BlackLupin- Nope, not old Janie. Think hard… and Jake probably won't come into the story too much… are you cheating on Mr. Black??? Oh yeah, you guys broke up… haha never mind!
Sjabrox- Hey, how did you know? Hehe… just kidding- you're almost right about Luke Walker here… a little off though… good guesses!
To Be Young Again
Chapter 19: Behind Your Back
Lily threw a forest green sweatshirt over her t-shirt and jeans. "Mum, I'm going over to Caitlin's!" she called over her shoulder, her hand on the doorknob.
"Wait!" Her mother called, scurrying to her daughter as fast as her short legs would carry her, her heels clicking on the tile floor. She examined Lily.
"No, no, no, honey- why do you wear clothes like these? They make you look poor. You have new designer clothes in your closet- why don't you wear those?"
"Because, Mother, I don't want to be like… like Nikki Gryfan. Besides, these are comfortable." And without another word, she left.
Once in the shadows where no one could see her, Lily stuck out her right hand in front of her, over the sidewalk. With a deafening *bang*, a huge triple-decker bus appeared in front of the sidewalk. The words The Knight Bus glittered on the side.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick you wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Sean Shunpike, and I-"
"Will be my conductor this afternoon," Lily finished the recitation wearily. "I know, Sean."
The pimple-faced teen (A/N: Who, I might add, greatly resembles Stan, or rather, vice versa. Stan resembled his father) dropped his professional manner. "Oh, 'ello, Lily. What can I do fo' ya today?"
"I need to get here," Lily showed Sean a piece of paper with Caitlin's address on it.
"No problem. Ern!"
A young man no more than twenty years old sat at the driver's seat, his hands on the steering wheel.
"Yes?"
"We need to get to Number Fifteen, Privet Drive."
"Right-o," said Ernie, and stepped on the gas.
With another loud *bang*, the bus vanished from Lily's street and reappeared on Privet Drive. The bus cruised along, and screeched to a stop at number fifteen.
"Here ya are," Sean said to Lily. "That'll be eleven sickles, please."
Lily handed him the money and stepped off the bus. She walked up to the white door and reached out a finger to knock, but the door opened before her knuckles hit wood.
"Hey, Cait! Good to see you! Where is everybody?" Lily asked, looking around the room.
"Only Jane and Amanda can come. Arabella had something to go for- I think she was going shopping with her mom or something- and Katherine couldn't come. She didn't tell me why."
"Oh. Well… it'll just be the four of us, then, will it?"
Caitlin shrugged. "I guess. Come on upstairs! You're the first one here!"
They ran into Caitlin's room, and Lily was immediately jealous. It wasn't neat and tidy like Lily's (no matter how much she messed it up, the maid fixed it. And since the maid wasn't here, her mother did); it was personalized and looked inhabited. Unlike Lily's.
Caitlin patted the spot on the bed across from her.
"So, Lily… got a picture of the Luke fellow?"
"Nope. Sorry, but I just re-met him yesterday. There wasn't any time for pictures."
*Knock, knock*
"Ooh, that must be Amanda and Jane! They told me they were coming together! I'll get it!" Caitlin cried, and left Lily sitting cross-legged on the bed while she ran to answer the door.
When Caitlin came back upstairs with Jane and Amanda in tow, Lily noticed this frightened-almost fearful- look about Jane. Her face was pale and her hazel eyes were wide.
"Oh, Lily," Jane rushed to Lily's side as if Lily was on her deathbed. "Is it true? About Luke Walker?"
"Well, if what you heard is that I'm going out with him, then yes, it's true."
"Ohmygawd!" Jane exclaimed. "Lily, you can't! I…" her voice trailed off, uncertain of what to say next and without a foothold on her words.
"You what?" Lily asked pointedly. "He asked me if I knew you, and when I said yes, he dropped the matter abruptly. What's going on?"
"Well, I… I knew him. A long time ago. And… trust me, Lily. You don't want to go out with him. He's nothing but trouble and… and heartbreak."
