The news that James Potter was dating Libby Eaton fueled much of Gryffindor Tower's gossip over the next couple of weeks, as James had begun chasing after Lily the moment he realized he no longer found girls repellent, and any other love interest never lasted for more than a couple of days.
It was actually difficult to be in Libby's presence as far as Lily was concerned. Her studies quickly became such a low priority it was a wonder she even bothered to come to lessons, and she could not participate in a conversation without it being about James, James, James.
Libby's lovesickness seemed even more pronounced cast against James's complete consistency of character. He spent as much time as ever palling around with the Marauders and, to Libby's disappointment, treated her just as he always had in company. Lily was kept awake too often listening to Libby complain in whispers to Maggie about how James seemed to think of their relationship only as an afterthought, and had to be reminded to make time for her between lessons, Quidditch, and horseplay with Remus, Peter, and Sirius.
Lily was glad that, for whatever reason, Libby chose not to confide in her about her romantic woes. In fact, whenever the subject of James came up Libby made a point of telling Lily how wonderfully things were going, and Lily was not at all eager to push the matter.
Whatever problems Libby and James "didn't" have, it all came to a head one night in February during Quidditch practice judging by the way Libby stomped into the girls' dormitory afterward. Lily later overheard Libby telling Alice and Maggie in the Common Room that she had been, as James called her, "a bit too friendly for Quidditch practice" and got sharp with her.
"It's nothing personal, Libbs," said Alice bracingly, "you know how seriously he takes his Quidditch." But Libby continued to look forlorn, and still appeared to be in a bad mood at breakfast the next day.
That is, until James arrived in the Great Hall and kindly asked Lily, who was sitting right next to Libby, if he could take her seat. When she looked confused, James gave her a significant look and gestured toward Libby. With a stab of well-hidden aggravation and resentment, Lily walked away to eat her breakfast with Remus, Sirius, and Peter on the other side of the table.
She couldn't help it; chewing her toast, Lily leaned forward and strained to hear what transpired between Libby and James. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw James and Libby exchanging words too quiet to be heard outside of their little bubble. Soon, they were both laughing softly, and James wrapped an arm around Libby's shoulder and pulled her near enough to whisper something in her ear. Whatever he'd said, it made Libby laugh. And then James kissed her softly on the lips, right there at the Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall. Lily thought she was going to be sick.
Two weeks of this was more than enough to make Lily ill around the clock. Though she tried her best to immerse herself in her studies and spend her free time with Alice and Maggie, Libby and James were unavoidable. She could not decide what was worse; Libby's company, in which she had to hear her gush over James; James's company, in which it had started to become physically painful to hide her deepening attraction to him; or double trouble, where there was always the risk of witnessing a bit of light PDA.
Only adding to Lily's irritation was Professor Slughorn's announcement that he would be having a Slug Club party in honor of Valentine's Day.
"In honor of Felix Summerbee being in the area, more like," muttered Lily. Just the other day, she, James, Sirius, and Libby had discovered the inventor of the Cheering Charm and a former Hogwarts professor who had taught Slughorn would be returning from a lengthy traveling tour, and she predicted Professor Slughorn would find an excuse to get Mr. Summerbee to visit Hogwarts.
"What's that, my dear Lily?" boomed Professor Slughorn jovially from the front of the room.
"Nothing, Professor," she blushed.
"Now, don't worry about formal invitations, all in good time. You're invited of course, Miss Evans. You like yourself a nice Valentine's Day celebration I'd imagine? Charming girl as yourself?"
"I'll look forward to it, Professor," said Lily. "I couldn't be more excited than if I were meeting the Minister of Magic."
At this, a few of the Gryffindors had to stifle their laughter. She could even see that Severus was suppressing a smile as he gazed at her from several rows over, though Libby rolled her eyes. It was common knowledge that Lily regarded the Minister as an insufferable, blithering idiot, and what Lily intended as a private joke to subtly release a bit of stress turned out to be a very public one. Professor Slughorn, however, seemed delightedly oblivious to Lily's mock enthusiasm.
"Very good, very good. All welcome to bring guests, of course," he said, as Libby shot James a hopeful glance and he winked at her.
"Out of interest, Professor," said Lily, "Will you be inviting Felix Summerbee?"
