Hey y'all! I'm sorry this chapter has been so long a'coming (hehe I feel country right now), but it's just been very hectic and I wanted to give you a chapter you deserve. So please be wonderful and review and tell me how you like it. I tried to show more interaction between Alice, Emmeline, and Lily so you can get to know them better. So lots of love, PhoenixPlume
Ch. 10 The Times They Are A'Changing
Lily hummed to herself as she searched the candy-laden shelves at Honeydukes. It was a gorgeous sunny day despite the frigid April weather. Looking up for a moment from her intent study of the new flavors of Fizzing Whizbees, her favorite candy, Lily watched Frank reaching for Alice's hand as they gazed adoringly into each others' eyes. Lily sighed. It was such a shame that the only boy who liked her was Potter. She turned to see Emmeline standing by her.
"What flavor this time, Lils?" inquired Emmeline, with an amused smile. "You've been standing in front of the Fizzing Whizbees for five minutes. What are you thinking about?"
Lily gave her a wry smile. "I just wish some wonderful guy would fall madly in love with me—see how happy Alice and Frank are?"
"Yeah," agreed Emmeline. Then, she smirked. "I'm sure Potter wouldn't object to being called wonderful." Lily rolled her eyes at Emmeline after her smarmy remark.
"Potter wouldn't object to being told that he was the most amazing thing on this earth if someone decided to mention it to him," Lily snorted and muttered just loudly enough to be heard, although Emmeline really wasn't paying attention since she had just seen Sirius, and decided to walk over to the other side of the sweet shop. However, sardonic laughter greeted Lily's ears. She turned around only to see Severus Snape watching her.
"Potter's head is so big it will probably explode sometime soon. His chance at life after the age of twenty is highly unlikely," Snape said somewhat bitterly.
"Quite likely. I guess you aren't part of his fan club, Snape," laughed Lily.
"You don't seem to be either, Evans." volunteered Snape, stepping forward as he spoke in a lower voice. "I guess that's something we have in common."
'What the heck?' thought Lily to herself, confused by Severus's statement. Her disturbing thoughts were interrupted when Potter grabbed Snape by his collar and said in a rough voice, "Don't mess with Evans."
"Potter!" reprimanded Lily, trying to rip his sinewy hands away from Snape's collar. "He wasn't being any more annoying than you are! In fact, you're worse!"
"Oh, so you like Slytherins better than Gryffindors, Evans?" barked James angrily, releasing Snape with a push. "I didn't think you would sink that low."
"What do you mean, that low?" demanded Lily in a dangerous voice.
Snape got up, rubbing his neck which had been chafed by his tugged-on collar. "She likes guys who don't piss her off all the time, Potter. So that wouldn't be you," Snape said with an ugly look on his face. Lily glanced at both of them heatedly, before stalking off towards Emmeline, who protectively steered Lily off into a different corner of the shop to check out. James, after giving Snape one last venomous look, made his way back to Sirius. The Slytherin merely exited the shop, leaving behind a disgusted look for James.
"Sicko," growled James to Sirius, who had been staring at the retreating figures of Emmeline and Lily now located too far away for him to have his arm around Emmeline.
"Who?" asked Sirius a little warily. James certainly was easy to irritate these days.
"Snivellus. He's trying to get his hands on Evans!" raged James running his hands through his misbehaving hair out of frustration.
"Evans isn't dumb—she's not going to fall for that slimy Slytherin," declared Sirius in defense of his girlfriend's friend.
"Sure seemed to approve of him more than me," shot back James. "She said I was worse than he was."
"Maybe she's playing hard to get," responded Sirius.
"Well, the game's lasting a very long time," James said darkly.
"Take it in stride. This is Evans we're talking about. She's a headcase. She wasn't screaming with joy when you told her she should join the Quidditch team."
"I have no idea why either. I'm so darn charming you'd think she'd have been swept off her feet the instant I even suggested it," James said self-importantly.
Sirius looked over at Evans, Emmeline, Alice, and Frank, who were standing near the door, obviously about to leave. He sighed. "I better go see what's the plan with Emmeline. Maybe we can join them at the Three Broomsticks." Everyone knew that Sirius and Emmeline were dating, but it wasn't particularly serious.
As Sirius made his way over to them, looking purposefully at Emmeline, Lily turned to Emmeline and asked, "How can you like his friend?"
A deep voice said in reply, "How can you not?" The four fifth-year Gryffindors swiveled around to see Sirius, grinning devilishly behind, although his beaming faded when he saw the stern look Emmeline threw at him.
"What are you two doing here?" asked Lily, pointedly glaring at James.
"Gryffindors stick with Gryffindors," responded James, emphasizing the word Gryffindors. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Surely you know I don't like Snape—because I don't! But don't get any ideas!" Lily added when she saw James' triumphant expression. "Because if I dislike him, I detest you!"
