Chapter 4:
Was that a.. Yes?
Lily woke up.
She groaned and fell back asleep seconds later.
She woke up again, galnced at the clock, started down the stairs, raced back up the stairs, put on her uniform, and nearly flew to breakfast.
By the time she got there, her friends were sitting by the Marauders again. Honestly, just because Rose and Sirius...
The only empty seat left at the Gryffindor table was next to James. Lily was starting to feel that the world was conspiring against her.
As soon as she sat down-
"Hey Lil, there's a Hogsmeade weekend next week. Go with me?"
Rose and Violet looked over, amused.
"Potter-"
She sighed and glared at her two friends. "All right, I'll go with you. Just-"
She was cut of by James shouting in triumph and jumping up and down in what appeared to be a celebratory dance.
"Wait, Lily, are you serious? Hundred and thirteenth time lucky, huh?"
She grinned. "Guess so, Pot- James."
He kissed her cheek, she blushed slightly, then Sirius engaged James in a debate over chocolate frogs, sugar quills, and dungbombs. Lily would never understand their behavior sometimes...
"You know what this means, right, Lily?" Rose asked, looking like Christmas had come early. "I'm going to be the proud winner of 5 galleons and you get to kiss the one-and-only James Potter!"
"Ugh... I'm not going to kiss him, and I'm not going to have to owe you anything. He's still the bigheaded, self-centered, bullying prat he's always been. I'm not going to have a good time on this date. I'm NOT."
"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that, Lils..."
"Well, with an attitude like that, you surely won't." Violet interjected. "He's changed, Lily. Everyone else can see it. Just open your eyes to what's right in front of you."
James
I was sure I was dreaming.
I actually pinched myself several times to make sure I was wide awake, then had Moony and Padfoot each pinch me a few times, too.
There are now several bruises on my arms, each a tribute to the fact that Lily had at last said yes to me.
A tribute to that, and perhaps to my inability to believe it. I couldn't believe the girl I'd chased after for so long had finally agreed to a date. A Date! In Hogsmeade!
"Prongs, you aren't dreaming. Stop pinching yourself."
I looked up to see Moony staring at me like I had suddenly turned into something from another planet when I realized that neither Padfoot nor I had stopped pinching my arm.
Sirius had actually broken the skin, and somehow jinxed it so that the small bruise that results frombeing pinched hardwas growing, slowly spreading up my arm and onto my neck.
Sirius was in a state of shock. "MOONY! DO SOMETHING! PRONGS IS GOING TO DIE!"
"Padfoot, you jinxed him. you should remember the counterjinx."
"Prongs is going to die!" With that last happy note, Sirius bound, gagged, and blindfolded me (why the gag and blindfolds, only Sirius could tell you), and I felt myself flying, hopefully bound for somewhere that would stop the bruising. It HURT...
Where the girls were sitting...
"Lily, I think James has gone insane." Rose muttered, watching this display. "He's staring into space, allowing Sirius to pinch and jinx him as he pleases, and we all know that's not a good thing."
Lily laughed. "Making fun of your own boyfriend?"
"No, well, yes, butLOOK!"
Lily looked at the boy next to her. He was indeed staring off into space with a happy, glazed look on his face, pinching himself and allowing Sirius to gleefully do the same. Sirius pulled out his wand and muttered something under his breath.
"Think we should stop them?" Rose asked before biting into her toast.
"Nah..."
Later
"Sorry we're late, Professor," James gasped. "Hospital Wing..."
Slughorn chuckled. "Not to worry, James, m'boy! just sit down and I'm sure... Ms Evans will explain the assignment to you."
James grinned. Lily, surprising herself, felt butterflies in her stomach. She bade them to go away. You remember when you firstsaw him on the train...
She battled with herself.
I was just... Confused! Yes, I was confused!
Stop kidding yourself.
I'm not!
Sure.
"So, Lils, what are we supposed to be doing?"
She snapped out of her argument with- herself- and explained. "We're supposed to be in the first stage of making a Polyjuice Potion. Slughorn said it would be our first big project of the year, and at the end, we'll all donate a hair and will turn into a random person and have to act like them for the rest of the hour."
