As Lily entered the massive Quidditch pitch at Hogwarts, she found James sitting alone in the stands, his broom at his feet. "Hey, James!" She called. "Sirius asked me to come talk to you. Says you're making his life a misery!"
"You should have just told him to get lost." He replied.
"Well, I didn't. Come down here and talk to me, please. I feel stupid yelling to you when you're sitting all the way up there." She called. James picked up his broom, and flew down to the ground where Lily was standing.
"Right, I'm here. What do you want?" He said miserably.
"First, I want you to stop being so bloody miserable, you're making everyone depressed. And second, I want to put our argument behind us and be friends again." She said.
"So you just want to forget about it. We can be friends? Like we used to be?" He asked, sounding a little less down than he was before.
"Yes, on one condition." She said. "You and your friends leave Severus alone."
"So if I leave Snape be, you'll start speaking to me again, and we can be friends?"
"Yes."
"Right, OK! From this minute, you'll never hear of me bothering Severus Snape ever again." He replied, smiling for the first time since the argument.
"OK, then. We're friends." Said Lily. She looked up, and their eyes met. His beautiful hazel eyes gazed into her bright green ones. Lily's heart was beating fast. It was then she realised, after years of turning him down, that she truly liked James. She smiled shyly.
"You have beautiful eyes, Lils." Whispered James. Their faces were now very close together.
"I, erm, have to, um, go to the, er, library." Said Lily quickly, turning around and running off. Her heart was now beating faster than ever, and she was so confused.
"Lils! Come back!" James called after her, but Lily didn't turn around. She ran straight to Gryffindor tower, and found the common room deserted by all except one of her best friends, Charity Burbage.
"Hello, Lily." Charity greeted Lily. Charity looked up from the book she had been reading, and looked at Lily. "You look a bit shell-shocked."
"Er, yea, I guess you could say that." Replied Lily, laughing nervously and plopping herself down on the sofa next to Charity.
"What happened, Lil?" Asked Charity, leaving her book on the arm of the chair so as to give Lily her full attention. "Wait, let me guess; you're shocked because McGonnagall has told you that you're too smart to be in sixth year, and she's moved you up to the seventh?" Charity smiled, indicating that she wasn't being serious.
"Not McGonnagall, no." Replied Lily. Charity's mouth fell open.
"So you're in seventh year now, who told you, Proffessor Sprout, Flitwick, probably Slughorn, knowing how much he likes you. Oh, dear Merlin, was it Dumbledore himself?" Charity had a tendency to go into a little world of her own when she had theories running through her head. Now was one of those times, and she didn't even notice Lily shaking her head with a mixture of annoyance and humour.
"No, Charity." Lily said eventually. "I'm still in sixth year, its nothing like that."
"Then what is it?" Asked Charity, seemingly returning to planet earth.
"If I tell you, you have to swear on Merlin that you'll never tell another soul as long as you may live, and even after that." Said Lily, very seriously.
"How could there be anything after life?" Asked Charity, seeming to completely forget the conversation she was having with Lily. "You live, and then you die. There's nothing after it. Well, except heaven, if you believe in it. Or there's always hell..." Charity seemed to drift off into her own little world again, staring blankly into space with a blank look on her face. Lily waved her hand in front of Charity's face.
"Ghosts, Charity, that's what I meant, but this conversation isn't meant to be about ghosts or speculating about heaven and hell, this is about what has just happened to me, and it's big." Said Lily impatiently.
"Oh, right." Said Charity. "Yea, I swear on merlin and all that, what happened?"
"I had an argument with James Potter last night-"
"So nothing new, then."
"And then earlier this morning, I was out in the grounds-"
"Just like any other Saturday."
"And I met Sirius Black. You know, James's best buddy, and he told me that James was really down and that I should go talk to him-"
"I think I see where this is going..."
"And I went to the Quidditch pitch, and James was there-"
"Surprise, surprise."
"And we made up so we're friends again-"
"Just friends?"
"And then our eyes sort of met, and it was like seeing things clearly for the first time-"
"So, what, you fancy him now?"
"And he said my eyes were beautiful-"
"He always says that."
