Chapter 9

Lily's P.O.V

I rolled over and pulled my pillow over my head, trying to block out the blinding light coming through the window; my head hurt enough without unnecessary sunlight. My throat was dry, I was gasping for a drink, but the prospect of climbing out of bed was far too daunting. I was happily just going to cuddle up and go back to sleep, but somebody had other ideas; I found myself being shook.

"Lily, wake up!"

"Eurgh," I pulled my duvet over my head, "let me sleep."

"Lily! Lessons start in 10 minutes!" warned Alice, who sounded as though she was somewhere near my feet.

"Yes, you really need to get up now," added Mary.

I pulled the pillow over my head, and kicked the duvet off me. Groaning, I slowly pulled myself to sit up. Mary looked sympathetic, and handed me a goblet of water. I swigged it down in one, still parched. Alice came to stand in front of me, and with a great heave, got me stood up. Together, they handed me my uniform from my trunk, and within five minutes I was, albeit scruffily, dressed, and descending the staircase into the common room. Before I could begin to focus, I was practically pounced upon.

"Hi Lily, how are you feeling this morning?"

I made a mental note never to drink again, as I vaguely remembered the embarrassing events of last night.

"Hi, err-"

"Jacob, remember?"

"Yes, of course," I lied, "I've been better-"

"Oh, that's a shame. What lesson have you got first?"

"Potions," I yawned, trying to flatten my messy hair with my hands.

"I'll walk you there. I have Herbology."

I raised an eyebrow, "Jacob, Herbology is in the complete opposite direction to Potions."

He shrugged, and hurried me out of the portrait hole. I was positive that I heard Alice stifling a giggle behind me.

I tried, and failed, to shrug Jacob off halfway to Potions. He was terribly persistent, insisting on walking me right to the door of Slughorn's room.

"Bye then." He said, as I opened the door to the classroom.

"See you," I replied, hoping that this would not be the case. I blushed as James smirked at me when I passed him to take my seat. I was grateful when Slughorn began the lesson, declaring that there would be no practical today; my head was in no fit state to concentrate on ingredients and measuring.

Ten minutes into the lesson, there was a light tap on my desk, as a ball of parchment landed on my desk. I snatched the ball, hiding it under the desk, and scrambled to open it. In James's small, messy handwriting, it said;

Evans,

You seem to enjoy yourself last night. Who's the new toy boy?

I rolled my eyes, and scribbled back;

His name is Jacob and he is not my toy boy.

I watched as his smirk increased upon reading my note. He scrunched it up and stuffed it in his pocket. I rolled my eyes, before forcing myself to concentrate on Slughorn's rambling.

By the end of the day, my headache had lightened considerably, but the embarrassment of my actions had definitely not. Every opportunity he got, James had shot me a sarcastic look, a smirk, or made a sly comment which could have been mistaken by an outsider to mean something else; but both of us knew he was referring to my behaviour.

Entering the common room, I was glad to see that it was practically empty. I sighed in relief; thank goodness I could relax and get on with my homework without people laughing and ridiculing me. Somebody obviously had other ideas.

"Hi Lily!" chirped Jacob, bounding across the room towards me.

I groaned, pulling my bag off my back and dumping it on the floor.

"Had a good day?"

I snorted, not bothering to answer.

"It was that good, eh?"

I rolled my eyes, "Jacob, I've had the worst day ever. I'd really appreciate some peace and quiet."

"Oh…okay." He walked away, looking hurt, but I'd had too bad a day to be bothered. I sat down in a corner, taking my Defence against the Dark Arts book out of my bag, ready to complete the essay Professor Merrythought had set us. It didn't take long for me to lose myself in the essay. All I was aware of was my quill, and the parchment before me. I stopped my writing to check a fact in my textbook, when somebody sat beside me.

"Evening, Evans."

"Not now, Sirius," I muttered, not bothering to look at him, my eyes remaining glued to my essay.

"Whatever," he muttered, "What the bloody hell were you thinking last night?"

I looked up from my parchment. Had James told him about the incident outside the portrait hole? Of course he must have.

"What do you mean?" I asked, determined that I would play innocent.

"You, going off with that fifth year! Merlin's pants, I thought you were smarter than this, Ev."

I raised an eyebrow. What was he talking about? Why did he care about Jacob?

"For a smart girl, you act so dumb. I thought you wanted to win Prongs over!"

"I did," I whispered, "I do, but your plan didn't work, did it?"

He looked annoyed, "My plan didn't include you getting drunk and copping off with some other boy."

"I didn't cop off, thank you very much."

It was Sirius' turn to raise an eyebrow, "You knocked yourself back a bit last night, Evans. It's gonna take forever to win him around now."

"What are you talking about?"

"Snogging that boy! Did you think it would make James forgive you? It made him angrier, Prongs was really cut up, you know!"

I snorted.

"No, really, he really likes you, Ev. He may not show it, but I know he's jealous."

"He doesn't show it."

"Yeah, well, what did you expect?"

"What should I do? Do you think I should talk to him?"

Sirius shook his head, "give him some time. I don't think he could take much more."

I sighed, and Sirius took this as a signal to leave me alone. How typical, my attempts to make James come around had pushed him further away. It seemed like there was nothing I could do. There was no chance of getting him now.

Huge, Grawp-sized apologies for the long gap in updates! I've been really busy with coursework, exams and drama, so I've been slacking lately. Can you forgive me? Who has seen the new Half Blood Prince trailers? What do you think?

Has anybody been to see Twilight if you live in the States? 'Cause I live in the UK I have to wait for December 19th, but I'm reaaaaally excited!

Sorry again for the lack of updates, please forgive me!

Reviews are much appreciated (: