socal4ever: There's a very specific reason that James has done a 180 all of a sudden, you'll find out some of the reason in this chapter and the rest a little later on. I hadn't realized Sirius was comming off as an idiot... but he's going to be in it a lot more in the next few chapters, and, hopefully, he's not going to seem like such an indiot. :)
Perhaps I know why it is man alone who laughs: He alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter. - Friedrich Nietzsche
Games are a compromise between intimacy and keeping intimacy away. -Eric Berne
Chapter Three
After potions they all trudged up to lunch. "What's his problem?" Marlie asked as Sirius slammed his stuff on the Gryffindor table.
"He and James had a row." Dorcas answered.
"Don't worry about it. James has been acting different lately. It's going to take Sirius a while to catch up to him." Remus murmured.
"Huh." Lily said, not taking her eyes off of James. "What do we have after lunch?"
"Double transfiguration." Gideon answered.
"Oh, dandy." Emily muttered. "I don't know how I managed an E on that O.W.L."
"Makes you happy you didn't get the E doesn't it Peter." Dorcas said when she had finished. "Come one let's head up to Arithmancy."
"See you guys later." He mumbled.
Lily, who had finished ahead of her friends and was idly flipping through her copy of Advanced Potions, jumped when James finished his food, roughly grabbed his bag and stormed out of the Great Hall. Sirius glared at his retreating back, "Bullocks." He muttered, as he pushed his plate of food, "Anyone want to head over to class with me."
"I'm done; I'll head over with you." Remus said.
"Yeah, we'd all better head over. We wouldn't want to be late for McGonagall on the first day of classes; she'd be tempted to kill us all." Gideon said.
"Hold up a second, I have to put my book back." Lily called.
Marlie waved the rest on, "Go ahead, I'll wait. You know Lil, if you didn't read textbooks at lunch in the first place you wouldn't have this problem."
"I've seen you pour over a textbook at the table a time or two."
"Only on days with exams, as is natural. You, my dear, are quite the odd one."
Lily shrugged, "I like potions."
"I like Ancient Runes, doesn't mean I like to spend my free time rolling in them."
"I don't, nor have I ever, rolled in a potion."
"There was that time in third year," Marlie started.
"Er, Lily." Both girls stopped, and looked around. "One of you left this on the table." A blonde Ravenclaw boy said.
"Oh, it's mine. Thanks…" Marlie said.
"Ryan, Ryan McKinnon."
"Thanks Ryan. McGonagall would've killed me if I forgot the book"
"No problem, she does have a tendency to get rather, er, shirty, when you forget something doesn't she? Lily, could you do me a favor, and tell her that I had to see Flitwick, so I'll be a little late."
"Yeah, sure."
"Thanks. Oh, and Jason wanted me to tell you or Remus that the Prefect's meeting is going to be on Friday instead of Thursday. Something about Quidditch tryouts in Hufflepuff. See you guys later."
Marlie watched him walk down the hall, "So he's pretty gorgeous looking isn't he."
"Ryan?" Lily looked back. "I never really thought about it, but yeah I guess he is. And I did not roll in that potion in third year, I was doused in it, which caused me to slip and fall to the ground."
"Close enough. Of course you never thought about Ryan though, you spend all your time thinking about a certain black haired Gryffindor."
"Ryan who?" Emily asked as they sat down.
"McKinnon. He just brought me a book that I left at lunch. He's rather nice to look at, especially from the back."
"Marlie, we wear robes, how can you see anything from the back?" Alice asked.
"Oh, I've a good imagination." Marlie replied with a wicked grin. "But our Lily here, she's severely deprived. Can't keep her head off a certain someone and doesn't even notice any other good looking guys."
"Bite me." Lily said sharply and proceeded to stare out the window.
Emily who was sitting between Gideon and Remus laughed quietly and jabbed Gideon with her wand. "Hey, what was that for?"
"Look at Lily and James." She said pointing to James, who was sitting behind Lily and looking out the window, brooding, just as she was.
"They're so alike sometimes it's disgusting." He replied laughing.