"Children, behave," instructed Alice in her usual motherly way. "No quarreling."
Emmeline laughed. "You're going to make a great mother when you marry Frank, Alice." Everyone laughed, except a blushing Frank and a glaring Alice.
"Maybe we could have a double wedding," suggested James mischievously as he settled his arm around Lily's shoulders, to her great annoyance.
"Don't forget us," added Sirius as he picked Emmeline up as if he were a groom stepping over the threshold, which was very amusing since the Gryffindors had just stepped our the door of the sweet shop. Lily, however wasn't amused because she was still focusing on what James had said and the fact that his arm was much too close for her liking.
"Don't touch me, Potter. And the day we get married is a day that will never come," Lily commanded, shaking his arm off her shoulders immediately.
"What? You don't want them to know of our secret engagement? I see. Sort of like you not wanting to let people know what your decision of joining the Gryffindor Quidditch team is going to be, eh? James gibed mercilessly while Lily began plotting how exactly she would kill James Potter.
"Oh yeah!" joined in Sirius, his gray eyes dancing mischievously. "Have you come to your senses about joining the team next year?"
Lily sighed. They just never stopped. She still wasn't sure. "I'm not sure."
"And I thought it would be such an easy decision!" James exclaimed, running his hand arrogantly through his hair. "You'd get to see me all the time, Evans dear! We wouldn't have to sneak out to see each other in the late hours of the night—not that I don't like those late hours." He smirked at Lily's furious expression. She was so cute when she got mad.
Her green eyes flashing, Lily replied seethingly, "It may be an easy decision for someone as simple-minded as you, Potter, but we with our priorities straight realize how much time out of our studies Quidditch would take. And don't you dare ever talk about me and yourself like that again."
"If I didn't know better I'd say you were afraid, Evans," stated James, grinning deviously at her surprised, then angry expression.
"You don't know what you're talking about! Just because I don't broadcast my decisions everywhere doesn't mean I'm afraid. So you know what? Just go away! I really don't want to see you right now—or ever! You just love ruining my free-time, and now I'm going to have to see you at Quidditch practice! So just go away!"
Alice and Emmeline looked at Lily in surprise. They had both known that Lily was planning to go to the Quidditch captain and say that she would join, but she had planned on not telling James because he might go on about his animal magnetism and be a pain. The two girls pulled Lily aside and said, "Why did you just tell him?"
"Because! I'm so stressed, and I think I'm going insane!" exclaimed Lily wildly waving her arms. "I really should be studying for O.W.L.'s! They're in a month!" She started breaking down into tears. Alice and Emmeline exchanged expressions, knowing that Lily had something other than Quidditch and O.W.L's on her mind.
"What's wrong, Lils, what's really wrong?" asked Emmeline, piercing Lily's green eyes with her sharp blue ones.
"Can we talk sometime when those boys aren't waiting for us to come back?" asked Lily, her voice quivering uncharacteristically. "We don't have to talk now, Alice. I know how much Hogsmeade with Frank means to you."
Alice waved it away. "No, Lily. You know you and Emmeline are more important than Frank is. At least now," she added dreamily.
Taking command of the situation, Emmeline declared, "I'll go tell them that we won't be going to the Three Broomsticks. We'll be spending some quality time with our best friend who needs to talk to us for more than five minutes."
As Alice continued to comfort Lily, Emmeline walked purposefully towards Frank, Sirius, and James, suddenly wondering where Remus and Peter were. She would find out later…
"Why aren't Lily and Alice with you?" asked Frank anxiously. "Is Lily alright?"
Emmeline smiled at Frank. Alice really had chosen a good guy to be her sweet heart. "Lily needs us. She's going through some emotional stress right now." At this, James looked guilty.
James inquired a bit nervously, "Did I really go that far?" Sirius too seemed a bit fidgety, knowing that he supported James in everything he did.
Emmeline turned to James. "Lily was already acting a bit uptight before you came and pushed her over the edge. Apparently, she's got a lot more on her mind than school and Quidditch, which really are enough as it is."
James looked down. "Oh," he replied.
"So does that mean we won't be going to the Three Broomsticks together?" asked Sirius, voicing Frank's thoughts exactly.
"Yes," Emmeline responded, and then turned to Sirius. "Sorry we can't, Sirius. But Lily's my best friend, and she needs me."
"I do, too!" Sirius said, his eyes regaining their jollity. He wrapped his arms around Emmeline and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek, reminding Emmeline once again of an over-excited puppy. She surprised him when she said, "So long, Padfoot." He stood there, next to a laughing James and non-the-wiser Frank as the tall brunette returned to her friends.
James chortled. "Looks like she thinks you're a dog too, Padfoot. Maybe you'll get lucky and get a leash for Christmas."
Sirius puffed up his chest and cleared his throat. "No, it just means I have animal magnetism."
