The Forgotten Tale of Lily and James
Disclaimer: Not mine at all!
Ch7 – Two-Faced
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"Nel-Nel! Wake up!" An excited blonde boy jumped on the edge of her bed. "It's your special day, birthday girl!"The birthday girl sat up.
"Beau! Don't call me that!" She whispered to her brother.
He rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Chanel." He beamed at her. "You're so lucky! You're going to get to go to Cokeworth!" His eyes were positively full with admiration.
"Not for practically a whole 'nother year." She was trying to be modest, but she was bursting with excitement. She was finally eleven! Her little brother ran from the room, most likely to fetch her mother. She curled up under her blanket and smiled. She felt happy and she was bubbling with warm anxiety. Nothing would ever make her feel like this.
"Chanel-y! Wake up, girl!" This time a girl with platinum blonde hair was at her side. Her eyes opened slowly and she looked at her wide-eyed stare. "So? How's it feel to be legal?!"
Chanel laughed. She sat up, sleepily. She swung her legs from the bed to touch the floor. "Positively brilliant." She got up and approached the mirror. She looked the same as she did yesterday. Her hair was mussed and her makeup from the previous day was smudged. Her eyes were puffy and her mouth was dry. She turned her head to the side. "Is this what seventeen looks like?"
Eloise snorted. "That's what seventeen looks like before she takes a shower."
Eloise promptly received a glare. "Oh, Chanel! Get in the shower! You have to look lovely for your day!"
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Chanel descended the stairs with a newfound confidence. She felt all in control. Amazing. Eloise was waiting for her on the common room couch. After a grumbled questioning about the length of her shower, they set off for breakfast, which only just started. She didn't understand why they were in such a rush, as there were tons of people still milling about on their way to breakfast. As they approached the doors leading to the Great Hall, Chanel felt a nervous anxiety, if her friends embarrassed her, she'd simply die.
She walked in and held her breath.Everything looked decently normal. There were two purple balloons tied to a section of bench. Her friends were sitting around the seat. Eloise led her over to the seat. Her friends all greeted her with 'Happy Birthday' and 'How does it feel to be seventeen?'. She swung one leg onto the other side of the bench, then the other. When she sat down, it happened.As soon as Chanel sat on her bench, she heard a 'pop'. The purple balloons turned into one gold and one scarlet balloon. The scarlet balloon read 'Happy Birthday Chanel!' in gold and the gold balloon had a large scarlet number '17' plastered on it. Chanel's eyes widened. Then the table started to change colors, the face of the table turned gold and scarlet words began to form, sideways. The words spelled out 'Happy 17th Birthday, Chanel!'. It must've said 'Happy Birthday' thousands of times, as it was a very long table."I love you guys!"
After breakfast, Eloise, Lily, Remus, and Peter dragged Chanel to the Gryffindor common room while James and Sirius ran off to Quidditch practice, Sirius wasn't going to practice, since he didn't play, he only went to chat up a sixth year. Which James constantly yelled at him for, she was always distracted. Last practice, she ended up in the Hospital Wing because she got hit in the face with a Quaffle going forty miles per hour. Instead of looking at the Quaffle's location, she was looking at Sirius. Silly girl.Chanel was drowned in American and British clothing from her two best friends. Which they had a difficult time getting a hold of, Chanel found out later on. Remus and Peter told her that they and the other boys didn't have a present, but she would find out soon enough what was in store for her.
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She remembered it like it was yesterday. Oh wait, it was! After dinner, the boys ran off and Lily was nowhere to be found. Chanel was only hoping that they weren't doing anything crazy. Eloise led her back up to Gryffindor Tower, and when the portrait hole opened and they entered the common room, it practically exploded. There were people everywhere. All for her.
However, nothing incredibly wild happened. Some forth year she'd never even seen had gotten wasted beforehand and was aimlessly staggering around the common room. And that's it. Oh, and Mackenzie was supremely jealous that she couldn't be there to save her Remus in the event that Chanel came on to him or something of the sort. She was pretty sure that Mackenzie and he had a blowout in front of the portrait hole. But it may have been two others and her wishful thinking caused her to believe that it was Remus. It was a lovely night.
