A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Thomas the Hairy-Chested Lifegaurd, who seems to only find the need to apply pool rules to my friends. If anyone has any assholes they'd like me to dedicate a chapter to leave it in the review. If not, I'm sure I can find plenty more assholes on my own.
Chapter Fifteen: Halloween Part II
"Come on Wormtail, we're going to be late." begged James as he forced Peter down the Hogwarts grounds as it began to pour.
"We won't miss it; he hasn't seen the full moon yet. It's been cloudy." retorted Peter, as he scampered ahead to the Whomping Willow.
"Besides, he's not the bloke that's deserting us early." added Sirius glumly.
James shot a warning look to Sirius. "Look, I didn't know I was going to have to patrol. I did the best I could."
Peter transformed himself and ran to the great, wild tree. Sirius pulled James aside.
"Mate, we've never done this without one of us. I don't know if I'll be able to contain Moony for too long with only Wormtail for help." whispered Sirius urgently.
"It will be ok, for the first couple of hours I'll beat up on him by myself. Get him worn out, and then we'll bring him back together to the Shrieking Shack before I leave, that way you can watch him." replied James with concern. "Everything will be fine."
"It better be." answered Sirius. "Let's go."
James trudged back along the soggy Hogwarts grounds, physically sore and tired. Remus had given him quite a time, as James tried desperately to take all of his big blows so that Sirius could survive the last morning hours. He checked his watch, ten till two. He sighed as he pulled out his map. Lily was walking around the North Tower. He closed the map and put a water-repellent charm on it before wrapping it in the invisibility cloak and hiding it in the bushes for Sirius and Peter to use through the castle.
He walked through the dark, towering entrance of Hogwarts and began to sprint to the North Tower, leaving a trail of wet mud behind him that Filch was sure to despise.
James stopped to catch his breath after a few minutes and looked around to make sure he was going the right way. He turned and began running again.
It was around the next turn that he slipped and fell, sliding across the cold floor and hitting his head on a door to a classroom.
"Shit." he swore rubbing his head slightly as he pulled himself up.
As he stood up and brushed off his muddy hands he heard a giggle emerge from the dark classroom.
James held his head by the door, listening for any movement. Another giggle sounded through the room. James sighed. Another snogging couple. He might as well begin his patrolling now. He pulled out his wand and pushed the door open.
"Oh, Emerson." the girl giggled.
James flicked lights on with his wand and turned his head to the couple in the corner.
Emerson was standing with his arms wrapped around something—he could only assume it was a girl—Lily.
"Merlin, Emerson, Lily, can't you get a room that I won't have to be in later?" muttered James through gritted teeth as he looked away.
"Lily?" he heard the girl ask.
"No one." Emerson murmured.
James could barely believe what he was hearing.
"What the bloody hell is your problem, Burton?" shouted James, startling the couple out of seclusion.
Emerson, startled, looked up at James with a shocked expression before smiling.
"Hello, Potter." he pulled at the collar of his shirt. "Mind not telling Lily about this?"
James was seeing red as he surged towards Emerson.
"Yes, I mind." he sputtered. "What the hell are you doing? Lily is perfect, she doesn't deserve this!"
Emerson put on his cheeky smile and put an arm around James, which was very peculiar as James was at least five inches taller than Emerson.
"Look, Potter. Lily is a nice girl, pretty, smart, and well-mannered. She's the kind of girl I'd like to bring home to my parents…but."
"But what?" interrupted James. "She not sleazy enough for you?" James glared at Emerson and then at Kirsten.
Emerson laughed with an annoyed air and began to talk to James in a tone one would use to explain something simple to a slow child. "Potter, Lily is a perfect girl, but, she's not…into too much showing of affection, if you know what I mean." He winked at James and seeing that he wasn't winning him over, took a different approach. "Look, guys do this all the time. I'm trusting you not to tell."
James threw off Emerson's arm and looked at him with disgust. "You're mad. Of course I'm going to tell Lily."
Emerson raised an eyebrow. "Try it, I doubt she'll believe you. She'll think you're being a jealous little boy, that's what you are to her, Potter. A love-sick little boy that can't tell when he isn't wanted. That's why she's dating me, and not you."
James had barely heard the last words that left Emerson's mouth before his fist met Emerson's nose, crunching what he hoped was bone.
Kirsten shrieked.
Emerson clutched his nose as it began to shoot blood out of both nostrils.
"You really should have dressed as Tom tonight, Burton." muttered James before leaving.
