CHAPTER 9..:::::.. Make it Clear.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the plot. *Damns disclaimer to hell and wreaks total damination upon it. *
*A/N: Hey you guys. I want to give you all a huge hug. When I was posting chapter 7, I had about fifty reviews. Now as I post this chapter, I have about double that! Thanks! Guess my Compulsive Updating Syndrome is paying off.
Slick: Thanks for your review, and don't worry, the Marauder's ain't going anywhere darin'! I wouldn't do that to you guys! Well, I mean, we all know that one of them has to go eventually . . . but that's ages away yet. Lol.
Fashiondiva: Lol, glad you're not having it. I know, my author's notes can be a bit confusing. Perhaps I should use capitals next time . . . Lol.
Coolcatjenny: Lol, oh, the requests the requests. Well, I'll see what I can do!
Templa Otmena: Thank you. I like to try. Lol. As you can see, this is a chapter on the summer, but not as detailed as I'm sure many would like! I love doing James and Snape confrontations; they're so much fun to write. Glad you appreciate it! Concerning, "Lest we Forget," that's on hold for a few weeks! Sorry! But don't worry; I will religiously update this one. As for your theory on Sirius, yes, I do think that! There have got 2 be more ways 4 Harry to communicate with him than a broken mirror . . .
Dark-elf: Lol, I love your name. Sorry if Peter doesn't sound evil yet, but he wasn't really at that point! Don't worry though, I'm doing up until death, so you will see a change in Peter.
Lily Adams: wow thanks, yes enough exclamation marks! Don't worry, I post quite fast. Glad you love it!
Dardestiny: thanks, they will soon enough . . . Lol
Ilovehp: Don't worry! I will!!!
PennyP: thanks, lol; I know I mix them up! It's a habit I'm trying to break. Daisy: thanks, I was trying to come up with a really good line for Lily, and settled on this one! All the others were lame. Lol.
Eclip0099: Yeah, I wanted to make the message clear!!! Glad it was.
Sarah/oboe grrl: Yeah, sorry, I hadn't realised it was only one L until like the third chapter! Sorry!
Enzin: thanks; it was my favourite part too! And as for Snape, I know! I never thought I'd feel sorry for him. But he should wash his pants.
ALL4SIRIUS: Lol. Lot's of people have said the message was clear. Well, it worked eh???
George is Hot: Thanks for the review, and also finally telling me who George is!!!
Wing Goddess: Oops, my mistake! Thanks for pointing that out, but who cares. It's creative anyhow!!!
Inkling: Thanks; I also like to think there is a fine line between taunting and hurting!
Surge: Thanks, the joke wasn't intentional actually! Once I had written it I realised what I had said, and James's reaction to it is actually more my reaction to my own joke!!!
Radiogrrl: thanks, but my other fics haven't done half as well as this!!
A/N: PHEW! Well. That's over with. Now on with the saga!! By the way, as I still have no friggin' clue how to use italics, the letter sequence will be introduced with this: {{ and end with this }} ok???
*HITS PLAY*
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was morning, and Lily savoured the feeling of her own bed as she rolled over, enjoying its softness and familiarity. Her sister Petunia had just given her loudest snore yet, and it had woken Lily up. Petunia made out she had quality in a great deal of things; but sleeping quietly was not one of them.
She had dreamt that night about someone she had not wanted to; James oh-the- annoying Potter. She had had an odd dream that they were married for some reason, and as she replayed the events of the dream over in her head, she kept reminding herself that she shouldn't even be thinking about him. If she wanted these feelings to go away, then that was what she would have to do. 'Ah,' said a little voice inside the back of her head. 'Do you really want them to go away?' Lily groaned and pulled the covers over her head, Petunia not letting up in the slightest with her snores.
@@@
James and Sirius were up early, not taking advantage of lie-ins. Mrs Potter had made a big thing of muttering very loudly "typical boys," as they had clattered down the stairs, broomsticks in hand without breakfast.
They knew they weren't really in for a relaxing summer; the teachers had given them more homework than either of them combined would have ever done in their lives, so they got to it straight away in the evenings, keeping Quidditch to during the days and narrowly avoiding chores Mrs Potter kept trying to label them with. Sirius helped out as much as he could; he almost felt guilty about imposing on this happy home life, but knew deep down that really, the Potters treated him like an extra son, as James had no siblings.
*
A few weeks into the holiday, James had a nagging sensation in the pit of his stomach. He missed Lily. He missed predicting her sarky reactions to him and the way she made it obvious, without knowing she did, that there was something between them. James had said he'd owl her. Did that mean that she expected him to? When? How soon was too soon? What if he left it too late?