"Quiet down." Professor McGonagall said as she stepped into the classroom looking quickly around. "Where's McKinnon?"
"He had to see Professor Flitwick about something." Lily responded. James looked over at Lily; jealousy flashing quickly in his eyes.
Lily tuned out for most of the class, McGonagall wasn't teaching anything new, just saying how they were going to be using non-verbal spells in class from now on. A sudden jostling had Lily jumping. "What's going on?" She whispered to Marlie.
"McGonagall told us to partner up and practice non-verbal spells." She replied and, well, Lily wouldn't have exactly called it skipping, pranced over to Ryan McKinnon. "Want to be partners?"
Lily shook her head and glanced around with her brow furrowed, it seemed that everyone was paired up already, everyone except, "Sorry Lily. I know you'd rather be with Emily or someone."
She looked behind her at the sullen face of James Potter and shrugged as she got up to sit next to him. "Are you alright? You've been acting odd since yesterday."
"It's not like you care." He spit harshly. Lily blinked, and watched as James pulled his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Listen, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you."
"No, it's fine. I should've minded my own business." Lily replied oddly hurt.
"No, it's not. You were trying to be nice, and I bit your head off. I'm sorry for that. I've just been in a foul mood."
Lily studied him for a second, "Have you been put under the imperius curse?"
James stared at her for a good thirty seconds before bursting into a fit of laughter.
"What is so funny, Potter?" McGonagall asked as people turned to stare at the pair of them.
"I… she… ha, ha, ha." James sputtered.
"Evans, what is the meaning of this?"
"Er…" But Lily was at a loss for words.
"Ha, ha, t, t, tickle. Can't breathe." James moaned through laughs. "Oh, Merlin it hurts. Ha, ha, ha." Several people snickered, Lily felt he own lips twitch into a smile.
"Tickle?" McGonagall asked perplexed. Then unexpectedly she smiled, "Evans did you do a tickling charm?"
"Er, sure."
"I've never seen anyone take to non-verbal spells so quickly, well done. And, ten points to Gryffindor. Alright, everyone, carry on."
Lily looked to her right, James had his eyes glasses off again, and he was rubbing his face. "Thanks Lily, I needed that." He said eyes still closed. Then he shook his head, "Woo, my side hurts."
"So, I'll take that as a no then." Lily said, dimples winking.
James grinned, his own dimples showing, "Yeah, that's a no."
"Okay then. So, now that McGonagall thinks that I'm a genius, do you think we could practice?"
"Alright everyone, that's enough, practice non-verbal spells for homework, we are going to be starting conjuring next time."
"See you later." Lily said to James, grabbing her bag, but forgetting her quill.
"Bye. Hey, Sirius, wait a second, I need to talk to you."
"So, Lily, how did you manage to get the non-verbal thing so quickly?" Alice asked.
"Er, just lucky I guess." Lily mumbled, "Fuck, I left my quill. I'll see you guys back in the common room."
"You want me to wait for you?" Emily asked.
"Nah, I'll just be a second."
Lily was walking back when she heard, "Listen Padfoot, I'm sorry; I've been a real prat today." This probably isn't something they'll want me to hear. Lily thought looking around for somewhere to hide herself. She jumped behind the statue of Alberic Grunnion in the alcove next to her.
"Yeah, you have." Sirius responded and turned to walk away.
"Hey! Listen," James said grabbing his arm. "You remember how sick my dad was this summer?"
"It's not something I'll forget anytime soon Prongs."
"Yeah." James mumbled, "But, you remember those few days that we thought he wasn't going to make it?" Sirius nodded. "Well, I was talking to him one night. He told me that it was time for me to grow up. Said that all the joking and pranking and everything was fine when I was younger, but that I was almost a man now, and I still acted like a child." Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but James cut him off, "You know the worst part? He blamed himself, told me that he and mum didn't discipline me enough, let me get away with too much as a kid. They were just so happy that they had me at all that they didn't really think beyond that."
"Prongs, you're not a bad guy. Sure you fool around; we all do, but it's nothing really."
