Hey everyone. How's it going? I'm writing this at 1 in the morning so if some parts don't make sense, well, that's my reason. Have a lovely weekend!
Disclaimer: The only thing I own about this story is the storyline
Previously:
"We have to live together?" Lily whispered to James, looking at the mahogany door with a wary expression.
"Apparently," James said, and swallowed, pushing the door open.
The Heads dormitory was amazing, as it turned out. It was similar to Gryffindor tower, smaller, but there were only two people living there. There was a fireplace, and the same comfortable couches in front of the fire as were in the Gryffindor common room. There were two large desks, one on each side of the room, but facing each other, and there was a bookshelf by the window. There were two spiral staircases, leading to their bedrooms, and in between the staircases there was a door.
Lily walked over to the door and pulled it open, to see a grand bathroom.
"We have to share a bathroom?" she asked, and turned to James, who was still looking around their common room, as they would end up calling it, mesmerized, "Potter?" she said, trying to get his attention. He turned to look at her slowly.
"Mm?" he said, turning away from her again to look at the spiral staircases. Lily watched him and smiled. He looked like such a child.
"Nothing," she said, and walked over to the fireplace, flopping down on the couch that she always occupied in the Gryffindor common room. It was more comfortable than the one in Gryffindor Tower. She sighed.
James turned to look at her and flopped onto the couch next to her and lay down, "I like being Head Boy," he said, smiling up at the ceiling. Lily laughed and stood up. James sat up as she stood up, looking at her curiously.
"It's been a long day, I'm going to bed," she said awkwardly, "Erm, goodnight."
James watched as Lily ran up the spiral staircase on the left, and ran back down. He raised her eyebrow at her, "That one's your room," she said and ran up the staircase on the right. James chuckled and stood up, stretching. He headed over to the staircase on the right, Lily's staircase, and looked at it. Lily appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in a tank top and pajama bottoms, and looked at him questioningly.
"Do you think the charm works on this staircase as well?" he asked, "In Gryffindor Tower if a boy tries to go up to a girls dormitory then the staircase turns into a slide, do you think that'll work here?" Lily looked down at the stairs and shrugged.
"I have no idea," she said honestly. James took a deep breath and lifted up a foot and putting it on the first stair. Nothing happened.
He took another step, and nothing happened. He looked up at Lily, smiling triumphantly. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Goodnight Potter," she said, and turned around, going into her room. He smiled and went down the stairs, heading over to his room.
Lily hopped into bed, and sighed. The bed was so much more comfortable than it had been back in her dorm. She looked around, and suddenly felt lonely. Back in her dormitory, she had had 3 other beds, with 3 other people to talk to before she fell asleep. She exhaled and laid her head against the pillow, which made a crunchy noise like they did in muggle hotels, and fell asleep quickly.
James entered his room and saw the king sized bed. He changed into his sleeping attire and jumped into bed. He was on the verge of falling asleep when he heard a buzzing noise from over on the dresser. He got out of bed and walked over to see his two-way mirror with Sirius vibrating.
"Talk to me Pads," he said to the mirror, and Sirius's face appeared in it.
"Where are you?" Sirius whined. James realized he hadn't told the Marauders about his new living arrangements.
"I'm in my room," James said quietly, looking at Sirius's expression. He watched as Sirius considered his bare chest and boxers and saw an expression of sadness cross his best mates face.
"So you're not going to stay with us anymore?" Sirius said sadly.
"I probably can sleepover sometimes," James said, and Sirius cheered up considerably.
"And I'm guessing I have your permission to sleep over as well is that right?" Sirius said, grinning at James, who rolled his eyes.
"No I'm sorry I don't allow dogs in my room," James said, and Sirius laughed.
"Alright mate. I want to come see your room!" Sirius said suddenly, and James heard another voice.
"His room?" Remus said, and suddenly his head appeared in the small mirror, "James you get a room? That's so cool!" he exclaimed, "Can we come see?" James looked over at the clock and saw that it was only 8:30pm.
