1Thank you all for your reviewing! I'm hoping to get at least 15 reviews before I put up the fourth chapter, now is that too much to ask? Come ON, the more reviews I get the more persuaded I am and believe me, I am very busy every day, even in the summer so...just a warning! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
In the future I may personally thank each reviewer, but for now I will just say thanks to all of you (if you are even reading this) so:
THANK YOU EVERYONE!I LOVE YOU ALL! even if I don't know exactly who you are I still luff ya! Please review! And read my other stories! I will, at the end of this chapter, give you a little summary of a new idea for a story I have...you know, its one of those things that sound REALLY good in my head but I'm not so sure that I can pull it off so...I'm a gonna run it a bya youa at the enda ofa thisa chapater!
Woah...pinch me in your review if I EVER talk like that again...okay...here's the chapter!
See me next time on: DENI'S RAMBLES
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Bed curtains pulled slowly aside, the one and only Lily Evans sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. She, so to speak, slumped into the bathroom, took a shower and brushed her teeth, went back into her dormitory and got dressed...
yes, a very eventful morning.
After pulling her Hogwarts robe over her head, and straitening her head badge, she made her way to James door and knocked softly on the wood near the handle. There was no answer. She knocked again, this time a little louder just in case he heard her, but still–no answer. So, she decided to take a little peek and see why her head mate wasn't answering her morning call. She creaked the door open, reminding herself to tell Dumbledore about the old doors needing fixing, and took a look inside. James was asleep, peacefully and quietly snoring, so she decided to give a couple of more minutes of dream land. She walked by herself to the great hall, convincing herself that 'eventually' James would wake up because, incredulously, he was never late for classes.
She sat down in her usual seat, smiled warmly at a few first years who entered and sat near her, and began eating her breakfast. As she spread marmalade on her toast, Aphrodite and Jenny appeared across the table and each said their hello's. Lily smiled and said hello also, and just then a flock of forty or so birds flew in from the above opening in the ceilings. Lily immediately recognized her owl but was surprised to see it holding a small package, when all she was used to was an issue of the most recent 'Daily Prophet' or a complaint note from Petunia or mother about "how she wasn't home to be their personal maid, cook, and launder"...blah blah...
Jenny and Aphrodite were just as surprised (for they knew what type of mail Lily usually received) to see the small package as the little owl gracefully fell into Lily's lap. Lily gave Eos, for that was her name, the goddess of the dawn, and she happily flew away, hooting with a few other owls and probably meeting up with the whole lot in the owlery (-did I spell that right...?). Jenny and Aphrodite leaned across the table in anticipation as Lily gently pulled the strings tied around the plain brown package, and the paper unfolded itself; bright lights sparked and flew around her head;
Then all turned still...and the many sparkling lights turned into flower petals that rained down on the one spot where Lily had frozen. She lifted a single petal off her sleeve a felt her eyes sting with wanting to rain themselfs, for she recognized her favorite flower petal, which was pure white with hints of lavender creeping on the edges. 'Who knew...?' she thought over and over again. She knew it could not be one of her friends because they were innocently surprised, she could tell, and their eyes glittered with good-natured envy.
"That's so romantic..." said Aphrodite dreamily with hints of her french accent hanging on every word and she pulled at a golden ringlet, of the many piled atop her head. But Jenny, who had stopped staring at Lily for a moment, noticed a small white card with purple edges, that materialized from some of the sparkling glittered that had fallen on the surface of the glossy wooden table. She picked it up curiously, noticing in the back of her mind that the great hall had shushed themselfs to watch the spectacular display of Lily's mysterious gift, and decided to read out loud:
" Dear Lily, ("It begins," Shh!)
How are you? Not really how I wanted to start this note but it will have to do. Did you like your present? ("Present? It's not my birthday...") yes I can probably tell what you are thinking, yes I know its not your birthday, and please don't ask how I know when your birthday is, not that I could tell you anyways because this is anonymous, and please don't think I am a stalker, well, I'm to tall to be a stalker and I hope I did not just give something away.
