Part II
Lily continued walking towards the Prefect compartment where the meeting was being held. She kept thinking about what Emily and Sirius had said about the new Head Boy. It just has to be Remus, she thought. If it's Potter I swear I'm going to kill myself. Her thoughts were cut off when she finally reached the compartment door. She straightened her badge and pushed open the door where she came face to face with…James Potter. He was standing in the doorway, apparently waiting for her, and refused to let her pass.
"Potter, move now. I have an important meeting to get to," she said glaring at James.
"Oh, but so do I, my Lily Flower," he replied, smirking at her.
"Yeah, a meeting with one of your little sluts in an empty compartment. Now let me through," Lily retorted. Needless to say, she didn't think much of his involuntary band of followers—loyal, James Potter-hungry girls.
"Not until you say 'please,' Lils," remarked James, his smirk becoming wider. He ran his hand through his already messy jet-black hair. Lily could feel her boiling point rising to its surface.
"Potter, you are an arrogant, self-centered jerk. And stop running your hand through your hair—it looks stupid!" Lily yelled; she only had so much patience with Potter and it seemed as if her patience had run out.
A voice from inside the compartment stopped James from retorting. "I would appreciate it if the Head Boy and Girl would stop arguing so we could start the meeting," said Professor McGonagall strictly, fixing the two teenagers with her typical accusing stare.
Lily stared at McGonagall in disbelief. "Professor, you can't be serious. Him? Head Boy?" she asked horror-struck.
"Yep, Lils, looks like we'll be Heads together," he said happily, draping his arm over her shoulder. She turned and stared into James's hazel eyes, signs of disgust apparent all over her face. She pushed passed him and entered the meeting.
Just two more minutes, Lily had to keep reminding herself. Sitting next to James Potter was enough to make her scream; to make it worse James kept touching her foot with his. She was about to explode when Professor McGonagall stood up. "Congratulations, everyone. Just remember to patrol the train corridors every hour, and now you're free to go," she said clearing the table with a sweep of her wand. Lily immediately pushed her chair back, stood up, and started walking out of the compartment when a pair of muscular arms wrapped around her waist.
"May I escort you, fair lady?" James asked, his trademark grin in place.
"Don't touch me, Potter," she replied coldly, releasing herself from his hold and walking briskly out of the room. She slammed the door behind her causing one of the windowpanes to shatter. James watched, amused, as she re-entered the room, repaired the glass, shot him another death glare, and walked back out again. James loved when she got mad; her face would scrunch up and her beautiful green eyes would be directed at him. Granted, she was always shooting him glares that could kill a man, but James didn't object anymore. He kind of liked tormenting Lily Evans, the girl that had been the object of his dreams for six years now. Shaking his head slightly to get the image of a certain redhead out of his mind, he walked after Lily.
Lily was looking into every compartment trying to find her friends when all to soon, James was walking in step with her. She blatantly ignored him.
"Lils, why don't you like me?" he asked breaking the silence.
"I don't dislike you Potter—I hate you," she answered simply. He reached out and took hold of her arms, slowing her down to a halt.
"Why?" he asked intently. He stared into her stunning jade eyes that were at the moment filled with anger. Lily wrenched herself free from his grasp and continued down the hall briskly.
"Do you really need me to explain this to you again?" she snapped, her wand shaking in her hand from rage.
"As long as you sit down with me in an empty compartment, then of course you can enlighten me as to why you hate me so," James said. Lily didn't even have to turn around and look at him to see that he was smirking…that stupid smirk that made Lily's skin crawl.
"Whatever, Potter, I don't have time for this," she hissed, trying to keep her cool. Getting in trouble for hexing Potter on the train was the last thing she wanted, especially since she was Head Girl now. Younger students would be looking up to her; she had to set a good example and maintain her reputation as a good, rule-abiding student.
The two continued walking down the train corridor silently with James trailing right behind her. James was being so quiet that it shocked Lily when someone spoke right behind her.
"Lils, can I ask you something?" he asked openly, crossing his fingers behind his back. Lily whipped her head around, her eyes narrowed as she stared at the bespectacled black haired boy.
