Every Day Like the One Before
'Every day like the one before. Little town, full of little people.'
By the second year of Hogwarts, Lily's life had settled into something of a routine. She, Asper, and Esedora had adjusted their beds as best they could to move them closer together. Morena, the only other girl in their dormitory, kept to herself, unless she was somehow bothered. As this happened rather a lot, Lily and her friends had learned it was best to mostly just ignore her, as they were currently doing.
"Whose sock is this?" demanded Morena. Asper glanced up.
"Mine."
"And just what is it doing under my bed?"
"Dunno," said Asper lazily, "perhaps Esedora's cat batted it over."
"Esedora!" yelled Morena. "Can you keep your stupid cat under control, or is that too much to ask?"
Esedora brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I don't know, Morena, he doesn't understand English too well." Morena whirled on her heel and stomped out of the room.
"Only five more years," sighed Lily.
Asper rubbed her temples. "Perhaps if we're lucky she'll be expelled before then."
Unfortunately for them, once you were in Hogwarts it was very hard to get out. If you were caught doing something particularly evil, as the apprentice gamekeeper had a few years back, you were of course sent home. But for those who simply felt overloaded with schoolwork, there was to be no respite.
"Can you believe how much homework Professor Conterous gave us?" grumbled Asper.
"Oh, I know," said Esedora, staring glumly at her half-filled parchment. "The only one who ever looks happy in that class is that idiot Snape."
Lily rolled her eyes. "It's such a boring class."
"Not like you have any trouble with it," muttered Asper.
"I just pay attention," Lily said defensively.
"Yeah, well, so does Snape," said Asper knowingly, "when he's not staring at you."
Lily sat up. "What? He does not!"
"Um, yeah, actually he does," Esedora chimed in. "It's quite obvious, really."
Lily shuddered and covered her face with a pillow. "The only thing worse than that would be Potter liking me."
In Charms, Professor Flitwick was handing back their recent tests.
"Ha!" cried James. "One hundred percent! Let's see you beat that, Evans!"
Looking supremely unconcerned, Lily flipped over her test. "One hundred and two."
"What?"
"It seems, Potter, that you missed the bonus question."
"What bonus question?"
"The one on the back, obviously."
James flipped his test over and stared in horror at the unanswered question.
"Sorry, James," said Sirius, "but you know you'll never beat her in Charms."
"At least we have Transfiguration next," grumbled James, stuffing his test into his bag as the bell rang.
In Transfiguration, they were trying to transform apples into soup bowls.
"Ha!" cried James. "I got it on the first try!"
"It's still red, though," smirked Lily, producing a pure white bowl on her second try.
"Well, excuse me, Miss Perfect," hissed James, "but at least mine turned into a bowl."
"And what do you suppose this is?" inquired Lily, waving her elegant porcelain bowl in front of James' face. He snatched at it, the bowl slipped from Lily's grasp, and shattered on the floor.
"Honestly!" cried Professor McGonagall reproachfully. "Miss Evans, I would have expected more from you!"
"But I didn't do it!" said Lily indignantly. "It was Potter's fault!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"ENOUGH!" shouted McGonagall. "Twenty points from Gryffindor each!"
Lily shot a murderous glare at James, who returned the look in kind.
"Little Miss Know-It-All," grumbled James as they went up to bed. "Isn't she just perfect. I seriously cannot stand her at all."
"No kidding, James," yawned Sirius, who had heard this speech before.
"Yeah, James, we get the point," added Remus.
"I'm hungry," whined Peter, who was bringing up the tail of their group.
"Aw, Peter, we're tired," groaned Sirius. "Besides, we just ate."
"I'll go with you," said James, dragging his feet in the direction of the kitchens. "I've got my cloak with me." As they walked to the kitchens, huddled under James' Invisibility Cloak, they forgot to look out for other people.
"It's Evans," breathed James. "What's she doing out this late at night? Oooo, I could get her for this…"
"How would you explain how you saw her?" Peter pointed out. They squeezed themselves into a corner as Lily passed, her head bowed.
"Food," Peter reminded James.
"Right. Food. Got it." They went on to the kitchens, slightly more cautiously. But not quite cautiously enough. Filch, the caretaker, came around a corner with his mangy cat, Mrs. Norris, just as Peter's stomach let out a loud grumble. James elbowed him hard.
"Who's there, my sweet?" mumbled Filch. "Students out of bed, students out of bounds, oh yes, it is going to be a good night!"