"And I know I've been turning him down for five years straight, but, now I'm thinking, maybe..."
"What did you say to him?"
"I didn't say anything, I ran off."
"Merlin's sake, Lil, you have NO idea how to act around a boy you fancy." Said Charity exasperatedly.
"That's because the only boy I've ever gone out with is Frank Longbottom." Explained Lily.
"Ah, big difference between old Frankie and James Potter, isn't there?" Asked Charity, picking up her book and opening it to the page she had been reading before Lily showed up.
"Yea, bit of a difference." Said Lily, slouching down into the sofa.
"I hear Benjy Fenwick's been trying to ask you out." Said Charity from behind her book.
"Bloody hell." Said Lily. Charity and Lily both agreed that Benjy Fenwick was not the sort of person you should be going out with.
"Oh, Charity?" Said Lily, sitting up straight again.
"What?" Asked Charity.
"I know you're friendly with Sybil Trelawney and Bertha Jorkins, but don't tell them about this please." Asked Lily. "Especially not Bertha, she's a bit gossipy."
"Right you are, Lil." Replied Charity, still not looking up from her book.
"What the heck are you reading, anyway?" Asked Lily. "Must be bloody interesting, you've had your nose stuck in it for ages."
"It's called `Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles`." Replied Charity, looking up and smiling. "It's a very good book."
"You and your Muggle Studies, Charity." Said Lily, smiling.
"I don't know why you never took it, Lily, you'd have got Outstanding in everything." Said Charity.
"There's no point in a Muggle-Born taking Muggle Studies." Said Lily. "I already know everything about how Muggles live, having been brought up by a pair of them and having one for a sister."
"Still, it's a fantastic subject, and it's good that it's not biased, seeing that it's taught by a Muggle-Born." Said Charity, turning the page in her book.
"I think I'll go get some breakfast now, I haven't had anything yet." Said Lily, standing up. "You want to come?"
"Nah, I had breakfast really early this morning." Replied Charity. "But Hestia left for breakfast about five minutes before you got here, she'll probably still be there." Lily smiled, and turned to the door. Hestia was Lily's other best friend, and she was the only one of her friends who ended up having breakfast so late every weekend. She walked quickly down the corridor, and bumped into Nearly Headless Nick in the entrance hall. Literally, bumped into him. Well, walked through him, really.
"Gracious, Lily Evans, I'm sure you are glad I am a ghost at this moment in time!" Exclaimed Nick.
"What?" Said Lily, looking up. "Oh, Sir Nicholas, I'm sorry, I didn't see you!"
"Apparently so, Miss Evans." Replied Sir Nicholas, smiling at Lily, one of the students who he genuinely liked. "Where are we going on this fine morning, may I ask?"
"Oh, to the Great Hall, for breakfast." Said Lily.
"Well, then you'd better hurry." Said the ghost of Gryffindor house. "Where have you been all day, Miss Evans? You are one of the few students who arrive reasonably early every Saturday morning, regardless of the fact that you do not have any classes to attend."
"Well, I've been sort of busy this morning." Replied Lily, laughing to herself.
"Hmm, I sense that whatever you have been doing is not the sort of thing you would be prepared to share with myself, am I correct?" Asked Sir Nicholas.
"No, I suppose it's not the sort of thing I'd share with anyone, not just you." Replied Lily.
"I hate to ask, but I can't help hearing a few things while I'm going about my buisness in the castle." Began Sir Niholas. "And I have heard a few things about you, Miss Evans. I know I'm being terribly nosy, but whatever you've been doing, I don't suppose it involved one Mr James Potter?"
"It may have done, or it may not have done." Said Lily. "But don't go telling anyone, not even the other ghosts, please?"
"Certinally, I pride myself on being the sort of person that students can confide in with complete confidence." Said teh ghost proudly.
"Great, now I'd better get my breakfast." Said Lily. "I'll see you around, Sir Nicholas." She hurried off down the corridor, and entered the great hall. She saw Hestia sitting alone at the Gryffindoe table, and went to sit next to her.
"Oh, hi Lil." Said Hestia as Lily sat down.
"Morning, Hest." Said Lily. "Nice day, huh?"