Rubbing a hand over his face as he lay in bed that night, he realised he would have to do something about this feeling. He sat up and brushed his messy black hair out of his eyes. He groped around in the darkness for his glasses, (he couldn't do much without them,) and slipped past the quietly sleeping Sirius, who looked gracefully peaceful in the bed at the opposite end of the room. Every now and then, a breath that escaped his mouth would make the hair on the pillow flutter. He looked totally different with the absence of the awful snoring.
James carefully sat down at his desk, and lit a candle, which thankfully did not flicker too much to wake Sirius, yet provided enough light for him to see well enough to write his first letter to Lily. He picked up his eagle feather quill, dipped it in the stained pot of ink he had on stand-by for Emergency Midnight Homework Operations. Brow furrowed, he racked his brains for something to write and crinkled his nose. "Dear Lily," seemed like a good starting point.
*
After about half an hour since the idea of writing the letter had come to James, Sirius sat bolt upright, muttering something about "unhappy Hippogrifs". He opened his eyes blearily and saw James sitting at his desk, James whirled around, startled by the movement.
"Padfoot! What was that all about?"
"I . . . oh . . . nothing," he managed between yawns. Then, "What, in the name of my arse are you doing at this time of night?" he asked groggily.
James looked embarrassed. "Promise you won't laugh?" he asked.
"No," said Sirius truthfully.
"I'm . . . I'm trying to write a letter to Lily."
Sirius, from whom James had expected a bark of laughter that would have broken the stillness of the night, threw his legs out of bed and came to stand behind his best friend's back. "Whatcha got so far?" he asked.
"Dear Lily."
"Ah, well, that's no good, Prongs. I mean, she already knows she's dear, doesn't she?"
"I can't think what to say."
Sirius sat down in the empty chair. "Well, why don't you tell me everything you want to say to her, not like I'm her, cos' that might get creepy, but just tell me how you feel about her."
James sighed, and poured out his heart to his best friend.
*
Three weeks into the holiday, Lily was feeling very pleased with herself. She had not had any more dreams about James Potter and was finally thinking that she could possibly quell the feelings that he had stirred up inside her. In fact, the only dreams she had had were ones similar to the ones she had back at Hogwarts months ago. It was the "de ja' vous" dream, where she was in a room with someone, someone safe, until they left and everything went horribly wrong. It wasn't even a nightmare. She just didn't understand it.
As she went down to breakfast one morning and sat eating her cereal and apple juice at the table, there was a tapping at the window. Her owl, Binky, was sitting on the windowsill with a letter clutched tight in her beak.
"Ah, look at that, Lily dear! How sweet!" cooed her mother, delighted at the magical intervals, which frequently presented themselves with a witch in the family. Petunia, however, was not so impressed.
"If any of my friends see that thing here," she said, looking out of the window as though one of them nay be coming up the road that very second, "You're to say that you're looking after him for your uncle, OK?"
"No," answered Lily.
"No? No? Did you just say no to me?" spat Petunia disbelievingly.
"Yes, I believe I did. You're older, not more important. Now go away while I read my letter."
Petunia threw her a filthy look and rose from the table indignantly, looking to her mother.
"Mother, are you going to let her speak to me like that?" she said in a high-pitched voice.
Mrs Evans sighed. "Oh, for goodness sake, girls, can we have one day where you don't bicker?"
Petunia glared at everyone she deemed responsible, including Lily's father who was sitting quite quietly in an armchair by the window reading the newspaper, and stalked out of the room.
Lily ripped open the letter, and saw the handwriting and skipped to the very end. It was from James. Realising she did not want to read this in front of her parents, she scampered up to her room, locking the door behind her.
***
{{ Dear Lily,
To be completely honest with you, I seriously debated whether or not to write this letter. This is mainly because I have no idea what to say. I have no idea how you will react to what I do say; for example, you could either agree religiously with everything, (as I hope) or send me a smoking howler, (I will cower under my bed.) The thing is, we did everything exactly the opposite to how I wanted to do it. (By the way, it's great writing a letter, because there is no possible way you can interrupt me, as I know you are doing out loud now.) We left things stupidly. I'll owl you? Do you have any idea how stupid I felt saying that? Well, here it is. The owl. And, as usual, I am going to ask you something. Will you go out with me? I know you said you needed time, but help me out here. I don't speak "woman language." Please, will you at least consider this? I know you don't want to admit it to anyone, perhaps even yourself, but I know there is something between us. Why can't we act on it? Eagerly awaiting your owl, (again with the stupidness.)