"Sure. Your curfew isn't till 10 anyway" he said.
"10? Our curfew is at 9 James," Remus said, rolling his eyes.
"Not anymore," James said, winking, "Head Boy, remember? I say your curfew is 10."
Sirius barked a laugh and Remus smiled, "Yes gracious leader. Where should we meet you? I don't know where the Heads dorm is."
10 minutes later, James was waiting by the stairs that went up to Gryffindor Tower. He saw Remus and Sirius exit the portrait hole and come down the stairs.
"Prongsie!" Sirius yelled, pulling James into a man-hug. James laughed and hugged Sirius back before looking around.
"Where's Wormtail?" James asked.
"He's asleep," Remus said, rolling his eyes, "We got back to the dormitory to find him asleep." James laughed.
"He can see my dorm some other time. C'mon, this way," he said, leading them towards the corridor leading to the Heads dorm.
"It's weird not being in the same dorm isn't it?" Remus said, looking at James, who nodded.
"It is weird. But I love my new living arrangements," James grinned. He looked over at his friends hurt expressions, "Not that I don't miss you guys!" he added quickly, "It's really lonely, since it's only me and Evans," he said, sighing.
"You and Evans are living together?" Sirius said, and waggled his eyebrows at James who shoved Sirius, much to the amusement of Remus. They arrived at the mahogany door, James said the password, and pushed open the door. Remus and Sirius had similar expressions on their faces as James and Lily had had the first time they opened the door.
"Wow," was all Remus could say, looking from the fireplace to the staircases. Sirius seemed to be at a loss for words, which was a first. He walked over to the fireplace and flopped down on the sofa Lily had just vacated, and groaned.
"This is so comfortable," he sighed, sinking deeper into the couch. James laughed and turned to Remus, who was looking through the books, as expected, "which way to your room?" Sirius asked, gesturing towards the staircases.
"Mine's the one on the left," James said, "And Lily's is the one on the right." Sirius got off the couch and walked over to James.
"Can you go up her staircase?" he asked. Remus turned around, also interested in hearing the answer to this question.
"Yes actually," James said, "I already tried." Remus raised his eyebrows, impressed, and walked over to James and Sirius, his eyes on Sirius.
"Sirius, what are you thinking?" Remus asked warily, looking at the now mischievous expression on Sirius's face. James turned to look at Sirius, who, ignoring them both, walked over to Lily's staircase. James looked at Remus, who shrugged.
"EVANS!" Sirius yelled, causing both James and Remus to jump.
Up in her room, Lily sat up with a start. She heard a voice yell 'Evans' a few more times and groaned, "WHAT?" she yelled back, irritated. Whoever had the nerve to wake her up was going to die. She grabbed her wand and looked down to make sure she was properly attired. She had changed into shorts before going to sleep, so she was now wearing shorts and a tank top. She walked to the door and pulled it open.
"EVANS!" she growled as she recognized the voice.
"Black what are you doing here?" she said, and walked down the staircase, her wand tucked into the waistband of her shorts. James gawked as Lily came down in a tight tank top and short shorts, her hair unruly. He had never seen anything so beautiful. Sirius gawked at her as well, as did Remus. The Hogwarts school robes left too much to the imagination, as the boys had frequently discussed.
Lily walked to the bottom of the stairs so she was almost face to face with Sirius, "What are you doing here?" she asked again. Sirius, once again, didn't know what to say. Lily looked around and saw James and Remus, "Hi Remus," she said, smiling, before turning to look at James.
"Warning next time please?" she said to him, and walked over to the couch, flopping down on the armchair Sirius had been sitting in.
"Sorry," James managed to choke out. Lily turned to him and smiled before turning to look back at the first, "Why don't you go back to sleep?" James said.
"Can't. Not after being so rudely awoken," she said, glaring at Sirius, who was still frozen at the bottom of the stairs.
"Want me to take you to bed Evans?" Sirius said with a smirk. James felt hot acid boil up in his stomach and turned to Sirius, who winked at James, to show he was only playing around. Lily stood up and walked up to Sirius.
