The Truth Of The Heart
Summary: Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily's opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don't sue me, JKR, 'cause I have nothing you want….unless you're into human flesh (you're not, are you?)
A/N: Thank you guys all SO MUCH for your reviews – it's nice to know I haven't been forgotten! I would do review thank-yous, but if this fic gets taken down again for anything, it won't be going up again, so I won't risk it. Apologies for the lateness of the chapter – I'm working on something else which now needs only to be fully typed up (its already half-done) before it can go up! The next chapter of this will be sooner, I swear!
IMPORTANT: Unfortunately, due to some sort of problem with editing, which has never yet been fixed, I'm having a bit of a problem finding a symbol that can show a break between events. If you see ""-"", then that is the equivalent of a line between the paragraphs, to break up the passage. Got it? Good!
"-"
Chapter 6: A Most Uncomfortable Day
"Lils?" said a voice uncertainly.
Emma stepped into the dormitory and flicked on the light. "Lils, are you in here? 'Cause James is sitting at the bottom of our staircase, and he says he won't move until you come down . . ." she trailed off as she caught sight of Lily, almost completely hidden behind the bed. "Oh my – Lily! Look at you! What happened?" Rushing over as Lily lifted her face, she scrabbled on the bedside table for tissues and handed them to her. As Lily mopped her face, covered in snot and tears, and her swollen red eyes, Emma attempted to get the mucky robe off her. Once done, she held it up, and wrinkled her nose in distaste.
"Lils, what's going on?"
"You were right, Em. Boys are prats, and they're too hard to be close to." Wiping her nose again, she related the whole sordid story to Emma, whose calm face got paler and paler as she carried on, regardless of the fact that tears were beginning to fall again even as she spoke.
"Oh, Lily," Emma murmured at last, sympathetically. She handed her another tissue. "Look, the best thing to do will be to completely ignore this. They just have a sick, twisted sense of humour, and you got caught on the end of it, so you should just forget about them."
"It's not that." Lily shuffled back on her bed and crossed her legs. "I – For a while, until now, I was actually beginning to – to like James, in a way. I trusted him to help me. Now I feel like such an idiot, because I shouldn't have expected anything to change."
"Yes you should." Emma scooted closer, leaning in conspiratorially, but earnestly. "James has changed. I don't know how many times I've told you this, but he has. He doesn't go out with anyone anymore – I haven't even seen him flirting with girls; he isn't so arrogant, and he doesn't hex people for no reason. There's something different now, Lil."
""-""
The next day was exceptionally awkward.
Lily woke up, and the memories came flooding back into her head. Getting dressed quickly, she sneaked down to the kitchens and took a few things back to the dorm. She and Emma shared a quick breakfast on their beds.
As luck would have it, it was Friday, meaning that they had several classes with the Marauders. Lily and Emma got to Charms early, and Lily put her bag down next to Emma. When James sauntered in, he looked surprised.
"Lily? You sit next to me in this lesson."
Lily pulled out a piece of parchment, and scribbled a message on it, which she held up.
I'M SITTING WITH EMMA. GET LOST, POTTER.
"But, Lily, please. I really need to talk to you."
She scribbled something else and held it up.
TOUGH LUCK. GO AWAY.
"I tried to find you before classes, but you weren't anywhere I could see you. Where did you go?"
GO AWAY.
Just then, Remus came in, and a look of surprise flitted over his face as well. He walked straight up to them. "Emma, I thought we sat together."
Emma avoided his eyes, choosing to focus instead on her bag. "Yeah, well, we aren't today."
"But," Remus began, just as Professor Flitwick came in, and said cheerily, "Good morning class. Do sit down." There was no choice but for James and Remus to take the empty seats in front of the girls. Judging by the amount of whispering that the two spent the lesson doing, Lily guessed that each had so far been unaware of the other's situation.
""-""
Lunch was another tricky affair. Although Lily had planned to eat quickly and get out, James was too fast for her. Just as she was halfway through her shepherd's pie, he came and seated himself next to her with the determined air of someone who intended to get his own way. "Lily, if you would just listen -" he began.
"So, Emma, have you finished your Potions essay yet?" Lily said over James in a loud voice, turning her back pointedly on him. "I lost track of what I was doing about halfway through, I just waffled on about nothing for about two feet."
Emma gave James a quick look, before replying softly, "I haven't done it yet."