"Yea, a nice day to take a walk over to the Quidditch pitch, maybe?" Said Hestia, grinning to herself.
"Sirius told you didn't he?" Asked Lily, who was ready to send a good jinx or two in Sirius's direction the next time she saw him.
"No, Peter told me." Replied Hestia, helping herself to some toast.
"How did Pettigrew know where I was?" Asked Lily. "James or Sirius probably told him."
"Nah, he was at the pitch, too." Explained Hestia. "He was watching Potter practice and saw you there."
"Oh, Merlin, Peter Pettigrew saw us?" Asked Lily. It was not a very pleasant thought that possibly the most disgusting boy in her year had seen her almost kiss James.
"What, did you snog him or something? Oh, please, merlin, let them have had a snog!" Said Hestia excitedly, dropping her toast on her plate and grabbing Lily's shoulders and shaking her.
"Hestia, calm down!" Exclaimed Lily. "James Potter did not snog me!"
"Awww, not fair." Said Hestia. "I still say you two would make a cute couple." Lily would normaly have threatened to jinx Hestia if she said that, but this time no threats of being put under the Imperius Curse and made to walk around the school with a pair of underpants on her head were thrown at her. Not even threatened with a Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Hestia noticed this, though she did not say anything.
"Hestia, could you do me a favour, just the one?" Asked Lily. "I mean, seriously, not a joke?"
"Depends what it is." Replied Hestia.
"Could you not make any remarks about James and me for a while, please?" She asked. "Things are a little awkward between us at the minute, and you don't help much when you're saying we'd make a cute couple."
"Right, I can do that, no problem." Said Hestia, stuffing a piece of toast into her mouth. "Well, I'd better go now, I have to do some N.E.W.T revision in the library."
"Revision on Saturdays?" Asked Lily. "I revise like crazy during the week, and then I don't even think about my exams at the weekends."
"That works for you, not me." Said Hestia, getting up from the table. "See you later, Lil."
"Right, see you, Hest." Replied Lily. She helped herself to some breakfast, and let her mind wander. Soon enough, James Potter came into her thoughts. It was strange because she liked him (Oh, Merlin, `Liking him` doesn't sum it up) yet sometimes, she hated him...
"You should have just told him to get lost." He replied.
"Well, I didn't. Come down here and talk to me, please. I feel stupid yelling to you when you're sitting all the way up there." She called. James picked up his broom, and flew down to the ground where Lily was standing.
"Right, I'm here. What do you want?" He said miserably.
"First, I want you to stop being so bloody miserable, you're making everyone depressed. And second, I want to put our argument behind us and be friends again." She said.
"So you just want to forget about it. We can be friends? Like we used to be?" He asked, sounding a little less down than he was before.
"Yes, on one condition." She said. "You and your friends leave Severus alone."
"So if I leave Snape be, you'll start speaking to me again, and we can be friends?"
"Yes."
"Right, OK! From this minute, you'll never hear of me bothering Severus Snape ever again." He replied, smiling for the first time since the argument.
"OK, then. We're friends." Said Lily. She looked up, and their eyes met. His beautiful hazel eyes gazed into her bright green ones. Lily's heart was beating fast. It was then she realised, after years of turning him down, that she truly liked James. She smiled shyly.
"You have beautiful eyes, Lils." Whispered James. Their faces were now very close together.
"I, erm, have to, um, go to the, er, library." Said Lily quickly, turning around and running off. Her heart was now beating faster than ever, and she was so confused.
"Lils! Come back!" James called after her, but Lily didn't turn around. She ran straight to Gryffindor tower, and found the common room deserted by all except one of her best friends, Charity Burbage.
"Hello, Lily." Charity greeted Lily. Charity looked up from the book she had been reading, and looked at Lily. "You look a bit shell-shocked."
"Er, yea, I guess you could say that." Replied Lily, laughing nervously and plopping herself down on the sofa next to Charity.
"What happened, Lil?" Asked Charity, leaving her book on the arm of the chair so as to give Lily her full attention. "Wait, let me guess; you're shocked because McGonnagall has told you that you're too smart to be in sixth year, and she's moved you up to the seventh?" Charity smiled, indicating that she wasn't being serious.
