A/N: Hehe, "tomorrow" apparently means "next month" in my world … go ahead, yell at me already.

Disclaimer: It's depressing now that the seventh book is out and done with …

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CHAPTER 3: Of Defense Classes and Detention

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There wasn't any "first day back from summer!" excitement that morning. It was as if the teachers didn't care that our brains were numb and dull after a summer full of nothingness.

Every single teacher that morning spent the whole class yelling at us regarding the upcoming NEWTS, and how we'd all fail if we don't drastically increase the amount of time we spend on schoolwork. Professor Vector, the Arithmancy professor, even went as far as saying he will die and haunt us as a ghost until the end of our lives if we fail his NEWT (he never had a failure before …)

So the classes were all very dull and unexciting.

Which suited me fine.

I mean, I don't need any more excitement in my life, what with, oh, I don't know, TRYING TO SEDUCE JAMES POTTER.

Bleargh.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of Herbology, Alice immediately dragged me from the greenhouse. Now, this surprised me. Alice is a Herbology bug. Usually, she stays after and helps Professor Sprout clean up, and discuss with her about the "cool" new plant species that was discovered that can cure this-and-this.

But not today. Today, she literally ran out (pulling me along) when the bell rang.

Why? To start of Stage One of the stupid mission, of course. Which requires me to wear whore-ish clothing. (We have lunch right now. The plan, according to Julie, is to change during lunch everyday. I mean, I can't exactly change during the five minutes between Transfiguration and Defense.)

TRANSFIGURATION!! OH NO!

McGonagall will bury me alive if she sees me in the type of clothes Julie wants me to wear! Worse, she'll probably cut up my arms and legs and cook kebobs out of them. And I don't need to know if my extremities make tasty appetizers.

"Alice! I can't change right now!" I said, attempting to convince her.

"This is the only time you can change!" she said, not even slowing down. "You can't possibly think of changing before Defense."

Yes, that is exactly what I plan to do. I am NOT going to sir through Charms and Transfiguration dressed like a slut. Whatever superiority and respect I gained using my amazing skills in Charms will instantly be demolished. And in Transfiguration? Well, I suck in that class, so McGonagall already half-hates my presence in her precious class. It's all her fault that I'm so horrible in her class, actually. I'm fine at Transfiguration when I'm not around her. I scraped an 'Outstanding' in my Transfiguration O.W.L, didn't I? That's how I got into the N.E.W.T. level class. The thing is, I have to work to excel at Transfiguration, whereas others in her class are just naturally brilliant at it. So McGonagall doesn't think I deserve to be in her class …

Either way, I'm sure as hell not going to change my clothes now. So I got hold of myself and pulled to a stop. (Alice had been pulling me behind her like a red-haired rag doll). Alice, who hadn't been expecting this abrupt stop, fell back suddenly on her back.

Tee hee. Serves her right.

"LILY!"

I scrunched up my face in attempt to make a pleading face. But God seemed to be on my side … Frank Longbottom came into the scene. Alice immediately straightened up, and tried to dignify herself. As soon as Alice had turned to talk to her boyfriend, I sprinted away. Alice would not dare chase me when Frank is next to her. Theirs is still a new relationship, you know.

Yes! I ESCAPED!

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Neither Alice nor Julie are in Transfiguration with me. As soon as the bell rang at the end of Transfiguration, I bolted out the door towards the Gryffindor tower. Technically I'm not supposed to be running in the hallway … I hope I don't encounter Filch or some other stupid person who'd tell me off for doing so.

When I reached the Gryffindor Tower, I screamed the password at the Fat Lady, who seemed to sense my urgency. I practically flew up the stairs, and stopped as soon as I entered the dorm. I didn't realize how fast I ran; I was really out of breath.

And then, I realized something that made me hyperventilate more.

I had no outfit to wear. YOU DON'T REALIZE HOW SERIOUS THIS IS!!!

Alice was responsible of bringing me here, and Julie was responsible of giving me an outfit to wear, and I was responsible of complying to whatever they say sin questions.

And thanks to my brilliant brain, all is gone.

I walked to my wardrobe, and tried to think of what to wear. Okay. What are the criteria for a suitable outfit?

1. Show skin.

2. Must make me look appealing.

3. Must show considerably more skin than I normally do.

4. Must make James Potter cry for choosing to become a Hogwarts teacher.

5. Must look sexy.

6. SKIN!

Okay, I think that covers most of what Julie and Alice told me. Now comes the problem … I don't own anything that fits the criteria!!

I fell on my bed, for the first time feeling very crappy. So this is how failing feels. It feels as if … as if I disappointed someone. Everyone. Most importantly, I disappointed myself.

