Hey Guys! Alright, been a light year and then some, but I'm finally here with chapter 4! YEAH! Does happy dance! You should be happy to know that this is the longest chapter in 52 Days history coming in with 6,174 words! Um…I won't keep you all, so look at the bottom for all the good stuff. I have some plans in store that you don't want to miss! Enjoy! P.S: We've got some stronger language this chapter...sorry. IT'S NOT MY FAULT THOUGH!
Disclamer: The day that I become famous is the day that I will own Harry Potter…Oh wait, that day is too come soon. Well…it works for now…
Chapter 4:
Week Two: Potions
Lily woke up earlier than normal, Monday. She grabbed her outfit and shower supplies, and headed towards the bathroom. She was surprised to find two of her dorm mates already there. Rochelle Bennett and Karman Powell were talking aimlessly.
Lily didn't really have a best girl friend in the school. She talked to a lot of the girls in her year, but the closest she had to best friends would be Karen and Ronnie. Every time she hung out with them, though, she felt like the third wheel. But, if there were two girls that she was farthest from in personality, it would be Rochelle and Karman.
Lily stepped in a stall two down from the others girls.
"Lily, is that you?" Rochelle called. Her icy, soft voice filled the bathroom.
"Yeah. Morning, Rochelle, Karman."
"You're up early," Karman said.
"Yeah, well, I figured that if I wanted to look as good as you two, I should start waking up at the same time you do. I mean, it must take hours to look half as decent as you…but, no pain, no beauty, eh?" Lily smirked.
There was a beat before, "Oh, Evans. You're so funny! Isn't she so funny, Rochelle?"
Lily rolled her eyes and finished her shower quickly. She changed into her school uniform, and then brushed out her hair. Unfortunately, Rochelle and Karman were not far behind her. They entered the front half of the bathroom, wearing their bra and underwear.
"…I mean, he's amazing and comes from a wonderful family, purebred and my parents love him," Rochelle elaborately explained. "Lily, did you see my new baby?"
"Um, I didn't know you had a baby, although that doesn't surprise me," Lily commented.
Rochelle smirked at her then threw her hand out. Lily flinched, thinking that Rochelle was going to slap her, but then she realized that Rochelle was showing Lily her hand. There, sitting on her ring finger was a gorgeous diamond ring. It sparkled under the bathroom light as she waved her hand around.
"Nicky and I are getting married. He purposed over the weekend," she explained.
"How exciting," Lily drawled.
"I know. I was so sure that you and Keith were going to get married. But, having him as a father…"
"Um…excuse me?"
"Well, you wouldn't want the baby to be without a father, but I guess Keith just wasn't the right guy, ya know? Potter should be able to do better," Rochelle said with a gleam in her eyes.
"Excuse me? I am not having a baby," Lily snapped. Her face was beet red and her anger was beginning to rise.
"Well, I was noticing a little bit of a stomach on you…I guess you're just gaining weight. Of course, that's not very attractive on females. James is taking a chance with you. You must realized that if you want to satisfy his status quo, you're gonna have to lose some pounds, right? You're not the average type of girl he would take. Actually, it's like taking a step back for him. Oh well, everyone needs a harlot once in a while."
Rochelle and Karman laughed and exited the bathroom, leaving Lily standing there in shock. She swallowed deeply, trying to keep the tears from even brimming in her eyes. Lily looked at her body in the mirror. She wasn't gaining weight, was she?
Karen and Ronnie walked in the bathroom.
"You okay, Lils?" Ronnie asked.
"The bitches just left the bathroom. Did you see that rock on Rochelle's finger?" Karen asked disgustedly.
"Yeah-"
"She's such a slut. I'm sure they'll have a baby and then never marry. I hate her," Karen said with a roll of her eyes.
"I'm gonna…go," Lily said as she gathered her things and left the room.
Lily didn't touch any of her breakfast. She just slowly sipped her orange juice.
"Lily, you gonna eat that?" James asked her, pointing to her untouched eggs and bacon.
"You can have it."
