A/N: I'm a wee bit upset right now. I've found over the years that writing helps me vent. So if this chapter is too emotional, lemme know, and I'll redo it. Thanks a bunch!
Nikki: Purple Headed Leprechauns? (looks scared) I'm afraid now.
Angel Black1: (slaps your hand) Bad Girl! (raises eyebrows) What? You told me to!
bubblesara: You'll see!
shrkbait: Yes! The girl will gossip! Because that is what girls like her do. Hufflepuffs! Bleah! I can't stand them!
Jinger: Heh! Well he has . . . Silly boy.
WolfishGrin34: Glad you like it! Thank you!
Toe-taly-skrewed: I love your penname! Happy you like it!
Lyss: A little waiting never hurt anyone . . . And (sigh) you caught me! Mwahahahaha! It was the human! The human all the way! Mwahahahaha!
animalluvr75: Thank you! And she will definitely ride the stag . . .
anniePADFOOT: (wipes away a tear) You logged in! I'm so proud of you! Haha . . . Yeah, the Sirius-shower thing – I'm glad you liked it! I thought it was funny, too . . . I was actually laughing out loud as I was typing it. (My family thinks I'm insane, now, but we're really all a bunch of cracking nuts)
Quiteona: Creative genious? (blushes) Well, hey, thanks! And yes, Lily will DEFINITELY still ride James . . . I'm glad you really liked that!
Kerichi: Heehee, I like how you say that you think Sirius is 'doggedly' trying to get Lily and James together. Made me smile. I figured Lily would be a little grossed out by that because of the way I'd been writing her. I try to put myself in the character's shoes to determine their reactions, so I'm glad you like the way I'm portraying them. Yup, the story will be long enough for her to loosen up . . . (Of course, after she takes that ride) Heehee.
libyanauthor: I read your review and it made me laugh hysterically. Were you hyper when you wrote that? Because that reminds me of when I'm hyper. Anyhoo, you'll see what James will do. And how Lily will react!
sunni07: (sighs happily) Thanks again for putting me on your fave list. And don't worry. James shall eventually stop digging that hole, figure out that he's going the wrong way about everything, turn around and emerge on top. (Like the good guys always do!)
Revi: I like them, too! Glad you like Sirius's character!
Mary-Jane Black: Because, my dear, James is a stubborn mule. And he hasn't quite realized it, yet.
holly-evans: I can! I can! Because I wrote it! heehee, Thanks a lot!
MWPP Fanatic: Yeah, I'm anxious for everyone to find out! Heehee! She'll ride him next chapter, don't worry!
I'M RUNNING OUT OF CHAPTER NAMES . . . HELP ME!
---
Disclaimer: ho-hum
Chapter Ten – Abra
Lily was heading to her class right before lunch when a harassed-looking James cut her off mid-step. "Lily!" he said, seeming relieved.
"What?" Lily said, raising her eyebrows, and faintly wondering why he was looking so tired. "James, you look like you haven't slept in . . ." She trailed off, partly because he wasn't paying attention, and partly because he was frantically trying to shush her.
"Come with me," he whispered, touching her arm lightly.
Lily's mind froze at the sudden contact. Delicious tingles seemed to radiate outward from that point where he had touched her. She felt her face heating up, and embarrassed, she snatched her arm away. "Where? James, my class is about to start very soon – "
"Lily, please!" he grabbed for her arm again, and sighing, she let him lead her away. She would have protested more, but she had to admit that a part of her was very curious to find out what was going on. He stopped at a door further down the corridor that she'd never noticed before.
"What is this?" she asked, apprehensively.
"Shhh!" He opened the door, and stepped in what appeared to be a broom closet, pulling her in with him. He reached around her and closed the door.
"Potter!" Lily hissed. "You better have a REALLY good reason for dragging me in here." It was dark. And Lily didn't particularly care for dark spaces. Especially small, dark spaces barely big enough to fit two people . . . unless the two people were snogging, of course.
