Of Secrets and Stags
'Damn him damn him damn him…' Lily chanted in her mind as she collected her things for Potions. She had to keep calm, perhaps meditate in mid-class. She sighed and shook her head. "Either I or James will die if we have to continue taking classes together like this…" she muttered as she put her bag over her shoulder and, once again, sighed. "Here we go…" she said loudly, attempting to prod herself.
"Just go to breakfast!" Alice yelled exasperatedly, tired of Lily's somewhat insane out loud thoughts.
Lily ate breakfast slowly, glaring at an unaware James every few bites. Alice sighed every time she did so, hoping that she could somehow figure out a way for her to somehow be able to get over her prejudices and somehow be able to stand him.
"Come on, Lily… If we hurry, you can at least get a table by me…" Alice muttered, knowing that James would sit next to her no matter where she sat, and would also give her a better spying position.
"Okay…" Lily said submissively, following her friend to the Potions classroom. Frank walked alongside Alice quietly, and Lily looked between the two of them. She leaned towards Alice and whispered, "Hey, how are you and Frank doing, anyways?"
Alice shrugged. "Alright… Not good, not bad," Alice admitted out loud. Frank raised an eyebrow but continued to simply stare ahead.
"Do you get any quality time with him?" Lily asked.
"Not much," Alice replied, once again out loud instead of whispering like Lily was.
"You ought to!" Lily exclaimed. "It'll never get anywhere unless you do!" Lily said, and immediately covered her mouth.
Frank smirked ever so slightly and chuckled at Lily before putting his arm around Alice. "Don't worry about us… We both get our kicks by helping out other people's relationships… But, you are right. Alice, wanna go take a walk by the lake after classes?"
"I'd be delighted," Alice said sweetly as she squeezed his arm tightly for a second, loosened her grip, but continued to hold on.
Lily smirked and put her hands behind her head. "You two make a cute couple. I wish I had someone that I had like you two have," Lily mused out loud.
Alice laughed and said, "I'm sure there's someone just around the corner—you just have to keep your eyes out and open," she not so subtly hinted, but Lily didn't catch it.
"Yeah… I'll keep them open," Lily said nonchalantly as they entered the Potions classroom. Alice and Frank took the table in the direct middle, as it was the only one that had a table open behind it. Lily sighed and took her seat, knowing it wasn't long until James arrived.
As if right on cue, James walked in just as she sighed. He gave her a small smile and took the seat next to her. 'There was… something different from his usual look… He smiled instead of smirking… Maybe, just maybe—no. Not possible. James couldn't have changed. It's a constant: James will always be a stuck-up, arrogant prick.' Lily thought, faltering from her normal anti-James mood.
Sirius and Remus took the table behind James and Lily, leaving Remus to sit with Snape. James and Sirius winced at the same time, and Remus gave him a sympathetic look. Peter, however, just shrugged it off and gave them a look that plainly said that he'd be all right.
"Okay, class! Let's get started! Today, we'll be doing a very simple yet time-consuming potion that allows you to hear what the drinker is thinking. Can anyone tell me what the name of this potion is?" Professor Slughorn asked, glancing around the room expectantly.
Only a few raised their hands—Lily, James, Remus, Snape and Malfoy. Professor Slughorn pointed to James and muttered, "Potter" just loud enough for him to hear.
"It's called the Telepathy Elixir, Professor Slughorn," James said coldly, making sure to emphasize the Professor. Lily looked at him, shocked for a moment, attempting to figure out what happened.
Professor Slughorn raised an eyebrow, not sure why James was acting so coldly towards him. "Quite right… I suppose working with the brilliant Ms. Evans has had some effect on you, eh? 15 points to Gryffindor," Slughorn said, making most of the Slytherins groan or mutter.
"The directions to the potion on the board—if you don't complete it, you'll have to come back after classes with your partner and finish. Begin," Professor Slughorn announced, instigating everyone to start rustling through their bags for quills, parchment (if they were the type that had to write it down), and supplies.