"Run," hissed James, and the pair proceeded to jog as best they could while staying invisible. But then Peter tripped, and knocked over a suit of armor. Abandoning all pretenses as well as the cloak, they sprinted up to the common room, cloak clutched tightly in James' sweaty hand. Bent double and gasping for breath, James and Peter stood in the middle of the common room.
"Think you can last til breakfast, Peter?"
"Definitely," wheezed Peter, looking petrified. They stumbled up the stairs to their room, changed into pajamas in the dark, and got into bed, still breathing heavily.
Lily propped herself up on her elbow and stared at her friend. "Esedora?"
"Hmmmm?"
"What are you thinking about?"
Esedora rolled over. "What do you mean?"
"You're usually the first one asleep," explained Lily.
"I don't know…just stuff…"
"Is something wrong?" asked Lily, concerned.
"No," said Esedora, "nothing's wrong…" Lily could hear the smile in her voice.
"Ooo! Ooo!" said Lily, bouncing.
"Shut up, Lily," moaned Morena from her corner.
"Sorry." Lily sat still. "Well?" she asked in a whisper. "Is it a boy?"
"Maybe," said Esedora resolutely.
"It IS!" crowed Lily. "Who? Who?"
"I am not telling."
Lily paused, crestfallen. "Why not?"
"You'd make fun of me."
"Would not!"
"Would too!"
"Why would I make fun of you?" asked Lily, pretending to be hurt.
"You just would. And anyway, I don't really like him, he's just cute."
"Oh, come on, you've gotta tell me! I'm dying of curiosity!"
"Curiosity killed the Kneazle."
"Satisfaction brought it…er, never mind. Just give me a hint, pleeeeeeeease?"
"Fine," sighed Esedora. "A hint. Then will you leave me alone?"
"Sure."
"He's got black hair."
Lily sat up, completely horrified. "Potter?"
"No!" gasped Esedora. "Course not! I meant Sirius!"
"What?"
"Oops."
"You think he's cute?"
"Aw, would you bloody well go to sleep?"
"Well, well, well. What a revelation."
"Shut up."
Lily curled up under her covers, fluffed her pillow, and rolled over. "He is, though, I suppose. In the proper light." But Esedora had fallen asleep, smiling.
"Why don't we sit over here?" said Lily, grinning devilishy.
"Lily," groaned Esedora, but other than that made no resistance to being pulled over to near Sirius.
"Oh, go on James, you've gotta eat something," Sirius told his friend, who was staring glumly at his toast and marmalade.
"No point. I'm a reserve. A reserve!"
"What?" said Lily, in mock astonishment. "Our brilliant Potter is only a reserve on the House Quidditch team? Why, it's an outrage! A scandal! We should file a protest!"
James glared at her. "Funny, Evans. What, did you come over here just to make fun of me?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Potter. We came because – ow!"
"We came because ow?" mocked James. "Articulate one, aren't you." Lily , who was massaging her shin and avoiding Esedora's eyes, didn't bother to respond.
Annalisa Wood, the team captain, stood up and bellowed, "All team members to the locker rooms!"
"That's you," said Sirius, poking his friend to make him move.
"Hardly," smirked Lily. "Although it is a cold day out."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked James grumpily.
Lily gazed innocently up at him. "Well, I'm sure the real team members will appreciate having the bench nice and warm." James opened his mouth angrily, but before he could retort, his arm was snatched by Annalisa.
"Come on, Potter, didn't you hear me?"
On the Quidditch field, the air was bitter and the sun was hidden behind a bank of clouds. Rain was threatening, but was still holding off, as if it were taunting those who weren't sure whether or not to bring an umbrella. Lily and her friends squeezed past a group of rowdy fourth year boys to their seats.
"Excellent," said Esedora, "we can see really well from here."
"Look," said Lily, pointing, "there's Potter on the bench." She smirked.
"Annnnnnnnnd they're off!" screamed the commentator, Albert Finnigan. "Oh no… I mean Slytherin scores," he corrected himself hastily after a stern look from several teachers.
The Gryffindors weren't doing very well; half an hour into the game they were losing 60 to 10, despite their enthusiastic cheering section. Anyone who wasn't a Slytherin wanted Gryffindor to win, but it didn't look like the Gryffindors would oblige. After about fifteen more minutes, the Gryffindors had scored twice, which only served to enrage the Slytherins.
"And that's quite a smash from the Slytherin Beater," called Finnigan, "wait – Smith's flying right in front of it – WATCH OUT!"
