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After that incident, Lily started noticing Bellatrix more frequently. She would be walking in front of Lily as she moved between classes, or strolling down the same paths in the castle grounds. Bellatrix never seemed to notice Lily, but as soon a Lily turned her back, she would get a feeling that someone was trying to bore holes in her back with their eyes. Given that this was Bellatrix, Lily thought, that wasn't as unlikely as it sounded. The girl seemed to think she was Medusa or something. Or possibly a Basilisk.
There were no more incidents involving James in the showers, but Lily hadn't been expecting any. She saw a lot of him, as always, and made the most of any opportunity, as always, to flirt with him. Chrissy, Jess and Carrie remained convinced that James was secretly crazy about her, but Lily was trying not to get her hopes up too high. She knew she would have to tell him how she felt about him eventually, but as far as she was concerned it wasn't necessary until at least ten years of unrequited love had gone by. She was, however, considering trying to have a serious conversation with James about their relationship; she was sure there was something more than friendship in it, but not sure that it would ever come to anything.
Lily wasn't quite sure that she trusted any of her friends' opinions on this matter, but she couldn't really go to anyone else. Sirius would have been the obvious choice, being James' best friend, but Lily hadn't even spoken to him since Halloween, or he to her. A few weeks ago, she might have considered confiding in Petra, but since she and James had discovered Petra and her Death Eater lover in the Forbidden Forest, that option was out of the window. Lily supposed that Remus was now the best person to consult, but Lily wasn't sure that was the best of ideas. Though he hadn't said it, Lily knew that Remus was angry about the way she had ended her relationship with Sirius and, since then, he and Lily had been drifting apart a little. Remus probably wouldn't like the idea of Lily and James as a couple because it would upset Sirius so much, so he wasn't likely to give Lily's feelings for James any encouragement.
Lily realised vaguely that Chrissy had turned around from her desk in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom to look at her, and that the class was strangely quiet. "Eh –" Lily shook her head to clear her vision. "Wha?"
James sniggered, and Lily glared at him. Chrissy was grinning too, and she jerked her head towards the front of the classroom, where Lily saw Professor Van Spyk with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her annoyingly beautiful Slytherin face.
"Sorry, Professor. What did you say?" Lily asked, trying to look interested. Normally she really enjoyed Petra's lessons, but ever since she had found out that Petra was Dark, the subject suddenly didn't seem as alluring.
"I asked you, Lily," Petra said, her voice clearly amused, "what your opinion was on the Unforgivable Curses."
"I didn't know non-Death Eaters were allowed to have opinions," Lily muttered to James, who snorted. "Well, Professor," she said more loudly, thinking fast and trying to make it look like she had been paying attention, "they're Unforgivable. Surely their name says it all?"
"Nice comeback, Miss Evans. If you had been listening, you would have realised that we had been debating the use of these curses as Defensive spells when confronted by a Dark attacker. As I'm sure you are aware, as are the rest of the class who deign to pay attention, the Ministry of Magic has been debating for a long time whether to allow its Aurors to use the Unforgivables when targeting Dark threats. What say you, Lily?"
"I –" Lily thought for a second, "- I think that if these curses are bad enough to be named Unforgivable, then there's no way anyone should be allowed to use them, even against Dark wizards or witches. That's just stooping to their level. Anyway, if you start doing that, people will start using them and give the excuse that they thought they were fighting a Death Eater."
"Do you think so?" her Professor asked, eyebrow still raised.
"I agree," James butted in.
"Go on," Petra looked at him, clearly intrigued.
"I know a lot of Aurors, and they have enough trouble with people pretending they're under the Imperius Curse and things already. If you allow people to use the Unforgivables, people can even start saying that an Auror put them under the Imperius or something, and it will actually be believable."
Petra ignored his (very good, in Lily's opinion) explanation. "You know a lot of Aurors? How might that be?"
"What's it to you?" James said, defensively. Lily could tell that he was worried about this reaction. She wouldn't be surprised if he was regretting mentioning any contacts he had. After all, he now knew she wasn't to be trusted.
"Excuse me?"
"Look, I'm not exactly gonna tell you any Aurors I might have contact with. After all, for all we know you could be sneaking off between lessons to have secret meetings with Death Eaters in the Forbidden Forest." Lily gasped quietly. James had just deliberately told Petra that he knew about her secret. They had agreed not to say anything – the possible danger was too much to risk. "Anyone could be Dark; we've always been taught never to trust strangers." Very clever of him; she would get his point, but no one else would suspect a thing. Why had he mentioned it, though?