"Sure why not," she said, standing close to Sirius, who jumped back a foot, shocked. Lily smirked, winked at Remus who was laughing, and walked up the stairs. The boys watched her go, and heard a door shut.
"You know what Prongsie," Sirius said, turning to look at James, who was beaming, "She's not all bad."
Remus and Sirius left around 10, James had gone to drop them back to their dormitory, so they wouldn't have gotten in trouble for being out so late. When he walked back through the portrait hole, he saw Lily sitting in an armchair by the fire, staring at the fire. He blinked, thinking it was a mirage, but turned out Lily was actually there. He walked over to sit down next to her.
"Lily I thought you'd gone back to sleep," he said gently, turning to look at her.
"No," she said, not tearing her eyes away from the fire, "I was thinking too much."
James ran a hand through his hair, an action he did when he was at a loss for words, making it significantly more messy, "What were you thinking about?" he wondered if that question was a bit too much to ask, but to his surprise, Lily answered.
"Everything. NEWTS, Voldemort, Severus," she said, turning to look at him. James felt his jaw clench at the mention of Snivellus.
"What about them?" he said, controlling the anger in his voice.
"NEWTS, because I'm scared, and I really have no idea what I want to do with my life. Voldemort, because of his recruiting and his pure-blood thing. And Severus because, well," she trailed off, looking into the fire, "we used to be best friends. We've known each other since we were 9. Did you know that?" she said, turning to James, who was astonished. He hadn't realized Lily and Snivellus went that far back.
"No, I didn't."
"I figured," she said, looking down at her hands, "He was the one who told me I was a witch after watching me on the swings. He was the only one I could talk to during the summer, even after we'd been separated into Gryffindor and Slytherin. Hestia doesn't like to write because it's bad for her nails," Lily said, smiling to herself, "and Alice, Gwenog and I got closer after Sev called me, well, you know. So it was usually just Sev and I during the summers," James watched Lily as she spoke, noticing how she brought her hand up to her hair frequently, pushing it out of her eyes.
"But this summer," she continued, looking back into the fire, and James saw her eyes glazed with tears, "This summer I had nobody but Tuney to talk to. Tuney, my older sister, who hates me because I'm a witch and she isn't." Lily said, a tear leaking out of the corner of her eye. James reached forward to wipe it off but Lily jumped up, "I think I'm going to go to bed," she said, and ran up her staircase, James' eyes trailing after her, still watching her staircase after he heard her door shut.
James woke up the next morning to something poking him in the arm. He opened his eyes and looked up to see a blurry Lily standing over him, dressed in her Hogwarts robes. He sat up quickly and put on his glasses, the world instantly getting clearer.
"What time is it?" he said, rubbing at his eyes.
"Time for breakfast. Now go get ready," Lily said, pushing him until he stood up out of bed. He was wearing nothing but his boxers and Lily found herself staring at a shirtless James Potter. You wouldn't think Quidditch would give you that kind of body, She thought, as she looked at James' stomach. James, who was watching Lily, smirked.
"See something you like Evans?" he asked, grinning at Lily. Lily, blushing, rolled her eyes and walked out of the room.
"Just hurry up okay?" she said, closing the door behind her. Lily walked down the stairs and walked over to examine the bookshelf. She heard the door open and turned quickly to see the Marauders and her friends walk in. Peter, Hestia, Alice and Gwenog, who were seeing the place for the first time looked around in wonder. Hestia, who noticed Lily first, squealed and ran over to Lily, pulling her into a hug.
"We missed you!" she squealed. Lily laughed and hugged her friend back.
"I missed you guys too," she said, looking from Hestia to Alice and Gwenog who were smiling at her.
"Nice place," Alice said, walking around.
"Where's James?" Peter said, looking around.
"He's in his room. He slept in," Lily said, gesturing to the spiral staircase, which, led to James' room. Peter ran up the stairs, followed by Remus and Sirius, leaving the four girls downstairs by themselves.