"What is it, Potter?" she said, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently as if James were interrupting something very important.
"I was just wondering if—" he started.
"No, Potter," Lily broke him off before he even finished his sentence.
"Hey! But I—"
"No."
"But—"
"No!"
"You didn't even let me finish my sentence," James whined, pretending to be very hurt.
Lily rolled her eyes angrily. "That's because the only thing you have ever asked me from my first year here at Hogwarts is, 'Lily, will you go out with me?'" she said, making her voice deeper as she imitated James.
"I object! That is not true! In first year I only asked you to be my Valentine…but you said 'No, thank you'," James said, putting on a high pitched girly voice. "You were always so polite in first year whenever you rejected me." Lily groaned in irritation. "And besides, how did you know I was even going to ask you that. I could've been planning on just asking you a nice, friendly little question like, 'How'd your summer go,'" he exclaimed innocently.
Lily sighed. "Fine, what did you want to ask me, Potter?" Normally she wouldn't have given in like this, but she wanted to just get this over with so she could go find her friends and ditch James.
"Thank you! So, will you go out with me?" he asked, grinning wildly.
Lily lost her temper and slapped him hard across the face. "How many times do I have to tell you? Do I have to say it in four different languages for you to understand? No, non, nullus, and never in a million years," Lily could feel her face getting very warm as if her blood was at boiling point.
"Blimey, Evans, that hurt!" James exclaimed, rubbing his cheek where a bright red handprint was clearly visible.
"Good! Maybe it will knock some sense into you," she screamed. By now, many heads were popping out of the doors of compartments, every student trying to get a look as to what was going on.
"I don't need the sense! You need the sense, because you're the only girl who has ever been stupid enough to turn me down one hundred and six times!" James retorted, taking a threatening step closer to her. "I think I could arrange for you to get that date with the Giant Squid that you've always wanted, Evans."
Lily glared at him her green eyes shooting out sparks. "Potter, compared to you I'd gladly take the Giant Squid," and with that she stomped off, leaving a fuming James and several astounded students behind her.
"Lils, what did my cousin do this time?" Emily asked suspiciously as Lily stalked angrily into the compartment and slammed the door hard behind her.
"Yeah, who was it, Lily?" Peter asked.
"Are you really that thick, Wormtail? There's only one person that can get Lily this upset," explained Sirius, throwing Peter a pitying look. "And Emily only has one cousin at Hogwarts—James."
"What did our Prongs do?" Remus asked turning towards Lily. She immediately began to embark on her story starting from the meeting to the end.
"…And then he asked me out…again! He's such a moron, why can't he just take a hint?" Lily asked throwing her hands into the air in disbelief. "I mean really, he can't be that stupid, no offense, Emily," she finished breathing heavily trying to calm herself down.
"None taken, Lily. Don't worry—I'm related to him. I know how annoying he can sometimes get."
"But he really is a great friend and he really does like you; you should give him a chance," Sirius said, hoping Lily's fiery temper wouldn't explode again.
"That's the last thing I'll give him," she said glaring at him, which ended the James conversation. "Wait, why am I telling all of this to you three, Potter's best mates? Get out!" she screamed. The three boys hurriedly stood up and loped out of the door knowing only to well what it meant to be on the receiving end of an irate Lily Evans. But before Sirius closed the compartment door he said, "You know you love us, Lils." Lily screamed in an agitated fashion as Sirius winked and slid the door shut.
Becca decided to break the tension that was building. "Well, I guess I'll go find James and see what kind of condition he's in. I'll be right back," she said rising and exiting the compartment.
James wasn't hard to find; Becca had only walked a few feet until she saw him standing in an empty compartment. He was running his hand through his hair furiously and he appeared to be talking to himself.
"Why doesn't she like me? And why does she hate me so much. It's not like I do anything wrong, like I'm trying to provoke her or something," James was saying heatedly as Becca entered the compartment closing the door behind her; James jumped at the sound.
"Oh, hey, Beck. I'm guessing Evans told you what a git I was just now," he said louder than he meant to.
