Chapter 24 - Strawberry Window SHADE
Lily gave a frustrated sniff and steeled herself, determined to handle this situation with grace.
"What do you want?" she asked sharply.
James jumped at the tone of her voice and began to stutter incoherently. Lily rolled her eyes and moved forwards to retrieve the pair's equipment for the lesson.
x
James barely looked up as he worked diligently with slightly shaking hands on the straightening solution. Lily sat with her arms crossed, glaring enviously at her friends who were giggling at nothing in particular as they worked.
Every now and then James would glance nervously at Lily, and immediately return to what he was doing upon seeing her scowl.
Lily could confidently say that this was the longest potions lesson she had ever had the misfortune to sit through. She didn't care that James was doing all the work, and neither did the professor it seemed.
However, she was impressed how her plan was working. James seemed to be sufficiently terrified, and Lily knew she was no where near breaking. She sighed impatiently and began to drum her fingers on the desk. It was this that made James snap.
"Lily, just say whatever the hell you have to say and stop acting like such a brat!" he seethed.
Lily was taken aback, but recovered quickly. "I have nothing to say to you, James. You are nothing to me."
James gritted his teeth. "Right, well at least get up and help me with this potion. I'm not going to do your work for you."
"Fine. But only because I want to get a good mark. I'd have no hope of that with you fumbling your way through it." Lily snarled.
"You'll have to be faster next time so you can pair with Remus and not get stuck with a git like me" growled James.
Lily nearly dropped the bottle of violet spinacles she was aggressively clutching. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"It's obvious you like him. You never really liked me, I don't know why you bothered to lead me on." Muttered James dolefully.
"You really are out of your mind, James. Completely bonkers." Said Lily incredulously before walking up to the professor's desk.
James shot a dark look after her then continued to stir his potion sloppily.
"I have a headache, may I go up to the hospital wing?" Lily spat with perhaps a little too much malice; cursing the tears threatening to fall.
"Of course dear, you do look rather pale." Replied the teacher drowsily, not seeming to notice her tone.
xxx
Both Lily and James took on dreadfully foul tempers for the remainder of the week leading up to Christmas. This would often see them sitting alone around the castle, casting furiously jealous stares at anyone who so much as chuckled in their presence.
Even the gaggle of giggling girls who were rarely seen out of each other's sight seemed to have taken to solitude also. Such turmoil within their group did not make for happy campers these holidays.
Sirius however kept up a brave face; that, or he truly couldn't bother himself with the dramas of adolescent romance; but nonetheless, he was persistent in bringing the Christmas cheer to his friends.
For the first time in his experience, James found himself not overly looking forward to Christmas. Everything around him seemed to be strange; such anger and feelings of betrayal between himself and Lily, the hostility between himself and his old friend Moony; he even missed the jovial laughter of Lily's ditzy friends.
It was no comfort however that he would be returning home to his family for the Christmas break, as the social climate would remain the same. Sirius always stayed at James' house (as we may remind you is in very close proximity to the Evans household!) as to avoid the strange ceremonies of a Christmas at the Black Manor; Lily's parents were great friends of the sporadic twins Renee and Amanda's parents, so the girls stayed at Lily's over the holidays; as did Chloe when she could convince her muggle parents to allow her to do so.
He could of course make things easier for everyone involved if he just tried to talk to Lily again. After all, she was just Lily. But that unappeasable Potter pride never ceased to get in the way, so James instead strengthened his resolve and made a note to practice his glaring and pouting.
x
If Lily wasn't feeling so very self-involved, she may have spared a thought for her friends as she stormed about Gryffindor Tower barely communicating in more than grunts and heavy impatient sighs.
It was highly uncharacteristic for her sparkling sistren to be so down in the dumps; especially so close to the day when Santa made his great journey from the North Pole, as Renee and Chloe still so often gleefully remind each other.
Lily had come to the stage where she really didn't care anymore. She just wanted there to be peace…but she was determined she would NOT give into James and apologise ("for what!" she thought indignantly). Never. It was making her feel horrible, causing all of this sadness for her friends, but the stubborn streak within her had well and truly kicked in.
"James did the wrong thing, not me. If he wants to be on good terms with me, it's up to him to make the first move. I will not give in to him." Lily repeated to herself sternly when the urge to fall on her knees before James in a melodramatic bid for reconciliation overwhelmed her.
xxx
"James, we need to talk." Announced Sirius on the overcast Wednesday morning. He had just arrived at breakfast looking slightly unkempt, and grabbed James by his collar and pulled him up from the table without a second glance back at the quizzical looks on their friends faces.
James shot a longing look back at his apple muesli (While Lily cast a not-so-subtle look over her teacup from down the table at the debacle) as he was dragged out into the entrance hall by his gloriously handsome friend.
"You have to talk to Lily before Friday. We're all going to be spending Christmas together, and I won't have everyone put through the last week all over again. It has to end, and it's up to you to put a stop to it." Spat Sirius, clearly not beating around the bush.
James took a moment to survey his friend. Sirius looked very much on edge, and the unrelenting cheeriness had vanished from his demeanour.