James continued as if he hadn't heard, "It got me thinking about that thing with Snape and Lily at the end of last term. I told my mum about it, I left our names out of it to see what she really thought of it. She said that she was disappointed that I hadn't done anything to stop it, and that she would like to meet the girl who did, said she sounded like a good person. When I asked her what she thought about the kids hexing Snape, she said that they were nothing but bullies."
"Prongs."
"No, she was right, wasn't she. If we hadn't been the ones doing it, we would have seen it." James said. "So, I decided to change, that I'm not going keep doing those things. I don't want my parents to die thinking I'm a disappointment." He said viciously.
Lily heard his voice catch at the end and felt her own eyes tear.
The morning of Halloween Lily shot out of sleep and bolted straight up in bed. It took her a few moments to realize that Peeves was floating next to her, blowing cold air in her ear. "What'd you do that for?" She asked annoyed. Peeves just cackled and left the room. Great, I'll never get back to sleep now. She thought looking at her watch and rolling her eyes, only two more hours until I actually need to be up.
Deciding it was a better idea to just get up; Lily gathered her stuff and took a quick shower. She still had an hour after she was done getting ready, so she grabbed some parchment and a quill and headed to the common room to write a letter to her parents.
Stepping off the stairs she noticed someone staring into the fire, squinting through the early morning light she could just make out a head of messy black hair. "Hey Lily, you're up early."
Lily raised her eyebrows, walked over and sat across from James, "How'd you know it was me?"
James grinned, "Magic. So how come you're up and ready at five thirty this morning?"
"Peeves." She said darkly. "He was blowing in my ear; there was no going back to sleep after that. I swear one day I'm going to find a way to get him back for all the shit he does."
"Yeah, Peeves is pretty much a dick like that."
"So, why are you up this early? I got the impression that you guys rolled out of bed at the last possible moment."
"Usually." James said amused, and then the smile faded. "It's my birthday today."
"Okay." Lily said slowly, "Why does that bother you?"
"It doesn't." Lily raised an eyebrow. "It's not my birthday, it's that I'm seventeen now. I'm an adult, and all people know me as is a, what did you call me last term, a bullying toerag. I haven't done anything important."
Lily felt guilt swim in her stomach, "That's not true." James gave her a look that clearly said, 'Yeah, right.' "It's not. You've been different this year, haven't bullied anyone. And besides people know you as the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, which by the way is something to be proud of. You did a good job putting a team together this year. We really flattened Hufflepuff yesterday."
"You called me a toerag." James reminded her. "I know being captain this year is something to be proud of, but I didn't win the match on my own, the whole team is really talented."
"You were being a toerag that day." Lily replied, "But, you haven't been this year. And we're all only sixteen, seventeen years old; none of us have done anything important."
"You have," Lily shook her head, her eyes wide in surprise, "yes you have. You're at the top of the year, you're a Prefect, you stand up for what you believe in, you…"
"Okay, I see what you're getting at." Lily said embarrassed. "None of those things are really important in life though. It's mostly just doing well in school; there are other things that are more important, I great many, I expect. Besides if you want to talk about being at the top of our year as important, take a look at yourself. You're at the top of our year too, and I heard that you got one more O.W.L. than I did."
"Lily, there you are. I was wondering where you had gone off too." Emily called from behind them. "Here, I brought your bag down. Everyone else said they'd meet us at breakfast."
"Thanks. I'll see you later Potter." Lily said shoving the parchment and quill into her bag. "Oh, and happy birthday." She said as she climbed out of the portrait hole.
"Oh, hey, that's right, happy birthday James." Emily called. "How's it feel to be seventeen?"
"A lot better than it did before."
"What?"
"Nevermind. I'll see you later."
Later that night Lily sat at a table in the common room trying to write an essay for transfiguration. Stupid transfiguration, who wants to conjure a stupid bird anyway? She looked up when the portrait slammed open, Sirius, Remus, and Peter came stumbling in. "Have you been down at the feast this whole time" She asked, "That's a bit…"
"Gross?" Dorcas asked.
"Yeah, that'll do."
"Just for that, you two don't get any Butterbeer." Sirius said grinning. The three boys had their arms filled with all sorts of food, but Lily didn't see Butterbeer anywhere.
"Okay, as it doesn't look like you have any, I'm sorely disappointed."
"Oh ye of little faith." Sirius replied as Peter went to go keep the portrait open. "Have a look."
Remus was levitating several, it looked like kegs, into the common room. "Wow."
"How'd you lot manage that?" Dorcas asked. "I didn't see you come back from Hogsmead with those earlier."
"A marauder never reveals his secret." Sirius answered pulling a bottle from his robes.
"Yeah." Peter agreed nodding.
"What's that? Is that Firewhiskey?" Lily asked wide eyed. "We're not allowed to have Firewhiskey in school."
"Come off it Evans, it's for James on his birthday. A little drink won't kill anyone." Sirius said rolling his eyes. "But if you want to be a good little girl, go up to your dorm."
"You're such an utter berk you know that, Black." Lily said turning away from him. "Remus, you want to tell me how you guys got all this stuff?"
"Sorry Lily, no can do." Remus replied, "Do you think you could give me a hand?"
Lily shrugged, "Sure, I guess."
"Thanks, we really want to get everything done before James gets back."
"Where is he anyway? I haven't seen him since the feast ended."
"Dumbledore wanted to talk to him."
Lily remembered James and Sirius talking about how sick Mr. Potter had been. "Is everything alright?" She asked with concern.
"Dumbledore said it was; he didn't want James to worry. I don't know what it's about, I'm sure he'll tell us when he gets back."
"Hey guys, James is on his way back." Sirius said looking at a piece of parchment.
"What is that?" Dorcas asked.
"Nothing." He replied shoving it into his pocket. "Come on finish up. Don't forget to put the silencing charm on the common room; we don't want McGonagall to hear. She'll be pissed if she catches us having another party."
When James walked into the room everyone in the common room shouted, "Happy Birthday!"
"Whoa." James said grinning. "Wicked."
Two hours into the party Lily found herself on one of the balconies outside. She was shivering slightly, but it felt nice to be outside. "Hey, what are you doing out here."
She looked back; saw James walking out with a mug in his hand, "I could ask you the same question, especially since it's your party."
"I wanted to get away for a little bit, it's getting a bit stuffy in there with all the people. Oh, I never got a chance to say thanks."
Lily's brows furrowed, "For what?"
"For talking me out of my funk this morning."
Lily laughed, "Your funk. Okay. You're welcome. So how did the rest of your birthday work out?"
"Not too shabby, actually."
"That's good."
"Yeah."
They were quiet for a few minutes before Lily started to feel uncomfortable. When it became clear that James wasn't going to say anything she felt a need to fill the silence herself. Peering at him from the corner of her eye she asked, "So, what did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?"
James winced, "He told me not to tell anyone. I'm sorry."
"Don't be, if Dumbledore told you not to say anything, that should be the end of it." Lily answered rubbing the rim of her mug of Butterbeer.
"I wish Sirius was that understanding." James mumbled.
Lily wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or not, but she asked, "Why, what happened?"
"He asked about it, when I told him I couldn't say he got mad and stalked off. We've always told each other everything, he's like my brother. I think I've had more rows with him this year than in the last six combined. Ah, bugger it." He said tossing back the contents of his mug in one gulp.
Lily watched as his eyes bugged and teared behind his glasses and he coughed. "Are you okay?" She asked thumping him on the back.
He nodded, "Woo, that was the wrong mug. I wasn't expecting that to be Firewhiskey, meant to grab the one of Butterbeer. It's not nearly as good as I thought it would be; it's kinda sad really."
"Do you want a sip of my Butterbeer?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, thanks. It leaves a rather horrid aftertaste in your mouth." James said taking the offered mug.
Lily had one clear thought as their fingers brushed and tingles ran up her arm, Oh boy.
"So, Lily I noticed you and James seemed awfully cozy last night on the balcony." Marlie said taking a bite of toast.
