Ch.5
Tragic Misunderstandings
I believe the world is burning to the ground
Well, I guess we're gonna find out
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come
How Far We've Come: Matchbox 20
-------LxJ-------
Lily Evans yawned and rubbed her eyes as the first rays of sunlight burst through her dormitory window. She slowly got up and attempted to arrange her sheets into a neat pile but eventually gave up, thinking that the house-elves will help her later on. Walking over to the window that overlooked the grounds, Lily grabbed a brush and ran it through her tangled auburn hair. Humming a little tune, she was heading towards the bathroom, when an excited figure appeared in the doorway.
"Why are you up so early?" Lily said, frowning slightly.
Alice ignored the question. Apparently, she had other things on her mind. "I was just downstairs and guess what?" Alice said bubbly.
"What?" Lily asked, a bit warily. She never did like surprises.
"First Hogsmeade weekend of the year, October first," Alice beamed.
"But that's-"
"Three days away, I know!" Alice finished, the happiness on her face draining a little.
"That's odd," Lily mused. "The announcements normally go up at least a week ahead."
"Never mind that!" Alice replied hastily. "The question is, what are you going to say?"
"What do you mean?" Lily said in a nonchalant voice, even though she knew that Alice saw right through it.
Alice shot Lily a look. "Honestly, Lily, if you still don't know what I'm talking about after all these years…I'm beginning to wonder if you really deserve to be in all those Advanced classes," she said slyly.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily still pretended to be dim-witted. She simply refused to acknowledge the fact that…well…you-know.
Alice huffed. "Well, fine. Be that way, but you can't keep dancing around the topic forever," Saying this, Alice turned away from Lily and walked over to her own bed and drew the velvet hanging around it.
Lily still didn't reply. Instead, she just stood there, silently, wishing that maybe…maybe this year would be different.
She would regret that wish later on.
-------LxJ-------
When Lily got dressed and walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast half an hour later, she found Alice sitting by herself, near the end of the Gryffindor table. Lily cautiously took a seat next to her, hoping her friend wasn't too pissed off at her.
"Hey Als," Lily said carefully as she poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice.
Alice looked at Lily, and for a minute it seemed like she was going to scream at her. But Alice just smiled and helped herself to a bagel. "Morning," she said cheerfully.
Lily let out the breath she had been holding. "Anything new with you?" she replied. A tawny owl tapped her on the shoulder, holding a newspaper in its beak. Lily paid the owl and opened up the paper.
"You mean did something life-altering happen in the last thirty minutes?" Alice remarked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "You know what? Surprisingly no… funny isn't it?"
Lily scowled. "Oh very funny," she commented, taking a sip of her juice.
"So what are you going to do about Potter?" Alice asked innocently.
Lily choked and spluttered out a bit of the juice while Alice wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Excuse me?" Lily managed to say, after she dabbed her mouth with a linen napkin.
"Oh you know perfectly well what I mean," Alice said, looking Lily straight in the eye. "You can't squirm your way out of this one, Lils…"
Perhaps hoping to 'squirm her way out', Lily said nothing. Instead she compensated by cramming as much food into her mouth as possible. Alice watched in amusement as Lily shoved a large spoonful of scrambled eggs along with some slices of toast, and washed it down with large gulps of her juice.
"Can't talk…mouth full…" Lily said, her voice muffled by the large section of kippers she was sticking in her mouth.
Alice raised an eyebrow. "Stop that. You're going to me sick. And who's going to have to hold your hair back when you start throwing up in the loo?" she said simply.
Lily swallowed. "I do feel a bit queasy…" she said uncertainly, patting her not-so-flat tummy. "Oh alright…I'll answer your god-darn question."
Alice smiled. "That's the spirit!" she said cheerfully. "So…what are you going to say?" she repeated.
"I dunno…maybe he won't ask me?" Lily said hopefully.
"Please. He's been asking you out for six years now, do you honestly think-"
Alice was cut off by Lily. "Darn it!" she frowned. "So much for my optimism."
"You're going to say no right?" Alice pressed the issue, thinking it was better to ask Lily directly.
Lily gulped and looked nervous. "Um…what was that again?" she said meekly, fidgeting with her napkin, attempting to do some origami with it.
Alice gasped. "Oh my Merlin, you aren't planning on saying yes?" she asked bewildered.
Lily said nothing, intent on her napkin folding, which to her dismay-resembled more of a duck than a rose.
"Lily Marie Evans, are you actually going to say yes?" Alice asked, her voice getting louder. Lily saw that James, a few seats away, had looked over at them interestedly.
"Shhh!" she hushed Alice hastily. "Don't be so loud! And I didn't say anything!"
"Right, but your expression gave it away…oh you are going to make Potter a very happy wizard!" Alice added teasingly.
Lily sat in a huffy silence, refusing to deny or confirm anything Alice said.
-------LxJ-------
After all that had happened that morning, Lily was thankful that she didn't have to face Potter until Advanced Charms this afternoon. Meanwhile, she had a Potter-free Potions class to look forward to. Alas! She forgot that while Potions was Potter-free, it turned out not to be Snape-free…
"Lily!"
Lily was cleaning up her work table and rinsing out her cauldron with her wand when she heard a familiar voice call out her name. Turning around, she caught sight of a very nervous-looking Snape.
"Sev," she answered, smiling a little. "How are you? We didn't get a chance to talk during class today."
"I'm fine, thanks," Snape replied hurriedly. He seemed anxious to get something out but he was silent.
"Something wrong?" Lily asked curiously, when she noticed his silence. Thinking that perhaps he needed to gather his thoughts, Lily chose to turn back to her cauldron-cleaning.
"Hogsmeadthisweekend," Snape blurted out.
