Chapter 5—125 DAYS BEFORE

The snow was gone faster than it had come. A few days ago, the grounds had been completely covered in ugly, brown slush. Now, there was only rain. It seemed Scotland was back to its expected climate.

The second Saturday back from the holidays and my sleeping patterns still weren't back to normal. Janice and Grace had to wake me up after breakfast, informing me that if I "didn't move my lazy ass" I'd miss the game.

Marlene had been prepping for this game over the holidays and had practices every other day after school since it had begun. She'd told me it was important to beat the Ravenclaws in this match if they wanted to come in either second or first before the Finals.

I'd asked how a game so far from the Finals could be so important, but I hadn't really been listening to her answer. However, I did understand that she wanted me there today to cheer her on. I groaned as I looked out the window to see rain. In all fairness, it was only a light drizzle, but I imagined it would amount to something worse by the time the bout had finished.

"Wait," Janice said urgently as I ran into the bathroom quickly to brush my teeth and to get ready. I stopped in my tracks, staring at her. "I need a new outfit."

Grace groaned, leaning on my bedpost as she waited on us both to dress, Janice wearing her sleek black raincoat, a pleated skirt with patterned tights, and purple rain boots while I opted for jeans and trainers (praying they wouldn't get drenched).

We rushed as quickly as possible—with me awkwardly dodging puddles—to the pitch, but alas, the whistle was blown before we could get seats. Thankfully, Kelly had saved us spots, and we ignored the angry jeers we got from the crowd as we blocked the view while we took our seats.

I'm not going to lie and say I was a Quidditch professional, but I wasn't bad. I certainly understood all the common rules, and I cheered harder than most, which made up for most of my ignorance on the subject.

Potter started off the game quite nicely by scoring the first point, getting the quaffle through the left hoop. I cheered loudly (especially because the Keeper was Tommy Jenkins, the nerd from Arithmancy).

Unfortunately, Kim Campbell from Ravenclaw scored the next two points, and our side of the pitch was quiet except for my words of optimism, trying to keep the Gryffindors motivated.

"Don't get discouraged! The game has only just begun!" I screamed loudly after the score turned from tie to favour of the Ravenclaws.

"Lily, shut up!" Marlene shouted back. "We're not discouraged!"

Both sides of the pitch laughed as I sat down. I was pleased though, because Marlene scored, and Potter scored twice more after that. With the score at a nice 40-20, I thought I should remind my team not to get lazy.

"Don't get lazy just because we're winning!" I yelled at the top of my lungs when the grounds were completely silent.

"We're not, Lily!" Potter shouted, and promptly scored another point after the whistle.

Cheers erupted from our side of the field, but there was a distinct murmur in the crowds that wasn't there before from both sides. I heard my name whispered from behind me, and I whipped around.

"What did you say?" I demanded.

The three fourth year girls were quiet, until one of them spoke up: "He called you Lily."

I arched my brows in acknowledgement. It was simply mind-boggling to think that students who weren't even in my year knew about Evans and Potter.

"Yeah, we're friends." I explained.

"I thought you hated him." The same fourth year spoke up, as if in a challenging tone.

"Precisely." I said, watching her carefully. I'd never seen her before and it looked like she had quite the attitude. "I hated him. I like him now."

She turned away quickly, and I shrugged, coming back to the game. The whispers were louder now, more frantic. I tried to push away the words, but my name just seemed to keep cropping up, and finally, I whipped around again.

"Is something the matter?" I demanded, angry now. I wanted to watch the game, not be spoken about as if I were some A-list celebrity announcing that she was pregnant with her best friend's husband!

The three girls were still whispered madly, completely ignoring me. I turned to the boys beside them, who were Gryffindors in my year.

"Josh, Stephen... What's going on?" I knew these boys quite well. In third year I had been in a project with both of them. They were pretty decent back then, but once they hit fourth year they started making sex jokes more often than Potter asked me out and, needless to say, our relationship faded.

"Merlin Lily, James will flip when he finds out!" Josh said excitedly.

"Finds out what?" I said. Suddenly, cheers erupted from my best mates. Great. Marlene had just scored another point and I had missed it. Without waiting for Josh to reply, I turned around, completely focused on watching the rest of the game. However, our Seeker, Adam Kaylyn had caught the snitch and we had won.

