Chapter 14

Later that afternoon……

Lily was sitting comfortably on the couch in her suite, reading a book, savoring the peace and quiet. It had probably been an hour since the delegation had ended, and she was resting since she felt tired. Besides, James wasn't there, so she decided to take advantage of the vacancy and peacefulness of the room.

Where could Potter be, I wonder, Lily absentmindedly thought as she turned a page. Hmm, probably looking around for new girls to date.

Why do you care, her subconscious, whom she had grown very annoyed of, replied in the same sly voice, Really, why? Jealous?

No, she replied. Why would I be?

She stopped her mind from thinking the answer that she knew was coming up. Suddenly, the door opened and in came James.

"Well, speak of the devil. I was just taking about you, actually," Lily said absentmindedly, not really paying attention to what she was saying. As a result, her sub-conscious kind of took over.

James looked confused. "Okay, Evans, what? You're talking to whom, may I ask?"

"Myself," she said again. The word slipped out her mouth before she could stop them.

James grinned. "I see. Well, I guess this explains everything. You see, they say that talking to oneself is the first sign of madness".

At this, Lily snapped from her thoughts and gave James a level stare. "Haha, Potter. Funny, I could've sworn I've seen you countless times talking to an imaginary friend named Snuffles out of nowhere".

James gulped, for Lily had just mentioned one of the countless instances that Sirius and James had been sneaking off after hours, and Sirius was using James's invisibility cloak. However, he managed to maintain his cool.

"Haha, funny Evans. Really hilarious. So," he said, walking over nearer to her. "What are we going to do about the assignment Ms. Vallarie gave us?"

"What assignment?" Lily idly turned a page of the book.

"That Trust Fall assignment! Remember, we have to perform it in front of everyone, and I have no intention of making a fool out of my self," James said, folding his arms and looking at her expectantly.

Lily stood up. "Oh, damn, I forgot! How're we gonna do this? We obviously don't trust each other and we cant pretend, since it wouldn't work, so, how're we going to pull this off?"

James looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, um, how about we………"

He never got to finish his sentence because someone knocked on the door. Lily walked across the room to open the door. After conversing with the man she saw there for a few minutes, she turned and said to James, "Hey Potter. I have a phone call from Jake (let's just say this hotel uses phones as one of the means of communication) at the lobby. I'll be back in a few minutes, okay? Try to think of something while I'm gone". And with that, she left, closing the door softly behind her.

James shook his head as he sat down on the sofa, trying to think about a plan, but instead found himself thinking how awesome it would be if he were Lily's boyfriend instead.

..------..

Around twenty minutes later, James still hadn't thought of anything. He had already quit thinking about Lily, and had tried to focus on their problem, but he couldn't rack his brain for even one single idea.

Suddenly, the door opened and in came a very agitated-looking Lily, who slammed the door as she walked into the living room. James looked up at her in puzzlement, his brow raised.

"What gotten into you? Did you and Jake break up or something?" he asked her, trying to keep his voice far from hopeful as he said the last bits.

"No, of course we haven't broken up, so stop hoping that we will, because it's not going to happen, you sadistic prat!" Lily screamed at him.

James was genuinely taken aback. "Whoa there, Evans, no need to bite my head off. What's wrong with you? What's gotten you all crabby suddenly?

Lily took deep, even breaths as if to calm herself down. She sat on the sofa and stayed silent, her arms folded.

"What the hell happened to you?" James asked her.

Lily sighed and replied, "I ran into a certain person this afternoon".

"Person? As in, who?"

"As in Alison Kay," Lily replied, scowling. James could understand her expression. Alison Kay was a former Hogwarts student who was in the same year as them, but got transferred to Durmstrang. Oh, and did I mention that she was a spoiled evil person too?

"Kay? What the bloody hell is she doing here?" James exclaimed.

"She's the Head Girl of Durmstrang. And the worlds biggest prat to boot," Lily said.