"Lumos," she heard him mutter, and suddenly the small closet was lit up enough for her to see that it really was barely big enough to fit two people. She was standing no less than two inches away from James, and he was staring at her, an intense look in his hazel eyes.
Lily was sure her heart couldn't beat any faster.
---
James froze. She was inches away from him. Her LIPS were inches away from him. All he had to do was bend down, and – He mentally shook his head. 'No, Potter! That is not what you came in here to do,' he thought, trying to erase the image from his mind.
He took a deep breath. "Listen, Lily . . . If you hear anything about . . . um, us, it was an accident . . ."
She raised one eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
He was doing this all wrong. He could tell she was confused. He was pretty confused, himself. He had this all planned out in his head, but it was coming out all wrong. His heart was pounding and all he could think about was wrapping his arms around her, and kissing her, instead of telling her that –
"Rumors!" he said, trying desperately to clear his thoughts. "There's a rumor going around . . . and I just want you to know that I didn't start it, whatever you might think – "
"What rumor, James? You're not making any sense," she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I have to go to class. Tell me later, okay?" She gave him a small smile, and let herself out of the closet.
James sank to the floor, miserably. "But you might hate me later," he said quietly.
---
Lily couldn't get his expression out of her mind. He had looked so desperate, so . . .
"And I heard that someone spotted them sneaking into a closet to snog, too!"
Lily snapped out of her reverie and looked for the source of the gossip. She sighed. Snogging in closets. When would people learn? It was downright scandalous to say the least . . .
"Are you sure it was James Potter?"
Lily stopped breathing. James Potter? Not the James Potter she knew. There had to be some other explanation for this –
"Of course James Potter! Who else would Lily Evans snog?"
"What?" Lily gasped out loud. She turned around to look for the gossipers, but couldn't spot them anywhere. She figured they were hiding behind a bookcase nearby. Her class had gone down to the library today to do research for a project along with a few other classes in different years.
"How long has this been going on?" the first voice said, excitedly.
"Not sure. For a few months, probably. They ARE the Heads, you know. I bet they spend a lot of time together," the second voice answered.
Lily stood up, and headed in the direction of the voices to discover that they were indeed hiding behind a bookshelf. They were two sixth year girls, one Ravenclaw, one Hufflepuff, apparently so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't see her coming.
Lily cleared her throat, making her presence known. The girls' eyes widened as they turned. "L-Lily Evans!" one of them squeaked.
She glared at them. "Would either of you care to explain exactly what you are talking about? Or should I just start taking points from your houses right now?"
Lily cringed inwardly. She was abusing the power of being Head Girl, and that was a thing that she was strictly not allowed to do. However, these two didn't know it.
The two girls looked at each other wide-eyed. "W-We heard that y-y-you and James Potter are secretly . . ." she gulped. ". . . INVOLVED."
Lily stared at them, open-mouthed. "What?" she said, having to find her voice. "Who did you hear this from?"
"James said so," the other girl, the Hufflepuff, said importantly. "At breakfast this morning. He said that you ALWAYS sneak up to see him in the middle of the night."
"Only this time, you weren't so lucky," the Ravenclaw interrupted. "Because a group of people SAW you."
Lily paled. "That is NOT true," she hissed, angrily. "No one was - " She stopped, suddenly, and the two girls grinned at her, their eyes lighting up with excitement.
"It's alright," the Ravenclaw said, quickly. "You can tell us. We won't tell a soul! Right, Bria?" She turned towards the Hufflepuff, but the other girl seemed hesitant to agree. Lily scowled. Quite possibly the only thing holding her back was her damned Hufflepuff loyalty.
Lily straightened up. "It is not true," she repeated. "Because I would NEVER be in a romantic relationship with Potter. NEVER." She seemed to have forgotten that she had been thinking about kissing him just that morning.
Now all she wanted to do was bash his brains in.
---
Lily stalked down the hall towards the Gryffindor common room. She was out for blood. She was out for revenge. She was . . . She stopped. She was beginning to sound rather dark and sinister. And speaking of "dark" and "sinister" . . .
