Author's Note: Well nobody told me which type of spacing they preferred, so i'm going to keep it like this until somebody does. Thank you to the anonymous person who reviewed! I hope you all enjoy Chapter 3(:

Chapter 3

By the time I skidded into the great hall, with wet hair from my shower, and my tie hanging round my neck, breakfast was just finishing up. McGonagall was almost done handing out the schedules when I reached her. "Ahh miss Evans, I was just looking for you; I look forward to seeing you today in N.E.W.T level transfiguration. I was happy to see you got an O on your O.W.L despite your struggling with the human transfigurations last quarter; I knew you could do it with the right amount of studying." I didn't really know what to say to that; I loved Professor McGonagall but she always makes me nervous, and out of all my classes I struggled the most in hers. Something with transfiguration really just doesn't click with me

"Thank you professor, I'm looking forward to your class as well".

"yes well the material is only going to get harder miss Evans, I would not have placed you in N.E.W.T level if I did not think you could handle it, but if you were struggling with the material last year, I would say you're going to have to put in double the effort to keep up this year if you plan on receiving your usual grades. I am quite confident you can do it, but perhaps you could look into a tutor if it gets to be too much with your other classes?" A tutor? I know it sounds horribly pretentious but I have never had to have a tutor before and it's a bit embarrassing. I know its nothing to be ashamed of, but usually I'm the one tutoring other kids, hopefully it wouldn't come to that but there's no way I'd let her question putting me in her class; if it came to it I suppose I would have to let my pride take a hit and just sign up for extra help.

"sure Professor, that sounds great, I'll definitely look into it if I feel myself struggling" I adopted my polite teacher smile and kept it plastered to my face.

"very well then, good day miss Evans." She walked away after that and I breathed a sigh of relief. I checked my schedule quickly; today was going to suck. I had double Herbology with the Slytherine's first and second, then I had Transfiguration with the Ravenclaw's. After lunch I had Muggle Studies(I know what you're thinking, why on earth would a muggle born take muggle studies? Well I like seeing how the wizarding world views muggles, I find it really interesting. Yes I'm aware I'm a nerd; sue me.) and then I would end the day with charms. Well at least I would get one good class, charms is always fun, Professor Flitwick is a doll, and charms is fascinating yet not too difficult. Overall though, Mondays seemed like they were going to be brutal this year. Looking further down my schedule I saw I wouldn't have potions until Wednesday! Potions is my absolute favorite class, plus it doesn't hurt that Professor Slughorn adores me. It's my best subject and it has been since my first year here; Slughorn is the head of Slytherine but I'm by far his favorite student. I realize how arrogant and annoying I sound but trust me, even the other teachers know that Slughorn loves me. Sometimes it's a bit annoying actually, he's always stopping to chat with me and I'm often called a teacher's pet by some of the nastier kids from slytherine. Overall though, I do enjoy Slughorn, he's a good guy and he's a brilliant Potioneer. At least I would get to have Defense against the Dark Arts Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; defense is most people's favorite class, and it's one of mine; it's usually really exciting, and (like potions) one of the more hands on classes. The plus and downside to Defense is that it's often interactive, which means you're often relying on other's aside from yourself; this sucks if your partner isn't good, another interesting thing about defense is that for some reason, we always get a new professor every year; I was curious to see who this year's professor would be. I scanned the list down to Friday and saw that my astronomy class would be Friday night this year; score! At least I would be able to get some sleep this year. Last year I had Astronomy on Thursday night; god what a disaster that was; every Friday morning I was exhausted. Astronomy is a class that only takes place at around midnight considering it's all about looking at the stars. Another good thing about this year's schedule was that I'd never have to suffer through a double History of Magic; Last year I only had History of Magic two days a week which was good, but they were double periods both days. Double History of Magic should be a form of torture, I wouldn't be surprised if Voldemort began using it as a form of punishment. Dear god, have I not mentioned Voldemort yet?