"Okay… I suppose I'll start chopping the root while you add the flobberworm goop," James suggested. Lily nodded obediently and set the cauldron up in between the two of them. She grabbed the container of "flobberworm goop" and held it over the cauldron, waiting as the "goop" slowly poured out.
"Can… Can I ask you a question?" Lily asked tentatively.
"Respect," James immediately replied.
"Huh?" Lily asked, pulled backwards slightly in surprise.
"Your question was going to be, 'Why did you speak to Professor Slughorn like that? He did nothing wrong,' right?" James asked, flashy her a toothy smirk.
"Well, yeah…" Lily admitted as she hit the bottom of the container to help the flobberworm pus to go faster.
"It was because Professor Slughorn doesn't treat me with as much respect as he does the other students. He called me 'Potter', not 'Mr. Potter'. He called you Ms. Evans, after all, didn't he? He does the same with Sirius—just because we were—are—troublemakers doesn't mean we don't deserve respect, right?" James prompted, hoping that Lily would agree with him.
"You… You have a point. I guess I never noticed it before…" Lily muttered thoughtfully.
"Yeah, few people do. Most Professors do that. The only two that don't are Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall," James replied as he finished chopping up the willow root, adding it to the half-full cauldron of flobberworm pus.
"Now we have to add the powdered Manticore claw and turn it counterclockwise five times, then let it boil…" James muttered as he glanced across the board. "Turn or add the claw?" James asked Lily.
"Um… I'll turn," Lily said as she took the large wooden spoon and began to stir the potion. She glanced over at him as he leaned down and thought about him for a moment before continuing to stir the potion. 'He's… really not as bad… As I thought before… But… My pride won't allow me to act differently towards him… Well, no, that's… not completely true. I can allow myself to at least stop yelling at him and treat him with some degree of respect. He is a deep thinker and he's not as conceited as I thought before, but… He's still an arrogant prick. Maybe he's not stuck-up, though…' Lily gave herself a soft smile before puling away for James to add the powdered claw.
Class ended a little quicker than Lily expected. As soon as class ended and everyone began to head toward the Charms classroom, Alice ran to catch up to Lily (Lily moved faster than her).
"I noticed you and James actually got along," Alice said with a small wink.
"Yeah, well… I don't like him, but I can stand him as a classmate," Lily admitted.
"I see. What, your pride doesn't allow you and him to be friends?" Alice asked with a laugh.
"Well…" Lily began trailing off and biting her bottom lip.
"Oh, my god. You're kidding. It's pride that's the problem?" Alice asked with a shocked expression (and just a slight tone of anger).
"Yeah…" Lily muttered.
"Lily. Give him a chance," Alice said in a demanding tone.
"I am!" Lily exclaimed automatically. "Well, sort of…" she admitted after pausing for a half-minute.
"See? He's… actually a sweet guy, Lily," Alice said softly.
"Sweet? Ha! He's gone from an arrogant, stuck-up prick to an arrogant prick! That's all," Lily said, giving a slight glare at the last few words.
"Lily… You're being stubborn again," Alice said, as if she were talking to a child.
"No, I'm not! I refuse to become friends with him. I'd much rather just be an understanding classmate," Lily said coldly.
"Oh, speaking of that, the full moon is tonight," Alice said coolly, as if she were speaking of Astronomy and not werewolves.
"Huh, you're right…" Lily said.
Alice glanced around quickly and muttered to her, "What are you going to do with James?"
Lily shrugged and replied, "I'm going to ask the Prefects help me patrol and say that James is excused. I'll tell him so myself," Lily said, ending with a sigh.
"Good," Alice said with a small nod as they walked out the door that led to the Herbology greenhouses.
As soon as he was sure that the door was closed and they were long away, Snape came out of his hiding place behind the statue and stared at the door. "I'm going to have to watch Potter tonight…" Snape said in a dangerous tone.