CHAPTER 14..:::::.. Heads Up
Disclaimer: Shall I say that I own everything? Just to spice things up and make myself liable for arrest? (It's not true really.)
A/N:* The site terrified me again; I couldn't get in for hours. Lol. Yes, I know I am pathetic and have no life whatsoever. I got a lot of comments about one thing; for the record I am perfectly aware that Neville was born in July and when Lily says, "he's attacked the Longbottoms," I meant the grandparents. Sorry, I guess that should have been clearer! Also, I wanted to let everyone know about Arabella Figg in my story. I know she was a squib, but isn't Filch a squib? Doesn't Neville describe himself as almost a squib? I'm pretty sure that squibs can study magic, but not necessarily know any of it or pick it up. Yeah, still not very believable I know, as Figgy is described as a Muggle in OotP, but work with me here people! Anyway, thanks for the reviews! 200!!!! Yay!!!!
Coolcatjenny: Ah, but what about her budding friendship with Sirius? Didn't he say that he would have died before he betrayed either of them? They should be bonding soon I expect.
Akira Gown: Wow. Beefy is the understatement of the year. Yeah, I think Dumbledore is a Legillimens or what ever it is. I think Fred and George are kind of based on the Marauders; (but I imagine they had more appealing looks and reputations than the Weasleys. Bless.) Yeah, I'm trying to show that James and Lily are connected! Also I don't know if the grandparent Potters were killed or got just really old and . . . well. Died. But you shall have to wait and see if I give James a chance for revenge on the "thing". Lol. And as for Jennifer Garner, yes, she was in both. I love her; she kicks ass and thought I should give her the privilege of a cameo. *Eyes glaze over as she thinks of Ben Affleck in Daredevil and Michael Varton in Alias*.
Templa Otmena: Hey Lou, thanks for the review; no problem for the email. I was worried coz fan fiction was like it was a few days ago; I couldn't get in! I was so scared, but now it's OK (I hope.) Yeah, I want to show how and why Peter might have betrayed them and have him act like a wheezy wanker in the first place makes it ideal for James and the others to begin to dislike the way he reacts; therefore starting a cycle . . . dun dun duuun! Um I think that that whole Long-bottom thing was meant to be Frank and Alice's parents, I just didn't make it very clear. My bad.
Them Girl: Hey, thanks for the review! I'll update now!
Szhismine: Yes, that was long enough! Lol. Don't worry; I have no idea what real love is like. I have absolutely no experience in the matter!
George is Hot: Lol, yeah I got the impression that you weren't that um . . . type-active. But I am glad you are continuing to read.
Spark: Please don't wine! Here you go!
GoddessMoonlady: Yeah, I was going for humour, but I guess that it fell flat on its face! Lol. Never mind.
Aissy5: Yeah, the Longbottoms didn't die, they were tortured into insanity. But you're right; I just couldn't think of any more names you guys would relate to! It was meant to be the grandparents. But I get how it could have been confusing.
Tigermouse: Wow, thanks for the *beefy* review! Thank you so much for your praise for the story; I work really hard on it and it's great that some of you appreciate it the way you do, so thanks.
Lucky: Hi, do you mean you don't think its pg13? Cos I think that's how I rated it but I'm not sure . . . anyone else think the rating should be higher? If so let me know. Don't worry; more on the way.
Jainajag00: Hi, great that you like the way I've portrayed them. I love writing this; it's so much fun!
OctoberPotterSnape: Hi, sorry it took you ages; fan fiction has really been playing up lately, it's been driving me crazy! Glad you love this!
Wing Goddess: *Rosie nods in agreement that Wing Goddess is a little odd but says it's OK as she is too*. A picture of Sirius? What, one you made up or Garry Oldman who plays him in PoA? OOOOh. I'm SO excited that film is out soon!
Angle's Luv: Hehe, glad you like it. My attempts at humour aren't really that planned; they just sort of come out of my mouth! (That can be a real problem in real life you know, when people don't realise you're trying to be funny and just think you're weird.)