"Wow, The Slug does have good ideas sometimes! Maybe I should go to one of his parties once in a while."
Lily smiled. "They aren't really that bad, provided you don't insult Slytherins. He doesn't favor them, but it was his house, you know."
"Now that I think ofhim that way, he's not bad, for a Slytherin. I guess McGonnagall's the same way."
After Classes
Lily retired to the Head's Dorms after classes. It had been a long first day back. The teachers hadn't held back at all when it came to homework, and already she had four feet to write on the uses of the Polyjuice Potion, several complex charts to complete and memorize for Arithmancy, and practice for Ttransfiguration. Now, Lily wasn't bad at any of her classes, but if she had to pick her worst subject, it would be Transfiguration. she was only -gasp- second in her class, behind James. Now that they could manage civil conversations without trying to kill each other, she didn't mindnearly as much.
She didn't mind at all, really. He was growing up at last. Finally...
She decided to get a head start on her work, and was busy changing a chair into a pig and back when James got back from Quidditch practice, looking as if he'd just gotten off a broom.
Which, she reminded herself, he probably had. Hereally isadorable.. She shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts. He might be adorable, and she might be going on a date with him, but that definitely did not mean that she was going to start liking him. And she was most definitely not going to be his girlfriend.
"Hi, Lily. Working on that already, eh?"
"Quidditch your first day back?"
He grinned. "I'm Captain. I say it's never too early to start training! We need to work hard if we're going to win. It's my last year, I want to leave some kind of legacy."
"Other than your notorious reputation for pranks?"
He laughed. "That's not my legacy, that's the Marauder legacy. I want something that's just my own, you know?"
She looked at him and nodded slowly. "I think we all do."
Moving On
The days up to the Hogsmeade trip closed in fast. The seventh years, especially Lily and James, had so much work to do there was hardly any time to do anything else. Remus could even be seen getting Sirius to open a book.
"No, Moony, no! The little bookworms will come out and eat me! I'm not immune to them like you are! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Erm, attempting to get Sirius to open a book.
"Sirius, how the hell are worms going to eat you! Bookworms eat books, not people. Especially not people who are also dogs."
"SAVE ME FROM THE BOOKWORMS!"
Remus looked at James pathetically. "Well, you can't say I didn't try..."
James nodded. Then he lit up. "Hey, I have an idea..."
He went to get Rose, Violet, and Lily. "Do you want to come study with us? Sirius could really use the inspiration."
"Sure," said Lily, surprising them all. "Just give us a minute."
After he left, Rose decided to change their bet around a little. "Lil, I'll give you 20 galleons if you can go out withhim for a month. If you break up before then, you have to give me 15. Sound good to you?"
Lily thought about it. It would be nice to have some extra cash, and dating James for a month would just be a bonus-
No. She could endure James for a month for the sake of the 20 galleons.
"I'll do it. We go to Hogsmeade tomorrow, and- Oh my god! Hogsmeade! I haven't thought about anything! What am I going to-"
Rose cut her off. "Don't worry, Vi and I will help. Now, let's go visit our favorite group of people."
"Speak for yourself..." Lily mumbled.
They went down to join the guys, where Sirius was bouncing off the walls screaming something about bookworms out to eat him. Rose went over to calm him down and they ended up leaving the portrait hole, presumably to find a broom closet.
"Well, at least he isn't screaming about bookworms any more," Remus observed.
"Good thing too, I guess it'll just be the four of us in this study group." James said as he pulled out a chair, helped Lily into it, and took a seat next to her.
Violet looked at them. "They're so perfect for each other." she said under her breath to Remus.
He grinned. "James thinks so too. If only we could get Lily to see it.. I bet they could be Hogwarts' best couple."
Vi stared at him with her penatrating purple eyes. "I just had a thought... When Sirius and Rose come back, let's leave with them and go to the library."
As if on cue, Rose and Sirius entered the Common Room hand in hand. Remus and Violet stood up and dragged them right back out.
A/N: In an attempt to write longer chapters, I'm probably going to update less often. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!