Just then, Remus strolled in. He looked around before noticing them, and although he faltered in step when he saw Emma, he resolutely put his bag down. Emma looked round, and jumped slightly as she saw him smile hesitantly at her. Dropping her fork on the table, she hastily stood up. "I should really get started on that essay now, in fact." She climbed over the bench.
"I'll come with you." Lily finished her last mouthful and rose, casting an eye at Emma, who was already halfway across the Hall. She smiled sympathetically at Remus, gave James the dirtiest glare she could muster, and left.
""-""
Thankfully, Herbology passed without incident, and Lily was able to spend a peaceful hour repotting Dreamy Dandelions with Emma and a pair of friendly Hufflepuffs. She was not expecting any trouble in Defence Against the Dark Arts either, because the boys sat behind them, as opposed to beside them, but there she was wrong. She had been sitting down for five minutes when an unfamiliar, middle-aged woman came in and set her briefcase down on the desk.
"I am your substitute teacher today, as Professor Astor is ill. My name is Professor Stuart. Now, I have work for you . . ."
Within a quarter of an hour, it became apparent that Professor Stuart was completely incapable of controlling a class. Having set them a few pages of questions from the textbook, she retired behind a large blue tome with no title, and the class was left to its own devices, more or less, which obviously did not include studying. Lily and Emma were the only two writing industriously.
Pausing to consider an answer, Lily was startled to see a piece of parchment fall onto the book. Curiously, she opened it, and read the contents before screwing it up again and pushing it to a side. In James' messy scrawl, it had read:
Lily, would you PLEASE listen to me?
Minutes later, another ball of parchment landed on the desk. This time, Lily didn't bother reading it – she simply moved it to one side and continued working. The more she ignored the notes, the more that came, and soon, Emma, who had been opening them all and trying to put them where Lily would read them, had built up an entire one-sided conversation.
Just give me a chance to explain, and you can hate my guts in peace after that if you want to.
Can't you listen to anything I've said, Lily?
Any answer at all would be good here.
Please?
Stop ignoring these! And Emma, Remus says he needs to talk to you.
At this last note, Emma snorted, and wrote something on the parchment. Lily looked over her shoulder, her interest at last aroused.
If he really wants to talk to me, he doesn't need you as a mediator. –Emma.
The reply came back, as fast as lightning.
Fine. Emma, this is Remus. I need to talk to you.
Scribbling furiously, Emma wrote something else and threw it behind again.
Well I don't want to talk. Please leave me be.
Although the note came sailing back, Emma ignored it. Lily took this as a sign that the brief exchange was at an end, and returned to discussing the finer points of hex deflection. She made very sure that James was in a perfect viewing position at the end of the lesson as she ripped up each of his notes separately into tiny pieces and threw them in the bin before stalking out. Emma appeared at her shoulder as she went. "Lily, that wasn't fair."
"What wasn't?" Lily asked innocently.
"What you just did. I know you're angry and hurt, but wasn't ignoring the notes enough? If you wanted to throw the notes away, then you didn't have to do it that way. That was just spiteful. Don't bring yourself low just to make him feel bad."
"What would YOU know about it, Em?" Lily yelled suddenly, making people around her jump. "You like someone, and it's your own fault that you won't do anything about it! I thought you were on my side!"
"I am on your side, Lily," said Emma, in a voice that was much cooler than usual. "But that does not mean that I can support what you did. It was downright mean."
Lily subsided a little. "All right," she said, in a pacified tone. "I won't do it again. But I still refuse to acknowledge that he exists."
A flicker of hope had crossed Emma's face as she said the first sentence, but it faded again as she said the second. She was wise enough not to push it.
They walked on in silence. Lily could almost feel the cold waves of hurt radiating off her friend.
"Emma?" she said in a small voice. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did about you. I didn't mean it, I was just angry." She touched Emma on the arm, and swung her around to face her. "Friends?"
To her relief, Emma smiled. "Forever." She pulled her into a hug, but then let go and stood at arms' length. "Just be careful what you say in a heated moment, Lils. You might regret it afterwards." She looked at her watch and sighed. "Now, can we please go to dinner?"
A/N: So, there you go. Basically the same – just a few minor alterations where I've noticed a grammatical mistake. Feel free to leave a review – anything will do. The next chapter will be coming very soon!