Chapter Twenty Seven
"Hey, Jen." said a voice from behind her. She turned and her heart began pounding at the sight of Travis. She was eating breakfast in the Great Hall and it surprised her that he was up so early.
"Hi, Travis." Jenny couldn't help but beam as he took a seat beside her. "How are you?"
"Good. Had a rough night sleeping, though." he said, laying his broom down on the floor beside them. He was donned in his quidditch uniform, which only made him look more handsome.
"Nervous about tomorrow's game?" she asked.
"Well, no. I was thinking about you, actually." he said, his ears turning pink.
"Me?" Jenny said in surprise. Yes, she thought. This plan just might work, after all.
"Well, I was thinking about you and Potter." he said hurriedly.
"What about?" she asked, taking a bite of her sausage and eggs.
"Well, why him?"
"Oh, I don't know." she said, innocently playing it off. "No one else seemed overly interested in me, so when he asked me out, I said yes." she said truthfully.
"Well... I dunno." he said, running a hand through his thick dirty blond hair.
"Well, what?" Jenny pushed.
"Well, I always kinda though you had a thing for me." he said looking up into her eyes. Jenny's breath caught as she got lost in the deep dark blue of his eyes, then looked away. This was the Travis that she loved. Not cocky and self centered, but curious and apprehensive.
"Travis King, we have been friends for seventeen years, and not once have you ever indicated to me in the least bit that you were interested in pursuing anything with me." she said crossly. If he liked her and he hadn't said anything, oh, was he going to pay....
He looked at her curiously. "Yeah, I guess so." Then he shrugged. "And I'm not saying I do, I was just thinking about it last night. I was just wondering, you know, if you used to, if you still do..." he said raising his eyebrows in question.
Jenny only sighed and gave him the only answer she could. "Travis, any romantic feelings I might have had for you in the past are behind me now, and I am perfectly content with being our friend." she lied. "I think that our relationship has worked pretty well for us the past few years." she added with a smile.
After a moment, Travis looked up and smiled. "Great. I'm really relieved, because I was worried about losing one of my good friends." he said, patting on the shoulder.
"No worries here," she said with a small smile, though her heart was sinking.
"Hey, let's go King!" said a fellow quidditch player walking up behind him. "Professor Minkettle wants us on the field for practice in ten minutes!"
"Well, good luck, Travis." she said.
"Nah, we don't need luck." he smirked. "See you around, Jenny." he said, walking off with his buddy.
Lily nodded. Why would she ever hope for a change in him? He was always going to be the same. Only in quiet private conversations when she was his 'Jen' was he friendly - caring - different. But when other people were around he went back to being a conceited prat and she went back to being 'Jenny.' Yes, she was always his friend, and never his girl.
"What was that all about, Jenny?" Remus asked, sliding down the table to sit by her. "You look like you're about to spit nails."
"Geez, Remus. I don't know if this is going to work." she said, shaking her head.
"Whoa, what are you talking about?"
"I don't know. Nancy was really worried about something that Lily said last night. You'll have to ask her. But Travis... "
"What? What did he do?" Remus asked.
"He's.... he's just such a jerk sometimes, Remus!" she said. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that but.... he only shows the real him when no one's around but me. And just now, I could have taken a few very subtle hints that maybe he . . . or maybe it's just wishful thinking. I don't know, everything is so confusing."
"This whole charade?" Remus said with a chuckle.
"It's just a bunch of crap!" Jenny said with a cynical smile. "I'm at risk of losing my best friend and just when I start going out with a guy that I don't even like, the one guy I do like . . . is confusing the hell out of me!"
"Don't worry, Jenny." Remus said, trying to be sympathetic as he finished his glass of orange juice. "Hopefully, everything will get sorted out soon."
"Hopefully." Jenny said sardonically. "I know for a fact that Lily loves James. I know it. The way she looks at him or talks about him. He makes her happy. She's just scared of love and . . . I don't know what I'm going to do with her. You know it's fate, Remus. She's just fighting it."
"Yup," Remus nodded. "Fighting fate."
---
Awkward silences are the worst.
That's what Lily was thinking later that night as she walked down the corridor with James. They were patrolling, midnight nearing. James had found a couple of young boys practicing hexes on each other, and had harshly sent them to bed. Though he was also unaffected as they found a Ravenclaw boy and girl making out near the Great Hall. But at the moment, Lily and James were walking back to the common room, both knowing the other was thinking of the other day, when Lily had walked in on James and Jenny, but both too nervous to say anything.
Lily's heart was pounding as she thought of her assumptions of James' scheming. Unable to control her curiosity, she broke the silence.
"So - what's going on with you and Jenny?" her voice was arrogant, though her interest was peaked.
James sneered. "None of your business." Lily was now angry. Now she knew something was up. "Fine. Flobberworm." she said quickly, practically running though the porthole.
