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The Taste of Revenge
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Chapter Two: Perfect

"I can't believe he did it again!" Lily cried out in frustration, falling face-first onto her friend's soft bed. She grabbed the pillow and pulled it over her head. "Can't he leave Snape alone? Or anyone else, for that matter!" she yelled at her friends, her voice muffled. She was still upset about what happened those few hours ago.

She hadn't gone straight away to her dorms to talk to her friends. Instead, she went straight up to the Astronomy Tower for some peace and quiet so that she could ponder things through. Gazing up at the stars had always fascinated her since she was younger, and now the place had become her haven. A place which was hers alone. It was here that she was able to think without any interruptions and it was here that she thought of ways that could be done to make Potter pay the "hard way", which had happened more than once. However, as much as she tried, nothing was entering her mind. Nothing that she could do and make him really regret all those things he had done. Besides, he was prankster, skilled at such things like coming up with schemes to mess up people's lives, so wouldn't he be able to tell what she was doing and stop it?

She needed to think of a foolproof plan. One that would make him pay dearly, regret all the pranks he made, and never kiss another girl without truly meaning it from his heart. She was frustrated not only at what Potter had done after promising that one kiss would make him grow up, but at the fact nothing good was coming into her mind. She was always good at coming up with plans, especially when she was in grade school with Petunia and had to get back at her for picking on her constantly--Petunia had said she was awkward and weird. However, now, nothing was coming into her mind. What was wrong with her? If she couldn't think of anything, how would she get her revenge?

She needed to talk to the other girls to vent, so that's what she did. Maybe that would calm her down and thus come up with something good. Maybe she could even enlist in their help. They were good at that sort of thing.

"What happened now?" Ristina Patil said, her voice bored. She twirled a lock of her black hair, highlighted with a touch of reddish brown with one hand, and, with the other, turned the page of her Charms book. Her usually bright brown eyes were dull with boredom.

"What happened?" Lily echoed, annoyed and frustrated at her friend's obvious disinterest. "You're asking me what happened, Risty!" she sat up on her bed and glared at her two friends.

"Calm down, Lily," Ria said, Ristina's twin sister. She was the calmer and more levelheaded half of the twins. Her black hair was braided simply down her back, and her brown eyes were not like her sister's, but more deep and dreamy, like melted chocolate. Her mind was always out in one of her own worlds.

"Yeah, it looks like you have steam coming out of your ears," said Risty, intrigued by Lily's outburst and anger. The both of them giggled, but froze when they saw Lily giving them the death glare.

"Seriously, Lily, what did James do this time?" asked Ria, putting her daydreaming aside to give Lily her full attention. Lily was taken aback that they'd figured out Potter was the cause of her obvious distress.

"I just caught him snogging Doria," Lily said shaking her head after the shock subsided. She wanted badly to tell them that James had kissed her too with those same lips and how he broke his promise without a second thought. She wanted to tell them how much she despised him at that very moment.

"Doria? So?" Risty said turning back to her Charms book. To her, Potter snogging someone wasn't much of a big deal. It was an everyday affair and she even had been one of those girls.

"Doria happens to be Snape's girlfriend," Lily informed them, half surprised they didn't know and half annoyed they didn't care.

Risty snorted and Ria's eyes widened.

"What!"

"Snape has a girlfriend? When did he get a girlfriend? Oh my God this is hilarious!" Risty shrieked.

"Girls!" Lily scolded, happy that they finally took an interest yet angry they thought this was funny. "How could you say such a thing! Snape is a nice young man... A little odd and mean..." Lily said with a frown, recalling all the times he called her a Mudblood. "But nice," she said, not convincing herself in the end.

"Right," Ria said sarcastically.

"You keep thinking that," Risty added.

"Anyway...that's beside the point. The thing is, I just caught Potter and Doria snogging outside of an open closet."

"Outside?"

"Huh?"

"Yes, guys. Outside the closet. Didn't even have the decency to do it inside. Well, that's not even the bad part. It just so happens that he was snogging her right outside of where the Potions lab is. Right outside with that door open for the closet and everything! And he made sure that Snape would stumble upon them. Right outside the damned place! And Snape had detention there too! Of all the low things that boy did...this was just too far," Lily added, her voice rising in pitch as she told her tale. "Finally -- finally! -- Snape finds someone and Potter had to ruin that too!"