Alice snorted, and Lily elbowed her almost imperceptibly.
"Oh, I hadn't thought—well, he will be in the area after all and—oh, why not, it'll be a treat to see the old boy again! Old teacher of mine, you know, and I like to think he taught me a thing or two…"
Though Lily thought it would be nice enough to enjoy a break from her studies with a bit of festivity, she couldn't stand the idea of watching James and Libby stroll in together, arm-in-arm. Although Libby had never been invited to join the Slug Club, James's and Sirius's talent and popularity guaranteed them a place in the second year, and James was sure to invite her. The last minute party plans, which were announced only two days before Valentine's Day, caused Slug Club members to hastily scoop up dates, and Lily noticed that girls began looking at Sirius hopefully in corridors and lessons.
"Who're you taking, Lily?" asked Alice, who had been invited by Frank. "Oh, wouldn't it be nice if the whole gang could go?"
Lily thought about this for a few seconds, dreading the idea of going on a date. She really wasn't interested in anyone…
"Actually…I've thought about that too. And I was thinking you and I might go together," she said, looking at Remus. Then, seeing his cheeks go violet, she added quickly, "As friends, of course. This way, we can all go."
She regretted saying it immediately. Remus was looking embarrassedly between Lily, James, and Sirius, glancing at the latter as if asking for help.
"Funny you should say that," Sirius clearly invented on the spot, "Cause I was thinking I'd just bring old Moony along myself. Not really in the mood to babysit a date, if you know what I mean. You birds take Valentine's Day so bloody seriously…"
"Brilliant idea," said a relieved Remus, shooting a look at James.
"Remus, how can you turn down a date with Lily Evans?" said another voice.
Lily looked up to find Jasper Podmore leaning toward her across an armchair several feet away. The fellow sixth-year Gryffindor, fellow Slug Club member and Metamorphmagus, who today was sporting steel blue hair, had always—quite sweetly, in Lily's opinion—found an excuse to talk to her at Slug Club events and lessons. Still, he was one of the few boys left at Hogwarts who had not made some crude or unwanted attempt to ask her out, so he and Lily had always been friendly.
"You can suffer through the gag-inducing day of love with me, Lily, if you're up to it."
Lily looked at him reluctantly. She'd just been about to say she'd take Peter…
"Come on, we'll make up anti-Valentine's paraphernalia, have a bit of mead at Slughorn's do and round up some love letters to burn once we're good and tight."
Lily laughed. "Well, I can't say no to that. Love to," Lily smiled, and she was surprised to actually mean it.
"Excellent," said Jasper. "A warning though—don't get too tarted up, we wouldn't want our little friend—" Jasper pulled a face and, out of nowhere, sprouted a large moustache exactly like Professor Slughorn's—"getting too excited, if you know what I mean." And he twitched it just as the professor's did when something stimulating was happening.
Lily, Alice, and Maggie were in stitches laughing even after Jasper walked away, and Lily thought it might be time to start trying to get over her stupid crush on James.
As Valentine's Day was the following Sunday, most students were holed up in their Common Rooms and dormitories as Slug Club invitees headed down to Professor Slughorn's office in the dungeons. Lily had chosen to wear the set of champagne-colored silk robes her parents had sent her for Christmas. Lily joined Libby in her emerald green robes, Alice in black, and Maggie in bright red down the steps of the girls' dormitory to meet their dates, Jasper, James, Frank, and Peter, respectively.
"Hi," she greeted Jasper, who donned dark blue robes which brought out the tuft of magnificently turquoise hair on his head. When Jasper just stood there agape for a moment, Lily self-consciously combed through her hair with her fingers.
"Er," said Jasper.
Lily blushed. "Oh, don't worry, as you can see I've forgotten my anti-Valentine's attire as well!"
This seemed to loosen Jasper up enough to say, "You look really pretty."
James tutted audibly from behind Libby's back as she helped Maggie fix a snag in her robes.
When Lily looked at him, she nearly gasped; he had dressed himself in a traditional Muggle suit but had forgone the jacket; the pants were slightly careworn, a muddy brown with pink pinstripes; he had rolled up the sleeves of the white shirt he wore underneath a dull pink waistcoat, and a half-dead rose drooped from its pocket. But what really caught Lily's attention about him was his expression—behind his glasses, which James had idiotically transfigured into pink-framed sunglasses, James's eyes were just barely visible, and they were clearly glaring at Jasper. Sirius still had not quite finished laughing at James, and for the time being he focused his attention away from Japser and Lily.