Okay so basically Lord Voldemort (or as most people refer to him; "He who must not be named"; which I think is really stupid) is basically the biggest asshole to ever walk the face of the planet. I don't want to make light of it though, he's actually incredibly dangerous. He's a coldhearted murderer, but he's an incredibly powerful coldhearted murderer with too many followers to not be considered a problem. Voldemort is a wizard who started this movement all about purifying the wizarding world. He believes that purebloods are the only witches and wizards of value and that the closer you are to being a muggle, the lower your value is. His followers are called death eaters, and I can name a few people from Slytherine House who I can guarantee want to become death eaters when they graduate. Some of the people Snape hangs out with for sure, and If I'm being honest with myself, I'm sure Snape is headed in that direction as well. People are afraid to call him by his name but I think it was probably Voldemort who started all that "he who must not be named" nonsense. Honestly it invokes more fear than just saying Voldemort, and it would be pretty smart of him to create mass hysteria over his name alone. It actually infuriates me though, I mean what chance do we have of fighting him if we can't even say his name? pathetic. As I was contemplating Voldemort I was absently scanning down the rest of my schedule when I realized what all these empty slots were throughout my week; I almost forgot; 6th years have free periods! Yes, yes, I know I'm going to be using them to study more often than not, but no matter what, it's better than my horrid 5th year schedule, I mean at least I'll have periods off to study this year, and at least for the first week or two I'll be able to use some of them for free time.

Looking around the great hall I noticed most of my friends were already gone, and neither Jenny, nor Kimmy were anywhere to be found. I figured it was probably a good time to start heading to class. I saw Collin walking up the steps out of the great hall but when I waved at him he avoided my eye contact. Hmm that was strange, I wonder what that was about? I'm sure he just didn't see me; it's not like him to ignore me. I guess I'd be walking to the outdoor greenhouses alone then. That was what was annoying about Herbology; at least it was still warm right now; when winter comes, everyone dreads trekking through the snow to get to the greenhouses. Professor Sprout is the new Herbology teacher; she came here 2 years ago and she's pretty cool about most things but if you complain about getting out to the greenhouses on cold days she has zero tolerance. I think she takes it as a personal insult to her field of education. Overall though Herbology is not a terrible class, but any class with the slytherines' is always a pain, especially ones with sharp, poisonous plants around.

"LILY, HEY LILY!" I turned at the sound of my name being called, and was met with the round, happy face of Gwenog Jones. Gwenog (or as most people call her Gwen) is a fellow Gryffindor, although she's a 5th year, and also someone I know from my slug club meetings. Right so I'm going to stop right there. The slug club is not a club dedicated to the appreciation of our friendly mollusk friends; it is in fact, a club that Professor Slughorn put together, comprised of all his favorite students. I know what you're thinking…is that any better? And before you judge me to harshly the answer is yes! Some of the parties are actually really fun, and Slughorn always has great entertainment, food, and he makes great connections for us based on which direction we want our various careers to take. Plus I have met a lot of great people from my slug club meetings; Gwen included. "hey Gwen! What's up? How was your summer?"

"ahh it was great, I have been practicing my beating all summer, so hopefully James will be pleased" Another thing about Gwen is that she was a wicked beater for the Gryffindor Quiditch team. Quiditch is the single most popular wizarding sport by far; it's a game played on broom sticks with 7 players: the keeper, who guards the goal posts from letting the quaffle in; the 3 chasers, who try to shoot the quaffle into the goal posts; the 2 beaters, who try to hit bludgers at the other team's players with beater's bats; and the seeker, who try's to catch the golden snitch for 150 points and to end the game. There are some quiditch fans/players in the school, who live, breathe, think, and eat, quiditch, while some people (myself included) are just fans who like to catch a game now and then. Gwen is one of the insane fans; her whole life is quiditch. Potter and his friends are also of the insane variety as are most boys. Potter is the captain of the Gryffindor Quiditch team, hence her wanting to please him. Although I suspect that she might have ulterior motives for wanting to make potter happy; I have always thought she's had a bit of a thing for Potter, but then again most of the girls in the school do. Gwen's a pretty girl, with her dark smooth skin, and large almond eyes, but she's also a bit burly from all the batting practice she needs in order to be a serious beater. I've never seen Potter take a particular interest in Gwen, but she's also a good friend of his. I think she'd have to take things a bit farther out of the friend zone though if she'd ever want to seriously date him.

"I'm sure he will be; you were bloody brilliant last year, and after a whole summer of practice how could you not be amazing?" It was true; Gwen is one of the best beaters Hogwarts has ever seen. She smiled Brilliantly at me "well I'm off to care of Magical Creatures, and you know how Kettleburn is about tardiness I best be off! See you around Red" It appears Gwen is another one who has picked up Potter's nickname for me; probably since she's around him so much for quiditch. Quiditch is probably one of the main reasons Potter is so full of himself; this is his 2nd year as captain and he lead the Hogwarts team to victory last Year. He's an outstanding chaser; the best in the school by far, but he's completely aware of this, which is what makes him so obnoxious.