"Actually it was more along the lines of what a moron you were for asking her out again for like the one hundredth time," Becca stated, trying to cheer James up; it didn't work. She walked over and hugged him. "Don't worry, James—you're a great guy, she'll figure it out soon enough."
"Thanks, I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. My Potter charm works great on every other girl. See? It's working on you as we speak," he said arrogantly, smirking down at Becca. She let go of him and slapped his arm.
"That's my point, exactly. That's what's wrong, James. You have such a big head, it drives Lily insane. In fact, it drives us all insane," she said, a smile playing its way across her face. "Look, just give her some space. Stop asking her out all the time; it annoys her greatly and it isn't helping your chances." James nodded, although Becca had the feeling that every word she had said had gone in one ear and out the other.
Five minutes later, after Becca attempted to teach James on how to win Lily's heart, the two exited the compartment. They entered a very quiet atmosphere, which made Becca and James guess that Lily must have lost her temper again. Becca took a seat next to Emily while James stood standing. "Lily, can I have a quick word with you," he asked sincerely.
"No," she answered bluntly.
"Please," he pleaded, his brown eyes searching Lily's green ones.
"No. Stop pestering me. Now, go and find your little group of miscreant followers before I hurt you" she hissed. The two other girls looked towards James and each gave him a shrug.
"Lily…"
"Go. Now!" she yelled her eyes flashing with warning. James slowly turned and exited the compartment.
"Finally, he's gone," Lily said. She stood up and did some sort of victory dance. Becca and Emily laughed half-heartedly.
James soon found his friends half way down from the girls' compartment. He slumped into a seat and stared sullenly out the window.
"Prongs, mate, you really couldn't have expected it to go any better than it did, could you?" asked Sirius. James glared at him.
"You need some lessons from the babe magnet," Sirius continued, brushing off his shoulders. The other three Marauders snorted. "What? The chicks are all over me," he said.
"James, you and Lily are Head Boy and Girl now. For the safety of Hogwarts, and yourself, you need to stop flirting and annoying Lily," Remus stated, ignoring Sirius.
"Yeah," Peter piped up, "we don't want a repeat of fifth year." Peter began laughing hysterically.
"Can we please get off the subject of Evans and talk about something worthwhile?" asked James.
"Sure thing. So, are you happy about being Quidditch captain second year running?" Sirius asked as Remus rolled his eyes. James jumped onto the subject immediately.
Four hours later the train finally pulled up into the Hogsmeade station. The four seventh year girls jumped off the train where they met Matthew, Becca's younger brother, and his best friend, Jonathan Eastley.
"Matthew!" Lily yelled, catching a blonde haired, blue-eyed teenager into a bone-breaking hug.
"Get off me," Matthew mumbled embarrassedly, brushing his robes off as Lily stepped back.
"You look so adorable this year. The girls will be all over you," she gushed.
"Yeah, you're growing up so fast," said James walking up from behind the girls and pretending to wipe an imaginary tear from his face. Matthew attempted to trip him, but James jumped over his outstretched foot.
"I'll have to give you lessons on that trick, mate," James said over his shoulder as he got into a carriage with the rest of the Marauders; Lily shot icy stares after his retreating back.
"So, are you ready for your O.W.L.'s? You're going to have bloody hard year this year," Alice said, grinning evilly.
"I know, don't remind me," he replied sadly.
"Matthew, stop being a wimp," Becca said bracingly. "We'll see you later, bro."
They all said their goodbyes and walked towards the carriages.
"Mate, you're so lucky; seventh year hotties are all over you," Jonathan said in awe.
"First of all, one of those 'hotties' is my sister; secondly, Lily, Alice, and Emily are practically my sisters; and thirdly, if you do anything with one of them I swear I'll have to hurt you," Matthew joked.
As the four girls got onto the carriages, Becca stared at the Thestrals that were pawing the ground waiting to get moving. She had been able to see them ever since fifth year; the year after she saw her parents murdered. Pushing that miserable memory out of her head she joined her friends on their last ride to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
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