To my loverly reviewers:
Officemaxgluestick: Thank you. And you don't have to leave really long reviews, just as long as you tell me what you thought of the chapter and/or how the story can improve. XD
InvisibleA: I'm glad I made your day! I hope I don't make you feel invisible!
Missmee: Yes! Enter the horror! LOL. Oh and, you're gonna love Cornelia. Haha.
XXRoseDawsonXX: Hey, Meg? You SUCK AT LIFE. …I kid, I kid. But come on, tell me what story it is? And if not, then at least tell me when the hell you're gonna finish it!
Embrace me…: Well so far, there's nothing gothic-y about it really, except for the fact that Lily is an outcast. But that's perfectly realistic, wouldn't you agree? And yes, I understand that Lily was the favorite of the daughters, but then that's why this is an AU fic, isn't it?
Thank you all so very much for reviewing. And now, on with chapter 5.
Chapter 5: Tomorrow
The next day, James woke up late. He went down to the common room to find Cornelia waiting for him, a huge smile plastered over her face at the sight of him.
"Where're Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail?" he asked tiredly.
"I told them to go down to breakfast already. I got up early to see you," she explained.
"Okay."
"You don't seem happy to see me!" she pouted.
"I'm happy, I'm just tired," he said, forcing a smile to his lips.
"Well wake up then," she said, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her for a snog. He kissed her back, while stroking herlong blond hair.
Lily woke up early and she and Ezmerelda went down to the common room together. Nobody was there except for Cornelia Taylor, the Head Girl, who barely noticed them.
They went down to breakfast and sat at the far end of the Gryffindor table. A few minutes later they were joined by Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, who waved to Ezmerelda. She waved back with a smile.
Breakfast was served: pancakes with syrup, french toast, and pumpkin juice. Lily sipped her juice quietly and looked around for James. But he did not show up at all that morning.
During Potions class that day, the students were instructed to sit by their partners. Lily gladly sat next to James.
"Hi," she greeted cheerfully.
"Hello. I see you're wearing makeup again," he said.
"Oh. You don't like it?" she asked.
"Well, no. I liked you better the way you looked last night. But whatever suits you, I suppose…"
"No, I'll change! I want to change! Mother always said I had to cover my pretty face in dark makeup, but I never really liked it!" she said. James seemed rather amused at this.
"Is that so?" he smirked.
"…What?" she asked stupidly.
"You're just weird," he said.
"Please… don't judge me, James. I'm not trying to be weird."
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely.
"Okay. …Oh! I found a way to get a phoenix feather!" she chimed.
"Really? How?"
"Hehe. I'm not going to tell you," she teased, "but you have to come with me again to get it."
"As long as we're not in any mortal peril," he said.
"Oh, it's nothing like that! You'll see! When would you like to meet?"
"How about this afternoon?"
"Okay!" she said excitedly.
"Good. Then we'll meet at 4 in the common room."
"James," Cornelia had said to him during breakfast, "meet me here this afternoon, okay? We'll continue where we left off."
She had been talking about the ongoing battle between their tongues. So James had promised to meet with his girlfriend that afternoon, and he had promised Lily he'd meet her as well.
James and Sirius walked into the common room at 4 exactly. There they had found Cornelia sitting on a couch, looking very clean, and Lily, sitting on the floor near the fireplace, looking very… black. Sirius said "hi" to Cornelia and sat down near her. James stayed where he was.
Lily looked up and smiled when she saw him. He smiled back politely.
"James!" Cornelia sang and shouted his name at the same time. He turned to look at her. She seemed to be very impatient. He sighed and sat down next to her. Only for a minute, he thought. Cornelia wrapped her arms around him and pressed half of her body on top of him while pushing her lips onto his. He sat there, letting her play around with him for a bit. But he knew he needed to talk to Lily…
Lily…It was about half an hour later when James realized he had totally blown Lily off. He pushed Cornelia off of him and stood up, but he didn't see Lily. He wasn't sure what to do; go look for her, or go back to Cornelia. Then he saw Ezmerelda coming into the common room.
"Hey!" he said to her. She looked at him; her big blue eyes open wide.
"Um… hi," she managed to say.
"Have you seen Evans?" he asked.
"Oh, I think she's in her room. Do you want me to go get her for you?"
"Yes, thank you." Ezmerelda left for the girls' dormitories. She came back 5 minutes later, saying, "She won't come down."
"Well why not?" James asked.
"She said something about you blowing her off. Do you want me to apologize for you?"
"Apologize?" The word sounded funny to James. "No, thank you, but I can do that without your help. Just tell her to come down now," he said confidently. Ezmerelda nodded at him and left.