But Lily and James were sort of awkward around each other as they had had a small fight a while back. By small, there is no sarcasm implied. It was actually more of an argument.After Lily had called James and Remus out on their disappearances and James denied having lycanthropy, Lily got it out of James about Remus. She also questioned him on why he was always disappearing at the same time as Remus. He wouldn't tell her, not yet, he said. They argued about trust for a moment and then Lily realized that she was fighting a losing battle and gave in. He was relieved. James hadn't mentioned their conversation to Remus or anyone else yet and he knew that Lily wouldn't tell a soul. Hopefully nothing went terribly wrong. It was their year, after all.
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Monday mornings should be illegal. Plus, everyone was sleepy and burned out from the party last night. Remus, Lily, and James were already sitting at the table idly chatting about whatever when Chanel and Sirius walked in to the Great Hall. Chanel was positive she heard her name as she approached, it made her feel very awkward. She frowned.
"Good morning, sunshine." James welcomed.
"Yeah, yeah, Jamesey. I don't wanna hear it from you today." Sirius replied. Sirius had been in the moment yesterday, he may have made a fool out of himself. But then again, when didn't he?
"Hey, I didn't say anything at all, my brother." James smiled broadly. He knew Sirius had snogged about fourteen girls last night and would receive an earful today.
"Happy Halloween!" Chanel said as she sat down.
"Speaking of Halloween…" James said.Chanel looked up and saw Mackenzie Lewis positively fuming. Remus winced and attempted to duck down. But Mackenzie still saw him. She came over and put her hand on her hip. When Remus didn't look at her, she started tapping her foot.
"Well, Remus?"
He turned towards her. "Hello, Mackenzie."
She raised her eyebrows. "Come on! We're going to be late for my class."
Remus looked at her as if she had three heads until he realized what she was talking about. She wanted him to walk her to her class. Except, the thing is, is that he broke up with her last night so she shouldn't be asking him at all. "Er, Mackenzie, we're not going out anymore."
Her eyes widened. "No, no. You said you needed space. It's been almost eighteen hours. That's enough space. Come on!"
Everyone was sort of shocked. Remus looked her in the eye and said, "No."
She was turning redder and redder by the second. She looked murderous and Remus really wanted to leave right about now."But, Remus…" She bit her lip 'innocently'. "I don't understand."
"Leave." Remus turned around and was shocked to see that the word had just left Chanel's mouth.Mackenzie looked highly offended. She lowered her voice. "Stay out of it you little bi—"
Chanel was pretty sure she heard Remus and even Sirius begin to defend her but she was in the zone. Nothing could stop her now. She stood up, and was now standing face to face with the aforementioned snobby girl. She spelled out her words delicately, so that the ingenuous Mackie would understand her. "Honey, if you're going to be two-faced, make sure at least one of them is pretty."
Mackenzie scoffed. She was utterly shocked. She lost Remus and now she had just been embarrassed. She shot that 'group' a look of disgust before departing hurriedly.Chanel sat back down. She picked up her fork and continued to eat.Sirius looked at her with a face as proud as ever and merely said, "Way to go."
Chanel responded in a smile. That was the end of that. Lily picked up her muffin and took a bite. The rest followed suit in finishing their meal.
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Lily Evans was drop dead bored. History of Magic was positively the worst. She sat next to a shy girl, who may have been in the Hufflepuff house, and was completely, well, bored.Chanel and Eloise lucked out with getting to sit next to each other, but unfortunately, they were on the other side of the bleeding room. She looked behind her, Sirius and Peter were fast asleep. Babies don't sleep that well. A lock of Peter's rapidly growing hair had fallen in front of his face, and what amused Lily was that it would blow away from his face when he let his breath out. This only held her attention for about a minute though. At the table next to Sirius and Peter sat Remus and Brett Simon, an interesting pair. As Brett was making eyes with both Michelle Truscott and Chanel, Remus was scribbling away on a piece of parchment.