"Evans," Snape said, walking towards her. His eyes were glittering with something unidentifiable.
"Snape," Lily said, warily.
She thought he would walk on past her on his way to, (possibly wash up for dinner), in the Slytherin common room. She was faintly surprised when he stopped as if he wanted to talk.
Lily raised her eyebrows.
Snape's own eyes narrowed. "I heard a rumor," he stated.
Lily sighed heavily, and rolled her eyes. "It isn't true. Whatever you might believe."
"I sincerely hope not, Evans," Snape said. "Because you seem to be putting off reporting a certain incident that occurred on a certain FULL MOON."
Lily immediately tensed. "Listen, Severus – " she started to speak, but he cut her off.
"I just found it curious, and I'm sure you did, too, that Potter suddenly turned friendly towards you right after you discovered his friends pathetic little secret."
She was silent. She hadn't wanted to believe that James was befriending her to keep her silence, but there was always that little bit of doubt in the back of her mind. She suddenly felt hurt. Was that all this was? An attempt to keep her to keep silent? And then, he had spread this STUPID rumor about them! He had even lied to her this morning, and told her he hadn't started it, when that girl had told her that James himself said that she had been creeping up to his room every night . . . Lily's face turned stony.
"See what I mean?" Snape said, gleefully. "You think if Potter could guarantee your silence, he'd stick around you any longer?"
The anger was blinding. It filled her with an adrenaline she'd never had before. She had been stupid. So stupid! And to think, she had started to think that he was okay after all. That maybe he was even friendship-worthy. Lily snorted. To hell with that!
"So when are you going to turn them in?" Snape asked, a bit too eagerly.
Lily glared at him. "Soon," she said, shortly. "Very soon."
James would get his, eventually. But first, she wanted a few things explained.
---
Potter,
Meet me in the common room at ten. I'll be there for real this time.
Lily
---
James stared at the note in his hand. Something felt a bit . . . off, somehow. And how come she had called him "Potter"? Weren't they supposed to be on a first name basis? What happened to that? He gulped. What if she had found out about the rumors?
"Are you gonna go?" Sirius asked, eagerly.
"I don't know," James said, slowly. "I'm not sure if I should."
"Why not?" Remus asked, looking surprised.
"Maybe . . . Maybe it's a trap, or something," James said, uncomfortably. "She called me 'Potter.'"
Remus smiled. "Maybe she's not comfortable with writing down 'James,' yet. This first name basis hasn't been in existence for very long, has it?"
"Yeah, but . . ." James sighed. "What if it's someone else trying to set us up?"
"That," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, "is why you go in the Invisibility Cloak, mate! Come on, where's your head?"
James didn't smile. He still felt weird about going.
"If you're going," Remus said, "you have two minutes to get down there before you're late."
James sighed again, and picked up the Invisibility Cloak, draping it over him.
"Honestly, Prongsie, you're reading too much into that letter," Sirius said.
"Maybe she wants to talk, James," Remus added.
"Or maybe she finally wants that ride!" Sirius waggled his eyebrows and nudged Peter, who had been sitting beside him, and staring sleepily into space.
Peter gave a small jump and looked around in surprise. "Oh, right!" he said, obviously having no idea what they were talking about.
James descended the stairs slowly, in case it really WAS a trap. He didn't want anyone to hear him. However, when he reached the bottom of the stairs, the only person he spotted in the vicinity was Lily. For a second, he just stood there and watched her.
She looked nervous. She was standing so that her back was to the boys' staircases. She was tense, though, and she appeared to be squeezing her hands together so that her knuckles were white. She was also chewing a piece of her hair, and James was surprised to see that she had on a pair of muggle pants called jeans, and a jumper. He smiled. Standing there like that, looking so uneasy, she was beautiful.
He gave a small cough, and she jumped, then spun around. He watched her eyes dart back and forth as she scanned the boys small staircase. "James?" she whispered.
James pulled his cloak over his head. "Hi," he said, tentatively.
"Hi. Um, we need to talk," she said, awkwardly.