Lily Evans, failure in life.

It sounds so natural.

Great.

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As much as I wanted to skip Defense and just curl up on my bed, I didn't. I wallowed in self-pity for five minutes (yes, I made myself late … give me a break; this is my first failure!). And then I pulled myself together: I may already have failed something; I can't fail anymore. Potter may be the Defense teacher, but I'm still the one who needs to learn and excel in the class. I need to earn an 'Outstanding' in the Defense N.E.W.T. and then rub it into Potter's face. HAH, THOUGHT YOU'D DISRUPT MY STREAK, DID YOU?

Or not. I'll probably never want to see Potter's face again after the last Defense class. Yes, that sounds good.

So I strapped on my book-bag, and ran towards the third-floor corridor where the Defense classroom is located.

When I reached the classroom, I put my ear to the closed door to make sure I'm not interrupting anything. Heck, this may be Potter's class, but interrupting is still rude.

" … will be dealing with extremely difficult situations. If you've ever had the impression that this is an easy class, push that out of your mind. I daresay this might be the most important, pragmatic class you will take this year, in light of recent events. Yes, I'm talking about the war."

Wow, he actually sounds intellectual and serious.

"No, you cannot ignore it anymore. This time next year, you will be on your own out there. You need to learn how to defend yourselves properly. It is crucial that your goal regarding this class is more than to pass the N.E.W.T. You need to strive to learn Defense as a way of life."

Way true. The war's pretty serious now. I glanced at my watch, and suddenly I realized that I was 15 minutes late to class! 15 minutes late to the 45-minute class!

Oops.

I heard Potter call out, "You may have noticed that you didn't have to buy a Defense book this year. Instead, we will be using these …"

Oh no, I'm missing learning now. And as Potter said, this isn't wishy-washy, time-passing, busy-work learning. This is pragmatic learning.

I pushed open the door, unable to contain myself any longer. I hope people are busy enough to not notice my grand entrance …

Nope. No such luck. God left my side today to help some other poor, suffering child. Everyone's eyes were wide open. Julie and Alice, who were both in Defense with me, were completely glaring at me. Stupid friends. You need to understand what I'm going through.

Potter raised his eyebrows. You know, this is the first time I got to see him up close after his graduation last year. And I must say … he looks different somehow. His eyes, always so cheeky and mirthful, were serious. He donned an amused face at my late entrance, obviously. But it wasn't the same. There was something off in his face. Something I couldn't place.

"So nice of you to show up, Miss Evans. Welcome," he said in an amused sort of voice.

"Er – " What do I say? I'm sorry?

"No need to give an explanation now. Talk to me after class. I will not have you waste my class time."

"Er – " I said again, still stuck for words. What the frickin' hell? I hated this kid's guts for the past two years. Now I have to respect him and call him "Professor"? Forget the plan to seduce him. Considering him my teacher is hard enough. I just … can't seem to be able to respect him like that.

So I shut up and grabbed the first empty seat I could find. DARN. It was the first seat, right in front of stupid Potter. And for some stupid reason, I felt the need to blush. And let me tell you, I don't blush subtly. When I blush, my entire body, from my forehead to the tips of my toes, becomes red. My skin normally looks extremely pale next to my auburn-red hair. And then, since both my skin and my hair are red, I look really strange, like a big boiling tomato. So when I blush, I blush.

Hope you get the picture of how embarrassed I was.

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Thankfully, I didn't have to talk at all that class. Potter just yapped about the syllabus for the year (which consisted of learning about Demetors and Patronuses, Inferi and how to deal with them, other creatures such as werewolves and giants, various defensive curses and such, and what to do in the case of the Unforgivable curses).

When Potter dismissed the class, I took my sorry sweet time packing up my belongings … which consisted of one pencil and one notebook to take notes.

Julie gave me weird looks as I was going through my excruciatingly slow process of packing. Alice left me to go gallivanting with Frank. I sent Julie a telepathic/facial message to LEAVE THE FUCKING ROOM ALREADY.

And, oh my god, I think it worked! Julie scrambled out the room as soon as I had dispatched the message. Hmmm, maybe I have telepathic power! Must research this more when I get out of this …

Finally, Potter and I were the only ones in the room.

"Miss Evans," James called me. That sounded so different from "Hey Evans!" or "Lily darling!" which is how Potter usually greets me.

Either way, I took a deep breath. Time to face the situation. I gathered up my courage, and finally looked up.

And suddenly, the intense teacher transformed into what he was six months ago.

"Hi, Lily," he said, with a big, goofy grin on his face. "Surprised?"

