Disclaimer: C chappie #1
Chapter 3- Sweet Sixteen (As If!):
The day was June 21st, the Summer Solstice- the longest day of the year- and her birthday. It was also the last day of their O.W.L. examinations and to celebrate, her friends had thrown her a party in the courtyard.
Beside it being her birthday, the Summer Solstice had always been her favorite day of the year. For as long as she could remember, she, Petunia and Douggie would spread a blanket on Douggie's roof and watch the sun set. But ever since she'd been accepted into Hogwarts, she'd never been home to revel at the marvel. Instead, she snuck up to the tallest Astronomy tower and watched, usually spending the night by herself under the stars.
The party her friends had thrown was perfect. Everyone was there (even James Potter) eating, drinking and having fun. The party had started with the sun still high in the sky, but it had taken her until sunset to actually begin opening her presents which sat beside the large fountain.
She hadn't received anything from her parents; it was tradition for them to throw her a separate party when she got home. Sunny had given her a quill that tasted of chocolate when sucked. Fly had given her a soft, flannel blanket with little Bludgers, Quaffles, Snitches and brooms whizzing across. Hagrid had given her a gift certificate to Honeydukes, where everyone knew she'd stock up on chocolate frogs. Sirius had given her a mirror he called the Marauder's Mirror which allowed her to communicate with whichever Marauder she named. Remus had gotten her a large, heavy bound book entitled: "What to get for the witch that has everything? Well, a book of nothing, of course!" Peter had given her a photo of all her friends, done with a wizarding camera so they all waved to her, placed in a beautiful frame. Mildred had gotten her a book on practical spells. Alice had knit her a fuzzy, grey sweater. Edgar had given her a pretty, turquoise hair clasp. And a Lithuanian Muggle born, Ieva A/N: Pronounced Yev-ah, had gotten her the new Fleetwood Mac record "Rumors," which Fly immediately asked to hear.
Although she was the only one that noticed James had not gotten her anything, she wouldn't let it get to her. She was just about to stand up and follow Fly just as one of her favorite songs played from an unknown source when she felt someone grab her arm.
She whirled around only to find Potter with that annoyingly cocky grin on his face.
"What James?" she groaned, glancing at her friends who were looking at her suspiciously.
"I haven't given you your present." He said, standing beside her.
"And what is it?" she asked, seeing that the hand that had not gripped her arm was empty.
"Here," he whispered, and in a second, she was flabbergasted.
James Potter had taken her by her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her lips. At that exact moment, someone had taken a photo with a wizarding camera, leaving her slightly dazed. When she realized that they were still attached at the lips, she could feel anger singeing at her fingertips and suddenly lost control.
She didn't realize what had happened until she felt her hand throbbing and saw him lying on the grass with a small trickle of blood seeping down his swollen lip. She could feel her anger building as she went to grab her wand and found it snapped in two.
She was scared.
She was afraid of what had just happened. She was frightened of how she felt and what it meant. She was terrified of how blunt James had been, how instinctive it had felt . . . And most of all, she was afraid of the look in his eyes as he watched her.
Suddenly she turned around and dashed for her dormitory, completely disregarding all the inquisitive stares as she passed her friends, tears in her eyes . . .
"Lily . . ."
She heard a voice call from the depths of slumber.
"Lily," the voice called again. "Hey Lily, get up!"
Reality struck her like a freight train and she started. Opening her eyes, she found herself lying on one of the overstuffed couches of the common room with Sunny and Fly standing over her, already dressed.
"Lily, did you sleep here all night?" Sunny wrinkled her nose.
Lily looked down at the opened book on her chest. She distinctly remembered reading by the lamplight last night . . . and then she wasn't. The next thing she could remember was feeling the cooling breeze hit her feverish body as she exited the Great Hall after their last exam, Transfiguration.
"I guess I did," she sighed, remembering her dream.
"Well, get up will ya'," Fly said, stepping back to let Lily up. "Today is our last day of freedom, so we wanted to do some stuff."
"Like what?" Lily yawned, ruffling back her hair.
"Well, a bunch of us are going to play that game you taught us, Dodge ball, up on our brooms in the Quidditch field. Sunny reckons she'll take a swim in the lake and well, I don't know what you want-"
"I'll join Sunny," Lily said, turning to the girls' dormitory door.
Lily took a change of clothes and her toiletries with her to the lavatory.
"Well, I'll wait for you here," Sunny said, grabbing the book Lily had fallen asleep with and flopped down on her bed.