So, that's how he wanted to play it? He wasn't interested anymore, but no one else could go out with Lily just because she would never go out with him? Lily willed herself to see this as yet another reason why James wasn't worth her time.
Sure enough, Felix Summerbee was present at Professor Slughorn's party, and Slughorn made a point to introduce Lily the moment she walked in with Jasper.
"Felix Summerbee! You know, invented the Cheering Charm, really nice piece of magic if you don't mind my saying, Felix. These days we could all use a Cheering Charm if you ask me!" he laughed, then ushered Lily closer. "Now then, this lovely young lady is Miss Lily Evans, my very fav—I mean to say, one of the most talented students here at Hogwarts, and I think anyone would agree!" he said slightly defensively. "Mastered magic I couldn't get some of my fifth-years to come out with on her first year here! Excellent Potions maker, oh the Draught of the Living Death she gave me earlier this term, you wouldn't believe. And Muggle-born too!"
"Muggle-born?" repeated Summerbee quietly, surveying Lily as if looking for some physical defect. "That's…quite interesting," he said, and pulled an odd, forced smile. Lily looked defiantly at him and did not look away from him until he broke their gaze first, as Professor Slughorn said, "Now this here is Jasper Podmore, his father manages the Holyhead Harpies, now what do you make of that…"
At this point, Lily excused herself from the conversation, ignoring a pleading look from Jasper. Although Lily had learned to expect prejudice against Muggle-borns from certain people, she had never been treated that way by an adult, and such a very old man at that. She was even more off guard because somehow she could not imagine that someone harboring such hate could invent something like a Cheering Charm.
Turning away to make sure she wasn't being followed, Lily collided with something very solid as she made her way through the crowded room, and was knocked off her feet. "Sorry!" said Sirius as he helped her up. "Got to keep your eyes on the road, Lily," he chuckled, then stopped when he saw her expression. "You're alright, are you?"
"Fine, it's just—" she looked around to make sure they weren't being overheard. "That Summerbee bloke…when Professor Slughorn told him I was Muggleborn he seemed…"
"What?"
"I know it shouldn't upset me, I should know better than that but…well, he seemed disgusted."
"Summerbee? Nah, trust me, Lily, he's not one of those."
"You didn't see his face," she said.
Sirius looked around just as Lily had done a moment ago. "C'mon, let's find a place to sit."
She followed him to a couple of old desk chairs a little way away from the thick of things, and Sirius leaned closer to Lily, his steadily lengthening black hair falling over his grey eyes. He shook it out and said in a low voice, "Trust me, Lily, Felix Summerbee isn't prejudiced."
But this time, Lily could tell he knew something she didn't. "What then?"
"He's got connections, Summerbee…people in the Ministry, people in…" He lowered his voice further, "the Order. Dumbledore's organization. My cousin Andromeda's a member, too."
"Wow," Lily breathed.
"Anyway…word's gotten out that they're trying to make it mandatory for Muggle-borns to answer to the Ministry. Questions being raised about their right to have a Magical education, even be a part of our world. Well, you can guess where that's coming from."
"But the Ministry—?"
"Ministry's been infiltrated, hasn't it? Was only a matter of time before he got his people in. The word now is they'll have to go through all sorts of Magical testing to determine their 'worth.' But I reckon we still don't know the worst of it. And word is, it's not just Muggle-borns. Anyone who's not got at least a quarter Magical blood or something like that. So anyone who hasn't got at least one pure-blood grandparent. It's mental."
Lily's mouth was open wide. "But obviously if they've shown signs of Magic all their lives…"
"Yeah but Lily, they won't care, will they? Who's to stop them saying you haven't got what it takes and snapping your wand in half once you go through the door?"
"But what about—?"
"What's going on here?" a sharp voice demanded. Lily and Sirius looked up. James was standing there, his eyes flickering suspiciously between Sirius and Lily behind his ridiculous sunglasses. Lily saw Libby hurrying after him.
"Talking about…what we were talking about earlier. When I got that letter from Andromeda."