At first, I wasn't sure what to do. Am I supposed to be happy that he isn't reprimanding me for being late? Should I be relieved that James Potter is still the same, and hasn't changed as I seem to fear? Or should I be sad that James still had not matured, and seemed to be the same? What do I do???

I groaned. BIG TIME. All my frustration, relief, sadness, exhaust, everything I was feeling at that time, I put in to this groan and just went, "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN!!!!"

Potter jumped up in surprise. (that made me want to laugh, actually).

"Merlin, Lily, what's gotten into you??"

"Why are you HERE??" I asked with so much conviction and coldness that I surprised myself.

He smirked. James was used to me being cold to him. "Where have you been the last two days, Evans? I'm your professor now – "

I started to growl.

" – And by the way, that is not the way to speak to a professor. From now on, please address me as Professor Potter."

I snorted. "Oh please, the day I call you Professor Potter is the day I get detention." Which is never. I've never gotten detention, not once. And I have no reason too. I'm a good student, HEAD GIRL, if you've forgotten. Detention is reserved for trouble-makers and rule-breakers such as, say, JAMES POTTER.

"Okay then, Lily. Detention for being late. Not one day of detention, but five."

Whoa. "WHAT!!! YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO ME! I'M HEAD GIRL!!"

James remained calm. "Aaaaaand you entered class late on the first day, and you refused to show respect to a professor. Many reasons to give you detention."

I was sooo angry, I was practically breathing fire. I jumped off my seat and stood a foot from Potter. I poked his chest in anger and said, "You will not give me detention on the first day of school. YOU. (poke) WILL. (poke) NOT. (poke poke poke) Understood?" I finished, glaring outright.

"Ten days of detention. Bye bye, end of story, no more discussion."

"WH – "

"Meet me every day at 8 pm until your ten days have finished. Starting today."

"I – "

"The door is right over there, Miss Evans. Feel free to show yourself out."

How dare he. Fine. If he wants to fight, I'll fight. I'll cream you, James Potter.

You just wait.

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That evening, Julie, Alice and I were sitting in the comfy couches in the Gryffindor common room, doing homework. Yes, first day back, and we had homework. When do we not. As dinnertime neared, Julie and Alice started wrapping up; I continued with what I was doing.

"Hey, it's almost time for dinner, let's go," Julie announced, closing her books and packing them.

"I'm not hungry," I commented. I had not yet told them of what happened at the end of Defense. I told them not to bug me, and they fortunately complied. But going to dinner means seeing Potter again, which will make me do something very violent. Like chucking a porcelain plate at him. Or pouring pumpkin juice all over my "friends" Julie and Alice, because this is all their fault.

So it's best if I just skip dinner and stay non-violent.

Apparently me being not hungry is an aberration. Julie and Alice gave me weird looks. "Why?? Does this have to do with James?"

"James? James who? I don't know any James."

"No? Alright. This definitely has something to do with James."

"This most definitely does not. I'm not hungry, and that's the end of it. What don't you people understand?"

"Lily. Spit it out. We're your friends."

"FRIENDS!!!" I roared. "Friends don't force a friend into stupid missions dealing with people this friend does not ever want to see again. Friends don't let a friend die of embarrassment…much less cause this embarrassment themselves. Friends don't – "

"We get it," Alice said, cutting me off. Oh, maybe they'll stop this nonsense! "Shut up already." Or not.

"What did he do?" Julie asked in a bored sort of voice.

I sniffed. I let out a heavy breath. I grimaced, and strangled out, "He gave me … detention."

Both Alice and Julie froze. I looked up from the Arithmancy problem I was unsuccessfully doing to peer into their faces. Both of them were staring at me with wide eyes, faces full of pure, unadulterated shock.

I told you. Lily and Detention do not go in the same sentence. No wait, they don't exist in the same century. That's how huge this is.

"James gave you detention?!?" Alice croaked out, still unbelievingly.

I sniffed again. "Ten days of detention."

"TEN DAYS!!" Julie exclaimed. "Oh, poor you…"

I nodded pathetically. Finally. My friends are doing something they are supposed to do: comforting me.

But suddenly, a smile broke out on Julie's face. "Good, that gives you lots of time to spend with Potter alone. Go get him, girl!"

I was suddenly faced with such a large amount of anger that I closed my Arithmancy book and smacked Julie with it. She just got away, laughing. AAAUUURRRRGHHHHHHHHH. THE NERVE OF THESE PEOPLE … why, they're not people at all. Inhuman creatures they are, with no sense of compassion or pity.

Julie and Alice laughed it all off, and left for dinner. The time was 7:28 pm. I have to go to Potter's office in 32 minutes.

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A/N: So. I had this written a month ago. I don't exactly know why I didn't feel like updating … forgive me :o) and review!