Author's Note: Thank you sooo much for the reviews! They made me so happy I decided to upload this chapter before school gets out (I've actually written up until the seventh chapter already). I love you all
Celina Black: Thanks, hon! You're review made my day (that and getting editor of my school's literary magazine!). Your suggestions were awesome, thanks!
Celina K2: People's thoughts never bore me unless they're intensely boring (which yours are not) or if they're about quantum physics or whatever. If you write that fic, definitely let me know! I want to read it!
Thanks to Jean DARK, Lafawnduh4, Beauty-On-The-Run11, and HarryxJames!
Author's Note: I forget to mention, actually, that I changed Candy's name to Cerise and I'm going to re-upload the first two chapters with her name changed. That's all!
Chapter Three: When the Boy Smiles
"But
my god, it's so beautiful
When
the boy smiles.
Wanna
hold him,
But
maybe I'll just sing about it."
-Anna
Nalik, Breathe
As the train reached Hogwarts, Lily pressed her cheek against the icy glass and watched the gigantic castle draw closer. She drew in a deep breath, unable to believe it was her last year here. Then she would no longer be a Hogwarts student.
When Lily and James entered the horseless carriage, she was at first astonished and alarmed that she was able to see the thestrals. That was, of course, before she recalled the summer's events…
"So, we have to report to McGonagall, eh?" James said.
"Professor McGonagall," Lily corrected. "Yes."
"Let's go then, shall we?" he asked, once they reached the front of the school.
Warm tingles washed up Lily's arms once she was inside the familiar entrance hall once again. She gazed all about her and the portraits and the stairs as she followed James to Professor McGonagall's office.
Sirius couldn't believe the stab of sadness he felt upon entering the castle.
"I'm really going to miss this place," he murmured.
"Me too," Cerise said. "You'd better hope I can get a job in the U.K., or else I'll have to move back to America...away from you."
"That's a shame," Sirius said.
"You don't even care!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe you, Sirius."
"I'm sorry, okay, love? I'm sorry," he said, planting a quick kiss on her lips. "I just can't believe this is our last year at Hogwarts. The thought is horrible."
"I know," she agreed again. "Come on, Sirius."
"Where are Lily and James?" he asked, looking around.
"Probably went off somewhere," she said carelessly. "Come on, Sirius, let's go!"
He rolled his eyes. Cerise was so frustrating at times. Always a good kisser, often sweet, but sometimes frustrating. Then he smiled. The two of them were such a strange, but famous combination.
The smile faded at the thought. Over the summer, James had thought Sirius was constantly thinking about Cerise, but that wasn't true at all. In fact, horrible as it was, he was starting to get tired of her. The only reason he stayed with her was because of their reputation and the fact that she had a very nice body.
"Good evening, Ms. Evans, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said crisply. "Now, your Head Boy and Girl duties: as I mentioned in the letter, both of you have the right to give and take house points, but only teachers may give detention. Both of you are expected to set an example for the students –" at this she glared at James "-and Professor Dumbledore reserves the right to change the Head Boy, or even Head Girl at my recommendation, or that of another professor. The two of you are expected to patrol the corridors from ten to midnight from Sunday to Thursday, except when your N.E.W.T.s come around. Then you will be expected to be back in the Gryffindor Common Room at the very least, although you may prefer to be in the Head Common Room. Any questions?"
"Yes, Professor McGonagall," Lily said. "What do you mean by 'Heads' Common Room?'"
"The Head Common Room is pretty self-explanatory," she responded briskly. "There's the common room and a dorm for each of you. You can arrive there from any of the four common rooms in Hogwarts. From the Gryffindor Tower, you just go up past the boy's dormitories and you will come to a door. That's the entrance to the Head Common Room. Any other questions?"
"What's the password for Gryffindor and what's the password for the Head Common Room?"
"Oh, right. Pestiferous is Gryffindor's password and ratiocination for the Head Common Room. Now, hurry off to the feast. I have to see to the prefects and then the first years."
James and Lily left her office and then hurried to the Great Hall. The ceiling was a canvas of brilliant, deep violet, sprinkled with glittering stars. She scanned the Gryffindor Table for her friends – and found them.
Chelsea was sitting beside Remus, and Amirah was seated across from them. Beside Amirah, there was an empty space and then Sirius, and beside him was Cerise. Peter sat across from Sirius.
Lily went over to Amirah, and James followed. She slid into the seat beside her friend, and James sat beside her.