"Really? Well, guess what, Janie? I've known him since we were three. So I think I know him a ton better than you!"
"Known him longer? I think, dear, that those… what? Eight? Ten?- years when he was in America didn't count as knowing him, did it? Since he didn't write. Or call.
No one had ever heard Jane yell so much. Especially all at once. Amanda let out a low whistle.
"Shut up." Jane glared at Amanda.
"All I'm saying is," Jane continued, "that Luke is a different person than the sweet little boy you once knew. You've got to believe me, Lily."
"I don't believe you," Lily said defiantly. "Luke is just as sweet as he ever was. So sod off, and take your lies with you."
Jane curst into tears and ran out of Caitlin's house.
*
(Caution: This part has a bit of swearing in it, so the rating's a little… you know. It's not bad enough to be "R", though. But it's the character, and you have to bring the real-live person into the character…)
A dark hooded figure approached the huge oak tree in the Payne backyard. He-or she- or it- studied the tree, then climbed up it. With difficulty. Once concealed by the leaves, Alicia Morono drew back her hood. She rapped on the nearest window.
"Drew!" she whispered loudly (for the Alicia I know can never do anything softly.) "Drew!"
A sleepy looking teen opened the window. He was fat and ugly, but apparently Alicia didn't think so.
"Hi," she said sweetly. "Let me in?"
Drew grunted his consent and opened the window. Alicia hopped inside.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Drew demanded.
"I wanted to see you, baby," Alicia's voice was dripping with syrup.
Drew snorted. "Yeah, whatever. Now tell me, what the fuck are you doing here?"
Alicia's smile flickered and died like a light bulb at the end of its life.
"Well, Nikki- you know Nikki, one of my best friends, the pretty blonde- asked me to do her- and me," she added batting her eyelashes, "a favor."
"What sort of favor?"
"Well, she says she knows you have 'connections'," she made her fingers like quotation marks to express the quote, "and she wanted you to sort of… get rid of that Ravenclaw, Lily Evans."
" 'Sort of' get rid of her? How the fuck do you 'sort of' get rid of someone? Either you kill them, or you don't."
"Well, could you just… fine. Get rid of her. It's not like I care."
Drew smirked. "I'll see what I can do." Then he brought Alicia's lips to his for a serious make-out session.
*
Lily stayed where she was, frozen to the bed. She had never seen Jane so angry, and she had caused it. Her emerald orbs, usually sparkling, hardened so they looked like sea ice- green as the sea and hard as ice.
"Fine," she said huffily. "Fine. If she doesn't believe me, fine."
Meanwhile, on the Knight Bus with Sean Shunpike chattering away, Jane Pellerine said the same thing.
"Lily, Amanda said, "I think you should really soften up, stop being so stubborn, and listen to what Jane has to say. She has a point, you know."
"Now that I've said my part," Amanda continued, "Consider me neutral. Both of you can come to me if you want to talk, and I'll give equal advice to each of you." And she left in the same fashion Jane had.
"I guess our 'girl party' is over," Caitlin said glumly. "And I thought it would be a huge success."
"Don't worry," Lily said in a comforting tone. "Next time, we'll have one at my house, once we've all cooled off."
"All right. Need a ride?"
"Nah, I got one. Thanks! Bye!"
I really need to think this thing over, Lily thought as she silenced a rambling Sean for the second time that day.
A/N: Hey, the last bit I wrote in a hurry, so sorry if it sucked or anything. Sorry about ending in such a weird way, but I didn't know how to end.
Here's something that'll cheer you up: I have the entire outline for HTF made! Aren't you excited?
Please R&R! Oh, and before I post my A/N for HTF, I'll ask you in advance: is there any 'secrets' in HTF you want revealed? Okay, I admit, I'm cheating. I'm getting you to tell me everything I need to reveal so I don't have to re-read it and figure everything out.
Don't forget to review!
~*OutofAzkaban*~