As he left the classroom James began to sprint. Lily had to know about this. As he approached the North Tower he found Lily walking by herself down the empty hall with her wand out in front of her, yawning as she placed a strand of her hair, which was down to it's normal length now, behind her ear.
"Lily." greeted James as he rushed towards her.
Lily looked at him before her emerald eyes shot a glare. "You're late!" she muttered.
James checked his watch. It was ten after two. Damn Burton.
"Look, Lily, I'm sorry, I just…"
"I don't want to hear it James. I don't know what was so bloody important that you had to be an hour late, but Merlin, why can't you be on time! Patrolling is one of your duties!" she snapped.
James sighed. "I started out to be on time but I slipped and fell and hit my head and Lily! I ran I into Emerson."
"What?" asked Lily, her anger subsiding towards her curiosity.
"Yes I saw Burton… and Lily, he was snogging another girl! Kirsten Jefferson!" exclaimed James.
Lily mouth tightened and her eyes shimmered, and James knew she was livid. "You must have hit your head pretty hard, Potter."
James frowned. "You…you don't believe me?" he asked quietly.
Lily looked at him. "You've successfully damaged the few relationships I've had at Hogwarts, James, I see no reason to believe you. Besides, if anyone was snogging Kirsten it was you, I saw how you were dancing with her."
James threw up his hands in disbelief. "Bloody hell, Evans. I swear I'm not making this up! You have to believe me! Why don't you believe me?"
"You're jealous, James. Just a jealous little boy trying anything to get me to go out with you! I don't want to, Potter. Merlin, just leave me alone!" she shrieked as she burst into tears.
James expression froze. "Fine. I'll leave you alone. I'll never mess with you again, Evans. If that's what you want. But I am telling the truth, I was just trying to look out for you."
"I don't need anyone to look after me." remarked Lily coldly before turning away. "Let's do separate patrols tonight."
"Fine with me." replied James just as coldly. "If you see Emerson tell him to ice his broken nose, I doubt if he's smart enough to figure that out by himself."
Lily turned the corner as tears poured down her cheeks.
Was James telling the truth? Could she trust him? Would Emerson really cheat on her? She let out a sob as she rounded another corner, blindly and not really knowing where she was going.
She knew the answers to all of those questions, deep down, the truth was that she could trust James with her life, and that is more than she could say for Emerson.
And then the sound of flirtatious laughter rang throughout the empty, dark corridor. She set forth with determination and followed the gay sound through the hall until she found where it was erupting from.
She burst through the door, surprising the previously occupied couple.
"Emerson?" Lily called through the dark, a sob escaping her mouth.
"No Lily, it's Jacob." came the deep voice of Jacob Oakes.
It was soon greeted by the higher, effeminate voice of her best friend. "And Allison… we were just going."
"What are you two doing out at this hour?" questioned Lily, half relieved, and half confused.
She wiped the hot tears from her cheeks and lit the room.
"We we're just checking out the scenery. You know, Hogwarts at Halloween…and at night." tried Jacob.
Lily nodded and sighed. "Go on back, Jacob…I need to talk to Allison."
Jacob smiled and gave a quick good-bye kiss to his girlfriend before waving to Lily and heading out the door.
Lily and Allison soon followed him, but they went on Lily's patrolling route rather than to Ravenclaw's common room.
"So where is James? Aren't you patrolling together?" asked Allison.
Lily huffed.
"So that's what you needed to talk about." she stated. "Well what's he done this time?"
"He was late for patrolling, he claimed Emerson was cheating on me, and he supposedly broke Emerson's nose." muttered Lily in a quick, sad tone.
Allison gasped. "All of that in one night?"
"From what he says it was in a matter of minutes." Lily replied quietly. "I don't believe him about Emerson, though. He's tried ruining all of the other relationships I had…I can't believe him."
Allison interlaced her arm with Lily's as they walked. "Can't or won't?"
Lily shook her head. "He sent threatening notes to Eric, spread gross rumors about Jacob, and now he's saying Emerson's cheating on me. I can't believe him this time."
Allison shook her head as Lily referred to the time she and Jacob had briefly dated in fifth year. "But with Eric and Jacob it was different. James was being immature, and although he might be jealous of Emerson, he's grown up enough and accepted your relationship enough that he wouldn't just pull that out of thin air."
"It's not true." replied Lily stubbornly.
Lily entered the Head Common room at six in the morning, her patrol had ended at half past five, but she had walked Allison to the Gryffindor Tower.
She kicked off her shoes by the entrance and let out a great yawn before stretching and falling into her bed for a few hours rest.
In a few minutes, Lily had successfully closed her eyes long enough that she was almost considered asleep… and of course that is when James Potter could be heard, crashing on the floor and swearing.
