Chapter 6: Cowardice

A/N: It gets a little dramatic here, if you can't tell from the title. This is my attempt at a plot line. lol. Hope it works out. Ps. My favorite character appears for the first time!

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"I'm so tired, Harry," Lily said as she lay her face on her hand, which rested on his crib. "How is it you have the energy to be awake all night?" Harry just smiled and giggled, like he always did. Lily rolled her eyes, showing her true age. She had forgotten she was so young whenever she had Harry. But she was. She was very young...

"Ok, Harry. The next part is not so happy. I hate to say it, but I don't think you will be smiling anymore." She looked down at her son hoping to see someone who could sympathize with her. Instead she was faced with someone who smiled, despite himself. Well, she thought, at least he has a sense of humor.

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The next morning Lily Evans found herself waking to a blinking alarm clock that read "8:30". She had planned out her whole day. She would get up, get dressed, go down to breakfast and then meet the boys in the Library, as she had promised. The day before had basically sealed their understanding. She had been so tickled that they had given her such a great gift the day before that she didn't resent them at all for using her knowledge for personal gain. So when she began to head for the Great Hall for breakfast she had more of a spring to her step.

Breakfast was short and sweet, and in true Lily fashion, alone. She didn't really "hang out" with anyone. She knew everyone and enjoyed people's company, but she wasn't the kind of person who needed other people. She was just fine on her own. So, she sat down and ate without talking to one person, which probably made it go faster. After she was done she rushed out of the Great Hall in pursuit of the Library.

She wasn't quite sure why she was so excited to help the boys today. Maybe it was because she finally felt at peace with the boys. Maybe she enjoyed their company enough to call them friends…maybe not. Maybe she…

That wasn't possible, she corrected herself before she even allowed the thought to enter her head. That was just silly. And she definitely wasn't the type of girl to replace her last name and then draw hearts around it, especially considering the person.

She slowed down a little after that, but she still made it to the Library by 9:30. When she walked in she greeted the Librarian, a very old lady who looked like she might fall out of the seat with exhaustion, and then proceeded to her favorite table, closest to the books. It was procedure. When she got there, she noticed that neither of the boys was there yet. She decided to take her seat anyway and at least take advantage of the time by pulling out one of her textbooks. She was flipping to a page about werewolves when someone behind her whispered in her ear.

"You spend too much of your time with your nose buried in that thing," the voice said. Lily smiled. James frequently did this to her, and she always came back with a witty comment. She couldn't hold back now.

"Yes, well now you know what your company does to me," she retorted. The voice behind began to laugh quietly, but then she noticed something. James didn't laugh like that.

She turned around to the face of Remus Lupin, a fellow first year with a wicked smile.

"I'm so sorry, Remus, I thought you were—"

"James?"

"Something like that."

He smiled. "I noticed you over here by yourself. I was just wondering if you knew where the dynamic duo was."

"You mean dumb and dumber? They are supposed to be here, but surprise surprise…" she trailed off as she stared into his eyes. He was such a pretty boy.

She had first met Remus in Potions. One Monday morning Remus had been late to class and the only seat left available was next to Lily. They had worked together on a very complicated potion (for a first year, anyway) and they had completed it before anyone else in the room, except Severus Snape, of course. They had made good conversation as well, and Lily found that she liked him. He was sweet, sensitive, and cute. The cute part was what she more often had her mind on.

At this particular moment she was just glad he was paying attention to her.

"Well, if you see them could you tell them I'm looking for them?"

"Of course." With that Remus gave her light pat on the arm and then left. She felt like she was on a cloud.

She got up, thinking that maybe she needed some fresh air, and crossed to the window where she could prop it open and taste the breeze of a lovely English morning. Then she noticed something.

