ChapterTWO Anywhere But Near You
Author's Replies:
To Trinity Cloud: Thanks D This chapter's for you!
To padfootgirl3: Same goes to you! )
To Munching Munchkins: Hello ) I would personally like to thank you for pointing out all the careless mistakes (be it spelling or spacing or mathematical equations or hair colours), and I sincerely hope that you will continue reading (and reviewing) my story.
"Does Lily have a fever or something because that type of reaction to such a little shock is something I'd expect from frail
old ladies but not healthy teenagers... "
Yes, Lily was having a fever. See the symptoms?
...and does Lily have really bad memory not to recognize James?
James changed over the summer. I mean, if you haven't seen someone in one whole summer and sees him out of the blue once again, looking very different, you wouldn't recognise him immediately, would you?
Thanks, anyway (:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mr. Potter! MR. POTTER!" A woman's cross voice said beside James's ear. James immediately woke up. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around him and found himself staring at Madam Pomfrey's furious face. "Wha… Where's Lily?" James asked stupidly, noticing that Lily's bed was empty. "Ms. Evans left hours ago, and I believe she is currently in her Transfiguration class now," Madam Pomfrey said icily. "Wha - WHAT? She left me here –all alone, to sleep here, ALL ALONE? McGonagall's going to KILL ME!" James gulped as he ran out of Hospital Wing.
James could hear the buzzing of incantations in the Transfiguration classroom as he got nearer.
He couldn't believe it - Lily left him ALL ALONE in Hospital Wing! Did she have a mental problem
or something? Then again, James thought, maybe she did.
"Sorry - Professor - I..." James gasped for breaths as he entered the classroom. The class became
silent as Professor McGonagall stood up from her seat. However, much to James's annoyance,
giggles and whispering could be heard from the girls.
"Mr. Potter, I expect you to set a good example as Head Boy, I hope that that fact has registered in your brain now that you have overslept for what? An hour?" Professor McGonagall said coldly as she took off her spectacles. "I'm sorry, Professor" James mumbled, staring at the floor, his cheeks burning with shame. Great. Perfect. Absolutely wonderful. It's absolutely fantastic, ain't it? Being told by a teacher indirectly that I don't deserve to be Head Boy in my first week," James thought.
"Detention tonight, Mr. Potter. You will be, unfortunately, given extra punishment as you are Head Boy. Now go sit down. Everyone, continue with transfiguring your teacups into cats," Professor McGonagall said in a commanding tone. James then looked around; he could see girls hastily push their bags off their chairs to make space for him.
Then, he spotted Lily. She was working alone; for Danielle was sitting with Juliana and Grace was sitting with Remus. Her eyes were fixed on her teacup, and was obviously trying to avoid James's gaze, quite unlike the other girls, one of them who fell off her chair, her half-transfigured teacup in her hand which, funnily enough, had and uncanny resemblance of an cat with a china handle, waving to James.
He walked past a series of tables until he reached Lily's. Sighing, he attempted to sit down, but Lily immediately dumped her own bag on the chair. James stared. "Look, your bag may be beautiful and all, but this seat is meant for HUMANS to seat on." He stated matter-of-factly, "So would you please, PRETTY PLEASE, move over your bag so I can seat?" He said more politely this time. God, why did she have to be so damn beautiful? James thought angrily inside his mind. If it weren't for the fact that she was - well, - LILY, he'd have murdered her by now.
"No, sorry, Potter," Lily said brusquely without looking up. "Why don't you go sit with Michelle Williams? I believe she has a vacant seat next to her," Lily continued.
From the other end of the room, Sirius, Remus and Peter were watching this whole event excitedly with bated breaths. "Damn, we should get popcorn, and nachos, and maybe some gummy unicorns," Sirius whispered excitedly.
"But I don't want to sit next to Michelle Williams. I. Need. To. Talk. To. You," James said sharply and putting emphasis on the last few words, feeling his temper rising.
"I have nothing to say to you. So, yes, the answer is still a darn N-O." Lily said.
James took a deep breath and moved Lily's bag out of the way and sat down.
"Did you fail English or something? Because if my spelling isn't faulty or whatsoever, I'm pretty sure N-O spells out NO." Lily retorted, now her colour of her face matching her auburn, tomato-like hair. But James didn't budge, and, left with no choice, Lily moved her chair a few inches away.
