Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: I feel so bad about waiting so long to post the last one, so you lucky readers get two updates right after another! This time, however, I will not update until I have ten total reviews. So please R&R! Even if you don't like it, I really LOVE constructive criticism. Be brutal. Please be aware that right about here is where the story get REALLY noncannon. If that bothers you, don't read. But give it a shot, I actually really like this chapter. :)
James woke up the next morning before any of the other marauders, and decided to take advantage of the situation. With a swish, a flick, and a muttering of "winguardium leviosa", all three of James' friends were lifted into the air. Thankfully, Peter was the only one to wake up. The beady-eyed boy just grunted with confusion and fell back asleep. James carefully suppressed his laugh. He just couldn't wait to see their reaction, and them waking up early was not an option. Once he got them down the stairs from the dormitories, he set them to rest on the cushy leather couch. "Perfect," he thought to himself. The sofa was the first thing one saw when they came down the stairs. He charmed their clothes invisible, and went back to sleep in his bed.
He couldn't help but wonder what Lily would think when she saw them. Would she wish James was there, naked, too? Would she be attracted to one of the other boys? James was sure he was straight, but he wasn't going to deny that Sirius was an attractive young man. He had dark curly locks and eyes that knew how to make a girl melt. Remus' sandy blond-brown hair was neatly groomed. "Even in his sleep. Pretentious little Git" thought James, but he couldn't help but grin. Remus was one of a kind, and this certainly didn't go unnoticed by the other first years. Even some second and third years were interested in him, and James had overheard some Ravenclaw fifth years remark that he would grow up to be "a total hottie! (insert girly squeal here)". Peter was...peter. He and James may be best friends, but James realized there was no competition between them. Although it was possible for Lily to fancy one of his friends, James knew that none of them would betray him and act upon her feelings. Lily was James' territory, all Gryffindors knew that. Before he could even fall back asleep, he heard girls' screaming and giggling in the common room, shortly followed the the slightly more manly screams of the marauders. Satisfied that his revenge had been taken, James showered and got dressed for a long day of boring classes.
The Great Hall was back to usual state for breakfast as Peter, Remus, Sirius, and James sat down to eat. James was still getting the silent treatment from Remus, but Peter would never risk their friendship by doing that. He was rather clingy and a follower. Sirius, on the other hand, had forgiven his best friend right away simply because he realized it was only revenge for what they had done to him the day before. Idle conversation was made among classmates as they ate, but James remained silent; he would rather watch Lily. That girl could make anything cute, eve talking with her mouth full of half-chewed buttered toast. Apparently, the boys had been trying to get his attention for a while, but James didn't notice until Sirius thumped him on the back of the head. James turned to smack him back, but saw the curly haired boy with one finger over his mouth in the international signal for 'shush', and his other hand pointing towards the Staff table, where, noticeably absent, was...the entire staff.
A certain red-haired girl noticed this too. Lily also saw that where Dumbledore would normally stand to make announcements and speeches stood the head girl, Bethany, and the head boy, Tom. Both the witch and wizard had their wands held to their throats, magically amplifying their voices. "May we have your attention please" cooed Tom in an eerily seductive voice. Most of the student body turned towards him, but some, realizing it was not a professor speaking, resumed their eating and conversations. "ATTENTIN NOW WILL TURNED TOWARDS BETHANY AND ME." he said with the same seductive tone, but in a more authoritative way. The Hall instantly fell silent.
"Awesome! Thanks for the super introduction, Tom!" said the overly perky head girl. She may be brilliant in class, but the way she carried herself made her seem like a complete ditz. Tom flipped his dark hair out of his face and subtly rolled his eyes. "So, guys," she continued in a far too informal manner, " I bet you're all wondering why none of the professors or here, and what happened last night at The All Hallows Ever Ball, right? Oh yeah! Happy November everyone, I didn't want to forget to say that" she giggled, and twirled her platinum blond her around her left pointer finger. By this point Tom's distaste for the girl was obvious, and Lily most certainly didn't blame him. She acted like an imbecile.
"What she is trying to say, is that there was an attack." there were gasps across the Hall as soon as the word 'attack' left Tom's mouth, which was now curved into a creepy smirk worthy of a marauder. "Our dear Josie McClellan, a fourth year of Hufflepuff house, is now in the infirmary. No one is sure what attacked Ms. McClellan, but it does not appear to be a human. At the moment, most professors are searching the castle for any clues, and those who aren't are in a meeting with the Minister". A girl, who appeared to be a friend of Josie, started to cry at this point. Looks were exchanged between just about everyone, and Tom's smirk grew into a smile as he said " I'm not going to tell you not to be afraid, because you should. Even inside Hogwarts walls, dark forces are at work. Students are to be escorted by a teacher, a prefect, Bethany or myself anywhere in the castle." Bethany giggled at the mention of her name. "In addition, curfew will be changed from eleven pm to eight pm, with no exceptions. This is for your own safety.". Groan erupted from the student body when he said 'eight pm', but no one questioned Tom. Whether to be more afraid of the monster or the head boy was something many students were unsure of. "The only thing I can say with total confidence regarding the attack, is that there will be more to come.". With that, Tom and Bethany left the podium and sat down at their respective House tables. Lily was shocked to see the head girl sit at the Ravenclaw table, but not when the head boy went to the Slytherin table. That, she though, made perfect sense, especially after seeing the crazy glint in his eye as he spoke of the attack on Josie. It was simply...weird, unsettling.
