The next morning, Lily told the guys she planned on spending the day in the
library studying. Normally, Sirius or James would try and make her stay and
do something with them, so it was a big surprise that Sunday when James and
Sirius didn't object.
"Sure Lil. Go on and have fun." James said, seeming distracted. Lily, Remus, Sirius, and Peter all stared at him as though he were mental. James caught Sirius' eyes and Sirius understood what James was up to and nodded slightly.
"O-ok. So.I guess I'll see ya later?" She asked more than said. She was still waiting for them to object, but James and now Sirius nodded wide, fake smiles on their faces.
"Yeah. We'll see you at dinner." Sirius said.
"Actually Lily, I think I could use some time in the library, too. I think I'll go with you." Remus said, still eying the two boys curiously.
"Yeah me too." Peter said.
"Ok." She turned to look at James and Sirius, "Well.bye" Then just smiled and nodded. Then the three others left, shaking their heads, confused.
When James was sure the portrait shut, he turned to look at Sirius, "I think it's time we had a talk with three certain air-heads."
Sirius smirked, "I do believe I heard some mindless gaggling up in Lily's dorm. Maybe we should look in there." He said, playing along. James mocked a look of surprise.
"We didn't I think of that." Then he turned serious, "Let's go." The two boys marched up the steps. They didn't even bother to knock when they reached the door, they just shoved it open. Cassandra and her two followers were sitting on her bed, gossiping. When they heard their door open, they glared over, expecting Lily to walk through. They were shocked when they saw James and Sirius, the two hottest boys in school in their opinion standing in the doorway.
"James. Sirius." Cassandra said, putting on a sweet façade. "What a surprise to see you two here. To what do we owe the pleasure?"
They decided to cut right to the chase, so Sirius said, "So, you three have been calling Lily a mudblood, huh" James and Sirius both glared at Cassandra and her loyal companions.
Cassandra and the two others paled a bit, but tried not to let it show. Cassandra shrugged her shoulders, "So what if we have?"
James walked up to Cassandra, slowly, "I don't like to hear that word. I think it's filthy and only defensive people that are jealous use it to make themselves feel all big and powerful. If I ever hear that word coming from you or one of your mindless sheep," he glanced over at Stacy and Kelly, "especially when it's directed at one of my best friends, I'll make sure you get expelled from this school faster than you can say 'lipgloss'. And don't think for a moment that I'm joking around."
Cassandra looked angry. Did these people not know who she was or who her father was? "Oh yeah. And how on earth would you be able to do that?"
Sirius raised an eyebrow disgustedly at the girl, "Do you not know who his father is?"
Cassandra glared at Sirius, "Do you not know who 'my' father is. Like, hellooo, Jacob Wellington III? Famous Assistant Minister of Magic?"
James said, "I know very well who your father is. I've met him plenty of times before. You 'must' not know who my father is if you're bragging about 'that'."
Cassandra crossed her arms over her chest, angrily. "And just who, prey tell, 'is' your father? The way your talking about him you'd think he was 'Merlin' himself."
"Lord, Cassandra! You don't even know who your father's 'boss' is?!" Sirius exclaimed.
Cassandra, Stacy and Kelly all paled considerably. "M-my father's 'boss'?! Y-Your father's the 'Minister of MAGIC'!" Cassandra screeched.
"Cassandra, you are several dozens points short of being an idiot. Where the bloody hell have you been for the passed 20 years." James said, disbelievingly.
Cassandra and the other two girls looked at him confused for a full two minutes before Cassandra said snottily, "Was that an insult, Potter?"
James and Sirius just exchanged glances, rolling their eyes, "I'm not even going to grace that with an answer, Wellington. Just remember, never" James lowered his voice warningly, "never.. insult.. Lily.. again. With my father being who he is, I can get you kicked out of this school in a heartbeat." Then Sirius spoke, gaining James' attention.
"Let's get out of here, James. I can feel my intelligence lowering by just being in the presence of these airheads." James nodded at him and the two started towards the door.