Remus looked at her through curious eyes.
qpqpqpqpqp
"In case you haven't caught on, for the next month, probably until the week before break, your schedules are going to be different. Your core teachers, including myself, are trying something new, which I'm sure you'll all enjoy," Professor Slughorn stated while clasping his hands together. He started "the teacher walk," up and down the isles.
"The project is called, "Real Life." Like the title suggests, you will have to deal with real life situations throughout the month with your teachers. We're going to take all the years worth of knowledge and see if you can apply it to yourlife." Slughorn passed by Lily's desk and winked at her with a grin.
"Mine, obviously has to deal with potions. This is more of a medical thing. Everyone will be assigned a partner. Each group will receive a card with a medical scenario on it. You'll have the week to solve your case. Each card has a medical problem on it that requires an antidote. You must figure out the problem with your patient first and conjure the counter-antidote. You don't have to show up for this class everyday if you don't need to, although I should mention that I have all the necessary ingredients. Plan your time wisely, especially because I might take off points for not being able to cure your patient in time with their accident."
Slughorn clapped his hands together again. "Alright, partners: Longbottom and Smith, Evans and Lupin-"
"Why are you putting the two smartest people in our year together?! That's not fair!" Sirius cried.
Slughorn chuckled. "While they are smart, they are not the best, Mr. Black. I saved the best for you. Mr. Black, you will be with Mr. Snape."
"Aw, hell no!" Sirius cried.
"I'd rather work with the mud- Evans, anyway," Snape drawled.
"Yes, well I wanted to see how my best mind and most creative mind worked together," Slughorn replied with a smile. "Who else do we have, oh, yes. Potter and Fox, Vance and Fone…"
James' face paled as he slowly looked over at the menacing face of Keith Fox.
"At least I get a good partner like you, Remus," Lily said as Professor Slughorn passed out the patient cards. "Thank you," she said as she grabbed the card. "Alright, it says, 'you're patient has been attacked by something, but it's not clear as to what. The victim is deathly pale with scratches and blood all over their body. The victim has been unconscious for two hours. Their canine teeth are an abnormal length and their eyes are a dilated yellow. You have not taken a blood sample yet, but the blood oozing from the scrapes is dark red.'" Lily looked up at Remus, the color draining from his face. "You okay?"
"I know what they were bitten by," he quietly said.
Lily waited for him to say something. "…well…"
"A werewolf."
"Really? How did you know that? I guess it makes sense…but still…"
"I know a lot about werewolves," he murmured.
Lily could tell that he didn't want to talk about it, so she let it drop.
"Um…well do you know how to…what potion we need?" she stuttered.
Remus just shook his head.
"Okay, why don't we go to the library, yeah?" Lily said.
Remus nodded his head silently again.
Lily and Remus worked in silence while in the library. Lily didn't ask him anything, and Remus kept to himself somewhere in the back. She made sure to keep away from Remus and focus on a potion that might help werewolves-to-be. About an hour in, Lily found Remus sitting in the isle reading a book having to deal with short storiesabout muggle fairy tales.
"Hey Remus, you okay?" she asked as she sat down next to him.
He didn't say anything.
"Is there something personal going on with this subject that's made you like this? I'm really worried about you. I didn't want to ask about it, but…you're my friend and I care about you. I don't want to see you so upset," Lily said, trying to look him in the eye.
"My hands are hairy," Remus finally said.
Lily's eyebrow shot up. "What did you say?"
Remus showed her his hands. "They are disgusting." He looked down ashamed.
Lily grabbed his one hand in between her left and right. "I think your hands are nice and warm…and not creepy or disgusting in any way," she said as she rubbed them. Lily knew Remus was trying to divert her attention so they'd avoid the real topic of discussion. She decided that he would tell her when he was ready.
"Thank you."
"You want to know what I found?" she asked him. When Remus nodded she showed him the Morslupus potion, a potion that would help clean out the venom of the wolf bite and hopefully save or minimize the risk of becoming a werewolf.
qpqpqpqpqp
Sirius was in the library after dinner, looking for a book for his and Severus' potion. Severus was excellent at potions, and he had made it clear that if Sirius messed up a good grade…that it would be the end of Sirius Black.