"And I'm going to be late," Fly said grabbing her broom from beside her bed. "Oh, and come by and watch us. Tell me if you see any good talent up there because we're looking for two new Beaters, and as new Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, I refuse to let us lose to Slytherin."
"Whatever," Sunny yawned, turning to leave.
When she returned, Sunny was deeply engrossed in the Muggle book that she'd taken from Lily.
"Hey, Sunny," Lily said, placing her things back on top of the bookshelves she'd taken from home.
"Oh," Sunny started, ripping her eyes away from the book. "This Muggle book is kind of cool!" she said. "Can I borrow it?"
"Sure," she replied, pushing back her curls. "I've read it about a gazillion times."
Sunny kept reading as Lily pulled her hair into a large tuft on her head, only mildly cursing her curls. Over the summer, her mother had taught her to manage her hair, after deeming Lily too much of a tomboy. Susan had taken her to a salon where the hairdresser taught her how to control her unruly curls and stop the frizz. He'd even taught her how to straighten it, but seeing as she was going out to swim, why go through all the effort to tame her hair when it was just going to get wet and frizzy anyways.
"Ready." She announced, adjusting the elastic.
"Ok, grab some towels and we're ready to go," Sunny smiled putting down the book.
As they made their way down to the lake, Sunny asked her the question she'd been expecting.
"Lil, what's 'the old in-out'?"
Lily laughed a little. Sunny had been reading Anthony Burgess's "A Clockwork Orange" and as usual was confused. It wasn't that Sunny was stupid or anything, but the book was written in English with Russian slang (which Lily was sure had caught Sunny's attention because she spoke a little Russian) and it could be very confusing.
"He raped her," she said simply.
"What?" she turned to Lily, her grey- blue eyes wide with surprise.
"Yeah, it's a pretty freaky book. Are you sure you want to read it?"
"Yeah, it looks good," she sighed, her brows knit. "Is it a good book?"
"Yeah, I mean, it doesn't really make you feel good about humanity and all, but it makes you think. It's a pretty good euphemism of life, anyway."
They were at the lake.
Pulling off her t-shirt and shorts, Lily preformed a bubble charm on herself and stepped into the lake, still warm from the summer months.
No matter what anyone thought, he always knew when she was around.
When she and Sunny had exited from the school doors, it was as if he could feel her. It was as if she were on his skin, indicating him of her every move.
He watched as she ambled across the lawn and stopped at the lake. He watched as she stripped down to her yellow, one piece bathing suit and waited patiently for Sunny. He watched as she preformed a bubble charm on herself and she stepped into the water. He watched as she submerged beneath the murky depths, leaving only a few bubbles and foam in her wake.
Then suddenly,
WHAM!
"James, where's your head at?" he heard Fly scream from across the field.
He didn't know why she was taking this so seriously. Term hadn't even begun and she was already coaching them on their flying technique. They weren't even scheduled to begin Quidditch practice for a good three weeks and she was already scouting potential players.
If there was ever a word that he would use to describe Delia Flynn, it'd have to be determined. Or maybe witty. Or even obsessive. From the first day that he'd met her, he'd been immediately blown away by her presence. Even now, she only stood at five feet, shorter than all of her friends, and yet everyone knew not to mess with her- or Lily when she was upset.
"Man, what were you staring at?" Caleb, the Gryffindor seeker asked him. "You were like in a daze."
If there was one word that he would use to describe Caleb Krugal, it'd be stupid. But in the wide world of Quidditch, that didn't matter because although Caleb was a dimwit, he was still one of the best Seekers that Gryffindor had ever procured.
"Sorry," he sighed, rubbing the spot on his head where the Quaffle had attacked him, he turned back towards the rest of the players.
There were about thirty of them, all from different houses, flying in two large clumps opposite one another with about six Quaffles under possession. He knew most, there were Fly, Sirius, Caleb and Austin Gibbins (who was the Gryffindor keeper). Then there were Suze Hermit, Imogene Liotta, Rafe Lorenz and Horatio Smith, who were all Ravenclaws, but only Imogene and Rafe were on the Quidditch team. There was also Bryan Corner, Mercutio and Benvolio Capulet (who were twins), Catalina Love, Pierce Peters and Julius Corone who were all in Hufflepuff and were all on the Quidditch team. Then there were two Slytherins that he couldn't name and the rest were younger years that he didn't even bother to learn the names of during the years.
"Whatever," Fly groaned, calling the game back into play. Soon there was a shower of Quaffles darting around the Quidditch field, trying to hit opposing players and knock them off their brooms.