"I don't understand why you actually hang out with her. She's got no backbone and she's not even pretty." Cassandra said, snottily. James turned to her, his contorted in a glare that would have even scared off Snape.
"I don't think you understand anything other than the latest fashions. Stay away from her." James said, simply. He and Sirius walked out the room.
~*~*~*~*
Around twelve o'clock that night, everyone was in the common room. Sirius and Peter were playing wizard's chess with Sirius loosing horribly, James was frantically trying to finish his homework he left to the last minute, Remus was just staring at the fire deep in thought, and Lily was writing in her journal. They were the only ones in the common room; everyone else was in bed.
Occasionally, Lily would look up from what she was writing and just studied the scenes around her. She knew her life was close to perfect. She had wonderful friends, a loving family, and she was getting a wonderful education that a lot of kids didn't have the opportunity for.
"You know, Sirius, you didn't do your homework either. You'd better get on it if you want it done." James said, almost frantically.
"I'll just copy yours" Sirius said, simply. James just rolled his eyes and shook his head. There was another comfortable moment of silence, but it was cut off abruptly when,
"Guys, I have to leave for a couple of days. My mom's sick and I'm going to visit her." Remus said, looking a little nervous. Lily noticed this, but didn't say anything. "I'm supposed to leave tonight on the train."
"Ok, Rem." James mumbled, still looking at his paper. Lily was still looking at him, studying his features. Remus didn't notice Lily's stare. He looked almost relieved when no one said anything else. This just confused Lily further. 'He's hiding something,' she thought to herself, 'and I'm gonna find out what it is.'
~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, Lily woke up at the same time as always. She showered as her roommates were waking up. She walked out of the bathroom, expecting the usual speech from Cassandra. The minute she walked out, she was a little surprised.
"Thanks for setting your 'protectors' on us, Evans. Just remember, you may not always have them around to stand up for you." Cassandra said, angrily.
Lily frowned, confused, "What are you talking about?"
Cassandra ignored her, "Think you're pretty smart, huh? Let me just tell you this. You'll never be pretty or really popular. James, Sirius and Remus just hang out with you because they feel sorry for you. They just pity you, Evans. Soon, they may just run out of that pity." With that, Cassandra stomped, with Stacy and Kelly at her heels, into the bathroom. Lily just stood there, shocked.
'What was that? Did James do something?' She pushed the thoughts out of her head anyway. She met up with the guys at the common room and the five of them walked to breakfast. Lily decided not to press the matter any further.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Later on that day, James, Sirius, and Peter (Remus had gone home last night) were sitting at the Gryffindor table for lunch. Lily had said she'd be there in a few minutes' she had to get some of her homework from her dormitories.
"I'm telling you, Jamsie, this is the perfect prank to pull on the Slytherians." Sirius insisted.
"Don't call me Jamsie. Anyway, Sirius, my idea is much better. Come on, Slytherians with red and gold skin! It's great. Unlike yours" James said, proudly.
"Slytherians with lion tails? You don't think that's funny?" Sirius exclaimed. Remus and Peter rolled their eyes at their friends bickering.
Just then, Lily skipped into the Great Hall, causing many guys' heads to turn her way in admiration. She was laughing so much, James and Sirius directed their attention on her.
"What's up, Flower?" James asked, looking up.
"I just saw Snape and Malfoy trying to tell off a first year Ravenclaw. It was hilarious! A-and that's not the best part." They stopped and listened to her. "Malfoy started to sing an Irish jig while he step danced and Snape started acting like the 'tooth fairy'! He gave them each a galleon, although you could see how much he despised it!" Lily giggled. The three boys burst out laughing when she was done. Then, Malfoy, Snape and Avery all walked in at the same time, same scowls on their faces. The four laughed harder.
They calmed down somewhat when the Headmaster stood up, McGonagall tapping her water goblet to get the students attention.