As Sirius trailed his fingers down the book shelves he accidently ran into someone.
"HEY!"
"Ouch!" a girl's voice cried.
Sirius knew this was a moment to maybe catch a quick snog with this girl, and he wasn't even trying!
"Oh, I'm terrible so-" but Sirius stopped when he saw who it was. Sirius glared into the eyes of Sandy Reu, James' ex-girlfriend.
"What are you doing?" he spat.
"I didn't do anything, Black. You ran into me, remember?"
"Yeah, well you shouldn't get in the way of a thinking man."
"Well, then, I wasn't in your way because you don't THINK!"
"Don't get in my way again, Reu, you bitch," Sirius said.
"Don't be calling me names, Black. Your…friend, Potter, was a cheating jerk. He never liked me. I saw his eyes, he was always checking out other girls and I figured that he never paid attention to me. Guess I was right, because he didn't even catch that me and Keith had been together for 3 months," Sandy said. Because Sirius was so dumbfound, she pushed passed him and sauntered away.
Sirius knew that he should tell James, even though it didn't matter now. But it was something that he knew his best mate needed to know.
qpqpqpqpqp
Lily didn't eat dinner the night before, and by potions the next day she was hungry and cranky. The bell rang and Remus hadn't walked in yet. She decided to give him ten minutes, but after five she started to panic. 'What if he doesn't show up? Who's gonna help me? I need him!' she kept thinking. She moodily started her potion, spilling droplets and ingredients everywhere.
Two rows behind and over to Lily's right was where Keith and James were stationed. While neither had said barely five words to the other, they seemed to have come to an understanding. Keith gathered and prepped all the ingredients and James sat by the cauldron while he aimlessly mixed the concoction. James wasn't too happy about his job, but seeing as he didn't even have to look at Keith, everything seemed to be one hundred times better than it could be.
Sirius was on watch by Severus. Without the aide of his friends, Sirius was not able to keep his cool, especially in a class that he was so bad at, so he just let Snape boss him around. Of course, Sirius hadn't gone down without a fight, but that was just it…he did go down.
"Look, Snape, it's just gonna be you and me and if you think for even a sec-"
"If you don't listen to every word I say, you won't live to see the next full moon. I've never gotten anything lower than an outstanding, and I don't want you to be the first to Screw-Me-Over.You'll be my lab assistant; someone as thick as you should be able to handle that job. Do we have an agreement?" Snape asked, his eyes flashing.
Sirius gulped and nodded his head.
So maybe there was less fighting going on than planned, but before long, potions would be over for the day and Sirius would be back in the comfort of his friends.
After a long hour of potions, Lily quickly left the room. She didn't even wait around for James. She needed to eat something, but she didn't know what or how to get it. Hurriedly, Lily went up to the dorm before her next class to grab a few sugar quills. She knew they weren't the best thing, but they were better than nothing.
Wednesday breakfast came, and Remus wasn't sitting with the guys like normal.
qpqpqpqpqp
"Where's Remus been?" Lily asked.
"Remus?" James, Sirius, and Peter all asked as they looked at each other.
"Um…his…cousin…" Sirius started.
"…is having a baby!" Peter cried.
"What?" Lily asked, her face scrunched up in confusion.
James glared at Peter. "Yeah…um…she's having a baby, and she wants Remus to be there."
"Why does he need to be there?"
"Um…because that's her favorite cousin, and she has no one else," Sirius said.
"She's an outcast," Peter said with a nod.
"So, Remus is visiting his pregnant…cousin, because she's having a baby and she has no one else…not even the father, to help her?" Lily asked.
"Yeah. They…they don't know who the father is. That's why she's an outcast," Sirius explained.
"Is Remus gonna be here tomorrow?" she impatiently asked.
"Um…probably not."
"Does this pregnant girl know that Remus is my potions partner and we're probably gonna fail our project so he can deliver a baby that's not actually his?" she seethed.
