Chapter 3: Into the Swing of Things
Thursday, September 2, 1977

I opened my eyes and stared at the canopy above my bed. The room was the same red and gold as my old dorm but instead I had a private bathroom, large closet, everything. Even a little perch for my barn owl, Magnolia. Just or me. All mine.

I rolled over and hugged one of the fluffy pillows on the bed. I had four. Four! Four of these fabulously amazing clouds from Heaven to share my canopy bed with.

I could sleep in my underwear if I wanted to. Hell, I could sleep naked if I really desired to.

Yeah, I could DEFINITELY get used to this!

Ah, privacy. Freedom. Not that I didn't love my roommates. It was Dorcas, Marlene, Emmeline, and the final Seventh-Year Gryffindor, Alice Johnson (who's the more genuine person known to mankind and has stolen the heart of one of the several Seventh-Year Gryffindor boys, one Frank Longbottom). The group of us together have yielded some pretty fun memories doing what teenage girls are apt to do.

Even still, it's my own damn room.

I rolled out of bed and got in the shower. Feels good not having to wait on one of the water closets to be free to use. I can shower when I want to. No rock-paper-scissors with the girls (it's a lot more dangerous that it sounds).

I dried off and slipped on my robes. First day of classes has arrived and I have no idea what to expect. Seeing how this is a magical school, that means the possibilities are endless and you should prepare for anything.

Even a stampede of Blast-Ended Skrewts through the Charms Corridor.

That was third year.

I walked downstairs, expecting an empty room. Except I found my new suitemate cleaning up the rest of the chess party from last night. We were all evenly matched and it proved for an interesting night of "Let me try to beat him"s and "another stalemate?!"s during countless rounds. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought the chess set was getting bored.

"Morning," I told him as I was walking down the stairs. "Ready for breakfast?"

James looked up at me as he was putting the chess set up. "Yeah, I was wondering when you'd be down. We have timetables to get. Sleep well?"

"I have a room to myself with four amazingly fluffy pillows I don't have to share. I've never slept better."

He smiled and I felt the warmth engulf me. Why is that smile making me melt so? Snap out of it, Lily!

"Lets go. I'm curious what we're going to get," he finished.

"I don't care what order everything's in as long as it isn't Binns first thing in the morning. I don't ever want to start my morning with Binns," I admitted on the way out of the portrait hole.

Thursday, September 2, 1977; 9:00am

The eight of us had classes together first thing this morning. We all sat in the same area of the classroom and were passing around a small notebook I picked up in a Muggle shop a while ago. The girls and I have always used it for our classroom note passing. There are some great memories documented in there.

[JP] - Blame Lily. She jinxed us. This morning in the common room she mentioned not wanting Binns first thing in the morning. Now we have him first thing in the morning. Twice a week.

[LE] - I didn't see this coming, okay? Just expressing my honest opinion.

[SB] - You're a jinx.

[MM] - I seriously don't know if I can take this much longer...

[EV] - Maybe McGonagall was spying on you and changed the schedule appropriately. Maybe that's why we're all together in Hell together.

[LE] - In our private common room? Seriously, Ems?

[EV] - Just a theory. Don't have to look at me like that.

[MM] - Alert! Binns is actually looking this way! ABORT!

I grabbed the notebook and shoved it in my bag. Seriously, who was to say that I caused my nightmare to come true? So we open with Binns on Tuesdays and Thursdays. At least it wasn't a three-day class. Next we all go to Charms, then Lunch, then we all split up. Marlene, Dorcas, and I have Divinations, while James and Emmeline go to Muggle Studies. Sirius, Peter, and Remus go to Arthimancy. Short days, thankfully. Can't say the same about the rest of the week but I'm just going to focus on getting through one day at a time, here.

I was scribbling away the notes of the Magical Ally Act of 438 when I felt something brush under my arm and land in my lap. A small, folded piece of parchment just sat there. Okay... bizarre...

Unfolding the parchment low to keep it out of prying eyes (mainly my girlfriends since the boys sat behind us - Binns barely pays attention. We only stashed the notebook just in case), I carefully read it as discretely as possible.