After a few agonizing and painful minutes that inched away ever so slowly, James said finally, "Lily, why didn't you wake me up?"
"You came uninvited, so I thought you could leave without being invited to too," Lily replied. Without another word, she took her bag and her teacup, stood up, and walked over to sit next to Michelle Williams.
James wanted to pull his perfect hair out in frustration. The chances of Lily ever being with him will turn to a big fat zero. He never understood girls. He sat there looking like a complete idiot, fuming. "Look, everybody! Ms. Evans has done it! She has successfully transfigured her teacup into a cat!" Professor McGonagall announced proudly.
James slumped lower into his seat.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It's Lunch!" Sirius yelled happily as he sat down on the benches in the Great Hall. "Oh forget it already, eat something won't ya? The baked potatoes are heavenly…" Remus said, piling smoking baked potatoes onto James's empty plate.
"I'm not hungry," James said stubbornly. "Yes, yes, you are hungry," Sirius insisted, and added some chicken wings to the baked potatoes. "And look! Your fan club's waiting for you to start eating so they can too," Peter said, pointing to a whole row of girls, gazing (and drooling) at James as if he was an angel.
"Eew," James said in disgust when he saw Sarah Thomas bat her eyelashes at him. He got up from his chair and began to leave, wishing he were invisible as he felt a million pairs of eyes burning his back.
"And James, remember to come to the Great Hall tomorrow. There's ah... a Prefect's Meeting at four," Sirius said, his mouth full of chicken.
"Not going," James replied mechanically, immediately thinking of Lily. "Only the Head Boy is needed," Sirius replied sweetly.
"Whatever," James called behind his back.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Whoa Lily! James CARRIED you to the Hospital Wing from McGonagall's office?" Grace asked with wide eyes. "Don't remind me about it," Lily snapped. "No, I mean, he actually CARRIED you? That's so…"
Lily was snarling. "Typical Potter behaviour, always looking out for chances to get lucky-" "Sweet!" Danielle cut Lily off in mid-sentence, each one of them ignoring Grace's statement.
Lily nearly spat out her orange juice. "What?" Lily yelped, staring at Danielle as if she was out of her mind. Juliana and Grace ate their baked potatoes hurriedly, pretending to be very engrossed in eating. They had many experiences of Lily's
temper.
"Fine, you can have him then," Lily snapped as she put down her fork and knife. "Are you kidding? No way! Everyone knows that you two are meant to be!" Danielle said at once in a matter-of-factly way, her eyes big and round.
Before Lily could reply, she saw James get up from his seat, looking very annoyed. Lily refused to take any notice of her pounding heart.
"Whatever," Lily heard James call behind his back to Sirius. Lily fastened her gaze with her chicken. "So, Lily, when are you going out for a date?" Grace asked suddenly, looking very interested.
Then, Lily lost it.
"Is that all you three of you know how to do? Pair me up with an arrogant, annoying, little prat who thinks he owns the world? Well, I'm sorry, but I'm leaving," Lily snapped. She hitched her bag over her shoulder.
"Uh - before you go, Lily, there is a prefect's meeting tomorrow at the Great Hall at four in the afternoon, Professor McGonagall just told me to tell you," Juliana called nonchalantly.
"Not going," Lily answered immediately, thinking of James. "Only the Head Girl is needed," Juliana said sweetly.
"Whatev - I mean, FINE," Lily said, not bothering to turn back, or wanting to miss/be late for another one of those lil' important sessions of your life where you need to be.
Across the table, Sirius, Remus, Peter high-fived in the air with Danielle, Juliana and Grace. Everything was turning out to be so darn good.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily checked her watch. She still had fifteen minutes to get to the Great Hall from the Library. Deciding not to be late once more, she packed up and left.
This was always how Lily spent her Saturdays. Studying in the Library, or just hanging out in the common room. But since she wasn't exactly on speaking terms with her friends, she sought refuge from the Library.
Lily turned into a corridor which led straight to the Great Hall. To her surprise, she saw James walking from the opposite direction, obviously heading towards the Great Hall.
"What are you doing here?" Lily asked coldly. "Going for a prefect's meeting in the Great Hall," James replied, not bothering to glance at her. "Only the Head Girl is needed," Lily said, walking at a faster pace.
"No, I believe only the Head Boy is wanted," James said coolly. They stopped in front of each other, and their eyes met.