"I'm regarded as a stranger, then?" Petra's gaze didn't falter as she looked at James. Although her words didn't say it, Lily knew she meant, "So, you saw me, did you?"
"Yes," James said equally calmly. "I'm not completely stupid."
"And why don't you trust me?"
"Why should I?"
"Professor Dumbledore trusts me," she smirked. She was rubbing their faces in it now. She was telling them without words that if they so much as tried to snitch on her, she'd play Dumbledore's trust for all it was worth and probably get James expelled with it.
"Well, Professor Dumbledore trusts many questionable people," James replied. This time Lily knew he had crossed the line. Petra's eyes didn't flicker, but she folded her arms.
"Detention, Mr Potter."
"For what?"
"Five points from Gryffindor. For questioning a teacher to whom you should be showing respect."
"I was only being honest! Anyway, I thought you wanted 'respect as peers' and all that."
"Another five."
"Oh, come on!" Lily snapped, quite unaware of any previous intention to do so.
"Miss Evans?"
"Er…I…well, that's just stupid. He made a fair point and you're sticking him in detention for it?"
"What in your eyes may be a fair point, Miss Evans, is an insult in mine."
"It's true, though! How do you know he meant anything against you? Dumbledore does trust a lot of people no one else would."
"For that, you can join Potter in detention."
"What!" This was Chrissy, Jess and James.
"She's only sticking up for him, Professor!" Chrissy said, reasonably.
"Keep out of this, Miss Marsden, or I will have to deduct more House Points."
Chrissy sat back sulkily, and Lily could see both her and Jess giving Professor Van Spyk exceedingly evil glares. If looks could kill... When Petra had turned back to the board, James whispered, "Isn't that your first detention since…er…ever?"
Lily thought for a moment. "Actually, yeah. Well, I had one with Slughorn a few years ago before he went gallivanting, but then he decided I should be in the Slug Club and ignored the fact that I didn't turn up to it."
"Nice one," James grinned. "Well, at least I'm not a loner this time."
Lily smiled back. "Don't you normally have Sirius to keep you company?"
"Well yeah, sometimes, but most teachers have learnt to give us separate detentions so we don't cause more trouble," James sighed. "Killjoys."
"Haha, punishments are finally getting through then?"
James looked shock. "Detentions? Punishment? Oh, no…they're vital planning time!"
"Planning? Surely you need Sirius' approval to plan."
"Aha," James smirked evilly, "we have our methods."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Like what?"
"Now that'd be telling."
"You know you wanna tell me…" Lily batted her eyes and pouted.
James laughed. "Nope. Marauder's code. Secrets stay within the four."
"Aw, c'mon. You tell me loads anyway!"
"Most of it you help plan, though. This is a secret weapon – I can't possibly divulge vital information like that."
"Mr Potter, Miss Evans, I believe I asked for silence. One more word and I'll have twenty points. I mean it!"
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"Please tell me!"
"Tell you what?"
"What you were talking about earlier. Your 'secret weapon', or whatever it is."
"You know I can't, Lil."
"Aw, c'mon, who'd know?"
"You would."
"So? It's not like I'm gonna tell anyone."
"You might."
"Won't."
"You'd tell Chrissy."
"Wouldn't."
"Would."
"Wouldn't."
"Would."
"Wouldn't."
"Give it up, Lily, I'm not telling you and that's all there is to it."
Thoroughly annoyed, Lily kicked at a pebble. It splashed into the murky water and sank without a trace.
"Lily, don't be mad. I can't tell you."
"You wouldn't even if you could."
"I would, you know I would."
"Wouldn't."
"Would."
"Wouldn't."
"Would."
"Wouldn't."
"Argh, Lil! Chrissy will be back in a minute."
"No she won't. You know how long it takes her to find anything she's left lying around, let alone a book – anyone could have picked it up and stowed it somewhere. She probably won't think of using a Summoning Charm either, knowing Chris."
James laughed. "That's true." Then he shivered. "It's bloody cold out here! Remind me why we're siting here?"
"Because Remus is busy, Sirius is pissing you off, and you just love spending time with me."
"And Chrissy."
"And Chrissy," Lily pulled a face. "I'll lend you some body heat if you tell me…" Haha, excellent plan – information and a hug.
"Tempting offer…"
"Go on…" Lily pouted again.
"Oh, fine," James laughed quietly. "C'mere."