"Oh." The twins said at once, not really understanding why Lily was so upset about it. After all, James did a lot more things to Snape that was ten times worse. They just didn't understand. Even Ria, the understanding one of the two, was unable to contemplate why she was so angry. Could it be? Could it be that Lily had a slight... crush... on the greasy haired Slytherin? Oh my, that would be priceless!

No, but that couldn't be. Maybe ... just maybe Lily was jealous! Not jealous of Doria because of Snape, but jealous because Doria was snogging James. Lily always made such a fuss about him. Maybe it was because she was jealous and wanted James!

Just as the twins thought such juicy things in their minds and pondered about the possibility that their friend might have a crush on either the hook-nosed loser or the hotshot player, the door opened and in came their other friend with tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Oh, Natty! What's wrong!" Lily cried out and took hold of her friend's hand, forcing her to sit down on her bed. Lily looked closely at her good friend's distressed state. Her wavy blonde hair streaked with brown highlights was covering her tear-stained cheeks. Her blue eyes were glazed with tears and her chest heaved with sobs.

"He- he-" Natalie tried to say between her sobs.

"He who?" Risty said, laughing to herself at her words.

"Siri--" she began but was interrupted by another sob.

"Sirius? What did he do this time?" Ria said, imitating her sister's bored tone of voice.

"He dumped me!" Natalie wailed, and sniffled in Lily's arms. Lily's eyes green eyes widened and then lowered to a death glare at the image of Sirius Black in her mind. Again? Another friend taken and shattered by that wretched boy? Those damned Marauders...

"And---"

"And what?" Lily said, her voice cold and quite scary, too. One would think she was ready to kill.

"He was with that bitch Claire!" Natalie spat out. Her eyes were puffy and red with tears and anger.

"Oh you poor dear!" Ria said, patting her head. Her sister's eyes lowered to slits and when the twins made eye contact, they began to plan.

Lily had warned Natalie long ago not to fall for Sirius, the greatest womanizer in the school after Lucius Malfoy. She knew that only heartbreak would be the result but her friend did not listen. Natalie had thought she would be able to win over his heart but failed. Now look what happened to her. The poor thing!

This time the boys had just gone too far. Fueled with what James had done to Snape, Doria, and her, Lily was fuming more than she ever was.

"They will pay," she whispered dangerously.

Risty looked at her red-haired friend and smiled mischievously. "And I have the perfect plan..."

Natalie stopped crying at her friend's words. She looked up to see the determined look on her friend's faces and grinned, understanding the silent message. Yes, the boys would pay. One could almost hear the wicked laughter that was coursing through their heads.

"What's the plan?" Natalie asked after a moment of silence.

Risty stared at her friend and smiled innocently, then turned to look at Lily. Ria, as if reading her sister's mind, turned to stare at Lily as well. The same innocent, yet deadly smile was upon all three of their faces.

Lily, who all this time hadn't paid attention to her friend's unspoken plans, now found herself being stared at by her best friends and was quite scared indeed. Those innocent stares could only mean one thing. She was surprised that it took Risty not even a second to think of a plan while there she was pondering for over 3 hours in vain. Yet as much as she wanted to teach the Marauders --namely James Potter and Sirius Black-- a lesson, the look on her friends' faces meant that they were planning something awful and they were going to use Lily to do it.

"What?" Lily asked, her eyes wide with fright.

"Oh...you'll see," Risty said with a crazed smile.

"Uh, oh. What have I gotten myself into now?" Lily whispered, gulping down a lump of fear. She looked onto Natalie's hopeful, teary gaze, and suddenly her heart pounded zealously with a newfound vigor. She turned her head slightly to catch sight of her face in the mirror by the dresser and her fingers involuntarily went up to touch her lips.

A flash of Potter's lips upon hers entered her mind as well as the feeling of his velvetytongue in her mouth. A warm feeling coursed through her body. Slightly shivering and tingling with the passionate feeling, Lily was becoming lost in the memory but it soon vanished when remembering that Potter had lied to her. He asked for just a kiss that would end his ways, but he broke it.

Lily didn't know why she cared so much but she did know that what James had done was unforgivable. He broke his word and needed to be taught a lesson. Risty had a plan in mind and it might be outrageous, it might crazy, and it might be dangerous, but Lily was determined to carry it out no matter the cost.

