"I suppose I should make my way to my dorm. I can't believe I have to share a common room with that, buffoon." Lily whined. "Night Effie."
"Night Lily. Enjoy!" She flashed her eyes at Lily and started towards the stairs.
Lily turned to head out the portrait when in came James. 'Just my luck' she thought.
"Evans!" James drawled, walking towards her with a swagger. "Fancy you being here. Haven't you been up to our dormitory yet?"
"Potter." Lily said curtly. "For your information, I was tending to my Head duties. Unlike. Some. Arse. Standing. In. Front. Of. Me." She annunciated every word with a fine point, razor sharp. Lily heard a few of the students sitting in the common room snicker. Whether at her, or Potter, she didn't know.
"Oh Lily-bean." He chuckled as she scrunched up her nose as his use of her nickname; then continued to drape his arm around her shoulders and steer her towards the exit. "Wait until you see the Head dormitories."
Lily wiggled out of his hold, feeling quite uncomfortable. "I think I can find it myself, thanks." She told him, crawling through the portrait hole then turned around the corner as she started off. She quickly pushed any thoughts of James far to back of her head. Flustered, and frustrated, she did not want to think about him; or the fact that they now shared a common room. It was going to be a long year.
Coming upon an enormous Gryffindor tapestry, she pulled it aside and murmured, "Unitas" at the door, and it swung open. She stepped in, letting the tapestry fall back on the cold stone wall. It was magnificent. When she walked in there were two doors on either side of her, creating a small hallway that opened up as you descended the stairs into the common room. The marbled stone glowed from the reflection of the fireplace to her left where two arm chairs and ottomans nestled in front of it. Tapestries and paintings colored Gryffindor decorated the room. On her right there was a desk. And shelves inlaid in the stone wall; an assortment of books filling them from the ceiling down. Lily was smiling more broadly at the sight of books. Straight ahead there were more steps up to a tall stained-glass window, and staircases leading upwards on either side of the window. 'This must be the way up to my room.' She thought to herself, following them. At the top she reached another door, she turned the brass knob, opening the door.
Her room was much more beautiful that she could have imagined. A large four poster bed stood at the wall across from her, with heavy scarlet drapes tied back at the posts. The window on her left was much like the window in the common room, with the exception of it being a dormer window; in that space, there was an exceptionally plush cushion and some pillows. At the far wall were a settee and a door, leading to the loo, no doubt. On the wall adjacent a matching vanity and wardrobe pulled the room together. The wood floor was covered with an enormous rug embellished with a Griffin. Lily felt at home instantly. It was even better than the regular dormitories. Wondering what her bathroom looked like, she quickly made her way over there, dropping her bag on the bed.
Stepping through the doorway, the wood floor turned to a gold flecked marble, oddly warm to the touch. The loo was on the left, separated from the rest of the bathroom by a half wall partition. On the other side, was an open standing tub, a little stepstool at its side. The faucet to the tub came out of the wall, and spouted like a waterfall. On the far wall was a linen closet, and adjacent was the sink, a gold glass bowl on a stand. A mirror on the wall behind the sink caught her reflection. Next to the sink was another settee, it was velvet, and quite a lovely scarlet color, trimmed in gold. Lily had to laugh at the use of her house colors. It was quite wonderfully decorated.
Taking on last look around, she went back to the room, flinging herself on the bed. She let out a long sigh. That satin coverlet crinkled underneath her. 'This' she smiled at the thought, 'I could get used to.'
She woke with a start. She hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep. Groggily looking at her watch, it was only 2 AM. She groaned, and crawled out of the bed, grabbing her wand off of the nightstand. Rummaging through the wardrobe, she found a pain of jeans, and a blouse. Pulling them on quickly, she came down the stairs, barely stepping as she was descending. She stepped out into the common room, glad James was not yet up. Walking towards the small library they shared, she eyed each title, searching for something to read. Some of the titles caught her attention, "Hawthorn's Transfiguration of Common Items for Daily Use", "Charming Charmwork", then her eyes set on one in particular, "The History of the Darkest Arts, and Defensive Spelling against Them." She ran her finger down the cracked leather spine, and pulled it down from the shelf; as she did another, much smaller book fell. She bent to pick it up, reading the title as she did. "The Tales ofBeedle the Bard" She read out loud, wondering what it was about.
"It's a children's story." yawned a bleary eyed James. He smiled sleepily at her while making himself comfortable in one of the arm chairs. "You might actually like it. It's a little dark, but good."
"You read?" Lily remarked snidely.
"Of course. But I didn't read that one. My mum read it to me as a kid."
Immediately, Lily felt awful for being so rude, even if it was Potter. "Oh." was her simple reply. Dropping into the other arm chair, she opened the old book. Not one to skip a page, she read the author's note.
'I have compiled many a wizard's knowledge in this book. You will learn of some of the darkest magic known to our world, and the defensive actions you can make against them. Since the dawning of time, there has been a thirst for power, this thirst must be overcome; for this is what drives a gifted wizard, or witch to delve into the world of dark magic. There is, no better way to defend yourself, than to know the mind of your adversary. I welcome and caution you in reading this book; as you will find yourself: there is no ease of mind to know the deepest secrets of sorcery. – Eburneus Censor'
Lily was quite intrigued. She delved into the book. Soaking in every bit of it that she could, she was fascinated. James sat there watching her, almost as captivated in her as she was in her book. Lily felt his eyes on her, and looked up, annoyed. She raised her eyebrows at him.