"Lily, calm down. Why don't you finish your eggs," James said, reaching across to pat her hands.
She recoiled as if his hand was venomous.
"Are you implying something!? Hum? Maybe that I'm too FAT!" she cried. With a flourish, Lily got out of her seat and stormed out of the Great Hall.
"What the hell is her problem?" Sirius asked.
"I don't know. Should I go after her?" James questioned.
"And let her warm eggs go to waste?" Peter quipped.
"We'll talk later. I promise."
qpqpqpqpqp
Lily was in a very bad mood by the time potions came around. She was storming around and slamming measuring cups and knives everywhere.
"Lily, is something wrong?" Slughorn asked her.
"No, of course not. My potions partner was gone yesterday, he's gone today, and he's gonna be gone tomorrow! I have no one, basically," she said with fake enthusiasm.
"Well, if you want me to find someone to he-"
"I'll help her," Keith said, sticking his hand up in the air.
James looked over at him. What the hell did he think he was doing?
"Mr. Fox?"
"Yes, Professor. Potter and I are pretty much done with our potion, so I wouldn't mind spending the rest of class working with Lily," Keith said with a gentle smile.
"I…I could help her too," James said while trying to make his way over to Lily.
"One person is plenty. Come down here, Mr. Fox. Potter, make sure your potions doesn't ruin. I wouldn't want to fail you," Slughorn said as he started walking back towards his desk.
Keith winked at James and made his way over to Lily. He quietly said something to her and she nodded and smiled. Keith brought his hands to her face and started wiping away the tears that were barely present.
James' anger boiled. Who the hell did he think he was?
James moodily watched the two while he aimlessly stirred the potion. He glared and pretended to stab Keith's eyes out. He made up fake conversations between the two of them with different voices.
"Oh, Keith. No one understands me," James said, mocking Lily with an extremely high voice.
"Not to worry Lily. Super Fox is here. Do you like my name? It sounds like shit but I still like it 'cause I am shit." James said, his voice deep and masculine.
"Oh, well I think it's very sexy," James said while Lily pulled a thread off of Keith's shirt.
"Good thing you got that, Lily. For a moment, I was almost uglier than before!"
James got up and decided to see exactly what was going on with Lily and Keith.
"Hey, baby," James said as he approached the two.
"James," Lily said, her left eyebrow raised. "What's up?"
"Oh, I just came to visit my girlfriend, ya know, see if she, my girlfriend, needed any help because, well…jeez…cuz I'm her boyfriend, I guess," James spat.
"Well, that's very nice of you, but you don't need to be talking like that, babe," she said, catching on to his game.
"Is there anything you need?" James asked, hoping his voice didn't sound too desperate.
"No, Potter. Why aren't you watching our potion?" Keith asked, glaring at James.
"Actually, could you go get these ingredients, please?" Lily asked him, handing James some parchment with several ingredients on it.
"No problem, Lily. That's what boyfriends do."
James strode off with a very smug grin on his face. He looked around in Slughorn's ingredient cabinet, but it was hard to locate certain items in the dark. He looked at the back wall, trying to decide if Lily wanted fresh frog legs or frozen ones when he was spun around and slammed against the wall. Several potions toppled off the shelves, smashing around James, but that was the least of his concern. There was a tight grip on his throat that was more troublesome.
"What the hell is your problem, Potter," Keith snapped.
"What is my problem? You're the one who's….who's all up on my girlfriend!" James cried, shoving Keith's hand away from him.
"She doesn't even fucking like you. She's dating you out of pity. You may say that you're "dating," but you act more like friends. Although, I don't even know what kind of friend she sees in you. As soon as your little…game…ends, she'll be back with me, no doubt. She still likes me, and you're just one of those guys who she'll never even glance at once she dumps you. You're a piece of trash, Potter, and it's time Lily threw you out." With his final statement, Keith grabbed the supplies James was holding, spun on his heel and left. "Clean up your mess, Potter," he said on his way out.