"Oh, don't you worry, Lily," Risty soothed, seeing her friend's worried expression. Lily turned her head to look into Risty's eyes, which were alive and dancing wickedly, no longer dull from boredom, and grinned mischievously with a nod of her head.

Risty, pleased with Lily's unspoken agreement, rubbed her hands together in anticipation. "It'll be perfect," she said. Her face was screwed up in a twisted, evil smirk; "Just Perfect."

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Lily Evans really hated this. This whole idea wasn't going to work and she didn't know why she even fell into such a baseless plan. Of course James Potter would detect that Lily was either up to something or was getting high on some sort of Muggle drug if she decided to suddenly spring up on him and talk to him like they were friends forever-- especially after she told him that she hated him the day before. What a stupid idiot she was for nothing thinking about this before doing it!

"Hey, Potter. How's life?" she told him cheerily, flashing him a fake smile.

"Oh, just great--" he began, but when he saw her, he stopped his sentence midway. "Evans?" He said incredulously, "What are you doing here?"

"Just come to say hello," she told him uncomfortably, aware of how odd her casually saying hello to him would be. Especially since not just 14 hours before, she told him that she hated him. Way to go, Lily! How very inconspicuous of you!

"Are you on drugs, Evans?" Sirius said from behind her. "You never come to say hello to us."

She rubbed her head and scolded herself at the memory. She then stared out into the window to try to get her thoughts back together. From the dark silhouettes she was able to make out the small dots that were supposed to be the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. They were whizzing around so fast, it made Lily's head hurt.

She turned away and looked back at her Charms paper. She had, for once in her life, forgotten that the essay was due the next day, too preoccupied with dealing with James and following through with the idiotic plan.

She was doomed. It was nearly time for patrol duties and she still hadn't completed a third of what she was supposed to hand in. In an hour, Wilfred would come and she would be forced to inspect each and every one of the many hallways in Hogwarts. By the time they would be done, she would be tired of walking, her eyes and ears weary from being alert at every sound, shadow, light, or anything else threatening. Plus, she would have to sigh and roll her eyes whenever she caught Wilfred looking at her with a faraway look and a drooling mouth.

After all this would transpire she would be left with a feeling of extreme exhaustion and vexation. And to have this Charms essay to top it off would be just too much.

But why is it that whenever she wrote a word, it wound up starting with the letter 'J'? She needed to get her mind off of him, but whenever she would sigh and look around, her gaze would fall right back out to the Quidditch Field and the whole cycle would start again.

Finally, after writing 121 words starting with the letter J, she got fed up and stood up, ready to spend the rest of the time she had at the library.

However, life was just not agreeing with her, and when she walked out the door of the Head Dorms and into the hallway, who was it to meet her but the people who came up with the plan that originally brought her into this predicament.

"Hey, Lily! Where are you going?" Ria asked, eyeing her books with a raised eyebrow.

"To the library," she informed them. "To finish the Charms homework."

"But wasn't that assigned 3 weeks ago?" Risty asked, talking the scroll of parchment from Lily's hand.

The Head Girl snatched it back, remembering that she hadn't wiped away all the J's. "Yea, well..." she began, grateful that the hallway was fairly dark and the girls wouldn't see her face flushing. "I seem to have forgotten a paragraph..."

Ria looked at her red-haired friend incredulously. "Mmhmm."

"Well, don't worry about doing that, Lily. Risty'll do the rest for you since she handed hers in and got a full mark on it. We have to discuss the rest of the plan--" Natalie told her.

Lily shook her head. "Guys, not today. You're giving me a headache. Plus I really have to get the essay done..."

"But its important!" Risty cried out, taking the quills and her books from her.

"The Charms essay is more important," Lily said firmly, finding a need to vent out her frustration.

Ria smirked at Lily, "You haven't even started the essay have you?"

"I--uh--" Lily began.

"Oh c'mon, Lil. Forget about the Charms. I'll do it for you," Risty butt in. "We have to discuss the plan, remember? It's very important! We made a huge mistake. James--"

"What about me?" asked a breathless, husky-voiced James Potter.

Risty's eyes widened and Lily was swelling with fear. Lord, what were they going to do now?