Lily shrugged, "Not really, I just wanted a bit of air and he followed me out there. We just talked a bit."
"What's with the two of you lately? Last year all you did was complain about him, about how he could be so nice one minute than a complete and utter prat the next." Dorcas asked shoveling eggs into her mouth. "Now you're sending him into hysterics in class, having civil conversations with him, and you don't come back moaning about how he cornered you anymore."
"I dunno." Lily said thoughtfully. "He hasn't been doing any of those assholy things lately. He hasn't hexed anyone in the corridors, he's stopped making fun of people, and on the train the first day, Snape provoked him and he walked away."
"I've noticed that. I think that everyone has." Alice said glancing at James. "So, he pretty much has kept up with all of the things you liked about him and stopped all of the things you didn't?"
"Yeah, I guess." Lily replied.
"You think he did it for you?" Dorcas asked.
"No."
"How do you, maybe he did." Emily said, confused by Lily's short answer.
As Lily shook her head, Alice said, "I don't think so either." When the other girls looked at her questioningly she continued, "Frank's mum is a healer, I heard her talking to Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Potter got really sick over the summer, and he and James are really close."
"Guys, I don't think that we should be talking about this, it's none of our business." Lily murmured.
"You're right, Evans, it's not." Sirius said from behind them. They watched as he sat down next to James, "Hey, Prongs, listen, I'm sorry mate. I was being a dick last night. I know that if Dumbledore tells you not to tell anyone that should be the end of it. I'm just used to you telling me everything."
"I know, Padfoot, I do feel bad about not telling you, you know." James said.
"Yeah, I know." Sirius replied, grabbing a stack of toast. James raised an eyebrow, "What? I'm hungry."
"Right, so, let's head down to herbology."
"Okay. So tell me what you think about this; my cousin wrote me today, wanted me to come spend some time over Christmas holiday with her and her husband and their kid."
"You're cousin wants to spend the holiday with you?" James asked confused. "Which cousin?"
"Andromeda, you remember the one who was Head Girl when we were in first year."
"The one who was in Ravenclaw?"
"Yeah, her." Sirius said. "So what do you think?"
"I dunno, I mean she always was your favorite cousin, yeah? Though, considering what you had to work with that isn't too hard, so I'd say it's up to you. Mum and dad would like you to come home for Christmas and everything, but they wouldn't mind if you went to your cousins instead."
"I don't think I'll go for the whole holiday, if I go at all. I haven't seen her since she left school. She married the Head Boy from her year, he's muggle born and you know how my family is."
"Well, you've got time to think about it anyway." James replied walking into greenhouse six.
"Oh, before Professor Sprout gets here, take a look at this." Sirius said taking a picture out of his robes, "Andromeda sent me a picture of her daughter.
"Since when do you care if the teacher's here to talk, Padfoot?" Remus asked sitting on a stool next to James.
"Yeah?" Peter said nodding sitting next to Sirius.
Sirius shrugged, "Some of these plants eat people, you've got to make sure you know which ones, that means paying attention once in a while." He said indignantly. "Anyway, take a look at this kid; tell me if you see something weird." The three boys looked at the picture of a little girl with long brown hair and brown eyes, they watched as the little girl scrunched up her face and her hair changed to bubblegum pink. "See, there she goes again."
The other boys looked over Sirius's head and grinned. "What are you talking about, Padfoot? Of course she's going to move, it is a wizarding picture." Remus said.
Sirius gaped at him, "You didn't see the kid's hair turn from brown to pink?"
"Nope." Peter replied.
"You guys suck." Sirius grumbled, "Hey, girls, come here a second." He called as the girls walked into the greenhouse. "Look at this picture, tell me when you see something strange."
The girls crowded around Sirius and looked at the picture, the little girl was scrunching her face again and the long pink hair was suddenly short. Lily blinked then saw as James was motioning frantically behind Sirius. Don't say anything. He mouthed.
"See, there she goes again." Sirius said triumphantly.
"What are you talking about? All I see is a little girl with pink hair." Lily said.
"What? You didn't see her scrunch up her face and have her hair go all short?"