Yet, Lily was positive it wasn't his notes as there were tons of moving diagrams and different handwriting all about. Remus began to fold the paper and went to hand it to the boy sitting in front of him. But James was dozing and only woke up, and almost fell on top of his seatmate Reilly Makers, when Remus poked him with the point of his quill. James threw a quick glare and apologized to Reilly, which she happily accepted, before taking the parchment. James gave the note a fast once-over before beginning to scribble furiously. From what Lily could see, the parchment had so much writing on it was practically a black sheet of paper. What could they be talking about?, she wondered.
Lily knew that James told Remus of her awareness of his, you know, 'furry little problem'. Remus had said something to her about it this morning at breakfast. He needed to be reassured that she wouldn't tell Eloise or Chanel. He would tell them when the time was right, if it was ever right that is.Pretty soon, it was the end of class. Their Professor dismissed them, granting them with an essay for homework. And finally Lily's last class was over. She had study hall next and then that was the end of the school day. And, boy, was she grateful for that. She gathered her things together and hurried out the door. She was walking along when she felt a tap at her shoulder. So, naturally, she turned around. And who would be standing behind her but James Potter himself.
"Hello."
She replied with a short, "Hi."
"So where are you headed?" James asked as he watched her out of the corner of his eye.
"I have study hall now, I have to begin my essay, you know."
"Evans, Evans, Evans!" James shook his head. "Why work on meaningless homework when you have to draw up Hogsmeade weekends and things of the like?"
She frowned at him. "We're supposed to do those types of things together, yeah?"
James looked at her blankly. "You? Need help?"
"Well of course... but don't you have—"
"Class? Yes, I do." James smiled at her. That wide, 'I'm up to something' smile. Last year Lily probably would have smacked it right off his face but instead she just rolled her eyes. All of a sudden James stopped walking. So Lily stopped too. "Which is actually right here! Thanks for walking me."
"Excu—"
"Wait right here." James took off into the room.
The other students in the hallway were no longer milling about but picking up the pace, as they only had a few more minutes until class began.Lily was taken aback. She would probably never be able to understand or predict James's erratic behavior. Maybe if she took psychology or something of that sort she would receive some insight. By this point Lily was leaning up against the wall, her back was pressed against it and her head hung down so that she could see her shoes. Time ticked on slowly. It felt like a lifetime ago that James had asked her to wait. All the other students that were in the hallway had vanished to class and Lily was left looking at the back of a closed door. She was alone in the hallway. It was quiet enough to drive her mental, which she was sure had already begun to happen.
Tick, tock, tick, tock. Did he expect her to wait until the end of his class and walk him back? What was she even still doing here? Waiting for James Potter! How ironic. She collected her things and walked away. As she left, she couldn't help but feel sort of disappointed. This was a Marauder type trick to pull on an unsuspecting girl. She remembered when Peter did it to poor Tatum Jones last year. She was a little over-affectionate in that drooling type of way at breakfast that one morning, and it sealed her fate. She waited for him for nearly twenty minutes before she arrived late to her own class. Peter apologized later saying he 'forgot' that he left her outside of his classroom. But Lily saw Sirius coaching him before he approached her. Boys, boys, boys.
But she couldn't believe that James would do such a thing to her after all. He used to profess his lust to her at all hours of, well, everyday. Maybe he thought she was at a weak moment and paid her back for the last two years that she made him feel like an incompetent waste. Maybe she deserved it after all. She felt terrible.She had just rounded the corner when she began to get angry with him. He knew he had to go to class. He knew she had things to do! And he still wasted her time! Ludicrous, that's what it was. And just when she had thought about---"Lily!"
She stopped and backed up a step or two so that she could see around the corner again.It looked as though she hadn't been stood up after all. There he was, in all his glory, running in her direction.He slowed down and caught his breath, and as he stood next to her, he motioned for them to continue walking. "So, since I'm helping you with this Head Girl business, I'll need something in return." He gave her 'the look' that supposedly helped him bed girls. Her stomach turned, in disgust, she thought.
"HeadGirl business? It's Head Girl and Boy business." Lily smartly replied.
"Alright, alright. But I still need help with my Muggle Studies assignment. And I figured since you're a Muggleborn and all you could give me some behind-the-textbook insight." He looked at her. He wondered if she would help him after all or if she would pull a girl move and have some sort of crazy mood swing on him.
"How did you get permission to skip class?" Lily asked.