"We really did miss you Lils," Gwenog said from the armchair by the fire, "And I am so jealous. This armchair is so much more comfortable than the chairs in the common room!" she said, turning to look at Lily, "Are we going to be allowed to hang out in here instead of the common room? It's noisy in there!" she whined, "The first years this year are so annoying. They wouldn't stop talking and screaming," she whined. Lily laughed.
"Yes you can come in here instead of the common room," she said, "Want to go down to breakfast?" She held her hand out to Gwenog to help her up.
"Breakfast!" Sirius yelled happily as he ran down James' spiral staircase, "Did I hear someone say breakfast?" he said, looking around. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Yes I did. Is your boyfriend ready?" she said, nodding her head towards James's room.
"Why Lily-flower. However did you know?" Sirius said, acting girly, which actually brought a smile to Lily's face.
"Seriously."
"Yes I am Sirius," Sirius said, with a wink to Lily, causing the other girls to laugh, before turning to the spiral staircase, "PRONGSIE!" Sirius yelled up the staircase.
"Yes Pads," James said, yawning whilst coming down the stairs, his hair looking extra messy, followed by Remus and Peter.
"Prongsie-poo!" Sirius yelled, hugging James, who patted Sirius on the back.
"Why are you being so lovey?" Remus asked, walking around Sirius and James.
"Didn't you know?" Sirius said, slinging an arm around James' shoulders, "Prongs here is my boyfriend," he said, batting his eyelashes at James who turned to look at Lily for explanation. The four girls were laughing though, so it wouldn't have been possible to get an answer out of them.
"It's not important," Lily said to James, "Breakfast! I'm hungry," she said, and walked towards the door with Gwenog. Hestia and Alice followed after them, Hestia blowing a kiss to Sirius, who removed his hand from James' shoulders to gawk after her.
"Let it go Pads," James said, clapping him on the shoulder, "Food!" Sirius's face brightened at the idea of food.
"Food!" he yelled and, grabbing James, sprinted towards the door. Remus laughed and followed after them with Peter.
As usual, McGonagall was handing out schedules at breakfast. Lily took hers from McGonagall and looked at it.
"Double Charms, Potions, Transfiguration," Lily said, looking through her schedule, "Not bad, what about you guys?" she said, looking around at her friends, but it was McGonagall who answered her.
"All of the Gryffindor NEWT students are in the same classes as you would need all those classes for the professions you are all pursuing," she said, as she handed Alice her schedule, "So the four of you will be in all the same classes," she said, smiled at them, and walked away.
"Sweet!" Gwenog said in a deep voice, before turning towards her toast. The girls ate, talking about them all being in the same classes the whole year, before they all got up and headed over to Charms.
"So Lily, what's it like living with Potter?" Alice asked, walking beside Lily.
"It's strange, I guess, but I cant really say, it's only been one night," Lily said, shrugging, "but I walked into his room this morning and it smelled like socks, already," Lily groaned. Alice, Hestia and Gwenog laughed though.
"That's disgusting. I have no idea how boys manage to stink up a room in one night," Gwenog said, while they were taking their seats in Charms, rolling her eyes, "We walked into the Marauders dormitory yesterday to ask if they knew where you were, since James is their best mate, and it was already smellier than a pigsty."
"That's not a very nice thing to say Jones." The girls turned around to see the four Marauders sitting behind them, smirking.
"What are you doing here?" Alice blurted out, irritated. Lately the Marauders had been everywhere and, in her opinion, too involved in their lives. She liked the Marauders, she really did, but there was no denying that having them in a class wouldn't help her pass.
"When McGonagall said all the NEWT Gryffindors were in the same classes, I think she meant the boys as well," Hestia murmured to Alice. Lily groaned. As if she didn't already have enough of Potter in their dorm but she had to have him in all her classes as well?
