A/N: Here it is, my finished JP/LE one-shot. You're probably wondering about the title Imbecilesque. Well, I didn't make it up. I just got inspiration from the song Imbecilesque written and sang by Rivermaya.
Disclaimer: Everything of Harry Potter belongs to the fabulous J.K. Rowling.
Also, thank you to my wonderful beta Jen.
So please, read. And a review would be appreciated as well. I'd love to hear about what you think.
Imbecilesque
Lily Evans was furious.
And she was even more furious than usual.
The door never seemed to be the way it used to be after facing countless slams from Lily. Screaming, she threw herself to her bed and buried her head on the pillow.
"What's wrong, Lily?" came a sleepy voice from the other bed. It belonged to Sarah, Lily's roommate and friend. There is nothing like being woken up by a frustrated Lily, not to mention a screaming Lily, thought Sarah.
"Oh, nothing. James Potter just made my day again." Lily admittedly knew she was never good with sarcasm.
"Come on Lily, tell me. I'm sure it's not that bad," said Sarah as she stirred up from her bed.
Lily stood up and walked over to the window. "As if each and every prank they caused wasn't as bad."
"Boys will be boys, though they are in their seventh year." Sarah bit her lip.
"I don't have a problem with their pranks. I mean, by now we've learned enough spells to counter or fix whatever mess they make. But I do have a problem with Potter's ego, if you know what I mean."
Sarah persisted, though she knew Lily had a difficult temperament. "You know he really cares for you Lily."
"Sure. If he really cares for me, he wouldn't mind humiliating me in front of many people now, would he?"
"He's just being playful. I'm sure he's doing it just to make you laugh. You have to admit, sometimes you are so stressed and serious."
"Well, it's not funny," said Lily crossing her arms.
Concern for her friend appeared on Sarah's face. "Lily," she said slowly. "We've been through this before. He just needs a chance. I'm sure he'll come around." And with that, Sarah crept back into her bed.
"I won't give him any chance unless he deflates that big head of his." She paused and looked back.
Realizing that Sarah went back to sleep, Lily lay down in her own bed. She closed her eyes and started thinking of what could happen if - not saying she would - but if she did give James that chance. Just the thought of it strained her mind. She tossed in bed for a while until she finally fell into the world of slumber.
The Marauders were fast asleep in their beds. And so was everyone else in the Gryffindor dormitory. Everyone but James Potter. He was still wide awake at his desk. He'd usually be up this late only for two reasons, studying though was not one of them. One, he would be out with his fellow Marauders at the Shrieking Shack. Or two, he and his friends would be planning their next devious scheme or prank. But then, something couldn't make him sleep that night until he finished. And that something was to write a simple letter. For James, it was harder than any Potions exam yet.
He wished he could ask Remus Lupin for help, being the smart fellow he was. But before he could do so, he had already retreated to his room for some sleep. What James didn't know was that Remus went to bed earlier before James could pull him into this mess. Remus obviously didn't want to include himself in this fiasco.
Sirius Black undoubtedly had enough for the day. He had heard enough of Sirius' ramblings on the trouble he'd been having with two certain girls. He thought it was best to just let him rest for the night. Moreover, he was the one who executed James' scheming plan along with Peter. Not an easy one, he must admit. Kidnapping can get really tricky.
Then there was Peter Pettigrew. James' reason was that he was too tired from cleaning that day. Enough said.
He scanned the room, and then focused on the glowing candle on his desk. It reminded of him the incident that happened earlier when there were more items on the table.
Earlier, there were several things on his table. Namely an unlit candle, some candies from Zonko's, an empty potions bottle, fifteen pieces of parchment, a quill and a full bottle of ink.
Dear Peter though was feeling quite clumsy that day, more than usual. He could help but trip over now and then during their plan to kidnap Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat. Sure, the last prank drove Filch up the wall, pure entertainment of course, but it also meant that that fur ball had to stay in their dormitory. But what he enjoyed most about this prank was the fact that Sirius did almost everything. All he had to do was just to hold the cat. Not a good idea though since he kept on sneezing like anything. And that could only mean one thing, Peter was allergic to cats.
Unfortunately, one of those huge sneezes caused him to knock over the bottle of ink as tried to hide as much cat fur as he can. Of course, its contents spilled out - half of it to be more specific. He used a total of 6 sheets of parchment from the table to clean that up. Frankly, it didn't really work since there were still stains of ink around the table as well as on the carpet.
"Evanesco," James cast at the stains. A simple vanishing spell always did the trick. He may never look as clean but he does like keeping things orderly, especially when it concerns his property.
Now, where was I? Oh yes, I remember, James thought.
"Lily," he mumbled as he scribbled on his eighth piece of parchment. He continued further until he stopped and realized something was wrong. Sighing, he calmly put down his quill and took hold of his parchment. Crumpling the paper and throwing it in the trash bin for the eighth time wasn't making his day any better.
James then kicked the trash, and unconsciously scattered out its contents. Out came quite a few items including Peter's parchment used for cleaning up the ink, candy wrappers from Zonko's, Sirius' notes during History of Magic lessons and strangely, some of Mrs. Norris' fur.
One would certainly also notice several pieces of parchment laid on the floor. Some of them crumpled, others torn and still others, too diluted in ink to read except for some words.
Though each of these pieces of parchment contains different writings and even different ways of disposing of it, and also James' different levels of frustration as he wrote, they all have one thing in common. That would be that each of these eight parchments was a letter from James to Lily.
First parchment, 23 October 1977, 10:19 pm
Lily-
There's nothing to be upset about. I was just playing around. You know, an amusing little prank. It was only so that you'd get to like me.
So how about going with me on the next Hogmeade trip?
-James
Second parchment, 23 October 1977, 10:34 pm
Lily-
I don't understand why I'm feeling so bad now when I know it was my brilliant and amazing, not forgetting incredible idea of course. I could have just
Third parchment, 23 October 1977, 10:40 pm
Lily-
I don't know what to say.
At least it was funny.
I j
Fourth parchment, 23 October 1977, 10:48 pm
Lily-
Are you still mad at me? I guess I couldn't blame you.
You'll probably never talk to me again, right? But then, you wouldn't be able to handle one day without me
Fifth parchment, 23 October 1977, 10:55 pm
Lily-
Yes, I instigated this big mess. I acted imbecilesque. I know.
-James
Sixth parchment, 23 October 1977, 11:02 pm
Lily-
I could have heard you had I been listening. But instead, my arrogance divided us. And now I messed up big time, like my hair.
-James
Seventh parchment, 23 October 1977, 11:16 pm
Lily-
I acted totally inept, self-centered, imbecilesque, just to name a few. And I
Eighth parchment, 23 October 1977, 11:23 pm
Lily-
I wish that I could just make you smile again. But there's nothing much I can do.
I love you but I hurt you.
-James
Argh, that last letter was too cliché. There must be some other way, James thought. He scratched his head and tried thinking of some other sensible thing he could right. He knew he could do this. I mean, his head never failed him before.
Lily, what do I really feel about you? What else can I say? How do I say it? These questions
occupied James' mind over and over again. Throughout the night, he wondered and thought would he would do next but nothing seemed to work.
Come on, James. Use that big head of yours to think of another brilliant idea, a voice inside of him kept saying.
Why do girls have to be so difficult? I mean, can't we just make-up like Sirius and I do whenever we have one of our arguments? another voice from within answered back.
Now that's a good idea. Why haven't you thought of that before? You had to go and waste several pieces of parchment, a whole lot of ink, not to mention your beauty sleep, a third voice this time around replied.
"Enough," said James as he started hitting his head sideways rather violently. Well, for him it was a way to get those voices that were driving him crazy out of his head.
He raised his quill and dipped it into the ink bottle. Finally, he knew what he was going to say. And this time, he would get it right.
Hitting her head for the third time this week on the ledge of her bed wasn't a good wake up call but then, at least it worked. Lily woke up late in the morning the next day to see that her friends had already gone down for breakfast. Having decided that she needed something in her stomach, she hurriedly got dressed and left her dormitory.
The Great Hall was lively as usual. Everyone ate their breakfast in high spirits and even the teachers seemed to enjoy themselves on a lovely Saturday morning.
As Lily walked along the Gryffindor table, she was greeted by many smiles and was called out by her friends.
"Morning Lily," Sarah greeted cheerfully. "Did you sleep well?"
"I guess." Lily shrugged as she sat down.
"Hmm, I wonder when the owls will be arriving with their mail. I've been expecting something from mum recently," asked Nicole in her Scottish accent.
"Speaking of which, here they come now," exclaimed Sarah as about a hundred of owls of different kinds swiftly entered the Great Hall. Several swooped down on the Gryffindor table and dropped their letters and parcels before their respective receivers.
Lily noticed one of the owls let go of his package at Nicole's lap and was wondering what it could be when something landed right in front of her cereal bowl. A small, brown envelope with no seal not even any name of the sender on it.
"Lily, why, you have a letter. Who's it from?" Sarah said as she drew back her attention to her food.
"I don't know," said Lily softly. "I mean, I haven't been expecting anything really."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and open it."
Lily untied the ribbon and slowly unfolded the piece of parchment. It read:
Lily-
I'm sorry.
-James
"Think about it Lily," she heard Sarah say after realizing that she too had read it. And with that, Lily entered her world of "what ifs" and reveries as she swallowed her last spoonful of milk and cereal.
A few more minutes have passed and Lily and her friends decided to spend some time by the lake.
"Sarah," a familiar voice called out. Lily expected it was Sirius once more as it is every morning since he started flirting with her. James and the rest of the Marauders were not too far behind as well.
"How are you doing on this beautiful morning? Wonderful, I presume. Now, come and let us stroll around…" Unable to catch Sirius' last words, Lily just stared at the ground.
A pair of feet on the ground appeared before her and she became aware that there was someone standing right in front of her. Lily looked up and saw James' staring at her direction. James caught her eyes and gazed at hers with a hopeful smile.
"Hi," said Lily, still trying to think of more that she could say.
"Hi," replied James, still thinking of how stupid he must look right now.
At least she's talking to me now, James thought. He then noticed Lily staring at his mouth. Stop grinning, idiot, he thought to himself but couldn't help but show off that huge grin.
Imbecile, Lily thought, and smiled back.
A/N: Thank you for reading. A review would be nice and appreciated.