"Nothing." he assured her. "What are you reading?"
"The History of the Darkest Arts and Defensive Spelling against Them" She told him. 'Please let him shut up.' She prayed silently.
"That sounds interesting. Well, if you will excuse me, I have to meet Sirius in about 10 minutes. I will see you at the Prefect meeting, yeah?"
"Mm." was Lily's mumbled reply.
A few hours later and halfway into the book Lily felt her stomach growling and once again, checked the time. It was a quarter till 8, breakfast time. She jumped up out of the chair and went up the stairs to her dorm to grab her bag. Shoving the book into her bag she left the common room and stepped out into the corridor. Walking toward the stairs, she bumped into Effie. "What amazing timing we have!" she told her friend.
Effie giggled, and replied, "Only because we know each other so well. But honestly, it really is scary how often things like this happen to us."
Lily grabbed Effie's arm and together they went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Upon descending the last step, Lily immediately spotted Severus coming up from the dungeons. "Hey, umm, Effie? I will meet you in there, kay?" She asked her friend.
Effie was about to ask why when she noted that Severus was a few feet away from the. Scrunching up her nose at the thought of him, she just nodded and made her way to the Gryffindor table.
"Hey Sev" Lily greeted him, smiling.
"Hey Lily" Severus grumbled. He tried to smile at her.
"So, how was your first night back?" Lily asked, initiating conversation.
"Dismal. And yours?" He replied, his tone dry.
Lily giggled at him. "Don't be a drag Severus. You don't really hate it that much. And mine was great, Thanks."
Severus gave her a look. "Really? I didn't expect to hear that from you, what with sharing your common room with Potter and all."
"Well, unlike you I don't let the bloody git get to me." Even though she was reprimanding him, she gave him a knowing look.
Severus snorted, "That's not what I heard."
Lily faltered, "And I don't want to talk about it." Then she stalked off, leaving Severus standing alone. She sat at the table beside Effie, scowling. Effie looked at her and then up at the door as Severus skulked in. She threw him a dirty look; he just shrugged at her and kept walking.
"What's the frown for love?" Effie asked, nonchalantly.
"Nothing." Lily murmured, still frowning. Stabbing a fork through the hotcakes in front of her, she picked up 2 of them, and dropped them on her plate.
"Sure it's nothing. You just feel like stabbing things today, I get it." Effie replied sarcastically and taking a swig of pumpkin juice.
"What the hell is everyone's problem." Lily complained under her breath.
"Mm… okay, you've got to give me more than that." Effie raised one eyebrow.
"How does everyone know about me socking Potter?" She whined.
Effie just laughed. "Do you really care? It is the funniest thing I have heard in foever!"
"You would think so." Lily grumbled and Effie just kept giggling.
"Good Morning ladies." An all too familiar voice reached Lily's ear. She looked up and just smiled, bored with being upset.
"Morning Potter." She replied.
"Good Morning James." Effie pitched in, her attention elsewhere. Lily was taking the last bite of her hotcakes when Sirius came up to the table, looking a little worse for the wear. His clothes were rumpled and his hair stood out in several different directions. Effie started laughing hysterically. Lily giggled a little, and excused herself from the unruly bunch of seventh year Gryffindors. After all, she still had some reading to do. It was hard for Lily to put down a good book. Before heading up, she stopped by the kitchens asking one of the house elves on day duty to bring her up some tea.
Back in her room, she curled up on the cushion in the window and began reading. She read about the killing curses, and shielding spells, she also stumbled upon a bit of brewing dark potions. There were antidotes and poisons, and something she found particularly horrifying, inferi. Lily jumped when one of the house elves appeared with a pop, tea tray in hand.
"Thank you." Lily told the elf sweetly, taking the tray and setting it on the night stand. The elf disappeared as quickly as she had come, emitting another pop. Sipping on a cup of tea, Lily looked out the window. She wasn't surprised at all to see the Marauders. James was sitting with his back against the oak tree, playing with his snitch. Lily rolled her eyes, just thinking about how annoying that was. Sirius was leaning on the tree next to James, his attention on Remus who was making huge gestures with his hands and arms. Peter was standing off a little, looking quite out of place. Lily felt a little bad for him. She knew how it felt, when you really just didn't quite fit in.
Her eyes went back over to James. He was so perfectly insufferable. With him, she was wretchedly emotional. On minute she was madder than hell at him, and the next she kind of liked him. Still, for Lily, it was easier to be mad at him, that admit to herself that she really actually liked him. Not that she didn't realize this, but being around James had a way of, well, confusing her. James, she though, needed to grow up.
As if he knew she was watching him, James looked up at Lily's room window. He was surprised to see that she was sitting in the window, and none the less watching him. His stomach fluttered with excitement. Lily, the girl he had been pining after for 6 long years, was watching him. He wondered if maybe she was coming around. He smiled and waved at her before turning back to his friends.
"- and then we were surrounded. They were everywhere, right James?" Sirius was saying something. James nodded, unsure of what Sirius was talking about.
Lily's heart was hammering, embarrassed that he had seen her watching him. Lily groaned, she would never, never hear the end of this.