Everything for Joanna Rowling. Nothing for little ole' me. And... a note to the girl who sent me the private message that I never responded to: I can no longer access my email and according to Google...
We know loosing you account can be a very frustrating process, but, based on the information we've been given, we can not verify that this is your email and therefore, we are unable to return it. blah, blah, blah, we're very sorry, blah, blah, blah, you can refill out out the from, and we will attempt to answer any questions within 24 hours.
Google, I don't think you understand how frustrating this actually is! They're so annoying sometimes. If I didn't seriously want to work for them one day, I'd punch 'em all in the gut. Long story short, I can no longer access my email and am setting up a new account, though, I really don't want to.
Onto the story!
Lily ran through the hall, up flights of stairs, past classrooms and closets alike. She didn't stop to scold the students who were out of bed, nor did she give detention to the couple snogging against the wall. She ran, oblivious to everyone, most of whom had stopped and done a double take when they saw her. Lily was a very composed person, and to see her running through the hall, which was against the rules, breathing heavy, her hair a disaster and her skin blotchy was not a common sight. And not stopping to make sure students were getting to bed, and not going for a late night snack in the kitchens, as the Head Girl should do, wasn't completely ordinary, either.
Lily, however, didn't care. She ran and ran, through the castle. The paintings, whom she usually spoke to, called out in greeting, but Lily ignored them. She had something she needed to do, and speaking with portraits wasn't going to help her cause.
She finally reached the fourth floor, left corridor, in front of the tapestry baring the Hogwarts coat of arms. She leaned onto the wall in an attempt to catch her breath, and closed her eyes. After a few moments, her breathing steadied and she boldly pushed the door of the common room open.
"James?" She ventured. No answer came, and Lily stepped farther into the room. "James? James, are you in here?" She asked, taking a small peek into his room, which was empty. She then took a look into her own room, just for good measure.
James was nowhere to be found. Lily collapsed onto the couch, unsure of what to do. She needed to find James, but she hadn't a clue where he was. So, she sat alone in the common room, with only her thoughts as company.
She switched positions and stared at the door, willing James to return when she noticed a sheet of parchment, folded neatly in half, with her name scrawled across the front in James' messy script lying on the floor. She snatched the paper as if it would disappear in second.
As she broke the seal, James voice filled the air. "Lily, I'm sorry for what happened earlier. If I'd known you were going to be so upset, I'd have never told anyone. I shouldn't have insulted your sister like that. She's your family, and even if you and her aren't on the best terms, you love her. It's like Sirius and his brother. They aren't mates, exactly, but Sirius would hurt anyone who spoke a bad word about him. He once didn't speak with me for a week when I made a comment about Regulus. Anyway, I understand if you don't want to see me, so I won't brother you again. I've gotten the message: you don't like me. It's alright. I've gone on patrol, so you don't need to. Good night, sleep well."
As his voice faded, Lily shook her head.
"No! No, James, I do want to see you!" She said, staring at the words.
"He's on a patrol." She said quietly, to herself. "I can go find him. And I'm not out of bed. I'm Head Girl."
She quickly threw her robe over her self and ran out.
She had gotten to all the way to the Great Hall when she realized the flaw in her plan.
In a seven floor castle, looking for a constantly moving person is not easy. However, she needed to find him, so she couldn't give up.
She was running through a corridor on the third floor when her favorite painting stopped her.
"Why, if it isn't the lovely Lily!" Arnold, the scholar in the painting, exclaimed when he saw her. "To what do I own the honor to be visited by a lovely specimen such as yourself?"
"Arnold, it's lovely to see you too, but I really must be going. I'm looking for someone." She told him, smiling.
"Oh? This person wouldn't happen to be a tall boy with coal hair and the most remarkable hazel eyes, would he?" Arnold said, raising his eyes above her crocked glasses.
Lily's heart soared. "Yes! Yes, that's him! That's James Potter! Who did you know? Have you seen him?"
"In fact, my love, I have. The young gentlemen passed by here if not a quarter of an hour ago, muttering away about a truculent, overwhelming beautiful redhead." Taking in her hair, he added. "That would be you, may I gather?"
"Did you happen to see what direction he took?"
"I did, my sweet water rose. He took no more than five steps to the moon, then stopped. He was mumbling, and all I caught was he needed to find something. He then turned and ran toward the sun. Strangely, he spoke to no one but himself."
Lily racked her brain for what could possibly be the on the east side of the castle that Potter was looking for. "He went east, then."
Arnold beamed at her. "Always the bright one! Many a time I wonder why you were placed in Gyrffindor and not Ravenclaw, where the brightest of mind dwell."
"I've wondered that, too, Arnold. If you'll excuse me, I really do need to find him. Good night, Arnold."
"Good night, Miss Evans. I bid you a pleasant slumber full of dreams as sweet as young love." Lily smiled at him before headed toward the east side of the castle.
After searching for almost three hours, Lily returned to the common rooms and dropped into her favorite armchair.
She had searched the entire castle, and still had been unsuccessful in finding James. All she knew was that he had been, at one point, on the east side of the castle. She had even gone to the lake, despite the fact it was almost freezing outside.
After a few moments, Lily realized she was getting nowhere by just sitting there. She hadn't a clue where he was, and, more likely than not, he was with his friends. If that did happen to be the case, Lily would probably never find him.
She slumped against the armrest and sighed. Staring into the fire, she wondered if maybe she could just floo herself to where he was. If he was anywhere in Hogwarts, he'd most certainly be near a fire.
She began to reach for the jar of powder kept on the mantle when the clock struck twelve clear, high chimes.