"Nice choice for the day of love," said James evenly, but all his cares about Sirius and Lily being holed up in a corner melted away.
Libby approached, followed by Jasper, looking a little put-out about Lily's extended absence, and finally Remus, Frank, and Alice. Soon they were all talking in low voices about this new method of "handling" Muggle-borns in the Magical community.
"Personally, I think a lot of people have been jinxed," said James. "My aunt used to work at the Ministry. A lot of the people in these departments would never let this stuff fly."
"But it's not so bad, is it?" asked Jasper, looking worried and in need of reassurance.
"Er…aren't you Muggle-born, mate?" James asked.
"Well, yes…but there's always going to be prejudice towards us. We can't end that. And if that's the worst they're doing...I mean, it's not like they're hurting anyone."
"Yeah, they're only stripping you of your dignity," said James sardonically.
"But wouldn't—I mean, couldn't you just go in, right, then prove you've got just as much magic as—"
"Jasper, think of what you're saying!" said Lily, her eyes wide. "Did you get a letter from Hogwarts five years ago? Because I know I did. That should be proof enough for anyone that I belong here. I've got nothing to prove to anyone, and if they think I'm going to take this lying down—"
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," said Remus. "Dumbledore will never allow it," he said with such conviction that it seemed to settle the matter.
The rest of the party fell flat after that, at least for Lily. Though she was enjoying Jasper's company enough—he wasn't bothering her, anyway—they were both so deep in thought about their earlier conversation that it was difficult to let loose.
Jasper seemed to feel the same way, as even before it was time to go he said to Lily, "It would be nice if we could try this again…you know, maybe when the conversation is a little less…grim," he smiled sheepishly.
"I agree," said Lily, and she took his hand and pulled him into the crowd to dance. Frank, Alice, James, and Libby were dancing nearby, and Jasper pulled Lily closer than she probably would have thought to get on her own, but it wasn't a bad thing. His chin was against her forehead and Lily tried not to laugh as he hummed along to the song playing.
Any hopes of not laughing were extinguished when Sirius and Remus waltzed by, Remus attempting to squirm out of Sirius's grasp as Sirius cried, "Hello darlings," to all the
couples nearby.
"Jasper, may I have this dance? You don't mind, do you Lily?" said Sirius, and though Jasper began to chuckle, he said, "Er, I'm alright, thanks though, ma—"
"Oh, go on, Big Boy!" be bellowed, pulling Jasper roughly away from Lily and practically flinging Remus across the room at James and Libby, intimating less-than-subtly that he was to cut in and dance with Libby.
And just as Lily was sure Sirius had hoped, Lily and James stood between the dancing couples—except for Sirius and Jasper, who were more struggling than dancing—and with a shrug, James offered Lily his hand.
Lily turned to look at Sirius and gave him her worst look. He waggled his eyebrows at her, and as he floated by trying to twirl Jasper, he kicked James so that he stumbled into Lily, his hand, horribly, landing on Lily's—
"Oh my god! Lily! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"
"No, no, that's alright, I know you didn't mean it…it…it happens…"
"…big galoot Sirius shoved me and I couldn't…"
"Really, Potter, just forget it."
"…just instinctual, honestly, I threw my hand out and it just happened—"
Lily put her hand over James's mouth. He stopped, eyes wide.
"Do you ever listen?"
"Hum-himes," James said from under Lily's hand.
"Well I said it's alright. So give it a rest." She dropped her hand away from James's mouth, and he caught it before it fell to her side, then snaked his other arm around her waist. For a moment, Lily forgot that James was doing this because they were supposed to be dancing, and a wild elation exploded in her stomach.
"All well, Evans?"
"Y-yes," she said breathlessly. "I just realized I like this song."
"Mm. What's it called?"
"Hm?" said Lily.
James's wore a bemused expression as he gazed down at her from behind his brown, pink-rimmed shades. He shook off his confusion with a laugh, and in the same breath he said, "You look cracking-good by the way, I haven't gotten a chance to tell you."
"Thanks," said Lily. "You look ridiculous."
"Ah, excellent. I couldn't ask for a more pleasing assessment."
"You look ridiculous in the worst way, as well."
"Eh?"
"Forget it. You wear it well," said Lily, blushing.
"Cheers, Evans."
And they danced.