Things returned to normal standards at school. James and Remus managed a friendship. The whole school found out about Lily and Remus within the first two weeks of school. The friends even started with their pranks. Damien didn't take part in the jokes, though. The only thing different with any of the friends was Lily was always worn out by the end of the day.
Lily also had to deal with knowing that both Remus and James loved her. Remus would be holding her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, when she would look up and see James looking at her with what she believed to be a mixture of want and love in his eyes. A want and love that she would one day have him express freely to her.
Lily was lying in her bed one night after feeling exhausted from the day when she decided to read one of her old books. She lit a lamp on her bedside table and reached into the trunk at the foot of her bed. She pulled out a book about Queen Guinevere and her rein beside Arthur's side. She was wrapped up in the book and barely acknowledged her friends when they came into the dorm for bed.
She was well into the night when she was reading the parts of how her and Lancelot's love came to be. How they shared a love for the other but for Arthur's sake they denied themselves the passion and the warmth of the other's bed. They would occasionally kiss but when her stepson, Mordred, came to court they both knew it would be next to impossible for them to run away together. Guinevere took young Mordred in as her own at the age of eleven when his older half brother lopped of their mother's head when she was found with the son of her husband's murderer in her bed.
Lily shivered at the thought of being murdered in such a way by her own son. As she thought of the Celtic queen, she reminded Lily more like herself. Caught between two loves and unable to say no to the other. A torture made worse for Guinevere when her Lancelot was tricked into the bed of a younger woman and had a son from that coupling. Guinevere had come to love Arthur through their marriage, but she loved Lancelot by chance, as all good loves do. Lily felt glad that she wouldn't have to deal with problems like her idol did. Guinevere was her idol because of her strength, determination, and her passion in all that she did.
Coming back to reality, Lily looked out her window at the crescent moon. Judging by its position, it was about two or three in the morning. Figuring she would need her sleep, she put her book down and crawled under her covers. She blew out the lamp and closed her eyes.
In her dreams, she saw herself as the Celtic queen. She was in a court at suppertime. To her left was her husband and king. A fair headed man. To her right sat her champion and love. He was a dark haired man. She laughed at the playful bantering each gave and her love for each was obvious. Yet, she couldn't go to the man on her right for then she would be unfaithful to the man on her left. It was her obligation to go to the left.
It was nearly eight in the morning when Lily woke. Looking back on her dream, she knew that it represented her, Remus, and James. The fair-headed one was Remus and the dark-headed one was James. It was weird to her how much the triangle she was part of was so much like that of her idol's. Shaking off the dream, she got up and dressed. Heading down the steps, she noticed that all her friends were already down and waiting for her.
Remus stood up and walked over to her. "You all right?" he asked with a hug. "I was worried when you didn't come down and sit with me earlier."
"I'm all right, Remus, honestly. I was just up late reading and I didn't get to sleep till near two maybe three in the morning."
"What were you reading?" Damien called from the table.
"Oh, a lovely book," Lily said with excitement. "It was a book about King Arthur's rein through Guinevere's eyes." Lily's voice showed her affection of Arthur's queen. "Her being the people's queen, her taking in Mordred when he was half-orphaned when his mother died, her love affair with the dark and handsome Lancelot. Ah, Lancelot," she said picturing her image of him. "The queen's brave champion, trusted confidant, and lover. The one women yearned for but was Guinevere's very own." The other's looked at her as she talked about her passion for the era of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. "Mordred being Guinevere's step-son from Arthur being tricked into bedding his half sister, Morgause. Morgan le Fey and her being a treacherous and deceitful little priestess. Lady of the Lake she became when a raving mad man murdered Vivian. Lot going against Arthur and being killed by good old Pellinore in the Great Battle."
Lily continued on like such for a good few minutes before being brought back to reality by her friends calling her name. "Was I babbling again about my books?" When everyone nodded, Lily blushed and then apologized, saying, "I do that from time to time. Stop me sooner next time." They laughed at the and then went to breakfast.
Lily's books didn't leave her mind all day. After she finished her homework for the day she went up to her dorm and picked up where she left off.
Lily appeared to be having more spunk over the next few days and wasn't as exhausted as she had been at night. She began suggesting the tricks herself. Already having her homework done, Lily would sit in the Common Room and think up a prank. They were almost directed at Malfoy, Snape, Crabbe, and Goyle. Lily was sitting at a table when she came up with a great prank. She would make them have girly voices. Lily called the others over and they thought that it was a great idea. So the next morning, Lily cast the charm on them and the rest of the day they sounded like girls.
When Lily finished reading her Guinevere book, she went to another of her Arthurian books. Every time she read about Guinevere, Arthur, and Lancelot she thought about Remus, James, and herself.