Twenty minutes later, she and Lily came down the stairs. James eyed Lily in shock. She was wearing a long black skirt and a black lace choker around her neck with a rather low-cut, red shirt. On top of that, she'd tied her hair back and taken off her heavy makeup. He could not keep his eyes off of her. But his trance was soon broken when she spoke.
"Um… hey, James."
"Hi. You look… really amazing," he said. She blushed, her face now matching her shirt.
"Thank you. The shirt's not mine, actually. It's Ezzy's. She said I'd look good in it."
"She wasn't kidding," said James, who was now very fond of Lily's breasts.
"Um…" He looked up at her face.
'So where are we going?" he asked.
"Oh! The owlery, of course," she said. "Follow me."
She led James out of the common room towards the owlery. They had to ascend a few flights of stairs before getting there. The room was filled with the marvelous creatures. Lily spotted a snowy white owl sitting by an open window. She headed over towards it.
"What are we doing Evans? Why'd you bring me up here?" James asked.
"I have a theory," she said, turning to him.
"Really?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. Have you ever read any muggle books, James?" she asked.
"One or two."
"Well, if you've ever read fairy tales, you'll know about Cinderella. Cinderella had a fairy godmother that enchanted her to wear a beautiful gown and glass slippers. Before the enchantment ended, Cinderella lost one of her slippers. After the enchantment had ended, the slipper was still there. My theory is as follows: If we can transfigure an owl into a phoenix and pluck one of its feathers, that feather will remain a phoenix feather after the owl changes back," said Lily with confidence.
"Evans, it's just a fairy tale. It's not real. If we pluck a feather, it will still be an owl feather, not a phoenix feather," he said. Lily frowned.
"I'm going to try it," she said. With that, she raised her wand, pointed it towards the snowy owl, and flicked her wrist. Within seconds, the owl had transfigured into a beautiful, fiery phoenix.
"H-how did you do that?" James asked, gazing at the owl-phoenix in awe.
Lily shrugged. "Practice?"
"I don't think I've ever met anyone quite as good at Transfiguration as me, Sirius, and Peter," he said.
Lily smiled and turned back to the owl-phoenix. She plucked one of its feathers and studied it. It was still a phoenix feather. She raised her wand at the owl-phoenix and lifted the enchantment. It turned back into an owl. She looked at the feather. It was still a phoenix feather.
"I told you it would work!" she said proudly. James just shook his head at her, smiling.
"I can't believe it! You are brilliant!" he said. Lily blushed.
"Well, we'd better get going. We can stop by the dungeons and drop this into our cauldron first, if you don't mind," she said.
"Sure. We'll do that," he said, grinning.
They descended the stairs and halted when they came to the dungeons. They walked towards their classroom and opened it. It was empty, of course, and dark. There were still cauldrons set on each of the tables, and Lily and James walked over to theirs.
"Well, here goes the first ingredient," said Lily. She dropped the feather into the cauldron and smiled, satisfied.
"Brilliant," said James. He turned and looked at her strangely. "You know… you look really good right now.. and we're in the dark, in an empty classroom, and…" James didn't know what he was saying and he let it out before he could stop himself.
"Huh?" Lily said, innocently. James grinned and lifted his hand up to stroke her cheek. She blushed but it could not be seen in the dark.
"Um…"
"Shh," he said, as he leaned in to kiss her.
It was her first kiss. It didn't really mean much to James, but it meant everything to Lily. She kissed him back, surprised at what she was doing. It was something her mother would most certainly not approve of. It was wrong.
James moved in closer to Lily now, running his hand up the front of her shirt. James' other hand played with the waistband of her skirt. Lily did not stop him. She did not open her eyes either. He slowly slid her skirt down to the floor and leaned her down on one of the tables, still kissing her passionately. He pulled back only for a moment, taking off his shirt to reveal a very muscular chest, toned from years of quidditch. That's when Lily got up. She opened her eyes; they rolled to the back of her head. She opened her mouth to speak, and blood oozed out from it. Another woman's voice came from her lips:
"You must not stray from purity!"
Suddenly, Lily fell back down onto the table, unconscious. James freaked out.
"Evans! Oh my God! Lily, get up!" he said, shaking her violently. She did not stir. He grabbed his shirt and threw it back on, then attempted to put Lily's skirt back on her. He wiped the blood from her mouth with his sleeve. He then picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, running with her to the hospital wing.
Cliffhanger! Mwahahaha! You'll have to wait to see what happens! (review!)
Next chapter (you guessed it!): Yesterday