"There will be a Christmas ball this year for the first time in over a century." Dumbledore announced. "And it will be open to all years." He continued talking about it, but some people started up their own conversations, all talking about the ball. "Wow! A ball!" Lily said, "I've never been to one before."
The boys weren't paying too much attention to her, though. They were to busy glaring daggers at every boy that started eying Lily (which was close to all the male population). James glared over at one particular fifth year Ravenclaw and put his arm across Lily's shoulder protectively. Lily still didn't notice what was happening outside her conversation with the only one who was really listening to her, Peter.
"I wonder if it'll be a formal?" she thought out loud, James' arm still across her shoulder. She didn't even notice when Sirius scooted closer to her when he saw a Hufflepuff 3rd year stare at her.
"What do you guys think?" she asked them, as they turned their attention back to her.
"Uhh?" Sirius said, stupidly. He had no idea what she was talking about. He took a shot in the dark and said, "Yes?"
Apparently it had been the right answer because she looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded her head, still looking pensive, "Yeah, I thought so. Pink would defiantly be a 'no' for the color of my gown."
~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, Lily and Peter were walking down to breakfast (James and Sirius said they'd be down there in about 10 minutes.
When they reached the table, Peter started to stack his plate high with pancakes and sausage. Lily grabbed a few fruits and poured some pumpkin juice in her goblet. They were eating and occasionally making small talk for about five minutes when Lily looked up.
"Mail's here." She said, perkily. "I wonder if my mom already got my letter." Then she saw an owl fly her way, "She must have. Here comes an owl now." Peter looked up from his plate and saw another one fly in, unnoticed by Lily, who was busy opening the letter in front of her.
"Hmm." Lily mumbled, Peter looked over at her. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Lily looked at him, distracted, "Hmm. What?" she glanced down at the letter, "Oh. Nothing's wrong. It's just a letter asking me to the dance."
"Really? Who sent it" Peter asked curiously.
She glanced at the letter again and said, "Jeremy Ground." She shrugged, "Never heard of him. Oh well, I'll just decline anyway." Then she went back to her fruit and Peter did the same with his pancakes. A few minutes later, another owl dropped a letter. Then another. Lily was starting to get confused as she opened them and each one said pretty much the same thing 'Will you go to the ball with me, Lily?' Pretty soon, 5 owls dropped letters.
"Well, honestly." Lily said, exasperated. "This is going a tid bit too far. It's just a 'ball' for crying out loud." She looked around and said, "There. I think that was it." And she returned to her food.
Peter looked around as well, only he noticed something she didn't and had to stifle a laugh.
How shocked she was when approximately 50 owls made their way over to Lily, dropping the letters all over her, burying her in the process. Peter couldn't hold his laughter anymore. The sight was just too funny. It was at that moment James and Sirius made their way over to the table. They noticed Peter and a bunch of letters, but they couldn't see Lily anywhere.
"Hey Pete. Where's Lily?" James asked.
"And what are all these letters doing here?" Sirius asked confused. Peter was trying to calm himself down enough to talk when James and Sirius heard a muffled voice coming from the letters. They looked at the letters, then at each other, back at the letters, then at Peter, with amusement in their eyes.
"Don't tell me she's.." James motioned his hands over to the letters, still looking at Peter.
All Peter could do was laugh and nod. Soon he was joined by Sirius and James. James rushed over to the other side of the table and attempted to get Lily out of the pile. By now, the whole hall was watching with amusement, even the teachers. When James got Lily out of the pile, she was breathing hard and her hair was in disarray.
He put both his hands on her shoulders to support her, still chuckling. "You ok, Flower?"
Her eyes wide, she nodded slowly.
"What on earth happened?" Sirius asked when the four of them were situated at the other end of the table.
"I don't know. They just all came in and dropped letter upon letter on top of me." Lily said, shaking her head.
"And they all said the same thing?" James asked.
She nodded her head, "Yep. I think so. All asking if I'd go to the ball with them. Honestly, I'm not 'that' popular and pretty!" she exclaimed.