Lily looked up startled. "Hogsmeade?" she said slowly, after deciphering his words. Why on earth would Sev be talking to her about Hogsmeade? It's not as if he ever goes there anyways.
"Yes…" Snape said, as a drop of sweat appeared in his brow. "I was wondering…if maybe you wanted to go with me?" he finished, a glint of hope in his eyes.
Lily stared at him blankly, clearly at a loss for words. Was he being serious?
"erm…" she began awkwardly. How can she put this nicely? "I would love to Sev…"
Snape broke out into a huge smile. "That's wonderful!"
"but I can't…I'm…um…busy that afternoon…big Charms exam on Monday," Lily wildly invented an excuse as she finished her sentence.
Snape's face fell. "It's alright," he said, forcing a smile. "Really."
"I really am sorry…" Lily said, trying to make him feel better.
"Don't worry about it," with that he walked quickly away from, leaving a very uncomfortable Lily in his wake.
Lily soon left Potions class as well, after she had finished packing. As she walk through the door and out into the corridors, she though she saw a glimpse of messy black hair among the masses of students but then shook her head. Probably just her imagination. But the funny thing was…she hadn't seen Potter all day. Lily was sure that he saw the Hogsmeade announcement…so why hasn't he asked her yet?
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James Potter was waiting anxiously outside the Potions classroom. He was hoping to surprise Lily and maybe ask her out for Hogsmeade. Tapping his foot impatiently, he scanned the masses of students leaving the classroom, looking for a glimpse of red. Seeing none, he decided to move closer to the door when his ears perked up at the sound of Lily's name.
"Lily!"
Snape. He thought darkly and then moved closer to catch all of their conversation.
"Something wrong?"
James straightened at Lily's voice.
"Hogsmeadthisweekend,"
"Hogsmeade?"
"I was wondering…if maybe you wanted to go with me?"
James, who had been quietly moving towards the direction of their voices, froze. All of a sudden, several thoughts raced their way through his mind; most of them involving mutilating Snape. She wouldn't say yes…to that bloody git…would she? He pondered this for a minute. Then he heard Lily's voice again. James clutched his hands, which were starting to get clammy. Oh Merlin, please don't say yes, Evans…
"I would love to Sev…"
James let out a shuddering breath. What. The. Bloody. Hell. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. How could she? And Snivellus too. Of all people…she just had to say yes to the one person he hated the most. An annoying little voice piped up and said that maybe Lily preferred Snape over him. Remember that time in Potions when you saw them hugging? James scowled. Damn his little voice. Distantly, he could hear Snape's reply.
"That's wonderful!"
What the hell. He was not going to stand here and listen to this rubbish. If Evans wanted to go out with that slimey git, that was fine by him. He supposed he would just have to ask someone else.
James left in such a hurry that he didn't catch Lily's last few words.
"but I can't…I'm…um…busy that afternoon…big Charms exam on Monday"
-------LxJ-------
"Lily? Is that you?" a loud but yet dreamy voice floated across the practically empty Charms classroom.
Lily looked up from her notes. When she saw who it was she gave a wan smile. "Hullo Kay. And of course it's me. You've been sitting next to me all year," she replied a bit wearily. Kay was a good friends; she really was. But something about the girl…was a little off…not to be rude or anything, but it was undeniable. As she thought of this, she glanced at Kay's peculiar earring. "Nice earrings…I'm sure radishes are all the rage in Paris," she commented and then smiled to show Kay that she was only kidding.
Kay touched her earrings carefully. "Oh yes, I see you've noticed them. They are quite nice aren't they? My mother gave them to me. Apparently it's a family heirloom," she said, not at all bothered by Lily's comment.
"Family heirloom. Imagine that," Lily said kindly.
They sat in silence for a while- Lily frowning over her notes and Kay….welll being Kay…
"Do you know something interesting actually happened to me today?" Kay said, after she snapped out of her reverie.
"Really now?" Lily said, absent mindly, her mind on other matters.
"Yes. It was quite odd…" Kay replied serenely, a slight frown on her pale face. "James Potter…do you know him?'
"I wish didn't," Lily answered automatically.
"Huh. Well, he asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him. I was ever so surprised. I didn't think he even knew my name…" Kay said and then shrugged. "The stars must be out of balance… or perhaps a Wackspurt got him…" Saying this, Kay immediately began wacking at…the air…
Lily stared at her in shock. Not because of the Wackspurts…she had been around Kay much too long to let that surprise her. But because of what she said about Potter.
"He asked you?" she replied uncertainly.
"Oh yes," Kay didn't even stop her random wacking. "He's so nice isn't he?"
"Nice my arse," Lily scowled, as she slumped down in her seat. Potter was supposed to ask her! Not some random slut- Wait…Kay's not like that… But the main point is he was hers! Not Kay's! Lily gasped silently as she realized what she had just thought. Did she…really have feelings for Potter other than hate?
-------LxJ-------
"Kay?! Kay?! What the bloody hell were you thinking Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed loudly as he punched James in the arm. "Out of all the girls you could have picked…you pick the weirdest of the bunch? Do you know what she did to me the other day?" Sirius glared at James for a second and then went on. "She grabbed me and sprayed this disgusting goo on me because she swore the Blibbering Lumjiners were attacking me?! And you're telling me you actually asked her out?"
James said nothing. He just shot Sirius a dark look. He glanced around the crowded Common Room and caught Lily's eyes. She looked at him…no emotion in her eyes…and then looked away. James sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair. Nothing good will come out of this weekend, he thought gloomily.
How wrong he would be.
-------LxJ-------
A/N: sorry for the long update! But I hope you liked it :) and don't forget to leave a review! I really appreciate all of you guy's feedback so keep them coming!
XOXO
Cynthia