"Nope, her hair was short the whole time. Maybe you should go up to the hospital wing if you're having delusions."
Sirius stared at her like he'd never seen her before, "You're Lily Evans, you don't lie."
"Put that picture away Mr. Black, girls go find a seat, I would like to start now." Professor Sprout said slightly annoyed.
"Sorry Professor." Sirius mumbled.
Lily woke the last day before the students went home for the Christmas Holiday thinking she was in the middle of an earthquake, or, rather, what she imagined an earthquake would be like. It took her a few minutes to realize that the shaking was from the person jumping on her bed, not the earth.
"What the hell?" Lily yawned poking her head out from under the blankets. "Em, why in God's name are you jumping on my bed?"
"Finally, do you know how hard you are to wake up?" Emily asked plopping down at the end of Lily's bed.
"I was tempted to use that aguamenti charm we learned last week on you." Dorcas said. "I still think it was a good idea, you would have been up earlier and as an added bonus you wouldn't have had to take a shower."
"You're evil."
"See, now aren't you glad I was jumping on your bed?" Emily asked. "Now get your ass out of bed, we let you sleep in as it was. Marlie and Alice are already down at breakfast."
"It's a Saturday, we're going home tomorrow, why are you all up at," Lily glanced at her watch, "eight thirty in the morning? Merlin, that's just wrong."
"Lily." Dorcas whined, "it's a Hogsmead weekend."
Lily yawned again, "I'm not going. I just want to lie in bed all day." Both Dorcas and Emily looked aghast, "What? It's not like I just announced my engagement to Snape. All I said was that I wasn't going to Hogsmead."
"Don't joke about that Lily, Snape, ew. Just imagine it; if you were married you'd have to actually spend time with the git." Emily said shuddering.
"She'd have to have sex with him too." Dorcas smiled evilly when Lily paled and faked vomiting.
"Ugh, those are two words that should never be said in the same sentence: Snape and sex." Lily replied.
"Tell me about it, I still have nightmares from last June. Naked Snape is not a pretty picture." Emily said wrinkling her nose.
Lily cringed and Dorcas curled her lip, "Tell me about it. Let's never speak of that again." The others nodded.
"Anyway, back to more pressing matters, Lily, why aren't you going to Hogsmead? You do know that that we go home for the holiday tomorrow and that Christmas is in one week. You're not going to have another chance to get our Christmas presents." Dorcas said grinning.
Lily hit her with her pillow, "Git, so that's why you want me in Hogsmead; to make sure I get your Christmas gift?"
"Well, yeah. I love my presents. I'm pretty much a five year old when it comes to Christmas, you know that. I get up at dawn and everything. So, up you go, you've got presents to buy."
"I already got all of your presents." Lily said burrowing under the covers again.
"You're a lying whore." Dorcas said jumping up. "How am I supposed to see what you got me if you're not going to be there for me to spy on? Where are they?"
"Do you really think she's go…" Emily started.
"In my trunk." Lily responded yawning. Dorcas jumped up, ran to the trunk and flung it open.
"They're wrapped."
"Of course they are; do I look stupid? I know how you are when it comes to presents Dorcas. That's why I got my presents on the last Hogsmead trip and why I wrapped them ages ago."
"You're mean Lily, and will probably go to hell." Lily smiled and closed her eyes. "Hey, what do we have here? This is a present for James." Dorcas said smiling manically.
"What? No way, let me see." Emily said scrambling over to Dorcas.
Lily's eyes flew open; she was blushing from her neck to the tips of her ears. "Give it back!"
"Sure, here you go." Dorcas said tossing the present over to Lily. "LILY LOVES JA… AHHHH!" She screamed, running from the red head, who had hopped out of bed.
Dorcas pulled the door to the dormitory open and flew out, Lily hot on her heels. "What the hell is going on?" A girl poking her head out of the seventh year dorms called.
"Lily's, er, going to kill Dorcas." Emily yelled back as she, too, ran down the stairs.
"DORCAS MEDOWS GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE THIS INSTANT!" Lily yelled as they got to the common room.
Dorcas ran around the couch screaming, "SHE'S PISSED, AND SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!"
Dorcas weighed her chances and took off towards the portrait, Lily took a diving leap and would have tackled her if a pair of arms hadn't caught her. "Hey! Let me go." Lily said squirming.
"Thanks Sirius, saved my life." Dorcas said.
"No problem." He replied, looking curiously at a struggling Lily.
Lily turned her head to see Sirius Black holding her around the waist, and the rest of the sixth year boys looking at her with amusement evident on all of their faces. "You can let me go; I'm not going to kill her." Lily said with as much dignity as she could muster. Though considering her hair was a tangled mess around her face and she was clad only in pajamas with little yellow ducks with Christmas hats on, it was slightly hard to do.
Dorcas looked suddenly worried, "She lies! Don't let her go."
Lily rolled her eyes, "I swear I'm not going to kill Dorcas." Sirius let go of her slowly, ready to catch her again if she went after Dorcas. She took a few steps away, straightened out her pajamas, and pushed back her hair. When Sirius put his arms down all the way, Lily leapt, "I'M GOING TO BEAT HER BLOODY!"
Emily's mouth dropped open, "Holy crap."
"AHHHH! SHE'S CRAZY!" Dorcas said running out of the portrait hole, Lily close behind her, and Emily and the boys behind her. They got about halfway down the corridor when Dorcas nearly ran into Professors McGonagall and Slughorn.
"Meadows what is meaning of this?" McGonagall then caught sight of Lily, "Evans? Evans, please tell me why you are chasing Meadows through the corridors? And in your pajamas no less."
"Er, well she ran out of the common room." Lily said lookingaround McGonagall, to where Dorcas was now standing, making kissey faces at Lily.
Lily watched as a vein in McGonagall's forehead ticked, nearly certain that she was going to get some sort of punishment; she was shocked when she heard a laugh.
"Now, now, Minerva, I'm sure the girls were just in high spirits due to the holiday. Weren't you?" Both Lily and Dorcas, who had stopped her faces when Slughorn turned, nodded.
"There we go, just a couple of festive teenagers. Best be off then, almost time to get to Hogsmead." McGonagall turned and walked away and Lily did a silent cheer. "Now Lily, you've missed the last couple of my get togethers."
"Er, I've been awfully busy with Prefect duties, and homework, and everything." She finished lamely.
"Not to worry, not to worry, I'm having another on Christmas Eve. I trust you'll be there." He looked around, "You too, Potter, Black."
"Sorry Professor, I'm going home this holiday, I'm not going to be here."
"Ah, well, foiled again. What about you boys?"
"Sorry sir, we're going home too." Sirius answered.
"Perhaps I'll have another after the holiday, for the students that will have to miss the one on Christmas Eve. Brilliant idea Lily. Now off you all go, don't want to miss the trip now do you?" He said before waddling away.
Lily was following everyone else back to the common room when James leaned down and whispered, "Nice pajamas."
Lily blushed, "You're one to talk." She said gesturing to the green pajama bottoms with Quaffles all over them. He shrugged and waited for her to climb in to the portrait hole.
Lily flopped down on one of the chairs near the fire, watched as James sat down in the one across from her. "Not going to Hogsmead?"
"Nah, I had been planning on staying in bed all day."
"Glad to see that worked out for you."
Lily grinned, "Didn't it just. What about you, you're not going either?"
"No, it's too cold out there today; I don't really want to walk all the way down there." James rubbed his hand over his hair and saw all the first and second years staring at him and Lily. "Merlin that's creepy."
"What's creepy?"
"They're all staring at us." James said.
Lily looked around saw all the younger years looking at the both of them with wide eyes. "Wow, that's weird."
"You want a game of chess?" James asked.
"I would, but they're starting to freak me out. Do you think they're ever going to blink?"
"We can play up in my dorm if you want." Lily looked at him with an eyebrow raised, "What, come on. I'd say we could play up in your room, but you know, the whole stairs for girls, slide for boys thing."