"Who said I got permission?" James smirked at her.
"James! I'm not stupid. Obviously you didn't just waltz in there for ten minutes and then just leave at your pleasing."
"I reasoned with her, she's a very understanding woman, you know. I told her I had to catch up on some Head work and that I couldn't leave the Head Girl all by her lonesome to do it herself. I mean I fell behind in Quidditch practices and plans and sorting through all that meaningless paperwork last night and that even though I had a full plate I would be able to manage an assignment myself." James said, obviously proud of himself.
"Or the fact that Professor Kerr is a twenty-something brunette? Don't they know that mixing her with your established flirting skills is pure poison?"
"How did you know about her?"
"I take Muggle Studies too you know." Lily said, pleased with herself for foiling James' plan for pulling one over on her.
"But you were born a Muggle! You know all about them already!" James was amazed by her constant thirst for knowledge. She grew up in a Muggle town with Muggles for eleven years. She already knew what a microwave and a telephone was. And James was even sure that she knew who invented all of those things.
"Well yes, but just because I was born one doesn't mean I know everything about them. You were born a wizard. Do you know everything about wizarding history and spells?"James opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted. "No, you don't."
James simply grinned. "So, you think my flirting skills are established?"
She smiled at him. "Let's go. We have work to do."
And the Head Boy and Girl walked along, side by side. They had three hours until the Halloween Feast to plan, plan, plan.
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James and Remus entered the Great Hall to find it booming with people. Sirius and Peter were idly chatting near the doorway and began to walk with Remus and James once they reached them. The Gryffindor table was getting full by the moment and there weren't many consecutive seats open so they squeezed into a spot where there were some. James realized, to his delight, that Lily's flaming hair, and Chanel's platinum blonde of course, was visible down the way. When James was about to inform Remus that Lily and he had planned out the Hogsmeade visits, he realized that he was already speaking to someone else.
This someone else's name was Keegan Roye. She was the Gryffindor Prefect for the Sixth Years. Keegan was a petite, young blonde who seemed to love being loud and sharing her opinions. James detected some unmistakable Cockney references in her speech, and wondered where she could be from.
"No way Roye, it wasn't that early. The Snidget had to be in the mid thirteenth." Remus seemed adamant about his fact.
"No, mate. I don' Adam that fer a second. It'was in the late twelvies. May-be like sixty eight o' nine." Keegan retorted quickly. She knew something about Quidditch. James was slightly impressed.
James piped up, "You're both right, well, sort of."
"Eh?" Keegan looked on, interested even though she knew she was correct.
"Remus got the time right about when it was deemed illegal. The Snitch was introduced in the mid thirteenth century. But, the Snidget was introduced in twelve-sixty-nine." Keegan shot Remus a smug look.
"Ha! Beat that, China."
Sirius looked at her stupidly. "What did you just say?"
"Erm, what?" Keegan looked at him blankly.
"What are you saying?" He repeated.
"Oh, it's me accent, eh?" She giggled. "I don' realize sum-times."
Peter spoke up, "It's Cockney, correct?"
"Yep, me grandies only spoke that way. I tried to quittit, but, well, ya see." Keegan said.
"Say something purely for us then." Sirius requested.
"Ok-ay. Like?"
"Erm… Alright you drunk, get out of here before I call up my mates and kill you!"
Keegan thought for about half a moment before words spewed from her mouth. "Awright yew Mickey Monk! Get aaaht ov 'ere befawer I Frank me chinas an' kill ya."
Sirius' eyes lit up. "Alright, alright. What about, give me your money you dirty wanker!"
"Gimmie yer Beck's, ya two-thurty sri lanker!" Keegan kept firing out comment after comment. Sirius was immensely pleased that he had found a new toy that did what he said. Keegan was a charming girl, she captured everyone's attention and held it with her spunk.
It was safe to say that James had a lovely time at the Halloween Feast, with all of the laughing and Quidditch talk that went on. He had to admit, things were going pretty well these days.
i don't love this chapter but i've gotta move things along. i don't know if that Cockney is correct either, i found a Cockney translator online and i had to use it :) oh, picture keegan as a mix of kristin bell and hayley williams of paramore, if you know who they are of course. review!