A/N: glad to know everyone is enjoying it! for all of you remus lovers, cowers I'm sorry, but remus will be badgered a bit more in this chapter. don't be mad! Remus is my favorite character! I won't be TOO mean to him . . . but James might.
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns these characters. I own this plot.
Chapter Six – Bobbity
Lily struggled to keep a straight face, but it was hard! James and Sirius were putting a curse on Professor McGonagall's hat while she was out of the classroom! So when she put it on it would start to yell, "WASH YOUR HAIR!"
The class was talking and laughing, so no one was paying attention, and Lily wasn't in the mood to get into another argument with James. She just stared at them, willing them to stop before McGonagall returned, when James caught her eye. Maybe it was her pained look, but he suddenly stopped, shrugging.
"On second thought, Padfoot, we really can't afford detention . . . and I think I hear McGonagall coming," he suddenly said.
Sirius hightailed it back towards his seat in the back of the room without argument, and James followed after taking the charm off of the hat. Lily was surprised. She hadn't done anything! What had caused him to stop?
She looked up and locked gazes with Remus. He, too, had a confused expression on his face. She could tell that he was also wondering what was going on with James. Lily wouldn't be so concerned if this had been the only incident. There was also the fact that James had told Sirius to calm down yesterday when he was messing around in Potions. It was like James was becoming more SERIOUS or something . . .
Lily shook her head, and looked away from Remus. No. James wasn't the type to settle down. 'He's probably going through a phase,' she thought.
"Good morning, class!" Professor McGonagall said, startling Lily, who hadn't realized she'd come through the door already.
"Good morning, Professor McGonagall!" the class recited.
"All right class, for today we'll be continuing with what we started the other day – transfiguring animals into SLIGHTLY larger animals of a completely different species! I'm also going to switch the partners around to see how your magic is affected when working with a different person," McGonagall said. "Instead of Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, we'll have Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew, while Mr. Potter can team up with Mr. Pettigrew's former partner, Miss Evans. And instead of . . ."
Lily froze. Work with James? Sure, he was WAY better than Peter at Transfiguration, but STILL. Work with James? At least Peter would sit there quietly and let her do all of the work, but James? James with another story. He was . . . well, he was actually pretty good at Transfiguration.
Lily was sitting there frozen, while the rest of the class (including James) was shifting around to sit with their partners.
"Hey, Evans," James said, sitting down. He grinned at her. "What shall we do with your owl?"
Lily snapped out of her daze, and glared at him. "Why MY owl?" she snapped. "Why not yours?"
"Mine just happens to be off delivering a letter," James said, running a hand through his hair. "Unfortunately," he added, winking at her.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right," she muttered. "More like CONVENIENT, than unfortunate." At this he just grinned wider.
---
"Not too shabby a tabby, Evans!" James said proudly. "Whatcha think? She's a beautiful cat, if I do say so myself."
"You can SAY so yourself, Potter, but you didn't do it by yourself," Lily reminded him, but she was glowing anyway. Her owl, Tawny, was now a really gorgeous reddish-brown tabby cat.
"What are you talking about, Evans? Of course I did!" James said, grinning idiotically at anyone who walked by. "Not too shabby a tabby, eh?" he said, waggling his eyebrows at the people behind them.
Lily couldn't help but laugh this time. "You're too much," she replied, grinning at him.
"Just that much more of me to love," he remarked.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Do you ever get tired of . . . never mind."
"No, what?" James interrupted. "What were you going to say?"
"I was going to ask you if you ever got tired of being yourself," Lily admitted.
James frowned, obviously confused. "No. Why would I?" he asked her.
"Never mind. It doesn't matter," Lily replied, hastily. "Let us just work on turning Tawny back."
---
"Remus, wait!" Lily was sitting in the library facing the doors when Remus came in. Spotting her, he quickly turned around and retreated.
Lily gathered her things, and rushed after him. "Remus!" He was just about to turn the corner when he stopped.
He turned around slowly, and looked at her, uncertainly.
Lily stopped. "Um . . . I, uh, just wanted to apologize about . . . you know . . . um, I know you can't help it, and . . . I'm sorry I've been so rude."
He gave her a shy smile. "It's okay. I never apologized, either, for well . . . you know . . . but I'm sorry as well."
They were both standing there smiling and blushing when James happened to walk up. He looked at one, then he looked at the other, then he stood there and started smiling and blushing, too, which caused Lily and Remus to laugh.
"What's going on?" James said, grinning.
Lily smirked at him, a very un-Lily like thing to do. She did the tiniest of winks at Remus, then said, "Oh, Potter, Remus here has just made me the HAPPIEST girl in the world!"