Across the courtyard down where the road became a bridge the boys were standing chatting with some older Gryffindors. She thought maybe she was seeing things, but she had good eyes and the boy standing nearest the Library was definitely wearing old glasses and had unkempt hair. She didn't know whether to be confused or angry. She didn't leave much time for wondering, though, as she rushed out the Library entrance. Her exit shocked quite a few people. Lily Evans leaving the Library before noon? It was ludicrous.

When she found her feet reaching pavement, she started to slow down. The boys that Sirius and James were with were at least third years. She didn't want to go and embarrass herself in front of the wrong people, because however much she said she didn't care about reputations, every prepubescent child does.

So she walked up trying to look cool, but her big smile ruined the effect. She was a shy girl, and as all shy girls do, she got weird when people started looking at her. That was the cause of the silly smile. All the boys turned at once to see the short red haired first year prance toward them.

She recognized a few. One was a kid named Elphias Doge. Another was known as Mundungus Fletcher. The others were unrecognizable—in other words, a bunch of followers. Dung, as they called him, walked right up to her, as if she was interrupting on some secret government affairs.

"Can I help you?" he asked, causing her to feel a little uneasy.

"Could I speak to James Potter?" she asked in a squeaky voice. Dung just looked back with amusement at the one and only James Potter. He had his nose wrinkled up at her, as if disgusted that she would approach him now, but he walked up to her, nonetheless.

"Yes?" he asked, emotion void from his voice.

"I thought the three of us," she said gesturing toward Sirius who seemed very angry at her bringing him into this, "were meeting in the Library this morning?"

"The Library?" Dung blirted out. "She can't be serious, Potter…"

Sirius was the one to pipe in this time. "She was just kidding. Actually, she wanted James—" he said emphasizing that he was not a part of this, "to go out with her."

Both James and Lily blushed, and James gave Sirius a dirty look. Dung just laughed. "Of course, she did. Who wouldn't want the next greatest Gryffindor chaser to be their boyfriend?"

Lily looked at James this time with curiosity. "Is that true? Are you to be a chaser?"

James nodded his head, and looked a little sweeter than before. "Yeah, they just told me."

"He was a shoe-in for sure. Ever since I saw him the other day doing loops in the sky and making crazy dives I realized that he was the guy for the team. The fact that he is a first year means nothing if he can fly that well." Dung smiled sheepishly at Lily and slunked over. "So what did our new chaser say to you, then, girl?"

"Pardon?" she asked completely oblivious.

"When you asked him to go out with you. What did he say?" he said as he nudged 'Gryffindors next greatest chaser'. James' face looked like triumph and it irritated her. He looked as if he was benefiting from her embarrassment. He was smiling while a bunch of older guys made fun of her.

"The same thing you would say in the same situation," she said as she finally gained her inner self again.

"Oh yeah?" he responded.

"Yeah. He said, 'I would love to go out with you, but I'm still too immature and my foot is still way too far up my arse to handle a lady like you.'" All went silent, and then, "Give or take a few words," she added in a few seconds causing all the boys jaws to drop.

"He was right to run away," Dung said straight to her face with malice. "Stupid little muggleborn." At his words most of the crowd looked directly at him with question. They had never heard him say anything that offensive before. James was the only one who didn't look at him. He looked ashamed of himself as his face was downcast. But Lily took it as cowardice. Here she was facing a guy who was blatantly offending her, and he wouldn't even stand up for her. She thought that was what friends did for each other. Then she realized maybe he wasn't her friend after all, or maybe this situation was the reason she didn't have very many friends.

Then, just like that she was gone. She ran away. She ran…and ran…

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"And ran," Lily said to her baby boy. "That was the end to James and Lily. We were done with. From there on out we were enemies. I hated him with all my being, and no amount of apology could mend that. He had been a coward, and he was a Gryffindor! He had ended my friendship with the dynamic duo. I was sad, but his hurt affected me in some good ways too." Harry looked at her curiously as he tugged on either hand of his Hippogriff, as if in anxiousness for the rest of the story.

"The end to our friendship left way for some new friends," Lily said to calm his anxiety. However, Harry was still anxious for more...