By the end of the game, James was being knocked off his broom more than he'd like to and more than was usual. Everyone saw his vulnerability and attacked him, leaving him no mercy. For Lily Evans was sitting in the stands with Sunny- doing just as Fly asked and surveyed the players- and by the way that James had been playing, they were trying to think of nice ways to tell Fly that he should be kicked off the team(hey, he could barely stay on his broom!). The moment he felt her eyes on him, his perfect game failed miserably, and soon he was just dodging the Quaffles with his broom, trying his damnedest not to get knocked off (which wasn't working).
When Fly had finally blown her whistle, signifying the end of the game, James hurtled to the ground and sprinted into the locker room for a quick shower. He knew as soon as everyone had heard how horribly he'd played a simple Muggle game like Dodge ball, he'd be pelted with insults for as long at they'd remember.
"God, what the hell was wrong with you today?" Fly asked him as soon as he climbed up the portrait hole.
"I got distracted." He answered, not even picking up his head.
"By what, a cloud? A bird? A blade of grass?" she practically yelled. "If you're going to get 'distracted' like this during a game I won't be liable for the pounding I give you."
"Fly, it was a bloody game," he seethed, feeling just as livid as she looked. "It was a bloody Muggle game, stop trying to turn everything into a Quidditch match! So I messed up, it was a GAME- only a game."
"Well to you, this might have been only a game-"
"Fly, it was a game for everyone else there also. And if you want to blame someone for ruining something, blame yourself for making it into a contest. Everyone was having fun until you started blowing up at everyone and correcting them." He groaned before heading up to his dorm.
Opening the door to his dormitory, he found it empty save for two guys, Peter Pettigrew and Edgar Bones.
Peter was none other than the fourth of the Marauders, and had arrived this morning by Hogwarts Express. It seemed the baby his mother had over the summer had taken ill, so he wasn't able to catch the train and had to send owl for a later one.
"Hey Prongs," Peter smiled while folding a Muggle shirt and placing it neatly on his bed.
"Hey Wormtail," he replied, plopping backwards onto his four poster, his eyes staring at the ceiling.
"Do you know where the others are?"
"Padfoot is taking a shower from our Dodge ball game, and the last I saw of Moony, he was curled up in the common room reading one of Lily's Muggle books."
Peter was the oddball of the Marauders, although not to say that he wasn't essential. Peter was short, only a few inches taller than Fly. He was slightly over-weight and he was always nervous. His blonde hair was short and cut in a bowl shape, his eyes were a watery blue, and everything about him seemed round. Many of the students at Hogwarts wondered how Peter had become a Marauder, but that never fazed them. They would all trust Peter with their lives, and never doubted his loyalty. He may not have been as good looking, but when you're a guy, when does another guy's looks really matter?
"What's wrong with you?" this time Edgar asked.
Edgar Bones had been sharing the same dorm with them since first year and was still oblivious to their escapades. Edgar slept like a rock and cared not for other peoples business. He was born from a long line of wizards, just as James, and had inherited the family's good magic capabilities.
Edgar was pretty smart, but quiet and recluse. He had a select group of friends and preferred not to step away from his comfort zone. Many people believed that Edgar would have better fitted the role as the final Marauder. He was tall and lanky with shaggy blonde hair that hung over his shoulders. His eyes were blue, with tiny flecks of brown lining the iris, and were covered by dark glasses.
"It's nothing, just Delia." He groaned again, this time flopping down on his stomach. "She's being a major bitch again and it's just getting on my nerves."
"Good morning Tiger," Sirius grinned, grabbing the muffin from her hands and taking a big bite.
"Die," she groaned, grabbing another muffin and shooting him her patented Lily glare, daring him to try and take it.
As soon as Sirius had entered the Great Hall, about one-third of the female population had swiveled around, desperate to capture his attention. She had noticed the death glares being pelted her way as he plunked down in the seat beside her and gave her that goofy grin. It was the norm at Hogwarts, and Lily was tired of it. It seemed after the three years since he'd hit puberty they should have understood that they were just friends and nothing would ever come of that relationship.
"Tiger Lily, why so grumpy?" he grinned, knowing full well that Lillian Evans was not a morning person. In fact, once, she'd made that point crystal clear by bewitching away his mouth after he'd thoroughly annoyed her.
"Sirius," she grinned sweetly while waving her wand at him, "if you don't shut up, I'll shut you up."
"Fair enough," he grinned taking another bite of her muffin.