James's smile disappeared. "Wh-what are you talking about?" he demanded.
Lily smiled charmingly, and threw her arms around a very flustered Remus. "Isn't it WONDERFUL?" she exclaimed.
James stared disbelievingly. "You're joking, right?" he finally said. "Because if you are, it's not funny."
Remus coughed. "James, it's just – "
He turned on Lily, who flinched. "I thought you were AFRAID of him."
Lily glared. 'What is WRONG with him?' she thought, mildly surprised. "I was NEVER afraid!"
"Oh? So what was the whole fainting stuff about? Huh? What were you shaking for? It wasn't cold outside, was it?" James shouted. "Maybe it if were, you would have minded your own business and gone back to the common room like I told you!"
Lily clenched her fists in anger. "I DO NOT TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU, POTTER!"
"MAYBE YOU SHOULD!" James said. "AND WHILE YOU'RE AT IT, WHY DON'T YOU START CALLING ME JAMES? YOU'RE ON A FIRST NAME BASIS WITH REMUS!"
"That's because REMUS is my FRIEND!" she hissed, shaking in anger.
"Or maybe you just have an obsession with werewolves," James said, coldly. "What was it you said? You wouldn't have minded if Remus had bitten you? Eh? Was that it?"
Lily turned bright red, and avoided Remus's gaze as he stared at her wide- eyed.
She shook her head. "You know what, Potter?" she said in a low voice. "You never did tell me what animal YOU turn into, but I bet it's something DISGUSTING!"
Spinning on her heel, she marched off furiously.
---
James was pacing back and forth across his dorm with his arms crossed.
Sirius shook his head. "But I thought you didn't like Evans?"
"I DON'T like Evans!" James snapped.
"Then who cares if Remus fancies her?" Sirius said, scratching his head.
"He doesn't!" James insisted. "I just don't like the way they flirt!"
"They flirt?" Sirius asked in wonder. "Really?"
"Who flirts?" Remus timidly said, having just appeared in the open doorway.
"Apparently you and Evans," Sirius informed him, as James had gone tight- lipped.
Remus blushed. "James, earlier was just a joke. Lily and I – "
"There you go with that first-name business again," James interrupted, glaring at him.
Remus sighed. "I guess we're friends, like she said."
"Friends, huh?" James said, still glaring. "So now you're Evans's friend."
"Yes," Remus said, decidedly.
"Well, there you go," James said, sarcastically. "Job well done, guys! And I guess you don't need me anymore because if REMUS can befriend the great Lily Evans, then he can befriend ANYONE, can't he? Hey, Remus, why don't you go become friends with Snivellus? Maybe he'll let you call him by HIS first name, too!"
Leaving a very shocked-looking Remus, and an equally surprised-looking Sirius behind, James stormed out of the room, and emerged in the common room face-to-face with Lily Evans.
---
Well, technically, he wasn't face-to-face with her. He was behind her. She was sitting at one of the round tables in the room with her two friends, Pat and Kat.
"So what are you so upset for, Lily?" the blonde one (Pat) was asking.
"I'm upset because he's a stupid git and he's acting like a stupid git!" Lily growled.
"How else would a stupid git act?" Kat asked, thoughtfully.
Pat rolled her eyes, and Lily glared.
"Sorry," Kat said, making the puppy-dog face.
"I just don't get it, though," Lily said. "I mean, he's being all nice to me and acting sane, right? Then, Remus comes along, so I play this joke on Potter, and . . ." Lily shrugged. "I don't know, then the next minute, he's getting mad, and yelling."
"And you don't know why?" Pat asked.
"Maybe he's jealous?" Kat suggested. Pat nodded in agreement.
"Am not!" James said, marching over to them. "I am NOT jealous! Evans can date whoever she wants!"
"I'm not DATING him! I DON'T fancy Remus!" Lily exclaimed. "And were you SPYING on us?"
"Who's us?" he asked, looking around. Lily looked around, too. Her friends had left that fast.
Lily sighed. "I don't even know. I just . . . what do you want, Potter?"
James hesitated. "Why aren't we on a first name basis?"
Lily stared at him. "You're serious?"
He nodded. "Yeah. We're friends, too, right?"
Lily raised her eyebrows. "I thought we didn't like each other."
"I like you," he said before he could stop himself. 'No, I don't,' he thought.
Lily didn't say anything for a while. "What sort of animagus ARE you?" she finally asked.
---
It was midnight. She really didn't have to tiptoe, after all, she WAS Headgirl, and it was natural for her to patrol the hallways at night. 'Tonight's different, though,' she reminded herself.