"Nothing concerning you, Potter," Ria told him quickly. "There are more James's in the world besides you."

"Right, Patil," Potter said briskly. He turned to rest his hazel eyes on Lily, who squirmed under his intense gaze. "And you, Evans, we need to talk."

Lily felt as though she had stopped breathing for a second and then looked up at him, her eyes raking over his body. He was still in his Quidditch uniform, leather and all. Why did boys look so good in those uniforms? She noticed how each and every muscle in his arms and legs were defined.

Get a grip on yourself! she scolded herself, shaking her head lightly. That's what you get when you think about one person far too long. Even if you hate him, she concluded, you begin to think things you really shouldn't. Especially if the person was wearing leather pants and had as much appeal as Potter did.

"Oh yeah?" Lily said, surprising herself at her calm voice. "Well, I'm busy now. Maybe later." She looked at Risty who had her eyes still wide, but now she was also shaking her head furiously, mouthing the words "talk to him".

"Not later, Evans. Now," he said with finality.

Who the hell does he think he is, Lily thought to herself when she no longer found herself being distracted by his heart-thumping uniform. How dare he order me around?

"We'll be going then," Nia said, taking an inconspicuous step back.

"Yea, we'll give you the homework in the morning, okay?" Risty said.

Without a word more, Lily found them walking down the hall and disappearing behind a corner. So much for being friends.

"Well?" Potter repeated.

"Sorry, Potter. I have rounds with Wilfred. I'm getting late," she told him, taking a small step away.

"Evans, you have half an hour until Wilfred will come to pick you up. I don't think talking will take that much time."

"Well," Lily snapped, vexed at recalling that she'll have to spend the next 2 hours with the servile Wilfred. He was just too overeager to help, holding her books, opening the door for her, calling her "Miss Lily." Really, the boy annoyed her and she wasn't looking forward to speaking to James and then having to spend the earlier part of the night with that Hufflepuff, Wilfred Spits. "What is it?"

"I was wondering what you meant this morning. I mean, are you feeling alright?" he asked, his voice soft and concerned.

"Huh? Potter, what are you on about?"

"Well I s'pose you are better now," he mumbled sarcastically. "Since you're back to that tone of voice."

"Listen, Potter. You're really annoying me right now. What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to know why you were acting all friendly with me. Sirius thought you were on those Muggle drugs but, of course, that's impossible so I thought you might've changed your mind, you know. Thought you might want to be friends. But, I guess, right now, you changed your mind."

"Yeah, you thought so?" Lily said, sarcasm dripping in her voice.

"Well, yeah," he replied smoothly

"You've got some nerve Potter," Lily told him dangerously, forgetting that she was supposed to be nice to him. Forgetting that she indeed, hinted to him that she wanted to be friends. Her increasing annoyance of having Wilfred for her partner and not doing her Charms essay was getting her stressed out and when Lily Evans was stressing out, she was in no condition to curb her anger. "Did you forget what happened yesterday so soon?"

He looked at her uncomfortably. "I was going to speak to you about that Evans. I'm sor--"

"No!" Lily snapped, too irritated and tired to hear another meaningless apology. "Don't say sorry if you're not going to mean it."

"But I do--"

"Shut up, Potter. You always say sorry. You always promise to grow up but did it ever happen? Did you ever keep your word? No," she said quickly, putting her hand up and not allowing him to interrupt. "You don't keep your word. You're a liar and a cheat and a-"

But before Lily was able to continue with her rant, Potter took her by her shoulder and shook her.
"Now look here, Evans," he yelled, his hazel eyes darkening with rage. "Don't ever, ever call me a liar," he hissed. "I always keep my word."

"You keep your word? You never lie?" Lily scoffed. "What world are you living in?"

"When have I broken a promise I given you? When?" he asked her fiercely. This was no longer the fun-and-games James Potter. He was actually serious and Lily did not know how to react. She was used to seeing him joking around with her, never actually anger but just pretending to be, but now this side of James Potter was quite intimidating.

"When you told me you'd grow up after--" her voice began to soften as she said her next words "--after I let you give me one kiss."