The boys just raised one eyebrow at her. "Well I'm not." She said, meekly. They chuckled and got up o walk to class.
~*~*~*~*~
The next weeks were like that. Every morning, Lily would be piled up in love letters and such. That, or she would be asked directly. In that case, she would decline politely and James, Sirius, or Remus (who was back by now) would glare at them so harshly that the boys would cower back in fear.
3 weeks after Dumbledore made the announcement, Lily's letters were dying down, but not by much. That morning at the breakfast table, all five of them were sitting and eating and talking when the dreaded mail arrived. They all groaned. Sure at first the guys thought it was hilarious. But now, it got to be 'so' annoying. The only good that came out of it was that it made Cassandra and her two friends mad.
An owl made her way over to Lily.
"ANOTHER owl!" Sirius exclaimed, "What is it this time, Lily? 'I'm I the one hundredth asker?' This is getting ridiculous!"
Lily just raised her eyebrows and nodded wordlessly. Then James decided enough was enough.
"That's it. This has gone on long enough. I'm putting an end to this." He said, starting to stand up.
"James, don't!" Lily pleaded, trying to pull him back down. It was no use. 'Oh gosh, this is going to be 'so' embarrassing' she thought to herself miserably. Then he said it.
"I have an announcement to make. Lily Evans will 'not' be accepting any offers to the Christmas Ball. So STOP ASKING!!!"
Most of the males in the hall groaned as Lily held her face in her hands, her face 'burning' with humiliation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N- how was that? Sorry it took me so long to update. My computer wasn't working too well. Anyway, thank you to my reviewers Alexa Daniell Black, Shorti, Lyz, and Shinning Crystal. Here's the preview for the next chapter:
* "I know what you are, Remus." He looked up, in shock.
* "Lily? Are you alright?" he asked as her face drained of color.
* "B-but where will I stay?" she asked, tears streaming down her face.
* "You've been such a good friend this year James. The best actually." She said as she kissed him on the cheek.
What happened to Lily? What is Remus' reaction when Lily tells him she knows? Stay tuned. We'll be back with 'Is It Really You?' after these messages. ;-)
"Sure Lil. Go on and have fun." James said, seeming distracted. Lily, Remus, Sirius, and Peter all stared at him as though he were mental. James caught Sirius' eyes and Sirius understood what James was up to and nodded slightly.
"O-ok. So.I guess I'll see ya later?" She asked more than said. She was still waiting for them to object, but James and now Sirius nodded wide, fake smiles on their faces.
"Yeah. We'll see you at dinner." Sirius said.
"Actually Lily, I think I could use some time in the library, too. I think I'll go with you." Remus said, still eying the two boys curiously.
"Yeah me too." Peter said.
"Ok." She turned to look at James and Sirius, "Well.bye" Then just smiled and nodded. Then the three others left, shaking their heads, confused.
When James was sure the portrait shut, he turned to look at Sirius, "I think it's time we had a talk with three certain air-heads."
Sirius smirked, "I do believe I heard some mindless gaggling up in Lily's dorm. Maybe we should look in there." He said, playing along. James mocked a look of surprise.
"We didn't I think of that." Then he turned serious, "Let's go." The two boys marched up the steps. They didn't even bother to knock when they reached the door, they just shoved it open. Cassandra and her two followers were sitting on her bed, gossiping. When they heard their door open, they glared over, expecting Lily to walk through. They were shocked when they saw James and Sirius, the two hottest boys in school in their opinion standing in the doorway.
"James. Sirius." Cassandra said, putting on a sweet façade. "What a surprise to see you two here. To what do we owe the pleasure?"
They decided to cut right to the chase, so Sirius said, "So, you three have been calling Lily a mudblood, huh" James and Sirius both glared at Cassandra and her loyal companions.
Cassandra and the two others paled a bit, but tried not to let it show. Cassandra shrugged her shoulders, "So what if we have?"