"It's midnight." She said to the armchair. "It's midnight, and if I was Cinderella, my time would be up. I would have to run home so that I didn't get in trouble and James would never speak to me again, and I would go back to pretending that I hated him."
"Are you saying that you no longer hate him?"
Lily looked up at Aira. She hadn't heard her best friend come in and she smiled as she looked into her friends round, dark eyes.
"I don't. I don't hate him and he thinks that I do. How did you get in here, anyway?"
Aira sat down next to her. "I suppose you've got a right to know. James has been giving the password to Sirius, who gives it to me."
"Oh." Lily looked at her hands. "That was ... kind of him."
Aira shrugged. "Yeah, it was. He's a nice guy."
"Do you really like him?" Lily asked.
Aira smiled at her. "Yeah, I do. Now, come on. Ellie and Charlotte are waiting for us at the top of the Astronomy Tower."
Fifteen minutes later, Lily was standing in front of her Charlotte, Aira and Ellie, cold.
"What's going on?" She asked, looking from each of the girls face. "What's happening?"
The three of them exchanged glances.
"We want to talk." Aira said, crossing her arms.
"About you and James." Charlotte clarified.
Ellie nodded. "Like what happened this evening that caused Remus, Peter and Sirius to treat you like they did at dinner and for James to not come eat. I don't think that once in the last seven years, James Potter has ever skipped a meal/ And what's being happening between you two for the last two months."
Lily looked at her hands. "That's not really anything." She told them.
Aira stood on her toes so she and Lily were at the same height. "Oh, yes it is. Tell us."
She sighed. "Back in September, James and I made that stupid bet. And since then, I've been going along with it. Christmas Eve, we did all that decorating and you," She pointed at Aira, who smiled smugly. "and Sirius pulled that trick with the mistletoe. I'll admit it, kissing James isn't exactly awful. It's actually quite pleasant. His lips are surprisingly soft. Anyway, that night, I dreamed about him."
Ellie eyes widened and she slowly began to grin. Aira and Charlotte stared at her, mouths agape.
"I know. Christmas morning, James was trying to wake me up at bloody six o'clock. I sorta just rolled away from him, and then, he kissed me. He kissed me, and I kissed him back. Do you want to know what he did?" The others nodded, and she smiled, tears beginning to form. "Every year, at Christmas, we eat breakfast in our pajamas as we open gift. James mailed my mother, found that out, and re-created it for me. Then, at lunch, he informed me we would have another 'lesson.' I was going to fool everyone I knew by 'dating' him. I think he thought that if I got a taste of us together, I would be more inclined to date him."
"Wait, lessons? Like the bet, the one where you're learning to be fun? And if you win, James will leave you alone?" Aira said, her forehead scrunching in confusion. "If you're trying to win, why'd you say yes to him asking you out?"
"One of the clauses is if James gives me a task, I can't refuse it or I lose by default. He somehow twisted it so it was like a task. I meant to break up with him after a few weeks. Then, I thought, he'd see we didn't work and I figured that he would stop trying. That was my plan. I thought I'd do it after a fight or two. Except we didn't fight! Not anymore than usual. Tonight, I heard James and the Marauders talking. About me. James mentioned how Petunia and I aren't on the best terms, and that's why I stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas."
She watched her friends expressions change, going from looks of mirth to confusion and infuriation.
She nodded. "He told them, and I felt almost betrayed! I told James that in complete confidentiality, and he told it to the Marauders. I was so rankled, I saw a chance and took it. I broke up him, even though we weren't even dating."
She finished and collapsed against the wall. "Want to know the real problem? I regret it. I regret breaking up with the the boy I never thought I would date. When I saw Sirius, Remus and Peter at dinner, I felt like I watched a puppy get kicked or something."
Aira knelt beside her, and wrapped her arms around her. "It's alright, Lily." She murmured, soothingly.
"I don't know if it will be, Aira." She said, pulling her knees in. "I really hurt him. He left me a note saying I didn't have to take tonight's patrol, telling me it was alright, he got the message, he won't brother me anymore. I know it was what I wanted, but now I'm not so sure."
Aira gently leaned away from her. "Lily... you don't fancy James, do you?"
Lily pressed her face into her knees. She mumbled something.
Aira looked up at the others and smiled. "Didn't quite catch that."
She mumbled again, a little bit louder.
Ellie grinned broadly. "We still can't understand you."
Lily pulled her face up and glared. "I like him, alright? Are you pleased, now?"
Charlotte dropped next to her and laughed. "Oh, yes. Why? Because, after seven years, you finally admitted it. You fancy James Potter. You find the Marauder-bad boy-pranking pulling attitude attractive."
"I do not! I find the kind, caring, smart James I've gotten to know attractive."
"The rest is just frosting on the very delicious cake, then?" Aira teased her.
Lily blushed. "I like him."
"We know you do, Lily. I can't speak for the others, but I've known for a long while now. Or I'd suspected, at the very least." Charlotte told her gently. "I began to think so after the thing with Severus in fifth year. You stopped going out of your way to avoid him, and you would come up with clever responses instead of just saying no and threatening to remove this intestines if he came near you again. Which, I never told you, but I don't think turned him away."
Lily gave them a small smile. "I really pissed it up, though."
"James is persistent, if nothing else. Tell him you'll date him and all will be forgiven, believe me."
Lily smiled at her. "Do you really think so?"
The three nodded.
I hope it's going to get better. It keeps going down hill. If you have any ideas or anything to make this story better, please, leave a review of send me a message!