L-
I know you want me to stop asking,
but I was hoping you can accompany
me to Hogsmeade sometime.
-J

I sighed. He just doesn't quit, does he? I tore off a small piece of parchment and scribbled on it:

J-
Why are you asking, now?
Hogsmeade isn't until mid-October.
-L

I hovered it back to James, who was sitting directly behind me, and continued writing down notes about the lesson. I was in the middle of writing something about the Asian Ministry when I felt another piece of parchment fall in my lap.

L-
Did I say we had to wait
until the official trip? I have
my ways.
-J

I should have known he meant sneaking out. I wrote a few more notes about the Asian Ministry before sending him a reply that I hope will hold him over:

J-
I'll think about it.
-L

That was the last note I got from him on the matter so I think it was successful in tying him over. After another fifteen minutes of constant note-taking and we were released from class and headed to Charms. The guys went ahead of us so we took advantaged of some prime girl chat time.

"James asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him, again. Well, sneak off to Hogsmeade," I confessed to them.

Marlene wrapped me in a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you! Told you he wasn't a tosser when you give him a chance. When are you going?"

"I didn't say I said, 'yes,' did I?"

Marlene's arms fell from around me and she dropped her face into her hands in exasperation. "Lily, you're making me lose it."

"What? I didn't say, 'no,' either."

"Oh?" Dorcas raised an eyebrow at me.

"I told him I'd think about it."

"The real question is will you really think about it?" Emmeline asked.

"Yeah, sometimes guys take that as a 'no' instead of the literal," Marlene added.

"Yeah, I will give it a good think. The thought of sneaking off to Hogsmeade is a little thrilling, actually. Also a little romantic, which is why I need to think about it. I'm not sure how I feel about the thrill of rule breaking or the romatic side of it. I just only recently started seeing James as more than an acquaintance and I don't see him as more than maybe a mate." I didn't want to add the rest of my thought: although I see the potential of something more being possible.

We arrived at Charms with time to spare and took our seats in front of the guys. James and Sirius behind me and Dorcas, Remus and Peter behind Marlene and Emmeline. Standard seating for the eight of us. This was one of my favorite classes and also one of my best. Today, Professor Flitwick was teaching us the Imperturbable Charm so it makes it really easy to chat about things without people listening in. We were set up in pairs by where we were sitting so I was paired with Dorcas, which was fine by me because I know she's been wanting to chat about the invitation. She was always my closest friend out of the four of us. We met on the train our first year and we didn't meat Marlene and Emmeline until we were settling into the dorm.

We're both top-marks in Charms, getting "Outstanding" in our O.W.L.s in Fifth Year, so we had the Imperturbable Charm cast around our desk and chairs quickly and easily. Dorcas wasted no time rounding on me.

"So, what's there to think about?" she asked.

"You really plow through that bush, don't you?"

"I don't know how long we have before Flitwich undoes the charm. Talk."

"All right. What do you want to know? And be obvious about it," I said, pointing at her. "Don't let anyone catch on about who or what we're talking about. People can still see us and I don't know who can read lips."

"Yes, ma'am," she said with a salute. I rolled my eyes. She continued as if she didn't notice, in pure Dorcas fashion. "I want to know what there is to think about. You won't get caught sneaking out, you know that. James is one of the best at that and they've skivved off to Hogsmeade for one thing or another at least three times a month since Fifth Year and I don't think they've been caught once."

"It's more of a 'I don't want him to get the wrong idea' thing," I confessed.

"Wrong idea about...?"

"Him and I. We're just friends. Mates. That's it, no more. Friends."

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks,"

"What?"

"Hamlet. Muggles aren't the only ones that know Shakespeare," she said, shrugging.

"I know it's Hamlet. I mean 'what' as in 'what are you talking about?'"

"I think you feel something there and you're trying to convince yourself otherwise."

"I do not and I am not trying to convince myself of anything. He was beastly to me most of the time I've known him, until this year. Suddenly there's this huge 180 and I'm not supposed to go in with caution?"

"So? He's changed. Marlene spent a lot of time with him and the guys this summer and even she's noticed. So he still fancies you, that hasn't changed. Just give the guy a chance."