James walked up to Cassandra, slowly, "I don't like to hear that word. I think it's filthy and only defensive people that are jealous use it to make themselves feel all big and powerful. If I ever hear that word coming from you or one of your mindless sheep," he glanced over at Stacy and Kelly, "especially when it's directed at one of my best friends, I'll make sure you get expelled from this school faster than you can say 'lipgloss'. And don't think for a moment that I'm joking around."
Cassandra looked angry. Did these people not know who she was or who her father was? "Oh yeah. And how on earth would you be able to do that?"
Sirius raised an eyebrow disgustedly at the girl, "Do you not know who his father is?"
Cassandra glared at Sirius, "Do you not know who 'my' father is. Like, hellooo, Jacob Wellington III? Famous Assistant Minister of Magic?"
James said, "I know very well who your father is. I've met him plenty of times before. You 'must' not know who my father is if you're bragging about 'that'."
Cassandra crossed her arms over her chest, angrily. "And just who, prey tell, 'is' your father? The way your talking about him you'd think he was 'Merlin' himself."
"Lord, Cassandra! You don't even know who your father's 'boss' is?!" Sirius exclaimed.
Cassandra, Stacy and Kelly all paled considerably. "M-my father's 'boss'?! Y-Your father's the 'Minister of MAGIC'!" Cassandra screeched.
"Cassandra, you are several dozens points short of being an idiot. Where the bloody hell have you been for the passed 20 years." James said, disbelievingly.
Cassandra and the other two girls looked at him confused for a full two minutes before Cassandra said snottily, "Was that an insult, Potter?"
James and Sirius just exchanged glances, rolling their eyes, "I'm not even going to grace that with an answer, Wellington. Just remember, never" James lowered his voice warningly, "never.. insult.. Lily.. again. With my father being who he is, I can get you kicked out of this school in a heartbeat." Then Sirius spoke, gaining James' attention.
"Let's get out of here, James. I can feel my intelligence lowering by just being in the presence of these airheads." James nodded at him and the two started towards the door.
"I don't understand why you actually hang out with her. She's got no backbone and she's not even pretty." Cassandra said, snottily. James turned to her, his contorted in a glare that would have even scared off Snape.
"I don't think you understand anything other than the latest fashions. Stay away from her." James said, simply. He and Sirius walked out the room.
~*~*~*~*
Around twelve o'clock that night, everyone was in the common room. Sirius and Peter were playing wizard's chess with Sirius loosing horribly, James was frantically trying to finish his homework he left to the last minute, Remus was just staring at the fire deep in thought, and Lily was writing in her journal. They were the only ones in the common room; everyone else was in bed.
Occasionally, Lily would look up from what she was writing and just studied the scenes around her. She knew her life was close to perfect. She had wonderful friends, a loving family, and she was getting a wonderful education that a lot of kids didn't have the opportunity for.
"You know, Sirius, you didn't do your homework either. You'd better get on it if you want it done." James said, almost frantically.
"I'll just copy yours" Sirius said, simply. James just rolled his eyes and shook his head. There was another comfortable moment of silence, but it was cut off abruptly when,
"Guys, I have to leave for a couple of days. My mom's sick and I'm going to visit her." Remus said, looking a little nervous. Lily noticed this, but didn't say anything. "I'm supposed to leave tonight on the train."
"Ok, Rem." James mumbled, still looking at his paper. Lily was still looking at him, studying his features. Remus didn't notice Lily's stare. He looked almost relieved when no one said anything else. This just confused Lily further. 'He's hiding something,' she thought to herself, 'and I'm gonna find out what it is.'
~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, Lily woke up at the same time as always. She showered as her roommates were waking up. She walked out of the bathroom, expecting the usual speech from Cassandra. The minute she walked out, she was a little surprised.
"Thanks for setting your 'protectors' on us, Evans. Just remember, you may not always have them around to stand up for you." Cassandra said, angrily.
Lily frowned, confused, "What are you talking about?"