There seemed to be a slight pause after her words but Lily was able to see the transformation of his attitude in his eyes. Suddenly, Potter wasn't scowling, his cloudy eyes weren't darkened in that menacing brownish black, they were dancing and his entire, handsome face lit up with smile. However, that smile was quickly replaced with a smirk and her stomach fluttered when he was, once again, pinning her up against the wall. His Quidditch uniform was devoid of it's shin guards, arm guards, and the like and he only had the leather attire underneath those. He smelled of sweat and the autumn leaves and her heart raced.

The act was so swift, so sudden that adrenaline was pumping furiously in her veins. Indignation mixed with fear and then this new emotion intermixing made her chest rise and fall rapidly. His body's full contact with her own had numbed her vocal cords and all she was able to do was let out a light, almost inaudible gasp.

"I tried," he said playfully. "I really did-" His voice was sending shivers down her spine. "But you see...," his fingers lightly traced the outline of her lip and she flinched. She was so shocked by his sudden change in attitude that her brain was trying to catch up to the present. "...that kiss wasn't enough to make me last too long. I need another to keep me from playing another prank."

His head was leaning closer against hers, his pink lips inviting and so alluring that Lily was caught between indignation and desire. Again she found herself mesmerized by his stare; no one looked at her that way. His eyes were cloudy again but this time not from anger but from growing lust. All too soon his mouth had covered hers and she molded against him with an involuntary sigh. Her body ignited with a feeling she never received from him or anybody else before. A growing need awakened and she had forgotten momentarily who exactly the man she was kissing was.

Until, of course, her brain finally caught up.

This was not according to the plan, Lily's mind reflected as she found her hands suddenly having an itch to run through Potter's messy hair and tangle themselves in it. It was black, messy, and sweaty, but desiring all the same. She was getting lost in his touch.

No, she thought firmly. She was the one who was slowly supposed to seduce him, not the other way around.

Her fingers ran up his strong arms and then to his chest and shoulders, coming around and locking around his neck so she wouldn't fall. She had to switch this to her favor even though she was having trouble thinking properly. His kiss was so intoxicating. Just his lips alone were making her brain become muddled.

She had to snap out of it but it was hard. In the end she was left with only two options.

Give in...

Or assume control.

Her tongue ran over his lips demanding access to the depths inside. As soon as his willing mouth opened and his teeth parted, she explored the crevices of her enemy's mouth, storing the information away into her memory. She tried to tell her body and her lips not to fall captive to his hot, passionate kiss but it was getting increasingly difficult for her to keep her head straight.

Before he had a chance to respond more positively, Lily had decided she had to end it before she forgot what she was supposed to do.

Reluctantly, she put one hand on either side of his chest and pushed him away, ending this before she got carried away; before she forgot the purpose.

"Potter," she said firmly. To Lily, her voice was treading dangerously on the thin line of anger and lust but Potter was only able to hear the finality of it. He looked up at her eyes and saw the green pools shining with rage. The color on her cheeks was that of indignation and not of pleasure. "Stop it," she told him.

"Evans-" he growled, trying to grab her arm again before she left. "I thought you wanted this..." He was trying to make his voice sound not too hurt and disappointed but Lily was able to detect it anyway and marveled at the way she had just rejected him.

She shrugged away from him. The loss of contact from his body brought her mind to finally function properly. She became aware of her surroundings and especially The Plan. His reddened lips served as a reminder of the idea behind kissing him in the first place; the vengeful game that she had momentarily forgotten.

"What made you think that?" she snapped.

"You kissed me back--"

Lily shook her head firmly. "It was your imagination, Potter. Why would I kiss you back?"

James furrowed his brows. Lily saw, with satisfaction, the confused look on his face. He looked back up to her, his hazel eyes searching for an answer, his ears waiting for a laugh, a giggle, anything that would show that she wasn't meaning what she was saying and that she really did want it. However, he saw nothing there but anger and resentment, not noticing at all the slight twitch in her lip.

Hiding her smirk, Lily turned around and began to walk away but decided to throw another sentence before she turned the corner. "I'll see you tomorrow then," she said in a business like manner, pretending his kiss hadn't influenced her at all even though her insides were still burning with the kiss and his taunt muscles pressed tight against her chest.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and turned briefly, making sure her next words were more firm. Yet she couldn't help but sound a bit derisive as well:

"Dreams are meant for nighttime. And no more pranks, Mr. Potter."

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