Lily giggled, "I'll never forget when Sirius and Remus tried to get up there. But yeah, I guess, I don't want to stay here, and I'll never get back to sleep now."
They walked up the stairs and stopped at a door that said 'Sixth Years' on a golden plaque next to it. James walked in and flushed a little at the mess, there were books, pieces of parchment, quills, and clothes strewn about, including his boxers, which he tried to kick under the nearest bed so Lily wouldn't see. "Don't mind the, er, mess. The house elves don't clean in here until later. Do you have your own set of chessmen? 'Cause I have an extra if you want to borrow them."
"I do, but I don't really feel like going over to my dormitory to get them. Don't worry about the mess, it's not so bad. You should see our room in the mornings. Plus any room that's too clean is freaky, my sister's like that. Her room at home doesn't even look lived in." Lily said sitting on a bed.
"You have a sister? I didn't know that. Is she older or younger?" James asked a line forming between his brows. He turned, "How'd you know that was my bed?"
Lily picked up the picture on the nightstand as an answer; it was of James and his parents at the Quiddich World Cup when he was eight, "Cute. You have your dad's hair. Yeah, she's three years older. And there's no reason you should remember her, as she's a muggle." Lily answered.
"Huh." James said sitting down, and setting up the chess board. "What's she like?"
"Petunia? Why?"
James snorted, "Sorry, your sister's name is Petunia?"
Lily sighed, "Yeah, mum's really into flowers."
"Huh, I like hearing what it's like with having a brother or sister. I have Sirius now, and he's just as good, but I was pretty much on my own as a kid.
"I don't know, we were never best mates, but we used to get on okay when we were younger." Lily replied.
"Used to?"
"Petunia doesn't like things that aren't considered normal to muggles, magic included. So, ever since McGonagall came with my letter she thinks I'm a freak." Lily said.
"I'm sorry. Is your whole family like that?"
Lily shrugged, "No, mum and dad were, are, well, a little bewildered, really, but they're proud of me."
"That's good at least. Wait, did you say that McGonagall came to give you your letter? Mine came with an owl."
"Well, you knew about the wizarding world didn't you? She came with the letter and took me, Tommy Jones, Sarah O'Dell, and Jordan McNab to Diagon Alley for all of our stuff. They do it with all the muggle borns."
"That must have been wicked. Were you and your parents shocked?" James asked.
"It was pretty cool, I'll tell you that. To find out that all the stuff you thought was make-believe was real. But it wasn't as much of a shock as you would think. Weird things always used to happen either to or around me and we didn't know why. Professor McGonagall explained that it was magic and that most young witches and wizards have a problem controlling their powers. Which was another reason she gave to come here. Okay, shush, I have to concentrate now. I'll never win if you keep asking me questions."
"Slightly competitive, aren't you." James said amused.
Four games later, James' stomach was growling. "Okay, no more, I need to eat something."
"One more, come on, we're tied."
"Nope, I'm cutting you off." James said, "I officially declare us equal at chess. Come on lets go get something to eat."
"But we're both still in our pajamas and it's," Lily looked at her watch, "blimey, one forty five. Lunch is over."
"I'm a marauder Lily, I have my ways. Come on." James said grabbing her hand and pulling.
"Where are we going?" Lily asked
"You'll see."
"Come on tell me?"
"It's a surprise."
"Please?"
"Nope." James replied leading her through the corridors.
Five minutes went by, "How about now?"
"Ah, well, now that since you asked, no." Lily pouted. James laughed at the expression on her face. "You'll see soon enough, we're almost there." James threw his arm over her shoulder, "I like this."
"Like what?" Lily asked looking up at him.
"Spending time with you and not arguing. Our record before this wasn't so hot."
"We've been good about it this year. You haven't been a prick this year," Lily said. Then remembering the conversation she'd overheard between him and Sirius, "it's pretty amazing really, you've really grown up this year."
"Yeah?" James asked perking up. "So do you think we could keep doing this, as you know, friends?" He asked.
Lily looked at him, felt a little tug in her belly, "Yeah, I think we could keep doing this."
Read and review... you know how it goes :0)