Author's Note:
HarryxJames: The quote for this chapter is dedicated to you (it's finally on your iPod!)
potter is hotter: Haha, yes, conflict…laughs evilly
xXXx: Aww, that's really sweet. Thanks. I hope this story lives up to your standards (it's so much better written than The Flipside of Forever – I cringe whenever I read that now)
A Beautiful Letdown: I hope it'll get clearer! Otherwise send me an e-mail and I'll elaborate for you.
Man eating plant: You'll just have to wait and see…you'll just have to keep reading ;)
Thanks to freshie, Jean DARK, phoenix, and ShadowOnTheMoon for your reviews!
Chapter Two: We All Need Some Lovin'
"There's
no one above itWe
all need some lovin'
Some
kissin' and huggin'
Like
yeah, yeah, yeah."
-Raghav,
Angel Eyes
"Thank you, Mr. Gavankar. Thank you, Mrs. Gavankar," Lily told them softly. "You didn't have to let me stay with you."
"Don't be ridiculous," Mrs. Gavankar chided. "You can always come to us if you need anything."
"Yeah, or my family," Chelsea promised with her usual sweet smile.
"You guys are the greatest," Lily said, sucking in her cheeks to hold back a sob.
All three young ladies were attractive enough to draw the attention of passersby, and modest enough to not notice the glances thrown at them.
Since the day of her parents' funeral, Lily's hair tumbled to her shoulders like a sparkling silky veil. Her eyes were now bright and set above prominent cheekbones. Some of the sadness had faded. She had regained a bit of her weight, making her slender and curvy.
Amirah Gavankar could hardly have been more different with glossy hair, blacker than midnight of Pluto cascading down to her lower black. Lily was a little envious of the attractive golden tone of her skin. Her eyes were two onyx stones, although they held more warmth than the actual stones. She was taller than Lily, and was very elegant and graceful.
Chelsea Tamblyn was petit and cutesy with curly fawn hair and blue eyes. She was always jealous of her friends' looks, although they told her she, herself, beautiful. She had an almost painfully thin body, which worried her two best friends, but considering the fact that she could usually eat more than Lily and Amirah combined and not spend time in the bathroom afterwards, they thought they should let it go.
"Come on, Lily," Amirah said, gesturing to the scarlet train that stood on the tracks impatiently, spewing gray smoke everywhere.
Lily nodded, but took a moment to gaze around the station.
There was that raffish Sirius Black chasing after Ms. America herself, Cerise Kayne. Lily rolled her eyes and turned elsewhere.
James Potter seemed to be having a deeply serious discussion with Remus Lupin. How Remus had gotten into that crowd, she didn't think she'd ever know. James, Sirius, and Peter were troublemakers. She secretly called them the Marauders. But back to Remus – he was so decent and mature; so much like her, actually, which once again, was why she didn't understand why he was a friend of James Potter of all people. Her opinion, of course, had nothing to do with the fact that she had once had a teeny little crush on Remus.
As she continued to watch, Remus looked up and waved in her direction. Her astonishment grew as Chelsea raised her hand and waved back.
"What was that?" Lily demanded.
Chelsea blushed furiously. "Well, I sorta sent him a letter, telling him that I, well, fancy him."
"Wow, Chelsea," commented Lily, impressed. "I didn't know you had the gall."
"Well, I do," Chelsea said with faux defiance.
Lily laughed and a flash caught her eye. Glancing over, she saw something that made her heart flip-flop.
It was Lucius, and he looked so much more attractive then he had when they had parted in June. His short, sleek blonde hair had become a lighter white-blonde and slightly longer, the tips of it brushing his shoulders now, and eyes were intensely gray. Quidditch practice over the summer had tightened his washboard abs.
Catching sight of her, he nodded slightly, a slight smile curving up the corners of his mouth.
She didn't mind, though. When they were alone together, he would more than make up for it.
She let out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. Despite everything that had happened during the summer, her heart felt lighter, and her chest swelled with joy. She would be returning to Hogwarts. She would soon be back home!
"Lily, come on," Amirah called again with a groan. "Do you want to miss the train?"
That snapped her out of her reverie.
"Of course not," Lily responded briskly, then softened her tone. "Goodbye, Mr. And Mrs. Gavankar."