Lily crept down the girls' staircase to the common room. "James?" she whispered.
"Right here," he said from in front of her. He suddenly appeared, his invisibility cloak in hand.
"You're using that?" Lily asked.
"We both are," he replied. "More than one person can fit under here."
He covered both of them as soon as they had climbed out of the portrait hole. The fat lady was away, but they weren't concerned about it at the moment.
They started moving and almost subconsciously, Lily grabbed his hand. Surprisingly, he didn't say anything, and they made it outside without running into anyone.
Lily started to stop, but James was still moving . . . towards the forbidden forest.
"Where are we going?" Lily asked, her voice wavering a bit. She tightened her grip on his hand.
"Forbidden Forest," he said nonchalantly. At this, Lily completely stopped.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because someone might see us from the castle," he said. "Don't worry. It's completely safe. I've been in there loads of times."
"Not by yourself!"
"No, and you're not by yourself either. You're with me," James said reassuringly. Lily felt him give her hand a tiny squeeze. Needless to say, she was not very reassured.
She was heading toward the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night, holding hands with James Potter – a boy with whom she really didn't get along, and all because they had gotten into an argument over a werewolf – an argument that really didn't make any sense in itself. For the millionth time that night, Lily began to question her sanity.
"We're in deep enough," James said, stopping suddenly. He had brought them to a small clearing. He let go of Lily's hand and threw the cloak off of them. Standing there, he seemed to hesitate.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lily asked, her voice shaking a little.
James took a deep breath. "Okay, stand back. I'm kind of big when I transform." Lily didn't need telling twice.
She stared at him. He was just standing there. Then, he kind of grinned sheepishly at her. "Could you turn around?" he asked. "Just turn around, and count to ten. I'll be done by then."
Lily obediently turned around. And counted to ten. There was no noise behind her. 'He wouldn't leave me here, would he?' she thought. She had just finished counting, and was debating whether to turn around or not when she felt a nudge in her back.
She spun around. And gasped . . .
---
A/N: I just HAD to end it there! It's a great cliffhanger! I just HAD to, so don't get mad. Get glad! While you're waiting impatiently for the next chapter, you can relax and read "Dilemma," my one-shot featuring that mystery character, Blaise Zabini. You know, the one who was mentioned in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and then was never mentioned again? I need to know what people think because I'm shallow! Heehee. Just kidding.
PLEASE REVIEW ANYWAY! I'll be your best friend!
Ariana S.
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns these characters. I own this plot.
Chapter Six – Bobbity
Lily struggled to keep a straight face, but it was hard! James and Sirius were putting a curse on Professor McGonagall's hat while she was out of the classroom! So when she put it on it would start to yell, "WASH YOUR HAIR!"
The class was talking and laughing, so no one was paying attention, and Lily wasn't in the mood to get into another argument with James. She just stared at them, willing them to stop before McGonagall returned, when James caught her eye. Maybe it was her pained look, but he suddenly stopped, shrugging.
"On second thought, Padfoot, we really can't afford detention . . . and I think I hear McGonagall coming," he suddenly said.
Sirius hightailed it back towards his seat in the back of the room without argument, and James followed after taking the charm off of the hat. Lily was surprised. She hadn't done anything! What had caused him to stop?
She looked up and locked gazes with Remus. He, too, had a confused expression on his face. She could tell that he was also wondering what was going on with James. Lily wouldn't be so concerned if this had been the only incident. There was also the fact that James had told Sirius to calm down yesterday when he was messing around in Potions. It was like James was becoming more SERIOUS or something . . .
Lily shook her head, and looked away from Remus. No. James wasn't the type to settle down. 'He's probably going through a phase,' she thought.
"Good morning, class!" Professor McGonagall said, startling Lily, who hadn't realized she'd come through the door already.
"Good morning, Professor McGonagall!" the class recited.
"All right class, for today we'll be continuing with what we started the other day – transfiguring animals into SLIGHTLY larger animals of a completely different species! I'm also going to switch the partners around to see how your magic is affected when working with a different person," McGonagall said. "Instead of Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, we'll have Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew, while Mr. Potter can team up with Mr. Pettigrew's former partner, Miss Evans. And instead of . . ."
Lily froze. Work with James? Sure, he was WAY better than Peter at Transfiguration, but STILL. Work with James? At least Peter would sit there quietly and let her do all of the work, but James? James with another story. He was . . . well, he was actually pretty good at Transfiguration.
Lily was sitting there frozen, while the rest of the class (including James) was shifting around to sit with their partners.
"Hey, Evans," James said, sitting down. He grinned at her. "What shall we do with your owl?"