Lily shuffled over and unzipped her (very cosy) duffle coat. James, who had been too much of an idiot (read: male) to bring one, hugged her round her waist, his hands inside her coat. She squirmed, trying to get comfortable. Trying to hug and sit at the same time on a cold rock wasn't easy. She end up leaning across James with her head resting on his chest, his arm round her waist and the other in her pocket.
"Don't tell me you haven't even got your own pockets!"
"Well yeah, I have," James grinned sheepishly, "but I like yours better."
Lily rolled her eyes, but grinned. "Ah well, at least I get my own personal pillow."
"As usual." Lily grinned. "You're like a bloody hot water bottle, you are."
"Yup," Lily smiled. "Not complaining, are you?"
"Nope. Like I said, it's bloody cold."
"Yeah, sure. Great excuse. 'Hmm, it's cold. Can I snuggle up to you?'"
"You wish."
"You know it's true."
"Moo."
"That's my word."
"So?"
"Don't be a prick. So, what's this secret?"
"Do I have to tell you?"
"I'll remove my hands…"
"Alright, alright. No need to take drastic action."
"Go on then."
"Well, it's nothing big really. Me and Sirius have these two-way mirrors so we can talk to each other wherever we are."
"Oh. That's all?"
"Yup."
"Pretty cool though. Why didn't you just tell me in the first place if it's not a big deal?"
"I like winding you up." Lily grabbed James' hands and pulled them out of her coat. "Argh, Lily!"
"Was there something?"
"I'm…bloody…cold!" He grabbed her and tried to get his arms around her again, but she pushed him over, so he ended up lying on the ground.
"Ha!"
"Not so fast, bitch."
James pulled her arm so she fell down with a thump. "Ow!"
"Serves you right."
"Not fair!"
"Is so."
"Is not!"
"Is so."
"Is not!"
"Is so."
"Is not!"
"I'll say sorry if you let me use you as a hot water bottle again."
"Only if you'll be pillow-man."
"Deal." James hoisted her by her shoulders so she lay with her head on his chest and grabbed her round the waist again.
"Y'know, if you did more Quidditch practice, you might not make as good a pillow."
"Are you saying I'm fat?"
"Not exactly."
"Ooh, so it's like that, is it? Have you ever noticed how squishy hot water bottles are?"
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I am so sorry it's taken so long for me to update - I've had so much to do, so much coursework etc...I won't go through the whole list, but trust me when I say that I'm sorry. The chapter's not great either, but it's given me a springboard for the next one.
HPBeatles Busyness isn't great. Unless you're doing something you wanna do, of course.
Weird Not Boring Thanks - I was bored, so decided to change things a bit.
Angel2510 Don't ask me why, but I've always just been a fast typer. About work experience - I went to a design place and loved every second of it. Whatever you do, don't go for a shop job - they're supposed to be the most boring. Thanks babe!
Kristin Thanks - snazzy is such a great word, I should use it more often.
Megan I don't think they're getting shorter... :S I'm just gonna say it must be you haha. Thank you so much, and I'm sorry for taking so long.
Katarina I update as fast as I can, but it's hard when I've got so much else to do. I don't wanna rush this either - there's no point packing everything into about five chapters. It's not half as fun to read when people do that.
vivphy05 The aim with the names was hilariosity - I'm glad it worked! Thanks a lot, and I hope you enjoy this one.
Black For President Thank you! here it is.
Mahazzy If I told you when they get together, that'd ruin it, don't you think? Anyway, JK said they don't get together till 7th year, so...
Hannah M. Well, Lily slept with Sirius when she and Sirius were dating. As she and James aren't dating (and I don't see Lily as someone who'd have sex unless she was at least going out with someone) they haven't had sex.
jessie I'm sorry I took so long:'( Thanks for sticking with it.
Kemi Thanks a lot, hun.
-Scp- I was really pissed off when we found out about it only starting in 7th year, but then I thought: what if that's all everyone else knows? ;)
anonymously morgan Thanks so much, I try my best :)
Kara Alright, alright looks sheepishI finally updated...
Alyssa P. As I've said before, I write this as I go, so I update when I finish a chapter. Therefore, updating two at a time would take twice as long. Savvy?
.Wannabe.Band.Geek. Hahahahaha, doll-face? Nice one! And spectacular? Why, I can feel my head swelling...Thanks so much, babe. You're lucky you get an update this soon haha.
Thanks to everyone who's still reading and again, I'm really sorry. I still have loads to do though, so I probably won't be able to update until the 20 review mark (though I'll update as soon as I can, even if it doesn't get to that). I guess that's 99 reviews I'm hoping for in total. Don't let me down, guys!
Becca xxx