"Goodbye, dear. Remember, if any of you three need anything, don't hesitate to let us know," Mrs. Gavankar told them.
"It was a pleasure having both of you over," added Mr. Gavankar.
"Mom, Dad, only five minutes. We have to go," Amirah complained.
"All right, all right, goodbye."
Lily and her friends waved and filed into the train along with the other students.
"Listen, you two, I have to sit in the Prefects' Compartment. I'll see you at Hogwarts, all right?" she asked.
Chelsea and Amirah exchanged glances before turning back to her.
"Sure," Chelsea said. "See you then."
'What was that all about?' Lily wondered with a pang that she identified a moment later: jealousy.
What would Amirah and Chelsea want to talk about without her? They didn't seem to be upset that she couldn't sit with them. And the two of them had never been without her for very long. What was this about?
After all, she had known Chelsea all her life. Then, when first year rolled around, Chelsea's parents had moved to France, where she attended Beauxbatons for a year. That was when Lily made friends with Amirah. When Chelsea had transferred back, it had been a happy reunion, and Amirah and Chelsea had become friends – but not without her. She had always been there.
Trying to shrug off the feeling of loneliness and convince herself that it was only because of the events of the summer that she felt this way, she continued to the Prefects' Compartment, which was currently empty. Hoisting it up, she made sure it was safely stowed away before taking a window seat.
"Lily is a major idiot," Chelsea said with an exaggeratedly tragic sigh and a shake of her head.
"Well, James is no Einstein either," said Sirius, twirling a strand of Cerise's blonde hair around his finger.
He was seated across from Chelsea, his arm around Cerise. Peter sat beside him. Remus was beside Chelsea, and Amirah was on Chelsea's other side.
"Does the conversation always have to go to Lily and James?" complained Cerise. "I mean, I love both of them, but we have to talk about us, too, sweetie pie."
"Why can't she just admit that James is perfect for her?" Chelsea continued as though she hadn't heard Cerise.
Cerise had always been a pretty big annoyance for her, and she often wondered what Sirius saw in her – until she remembered Cerise's Barbie doll-body, that is, complete with blonde hair and baby blue eyes. Cerise was a "shallow beauty" as Chelsea's mother would say. Lily and Amirah on the other hand, were true beauties in Mrs. Tamblyn's book.
"I'd like to think that too," Remus said, "but perhaps they aren't meant for each other. Maybe it's just some silly notion we all have."
"But all of us feel this way," Chelsea argued. "I'm positive they're meant to be." It was kind of nervous-making, but nice to sit with her arm hooked around Remus's. She'd liked him for so long!
Chelsea chuckled a little to herself when she recalled how Lily had fancied Remus in second year and fretted about it the whole time. When she finally got over him, Chelsea had begun to like him, and about two-and-a-half years later, she still liked him. And to think she was with him now! With everything going on in her life…she didn't even like to think about it…she had never thought any boy could love her.
"We should set them up," Sirius said with a laugh. "It would be entertaining and fulfill our purpose."
"So our purpose in life is to get Lily Evans and James Potter together?" Amirah said, raising an eyebrow.
"Naturally," Sirius joked. "Come on Wor-er-Peter, say something witty."
Peter stared at him blankly. "Er…"
The compartment door slid open just then. A Hufflepuff girl traipsed in. She was very small and thin. A pair of glasses perched on the edge of her nose, giving her a cute, intellectual look (although everyone knows Hufflepuffs aren't intellectual – quite the opposite, in fact). Her hair was brownish, straight, and a bit tiny bit limp. Two brown eyes searched the compartment.
"There you are, Peter," she said in a soft, gentle voice.
Peter whitened and then pink spread through his chubby cheeks. "Oh, hi, Helga."
Sirius and Remus exchanged grins, and Sirius nudged Peter sharply. Peter got up quickly and squeaked, "Why don't we – er – step into the hallway?"
They left and everybody burst into laughter.
"Well, well, Lily Evans, Head Girl, not surprising at all," came a voice.
She looked up quickly to see mesmerizing hazel eyes, framed by round glasses watching her. The guy had windswept-looking burnt sienna hair that he constantly ran his hands through. Lily lowered her eyes, and they widened of their own accord as they noticed, for the first time, his chiseled abdomen.
"Well, well, James Potter, Head Boy, very surprising," she responded sardonically, ignoring the quickening of her heartbeat.
