Hello, readers! Sorry this one took longer than I expected. But it's 9-10 pages in Word, so that means this chapter is HUGE! This is a chapter where Lily decides that James might not be that bad.. mwhaha. Hope you like.
Gluetastebad: Nice penname! XD Yeah, I made Lily seem like an actual PERSON in this fic; she'll have lots of changing emotions and stuff.
KawaiiFryingPanChick: it's okay. thanks for trying to write a meaningful review, though! DON'T STEAL MY PENNAME! Lol. I got it off my real name actually.. Bob is half my name. So I can never change it. Yes, go hug your cat today! :3 Fily and Hames.. hmmm.. I wonder who that is? Jk. I'll try; maybe if you could give me a situation or two for accidental kissing, I'll stick it in (with credit of course).
Holly-evans: Plot? What's that? ..OF COURSE THERE WILL BE A PLOT!! You're looking at an AP English student here. I'm not stupid. I'm just not revealing the plot yet. You'll get it slowly, just like how the great J. K. Rowling does it. This is not a pointless Mary-Sue fic.
Storywritter10791: Alright! I updated! Hehe..
lilyZWnam77: You've almost got the right idea about Deckard. Except he's more mean and nasty than a slob. And the potions teacher? She's.. well, that's a character based COMPLETELY off my best friend Sangrita. See Alias Madame Butterfly as her penname in the review page. She adores Remus. 3
Wahooligan08: Thank you, thank you! And see the rating on this fic? It will NEVER be rated R. I hope that answers your question. .
Katie: Hehe. Glad you like it, as I've told you already. Thanks!
Sangrita: Thanks for those chat sessions. They get my inspiration all fired up and keep me writing more and more each day. Yes, I know I rock. Hahahahah! Poor Remus. You should talk to lilyZWnam77. XD I think she thinks your character is scary.. hahahha..
OKAY! Enjoy!
Chapter 4: The Strangeness of Ms. Evans.
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Later that day, after lunch, the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws found a strange man in their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Not that he only LOOKED strange, for he did. His lips were so thin it looked as if whoever created him cut him a slit for a mouth; quite scary, to say the least. But he was strange because no one really recognized him.
Lily ignored him as she took a desk towards the middle of the room and placed her bag carefully on the floor next to her chair.
Potter and his friends walked by at that time, taking the seats behind her. Lily scowled as Potter knocked her bag over as he walked by. He didn't seem to notice; he and his friends were laughing at some inside joke of theirs.
"I think the Reductor curse worked quite well for the job, don't you think, Wormtail?"
"Of course, Prongs! And that other one, the---"
The bell drowned out the rest of his words.
As soon as the bell rang, the man at the front flicked his wand at the door. It snapped shut, locking any tardy students out. And it did lock someone out; poor Matthew Jordan from Ravenclaw. He stood pounding at the door for a minute, looking in from the window, but ceased after the strange man sent Matthew away with a fierce glare.
"Good afternoon, class," the man said. "Or, those of us who are on time, at least." He sent a thin smile towards the door before continuing his speech. No one dared laugh; the look on the teacher's face was too horrifying.
"I am Professor Damian Deckard, your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I've received the same question many times before, today, so I think I'll answer before you ask as well..
"I am a Metamorphmagus. I can change my appearance at will. ("Why would anyone WANT to look like that?" Sirius whispered to James.) You will often find my appearance changed frequently, but please do not let it bother you too much. ("No, it doesn't bother me at all; just children and small animals might run away in fear.." Remus replied quietly, for his friends' benefit.) Now, let's begin today's lesson: The Basics of Defense. What defines defense?"
The Professor droned on about defense, like he said he would. He paused when Lily raised her hand to ask a question.
"What is your name?"
"Lily Evans, and I was wondering if we were going to practice spells often in this class, like we did in the past few years.. Or is this class focused more on academics than acitivities?"
"Miss Evans, I believe the class will practice spells when I believe the class is competent enough to do so. If you interrupt me so rudely again during a lecture, we'll see whether you are fit to grace us with your presence in this classroom."
Lily's jaw dropped as he turned around to continue his lecture and write on the board.
RUDE?
"Yeah, we'll see who's rude around here.."
Spoken as if from Lily herself!
Wait a minute.
Who said.. er.. whispered that?!
Lily cautiously looked around the room until she caught someone's eye.
Potter?! Potter was defending her? Merlin, he must really hate this teacher..