---
If he was surprised, he didn't show it. In fact, this seemed to be what he expected. He nodded. "Here?" he asked, glancing around the common room.
Lily took a deep breath. "No. Maybe . . . maybe the forbidden forest?"
James stared at her, and she averted his gaze. "I was thinking, maybe . . . uh . . . maybe Prongs could . . . I dunno. Maybe I could talk to him, instead?" Her face was flaming, but somehow she lifted her eyes to meet his evenly.
He was staring at her, intensely. Much like he had stared at her in the closet earlier that day. She felt herself shiver under his gaze. There was something almost . . . predatory about the way he was looking at her. "Potter?" she whispered, afraid she might have lost him, somehow. "Can I ride Prongs?"
He suddenly blinked, then grinned, almost shyly. It was Lily's turn to stare. Shyly? James Potter wasn't shy! He was ANYTHING, but shy.
"Sure, Evans," he said, quietly, though still smiling. "I'm sure Prongs would love that."
Lily suddenly felt her heart skip a beat. For a second there, she had almost forgotten that she was upset with him. 'Oh, yes,' Lily thought, glaring at the back of James's head. 'Potter will get his soon enough. And tonight . . . tonight I'll get mine.'
---
A/N: Uh, oh. What is Lily planning? Something sinister, I'll bet! Actually, uh, I don't know, yet, but I hope an idea comes to me, soon. I'm so tired. It's 2:21 AM. I wanted to write the stag-riding thing into this chapter, but it won't fit until next chapter, unfortunately. I have that all planned out, except for "Lily's Revenge." That's the only part I'm not too sure about because, come on, let's face it: Do you REALLY think Lily would stoop so low as to tell about the Marauders' secret, regardless of what she told Snape? That would majorly affect Remus (I already cause him so much pain in my fics), and plus, she would have to explain what she was doing outside that time of night, anyway, as I'm sure being Head Girl doesn't give you the right to wander outdoors at night . . . oh, poo! I need an idea . . .
Please Review! (give me feedback! GOOD feedback! feedback I can draw ideas from! Thanks!)
Ariana S.
Nikki: Purple Headed Leprechauns? (looks scared) I'm afraid now.
Angel Black1: (slaps your hand) Bad Girl! (raises eyebrows) What? You told me to!
bubblesara: You'll see!
shrkbait: Yes! The girl will gossip! Because that is what girls like her do. Hufflepuffs! Bleah! I can't stand them!
Jinger: Heh! Well he has . . . Silly boy.
WolfishGrin34: Glad you like it! Thank you!
Toe-taly-skrewed: I love your penname! Happy you like it!
Lyss: A little waiting never hurt anyone . . . And (sigh) you caught me! Mwahahahaha! It was the human! The human all the way! Mwahahahaha!
animalluvr75: Thank you! And she will definitely ride the stag . . .
anniePADFOOT: (wipes away a tear) You logged in! I'm so proud of you! Haha . . . Yeah, the Sirius-shower thing – I'm glad you liked it! I thought it was funny, too . . . I was actually laughing out loud as I was typing it. (My family thinks I'm insane, now, but we're really all a bunch of cracking nuts)
Quiteona: Creative genious? (blushes) Well, hey, thanks! And yes, Lily will DEFINITELY still ride James . . . I'm glad you really liked that!
Kerichi: Heehee, I like how you say that you think Sirius is 'doggedly' trying to get Lily and James together. Made me smile. I figured Lily would be a little grossed out by that because of the way I'd been writing her. I try to put myself in the character's shoes to determine their reactions, so I'm glad you like the way I'm portraying them. Yup, the story will be long enough for her to loosen up . . . (Of course, after she takes that ride) Heehee.
libyanauthor: I read your review and it made me laugh hysterically. Were you hyper when you wrote that? Because that reminds me of when I'm hyper. Anyhoo, you'll see what James will do. And how Lily will react!
sunni07: (sighs happily) Thanks again for putting me on your fave list. And don't worry. James shall eventually stop digging that hole, figure out that he's going the wrong way about everything, turn around and emerge on top. (Like the good guys always do!)