"Well, what's going on with you and Travis?" James asked just as daringly. Lily turned and smirked back at him.
"None of your business." then she turned on her heel for the stairs. James only chuckled and turned towards the fire, putting his hands up for warmth.
"Fine. I don't know why you're so curious about my love life, though." Now it was Lily's turn to laugh.
"What are you talking about, James? What could you possibly know about love?"
James walked up to her with narrowed eyes and angrily grabbed her chin, holding her face inches from his own. "What do I know about love?" he said in a low, bitter voice. He wanted to kiss her, to shout at her now much he really did love her, but he couldn't do it.
"More than I'll ever tell you." then he stormed up to the boys dorm, slamming the door behind him and leaving Lily alone.
She turned to the fire, completely lost in her own thoughts, contemplating on word.
"Love?"
---
Lily sat in front of the fire for many long hours that night, analyzing this confusing mess of emotions and relationships, mainly the one word that James had left repeating in her mind: love. She hated being bitter against her two favorite people, Jenny and James. She sighed. She thought it a bit strange, though. How long had it been since James had asked her out?
Well, after biting his head off for seven years, he finally took a hint and you're wondering why? said her subconscious.
But it was after she had befriended him, that the asking had stopped. And even though he was currently dating Jenny, she knew that he would never stop pining for her. She somehow knew that his dating Jenny was some sort of scam to make her jealous, which was working rather well. She knew that the only reason Jenny would do anything like this was to secure Lily's happiness. Apparently, her two friends knew her well enough to know that she was indeed happy with James. She loved James.
Yes, Lily loved James Potter with all her heart and more. But that was why it hurt her so much to admit it. Because she knew she could never be with the one she loved at the risk of death. The prophesy had cursed her life and she could never have a wonderfully happy normal life with the one she loved - which was James, and not Travis.
Ah, Travis. What was she to do with him? She picked herself up from the floor and began walking for the dorm room. She knew she didn't love him. Hell, she barely liked him. And she knew that to lead him on was wrong. Yes, maybe it was time to end it with Travis once and for all.
---
"Morning, Potter."
James didn't have to look up to know that Jenny was the one approaching him.
"G'morning, Jenny." he grumbled without looking up.
"You're a hard man to find."she said with a smile, taking a seat beside him. He was sitting on the ground against a building in a courtyard alone.
He only shrugged at her comment. He had picked a place of quiet and solitude where he could sort out his thoughts. He hadn't meant to get so upset with Lily the previous night after patrolling, but it just got him to a point of raging jealousy every time she talked about Travis or questioned him about love. Had he not shown total loyalty and complete admiration for the past seven years?
"Listen, I know that we were never seriously going out or whatever, but considering our past, I was hoping to continue our friendship, even though I had to dump you. You understand, of course?"James smiled lightly. "Of course, Jenny. You're a great girl, you know that?"
"Yeah, but I know where your heart belongs." she said bumping him with her shoulder.
"And I still don't know where yours belongs." James said, bumping her back.
"Well, you're not going to find out for a while. I need to know how he feels first." Jenny shook her head and laughed. "He is so . . . stupid."
"And you like him because . . ." James chuckled.
"I don't know." she said, standing up.
"Well, he must be really stupid then, if he can't see what a great catch you are. I wasn't kidding when I said you were a great girl. Daring your friendship with Lily for her happiness... even though it was kind of wrong, I really admire you for it."
"Aw, James! You're proud of me for conning my best friend? Stop it, you're going to make me cry." she smiled down at him sadly. "You are such a sweet guy, James. Why it took Lily this long to drop Travis I'll never know." The she turned and began to walk away.
"Yeah, me ei- wait. What?!" James stood and ran in front of her. "Did you just say what I think you said?" he asked, looking up into her sheepish face with a hopeful smile.
"Well, Nancy told me that Lily broke up with Travis this morning after breakfast." Jenny said, grinning from ear to ear.
"No way."
"Yup."
"You're kidding."
"Nope."
"You're serious?"
"Yup."
"WAHOO!" James screamed, earning strange glances from students walking by. "Oh, my gosh, Jenny!" He was laughing and cheering so loudly, that Jenny had to cover her ears. James then picked her and twirled her around, causing her to laugh.
"I can't believe it!" James said incredulously after putting her down. "I could kiss you!" He kissed her quickly on the forehead. "I could kiss Travis - Whoa! Bad mental picture! Maybe not . . . I could kiss Lily . . . hey, there's an idea! I could kiss Lily!" Then he turned to run, but paused.
"You are awesome, Jenny. You've made my day - no, my week. You are a great friend!" After running into a couple students and around the corner, Jenny laughed as she heard him cheer again.
"Yup. If only I could make someone else see that."
---
A/N: Okay, maybe one more....