Cassandra ignored her, "Think you're pretty smart, huh? Let me just tell you this. You'll never be pretty or really popular. James, Sirius and Remus just hang out with you because they feel sorry for you. They just pity you, Evans. Soon, they may just run out of that pity." With that, Cassandra stomped, with Stacy and Kelly at her heels, into the bathroom. Lily just stood there, shocked.
'What was that? Did James do something?' She pushed the thoughts out of her head anyway. She met up with the guys at the common room and the five of them walked to breakfast. Lily decided not to press the matter any further.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Later on that day, James, Sirius, and Peter (Remus had gone home last night) were sitting at the Gryffindor table for lunch. Lily had said she'd be there in a few minutes' she had to get some of her homework from her dormitories.
"I'm telling you, Jamsie, this is the perfect prank to pull on the Slytherians." Sirius insisted.
"Don't call me Jamsie. Anyway, Sirius, my idea is much better. Come on, Slytherians with red and gold skin! It's great. Unlike yours" James said, proudly.
"Slytherians with lion tails? You don't think that's funny?" Sirius exclaimed. Remus and Peter rolled their eyes at their friends bickering.
Just then, Lily skipped into the Great Hall, causing many guys' heads to turn her way in admiration. She was laughing so much, James and Sirius directed their attention on her.
"What's up, Flower?" James asked, looking up.
"I just saw Snape and Malfoy trying to tell off a first year Ravenclaw. It was hilarious! A-and that's not the best part." They stopped and listened to her. "Malfoy started to sing an Irish jig while he step danced and Snape started acting like the 'tooth fairy'! He gave them each a galleon, although you could see how much he despised it!" Lily giggled. The three boys burst out laughing when she was done. Then, Malfoy, Snape and Avery all walked in at the same time, same scowls on their faces. The four laughed harder.
They calmed down somewhat when the Headmaster stood up, McGonagall tapping her water goblet to get the students attention.
"There will be a Christmas ball this year for the first time in over a century." Dumbledore announced. "And it will be open to all years." He continued talking about it, but some people started up their own conversations, all talking about the ball. "Wow! A ball!" Lily said, "I've never been to one before."
The boys weren't paying too much attention to her, though. They were to busy glaring daggers at every boy that started eying Lily (which was close to all the male population). James glared over at one particular fifth year Ravenclaw and put his arm across Lily's shoulder protectively. Lily still didn't notice what was happening outside her conversation with the only one who was really listening to her, Peter.
"I wonder if it'll be a formal?" she thought out loud, James' arm still across her shoulder. She didn't even notice when Sirius scooted closer to her when he saw a Hufflepuff 3rd year stare at her.
"What do you guys think?" she asked them, as they turned their attention back to her.
"Uhh?" Sirius said, stupidly. He had no idea what she was talking about. He took a shot in the dark and said, "Yes?"
Apparently it had been the right answer because she looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded her head, still looking pensive, "Yeah, I thought so. Pink would defiantly be a 'no' for the color of my gown."
~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, Lily and Peter were walking down to breakfast (James and Sirius said they'd be down there in about 10 minutes.
When they reached the table, Peter started to stack his plate high with pancakes and sausage. Lily grabbed a few fruits and poured some pumpkin juice in her goblet. They were eating and occasionally making small talk for about five minutes when Lily looked up.
"Mail's here." She said, perkily. "I wonder if my mom already got my letter." Then she saw an owl fly her way, "She must have. Here comes an owl now." Peter looked up from his plate and saw another one fly in, unnoticed by Lily, who was busy opening the letter in front of her.
"Hmm." Lily mumbled, Peter looked over at her. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Lily looked at him, distracted, "Hmm. What?" she glanced down at the letter, "Oh. Nothing's wrong. It's just a letter asking me to the dance."
"Really? Who sent it" Peter asked curiously.
She glanced at the letter again and said, "Jeremy Ground." She shrugged, "Never heard of him. Oh well, I'll just decline anyway." Then she went back to her fruit and Peter did the same with his pancakes. A few minutes later, another owl dropped a letter. Then another. Lily was starting to get confused as she opened them and each one said pretty much the same thing 'Will you go to the ball with me, Lily?' Pretty soon, 5 owls dropped letters.