When I got to greenhouse 6 I immediately placed my bag by Jenny and Kimmy's bags and proceeded to avoid eye contact with Snape for the entire lesson; I was pretty successful. I believe he tried to catch my eye once or twice, to apologize yet again I'm sure, but I refused to even tilt my chin in his direction. Herbology passed by in a blur, as did the rest of my day; most of the teachers just introduced the topics we'd be covering this year or had us start off with a simple task. Almost nobody assigned any significant Homework since it was only the first day, and most of the students were too busy greeting their friends from other houses after a long summer apart. Soon enough It was time for dinner and I was determined to seek out Collin Specs. Collin you see, had been avoiding me all day long. This morning was not just a figment of my imagination, or a mistake on his part, I am quite certain it was deliberate. Collin and I both signed up for Muggle studies last year because he thinks it would be good for the job he wants in the ministry, and like I said, I find the wizard's perspective of muggle's fascinating. The class however, has always been a blow off class for us; we pay attention when something is interesting, but overall the material is fairly simple (especially for me of course) and I just tell him what he needs to know before any tests. Jenny and Kimmy opted out of taking Muggle studies because they wanted care of magical creatures, so I figured I'd be sitting next to Collin again. When I came into the class however, he just completely avoided me and sat on the opposite side of the room next to some hufflepuff boy, notorious for his bad breath. Obviously something was up. I had no idea what it could be considering we hadn't even had much time to talk and he seemed perfectly friendly during the feast on the first night, but I was determined to find out what I could have possibly done to piss him off. So it was with rapt attention that I entered the great hall for dinner, trying to find Collin to work whatever was going on, out. To my utter surprise though, Collin was somehow nowhere to be found anywhere within the great hall. I even checked to see if he was sitting by bad breath Benjy over at the Hufflepuff table but he was definitely not in the Great Hall. I would have to figure it out after dinner then; he couldn't avoid me forever. I located Jenny and Kimmy and sat next to them, determined to keep an eye out for Collin. Across from us were Potter, Black, Remus, and Pettigrew, who were talking animatedly about some prank they were planning to pull on the slytherines. I pretended not to notice, as I really did not want to have to reprimand them(I am a prefect you know). Potter looked up when I sat down and gave me a small smile; really just a slight curling up of his lips on one side, but I think it was meant to be in thanks of our talk this morning. I appreciated it all the same and couldn't help but notice that when There was no malice behind it, or a mocking spark in his eyes, Potter actually had a pretty nice smile.

"Oh my god our new Defense Teacher is amazing" exclaimed Alice Prewett, as she took her seat next to her steady boyfriend Frank Longbottom. Alice and Frank have been the "it" couple of Hogwarts for 2 years now. They're both 7th years but they're both really nice and smart; they're the kind of people that everybody likes. Alice was the first cousin to the head boy Fabian. Next to me, a fellow 6th year girl Marlene McKinnon asked "Really? What's he like?"

"Well first he seems super scary, because he like randomly calls on you and appears kind of angry, but he's really funny, and he seems super intelligent."

"I heard he used to be an aurror" Said Pettigrew; the "marauders" had momentarily dropped their conversation in order to hear about the new teacher.

"He was, my dad told me he retired the year my dad was hired" Said Potter. Alice nodded in agreement. "yea and he said that our next lesson he's going to divide us into pairs and "asses our dueling knowledge" She told us nervously.

"Don't sweat it Alice, you'll be brilliant, just like you are at everything else" That was Frank; Alice blushed lightly but she looked pleased.

"whipped man, you're so whipped" came the voice of Black, but he was smiling in a friendly way, like I said, nobody could dislike Frank or Alice. Dueling sounded pretty amazing to me; it was one of the things we never really touched on in any of our classes, but I was with Alice on being nervous about it, I mean what if I humiliated myself in front of the entire class? I'd have to read up a bit on dueling before my class tomorrow. I was about to add in to the conversation as now everybody was discussing what the new teacher was like, when I heard a throat clear behind me

"um Lily? Can I talk to you for a sec? I whirled around at the sound of Collin's Voice.

"yes of course, did you want to talk now?" Oh god, was he about to tell me what was up with him? I hope he was okay; I hope we were okay, not that I've done anything to upset him…at least to my knowledge. By now the entire section of our table was staring at us, and I could feel my cheeks reddening

"yea...if that's okay? Could we maybe go outside the hall and talk?" He sounded so nervous! I was seriously starting to get freaked out.