I didn't think about the whispers again until lunch that day, when they picked up again as I walked into the Great Hall with James and Marlene.

Trying my best to ignore them, I said to them both, "Like I was saying before, great match."

"I know!" Marlene cheered quietly, punching a small fist in the air. "Did you see that last goal of mine?"

"Fantastic." James agreed, and then, clearly feeling the eyes on him, "Um, did I miss something?" He asked, concerned.

"They're all just intimidated by my awesomeness now. I knew it would happen someday." Marlene said smugly.

"I'm not sure," I ignored her, responding to James. "It started at the match after I was cheering you on."

"Cheering us on." Marlene repeated sarcastically with a snort. "No wonder they're staring. They're wondering how someone can be so loud and so ignorant at the same time."

Ignoring her again, I clicked my tongue and tried to ignore the stares and whispers. Potter joined his friends at their regular spot at the end of the table, while Marlene and I sat with Kelly and Janice.

"Grace's just gone up to fix her makeup. Got smudged in the rain, she says." Janice informed us. "Actually, I should probably get changed into regular clothes."

"What's wrong with your clothes now?" Kelly demanded.

"They're outside clothes!" Janice rolled her eyes. "I'll meet up with you all later."

"And then there were three," Marlene muttered, grabbing some chicken. "I see what you mean about the stares, though." She said uncomfortably. "This is weird."

"I was about to ask about that..." Kelly said unknowingly, looking around carefully.

A little while later, Grace and Janice dashed back into the Great Hall hysterically. "Lily!" They hissed. "Come upstairs!"

"What?" I hissed back, confused and hungry.

They grabbed me by the hands and forced me to follow. Marlene and Kelly shrugged and followed as well, until we reached the Gryffindor common room, and they pulled me up the stairs.

"You don't have to pull," I wrenched my hands from their grasps after we'd reached our dorm, rubbing them tenderly with a scowl.

"Do you fancy James?" Grace asked suddenly, eyes wide.

"Why is everyone asking that?" I demanded, forgetting about my sore hands. "No!"

There was a long silence. Then,

"Well, we were stopped by at least five groups, asking us if the rumours were true." Janice explained.

"And you told them?" I demanded frantically. I couldn't have this rumour get out. Especially after what I'd seen in his textbook the other day—this would ruin our friendship for sure. He'd ask me out every five minutes!

"We er, we said we didn't know." Janice shrugged. After noticing my expression, she'd put her hands up in surrender. "What? How were we supposed to know it wasn't true?"

"I think I'd tell you if I bloody well fancied Potter!" I yelled, feeling anger rise in my chest.

"It's not their fault, Lily." Marlene told me vehemently. "Calm down."

"I can't!" I hissed back. "You don't understand! I like him! We are good mates! If he finds out that I fancy him—which I don't—it'll ruin any chance we ever had at an actual relationship!"

"We can't do anything about it," Janice said. "So there's no use in getting angry with us." She huffed, sitting on her bed and turning away from me.

After a moment, I realized she was right. "I—I'm sorry. This is just confusing." I said, as if that made it any better that I'd just completely exploded at them. "Sorry." I said again.

"It's OK." Kelly said, as Janice continued to avoid my gaze. "But you'd better go tell James it's a rumour before he finds out."

"Oh, it's no use." I sighed, plopping down onto my bed. "I bet by now fifty people have already asked him."

"You'd might as well go and see." Grace said.

"I can't look him in the face now." I moaned into my pillow. "Oh God, even if he knows it's not true, now everything is going to be all awkward and such."

"You don't know that," Janice said, standing up from her bed and sitting next to me, putting her hand on my back.

As much as I hated her lie, I appreciated the attempt of comfort. I smiled at her, and she smiled back, all traces of our fight long gone.

"I can't bear to see him now." I said. This situation was so weird. I didn't even fancy him yet I was flustered. It was just a rumour and yet, I was so embarrassed. What's worse is that I couldn't even talk myself into believing it wasn't a big deal, because it was.

Our friendship was going to be ruined. It was official.

Author's Note: In recognition to James Potter's birthday, I thought I'd update! Sorry it's taken so long; schoolwork is killing me. Please take some time to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. I promise I'll try to update quicker next time.

-Taylor