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Before Lily knew it, September was over. Her classes had been running so quickly lately, with the exception of DA with the nasty Professor Deckard, that she hadn't really noticed. Even History of Magic went by faster than it did last year--
Speaking of History, Potter still had her notes on the conflicts of giants and Muggles in the Dark Ages.. and that essay was due in two days! Lily wrote herself a mental note about getting that back from Potter soon.
That chance came sooner than she expected.
She caught James and his friends in the common room one day, talking quietly amongst themselves on the squashy couches, even though no one else was in the room. The setting sun was painting warm colors through the windows, the colors changing slowly along the walls.
James was holding some length of odd, silvery fabric as he talked. When Lily walked in, he quickly shoved it behind a spare pillow, hoping she hadn't seen it already.
Lily ignored his strange actions and cut to the chase. "Potter, do you still have my History notes? I kind of need them--"
"Oh, right.. Lemme go get them real quick," James said quietly. He quickly went up to his dorm room and fished it out from his school bag, and then brought it down just as fast.
Sirius and Peter were looking kind of shifty as they anxiously waited for James to return.
"Thanks," Lily said, taking her notes from Potter. "So.. Are you guys.. going somewhere or something?" she asked curiously.
Remus cast James a worried look; his face was a pale and sickly green, and he kept looking out the window for something.
James sighed. "Actually, we were.. Moony--"he paused, looking at Remus quickly, "--I mean, Remus, he isn't feeling well; we think he has a fever. We're taking him to the hospital wing just to make sure."
"Oh," Lily replied, yet still having her doubts. Why was Remus's face so pale? Wasn't he supposed to have a RED face if he had a fever?
She tried not to make eye contact with any of them as they left, trying instead to keep her concentration on setting up a work area for her homework.
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Care of Magical Creatures was proving to be quite a worthwhile class lately. It was pleasant to have a change from the brute studying force of classes such as Arithmancy and History of Magic; Transfiguration and Potions weren't so easy either. In addition, CMC was a class that only required Lily to watch her fingers closely once in a while.
Today they were studying water guardians in their natural habitat, so Professor Kettleburn marched the class into the Forest for the lesson. They stopped at a clearing by a large pond, which was surrounded by many flowering plants that thrived on its water.
"This is one such habitat of Aquarilles, which are a type of water guardian. You can identify their habitats by, of course, water, and also an abundance of life surrounding it. Aquarilles provide much of the life- sustaining energy that water requires," Professor Kettleburn explained, pointing out things as he spoke with his 4-fingered hand. Many, many years ago his pinky had been lost to an unfortunate accident with a dragon.
"Today you will be separating into pairs--"Professor Kettleburn began, and instantly some students began grouping up with their friends. "No, no, no.. Pairs of one boy and one girl each."
There were several groans from the class. Sirius and Celina didn't seem to mind, however..
"Aquarilles are heavily curious creatures. They're not shy about approaching people, especially when people are telling each other secrets and such. What's more curious than a boy and a girl together, eh?" Kettleburn laughed. He was a wise man.
Lily rubbed her forehead. She could feel a headache coming on..
Kettleburn gave out his instructions for the class, and sent the class away to scatter along the pond.
"Hey, Evans, got a partner yet?" James asked, grinning hopefully and messing up his hair some.
There was a huge throbbing pain in Lily's head now.
"No," Lily said truthfully. "So where do you want to dig for pixies, Potter?"
James led Lily to a section of pond that was crowded with water lilies and surrounded with bushes flowering rose-sized blue blossoms. Of course, it was located not too far from Sirius. Just within shouting distance.
"How's this?" James asked, spreading his arms wide.
"I don't know. We'll see how many Aquarilles we can get, and then I'll tell you how it is."
"How do we get the little buggers to come out?"
"I think we have to lure them out somehow.." Lily said, kneeling by the water. She peered into the pond water, seeing her own reflection gazing back at her between the floating lilies. Ah! Her hair was messy! She hastened to tap her head with her wand. The tangles quickly undid themselves. Much better.
James eyed her suspiciously. "Now, what's fixing your hair going to do?"
Lily rolled her eyes and ignored his question. "Since Aquarilles are curious, if we do a bit of magic we can probably get them to come out," Lily suggested.
"Alright. Avis!" James said, swishing his wand. A small flock of birds sprouted from his wand tip and began fluttering around, looking for trees to perch in.
Lily sighed. This was going to be a long lesson.
"What? What are you sighing about?"
"Nothing. Do you see any pixies? I don't," Lily said, changing the subject. She sat down on the ground, looking around.
"Maybe a different spell?" James suggested, sitting down next to her.