I Love you Lily, and I always will (here, Aphrodite couldn't help but take a sharp intake of breath, something Lily was sure to notice) please don't be surprised to receive another gift from me tomorrow, for there will be one expected to be here.
Keep me in your heart,
Your Secret Admirer"
Jenny gently handed Lily the note, which Lily read over once more. Then, something unexpected happened; Sirius held his hands up high and started to clap loudly; Remus and Peter followed after a few seconds, as did a few people from the Hufflepuff table, then the rest of the Gryffidors and the Hufflepuffs, and the Ravenclaws joined in and even a few Slytherins. Dumbledore, sitting at the head table clapping loudly like Sirius, had a twinkle in his eye that Lily noticed the moment everybody started to clap.
Lily wiped a stray tear from her eye and looked around the great hall at all the people clapping; none of them had a look in their face, their expression, except maybe the marauders but they always had that look, a look of knowing, and while Lily searched the great hall for signs anybody might be giving her, she also noticed James standing with his back against the great oak doors of the great hall with a soft smile and a sort of knowing face, unlike his fellow marauders who were smiling from ear to ear. Lily smiled back at him and he walked nonchalantly over to her, sat down, and started to eat his breakfast.
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((James' POV)) ((felt like doing a personal POV, so sorry if you don't want to read the same thing in James' perspective))
I was about to wake up when I heard the soft footsteps and knew only who they could belong to. And I was right. She knocked softly, and I didn't say a word; I'm not sure why I didn't say anything...I guess it was a sort of reaction, when one is used to being dragged out of bed and usually ends up faking sleep. So, she knocked a little harder, and still I did nothing to confirm that I was even awake, so she opened the door. I continued to snore gently, pretending I was asleep, and could hear her retreating, and all I could think of was that she was letting me sleep in. I'm so lucky to have fallen in love with such a caring and understanding person.
Merlin, she's gullible.
Anyways, after a few minutes of silent bickering with myself, I decided I wanted to see her expression when she opened my present. I silently, just in case she still might be in the head common room, slipped into a new pair of cloths and pulled my robes over them. I tiptoed, as much a tall person can tiptoe without hitting his head on the top of the doorframe, out the head dorm, and walked swiftly down the almost vacant corridor, hoping to just maybe get a glimpse of her reaction to my letter and gift.
When I reached the humongous oak doors the led into the great hall, I noticed silence, with one voice speaking. It must have been Jenny or Aphrodite, because I could just make out parts of my letter in their muffled speech (muffled because of the oak doors!MUAHAH!) Then there was silence again, complete silence for about ten seconds, then clapping, loud, obnoxious clapping, and the first thing that came to my mind was "Sirius" I shook my head with a smile on my face and finally decided, when the clapping was at its highest point in sound level, to sneek into the great hall, no one noticing me at first as I rested my back against the oak doors with a smile on my face, except a certain girl of the moment; none other than Lily. I walked slowly over to her, still smiling (but who wasn't? Besides the Slytherins of course) And I sat down to begin my breakfast.
((back to third person!))
Girls swarmed around Lily, each wanting to see the note to see if they recognized the handwriting, even Professor McGonagall wanted to put a spell on it to try and find out the sender of the note, but Lily refused, she wanted to find out her "Secret Admirer" for herself.
And, it was quite unnerving to see the glint in McGonagalls face when she wanted to see who wasn't proclaiming their love for Lily in the way she most fancied; right to their face.
No wonder she wasn't married.
So, almost everyone left the great hall in good spirits, all except the ones complaining to their boyfriends that they didn't do anything spectacular for them; Lily even witnessed one boy crying out in frustration and agreeing to put on the most spectacular fireworks display ever known to man, just for his girlfriend. Lily gave him a warning.
Lily aced her transfigure pop test, making her even more happy, made a successful sleeping drought in potions class, was the first to master the charm professor Flitwick had been teaching them for a week, and all in all, her wonderful attitude towards her studies earned Gryffindor a grand total of forty-five points. She got many "Good Job!"'s "Could you maybe help me study sometime if your not busy?"'s and even a few "Thank You! I accidentally lost Gryffindor twenty points for being caught snogging last night, I mean...wasn't supposed to tell you that...dragons dung!"'s yes, bizarre...but she didn't let any of those distract her good work and by lunch, almost everyone was wanting to be her friend.