He shrugged one shoulder. "True, I suppose. Mind if I sit here?"
She was about to say yes, but a fifth year prefect entered the compartment, so she shook her head and went back to looking out the window as he plopped down beside her.
More slightly nervous-looking fifth years shuffled into the compartment, followed by sixth years and some seventh years.
"Come in," James invited, his tone friendly. "We don't bite – most of the time, anyways."
"James," warned Lily, rolling her eyes.
"Only joking," he said. "But honestly. All of you have been here at least five years. What's there to be nervous about?"
Lily watched the easy grin on his face, and the way it made the new prefects instantly relax. He had natural people skills, admittedly. James Potter was a born leader.
"Lily - " he began, once they had told the prefects what to do (they were free to sit in another compartment, but they had to patrol the train every once in awhile and report to Lily and James every hour).
"Please," she said with a sigh. "Just leave me alone for once."
"If we're going to be Head Boy and Girl together for a year, we should really learn to get along," James said, raising an eyebrow at her. "So, how was your summer, darlin'?"
Lily stared at the blurred fields they were passing and carefully avoided his eyes.
"Why do you care?" she asked, then mentally berated herself. She was just setting herself up to be asked out by him yet again.
"I just want to know," he said, looking a little surprised. He smiled slightly then. "No ulterior motives. I promise. "
Lily searched his face for a trace of insincerity, but was unable to find any, so she decided to continue.
"Okay then. We'll call a truce then just until the end of this year."
He nodded. "Truce. That sounds good."
"In response to your question, my summer was not so good. My parents…they…well…" she trailed off, her voice thickening with emotion.
"I'm sorry," James said softly. "I know how that feels."
"You do?"
She whipped her head around and turned to him, startled. James nodded, staring at his hands.
"My – my dad died just last year," he explained.
"I'm sorry," Lily said, drawing in a deep breath. She had acted so horrible to him last year. Then again, he hadn't acted as though a parent had died.
"Potter!" Lily cried, slipping into his arms.
"Our plan worked!" Potter told Black with a grin. "That just made my day."
"Shut your mouth," Lily groaned. She straightened up and took stock of her surroundings.
Some greenish slime covered the second floor hallway, and the miserable victims of the prank all seemed to be Slytherins. Every time one tried to stand, he or she immediately slid back down in an ungainly heap.
"What have you guys done now?" she moaned. "Really, Potter. You should grow up by now."
"Aww, come on, love," said Black, knowing exactly how much it irked her when he called her that. "Lighten up a little. Learn to enjoy life."
"I try," Lily said. "Then you guys come along and ruin everything."
"Sorry, darlin', we didn't mean to hurt you," Potter said with mock sincerity.
"Sod off, Potter," snapped Lily. "You two better get this mess cleared up pronto."
"And if we don't?" Black questioned, wiggling his eyebrows.
"It's off to detention, then," Lily said calmly, "without those bloody mirrors of yours."
She attempted to hide the triumphant grin stretching across her face. Those two had no idea she had known about those mirrors since fourth year.
To her fury, neither looked very astonished.
"You've always been clever, darlin,'" said Potter. "So, will you go out with me?"
Lily didn't dignify him by looking at him and said, "Detention, Potter and Black!"
"What are you thinking about?" James asked.
"My parents," she said quickly. "And my sister."
James gazed at her and lifted his hand, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear in a surprisingly gentle gesture.
"It'll be all right though," he promised softly. "It always is."
His breath was chilly against her cheek, as though he had just eaten a mint, and she felt goosebumps rise on her skin.
This was the immature James Potter! Since when had he grown up so much?
The compartment door opened. A Ravenclaw prefect walked in an froze at the sight of them with their heads close together and James's hand on Lily's cheek.
Lily pulled away, a flush rising in her cheeks. "Yes?"
"Some Slytherins are hexing anyone who walks by their compartment," she said. To prove her point, the girl turned to reveal a scaly green tail protruding from her rear end.
"Let me handle this," James said with a mischievous grin.
"Actually, maybe I should take care of it," Lily said quickly, throwing him a warning glance.
James shrugged. "Suit yourself."
Sneak-peek of Chapter Three:
"Listen, Lily," James said. "When we go to Hogsmeade…do you want to go together?"