Just then, Fly, Sunny, Remus, Peter, and James entered the room and made a beeline straight for her and Sirius. When James saw her, his hands immediately flew to his hair.
"Hey guys," Peter said immediately going for the plate of eggs and bacon.
Sirius snatched a piece of bacon from Lily's plate and munched.
"Padfoot, if you ever want to keep your hands, I advise you to stop taking from my plate," she groaned. "Steal from Sunny. She's not going to eat half of it anyways."
"Hey," Sunny cried, looking up at Lily. "I might . . . eventually."
"Here are your schedules," Gia Briggs, one of Gryffindor's newly appointed perfects said, each accepting their respective schedules.
"Ugh," Lily groaned. "Double Arthimancy this morning. Followed by double Potions after lunch, Herbology, and Transfiguration. I don't even get Charms on my first day."
"Hey, that's my schedule too!" James beamed grabbing the parchment from her hands. "In fact, that's my exact schedule. We've got every lesson together."
"Yay," Lily deadpanned, snatching the schedule from him.
"Well, I've got Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies in the morning." Fly said. "But otherwise, my after lunch schedule is the same."
When they finished checking one another's schedules, Sunny made a realization.
"Wait, no one has classes on Friday do they?"
They all shook their heads.
"Does that mean that all the sixth years get a day off?"
They all shrugged their shoulders. Standing up, she rushed to a couple of sixth years at other tables and finally rushed back, her face pink with excitement.
"We got Fridays off!"
"Whoo hoo!" Peter yelled at the top of his lungs, causing a few raised eyebrows to be tossed their way.
After everyone had calmed down, Lily turned to her friends, minus Potter.
"Who got a perfect 'Outstanding' in Herbology?"
Sunny, Peter, Sirius, James and Remus all raised their hands.
"Well," she faltered, surprised at all the raised hands. "Well- well good. I'm going to need someone to tutor me."
"Why?" Fly asked, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice.
"I got an E in Herbology and my Mum went ballistic. It was my only E and she almost threw me out. You should have seen Tuny, it was as if her birthday came early. My Dad left the house; he didn't want to stand her fury. She said if I don't get a perfect N.E.W.T. in Herbology, she was going to murder me."
"Well, why are you worrying now? Sixth year is one of the easier years because you're only preparing for you N.E.W.T. year, so the workload will be respectively lighter."
"I know," she sighed. "And I usually don't take my Mum's threats to heart, but it's just that she's a florist and can't understand for the life of her how I didn't get top grades in Herbology. She was so mad. She prayed to her dead Mum. She even forced me to work at her flower shop this summer, without pay! She said I didn't deserve payment. She kept mumbling about how I'm named for a flower for God's sakes, she basically said that I had to be the hugest idiot in order not to pass."
"What does your father do?" Peter asked, grabbing another roll.
"He works for the Muggle Post. He's not a mail carrier; he's like a manager to a branch or something." She answered. "I kept trying to tell Mum that we're not dealing with Poppies and Geraniums. I kept telling her about Devil's Snare, Mandrakes and Gillyweed, but she kept yelling saying that no matter what, I should have passed the class. She said growing was in my blood and in my soul and I had shamed the family by failing the class."
"But you didn't fail!" Sunny argued.
"But I didn't get a perfect either. Any other class it wouldn't have mattered if I had gotten an E, but Herbology is the one class my Mum will accept nothing less than perfection. She's never been this upset over a grade. Once I got an F in my English class because I wasn't cooperating with the teacher and she didn't even yell a fraction as much as this time. She just smiled when I got my Bacs A/N: I know in France that they've got the Baccalaureate, but I'm not sure how England determines if their kids can pass to the next year. So if anyone can correct me, go ahead and I'll repost this chapter. back and said she knew I was a genius."
Peter checked his watch and then turned back to the group,
"Guys, we gotta' get going, we don't want to be late for our first class."
"Whatever." They all groaned, heading towards Gryffindor tower to retrieve their respective literature.
A/N: I know you're thinking, wait, but Lily's afraid of heights, so why would she go to the tallest Astronomy tower to watch the sunset? Well, she's looking straight across the sky, not staring down at the quickly approaching ground.
P. A/N: I hoped uz liked this chapter. Please Review and tell me how you felt, your input is greatly appreciated and considered. Not much Jily (that just looks and sounds weird, huh?) action going on at the end of the chapter, but don't worry. Plus, I think I'm writing them too friendly, and it's starting to scare me. So whatever. Tell me what you think.
W/ luv,
Yo-yo