"Mmm.. yeah.. let me think for a bit.."
James sat idly for a minute, looking at the water for a minute. Then he noticed something. "Hey, Evans."
"What?"
He picked a water lily from the edge of the pond. "Here's a lily for you. Just like your name, right?" he asked, pulling the flower apart from its leaf and shaking the water off of it before presenting it to her.
Lily took the flower carefully into her hands. "So.. what am I supposed to do with it?"
"I dunno.. OH! Put it in your hair!" James said excitedly.
"Okay," she replied, shrugging and attempting to stick it behind her ear. She got it in once, but then it fell off right away.
"Here, let me help." James said, picking it up off the ground.
It took him what seemed like ages to Lily. She couldn't tell what was taking him so long, but at least it would keep the flower in place. His soft hands brushed against her face a few times. As each second passed, Lily was becoming more and more aware of how close he was to her. She felt her face turn hot and red from it.
"All done!" James said proudly, admiring his handy-work.
"Thanks.." was all Lily could say. If she wanted to say more, she couldn't, because several Aquarilles had poked their heads out from the water, peering at her from among the water lilies.
"You're welcome," James replied. "Hey! It's those water things!"
"Finally," Lily said, studying the approaching ones closely.
Aquarilles were pixies, so they bore human-like features. However, they also had semi-transparent green mermaid tails, with thin fins (running along the sides and at the end of the tail) that were barely even visible. Their skin glowed a pale blue color, while their tails shimmered and glittered. They were capable of exploring land as well, for they could swim through the air with their tails as if it were no different from water. Lily noted they were small enough to sleep on her palm if they wished.
"We're supposed to study their behavior and write that information in a short essay, which will be due next class, and.. find out their source of food and include that in as well," Lily recalled from Kettleburn's instructions at the beginning of class. James wasn't paying attention.
What a git.
He was enjoying the attention he was receiving from the Aquarilles, who were hovering about him, muttering to each other in high pitched voices in their gibberish language. Some pointed at him, whispering as if they were talking about him. One was curiously studying his hands, flying between the splayed fingers and poking various sections of his palms.
"Nosy, aren't they?" James said to Lily, regarding the one studying his hands.
"Yes, a little.." Lily replied as a few started studying her too, especially interested in her red hair. They began flying around her head, some hiding in her hair and others picking up locks of it. "Ouch!"
"What happened?"
"One pulled my hair. Ow! There it goes again!" Lily winced, swatting at her head, still not catching the culprit. It was sniggering loudly at her futile attempts, little barks of laughter among the chatter of its kind. "Stop it!" she demanded frustratedly.
Apparently, the Aquarilles were now trying to take up a collection of Lily's hair, trying to pull it out. Either that, or they were just trying to annoy her. The second reason seemed more likely to Lily.
The few Aquarilles around James now decided to either join in the game of teasing Lily or just watching, munching on some nearby blossoms.
"Get off, you little monsters!" Lily screeched. It was getting worse now. They were angry; they started prattling in harsh voices. Some even started to bite. "Leave me alone!!" But that seemed to have the opposite effect; more and more were coming closer, intent on doing just what Lily was demanding they not do.
She was on her feet now, frantically trying to pull them away from her, but she couldn't catch any. They were too fast and kept slipping away from her fingers. How did there get to be so many of them? And why were they attacking her?!
They were swarming over her like mosquitoes now; she could feel their sharp claws scraping her neck, their tails slapping her face, their fingers groping for her hair..
"Evans!" James yelled, whipping out his wand. "Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" he cast the same spell over and over, trying to knock out as many Aquarilles as he could. Most of them fell to the ground, unconscious, while the remaining ones that managed to dodge the spells dived into the water, squealing.
Lily was trembling, her body shivering. They were still on her. She could feel it. They were going to cover every inch of her skin, biting, scratching, and suffocating her as they stole the air away from her lungs.. ..
"Oh my God, Evans.." James said tensely, pulling her hands away from her head, where they were scrabbling around, trying to get rid of the pixies that weren't there anymore. Lily was now crying silently, her mouth open but no sounds emerging except for that of her heavy breathing.
Her eyes were unfocused, gazing at the ground through Jame's body, and she kept trying to pull her hands back up to her head, but James still held on to them. His hands were larger; they completely enveloped hers.
"Evans? Lily? Lily?" he repeated, "It's alright now, they're gone. It's okay now.. It's okay."
It's okay now? How could that be? Lily could still.. feel them, hovering around her.