"I thought I was the world's biggest prat?" he said teasingly. At Lily's narrowed glare, however, he straightened himself and said, "She made Head Girl? That's impossible! She's not in the least bit responsible, and she sure as hell isn't smart".

"And she belongs to one of the richest pureblood families in England who have connections to Bulgaria, and she has a father who spoils her terribly," Lily cut in ruefully, her anger seething with every word. James got what she had said right away.

"Unbelievable," he shook his head. "But what'd she do to you to make you so pissed off?"

"The usual. Just the insults and threats," Lily said, sighing.

James shook his head. He didn't like Alison Kay either. "Right. Hey, about our trust Fall thing, um, how about we ask the receptionist if there's a conference room that's unoccupied. I'd rather not practice here, who knows? Even with magic, we might be able to break something. Namely us," he said.

Lily nodded. "I can't believe I'm saying this but you have a point. Let's go". And with that, the two left the suit.

A few minutes later, after she and James had asked, they headed to where the unoccupied room was at. They were already near the door when Lily exclaimed, "Urgh, my bracelet fell. Go ahead, I'll get in later". James shrugged and went in.

Lily had just found her bracelet after a minute or so of searching and was putting it on when suddenly, a figure appeared before her.

Lily looked, and a scowl set on her face. Before her was Alison Kay, the former Hogwarts student, who had been in their year, but had gotten transferred by her father to Durmstrang. She was also one of Lily's enemies.

"Well, well, Lily Evans, what are you doing here again? Oh, I know, you're here for the prissy prude's convention!" Alison said smugly, folding her arms as she eyed Lily's conservative and casual apparel.

"Well, well, Alison Kay, what are you doing here again? Oh, I know, you're probably here for the dumb hussy convention!" Lily retorted, eyeing Alison's spaghetti top and micro-mini skirt distastefully. "Why are you here? Didn't pissing me off earlier satisfy you enough?"

"No. And shut up Evans. I happen to be here because I'm Head Girl of Durmstrang Institute," Alison said in the same smug voice.

"They made you Head Girl? Tell me, how much did you father pay for you to get that position? A million galleons? I wouldn't be surprised," Lily said, fixing the girl with a level glare which Alison returned, her eyes looking quite scary from the intense eye shadow.

"Excuse me, I became Head Girl because I am pretty, popular, and smart".

Lily gave out a laugh. "You? Smart? Oh really? Well, then, everyone else at your school must be really, really, stupid if they think that you're smart".

"Quit it, Evans. I know spells that you wouldn't dream about," Alison hissed, her eyes narrowing.

"Of course you do. You see, I don't dream about hair straightening spells, or make-up spells. But, you really must tell me something, because I'm really curious. What spell did you use to make all that make-up be able to cover all your scales you all a face? I didn't think it was humanly possible," Lily said. How she hated Alison. The girl seemed to make the sharp-tongued Lily appear from within her.

"I can actually hurt you, you know, with a flick of my wand," Alison said dangerously. This time she was being serious. She wanted to get back at Lily.

"Sure you can. You can either say a spell that goes horribly wrong, or you can hit me with your wand. Whichever will result in my untimely death," Lily said dryly.

Alison's mood changed abruptly. "By the way, Evans, how is Jake? And tell me, how on earth did you manage to brew a love potion strong enough for him to like you? It must be really strong, because, not only Jake gets attracted, but James Potter is as well. I pity them. You see, they've fallen into the trap of someone who is nothing more than a haughty, pretentious, and worthless mudblood, who probably makes her also worthless mudblood parents cry with shame".

Lily's tone of voice changed. Her eyes narrowed as she hissed, "You can insult me, and call me whatever you like, but don't you dare insult my parents. They are great people, you don't know them, and they've done nothing to you".

"Actually, they did," Alison said. "They made and had you".

In the same sort of voice, Lily struggled to control herself as she said, "Listen Kay, you don't know how tempting it is to slap that make-up and that smug look off your face. I suggest you get the hell out of my sight, and go be a bitch to someone else before I show you what I can really do with my wand. You'd be surprised at how many hexes and curses I know". She drew her wand.