"Not McGonnagall, no." Replied Lily. Charity's mouth fell open.
"So you're in seventh year now, who told you, Proffessor Sprout, Flitwick, probably Slughorn, knowing how much he likes you. Oh, dear Merlin, was it Dumbledore himself?" Charity had a tendency to go into a little world of her own when she had theories running through her head. Now was one of those times, and she didn't even notice Lily shaking her head with a mixture of annoyance and humour.
"No, Charity." Lily said eventually. "I'm still in sixth year, its nothing like that."
"Then what is it?" Asked Charity, seemingly returning to planet earth.
"If I tell you, you have to swear on Merlin that you'll never tell another soul as long as you may live, and even after that." Said Lily, very seriously.
"How could there be anything after life?" Asked Charity, seeming to completely forget the conversation she was having with Lily. "You live, and then you die. There's nothing after it. Well, except heaven, if you believe in it. Or there's always hell..." Charity seemed to drift off into her own little world again, staring blankly into space with a blank look on her face. Lily waved her hand in front of Charity's face.
"Ghosts, Charity, that's what I meant, but this conversation isn't meant to be about ghosts or speculating about heaven and hell, this is about what has just happened to me, and it's big." Said Lily impatiently.
"Oh, right." Said Charity. "Yea, I swear on merlin and all that, what happened?"
"I had an argument with James Potter last night-"
"So nothing new, then."
"And then earlier this morning, I was out in the grounds-"
"Just like any other Saturday."
"And I met Sirius Black. You know, James's best buddy, and he told me that James was really down and that I should go talk to him-"
"I think I see where this is going..."
"And I went to the Quidditch pitch, and James was there-"
"Surprise, surprise."
"And we made up so we're friends again-"
"Just friends?"
"And then our eyes sort of met, and it was like seeing things clearly for the first time-"
"So, what, you fancy him now?"
"And he said my eyes were beautiful-"
"He always says that."
"And I know I've been turning him down for five years straight, but, now I'm thinking, maybe..."
"What did you say to him?"
"I didn't say anything, I ran off."
"Merlin's sake, Lil, you have NO idea how to act around a boy you fancy." Said Charity exasperatedly.
"That's because the only boy I've ever gone out with is Frank Longbottom." Explained Lily.
"Ah, big difference between old Frankie and James Potter, isn't there?" Asked Charity, picking up her book and opening it to the page she had been reading before Lily showed up.
"Yea, bit of a difference." Said Lily, slouching down into the sofa.
"I hear Benjy Fenwick's been trying to ask you out." Said Charity from behind her book.
"Bloody hell." Said Lily. Charity and Lily both agreed that Benjy Fenwick was not the sort of person you should be going out with.
"Oh, Charity?" Said Lily, sitting up straight again.
"What?" Asked Charity.
"I know you're friendly with Sybil Trelawney and Bertha Jorkins, but don't tell them about this please." Asked Lily. "Especially not Bertha, she's a bit gossipy."
"Right you are, Lil." Replied Charity, still not looking up from her book.
"What the heck are you reading, anyway?" Asked Lily. "Must be bloody interesting, you've had your nose stuck in it for ages."
"It's called `Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles`." Replied Charity, looking up and smiling. "It's a very good book."
"You and your Muggle Studies, Charity." Said Lily, smiling.
"I don't know why you never took it, Lily, you'd have got Outstanding in everything." Said Charity.
"There's no point in a Muggle-Born taking Muggle Studies." Said Lily. "I already know everything about how Muggles live, having been brought up by a pair of them and having one for a sister."
"Still, it's a fantastic subject, and it's good that it's not biased, seeing that it's taught by a Muggle-Born." Said Charity, turning the page in her book.
"I think I'll go get some breakfast now, I haven't had anything yet." Said Lily, standing up. "You want to come?"
"Nah, I had breakfast really early this morning." Replied Charity. "But Hestia left for breakfast about five minutes before you got here, she'll probably still be there." Lily smiled, and turned to the door. Hestia was Lily's other best friend, and she was the only one of her friends who ended up having breakfast so late every weekend. She walked quickly down the corridor, and bumped into Nearly Headless Nick in the entrance hall. Literally, bumped into him. Well, walked through him, really.