Revi: I like them, too! Glad you like Sirius's character!
Mary-Jane Black: Because, my dear, James is a stubborn mule. And he hasn't quite realized it, yet.
holly-evans: I can! I can! Because I wrote it! heehee, Thanks a lot!
MWPP Fanatic: Yeah, I'm anxious for everyone to find out! Heehee! She'll ride him next chapter, don't worry!
I'M RUNNING OUT OF CHAPTER NAMES . . . HELP ME!
---
Disclaimer: ho-hum
Chapter Ten – Abra
Lily was heading to her class right before lunch when a harassed-looking James cut her off mid-step. "Lily!" he said, seeming relieved.
"What?" Lily said, raising her eyebrows, and faintly wondering why he was looking so tired. "James, you look like you haven't slept in . . ." She trailed off, partly because he wasn't paying attention, and partly because he was frantically trying to shush her.
"Come with me," he whispered, touching her arm lightly.
Lily's mind froze at the sudden contact. Delicious tingles seemed to radiate outward from that point where he had touched her. She felt her face heating up, and embarrassed, she snatched her arm away. "Where? James, my class is about to start very soon – "
"Lily, please!" he grabbed for her arm again, and sighing, she let him lead her away. She would have protested more, but she had to admit that a part of her was very curious to find out what was going on. He stopped at a door further down the corridor that she'd never noticed before.
"What is this?" she asked, apprehensively.
"Shhh!" He opened the door, and stepped in what appeared to be a broom closet, pulling her in with him. He reached around her and closed the door.
"Potter!" Lily hissed. "You better have a REALLY good reason for dragging me in here." It was dark. And Lily didn't particularly care for dark spaces. Especially small, dark spaces barely big enough to fit two people . . . unless the two people were snogging, of course.
"Lumos," she heard him mutter, and suddenly the small closet was lit up enough for her to see that it really was barely big enough to fit two people. She was standing no less than two inches away from James, and he was staring at her, an intense look in his hazel eyes.
Lily was sure her heart couldn't beat any faster.
---
James froze. She was inches away from him. Her LIPS were inches away from him. All he had to do was bend down, and – He mentally shook his head. 'No, Potter! That is not what you came in here to do,' he thought, trying to erase the image from his mind.
He took a deep breath. "Listen, Lily . . . If you hear anything about . . . um, us, it was an accident . . ."
She raised one eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
He was doing this all wrong. He could tell she was confused. He was pretty confused, himself. He had this all planned out in his head, but it was coming out all wrong. His heart was pounding and all he could think about was wrapping his arms around her, and kissing her, instead of telling her that –
"Rumors!" he said, trying desperately to clear his thoughts. "There's a rumor going around . . . and I just want you to know that I didn't start it, whatever you might think – "
"What rumor, James? You're not making any sense," she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I have to go to class. Tell me later, okay?" She gave him a small smile, and let herself out of the closet.
James sank to the floor, miserably. "But you might hate me later," he said quietly.
---
Lily couldn't get his expression out of her mind. He had looked so desperate, so . . .
"And I heard that someone spotted them sneaking into a closet to snog, too!"
Lily snapped out of her reverie and looked for the source of the gossip. She sighed. Snogging in closets. When would people learn? It was downright scandalous to say the least . . .
"Are you sure it was James Potter?"
Lily stopped breathing. James Potter? Not the James Potter she knew. There had to be some other explanation for this –
"Of course James Potter! Who else would Lily Evans snog?"
"What?" Lily gasped out loud. She turned around to look for the gossipers, but couldn't spot them anywhere. She figured they were hiding behind a bookcase nearby. Her class had gone down to the library today to do research for a project along with a few other classes in different years.
"How long has this been going on?" the first voice said, excitedly.
"Not sure. For a few months, probably. They ARE the Heads, you know. I bet they spend a lot of time together," the second voice answered.
