They shared their second class, Care of Magical Creatures, with James. Lily was a wreck as she and Marlene hurried across the grounds, a warm wind whipping at their robes.
"This is a stupid class anyway," rambled Lily furtively, "I don't know why I take it at all because it's completely pointless. There's no practical—"
"You take it because you love it," replied Marlene patiently as they picked up their pace. Lily noticed that Marlene was awfully tolerant with her a lot; she ought to remember to thank Marlene later. "You're just worried because James will be there and you've been thinking about him all last period."
"This is true," admitted Lily guiltily as they neared the paddock. "I don't know why I get so angry around him though, when if I really like him I—"
"You're trying not to show him how you feel. That's it," answered Marlene. "Although I thought you had wised up a bit on the Hogwarts Express, maybe if we had thrown you two into a compartment together—"
"Marlene!" They were there. The class was of about sixteen, with members of all houses. Dorcas and Emmeline didn't take this class, but all of James' friends did. Professor Grubbly-Plank gave Lily and Marlene a shifty look as they arrived, breathless, and then she began the lesson, launching into something about dragon scale rot.
Needless to say, Lily couldn't concentrate. She stared only at her notes, pausing occasionally to look up at the professor. Her quill whipped across the parchment in slanted loops; she was taking more notes than she ever did normally. Lily was willing herself not to doodle (which would inevitably lead to pictures of unspeakable things) or to daydream (which would inevitably lead to fantasies of unspeakable things) or to look at James, under any circumstances (which itself was unspeakable). She had the vague impression that he was looking at her, but she did not move so much as a neck muscle to turn her head.
Luckily, Professor Grubbly-Plank was one to lecture and not ask too many questions so that Lily never had to abandon her charade. As soon as the class ended, Lily gathered up her supplies and fairly ran for it. Marlene panted at her heels all the way to the castle.
"Lily," gasped out Marlene. "I'm out of breath."
"Sorry," said Lily immediately, slowing to a walk as they headed to Transfiguration. Marlene inhaled deeply and sputtered as the Fat Friar floated right through her. Lily whacked Marlene on the back.
"It's okay, Lily," she coughed.
"No really, Marlene, I am sorry. I've been behaving very…ah…erratically lately. I decided something in Care of Magical Creatures, when I was actually trying not to think about deciding anything. I'm just going to act normal, as if James was a friend, and see what happens."
"You work on that," spluttered Marlene. "Good for you." Lily gave her a sharp look.
"You sure you're alright?"
"Course I am," answered Marlene bracingly, controlling her coughs. "Nothing Transfiguration with James Potter can't fix—" Lily elbowed her and they laughed together as they entered Professor McGonagall's room.
All day, Lily practiced her hastily-decided mantra. She refrained from running out of the room when James smiled "hello" at her and she didn't collapse into a puddle when he suggested they work together on reviewing human transfiguration. All in all, everything went well. Lily even kept a lock of her hair violet after Transfiguration, although James had offered to take it out for her. Lily managed to get through classes, lunch, and even dinner without a panic attack. She knew that she was causing herself all of these extreme feelings; Lily smiled over her goulash at dinner. We women are crazy, she thought, stabbing at an errant potato. I'll bet James doesn't do this to himself every time he's around me. I'll be none of them do. I'll bet even more that I'm completely blowing this entire thing out of the water, and sending mixed signals, and all of the other things men complain about. Yes, I must be. Oh well.
Lily wound up in the girls dormitory after dinner to get started on a Potions essay on Amortentia. She remembered her own Amortentia; it smelled like wildflowers and wet rain and…well, and James Potter. She had detected an odor of her parents' kitchen as well, which was the third scent she had chosen to write about. Lily filled her entire roll of parchment with red-inked lines. It took her several hours because she often detoured mentally into detailed daydreams and meandering musings. Lily was rolling up the parchment just as Dorcas, Marlene, and Emmeline burst in, the latter two giggling madly.
"What's this?" asked Lily brightly, complacently cheerful for some reason. Dorcas frowned as Emmeline and Marlene tried to control themselves. Emmeline spoke first.
"Dorcas is receiving a…correspondence!' she cried triumphantly, waving a sealed envelope in the air. Dorcas snatched it away and poked it with her wand, "Envanesco!" It disappeared and Dorcas cried, "Hah!"