Lily knew her eyes were blazing with anger, but she said, "Not a Head Boy that's always late and always waking up late, that is." James's brown hard and cold eyes showed no change of emotion.
"Fine. Let's go in and see who's really wanted," Lily finally said, after she felt that she couldn't look at him any longer.
"Alright. Pray, go on, open the door," James said. Lily pushed the doors of the Great Hall wide open, surprised to find about a hundred students or so gathered inside, gazing intently at Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn, the Potions Master.
"Ah, Ms. Evans and Mr. Potter!" Professor Slughorn greeted them in a booming voice. "Welcome to the Hogwarts's Drama Club!"
"HUH?" Lily stammered, confused and completely taken off guard. "The drama club?"
"Surely you saw the sign in your common room?" Slughorn asked merrily. "Wait, isn't this supposed to be a..." James stopped in mid-sentence when he finally realized what Sirius had done. He swore under his breath.
"Now, please, take a seat, both of you," Professor McGonagall said, gesturing to one of the tables. "So, as I was saying, Winter Lullaby is a play written by our very own Desdemona Greywood, who graduated three years ago. It took her two years
to complete this play set in the 1940s about the romance between a girl called December and a boy named January," Professor McGonagall said crisply, ignoring the amount of giggling at the mention of "romance".
Lily was speechless as she took a seat far away from James.
"I am so going to kill Juliana," Lily thought, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists.
"Now, I shall give you all a brief description about the play, and then we shall move on to the auditions. December is a rich and vivacious girl of seventeen, and one day, while strolling in her garden, meets and falls in love with the gardener's son, January, who happened to be weeding a patch of grass. However, her father had already planned an arranged marriage to Lord Sparks, a rich but cruel and evil man, in three months' time. And so you know how the story goes," Professor McGonagall said.
"Now, there are a total of seventy-three roles in the play, but of course, only a small portion is for the more important roles," Professor McGonagall said. "Let us start auditioning from the seventh-years to the first-years. Seventh-years stand over here. Males, please step here to my left. Females, to my right," Professor McGonagall instructed. Lily began to panic. She was going to make a complete fool of herself. She couldn't even lie properly, for Merlin's sake.
"These are your auditioning scripts, please take one and pass it down," Professor McGonagall commanded. Lily stood in the middle of the very, very long line, feeling apprehensive as Megan McDermott, a popular Ravenclaw girl, passed the scripts to her. Lily took one and passed it down.
Slughorn went over to instruct the boys while McGonagall instructed the girls.
"Now, I want you all to pair yourselves up. As you see, there are two roles on the script, December and Marianne, her maid. So I want you to decide between yourselves who should play December or Marianne. It does not matter who you play now; the casting will be decided later, judging by your performance in this audition," Professor McGonagall eyed Michelle Williams and Tara Slope, who were obviously fighting for the December role.
Lily found herself being paired up with Megan, who was chattering away about being in some play when she was in pre-school (Megan was a Muggle-born too, and in pre-school play, she was a radish who had rosy cheeks and had to sing "Like a Virgin" by Madonna). "So... back to Winter Lullaby. Do you wanna play December?" Megan asked. "Huh? Oh, I'm fine with anything, really, you can decide," Lily forced a smile. "Well, if you're sure. I think I'll play Marianne. I suck at being the lead," Megan wrinkled her nose, but smiled. Lily nodded as she looked down to
read her script.
Scene 12
The conversation takes place in December's room, while December is waking up in the morning and Marianne has come in to serve breakfast.
December: (yawning) Oh, good morning, Marianne, I just had the most wonderful dream... (sighs dreamily)
Marianne: Good morning, m'lady. May I ask what the dream was about? (Getting December's clothes ready from the closet)
December: Well, I dreamt that January and I were taking a lovely stroll in a beautiful garden, and everything was in full
bloom. January plucked a rose for me and tucked it behind my ear once he made sure than there were no sharp thorns on it.
Then, we kissed... (touches ear, reminiscing the feel of the rose behind ear and smiles a wide smile)
Marianne: (gasps) Why, m'lady, you cannot be in love with Mr. White! That is against your father's wishes! After all, you are already going to be married!