All my love, James. }}
***
Lily sat back in her chair, exasperated. How could anyone be so immature? How was it even humanly possible? 'Will you go out with me?' How old were they for Merlin's sake? You didn't just 'go out with someone' when they asked you when you reached the age of sixteen. Things were different then. Maybe a few years ago, it would have been acceptable. But Lily felt like a woman now, a woman who was sick and tired of silly little boys who couldn't face saying the most terrified word of all: 'Relationship.'
A moment later, and Lily caught herself. Was she actually considering this letter? Was she actually putting energy into thinking about what he meant? Of course, it was perfectly clear what he meant, but Lily wanted to make a few things clear herself. Pulling back her drawer and taking out a similar feathered eagle quill, she began to scribble back.
***
James sat at the breakfast table the next morning very quietly, forgetting he had put a slice of toast in his mouth. It was beginning to go soggy until Mrs Potter spoke.
"James dear, don't do that. It's unhygienic."
James spat out the toast.
"What is the matter with you lately?" she asked, surveying him over glasses very much like his own. "You've been moping around for weeks! I don't suppose you could tell me, could you Sirius?" she added, looking cheekily at Sirius who was munching happily away.
Sirius laughed. "I could, but he'd hex me."
"Not in this house he wouldn't," she said sternly, and went to join her husband in the living room.
Sirius abandoned his grin and looked concernedly to his friend. "Seriously, Prongs, what's up now? You sent the letter!"
"Only because you helped me," said James glumly. "I wouldn't have known what to say if you hadn't been there."
Sirius chuckled. "Well, you've sent it now, so what are you moping around with a face like a smacked arse for?"
James looked up. "What if she replies all offended and everything?"
"How could she be offended? You didn't say anything bad!"
"Oh no, I only asked her out for the sixty-seventh time," he stopped for a second, thinking. "Asking someone out? How third-year is that?"
Sirius looked quietly sympathetic. "Prongs, have you been keeping count? That's sad."
"I was only speaking hypothetically," said James hurriedly, but Sirius had a strong feeling that James was lying. "What if it's worse? What if she doesn't reply at all?"
"She will!"
"What if she knows you helped me? Why would she want to go out with someone who can't speak for himself?"
"OK, Prongs, you need to shut up now. You're making me nervous and I didn't even do anything!
Perhaps James would have shut up and sat quietly, if Lily's owl had not tapped on the window two seconds later. It held a neatly packaged letter in its graceful beak and ruffled it's auburn feathers irritably until they noticed him.
***
{{ Dear James, ("Dear? That's a start mate!")
I have to say I was saddened by the content of your letter. (Sirius fell silent and busied himself with cereal.) But you'll be pleased to know that this is not a smoking howler, so you can emerge from your bedclothes. However, I am NOT agreeing to everything you say. First of all, do you realise this is the sixty-seventh time you have 'asked me out?' ("Yes," said James sulkily.) Realise the emphasis I put on the words 'ask me out'. It's a very immature thing to ask, to be honest. ("That's what I just said!") I am not a little girl anymore, and 'going out with someone' is simply just a title for boys so that they can call someone else their girlfriend. However, I do not believe I would be your girlfriend, by the way, you're right, you cannot interrupt me, because undoubtedly, you will charm me until I eventually break down and then you will get what you want and discard me like an unwanted Drooble's Best Blowing Gum wrapper. Because that's how you have viewed most girls, is it not? Also, as you so subtly put it, giving me time, is in no way confoundable "woman-language". I think it's fairly clear.
With half-hearted love, Lily. }}
***
James had gone up to his room upon reading the letter, and Sirius had left him well alone, however, an hour passed and Sirius could not let his best friend stew in self-pity for much longer.
"Prongs," he said softly, knocking on the door. James was sitting at his desk, scribbling furiously, a frown framing his good-looking face. "Can I help with the letter?"
James looked around. "No, it's OK, mate. I've decided to stop wallowing in crap and take matters into my own hands. I've nearly finished it now anyway."
Sirius smiled at his friend's bravado, but as he shut the door, he had a sense of foreboding about exactly what James's idea of taking matters into his own hands would involve.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
*A/N: Oh I love writing this fiction so much! It's so much fun! Thank you again and again for the reviews, keep 'em coming. My updating syndrome is over-powering me, so I'll get writing right away! Review review review review review review review review review review review review. There. It seemed to work last time!!!!