"She's the one who started with all this animosity in the first place! The last thing I want is a Christmas massacre." Said James defiantly, but failing to convince even himself.
Sirius gave a slight snarl and said "I'm not taking no for an answer, Potter. You are to fix this mess before Friday or else."
James cocked an eyebrow. Something wasn't quite right here… "Or else what?" He said with a smirk.
Sirius suddenly dropped his antagonistic edge, and adopted a slightly fearful expression. He leant in slightly closer to his friend, and said "Or else Amanda will hurt me! Grievously."
James fought back a laugh. "What! You're afraid of Amanda? Sirius Black, terrifying oppressor of snivelly potions nerds, is afraid of a 15 year old girl!"
Sirius shot quick looks around them to make sure no one overheard. "You have no idea what she can do, mate! You haven't seen her worked up. It's horrible." He said with a grimace.
James continued to smirk at his pussy-whipped friend. Sirius, growing impatient of the whole ordeal, sighed and said "Well, I don't care how you do it, but just do it. If you care about me at all, you won't let her hurt me!" And on that note, Siriusskulked upstairs to ready himself for the day ahead.
xxx
However dismissive James may have been during his conversation with Sirius, he had not taken lightly the importance of doing something. It was up to him to make the coming Christmas at least bearable for all involved. Not only would he have to be in the same street as Lily, but they'd have to attend the traditional Potter/Evans Christmas party.
xxx
The day's classes passed quickly enough; James barely listened to a word spoken. He was feeling strangely confident about talking to Lily later in the evening. He felt there had been enough silence between them and it was time to face the music. The thought struck him to write somewhat of a script, to help him in what to say, then decided that was going too far and settled for continuous rehearsals in his head.
x
Lily was sitting curled up on the window sill of Gryffindor Tower, staring blankly out into the grounds when James returned that afternoon. He had been delayed by a much younger, but no less strict professor McGonagall telling him off for not paying attention and consequently turning his ferret into a salt shaker instead of a milk jug.
Lily decidedly didn't notice James when he entered. She knew it was him of course, by the greeting emitted by Sirius. She rolled her eyes; those two were insufferable. Well, at least they were at the moment.
"See anything interesting?" Came a voice from behind Lily. She got over the shock quickly and remained facing the window.
"Depends how interesting you find grass and trees." Replied Lily, still not turning around.
James laughed and moved forward to join her on the window sill.
"Lily, this is stupid. You know I am endlessly sorry for what I did…and I'm not asking you to forgive me right now, nor am I asking you to…go back to how things were with us" He said in a very well practiced way. "But I am asking that you put your problems with me aside. At least until after the holidays. This dispute is making everyone around us miserable."
Lily sighed. She found she was simply too tired, in more ways than one, to continue being angry. And she cared too much about her friends to see them unhappy any longer. "Alright. I think we can put it aside. At least for now." She said, and then turned to face James.
He was grinning in his stupid pompous way and Lily couldn't help but laugh. She sighed again, and felt a huge weight lift from her shoulders.
"You wouldn't care to take a walk with me would you? We could get a closer look at the grass and trees you seem to be so fond of." He said, with a slightly more serious expression on his very much relieved face.
Lily smiled. "I can't see why not."
xxx
The remaining days of term passed like a breeze for all of the group. They staggered into the great hall on Friday night, all very much ready for the break that would be starting the following day.
The attention spans of most students in the hall were at their shortest, so being quite understanding of this, Dumbledore kept the speeches to a minimum, and warmly invited the students to tuck in to their final dinner for the term.
There was not a trace of iciness between the group of friends as they dined on the ever-magnificent food produced by the house elves. Sirius, who was rivalling Renee and Chloe in the area of giggly-ness this evening, spent much of the night telling stupid jokes and gazing around happily, clearly excited that this wasn't going to be a morbid Christmas after all.
Several courses later, the noticeably more settledschool retreated from the hall and ambled up to their dormitories to pack for the long train ride the next day.
James, who was also feeling very excited, threw his belongings into his trunk haphazardly and slammed it shut. He'd only have to get it out again once he got home anyway, right? He gave Sirius one last grin and a wink before he leapt into bed; eager for the following day to arrive.
Talk about writer's block from hell! This chapter has been in the works for 9-10 months, with only the stupid ending to finish, but I just couldn't do it! I finally got my act together and finished it though (obviously). I apologise if it is at all sub-standard...
I haven't been able to get a hold of Jadey in the last week or so! I do hope she hasn't died. I've grown very impatient so I've decided just to upload without her approval. Muahaha. I am pure evil.
Some more bad news! I'm actually moving out and heading off to Sydney where I think I'vedecided not to connect the internet...Which will make further chapters a little more difficult to produce. I'm hoping Jade and I will work something out via snail mail if she's up for it, and there will be closure for our poor characters! (and readers!) But never fear, we are very devoted to our little tale! And I'm sure (or at least hoping)there will be no more absences as long as the last.
Sorry for the inexcusable lateness guys, thanks for all your support!
Sarah 3