Inkling: Yeah, I meant the grandparents, not Frank and Alice. Their parents. Lol, loads of people said that, sorry I didn't make it that clear! Oh and thanks for your very beefy review, you exceed expectations! Lol, thanks. I'm thinking that L and J must eventually get together. Lol. Harry is the product right? Lol. Don't really know how I'm gonna write that scene . . . hmm. Lol.
MeLissa: Don't worry, she will!
Kari: Glad you know what's going on, you got their feelings spot on! How insightful! Lol.
LauraLou: Aha, I was getting confused you see because I have the correct version and didn't get what everyone was going on about! Lol.
GoddessMoonlady: Don't worry, originality is vastly over-rated. Lol. Peter's mom was kind of unexpected really; I just started to write her and thought, hey, this could be fun!
Kat: Yeah, sorry the whole Romulus thing wasn't my idea; I do not deserve the credit. It was a rumour I heard that might not even come true but you never know . . . as for Jennifer Garner, I know! She rocks, she kicks ass and can look gorgeous as well. Not fair I tell you. Not fair. *Ahh, Ben Affleck in Daredevil*. I just thought I should give her a cameo appearance in my story! Lol. I didn't mean to put the extra 's' on the end.
Surge: Lol not real stitches I hope? Glad you liked it! Ah, no Jennifer Garner wasn't coincidence. I didn't mean to put the extra 's' on the end. As I felt she was worthy, I gave her a cameo appearance. Lol.
*HITS PLAY*
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"I cannot believe you, Lily Evans," said Marietta that evening as Lily plaited her friend's hair whilst perched on the end of her bed.
"And why is that?" asked Lily, carefully making the plait more defined as she added more bits of golden hair into it. "How curly do you want this in the morning?"
Marietta fished out a toffee sweet from the bag in front of her. "You still can't see that James Potter is mad about you. Very curly please."
Lily sighed. "Do we really have to talk about this now? And I need more toggles if you want it really curly."
"Yes, we do have to talk about this. It's a very serious subject! There's more in the drawer."
"I talk about it all day and all night in my head as it is. I don't need to talk about it as well with you. I can't just let go of your hair to get to the drawer. I'll have to hold it and you'll have to move," said Lily in a muffled tone as she was holding two toggles in her mouth.
Marietta sighed and got up and moved whilst Lily held her hair, head tilted to the side. "Lily, he has changed. What was it that he said to you? "You're the one that has to change?" Not to be nasty, but I think he has a point. Ouch, that hurts."
Lily grappled in the drawer whilst trying to keep hold of the plat. "Oh, Maz, I don't know. When I go over it in my head I just . . . it seems such a risk."
"Merlin's beard, Lily, he's not asking you to marry him!"
Lily frowned and grabbed three toggles. "I know. It's just – there's a lot of history. We clash; I don't agree with the way he treats people."
"Treated people. Seriously Lil, that hurts."
"Sorry," she said, slightly releasing the hair. "You only have this opinion because you think he's good looking. Personally, I don't think he's anything special. If anything were to occur, and I'm NOT implying it will, it won't be for his looks."
Marietta snorted. "Whatever, Lily. Is it going to be really curly?"
"Look, I know Pot – James has changed. I know he still likes me. And maybe I am being too hard on him, I don't know. I need time. If you stop moving your head it will be."
"Lily, you need to wake up a little bit. I know you've had a hard time of it, growing up with Muggles and all that and with your sister and people calling you names and not accepting you . . . but that doesn't mean that you can never have a proper relationship with someone because of all that." This coming from Marietta was a little bit rich, Lily thought, as she wasn't exactly Miss Rational. When her boyfriend had cheated on her with an ugly Slytherin in the lower year, she had used the Curse of the Bogies on him and earned herself a months' worth of detention with Dumbledore himself.
"Marietta, we're seventeen. How can we possibly have a proper relationship that actually means something? When I do finally have one with someone, I want it to be real. Not just a fling where they use me and spread it around the school which will be inevitable with Potter."
Marietta sighed and chewed on another toffee. "Well, Lily, you'll never know if you don't give it a try will you?"