"Oooh, who from?" Lily pulled her knees to her chest and settled more comfortably into her bed. Dorcas looked for a moment as if she wasn't going to tell. She then gave in and looked down, quietly saying,
"Fabian Prewett."
Emmeline and Marlene broke into giggles again—even Dorcas offered a small smile—before Emmeline continued, "And that's why that handsome screech owl left Dorcas this little memo this morning, which tumbled out of her robes as on the way up the stairs—"
"Dorcas, I'm so happy for you," interjected Lily. She hadn't even noticed that Dorcas had gotten a letter, of course, but Dorcas brightened up.
"Thanks Lily." They looked at each other and each giggled just a little bit.
"So, that's the 'muggle' you met over summer holidays?" asked Lily. Dorcas went red.
"I…er, yes. I didn't really want to say anything then. If I had said 'wizard' you lot would've been too suspicious, as I thought… He is quite a bit older you know, you might've thought it was weird or…or something…" Emmeline laughed and said,
"Oh Dorrie, we know Fabian Prewett is very fanciable. And after all, would any of us make fun of you for snagging an older gentleman who sends you post on the very first day of school?" Dorcas picked up her pillow and viciously swiped Emmeline over the head.
"Yes, you woud've," replied Dorcas smartly. "And yes, you did. But I don't care, because I really like him, and he really likes me, and I've even met his older brother Gideon, who seems really nice as well. We were together all summer you know, and we talked about loads of things. He taught me more about Quidditch and—"
"—snogging the Merlin out of people?" asked Emmeline innocently with a wicked look in her eyes. Dorcas fumed and tackled Emmeline as Lily and Marlene burst into laughter. Lily found it hard to believe that such different people were best friends. Dorcas was shorter and had a slim, athletic build, and was very blonde, with a sharp-boned face and kind eyes. And Dorcas never paid great attention to her looks. Emmeline was taller than all of them, with dazzling dark hair and eyes and proud features. She always created her bright red lips in the morning and she spent copious amounts of time arranging her luscious hair into elegant confections. Together though, the two of them laughed more than Lily would ever think possible for that odd of a pair. And they were excellent witches in addition.
Eventually, Dorcas and Emmeline resurfaced: Dorcas' ponytail mussed and Emmeline's hair freed of its pins and ribbons. Emmeline was still laughing. Finally Lily spoke up, doing her best not to sound accusatory.
"Do you feel like you're taking this fast, Dorcas?" she mused. "Or is this just a… thing?" Dorcas frowned, though it didn't seem to be directed at Lily; rather, Dorcas appeared to be thinking about this herself. Marlene perked up very timidly,
"Well, with You-Know-Who, we're all…kind of moving faster. We don't know what time we'll have left, you know? Anything could happen any day. Might as well live while we can." Silence greeted this introspective sally. Lily was pensive. Could she possibly be manufacturing all of these feelings for James Potter out of fear? Did she really have a crush on him? Was she rushing to have a relationship because, on some subconscious level, she was afraid of Voldemort?
"Caradoc asked me out. I said yes," said Emmeline quietly, after an awkward moment. Dorcas looked up at her.
"Did you snog?"
Emmeline paused a moment and then, almost shamefaced, said, "Yes." Dorcas broke into laughter and slapped Emmeline on the back. Lily also laughed, and even Marlene gave a big smile.
"And he was very good," she added defensively. Dorcas rolled over, clutching her stomach while Lily held onto the bedpost for support.
There was a soft tapping on the door to the dormitory. Emmeline opened it to find a spellbook levitating in the air, gently hitting into the doorjamb. She looked down to see a chuckling Sirius, an amused James, a scowling Remus, and a squealing Peter waiting in the common room, looking up expectantly. Emmeline plucked the spellbook out of the air; apparently, the book belonged to Remus. Written on the front, in bold, black letters, were the words "LOOK AT THE TIME." Emmeline laughed and winked at the boys before shutting the door. She caught Sirius making a suggestive signal before she turned to the redhead on the second bed.
"Oh Evans," said Emmeline, handing the spellbook to Lily, "I think it may be time for you to patrol." Lily stood up and smiled weakly.