"Exactly right Hestia, love," Sirius said, winking at Hestia, who, to Lily's surprise, blushed a little. Lily looked at Hestia, who gave her a pleading look when she caught Lily's gaze. Lily nodded at her and mouthed 'we'll discuss it later' and Hestia smiled gratefully.
At that moment, Flitwick stood up and started talking to them about their NEWTS. Lily and Remus were probably the only ones who were paying any attention at all. The other girls were doodling or passing notes, while James and Sirius were enchanting their quills to dance the can-can while Peter watched them in fascination. Their NEWT discussion took one of their Charms periods, but as they had Double Charms, Flitwick instructed them to practice all the charms that they had been learning since their O.W.L's.
Charms was always the perfect class for people to talk, and as they had Charms with the Hufflepuffs, who kept to themselves, the Gryffindors were able to talk to each other freely. Frank Longbottom, their fellow Gryffindor, came over to sit with the girls, and Lily noticed how Alice blushed when Frank smiled at her. That was another conversation she was going to have to have.
A few minutes after Frank sat down, Lily felt an arm around her shoulder and turned to see Sirius sitting next to her. She shook his arm off and shifted away from him, much to the amusement of everyone else, and James sat down next to Lily instead.
"So Potter, have you asked her out yet?" Frank asked from across the circle. James turned red, as did Lily, while the Marauders and Lily's friends howled with laughter.
"No he hasn't," Lily said to Frank, a little defensively. James gave her an appreciative smile, and turned to glare at his friends until they stopped laughing.
"Just kidding Potter," Frank smiled, leaning across to pat James on the shoulder. James rolled his eyes and spent the rest of the class pointedly not looking at Lily. Once class was over, they all stood up and walked out of the class, and somehow, Lily found herself walking next to Remus.
"Hello there Lily," Remus smiled at her, as they headed to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Hi Remus," Lily said, smiling back at Remus.
"Can I ask you something?" Remus said quietly, looking at Lily, who nodded. She had always liked Remus. They had dated very briefly, for about 2 days, which James didn't know, in fifth year when they were both prefects, but Remus had ended it because of his loyalties to James. Lily hadn't particularly liked Remus that way, but they had been good friends, so she hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings.
"James hasn't asked you out has he?"
"Wouldn't you know if he had?" Lily asked him, eyebrows raised. Remus nodded, "then why do you need to ask?" she said, turning to look him in the eye.
"Curious. I thought you might've been lying about him not asking you out to ongbottom because he was being a nosy prick," Remus shrugged, and Lily laughed.
"Me? Lie for Potter? Wow Remus its as if you don't know me at all," Lily laughed, and Remus smiled, but his smile faltered a little.
"Lily don't you like him at all?" Remus said, looking sadly at Lily, "I mean, he has been in love with you since first year," he said. Lily's head snapped up to look at Remus.
"Really? That long?" she said quietly, turning to look at James and Sirius who were a few meters ahead of her, chatting animatedly. She watched as James ran a hand through his hair, making it messier, and laughed at something Sirius had said.
Remus didn't say anything, just nodded, and Lily looked up at James, transfixed. Six years was a long time. Remus quietly walked away, leaving Lily to her thoughts, and walked over to Sirius and James, clapping James on the shoulder. Lily watched as James asked him something, to which Remus shook his head and James' shoulders dropped, visibly relaxing.
"Lily!" Lily jumped and turned around to see Severus walking towards her. She glanced at the Marauders, who had all frozen and turned around, Remus, now in the middle of James and Sirius, with a restraining hand on both of his friends' shoulders while Peter stood, transfixed by the expressions on Sirius's and James's faces. Sirius looked furious, his eyes on Severus, while James looked angry, but even slightly worried, as his eyes landed on Lily. James heard Hestia walk up and stand on the other side of Sirius but ignored her. After all, after what Lily had told him last night, which he was pretty sure she didn't remember, he was worried that Severus would hurt her. Not physically, but emotionally. James pulled out his wand just in case, and he saw Sirius draw it as well.