Lily said nothing, but pulled the plait a little tighter as she knew that Marietta had a point and it annoyed her to know it.
* * * * *
James was sat playing Wizard Chess with Lupin that evening. His bishop was losing spectacularly to Lupin's pawn; something Sirius found very amusing as did Peter. Of course, if Sirius found anything amusing, Peter had to laugh too.
"Squash him, squash him, you idiot, it's only a pawn," muttered James under his breath. The bishop turned around on his black square and turned his ivory head angrily to James.
"Well, young Sir, if you hadn't been playing like a sissy the entire match, we wouldn't be in this position now, would we?" it said.
"Why are you so bad at this, Prongs?" said Sirius through a mouthful of chocolate.
"Must run in the family. Dad can't play either," said James miserably as the Bishop was trashed by the pawn under protests of "amateurs!"
"I make that checkmate, my dear friend," said Lupin proudly.
"Do you practice battle tactics in your sleep, Moony?" asked James defensively.
Lupin chucked. "No. You're just very bad. Do you plan any moves at all?"
A wry smile appeared on James's face. "Oh yes indeed my dear friend, but not in chess I hasten to add."
Sirius sat forwards. "What? Has something happened with a certain Miss Evans?"
James chuckled and the others leaned forwards, Peter the furthest so he was nearly touching James, the chess match forgotten. "I am in total control. She wants me."
Lupin looked away. "She wants you? Are you sure? She's got a funny way of showing it."
"Hey, she helped save my life. Sirius?"
"He's right," said Sirius amusedly. "She said she cared about him. OK, it was an infroid slip, but it was true because she denied it. Women deny anything that's true, trust me. My mother denied that she beat our house-elf Kreacher three years ago because he said he had grown fond of me. I believed her until I saw the state of him."
"Grown fond of you? Kreacher?"
"She disapproved because I didn't take all her pureblood shite."
The others tried to shake the unpleasant image of Sirius's mother out of their minds and turned back to James.
"Anyway," said James, giving Sirius a sympathetic look, "I've changed, haven't I?"
Sirius inclined his head, "Hmm, sort of."
"You don't swear as much as you used to," said Wormtail truthfully.
"You worry more," said Lupin.
"And we haven't tormented Snivellus nearly as much as we should have done this week," said Sirius with a sad expression. "You know, Prongs, I'm not sure I like this change."
"He changed for a girl," said Lupin nostalgically. " Never thought I'd see the day."
"I haven't changed that much!" said James indignantly. "It's not like I'd let Snivellus get away with hexing me or anything!"
Sirius frowned. "You know, there was a time where we didn't let him get away with existing."
They all laughed, Peter most of all, enjoying the memories of watching from the sidelines, unable to actually do the inflicting.
"I forgot that Lily didn't like all of the Snape-bashing," remarked Lupin.
Sirius turned, as though something was dawning on him. "Oh, is that why you haven't hit him all week?" he said.
James flushed. "No! It's just . . . he hasn't really given me a reason to."
Lupin nodded. "That's fair, James. I always thought you two went too far with Snape."
Sirius however, looked scandalised. "What, we need a reason now?"
James shook his head. "No, not at all, just . . . not in front of Lily, OK?"
* * * * *
The next day was not an easy one for Lily. Once again, she had not slept well the night before and sat in the Great Hall, barely taking in a word of what Arabella was saying about Sirius.
" . . . is just so good-looking, don't you think?"
Lily spooned her cereal, making it into a kind of sludge.
"Yes, but –" Marietta was cut off.
"Like, real boyfriend material."
"Sirius Black, boyfriend material? That's like saying Nifflers' make good pets, Bella," said Marietta.
"No, it's not," snapped Arabella. "I bet he'd really like to settle down some day."
Marietta chuckled. "Yeah, some day, like when Hell freezes over."
"You're just jealous because he doesn't talk to you anymore. What do you think, Lily?
Lily did not respond.
"Lily?" prompted Marietta.
She still did not look up but seemed to be enthralled by her soggy cereal.
