Chapter Two: To avoid or to not avoid-it's not a question
I woke up tired, exhausted from all the purple goo picking I had to endure. Sweet revenge will come…all in accordance with prefect law of course. It's Sunday so I get to complete all the work I wanted to do yesterday, that the godforsaken goo incident prevented.
I go and have a shower, wake Mary and Marlene up. We get dressed with an 'all the colours of the hair rainbow' comment about our group by walk down the stairs towards the Great Hall.
We walk down the stairs towards the Great Hall.
"You know I really like The Hinkypunks new album" Marlene begins
"Well I couldn't have guessed with you playing all their albums this past week" I comment
"But you know-" Marlene continues
"The 5th song on their album is really good" Mary interjects
"Whatever, I was going to say the fourth"
"But the 5th is the best"
Marlene sticks out her tongue as we enter the Great Hall. I giggle, but stop when I spot the enemy and his accomplices at the Gryffindor table.
"I've got a bone to pick with that thing with a dead black rat on its head" I growl.
Marlene and Mary look at each other and shake their heads.
"You guys didn't have to pick up all the purple goo!" I lament
We sit down as far away as we can without exiting the unofficially reserved sixth-year area.
"Yes sure"
"Yeah you're right…It's not like the jokes were funny or anything"
"They really just came out of nowhere"
Both Marly and Mary gave themselves fits of laughter out of that last one. The Marauders take a moment to peer at them, I roll my eyes and serve myself some food. When I finish breakfast I'm going to tear him apart!
I finish breakfast but decide I should really get to the library early to get all my work done first. It's nothing to do with all the witnesses…I swear the boy is pigging out slowly on purpose. Maybe I can catch him after Quidditch practice…it's about 10 am now so practice must start at 10:30. They can't hold try-outs for more than 4 hours today, as Potter accidently let his eagerness to find the best player slip past Slughorn who must have told the Slytherin captain to schedule it for 2:30 pm. I just happen to have heard Potter and Black scowl about it to Remus and Peter in the Friday's Charm's lessons.
I bid Mary and Marlene farewell, marching out with my bulging bag thumping my hip to the library.
"Hey Sev! where are we going to sit?" I ask, scanning the library happily.
Sev and I walk out of the library, bags heavy with textbooks and work successfully completed. I missed lunch and my opportunity to claim my vengeance on Potter, but I can't sacrifice getting ahead with my work for a very short not very time-consuming, very fulfilling act of vengeance. I should have left to wander around near the Quidditch pitch to ambush the arrogant prat. There's always next time.
In the distance, I spot seventh-year Slytherins Lucius Malfoy walking conversationally with Narcissa Black. I pay little heed to their impending presence as they're not the worst Slytherins one could find themselves sharing a corridor with. Snape seemed more affected by their presence…
Snape was recalling the first secret meeting of the Death Eater Movement aka D.E.M. The meeting took place in Lucius Malfoy's personal common room. Lucius Malfoy was Head Boy. Despite Malfoy's counterpart being an unsympathising Ravenclaw, Lucius had performed a clever Confundus charm, upon her return to their shared common room. Lucius had quickly assessed that the prolonged sight of several Slytherins not allowed in the common room would not be quickly sedated by a mere Confundus charm. Malfoy had summoned a scrap of parchment and quickly penned a to-do list which the Head Girl was famous for making in abundance. He charmed the list to recreate her handwriting, pressed it in her hand, and as she wandered dazed outside the common room I was sent to check her progress, she was very productively looking for Newt level books. She was none the wiser.
…Snape snapped out of his reverie and was met with Lily's beautiful, albeit angry, gaze.
I narrow my eyes at him using them as means for questioning. He tries to play like nothing is out of the ordinary.
"Sev" I say a little sharply.
"You know if we're going to enjoy this walk we should…put our bags back in our dorms first" he suggests.
I look him up and down, he's bound to be naturally nervous with his housemates around. But what if another, more vicious, member of the death eater hopefuls (or power hungry bum lickers) show up when we meet again outside the library? Or on our walk? I don't vocalise these concerns, but this isn't the first time I've thought them.
Snape is leaning slightly away from me as the couple approach. I grumble approval, with an imaginary growl sounding in my head, and head off to my dorm.
"Hey Lily, got some work done?"
"Forget it Marly you are not copying my homework!" I sigh
"Or did you and Snape get…side-tracked" she finishes, suggestively.
"Urgh! Oh-"
"we didn't ask for a replay of the sounds you made!" Mary adds devilishly, whilst fittingly painting her nails red.
"YOU know we're not like that!" I almost yell.
"Are you sure?" Mary interjects in a Norwegian accent.
Marlene gives a 'Ha!' in amusement. To my annoyance, I gave it a second or two of involuntary thought. I shook my head. He doesn't like me, especially if the library incident proves anything.
"No" I said quite firmly "we're childhood friends-"
"Who are now teenagers…you really have no obligation to that-" Marlene began.
"Pfft… friends you know I really think he's getting in with those gang of Death eater wannabes…I mean honestly Lily…" Mary sighed, her hands faltered a bit causing some nail varnish at the end of the finger.
The issue of the gang of Slytherins is especially close to Mary's heart. Mary has been a constant target of hexes, from the male members in particular, who use the recently created Levicorpus. Severus swears they stole it from his private notes he left on his bedside table or they looked over his diary when he was writing in his common room…he isn't sure, apparently. Long story short they got a good view of her knickers in the summer, if the Marauders and I hadn't got there in time she would have more than just her shorts on the floor. I soften at the memory.
