Take Me to Your Heart

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the character, settings, and such. Credit for that goes to J.K. Rowling. I do own the plots, my made up characters etc.

Chapter 5: Late
Written by melancholic orchid

"Hey, Alice," the green-eyed beauty said as she entered the common room.

"Hi, Lily!" Alice greeted, "You seem a bit tired."

Lily exerted a fatigued yawn. "Yeah. Well, I am. I'm not looking forward to the guarding the halls thing tonight… Sadly, I have to."

"You'll be all right, Lily. If you want, I could talk to James and ask him if he would be okay patrolling by himself."

"No, no. I'll be okay. Thanks anyways."

Alice looked at her; concern swam in her chocolate brown eyes. "So. Er… How was the tutoring thing?"

"Normal." Lily glanced at the brunette in front of her and added, "Look. I know you don't trust him but he's been well… tractable."

Alice looked down at her fuzzy slippers.

"Don't worry, Alice," Lily added, "I know what I'm doing. I can take care of myself okay?"

"I know you can. It's just – "

"It's okay. Please. Don't try to overprotect me. I know what I'm doing."

Alice sadly smiled and nodded. "You're right. Yeah. You're right. But if you ever need me –"

" – just say when."

A long, uncomfortable silence seeped into their conversation as Lily stared at her schoolwork.

"So. Um… Did Frank ask you to the Halloween Fest?" Lily asked, changing the subject.

Alice laughed heartily. "Do I have to answer your dumb question?"

Lily chuckled along with her friend. "Well I had to change the topic, didn't I?"

"I suppose so. But yes. Frank did ask me to go with him. That is obvious."

"Indeed."

After a long fit of giggles and laughs, Alice wondered, "Did anyone ask you out to the Halloween Fest?"

The smile that once shone on Lily's face turned into a dim, straight line. "No. Not yet."

"Hmmm… I thought James might've asked you out or all those other guys that have been pining over you."

"Well I thought he'd ask me out too. Not that I care. And about those other guys who've been infatuated with me, well I guess they have their own jealous girlfriends to attend to."

Another fit of chortles filled the common room once again.

"I guess… er… you should get going," Alice said, once her giggles settled.

Lily nodded. "Yeah. I guess I should," she replied, walking up to the girls' dorm.

"Hey," the raven-haired boy smiled.

"Hi," the green-eyed girl replied.

"What have you been up to lately?" she asked.

"Pranks, pranks and uh… pranks!" he answered.

Lily grimaced at him for such behaviour. Catching a glimpse of her frown, James smirked, "I'm only joking. You're so gullible, Evans."

Glowering at James, she responded, "Okay then. So what have you REALLY been up to?"

Trying to ask you to the Halloween Fest. "Er… School work. Mainly."

You dope! Is it really that hard to ask her out? His conscience was talking, but James ignored.

"Well that's good. I've assumed you've still maintained your high average in all of your courses."

Ugh. Now she's sounds like a teacher. Am I patrolling with the Head Girl or with Professor McGonagall? "Anyways," he said, attempting to change the subject, "You excited about the Halloween Fest?"

"I guess. It's a good thing we got to plan this sort of thing this year. It's been the same every year."

"Yeah. I liked your idea of adding games and activities for the Fest."

"Thank you." Lily paused. "I just hope that they added enough charms so that if a student randomly took out his wand and said, 'Accio, teddy bear!' he wouldn't get it," she rejoined, waving her hand as if flicking a wand.

They walked along the corridors in silence, scanned the rooms and gave a few students detention for roaming around late at night. Not long after, they met up again and sauntered in the quiet halls with only the sounds of heels clicking on the ground, the steady breathing and the humming of the Suspicion Sensor.

Trying to make conversation, James enquired, "Do you ha –"

BEEP… BEEP… BEEP… "Amen, this is over," he heard her mutter, after her Terrific Timer beeped.

"Why are you so glad about heading back to the common room?" he pondered.

"Oh. I'm just really tired today. Plus, I still have some assignments to complete."

"Oh. I see."

"Yeah. So what were you going to ask me?"

Do you have an escort? "Nothing. I guess I lost my question."

Now, how are you supposed to know if she has an escort or not? ...You coward. His conscience was talking again.

Shut up…

Lily Evans sat peacefully reading a book under a large maple tree. Alice was at the Junior Defense Club meeting she just recently joined. Alice was definitely into that sort of thing, but Lily had different interests. To pass the time, Lily decided to read a classic novel that was a favourite of hers.

"Why hello, Lily," a deep voice said.

A startled expression replaced the far off smile that once bore on her sun-kissed face. "Oh! Hi, Severus! You gave me such a scare!" Lily welcomed, closing her book.

Severus smirked. "I know. May I sit here?"

"Yes. Sure." Lily scooted herself over on the bench to make room.

"I've been thinking, about that Halloween Fest occasion. And I was wondering if… er…" Severus scowled at his ridiculous stammering. "Would you like to go to the Halloween Fest with me?"

A shocked yet curious face portrayed her expression. Looking at Lily's face, Severus snickered. "I'm only asking you to that silly event as a friendly gesture. It's my way of saying thank you for taking your time tutoring me in Transfiguration. By the way, I did ace the test… thanks to you."

"Um… Well. I… I…. er… Don't you have a reputation to maintain?" I mean, this is a Slytherin with a Gryffindor for crying out loud!

"I'll weave up stuff to convey to my fellow Slytherins."

"Well… I… er…" Lily was confused yet excited.

"You know, you can say no, Lily."

"No, no, no. I'll go. Sure. I'll go."

"Guess what?" the red-haired girl whispered.

"Um… Your foot got stuck in a hole and James pried you out?" her brown-eyed friend said, with dinner stuffed in her mouth.

"No, silly! I have an escort to the Halloween Fest."

"Oh my god! Really? Who?"

Lily squirmed uncomfortably on her seat. "It's Severus."

"Ack! He asked you?"

"Yes. Bu- But as a friendly gesture. He said it was his way of saying thanks for coaching him in Transfiguration."

"Oh… But you, dancing with a Slytherin?"

"Come on. Be a bit considerate. I know what I'm doing. Besides, I enjoy experiencing new things."

Lily glimpsed at her friend, seeing a grin but in her deep, brown eyes, concern and worry spun within them. Does she not trust me anymore?

A/N: Ugh. This chapter took forever to type! Yeesh! I don't even like this chapter. But I guarantee you, the next chapter will probably be better.

Thanks Lauren and Crodo for being my buddies and my editors. Thanks to all who reviewed. Hugs.

Since I'm still attending school and the school years near, posting up my chapters for this story will probably take a lot longer.

By the way, I know the title for my chapter sounds kind of retarded but I have no idea what to call it. That was the first word that popped in my head.

REVIEW!

… Surprised? I know I'm making Severus sound like a good guy. But I'm not. I'm just using this cool idea Lauren gave me. You'll understand… sometime.