December: (looking angry) I will never marry Lord Sparks! He is a cruel and ruthless man who gambles all day long! I love January, and nobody is going to change that! (climbs out of bed and storms out of the room in a huff)
Marianne: (sighs but continues folding bedsheets)
-Scene ends-
Lily looked up incredulously. She was going to act THAT out? It was positively DISGUSTING! Who knew Desdemona Greywood would be such a... a...
"The auditions will start now. Will the first pair please follow me into this chamber?" Professor McGonagall called, pointing to a room next to the toilets.
Lily turned to face Megan.
"Are you sure you don't want to play December?" she asked as casually as she could. "Yeah, I'm sure," Megan replied without looking up, engrossed in memorizing her lines. Lily sighed as she looked at her script once again.
December: Well, I dreamt that January and I were taking a lovely stroll in a beautiful garden, and everything was in full bloom. January plucked a rose for me and tucked it behind my ear once he made sure than there were no sharp thorns on it. Then, we kissed... (touches ear, reminiscing the feel of the rose behind ear and smiles a wide smile)
Lily tried to memorize that particularly mushy line. "Well, I dreamt that January and I were taking a lovely stroll in a beautiful garden, and everything was withering," Lily rolled her eyes.
Lily tried hard not to notice the pairs entering the chambers. She just watched them leave the line, looking excited.
"It's so exciting, isn't it? I love plays! And I'd hate it if we screwed this up," Megan sighed, chewing on a fingernail. "Er… yeah, me too," Lily said, feeling bad. She knew that Megan was very easily distracted; if Lily messed up her lines, then so would Megan. "Oh, fine. I'll do this for Megan," Lily sighed as she moved on to the next line.
Finally, it was their turn. Shaking, both of them nodded at each other, and entered the chamber. It was very bright; and in the middle of the chamber was a huge bed with pink bedspreads and peach-coloured pillows (which in Lily's opinion she thought it was absolutely revolting), and there was a closet at the side. Lily didn't realize that they were meant to audition with props.
"You may begin when you are ready," Professor McGonagall's clear and crisp voice came ringing out from a corner. Lily and Megan both jumped; they had not noticed her. "Ye- yes Professor," they stammered. Lily, figuring that she had to climb onto the bed, did so, and Megan stood uncertainly at the doorway.
Lily took a deep breath, and began. "Oh, GOOD morning, Marianne, I just had the most wonderful dream..." She sighed in way which she hoped to pass as "dreamy".
Megan strode across the room and to her closet. "Good morning, m'lady. May I ask what the dream was about?" She opened the closet and took out the only thing inside, a velvet empire-waist plum-coloured dress, something that the REAL Lily would never wear as it was embroided with not only sickening pearls but frills too.
Lily tried not to puke as her next line came.
"Well, I dreamt that January and I were taking a lovely stroll in a beautiful garden, and everything was in full bloom. January plucked a rose for me and tucked it behind my ear once he made sure than there were no sharp thorns on it.
Then, we kissed..." Lily touched her ear, giggling slightly.
Megan gasped; Lily jumped. She was too engrossed in her own thoughts! "Why, m'lady, you cannot be in love with Mr. White! That is against your father's wishes! After all, you are already going to be married!"
Lily scowled. "I will never marry Lord Sparks! He is a cruel and ruthless man who gambles all day long! I love January, and nobody is going to change that!" Lily jumped out of bed.
"That will do!" Professor McGonagall said. Lily sighed in relief. Megan grinned. "Thank you, Ms. Evans and Ms. McDermott, the results will be out tomorrow, on the common room notice boards," Professor McGonagall informed them.
Lily and Megan went out of the room, talking. "One thing left to do," Lily thought.
"Kill Juliana," she said, and ran out of the Hall.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"SIRIUS!" James hollered as he stormed into the Gryffindor common room that evening.
"SIRIUS BLACK!"
The chattering in the room grew quiet as they watched James climb up the stairs to the boy's dormitory, four at a time.
"That Sirius Black? He is so gonna get his ass fried," Jack Spinster, a small second-year who admired the Marauders in every single way, said in awe, his aqua eyes big and round.
"In barbecue sauce," Lucas McDermott (Megan's little brother) added, gazing at James.
"Served with French fries and sausages," Emily Rossets (Jack's and Lucas's friend), licked her lips.
They looked at each other.
"Nice," they chorused.
---------------------------------- END OF CHAPTER TWO ---------------------------------------
A/N: Hahaha! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Review pleaaseee!