"They're.. gone?" Lily heard herself say. Her eyes were transfixed on James's now, her lips parted. His eyes were a mesmerizing dark brown. Had she ever noticed that before? Those eyes held so much light in them; she felt as if she could trust James with her life, just by gazing into them so..
"Yeah, I stunned most of them," James said, relieved. "Are.. Are you alright now?" he ventured to ask.
Lily gulped down her fears, trying to regain at least some composure while subduing all that adrenaline pumping in her veins. "Yes.. I just.. I panicked.." she admitted, sitting down on the ground and hugging her knees to her chest. She tried controlling her breath, taking slow, shuddering, deep breaths.
"Panicked? What was that all about, anyway?" James asked curiously, sitting down next to her. "I mean, they were just pixies.."
"I know, I know.." Lily said, shaking her head, swallowing again. "But.. it wasn't.." she hesistated for a moment before drawing a deep breath. "It wasn't about the pixies.. It was.. When I was really little, about 3, I guess, I was attacked by a flock of crows.."
"Crows?" James raised an eyebrow. "Well.. go on!"
"I was throwing them some breadcrumbs. But the wind kept blowing the crumbs into my hair and my clothes, and more and more birds just kept coming.. And Mum.. my Mum was in the kitchen, she didn't know until the last minute. They.. the crows swarmed over me and began ripping at my skin and suffocating me..
"I remember I used the last of my air screaming until Mum came running with the biggest broom she could find. She told me later that I fell unconscious and woke up two days later in the hospital."
"All that from crows?!" James said incredulously. "Well, I guess they ARE pretty scary when you're 3 years old.."
"Yes, I know it sounds pretty stupid.. But I guess you wouldn't understand.. It didn't happen to you. Just.. Just don't tell anyone all this, okay? Please?"
"Come on, Evans, I'm not that shallow.."
Lily frowned.
"But don't worry. I won't tell. I swear," James promised, crossing his heart. "So.. I guess we failed the assignment?"
"Only if Professor finds out what happened here.. which he won't," Lily said smugly.
"Right. Of course. I'll just copy Sirius's homework.." James began plotting.
"You can't! That's cheating!"
"Only if Professor finds out.." James replied firmly, using Lily's words.
"Ugh.. Well, maybe I'll let you get away with that just this once, Potter.."
"Listen, Evans, you can call me James. And how come you aren't Prefect this year? I think you have just the perfect temperament to be one."
"Well, James, Dumbledore thought the same thing, but I turned him down when he sent me the badge. Too much responsibility."
"Not much more, because you act like a prefect anyway!" James teased. "Besides, Remus puts up with it, and he's got enough problems as it is. He says he's only doing it because it looks good on job applications, though."
"It does?" Lily asked. Bugger! Why hadn't she thought of that?! "Well, James, since you insist so, I guess I will take up being a prefect.."
Maybe she could exercise some control over him while she was at it. But.. why was James so keen on getting her to be a Prefect anyway? That seemed a bit strange to Lily..
"Alright, then," James said. He looked around a bit, hearing the voices of other students walking by. "Is class over already?"
"Guess so.."
"Let's go, there's Padfoot.." James said, getting to his feet to join his best friend.
"Hey Celina, did you get all the info we needed for that essay?" Lily asked as she joined Celina while their partners walked ahead.
"Most of it," Celina shrugged, not really interested in the lesson. "..Though Sirius kept trying to catch all the pixies and putting them in his pocket.. It was getting quite irritating, really.. He wouldn't tell me what they were for, anyway.." She pointed ahead to Sirius, who was now showing James his catch. "See? There he goes, the show-off.."
"I think they're plotting something already," Lily laughed. "I hope its against Deckard. I really do hate him.."
"So. Did you have fun today?"
Lily raised an eyebrow at her friend. Why the sudden question?
"Hardly.. why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason.." Celina replied, turning her attention to the passing scenery. "You just look.. happy." She smiled knowingly at Lily.
"What? What's that supposed to mean?" Lily demanded.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say your mind was on James Potter rather than the lesson at hand."
Lily stopped dead in her tracks. "Wh-wh-wh.. what?" she stammered, going red in the face. "I--I wasn't! How dare-- I barely know him, he's the one trying to.. Oh, shut up," Lily stormed, her face a deep crimson.
Celina did shut up, but in a satisfied sort of way. Knowing that Lily would now have James Potter on her mind through the rest of her lessons, Celina remained smug for the rest of the day.
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Extra long chapter: COMPLETE!
Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.. Please send me a review! As always, suggestions are welcome!
Have a nice day!
Bob-chan