"Mary…Marlene you guys are my friends. But Severus has been my friend for a long time…trust me when I tell you that I know him well enough to know when he's lying or involved in these-" I defended, looking them both in the eye in turn.
"It's not you that we don't trust, Lily, it's him!" Marlene asserts.
"Sorry to intrude, but, Lily you received a box of chocolates earlier…" Dorcas Meadows, one of our roommates, explains.
Dorcas walks forwards with the box of chocolates. Red and heart shaped I know it's hiding something. She hands it over to me and mutters to Emmeline Vance, something like, 'I wish I got chocolates from handsome boys' with a reply like 'well you'd have to be as pretty as her to get them'.
"I'm right over here girls, do speak louder, I don't think Mary and Marly heard clearly enough" I shake my finger at them to make sure they know I'm not really mad at them. They laugh heartily at being caught and gossip about something or the other.
"What is it?" Mary asks wearily.
"Well Mary, I don't know a box of choc-" Marly sarcastically goes on before being interrupted by purple goo flinging itself onto my arm.
Go out with me then. And then a minute later it alternates to: Admit it we're connected.
"THAT INSUFFERABLE BOY!" I scream.
I squeeze chunks of my hair, causing it to mess up a bit, and storm out of my dormitory. Why was such an annoying boy created? In my angry stamp through the common room and then out the portrait hole, I remember I need to meet Sev. If there's one thing I can guarantee is that Sev would be up for some Potter bashing on our walk. I half skip the rest of the way upon this realisation, causing several stares from the Sunday pre-dinner corridor walkers.
My stomach grumbles as I wait outside the library. Hmm…and I thought I would be late. Sev appears about five minutes later…seeming rather cheerful.
"Sev! I didn't know the cheering charm was that good" I remark, the corner of my lips twitching upwards.
"Oh…I just…let's go for a walk on the third floor"
"Why the third floor?" I raise my eyebrow, curious.
"I managed to…avoid…some hexes from those bothersome Marauders and-"
"Say no more! I don't want to bump into the likes of them, look what they did to my arm" I produce my arm for him to inspect.
Sev takes my arm gingerly and scowls softly.
"That Potter…he has no chance with you! Never! You're not dumb enough-"
"Of course, I'm not." I say softly.
I slip my arm through his and we begin to walk, trying to find the stairs so we can get to the third floor. Unfortunately, as we descend we bump into Potter and Black in their Quidditch gear.
"OH ho ho, look at what we have here! Snivellus thought he could outwit us! Hex us and get away Prongs! Hex us and get away!" Black remarks in bitter humour.
Potter remains silent eyeing Sev and I's linked arms.
"Come on Sev let's go…"
"What's the matter, Potter…you're unusually speechless" Sev taunts "What? are you upset that I-"
Potter's already fired a Jelly-legs jinx causing Sev to fall to the bottom of the fourth to third-floor staircase.
"What is the MATTER with you!" I run down to Sev, and deflect a jinx Sirius had aimed at Sev.
"Why should we? We Gryffindors never back down…or have you forgotten which house you're in?" Potter forces out angrily.
"Oh you're one to claim to be a Gryffindor, I mean you were BRAVE enough to claim responsibility for your prank-"
"Oh come on it was a united effort" Black complains
"You were BRAVE enough to clean up after it, you are BRAVE enough to expose unsuitable content to young children, and YOU WERE BRAVE enough to hex Sev and me!" I yell, feeling my face go red with strong anger.
I lift up my arm and show it to him. He comes down the rest of the stairs, minimising the distance between us. He lightly grabs hold of my arm.
"GET OFF ME!" I struggle to free my arm as he tightens his grip, but he does the most unusual thing. He leans in on my arm. His eyes occasionally flicker to mine. But I continue to scowl. And then He-he kisses the place on my arm where the writing was. The writing disappears.
"All you had to do was ask." He says quietly.
Black whistles suggestively in the background, Sev groans in extreme anger, trying and failing to get up. But all of that is in the background. It's just Potter and I. I look him in the eye and purposely make my cheeks blush.
"I bet it wouldn't work for all the people you bully" I hiss, and before he has time to retort I send a stinging hex to his face and then run away, putting Sev's arm over my shoulder and running on to the third floor. Thankfully, Sev has regained the use of his legs so we are able to run right to the end of the corridor. Although no countering jinx was fired…even from the unharmed Black.
A feeling of guilt starts in my stomach, but even stronger is the fear of getting in trouble.
"Lily…that was amazing!" Sev is actually laughing
There's a moment of silence, filled with Sev still panting and just…staring at me with a mixture of admiration and…
"Lily, Lily I-I really really like-" Sev began
"I have to go and have dinner Sev I think it's already time and I already told Marly and Mary that I'd meet them there…sorry…we can talk tomorrow there" I blurt out in a rush.
Gosh! Do I want him to say it or not? Doesn't really matter since I can avoid it now. I wave goodbye at Sev even though I know we were supposed to walk to the Great hall together, I sprint there on my own.
I just…a girl can't face guilt, fear, and ha? On an empty stomach…
Author Note
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Let me know in the comments section. A big thanks to annika you're really encouraging me, thank you.
Comments are cookies...I'm the cookie monster-watch out!
Oh yeah I might have Lily and Severus have a conversation about recycling...there will be a joke involving paper...yes you have that to look forward too XD.