"So, was it absolute torture, spending the entire train ride with him?" Amirah whispered to her.
Lily thought back for a moment. "No," she said with surprise. "It wasn't, actually."
"Really?" Amirah said rhetorically, raising an eyebrow.
"Really what, honey?" James asked, grinning at them.
"Sod off, Potter," Lily said, almost jokingly.
"Why should I, Evans?" he retorted, his eyes crinkling teasingly at the corners.
"Yeesh," said Amirah, rolling her eyes. "You two."
"I heard some news that might be interesting to you, James," Peter spoke up eagerly. He was always like that mousy and eager to please his three friends.
Nobody paid him much attention, except for James, who promptly turned to him.
"Yes?"
"I heard that Snivellius joined the Death Eaters," he said.
Everyone looked up at that – even Sirius and Cerise stopped their snogging to look at Peter, openmouthed (Cerise with her pink lipstick smeared, and Sirius with his mouth stained from his girlfriend's lipstick).
"Who told you that?" Remus asked calmly.
"I heard some Slytherins talking about it," Peter responded. Then he lowered his voice, "and I saw the Dark Mark."
James and Sirius exchanged dark glances.
"Death Eaters?" said Chelsea. "Please explain."
"You-know-who's followers, I guess you could say," Remus told her quietly. "You're lucky you don't know who they are."
"Please, let's not talk about this," James said, not in a very pleading tone.
The feast ended then, and they had to cut their conversation short because James and Lily and to go to the head of the Gryffindors and lead the first years.
After they entered the Gryffindor Common Room and smiled at the first years' exclamation, they went up the boys' staircase and reached the carved stone door that led to the Head Common Room. An ivory and rose quartz angel, tilted slightly to the right with raised wings was inset in the door.
"Password?" she asked sweetly.
"Ratiocination," Lily said.
The door swung open to reveal the Head Common Room. The walls were a pale, creamy shade, made warmer by the flickering light from the flames licking at the hearth. A window of Bohemian glass, framed by fancy frosted glass glittered on the wall. On either side of the window was a long planter running along the wall, filled with roses, lilies, Peruvian lilies, star jasmine, and sprigs of lavender. Several off-white leather sofas and ottomans were elegantly arranged around a mahogany coffee table. A decorative crystal ashtray sat in the center of the table, a single pink lily in the center of it. There were two mahogany desks with fauteuils rather than chairs. Under it all was white plush carpeting that appeared so soft Lily had to slip off her sandals and feel it with her bare feet.
She turned to the right and walked into the room that was obviously the Head Girl's dormitory, judging by the décor. The walls were pastel pink and romantic. A large canopy bed with a thin white veil stood in the center. Thick white and pink covers were neatly folded onto it, and it looked so comfortable and warm that Lily just wanted to dive in and curl up. There was a shelf under which he trunk was situated and a chest of drawers for her to keep her clothes and whatever else. There was a vanity table with a round, silver mirror that was so clear she felt she could reach right through it. There was a door beside the chest of drawers.
She stepped through and came into a bathroom just like the prefects' bathroom, but this was only for her! A round tub was sunken into the white marble ground and numerous golden taps surrounded the edges.
"Quite some place, isn't this?" James asked, startling her. She had forgotten he was there.
"Yes," she responded.
"We get some much room to ourselves and so much quiet time," he said with a slight grin. I suppose it's the perfect place to be alone."
Lily looked at him with alarm.
"I don't mean alone together in that sense," he said hurriedly, then grinned. "I wouldn't mind it, though."
Now she glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"All right, all right," he said. "What I meant is, when we get tired of being amongst crowds and just want to be alone just to rest or whatever, we can always come here."
"Right," she agreed with a grin. "It'll be nice having this place to retire to. It's beautiful."
"Indeed," he said. "Well, I'm going to retire to my dorm now. Good night, darlin.'"
"Good night, James."
"Ready to go, darlin'?" James asked Monday night, when Lily came down into the Common Room.
Lily didn't answer at first. She still felt some aversion toward him, but not in a disgusting way. It was more because of the manner in which he had constantly pestered her about going out with him in the last few years.
Then she nodded pushing her negative emotions aside. "I had no idea this would be so much work. With all these N.E.W.T level classes and Head Girl duties, it'll be so difficult to find five minutes to rest."
"Hey, you have nothing to complain about! Soon I'll have Quidditch practice too," James reminded her.