The weird thing, which was most confusing to Lily especially, was that her two best and the Marauders were sticking to her as if the were the prickly part of velcro. (Wow...odd simile:P) They sat next to her in every class, the Marauders abandoning their usual spot in the back of all their classes and decided to sit with her and her friends in the front. Weird...she thought.
At dinner that day, she sat down in her usual seat with her friends, and the marauders came to join her.
"I shall act pleasantly surprised when they sit down." she mumbled to herself as she noticed them drawing nearer with goofy grins on their faces. Aphy raised her eyebrow for a split second before smiling warmly at Remus who sat down nest to her.
"So, how's your day been, Lil?" asked Sirius, trying to start a conversation and hide his happy smile. She raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, I guess. I aced McGonagall's test, made a successful potion, and was able to perform the Flora Charm." She watched their mouths hang open and picked up a biscuit, nibbling on it. "You?"they all looked at each other with wide grins on their faces and Lily sighed.
"What did you do this time?"
"Nothing!" they yelled in unison.
"Liars."
"Okay," said James giving up, but still smiling, "You'll see in a sec." a few moments later, the great hall doors opened to reveal Severus Snape with dark green skin and glittery sparkling silver robes. He was glaring at the whole lot of the Gryffindor table, but mostly at the marauders. He sat down at his table and started to fouriously shove the food into his mouth, occasionally scratching his arm or neck.
"Oh my gosh..." said Jenny. "You made a potion that would turn his skin green, and put it into his pumpkin juice at breakfast, adding merlin-knows amounts of itching powder and charmed it so that it wouldn't take effect until right after our last period; you also charmed him to be extremely hungry for the next 24 hours and charmed his robes glittering silver." she said matter-of-factly crossing her arms.
"Is it that obvious?" said Remus smiling. Lily rolled her eyes at his statement, when she felt a tap on her right shoulder. She spun around curiously then smiled politely at the person standing next to her. "Hello? May I help you?"
Standing before her was a Seventh year Hufflepuff with curly blonde locks, a dazzling white smile, and an over conceited ego to match. His name was Gilderoy Lockhart, and he believed himself to be one with the ladies. He smiled his dazzling smile at her.
"Yes, I was wondering if I could have a private word with you." he said, eyeing the group of friends sitting around her.
"Umm..." she said biting her lip, "not to be rude, Gilderoy, but I didnt have much to eat for breakfast and I am ravenously starving, so, if you wouldnt mind, saying it just right here?" she said hopefully, even though she was still just nibbling on a croissant. She knew of his reputation and didnt want to be anywhere alone with him. That was for sure!
"Well if you say so; Lily Evans" he began, and James' eyes were beginning to squint in curious protectiveness, "I would like to ask you to be my girlfriend." Jenny and Sirius both spit out their pumpkin juice at the same time, covering everyone in the sticky liquid; Gilderoy disgustedly wiped some off his cheek.
"Um...Gilderoy...well, I don't know." said Lily, who now had her worst fear involving him come true. She didn't like him that way; to tell the truth, she didn't like him any way, except in his own common room.
"Why would you want to her to be your girlfriend?" James accused, pretty much glaring at Gilderoy, "You didnt pay a lick of attention to her before."
"Didnt pay a lick of attention? I'll have you know that I've been staring at her secretly in every class we share! Well...why wouldnt I ask her out, after the display I put on this morning? Like it said, I've been in love with you for as long as I can remember."
"It didnt say that."
"Well how would you know? You werent even in the great hall this morning." said Gilderoy defiantly, trying to redeem his case. James face turned red.
"So you've been stalking Lily?"
"Maybe!"
"What!" said Lily, butting into the conversation, which was a brave thing to do because both boys were close to boiling over by now. "And it did not say anything about loving me for as long as he could remember. It clearly stated that 'He loves me and he always will.' I only wish he would show himself." she said more to herself.