"Lily," Severus panted when he finally reached her. She was standing with her arms crossed, an unfriendly expression on her face, "Hi." Lily didn't say anything. She just kept looking at him. Severus looked into the green almond eyes he knew so well was hurt to see that they didn't have the same friendliness they had possessed before when he had talked to her. When Lily still hadn't said anything Severus cleared his throat.
"How's your day going?" he asked, attempting to strike up conversation.
"Fine." Lily's tone was neutral, but Severus heard a tinge of anger in it and internally flinched.
"How was your summer?" he asked, glad that he had at least gotten a response out of her, but realized that was the wrong question when Lily's eyes narrowed, and Severus noticed behind her how James' eyes narrowed as well.
"My summer?" Lily said in a low voice, "My summer? Well let's see, I was stuck at home with Tuney, who didn't want anything to do with me and kept running our with her boyfriend. My parents had things to do so most of the day, I sat at home and attempted to entertain myself," she said, her voice shaking. Severus flinched at the anger and accusation in her voice.
"I was going to come over but you weren't speaking to me," Severus whispered.
"Oh and why is that Severus?" Severus looked at Lily whose voice had gone unbelievably harsh. He was hurt at the fact that she had called him by his full name as opposed to her nickname for him, 'Sev'.
"Because I called you a you-know-what," he said quietly, looking down at the floor.
"I'm sorry I don't know what you're saying," Lily said angrily, not caring that she was hurting him, "what's a you-know-what?"
"A mudblood," he whispered, and looked up at her, "I shouldn't have said it. I'm sorry," he said, offering her a little smile, which she did not return.
"Why shouldn't you have said it? You call all other muggleborns mudbloods. Why am I any different?" Severus didn't know what to say. After a few minutes Lily rolled her eyes and turned around to walk away but Severus grabbed her arm, causing the Marauders, including Lupin, who was always the nicest, to hiss.
"Lily I said I'm sorry, what more do you want me to say?" Severus said.
"I want you to leave me alone," she said, turning to look at him, "We were friends Severus! I trusted you! I stood up for you in front of everyone and when I tried to help you, you called me a mudblood, and you expect me to just forgive you?" she said it quietly but Severus felt as if she was screaming at him, "Well that's not going to happen," she said with finality and pulled her arm out of his grip.
"But Lily…" he started, but she cut him off.
"No. Even if I do forgive you, what difference will it make?" she said, taking a few steps back from him, "You're so excited to go join Voldemort and become one of his Death Eaters, see you're not even denying it, and all he wants to do is get rid of all the mudbloods like me," she said, tears forming in her eyes, "So you see? I'm doing you a favor. You wont have to pick." And with that, Severus watched as Lily Evans turned her back on him, and walked to Hestia, who glared at Severus before putting her arm around Lily and walking with her into the Great Hall.
"You heard her," Peter sneered at Severus, "leave her alone." Severus ignored him and turned to look at Potter, who was glaring at Severus. He looked at Potter for a few seconds, hatred boiling inside of him, before walking around them into the Great Hall, feeling their gazes on him until he sat down at the Slytherin table next to Avery, Mulciber, and Dolohov, who clapped him on the back.
Severus watched as the Marauders walked into the Great Hall, and as Potter sat himself down next to Lily. He watched as Potter, looking at Lily, said something and as Lily smiled and nodded at Potter, before turning back to her food. Severus felt his eyes prickle and excused himself, leaving the Great Hall, unnoticed by Lily, to go to his dorm.
Back at the Gryffindor table, James was quietly telling the rest of the Marauders about what had happened after Remus and Sirius had left the night before.
"That Snivellus!" Sirius whispered angrily so that Lily wouldn't hear, "He's such a prat! They were best friends and he called her a mudblood?" Remus just shook his head, agreeing with Sirius, while Peter just gawked at James as if waiting for him to jump up and say 'just kidding'. Feeling bad, Sirius got up and, pushing James out of the way, sat down next to Lily.
"Yes Sirius?" Lily said, looking at him, eyebrows raised.