I got up and followed his hastily retreating form out of the hall; I could feel eyes on my back and it was making me uncomfortable. "Collin? What's wrong? Did something happen?" I called to him once we were out of the Great hall. He turned around abruptly and rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. "Listen Lily, um, there's something I've been uh meaning to ask you" His face was bright red now.

"what is it Collin? What's bugging you?"

"nothing's bugging me I just, um… I'm sorry I'm a little nervous" He cleared his throat again. Collin, was nervous…to talk to me? What the hell?

"why are you nervous? You don't have to be nervous to tell me anything" I tried to smile reassuringly at him, but he just go even redder! I was seriously confused.

"well um, you know that uh I like you a lot, right Lily? I mean, I'm really glad we became friends last year, and you're one of the coolest girls I know" oh god, he sounded like, well like he was about to ask me out, either that or break up with me but considering we're not dating I doubt it's the latter. Be cool Lily, don't jump the gun! For all you know it could be something entirely different…

"yea, I'm really glad I met you too Collin, you're a really good friend of mine" uh oh, crap! Bloody word vomit, now he's going to think I just want to be friends. Wait do I just want to be friends? Do I even like Collin? Gahhh I'm so confused!

"yea well that's the thing. See, I think I'd um well like to be more than friends with you lily, if um that was, well, possible? If not it's uh totally cool, we can just you know pretend this never happened… or something". He looked like he was about to pass out. Ugh I wish I had more time to think about this! Think Lily, THINK!

"umm well you mean, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?" Great. Now he's going to think I'm a 5 year old or something. "Boyfriend and girlfriend" honestly I sound like such a little kid.

"um yes?" He stuttered anxiously. Well I didn't necessarily want to say no, I mean we get along really well, and he was pretty cute, decently intelligent, I mean I didn't want to say no and then regret it later, but I also wish I could find out if I even liked him like that first. The only other boyfriend I've had was in 4th year with a 6th year who graduated 2 years ago. It only lasted a couple of weeks and it was pretty much a disaster. Except for that I've only ever gone on a couple dates to Hogsmeade; it would be nice to actually have a boyfriend again though. Wait, that's it! Hogsmeade! I'd tell him we could try a date at Hogsmeade first and if it went well I could decide to date him after. "I'm not saying no Collin, because I think you're a really great guy, but I'd like to see how our dynamics are as a couple first before we jump into a relationship, you know? Plus this is all pretty sudden; maybe we could go on a date first?" I hoped I hadn't offended him, oh god this better not end horribly and ruin our friendship. I wish I was a lesbian. Actually no, because then that would make things awkward if I had a crush on Kimmy or Jenny or some other girl I'm friends with. Blarg. Now I'm rambling.

"A date? Yea that, that's a really good idea actually. Why didn't I think of that? I'm so stupid"

"You're not stupid Collin; just nervous" I smiled at him. "how a bout the first Hogsmeade weekend then; I believe it's in a few weeks"

"Yeah! That's a great idea, and I'm sorry I asked you so suddenly, and I'm sorry I was so weird today, but I was freaking out" He laughed nervously. "I figured I'd ask you on the first night because I'm sure tons of guys will start asking you out by the time Hogsmeade rolls around; I had to get there first!" Awww, that was so cute! He's so sweet; utterly ridiculous, but sweet.

"you're crazy, since when are guys asking me out? You get hit on by way more girls than I do by guys"

"Not true at all! Loads of guys asks you out; you're the coolest girl in school, you're funny, smart, and beautiful" okay so I'm having such a girl moment right now but honestly, that was so cute. Strange though at the same time, I mean Collin's my friend, I'm not used to him being so flirtatious, damn though, boy can lay on the charm.

"aw thanks Collin! That's so sweet". I could actually feel the blood rushing to my cheeks; I'm sure they were crimson by now.

"yea no problem" he was rubbing his neck again; I think it's a nervous habit. We both kind of stood there awkwardly for a moment before we both started talking at the same time.

"well I should go finish dinner" "well I'd better head back to the library" We laughed awkwardly again; dear god our date better be a little smoother than this otherwise, I'd know Collin would have to be strictly friend territory.

"right well, see you later Lily"

"Bye Collin". I basically ran away after that; oh my god that was so awkward. I felt kind of floaty and happy at the same time though, so maybe I didn't make the wrong decision.