James glared at the spot where Keith had just been in. James muttered "reparo," and all the broken glass flew back to the shelves in one piece. He stormed out and went back to his desk. Sirius gave him a confused look and James shrugged it off moodily. He watched from the back as Keith said something else to Lily and her eyes went wide while she smiled. Then Keith reached out and started tickling her. She slapped at his hands playfully while her laughter rang through James' ears. By the time the bell rang, James was in a very sour mood, much like his girlfriend at the beginning of the day.
"Prongs! Wait up!"
"Go away Padfoot."
"No, come on. Talk to me. What's going on with you and Lily and Ke-"
"Don't…say his name." James snapped.
"What's going on? What happened in the supply closet? I heard something crash," Sirius asked, concern on his face.
"Prongs, you left your book in class. Keith and Lily have it," Peter said as he approached his friends.
"Why didn't you grab it?" he asked.
"Um…that's a good question actually…" Peter answered with a cough.
"James! James, wait up," Lily said as she and Keith walked faster to catch up with them. As childish as it was, James sped up, hoping to avoid his enemy and dumb girlfriend.
"Potter, don't be rude," Keith said as he grabbed James' shoulder. "You left this," Keith said as he slammed James' book into his chest, "in class. Thought I'd be a friend and grab it for you."
"Thanks, friend," James said through clenched teeth.
"Come on, Lily. I'll walk you down to COMC," Keith said while winking at James.
"Thanks. See you at dinner, James," Lily said with smile.
When then two were out of hearing distance, Peter asked, "Are we going to dinner tonight?"
"Let's skip, maybe bring some food to Remus," James suggested. "We'll talk then. For now, I'm going to nap," James decided as he turned around and walked towards the Gryffindor tower.
qpqpqpqpqp
"So, why are you all tense, James? I could sense it as soon as you entered," Remus asked as he continued to color in his picture with pencil. During the day, Remus got bored while sitting all alone in the Shrieking Shack, so he often brought paper and pencils with him to keep busy with.
"Keith is an ass," James snarled.
"What happened?"
"Something bad happened between James and Keith today, something dealing with Lily," Peter replied.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious. The questions is, what?" Sirius said.
"How 'bout you all don't talk like I'm not here, and I'll tell you what happened.
James quickly relayed the story about of Remus not being in potions, Keith volunteering to work with Lily and Keith slamming James against the wall with his threat.
"Shit," Sirius commented.
"Well, James, not to disagree, but you two did start dating because you were "all alone."
"REMUS!"
"I know, but it's true, and…well look at Keith's side. You're getting upset because Keith is talking to Lily. Think of how he feels seeing his girlfriend with another boy-"
"He dumped her! Remus, why aren't you on my side?" James asked.
"I know, I'm just saying. Look, I'm not saying that you and Lily aren't good for each other, or that you should break up or anything. All I'm saying is…maybe Lily doesn't realize what's happening, and that's why she's "letting" it happen. Have you told her how you feel?" Remus asked him.
"Feelings are for girls and wusses," James murmured.
"Yeah, well, girls like sentimental guys. Tell her how you feel, James. I'm sure it will make things better than they are now."
The guys talked for a little longer until beams from the moon started to shine into the shack and Remus started his painful transformation.
"I think we'll go to the Forbidden Forest tonight," James said before he changed into his animagus form.
qpqpqpqpqp
Around 5 A.M., the sun started to come up and the four Marauders went back to the Shrieking Shack. James, Sirius and Peter waited until Remus painfully transformed back into a human. Remus fainted like he normally did after transformations and the guys unwillingly left him. The three boys trudged up the stairs to the Gryffindor Tower and silently entered the common room. Peter and Sirius quickly went up stairs, but red hair on the couch closest to the fireplace caught James' eye. He cautiously walked in that direction, and saw that Lily was fast asleep on her homework, which was spread out around her on the coffee table and the floor.
"Lils. Lily, wake up," James said gently as he nudged her. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She looked down at her homework and sighed.
"Damn it, the ink smeared."
James chuckled. "I can fix that," he said as he waved his hand over her paper. The ink magically moved back into place.
"Is it on my face?" she asked sleepily.
"Yeah…a little bit." James couldn't help but smile.
Lily rubbed at her cheek and then gave up, knowing that whatever she did wouldn't work.
"What are you doing down here still?" James asked her as he helped her clean up her papers. He decided to put what happened earlier today behind him.
"I was doing homework, and must have fallen asleep, obviously," Lily said, rolling her eyes playfully. "Actually…what are you doing?"
"Me? Um…I came back…from the library," James lied.
"Just now?"
"Um…well…no. A little while ago…but then I went to go take a bath in the prefects bathroom," James said.
"You're not a prefect, though."
"Yeah. I know where it is and the password…because I'm magical," he said, waving his hands around his head.
Lily laughed. "Thanks," she said as she grabbed her parchment from his extended hand.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow…well…actually, in a couple of hours," Lily said as she climbed the stairs to the girls dorm.
"Night, Lils."
qpqpqpqpqp
Most of the class was done with their potions by Thursday, so many students didn't show up to class. Lily was among the few who were still working on their potions. Not only was she working alone, but her potion needed to be stirred for two days for 2 hours at night, which is what she spent her time out of class doing. Keith was there doing some make-up work for Slughorn, so it gave her someone for her to talk to.
"Alright, how does this sound. ' Jobberknoll feathers are used mainly in Memory potions.'"
"Is that it?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, basically."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Okay, that's an alright beginning, but you need about 12 more inches of parchment to make an acceptable paper," Lily said with a laugh. Keith chuckled too.
"I know, but that was the start. Jobberknoll is hard to write about."
"Oh, you're such a baby, stop complaining," she said as she smacked his arm.
Lily stomach made an unusual lurch and her body started to heat up.
"It's really hot in here," she commented.
"It's because I'm here," Keith said, his back turned to her.
"Ha ha, very funny, Fox," Lily murmured.
Lily got up and walked over to the supply table sitting by the northern wall. She grabbed some bird eyes and salamander tails, and slowly walked back to her desk. As she was moving, she tripped over a desk and chair in her path.
"Lily?" Keith called.
"I'm fine. Keep writing." She sat down at her desk, put her supplies down and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She swallowed about seven times, but couldn't seem to get her throat more moist. She closed her eyes for a brief period and then unscrewed the lid to a bottle that she didn't even remember grabbing. The fumes rushed out and surrounded her, making her vision look like a dream. Then the room started to spin and Lily collapsed.
"Lily. Lily, come on. Wake up. Lily."
Lily opened her eyes, but it took a while for them to focus. When she was finally able to see properly, she looked up into the worried eyes of Keith.
"There you are. Hey," he said while running his hand down the side of her face.
"What happened?" she blearily asked.
"You fainted or something. I don't know. I just heard you hit the ground. You okay? What's going on?"
"I'm…I'm fine. I don't know. I think that I've just..."
"You've been looking really pale all week," Keith said.
"I think I just need some rest. I'll see you later Keith," Lily said as she packed all her things in her bag and left in a hurry. She didn't want Keith questioning her, or any teacher for that matter. She slowly walked up to Gryffindor Tower, everything around her moving in slow motion. She stumbled around and moved ungracefully. She kept her hands on the wall for support. The bag on her right shoulder felt like an elephant and her child. The pain, heat and dizziness were getting to be too much. When she entered the common room, she saw James, Sirius, Remus and Peter sitting by the fire. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision as she blankly stood there. She saw James' smiling face change instantly into a frown. He leapt up and hurried over to her. Of course to Lily, this action took him forever. He walked to her side, his three friends following suite. James asked her questions but she couldn't make sense of what he was saying. The colors in the room started to swirl as the spinning of the room accelerated.
"I think she needs help."
"…bring her to the hospital wing!"
"…maybe she needs to puke."
"Damn it! Catch her!"
The second time Lily woke up, she was in a comfortable bed instead of on the hard ground.
"Oh, Merlin, Lily, you're awake," James said as he awkwardly hugged her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just…tired…" Lily said, her head still spinning.
"Mr. Potter please back away from my patient or I'm going to kick you out," Madam Pomfery said as she bustled towards Lily's bed. "Miss Evans, I'm going to ask you some questions, and you answer them if you can. How had you been feeling this week?"
"Um…tired, I guess. My stomach hurts, and so does my head."
"Alright, have you changed any normal procedures?"
Besides eating, Lily thought. "Not that I can think of."
"What have you been eating?"
"Not a lot," Lily honestly said.
"Well, I think that's your problem right there. You're probably malnourished. Let me see if I can get you some food from the kitchens, okay?"
"I can get her some food," James offered.
"Thank you, Mr. Potter but, I'll have the house elves bring her something.
"I'll see that it's done," James said, looking at her earnestly.
"Alright, alright. Miss Evans, I want you to come back in two days for me to see how you are doing."
James led Lily down towards the kitchens, but never telling her where they were going.
"James?"
"We're almost there, I promise," James said with a small smile.
They approached a painting with a fruit bowl on it. James reached up and tickled a green pear and suddenly a door knob appeared.
"What's this?" Lily asked, surprised.
"You'll see," James said, not giving anything away. He opened the door for her and proceeded into the kitchen. What seemed like a thousand house elves appeared before them, asking the couple what they wanted to eat.
"Oh, my. I'll just have some fruit," Lily said politely.
"What? I promised Madam Pomfery a good meal, so you're getting one. Why don't you get us some steak and kidney pies with, I don't know, vegetables or something, whatever you have," James said as the elves hurried around, getting together James' and Lily's order.
"This place is amazing, James. How did you know about it?" Lily asked as her eyes took in everything around her.
Beat that, Keith! "Um… I've been exploring the castle ever since I got here, ran into the portrait one night, and now I'm a regular," he explained with a shrug.
The two sat down on stools that were seated by a counter. The elves quickly brought out the pies and Lily and James quietly ate their meals.
"You alright?" James asked, trying to break the silence.
"Yeah, I'm fine now. I was just…tired and hungry, or something," Lily explained, not looking James in the face.
"If something is bothering you, I'll listen. You can tell me," he said, even though on the inside he was smacking himself for not doing exactly what he asked her, about himself.
"I'm fine, really. Just…can't wait until Remus gets back."
"Oh, yeah. Well, he should be here tomorrow. Tonight at dinner if we're lucky," James said while scooping some of his food onto his fork.
qpqpqpqpqp
Remus was back the next day, and Lily was grateful he was there to help her add the final touches to the potion. Lily's body was still coping with the lack of food, and then 180 turn to eating right again, so she was a little clammy and shaky, but well enough function for a day. Remus, knowing all about the James and Keith conflict and hearing about Lily's lack of eating, along with his own suspicion, took it upon himself to fix his friends' problems.
"So, Lily," Remus asked as he added in the hazel leaves, "what's going on with you and Keith?"
"What do you mean, 'what's going on?' Nothing is. Well, nothing that I'm aware of," she said, looking him in the eye.
"But you two are talking?"
"Yeah, so?"
"What do you guys talk about?"
"What does it matter to you?" Lily snapped.
"It doesn't. But to others, it does," Remus said.
"Like who? James? Did he ask you to come and yell at me?" she asked him, her temper rising.
"No, this is all my doing. I'm asking because James is very…concerned about you. He's afraid that Keith will do something…unnecessary."
"Like what? Talk to me? Hug me? Kiss me? Is that just it? I'm not aloud to have contact with the outside world now because I'm James Potter's girlfriend?" Lily said, raising her voice.
"No, not at all. Keith and James had a…little conversation earlier this week, and James might now be afraid that you might…leave him," Remus explained, but as soon as those words left his mouth, he knew they were the wrong words to say.
"Oh, James can't handle being "girlfriendless," that's it, isn't it?!"
"Okay, look, James is a guy, and like any guy, he gets very jealous. You and Keith have been hanging out lately and it's making James very paranoid. I think you should just talk to him and inform him about what's going on. He's confused and a little slow," Remus explained with a chuckle.
"Is it really bothering him?" Lily sincerely asked.
"Yeah…it is, and I think you have something you need to tell James," Remus said, looking at her knowingly.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she scoffed.
"Why haven't you been eating all week?" Remus asked her.
"I have been…"
"No, you haven't. Maybe James hasn't noticed it, but I have."
"Well maybe you should be my boyfriend then," Lily snapped.
"Lily-"
"Do you think I'm fat?" she interjected, worry evident in her tone.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Where did you get that idea from?"
"Rochelle and Karman."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Should you ever believe anything they say?"
"No…but I let it get to me…it was so dumb…"
"You and James need to talk right, now," Remus said. "I'll finish up the potion and you go find James. This is something you both need to do."
Lily went in search for James. Once she found him she brought him out to the lake so they could talk.
"James-" she started.
"Lily, I'm sorry about how I've acted this past week."
"James-"
"No, let me finish." James said, holding up a hand to stop her. "Look, I know that I acted like a jerk, but it was for a good reason. Well, at least in my head it was for a good reason."
The November breeze whirled around them and Lily hugged her cloak tighter to her body.
"I saw you and Keith working together, and you looked like you were enjoying yourself; having a good time. All week you'd been miserable, and the only person who could make you smile was Keith, and that hurt me. I know that I didn't really try to do anything to make you feel better, I did notice, honestly, I just though it was you…being a girl…and it'd go away. And then Keith and I…we got into an argument Wednesday, and he…said some things that made me upset. I was just overreacting and I'm really sorry about it." James concluded. He was breathing heavily, looking Lily in the eye.
"Well, part of the reason I was in such a bad mood this week was because I wasn't eating very much. I also had something said to me and I took it the wrong way, and didn't really think through what was being said, and I stopped eating. That's why I kept fainting yesterday."
"What happened?" James asked, concern etched on his face.
"Someone called me fat, and I believed her. So I thought, well, you wouldn't want to date a fat girl, especially since I'm not the typical type of girl you'd date-"
"Don't even say that." James said. "We might have started this because of different circumstances, but I really…enjoy your company and I'd treat you like any other girl I'd date, Lily. Shit, maybe even better. You are different than the type of girls I'd date, but I'm sick and tired of being known as that kind of guy. The kind that moves from girl to girl with no feelings for anyone, including himself. You're different, but I think I like it better this way." James smiled down on her and pulled her into a hug. "You don't have to change for anyone but yourself," he murmured in her ear. James kissed the top of her head, and they turned around and slowly walked back up to the castle, their arms around each other.
"Fuck you, Potter," a voice said from behind the bushes once Lily and James were out of ear shot. The person turned on their heel with a flourish, their robes billowing in suite and the figure stalked off towards Hogsmeade, trying to keep their emotions in check.
Dun, dun, dun! AHHHHH!
Okay, done with the freak out. A note on the transformation. The transformation along with the boys' late night prowles leave Remus very tired. So, after his transformation back into a human, he always faints, just lies there helplessly. The guys don't want to leave him because, well obviously, that's their friend and they wan to help him. But,obviously they cant' stay because if Madame Promfrey finds them…so that's why they unwillingly leave him…cough, cough.
I decided that I need to be a more fun person on here…cuz I can! So, here's the scoop. I've updated my profile! If you look at it though, you'll notice that the 20 Things About Me, is missing. That's because the spot will now be filled with things from you guys! In your next review, you can ask a question about me, any question at all, and I'll pick 5 review's questions' to answer in that spot instead. That's the first thing you need to leave in your review, of course along with your opinions of the chapter. The second is that, maybe you noticed, maybe not, but in my stories, I like to quote movies, books, and songs. This chapter, a character, (and I'll make it easy on you, James) said something to a female character, that a male in another book says to a girl he loves. If you can find this quote, I'll give you…well you'll just have to wait and see what I give you! 8)
Also! I've updated my poll question! PLEASE VOTE! You're voting on, who was the mysterious person at the end of the chapter. So remember, VOTE, REVIEW, ENJOY LIFE, and see you next chapter. :D