"Are you alright?" Sirius looked at Lily who gave him a gentle smile and nodded.
"Thanks," she said quietly, before standing up, and leaving the Great Hall for Potions with her friends.
"Wow Sirius," Remus said, looking impressed, "I didn't realize you had a sensitive side." James laughed as Sirius threw a balled up napkin at Remus, who dodged it easily.
"C'mon let's go to Potions," Sirius said, picking up his books and leading his friends to class.
Potions and Transfiguration went by quickly, and before she knew it, Lily found herself up in the Heads dorm, sitting at her desk, tackling a rather nasty essay McGonagall had given them in Transfiguration on transfiguring fire. She was half way through, a small frown on her face, when James walked through the door, dressed in his Quidditch robes, with his broomstick over his shoulder. Lily looked up and saw that his hair was windswept, making it messier, and he was completely drenched in water.
She turned to look out the window to see it was raining. Odd. She hadn't heard the thunder. She looked back at James, smiled, and got back to her essay. James, however, pulled out his wand and pointed it at her essay, rolling up the parchment and putting it on top of the bookshelf.
"What was that for?" Lily asked, looking up at her parchment, and then at James.
"I need to talk to you," he said, squelching over to her.
"How about you take a shower first?" she said, gesturing to his wet and muddy Quidditch robes. He looked down and nodded.
"Fair point," he said, grinning at Lily who rolled her eyes. HE pointed his wand at the parchment and it flew back onto the desk in front of Lily and unrolled itself, before heading into the bathroom, leaning his broomstick on his staircase. Lily rolled her eyes and got back to her essay.
She had just finished when the door to the bathroom opened and James walked out, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Lily had to stop herself from ogling as James grabbed his broomstick and headed up the stairs to his room. Before she had finished rolling up her parchment, satisfied, he was down the stairs, hair still wet, dressed in black sweat pants and a navy colored shirt.
He walked over to the armchairs by the fire, and gestured for Lily to go there as well. Lily walked over to the armchairs and seated herself on the sofa, pulling her knees up and turning so she was resting against the armrest, and James sat himself on the other side of the sofa.
"I wanted to talk to you."
"I kind of gathered that for myself," Lily said, smiling. James rolled his eyes but seemed to relax a little.
"About what Frank said in Charms…" he started, and Lily's smile vanished, "I just wanted to say it's not going to happen again," he said quietly. Lily looked at him curiously. She was a little shocked, especially after what Remus had told her before. James turned to look at her, and Lily found herself looking into his hazel eyes, which, for the first time since Lily had known him, didn't have a glint in them. They looked dead. Lily was about to say something but James shook his head.
"No need to say anything Lils," he said, offering her a small smile, "I have to ask you a question," he took a breath, "Do you remember last night?" he asked quietly, looking her in the eye.
"What about it?" she asked, shocked.
"Do you remember sitting here talking to me yesterday?" he asked again, still looking at her.
"Oh, that, yes I do. Why?" she asked carefully. She watched as James' expression brightened.
"So you did tell me all of that out of choice?" he said, smiling. Lily laughed and nodded.
"Yes I did," she said, smiling at James, who smiled back. James stood up and stretched.
"I think I'm going to go up to my room now," he said, and Lily looked up at him questioningly
"Why? It's only 8, and you have work to do," she added sternly and James groaned.
"I knew living with you was going to turn me into a goody two shoes," he whined, and walked over to his desk, pulling out his Transfiguration book with a sigh as Lily laughed.
"You look like you're being tortured." Lily stood up and walked over to her desk, hearing James mutter something along the lines of 'not far from it' and sat down, smiling. She pulled out her potions book and another piece of parchment to start on answering the questions Slughorn had set them.
There was a few minutes filled with only the sound of quills scratching parchment, when the door opened and the Marauders walked in. James, who was absorbed in his Transfiguration essay, a small crease in between his eyebrows and biting his tongue, didn't notice his friends enter, but Lily did. Her head snapped up, and she watched as the three other Marauders looked at James, with a look of mingled shock and amusement on their faces.
She watched as Sirius pulled out his wand, winked at her, and pointed it at James. There was a yell, and James was up in the air, dangling by his ankle. Sirius, Remus and Peter laughed, and Lily heard herself laughing along with them. James, still upside down, pulled out his wand and pointed it at Sirius, whose hair stood up and tangled itself, causing Sirius to yell. Sirius's hands flew up to his head, and James fell down in a heap onto the floor.
"What did you do that for!" Sirius yelled, looking at James who was smiling, his face red from all the blood that had flown into it.
"Ah did I mess up your hair Padfoot?" James said innocently, earning himself a glare from Sirius, who stormed past him into the bathroom, obviously going to fix his hair. Remus and Peter were still laughing, and James, chuckling to himself, rolled up his Transfiguration essay, which was half done, and put it back into his bag. Lily rolled up her finished questions for Potions, put it in her bag, and walked up her staircase to put her bag up in her room.
She walked down the staircase, to find Sirius, whose hair was still tangled and messy, yelling at James, who was laughing, along with Remus and Peter, who was refusing to untangle his hair.
"Untangle my hair this instant!" Sirius yelled at James, who shook his head, smirking at Sirius, who yelled in frustration. Lily laughed, and Sirius turned around, "Lily-flower!" Lily rolled her eyes, laughing and started to walk around him.
"Please please please can you untangle my hair!" he begged, getting down on his knees in front of Lily who just kept laughing.
"I thought your hair had no flaws Black," she said, smirking down at him.
"It doesn't have any flaws, it is perfectly supple like a baby's bottom," he said smoothly, "But all the same I would appreciate it if you could untangle it so it could be as irresistible as it usually is," he winked and Lily rolled her eyes, and walked around him.
"Your hair isn't irresistible Black," she said, walking towards the door. Next thing she knew she was dangling by her ankle as well, "Put me down!" she screamed, turning her head to look at Sirius who was smirking.
"If you promise to untangle my hair," he said. Lily sighed and nodded, and crumpled in a heap on the floor. She pointed her wand at Sirius's hair and it stood up. Sirius sighed, and waited for it to fall around his face, which it didn't. He looked at Lily who was smirking
"You said to untangle it. You said nothing about what it should look like." And with that, Lily walked out of the Heads dorm, hearing James, Remus and Peters laughs, leaving Sirius's hair standing straight up.
She walked up to the Gryffindor common room, said the password, and walked inside, to be greeted by screaming. She looked around to see the first years screaming and running around, much to the displeasure of the other Gryffindors. She looked around the common room and felt a pang of nostalgia. She looked around for her friends, and, assuming they were up in the dorm, walked up the spiral staircases. She pushed the door open to see her friends sitting on their beds, working on their Transfiguration essays.
"I wish Lily was here, she usually understood this stuff," Gwenog grumbled, crossing something out furiously.
"Wow it's like magic," Lily said, smiling at Gwenog whose head shot up.
"Lily!" Hestia screamed and jumped at Lily.
"Hi," she smiled, then her expression turned stern as she looked at Hestia, "I need to talk to you," she said, and turned to Alice, "and you."
"What about me?" Gwenog asked.
"Well I haven't noticed you blushing around our friends yet," she said and Gwenog's eyebrows raised, looking between Hestia and Alice, who blushed, "So let's start with Alice then shall we?" Lily said, sitting down on her old bed, "Frank?" she smiled and Alice's face turned even redder.
"Alice you like Frank?" Gwenog squealed jumping up and down on her bed.
"Aw, Frank and Alice Longbottom," Hestia said in a lovey voice, smiling cheekily at Alice.
"Aw, Sirius and Hestia Black," Lily smirked, looking at Hestia who paled.
"Shut up Lily," Hestia said quietly.
"You like Sirius?" Gwenog screamed.
"Who likes Sirius?" Sirius said, pushing open the door to the girls dorms.