Lily snapped out of her daze, and glared at him. "Why MY owl?" she snapped. "Why not yours?"
"Mine just happens to be off delivering a letter," James said, running a hand through his hair. "Unfortunately," he added, winking at her.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right," she muttered. "More like CONVENIENT, than unfortunate." At this he just grinned wider.
---
"Not too shabby a tabby, Evans!" James said proudly. "Whatcha think? She's a beautiful cat, if I do say so myself."
"You can SAY so yourself, Potter, but you didn't do it by yourself," Lily reminded him, but she was glowing anyway. Her owl, Tawny, was now a really gorgeous reddish-brown tabby cat.
"What are you talking about, Evans? Of course I did!" James said, grinning idiotically at anyone who walked by. "Not too shabby a tabby, eh?" he said, waggling his eyebrows at the people behind them.
Lily couldn't help but laugh this time. "You're too much," she replied, grinning at him.
"Just that much more of me to love," he remarked.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Do you ever get tired of . . . never mind."
"No, what?" James interrupted. "What were you going to say?"
"I was going to ask you if you ever got tired of being yourself," Lily admitted.
James frowned, obviously confused. "No. Why would I?" he asked her.
"Never mind. It doesn't matter," Lily replied, hastily. "Let us just work on turning Tawny back."
---
"Remus, wait!" Lily was sitting in the library facing the doors when Remus came in. Spotting her, he quickly turned around and retreated.
Lily gathered her things, and rushed after him. "Remus!" He was just about to turn the corner when he stopped.
He turned around slowly, and looked at her, uncertainly.
Lily stopped. "Um . . . I, uh, just wanted to apologize about . . . you know . . . um, I know you can't help it, and . . . I'm sorry I've been so rude."
He gave her a shy smile. "It's okay. I never apologized, either, for well . . . you know . . . but I'm sorry as well."
They were both standing there smiling and blushing when James happened to walk up. He looked at one, then he looked at the other, then he stood there and started smiling and blushing, too, which caused Lily and Remus to laugh.
"What's going on?" James said, grinning.
Lily smirked at him, a very un-Lily like thing to do. She did the tiniest of winks at Remus, then said, "Oh, Potter, Remus here has just made me the HAPPIEST girl in the world!"
James's smile disappeared. "Wh-what are you talking about?" he demanded.
Lily smiled charmingly, and threw her arms around a very flustered Remus. "Isn't it WONDERFUL?" she exclaimed.
James stared disbelievingly. "You're joking, right?" he finally said. "Because if you are, it's not funny."
Remus coughed. "James, it's just – "
He turned on Lily, who flinched. "I thought you were AFRAID of him."
Lily glared. 'What is WRONG with him?' she thought, mildly surprised. "I was NEVER afraid!"
"Oh? So what was the whole fainting stuff about? Huh? What were you shaking for? It wasn't cold outside, was it?" James shouted. "Maybe it if were, you would have minded your own business and gone back to the common room like I told you!"
Lily clenched her fists in anger. "I DO NOT TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU, POTTER!"
"MAYBE YOU SHOULD!" James said. "AND WHILE YOU'RE AT IT, WHY DON'T YOU START CALLING ME JAMES? YOU'RE ON A FIRST NAME BASIS WITH REMUS!"
"That's because REMUS is my FRIEND!" she hissed, shaking in anger.
"Or maybe you just have an obsession with werewolves," James said, coldly. "What was it you said? You wouldn't have minded if Remus had bitten you? Eh? Was that it?"
Lily turned bright red, and avoided Remus's gaze as he stared at her wide- eyed.
She shook her head. "You know what, Potter?" she said in a low voice. "You never did tell me what animal YOU turn into, but I bet it's something DISGUSTING!"
Spinning on her heel, she marched off furiously.
---
James was pacing back and forth across his dorm with his arms crossed.
Sirius shook his head. "But I thought you didn't like Evans?"
"I DON'T like Evans!" James snapped.
"Then who cares if Remus fancies her?" Sirius said, scratching his head.
"He doesn't!" James insisted. "I just don't like the way they flirt!"
"They flirt?" Sirius asked in wonder. "Really?"
"Who flirts?" Remus timidly said, having just appeared in the open doorway.
"Apparently you and Evans," Sirius informed him, as James had gone tight- lipped.
Remus blushed. "James, earlier was just a joke. Lily and I – "
"There you go with that first-name business again," James interrupted, glaring at him.
Remus sighed. "I guess we're friends, like she said."
"Friends, huh?" James said, still glaring. "So now you're Evans's friend."
"Yes," Remus said, decidedly.