"I will, I mean, I want to be friends. He seems like he could be a good friend to have around. He's just been asking me out nearly constantly since Fifth Year. I don't want... well... it's like..." I dropped my head on my desk. "I don't know where I'm going with this," I said, my voice muffled.

"I see the way you look at him. You make him blush with a smile. I've never seen that happen with him. I've seen you blush in return. It's adorable and I think there's potential there. What's the worst that could happen? It doesn't work out that way and you guys just become better friends?"

"No, the worst that could happen is that I end up making him feel like I did a tap dance on his heart because I can't return the feelings." I was still face-down on the desk.

"AH! Progress!" She plastered a huge grin on her face.

I picked up my head and stared at her, delivering what I felt was my most confused face. "What are you going on about?"

"You pretty much admitting to caring about him."

I stared at her. "You're mental."

"No, I'm not! Look, you just told me that you don't want him to get hurt if you can't return the feelings."

"Yeah, so?"

"If you didn't care about him, you wouldn't be so affected when you mentioned the chance of hurting him. I heard the tone to your voice when you said it. You weren't just saying it in a 'I don't want to hurt someone' way but in an 'I don't want to hurt him' way."

I sat there in silence for a second, thinking about her worked. Did I care about him? Really? That "potential" I feel between him and I? Is it more that what I thought it was?"

I turned to Dorcas and whispered, "Bloody Hell, I think you're right..."

"You don't have to whisper and I'm glad to get you to finally admit it." She gave me a hug and I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

I peeked over towards James and Sirius. They weren't paying attention. I think Sirius was telling dirty jokes because they were laughing. Boys. Can't live with them, definitely can't live without them.

Dorcas waved in front of my face, getting my attention. "So... the plan is...?"

"I'll talk to him after class on the way to lunch. You and everyone go ahead of us."

"That's my girl!" She gave me another hug.

I suddenly felt butterflies in my stomach.

Just then I was distracted by a mass of laughter and noise. Flitwich had removed the charms from the desks. "Very good, class. That's it for today!"

Everyone got up from their sears and I saw Dorcas whisper to the girls, shooing them off. I went for James and tapped him on the back. He turned to look at me and smiled.

I melting.

I really needed to stop that.

Focus on progress.

Can't progress if you're a puddle.

"Whatcha, Lily?"

"I just need to talk to you for a second. On the way to lunch."

"Sure, just a second." He turned to the guys. "Hey, I'll meet you lot at the Great Hall, okay?" They looked at him curiously but nodded and walked off. After a minute or two we were alone in the hallway. "So what did you need to talk to me about?"

"Hogsmeade."

He suddenly looked a little down. "Oh, that. It's okay that you don't want to go. I understand. I just figured I'd try aga-"

"I didn't say I didn't want to go," I interrupted.

"-and I hope you don't mind if I try... wait... what?" He kept talking while I said my bit and completely missed it.

I giggled a little. "I said I never said I didn't want to go." I smiled at him. "I wanted to know when you had in mind."

"You're seriously saying yes...?" he asked. Not convinced.

Not that I blame him.

"Yeah. I figured, 'what would it hurt?' So, yes, I want to go. When do you want to go?"

"How about the tenth? A week from Saturday." He looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

"It's a date."

"Figuratively or literally?" He was trying to push the boundaries a little. Although normally I'd find it annoying, his excitement this time was a little cute.

"Meaning it's a meeting between two friends. we'll let things just develop as it happens, however it happens. No rushing o anything. Just focus on having a good time in Hogsmeade. No pushing things until then, you know? Nothing has changed between us, except I see you as a good mate and don't mind your company."

He nodded in agreement. "Let's get to lunch. We need to eat for afternoon classes."

I nodded as my stomach growled. We both laughed and started to head towards the Great Hall. That's when I felt him grab my hand as we were walking.

"Um, James?"

"Yeah?"

"You're pushing it," I said, holding up our locked hands.

"Oh, sorry! I'm just excited. Ball's in your play."

"Thank you." We exchanged a smile and headed off towards lunch.

And suddenly, all I could think of was next Saturday.