Chapter Two

"I've changed"

By the end of the day, I was in love with Windy Meadows –that was, Ellie told me, the name of her house-. We had spent all day, exploring the house, and the land around it. Ellie showed me the trail she had discovered years ago, that led down to a water hole fed by the same spring that fed the lake. It was beautiful and felt very private –Ellie told me that she thinks only she knows of it-. The spot had large rocks perfect for sunbathing, and a couple of weeping willows dangled their long branches into the water. We spent about three hours swimming down there, and then headed up to the house, feeling very hungry.

"What would feel absolutely fantastic right about now, is a hot bubble bath, and then dinner." I said.

"Mmmm. That does sound nice! How about we make that into a plan!"

By then we had reached the house.

"C'mon, I'll show you where the towels are. And then you can take a bath." Ellie said.

"Okay! You gonna take one after me?"

"Yep."

The bathtub was just like the prefect bathtub at Hogwarts. It was big, and had tons of different bubbles spewing out of faucets. I have never been a quick bather, but today I spent extra long in the bathtub. It's okay, I thought to myself, I mean sure, the guy I absolutely hate, is spending the summer in the same house as I am. But all I have to do is ignore him. And it's not like I actually have to spend that much time with him.

Except for the two dinners a week, doubting, scheming, Evil Me said, and do you really think that ignoring him is going to work? What have you been trying to do for the last three years? And while we're at it, what is Potter doing here at all? Doesn't he have family and friends of his own to go to? As upset as I had been about being in the vicinity of Potter, I'd forgotten to ask why he was here.

That's enough. the rational part of my brain Good Me said, first of all, we didn't ignore him for the total three years. We did try and get back at him a couple of times. Not that it ever worked but… And who knows why he's here? Maybe he was in desperate need of a place to stay for the summer?

I ended my brains discussion by reaching for my fluffy towel, and stepping out of the bath. I wrapped the towel around me and started brushing my long red hair. I always brush and put up my hair before getting dressed. Otherwise my wet hair drips down onto my dry clothes. I quickly braided it, and then opened the door and walked into the room Ellie and I were sharing. I looked around and saw Ellie reading a book on her bed.

"How was your bath?" Ellie asked me.

"Great! Those bathtubs are as fancy as the prefects, ones!"

"Now you know why I wasn't so impressed by the prefect bathtubs! I know it's bad, but what about take-out Chinese for dinner? I'm way too tired to cook, or to eat out."

I laughed, "Finally we don't have annoying parents to look over our shoulders and recite just how many fats, calories, and sugar is in it!"

"I'm going to go take a nice, long, bubbly bath. You can order if you want. And help yourself to whatever's in the fridge. I couldn't wait, so I had a snack."

"Sounds good. I'm starving!" I headed toward my still unpacked bags. I pulled out a pair of slightly worn jeans, a pair of underwear, a bra, and a soft blue shirt. I started to get dressed.

"And, Lily, would you please try not to fight with James?"

"I'm not promising anything! Please don't forget, that James, not me, is the one whose head is bigger than an elephant. Why's he here anyway? Doesn't he have his own friends and family to spend the summer with?"

"Yeah, but his parents are old friends of the families, and they're away on a "Re-instating our wedding vows" cruise. I dunno why they need to re-instate their vows… They've been married for like, twenty years or something. Anyway, since his parents are going away alone, and my parents are going away alone, and my parents worry about me staying alone…. He was invited to spend the summer with us."

"I knew your parents were friends with the Potters –after all, most pure-blooded families know each other-, but I didn't know they were "old friends of the families". Why didn't you tell me? Do you associate a lot?" I asked.

"First of all, I didn't know you didn't know, about them being family friends. Second, it's not like we "associate" with them that much. I mean my parents do, during the school year but… The only times I've associated with James are when we're both at parties, where we're the only ones under forty, and we hang out. And Third of all, just because James is a little misguided, doesn't mean his family is. They're actually quite nice. And I've never pretended to hate James" Ellie said defensively.

I have a… er –slight reputation for having a temper. Okay, a bit more than slight.

What Ellie had said about not hating James was true.

My friends were split into groups: The ones who hated the Marauders, the ones that didn't hate them, and the ones who thought the Marauders were the absolute, hottest things on earth.

Not that I'm saying that they aren't. I do realize they are good-looking, but I mean, come on! They're gits! I'm also not saying that I have so many friends I have to categorize them. I'm not extremely popular, but I do have a fair amount of friends.

"I'm not mad!" I grinned at her.

"Good" Ellie said with obvious relief. She grabbed her towel and headed into the bathroom shutting the door behind her.

By now fully dressed, I decided to head downstairs and get something to eat.

When I got to the kitchen I poured myself I glass of iced-tea and made myself some crackers topped with jelly and cheese (as gross as that might sound; it's delicious!). I picked up my plate, and opened the French-Windows, onto the back deck.

I found Potter sitting and –you guessed it- eating something. I don't actually know what, seeing as I was doing my best to ignore him. He was making that task awfully difficult, though.

"Have you had a good day?" He asked me as I was sitting down on one of the plush outdoor seats next to him.

"Yeah. It was good." I was trying my best to be civil.

"What did you do?"

"Oh we, explored the house, took a walk in the woods, went swimming. It was fun."

"Good."

After a couple minutes of silence, except for the sounds of me eating my crackers, he turned to me, gazing at me with his dark brown eyes. "You're not even going to try and make this work, are you?"

"Make what work? There's nothing to work?"

"I mean, you're not even going to ask me how my day was, or at least be civil."

"Civil! I am being civil! I answered you didn't I! I didn't totally ignore you!"

"I was just hoping for a little more civility. Maybe even a conversation. Apparently that was too much to ask."

"Since when have you been "Mr. Civil"! Where was Mr. Civil, when you asked me out for two straight years in a row, while at the same time pulling off thousands of pranks, all of which were targeted at me! Where was Mr. Civil then, huh!"

"Hey, I'm sorry, okay? I was immature! I apologize! I've changed. At least I'm trying to change" he added as an afterthought. "I just want you to give me a chance. I swear, if you just get to know me, you might actually like me. And if you do get to know me and still don't like me… Well, then I'll give up. Stop asking you out."

I looked away from the intense look in his eyes, and watched the sun set.

"Does this mean you'll go out with me?" Potter asked hopefully.

I gave a sigh of frustration, picked up my plate and went back inside. Would he ever learn!

Hope you like it! Please review!

Rachel