She sighed, stood up and walked out of the great hall leaving the forgotten croissant on her otherwise empty plate. Aphrodite and Jenny glared at Gilderoy before they followed Lily out the great oak doors, as did Sirius who followed the girls. James, Remus, Peter, and the rest of Gryffindor table was glaring at him but still sitting in their seats. Gilderoy shamefully walked out of the great hall with his head bowed. The rest of the tables really didnt notice the little 'oral battle' except a select few who had nothing else to do but eat, watch, and be amused.
James didnt feel good about Lily being out in the halls, with Gilderoy now out there too, so he too swung his legs over the bench he was sitting on and took long stride towards the great oak doors.
He followed the click of footsteps and stopped behind a statue of a damsel in distress, right beside where Gilderoy was talking to another Hufflepuff boy, to listen.
"Yeah, I only proposed to go out with her because I thought it would make me look good. She's butt ugly if you ask me, but the display this morning? Boy, every sexy girl would be crawling all over me for that. I'll have to ask the maker how he did it."
"It was really simple–" said James appearing in front of him and punched him square in the jaw.
"–all I had to do was fall in love and anything could happen." he heard running footsteps coming up from behind him (after the other boy ran away not wanting to get punched and knocked out like Gilderoy) and Sirius, Lily, Jenny, and Aphrodite came running up with curious and shocked looks on their faces at the sight of James and a crumpled body at his feet.
"James–!" Lily managed after about ten seconds of staring at the limp figure on the ground.
"Lil," he cut her off, "you have to listen to this." he pulled out his wand, muttered a spell, and a recording box thingy appeared out of thin air. He pushed a button on it and Gilderoy's voice sounded through the empty hall:
"Yeah, I only proposed to go out with her because I thought it would make me look good. She's butt ugly if you ask me, but the display this morning? Boy, every sexy girl would be crawling all over me for that. I'll have to ask the maker how he did it." James stopped it before it could go any further, meaning that it would reveal himself.
Tears were forming in Lily's beautiful green eyes and James felt a stab of pain in his heart. He hated it when she cried. Aphrodite comforted her in a motherly way while Jenny hugged her.
"You okay, Lil?" asked Sirius, who hadn't said anything since he arrived. Lily immediately pulled away from jenny and furiously wiped at her eyes and drenched cheeks.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine, I think I just need to be alone.
She separated from the group, exiting through the gigantic oak front doors, into the cool summer night air. She made her way over to the same rock that her friends and the marauders had practiced diving from the day before and she sat down on it, lifting her knees up to her chest and resting her head on her knees; she let a single tear drop from her soon to be leaking eyes, when somebody laid a hand on her shoulder. She tensed, then relaxed at who it was.
"Hello, James. I thought I said I wanted to be alone." She said though she didn't mean it. He could tell.
"Too bad. Friends don't let friends cry without a shoulder to cry on, and if that made any sense then I guess you can cry on my shoulder." he said. She made a sort of small laugh/hiccup and smiled gratefully at him.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Cheering me up. And being a great friend. Thank you."
"Your welcome." The sunset cast a nice shadow on his face, which was inches from her's, she leaned in; so did he. She could feel his hot, slow breath on her nose and she closed her eyes. They were centimeters away when–
"Ja–!" then a muffled cry. James sighed as Lily pulled away, eye's open and blushing.
"That'll be Sirius and Remus behind that bush over there. I'll be going then." he said rather awkwardly, and hurriedly kissed her cheek, running over to a pile of bushes and Lily could barely make out "Good going Prongs!" and "I'm going to cut you up, eat you, hurl you, and then burn you." She smiled and decided to walk back to the Castle, amidst the lovely summer roses and violets. What she didnt hear was a female voice saying:
"Her favorite gem stone is amethyst. Don't spend too much."
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There. What do you think? Since I didnt get any reviews mumblemumble about what I should write in this chapter, I decided to throw in the Gilderoy thing to spice things up and so I could add a little Lily-James time, even though it didnt work out. I love manipulating you guys.
Luv you all!
-Denierure, one of the biggest Lily/James fans you will ever meet in a lifetime, you know you love me.