"Well, honestly." Lily said, exasperated. "This is going a tid bit too far. It's just a 'ball' for crying out loud." She looked around and said, "There. I think that was it." And she returned to her food.
Peter looked around as well, only he noticed something she didn't and had to stifle a laugh.
How shocked she was when approximately 50 owls made their way over to Lily, dropping the letters all over her, burying her in the process. Peter couldn't hold his laughter anymore. The sight was just too funny. It was at that moment James and Sirius made their way over to the table. They noticed Peter and a bunch of letters, but they couldn't see Lily anywhere.
"Hey Pete. Where's Lily?" James asked.
"And what are all these letters doing here?" Sirius asked confused. Peter was trying to calm himself down enough to talk when James and Sirius heard a muffled voice coming from the letters. They looked at the letters, then at each other, back at the letters, then at Peter, with amusement in their eyes.
"Don't tell me she's.." James motioned his hands over to the letters, still looking at Peter.
All Peter could do was laugh and nod. Soon he was joined by Sirius and James. James rushed over to the other side of the table and attempted to get Lily out of the pile. By now, the whole hall was watching with amusement, even the teachers. When James got Lily out of the pile, she was breathing hard and her hair was in disarray.
He put both his hands on her shoulders to support her, still chuckling. "You ok, Flower?"
Her eyes wide, she nodded slowly.
"What on earth happened?" Sirius asked when the four of them were situated at the other end of the table.
"I don't know. They just all came in and dropped letter upon letter on top of me." Lily said, shaking her head.
"And they all said the same thing?" James asked.
She nodded her head, "Yep. I think so. All asking if I'd go to the ball with them. Honestly, I'm not 'that' popular and pretty!" she exclaimed.
The boys just raised one eyebrow at her. "Well I'm not." She said, meekly. They chuckled and got up o walk to class.
~*~*~*~*~
The next weeks were like that. Every morning, Lily would be piled up in love letters and such. That, or she would be asked directly. In that case, she would decline politely and James, Sirius, or Remus (who was back by now) would glare at them so harshly that the boys would cower back in fear.
3 weeks after Dumbledore made the announcement, Lily's letters were dying down, but not by much. That morning at the breakfast table, all five of them were sitting and eating and talking when the dreaded mail arrived. They all groaned. Sure at first the guys thought it was hilarious. But now, it got to be 'so' annoying. The only good that came out of it was that it made Cassandra and her two friends mad.
An owl made her way over to Lily.
"ANOTHER owl!" Sirius exclaimed, "What is it this time, Lily? 'I'm I the one hundredth asker?' This is getting ridiculous!"
Lily just raised her eyebrows and nodded wordlessly. Then James decided enough was enough.
"That's it. This has gone on long enough. I'm putting an end to this." He said, starting to stand up.
"James, don't!" Lily pleaded, trying to pull him back down. It was no use. 'Oh gosh, this is going to be 'so' embarrassing' she thought to herself miserably. Then he said it.
"I have an announcement to make. Lily Evans will 'not' be accepting any offers to the Christmas Ball. So STOP ASKING!!!"
Most of the males in the hall groaned as Lily held her face in her hands, her face 'burning' with humiliation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N- how was that? Sorry it took me so long to update. My computer wasn't working too well. Anyway, thank you to my reviewers Alexa Daniell Black, Shorti, Lyz, and Shinning Crystal. Here's the preview for the next chapter:
* "I know what you are, Remus." He looked up, in shock.
* "Lily? Are you alright?" he asked as her face drained of color.
* "B-but where will I stay?" she asked, tears streaming down her face.
* "You've been such a good friend this year James. The best actually." She said as she kissed him on the cheek.
What happened to Lily? What is Remus' reaction when Lily tells him she knows? Stay tuned. We'll be back with 'Is It Really You?' after these messages. ;-)