"Lils? Oh, I picked up your pet elephant by the way, Marietta. What do you think of the name Dumbo, Lily?" she joked.
"Sounds great," said Lily without even looking up.
"Seriously, Lily, what is with you lately?"
Lily looked up. "Elephant?"
Marietta laughed. "She's pining over Potter."
"I am NOT pining over Potter," Lily snapped testily.
"He hasn't spoken to her for days now," said Arabella. "Told her the Snitch is in her Pitch. Which I think is fair."
Lily shot her a look.
"Or, less than fair," she added on a second thought.
Lily sighed and rubbed her head. "I just didn't sleep is all."
"Yeah, you're telling us!" said Arabella. "Could you have muttered any louder?"
Lily looked faintly alarmed. "I was muttering?" She was aware of the fact that she had had the same dream as always last night, and thought that maybe she had muttered something significant. "What did I say?"
"Oh I don't know. Once you've heard one moan you've heard them all."
Lily continued breakfast feeling slightly uneasy.
* * * * *
The rest of the day did not improve. She thought she felt James's eyes on her back in Potions and turned around only to see him flicking drips of his Smouldering Solution onto the desk and watching it smoke. He hated Potions; she knew that much about him. He had mentioned ages ago that he never understood the meaning of it or why one needed it as a qualification as an Auror. James was not watching her however and she looked away quickly before he figured out her thoughts from her expression. Lily was faintly impressed however, that James was only smouldering the table and not Snape, who was sitting two seats diagonally from him. Snape was eyeing James with an unmistakable expression of dislike, but James hadn't seemed to notice. Lily thought he would have used the excuse of it to hex Snape or something, but he didn't seem that bothered.
In Transfiguration, Lily actually fell asleep with her head on the desk, missing what McGonagall was saying about human into animal transformations when someone's entrance woke her abruptly.
"Sorry to interrupt, Professor," said a curly haired fourth year Hufflepuff, "but Professor Dumbledore would like to see Lily Evans and James Potter in his office right away."
Lily snapped her head up. Dumbledore? Her and Potter? What was wrong?
Professor McGonagall however looked rather cross and turned to Lily. "Is that arrangement OK with you, Miss Evans? Or would you like another ten minute's nap?"
Lily flushed pink behind her ears, hearing some people laughing, and made for the door, hastily gathering her things.
"Lily, will you do the extra chapter on Morphmagus's please? As I presume you were not listening unless you were dreaming about it." There were more laughs at this.
"Yes, Professor," she said.
James followed her out lazily, shutting the door behind them. Lily quickened her pace, not wanting to be alone with James just yet as she hadn't thought about what she was going to say. It was inevitable however, and she knew it, that he would talk to her.
"Hey, Lily, wait up!" he said, jogging to keep up.
Lily didn't really slow her pace but looked back whilst walking. "What does Dumbledore want with us?" she asked him, trying to advert him from the subject he was bound to bring up.
"Not a clue," he said. "Are you avoiding me?" he asked her directly, not particularly bothered that the Headmaster wanted to see him urgently in his office. James had heard that line once too many to be worried by it.
"No," she said quickly. "You haven't asked me out all day. Something wrong with you?"
James snorted. "Nope. You said you needed time."
This answer caught Lily off-guard and she slowed her pace. She had not expected him to heed her in any way what so ever. But he had, it seemed.
"If you ask me, it's not only your frosty personality that's giving you the Ice-Queen look today though," he said. "Am I right?"
Lily frowned, irritated that so many people were saying that to her. "I didn't sleep."
"Ah, more bad dreams?" he asked sincerely.
"Yes, if you must know," she said testily.
"Join the club," he said torpidly. "I wouldn't worry about it, though. I think it's just the whole last year stress, what with our NEWT's at the end and all that. You know how it is."
Lily frowned at his simple analysis of the situation that was apparently keeping them both awake. "Do you not think that it might . . . I don't know – mean something?" she asked apprehensively, glad for the fact that the subject they were on was not about her feelings for him.