"Well, there you go," James said, sarcastically. "Job well done, guys! And I guess you don't need me anymore because if REMUS can befriend the great Lily Evans, then he can befriend ANYONE, can't he? Hey, Remus, why don't you go become friends with Snivellus? Maybe he'll let you call him by HIS first name, too!"
Leaving a very shocked-looking Remus, and an equally surprised-looking Sirius behind, James stormed out of the room, and emerged in the common room face-to-face with Lily Evans.
---
Well, technically, he wasn't face-to-face with her. He was behind her. She was sitting at one of the round tables in the room with her two friends, Pat and Kat.
"So what are you so upset for, Lily?" the blonde one (Pat) was asking.
"I'm upset because he's a stupid git and he's acting like a stupid git!" Lily growled.
"How else would a stupid git act?" Kat asked, thoughtfully.
Pat rolled her eyes, and Lily glared.
"Sorry," Kat said, making the puppy-dog face.
"I just don't get it, though," Lily said. "I mean, he's being all nice to me and acting sane, right? Then, Remus comes along, so I play this joke on Potter, and . . ." Lily shrugged. "I don't know, then the next minute, he's getting mad, and yelling."
"And you don't know why?" Pat asked.
"Maybe he's jealous?" Kat suggested. Pat nodded in agreement.
"Am not!" James said, marching over to them. "I am NOT jealous! Evans can date whoever she wants!"
"I'm not DATING him! I DON'T fancy Remus!" Lily exclaimed. "And were you SPYING on us?"
"Who's us?" he asked, looking around. Lily looked around, too. Her friends had left that fast.
Lily sighed. "I don't even know. I just . . . what do you want, Potter?"
James hesitated. "Why aren't we on a first name basis?"
Lily stared at him. "You're serious?"
He nodded. "Yeah. We're friends, too, right?"
Lily raised her eyebrows. "I thought we didn't like each other."
"I like you," he said before he could stop himself. 'No, I don't,' he thought.
Lily didn't say anything for a while. "What sort of animagus ARE you?" she finally asked.
---
It was midnight. She really didn't have to tiptoe, after all, she WAS Headgirl, and it was natural for her to patrol the hallways at night. 'Tonight's different, though,' she reminded herself.
Lily crept down the girls' staircase to the common room. "James?" she whispered.
"Right here," he said from in front of her. He suddenly appeared, his invisibility cloak in hand.
"You're using that?" Lily asked.
"We both are," he replied. "More than one person can fit under here."
He covered both of them as soon as they had climbed out of the portrait hole. The fat lady was away, but they weren't concerned about it at the moment.
They started moving and almost subconsciously, Lily grabbed his hand. Surprisingly, he didn't say anything, and they made it outside without running into anyone.
Lily started to stop, but James was still moving . . . towards the forbidden forest.
"Where are we going?" Lily asked, her voice wavering a bit. She tightened her grip on his hand.
"Forbidden Forest," he said nonchalantly. At this, Lily completely stopped.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because someone might see us from the castle," he said. "Don't worry. It's completely safe. I've been in there loads of times."
"Not by yourself!"
"No, and you're not by yourself either. You're with me," James said reassuringly. Lily felt him give her hand a tiny squeeze. Needless to say, she was not very reassured.
She was heading toward the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night, holding hands with James Potter – a boy with whom she really didn't get along, and all because they had gotten into an argument over a werewolf – an argument that really didn't make any sense in itself. For the millionth time that night, Lily began to question her sanity.
"We're in deep enough," James said, stopping suddenly. He had brought them to a small clearing. He let go of Lily's hand and threw the cloak off of them. Standing there, he seemed to hesitate.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lily asked, her voice shaking a little.
James took a deep breath. "Okay, stand back. I'm kind of big when I transform." Lily didn't need telling twice.
She stared at him. He was just standing there. Then, he kind of grinned sheepishly at her. "Could you turn around?" he asked. "Just turn around, and count to ten. I'll be done by then."
Lily obediently turned around. And counted to ten. There was no noise behind her. 'He wouldn't leave me here, would he?' she thought. She had just finished counting, and was debating whether to turn around or not when she felt a nudge in her back.
She spun around. And gasped . . .
---
A/N: I just HAD to end it there! It's a great cliffhanger! I just HAD to, so don't get mad. Get glad! While you're waiting impatiently for the next chapter, you can relax and read "Dilemma," my one-shot featuring that mystery character, Blaise Zabini. You know, the one who was mentioned in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and then was never mentioned again? I need to know what people think because I'm shallow! Heehee. Just kidding.
PLEASE REVIEW ANYWAY! I'll be your best friend!
Ariana S.