"Right, and you're the captain of that," Lily said with a sympathetic smile. "Then again, I'm in charge of the Charms Clinic and Defense Against the Dark Arts Clinic too."
Clinics were basically what American students would call clubs. Students had the ability to join the clinic for whatever subject interested them, although there was a limit of three clinics per person. There they researched jobs that dealt with the subjects and more information in general. It was a lot more fun than it sounded.
"Speaking of clinics, I was nominated as Head of the Transfiguration Clinic," James said with a grimace. "Can you imagine voluntarily spending more time outside of class with McGonagall?"
"Professor McGonagall, James," Lily corrected. "And yes, because I'm part of the clinic."
"Oh," he said, and paused as they turned the corner. "Well, Professor McGonagall doesn't seem to like me very much."
"And whose fault is that?" asked Lily, raising an eyebrow.
"I guess it's mine," he said with a shrug. "But still. Can you believe it's the last year of clinics?"
Now both of Lily's eyebrows went up, almost into her hair. "You can't be serious!"
"I am," he said. "They're shutting them down. I have no idea why. It's incredibly dark in here, darlin'. Do you want some light?"
"No," Lily replied. "I love being in the dark. By myself, usually, but I don't mind you being here."
"I'm flattered," he said dryly. Then he smiled at her, and it felt nice.
"I especially like being outside in the dark," she continued dreamily. "Somewhere windy with a lot of trees. It feels so electrified and magical – but not in the same way that Hogwarts is magical, you know?"
"Yeah."
"I guess the word I'm looking for is 'ethereal,'" she finished. "It feels ethereal."
"Aren't you afraid of ghosts?" James teased.
"I resent that," came a voice behind them. Both of them turned to see a pearly, luminescent ghost hovering just a couple of feet from them.
"Hello, Nick," Lily said pleasantly. "James didn't mean it like that, did you, James?"
"No, I was just joking, mate," he explained.
"I see," Nick said, a little stiffly. "Peeves is being an absolute nuisance. Sorry about my behavior, but I must hurry off before he finds me."
"Like the wind," Lily said.
With that, Nick left them alone again. Lily and James were both quiet for a moment.
"At first I hoped I would see ghosts," Lily said quietly, "their ghosts. Petunia and I went shopping that day."
James looked at her closely and listened in silence.
"We were having so much fun. The time just flew by. But there was this feeling in the back of my mind, and I…I didn't pay any attention. We went home and…o-our house w-was destroyed-" she took a deep breath "-I was terrified already and I ran into their b-b-bedroom and found them arranged like dummies, Dad at his desk, Mum on the bed with a n-novel in her hand. It was l-like some horrid, devilish form of art. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong. It was as though they were continuing with th-their normal routines and suddenly their hearts just stopped."
"Are you serious?" James said, drawing a sharp breath.
Lily nodded, rubbing at her dry eyes.
"Last year, I found my dad almost the same way – seated in the den, actually," he said quietly. "There was no sign of anything killing them."
"What does that mean?" she asked softly. "Is this some strange new disease?"
"A filthy disease," James growled. "A disease known as 'Death Eaters.' That's how they kill people, Lil. They use the Killing Curse."
"But why my parents?" she asked agitatedly. "They were Muggles. They didn't even know who you-know-who is."
"Darlin', do you think that matters to him?" James questioned a little coldly. "He just likes killing. It's a sport for him, like hunting or something. Only he takes human lives."
"I disapprove of hunting," Lily said meekly.
"So do I," James said, "but that isn't the point. Anyway, let's forget this now, please. I don't want to ruin my mood."
"Okay."
"Listen, Lily," James said. "When we go to Hogsmeade…do you want to go together?"
Lily sighed, knowing it would come to this as always. But surprisingly enough, this time she wasn't annoyed. Maybe because James had proven that he could be a person…
"Sorry, James," she said.
"You still hate me, eh?"
"Surprisingly, enough, no."
"Then what's the problem?" he ventured to ask. Lily chewed her lip, wondering whether or not she should tell the truth to him…
"I have a boyfriend, okay?" she burst suddenly. "Let's go back now. It's midnight."
As she hurried off, James stared after her, appalled. Since when did she have a boyfriend? How had he not known about this guy? And how had this guy managed to snag Lily Evans from right under James's nose?
Sneak-peek of Chapter Four:
"Is it James Potter by any chance?" asked Amirah, feigning indifference, but she was obviously interested.
Lily shook her head and drew a deep, shuddering breath. "My boyfriend is…Lucius Malfoy."