Lily stood up, and headed in the direction of the voices to discover that they were indeed hiding behind a bookshelf. They were two sixth year girls, one Ravenclaw, one Hufflepuff, apparently so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't see her coming.
Lily cleared her throat, making her presence known. The girls' eyes widened as they turned. "L-Lily Evans!" one of them squeaked.
She glared at them. "Would either of you care to explain exactly what you are talking about? Or should I just start taking points from your houses right now?"
Lily cringed inwardly. She was abusing the power of being Head Girl, and that was a thing that she was strictly not allowed to do. However, these two didn't know it.
The two girls looked at each other wide-eyed. "W-We heard that y-y-you and James Potter are secretly . . ." she gulped. ". . . INVOLVED."
Lily stared at them, open-mouthed. "What?" she said, having to find her voice. "Who did you hear this from?"
"James said so," the other girl, the Hufflepuff, said importantly. "At breakfast this morning. He said that you ALWAYS sneak up to see him in the middle of the night."
"Only this time, you weren't so lucky," the Ravenclaw interrupted. "Because a group of people SAW you."
Lily paled. "That is NOT true," she hissed, angrily. "No one was - " She stopped, suddenly, and the two girls grinned at her, their eyes lighting up with excitement.
"It's alright," the Ravenclaw said, quickly. "You can tell us. We won't tell a soul! Right, Bria?" She turned towards the Hufflepuff, but the other girl seemed hesitant to agree. Lily scowled. Quite possibly the only thing holding her back was her damned Hufflepuff loyalty.
Lily straightened up. "It is not true," she repeated. "Because I would NEVER be in a romantic relationship with Potter. NEVER." She seemed to have forgotten that she had been thinking about kissing him just that morning.
Now all she wanted to do was bash his brains in.
---
Lily stalked down the hall towards the Gryffindor common room. She was out for blood. She was out for revenge. She was . . . She stopped. She was beginning to sound rather dark and sinister. And speaking of "dark" and "sinister" . . .
"Evans," Snape said, walking towards her. His eyes were glittering with something unidentifiable.
"Snape," Lily said, warily.
She thought he would walk on past her on his way to, (possibly wash up for dinner), in the Slytherin common room. She was faintly surprised when he stopped as if he wanted to talk.
Lily raised her eyebrows.
Snape's own eyes narrowed. "I heard a rumor," he stated.
Lily sighed heavily, and rolled her eyes. "It isn't true. Whatever you might believe."
"I sincerely hope not, Evans," Snape said. "Because you seem to be putting off reporting a certain incident that occurred on a certain FULL MOON."
Lily immediately tensed. "Listen, Severus – " she started to speak, but he cut her off.
"I just found it curious, and I'm sure you did, too, that Potter suddenly turned friendly towards you right after you discovered his friends pathetic little secret."
She was silent. She hadn't wanted to believe that James was befriending her to keep her silence, but there was always that little bit of doubt in the back of her mind. She suddenly felt hurt. Was that all this was? An attempt to keep her to keep silent? And then, he had spread this STUPID rumor about them! He had even lied to her this morning, and told her he hadn't started it, when that girl had told her that James himself said that she had been creeping up to his room every night . . . Lily's face turned stony.
"See what I mean?" Snape said, gleefully. "You think if Potter could guarantee your silence, he'd stick around you any longer?"
The anger was blinding. It filled her with an adrenaline she'd never had before. She had been stupid. So stupid! And to think, she had started to think that he was okay after all. That maybe he was even friendship-worthy. Lily snorted. To hell with that!
"So when are you going to turn them in?" Snape asked, a bit too eagerly.
Lily glared at him. "Soon," she said, shortly. "Very soon."
James would get his, eventually. But first, she wanted a few things explained.
---
Potter,
Meet me in the common room at ten. I'll be there for real this time.
Lily
---
James stared at the note in his hand. Something felt a bit . . . off, somehow. And how come she had called him "Potter"? Weren't they supposed to be on a first name basis? What happened to that? He gulped. What if she had found out about the rumors?
"Are you gonna go?" Sirius asked, eagerly.