As I headed back to the table I forgot to school my expression to make it appear neutral and immediately my friends new something was up. Kimmy was smiling knowingly at me and Jenny had a wolfish grin on her face. "He totally just asked you out; and if you try to deny it ill stab you with this fork" That was jenny. Subtle she was not. I just ignored her and spooned some rice onto my plate.

"Oh my god! Lily! Jenny's right; he totally asked you out!" That was Marlene. God couldn't she see I did not want to talk about it, and I don't even know her well enough to yell at her. A bunch of the boys close by starting "oohing" and Black even leaned across the table to pinch my cheeks "look her face matches her hair now!" God he Is so annoying! "alright, alright leave the girl alone; let her have her secrets" that was Alice; thank god for that girl. "screw secrets; spill Lilly!" and that was Kimmy. I hate my friends.

"It was nothing; he might have intimated that he had feelings for me, and we're going to go to Hogsmeade together" I've learned over the course of my years at Hogwarts, that with my friends, it's easier to just give in early before they force it out of you at a less opportune time. Plus it wasn't like I was embarrassed about it per say; it's just I didn't want to announce anything when I wasn't quite sure what was going on myself ; ah whatever, they'd find out by the Hogsmeade trip anyway.

"Congrats Lils! Wait… I didn't even know you had a thing for Collin" that was Jenny again.

"that's the thing, I'm not sure if I do either, but Collin's really cool, and we get along great, so I figured I'd try it out."

"smart move lils, Collin's a total cutie and he's obviously in to you" Kimmy again.

"yea well, we'll see how our date goes; and seriously please don't harass him about it or anything; and DON'T go telling everybody like you did the last date I had"

We bickered back and forth playfully for a minute or two while people slowly began to file out of the Great Hall, to retire to their respective dormitories. Basically the hype over Collin asking me out died down by the time dinner was over and we moved on to other things. When I stood up however I noticed Potter looking quite stormy and talking heatedly with Remus. I'm not going to lie; I was curious, and I was wondering if maybe he was upset about his grandfather again or something? I wandered over to them with the excuse of having to ask Remus a question.

"Hey Remus, did you talk to Fabian at all?" Remus looked a bit nervous about me coming up to them, but then Potter turned around to face me and I was taken aback by his expression. He was sneering at me and his eyes were cold and angry. His lips were set into a straight line; nothing like the playful smile from earlier. "God Evans, can't you see we're having a conversation? Why don't you go be a bloody prefect somewhere else for a minute and let Remus talk to his friends" ouch. That hurt. And this is why I can't stand Potter. He's so mercurial! One minute we're getting along great and the next he's being a stupid Pratt again. "I'm pretty sure Remus can talk for himself Potter, but fine, ill leave, to go be a "bloody prefect" up in my room; and the next time you want to talk; ask someone else!"

" I never asked to talk to you Evans. You started talking to me" god he was infuriating! Any happiness I felt about Collin asking me out had completely evaporated and it was all Potter's fault. Remus grimaced apologetically at me, but it wasn't Remus I was mad at. I just turned on my heel and strode away; if Potter was going to be a git, it didn't have to involve me.

When I got upstairs and my friends asked me what was wrong, I just huffed at them and put on my pajamas in the bathroom after slamming the door. I really did not feel like getting into it and I'd apologize for my behavior in the morning. When I walked back into the room I saw Marlene, and the other 6th year girl Mary pouring over Witch Weekly on Mary's bed, While Jenny and Kimmy were eyeing me furtively from Jenny's bed. I just ignored their looks and jumped into my bed and closed the curtains angrily. I knew I was acting like a snot, and I knew it wasn't there fault, but I just didn't feel like talking about it. I was surprised at myself though. I mean Potter and I get into spats all the time, and I'm always a little put out, sometimes even really pissed off, but for some reason his reaction really bothered me this time. Maybe it was because subconsciously I had begun to think he was finally changing, and he just proved me wrong with his reaction out there. As I calmed down I realized I was harboring another emotion too. I was not just angry and resentful; I was hurt. Potter actually hurt my feelings this time. I wondered why it bothered me so much. It was probably just because his mood change was so sudden.

Sleep did not come easily that night, I twisted and turned in my bed sheets hours after hearing the soft snores of the girls around me; signifying that they had fallen asleep. I should have been giddy and slightly anxious about my upcoming date with Collin, and what the next day would bring; but instead I was mulling over what James bloody Potter said to me, while his angry sneer remained fixed behind my closed eyelids.

Author's Note: sorry everybody about the Collin thing, but just remember, this is a Lily/James fic so worry not! I'll try to update as fast as possible; bye for now! (: