Day One

The day began routinely.

Lily woke up before everyone else to get a shower in before the rush of girls awoke and descended on the bathrooms, got dressed, loaded up her bag with the books and papers for her first five classes, threw books at her roommates to get them up so they wouldn`t miss breakfast, waited for them to get up and rush around the room getting ready, and then slouched downstairs to breakfast, still half asleep.

"Pass the juice." Mary said, blinking the clouds of sleep from her eyes.

"Do we have a test in Transfiguration or Herbology today?" Marline, who lived in the dorm room next to the girl`s, slid down the bench and asked.

"Herbology?" Lily said, looking to Mary for reference, who nodded. "Herbology."

Marline`s eyes went wide, and she darted out of the hall in a frenzied panic.

Mary said, "I hope she`s got enough time before class to cram."

"Pass the juice." Lily said.

"Alice." Mattie whispered, nudging Alice, who was sleeping with her head down on her arms, which were around the juice pitcher. "Sorry, but we need the juice."

"Mhhph." Alice grunted, moving her head slightly.

Mattie took this as permission to take the juice and pass it to Mary.

"Speaking of things which some people are passing on," Melody said quietly, glancing at Alice, "Is anyone excited about the bet starting today?"

Lily gagged on her freshly-poured pumpkin juice and spewed it all over Mattie.

"Oh, I`m so sorry!" Lily gasped. The pumpkin juice had completely shot over Mattie, drizzling all over her face, hair, and clothes. She`d put her arms out in front of her in protection, but that hadn`t even stopped half of it. Lily grabbed some napkins to help mop the mess up.

"It`s okay." Mattie squinted and wiped the cold, dripping liquid off her eyelids and eyebrows. Everyone at their table was staring at her and Lily, and even some of the students at neighboring tables had turned to look. Mattie stood up and started to walk out of the hall.

"Hey Pumpkin, where ya goin`?" James called out, and heckling laughter broke out.

Smiling, Mattie marched back over to the table, across from where he was sitting, leaned across the table, and shook her wet hair in his face like a dog who`d just come in from the rain, causing the hall to roar in laughter.

He and the other Marauders got pumpkin juice freckled across them. Satisfied, she strode out.

"So, I`m guessing you forgot then?" Alice, who`d sat up to watch the spectacle, asked.

Lily`s good mood descended. "I just hadn`t thought about it since last night." She sighed.

Mary rolled her eyes. "Come on, you got an easy one. Plus, you`ve already pretty much won because you two are studying later on tonight and-"

"Yeah, but Remus. He`s like…Remus. And my friend." She whispered.

"So? You don`t have to like it." Alice said. "It won`t kill you. Besides, Mattie`s got James, and they act like siblings."

"Good point." Lily said.

"I`ll see you guys later." Melody said, getting up, "I`m gonna go get a pass from McGonagall so Mattie won`t get in trouble if she comes into class late from after getting the pumpkin juice off her."

Lily nodded, but her mind was elsewhere.

"… you don`t have to worry about failing now. See, studying actually works!" Remus said as he and Peter got up from their table.

"I still think it would have been easier just to give Slughorn the chocolate like Prongs and Sirius said." Grumbled Peter.

Remus shoved his friend into a bookshelf. Two books flew off the other side, hitting Mary, who was ducking down unseen by the boys, on top of her head.

She reflexively gasped in pain.

"Prongs would do anything to stay out of the library. At least you`re guaranteed a good grade this way."

The boy`s footsteps grew softer, and Mary picked up the books and put them back on the shelf, cursing herself for being an idiot and almost getting caught. She quietly left the library, ignoring the sharp pain in her head which was probably already forming a bruise.

"I hate this already." She informed Matilda when she reached the common room.

"Hmm? What do you hate, exactly? Mondays? Free periods? If it`s the latter, I disagree."

As Mattie set down her book, Mary lowered her voice. "The bet. I just got a bump on my head from trying to spy on Remus and Peter in the library. It was a stupid idea anyway. I don`t even know what I was listening for." She flopped down in a chair.

"Ooh, did you get any ice for your head."

"Nah, it doesn`t hurt that much. Mostly it`s just my pride. Today sucks so far."

"It hasn`t really been that bad. Why, did something else happen?"

Mary rolled her eyes. "Some Slytherins jeered at me in the hall because of my blood status, Liam Johnson asked me out in charms again today and he got mad when I turned him down again, and my bag exploded in the hallway. So yeah, fun times."

"Oh, Mar…"

"I`m just not feeling very fierce today, and I feel like I`ve been acting like a Hufflepuff ever since I agreed to this bet."

"You just need to Gryffindor it up. You know, I`ve been thinking… I`ve only had three detentions this year. Maybe it`s time to make that a nice even number. Let`s go get Mel and then go downstairs and take this bad day out on some of our sworn enemies."

"We have sworn enemies?"

"Of course we have sworn enemies. We`re Gryffindors for Merlin`s sake. Let`s go."

"Silencio!" Lily said, waving her wand at the frog she and Remus were using for practice.

The frog made an odd noise, not quite a croak, and hopped around in its box.

"Ugh. I just can`t get it." She said, leaning back against the bed behind her. It was too messy to be Remus`, Lily guessed. His was probably the one in the corner, the only one that`s bed sheets wasn`t wrinkled.

Remus smiled. "You have to jab your wand, not wave it. Like this…" He said, and demonstrated with a quick flick.

"Silencio!" Lily tried again, jabbing her wand at the frog.

It croaked no more.

"Brilliant!" Remus said, adjusting his glasses.

Lily undid the silencing charm. "Do you want to try now?"

"Sure." He said. "Silencio!"

He got it on his first try.

"How do you do that so well?!" Lily said, leaning against his shoulder.

Remus shrugged. "Practice…Perfectionism…Natural born talent… but mostly it`s magic!" He said, doing sarcastic jazz hands for emphasis.

They laughed, and Lily rested her head against the bed, looking up at him. Their faces were five centimeters apart, noses almost touching. Remus looked into her eyes and smiled, and Lily couldn`t help beaming back. Lily started to gravitate towards him, and closed her eyes.

Lily would be the winner, the first one to complete the challenge, she knew, as soon as her lips touched his. She was seconds away from victory, so close she could almost feel it, like how she could feel the unmistakable twang of emotions that were increasingly unhelpful at this exact moment, and why wouldn`t her stupid brain just shut up…

"Nope!" Lily said, her eyes shooting open as she pulled back at the last minute.

Remus sat up and awkwardly coughed. "Sorry."

"Not your fault. Totally not your fault." We looked straight ahead at the wall with the Quidditch posters, not touching.

"I believe that was partially my fault."

"I spiked your drink at dinner. Judgment impairment, not straight thinking. Not your fault." Lily admitted.

Remus closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "That would explain a few things. May I ask why?"

"Only if you bring it to your grave."

"That bad?"

"And you have to swear never to speak of what almost happened again, not even when we`re old and sitting at the retirement home by the fire in our rocking chairs, reminiscing of the old days."

"Alright, I swear."

"Bet."

"Thought so. Details?"

"Promise you won`t tell?"

"I already swore!"

"Do you wanna know or not?"

"Fine, I promise I won`t tell anyone."

"Well, I kinda had to kiss you to win this contest-"

"Marline`s idea?"

"Nope."

"Bell`s?"

"Closer."

"Mel`s?"

"Bingo. Anyway, it`s nothing personal, but I just don`t really think of you in that way and I think I like someone else anyway,-"

"You think?"

"Has anyone ever told you that that it`s rude to interrupt people?"

"Sorry. Go on."

"So this doesn`t mean anything. Have a nice night." Lily stood up and collected her things.

"HOLD IT." Remus said, pulling her back down (he is surprisingly strong for his size). "I have questions, and you owe me answers."

"I don`t owe you anything."

"You drugged me."

"Fair enough. Shoot."

Remus polished his glasses on his shirt. "Who is in on this bet?"

"Top secret. Next question."

"Who do you like?"

"Confidential. Next question."

"Who are the other victims in this bet?"

"Access denied. Next."

"Are you even going to answer one of my-"

"Oh, and it looks like that`s all the time we have today, folks. Tune in next week when-" Lily stood up and started to walk out.

"Lils, wait." He said, jumping up and grabbing her arm before she sprinted out the door. "Just answer me one thing. For real."

"Fine." She said, brushing back stray hair.

"Is it James?" He asked.

Lily`s expression stayed the same, but Remus noticed two pink patches on her pale cheeks that were not there before.

"Yes." She whispered, and pulled away to dart down the stairs.

"I knew it!" he called after her.

Alone in his dorm, Remus Lupin did a small victory dance (more of a jig, really).

"I knew it." He whispered to himself. The Quidditch player on the wall shook his head.