"I don't know," James said, slowly. "I'm not sure if I should."
"Why not?" Remus asked, looking surprised.
"Maybe . . . Maybe it's a trap, or something," James said, uncomfortably. "She called me 'Potter.'"
Remus smiled. "Maybe she's not comfortable with writing down 'James,' yet. This first name basis hasn't been in existence for very long, has it?"
"Yeah, but . . ." James sighed. "What if it's someone else trying to set us up?"
"That," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, "is why you go in the Invisibility Cloak, mate! Come on, where's your head?"
James didn't smile. He still felt weird about going.
"If you're going," Remus said, "you have two minutes to get down there before you're late."
James sighed again, and picked up the Invisibility Cloak, draping it over him.
"Honestly, Prongsie, you're reading too much into that letter," Sirius said.
"Maybe she wants to talk, James," Remus added.
"Or maybe she finally wants that ride!" Sirius waggled his eyebrows and nudged Peter, who had been sitting beside him, and staring sleepily into space.
Peter gave a small jump and looked around in surprise. "Oh, right!" he said, obviously having no idea what they were talking about.
James descended the stairs slowly, in case it really WAS a trap. He didn't want anyone to hear him. However, when he reached the bottom of the stairs, the only person he spotted in the vicinity was Lily. For a second, he just stood there and watched her.
She looked nervous. She was standing so that her back was to the boys' staircases. She was tense, though, and she appeared to be squeezing her hands together so that her knuckles were white. She was also chewing a piece of her hair, and James was surprised to see that she had on a pair of muggle pants called jeans, and a jumper. He smiled. Standing there like that, looking so uneasy, she was beautiful.
He gave a small cough, and she jumped, then spun around. He watched her eyes dart back and forth as she scanned the boys small staircase. "James?" she whispered.
James pulled his cloak over his head. "Hi," he said, tentatively.
"Hi. Um, we need to talk," she said, awkwardly.
---
If he was surprised, he didn't show it. In fact, this seemed to be what he expected. He nodded. "Here?" he asked, glancing around the common room.
Lily took a deep breath. "No. Maybe . . . maybe the forbidden forest?"
James stared at her, and she averted his gaze. "I was thinking, maybe . . . uh . . . maybe Prongs could . . . I dunno. Maybe I could talk to him, instead?" Her face was flaming, but somehow she lifted her eyes to meet his evenly.
He was staring at her, intensely. Much like he had stared at her in the closet earlier that day. She felt herself shiver under his gaze. There was something almost . . . predatory about the way he was looking at her. "Potter?" she whispered, afraid she might have lost him, somehow. "Can I ride Prongs?"
He suddenly blinked, then grinned, almost shyly. It was Lily's turn to stare. Shyly? James Potter wasn't shy! He was ANYTHING, but shy.
"Sure, Evans," he said, quietly, though still smiling. "I'm sure Prongs would love that."
Lily suddenly felt her heart skip a beat. For a second there, she had almost forgotten that she was upset with him. 'Oh, yes,' Lily thought, glaring at the back of James's head. 'Potter will get his soon enough. And tonight . . . tonight I'll get mine.'
---
A/N: Uh, oh. What is Lily planning? Something sinister, I'll bet! Actually, uh, I don't know, yet, but I hope an idea comes to me, soon. I'm so tired. It's 2:21 AM. I wanted to write the stag-riding thing into this chapter, but it won't fit until next chapter, unfortunately. I have that all planned out, except for "Lily's Revenge." That's the only part I'm not too sure about because, come on, let's face it: Do you REALLY think Lily would stoop so low as to tell about the Marauders' secret, regardless of what she told Snape? That would majorly affect Remus (I already cause him so much pain in my fics), and plus, she would have to explain what she was doing outside that time of night, anyway, as I'm sure being Head Girl doesn't give you the right to wander outdoors at night . . . oh, poo! I need an idea . . .
Please Review! (give me feedback! GOOD feedback! feedback I can draw ideas from! Thanks!)
Ariana S.