Rosie x x x
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the plot. *Damns disclaimer to hell and wreaks total damination upon it. *
*A/N: Hey you guys. I want to give you all a huge hug. When I was posting chapter 7, I had about fifty reviews. Now as I post this chapter, I have about double that! Thanks! Guess my Compulsive Updating Syndrome is paying off.
Slick: Thanks for your review, and don't worry, the Marauder's ain't going anywhere darin'! I wouldn't do that to you guys! Well, I mean, we all know that one of them has to go eventually . . . but that's ages away yet. Lol.
Fashiondiva: Lol, glad you're not having it. I know, my author's notes can be a bit confusing. Perhaps I should use capitals next time . . . Lol.
Coolcatjenny: Lol, oh, the requests the requests. Well, I'll see what I can do!
Templa Otmena: Thank you. I like to try. Lol. As you can see, this is a chapter on the summer, but not as detailed as I'm sure many would like! I love doing James and Snape confrontations; they're so much fun to write. Glad you appreciate it! Concerning, "Lest we Forget," that's on hold for a few weeks! Sorry! But don't worry; I will religiously update this one. As for your theory on Sirius, yes, I do think that! There have got 2 be more ways 4 Harry to communicate with him than a broken mirror . . .
Dark-elf: Lol, I love your name. Sorry if Peter doesn't sound evil yet, but he wasn't really at that point! Don't worry though, I'm doing up until death, so you will see a change in Peter.
Lily Adams: wow thanks, yes enough exclamation marks! Don't worry, I post quite fast. Glad you love it!
Dardestiny: thanks, they will soon enough . . . Lol
Ilovehp: Don't worry! I will!!!
PennyP: thanks, lol; I know I mix them up! It's a habit I'm trying to break. Daisy: thanks, I was trying to come up with a really good line for Lily, and settled on this one! All the others were lame. Lol.
Eclip0099: Yeah, I wanted to make the message clear!!! Glad it was.
Sarah/oboe grrl: Yeah, sorry, I hadn't realised it was only one L until like the third chapter! Sorry!
Enzin: thanks; it was my favourite part too! And as for Snape, I know! I never thought I'd feel sorry for him. But he should wash his pants.
ALL4SIRIUS: Lol. Lot's of people have said the message was clear. Well, it worked eh???
George is Hot: Thanks for the review, and also finally telling me who George is!!!
Wing Goddess: Oops, my mistake! Thanks for pointing that out, but who cares. It's creative anyhow!!!
Inkling: Thanks; I also like to think there is a fine line between taunting and hurting!
Surge: Thanks, the joke wasn't intentional actually! Once I had written it I realised what I had said, and James's reaction to it is actually more my reaction to my own joke!!!
Radiogrrl: thanks, but my other fics haven't done half as well as this!!
A/N: PHEW! Well. That's over with. Now on with the saga!! By the way, as I still have no friggin' clue how to use italics, the letter sequence will be introduced with this: {{ and end with this }} ok???
*HITS PLAY*
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was morning, and Lily savoured the feeling of her own bed as she rolled over, enjoying its softness and familiarity. Her sister Petunia had just given her loudest snore yet, and it had woken Lily up. Petunia made out she had quality in a great deal of things; but sleeping quietly was not one of them.
She had dreamt that night about someone she had not wanted to; James oh-the- annoying Potter. She had had an odd dream that they were married for some reason, and as she replayed the events of the dream over in her head, she kept reminding herself that she shouldn't even be thinking about him. If she wanted these feelings to go away, then that was what she would have to do. 'Ah,' said a little voice inside the back of her head. 'Do you really want them to go away?' Lily groaned and pulled the covers over her head, Petunia not letting up in the slightest with her snores.
@@@
James and Sirius were up early, not taking advantage of lie-ins. Mrs Potter had made a big thing of muttering very loudly "typical boys," as they had clattered down the stairs, broomsticks in hand without breakfast.
They knew they weren't really in for a relaxing summer; the teachers had given them more homework than either of them combined would have ever done in their lives, so they got to it straight away in the evenings, keeping Quidditch to during the days and narrowly avoiding chores Mrs Potter kept trying to label them with. Sirius helped out as much as he could; he almost felt guilty about imposing on this happy home life, but knew deep down that really, the Potters treated him like an extra son, as James had no siblings.
*
A few weeks into the holiday, James had a nagging sensation in the pit of his stomach. He missed Lily. He missed predicting her sarky reactions to him and the way she made it obvious, without knowing she did, that there was something between them. James had said he'd owl her. Did that mean that she expected him to? When? How soon was too soon? What if he left it too late?
Rubbing a hand over his face as he lay in bed that night, he realised he would have to do something about this feeling. He sat up and brushed his messy black hair out of his eyes. He groped around in the darkness for his glasses, (he couldn't do much without them,) and slipped past the quietly sleeping Sirius, who looked gracefully peaceful in the bed at the opposite end of the room. Every now and then, a breath that escaped his mouth would make the hair on the pillow flutter. He looked totally different with the absence of the awful snoring.
James carefully sat down at his desk, and lit a candle, which thankfully did not flicker too much to wake Sirius, yet provided enough light for him to see well enough to write his first letter to Lily. He picked up his eagle feather quill, dipped it in the stained pot of ink he had on stand-by for Emergency Midnight Homework Operations. Brow furrowed, he racked his brains for something to write and crinkled his nose. "Dear Lily," seemed like a good starting point.
*
After about half an hour since the idea of writing the letter had come to James, Sirius sat bolt upright, muttering something about "unhappy Hippogrifs". He opened his eyes blearily and saw James sitting at his desk, James whirled around, startled by the movement.
"Padfoot! What was that all about?"
"I . . . oh . . . nothing," he managed between yawns. Then, "What, in the name of my arse are you doing at this time of night?" he asked groggily.
James looked embarrassed. "Promise you won't laugh?" he asked.
"No," said Sirius truthfully.
"I'm . . . I'm trying to write a letter to Lily."
Sirius, from whom James had expected a bark of laughter that would have broken the stillness of the night, threw his legs out of bed and came to stand behind his best friend's back. "Whatcha got so far?" he asked.
"Dear Lily."
"Ah, well, that's no good, Prongs. I mean, she already knows she's dear, doesn't she?"
"I can't think what to say."
Sirius sat down in the empty chair. "Well, why don't you tell me everything you want to say to her, not like I'm her, cos' that might get creepy, but just tell me how you feel about her."
James sighed, and poured out his heart to his best friend.
*
Three weeks into the holiday, Lily was feeling very pleased with herself. She had not had any more dreams about James Potter and was finally thinking that she could possibly quell the feelings that he had stirred up inside her. In fact, the only dreams she had had were ones similar to the ones she had back at Hogwarts months ago. It was the "de ja' vous" dream, where she was in a room with someone, someone safe, until they left and everything went horribly wrong. It wasn't even a nightmare. She just didn't understand it.
As she went down to breakfast one morning and sat eating her cereal and apple juice at the table, there was a tapping at the window. Her owl, Binky, was sitting on the windowsill with a letter clutched tight in her beak.
"Ah, look at that, Lily dear! How sweet!" cooed her mother, delighted at the magical intervals, which frequently presented themselves with a witch in the family. Petunia, however, was not so impressed.
"If any of my friends see that thing here," she said, looking out of the window as though one of them nay be coming up the road that very second, "You're to say that you're looking after him for your uncle, OK?"
"No," answered Lily.
"No? No? Did you just say no to me?" spat Petunia disbelievingly.
"Yes, I believe I did. You're older, not more important. Now go away while I read my letter."
Petunia threw her a filthy look and rose from the table indignantly, looking to her mother.
"Mother, are you going to let her speak to me like that?" she said in a high-pitched voice.
Mrs Evans sighed. "Oh, for goodness sake, girls, can we have one day where you don't bicker?"
Petunia glared at everyone she deemed responsible, including Lily's father who was sitting quite quietly in an armchair by the window reading the newspaper, and stalked out of the room.
Lily ripped open the letter, and saw the handwriting and skipped to the very end. It was from James. Realising she did not want to read this in front of her parents, she scampered up to her room, locking the door behind her.
***
{{ Dear Lily,
To be completely honest with you, I seriously debated whether or not to write this letter. This is mainly because I have no idea what to say. I have no idea how you will react to what I do say; for example, you could either agree religiously with everything, (as I hope) or send me a smoking howler, (I will cower under my bed.) The thing is, we did everything exactly the opposite to how I wanted to do it. (By the way, it's great writing a letter, because there is no possible way you can interrupt me, as I know you are doing out loud now.) We left things stupidly. I'll owl you? Do you have any idea how stupid I felt saying that? Well, here it is. The owl. And, as usual, I am going to ask you something. Will you go out with me? I know you said you needed time, but help me out here. I don't speak "woman language." Please, will you at least consider this? I know you don't want to admit it to anyone, perhaps even yourself, but I know there is something between us. Why can't we act on it? Eagerly awaiting your owl, (again with the stupidness.)
All my love, James. }}
***
Lily sat back in her chair, exasperated. How could anyone be so immature? How was it even humanly possible? 'Will you go out with me?' How old were they for Merlin's sake? You didn't just 'go out with someone' when they asked you when you reached the age of sixteen. Things were different then. Maybe a few years ago, it would have been acceptable. But Lily felt like a woman now, a woman who was sick and tired of silly little boys who couldn't face saying the most terrified word of all: 'Relationship.'
A moment later, and Lily caught herself. Was she actually considering this letter? Was she actually putting energy into thinking about what he meant? Of course, it was perfectly clear what he meant, but Lily wanted to make a few things clear herself. Pulling back her drawer and taking out a similar feathered eagle quill, she began to scribble back.
***
James sat at the breakfast table the next morning very quietly, forgetting he had put a slice of toast in his mouth. It was beginning to go soggy until Mrs Potter spoke.
"James dear, don't do that. It's unhygienic."
James spat out the toast.
"What is the matter with you lately?" she asked, surveying him over glasses very much like his own. "You've been moping around for weeks! I don't suppose you could tell me, could you Sirius?" she added, looking cheekily at Sirius who was munching happily away.
Sirius laughed. "I could, but he'd hex me."
"Not in this house he wouldn't," she said sternly, and went to join her husband in the living room.
Sirius abandoned his grin and looked concernedly to his friend. "Seriously, Prongs, what's up now? You sent the letter!"
"Only because you helped me," said James glumly. "I wouldn't have known what to say if you hadn't been there."
Sirius chuckled. "Well, you've sent it now, so what are you moping around with a face like a smacked arse for?"
James looked up. "What if she replies all offended and everything?"
"How could she be offended? You didn't say anything bad!"
"Oh no, I only asked her out for the sixty-seventh time," he stopped for a second, thinking. "Asking someone out? How third-year is that?"
Sirius looked quietly sympathetic. "Prongs, have you been keeping count? That's sad."
"I was only speaking hypothetically," said James hurriedly, but Sirius had a strong feeling that James was lying. "What if it's worse? What if she doesn't reply at all?"
"She will!"
"What if she knows you helped me? Why would she want to go out with someone who can't speak for himself?"
"OK, Prongs, you need to shut up now. You're making me nervous and I didn't even do anything!
Perhaps James would have shut up and sat quietly, if Lily's owl had not tapped on the window two seconds later. It held a neatly packaged letter in its graceful beak and ruffled it's auburn feathers irritably until they noticed him.
***
{{ Dear James, ("Dear? That's a start mate!")
I have to say I was saddened by the content of your letter. (Sirius fell silent and busied himself with cereal.) But you'll be pleased to know that this is not a smoking howler, so you can emerge from your bedclothes. However, I am NOT agreeing to everything you say. First of all, do you realise this is the sixty-seventh time you have 'asked me out?' ("Yes," said James sulkily.) Realise the emphasis I put on the words 'ask me out'. It's a very immature thing to ask, to be honest. ("That's what I just said!") I am not a little girl anymore, and 'going out with someone' is simply just a title for boys so that they can call someone else their girlfriend. However, I do not believe I would be your girlfriend, by the way, you're right, you cannot interrupt me, because undoubtedly, you will charm me until I eventually break down and then you will get what you want and discard me like an unwanted Drooble's Best Blowing Gum wrapper. Because that's how you have viewed most girls, is it not? Also, as you so subtly put it, giving me time, is in no way confoundable "woman-language". I think it's fairly clear.
With half-hearted love, Lily. }}
***
James had gone up to his room upon reading the letter, and Sirius had left him well alone, however, an hour passed and Sirius could not let his best friend stew in self-pity for much longer.
"Prongs," he said softly, knocking on the door. James was sitting at his desk, scribbling furiously, a frown framing his good-looking face. "Can I help with the letter?"
James looked around. "No, it's OK, mate. I've decided to stop wallowing in crap and take matters into my own hands. I've nearly finished it now anyway."
Sirius smiled at his friend's bravado, but as he shut the door, he had a sense of foreboding about exactly what James's idea of taking matters into his own hands would involve.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
*A/N: Oh I love writing this fiction so much! It's so much fun! Thank you again and again for the reviews, keep 'em coming. My updating syndrome is over-powering me, so I'll get writing right away! Review review review review review review review review review review review review. There. It seemed to work last time!!!!
Rosie x x x