Meanwhile, Lily, Alice, and Emmeline wended their way back to Hogwarts while Lily vented.
"Well, it's not just Quidditch, or grades—it's the fact that everything seems to be changing this year," began Lily slowly, feeling a bit better after her outburst.
"This year's nearly over," said Alice quietly. "Things are probably only going to get worse in the department of change."
"Especially with that psychopathic Lord Voldemort person trying to kill Muggleborns," added Emmeline. To this comment, Lily reacted swiftly.
"Yes!" responded Lily, her green eyes beaming brightly at what she was about to say. "That's one of my main worries—besides school of course. I've been thinking that we should start a small club where we can learn hands-on dueling."
"That's a brilliant idea, Lil! Then at least we'd feel that we're learning how to fight against that monster!" exclaimed Alice encouragingly.
"Wait—so let me get this straight, Lily—you want to start a dueling club…for just Gryffindors? For all the houses? From age what to what?" Emmeline's control-freak attitude clicked on at the word club.
"Well…,"mumbled Lily, blushing a little, "I was thinking the whole school from fifth year and on."
"What teacher would sponsor it?" demanded Emmeline, writing in the air as if she were mentally writing up lists and checking them off one by one.
"The Defense teacher of course, Emmeline!" said Alice, shaking her head at Emmeline's organizational skills. "Maybe you should do more than just be organized, Em!"
Lily, seeing where Alice was going with this, agreed with, "Like being logical for example."
Emmeline stuck her tongue out and continued with, "And just, logically speaking, whose going to be teaching us all those fun hexes and curses?"
This was the part Lily hadn't really wanted to talk about. Indeed, she had greatly pondered this herself.
"Um, well, I thought we perhaps could. We're all very good at Defense, and I thought if we introduced a new anti-dark hex or curse or defense mechanism each meeting, we'd be fine on our own. And of course, we could insource (A/N: the U.S. outsources to other countries—see the connection?) to other talented people too."
"Yeah—like Sirius!" cried out Emmeline.
"You're starting to turn to the Marauders' side, Emmeline," scolded Lily, her mouth twitching a bit at Emmeline's new-found affection for the silliest of the Marauders.
"Oh horror!" laughed Alice. "But on a more serious note—no pun intended (the girls laughed), the so-called Marauders minus Peter are very good at Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Potter gets a lot of practice hexing other students each day," commented Lily disgustedly.
"Especially hexing Snape," added Alice.
"Speaking of Snape, what's up with you and Snape, Lily?" inquired Emmeline curiously, and with a bit of anxiety in her voice. "I saw you two talking at Honeydukes."
"Oh, well, we both share a mutual loathing for Potter—that's all," Lily replied lightly.
"Potter seemed to think it was more than that," Emmeline declared, turning to face Lily.
"What happened?" asked Alice. "I didn't see."
After Emmeline explained from her point of view to Alice what had taken place, Lily finally told her friends how odd Snape had acted. "It was eerie: it was like he was flirting with me in a sort of sneaky—"
"Slytherin way," finished a voice from behind them. They turned around to see James and Sirius standing behind them, stuffing a shimmery bundle into his cloak.
"Why didn't we notice you there before?" demanded Lily in cold fury.
"I'm a master of disguise, didn't you know?" retorted James, smirking at Lily's pink cheeks. He could tell she was embarrassed that he had heard her and her friends' conversation.
"I think you should master something called consideration and humility first," responded Lily icily, as Emmeline also sent him and Sirius a withering look. Sirius tried to look sorry as he went over to Emmeline attempting a hug. However, Emmeline merely pushed him away, as she and Alice moved closer to Lily who had stepped towards James.
James, realizing how close they were, wasn't sure whether to be worried or to take advantage of the situation. "I think you like me already, Evans. You just don't want to admit it. Otherwise, why would you have gotten so close? You just can't resist me."
"Potter, once you realize that your immature and inconsiderate attitude is as unattractive as an acromantula, maybe I'll actually have positive reasons for getting close to you. Until then, it's only to do this." The three girls left, going into Hogwarts' castle.
James rubbed the stinging, red spot on his face, a strange smile flickering on his thin, bespectacled face. "What does an acromatula look like again, Padfoot?" But for some reason, Sirius didn't answer. "Padfoot?" James didn't see Sirius anywhere. Sighing, he looked down at the ground, only to see Sirius lying there spellbound, literally. James chuckled. "Emmeline obviously didn't want you to follow her anymore, huh, Padfoot? Finite Incantem."
Sirius hopped up and said, "Boy—Emmeline can sure do a good full-body bind. What was that question again, Prongs?"
"What does an acromantula look like?"
"Your face when Evans is finished slapping it."
Hehehe REVIEW my lovely reviewers! Or I shall set my acromantulas on you! Muahahahahaha! PhoenixPlume