Alerted, Lily grabbed her robe and rushed to the common room, only to see James getting himself slowly off the floor from where he apparently fell flat on his face, after tripping on, what else, her shoes.
Lily gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry." she said tiredly.
James, startled by her presence, nodded. "Yeah well, I'm starting to get used to tripping. I've been doing it a lot lately."
"James." she started, tired mentally and physically. "Please just drop it. I'll forget the whole thing and we can continue being friends, just please—"she yawned. "Drop it."
James saw that he wasn't going to get her to admit that she was being a stubborn prude, but that wasn't going to stop him for what he had to say.
"I'll drop it, Lily. But only because I see it's pointless to get any further with you tonight, this morning…whenever. But when you see what an arse Emerson is, you can't treat me like a jealous little boy anymore, alright?"
Lily nodded, taking in his words slowly. "Alright, we'll just forget it…I'm going to bed now."
"Me too." muttered James
"Breakfast has got to be the best meal of the day." started Ellie, in a bright, cheerful mood that comes easy to those who are well rested on a Sunday morning. Out of her friends, however, Ellie was the only one that seemed to have gotten anywhere near the proper amount of sleep the previous night.
"I hate breakfast…I could be sleeping, but no, some damn fool had to create a meal at the butt crack of dawn so we would be forced to get up and eat, and we're probably putting on weight, too." retorted Allison in a groggy, half asleep voice.
Lily nodded in agreement before tiredly taking a sip of her orange juice.
"Where did I get such great morning people as friends?" replied Ellie with just a hint of sarcasm.
"Sod off." mumbled Allison.
"Now watch your language, deary." laughed Ellie.
"I am so tired." complained Lily, holding her head. "And I have a headache."
"It's all that thinking about a certain Head Boy." tested Ellie.
Lily glared at her well-rested friend. "You are feeling very brave this morning, aren't you?"
"Not as brave as Emerson." muttered Allison.
Lily looked up at the sound of her boyfriend's name and looked towards the Hufflepuff table, where Emerson was leaving and clearly heading towards her.
Lily held her breath as he approached, walking swiftly and holding his nose in a peculiar way.
He greeted her with a kiss and Lily had to hold in a giggle as his blonde stubble tickled her upper lip.
"Good morning, beautiful." he smiled. "How was patrolling last night?"
Lily smiled. "Dull and uneventful, what did you do after I left you last night?"
"Went back to the common room, and then out to play Quidditch with the guys." Emerson grinned, showing his perfect teeth.
Lily nodded, so far his story was good…and believable.
"Do you think you would mind going to the hospital wing with me?" he asked. "I sort of had a collision with one of the guys last night and I think I broke my nose, I want Madam Rider to fix it before it goes too crooked. And I'm kind of scared of the old girl." he winked.
Lily nodded. "Sure, just let me finish my orange juice."
Once she had drained her glass of its contents, Lily took Emerson's hand and walked with him out of the Great Hall, where they were lucky enough to run into a tired-looking James Potter.
"Hello Emerson, Lily. How are you doing this morning?" he greeted.
"We're fine, Potter."snapped Emerson. "Now if you don't mind, me and my girlfriend must get to the hospital wing."
"My girlfriend and I." James corrected cheekily before turning over to Lily. "Are you alright, Lily, did you have a fall or anything?" asked James, looking Lily over in a manner that Lily found amusing to an extent.
"No, James, I'm fine, Emerson broke his nose in a Quidditch accident last night and I'm going with him to the hospital wing." Lily answered.
James peered at Emerson and looked closely at his nose. "Is that right, Burton? That is what they are calling it these days? Well I hope everything… straightens out for you. Goodbye."
James left them and walked over to where Sirius and Peter were downing massive amounts of coffee.
"You look cheery this morning." greeted Sirius.
James smiled and took a danish.
"I broke Emerson Burton's nose."
bananaslugg: Oh yes, Emerson is quite the bastard. Thanks for reviewing!
gila-manatee-queen: You're too kind. Thanks for the review!
anofeelings: Thanks for reviewing, keep reading!
Snail-sama: I appreciate your review…and keep reading!
hpgirl7777: Yes, F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of my favorite authors, even though I've only read The Great Gatsby and his short story Bernice Bobs Her Hair, or something along the lines of that title. He has such a beautiful way with words. I plan to read several of his books over the summer.
chikichiki- once again, thanks for the review…Emerson will just get creepier! lol.
Theresa-Thou-I-Love: Thanks for reviewing and continue to read!
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