Alison's eyes darkened, hatred burning in them. She wanted to retort, but saw that Lily was serious. Not wanting to damage her image and herself, she merely contented herself with hissing, "This isn't over Evans", and leaving in a huff. Lily smugly looked at her retreating figure.

Suddenly, someone clapped. Lily turned around, and saw James standing there, slightly grinning.

"Whoa, Evans, who knew you, could be such a threateningly sharp-tongued vixen?" James asked her as she stepped into the empty room.

"You should. After all, I've shown you that side a million times". She retorted.

"Yeah, well, for now, you'll have to hide that side and go back to the supposedly nice and rule-following Lily Evans everyone knows since we really have to be able to do this Trust Fall thing properly".

"And for that to be done, we have to establish an 'air of calmness and easy-going attitude with a touch of trust around us'" Lily said, the last remnants of her anger gone.

"Where'd you get that from?" James inquired.

"From a Muggle psychology book I read during the summer".

"You read psychology books? Now I know that you're crazy. I mean, who else would read those kinds of books aside from demented psychopaths?" James asked, definitely not understanding how Muggle psychology books worked and what they contained.

"Muggles, especially smart ones, read them," Lily informed him, laughing.

After a while, James laughed as well. Wow, he looks cute when he laughs, Lily thought, this time not bothering to change her own thoughts. She knew now that she didn't really hate him, but she didn't know how she felt about him either.

"So you're saying your smart?" James asked her, grinning.

"Hmm, I guess I am," Lily said with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"You're so full of yourself, do you know that?" James said. He was inwardly grinning; this was a very nice change from all the yelling.

"Oh speak for yourself, James," Lily said, still laughing. At that instant, they froze.

"Hey," James said slowly after a few minutes, "You called me by my first name. Not Potter, not Mr. Egoistical Prat, but James". He seemed astounded.

Lily was as well. "Um, uh, well I, wasn't really paying attention to what I'm saying and uh……"

"Listen," James said. "Judging from what just happened today, it seems as if we are actually capable of holding a decent conversation without hexing each other. So, why don't we, I don't know, start over? I mean, we want to win this thing, and if we still continue fighting, we'll drive each other crazy, so……….."

Lily though about it for a couple of minutes, then smiled. "Alright. It's not gonna be easy forgetting all the years of annoyance that you've sent me, but, I think it'll be better for us to start over. Better, not just for us, but for everyone as well".

James grinned. "Perfect. Now that's agreed…" he extended his hand. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm James Michael Potter, from Gryffindor House at Hogwarts".

Lily smiled as she shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too, I'm Lily Elizabeth Evans, also from Hogwarts School, Gryffindor House".

At that moment, they both cracked up laughing. After regaining their composure after a while, James said, "Alright, come one, let's start, Lily".

"Alright, James".

They both smiled as they prepared themselves and began to try the task.

..------..

The next day, Lily and James walked into the conference Hall to begin Day 2 of the delegation. They talked to each other while waiting for it to begin.

A few minutes later, Ms. Vallarie took center stage. "Welcome, students, to the second day of this delegation! Now, before we start with our activity, let us first have the demonstration of the Trust Fall. When the pair is called, please come in front and execute the task".

She began to call out random pairs until finally, she called out, "Lily Evans and James Potter, Hogwarts". Everyone in the room waited with baited breath as the two headed up in front. What would happen this time?

Ms. Vallarie gave them a nod to begin. They looked at each other briefly before going into their positions, with Lily being the one falling. Then, she leaned backward……

……..And James was able to catch her perfectly.

Hi to everyone! Look, I am a million times sorry for not updating in a few days. You see, school's really taking up most of it, what with quizzes and stuff, though it's still the third day. I apologize. But please, still review this story! Do you think their truce was too soon, or what? I'd love to hear feedback from all of you. Until then!