"Gracious, Lily Evans, I'm sure you are glad I am a ghost at this moment in time!" Exclaimed Nick.
"What?" Said Lily, looking up. "Oh, Sir Nicholas, I'm sorry, I didn't see you!"
"Apparently so, Miss Evans." Replied Sir Nicholas, smiling at Lily, one of the students who he genuinely liked. "Where are we going on this fine morning, may I ask?"
"Oh, to the Great Hall, for breakfast." Said Lily.
"Well, then you'd better hurry." Said the ghost of Gryffindor house. "Where have you been all day, Miss Evans? You are one of the few students who arrive reasonably early every Saturday morning, regardless of the fact that you do not have any classes to attend."
"Well, I've been sort of busy this morning." Replied Lily, laughing to herself.
"Hmm, I sense that whatever you have been doing is not the sort of thing you would be prepared to share with myself, am I correct?" Asked Sir Nicholas.
"No, I suppose it's not the sort of thing I'd share with anyone, not just you." Replied Lily.
"I hate to ask, but I can't help hearing a few things while I'm going about my buisness in the castle." Began Sir Niholas. "And I have heard a few things about you, Miss Evans. I know I'm being terribly nosy, but whatever you've been doing, I don't suppose it involved one Mr James Potter?"
"It may have done, or it may not have done." Said Lily. "But don't go telling anyone, not even the other ghosts, please?"
"Certinally, I pride myself on being the sort of person that students can confide in with complete confidence." Said teh ghost proudly.
"Great, now I'd better get my breakfast." Said Lily. "I'll see you around, Sir Nicholas." She hurried off down the corridor, and entered the great hall. She saw Hestia sitting alone at the Gryffindoe table, and went to sit next to her.
"Oh, hi Lil." Said Hestia as Lily sat down.
"Morning, Hest." Said Lily. "Nice day, huh?"
"Yea, a nice day to take a walk over to the Quidditch pitch, maybe?" Said Hestia, grinning to herself.
"Sirius told you didn't he?" Asked Lily, who was ready to send a good jinx or two in Sirius's direction the next time she saw him.
"No, Peter told me." Replied Hestia, helping herself to some toast.
"How did Pettigrew know where I was?" Asked Lily. "James or Sirius probably told him."
"Nah, he was at the pitch, too." Explained Hestia. "He was watching Potter practice and saw you there."
"Oh, Merlin, Peter Pettigrew saw us?" Asked Lily. It was not a very pleasant thought that possibly the most disgusting boy in her year had seen her almost kiss James.
"What, did you snog him or something? Oh, please, merlin, let them have had a snog!" Said Hestia excitedly, dropping her toast on her plate and grabbing Lily's shoulders and shaking her.
"Hestia, calm down!" Exclaimed Lily. "James Potter did not snog me!"
"Awww, not fair." Said Hestia. "I still say you two would make a cute couple." Lily would normaly have threatened to jinx Hestia if she said that, but this time no threats of being put under the Imperius Curse and made to walk around the school with a pair of underpants on her head were thrown at her. Not even threatened with a Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Hestia noticed this, though she did not say anything.
"Hestia, could you do me a favour, just the one?" Asked Lily. "I mean, seriously, not a joke?"
"Depends what it is." Replied Hestia.
"Could you not make any remarks about James and me for a while, please?" She asked. "Things are a little awkward between us at the minute, and you don't help much when you're saying we'd make a cute couple."
"Right, I can do that, no problem." Said Hestia, stuffing a piece of toast into her mouth. "Well, I'd better go now, I have to do some N.E.W.T revision in the library."
"Revision on Saturdays?" Asked Lily. "I revise like crazy during the week, and then I don't even think about my exams at the weekends."
"That works for you, not me." Said Hestia, getting up from the table. "See you later, Lil."
"Right, see you, Hest." Replied Lily. She helped herself to some breakfast, and let her mind wander. Soon enough, James Potter came into her thoughts. It was strange because she liked him (Oh, Merlin, `Liking him` doesn't sum it up) yet sometimes, she hated him...