Sirius, but she held no grudge against Remus and Peter. Neither of them had done anything to cause her hate, so she treated them with respect. As a matter of fact, Lily admired Remus quite a bit because of his cool and calm demeanor and he was an all around nice guy. Lily suspected that she had maybe talked to Peter once in her life, and that was in her first year asking directions to the Quidditch pitch.
All four of the Marauders gave sighs of relief and Lily only rolled her eyes. Sirius, Remus and Peter went up to the Boys' Dormitories while James stayed in the common room sitting next to Lily. Lily paid him no notice until James spoke up "Why do you hate me and only think of me as an arrogant prat?"
"Do I really need to answer that question? I should think the answer is obvious," Lily said coldly. Next to Snape, Lily was the single person most pranked on in the entire school.
"Lily you really have no idea how the mind of the opposite sex works. Pity," said James. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that unless you are an arrogant prick like Snape that means that I think highly of you?"
"No" she said simply.
"Well it's true".
"I'll keep that in mind"
"Lils, would it kill you not to be so cold to everyone? It is as if you don't want anyone to be near you"
"So what is wrong with that?"
"Has something happened?"
"No," Lily said simply.
"Really"
"No"
"Really really?"
"No". Lily was really beginning to get irritated.
"Something has happened"
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"Yes"
"NO! Damnit Potter, NOTHING HAS HAPPENED," shouted Lily at the top of her voice. He didn't need to know everything. It was none of his business of no one but her father didn't flinch when the looked at her, or that she had narrowly escaped death by the Dark Lord. It was no one's business. Lily stormed off back to her dorm. Once she was out of eye and earshot, James said under his breath "Some has happened".
James would be damned if he would believe Lily's story. She was being much more moody that usual and rose to even the smallest bait. James knew Lily better than almost anyone because he had followed her meticulously for the past six years of his life. She was a very intelligent and smart girl, who had a very short fuse. She cared about everyone close to her and even some people who were not so close to her. Lately however she seemed to be cutting herself off from everyone. Even Dorcas and Anthy were being cut out. It was as if she was building a barrier around her trying to keep everyone out, and her own feelings in. James was very concerned, because no one should have to deal with that, no one. He didn't know what he would do if he had to keep his feelings to himself. Most likely he would burst open, because keeping his feelings to himself was just one thing that James Potter could not do. He could no sooner walk on water than keep what he felt inside. He had no idea how Lily could keep so much inside, but it was clear that something was eating her inside and out.
Upon closer look, James noticed that Lily had left her book behind. He looked at the cover curiously and noticed that it was a muggle novel because the cover picture didn't move at all. Muggles are so weird, he thought to himself. How they could live without magic James had no idea. The book was tattered, but a clear picture of a woman with silver hair and startlingly green eyes was on the front, as well as a picture of a silver blonde long haired hound. The art was rather impressive and even wizard painters couldn't get a painting to move, only photographs did. Weird, the thought to himself.
X V X
End chapter. HA! I got this one out in less than a week just like I promised, and it is a couple Kb bigger than chapter three. Seeing as how I am getting didly shit for reviews I am starting to lose my urge to continue writing this, but I surprised even myself for getting this done so quickly. I promised that I would have this out in less than a week, and it is done! And by the way, just because I am an egotistical bitch, I KNOW THE TITLE TO BOOK 6! Chances are that the major Harry Potter webrings will have announced it, but I feel like being a prat anyways. I will make you a deal, if I get 10 reviews on this story (I have only gotten four reviews, so that means six more) I will announce the title in the next chapter. Well it will be the title to book 6 if Rowling doesn't change anything, or her editor doesn't suggest a different one. This took me fucking hours to crack on her website, but this is the most reliable piece of information that I can find so far on the net. So remember, six more reviews and I will announce it. I know that many people might already have cracked it, but there always that many more who don't know.
And because I am such a nice person, cough cough if I do get a total of ten reviews I will get the next chapter out within a week. So please please please please please please review.