The next audible sound was a sharp crack as the Chaser and the Bludger collided. A collective groan rose from the Gryffindor stands as he began to spiral towards the ground. Quickly slowing him down, Hooch landed as well and ran over, followed by Madam Pomfrey.
"And it looks like Smith is being taken off the field – bad break for the Gryffindors, doesn't look like he's in much shape to play anytime soon."
During the time-out, the two teams landed on the ground. As the Slytherins jeered, the Gryffindors huddled in a worried mass.
"D'ya think he'll be ok?" asked their Seeker, Joshua Patil.
"I'm sure of it," said Wood shortly, "Pomfrey's the best in Britain. But now we're short a Chaser, and being down thirty, we can't afford it."
"What about – what's his name?" asked Patil.
"Potter? I don't know," said Wood doubtfully, "he hasn't been doing too well in practices."
"I don't see as we have much of a choice, Annalisa."
"You're right, I guess. Oy! Potter!"
James looked up in confusion. "What?"
"Grab your broom and get over here!" A murmur emanated from the crowd. A girl's voice in particular could be heard.
"Potter? Are they insane?"
James also heard. Nope, he thought cheerfully, they've just finally recognized that I can play. Madam Hooch's whistle cut through his thoughts.
"Ready to begin play?"
"God, I hope so," Annalisa muttered under her breath. "Okay, team! Strategy Three! Let's do this!" The Gryffindor team rose into the air, amid cheers and catcalls.
"Ready, James?" asked Patil. James looked slightly green and didn't answer. But as soon as play began, he shifted into automatic.
"Nice dive by Patil there," said Finnigan, "oh, good maneuver by Wood, the Gryffindor team seems to be spurred on by the loss of a key player, but oh, Potter seems to be up to the challenge, he's gained possession, he's speeding towards the left goalpost – POTTER SCORES! And Slytherin takes possession, whoops, snatched away by Abbott, whoops, he misses, retrieved by Potter – and he scores again! 60-50, Slytherin is the current score, ladies and gentlemen."
Esedora leaned over and muttered to Asper, "He likes being commentator waaaay too much."
"Slytherin heads for a goal – blocked by a tricky move of Wood's, very rare, that one. Quaffle taken back by Potter, goodness, that boy can fly, look at him dodge those Bludgers – oh no, two Chasers have ganged up on him – underhanded pass to Abbott – ABBOTT SCORES! The game is tied! And Malfoy drops the Quaffle, snatched by Longbottom, dodges the Slytherin Seeker – passes to Potter – Potter scores again!"
Amidst the confusion, nobody noticed that Patil had gone into a dive –
"What's that? Is it – yes! Patil has the Snitch! Game over, Gryffindor wins!"
The stands erupted into cheers, yells, and squeals.
"Wasn't he incredible?" sighed a first year girl behind Lily. "I could just die! Good thing they got him off the bench! Oh, look, he's waving this way! Oh, wow!"
Lily pantomimed throwing up very vividly to her friends. "Oh, is he going to be unbearable…"
Lily remained in a very bad temper for the rest of the day. She stomped inside the castle, scowled at her lunch, glowered at the several fawning girls now surrounding James, and glared at everyone she saw in the halls.
"Honestly, Lily," said Esedora, "it's not that bad."
"Yes it is," growled Lily. "He was arrogant enough without being a Quidditch star. Now everyone's going to act like he's some kind of hero."
When Peeves zoomed by, loudly singing an off-key rendition of 'All Hail King Potter,' Lily's friends feared she might explode.
When Lily and James ran into each other in the common room – quite literally – most people hid behind a chair, couch, or another student, in case they turned violent.
"Ow! Why don't you watch where you're going, Evans?" snapped James.
"Why don't you, Potter? Oh wait, I'm sorry, I forgot. You're a world famous Quidditch star now, aren't you. Do forgive me, oh great one, for I'm only a mere mortal," said Lily sarcastically.
"Erm – Lily – " said Asper, tugging on one of Lily's arms, "why don't you come on up to bed?"
"Yes, why don't you," said James. "It's not like I want to look at your face any more."
"I was about to say the same to you," said Lily.
"I beat you to it, then. Too bad, Evans, 'cause around me, you'll always be second best."
Lily narrowed her eyes. "See you in the morning. Most unluckily," she retorted, while being dragged towards the dormitory stairs.
"Just watch," muttered Asper to Esedora. "Those two'll end up together."
Esedora stifled a laugh. "Right," she said sarcastically. "I can see it now."