After finishing breakfast, Lily and Alice were accompanied by Frank to their first class of the day, Charms. Unfortunately, their usual route was blocked, as the teachers who were without a class first block were searching the third floor hallway, so the trio was forced to find an alternate path. Much to Lily's dismay, this resulted in them arriving seven minutes late. After hearing why they were tardy, Professor Flitwick excused Alice and Frank, but pulled Lily aside. "Ms. Evans, I certainly don't want to frighten you, but there is something I must tell you". Lily felt her eyebrows knotted in confusion. She really hoped she wasn't in trouble. The subby professor cleared his throat and whispered to his star pupil "Well, we have reason to believe that the attack on Ms. Josie McClellan, which I am sure you heard about at breakfast this morning," the girl's ginger head bobbed in agreement, "was not as random as it may have first appeared". He gulped and continued, "Ms. McClellan, the sweetheart, was muggleborn. Headmaster Dumbledore has it in good confidence that this...monster is going after students of non-magical descent. I suggest you take care of yourself, Ms. Evans". With that, he resumed his post at the front of the room teaching class.
Lily fumed. She was infamous for her red-hot temper that matched her hair. Rage consumed her, to the point where her vision was blurred with tears. Normally, she would ask Flitwick for permission to use the lady's room, but Lily knew there was no chance of him allowing her to leave. Normally, the fair skinned girl loved having Charms first, as it was her favorite class. She found it the most challenging, and Lily loved the idea of starting everyday off with a good challenge. Today, however, she really wished that her professor hadn't ruined her entire day. Another period or two of only slight fear, rather than complete rage and terror, would have been nice. "Flitwick is an ancient twat" Lily thought. " He is completely senial, he has no idea what he is talking about. Maybe James paid him off, and this is all one elaborate hoax by that stupid Potter to piss me off. Well, good news, Potter!" at this point she turned to her left, as James Potter sat in the row next to her and one seat forward, and scowled at him. "Yes, that must be it. It needs to be, because any sensible wizard, witch, or creature knows that magic is magic, and it shouldn't, and doesn't, matter one comes from a line of magical people or not. Just because my parents...". The thought of her parents made Lily completely breakdown, and the tears that had been welling in her eyes finally flowed down her red cheeks in rivers. Her tears ruined her note parchment, which only added to Lily's frustration. She was too consumed by this frustration, rage, terror, whatever it was that Lily felt (she wasn't quite sure yet) to notice that a certain dark haired boy and turned to look at her. Worry filled his eyes, it hurt him on a level he had yet to experience in his eleven years to see her cry like this.
Class ended after 30 minutes of Hell, for both Lily and James. Lily wiped her nose on the sleeve of her robes, and left the classroom in a rush. Her not-so-secret admirer chased after her, but backtracked after he realized that the object of his affection had left her book bag at her seat in her rush to get out of the room. "Perfect!" shouted the little voice inside James' head, "now I actually have an excuse to talk to her". With that thought, he ran out of the room in search of Lily. He didn't have to go far, as all students were stopped just outside the door. They had forgotten they needed an escort to class. With a heartbroken expression, Lily tried to ask her chaperone to let her go back to Gryffindor tower, under the premise that she felt ill. Surprisingly, when the chaperone (a Hufflepuff prefect) offered to take her to see the nurse, Lily accepted. She was to walk with the rest of the group to their next class, herbology, and then the chaperone would walk with her to the hospital wing. A sigh of both frustration and relief escaped Lily's lips.
"Hey, Lils," shouted James from the back of the pack.
"Don't you DARE call me that Potter. You may call me Evans, or Lily. Evans is preferable though". Knowing that Lily was already in a bad mood, James let this snarky remark pass.
James continued with a trademark marauder smirk, "I brought you something".
Not knowing how to rely, Lily just looked at James with puffy red eyes and raised eyebrows.
"Here," James said, holding out her bag. "You forgot this back in charms, so I picked it up for you."
Lily's expression visibly softened. "Thanks, James. I really appreciate it."
Just those words alone made James melt, but when she smiled like that, too, well, he felt...amazing. He felt like he could do anything. He guessed that his face showed his joy, because Lily then told him to "Wipe that stupid smile off of your face. I was just saying thank you, like any polite person would."
"Lily, can I ask you something?"
The redhead rolled her eyes and replied "I guess so".
"Lily Evans...Will you go out with me?"
Author's Note: MWAHAHA! CLIFFHANGER! I hope you guys enjoyed this way-longer-than-normal chapter. Don't forget to review if you want to find out what happens :)