James frowned. "Oh you don't mean like, visions or anything, do you? I thought you felt the same way as me about what a whole load of crap Divination was?"
"No, I know I do, it's just . . . oh it's nothing. It just seems . . . well. Recurring."
James looked at her sympathetically, as though he were explaining something very simple such as one and one make two. "Lily, trust me, Divination is a joke. It's made up so that old frauds like Trelawney can have a job because they can't do anything else for a living."
"That's a little harsh," said Lily as they approached Dumbledore's office. "I suppose you know this place like the back of your hand don't you? You've been in it enough," she said, signalling to the office up ahead.
"I'm beating Sirius marginally," he said proudly. "Sirius has been here one hundred and forty-six times."
"And you?" she said.
James smiled and swelled proudly. "I," he said dramatically, as though building something up, "have been here one hundred and forty-nine times."
Lily did not smile back though she badly wanted to. "That's nothing to be proud of."
"Ah, see, I beg to differ."
"You always do," she said as
she knocked.
James smiled half-heartedly. "So, have you changed your mind yet?" he asked quietly. "Trust yourself enough to try something that might actually make you happy?"
Lily opened her mouth to speak. What she was going to say, however, she did not know, but was saved the task of speaking when Dumbledore spoke from within.
"Come in," he said in a low, almost mysterious voice.
Instead of answering James, Lily pushed open the door without so much as glancing at him.
Dumbledore was sat behind his desk in his strange and wonderful office; the portraits were snoozing, (they usually greeted James jovially as he had come to know them so well) small silver objects were whirring and emitting puffs of random smoke on bookcases and stands of some sort, and Fawkes the phoenix was balanced on his perch, blinking down benignly at them both as they entered. Lily closed the door quietly as James came in.
"Ah, Mr Potter and Miss Evans," he said. "Please, have a seat, both of you." With a wave of his wand, he conjured up two comfy red armchairs out of thin air to sit opposite him. They sat down, Lily looking nervous, James quite at home. "I must impress first of all, that neither of you have done anything wrong and it is not for punishment that you are here."
James leaned forwards, confused. "Erm – what?"
Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, my dear boy, this must be the first time you have been here to not be punished, am I right?"
James thought for a second. "Well, no, I was a witness to the blowing up of Avery once, Sir, but it wasn't me."
"Ah, yes. My memory deceives me. Anyway, to the point," he said, as Lily was still looking confused. "You will have been wondering, perhaps, why the Head Boy and Head Girl have not since been announced since your arrival back to school?"
The clogs clicked in both their heads, realising what this must mean, but both nodded all the same.
"That was due partially to . . . other pressing matters of more importance which demanded my immediate attention at the time. Therefore I was unable to announce in front of the school that it is you two, that are the new Head Boy and Head Girl."
James let out a low whistle. Lily however, beamed. It was what she had always wanted, what she had been working towards her entire education. She had completely forgotten about being Head Girl in the week back as thoughts of James were still plaguing her. This made the surprise even more wonderful.
"Oh, Sir, thank you!" she said, smiling. But James? she thought. She couldn't think of a single person less worthy of the title. He had caused more mayhem than any of the Marauders, Sirius included. James seemed to be thinking along the same lines as her.
"That is quite all right, my dear. There was no question of you being Head Girl, I can assure you. Your grades are as high as ever they were. You excelled in all of your OWL's, most marks higher than any, and you have a specific sense of responsibility that is needed for –"
James cleared his throat loudly. Dumbledore turned to him.
"Sir," James said. "This – I mean . . . are you sure . . . I couldn't –"
"James, please do not stutter. I can assure you that there is no mistake about my choice. It is true that you are not as . . . obedient shall we say, as Lily here, but you do possess certain qualities that . . ."
"But I wasn't even a Prefect!" he interjected. "Surely you'd want someone who knows the system, who can be . . ."
Dumbledore silenced him with his hands. "It is my wish that the pair of you should be the Head Students of Hogwarts. As I was saying, James, you have too many of the qualities that Godric Gryffindor himself looked for in his students to ignore. Bravery, integrity, honesty, resourcefulness, the list could go on. Godric Gryffindor was perhaps the greatest wizard of his time, others included and it is this that I could not ignore. The fact that you also have a certain disregard for the rules, at the moment, is irrelevant. I think that combined with the qualities of Miss Evans, you would make a fantastic pairing."
They looked sideways at each other and then back at him.
"As Head Students, I mean. Obviously, now you are older you may have a different type of pairing in mind," (Lily almost glared at him whilst James looked amused) "but that is none of my business, of course," he added, smiling wryly.
Lily shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She could not believe that even Dumbledore was making the suggestion. Was it that obvious?
"Now, there are a few things you will need to know, as the new enforcers, but I imagine that some of them are fairly obvious. First of all, whilst you have the power to take points away from Houses, you do not have the authority to give out detention. That is a privilege reserved for the Professors only. You may, however, report certain incidents to your Head of House, that is Professor McGonagall in this case, and note also that magic in corridors is strictly forbidden amongst students. That also means," he added, looking pointedly to James, "that you can also still receive detention as well."
"Damn," James muttered under his breath. Lily almost smiled.
"I must also say that, obvious though it may be, you must not abuse the concession to take points away from other Houses as that has happened in the past . . . also there will be monthly meetings between all the Heads; adults and yourselves that is. These are held in my office with me present and the Head Professor of each House. You are also required to aid or assist any younger members of any House, not just your own, if they ask for help and to guide First Years to the dormitories on their first day."
It took a few minutes for the news to entirely sink in for James, and when it had done, he felt sure that he was in fact dreaming.
"As Student Heads, it is your duty to enforce and reprimand younger students not following the rules. But note that you are also there as a responsible adult other than a teacher who a student may feel more comfortable relating to."
There was a silence following this.
"That is all you need to know. Any questions you would like to ask?" Dumbledore said when the silence had passed.
Lily shook her head and was on the edge of her seat, as though eager to get out there and start her new 'job' as a responsible figure. James looked uncomfortable. This was not something he had signed up for at all.
"Sir . . . two Gryffindors . . . I mean, has that even happened before?" asked James.
Dumbledore turned slightly to the window. "It is – unusual shall we say, but yes. It has happened in the past."
James looked highly disconcerted, as though there had been some sort of mistake.
"Make no mistake, both of you, that you have stood out from the rest," he said, addressing both of them. "There are many others that could have been chosen. Lily, in your case, it was obvious. Grades, maturity, responsibility and more. James, the choice of you was neither more difficult nor demanding for me. I know you better than many of the Professors and know that no one else who would have saved someone who deeply regards him as an enemy, at the risk of his own life. That is not the only incident that made me choose you. Whilst your grades amongst your friends remain Outstanding, you have matured a great deal in the past year."
As though this speech completely justified everything, a silence followed.
"You may return to your classes," he said.
Lily and James rose from the seats and went to the door. Lily had just left as Dumbledore called to James.
"James," he said as James's hand was on the door. "I realise that this must come as a shock to you, but you must understand, I feel that you are more than capable of the role. I know that you will make Gryffindor proud."
James's throat was constricted; make Gryffindor proud? How on earth was he supposed to do that? "Yes, Sir, thanks," he said instead, and left.
* * * * *
To James's utmost surprise, Lily was waiting for him outside Dumbledore's office. She was wearing an unfathomable expression; he couldn't work out whether she looked angry or not, though he couldn't understand why she would be.
"You are unbelievable," she said to start off with.
James still didn't get it. "What?" he asked.
"You have not behaved seriously since you arrived here, James Potter, and I can't believe that you just got that title!"
James shrugged his shoulders and tried to look as though it was of no importance to him, but failed miserably. The fact that Dumbledore had trusted him with being Head Boy was one of the best things that had ever happened to him. "Yeah, well, I guess I possess certain . . . qualities."
"I've worked for this for ages! And I still don't understand how you continue to get "Outstanding" in each of your OWL's and never seem to be working."
James smiled. "Ah well, you see, Lily, I have more talents than you give me credit for."
"Well, I think it's absolutely . . . impressive." A change came over her expression and she looked as though she might smile. Her lip was twitching as though she desperately wanted to but thought better of it. "And I'd like to know what drug you're taking and how to supply me with some."
James blanched. "Impressive?"
"Yes. You manage to have fun and still become Head Boy?"
"Well, I . . . I'm just . . ." James blinked several times, still getting over the fact that Lily found him impressive.
But Lily never found out what James just was, as a voice came from up the stone steps behind them, ruining the small moment.
"Well well well. If it isn't Potter the amazing Tree Survivor," said Snape. His face held the look of total contempt; obviously he was not the only one surprised at Dumbledore's choice for Head Boy. However, Snape looked a lot less pleased about it than either Lily or James did.
James did not answer, though he could think of a great deal of things he would have liked to say to Snape. The real James Potter would have had Snape upside-down in full view of everyone, in a great deal of pain. The James Potter people were asking him to be, would walk away. James did neither, yet regarded Snape with a cold glare.
"So, it's Potty and the Mudblood that get the infamous titles, is it?"
"That's right," snapped Lily. James had balled his fists in his pockets, itching to place them around Snape's neck.
"Bad choice, if you ask me. Dumbledore would have been better off choosing someone who can keep order," he put a delicate stress on the word, "around this place."
"I know exactly what your idea of order is, Snape," said Lily. "And that's not what Dumbledore needs."
"Oh, Mudblood, if only you knew what was coming," said Snape with an air of amusement. Snape turned to walk away, but James could not restrain himself.
"Her name," said James through clenched teeth, "is Lily."
Snape walked slowly towards James, as though daring him to retaliate. "Then hex me, Potter. Or has Daddy Dumble told you not to?"
James was about to pull his wand out of his pocket, which he had clutched so hard in his hand it was in danger of breaking, and give Snape a billion pus-filled green boils all over his body, but Lily put a hand on his arm behind his back, which Snape could not see. Snape sneered, obviously confident that the conversation had gone in his favour, turned and began to walk away.
James took a deep breath and called, "Snivellus?"
Snape stopped in his tracks, obviously not thinking that James would dare taunt him now in his mature position.
"Ten points from Slytherin for insulting the Head Girl."
Snape had no power to override James's authority, and this caused his skin to turn the colour of sour milk. His sneer became more pronounced and his eyes narrow.
"You remember what I said to you once, Potter, all people who favour bravery over cleverness will end up dead? It's surprising how true that is." His voice rang with harshness, so much so that it actually chilled James. Snape stalked away.
Lily narrowed her eyes after him. "He's changed," she said after a while.
"No, he hasn't," said James resentfully. "You just saw the non-existent good in him, is all."
Lily sighed. "I always used to wonder why you picked on him so much."
"Yeah?" asked James, still feeling a twinge of guilt.
"Yeah, now I think I understand."
James smiled sadly and looked at the floor. "Well, we did used to push him a bit, I s'pose, me and Sirius."
Lily nodded and was silent. James knew what she was thinking.
"Listen. Don't ever pay attention to negative things people say to you. They're not true because there is nothing negative about you."
Lily looked at him, the word Mudblood still stinging slightly. His words, however, seemed to cool the taunt, like rain on skin.
"Well," said James on second thought. "Except perhaps your tendency to lose your temper."
Lily pushed him in the arm, but began to smile. "You're in danger of becoming sensitive, James," she said softly.
James chuckled. "Don't tell anyone."
"Not a soul," she said and flashed him a smile that made him go weak at the knees before turning on her heel and leaving him, unsteady now on his legs, in the corridor.
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A/N:* There you go! Is my fluffy becoming better do you think? Hmm, there's more action coming though! Don't worry all you die hard fans. Lol. I kind of imagine that the fact James becomes Head Boy and Snape doesn't has gotta bring up some jealousy? No? Aha . . . you shall have to wait my dear friends. Do you know what you can do until next time? Yes! The word beefy comes to mind once more . . . That's the one! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!